Thursday, December 4, 2014

SWTOR Character tales: Secondary characters

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I bring you pictures of secondary characters for the SWTOR Character tales.  Most of these are in the Marr Universe, and you'll be able to see their class, if any, that they have.  No bios this time, as they are not technically that character class and do not perform the same role in my stories as they do in the big one.




You'll notice that he is one of two that has been introduced as of the posting of this entry.  The others will be known soon enough.






Unlike Vedere, Kriseen and Rortinna, Vizhdam is NOT related to Visas Marr in any way.



Gentugo rarely wears armor, as he is Darth Nox's spy and assassin.  He's like Atton Rand was before the events of KOTOR 2; he knows how to kill Jedi and Sith in the same way Atton detailed in KOTOR 2.

I've got another one that I need to get pictures of, but I want her to have more Dark Side points on her face before getting her picture.  I've also got a couple of other characters that will need bios for the Twins Universe, so wait for them as well.

Lastly, I've got a few picture updates for some of my previous characters. Look forward to them within the next week or so.  For now, enjoy the new chapter I put up with this entry, and look forward to the introduction of the two Jedi I posted pictures of!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

SWTOR Character Tales: Another Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!  Today, I bring to you two new characters, and yet another universe, for my SWTOR Character tales!


Name: Kriseen Marr
Gender: Female
Species: Miraluka
Age: 20 standard years
Homeworld: Alpheridies
 Class: Jedi Knight/Jedi Guardian DPS Focus
Personality Profile:  "You believe wholeheartedly in the ideals of the Jedi; protecting the innocent, healing the sick and injured, and doing what you can to bring peace into the chaos of this war.  You also believe in redemption; no one is beyond hope of it, and you will do whatever you can to aid those who have fallen.  That said, you won't hesitate to strike down those who have fallen too far or are threatening innocents."

And here's her pictures.



And here's her sister.


Name: Rortinna Marr
Gender: Female
Species: Miraluka
Age: 20 standard years
Homeworld: Alpheridies
 Class: Sith Warrior/Sith Maurader DPS Focus
Personality Profile: "You are tired of the pretenses that the Miraluka are all about not falling into extremes; you embraced the Dark Side to give you the power you need to crush your enemies and destroy anything that gets in your way.  Becoming Sith has shown you that you were dabbling in the Dark Side back home, and you will support the society that gave you a taste of true power. And no one, not even your twin Kriseen, will get in your way."

And here's her pictures.




Look forward to the ideas I'm bound to have for this set and this universe!




Sunday, October 12, 2014

SWTOR Character tales: Imperial Agent pictures

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Time for pictures of my IA, Allisani!







And there we go.  Hard to find a cool looking coat for the IA, and I really like the rifle.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

SWTOR Character tales: Smuggler pictures

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! After a break to play through Dragon Age 1 and 2 in order to have my save files ready by November, I'm back to SWTOR, and I have pictures for Curoda ready!







And here's the close up of her face;





Took me days of searching through the GTN in order to get an outfit and blaster I like, but it was worth it to have a look for her I like!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Second Jedi Knight Profile Update

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Due to an idea I had for her, Mamine's personality has changed.  Thus, here's her updated personality profile.

Name: Mamine (pronounced Ma-Me-Nay)
Gender: Female
Species: Cathar
Age: 25 standard years
Homeworld: None (Exiled)
Class: Jedi Knight/Jedi Sentinel Combat Tree
Personality Profile: "Your exile hurt you, far more than you ever thought it would.  To be seen as a monster by the people who bore you and the culture you love has destroyed your previous viewpoint and now strive to be better than your people see you.  To be the hero the Republic sees you to be.  To prove your people wrong about you, despite them never being able to take you back due to the grave nature of the exile.

Still, you are going to try. To be better than you have been. To be a hero in the minds of others, even though you'll never be one in your own mind."

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

SWTOR Character Tales Timeline Update

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!  With several more chapters and new characters, I am redoing the character timeline.  This time, I've figured a better way to keep things organized.

First, is the Marr universe, which is based around Vedere, Ragdat, Adaso, Darth Nox, Amelisan, Maircus, Curoda and Allisani.  Instead of listing each chapter of the story by class, I'm going to put them into the timeline, and mark when something's character specific when it isn't obvious from the title.  When there are multiple entries happening around the same time, I'll mark which one is character specific by it.

  1. Trooper Amelisan/Jedi Consular Vedere Marr/Jedi Knight Ragdat/Sith Inquisitor Koyi'shak/Sith Warrior Adaso/Bounty Hunter Maircus/Smuggler Curoda (In this order according to the timelines)
  2. Curoda-Change in Priority
  3. Ragdat's Reunion with Kaliyo/Still Coping with Katarr (Vedere)
  4. Cipher Nine-Fight for freedom 
  5. Major Amelisan and her life's motivation
  6. Never forget the Sacking (Amelisan)
  7. Imperial Agent Allisani (Even though this is her intro, this is where in the timeline it takes place, since it mentions the ending of the story)
  8. Recognition of the Wrath
  9. The Mandate of the Wrath
  10. Journal of Darth Nox-New Purpose
  11. Darth Nox's ultimate plans
  12. On the Council Now
  13. Ragdat's meditation
  14. Ragdat meets Revan/Amelisan revisits the past
  15. Darth Nox takes the foundry
  16. The Wrath faces the betrayer/Message to Ragdat-Star Cabal
  17. The Jedi Mission on Makeb saga/Mandalorian Mission on Makeb saga/Curoda's revelation
  18. Allisani meets Curoda/Darth Nox's Plans? (Adaso)
  19. Interrogating Dubrillion's Queen (Allisani)/Darth Nox's Reaction
  20. Pirate Queen interrogates Ex-Cipher/Rathari's retrieval
  21. Getting to know the Pirate Queen (Curoda and Allisani)
  22. The Hangover (Curoda)
  23. Preparing for the future (Curoda and Allisani) 
  24. Questioning the amoral scientist (Allisani)
  25. Darth Nox and an old friend
  26. Long lost brother (Adaso)
  27. Preparing for the future (Curoda and Allisani)
  28. Dealing with fallout (Allisani) 
  29. Havoc on Oricon
  30. Vedere and an old Friend/Winning a Heart and Mind (Curoda and Allisani)/Darth Nox Trains Gentugo/Darth Nox's Legacy Plans
  31. Barfight for Ragdat/Catching up with Vizhdam (Vedere)
Much easier to understand this way, isn't it?

