Found: One Troll

Apparently mine was yesterday. It’s been one year and 160 posts since I started this blog.

This happened at work this week:

Co-worker: Hey, Eseell, I hear you like guns.

Me: Definitely!

Co-worker: Do you have your CCL?

Me: Yep.

Co-worker: Oh. Some of us are getting a CCL class together. We have an instructor who’s willing to run it at Ben Avery for us.

Me: Well, I’ve got mine but [other co-workers] have expressed an interest in getting their CCW permits. You should go hit them up.

Co-worker: Thanks!

Command and Conquer 4, the last C&C game in the Tiberium War Universe, will be released next month. That’s not the news, however. EA has released the first three Command and Conquer games for free. These games are classics of strategy gaming, if you haven’t played them then this is an excellent opportunity.

Mass Effect is a science-fiction action RPG from Bioware. It claims to offer players the chance to make galaxy-altering decisions and save the future of intelligent life from a terrifying threat. One of the major promises from the epic Mass Effect 1 was that each decision you made in the course of the game, large and small, was recorded and would be reflected in the future games of the trilogy. To that end, a few weeks ago I played through the first game once more in order to create my own ‘canon’ Mass Effect universe shaped by my individual decisions in order to import them into Mass Effect 2. If you so desire, you can find that character, Kate Shepard, at masseffectsaves.com available for import into your own Mass Effect universe.

I’ll say it up front: I loved the first Mass Effect game. I completed the game eight times at more than 30 hours per playthrough. Yesterday I completed Mass Effect 2 for the first time. Does it live up to its predecessor?

The short answer is, “Yes,” the long answer is the rest of this review.

One of the immediately noticeable changes is that the gameplay of  Mass Effect 2 was significantly streamlined from its predecessor in almost every way. Each squad member has only a half-dozen stats to spend points in, where in ME1 they each had more than a dozen. Almost all of these stats provide an active ability as well as a passive bonus. Weapon modifications are gone, instead rolled into active powers for each team member. In Mass Effect 1 there were a few dozen suits of armor and firearms to choose from, Mass Effect 2 eliminates armor swapping entirely for everyone except the main character, Commander Shepard, and includes comparatively fewer weapons. The inventory system is thus significantly easier to manage and the upgrade paths for your gear are much clearer in this game than in the last. Players will no longer compare individual weapon stats to puzzle out whether it’s worth sacrificing two percent accuracy for an extra 5% damage. Weapons, armor upgrades, and squad power upgrades are far more potent (per upgrade level) than they were in Mass Effect 1, making the hard decisions about where to invest your precious skill points easier.

The developers at Bioware have stated that one of their goals with Mass Effect 2 was to address every criticism that was leveled by reviewers at Mass Effect 1. To that end they cut the widely-disliked planetary exploration segments for much shorter, but more varied, “planetary anomalies.” When Shepard discovers an anomaly from orbit, the player can embark on a mission to the surface via shuttlecraft. Gone is the MAKO rover; when you begin such a mission your team is placed on foot in the close vicinity of your initial objective. In Mass Effect 1 these sidequests were marked by very little variation in scenery. There were a couple of types of buildings and a few floor plans for caves to explore, and most of the missions would take place in these stock environments. The missions of Mass Effect 2 have no such stock set pieces, the design for each excursion is unique. At the conclusion of the mission you receive a brief “Mission Complete” summary screen at which the player is awarded experience points, cash, and other items for their hard work.

The new mission design leads to a far more compartmentalized sidequest experience, and I’m not convinced that it’s a good thing. There are no vast and interconnected sidequests in Mass Effect 2 in the way that ME1 had the business with Admiral Kahoku or the Geth Incursion in the Armstrong Nebula. It leaves the feeling that the galaxy is a neater place than ME1′s more open and wild frontier and that is a feeling that I, personally, miss. That’s not to say, however, that ME2 is more linear that Mass Effect 1. You still have the ability to go anywhere and do any mission or quest at basically any time and in any order.

Bioware did make certain that Mass Effect 2 absolutely delivers where it counts. The writing, the plot, and the characterization is top notch. The characters in Mass Effect 2 are, with a couple of exceptions, more real than the ones in the first game. Each character has a “loyalty quest” that you can complete for them which provides background information and character development for each squad member. Earning the loyalty of your crew unlocks bonus abilities for them as well as other benefits. Bioware made good on its promise to carry over decisions from Mass Effect 1 on a massive scale. Just about everyone you interacted with in the first game returns in the second in some fashion, provided you didn’t murder them before. The major plot decisions from ME1 each affect the game world in some way, and it’s easy to see that many of them will continue to be important to the plot into Mass Effect 3.

My absolute favorite part of both Mass Effect games is the rich universe they inhabit. Bioware did a great deal of world building through the codex (a sort of in-game encyclopaedia), the environment and conversations with other characters. The games are full of superfluous facts and opinions about aliens, technology, and galactic society that really help the world come to life. The universe of Mass Effect is as full as any other sci-fi franchise, and I think that’s what really pulls the game together. Mass Effect 2 improves on the environment of ME1 by adding little touches like holographic video logs, where in ME1 such little details were audio or text-only. There are also advertisements and newscasts for various shops, products, and entertainment that play throughout the civilized sections of the game world. The hacking mini-games were updated as well; there are now two varieties which both boil down to memory-match games. Although difficult to describe, they are improvements over both the XBox360 and PC versions of the hacking game.

