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.

Don't Buy Battlefield 3

BATTLEFIELD 3 - THE REVIEW

So I know I do a lot of complaining about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and I never play the competition. Well, a friend of mine bought me the game (so we could play more games together) and I've come to one conclusion with all the time I've been playing it (which is approximately 10-30 hours now over a week of screaming at my screen). DO NOT BUY BATTLEFIELD 3!!!!!


Seriously, as far as video games go this is the worst one I've played in a while. I've been so frustrated with this game, that I honestly thing the better name for it would be Boring 'n Frustrated 3. So, if I haven't gotten you interested with what I've said, here's my official review:

Single Player (and Co-Op)
I don't play DICE single players. Why? Because the last one I played wasn't just bad, it was like knives to the groin. Even my friend who likes playing Single Player put down the last DICE single player I owned and said he wanted to gouge his eyes out. Get the point, DICE can't write stories and they are even worse at single player level design. So I didn't play it. Also, I'm assuming Co-Op is the same, so I won't be playing that either.

Multiplayer

Okay, so here we go with something real. As always, I have a list of things that will go on for ages so get ready. They're actually ordered this time in the way that I met each problem.

1. This game is NOT friendly! I know that my number on complaint with Modern Warfare 3 is that the game is too easy to pick-up that there literally is no depth. Well this game goes the other direction and they literally make it so hard to pick up that it has no depth because you are either loving playing it and good or hating it and bad. Literally, I picked this game up and I couldn't believe how IMPOSSIBLE it was made to learn. This part has multiple problems, so let me break it down.

• There is NO training. You hop online, you gonna die. You play offline, you gonna be bored. So that leaves you with fumbling with the buttons and trying to figure out what to do. Now, I know that normally takes about 10-30 minutes in a normal game, but I gotta tell you that after playing this game for as long as I have I'm still confused. I don't understand how bullets work, I don't understand where my bullets go or if they are hitting, I can't tell you what the hell a ticket means, and I certainly can't tell you how many shots are required to blow a hole in the wall. So without any training, you probably have to play for 100 hours just to understand these, and these are BASIC things you NEED TO KNOW. Stupid, right?
• All Bullets Curve/Travel. They don't tell you that in the manual, but all bullets curve down in this game at some rate that the game designers really don't tell you. It must have taken me a whole 5 minutes to figure out why my sniper rifle bullets weren't hitting the guys, and another 15 to even begin to understand how to aim. I still don't get it. But beyond that, all bullets curve, which means you aim above people's heads to get the shots you want. BUT WAIT, that's not all. All bullets also have to travel in the game, which means you sometimes have to point, shoot, and prey that it makes it to their face on time. This not only makes long-range shots difficult, but hurts all aspects of the game because its impossible to tell where to shoot. Also, I'd like to add that a lot of people have noted that the bullets don't fly slow, they fly REALLY slow. That means its even harder to tell.

The next few points are also NOT friendly! points, but I think they deserve a number of their own.

2. The Starting Guns are TERRIBLE! Okay, I know you are probably saying well thank god you get more soon. Except, if you are new to this game and the first guns you get are damn awful, then getting the next guns takes FOREVER. I just recently got the level 2 guns, they are AMAZING better. The starting guns do no damage, have small clips, are not friendly, bounce everywhere, and are just plain awful. It's so bad, but to make matters worse you don't get scopes forever with them, so its like noob hell for a good chunk of time.

3. There are NO Menus. I know there's this start-button menu, but that's in-game and that's bullshit. No. I'm talking about a menu that lets me change stuff and manage my guns while I'm not in the middle of a bloody encounter. Well, it pisses me off, especially since you sit in a stats menu for about a minute. Why not make better use of that minute and let me actually do something. Stats should be for when I want to see them, not always.

Beyond that, the menu they give you for weapons is TERRIBLE. It took me forever to figure out how to switch out stuff, how to get new equipment, etc. And beyond that, its like the worst menu system I've dealt with in a while. If I was EA, I would fire the guy that still hasn't designed menus for this game.

