The Division

As I hope you all know. I am a geek. Which means I love everything from superhero films, to the latest technology. Well, one avenue I enjoy letting my geek out is video games. I love video games, however I do not play video games the way most people do. I will make a list of some of my all time favorites in a different post; today, I want to focus on a game I haven't actually played yet. Tom Clancy's The Division. This game looks amazing, graphically speaking. But I want to list three reasons I want to play the game, along with three concerns I have.

Reasons to Play
#1 - Multiplayer
I have been hoping for a console game with the MMO-RPG style made so famous (but not invented)by Blizzard's World of Warcraft. The reason I loved WoW, was the depth of player interaction and how you create your own story for your character(s). Now, I have always wanted a game like this on the consoles, but technology hasn't allowed this until now. Well, almost. The division seems to still rely heavily on a scripted story, but it's a story you complete while other players run around you completing simultaneously. No player will have the same experience, because each player will be effected by the other players around them. This is what I have wanted, because I don't like campaigns that turn into a dance. Remember how masters of Super Mario Bro.s could complete the game in a matter of minutes by memorizing a set pattern in the games? I want the challenge of there being no pattern to learn. I want a different experience each time I play. MMO-RPG's provide this.

#2 - Open World
I love open world games; again, this stems from my desire to build my own story. By allowing me to choose what parts of the story I want to complete and the parts I want to ignore, I make the experience unique. Once again, technology is just now allowing consoles to provide truly open world games. Most open worlds in games are to large to be functional on a consoles. You either have too many loading screens to enjoy the game, or not enough details in the environment to enjoy the game. The Division provides a massive New York City area to explore and enjoy, without numerous loading screens between areas. Also, the game will feature expansions with more of the city to explore soon.

#3 - Realistic Combat
Having been a soldier in the US Army, I hate how the majority of video games depict combat. Yes, this is directed at you Call of Duty. Do not get me wrong, I love the Call of Duty franchise as much as the next guy; wait, let me rephrase, I love the good Call of Duty titles (anything before Block Ops II). They were amazing games, and I spent far too many hours on them. A popular phrase my college friends and I would say is "It's time to get knifed in the downstairs, while playing CoD in the But." Which sounds dirty, but it simply refers to a player being killed by a knife in the downstairs room while playing Call of Duty: World at War in Butler Hall at our college. But CoD doesn't provide a realistic combat experience. First, there is no quick scoping in combat. Second, rarely is it one shot one kill (unless you have the time, patience, and skill to do it). Third, you do not die instantly from most gun shot wounds. And fourth, you do not sprint around the combat area trying to knife people or throw grenades blindly or perform what I call "spraying and praying" and actually kill the target. Now, from what I have seen of The Division, it isn't a perfect depiction of combat either, but it brings in a very important aspect of combat, COVER! Yes, in reality, you would hide behind anything solid enough to stop a bullet. Why? Because you are not superman and med kits do not heal your wounds in seconds, they take days, weeks, or longer. Real soldiers use cover and concealment when engaging the enemy. Also, if you have watched Lone Survivor, you will realize, the human body can take an enormous amount of punishment before dying. Especially when your life depends on it. This doesn't factor in the training elite soldiers do to survive combat. So, it may actually take multiple hits on a target to actually kill them. Now, no video game has perfectly captured this, but The Division has gotten a few things right.

So, those are three things I liked about what I have seen of the game. Now for some concerns I have.
#1 - Bugs
The reviews I have read, suggest the game was more than developer Ubisoft could handle in terms of size. The game is apparently filled with bugs and glitches, not to mention players intent on just overloading their character to bully other players. This can be explained by the games massive scope and a lack of planning for adolescent minded players who intend on making other players hate the game.

#2 - Not So Open World
From the videos I have watched, primarily by Massive Network, It seems the streets are open world, but the buildings you can enter are limited. I know it is still not possible to design and program each individual room of each building, but I think a few more interior areas would be nice to have.

#3 - Overly Complicated Player Customization
This may be due to my lack of playing the game yet, but the player customization options seem far to numerous to be enjoyable. Also, it seems too many people can easily purchase advanced gear for a new character without any playing time required. This means the gear earned early in the game makes players who didn't make additional purchases weaker than other players. This concerns me.

I would love to hear some recommendations on whether I should try this game, buy it, or avoid it all together.

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS (REVISITED)

Well, if you haven't guessed or heard already, I am attempting to relaunch my blog. This time I intend on actually making something of it, not simply writing useless things. However, I cannot deny my inner geek (no I am not a nerd, cause nerds love to learn or love education, I love geek things). So, join me as we review an old post, and make a few revisions to it. My post about a possible reboot of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series was, in my opinion, one of my better posts. Well now, there officially is a reboot in the works and many of the characters have been revealed, though not much of the story has to this point. I think it will be interesting to see how my opinion stacks up to what is actually happening. 

