Spacewocket
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Year: 2022

Dragonflight Hype

By Sardoken on
Image via @KatieDev on Twitter

The new expansion releases in less than 2 weeks, so there’s no time to waste.

The Search For A New Main WoW Character

For a few months, we’ve been using all our gaming time trying to decide which class could replace our Hunter as main characters. Here’s a little break down of our research:

Elemental Shaman: You like casting Chain Lightning? Because you have to cast it 12263737 times/hour which makes it very dull.

Balance Druid: The spec we’ve tried the most. It could have been nice, wouldn’t it be for eclipse… We both get very nervous after a few hours keeping track of the short duration dots, full moon/mushrooms, astral energy and being in the right eclipse. I thought that it would all become muscle memory. It doesn’t.

Shadow Priest: In dungeons, in raids or in the open world, the game has become an AOE fest. So, having to use Mind Sear as main AOE ability easily becomes easily frustrating. Too bad, we really enjoyed this one.

Destruction Warlock: The lack of mobility, in and out of combat is very frustrating. Burning Rush isn’t enough, if you even talent in it.

All those hours spent trying other classes were kind of hardhat they made us realise how much we enjoy our BM hunters. I guess that using the same rotation (give our take a few minor changes) for a decade becomes a bit old at times, but it remains the most fun for almost every aspect of the game. So, we’ll keep maining our hunters in Dragonflight, without any doubts in our heads.

WoW’s 18th Anniversary

Happy Birthday to the best game ever created! I’ve been playing it for more than 16 years and I can’t imagine a world without it anymore. Sharing the adventure with Soforah is also one of the best thing ever.

Unfortunately, the celebratory event isn’t too fun. It could have been if these damn Dragons would chain stun us until oblivion. So, event complete, let’s move on.

Dragonflight’s Pre-Launch

The first phase was filled with classes and specs experiments (hundred of hours). The new talent trees are great but we’ll only get to experience the real thing when we’ll be 70 and geared.

The second phase got us really hyped for Dragonflight. We’ve created two Drachtyr (even though we don’t plan on playing it) and we went through their starting zone. It gave us a taste of the Dragon Isles which really look awesome! The pre-launch event is also pretty great, we especially enjoy the revisited version of Uldaman and the huge chaos surrounding hundreds of players simultaneously farming the primal invasions. Is it me or it feels less laggy than Shadowland’s pre-launch event?

Halloween Ends

By Sardoken on

Four years after the events of last year’s Halloween Kills, Laurie is living with her granddaughter Allyson and is finishing writing her memoir. Michael Myers hasn’t been seen since. Laurie, after allowing the specter of Michael to determine and drive her reality for decades, has decided to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life. But when a young man, Corey Cunningham, is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can’t control, once and for all. (source: IMDB)

Once more, we don’t agree with the critics. I had read so many bad things about this movie that I was almost afraid to watch it. While it’s not perfect, it was a nice entry in the franchise and, most importantly, we had a great time watching it.

What we didn’t like: Definitely Jamie Lee Curtis. I know that Laurie vs Jason is pretty much the core of this new trilogy, so she had to be in its final episode, but it’s time that both the actress and the character take a break from the franchise, forever! She’s boring, heavy and kind of disruptive of a nice plot.

What we liked: The romance between Allyson and Corey. Both characters are great and their story is amazing. It was so good that it could have been a movie on its own.

In the end, the mix of the “Laurie & Jason” story with the “Allyson & Corey” romance gave a nice rhythm to the movie. It’s definitely not as good as the original, but it’s much better than Halloween kills. I’m glad that this trilogy could receive a proper ending.

It’s Fucking Halloween!

By Sardoken on

Being horror fans, Halloween has always been a special day for us. We decorate our table, we eat Soforah’s infamous pumpkin pastas and we watch horror movies.

This year, we’ll spend our afternoon hunting Baa’l, World of Warcraft’s Secret Demonic Goat. Then, we’ll watch Halloween Ends (which is very scary, not because of the horror, but because of the extremely bad reviews), followed by the new Hellraiser.

When you celebrate Halloween in a country like Belgium, where barely anyone decorates his house and no trick or treating is going on in the streets, you can’t help but feel lonely. That’s why I’ll be playing Caroline Kornstar’s Lonely Halloween until our ears bleed, because something has to bleed on Halloween, right?!

