Given er all she's got captain!

One tweet says it all:

The STO server's can't take the load. They don't have the power!

Star Trek Online Open Beta Jan 12th

From Rock, Paper, Shotgun:

The big news is: Star Trek Online Open Beta opens today (12th Jan) at 10am PST (2am proper time), letting all sorts of riff-raff into the universe.

However, open beta keys are only available to those that have pre-ordered until the "partners" for Star Trek Online are announced tomorrow and start handing out massive piles of keys to everyone else.

So, if you want a guaranteed in, Amazon.com has STO for $46.99.  Live long and prosper.

Packers vs. Cardinals "wild"card

My heart, if there is one, has been trampled once again.  As a Green Bay Packers fan, its been downhill since the 4th and 26 miracle of 2004. It doesn't matter who the coach or quarterback is, the Packers continue to fall apart in big games. 

The Packers just lost to the Arizona Cardinals in a wild game.  The final tally was 51-45, ending in overtime on an unfortunate fumblerception.  Aaron Rodgers, the Packers QB starts his postseason career 0-1.  He started with a first play turnover and ended on a last play turnover.  The guy can not catch a break and has yet to prove he can win big games.

The Arizona Cardinals played a good game, but I'm pulling the bullshit card on anyone that says they played better.  They were handed 20 points (+14 more if you consider the non-calls on Fitzgerald tackling defensive backs). 

The Packers roared back from the hole they dug and proved they were the better team 3/4 of the game.  Take away the odd first quarter and the Packers win hands down, but thats dishonest to what really happened.  The Packers have no one to blame but themselves.  Turnovers and giving up field position makes winning tough.

This is a tough one to swallow.  I don't blame any single player or coach for this loss.  The Packers did everything to win this game, but made the rookie mistakes that have plagued them all year.  They failed as a team, which is the best sign for next year that I can pull from this disastrous loss.

Borderlands Configuration Editor

I found the Borderlands Configuration Editor, which is a great tool that easily allows PC players to do everything from disabling the opening movies to adjusting the field of view (FOV). 

One of the "TO DO" additions to the tool is a "Check my ports" feature, which is dearly needed for the port forwarding mess that is multiplayer on the PC version of Borderlands.  So, if you have a moment drop into the forum and place a vote to get this feature added ASAP!

Blizzard taking account security seriously with mandatory authenticators?

WoW.com is reporting that Blizzard may ratchet up account security by requiring the use of authenticators on ALL accounts.

WoW.com has learned through trusted sources close to the situation that Blizzard is giving serious consideration to making authenticators mandatory on all accounts. According to our sources, while this policy has not been implemented yet and the details are not finalized, it is a virtually forgone conclusion that it will happen.

I think this is a great move for World of Warcraft.  The negatives are limited, while the positives gained are far reaching. After the initial implementation spike in support requests die down, this will dramatically reduce support costs in the long run as hacked account support stops clogging the support queues.  Players will gain peace of mind that their accounts are secure and that should something go wrong, Blizzard's support will be able to resolve it in a timely manner.

However, there is one giant hurdle that needs careful planning: getting players on board.

The first part of this is "cost to the player".  As I stated above, the support costs are going to rise after initial implementation as players get acquainted with their new dongles, but the long term savings in support should be measurable for Blizzard.  That savings forecast should be used to subsidize the cost of the dongle for players.

The second part is more complicated.  With mandatory authenticators, it will be a lot harder for players to maintain their accounts.  As Cataclysm approaches, this could put many returning players off.  Current active players could face days of potential lockout if an authenticator is lost.  These concerns need to be taken seriously or this could bottleneck WoW.

In WoW's case, I think this is a good move.  However, its a limited case in the MMOG market.  Other subscription MMOGs would not be able to pull this off unless it was included at launch and I'm fairly certain it is well outside the reach for Free-2-Play games.  Regardless of what Blizzard decides, it will be an interesting case study to see how the blogosphere and WoW community react to the idea.

Avatar: I should hate this movie.

Avatar: I should hate this movie.  It depicts a resource-hungry, western-style civilization destroying the native inhabitants of a planet through technological and military might.

The story is predictable and the characters one-sided.  The marine kills, the natives are misunderstood savages.  Everything fits into the expected cliches of a cultural clash on a clandestine planet.

On top of the stereotypes, the hype should have killed this movie, but it didn't.  Avatar is a masterpiece.

Avatar not only lives up to the hype, it smashes expectations. It is not about the story, the characters, or the cynical prognostication of our modern-day world.  Its about escapism. Avatar is the first movie that made me feel like I was transported to another time and planet. 

There weren't special effects, there was a living and breathing world in the theater unlike anything I've ever experienced.  I could blather on about how stunning Avatar was to watch, but words can not do it justice.

My only complaint with the movie is the macguffin of unobtainium. That aside, its a hardly noticeable subtraction from an otherwise perfect movie.

Top Board Games of the Decade

The Thinking Gamer has a great post up covering the last ten years of board games with yearly favorites and his top 3 of the decade.

Here's my take on the best board games of the last decade, broken down year by year:

     2000 - Carcasonne
A really good game, and a truly innovative design space to explore as well. It's no longer in regular rotation for me, but Santa brought "The Kids of Carcasonne" for Kira this year and I highly recommend that variant for anyone with a budding gamer who's 4-7 years old. It's easy to learn and no reading is required, but it's got a surprising amount of depth of strategy — enough to keep things interesting for parents too.

While there are a lot of games on his list that I've never played (I've been out of board gaming for two years now), there are a few I played and quite enjoyed.  One of my personal favorites is the one quoted above: Carcassonne.


If I was going to be voting for my top game of the decade, Carcassonne would be it.  The gameplay is simple, yet a logistical treat.  It's also dead simple to setup and get playing, a key to any board game being considered for game of the decade.

Another great game I enjoyed this decade was Battle Lore.  However, Battle Lore is a hardcore, fantasy-inspired version of Memoir 44, so I understand why it doesn't make Thinking Gamers list.

Board games offer a great escape from today's crazy world of video games.  Even after ten years, Carcassonne delivers greatness without the need for patches or new hardware.  I recommend everyone give one of the games on Thinking Gamers' list a try or break one out at their next get together with friends.