STO Insignia

I just figured, for anyone who has read the post titled "MMO Overload and Assassins Creed II", you may be wondering what the insignia stands for.

To give you the basics, I'll have to break it down a little for you.

Firstly, Inextirpable NCC-6783. Taken straight from the dictionary, Inextirpable means "Difficult or impossible to eradicate or destroy." That's the kind of ship I want. Can stand up to any amount of firepower that you can throw at it and still survive. Might be a bit impractical, nay, impossible, but it's the thought that counts, right? As for the rest, that's just the ship's designation number.

Secondly, the wolf. Wolves have always been my totem animal, a creature I feel a connection to. You might not be aware, but the wolf silhouette is imposed over a full moon, something else I have a connection with. The guy who designed this for me figured it was a good way to incorporate a bit of who I am into the design.

Thirdly, the Star Trek symbol with the Stars inside. The Stars are arranged as the Southern Cross, often seen in the Southern Hemisphere. In Australia these stars are somewhat significant and are shown on our national flag. This was put in there as a shout-out to my Aussie heritage and to all the other Aussies I will hopefully meet in the game.

Finally, the runes are significant to my Viking heritage, way back into the fog of time. The runes, reading from left to right, read as follows - Horse, Gift, Odin, Joy - Sun, Tyr, Ride, Torch. Sounds weird, right? The good thing about runes is the symbols that they represent.

On the left side: A Horse is more than just an animal. It is strength (horsepower) and travel. Giving a gift is more than you think too. By giving to someone else we also give to ourselves - happiness and love are the best gifts you can receive when you give of yourself. Odin, the Chief God of Norse mythology, is closely connected with shape-shifting and battle - together combining me and the Inextirpable within the same rune. Joy - the joy of discovery, battle, survival... Joy is represented here in many guises, all of which can be boiled down to one major representation - the joy of life.

On the right side: The Sun. Mystical giver of life. Also a rune of power, relating to the reactions within the sun granting heat and light. Tyr, the god of single combat, is also represented, giving luck to those who meet on the field of battle in honour. The next run, designated "Ride", is another run of travel, more to do with exploration and diplomacy in it's usage here. As a ship of the Knights Templar fleet, the Inextirpable will see more diplomatic and exploratory missions than usual in an attempt to keep the Federation safe. Finally, the Torch. Useful for light, the Torch can also be a weapon or a beacon in differing situations.

So there you have it, my interpretation of the Insignia of the Inextirpable of the Federations Knights Templar Fleet.  Many thanks to Dru_mcd of the Knight Templar for designing the insignia for me. You've done better than I could have wished for.

MMO Overload and Assassins Creed II

STO is coming and I can barely contain myself.

If you want the background information on the game, made by Cryptic, head over to their website: http://www.startrekonline.com/


As for me, I'm really looking forward to the exploration side of things. They have an engine built into the game that seeds an infinite number of new worlds so there is always something new to do... a new place to explore... somewhere to boldly go... yeah, you get the idea. So that's where I'm at. Strange new planets, new races, new threats to Federation security. Hell yeah, fry those suckers.


Well, I've actually joined the Knights Templar fleet, as you can see from my Insignia above. I guess that means there won't be any random frying, just frying of the enemies of the Knights and the Federation. Delicate, surgical frying. No indiscriminate frying. I guess I'll have to make a few toons just to be able to get my kill quota.



Speaking of toons, been playing with my random WoW creations recently, all due to Hallow's Eve. Got my DK the "Hallowed" title so now he is only 3 holidays away from his Violet Proto-Drake, but I'm still working on the Headless Horseman's Horse. Killing him 5 times a day for the past week has yielded nothing yet, but I'm hopeful I can finally get it before the week is out.

Finally, Assassins Creed II is only a few weeks away and looking like a great time-sink. New moves, new weapons, new ways of dispatching your various enemies and marks. This time round though, instead of following the orders of a superior, it looks like you are out there for revenge. And seeing as it is set in Italy, the revenge looks to be done in the most flamboyant ways possible. Don't believe me? Check out the E3 gameplay video on YouTube. Then grab a tea towel - you'll need it to wipe up the drool.




On the 19th of November I'll be awaiting the opening of the store I pre-ordered the Black Edition from so I can get my hands on the juiciest sneakfest to be released since the original Assassins Creed. Really, for an extra $50 on top of the normal price, do I think the Black Edition is worth it? Yeah, I do. With the game slated to be twice as big as the first, plus the 3 extra missions that come in the BE, a scale model of the new protagonist and an artbook to admire while the TV is being used for non-Xbox purposes, I'm sure I made the right choice.

Let that inner shaman shine!

Been playing lots of Warcraft lately. Started a new project in game - leveling a shaman. New guild, new people to talk with, new class to learn.

So now I've got Faeyer, a level 40 tauren shaman. It's been so much fun I've practically stopped playing my other toons, only bringing them out of storage when I've needed to do something specific (like Brewfest) or when I've wanted an escape from leveling. I will admit though, the escapes haven't lasted long. "1 more level. 1 more quest. That's all I need for now."

One thing i love about the shaman class is the flexibility. Cast spells, melee attacks, healing... the whole gamut of actions are available whenever you want. I've gone down the enhancement tree, giving me great melee capabilities, though I will eventually get dual specialization so I can take healing as well.

Speaking of healing, I've never played a healer before, always sticking with a class that I wasn't heavily relied upon. Sure, my paladin is Protection spec, so I am considered a "tank", but whenever I took the lead in a dungeon I made sure I had a great healer backing me up so there were never too many issues. But as a healer people are relying on me to keep them alive - scary in my opinion.

Now I do know it's a game, that if anyone dies it isn't the end of the world, but if I didn't try my hardest to stick to my role within the group why would I bother playing? Why play Need For Speed if you weren't there to win? Why play Call of Duty if you didn't want to shoot at people?? World of Warcraft has been slammed by many people, for whatever reason, but they all fail to realise that we play the game for a purpose. For some it is an escape from reality. Others like the sense of accomplishment that comes with end-game raiding or PvP. I personally like belonging to a group, helping other people in that group achieve their goals while achieving my own. I think that's why I am loving the shaman - or as I said in the title - letting my inner shaman shine. The shaman is mostly self-sufficient in a solo capacity. They can fill a number of roles within a group (even multiple roles within that same group). Their healing prowess puts them on the same level as a priest or a paladin in that respect, even better in some cases, but healing shamans seem to be a rarity in the current game.

That's where I want to be eventually, healing through Naxx, the Argent Tournament, perhaps even Icecrown Citadel in the future. Who knows?