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T-Hybrid

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Blog Entries posted by T-Hybrid

  1. T-Hybrid
    What a night. I showed up at the store at 8, and it was a good thing I did. There was already about 15 people wandering around the store waiting for registration. By about 8:30 there were 30+, so they lined us up and did the signup early. At that point, I learned that the nearby Best Buy had put a demo out. So I jumped in the car and cruised over there.
     
    But that's all side stuff. The real fun stared once they lined us up outside and started calling names for the tourney. It's a smaller store, so they only let in the two people who were fighting that round, with the employees serving as the audience. The TV faced away from the windows, so the crowd was left watching reactions to figure out what was going on.
     
    A few rounds in, the crowd started getting into it. Chants of "RAN. DOM. GUY!" started up as people began picking favorites and showing support. Few of us actually got each other's names, which lent itself to finding other things to chant when somebody we had been talking to had their turn. But we didn't really get into it until one match pit two brothers against each other. There was a loud "Oooooh!" as they entered the store. And when the younger brother won, he was greeted by chants of "LITTLE KID! LITTLE KID!", which drew a wide smile.
     
    I lost in the first round, as detailed eariler. At that point I had to run back to the apartment to grab my Wii Code. I got a few of those, and a few Gamertags. So hopefully I'll start building a good list of friends to play against. I could tell one guy was a Melee pro, so I look forward to going up against him. I had some friends that were incredible at Melee, and I only got better by playing against them.
     
    By about 11:30, the crowd was really into it. The group in the front, just ahead of me, started up "100 Copies of Brawl on the Wall!" and showed the dedication to count all the way down to 1. There was one kid in line who kept interjecting "Brawl s--ks!" or "<#> copies of Halo on the wall!" I have no idea why he was in line...but it was interesting to actually witness a troll in real life. I was fully expecting him to start yelling "First", or start communicating in Leet. But in a show of equal dedication (or just outright stubborness) he kept up his yells jsut as long as the singers.
     
    The game came out at midnight on the dot. And by 12:15 I was back home and playing. I was up until 4 (that's counting the hour lost to Spring Forward). I slept until about 11. It felt good.
     
    I've added my Brawl friend code to the Vital Links section to the left. I probably won't take it online until I've unlocked a few of the characters I used in Brawl. And I may toy around with Stage Builder a bit too. But I look foward to seeing you on the Battlefield!
  2. T-Hybrid
    Nintendo stole the thunder from my Fantasy Draft a few weeks back when they annouced King Dedede out from underneathe me. I promised that I wouldn't let it happen again, and today I keep that promise.
     


    T-Hybrid
    Franchise: Create-a-Character
    First Appearance: Dynasty Warriors 4 (as Torhu Xi)
    Why?: This is purely an ego move. And after all, it is a Fantasy Draft. So why not have some fun and think about what it would be like to have my own character in Smash Bros. Could I take on Mario? Stand up to Samus? Stare down Master Hand? I had thought about adding myself in the draft as a way to have fun with it. And it's my birthday tomorrow, so why not go a little crazy in the name of celebration?
    Appearance: What you see is what you get. I'm a pretty casual guy, and yes...I do own a jacket that looks like that. In fact, I've got two. At one point while in the dorms, somebody pointed out that my winter coat and summer jacket were essentially the same thing. Blue Adidas with the white stripes. As such, it sorta became my "look". It's not anything fancy, or flashy...just what I wear. And since my favorite color is blue, and the theme of the Haven is the Blue Vice, it fits in well.
    Moveset: It fed my ego enough to put myself in the game, but I'm going to refrain from making myself broken. Nobody likes cheap characters. And since T-Hybrid (or some variation of Torhu or Hybrid) is a name I use frequently both online and in games, why not make my Brawl version an amalgam of the various fandoms I belong to? Hsi standard attacks would be a string of combos similiar to a Dynasty Warriors character (I would be swinging a Great Sword, as is my usual weapon when I create a character in DW). Up+B would draw at the Kanohi Miru and lift him back to the platform. For Down+B, Hybrid would grab his guitar (it'd be from Guitar Hero of course) and strum a chord that would stun his opponents. A second strum while stunned would launch them back. Standard B would charge the Kamehameha from Dragonball fame. Side Smash attack would be a strong Throat Punch (in-joke, but he has to have it). Up and Down Smashes? I think just a standard uppercut for a pop-up, and then some kind of hard strike down for the down-smash. The taunt would be a brush of the hair and the little hand sign that Maes Hughes throws out in the Full Metal Alchemist opening.
    Final Smash: The theme at the Haven is Digimon (and the Blue Vice). So Hybrid's ultimate attack would involve calling forth ViceGreymon Code Blue and unleashing his Blue Heaven attack. Hybrid would perform an abbreviated Hyper-Evo (as seen in Digimon Frontier), which would bring his Digimon partner into battle. Then from the background, ViceGreymon would unleash the attack which would rain down from the top of the screen. It would be dodgable, since no Final Smash is a guaranteed hit, however it would be tough to do so.
     
