The Rupture

All this talk about the so called "Rapture" that will allegedly happen this week has got me thinking. I've come to a startling realization. I don't think I want to be raptured.

I mean, think about it. Let's say the rapture is real. Lets just say it's going to happen and then you'll be brought up into heaven and be able to do whatever you want when you get there and live in a paradise forever.

Sure, it seems nice, but how long will it be before you don't want it anymore? In a perfect paradise, there will be nothing you can't do, and you don't even have to put any effort into it. There will be no fear. No fear of dying, no fear of injury, no fear of failure.

There will be no challenges to overcome. No challenges means nothing to spark the imagination. Paradise will get boring, only you won't even realize you're bored.

Meanwhile, those of us that get "left behind" will have to suffer through the apocalypse. Sure, it'll be Hell on Earth (literally), but at least we'll be living.

Life is filled with pain and fear. Living is finding a way to cope with the pain and rise above the fear. If you can't do that, then you were never really living in the first place

Mass Effect: Extinction

I've started a new FanFic called Mass Effect: Extinction. You can read it over on FanFiction.net

Mass Effect: Extinction
Commander Shepard's actions, while done to safeguard the Galaxy, have resulted in Galaxy-wide chaos. Now, with the Reapers closing in, Shepard must unite the Galaxy's waring factions if she has any hope of stopping them.

This story stars a version of the Shepard from my previous FanFic who made a few different choices over the course of ME2. I'll reveal those different choices throughout the course of the story.

Mass Effect 2.5 is going strong. Not as many readers as I'd like, but much more than I expected. I'll be wrapping up Episode 3 this Friday for anyone who wants to read it.

So I had an idea to write some Fan Fiction for Mass Effect. It's essentially how I'm bridging the gap between Mass Effect 2 and 3. It will likely contain references to upcoming bridging DLC that BioWare is coming out with as well as an abbreviated Lair of the Shadow Broker chapter or two. Not a whole lot of focus on Action, but with Drama and Humor galore.

So, without further ado, I present Chapter 1 of:

Mass Effect 2.5

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Entry 217

Personal Log, Shepard, Leanna, Commander, Normandy SR-2

We made it back through the Omega 4 Relay. I didn’t expect to be able to say those words. I fully expected my previous entry to be my last. I’m cancelling the letters I’d scheduled to send to Liara, Ash and Anderson. I’m a little relieved too; they all seem a bit too sappy.

Miranda is busy working on her report. I’m not sure what she’s going to do with it now that we’ve left Cerberus. I can barely imagine the strength it must have taken to turn her back on the man who saved her and her sister from her father. She’s a much stronger woman than she gives herself credit for, genetically engineered or not.

In all, everyone seems glad that I destroyed the base. Grunt even thought it was funny. Legion made a comparison between my choice and the one his people made. He says we’re more alike than he realized. What he doesn’t know is that he inspired me to make my decision. If we continue to build our Civilization on the backs of Reaper technology, how are we ever going to stand on our own two feet?

The rest of the crew’s fine. Jack’s being her usual “chipper” self. Mordin’s already moved on to his next project. Hope it’s a cure for Thane. I’m worried that without more exercise, the Kepral's Syndrome will get worse.

I’m afraid Garrus might be minimalizing his accomplishments. He led that second fire team and probably saved Tali’s life. If something were to happen to me, I trust him to be the one to finish what I’ve started.

I still question the wisdom of having a thief living on our ship. I swear, every time I go down there, her “personal collection” has gotten a bit bigger. Jacob’s spending a lot of time with her, but I’m not sure if he likes her, or just considers her a drinking buddy.

I’m glad Samara hasn’t left yet. When she first joined, I got the impression she’d take off immediately after we returned through the Relay (assuming we got back at all). She’s staying on the ship though. She said she can “Continue to follow the code while onboard the Normandy”. I hope she sticks around. She seems lonely.

Tali seems to be holding up well. I wish everyone had her strength. I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to contact the Migrant Fleet since we’ve been back though. She seems to be spending most of her free time around me instead.

I also want to make a Note in the Logs about Zaeed Masani. Zaeed led the Distraction team that bought us the time we needed to make it through in Samara’s biotic bubble. The team made it through alive because Zaeed took every shot the Collectors fired. In the end, it seems his stubbornness wasn’t enough to keep him from death. Regardless of how he lived, Zaeed Masani died a hero. In his honor, I will make sure his ex-partner Vido is brought to justice.

At this point, I’m unsure of what to do next. Part of me wants to warn the Council about what is coming, but I don’t feel like shouting at a bunch of idiots. Plus the way the Turian Rep does that whole air quotes thing just bugs me.

I can’t face Liara right now. She’s on her whole Vengeance kick and I can’t deal with that. I need to feel happy for a while. I just wish things could go back to the way they used to be between us. The feel of her skin against mine. The way we…

Dear god I’ve got to get off this ship. I’m setting a course for Omega. I’m gonna get drunk.

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You can read the rest by Clicking Here.

Commander of the Grey

Well, earlier this night I finished playing Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. I used the character I previously played through Origins with, a Noble Human Warrior named Alisand. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that the base game was better than the Expansion.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad game or anything. I liked the added combat options, and it was a good storyline, but I honestly can't see myself playing it more than one more time. I say one more time because there are still a few things I'd like to see play out differently with another (more evil) character, but that'd be it.

Mass Effect 2

I never beat a game before online guides started coming out before (that is, after online guides started coming out), but that's exactly what I did last night.

I've spent the last couple months in dire anticipation of Mass Effect 2, the first being a game that blew my mind and showed me just what exactly my computer was capable of. I spent a long time reading forums and watching for developer updates on the game. As soon as I could, I preordered the Collector's Edition. I built the game up in my head as the greatest game I would play (so far anyway).

