Free RPG Maker VX Ace e-book promotion done!

Well, let's see: 68 people grabbed my RPG Maker VX Ace e-book from Amazon.com and an assorted few from the other Amazon sites worldwide. It's not much in the grand scale of things, but it's a start.

Besides that, I cleared another episode of Pokemon Conquest! Only...28 more to go? O_o

OH GOD WHAT AM I DOING? :O

Seriously though, Pokemon Conquest becomes a trial of patience rather than skill if you take advantage of Ieyasu's episode to grind. Since his win objective is 100 obtained Pokemon, you can just grab all 17 kingdoms and grind. Grind as much as you like. Buy 5 (or more) of each Evolution item. Get a few Guardian Charms (oh yes, please, grab a few of those; I soloed a kingdom with a Samurott yesterday just because it had a Guardian Charm equipped).

I still have a hideous backlog of video games to get through and Fire Emblem: Awakening comes out on February 4th! AHH! :O

Anyway, thanks for reading, as usual.

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

My 100th Hub Published at HubPages - A Videogame Primer!

The blog title says it all: I have officially published my 100th hub over at HubPages.com. In a nutshell, it talks a bit about the roleplaying and strategy genres of videogames for the benefit of those people who don't play games on a regular basis. It then goes on to give examples of easy games within each genre I wholeheartedly recommend to new players.

If you want to check it out, click on any part of this sentence!

In other news, I recently acquired a copy of Final Fantasy 3 for the Nintendo DS. It encompasses everything I used to love and hate about classic RPGs, from the random encounters, to the awesome story, to the lack of save points, to the insane bosses, to the addictive gameplay...I could go on for hours. Basically, if you have $20 to spare, you can't go wrong getting a copy of the game, at least in my opinion. :D

You can expect a review of FF3 in the coming weeks, assuming I don't get a job beforehand (which will probably happen, as if I ever need an excuse to take arbitrary hiatus anyways. :P).

Anyways, I hope all of you readers have been doing great. Take care and keep having fun! ;)

-Winterfate

The Game Room Has Opened!

*epic videogame music*

The Game Room is a special chat room created over at PaySnork (a site where you get paid to chat*; there's a banner advertisement at the top of this page for it as well). As the name of the room implies, it's a place where all types of videogamers can chat. Whether you're casual or hardcore, I'm sure the chat will be able to accomodate you.

In celebration of this event, I've decided to advertise PaySnork, as you've probably noticed by now. :P
So, if you ever want to talk to me about anything related to videogames, feel free to join Paysnork, find the Game Room AND get paid for it as well!*

(*Paypal account required to recieve payment. Cashout at 5 cents.)

Now that that blurb is done, I guess I'll talk a bit about Icewind Dale, because I've been playing it these days. :P
Right now I'm doing the expansion pack content to get some extra experience and getting my butt kicked, hard.

My Cleric/Mage has been having to use spells I didn't even know he had in either of his spell sets. :/
At least the EXP gains are also out of this world. :D

There's not much else to say today besides: Take care and have fun! ;)

Hope to see you over at PaySnork! :D

Now, if you'll excuse me, I got some Barrow Wights to pound into the ground. ;)

-Winterfate

A Rant about Videogamers by a Videogamer (aka. Myself, Winterfate, and I.)

So, hello there!

Today, I'm going to write up something different. This is going to be a rant about videogamers and how they seem to have low attention spans nowadays. So, feel free to turn away because I'm about to put in my old man dentures and find a walking cane.

[Gramps mode]

See, back when I was a kid (not TOO long ago, I'm actually only 22 as of the time of this writing), the average videogame took a LOT more attention to detail. Oh, did you accidentally kill that one gargoyle? Yes, that ONE gargoyle that actually wasn't hostile? Well, guess you can't finish the game. Or, maybe you drank that bottle of wine you were supposed to give to your friend so that, satisfied with the beverage, he could give you a stick that you could throw to distract a monstrous dog-like alien. Umm, New Game is looking pretty nice right about now.

Situations just like those, or similar to those, were all over the videogame library about 15-20 years ago. If it wasn't you essentially shutting yourself out of completing the game because of a poor decision, it was the game's difficulty cranked to 11 that essentially forced you to restart the entire game repeatedly. Battletoads and Contra come to mind right about now (I have played neither of these games and, from what I've seen, my sanity thanks me for it).

I wrote up an article at Hubpages talking about how games have changed in the past decade or so that's pretty appropriate to the subject, so feel free to check it out by clicking on any part of this sentence.

