I already posted my thoughts on KDR vs Kill Spread in FPS. Now I will show why Kill Spread over KDR is more important in fair team making.
To start off, this actually came up in a round of Halo: Reach over system link recently. It was 3v3, and my team got smoked pretty badly. So the other team offered to give us their worst guy (Spread of -3), saying "4v2, that'll make it fair." In real life, yeah, I'd take the extra guy even if he sucked. However, in a race to a score, it's different. Giving us the guy with a -3 spread actually would hurt our team, as I am sure you would agree if you've read my thoughts on KDR in FPS.
Now, how do we determine a fair match? Well, let's again take a look at KDR first. I have in front of me a set of people's stats that we'll look at. We'll use these stats this whole post, so I am going to let you see them up front. I am making up their names as well, to protect the horrible players.
Person Avg Kills Avg Deaths KDR Avg Spread
Bob 4 2 2.0 +2
John 4 1 4.0 +3
Joe 3 5 .6 -2
Tim 5 5 1.0 0
Kevin 5 2 2.5 +3
Bill 6 3 2.0 +3
If you were to use the KDR of these guys, and matched up the top 3 and bottom 3, it would appear as if the top 3 would win (avg KDR 2.2 vs avg KDR 1.83) pretty easily. If the players each got their average kills however, the bottom team would win by 5. And if they all got their average spread, then the bottom team would win by 3.
NOTE-At this point it must be stated that these are AVERAGE scores. It is impossible to get these scores using these teams in one match. The KDR and Kill Spread over one match will always come out even when all players are taken into account, unless there's been suicides/betrayals.
The good thing about using average spread, is that if that is my average spread, you have a concrete number upon which you can base my skill. If I have an average spread of +4, you know I am going to get 4 more kills than deaths. It doesn't matter if I die 10 times, I'll kill 14. If I die 5, I'll kill 9. You know how many net points I am going to get the team. With KDR, if I have a KDR of 2.0, that could be 2/1, 10/5, 20/10. You don't know how many net points I am going to get. You do know that I am going to help the team, just not how much.
So, using the average kill spread method, you can balance out teams for more fun gameplay; for if you had Kevin, Bill, and Joe on a team agains the others, (avg spread of 1.33 v 1.66)and they all got their usual Kills/Deaths, then the score would be (Counting kills as points, and deaths as points for the enemy) 22 to 23.
This will be clear to some, and unclear to others. This is about as good as I can explain it without showing you in person.
- Sapper Woody
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
KDR in FPS's
I was talking to some buddies about Call of Duty: Black Ops the other day. One common question that kept coming up was, "What is your KDR?" For those of you who don't know, KDR is short for Kill Death Ratio, or the amount of kills you get per each of your own deaths. For example, if you get 15 kills, and die 5 times in a match, your KDR for that match was 3.0, as 15 divided by 5 equals 3.
This stat has kind of become the "end all" stat. This stat has become the sole stat in showing how good of a player you are at a certain game. (At least in deathmatch modes. In objective based modes it's not as important.) However, I have come to find out differently.
Now, the KDR is an important stat. If you have a positive (greater than 1.0) KDR, then you are helping out the team. Negative KDR means that you actually hurt the team. I would much rather have a guy with a 2.0 KDR on my team than a guy with a .95, for instance.
Here is where it gets hairy. When looking solely at the KDR stat, it would appear that a person with a 3.0 KDR is 2 times as good a player as the person with a 1.5. But there are so many variables to look at. It's possible that the person with a 3.0 KDR killed 3 people, and died 1 time, earning the team 3points, but losing it 1point for a net gain of 2 points. And the 1.5 KDR person could have 10 kills and 4 deaths, earning the team 10points, and losing 4points for a net gain of 6points. So, who is the better player?
This is why I like HALO's score keeping better than COD's. In HALO, it shows you your K/D spread, instead of ratio.
On a side note, I hate when I go my usual 1.25 KDR (normally about 10/8) in COD, and then there is someone who does something like 20/20 and then he calls me bad, because he has a higher score, when in reality he didn't help the team out at all in net gains. But that is a whole different rant for a different time.
Back to KDR. My idea is to no longer ask people, "What is your KDR?", but rather ask them, "What is your Kill Spread?" This will give a much better picture of how much they will help out your team in each game. I have a lot more anecdotal evidence and number crunching, but I think I've made my point.
- Sapper Woody
This stat has kind of become the "end all" stat. This stat has become the sole stat in showing how good of a player you are at a certain game. (At least in deathmatch modes. In objective based modes it's not as important.) However, I have come to find out differently.
Now, the KDR is an important stat. If you have a positive (greater than 1.0) KDR, then you are helping out the team. Negative KDR means that you actually hurt the team. I would much rather have a guy with a 2.0 KDR on my team than a guy with a .95, for instance.
Here is where it gets hairy. When looking solely at the KDR stat, it would appear that a person with a 3.0 KDR is 2 times as good a player as the person with a 1.5. But there are so many variables to look at. It's possible that the person with a 3.0 KDR killed 3 people, and died 1 time, earning the team 3points, but losing it 1point for a net gain of 2 points. And the 1.5 KDR person could have 10 kills and 4 deaths, earning the team 10points, and losing 4points for a net gain of 6points. So, who is the better player?
This is why I like HALO's score keeping better than COD's. In HALO, it shows you your K/D spread, instead of ratio.
On a side note, I hate when I go my usual 1.25 KDR (normally about 10/8) in COD, and then there is someone who does something like 20/20 and then he calls me bad, because he has a higher score, when in reality he didn't help the team out at all in net gains. But that is a whole different rant for a different time.
