Riot

sigh

2006-06-04T05:31:17Z

I miss my girlfriend.... >_

=O

2006-05-12T05:38:23Z

I got a 3.9 this semester and all I did was play Counter-Strike.

Oh hello there.

2006-04-19T02:17:36Z

I realize all my posts have pretty much been only about videogames..... Too bad. I like games.

I started playing Ultima Online again, on a free player-run shard. It's just like the old days, and I'm loving it. I re-made all the old characters I used to have and am having fun exploring the world I loved so much. It's a lot smaller than I remember! I remember crying once when I was playing and spent nearly all my money on a nice set of armor and one of the best magic swords in the game, and then getting killed by another player about 10 minutes later and getting it all looted. UO was hardcore. All these new MMOs are baby-stuff compared to the original UO. I get pretty pissed off at the WoW fanboys (Yes I played, yes I was addicted, yes I sold my account and left because I realized it sucks) when they think it's the be-all-end-all MMORPG.

You are not a hardcore gamer because you play WoW. Everyone plays WoW, and most of them hadn't played a MMO before that. Your character is a cartoon bull. You couldn't TAKE a real MMO.

Yes, the "you" I speak of is the universal you, unless you really do play WoW and brag to your e-friends about "how many newbz u killd!!!11." Try UO. You died? Oh crap, there goes ALL your stuff, you better go look around for a res and find your body. Hope the PK (Player Killer) isn't camping it. Sitting in town minding your own business? Don't let any suspicious looking characters stand next to you for too long... thieves can steal anything from your bag. Etc. etc.

Er, I guess I'm coming off kind of mean. I'm not mean I swear! I just wish people wouldn't think these new batch of carebear MMOs are the bee's knees. And as usual, EA ruined Ultima Online when they got their grubby paws on it. There's a game called Darkfall coming out sometime that MIGHT be able to bring back the classic UO feel, but we'll see. Until then, I'll be wasting my time on Tristan Bleak, my thief.

Woot

2006-03-29T17:23:53Z

Video-games are slowly making their way out of nerdy guys' basements and into culture as an art form. Take, for instance, the PLAY symphony coming up soon. It's going to be full-fledged symphonies performing music from popular videogames. It's going to be a clash between gamers and classical music afficionados, and I'm willing to bet it will portray games in a very very positive light. Games have come a long way and this is definitely going to prove it. Online games are becoming more of a big deal like I already covered in another entry, and with award shows and TV specials being devoted to games, they're coming into their own as a dignified art form. And I'm pumped.

Job change > Dark Knight

2006-03-07T20:27:12Z

As much as I want to work on games, I've come to realize (well, people have told me and it's finally gotten through I guess) that I'm not going to get a job doing it out of college, especially when I don't know coding. So I think I'm going to stick with my talents and go with my knowledge what's popular and successful and my writing talents and go into marketing/advertising. I think I'm going to major in Telecommunications and minor in English. I think I might head to law school after this and get a law degree. That should form a pretty strong combination. I'd like to use this and help game companies protect their products, and maybe get close enough with a lot of these companies to gain their trust and have them let me chime in on design issues.

So I'll continue to write and think about ideas for RPGs and other games in general, just not really expect them to help me out anytime soon. =)

I wonder where my life would be without the Internet.

2006-03-07T20:22:40Z

So pretty much all my friends have been made through the Internet. Not like having some creepy penpal in Oregon or anything. I've posted on a ton of messageboards over the years, and I really think understanding and participating in this "e-culture" has shaped me into the person I am now. When I started playing online games, they brought my friends and I together and kept us close. To this day, we use online games and the internet to stay in touch as we're at different colleges. It's determined my interests for the most part.

I've always been a writer, although for many years I stopped. Although, as I think about it, it's because of the Internet. I've many times lost the initiative and motivation to sit down and write because I'd rather play an online game. MMORPGs sucked so many hours from my life, and I'd have it no other way. I learned management, ethics, vocabulary (both l337 and normal), etiquitte, money organization, time management, and a whole lot of other things from these games. I owe a lot to them.

When I started playing Dance Dance Revolution, it was just something to tide me over until the next MMORPG Final Fantasy XI came out. But the game stuck, and I joined the online community IndyDDR. 3 years later, I know most of my friends here at IU through a member I met on the IndyDDR forums. Where would I be if I didn't take advantage of what the Internet has to offer? I'd be with a whole different crowd, that's for sure. So thank you, Internet, thank you very much.

Most of us really overlook how important this crazy invention can really be in our life.

Google's gon' get it!

