Magic the Gathering: Tactics – First Impressions (Steam)
I've been PM'd over Steam more than a few times while playing MtG: Tactics concerning the quality of the game. Well, it's not as much the quality that people ask about, but more on that in a moment. The first thing to mention, which I find important, is that you're playing with other Station users, not just other people on Steam. There is an established community and you shouldn't have a problem joining in on games.
I think I should mention that a friend of mine is a QA Tester II over at SOE and he's worked hard on this game. So, I thought I'd give it a shot and see if it's worth playing a F2P game with an in-game store. This is where it might get complicated for casual gamers or people new to this model. There are different options when it comes to the in-game store, as solo campaign chapters and boosters cost real money.
The game has two separate types of currency: Station Cash and Gold. Station Cash is shortened to "SC" and it is the primary currency in the game as everything in the in-game store uses Station Cash. After finishing the very short tutorial, you'll probably start on the solo campaign. This gives you experience points and additional cards to throw in your decks. You'll notice immediately after beating the fifth mission that each additional chapter in the game costs 250SC. Let's do the math.
If you were to put $20 in your Steam funds, you could buy 2,000SC for $20 in-game. At the moment, there are six chapters to buy. That's already 1,500SC for them all. While you probably wouldn't buy all of them at once, this is important to note before getting serious about the game. The solo campaign already felt pretty quick to me, so the obvious alternative is to get serious about competitive play.
There are drafts, casual games, tournaments, and an auction house. There is also trading and voice chat is supported. Though, this is where you start getting into the other type of currency: Gold. You can earn gold by playing the game or buying gold and spending it on the auction house to buy spells. If you're thinking about playing competitively, this is where it can get pricey. It is Magic, after all.
I only played the tutorial and through the first chapter, and I've already accumulated 20G. I can turn around and look in the auction house for more powerful spells to buy. Gold is only used for Auctions and Tournaments, such as entering Drafts. There are also Dailies that can have Gold rewards. When it comes to competitive play, only a couple of modes allow you to use talents from leveling up.
Altogether, there are five competitive modes: Casual Open, Open, Draft, Bracket ,and Constructed. Casual Open is where you can use your talents from leveling up. The other Open is a limited time format where the top players get rewards. Bracket has a 30 gold entry and the winners are rewarded. Each round, a player is eliminated and a player is rewarded, and moves on to the next bracket. Bracket mode allows talents.
Draft is entirely different from the previous modes. You need an unopened pack and pick a card to throw it to the next person. When everyone is done, you'll have constructed your deck. The top players are handsomely rewarded in Draft. Doing a draft is probably a great way to get passed some really good cards. Though, winning a draft should be your goal. The reward is a few booster packs depending on where you placed.
There is probably a lot I'm leaving out, but I've just started playing the game. I know Tactics had a rocky start, but I've often read it's been getting a lot better over the last few months. The prices of cards went down a lot and it's apparently a lot less buggy. I'm going to give it a serious shot because I'm an absolute sucker for TCG, and I'm hoping for competitive Magic online play that isn't MtG:O. Though, unlike MtG:O, there is no way to redeem your cards on Tactics.
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Edit (2-3 hours of played time later): Well, I've hit a wall. I'm between two missions and both are almost impossible at my current state. There is no way I can buy additional cards, don't want to sink money into booster randoms, and I don't have the gold right now to pull cards from auctions. I could probably put some cards up on the Auction House, but I don't understand the economy and what anything goes for as it's buyout only. The difficulty scale increased so substantially going from one mission to the next, that I can't even make a dent with my current decks.
I'll try to put some cards up on AH, but even the daily I have access to is rather difficult with my newbie decks. Even then, the reward is only 2 gold. Though, being able to use Distress and steal a card from another Planeswalker to add to your own collection sounds pretty sweet. At least, that's what I think the description of the talent implies.
Don’t Panic
I've been seeing several posts on my Facebook wall linking to this Yahoo article with people seemingly afraid of the supposed impending doom. Are they simply misreading astrologist with astronomer? In yet another pseudo-science Yahoo article, they are quoting the words of an astrologist, not an astronomer.