Back to KDR. My idea is to no longer ask people, "What is your KDR?", but rather ask them, "What is your Kill Spread?" This will give a much better picture of how much they will help out your team in each game. I have a lot more anecdotal evidence and number crunching, but I think I've made my point.
- Sapper Woody
Friday, July 1, 2011
My Hunter Solo'd Molten Core
So, I decided that my level 85 hunter should solo as much content as possible. Well, anyone can solo the level 15-60 5man dungeons, so I skipped those. I decided to start at Molten Core, the first level 60 40man raid.
I am Beastmaster specced, and used two different pets to tank for me. I used a Gorilla for most bosses, but used a Spirit Beast on a couple, so that it could heal me.
I went in and started the clock. Killed some trash, and made it to Gehennas without any problem. I sent my Gorilla in and downed him with minimal damage to myself. I had about 75k health left at the end of the fight.
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After Garr, I tried Barron Geddon. And died. So I tried again. And died. And again. And died. So I went to Lucifron. I used my cat, killed his adds, no problem.
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After that, I went to Magmadar. Should've cleared the room first. While I was fighting him, I got feared into two packs of core hounds, who wouldn't die unless they all died together. This fight took forever, and about seven feign deaths. After I killed him, I looted and skinned him. Then remembered to take a picture. So here is a picture of the empty space he used to occupy.
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After Magmadar, I went back to Baron Geddon. This time, I used my gorilla and cleared almost the whole room where the boss patrolled. Then I switched to my cat, pulled the boss with a serpent sting, and then got out of the area entirely. I couldn't hit the boss anymore, but he couldn't hit me either. So my cat killed him for me.
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After Baron Geddon, Shazzrah was no problem. I simply stayed out of her AoE range and shot her.
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Then came Sulfuron harbinger. This guy wasn't too hard, but he took forever. I didn't start off by focusing the healers, so they kept healing him. Also, mid-fight I pulled two core hounds. I also pulled three firelords, who split into about 30 little fire elementals when they died. The fight took a while, but I eventually won out.
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I went to Golemagg the Incinerator. He was easy, just had to focus him and forget about his adds. They can't die if he's alive.
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So we get to Ragnaros. I took a picture of him before and after. He was actually pretty easy. At this level, it was a simple "tank and spank" method.
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All in all, it took me 1hr 25mins, and would have taken me less if I hadn't died three times. I left with 400 gold, and some fun items, like some pieces of my tier 1 set. Also got some blues to sell on the auction house. My plan is to do this every so often, maybe farm for Thunderfury to get my guild the achievement.
- Sapper Woody
I am Beastmaster specced, and used two different pets to tank for me. I used a Gorilla for most bosses, but used a Spirit Beast on a couple, so that it could heal me.
I went in and started the clock. Killed some trash, and made it to Gehennas without any problem. I sent my Gorilla in and downed him with minimal damage to myself. I had about 75k health left at the end of the fight.
Next came Garr, with all his adds. This was simple. I sent in my Gorilla, used Bestial Wrath, Misdirected to my pet, then Multishotted as much as possible. I didn't get a scratch.
After that, I went to Magmadar. Should've cleared the room first. While I was fighting him, I got feared into two packs of core hounds, who wouldn't die unless they all died together. This fight took forever, and about seven feign deaths. After I killed him, I looted and skinned him. Then remembered to take a picture. So here is a picture of the empty space he used to occupy.
After Magmadar, I went back to Baron Geddon. This time, I used my gorilla and cleared almost the whole room where the boss patrolled. Then I switched to my cat, pulled the boss with a serpent sting, and then got out of the area entirely. I couldn't hit the boss anymore, but he couldn't hit me either. So my cat killed him for me.
After Baron Geddon, Shazzrah was no problem. I simply stayed out of her AoE range and shot her.
Then came Sulfuron harbinger. This guy wasn't too hard, but he took forever. I didn't start off by focusing the healers, so they kept healing him. Also, mid-fight I pulled two core hounds. I also pulled three firelords, who split into about 30 little fire elementals when they died. The fight took a while, but I eventually won out.
I went to Golemagg the Incinerator. He was easy, just had to focus him and forget about his adds. They can't die if he's alive.
Once he was dead, Majordomo appeared. he wasn't too hard. You don't actually kill him, you kill the adds around him and he surrenders. There are four healers, and four casters. As long as I focused on the healers first, I was good. Since you don't actually kill him, here is a pic of him surrendering.
So we get to Ragnaros. I took a picture of him before and after. He was actually pretty easy. At this level, it was a simple "tank and spank" method.
All in all, it took me 1hr 25mins, and would have taken me less if I hadn't died three times. I left with 400 gold, and some fun items, like some pieces of my tier 1 set. Also got some blues to sell on the auction house. My plan is to do this every so often, maybe farm for Thunderfury to get my guild the achievement.
- Sapper Woody
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
If You're Reading This
This is a video that I put together of military funeral pictures and me singing "If You're Reading This" by Tim McGraw. I hope you like it, and the video should speak for itself.
- Sapper Woody
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Breaking Games: World of Warcraft "Mobile Auction House"
Even though this isn't strictly "breaking" the game, this follows my same lines of thinking of using something already in the game to your advantage.
In World of Warcraft, there is a wonderful thing called the Auction House, or AH. Just like a real AH, you list items on there for sale, and other real players buy them with in game currency, and the AH takes a cut of what is made.
