Good Times

New Website

2010-03-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

goodtimescomic.net Thanks to blogger for helping us so far!

Dungeon Annals Pt. 1

2010-03-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

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Being a DM for DnD is hard work. Everyone has their own way of playing their character and as much as you, the DM, try to script out a story arc, things change. A good DM has to be someone who can think on their feet. They must be a decent to good storyteller and they have to be fair to everyone playing.

I am not a very good DM. I try to script out events that inexplicably the characters squirm their way out of. I had created an inescapable web that my characters escaped in a combination of genius application of abilities and my own ineptitude regarding rolling the dice. This lack of creative license is one of the biggest reasons why I like Arkham Horror so much.

Arkham Horror is a DnD game boiled down just enough in order to put boundaries on the scope of the story but allows just enough freedom that the player doesn't feel trapped. The story is set in stone: You are part of a collection of investigators intent on stopping an unknown force rising up in the small town of Arkham. I don't have to tell any stories, I can just sit back and play it like a video game.

~Dooj

Ocarina of Time

2010-03-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

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No, I haven't played Ocarina of Time. AJ and I have made a pact that we will spend an evening playing it until it's finished or we fall asleep. I'm looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, I've been working hard today and it's been extremely tough. All the march madness going on. 4 games have been decided by a combined 12 points. It's amazing, even if my bracket is screwed. Looks like FFXIII will have to wait for a little bit.

~Dooj

Monkey business

2010-03-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

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That's Final Fantasy XIII going into the cart btw. I did buy it. No, my wife knew about it before I did, but I might try this at some point.

I must say that the Final Fantasy games are just as enjoyable to watch as they are to play. Unlike a lot of RPG's, you aren't playing as a character that you made up, but rather one that the developer made up. It allows for a more cinematic experience, which in turn makes watching the game much more enjoyable.

In western RPG's, you play the game as yourself. You create a character to look like you want him/her to look. JRPG's rely on a story of epic proportions that unfolds like a book or movie. Western RPG's rely on the personal experience of the controller.

When trying to explain this to my wife, I likened the JRPG to a book, while the western RPG is a story, like the ones your dad used to tell you. The book is unchangeable, you're playing through a scripted linear plot that doesn't have much room for change. The story is slightly different every time you play it, just like your dad will tell the story different to each of your siblings.

I don't think there is a right or wrong method. Rather, the buyer should buy the game that he enjoys more. But if you're a spectator, it is much more fun to watch the JRPG than it is to watch someone play a western RPG.

~Dooj

P.S. In case you wanted to see more monkey:

Oh no! Not again...

2010-03-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

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Apparently if you add the phrase, "Oh no! Not again..." to any situation it is funny. I certainly seem to think so.

I've decided to delve into the scandal that is all the rage of the gaming community. I know that no one really cares about what I personally may think but here goes anyway. I think the blame lies with both sides. The gaming industry demands that we spend around $60 a game just to play the latest release. Then they will either put out a sequel in a year or add DLC (downloadable content). Now, it's well within their right to do that and they certainly need to make money.

The problem arises when they decide to limit your merchandise that you buy from them. The most recent anti-pirate idea was done by Ubisoft. It requires that you are connected to their online server at all time. Now this isn't a problem for most gamers, just in principle, until Ubisoft's servers go down right after the game is released leading to no one being able to play the game that they legitimately bought. However, if you pirated their game, you were able to play it no problem.

It would be like someone buying a new car, but only allowing you to drive it on specific roads and then after you buy the car, the dealership tells you that all the roads are under-construction. No longer are you allowed to drive the car until the roads are fixed. No one in their right mind would buy the car!

Gamers do every month. But it isn't the company's fault, if they're still making money, why change? Instead you still have gamers buying up the games with heavy DRM (security) because they want to play it. Want a bright idea? If you don't like the security, THEN DON'T BUY IT. Until companies like Ubisoft are hit in their wallets, there is no way they're changing.

~Dooj

To Be Continued...

2010-03-09T08:48:00.001-08:00

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A trilogy in the modern world is composed of 3 parts. The first part is usually a stand alone movie/book/video game. When the producers realize that the first one did so well financially, their eyes become dollar signs. Thus, they release "news" that the first movie was part of a trilogy. This creates a foundation for a hype machine that is unsurpassed.

The second part of the trilogy is essentially a ripoff of the first. Except it's not as good, and usually includes something that irritated you from the first.

Before the third has come out, the expectations are either huge (because the first two were so good) or no one buys it because the second bombed. Luckily, Bioware does a phenomenal job of making the second game AWESOME!

Yesterday, I got a direct message from a famous person on Twitter. Now, I know he probably didn't think twice about it, but it made my day. It means a lot to fans when you have interaction with the actors you like. I'd rather not be one of those fans who does this when he sees someone he is a fan of, but this was pretty cool. Hopefully, one day, I'll be that famous and then I can make someone's day as well.

~Dooj

Gamer's Choice

2010-03-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

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There comes a time in every game where you are given the option of going to the right, or to the left. I learned a long time ago (from a good friend) that the "gamer's choice" is go to the left. Usually the journey is fraught with peril, but there is always some wonderful treasure at the end. However, you always have to backtrack and go to the right because that's where the objective is. To complete the mission, head right! Otherwise, go left!

When I first completed the first KotOR (Knights of the Old Republic) I played the token light side male (I can't get into having a female as my main character). At the end of the game, if you play your cards right, Bastila admits that she loves you. When that happened during my play-through, I was stunned. It was as amazing as the movie Moulin Rouge. TD can attest to the fact that I walked around dazed, and whenever someone would ask me what was up, I would reply in a simple voice, "Bastila loves me..." It was one of the most rewarding gaming experiences that I have ever experienced.

Yoeman Chambers is just plain sexy...

On a sidenote, I hope that this is true. It would be wonderful to have my mac be able to play some games on my steam account.

~Dooj

Bioware's HQ

2010-03-02T10:21:00.001-08:00

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And this post marks our year anniversary. It's hard to imagine that it was a year ago, a lot has happened in that year. Thanks to AJ for continuing to add his creativity to my "ideas". This does call for a celebration though. I'm not sure what.

I finished Mass Effect 2. Jamie was too tired to stay awake on Friday night, which allowed me the time to finish. The ending is slightly disappointing, not because it's cheesy (most Bioware endings are) but because it was open ended. They knew that they were gonna make a third one, and while that's all well and good, it just sucks to have to wait for a few months before I'm allowed to play the third one.

Think if you were reading the Lord of the Rings, but had to wait years in between each release. They're meant to be read all at the same time, one right after another. That's the feeling I get with Mass Effect 2. A single chapter in a book won't stand alone, so I feel it unworthy to judge Mass Effect 2 on its ending.

After I finished ME2, I booted up one of my all time favorites, Knights of the Old Republic. The plan is to force Jamie to play through it. She created a character, started interacting with the first character you meet. During the conversation she was given two options. The dark side option, and the light side option. Her response? "Who in their right mind would choose option 2 [the dark side option]?" I love hearing that.

~Dooj

He's just getting them back for that baby seal

2010-02-25T09:02:00.001-08:00

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I'll have more later. Class beckons

Sorry about that. I know people come here to read both the comic and the blog post in the same visit. I just want everyone to know that I have the utmost respect for Canadians. Some of my favorite comedians are Canadian and I in no way wish to irritate them to the point of me having to write an apology.

I had to email a friend today. I watched the Super Mario Galaxy 2 trailer and I can't decide whether I want to play it or not. The camera angle in the first SMG game felt off (not that I played it) to the point that I felt sick after watching him play even only a few minutes of it. However, there are some aspects of it that are a sidescroller similar to Super Mario Bros Wii. So I'd like to play the sidescroller, but I'm a little worried that the other part will make me puke.

Of course, like FFXIII I need to convince Jamie that a Wii will help convince my friends to come over and play with me.

~Dooj

We're on our way to Canada

2010-02-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

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I got that feeling again. It's the feeling that every gamer gets. It's like a hunger, eating inside of you. Almost like there's something missing from your brain. I'm sure that if I was a smoker, the feeling would be similar to the need for nicotine, without the side-effects.

Previously, I had associated this feeling with the "need" to play World of Warcraft again. Up until recently, I would pay $15, play WoW for a month, and the itch would be scratched for the next 6 months. But since it kept coming back, could it be that I have been my energy has been misdirected? WoW is a great game. One that I couldn't get enough of. It's taken me years to figure out why it was so amazing, and I think I'm slowly untying that knot.

The reason World of Warcraft is so appealing to gamers is not because of the combat, the social aspect, nor even the story. It's because of the artwork. Blizzard did something amazing by simplifying the graphics so much that any machine could run them, and, at the same time, they made everything so very grand. The first time you walk into Stormwind, it's epic. Ever since I officially quit in 2007, I've been searching for that type of game again. Unfortunately, no game has come close since, though I have high hopes for TOR.

Just as unfortunate, my yearning has reawakened by looking at these castles.

~Dooj

Ethically narrative shooter

2010-02-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

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As I've stated before, I like Mass Effect 2. But I can't call it an RPG. TD and I were discussing what a game like this should be called. TD suggested Moral shooter, to explain that there's dialogue choices and shooting. However, I felt like that statement was leaving out a phenomenal storyline. Modern Warfare can be considered a shooter. As can Halo 2. But these games don't have the driving story that has become Bioware's trademark.

In all honesty, it kinda feels like Fable. The leveling up system is so simple. You have either a good choice or a bad choice or a neutral choice. If you want extra dialogue options, you have to choose paragon or renegade. But those choices don't change the story much.

I must say that I feel it's necessary to add the word "narrative", though TD is correct that a title that includes "narrative" sounds like a Dickens novel, because you play this game in order to play a story. You're not playing because your friends are begging you to jump in for a few minutes online. It's like a book. A book that takes around 30 hours to complete, allows you to flirt with the characters and lets you save your spot exactly where you left.

