A History

Here is just a little history - my history - my gaming history. OK, so here goes ...

Pong came out when I was a teen. The first time I played it was at a family get-together in a pizza place during the 1970's. I loved it! But soon after I joined the military and went to college, and I didn't have much time while for gaming while getting established in my career.  When things calmed down a bit, I bought an Atari 2600 gaming system and of course, I got Pong.  Asteroids, Space Invaders, and a multitude of others soon followed. I played as much as I could, and ended up with a relatively small video game collection.

Then I found a new love - TSR's Dungeons and Dragons, the original table top role playing game.  At the time, it was still a new game and I remember all the negativity the media associated with the game.  But that didn't bother me.  I was still in the military and a few like-minded individuals and I formed a group.  We created characters and had grand adventures!  Sessions would end up lasting all night.  We had a wonderful dungeon master who was able to think on the fly and was able to improvise.  My favorite memory was a fight in a magic shop after an adventure.  It was just supposed to be an interlude to reequip but instead, ending up eclipsing anything that had occurred before.

Then personal computers first came out. I spent weeks deciding between the merits of the two top contenders of the day - the Commodore 64 and the Apple IIe,  After debating the pros and cons for hours with friends, I ended up with one of the first Apple IIe's. What a great system!  My first computer game did not have any graphics, it was the text-only adventure game Infidel!  I had to map out where I was, using paper and pencil, as the game progressed!

Even to this day, I don't think anything can compare to a text-only game.  It was a perfect combination of reading a book and playing a video game.  The lack of graphics seemed to enhance the experience.  It just allowed your imagination to establish the world, in a way that is still unique.  I remember getting stuck in a game. Not knowing what to do, I typed "Throw my hands up in the air" and the game responding "Your hands go flying over the tree". Zork, Sorcerer and Moonmist joined my collection of text-only games.  However, I eventually graduated to games with graphics! True, they were only black and white (or black and green, depending on which computer I used). The first time I played a video game all night long was while sitting on alert in the military. My navigator and I traded playing levels on Lode Runner. There were no saves, if you used up all your lives, you had to start over from the beginning.

Then I got out of the military, and my forays into the world of D&D ended.  I hesitated to find a new group; I was extremely shy.  But my days of adventuring weren't over - role playing games graduated to computer gaming!   My favorite was Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord and I remember having to buy graph paper so I could once again make my own map. That was just the start of my love for old school computer RPG's. 

I ended up playing all three of the Wizardry games which eventually led to Might and Magic series, which after many years led to series of games like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.  Since then, I have played racing games, platformers, point-and-click adventures, puzzle games, first person shooters and strategy games. I have played handhelds, consoles and, of course, computers. I having been gaming for more years than many people who read this have been alive.  Boy!  Do I feel old.

Well, that is my early history of playing computer/video games.  In the next couple of days, I will chronicle my more recent adventures in gaming. 

No Luck in SWTOR

Ever since pre-launch in Star Wars: The Old Republic I have had the worst luck, especially with early access.  Every attempt to play in early access has been thwarted by something: computer problems, internet problems, download issues, or bugs in the game.  Most recently, Chapter 10 was bugged and no one could start early access on time.

Today, early access to Chapter 11 began.  And wouldn't you know it, I have problems!  My Sith marauder, Sa'die, was sent to Zakuul to try to recruit Aric Jorgan, the leader of Havoc Squad.  Well, it didn't go well.  Aric Jorgan was running around in his skivvies playing with a pretend gun.  Then he disappeared.  He even refuses to show up at the rendezvous point.  I guess he realized he wasn't wearing any clothes and is too embarrassed to show his face.  Or Havoc Squad realized that their leader had cracked and sent him for psychiatric evaluation.  So sad, really.

Sa'die in her war gear

UPDATE:
Well, I was finally able to shake the mission loose and reset everything.  Aric Jorgan has found his closet and was able to get dressed!  I started Chapter 11 over and was very happy. 

Hats of the Old Republic Part VI

Well, this will be my last "Hats" post for a while.  I want to find some fun ones before I do another blog on this topic; not  just head pieces I have in my inventory.

This is an interesting bit of headgear; it doubles as a painter's accessory - maybe something to dry a brush.

Remnant Arkanian Bounty Hunter

This one looks like Marvin the Martian with a severe case of deadly underbite.

Remnant Resurrected Bounty Hunter

The last two I found rather boring.  They weren't good enough to want to equip, but not awful enough to show off.  I am not sure if I will keep them or not.  I will have to decide if having a complete collection is important enough.

Remnant Arkanian Knight        and        Remnant Dreadguard Trooper

Hats of the Old Republic Part V

So many hats and so little... fashion.  I thought that it was time for more legacy headgear.  I decided to highlight the ugliest in this blog.

Today's first one reminds me of a baby pyramid head from Silent Hill 2.

Remnant Arkanian Warrior

The second piece of headgear another from the insect collection.

Remnant Dreadquard Agent

Number three in today's blog is inspired by an old-fashioned light bulb.

