Archive for July, 2014

h1

Battle Bards Episode 32: The Secret World

July 29, 2014

Battle Bards

A new episode of Battle Bards is up!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, am I excited for this! This is the show I’ve been dying to do, and which Syl has been dreading, for a while now. After playing The Secret World continuously for more than two years, and with my regular Monday TSW night sessions with my co-host Syp and others, it’s amazing how long it took the Bards to finally feature the music from this amazing MMO.

TSW’s music is arguably an acquired taste…but you might be surprised at what other gems you’d find not on the soundtrack. Join the Battle Bards this week for an extra fun show as we talk about conspiracy theories, secret societies, zombies, and discuss why Syl is so grumpy!

The Secret World

LISTEN NOW

 Episode 32 show notes

  • Intro (featuring “Main Theme”)
  • “March on Templars”
  • “Through the Hollow Earth”
  • “Factions”
  • “Sand Meets Sky”
  • “Combat part 6”
  • “Sleepless Lullaby” by Bright September
  • “The Zombie Stare” by Amy Sweet and Clyde Shorey
  • Which one did we like best?
  • Mail from Crim
  • Mail from Imakulata
  • Outro (featuring “Nassir’s Dance”)
h1

TSW: Love And Origami

July 16, 2014

Heart

So, updates for The Secret World, which is pretty much the only MMO I’ve been playing these days. It’s been a pretty hectic summer, and gaming time is at a premium! Regular Secret Mondays are still going on, even though thanks to a severe thunderstorm earlier this week my power went out and we had to reschedule TSW night for Tuesday. Hence, this post.

Oh man, I was so excited. In this newest “Side Stories” content update is an investigation quest involving origami. Naturally, I broke out all my origami paper in preparation. But really, I’m horrible at origami. My husband’s actually the origami nerd in the family, which is why we have all these books and packs of pretty paper just sitting around.

If you’ve read my fellow Secret Monday-er Syp’s post, you’ll see that questgiver Gozen’s reasons for sending us on this wild origami goose chase around filth-infested Tokyo are pretty questionable. But hey, chalk it up to her being sentimental and a romantic.

My husband and I along with our TSW regulars Syp and Tententacles went around solving these origami riddles, while Ocho — who had already done this quest — oversaw us all, prepared to jump in to save us if we happened to get stuck. Luckily, that wasn’t necessary. We completed the quest without any major snags, though it was mainly due to sheer dumb luck more than anything.

I gotta admit, the quest was a bit anti-climatic. And we didn’t get to do as much origami as I was led to believe. I think the quest technically calls for it, making you recreate the writing on the paper from the game and folding it into figure it required to read the full message. But if you ask me, doing so would be making it ten times more complicated and less efficient for yourself. What we mostly ended up doing was punching the Kanji characters into Google translate, pulling out keywords and running with it. Hey, whatever works.

I was with Syp on this though — there was no way I was going to end the night without doing origami, dammit! Secret Monday momentarily became Arts & Crafts Monday as we took to the in-game origami book with all the instructions for making various origami figures.

Behold, my sad attempts. My butterfly wings ended up a bit lopsided, and there’s a gaping rip at the bottom of my tulip (artfully hidden in the photo). Well, at least my kid will take great delight in playing with them while destroying them in the process.

origami

 

 

h1

Battle Bards Episode 31: Listener Requests Part II

July 15, 2014

Battle Bards

Another episode of Battle Bards is up and ready for your listening pleasure!

This week we bring you the second half of our Listener Requests series. Tune in with me, Syp and Syl to hear what other fans of Battle Bards want to hear. Apologies for my fire alarm going off partway through this show, but  what can I say, the songs you guys are coming up with are just too hot, hot, HOT!

LISTEN NOW

Episode 31 show notes
  • Intro (featuring “The Hero’s Call” from Ultima Forever)
  • “A Euology for Hope” from Warhammer Online (suggested by Thomas)
  • “Answers” from Final Fantasy XIV (suggested by CariMac)
  • “Harababuresti Dances” from The Secret World (suggested by Richard Bartle)
  • “Glorious Future” from EVE Online (suggested by Mika)
  • “Theme for Rohan feat. Taylor Davis” from Lord of the Rings Online (suggested by Redbeard)
  • “Vigilant Church Theme” from WildStar (suggested by Nightmare System)
  • What did we like the best?
  • Mail from Redbeard
  • Outro (featuring “Disband Deed” from Wurm Online)
h1

Battle Bards Episode 30: Listener Requests Part I

July 1, 2014

Battle Bards

A new episode of Battle Bards is up!

A few shows ago, we started asking YOU, the listeners, what your favorite MMO songs are and what you’d like us to feature on the show. We actually had quite a few submissions, enough for two episodes! So without further ado, we present to you the first part of our pair of Listener Requests shows. See what tunes your fellow Battle Bards fans want to hear and what Syp, Syl and I have to say about them.

LISTEN NOW

Episode 30 show notes
  • Intro (featuring “Karakorum” from Auto Assault)
  • “Saga of the Norn” from Guild Wars 2 (suggested by Dibstaru)
  • “Guardian/Sanctum Theme” from RIFT (suggested by Scott)
  • “Booty Bay” from World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (suggested by Shay)
  • “Mithlond” from Lord of the Rings Online (suggested by Michael)
  • “Land of the Golden Sun” from Guild Wars: Nightfall (suggested by Kevin)
  • “Desert Travel” from PlanetSide (suggested by Reese)
  • What did we like the best?
  • Mail from Shay
  • Outro (featuring “Disband Deed” from Wurm Online)