You know how sometimes, you get so excited about something and when you finally get it, it's not as good as you thought and it lets you down?

This was not one of those times.

Mass Effect 2 was one of the greatest games I played since... well... Mass Effect. The level of detail was amazing (and I'm not talking about graphical detail, though that was pretty good too). Just about any action I took in the first game had some sort of consequence in this one. From the big decisions at the end of the major Missions, to what happened to my #1 fan on the Citadel. Hell, I even saw a guy finally getting his refund after two years of waiting (though he seemed to be at the wrong warehouse). It was such an incredibly immersive experience that it was impossible to play with a Shepard that I didn't create in the first game (and I tried, first with the default, then with someone else's save). I've got two more Shepards to play with, after which I'll have to go back to Mass Effect and churn out a couple more.



Leanna Shepard (2154- )
Still Fighting for the Lost

The Daily Blur, Suplimental

Project #5: Getting A+ Certified
This is one I keep meaning to do. I really need to take the tests at some point. That means studying the materials I have. I hope to get my certification by the end of the Summer.

The Daily Blur

I can't believe that May is almost over. Here it is, 3 weeks into the Summer and I haven't even started on anything I was going to do. Well this week I'm changing all that. I'm making a conscious decision right now that I am going to get started on every one of my projects this week.

Project #1: Getting a License
This Summer I will be spending as much time as I can relearning how to drive. To start off, I need to get my permit which means passing the written driving test that I haven't taken in forever. Shouldn't be too bad though. I'm more worried about when I take the actual driving portion of the test. Fortunately, I should have plenty of opportunities to practice driving this Summer.

Project #2: Learning to Draw
So for a while now, I've had this idea for a webcomic. I even made two strips of the comic using pictures made in The Sims 2. Unfortunately, I learned that while getting a computer program to look the way you want is easy, getting it to do what you want is hard. I stopped trying to make comics, but the idea stayed with me.

Recently, I took a class in game design. After a few classes, we suddenly found ourselves without an artist. Unfortunately, none of the remaining class had what could be considered traditional artistic skills. Thankfully, we did have some free sprites we could manipulate into backgrounds and we used simple designs for the creeps and towers.

My Mother is an artist and I have started wonder if I am missing out on something that I in fact can do. These events have made me determined to learn how to draw. Of course, it's not like I could take a class to learn this. What I want to do isn't something that can really be taught. Instead, I intend to teach myself. I will discover my inner artist by starting my webcomic again. This time, it will be hand drawn. I just need to get my hands on some tracing paper and I will start drawing. (I will be penciling and Inking by hand but I'll be using photoshop for colors).

Project #3: Get Back on Track with Weight Watchers
So yeah. I haven't been to a Weight Watchers meeting since May 1st. I gained weight that week and I haven't been able to stick to the plan for more than a day at a time since then, I'm almost sure that I'm back over 200lbs. and I'm afraid that I won't be able to lose it again. I need to start exercising and I need to relearn how to control my cravings. Far too often I've had the desire to eat large amounts of unhealthily prepared meat and followed my urges. I keep sleeping in on scheduled meeting days thinking "I'll go to the next one". Well I need to go now. And I definitely need to start working out again.

Project #4: Games
After all the projects listed above, "playing games" doesn't seem like such a big deal. Well it is to me. I have a number of games that I likely won't have much chance to play once the school year starts back up.


Well, that's all I got for now. Later!
-Ben

Grakus Version 2

Ok, we've done some work and I think we have a finished project. Check out Grakus on Kongregate! If you don't have an account, sign up for one, and please, please, please, rate it 5 stars!

Grakus

For the last semester, I've been in a class where we've been building a tower defense game. Check out this current release version at Kongregate.

25 Random Things About Me

Ok, I got 2 people sending this thing to me on Facebook, so I figure I can't just ignore it. Here goes.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I feel most comfortable in front of a computer screen
2. My Life's Goal is to design Video Games for a living
3. Although I love to play Video Games myself, I'm actually not that good at most of them, with the exception of Puzzle Games and RPGs
4. I'm 3/4 Irish and 1/4 German, and I don't drink
5. I've been on a diet for a bit over a year, but After losing 50 pounds, I've found it nearly impossible to stay on it
6. I've lost two family members due to smoking-related cancer, my Aunt and my Granddad
7. I recently built a brand new computer for myself, and it costed much less than if I'd bought it pre-assembled
8. People may sometimes see me as arrogant, but in truth, I'm just not much of a talker; I've gotten better though
9. I have a bad habit of correcting people's pronunciation of words
10. While I like my job, I actually enjoyed my job more before I became a Supervisor
11. I still have my appendix, tonsils, and all 4 wisdom teeth
12. I met my wife in 2nd grade, and from the 7th grade on, I never had any doubt who I was going to marry
13. I dropped out of two schools before going to Ivy Tech, now I'm determined to get a degree from there before I move on
14. I really wish I had the time and money to get back into collecting comics
15. I cringe when I read something that's over-saturated with netspeak
16. has always been my lucky number
17. I'm not a very religious man, but I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, I believe that no one religion could be completely right, and I believe that no one religion is completely wrong; except for [withheld], that scares me.
18. I've always wanted to go into space
19. I prefer a mouse and keyboard to a gamepad
20. I don't believe in the end of the world
21. I have a tendency to feel other people's pain, which is why I could never be a doctor
22. I like things as small as they can get, without sacrificing performance
23. I tend to get along more with women than with men
24. Earbuds don't stay in my ears
25. My greatest fear is that I will one day loose my mind