Desk Switch!

So on the day of my wisdom teeth removal, after I left for the day, the office was rearranged.  I was put with the designers, which can’t be a bad sign!  It’s a pretty sweet new setup!

Old desk:

New hotness:

+2 To Healing

So I’ve spent the weekend healing from my wisdom teeth removal.  I never thought I could miss chewing so much…  So far no smoking since Friday at noon.  Maybe I actually managed to quit!  I’ve spent most of the weekend watching tv or playing games.  I beat Dragon Age 2 and played a lot of Rift.  I’m still loving this game!  Such a great MMO!  Here’s some more cool screenshots!

Hooked

Nerdgasm to follow:

So when I first got Rift it was just cause Chad was pestering me to try it, and I figured I was pretty bored on the weekends anyway since Ryan moved so I’d give it a shot.  I did not expect to get into it much, I thought I was done with MMOs.

Wrong.  I am hooked to this game.  It feels like the first game to do MMOs RIGHT since WoW.  And it’s learned from WoW and other MMOs along the way.  It has the best of WoW, Warhammer, Aion, etc all in one with beautiful graphics.  And it does a few new things really well.  The fact that you can have 3 “roles” and re-spec on the fly out of combat is great.  And the rifts are awesome.  Rifts open up throughout the world and they’re like mini raids / public quests. 

It was a free-play weekend so Chad and I convinced Brett and Linda to give it a shot and they’re now seriously considering picking it up too.  Over the weekend we all played together and it was a ton of fun.  Facetime on iPhone is an awesome addition to gaming together! 

It just seems everyone is at a weird time in life where they have a lot of free time.  Chad doesn’t do much on weekends other then spend time with Olga, Brett and Linda are biding their time until they move to Vancouver, and I have a lot of free time on weekends now that Ryan has moved.  It lets us play without any guilt!

Today Chad and I did our first instance.  It was hands down the coolest instance I’ve done in an MMO to date.  It starts in summer and as you progress the seasons change.  At the end you’re climbing a mountain in an insane blizzard where you can barely see in front of you, adding to the epic feeling and sense of confusion.  Incredibly well done instance, and it was only the first.

The world is beautifully done and the graphics are amazing.  The game feels amazingly polished and balanced, especially when you consider it just came out and from a no-name studio!  There’s always something to do as well.  Plus my friends are playing.  Not just close personal friends, but friends from BioWare and Longtail play too.  I think I’ll be playing this game for a while…  In fact, I’m considering getting a new PC next month to run it better.  My PC is 5 years old, it’s been time for a new one for a while, and I can afford it.  But it’ll have to wait until after I pay for my wisdom teeth coming out and then my plane tickets to and from Winnipeg for my Dad’s wedding.

It’s exciting to be into an MMO again.  Forgot how fun they can be.
Nerdgasm over.

Rift

Well, I never thought it’d happen, but I somehow let Chad talk me into trying a new MMO.  Rift.  It’s been getting good reviews, most saying it’s the first real competitor with WoW.  I quite enjoyed Aion for the short time we played it, but it had its issues.  None-the-less we’ll see how long we play this one for.  I was certain I was done with MMOs altogether.

It’s pretty fun so far, and the graphics are beautiful.  While I can run it comfortable at Ultra, makes me realize I should probably start thinking about an upgrade or new PC soon.  This computer is almost 5 years old now, with a few upgrades keeping it alive.  I rarely game on PC anymore, so it’s not a priority, but even in just every day use it’s starting to show its age.

It is nice having an MMO to play again though.  I don’t have much of a social life for it to interfere with.  I still plan on trying to meet people, but that can only fill up so much of the day.  And it’s a great way for Chad and I to spend some time together.  Although the 3 hour time difference between Halifax and Edmonton makes it hard to schedule a decent chunk of time to play together.  But we played tonight and it was good fun.  One of the guys at work plays too!