Diablo 3 Patch 2.0.1!

If there was an award for the one game that has consumed the most amount of my time, it would probably go to Diablo 3.  I won't say that all of that time was well spent, due to the fact that the game was super broken pretty much since launch, but I will say that I'm glad I've stuck it out because the newest patch has fixed 90% of everything that was wrong with the game.  With The D3 expansion, Reaper of Souls, set to launch on March 25th, I'm actually enjoying getting my character ready.  You can view the full change log HERE,  but I want to share my favorite changes.  I play as a Wizard and a Witch Doctor, but mainly a wizard named Jofftin!

So the first thing I'll go over is that they got rid of Nephalem Valor.  NV was one of their first attempts to fix the game/add more playability after you maxed out your level, granting 1 stack (up to 5) for each boss or event you beat.  It then boosted your magic and gold find and supposedly increased your chances of better loot.  Umm did it though?  You also lost all of your stacks if you changed any of your skills and you needed full stacks to pursue the keys for infernal machine quest (now only in Torment mode).  I never seemed to get any good loot from having 5 stacks of NV so it will bring me to my next favorite change.

LOOT 2.0!  Where have you been all my life?  This introduces "smart" loot.  Smart loot gives you a REALLY high chance to get your class items.  No more constantly getting stuff you can't use.  I played about 4 hours last night and got about 80% Wizard stuff.  The loot is also stuff you can use or just barely under!  WHAT?  Yeah I was able to use a lot of the stuff I picked up along with 3 legendary drops!  Yes 3 legendary drops in 4 hours.  One from a random small chest, one from a dead body, and one from the Skeleton King.  My fiance got 3 legendary items and a set item in the same time.  It's so fun playing when you are rewarded with items that are actually going to help you.

They also changed/fixed/boosted class skills and runes.  I really think it is a lot more balanced now.  They got rid of some skill runes and replaced them with better ones so definitely check out your skills and see what new ones there are.  Check the full change log for explanations and stat changes.

They revamped difficulties too.  No more dumb monster power,  No more Normal, Nightmare, Hell, Inferno.  Now you get Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, and Torment 1-6.  I played on Master and was rocking through it pretty fast.  I also gained about 4 levels of paragon.  They added Reflection Pools which boost XP by 25% for a set amount of time or until you die.  They also added Nephalem Glory like they have in the console version which gives you more damage and is stackable up to 3 times.

They updated the graphics a little by adding reflections.  It fixed the weird motion blur I was having, but then again my video card updated too so I'm not sure what happened but it looks amazing.  Also I'm not sure when it happened, but there are now fancy maps and waypoints.  :)

Took off enrage timers on bosses!  (Except in torment mode)  YES!  Nothing was more annoying than fighting the butcher when the entire floor just caught fire after 2 minutes.

They made changes to crafting materials where you don't have a million different ones now, and it also changed actual crafting to where you will have a way better chance to get stuff you need.

Elite and Champion mobs have like 5 new effects such as portals (wormholes I believe) and these little lightning shrine things.

All potions are just potions now.  60% to life.  No different sizes.

And last but definitely not least PARAGON 2.0!  Paragon is now shared between all of your account characters.  There is no cap on it and with each level you gain a skill point.  SKILL POINTS?  Yes, finally skill points.  The game always seemed way dumbed down without skill points.  Diablo 2 revolved around them and 3 felt so lame without being able to add points into areas that you felt you needed.  And also no worries if you already had a bunch of paragon levels.  Go to the inventory menu and click on paragon in the upper left.  You can add all of your points there.

Overall I feel a sense of accomplishment after playing the new patch for 4 hours.  Something I have not felt in some time.  I got some new items, I wasn't getting frustrated with way under leveled drops/ drops for everything but wizards, and I found legendaries which always add excitement.  They added/fixed enough to make me want to play a lot again and have me really excited for the expansion.

So is it too late, or do you think Blizzard may be able to redeem the lost fans with the new patch?  I haven't had a chance to read the hater comments yet, but right now I'm not regretting pre-ordering Reaper of Souls anymore.      

