It's summer so that's something good. I am again working as a secretary in a law office, which provides both amply pay and amply freetime during work hours. Since last summer I've decided to not get too involved in waiting for one game like I did with Mass Effect. It's not good for my health. However that doesn't mean there aren't any games I'm looking forward to. Inifinite Undiscovery has peaked my interest, I'm always looking for new Star Wars games and The Force Unleashed is no exception, most of the other games I'm excited about haven't had a release date announced and as such I just check periodically for any updates and leave it at that. The only thing I'm waiting with baited breath about is any new information about the Bioware/Lucas Arts "interactive product" that was announced back in October 2007. I've read on several forums that the Bioware people have said they aren't working on KOTOR 3, but I haven't heard that from the source, so hearsay, and a girl can dream. Upcoming games that I'm especially interested in are Alpha Protocal, Obsidian's "improved" answer to Mass Effect, and Mirror's Edge, all about message delivery for the underground rebel movement via Freerunners or Parkour. If you haven't heard of either of those games definitely check them out. If you haven't heard of Freerunning/Parkour, it is the coolest sport ever. Just google search it and watch some videos, it's awesome. Anyway, I really should get back to filing and copying and such.

Till Later,

FLCL

I've been spending less and less time on the GS/GF Mass Effect forum. Ever since the release date announcement things have just seemed to be slowing down. That and the fact that there really aren't any new topics with substance has driven me to become more active on the BW Mass Effect forum. Once I quit work and school starts up I'll probably go back to very infrequent visits just to skim for new info, and I'll probably stop posting on the forums all together. For now I still lurk around while at work, but I just don't post like I use to. I don't know if I like the BW forums more or not. The mods and devs are definitely more active and there's the possibility of your questions being answered, but there's also a greater chance of your topics getting lockdowned. For now I think I'll stick around both forums. Besides, who knows what the future holds.

Later,

FLCL

Oh and I almost forgot. My 21st birthday is this weekend, so, go me for living 2.1 decades. And now for some random thoughts:

Whatever doesn't kill you can horribly disfigure/maim you.

Has there ever been a game about Kolas?

If you could have any super power what would it be and why?

If you were an animal what kind would you be and why?

If you can't tell already, I like random questions.

After finding a Photoshop plug-in that allows me to save .ico file, effectively enabling me to create my own windows icons, I have decided to take my Mass Effect obsession to a new level and make ME icons for everything. So far I've only shrunk down a couple concept art files that I have. My Networks is now a group shot of Shepard, Garrus, and Ashley, and My Computer is now a picture of the Normandy (unfortunately the icon files can only be 255 pixels high or wide and as such they are pretty tiny). I'm not sure what I'm going to use for the recycle bin because I want something similar but different for the empty and full versions, and I was going to use a render of the stock male Shepard for My Documents, but he gets stretched so I'll have to work with it a little. So yeah, eventually I'll have a complete Mass Effect desktop theme going on, and I might even do some research on making my own cursors. I really want to find a way to separate the sound files from some of the vids. If I can do that then I can make my computer play ME clips when I shut down or boot up or other such things that include sound effects. I'd really like to get a sound clip of Liara saying "goodbye Shepard" from the conversation vid and set it to play when I shut down my computer, but again it depends on if I can find a way to separate the sound file, or possibly record it. Anyway, I should really be getting some sleep before tomorrow, and I'll have all weekend to work more on my little ME project. Wish me luck with it and hopefully I'll make some progress by next week.

Later,

FLCL

Well I figured it was about time for another blog (this is the most posts in one blog I've ever had, I'm impressed with myself that I'm actually still here). Anyway a word of warning: this blog will be all about the Mass Effect Revelation book that I finished reading this weekend, and as such it will include numerous SPOILERS. So if you haven't read the book or don't like spoilers then read no further.