Well, this is all well and good, except the AHs are only located in major cities. This presents a hassle for players who are questing far away from the major hubs.
Fortunately, a simple solution exists that players can exploit. It's called a "Banking Toon", or simply "Bank". All you have to do is to make a level one character and have them walk to the nearest major city. Then, any time your main character gets an item he wants to sell on the AH, he simply mails this item to his bank. The bank then lists the item, and gets the profit. This has effectively turned any mailbox into a "Mobile Auction House".
- Sapper Woody
In World of Warcraft, there is a wonderful thing called the Auction House, or AH. Just like a real AH, you list items on there for sale, and other real players buy them with in game currency, and the AH takes a cut of what is made.
Well, this is all well and good, except the AHs are only located in major cities. This presents a hassle for players who are questing far away from the major hubs.
Fortunately, a simple solution exists that players can exploit. It's called a "Banking Toon", or simply "Bank". All you have to do is to make a level one character and have them walk to the nearest major city. Then, any time your main character gets an item he wants to sell on the AH, he simply mails this item to his bank. The bank then lists the item, and gets the profit. This has effectively turned any mailbox into a "Mobile Auction House".
- Sapper Woody
Saturday, June 11, 2011
WoW Parody #2
I wrote another WoW parody. This time it's to the tune of Hoobastank's "The Reason". I entitled the song "The Reason (is Loot)".
Basically, as a background to this, for people who don't know. In patch 4.1, Blizzard introduced the ability to trade honor points gained from Player Versus Player (PvP) into justice points, normally reserved for Player Versus Environment (PvE) players. This allowed casual gamers to join BattleGrounds (BGs) and play PvP games, and then get the loot that they couldn't before.
While some hardcore players are upset about this, it really (In my opinion) doesn't change much from the welfare loot system they've had in place ever since WotLK.
Enjoy the video, and leave some comments!
- Sapper Woody
Basically, as a background to this, for people who don't know. In patch 4.1, Blizzard introduced the ability to trade honor points gained from Player Versus Player (PvP) into justice points, normally reserved for Player Versus Environment (PvE) players. This allowed casual gamers to join BattleGrounds (BGs) and play PvP games, and then get the loot that they couldn't before.
While some hardcore players are upset about this, it really (In my opinion) doesn't change much from the welfare loot system they've had in place ever since WotLK.
Enjoy the video, and leave some comments!
- Sapper Woody
Thursday, June 9, 2011
09June11 Update: Selection and Deployment
Well, for those of you who don't know, I just got back from SFAS, or "Special Forces Assessment and Selection". I didn't do so well. I didn't get selected this time. But, I plan on trying again in a year or so.
On my way out of Ft Bragg, I had to stay in a hotel off of post, due to no vacancies in the hotel on post. Because of jet lag (and possible Mountain Dew overdose!), I couldn't sleep well that night. So I took a walk. When I came back to my room, a guy came around a corner with a steak knife in one hand, and demanded I give him my wallet. I started to comply, but for some reason or another, the guy decided to try and cut me anyway. he was partially successful, and now I have a nice cut on my face that makes me look like Seifer from Final Fantasy 8. But cutting me made me mad. He didn't walk away with my wallet that night. But he did walk away with a broken nose, a dislocated elbow, and possibly a fractured rib.
I got home to talk to my unit, and as it turns out I will be deploying to Afghanistan shortly. Probably before the fall. Obviously, I can't put dates on here, due to OpSec (Operational Security). Hopefully, I will be able to continue posting threads from Afghanistan. My plan is to start a new segment about the deployment, and life in Afghanistan.
In other news, I am working on my second World of Warcraft Parody. It's recorded, and I am just waiting on some sound bits from a couple friends before I put a quick video and post it to YouTube. I found out that YouTube counts all the views from an embedded video, so I will also be embedding the video here in my blog.
- Sapper Woody
On my way out of Ft Bragg, I had to stay in a hotel off of post, due to no vacancies in the hotel on post. Because of jet lag (and possible Mountain Dew overdose!), I couldn't sleep well that night. So I took a walk. When I came back to my room, a guy came around a corner with a steak knife in one hand, and demanded I give him my wallet. I started to comply, but for some reason or another, the guy decided to try and cut me anyway. he was partially successful, and now I have a nice cut on my face that makes me look like Seifer from Final Fantasy 8. But cutting me made me mad. He didn't walk away with my wallet that night. But he did walk away with a broken nose, a dislocated elbow, and possibly a fractured rib.
I got home to talk to my unit, and as it turns out I will be deploying to Afghanistan shortly. Probably before the fall. Obviously, I can't put dates on here, due to OpSec (Operational Security). Hopefully, I will be able to continue posting threads from Afghanistan. My plan is to start a new segment about the deployment, and life in Afghanistan.
In other news, I am working on my second World of Warcraft Parody. It's recorded, and I am just waiting on some sound bits from a couple friends before I put a quick video and post it to YouTube. I found out that YouTube counts all the views from an embedded video, so I will also be embedding the video here in my blog.
- Sapper Woody
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Bye Bye, Went the Tank Healer Guy
So, a while back I posted words of a parody that I had written to "American Pie". I finally got the music done, and uploaded the video to youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEuczzPgkug
Enjoy, and leave feedback!
-Sapper Woody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEuczzPgkug
Enjoy, and leave feedback!
-Sapper Woody
Monday, May 9, 2011
Mobile Apps: Stick Swing
I was just told about this game for your mobile device, called "Stick Swing". Its name is really descriptive; the goal is to swing your stick figure from platform to platform. Landing closer to the middle gets you more points. As you swing, the platforms get smaller and smaller. You also eventually have to contend with various wind directions/speeds, and even gravity speed/direction (A down arrow means you fall faster, and up arrow means you float more).