~Dooj

The end of the game

2010-02-16T10:31:00.001-08:00

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The first round finally ended. It took it's toll on everyone, including me. Unfortunately, the sheer carnage in the first few days caused the zombies to have to hunt more. This made the last few days very "dull" by the beginning of the week's standards. I'm sure it was exciting for the winner though.

I just got out of a history lesson earlier this morning. We talked about how Christian relics were viewed in the "Dark Ages". According to historians such as Bede and William of Malmsbury, relics were present when miracles happened. Christians who came sick and touched relics would go away healed. Unfortunately, our modern day gnostic approach to everything has deadened us to believe that something as supernatural as this can be true. Without our empiricism, we cannot determine that things are true. I had classmates who would ask questions while doing that nifty quotation mark with their fingers displaying an utter disregard to what Bede narrated for us.

I consider myself a skeptical cynic. I don't believe every story that I read on the internet, but I find it preposterous that modern day college age children are more inclined to believe that a myth is busted by a TV show, than they believe a historian from the first millennium. To quote Mugatu, "I feel like I'm taking CRAZY PILLS!"

~Dooj

Public Service Announcement

2010-02-11T10:31:00.001-08:00

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Wow. I've never been a part of something that went so viral so quickly. Logos was eaten in less than 2 hours. The humans are down to 15 - 20 members, my lovely wife among them of course.

I thought it had slowed down, instead I learned that the zombies are growing desperate. My wife had to endure multiple zombie attacks throughout the evening. Luckily, she has a good head on her shoulders.

I know it's a bit late for most of our readers to read this PSA, but we decided to try and help out a few more humans. My brother got caught through sheer luck and a little carelessness.

Like I said last week, you should follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/goodtimescomic

~Dooj

Safe-houses

2010-02-09T10:48:00.001-08:00

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Wow. I've never seen so many people excited about this game. Apparently it was the talk of our community. We have 100 people playing this round. With no horribly jerk moves done yet (though the zombies have been trying) I'll have to consider the first day a rousing success.

Here's a snippet of a story from one of our players,
"Back at the Big Haus we were all in different rooms so we could not back anyone up with cover fire. Jon Hill sat in the library alone. Suddenly Will and Andrew Knecht ran around the corner and rushed our good friend. Jon was able to kill one of them but was not quick enough to get the next. He was tagged. Graeme and Gunn came on to the scene and killed the reckless zombies. After that we cried and cried over our fallen comrade and told him to be strong when he was fading away into a primitive self that feeds on making more like him. We could could bring ourselves to kill him so we left for our safe zones after we said our goodbyes."

Poor AJ got tagged yesterday, though he's been doing a great job of making every human join him in his misery. Once this game is over, feel free to sign up for the site (if you're in the Moscow, Idaho area) and join in. It's a lot of fun, even if it does cause me to wake up in the middle of the night. If Jamie wasn't so paranoid about the zombies attacking her, I think she might be a little more upset about me.

On a sidenote: good times comic has joined twitter! Please follow us at twitter.com/goodtimescomic. Much appreciated.

If anyone missed the site for the zombies game. Here it is.

~Dooj

It's never just a game

2010-02-04T08:51:00.001-08:00

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Here's the comic, I'll be back later to update. I have class too soon.

And, I'm back. Thanks for waiting.

I must say that I'm very excited about this game to start. The amount of feedback is awesome with about 50 people already signed up. Round 1 will start on Monday and will end whenever it ends. This is essentially a test round so if you miss it don't worry, we'll set up more.

I was allowed to play a little more Mass Effect 2 last night. It's still wonderfully fun, but isn't what I would expect from a Bioware RPG. It's one of the best games I've played since, well, Mass Effect 1, but it doesn't feel like an RPG. There are dialogue choices which change aspects of the game but not in a big way, similar to the first game. But the leveling up system has been simplified drastically. It's hard to "choose" where you go next because it's all linear. Not that you have to recruit the Convict before you recruit the Krogan but rather that no matter where you turn, you have a quest in that general direction. It makes for a wonderful gaming experience and one of the first times that I am glad that I bought a "shooter" for the pc.

~Dooj

Humans vs. Zombies

2010-02-02T14:08:00.000-08:00

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Wow. Where to begin. I apologize to anyone who read this over the last month. I've been very very busy trying to make sure that my lovely wife is cared for properly. I neglected AJ so he had nothing to draw. Thanks for sticking with us.

Jamie was kind enough to let me buy Mass Effect. This game is fun and intriguing. If there is one problem with the beginning and the intro of it, the problem lies in Bioware forcing a newcomer to the game to play the first one. This game is a sequel in the truest sense of the word. It doesn't take place 1000 years in the future, not 1 year in the future. You open in the world nearly as you left it. Shivers go right down your spine.

The essence of the comic lies within a game that AJ and I are trying to get going. The game, in a nutshell, is a game of tag where the Zombies are always it. If you'd be interested in playing with us in Moscow, please sign up for the basic social network site that my brother was kind enough to put together. Hope to see you there.

~Dooj

Sometimes it's just that easy

2009-12-29T09:17:00.000-08:00

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We apologize profusely about not getting up the comics over the last week. Business plus hobbies usually ends badly. Thanks to all the faithful who kept checking. We promise to keep it up over the next year. Even though I'll be married soon.

~Dooj

Something to keep the mind of that pain...

2009-12-15T15:49:00.001-08:00

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Gah! Work! School! GAH!

~Dooj

Appropriate

2009-12-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

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As the semester winds down, homework gets crazier and crazier. That project that was being put off for the last few weeks if finally due. Every class has a final approaching, causing the human brain to reach it's collective zenith across the United States for one week.

Unfortunately, after this hiatus of electronic activity, the brains fizzle out releasing energy equivalent to the center of the sun with one fell swoop. AJ and I are right in the middle of that rise. Me, with wedding planning, and AJ with school stuff. Hopefully, we'll be alive as we ever were after Christmas break.

Don't be alarmed. We'll still do the comic to the best of our ability. We just have to make sure that we put special time away.

~Dooj

So sorry

2009-12-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

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I apologize for the fact that we're unable to upload a comic on time today. AJ is having trouble with school and I'm unable to draw. Hopefully we'll get one out sooner rather than later.

~Dooj

Self serving Christmas Shopping.

2009-12-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

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With the economy the way it is, governments are telling people to shop locally, well maybe just our city government. There's one problem with this. While the economy locally might be boosted with the extra sales during a holiday season, a lot of the time, if you live in a small community, both the choices are below par and the quality is below average.

Businesses, and business owners of course, need to understand that there are two types of people. There are those who try and get the lowest price on anything regardless of quality and those who get the best quality they can afford. When a business offers neither, there's not point in buying from them.

If we want to increase money flow locally or nationally, we need to offer either the cheapest or the best. When we offer neither people flock to other countries to buy cars, shoes and electronics. It's not the consumer, it's the system.

~Dooj

That's one smart ferret

2009-12-01T10:09:00.000-08:00

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There's nothing better while you're in school than finding out that a paper you've been working on for the past few days but hadn't quite finished yet is due a few days later than you expected. It's a wonderful feeling and if you haven't experienced it yet, my heart goes out to you.

I watched up on Sunday. Wonderful movie. The first 10 minutes could have been one of the best short movies of all time if they kept it at that. I'd heard that audiences were laughing to crying in that space of 10 minutes and I would believe it.

The rest of the movie was good as well. It didn't keep up the standard of that first one but it was really really good. Pixar has done a wonderful job with story-telling, though with the new Toy Story I might have to make an exception to that rule, I just don't know yet.

There are a few movies I'm looking forward to. One of them is the new James Cameron movie, Avatar. It looks interesting, albeit slightly cheesy. But it's sci-fi cheesy so he's excused.

~Dooj

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T07:01:00.000-08:00

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Eat well. Sleep better and rest.

~Dooj

Escape before it's too late

2009-11-24T08:47:00.000-08:00

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Thanksgiving break from school is upon us. Unfortunately, that means my evenings are composed of making sure that we get everything for the wedding done. It's not a bad way to spend the evening. I enjoy it immensely but it's tiring work. My brain shuts down around 10 in the evening and any attempt at planning causes me to fizzle like rice crispies in a bowl of electric milk.

The only problem with Thanksgiving break is that it's right in the middle of the semester. Professors deem it to be their duty (snicker) to hand out homework that can be done over Thanksgiving break. Every other break you have, there won't be homework, but for some reason, Thanksgiving is ok because all you'll be doing is eating excess of tryptophan. If it wasn't for the homework, Thanksgiving might be one of my favorite holidays, but until then I shall be thankful that there aren't more holidays like this.

~Dooj

It's not cheating... It's...

2009-11-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

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Holy crap! What an awesome game. Like I said earlier this week, I've waited 17 years to play a new Mario sidescrolling game. I never expected to have this much fun with it. If you've never played Fusion Frenzy, I recommend it. That game is a bunch of minigames that 4 players can play. It's great fun.

This new Super Mario Bros. has a similar sort of feel. Players are able to either help or hurt their teammates. You can play as Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, or Blue Toad. If you play with people who have played Mario before, the game is much more fun. You are able to kill your teammates, grief them by taking all the powerups.

I can't tell if the game is balanced around having 4 players or not. There are times I think the game would be easier with only 1 person. However, with 4 players you don't need to restart the level every time one person dies. You do however get a "cheating" button. You press this button and a bubble envelopes your character. You can float through the level as much as you'd like until you're either popped by a teammate or everyone is bubbled or dead.

AJ and I will be playing it again sometime soon. Just not sure when. Awesome game and highly recommended if you own a Wii.

~Dooj

Super Mario Warfare

2009-11-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

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When I was about 5 or 6, my grand parents got a SNES. I remember being so irritated at my father and grandfather because I had to go to bed at 7:30 while they got to stay up and play Super Mario World. Over the course of the years, I've found that I love that game more and more.

I love the side scrolling aspect of it. I love the timing of it all. I love starting a castle small and defeating the boss. I've never been able to complete the whole thing. I've tried to beat the star road many times, but I just don't have the patience for it. Luckily for me, Nintendo finally went back to its roots and made a side scroller for their Wii.

