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PC Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic

A long time ag….ah, screw it. The iconic Star Wars opening text is too overdone.

It’s been about three years since the rumors of Bioware developing an MMO based on the Knights of the Old Republic franchise first found their way onto the Internet. Those rumors made me ecstatic from day one. The original Knights of the Old Republic was one of my favorite games of all time, and Star Wars is definitely my favorite IP. To add nerd cred to my profile on that, I actually read the books, graphic novels, and comics. So, for anyone that knows me, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I was eating up any juicy tidbits that developer Bioware and publisher EA threw my way over the past three years about the game.

Lucky for me (and an estimated two million others who picked up the game on launch day), Dec. 20, 2011 marked the end of our wait. And worth it it was.

Now, you won’t be in for any big surprises with how the game controls. Bioware did a very good job mimicking the overall feel of most modern day MMOs. Everquest, World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, Vanguard, and countless others all use the standard “WASD” movement with “1 through =” for your hot keys. This makes it extremely easy for any MMO veteran to dive right into the game. The movements are very fluid and combat flows very well because of it. While the user interface may seem a bit clunky at first, it’s very easy to get used to. The main aspect that bothered me was the top-of-the-screen placement of the chat box, but it’s easily moved to the bottom where it feels more comfortable.

The lack of a full customization of the overall UI, though, really does hurt the game a bit. By the time you hit level 50 you have almost too many abilities, potions, and stims to fit on the maximum number of four hot bars. According to Bioware, there is a big UI customization update coming in the near future, so I do hold out hope that this will be fixed very soon.

Another guaranteed aspect of any MMORPG these days has to be the PvP, and SWTOR performs admirably. From level 10 on, players can compete in three different Warzones, similar to World of Warcraft’s Battlegrounds. These include Alderaan, which is a capture point system similar to Arathi Basin or League of Legends’ Dominion map; Voidstar, which is a Plant the Bomb and move to different objectives map; and a very unique mode called Huttball, which is basically an updated version of Mutant League Football.

The Warzones aside, there are also two areas in the game that are strictly for open world PvP: Ilum, a planet dedicated to the insanity of PvP, and Smuggler’s Den, a Free-for-All area on Tatooine where anything goes at any time of the day. Both of these areas help fuel a fairly health Open PvP environment that hardcore players are looking for.

A very neat addition to the MMORPG genre that is found in SWTOR is the implementation of Companion Characters. These NPCs are your brothers and sisters-in-arms that join your crew as you progress through your personal story arc. They can definitely hold their own on the battlefield and they bring a whole new perspective to solo leveling and even grouping without a full party.

Crafting is also dependent on your Companions. Instead of the normal MMO crafting system where you gather materials and spend time standing in front of a forge or loom to make your gear, SWTOR has you send your companions out to gather materials and making things for you. At the end-game, you can actually have five of your six companions all out working while you go out and quest or PvP. This takes a major stressor for some people and reduces it down to a couple of button clicks instead of a giant time sinck. As a person who absolutely loathes crafting in most other MMOs, I truly enjoy the system in SWTOR.

While all of the previous systems and gameplay mechanics makeup the basics of SWTOR, the real backbone that Bioware built the entire game around is its phenomenal story system. In most MMOs, you get a quest from an NPC and go out and kill things and return for your reward – never really reading what the quest giver had to say. In SWTOR, every single dialogue sequence is fully acted out for you in a cut scene (and yes, you can skip if you choose to). This really helps to make you feel like you have an impact on the world around you, and that your story matters.

Every class in the game has their own personal story. I have played completely through the Sith Warrior and Bounty Hunter stories, and am well on my way through the Sith Inquisitor story at this point and can say that each one has blown me away. They flow so well that I want to keep playing just to see what happens next. I cannot say that about any other MMORPG that I’ve experienced. On top of that, the actual voice acting is top notch. Bioware really spared no expense.

End-game is another spot that I feel the developers really nailed. Right out of the gates they had two Raid Zones (Operations as they’re called here) in place. The first is Eternity Vault, and the second is Karagga’s Palace. Both of these offer three modes of difficulty: normal, hard, and nightmare modes. As of right now, our guild is full clearing hard mode on both, and working our way through nightmare, so I have seen most of what these have to offer. We are having a total blast clearing these out, and the difficulty scales well, allowing for new raiders and veterans alike to experience the content at their own skill levels.

