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Top 25 Union Memberships ~ 6/13/2013 EDITION

[PREVIOUS UPDATE: 12/13/2010] 

If there are any unions that you're currently aware of that are eligible to be featured below, please let me know to help keep this list up-to-date. Thanks!

To view previous updates, click HERE.

RANK: NAME - MEMBERS [+/- JOINED/RESIGNED SINCE LAST UPDATE] ^/v RANK CHANGE  

{#1: The Fighters Realm Union --- 7859 [-23]
{#2: The Xbox 360 Union --- 7252 [+49]
{#3: {The Halo Union} --- 7138 [+46]
{#4: The Legend of Zelda Union --- 5991 [+50]
{#5: PS3 -THE REAL NEXT GEN --- 5857 [+17]
-------
{#6: FINAL FANTASY EXPERIENCE --- 5451 [+183]
{#7: The HeadCrab Union --- 5056 [+37]
{#8: SQUARE ENIX EXPERIENCE --- 4491 [-16]
{#9: The Resident Evil Union --- 4286 [+70]
{#10: The Emblems Union (GS Achievements) --- 3863 [+244]
-------
{#11: FAU: Film Appreciation Union --- 3834 [+224] 
{#12: GameSpot Live --- 3760 
{#13: Star Wars Union --- 3449 [+21] 
{#14: Elder Scrolls Elite --- 3444 [+376] ^ ^
{#15: video games lovers --- 3357 [-11] v
-------
{#16: Reviewer's Legion --- 3278 [-13] v
{#17: SonicSpot --- 2660 [+198] ^ ^ ^ ^
{#18: PSP Union --- 2652 [-4] v
{#19: The Fallout and Elderscrolls Fan Union --- 2629 [+16] v
{#20: The Metal Gear Solid Veterans Union --- 2603 [+131] 
-------
{#21: The Pokemon League Union --- 2528 [+110] ^
{#22: The Overclocking & PC Tweaking Union --- 2495 [+5] v v v
{#23: The Family Guy Union --- 2419 [+2] 
{#24: Evolution of Nintendo Union --- 2394 [-17] 
{#25: PS3 Union --- 2354 [+7] 

NOTES:

~ 2 1/2 years since the last update.

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Student pricing is very modest ($20 a month versus $50 a month for non-students). I literally have so many things I can do now that I've been wanting to experiment with since I first had the pleasure of using Adobe software. I've been lusting after it since Photoshop CS3 and now for only twenty dollars a month I have the whole damn suite. Set aside enough money to pay for the whole year just to be sure too. My creative side is going wild.

A lot of people have complained about the subscription model but honestly it's the only reason I can afford all this software in the first place, so kudos to Adobe for that. 

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I guess I outdid myself there. But really, no one would actually preorder this thing, right? After the RROD fiasco, no one would be this dumb!

Yahoo News: Xbox One Pre-Orders Top Amazon Sales Charts

Oh. I see. I have a feeling I'll be linking back to this blog when I say "Gamers are dumb as shit" in future installments.

Moving on. My thoughts on the Microsoft conference...

I think I heard Kinect mentioned one time during the entire show. The show centered almost entirely on the games, rather than the technology, which is interesting, considering a new console is debuting. What's more, most of the games shown were for gamers, not the casual crowd. Perhaps there's been a recognition that consoles are for serious gamers. Even if you can convince a casual gamer to buy a black box that cost as much as a tablet, you're not going to make much money off them. They're not going to buy loads of games and subscriptions. Motion control is not going to replace traditional controllers, and I said as much in 2010. Kinect can be used to enhance certain games, but it will not become the focus for traditional gamers.

Of the games demoed, a number of them featured "open world" gameplay. I'm of a mixed opinion on this. First, the term is way overused. Lots of games are described as open world, like Dark Souls, when they are not. That you can travel back and forth through levels does not make a game open world. Secondly, open world is not necessarily a good thing. It has a way of diluting gameplay, because no matter how large your development team, it is simply not possible to create an open world experience as refined as a focused, linear game.

That's all. I'll be back tomorrow or whenever I feel like it with more thoughts on Xbox One.

...

Following are my unedited notes on the 2013 Microsoft E3 conference...

Five minutes in, and the show hasn't started. I'm watching it after the fact. Why the hell didn't GameSpot edit this crap out? SEVEN MINUTES into it, and the damn thing finally starts.

Something from Konami. Metal Gear Solid is open world. In all honesty, it does look kinda cool; reminds me of Far Cry, you know, from 2004. Lol, I love the little "  Seiko Watch Corporation" that pops up when he looks at his watch. Snake is voiced by Kiefer Sutherland, which seems appropriate.

