The Last Of Us

I write this with a semi-heavy heart. Even though it has been weeks since I've finished this game, the emotions I felt while playing it still feel fresh. I had to wait for the game to fully fester in my mind before I could consider writing this post, simply because I wasn't sure if I fully grasped the world I had been thrown into, and the people I had fought so strongly for while playing this game. It sounds kinda cheesy, but the last time I felt so strongly about characters was Mass Effect (1-3). Hell, I still feel strongly for those characters, so if that goes to say anything, it's I'll be feeling these things for a while about The Last Of Us. 

As always, this will be filled with spoilers, and if you haven't finished this game then I do not recommend reading further. This is not a review post, but simply a summary of the game, and how I felt while playing it.

I'm not even sure where to start, but I'll try at the beginning. You're introduced to Sarah, a young girl with cropped blonde hair, sleeping on the couch in a quiet home. We quickly find out this is Joel's, the main character, daughter. Immediately the opening sequence grasps you in this little world, and you are warmed by the relationship Joel has with his daughter. After the quick cutscene in which Sarah is taken to bed by Joel, she is woken up by the phone. Her Uncle Tommy is on the other line, sounding frantic; terrified. I start to feel panicked.

Sarah pulls herself out of bed and starts looking for her father. She holds arms close to herself, shuffling tiredly along wondering aloud where her dad is. She calls for him as you walk down the hall towards his bedroom, where a TV is flickering from within. While playing this, I felt scared. I was already attached to Sarah. I wanted to make sure she was okay, and I almost didn't want to enter the bedroom. Reluctantly, I pushed myself inside to find that Joel was not there, but the TV was playing the news.

Sirens are blaring outside, but I don't want to think about them as I listen to the TV. A woman is standing outside of a burning hospital, when suddenly it explodes. I look out the window to see it happen, not too far from our house. Sarah wonders what's happening, and I want to make her run; make her leave, but she still sleepily  shuffles along, though her voice is now scared - panicked. I head downstairs, and we find Joel's phone. Missed calls from Tommy, missed messages, and still no Joel. We walk towards Joel's den, and he suddenly comes running in, covered in blood and a gun in his hand.

I'm scared, but I can feel my grip get stronger on my controller. Suddenly the neighbour barges in, growling and snarling - Joel hesitates before he pulls the trigger. Sarah sounds like she's going to be sick, and tells her father, "I saw him this mornin'." Joel quickly ushers me out as Tommy arrives, and we leave in the truck.

For a moment, I'm realizing what's going on. The world is about to go to shit, and I'm this little girl watching it happen. We drive by a family, and even though I understand why we drive by, I wonder if Sarah fully comprehends it or not. By the time we get to the hospital, we need to turn around and drive a different way, but are corralled by people running frantically... By the time we get past them, we're t-boned. I let out a yelp of surprise, although I should have seen it coming.

I'm Joel now. I managed to get free of the flipped truck. There's no Tommy, but Sarah is in the back seat. Joel manages to get his daughter out, but as she goes to stand she limps, and I feel a sinking feeling. Her leg is broken, but Joel wastes no time in cradling his daughter against him after Tommy quickly covers us. We have to run now - people are screaming and attacking each other, and everything is utter chaos. My heart is pounding. A gas station explodes next to us, and all I hear is, "Those people are on fire." I just want to shield Sarah, my daughter, away from this.

"We're gonna get outta this. I promise."

Joel's panicked comforting to his daughter hurts me a little. The further I run with Tommy, clutching Sarah to me, the more terrified I get. We get through a back alley and lock ourselves into a pub. Tommy said he'll catch up with us; the bridge is just ahead and we can make it if we run. I tell Tommy we'll see him on the other side, and I run with Sarah. I can hear feral snarls and footsteps, but I can see the lights. I run down the dirt path and past another infected, up the hill where I am stopped by militia. A single man with a rifle.

Don't shoot, is all I'm thinking. I need to save Sarah.