As for the White Knight universe, it is as follows.

  1. Sith Inquisitor Casek
  2. Sith Warrior Yokonari/Jedi Knight Mamine/Jedi Consular Anstrisil
  3. Reunion on Dromund Kaas (Yokonari and Casek)/Azulini's Open Secret
  4. Getting to know Gault (Azulini)/Letters between friends (Yokonari and Casek)
  5. Near Security Breach (Yokonari)
  6. Introducing Light Apprentice (Yokonari)
  7. Vows of the White Knight (Yokonari)
  8. Letters between friends 2 (Yokonari and Casek)
  9. White Knight reunion (Anstrisil and Yokonari)
  10. Quinn's betrayal and feelings admitted
  11. Darth Imperius joins the White Knights
  12. The False Emperor (Mamine, Yokonari and Casek)
  13. Anger at the old Wrath (Mamine)
  14. Barsen'thor meets Darth Imperius
  15. Barsen'thor meets Lord Scourge
  16.  Redemption begins (Mamine)
  17. Rejecting Darkness (Mamine)
  18. Restructuring her viewpoint (Mamine)
  19. Redemption Interlude-Cause of the fall (Mamine)
  20. Apologies around (Mamine)
I've also got another universe; the Twins' Universe, based around the Miraluka Jedi and Sith sisters.

  1. Knight Kriseen and Warrior Rortinna
  2. Twin bond-Tatooine (Kriseen)
And finally, I've got the "Unassigned universe", where I just throw the oddball character that's unconnected to the others.  This is more for the characters I play and have no connection to others, or a character I got bored with, as in the case of Azulini.

  1.  Bounty Hunter Azulini
  2.  Azulini's Confusion 
  3. Confession to Torian (Azulini)
Bit of a mess in where things go, isn't it?  That's why I'm doing this; to tighten up the timelines.  I'll add more to this timeline, rather than the other, since this one is cleaner.  For now, enjoy the stories.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

SWTOR Character Profiles: Second Bounty Hunter.

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!  Allow me to introduce you to my Dark Side Bounty Hunter!

Name: Azulini
Gender: Female
Species: Rattataki
Age: 26 standard years
Homeworld: Rattatak
Class: Bounty Hunter/Powertech DPS tree
Personality Profile: "Savage. Brutal. Violent.  These are the things that people would call you, but growing up in the Rattatak wastes made you this way.  A life without a ready supply of food, clean water, a safe place to sleep or even clothes has made you focused first on survival, with everything else being secondary.

However, this means that there is a LOT of galactic society that confuses you; social cues, how bargain without offending, even the language at times.  Heck, even emotional stuff confuses you.  And when things start to frustrate you, you tend to start shooting things.  Still, you do the best you can, and are asking for Mako and Torian's help in how to fit in with the rest of galactic society at large."

And here's her pictures.


Sunday, July 6, 2014

SWTOR Character Tales pictures: Close ups

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!  I said that, as soon as I figured it out, that I'd post the pictures of my toons, so here they are!









And yes, I intentionally showed more than just Yokonari's head.  This is actually part of her character; she uses her "assets" to distract others from her true nature.

Anyway, on with the rest.


Anstrisil does the hood thing to hide his species; so he's looked at as a Jedi first, and a Pureblood Sith second.  Just pretend the hood casts more of a shadow than it does here, and you'll get the idea what is happening in the story.




I know she's the only one who shows the Dark Side corruption, but Darth Nox here is the only one who completely embraces the corruption of the Dark Side; she doesn't have a code of honor that Adaso has or a sense of loyalty that Mamine has.  She has no lines she will not cross, and the corruption shows on her skin.




Notice the scars on her face; this is an important part of her back story, being a survivor of the Sacking of Coruscant.

And finally, I have both the headshot and a new picture of Maircus; in Mandalorian armor!



I actually added him in Mando armor because it fits him; one becoming a Mandalorian, Maircus wants to both look and walk the part.  The only thing he's missing now is the language, which he's learning from Torian.

So there we go; all the characters I still play.

Friday, July 4, 2014

SWTOR Character Tales Pictures: Last two

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! And since I managed to finally hit the levels where they can wear my preferred armor for them, here's the pictures for Amelisan and Maircus, my Trooper and Bounty Hunter!

First is Amelisan, who IS named after the final boss of Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal. 


Why was I waiting so long for her? Simple; shoulder pauldron.  It did not look right without it.


And here is my Bounty Hunter.


I wanted something that looked both Mandalorian and mercenary, and this is the best I could do.  Still, I like the look, so here he is.

I'm still trying to figure out how to get closer shots of their faces, and when I do that, I'll post all 10 at once.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

SWTOR Character Profiles: Second Jedi Consular

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Since I've got a few chapters on ff.net under my belt on my new Jedi Consular, it's time for his character profile.

Name: Anstrisil
Gender: Male
Species: Pureblood Sith
Age: 32 standard years
Homeworld: Dromund Fels
Class: Jedi Consular/Jedi Sage Telekinesis tree
Personality Profile: "As a former White Knight of the Empire, you believe that the corruption of the Dark Side must be fought, but you believe it must be fought with impunity and not secrecy.  This is why you left the Sith and the Empire and surrendered to the Republic and joined the Jedi.

But you enjoy the freedom you gain as a Jedi more than anyone else; you can be yourself, and not have to hide you desire to heal and protect others behind a veil of apparent darkness.  You can finally do what you believe is right and not sit back as evil prevails.  After all, all that is necessary for the triumph is for good men to go nothing, and you will never do nothing again."

