Thoughts on Video Games

Now I know that not many females play video games. Of the few that do they probably don't need to read this post.
Before I get started I think it will be necessary to define a few terms for those of you that are not 1337 (that means "leet" as in elite)
RPG: role playing game, you develop your character as the game devolves
FPS: first person shooter, think Halo or Halo2 or Half-Life 2

Well I was checking my Youtube account and saw that there was a new Final Fantasy AMV (animated music video) so for some strange unbeknownst to yours truly, I decided to watch it. About one minuet into the video I realized why I did not really enjoy playing turn-based RPGs, it is just unrealistic. Honestly have you ever seen a fight were the combatants take turns trying to hit each other? Didn't think so. So this got me thinking, "What good RPGs are out there that are not based on a turn based combat system?" Guess what the first game that came to mind was. FABLE! This games is amazing. I will admit that once you have beaten the game going through it takes about one fifth the time of the original pass through. This is partly due to the fact that you know what needs to be done and how to do it, but you then have to consider that normally on the second or third time through the game you normally do more side quest that you normally do on the first pass. If there is ever a sequel to Fable I know what I will be buying. Another game that I gave some consideration to was Star Wars: Nights of the Old Republic. This game is a must play for all Star Wars fans even though it employs the o so hated turn based system. I was about to get Knights of the Old Republic II, but decided to buy Soul Calibur 2. Now if any game company comes out with a game that lets you fight like you do in Soul Calibur, while at the same time retaining that RPG feel I will be their biggest fan. Some of you are probably thinking, "There already is a game like this! The Legend of Zelda!" The only reason I would disagree with this is because in Zelda there is no way to customize Link. All you really have to look forward to in the game is new weapons but no new attributes.
Well I just thought I would share some of my random thoughts on RPGs. If you have anything to add or disagree with something I have said please feel free to leave a comment.

Great Labor Day Weekend

So the weekend started with the first UF home game. Really it was not as loud as I had anticipated. For your information I live less than 500 yards from the loudest NCAA stadium. Since I did not see the need to buy tickets to attend a pointless game I stayed in my room playing Maple Story and walked around campus some.
Sunday was filled with great new adventures. However, during my "quest" I had put off doing my laundry, but this will be covered in Monday's story. Sunday I woke up and played some Maple and ate breakfast. Around 3:30 I went and played ultimate Frisbee, which left me covered in sweat and an unpleasant odor to say the least. After taking a bath I went to the Episcopal church which is withing walking distance of the dorm. Service was mediocre, nothing special but familiar in some ways. Now the highlight of the day, DINNER! Well mainly because I do not have the patience to sit here and type the whole story here is the general idea. I met three people; Sarah, Andrew, and Jarrod. They reminded me of some my friends in high school at first, but were really nothing like them once I thought about it for a while. After dinner we went to Ryan's dorm-located in Hume-I met even more interesting people. When it was getting close to midnight we started to play poker and then Hoopla, both great games. Well at about 2 in the morning we decided to call it a night. Myself and 4 other guys walked Sarah back to her dorm. At the current moment in time it is beyond my powers to remember the name of the dorm but I know that I have walked past it on my way to Beaty Towers, as a matter of fact you could say that it is right across the street form Beaty.
Monday capped off the best weekend so far. So when I woke up I realized that I still had to do my laundry and listen/watch my microeconomics lecture. After completing both of these task it was about 2:00. If you noticed nowhere did I say that I had eaten breakfast in this time so by 2:00 I was starving to say the least. Well while eating I ran into Ryan, John, and Peter (more people I met on Sunday). Then went to John's dorm played cards for a while until his friend, whose name I cannot recall right now, invited us to play Halo 2. As you have guess at 8:00 we watched the FSU-Miami game. AMAZING, and FSU won which was an added bonus for me. 13-10.
Well those were the highlights of the weekend.

Now this weeks video, if only Roland were this good:

First Week of College

Well as the title indicates this post will be about my first week of college.
I moved in on Saturday and spent that day and Sunday with my parents getting things for my room and setting it up. Not really that exciting. As of now not having A/C is not causing any major problems. However, my mom really wants me to try and get a room change. As I said previously, I do not have a problem with it so I think I will stay in Thomas for the rest of the year. Truly most of the time I will not be in my dorm so it will not be a major issue, and most of the school year not having A/C will not be bad since it will be cold anyways.
Classes started on Wednesday. They don't seem to be that different from how things were at Chiles. Sure I know that the material will be more difficult and that I will actually have to study, but as far as teaching styles there seems to be no difference. So far I have only had Calculus 3 and Physics w/ calculus 1. Calculus is really boring since we are going over topics that I had learned for MAO precalc year. Physics is interesting, it seems that we will be covering the same topics that Harvey covered just at a higher level. I am truly grateful that unlike most other people that got A's in that class, I actually bothered to learn the material and not memorize test questions/answers.


