City of Villains has captured my attention in a way City of Heroes has failed to do. My villain is just so much more fun to play than my do-gooder. I have found that my favorite missions have been those that take me into Paragon City. Now while I never actually step foot in to the real hero city, it’s more of an instance. It just is tremendous amounts of fun to kick all kinds of ass in these areas that look familiar from my play time with my hero.

The thing is that this part of the game also reminds me of the failings of this super hero/villain game once more. Beating the crap out of those heroic Freedom Corps Longbow agents is one thing. I want to be able to mug the civilians of the city while I’m there doing my evil acts. Yet while in these specific instances I never see any civilians I can attack. For that matter when I go on a bank heist why can’t I hurt/kill the innocents in the bank while I try to get my loot? I’m sure these civilians have money on them. Even a very meager amount would make me feel really villainous.

Yet I just don’t get to be a real comic book villain. It’s the same line of thinking that fuels my criticisms of the Hero part of the game. To really be a comic book villain I have to be able to hurt, maim, and kill the civilians of these areas I’m running around in. Otherwise it’s just so obvious that this is just a very half assed attempt to do a superhero mmorpg correctly.

That being said my Mastermind allows me to forget about these issues as I play. I still am able to beat enemies of higher level. Using game terms Oranges and Reds fall to me and my squad of dead president zombies. I can do away with a good number of opponents at once. Since the last post I also able to pick up my advanced travel power at level 14. Flying around the zones just is so fun. Plus being able to make a beeline right to the place I need to go makes it so much more convenient. At level 15 I was able to pick a title. So to others my name say “the Infamous Deaths Grasp” or something along those lines (I can’t remember now what I picked). I now look forward to hitting level 20 so I can get my cape. It would make my villain look much better while flying.

I’ve come up with some new ideas on how to get a raise out of these asshole at the hotel. It was really thanks to this last bit of “management” from the Sheriff. I’m getting the idea that the guy doesn’t want to work the third shift. Either he doesn’t know how to do the audit or he’s not mad about the third shift. Now of course being the front desk manager he certainly knows how to do the audit right?

So if the other lady can’t/won’t work and the supposed front desk manager won’t/can’t work the natural solution is to have me work? Shit I can’t even get a vacation, does this guy really think I’m going to cooperate and fill in for shifts that are not mine? Let make it really simple for you. I work Sunday to Thursday. That is it. I only ask for one day off every year. I don’t ask for raises. I just expect that I get my one day off with no problems. I also expect that I’m allowed to use this vacation time I’m supposedly given.

So here it is. The idea. I’m willing to work extra days for a raise. I’ll come in when I’m not scheduled for more money. In fact if they really expect me to give them two weeks notice for when I quit (maybe one day) they need to give me a raise. And I want back pay all the way to the last time I got a raise. Those are the terms of my proposal. Not that it really matters. But so were clear I won’t work anything other than Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I don’t work on Friday or Saturday. The Sheriff can be a dick and schedule me on those day. But I will not come in.

Monday the 28th if I’m scheduled after I’ve asked for this day off I’ll be disappointed. Even though I have stated previously that I would be off that day whether I was scheduled or not I will come into work if he does not give me my day off. I just want it made clear that there will be no favors. I will not help out in any way when asked. Vague threats that mean nothing to no one but me I’m sure. But when the day comes and the Sheriff needs an extra hand he can forget it.

This is just a prelude to things to come. I’m not going to talk more about it here. I’ve set myself up for disappointment before and I won’t do it again. I’m pretty much committed to getting fired or getting a new job. The hotel can keep me. But they will have to pay through the nose to get me to be a team player. What are the odds I can get fired again on the 28th? Honestly the time has come. My time and place with this hotel has come and gone. Those fools can continue to destroy the hotel, they will just have to do it without me.

Comedy gold tonight folks. Here is a note from the Sheriff:

Turk,

*** may have a
family emergency tomorrow
night. Would/could you
work tomorrow if she
picks up one of your
shifts?

Please let me
know,

The Sheriff

Honestly do I really need to answer this? Right after reading it the first thing that came to mind is to reply Dr. Seuss style:

Would I,
could I,
work for her?

I would not,
could not,
work for her.

And that’s all I could muster. It’s hard writing like Seuss. The thing is the employee with the possible family emergency already knows what my answer is. I’m sure the Sheriff has been told what my answer will be. The answer is no. With the way things are currently the Sheriff is lucky I work the days he schedules me.

