This Is What Happens When I Get Bored

Today, I decided I wasn't going to record anything.

Then I got bored and started playing Minecraft.

I finally got started on this video that I'd been putting off for almost a week, and I think, apart from the audio it went pretty well.

This is how it turned out

Here's the Video!

Short post today.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the video!

Oli

Hello Again! (2016 Update)

So it's been over a year since the last time I wrote for this blog. Quite a bit has happened in that time, but I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to shamelessly promote my own endeavours!

I have recently started my own YouTube channel. I'll be honest, it could use some work but I'd like to think I'll get better.

For those of you who know me, it will come as no surprise that the main content on the channel will be games. Mostly Minecraft and Borderlands 2 for the moment, but with more to come in the future.

So if you are reading this, and you're curious, maybe you'd like to see my channel?

LazyOli's YouTube Channel

Or, here's a link to my recent Gunzerker vs. Hyperious video.

My Most Recent Video!

I hope you enjoy watching the videos, because although my voice may not reflect it, I really enjoyed making them (especially the Borderlands 2 playthrough). Also if you have any feedback or tips about the videos I could use some. But you know... Be nice about it.

Thanks

Oli

Also, if you do watch the videos, and you think you know someone who'd be interested, please share my channel with them.

Catching Up

It's been nearly a year since I last wrote anything for this blog. A lot has happened both nerdy and not. As usual I'm going to focus on some of the nerdy.

So, Video Game High School Season 3 has been released by the Rocketjump channel, if you haven't heard about it the series is based upon the idea that video games replaced sports and there are schools devoted to teaching young people about the different genres of gaming.

I have to be honest, it's not just the show that's great with its character progression, comedy and it's dramatic themes. The idea of video games being taught in schools and millions of people around the world watching competitive games instead of sport is very interesting.

I definitely recommend the show for all these reasons and more. Go watch if you don't believe me.

I'll wait here...

So... Sticking with the world of Video Games, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was released a couple of weeks ago, and having completed the main missions it is definitely worth playing. As always the game is great fun to play, the dialogue between characters is brilliant.


Well... For now that's all I can think to write.

Comment, Share, Tell your friends

No Power in The 'Verse Can Stop Me

If you couldn't tell from the title/quote, I'm writing about Firefly, the Sci-Fi series starring Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds of the Firefly-class ship Serenity.

This brilliant Space-age Cowboy series has been recommended by hundreds, if not thousands of Nerds worldwide. They were not wrong. With that in mind, I thought that I should be yet another Nerd to write a short review/ recommendation to our readers. (But let's see exactly how "short" it will actually be...)

Now, I won't lie, I only really heard about this show last year, from another show you may have heard of, The Big Bang Theory.

For those of you who haven't yet watched it yet, the general story is that, in about 500 years, Earth's resources have been used up. Humans (having developed space travel and terraforming technology by this time) search for Moons, and Planets to settle on, and in the years to come, war breaks out between the Alliance of the Central Planets, and the Independent outer planets. Spoiler Alert! The Independents lost... (It's explained in the pilot, don't worry).

After suffering a huge defeat in Serenity Valley, Mal is forced to make a decision, either work for the Alliance, or find a ship and a crew, and start a life of crime. It's a great show, I highly recommend you try watching the first episode- and then the rest of the series.

And after that, Serenity...

Anyway, the reason I bring this up now, is because there is a new boardgame (carrying on from the theme of the last post) based on the universe of Firefly/ Serenity.

You start the game with a Firefly-class transport ship, which can be upgraded. To win the game you must pick up and transport different types of cargo. There are also other jobs to attempt which can be legal (or not) and crew to hire, including many of the characters from the show.

Looks like it will be a great game for Firefly fans- hopefully even for people who have never watched an episode. I am definitely looking forward to the release date in the UK.

Giving Games A Chance

So, it has been... wow... 6 months since I last wrote anything for this blog. To be honest I thought it was a hell of a lot longer than that.

A lot has happened in the last 6 months, fairly recently my friends and I started trying out boardgames, not many but enough to say we have. There are literally hundreds of choices which we could have started with and Cam definitely did not disappoint. Apart from one of our number being unable to decipher the rules of some games for a time we did end up having a lot of fun.

