Coming Soon

I'm sorry about things being all quiet on the western front.  Life suddenly took me by surprise in the end of March/beginning of April, and has kept me hopping ever since.  Much to my chagrin, this means that I have not had a chance to pick up any game (much less Mass Effect 2) for the past couple of months.  Fear not though, for Meriel will be returning at the end of this week.  I hope to have the next entry in her journal up by the end of Saturday, and a second up by the end of the following Tues.  I am also working on pulling together a post on the Let's Player veriax.  In addition to that, you will see that the "Currently Reading" sidebar section has been replaced, as of today, by a Goodreads widget. I have finally taken the plunge and signed up for the website.  Should it strike your fancy, you will be able to track what I am currently reading, and see past books that I have read, through this website. 

See you soon!

Update 5/28/12 - Yes I am well aware I actually did not post as promised.  When writing this earlier I some how managed to forget two important things.  1) I was scheduled to commence spring cleaning  that week and 2) even in a place as small as mine, spring cleaning takes a really long time since you are essentially turning the whole house inside out, sorting through it all, and then putting/giving/throwing it all away.  3) Surprise dogsitting/housesitting this week means I won't have access to my computer/diles/game.  Since the great Spring Clean 2012 still continues, and likely will through the end of the week,  the amended dates for Meriel's journal are Tuesday the 5th and Friday the 8th.  Sorry about the delay but my brain completely ceased to function it seems.

Bonne Année

Happy New Years, Everyone!

Joyeux Noël

Happy Christmas, Everyone!  

I hope that you and yours have a wonderful day, and I'll see you again on the 28th.

Image: Source Unknown (Was sent to me by a friend)

It's That Time of Year Again

12/12/11 - This paper is going significantly slower than expected.  As a result, the posts mentioned here have been pushed back.  Expect them on the 18th. I will start playing catch-up on Mass Effect 2 (the game itself) beginning on the 16th as planned.  Have a good week everyone!

It is that time again folks.  No, I do not mean Christmas ... although that is just around the corner too.  I am actually talking about final paper due dates!  This is the absolute last time I plan on writing a graduate school paper, but in the mean time it is keeping me quite busy.  Tomorrow, when I take a break from researching Post-Colonial African Art, I will finish and post writing Meriel's last Mass Effect journals.  In addition to that, I have two other posts lined up that should take you through the middle of next week.  With Skyrim fever on hold, and papers due by the 15th of December, I plan on playing some serious catch-up with Mass Effect 2 when the 16th rolls around.   Just before Skyrim came out, I actually began playing Mass Effect 2, but I did not get very far before life took over again.  With graduate work out of the way, and thus evenings and weekends free, I plan to get back on a regular schedule and make it through ME2 in a timely manner.  I am so very sorry that ME1 took this long to finish.  Between unexpectedly heavy course loads, studying for comprehensive exams, and carpal tunnel flare-ups; there was unfortunately not much I could do about all that.

Here's to hoping that I did not lose you amidst all the delay, and I'll see you on the flip side.

Image: Source

Let's Watch - Tristania's "My Lost Lenore"

I'm still getting back into the swing of things after being MIA for a few weeks.  A new Mass Effect entry will be up Sunday, but in order to maintain the usual posting schedule I present you with a youtube video in the mean time. :)

As a side note, I would love to know exactly what it means to "secrete" one's soul.

