Sims 3 - World Adventures EP

I broke down and bought the Sims 3 expansion pack, even I didn’t think it looked all that great and, as previously demonstrated, I’m not crazy about the base game.  However, I am the master of impulse buys and later deep regrets.  The deep regret of this purchase hasn’t quite hit, or at least not yet.

Basically, if you’ve played Sims 1 or 2 and know of Bon Voyage and Vacation/On Holiday, you know what to expect with World Adventures.  You can take your pixel dolls to China, France, or Egypt and immerse them into a very watered down version of the actual countries.  It would have been sweet if your sims had to learn the languages and were standing there holding a translation book mispronouncing everything with the sims who live there just stand there and laugh, but hey, I’m a history major, not a game designer.  Whilst there, the sims can go on these crazy adventures that lead them into tombs and such.  They can also steal precious artifacts so they won’t be taken care of properly and future generations will not understand past cultures and humans and therefore will be doomed to make similar mistakes or just being rock stupid in general.  /historymajor

I actually found these little quests quite fucking tedious.  Maybe I’m just lazy (80% possibility), but it’s not like Fallout 3 or Borderlands where you just point the analogue stick/mouse while holding down WASD to get through one area.  You have to click around each maze to keep the sims from killing themselves.

Like Jimbob McGee here.  First time he was going through a tomb in China I was like, “Oh, he’s probably smart enough not to walk through fucking fire.”  When the Grim Reaper showed up to take away the now toasty Jimbob, I realized I was putting too much faith in the programming.  Sorry, Jimbob.  Again though, tons of clicking.  And if you want more than one person to go through a tomb, expect even more.
The visa system is an interesting new twist, though.  All sims start off with a level 1 visa for each location, and must acquire points through adventuring in order to gain a higher visa level.  On visa level 1, they can only spend three days on location before getting booted into a loading screen regardless of what they were previously doing.  Because I’ve been playing an epic amount of Red Faction:Guerrilla and I’m now back at school, I haven’t managed to get anyone past level 1 yet.  I’m also not trying very hard, so there’s that.

Sims can also enjoy the new hobbies photography and martial arts.  Martial arts is hilarious because they start off fighting with the sissiest half-hearted slapping you’ve ever seen.  Photography is sort of silly because the challenges are pretty weird.  One of them is to take a picture of a tissue box.  Yeah.

With every expansion, of course, there’s new shit to pimp your sims out with.  Such as this hairstyle, and this eyeliner that looks like an earthquake hit in the middle of the application process.

 
Seriously, what the fuck.

There isn’t a ton of new shit, which is understandable given that there are basically 3 more neighborhoods instead.  In general, it’s a few new Create-A-Sim shit like hair and clothing (men are once again largely overlooked unless you want like 12 new hats), as well as some nice Chinese, French, and Egyptian styled furniture and decor.  There’s also a totally bitching moped that made me giggle furiously.  Other than that, gameplay back in the normal neighborhood is pretty much untouched.

Of course, because this is EAxis we’re talking about, there’s some pretty gnarly bugs in this expansion.  The biggest one is the fact that the launcher refuses to install a bunch of custom content, even if it’s content from the Sims Store.  That’s right, if you were willing to pay money for some little pixel furniture, guess what?  You can’t even use it unless you use some insane fix that involves converting files or sacrificing to Odin or something ludicrous.  Great job, EAxis!  Further, I personally have had weird shit like sims not going to school or work and therefore performance slips to ridiculously bad levels, an issue that I’ve only been able to solve by using the Awesomemod’s “backtowork” command at 9 AM, 3 PM, and 8 PM.  That or just letting everyone fail and then sitting back and laughing, but usually I actually want to play the game as they meant for it to be played.  Another weird glitch is that sometimes inventory objects will just vanish.  Shit sucks if it’s an adventuring item that you need in order to get more visa points.  I never thought I would ever actually say “FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU…” in real life, but I did that day.

Honestly I don’t understand EAxis’ bug fixing policy.  Some of the issues people have been having have been around since the base game.  Half the bugs EAxis doesn’t fix are fixed by fan-made mods like the Awesomemod.  I understand the economy sucks and they may not want to hire a whole bunch of testers, but if some regular guy can fix this shit for free and do it within a couple of days, what’s EAxis doing?
I feel like I rant about EAxis every time, but sweet Jesus, I don’t think I’ve ever played a game this buggy that doesn’t get a patch within a few days.  Hell, wasn’t Modern Warfare 2 patched like the day after it was released because there were issues with multiplayer?  Infinity Ward, go help EAxis or something.  Damn.

