ScoreHero Wiki: Echelar

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=====Echelar===== ---- ""<TABLE border="1" border-spacing="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#cccccc" bgcolor="#f2f2f2" align="right"> <td style="border-style: none"> <TABLE border="0" border-spacing="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bordercolor="#cccccc" bgcolor="#f2f2f2"> <col width="35%"/><col width="65%"/> <TR><TD colspan="2"><img src="http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/1280/marsattackssl4.jpg"/><hr/></TD></TR> <tr><td style="background:lavender;" colspan="2"><center><img src="http://www.scorehero.com/images/ranks/shstaff.gif"/></center></td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Joined ScoreHero</td><td style="font-size:80%">Feb. 26, 2006</td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Joined Staff</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1513">Sep. 5, 2006</a></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"><hr/></td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Real Name</td><td style="font-size:80%">Josh Slosson</td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Born<br> </td><td style="font-size:80%">Sep. 19, 1981 (age 30)<br>La Crosse, Wisconsin</td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Location</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=fort+wayne,+in&ie=UTF8&z=11&g=fort+wayne,+in&iwloc=addr">Fort Wayne, IN</a></td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_mater">Alma Mater</a></td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.purdue.edu">Purdue University</a></td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Graduated<br> </td><td style="font-size:80%">Aug. 2004<br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor%27s_degree#BA.2C_AB.2C_BS.2C_BSc.2C_SB.2C_ScB">B.S.</a> in Computer Science</td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Occupation</td><td style="font-size:80%">Software Engineer</td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Marital Status</td><td style="font-size:80%">Single</td></tr> </table></td></table> Echelar is among the first moderators of ScoreHero. He is not as visible in the forums as some of the other moderators, but is always lurking behind the scenes. He is best known for his work in pioneering star power paths in the GH1 days, making early youtube videos of hard/expert performances, and having many first places on lower difficulties. Echelar also is the ban enforcer in <a href="IRC">ScoreHero's IRC channel</a> with a self-written script. <br><br> <TABLE border="1" cellpadding="10" bordercolor="#cccccc" bgcolor="#f2f2f2"><TD> <b><center>Contents:</center></b> <hr/> <a href="User_Echelar#Biography">1 IRL Biography</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#ScoreheroInfo">2 Scorehero Bio</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#GuitarHeroInfo">3 Guitar Hero Bio & Acc.</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#GHInfo">3.1 General Info</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#GH1Acc">3.2 Guitar Hero 1</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#GH2Acc">3.3 Guitar Hero 2/80s/3</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#RBAcc">3.4 Rock Band</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#YT">3.5 Youtube Vids</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#Streaming">3.6 Streaming and Vid Recording</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#GamingBio">4 Gaming Background</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#ConsoleGaming">4.1 Console Gaming</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#PCGaming">4.2 PC Gaming</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#Hobbies">5 Hobbies</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#Favorites">6 Favorite Things</a><br> <a href="User_Echelar#Etymology">7 Etymology of Echelar</a><br> </TD></TABLE>"" ---- ""<a name="Biography"/>""====IRL Biography==== ---- I was born in 1981 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Moved to Fort Wayne in 1984, and have lived there since. I have a brother who is 3.5 years younger than me. We fought a lot (as siblings do) until we both passed adolescence. My parents were fairly overprotective, probably due to a food allergy (corn) that I had to be on a special diet for until high school. Is anyone reading this section? Nobody is, right? Thought so. In 5th grade, I decided I wanted to be a Chemist. I therefore took it upon myself to memorize the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table Periodic Table]] on the bus ride home. I also made a crossword puzzle with all the element names and passed it out to the whole class. Yeah, I'm a freaking nerd. In middle and high school, I was in the advanced classes, also known as "do 5 times as much work as everyone else" classes. Finally, towards the end of high school, I wised up and took some easier stuff. They also offered programming classes, which I proceeded to take pretty much every semester. Sometimes, more than once in the same semester (through some loopholes in the system). After a while, that teacher basically let me and my group of friends do whatever we wanted. One of my friends, after programming Tetris for his semester project, proceeded to, uh, "beta test" it the entire next semester. I made battleship, and a text-based RPG that I "tested" during class. Yeah, senior year was actually somewhat fun. ""<TABLE border="1" border-spacing="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#cccccc" bgcolor="#f2f2f2" align="right"> <td style="border-style:none"><TABLE border="0" border-spacing="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bordercolor="#cccccc" bgcolor="#f2f2f2"> <col width="35%"/><col width="65%"/> <tr><td colspan="2" style="font-size:80%;font-weight:bold;border-style: none"><a href="http://img186.