Many might argue that Star Wars: The Old Republic isn’t a breakthrough for the MMORPG genre. While I agree that the basic gameplay takes aspects from the other MMOs on the market, to say that it doesn’t change the way that gamers will look at MMOs from now on would be a lie. The superb story arcs, the changes to the generic crafting system, the updated PvP system,  companion characters, and voice acted questing all add new aspects to an aging subcategory in the gaming world.

SWTOR is one of my favorite games released in the past few years by far, and is definitely my favorite MMORPG since I first picked up Everquest back in 1999. There are some bugs in the game that need to be worked out (and actually lead me to lower the score of the game a bit), but the overall feel of SWTOR is that it is an MMO that is here to stay, and sets a new bar for what other companies need to aim for.

Pros

  • Story that is the best of any other MMORPG
  • Companion characters
  • Re-worked crafting system
  • Fun Ggameplay
  • Great replayability with different classes
  • PvP is well balanced

Cons

  • Lack of UI customization
  • Annoying post-launch bugs
  • No guild bank
  • Inexcusably clunky guild and auction house tools

Overall Score: 4/5

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3D Gaming Gets More Affordable

It’s no secret that the next evolution in gaming is headed down the 3D route. With whole gaming systems like the 3DS headed our way, it’s inevitable that gamers will start jumping on board. Just like Ryan, up until a few days ago I was pushing off this “revolution” of sorts as just a small fad, knowing fully well that it would fade into oblivion after a few months. With how crappy 3D movies were, there was no way that 3D gaming could be any better.

Boy…was I wrong.

I had the opportunity to play a level of the game Bulletstorm in 3D this past weekend, and needless to say I was blown away. My entire view of 3D gaming changed right then and there. I’ve gone from “It’ll fade out in a few months” to “HOLY CRAP! If it’s this good now, what’s it going to be like in a year?!” I was surprised how naive I had been on the whole subject. After digging, though, I remembered one of the reasons that continually reminded me — in the past — why it would fail: the price.

Getting started in the realm of 3D gaming isn’t cheap. First, you need a video card that supports it. Luckily, anyone with even a semi-recent NVidia card is good to go. The technology is built into the Drivers, not the card. That was a smart move on their part. Most PC gamers already own one of the most imporant pieces of hardware. Secondly, you need a monitor with 120hz refresh rate. This is so that each eye can receive the standard 60hz. These aren’t exactly cheap, but they are slowly getting lower in price as the technology advances.

Finally, you need those big, bad, scary glasses. The glasses work on an electronic shutters system, blocking the vision in one eye or the other at the speed of 120 per second per eye, basically tricking your brain into seeing both images separately and seeing it in 3D, as you would everything around us in the real world. This aspect of having a 3D system has always been what I’ve seen as the crutch. In the past, these glasses (which fit amazingly comfortably over eye glasses) cost $200+. That’s not an option, especially for gamers who are playing on a budget.

This morning, for the first time in a long time, that price has dropped $50. You can now get a pair of the NVidia 3DVision goggles for $149, and any extra pairs for $119. While this still be a bit high for a lot of gamers that are watching their wallets. It is a very positive step for those that are on the fence, and it shows that NVidia is more than willing to help make this more affordable, as the price of the technology drops. This actually gets me excited, as now more gamers can afford to jump into the realm of 3D.

Something else that I did not know before the 3D demonstration, that with the most current release of the NVidia Video Card Drivers, there are over 500 PC games that are 3D ready. That number is staggering. I was expecting to hear maybe 50 at the most, but it turns out to be over 10 times that number. If anyone is worried about the cost of 3D not being worth it because of lack of support, you can throw that fear out the window. NVidia was adamant about the current number, as well as the sheer amount of games that are being added with each driver update. This isn’t just sloppily thrown together 3D. NVidia tests all of the games themselves internally to make sure they are up to their own standards, before putting their seal on anything. In other words, you can expect a game like RIFT to look just as good, if not better, than the visually stunning demo of Bulletstorm that I played.

