One new post every few days between the hours of 10:00 PM (EST) the night before and 4:00 AM (EST) the morning of. Posts are rotating subject matter which is neither scheduled or planned.
Groupings of links I think are relevant to one another in some way. Usually groups are based on a keyword-tag or other type of post label.
Link clusters get altered, moved and deleted frequently. This all depends on myself and the links themselves. If you find a broken link inside a cluster or otherwise, please inform me.
Special Noted
Galbadia Hotel - Video game OST rips. Music from the actual games. Great for both die-hard fans and people who just want that one song from that one game.
Will Quilt For Games - Custom made quilt pillow covers with cool gamer/geek themes.
Don't Diss Darwin - Keep Darwin's Law free of religious conjecture. Find out how you can help.
Blog Action Day '09 - Keep the planet clean by blogging. Solve Unamusement participated in 09.
Weather Channel - Check the weather before doing any outside activities. Check local maps and view your local Doppler radar.
SkipScreen - A handy Firefox tool for those who like to download from sites like Megaupload and Rapidshare. Makes life quick and easy!
Why again? Cause Daft Punk is awesome and mixes with almost everything. There is a reason why they don't make music and people still know who they are. Daft Punk is like The Beatles of techno. Not the first to do it, by any means, but the first to do it so well that they last for years on the popularity toll. Not to mention that nerd cred lets you live forever.
Now, one of these I honestly wanted to wait because I wanted to highlight the vs mix partner, and did. The problem is that I found so many good Daft Punk remixes that I forgot to list some or they were lost under other future Solve Unamusement amusement listings.
Captain America, that's right people. One of the lamest most awesome characters to ever be about. Why I say lamest and most awesome? Because Captain America has the dumbest concept of all the heroes I've seen.
Some random dude gets random serum and becomes super soldier, which gets named for being a pinnacle of American technology. The worlds fist super soldier of fortune, that then became a mercenary, more then anything. Like all the great comic book heroes, he's lived and died and then not really died but only been in some awkward place in order to live and save the world again.
Let's give Captain America a salute for being so epically awesome and lame at the same time. Although, he is probably one of the first to coin this horribly now abused stereotype. Then again, I'd not be shocked if he wasn't.
The joke of the day at Joke Warehouse claims this next bit of text to be a true story. True story or not, it's funny.
Neil Armstrong Secret Revealed
On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon.
His first words after stepping on the moon, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," were televised to Earth and heard by millions.
But just before he re-entered the lander, Neil made the enigmatic remark, "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky.'
Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs.
Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay , Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year-old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died, so Neil Armstrong felt he could now answer the question.
In 1938, When Neil was a kid in a small mid-west town, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball, which landed in the neighbor's yard by their bedroom window.
His neighbors were Mr. And Mrs. Gorsky.
As He Leaned Down To Pick Up The Ball, Young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky Shouting At Mr. Gorsky. "Sex, You Want Sex Now?! You'll Get Sex When The Kid Next Door Walks On The Moon!'
No, there was no checking of sources. This is a funny joke be it real or fake. I hope you enjoyed it's humor.
Not exactly sure where this was found, although I think it was one of the sites/blogs that Strictlyb Bangers has as an affiliate. It was found during a random bordom and blog search, which is done every so often.
Colleen - The Happy Sea
Nothing much more to add except that this is very nice. Good for meditation and stuff of that nature if that is your deal. Great for sleeping, if you're not afraid of leaving the PC on, or can find the mp3.
For me, this was the first time I had seen the Looney that ws Tuned, Do-Do. He's a brilliantly absurd creature living in a land of odd literals and backward logic.
While it is a remake of an older 1940's cartoon, Dough for the Do-Do is a great intro to the awesome that was and always will be Do-Do and Wacky land. It is also one of the best Looney Tune episodes with Porky Pig.
Dough for the Do-Do
Hope that is a nice diversion from the MMO nonsense. However it shall be returned too, eventually, once enough time has been spent on the game.
The quest and questing system in Shaiya has been seen before. If anyone has played an MMO within the last five years knows how this works. You pick a person and, at first, you are interested in the story they are trying to weave. How mad these NPCs are that someone went and smashed up their food cart and now you need to get revenge on the beasties that did it. That sounds fun and good until the NPC drops, "Now go kill X amount of Y and come back for something special."
