... And the world shall break

I love a catch phrase. No really, I am a sucker for taglines that just make you fell like its epic. The latest tagline was for the new World of Warcraft release, Cataclysm.

"... And the world shall break."

When I hear that it sends shivers down my spine. I am not sure why but I like it. So much so that I had dusted of the WoW subscription several weeks ago to enjoy the game again. As I had blogged earlier, my main toon finally hit 85 and I was enjoying some of the end-game content but what I was really waiting for was the new expansion to release.

Well, today it released and I was up at 4:30am EST to enjoy all of the newness that Blizzard had to offer and I was not the only one. First thing I did in-game was to head over to the new level 80-82 zone Mount Hyjal and it was a freakin' zoo. Players and piles of dead animals were everywhere. I only lasted there for about 45mins. I was just too busy and rushed for my liking. It was time for a change of pace.

I then rolled a new toon, a Worgen rogue, and I enjoyed this much more. Although it was still crazy with people I didn't care. I was really digging the class and the race. I played for around 3 hours and didn't even realize the time fly. I will definitely be playing the Worgen much more over the next few weeks as I allow the higher level areas to calm down a bit so I can really enjoy the content rather than zip through it fast like a McD's drive-thru.

In other gaming news, I have been playing the Rune-keeper in Lord of the Rings a whole lot lately. I still think LOTRO is the best MMO on the market. I have been grinding reputation with the Aldraig in Enedwaith and hit Ally this week. One more level to go.

Finally, I downloaded the demo for Star Trek Online this past weekend. I was very anxious to do this because I am a big fan of all things Trek and I as hoping this game would not screw it up. Trek was my first Sci-fi love and nothing can compare to it, ever. Needless to say, I really enjoyed it. I rolled a Red-shirt Andorian and have already advanced to Lt. Grade 2. Playing the game really feels like the show. You have space combat and away missions and giant epic battles. All said, I am really looking forward to playing this some more.

So some very good gaming options for me to choose from over the Christmas holidays.

Family Assemble!!!

My lovely wife works Wednesday evenings most weeks until 9pm. The children in our house go to bed at 8pm. On top of those to opening statements, Wednesday is the one day on the week that we never have anything on the calendar. This creates the perfect opportunity for the kids and I to have our special time to hang and be together with no distractions like computers, video games, and the like. So what has quickly become the tradition in our house is to order two walk-in specials from the local pizza place, buy 4L of chocolate milk, plop down on the couches in our living room and watch cartoons together. We watch the shows our PVR has caught during the past week which consists of: Batman the Brave and the Bold, Star Wars The Clone Wars, The Avengers, Scooby Doo Mystery Inc., Dragon Ball Z Kai, Total Drama World Tour.

It is a really fun time where I can push away the worries of the adult world, enjoy being a kid and really connect with mine at the same time. I think next week though I will steal a page from Iron Man and, when the pizza arrives, loudly declare Avengers errr. ... I mean .... Family Assemble!!!

Excelsior!!!

Gaming & Comics update!!!

Comic update

I have been continuing my read through of the X-men reboot. I have recently finished X-men #5 and now really want to read the conclusion of the opening vampire vs mutant story arc. I have also started reading through the Wolverine reboot. For the record, Wolverine has been and will also be my favorite. From past experience I knew what to expect from a wolverine comic, violence and very little reading. Nuf' said bub!!! However the new story arc written by Jason Aaron, "Journey to Hell", is not the old wolverine. It is deep, well thought out and provocative. I am really digging this new series and the way that Jason really depicts the hopelessness in Wolverine's situation. I am looking forward to where this may go.

Gaming update

On the gaming front, I have put Lord on the rings on the back shelf for the past few weeks so that I can put more time into World of Warcraft. I am getting really stoked for the new expansion cataclysm to launch. I have also been reading the prologue book, The shattering, which is amping my enthusiasm. What have I been doing since I hit 80? I have been completing achievements and doing daily quests. I am a sucker for achievements. Some part of me believes that achievements are a measure of ones dedication to the game. Therefore, I must complete them all or something like that.

On the Lord of the rings front, I did not get a skeleton festival horse and that has bummed me out. -1 to Turbine. However, Turbine did announce the new expansion for Fall 2011, The Rise of Isengard, so +1 to Turbine. They also have a huge update coming next week so +1. For those keeping score at home, all this means I will be back to LOTRO very shortly.

The poor PS3 has seen very little love and I do feel bad for that but Little Big Planet 3 comes out in January so hope for the PS3 is around the corner.