Battlefield Zeroes

A long, long time ago on a server far, far away... Well, it does feel like it was a long time ago.  When the morons at DICE/EA announced that they will be making a new Battlefield game that will be free to play, I became interested in how this will turn out.  What seem to have complicated the matter is that they were probably riding on top of the other game that uses a similar art style: Team Fortress 2.  Ever since feeling burned from the shit support for the Battlefield franchise, I opted to not bother to buy any future games from them.  This also includes the odd eye-opener Battlefield 1943 which uses the same 3D engine from Bad Company.

When it was announced that the bitches at DICE will be handing out beta keys to a select bunch of people, I figure I’d throw my hat into the ring and try my luck.  I did not score.  However, time went on and their projected release date slipped away.  This is of no surprise, as the retards over there have no sense of priority.  Many months has passed since people tried to sign up for the limited beta access.  It wasn’t until recently that the assholes there actually made progress on the matter, to the point where they actually have reworked their backend and the game is being made more available to those who tried to sign up for the beta.

Last week, I got an email in regards to the Battlefield Heroes beta.  Turns out that I finally got a key to use.  So I quickly signed on and hopped aboard.  After playing around for a while, I do find that the game has some entertainment value.  But there isn’t enough to really keep me in unless I have buddies playing the game as well.

Like any game that is going to be made readily available for free, there are caveats and pitfalls.  A free game is, of course, attractive to those who do not wish to spend cash on games that they may not like or ever play again after a few months.  It also attracts players of almost all kinds, ranging from mature and adult players (like me) to annoying and whiney kiddie players who do nothing but bitch and whine about everything.  Unfortunately, I ran into one not too long ago.

In the game, there are 3 vehicle types: a jeep, a tank, and an airplane.  Each of those vehicle type has its own purpose and its role in the overall playing field.  Nearly everyone can understand that a tank will be destructive against infantry ground forces and can also go up against other tanks.  I’ve done some flying before when Battlefield 2 was around.  And what I have learned is that one of the ways to keep a pilot from messing up ground forces is to keep the pilot busy.  And that’s either by chasing it around trying to shoot it down or making sure it never gets off the ground.  Suppression tactics are common and I will use them if it means my team will win in the end.

So a plane is available and nobody has jumped into the pilot seat.  If that’s the case, I’ll give flying a few tries and see how well I can fly around shooting up ground targets and shooting down enemy planes.  A guy starts complaining about being chased around.  This continued on for a few round and for many minutes.  But this tactic has helped my side to win a couple of rounds.  Sure it’s hard trying to shoot the enemy down but that’s the tradeoff for being in the air most of the time.

The guy complains more until I actually managed to shoot the stolen plane down before it gets off the ground.  He then knows that it was I doing the chasing.  He tries to tell me off but of course, I don’t pay much attention.  I only say that I do this in order to keep enemy pilots busy.  If it means it frees up the worry of incoming fire from the skies, then that’s good for me and my team.

Nothing annoys me more than retards who cannot look at the bigger picture when factoring in all the elements of the game together.  When there are tanks and planes, I do expect that there will be some people who use the same tactics as I have: seek out other enemy pilots and kill them.  If not, then they are free to disrupt enemy ground forces.  Even worse are the gutless pilots who bails out of a plane when it’s about to be destroyed, especially when being chased down by an enemy.  If they are that scared of dying, then they should be playing something else, like Super Mario Bros.

They’re not heroes.  They’re zeroes.  Damn pricks...

Super Bowl Bullshit

Frankly, I don’t like the Steelers.  It would have been great had the Cardinals won the game.  And they were close to doing it as well.  But fuck, I can’t believe Steelers pulled that one out.  Well, another year, another game, another season gone.  Next up, NBA and baseball.  On second thought… screw baseball.  With the fucking Yankees spending cash out of their asses, I don’t think I even want to care any more.

So February 2nd is Groundhog Day.  Only recently did I watch the classic movie starring Bill Murray.  And like the movie’s settings, the place to see the Groundhog Day in action is at Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  At 7:30AM EST, they brought him out.  The sky was cloudy and not a sun in the sky at the time.  Yet still, they proclaim that he saw his shadow.