Xbox Live Gold members get two free game downloads per month. I get Assassin's Creed II and Halo 3 for free. This would have been nice back in November when I bought Assassin's Creed II and got my 1,000/1,000 in it.

"It's never been available on any console until now." What, is World Warcraft coming to 360? No, this is World of Tanks. I like tanks.

All right, Dark Souls II. This is one of a few games I actually care about. No information; just a trailer.

Ryse might be cool. I like stuff involving Rome. The gameplay seems to be heavily quicktime based, however.

Oh shit, Forza has got a real McLaren on stage. I thought that reveal was in the trailer footage; nope it's real.

I guess Minecraft is on Xbox One.

I can create and share gameplay videos. Possibly cool.

They're showing off Smartglass. I've been using the Windows Phone 7 version of Smartglass for quite a while now. It's a good idea, allowing tablets or phones to integrate into the game in non-critical ways.

One hour and ten minutes into the show, Kinect is mentioned for the first time.

The Battlefield demo took an eternity to load. Guys are fighting on a sinking aircraft carrier. It looks way better than when this happened in Army of Two.

There's going to be a new Halo. I haven't played Reach yet, so I'm sure I'll get to it eventually. And a game called Titanfall, with mechs.

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Things have been doing pretty good with the new gig. It sometimes doesn't feel like work because it is that much fun. Our game will be at the NVIDIA booth so if you're attending be sure to drop by to check out the tech destruction demo, currently not in the open beta. Oh, I guess the secret is out if you follow my Twitter (HWKJody. The game is HAWKEN.

Lastly, I can't believe my last blog reached over 200 comments. Thanks again for everyone's kind words. I only saw one rage quit from  the site, and even he wished me well. Also, if you don't already have me on Steam (xpcaligirl) or Raptr (CaliGirl), feel free to add me! 

And.. have a Happy E3 week full of exciting news and hype! I'll have to make sure I take a peek in System Wars this week to see what you all think about the hardware and games. <3

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1. Project Eternity: This is the one I'm looking forward to the most. Un-chained Obsidian will be able to recreate a game formula that was so essential to PC gaming back in the 90's. There's not a whole lot of info on this title yet, but they've assured the fans that it will play like the classic games such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, etc...

2. Wateland 2: A close second to Project Eternity as far as what I'm most excited about. The original Fallout games have always and will always be my favorites. They were created and molded based on a game from the late 80's called: Wasteland. I never actually played the original game, but Wasteland 2 is shaping up quite nicely based on what I've read and seen. Many Fallout fans like myself were hopping for Fallout 3 to be more like the original games, but we ended up with something completely different. No disrespect to the new direction the franchise took, but this is what I've been waiting for for decades. Lucky for me and many others, the game is due later this year.

3. Divinity: Original Sin: Another game I'm excited about. Classic isometric view with tactical combat. Heavy on the "role playing" and other classic ingredients. I could talk about this game for a while but I'll let Kevin VanOrd do it for me with his great article about the game.

4. Torment: Tides of Numenera: Not much news on this one yet. But anyone who's played the original Torment knows that this will most likely be a gem. Definitely keep an eye out for this one.

5. Shadowrun Returns: Who can forget this classic which first appeared on the SNES back in the 80's. I know I remeber as kid loving this game not only for its claasic RPG style, but also for its wacky world and crazy characters. The great thing about Shadowrun Returns is that it releases later this month.

All I can say is thank you to Kickstarter for allowing devoted fans the chance to help developers create the games we love.

Thank you. 

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^This is Microsoft!

Seriously what is wrong with them? You have to report to them once a day to be able to play games , you can't play used games unless you pay a fee for the game you have ALREADY BOUGHT , you can't upgrade your hard drive and 70% of their presentation was about TV and how you don't have to work hard to click the buttons on your controller but you can instead use the ability of human speech! I hate when things are so mainstream and even though i love Sony I'm scared that it wont be long until Sony starts doing things like that.   Instead of embracing their customers MS treats them like terrorists. And not to mention that freakin Eye of Mordor that is the Kinect!! It's completely ridiculous , even a hardcore MS fanboy can see that.

The gaming world is under attack!

What do you guys think?

~Rein

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I know it shouldn't bother me that much but it kind of does. I mean asking people for something like $50,000 and then getting it seems like overkill, but then what happens if they don't reach that amount? Does it all go to waste? Does the money go straight into their pockets?

Is this really a good cause to ask people for money?