The Insane Marketing of GOG

I would like to take a moment to applaud GOG.com.  Yes everyone is aware that I'm extremely in love with their company, but consider for a moment the legion of fans from around the world that flock to this retailer’s website every day to congregate on its boards.  You have to wonder what a retailer like that is doing differently.  In GOG's case the answer is easy.  They are clearly completely off their rocker.  As they build up to tomorrow's highly anticipated announcement of a new developer (Lucas Arts, EA,  Microsoft Games Studios, Square Enix or 2K), the GOG marketing team has been releasing an online comic series about the Evil Dr. M. (Think about it for a second).  The Evil Dr. M infiltrated GOG's offices in a YouTube video last September, and apparently his devious actions have not stopped.  He is currently on the run (but where?) and has been leaving casualties in his wake. The most notable casualty was that of the beloved French Monk.  (Thankfully the French Monk's demise has not stopped him from communicating with GOG-ers from the afterlife, as he dropped in on his own memorial post not too long ago to say hello.)  Every comic page holds cryptic textual and visual clues about the next developer and games to soon be available via GOG, and speculation is running rampant as fans pick every little detail apart.  GOG-ers can also track Dr. M's movements via his twitter feed (@TheEvilDrM) for clues regarding the evil mastermind's location and dastardly plans.

On one hand, this is a lot of trouble for one company to go to just to make a single announcement.  On the other hand, it is pure genius.  GOG, like its sister company CD Projekt RED, has always taken a very strong anti-DRM stance.  They stay extremely connected with their customers, they have the most responsive customer service around, they utilize media that their customers connect with, and they embrace the absurdity of gaming and geekdom whole heartedly.  Their transparency as a company is unparalleled.  They are not afraid to admit to their mistakes and when they seriously mess up, GOG goes above and beyond to make amends.  Above all they have a wacky, infectious humor that makes you wonder what the heck they were thinking.  More often than not GOG's staff seems to be having more fun with the company's marketing games then their fan base does.  All things considered, that is saying something.

The Dr. M comic series is just one piece in a puzzle of increasingly unique and inventive marketing schemes.  Sure the site has done the "post [message] on twitter and enter a drawing" type events, but it is the more imaginative ones which make site visitors pay attention.

1) Last fall GOG suddenly went off line without notice and left a coyly written note in its stead.  Users were rightly outraged, especially when they realized that it was a poorly advised marketing stunt, and for any other company that fallout could have been detrimental.  Thankfully, realizing their mistake, GOG took great strides to make amends.  They returned with fanfare, a free game, and videos.  Oh the videos.  Remember The French Monk earlier that Dr. M killed off?  That "monk" was the company's Managing Director Guillaume Rambourg dressed as a stereotypical RPG monk.  In a very peculiar, and embarrassingly cheesy (yet amusing) YouTube video he and another employee confessed and atoned for the website's sins (i.e. the ill-advised shut down).  Considering the amount of love that people have for Rambourg's character, killing him off in the latest comic was pure genius.  Now everyone is waiting around on pins and needles to find out when he will come back ... and how.  If you miss him in the meantime though, the website released a PaperCraft in his memory.


2) A couple of months ago, the website initiated a four part Quest wherein they asked GOG-ers to be Heroes and spread the word about their website.  In this month long campaign they asked the fans, among other things, to pick an RP  class, design a Neverwinter's Night module entitled "The DRM Monster and the Treasure of GOG", and write reviews.  The grand prize?  An actual, full-sized sword and shield.  The shield, of course, came emblazoned with "gog.com" upon its surface.

In the end we all know that the goal of advertising is to convince customers to buy things they didn't know they needed.  While this is certainly the root of GOG's creative marketing campaigns, the end result is something even bigger and less temporary.  As a company they aren't just convincing gamers to buy their product, they are convincing gamers to buy into an experience.  Instead of just the customer's money, GOG also earns the customer's affection.  Instead of just a  faceless group of individuals, GOG is a group of people with names and faces that their fans recognize and associate with.  With all the cold, impersonal companies out there on the web GOG is an absolute gem.  Everyone knows that the bottom line is important to the company's continued existence, but GOG realizes that an intense focus on this bottom line is not enough to make them stand out.  It's nice to see someone remember what customer loyalty is all about.

We could, of course, also just go with my first theory that Good Old Games is simply insane. They would have to be crazy to come up with some of the things they have. In the words of Australian GOG-er Virama, "Stop using drugs boys and get back to work...."