Not just any astrologist either, but Richard Nolle, CPA. Certified Professional Astrologer, even. I won't dare link to his website, unless you've developed technology to not only unsee, but unremember.
Will March 19 'Supermoon' Trigger Natural Disasters?
The moon is always full and the moon goes through these distances twice a month, every month. There is no known correlation between the position of the moon manipulating tectonic plates.
According to WolframAlpha, the current distance of the Earth to the moon is 244,476 miles, with the average distance being 239,200 miles. On March 19th, the distance will only be 221,825 miles.
Don't panic.
For further information, Steven Owens has more science related things to say over at his blog, Dark Sky Diary.
Part III: Down with KOMPLEX!
Part II: I’m Batman
I'm the goddamn Batman.
Echoes of My Youth: Part I
I've stumbled on a cache of pictures either I never knew existed or thought destroyed. After a call from my sister and a couple of hours sifting through hundreds of pictures, I've found some real gems of my past.
Some are absolutely hilarious, while others are absolutely embarrassing. Click on the pictures to embiggen them. This is going to be fun. I think.
I died a little inside.
Adding Gawker Media to the Hosts File
This is why I've had Gawker Media sites in my hosts file. I can't even justify visiting their websites with AdBlock. Here's how to never be able to visit them again.
# Gawker Media
127.0.0.1 gizmodo.com
127.0.0.1 www.gizmodo.com
127.0.0.1 m.gizmodo.com
127.0.0.1 gawker.com
127.0.0.1 www.gawker.com
127.0.0.1 m.gawker.com
# End Gawker Media
This is just a small example, feel free to add more. Simply type 127.0.0.1 before the domain name. Also, anything after the pound sign tells the system that it's a comment. You can write a note for yourself here or separate by groups.
Current Gawker Media Sites – Wiki
Curious about the hosts file, but have little experience and really want it to protect from more diseases? Then I recommend the MVPS hosts file. You can copy and paste this text into your hosts file while you're adding Gawker Media sites.
Here is the MVPS Hosts File. If you want to know more, here is their actual website.
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Opening the Hosts File
Windows
You can get to the hosts file in two different ways.
1. Explore to C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts or open up a run box by the Start Menu - Run or pressing Windows key + R.
2. In the run box, paste %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts into the run box.
You may have to right click the hosts file and select "Open With..." in the context menu. Choose your text editor, e.g. Notepad. Under Vista and 7, you may have to start this by right clicking the hosts file and clicking Run as Administrator in the context menu.
Alternatively, you can use a program under Windows to assist you in editing the hosts file.
Linux
The easiest way I find editing my hosts file in Linux is by using this command in a terminal window.
# sudo gedit /etc/hosts
You'll have to type in the root password when prompted. The "sudo" command will give you temporary root privileges. Instead of gedit, you can substitute "gedit" for another text editor. The hosts file will pop up, ready to edit. If it opens up as read-only, close the file and check the command used. Opening the hosts file without permission will cause it to be read-only.
OS X
To open the terminal in OS X, go into Finder - Applications - Utilities - and then select Terminal. If you rarely need the Terminal, disregard this tip, but if frequently used, right click it on the dock and select to keep it docked. Here's the command.
# sudo nano /private/etc/hosts
Again, I have GNU nano text editor listed as an example. You can use a text editor of your choice instead.
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Flushing Your Cache
All that is left is to flush the DNS cache. You can perform this task by going into Terminal in Linux or OS X or Command Prompt in Windows and typing in these commands.
Windows
ipconfig /flushdns
Linux
service nscd restart
Note: If a message comes up about nscd not found, you'll have to install it. "apt-get install nscd" under Ubuntu, "yum install nscd" under Fedora.
OS X
dscacheutil -flushcache
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That should take care of everything. After flushing your DNS cache, try visiting one of the websites you've listed in the hosts file. If you receive an unable to connect error message, everything should be in order. If not, check the commands used and try flushing that cache again. I only recommend rebooting as a last resort.
Regards.
Operation BIOS
Before the Beginning
There is no going forward without an A/C adapter. You'll also need a USB flash drive formatted in FAT32. I used a 4GB stick, so size should not be an issue. Note: I use examples from my experiences for filenames. While the names will differ, follow the renaming scheme. It'll make sense, I promise. Unless you don't have an HP.
