Frosty

<rant>

Normally I don't use Live Journal for much, but this has gotten me so incredibly pissed, I feel I need to tell somebody, ANYBODY, about it.

I like to think of myself as a card-carrying 'geek'. I take things apart for amusement, I read comic books and play video games and partake of other such nonsense other 'normal' people might consider a waste of their time.

But yet, the 'mecca' of geekdom has eluded me. D&D. Dungeons and Dragons. This holy grail of geek passtimes. I've bought a few manuals in hopes that perhaps some day, I'd be able to find a group of like-minded geeks and sit down at someone's kitchen table and throw dice.

But, what do my eyes behold as I wake up this morning and open my email? This.

If you click that link right there, you will be taken to Wizards of The Coast's Dungeons and Dragons website, where you will be all but hit over the head with news of upcoming D&D Edition 4 and the 'Gleemax Online Gaming Network' This didn't bother me that much at first. Hell, I play Magic: The Gathering. I'm used to new editions coming out on a regular basis. I knew the same thing would happen to D&D sooner or later.

Now, I understand that I came into the D&D phenomenon a bit late, in comparison to some others (I hear of people still playing AD&D 2nd Edition) but even I understand the scope of what has just happened. When I looked up 3.5 edition when it was released about 4 years ago, WotC specifically stated that "there are no plans to write a 4th Edition"

The website stated that 4th Edition has been in the works for the better part of 3 or 4 years. *double-take* Excuse Me?! Was I not told those 3 or 4 years ago that there WERE no plans for a 4th Edition? Have I been lied to? Possibly, but that's not even the part that bothers me most.

What bothers me is this supposedly 'fantastic' new direction that WotC is taking the D&D franchise. The official information that's been released seems to state that the game will be now mostly, if not entirely, online-based.

To me, D&D was supposed to be about pencils and paper and dice and PEOPLE. A bunch of PEOPLE gathered around a table, interacting with each other. You sit these people down in front of a computer and the interaction is destroyed. I'm sorry. but as much as WotC would like to think, you don't interact with people online through VoIP the same way you do meeting together every Saturday around (insert name here)'s kitchen table. With computer character generators and a 'digital tabletop' to play on, I don't like where this is heading at all. The future looks to be paved with monthly subscription fees and a 'dumbed-down' gaming system. As if that weren't enough, The Dragon and The Dungeon, D&D's two gaming magazines, have been axed to make way for a completely online 'D&D Insider' with exclusive, online-only content.

Okay, lemme back up a second. I know when D&D took up the d20 system, people were crying out, saying things like 'How dare THEY do this to MY game?!' I have never known D&D before being converted to the d20 system, so I wouldn't know how it USED to work, All I know is how it works now. And personally, I saw nothing wrong with how it worked, except that you needed to be intelligent and have basic math skills to play.

With this new online system, that becomes unnecessary. There's no math involved anymore. Likely as not, the computer even does all the dice-rolling for you. This takes away something else that made D&D special to me. It used to be you had to be a 'geek' to play D&D, you had to be smart. Now anyone with a brainstem, a broadband modem, and cash to burn can play.

I sense a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of voices suddenly cried out 'N00b!' and were NOT silenced. This is the future of D&D, and if its all the same to you, WotC, I'll stick to my 'obsolete' game manuals, my dice, and my pencil/paper.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be the only one.

</rant>

Current Mood: frustrated

velvetsteel may hurt or love me for this...

( Graphic Arts Geekfu ) </span>

Current Mood: geeky

(Laughing My Little Puppy Butt Off!!)

Gakked from the_gneech

"Why Sumo Wrestling Is Better Than Karate"

</span>

So decrees The Infamous Frostbyte... First off, the meme I wanted to snag from ladytl is broken. Grr. Minor irritation. Then I remember that school is tomorrow. Rargh. moderate irritation. Then the bad news to end all bad news, (at least in my case) is that her mother has grounded her for 2 weeks. *long, colorful string of profanity* Not that it suprises me. she doesn't exactly live on a little chunk of dirt most call Earth. She has proven time and time again to be a most disagreeable individual, and not just to me. She has successfully gotten on the nerves of both my grandmother (father's side) and my mother.

