confidentialmisanthropy

I'm fiendin' for FFXI bad right now. It's not just me though. G-Man, Belvin and I talk about questing every morning at perception stations. Me and Ese talk about hunting Lizzies in Gustaberg nightly. And I don't sleep without flipping through the strat' guide a little bit, before letting Naoshi Mizuta put me to sleep.

We've been out for about two weeks and the powers that be have pushed the bar lower than I ever imagined it could go.

In a matter of fourteen days, we've gone through three watchbill changes (notice I said changes, not improvements), another internet ban, and numerous policy changes that have effectively tightened the screws even more.

In other news:

I think I misjudged Maddog a bit. He's not so bad... He's even got in on the Linkshell. I've been on watch with him on mids for the past couple days and despite having several IT1/prospective Chief traits that I abhor, he's a good guy...

There, I said it.

I've gotten word from the Gary. And it's promising:

IT2 Roberts,

I'm single so family concerns and such won't really be much of an issue. Strangely enough, I'm glad that your schedule is as malleable as it is. I picked a Seventh Fleet ship because you guys travel so much, and to places I'm really fond of. I was in Yokosuka briefly last year. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I do LAN administration for our classified LAN here so I'm relieved to hear you need bodies on ADP side. I was pretty worried about that actually, not that working on something new is bad, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable staying in an ADP setting. We're running 4.12 here. I'm enamored that you have the Web position open. I did our current SIPRNet webpage @ Vinson.navy.smil.mil.

Thanks. You've been a great help.

I'll be in touch.

R/
IT2 Watts

-----Original Message-----
From: Roberts, _____ IT2 (FFG-51 OPS)
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2004 1:46 AM
To: 'CS11 Watts, Matthew R. IT2(SW/AW)'
Subject: RE: ...


IT2 Watts,

Glad to see that you are coming & yes this will be a real change of pace for you (it was for me). The Gary is a forward deployed unit (as you may already know) so the ships schedule can change in a weeks notice, until you get here I'll try my best to keep you informed of anything new happen with the Gary. We are in & out of port right now, nothing major to concern yourself with. Are you married or have plans of getting married in the near future? Is there any information that you may need for your family or yourself prior to checking in? Anything else you can think of just ask & I'll try to do my best to provide you with everything so it won't be too rough of a transition. Japan is a very nice place (people are kind) but it's just too crowded, you will see when you get here. Are you up for 1st yet, or did you just take the last exam & if so good luck (I'm not up for it until next year).

As far as work goes, we need bodies in our department (ADP/COMMS). Are you COMMS or ADP? it really doesn't matter cause I have already talked to chief & you will more than likely be working ADP. Along with myself you will be working with IT1 Zank (a reservist who was called back to active at the beginning of last year) cool guy to work for but he may be leaving in NOV. We are currently running 4.12 on our network but it has been said that we will be going to 4.13 later this year, what are you running over there?

Are you good wtih web editting? Our webmaster IT2 Kraus will be leaving in July, just wanted to know if you would like to take it?


Talk to you later

IT2 Roberts

I'm officially a "prospective loss" along with Drew and Mo now so "Short Timers Syndrome" is in full effect around here. 1st LT, one of the few officers left onboard Cell Block 70 that I revere has agreed to reenlist me, which owns, 'cause I get to spite these poor excuses of Naval Officers from my own division in the process.

With FFXI contributing heavily to the deadlock that is the GL frontpage, my Astro Boy review hasn't been published yet... Being that it's an import review, it's pretty time sensitive so I'm posting it here now:

Atom was born to be a videogame star. In his other career, spanning back to 1952, Atom’s long solidified his position as a manga icon as the super hero in “Astro Boy”. But when you take a closer look at Atom’s attributes he just sounds like the perfect candidate for an action side-scroller. Atom even looks like a videogame character. He’s got a very simple (typical Tezuka) character design, deceptively cute for such a powerhouse. The fusion reactor powered Atom has seven abilities he uses to fight for justice:

1. A highly advanced artificial brain.

2. 100,000 horsepower.

