The Clearing at the End of the Path

So the other night I decided to switch up my blog to wordpress to test it out and I'm liking it. It’s has all the things built into it that i need plug ins here for to work, like view tracking and comments. It was extremely easy to import all my posts over and even easier to manage my blog.

I'm switching over to have my blog of audiobooks, gaming, quotes and random videos or commentary over to wordpress.

The new blog is here. I will be posting there now and this will be my last post using tumblr for my blog.

The first of four novellas of the newest book in the “Old Man’s War” series is out today, with more coming soon.

I will be waiting for the audiobook version and hope its still narrated by William Dufris.

So the big drama of no people of color in the game is a complete sham really. Its just smokescreen so people have something to talk about and take aim at an easy target. I think its just symptom of outrage and overreaction that plagues the internet because of easy dissemination of ideas and feelings. That does have it’s advantages at times but it also is huge problem as well because it just boils down to inciting a mob and witch hunting.

The drama about no people of color is a non-issue to me. I’m a First Nation’s person living Canada, I’ve experienced racism first hand and a lot despite Canada being praised for being multicultural (it is for most but not if a person of First Nations descent, you can disagree with me here but you’d be 100% wrong.) How does this apply to the no people of color in the witcher? Simple really, The Witcher 3 is a product of Polish Culture and then used in a Fantasy Setting. There are dragons, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Werewolves, Succubi, Vampires, and a ton of other monsters. They even have a nation of non white people famous for their alchemy and warrior women, Zerrikania. So I think the whole sham criticism and complaint is bunk because of that fact. But, if you are still outraged, the game is an expression of Polish culture, by trying to sling shit like it being racist, is to deny a people their Culture/heritage and identity simply because it doesn't fit into your own views or ideals. I have some experience with people that would like to deny culture, language, and heritage. Let me tell you that it's dehumanizing and insulting to the very core of your being. It’s something that I would not wish on anyone or any people. And by making the claim that developers be shamed (or criticized) for making a game that expresses a unique heritage and culture because it doesn’t have token person of color (or substitute your unique heritage in) is the very height (and definition of) hypocrisy.

So in the outrage over “the scene,” nearly everyone has forgotten the cool fight sequence in the pits of Meereen. A Water Dancer, a Dothraki Screamer, a Norvoshi with a glaive, and a Meereenese Gladiator.

It was pretty fucking bad ass to see how effective a Water Dancer was in combat, after the build up from season 1 and Syrio Forel: First Sword of Braavos.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Let’s Talk Gwent.

Gwent is one of the things that I had no idea about prior to playing the Witcher 3 and it’s quickly become one my favorite aspects of the game. I haven't had this much fun playing a minigame in a rpg since the various mini games in Final Fantasy 7.

A great aspect of the game and I can’t wait for the Gwent DLC now.

So after playing pretty obsessively over the last 2 weeks, I’ve come to a conclusion that playing as Geralt in the Witcher, is probably the closest thing there is right now to playing Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden.

Allow me to elaborate, Geralt fights monsters with sorcery and alchemy. Geralt’s main spells are a force field type shield (that if talent points are spent in can be used as a bubble around him, sound familiar?), a fire spell that is pretty good in combat vs anything (and I constantly and unconsciously think Fuego! very loudly in my head), and a telekinetic force spell (that I also think Forzare! very loudly in my head as I cast it.) 3 spells that Dresden uses throughout the Dresden Files series. Alchemy plays a big part in the Witcher with various potions that buff Geralt in different beneficial ways that also become toxic to him if he imbibes too many potions at the same time. Could be I’m stretching a bit here but this is the closest I felt to playing a monster fighting loner with magic and alchemy outside of generic builds in Skyrim or completely custom characters in Shadowrun returns and Shadowrun: Dragonfall. Not to mention the obvious similarity with the Wild Hunt and the King of the Hunt being in both series.

Just another reason why The Witcher 3 is my favorite game now, moving past games like Morrowind, Red Dead Redemption, The Legacy of Kain series, Darksiders, Final Fantasy 7 and 8, Deus Ex, the Metal Gear series, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2, Dragon Age: Origins, the Mass Effect Series, and GTA San Andreas.