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Well first impressions of the book were adequate. I liked the setup, the explanations, and the build up to the main story. It also gave me a good sense of how the conversations in the game would be played out. I'm really looking forward to going to some of the same places from the book in game, so hopefully BW will include at least one planet from the book. I found Anderson to be an interesting and fairly likeable character. Kahlee was probably my favorite character from the book, with Skarr coming in a close second. I hated, and I mean really hated, Saren. I didn't like the way his character was written, I didn't find his actions to be believable. It felt like the book was trying to make everyone hate Saren while at the same time trying to give some shades of grey to Saren's evil, but in my opinion the whole thing failed miserably. Saren's whole motivation for hating humanity for killing his brother in the First Contact war seems trite and overdone. Lots of people lost family and friends in that war, but somehow Saren is the only one that matters? The fact that everything he did was "for the Council" was complete and utter bs. I don't know if the book was trying to make Saren hypocritical, or if that was an attempt at portraying Saren as doing the good thing no matter what the cost, either way I didn't like it. Everything Saren did or said grated on my nerves and I really just want him to die, so I guess in that aspect the book really got me even more excited about the game. I can't really believe that Saren was a Spectre. I mean with all the intensive training and testing possible members have to go through they couldn't possible miss the fact that Saren is psychotic, and no matter how great his results the Council doesn't seem stupid enough to keep a psychotic Spectre.

Now for character interactions. I already said that the book gave me a good sense of what conversations in the game would be like. By that I mean that when reading the dialog in the book I could just imagine the different possibleresponses that would be available in the game if that conversation was taking place. However alot of the relationships between the characters seemed rushed or fake. Well not alot of the relationships, really just the "romance" between Anderson and Kahlee. The whole thing seemed like it was forced, like Drew had to include some romance, and Anderson and Kahlee being the only available characters were just pushed together. I also didn't like the whole secret that Kahlee was keeping from Anderson. Again it seemed forced just to add some drama and conflict to the "budding relationship".In fact the whole book seemed like it was rushed to me, and I would have liked it to be alot longer.

The action scenes were impressive, but to me it seemed like Drew was really focused on the action and everything else was second thought.

All in all the book was okay. I almost didn't finish it because I lost interest but I had already read two thirds of the book and I didn't want the time I spent reading to be wasted by not finishing. I think the book needed to be longer, with more focus on the characters and their interactions and motivations. For an introduction to the Mass Effect universe the book serves its purpose, and I did like the details provided about the Council, the ships, and the history. The writing itself was smooth enough, but again, everything felt like it was rushed, rather that was pressure from the publisher, the editor, or just Drew's writing style I don't know. To me it felt like the story would have been better as a game than a book, but that could be my impatience to get Mass Effect. In the end I think Drew's style lends itself better to games than books, but I think he's had more experience writing for games so that's understandable. I wish the book had been longer, and more indepth, but again Drew was writing for a specific audience which probably kept the length down, and he also couldn't get too detailed without giving too much about the game away. It's a decent read to pass the time and it provides a nice introduction to the ME universe, but it is not something I would suggest to someone who wasn't waiting for ME, and if the game was being released sooner I probably wouldn't have read it. My final recommendation is, if you're really looking forward to ME, then check the book out, butI wouldn't tell anyone tobuy it, if possible I would say to borrow it from a friend or a library if your library carries those sorts of books.

Later,

FLCL

P.S. - Sorry if any of that didn't make sense, sometimes I find it difficult to fully describe what I mean or think about a book. If you have any questions about my opinions or you disagree with anything I've said,feel free to PM me.

NOVEMBER!!!!! It's official. What the hell!!! So they don't want to go against Halo 3 in september and GTA IV in October, but their willing to go against Assassins Creed and Splinter Cell: Convictions? GOD THAT TRAILER WAS GORGIOUS!!!! I can't wait to download the HD version from Live. True the video was amazing, it just isn't enough to take the sting out of a Nov release. I was so hopeful. I guess I should have learned my lesson from the countless games I've waited for. This is going to put I damper on my week. I really tried not to get my hopes up, I guess it didn't work. I still can't believe I have to wait 5 more months, and even then they still didn't say when in November, it could be the end. At least Ashley looked alot better in the vid, and maybe now more voice actors will be known. The release date still hurts. I really tried not to get upset about whenever it was released. I was even prepared for a September release date like all the stores said, but November?!? ****! Well, I still have work in the morning, although it will be very sad having to wake up and wait for another 5 months. Other than work I still have nothing to fill my time, and I'm going to have alot more on my hands than I previously thought. Maybe I should learn some new skills. Cooking is always useful, maybe I'll work on that. Then again maybe I can sleep for the next 5 months and when I wake up I'll go out and get ME and then not resurface again for another 5 months. I still can't believe it.