My Favorite Android Customization Apps

Lock Screen with Dashclock
and Hangout extension

Home Screen UCCW Widgets
and Tiny White Icon Pack

One of the many reasons I absolutely love Android is because it allows ridiculous amounts of customization!  After spending 5 years "learning" graphic design, I have of course developed a kind of obsession for neat layout and cool fonts.  Android's Google Play Store offers what they call "Launchers".  Launchers are applications that replace the stock interface or "UI" of your phone, with a more advanced one allowing new customization and basically giving you the freedom to make your phone look amazing.  I have received so many compliments on my home screen setup.  Now a Launcher is only your first step towards a great layout, but I'll kind of guide you through what all you will need.  And this is all without root.

The launcher I use is Nova Launcher Prime.  It's $4.00 I think. (Use those Google Rewards Credits!)  There is also a free version to try it out.  And I also use the Tesla Unread extension to show my unread email count.  I've sampled a few different launchers.  However I have not tried out Next Launcher 3d Shell which costs $16.99!  There is a free version though so maybe one day I'll give it a try.  I like the simplicity of Nova and how it is easy to use and offers a lot of great options.

Now on top of a Launcher you will need an app to make widgets with.  I myself use UCCW (free in the play store, but you really should donate because the app is fantastic!)  It takes a bit of time to learn how to use it, but once you do, the customization options are almost endless.  You can add any font from your Mac (using Android File Transfer) or PC too, which really has the potential to make your phone look great or "themed".  There are also a few pre made things to choose from.  You can also head over to mycolorscreen.com and possibly find some pre-made ones from the very creative community. You'll also be able to edit those and make your own.

If you don't really have the time (took me 3 hours, but I am a perfectionist!) or maybe you are intimidated to try and design an entire custom screen, then I advise using the Launcher "Themer".  It's in Beta still, but it allows you to use certain mycolorscreen layouts without having to make them yourself.  I tried out Themer and it wasn't very easy to change things around or add your own icons in..  I found it more satisfying to just start my own from scratch.  Themer is a really cool launcher, it just isn't my style I guess.

Finally the last thing you will need are icon packs.  You can find a lot of them in the Play Store.  My personal favorites are Stamped Purple (Also comes in other colors) and Tiny White Icon Pack.  This will allow you to change the icon of almost any app you have,  to match everything.

Also, If you would like a neater looking lock screen, I suggest enabling widgets on your lock screen and using the app "Dashclock"from the play store.  You can also add extensions to Dashclock which will really make your lock screen more useful.

My Gaming PC

Well it was my first build and it's almost 2 years old now!  Time really flies!  I built this PC especially for Diablo 3 on a poor woman's budget.  I bought parts every pay until I finally had a computer.  It has been a really great computer and I'm thinking about upgrading her real soon.  I actually have a fan going bad so it's a perfect time to do it.  It ran the Titanfall Beta very well, though.  So just in case you want to know what I play most of my games on.  It's this.

Before all of the messy wires!

Here's what's inside.

- ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX AM3+ ATX

-  AMD FX-6100 BLACK ED CPU

- ASUS NVIDIA GEFORCE 560 ti GPU  EVGA NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 960 2GB

- 8 16 GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE PC3 12800 1600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM

- CORSAIR ENTHUSIAST SERIES 650-W 80 PLUS BRONZE CERTIFIED PSU

- CRUCIAL 64GB SATA 3 INTERNAL SSD RUNNING WINDOWS 7 64-BIT

- HITATCHI DESKSTAR 500GB 7200RPM SATA III 6GBPS HDD

- RAIDMAX SMILODON EXTREME BLACK/GREEN ATX CASE WITH MB FOLDOUT

I highly recommend the case I used.  It folds out for easy access to everything!  Made building so easy. 

Mobile Gaming - Top 5 for February

Who doesn't enjoy a mobile game every once in a while?  They hardly take any dedication and allow us to really pass time when we need to, which is perfect for anyone who works a full time job and hardly finds time for console gaming.  My top 5 mobile games for February are, in no specific order:

Flappy Bird!  Haha Just kidding.  You've all probably heard enough about this game!  So I'll spare you my feelings on it and I'll just say beat my 167!  :)

5.  Adventure Time: Card Wars  iOS and Amazon Kindle (for now) $3.99
This game is based off of an episode in the series of Adventure Time if you live under a rock and don't know that.  I personally enjoy AT a lot and was stoked to see that not only one of my favorite board game creators was making a board game of this, but also that it was going to be an app too!