Speaking of PC vs. Console, I played ME2 on the PC. The graphics are great, there is no texture pop-in at all. I rarely experienced frame-rate drops and the game did not tax my PC any more than the original Mass Effect, which I have heard is the case for other PC users as well. I do have a pretty beefy rig, however; a 3.0GHz Intel Core 2 Quad processer, ATi 5870 graphics card, and 8GB DDR3 RAM can tame any PC game I’ve found to date. It’s worth mentioning that I did not experience a single freeze or crash-to-desktop during the 45 hours that I spent playing the game in Windows 7 64-bit.

All-in-all, despite the minor criticisms I have with the over-simplification of the sidequests and inventory management, Mass Effect 2 is an amazing game which I will definitely be playing several more times to uncover the various alternate plots and endings. It is a Bioware game through and through, extremely polished and rich with detail, dialogue, and fan service. The game is epic in scale and if you played the first Mass Effect the opening sequence is some mighty powerful storytelling. It’s too soon to call Mass Effect 2 “Game of the Year,” but I would not be surprised if, in 11 months, we find this game in the running for all the major publications.

Continuing the meme started by Marko, here were the contents of my pockets and belt when I came home this evening:

From top to bottom and left to right:

• Smith and Wesson 1911PD, “Gunsite”, .45ACP
• Spare Wilson Combat 47D Magazine
• Key chain, with Utilikey, flints, and spare lighter fluid
• Casio digital/analog watch
• Leatherman Charge TTi
• Surefire E2L Outdoorsman
• Black Crackle Zippo lighter
• Lamy Safari Charcoal with fine nib
• Mantis Knives “Classier Act” pocketknife
• DIFRWear RFID-blocking wallet
• Work phone: Motorola Q
• Personal phone: Nokia E71x
• 64GB iPod Touch

You can see that I have added a bit since I did this last year. Two things from last year are missing; my Mantis Knives Necessikey was confiscated by TSA on my way to some convention last year and I upgraded my personal cell phone. I bought the Lamy pen partly on Marko’s recommendation with the hope that if I spent a few dollars on a pen and made it my dedicated “carry pen” that it might not go missing like all my cheap disposable pens. So far, so good, as I’ve been carrying it for about a month and it is still handy whenever I need a writing instrument. I bought the iPod mainly because it’s a better music player than my Kindle (for airplanes), and I find that I use it all the time so I consider it money well-spent. The Zippo I purchased mainly because I wanted one. No compelling reason, really.

It’s time for more nerdy music videos. Linoge reminded me of Friday’s xkcd which in turn reminded me of this depressing song about Laika by Jonathan Coulton, who will be playing Scottsdale in a couple of weeks. I’m tempted to go and see him perform, but I’d have to set foot in Scottsdale to do that. I’ll probably just wait until PAX this year. Because flying to Seattle is less painful than driving across the Valley.

I’m glad he won, but I got a phone message from Scott Brown today endorsing John McCain for US Senate this year. Fuck that noise; here’s hoping Chris Simcox or J.D. Hayworth can beat McCain in the primary.

Do you wish you could feed your cats from across the world? Well, check this out:

This guy built a pet-feeding device out of a cool machine and an old Cisco switch. The details of how he did it are here. (Via Jeremy)

The Arizona 2010 legislative session swung into gear last week, and via the Arizona Citizens Defense League Alerts, I have learned that SB1102 and HB2347 are this years’ Constitutional Carry bills. I’m pleased to see that both of my state representatives are co-sponsoring these bills. Last year we had a good chance of passing a similar bill, but unrelated budget negotiations caused it and many other bills to stall in committee. Here’s the text of the alert:

AzCDL has been laying the groundwork for Constitutional Carry since we began: http://www.azcdl.org/html/our_goals.html .  In the last two legislative sessions we came very close.  This year Senator Russell Pearce, along with 16 co-sponsors, filed SB 1102, and Representative Frank Antenori, along with 17 co-sponsors, filed HB 2347.  Both bills have the following features:

- Eliminate the prohibition and penalties for adults carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
- Include defensive display in the justification for deadly force (similar to HB 2015 & SB 1021).
- Allow CCW permit holders to carry in “non-secure” public buildings.
- Remove the unloaded firearm requirement when picking up and dropping off school students.
- Allow LEOSA certified retired Law Enforcement Officers to carry on school grounds.
- Require confiscated firearms to be sold rather than destroyed.
- Eliminate the training requirement to obtain a CCW permit.

We urge everyone to send a thank you note to Senator Pearce (rpearce@azleg.gov) and Representative Antenori (fantenori@azleg.gov) for introducing these bills.  If your Senator and/or Representatives co-sponsored SB 1102 or HB 2347 please send them a thank you message.  If they are not a co-sponsor, we urge you contact them and ask why not.  You can find the co-sponsors of SB 1102 here:
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1102o.asp .

