Curse of Naxxramas Ep10 - Heigan the Unclean

Time to fight the second boss of the Plague Quarter!

Heigan plays similarly to a Zoo Warlock, so any decks designed to beat that should handle him easily. I suggest a few beefy minions (4+ health) or divine shields for "tanking" his hero power and a little AoE to clear his board.

Curse of Naxxramas Ep9 - Noth the Plaguebringer

The Plague Quarter is open, time to fight Noth!

I like the idea of a passive hero power for some bosses, and this was certainly an interesting one! Between the power and his spells, I'd stay away from using swarm/rushdown decks unless you can defeat him before turn 6.

Arena Shenanigans: Game 7

Can this mage finally stop my arena run?

I was hoping to have the beginning of the next Naxxramas wing today, but it opens pretty late tonight - thus the arena episode today.

Curse of Naxxramas Ep8 - Heroic Maexxna

I take on the final boss of the Arachnid Quarter... and fail a number of times!

My final strategy involved lots of cheap minions with Battlecry, silence and AoE spells. There are a number of classes that can work for the boss, but abusing battlecry minions seems to be a key component for victory.

Arena Shenanigans: Game 6

Can I defeat this druid and keep the arena going?

Curse of Naxxramas Ep7 - Heroic Faerlina

Will I triumph over Heroic Faerlina? She was the toughest boss of Normal Mode (at least for me) and the idea of having to battle her in Heroic has been haunting me ever since.

I stick with what worked last time (Warlock Zoo) and dive into battle! As expected, her health is also increased to 45 and her hero power only costs 1 mana! I suggest rushing her down quickly before she stalls the game with Hellfire and starts summoning improved Worshipers.

Curse of Naxxramas Ep6 - Heroic Anub'Rekhan

I begin Heroic Mode for the Arachnid Quarter!

I was able to use the same deck as for Normal Mode, but it is a tougher fight. Boss health increases to 45 and its hero power summons a 4/4 for 2 mana! I suggest a lot of cheap taunts because Anub'Rekhan likes to go face. Also, try to kill the Deathlords ASAP to make use of their deathrattle effect.

MMORPG Exercise -- Players Know Too Much!!

I talked at length in a recent post about players having too much information in MMORPGs to the point that the "RPG" element is mostly gone.

YouTuber Corpsealot posted this recently, which demonstrates exactly what I'm talking about.

It could be argued that you should (or shouldn't) know your own health and spell/ability damage, but even that would be far less information that what most MMOs provide now.

Sadly, I doubt we'll ever see things go this way. Major developers simply won't take the risk, and producing an MMO is likely beyond the resources of an indie team.

Curse of Naxxramas Ep5 - Rogue Challenge

Time to finish up the Class Challenges for the first wing!

I had a bit of a convoluted game, due partially to my opening hand and some odd plays on my part later on. My suggestion for beating this challenge is to flood the board and bounce/replay Defender of Argus when possible.

Curse of Naxxramas Ep4 - Druid Challenge

Time to work on the Class Challenges!

Since you're given a preconstructed deck, it seems the Class Challenges test your skill at adapting quickly. Those used to Arena mode should take to them fairly well.

Curse of Naxxramas Ep3 - Maexxna

It's time to take on the giant spider Maexxna and finish the Arachnid Quarter (Normal Mode).

While I had excellent luck with my shaman, I feel a number of decks could take care of Maexxna fairly well. Minions with charge, divine shield or positive battlecries help to negate Maexxna's hero power. The biggest threat seems to be the Sea Giants - negate them and you'll do fine!

Curse of Naxxramas Ep2 - Grand Widow Faerlina

The server lag from yesterday is pretty much gone, and I continue onwards into the Arachnid Quarter.

It seems you'll need a specific type of deck to defeat Grand Widow Faerlina - one that can empty its hand quickly while still providing constant threats. I'd recommend Warlock Zoo or Rushdown Pally.

Curse of Naxxramas Ep1 - Anub'Rekhan

Thought I'd record my first experience with "Curse of Naxxramas". I rather enjoyed the game and will likely turn this into a series as well.

MEGA Gargantua!

Cubehamster turns crazy up to 11 with the Mega Gargantua! This giant walking vehicle easily seats three players and includes walkways for accessing and launching its vast armament of TNT-based weaponry!