I played this game for about 30 minutes the first time I ever tried it out.
My high score so far is 15900. See if you can beat me! If so, post here.
- Sapper Woody
I played this game for about 30 minutes the first time I ever tried it out.
My high score so far is 15900. See if you can beat me! If so, post here.
- Sapper Woody
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Save the Planet?
So, the local commissary on the military post where I live has decided to "go green" by no longer allowing their grocery bagging crew to double bag items. I totally get this. Don't use as much plastic, there's not as much to get rid of / recycle. Everyone wins.
They also have those green cloth reusable bags that you can buy. In the face of no double bagging, and also wanting to help do my part to conserve resources and not pollute, me and my wife have been buying a few of those bags each time we go to the store. Eventually we will be completely without plastic bags at all.
Imagine my surprise when I got to the car after our last grocery trip to find not only were some of my groceries double bagged, but the three green "eco-friendly" bags we had bought were nicely and neatly wrapped in plastic bags for us.
You do the math.
- Sapper Woody
They also have those green cloth reusable bags that you can buy. In the face of no double bagging, and also wanting to help do my part to conserve resources and not pollute, me and my wife have been buying a few of those bags each time we go to the store. Eventually we will be completely without plastic bags at all.
Imagine my surprise when I got to the car after our last grocery trip to find not only were some of my groceries double bagged, but the three green "eco-friendly" bags we had bought were nicely and neatly wrapped in plastic bags for us.
You do the math.
- Sapper Woody
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Bye Bye, Went the Tank Healer Guy
So, an idea hit me today for a Parody to the song "Bye Bye Miss American Pie". The only way you'd get most of the song is if you are a World of Warcraft player, especially back in the days of Vanilla WoW. The song is about a failed Onyxia (a level 60 raid boss) raid, and references some of the mechanics in that raid that used to wipe the raid. So, here are the words:
V1. A long, long time ago in World of Warcraft of yesteryear Onyxia was under attack.
And I had thought we had a pretty good chance to get our Tier 2 helm and bag. But something was about to go wrong.
Oh, we all thought we knew the fight. The odds went left and the evens right.
But the tank got feared in fire. He said, "Healing is my desire."
But the priest, you see, oh, he'd gone OOM. He'd used a mana potion, too.
He call the paladin a noob. Said, "I'm leaving this raid."
CH. Well, bye bye, went the tank healer guy.
Healed the pally with his mana till his mana went dry.
That good ol' boy did a "slash wave" goodbye
Sayin', "This won't be the day that I die. This won't be the day that I die!"
V2. And so we started up again. Replaced the noobs that were our friends. There must have been, oh, eight or ten.
We cleared the trash and then we paused. But it didn't seem like long enough, 'cause we ran into trouble again.
The DPS got feared to eggs, there were whelps now everyplace.
The tank tried to bring 'em 'round, but his taunt was on cool down!
The healer said he'd had enough, he didn't realize this boss was rough.
We said, "We need you!" He said, "Tough! I will not heal your raid."
V3. We finally got to her again. "Third time's a charm," that's what we said. But we found out so differently.
The tank stacked sunders on her head. "Throw more DoTs!" The leader said. We really wanted to see her dead.
But her tail swipe hit us all; threw us right into the wall.
We did it again. Who were we trying to kid?
So on our third try she didn't go down. In fact, she made us look like clowns.
The healer did not stick around. He said, "T.T.Y.L. G.L."
V4. We caught a port to Stormwind town; disappointment all around. No one had gotten loot.
We tried our best, but failed the test. I guess you already know the rest: Onyxia gave us the boot.
And in the end our tank had died. Hunter feigned death; we all "slash cried".
And from all that croakin', all our gear was broken.
And the GM I admired most? Onyxia had burned to toast. Well, I'm still here and he's a ghost. I guess I'll rez his corpse.
-END
Well, there you have it. I am going to try and record that soon. If I do, it will be available for download. Hope you enjoyed, especially if you are a WoW fan(atic).
- Sapper Woody
V1. A long, long time ago in World of Warcraft of yesteryear Onyxia was under attack.
And I had thought we had a pretty good chance to get our Tier 2 helm and bag. But something was about to go wrong.
Oh, we all thought we knew the fight. The odds went left and the evens right.
But the tank got feared in fire. He said, "Healing is my desire."
But the priest, you see, oh, he'd gone OOM. He'd used a mana potion, too.
He call the paladin a noob. Said, "I'm leaving this raid."
CH. Well, bye bye, went the tank healer guy.
Healed the pally with his mana till his mana went dry.
That good ol' boy did a "slash wave" goodbye
Sayin', "This won't be the day that I die. This won't be the day that I die!"
V2. And so we started up again. Replaced the noobs that were our friends. There must have been, oh, eight or ten.
We cleared the trash and then we paused. But it didn't seem like long enough, 'cause we ran into trouble again.
The DPS got feared to eggs, there were whelps now everyplace.
The tank tried to bring 'em 'round, but his taunt was on cool down!
The healer said he'd had enough, he didn't realize this boss was rough.
We said, "We need you!" He said, "Tough! I will not heal your raid."
V3. We finally got to her again. "Third time's a charm," that's what we said. But we found out so differently.
The tank stacked sunders on her head. "Throw more DoTs!" The leader said. We really wanted to see her dead.
But her tail swipe hit us all; threw us right into the wall.
