Our Little Angel

March 31st, 1994 - June 29th, 1994
Adrianna Lynn - “Our Little Angel”


We will always remember you in our hearts.

Add comment March 31st, 2004

Addiction In Fantasy

Knowing full well the consequences of my actions, I opted to buy “Final Fantasy XI”:www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml for PlayStation 2 last Thursday. I can officially state that I am 100% addicted to a MMORPG for the first time ever and hope I don’t realize those consequences any time in the near future.

Firstly-worstly, installation of this beast is certainly no short task. After installing the hard drive, creating network settings, validating and updating the game installation, creating a PlayOnline account, creating a handle (whatever for I do not know), and creating a character I’d already spent about 2 hours.

“PlayOnline”:http://www.playonline.com/ is a very slick package but there are far too many menus and options for the begineer. I just spent 2 hours setting this all up and all I wanted to do was enter the world of “Vana’diel”:http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/welcome/ with my White Mage.

The scenery is gorgeous

Secondly, the game play is engaging. When I played Mac EQ I was bored to tears by the controls and game play. Having to type phases to NPCs in order for them to give me quests was absurd to me. I’m playing a damn game here people, not trying to communicate in bracket dialect.

One of the first things that struck me as fantastic with FFXI was the control. Being able to control my character using the game pad was far more engaging for me than using the WASD keys on a keyboard. Also, using the left analog stick to move the camera 360 degrees really allows you to see everything that is going.

Not game play related but helpful with the immersion factor is the graphics. Sure, we’re talking PS2 here so 640×480 is the course of the day, but it still looks very good. While moving, characters clothing moves which just adds to the realism. Nothing I hate more than static clothing.

Ok, so what have I done in the last 28 hours of FFXI goodness? Being a White Mage has it’s perks and one of those is the ability to get accepted into just about any group. Within the first hour I’d already been invited into a linkshell, which is basically a “clan” in the game. Being part of a linkshell is helpful when looking for people to party with as you won’t need to go any further than the linkshell chat channel.

Fun group of Tarutaru magic users and myself

While trying to figure out the games interface, which I love compared to EQ, my linkshell took me out on a few experience only mob hunts. I also played solo for awhile and was able to obtain level 9 by the end of the weekend. I’ve completed the first mission set for Rank 2 with my linkshell and I’m currently very active at the local auction house hawking my wares to gain gil (in game money) to buy more pricey items and spells.

The auction house is a very cool system which allows anyone to bid and sell items to other in game players sort of like eBay. For new players like me it’s the easiest way to make money early on in the game as veteran players would rather pay for the items that the low level mobs drop instead of killing them for no experience.

I’m also actively working on my fishing and clothcrafting skills, another fun aspect to the game instead of just hunting monsters. Hell, you can even harvest cotton or grow your own plants in various flowerpots.

All in all it’s been a lot of fun so far and I can’t wait to continue my journey into the world of Vana’diel.

And yes, 28 hours in roughly 3 days is way too much. I’m going to have to slow down some and try and limit my playing to a few nights a week. That’s going to be the hardest part for sure.

2 comments March 29th, 2004

Sounds Like A Personal Problem

Let this be a reminder to “those of you”:http://www.boingboing.net/2004/03/26/vlc_will_play_itunes.html out there that don’t “read the rules”:http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93014. Nothing pisses me off more than someone complaining about something that has full disclosure.

Apple’s DRM licensing in regards to the iTunes Music Store is fairly loose, IMO. At any one time you can authorize 3 computers to play songs you’ve downloaded from the music store. Attempting to play on a non-authorized computer will prompt iTunes to ask you to authorize that computer. If you’ve used up your 3 slots, your going to need to deauthorize one. That’s the rule. Simple, right?

Well, some people forget to deauthorize their machines when they sell them or send them in for repair. Is this Apple’s fault? Should you blame DRM because of your lack of fore thought? I don’t think so. Some “people would rather complain”:http://www.boingboing.net/2004/03/26/vlc_will_play_itunes.html that it’s Apple’s fault and that their DRM rules are too strict instead of looking for the real solution, which is NOT cracking the DRM.

The “rules”:http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93014 not only state that you can have up to 3 computers authorized at one time, they also mention that if you contact iTunes support they can deauthorize machines no longer in your possession. Gee, have you even tried that… I’ve actually done this before due to my own lack of fore thought and support was very helpful in that regard.

Next time instead of complaining about DRM, try reading the “rules”:http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93014. You might learn something.