When the N64 came out with Mario 64, I lost interest. A 3d Mario just didn't seem right and I have never played it. Unfortunately, they continued to make those types culminating with the most recent Mario, aptly named Mario Galaxy. It was a brilliant game by all reviews but not one I would play.

And then, the game I've been waiting 17 years to come out has. Finally, a new Super Mario Bros. has come out and it's MULTIPLAYER! AJ and I, much to the chagrin of my fiancee, will be playing this game because it's nostalgic. Because Nintendo (as much as they'd like to deny it) make some of the best side scrollers ever. It's time to party like it's 1992. Bring on the goombas!

~Dooj

It knows...

2009-11-12T09:29:00.001-08:00

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I went to go see the movie, Men who Stare at Goats. It was amusing. I enjoyed myself. I'm glad I went. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen by any stretch of the imagination. It was a movie I'm glad I watched in theaters and I recommend you watch it at least once.

Seeing Jeff Bridges finally play a role suited to his personality was awesome. Seeing Kevin Spacey on drugs was hilarious too. I wish I could tell you more, but just watch the movie. You'll appreciate it.

~Dooj

My worst nightmare

2009-11-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

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I apologize for not having much in the way of news today. Here are a few things on my radar though:

Men who stare at Goats is a movie that I'm interested in watching. I haven't read any reviews yet, at the moment it is at 56% on rotten tomatoes, but it sounds like fun.

Dragon Age: Origins may be the sweetest game to come out this year. I won't have a chance to play it for a while because of prior commitments but from what I hear it's worth trying it out.

The new Super Mario Brothers in coming out in less than a week. AJ and I are going to play through this. It sounds like Nintendo is finally getting back to side-scrollers which is how Mario always should be.

Now I'm off to sleepwalk my way through the day.

~Dooj

Greetings, we come in peace

2009-11-05T08:22:00.001-08:00

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My brother sent me this youtube video yesterday. I would be doing a great injustice not to share it to the rest of the world. Not that I help with that, since it's on youtube already, but every little bit counts.

Every so often, I actually pay attention to game releases. Especially when the company is Bioware, then I find it my duty to play every game that comes out of their magic box of a company. The most recent is Dragon Age: Origins. It plays like Bioware's Baldur's Gate which means I'm interested in it. So what's the problem?

Well, with school, wedding, other stuff, there is no time in the next two months that I would be able to play this ame. So I get to hear from those who have bought the game how "amazingly awesome it is", how "I wish you were playing it too", or how "I stayed up 2 hours longer than I should leveling up my mage to level 2 so that I could get the most awesome spell and destroy everyone while maintaining a symbiotic relationship with the Grey Wardens in order to blackmail high officials in case they turn on me at a moment's notice". But I'm not bitter.

~Dooj

Turkey Killer

2009-11-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

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There is a history between birds and humans. Birds want to play our sports. Unfortunately due to their small size, they aren't as durable as we'd like to think they are.

During the Spurs game on Saturday, Manu Ginobili caught a bat that was attempting to play basketball. The bat didn't actually die, and the official word is that the little beastie flew off the next day after being stunned. That didn't stop PETA from taking offense.

Of course, the bat had the last laugh, with Manu having to go get rabies shots.

~Dooj

It worked!

2009-10-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

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I probably should've waited to post the engagement story till now. But I couldn't hold it in. I'm sorry about the lateness. AJ and I have been incredibly busy (nearing the end of the semester or at least on the final stretch) and school and work caught up with our hobby.

And yes, pretty much everything said up there about me is true.

~Dooj

Rats, foiled again!

2009-10-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

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We decided to have a little fun with this story arc. I hope you enjoy.

On a side note, the NBA season starts today. I'm excited. More excited for this season than any other, though I'm not sure why. I've been a fan of the San Antonio Spurs since Tim Duncan's inaugural season, but he wasn't the reason I liked them. I liked them because I liked the way the organization was run.

There are other organizations that aren't so well run. Even worse, there are other organizations with the worst luck in all of pro sports. The Los Angelas Clippers, for some reason, cannot get out of this weird, almost voodoo type, bad luck. I cannot eloquently write what the Clippers are all about, but on the morrow of the #1 overall draft pick in the 2009 NBA draft injuring his knee, please read this open letter to Blake Griffin.

There are other weird stories about the odd foot injuries that Clippers players have faced. That article should sum them up. I still can't believe how weird it is that his injury happened. On a regular, if impressive, dunk.

~Dooj

Oh Snap

2009-10-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

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After playing poker last night for the first time in a couple of years, I think I have to say that I'm no good. I can't figure it out. With other card games, video games and board games that I play there's a sense of randomness surrounded by set rules. Whenever I play poker, I feel like the rules are surrounded by randomness. It's very similar to MOW where no one is supposed to know all the rules and yet everyone tries to win. I enjoy it but I'm just not very good at it.

As soon as I showed up for work this morning, one of my good friends sent me this link. It's the story of the wrath of kahn told via Italian opera. I would go see this show.

~Dooj

Nerve Wracking

2009-10-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

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There's something that happens when you meet the right girl. Everything just feels right. From the moment I started pursuing my girlfriend in an attempt to convince her to date me to the second I knelt down on the unforgiving rock on top of a windy hill underneath winking stars, I was comfortable. Even with this high amount of comfort, I was nervous. If there's one piece of advice that I can give to any guy it is this: Don't attempt to wing it. I knew what I wanted to say, and I still only barely mumbled the words.

This relationship was like walking in the dark. It wasn't a cold forboding dark that your scared to go out in when you're little. It's like that dark where you know where everything is, it's warm outside and wraps you up in the blanket. But all you can see is what's behind you not in front. Every step you take, you're trusting that the floor won't fall through. This was the next step, and even though every step previously had held up, it seemed like this was was the last step that might cause you to stumble.

But then she said yes, and for the next 24 hours, I only remember her. I remember her happiness, her smile and the way she looked at me like she never had before. I remember the wind cutting through my suit while I knelt down for what seemed like an eternity. But then she said yes, and immediately I was no longer cold, I could only hear her voice and everything was good.

~Dooj

Halloween Shenanigans

2009-10-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

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I've never understood Halloween. I never was allowed to go Trick or Treating. I never understood why someone would want to dress up in order to get candy. On the other hand, any excuse to dress up is always welcome.

There was this one time that I got a group of friends together and dressed up as Ninjas. I was the red ninja. We had a blue, white, green and black ninja as well. Dressed all in black (except for our headbands) we ninja ran all over town and campus. One of the most fun nights I've had, so I understand dressing up, but I don't understand the trick or treat.

The past few days I've been listening to one artist while I've been working. I know I'm a little slow getting around to telling you about him, I'm unsure if I've posted about it before, but he is amazing. I don't usually like just piano to listen to, but he does an excellent job of keeping the music upbeat while maintaining a type of simplicity that allows the listener to do something else while listening. Great music to listen to while working.

~Dooj

Thwarted again

2009-10-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

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I don't quite understand why I'm so gung-ho about this. The beta won't be out for another 4 or 5 months at least.

There is a common phenomenon that occurs whenever a child says the words "I'm bored". The parent finds himself telling the child what to do, or giving examples of what he could do. This occurrence doesn't cease when we grow up either. Whenever I say that I have nothing to do, or that some time has opened up, immediately I discover that I have no time anymore.

It happened at the beginning of the summer this year, and it decided to happen again over my fall break. Almost as if some outside force is telling me not to get bored, and I must listen to it.

~Dooj

Grilled Cheese

2009-10-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

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In all seriousness, I better get into the Beta...

I've been playing Madden 10 with a friend. He plays as the Seahawks and I play as the Ravens. I know that a lot of people don't consider sports games anything more than casual, but for some reason I love the repetitiveness of it. No game is exactly the same, yet every game has a similar feel for it. Now, my friend owns the game, and while he was playing one day he found out a play that works for a 10-40 yard gain 80% of the time. It's hell even trying to stop him short of the first down. I end up giving up over 70 points every time I play against him, the only way it's competitive is when I score as well.

Finals are over for me, so now I have a week and a half to try and enjoy things that eluded me during my scholastic 8 weeks.

~Dooj

Novel Experience

2009-10-06T08:53:00.001-07:00

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First of all, if you are a zombie fan, GO SEE ZOMBIELAND. RIGHT NOW! Forget about your nephew's birthday party, forget about midterms or finals or whatever you have due.

To curb your enthusiasm though, this was a 4 out of 5 stars zombie movie. Properly gratuitous, equally bloody with Woody Harrelson playing a bad ass zombie killing machine. I'll have to say that Woody pretty much made that movie and I hope to see him in similar roles from now on.

There is also a cameo that caught me by surprise. It was fun and ingenious, unlike a certain Ocean's 12 plot-line that made no sense at all. So enjoy it, but don't IMDB it. You want to be surprised.

Good luck to everyone in midterms and finals. Remember, Sleep is more important than study time.

~Dooj

Beta Jealousy

2009-10-01T08:16:00.001-07:00

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I'm a sucker for MMO's. What can I say? It first started with Star Wars Galaxies (as bad as that game turned out). Most of my MMO career though was spent playing WoW, and ever since I quit I've been trying to figure out which MMO warrants the most attention from me. Now, I've mentioned this game in a previous post but there's something different about it this time.

A friend of mine IMed me on Tuesday and let me know that Bioware is accepting applications for the Beta testing of Star Wars: The Old Republic. I had the most trouble signing up because so many people were on the site that it kept crashing. Now, I am not the biggest fan of this game. I rarely post on the forums, but I might go insane if I'm the only one of my acquaintances that doesn't get into the Beta.

Also, please vote us up in the button to the right. It's a per month thing and it would greatly help our publicity.

~Dooj

Post Hallucinogenic Dreaming

2009-09-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

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Wow, it gets cold quickly around here. Yesterday it was nearly 80. This morning it was 40, and it won't get too much warmer.

