CS stuff

You know, Counter-Strike is a really good game.

Why do I say this? Well… it is.

Now… of course, CS wouldn’t be so fun if we didn’t have the amount of players that we have at the game cafes. Seriously, if everyone at the Game Café (the biggest one, mind you… we have other, smaller ones that we play DOTA, Generals, C&C 3, and possibly Call of Duty 4) we can have easily 12 on 12 matches. THAT is a lot players… especially for some of the smaller maps (Stone World IV is tiny! Yet we do it). Of course, this also works for bigger maps like Aztec and De_Dust2.

Of course, it wouldn’t be fun without the “good” players. By that I mean there are two groups of people that play CS… the bad players who just come for fun but don’t really know how to play, and the much better players who game their like EVERY day for HOURS.

How about me? Well… I only game weekly (though I may increase that this summer… money allowing, lol). But I would say that if I work in a team (IE, I don’t run off by myself and get killed) then I can do fine. I won’t hit the top kills, but 3^rd or 4^th place… which isn’t bad. Of course, depending on the map, I can easily hit higher… but with maps like Aztec or De_dustII… I tend to get killed a lot more than I would like (last time I played Aztec I had a 1:1 death/kill ratio… IE I would kill one person, and then die). Honestly, the only way I can see myself improving would be gaming more often. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get the money for a real copy of CS Source in the States and game online there… if not, I’ll have to pray that I don’t lose my amazing skill.

What weapons do I use? Well… of all the weapons, pistols, SMGs, Shotguns, Rifles, Machine Guns… I use a little of each, depending on the map. For instance, De_Dust, Italy, and De_Dust II, I can use most SMGs… though De_Dust II isn’t really doesn’t do good with SMGs (the map is to big for the short-ranged nature of an SMG… to many spots were rifles and such will pwn you). So… I’ll start with pistols and work way down:

The only pistols (besides the default, free one) that are worth anything are the Nighthawk (similar to the Desert Eagle) and the Duel Elites (2 9mm, if I am correct) The Nighthawk is a 7 clip gun that will kill someone in 2 shots to the chest. However… if you miss, you’ll probably run out of ammo and die. Still… it’s the best pistol in the game. The Duel Elites have more ammo and fire faster, but don’t do as much damage. Still, they are about equal to a cheap SMG, so that’s not bad. I tend to lean towards the Night Hawk because its actually a bit cheaper.

Shotguns… well, these weapons are very focused and only good for certain maps. Why? Shotguns have a small ammo amount (max of 7 shots… not good) and are short ranged. The one/two shot kill thing is great, and in small, crowded maps, someone who knows how to use the shotgun is a very good addition to any team. I personally only use the expensive shotgun because it fires much faster (semi-auto… the cheaper one is even slower). However, it’s not cheap, so I don’t use it to much.

Rifles. Rifles are the bread and butter weapons of CS… as such, if an SMG is not good for the map, I will them. I prefer SMGs because of the cheapness of the weapons… I can save up and then splurge on a big gun like a shotgun or multi (more on these later). Anyways… there are two kinds of rifles, snipers and not snipers. The most common not sniper is for the Terrorists the Ak-47 (known as the CV-47) and for the Counter-Terrorists the M16 (Maverick something). If I play CT, I’ll use the Maverick quite a bit, I like it. There are other guns… various snipers, some semi-snipers (zoom, but not near as nice as the snipers of the game), the Krieg and Bullpup (one for CT, one for Terrorist), I’ll use those if I have the money, and it’s the right map, but I don’t have to. Finally, the snipers… I don’t use the bolt action snipers (Magnum and Schmidt) but I will use the Multis (semi/full-auto sniper) from time-to-time… I’m not that good with it, but I can use it… sorta… not really.

Finally… the machine gun… I don’t use the machine gun, its expensive, and not that good, I don’t use it. In fact, I don’t know how to use it… it would appear that the huge ammo clip would allow for suppressive fire… but this isn’t a game where you want to try that… we have respawns and mass charges… plus flashbangs.

One thing I forgot to mention was equipment. Here you can get nightvision, bomb defusal kits, Kevlar, smoke, flashbang, and HE grenades, and extra ammo. Obviously I always buy extra ammo, sometimes I get either an HE or flashbang grenade, it depends on the map and how I’m feeling.

So… that’s me and CS

Stuff....

What is magic? This is a question that I have asked myself almost daily for a long time now. Why, you ask, right? I mean, obviously, magic is a supernatural force. But, I am sorry, that is simply not a good enough answer for me.

For instance, take the Novels Eragon and Eldest. In these books (I know, they aren’t the best books in the world, but the magic system is a good one, IHMO), magic is a combination of mental and psychical strength and the knowledge of an ancient language. For instance, if I say “fire” in this language, with the right intention and stuff (saying “fire” is not enough, you actually have to summon the magic to you), then that will happen… fire will come, either it will magically appear on the ground, on your sword, or perhaps your arrow.

In Dungeons and Dragons, the RPG magic comes in four forms. The magic of a wizard, the magic of a sorcerer, the magic of most divine spellcasters (IE paladins, blackguards and clerics) and finally the magic of druids.

Wizards cast spells through a combination of strange words, gestures, and magical components. When all combined, these three things can bring about extremely deadly consequences. However, the amount of work, through memorizations of ancient tomes of dark knowledge (sorry… I can’t help but picture evilness in magic… its how I think) to the consorting of demons (who in my mind, are always evil and untrustworthy).

Sorcerers, however, simply cast their spells through sheer willpower and innate strength. No magically theory, no spell books, gestures or goblin teeth. Just sheer mental willpower. They simply CAN cause fire to come from their hands. Obviously, the power of a sorcerer is must more unrefined and dangerous than that of a wizard. Think of it as the difference between a man who is a genius because he worked really, really, really hard and one is just IS smart. The first man may actually know more than the second, but the second man will still give him a lot of competition.

