All Steam and No Substance

Despite the less-than-glowing reviews from everyone who's ever used Steam, including the better half (at least where gaming's concerned), I decided to ignore general advice and had it installed on my machine late 2009.

It started off promisingly enough. Machinarium was the first game to go on, including The Secret of Monkey Island - Special Edition, Half Life, and a few other demos (L2D2, World of Goo etc etc). Easy access to the online store had the effect of almost reducing me to my five-year-old self let loose in a toy shop, particularly over Christmas with all the promos on. It's a good job I managed to resist temptation (just!) since the problems began not long into the new year.

...Problems which have yet to be resolved even after repeat attempts (as can be seen from screenshots below) to contact technical support.

A quick google will bring up a multitude of similar complaints from the gaming collective...I feel their pain like never before.

Steam's standard response seems to focus on shifting all responsibility to third party app developers. Had the errors only involved one game, I would be prepared to accept that. However, none of my games launched (including the ones by Valve). Furthermore, those which did not require Steam to run worked absolutely fine independent of said engine.

It has been almost two weeks since I've had any reply, and I can't say I've much hope of anything constructive attaching itself to this vapour trail of FAIL (nevermind a solution). If this ongoing saga progresses in the right direction, I'll update this post. But I'm more inclined to ask for a refund since Steam's flaky performance is hardly worth the hassle.

PS - Forgot to add...Gong Xi Fa Cai and Happy Valentine's Day to all, whichever one you celebrate. I've already got my Love Fool title. Now working towards Elder.

Updated: 08 May 2010 @ 19:28

A result at long last, though (as you can see from the screenshot below) it had nowt to do with Steam's efforts.



I was on the verge of telling them that Steam wasn't on my blocklist anyway, but did not fancy waiting another month for their response. Why waste precious synovial fluid?

Asking paying customers to disable the most reliable anti-virus/spyware they have on their system does not seem right to me. Surely the onus is on Steam to sort out their engine so it will not clash with commonly-used essential software. It also sounds like terribly bad advice since we all know a system without any protection won't last long before it is well and truly fucked.

Oh, well...one of these days I'll be able to afford an xBox, Playstation and Wii. Then perhaps I will no longer have to put up with this sort of shit.

Or will I?

I can see a whole new set of problems coming my way.

Happy Fuckin' Everything

Seemed like a good time to get our annual greetings out of the way!

I thought the festive season off-work would give me more time to play WoW, but I should have known better. Real life usually intrudes, especially when you're a casual gamer like me.

Perhaps one day I will be able to take things to the next level, but I don't see that happening this year. I may even find myself blogging less. Already I am plagiarising my other blog so I won't have to keep typing the same things again.

No new year's resolution, although I do have certain projects lined up, such as re-vamping my site and building a Retro Radio PC. We shall have to see...

I have gained many achievements in WoW 2009, but vanity ones aside, I am happiest with finally getting my DPS up to 2K (albeit buffed to the max). It was rather pathetic before.

Here are some screenshots of me testing out rotations on heroic dummies, with recount meter showing a reasonable figure for my gear.





There will probably be much to look forward to in 2010, especially if that's when the next WoW expansion comes out (though that does seem rather quick). But in the meantime, I'd like to wish all the best to everyone, whatever your game is.

Winter Hat - I Haz It

It had been so long since I'd done Nexus, I was quite worried I'd screw up. Plus, Squawk and Awe didn't seem to be showing my procs properly due to problems with the update for 3.3. But lucky for me, the Red Winter Hat dropped after our first attempt at Grand Magus Telestra and I won the roll.

Only one more achievement away from Merrymaker...All I have to do is acquire 50 honourable kills as a Little Helper. I am a bit miffed that I can't retain my Moonkin form beneath the gnome disguise, but hey ho, I suppose I'll manage somehow.

It can't be more tedious than grinding for Argent Dawn rep.



David became Argent Champion a few days ago, even though I got to Revered before he even started. Damn him!