    This is purely fantasy, but I thought it would be fun to take a break from existing sleeper hits and have a little fun in the name of vanity. Hopefully this inspiries you gamers out there to dream up a character of your own. I'd consider starting a spinoff of the Draft linking to other people's ideas if they start making them.
     
    Well, g'night. I'm going to get some sleep tonight so I can fully enjoy tomorrow. As a famous movie baddie once said: "Oh yes. There will be cake!"
     
    ...At least I think that's what he said.
  3. T-Hybrid
    "Rock This Town" once again proved to be my downfall. But for an official event held in the Rotunda of the MoA, the GHII Tourney on Saturday sure seemed pretty unprofessional. Since my one and only performance was at 12:15, I was left with quite a bit of time to discuss the merits of the contest with those around me.
     
    For starters, the field was open to over 200 competitors...however, the limited time constraints for the tourney left them able to only take the top 10 scores. 10 out of 200. One song eliminated 190 people. Which means after all the excitement and all the build-up, most everybody who went to the MoA on Saturday ended up being done after only 4 minutes. Hardly exciting.
     
    There were other problems to. The biggest was the apparant inability of the organizers to realize the significance of HD Lag in any sort of gaming. Especially one who's major focus is on timing. Anybody who has an HD TV knows that there is a certain lag associated that doesn't exist in an old school fat TV. So failure to properly calibrate the delay left each player with a different delay, and no opportunity to adjust for it (I've played GHII on a 360, so I've come to realize that if the game isn't properly calibrated for the lag it can take anywhere from two to three songs to get used to the delay). This wasn't helped any bit by the fact that the entire tournament was played on Expert.
     
    That's really my biggest complaint. If MoA and GameStop are supposedly trying to draw a diverse fanbase and make the tourney accessible, why set it at the absolute highest difficulty? There's a big enough cut-off when people transition from Medium to Hard, as there's an extra bit of practice required to start moving your pinky to hit that fifth button. Expert Mode is just that. If you think of Easy as the Tutorial portion of the game, Medium becomes a more standard difficulty. Hard is a good enough difficulty level for an open tournament, as anybody who's good enough to win a tournament on Expert is theoretically good enough to rise to the top of the pack in the Hard setting.
     
    There were other issues. Since this was organized by GameStop, every store in the district was asked to bring their 360 Kiosk to the Rotunda. These were all wired together and hooked into some massive power supply somewhere. Whoever set it all up though didn't realize the kind of juice the whole thing would be pulling though. Throughout the opening rounds of the "tournament", one entire section of 360's would repeatedly power down. Not surprisingly, most of the people who were forced to start over (some people had to restart twice) didn't make it through. Why? Because they were slowly getting adjusted to the Lag, which was then restarted (and never recalibrated by the organizer) when the machine was powered down.
     
    All in all, the whole thing turned into a joke. There were people who I knew could do better who were coming out of it with scores between 50-60%. This is not a game where you can just get "lucky" and get a high score. If you can consistently get a certain range, that's the range you'll get anytime. You're not going to consistently hit 95% in a certain song, then suddenly fall apart and hit only 55%. And when everybody mentioned the lag as they came out of there...yeah.
     
    It's sad when an tourney at a local restuarant is more professional and entertaining than a large-scale public event. And if anybody who was running that tourney is reading this...next time make sure you make that if you're going to set up a website ahead of time, you actually go ahead and put more info on there. Because had I known it was going to be on Expert...and there was a good liklihood I'd only play one song in the whole 4 hour period, I wouldn't have bothered. I'm not good enough on Hard yet to even think about playing on Expert. The whole thing was just a waste of my time. And for shoppers who were watching, it was the same song...over and over again (the first two hours were people playing Rock This Town). Hardly entertaining for them.
     