----------------------------------------------------

Catch up on the Evil Dr.M saga here and look for clues.

Don't forget that the GOG/CDPRed Spring conference will be streaming live tomorrow at 3pm EDT. There has been no mention of the conference's language so it's pretty safe to wager that it will be in English and not Polish.

Image: GOG 

Happy World Goth Day

Happy World Goth Day folks!  

Things have been kind of crazy here this past week and my posting schedule has reflected that.  This week should return to the usual schedule though.  In an effort to get back on schedule I'll be posting another journal entry for Shepard later tonight.

Image: Megan Balanck 

Castle

I was going to update Meriel's journal tonight.  When I was catching up on television from this past week that I had missed though, the last thing I watched was the Castle season 3 finale.  If you have seen the finale you will understand why I'm not exactly in the right mood.  It was amazing, but just ... wow.  Let's just say it was very intense.

See you tomorrow folks.

If you haven't seen Castle before, what have you been waiting for?

Just Kidding About That ...

Eeep!  I still have way too much to do before Monday night!  I'll see y'all sometime Wednesday instead.

In the meantime, let the sound of Jørn Lande's voice hold you over. 

The Search for Fuel 5

My hunt for the perfect gaming tea continues. Three weeks ago I reordered a package of Cranberry/Chocolate Tea, along with a number of other flavors, and have been enjoying them tremendously. This time around I decided to temporarily end my love affair with Rooibos tea and ordered three more, rather different flavors. Below is my assessment.

Honey/Ginger/Echinacea with Green Tea Base - This is some good stuff in the sense that it both smells delicious and tastes delicious.  Very light in nature, as I personally feel a proper green tea should be, the honey and ginger mix nicely without one overpowering the other.  I can be picky about which green teas I drink because, to be honest, I generally can't stand green tea.  There are exceptions, however, which namely involve jasmine or peppermint.  When I order this again I would probably ask them to emphasize the ginger a little bit more, but overall I cannot find fault with this mixture.
          Current Verdict - Very Good. Definitely Reorder.

Cider/Apple with Black Tea Base - I'm not entirely certain what I expected from this tea since it clearly would not end up tasting like actual apple cider.  I really don't have a great deal to say about it.  The apple flavor is not necessarily apple-y tasting, but it is not bad either.  The apple + cider combination is a very good one and fits nicely with its black tea base.  Overall I give this combination a thumbs up.
          Current Verdict -   Pretty Good. Reorder occasionally.

Pomegranate/Vanilla with Oolong Tea Base -   The amount of knowledge I have about oolong tea could be stored on the end of my pinky finger.  I didn't grow up drinking it, I don't really know anyone else who drinks it, and as a result anything i know about it comes from my very recent experience with it.  Last time I ordered a hazelnut/chocolate tea + oolong base and was not initially blown away.  Since then I have drunk a few more cups of the tea and found that I actually quite like it.  The base seems to lend itself to darker flavors and hazelnut/chocolate is certainly that.  When ordering this time around I set about trying to think what else might be paired with oolong and concluded that there exist few common fruits that taste darker then pomegranate.  Vanilla seemed a different, but not too crazy companion flavor so there you go.  First of all let me say that this combination smells really, really good in the bag.  Taste wise though, I think I still need to get used to the oolong flavor.  I don't dislike this tea, but I'm not entirely certain that I like it yet.  The pomegranate and vanilla go well together, it's just the base I'm not too certain about.  There are too many times lately that I have said I didn't like something, however, only to turn around a month later and say I really like it.  As a result, we're holding off on a verdict for now.
          Current Verdict - Reevaluate after it has a chance to grow on me.

