I’m 40, right?

 

First, this.

My anticipation for this game has gone beyond the stratosphere.  I can’t remember the last time I was SO engaged in a story, except for reading LOTR back in college.

Thinking about Mass Effect puts a smile on my face and makes me all giddy.  The lore, the universe and its races, planets, technology.  Everything.  I’ve read the comics, read the books (save Deception) and own a few pieces of clothing from the Bioware store.

Nearing March 6 and Mass Effect is all I can talk about.  I’ve made a great group of friends online in the multiplayer demo, which is (I think) a big part of my excitement.  Most of these new friends are from femshep.com, and of the female variety.  I’ve never had so much fun playing a game online.  No condescension, no posturing.  Just honest fun.  Many are new to MP, which makes for a relaxed atmosphere of just trying things out together.

They are courteous, polite and love to share tips and stories about the game.  Ladies I have to say it’s a blast playing with you and I look forward to it every evening (and this is just with the demo!)

I’ve found a great group of people who share a love of this universe (and many other titles I also love).

 

Happy happy!!

I've been following Mass Effect as an IP since the first screens started appearing on the internet.  I was amazed at the virtual actors and the settings.

From Mass Effect 1, I've been playing a female Shepard.  Tweaked just the way I wanted.

Infiltrator.
Earth-born, forced to survive the slums and gangs.
Sole survivor on Akuze.

Short hair, light chip on her shoulder.

I played this character five or six times on ME1, then imported her in ME2, where she beat the Collectors and destroyed their base (no base for YOU, Illusive Man).

She's ready for ME3.  Ready to face the music concerning her actions in Arrival.

Bioware now finally is using femshep in their advertising.

Here is their canon femshep:

Good to see you in the spotlight, femshep!

How to be classy, in three easy steps

 

1. Open tab here.
2. Open another tab here.
3. Open another tab here.

 

*sips coffee*

Quite.

 

 

 

 

 

Tag! You’re it!

 

Tag, you’re it! Here are the rules: Each tagged person must post ten things about themselves. You have to choose and tag ten people. Go to their blogs and tell them you tagged them. No tag backs.

1) I don’t have any tattoos.  I’d love one, but I can’t decide what I’d want to keep forever.
2) TRON (original 1982) defined my love of computers and my career with them.
3) My alter-ego online is a female avatar named Roenik.
4) My favourite colour is sky blue.
5) I love video games and video game culture.
6) I’ve mapped out my family tree up to 1588.
7) I still don’t own a cell phone.
8) I have mild social anxiety, yet I teach adults for a living, hah!
9) For some unknown reason, libraries and bookstores make me gassy.
10) I’ve never been drunk in my life.  Ever.  First of all I don’t drink and can’t stand beer.

Movember support!

 

Showing my support in Second Life!

My workplace is participating too, check them out

10 years

November 15, 2001.
Walking out of the Compucentre store at St-Laurent shopping mall, a shiny day one XBOX under my arm, the other holding a bag with extra controllers, with copies of HALO and Fuzion Frenzy.  $800 less in my account.  Whew.

After hooking it up and booting it we got right into the games.  First few minutes of Halo actually had me going “meh” another FPS.  It was only until the Silent Cartographer that the depth of the game materialized to me.

My daughter and I played Fuzion Frenzy together.  A lot.  She loved it, and I loved the time we spent together with it.
My stack of Official XBOX Magazine kept getting higher every month, with demos and videos showing off the power of this box.
A year later I’m beta testing XBOX Live.  I had played online before over modems (Ultima Online, for one) but never over broadband and with voice.  Playing MotoGP with 5 or so other people and hearing them all scream and laugh as we all faceplant at the first turn was pure gold.  I was sold.
My cousins and I starting meeting online regularly for sessions of Hockey or Halo 2.  One of them was in posted in Belgium and we could catch up every weekend with voice while playing.  Good times.
Ten years later I’m now beta testing the 360’s upcoming dashboard update.  It will be way more social, way more interactive.  I look forward to what the next ten years will bring.

Thanks to the XBOX team for sticking with it, when the world and the odds were against you early on.  It’s a great service.  I use it every day.

With time…

There are things you only realize with time, as experience, age, change of pace and a different point of view settle in your life.

Presently at 40, I am (finally) learning about myself again.  At a younger age, my energies were often spent trying to "fit in”, even though most of my free time was spent in a basement with a Commodore 64 until university/college.  This desire to fit in, these energies spent worrying about whether or not I will “make it” are now spent enjoying the things I now realize I enjoy and don’t have to apologize for it.

I enjoy the music I enjoy, I like the things I like.  That’s who I am.  I don’t need to pretend to like something to fit in or to get someone’s attention.  Some figure this out early on, some later.  I’m slow, so here I am.  There’s a feeling of “settling in your comfortable shoes” and relaxing while living.

Has the shadow finally passed?

I’m looking forward to my 40s.

-Roe