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I've been spending a lot of time pairing up characters so that they get married and then I get to meet their time-traveling  progeny. It's fun to see what characteristics the parents pass on to their kids and get an extra perspective on this doom-and-gloom future everyone is ranting on about. It's also rewarding to fill out my party with new blood; the excitement of new life offers a soothing counter to the anguish of life lost.

Today I mourn Vaike.

Look at this cocky bastard. Weird chains dangling off his neck collar like so much Ylissian bling. Can't be bothered to keep track of his axes. Refers to himself not just in the third-person, but makes himself into a proper noun: "The Vaike." No shirt, no helmet, no problem. 

But what a soldier! When he torqued those practice-hardened muscles back and uncorked a ferocious axe strike, the Risen rose no more. He was a fierce fighter and a trustworthy ally, lending unbending support and an easy smile to all his compatriots. We'll all remember "Teach" sharing his strategies and tips freely, solicited or no. His confidence, his self-assurance, and his gusto made us all better soldiers, better allies, and better friends. 

Vaike, for your rockin' hair, your rockin' bod, your rockin' attitude, and your rockin' axe, we salute you. Rock in peace.

[ Watch Video ]

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He didn't pull me from a burning building or rescue me from a frozen lake. But when I was suffering from a depression that had me constantly on the brink of suicide, he was the man who kept me on this side of the abyss. 

He was my therapist, but that word is so clinical, and doesn't accurately describe who Dan was to me. Friend? Yes, even though I usually only saw him in the confines of the office of a mental health clinic in Warren, PA. Father figure is more accurate, I suppose, but whatever you call him, he was the one that convinced me that life was worth living. His office was the safest place on the planet. It was there that I felt most vulnerable, and most cared for. He is the reason I am still here today, rather than a memory, or at very least, rather than a human husk, withering away in a hospital for the remainder of my days. 

He shared with me stories that a professional therapist shouldn't generally be sharing with his patient, and yet it was exactly the right thing to do in my case. I would record myself playing Christmas music on cassette tape and give it to him as a Christmas gift. I went to a church where he was a guest pastor one Sunday and marveled that this man could radiate such kindness and generosity. I read about his exploits with his boy scout troop, and wondered if those young men knew how fortunate they were that someone like Dan could be in their lives. 

I also know that Dan was an imperfect man. But I wasn't prepared to discover that several weeks ago, this man responsible for me being here to share this story today went missing. Vanished from his house, his wallet and keys left behind. No note, no goodbye to his wife Penny, no sign of a break in, no indication that something was wrong. He was simply gone. 

The police have searched, and the Conewango Creek and local branch of the Allegheny River have been scoured. No one knows if Dan, at the age of 69, wandered off to take his own life, or fell into the river and was washed away. Perhaps he was discontent and troubled, and decided to travel where he couldn't be found and live out his last days in peace. Perhaps he simply went for a walk to some unknown place and suffered a heart attack, and hasn't been found in spite of the exhaustive search. 

But it doesn't seem that Dan is coming back. 

The last time I talked to Dan was a few years ago. He sent me an email entitled "The real story...for those with a warped sense of humor." It was a typical viral email that people might send, this one with pictures of fairy tale princesses as they might have ended up. Snow White with her several babies and a good-for-nothing prince sitting in front of the TV. An obese Little Red Riding Hood wandering through the forest, sipping on a Big Gulp and carrying a basket full of bread. It certainly wasn't the most socially sensitive communication, but it's what I have. 

I love you Dan. I hope that you are close to God now. 

Edit: My mom shared this YouTube link with me of Dan leading vespers in 2012. http://youtu.be/dmVaCIoxeI0

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So far I've checked out Divine Divinity, Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, and a few others. Any recommendations? Looking for RPGs that maybe weren't the most popular or whatever but were still worth playing. I'm aware of the Baldur's Gates and Diablos and the big titles, so if you are aware of any lesser known gems that you think I should play, feel free to let me know in the comments.

Also, been playing a very cool game that I got for free online called "Realmz". It's a pretty cool game. Mostly a hack n' slash style RPG but with a party of up to 6 members, plus it's turn-based combat. It's really fun.

If you want to download it, get it from here > https://fantasoft.powweb.com/Files/Realmz%20PC.zip . It's a pretty small file and very easy to run on any type of PC.

However, be warned, the graphics are nothing to write home about. Seriously. They are very primitive graphics, but who cares about graphics!??! I'm in it for the gameplay, and this game HAS gameplay.

