Fuck the police.
I was originally planning to just start writing about my adventures over the weekend...but fate evidently thought things were going too good for me lately. In turn…fate sent its messenger in the form of a kindly police-type gentleman who was behind on his quota.
Let me go back a bit...just a tad.
After Jordan and I beat the last level of Halo 2 on legendary (and got over our second round of disappointment) I decided to go over to the guy's place. Nothing much happened...we played a couple rounds of Halo and a short game of poker before people had to leave for class. I was about to leave when Ron came out of his "cave".
Since his characters had been erased last semester by his vengeful mother...Ron has managed to crack out on Ragnarok almost back to where he was originally. I sat and watched him wander around and fuck with people in town. I'm a gamer by heart and even when it’s a game I don't play...I like to ask questions. XP He was trying to find some pictures on his clan's forums when I finally got bored. I told him to show me later and I walked out.
This is where we get back to the bitching!
I got to my car and climbed in. The ol' Neon had been sitting in the sun so it was rather warm on the inside. I was wearing my jacket as well so I decided to ride with the window open. The air felt great (I usually _love_ to ride with my window open) and I started pulling off my jacket a little bit at a time while driving out of Mercer. My music was up, my arm was hanging out the window, and hell...the traffic hadn't even started to build up yet. What I evidently failed to notice in my content mindset was the kindly police gentleman pulling out of one of the gas stations. Well he sure as fuck noticed me...seeing as I was the _only_ person on the road with their window down.
Still unaware I had been "marked for justice"...I stopped at the light that had just turned red. I was listening to my music...staring up at the light (my car is pretty low to the ground)...when I catch the colors of a local patrol car out of the corner of my eye. I then turn slightly and see his lights are on....I slowly turn more and look towards the drivers seat. The cop put his window down and looked right back. It took about .001 seconds for my brain to compute "Awww shit...".
I didn't even bother to turn my music down...which in hindsight might have been a bad idea. Instead I made out all "defiant" and pulled into a bank parking lot that was right past the light. My "cool" demeanor quickly left me as I realized my parents hadn't given me the most recent insurance card. I really don't know what they do when they walk back to that car of theirs...but I guess the computer system is all-knowing.
This is where I begin to get really ticked off though. That computer of his should have told the cop I was a model-fucking-citizen. Now I did get a speeding ticket my freshman year of college...but its not on my driving record. Don't ask me why but when I went to get a copy of my record for the insurance company last year…it had been taken off. Sadly I lack a good set of tits which ultimately means I don't deserve a warning. -_-
Well I gave a quick apology and took the ticket (which I don't plan to protest in court). I mean...I _did_ break the law. Some fucking law though. Why should I have to pay those fuckers for choosing not to use something that BELONGS TO ME!? You don't get in trouble for "not using" anything else in the car. You can't get a ticket for failing to activate your cigarette lighter...there's no penalty for failing to use the windshield cleaning fluid.
You know how they justify it? They're protecting you from yourself. Now I can see there are some instances where that kind of reasoning works. I think that if someone was attempting suicide...they aren't in their right mind. On the other hand...choosing to not wear your seatbelt is like choosing to not tie your shoe!
There are times when you should take precautions and there are times where it really doesn't matter. Do you wear a helmet and a full set of pads when you ride around on rollerblades? No...you wear them when you're in a fucking hockey game or something. Similarly...when I'm taking a 10 min drive from school to my apartment I don't feel like wearing my seatbelt. When I take a long distance drive on a highway or interstate where the speed limit is 70mph and people are clearly going 80-90...I'll wear my seatbelt.
It's a law that was created "for our own good". I've personally never known anyone who has been in a car accident that had their lives saved by wearing their seatbelt. I've been in one before and my seatbelt played no part in making anything better. I'm sure most people (and probably everyone who reads this) will say "Phil stop bitching and just wear your seatbelt". Well I still say fuck it. When I drive to school tomorrow morning I'll probably wear it...and I'll probably wear it for some time to come. Not because I want to...I just don't think getting two tickets in a short period of time is ever a good idea. I'm sure by the time I go home for Thanksgiving I'll be back to leaving it off.
I hope they come up with some other ridiculous law soon...maybe they'll take me up on my shoelace idea. "Excuse me sir! Sir! You're gona have to come with me. No I don't care if its velcro.."