The man radios in, explaining he's found us. We can't hear the other voice, but I grip my controller tighter as he says, "But sir, there's a little girl--"

He raises his gun, and I put a hand to my mouth as Joel turns away and drops Sarah, and we fall. I watch the cutscene, angry that I can't do anything - but am thankful when Tommy arrives. We look over to Sarah, and my heart sinks. Joel rushes over to her, softly holding his daughter in his arms as he carefully presses on the bullet wound in her midsection. Sarah is crying, gurgling and hurt. Her whimpering is so real and so painful, that my stomach churns and I feel my eyes burn. As Joel goes to lift her, her little shuddering breath makes my throat close; my throat closes now, just thinking about it.

Joel starts to cry, and I cry with him.

It cuts to news reports, chattering about the cordyceps and the Fireflies, but I'm barely listening. I had been playing the game for all of fifteen minutes, and I was a near emotional wreck, drying my eyes and trying to clear my throat. In fifteen minutes, Naughty Dog managed to make me feel scared and protective of this little girl that I couldn't even save. I am now scared to play the rest of the game.

The game skips forward twenty years, and I'm in a quarantine zone. I meet Tess; my partner, maybe more. I don't know, but I feel attached to her again. She's strong and doesn't give two shits about what's going on, just as long as she gets paid. She reminds me a lot of the characters I make, and I feel comfortable with her. She can hold her own, but part of me still feels weary, nervous.

...I'm realizing that I'm writing about everything, so I'll try to summarize more important parts, or give a basic synopsis of my feelings.

We meet Ellie, and Marlene tells us we need to get her to the Fireflies just outside of the zone. I look at her. She's feisty for a kid, and I love it. I know that this is the girl I need to get to the end. This is the girl I need to protect, and do whatever I need to in order to get her to the end in one piece. As I travel with Ellie, I hide my own smile at Joel's indignation towards her. He's closed off, and I know why - I get it, but Ellie is like a wildfire next to an iceberg, and I know she's going to get to him soon. I know she's going to help Joel, even if he doesn't want to be helped.

As the game goes on, I find myself getting more vicious and cutthroat. Ellie is the only thing that matters. I will kill anyone who tries to get in the way of that. If I made mistakes, I went back to make sure I didn't have to see her get hurt in any way. If I was struggling for life, I would still run at the person or the thing holding her down, just to make sure that at least she could live. I couldn't save Sarah, but I have to save Ellie. That's all I know.

In Winter, when I had to play as Ellie, I was constantly terrified. I had to survive; I had to show Joel that I wasn't just a little girl but someone who wanted to get to the very end, too. When she stands up to David, I feel proud of Ellie.

"Ellie. You can tell them Ellie is the name of the little girl... who broke your fucking finger."

But in the restaurant, when David is holding her down, I am angry. I am Joel again, and I will do anything I fucking must to beat the crap out of the asshole hurting my little girl...but I don't have to, because she takes care of it herself. And I realize that Ellie is ready to do whatever she must, too. I cry a little when she cries, and all I think about is "I'm almost there. We're almost there."

At the end, I wake up in a bed. Marlene is disheveled, tired. I ask to see Ellie, but they won't let me. Marlene explains the surgery is going to happen, and that it's going to kill her. There's a fire in me. I spent sixteen hours protecting Ellie - there was no way in fucking hell this asshole was going to take that from me. Joel agrees to leave... but as he is escorted out, he makes a clear point when he shoots the Firefly twice in the gut - he's not leaving without her. My adrenaline is rushing as I take my things and I start fighting through the Fireflies. I'm tired, low on ammo, health and supplies, but I have to get to her. I have to save my little girl. I kill and sneak past, assassinate and blow up the Fireflies on my way to the operating room. I see the light. I hear the voices.

I break in and the lead surgeon holds his hands up, the other two back away. I notice that I'm breathing heavily and my hands are a little clammy. I'm pointing my gun at the surgeon as I walk forward, but as I go to lower it, I don't feel too surprised when Joel slams the scalpel into the surgeon's jugular. All I want to do is get out with Ellie and go back to Tommy's and live a life. He whispers to her unconscious body as he leaves with her. We're almost there, baby girl.

I see the elevator, and when I make it in, I know I'm going to be okay. We're going to be okay. Ellie is going to be okay.

As the game wraps up, I give myself a moment to sit and watch. I don't realize I had been crying through parts of the end, and that my heart is pounding so hard it hurts. A part of me struggles with the end, but through the time that I've had to think about it, I've come to accept it as Ellie did. They would do anything for each other - just the two of them. Joel and Ellie would fight through hoardes of clickers just to make sure the other lived. And now, I am satisfied with that - a few weeks ago, I was unsure of Joel's completely human response to her question. Now, it's okay. Now, I understand. I see that at the end of the day, they will truly be The Last Of Us. 