I'm a big fan of certain animes. Now these include: FLCL, Naruto, Bleach, Samurai Champloo, Le Chevalier D'Eon, and most importantly Full Metal Alchemist. Back in April, Full Metal Alchemist (FMA now for short) was rewritten. They got most of the same voice actors but are writing the whole story from a different perspective. I am currently in Episode 13 which lines up closely to somewhere around episode 35 in the original series.

It's fantastic. I am thoroughly enjoying it and suggest you try it out if you were a fan of the original series. Luckily, school is almost on break so I'll have more time to do things for a week before diving headlong into it again.

~Dooj

Pea brain

2009-09-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

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It's episodes like this that remind me of why middle-aged Disney (1980 - 1995) is so awesome. In the Rescuers down Under, the bad guy, whose name is McLeach, is trying to eat some eggs. His lizard pet keeps stealing them from right underneath his nose. McLeach then comes up with the funniest insult, "You dumb animal, my mental facilities are twice the size of yours, you PEA BRAIN!" The little kid thinks it's funny because he's insulting the lizard. The adult catches the humor in what he actually says. That is what Disney is missing presently.

My first major console game was Halo. I loved it. I must've played that game till my eyes would bleed. I would head over to a friend's house and link up 4 xbox and play for hours. It was some of the most fun I've had. Now, I feel like Bungie is just a one trick pony. Halo 2 was awful. I hated that game, I felt like it was poorly balanced and required too much luck. It became too Unreal Tournament for me. Halo 3 seemed pretty good, but nowhere near as much as the original Halo was.

Most recently, Bungie put out a game called Halo 3: ODST. It sold 2 million copies opening day. At $60 a pop, that's $120 million on the opening day alone. Now, it seemed pretty cool, especially as soon as I learned that this guy was going to be a voice actor. And then I found out that not only do they have Nathan Fillion, they also have Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk. This means that they have Firefly voice actors. I don't know why but that irritates me. I don't want to play a Halo game in order to get my Firefly fix. I want to play a Firefly game. I don't want Captain Mal, Jayne, and Wash to be in a Spartanesque combat suit. I don't blame anyone for this, it seems like a brilliant way to make money, but it still saddens me.

~Dooj

P-virused ferret

2009-09-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

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As the first term of school is winding down (yes, I have terms instead of semesters at my school) homework builds and builds. Usually people stay on top of this mountain of madness but since I am neither usual nor common sensical I must say that the end of the term came too quickly and now I scramble. I'm sure the rest of you have an idea of what I'm talking about.

I've been going through some of the early seasons of South Park, and they aren't as funny as I thought they were originally. Maybe my sense of humor has matured, maybe it's because I notice different things. I still love the Rainforest episode, but I wonder if Trey Parker and Matt Stone actually get better with time.

DDO is out and free. I've been having fun with it (when school isn't calling my name like a siren intent on eating my gray matter). AJ just picked it up, though he'll be done long before I can buy back in. He just doesn't have much patience for MMOs. Not that I blame him.

~Dooj

Baconed

2009-09-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

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H1N1 has evolved into something far more sinister. It is known on the streets as the P-virus. In fact, we had portents of this disease in a recent movie that in light of the achievements of the P-virus is far scarier now.

Symptoms of the P-virus are: Using the work oink as a verb, growing hooves instead of feet, eyes becoming extremely sensitive and red and a thirst for the bacon cut on a human being. Treatment is explained in this movie. It even won an Oscar so you know it's true.

~Dooj

Sean of the Pig

2009-09-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

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Since swine flu has reached rampant status in the rural setting of the Palouse, we must strike while the proverbial iron is still hot. AJ hasn't gotten it yet, even though everyone around his is sick and we're praying that he doesn't.

In lighter news, I went to see Julie and Julia and if I had not drug my semi-sick roommate along with me I would've been the only guy in the whole theater. However, this movie was FANTASTIC. It was amusing, laugh out loud funny, and if I hadn't eaten too much popcorn in the first 5 minutes of the movie, I would've been starving after seeing all those amazing meals. If you have a chance, I would highly recommend it.

I have a friend, namely my DM for my weekly DnD group, and he has a wife. She is taking photography classes and is required to post these pictures onto the internet via a blog. Please take a look. This isn't a private blog so if you enjoy any of her pictures, comment! She would like the feedback.

Thanks to AJ for getting me the comic through all manner of hardships. No internet + webcomic = friends to help out.

~Dooj

Swine Flu

2009-09-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

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Hello everyone.

Today's post is going to be late and I apologize for that. AJ is swamped with homework and I was sick the past few days with what turned out to be the swine flu. He said he would draw it later today so we should be good to go this afternoon. Thanks for your patience.

And we finally have it up. Again thank you for not chucking those rotten vegetables at us. We appreciate the well wishes as well. And after doing a little bit of research, we've discovered a way to treat the disease. It also helps if you eat raw garlic diced into small chunks. It might even go well with the whiskey.

~Dooj

Fridge Siege

2009-09-08T06:56:00.000-07:00

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I'm not sure if there is anything lamer than being sick over a holiday. Not like you're really sick where everyone dotes over you, but rather the frog-in-your-throat sick where you don't want to hang out because you don't want to give anything to your friends but at the same time you're miserable.

Every now and then it is a man's sworn duty to watch a chic flick with his significant other. Thus, even though I was sick, I found such a flick on Netflix and started watching. This particular film had me seething with rage at Julia Roberts congruent with how Mike Tyson felt right before biting that ear. This movie was called My Best Friends Wedding and is about a woman who goes to try and break up the guy (who she has been in love with for 9 years but was afraid to tell him) and the girl he just met who is perfect. I shan't ruin the ending, but I will say that it was one of the worst chic flicks. Even your significant other will want to turn it off.

~Dooj

6 Month Anniversary

2009-09-03T09:13:00.001-07:00

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Well that's 6 months and still going strong. I know it's cliche to say "Thanks to all my reader" but I feel like I must. Without you, AJ and I would still be doing these strips but you guys provide the enjoyment. We like making people laugh and when we hear compliments on the strip it makes all that work feel worth it.

I also want to put out a special thanks to AJ. He's phenomenal at drawing and a great friend. I hope you guys appreciate his art style as much as I do and I hope that it will gather many more readers. Best of luck to you all and God bless.

~Dooj

Baby got back

2009-09-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

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Sorry about the late post everyone. I had a quiz today in my history class and I spent this morning studying for it instead of posting the comic.

This comic is why I rarely look at game review scores when I buy a game. Usually I find out from word of mouth whether or not I'll play the game. For instance, Penny Arcade has piqued my interest regarding Arkham Asylum (the new Batman game) and so I will probably buy this game in order to experience. Not because of the 9.3 rating but because someone who has liked good games before and avoided those terrible games, I trust Penny Arcade's opinion.

Speaking of new games, Turbine's latest MMO (that'd be Dungeons and Dragons Online or DDO for short) is scheduled to release September 9th. Luckily for me I was in the Beta so I am downloading it as we speak, but the beauty of this MMO is that it's mostly free. Special Weapons and Armor can be bought using real money but for everyone else who doesn't want that specific piece, this game looks really good for zero munny.

I will have to expound on this game more later, the Beta was good but needed a little bit of work. Hopefully they smoothed it out a little bit. TD and I will probably play this casually so I'll relate my adventures later.

One last thing, the link to the right titled (Vote us up!) is to a site called Top Web Comics. If you could click the link and then click the "vote for good times" on the next page it would be much appreciated. It'll provide us with a little bit of advertisement. There's a few hoops you have to jump through in order to actually vote but please take the time. Thanks!
~Dooj

Alter-egoism Pt. 2

2009-08-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

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Having watched a few episodes of the Tick a few nights ago, I must say that I'm into superheros. The Tick is that lovable semi-retarded nigh-indestructible superhero we all want to grow up to be like. Arthur is the semi-gay nigh-intelligent sidekick we all want our friends to grow up to be like.

In addition to the Tick I attempted to play Madden 10 with one of my good friends. Both games we played I entered in the 4th quarter down by a field goal. Both games I ended up winning by 4 points. I would have to say that clutch factors into more than just real life sports. When the pressure rises some people have an extra molecule in their genetic code that allows them to perform better in those situations. I have that gene, unless of course we're talking about card games or DnD.

I've always been extremely amazed by people doing voices. I saw a Simpson's youtube video once where they had the cast behind the scenes speaking in the different voices. It's amazing and one that provides me with endless delight. If you have any good ones, please link them in the comments.

~Dooj

Alter-egoism

2009-08-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

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Unfortunately I'm doing this right before school starts so I will have to keep it brief. Birdman is my alter-ego. And yes, I do watch AJ while he sleeps.

In contrariness to my last post, I've heard that District 9 is a fantastic movie. I haven't seen it yet, because of financial issues but I plan on seeing it eventually. I'm sure you'll hear another recant when I see it for the first time. AJ and Wilhelm thoroughly enjoyed it.

I apologize for the briefness of this post, but not much happened this weekend to post about. I did kick ass at laser tag on Thursday. I killed one person 20 times. I'm not sure how, but I killed them A LOT. It was fun, we need to get one here again. That way we don't have to drive up to Spokane to play. Also, Ponyo needs to come out down in Moscow. Otherwise I have to wait 3 months.

~Dooj

The Oscar for Best Motion goes to...

2009-08-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

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In the last decade or so, a new style of filming has arrived. This probably started before the Blair Witch Project but that's the movie that I first saw it in. This style, I'm not sure what the posh name for it is, consists of "hand held cameras" or cameras made to look like they were hand held. Countless other movies have borrowed from it and used it to both their success and failure.

I'm not here to say that this style should never be used. On the contrary, I think that it has a niche and it should stay there. It worked in the Blair Witch project because that's what the movie was supposed to be. District 9 is supposed to have a similar style and honestly I have trouble watching movies like that. The constant motion nauseates me. I'm not sure if it's because I'm trying to focus on one thing in the picture and the whirling dervish throws my inner ear out of it's la-z-boy.

