Let us not forget and keep praying for those who need help.

Back in the good old days of Burning Crusade I began to get discouraged when I hit 70 on Paravel, my resto druid.  Why? Because I would look to join a group doing a heroic or raid and they would demand that you had a magically determined bonus healing stat.  Often time this stat was pulled out of the “wow forums floating cloud of trolls”. No real science or crunching of numbers determined what made an effective player. And more times then not it would be a number that could only be reached by already being one of the few who have cleared the highest content at the time.

I mean really, does it make sense to demand gear from Sunwell for a Kara run?  Does it? O.o

Fast forward to Wrath.  We no longer rate a player on spell power, healing power or AP but instead on something even MORE mystical, Gear Score.  It started with sites back at the close of BC that would guess at an items gear score and create a data base to try and rate your characters place on a progression bar.  Site like http://be.imba.hu/ were tools where you could look up your level 70 toon, see missing enchants, gems, get suggestions for your class and build.  All and all a very helpful tool if you used it to work on your progression.  However things changed

The problem started when competing sites raised up on the net using different formulas for coming up with their base score.  Remember, the scores at this time where a mystery, and value that enhancements, set bonuses, mixing and matching for stats, were all guess work. With this arose no standard of a “gear score”.  One group would ask for a GS of 1000 when another would ask for 750.  The issue being that depending on what site they used the 750 could be a better geared player than the site that provided the 1000.  Talk about a headache.

Enter a mod author who, more than likely had good intentions, that released an in game mod that would make a GS based on a math of his own.  His statement was that it was not the end all to be all, but DOWNLOAD AND USE MY MOD!  Drama can be so fun to watch in the mod community at times, especially when someone wrote a mod to break this mod and the rumors and flame wars flared.

But, I digress, so what else is new.  Issue is back.  If you don’t have a GS of XXXX you cant come and you get kicked out.  This problem and mod leaves out some important information, like player skill.  I have said this before, but I would take an under geared skilled player over a noob or jerk in gear any day on a run.  The argument that you must have a high GS to clear the highest content is negated by projects like clearing ICC 10 in all blues!

If you know how to play your class and work with others you can and will be successful.  If however you expect to be carried through a run to get better gear but have not a clue how to play then you are more than likely the one who stands in the fire, misdirects onto a clothie, or taunts the boss off the tank at enrage.  It does not matter if you have the highest gear in the game at that point, you still fail at the game and cause issues within your group.

I know you are probably wondering where the bulling part comes into this argument, and well you should.  If you have a slightly lower GS than the “floating cloud of trolls” have determined for that hour, and you end up in a random LFG group, you could be exposed to behavior you would never see in a face to face social environment.  Just stop it people, treat others with respect please.  How much more enjoyable our gaming life would be if we could just learn to get along and not be jerkwads.

GearScore is a tool, and measuring stick, not the end all.  What we really need is a mod that will take gear score provided by Blizzard, enchants, gems, set bonus and all into account, along with rating and notes into account so its not about a bottom line number but more.  Oh wait, their is *smile*

Enter Elitist Group (used to be Sexy Group, from the same author who did Sexy Map and Sexy Cooldown)

Again, EG is just a tool.  I will write a review and tutorial soon covering its usage and how to maximize the information gained from it without being a jerk.

Just remember that we play World of Warcraft for fun.  So does the person on the other side of that avatar, treat them as you would face to face.

THIS IS NOT NEW!

Ok, sorry for shouting.  When the church began some 2000+ years ago it is safe to say that the Internet did not exist.  Nor phones, television, cell phones, twitter, facebook, or even. . get ready . . mass produced books!  The church was successful not because of what or how they did things, but because of WHO they did things for.

Jesus gave us a commission;

Mark 16:15 And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Like the early church we need to go to where the people are.  You and I know people who would never consider stepping foot inside a “church”, yet make contact with them by some online means and you may just have an opportunity to tell them about your faith.

Above all things Tanya’s and my desire it to reach the lost for the Lord.  Tanya does it in her own way, she shares insights of her walk on her own blog (hehe, took me long enough to convince her to start it) while I use podcasting (in the past), blogs, games IE (World of Warcraft) and other geeky and techie things.  Redeemed Point is born out of this.