    I hope they learn from this, and next time have qualifiers at Local Gamestops. That way by the time it gets to the MoA event, they can have a solid bracket already built...and everybody just plays on the same giant TV. That way it's the same lag, and the audience sees a variety of songs.
  4. T-Hybrid
    Looking back at the calendar, I haven't been updating or writing much lately. Things have been a bit hectic at work, with a release going out to customers this past weekend. I'm well into my next set of projects, and am getting caught up a bit, so I'm mentally exhausted as well as physically these days when I get home (working out is tough...but it's gotten a bit easier thanks to having some music to listen to rather than nothing).
     
    Couple of updates though since I have a chance. One is that I'm in a volleyball league at a local establishment. Co-ed, every Tuesday evening. It's not too much physical activity, and will hopefully help me continue to adjust to being in social situations (getting out of the "gaming mindset" has been interesting, that's for sure). Hopefully I'll have good things to report from that as it goes on.
     
    In other news, picked up Mario Kart for the Wii. Initially plugged in the wheel just to try it out, fully intent on switching over to the Wavebird once the novelty wore off. Well it hasn't yet, and I've gotten pretty good at steering. It's more intuitive than I thought, and I've found myself enjoying actually being able to will the kart to turn my moving my body.
     
    It also helps you can unlock yourself as a racer. Though after four months of working out I'm a bit disappointed that my virtual self has been designated as a "heavyweight". He's surprisingly good though. Look for my MKWii code to be added in the "Vital Links" tab sometime in the next day or so.
     
    That's about it from me for now. Hopefully I'll have some good stories to tell once volleyball starts up.
  5. T-Hybrid

    Burst!

    By T-Hybrid,

    T-Hybrid is busy working his tail off this week to make up for textbook costs. He has once again turned to his guest writer to fill in.
     
    First things first, you may notice a few changes in the appearance. Mostly Kouki's new button and my own upgrade. Things are changing at the Haven and us two are sure signs of it. After about a month of toying around with various elements, T's been able to come up with a way to give us both upgrades to our Ultimate stage so that we better fit the theme around here.
     
    Kouki's now paired with BioDarkdramon, which is pretty awesome looking. But nobody got it better than me. Notice the flaming swords? How about the shiny new wings? Yep, I'm ViceGreymon Code Blue and I'm lovin' it! It was fun having a revolver strapped to my arm for the last half a year or so, but now I actually have a hand over there. And that makes things like typing so much easier!
     
    It's also made guarding the place a breeze. Nobody really wants to challenge a oversize lizard with blue-flames where his wings should be. It was draining for T to actually get the work done, but I think his efforts payed off. The place actually looks good with all us Ultimate's running around.
     
    Not much else to report, except that the Boss has his financial affairs all in order this month. Much faster than he usually does. Book charges were a bit rough. He said something like $200 for three classes. But that's the breaks for his major. The upside is its the last time he'll ever have to buy books. Ever.
     
    Well, I'm off to get back to my post. Gotta show off the new guns to the ladies. Adios!
  6. T-Hybrid
    So I'm going crazy trying to find a movie that came out a loooong time ago. It's called Sidekicks and it stars none other than the legendary Chuck Norris. I know somebody that is a huge fan of his, and I'm pretty sure they've never actually seen this, so I want to get it for them as a joke gift of sorts. The only problem is I can't find a Region 1 DVD of it, anywhere.
     
    If anybody knows a reliable place that might have copies of this, that would be awesome. Best Buy and Amazon have been busts.
  7. T-Hybrid

    Can't Talk. Arting.

    By T-Hybrid,

    So after not having had motivation to put pencil to paper for almost two full years...something has inspired me to start drawing again. I have no idea why, nor do I have any idea what exactly it is I'm going to be doing with them. So bear with me as I start dumping my artings.
     
    Here's the first: a guitarist. He kinda looks like me, but he's really not supposed to be me. I cheated on the face and draw sunglasses (I'm still learning eyes). I like how the feet turned out (I've never really gotten how to do shoes). The guitar didn't turn out too bad, but in retrospect the pose isn't quite what it should be. A more natural position would have been to have the elbow down, holding the guitar so it's actually resting on his shoulder and pointing up. As it is, it ended up looking like Cloud Strife's art from FFVII. And I dunno if one would charge into battle with only an acoustic guitar.
     
    Depending on feedback, and how badly these sketches throw off the page formating, I might continue dumping. If image size gets to be a problem let me know, and I'll start posting links instead.
  8. T-Hybrid

    Cat's Outta The Bag Now

    By T-Hybrid,

    Warning. The following content discusses the '08 sets.

    » Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «Okay, I didn't know what we're allowed to say and what we can't without using spoiler warnings, so this whole entry today is one big spoiler tag. Hope it's not too annoying. 
    But anyway, now that the 08 sets have been revealed through "legal" means, we at BZP are free to discuss what we think of them. And personally, I'm on the fence. I find Pohatu's design...confusing. But Kopaka and Lewa's both look pretty nice. I like the idea of flying Toa.
     
    -Leaked information removed.-Shine-
     
    I'll definately get the Toa out of tradition, and eagerly await the release of the remaining Toa. Not to mention wait impatiently for my chance to buy Ignika. Care to start throwing theories around as to who he is? (Yeah, my money's on Matoro too...)
     
    As far as packaging goes, the canister sets are officially dead. In fact boxes now appear to be a thing of the past. Hopefully these new "little sets" won't come at too boosted a price to cover the upgrade. But if that happens, it's a simple matter of speaking with the wallet, not with the ol' Blog.
     
    So now I join the rest of you in waiting for these puppies to become available. And hopefully that won't be too much longer.
  9. T-Hybrid
    T-Hybrid is busy today finalizing the paper work that will sign over the Haven to its new owners. In his absence, he has requested his new guest writer fill in.

    Good day to you ladies and gentlemen of BZPower. My name is RhodoKnightmon, and I have been asked by Mr. Hybrid to serve as protector of the Rose Garden while he is away on business. As such, it will be my duty to submit entires when he is unable to do so himself.

    Yesterday's annoucement must have come as a bit of a shock to those of you who have been longtime readers of Mr. Hybrid's blog, but I assure you that he put a significant amount of thought into the decision. I do believe I even saw a tear in his eye as he said his farewells to that bullish ViceGreymon. But it comes as a change for the best, as his new alliance with the Vice-Sisters will ensure a more cheerful and overall calming lifestyle.

    I must admit there are some aspects of Mr. Hybrid's attitude that I find less than appealing, but I'm sure the Sisters and I will be able to teach him some civility. What this means for the content of the Garden is currently unknown, but if worse comes to worse I can promise you that I will be able to step in and amuse you with my anecodotes.

    On a more personal note, I have received numerous messages in my short time at the Garden inquiring as to the nature of my gender. This honestly does confuse me, as I can't understand how the site of a pink knight with a flower theme could possibly lead to any second-guessing. It should be just as apparent as it is with Frieza from Dragonball Z, or Pat from that hilarious Saturday Night Live.

    With that said, I would again like to welcome you to The Rose Garden. Mr. Hybrid sincerely appreciates your stopping by.
  10. T-Hybrid

    Christmas Comes Early

    By T-Hybrid,

    Was out at Wal-Mart this morning to do some last minute shopping, stopped by the LEGO section out of habit and was surprised to see a small selection of Phantoka sets. I'm waiting till after the New Years to do any serious shopping, so I settled for Toa Ignika.
     
    It's a pretty cool set. The Toa looks good, though I'd rather he (it?) had a more colorful Kanohi (first Matoro and Nuparu get Silver Kanohi, and now Ignika...) The jet board is probably my second favorite out of the four extra-Toa pack-ins. Kikanalo of course being #1. I wish it had better landing gear, as right now it doesn't sit level unless you prop the back end up on something. But Ignika looks great riding on it.
     
    Haven't had a chance to play with the new launcher, but it feels solid, and I'm fairly sure it'll launch quite a ways. All in all, it's a good teaser for me and the 2008 sets. Once they're more readily available, and I've got a bit more cash, I'll start picking them up (Toa only for now).
     
    Now if only I could figure out what point there is for the little guys riding on the big guys...
  11. T-Hybrid

    Christmas Hauls

    By T-Hybrid,

    First off, a friendly reminder that I'm now on Twitter. So stop by and say hey! I tend to update that more often these days since I'm able to post to it on the go. Can't promise it'll always be interesting, but I figure once I get more followers I'll be able to use it more for sharing ideas than the current brain dump it is.
     
    That said..it's the post-Holiday season, a time of exchanges, returns, and assessing the damage to your pocketbook. In the meantime, here's the pile of goodies that I recieved this season.
    Cash Best Buy gift cards Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Dress shirt/argyle sweater combo atomic clock w/ temp sensor veggie chopper new picture frame for 5 5x7 photos The Smurf's DVD (white elephant) Hand flexers (stress grips) Vikings t-shirt centerpiece for coffee table + candle This year's overall theme was "class it up". The clock, frame, and centerpiece were inteded to add some style to my place. They go with the new furniture I brought in over the course of the year really well. I quickly used part of the BB cards on Inception. So that means I now own my two favorite movies of 2010 (Scott Pilgrim and Inception). I also used some of the cash to pick up some games at a B2G1 sale (Guitar HeroL Warriors of Rock, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and Dante's Inferno). 
    Looking forward to cracking open the book as well, as I've read the author's other work "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" and loved it. Will probably grab "Earth: The Book" this week as well.
     