4. Too much teamwork. I know that they say this game focuses on teamwork, but it's just WAY WAY WAY too much. Seriously, without a decent squad of 3 others I always feel like I might as well be alone. A good squad means everything in this game, from getting health, ammo, rockets, and savings. Then you get into a game where you have a bad squad and you realize just how much you have to rely on other people. Now, like I said I understand that this is a squad based game and you should have to do teamwork, but if Modern Warfare 3 is 10% teammates 90% self for personal (IE not team) success, then Battlefield 3 is 90% teammates 10% self for personal success. No joke, no team means you are screwed. And now, take it for a new person who doesn't know anyone or how to play... that really makes it frustrating to the point where you won't want to.

5. Overpowered Vehicles. I know this game is about the vehicles, I know its about getting your squad into one and really just enjoying flying that copter or driving that tank. But this game takes it to the next level and it actually ruins the realism. Seriously, there are maps were you don't even run around on your feet, you just get in a tank or a heli or a plane and never get out.

Yet that's not the part I have a problem with the vehicles (though for every 5 soldiers there should be 1 tank and for every 15 soldiers there should be 1 helicopter, not for ever half soldier there should be three tanks.). My problem with the vehicles is they JUST WON'T DIE. You put a rocket into them, they keep going. You put another one in, it still isn't done. No, it takes 3 rockets to blow the damn things up. And with flying ones, they all have flares, so they never go down. Its the dumbest thing I've seen where they again go back to the whole "you need a team in this game" idea but they don't correct for overpowered vehicles. BUT WAIT, it gets worse. If the enemy team steals your vehicles, you get fucked. And not just that, but they can take them right out of your base. That leads me to number 6.

6. The Enemy can Steal Stuff out of your Base. THIS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED. The guns that are in your base that are supposed to be Anti-Air (the only things allowed to fly in your base) are WEAK, the choppers are WAY more powerful. It's depressing. DICE, go back and make the AA guns super powerful so I can stop them from stealing stuff out of my base and get the battle back on the ground. Seriously, don't know what you were thinking.

Also, if you can have stuff stolen out of your base, then just remember that you can be killed in your base. It happens all the time. Fail DICE, fail.

7. Terrible Spawns. I know I talk about spawns a lot, especially in Modern Warfare 3 where the spawn system is a revenge based on. Well, I will give Infinity Ward this, they made a spawn system. There is literally no spawn system in this game. It just plops you down and there is a 40% chance you are already dead. Yea, bad. But wait, what about the whole you get to pick your spawn thing. Well, sorta... You can pick the region but that doesn't guarantee that you won't instantly die from some guy sneaking around or you'll spawn facing the enemy who has his gun down. So in other words, there are no safe spawns. I hate it. I really really hate this.

8. Not Enough Players (or Maps are Too Big). Some of these maps are just right for 24 players (when you have 24 players), but some are just so extra-large that even with all 24 players it feels empty. And so then you spend too much time running into battle, running over here, running there, and then you get there and there's nothing there to be gotten. So then you continue running some more. Worst part, then you get shot by a camper, start over, and repeat. I wish developers would make maps that fit what's happening and not try to squeeze too many players into a small space or explode players into too large a fat map. 

9. 4 Player Squads. Seriously? This game design has been this way for over half-a-decade now and its getting old. In today's age, I want at least 6 people per squad or even better, up to 9 people per squad. This part feels so dated that I honestly hate it SOOO much. Seriously, get your friends together and now you can't even be on the same squad. Fail. So it would be nice to see larger squads especially since our internet and our games can handle them now.

10. All the problems from Previous Battlefields are still here! If you've played ANY of the battlefield games in all the variety it comes in, then you know they've all had the same problems that never get fixed. The medic has infinite revives and med-packs, there's infinite ammo packs, the repair kit can infinite-repair, etc etc. Well COME ONE DICE and FIX IT. Seriously, for a game that's supposed to be the most realistic one of them all, it has all these little cliche things in it that are just bull and I don't know why DICE doesn't get in there and fix it. 