Imagine if you will a small group of dedicated men and women who seek to do what Christ has called them to do in a local body, not only local but not forgeting Mark 16.  We are going out, and if by chance we can reach just one person, one at all, it is worth it!

So are we crazy?  Yea, don’t you want to be crazy about Jesus as well?

(NOTE: Wordpress had eaten my first attempt at this article.  If it seems disjointed please forgive me and know more will come.)

What a great Christmas this has turned out to be.  Bethany is home from university, I have the day off, and the four of us are going to go see Avatar later tonight.  We awoke to are standard tradition, be it much later than when the girls where younger, where we are met with cups of coffee that the girls prepared for us; find our place around the tree and begin the passing out of the presents.

Everyone is happy with the gifts they got.  I am thrilled, Bethany got me 2 books, A Year with C.S. Lewis and the audio book version of his Screwtape Letters!  (can someone say more Lewis inspired writings this year? hehe)

This year is almost at and end and it has been one of those years you wish to just let pass by.  But the Lord is good.  It has taken over a year of healing from the wounds of the year before last, but with the renewed love and hope in my heart we have begun something exciting and thrilling.  If you have not heard about Redeemed Point yet then head on over and check out our church plant.

As far as the world of gaming, I am playing WoW still/again/still.  I have re-rolled and found a home with AIE (Alea Iacta Est) on Earthen Ring US horde side.  To say its a large guild would be.  well an understatement.  It happens to be the largest guild in the world, made up of fans of The Instance Podcast hosted by Scott Johnson. Even though its over 5000 characters it is a refreshing community of players.  Finlay truly casually/hardcore raiding without the pressure. It has been a nice change.

But most importantly I want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.  Always remember that no matter how commercialized or busy this time of year gets, its all about Jesus, the best Christmas Gift ever!

Ok, first I know its been a LONG time since I have put anything on the pages of my blog here.  Well get ready, lots of game stuff going through my head as well as updates into the pastor side of my life

Ok, everyone knows that several new MMO’s are trying to knock the indisputable heavyweight champ, World of Warcraft, off its pedestal.  Out of the handful, and I am a BIG fan of Aion right now, I think that only one really has a chance of doing it.  Free Realms. Yes, you heard me right, Free Realms, the latest MMO that has been sent down the shoot from Sony Entertainment.

In brief here is why I think they have a shot.

1. Its free to play.  Ok, so not if you want more than one toon and perks.  But you can play it for free.  The install is amazingly smooth and accessible to every day computer users.
2. The game plays very well and smooth.  My youngest daughter likes to play it and can even show up her old man, who has several years of MMO experience under my belt, up.
3. They have 3 million subscriptions already!  This is an amazing number and will only grow.  First it is interesting that Sony has opted to share this data. They are not afraid of what other will think and have no problems flaunting it. 

3 Million players after a couple months is HUGE.  And just think what will happen when they release the PS3 client of the game.  Talk about an explosion of players into a MMO world in a short period of time.  I am not afraid to go out on a limb and state that FR has a chance of knocking WoW off the high horse.  At least for player base and money made.

Money?  Are you kidding?  It’s a free to play game, how in the world will they make money?

Glad you asked.  The gang over at Massively have reported on the 89/10/1 rule.  It simply says that 89% of the games player base will not pay anything, 10% will pay the minimum subscription and 1% of players will pay well beyond that.  The speculative math done over at Massively comes up with a grand total using the "89/10/1 Rule" of $2.4M revenue per month.  O.o  That is a lot of income for a free game.

And when the PS3 client comes out those numbers have a great potential of going up.

It will be an interesting thing to watch.  I only wish a few of the other contenders would consider a pricing model like this.

No one can argue the place of computers in our world today, more specifically the use of the Internet as the greatest communication tool available to us.  How else can you get a message out to people around the world, all at the same time, for such a minimal cost? 

Henry Blackaby’s study, Experiencing God, as well as Rick Warrens Purpose Driven Church/Life, both speak about finding where God is working and joining him there.  I love the illustration that Rick uses in the opening chapters of Purpose Driven Church.  He says that trying to “start” things yourself is like riding a surfboard out into a flat ocean only to beat the water with your own arms trying to create a wave. When what we should do is paddle out and look for a wave that God has already set in motion, position ourselves into that wave and ride baby ride!