We did it again. Who were we trying to kid?
So on our third try she didn't go down. In fact, she made us look like clowns.
The healer did not stick around. He said, "T.T.Y.L. G.L."
V4. We caught a port to Stormwind town; disappointment all around. No one had gotten loot.
We tried our best, but failed the test. I guess you already know the rest: Onyxia gave us the boot.
And in the end our tank had died. Hunter feigned death; we all "slash cried".
And from all that croakin', all our gear was broken.
And the GM I admired most? Onyxia had burned to toast. Well, I'm still here and he's a ghost. I guess I'll rez his corpse.
-END
Well, there you have it. I am going to try and record that soon. If I do, it will be available for download. Hope you enjoyed, especially if you are a WoW fan(atic).
- Sapper Woody
Thursday, April 14, 2011
What Gets Me: Misplaced Outrages
We've all gotten them: chain emails telling us that the world is ending as we know it because <insert atrocity here> is about to happen unless we get <insert a large, yet reasonable sounding number here> signatures on a petition by <insert a date that is about 2 weeks away>.
I recently (about 30 minutes ago) received an urgent email. Telling me to circulate this email to as many friends as I could, because we needed to stop the production of a movie that would portray Jesus Christ as a homosexual man. Of course, I was outraged. I am a Fundamental, Conservative, Right-Wing Baptist. "How dare they make a movie that portrays my God as something that He considers an abomination?"
*Disclaimer: I in no way am implying that I hate gay people. However, I disagree with their actions, and desire that they would change their ways. I believe they are wrong in what they are doing, but I do not hate the person in any way.
So, being the astute blind follower of what other people say, I instantly forwarded the email to all my address book, and then posted in on Facebook, right? Wrong. I decided to check it out.
The email said that there was a movie entitled "Corpus Christi" (Latin for Body of Christ) that was in production based on a Broadway play by the same title that would portray Jesus Christ as a homosexual, and that the movie had already been banned in several European countries. I decided to check it out, using the famous websites www.truthorfiction.com and www.snopes.com. Turns out, it was a good thing I did before sending out emails and posting my disdain on Facebook. Here are the links to what I found:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/gayjesus.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/gayjesusmovie.htm
As you can plainly read for yourself, there was a movie back in the '80s that was started along these lines, but the project never got off the ground. There is indeed a play by the name "Corpus Christi", which portrays Christ as homosexual. There also will be a documentary about the play coming to film. But, as of right now (and not for 25 years) there is not a film being made about a homosexual Jesus.
Seems like this "Urgent" email was a little misplaced, huh?
Again, don't get me wrong. I am a conservative right-wing. I believe that there are causes we should fight for, beliefs that we can't let fall to the wayside. However, I don't believe that we should discredit our voice by allowing ourselves to be made fools of by propagating idiocy via unchecked "facts".
Another set of emails that I received several months ago were saying that Obama had refused to stand in honor of <insert event here>, or another one that said he had refused to salute the flag at <insert memorial>. When I checked them out, they were all fakes. Pictures were inconsistent with what Obama was wearing at the ceremony, (one emails pictures, even contradicted each other, one with him wearing a blue tie, and another picture with him wearing a red tie), their time lines didn't hold up, etc.
Again, if these things were real, they would be cause for outrage. However, they were not, and I would estimate that thousands if not millions of Americans were outraged because they believed a lie without checking it out.
America, (or, as Stephen Colbert would say, "Nation,") check things out before you forward/post/tweet them. You will lose credibility by crying "wolf" too many times unless you do.
And that is "What Gets Me".
- Sapper Woody
I recently (about 30 minutes ago) received an urgent email. Telling me to circulate this email to as many friends as I could, because we needed to stop the production of a movie that would portray Jesus Christ as a homosexual man. Of course, I was outraged. I am a Fundamental, Conservative, Right-Wing Baptist. "How dare they make a movie that portrays my God as something that He considers an abomination?"
*Disclaimer: I in no way am implying that I hate gay people. However, I disagree with their actions, and desire that they would change their ways. I believe they are wrong in what they are doing, but I do not hate the person in any way.
So, being the astute blind follower of what other people say, I instantly forwarded the email to all my address book, and then posted in on Facebook, right? Wrong. I decided to check it out.
The email said that there was a movie entitled "Corpus Christi" (Latin for Body of Christ) that was in production based on a Broadway play by the same title that would portray Jesus Christ as a homosexual, and that the movie had already been banned in several European countries. I decided to check it out, using the famous websites www.truthorfiction.com and www.snopes.com. Turns out, it was a good thing I did before sending out emails and posting my disdain on Facebook. Here are the links to what I found:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/gayjesus.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/gayjesusmovie.htm
As you can plainly read for yourself, there was a movie back in the '80s that was started along these lines, but the project never got off the ground. There is indeed a play by the name "Corpus Christi", which portrays Christ as homosexual. There also will be a documentary about the play coming to film. But, as of right now (and not for 25 years) there is not a film being made about a homosexual Jesus.
Seems like this "Urgent" email was a little misplaced, huh?
Again, don't get me wrong. I am a conservative right-wing. I believe that there are causes we should fight for, beliefs that we can't let fall to the wayside. However, I don't believe that we should discredit our voice by allowing ourselves to be made fools of by propagating idiocy via unchecked "facts".
Another set of emails that I received several months ago were saying that Obama had refused to stand in honor of <insert event here>, or another one that said he had refused to salute the flag at <insert memorial>. When I checked them out, they were all fakes. Pictures were inconsistent with what Obama was wearing at the ceremony, (one emails pictures, even contradicted each other, one with him wearing a blue tie, and another picture with him wearing a red tie), their time lines didn't hold up, etc.