And now here is the random video for this post, hope you like Dragonball Z/GT.

Zelda Video

This is most likely my favorite video on all of YouTube. This may be a result of me now just starting to use it but still.




This video has reinforced my desier to get the Nintendo Wii and the new Zelda game.

...As Summer '06 Draws to an End

Well in about 12 days I will no longer know what it feels like to have A/C. Some people might find this depressing but really I dont mind as long as I have a fan. Honestly in my daily life I normally find it way too cold in my house and the temperature in my car is pretty nice, to me at least. Something I did not think about before was how I would be getting to my dentis appoinments. This really sucks because really the way I made my schedule really isn't good for my parents at all. O well I'm sure we will figure out something.
Well work is almost over, somewhat depressed because I will no longer have a reliable high speed connection.
As summer comes to a close I really wish I had gotten a real job and had spent more time with my friends. At least I will have that one week when some of them go back to Chiles to hang out with them during lunch, so it's all good.

Last MAO Trip Ever

I feel somewhat obliged to update. I have been back from MAO nationals for a week now. Thank goodness it has not sturck me how much I will miss MAO. I am not sure if it is because some part of me truely will not or if I have just come to terms with the fact that it would have to end some time. Either way I find this to be quite astonishing. Nationals this year was just as much fun as it has been every prior year. Not to mention the added bonus of doing quite well, concidering the lack of studying on my part. Hanging out with Alli, Lauren, Sean, Michael, Patrick,...,Will,Gaku, and those of you that went to Hawaii is something I will always remember. However, if there was anything I could change about nationals it would have to be the fact that my favorite Asians were not there (Kevin, Roland, and Clara). MAO just isnt the same without them. Well its about time I say how I did.
Individual: 12th place
Ciphering: 8th place
Geometry: 15th place
Sequences and Series: 5th place
Hustle: 4th place (if we had gotten 6 more points we would have been 2nd)
Calculus Team: 7th place (even with the poor performances by Ashley and Alli and somewhat Sean)
Well next year I know I am already going to one MAO competition (the Janruary Invitational at Chiles) but I would also like to go with them to nationals, so I can spend time with Ashley before she goes do Duke, get to talk to Lauren in person (if you don't know how comforting this is you should really try it), and Roland befor he takes over MAO or the world...his call.

Work and my final MAO nationals

Well so far work has not been all that I have been expecting. However, I realize that it could be much worse, and on the upside some of the problems are interesting (Just ask and I'll give and example or 2). The only major complaint that I have so far is that our work day has been extended from 3:00 to 4:00.

As for MAO nationals I would like for people to know that I have done nowhere almost as much preperation as I did last year. Don't worry though, all is not lost for I plan to study for the Individual and Ciphering on the plane and during the downtime we will have until I actually have to take those test.

YAY FLORIDA!!! Thank goodness they did not let that class action suite against the tobacco company go completly through. I myself find tobacco completly revolting, but honestly if people don't know by now that it is bad for their health then I guess they deserve to die...or live with the other side effects. Thinking about this has caused my mind to wander to another topic, legalizing marijuana. Sure the people that say it should be legalized and then taxed to high hell have a point. However, it is these people that also say that if it were legal then its use would decrease. Now let us think about that for just a moment...THAT IS THE FUCKING DUMBEST THING I HAVE HEARD IN A LONG TIME. Let us compare this to prohibition. I admit that during this time that there were people that illegally comsumed/produced alcohol. But look at the world today, do you honestly mean to tell me that since alcohol has become legal thats its use by society has decreased...(if you just answered yes you are more wasted that I have thought possible). So just legalizing marijuana will have the same effect. The people that already use it will just continue to and it will also become attractive to those who were affraid to use it befor for the sole reason that it was illegal. Now I don't know about you but when ever I have been around potheads, it has NEVER been a pleasane experience. Not only do they smell but they are just dumber than they were before they got high. O well I guess God needed a way to kill dumbasses, since appearently diseases and natural disasters just don't cut it any more. Also I think that the punishment that the government gives for possiession of a controling substance (for you potheads out there that don't remember what this means: "having weed on or within your reach) or use of such a substance, are way to light. I find it comparable to just giving a person who has confessed to first degree murder a literal slap on the wrist. Well I won't continue because I have divered way to far from the intended topic of this post.

Quote that I find to be quite hilarious: "Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done."
-Andy Rooney