Today I'd like to share with you one of my favorite web series, and perhaps the biggest reason I'm sad I won't be going to Gen Con this year.  The Legend of Neil is the story of a loser who (through interesting methods) gets sucked into the "Legend of Zelda", Captain N style.  It's a real treat for gamers, but really for all fans of (somewhat profane) comedy.  It's made by Sandeep Parikh, of "The Guild" fame.  The humor is similar to "The Guild", but a bit more on the nose with its game references, and raunchier to boot.  If you have a few hours to spare, I'd go through the whole series if I were you.  Oh, and if you'll be at Gen Con, be sure to check out the cast members who will be there showing off season 3.

I recommend that you start out with the first few episodes of Season 2 (especially episode 2 - my favorite), and then if you like it go back and start at season 1.  Don't worry - the episode intros catch you up to the story pretty fast.  It's not that season 1 isn't good, but the series really starts clicking by the 2nd one.  And besides, you get Felicia Day playing a nymphomaniac fairy - what's not to like?

This article recently piqued my interest.

For the tl;dr crowd, it basically says that the new executive producer of Star Trek Online is open to the idea of the game becoming essentially free to play, but with lots of little microtransactions in order to make a profit (a la Dungeons and Dragons Online or Lord of the Rings Online).  As I've stated a couple of times, I actually enjoyed this game back when it first came out.  Of course, this angered and frightened some people (especially those on YouTube... don't mess with some people's perception of Star Trek via YouTube).  The biggest problem I had with the game was that it didn't have enough content to last me past the free month, so I never resubscribed.

That was the biggest problem.  But there were others - primarily shallow ground combat and an obvious rushed feel to the game in general.  But like I said, I still enjoyed it.  I'm sure my immense Trek fandom played no small role in that, but I stand by my opinion.  I was originally thinking of waiting a few more months and then perhaps trying the game again, to see what they've added and what problems they fixed.  But I know there are many more who won't give STO a second chance.  An essentially free way to play the game is probably Atari's best hope to restore a lot of the squandered faith in both the Star Trek and MMO communities.

I'd like to share another point of view that probably puts the situation in much plainer light.  Below you'll find an excerpt from an e-mail a good friend sent me after I asked him the simple question back in March, "What did you think of STO thus far?"

I know I've been asking a lot of questions of you, the reader, lately, but what the hell.  I have quite the confession today:

I've had a problem for awhile now concerning video games.  Some video games I can finish, replay, and still beg for more (any Pokemon or Civilization game), but I've come across many games in the past few years that I've played.  Enjoyed.  And then just quit on somewhere near the end.  I don't know why, but my motivation to complete the game just erodes and I move on.  I'd like to blame it on lack of free time ever since I went to college, but that seems too easy.

Now I liked the vast majority of these games.  Some I would even consider excellent.  But for whatever reason, right before I get to that climactic battle, my enthusiasm peters out and I find something else shiny to distract me.  Is this a byproduct of today's pop culture?  Some latent ADHD?  Explain, world.  Explain!

I've gone back to a few of my past flame-outs, and wound up finishing and greatly enjoying them (like Psychonauts and *gulp* Zelda: Ocarina of Time) .  Dragon Quest VIII, specifically, wound up being one of my favorite games of all time (a great classic JRPG romp that I recommend to any fan of the genre).  But those past successes don't usually get me pumped to try out the others waiting unfulfilled on my shelf.

So now I uncover my shame.  Bask, ye, in my failure, and tell me what it is I'm missing.  Why do I keep quitting these games right before the end?

Hey all.  I just wanted to wish my fellow Americans a happy 4th!  And to all of our friends who aren't residents of the U.S. - happy Sunday!  I figured now would also be a great excuse to entertain you with some of my favorite America-themed videos.

We all have our favorite movies (Back to the Future).  We even have our guilty pleasures (Love Actually).  But something we're often loathe to admit are the movies that everyone else loves, you you hate.  You know what I mean, the blockbusters, the critically acclaimed, even the classics.  It can be for any reason.  I have a co-worker who absolutely hated Iron Man because he couldn't get over the ridiculous engineering feats in it.  And as he put it: "I know something about engineering."

Perhaps my biggest guilty hatred (and I know the Commodore and I have gone over this ad nauseum) is The Usual Suspects.  Not to spoil the ending for anyone (though is it really a spoiler if the movie came out a decade ago?), but I thought the plot was so obviously straining reality and mind-bending - just for the purpose of throwing off the viewer - that I actually guessed who Keyser Söze was halfway through the movie just by picking the most ridiculous possible person.  Add to that that the whole movie was basically a lie, and I just wanted my 2 hours back.

I know I can't be alone in this line of thinking.  What are your guilty hatreds?

I have an appeal to public opinion today rather than a formal blog post.  Our Friday D&D group has had murmurs of discontent recently with some aspects of 4th edition's gameplay.  We're instituting some fixes to try and make the game run smoother, but I've been thinking back to 3rd edition quite a bit lately with fondness and a little bit of longing.  Sure, 4e's fun and all, but some things just seemed better in 3e (or 3.5e).

More roleplaying opportunities, no skill checks, differentiation of the classes, less MMORPG feel... am I just looking back through rose-colored glasses, or has the 4e shininess just worn off?  I'm thinking of buying a Pathfinder Core Rulebook to peruse, which if you don't know, is basically D&D 3.75e run by a company other than WotC (Paizo) under the d20 open game license.  I've read some good and bad things about it (mostly good).  I saw the excitement over it in person when it was first sold at Gen Con 2009, but I'm wondering if any of our readers have tried it.  If so (or even if not), I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.  Feel free to comment below.  Or if the conversation really branches out, post in our tabletop gaming forum.  Let's hear what you have to say, geeks!