Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Review

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit [2010] 

So beyond just watching television shows and movies, and beyond first person shooter war games, I've been working on a whole new set of games that I normally don't get around to because I'd rather play the ones that make me happy and I have friends on. So one of the first games that I went back and decided to play was Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit [2010]. Let it be known that this is a reboot of the classic need for speed franchise, which for all sakes and purposes did not really need a reboot since it has had a steady release at least every couple of years. And not only that, but the games tend to be rather solid.

Anyway, here's some background information about my feelings on this game. I loved Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 back in the day when it was on Playstation 1. I really loved driving past cops and racing through the career mode. So I have high hopes for this game. But even beyond that, I love Criterion Games. I thought that they were probably the best racing developers out there since I first came across them with Burnout 3: Takedown. Seriously, I love them so much that I have two copies of Burnout: Revenge, and I played Burnout: Paradise way past when I should have stopped (and beat it twice because I played one two different consoles). So to say that I had high hopes for this game is kind of an understatement considering it is a premium racing developer working on a platinum series. Here's my review.

Graphics:

Most would think it weird that I want to start with graphics, but in truth this is where the game shines best. From fabulously done real cars to waterfalls in the background to storms happening with lighting, the game has a very impressive graphics engine. It's perfect the way it is, maybe even over done compared with what else I'm about to talk about, but by far the best part of this game is the graphics engine.

With that said, there are no Burnout style crashes and there are no large jumps or anything too extreme. Just miles of beautiful roads for the astoundingly detailed cars to drive down. This is the best part of the game, take my word for it.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is simple, cops on one side and racers on the other. Racers fight against each-other for the first-place spot while cops fight to take-down all of the racers. It's the basic formula. They also try to give cops an advantage, but that's not all.

The main difference in this game from previous ones is that the cops and racers all get power-up moves to use. For instance, if a cop wants to they can try to add a road-block to stop the racers and the racers can use EMPs. Both teams can shoot spike strips out the back of their cars. So they try to spice it up this way, but in total there are 7 different power-ups. To be honest, it wasn't reinventing the wheel but it was a step in the right racing direction. A step, not a leap.

Now before I go on, let me explain the map as well. Its open, there are tons of roads that link to one another and every now and then there's a small secret path. Overall, this was the most BORING map I've ever played in a need for speed game. Literally, most the roads are long stretches of straightways with little curves thrown in, but there's no real shortcuts or big cities to make it fun to navigate and do turns. It was like the creative center of the Criterion map brains, which in the past has been amazing, was turned off this time around as they made the map as simplistic and non-organic as possible. Overall, it added to the boredom in the end of feel like you were on the same path even in the scenery changed.

Story (Single Player):

This is let down number one in the game, there's absolutely no story. They put in two career modes but overall it should just be called advance and get stuff modes because there's really nothing more to it than a simple leveling up system. The races slowly get more exciting and over time you actually start getting some intense games, but over time.

That's my problem, the career modes (racers and cops, where you play either as a racer or as a cop) are so drawn out and boring that I actually had trouble playing even past the first 20 races on either side. And that's not to say that they aren't fun, but rather that they just aren't that interesting. Race here against no-one, race here against the clock, race here against a timer... it really did draw out so long that I wasn't sure there were cop chases in this game. And so by the time I got there, I was frustrated. Let this be known, because the intense single player is actually REALLY far in the game and takes FOREVER to get to. I recommend skipping the story.

Multiplayer:

So if Single player isn't very intense, I still could have high hopes for the multiplayer since it was cop on racer action, right? Well there's three multiplayer modes that come on the disc, a race mode where its racers vs each other vs the cops, a one on one, and a third mode that I didn't even try. So let's start with the basics.

The race mode seemed great the first time I played it, intense running from the cops and it was action packed. But the more I played it, the more I realized it was less about racing and more about trickery. For instance, racers were not compelled to move forward at any time and, for all that matters, they could turn around and just drive past the cops. So a lot of times you'll see the racers just switch gear and go backwards, making a cop or two need to turn around to go catch them. This was something that should have been fixed, get too far behind the cop and you forfeit or something. So that's already bad.