Oh well, at least I can say I've got the hat, and he can't...so nerr!

I guess I should stop pissing about and get my arse back to WPL. Not long to go now. I'm just a few bars away from Exalted for both Argent Dawn and Argent Crusade.

Will update this blog if I get either one of the above-mentioned titles before the year's out.

Everybody Loves Kungfu Fighting!

Hyah!!! Pandaren Monk, I has!!!

Isn't he adooooorable? Just watch him in action here...



I simply couldn't resist. I thought I'd see lots of other players with this pet, but he appears to be as rare as the Dwarf Rogues on my server (and I should know since I have been lying in wait to get one for my Turkey Lurkey achievement).

Oh well, maybe people are waiting till it's closer to Christmas...If you're one of them, make sure you make your purchase before the end of December so the Make-a-Wish Foundation gets 50% of the sale!

Santa Hacka

Getting one's account hacked is generally the sort of situation that ends in a fit of projectile WTFs rather than FTWs. It's not often you hear of anyone in position to rejoice as a result of identity theft, but that was where I found myself a few weeks ago.

I'd not been gaming for quite awhile, so was more than a bit puzzled to receive an email confirming that my WoW account had been merged with a battle.net one under the name of Seymour.

I'm sure some would agree it's a nice enough name, but sadly, not one of mine. Naturally, this was cause for concern.

Had I merged my accounts sooner, you wouldn't be reading this right now, but I procrastinated and paid the price. Blizzard claims that compromised accounts are usually the result of keyloggers on your comp. That is true in most cases, though unlikely in mine.

I'd found a couple of 'new' gaming networks and signed up to test them out, but stupidly registered using the same username and password as WoW. I stopped using the sites almost immediately because I soon discovered they were poorly designed and didn't work properly, but nothing twigged until I got hacked.

Fortunately, I was planning to install Windows 7 that weekend anyway, so an extended session of gaming wasn't on the agenda. By the time my new system was up and running, Blizzard had already wrested my account back from Seymour (not his real name), and reimbursed all my gold and items.

Can't say I was quite prepared for the lovely surprise in store for me though!

That a hacker would even bother with any of my characters, given that my main isn't particularly well-geared, baffled me initially. Well, the reason is now apparent!

Not only were the original items that belonged to me returned, my bags and bank were full of looty goodness, including (but not limited to) Frost Lotus, tons of gems, Deviate Fish and Titanium Ore...One short trip to the AH, and it was like Christmas had come early!

During the 48 hours he played my main, Seymour-the-Hacker did nothing but farm. All he needed was a character with all proffs levelled to the max. Not that I want to seem ungrateful or anything, but Seymour would have been able to farm stuff more quickly for me had he used my tracking macro, which I had kindly taken the trouble to keybind...Just a bit of constructive criticism there!

Still, I'm not complaining. I am now the proud owner of shiny things! Thanks Santa...I mean, Seymour. You should really consider this as a career option.

No, wait...

If anyone is experiencing any gold shortage, I suggest the Hire-a-Hacker route. I know a guy who goes by the name of Seymour. He comes highly recommended.

From Azeroth to Atreia

One major lament I've always had of WoW is its lack of customisation. My idea of being totally immersed in RP involves living vicariously through the adventures of my AV, and it helps if she somewhat resembles me.

For quite a long while, I thought Second Life filled that niche. But the novelty soon wore off due to the complete absence of decent gameplay (and horrendous lag...never forget that), so post-SL saw me less bothered about what my character, or its environment, looked like.

Then along came Aion...the perfect answer to a WoW-SL mashup...or so I thought.

Let me first make this clear: my experience with the wonders of Atreia only extends so far as the final closed beta (yes, my response is slightly belated). And even then, it was towards the end of that period (shortly before it was officially released in Europe) that I finally got hold of a key, so it's unlikely major changes would have been made to its framework at that stage. Since then, I have ummed and ahhed about whether Aion justifies another monthly subscription, or if I would ever consider it an adequate replacement for my WoW fix.

