Last Free Man

World of Forcecraft

As early release of the legendary Star Wars the Old Republic rolls out, and we all get a full taste of what will likely become the next big obsession... I have to stake a quick flag, this game has a huge title and as typical amongst my neck furred friendlies we have need of an easier distinction. That's why on this day at this hour, I now proclaim the long winded Star Wars the Old Republic Online franchise to hereby and forever named FORCECRAFT. There it is! You have launch of great title sequence and readiness for decades of sock pooping fun. Now go forth and spread thy name!

While I'm changing gaming history forever I might also add, roll a fat dude for Force'sake. This game's character build allows for custimization, one of the fist I might add in history to show the world an accurate represenatative of what we the community are: fat, hairy-necked, nether beasts. No more cat girls, no more trim emos, no it's time to get real about what happens on the keyboard, and it's 250+, so man up and do it. I did:

 (You ARE a fat Asian with a handle-bar mustache, embrace the Force.)

So in review, we have a great future ahead of us as the official launch of Forcecraft draws near, I see many a sweaty night filled with bantha fodder and nerf herding, I did choose the Light side of things because I typically play the Paladin-esque rolls, the white knight the good guy. Although I was heavily swayed I must admit upon watching attack animation trailers early on and realizing that Jedi Consulars are the absolute king bosses of passive-aggressive overtly do-goodiness to the point of running the meter all the way around to pure asshole. We are the keepers of the light and pretty much the taddle-tales of the playground, be warned. We also have a fierce attack posturing that is nearly a perfect mix of Heisman, and Elvis handing:

(...in the ghettooooowoooowwwoow)

IGXE will get your Final Fantasy XI account banned.

Let me be clear in the most angry Obama voice possible, I understand my personal responsibility reigns supreme in giving known criminals from China who enslave people in dormitories to harvest virtual currency is wrong, asking for trouble, and worse of all plain lazy. I despise cheating and especially RMT currency slave holders, but I got one of those great emails for 8% off and a fire sale of leveling promised 75-90 in two days, I had a moment of weakness...

So I placed the order and anxiously awaited (reportedly honest leveling by hand) what happened next was a surprise as I watched FFXIAH.com to watch my character's transacting of gear, drops and other oddities. Being a recent return I assumed it was a gear for Abyssea content so no worries. After about 5 days I became concerned as no activity was occurring, and something seemed off.

So I made contact with a helpful chat representative, five times that is... This is when I was being told that all was in order and I could log into my account safely to check the progress. On day 6 I couldn't stand it anymore so I logged in...

I was greeted with the dreaded POL LM-17, that's Playonline.com speak for absolute, permanent, data deleted from server BANHAMMER. My draw dropped and I honestly felt a little sick, you know that feeling when you are aware and actually doing something wrong, and you have been caught. Sure it's nervous excitement when it's going on, but when you get nailed and you know it, it's a whole entirely different emotion. Sick. I frantically called Playonline.com to act dumb and see what was going on and the confirmation was sobering: My account of almost 10 years, with combined playtime of over 396 days, nearly every job past 50, all missioned out was gone, now and forever. There was no appeal, no remedy, no Moogle to rub my back. The charge? Third party tools being used to circumvent normal game mechanics, that's right these "honest" powerlevelers from IGXE were of course using bot leveling schemes apparently out in the open in Abyssea. My god the stupidity of this is monumental, christ if you're going to bot at least do it in a far away zone, and be mindful and courteous to those around you.

So naturally I went to PayPal expecting that since I did not receive my "virtual" item (the powerlveling) that I would be getting a refund. Nope. During the entire dispute/claim process IGXE denied everything, lied, and even told payPal that I had received all work and the order was complete. That is a complete and utter lie. This is not a trustworthy company, and honestly unless you are just buying hand delivered currency I would steer clear of all other services, you can and will be banned. The thing is SE tracks certain Chinese players/IP addresses, so they know if logged in from Michigan then two days later leveled 960 hours straight in China, Powerleveling is virtually impossible to do so heed my warning and stay away.

