Puceronie

Archive for the ‘Games’ Category

A Much Better Look

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

I hope you had a merry time for this year's winter (or summer) solstice and wish you a happy new Gregorian year.

As you might have noticed, I finally put up a new layout. It does retain elements from the previous one (noticeably the platypus on the header), but sees a major improvement in color scheme. There might very well still be quirks here and there, but overall it should work fine.

One problem I have is with the header. It worked fine when I didn't see the Delicious bookmarks while working offline, but not I think it looks too huge. Perhaps I'll scrap the bookmarks altogether and replace them with something else. Or maybe try with only 3 bookmarks?

Anyway. If I haven't blogged in a while, it's simply because there isn't much interesting to say. :D I have quit my job. I received RPG Maker VX, Dexter season 2 on DVD and a PlayStation 2 (!, used, from my brother) for Christmas. The later was really unexpected, but I was very happy.

It has been brought to my attention that the platypus on the header image looks a lot like the Pokémon Psyduck. I assure you this was completely unintentional. Psyduck is, well, a duck, but with hands and whatnot that make him look like a platypus. My brother-in-law, who created this cute platypus, has no interest in Pokémon and merely followed my instructions (a goofy looking platypus). It even has claws and a flat tail!

Paying For Free Things

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Well, first of all, this layout will be going soon, I hope. I'm really tired of looking at it. So when you see the site is under maintenance, you'll know the reason. It seems like I should update my version of Wordpress too, so that will all be done at the same time.

Anyway, on to the main topic of this post. My brother and sister were discussing online games. More particularly, they talked about an online RPG-like game my brother plays. The game is free, but you can get more features if you buy a membership. The same goes for a game I play, DragonFable. You can register for free and play for free too, but there are items and quests that are only available to paying players.

They both agreed that they didn't see a reason to pay for something which you can get for free. There I completely disagree. Like everyone I do enjoy free things. One of the reasons I use OpenOffice and Firefox is because I don't pay for them.

I would gladly contribute money to some projects such as DragonFable (I really have to get around to buy a DragonAmulet there!). Why? Because there are people behind that project. Sure, they have advertising and probably another job. They're however devoting many hours of their time to this project. What's a small 30 something dollars contribution from me compared to all the time and effort that goes behind the creation of a video game?

I enjoy their game, using their creation, and loading their servers with one more person. I certainly don't see that "investment" as being a waste for me.

Now to Become a Card Trader

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

I have been stalking the world of online TCGs (Trading Card Games) for years. Seeing all those pretty little buttons perfectly aligned makes me feel all speshul. Today, for the first time, I actually *joined* one: Sugar&Spice. Doesn't that thing make you very, very hungry all of a sudden? For the occasion, naturally, I have set up a TCG post which I am very looking forward to filling up a bit more. I will however wait a bit before joining more TCGs. I want to test one first.

DragonFable Comments and Resources

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

That my AdventureQuest resources post would have a follow up was merely a question of when I would finally get around to sitting down doing it.

So, here we go. Let's talk about DragonFable, another game by Artix Entertainment. Before going into the resources (which you can access by simply scrolling down), I will add a few comments as to why I prefer DragonFable over AdventureQuest.

  • Fewer players means that you never have to wait to log in, even if you don't have a paid account (called Dragon Amulets). Just go to the site and log in.
  • Being more recent and smaller means the graphics are of better quality. If you fight against some old enemies in AQ (and there are lots of them!), you will see that they usually greatly lack in texture, making them look much more cheap. While DragonFable might not always be a chef d'oeuvre of digital art, the graphics are overall much better.
  • The damage formula has changed, making the game far easier and far less frustrating. Easier is not always better but, in this particular case, it is.

So, on with the actual resources. As with AdventureQuest, the forums are definitely the place to go for information. What's great is that most questions are already answered.

The Encyclopedia is filled with lots of information which can always be useful. Here are a few very useful threads. "A-Z" threads contain a list of equipment, monsters, etc., with links to individual threads about said equipment, monster, etc.

This concludes our tour. You are welcome to ask me any questions (regarding the game!) that aren't answered up there.