Nerfbat » General

Lord of Ultima

Ryan Shwayder — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:35:33 +0000

I’m starting to get into Lord of Ultima now because I love Ultima and I really like web-based strategy games. My name is Blackguard on World 5. So far, it’s quite good. If you have ever enjoyed games like Utopia, Travian, or OGame you might really enjoy this one. The graphics and interface are above par, and I haven’t found much that I particularly dislike about it. Friend me and let me know who you are if you join!

MafiaMatrix Part II

Ryan Shwayder — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:20:31 +0000

I played MafiaMatrix with some of you a while back. It’s a web game with the tag line, “Rise above the law, or become the law… The future is in your hands!” It’s basically a hardcore strategy game in which you can be permanently killed and your stuff can be stolen and destroyed. Pretty harsh, but also quite fun if you get into it. I’ve decided to go for another stint in this harsh world (while trying not to get too into it this time). If you want to join me, please sign up with this link so I can get some referral cred (referrer number 14325). I’m “Luck” and I live in Auckland.

Beer Wars

Ryan Shwayder — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:45:52 +0000

If you appreciate beer, watch Beer Wars. It is an enlightening documentary on the beer industry as a whole, with a focus on the craft brewer trying to make it in the marketplace. It gave me a tremendous amount of respect for all independent brewers, especially Dogfish Head, and unfortunately made me dislike Anheuser–Busch InBev even more than I already do. It’s in about every format imaginable (including Netflix “Watch Instantly”), so watch it.

PAX East 2010

Ryan Shwayder — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:00:11 +0000

Anyone else going? I picked up a 3 day pass, which are all sold out now. I even convinced my wife to go to her first game conference (for one day)! If anyone is going, let me know and we might be able to hang out. Someone with more motivation than me should organize an MMO blogger/dev meet-up and I’ll most likely show up (especially if there’s beer involved). If you don’t have a ticket yet, PAX East is coming up on March 26th – 28th in Boston.

iPad Impressions

Ryan Shwayder — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:40:42 +0000

Dear Apple,

Meh.

Love, Ryan

Readers’ Choice: EVE + DUST 514

Ryan Shwayder — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:00:31 +0000

“What are your feelings on what CCP is trying to do with Eve Online and Dust514? …” – JW It’s interesting. I find it intriguing to tie multiple products within the same IP together. It seems like some people will really love it, especially those who play both styles of games. I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of tying games so very different from one another together so tightly.

Some people will really want to participate in one game, but will have no interest in the other. This might facilitate cross-game communities, or it might make the communities resent one another.

More unsettling than that, to me, is that they’re essentially taking something away from EVE players that they’ve had for some time and making it cross-game. Creating an interdependency where one did not previously exist is dangerous and will create quite a bit of discontent.

Do I see this trend continuing in the future? Definitely, to some degree. It’s natural to tie products together in some way, but I’d generally expect most of those ties to be a bit looser and less interdependent in most games. That said, CCP does as CCP does, and I respect them for sticking to their guns.

Want me to comment on something here at Nerfbat? Ask/provoke me in the Readers’ Choice post.

Hepl: An FPS/Game for 8+ Friends

Ryan Shwayder — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 03:27:48 +0000

My group of friends from Colorado is going to institute a fortnightly FPS gaming night. We’re trying to figure out what FPS we should play. We’d have chosen Modern Warfare 2 if they had dedicated servers, but they don’t. Instead, our two top spots are occupied by Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield 2. Any other suggestions for a good FPS we can all play together, preferably against others? Update: This doesn’t have to be an FPS. It can be any game that can handle our numbers, but not something that someone who misses out a couple times will have to catch up after (like an MMO).

Happy Holidays!

Ryan Shwayder — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:24:15 +0000

I hope everyone has wonderful holidays this year and an incredible 2010. I’m enjoying myself out in Colorado for 3 weeks this year, letting the creative batteries recharge (perhaps replacing the old alkalines with lithium?). And, of course, consuming as much Mexican food and microbrewed beer as I can. Keep your holidays safe, relax, and look forward to a fresh start in 2010.

Off Topic: Ordered New Computer – Thanks!

Ryan Shwayder — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:39:01 +0000

After all of the research and advice, I ended up ordering a beast of a system (in my opinion). I went with an i7 920 processor after all was said and done, and got some highly recommended bang-for-the-buck hardware otherwise. I’m super friggin’ excited about building a new computer. My current desktop is 4+ years old, and I bought a Dell because I got a 40% discount on it. So it’s been a good 6 years since I’ve built a system. Crazy! You can check out my final configuration here: Shwayder’s i7 Config. Thanks to everyone for all the great feedback and help!

Watchmen…

Ryan Shwayder — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:13:41 +0000

If there’s one thing watching the Watchmen taught me, it’s: “A movie shouldn’t stay true to the book.” Truthfully, I never read it. I’ve always wanted to. Parodies of comic characters in a world where such freelance vigilantes are outlawed. Sounds interesting, like a romping fun, hilarious, dark investigation of the superhero concept. But I found the movie, which allegedly stayed very true to the comics, to be extremely boring.