One Chapter Ends, Another Begins

And so, on Saturday, the wonderious glory of Blizzcon ended. It all seemed like a wonderful, dark, bright colored, neon tinted and mythical dream. In a stupid way, I keep finding myself saying "Did that really happen?" Yes. Yes it did. Blizzcon did happen; and from Friday the 10th to Saturday 11th, Blizzcon didn't just raid Anahiem, it conquered it.


For those of you who don't know, Blizzcon is a celebration of love for Blizzard's games. While World of Warcraft is most certainly it's poster child of success, the older children came back with their shiny new jobs to show off at this years dinner table. Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 certainly held the show's attention, and made this Blizzcon the biggest one ever. With over 12,000 attendants, you can be certain that Anahiem's nerd-rate quadrupled over the past 5 days. Of course, I say that absolutely lovingly.

"So what?" You ask. "So what do I care about stupid scantily clad elfs running amok a convention center?"

Well, you probably don't, but this is my blog and if you clicked it. Deal with it.

So what was all announced at Blizzcon? Well, Starcraft 2 will be a trilogy for one. I guess that's a big deal to all the Starcraft 2 fans, though I am not one of you. I'm not keen on the RTS games. Diablo 3's big announcement was the release of the new Wizard class. It seems most weren't too impressed by Wizard, but I found it pretty cool. Though I must say Barbarian takes the cake of awesome. Especially since I can play a girl Barbarian, well that makes it all the more appealing to me. She-rah for the win!

So it brings me to the final point; Wrath of the Lich King. The Wrath of the Lich King we got to experience was a pre-made level 80 Wrath character. While I played a Hunter with a Devilsaur, I found Death Knight to be so fluid and amazing. I really felt like I was someone important, wailing my angry vengeance upon the frozen wastelands. This was the World of Warcraft we've been waiting for. The return to a dark gothic world of Azeroth, where the world is in danger thanks to Arthas, the Lich King.

Of course that wasn't the only "Star of the Show". Other big news, the public appearance of Ghostcrawler, Everyone's Favorite Blue! Yes, Greg Street is the amazing little crab that most beta testers have come to know and love. Ghostcrawler released what was probably some of the best news to WoW players. The new "Water-proof Mounts" and the "Dual-Spec" System. Both of which I'll elaborate on later. Ghostcrawler is perhaps the best person Blizzard could've chose to represent them at this convention. Even when he got a "boo" from the audience over an upcoming change, he got them laughing again. Great guy, great choice Blizz!

So, what about me? Well, between all the loud noises and excruiating long lines, I found myself at home nestled amongst the loud noises, bright computers, and brillant lights. Even now, as I wait for Blizzard to update WoW tomorrow so I can ride a polar bear, I'm still going over Blizzcon in my head. Mrgl, my talking plush Murloc (who will soon grow to site mascot no doubt!) is still my prize from Blizzcon, along with many others. To the Alliance I met from Phoenix and Canada, it was great talking to you, and may we meet again sometime! To the Horde from New York and Minnesota, you guys almost made me wish I was Horde. From the beginning of Blizzcon and screaming bloody murder when I felt the creep for the first time in my "Zerg Creep Goo" to weilding Frostmourne and sitting on the Frozen Throne; Blizzcon will be memories I definitely keep with me.

Although, I now find myself not wanting to shoot the Horde! *wail* What if they're one of the cool people I met at the con? *sigh* Oh well. ;)

Healthy Starts Here

We’ve all seen those commercials haven’t we? Eat healthy or you’ll gain weight! Get outside and play otherwise it’s offense to a good day! Don’t eat McDonald’s, it’s all about Subway. Vitamin Water is the way to go! This 10 day challenge is easy, as long as you stick to the skim milk…

It seems that all the time now, we hear about how people are taking a stand for better health in the US. That’s all well and good, but it seems that we’re starting to alienate people pretty badly. What if you’re healthy in your skin? What if you don’t like Subway? What if you just like the taste of a damn chicken sandwich or a big juicy steak?

