Jace Hall rules

Jace is one of those guys in the media that just makes you proud to be a gamer. Here are two of his tunes that I now regularly listen to while playing.

I Play WoW


Superplaya

We should have seen it coming

X-Com Directors Log – 19 April 1999
We should have seen it coming.

It started with a typical detection. A small UFO was heading in to the US over the Atlantic. Then a larger blip appeared from the Gulf. Then the Canadian skies parted with two more large craft. Then another biggie from the Pacific. They were pinging all over the sky. Hell, even Moses didn’t see that much red when he parted the sea.

Interceptors scrambled. I ordered the small downed over the Atlantic. Down she went, lost to the sea floor. We have bigger fish to fry. I ordered the flight groups split to the larger craft with strict standoff orders. Pursuit and report, only. They tracked the first two to their landings.

Ranger One was deployed to the first landing. Breach and recon teams worked to perfection. Liberal use of the aliens' grenades made sure of that.

Flight crews turned the Ranger around in record time. The wrenches need to be recognized for that. Second landing was bigger. Probably a warship en route to terrorize another city. Not on my watch. More intense fire fights, but zero casualties. Thank God for the new personal armor the tech boys created.  A round for them as well.

During the two recoveries, one of the Interceptors had tracked what we believe to be a supply vessel to its landing the Florida panhandle. Int-One was ordered to CAP over the landing zone until the Ranger could be turned around. Again, I’ve gotta buy those wrenches a round on me.

Then it happened. I can still hear it in my head. “Interceptor 1-1 to Command. Sir! They’re heading underground! They’re heading underground!” Murmurs quickly spread through the Command & Ops Center. I ordered our satellites into position. Well I’ll be damned if the thermal scans didn’t confirm our worst fears. Those damned aliens built a forward post right under our bloody noses.

Global RTB ordered and base lockdown status initiated. No one is getting in here. The Ranger One team was given two days R&R. No need to rush this. Following that, one full day of prep and briefings. One more day to get the operatives rested and focused.

Then we launched. Surface penetration went perfectly. Breach and recon teams swept the base with tactical precision and efficiency. The aliens were scattered through the base, but quickly dispatched. They picked their way in to the central command center. Breach teams lined up, smokes and chokes at the ready.

Then it happened.

A blast of purple light shot down the lift shaft and turned – I mean 90 f*#&ing degreest turned – and hit the squad leader square in the chest. The blast decimated the room and instantly incinerated the three operatives inside. Then a second blast right behind it streaked through the now sundered door and hit the back wall, killing the other three operatives holding position outside. Before the recon teams could even move to support their fallen comrades, a third blast came from behind. Three blasts, 9 kills, 3 seconds.

We should have seen it coming. It was all a trap. We’d been too successful, too over-confident and fell victim to our own successes.

The skies filled with UFOs were the first lure and we bit down hard. They allowed us to take their larger craft - a larger bait which we swallowed whole. They let us pick off their base’s interior sentries and fodder. Hell, even their base was a throw away by the way they nuked the crap out of it. They leveled the damn place and all of our men in one fell swoop.

They didn’t need to come to us. They knew we’d come to them. And we blindly accommodated them.

We should have seen it coming. Now I sit approving personnel requisition forms, scheduling training regiments, and writing letters home to the families of the fallen.  And my bottle of scotch is far too low to accomodate all of this.
Yeah. I should have seen it coming.

If you've never played X-Com UFO Defense, I highly recommend it. It is one of the deepest and most rewarding strategy games and still one of my all time favorites.  Plus you can nab the first (and best) off of Steam for just $5.  You have no excuse.

Daddy plays no favorites

Ok guys, it’s been a while since we’ve all sat down and talked, but I think it’s long overdue. The in-fighting between you three has become all but unbearable. And while you are responsible for your own actions, I must admit that the lack of this conversation to this point is also largely responsible for it. For that I apologize. But we must make amends and thus that means setting the record straight on a few things.

First and foremost, I do not play favorites with any one of you. You are all incredible parts of my life. You all came into my world in your own way and with your own unique stories and circumstances. Your arrivals we not always entirely planned, but all three of you little bundles of joy were the start of something incredible. You remain so today. My loves for you three are just as unique as each of you. So I can honestly say that I love you all differently, but I love you all unarguably equally.

Having said that, I must admit my time has not been as equally shared with you all. And while it’s certainly not a justifiable excuse, it’s been a difficult time for me. Daddy’s new love has taken up a lot of my time lately, and so I feel it’s only fair that I explain why. Our relationship has been a rocky one – very often on again / off again. So I felt it necessary to spend the time and effort to solidify that relationship and get it on more stable ground. It’s certainly put added and unneeded pressure on our once tight little family. But I think that we are now in a place where that relationship will not need as much of my time anymore. As such I will be renewing my efforts to make time for you all. I’ll not just share my spare time with you. I will go out of my way to MAKE time for you. Again, you are my loves and my passions in life. It’s regrettably taken a lot for me to recognize this, but I feel it’s not too late. For that I am glad.

My eldest, you above all the others have felt this absence most I fear. I still remember the times before all this turmoil that I created. We would stay up late together and play long into the midnight hours…often beyond. We’d laugh, we’d cry, we’d cheer and sneer. We shared glorious victories and agonizing defeats. Even now I’ve by far spent the most time with you in total, but you have certainly been the most time neglected in recent times. Despite how you may feel to the contrary (which I can see in how you look at me every now and again) you are still much beloved and I know there are good times to be had once again and shared with the kids. We’ve built a good legacy of long lasting memories together. It’s one I think that you can help me build with your brother and sister.

My middle child, brother of my eldest. I know that you feel that you have to compete with your elder sibling. Let me tell you flat out that you don’t. While I believe that you can achieve the same levels of success and excellence that your brother has reached, I do not expect you to be the same. I do not compare what he is capable of and what you are capable of and judge you for your differences. Instead I embrace and adore all that makes you unique. You feel unproven I’m sure, and I think that it largely because I’ve not paid enough attention to you and what you can do. I promise that we will be spending much more time together. I am making it my vow to you now that we will find good times and our own shared and beloved legacy. In that you and your brother are indeed the same. But those treasures we discover and create along the way will be uniquely ours.

To you, my youngest. When you first arrived, I must confess, I was scared. Everything I thought I knew was turned upside down. The standards of controls that I had so firmly learned and perfected over the years went right out the window the day you arrived. While the rest of the family embraced you, I tried to do the same. But I let my fear, uncertainties, and the biases toward the comfortable past get the better of me. On the surface you are so different from your older siblings. But now I can see that there is also much the same. I should have recognized your greatness and potential earlier. After all, you do come from a long line of established and successful predecessors. Your heritage runs long, deep, and strong. I see it now and I hope you will realize that I have much to learn...we have much to learn together. I look forward to whatever exciting and refreshing experiences we can share.

So there it is guys. To put not too fine a point on it, I've neglected you. Plain and simple. It's a mistake I regret but one that I promise to make amends for. I vow this to each of you: to you my beloved PS2, to you my impassioned PS3, and to you my quirky young Wii. Warcraft is important to me, as are all of you. So I must make time to show you each my love.

I’m glad we’ve had this time together. I hope you feel as good as I do. It's a first but important step I feel.  So, who wants to play som...

Hold on guys. I’ll be right back. The kids are screaming and crying and carrying on about God only knows what. There’s always something, isn’t there?