Now ladytl lives in St. Louis, and over time we racked up some serious long distance charges. I admit, that was rather irresponsible, but still... She didn't have to DEMAND (pardon the caps, but I'm ticked right now) that I pay half of her long distance bill. I don't have a job as of yet, but I may soon. (A job at an arcade centre called "Rucker's", apparantly based out of Winnipeg, or so I'm told) And if and when I do, I will immediately pay off the money I owe to my mother (which I understand is between 200-300 Dollars Cdn) After that, I will be saving up my cash to help pay for Tasha's bus tickets to Thompson (Which were $600 Round Trip, last time I checked, but that was months ago)
So yeah, that's what's new in the world of the Frost Puppy...

Ciao,
~Frosty

P.S. Did I mention life sucks?

Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: Halfcocked - Bad Reputation

*sweeps the proliferous amounts of dust off of his livejournal*

*kaff kaff* well I knew I'd forget about this thing again. I swore to myself I'd use this thing more often, but no... I forgot again. In the meantime, I reccomend people go check out www.dominic-deegan.com

It's the best comic I've ever read.

Also, my new laptop is here. I'd take a picture of it to post here, except my digital camera sucks, because it doesn't like low light. So blegh. An Inspirion 1000 from Dell, and it's all sleek and balck and... well, there's nothing else for it... sexy. Well, for a computer...

Ciao,
Andrew

Current Mood: determined

Well, I got home on Monday, much to my joy; I've been all vacationed out for now. But we're taking a flight to L.A. on the 18th to see some friends of my mother. Though i feel kinda drained at the moment, I'm still looking forward to California. Haven't been there for years, and that was only Sacremento/Chico.

4 more days...

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

Yeah... I'm having one of those days. One of those days you feel like there's no point to anything, you can't remember what you were doing three seconds ago, and you just wanna lay down somewhere and rot. Yeah, those kinda days. But getting it out on paper makes me feel better, I suppose. On another note, I think my cats are trying to post things on the internet...

*Canid Update*
On another note, a raven started following my sister to school. She had the nerve to give the feathered rat a name. Its name is supposedly Mervyn. I'd like to call it lunch, but I must supress my wolfish tendencies if I am to maintain the guise of a freakishly large Siberian Husky. The thing is bloody determined, I have to admit. I still want somebody to put a boot to its feathery rear, but apparantly, it 'cute'. Cute doesn't work for me; it just doesn't. I've allied with three cats that belong to my mother. Oh well, I guess I'll go back to tricking my human into furthering my malicious plots. Once I figure out how to grow fingers, I can get rid of him. Uh Oh, humans are coming; Over and Out.

(END TRANSMISSION)

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: The Who - Had Enough

Fight Club!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Brother, My Brother - Blessed Union of Souls

I am thoroughy out of my mind. My friends want to start a webcomic, but can't because none of them can write story plot very well...

I step in with my m4d p|_0t wr1t1ng sk1||z. They begin to worship me for my fabulous ideas. quote: "My life is an imaginary world. But, I've run out of ideas" So, my life is what holds all of my friends lives together 8/

(Singing) ..You can stand me up at the Gates of Hell, but I, won't. Back. Down...

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: Tom Petty - Won't Back Down

You are ALLEN SHEZAR!


ANIME QUIZ - Which Escaflowne Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

S'cuse me?

Current Mood: amused

I can now say without a shadow of a doubt that some my teachers are nut-cases. Math is slavery with fluorescent lighting. Science is supposed to be my favourite subject, but yet my teachers find a way to suck the interesting bits out of that! Intro-Drafting is run by a screwball perfectionist...I'm tired. My salvation is Drama (bliss!)
and MST (Micro-System Technologies) (bliss!). The MST teacher is about as screwball as I am ( -^_^- ) and Drama...well, It's Drama! These things keep me sane at school, especially with all the stuck-up b*tches and pricks I put up with.
My point being that there's always a worse possible situation, and there's always something to balance out the crap in your life. Always remember that folks.

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: Escaflowne - Sora

I'm so bored, I want to talk about stuff, so, here I am. I'm in the middle of writing an mIRC bot, and it's been a real headache, but I guess It'll be worth it. My mother's chat-room will have a bot again when it's done. 'Mervin' is his working title, but I'm thinking of changing it. Also, what should it be? Cats have been done already. (Maxcat and... uh, the other one) Maybe a bird? A dog/wolf? Or just a person? I dunno, this place is good for letting my exess emotion out. Till next time...
Ciao for now

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: 'Weird Al' Yankovic - Dare To Be Stupid