---------------------------------------------
Enough of the bitching!...for now at least. =P
I really want to record the exploits of last weekend before I forget any more of it. The fact my memory is on par with the average goldfish should be common knowledge by now. -_-;
It all started last Tuesday with the coming of Halo 2. I said a while back that everything was going to shut down when it came out and so it did. I took Jordan to get his copy and we easily cleared over half the game on normal that day working in co-op. We probably played 4 hours that day...and another 4 hours or so on Thursday to finish the game. O_o; Now Jordan and I are some of the best players at the school...but damn that's a short game. I still find it hard to believe they made us wait 3 years for a game that took under 10 total hours to beat. I'm half expecting them to announce the arrival of Halo 3 for the new xbox system's launch next year. Is that too much to hope for?
Well back to the story I guess...
Now that everyone was in the mood for Halo I brought up the idea I had earlier this semester. I wanted to use my new apartment for a LAN party since we now had the space and didn't have to worry about disturbing the peace on campus. Most of the guys still thought it would be a good idea...but of course no one wanted to set it up. Being a lazy person myself...I could sympathize with them...but it wasn't helping the cause.
So starting on Thursday I started putting together a list of every person we knew that was in some way a gamer. To be honest the list wasn't that long...maybe 23-24 people. I suppose it's not too shabby when you think about it. I mean how many gamers do _you_ hang out with on a regular basis? XP
Things progressed along...certain people got crossed off because of prior engagements and the like. I confirmed the four xboxs, 16 controllers, and enough copies of the game. We were short a fourth tv for the longest time...mostly because I didn't want to "force" one of our roommates into it. -_-; I guess I should glad they "allowed" the party in the first place. We had confirmed 16 people exactly though...so the plan was on.
D ended up having to call in three of his old friends from home that were going to school at Georgia Southern. I had "met" two of them before...well "met" is a nice way to put it. I was originally introduced as the guy that was going to kick their asses at Soul Calibur 2. ^_^; They're pretty damn funny guys though. It was nice having a new influx of jokes and catchphrases to throw around.
His buddies came up Friday evening and we needed something to do...so someone got the bright idea to go buy some booze and bring everyone to our place for Magic and poker. O_o The group wasn't as big as it was going to be the next day but there were still about 9 of us. The Georgia Southern guys started the "I've got a bigger dick than you" competitions by challenging the Mercer crew to a 3 on 6 game of Magic. Granted they were all playing type-1 broken decks...but we still slaughtered them. *lol* We played another 3v3v3 match before we decided those take way to friggin long. I was about ready to go to bed...but someone brought out the poker chips. >_<
Having played poker all summer I knew games that started even by 10pm didn't get done till after 2 in the morning. We were starting even later and of course all 9 people wanted to play. I guess I should be thankful only about four of us have any idea of how to play poker well. A lot of people dropped out early on but the game didn't even get down to the final two until almost 3am. It came down to Kyle and I (he's one of the GA Southern guys)...we both were about sick of playing so I just told him I'd go all in on one last hand. Even though I had about 3 times his chips I lost the hand...my pride was unaffected. XP I never win something when I put everything on the line.
I managed to get to bed some time after three...too bad Brett and the two Southern guys that decided to crash went to Wal-Mart. The fuckers woke me up after 4am when they were making fun of Kyle for blowing up his inflatable mattress. -_-;; I don't know how they did it...but they all managed to be gone by the time I got out of bed around 11:00 on Saturday. Didn't really bother me too much. I did my laundry. O_o
The real fun started around 1:45...we had reached 14 people and the other two we had planned on were confirmed as backing out.
Now I've never played with more than 8 people at a time. You wouldn't think adding six more people to the mix could change things so much...but man it does. We decided to start out with a FFA match on one of the larger maps. It was complete carnage. People were dying left and right...I think the average life of each player was less than 30 seconds when we looked at the final totals. o_o; I managed to start off pretty well. Unlike a lot of the other people I had adjusted to dual wielding incredibly fast during the week. Everyone was staying fairly close together in kills for a while. It wasn't until someone brought out the plasma sword that things got uneven…
I just want to take a moment to comment on how "broke" the plasma sword is. The weapon isn't limited like it is in story mode (it has infinite charge in multiplayer). Its key feature is of course the "lunge". Provided you're within range of an enemy...all you have to do is place your targeting reticule on them and squeeze the primary fire trigger. Your character will make a lunging vertical uppercut that covers the distance to your target almost instantaneously. Oh...did I mention that the slash is a one hit kill if it connects? XP The time in between uppercuts is small enough that only someone with a sword or shotgun can take you out before you can do another one. Some will try to tell you the limited range of the sword makes it balanced...
Punch them if you get the chance.