As you can see above, the new poster is decent, though not very different from the various posters used by the numerous shows. 

Now, let us begin with the characters. and of course we will start with the heroes.

Above is an official picture of the new Rangers. I'm afraid they each look a little too much like models to be tough monster fighters; but that's Hollywood for you. Below is the original Rangers from the hit 90's show.

Without knowing the characters in the new film, I can only compare how the new characters look when compared to the old character.

So, let us begin with the Black Ranger, played by Ludi Lin. Known as Zack Taylor, the new Black Ranger keeps the name, but steers clear of the stereo typical casting the show was criticized for. All I can say is, I hope his jaw is stronger than it looks, cause he doesn't look like he can taker a punch. But overall, should at least look the part.

I am afraid I do not like the casting choice of Becky Gomez on the surface. Miss Gomez, who I am certain is a talented actress in her own right (I am unfamiliar with her work at this time), doesn't fit the name Trini Kwan. Now perhaps the character names will not be the same as the original show, but this would be very disappointing for us lifelong fans.

Billy Cranston, the famous nerd of the original group, will be played by RJ Cyler. I almost like this casting, at least without seeing any footage of the young actor. Billy was by far one of my favorites, and he was hands down, my mom's favorite; so please stay true to the character while expanding upon it.

Well, well, the girl next door is back. The Pink Ranger, Kimberly Hart, was a role seemingly destined to be played by the adorable Amy Jo Johnson. However, Miss Naomi Scott will undertake this near iconic role. IS she ready for the undoubted pressure that will accompany it? I must admit, from her picture in the group photo above, I don't think they are sticking with the girl next door character we all knew.

The leader of the Rangers is of course the Red Ranger. Austin St John played the character known as Jason Lee Scott very well. Dacre Montgomery will be called upon to reinvent the character. Perhaps he can add a depth to the character, the limits of the show didn't allow.

The casting of Elizabeth Banks seemed good to me on the surface. No, she wasn't my choice but I thought, maybe it works. However, the recent images of her Rita Repulsa is anything but good. She looks nothing like the evil witch that plagued the Rangers I remember. Below are pictures of her character found on the web. I found the promotional image of her off IMDb.com. there has been no word on who, if anyone, will play Zordon. The mystical being who formed the Rangers. Unfortunately, I fear they will not do the character justice.

Please let me know your thoughts on the upcoming movie. The current release date is March 24, 2017.

New Day

So, I didn't write a single post in 2015. Much to my disappointment. Well, that is going to change. I finish my graduate classes this month and will begin blogging like crazy. I hope you are ready for many blogs to come. I know one blog I intend on writing soon will be about top 10 video games I have ever played. Plus I look forward to writing a review of the new Captain America: Civil War movie once it's out! I hope you all have a blessed day! 

World of Warcraft

Many years ago, in my college days, I played the extremely popular World of Warcraft (WoW) game. Though I was never as addicted to the game as those die hard fans you hear stories about, I did enjoy playing the game. Between playing WoW and Call of Duty, Ididn't get much homework done. I played the game in what I think many would agree was the height of its popularity, in the expansion Wrath of the Lich King. My friends and I spent many hours questing and raiding. After I got married, my wife convinced me I needed to return to college, well that and I found working without a degree something I didn't ever want to do again. So I stopped playing the game. Over four years and three expansions later, I have decided to return to Azeroth. I want to take you along for the ride as I my favorite places and try out the new features of the game. However, my goal is to record videos of my gameplay for you to see. I do want to involve you the readers this time though. I will be playing the alliance, since that was the faction i played before and wish to play on my old server, what race and class should I create for my videos? Perhaps a Worgen warrior or druid? Maybe a Human paladin or priest? Night Elf druid or rogue? Write your choice of race or class in the comments section and a reason why you chose that combination. The person with the best reasoning will have their character chosen. Then we can create a name and begin questing. I will choose the best answer this Friday, Dec. 5, 2014. 

To end this post I would like to give a short recap of WoW for any readers that do not know. 