For the past couple of years, as this whole mass of 3D gaming and movies has headed our way, I have shrugged it off. I would have sworn we would be seeing the end of it very soon. The concept sounded ok, but I figured that the execution, the lack of quality, and the price would help push 3D to a slow, painful death. I have been proven wrong on all fronts, and now I’m a believer that this is the direction that gaming is headed, and for the better.

As of posting NVidia is running a special on the 3D vision goggles. Not only did the price drop to MSRP of $150 today, they are offering the glasses plus a Starcraft 2 Promo for $124 right now: Check out the tech specs and the promo here!

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My 2 CP: Kinect – The Movii

BttF Logo

Corny titles aside, it’s fairly common knowledge that technology is evolving at an alarming rate. Just fifteen years ago, cellular phones were mounted in cars. There was no way to fit one in your pocket or purse, cell towers allowed 17-20 callers max at a time, and having access to the internet on a handset was just a pipe dream. Heck, even the internet was run on 28.8kbps modems in most of the homes that even had access. There was no such thing as DSL or Cable Modem service. A laptop weighed between 10 and 15 lbs, and again, internet on the go wasn’t even close to being an option.

Fast forward to today. Our TVs are a couple inches thick, our internet speeds are measured “mbps” and not “kbps”, every cell phone is internet capable, “laptops” are becoming a thing of the past (especially with devices like the iPad becoming more popular), and our video games are slowing becoming controller-less. Now, the reason I chose to jump back fifteen years, is because it was around 1995 that I first remember hearing about something called “virtual reality.” I can easily remember, as a kid, being oh so excited to finally get to play a “virtual reality” game on vacation one year. It was fantastic! I put on a helmet and a couple of gloves, and some boots, and stood in this orb of sorts. I walked around and even swung a sword at some extremely blocky skeletons. I was ecstatic and never wanted the experience to end.

VR Suit

Virtual Reality was going to be the gaming of the future, I just knew it. Then a couple of years passed and the entire concept quickly evaporated. No one was talking about virtual reality anymore. It was too expensive to develop, and instead the big corporations decided to put money into home consoles, as that’s where they were sure the future was. And they were right. By that time the SNES was booming, the Playstation 1 didn’t actually have a number after it yet, and CDs and DVDs were the media that was becoming more popular in home use. Everything was getting smaller. No one would want a giant VR unit in their homes, so it was time to move on. And I’ll be honest, it has been nearly ten years since the thought of Virtual Reality has even crossed my mind.

Then came today,  when I received a Kinect for my XBox 360. All of these old memories and clips of the talk of Virtual Reality came flooding back to my mind. It all really got me thinking. I purchased a Wii back when it first launched and was immediately enthralled with it. A system that allowed you to use the controller to handle your sword, or fish, or shoot a slingshot. Not by button mashing, mind you, but by motion control. This was something entirely new and innovative to the video game industry as a whole — or at least I thought so at the time — and I could not wait to see how it evolved. I had forgotten (or repressed?) then the years before when I had a chance to try Virtual Reality hands on. Still, this Wii brought me plenty of fun. The only complaint I had was that it wasn’t 1 to 1 movement, but instead just a flick of the wrist could accomplish what needed to be done. After a while, I realized I could just sit down and do everything. The Wii lost some of its luster.

PS Move

Then about two years later came the “Wii Motion Plus.” Ah, Nintendo were the saviors again! What an awesome innovation. Now we had true 1 to 1 movement on screen, another great step forward. Then came E3 2009. This was the year that Sony and Microsoft threw down their gauntlets and went for each others throats! Sony went first, announcing it’s Playstation Move. They had a tech demo and, I will admit, it made me kind of giddy. It was like the Wii, but even better. With the Move, you could have “real” sword battles, you could swing a baseball bat, and you could even draw on the screen with precision movement. This was it! Nothing could beat this! Me and my Sony fanboy-ism were on a pedestal. “Eat that Microsoft!” (Yes, I actually said that to my friend who was watching the press conference with me. He’s an XBox fanboy).

