So, disclaimer, not my idea. Wish it had been. But my awesome friends came up with it first. And they are absolutely amazing. Because what is Thanksgiving without a LAN, right? Actually, this has a little bit of history to it. Back when I first started dating Breaky, I found out that he had missed Thanksgiving for years and years, because Dreamhack Winter always fell over Thanksgiving weekend. How sad! So, I took it upon myself to make the S2 Games crew a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. Invited those that would be missing Thanksgiving with friends and family to be in Sweden for work and their significant others. Even called it ThankS2giving. That was the year we had like, 12 people in my small little one-bedroom apartment. The next year, we did the same, this time at a friend's house, as it was bigger than our small little house. After that, as many of you know, S2 Games did some weird shifting around, parts of it became Frostburn Studios, others stayed, mass chaos, yadda yadda and they did not end up going to Dreamhack Winter. So that year was the first year that Breaky stayed home for Thanksgiving. We always celebrate at my parents' house in Frankenmuth, Michigan. So that was a new and fun experience. Last year, another friend of ours hosted Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving, as they would not be able to go home to family for their Thanksgiving. This year, we had some friends that wanted to ramp things up, so after Thanksgiving, which Breaky and I spent in Frankenmuth rooting on the Detroit Lions and eating a ton of great food, our friends decided to host a Friendsgiving LAN. You heard me right. Thanksgiving AND video games. What.Could.Be.Better? The food was fantastic, and playing Overwatch while stuffed with food and drink was an experience. We partied from around 4:30 to after midnight (I, being the old-fart, left at around 12:30 and used my dog as an excuse. In my defense, she was alone for a bit)
Look at all this FOOD! LOOK AT IT (Picture a la Jacki)
So much food. So good
Introducing Mrs. Greenbean Featherbottom (name a la Wza and picture from Jacki)
Setting up the LAN. You can tell I am a huge help (I'm the lazy bum in the corner. In my defense, Breaky and I were set up and I break things by touching them. Safer this way) Again, picture from Jacki
Super awesome LAN PARTY
So, super cool shout out to Wza for organizing, and Jacki for hosting at their place and everyone who attended for the great food, drink, games and company.
I got the idea from another blog, using this new (to me) "That can be my next tweet", which you supply your Twitter handle, and it gives you new tweets based on previous tweets. I was expecting some fun results. Evidently, this system just takes snippets of your tweets and puts them together randomly, which.....well......um.....
The Bloggess's were funny. Mine..... Oh dear God, if my tweets ever read like this, please know I am being held against my will and I am reaching out for help. It worries me a little that they turned out like this. I blame my Dad (English teacher) for instilling this "Variety of Sentence Beginnings" or VOSB theory in my cranium. It means my sentence structure varies ALL THE TIME, evidently even on Twitter. This program does not appreciate that formula evidently
So, you simply put in your Twitter name and hit "Get your next tweet
Whut. Our new patch is a what?! Do not leave me hanging.
So is the exterminator a leaf or a game? Or is the leaf the game? The second sentence reads like a punk-rock emo lyric.
I. Just I. And what did we do to female casters? Obviously no context.
This one is probably my favorite. Mostly for the random Detroit Lions ending. (BTW, that touchdown was amazing. Still miss Calvin Johnson though. )
And this is when I decided to stop:
STOP. STOP. WHAT? NOOOOooo no no no no.
Ok. I didn't actually "stop" as I was morbidly curious as to what other nonsensical blubbery would randomly appear if I hit that button again... and again.
So I decided, unless it was in regards to more death *cringe*, I would post the next one to Twitter. Because no one actually follows me on Twitter. This was the result:
We will see how many people figure out it was an automatically generated tweet from the link provided, and how many people will be concerned enough to call my mother to see if I have been committed. Or kidnapped.
My husband's cookies for casting was pretty funny though. Have to admit.
The new Beauty and the Beast full US trailer has been released and I feel like I'm a kid again. The original movie was a huge part of our childhood, my sister and I. So much so my sister was Belle for Halloween and wore that dress pretty much from the early part of October through Christmas that year. Our poor parents probably could recite the whole movie by heart, as it was one of the movies that was constantly playing. Do you think they make that dress in adult sizes? Breaky, what do you think about next Halloween?
The new trailer finally gives us a look at a big part of the cast, including but not limited to Luke Evans and Gaston, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, JOSH GAD as LeFou (big fan btw), Audra McDonald as Madame de Garderobe, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Dan Steven as the Best and of course, the lovely Emma Watson as Belle.
It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now, we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining proudly presents:
If you need me, I will be at work with my headphones on, listening to this for a little while. No worries, I'm still working. Just with a little Disney influence.
Last year, Breaky and I joined a bunch of our friends at Blizzcon 2015. We were able to go, as those tickets were purchased for us as a wedding present.
Blizzcon 2015-Linkin Park
We had a blast, and how I truly wish I had started blogging back then, as I would have had so much to work with. Pictures, thoughts, frustrations, videos, Overwatch insights, Hearthstone hype, freebies, and much more. It was such an amazing experience.
Now, this year we got to watch the E-Sports events from our Smart TV, which has a Twitch App (fancy), find out about updates to our favorite games from Twitter and Facebook, and longingly reminisce about the good times we had last year. Mind you, I don't miss the long lines, the congestion, waiting an hour to play one round of Overwatch, or having to take all of that time off of work. I have mixed feelings about missing it this year, obviously.