World of Wacraft began in 2004 as a continuation of the very popular Warcraft series. The Warcraft games were real time strategy games while WoW is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMO-RPG). The orginal game allowed plyers to play up to level 60, on either the Horde or Alliance factions. Each faction had four races to choose from. The Alliance: Night Elves, Humans, Dwarves, or Gnomes; while the Horde: Orcs, Undead, Trolls, and Tauren. Each race had certain classes they could choose to play as: Warriors, Hunters, Rogues, Priests, Mages, Warlocks, Druids, Shamans, and Paladins (some classes were only available for certain races: i.e. druids could ony be Night Elves or Tauren). Originally, Paladins could only be played by Alliance races and Shamans could only be Horde races. Each class served a specific function in a group: tank - absorbs the majority of attacks and damage, healers - heal raid/party members (specifically the tank), and DPS or damage dealers - deal the majority of damage to the target or targets. Some classes could fill multiple roles, but not at the same time. Here are how the classes break down by role; Tanks - Warriors, Druids, and Paladins; Healers - Priests, Druids, Shamans, and Paladins; DPS - Warriors, Hunters, Rogues, Priests, Mages, Warlocks, Druids, Shamans, and Paladins. Though any class could fill the role of DPS, each has a unique way of dealing damage. 

In January of 2007, WoW released its first expansion, The Burning Crusade.

An old villian in the Warcraft canon returned, Illidian Stormrage and his Burning Legion wreck havoc on the Horde and Alliance again. This expansion raised the level cap to 70 and added two new playable races. The Dranenei (Alliance) and Blood Elves (Horde). Another new feature of the expansion was the addition of flying Mounts in the new territory (Outland). The new races allowed the faction specific classes (Paladin and Shaman) to be played by the other faction. Blood Elves could be Paladins, and Draenei could be Shamans. 

The game continued to grow in popularity, and by the end of 2008, it reached its peak with the release of its second expansion: Wrath of the Lich King. 

The Lich King is another villain from Warcraft lore, who was the focus of the Warcraft III expansion. Now he has returned to seek his revenge. Though no new races were introduced, this expansion saw the introduction of a ne epic class; the Death Knight. The Death Knight served the Lich King until they turned against him and joinded the Alliance and Horde. Death Knights are like a mix between Paladins and Warlocks; they can be Tanks or DPS. This expansion also brought the kingdom of Northrend into gameplay. This was another area where players could fly. This is also where I left the game. The following expansions I have never played. 

December 2010 saw the release of Cataclysm and the first major changes to the WoW game. 

Deathwing, another old villain (can you tell how deep the backstory for this game is?) rips holes in Azeroth and spreads his destruction. The Alliance and Horde must join forces again to stop the onslaught. This expansion saw many note worthy changes to WoW, and set the level cap at 85. Two new races were added: Worgen (Alliance) and Goblins (Horde). This expansion also saw flying mounts coming to the classic lands of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. The Worgen are a major reason why Iam returning to WoW. Another change worthnoting is he expaansion of classes into different races. Each race only had a limited number of classes they could play as, and this expansion allowed more classes for each race. 

September 2012 marked the release of another expansion; Mists of Pandaria.

A new race, new class, new land to explore, and a level cap of 90 are the highlights of this expansion. However, the unique aspect of this expansion was the new race's ability to choose which faction they wanted to side with. The Pandaren could choose to be eiter Aliiance or Horde. Also, the Monk was added to the list of classes providing another all around class like the Druids. Monks can be a Tank, Healer, or DPS. This expansion also focused heavily on the Horde in the story line, rather than a main villain from Warcraft lore. 

The newest expansion of the WoW universe is Warlords of Draenor, released in November of this year. 

Another dip into the history of Warcraft, this expansion returns the Draenei and Orcs to their homeworld where the Iron Horde is poised to launch an invasion of Azeroth. This is where we will pick up; though I am afraid it will take us time to get to 90 and really enjoy the expansion. This is where you will come in. 

We will begin with the playable races. I will list classes I think would be good with that race.

Horde: (though I will not choose one of these races for my firs character for the blog)

Orc - Warrior or Shaman

Undead - Warlock or Death Knight

Troll - Hunter or Rogue

Tauren - Druid or Shaman

Blood Elf - Mage or Paladin

Gobin - Rogue or Warlock

Pandaren - Monk - Priest

Alliance: (note; my current main character is a Night Elf Death Knight)

Human - Death Knight or Warlock

Night Eld - Druid or Hunter

Dwarf - Warrior or Hunter

Gnome - Mage or Warlock

Draenei - Shaman or Paladin

Worgen - Rogue or Warrior

Pandaren - Monk or Priest

Now the classes that I think are best for each role: first on list being best, last being worst.

Tank:

Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight, Druid, and Monk

Healer:

Priest, Druid, Monk, Shaman, and Paladin

DPS:

Mage, Hunter, Rogue, Warlock, Druid, Death Knight, Monk, Priest, Paladin, Shaman

So I look forward to your choices for my character. 

