LotRO Mod Spotlight No1 - LotRO Hud

Turbine has opened up LUA scripting for its popular game Lord of the Rings Online which is set to go F2P on the 10th of September.  The community has already steeped up and started creating some great mods for the game.  I will be spotlighting several mods over the next few weeks and we begin with;

LotRO Hud - http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=341291

A F2P Gamebreaker!

Many know I have left World of Warcraft for the time being while I wait for the next expansion.  In the meantime I have been playing Runes of Magic.  I am enjoying it more than I thought I would until I the cash shop and real money exchange issue have presented itself as highly disappointing.

On Sunday, June 27th, I purchased two Ultimate Game Cards at $20 each from GameStop.  I redeemed them that afternoon jumping through many hoops and steps only to be taken to another companies web page. I landed on PlaySpan.com.  Apparently the cards must be redeemed with a company that at first thoughts felt like I had walked into the bad side of town where all the windows and shop fronts where run by rejects for the old geocities days.  I could not help but to check the lower right of my win 7 install to make sure my security software was active.  But I digress. 

When I exchanged my two cards for the companies Up Points I then began my purchase of Runes of Magic diamonds.  Oddly enough you can not purchase the exact amount of diamonds for the money you invested for the cards.  This overage is understandable as a way the company makes a profit, but still seedy and less than honest.  With my $40 turned into points I was able to place an order for 1000 diamonds. 

Once the transaction was in process it took me to an frame that linked to the Frogster account management site, the company that runs Runes of Magic in the states.  I inputted my order and was offered with the option to apply 21 diamonds to my account.  21!  Not 1000!  21!  I thought how odd that was, but once I got into game sure enough, I had only been credited 21 diamonds when I paid for 1000. 

Then the HUGE frustration set in.  I am used to working with a company that has an actual phone number to contact, IE Blizzard.  When I logged into PlaySpan to try and resolve this issue I was only give the option to use an online ticket system, for which only automatic responsive have been issued. . And the best news it. . wait 24 to 72 hours. 

24 to 72 hours for something that should work?  72 hours!!!!   I decided to lay out $40 so i could take benefit of the cash shop in game.  To be honest the PayPal method works without flaw, but they have locked diamonds purchased with PayPal or credit card so you can not trade or gift items.  The whole reason for the two cards where so I could gift permanent mounts to my wife and daughters toons. . . Now I sit at the 1st with no mounts, no diamonds, and out $40!

But I rant. . . and sorry for such a rant.

I do believe F2P games have a lot to offer and can be very successful.  I am looking forward to LotRO’s F2P offerings and how the community will grow. . and knowing Turbine, issues like this should not be evident, I hope.

For me, I feel burned, and disappointed.  It is making it hard for me to want to log in, and that affects my guild mates.  I just hope soon something gets resolved.

Thanks to you all if you made it this far in this rant.  If anything can be taken from this, if you use cards to purchase items use only company cards and not these third party cash cards which in the end make you feel as if you should wash your hands after handling them.

Swype Keyboard is HAWT

Let’s first start by saying that yes, my title for this post stinks.  Cut me some slack, its 5:30 in the morning.  Most who follow me on Twitter or Facebook know that I LOVE my android phone.  The Motorola Droid came along at just the perfect time for me.  My contract was up, I wanted more from my phone and the moon lined up with a certain oak tree in someone's backyard.  It was meant to be.

I love everything about my phone.  It lets me listen to music, either on the phone like an iPod, read email, use my calendar, navigate turn by turn to someplace, take photos, videos, checks the balance of my Starbucks card, rotates my tires, does the dishes . . . ok ok. . so the last two are wishful thinking.  The point is someone has made an app for the android that can assist you in many day to day things.

The only drawback for me, and minor at that, has been the keyboard.  I have never done mass text entry into the phone because for me it still consisted of a labored exercise akin to pushing a small piece of uncooked rice around with the narrow end of a chopstick. It is a HUGE improvement over the old numerical keypad predictive text thing that drove me nuts for years, but still missing something.  Until now!

I was listening to a tech podcast this last week, for the life of me I can’t remember which one, and they mentioned the Swype Keyboard for Android.  Now for some reason that name stuck in my head.  I heard it somewhere.  Did some digging and found out it was in beta.  I signed up and fell in love!

The Swype keyboard replaces your onscreen keyboard.  First, for the Moto Droid, I love that it adds a more tactile feel to typing.  The phone clicks and vibrates with each press and it feels right.  I love Tanya’s keyboard on her Eris, now mine feels more like it. . But there is more!  Much more.

You can type very fast simply by swipeing your finger across the keys of the word you wish to spell.  For example, “apple”  just press the “a” key and hold it while you brush your finger across to the “p” then “l” then the “e”.  And just like that with some predictive work it prints “apple”.  AMAZING!

I sat up till 12:30 last night playing with my phone, almost like the first day I got it.  I was downloading apps and looking at all the other cool things I could do with it simply because I could type much, much faster on it.

Swype is in open beta right now. Don’t let that scare you off.  Sign up and give it a try.  I think you will love it.



Swype Text Inputs for Screens

Droid post.

Yes still alive. Posting from church during worship. Tech is so cool when it helps us get closer to the one who matters most.

Look for a new post soon on my thoughts on LotRO going free2play as well as a review of Runes of Magic.