Basically what I'm trying to say is, you don't always need video and computer games to have a good time. I highly recommend giving board games the chance they deserve. I think with a fair amount of years in spent in Dungeons and Dragons games I may have said something along these lines before in this blog, but I would like to say it again. Board games are fun.

And since it was Halloween a couple of days ago I would like to call attention to the recent (free) Xbox 360 Minecraft texture based on the fearsome theme.

My plans for this blog in the near future? Well, thanks for asking.

I want to write more and about a great many things. So, I'm going to try for a least once a week (I know I've probably said this before, but since I have 7 followers and probably even less readers, I think I'm OK if I miss one or two weeks). Saying that, I will try my best to write as much as I can.

Thanks for reading,
Till next time Nerds

Brand New Day

Having been a Nerd for a while, I'd like to think I know my way around YouTube. A few months ago a video caught my attention, featuring a thumbnail of Nathan Fillion. At this point, I was watching (and re-watching) Firefly, so naturally I had to see what it was. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is pretty much what it says in the title. It is a musical blog of a Super-villain called Dr. Horrible who tends to make rather big mistakes...

Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible is brilliant in this musical, as is the rest of the cast. Nathan Fillion suits the role of a Super-hero (albeit an arrogant, superficial hero... I'm not sure that was a compliment...) and adding his voice to NPH's just made this movie incredible.

The base story is that Dr. Horrible (aka Billy Buddy) is deeply in stalker-y love with Penny, played by Felicia Day, creator/ producer of one of my favourite YouTube channels, Geek and Sundry.

I won't go into detail, because I can't be bothered... But that's no reflection on the musical, so with that in mind... Watch it!


Geekiness and Booze

There is a website, which I have been reading for some time. It's been of great use to me.

It has great drinking games, brilliant themed drinks, and cool nerdy merch. If you're into anything nerdy (since you're reading this, I'm guessing you are) then you should visit The Drunken Moogle. You won't find any of these drinks in pubs or bars, but it's fun to experiment by yourself.

What your d6 can do for you

I was watching the Big Bang Theory today. Sheldon decided that for an extended period of time he would let all of his "minor" decisions be dictated by the roll of dice.

I was intrigued. So I researched the idea and found a book which was written in the 1970s called "The Dice Man" by George Cockcroft under the pseudonym Luke Rhinehart. It tells the story of a psychiatrist who decides to make life decisions on the roll of a dice (he takes it to extremes, but it does make for a good novel, and I doubt you'd want to read about some guy rolling dice to decide whether he should get a haircut or what movie he should watch that night).

The books tag line says "Few novels will change your life. This one will" apparently taking into account the very real possibility of jail-time, but yes, somehow it will be changing your life. (Of course, jail would only happen if you have illegal choices on your lists and follow your dice completely).

It's all about liberation, knowing that you could end up doing anything with anyone and committing to that idea. Part of me would really like to try this, but I know the way I roll dice. It would end badly, and quickly.

Some time after writing previous sentence say... after lunch

So I successfully used the dice for a decision. I wanted to mix up my lunch routine and choose something I wouldn't normally. It was a good idea, had fairly minimal consequences and I won't be arrested for choosing something I don't want.

Lunch was good. Fish and Chips. Thank you, my "trusty" d6. But I don't think I could trust my life to it just yet.


Just a short post today. I'll try and write again soon.
Oli

Obliviate

It has been a long time since I’ve written anything for the blog, and I know I risk annoying the many (seven) readers that we may or may not have, but I’ve been busy and I don’t think Cam is writing at the moment. But hey, we forgot (hmm, an intentional link to the title).

Anyway, since the last time I posted… not much has happened.

Except... I was invited to a Harry Potter themed birthday party, which, if it’s like the Rocky Horror party last year (of which there are definitely no embarrassing pictures of everyone involved) it will be brilliant. There is however, one downside. I have become what I always feared. A Harry Potter nerd… Because of course, I wasn’t before…

But if, like me, you too are a HP nerd, then I would have to recommend Pottermore.com. Don't know what that is? It doesn't matter, because until last week neither did I. It's a website where you have the opportunity to explore the books in much more detail, be sorted into a house, brew potions and even have wizard duels with other students. I'm in Ravenclaw... He says proudly...