Mighty Morphing Power Rangers Reboot Cast

Since I loved writing my Star Trek TNG Reboot, I have been looking for another show or movie to reboot. This time I will go a little more indepth into the story line I think the film should follow. 

Mighty Morphin Power Ranger 

Original Group

Lets begin with the rangers. I would like to mention that the character names will e slightly different. Instead of the last name from the orginal show, I am giving them the last name of the orginal actor that played the character. Also, I am changing the characters up a little. 

Black Ranger: Zachary Jones

Actor: Jake T Austin

 

Austin isn't very well known but can bring energy to the character and the cast. His comedic experience will help keep the movie entertaining. Also, he can build into a powerful actor through this role.

Yellow Ranger: Trinity Trang

Actress: Kat Graham

 

Graham may not be thought of as an action style actress but I see the potential there. Also, she helps avoid the stereo typing the orginal show had. 

Blue Ranger: Billy Yost

Actor: Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Possibly best known for his role in Game of Thrones, Thomas just looks the part. Billy was the nerd, and Thomas can look nerdy while bringing a depth the character never had. 

Pink Ranger: Kimberly Johnson

Actress: Nicola Peltz

 

Peltz has some recognition from the Transformer franchise, also her work on that movie proves she can handle big budget blockbuster movie time demands. She also brings the sex appeal he character was famou for without being to much of a "girl next door". 

Red Ranger: Jason St. John

Actor: Lucas Till

Lucas has experierence in major action movies (X-Men First Class), making him ideal to lead this group of misfits. He also has the look of a young leader. 

Now that the cast is set, you may notice that none of these actors or actresses have the star power needed to fill theaters and justify a major blockbuster. This means the supporting cast has to be great in order to draw the large crowds. 

Zordon

Actor: Alan Rickman

 

Rickman will give the character credibility. He will not simply be some face in a jar. He can be an ancient warrior returned to mentor and guide a new group of warriors in the defense of Earth. 

Alpha 5

I think Alpha 5 should be changed to the computer system of the commander center. It would be known as an Aplha 5 intelligent command system. Any good voice over actor could fill the role. But do away with the goofy robot. 

Villains

Rita Repulsa

Actress: Lana Parrilla 

 

Parrilla plays a villain on the tv show Once Upon a Time. She is personally one of my favorite characters on the show. The biggest thing here is how I think she would fit into the story that I would like to see. Plus, she woud actually make Rita an attractive villain and not some ugly old hag. 

Goldar

Actor: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

 

Goldar was sort of an idiot in the show, Dwayne can make him more of the muscle behind the villain. He won't be an Einstein but he won't be a Pee Wee Herman either. Plus he would fit well in the story. 

Lord Zedd

Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch

 

Cumberbatch is the hottest villain in Hollywood right now. His portrayal of Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness and voicing of Smaug in the Hobbit series has proven his versatility as a villain. He can make Lord Zedd a nightmare for children and someone who is truely evil. Plus, he doesn't even have to physically play the character if he doesn't want too, just lending his voice to the character would be a great addition to the film. However I really don't think he should play a major role in the first film. This film should set up Zedd as the major villain for the sequel. 

This is my list of characters for a possible reboot. But I want to mention a possible story line for this film or series of films. 

Film 1

Possible Title

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers or simply Power Rangers

Rita Repulsa is accidentally released from a special prison on the moon. Her husband, Lord Zedd learns of her release and quickly disatches Goldar to remind Rita of her mission to bring Earth under Zedds rule. Zordon, an ancient galactic warrior charged with the defense of the Earthis awoken to defend the Earth. He chooses five young adults to become his new Rangers. He equips them with suits of armor (perhaps like one of the examples below) to fight Rita and her evil forces. 

 

The Rangers fight a crueling battle with Rita's forces, led by Goldar. They are able to drive them back to a secret base on the moon. Mean while, the film ends with Lord Zedd entering Rita's base. He reveals his new weapon to finally conquer Earth. Zordon's old Ranger armor, the Green Ranger. 

Film 2

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2 or Power Rangers Lord Zedd's Wrath

This film begins with Lord Zedd finding a human to serve as his Green Ranger. 

Green Ranger: Tommy Frank

Actor Taylor Lautner

 

The Green Ranger terrorizes Earth and the Rangers. The Rangers find a way to release him from Lord Zedd's control but not before he helps Lord Zedd gain control of the Earth. 

Film 3

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Return or Power Rangers 3 Return from Exile

The Rangers, exiled from Earth, search for old allies of Zordon's to help free him and Earth from Zedd. They learn the history of the Power Rangers and of an old group of Rangers that left their powers behind for future generations. If they merge their power with those left behind, they may be able to defeat Lord Zedd.