Anyway.  It’s hard for me to recommend this expansion pack, but I feel like that’s probably because of who I am.  Currently I’m having a ton of fun beating dudes with a sledgehammer in Red Faction.  World Adventures, by comparison, is kinda boring.  If you enjoyed the other “journey to another land” expansion packs of Sims 1 and 2, you’ll probably enjoy this one.  It’s a good expansion, but I wouldn’t have used it as the first one.  I think they should’ve done something like Nightlife/Hot Date and mix up everyday gameplay a bit.  Again though, I study ancient Greece so my opinion is moot, really.

Final verdict: meh.  Hold your money until a patch is released.

OWWIE.

Dance shit is going to kill me over the next few weeks. In addition to my modern jazz class, which leaves my body aching like I got hit by a truck and my knees looking like this:

swing dance is getting fucking dangerous. Seriously, there are about 30 ways for me to die in this next routine we're doing. First I'm flying through the air, then I'm fucking plummeting to the floor and hoping my partner catches me by the hands or--in one really scary instance--my fucking neck. OH GOD. I may be agnostic but I have prayed more times this week to not die just yet.

So, Ben Folds concert next monday, the 30th. Expect my full review/fantardgasm sometime soon after. I gave roomie a few songs of his so that she'd get a feel for what to expect, and like I thought she would, she didn't get half of his lyrics. When I explained them, she was like "HOLY SHIT THAT'S CLEVER." Pretty much. Ben Folds is a clever motherfucker.

In Greek we're translating Homer's Iliad from the original Greek and SHIT'S SO FUCKING COOL. I don't think I've ever gotten this excited to do work. What can I say, it's a classic fucking text and I get to do my own translation. Goddamn it's so awesome. Except that Achilles and Agammemnon just need to stop bitching at each other and get shit done. Like some goddamn middle schoolers. And the gods fucking suck. Besides the storyline, the Greek language is just so fucking cool. There's a lot of stuff that doesn't translate well into English, so reading the original text is sometimes just mindblowing.

Enough of my nerdism. It's 1:30 AM and I'm getting silly-minded. Or even more so than usual.

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Now playing: Motörhead - Damage Case

Fuck yes, we can!

So there's this crazy rumor going around that Barack Obama got elected for President. It's almost like my friends threw an election party in their apartment during which we made delicious cakes,


then when the winner was announced we shrieked like fire ants were in our panties and jumped around like kangaroos on goofballs. Arriving back to campus at about 12:20, there was a mini parade going down campus walk.

I screamed "FUCK YEAH, OBAMA!" and received many a high five for my awesomeness. What a great time to be in college.

Roomie and I also kick ass at playing Damien Rice's "Coconut Skins" on guitar, and disturbed several neighbors who peeked out of their windows to see what herd of cattle were getting mutilated with out of tune guitars.

Sweater #2 is 1/4 done. And I realize now that I never posted pictures/pattern of the other one I made, but you shall have to wait.

Fallout 3 might be my new favorite game. Out of the way, Gears of War. Marcus Fenix, I know you and I have had some good times killing the Locusts. And I apologize for laughing when I allow you to take a missle to the chest and explode into chunks. But Fallout 3 lets me create my own badass character, Sunny, who looks sort of like me and is also severely badass. I've had good times consorting with ghouls, Wastelanders, and those kooky folk in Rivet City. My karma is so good my Pip Boy 3000 makes me look like Jesus. I've got to find my father, you understand. So until GoW 2 comes out on PC or I get an XBox, I think we need to take a break, Marcus.

I need to lay off the Mountain Dew. Anyway, it's 1940's Dance tonight, hosted by my Swing Dance club, so I'm stoked. I will party it down and probably get twirled around like a top, possibly thrown up in the air. Supposedly there will be people from the armed forces there. YAY! I love troops. The proceeds also go to Veterans of Foreign Wars, so it's a good thing we're doing.

So I'm gonna go get ready to get my groove on.