That’s when I got knocked down a couple of notches. Soon after, the Microsoft press conference aired and “Project Natal” was revealed. It was at that point, when the utility we now know as the Kinect was shown to the public for the first time, that I knew for sure that gaming had changed forever. While the wait for all of these peripherals has taken well over a year to actually hit shelves, it was well worth the patience.

Kinect

I’ll be honest. I have not had any hands on time with the PS Move, but after only an hour with the Kinect tonight, I know that the Virtual Reality of the past has almost caught up with us again. It’s not the same as it was fifteen years ago, but that is for the better if you ask me. The Kinect and company are all in their baby stages. Microsoft has even said that there are quite a bit of programming updates to come, and that the Kinect is only at about 15-20% of its full capabilities. What the future holds is uncertain at this point, but I do believe that Motion Gaming is going to be a huge part of it.

Now, the biggest thing missing from Motion Gaming that I talked about with Virtual Reality is the fact that you’re not actually put into the game world. This was a bit of a disappointment at first, and I started wondering how companies like Microsoft could overcome the obstacle of full immersion in their games. Then it hit me. I’ve been pretty much ignoring a newer invention up to this point. In fact, I’m still not fully sold on the technology. With some fine tweaking, though, it could put the icing on the Motion Gaming cake. That invention is the 3D Television. This is full speculation and high hoping on my part, but with the rising popularity in 3D technology and Motion Gaming alike, I truly believe that in about five years or so, we could finally see the first truly “Virtual Reality World.” We have the technology in our homes now that could allow developers to create a fully rendered world that players could go to while playing a game. As an avid MMORPG player, the thought of this has me extra excited.

Imagine that when you go to log into the next “Everquest” or “World of Warcraft” type game all you’d have to do is tell your system to log you in, then the world is brought up around you. No helmets, gloves, or boots. Your TV and console are advanced enough to put you right into the game. And while this might all sound like some wishful thinking, I truly believe that it’s something that’s not too far off. Maybe five years is cutting it a bit short, but we’ve got the technology now that is capable of setting us on the right path. Motion Gaming is here to stay, and while I didn’t want to really admit it at first, I believe it is the way of the future. Gaming as we know it is slowly on its way out the door, and I look forward to what the next few years bring us.

What are your thoughts on Motion Gaming? I’m curious to hear what everyone has to say!

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Review: Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light (PC Version)


Let me preface this article by saying this: I have not liked or enjoyed a Tomb Raider/Lara Croft game since Tomb Raider 2 for the PS1. For the most part, all of the Tomb Raider games after the second were sub par, and seemed to be rushed out just because Eidos knew that they would sell, mostly on Sex Appeal and just the Tomb Raider name. Hell, pop a big busty Lara Croft on the front of anything (Angelina Jolie or not), and you’re guaranteed to get at least a few hundred thousand sales without issue. This carried over to the movies as well, which largely left much to be desired, with a few action scenes really being the only thing that carried the silver screen interpretations anywhere. With that being said though, Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light leaves a slightly different, and fresh, taste in my mouth.

It’s safe to say that I didn’t have high expectations for this game. In fact, I was more excited for being able to write my first review than I was for actually firing up this game in Steam. As stated earlier, I really have not had a good experience with any Lara Croft games in 10+ years, and I’ve played almost all of them except the newest two or three incarnations. But part of me really wanted to give this new game, which comes backed by a new development studio (Crystal Dynamics), and new publisher (one of my favorites, Square Enix). Boy, am I glad I did. Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light has renewed my faith in this again franchise.

If you’ve ever played a Tomb Raider game at all, you know that the major draw — beyond the mascot — is the fact that you need to solve puzzles in order to progress through the storyline. Crystal Dynamics did an amazing job of keeping this aspect of the game intact. And it’s really the only gameplay mechanic that they kept. The control scheme has been completely reworked, and for the better. You use the W, A, S, and D keys to move, so any current PC gamers will feel right at home. Mouse controls are also what you would expect, with the game being a shooter as well. The most welcome change, though, is the progression as a whole. Instead of taking on Lara Croft in a third person behind-the-back view, the camera is now in more of an isometric down-from-the-top angle. The game is better off for it.