Endure & Survive. 

[GW2] The Ultimate Grind: Making a Legendary

A little while ago, I made the decision to work towards a Legendary. When I initially started playing Guild Wars 2, I didn't care much for the flashy weapons and the incessant grind that came with them. However, about three months ago, I became infatuated with the feminine blossoming bow, Kudzu. I didn't really know where to begin, but I expressed my interest, or fantasy rather, to my guild. and casually started collecting things (Obsidian Shards here and there, being more vigilant with my dailies, saving my globs, so on so forth). I made a list of every component and how much I needed, and went along my way. I wanted to make this little post to document how I took my first steps towards making this longbow, and where I currently stand in this process.

I read somewhere that it was best to start with my Mystic Clovers, as a guildmate sent me all the components for the Gift of Wood as a gift, and I already had purchased my Bloodstone and Sigil of Conjuration, and I finished World Complete months and months ago. I poured all the karma I had into Obsidian Shards and every time Balthazar was open and I had enough Karma, I would buy more and more, making sure to put some aside in order to make my Gift of Mastery. I followed the 10 Clover recipe, and although it was hard to throw in ten globs at a time, I wielded good results. I initially made my first 30 by myself, until my friend and guildmate (an excellent farmer) offered his globs to me to use. We created a deal where I would borrow his globs and if I received T6 mats, he would get them and have to send me 10 Mystic Coins, and if I got clovers, I got to keep them for myself. In no time (after about three weeks or so), I had 70 Clovers. I dropped down to the 1 Clover recipe for my final seven, and by this time I had already completed a full stack of Obsidian Shards for my Gift of Mastery as well!

After creating my clovers, I started working on my crafting. I purchased my Gift of Wood Recipe (10g) on my Thief and did a fast craft to get her to 400. Having all of the components, I created my Gift of Wood and scratched it off my list. I slowly started working on my Leatherworking as well, and purchased my Gift of Nature recipe (10g) for when I was able to make my Gift of Nature. I started salvaging everything blue and yellow, selling my greens, and being on top of farming as best as I could. 

I started putting globs aside for my Gift of Fortune and got some more help farming things for my Gift of Nature, mainly omnomberries, and started running Twilight Arbor religiously again. Recently, about two weeks ago, I retired from the dungeon having completed it and buying my Gift of Thorns. 

We four-manned my last run! We joked that TA was my boyfriend... and we needed to part ways.

Getting my leather was easy enough, and it was cheap to buy my last like 50 that I needed. A few days ago, I finished getting my thief to Level 400 in Leatherworking, and farmed omnomberries with a guildmate. I popped all my ingredients into my crafting window and produced my Gift of Nature, another item to cross of my list! I've also started making an effort to go into the Obsidian Sanctum too. I'm now only 140 Badges of Honour short of my Gift of Mastery. 

In all honesty, I'm very close to my Legendary. Closer than I was 2.5mo ago. I now have 101 Globs of Ectoplasm and 20 Icy Runestones. What I'm struggling the most with is knowing I need to pour 80 more gold into Icy Runestones and I have no idea how I'm going to get my precursor, Leaf of Kudzu. I've started slowing down a bit, as I've been pouring a lot of gold into making this weapon. However, I do have a lot of thanks to give to my guildmates, as they have been both supportive and helpful of this venture. 

Currently, I'm looking into getting a magic-find set from Crucible of Eternity so I can be a little more efficient with my farming. 

All in all, I think I'm very close to my Legendary. I do have a recommendation to others, though: DO YOUR WORLD COMPLETE FIRST!! I'm working on it for a second time and it is a pain in the butt. Seriously. Save your pennies early and you will not have trouble making a Legendary. <Says the player who spends all her money on useless stuff. :3

Good luck!

[GW2] Becoming a Leader: A Learning Curve

Change is hard for everyone. Back when my few guildmates and I decided enough was enough and we moved to Tarnished Coast, it was a bit of an adjustment for some of us. The players on this side of the mountain were friendly and active, and covered a variety maps, made an effort in WvW and then some, and it was something we hadn't seen in months. However,  this was a needed change, as I expressed in my post a few months ago. The adjustment was big for me, however. 

