It’s Alive!

posted this on March 10th, 2010.
Categorized as Age of Conan, lotro, MMO Gaming, Whatever.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://pumpingirony.net/2010/03/10/its-alive/

Three months and one week after placing the order for all the parts for the new PC, it’s finally working!

Other than the Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS, it’s decidedly a last-gen (ie. DirectX10) system for now. The new DX11 cards were tempting but I’m simply not willing to spend that much just for a video card any more. On a side note, I find it interesting that when I was younger and living paycheck to paycheck I had no problem sacrificing and saving up for the brand-new hardware and now that I can afford it without batting an eyelash, I have a difficult time justifying it. My PC gaming is pretty much relegated to MMOG’s only now, and I think 2009 painted a grim picture for how I am feeling about the MMOG genre as a whole in its current state. At “bleeding edge tech” prices, a DX11 card just isn’t worth it for MMOG’s alone, to me.

This PC has been nothing but trouble from the moment it was assembled, so it was with great joy Monday afternoon when it finally booted up and Windows 7 was installed. After installing drivers and a few other applications, I naturally set out to get my MMO on. Age of Conan was first since it had less updating to do than LOTRO, which took all night to finish updating through two expansions and content patches.

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Weekend Update

posted this on March 14th, 2009.
Categorized as DDO, lotro, Whatever.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://pumpingirony.net/2009/03/14/weekend-update/

I enjoy walking quite a bit and usually get a few miles per day when it’s nice but I decided to up the ante this week. I ended checking in at just over 22 miles from Monday to Friday! Not bad. I felt a blister coming since Tuesday and it made its appearance Thursday night. Nearing the end yesterday, my instinct told me I should stop because I was really starting to feel it but no, I pushed myself for another lap and by the time I got back home was practically limping. Taking the weekend off to let it heal but next week I’ll see if I can get 25 miles – 5 miles per day – and do so slightly quicker.

I checked in with my kinship in briefly, but for the most part I am waiting for Book 7 to go live on Tuesday before I make any effort to get back into LOTRO. I’m not positive but I thought I either read or heard in a podcast that due to the lore regarding the elves of Lorien, having player housing there is out of the question so I’ll probably be making the rounds in the Ered Luin neighborhoods to look for a suitably scenic Deluxe plot. I suspect I’ll have a difficult time with it – those Deluxe houses are always crammed up against other houses in rather non-scenic areas. My existing Standard house is in one of the most scenic spots in the neighborhood. I wish I was allowed buying a Kinship house; I could certainly use the storage space. Yes, I can afford one.

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