Random Technobabble.

First of all, sorry for being MIA for so long. I won't bore you with the details, but we moved into a new house recently enough that it still has that "new house" smell. In the weeks preceding that event, everything was chaotic and disorganized, and I tend to just go to pieces when things are that disordered in my life.

Now that we've settled in (sort of), I can start with the blogging.

Age of Conan

I have been waiting so long for this game to come out, that I stopped looking for it to launch and therefore completely missed its actual launch date. Once I realized that it had been released when I wasn't watching, I went on a crusade to find the blasted thing...and the only place in a 30 mile radius that had it was the GameStop by the SuperMall.

(Those that know me well know that I HATE large crowded shopping spaces, and that the SuperMall is the embodiment of the LAST place I ever want to go on a Friday afternoon. The fact I was willing to actually go to the mall for a game should underscore just how bad I really wanted the damn thing.)

So, was it worth it? For the most part, yes.

* The graphics are stunning--detailed enough that they reawakened my sleeping upgrade monster and made me uncomfortably admit that it's time for a new processor/motherboard/video card.

* Character development, including the avatar, is rather detailed, which is something I'm happy to say is becoming a trend in the MMORPG industry. Gone are the days of having your character look and act like 1 out 4 other characters on your server (if any of you have ever played Lineage II, or even World of Warcraft, you know what I mean).

* The game plays like a movie. An R rated movie. The character's dialogue is never flat, and in some cases, risque. The NPCs are interesting and multifaceted, the combat is interesting to look at. Some of the NPCs will even make *ahem* suggestions about where you should spend your evening...and if you take your shirt off, well, you're also anatomically correct up there.

* I remember now just how much I hate full on PvP servers. I have a limited amount of time to play, and when I get ganked repeatedly by some kid whose character is 10 levels above mine, it really irks me.

* I hate the concept of the unified starting point--everyone starts in the same blasted town, no matter who you are or what you do, and if you create multiple characters, they have to quest through the same environment with the same quest content. Everquest 2 used to really irritate me with that type of approach, and apparently I was not the only person who hated it, because they've now created 5 starting areas depending on race/alignment. Hopefully AoC will learn that lesson and give you someplace to start other than Tortage.

* Crafting and skills must start later in the game, because I've yet to get the ability to do either. That's kind of whack. With 80 levels, I suppose I'll have plenty of time to do something about it, but still.

So, go buy it if you liked LOTRO, for instance...but not if all you want is something like WoW. (And as for all of these abbreviations, those in the know will be able to decipher them.)


NVLDDMKM Error, How I Hate Thee

This NVIDIA related error started showing up when I worked for TOCC (The Other Computer Company) right after the Vista release. Those errors seemed to slack off as better drivers were released (or maybe because more people ran screaming back to XP, who knows) until just recently. I've had five instances in two weeks.

Normally, graphical errors can be fixed one of two ways--new driver or new hardware--but this monster is in a class all by itself. One of two things always happens--your display will recover, creating a pop-up in the lower right near the clock, or the entire system will hang/crash/die. In either case, if you happen to be gaming or working with video at the time, you'll probably crash out of the program you're in. Needless to say, if you can't game on your gaming computer because of NVLDDMKM, you now have a pretty expensive doorstop.

I hang out on the [H]ardOCP forums quite a bit, helping customers and anyone else I happen to take a fancy to, and I came across another guy having the problem. I think that may have been the last straw for me, because as soon as he posted, other people started to add on with identical issues, and I was just kind of like...WTF!!! Why can't we make this error go away??

I have a tendency to run things to ground when they irk me, and this error became my most recent obsession. There were fixes that worked for some and not others, there were registry hacks that might fix it all, but in the end, no one really had a good understanding of why it was happening. I got the answer I wanted, at least, if not the fix.

For those out there who come across this post and have this error--if you built your system yourself, log a ticket with the company who built the video card (XFX, eVga, BFG, et al), and if you have a pre-built system, contact your system builder for assistance. Be persistant, make yourself a nuisance. In the end, nagging is probably the only way to make this problem history.

What's New @ Puget?

I'm pretty excited about the launch of the Puget Obsidian, our new low/mid-range business critical system. It's affordable, incredibly well designed, and developed to be a very stable silent workstation. We also have some other changes in the works--very interesting times for me specifically--and I look forward to sharing them with you when they go live.