One of the worst offenders of this was the Bourne Ultimatum. Every fight scene was so chaotic that you didn't know the good guys from the bad guys. In fact you just had to trust that Jason would be the last one standing because you couldn't tell. Now, proponents for this style will say, "It's more realistic." "Fights are chaotic, real life is like a whirling dervish." That's not true though, while things can look chaotic from the outside, the outsider is still seeing things clearly. The only time a real person looks around like these hand held cameras is when they're either drunk or high.

My last point is a knock against the directors that use this style of filming. It's lazy, this allows almost no scripting in a fight. I could make myself fight like Jet Li in the movies if half the time you couldn't tell it was me because the camera was shaking so much. It allows for filmmakers to get away from actually filming and just spinning the camera until the audience has to look away. So, I'll see District 9 eventually, but I'll make sure to have a firm grasp on the seat with a semi-large bucket close by.

~Dooj

If at first you don't succeed...

2009-08-18T07:05:00.001-07:00

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When I said last week that experience was the master of the DnD player, I need to qualify that statement. There are two things that drive a person to do something foolish in an RPG. The first of those things has been mentioned in a previous post. That is experience. The second is loot. Every player wants loot. Some new piece of armor or gold. It drives them to do strange things, like jumping off a cliff.

District 9 is out. I've been hearing great things about it and I'll probably see it in the upcoming weeks. The only problem I've heard so far with it is that you'll need a puke bag next to you during the movie because of the way it was filmed. On an interesting side note, whenever there is an alien movie opening in the world there seems to be more UFO sightings. Odd that aliens want to see movies of themselves.

I probably won't go see District 9 for a little while. I have another movie that's sparked my interest. Miyazaki is one of my all time favorite directors so whenever he comes out with a new movie, I have to go see it. Of course, being in a small town in Idaho means that I won't see it for another 3 months.

~Dooj

Seduction Technique

2009-08-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

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I was introduced to tabletop RPG's by a friend who up until recently never played a male character. If you made a video game that allowed playable female characters, he would play that female character. Oh, and I forgot to mention, he's a dude.

I never understood why. Of course, I'm the vanilla of RPG players. My first RPG on the computer I played a male soldier. My next, I played a wookie soldier. Whenever I start up a new RPG I usually play a male soldier. I also play the lawful good character because I can't feel good about being evil even in a game. Anyways, for my next campaign, that Toby is starting up, I'm trying out playing a woman who is not completely moral. It should be fun and interesting.

If you notice the link to the side, Back On Earth is an up and coming webcomic. It's both fun and enjoyable.

~Dooj

Experience is the Master

2009-08-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

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DnD is a fickle game. You can do anything you want in it (provided you don't have an overly controlling dungeon master) and expect to have consequences for your actions. Most people I play with are the most comfortable role-playing as a good character. They try to follow the morals that they themselves grew up with. However, every now and then you come across one guy who decides to push the envelope of your little campaign. These are the people who are some of the most fun to play with because they help build the story, rather than playing it by Judeo-Christian ideals.

Experience points are what matter to the DnD player. It's all about leveling up your character while enjoying the mind of the dungeon master who has pieced together the story arc of a lifetime (or weekend). At the end of the session, no one likes to wait for experience points. Everyone clamors for more. So if you can get your experience in a way that the other characters can't, that makes you especially powerful. Hence, situations like this arise.

~Dooj

Seems logical

2009-08-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

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When I first heard that there were some independent video game writers developing a game for Twilight, my first thought was nausea. I had trouble getting through the first book and the only reason I watched the movie was because my roommate wanted to. However, then I got to thinking. If someone was a pervert (and there are a lot of those out there) then making a character on this MMO pretending to be Edward Cullens (that's the main character for those that didn't know) would lead to a bunch of teenage girls fawning over him. And there's nothing more that an MMO player wants than fawning, unless of course it's his class being superbly overpowered.

There are many other DnD stories to be told so just relax, we'll get them to you eventually. I'm heading out to New York so any questions should be funneled to AJ. He's quite capable of running the fort till I get back.

Many thanks going out to all those who helped last night. I would really like to thank Kelly publicly. He has been very generous to give me so much of his time to work on my home.

~Dooj

I should've asked for a million dollars

2009-08-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

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This is the method I use to get a lot of my friends to try D&D with me. Of course, AJ and Toby were the ones that did this to me, so I guess it's tradition now. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Friend: "I like RPG's on the computer, they're fun and exciting."
Me: "You should try pencil and paper RPG's then."
Friend: "Cool! What is it called?"
Me: "Dungeons and Dragons."
Friend: "EEEEEW!!!!! That's for nerds."

I'm sorry for writing that, it seemed far wittier in my head. Anyways, soon after they say that's for nerds, I pour some concoction down his throat and VOILA he's ready to play. Though if he's Toby, he'll play a girl. I think the concoction had too many soybeans in it.

~Dooj

2009-07-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

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Sorry for the late post. Blogspot has been being stupid as of late. Since time is of the essence here are a few bullet points from around the internet:

- Apparently the iPhone can be hacked via SMS. Luckily for me I text via email. Even if that annoys my friends to no end.

- I watched Dark City (the director's cut) last night. Jury is still out. It's a thinker.

- After playing Tiger Woods 10 on both the PS3 and the 360, I think it's easier to drive with the 360 and easier to putt with the PS3.

- When will the console giants decide to allow cross platform sports gaming.

~Dooj

+++++ UPDATE +++++
Now in technicolor!

It Starts

2009-07-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

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Dungeons and Dragons has this stigma that it can't seem to shake. Unlike computer games or computer programming which turned into the cool thing to do, Dungeons and Dragons has always been what nerds do when all the lights are out except the black light. A murder of nerds gather together whilst the world sleeps. Cheetos and Mountain Dew are the food of choice in urban legends.

I disagree with these stereotypes. When I play it's usually a close group of friends that allows for you to feel comfortable. That's imperative. You cannot play D&D without people you're comfortable just having fun. Also, playing in the evening and being over 21 has it's benefits. Alcohol is the oil of D&D. It helps people relax and think differently about situations. One last point is get a dungeon master who enjoys it. I've DMed before and I'm not especially good at it. I try to figure out every detail and it doesn't work that way. You need a creative thinker who can think on their toes as well. Toby and AJ are two of the best and if you ever have a chance and want to play, hit them up.

~Dooj

This is why I always lose

2009-07-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

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I'm not a very good bluffer when it comes to poker. Mainly because I know that I'm supposed to lose and all my wits leave me at the worst possible moment. As long as I think I have a chance to win, I'll be completely in control of my emotions. I'll firmly believe that I'm supposed to win and that the other guy is bluffing. But as soon as I make the decision to bluff the guy out of his money, I'm sure I have all sorts of tells that AJ and my brother could tell you. But I just feel like it's pointless. Unless I feel like I'm going to win, I can't raise. Maybe that's why I'm bad at poker. Oh, and Poko too of course.

Toby sent me a few links this morning as soon as I got into work. I'd like to share at least an excerpt from one of them:

Increasing the sugar and yeast won't make this alcohol any stronger. The yeast dies when the alcohol reaches about 10%, extra sugar will just make it sweeter. If you want to get hardcore, you need to build a "still", and distill the stuff. The thing with this is it's way more complicated and if you do it wrong, you can poison yourself. It's often called moonshining, you sometimes hear stories of how people have gone blind or destroyed their liver (and died) from drinking the stuff, which is no laughing matter. And it's illegal to do almost everywhere.

That's how you moonshine koolaid.

~Dooj

======== UPDATE =================

The three moon cat t-shirt is now in print. Only $20 from this website

Explosive Electronics

2009-07-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

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As I was surfing around on the internet, I came across this gem. Apparently use of iPod Nano's can occur in random explosions. I'll have to make sure I wear flame retardant clothing.

About a month ago, I came across Steve Colbert making fun of a new internet phenomenon. This fad on the internet is called keyboard cat. It waits for you to mess up, and then it plays its song on the keyboard to show you up. Here's one video. Now, the internet if full of fads like the keyboard cat. There was another one that happened about 1.5 months ago that had reviewers state that the Three Wolf Moon shirt would give them powers and make them irresistible to women.

But what happens when two internet fads join together? Totally sweet!!!

~Dooj

Racism

2009-07-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

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Now, racism is no joke. I do not want to condone it in any way. I believe that without a solid Christian foundation racism is the logical evolutionary step. That's beside the point though. I was scanning the internets recently and found that the racism charge has been brought up again. In the past, the racism accusation occurred in the latest Resident Evil game, RE5. In it, a black woman and a white man, shoot zombies. It's based in Africa where 90% of the population is, yep that's right, black. More recently, Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 is set in New Orleans. And SOME of the zombies you kill are African-American. This caused a writer for the Houston Chronicle to call out those two games as inherently racist. Apparently the only way to not be racist is to go back to the XCOMM: UFO defense days when every human is blond haired and blue-eyed with Japanese names. It's not racist to kill Caucasians according to this writer, it's racist only when you're killing Africans.

On a lighter note, Apple has reared it's ugly head, or at least Microsoft claims that this is so. Using both Apple computers and PC's, I must say that I enjoy both of them. Macs look sweet and are extremely useful. PC's can look sweet, and are also extremely useful. But the best part about this whole scenario is that the consumer wins. Apple's price goes down, and so do PC prices. I'm all for this. Keep running the ads, Micro$oft, and keep dropping that price $teve Job$.

~Dooj

P.S. Did you see how I inserted dollar signs as the letter 's'? That shows I have credibility and know that they're just two corporate entities, though we really know that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are boyfriends (link is safe for work).

Wilhelm strikes again

2009-07-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

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AJ finally got one of his deepest desires last night. In case you didn't know, AJ is an avid board game player. One of his few failings in that department was not ever having played Settlers of Catan. Well last night AJ got to play, I'll have to see how he enjoyed it.