I’m sorry but I call bullshit on that one.  And with the pricks there plugging the Pittsburgh Steelers’ last second win over the Cardinals, they have the fucking balls to say that the groundhog saw his shadow.  It’s already freezing up here and I’m tired of the freezing weather.  Global warming my ass.

So while the prediction is just for fun, I really wish they’d consider the fact that there’s no fucking sun out there to cast a damn shadow.

Looking Ahead

So after spending a good chunk to get replacement ear pads that I thought would be universally compatible with all sorts of Audio Technica headphones, it turns out the ones I got is a tad too small for mine.  But I guess that is a risk that I took when I blindly ordered it with next to little detail on whether or not it will fit.  I suppose because of this, I have dinged myself a good chunk.  So much for the most comfortable headphones idea.

Guild Wars is currently hosting a festival celebration, referencing to the Chinese New Year.  Unfortunately this event lasts only for a weekend, a 3-day period.  While for many this is enough time for an event such as this, I find that the timeframe to be quite small given the number of characters that I have on the account now (11 PvE characters instead of 8 from last year).

From the start, I knew what I was getting myself into.  Planning every step of the way, I made sure I have enough inventory room to house a lot of items as well as ensure that I have enough to hold them in storage for the time being.  After going through all of my characters, I have amassed so many festival-related items and gained extra due to natural loot drops.  But the minimum was clearly met.  I expect to get a lot of a particular item by the time the event is finally over.

On a different side of things, I placed an order for some RAM (8GB worth) that will eventually make its way into my system at some point.  However, I fear it will be months before I can finally get my hands on the actual product itself.  Microsoft’s next version of Windows, Windows 7, is already released in beta form.  However, I only have proper ownership of Windows Vista Business in 32bit form.  Microsoft does have a method of upgrading from 32bit to 64bit.  But it’s costly and I do not wish to spring a good chunk of cash to get it.  It’s unfortunate that the CD/license keys that Microsoft generates only work with a particular version and build.  I do not mind that the key is recognized for a version such as Business or Ultimate.  But it’s terrible that I cannot use the same key for a 64bit build of Vista.  It would have made transitioning from 32bit to 64bit a lot easier and less costly.  The OS is the same and the only thing being removed is the limitation of addressing up to 4GB of RAM.

And finally, while it’s a bit late, Happy New Year… Again!

Rocking New Cans

Years ago, I bought my first big headphones.  At least during that time, the phones themselves were expensive.  Why would one bother to go with headphones that costs so much?  That’s a trivial matter.  For some, it is to hear every detail out of the audio that they listen to.  To others, it is to hear the extra detail instead of the poor audio quality that comes with cheap headphones.  This is especially true when one tries to use the headphones that came with your music player.  But if your hearing is poor, then perhaps any old headphones will do.

Why go through the extra lengths to hear more?  The pair that I have, while still functional, is showing a lot of signs of being worn out.  Electronically, it still works.  But once you see how it appears, I doubt anyone would want to try it now.

Today I put on the Audio Technica ATH-A900 headphones.  I broke down and gave it a test run.  And the audio difference is noticeable but not drastic.  Granted, it takes time for new phones to produce its best audio, a process known as burn-in.  What such a process require is numerous hours of audio.  But not all at one time, though.  The A900 headphones feels immensely different from the old Sony MDR-7506.  The design is so different that it takes getting used to how it sits on my head.  But one thing I am starting to feel is comfort.  Some headphones have heavier materials, and thus the support is mostly on the top headband that sits right on you.  This can cause some discomfort in long sessions.

So far, the A900 rests comfortably on my head and I do not feel any signs of discomfort that the Sony headphones produce.  This is good news for the time being.  The true test is how well it’ll do in the long run.