My rig is still Aion-free...but this is not to say there aren't elements of the game that impress me.

The imagery and animation are certainly the most stunning I have ever seen in an MMORPG. But that's to be expected from any game using the CRY engine. It runs smoothly too, which is a great deal more than I can say about SL.

Despite criticism from other quarters, I haven't found the storyline uninteresting or unoriginal. It will no doubt grow in depth as the game matures. As yet, it has none of the quirks or humour that make a fantasy RPG come to life, giving it a unique identity. Not many games have that standing, and WoW is one of the few (mohawk, anyone?).

Barring a few tweaks here and there, much of Aion is borrowed from the World of Warcraft. There were moments when I forgot where I was, and stopped to wonder when WoW's graphics got so good...and then I realised - I'm not in Zangamarsh anymore.

As mentioned before, being able to customise the way you look, right down to matching gear, is a huge plus. David and I straightaway created AVs that looked like ourselves.

Well, sort of...David had greater success than I did since he says his features are more 'generic'...whatever that means. The options are not quite as varied as Second Life, but I still came away quite happy with the appearance of my character. Sadly, unlike SL (and similar to WOW), modifying your character will cost you, so best get it right to begin with.

There are a few other functions in Aion which I don't quite agree with, such as the way their chat channels work, and the inability to create a character in the opposing faction unless on a different server. How daft!!!

Combat flying is a bonus, but it did spark off a mini tantrum when I found out flight time was limited. You have to go through a process of quests, levelling, and Kinah-spending (Aion currency) to acquire an assortment of gear just so you can keep yourself in the sky for longer. Tsk tsk, you never have to worry about that in WoW! But on further thought, Aion's restrictions make sense. If flying is to be a crucial skill in the game, then it should require some effort.

You can't help but make comparisons with MMOs near and dear to your heart, and since WoW has such a massive following, it's inevitable that it would be used as a yardstick.

Better gamers than me have already highlighted the pros and cons (see links below) of Aion when pitted against the World of Warcraft. Character controls are not as intuitive, while UI and game mechanics are clumsy. Although it does have a few features that can't be found in WoW (such as markings on the map to tell you where you need to go when you click on a quest, or the ease of sending locations to other players), it's nothing that WoW addons haven't already got covered.

Unfortunately, my income places limitations on the number of games I can play, so this is currently an either-or scenario. Both games share many similarities, but the differences aren't enough to make me want to jump ship. Aion simply isn't quite 'there' yet.

Blizzard doesn't appear worried, and this is telling. NCsoft can't have carved a large enough chunk out of its profits then. Aion may one day match up to the old guard WoW (though I doubt it will surpass it). Until then, I'll content myself with just the ambient tunes of Ryo Kunihiko.

Other Sources:
5 Reasons Why Aion Can Take on World of Warcraft
Impressions of Aion Closed Beta 3
10 Reasons Why Aion Will Fail

My two bytes worth...

On Talents:
After much research and faffing about (not to mention more muchness of gold expenditure), I have finally managed to get my DPS up to 2K. (LOOOK!! Look at pic above! It was taken at the end of my very first OS 10-man attempt!)

This is in no small part thanks to a group of guys who have sacrificed their lives (well, it is obvious they have none! ) so I can find out the best way to spend my talents. All the work's done by them (even if they do bicker quite a bit along the way...it's a wonder they ever got past the calculation stage!) so we don't have to.

I haven't quite shifted myself off the bottom of the DPS chart yet (and the 2K stat is pretty sporadic), but the amount of damage is at least acceptable for now. Until a few weeks ago, I had no idea how badly I'd screwed up. But after noticing on my IMBA page that I wasn't hit-capped, I did a bit of googling and realised I had my priorities the wrong way round. Instead of Hit>Spell Power>Everything Else, I was going for Crit>Spell Power>Haste>Hit. Whoops!