But wait, the other bad part is that there are boosts for have playing the game longer. Players who play a lot more get a TON more cars that are actually WAY better than the starter sets. It's almost like slapping new people in the face that don't want to play the terrible story mode the entire way throughout. I can't tell you how annoying it is to never even be in the league on the race because you don't have a car to really compete.

But wait, remember when I said it was Racer vs Racer vs Cops? Well I lied, because its actually Racer vs Cops with bonus for finishing. So sometimes racers will hold up cops on purpose because as long as one racer paces the finish, they all get points.

If you aren't seeing what I'm getting at, this mode is EXTREMELY flawed and kind of boring since no one really wants to play it right. I mean, it counts as a win on the racing team if another member gets across the line. That's not a race, that's just a team run-around. I think Criterion had the right idea, but then did everything wrong. And what annoys me about this is that in one of their press conferences before the game was released, they are quoted for calling it a "rabbit being hunted by dogs" game, except it felt more like a bunch of dogs without any teeth. To that extent, I leave the multiplayer annoyed and flawed.

But I would like to make one final point, which is that for a game that's supposed to feel like prey and predators, there should almost always be more prey than predators. So even if they fixed up the flaws I've mentioned above, about the only way to make the cops fun is to really give them a boost, and then down their numbers from a 50% cops - 50% racers to about 35% cops - 65% racers (IE more racers so more for the cops to take down). It sounds weird, but trust me, having to play a cop one game and a racer the next and then a cop again is kind annoying when really I bought the game to be the racer. So down the cops and make it that we play cops every two games that we play racers. Win for all.

Verdict: 2 / 5 Stars

Between the lack of a good single player (and no, I'm not saying not having a story, I'm saying in general the single player was boring) and the multiplayer being extremely flawed, all this game really had was beautiful graphics and a wonderfully done amount of cars. That's right, I'm going to give this game all of it's points for graphics and number of well-done cars. So if you haven't figured out by now, the game didn't do to well because in my mind, that's nothing compared to what is really needed to be a fully functioning game.

No, I couldn't let up that the single player is almost unplayable because of the amount of time-trials and worthless races that were not Hot Pursuits that flood the beginning. And I couldn't give points for the extremely flawed multiplayer or the lack of versatility that came with it. And I definitely couldn't give points for how boring all the roads where. Seriously, I could drive around for hours and have absolutely no idea where I was, which is a feat considering how beautiful the surroundings were. It just felt bland.

I'm giving this game a 2/5 stars.

Seriously? Still No Fixes?

I keep playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and its still NOT balanced more than 4 months after the release date. This is with countless amounts of user input, but what I'm learning is that the companies Infinity Ward, Beachhead Studios (couldn't find a website), and Raven Software are just incompetent enough to not fix it. So here's what I am putting out there, he's my message to the world, the one that says FIX THIS YOU DUMB MOTHER F***ERS!

1. Striker - Seriously? You call that a nerf? I believe the exact quote from fourzerotwo was "The Striker is losing power and all shotguns are increasing in damage." Now I might be wrong about something, but isn't [50 +5power to all shotguns -5power to all shotguns = 50]? SO I don't think you did anything. NERF THAT THING. Here's how you balance it (pick one):

• Down the damage so much that it literally take either 3 close range shots to kill, 5 medium range shots to kill, and impossible from long range
• Add Kick. Add a lot of Kick. That thing should kick so hard that each shot makes you do a half-backflip.
• Make the person slower when they run with it and down the reload rate by a lot.

2. Type 95 - I don't understand how you guys can "nerf" the gun more than once. If its NERFED then it shouldn't need a second nerfing. SO god damn it, learn to NERF a gun! Again, pick one.

• REDUCE THE DAMAGE! It should take at least 3 shots to kill or 2 perfect shots.
• Add kick! Add kick so that you fire that thing and it bounces.
• Reduce the range.