We see the wave that God has created, its called the internet and social media.  We need to do what we can as God’s people to join him where he is working.  One of the more popular places on the net is Facebook.  Facebook provides tools for people to get in touch with others from around the world.  It is amazing how many people are turning to sites like this to reconnect with friends from the past that may have moved on to some other location or country.

So some people ask, “Why start a church that uses the Internet as a means to reach out?”  Here is why, and mind you these are just statistics from one site:

• More than 200 million active users
• More than 100 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day
• More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college
• The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older

Facebook Statistics

We have an opportunity to touch millions of lives on any given day by simply logging into a website and checking up on friends and family.  We need to live out our lives online for Christ as we do away from the keyboard.  We can not ignore a mission field this large any longer.  Matthew 28:18-20.

Redeemed Point will use social media like Facebook, Twitter, Streaming Video and more, along with a local group of believers working behind the scenes to perform its mission.  We are excited about joining God where He is working and can’t wait to see the harvest.  Email onpoint@redeemedpoint.com if you would like more information or have suggestions or questions.

Did have a great chance to hang out with my friend Taylor Kent from Snark Infested Waters the other week.  He had me appear on his podcast/videocast.  You can listen to it here.  http://thesnarkyavenger.com/?p=314

Will update more later.  Be good everyone.

Computer Issues

This has been the week of computer nightmares.  First I decided to erase my Vista partition to go 100% Win 7.  I decided to dump Vista all together because, well, frankly, it stinks.  Next morning I changed my mind after doing some tweaking in graphics settings and trying to get the best look/performance out of LotRO.  So I went back to Vista to see if DX10 would work smoother.  That and I was getting a terrible Windows Experience Rating in 7, which is due to a bug I have since discovered.

Well, long story short, in the process of moving things around, and trying to set up my firewire camera, I sort of blew up my firewire external hard drive. 

So here is a tip: Do not unplug your external hard drive while its powered on and connected.  *head desk*  All that data now lost.  Oh well.

Church Stuff

What an exciting week in regards to church and ministry.  Tuesday morning I had breakfast with Tom Stringfellow, our associations new director of missions.  To make this a short story as well, cause I could go on forever on this topic, Tom wanted to know what I would need and thought about starting a new work.  A new church plant that would not only reach a local group of people, but use the Internet and social networking/media for touching peoples lives.  Needless to say after the past 9 months this was a very uplifting conversation.  I have sent him the proposal and will write more later.  But we are VERY excited about what God is doing.

Family

Seems like this was the week to get sick.  Tanya has been feeling under the weather, but its so hard to know how bad she gets.  We call her Shira because of her extremely high pain tolerance.  I’m such a wimp compared to her.  Rachel then got sick as well as Bethany, and as I write this I am going down hill rather fast myself.

We have been unpacking boxes trying to fill our new residence.  It is such a blessing to be out on our own again.  God is really good, and we have some awesome friends.  Even with temporary situations, we have had the best 2 weeks of our last year.

Game

Many already know that we have taken an extended leave of absence from World of Warcraft.  Our financial situation is the majority of reason for this break, but also a lack of enjoyment in game was part of it.  I had max leveled 4 of my toons and sort of just. . yea. . ran out of things to do, or motivation.  The hardest part about the break is leaving our wonderful guild mates and friends behind.  But we do have Twitter and social networking to keep in touch.

I started playing Lord of the Rings Online again.  I am a founder with a life time subscription, which makes the money part a lot easier on us.  That and I LOVE LotRO. It is a visually stunning game with great game play and Lore that you CAN NOT BEAT.  Its Tolkien for crying out loud.

I have also been testing/trying out some other MMO’s for kicks.  Ill be writing some reviews, but lets just say that so far, nothing touches LotRO and WoW, that I have played so far.

So. . the week has been full of lots of things.  I am behind on Dev4Gamers, but have been getting ready to start a video stream of it when I record.  So look for me at 8 am Monday morning PST.