Well back to the match...I happened to have a shotgun. Someone wasn't looking and I put a big hole in their back. Like a piñata he showered the floor with gifts. =P One of those being a plasma sword. I used the sword to go on a killing spree 9 victims long all but securing my victory. I usually don't get too cocky about winning something...but it sure did feel good to take a 14 person FFA with at least 5 kills between me and the second place person. ^_^;
We broke into two teams of 7 after that and played for almost six hours. We did slayer, CTF, King of the Hill, and territory games. Each match was more intense than the last as we got used to working with our teams. Those six hours comprised some of the most fun time playing video games I've ever had. I guess it comes from all the time I've spent in arcades...cause I enjoy myself the most when I can play with a lot of people and bitch them out in person. XP
I could sit here and comment on the levels...or the weapons...or the game types...but I’d rather talk about something more interesting. The most intriguing part of it all had to be the interaction in between each of the games. O_o
You would think with a large group of gamers...one match would end, the settings would change, and the next match would start...but no! At the end of _EVERY_ game all the players would hop up and run to the rooms of their opponents to discuss everything that happened. It was really fun to watch and after the first time it happened I found myself participating. The cocks were definitely out for the most part though...that's what happens when your player base is 13 guys and 1 girl. -_- We really need to import some of those Florida Gamer Girls.
At 8:00 we had people leave and a lot more that went out to dinner. I provided shuttle service since I didn't have the money on me to go out. I really thought that was the end...man was I wrong again. When the dinner group got back they brought different people with them. Before I knew it the number of players was back up to 12 and the gaming went on till 3am. >_< The style was really different because we switched to 4v4v4. At first Ron, Kyle, and myself all decided to get on the same team...all it took was our names loading up on the screen for a group of them to bust in my door and break us up. ^_^ Even then it took two more matches before we had the teams divided up anywhere near equal. The process spawned a ridiculous amount of hostilities...thankfully most of it was taken out "in game".
Eventually everyone left and I got to sleep. We had played Halo 2 for almost a total of 12 hours before all was said and done. It was the largest gathering of gamers here at school since the original Halo tournament that the frat guys put on last year. We all really want to do it again...but I'm not sure its gona happen before the end of the semester. o_o
I might comment on the game a little more later. This entry has taken up too much time for now. The rest of the week is looking pretty quiet. I don't have any more tests or projects until after Thanksgiving break (which starts a week from today). If anything else interesting happens I guess I'll write about it. I'm out for now. XP Peace!
Let me go back a bit...just a tad.
After Jordan and I beat the last level of Halo 2 on legendary (and got over our second round of disappointment) I decided to go over to the guy's place. Nothing much happened...we played a couple rounds of Halo and a short game of poker before people had to leave for class. I was about to leave when Ron came out of his "cave".
Since his characters had been erased last semester by his vengeful mother...Ron has managed to crack out on Ragnarok almost back to where he was originally. I sat and watched him wander around and fuck with people in town. I'm a gamer by heart and even when it’s a game I don't play...I like to ask questions. XP He was trying to find some pictures on his clan's forums when I finally got bored. I told him to show me later and I walked out.
This is where we get back to the bitching!
I got to my car and climbed in. The ol' Neon had been sitting in the sun so it was rather warm on the inside. I was wearing my jacket as well so I decided to ride with the window open. The air felt great (I usually _love_ to ride with my window open) and I started pulling off my jacket a little bit at a time while driving out of Mercer. My music was up, my arm was hanging out the window, and hell...the traffic hadn't even started to build up yet. What I evidently failed to notice in my content mindset was the kindly police gentleman pulling out of one of the gas stations. Well he sure as fuck noticed me...seeing as I was the _only_ person on the road with their window down.
Still unaware I had been "marked for justice"...I stopped at the light that had just turned red. I was listening to my music...staring up at the light (my car is pretty low to the ground)...when I catch the colors of a local patrol car out of the corner of my eye. I then turn slightly and see his lights are on....I slowly turn more and look towards the drivers seat. The cop put his window down and looked right back. It took about .001 seconds for my brain to compute "Awww shit...".
I didn't even bother to turn my music down...which in hindsight might have been a bad idea. Instead I made out all "defiant" and pulled into a bank parking lot that was right past the light. My "cool" demeanor quickly left me as I realized my parents hadn't given me the most recent insurance card. I really don't know what they do when they walk back to that car of theirs...but I guess the computer system is all-knowing.
