The Bull Pen #18

After a two week hiatus from playing Halo 2, I jumped back into the swing of things last Friday during clan night in order to once again unleash another round of Battle Royale on the OMM. Over the course of the evening and the next evening, it was clear that time off does not help you one bit; the layoff even made me a bit more hostile than I normally am since I came back looking for an enjoyable evening (which for me usually involves being a solid team player and contributor with a positive KpD ratio) and had a couple of experiences that had me screaming obscenities into the headset. The reason for my anger was quite simple: I absolutely hate any type of vehicle focused game (i.e. Pimp My Hog) that either starts with sniper rifles or has them available on the map. The whole concept of the sniper rifle in such a match is absurd as it allows players to stay out of the action and still garner kills. In addition, it gives a team an additional way to dominate when having vehicle control should be quite enough. I do not mind being picked off trying to get into an empty vehicle by a Warthog that pops over a ridge (although that can be frustrating) but to get shot halfway across the map by a sniper rifle in a vehicle themed game is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I am putting my clan mates on notice from here on out; if you lead a party into a vehicle themed game (basically a Pimp My Hog or variant as opposed to an objective game such as CTF) and have sniper rifles available, then you can expect your teams to get uneven in a hurry.

By the way, lag has become a constant enemy as of late and is starting to irritate me as well. Is it too much to ask that a 16 person room be able to play a match with mostly good connections? I hate to see big parties broken up because of lag because it tends to fracture a group.

It has been a long time to wait but finally Deadwood has started its 3rd season on HBO. The show is a step above most normal television dramas as it requires you to do some heavy thinking to understand all the various plots and dialogues that occur over the course of a single episode. It has a unique style that is very captivating and rewards the viewer for paying attention. In fact, the first two episodes of the season had some very funny lines, especially if you have watched the previous two seasons. The salty language has been toned down a tad, or at least it seems that way, but that does not diminish from the show’s quality. If you have not watched Deadwood before, I would advise you to watch the season 1 DVD, four episodes at a time should be enough, as you will be hooked long before episode 4 rolls around. If you want to know why I am not on Halo 2 on Sundays at 9, you now have your answer.

Custom Game of the Week: Royale with Cheese is the team version of my OMM weekly event known as Battle Royale. The Royale itself is based off an infamous Japanese novel and movie about 9th grade students being stuck on an island and forced to kill one another until only one remains. Well, I have translated that into a weekly game during clan night that has gone rather well during its current 6 weeks of action. Royale with Cheese starts off by giving the players only one life to live and then they only get a single random weapon. There are no weapons on the map and motion sensor is turned off. Shields are turned on but vehicles are turned off. It is up to you and your teammates to work together with the weapons you start with in order to avoid being killed. The game is played as a best of 7 match with the first to win 4 rounds declared the winner. The round time limit is 3 minutes although it rarely goes that long as teams can be annihilated in a hurry depending on the starting weapons. Royale with Cheese is actually a lot of fun if the team balance is right and the weapons have a good mix to them. Give it a try with your next clan night and you are sure to have a good time (unless of course your clan members hate one life and random weapon games). I imagine the OMM is looking forward to another game of Royale with Cheese.

PLEASE READ THE BULL PEN #17 AS IT IS DEPRESSING TO SEE 0 COMMENTS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE ARE BLOGS OUT THERE THAT GET TONS OF COMMENTS.