Dance for Dolyaks 2013! 

During this initial period, I was given rights to the guild; full leadership rights both ingame and in the mumble provided to us. I was excited,  but wary. Back on Darkhaven, I didnt do much leading, although Valkyria was my idea and created under my name, so how exactly how was I supposed to lead a guild that was more goal-orientated and had the same mentality leader prior to me? I expressed my uncertainty multiple times but the core members didn't seem to think the same way. Conscious of these feelings I had, I embarked on a new lesson of leading in game.

Our numbers had dwindled, and after recruiting two of my old gaming friends and a couple of other players, we started working towards goals as a small group. Getting people to eighty, grinding dungeons and fractals, and working towards buying guild missions, which we learned was costly and time consuming. We pugged frequently, often short numbers or people with high enough levels, and I didn't do much leading. Sure, I made executive decisions when we didn't know what to do, but I wouldn't call that the entire definition of leading at all. And Miraza, I know you'll be reading this and that you'll disagree :), but nonetheless. We continued on like this for a couple of weeks before two things happened: I encountered a problem player among us, and we unlocked guild bounties. I'll start with the ladder.  

As we built bounties, I studied them. I wrote out a master list of names and what maps for easy reference, I tried to understand mechanics, and I tried to know every path. When we were finally ready for bounties, I was initially lax. I didn't stop side chatter in mumble and we were always short on time,  so we ultimately failed a few, even with two experienced returning players and our arsenal of core players. Our communication was weak, and our coordination suffered. Tired of constant failures, and frustrated,  I constantly said how I was sure we were capable of this. We had tackled Arah before, I knew we could make this work. And then, what did Anet do? Bounty training missions. One target in fifteen minutes, 3000infl reward.

We queued up a handful.

After evaluating our previous strategies amd listening to my officers, I put my boot down. No more chatter. Either you're calling locations for bounties or you're not talking at all. You were to listen for battle strategies while in fights, and you were taking this as seriously as Tybalt takes his apple cider. We made a day with eleven of us and tackled a few training missions, all successes, before I asked if everyone wanted to tackle a real bounty. No one said no. So we popped a bounty tier 1.

Our first target was Poobadoo, arguably the easiest bounty.  A heavy hitting quaggan with a small path in Kessex hills. We found and burnt him down with nine minutes on our clock, and we raced off to Timberline falls for 2MULT, a new bounty golem with a scary mechanic. Thankfully,  I spawned on top of him. I pinged my location and everyone arrived, excited.  We could do this! We started the fight and struggled at first, but upon getting the mechanic with the sparks down... we burnt him down! We succeeded, and with two minutes to spare. I congratulated everyone, stressing how integral the communication we just showcased played a massive part in this win. We took success screenshots, and went on our way. Since then, bounties always yield successes rather than fails (unless we're just going for rewards to catch others up) and we understand what it means to communicate efficiently and effectively.

I was on my laptop at the time, but Mimee sent some screenshots my way! Our first victory!

Now, back to the former. While we learned what effective communication meant and how to use it, we struggled with a player with a... I-know-more-than-you mentality in our roster. Initially we felt this player was great. They were friendly and listened... until they got comfortable with us. Our core is close, but not too close as to alienate others. We include others and are always friendly, but we also like to pick on each other verbally, though always in a joking way; I see us as a family, and I hope the others do, too. 

While running with this player, he would make jabs like the rest of us, which is great! It's welcomed, it shows us you're comfortable with us, and as long as it's playful, there's no foul. Sometimes, the guys pick on me, but that's fine because I'm sassy back, so no harm... However, I started to feel that some of these jokes from this particular player were a little mean. Often I can take a hit; I'm pretty resilient or will roll my eyes or something. Usually. Though, when these jokes from this player were said, I often felt a little cornered. I raised my concerns with Miraza and an officer, but stressed that maybe I was being a little too sensitive. 