Remnant Underworld Warrior

And the last entry in today's blog must be my least favorite, ever!  I really dislike this one.  No wait! I need to be completely hones, I hate this one.  What is it supposed to be?  Curse of  the welding mummy?

Remnant Underworld Bounty Hunter

Hats of the Old Republic Part IV

Oh, it has been ages since I did a Hats of the Old Republic post!  My sweetie and I are still playing Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Four years later and we have still have ugly headgear, but new and improved.  We now have Legacy gear that we can pass to any of our alts.

This first one is a nice, basic helmet.  Not too bad.

Imperial Battle Ace pilot helmet

The second one is the other Imperial pilot helmet.  Not bad looking but it looks heavy and overwhelming.

Imperial Covert pilot helmet

Number three on today's list gives Sa'die a "lich" look, especially since I have the head slot color coordinated with the chest piece she is wearing.  The pinkish color makes it look like the skin has been peeled away.  Now, that makes me think "Ewww".

Remnant Yavin Inquisitor's Headgear

This last one on today's blog is my favorite out of this bunch.  This look is reminiscent of the original 1980's terminator.  I like the violet lighting feature on the side.

Remnant Yavin Warrior

I Just Wanted an Appointment

I have never liked going to the doctor and over the years it has gotten worse.  I get so anxious that when I finally get in the doctor’s office, my mind goes blank and my response to questions is either “Things are okay” or “I am fine”.  I am great at delaying and putting things off.  But I finally found a primary care doctor that I really like and trust so I decided to quit procrastinating and seek medical treatment for a condition that bothers me.  I had an appointment with him yesterday and he took a lot of extra time to discuss things with me.  My doctor wants me to get an ultrasound done, then go see two specialists, and then we will discuss the next step.

So, today I was determined!  My motto was “Get it done!”  I picked up the phone to call and schedule the diagnostic study.  I paused the TV and called the phone number on the referral.  A polite man answers the phone and gets all my information: full name, birthdate, complete address, phone number and insurance carrier.  Then he tells me they don’t schedule that particular procedure and he would have to transfer me.  I got his name and the number he was transferring me to “just in case… ”, and shortly thereafter I was speaking to polite woman.  We go through the whole routine again (name, birthdate, etc.) and once more I am informed that I have the wrong number, they don’t schedule that study, and I will have to be transferred.  This process happened again and again.  Sometimes I was able to get the person’s name.  Sometimes I was able to get the number they were transferring me to.  Some of the people I spoke with were great – polite and very helpful.  But some of them were rude and not the least bit obliging.  Usually, the transfer went just fine but several times I was disconnected from the system.

After thirty minutes and two rude people in a row, I started to get upset (one person insisted I was not in the system and the other said she couldn’t schedule the ultrasound without the order number even though I told her I had it on my copy and I could read it to her).  I was transferred one more time and the woman who I spoke with was polite and helpful but she would have to transfer me again!  “Just in case” I got the phone number and it was the same one I started with!  I lost it.  My hands started shaking and my voice got all quivery, and I told her I was really upset.  I told her that I had already called that number and they just transferred me.  I told her that all I wanted to do was get the diagnostic study scheduled.

She apologized profusely but had to put me on hold.  When she got back on the phone she told me that even though she didn’t handle the scheduling of the requested procedure, she would take care of it.  Once again I give all my information and, ta-da, I am scheduled for next week!  Now that was a great example of good customer service.  When I finally hung up the DVR on my TV said 40 minutes and 39 seconds had passed!  No wonder dealing with the medical community causes anxiety!

Kickstarter and Koji Igarashi and Bloodstained

By temperment, I am calm and even keeled.  I don't get overly enthusiastic or excited by many things.  In many ways I regret that, I feel that I miss out on something by not being more enthusiastic.  But a little more than four weeks ago, I got excited by a video game my sister-in-law saw on Kickstarter, "Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night", being designed by Koji Igarashi.  Koji Igarashi, better known as Iga, spent twenty years at Konami designing video games.  His most well known works are Castlevania games, 2D side-scrolling exploration/action games.

According to an interview Iga gave Polygon last year, several years ago Konami moved him away from 2D Castlevania games to social games.  Iga freely admitted that he was unable to transition from the hardcore games he was good at to the social games for the casual market.  After several of his games were canceled, he quit Konami and decided to start his own company.  He wanted to make a gothic, exploration-focused action platformer in the style of Castlevania.

Iga went from publisher to publisher and was told "No" every time.  He finally found some financial backers but they would only fund him if he could prove there was still interest in his style of game.  Hence, Iga went on Kickstarter campaigning for $500,000 for "Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night".  The campaign was to end June 12th.  My sweetie and I were excited and contributed on the first day.  Apparently, we weren't the only ones because Koji Igarashi reached his goal that first day.

As the campaign progressed, stretch goals kept getting met so new goals were added.  My sweetie and I checked the Kickstarter page several times a day over the four weeks of fundraising, monitoring Bloodstained's progress.  As the amount of pledges kept growing, so did my excitement, so much so that I insisted that we watch final four hours of the campaign streamed live on Twitch!  After $5,000,000 were donated, one last stretch goal was made during the live stream and that goal was more than met by the end of the campaign.  We had so much fun!