3. Eyes that can see through objects.

4. Hearing 10,000 times superior to that of the average human.

5. The ability to fly.

6. Laser beams that can be projected form his fingertips.

7. An arm cannon.

“Astro Boy” became an anime series in 1963 and he’s back in full effect for his 40th anniversary, with a new TV series and Hitmaker/Treasure’s action game on the GBA. There are plenty of action games on the GBA but few pure beat-‘em-ups like Astro Boy. Playing it fondly reminds me of another great action game from 2003.

The game doesn’t waste much time before throwing you into the action with a storyline that hearkens back to the days when ninjas kidnapped the president and levels had midbosses. After a brief training level Atom watches his friend Chiyoko’s abduction by a bunch or robot henchmen and sets off in pursuit.

As with any game Treasure’s involved in, Astro Boy’s control scheme is simple. Atom can punch, kick, and fire finger lasers with ease. The punch can be used like a fighting game combo and can be chained without opening up and leaving Atom defenseless. The kick is especially gratifying, sending baddies airborne, careening into adjacent foes like bowling pins. The finger laser cuts into entire rows of enemies unhindered. A simple dash technique allows Atom to fly for short periods of time. After fighting bosses and finding special NPC’s, you’re given an opportunity to upgrade Atom’s various attributes.

In normal mode, you can store up to 99 EX techniques like Atom’s arm cannon and the pelvic machine gun (You read it right, it owns, trust me on this one). Only thing that really irks me is that Atom can’t duck, guess he’s filling in for Mega Man while he’s on hiatus. In some levels, Atom takes to the skies, shmup style, dispatching enemies coming from both sides of the screen. In hard mode, you can only store 3 of the EX moves, making an infinitely more challenging experience.

Astro Boy has a clean anime/comic book look to it. Level design in Astro Boy is notably inspired, ranging from futuristic Metro City, to the skies over the Pacific Ocean, to a lunar level with varying levels of gravity. The animations on Atom and foes alike are among the best on the platform. They do a lot of scaling tricks not seen since the 16-bit era. Sometimes they’ll throw miniature versions of the enemies at you, which are so short your finger laser will pass right over them. Other times, they’ll throw jumbo versions that hit twice as hard and are twice as hard to take down to spice things up a bit. Astro Boy’s bosses range from giant spider robots, to a sun that grows to practically the size of the whole screen. Some of the backdrops, specifically the shooter levels, feature multiple levels of parallax exuding a sense of depth (Now I officially feel like I’m reviewing a SNES game). Astro Boy’s music is pretty annoying. At one point I killed the volume and opted to play my own music. The game plays really well to a hip-hop soundtrack, if you’re into that sort of thing.

A lot of Tezuka’s other characters that have nothing to do with the “Astro Boy” canon make cameos and drop in to give you hints and such. If you look closely, you’ll even notice a couple nods at old Treasure games for all you Gunstar fanboys.

There’s been a attitude among the hardcore gamer and Treasure fandom communities that Treasure’s lost their touch (which befuddles me) but I can assure you, despite being licensed, Astro Boy feels like Gunstar caliber Treasure greatness (not suprising considering SEGA + Treasure + 2D always = greatness). It’s an excellent 2D action game featuring an anime icon, tailor made for all you Treasure fiends.

Plays like : Viewtiful Atom

I gave it a 9/10... if you're into that sorta thing...

BlackThought, Gustaberg-Valkurm Interloper

So anyway, looks like my orders selection saga has come to a conclusion, complete with a cliffhanger ending.

I haven't spoken, at length, about the newest addition to our chain of command, 'cause quite frankly, the guy infuriates me. Anyhow, to pick orders when it comes time to rotate in the Navy, you have to deal with a "detailer", people with the same job/rate as you that pretty much just assign people to certain billets. Well it just so happens, ENS Ware, the "new" guy, happens to know the current IT detailer, and they've been concerting their efforts to drive me fucking insane.