The game is pretty simple to learn.  It has a lot of the Adventure Time feel to it which I personally love. There is a lot of content and re-playability.  Basically it's a deck building/ CCG mixed together.  But it's pretty simplistic.  I personally LOVE deck building games and this is as basic as you can get.  You place terrain that you summon monsters/ your army to.  You can boost them with buildings and you can floop which is a special ability that each card has.  You have magic points to spend on laying out your attacks.  One of the best features in this game is the ability to block attacks and critical hit by using a spinner.  I'm really curious on how the physical copy of this game plays so I'll be picking that up as soon as I find it in stores.  Here is the link for the physical copy if that interests you at all.  Cryptozoic Adventure Time Game 



4.  Riptide GP2  Google Play and iOS $2.99
This may be the most beautiful game I have ever seen on my Galaxy S4.  It is so smooth and the graphics are crisp and the water is so watery looking.  Oh.. Anyways this game reminds me of Wave
Race 64.  It's a Jet ski racing game.  You can level up your character and learn new stunts by winning races and earning xp.  There is a multiplayer mode that works well, and doing tricks off of the jumps is just really amazing.  I am a sucker for good non traditional car racing games and I loved Wave Race 64.  I actually used my Google reward credits to buy this.  I normally like free apps, but why not spend free money?




3.  An Alien with a Magnet  Google Play and iOS FREE
I can't really recall any games of this kind similar to this one.  If that makes any sense at all..  You are a cute little alien in a cute little saucer with a magnet that allows you to orbit close to planets and collect star coins and power ups.  The levels get harder and new challenges are added like running out of power.  There are 3 gems to collect in each level and you spin around planets launching to other planets without hitting anything and then you find the finish line and go to the next level.  It's simple fun.

2.  Dungeon Highway  Google Play and iOS
Kind of an endless runner with a dungeon crawl/retro feel to it.  You can shoot enemies and pick up different power ups and weapons along the way.  You have to avoid running into monsters and walls of the dungeon while trying to kill as much stuff as possible to gain points.  It's a simple concept that is pretty fun.  I also really like 8-bit type games.  And dungeons..

1.  Hot Donut  Google Play and iOS
You're a super hero donut rolling, dashing, and launching through hills and over water while collecting fireflies.. Or to me they look like bees.. You earn stars based on how well you do and earn crystals that you ca
n use to purchase upgrades.  It's another really simple fun addictive game that is great to pass time.

Now Playing - Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze!

Actually as I sit here at my desk typing this, I am also currently on a 319 streak in Draw Something 2 where I am trying really hard to draw a "snowplow".  I'm in no way good at drawing but I do find it fun to, every once in a while, take a stylus and pretend I'm an artist.  But enough about Draw Something.. Onwards!

My most recent and most exciting game that I picked up is Donkey Kong Country : Tropical Freeze for the Wii U.  I grew up a HUGE fan of the DKC series.  I used to play them all on Super Nintendo.  And actually besides Super Mario World, It was one of the only games that I owned at the time so I pretty much mastered them all, many times.

Tropical Freeze has that nostalgic feel that puts me right back into my childhood home, sitting about 2 ft away from the TV in a beanbag chair playing my SNES for hours upon hours!  However, this game is really hard!  I like to think I'm pretty good at video games too.  Especially Nintendo games.  Now the problem I think I was having was trying to play this co-op.  It's one of those co-op games where you can't really get too far away from each other and you have to spend more time working together or dragging/waiting for someone who maybe isn't that great of a player.  I also wasn't too fond of having to swap different Kongs for different levels just to get all of the extras in the levels.  In single player it gives you the right Kong for every level from what it seems.  Single player was much better IMO but I only played like 3 levels in Single Player Mode.  The graphics are absolutely stunning.  The music is a bunch of the older tunes from the previous DKC games remixed, along with some new tunes that sound equally as awesome.  It really adds to the nostalgic feel.  Also MINECART level!  There are other little easter eggs such as Cranky Kong's Phonograph from the original DKC too that just add to the total WOW of the game.  If you're a Nintendo fan or are maybe even contemplating this game, just get it.  It is awesome and challenging and I think it's a good pick for any gamer.  

*Brittany's best DK anger quote so far..  "oh good, just barrel roll to f**king China."

Welcome!

Welcome to my newest and hopefully more content-filled blog!  With the extensive list of video games coming out soon, I figured what better way to reflect on them while working a boring 9-5?  Reviews, pictures, some "cool story bros" and who knows whatever else I'll come up with.  From the newest games to mobile games all the way back in time to retro games, I'm sure you'll find something here in time.  I will also be adding anything techy that interests me..  I hope you enjoy!