And unlike previous characters, I have a picture right away;





There you go. And look forward to pictures of both Maircus and Amelisan soon!

Monday, June 23, 2014

Chronicle of Ana Shepard: Continuing the saga

Just informing all who are following this that I'm continuing Ana Shepard's story into Mass Effect 2; I just posted the first chapter of that, detailing the fall of the original Normandy up to the point where she gets the new ship.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

New ff.net story: Chronicle of Ana Shepard

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Today, I'm announcing a new story on ff.net, Chronicle of Ana Shepard.  It will take plot points from the stories I had originally planned for this character, but I'm doing it in a way where I won't get stuck and lost interest; it's more of a diary that the character is writing, along with some transcripts of conversations that I will find important to the characterization.  This will allow me to summarize a LOT that bored me, and keep me interested in the story enough to actually tell what I had originally planned.

If you're interested, check it out on my fanfiction.net profile page.  For now, stay beautiful freaks!

Monday, April 28, 2014

Mass Effect Retrospective 10: Updates and retractions

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been going through the ME trilogy again, and I've found out a few things.

First off, ME1 romances.  There is a way to cut off both romances for your gender and NOT carry one into ME2 if you choose your gender specific romance option as the Virmire Survivor.  There's a point in the romances where you have to be very, very harsh in your dismissal of them.  For Liara, you have to choose the bottom choice when she asks if you and her could share anything.  But make sure you reject Liara first, because if you reject her second, she locks in no matter what you say to her.  For Kaidan, it's when he talks about the BAaT program and initially brings up Vyrnnus.  You have to tell him that "this is a battlefield thing", which is the most "Renegade" option for the final line.  For Ashley, it's the conversation where she talks about her grandfather and Shanxi.  You have to get to the point where she starts ranting about aliens, and "kowtowing to the Council".

Essentially, you have to have the tone that "I don't need this high school bullshit" in order to outright reject them.  You'll know you rejected them because Liara won't talk about the asari joining, Ashley won't bring up the fact that "there's a reason for everything", and Kaidan won't talk about "getting the Council on our side"; in other words, they won't talk about the future with you. It's harsh, yes, but it is the only way to reject both Liara and the Virmire survivor without killing the opposite gender romance.  And a reminder that, if you want to reject both, reject Liara first.  If you reject the human romance option first, Liara will lock in, regardless of whether you reject her or not.  This is more important when playing a female character, as you have to reject both Liara and Kaidan at the same time, where as with a male, you reject Ashley one conversation after Liara.

Second, updates to my ME3 loadout.  Due to a playlist by a youtuber known as D4nnyB0y1066, I've been able to check out the weapon capabilities without going in and testing them all myself, and I found I like different weapons than I had before.  And here is the list, along with the upgrades for the weapons, as well as when you get them, and whether or not they require DLC or not.

Assault Rifles
Cerberus Harrier-Start-Firefight pack. Shepard gets the magazine mod and extended barrel, and companions get the scope in place of the magazine.
M-8 Avenger-Start. Since this is for a power focused build, this gets ultralight material and an extended barrel.

Shotguns (Companions get choke and barrel. Shepard's load out is as follows.)
M-22 Eviscerator- Grissom Academy. Choke and Barrel
M-300 Claymore- the Rachni Mission. This gun is Wrex, Vega and Grunt only, above mods apply.
Graal Spike Thrower- Priority: Tuchanka. Soldier and Vanguard Shepard Only. Magazine and barrel.  While heavy, this one has a charged shot that uses no extra ammo.

Sniper Rifle (Scope and barrel for all)
M-92 Mantis - Infiltrator start, or on Priority Mars.
M-98 Widow- Priority: Thessia.

SMG (Companions scope and barrel)
M-9 Tempest - Turian Platoon. Companion gun only.
M-12 Locust- Priority: Horizon. Ultralight material and barrel.

Pistol (Companions get scope and barrel, Shepard switches magazine or ultralight material for scope)
M-5 Phalanx - Priority: Tuchanka.
M-6 Carnifax - Arrae: Ex-Cerberus Scientists
M-358 Talon - Priority: Citadel 2. This is essentially a shotgun in range and power, so give this to someone that can tank, like EDI or Kaidan.  All else, go with the other 2.

The reason I advocate scopes and barrels on companions is 2 fold; they aren't bothered by weight, and they don't run out of ammo, so anything that doesn't boost accuracy or damage output (either ranged or melee, if you prefer melee. I don't, so I don't recommend it.) are wasted.

My preferred loadout on Shepard is as follows, in order of weapon appearance;
Soldier- Cerberus Harrier, Mantis/Widow, Eviscerator/Spike Thrower, Phalanx/Carnifax
Vanguard-Avenger//Locust, Eviscerator/Spike thrower
Sentinel-Avenger, Mantis
Infiltrator-Avenger/Locust, Mantis/Widow
Engineer-Avenger/Locust, Mantis
Adept-Avenger/Locust, Mantis

This shows a bit about my playstyle, too.  I prefer to fight from mid-far range, unless a Vanguard, and I try to balance frequency of power use with the damage output of my guns, so I tend toward light weapons for the power focus classes.  The Soldier isn't power focused, so heavy weapons don't matter, and the Vanguard and Infiltrator get on really heavy one and one really light one, since those are their signature weapons.  I've seen some pretty good builds with a shotgun instead of a sniper rifle online, so if you are into that, change out the Mantis/Widow for the Eviscerator/Spike thrower.

You'll also notice I forgo a pistol for all but the Soldier. Again, it comes down to weight.  The only reason I take a pistol along as a Soldier is that I have something back on if I ever run out of ammo.

Finally, Vega's "I'm the new player avatar" thing; I read on the ME wiki and saw that, if you take him with you on certain missions, he DOES prompt exposition from those who have been with you for the last two games on the shuttle rides down.  I tested this on my most recent playthrough, saving just before the shuttle ride down on every mission and then reloading to compare with the party I normally take,  and I found that yes, he does prompt for more information.  I guess I would have noticed this quicker if I actually used him in combat, but I digress.