On one hand, Ware wants me to extend my tour on the mighty Vinson. Not 'til like January or December like he did for J or Johnny-Wise-Ass. They need me for deployment.

Hell no.

I don't know who Ware thinks he is, but I'm not going to VA to do him a favor. Out of the friggin' question.

And the detailer wants me to fill all his hard-to-fill billets in the middle of nowhere. This shit's a nightmare.

So, I toyed with the idea of going to Korea for a year (I mean, Tim Rogers likes it), then I backed out in favor of the Gary, homeported in Yokosuka, which is where I want to be location-wise. I desperately wanted to go to the Blue Ridge but massive amounts of cock blocking is keeping me from there.

Retention my ass.

J's prob'ly going to the Stennis.
Mo's looking at the Bridge.
So maybe they'll visit.


The game plan now, is to collect my $30 Grand, hang out around Yoko' for the next few years, do a little more traveling around my favorite neigboorhoods, live out my fantasies and bounce.

FTN.

As tumultuous as my life's been as of late, it's nice to come accross a shred of good news every once in a while. Apparently, my pusher (read: Hironobu Sakaguchi) is re-re-re-releasing FFI & 2 for my favorite platform. Sometimes I feel bad for being so receptive everytime Square-Enix throws us a bone but man, this can only lead to more... possibly even a port of the most important RPG of all time in handheld form. That would just be too cool for words...

We're haze grey again.

Yes. again.

This time, apparently, to qualify a bunch of reservists that need a refresher on how to operate out to sea. Why we get voulunteered for all this crap instead of the myriad idle big decks on the west coast is beyond me. If you recall, we recently went through INSURV in SD. During our stay, in port, instead of being given liberty everyday, we were corraled like cattle on the ship, unable to have any decent time off, adding to the already vaunted stress level and abysmal overall morale. Well, not condoning it by any means, some people dealt with it on liberty by going buck wild. I can't say that I blame them.

Couple of guys got a l'il too "buck wild" last time and we're paying for it this time around. Our CO, recently picked up for the rank of Rear Admiral, has implemented a "Cinderella Liberty" policy on, presumably, everyone attatched to Carl Vinson. What a slap in the face.

I'm pretty convinced being a member of this ship's crew is the least rewarding occupation you can have, short of those guys that clean up after the elephants at the zoo. You get set up to all sorts of challenges, demands, and excercises that are sure failures... so much so that other ships aren't ever even gauged with the same standards. And despite passing every test admirably, earning accolades for your superiors in the process, you still end up getting shitted on at every turn.

Lam-star, of all people, said it best.

"Being on the Vinson is like getting screwed in the ass by a 10-inch dick. They thrust 9-inches into you and tell you it's gonna get better. When they pull back to about 6-in and tell you you should be grateful because things got better, you still exclaim, 'I'm still getting fucked in the ass!'"

Vulgar?, maybe.

True? You bet your ass...

Anyways, if you need me, I'll be here, playing FFXI.

Final Fantasy fever is back in full effect around my neck of the woods. Crazy how it all worked out. After the PS2 launch, Mo brings the HDD combo over to my two bedroom apartment and things got a l'il crazy after that... Some of which I'll get into later...

Anyways, I've been a gamer all my life; but until last November I was a MMORPG virgin. I played FFXI briefly when Mo picked up the PC version, and I dug it, but I was really apprehensive about it... But the PS2 launch changed things, because it's so much more accessible 'cause all my PC-less friends could get in on it too. So, after I got hooked up, thanks to Mo, Ese got in on it. Then Belvin. Then Wraydome. Then G-Man. When all was said and done there were five new TV's and four new PS2's in my little two-bedroomer. My place turned into somewhat of an internet-lounge, Naoshi Mizuta, Kumi Tanioka and Nobuo Uematsu blaring all over the place. It was awesome. The games grabbed a-hold of us like the Etrador virus and it's showing no signs of letting up.

If all goes well, we're relocating our base of operations in the very near future. Stay tuned.