It's a good and easy way to get "free" experience but I feel as though the quests, if not doing them for items, worthless. The experience and gold given seem a bit weak, especially for the first bit of time. While I have played a few that had you leveling fast and throwing gold at you, those mostly had you spending your gold just to upgrade your skills, this seems a bit slow.
Why is that? Mainly because stopping in a field of monsters who are just a bit higher level then you who don't aggro and mopping them up isn't difficult. Finding such fields of weak willed mobs at anything under level 15 is common for most MMOs but it distracts from the fun.
Personally, I feel the quest system works but needs either more reward or less work. The game isn't charging me to play it so it shouldn't be trying to make me play it. While I do understand that the point of Aeria's games is to get you to actually buy items, it is quickly apparent that it REALLY WANTS YOU to do this.
On another note, leveling feels very slow. This is, however, probably because I refuse to spend more then a few hours playing every couple of days.
This post is simple and easy to understand. What does Shaiya have to give you after that first bit of "OOh look how pretty"? The raw tax of it is that it doesn't. Shaiya is very quickly just like every other MMO that is out there. You spawn near an NPC that wants to give you a quest about killing some monsters and then he gives you gold and experience.
It's a wonderful not broken formula that tricks all of us into playing these games even though we know it's just the same stuff that's been done before. Some things that made me happy is that, while the classes and races were similar, they didn't really matter. What side you have characters on makes zero difference unless you have friends on "the other side". It's the exact same game, at least so far, on both sides of the fence with only a difference in feel.
That feel that I mention, however, is brilliant! Each "side" of the torn in two world has it's own feel and magic to it. The "light side" of human and elf is cheery and clean with it's neat government types and tall sparkling spires. While the "dark side" is more gritty and broken down with its tyrannical type feel and it's Vail and The Nordein races. Each side keeps with it's color tone and general thought/feel which is very cool when you think on it.
Character creation isn't the most involved and detailed as I have seen in others (Like Perfect World) but the intro to the game is just wonderfully done and, again, keeps the feel for each side very well.
Shaiya Fan Made Intro
For being what I've seen before, this is looking very fun. After all, I didn't even realize I had spent three plus hours playing the first time I started.
Before anyone plays anything that has the commitment level that an MMORPG has, one should at least check out the things it has to offer. Such a thing was done with Shaiya and here are my initial thoughts on the game.
These are all preplay thoughts and based strictly on what information can be obtained about the game. This should be noted
One of the first things smart people will notice is that if they check out any gameplay vids is that this, like so many, are trying to be WoW without being WoW. I feel this was done poorly as it looks exactly like WoW. Though that is not a bad thing and from past experience such an interface works very well, it's still a bit "been there done that".
The second thing that would be noticed is that the game is very stylized and puts a bit of emphasis on how cool skills look. This is a great thing, especially sense these skills will be used over and over again. You want something flashy that'll keep people amused while they repeat the same behaviors for months on end.
But the real thing that will catch most of you and trick your brain into play this is that there is balance with counterbalance and still imbalance. Now, this makes ZERO sense when I say it like that but let me explain.
The world is broken into two sides, a "light" and a "dark". This is more a Eastside vs Westside type of deal then having to do with anything involving actual good vs evil. Each side has two races which work similar to the other two races but, at the same time, do not. One side is magic based, using more MP then SP while the other is flipped. Both sides have the exact same classes, from mage to healer to assassin and ranger, to tank and puller... they are all there. What does change things isn't how they play but more in how they seem to play. (Remember these are all preplay thoughts).
FINALLY, I just want to post the games trailor. A note that this isn't actual gameplay but more a showcase of how the classes, races and two sides play part.
Shaiya Theatrical Trailer
There is also a very interesting story behind how/why the world is in two pieces but it's not very important unless you are one for actually Roleplaying while playing an MMORPG.
There has actually been the intended post on this subject for sometime, as their concept of a huge online community stretched over many free games is an amusement in itself. Area Games was and is, as far as I'm concerned, the best place for Free To Play MMO games. There are multiple options with Dream of Mirror Online being one of it's first "real successes", at least from what I am aware of.
The community consists of sixteen different MMOs which, together, is enough to keep anyone involved in at least one of the said sixteen. They are mostly very "WoW like" but that doesn't stop them from being any good.