Conclusion; Maybe it was good to break the cycle or hold of FFXI. It has had me for almost ten years, I probably needed to get banned to finally get pushed out of this game that I seem to revisit like an old friendly heroin habit every 90 days or so. I just hate the decision being made in such an abrupt and painful way, with no consideration or second chance, I think if I was given something even the smallest token from IGXE Hell even just an apology it would have made a huge difference. But alas I did see the big bold red letters now featured prominetly on their page:

Using illegal leveling and gold service might terminate the account!

 

Another spooky.

Congrats to us!

We had an amazing wedding, honeymoon, reception all rolled into a whirlwind three weeks. I would like to thank all involved but especially my beautiful bride Tanya for pretty much planning/initializing the whole affair. I felt more like the bride as everything unfolded around me perfectly while Tanya with pencil in-ear ran about planning.  Either way I look to a brighter future with the true love of my life for many years to come!

Brandon and Tanya met first online in the last summer of 2005 and then in person at the UGA vs. South Carolina game on Saturday, September 20^th, 2005. Yes, something good actually did come out of myspace.com: the union of these two crazy kids!

Brandon opened up Tanya’s world to online gaming and all-things-techie, spicy food, photography and reptiles of all varieties. Tanya exposed Brandon to the wines of the world, the making of sketch comedy, the healing powers of a neti-pot and why ninety-nine percent of their laundry should always be washed in cold, on the gentle cycle.

Together they share a passion for writing, traveling and being lazy near sincere stretches of water with their child/dog Frosty (a very loving Maltese) by their side.

They have supported each other through several tragedies that have occurred on both sides of their families and feel they’ve come out stronger, wiser and more compassionate on the other side.

Bliss at Sea

First Met in Person: Saturday, September 10, 2005

First Date: Friday, November 25, 2005

Brandon Proposed Marriage to Tanya: Friday, November 26, 2010

Tanya was a child of the seventies and eighties, loving the music from then and now the edgy sounds of today as well. She’s had a career at WSB-TV since 1998 with a truly amazing group of broadcast professionals. Tanya also delights in the voice over work she does and loves writing like there’s no tomorrow! She writes a blog for Emory Healthcare’s “Advancing Your Health-Weight Management” site, has a deep passion for her personal blog www.LifestyleSophisticate.com and also can’t live without her practice of Hatha Yoga and regular meditation. Spending quality time with dear friends and amazing family are things Tanya simply can’t get enough of. Fabulous fashion, blogging, synchronized swimming, making jewelry, reading and travel are among some of the other things that Tanya really enjoys!

Contrary to popular belief, Brandon is actually not the inventor of the Atari game system. He is, however, the best at gaming in the universe. That much is true (that is, at least, what Tanya will tell you.) Born with a joystick in his hand and HTML in his heart, Brandon went through the ranks of the Boy Scouts to be a well-rounded outdoorsman, animal lover, cook, photographer, videographer and computer whiz. Brandon has enjoyed a stellar full-time career with Astro Contractors, Inc. since 1996 and was made partner in 2011. Brandon has been committed to blogging on his site www.lastfreeman.com for several years, chronicling every day of his life in rich prose and photography. He’s even sold some of his video footage professionally for documentaries! When Brandon isn’t tearing apart an old CPU he enjoys researching early model Russian cameras, US History, politics and kicking back to take in a movie at home.

The happy couple have many furry (and some scaly) children! Frosty, the Maltese, is the animal matriarch of the household. Fabiola and Mr. Yunioshi are their two domestic, feisty kitties and Winston Churchill is their very wild and often vocal cat that prefers outside living. A fairly old boa constrictor enjoys his own private glass condo right down from the two very large tortoises Brandon has raised from just after they were first born. Right now the smallest children in their brood are their three clown fish, two sea anemones, several hermit crabs, the lone brittle star fish and one very old peppermint shrimp that share their bedroom.

