tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125845422007-02-27T14:41:03.773-08:00the paladin brandBlogger1281tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-73740592171405821782007-02-26T10:20:00.000-08:002007-02-27T14:41:03.879-08:00

I've long been a player who scorns the goal of pure victory in games. I play to enjoy myself, to socialize, to distract myself... ...it seems I am a Scrub. And I have a long way to go. http://www.sirlin.net/Features/feature_PlayToWinPart1.htm http://www.sirlin.net/Features/feature_PlayToWinPart2.htm I think I concur with his conclusions. When I have played in this way (with other people

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-23897919720292150672007-02-20T15:34:00.000-08:002007-02-21T19:31:23.514-08:00

For quite a while now, I have been engaged in... uh... ...well, insanity, if you must name it. I mean, jeeze, fine, have your way, I've gone fucking bananas. I haven't wanted to discuss this... current... lunacy. Not publicly. Not even in a semi-anonymous blog. I'll let you be the judge as to whether or not my reluctance in describing my recent behavior was (is) justified. But first, you

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-4076604843538056762007-02-07T09:07:00.000-08:002007-02-07T09:20:03.420-08:00

(Those of you who haven't been here in a while might be amazed to learn that I blogged on Monday as well.) Wow. I must say, I just started out my day with a PIKCHOW!! and a ZAMMIE!!! I plowed all the way through this here article, which is attempting to"...illuminate the overlap survival horror games shared with psychoanalytic theorists."No, no, I'm serious, that's totally what it's about.

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-43256892964658982052007-02-05T09:28:00.000-08:002007-02-05T09:47:57.425-08:00

So, it's not over, not by a long shot. But, last night, as Mr. Sandman was hurling grains of beach detritus into my eyesockets in an attempt to bludgeon me to sleep (I had had too much coffee, you see), I realized that there are a couple of things I can begin to talk to you guys about. This is a great relief to me. I've missed you. Yeah, I know, shut up, I'm not gonna go on and on about it

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-52194721998562292352007-01-31T12:44:00.000-08:002007-01-31T12:58:31.464-08:00

And, here is a brief pause amid the storm. The responsible thing to do in times of turmoil like this would be to dutifully report the news. The journalistic ethic... the... it says that... report the... ... Meh. I had my hairstylist cut off 10" of hair yesterday. It was all deadwood, pretty much, and I am left with locks that still fall past my shoulders. My perspective on this is clear:

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-46832788216613415262007-01-21T16:53:00.000-08:002007-01-21T17:00:16.591-08:00

Two things: 1) Blogger has "upgraded" my account to Blogger Beta... and something went very, very wrong along the way, and now I've become reluctant to use Blogger at all. It suffices to say that when something goes wrong with a Google product, ask yourself this question: who would you call for support? The answer, as it turns out, is the usenet. Fuck. That. So, we may very well be seeing

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1165942788870384782006-12-12T08:58:00.000-08:002006-12-12T08:59:48.886-08:00

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?" -Robert Schulle

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1164996329745958342006-12-01T09:14:00.000-08:002006-12-01T16:24:26.396-08:00

See... ...we had family at the house over the entire Imperialism Day weekend, like Wed-Mon, so there was no World of Warcraft over the break. This alone is staggering to me: I mean, I was somehow willing to not be horrendously rude to our guests by ignoring them for four hours at a time. (I only ignored them for two hours at a time, when I would get distracted by my piles of Vampire cards.

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1164155040576152572006-11-21T15:18:00.000-08:002006-11-21T16:38:36.216-08:00

I got this in my inbox the other day. Kaiser wrote: [el darklordo], man, you are still my hero... ...but I must humbly request just ONE non-Wow-related blog entry. Only one. And then you can WoW report us to death for the next dozen months. I know, I know, this is your vehicle of expression and I have no right to drive it, but there was a time when you would blog about Not-WoW quite

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1163440922685856062006-11-13T08:59:00.000-08:002006-11-13T10:19:22.466-08:00

I had quite a weekend. As I write this, I am shaking visibly with barely-constrained enthusiasm. I have had to hit the backspace key far more often than I normally do. I have laid out in some detail the nature of my (and by "my" I mean my imaginary avatar, Allora's) excursions into the Molten Core of Azeroth. I have further laid out to you, here and there, the slow, arduous ascent I have been

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1162839024603075652006-11-06T10:34:00.000-08:002006-11-06T10:50:24.716-08:00

Yeah, so if you read my last post, you know about my recent estimates on my collection of VTES cards. I believe I said something like "5000+". This weekend I finally completed my organizing spree, managing to stuff all my cards into three large boxes. Curious, then, as to what the actual total was, I measured how far 100 cards was, and then counted up 1 row... and then multiplied... I

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1162490779177780432006-11-02T09:28:00.000-08:002006-11-02T11:37:26.533-08:00

Over the year(s) that I've been blogging here I have come to believe that some large part of the entertainment value (if I may be so bold as to use that phrase for what I have done 'round these here parts) that folks derive from reading about my exploits has to do with something I think of as a blended mix of fascination and horror at the level of obsessive behavior I struggle with on a daily

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1161879048729702512006-10-27T08:59:00.000-07:002006-10-27T10:40:34.036-07:00

