TERA (NA) - Night at the Doomcrypt

So I attended the Val Elenium Dance Party, hosted by the High Elves Council on Saturday. I wasn't really looking to dance or socialize, so decided to work the place as a guard & bouncer. I made a pretty nice haul working the floor as a guard and bouncer. It was a very dangerous place for a dance party for those that are under LV50. There was spawning monsters all over the dance floor, so I wanted to keep them from killing anyone...

I ended up dancing anyway, got distracted and someone got knocked out. I felt bad about that... In fact, multiple people died and had to be revived that night. I should consider myself lucky they didn't demand grievance pay, and it was a good thing that I wasn't the only one working the floor as a bouncer, so it's not ALL my fault.

Besides, I think some of the guys that got knocked out were all too high or drunk to care, anyway.

Still, it was an interesting place to have a party, what with the real working disco ball and everything. I'm not so sure that "The Doomcrypt" is an appealing name for a dance club, though.

Overall: Made 100g from the event planner and 40+g in tips.
I think should do more odd jobs like this...

Guild Wars 2 - World Vs. World mode overview

I participated in the previous Guild Wars 2 beta weekend, and I spent all my time trying out the World Vs. World game mode. It's was a bit confusing at first, but once I got an idea of how the battlefields play out, I fell in love with it.

My new microphone makes my voice sound a lot better, but my speech is still pretty bland. I hope to get better with some enunciation practice.

Arctic Combat - CBT Impressions

New to Webzen’s upcoming titles for 2012 comes Arctic Combat (also known as Battle Territory: Battery), a multiplayer online first person shooter. Set in the not-to-distant future, U.S.A. and Russia are fighting for resources in what is shaping up to be the beginning of World War III.

My initial reaction to the game was: “Oh great, another modern war shooter… Yawn.” I was expecting this game to be nothing more than a complete Call of Duty: Modern Warfare clone…

I was in for a big surprise.

Arctic Combat (CBT) - Quick Look

So I downloaded Arctic Combat today, expecting this game to be nothing more than a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare clone.

I was in for a big shock. It actually plays like a mix between COD4 and Counter-Strike, since soliders aren't total bullet sponges and can get picked off and killed easily if you're not careful. Trying to run through maps like Rambo is an easy way to get yourself killed. It has a similar perk system like COD:MW, but none of the perks are completely abusive or overpowered like in recent MW games.

Also: The game (initally) doesn't have regenerating health. Players will have to pick up health packs which are dropped randomly from players in order to regain their health, adding a small layer of strategy as in "should I pick it up now or later? Should I used it as bait while I wait for enemy players to try and take it? Is their any players around that could use it instead of me?" (This IS a skill/perk that gives players some regenerating health, but it only fills up 50% and it only happens randomly)

Overall: I'm really surprised by this one. Will be giving full impressions on the game soon.

Renaissance Heroes - CBT Impressions

In a sea of modern war shooters, old fashion arena style FPS games have taken a backseat in both popularity and general appeal, but ChangYou’s latest title is set to bring back classic FPS action while mixing the old mixed in with the new.

Renaissance Heroes is a multiplayer online first person shooter developed by Bridea, which is set in a fictional 16th century Renaissance where warriors, scientists, thieves and other combatants are on the hunt for the blueprints of the Da Vinci Machine.

Fun fact: Bridea is the same development group behind the now indefinitely suspended Huxley, a previously planned futuristic MMOFPS. It’s a bit disappointing that they decided to scrap their first original game in favor of something less ambitious, but hey: at least this game isn’t stuck in development hell like Huxley was.

Closed beta for Renaissance Heroes began recently with their servers now available 24/7 (was previously available from 4 to 6 PM PST only). With my schedule all over the place, now was the perfect time to jump in.

Podcast session - E3 2012

What started as a simple microphone recording test turned into a post-E3 2012 discussion with me any my brother. We talked and shared our thoughts on E3 this year while having a few laughs here and there. My brother mostly does all the talking, but his thoughts were pretty solid. I think he should become an analyst!

Will me and my brother be doing these more often? Maybe, maybe not. I sure had fun recording this, though.

Oh, and the whole thing is like an hour long, 

Just an update - 6/2/2012

So I'm feeling very tired at the moment and I want to get this post up before I doze off. This week, I'm doing video content again! This weekend, I've been revisiting Guild Wars 2 for another impressions video. This time, it will be focused solely on the World vs. World vs. World (WvWvW) PvP game mode, which is very similar to the capture & hold game mode for battlegrounds, but on a massive scale. I only have a chance to play it for a few hours yesterday while my brother taunted me for trying to enforce some stragety among random teammates, but I'll be spending the rest of my day on it.

Also coming soon: My impressions article on Renaissance Heroes, a multiplayer FPS shooter published by ChangYou and developed by Bridea. Fun Fact: Bridea is the same development group behind the now indefinitely suspended Huxley, a previously planned futuristic MMOFPS. It’s a bit disappointing that they decided to scrap their first original game in favor of something less ambitious, but hey: at least this game isn’t stuck in development hell like Huxley was. Expect it sometime tomorrow or on Tuesday.

Lastly: I finally hit the LV cap for TERA Online! Time to enjoy the game's almost non-existent endgame!
Seriously though, I'm probably going to be playing my main character less and less now that I hit the level cap, and will most likely be switching to one of my many different ALTs. However, I am willing to help other players out with getting over some of those leveling hurdles (LV50-58 is so incredibly painful, man...)

For anyone that's playing on the Celestial Hills RP-PVE server, feel free to add me or whatever.

IGN: Artham

That's all for now.

Just an update - 6/2/2012

Oh boy. I have so much on my plate this month: Podcasting, videos and more. I'm not quite sure I can handle this much work, but there's no harm in trying, right?

First thing's first: My new Rode Podcaster USB Mic came in the mail yesterday, along with a shock mount and swivel boom stand. The quality of this mic is amazing. Produces real radio broadcast quality output, so when I speak into the mic, it actually sounds like ME! Thanks for the suggestion DizzyPW.
I do think the swivel stand is a bit much, though. I probably should have gotten a simple tripod for my desk to use.

I plan to use this new mic for my upcoming podcasts and videos for OnRPG. I wanted to do a little mic test with it and do a Let's Play video with me and my brother trying out ChangYou's Renaissance Heroes CBT, but my brother knows all to well that I'm going to call him out on his semi-poor FPS skills (but really I'm just trying to lighten the mood since we usually get a laugh or two out of it.)

Speaking of Renaissance Heroes, I'm also planning to do an impressions article soon. I already have my general thoughts down, I just need to get some decent screenshots.

Also down the pipelines: Planetside 2 and Arctic Combat, and I've been hearing nothing but good things from both of these games. A F2P MMOFPS in the vein of Battlefield-style combat and a F2P war shooter with old-school shooter fixings like health packs (Yeah, remember these?!) ultra violence and a twitch shooter pacing. Looking forward to trying them both.