As for everything else, nothing has changed.  Everything else I've said in the previous 9 entries remains true, for now.

So until next time, stay beautiful freaks!

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Assassin's Den Review: Evoland

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!



Today, I'm going to review a game I picked up on steam called Evoland.  I got turned on to this game by the 8 bit Duke's review of this game.  Like he says in that review, it is a short tale of the changes adventure games past.  In fact, that's all the game is; you are going through the changes made throughout in adventure RPGs over the last three decades. From getting 2d movement, to smoother scrolling, to a weapon, to color, to introduction of a story, to better graphics to mode 7 graphics that the super nintendo introduced to basic 3d models and so on, it's all about the cliches that have been part of the standard of the adventure RPG over the last three decades.

But the most important thing is the humor of this game.  One of the things that they constantly do is point out the tropes they are playing on; for example, when you open the chest that gets you the 16 Color Display, under it, they remark "OMG Color!", and you get these things constantly as you move through the game.  From the graphical changes to the upgrades to weapons to the ability to actually name your character, you're getting humorous remarks about the changes that are being made to the gameplay and upgrades to the graphics.

This game is short; you can complete it in two hours, but it's two hours of humor and a story that doesn't take itself seriously.  It's simply "you are the good guy, go save the world from the bad guy".  That's it.  But this game isn't about story; it's about the history of adventure RPGs.  It's not deep, and it's not meant to be.  It's just a fun ride through the past in a modern form.

This game is also pretty easy, although there are places that kill you repeatedly, and there are some puzzles that left me scratching my head.  But that's part of the history, and that's what they are celebrating.  And it's done in a way that's not going to eat up a lot of your time.

I completed this game in about four hours, and that's because I got lost in a couple of dungeons (because there is no mini-map until you get the ability late in the game, another commentary on how adventure RPGs have changed.) and died a few times on a boss that was tough until I learned how to cheese it.  But I enjoyed it the whole time through; it reminded me of the games I've been playing most of my life.

I picked this up for $2.50 on steam, because it was on sale for that day only.  It's now back to being ten dollars.  I honestly think it's worth the ten dollars, but only if you go into the game with the right mindset.  It's a well controlled, well built game with a LOT of humor inside it.  Unfortunately, it doesn't have a lot of replay value; I don't think I'll be playing it for quite a while, except to try it out with my gamepad, since it may control differently with one.

I agree with the 8-bit Duke that the game could be better.  There are a LOT of things that this game does right, and there are a lot of things this game could do better.  And to be honest, this would be a good way to get children into retro adventure/RPGs; it's short, relatively easy but has parts that doesn't hold your hand.  And it's tame too, so you don't have to worry about your kids seeing something you don't want them seeing.  For that reason alone, it's worth it, and the ten bucks on steam won't break your bank.

For now, stay beautiful freaks!

Friday, April 4, 2014

Assassin's Den Reviews: Spore

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!  Today, I'm reviewing Spore, a 2008 multi-genre game, though its best described as a "god game".  A god game is an artificial life game that casts the player in the position of controlling the game on a large scale, as an entity with divine/supernatural powers, as a great leader, or with no specified character (as in in the case of this game), and places them in charge of a game setting containing autonomous characters to guard and influence.

Now, I remember, back in 2006, this game was touted in the game magazines as all about the creation, and that fact is all over the game.  You're always building or modifying things to your liking.  That is what the game is all about; from the moment you load into the game to the final part of the game, you are constantly creating something.

This game has 5 main parts; cell stage, creature stage, tribal stage, civilization stage and space stage.  The cell stage has you swimming around in the primordial ooze in a 2d plane, eating plants, meat, or both depending on your mouth parts, and picking up other cell parts to aid in your survival until you can move on to the next stage.  It is this stage where you select the kinds of food you're going to be eating in the next two stages, and determines what kind of mouth parts you open up once you get your first upgrade, and what special skill you're going to have in the next stage.

It is the creature stage where the game really opens up.  It is the first 3d stage, and has you running around the valley picking up parts for your creature and either making friends with or hunting down the other creatures to earn dna points to spend on your creature.  The creature stage continues the precedent of the previous stage and determines the skill you have for the next stage.

However, the creature stage is the stage where you are truly creating; the creature creator was released as a demo, and you can create just about anything.  You can make dragons, dinosaurs, Pokémon, characters from Homestar Runner, and yes, even penis creatures. (I only mention penis creatures because they were so prolific in the early ears, and you still find people making them on youtube from time to time.)  The spore creature creator is that dynamic.

The tribal stage isn't about creation, and is more of a real time strategy game, where you take the creature you made in the creature stage and built them into a thriving tribe.  You gather resources to build tribe members, and purchase weapons and instruments to either ally with or conquer the other tribes in your valley.  Or you can do a mix of both, and gain a different skill for the next stage.

The civilization stage, however, brings creation back full force.  Here you build a city hall, the head of your government, a house, a factory, an entertainment building, a land vehicle, a sea vehicle, and an air vehicle.  And with these vehicles that you use to take on the focus of this stage; conquer the world through religious, economic or military means, although only the economic style is really any different.

You see, the religious and military are basically the same; build your forces and then go attack a city.  The only real thing that is different is the animation for these two; the military destroys buildings, while the religious creates a big holographic member of your species who preaches to the city until it converts.  However, the economic has you building trade routes and buying cities.  This one depends on making the other nations happy so you can actually create the trade route.  You gain your initial capital by capturing spice geysers and making happy, profitable cities.  (This aspect goes across all play styles, btw.  It is just more prevalent in the economic stage.)

Once you finish the civilization, you enter, what I feel, is the most boring stage; the space stage.  You do your final act of creation and build your space ship and then head off into the stars to explore, build trade routes, colonize other worlds and make your way into the galactic core.  This is more exploration based, and, while it's cool to interact with alien empires and terraform planets to build colonies for your empire, I find the mandate to explore DULL.