Now, while the voice acting may be related to b-movie acting at best, the storyline in Guardian is also a major selling point. Here is how Crystal Dynamics describes the story, which I feel is dead on:

The game begins with Lara discovering the lost Temple of Light, a resting place for an ancient artifact called the Mirror of Smoke. When she finally reaches the mirror, she is ambushed by an army led by a devious mercenary named Vasco. Vasco steals the mirror and releases Xolotl, an evil entity imprisoned in the mirror. Xolotl proceeds to kill Vasco and escapes with the Mirror of Smoke. Totec, The Guardian of Light, is awakened by the incident and confronts Lara, explaining the evil that has just been unleashed. With this, Totec and Lara must join forces to track down Xolotl, defeat him and retrieve the mirror before the world is plunged into a never-ending age of darkness.

It may sound kind of cheesy, but I felt immediately pulled into the world around me, and before I knew it almost four hours had passed since I had started playing. The game is very immersive, and there are plenty of moments that will have you almost jumping out of your seat. The music and ambient sounds are timed very well, and really help add to the immersion factor.

Games that are available only through DLC are becoming more and more of the norm, as digital distribution spreads throughout the industry. Because of this there are quite a few crappy games out there that are only put out to make a quick buck. Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light is not one of those games. It is a well put together, high quality, and action packed game that is just down right fun. I definitely put it on my list of must have DLC games, right along with Castle Crashers, Trine, and Braid. Crystal Dynamics deserves a huge pat on the back for breathing new life into an otherwise dead franchise. Guardian of the Light is a must buy if you’re looking for a new casual game to play, especially one that makes you think instead of mindlessly shooting your way through levels.

While the game is not without its minor faults — see earlier note on voice acting — they are easily overlooked when you get into the gameplay and overall story arc. Anyone with an XBox, PS3, or PC should give Lara another chance to right the wrongs of the past, you won’t be disappointed.

Overall, I give Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light 4.5 out of 5.

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TORQue: A Smuggler’s Life

It seems that lately, there has been less and less news leaking out about our little gem known as “The Old Republic.” So much so, that it seems that Bioware has been rehashing or just reconfirming old news. The past two weeks, though, Fan Friday has been littered with some new tidbits. The update on Jedi’s from last Friday did not come as much of a shocker. If you play a Jedi you will be able to be “bad.” Not evil, just bad.

The Jedi news did not come as a shock to me, and fits in very well with the way Bioware does their games, while not trouncing on Star Wars canon. The video they released with the news depicts a Jedi Knight standing outside an airlock, with a few enemies on the other side of the door. He then hits a button and releases his opponents into the bowels of space. Not exactly what I’d call a merciful act, and definitely does not fit the normal architecture of a Jedi. But still, it would seem this is about as “Evil” as a Jedi can get. Again, no surprise here as you can’t have your storyline Jedi Knights slip into the Dark Side of the Force (although I think that is a choice you should be able to make, there are plenty of Jedi in the books *cough* Anakin Skywalker *cough* who embrace the Dark Side and leave the Jedi way behind).

Beyond that comes this weeks major update, and that is about the Smugglers. This update was very intriguing, to say the least. There was quite a bit of re-released info about the way a smuggler plays, but Bioware also threw in some extra features as well, outlining the Smuggler’s companion, and their ship. Bioware is definitely showing their creativity in this part, but letting the Smuggler choose whichever companion they want, as long as it’s the Wookie. Oh, and of course, any ship they want as long as it’s the one that looks like the Millenium Falcon. Did you sense the sarcasm there? Good. While TOR his me super excited, this is the one aspect of the game that I feel it’s ok to complain about. There is NO (zero, zilch, nadda) customization with ship type, and in this case, companion character as well. I know that we currently do not have all of the info, so I’m holding out hope that this is something that changes in the future.

The Smuggler does have a unique play style to counteract this. One of the main things this class can do is “Stealth” and “Cover.” The stealth mechanic is nothing like you would see in World of Warcraft. In fact, it’s not even close. It would seem more like a hybrid of the “Sneak” ability in Everquest, which allowed you to be undetected by mobs by sneaking around them slowly, and not totally disappearing. In my eyes, this is an awesome addition to the game. It’s much more realistic than just completely disappearing from the screen. As for the cover system, this is great as well. A Smuggler can do more damage by hiding behind an obstacle and using it as not only a shield, but a vantage point from which to shoot and take out his enemies. This is a mechanic that is fairly fresh to the MMO genre, and a welcome addition.