Blackberry/Maple/Jasmine with Black Tea Base - This flavor (shown above in a clear bag) was a surprise gift from Design a Tea.  I'm fairly certain that I would not have ordered this on my own since I've had a number of dodgy experiences with "maple" things in the past.  I must say, however, that the overall flavor is quite good.  The maple is more of a suggestion then anything and really helps round out the tea's flavor.  It's not a dark tea by any stretch of the imagination (the jasmine helps ensure that) but it is not exactly light in nature either.  In the end I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but I know that I shall enjoy drinking it while working on final papers.  Thanks Brian :)
          Current Verdict - Good. Reorder.

The Search for Fuel 4

My hunt for the perfect gaming tea continues. A month ago I reordered a larger package of Rum/Plum/Lycii Berries Tea and it is now a staple in my kitchen, but we all like variety, right?  This time around I went with a chocolate theme.  Below is my assessment of these flavors.

Orange/Chocolate with Rooibos Base - This is a very mildly flavored tea.  Despite its extra emphasis on the orange, it still does not taste extremely orangy.  I can tell that it is orange chocolate, but that is about it.  The tea is very smooth, and actually tastes a bit like orange/chocolate cream if that is even possible.  It is a pleasant enough tea, and I'll enjoy drinking this flavor but I probably would not order it again.  This could, of course, be an issue with the tea base I chose as well.  The Orange/Chocolate tea would probably have a bit more oomph to it if I had ordered it with a black tea base instead of red tea.
          Current Verdict -  Pretty Good.  Do not re-order.

Cranberry/Chocolate with Rooibos Base - This is an excellent tea.  The first time I ordered it, I said that it was a bit too dark flavored for me.  The flavor has since grown on me, however, and has since become another favorite.  It tastes equally delicious with or without cream, and with Design a Tea emphasizing its cranberry flavor per request, the chocolate flavor is prevented from becoming too overpowering or bitter.  This time around I accidentally purchased tea bags instead of looseleaf.  Since all the tea is mixed at the time of purchase, however, the only real difference is the amount of actual tea I received.  Next time I'll just have to triple check to make sure that doesn't happen again.
          Current Verdict -  Staple.  Re-order before it runs out.

Chocolate/Hazelnut with Oolong Base - I'm going to preface this by saying that I really don't drink a lot of oolong tea.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I drank it at all.  The decision to use it as the base for this tea was a snap judgment based on little foreknowledge of how the flavors might mix together.  That said, I really quite like this tea.  The flavor is a bit ... different then I had anticipated, but it is by no means unpleasant.  Only time will tell what my overall opinion of it will be, but right now the verdict is "tasty, but won't be re-ordering."  The tea is delicious, but it's just not necessarily what I was looking for.  Maybe it would taste better with a regular black base?  I'll get back to you on that.
          Current Verdict -  Good.  Possibly re-order with black base.

The Search for Fuel 3

Well my search for the perfect gaming tea continues.  Two weeks ago I mentioned that the Rum/Plum/Lycii Berry tea I'd ordered from Design a Tea was phenomenal and it would become a staple in my tea line up.  In an effort to make good on this claim I've ordered a much larger bag of it, because let's face it ... the first bag was gone within a mere number of days.  Yes, it is that good.  Seeing how much I enjoyed the custom rum flavored tea, I ordered another of the company's signature teas - Tropical Snowflake.  A black based tea with rum and coconut, the rum flavor is nice and subtle as is the coconut.  They mix together nicely without one overpowering the other. Overall I like it and will certainly enjoy the tea, but I'm not certain I will buy it again.  It is really well made/mixed but I think I personally prefer things that aren't quite so light and floaty tasting.  On another note, the company sent me an extra, unsolicited packet of lycii berries with my order.  I'm not sure if it was intended for the Tropical Snowflake tea (should I choose to add it) or if it was meant as an optional addition to the Rum/Plum/Lycii Berry tea.  Either way, it was a very pleasant surprise and I shall be adding it into the Rum/Plum/Lycii Berry tea.  Well folks, that's one more tea down and in a few weeks I suspect that there'll be another one to discuss.