Which is why I picked up the galactic adventures expansion.  Released in 2009, this once again gives you control of your creature and has you playing adventures created by players and Maxis where you beam down to a planet and going through a story that, depending on depending on the effort put into it, is fun.  However, you've still got to hunt down other empires to be able to pick up these adventures, and unless you download adventures from other players, you won't have a lot of them.  But galactic adventures gives me something to look forward to when I'm flying around the galaxy hunting for other empires and ways to make money.

The final goal of this game is to get to the galactic core and find the staff of life, which allows you to instantly terraform a planet to your liking.  You are also told that you can find Earth in one of the spiral arms at this point as well, so look forward to it.

Now, would I advise you to get this? Absolutely, if you're into the creation process.  Once you've unlocked all aspects of the game, you can spend DAYS creating cells, creatures, buildings, vehicles starships for the stages.  And if you've downloaded the galactic adventures expansion, you can build adventures too!

I picked this up on steam for 40 dollars American; 20 for the main game, and 20 for the galactic adventures.  The 20 dollars that the main game is was worth the price, but I think that the galactic adventures should not have cost as much as the main game.  It was worth it to me because of how boring I find the space stage boring, but it was still overpriced.  However, if you enjoy exploration games, then you may not want galactic adventures.  I would say pick up the core game for 20 dollars, and then decide once you've gotten to the space stage whether you want galactic adventures.  However, if you aren't into games where the main focus is creation, you should pass on this game.

Until next time, stay beautiful freaks!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

SWTOR Character tales timelines

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I'm going to clarify the timelines for the SWTOR Character tales over at fanfiction.net, since I know how confusing they are; I write whichever character I think of something interesting for at any point in their timelines.  This is going to help clarify what happens when.

First, the individual characters;

Ragdat: Jedi Knight Ragdat, Ragdat's reunion with Kaliyo, On the Council Now, Ragdat's meditation, Ragdat meets Revan, and Jedi Mission on Makeb: Briefing.
Vedere: Jedi Consular Vedere Marr, Still Coping with Katarr,On the Council Now, and Jedi Mission on Makeb: Briefing
Amelisan: Trooper Amelisan, and Major Amelisan and her life's motivation. I'm also planning a chapter where Havoc Squad takes on one of the Dread Masters, but I have to play the flashpoint first, and I'm not anywhere near that point with my new version of Amelisan.
Adaso: Sith Warrior Adaso, Recognition of the Wrath, The Mandate of the Wrath, and The Wrath faces the betrayer.
Koyi'shak (though she self identifies herself as Darth Nox after the first chapter): Sith Inquisitor Koyi'shak, The Mandate of the Wrath, Journal of Darth Nox-New Purpose, and Darth Nox's ultimate plans. I'm also writing one where she takes on the Foundry by herself, which will happen after these four.
Maircus: Bounty Hunter Maircus and Maircus: Job Offer on Makeb. I'm going to take off on this and have him take on Imperial Makeb as well.

You'll notice that I am not mentioning Curoda and Allisani. That is intentional, because while they happen along the same timeline, their stories don't interest me, because I hated playing their classes.

And the timelines for the chapters is; all character introduction chapters (the Class:Character name ones), then Ragdat's reunion with Kaliyo/Still Coping with Katarr, Major Amelisan and her life's motivation, Recognition of the Wrath, The Mandate of the Wrath, Journal of Darth Nox-New Purpose, Darth Nox's ultimate plans, On the Council Now, Ragdat's meditation, Ragdat meets Revan/unwritten chapter for Amelisan, unwritten chapter for Darth Nox, The Wrath faces the betrayer and Jedi Mission on Makeb:Briefing/Maircus: Job Offer on Makeb.

And I'll update this as I add new chapters, and I'll also make it easier to understand.

As for the second timeline;

Mamine: Jedi Knight Mamine and Mamine's Dark Meditation, so far.  I've actually got one planned where she takes on the False Emperor.
Yokonari: Sith Inquisitor Casek, Sith Warrior Yokonari, Reunion on Dromund Kaas,  Letters between friends, Near Security Breach, Introducing Light Apprentice, Vows of the White Knight, Letters between friends 2, Quinn's betrayal and feelings admitted, and Darth Imperius joins the White Knights.
Casek: Near Security Breach, Introducing Light Apprentice, Letters between friends 2, Quinn's betrayal and feelings admitted, and Darth Imperius joins the White Knights.

All three of these characters will get new chapters.  As for the timeline, add Mamine's introduction in at the same time as Yokonari, and add Dark Meditation at the same time as Darth Imperius.

All other events that I come up with will be posted in another post.  For now, check out the story I posted a link to at the top.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

More SWTOR Pictures

Welcome back, beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Today, I bring pictures of my Dark Side Jedi Knight, Light Side Sith Warrior and Light Side Sith Inquisitor.

Here's the Knight;





Here's the Warrior;




And the Inquisitor;




I've also rebuilt my Trooper and Bounty Hunter, because I have ideas for them in my SWTOR Character Tales story over at ff.net.  Look forward to them, and check out the chapters on Mamine, Yokonari and Casek in the mean time, as well as new chapters for Ragdat, Vedere, Adaso and Koyi'shak AKA Darth Nox (as she now identifies herself.)

Monday, February 24, 2014

Assassin's Den Review: Fable Anniversary

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I am going to tell you about a new game that came out in the states earlier this month, Fable Anniversary! And since I've played this game for about a week and a half, I've had a chance to play it in and out, and have seen everything the game has to offer.

Now, the best way to describe this game is "Fable the Lost Chapters as you knew it, but with quite a few updates." Those updates include graphics, UI, controls, achievements, and addition of new items.  And I will tackle each of these in turn.

Graphics.  The graphics have been completely overhauled; it is a late generation Xbox 360 game, complete with HD compatibility.  Unfortunately, I don't have an HDMI cable for my 360, so for me, a LOT of text is TINY.  So be ready for that if you are like me.

