So, apparently I'm not a moderator anymore.  After 4 years, 1 of those as a master moderator, I've been forced out of my role with an inadequate explanation that wasn't even given until I asked for it.

Apparently there's been an 'ongoing issue', but this is the first I've heard about it, after the fact, and I still don't actually understand what I've done.

What does this mean for you?

• No more Fuse/Playfire support from me, which in effect means no support at all.
• More spam-filled boards, as I won't be doing my daily cleanup.
• Slower, not necessarily accurate, support in Tech Support (listen to gmax though, he's a star).

I have enjoyed my time as a moderator, and have appreciated those who have contacted me directly for help, but I won't be able to provide that anymore.

Sorry.

As for the mods that remain, you're all great, as were the old community managers (Don and Jody, I'm talking about you).

Another update: Finally, three attempts later... those 25 points are mine!

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Update: So, 5 hours 52 minutes of no problems. Enter Visions. Enter a brick wall. For whatever reason I just can't pass this right now; I had no problem last night. :(

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We'll find out on Saturday when I take on The Endless Setlist 2 in Rock Band 2 on expert bass.

I had been having problems with Visions by Abnormality, the third-to-last song on that setlist, but after hearing some wise words from Joe when we were playing a different song (yes, wise words from Joe), I stuck breakneck speed on, and voila - problems gone. It's still tricky, but definitely easier, but if there's a song that's going to mess up my bladder of steel attempt (complete the setlist without failing OR PAUSING), it'll be that. Pity it's going to take 7 hours of my time to get that far, then I'll have to go through it all again (although I won't be doing expert again if that happens).

It's a good thing that No Regrets by Authority Zero is only bonus DLC. The twiddly bass in that kills me when breakneck speed is active.

Anyhow, wish me luck... [Joe, Caddy (and any other RB2 owners), you're welcome to join me if you wish, but I think it'll be easier to just do it alone, given the assortment of network and 'song has disappeared' issues we had yesterday]

I've been sat playing Guitar Hero World Tour today, and I've had so many problems with it that it's driving me to write my first blog post.

Lots of highly anticipated titles have been released this month, but nearly all of them have come with their own share of problems and glitches, some of which should never have passed QA.

Gears of War 2:

Multiplayer problems aside, when I'm playing the campaign on insane and have been given the choice to choose a left or right path, you'd think I should be able to choose either and be able to progress, right?

Think again. I choose left. I have to do some things to help Dom progress, on the right path. I do what I need to, and watch as Dom just stands there, getting shot at. Amazingly, he's not being hit, so I just carry on doing what I need to be doing to help him.

Having done that, I have to fend off some wretches and open a door. No problem. I head outside to find my lone self pinned down by a troika turret. "I could use some help here, Dom". "On it, Marcus". Here Dom is supposed to flank the turret and take out the locust using it. So what does our Dom do? He flanks said turret and then stands there, watching me get shot at. Thanks Dom, you were a big help. I think I'd rather his wonderful RAAM technique, to just standing there like an idiot.

This all happened after I got past another section where I would have to reload a checkpoint a dozen times before one AI character would stop loading stuck to cover. I mean, it's bad enough when you get stuck to cover yourself, but when the AI are doing it too, it's just a bit dumb.

Guitar Hero World Tour:

So, first day I put this in, I play my first gig. Okay, gig done, now what? Oh, I can scroll to other gigs that haven't been put on display. Great. Exiting the career and loading it back up solved that properly, and it hasn't happened since.

I was playing some of the band career with Tams and Caddy today. The first gig we played, the score chart from the first song never cleared, so during the second song, the note charts were obscured all the way through. Well, when I say 'all the way through', I mean, 'until the song ended early for no apparent reason'.

Then 95% of the time, the game would crash when it came to doing an encore. I've had the game crash a couple of times during the solo careers, but not as often as on LIVE. In one instance the game didn't freeze, instead it just didn't load my note chart, and carried on anyway. It nicely gave me credit for hitting 99% of the notes when the song finished, and the cash for doing so. That's quite a feat when I was actually in the kitchen putting the kettle on.

But that's not the end of the problem, now my local band career is stuck; it won't unlock any new gigs at all. I can get new gigs to appear if I use a second controller and rely on that to be my band leader. Pity that second account doesn't have all the cash that my main account does, so can't purchase any of the gigs that cost money to unlock.

Fallout 3:

The now infamous XP glitch. In some respects I'm happy that the glitch is there, it made finishing off the achievements much easier, but still...

Seriously, who do they pay to test this stuff?