So, for the party I have chosen to be Lupin, because I didn't know how hard it was to find a brown suit and travelling cloak. It's weird, but I'm having more trouble finding a suit than a cloak (thank you Halloween).

I was thinking since it's Valentines Day soon, I'd write about that, maybe a quick quote from Dumbledore, but maybe later when it's actually V-Day.

Anyway, since I have a habit of writing posts and forgetting to publish them, I'm adding part of another post into this one. 

When in Doubt, Always Follow Your Nose

I have just finished watching a brilliant YouTube video (three months ago now), featuring the creation of amazing Minecraft builders. I spent the entire time in shock and awe. At one point a builder stated that if the Mines of Moria were to scale (1:1) it would have taken about 5 hours to walk through, (four days Gandalf, really?) it's 1:2 so I imagine it would still take quite a while, if you don't get lost along the way... [insert evil laugh here]

They built Middle-Earth in Minecraft...

According to the people in the video, they built it by hand. And when I say they built it by hand, I mean everything was built by hand, even the landscapes. They do have a very large team though, so don't feel too bad about your building skills when you do go back to your own world.

If you are interested, here is the first video (there are two others). They don't show you everything, but what they do show you is amazing.

Hope you enjoyed this little compound post.

Farewell Nerds.
And a very early Happy Birthday my Harry Potter loving friend! (Names have been changed to protect the innocent)

Oli.

Closing Time

Or, alternatively, I could have gone with "The Final Countdown" for the title, but I think that's a bit overdone... And Closing Time is a good song too.

Anyway, with the "End of the World" approaching quickly, it's around about the time to start thinking about what our last days will consist of.

To pass the time till the zombies inevitably eat our brains, a release date has been announced for the 7th update for Minecraft 360. It's tomorrow!

And if that weren't enough, Borderlands 2 DLC information has been leaked. Apparently we can look forward to a campaign featuring Sir Hammerlock and his awe- inspiring moustache. Still no date for this, but we will be seeing this before the world ends at least.

So, it's up to you, will you be enjoying the new features of Minecraft, breeding animals to complete your farm and brewing potions, or will you be exploring new lands, searching for new weapons and driving a new vehicle under the tutelage of Hammerlock?


Of course, you could spend your time preparing for the apocalypse. But still...

Anyway, if you're reading this after 21st December, then congratulations on surviving the zombies.
Good luck Nerds!
Oli


Also, before I forget, you must watch the Yogscast live streams on Twitch.tv. They're always hilarious, and it's for charity, so give what you can. But it's not as if they need me to do any advertising.

Too Many Guns!

The most infuriating things have been happening with Borderlands 2 today, for my friend as well as myself.

For reasons unknown, my friends level 45 Assassin, whom he had spent a considerable amount of time with, farming guns, experience and just having fun, had been corrupted. It's Zer0s own fault. we warned him against taking those pills, we told him it was a gateway into murkier areas of life, but he just didn't listen, he went ahead and just like that, he was corrupt, and without even leaving a note with a simple "Goodbye, cruel w0rld!" he sadly died...

Almost the same thing happened to my newly created Mechromancer. The compatibility pack failed to load properly and killed her... It was a very sad time for all involved (just me mostly), but I'd only just brought her to life, and I didn't even have a chance to meet Death-trap!

Luckily for me, my Mechromancer rose from the dead! It involved deleting and re-downloading everything, but she lives. Not so lucky for my friend though, because his assassin is still no longer with us, no matter what my friend tries...



Another short post, but still...

Cya Nerds!
Oli

Timesplitters HD... Possibly

Time for a bit of news.

For those of you wondering where Timesplitters went, you may not have to wait too long.. Not for a new game, but for the re-release of Timesplitters HD onto XBLA, PSN, PC etc.

The CEO of Crytek said that if the petition picks up, then we'll all be one step closer to Timesplitters.

But this all depends on the kindness of Nerds. The petition is still relatively low in numbers, and could use a boost. There are other articles about this, but the one I found the news from is laserlemming.com.

