Odds and Ends

As I stated in the last post I upgraded my graphics card to a SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit. It helped out a lot with LoTRO, however I still don't have enough under the hood to get rid of the lag and studder. At the same time I had to upgrade the power supply.

Back in LoTRO. Everything is ok, but I can tell I'm already starting to loose interest. Some of it has to do with the lag and studder that I'm experiencing. I can not stand lag. It really takes away from the gaming experience. Most of my time has been spent playing either the new warden class or burglar, and both are hobbits.

On April 1st, LoTRO was down for most of the day. At least it was down everytime I tried logging in that evening. So during that time I did a lot of browsing and reading blogs. I happened across a link to Runes of Magic website. This is a free to download and free to play MMO. It features a dual class system. Which is very interesting to me. I ended up downloading it last night. The game's UI reminded me a lot of WoW's UI. There are even addons at Curse for the game. The graphics remind me of Guild Wars. I was really suprised at how well the game looked and played. Right now I'm still in the newbie zones so I haven't seen any major content. You can play all the way to end game without having to spend any money. However it seems you will be doing without certain things if you did so. They sell diamonds at the online shop. You use these to purchase thinks such as mounts and other items that will enhance you character.

Another MMO that I ran across was Darkfall. At this time it looks as though it is in the early stages of beta. There is no leveling in this game. It is all skill based, and you are not locked into one skill set. If you wanted to be a combat melee and also take up some magic then you are free to do so. On that same note if you decide you didn't like the skills that you have taken up, there is a way to retrain those skills with some penalty. They also will have Prestige classes, which lay out a path for you in a certain skill sets, such as Paladin, Assassin, Gladiator, and Enchanter. These classes will get special skills and spells that others wouldn't receive. But choosing this path would come with a price, such as the Paladin has to give half his earnings to the church. I'll be keeping my eye on this MMO. If they have anymore openings in beta I will definitely apply for it.

On a non gaming related front, and more of a personal note. March 25th I went to San Antonio and had the Lap Band procedure done. I've been dealing with my weight for the past 10 years. Going up and down, but usually putting on 5 to 10 pounds by the end of each year. I had researched it for a year and finally made up my mind. I wanted to do this mostly for myself, but I also was thinking of the future. I didn't want my wife to have to take care of me when I get older. My wife and I also have a special needs daughter, so I need to be heathly in the future to help take care of her.

It is awesome not being hungry, and I have had to change a lot of my eating habits. The lap band has made making the adjustments super easy though. I can see it happening this time. I've had some really good weight loss so far. I'm also walking every day as well, and working in the garden has been giving me plenty of exercise.

That is all for now.