But the world looks beautiful. Albion is lush and far more colorful than it looked in 2004.  If you really look, you can see texture on the individual leaves on the trees, where in 2004, you could just see the individual leaves.  Big change that is allowed by the more powerful hardware.

And the people aren't as pale!  They actually look like they've been outside, instead of hiding inside their homes for the whole year.

But what I really like is the remodeled PC model.  Some of the hairstyles look a LOT better, as are the beards. And the age mechanic looks MUCH less annoying; you still age, but it doesn't look as drastic.  Yes, you are going to get white hair, but you aren't going to look older than your 20something sister and 50-60 year old mother.  And the Will lines are more pronounced on the less pale skin as well, and look far better.  (Unfortunately this means you won't be able to see your tattoos if you are a powerful Will user like the characters I create, but you take the good with the bad.)

Weapons and armor are more details too, though some of the good aligned armors look duller now.  Same with the Archon's Armor you get in the Necropolis, but I guess the duller colors are more realistic.

The character models are hit or miss, however. Most of the male characters look awesome.  Jack, Maze, Thunder, Twinblade, Guildmaster...they all look awesome.  And the male NPCs look great too; they look like updated versions of the character models we saw when the original Fable was released.

Female character models? Miss, more than often not.  The NPCs look fine.  But the important characters?? Not so much.  Theresa and Lady Grey have acquired what I like to call "baby cheeks disease"; their cheeks are SO FAT in comparison to their heads that it is hilarious to look at.  And while I am glad that most people in this game are less pale, it looks...off for Lady Grey.

You know, it would just be easier to do image comparisons instead of describing them.

Here's Twinblade;






Here's the hero as a child;

Great so far, but here's Theresa in Fable TLC:
And her HD version;

And finally, Lady Grey;





And since I couldn't find a picture of her, here's a youtube video of her HD version;

Skip to 1:32 to see Lady Grey's face.



The other important characters, Briar Rose, Whisper, and your mother, look fine.  But these two ladies, who I have a certain image in my head of them, look terrible.

UI.  If you played either Fable TLC of Fable 2, you'll feel right at home with this UI.  The cool thing about this is that it is set to look like a storybook.  And while some things are not where you may remember them from TLC, everything is placed somewhere that makes sense within the UI.

And we are finally given the ability to save at any time.  The game now creates checkpoints during your quests, so if you are doing a really long quest and either you have to go somewhere, the power goes out, or the game crashes (yes, it does happen, though not as frequently as the Xbox emulation for Fable 1 and TLC does on the 360), you can start back up from your last checkpoint; for example, the game will save during the Bargate Prison quest, and you can come back in halfway if you need to.

Controls. This game gives you two options for controls; Traditional, which is the original control scheme from Fable 1 and TLC, or Fable 2/3 inspired.  And I'm of mixed opinion on these.  On the one hand, I prefer the control schemes used in Fable 2 and 3, and Fable Anniversary is more fun using that control scheme...until I get more than three spells under my belt.  And that is when I have to switch back to the Fable 1 control scheme, despite me not liking the melee and ranged combat from the original game. The major reason is that Fable 1's spellcasting is drastically different than Fable 2 and 3's.  Fable 2 and 3 use a charging system, and focus on mostly attack spells, with really one support spell.  Fable 1, and by proxy Fable Anniversary, has a LOT of spells.  And the most useful spells in this game are support spells.  I only have 1 attack spell I use regularly, and that spell is mostly for crowd control.  The other 5 spells I normally use are support spells, and trying to switch between them in fast combat with the Fable 2/3 inspired control scheme is getting me hurt.  Cycling through too many spells with the Traditional scheme gets me hurt as well, and that's with three spells at a time. 1 spell at a time? No.

New Items. These I don't have access to, since I'm still without a router, so I can't connect my 360 to the internet without disconnecting my computer and doing a bit of work.  But what I've read, these are some new Legendary weapons and armors that you can purchase from vendors, so long as you've got the DLC for them.  I only use 1 Legendary weapon per game; Avo's Tear/Sword of Aeons, so those really don't interest me.

Achievements. As with any modern game, you have a list of achievements you can get.  They fall into the three major categories that the games I normally play fall into; stuff you'll get from playing the story, stuff you'll likely get from just playing the game, and stuff you need to look up how to get.  Nothing more needs to be said about these.

But all this comes down to 1 thing; is this game worth 40 bucks?  I'm actually of 2 minds for this.  If you haven't Fable TLC before, but have played Fable 2 and/or 3, most definitely.  If you're a collector of Fable related media, you should also pick this one up. But if you own Fable TLC for the Xbox, you could easily give it a pass, especially if your Xbox still works.  You should only pick this up if your Xbox experienced the hardware failure that mine did, because it is FAR more stable than the Xbox emulated version on the 360. 

Monday, February 17, 2014

Hail to the freaks! Thoughts on self identity

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

So I was at work yesterday, singing One-Eyed Doll's "Beautiful Freak", and I got a couple of strange looks from a co-worker who walked by.  I said "It's a song by a metal band." They went "Oh", and went back to work.  And that got me thinking about the concept of identity.

You see, there are two major forms of identity; your public identity and your self identity.  Your public identity is how others see you, and your self identity is how you see yourself.  You can control your public identity to some extent, by how you act around others, but for the most part, it is out of your control on how others perceive you.  Which is why I am focusing on self identity, the one that is completely under your control.

Self identity is how we perceive ourselves.  It is who we are when we are all alone.  It is the things we like, don't like, our education, our body image...etc.  It is what we wake up with, and what we go to bed with.  And yes, it is constantly re-evaluated as we assimilate new things, but for the most part, it remains constant as we get older, barring life changing events that rock us to our core.  And even then, we retain who we are.

I know this seems like a teen angst topic, but even people my age have existential issues if things aren't going the way we had planned.  The late Justin Carmical is proof of that; a man in his 40s made a rash decision based on kinks in his self identity.

