Oh, updated theme.

Changed the theme about.

Change is good.

Labor Day + Baseball + College Football + MMORPGs!?

So let’s take a look at some recent happenings in the wide world of sports, as well as some video game schtuff, shall we? First of all, I would like to toot the horn of my NY Yankees who swept the Red Sox, and then brought up that kid Ian Kennedy to pitch against the Devil Rays. Granted, it is the Devil Rays, but the kid looked good. I think Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy could add some youth and quality pitching to the Yankees rotation either next year or 2009 (personally, I’d rather see 2008 and get those kids some more game-time this year). Guess that means we’ll get rid of Mussina and Clemens, but hey, I’ll take those young arms over Clemens and Mussina at this point. Yeah, they can bring some quality starts here and there, but eh, better to save some payroll and resign Alex Rodriguez.

Next stop: College Football. Man, oh man. Michigan… WTF happened to you guys? Beat by a Division I-AA (I don’t care what the NCAA tries to call it, it will always be I-AA) in your own house? Embarrassing. My Georgia Bulldogs pulled off a nice win over Oklahoma State. But the SEC, wow. Here I thought this was the best conference in college football. Guess what guys? You talk too much. Auburn looked like shit against Kansas State, and yes, while the score reads 23-13, the game was much closer than that score would indicate. Hell, you almost got upset. Tennessee walked into Cal’s house and Cal handled them pretty well. Can’t wait to hear the sports talk show this week to see what sort of BS spews from their mouth about SEC football.

Final Stop: MMOs! Warhammer Online got around to releasing some of the Dark Elf and High Elf classes and man, oh man, each piece of information Mythic releases I gobble up like a little kid in a candy store. I cannot wait to get my hands on the retail version of the game and rock face in an RvR atmosphere.

Oh, yeah, and tomorrow is a day off, woooo!

Baseball Update (Kinda)

A little bit back, I posted:

* Mets/Phillies/Braves?

I kind of hope the Phillies can pull off the division title.  It’d be something the Philadelphia fans have been waiting for for a while, and frankly, the Mets are sucking bad right now.

Well…

Now the Phillies have been sucking and the Mets have caught on fire.  I’m still rooting for the Phillies to nab a wildcard though.  Give something to Philly for having to deal with the Braves in their division for the last bajillion seasons.

Chinese Company Suing Blizzard = Huge Bag of El Oh El

Now, paint me a true blue-blooded freedom-loving American who hates seeing more and more enterprises going to China, a communist nation with very little personal freedom.  And here’s an example 2 of why we, as a nation, should rise up and demand US Corporations who filter billions of dollars into China pick up shop and leave.

( Example 1 is the recent toy scare, by the way).

Example 2: http://chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-08/15/content_6027819.htm

I read that and think instantly that it’s the perverse Chinese government wanting to move in and grab some easy capital from a large corporation.  And if they’re going to sue Blizzard, what’s going to be next?  China suing Wal-Mart.  Do we even want to start thinking about the ramifications of such a thing?

Baseball Tidbits

Baseball season is beginning to wind down, and yet there are still some interesting stories:

* Which team will win the AL Central?

Frankly, I do think Detroit will pull it out of the bag and Cleveland will be left wondering:  what happened this year?

* Yankees or BoSox, who wins the AL East?

Sadly, I think the BoSox will cap the division, unless they have some sort of implosion… but to see the Yankees come within 4 games of the Sox is something that I think all Sox fans should concern themselves with.  I think there is a good possibility the Yankees might cap the East.  If they don’t, I think they will nab the Wild Card.

* How bad does the NL Central suck?

Pretty bad.  So bad that a sub-.500 team is only 2.5 games out of first.  Chicago can win this divison easily, but I think they gotta have Lou go off and get some guys motivated.

* Mets/Phillies/Braves?

I kind of hope the Phillies can pull off the division title.  It’d be something the Philadelphia fans have been waiting for for a while, and frankly, the Mets are sucking bad right now.

* Barry Bonds?

I think he goes to Detroit next year to DH and hits about 30-35 home runs to cap out his career, unless he gets jacked up playing outfield.

Guilds going multi-game: does it work?