Sinister (2012)

By Sardoken on

A controversial true crime writer finds a box of super 8 home movies in his new home, revealing that the murder case he is currently researching could be the work of an unknown serial killer whose legacy dates back to the 1960s. (Source: IMDB)

There’s almost no blood and no gore in Sinister. In fact, the movie could have been rated PG13, wasn’t it for the nature of its content, which is often being deemed the scariest movie ever made. As a matter of fact, Forbes Magazine conducted a study where the heart rate of the viewers were monitored while they watched a number of horror films. Out of 35 films, this movie won, having the highest average heart rate at 86, spiking at 131BPM.

Of course, whether a movie is scary or not is entirely subjective. Soforah and I didn’t have many jump scares. However, we found the ambiance disturbing, almost as if you’re actually watching a snuff movie. The fact that a real super 8 camera was used to shoot the kill clips really helps creating a creepy atmosphere. The soundtrack is also a perfect fit, I especially enjoy the song “Gyroscope” by Scottish electric band Boards of Canada.

Trivia

The family that was hanged on a tree were all played by stuntmen, however when the scene was first done the stunt coordinator botched the preparations for the scene resulting in the actors being legitimately hanged and choked. Fortunately they survived, and the coordinator was fired soon after. (IMDB)

Do you wanna know how to easily identify which snakes are non-venomous? Do the rhyme, “Red on yellow, dangerous fellow. Red on black, friend of Jack.” The snake that is seen in the movie is a non-venomous King snake.

Choosing a Chair is Hell

By Sardoken on
Left: Secret Lab Titan Evo 2022 Right: DXRacer Formula F08

After 6 years, the time had finally come to replace our old DXRacer gaming chairs. The only problem was that the fake leather had started to crack. Other than that, the chair was as comfortable as it was on day one.

After months watching videos and reading forums, it became clear that there wouldn’t be an easy solution to the question “which gaming chair is the best for us”.

To some, the best gaming chair isn’t a gaming chair but an office chair like the Herman Miller Aeron or the Steelcase Leap v2. Both chairs cost more than 1000,00€

To others, the Secret Lab Titan Evo 2022 is the ultimate gaming chair and its only alternative is the DXRacer Formula. Both cost less than 600,00€.

One thing that is certain, Secret Lab’s marketing is amazing, they’re everywhere! Their trick is simple: post a review and a picture of your chair anywhere on social networks and we’ll give you a warranty extension. As a result, you’re literally hammered by the brand.

We don’t really have a budget limit when it comes to our battle stations but I guess that we’re still not used to go over the 1K price tag for a chair. Psychologically, it remains a barrier.

We both suffer of dust allergy and a fabric seat easily becomes itchy, while leather and fake leather chairs can easily be wiped with a Swiffer.

As a result, we ordered two chairs from Secret Lab, a small for Soforah and a regular for me. Let me tell you that the quality is impeccable. The chair is easy to assemble and feels very solid with an attention to every detail.

The only problem is that no matter how we tune it, that chair is the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever had to sit on! It’s so solid, it feels like on a wood plank. Not only did it hurt our backs but our bottoms as well! We gave it 2 weeks to see if it would break in but nothing changed, that chair is a real piece of shit! (Aah, the power of profanity…)

So we ended up purchasing two DXRacer Formula. We know that chair, we’ve already used one and it lasted 6 years, for 300,00€. Ok, the quality isn’t the same, the chair feels less sturdy than the Secret Lab, but it feels good on our backs and on our butts!

Why didn’t we buy an Herman Miller instead? You have to know that Herman Miller delivers the chair and picks it back up if you change your mind during the first 30 days. The chair is delivered constructed and with a 12 years warranty. But I guess that we didn’t want to do any more tests this year. We had just spent nearly a month with 4 gaming chairs in our apartment, changing every single day and talking about it for hours. At some point, we made a decision and we’ll stick to it until next year. All we want for now is to empty up our heads of those questions and sit to comfortably for the new expansion of World of Warcraft.

So, are we in Gaming chair heaven? No. Is the DXRacer more comfortable than the Secret Lab? Oh hell yes! I can’t actually believe that the Titan receives so many good reviews while it’s the most atrocious chair I’ve ever tried in my entire life. Will we order an Herman Miller? There is no doubt about that, but it’ll have to wait 2023.

Pancakes & Try Outs

By Sardoken on

It’s Sunday and Soforah is baking pancakes. That sentence alone makes me happy because pancakes are awesome. Pancakes are life!

This afternoon, we’ll be doing a few tests.

As we’re getting closer to Dragonflight, we’re testing a few classes to replace our long time hunter mains. This afternoon, we’ll be giving another chance to the Druid since the class seems to be in a great shape for the new expansion. Also, we’ve always been Druid fans.

