Yes yes, I'm still here. Sorry for not being all that active lately just not been up for much drawing.

Not really much has been happening, and mostly everything is about the same from the last time that I posted a journal. After about a year of searching I finally got a job at the #1 tech chain in Canada: Future Shop! I was pretty suprised when I heard that they wanted to hire me. So far I'm only working one day a week until December but I'm working in the Entertainment department selling movies, music and gaming stuff. I have to say that it's nice going into work on the first day and actually knowing a good deal about the products that you're selling. I don't feel all that nervous talking and trying to sell something to a customer because I know that nearly everything that I'm talking about I know is right.

Other than that not much has really been happening. Oh! This saturday, the 21st I turn 19! I can legally drink :3. So apparently my family's taking me out for dinner or something, and I'm sure I'm going to be coming home just a little tipsy or somethin'.

I recently bought three new games all of which I've enjoyed.

First off: Borderlands
It was tons of fun, but unfortunatly I've found it to be rather... short. Even going through every single quest it took me less than a week to get to lv.50. The weapon randomization was a good idea, and the way that it was done means that it's rare for you to run into a gun that's the same as the one that you have. most times though you'll find this good gun and you'll be using it for a good 20 or so levels before you find one better. I was staying with this one shotgun and SMG for almost 25 levels because all the other ones that I found were absolute crap or just had some stat or attatchment on them that I didn't really like. It would have been nice if there were more NPC's that you could talk to, and you didn't have to just go to bounty boards to collect quests, since it gets rather boring after a while. I liked what Fallout 3 did in that you had to actually walk around searching for quests and the like.

Overall it was a fun game, but with how long it's been in development I expected a lot more from it.

And number two: Dragon Age: Origins

This game I've had a lot of fun with. It's a very long game, and it's been done in a way that I'm having fun with it, even though I've already played almost 20 hours of it and I'm nowhere close to an ending and still having fun. They've done quite a few things with it that I've really enjoyed. Unlike a number of games that I've played, DA actually made the cutscenes and conversations rather interesting to watch. They're not like stationary cameras or anything like that, but the camera will actually change like it were a movie. People just don't stare at you with this blank face, but they actually more around and make hand gestures and it just seems a lot more interesting when it's done that way. There's also this interesting feature where the decisions that you make through the plot and any gifts that you give your party members actually influence the way that they think about you. The higher their approval of you the better since they'll gain combat bonuses and you'll also have the oppertunity to develop a romantic relationship with them. Though there is a main character you can control anyone in your party at any time.

It's a very fun game, but can also be very hard even if you have it on normal. But if you like RPG's you must try this one out.

Oohhh man you're gonna hear a rant with this one: Left 4 Dead 2

It's done a lot to L4D that actually mades it better. There are certain special infected that prevent the problems that L4D1 had.
- The Spitter [link] : She shoots acid quite a distance that even on normal can deal quite a bit of damage if you stand in it for more than a few seconds. She prevents the survivors from just camping in one spot for a hoarde or finale. In versus she can do a lot for the infected team since she can make the survivors scatter with the pool of acid since they run off in the fastest direction to get out of it which seperates them for a brief time and leaves them vulnerable to other special infected. She's also useful for blocking off tight hallways.

- The Jockey [link] : Though he's small and rather weak, he can jump up on survivors and pull them away from the group. Though he doesn't deal as much damage as the hunter he can control where they move until he's actually shoved off or killed. The one thing that makes him a bit of a threat is that unlike the hunter who you could stop mid air with a shove, either there's no way to stop him once he's jumped towards you or it's very difficult to do so and I haven't pulled it off. Again, an infected that pulls survivors away from eachother.

I would talk about the charger but the only thing I have to say is that he's kinda like a mini-tank. He's a threat only if your team doesn't work together.

Now, here's where I start ranting.

- The Bots: Ooooohhhh fuck I hate them with the essance of my very soul. I didn't think it was possible but valve somehow thought of a way to make the bots even worse than they were in the original. Now, don't get me wrong, the L4D1 bots were good to an extent. The have perfect aim, they never cause friendly fire and they will come to your aid when you need it. Not the L4D2 bots. I don't know if it's all the decisions that they have to make now, but they are the stupidest bots that I've ever seen in a video game. Hell, even Tails in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was better than the L4D2 bots, even though he just copied all the moves that you did.