3. MK-14 - This gun doesn't get talked about a lot, but its 2 shots to kill, has no kick, is long range, lets you run fast, can be silenced and used easily, doesnt sway, etc. Are you getting my drift? Its just too god damn good unless you miss the shot, but even if you do you can fire it like a machine gun.

• Put a minimum fire time on it that's higher than 0.5 seconds. Make it take at least 1.5 seconds before you can fire a second shot. With rapid fire, it should decrease its fire time to 0.5 seconds but increase kick (because of more shots).
• Add kick. Why is it that this seems to be a good solution. Oh wait, cause its easy to do and works.
• Make that weapon sway! Its a sniper (or close to the snipers in almost every way) so why not add some sway to the end of it.

4. ALL MACHINE PISTOLS, though mainly the FMG9's - You've tried nerfing this weapon like 50 times in 50 different ways. Why hasn't it worked? Because your idea of nerfing them is slowing down the rate of fire. Their fire rate was ridiculous to begin with, now you've just made them like all the other weapons. So take away the power on them.

• Decrease the damage by A LOT (its a side arm, not a main weapon).

5/6. PP90M1 and MP7 - Both of these weapons have to much power, almost no kick, huge clips, and let the users run fast. Oh, and add on the range proficiency and they only get better. SERIOUSLY? When I saw the videos for MW3 and the douche bag came on and said the PP90M1 where his favorite new weapons, no joke I thought right then and there that the reason he liked them was because they are Overpowered and Not Balanced. Why is it I'm always right.

• Decrease the damage. Lets just state the obvious that these are too powerful for what they do and should have a damage reduction.
• Increase the kick. Make it that the things are off center after about 2 shots fired, make sure its by a lot and make sure that it kicks sort of out of the way of a headshot.
• Decrease the range and accuracy. These guns are way way way to powerful at any range. Decreasing the range and accuracy would really help with how they can magically get headshots from across the map.

7. Grenade Launchers - Honestly, this is the 3rd time you guys have failed at balancing out this weapon, and so far this has been the 2nd worst attempt. Here's an idea:

• Make grenade launcher under barrels cost 2 slots (requiring the attachment modification to use) and leave them as they are. Now for the launchers ones, take away the persons grenade. I guarantee people with twice before using them. While you are at it, make all launchers take away the grenade slot. That'll help balance out the "Helicopters are weak"

8. Recon Drone - Seriously? This thing gets a jammer, can put people on the map indefinitely, flies super fast, can see the enemies as red arrows, gets a flare, gives the player 100 points for each tag (which add to the score board) and also only costs 10 kills not in the same life? SERIOUSLY? (For this one you need to choose 2 or more... this thing is so overpowered)

• No flare. Its hard enough to lock-on as is so the flare is just stupid.
• No jammer. Why.
• No red arrows until they are within range. That way at least it has to be able to see them and isn't just flying around perfectly tagging people it shouldn't be able to.
• NOT FOREVER - Make the recon go away after 10 seconds or so.
• Make it cost more. 10 kills is easy as all get out to get something this over powered.

• AND THIS ONE IS REQUIRED: STOP LETTING IT ADD THE 100 POINTS TO THE SCORE BOARD! It doesn't make sense why this thing can boost someones score on the board from last place to first when they technically haven't done anything that helps increase the score. The assists they get for the kills will show up on their already, so theirs no need to show the 100 points also.

Well Infinity Ward, Beachhead Studios, and Raven Software, I've done literally the hardest part for you guys in cleaning up your mess, all you have to do is change some numbers and click update. I know, its hard having power, but for the $1 Billion you get paid you better start working harder for it.

Modern Warfare 3 Singleplayer - A Reivew

So I finally finished the Modern Warfare 3 single player, to which I bet everyone that knows me is wondering why it took so long. Well, I'm not really addicted to the single player campaign, so it has been getting way less play time than the multiplayer. Secondly, I haven't been enjoying it since the first game where everything felt fresh and original.