Anyway, it's only a short post today, but I am writing something else at the moment, I just thought you should hear about this before it's too late. Don't forget to tell your friends about the petition, it's important.

Here's the link to the article:
http://www.laserlemming.com/2012/11/14/crytek-ceo-300k-signatures-more-timesplitters/


Oli

Because 7 8 9

So... I read in some news article today, I forget which... But it's been announced that Disney has bought the Star Wars franchise, or something to that effect.

They are planning to make Star Wars VII by 2015 and then VIII and IX in later years. Let's just digest that for a moment... Consider the implications... Doesn't look good, does it?




Anyway! We have just over 2 years to wait before that happens, let's focus on more immediate things.

Like... It's almost the End of The World, if you believe the Mayan calendars (personally, I think they're just hinting at a new one for Christmas and it just got blown out of proportion).

Assassin's Creed III has this as part of the main story-line, not having the game you are in no danger of spoilers, but I can say this; there will be Assassins on a boat. I know, it isn't quite Snakes on a Plane, but it'll get there, don't worry.

I've heard good and bad things about the game, mainly about the simplified controls, which no one can seem to agree on, and the sometimes poor frame rate. But the mini- games, side missions and naval battles are all quite intriguing, and I really want to try the new Co-op missions... I have no doubt I will get this game eventually, but when that will be, with all the new games coming out, I don't know...

If the world doesn't end by 21st December, maybe I'll get it for Xmas, but Desmond can solve that problem.



Finally, to our small audience and chance readers; Yes, I mean you! Hopefully starting soon, Cam will begin writing again, maybe some things about Dota 2, who knows?

So, look forward to that, and I'll be writing something new soon.

Happy Nerdings!
Oli

Dropping Some Crazy Updates!

While the PC version of Minecraft is finished with the Beta portion of it's life, the XBLA version is still trying with all it's might to be just like its older brother.

And I can confirm it is doing a great job so far.

I have spent most of today on the Creative mode of my map building, destroying and re-building my newest project, Nerd Tower, and the surrounding village, originally named... Nerd Village. (Naming it didn't occurred to me until just now..) I will try harder with the names...

Of course Creative mode isn't the only thing featured in the update, there is a multitude of items, both new food and new blocks to play around with.

But I honestly cannot stop playing creative mode. My houses no longer suffer the wrath of having a lack of resources! I don't have to use a pick to re-design my house, I just punch it if I don't like the way it looks.

edit:

So since I started my project I have had a new idea...

I want to make my map a community map, full of buildings and creations from all of my friends. I'm writing this as I watch the first of hopefully many friends build... something castle-like with vines and such. Kudos to her, because even though the exterior design is quite simplistic it does look quite brilliant next to Nerd Tower.

I'm thinking of uploading photos to Facebook of all these buildings as they are finished. But more on that once I actually get a few people to contribute.



So I think that's it for now, I will be writing again in a couple of days I hope, with updates on the creation of the village.

Happy Minecrafting!

Oli

The Trouble With Trolls

In the years I have been using the internet, I have noticed a growing phenomenon, which we should all be ignoring.

Trolls

From their hovels underneath 'Ye Olde' English stone bridges, Trolls have been harassing Internet users for as long as there have been Internet users. Having studied these mythical creatures I have found that they feed on the negative energy generated from the comments they leave on Blogs, YouTube, and other such social interaction websites.

Do Not Feed The Trolls

Now, the best way to banish a Troll is to starve them of attention on your pages. If there is no negative energy to harvest, there will be no more Troll. Alternatively, blocking them works just as well (if not better).

If that doesn't work you could always try a circle of protection surrounding your computer, or is that for Witches... Might be worth it either way.

Since Nation of Nerds is a small blog, with barely any readers, we haven't had any trouble with Trolls, so I have no first hand experience, but all the time I see Trolls on YouTube, and various forums, and the people just feed them unknowingly.

This is what they want. They want to annoy you, and bait you into an argument you can't win. The trick is to burn them.

Burn them with Comments! Or don't, it may just make it worse.

But yeah, go with the blocking thing.. That'll work.




Oli

The Finale

I have just watched the final episode of Save the Supers, a show created by Sandeep Parikh and uploaded to YouTube.