Divine magic is an entirely different thing, however. Divine magic is, simply put, blessings from the gods. A cleric can heal you because his god wants him to heal him. Same with paladins (and there counterparts, blackguards), usually though, paladins magical powers are much less so than clerics. Druids are extremely similar to divine spellcasters expect in the fact that they draw their powers from nature, which is sorta divine (at least in Dungeons and Dragons).

You see? Two different settings… four different ways to cast spells. All four can bring about the same effects (the healing of wounds, the creation of fire, ice and water) but each are at least somewhat different!

So, my question for a good while now will be the following: What is magic? Now, when I say this, I do not want a generallistic answer. I want your personal preference. How do YOU define magic? Is it a set of rules that can cause devastation? Is it simply runesmithing? Or perhaps alchemy? It is a great deal of different kinds of magic? Is it similar to Warhammer? Or perhaps Eragon? Maybe wizards are more like Gandalf, more like advisors with great power, perhaps? Or are they like Quick Ben of Malazan, a man who tricks gods into doing his will, and at the same time can bring some serious power to bear (hey, he helped kick the butt of the White Crow! (Forget his full name… sorry))?

There are so many possibilities… I want to include all… but if I do so… magic won’t be that cool, just “meh”, ya know?

So… seriously… anyone who reads this, reply, either by commenting in the blog (you know you want to, :P) or by emailing me (if you know my email), heck, you can even write on my wall on Facebook! (yes… for those of you who may not know… I do have facebook (Roy Isaac Johnson)).

Perhaps later I will give an update on my life… another weekend article, perhaps?

Ttyl…

Isaac, the masterofweirdness

My Weekend II

My weekend was, once again, really fun. First off, we had a good church service, then I went to club and ate lunch. Afterwards, me and Julius (who came with for a sleepover) lost a game of football (soccer for you Americans) to three other guys. It wasn’t that they were better… they just had a goalie… and more players.

So, then we come home, hang out, and Jacob comes by, we hang out some more, we get dinner, have dinner, watch Top Chef, and then Roleplay, which I will tell you about on my WFRP Campaign blog. All I will say is that it was amazing.

Anyways… after we roleplay, we just hang out a bit… we talked about random stuff... and about 1:30AM I went to sleep.

The next morning we have chocolate chip pancakes, I tell Julius about DOTA, Jacob left early to go to a concert (NOT that kind of concert… just him and some other kid’s doing this thing called God’s Candidates). So, we hang out, Julius prepares to lead worship at 4him, and then we go to 4him.

At 4him, Dustin spoke… which was great, he gave his testimony about how God brought him to Bangladesh and how God saved him from Leukemia and all that. It’s a really great story.

Then we come home… go to sleep and well… it’s now Sunday.

Oh, one more thing. We now have a tentative night for 4him Formal Christmas Party. What does this mean? It means I have to wear a tie and collared shirt to a party… evil… stupid… silly…

Anyways… onto life.

Oh, DOTA 4.49b is now out… www.getdota.com just remember, you have to have a patched version of Wacraft III: The Frozen Throne, before you can play!

My Weekend

Well… I had an interesting weekend.

Church was good… it was Children’s Church this week, which means that I had to help out… it, was great though, I ran two of the games, and they were really fun. Naomi and Nate did the play, which rocked. The sad thing is that Dustin, the guy was running Children’s Church is leaving to go back to the America for a year.

Then… Saturday… I went gaming, I got Season I of Heroes, and got some more WFRP Character Sheets… so I’m ready for all those 2^nd Careers that will be coming up soon.

Gaming rocked. We played a bit of CS_Italy, which went terribly… the Terrorists didn’t know how to play a hostage map… you wait for the enemy to come to you, not run around like a bunch of ninnies, which is exactly what they did. We also played a bit of DE_Dust2, which wasn’t bad… but my team, the Counter-Terrorists didn’t do so well.

Finally, we play DE_Aztec… a map set in an Aztec ruin. It was HUGE and well… in this map, I finally truly understood the beauty of the Krieg Commando and Bullpup… decent scoop, high rate of fire, and well… that’s just want you need.

I also learned a great new tactic… hit and run. It’s quite simple, you enter a room, there are two CT or T in it, you shoot a bit, run out, run in, shoot a bit, run out, rinse and repeat until they are dead… it works pretty well.

I also learned that pistols are, in fact, quite good. Jacob told explained it to me. The best pistol, the Nighthawk, is basically a 1 Shot kill weapon, it kills you really easily, and so, you grab one, kill someone, grab their gun, and boom! You have a free gun.

Anyways… finally… 4him… this was… depressing. Jackie and Jay will be leaving this Summer for the States… which is really sad, because well… we’re not ready for them to leave… to put it plainly, it is there job to mentor us to become men and women of faith that know our faith, and while some of us, like Evans, Sam, Jo, and Mark, possibly are ready to have them leave, Me, my sister, Jacob, Julius, Max, and lots of others are not at ready for them to leave. Now, it wouldn’t be to bad if I wasn’t leaving for the States for 6 months in 7 weeks… I won’t be seeing them much…

Anyways… my goal I guess with them would be to have a meeting with Jay some week before we leave, talk to him, and stuff… an overall goal with 4him would be to find a new Youth Leader for the guys… I mean, to an extent Debra’s bro is there (I don’t know how to spell his name… so I won’t misspell it, lol) but, he’s still… in a way… one of us… sure, he’s 26 or something, but still… he is in a way still a member of 4him.

Anyways… guess the only thing I can really do is trust God… he’s provided for me before, he’ll do it again, I know. Still… no one can really ever replace Jay.