Again, if these things were real, they would be cause for outrage. However, they were not, and I would estimate that thousands if not millions of Americans were outraged because they believed a lie without checking it out.
America, (or, as Stephen Colbert would say, "Nation,") check things out before you forward/post/tweet them. You will lose credibility by crying "wolf" too many times unless you do.
And that is "What Gets Me".
- Sapper Woody
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Strategy: Focus Fire
One amazingly powerful aspect of any game is the ability to focus fire. This works in tabletops, First Person Shooters, strategy games, practically everywhere. The idea is this: by using all of your assets focused against one individual, you will destroy that individual and lower the overall DPS (Damage Per Second) of the other team as quickly as possible.
Look at it in this example: 2 teams (red and blue) are evenly matched. They each have 5 players with 5 HP (hit points), and each does 1 DPS. Now, the red team focus fires on one member of the blue team, whereas the blue team spreads out their damage, say 2/2/1 (2 fire at one, 2 fire at one, and 1 fires at one). In the 1st second, blue team is down one man. In the 2nd second, blue team is down 2 men. Now, in the 3rd second, it is possible that the red team loses a man, but simultaneously blue loses their third man. Now it is red's 4 to blue's 2.
At the beginning of the match, both teams had 25dps. If one team were to stand still and not attack, either team would have the other team down in 5 seconds. However, the one that focused their fire was the one who won the match.
Now, if the opposing team has people of differing HP/DPS, then the matter becomes a little more sticky. As a rule of thumb, you focus fire the enemy with the least HP first. However, there is a formula that can be used to determine a persons damage until death while focused. It is ((HPT1 / DPSUS) * DPST1) + (((HPT1 + HPT2) / DPSUS) * DPST2). You can continue this formula ad infinitum to adopt for more targets. In this formula, T# stands for the order in which that enemy would be targeted; T1 = Target 1, etc. US obviously refers to us. Once the formula is figured, adding in the enemy as variables, then you have to switch the variables up, and check them against each other. The goal is to get the lowest possible outcome, as the answer is the total amount of damage the enemy will be able to deal (given no loss of your own DPS) until they are all dead.
As you can see, this formula is complex, and you have to know a lot about your target, and have time to determine which target to focus on. Since you normally won't have that kind of time, use the rule of thumb and focus fire on their lowest HP person.
- Sapper Woody
Look at it in this example: 2 teams (red and blue) are evenly matched. They each have 5 players with 5 HP (hit points), and each does 1 DPS. Now, the red team focus fires on one member of the blue team, whereas the blue team spreads out their damage, say 2/2/1 (2 fire at one, 2 fire at one, and 1 fires at one). In the 1st second, blue team is down one man. In the 2nd second, blue team is down 2 men. Now, in the 3rd second, it is possible that the red team loses a man, but simultaneously blue loses their third man. Now it is red's 4 to blue's 2.
At the beginning of the match, both teams had 25dps. If one team were to stand still and not attack, either team would have the other team down in 5 seconds. However, the one that focused their fire was the one who won the match.
Now, if the opposing team has people of differing HP/DPS, then the matter becomes a little more sticky. As a rule of thumb, you focus fire the enemy with the least HP first. However, there is a formula that can be used to determine a persons damage until death while focused. It is ((HPT1 / DPSUS) * DPST1) + (((HPT1 + HPT2) / DPSUS) * DPST2). You can continue this formula ad infinitum to adopt for more targets. In this formula, T# stands for the order in which that enemy would be targeted; T1 = Target 1, etc. US obviously refers to us. Once the formula is figured, adding in the enemy as variables, then you have to switch the variables up, and check them against each other. The goal is to get the lowest possible outcome, as the answer is the total amount of damage the enemy will be able to deal (given no loss of your own DPS) until they are all dead.
As you can see, this formula is complex, and you have to know a lot about your target, and have time to determine which target to focus on. Since you normally won't have that kind of time, use the rule of thumb and focus fire on their lowest HP person.
- Sapper Woody
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Playing a Tabletop game with a 2 year old
For those of you who don't know what a tabletop game is, it is using miniature "toys" to depict warriors, soldiers, etc, and using a roll of the dice to determine accuracy, damage dealt, etc. This particular tabletop game has a fantasy medieval theme. I decided to try and play with my 2 year old. This is the outcome:
Scenario: Our band of adventurers (consisting of a Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Cleric) happened upon a group of 4 skeletons, 2 goblin archers, and a minotaur.
Round 1: Friendly: Fighter advances, kills skeleton1. Rogue misses skeleton2. Wizard kills Skeleton2 with a fireball. Cleric misses skeleton3.
Enemy: Skeleton3 critically hits cleric, knocking him unconscious. Skeleton4 misses rogue. Archer1 hits Rogue for minor damage. Minotaur kills Cleric.
"Wait! He's not dead, Daddy!"
"But he got killed by the minotaur."
"No, I save him"
Adjustment to round 1 Enemy: Minotaur misses Cleric.
Round 2: Friendly: Fighter critically hits minotaur, killing him.
"He's back alive!"
"No, baby girl, we killed him. He's a bad guy."
"I want to be horsey."
Adjustment to Round 2 Friendly: Suddenly, 3 knights Templar appear on horses, and trample two skeletons and an archer.
"I want to fight the dragon, Daddy."
"He's too big for this map, Baby."
"I be him, ok?"