If you're interested in a detailed explanation of this behemoth, you can watch the video linked here.

Kripp Reviews All Naxx Cards

Hearthstone guru Kripparian gives his thoughts on all the cards coming in the "Curse of Naxxramas" expansion. This should go without saying, but the video is full of spoilers. If you're interested in seeing what's new or would like good information on a card's effectiveness, this video is worth a watch!

Arena Shenanigans: Game 5

We're back in the arena - can we defeat another shaman?

Coming Soon: Jurassic Park Minecraft Film

There's an upcoming project that I'm happy to announce:

The first Jurassic Park film is going to be remade in Minecraft!

I'll be playing the role of Donald Gennaro, aka "the bloodsucking lawyer". Should be fun! >:D

I'll keep you updated as more information becomes available, including a link to the YouTube channel so you can watch it online!

In other news, my computer is up and running. I'll be returning to Hearthstone Arena (and other hijinks) very soon!

Horse + Cake = Super Staircase!

When I post about a cool Minecraft invention, it's often some mind-blowing mod or really complicated redstone contraption. This is just as impressive, and way easier to do!

Let's say you need a way to go high up in a small space. Ladders are probably the simplest answer, but you could do a spiral staircase, some kind of slime block or TNT launcher, or even a redstone elevator if you wanted something faster. Here's another option that's super fast with no redstone required:

Yes, that was a horse going super fast up a flight of stairs made out of cake. You're welcome. If you want to see more bizarre but useful Minecraft inventions, just check out TurtleDerp's YouTube channel.

Video Card Woes, Warmachine: Tactics, Mordessa and Deneghra

My new PC is here and working... kinda. I've been having major trouble getting my video card to work. I'm going to try some other cards soon and hopefully I'll get this mess straightened out. I'm finally using a "modern" OS (Windows 7-64bit from WinXP SP3), and to be honest it feels like more trouble than it's worth.

A number of older games require a lot of extra tweaks and setup just to get them running. To get Gothic I running on Steam, I ended up restarting the PC about 6 times, installed a mod, installed Microsoft Compatibility Administrator, downloaded a file to install through that program, and made several compatibility mode changes to files. You know what I had to do on XP? Just click the 'Play' button. Is backwards compatibility for the 32-bit PC era really that difficult?!?

Anyway, tabletop gaming fans will enjoy this bit of news - Warmachine: Tactics is now on Steam Early Access! Check out the awesome launch trailer:

Until I can sort out the graphics card situation, I'm checking out some old titles I picked up during the Steam summer sale. I've been playing a lot of Enclave lately, mainly because I enjoy the art style. It mostly reminds me of the Warhammer Fantasy setting, which I'm really fond of. Though Steam tags the game as RPG, it's really an action game in a high fantasy world.

While playing, I ended up completing the Light campaign and began the Dark. Your missions in the Dark campaign are primarily given to you by an evil sorceress named Mordessa, who I think may be the inspiration for Cryx's warcaster Deneghra in Warmachine. Here, take a look!

Mordessa from Enclave

Deneghra from Warmachine

A New Steed, A New Server, and (Good) Old Games

It finally happened - after many years of exploration and countless realms conquered, my old warhorse rides no more.

A storm came through at the end of last month, and I unplugged my PC to protect it. The next day, it wouldn't turn back on. The power supply is running, but all I get is a blinking orange power light and the green blinking light attempting to check the DVD drive. From what I've gathered, that usually means a problem with the motherboard, which makes sense considering its age.

I'm currently on a borrowed, equally old machine temporarily as I wait for a better computer to arrive within the next few days. I'm pretty excited to be getting an upgrade, but in the meantime I'm stuck with a machine that has only integrated graphics (and no slots for any cards I own). What's a gamer to do?

Play some retro games, of course! Last month I was ensnared by Steam and GOG's Summer Sales, picking up some discount titles. While I can't play most of the games I recently bought right now (which is really frustrating), GOG has about a dozen classic titles for free which will run on just about anything. It's something to do while I'm waiting, and some of the titles are actually pretty good.

Also, some big news for dinosaur-loving Minecrafters: The Fossils and Archeology Revival mod has been updated, along with the public server! They've made it to 1.6.4 and the server has been reset. The newest updates to the mod include many more skeletal models, coelacanths, and the gallimimus to name a few! Be sure to check out their Minecraft forum page for the latest version!