Guild Wars 2 Team Covers Their Loot System, Hints at Crafting

ArenaNet's John Hargrove posted on the official ArenaNet blog, discussing the as-of-yet mysterious reward system. He addresses the four principles the Guild Wars 2 team kept in mind while designing the looting mechanics:

1. "Everybody gets a swing at the proverbial pinata"
2. "Rewards should be worth obtaining"
3. "Players should look the way they want to look"
4. "Players should be able to look truly unique"
5. "Upgrading your gear should be fun"

Kalypso Media to Release "The First Templar"

Bulgarian video game developer, Haemimont Games (who developed Tropico 3), is looking to deliver an action RPG set in the Middle Ages called The First Templar. It is set to be released by Kalypso Media in 2011.

The video above, which previewed at E3 2010, displays solid-looking combat against what seems to be an ogre as well as assassinations that would make Altair proud. I'm not really sure how an ogre fits into the historical Middle Ages, but the game's story follows a French Templar on a quest to discover the secret behind the Holy Grail.

Everything is Better with Lightsabers

It's a lazy weekend (and I'm procrastinating a little bit), so in an effort to spread some fun, I'm posting YouTube videos about lightsabers make everything better.

None of these videos are made by me and I make no claims to them. They are the works of their respective editors. I simply want to show the world video evidence that LIGHTSABERS MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER!

BioWare releases more Smuggler info

BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic recently released more information on the Republic's Smuggler class. Just as the Sith Warrior emulates Darth Vader and the Bounty Hunter emulates Boba Fett, the Smuggler is SWTOR's Han Solo.

Notebook: Frontiers

This is the beginning of a new series on my blog. Notebook will be a collection of short stories, or in some cases, excerpts from longer works, written by yours truly. I apologize in advance if there are errors in some of these works as they are mostly rough drafts. Final drafts can be found posted on Scribophile. I appreciate any critiquing, as long as they are constructive, that you may choose to offer.

Frontiers

By Blake Gabriel

::Incoming transmission::

[...]
[...]
[...]

::Connecting to receiving module::
::Transmission received::

[Greetings]
[I know this goes against every protocol in the Navy, but I had no other choice]
[This is the only way I can be sure our story can be told without Confederate interference or corporate censorship]

[This is the only way we can be heard]

[...]

[I am Acting Captain William S. Booker of the Confederate expeditionary frigate, Columbus. We were deployed on an exploratory mission in the Strahl Nebula in an effort to establish contact with alien species suspected to be inhabiting the systems within the nebula]

[Nobody expected to find what we did]

Choosing Sides and Crossing Fences

I always knew I'd put up some kind of political post on this blog someday. I just never figured it'd be something like this. To begin with, I used to be interested in politics. It was my junior year in high school when I took A.P. Government and political debate seemed to be the norm. Everyone was just coming into their own beliefs and ideas and everybody wanted to share them. I even worked for the McCain campaign (Don't laugh; everybody worked for Obama) for a little bit.

Perhaps it was that experience that soured me on politics. It doesn't really matter to me. Republicans, Democrats, Tea Party - I think they're all sleazy, especially if they're in any position of power. Power corrupts, right? Okay, I'm sure there are plenty of guys actually dedicated to civic service and ably representing their constituents. There might even be more of them than there are corrupt sleazebags, but I figure if I just auto-assume that every one of them is a corrupt sleazebag, then the nice guys will surprise me. I mean, I can't really be disappointed this way.

But upon coming to college, I've seen more than a dozen recruitment posters for organizations like College Democrats or College Republicans. I even hear there was a Democratic Socialists club? All I know is that there's a bunch of them drunk on the recruiting drive (that's a figure of speech, but this being OU, I wouldn't be surprised if it was taken literally) and they all want me, you, and that other guy to join. It's not an easy decision though. There's only so much of me to go around. And how the heck are you supposed to decide in such a short amount of time?

Impressions: The Suburbs by Arcade Fire

I am, by no means, an avid fan of Arcade Fire. I enjoy their music, but I make no claims to understanding it. This Impressions piece is strictly from the point of view of someone who happens to like the sound of indie music, but isn't really (really) into the whole indie movement.

So, onto The Suburbs, Arcade Fire's latest album. I've always been confused. Is it The Arcade Fire or just Arcade Fire? That's getting off track, however. I'm sorry; it's an early morning in between classes and I thought I'd make the most of it by finishing this blog post.

The Suburbs is a continuation of the Arcade Fire sound that I first heard in Neon Bible and later, Funeral. Yes, I know, Funeral was released earlier, but my Arcade Fire experience wasn't really chronological. But it's safe to assume that if you enjoyed the earlier albums, you'll like The Suburbs.