Corpse Camper

2010-01-05T09:49:00.001-08:00

Fantastic Love/Hate article over here, all about being a girl gamer. Makes me smile, even if I didn't agree with everything that she mentioned. Plus, I always love hearing from the perspective of older girl gamers (myself included).

There's a lot to talk about when it comes to being a female gamer, I think, and it's ever-changing. I'm sure I'll write about them eventually -- just as soon as I finish this pick-up group and take out this last mob.

Camp those corpses! M-J

How to Sell Games to Girls

2009-12-20T13:59:00.000-08:00

Chances are good that you've already seen this once, but in case you haven't (or in case you didn't see it with this particular running commentary), I present you with at least fourteen reasons why you shouldn't shop at Game Stop.

Camp those corpses! M-J

Aroo!

2009-12-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Starting a new blog is always such a ... quiet thing. No one knows about you, the blog's still in its infantile-squealing stage, and you're all alone in a big-big blogger world, trying to make your way post by post into something full-grown, gorgeous and interesting. It's a long haul -- a lot like puberty, not that I remember much of it, thankfully -- and it can be a lonely lot.

Of course, that's why you beg your friends to come and hang around, just to make it look like there are people who love you and who are hanging on your every word. Of course, I have a limited supply of gamer friends, and all of them are either doing odd flying ERP things on Aion, waiting for their 3.3 patch to download in World of Warcraft or playing bass for Rambling Man on Rock Band. (Ahem, friends? This is for you to read and consider, whenever you get your little tailbones here to read and support me, six months from now. And no, being my backup healer in game does NOT count -- especially since you let me die!)

The life of a gamer can be lonely, even when you're surrounded by people. Thankfully, more and more geeks are coming out of the console and admitting what they do in their spare time. So until the rest of the world arrives, it's just me and you and Steve-the-duck-4-evah. I'm in your debt forever (or at least until someone else shows up!).

Camp that corpse! M-J

If He Thinks Pokeman is Bad...

2009-12-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

...he should see what's going on in most ERPs.

Camp That Corpse! M-J

Gamer Glasses?

2009-12-08T10:54:00.001-08:00

This just in: Taking geekdom to a whole new level.

A company called Gunnar Optiks is now making ... yes, you guessed it... glasses for gamers.

Termed "Digital Performance Eyewear," the glasses are supposed to offer a number of benefits for those who stare at the screen all day: reduced glare and external light (thus less eye strain), wrap-around frames to protect your eyes from drying out, rimless lenses so that you get an unobstructed view of the screen...

I don't know if the glasses actually work. I do know that if I spend more than an hour or two staring at a game, my contacts feel like they're about to flip out of my eyes and run screaming across the table. So I'd be willing to try them, just to see.

Still, just think of this: these glasses could become THE new must-have pick-up wear for gamers who actually leave the house. "Oooh, she's wearing the Game Goggles 2.14. She must be a hard-core raider. I'm going to ask her out." You'll see celebrities sporting these glasses, proving their gamer-status. And even non-gamers will wear them, in an attempt to up their geekiness. There'd be cat calls at the Golden Globes. "You're not really a gamer, J. Lo! Take off those glasses!"

Ah. -sigh- The bizarre dreams of us gamer geeks.

Now if someone would just make contacts for gamers. Then I'd be a really happy girl...

Camp that corpse! M-J

Interview with Game Designer Jess Hartley

2009-12-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

Blog critics has a really cool interview with game designer and author, Jess Hartley. I love hearing about women in games. She's doing some fantastically cool things, it sounds like. This is what she has to say about her favorite out of all of her writing-related ventures like gaming and stories and editing:

I think that writing is a lot like cooking. You may have favorite dishes, but very few chefs want to make the same dish over and over every night. Each has its own pros and cons, and a good mixture keeps your hunger honed to keep taking on new projects. Gaming, for example, is a great opportunity to collaborate with other writers and creators, but it can be limiting because you're working in someone else's intellectual property. Original fiction gives you much more flexibility for creativity, but can be a little lonely if you're accustomed to working with a team and bouncing ideas around with other creative types. Editing is like the bread served between courses. It clears your palate and helps you learn how to make your own writing better by catching mistakes and thinking how to improve others' projects, but it lacks the sheer joy of creating that writing possesses. I'm very happy to be working on a plethora of projects right now, running the gamut from gaming to novel-length fiction to short stories.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Good gaming! M-J

Mass We Pray

2009-12-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

Best advertisement ever. Ever. Ever. Ever.

(Click on the pre-order bit to figure it out).

Good Gaming! M-J

Jobs that Suck

2009-12-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

Found this funny post via Casual Girl Gamer: Top Ten Crummy Jobs that are Great Fun as Games. And she has a few points, namely about jobs like air traffic controller, bridge builder and hotel manager. Although I did love waitressing, a whole lot. Mainly because it paid my way through college. And I did grow up on a farm, so I can vouch for the horribleness that is that one.

While I was thinking about it, I thought I'd put together my top five jobs that I adore in-game, but would hate in real life:

1. Tailor. I'm often a tailor in the MMOs that I play. I like making things that I can wear in-game, and since I often play casters and healers, about all I can wear is cloth. Also, you can make bags in most games, and that's a good way to make money. You can tailor in games like WoW, Everquest2 and most other MMOs. However, in real life, I get tangled in fabric, I can't sew a straight line to save my life and I don't have the patience to darn a sock or tighten a loose button. So... next.

2. Race car driver. Okay, granted that I'm showing my girldom here, but the thought of driving a car around forever and forever in real life while trying not to run into trees, other cars or mud puddles. It doesn't help that in real life, I tend to hit everything that is anywhere on the screen and I fall off most cliffs. Destruction Derby 2 and Twisted Metal? I'll freaking pass.

3. Soldier. Again, I get that running around shooting things is great fun in games, but I have to admit that I don't want to do it in real life. Especially not in the name of God or Government. Fun soldier games are Fallout (you can even be a girl soldier, which is quite fun) and Modern Warfare 2.

4. Skinner. This is another career choice that I often make in MMos. The leather sells well, and I sometimes need it for tailoring stuff as well. In real life, I've watched people skin deer and rabbits and anything else. It's just icky and bloody and gory, and you have to do a lot of things with the hide before it becomes anything useable.

5. Chef. I like to cook, I really really do. But to cook huge amounts of food by rote for everyone and anyone, just so they can bitch about it being too dry? No. Thank. You. But I could cook in-game for hours, via places like Cafe World and the Sims 3.

And for an extra bonus:

Three In-Game Jobs That I Would Love in RL:

1. Healer. I actually did this in real life for a while -- on an ambulance -- and in may have been one of the best jobs I've ever had. I wouldn't want to do it forever (hence, why I'm not still there), but it was good while it lasted.

2. Leatherworker. I love leather. The way it smells, the way it feels, the things that can be made out of it. This is a job I would love, both in and out of game.

3. Bartending. It was dirty, stinky, smelly, trashy and full of people who kept putting their hands on me. And somehow I loved it anyway. Maybe it was all of the money in my pockets at the end of the night.

Good Gaming! M-J

Save the 'Locs!

2009-11-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

For just a copper a day...

Because you just know you love those murlocs and the way they yell at your in garbledly-garbledly-speak every time they kill you.

Brought to you by Save The Murlocs Dot Org.