 

 

Test Stream

This is a three day test:

 

Thank You Steve.

Thank you Steve for igniting a fire in me with the Apple II. I will never forget those long lines of basic written in an old wicker chair one summer, those piles of graph paper dungeon maps from text based RPGs, my first pirated BBS…

 Your vision led me to my career, my passion, and my medium of self expression.

 

 

Choose your sigil.

 

09/30/11(Fri)17:27 No.8730666   

"Good evening, /x/. I've cooked up something to help you, and myself, celebrate Halloween, or Samhain. I have given you two sigils. You are to choose one sigil to draw somewhere on your person when you go to sleep everynight. What you use to draw it on yourself does not matter so long as it won't smudge.

You may only choose one. If you switch, or wear both, nothing will happen. They cancel each other out.

It is recommended that you start this by October 1st, as each day longer that you wear it, the stronger the effects will be. Though you will still have an interesting gift even if you only wear it one night, or if you forget a night.

The thing is, though, one sigil will give you a treat, and the other, a trick. I won't tell you which is which. You'll have to find out on October 31st."

 

-So this guy rolls into a perfectly normal imageboard one night, gets 666, and requests the powering of sigils, with a twist... One is trick one is trick. Nope.

Will report on the ensuing chaos on the beginning of Samhain, October 31st:

 

 

 

 

Foundation Day Cometh!

I have been there. For it all, the betas both open and closed and the early release for the collector's edition, Final Fantasy XIV has grown well, the community is helpful and the content has come along. The game mechanics have nearly been completely revised and leveling itself has changed so dramatically so many times I think we are right back where we started. The world has a soul an organic base that is unmatched in gaming yet the players are all but gone.

What happened? Everquest was a steaming pile of difficulty at release, WOW, LOTRO, crashed to the desktop nearly every cutscene for two years. Why is FFXIV having traction problems, with it's class bending yet strangely classic Final Fantasy style mixed with actual turn-based actions?  You happened. The new gamer, the Steam/iTunes/Generation I/Y that's what happened, most gamer kiddies nowadays are onto the next title while Angry Birding under the table. There is an entire generation behind us of kids who are filled with High Fructose Corn Syrup, bad genes, and raging Asperger's combo ADD. This current crop has no investment in a franchise, they vote on a whim, game on a whim, and if something isn't incredibly easy or finalized with DLC in one month, move on to the next First Person Shooter. 

The older of us remember waiting anxiously on patches, and new content, much of which (in Everquest's case) was years upon years apart. I take my gaming like my wine: slowly, aged, and perfected. If this makes me an old hipster fan-boy so be it, enjoy changing my diapers while I play Everquest's 38th expansion...

Lore...

The Founding of a Tradition
Ever since the Ministry of Palatial Affairs revealed the rekindling of the Immortal Flames, the latter has not spared a single spherule of sweat to promote its presence to the public. Stepping up their efforts, the Immortal Flames now host Foundation Day, a celebration commemorating the creation of the Grand Companies of Eorzea more than a millennium past.

According to our sources, the concept was conceived at a congregation of committee members for the Eorzean Alliance,* who recommended that the revelry be simultaneously sponsored by all three city-states. Contrived to curb the consternation of civilians while saturating soldiers with spirit and steadfastness, insiders indicate that the event is also intended to regulate the rivalry raging between the Grand Companies to attract adventurers to their ranks.

Regulated roistering aside, the return of the Immortal Flames alone has been a blessing for the burg. Not only has it aided the amelioration of anxiety over the Garlean threat; it also affords adventurers—rapidly rising as the realm's richest spenders—a steady supply of salary. The prevailing perspective at present is one of expedited economic expansion. Even as I put pen to paper, a curious case of collaboration is being brokered between market and monarchy for the minting of memorial money and the subsidization of salutes by firearms.

The current commercial climate is plainly propitious to profit. Whether you prefer to participate in a procession or peddle products to the public, we at The Mythril Eye enthusiastically encourage participation in the pomp and pageantry as a means of monitoring market movement.