When did the people who were comfortable in their own skin suddenly become the “odd one out”? This is complete madness, in all senses of the word. Everytime I turn on the TV, I feel somewhat guilty I’m drinking and enjoying this Coca-Cola. If I eat at my college and enjoy something like chicken strips or a personal pizza, I get more looks and stares from the people eating salads and Vitamin water than if I grew a second head spontaneously.

Healthy shouldn’t be about being THIN. There’s a difference between being thin and being healthy, and I think the media and a lot of people have blurred those lines. Just because you’re thin, doesn’t make you healthy. Anorexia is a major problem amongst teens, and they aren’t healthy. Just because you’re heavier then someone else in your class doesn’t make you unhealthy, sometimes you literally are just built bigger then someone else.

We spend a lot of time talking about how the media puts so much pressure on kids on to be successful, be pretty, and how the two HAVE to go hand in hand with each other. They don’t. All right kids? You hear me? THEY. DON’T.

So why am I going on about this? Well, after dinner with my family last night, I found my neice making jokes about “not being able to get rid of the weight”. Ok class, she’s almost 8 years old. She’s stick thin already. Sure, she’s a kid, she could just be joking…but, that begs the question of “Where did she pick that up from?” It’s certainly not something from the rest of our family, we’re not stick thin models, but we’re always comfortable with ourselves.

So I coupled this idea with my own feelings when I watch TV. What if she’s picking it up from the TV? What if all those damn commercials of “healthy kids start here” and all that jazz are making kids feel insecure? I’m sure that if a TV can make a 21 yr old feel insecure, I’m almost positive it can do it to an 8 year old.

This is when all that “healthy coverage” needs to stop. You commercial coverages need to CUT. IT. OUT. Seriously. What good is a healthy body, if you’re not mentally healthy with yourself or your image? Is it really good for your kids to worry about the calorie count of their dinner? They're kids! Do you know what I worried about when I was 8? If the yellow Power Ranger was better than the pink Ranger. It’s time to let kids be kids.

“But I want my kids to be healthy!” you say? Here’s an easy solution. Instead of bugging your school about taking sodas and candy out of school, tell your school to re-instate recess! Recess has all but been obliterated in schools all over the country. Now they half of what they used to be years ago. Hmm… we ate fast food all these years without kids gaining weight, but suddenly now we are? Surely it has NOTHING to do with the loss of one of the biggest outlets of child activity in school… /sarcasm

Here’s something for all you Vitamin buffs who think you’re great for the various foods you eat. Just to show you that you’re not better than the guy enjoying a pizza. That you don’t have to give people a nasty look just because they don’t like salads.

Vitamin Water is owned by Glaceau. Glaceau is owned by none other than the Coca-Cola company. While vitamins sounds good for you, did you know the average US man or woman already consumes MORE than what is recommended for their daily vitamins? In fact, the only Vitamin we don’t consume a lot of, is Vitamin E. Also, Vitamin E is considered “fat-soluble”. In other words if you drink Vitamin E alone, it will either be barely absorbed, if at all. Vitamin E is most absorbed when eating a meal. In fact, these vitamins aren’t the only thing in vitamin water you don’t need, it comes with sugar too. Sugar that has even been suggested as being addictive.

Hm… sounds like my Coca-Cola actually; Filled with stuff I don’t need. In fact, Vitamin water is often considered a “soft drink” by many scientists.

Well at least Coca-Cola tastes good.

Oh and as for the salads. Iceberg lettuce, croutons, cheese and dressing all ruin the healthiness of a salad significantly. So if you just eat it dry (oh yum~) you’ll be fine. Hmm…dry salad, no croutons, ranch, or cheese? Might as well eat the clippings out of my lawnmower bag; sounds just as yummy. (then again, I personally do not find any salad satisfying)

Subway can even be just as bad for you as Taco Bell if you don’t eat in moderation. You don’t think Jared just lost the weight by EATING Subway do you? No! He rigorously exercised too.