So how does this tie into the song I was singing yesterday, and have been listening to on repeat since I started writing this?  Well, let's check out the lyrics.

You've got a face
Only a mother could love
Well I'll love you
You my Beautiful Freak

You're out of style
You're out of touch
Well I'll touch you
You my Beautiful Freak
Beautiful Freak

I'll be your mama
I'll be your brother
I'll be your sister
I'll be your lover

Your Pain
Your Pleasure
My Beautiful Freak
BEAUTIFUL FREAK

All my life
So lonely
Didn't know I was
a Beautiful Freak

To my pleasure
You've shown me
Now I love you
My Beautiful Freak
Beautiful Freak
My Beautiful freak
Beautiful freak

I'll be your mama
I'll be your brother
I'll be your sister
I'll be your lover

Your Pain
Your Pleasure
My Beautiful Freak

Kind of uplifting, in a dark way, isn't it?  It's about finding love just by being yourself.  Which also says, to me, that you can find happiness by just being yourself. By not letting anyone or anything tell you how you should be.  By not letting your circumstances tell you that who you are isn't right.  If it makes you happy and doesn't hurt anyone, who cares what anyone else thinks? (And that's the kicker though; so long as it doesn't hurt anyone.  That's other people and yourself.  Justin's rash decision has me on a crusade to promote suicide prevention.) Play your strange video games, watch your strange movies, write your strange songs and stories!  Be the beautiful freak that you are, and don't worry about what anyone thinks of you.  Yes, your public identity still affects you, but when it comes down to it, when everyone walks away and you're left alone, you have to live yourself. So celebrate what makes you a freak.

So I leave you with this thought; even if you have a face only a mother could love, it is still your face. Love it, celebrate it, and never let anyone or anything belittle it.  Because you are a Beautiful Freak!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Single Awareness Day, everyone!

Yes, I am not a fan of Valentine's Day.  Never have been. Or, at least, I'm not a fan of the secular version of the day.  Because seeing all these people getting flowers, cakes, candies or doing stuff for their significant other just reminds me of my failures with romance. Between stupid grade school crushes, to bullshit games that the girls in high school played with me, to bad dates I had in the military and college, to  that bitch Michelle Matas (and yes, I am using her real name for a reason.  I'm sorry Michelle, but you don't get a free ride for fucking someone else because you were mad at me), I have had little to no luck with finding love.

All day at work, I had people, co-workers and customers alike, talking about what they were doing for their significant other.  I even had an old woman say to me "I hope you're doing something nice for your lady when you get off work."  I had to say to her "I am single, ma'am.  Unhappily so.  And I know you're trying to being nice, but all you're doing is reminding me that I'm going home to an empty home."

Yes, I was being melodramatic. But sometimes, that's how it feels.  Especially on a day that reminds me that, at 31, I'm running out of time to find love.

Now, in my head, I know that's not true.  My dad was in his mid 50s before he found his true love; his current girlfriend.  So I've got plenty of time to find love. But in my heart? It is screaming "I want to be loved!" every time I see a happy couple.

So I leave this blog entry with a quote by Thomas Merton, a catholic priest and mystic, because this is why I don't just just seek any open arms (again, kiss my ass Michelle); “Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.”

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Suicide Prevention

EDIT: To those who see this now, my opinion of this man has drastically changed. I had no idea he was a rapist back in 2014. But that doesn't change the fact that suicide prevention is important, because rapist or not, he left behind a lot of people who, at the time, thought the world of him.  With that said, here are my thoughts in 2014 about a man I thought I knew and missed.

I don't know how many of you guys watched him, but I just received news that Justin Carmical, best known by his handle JewWario, died this past Thursday, January 23, 2014. I had spoken to him a few times in the past, and he always made me feel special, like he was the big brother I never had. He even used a suggestion I made in his show. He was always awesome to talk to, and for those who actually got a chance to meet him found him to be a warm, funny, fun loving guy.

This is what was posted by his wife on Facebook a few days later;
It is with a very sad heart that I must confirm my husband, Justin Carmical, sometimes known as the Jew Wario died on Thursday, January 23rd.

I also have to confirm he shot himself, but he was not alone, he locked himself in the bathroom and I was on the other side of the door talking with him. He knew I loved him, HE KNEW ALL OF YOU LOVED HIM. You all made him so happy, every time he was recognized from his videos, it made him giddy with joy.

His last recording was a song with Johnathan Mann, I don't know if Johnathan knows. He recorded it the night before.

I am surrounded by family and friends, and am taking this one moment at a time, remembering to breathe. I want to share with you what the Chaplain said to me, it was a momentary mistake, hold on to the good memories. I will post an update once a decision has been made about funeral arrangements.

If I need anything I will let you know, just hold on to each other and love each other, and thank you all so much for loving him so much.


From what I read up on this, what caused it was financial stress combined with prior issues with depression. He lost his previous job and his youtube channel wasn't picking up the financial slack. He was also looking to make a movie, and he refused to use the funds that his fans gave him to pay his bills. Combine this with previous issues with depression and you've got a volatile situation where the man would feel like he had no hope.

Now, from outsiders, there were no indications that he had this darkness deep inside him. Any time you would see him at conventions or anything he posted online or any other appearances he made in public, he was always happy, playful and making sure everyone was having a good time. He even helped another former TGWTG contributor, Sarah Wilson, AKA Pushing Up Roses, to pick herself back after her OWN bout with suicidal thoughts.

This is a shining example of why we need to take care of our own mental health. If something's wrong SEEK HELP. If you feel like there's no hope, SEEK HELP. The sun always rises on a new day, and each new day gives you new opportunities to make things better.

And I'll leave you guys with a few websites on suicide prevention and how to cope with the loss you feel with if suicide took someone you care about.

http://www.allianceofhope.org/
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/suicide_prevention.htm
http://www.afsp.org/

Here's the link to the fundraiser for Justin's family;

http://www.gofundme.com/6groao

So far, they have made far past their $850 dollar goal; $13,000 dollars so far, and it continues to grow. Since the whole thing was caused by financial difficulties, the more money we can send Jenny's way, the better.