Later,

FLCL

Well I've been working at a local Law Office for about 2 weeks now and I must say it's educational. Most of what I do consists of answering phones and filing, but occasionally I'll get to type up official looking documents, cover letters, or responses, etc. The hard part is when there's nothing to do. Then I get incredibly bored and end up checking my email 5 times in a 5 minute period or surfing the net/ reading through every topic ever posted in the Mass Effect forums of bioware.com So here I sit at work, bored once again, and with nothing better to do with my time I've decided to blog away. Over the 4th of July I decided to try my hand at kayaking. I loved it, I had alot of fun and hope to do it again soon. Despite how much sun block I put on I still managed to get sunburned pretty badly on my knees (I live in Texas and am the palest person I know, I burn easily and normally avoid the sun at all costs) the other bad part was that somewhere along the way the plastic bad that my cellphone was in took in some water and now my cellphone is dead. But I still had a great time. I've made it a new personal goal to do more adventurous/exciting things and kayaking was just the first step. I've also taken a motorcycle course and plan to get my lisence and my own bike before the end of summer. I'm not sure what I'll do next towards my goal, but I have been thinking about bungee jumping, sky diving, or something to that effect. I've also started researching guided adventure tours of New Zealand just because I've always wanted to go there. Now whenever I'm not having high flying adventures or at least midly exciting outings, I'm waiting for ME to be released or predicting when a possible release date might be. My most recent prediction in the light of ME being E3, is that a release date of August 6th or 8th (although I would kill for a date of August 1st) will be annouced a somepoint during E3 (July 10 - July 13). I did make a prediction at somepoint on the ME Gamespot forums that the announcement and/or the actual release datewould fall on a Wednesday (Angel Gaidin and I agreed that Wednesday felt right). Now as it happens August 1st is on a Wednesday, and I included the 8th for the same reason. Now Chris Priestly has stated that it would take about 3 weeks from going gold till release. And it is a common held belief (I'm not sure if it's been directly stated by any Bioware staff) that a release date wouldn't be announced till going gold. So three weeks from July 10th (the night which Microsoft will hold it's conference at E3) is just about August 1st. Then again, I'm just extremely optimistic when it comes to game releases. There is also the fact that my birthday is in August, so an August release would make that the best month ever. Well the work day is winding down, and I should do a few last minute things before I lock up the office. I guess I'll find out if my predictions come true by the end of the week, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Later,

FLCL

It's official, this week Thursday at 3:00 pm I will get all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. I'm not too nervous about it, it'll be done in the dentists office and shouldn't be too bad. I've never been put under anesthesia so that makes me a little worried, but my friends have said some crazy things after being drugged and getting their wisdom teeth removed so it'll be interesting to see if I say anything. Everyone I talk to about it tells me some kind of horror story about how they got their wisdom teeth extracted and everything went horribly wrong. According to the dentist recovery will take about a week and a half if nothing goes wrong, so here's hoping. I'm just sad that I won't be able to eat solid foods for a little while. I also wish that there was a good new game like Mass Effect out to keep me occupied and distracted from the pain and swelling. C'est la vie.

Well I'm bored, again, waiting for some awesome games to come out so I figured "Why not make a blog".  This will probably be one of the only entries, but whatever.  Summer is in full swing.  I had the month of May as vacation time, but now I'm working at a local Law Firm until next semester.  Hopefully by the end of summer I'll figure out if I really want to go to Law School or not, but either way I need to study for the LSAT that I'm taking in September.  So far all I've been doing at work is organizing paperwork for cases and trying to get everything saved on the computer.  However papers get scanned in as pdf files, but the lawyer I'm working for wants to be able to edit some files so I have to find someway to convert the pdf files that he wants to edit into an editable form.  The files he doesn't want to edit he wants to keep in pdf format, but the program he uses to open all the files doesn't recognize pdf documents so they still have to be converted to something else, just not into something that can be altered.  It's all very frustrating.  I use to be a computer science major but I switched to Art History because, while I love working with computers, I don't like working with people who know nothing about computers so that I become the computer expert, when in my opinion it should be very obvious that I am not a computer expert, but whatever.  So work isn't necessarily fun, but I'm learning a little bit about law, it'll look good on a resume, and it'll keep me from being bored.  You'll find that anything I do over the summer is for the sole purpose of curing my ravenous boredom.  Also towards that goal I've gotten about 9 books (one of which I've read already) along with 2 LSAT prep books.  Work and reading alone won't keep away the boredom forever, so I also talk on AIM and post alot on the ME forum (forum posting is normally reserved for late late at night/early early morning however you want to classify that time after midnight before dawn).  My summers never were the most interesting thing, and the only other thing that I have going for me other than a constant battle against boredom is a birthday in August.  So until a new and interesting game comes out I'll be around, at least until classes start.

 

Later,

FLCL