    I teamed up with my sister this year to get our parents and grandma a nice set of professional portraits. I've been doing giftcards and such a lot the past few years so this time I figured it was time for something different.
  13. T-Hybrid
    In the comments for yesterday's entry, I recieved an unusual suggestion from one Pohatu: Toa Of Electronics. Being the kind of guy I am, I decided I'd follow this advice for today's entry.
     
    Personally, I can't stand sour cream...or mayo for that matter...there's something about the texture that just doesn't sit with me when I'm trying to enjoy my food. This is probably also caused by the fact that no restaurant is able to include this type of condiment without lathering it on as though it were some kind of meal in itself. There's something so wrong about biting into a sandwhich, burrito, or taco and feeling the innards slide out on a bed of white dressing. Because of this, not a fan of those. However, Cream Cheese (as used in cheesecakes) is alright in my book.
     
    And, oh boy, fruit-filled pastries. I have to tell you, the highlight of my school lunch at least twice a week was the little pocket-pie that they included as a dessert. There was a light glaze, and usually they had strawberry or blueberry inside. Those of course are my two favorite berries. I wish I knew what they were actually called, as then maybe I'd be able to buy a few to include with my meals at home. Other fairly delicious fruit-filled delights would include strudel (not to be confused with strussel as I came to understand), actual fruit-pies, and jelly doughnuts.
     
    Well, that about wraps up today's entry. Sort of an interesting aside into an otherwise pretty casual blog. Maybe I should do stuff like this more often.
  14. T-Hybrid

    Creepy Girl

    By T-Hybrid,

    In my time on the Internet, I've come to accept that dynamically generated banner ads that come up on each page. But lately, there's been one that's shaken me to my very foundation.
     
    I'm speaking of a specific ad for something called "Chemistry." Now, I always thought these dynamically generated ads came based on the various content of the page their loading on (and I will most likely summon forth another one just by mentioning it in this post. Perhaps it was the mix of Video Game and Bionicle talk on this blog that lead it to somehow know I was single, though I have a different theory.
     
    It's Creepy Girl. Maybe you've seen her. She's the random woman that appears in one of those Chemistry ads staring out from the page. I'd argue she's staring deep into your soul, reading you for the purpose of generating dynamic ads on the pages you view.
     

    Look at her. She's watching you. So beware. Chemistry knows what you're thinking, and I would guess that they know where you live.
  15. T-Hybrid

    Dedication

    By T-Hybrid,

    My friends and I went to Walmart to pick up grocieries yesterday. With the Wii only a few days from release, I made a stop in electronics to get some information regarding how the store would handle those who wish to line-up on launch day.
     
    Thankfully, the guy in electronics said they'd have no problem with it...regardless of when you decided to get in line. He made his point more clear by gestering towards layaway, where three people were already camped out for the Playstation 3. Two guys sat on lawn chairs, while the third (who I couldn't tell if he was first or third) was walking in a circle juggling some balls he had brought with.
     
    Now, I consider myself a pretty diehard gamer...but this to me just sounds crazy. I suppose news of PS3's possibly being in short supply at launch may have contributed in part. But now I am concerned for my own chances of landing a Wii on the 19th. My group of friends on campus will be taking a trip to the Mall of America on Saturday, a good hour from the apartment. We'll most likely make it back before too late in the evening, but if people get in line as early as they did for the PS3 those 20 Wiis that Walmarts ad promised may quickly fade away.
     
    Fates appear to be conspiring right now. Whether it's against me or with me I've yet to decide. But all I know is that I can't be as dedicated as those three noble souls who got to Walmart sometime yesterday morning. Of course, how funny would it be if come Thursday night they're still the only people in line until about 2-3 hours before launch?
  16. T-Hybrid
    93+ Hours: 159 Seen, 92 Obtained. 8 Badges, 1 Championship
     
    At exactly 1 am this morning, I was victorious. After more than a month of on again, off again training and playing, I was able to finish off the Elite Four and become the Champion in Pokemon Diamond. Comparred to the previous games, I have to say this was a tougher Elite Four than the last few gens, especially the champion, who was more difficult than the last two and could probably give the original Rival a run for his money.
     