How do I feel about the new single player? Terrible.

I'm just going to start off this review by saying that besides the fact that the entire plot is a little beyond ridiculous, it also fails at everything. Let me show you how. First off, they say welcome to World War 3, but then the war is over like 3 missions later. Its drives me nuts when games want to declare world war 3 and then end things before anything can really happen on a global scale. Here's what I would have prefered:

1. Scale the whole damn thing back to one country per act. So act 1 is the attack on American soil and we get these epic fights throughout the east coast. Not 2 mission and then "Oh they're retreating" but instead a full on epic war where we are trying to take things back and at every push they push harder. Yea, and lets NOT retake america. I'd rather leave it open, maybe expand on it in a future title with the characters made.
2. Then make the battle in Europe for Act 2. This also remains open at the end, but will be very carefully cued to whats going on there. Most importantly, lets make the battles big, epic, and very drawn out. What I'd love to see is just levels where maybe you spend the whole time trying to push forward, multiple paths and multiple options, and when you get there you have to turn back. That would be great. 
3. Last act should focus back on Price and Roach and them killing Makarov. To be honest, the final act in the game was by far the worst since it was one ridiculous idea after another and the last mission ruined the game for me. Don't end with this epic battle between Makarov and the player or some shit, but leave it open. WW3 isn't going to end in a day and 2 people will not win an assault on an army.

So that's how I would have done it if WW3 is what was wanted. Not this "its over in 1 game" crap that doesn't make it feel epic or hard at all. Now let me give you a list of what I thought took the game and killed it beyond the story.

• Linearity - Every mission felt like a "Go Here, Do This" mission with a single hallway or a single place to get the objective done. I would have LOVED optional gameplay, like go this way and see if it pans out or try this route. This game was by far the most linear of the bunch and it was painful to say the least.
• Obviousness - I hate it when movies and video games make things so stupidly obvious. Like for instance the part where the Eiffel Tower falls, it was so lined up that I didn't even have to guess when it would happen. What would have been better is they are walking the streets of paris and suddenly BAM, right on the doorstep. Then we get to make a comment like "Isn't that the Eiffle Tower" and it gets its pay day. Even beyond that, there were other moments that were just so damn obvious I couldn't believe they were even trying.
• Unbelievable - A lot of shit happens in this game that is just plain unbelievable. Not joking. Here are some examples. One, a train goes off track and smashes through not 2 or 3, but like 10 or 15 columns. No, stop it and make that thing hit maybe 2 and end it or make the tunnel break behind him. It was just unbelievable. Two, the final stand, where it just goes on and on and on in this final battle, then the guy pulls out a lighter and smokes? What the hell, he's bleeding from every hole shot in his damn body!
• Not able to Stay Focused - The game switches so damn much between different types of gameplay, which you would think would make it interesting. Actually its annoying. If I'm doing a sneaking around level then I want the whole damn level to be about sneaking around. If I'm doing a level in a plane then I want the whole damn thing in a plane. The most I want to switch between the two is once. Trust me, they break this rule a lot.

I think another thing that just started to get to me the more and more I played was that they also would make these epic moments or scenes, and then ruin them 5 seconds later. Anyway, I'm off to do something else now.

My Modern Warfare 3 Addiction

So I'm currently addicted to the game Modern Warfare 3. I know, its pretty much the exact same as the previous entries, but currently the Call of Duty titles have just been the best FPS games on the market for a guy like me. I love the fast paced action and I love the gun on gun action.