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Now playing: Dir en grey - 24ko Cylinder

Greatest waste of money ever.

I had preordered the Mystery Science Theater 3000 20th Anniversary Edition a couple of weeks ago, but Amazon had told me, "LOL YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT UNTIL NOVEMBER 3RD, SUCKA!" So what a surprise when I checked the status of my lovely set and found that it arrived today! The day it was released! I love you, Amazon! You facilitate my MST3K infatuation so nicely.

I already had all of the episodes, but I wanted the high quality versions(in other words, not ripped off of VHS tapes that were recorded from the TV, and in some cases still had some hilariously awesome mid 1990s commercials) and to free up some hard drive space. The package was ripped open immediately and I took pictures to taunt my friends who thought there were better ways to spend $50 or some nonsense.

Awesome tin box that will be used for non-MST3K item storage.

CROOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. It bothers me that they made his eyes too small.

Dear God, my nails look awful. Oh, and the front cover.

Back cover, featuring Gypsy.

I put the lobby cards beside my other loves.

Closeup of the lobby cards. And there's something yellow and gross on my wall.

Now I have to go work on a speech. Fun time is over.
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Now playing: Björk - Unison

When Obama and Biden Came to Mary Washington.

Roomie, roomie's friend, and I notice at about 1 PM that the line is getting really fucking long, so we scoot outside. The end of the line can't even be seen.


We find out later that there are 26,000 people lined up. This is how long the line was. It starts at the X, where the rally was held.

So we cut in line. Yes, we are severe assholes. But seriously, we stood beside people we knew, and there was no one there to tell us not to. Normally I would feel bad but in this case I didn't care. Again, asshole here. Anyway, we got in at about 3 PM (waiting for about 2 hrs in the sun), and got a good spot about 30 ft away from the stage. Awesome. Now all we had to do was wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Remember that it's hot in the middle of the field, and we had to give up our water at the gates. Then the fucktards didn't even bring enough water. So people were passing out, complaining about water, and the idiots running this thing only threw out about 6 bottles every 10 minutes. Because 6 bottles are really going to satiate 26,000 people. A friend finally just stole one from the press, who had cases upon cases of fucking water. We shared that bottle between six people, which didn't last at all, but dammit, it was the best 2 sips of water ever.

Then it started fucking raining. We had one poncho between the three of us, because in addition to being assholes, we are rock stupid. So we held the poncho over us, which did absolutely nothing, and I eventually just said "Fuck this shit" and stood out in the rain. Now of course I regret this decision, as now I am sick as hell. However, the poncho made a great water collection device, and we, being desperate, earned 2 more sips of water. Delicious acid rain water, but H2O nevertheless.

Then there was more waiting. We had also been standing in the best part of Ball Circle where it always floods and gets muddy whenever it rains, so this is what I had to stand in for about 3 hours:
My feet kept on getting stuck in the mud, and if I didn't keep moving my feet I'd have a hard time getting my shoes out. One cannot even convey to anyone who wasn't there how absolutely miserable everyone was. Whomever was running this thing had no fucking idea what they were doing.

It's now about 6 PM. The thing was supposed to start at 5:15. Needless to say, everyone is getting more pissed off by the minute. Although everyone had known that he would be late, it was obnoxious to continue hearing the same 10 songs over and over again, and without someone entertaining the crowd or at least giving us updates. Finally, some guy comes out.
It's a goddamned minister. Excuse my heathen mouth, but the last thing I wanted to hear was some bullshit prayer with clear political overtones. Thanks for combining the two things that annoy me the most. Also note the rain coming down.

There are a few other guys, but I put my iPod on because I didn't fucking care. Also, it was vastly entertaining to watch people try to energize a crowd whose energy was long gone while listening to Ben Folds. Ben Folds definitely boosted my spirits, though, so thanks Ben.

