Chronicles of Baator

Model cars

2004-06-21T23:25:00.000+02:00

I admit it: collecting 1/18 scale model cars is one of my greatest addictions. I thought I got off two years ago, but now I'm back.

Last week, I managed to hunt down Maisto's Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG. While not as good as one of the more expensive models (AutoArt's for example), it's still a great-looking car (and one of Maisto's better ones). It's now parked on the shelf next to my S 500, 1936 500k, 1954 300 S, and a set of 1957 300 SLs.

My suppliers got a new batch of models today, but, unfortunately, most of the models are on reserve, so I'll get the SLR McLaren only if one of the other buyers doesn't show up.

Oh yeah, my copy of the Complete Divine splatbook finally arrived from Amazon. Thus far, I'm far less impressed with it than with the Complete Warrior I got earlier this year. The book is choke-full of editing errors and typos, and most of the prestige classes are updated 3.0 material (bundled with a few Dragon magazine exclusives). Overall, since I got it at a huge discount, I'd say it was worth the price, but I never would have paid the suggested retail price.

Still waiting on a few boxes of D&D minis I ordered, my first battle mat, and Green Ronin's excellent Psychic's Handbook (I've had the chance to read a book a few months ago, and it's miles ahead of WotC's Expanded Psionic's Handbook. Oh well, hopefully they'll arrive this weak. And the customs won't mess with them too much.

Past week in review

2004-06-11T23:32:00.000+02:00

The past week can be summed up in one word: work. I definitely overworked myself (I think I averaged 10 hours per day, plus another two hours for commuting, meaning I didn't have time to do anything else).

Last Sunday, I invited over two of my oldest friends (we've known each other for something like 20 years now), both Transformers fans since the time we were kids, to watch some pivotal TF episodes. We started with More Than Meets the Eye (3 parts), moved on to Search for Alpha Trion, The Key to Vector Sigma (2 parts), War Dawn, and Five Faces of Darkness (5 parts). Overall, more than 4 hours of Old-School Transformer Goodness. Sure, most of the value from watching those shows comes from nostalgia, but I must say that the cartoon still stands the test of time, even 20 years later (which reminds me I should finally dish out $80 for that 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime action figure; here is a thorough picture review of the Japanese version of the toy, by renowned Transfan Ben Yee).

The two of them managed to convince me to resume my hobby of collecting 1/18 scale diecast cars, so I went out and got a 1965 Corvette by Maisto colored deep metallic green. The model is pretty well done, although shy in features of some more expensive ones (I paid around $25 for it). Since I got my paycheck yesterday, I think I'll go out and buy another model tomorrow. I've got to restrict myself to one or two models per month, since I simply don't have the room to keep them (I have 40 models right now, and they take up a lot of space).

By the way, I abandoned car collecting three years ago, after my appartment was burgled and four of my models were stolen (among other, more valuable, things). My friends were able to replace two of those models for me, and the two missing ones are Bburago Ferraris: 1964 250 GTO, and 80's 348tb. Looks like a model hunt is in order.

Enough about cars, though. I've ordered some new RPG books (Complete Divine and Green Ronin's Psychic's Handbook and miniatures as well, and a battle mat to make miniature battles easier. The mat is damn expensive for a piece of vinyl, but I think it'll prove its worth pretty fast. What bugs me more is that a set of four wet-erase markers costs $7!

Unfortunately, my Rebirth campaign appears to be postponed indefinitely, as my players have finals coming up. I haven't had the time to study for my finals, so I'll just skip them and take them in September. Or something. That's what i keep telling myself anyway.

A great interview

2004-05-29T22:44:00.000+02:00

Winterwind Productions (ran by a couple of friends of mine) has posted an exclusive interview with Chris Avellone (MCA), the creative genius behind Planescape: Torment, the best role-playing game ever made, and one of the co-founders of Obsidian Entertainment. The interview focuses on Obsidian's upcoming Knights of the Old Republic 2, but good old MCA also shares a few insights about his design style and influences, and relations with fans. Check it out.

In other news, Interplay (no website anymore, sorry...) is nearing its final death. I hope something long and painful happens to Herve Caen, its current CEO and CFO, and Jim Molitor, its current... whatever he is.

Here we go...

2004-05-28T20:48:00.000+02:00

Well, this is it. I never figured I'd start a blog, and I'm not certain how often I'll have the chance to update it, but what the hell.

Another workday has come to an end. Hopefully, I'll be able to schedule a Rebirth session for Sunday, since we missed it last week. Rebirth is my long-term Forgotten Realms roleplaying campaign, slowly entering its third year... and the players are yet to actually start the "rebirth" part. Even though it's set in the FR, Rebirth isn't an NPC-ridden munchkinfest like some campaigns I have played. The players have the pivotal role in the events to come, even if they don't know it yet, and the campaign is filled with moral ambiguity and difficult decisions. I'll write more on it some other time.

I saw a movie today about setting up the upcoming Intel processors and how the changes in socket and motherboard structure work. I'm not impressed. To add injury to insult, Intel is abandoning the XX GHz nomenclature and resorting to AMD-style product names. I'll remain a firm Intel supporter, but this is not something (m)any Intel fans will like. Looks like my annual upgrade just got more expensive, as I'll have to replace virtually everything this coming December, what with the changes to power supply (BTX), motherboards, processors, RAM, and various cards (the new chipset will only support PCI Express cards, which sucks). Better start saving up money soon.

I think this is plenty enough for the first time. Later.