Don’t ask me how it happened, but we actually have two sets of new gaming chairs at home and we have to decide which one we prefer. On one hand, we have the Secret Lab Titan Evo 2022, which is very solid and shows a great quality in its materials but feels very hard on our backs and buts. On the other hand, we have the DXracer Formula F08, which is more comfortable but feels a bit wonky and the armrests aren’t great at all.

Voilà, the pancakes are ready. I’m on my way to food heaven…

Edit 1: The pancakes were delicious!

Edit 2: We’re not sure that we could main Druid an entire expansion. In its present state, certainly not, but everything is about to change on Wednesday with the new talent system. We maybe won’t have to cast Starfire 400 times/hour, which is really mind nuking. So, at the moment, our hunters may very well stay our main characters for Dragonflight.

Edit 3: The Secret Lab chair is harder but the armrests are much better placed and feel softer on our elbows. Also, we’re getting used to the harder backrest. However, both chairs have pros and cons, we need more time to decide.

The Haunted in Connecticut

By Sardoken on

When the Campbell family moves to Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner’s clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. (source: IMDB)

The movie is really well made, the writing is powerful and the acting is excellent. So why only 3 stars? All the ingredients are there to make me love it, yet I just manage to like it.

Maybe haunted mansion stories didn’t manage to scare me anymore? But it’s not the case, since The Enfield Poltergeist (The Conjuring 2) is one of my favourite horror movies. However, by comparing these two movies that I finally found out what’s wrong with The Haunting in Connecticut: it doesn’t manage to build a feeling of terror, while The Conjuring 2 does it perfectly.

When an horror movie is supposed to be creepy, it has to create a deep sense of threat, the malevolent entity has to inspire a sense of terror. The Haunting in Connecticut, while dark doesn’t do any of that. I guess that the story of the sick kid and the unnecessary drunk father overshadows the occult part of the movie.

Anyway, it’s not a bad horror movie but, with such a potential, it’s sad that it doesn’t manage to hit its mark.

By the way, Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are known for involvement in The Enfield Poltergeist case, were also investigators for this case.

From A to Zereth

By Soforah on

After the fun we had completing the “Breaking the Chains” meta achievement for Korthia, Sardoken and I started working on the one for Zereth Mortis, “From A to Zereth”.

Until now, we’ve downed all the elusive rares, found all the remaining treasures,… the only thing left on the list is to reach exalted with The Enlightened. Since this is fairly easy by just doing world quests and killing rares, it’ll happen soon. 

Compared to other meta achievements (think BfA) the Shadowlands ones are pretty easy and fun. The only part that I thought would be hard to get was “Dune Dominance”, even that was completed in the blink of an eye. The screenshot below portrays perfectly what I love in WoW, the huge amount of people for one rare. What a lightshow! I hope this’ll never change!

Right now, I’m searching for all the schematics for protoform synthesis to craft all Zereth Mortis’ pets and mounts. Before Dragonflight comes out, I want to have completed all that Shadowlands has to offer. We need a lot of special materials to craft protoform creatures, and even these are fun to farm. The LFG tool always has farm groups up to get Genesis Motes, and they drop fairly easy.  I think we’ll still be spending quite some time in this zone, if not for the crafting, there are also other fun achievements to complete like “Apocopocolypse Now”.

Now, if the summer heat would calm down again, that would be great. I have other places to be than in my living room. Even though, having more time to work on the blog is a great thing.

We’ll be there!

By Sardoken on

That’s right, we’ve done it! We’ve purchased Dragonflight.

At first, we were really not hyped, the announcement was underwhelming (those scripted discussions around a table, yuk!), the Drachtyr looked (and still do) ugly and we didn’t catch anything exciting.

During the last months, we’ve learned more about the new zones, dragon flying, the extra mat stash, the new UI and the return of the Kalu’aks. Now, the hype is real.

Also, don’t think that we could ever skip a World of Warcraft expansion, especially if it’s set to be released by the end of the year. Christmas trees and new stories really make the best time of the year.

See you in the Dragon Isles!

It Follows

By Sardoken on

What would you do if you were followed by an entity that slowly walks toward you and kills you when it reaches you, no matter where you go? It cannot be stopped nor killed. The only way to get rid of it is to pass it on to someone by having sex with him/her, like a twisted game of “tag”.

This movie was one of our favorite horror movies of the last decade, and I can’t believe that we never wrote anything about it… The plot is amazing and the casting is excellent. It has a great vibe and a sense of dread that is felt almost immediately.

The characters are not the usual horror idiot that makes you think “why didn’t they do this or that…”. They address the danger as real people would, they’re not magically filled with some convenient insight and they’re not face-palmingly idiotic, either.

It was already a rerun, and we’ll probably watch it again, some day.