This is where I begin to get really ticked off though. That computer of his should have told the cop I was a model-fucking-citizen. Now I did get a speeding ticket my freshman year of college...but its not on my driving record. Don't ask me why but when I went to get a copy of my record for the insurance company last year…it had been taken off. Sadly I lack a good set of tits which ultimately means I don't deserve a warning. -_-
Well I gave a quick apology and took the ticket (which I don't plan to protest in court). I mean...I _did_ break the law. Some fucking law though. Why should I have to pay those fuckers for choosing not to use something that BELONGS TO ME!? You don't get in trouble for "not using" anything else in the car. You can't get a ticket for failing to activate your cigarette lighter...there's no penalty for failing to use the windshield cleaning fluid.
You know how they justify it? They're protecting you from yourself. Now I can see there are some instances where that kind of reasoning works. I think that if someone was attempting suicide...they aren't in their right mind. On the other hand...choosing to not wear your seatbelt is like choosing to not tie your shoe!
There are times when you should take precautions and there are times where it really doesn't matter. Do you wear a helmet and a full set of pads when you ride around on rollerblades? No...you wear them when you're in a fucking hockey game or something. Similarly...when I'm taking a 10 min drive from school to my apartment I don't feel like wearing my seatbelt. When I take a long distance drive on a highway or interstate where the speed limit is 70mph and people are clearly going 80-90...I'll wear my seatbelt.
It's a law that was created "for our own good". I've personally never known anyone who has been in a car accident that had their lives saved by wearing their seatbelt. I've been in one before and my seatbelt played no part in making anything better. I'm sure most people (and probably everyone who reads this) will say "Phil stop bitching and just wear your seatbelt". Well I still say fuck it. When I drive to school tomorrow morning I'll probably wear it...and I'll probably wear it for some time to come. Not because I want to...I just don't think getting two tickets in a short period of time is ever a good idea. I'm sure by the time I go home for Thanksgiving I'll be back to leaving it off.
I hope they come up with some other ridiculous law soon...maybe they'll take me up on my shoelace idea. "Excuse me sir! Sir! You're gona have to come with me. No I don't care if its velcro.."
---------------------------------------------
Enough of the bitching!...for now at least. =P
I really want to record the exploits of last weekend before I forget any more of it. The fact my memory is on par with the average goldfish should be common knowledge by now. -_-;
It all started last Tuesday with the coming of Halo 2. I said a while back that everything was going to shut down when it came out and so it did. I took Jordan to get his copy and we easily cleared over half the game on normal that day working in co-op. We probably played 4 hours that day...and another 4 hours or so on Thursday to finish the game. O_o; Now Jordan and I are some of the best players at the school...but damn that's a short game. I still find it hard to believe they made us wait 3 years for a game that took under 10 total hours to beat. I'm half expecting them to announce the arrival of Halo 3 for the new xbox system's launch next year. Is that too much to hope for?
Well back to the story I guess...
Now that everyone was in the mood for Halo I brought up the idea I had earlier this semester. I wanted to use my new apartment for a LAN party since we now had the space and didn't have to worry about disturbing the peace on campus. Most of the guys still thought it would be a good idea...but of course no one wanted to set it up. Being a lazy person myself...I could sympathize with them...but it wasn't helping the cause.
So starting on Thursday I started putting together a list of every person we knew that was in some way a gamer. To be honest the list wasn't that long...maybe 23-24 people. I suppose it's not too shabby when you think about it. I mean how many gamers do _you_ hang out with on a regular basis? XP
Things progressed along...certain people got crossed off because of prior engagements and the like. I confirmed the four xboxs, 16 controllers, and enough copies of the game. We were short a fourth tv for the longest time...mostly because I didn't want to "force" one of our roommates into it. -_-; I guess I should glad they "allowed" the party in the first place. We had confirmed 16 people exactly though...so the plan was on.
D ended up having to call in three of his old friends from home that were going to school at Georgia Southern. I had "met" two of them before...well "met" is a nice way to put it. I was originally introduced as the guy that was going to kick their asses at Soul Calibur 2. ^_^; They're pretty damn funny guys though. It was nice having a new influx of jokes and catchphrases to throw around.
His buddies came up Friday evening and we needed something to do...so someone got the bright idea to go buy some booze and bring everyone to our place for Magic and poker. O_o The group wasn't as big as it was going to be the next day but there were still about 9 of us. The Georgia Southern guys started the "I've got a bigger dick than you" competitions by challenging the Mercer crew to a 3 on 6 game of Magic. Granted they were all playing type-1 broken decks...but we still slaughtered them. *lol* We played another 3v3v3 match before we decided those take way to friggin long. I was about ready to go to bed...but someone brought out the poker chips. >_<
Having played poker all summer I knew games that started even by 10pm didn't get done till after 2 in the morning. We were starting even later and of course all 9 people wanted to play. I guess I should be thankful only about four of us have any idea of how to play poker well. A lot of people dropped out early on but the game didn't even get down to the final two until almost 3am. It came down to Kyle and I (he's one of the GA Southern guys)...we both were about sick of playing so I just told him I'd go all in on one last hand. Even though I had about 3 times his chips I lost the hand...my pride was unaffected. XP I never win something when I put everything on the line.