Except I’m not going to let him know, unless you consider this post my letting him know. He can call me and ask if he wants. I’ll still tell him no. He’s working 3pm-11pm tomorrow night. I’m afraid that does not sway me into feeling sorry for him. He can work 3pm to 7am. That’s his job. It’s not my job.

Since the last post I’ve managed to make it to level 9. I’ve learned a few things since then. First up hover (which is damn slow) , it is really quite awesome. I took combat jumping on my hero and thought that was cool. It’s just totally a different kind of cool to be able to fly up to the tallest building and look at the city under you. Secondly I still kick all kinds of ass on my Mastermind. Jesus I tell you it’s so different from my hero tanker.

My Mastermind can beat some ass. Mobs in City of Heroes and City of Villains are color coded based on their level. It’s follows DAoC’s line of thinking more or less. Grey, Green, Blue, White, Yellow, Orange, Red, and lastly Purple. White is equal to your current level. And anything above or below that is of course above or below your current level. I can destroy any number of mobs, with the sole exception being those damn purples. My guys (Ron and Dick) can just take them all down.

Now the problem is that there is this new feature to CoH and CoV that I had not know about. And it’s been causing me a lot of pain and suffering. Well not to much suffering since xp debt doesn’t kick in until level 10. You see there is this NPC that will offer to raise your reputation with the city. So I figured that this was some kind of reputation deal. Raise my rep with the city faction was my line of thinking. I couldn’t get any missions from this broker guy I was sent to. So naturally I thought raising my rep would help. It didn’t. What it does is adjust the difficulty of the door missions you go on. Which explains why I had been having so much trouble.

Which brings me to the other new feature that’s not really explained in the manual. Newspaper missions. I had heard mention of this in the general chat channel. I had no idea what the exact nature of this newspaper deal entailed. So I had been looking around for newspaper machines. I was way off of course.

Apparently in my contacts list the newspaper thing was there the whole time. I either didn’t see or I guess I just don’t look at my contact list. It could go either way. After getting the mission difficulty settled I was able to do the newspaper mission I was stuck on. And I finally got introduced to my real contact. It looks like these newspaper missions one shot deals you can get over and over so one doesn’t have to grind it out on the streets. Knowing how these two things work makes the game even funner. Now I’m on a personal mission to make it to level 14 and get my advanced travel power. I can’t wait to be able to really fly. To be able to zip along as I go from place to place. And I need a cape on my bad guy. Won’t get that till level 20. It will be fun getting there.

So I’m back to City of Heroes once more. And I also got City of Villains, which I’m enjoying quite a bit. More so than I did when it was in beta for some reason. I’m really enjoying the Mastermind archetype. I made it to level 6 recently and I’m able to control two zombie henchmen (named Nixon and Reagan) to do my biding. It’s the most fun I’ve had playing either CoH or CoV. I’ve soloed the whole so far. There’s been nothing me and my two dead presidents can’t handle:

I doubt I’ll play much with my heroes. The structure of CoV is just more forgiving to new players. Quest givers and Trainers are in one spot. Quests seem shorter for some reason. It’s just fun. And the run down look of the starting areas just make it feel all the more evil as your going about your business. I think the highlight so far with CoV was going on a bank heist. That was a lot of fun.

I filled out a request off sheet for the 28th of this month. Which really is less of a request as it was a just to let you know kind of thing. One way or another I won’t be at work that day. While I have my personal preference between the two options.

As I see it the 28th of this month can go two ways. Either I’m given it off or I just don’t come in that night. I would prefer to be given that night off. But I’m am very serious about this day. I will not work this day again. It’s just one of many of what my dad refers to as my nervous ticks.

I see the 28th of November as a personal holiday. A date of religious significance if you will. It’s become part of my personal mythology. And I take these things very seriously. I have an almost religious fanaticism about my day.

I was able to play with the Xbox 360 at the local Gamestop. They had the 360 version of Call of Duty 2 running and by god it was amazing. The smoke effects just blew me away. I had heard how nice it looked. I just hadn’t fallen for the hype. But holy shit it is quite impressive.

So I’m going to have to get one. I hadn’t desired the 360 until I got to try it. Big mistake. I was nervous about not having a HDTV compatible tv. Then I saw they make these nifty Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cables and I was then quite happy to blow 400 plus dollars on the system.

I was going to get one eventually. It was inevitable. It’s going to be cheaper to buy the 360 than upgrade my pc to be able to play Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. And I just have to have that game. Have you seen the E3 footage? Hot looking game. The download is worth it for this one. It looks even better than Morrowind.