Brewed

There's a poem brewing in my head
Sad but happy, it has its moods
Painful, tired, feeling 'done'
Broken foot in broken shoe
I ride along the drops of rain

And when the clouds are finished
Spreading themselves across our streets
Their very creation reflects their own
In colours blue and white and grey
A hint of green

Majestic forms floating, now across the pavement
Meaning nothing by default yet
Forming figures in the sky
A horse, a waving girl, a cowboy hat?

And the clouds in my head swirl
Until I'm home, again.

Countdown timer

Ever since I played my Wrath of the Lich King 10-day trial I've wondered what the little time-counter in the top left corner was. It went from 5m down to 2m then counted down seconds... but I never got what it was counting down for.
Yesterday I finally figured it out, it's a countdown timer for your PvP-enabled status.

I am on a (RP)-PvP server, but by default have my PvP toggled off. Whenever I enter a low-level area, capital city or sanctuary this means my PvP counter starts going. After five minutes of having undertaken no hostile action to members of the opposite faction in such an area, I am toggled off, which is what the little counter counts down, for you to keep track off. If you DO understand what it means, that is!

The dealings of simple life, good life

Finished Night Watch yesterday while waiting for my train. There were problems at the tracks, so the trip home which normally takes an hour and a half, took about three and a half hours. Benefits: purchasing and starting in a brand new Terry Pratchet novel.
I got my hands on Wintersmith and I'm intrigued. Is this what Pratchet does, new interesting characters, story and build-up of it all every book? It's ridiculously amazing to read and I'm a little bummed I didn't get to read this before.

Getting well into World of Warcraft again, too. Been crawling through some dungeons of the old world by myself. I'm purposely ignoring most of the content that gives experience to my character so my girl has time to catch up that level I'm ahead. Hence, I find myself AoE-farming Scholomance and Stratholme. It gives Argent Dawn reputation and I actually got my hands on the Baron's steed.

I was delighted to find the Hail to the Chef achievement was not limited to level 80 characters. I thought the Strand of the Ancients battleground was limited to level 80 and therefore, one of the sub-achievements was not attainable. I was wrong - happily so - and have now completed everything bar some recipe-gathering in order to get my first proper title!

Night Watch

Yesterday, I finished reading Graham Greene's "Brighton Rock". Since it was the last book on the shelve I've not read thoroughly, I had to stop by the book store on the train station on my way home to pick up something new. Terry Pratchet caught my eye, knowing that one of my favourite comics is inspired partly on his discworld novels. I picked up a paperback copy of "Night Watch" and so far, I'm loving it. It's funny, it's bright and it just sucks you in like a whirlpool. My birthday gift wish list: All the twenty other Discworld novels.

Furthermore, I'm playing World of Warcraft again. It's nice making fun of idiots in there again. That's what I do best in online games: mock.

The Twilight Princess

Yesterday, I finished playing The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess for the Wii. I'm aware it's been out there for forever, with the GameCube and all but unfortunately I've never had the pleasure of owning one. At a calm pace, I spend about 40 hours discovering, wandering, puzzling and fighting. That's a fair amount of time for any game!
Instead of putting a whole reviewing piece in here, I'm going to put a list of game aspects I thought were awesome and could've been better.

+ Atmosphere. The epic battles, open fields, scary dungeons and touching storyline, it's all there and it's all good.
+ Variety. I didn't at any point get bored with the weapons I had at my disposal, the puzzles never got repetitive, the surroundings were always amazing to look at. It keeps very new and very nice.
+ Length. It's just a very nice length game. You get a nice amount of playtime for your money and even more if you're the kind of guy that wants everything, starting over to collect everything they can find.
+ Looks. Link, the Master Sword, Hyrule Castle, all the recognizable features are there in such beauty that you might just be lost for words. It's no Crysis but it's exactly the right style.
+ Detail. It all fits. Think of facial expressions, character reactions to your actions, jokes. Nice touches everywhere, for example the first time you open a door in an ancient temple, dust and dirt falls to the ground. After that, there's nothing to fall any more.

- Controls. While I understand the Wii had to add some value to this game as opposed to the GameCube version, the controls can be awkward. Camera controls are nigh gone, waving the Wiimote for sword action can be unresponsive and the combination of point-shoot and locking on is really odd.
- Ending. No spoilers, but after the ending I couldn't continue my save game to collect the missing heart pieces etc. That's a good part of a Zelda game for me!
- Difficulty curve. The game is terrifying easy overall. Of course there are those moments of frustration for everybody, where you get stuck and don't know what to do. With the help system shoving answers in your face though, even during boss battles, it doesn't really feel as rewarding to solve puzzles and fight new enemies.

In conclusion: Wether you're a Zelda fan or not, get this game. This is an epic experience which, while not perfect, will drag you in and won't let go until the ending credits are over.