I managed to get to bed some time after three...too bad Brett and the two Southern guys that decided to crash went to Wal-Mart. The fuckers woke me up after 4am when they were making fun of Kyle for blowing up his inflatable mattress. -_-;; I don't know how they did it...but they all managed to be gone by the time I got out of bed around 11:00 on Saturday. Didn't really bother me too much. I did my laundry. O_o
The real fun started around 1:45...we had reached 14 people and the other two we had planned on were confirmed as backing out.
Now I've never played with more than 8 people at a time. You wouldn't think adding six more people to the mix could change things so much...but man it does. We decided to start out with a FFA match on one of the larger maps. It was complete carnage. People were dying left and right...I think the average life of each player was less than 30 seconds when we looked at the final totals. o_o; I managed to start off pretty well. Unlike a lot of the other people I had adjusted to dual wielding incredibly fast during the week. Everyone was staying fairly close together in kills for a while. It wasn't until someone brought out the plasma sword that things got uneven…
I just want to take a moment to comment on how "broke" the plasma sword is. The weapon isn't limited like it is in story mode (it has infinite charge in multiplayer). Its key feature is of course the "lunge". Provided you're within range of an enemy...all you have to do is place your targeting reticule on them and squeeze the primary fire trigger. Your character will make a lunging vertical uppercut that covers the distance to your target almost instantaneously. Oh...did I mention that the slash is a one hit kill if it connects? XP The time in between uppercuts is small enough that only someone with a sword or shotgun can take you out before you can do another one. Some will try to tell you the limited range of the sword makes it balanced...
Punch them if you get the chance.
Well back to the match...I happened to have a shotgun. Someone wasn't looking and I put a big hole in their back. Like a piñata he showered the floor with gifts. =P One of those being a plasma sword. I used the sword to go on a killing spree 9 victims long all but securing my victory. I usually don't get too cocky about winning something...but it sure did feel good to take a 14 person FFA with at least 5 kills between me and the second place person. ^_^;
We broke into two teams of 7 after that and played for almost six hours. We did slayer, CTF, King of the Hill, and territory games. Each match was more intense than the last as we got used to working with our teams. Those six hours comprised some of the most fun time playing video games I've ever had. I guess it comes from all the time I've spent in arcades...cause I enjoy myself the most when I can play with a lot of people and bitch them out in person. XP
I could sit here and comment on the levels...or the weapons...or the game types...but I’d rather talk about something more interesting. The most intriguing part of it all had to be the interaction in between each of the games. O_o
You would think with a large group of gamers...one match would end, the settings would change, and the next match would start...but no! At the end of _EVERY_ game all the players would hop up and run to the rooms of their opponents to discuss everything that happened. It was really fun to watch and after the first time it happened I found myself participating. The cocks were definitely out for the most part though...that's what happens when your player base is 13 guys and 1 girl. -_- We really need to import some of those Florida Gamer Girls.
At 8:00 we had people leave and a lot more that went out to dinner. I provided shuttle service since I didn't have the money on me to go out. I really thought that was the end...man was I wrong again. When the dinner group got back they brought different people with them. Before I knew it the number of players was back up to 12 and the gaming went on till 3am. >_< The style was really different because we switched to 4v4v4. At first Ron, Kyle, and myself all decided to get on the same team...all it took was our names loading up on the screen for a group of them to bust in my door and break us up. ^_^ Even then it took two more matches before we had the teams divided up anywhere near equal. The process spawned a ridiculous amount of hostilities...thankfully most of it was taken out "in game".
Eventually everyone left and I got to sleep. We had played Halo 2 for almost a total of 12 hours before all was said and done. It was the largest gathering of gamers here at school since the original Halo tournament that the frat guys put on last year. We all really want to do it again...but I'm not sure its gona happen before the end of the semester. o_o
I might comment on the game a little more later. This entry has taken up too much time for now. The rest of the week is looking pretty quiet. I don't have any more tests or projects until after Thanksgiving break (which starts a week from today). If anything else interesting happens I guess I'll write about it. I'm out for now. XP Peace!