Havak Alvak

Cobb County Cries Wolf into record breaking revenues, and tyranny ensues.

Be warned the latest government scheme to be enacted in the alternative revenue game is here. Cobb County Georgia has partnered with the company CryWolf.us, this is another in a long series of pseudo government hidden tax/fees monetary recoupment strategies. In a down economy tax revenues suffer so government agencies must get creative. Atlanta is using a similar strategy with the jack-booted thugs of Park Atlanta, another private organization tasked with enforcing the law and fining citizens.

This is a very dangerous precedence to set, as we allow those motivated by profit alone to enact, enforce, and make final judgement calls on actual county codes and laws. We the citizens did not vote the corporate body involved with the final decision making of this organization which is loosely tied to our actual law enforcement. Much like the stop light cameras which are actually causing more accidents and doing nothing but making record profits, such is the game here in Cobb County with the False Alarm Reduction Unit. This is a scam plain and simple and you only need to look at the implementation to see why:

1. There was no media campaign, or advertising, or mention at all in any County email lists that this was going down and when it did, those accused of generating a false alarm are immediately hit with a $100.00 fine. That is an insane amount, and is 100% proof of the fact that this is a money recovery strategy not a public safety initiative, especially when you consider the caveat is they require registration of your alarm system with a pseudo government private sector agency.
2. Once you are busted as being outside the realm of this registration you must pay $100, and are then forced to be databased, this was a deep registration that took twenty minutes over the phone whereas I was asked intimate personal details about my home, my personal financial information and the really scary part they wanted to know how many and where my guns, weapons and dogs were. Ring any bells? Hello it's the Gestapo calling and we need some information.
3. This is the best part, when I am hit with a fee or tax in regards to a LAW in most cases I can go before a board, a judge, a jury and face my accuser in a setting of equal grounds. Not so in the case of the False Alarm Reduction Unit and CryWolf.us you have to file an appeal with cobbcounty@publicsafetycorp.com... Yes an email address, that what? LINKS TO A PRIVATE ORGANIZATION THAT IS ENFORCING THE LAW. Read that twice it tastes worst each time.
4. Upon filing this appeal and grovelling to the "Alarm Administrator" that is it, no review no panel if the simplistic conditions are met in the huge scope of a false alarm you are guilty and charged. In the 100% likelihood that  you are turned down (money stupid) the collections/warrant for your arrest goes into effect in 24 days. 

 

This is a disgusting precedence and Cobb County should stop this profit based tyranny immediately, I fear much like the parking scams, and GA400's never ending tool booths this will not happen how can you give up on the potential revenue of 750,000 people with one third of those being alarm consumers at $100? The answer is you don't, you feed the beast with your children, that's what government does and what we have allowed, I am an ardent capitalist but this sickens me to my core.

 

Oh yes they can:

cobbcounty@publicsafetycorp.com

As an alternative to installing CryWolf to be operated at your facility, we can manage your false alarm program on an outsource basis.

No Risk! 

Your agency can take advantage of CryWolf false alarm management solution with no financial risk—we obtain payment exclusively from the revenue CryWolf helps generate. There is no upfront systems development, licensing, conversion, or equipment costs.  We purchase, configure, install, and customize everything needed to administer your agency’s alarm reduction program.

Customized Program

Our false alarm outsourcing services are customized to meet your agency’s needs. Payments are typically remitted to a mutually-agreeable, commercial bank lockbox or can be submitted via secure web-based interface.  All correspondence and invoices are generated using your letterhead in a format defined by your agency.  The customer support representatives in our processing center respond to citizen and business inquiries using agency-approved customized scripts to ensure accurate and consistent response, professional and courteous service, and transparent outsource operation.

Cobb County False Alarm Reduction UnitPO Box 405587 Atlanta, GA 30384-5587(866) 902-7110

Fire! Cat girls! Pagan Summer Reigns Supreme!