Obligatory Anecdotal Beginning
I was really excited about this one. A customer came in with a laptop that was a paperweight after trying to flash the BIOS with the WinFlash utility. Windows crashed during the update and the BIOS was gone. I've never recovered from this situation before and usually thought cutting your loses and buying a new laptop was the better solution.
The laptop he brought in was very new with Windows 7 installed, so I didn't want to give that prognosis. After much research (Goo-Fu), I found very helpful information that would allow me to solve the problem.
The First Steps
The first steps you'll have to perform on another computer that has an internet connection. Navigate to the HP website, go to Software & Driver Downloads. Type in the product number for the machine. Then select the right operating system. After this, go down to where is says BIOS and expand the selection.
Download the latest update. If you were planning on flashing to the new update, better grab the latest release. It will update according to the update. After downloading the file, do not run the executable file. What you're going to do is extract the container to get the precious goodies that are stored inside.
E X T R A C T I O N
If you have 7-Zip, you can do this by right-clicking the "sp45138.exe" file, go to "Extract to 'sp45183.exe\'". This will create a new folder with the filename as the directory. Navigate to that folder and you'll see several files. You should see filenames with as "3603F21.fd". There may be two, I recommend using the highest numbered one. I put both 3602F21.fd and 3603F21.fd on the flash drive, though. Just in case.
The Renaming Scheme
This next step involves renaming that file and copying it to a flash drive. Once you've copied the file to a flash drive formatted in FAT32 (this is just an example, it probably won't be the same for you, but follow the renaming scheme), rename the file from "3603F21.fd" to "3603.BIN". Essentially, you're just leaving the first four characters in the filename and changing the .FD extension to .BIN.
Hard Part Over
To begin, make sure the laptop is turned off. Remove the laptop battery and unplug the A/C adapter. Make sure you have the A/C adapter. You cannot perform this recovery, or even trigger it, without plugging in the proper A/C adapter.
C-C-C-Combo Boot
After a moment, insert the battery back into the laptop and plug in the A/C adapter. Insert the USB flash drive in any USB port. Once the USB flash drive is in place, hold the Windows Key and the "B" key. The WinKey is the key typically on both left and right bottom sides of the keyboard with the Windows logo. Hold these two keys together before powering on the laptop. While holding the keys, power on the laptop.
Incessant Beeping
Give it a few seconds. Those beeps? Normal. It'll seem never ending and frightening because it's one beep every second for several seconds. Those that experienced POST errors will remember those beeps as bad. The flash drive will also light up a lot as it is being searched. It'll beep a whole lot more. Keep holding those keys.
Note: I've read that most people experience when the file is being applied, the beeping stops or becomes once every few seconds. It went once every three seconds for me, but at no point did it stop. It went on for about one minute and then the laptop shutdown by itself. I was in awe as this method was completely new to me.
The Beginning of the End of the End
I removed the USB flash drive and booted the laptop up again. I was presented with a POST message asking if I would like to load the CMOS defaults or go into the BIOS to configure everything. I chose the defaults for now and after a few seconds, Windows began to boot as normal. After Windows 7 was done loading, I rebooted a couple of times, went into the BIOS to adjust time/date, and make sure everything was working as expected.
The BIOS version reported the same version I used to recover, as expected.
Then that's it. The laptop was back up and running in under five minutes without any nasty side effects and the user was very happy. After this experience, I won't disregard BIOS updates knowing that recovery is possibly from a failed flash.
As for the source of this fix, I wound up with a PDF file that I initially ignored that has several steps noted on how to begin. I cannot find where this attachment came from, but I'll keep looking.
Solution to Windows 7 Deleting Desktop Shortcuts
Recently the company I work for decided to start upgrading computers capable of handling Windows 7 Professional and purchasing new computers with Windows 7 Professional. We have had zero problems over the last month. Well, until the last two weeks. Several users began requesting assistance because many shortcuts on their desktop went missing.
I should note that these were all data migrations to the Windows 7 machines. I had their data backed up, so I was able to go back and copy over what shortcuts they've lost.