But this blog isn't about my love of the game, I think we can all agree that was established by the fact that I've already clocked over three and a half days worth of multiplayer alone since it came out (November 8th, exactly 3 weeks ago actually). No, instead I'd like to write a quick blog about what I think needs to be changed to make the game better (and hopefully gets read since I think no one actually reads this)

First, my list for overall improvements:

1. More Complex Maps - I know they said that they were heading for a more noob friendly game by having less intriguing ways of getting around the maps, but now all the maps are just boring. Go down this hallway and go over here. To be honest, adding secret paths is what makes them fun and I'm sad that there are so few. Besides that, I think a lot of the maps have been oversimplified to the point that it might as well be hallways. Sad day.
2. More Height in the Map Design - Currently there is exactly 2 maps you can die from falling on. The first one is Mission where you can die from approximately 28 feet (so no boot camp points if you do it) and the second one is Seatown where you can jump down a well that's pretty much out of the way of the map... In other words the maps have very little height dimension which leads to some pretty one-plane fights (boring).
3. A Fix for Lag - Modern Warfare 2 was one of the laggiest multiplayer games I've played in a long time. Literally you could get shots with curving bullets around corners for no reason. Well, they knew it was a big problem/complaint, but instead of fixing it the lag returns and much worse. Seriously, I've had it lag up right when I get in a battle, freeze my screen, and then return once I'm dead. That's bad lag.
4. A BETTER Call of Duty Elite Service - I'm not actually complaining that the service died in the first few days due to too many people wanting to use it, but actually I'm upset because its been 3 weeks and they still have almost nothing interesting on there. For instance, where are the clan challenges (Not clan operations, I can wait on those)... I feel like those should have been ready from launch. It just seems like after extensive beta testing in Black Ops, Elite seems barren and boring.

SECOND is my list of Perk Improvements:

1. Make Recon Pro easier to get - It takes 120 explosive recons to get, which I think it a lot considering each life I only have 3 grenades max plus maybe a 2 grenade launcher for most that life. So lets see, if we take the max possible, it takes 24 lives with perfect hits to get pro. 24 lives is too many.
2. Down Assassin Pro - Currently Assassin Pro does more crap for the person than any other perk. Seriously it does 1. Unseen by UAV 2. Unseen by Thermal. 3 Unseen by Motion Sensors 4. Unseen by Heart Beat Sensors (and those 4 are JUST the unpro version, so the pro gets) 5. Unaffected by CUAV 6. Unaffected by EMP. SO what do I think it should be. First of all I think it should be called Ghost (Like CoD:BO) and it should do 1. Unseen by UAV 2. Unseen by Motion Sensors 3. Unaffected by CUAV. Then take the other 3 and put them into their own perk under Perk 3 and call it Cold Blooded. Seriously, assassin sounds bad (and not in a good way).
3. Rename Dead Silence to Ninja - Dead Silence sounds cool, but the picture is terrible. Also, ninja gives the purpose behind the pro more meaning.
4. Make killstreaks that use either motion sensing (IE Blind Eye protects against it) or thermal sensing (Cold Blooded previously described protects it) or on the other list (Ghost previously described protects it). Also, make a few killstreaks that require more than one perk to be completely protected so that the killstreaks aren't worthless just cause they are using blind eye or ghost.
5. Maybe even more to adding a 4th perk set... 3 is good but we're getting to a point where having 4 at all times would be more dynamic and interesting and allow for more dynamic play.... (this is not a necessity, just an idea). I know the more dynamic it gets the harder it is to balance, but by splitting up some of these extreme perks we might be able to actually balance them.
6. I actually wish their was a perk for improving the grenandes. Like if you equip a launcher it should get rid of this perk (so that's the downside to launchers vs pistols) but the perk can be used for getting a second lethal grenade or 2 more tactical grenades (minus tac inserts, sramblers, traphy system, portable radar and only 1 more smoke and emp grenade.) This would ALSO be a better perk spot for Sit Rep/ Something that lets you walk past crap like Stalker Pro does. It could also be used to add extra ammo to weapons as well.