If you couldn't tell from the title, the show is about a team of Super-Heroes, who battle evil and tackle budgetary problems on a weekly basis.

Since the first video I have really liked the show, and while the videos themselves aren't that long, you still get to know the characters, and the storyline is easy to understand yet still manages to be funny within a 5 minute time limit. But I think the best part for me are the Super Villain cameos, made by well-known Nerd Icons (I won't spoil it, you'll have to watch them yourselves).



Anyway, just a short post today. I wanted to get something posted about Nerdy things (not that Korean Rap isn't Nerdy).

So, Share with your friends, Comment and watch the Yogscast.

Oli

Oppa is Gangnam Style

I know I said I would be writing more often, but I've been busy so I thought today as a bit of a break from the Nerd, I'd write about a certain Korean Artist, which after watching his video I just couldn't pass up.

So, hopefully you've seen the Korean music video by Psy, called Gangnam Style.

For me, it was arguably the best thing to happen to Korean Rap since the... other good things which happened in Korean Rap...

Ok, so you may have worked out that I'm not an expert in Korean Rap, but even I know that if it's good enough to be shown on television and YouTube around the world then it has to be brilliant, because I have not seen any other Korean songs in my relatively short life.

And the dance...

I had seen the dance before, but I had no idea what it was until my friends started dancing the Gangnam Style in a rock disco we go to sometimes, it was the first and only night so far that I have danced at that disco. (But that's usually because they play Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold... Not many opportunities to dance really...)

In any case, Psy has to be the coolest guy I've seen all week, partly because of the song but mainly because he Suited Up!


In related news, Psy also released the... well, the same song, but with another artist by the name of Hyuna singing with him. Even though it's pretty much exactly the same, it's had a much worse reception. I'm not sure why the people don't like it, but then again, a few days ago I saw a YouTuber berating his fellow commentors who like Minecraft, by saying that they weren't true gamers because Minecraft has bad graphics.

It's unexplainable. (And in the case of the Minecraft Commenter , infuriating)

But I still like both versions. And Minecraft.



I will write again soon, so in the meantime, share with your friends, comment, and read Game of Thrones.

Oli

A Nerds Lament

So a couple of days ago I decided to venture into Birmingham, in search of a new, hopefully luckier, dice set. Sadly, the only place I know of to get dice is a tiny shop hidden away in a dark little alley in the city. People walk past this shop all the time, for example, when I was walking up to it, I was behind a group of about 20, none of whom paid any attention to it, much like that pub in the Harry Potter books, it must only be visible to Nerds...

I'm not sure if there are other shops like this in England, I haven't seen one anywhere else, and to me, it's depressing, I mean, sure, Nerds do seem to buy everything we need right off the Internet, but still... I like the journey to the city, walking around the "Nerdy" shops, always saving the best for last, that quiet little shop in the centre of Birmingham, unnoticed by the masses. There should be more shops like this, where Nerds can go to meet their kin.

Sure, you could argue that we have video-game stores, but since the creation of games such as Modern Warfare, they've become increasingly mainstream... I suppose, inferring the need for Nerds to shop online...

I know that every other social clique has their own place to socialise, and even though we do pretty much Own the Interweb, and even with the creation of games such as Guild Wars, where you can buy Guild Halls and hang out with friends there, I still think that there isn't any substitute for time with friends IRL.



In other news, I will be trying to write for this blog more often than the last few months, I haven't really had any inspiration for posts recently, but I'm getting back on track.

Share, Comment.. Play Minecraft,
Oli

The One Where I Run Out Of Ideas

While I'm sitting here with my laptop, watching Slither (starring Nathan Fillion from Firefly no less) and I thought that I would be kind, and give you all something to read. But then I found I had writers' block. I want to write, but I don't have anything to write about. Well, I have one thing. So, they decided to call one of the characters on Slither Grant Grant. Really? Grant... Grant? You can't see me, but I'm shaking my head in disappointment.

And that's me all out of ideas.