Now, the reason I bring this up is because I've been repeatedly assailed in some of my Dragon Quest IX articles for help. Mind you, I love helping people and, my conclusion usually states that any feedback and/or comments should be directed to that section. So, if you ask for help, you'll get it. The problem is when people post their party setups AFTER reading my "how-to beat a boss in DQ IX articles" and AFTER reading the recommendations and then wonder why they can't beat the boss with their party. I look at their party and it has critical, glaring, flaws that I address during the article. I mean, if you posted in my comments section for a given article, I have to assume you did read it, right?

(If you ask for party help in one of my DQ IX articles that doesn't involve killing bosses or setting up your party, then you're forgiven out of principle. After all, I can't know for a physical certainty whether you've read the relevant articles or not.)

Most of the time, they lack a strong healer. The need of a healer in Dragon Quest IX is something I repeat ad nauseum. DQ IX plays like a classic roleplaying game, and in those games your most important character is your healer.

You may scoff at that statement, but think about it: What good is it if you can kill someone with one spell if you're dead before you can cast it? Your healer makes sure your mage can let loose with that One Spell of Death.

(Oh, and inb4butwhatifmyhealergetskilled, since I know some of you probably went there.)

Nevertheless I help them out, in spite of the fact that, had they read the article they were posting a comment to, they would already have their answer. But, it gets grating. It's like you telling someone how NOT to fall into a hole, and they do it anyways. Then, you remind them, and they fall in AGAIN!

But, what would I know right? This is the generation of Too Long; Didn't Read anyways. If YOUR party setup isn't working despite not having a healer and/or capable tank then it's obviously MY fault isn't it? Heavens forbid the article you're posting your question to actually answers it! -_-

Now, this isn't a declaration that I'm the ultimate Dragon Quest guru. In fact, I could name a few usernames of people who have posted in my comments section for said articles that have helped ME out with builds and such things. Like a true rant, this has gone all over the place, so here's the main idea I'm trying to put across: If you're going to ask for help in the comments section of an article, at least have the decency to read it first and mention the fact. If what has been said in the article doesn't help you out, THEN you can call the writer out on it. Until then, you're just being lazy and inconsiderate.

It makes me feel better if you ask, "Hey, I read your article and it says I need a healer. But, I don't want to use one. Here's my party setup." than if you ask: "So yeah, here's my party. Help me please."

[/Gramps mode]

Anyways, that's about it for now. I really had to get that off my chest and so decided to kill two birds with one stone by writing it here. :)

I hope you have lots of fun, even more so now that you know that you need a healer in Dragon Quest IX. :P

Until the next time, take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate

New Videogame Article - Legacy Boss Hunter: Murdaw (Part 2) !

Well, hello there. After about 100 years, I've finally written up the second part to my Legacy Boss Hunter: Murdaw article. In the second part of this article, you'll be able to see what Murdaw drops on his way to level 16 and also see my current party setup, created just to bash him into the ground, within 10 turns or so. :D

Feel free to check out the article by clicking any part of this sentence.

In other news, I've been frequenting a cool videogame forum called 411 On Gaming. There's a little button on the left side of this site that leads directly to that forum, so if you want to chit-chat with me about videogames or whatever else, you can also find me there. :)

That's about it from me for now. Take care and have lots of fun because I know I am! :D

-Winterfate

A new videogame forum is born!

A videogamer much like me has created a new forum called 411 On Gaming. I have already joined the forum and started contributing to it, in the hopes that it will grow into an awesome site quickly. :)

If you want to chit-chat about anything related to videogames (and even things unrelated to videogames), feel free to check out the forum now!
The link to the forum is: http://411ongaming.com/forum/index.php

Hope to see you there! Take care and have fun! ;)

-Winterfate

It's been a while, hasn't it?

The title says it all. College got in the way of my murmurings, and then, once it all ended. I decided to restart writing articles on hubpages.com. I stumbled upon my blog today and decided to update it. :)

Go check out my videogame articles at: http://hubpages.com/profile/Winterfate
Would you? :D

My 25th hub at hubpages.com!

For my 25th, I decided to write a little about a common videogame debate: Graphics or Gameplay?

To read about it follow this link: http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Great-Videogame-Debate-Graphics-vs-Gameplay

Take care and have fun! ;)
-Winterfate

I wrote a new article on hubpages.com! :)

This new article is all about Culdcept, one of my favorite games of all-time. Imagine the child of Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering and you have a pretty accurate idea of how the game works. :)

If that has piqued your interest, check out my article at: http://hubpages.com/profile/Winterfate

Dragon Quest Monsters II Article up at hubpages.com!

Dragon Quest Monsters II (or Dragon Warrior Monsters II in North America) is a spinoff game of the Dragon Quest series. To read more about it, follow the link below!

http://hubpages.com/hub/Dragon-Quest-Monsters-II

Feedback is, as always, much appreciated! :)

Take care and have fun! ;)
-Winterfate