If you have any questions or want any beginner tips, feel free to let me know in the comments. I'm still a noob playing it but I have learned a little bit about the game and have some good beginner tips for anyone looking to roll a party and start adventuring. And trust me, you will need tips, because it's a bit difficult to get into at first. I suggest reading the manual which you can find on this website > https://fantasoft.powweb.com/realmzdivinity.html

And if you like the game and want to unlock all the various scenarios that it comes with, you'll need the registration code, which you can find here > https://fantasoft.powweb.com/Files//Realmz%20PC%20Codes.pdf . Don't worry, it's completely legal. The developers went out of business years back and gave the registration code for free to anyone online who wanted to play the game. Cool, huh?

Let me know what you think of it if and when you play.

Have fun!

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The game center around Oliver, a young boy who just lost his mother after an accident occured. One day, as Oliver cry, his tears bring back to life a doll called Drippy who calls himself the lord of the faeries. He tells Oliver that he's from another world and that both world are connected to each others, like a parallel world. Each persons in Oliver's world have what we call a "soulmate" and Oliver's mom is the soulmate of a sage called Alicia in Drippy's world. But recently a dark djinn named Shadar trapped Alicia in what we call a Soulsnare and Drippy tells Oliver that it may be why his mother passed away and if Alicia is saved the connection between her and Oliver's mom might be restored thus bringing her back to life. From there Oliver sets on an adventure, to become the greatest wizard and defeat Shadar to save his mother.

That's pretty much the story...when summed up of course now next up is the battle system. Once you arrive in Drippy's world you're alone, Oliver isn't much of a fighter but as you progress in the game you'll earn new magic spell the first one being fireball. It deal decent damage early on especially on bug creatures. But do not worry, shortly after you reach the other world and enter the first dungeon you'll earn your very first familiar. Familiars are those creatures that you can summon and they will fight for you and get used to them because there's a LOT to be found as well as rare (Gold) version of them.

Familiars level up just like Ollie and gets stronger as well as learning new attacks. Familiars can learn up to 8 attack so if you want an old familiar to learn a new trick you might need to make them "forget" one of their current technique. For Pokemon players this system is quite familiar. (no pun intended) There's various species of familiar but seeing i only have two of those and they're story given i will focus on those instead.

The first familiar you get fight with a sword and a shield, he's balanced in power and defense but doesn't have much evasion. The second familiar is moreso strenght focused but he cannot use the defend command like the former familiar. But he can buff his own attack and as well as "Psyche Up" psyche up give him the command "Go wild" which is a series of multiple attack good damage wise, mix that with his attack buff and he can be a force to be reckoned with. Also you need to swap familiars at time, they each have a stamina bar that recover when off battle so keep a close eye on it. Also your familiar and Oliver share the same HP and MP bar so you might need to swap to Oliver and heal yourself from time to time.

Each familiars can be equipped with 3 pieces of equipment. The first one you get can equip swords, shields and his accessory are badges. The second familiar can equip fang, mantle, and collar. On top of that you can feed treats to your familiars, raising their familiarity and stats in the process.

Each treat boost a certain stats, like chocolate milk decently boost a familiar attack while something like flan boost magic defense. You can't feed them endlessly too because they can eventually get full so you gotta be careful not to dump every food on a familiar, simply focus on their key stats. See as you feed them they gain,permanent, extra stats as i mentionned and every time they gain a point in a stat (like atk +1) their familiarity raise of +1. In the beginning its familiarity 0/10 meaning they can only get 10 extra stat point BUT after that they gain a level in familiarity now they're at 10/20 familiarity allowing for an extra +10 in stats points. So yeah don't go wasting magic atk food on a strenght/defense centered familiar!

Lastly all 77 familiars have three evolutions (thats hundred of possibilities). Still talking about the first familiar at level 12 he'll evolve into something else and at level 33 he'll have two options, one being a more defense centric evolution or the being a more attack centric evolution. Mine haven't evolved yet and idk if there's something else beside the level required for an evolution, i'm guessing yes for the latter when you have 2 choices.

As you fight orbs are dropped around the area, green orb recover a tiny amount of HP while blue orb recover MP. In some rare case there will be a Gold orb. This one recover all your HP and MP and allow you to do a special attack called miracle move. Oliver cast a huge fireball (which dole about 140 damage on the first boss) and each familiars have their own miracle moves also. Be sure to get those when they drop as it can turn the tide of a fight in mere seconds.