It wasn't until the Super Adventure Box came around that my officer noticed this behaviour too, and asked me about it. I explained that I wasn't sure why there was a different tone of voice being used with me. Long story short, my officer spoke to the player and then they spoke to me, and apologized. We left that at that, and the relationship seemed better again after we had talked it out. I felt initially if I had spoke to them first, it would be confrontational. Moving on, however, we started bringing this player and their new character into dungeons with us, after they had made it to 80. Being able to relate, as they were playing a condition-spec engineer, I tried to offer advice where I could. 

This is when we started to have a bulk of our issues. Countless times we explained that their spec should have them standing at mid/long range, as their max was 1500r with their spec, but they always preferred melee-range, which resulted in a lot of downs and deaths, and often frustration on our part. There was a lack of miscommunication, and it resulted in longer runs, more repair bills, and higher frustrations.

My officers and I were starting to lose our patience, so one day, I took it into my hands to research another build that might be more viable for their particular playstyle. Maybe Power/Toughness/Vitality, Tool kit and Rifle or Pistol/Shield with some elixirs and the bomb kit that would let them get into that melee range they enjoyed staying in. I brought this up in mumble to them, explaining I had looked it up and thought it would work really well. When I explained it all, excited to hear if they wanted to try it out, they responded that they liked their spec, and they liked being in melee range. I explained that although they had loads of toughness, they were still prone to taking heavy hits and going down pretty fast. Response? They liked dying!

Now frustrated, I explained that it really bogs down a party. They said we didn't have to bring them with us if we didn't want to. Anyway, this went on for a few more minutes before they got frustrated, and we decided to just let it go. However, after this conversation, this player became even more difficult, refusing to take part in bounties or events with us, and eventually left because they felt that they were left out and that I had targeted them. 

Were there things I could have done differently and better? Absolutely, I'm willing to admit that. I could have made that conversation a lot more private than it was (two idle people in the channel who added nothing to the conversation until the end, when voices were starting to rise) Did I have to research other builds? No, but I did want them to understand what constructive criticism was. 

These two things, bounties and this player, have taught me a lot in a short span of time... Since then, we've gained several active members, we've opened our own mumble for just guild members, we've unlocked Treks, and I've become more willing to raise my voice and... actually lead. I make sure there are items on players that are helpful, skills we might be need, organize parties for large events, and make sure everyone is up to speed. I'm more willing to have an open door to others, and be firm when I have to be. I don't know if this is earning me respect or if our newer players see me as an appropriate leader, but if there's anything I've learned, is that there's always more to learn and there's always ways to improve. 

I wouldn't have been able to do it without help, though. My SiC/officers/core members are all supportive and I know they all step up to the plate when and where necessary. I just hope that as we continue to play this game, and maybe branch out into other games together, I am still capable of being a strong leader, and that I can become even stronger and more knowledgeable. For now, though, I'll continue to move up in this learning curve.

Dead Space 3 [Review/Thoughts]

Writing for my blog has been difficult, due to personal issues/school crunch time... However, I have a little time today, so I wanted to write my post about Dead Space 3, since this post is a little overdue. This post is potentially full of spoilers, and I do not recommend reading it if you are concerned. 

Let me start off by explaining what spurred my interest in the Dead Space franchise. Two years ago (jeez!) when I had first started seeing my boyfriend, he expressed his interest in the series. I was a little wary; the only time I have touched these games is when I played the original Dead Space demo on the PS3 way back before it was first released... And that alone kept me well away from the games.
With this in mind, he asked me to play the second game with him instead. I tried to wiggle my way out of this one for about a week, but he always rebutted that I loved The Walking Dead (which is horrific and gory in it's own way), so I should have no problem with Dead Space 2. Wanting to impress this guy (hey, it's worked out so far!) and now feeling challenged, I took up his suggestion of playing the game.

And the entire 8h that it took for me to complete the game were the most terrifying 8h I'll never get back. But it was so worth it! After we got together, and about a year into our relationship, we ended up playing the first one (together, this time; not just me running around wildly screaming and swearing), and I found myself falling more and more in love with this twisted franchise.

Anyway, now that I've provided context into this, considering DS is completely out of my comfort zone, onto Dead Space 3!

I purchased the game for us, and we excitedly started it up on his 360. We're introduced to Isaac in his slummy apartment he once shared with Ellie. This saddened me; I was hoping they would stick it out but reading his journal article about their problems made me understand. Anyway, throughout the beginning, I asked questions from my boyfriend as we navigated our way through the city and eventually out of it. I had already taken a liking to Carver, but not so much the other companion we had to deal with (I had a really, really bad feeling about him, so I guess that made him a little predictable for me).
Anyway, we played through a large chunk of the game, and we felt that a lot of the horror factor had been removed... But that didn't stop me from screaming and jumping during select parts.