Do Not Forget! - Kirk Franklin and Friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15x4nllJjpg

Let us not forget and keep praying for those who need help.

Do Not Forget! - Kirk Franklin and Friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15x4nllJjpg

GearScore + Anon = Net Bullies or Skill > GS

Back in the good old days of Burning Crusade I began to get discouraged when I hit 70 on Paravel, my resto druid.  Why? Because I would look to join a group doing a heroic or raid and they would demand that you had a magically determined bonus healing stat.  Often time this stat was pulled out of the “wow forums floating cloud of trolls”. No real science or crunching of numbers determined what made an effective player. And more times then not it would be a number that could only be reached by already being one of the few who have cleared the highest content at the time.

I mean really, does it make sense to demand gear from Sunwell for a Kara run?  Does it? O.o

Fast forward to Wrath.  We no longer rate a player on spell power, healing power or AP but instead on something even MORE mystical, Gear Score.  It started with sites back at the close of BC that would guess at an items gear score and create a data base to try and rate your characters place on a progression bar.  Site like http://be.imba.hu/ were tools where you could look up your level 70 toon, see missing enchants, gems, get suggestions for your class and build.  All and all a very helpful tool if you used it to work on your progression.  However things changed

The problem started when competing sites raised up on the net using different formulas for coming up with their base score.  Remember, the scores at this time where a mystery, and value that enhancements, set bonuses, mixing and matching for stats, were all guess work. With this arose no standard of a “gear score”.  One group would ask for a GS of 1000 when another would ask for 750.  The issue being that depending on what site they used the 750 could be a better geared player than the site that provided the 1000.  Talk about a headache.

Enter a mod author who, more than likely had good intentions, that released an in game mod that would make a GS based on a math of his own.  His statement was that it was not the end all to be all, but DOWNLOAD AND USE MY MOD!  Drama can be so fun to watch in the mod community at times, especially when someone wrote a mod to break this mod and the rumors and flame wars flared.

But, I digress, so what else is new.  Issue is back.  If you don't have a GS of XXXX you cant come and you get kicked out.  This problem and mod leaves out some important information, like player skill.  I have said this before, but I would take an under geared skilled player over a noob or jerk in gear any day on a run.  The argument that you must have a high GS to clear the highest content is negated by projects like clearing ICC 10 in all blues!

If you know how to play your class and work with others you can and will be successful.  If however you expect to be carried through a run to get better gear but have not a clue how to play then you are more than likely the one who stands in the fire, misdirects onto a clothie, or taunts the boss off the tank at enrage.  It does not matter if you have the highest gear in the game at that point, you still fail at the game and cause issues within your group.

I know you are probably wondering where the bulling part comes into this argument, and well you should.  If you have a slightly lower GS than the “floating cloud of trolls” have determined for that hour, and you end up in a random LFG group, you could be exposed to behavior you would never see in a face to face social environment.  Just stop it people, treat others with respect please.  How much more enjoyable our gaming life would be if we could just learn to get along and not be jerkwads.

GearScore is a tool, and measuring stick, not the end all.  What we really need is a mod that will take gear score provided by Blizzard, enchants, gems, set bonus and all into account, along with rating and notes into account so its not about a bottom line number but more.  Oh wait, their is *smile*

Enter Elitist Group (used to be Sexy Group, from the same author who did Sexy Map and Sexy Cooldown)



Again, EG is just a tool.  I will write a review and tutorial soon covering its usage and how to maximize the information gained from it without being a jerk.

Just remember that we play World of Warcraft for fun.  So does the person on the other side of that avatar, treat them as you would face to face.

Digital Campus. No. no we are not crazy, stop looking at us like that!

One of the most interesting things I get to see from time to time is what I call the tilt head and look oddly into the distance look when I tell people about Redeemed Point.  Some assume right off the bat that because we are streaming "church" online, and because, at the moment, don't use pews and a "standard" seating arrangement, that we are some sort of strange radical group or trying to do things in a completely new way. If you get nothing else from this post please at least get this:

THIS IS NOT NEW!

Ok, sorry for shouting.  When the church began some 2000+ years ago it is safe to say that the Internet did not exist.  Nor phones, television, cell phones, twitter, facebook, or even. . get ready . . mass produced books!  The church was successful not because of what or how they did things, but because of WHO they did things for.

Jesus gave us a commission;

Mark 16:15 And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Like the early church we need to go to where the people are.  You and I know people who would never consider stepping foot inside a "church", yet make contact with them by some online means and you may just have an opportunity to tell them about your faith.

Above all things Tanya's and my desire it to reach the lost for the Lord.  Tanya does it in her own way, she shares insights of her walk on her own blog (hehe, took me long enough to convince her to start it) while I use podcasting (in the past), blogs, games IE (World of Warcraft) and other geeky and techie things.  Redeemed Point is born out of this.

Imagine if you will a small group of dedicated men and women who seek to do what Christ has called them to do in a local body, not only local but not forgeting Mark 16.  We are going out, and if by chance we can reach just one person, one at all, it is worth it!

So are we crazy?  Yea, don't you want to be crazy about Jesus as well? :)

(NOTE: Wordpress had eaten my first attempt at this article.  If it seems disjointed please forgive me and know more will come.)