Objection Overruled I haven’t written about DCUO in awhile, not because we haven’t been playing. We’ve been playing every week. I haven’t written about DCUO in awhile because we’ve been working on one particular instance, the South Gotham Courthouse — and we kept losing. Now, we haven’t attempted the court house every week; it’s been a spotty summer, with people having other obligations some weekends. But every Sunday when we did meet up as a full group, the South Gotham Courthouse would be the daily double… taunting us. ...

Dera Then and Now I had this concept of going through my EQ characters that had corresponding characters in EQ2, tracing their experiences through the two games. First up: Dera, my halfling cleric. Everything was going along smoothly until I actually logged in to EverQuest to get a better screen shot. Soon I found myself in an AE group in a temporarily-uber version of Blackburrow. And then I remembered what I hated (and liked) about the MMO granddaddy. ...

The Scarlet Library? Each week, when Kasul and I meet for Neverwinter, we never know quite what we’re going to be doing. Grinding quests to max level? Not really our thing. We’ve got our whole crafting operation to worry about, the endless skirmishes, the occasional dungeon – our only problem, really, is having enough time to do it all. Our free companions had reached their max level – 15 – and were not up to their jobs any more. Which was really unfortunate, because my companion was a cleric, and healing is a nice thing to have. Kasul was rocking a control wizard companion. Both needed replacing. Kasul got Dogsupial, a skeletal dog dropped from the recent demonic invasion of the city of Neverwinter. I spent my astral diamonds on Flambert, an apprentice phoenix obtained from Nightmare/Nachtmahr lockbox. We spent an off-night last week leveling up the new companions so they’d be ready for our regular adventures. ...

There's "snow" time like raid time! Why has Tipa’s storage room been transformed into a skating rink? Because she went on a raid. Yup, after many years, my ex-raiding troub who was abandoned when I quit the raiding life was back in raid chat once more. Sure, it wasn’t current content, and Tipa is not yet max level or AA, but all they really needed for the raid were warm bodies… or more accurately, warm hands. ...

This isn't how it went.... We had a bunch of people hanging out in the Lunar Wolves guild hall last night. We’ve been threatening to, someday, form a group and go DO something for months now, but with everyone on their own real life schedules and our vastly differing levels of gear and skill, we just never seem to be on the same page at the same time. But the desire was there, and soon enough we found ourselves at the bottom of the Tower of Frozen Shadow in the Great Divide. We were going to take on the Vampire Queen herself, Tserrina Syl’Tor. I was on my mage, and… wait… no… just had an EverQuest flashback. I used to camp Tserrina with my mage again and again, trying to get her robe. Even though Tsuki has a Plane of Fire robe, I’ve just always wanted to wear Tserrina’s. ...

Crayon Chronicles I should have called this “A Child’s First Roguelike”. Or, “How to get through school with only an Owl on a Stick”. Whatever. Outer Grid Games’ “Crayon Chronicles” is a short, sweet RPG that combines a whimsical art style with easy gameplay and a few chuckles to make the best roguelike I’ve played all year. Roguelikes are games based off the old mainframe RPG Rogue. Games of this sort share some tropes; randomly generated levels, turn-based gameplay, a single life and a near-unobtainable goal. These games can be won, but the point is usually to survive longer than you did the last time. Winning is almost beside the point. ...

Can you find the tank in this picture? The real slap in the face came when I won a Fae Wing Cloak. How is this even a THING? I suppose I should weep for all my unwinged brothers and sisters who now have to walk on unfamiliar ground because their wings have been turned into outerwear, but for me, a Fae, to wear one… that’s like wearing human leather boots with babyskin gloves. ...

Lolth commands you to rate this highly We continued our Neverwinter grouping experiment Monday with another Foundry episode, “Visitors from the Underdark”. The Foundry adventures are, we figured, our best chance of finding duo content. In “Visitors”, Lord Ebonrend and his family have gone mysteriously missing; our job – to find him and arrest him. If I remember right, he was thought to have gone dark in order to instigate a plot to rule Neverwinter. In Neverwinter, not checking in with the government often enough marks you as a traitor. We get to his mansion and find the place magically sealed up, but with an animated suit of armor to help us dispel (de-spell?) the shields. ...

Arkham Asylum Before we get started, I want to draw your attention to the right bit of the screenshot above. Where we see the entrance to the Arkham Lobotomy Theater. With marquee lights to attract passers-by. They sell snacks and Soder Cola at the door, and tradition has it that you’re supposed to hurl popcorn at the doctors when they make poor incisions. Commissioner Gordon had sent us to the asylum because, apparently, three of its most notorious residents – Drs Pamela Isley, Victor Fries and Jonathan Crane – AKA Poison Ivy, Mister Freeze and The Scarecrow – have not only escaped, but turned the three wings of the Asylum into their own private playgrounds. Lore scattered through the place implies that their common attending physician had been driven crazy by the three and mysteriously disappeared after giving them their freedom. ...

Computer, freeze simulation Tipa alpha six Sooooooo I log into Star Trek Online after being away for several months. With the Romulans coming, I’d better get familiar with the game again, right? My monthly stipend of Zen (cash shop currency) for being a subscriber has built up enough that I could get the three-pack of Andorian escort ships I’ve been wanting since pretty much Day One for free. Free in a sense, given I’ve been subscribing to a game that I haven’t been actively playing. But, I wouldn’t be out any additional cash. ...