Speaking of board games, AJ and I have been playing D&D with a group for the last month or so. We invited an old friend of mine to play with us and it's a new experience for me especially. AJ is a fantastic DM (dungeon master, it means he controls the story), and he's wonderfully nice to allow us to push the edges of the envelope. Anyways, the old friend is a chaotic evil Warlock and enjoys exploring the boundaries. This is a new way to play (I've never been able to get out of the lawful good mindset that my parents brought me up into). Here's a quick example:
After a slight mishap at a Mage tower, one of our party, a Druid, snuck back into the tower and discovered a mage sleeping. After knocking him unconscious, the druid carried him on his back out to us (who had been knocked unconscious by the mages). After everyone had woken up, we lied to him and convinced him that a certain faction in the mage tower were trying to kill him.

Again, it's not that spectacular, but it's something I'd never attempted to do before and am enjoying playing the game differently than I had originally thought I would.

~Dooj

Magic Disk

2009-07-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

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To quote the always excellent Samwise Gamgee, "Well, I'm back." It was an eventful trip as you can see from the last post. It doesn't seem like AJ had quite as much fun but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Quite a few things have happened in the last week, and unfortunately I'm unable to keep up with all of them without internet. One of the biggest things I noticed was in the sports world. Lebron James has been heralded as the next Michael Jordan. Think Karl Malone's size with otherworldly athleticism. But he doesn't seem to handle embarassment well. Now, no one is sure exactly what happened. But here's an interview with the player that dunked on him.

I also finished up Mass Effect last night. The ending was pretty meh. My 360 has been having a few processor problems and so my final fight with Saren was him just crab-walking across the ground as I laid into him with my assault rifle. But that wasn't the reason, there was no twist like in KOTOR. They had a similar ending but it seemed anticlimactic. The game was worth playing though.

Another ending that was crap compared to the rest of the story was Le Chevalier D'eon's ending. I got the last disk from Netflix and watched the rest of it. It had a sweet twist in the ending, but the last 10 minutes of the last episode were very very very anticlimactic. Again, this is a fantastic anime and the plot was deep and engaging. I'll have more to say about this when my wits are about me.

~Dooj

Great Samaritan

2009-07-07T09:21:00.002-07:00

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Again, sorry for the tardiness of this post.
-AJ

---------

So, I went on a cross country trip to visit my girlfriend. I'm on the road as I type. I wanted to tell you a story about something that happened to me and my roommate while driving.

We were halfway there, it always happens at halfway, when the car started shaking. I looked in the mirror and saw a huge cloud of smoke as the rear right tire blew. After we had gotten out of the car to put on the spare, we realized that we had no jack for the car.

Attempts to dig out a hole availed nothing. After 15 minutes of futile excavation, we decided to hail down a car. No one stopped until an older man with Virginia plates stopped and lent us his jack.

He then proceeded to lead us into the closest town, showed us a tire shop, bought us a new jack, and bought some tires for us. Now, I've never experienced a good Samaritan before but this man was the epitomy of it.

I can't thank him enough. But I hope and pray the God blesses him. If anyone deserves it, he does.

~Dooj

Mull-Again

2009-07-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

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Hello Good Times Readers!!

Sorry for the lateness of the post this morning. Dooj couldn't get to the web, leaving me to cover as best I can. Thus the inconsistency in layout. Please forgive me.

On a more positive note: I am eating a bowl of cereal while I type this. If you must know it is MultiGrain Cheerios with 1%. I love cereal probably more than you. This particular kind is delicious, with its lightly sweetened 5 whole grain cheer. Mmm. I am also a 'whole bowler' when I partake of my morning (and evening) feasts. What is a 'whole bowler'? It means that I consume the entire contents of a bowl of cereal before I move on to the next bowl. There are some, I will not name names I will simply call them 'hethens', who simply eat the cereal and leave the leftover milk for the next bowl! A most heinous choice. A chill tickles my spine as I remember those worse than these hethens who do not even finish the solid portion of the cereal before re-applying more from the box... I shall speak no more of it.

I hope everyone enjoys today's comic, but does not relate to it. Happy 4th of July and God Bless!

-AJ

His first time

2009-06-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Back in the day when I wasn't playing disc golf, I played WoW. I'm sure most of you know that already but I want to delve in a little deeper into the appeal that World of Warcraft had on me. Not only was it a well made and refined game, at least by the time I had come into it, but it also was a lifestyle. You chose Horde or Alliance. There was no fraternizing. Each side would complain about the other. I remember not being able to go through Ironforge for weeks without hearing some complaint about Shamans, and I'm sure it happened on the other side as well. That was a huge part of the game. Blizzard made a big mistake and lost a lot of people when WoW became a job and less of a lifestyle.

The entry of their first expansion, The Burning Crusade, caused both Horde and Alliance both to quest in the same area. However, attacking someone would cause an all out war to break loose and you would end up losing a couple of hours of valuable questing time. This caused everyone to start playing carebear style. A "I won't attack you if you don't attack me" truce was formed and Horde and Alliance started living in harmony. Not only that but Shamans came to the Alliance side and the Horde were allowed Paladins. There was hardly any viable way of telling a difference between the two factions.

Not to mention with The Burning Crusade also came a new way of PvPing. Instead of fighting the Horde, you fought a small group of 2, 3, or 5. This could be from any faction. Now you're fighting your own faction in PvP. Will this madness ever end?

I guess the next logical step is this. WoW is turning into a pve grindfest where there are no discernible lines between Horde or Alliance. Eventually, by level 100, there will be no difference. Horde and Alliance will be joining each other in dungeons to help rid the world of another evil. At that point, I hope WoW will die. I don't want to see something that was so amazing fall so far, I'd rather it go out with a bang than a whimper.

~Dooj

I'm a Pro!

2009-06-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Disc golf is one of those outdoor games that's highly addictive. It is not similar to other sports where you have to practice for years to get good at. To become a pro, yes, you need to put your 10,000 hours in, but to be pretty good at it, all it takes is one summer of dedication. Unless of course you get so struck with the disc that you immediately are a pro, as what happened to AJ.

I've been convincing AJ to watch old time movies. I grew up on them, he did not. Just recently, we started one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest, North By Northwest. If there's one thing that is amazing to me, with Alfred Hitchcock, it's how he makes a movie so intense without having an exorbitant amount of violence and action. We're only halfway into the movie, and there's been only one gun, one death, and one chase scene. I guess that's a lot of action when you think about it, but the movie is paced extremely well.

~Dooj

Disc Golf

2009-06-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

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Disc golf, or frisbee golf, needs to be experienced to be appreciated. When I first heard about the whole scenario I didn't think it was that special. When I first tried to play, I got a horrible score. The game itself is similar to golf in more ways than one and one needs to practice at it until you get good. If you haven't tried it out yet, and have a frisbee golf course nearby, I highly recommend it.

AJ and I watched an awesome movie last night. It's one I know well, and he knows decently well. If you haven't seen it, I consider it to be one of Schwarzenegger's best films. There's little swearing, not much blood (but plenty of violence) and little sex. Another movie I highly recommend.

I finished up Dexter over the weekend and I'm not going to watch any more of the show. The first season was fantastic. However, the tension that is being created between his girlfriend, Rita, and Dexter is something I don't want to experience in a TV show. It, while not feeling contrived, feels like the producers are using that as a tool to get you to continue watching. When I feel that pull, I immediately cease watching the show. A show doesn't need tension for you to watch it. It can have it, but when the tension between two characters is the reason they want me to watch the show, I stop. I just can't stand it.

~Dooj

Slight Miscalculation

2009-06-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Yesterday, the new iPhone OS came out. It came out in the middle of the day, when most people would be at their respective computers. For some reason, and one of my coworkers told me that this was a good business model, Apple's servers could not handle the strain of 15 million iPhones downloading the OS around the same time. My phone was stuck on trying to authorize for hours. It was maddening.

I then found a little bugfix that would take care of the problem. While the phone was trying to connect to the authorization servers that were temporarily down, you shut off the internet on your computer. After turning it back on, you were able to install the new OS. I don't know what it was for, and I will authorize later when all the other people have finished testing the server's patience.

I'll give a better rundown of the new OS as soon as I have experienced it a little more fully. I'm still watching the first season of Dexter. It's still fascinating, but I'm not sure I want to watch the second season. It's turning a little too dramatic. Again, I'll have more on that later.

~Dooj

The Poko-Killer

2009-06-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

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I know that I'm a bit behind the cutting edge of pop culture. Well, maybe not a bit, more like I'm way behind that wave. I don't have cable so I can't watch TV shows. I don't have money so I can't buy the newest game or go to the theater. I don't have a car so I can't listen to the "hottest" stuff. However, I ultimately get to some things in that genre.

The latest is the TV show Dexter. Dexter is about Miami crime. He is a vigilante who is also a blood splatter analysis by day. He kills people who beat the justice system, but before you think that this is a hero or even anti-hero, he does it cause he enjoys it. This man is twisted and has no humanity in him. He has no compunction about killing anyone and basic human emotion is acted towards his peers.

Even with all this, I'm fascinated by the show. It is well written and Dexter knows he's not a good person and will narrate about it throughout the show. I would not recommend watching it unless you have a decently strong stomach because it is intense.

Oh, the comic came from the fact that AJ's little sister also has a ferret. He is twice as big as Poko's real life counterpart and abuses him incessantly.

~Dooj

Wilhelm's Power

2009-06-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Nintendo should be extremely proud at this point. The maxim, There's no greater flattery than emulation, still holds true in the video game world. Everyone is trying to do the same thing, and at the same time come up with something original. Nintendo has always been at the forefront of this. They changed consoles with the NES and SNES. Their analog stick on the N64 revolutionized the industry and the Wii with it's interactive aspect has caused Sony and Microsoft to sweat bullets.

But, the time has come, as the walrus said, to speak of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. And Project Natal. This looks incredible if it actually works as advertized, these things rarely do. But it does allow for more freedom in games and less cheating than with the wii. I have a little brother who will run around the island on wii fit just by twitching his wrist. It loses the fun at that point in my opinion.

Here's another video that shows more powerfully what Natal is capable of. Of course Sony came out with it's own wii stick which looks more like Wilhelm's wand. Here's the video of that one. All in all, it's a wonderful time to be enjoying video games. But I feel like Project Natal won't reach it's full potential until they place cameras from every position. At least 4 for each direction.