How had is it to say the tanks can only be repaired on the side the were damaged on (same with airplanes/helicopters) and ammo packs, med-packs, and repair kits can only be replenished at the main (moving) bases. Seriously, if they would fix this, I would be happier with the game by a thousand thanks', but they never do because they think a guy can pull a medical pack out his arse and keep healing, that those defibrillators will work indefinitely even though there's no electricity, that the repair gun adds material to a broken tank, etc. And I know I'm not even scratching the surface of the problems with the previous problems, those ones just bug me the most. I thought I'd make sure to really point it out.

Verdict: Don't Buy
I know, I'm not helping the economy, but people talk about re-skin sequels all the time and they love mentioning the Call of Duty series. Well, to be honest, this one feels EXACTLY like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 with some nice new shiny graphics (which were hard to differ from Modern Warfare 3 to be honest, minus the annoying effects like light glare [which is unrealistically overdone in the game] and rain [which is also overdone in the game]). Don't get it, it's a waste of money and it's a waste of precious braincells from when you bash your head into the wall from the frustration.


Every time I play I consider just making a video of me breaking it, and I really mean that. I think I might go back to SSX again...

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.

How to Make Black Ops 2 the Best CoD Multiplayer

So I've had a lot of time to think about the mistakes made in MW3, the things that should have been in the game and the things that shouldn't have made the cut. However, even though that game is out there is always another one being made for the future. So here's my journal on how Black Ops 2 could be made to improve on the last one and take hints from MW3 (Multiplayer Edition):

Section 1: Equipment
So the first thing I would change (though not completely) is how equipment is done in the game. First of all the lethal and tactical should be done like they are in MW3, where lethal can also contain things such as Claymores, Bouncing Bettys, etc while the tactical can take things like Motion Sensors and Jammers. This gives the player a good option between a grenade and a defence mechanism, which really challenges them to know how they are going to play.

However, I'm not saying the equipment section from BO1 should be taken off. Instead, it should be transformed into the following options:

1. Cannot Use (Currently equiping an underbarrel or a launcher as a secondary)
2. Extra Lethal Grenade
3. Extra Tactical Grenade (Minus Smoke/Nova Gas)
4. SitRep (Yes, SitRep is no longer a perk, but a replacement for the grenade. Also sounds better than Hacker, which is why I chose that name.)
5. Extra Specialty Equipment (IE anything from Claymores to Jammers)

 The extra grenade will balance out people with launchers whom, up until now, have not felt any repercussions for carrying in a very powerful weapon. Now they have to make a choice, do I want a launcher or do I want another piece of equipment/grenade/sitrep. This should help balance out the "Noob Tube" as well.

Section 2: Perks
Perks are probably the hardest thing to do, however I hope that Treyarch will continue to separate all 3 perks into distinct  background images (Like the shield or the Pentagon) which really helped distinguish them beyond just simple coloring. Here's my list of perks and why:

Blue Perks:

• Recon - Although maybe seemingly useless as a perk, the Recon perk was actually a great addition to the game. It balanced out the overpowered Assassin from MW3 and it actually could be equipped with other perks to make them more interesting (Such as Hardline). I think this should stay and with the same name (unchanged from MW3; same with pro). If I had to say anything about Recon Pro, it should also give increased range to "grenade sensing" and give "grenade sensing" to Hardcore players. This way its not completely worthless in Hardcore.
• Sleight of Hand - Probably my favorite perk in the series because I hate reload times. Also, needs to stay because it is 1/2 perks that has been in the series since the beginning. The pro also should remain untouched (switch weapons faster).
• Extreme Conditioning - Extreme conditioning should let the sprinter run for longer AND get over obstacles faster. As it stands right now, Extreme conditioning is extremely weak and needs a buff. For the pro, the perk should do no fall damage, making it even more valuable to the user. ALSO, Extreme Conditioning sounds much better than Marathon, which is why I took this name instead.
• Scavenger - Since MW2 this has been an invaluable perk. However, lets change it up a but. First off, the regular should give ammo for primary and secondary weapons and the Pro should give a chance of getting equipment restocked (like 1/20 chance). This way the pro actually does something but not overpowers the perk. Giving extra ammo at the start is agreeably the lamest thing that you could get for pro, which is why I asked for the switch.
• Ghost - Blind Eye sounds terrible in retrospect of Ghost. Ghost will make people undetectable by sentries and aircrafts, but with a catch - The aircrafts will still fire when you stand up in the open. I feel that Ghost underpowers killstreaks too much, which is why I think that if a person is standing they should still be shot at. Ghost pro should allow for faster lock-ons and increased bullet damage.

Red Perks

• Quickdraw - Probably one of the best/weirdest new adds in Quickdraw. I think this should stay the same as it is in MW3 since the bonus you get with it is perfectly powered and the pro is extremely useful without overpowering the perk.
• Flak Jacket - First off, Flak Jacket sounds cooler than Blast Shield. So that explains why I kept this name. Second off, the perk should decrease explosive damage (unless they are standing on the grenade, it should still kill then) AND give a 15% reduction to flash/stun. The pro gives a 55% reduction to flash/stun grenade recoveries (so greater reduction) and a 85% reduction to fire damage and you can't light on fire. I think that getting no fire damage will ruin killstreaks, but saying that it greatly reduces it and stops lighting on fire is fair.
• Hardline - The non-pro should reduce killstreaks by 1 except for far later one where it reduces by 2 (I think getting 1 kill reduction kinda kills it later) and the breaking point should be like 10 kills (so 10 kills becomes 8 while 8 kills becomes 7) which would balance out the end-streak hurt normally felt by equipping this perk. TO do so, there would need to be no 11 point killstreaks. The pro should allow for 2 assists to count as a kill again and deathstreaks require 1 less death. Changing care packages was too powerful and ruins the point of a care package.
• Cold Blooded - I felt that Assassin was a really stupid name for a perk. Why? Because then you can't use Ninja later (its confusing then) and Assassin didn't make sense for what it did. So instead, I give you Cold Blooded revived from MW2. Now unlike MW2, Cold Blooded will only make them undetectable by UAV and Thermal Scopes. The pro will stop Counter UAVs from working, REDUCED red crosshair and name when targeting (so it would be like 25% the range that they would normally appear). This is important, since the balance comes in a green perk.
• Overkill/Warlord (either name works) - This perk should give the user a secondary weapon and the pro should give that weapon up to 1 attachment. Its very much balanced already.

Green Perks

• Scout - I felt the name Marksman was stupid when Scout says it all and so much faster. As such, I renamed it back to Scout from BO1. Scout should originally allow for breath to be held longer and the pro should be that the enemies can be identified up to 4x the range. I switched the order because in all honesty it was made for snipers and thus should be the more interesting of the two. Also, the pro is a counter for Cold Blooded Pro, meaning that if one person wears Cold Blooded Pro and another person has Scout Pro, it should balance back to normal distances of red crosshairs and names. This downs the power of Cold Blooded Pro and makes getting this perk pro WAY more worth it.
• Stalker - By far the BEST addition to the CoD series, Stalker needs to return. Again, faster movement while ADS will be the original benefit of using this (SO useful!), but the pro actually will NOT be delayed explosions. The point of SitRep is undermined by delayed explosions, so instead I recommend that Stalker Pro be that it makes enemy footsteps louder (4x as loud). This actually makes sense with stalker too, since if you are hunting someone it would be better to hear them.
• Steady Aim - Same as BO1/MW3. Also, needs to stay the same name since it is 1/2 perks that have been around since the beginning.
• Ninja - Dead Silence from MW1 and MW3 was a terrible name, literally just god awful. Instead, it should be called Ninja which makes more sense. Ninja reduces the noise made by a person by x1/4 again (Which is already very useful/powerful) and Motion Sensors don't detect them. Ninja Pro then makes it that Jammers/Heartbeat Sensors (if that gets used) AND Decoy grenades don't work either. This balances out the problems that were found in BO1 and fixes what was wrong with it in MW3.