However, when I think about it: Isaac has seem some pretty messed up stuff. We're playing as Isaac Clarke, and I think that's something some players forget! He's not scared any more; he just wants all this Marker business to be over and done with so he can just try living again. That's why I tend to have little issue with "the game has become too action-based" (see: Resident Evil 5/6 (which I have not played, only up to 5, Dead Space 3, etc) as ... we have to remember, we're not ourselves - we're Isaac. But, I guess it's best to remember a lot of players don't become that character, so I can also see both sides of this.

My one gripe with Dead Space 3, however, was the end, and the aliens. When you have to run around constructing the Alien in the lab for Ellie. Like... I don't know how to explain it really. I just felt like I had been slapped in the face. Literally up until the last couple of chapters, my boyfriend and I loved Dead Space 3. It had just the right amount of horror we thought it would have, and we really felt like Isaac just wanted to get it over with, and move on with his life. 

What I've come to understand, though, is in multiplayer Carver is actually seeing hallucinations of his son. :( Biggest sadface ever, and I wish DS3 allowed local multiplayer so I could have seen this. Also, I've heard that the new DLC for the game that happens after the big ending is incredible. But because I haven't played it yet (will be making a post when I do play it!), my little rating system doesn't include it, or multiplayer.

So, because I wanted to try a rating system now with games:

Horror Factor: ★★★.5☆☆
Dead Space 3 really isn't as scary as it could be, but there are definitely parts where you will jump or forget if you killed that body, or if it's just waiting for you... I took the lack of horror with a grain of salt; Isaac has already had some closure from Nicole and other things, and now just wants to put the last nail in the coffin. Points deducted because it's marketed as a Horror game, and should be more action-based... also, there's only so many times you can freak us out by having bridges break under us, things fall, etc. It got really boring after the third or fourth fall out.

Story: ★★★★☆
I really enjoyed the story, personally. I deducted a star for the ending, because I felt like it was completely underwhelming and took away from Isaac's story but overall, I enjoyed learning more about the Markers, and sharing Isaac's increasing frustration throughout the game.I also thought it was interesting how you could build and customize your guns as you went along.

Game play: ★★★★☆
I felt the game was fairly close to the original two Dead Space games, but I deducted a mark because of all the glitches we encountered, which overall took away from the story and horror as well. Also, do they keep you well stocked on ammo... sheesh.
There is a lot of fetch this, do this, do that quests, but I found that this aligned with the other games (something's wrong, go fix it, go back, rinse repeat).

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

I do recommend the game to players who are sceptical about it. Playing the story and learning about the origin of the Markers is intriguing, and I just really feel like it brings Isaac's experience together. If you can get past the fact that the game is not as scary as the first two, you will find it is quite enjoyable. Overall, good game! Can't wait to play the DLC, though. :3

Your Gender Has Nothing To Do With Gaming

So, story time:
Last night, I was playing Guild Wars 2 with three of my guildies; We had just run our Fractal daily and then up to level 13 with some pugs. Afterwards, we were selling things, putting things into the bank and just taking a break in general in an Lion's Arch overflow (our server, Tarnished Coast, is quite busy). I was milling around in the bank, putting some things into my personal storage and our guild storage (we're collecting yellow swords and greatswords for forge food) when someone called out in /say:

"LF innocent girl that has no other sexual partner to compare me to."

At first, I thought nothing of this and just went along what I was doing. Typically when I have something to say, I end up getting a dickish response no matter how nice I'm trying to be, and besides, I had nothing to say to this. Some people were going "Lol" in chat, etc. But then, the person went into /map and started saying:

"LF innocent girl that has no other sexual partner to compare me to."

To which a person responded:

"Are there even any girls online?"

At this point, I simply made a face in chat ("o.o") as well as someone above me! They messaged me quickly and asked if I was indeed a girl. I laughed and responded yeah, and was curious to see where this mapchat was going, but I already had a feeling. The first person that said the "LF innocent girl" goes:

"Girls don't play video games, especially not GW2."