Exploration wise you will not be disappointed, when you're not in a dungeon or a town you're freely roaming on a beautiful and vast overworld. I forgot to say but battle are NOT random, you can see the enemies as you walk around. On the overworld you can find glowy spot when you talk to those you get items. I heard later on that you can travel by boat or even on a dragon! In term of sidequests there's plenty of those, 138 to be exact. Ranging from finding items to help "brokenhearted" people. Basically some people in the game are lazy...or feel like good for nothing you know lacking enthusiasm! Well with a locket Oliver's receive he can find people (shown as green glowy dots on the minimap) with plenty of enthusiasm and with the spell "Take heart" you can "borrow" that bit of enthusiasm from said citizen and then once you go back to a brokenhearted person, you can use the spell "Give heart" to give them that piece of emotion stored in Oliver's locket. Its cute and fit well with theme and overall tone of the game.

Of course, there's also bounty to do, if some of played Final Fantasy XII its basically the same concept than those Marks you'd hunt. You grab the bounty, kill the monster and get a reward as well as merit stamps. Merit stamps are awarded after each sidequest, once you get 10 stamps you get 1 merit award and with that you can buy permanent upgrade using said merits award you have. Those upgrade range from faster walking speed on the overworld to more orbs dropped in battle and so on. Gives an even better reason to complete those sidequest!

Thats all for my impression, very lenghty i know but if you're still on the fence about the game i hope my impressions will help you make your mind about it. If you've got any questions feel free to ask!

Until next time!

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i just got another one

I am now a new employee at the tech desk at CompUSA. This to me, HUGE. And i'm doing ALL of this without my A+ certification. With the help of my two jobs, i'm sure the A+ will be a piece of cake when I take it.

One step closer to me getting better, and one step closer to moving out of this wretched state.

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I don't post anymore on gaming forums. It's not because I hate my fellow gamers, it's because forums attract the people who are the least in-touch with the gaming world. The fact of the matter is, consoles don't matter anymore. Harsh? It's the truth. PC Gaming has rocketed ahead in terms of innovation. The latest trend-setting games: Farmville, Minecraft, DOTA 2, CS:GO, Guild Wars 2... they're all on PC. Equally important are tablets, where a host of multi-million dollar games, from Angry Birds to Scrabble, define what's hot.

Consoles just don't shake a stick at it, and the NPD numbers show.

So why the, would Wii U matter? Well, because Wii U is a console. Strange? Not really. In patent filings Microsoft has already made clear the next Xbox will be an upgradeable device, one where users dump in more money for fancier graphics, more storage space and other ammenities. If this sounds familiar, it's because it's a PC. There's nothing special that distinguishes a PC from such a device... except a PC isn't tied to a single OS, vendor or hardware configuration. I can choose to buy a Mac, Windows PC, build my own or tinker about with various free operating systems. I'm not tied down, so like the guy with the cool car and the glow kit, I'm free to define the hardware for myself.

Sony is in the same boat, selling us an outdated PC with much the same games, and software features, bundled in... and it's showing in the sales. Why should consumers pay $60+ a year for Xbox LIVE to get features like "Facebook, Netflix, and more!" when, the same features are available on cell phones, tablets and PCs without a fee? Why will consumers buy expensive hardware ($300+ for the next gen consoles) when their existing devices off them the games they want already? Much like 3D movies, the fad of graphics won't hold up, especially when more functional android and apple devices offer impressive quality in a mobile package that also provides more day-to-day functionality.

-

So why then, does the Wii U win?

Frankly, three reasons:

1. It's cheap

2. It's aimed at families and children

3. It does something different, and does it well.

-

Theses are killer points, and ones that Sony and Microsoft will need to address with their own consoles. The original Wii didn't compete in the marketplace against the Sony / Microsoft crowd because it couldn't appeal to the same audience. The lack of full HD support, the lack of commentary games, and a controller that didn't want to support traditional play worked against it for major titles. However, the Wii U rectifies these problems, and goes a step further, it adds something that allows play that won't happen on rival systems.

Imagine the Wii U decides to launch at $250 - it's an easy holiday pickup for parents looking for a fun system to play with their kids. The games are oriented to parties, and it does something that existing systems don't do... and more importantly, PC and tablet don't do, with its group multiplayer and arcade-style entertainment.

While I'm always skeptical of consoles in general, I put my money down to pre-order a Wii U. Come November, it's the only next gen console I see doing something different that makes me actually want to drop some money. While my 360 and PS3 gather dust, I know that I'll at least get my money's worth of entertaintment from the Wii U, while continuing to see tablets and PC as the "real" gaming platforms... and that's something Sony and Microsoft should truly fear.

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Here's some links for you good people:

Tumblr

Twitter

Happy 6th of July!

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