~Dooj

=======================================================================

Just found another video of Project Natal. I think this is the best one yet as it is not a demo but more of just showing off with people who have never seen it before. Check it out

/facepalm

2009-06-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

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I found a cheap game that will attract my interest for the next few weeks. Even better it keeps AJ's attention as well while he plays Tetris on his phone. I will never understand playing that game over and over again. There's no plot, no awesome graphics just the same 7 blocks over and over.

But there's a problem. Whenever you fight certain combinations of enemies, a treasure unlike you've ever seen before is dropped. I searched it. I couldn't help myself, and I found money in it. 10 gold pieces!! I'm just not sure if I would do that in real life. Let me think about it... Yeah, I guess I would.

Blue Dragon takes experience gaining to a whole new level. You can kick rocks and get experience, you can walk up to a tree and get experience. Which actually makes it fun and enjoyable because leveling has never been so easy. Except for maybe KOTOR. But we won't talk about that.

~Dooj

Mea Culpa

2009-06-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Monday and Tuesday were very busy for both of us. Unfortunately we can't find an excuse good enough to explain our inability about getting a comic up. We both apologize to all our fans for not posting on Tuesdays. It won't happen again.

On to lighter notes, I have this itch to play a video game. I've had it for a few weeks. I don't know what the video game is, I'm not sure what the genre is, I don't even know which console I should be playing it on. I'd like suggestions for what game I should be playing. By the way, the itch has gotten so bad, I almost picked up World of Warcraft again. Yes, it's THAT bad. If you have any suggestions please put them in the comments

E3 happened or is happening this week. This is an exciting time for everyone as the video game industry is showing off its new gadgets and games. One game I was severely disappointed in, not because the game itself is disappointing but because the two guys talking about it seemed completely ignorant of the game itself, was The Old Republic. This is a MMO coming out next year some time. The cinematic trailer looks amazing. If only they could hire more capable guys to go to E3.

~Dooj

Ferret Attack

2009-05-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Every web comic cartoonist and their evil nemesis are making fun of the new PS3 game, Infamous, featuring the apocolypse, a man with lightning hands and a city full of mutants. Being that I don't own a PS3 to play this on, and I wouldn't get the game for free, I can't play it. However, it does make me sad when I see fodder for comic jokes being used when I have no way of trying them myself.

Ever since summer started, I assumed that I would be able to have more leisure time, being out of school and all that. However, I have found that I have far less, and it's a good thing. I'm sure all of you have experienced that before. In other news, Terminator: Salvation came out this past weekend, a friend of mine wrote a review of it, you can see it at his blog. I encourage you to read it when you have seen the movie.

~Dooj

Did you know?

2009-05-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Wal-mart in an exciting new trend has decided to put forth its advances towards a completely different market. While the concept isn't bad, in fact I think it's a pretty good idea, I don't want all my used games to be going to my toilet paper.

It's like Demolition Man where one store picked the right straw and that's the only restaurant available. Sounds like Walmart is that store.

~Dooj

P.S. Sorry about the late update, blogspot appears to have disliked anything I said.

Halvirus

2009-05-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Computer Viruses are said to have to replicate themselves. A virus, according to the free online dictionary is "A computer program that is designed to replicate itself by copying itself into the other programs stored in a computer. It may be benign or have a negative effect, such as causing a program to operate incorrectly or corrupting a computer's memory." This automatically rules out Vista as a virus. We have no way of knowing if it replicates itself tenfold onto machines. Instead, I think we must call it the half-virus or Halvirus.

Vista can be benign, but it is more often negatively effecting the computer's memory, as in taking up all your memory so you can't run anything else. It's also equivalent to spyware, popping up with random questions whenever you click the mouse. "You double-clicked on this application, Do you want to open it?" Click yes. "Are you sure?" 10 minutes later you will have forgotten what it was you started and gone outside for a nice walk in the park. While I don't usually like these commercials, this one pretty much got it right.

~Dooj

It defines our culture

2009-05-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

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When Lieutenant Ahura first said the line, "I'll be monitoring your frequency." My row burst out laughing. I am unsure whether this line was intended to be funny, but since I wasn't weaned on Star Trek and since no one else in the movie theater thought it the least surprising, I must say that I don't get Star Trek.

Science fiction has a disturbing trend in it. This is especially true of Space exploration shows/movies. Time Travel has always been fascinating to humans. Who doesn't want to be able to go back and change all the mistakes that you made? Who doesn't want to see the future? Time travel makes that easy, that's in its nature.

I must admit that I was deeply into this movie. I was interested from the beginning. I didn't quite cry at the movie, but I was hooked. I wanted to watch seasons upon seasons of Star Trek in order to understand more fully the nuances in this movie. Then he went into the cave.

Caves are generally bad places to go, unless your George Lucas sending Luke or Indiana in there. I've talked to Star Trek fans who hated the cave. They loved the movie until the cave. "It made it too Star Wars." I disagree. It made it too original Star Trek. **SPOILER ALERT** Spock didn't need to show up. They could've made it work without that. Instead, they had to use on of the lamest Deus Ex Machina's in recent movie history. The potential for greatness was there, but Leonard Nemoy should not have been put into that cave.

~Dooj

Star Trek

2009-05-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

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When AJ and I first heard that Star Trek was coming out, neither of us were interested in seeing it. We've never watched the original series so we never got caught up in the whole debate. Well, that was before we saw this man was going to be playing Scotty. Now we knew that we HAD to see it.

I just watched this movie last night, and while the graphics are subpar, the one-liners pretty lame, and the action sequences with Sonya really lame, the movie is still awesome. I fell asleep last night to that strange techno that is the Mortal Kombat theme.

~Dooj

The Dark Lord

2009-05-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

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In the original Mario Brothers I never understood why Bowser always had a bridge made up of wood that was suspended over a lake of lava. Especially since he did it every single castle. You'd think that by the end of the game he wouldn't provide an easy way for Mario. Mario could just jump over Bowser every time, and each time Bowser fell to his (death?). Of course, even Bowser couldn't stop this guy.

I also found out that one of my favorite players is a huge Dungeons and Dragons fan. Yes those are two trophies. That's the NBA championship trophy and the NBA finals MVP. I guess it's similar to Vin Diesel playing D&D except that Tim Duncan is waaaaay more awesome than Vin Diesel. If anyone knows his email address I'd like to have it to try and find some time to play with him. Just shoot me an email.

~Dooj

The Con-Magician

2009-05-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

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I just recently watched Matchstick Men for the second time. It's a fantastic movie, not necessarily kid friendly but it's a thriller with a twist that possibly surpasses M. Night Shyamalan's 6th Sense.

Nicolas Cage, this one, not this one plays an con-artist who has obsessive compulsive disorder. That's all I'm gonna tell you. If you haven't seen the movie I'm not gonna ruin it for you like people ruined 6th Sense for me.

~Dooj

The Magic Elixir

2009-05-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

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I often find it amusing that there are times in video games (or even most fantasy novels) where the main character must go through a severely torturous journey. In fact, so torturous that the person the hero is trying to rescue looks like he's going on a vacation to Hawaii in comparison. Maybe it's the Geneva convention that requires this to happen. Maybe it's just how the world was made.

AJ and I have been on a Blizzard game kick. We've played Starcraft, and now we're reaching into the depths of Diablo 2 along with some spattering of Warcraft 3. I had forgotten how good at making games Blizzard is. I will have to put them in my top 5 video game companies. Of course, the top is Bioware.

Words can't express how excited I am to play their first MMO, The Old Republic. The gameplay (even a year left before it's released looks fantastic. Will this bring down WoW? No, I severely doubt it, but it looks like it will be comparable and I'll be playing.

~Dooj

Nivek

2009-04-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Back in my less responsible days, I played WoW all the time. Not just in the evening as a excellent hiatus from the world. No, I played every chance I could get. I woke up in the morning... I logged into WoW. On my lunch break from work..? WoW. I would stay up till 5 or so in the morning on a friday night and log into WoW by 11 the next morning. It wasn't pretty.

All this say that WoW is a wonderful game. I spent too much time playing it, but in moderation just about anything is fine. If you haven't ever tried it, I would recommend doing the 14 day trial. Not to get you hooked, but if you play computer games, WoW is one of the best games out there. Unfortunately it's also one of the most addicting so be extremely careful.

~Dooj

Where do we go?

2009-04-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Another thing that both AJ and I have noticed is that in RPG's when you want to find something (say on a quest to find something) you are required to ask the whole town where it might be. Morrowind is probably one of the biggest offenders of this. Thus you spend 15 minutes to an hour talking to people who are telling you the exact same thing over and over, when by the first guy, you know the exact location of where the quest is taking you.

Another thing I'd thought I'd mention. AJ and I have started dinking around in Starcraft the past week. I know we're about 10 years too late, but it's been fun. AJ hadn't played until last week, and I had only played a few times. He plays Terran, I play Zerg. But it gave me thought to the differences between Starcraft and AoE and which are actually good.

The first difference is that there are only 2 resources in Starcraft, these resources can be incredibly limiting. Age of Empires you have to gather 4 all of which (except maybe stone) are relatively abundant. The other main difference is the types of units. Because Starcraft is fantasy and Age of Empires is supposed to be real time, Starcraft allows for invisibility and spells. This allows for a little more freedom in the commanding of armies. You don't just make 100 cavalry and and 10 trebuchets to destroy everyone in Starcraft. You can, and it can be effective, but by that point it seems that everyone has the highest technology.

I think I enjoy Starcraft more then Age of Empires. I do think there are a few things that can be learned from AoE but I considering that Starcraft is 1 year older than Age of Empires 2, I'll have to hold off until the second one comes out... That is except that I'll have to pay 150 big ones to play it completely.

~Dooj

====EDIT====
Beta's right, I apologize, I think there are a few things that AoE did better than starcraft, but the pace of the game (especially against fellow humans) feels much slower than starcraft and I feel like lessens the excitement of AoE.