Just take care of yourselves, ladies and gents.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Assassin's Den Review: Exploding Rabbit Productions

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, welcome back to the Assassin's Den!

Today, I'm going to talk about a game developer; Exploding Rabbit Productions.

Exploding Rabbit is a production company that was founded on April 27, 2010, when Jay Pavlina released Super Mario Bros. Crossover. For a while, it was only one person, but now, it is a team of eight people. The company is focused on game development for now, but eventually, Jay would like for it to produce films and possibly music as well.

These guys are as indy as you can get; small company, no name people who's only real accomplishment is a kickstarter and the aforementioned Super Mario Crossover.  The kickstarter was for their IP, Super Action Squad, a sidescroller based heavily on what they learned from Super Mario Crossover, but is a completely original game with 9 playable characters.  More details about Super Action Squad can be found in this video here;


Yes, I know they call it Super Retro Squad in the video, but that name is from an earlier time in development. I'd wager that Super Action Squad will be the name they go with when the game is finally released.

Unfortunately, these guys are extremely small time, so most of the team has to have day jobs, so the release date for Super Action Squad is still TBA, since the team can't work on the game as much as they want to.  Which is why they are having a donation drive in addition to their kickstarter; which can be found here.

However, if you want to see how this game will end up being similar to, you can check out their face game, Super Mario Crossover.  This game was actually originally coded by Jay Pavlina, the president and CEO of Exploding Rabbit, back in 2009, and released it to the world in 2010. The game was released on April 28, 2010, and within 24 hours, had been played a million times.  And over the years, the game has been updated many times, adding new characters, new abilities for those characters, levels, cheats, all kinds of stuff.  All the characters, from Mega Man to Link to Ryu Hayabusa, control like they do in their own games, all while running, jumping and fighting in Mario levels.  And it is a brand new experience having Samus Aran running through Super Mario as well; this game is fun every time I play it.

So check out Super Mario Crossover, and think about dropping some money into the Exploding Rabbit bucket. It will help them release Super Action Squad sooner.  But for now...I still need to think of a new ending comment.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Feeling old? Couple ways to avoid that!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!

Over the last couple of days, the webcomic Girls With Slingshots, has been doing its annual New Years comics, and the plot of it this year is that Hazel, the protagonist of the comic, is dealing with the "I feel old" at this one.  You see, Hazel's friends decided to "party like it's 1994", and Hazel, though into it, realizes that 1994 is now 20 years ago. And after the year turns to 2014 in the comic, Hazel is outside thinking about where her life is, and where she thought it would be by this point in her life.

This is something that everyone goes through at some point, though it hits those of us who are unmarried and without children earlier.  You are focused on making sure your kids are growing up right after all.  But those of us who are completely single? The fact that we are getting older hits us like a ton of bricks.  For us, youth doesn't feel as long ago as it truly is, and we can look at who we are and who we thought we'd be with a little more clarity.

Sure, we don't miss the past.  High school sucked, no matter how good the memories may make us feel.  No, what we miss is the unspent potential that we has back then.  The feeling that the future is bright, and we can take on the world, that no one can stop us. You know, all the feelings that are crushed under the weight of adulthood.  I mean, even ten years after high school, we've spent a LOT of time learning and perfecting a trade, building relationships and the like, and some of the potential we had back then is spent.

That's the thing though; even in our 30s, we've still got a LOT of time to make something of ourselves.  We're not considered washed up for another 30 years!  Yes, things are a little more limited since we've put a lot of effort into ourselves, but we've got a LOT Of time to go!

And besides, there are a couple of easy ways to avoid feeling old; don't pretend that things that were fun as a kid aren't fun now.  Who cares if people look at you funny for swinging on swing sets at the part? Who cares what looks you get when you watch Spongebob Squarepants or My Little Pony? What does it matter if you have Lego models on your shelves? You like it, so screw them!

And second, keep up to date with your personal musical tastes.  With websites like bandcamp and pandora, it's not as hard as it used to be. Pandora cycles through music that ties into your tastes, and bandcamp is the best place to find new and old artists.

And there are other ways to avoid feeling old.  But I leave those to you, as well as a quote from Chili Davis; Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

SWTOR Character Profile: Second Sith Warrior and Inquisitor

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den.

Since Xletalis finished his Sith Legacy stories, I was actually inspired to connect my Light Side Sith Warrior and Inquisitor, though in a different way.  Instead of messing with the timeline like he did, I have these two happening concurrently.


Name: Yokonari
Gender: Female
Species: Pureblood Sith
Age: 22 standard years
Homeworld: Unknown
Class: Sith Warrior/Sith Maurader Carnedge Tree
Personality Profile: "You are a member of the White Knights; a secret organization within the Empire that is tasked with taking down the Sith most corrupted by the Dark Side.  Your family has trained you in the Light Side since your Force sensitivity was discovered, as well as the power of Force concealment.  Yes, the Dark Side rules the Empire, and yes, you will be killed if your true nature is ever discovered, but your sect maintains the balance of the Empire; you keep those who have fallen too far from destroying the Empire from within. However, to maintain your cover, you play the same power games that other Sith play, until you are required to do what is necessary."


Name: Casek (pronounced Cah-sek)
Gender: Male
Species: Zabrak
Age: 20 standard years
Homeworld: Unknown
Class: Sith Inquisitor/Sith Sorceror Lightning Tree
Personality Profile: "You were initiated into the White Knights when your Force sensitivity was discovered by your best friend Yokonari as a child, but you have not taken your final vows.  You've been made a Sith Lord, so they know you can survive and keep your nature secret from the rest of the Sith, but you've been so preoccupied with gaining the power necessary to survive Thanaton's war against you that you've not had the chance to stop.  They understand, of course, and will wait as long as necessary, but you want to finish this as soon as possible and get on with your true calling."

And that is these two. I'll get their pictures as soon as I have their looks and weapons for them. As for now...I'm looking for a better way to close these. :(