Section 3: Killstreaks
I actually think that MW3 had a great idea for killstreaks, but performed it wrong. First off, the transition from killstreak to pointstreak was a great idea, but there are some flaws to it. First off, taking down a pavelow is a lot harder than taking down a UAV, so why are they equal? Instead, I think pointstreaks should be redone to incorporate more important items with more points. UAV = 0.5 pts, Helicopter = 1 pt, Pave Low =2 pts (1 for flares and 1 for killing but only gives the points if it gets taken out and it gives them to the person who's rocket caused which). Now here are my recommendations for the actual things that can be earned (Notes only on things that are new/changed):

Assault - Package for kills/points obtained in a single life

• 3 pts - Spy Plane
• 4 pts - RC-XD: This was too powerful for 3 kills, so I moved it up by 1.
• 4 pts - Assault Care Package: Will give assault pointstreaks ONLY and has the chance to carry a perk/ammo as well
• 5 pts - Reaper Missile: I'd honestly prefer this over the valkyrie rockets... they were annoying that you had to call them in and then use them on the ground... Only 1 Missile though!
• 5 pts - Sentry Gun
• 6 pts - Napalm Strike: The strike itself should have a bombing value that will hurt/kill anything and then a fire value that hurts based on fire damage.
• 7 pts - Attack Helicopter
• 7 pts - Mortar Team
• 8 pts - Rolling Thunder
• 10 pts - Napalm Run: A team of 3 jets bombard 3 streaks of napalm across the map. This makes more fire and gives more use to some perks, but has an increased amount of points to balance it out.
• 10 pts - Armored Helicopter: Much like a Pave Low from MW2 and MW3
• 10 pts - Assault Drone: I likes this, it balanced out the Ghost perks ability in a strange way
• 11 pts - Attack Dogs
• 12 pts - Chopper Gunner

 Support - Package for points obtained over multiple lives (notice kills is taken off, I would prefer object based points instead of just points for everything Assault gets)

• 4 pts - Spy Plane
• 5 pts - Counter UAV
• 5 pts - Airdrop Trap: Like a care package but made to explode
• 6 pts - Support Care Packge: Will give support pointstreaks ONLY and has the chance to carry a perk/ammo as well
• 8 pts - SAM Turrent: This should come in a care-package!
• 8 pts - Advance Spy Plane: This one CAN be shot down, but shows ALL people (Cold Blooded people included) on the mini map as an arrow. This balances out the problems of the blackbird in BO and the Advance UAV in MW3. Takes 2 rockets to take down.
• 10 pts - Black Bird: This one CANNOT bet shot down, but shows only people without Cold Blooded on. Shows everyone as arrows who appears on the mini map
• 12 pts - Recon Drone: Same as MW3 but without the flash when it marks. Also, it only marks for 30 seconds and is easier to kill (NO FLARES WHEN LOCKED ON, IT GOES DOWN 1 HIT)
• 15 pts - Emergency Airdrop: Same as it was from MW2 but on this package to balance it out. No guns, its stupid to overpower it with that.

Specialist - I love the idea behind this, but it wasn't done right (sadly). Its close tho, so I gave my solution to how to fix it (which actually isn't too much done). Here's my personal fix to it:

• 3 pts - 1st Perk Added
• 5 pts - 2nd Perk Added
• 7 pts - 3rd perk Added
• 9 pts - 1 perk randomly added for every point earned at this point OR 10 pts - give all perks

Finally, at 25 pts (unaffected by hardline and strike package streaks) the MOAB should return (Still doesn't end the game and kills the enemy team 1 time along with all their equipment). 