Ok, did I offend a bunch of healthy eaters? Probably. So, here’s the deal. Everything in moderation is what’s good for you. All you people who believe you have to force someone to be skinny to be healthy, go away. Being comfortable and happy with yourself is the REAL healthiness.

WoW vs. WAR: My Opinion

/sigh

Ok, so I've been in the Open Beta for Warhammer Online (*dodges bullets from the hardcore WoW fans* Wait! Wait! Here me out! With Wrath coming out, well Soon, and with 3.0.2 on the horizon of the PTRs, I'm kind of bored waiting on WoW. I desperately want into the Wrath Beta, but my opt in fortune seems very crappy. So, I tried WAR to pass some time.

WAR's fun. It is. The PvP actually is fun. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy whooping butt in AV as much as the next guy, but lets face it, PvP can be downright maddening in WoW. PvP is fairly balanced at the moment in WAR, but give it 2 years and I bet it'll be way different.

Sure, some of the classes are unique. And by some I mean White Lion. White Lion actually feels unique. It's almost like playing a melee-dps focused Hunter, and you have no ranged weapons. That's about the gist of a White Lion. Though, I find they're tricky. There's alot of manuevering you'll have to do to use this class to it's fullest extent.

My number one favorite thing about WAR, hands down, is Public Quests. Public Quests are the most fun and addictive past time I've ever experienced in an online game. You don't even have group up for them. See a random dude doing the quest? You can join him! Simple. As. That.

Now, to get onto my feelings on this game. Hold onto your hardhats. Now please remember, this is just my opinion. If you don't agree, fine. I'm not going to bash anyone, so please, don't bash me.

WAR feels like a game I've been playing for the past 4 years. While many things are different (Tome of Knowledge, Public Quests) are different than World of Warcraft, WAR feels alot like WoW's distant cousin. The action bars are near identical. The different "masteries" feel alot like the "talent trees". Sorceress feels like a slow but powerful Mage. Witch Elf feels like a slower less hectic Rogue.

That being said, I'm tired of hearing people say "it's nothing like WoW!" Ok, it isn't WoW, but it's certainly not "Nothing like WoW". It's alot like WoW. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Not always. To me, it isn't. I still like Sorceress and White Lion, even if the UI looks almost identical to WoW's. That doesn't bother me.

What does bother me, is this game is NOT ready for release. This game has bugs, glitches, and what-have-you's everywhere. White Lions' War Lions don't path too well. Pets will randomly disappear for no reason along with the action bar. Mobs will sometimes run into a tree and disappear. Upgrades are constantly being poured in the past two days. I'm glad the game has a fast response team for what needs to be done, but this game just isn't ready to be out next Thursday. It needs to be in Beta some more. Open beta allowed for alot of testing to be done and accomplished, and I think WAR needs that some more.

But that's just my opinion.

Moving In

Hello!

Yes, welcome! This is a brand new blog I have started. It is mainly for my own benefit (of fun really) more-so then actually being some life-defining moment for someone else. That's what my real life is for, not what I'm online for.

So here's some information about myself, and what I hope to talk about for this blog. This blog is going to serve as my muse's hideout. I will talk about various (and I do mean various!) things I enjoy and experience. So don't be surprised if one day I talk about a video game, next a random site, and another a life experience. It's my blog, I can do whatever I want. Technically anyways.

Things I will write about:

My Hunters, Rikaku & the Alts, from World of Warcraft.
My future characters from WoW
Video Games
My Life in General
My Opinions in General

Why Aspect of the Addicted?
Aspect of the Addicted is a play on the name of a group of spells Hunters from World of Warcraft use, such as "Aspect of the Hawk" "Aspect of the Viper" & "Aspect of the Monkey". Many Hunters who have blogs also use this "Aspect" title, and while I wanted to do the same, I could not come up with their filling views of the Hunter task in it's entirety. I also wanted to write more about things important to me, thus I chose "Addicted" as my Aspect. I'm very easy to get hooked on the shiny new game, console, or web-game. Hell, even the blog was a quick addiction.

So while this is mainly written for my enjoyment, I hope you enjoy it too.
Sincerely,
Hiiro