March 26th, 2004

To The Idiot Named DICK

Hey DICK,

Thanks for posting this lovely comment today, you’ve brought me laugther in an otherwise boring day.

bq. IP Address: 81.79.208.96
Name: DICK
Email Address: ME@HOTMAIL.COM
Comments:

bq. YOU GUYS ARE LONERS

However, I do have a few things to share with you since you were compelled enough to post your feelings, I suppose I deserve the same in return.

Why did you visit my site in the first place? Was it because you searched for pokemon catching regis and the search results “returned you to my blog”:http://www.snapturtle.com/archives/2004/03/15/regis_pokemon_piss_me_off.php? Yes, that was you! Aren’t logs wonderful? If I’m the “LONER” as you so eloquently state in the manly ALL CAPS fashion, why are YOU searching for Pokemon? Idiot.

Furthermore, please don’t post cuss words on my blog. Young children read this and only I can swear, you hear me @sshole?

Oh and next time, be a man… use a real email address so we can have a civilized conversation.

BTW, You’ve been banned. I don’t want to read your reply. Have a good day!

1 comment March 22nd, 2004

Photo Blog

No, it’s not a miracle but I have updated my photo blog with new photos and a fresh look. Removed all the side navigation and other extraneous junk in order to turn the focus to the photos. Dumped the monthly and category archives and added thumbnails for the last 5 new photos on the index page. I don’t think I’m completely done with the new look but it’s more than enough to get the job done.

I’ve been neglecting the photo blog recently but I hope to update it more frequently with fresh photos.

Enjoy!

March 20th, 2004

The Regis Are Mine

I finally was able to catch the Regis Pokemon. Funny thing is is that the day after I posted my whine about not being able to catch them, I caught them all quite easily.

It really does just take patience in order to catch them. I was successful catching them by getting their heatlh down to almost nothing and then using “Sing” or “Sleep Powder” to make it easier to catch them using either “Timer” or “Ultra” balls.

Unlocking the ability to catch each one is a little tricky though. Follow these steps or read the FAQ over at GameFAQs and you’re good to go.

March 18th, 2004

Blizzard Hates Me

Looks like I didn’t get into the first round of beta testing for the “World of Warcraft”:http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/. I’m actually quite upset about that, I was really hoping to have a chance.

Oh well… Now I’ll just read all the posts in the “beta forums”:http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/forums/ and try and find something else to do with my free time.

What about “Final Fantasy XI”:http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml? That comes out for Playstation 2 next week… should be a good game in the MMORPG genre. I’ve always been a big fan of Square’s work.

The game costs $99.00 to buy, then $12.95 a month there after though. Seems like a lot of dough for a game that I might not even like. It does look quite a bit different than WoW which is partly why I’m not so interested in FFXI.

Oh well. Now I think I’ll go play Diablo II for the rest of the evening and try not to think about not getting the beta.

March 18th, 2004

Aiden’s Ice Cream Cone

1 comment March 17th, 2004

Zelda For Four Anyone?

“The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords”:http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/g4sj/index.html comes out in Japan this week for Nintendo GameCube. Those lucky bastards always get the good games early. Although, I don’t think I’ll bother importing this one from Japan this time around since the game is supposed to be released on May 11th here in the states.

Nintendo first released “The Four Swords on the Game Boy Advance”:http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/379/379258p1.html when it was included with the remake of the the original SNES game, The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. I bought two copies just so my daughter and I could play Four Swords which was totally worth the price of admission. Both Autumn and I loved the game and played quite a bit until some of the increased challenges scared her away.

The whole idea behind the game is really ingenious. Everyone gets to play their own version of Link, sword and shield included. Each challenge will require the players to work together in order to progress while at the same time attempting to out smart each other by collecting more items or rupees for bragging rights.

While “The Four Swords”:http://cube.ign.com/objects/566/566919.html may look like the same game that was on GBA, trust me, the GameCube version is vastly improved. Being able to see all the characters on the same screen will help the communication, but also using the connected GBAs as controllers, you can duck into a dungeon by yourself and continue playing on the GBA screen. How’s that for game design?

Throw in improved character sprites, graphics, and extra features, Four Swords is soon to be the party game of choice around here.

March 16th, 2004

WoW Beta Nears

Blizzard is preparing their first massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), “World of Warcraft”:http://www.blizzard.com/wow/, for the initial public beta test.

Back in February, Blizzard asked people to “sign up for the beta”:http://www.snapturtle.com/archives/2004/01/30/wow_beta_signups.php, which I gladly did. Hopefully I’ll get selected because just reading the new Blizzard run “WoW beta site”:http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ makes me giddy with anticipation.

March 16th, 2004