So, E3 hmm? I watched the Microsoft and Ubisoft presentations on YouTube (To be brutally honest, I only watched the Ubisoft show because Toby Turner was co-hosting) and this year of upcoming games looks quite interesting. I think the new game to watch in my opinion would be Watch_Dogs from Ubisoft Montreal. A sandbox game, where you have the ability to hack into any electronic device, which you can use to your advantage, and by doing so, literally use the city as a weapon (I recommend watching the video, it does a lot better job than I just did of explaining, but I'm just going to blame that on the writers' block)

The other game that really interests me right now is Assassin's Creed 3, now set in Colonial America, spanning 30 years between 1753-1783. New game mechanics, such as Naval battles, and not just that, but also navigating ships through storms, while avoiding unfortunate swells (Makes for difficult sailing). Even though I think that this will be brilliant fun, what I really want to do is use the bow and arrows, while hanging out of a tree. But of course, that's just me. Anyway, I'm looking forward to October 31st this year. You won't see me trick or treating this year.

That's all I got. Considering I didn't know what I was going to write, I think I did quite well, don't you?

Anyway, I'll start thinking about my next post right... after Slither finishes.

See y'all next time! (That's my American typing, pretty good, right?)

Oli

At The End Of All Things

Ok, ignoring the grossly over-dramatic Lord Of The Rings reference for my title, it is the end of an Era (oh yes, with a capital "E"). I am going to be moving away from friends for a while, and I'm terrible at Goodbyes, so I thought instead of stumbling my way through, I should write something infinitely better than anything I would say IRL (I already have a movie reference, so I know I'm doing better!).

I know this isn't what we at Nation do, apart from the title it's not Nerdy at all, but I felt I had to write about what's important to me. It would be easier to write a status on Facebook, but that's not how I roll. I don't think I'd be able to fit everything in anyway (hmm, I believe that's what she said).

Anyway, to my friends, (and of course, my sister) even though I don't spend as much time with you as I probably should, you should all know that I will miss you. It was brilliant hanging out with you, and drinking with you, not so much the part where you made me dress-up, but still... I wouldn't change it for anything, unless you'd be willing to delete some of those photos... no? Nevermind, I had to ask.

I hope you know that you're all bad influences on me, I hardly ever went to clubs before I lived here. But apart from the inordinate amounts of money I spent, it was always good times, so thank you all for making me drink. It's not often that I meet so many people that are as brilliant as all of you are, which is obviously why we were all put into Awesome-Block, as if that were a question.

I've made a promise to Bryan that I will see you all again sometime, so it's not my fault if I just show up at some point.

So, I'll end this post with a cliché.

As I said, I don't like goodbyes, so this will be a See You Later. (See? All that cliché-y goodness. Was it worth it? I don't think so)

Oli

Staying On Topic Part 1 (Dungeons and Dragons)

Welcome to Staying on Topic. This is a new idea I'm going to try for my blog posts, where I attempt to talk about the same topic throughout the entire post. It's actually quite hard for me, so we'll see how I do and I'll try to have a new topic every few days. It may or may not work out...

So, if you've been reading our posts from the beginning, you'll know that we play Dungeons and Dragons. I, of course, take full credit for introducing Cam to the game a couple of years ago, but I've been playing for the better part of a decade now, and I like to think of myself as a 3e/3.5e player, but I have dabbled in 4e as well. I think in those eight years, I have experience playing almost every 3.5e PHB classes, even some from supplements (Gotta love the Dwarven Samurai!).

I listen to Podcasts and watch YouTube videos of people playing DnD, and I spend about an hour every other day trying to write Campaigns, designing characters and sketching villages. I consider DnD to be a brilliant way to spend a day, but I don't know whether 5e will be good or not. Obviously, I want it to be, and just as I gave 4e a chance, I'm sure as hell going to try 5e, because I'm an optimist at heart.

Sadly, I haven't played as much as I'd like recently, but I'm prepared! Like I said, I have started writing, and it's not looking so bad at the moment. My campaign so far involves Pirates and a market town. There are some other elements I'd like to incorporate into the world, but I haven't written any of it yet...

I'll keep this one short, simply because these four paragraphs have taken me a whole day. Staying On Topic is a challenge, but the next one will be much better. It'll be a while before my next On Topic post though.

Feel free to Comment, Follow and Share us with your friends.

Stay tuned for more Off-Topic goodness soon.

Oli