Alright. Normally I just turn off chat at this kind of stuff, usually they're trolls. But I couldn't. I hate this mentality and behaviour more than anything in video game communities, large or small. These couple of people started saying that playing video games lowered our femininity, and it made us less appealing (I think my bf of two years would disagree.) The other girl who had messaged me, Tempest (not full char name), went:

"Yeah, because us girls really don't like video games, and we totally need a big strong man to be in our lives to prove our femininity!"

Some people started chirping that her and I were liars, as we had said that we were indeed girls, and we definitely were playing. Players started saying we should be in bed so we could wake up to make our men sandwiches and breakfast in the morning, or that we should be "trained" to do certain sexual favours for them without being asked (Really?). At this point, my guildies were trying to get me to leave the OF and go somewhere else, but I told them no, I had to duke this one out. Tempest and I became more and more sarcastic and blunt, saying that it was our boyfriends who made us sandwiches (which is true, my bf does make me lunch but that's usually when we're gaming together; well, fancy that GW2 jerks!).

As this started to escalate, and we started to point out that these guys were probably lonely, whiny teenage boys who haven't had a girlfriend yet, or absolutely need the physical contact. My guildmate (and irl friend) started to get involved, backing me up by saying that I was indeed a girl. The first person started saying I probably haven't accomplished anything yet, to which I responded, "I'm a guild leader, and I have two level eighties in full exotics w/ weapons and ascended gear while taking my degree."

Then, it took an ugly turn. The first person said:

"No means yes, and yes means..."

Which resulted in the people who were on this guy's side to turn and go, "too far."

I won't comment. That was where I called them a rapist & a sexist, and hopped off to Caledon to run TA. We brought Tempest along, and we all got along really well. She even admitted to having like, five level 80s. I made a friend out of it, at least. My guildie who had got involved stuck around, and I guess this guy started asking him if I was hot irl. Thankfully, he didn't comment and came to the dungeon shortly after.

What I'm trying to say is:

It's 2013. Why do people still get their panties in a twist about what gender you are? Someone in the above scenario (which lasted well over 20min, that was just the semi tl;dr version!) even said, "What does it matter?  Gender does not define the gamer." AND IT IS TOTALLY TRUE. 

Yes, there are girls out there who make it a thing to pick up guys, or to seek attention. Yes, there are pretty girls who play games. Yes, some of us have boyfriends (or girlfriends, what have you! :) and go to school, and have jobs, and have a life outside of the gaming sphere. 

What happened reminded me of a time I was at work with my best friend, and our coworker at the time asked us what we liked to do in our spare time. We admitted that we enjoyed playing video games, and that we had actually met online through a game and have been close ever since. Her response? "Pretty girls shouldn't be playing video games."

Look, what the hell do you want us to do then? Sit in coffee shops all day? Shop? Sit all prim and proper and do nothing? (This is what her tone conveyed, not saying that this is what non-gamer girls do)

Gender does not:

- Define how good or bad you are at a game. 

- Make you a liar in any way. 
- Tell you what games you can/should play, and can't/shouldn't.

And it happens all the time, too. Not just MMO's like Guild Wars 2, but in MOBAS like LoL and HoN, RTS games like Starcraft 2, FPS games like Halo and L4D2/TF2 (worst experience to date!). Like, really? Are you that mad/threatened that the person who got more kills than you or has more level 80s than you is a girl? 

I went through a phase once where I actually told people I didn't game; I left it out of conversation. I turned my Steam tag into other things, took my gender off profiles, or simply avoided to communicating with team members. Being a girl in gaming communities got so bad that I was being kicked from groups in L4D2 before the game even started because "We don't need a stupid girl on our team." Sorry, are you threatened I might actually be good at that game? (spoiler alert: I am! Story alert: it's how my bf and I bonded before we made it official!) At the end of that phase, I learned: DO NOT HIDE WHO YOU ARE!! Be proud of yourself, and your interests, and stand up for yourself too! 

That's why I didn't leave the overflow yesterday, because I wasn't going to let someone chase me away with kitchen and sex jokes. And sometimes, you might find a friend in the crowd (Like Tempest! Who's the sweetest thing.). Just remember, gender doesn't define the gamer, folks, and neither do assholes who try to make you think that it does.

that felt good to get off my chest.