Wilhelm

2009-04-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Throughout the annals of rpg lore, the main character usually meets someone in the story and, 5 sentences in, they decide that they want to follow you for the rest of your journey, whether they die or not. It's always seemed strange to me that something like that happens. How do they know that your the right person to follow?

Especially in jrpg's the main character is a snivelly male of about 16 or 17 years of age. Grown men are following them at a chance meeting and refusing to leave no matter how many stupid mistakes they do. Often makes me wonder what would happen if the world were a jrpg...

~Dooj

Deus Ex

2009-04-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

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In case you've never noticed, a Deus ex Machina (that's latin) happens throughout literature. It didn't stop with the Greek tragedies, from whence the phrase was coined, nor did it die with Shakespeare. A Deus Ex can be anything that's out of the natural order of the literary piece without which the plot could not conclude. Or if you wish to get technical it's a plot device in which a person or thing appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.

Like I said, this still happens today, in the Andromeda Strain or War of the Worlds, or even Nic Cage's hair in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Needless to say, this is my Deus Ex Machina

~Dooj

The Fine Print

2009-04-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

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I have decided to go on a quest to find AJ. I don't know where the path will lead, but I will at the very least get away from Poko. He seems overly bent on destroying me.

This strip has turned into my new favorite. I love the way that everything feels in it. Poko, in particular, looks just downright scary at the end. I wouldn't want to meet him in my living room, nevermind a dark alley.

One more thing, I found this yesterday. I know it's more than a few days old, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. I also started replaying one of my favorite games of all time. If you haven't had a chance to play it I would highly recommend it.

~Dooj

Kidnapped

2009-04-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

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No one knows just who the Dark Lord is. He pops up in every fantasy book, albeit with different names. Some of his characteristics are: 1. People calling him the Dark Lord rather than by his real name because they are too afraid to say his real name (Sauron, Voldemort, and Shai'tan). 2. His name can be synonymous with beer. And he can look like anything, from this to this.

So, having found out that AJ has been kidnapped by the Dark Lord, I have no idea which one to look for, nor do I know what he is susceptible to. It could be love (Voldermort), fatherly love (Darth Vader), or even true love (Maleficent). AJ might just have to spend eternity down there. I suppose fatherly love might work though...

~Dooj

I've always wanted to do that

2009-04-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

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I feel like one of the cops in the man who knew too little. They are following Bill Murray in his little mini, when Murray begins clipping all the traffic cones on the side of the road, causing them to flip up in the air in a beautiful arc. The cop driver says to the other cop, "I've always wanted to do that." To which the other cop replies, "Me too..."

That's the way I feel about this strip.

~Dooj

The Tree Joke

2009-04-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

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This is one of my all time favorite jokes. Not because it's amazingly funny (which it is only some of the time) but because to get it right takes practice. I know, all jokes take practice, but you'd be surprised the fine line between this joke being incredibly lame or super funny.

One a side note, my favorite anime series is coming out with a sequel/remake this month in Japan. I must say I'm excited and I'll have to watch the series again.

One more thing, there is only one good thing about this college basketball season. That is that I will no longer have to look at Tyler Hansbrough's ugly face during the hoops season. I haven't enjoyed watching this year's UNC team play. The only season I felt was worse was Florida's second year of winning the championship.

~Dooj

P.S. That's a burrito

CURED!

2009-04-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Need I say more?

This strip marks the one month anniversary of Good Times Comic. We haven't come very far so we won't be handing out any awards just yet. A hearty thanks to everyone who follows the comic. Please tell your friends about it.

Several things in store for April. We'd like to get our title t-shirts available to be bought. We've been super busy the past few weeks so we'll get on that this month. Also, we're looking at trying to have a true website available by the end of the month. That's tentatively but I'll be trying my best.

~Dooj

PSA: Obama filled out a bracket

2009-03-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

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There came a time right before March Madness started (that's the NCAA men's basketball tournament for those who didn't know) that the United States of America went crazy. This isn't the normal crazy that happens every year. This was almost stalker level crazy.

I have no problem with our president picking a bracket. I'm not condemning him for doing something that nearly everyone in America does. He's probably really stressed out and needed the time off. My beef arises when for 3 days, every major sports site decided that they needed to report about Obama's bracket... but NO ON ELSE'S. We have 100 senators that need their brackets published. I haven't heard anything about the Vice President's bracket. We must know until our Sports Analysts and our governors are the SAME people. This is already beginning in Alabama.

Blood and Ice Cream Trilogiolus

2009-03-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Blood and Ice Cream Trilogiolus is a rare disease that results from the lack of Simon Pegg or Nick Frost on the television screen. Common symptoms of the problem are:
1. No desire to kill zombies.
2. Failure to curse at any provocation.
3. Cranberry Juice.
4. Urge to eat a cornetto.
5. TimeSplitters 2

If you or any of your loved ones have ever experienced any of these symptoms, please call 1-800-HOT-FUZZ. They will provide you with a temporary copy of one of the volumes of the trilogy until the crisis is averted.

Yes, I have heard of people dying from this disease before. Any questions?

~Dooj

Apathy is more dangerous than ferrets

2009-03-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

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In reply to someone's comment, I'd like to reiterate that if you click on the comic you can read the small font better. Also, in order to make sure that our readers are not led astray, ferrets are some of the most lovable pets if you get one. I would highly recommend them.

I understand that a job as a 911 operator is a highly stressful job. You have to listen to practical jokes, little boys accidentally calling 911 when their parents are gone and their older sibling is pretending to call 911 to get them to eat their pasta... Where was I? Oh right, 911 operators. I understand how stressful the job can be, but there is no excuse for hanging up on people because they got attacked by a ferret.

~Dooj

P.S. For those of you who have not experiences 911 incompetence look at this youtube video. This is just one of many. It's also has a little language so be advised.

Ferrets attack more people than grizzly bears

2009-03-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Here's a tip on how to survive a ferret encounter. First of all, contrary to what most naturalists will say, a ferret only attacks things that are bigger than it. The first rule is to get as small as possible, preferably in the fetal position so as to leave no extremities available for consumption. The second thing is that when they are about to attack, they do a war dance. This dance looks like a series of half flips in the air. Thus the second rule is if you see this dance... RUN! If you're in the fetal position, start crying and sucking your thumb.

The last rule is: Make sure you have a healthy supply of blood. Ferret attacks release a huge amount of blood from the body so spares are necessary. Good luck, and Godspeed.

~Dooj

Mustela Putorius Furo

2009-03-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

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Ferrets hoard things. If there's anything I have learned about them besides the fact that ferrets attack more people than grizzly bears is that they find something and they'll take it to a cold dark place for later consumption. Unless, of course, you feed them jelly beans, after which they'll go crazy for a little while and then do their business on the rug somewhere.

We decided on having a ferret as our pet of choice in our comic because ferrets are cool. But also because we feel like they are woefully under-represented in the online comic culture, except xkcd as Josiah will eagerly point out. I find it odd that a half-monkey, half-lizard, half-rodent animal has been so neglected by gaming culture for so long. I mean come on... Beastmaster had two, and they saved the day.

~Dooj

AJ is just THAT good with a computer.

2009-03-12T07:29:00.001-07:00

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I recently read this article online about how they use body doubles/CGI to enhance the viewers experience in movies. Nicolas Cage (don't snicker Toby) uses computers to give him a better physique in Ghost Rider. Angelina Jolie used a body double for Beowulf.

Anyways, to cut a long story short we decided (per Yahtzee's advice on how to make a webcomic) to make our protagonists excellently handsome. This is us doing that. And yes, this was actual dialogue between AJ and me.

~Dooj

P.S. For those of you that don't see what's happening in strip 2, his chin is growing. He's not going cock-jawed.

Four hands are better than two

2009-03-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

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We had tryouts at the beginning of February to see who was actually going to draw and this was the best of my attempts. The last frame only. The story behind my drawing (I actually did a full comic but we decided on just losing the last frame) is how frustrating it is for a 'veteran' gamer to go up against a 'newbie'. We have all experienced this and it has been lovingly called as the All-Except-Noob-Saibot law or the AENS (pronounced INES) law.

Without a doubt, button mashing goes much farther in most games than people like to think. Each and every gamer prefers to think that his game of choice requires skill to perform when it mostly comes down to how fast can you press the 'A' button. What about Noob Saibot though? Why is he mentioned? Well, AENS syndrome takes effect in 90%+ of all the games out there, but the only one it doesn't happen in is in Mortal Kombat when you are playing with Noob Saibot. His array of shadow moves and dodges make him impossible to beat as long as the chimpanzee next to you remembers to press down and low kick at the right time.

So, the AENS law has caused me much grief and I thought, even in my rudimentary and crude drawing, I could at least show a little bit of my dislike.

~Dooj

Wait, can he actually draw?

2009-03-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

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Thanks everyone who has given me feedback so far. I forgot to mention that if you click on the image it gets bigger and easier to read.

I hope you guys enjoy today's comic. Doing a comic is far more work than I had ever imagined. And all I'm doing is commenting about it. Thanks so much to AJ for all his fabulous work. I'm really looking forward to the whole thing.

~Dooj

First Comic

2009-03-03T07:29:00.001-08:00

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Thanks for the wings and the company last night everyone. The reason this is a little blurry is because we want to get the feel that the comic is being made while the characters are making it.

This will be the one that we started with. I have no idea where this venture is going, but I have thoroughly enjoyed working with AJ on this for the past month and a half. We decided to base our comic off our own life experiences. It will definitely reach farther out than that.

Because I am so heavily influenced by pvponline and Penny Arcade I feel like this is a cross between the two. I took Yahtzee's idea to heart and found a friend who can draw and I just sit back and reap in the benefits. Thanks AJ.

Last but not least, we changed our title from For the Win because a friend decided to inform us that our acronym FtW meant something rather than For the Win. Good Times is a different vibe, but I think it portrays what we want to get across with our comic. We don't want to be limited by anything and just figure out how the story goes.

~Dooj

Btw, if you want a t-shirt (it looks like they're gonna cost about $20 to make if we do it online) please send me an email at thedooj@gmail.com.