2006-03-01T01:33:30Z

The Department of Justice is trying to crack down further on Google because of their refusal to release personal information ( http://www.techspot.com/news/20621-doj-hits-back-at-google.html ). Google is kind of the underdog for the online community in a sense, as everyone uses it and it's standing up to the United States Government and trying to protect us.

The Department of Justice does seem like it has a point when they request information about people searching illegal things, like child pornography, but Google probably won't back down. This 18 page report might phase Google, but, being the young and idealistic leaders of Google that they are, I doubt they'll crack. Until they're forced to crack, anyways.

I think a LOT of people would get in trouble if the government gathered all records. Anybody who has ever jokingly (or not jokingly) typed in "how to build a bomb" or something like that will be flagged for the rest of their life. With increasing surveilance technology, they could probably be kept under watch anywhere and everywhere. Kinda scary how much is in those Google search records that could possibly change the way we live in the future.

Stalk me.

2006-02-23T18:22:51Z

I typed in "Scott Richard Underwood" to Google but didn't find anything about me. I guess I have to go commit some crimes or do something notable! =P When I type in "Scott Underwood," I find that I am apparently a popular christian music artist, the drummer for the band Train, and a real estate agent. I'm a pretty successful guy, what can I say? But yeah, nothing about me...

On the other hand, when I typed in Riot and Riot55, online names I use on messageboards and games, I get returns of places I've posted, this Livejournal, and a few other things, like rosters of Counter-Strike teams I play on. I don't mind the fact that people can find me by my online game tag, it would worry me more if my real name was plastered all over. But wait, now it will be since I'm including it in this blog =P Oh well, stalk away.

Ruh roh!

2006-02-22T21:12:19Z

Oh noooes! Watch out in 2006, because apparently we can expect to see some nastier viruses. A downside of living in the information age, I guess. ( http://www.techspot.com/news/20535-2006-to-be-bad-year-for-malware-troubles.html ) New viruses are supposed to hit popular messaging technology like AIM and text messaging on phones. AIM viruses already spread like wildfire earlier this year on the IU campus (and I'm sure tons of other places), as any of the computer techs here could tell you. I don't really see how people could be dumb enough to get it, but I guess I underestimated that carelessness of people here who would open awkward-sounding files that require a download. Oh well.

What's a little scary is that viruses may be heading for phone text messages. I'm guilty of opening messages from random numbers without knowing who is sending me stuff, we all are I bet. As widespread as cell-phone use is and as uneducated and unaware people are of what's out there, I foresee some major problems on the horizon. Run kids, run!

New MP3 playerzzzzzz.

2006-02-19T00:36:24Z

iPod has some more competition on the way. Amazon is set to launch its own MP3 player and music download program like iTunes ( http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/17/technology/17amazon.html?_r=1&oref=slogin ). Apparently they (Amazon) think they can combat Apple even though other similar services like Napster have failed. They're going to offer a per-month subscription to their music downloading, opposed to iTune's 99 cents per song strategy. I don't really see this method working, but perhaps that's just because other similar strategies have failed. Amazon says they will reduce the price on the actual MP3 player for subscribers of the download program, which may work.

However, I really think iPod is lodged firmly enough into the market that competitors won't be able to find much success. Unless this new piece of hardware is substantially sleeker and more powerful than the iPod, no music downloading program will sway the consumers. Nothing yet has been able to knock the iPod off its pedestal, and growing and continual improvements in the iPod will keep it #1. It will still be awhile until people convert to paying to download instead of just downloading illegally from various P2P programs. Maybe if people just upload enough viruses and spyware P2P programs will fall out of existance, but even with as many viruses and negative aspects of those programs, people still take advantage of them. I'm impressed iTunes $1 per song is working as well as it is now, but I have a feeling it's due highly to giveaways and giftcards of free iTunes songs given from older people who are out of the downloading loop. Most kids wouldn't spend their money on legally downloading or buying giftcards for friends when it's cheaper and easier to get the song on P2P.

So good luck Amazon, you'll need it.

Yay! Kinda.

2006-02-15T21:53:54Z

Yay, AMD is reducing prices on all their processors by as much as 50% in some cases. Check it out...

http://www.techspot.com/news/20487-amd-reduces-pricing-on-all-desktop-and-mobile-cpus.html

Soon, gaming computers will be much more popular I bet, as if they weren't already popular. Just like a post a few days ago, online gaming is moving forward and becoming more and more popular. It's going to be an every-household type of thing soonish. Just like digital TVs and broadband internet and all technology really, powerful computers will be standard home equipment and will allow everyone to have a chance and interest in gaming. Maybe I should stop talking about gaming all the time.