Breaky and I at Blizzcon 2015
To recap the big announcements that Blizzard made in regards to there games, and my thoughts, which you can skip if you want, you can see below:
Along with the expansion, we are also getting new "Tri-Class" cards, that could be used by three different classes instead of one class, or like basic cards, all classes.
Also included is the "build your own spell" cards, such as "Kazakus", where it gives you options and choices which result in a unique spell.
Now, there are a ton of new cards that have a lot of potential to be game-changers depending on what kind of decks you like to run, or don't like to come across (I'm lookin at you Murloc-Paladin), but at the same time, it has the potential to breathe new live in to the game for some. As far as the Tri-Class cards, I find this very interesting, having played a little bit of a Priest deck that has a tendency to "borrow" cards from the deck or hand of the individual I'm playing. Makes for very interesting game-play.
It was my intention to post some of the cards that I found the most interesting, but in the words of Ulla from the Producers "But there's just so many of zem!" (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, what the movie or go see the show. Solid gold right here), actually 132 to be exact, and it is my understanding we are still getting news about new cards, and that will probably continue.
I have some mixed feelings about the custom spell idea. It definitely combats the whole "leave it up to the RNG Gods" motto that is pervasive in the Hearthstone culture. Not exactly sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet. Sometimes having chaos makes for the best Hearthstone stories and matches. But on the flip side, each custom spell will be different (someone did the math somewhere and the chances of getting/making the same spell is low. I'm lazy and don't "math" so, take my/their word for it)
So instead, tell me in the comments what cards you are most excited about. What decks you are running currently that you may not continue, or which you may now try! Personally, I find my Dragon Priest deck to get some changes in a positive direction, and honestly excited to maybe try some different Paladin decks outside of, but still including, Murloc Paladin.
Sombra is a new offense hero that uses "hacks" to disrupt enemies and turrets , and uses invisibility and a translocator to allow quick movement.
Arcade
There is a new section that allows for a wide variety of play that we have not seen before. This, from what I can tell, replaces the weekly brawl concept.
1v1 mystery duel where the hero you play is randomized and you play against one person.
3v3 where you get to choose your hero and play with two other people in a simple "last man standing" elimination concept
6v6 Mystery Heroes: Similar to the 1v1 mystery duel, only, obviously, with 6 players.
6v6 no limits, which allows for multiple of the same hero, which is no longer allowed in quick play (YES!)
New Maps
We get two new maps, "Ecopoint: Antartica" which is an arena map. This map is the map used in many of the new Arcade modes. Another new map is Oasis, a control-point map set in the Arabian desert, and has a jump pad to allow access to a higher location (whhaaaat?)
League
An announcement was made at Blizzcon about the idea of an E-Sports league for competitive Overwatch.
We don't have a lot of information as far as how this will particularly look, but some information can be found here. Basically, there will be a Preseason, where rosters will be built and my understanding is that it will be by city, similar to many professional sports leagues. Players will have contracts, get paid appropriately, and compete in the inaugural season with live streams every week, all accumulating in to the World Championship.
Thoughts:
I was able to play Sombra a little last night, and actually found her quite a lot of fun to play. The new Arcade mode (see below) allowed me to play her in a setting that was more fitting to learn a character than when I tried Ana (which I find myself playing more and more to be honest). The hacking abilities and ultimate made me assume she would be more of a defensive or support character, but after playing, I can see how this would be considered an offense character. While I prefer more of a support or defense style character, I can see myself playing her, when the novelty of a new character wears off.
I really like the Arcade concept. This allows for more casual play, allowing people like me, who main heroes in Quick Play and Competitive because of comfort and ranking reasons, to try new heroes in a new kind of environment.
Am liking the one new map: Ecopoint: Antartica, which I tried as a result of playing a bunch of games in the Arcade Mode. No complaints. Have not tried the other map yet.
As far a the league, we will see. I have seen first hand how attempts to organize and contractualize E-Sports has done in the past. Questions remain, such as Casting talent and how that will look, if the teams will have to sign an exclusivity clause in their contract, and how already existing E-Sports organizations and teams will fit in, if at all. Obviously, I have no shot or interest in becoming a competitive player in any E-Sports league, let alone Overwatch, but as an avid watcher of E-Sports events, it will be very interesting to see how this pans out
Overall, interesting announcements. Can't wait to see what happens.
While I normally try to get a blog post published on Tuesdays, I have to postpone it today.
If you are in the United States of America, stop reading this blog right now and go vote, if you haven't already. If you have voted, or are not from the U.S., you can stay. Read more of my fun blog posts. Escape the craziness that will be today, that has my stomach in knots from fear and panic and a weird kind of foreboding, more so than any other election I have voted in.
This is not a political post. I have no problem arguing politics. I just don't enjoy it. I don't like myself getting riled up, having to defend myself for believing in what I do. I will do it, and can do it, but given the choice, I keep my feelings off of social media and my blog. Politics is not why I started a blog.
HOWEVER, regardless of what you feel about our political system, it is imperative to exercise your right to vote. Even if your candidate is not the candidate I personally will vote for, I want you to vote. Again, if you are in the United States of America, or a citizen of the USA.
A more fun, non-political blog post will be incoming tomorrow, highlighting the new news from Blizzcon 16. So get hyped about that! Whooooo!!!!
