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June 30, 2003

the ties that bind

my one-year-old computer died this weekend. Well, not really died, but basically the video card gave out and after going to Best Buy, Microcenter, CompUSA and PCs For Everyone AND calling Dell themselves, I discover a couple of things:

1. My computer doesn't upgrade to 64mb card, which means that I wasn't going to be able to play my copy of Star Wars Galaxies that Joe had picked up for me--I've been waiting for the game to come out for over two years now.

2. No one in town carries 32MB video cards that would fit in my Dell computer--Dell makes their cases very narrow, which means that the card is a proprietory card that you have to buy from Dell.

3. Dell has no stock on video cards that fit my computer.

4. I'm never going to buy a Dell again. And unless you never want to be able to upgrade, I recommend you don't buy one either.

5. I need to buy a zip drive and BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP my stuff.

And so we traipsed back over to PCs For Everyone, gave them my hard drive from the Dell (I will be heartbroken if all my work is lost...it's been a few months since I backed up, sigh) and they are building me a new PC... Pentium 4, 40mb (on top of the 40mb I am transferring in) 512 RAM, 128mb Nvidia video, 52x CDRW and fully capable of running any game or program I decide for at least the next year--and then it will still be able to upgrade.

The bad news is that I don't get it back till the 7th. I feel lost!! Joe is being very gracious about sharing his computer, however.

So a couple of things this weekend--I read the new Harry Potter in about two days...I read too damn fast and then I'm left sort of sitting there, wishing that I could keep reading. I envy people who take 2 weeks to read a book that size...there is a savoring that I am not as privy to. I mean, I savor every word that I read, but then I'm left wanting more and more and more. Anyway, the book is great.

J.K. Rowling has the killer formula for creating these books. Much like Beverly Hills 90210, Harry goes through high school, then it will be college...so there are at least 4-5 more books right there. After that he starts to lose some of the appeal for youngsters, so it makes sense that he does one or two things--one, he marries and has a child that begins the next phase of the books and/or two, he takes over for Dumbledore (we know that he doesn't live all the way through the series anyway) and takes on a protege of some sort.

I love the readability of the books though--they are fun, dramatic, lively and engaging and the appeal to both adults and children alike is the most amazing part. That's difficult to do. I also love how they wrap you up in the story--even now, several days later, I find that I'm still thinking of the books, wondering what will happen next, if that's the way it really is with Sirius, what role will Gwarp play, will Ron and Hermione get together? Ginny and Harry (come on...all foreshadowing points to this)? Very amazing when books linger with you for weeks and weeks and even years afterward.

And Star Wars Galaxies. Wow. Just plain wow. The graphics are incredible. The game premise is equally amazing, with options for many different types of gamers--casual gamers, hardcore gamers. Those who prefer to play solo and those who like to game with groups. If you are into crafting and building weapons and battlestations or clothing and food, then you are all set. If you are interested in the cut em, shoot em up stuff, it's all there too. If you are into questing...there are numerous seek and destroy or delivery missions. It's extremely complex, and if you aren't willing to put a little patience into figuring out the controls, I don't recommend it, but I have a feeling that this will end up being as addictive as Everquest, if not more so. There are bugs, since this is the opening release, but those will get worked out and in another six months with a full player economy in place, it will be a really interesting--and addictive--game.

Posted by crystallyn at June 30, 2003 06:40 AM

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Comments

Posted by: Sean at June 30, 2003 09:55 AM

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