As of right now, the Smuggler class has me the most intrigued. While I do plan on playing either a Jedi Knight or a Sith Warrior, as of right now a Smuggler will be my first alt. They bring a very unique play style to the game, and while their companion and ship are very Han Solo-esque, that is something that can be overlooked, especially if the story is done correctly. If you’d like to read more about this original class and it’s play mechanics, it can be checked out here, over at the TOR Official Site.

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TORQue: Space, The Rail Frontier

Space-Combat-05

If there was one option I would have pleaded with Bioware to include in The Old Republic, it would have been space flight. Luckily, a couple of weeks ago now, they obliged. Fanboys and girls “Squee’d” loudly. For me, it was hopes beyond my wildest dreams that we would be seeing fighting similar to that of “X-Wing vs. Tie Figher,” or even Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Light Speed expansion. I even have my joystick ready to go. Speculation from all of the blog sites was about the same as what I was thinking. The game that was shaping up to be Epic in its own right, was now even more grand. That was until a few days later.

News started trickling out of the blog-o-sphere about a translation that was done on an upcoming PC gaming article about the space flight in TOR. With this news came a bit of sour news: TOR’s space fighting would be a rail shooter similar to the game Star Fox. This was not what most of us wanted to hear. I know that I did not want space to be this way. Space and space battles are such a huge part of Star Wars that it almost seems like a stab in the back to include it as a mini-game. Then, though, Bioware had to throw in a curveball. They released a video depicting what the space combat would look like:

And of course, they had to make it epic! While I, and many others, are still very upset about the lack of open-ended space battles and exploration, this video puts the news into a whole new light. It may not be Star Wars: Battlefront or any of the earlier mentioned titles, but it’s a start. With a space system in game from the start, there is also hope for it being expanded upon in the future. I truly hope that this is the case. I would love to be able to hook up my joystick again and get into PvP dogfights with other players. I’m not a PvP fan by any stretch normally, but the fact that I could be doing it in space gets me just a little giddy. Yes, I said giddy.

Right now, there isn’t a whole lot of other information about the space flight in the game other than what we’ve already read and seen, but Bioware is giving us little snippets to keep interest up. This comes in the form of announcing the first two ships, of six, that we will encounter in this space battles. So, I leave you this week with a picture of the Republic Defender, which as it sounds, is a Republic defense cruiser, and also the Fury, which appears to be a spiritual predecessor to the Tie Interceptor or Tie Fighter. Drool away!

First Two Ships

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TORQue: News and Musings on The Old Republic

To the vast majority of us geeks out there, that simple image stirs something in us. It can insight memories of years past, and spark our adrenaline at the same time. For me, it’s excitement. I’ll never forget the first time I saw the original Star Wars Trilogy. My grandmother bought it for me for Christmas one year, after I said the commercial “looked cool.” I don’t think I could ever thank her enough. It was those movies that set in motion my love for Sci-Fi and Fantasy, that has become such an important part of my life today.

Enter: The Old Republic.

No, my blog here isn’t going to be about defining moments in my life, even though I know you all want to hear about them so bad (/sarcasm off). My goal with this column is to keep the readers up to date on all of the big happenings with “Star Wars: The Old Republic” pre-launch, and then into the future after the game has hit the shelves. As a huge Bioware fan, and even bigger Star Wars fan, I revel in all of the information I can get my hands on about TOR. I’ve been overly excited since day one, and constantly keep up to date all all things going into the game, and even the speculations. Heck, I even plan to make a few speculations myself in this column. There is still a whole boatload of information that we don’t know about this game, and I’ll do my best to keep everyone informed on what is coming as we find out, and some of the things that myself and others feel that we may see further down the road.

With that all being said then, I would also like some input from the community here. What is it that you would like to see in this column? Have a great idea that you’ve been dying to get out there? Post your questions, comments, concerns, and anything else in the comments section of this post, and I’ll do my best to incorporate them into future columns. I look forward to what the future holds here at Vagary.tv. Together we can make it great!