Coming Next - Thanks for hanging in there last week with all the work I had to do.  I hope you enjoyed playing around with the HHGTTG game on the BBC's website.  I find that it is an amusing way to procrastinate when more important matters should be commanding my attention.

Perra returns Wednesday afternoon with the coronation of Bhelen.  From there we will see how it all goes but I suspect that Perra's further adventures outside of Orzammar will continue on Friday night. 

DA:O - Perra's Tale This Week

Perra's story (starting with Bhelen's coronation) will return next week.  Unfortunately there are simply way too many demands on my time this week to play and blog her story.  I do have a couple of other fantasy related blurbs scheduled to post throughout the week though while I'm buried in my books.  Don't forget to tune in to check those out.  As for Perra, be looking for her to return at the very beginning of March.

Image: source 

The Search for Fuel 2

Almost two weeks ago I posted about my most recent tea purchases - two black tea mixes of Amaretto/Strawberry and Hazelnut/Vanilla.  I have enjoyed both of them, but I don't think either of them were the solution to my search for gaming fuel.  Yesterday in the mail I received the next wave of teas.

Rum/Plum/Lycii Berry - This has an amazing flavor.  I asked Design a Tea to place emphasis on the rum and the result did not disappoint.  This is some good stuff and has won itself a permanent position in my resident tea collection and gaming fuel repertoire.

Chocolate/Cranberry - Design a Tea, at my request, put extra emphasis on the cranberry which resulted in a surprisingly dark flavored tea.  I don't see myself drinking this on a regular basis, but it certainly would make a nice substitute for coffee on days when I want that dark flavor but none of the excessive caffeine.  This also would go nicely with cream.  If I order this again I will probably ask for an even heavier emphasis on the cranberry as the chocolate flavor is slightly overwhelming when consumed sans milk.

Update (2/28) - I drank almost the entire bag of this Chocolate/Cranberry mix while buried in my books last week ad have since acquired a taste for it.  I still like the Rum/Plum/Lycii Berry more, but the Chocolate/Cranberry mix is pretty divine once you get used to it.  I'm thinking of making this a "exam/paper time tea" to help me get focused.  It is dark enough to evoke thoughts of coffee, but when made with a Rooibos base it is caffeine-free.  It's like psyching myself into believing I'm drinking a caffeine loaded drink. :)

 

Ice Wine - I haven't actually had a chance to try this yet, but this is one of the company's pre-designed teas.  I read a review for it on Tea Review Blog and they made it sound divine.  I will try it tonight as I continue fighting my way through the Dead Trenches.

Update -  I have since tried the Ice Wine tea and it has a really nice smooth flavor to it.  I would certainly consider buying this again. 

This weekend is a busy one folks, so be looking for the next entry in Perra's story sometime late Monday night at the latest.

The Search for Fuel

If you're anything like me, then you are constantly on a search for the perfect gaming drink. No matter who you are, if you do any extensive gaming at all then you can agree that nutrient intake is all but essential to the experience. Over time my tastes have changed. I used to consume vast quantities of diet soda, and sometimes still do, but since I usually play in the wee hours of the morning that caffeine consumption is not conducive to sleep before work/class/errands/life. Sometimes I drink instant cappuccinos (very high in caffeine) while other times it is Sprite or some other caffeine free soda. In the most recent months I've taken to keeping a supply of those sparkling, flavored waters in the fridge for such occasions. Today I thought I'd share my most recent addition to the list - custom teas. Generally I'm a big fan of English Breakfast, Lady Grey, Earl Grey, and Black Current teas. Every once in a while though they get old. A few weeks ago I discovered an old teabag of Hazelnut Vanilla tea in the corner of my cabinet. Once the flavor-of-the-moment a couple of years back, no one apparently makes this flavor anymore so I began to look for custom sites. Above is my most recent order from Design a Tea. The current cup of Amaretto Strawberry is pretty awesome, but I don't know if this is the next incarnation of gaming fuel yet. Allow me a few more cups and then maybe a decision can be reached.