Sucks that they're cutting prices right after I bought my AMD processor.

Blah!

2006-02-14T18:36:11Z

You'd think in a society where communication is entirely too easy and quick, people could have the courtesy to let us know if they are or aren't going to play in their CAL matches. Seriously, this is stupid. Last week the team never talked to us nor even said "We can't make it." This week, we got nothing again. Seriously people, DON'T REGISTER FOR SOMETHING YOU AREN'T GOING TO TAKE SERIOUSLY OR EVEN ATTEMPT TO TRY AT. It's so easy to type out "Sorry we can't make it, chalk up a forfeit loss for us." IT'S THE INTERNET, IT TAKES 2 SECONDS. Maybe I overestimate people. =P Anyways, now we have 2 forfeit wins which kinda sucks because any team with more than 2 forfeit wins won't make playoffs, and normal matches count for a LOT more credit than a forfeit win. So we're in the process of searching for clans to do makeup matches with, having a little luck so far. Hopefully we'll beat them and make it up and get ranked higher, unfortunately then having to play good clans but it comes with the territory. Rawr.

Plus, a lot of clan drama has been going on between us and another clan, compiled of many people who left us to form their own project. We do make relationships online with people and consider them friends even if we've never met, but it's so annoying when people forget who ridiculous they look when they're arguing about an online game over the internet with a kid across the country they don't even know. I just wanna pwn newbs.

I'm not really updating as much as I should, that's bad. I'm going to recouperate and post more hopefully.

Wakka wakka wakka wakka

2006-02-09T17:55:55Z

Not that it's anything new, but online videogames are slowly becoming full-fledged sports of their own. In Counter-Strike, for example, I just read a story on www.gotfrag.com ( http://gotfrag.com/css/story/31264/ )about one of the best teams in the world, Powersgaming, who are under contract to play together and are being threatened to be sued if they break up. The team apparently doesn't want to play together anymore, but their manager is threatening legal action if they decide to quit. It's an online videogame, isn't this idea kind of insane?

Maybe not.

Thousands of people go to annual LAN events, especially ones such as CPL (Cyberathletics Professional League) and CEVO (Cyber Evolution) which up to 64 teams (which include 5-10 people) gather to battle out at Counter-Strike and other online games. Prizes reach up to $50,000. There are options in-game such as Source TV that will allow players from anywhere to "spectate" and watch the match as if it were a monday night big football game. There is even Source Radio, where your Counter-Strike match will be broadcasted by 2 radiocasters, play-by-play, just like any normal sports game on the radio. Online tournaments are becoming a big deal. People are willing to watch them on their computers, and many are willing to travel to watch them in person, in a stadium-like atmosphere. Soon, maybe not in the next 5 years, but eventually I believe online gaming tournaments will be a big deal. It's already incredibly popular in Korea, where thousands of fans will crowd to see a Starcraft match. As our society delves deeper into technology, we will DEFINITELY have a higher interest in online game tournaments.

As for me? We're currently doing well in CAL-O (Cyberathletics Amateur League Open), if we counted playoffs we'd be 4-1. We had a tough first match against LANPANIC, a real good team. Otherwise, we're tearing through em' left and right. We have a make-up match tonight because the other team is apparently 5 Helen Keller clones because they aren't reading the messages or responding to them, so we had to assume a forfeit win. Now three days later they say they want to make it up.... Buttheads. Oh well, a legit win will help us more than a forfeit win, so we're going to dominate them.

Check us out. GOOOO RIOT! =)

http://www.caleague.com/?page=teams&teamid=72349

Woot.

2006-02-04T20:04:15Z

So AT&T are going to start providing broadband for a lot cheaper than what it is now apparently. In general, broadband prices have been steadily dropping as 56k starts to look more and more like a thing of the past. Thank God. Nobody deserves to use dial-up (except for the people we play against in Counter-Strike matches mwahaha). I remember when probably 85% of the internet users were on dial-up, and now it seems to have completely reversed. Or maybe I was young and just assumed that everyone had 56k because we did. Either way, I'm going to guess dial-up will be gone be 2010. I love the internet here at college, I think everyone should have this =)

Hmm

2006-01-31T15:14:39Z

Do you honestly think that soon enough we'll all be so dependent on computers and the internet that if we don't have it, we won't survive? I mean when electricity was invented, it wasn't a necessary thing: it was a luxury. After awhile though, if you didn't have electricity you were pretty much screwed. No heating, no lights, no refridgerator, and *gasp* NO TV! I really think we will come to depend on PC's soon. We are already hopelessly addicted to them, but soon, as more and more computers take over human jobs and even other machine jobs, what happens if one messes up? If hospitals make it so computers are the things that monitor and keep people alive, what happens if there's a glitch? What if we all have computer chips implanted in us for something important, and then one day they just malfunction? The more and more dependent we get, the closer we get to falling off the edge. I'm all for technology, and I'm excited for what the future will bring, but it's inevitably going to bring some pretty bad results.