You can find the co-sponsors of HB 2347 here:
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/hb2347o.asp .
You can find contact information for your legislators here:
http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp .

We are expecting a firestorm from the anti-rights zealots, so we will be asking your help to ensure the passage of SB 1102 & HB 2347 throughout this legislative session.  Warm up your keyboards!

SB 1102 & HB 2437 aren’t the only important bills we’re expecting this year.  For months, AzCDL has been working behind the scenes with pro-rights legislators on a number of paradigm shifting bills.  Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, other bills are still being filed.  Senators have until February 1, 2010 to introduce bills and the deadline in the House is February 8, 2010.  Along with Constitutional Carry, the following firearm related bills have been filed:

HB 2015 (Burges) – Adds defensive display of a firearm as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, the use of deadly physical force.

HB 2016 (Burges) – Allows out of state applicants whose rights have been restored to obtain a CCW permit under the same conditions as Arizona residents.

HB 2017 (Burges) – Clarifies that NRA instructors may teach the school gun safety courses.

HB 2041 (Kavanagh) – Adds school districts, charter schools, community colleges and state universities to the definition of political subdivisions where a law enforcement officer may carry a firearm.

HB 2201 (Lujan) – Creates a crime for firearm “Straw Purchases” made in Arizona.  AzCDL opposes this bill.

HB 2271 (Ableser) – Increases the penalty for possessing a firearm at a post-secondary institution from a misdemeanor to a class 6 felony.   AzCDL opposes this bill.

HB 2307 (Antenori) – Exempts firearms manufactured and sold in Arizona from Federal oversight.

HB 2406 (Antenori) – Clarifies the “no firearms” signage requirements for restaurants.  Also changes the affirmative defense language to “not an offense.”  Finally, it restores the requirement that a person “knows the possession of a firearm is prohibited” in an establishment.

HB 2543 (Gowan) – Strengthens state firearms preemption laws, adds firearms storage and reloading components to the list of things political subdivisions cannot regulate, and removes the prohibition on carrying a firearm in public parks without a CCW permit.

SB 1011 (Harper) – Allows college/university faculty members with CCW permits to possess a concealed firearm on campus.

SB 1015 (Harper) – Similar to HB 2406.

SB 1021 (Pearce) – Identical to HB 2015.

SB 1098 (Pearce) – Identical to HB 2307.

SB 1101 (Pearce) – Expands the list of law enforcement officers exempt from concealed weapons permit requirements.

As bills are filed, we will add them to our website: http://www.azcdl.org/html/2010_bills.html .

These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization.  Join today!  http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html

AzCDL – Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html

Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.

You can sign up for AZCDL alerts right here.

I’m a bit disappointed in these bills. The bill introduced last year, SB1270, amended the law to be much more like Vermont-style carry, removing the requirement to have a CCW permit for most reasons. Perhaps these new bills will be amended to be a bit more liberal.

Edited: I totally misread those bills. They do bring Vermont-style carry to Arizona just like last year’s bill did. Woot!

So I came home on Friday to the lovely sound of silence. The power company was working on my street and shut off the power to the neighborhood. Unfortunately, when the power came back my PC did not. After several hours of troubleshooting, it seems that my video card is defunct. From what I can gather, there was a defect in the manufacturing for that generation of Nvidia cards that caused their heatsinks to develop microfractures after long periods of use at high temperatures. Since it was a high end card, it was always hot. When the card cooled to room temperature, the cracks widened and now it overheats as soon as the OS loads.

Since I had planned to spend this weekend vegging out on Mass Effect in preparation for the arrival of ME2 later this month, I popped over to Best Buy to find a new card. Apparently, Best Buy no longer stocks high-end video cards in their stores. I guess that makes sense, since their selection of PC games has long since dwindled to copies of Hoyle 73, Fast Food Tycoon, and The Sims 57. Frustrated, I headed next door to Fry’s Electronics, who didn’t have what I wanted either, but did have high-end cards from the current generation. I grabbed one in the hopes of getting my uber-rig back online this weekend.

It was not to be. The machine would not even POST with the new card installed. My damaged card could do better than that! That’s what I get for buying from Fry’s. I brought the ‘new’ card back to the store where the girl at the returns desk helpfully verified that the device they sold me was, in fact, as functional as Ted Kennedy.

Defeated, I went home and ordered the card that I wanted. A better card than the one from Fry’s at a much lower price – even after expedited shipping – than I paid to those assholes.

There is a silver lining to this ordeal, however. About year ago I had to RMA my motherboard after my new mobo got toasted barely a month after I installed it. It was a huge pain to get all four of my DIMMs installed in the original motherboard; there was much tweaking of voltages and timings involved in getting it to run 8 gigs of low latency DDR3. I never bothered to do that again with the new board. Today, since my computer’s case was open and I had nothing better to do, I got the two extra DIMMs I’ve had on my desk for a year reinstalled in my PC. So, although I have a barely functioning video card that I can’t use to do anything fun, at least I have 8GB of RAM, again.