    Having seen all 150 Shinnoh Region Pokemon, the next step of the game is collecting the remaining Legendary Pokemon and attempting to complete the full dex. If you're keeping score at home, that's over 490 Pokemon. But not much over. So from the above status report, you can tell I've got a LONG way to go. For now, if I can just see most of them...I'll consider it a victory.
     
    But my best option is to start breeding back in Sapphire and LeafGreen, then transfer the freshly hatched babies to Diamond. This is opposed to just clearing out the two previous Gen games. I put a lot of hours into those two games, and have some decent Pokes that I'm going to use in Colleseum and XD on the Cube.
     
    From there, who knows. Battle Revolution is coming soon for the Wii, so I'm hoping to have a decent Battle Team together to start fighting my way through that game. And then, if I'm lucky, I'll have a team I'm confident enough in to start getting into more PvP battling. Haven't fought a human since way back in the Red/Blue/Yellow days.
     
    I'm enojying this game quite a bit. There is a lot to do. Like, an FFXII load of things to do.
  17. T-Hybrid
    There's a new Digimon series coming this year. Digimon Around. Not sure what the title means, but the new promo pic is interesting...

    Looks like we're going to get a Digimon meets Power Rangers with a touch of Transformers. Kinda interested in what we're gonna see from this toy wise. I could use an excuse to buy some more transformers!
     
    The only downside...no Blue Digivice. At least not yet. So no opportunity to induct a new member into the Blue Vice. More details as they become available!
  18. T-Hybrid

    Disturbing Behavior

    By T-Hybrid,

    T-Hybrid hasn't been himself lately. His usual guest writer has taken it upon himself to submit today's entry.

    I wasn't worried when T moved out of the Haven. He promised the place would still be bouncin' and that I'd always have work. But he's coming up on his one year anny at work and they've figured out that he's gotten a heckuva lot better at what he does. So there's more work, more pressure, and less time overall. I think he's just drained at the moment.

    I overheard him tellin the family about his first official review and that it went well enough that he got a raise. The next review could bring a promotion, but that's not for another year or so. Way away from now.

    But lately he gets back from work exhausted and just crashes in front of the TV for the night. Dunno if he's just in a creative funk or what's the deal. Frankly I'm kinda worried. He don't go out much these days, and he's gotten sucked into Wikipedia. He was muttering somethin about null edits and "NPOV"....whatever that means.

    I'm thinkin if this keeps up he's gonna turn into one of those weird cat people. You know, the kind that keeps waaaaay too many cats in their apartments and gives them people names like "Bob" or "Steve". He's allergic and all...at least he said he was...but I'm not too sure anymore. He was over at a Target the other day and I swear I saw him cheatin a glance at litterbox prices.
  19. T-Hybrid

    Do You Tweet? (updated!)

    By T-Hybrid,

    So over Thanksgiving I upgraded to one of them smartphones that I kept hearing about. It's got Android on it, so I've got all of the social media apps with me on the go. Including Twitter. I guess before I go much further, is posting your Twitter handle against the BPZ rules? If it isn't, then I'll update accordingly if you're interested in following me.
     
    So how about you guys? You tweet?
     
    Update! For those of you interested, I can be found at "trtx84". I have my profile set to manually approve, so be sure to post here if you try to follow me so I know you aren't a spam bot. Been seeing a lot of those lately!
  20. T-Hybrid
    This was something my roomies heard quite frequently last night as I cracked open FFXII for the first time. I didn't plan on getting this game so soon, but after reviewing my birthday and holiday list...I discovered I had made this glaring omission. Since I had sold my Gamecube, I needed something to tide me over until I was able to actually secure a Wii. That's where the adventures in Ivalice come in.
     
    I'm only four hours in, but I have to say that I'm impressed. The battle system has taken some getting used to, and I'm considering staying in Wait Mode despite how it can sometimes slow the action down. My Gambits (the command chains that tell a CPU Controlled party member how to act) aren't able to handle a very complex set, so I find it's easier if I turn those off and issue commands one at a time. It's also fun in the middle of combat to set a character to do something and then hotswap to a different party member. I'm sure I'll get the nuances down as I play further in.
     
    The story so far has some interesting elements going already. Nothing too unpredictable yet, but it's setting itself up for some big stuff, you can feel it in the air (as much as artificial air can feel). I'm looking forward to where it's going, that's for sure.
     