NEXT is my list for Killstreak improvements:

1. Balancing the Support Strike Package - So the original strike package based off kills was fine, but when they added in the new one they made some HUGE mistakes. For one, not resetting the package on death means that getting the streaks will be easier, so why are all of the streaks set LOW. Seriously, the average kills I get per game is approximately 18 which is strangely the highest that the strike package goes to. I think its easy to say that this package needs some sort of reset (like you get 3 lives to try and then it resets) but not resetting it makes the end ones WAY too easy to get. 
2. Balancing the Specialist Strike Package - I love this strike package, but WHY is it that its so overpowered. Its not that you earn perks every 2 kills, its that you get all the perks at 8 kills (7 with hardline) which is annoyingly overpowered. You basically go from normally overpowered soldier to ridiculously overpowered soldier. I think instead they should give you a new perk RANDOMLY at every kill/point once you reach 8 so that its just not so damn ridiculous. Yea, get 8 kills and have the power of an AC-130 in your pants.
3. Fixing the Pave Low - The Pave Low is an awesome killstreak, but for 12 kills you get something that dies with exactly 1 person using a Stinger missle (trust me, I do it all the time). PLUS it still is limited by why the helicopter can see, IE one perk blocks it. For 12 kills you should get something with a little bit more power behind it.
4. Get rid of the Juggernauts - It sounds like a great idea, its really just an annoying one. Seriously, I don't want to play as a juggernaut and I don't want to fight them. This isn't co-op and to be honest just throwing armor and shitty weapons on a person doesn't make it a good killstreak. Plus its expensive for something that I've killed single-handedly. Lets just get rid of this all together and replace it with something cooler.
5. Make the AC-130 DIE - It drives me nuts that the AC-130 takes 2 people firing a rocket at approximately the same time. Even dumber, the reaper drone goes down in 2 rockets. Lets make the AC-130 die in 3 rockets and call it good instead of this 2 rockets at the same time bullshit.
6. Make the Sam Turret, Ballistic Vest, Recon Drone, and Remote Sentry have to be called in via a care package. It annoys me because the reason for the airdrop trap was to make people stop wanting to grab the care packages. Well now almost nothing comes down in a care package so it seems pointless to even make a trap.
7. A support class care package - I think this one is obvious, 7 points and you get a care package that caters to support type streaks.
8. PERKS IN CAREPACKAGES!!!! - How was this missed? Seriously, a care package should carry more than just killstreaks. It should also have a chance to bring in something that passively helps the player and it could go on both the Assault and Support Carepackage. PLUS this would be interesting since the perk would be random, so if people wanted it or not would be insteresting to see.
9. Random, but a carepackage in a carepackage - On the very rare chance (like 1/million) I would like to see a carepackage that ironically has a carepackage inside. I know, seems lame but it would be funny to say the least.
10. FIX THE RECON DRONE!!! - If its not bad enough that this little toy helicopter doesn't come down in a carepackage (which is weird, who stuffs that up their @$$ and thinks its a good idea for later), its annoying that it is overpowered. Here's what it does: 1. Tags people on the map until they die 2. Has flares to stop missles from killing it when they lock on (really?) 3. Acts as a small jammer for anyone in the radius who doesn't have assassin pro 4. Flashes everyone it tags annoyingly 5. Gets visibility of where everyone who doesn't have assassin is. Here's what it should do: 1. Tag people for 30-45 seconds. 2. Gets Visibility of where everyone who doesn't have assassin is. Yea, that's right, less than half of what it does I think it should have. Why? Because it takes 10 non-consecutive kills to get this and it is a death bringer. Lets fix it please. (notice the length of this paragraph compared to others, probably means its a big big big big big problem guys)

And finaly, lets end on how I hate the guns:

1. The Type 95 and the MK14 should only, and I mean ONLY, get 1 fire kills if its a head shot. Otherwise they both need to be weakened for when their bullets hit elsewhere. Seriously overpowered and annoying.
2. The P90 needs either a smaller clip or a weakened damage. It seriously has too much power/fire rate for an SMG to be balanced. OH, or slow the user down a bit.
3. The PP90M1 needs rebalancing, its too powerful for how fast it fires and the range it gets. Loosen it up.
4. Snipers shouldn't be so easy to quick scope in. I'm not saying get rid of quickscope, I'm saying get rid of super-quickscope. Or at least down the power on them so they can't just run around and shoot feet for kills.
5. Shotguns - Really, you have a damage modifier? It doesn't need it, go take that out and rework the whole shotgun line for how messed up they are.
6. The akimbo machine pistols need to lose accuracy. Yea, you can't zoom in, but you guys left the accuracy of the non-ADS so closed that everyone figured out the FMG9 is amazing. Open it up some and down their range, they weren't meant to work like machine guns!
7. Please Make the Javelin less annoying - I hate how often I have to hear that sound, so it clearly is still annoying. How about instead its quieter but the rocket makes a wooshing noise (like a predator missle)
8. Get rid of some of the ammo for the XM25. Its just got to damn much. Period. End of story.

So those are my current complaints, but here's my other stuff that I feel is missing from the game:

• Deathstreaks that grow stronger with each death. For instance Martyrdom gets a faster timer or something or juiced lasts for longer or final stand builds up to the you get revived point. It annoys me that kill streaks get stronger the more you kill but deathstreaks stay the same.
• A Support Strike Package Care Package (enough packages in that sentence?). It just seems obvious to have it.
• A difference between the holographic sight and the red dot sight. I hate that its just one is more bulky than the other. Why not make it the red dot is less bulky but shows a laser in dark places while the holographic doesn't show the laser for the bulk. Sounds like a solution.
• The hybrid site should require 2 attachements since it gives 2 things, BUT it should be whatever 2 sights you want. For instance, instead of just Holo and ACOG it could be Red Dot and Thermal. Maybe Red Dot and ACOG, or for the random person, Red Dot and Holo. It would have been cooler than the required set and more customizable.

I know that this is a long list, but I had to post it since this is what I think about all the time. Yeah, its a lot of stuff, but I feel like they missed a lot of stuff. If you have comments on my list, please leave them, I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on what could have been done better.

As if There wasn't Enough Distractions Already

Thanksgiving has come and gone, Black Friday has passed, and yet there is still hope as we approach the final of the triplet holidays. The final one is known as Cyber Monday and, in the only way that can make sense, happens on this upcoming Monday. So what does this mean for everyone else out there? It means that I am once again uber-distracted by all of the awesome deals coming in.

Thanks to Facebook, I’ve become an addict to the online game Millionaire City. It’s like all the other games out there on these social networking sites. You start off small with the hopes of becoming something big and you have to watching it at least once a day to really get the full benefit of the game. Thank you Farmville for starting all of this...

BUT WAIT, there is way more than just that. As if I don’t already have enough video games to distract me, the large internet based game-center (for lack of a better term) called Steam has decided to also run a huge sale. Basically each day they will be giving out games at a huge discount (50% or more, sometimes close to 99% off) and so I’ve been watching it and collecting a large library of video games now. This has also taken both time and money from me. So, I’m having the greatest of trouble trying to get back into the whole “write stuff” thing. I have ideas, a lot of them, and they are all over the place. I’m ready to write them down too... but then I see the games and go back to that.

As far as my Holiday goes, this was definitely one of the more interesting ones. I’m not going to say it was good or bad, but it was somewhere in between for sure. Anyway, how was your holiday?

Hmm.... it seems to get worse...

Well, this month is far from what I had planned it to be. I guess it could be worse, I could just be starting today. Oh wait, two thousand words in is close enough to starting today that I might as well as feel as if I've really made no improvements at all. Darn.

At any rate, I'm trying to pick up the pieces of the story and get back on the horse, then build a puzzle because I have the pieces. I don't recommend this, it is hard to make a puzzle while on a horse's back. If I've done my calculations right, I need to write approximately 3,500 words every damn day for the rest of the month starting tomorrow if I don't write anymore tonight. That's no good. That's no good at all...