Apart from re-doing talents, I've had to replace some gems and enchants to rectify my appalling HR (spell rotation is still clumsy at best). My gear turnover is quite high, so a lot of this is pretty much rinse-and-repeat. Just you wait and see...By the time I get everything I need, the new expansion would be out, and then I'll be right back where I started.

On Cataclysm:
I do like some of the new features (such as Guild Levelling and Cross-Faction PUGs), but can't seem to get as excited about this new expansion as much as I did the last one. Meh, perhaps it is early days yet...I just hope the name Blizz came up with doesn't turn out to be ironic. Because that would just be...er...cataclysmic.

On Mysterious Egg:
Why?! WHY?! Why do I keep getting the same pets over and over again?! No! No more Aged-bloody-Yolk again please! I want my Green Proto-Drake!

Still, I am glad I got the Whelp...It hatched last night, much to my delight! It does seem to have issues keeping up with me in flight though.

On Exploiting Flaws in Game Mechanics:

Do it naked, and expect lots of jumping around (for me anyway since it's not exactly my strong point)...Ok, the second image (of us on the battlements) isn't so much to do with a defect as it is the result of boredom and a goodly amount of time on our hands.

And about the jumping thing...We've noticed something rather odd about my main. She can't seem to jump as far as David's. Well, we initially thought it was just me being crap at it, but then David had a go on my rig and the same thing happened! Not sure if it's something Blizz has done, or it's to do with my machine, but (in terms of hardware) it can't be the mouse since David and I have the same one. Bizarre!

On Mining Saronite:

Waste of time...Switching to Cobalt from now on since it goes for more in AH. Plus, if you mine in Borean Tundra, you can easily farm the meats needed for Cooking when doing your circuits.

On Patches of Colour:
FFS! If it appears on the floor during combat, don't stand in it...Doesn't matter what you are doing, just stop...and MOVE!!!

On Ventrilo (or Similar):
More people should use it, including myself. Who's gonna be paying attention to the chat window when there are more important things to do?

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Enough of WoW...I may take a short break from it tonight and play Dreamfall. I've been wanting to DL the trial eversince it came out, so perhaps it's time I did something about it!

Frozen Tear of Elune

I HAS IT!

After a marathon session of doing HCs from yesterday afternoon to late night with some other players from my guild, I have finally managed to get enough emblems for the Frozen Tear of Elune. Other stuff dropped as well, but this item was most significant since it replaced the Choker of Binding...Massive difference!

As of today, I no longer have any greens!!! WOOT!

Yes, I know I am a long way off from being IMBA, but I'm getting there!

Like I said, I am now in a guild (my hubby introduced me since he joined first), and it's called New Moon. Everyone's been very friendly and helpful, so I'm really grateful to have got the invite from Neolyn (and also thanks to GM Haduken). Plus, I've noticed members often raid...a lot.

Being in a guild has also taken care of the random solicitations. It seems most people can't stand the thought of a level 80 not having that extra tag under their name. Oh well, I knew for awhile that David would soon ask if I could be a part of New Moon, so I held out...An added bonus: ex-GM Arcadiu from Leap of Faith is now a member too! Aaaaw, it really is great to be able to team up with old friends again!

On another note, though not completely unrelated, I've just remembered that I've got a few other posts about gaming on my main blog. This split has confused matters slightly...for me anyway. I can't really import them to Maximum OOM-age (nor am I bothered enough to find out how!), so I'll just include their links here, in no particular order. Thankfully, there aren't that many of them!

Eat fish...
W.A.S.D.
Fire in the Hole!
SL Odyssey

Updated: 19 August 2009 @ 10:26

Our guild now has a site! Linkage has been included above.

Banging your head against a brick wall...

...or a purple swirly thing in this instance!

Blizzard ought to sort it out...I'm sick of being told that "additional instances cannot be launched" everytime I want to do a HC.