    My only beef would be in regards to the License Board, which is essentially FFX's Sphere Grid on steroids. This is perhaps the most control I've had over a character's developement, and honestly I'm completely overwhelemd at this point. Each character starts in essentially the same spot, and it's up to the player to determine what they're going to be capable of. This goes right down to the accessories they'll be able to use and the abilities they'll be able to utilize. In the long run, it'll be rewarding to see a set of homegrown characters, but for the time being I'm still a bit lost as to where I want to take each character.
  21. T-Hybrid
    T-Hybrid is currently preparring for a big code release. While he's scrambling to put the finishing touches in place, he's asked his guest blogger to fill in.
     
    How's it all going? I would have liked to get a word in for the 100th entry, but T-Boss was pretty firm on putting out the Q/A thread. I had a few questions I would've liked to ask, mostly like when I'm gonna be expecting a raise. But since that doesn't appear to be happening anytime soon I'd best keep pluggin along on the entries.
     
    T's hard at work at his internship right now. He's a big shot programmer now, and has to actually deal with production releases and error checking. I sometimes catch him mutterin stuff about scope creep and how he misses the old days of only writing one program. But I gotta say he's been coming along real well. I have a feelin' that after its all said and done he's gonna be proud of what he's about to put out there.
     
    Time's running out for him. In a few weeks he's off to scout a new apartment, and after that he's gotta look into a more "professional" wardrobe. T-shirts and jean shorts can only go so far in the work force. And that one fancy suit of his ain't gonna be too comfortable five days a week.
     
    In the meantime I'm still hanging around the Haven. There's fewer people checking it out these days, mostly because the Bossman ain't around to liven it up a bit. Things keep up I'm gonna have to get the rest of the Blue Vice to stop by and form a band or sumthin.
     
    Well, that's really all I've got today. There's ugly weather blowin' up here and the patio's gotta close. So its up to me to batten down the hatches and make sure the place doesn't blow away over the weekend. There's supposed to be enough snow on the way to burry even me. And I'm a oversized cyborg dinosaur!
  22. T-Hybrid
    Most professors will at least try and sound upbeat when introducing the class on the first day. But not this one...not the professor teaching Systems Analysis and Design. The title for this entry is from her own words, a less than encouraging message for a guy who's just now getting up the gusto to work while still taking classes.
     
    "Everything you've heard about this class is wrong..." she started. "It's worse. If you're carrying 18 credits this semester and also working, then maybe you should consider dropping this class."
     
    Talk about a slap in the face. This is one of five classes between me and momentary freedom from courses (I haven't decided if I'm going for my Masters quite yet). If I quit now, it throws me back at least another semester, if not more. I don't want to be here until the spring of 2008. I've got places to go, and a life to get in motion.
     
    There are a few pluses, mainly that I've only got two other classes...both of which don't appear to have the same kind of workload as Systems Analysis, and the majority of the work is in a group. So hopefully I can focus on getting a good group and won't have to worry about getting everything dumped on me (as tends to be the case when I'm in a group scenario).
     
    But that's downbeat. Let's cheer things up. I'm still going to post additions to Rebirth, as it's getting some decent feedback and appears to be fairly popular (it's got a significant amount of views for it's short length). Also, Xenosaga III comes out today. And though I'll have to tolerate Ziggy in a thong, I'm looking forward to the finale to what has been an entertaining game series. Once things settle down, I may invest in Xenogears to get some backstory. I'm still dreaming of a future in the gaming industry...and I've been told it's very possible.
     
    Also, repairs to the Haven are going smoothly. The south side was going to be rennovated anyway (there's a indoor-smoking ban in Mankato so I have to add a patio) and while it wasn't quite the way I wished to go about it, HGM saved me a bit of time in the long run.
     
    So things are hectic but not impossible right now. Time will tell...especially with Systems Analysis. You know, I really don't want to hear the word "system" again. For like two weeks, if possible.
  23. T-Hybrid
    American League Divison Series Game 1:
    Oakland A's 3 @ Minnesota Twins 2
     
    It wasn't until Thomas's second homer in the top of the ninth that you could feel the crowd starting to feel the game slip away, but nonetheless...I was still able to enjoy my first ever playoff game. The atmosphere is almost impossible to describe. 55,542 people all cheering in unison, living and dying with every pitch. They stayed rowdy up until the very end, and I'm looking forward to the Twins second go tomorrow.
     