DmC: Devil May Cry, from someone new to the series

Alright! I finally have a day to get around to this post! Originally when I wanted to post this, I had an AWFUL flu, and while I was playing DmC while under it, everything was... well... more messed up than it should have been. But more on that; I have since finished the game with my boyfriend (I have yet to do it on my own personal PS3 here at home, but since I know the context for everything now, I'm just going to go ahead and get this all out of the way! So here are my thoughts on Ninja Theory's DmC: Devil May Cry, from the point of view of someone who has never, ever played a game in this franchise prior.

So, as stated before, I was under the effects of a serious flu that prevented me from very much cognitive action. I sat on a couch for four and a half days straight, wrapped in a blanket and having a hard time eating. Before succumbing to the full effects of the flu, I had managed to pick up DmC: Devil May Cry from my favourite EB Games, which is actually a little far from my house (so I had to maneuver my way from downtown where my school is, to the next zone to get the game, and then bus all the way home... it was not fun, to say the least). But eager all the same, I popped the game in and started playing.

I was going into this game blind for two reasons: I had never played the DmC franchise due to never owning a PS system prior to my PS3, and two I purposely did not play the demo because I love to figure games out by themselves, mostly. The game's intro was spinning (at least, for me, what with that gross flu all up in my head) and... raunchy! I was kind of off put at first, but I was also fairly amused... and worried because my mother was sitting next to me on the couch and ... yeah I had no idea it was going to start off that way. Regardless, I barrelled on, excited and getting amped with the music (which is not typically my thing, but damn did it make that game freaking awesome!)

At first, I was a little off put by the combat system. Although I had seen some friends in the past playing, trying to get their letter rating up to SSSensational, etc, I was still flustered by it. Looking back, I think I had a hard time simply because I had a hard time keeping my head up.... but I eventually started to get the hang of things. The fast-paced, keep-your-combo-going stuff grew on me and I started getting competitive with MYSELF to try and best each new fight with a new score. Unlocking the first demon & angel weapons was a treat, too. Although, I have to admit, my hand did cramp a few times trying to hold down my R2/L2 to lay down long combos/switching incessantly to keep it fresh for my score. Despite that though, once I had picked up the general idea of the combat system, I started to have a lot of fun and started to forget how sick I was, so that was nice.

Story wise, I was hooked. I wanted to know more about Dante and The Order, and I wanted him to keep fighting for this cause. I started to feel more and more attached to the characters, and wanted to know more about them. Their anecdotes in cutscenes, too, were always appreciated. ("My dick is bigger.") At the end of the game (no spoilers, I promise!) I was dumfounded! When was my second game coming?! Despite NT taking over, and this being a reboot, I could see why older fans of the series were so attached to the games.

Graphically, I felt that the game was almost a little too shiny, but I was still captivated by it. A lot of my scores were effected by long times, because I spent long periods wandering, trying to find lost souls, examining the structures in limbo or buildings in general. I felt some things were a little unpolished, but nonetheless, I was inspired by how beautifully wrought each mission was.

All in all, I feel like Ninja Theory got me hooked on the DmC franchise! I can't wait until the next instalment of the reboot finally goes up.

Heart of The Swarm [HOTS] Opening...clutching my pearls over here!!

JUST. WOW. BLIZZARD, PLEASE JUST STOP WITH THESE INCREDIBLE CINEMATICS BEFORE I DIE OF THE INTENSE BEAUTY THEY BEHOLD.

*clears throat*

I think I'm good. This looks absolutely AMAZING. Although I'm not an avid player (my boyfriend bought me SC2: Wings of Liberty for our one year anniversary - mostly as a gift for himself - and a N7 Black Widow Ultimate keyboard, and I played it... not very much. I played the campaign and some random 2v2s with him for a bit) I'm still very excited for this. It looks incredible. Plus, as an added bonus, my lovely SC2-obsessed bf has promised to let me play the campaign at his house! (´∀｀)♥

Anyway, watch it. Watch it again... and for good measure, watch it again. Because no matter what you say, Blizzard kills it with their Cinematics every time, and I think Kerrigan is one awesome HBIC.

I'll be writing my first impression of DmC soon, too! I just recovered from the flu, so I'm a little behind on that.