Adjustment to Round 2 Friendly, take 2: Icingdeath the white dragon appears and knocks everyone sprawling, some off the edge of the world. He then flies away to his upstairs bedroom and hides under a bed where I have to retrieve him before he gets broken. To do so I must trade a fluffy purple dog for him.
Conclusion: Game was a tie between armies after 2 rounds.
- Sapper Woody
Scenario: Our band of adventurers (consisting of a Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Cleric) happened upon a group of 4 skeletons, 2 goblin archers, and a minotaur.
Round 1: Friendly: Fighter advances, kills skeleton1. Rogue misses skeleton2. Wizard kills Skeleton2 with a fireball. Cleric misses skeleton3.
Enemy: Skeleton3 critically hits cleric, knocking him unconscious. Skeleton4 misses rogue. Archer1 hits Rogue for minor damage. Minotaur kills Cleric.
"Wait! He's not dead, Daddy!"
"But he got killed by the minotaur."
"No, I save him"
Adjustment to round 1 Enemy: Minotaur misses Cleric.
Round 2: Friendly: Fighter critically hits minotaur, killing him.
"He's back alive!"
"No, baby girl, we killed him. He's a bad guy."
"I want to be horsey."
Adjustment to Round 2 Friendly: Suddenly, 3 knights Templar appear on horses, and trample two skeletons and an archer.
"I want to fight the dragon, Daddy."
"He's too big for this map, Baby."
"I be him, ok?"
Adjustment to Round 2 Friendly, take 2: Icingdeath the white dragon appears and knocks everyone sprawling, some off the edge of the world. He then flies away to his upstairs bedroom and hides under a bed where I have to retrieve him before he gets broken. To do so I must trade a fluffy purple dog for him.
Conclusion: Game was a tie between armies after 2 rounds.
- Sapper Woody
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Breaking Games: Fable 2 Infinite Experience
Unlike the infinite money exploit in the Fables, this exploit for Fable 2 will COMPLETELY break the game for you. It makes it so easy that it is no longer fun. If you want to play the game and experience it fully, do not read any further.
However, here it goes.
Playing through the storyline of Fable 2, you will come to a bridge that you have no choice but to jump off of. After going through a cave, you will come to a town. The first building on the right (where you can become a woodchopper) will give you a skill bonus if you sleep in the bed.
The game also allows you to sell back bought powers at a percentage of the buying price. However, if you try to sell back the skill bonus you got from sleeping, you get the experience refund but it does not take away the bonus. This means that you can sell it back infinitely. I am sure that you can do the math. Infinite sellbacks = infinite experience. Infinite experience = max on all abilities. Enjoy being a demigod.
- Sapper Woody
However, here it goes.
Playing through the storyline of Fable 2, you will come to a bridge that you have no choice but to jump off of. After going through a cave, you will come to a town. The first building on the right (where you can become a woodchopper) will give you a skill bonus if you sleep in the bed.
The game also allows you to sell back bought powers at a percentage of the buying price. However, if you try to sell back the skill bonus you got from sleeping, you get the experience refund but it does not take away the bonus. This means that you can sell it back infinitely. I am sure that you can do the math. Infinite sellbacks = infinite experience. Infinite experience = max on all abilities. Enjoy being a demigod.
- Sapper Woody
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Food: Western Beans
As the first installment of my "Foods" section, I just had to tell people of the magic of a delectable dish called "Western Beans".
Imagine you're a cowboy out in the old west. You're on a cattle trail, been sleeping outside for days. You're looking for a nice tasting, simple dish to eat. Enter western beans. Basically a type of chili, western beans is made in a pan, and most often eaten with cornbread. Simple to make, western beans only takes a small amount of time to make as well. Credit for this dish goes to my wife.
Here is the recipe for western beans:
2 large cans of baked beans
1 pound of hamburger
2/3 cup of brown sugar (increase or decrease to taste)
Simply brown the hamburger in a skillet, add the beans and brown sugar, and there you have it! An easy to make, great tasting dish to impress your friends or take to a cowboy themed party.
- Sapper Woody
Imagine you're a cowboy out in the old west. You're on a cattle trail, been sleeping outside for days. You're looking for a nice tasting, simple dish to eat. Enter western beans. Basically a type of chili, western beans is made in a pan, and most often eaten with cornbread. Simple to make, western beans only takes a small amount of time to make as well. Credit for this dish goes to my wife.
Here is the recipe for western beans:
2 large cans of baked beans
1 pound of hamburger
2/3 cup of brown sugar (increase or decrease to taste)
Simply brown the hamburger in a skillet, add the beans and brown sugar, and there you have it! An easy to make, great tasting dish to impress your friends or take to a cowboy themed party.
- Sapper Woody
Breaking Games: Fable Economy
As much fun as I have playing all three Fable games, I can't help myself. I have to have more money. Fortunately, all three feature easily broken economy systems. The first is the most obvious, with the second requiring some underhandedness, and the third title actually requiring a bit of work. But, here they go:
Fable: The original Fable uses a unique pricing system which lowers prices at a merchant when he has an overabundance of items, and raises them when he has a lack of items. This was put in place in order to allow the player to be a sort of merchant; buying items when they are low, and selling them when they are high. But what if the player creates the supply and demand?
To perform this, simply play until you get to the first town. That very first vendor will allow you to do everything you need to get rich quick. First, simply buy everything he has. Make sure you use the button that allows you to buy everything at once. This allows you to purchase his entire stock at the same price without raising the price each time you buy something. Now that you have bought his entire stock, he has a deficiency. He will offer you a higher price to buy back his stock than what you bought it for. Just make sure to sell it all at once.