So like its been a few days since I done the quest, I wanted some time to think it over for a bit and I’m well passed that point in the game now. I am on Skellige now. Back on topic, the Bloody Baron quest line after finding out Ciri has moved onto Novigrad. Spoilers below, so if you haven’t completed it, read at your own discretion.

Fallout 4 Trailer.

War never changes.

So for this month I will be reading the graphic novels for Black Widow written by Richard K Morgan, Homecoming and The Things They Say About Her, of which I was very lucky to pick up because those 2 were out of print and extremely hard to find. Luckily, my local comic shop Comic Encounters had both in stock and I was able to pick up both for about 25$ each. A pretty good deal because with shipping and other hassles if I had ordered them from some online retailers through amazon I would have paid 150$ for one and 100$ for the other plus shipping (7$ each) as well as any cost to bring them across the border. Also, while at Comic Encounters, I picked up the first 2 books in the Fables series, Legends in Exile and Animal Farm. Ever since I playing Telltale’s “The Wolf Among Us” I wanted to get into the story in more depth and I found the books were reasonably priced enough and decided to pick up 2 per month until I read the complete series. Which is going to be 22 books over 11 months, a pretty good diversion from how focused on audiobooks I am currently.

On the Audible front, I picked up with my 2 credits Charles Stross’ “Halting State” and “Rule 34.″ I am about 2 and a 1/2 hours into “Halting State” and starting to get into it now. I was initially a little off put by the multiple Point of View Characters (3) told in a first person perspective but after a couple hours into it, I am getting used to it. Seems its better fitted to actual reading than an audiobook but now that I’m into it I can deal. I’m liking the gaming focus so far. I should be able to get through them quickly but for the Witcher 3.

The Witcher 3 was quite worth the wait, its a great game and will be the measuring stick for the RPG genre for a long time. I’m playing crazy amounts of time and still finding my play style to be enjoyable. The Just Jules approach is nice for this game. I’ll be playing this for the next couple months for sure. I don’t see any other games of this quality on the horizon for a long time and I want to enjoy every bit of it.

With just 1 episode the show surpassed the books. That was great. Everything with Tyrion and Dany, Arya, Jon and the Wildlings, Sansa and Reek/Theon, and the awesome callback with “I hate fucking Thenns.” Honestly, the King's landing story lines are the weakest link here.

So like Gwent and stuff. I just figured out how to play it and made it my mission to travel the country and play every possible npc. I had to fail a bunch on the soothsayer in Velen in order to figure out how to win and I went from vendor to vendor to pick up cards when they sold them. All after I missed a rare one from Velen, the Bloody Baron (that quest was great btw, don't regret anything just make your choice and move on), I resolved to get good play everyone I could. I missed some of the rare ones from White Orchard as well but it doesn’t seem to be handicapping me at all. I just won’t be able to “catch them all.”

So I found my approach the game to be pretty satisfying, I call it the “Just Be Jules” method. I walk or ride around the country, meeting people and getting into adventures. And then kill monsters and get paid for it.

Totally worth the wait. Liking everything about it so far: the RPG elements (being able to be a combination of Swordsman, Spellcaster, Alchemist is really nice), the story and characters are awesome so far (Charles Dance as the Emperor is great and he’s awesome as a Voice Actor), the combat is fun and still challenging, the environments are large and sprawling filled with a decent amount of monsters/animals/people/villages, and the quests are good. I also like the card game Gwent, its a fun addition to the game.

If i had the bandwidth I’d probably download the free DLC but I don’t and I can’t download anything big until June.

So far, it’s everything I’ve hoped it would be and CD Projekt RED has delivered on everything I’ve expected and then some. CD Projekt RED and Bethesda are the only Devs I’ll have trust in regards to pre-ordering and picking up DLC.

Daniel Cormier and Ryan Bader confrontation at the UFC 187 post fight press conference.

So that looks like it will be an easy fight to sell, I wonder how long it will take to set up that fight. The “easy pay cheque” thing was harsh and a huge burn on Bader. If they do set this fight up, I hope its soon.

Loved Rumble at the end there.