Here are some experiances that I've had with the L4D2 bots that piss me off soooooo much:

- Okay so a Charger comes flying towards us and ends up tackling me. So I'm trapped, being pounded into the ground taking about 20 or so damage per smash. So not only do the bots take common infected as a priority over killing the charger and saving me, but when they do decide to come help me they MELEE the fucking thing. That will not get me free, and does absolutely nothing. After a few tries they pull out their pistols and start shooting it when they have LEVEL 2 WEAPONS. M16, SCAR, Auto-Shotgun and they decide to use pistols against the Charger.

- Melee weapons... they're wonderful tools when a HUMAN player uses them. Bots, no. Just no, they become the most retarded things that I've ever seen. They will stand in place during a hoard, not move and only swing it at infected that come within range and attack the bot for a few seconds. And they will RARELY EVER pull out a gun. Me and the two other bots get knocked down, and all that was left standing was the third bot about 3ft away. Guess what it had? A GUITAR. A FUCKING GUITAR. Never moved, attacked maybe once every second or two and ended up going down a few seconds later. They become the most useless things in the game.

- I said that they have perfect aim before, right? Well what good is that if they have absolutly no awareness of what's going on around them? I've watched one of the bots get attacked by five common infected and just... stand there. Taking damage, not doing anything to kill or push them away, just standing there being useless. Only after three or so hits will they shove them away and... MAYBE shoot.

- Relying on the bots to save you from a special infected is like relying on your cat to clean your entire house and take the dog for a walk. As I said before, with a charger they'll only melee it for a short while before actually shooting. Jockey? They'll just run after you, not shooting at all as they're trying to catch up to melee it off of me when it's easier to shoot at it since I'm moving at the same speed they are. Even if I resist the Jockey's movement they still take forever to catch up. Smoker, they'll melee you and everything's good. Hunter, they'll melee and everything's good. Boomer, not much they can do. But... The Spitter. The bots don't see acid as they do fire. The bots will keep out of fire, even if you're incapped and burning (which is a smart thing to do). But if it's a pool of acid you're lying in they'll run right in and try to save you, getting incapped themselves.

- For the bots, items kinda just seem like props to them. They don't even respond to the "Look" voice command anymore. They will walk right over healthpacks when they don't have one and just ignore it. In L4D1 you could look at a healthpack or pills that the bots didn't see and use the "Look" command and say "Healthpacks over here!" or "Pills here!" and the bots will come over to see what it is and take/use it if needed. They will never pick up a defibulator. Now, here's what pisses me off. Bots will use a healthpack or pills when their health is STILL GREEN. They will also use pills THEN HEAL. Okay, I'm gonna use these pills to give me temporary health. 75 health, that's pretty good, okay I"m gonna heal now. *gains 5hp*. Complete waste of pills.

- Weapons for bots are their most prized possessions. They will carry the same weapon until they find a hunting rifle or find a level two weapon. From the beginning the bots will pick up a shotgun or SMG and be.... kinda useful. But the moment they find a hunting rifle all three will change to it. Granted, with their perfect aim and the extended zoom that comes with the weapon it's usefull... kinda. What happens when there's a tank? Startled Witch? They're useless. If they run out of ammo for their primary weapon they will switch to their secondary weapon and use it. BUT if they come across new guns, like say... a Chrome Shotgun and Silenced SMG, they will not trade their empty counterparts that they're already carrying for these new weapons. They will wait until they find an ammo pile (which is more rare than L4D1) to get more ammo.

- The bots will follow you wherever you go, and if you get to a spot where you had to go through some tricky jumping or something they will go through the easier path to get to you. BUT they follow way too far behind you. For them to actually start moving you have to get so far ahead that you're very vulnerable to special infected and is one of the main problems of them saving you from them. I get so far ahead that say... a hunter gets me. If there are any common infected in the way the bots will stop moving towards me and their priority is changed to the common infected because they were so far behind.

Now, before you say anything like "Then play with friends" or "It's a multiplayer game, you're supposed to play with more than just yourself", there are... three or so people on my friends list that actually have this game, and the odds that all three are wanting to play in the same game at the same time or even be online at the same time is rarely going to happen. So it's usually just either me alone or me with one other friend and the bots seriously drag us down. If you can get a team of 4 players together to play then it's a ton of fun, but if you can't I can promise that the bot(s) will drag your team down. If you're unlucky enough to get stuck with a bot in a versus match, then you're at a serious disadvantage.

Anyway, that's enough out of me. I'm out for now x3