Well, for now, using the headphones like this will have to do, as I have additional components coming in soon.  They are specifically replacement ear pads for the ATH-W11JPN headphones but from what this video showed, they are compatible and can be done.  Surprisingly, this is an amazing piece of work, as it means that the headphones now have a complete lifespan that will enable people to use it until the day it literally dies.  For as long as Audio Technica designs their headphones around this idea, it will become a possible purchasing factor for me.

Lies & Controversies

So after a week long stay at a small hometown, it was time to return to the bitter cold of the Boston suburbs.  And that means having to go through security checkpoints at the airport, the one procedure that has irritated me since 2001.

Despite losing about 45 minutes getting to Washington DC Reagan airport, there was still enough time to go across the airport to connect to the next flight, thanks to the 2 hour layover.  I knew that getting into Boston's Logan airport won't be easy, as at the time, snow was coming down there and the wind is a bit of a factor.  I knew that there may be a delay getting in.  So I expected that I won't be able to get back on time.  I was fine with that, for as long as I can get back on the 31st of December.  The plane arrives and the folks who were on that flight got off.  But nothing was announced on boarding.  Then the Delta staff announced that there's a mechanical problem with the plane so it is delayed for a bit.  Okay, small fix and then we hop on.  That did not happen.  Then they claim that there's a flat tire on the nose landing gear of the plane, along with some numskull moron who blurted out "The plane is broke."  One bullshit after another from the assholes at Delta.  I was getting irritated and I was getting frustrated.  Time is ticking and the last thing I need is to be stranded at DC on the very day that I want to be back home by.  I had plans on doing things as the clock hit 12 and I have Guild Wars related things I want to do.  I do not want to be stranded in DC for a night due to some mechanical problem.

Hours go by and people got on and off.  As I wander back from McDonalds with free food in tow, they were about to make the latest update announcement.  The flight is canceled.  Oh fucking hell.  That is just fucking great.  You know that universal rule where you should not take another person's life?  Yeah.  I truly and really want to do just that.  I also want to scream off the top of my lung all the words in the Swearing Dictionary.  Yet all I can do is groan.  Pissed off and tired, the pricks at Delta paid for our one-night-stay at DC.  It was the local Hilton and my folks managed to rummage up for 3 rooms, one of which I have all to myself.  Good, then maybe I can perhaps try for some wireless Internet.  Oh, I forgot to mention.  The bitches at Memphis and at DC-Reagan want to rob me of my cash just to use their wireless network!  So during that entire day, I could not do jack shit.  I could not check for weather, posts on the forums, hop on IRC, use AIM or Gtalk -- nothing.  Abso-fucking-lutely nothing.  And when I got to the Hilton, I ask on Internet access.  Oh fucking great.  They also want to rob me of my cash for 'net access there too!  FUCK!

The entire day was hell.

So on Jan 1st, I got back, and of course the first thing I did was check the clock, and knowing Guild Wars' event finale schedule, I find that I had some time to kill while I get my gears and stuff settled in.

I got wind as to why this entire shit happened.  One of the passengers happen to come across the pilot at the local bar where they were having a drink.  There it was revealed everything Delta told to their passengers were a bunch of a bullshit.  Pure and pointless bullshit.  The real reason why the plane was grounded was because the plane's de-icing system, used to ensure that the plane don't get ice build-up, wasn't working.  This is crucial because had it been working, the pilots would have made the attempt to cut through the snow in Boston.  That made much more sense and would have been less infuriating than bullshitting their customers.  Fucking piece of shit...

Because of the bullshit lies and the fucking pricks at Delta, I have decided to not fly anywhere for many years to come.  The stress of having to go through security is unnecessary.  I also do not want to become part of the commonplace delayed and stranded passengers that has to listen to whatever bullshit the airline staff decide to spew forth.  It's retarded enough that I cannot bring in my own personal drinks or keep my goddamn shoes on.  For fuck sake, it's my fucking SHOE!  Mind you, my entire body is a fucking weapon.  It just fucking depends if I am going to snap or not!  And for what fucking purpose do you want me to remove my fucking laptop out of my goddamn bag?  Security my fucking ass.  I am not secured.  I feel like I'm checking into the local prison facility.  That's how fucking retarded this is.