Then some people come out and start fiddling with the monitors and podium for 45 fucking minutes. At this point everyone's pissed, because these people are so concerned about getting the right angle for the monitor that they fool with that shit for nearly an hour. The audience finally starts booing. Can you blame us? It's about 7 PM, some people have been standing in line since 9 AM, and these fuckers are going to stand there and get frazzled over the damned monitor? Hell no! The only funny part was the state trooper, who I guess they got because he was the right height.
Finally. FINALLY. HOLY SWEET JESUS, SOMETHING IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. Then suddenly...
AND the crowd goes wild. Yaaaaaay. So there's Joe. He was pretty awesome. He mostly did a lot of praise of Obama, cracked a few jokes, and called Mary Wash a great school (KISS ASS).
I hated the fucktards who kept putting their children on their shoulders. Not only are you blocking the view of people behind you, but the kids are too young to even give a shit anyway. I definitely heard the kid in the above picture whine, "Mommy, I want to go home."

Then the showstopper came on. And again, the crowd went wild. Yaaaaay.
He was as good as you'd expect. He did a bit more McCain bashing than I hoped he would, but he did talk about his own policies and plans about 50-50. And while I don't agree with everything he says, Obama definitely would be the better President.
It started to rain again, but Obama kept right own going. He even took off his coat and handed it to Biden, who was giggling because we were all like "OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH" when Obama took it off. It was hilarity. Biden asked him if he wanted a hat, to which Obama replied, "I don't need a hat!" Again, everyone thought it was great. I was laughing my ass off.
Biden with his hat. You can't see it, but he's striking the most awesome Captain Morgan pose ever, with one leg up on a stool. He should totally win that pose-off contest, if it's still going.

That was pretty much it. It was an entertaining night, and worth the waiting and misery, but I'm not doing that again. As I mentioned before, I feel like shit right now. Not to mention I drank about half my weight in water when I got home. Ew.

A Peek Inside the Life of Tinnerz.

Or, I got really bored last night and started taking pictures of my dorm room. They say you can judge someone based on their living quarters, so judge away.


My feet. And my ridiculously long and baggy, yet most comfortable pair of jeans. And they actually fit my delicious black girl hips! YAY!

Flamingo my roomie and I definitely stole from a luau thrown by one of the clubs on campus.

Monkey stolen from the same event, with a fucked up leg. We'll have to perform surgery on him one day.


The workspace, complete with attack llama to ward off crazies. Also, more MST3K then you can shake a stick at. And my beloved iPod Bartholemew.


My guitar <3. It is delicious. I've had it for about 5 years. I have 2 acoustics but given the space limitations at college I always choose to bring my electric axe. Its name is Pepper. Yeah, I name all of my gadgets for maximum confusion of others.


TV and window. Also notice what DVD is sitting on the dressers. If you can't read it, it's MST3K. I'm such a tard.


Remember the fail knitting I displayed earlier? Well look at that shit now! All I have left to do is finish the left sleeve, knit the hood, and sew in the zipper. Hot damn I'm good. Also notice how Herodotus sneaks his way into the picture.


TARD WALL!!! This picture was actually taken today because I just bought the Monty Python and Radiohead OK Computer posters this morning. So this is what it currently looks like. Last night it was bare and no one wants to see that sadness. Now it is pretty and filled with...holy shit that's a lot of testosterone on my wall. In my defense, I was actually looking for a poster of Janis Joplin this morning but ultimately failed. The search will continue.


The best thing about my dorm room is that the building is 101 years old, so it has these awesome high ceilings, walk in closets, and pipes that are perfect for hanging shit. Roomie and I keep coming up with new ideas on how to decorate, and especially given the fact that our room is one of the largest ones in the building (being in a corner) we have a lot to work with. I'm quite pleased with us.

I rawk at MS Paint.

Okay, so it was actually Paint Shop Pro. Same damn thing though.




This is what reading nothing but shit about the Greco-Persian wars for about a month will do to you.

And I can't believe Smartie put them on Idletard. Though I do need to get ready for my exhibit at the Louvre.

Because baby birds are awesome.

I was supposed to be helping my father put a new screen door up a few days ago, but how could I resist this little bundle of cute? This is the one closest to me, and the only one I could ever get a decent picture of. It looks like it's giving me the stink eye. Probably is.



You can see the others' mouths in this one. My tiny friend is like, "Oh shut up and get that camera out of my face, I'm trying to sleep, dammit."

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! The human won't get out of my face!"

FYI, these are baby robins. Mama Robin didn't seem to mind me at all. She kept a close eye on me, but as soon as I backed about 5 feet away from the nest she returned to her youngins. I'm glad I didn't get my brains pecked out.