Once you have made enough money to clean him out, buy everything he has, and go to the nearby inn and rest for three days. Now, sell everything to him, so he has double his stock, driving his prices to the basement. Buy it all back at low prices, and sell it all back. Rinse and Repeat.
Fable 2: Fable 2 allows you to break their economy with less work and time, but you have to be connected to XBOX live. Since Fable 2 pays your character his rents even when he is off the game, all you have to do is tell the system that you've been off thegame for years.
First, rent as much property as you can. Second, get out of the game and set your XBOX clock back a few years. Log into the game. Log out, and set your clock forward several years. When you log back into the game, you will be paid al those years' worth of rent, making a fortune instantly.
Fable 3: Fable 3 actually requires you to use the old "set it and forget it" trick. All you have to do is buy as much property as you can, and leave your XBOX on overnight. Next day you'll have amassed quite a sum. Use that to buy even more property and you'll be able to make millions in a single night. Unfortunately, Fable 3 has a degrading system, where your houses have to be repaired every so often, so you'll have a hefty repair bill every morning. But your shops will not.
- Sapper Woody
Fable: The original Fable uses a unique pricing system which lowers prices at a merchant when he has an overabundance of items, and raises them when he has a lack of items. This was put in place in order to allow the player to be a sort of merchant; buying items when they are low, and selling them when they are high. But what if the player creates the supply and demand?
To perform this, simply play until you get to the first town. That very first vendor will allow you to do everything you need to get rich quick. First, simply buy everything he has. Make sure you use the button that allows you to buy everything at once. This allows you to purchase his entire stock at the same price without raising the price each time you buy something. Now that you have bought his entire stock, he has a deficiency. He will offer you a higher price to buy back his stock than what you bought it for. Just make sure to sell it all at once.
Once you have made enough money to clean him out, buy everything he has, and go to the nearby inn and rest for three days. Now, sell everything to him, so he has double his stock, driving his prices to the basement. Buy it all back at low prices, and sell it all back. Rinse and Repeat.
Fable 2: Fable 2 allows you to break their economy with less work and time, but you have to be connected to XBOX live. Since Fable 2 pays your character his rents even when he is off the game, all you have to do is tell the system that you've been off thegame for years.
First, rent as much property as you can. Second, get out of the game and set your XBOX clock back a few years. Log into the game. Log out, and set your clock forward several years. When you log back into the game, you will be paid al those years' worth of rent, making a fortune instantly.
Fable 3: Fable 3 actually requires you to use the old "set it and forget it" trick. All you have to do is buy as much property as you can, and leave your XBOX on overnight. Next day you'll have amassed quite a sum. Use that to buy even more property and you'll be able to make millions in a single night. Unfortunately, Fable 3 has a degrading system, where your houses have to be repaired every so often, so you'll have a hefty repair bill every morning. But your shops will not.
- Sapper Woody
"Breaking" Games Defined
Me and a friend were playing Neverwinter Nights 2 together. We had gotten pretty far in the original campaign, when we had this epiphany: we were playing a role playing game, but our character builds were far from roleplaying. We had done what zeroand09 calls "breaking the game". We had looked at all the rules and had decided how to best optimize our characters. Instead of playing a Wizard, I was playing a Wizard/Fighter combo that allowed me to cast any arcane spell without any armor penalties. For those untrained out there: this allowed me to be super overpowered. I could cast all my wizard spells, and still wear the best armor and shields.
Although sometimes referred to as "breaking the game", I utilize a method that I have perfected over the years. I call it "optimizing the game". Sometimes, yes, my characters get so powerful that I am beyond what the game was intended for and it ceases to be fun. But, most of the time it allows me to enjoy extremely hard content at a moderate difficulty.
As part of this blog, I will frequently have a segment called "Breaking Games" where I will attempt to explain loopholes and workarounds that I find.
WARNING: This will change your gameplay forever. Once you know how to "break" a game, it takes EXTREME willpower not to do it every playthrough.
Although sometimes referred to as "breaking the game", I utilize a method that I have perfected over the years. I call it "optimizing the game". Sometimes, yes, my characters get so powerful that I am beyond what the game was intended for and it ceases to be fun. But, most of the time it allows me to enjoy extremely hard content at a moderate difficulty.
As part of this blog, I will frequently have a segment called "Breaking Games" where I will attempt to explain loopholes and workarounds that I find.
WARNING: This will change your gameplay forever. Once you know how to "break" a game, it takes EXTREME willpower not to do it every playthrough.
A Bit About Me
Hello,
I am Sapper Woody. You can catch me on XBOX Live under the same handle. This blog was started under the inspiration of a friend's blog found here. (Disclaimer: Following the link will subject you to stronger language than is found here.) Unlike my friend's blog, which is primarily devoted to video games and delicious cheeseburgers, mine will be of a broader interest. Video games will be at the forefront, since I am a gamer at heart, and am currently working on a mod for UT3, possibly building a stand alone product.
Hope to hear from you all!
Sapper Woody
I am Sapper Woody. You can catch me on XBOX Live under the same handle. This blog was started under the inspiration of a friend's blog found here. (Disclaimer: Following the link will subject you to stronger language than is found here.) Unlike my friend's blog, which is primarily devoted to video games and delicious cheeseburgers, mine will be of a broader interest. Video games will be at the forefront, since I am a gamer at heart, and am currently working on a mod for UT3, possibly building a stand alone product.
Hope to hear from you all!
Sapper Woody
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