...

2006-01-26T01:23:46Z

So, instead of talking to my roommate sitting right next to me, we found it completely normal to speak to eachother over the internet. Lazy, or just what society has come to? =P

Yo

2006-01-26T01:13:30Z

So this "Metaphors in the Media" thing I read is cool. It's all about how we inadvertantly put in metaphors to every day speech. For example, we always associate arguments with war.

-"He attacked every weak point of my argument"
-"He shot down my argument."
-"I've never won an argument."

So yeah, there's a lot more interesting stuff we say, but you get the idea. I've always loved language but never really thought about it too hard.

I just realized how many messageboards I've posted on over the years. God bless the Internet. I've met (? Maybe that's the wrong word...)... er, typed to a ton of people. For every major game I've played (UO, FFXI, WOW, Counter-Strike, DDR), I've posted on multiple messageboards for. I post on gaming sites like gamefaqs.com and MMORPG.com. I've probably logged atleast 20,000 posts over the years. I am so 1337 and in-the-know about all this internet slang, I really wonder what kind of person I would be if I wasn't so heavily involved with the gaming community.

!

2006-01-17T03:00:02Z

So I used to make fun of the people that were on cell phones 24/7 or that thought that their life depended on them, but I find myself attatched at the hip to mine too. I can't leave my room unless I have my phone just in the slight chance someone might call me. I don't want to miss anything or any chance to talk, just in case someone needs me or anything. I don't see myself wanting any of the new little contraptions like radios or PDA's, but then again I didn't see myself needing a cellphone until last year. I pretty much only got one because I had a car and I was going to college. Have I had to use it because of an accident in the car or something? No. Have I even called home from college on it? /laugh. So now I'm just like all the other hopeless addicts. Woot.

Anyways, yeah. Most all of these posts will be technology/information related because like I said in the last post, I have to update it for my Life in the Information Age class. So geek up.

-We just won our 2nd Counter-Strike Cyber Athletics League match. Pwn.

Well, now I HAVE to update.

2006-01-11T00:24:04Z

So for my Life in the Information Age class, we're required to keep a blog of our daily lives as we live in this world of constant streaming information. Since I am online nearly nonstop anyways, this should be fun. I'm an information junkie. Since the internet is essentially all information (although I have a suspicion it was made for the sheer point of annoying people on messageboards), I should be able to get a better grasp of what the class is all about. I'm excited.

The professor seems real cool, and I'm excited that he knows about MMORPGs and stuff since they are what I love. I played Ultima Online back when I was in 7th grade for 3 years, then moved on to Asherons' Call for a few months as a time-waster until Final Fantasy XI came out. After a year and a half of that, I sold my account ($350) and moved to World of Warcraft. After beta-testing it and playing nearly nonstop for 6 months after the release, I tired the game out and sold my account ($450). And now I'm looking at Dark and Light, RF Online, or Vanguard Online to be my next epic time-waster. I consider it "research" since I want to develop games in the future, so at least I can kind of comfort myself and reassure myself that my 10-hour streak was put to good use. I'm out.

!!!

2005-12-29T02:52:12Z

So I went 32-8 against a CAL-M team in our match today. I'm uber.

beep beep

2005-12-25T23:29:52Z

So for christmas I got my Beatmania controller, some clothes, movies, books and gift cards, and $1000. Yayz0rs.

LOL

2005-12-24T07:44:40Z

HI ITS SCOTT LOOK AT MY TRENDY LJ

Oh harro

2005-12-24T06:41:27Z

Sorry Scott, but I am taking the initiative to make your first post in livejournal myself (for fear that you may never make a post at all =P).

So, everyone, this is Scott's livejournal, which he will use as he sees fit. I created it so that he could have easier access to my journal, as well as other valuable people's: such as Chad's. Plus, this way, he can comment as well, since I and many other livejournal users have anonymous commenting disabled.

So, Scott, I suppose I could end this with a "Merry Christmas," as it seems appropriate.

Enjoy your livejournal =D!

♥

Veronica