Fire Collective

Do you like Halo?
Do you like politics?

Ok, how much do you like Halo? This link talks about how you'll earn a Halo avatar suit for the 360 if you watch the Presidential Debates. As a Canadian, I personally am really interested in the debates and hope to see full coverage of Obama kicking Romney's butt! Lol
Check this link for more info; if you're gonna watch something, might as well get something in return!

My favorite enchantment in my strongest deck.

Countless Green/White deck ideas came to mind when I saw that.

Halo Reach Musings

I was cautiously pessimistic when I heard Halo: Reach was coming out this week. Looking like it went back to it's original more futuristic roots than its closer to modern predecesor ODST. I'm not a Halo fanboy.. more like a Halo hater (sorry). I don't like futuristic shooters, thats all. Just like how I didn't like Unreal Tournament, I don't like the Halo series.

I decided it would be best to let my brother buy it, hog the tv and watch him play and listen to the endless stream of complaints and cussing.

I'll give this new iteration of Halo, this:
- better graphics; it looks amazing; there is backgrounds and lots of shiny
- new weapons
- new abilities (running and jetpacks)
- new maps and old 'favorites'

- single player customization of the protagonist (more immersive)
- more customization online

- the guns are nice and quiet, so its ok that he plays next to my room (his cussing is louder)
- i've never seen more people on Xbox Live as this week

I like atleast from what i've seen, that there is no kill streak rewards a la MW2 which unbalance the game. There have been ways players find (naturally) to be cheap:
- I saw in a map (I believe) called Blood Gulch... that normally had lots of vehicles to traverse the long straight map quickly.. had none. Everyone was sniping.. some sniping while using a jetpack and able to score headshots so easily.
There was alot of cussing and dying on my brother's end on that map.

I didn't like also how people have shields. Sure, that means if you're good, you can keep going and going, instead of dying by a stray shot by a noob. But that means to take down that shield, you have to unload a whole clip into someone. Does that mean the emphasis of Halo is to not be a 1man team, but focus fire people? Either way, you either seem to die too easily sometimes, or take forever to kill.

By the way, running should not be a selectable skill but a normal skill. "Oh I don't know how to run"... left foot, right foot..left foot, right foot....

Halo fans.. i don't need to say anything b/c you have it already.
People on the fence... watch someone else play it, or play it at a friends place... its basically the same halo that has been out since the original
Women... play it b/c any girl gamer is hot ;) ESPECIALLY if its halo
Haters... stay away..

September Wishlist

I'm looking on various sites, and i've only seen two games i'm interested in getting this coming month:

Halo Reach - Sept 14th 2010
I've only watched cinematics and very few actual gameplay trailers; I really only want to get this game b/c (1)there seems to be so much hype, (2) that my best friend and alot of people will be playing it, (3) maybe it was interesting like Halo ODST... but thats basically it. I haven't read much on it, but I think its probably pretty similar compared to other Halo games.

Civilization 5 - September 21st 2010
REALLY looking forward to this one. I can't remember that last turn-based strategy game that I was excited for besides Heroes of Might and Magic. I've played Civ4 when my computer would crash whenever I'd make a monument, the original nearly 10+ years ago on my father's friend's son's pc and I dabbled with Civilization: Alpha Centauri and even have the book. I wish I had one to practice before the new one comes out.

Am I missing anything?
What are you looking forward to this month?

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One thing I loved about DDO was the ability to grab onto ledges.

In most mmo games, developers probably remove this ability as it would break the game b/c it would allow players to get to inaccessible areas. In DDO it makes a big difference; for example, you thought it would be a good idea to explore the water in the docks area of the main city and found there was nothing there. You swim towards shore only to find only one access to the docks but its a good 2 minutes away. In a normal mmo, it would be a chore to have to swim all the way to that access. Instead in DDO, a character with some jump skill, is able to jump and climb up and onto the dock. Time saved. No longer are your arms only useful for holding weapons and shields.

Its a good thing.