    Would it have heightened the experience to walk out of the game with the win? Of course. But I'm not going to look past the fun I had just being in the crowd. I think "deafening" would be a good word.
  24. T-Hybrid

    Everything Balances

    By T-Hybrid,

    It's probably a good thing right now that I've got Pokemon to get my mind off of the impending doom that has seemed to slowly grow over the last few months. And I suppose I had it coming, after I got my confidence up after a nearly perfect first half of the school year.
     
    It started with two courses with professors that are absolutely terrible. Three weeks away from finals and we get our first test (and in the case of both classes the first actual form of grading we had recieved the whole time). It's now a full two weeks later and we still haven't heard back from one of the tests. The other class has clogged most of my free time with a pointless project that is essentially what we did in the 300 level class but far slower because the professor has never taught the class before, will never teach the class again, and doesn't seem to have a clue what he's doing.
     
    But the biggest cause for panic over the last few weeks has been the sudden realization that come May 27th I may be stuck paying rent in two apartments. Let this be a lesson that verbal agreements hold no weight over signed contracts.
     
    It all started when I got my job offer in Decemeber. I began looking for apartments so that I could be living closer to where I work (nearly 2 hours comparred to 15 minutes). I talked with my roomates and got a verbal agreement that it would be alright for me to sign over my part of the lease at the beginning of May. Here we are two weeks out, and it doesn't look like either has filled out the approriate paperwork. What makes things worse, the guy who's supposed to take over (who also recieved verbal agreement that it'd be okay about two weeks ago), is getting things set up so he can move in the day after I move out.
     
    I'm at a loss. Big time. To the point where the last few nights I've been losing sleep over it. After the semester I had last year (awesome internship, great courses, job offer...) this last half has turned into a Semester of Disaster. And it has me terrified.
  25. T-Hybrid

    Fanboy: The New F-word

    By T-Hybrid,

    I'll apologize in advance if this runs long, but with the next gen ready to kick into full gear in the next few weeks, you're going to see a lot of people throwing their weight around when it comes to discussions of the future of gaming. Though the 360 has been around for about a year at this point, the biggest war (as usual) has come down to Nintendo vs. Sony. And unfortunately, as with the case almost every time the topic of video games is breached, people are grouped into one side or another. And what fosters this kind of gamer seggregation? One word, which over the last few years has come to take an extremely negative and annoying conotation. I speak, of course, about the word "fanboy."
     
    It's not to hard to find a discussion of video games break that has broken down into the "us vs. them" mentality. And when that happens, the F-word starts getting flung about with reckless abandon. Unfortunately, the word is most commonly associated with those who enjoy playing Nintendo products. That's what lead me to write this.
     
    I'm buying a Wii, I don't know when...but it'll hopefully be soon. For the time being, I am not buying a PS3. And despite whatever I tell people, there's always some bufoon who jumps into the discussion with the mighty "fanboy" accusation. It doesn't matter that the biggest reason I'm not getting a PS3 is money, no...it's naturally that I'm a Nintendo fanboy, who enjoys playing childish games and whatever other stereotype those with no gaming knowledge seem to latch onto.
     
    Of course, if I was unwilling to buy a Wii because I was unsure of the new control system, there'd be people who'd jump down my throat as being of the Sony persuasion. And that's where the problem lies. Under no circumstance is a gamer allowed to enjoy multiple gaming systems. If they prefer one thing to another, they're a fanboy, and that's the end of the discussion. And unfortunately, the person throwing that word out there is considered the "smart" one.
     
    So why go into a huge rant on such an insignificant word? Because honestly, it's gotten to the point where it's just as bad as some of the other words cultures have used to put down those around them. Let's think about it? What is meant when somebody accuses another of being a fanboy?
     
    To be accused of being a fanboy is to be accused of blindly following a certain company regardless of the moves they make. This includes ignoring the faults of a game or console and only paying attention to the upsides. The reverse would apply to a "fanboy's" way of regarding another system. Also, usually the person throwing about the word is doing so as a means of attempting to sound neutral and more knowledgeable. It's essentially they're way of saying: "You won't listen to what I think. Therefore you are wrong, you are dumber than me, and you are a fanboy."
     
    To a gamer, being called a fanboy is one of the lowest insults. It implies a lack of knowledge, and is used to help the accuser feel smarter than those around them. Though it doesn't carry the kind of history that other such words have developed from, to me it doesn't make it any less ignorant to throw it around in the midst of conversing. I've always been a fan of the "attack the argument, not the arguer" persuasion. The word fanboy does nothing of that sort, and only causes a further divison between what is essentially a group of people that all love the same thing very much.
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