Oh, I like this one. I like this one a lot. Seems Wired Magazine (a publication which I will willingly excoriate: I hate them, and have, until today, found almost nothing of value betwix, on, or near their pages) has done a delightful thing. They ask a bunch of authors to follow Hemingway's example, and write a six-word story. The results are published here. Many of the web-only ones suck,

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1161817932615448942006-10-25T15:38:00.000-07:002006-10-25T16:12:12.773-07:00

Okay, now I (for one) had never heard of one Keith Olbermann, but I can tell you that since I received a link thing in my email inbox, clicked it, and gave it the full ten minute treatement, that situation has changed. I mean no hyperbole when I say that this man is a hero. Not in a "I saved lives on Iwo Jima" kind of way, but there is, as you may know, more than one kind of hero. Here, try

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1161619795432852242006-10-23T08:44:00.000-07:002006-10-23T09:09:55.520-07:00

Here, for your perusal, rejection, and eventual acceptance, are two interesting post on my current favorite topic. (And by "favorite" I mean that which consumes 1 in 3 posts on this goddamn text experiment I call my semi-wheneverthefuckIfeellikeit webzine. You guessed it.) First, a tale of woe from a World of Warcraft addict, who describes the depths of despair that drove him to (gasp) quit.

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1161359533857897422006-10-20T08:27:00.000-07:002006-10-20T10:15:46.300-07:00

I often come to you with descriptions of the kind of rampant interactivity-centered madness that my life revolves around. I have been forthcoming, I think, about how utterly consumed I can become with tiny avatars of humanity... pawns, perhaps (or, maybe ambassadors is a better descriptor) that I maneuver around a wide variety of imaginary, conflict-laden grounds. It's my thing, I think. It may

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1160501104994097662006-10-10T10:14:00.000-07:002006-10-10T10:29:41.076-07:00

Way back in the dark, desperate time in my life that I worked at Electronic Arts (which, if I ever return to their employ, I will no doubt look back on as a bright and hopeful beginning of an illustrious carreer), there was this excercise equipment manufacturer who was testing something called the Kilowatt at the Electronic Arts gym. The basic idea here was to combine video games (a compulsive,

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1160069515510933412006-10-05T09:23:00.000-07:002006-10-05T10:54:16.860-07:00

Hrmm. Let's start this by identifying that I'm fundamentally dissastified with where this blogging thing has gone of late. In that I haven't posted in over two weeks. That, I think, is the root of the dissatisfaction, radical as that may seem. See, I miss all the fun interaction that happens between my readership (if I may use such a brazenly vast word for the modest collection of what are

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1158088571175969812006-09-12T12:14:00.000-07:002006-09-12T12:16:11.206-07:00

Don't download this song.

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1157478291015561502006-09-05T09:42:00.000-07:002006-09-05T11:02:59.383-07:00

The following paragraphs will be written in the confessional style. You should assume that my tone is meek, conciliatory, and slightly embarassed. It happened again, you see. There I was, at the head of a marvelous three day weekend, ready to rock and rule the world. Ready to change. Three day weekends have this wonderful sense of possibility about them; during the Friday evening

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1156781698439704402006-08-28T08:51:00.000-07:002006-08-28T09:14:58.550-07:00

It's been a long, semi-deliberate pause in the darklord's blog. Yes it has. There is much afoot. The changes that are being wrought across the landscape of my goddamn mind are... effluvious (if I may use a completely inappropriate and partially made-up word). In fact, it seems almost silly to attempt to make a record of them, so fleeting are they in substance. I change completely one day,

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1155920199360239652006-08-18T08:00:00.000-07:002006-08-18T09:56:39.416-07:00

Some days, I like to offer you all a little treat before we start. A netsnack, if you will. Today is one of those days. Something like 90% of my readers (if... it is possible to divide that group by 10, which I'm not certain about) will have already seen this, as it came my way via that selfsame group, but what the heck. The rest of you deserve it just as much as they do. More, even. Remember:

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1154711518182786842006-08-04T09:42:00.000-07:002006-08-04T12:28:06.896-07:00

I shake my head in wonder as I write this. The changes that have been underway in the depths of what passes for my mind these days are... ye gods, dare I use the word "profound?" ... Nah, too pretentious. And, considering that it's me saying that, I believe that really says something. "Remarkable" will have to do. Either way, I cannot help but comment on... my... uh... Well, quite frankly,

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1154458723864050352006-08-01T10:48:00.000-07:002006-08-01T12:22:37.680-07:00

Let me just get this out of the way, before we get too far into this discussion. I KILLED RAGNAROS ON SATURDAY!! (Well, actually, I and 39 of my online friends killed Ragnaros. But let's not split hairs.) I have been coming to the Molten Core for... Uh. If the records on this topic are complete and accurate, it appears that I have been doing this one dungeon for over six months. ...

the paladin brandtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584542.post-1153411810506242442006-07-20T08:48:00.000-07:002006-07-20T10:49:22.140-07:00

During my recent hiatus (indeed, almost simultaneous with it's inception), one of the things that happened to the world was this new Superman movie. Of course, long-standing readers of this skree (unfettered as it is) will remember my prior declaration that Superman is stupid. So, as you can imagine, I approached this movie thing with some hesitation. Brian Singer has improved my life

the paladin brand