Entry to VH last night was a bit of a 'mare, with people threatening to leave the group if we couldn't get in. (The suggestion to attempt AN instead did not go down all that well...no idea why.) Anyway, we got lucky in the end. A good thing too, because I was only three bars away from being Revered with Kirin Tor.

So a big /thanks to everyone who helped, including hubby David and another friend Extactos, I now have my Head Enchantment and more emblems (of course!) to add to my collection!

By the way, for those who use wowTwitter, this is me. If I do update it often enough (or find a way to do it from within the game), I might include a feed in the right-hand panel, but that's a project for the future.

Right now, I have a bit of a 'situation' with my addons!

Patches make me go 'Arrrrr'!

Or perhaps it ought to be 'Aaaaarrgh'!!!

Prior to 3.2, there was a rumour going round that Druids would have their talents re-set, but I needn't have worried 'cos that turned out to be untrue. Then, as if to make up for something NOT going wrong, my addons got all messed up with error codes popping up left, right, and centre.

Dunno why I'm so bothered...I should be used to it by now. This happens every single time since it does take a few days for the updates to catch up. A justifiable wait, but nonetheless a pain, made more so when you find out some developers have decided they just can't be bothered anymore.

Oh well, nevermind. There's always an alternative.

I can't say I've found this current patch as exciting as the last. Sure, there're new Druid forms, but none for Moonkins. No significant changes to our spells either, though I guess I just ought to be thankful the existing ones didn't get nerfed.

What I am pleased about though, is the expansion of Argent Tournament. It really is worth doing when you get to that level, and not just for the Mounted Squire (8 mins CD? Forget it!).

This is a phase of 'firsts' for me. I've completed my first Heroic in Gundrak, a success in more ways than one since Slithering Slippers dropped. Being the worst-geared in my group, I got to roll Need for it. Since then, I have done other Heroics, including Halls of Lightning, which is apparently one of the toughest 5-Man (we wiped on my very first attempt, but then I was mainly still in 70 gear at the time).

But you know, all of them have been very difficult for me, so I haven't really been able to tell the difference. I'm just happy that most of the players I've grouped with have been very good (like our friend, Goemon), and thankful that they didn't mind doing runs with me.

I wish I could say my team's also won our first match in Arena, but PvP has gone down in my list of priorities. However, David (aka Gumpert aka Eldorand) and I did do something we've been meaning to for quite awhile. We went Dragon Whelps a-killin, and finally got the Jenkins title. Another milestone!!! Did I mention I've got the Darnassus one too?

I've now reached Grand Master in all my professions, which means I've been able to start on Katherine Lee's Cooking dailies to earn more Kirin Tor rep for Arcanum of Burning Mysteries.

Despite the shiny new Achievements I've gained, it's not been WoW all the way. After my new GPU got installed, I gave EVE a go, and also explored Twinity.

My thoughts so far:

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EVE - A great game, although not one for which I will give up WoW since I have already invested so much time in the latter. But EVE does look really good, and appeals to the Sci-Fi fan in me. I like the fact that you can make the game whatever you want it to be, and so far, soloing is very much feasible...even the shooty-shooty bits didn't get me as flustered as I thought they would. WoW will still be my main game, but I'll log into Warp Heaven from time to time.



Twinity - A mirror universe of Singapore was the catch, and what better time to experience that than National Day 2009 when corresponding events were launched? But seriously, that was the only characteristic I liked of the game. The lag was almost as bad as Second Life...except SL has much more going for it. Better controls and more flexible AV design options for one...No wait, that was two. What I am hoping for, though, is Twinity to link SIMs to real world shops. How great would it be if I could enter a virtual Ngee Ann City to interact with stores (eg. Takashimaya) that are in the actual building thousands of miles away?! ICHIBAN!!!

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Back to WoW.

Druids may soon get some good news if I've read this Q&A right...It might be a long time coming, but it will give us something to look forward to!