Interesting discussions happening in my guild recently involving whether or not the guild should start branching out to other games.  On a personal level, I think it’s a pretty interesting topic of conversation, and something that I agree with doing.  I think being able to move out into new recruits and new games helps add more flavor to the ol’ ventrilo server and the guild forums.

But I kinda like hanging out with new folks.

blizzard’s forums: bastion for obscenity

Having read some of the forums recently, I am rather glad I left the game to just chill from MMOs for the time being (and wait on Warhammer of course).

Here’s something I’ve pondered…

Why doesn’t Blizzard find a few people who want to moderate the forums and pay them by tossing some freebie accounts their way?

Would that cut down on the sheer insanity of those forums?

Maybe.  Maybe not.  Could be interesting though.

rick ankiel = mlb wonderstory of 2007 (unless my yankees win the east)

Different spin for a moment.  Inspiring story of the year?  Rick Ankiel returning to the major leagues.  What’s better than seeing a guy who struggled so much a few years ago and went from the Show to playing A-ball… and then seeing him battle back and start smacking home runs all over the place.

Although…

I guess Sox Nation isn’t going to be paying much attention to that story right now.  Hey BoSox.. feel that hot air on your neck?  Damn straight.  Here comes the Yankee Juggernaught, firing on all cylinders at just the right moment.

15 games over .500 ball now.

Let’s get to 20 games guys!

Volunteering for a fansite & beta. Are you entitled?

Before anyone goes further, let me outline a posting I read from http://www.warhammeralliance.com administrator/moderator Archangel.  Here is what was said:

Actually, I’m quite annoyed.

Now, I’ve been doing this job for about three years now, looking after this community even before Garth’ came along, looking after the remnants of the last community and moving it along into this one. You know what Mythic have done in thanks? so far they’ve given me nothing. They have, in fact, taken opportunities away.

Now, I wasn’t invited to the fansite gathering due to being international. Fair enough.
But now I’ve been informed that I won’t be allowed to play in beta with my friends if my guild gets selected, due to looking after this community.
We’re going to have staff stepping down just so they can get into beta.

Thanks Mythic. No, really, thanks a bunch.

Yeah, put this complain in with the “it’s my birthday give me beta!” crowd.

Okay, now I am going to opine on this.  Frankly, I cannot begin to tell you how much I disagree with this.  First of all, if you are unhappy about being a fansite admin and disgusted with the fact that you didn’t get into beta… to post it on your website for all to read is pretty unprofessional, and is grounds for the devs of that game to stop contributing to your community.  Now, I’m not saying Mythic should stop communicating with Warhammer Alliance, it is a pretty good site, but for the admin of this site to be raging against the company that is basically their bread and butter reeks of unappreciation to me.

A fansite cannot operate without a game to follow.

A game thrives on having fansites and communities following the game, building hype, etc.. etc…

There’s a symbiotic relationship between the two that needs to be maintained.  Watching a fansite admin of one of your larger fan communities act butthurt because he couldn’t go into Guild Beta…

Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mythic did focus more on other fan communities.

I wouldn’t blame ‘em one bit.

Importance of Guilds to Community

You know, it’s nice to see what the Mythic guys are doing with WAR by giving guilds some meaning in that game.  In WoW, and pretty much most other MMOs, guilds are simply chat channels and comrades with which to group or raid with.  EQ2 started something by having guild levels and guild prestige & such, and WAR is compounding that by having 100 guild levels with each member able to contribute to the guild.

This is nice to see in a MMO, really.  Same with guild alliances.

Strengthening a bond between guildies is something more games should strive for.  Guilds should be something that represents much more than an extra chat channel in your chat window, or a name in <>’s under your character’s name.  A guild needs to represent the entirety of the efforts that each of it’s members have put in.

Right now, guilds get famous for world firsts in raids (Death & Taxes and Nihilum come to mind).

Wouldn’t it be cool if all guilds could really help build notoriety by being “Hey, they were the first guild to Rank XYZ!”  I really do like the way Warhammer is molding their guild model, especially with guild banners that are apparantly able to be stolen by your enemy and taken as trophies.  That’s just plain awesome.  This builds another layer of guild competition to the fray, and helps get so many more people involved with the game as a whole.