A very different ‘Golden Goal’

by Jenn on Monday, December 12, 2011

If you ask “Have you seen the golden goal thing?” to a Canadian, we’re going to reply “Of course!” while thinking of Sidney Crosby finishing off an excellent play by Jarome Iginla in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Duh. Now there’s this. Don’t forget to turn on the English subtitles by pressing CC! Though, frankly, it stands on its own without.

Warning: I was literally crying with laughter throughout. And, in a really stupid way, I totally want to try to play a hockey game like this. I don’t even know of anyone I’d trust anyone with the remotes… which would probably make for a far more entertaining ‘game’/shockfest. On the ice we wouldn’t crumple the same way since we can glide, but faceoffs would be fun. Now all I need to do is find some willing teammates ;)

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old habits are trying to kill my knees

by Jenn on Saturday, December 10, 2011

I’m not here like this for lack of options. There’s a spare table one room over. A clean-ish desk two rooms over. And a kitchen table upstairs. And some scattered tv trays across two floors so I could have chosen to plunk myself down on any old couch in relative comfort. But nooooooooo.

No, apparently I want to sit on the floor in my old room – - did I mention earlier that I spent this past week catching up with old friends and staying with my parents? Of course not. That would have been smart of me! – - with my laptop threatening to set fire to the box of my winter clothes I’ve set it on. My knees are not fond of this situation. And I only think it’s my box of winter clothes.

AkjdhsjdsnfjjjSPIDER!ffffffffff. I mean, EVERYTHING’S FINE. NOTHING TO SEE HERE. But at least it is my winter stuff. And my ministick collection. Excellent. Minus the spider. Could have done without that at 6:36 am on a Saturday morning. Amazingly, I didn’t wake anyone OR flip my laptop. My poor ready-to-combust laptop: Now with extra-special dying ‘A’ key! That will be a problem for another day. Or much sooner if I keep on trying to use words with ‘A’ in them, requiring more force than should be applied to an expensive contraption.

There actually was actually a point I was aiming for before this degenerated into a mad morning ramble.

It probably had to do with how crazy and fun next week will be. I’ll get back home either late tonight or tomorrow and then I get to, without regret, whip myself into a creative frenzy. There’s a little bit of everything in my .plan file! Writing, getting some of my sketches into photoshop, building some stuff with my own two hands, some light coding, and, honestly, whatever else strikes my fancy!! I absolutely love this time of year and, for the last few years, I’ve failed to take the proper time to enjoy the spirit and joy December brings me. My January 2012 is looking pretty sweet, too, but I’ll talk about that after Christmas lest I jinx anything :)

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TF2 has already increased my vocabulary

by Jenn on Thursday, December 1, 2011

It’s a toss up between cursing Spies or Pyros the most ;)I want them all dead.

I am getting better at being useful to a team, mostly as a Soldier or a Heavy, but I’m still not the person you want to waste an uber on! Not yet.

It’s hard for me to write about TF2 because I’m still so new at it. I’ve been on both sides of miraculous comebacks and defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Everything is fascinating. This is why I never play 1v1 shooters, I prefer a team. A bunch of mediocre players can get together and crush a team of individuals. In game I’m extremely focused on objectives. If I need to sacrifice myself to stop the cart from rolling backwards in a Payload map, I’m down with that. If everyone else feels like ignoring the sentry tearing us a new one, I’ll switch to Soldier or Sniper to wipe it out. Good times. It doesn’t always end up with me on top of the point tallies, but I like to feel it makes a difference!

It would probably help my game a lot if I could make up my mind about what I want to focus on. I’ve been watching a few streams and, obviously, there’s no one way to play. Some people are only ever good at one class. Others switch classes every other death. Since I just horse around on random servers, everything is crazy. People rarely know anyone else. No one wants to listen to the one guy with a mic — I’m not that person. Even though it’s not Xbox Live, I don’t plug in a headset unless I know the people I am playing with — and instead often switch teams so they can set him on fire. I find that pretty darn funny, but that’s because I’m not exactly emotionally invested in the success of the team. Shh.

Ok, I say I’m not invested, but I do get rankled the 80th time I’ve been dominating as a Heavy near the Control Point and I get backstabbed by a Spy. Spycheck, people! I’m a noob and even I know how it’s supposed to be done ;)

I will work up the courage to try Medic and Engineer soonish. Teams expect something of you in those roles and I don’t want to let them down!

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Fortressing It Up, In A Team Environment

by Jenn on Tuesday, November 29, 2011

I’ve owned Team Fortress 2 since, uh, a while. I was even giving them away like candy on twitter back when it was on sale for a toonie or whatever. TF2 went Free To Play back in June, so now everyone can jump in and run around ignoring objectives at no cost! Huzzah. Note: I’m not bitter ^_^

Obligatory: One cannot have any discussion of Team Fortress without someone linking this. Check!

Owning Team Fortress is not the same as actually playing it and, unsurprisingly, it is even farther away from being decent at it. The last time I was going to pick it up and finally spend some time learning the ropes, everyone was all over hats and crafting (that’s right, crafting) and I decided to back away slowly instead. My loss, alas. It is a lot of fun, even though I stink. This is no false modesty, btw. I completed the training modes and did an offline bot Control Point match (normal AI) and only barely won. Very barely. We won while I was waiting to respawn. Anyway, I surprised myself a ton when I jumped into a live match right after and finished second in the points. I should have saved the match because I have no idea how that happened. The next four rounds were progressively worse. Then I discovered the Payload mode. I love it. I’m usually top third in points because I will actually move/stop the cart. I see myself spending a lot of time here, but I should continue exploring (read: sucking at) other modes and classes. So far I’ve been a Soldier and, while playing D, a Heavy. This could be me one day! Maybe. I really don't know. I might be a better Heavy, really

I’m not much of a front line warrior in team-based first person shooters. Borderlands stands out as a title that rewards my Crazy-Go-Nuts playstyle. Playing like that in TF2 will just end up with me counting down my respawn timer for most of the match.

No one wants to be a Pro Bullet/Rocket/Knife/Fire/Fist Catcher.

My brother is one of the best Enemy Territory Engineers in history, and I have a ton of respect for the class across all games. I thought that I’d end up as one in TF2, but I need to learn a lot more maps first. And maybe see someone play Engineer that doesn’t just idle at the spawn point. That’d help. If nothing else, TF2 is still fun even when you suck, though I do feel horrible for the teams I end up on. One day, I’ll my groove and really make a positive difference out there :)

One of the biggest adjustments I’ve had to make involves what used to be the most basic of things…. mouse aiming! I decided not to plug in a controller so I could re-learn how to play an FPS properly. I’m left-handed, and I mouse left, except when playing shooters on PC. Weird, I know. I had to rearrange my desk a bit to make swapping things around easier. I first learned to mouseshoot right-handed, and it just feels weird using my right-hand on the kb to move if I try to do it my normal way.

So, uh, you guys have any tips or links I should read? I was reading some good pieces on ubercharged last night, but then they died so I’m looking for other guides to help aid my progress. I should have asked if any of you are playing, and as what and why, but I figure you’d volunteer whatever you feel like typing! It’s all good.

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