There will be a personal delve into one that was suggested by Sandy, a reader of Solve Unamusements. This game being one that has been running sense 2007 and now has a good amount of players to not be over crowded and annoying and not be naked. That game being Shaiya.
A few of the next blog posts will be covering this game from the first impressions to the first few hours of gameplay and then later on, perhaps a break to allow my own time with the game and other blog posts to commence.
One final note on what keeps the games free to play is their "system". If it is wished people may pay for individual perks, items, etc. It's nothing great and doesn't usually alter things to much but provides a nice steady income that allows the developers to still technically offer a free MMO to be played.
What, you were expecting something more? Or perhaps you aren't in the US? Okay, then I'll get you something because you and me are friends. The rest of you, go eat your food and get fat like good little Americans. I'm not even hear, I'm doing that. Getting fat and happy like a good American should.
Right, other people want something now. How about something still thanksgiving related? So everyone loves Thanksgiving, except for the turkey.
This has been stuck in my head for awhile, off and on, so I decided to jump it's ship and "assumed post date" for now. It's a nice techno song some of you might enjoy.
Said he was man
What did he know?
Spent his time living in a casino
Never know
Couldn't get away, couldn't ever get it anyway
Couldn't ever level 'cause he's living like a devil
Hey you ugly people
I want you to set my baby free
Hey people
Set my baby free
Came upon a man
In tune with his libido
Took another's wife
To help him get to sleep
Couldn't get away, couldn't ever get it anyway
Couldn't ever level cause he's living like a devil
Hey you ugly people
I want you to set my baby free
Set my Baby Free by Ian Brown
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, lets see what special thing I come up for that day, shall we?
Rather, start your own. Find something interesting and start snatching these things up for no other reason just to have more of them. Collecting, no matter what it might be, is a great hobby and time waster. Personally, I've gone through several renditions myself.
At one point it was Pokemon, another Yu-Gi-Oh and then it was clocks. Yes, clocks. At a certain time in my life there was a hyper infatuation with time and the need to keep it. However, now I've lost that urge. Not just for clocks but for collecting.
Or so I had thought....
It wasn't but a few minutes ago that I realized I'm still collecting. Now, however, I'm collecting worthless internet stuff and slamming it against this thing called a "blog". How horribly awesome is that!?
Short of this. Collections, got them? Share them. While your at it, check out some other Solve Unamusement Hobbies.
This final one from Ugly Overload is a bit "iffy" in my honest opinion. This is a chameleon that can change it's colors to that of neon shades and even outright black.
While I am not a biologist and do not know the inner workings of this creature I still wish to scream "shenanigans" as the video continues and continues to play. Either way, it's amusing with it's music and topic of choice. If a real chameleon then that is very cool and I'd think rare. If it is altered then that is still cool because it was well done.
Uber Chameleon
HD video
I suppose it is now up to the rest of you. Is this a load of bologna or a really cool trick taught to a well liked lizard with a lightning quick tongue? My vote is going to be the former but mostly because I'm a "glass half empty" kind of guy.
This is another from Ugly Overload that needed to be shared. The original poster said it best "One more reason to not be an insect" but this is beyond awesome and deserves to be pasted about and shared.
The fungus is species specific and only targets one type of insect, which is a bit odd. It does, according to the video, keep things balanced in the ecosystem but still seems very weird. This is similar to the Zombie Cockroach but more along the lines of more brutal. Which is worse, though? Being completly aware but unable to do anything (Insects in video here) or being killed only to not be exactly dead?
Blogs of note has handed something interesting and because of such, it was dug and skimmed through. Ugly Overload is an interesting blog with a very simple premise. Find the ugly, gross and flat out weird that mother has to offer.
Of course this was one big eyebrow raised and a full years worth of blog posts were searched through, and blog subscribed to. While doing this, however, I noted some old posts I just made an extra note worth giving. However, after looking through so many I have missed what posts went to which videos and decided to simply give a general credit to where/how the videos where found.
Unless you feel like digging yourself, I'm going to post some of the vids, here, over the next couple of days.
Zombie Cockroach
One of the first posts to 100% catch my eye and almost require that I re-post and redirect. The whole thought just made me stop and think a moment or two. It is a rather cool concept, although I am not sure why such a drug would be needed or helpful.