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?

Day Two of the No Video Games Program

And so I failed to make 5,000 words in my wake of what was yesterday (I don't honestly count it to be the next day until I sleep, the only exception of which being that I need the number of words completed before everyone else considers it to be the next day at midnight) and I haven't played video games yet. This of course makes me sad, because I love video games.

SO I started the program again today, 5,000 words to start playing video games. I figured that it helped me get 4,700 or something words yesterday so it wasn't a complete failure and already today I've made headway towards the final goal. Also, I might have to work a little faster if my friend calls me and wants to play and five... Anyway, it seems to be working really well so I think I'll keep this program in action. Next month I might keep it but I will lower the amount required each day so that I don't finish in the first eight days and then wait to play all month long. I'm not saying 5,000 words isn't a bit too much, just that I've gone into crisis mode and need to fix the problem that video games has caused this month

On a different note, the evolution of chapter 8 goes well. I've had a lot of interesting things to write about and kept the pace fairly forward for someone who is basically alone in the world I am describing. That's about as much as I can say, really. Actually I'm really looking forward to what happens after this chapter, there are some funny thing I want to say and some interesting points to make before the next stop on the list.

Well, gonna take a small break and then hop back on it.

Words for the Month: 9,206 / 40,000
Total Words: 89,265

Quick Update (sorta)

Just a quick update, but I wrote a little bit more before I decided to turn in for the night. Also, I noticed I haven't done many posts this month. That made me feel bad, like I was disappointing a crowd that does not exist. So now I'm trying to make at least one a day to make up for the lack of posting I've done for the previous parts of the month.

On another strange note, this month sucks compared to the last two. Yes, I've gotten lazier and lazier as I try to force myself to continue writing. And yes, I am trying to complete this month so desperately because I know that if I do I win a huge prize and get to laugh a whole lot as my ex-girlfriend wonders how I mysteriously was able to get not 1 or 2, but 3 months of meeting a strange goal I've never tried to before. That's right, I'm trying to complete this month for the fun of amazing her and seeing her reaction. Sometimes life gives you lemons, and then you laugh cause you just saw a car explode. Sure, it might have been your fault the exhaust was clogged with lemons but who would know that.

Anyway, quick update, things got done, stuff happened, more commas where used, a person talked to me, interesting things, reviews, fans, worlds of worlds, and end quick update.

Words for the Month: 7,152 / 40,000
Total Words: 87,211

Also, note that for today I never made over 5,000 words and I never got to play my games... stupid me not working harder to get video games... Also again also, I've strangely already used lemon in my labels... how did that happen?

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

An Important Achievement

So I know that this should be where I post something about how wonderfully I've achieved 80,000 words in a single story right here, I mean it is the very last day of the month and that is where I should be. However, this blog post is to actually celebrate the achievement of making 100 pages of story.

Why do I find this to be so damn important? Because I write single-spaced and with one inch margins (where words normally keeps the margins at one and a quarter on each side, so I gain half an inch). I also don't go onto the next page unless I'm at the next chapter. Well, I've filled 100 pages with words that somehow come together to make a tale of about a man's journey. That's amazing.

Let me put this into perspective. A ten page paper written for school would have been double spaced and with a title page. Now, on a double-spaced page you can normally fit about 350-450 words with a 400 word average if you don't space the top margins too much. This means for a single-spaced page my average number of words per page is 700-900 words with an average of about 800 (though I found I'm about 820). That means I've written about 200 pages worth of paper space in comparison to any of my academic friends currently writing thesis papers. And that doesn't include a title page. Make sense why I see it as an achievement now?

To my friends that are reading the book, this means that I've actually given them a somewhat decent in length read. I mean, let me be fair when I say it sucks when you book ends at about page 20 and then the damn author doesn't continue. Also, it means if they were putting all of this together in a word document (which if they were smart they could just ask me to send them the full document, though that is turning out to be a much large file with each time I'd have to send it), they would have something that causes my computer to keep saying "OVERHEAT" and then explode. Thank God the save button works so damn well... and it auto saves like every minute. (Note to readers: actual computer has never overheated and then exploded... except when playing the video game Starcraft 2).