At first I thought the user might have accidentally dragged a field of shortcuts into a random folder. Maybe it went in the recycling bin and it was emptied. Neither of these quick assumptions were right, so the next idea was Desktop Cleanup. It turns out that "Desktop Cleanup" is actually automated under Windows 7.
Microsoft Support: Desktop shortcuts disappear in Windows 7
These shortcuts are regarded as broken and are deleted by the System Maintenance troubleshooter.
Broken? These shortcuts weren't "broken". There is also no limit on the shortcuts removed, only a minimum of four if detected. You aren't given confirmation to remove these shortcuts, they simply vanish.
Well, I did not want to disable the Diagnostic service or stop Computer Maintenance. That would mean we would have to disable this service on every Windows 7 machine going forward. I didn't like that idea.
Personally I have, in the 12+ months I've used Windows 7, never had "broken" shortcuts removed from my desktop, so I thought about certain attributes the shortcuts might have that were removed compared to the shortcuts that were not removed. The first instance I notice is the target link.
e.g. Target: "W:\Accounting\Billing\May-24-2010.xls"
The only shortcuts on the three desktops that were removed were using the actual mapped drive letter as the target. The shortcuts with the computer name and full location on the server as the target were not removed.
e.g. Target: "\\LDM-SVR\Billing Department\Accounting\Billing\May-24-2010.xls"
So, I went through each computer, opened the Properties for every shortcut, and manually changed the Shortcut Target. So far, it's been fine. No shortcuts have been removed and no one has gained a mess of desktop real estate suddenly.
As I'm not entirely sure this is the silver bullet to the bug just yet as this was performed Friday, I will keep this one updated over the course of the next week if shortcuts go missing again.
Some Flash Developer Attempts to Justify Lack of Flash Support on iPad/iPhone
An Adobe Flash developer, a Morgan Adams, has given a new argument for Flash support on touchscreen devices. Simply put, it has everything to do with the way a mouse cursor interacts with Flash embedded objects on a webpage. The hovering and mouseover abilities of the cursor usually have a bit of stock in the way you manipulate games and Flash videos, but I feel that this is quite an exaggeration. While his argument is valid, I feel that this is no way a proper justification.
I really do feel that this man is wrong about Flash not being able to function properly on touchscreen devices because of the lack of hovering and clicking on a touchscreen device. I say he is wrong because I actually watch Flash animated videos on Newgrounds.com and play Flash-based games on Armorgames.com and Kongregate.com. Rarely do I find a game I absolutely cannot play or at least cannot enjoy. Let alone actually beat the game! I played Sonny 2 entirely on my phone.
Web marketing people might be the only people that will feel the pinch as their annoying as hell banner ads that grow in size upon hovering will suffer from views. Even with the ads, websites feel complete and full. I don’t feel I’m missing anything upon viewing websites. Having plug-in support brings me to my next point; being able to go to other sites that aren't YouTube. Pretty much all popular mobile OSes have an app to view YouTube videos, but what about the dozens of other websites like Collegehumor and Cracked that rely on Flash embedded videos for content?
I imagine most people would agree with this guy about Flash on touchscreen devices, but I would imagine they haven’t actually tried using Flash on smartphones and tablets. His statement is an exaggeration and even though I am not an Adobe Flash developer, I have made silly cartoons using Flash before. This makes me feel more than qualified to call it an exaggeration as I’m in a much higher percentile than the people that merely watch those silly Flash videos.
Holiday Steam Sales
The Steam Holiday Sales - I copied the entire sales scraper into a spreadsheet and sorted the games from lowest to highest. Go nuts.
The Steam Holiday Sales spreadsheet
I updated today for the new sales price. 12/24/09
Holiday Service Announcement
It's the number one question asked when high definition television is the subject. Is the expensive HDMI cables worth it in terms of quality or cable longevity?
HDMI cable shopping tips:
* Gold plated connections do not increase cable quality or life.
* Length matters very little. Grab a 25' cable if needed.
* $80 for one cable?! Return it for a universal remote!
Remember these specifications for the current standard:
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- HDMI Version 1.3
- At least 6' in length
- Category 2 Certified
- Shielding from interferance
Example: These HDMI cables right here are perfect. A 3 pack for $6.99!
This has been a holiday service announcement to save people money during a glorified mindless consumer holiday.