We are nearing the one year anniversary of the release of Final Fantasy XIV. It seems Square is pulling out all the stops as the late summer event is here! Featuring lots of fire, scantily clad girls and plenty of mystery the Firefall Faire makes it's first appearence! Perhaps a ratings grab or a press stunt (surely half-naked cat girl furries makes much in the way of screenshottery) the event is now live. I will chronicle this sweaty, furry-fest as we all try eagerly to score the rare fire resitant swimwear! 

So who wouldn't enjoy an event where sexy lady-like things run about "attacking" flaming fireballs by using newly released emotes such as "pose", yes in order to land these things, one must sex them in. Thank you Japanese again, for an unusual and charming way to fill my screenshot folder, speaking of which: Firefall Faire 2011 Screens

Smallest Flint Sparks Grandest Fire (Lore):

Never take a pirate at his word. Theirs is a lot given to exaggeration and hyperbole—those of our own Lominsan waters not least of all. For something in the pirate mind compels them to lay claim to the greatest boast, no matter how unlikely or unbelievable. No doubt they would all swear before Llymlaen
herself to having seen a sea serpent as long as a galleon, or a dazzling storm of shooting stars that light up the night as bright as day. Ever have these free souls of the seas told the most grandiose lies at every possible utterance, just as naturally as they cast their sails or row their oars. But such is not always the case, as I recently discovered...

Allow me to share with you a certain tale from the lands of Coerthas in the north, told to me by a pirate who earns his keep sailing up the White Maiden to sell off his plunder. The following words are his own, untouched by mine own quill.

“Aye, ’at bleedin’ meteor plopped down right there on the outskirts o’ Owl’s Nest, it did. ‘Fore I knew
what was what, a bomb bigger’n an aldgoat rose up from that selfsame spot. Watched with me own eye as it took to eatin’ e’erything around it, growin’ bigger ‘n bigger all the while. Finally made its way right up to the gates of Ishgard, it did. Gahaha, I bet them fancy-as-you-please knights roastin’ in their armor made for a tender meal! Tell me they didn’t! Gaha— Hm? What else, you say? Not much, really. I heard them Ishgard folk are callin’ the thing a Bombard, but that’s all I know, Twelve take me if it ain’t.”

Were this but a sole account, perhaps it would be easy to dismiss as idle banter—the boastful stylings of some pirate raconteur. But what if I were to tell you that before ever speaking to this man, I had word from one of the Herald’s own correspondents in Ishgard? A man of unquestionable character, he claims that a tremendous explosion could be heard and felt throughout the city from the direction of the Gates of Judgment. Moreover, a number of fully armored knights were reported to have suffered severe burns, and a wave of heat washed over the entire city and lays there still now, plaguing the Ishgardians day in and day out.

By now no doubt all have heard of the Firefall Faire being prepared for in Eorzea’s cities. But tell me this—do you not find something strange about these festivities? Why, I ask, in the midst of these the year’s hottest days, must we be forced to look upon balloons fashioned in the likeness of bombs, and everywhere reminded of this unbearable heat from which we constantly seek even the briefest of respites?

And is it not a particular peculiarity that the Adventurers’ Guild, in dire straits as it is in recent days, has seen fit to affiliate itself with these so-called faire chaperones? Little and less of this faire sits well in the belly of this reporter...

One rumor maintains that said guild received an extremely generous boon from the city-states’ coffers in exchange for rallying adventurers to help eradicate these infernal bombs. And what of the balloons, then? All part of the plan, it would seem. Some go so far as to make them for decoys meant to deceive the eyes of these explosive monstrosities. Perhaps you thought yourself safe behind city walls? Perhaps you thought that such tales were no more than stories told by wetnurses to children in faraway lands? The fact remains that a meteor fell to Eorzea, and an outbreak of fiery chaos has followed in its wake. And as if that were not foreboding enough, I leave you with this final disquieting thought...
An entire storm of meteors has now been confirmed to have fallen in the vicinity of La Noscea.