Just one last thing, it will be at least another 2 months of dedicated writing like I have been doing for these past 2 months just to get another 100 page achievement marker. If I was doing this by pages, I'd be done for the night because I would probably go every 50 pages. My friends should be thanking me I'm doing it by words and not by pages (and also, that makes me fell more inclined to make the paragraphs longer... where as if done by pages I would chop them up to make more pages faster).

Now back to working for my other achievement, which is just over 3,000 words away. For those that don't remember me posting this a few days ago, that is somewhere between 2 hours and 4 hours of work based on how many words per minute I can write. I'm going to write just a bit more for tonight (because yes, 1 in the morning is still just getting to sleep time for me) and then I'll finish it up in the morning.

Words for the Month: 36,834 / 40,000
Total Words: 76,877

Curses...

And so I really did plan to write a lot more before going to sleep, but now I'm at that stage of tired where I can't think straight. Great for writing God knows what and getting ideas, bad for writing good stuff. Oh well, at least I got more words onto the paper.

If you really wanted to know, video games distracted me yet again and then later the internet died. Both kept me up late. Stupid video games, but so much fun... I'm tired and plan to sleep now.

Words for the Month: 23,598 / 40,000
Total Words: 63,641

Well... this is getting bad...

I have got to pick up the pace on writing for this month if I don't want to write like crazy in the very last week. Hopefully now I can.

I finished chapter 4 with all of the required editing that was necessary for setting up chapter 5. I also ended chapter 4 on a bit of a cliff hanger, which means I probably should shoot to have chapter 5 done soon so my friend doesn't kill me. The fact that I take forever to write anything is probably driving her crazy, but when I leave something on a cliff hanger like that its asking for a death sentence. The only thing worse than leaving it on a cliff hanger in the middle of the book is leaving it on a cliff hanger while at the same time stopping all production completely. That would drive her insane.

I think one of the things that has been holding me back is I keep thinking the same thing I do when I'm in school. "Man, writing this isn't fun but video games are!" And then I go off and play games instead of doing work. What can I say, I'm addicted to video games (though they aren't technically addictive). That and my sleep schedule is once again screwed-up, so I don't exactly know when night is. Lets put this in retrospective, if you will. I write best about an hour or two before I go to bed. If I don't know when that is because I go to sleep at 7 AM or so, then how can I settle down to write something? The fact is I can't, and so I don't. So I need to figure out some sort of new schedule here quickly that will help with that problem too.

Anyway, gonna go back and write some more! Also, just thought I deleted this post which would have made me sad.

Words for the Month: 5,202 / 40,000
Total Words: 45,245

Woops, Lost another Night....

 I was up all night, but I spent it playing video games again. Damn me and my procrastination, that's the real reason that 40,000 words is such a challenge.

To my readers I am happy to say that chapter four is completed. Unfortunately, I also have to inform my readers that I'm not releasing it just yet. Why? Because as I got to the randomly and newly decided ending, I also decided that I needed to go back through the very last few pages and add in about a billion details that change the way the reader interprets everything. Why? Because in the long run I know that this is one of the more important scenes in the book and I don't want it to just be slashed over with words and not with the full RJ effect. Seriously, I may procrastinate a lot of the time, but I don't put things out that I'm afraid will be terrible for the sake of being terrible.

Anyway, if I'm lucky I'll have the chapter re-finished by the beginning of today. That begin said, I think I'm going to go back to writing. I made 2,000 words yesterday (yes, I added almost a thousand already while re-reading that damn ending and discovering that I really REALLY needed to reword certain parts). If all goes to plan, hurray!

Words for the Month: 2,941 / 40,000
Total Words: 42,984

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