Procrastination, something I'm known for and something I tend to do when I find myself stuck. Well, I've decided to procrastinate on my procrastination (wait, is that possible) and so I've started writing all over again. On the good side, I have about a million ideas to write about for this chapter and the next one and the one after that. Actually, some of those ideas are funny and I can't wait to get to them... to bad I still need to finish off this idea for what Chapter 8 is really about. Curse you chapter 8, with your character changing things and so romantic writing. Yea, I personally think this is about the greatest writing ever and I haven't written that much. I wonder if that means it'll really draw attention from my friends.

Anyway, I've started a new goal system where I can't play video games until I write 5,000 words that day. Does this mean I won't procrastinate? Hell no. What it does mean is that I will actually start writing some God damn words each day just for the chance of playing video games. And I'm going super strict on this rule so to my friends who play Starcraft 2 with with (and yes, I did just mention it again, hello South Koreans) sorry.

Also, just so I feel like the South Koreans get some meat with what I'm saying, I feel Starcraft 2 has been a disappointing game so far. The story was lacking and the only movie I liked in the game (which was real CGI) was the one that shows part of the plot from the last game. Sad day. On the other hand, I love playing the multiplayer even though it has nothing new to offer me. Seriously, I wish they would have spent more time evolving the multiplayer instead of just giving it a face lift and a required basic AI update. Oh well.

Now for the impressive part, look at all the work I've so far done just today...

Words for the Month: 5,541 / 40,000
Total Words: 85,600

The Great Disappearance

Oh my god, I just completely let this blog slip for a few days. If anyone wants to know why, I would start by blaming Laurel. Anyway, whenever I last left this blog I had this big plan to just write a whole bunch and get all caught up and make everyone happy. That never happened. Instead, I went off and apartment shopped with my friend (of which we found absolutely no apartments that were under $5 per month so I could afford it. Screw you world...) and then while I was up in Boulder I decided to go see a few of my friends (like Laurel). We saw a movie and ate dinner and hung out and it definitely was [underline]NOT[/underline] a date. Seriously, we had another friend with us the whole time who just made the whole situation weirder. And yes, I know that the underline did not work there, but I felt it was important to make that note very much apparent.

Then I went and stayed at a different town in a different house all by my awesome self. It was wonderfully quiet and I probably could have written thousands of words there. Except there were a few problems. For one, I had a very large television in front of me and it was very distracting with all the 1080p high definition glory. Oh yes, I very much played video games on it and was very happy because of all the things I could see. Also, there was internet, so I played my very new video game which is for my computer.

All and all, I was distracted for the last two days or so and was completely unable to write anything. I was so distracted that for a while there my pleasure gland inside my brain said "no, don't do work, that's lame! Instead, play video games and watch awesome television and make cupcakes" (no cupcakes were ever made). It was wonderful and relaxing. It also put me VERY VERY far behind schedule. So new plan, get the F%@$caught up to date and complete this on time before I have to make weird rules and exceptions that no one will like except me. And for once I don't want to do that! SO I'm not done writing tonight (especially since its like four AM almost and tomorrow is free bagel friday. Oh I love you bagels) and I am going to try and kick out AT LEAST another 2,000 words. And by the way, that's after you see the massive amount of words I magically was able to perform tonight. Something happened, I don't know what, and it triggered a lot of writing. For instance, this ridiculously long update where I tell you absolutely nothing of interest. Hmm... maybe I'll do that now.

More plot developments, more hints and hints of hints, more stuff happens, and *gasp* someone does die... sorta... Also, I magically finished chapter 3 (unedited) and am now moving onto chapter 4 (holy cr@p my hands are failing me as I try to type all of this). Wish me good luck, though I already have some awesome and amazing stuff planned. Seriously, was going to bed last night (which was two nights ago now) when I suddenly came up with a BRILLIANT idea for what to do. Wrote it down that's how good the idea was, fans will be amazed for generations.

Also, look at how awesome the number of words I stopped at is...

Words for the Month: 34,443 / 40,000
Total Words: 34,443
Total Pages: 47