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pdrm0539ph5.jpg"><img src="http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8785/pdrm0539smallmu2.jpg"/></a><hr/></td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">HDTV</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Televisions/VIERA-Plasma-HDTVs/model.TH-50PZ800U_11002_7000000000000005702">Panasonic TH-50PZ800U</a></td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Receiver</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665364793">Sony STR-DG920</a></td></tr> <tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:80%">Sound System</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.bicacoustechspeakers.com/closeup.asp?cid=165&pid=127&offset=0">BIC Acoustech Series 6</a></td></tr> </table></td></table>"" I got into Purdue University fairly easily on a computer science ticket. Since I applied right before the tech crash in 2000, CS was the hot thing. Compared to high school, college wasn't much work at all. After making some college friends, I had a lot of fun playing games and drinking on ++fridays++ ++weekends++ every day that ends in "y". After graduating, I, uh, took a sabbatical to focus on my WoW playing. I got a job about a year later for a local software development company. It served me well for two years, but eventually I needed to move on. I switched jobs, and am now very happy with where I am. In July of '08, I bought my first house. It's new, and I'm extremely happy with it. It's been a lot of fun decking the place out with a new hdtv, sound system, furniture, etc. Short of something like a disco ball, it's a pretty great "bachelor pad". As you can see in the pic, there's the HDTV, all the consoles stacked up next to it, the PC in the same room (I mean, who wants to go to two places for entertainment), and lots of open space/seating room. The PC is also set up to output 1080p to the TV for HD movies (which look //amazing//). For those of you wondering how I have any money left after all this: Well, I don't. --- --- ---- ""<a name="ScoreheroInfo"/>""====Scorehero Bio==== ---- I don't even remember how I found [[ScoreHero]] in the first place. Probably through google. I had a self-made spreadsheet that I was using to keep track of my best scores (I had %/NS too). So, when I found SH, it was a simple matter to transfer them all to the site and let SH be my new spreadsheet. Shortly after I joined, [[User_JCirri JCirri]] was trying to work on deriving formulas for the star cutoffs, and other game mechanics. This also fell in my area of interest, so I started helping out with proofs as much as possible. Eventually, I started talking to him on AIM, which led to us doing a lot of these discovery projects jointly. We even started creating a program to find optimal star power paths (which was never finished). After that, I helped out everywhere I could with the site, which quickly led to me becoming a moderator officially. On 07/23/06, JCirri and myself started the [[http://wiki.scorehero.com/IRC ScoreHero IRC channel]]. It quickly became apparent that we needed some moderation tools, so I wrote a penalty-enforcement script for the task. It started out as just an extended banlist (since the internal ban list on GameSurge can only support 45 bans at once), but the newer feature of the Penalty Box is now the most-used feature. This script is what I'm most widely-known for as of late. Besides the IRC script, I've also written some admin-only tools for use with the main site (which I'd explain in more detail, but then I'd have to kill you). ---- ""<a name="GuitarHeroInfo"/>""====Guitar Hero Bio / Accomplishments==== ---- ""<a name="GHInfo"/>""===General Info=== ---- Strengths: ~- HOPOs with a consistent pattern or reasonable speed ([[Song_GH2_WarPigs War Pigs]], [[Song_GH2_FreeBird Free Bird]]) ~- Anything that can be single-strummed (not alt-strummed) ~- Self-made paths (outdated skill, now that optimal paths are posted for most all games) Weaknesses: ~- Complicated fretting patterns that must be alt-strummed ([[Song_GH2_Six Six]], [[Song_GH3_TakeThisLife TTL]], [[Song_GH3_TheWayItEnds TWIE]]) ~- HOPOs that are just slightly too fast for me ([[Song_GH3_ThroughTheFireAndFlames TTFAF]]) Interesting Facts: ~- I am an upstrummer. I use my pointer finger to strum upwards. I don't know why, but this is just how I did it naturally, and it stuck. ~- I activate with select using my pinky. I (was before I stopped playing) pretty good at squeezing using this method. As you can see, I'm not that awful good at really fast stuff in general. I can 5* Six, but I have to single strum most of the verses, which is extremely tiring. I never managed to 5* TTFAF, probably because I don't combo as much of the fast-strum sections as most people. I also am not very good at tapping. Sure, I can do the TTFAF intro, but I have no hope of learning Jordan. My guitar skills have definitely atrophied since I stopped playing regularly, about a year ago, but I can still put up a reasonable performance on most any song. ""<a name="GH1Acc"/>""===GH1=== ---- {{ghstats game="GH1" platform="PS2" width="148" hidestars="8"}} I originally was introduced to GH1 back in Feb, 2006. Some friends and I went to see Kevin Smith in Chicago, then retired back to a friend's house to play video games and hang out for the rest of the weekend. One of them brought GH. I was immediately skeptical, but that skepticism vanished after the first song. After the first day of playing multiplayer, I was passable on medium/hard. I bought the game on my way home, and played it 6 hours each of the following 3 nights to complete all of medium, hard, and almost all of expert. After a small amount of time on the site, I started to actually path out songs. I actually earned quite a few first places on Expert over people way more skilled than myself because of pathing. Eventually, I determined that I could use said skills to land many more firsts on medium and hard, which is where I spent most of my competitive time in GH1. I became known for defending my 1sts on M/H aggressively and quickly when people tried to take them. I still played expert daily, but never got the skill required to stand with the top players. Some of my notable GH1 accomplishments: ~- First player to take first place on every song on a difficulty [[http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800 (GH1, M)]] [[http://web.archive.org/web/20060709032829/www.scorehero.com/top_scores.php?diff=2 (Link to web archive)]] ~- Had top 10 on expert for a short time, along with 1st on H and M. ~- First optimal score, and longest-standing first place [[http://www.scorehero.com/rankings.php?group=1&game=1&diff=2&song=142&page=1&highlight=1 (7/9/06, GH1M, BtM)]] Favorite songs to play in GH1: ~- More Than a Feeling ~- No One Knows ~- Frankenstein ~- Bark at the Moon ~- Caveman Rejoice ""<a name="GH2Acc"/>""===GH2/GH80s/GH3=== ---- {{ghstats game="GH3" platform="360" diff="4"}}{{ghstats game="GH:80s" platform="PS2" diff="4"}}{{ghstats game="GH2" platform="PS2" diff="3,4" width="138"}} I played a lot of GH2, but never felt that I wanted to try to defend a bunch of medium/hard scores anymore. I burned out on that with my GH1 days. My GH2 rank was usually between 50-100th, depending on how much I kept up on my playing. There are some bad playing habits that I never unlearned that kept me from being ranked higher on the difficult songs. The story was much the same with GH 80s. I'd keep a rank around 40-50th, but never be able to rise higher. For GH3, although I enjoyed playing a lot of songs, I never got very competitive with it. I didn't look up many paths anymore, didn't replay nearly as much for score and FCs as I had with previous games. My one regret with GH3 is not spending enough time on TTFAF for the 5. Maybe someday I'll go back to it. Some GH2 accomplishments: ~- First (or one of the first) 8-star score [[http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3645 (GH2H, YRGM)]] ~- My (then) first on War Pigs. The FC was way above my skill level, but somehow I guess I was specifically good at the song. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3s6kPxh3Hc (YT vid)]] ~- Stealing 1st on one of the most annoying songs >_> [[http://www.scorehero.com/rankings.php?group=2&game=2&diff=3&song=467&page=1&highlight=1 (GH2H, YWC)]] Favorite songs to play in GH2/80s/3: ~- (GH2): War Pigs ~- (GH2): Raw Dog ~- (GH80s): Hold On Loosely ~- (GH80s): Seventeen ~- (GH3): Cult of Personality ~- (GH3): Impulse ""<a name="RBAcc"/>""===Rock Band=== ---- {{rbstats game="RB2" platform="360" instrument="Drums" diff="4" hidestars="2,3" width="199"}}{{rbstats game="RB" platform="360" instrument="Drums" diff="4" hidestars="2,3" width="199"}}{{rbstats game="RB" platform="360" instrument="Guitar" diff="4" hidestars="2,3" width="199"}} I was quite happy to put down the guitar when Rock Band came out. Ever since then, I've played guitar once every few months, and focused more on drumming. I guess I just needed the change, since I'd been playing guitar hardcore since GH1. I started out very high in the ranks, but have been dropping as more and more experienced drummers pick up the game. It doesn't bother me much, anymore, as I mostly play for fun these days. The RB accomplishment I most enjoy is finally learning to play Blackened. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmbz8nxc1VY (YT vid)]] My favorite songs to play on RB: ~- Any rush song, but mostly Red Barchetta, Tom Sawyer, and The Camera Eye. ~- Any Nirvana song, except Polly (of course) ~- Most of the Who songs ~- Any Metallica song ""<a name="YT"/>""===Youtube Videos=== ---- I was inspired by [[http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1981#1981 Phr34k's BATM videos]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cueXmJDbbvU SArmstrong's videos]], so I decided to make some of my own. My first attempt was Texas Flood (H) on a terrible quality cam recording. I figured out how to use my computer's S-Video input to record directly, and started cranking out videos. @@Note: If I mention "1st" or "2nd" in a comment, it refers to the place the score was in when I submitted it, not the current ranks.@@ "" <table align="center" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#cccccc" bgcolor="#f2f2f2"> <tr><th colspan="5">Echelar's Youtube Videos</th></tr> <tr><th colspan="2">Guitar Hero 1</th><th>Guitar Hero 2</th></tr> <tr><td>  <table border="0" cellspacing="6" cellpadding="0"> <tr><th style="font-size:80%">Date Added</th><th style="font-size:80%">Song</th><th style="font-size:80%">Accomplishment</th><th style="font-size:80%">Vid Link</th></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">5/20/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_TexasFlood">Texas Flood (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">173k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGqgX71_nPY">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">5/20/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_GetReady2Rokk">GR2R (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">230k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6fDcfVyoQE">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">5/24/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_TheBreakingWheel">Breaking Wheel (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">350k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkMK4sQ_H7o">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">5/25/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_HeyYou">Hey You (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">249k | FC | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNUGu5UW4-Y">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/04/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_BehindTheMask">Behind The Mask (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">151k | FC | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUAvnMwRKwg">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/05/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_FireItUp">Fire It Up (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">211k | FC | <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060709032853/www.scorehero.com/top_scores.php?diff=3">1st</a></td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NegcApvM1xY">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/07/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_Decontrol">Decontrol (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">265k | -2 | <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060704055938/http://www.scorehero.com/top_scores.php?diff=3">1st</a></td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NplAiIbJ7Wk">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/12/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_GraveyardShift">Graveyard Shift (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">120k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogT4AWWDD7Y">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/13/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_BarkAtTheMoon">Bark at the Moon (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">305k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fGd6TyvhlI">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/14/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_Unsung">Unsung (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">420k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szmsLN-Khjk">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/16/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_NoOneKnows">No One Knows (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">325k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wstvqOi3Ahs">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/17/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_CheatOnTheChurch">Cheat on the Church (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760">FC 1 part</a></td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eIOAU0-Eb0">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">6/24/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_Crossroards">Crossroads (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">286k | FC | <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060704055938/http://www.scorehero.com/top_scores.php?diff=3">1st</a></td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_SF-CLfNdU">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/01/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_CowboysFromHell">Cowboys From Hell (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">5 | GtrGod</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7eYDpkXO14">Watch</a></td></tr> </table></td><td>  <table border="0" cellspacing="6" cellpadding="0"> <tr><th style="font-size:80%">Date Added</th><th style="font-size:80%">Song</th><th style="font-size:80%">Accomplishment</th><th style="font-size:80%">Vid Link</th></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/03/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_CowboysFromHell">Cowboys From Hell (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">390k | 5* | 2nd</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7uvwcCWgcY">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/20/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_FatLip">Fat Lip (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">284k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJusEBp7NlE">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/20/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_AllOfThis">All Of This (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">203k | FC | <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060827165358/http://www.scorehero.com/top_scores.php?diff=3">1st</a></td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq730sFrOIA">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/23/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_Frankenstein">Frankenstein (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">247k | FC | <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060827165358/http://www.scorehero.com/top_scores.php?diff=3">1st</a></td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awyO4gGSlNc">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/25/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_Frankenstein">Frankenstein (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">258k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlV0ri0eIuw">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/28/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_FlyOnTheWall">Fly on the Wall (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">221k | 5 | 2nd</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMeGYBvlw_4">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/30/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_TheBreakingWheel">The Breaking Wheel (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">361k | FC | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SvASOU44Es">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">8/07/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_NoOneKnows">No One Knows (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">309k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVhD4X4xk4k">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">8/27/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_CavemanRejoice">Caveman Rejoice (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">266k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUmilqZt0Nw">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">8/28/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_SharpDressedMan">Sharp Dressed Man (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">257k | FC | 2nd</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPKpHJS61fM">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">9/09/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_TexasFlood">Texas Flood (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">221k | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ljikc3pWkU">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">9/23/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_KillerQueen">Killer Queen (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">173.8k | FC | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phWd7s5mhVM">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">9/27/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH1_BarkAtTheMoon">Bark at the Moon (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">342k | -1 | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RllhLWwTrNQ">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr><td> </td></tr> </table></td><td>  <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3"> <tr><th style="font-size:80%">Date Added</th><th style="font-size:80%">Song</th><th style="font-size:80%">Accomplishment</th><th style="font-size:80%">Vid Link</th></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">10/07/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_YYZ">YYZ (Coop)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">GH2 Demo</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NWi6cx2Fxc">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">11/20/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_Gemini">Gemini (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">225k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G39XNrUMNZE">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">11/24/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_CrazyOnYou">Crazy On You (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">391k | FC | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZaIaVNR5SQ">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">12/10/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_FreeBird">Free Bird (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">539k | FC | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F76gHv7CHq4">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">12/15/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_JohnTheFisherman">John the Fisherman (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">203k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq1nBvClIMk">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">12/21/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_Institutionalized">Institutionalized (H)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">354k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4p_kHJq080">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">12/27/06</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_Freya">Freya (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">384k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMxiClPeavw">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">1/11/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_WarPigs">War Pigs (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">394k | FC | 1st</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3s6kPxh3Hc">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">4/04/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_KillingInTheName">Killing in the Name (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">552k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzw9nxqUzOw">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">4/12/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_RawDog">Raw Dog (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">330k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l23YxZZZeWE">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">4/17/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_CarryOnWaywardSon">COWS (X)</td><td style="font-size:80%">308k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgVG73TE0Tw">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">4/27/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH2_FreeBird">Free Bird (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">602k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsVxF_-3qKY">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">10/8/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.scorehero.com/custom_songs.php?order=&mode=2&song=Fury+of+the+Storm&songLetter=&exactSong=1&artist=&artistLetter=&album=&albumLetter=&username=Galiath25&timeNum=&timeType=4&sort=1&order=1&limit=50&submit=Search+Charts">Fury of the Storm (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">No SP</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2qh47ObEXw">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">10/21/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.scorehero.com/custom_songs.php?order=1&mode=2&song=Crimson+King&songLetter=&exactSong=1&artist=&artistLetter=&album=&albumLetter=&username=kaiserblade&timeNum=&timeType=4&sort=1&order=1&limit=50&submit=Search+Charts">Crimson King (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">421k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBClmUDRWgQ">Watch</a></td></tr> </table></td>  </tr><tr><th>Guitar Hero 80s</th><th>Guitar Hero 3</th><th>Rock Band</th></tr> <tr><td><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"> <tr><th style="font-size:80%">Date Added</th><th style="font-size:80%">Song</th><th style="font-size:80%">Accomplishment</th><th style="font-size:80%">Vid Link</th></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">8/20/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH80s_HoldOnLoosely">Hold On Loosely (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">313k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFmGlTXp7s">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> </td></tr></table></td>  <td><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"> <tr><th style="font-size:80%">Date Added</th><th style="font-size:80%">Song</th><th style="font-size:80%">Accomplishment</th><th style="font-size:80%">Vid Link</th></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">10/12/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH3_LayDown">Lay Down (Demo) (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">299k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QOKiBiteio">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">10/14/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH3_EvenFlow">Even Flow (Demo) (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">338k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zHSUDrLDBQ">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">10/28/07</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_GH3_3sAnd7s">3's & 7's (X)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">399k | FC</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrXjWM06Ct4">Watch</a></td></tr> </table></td>  <td><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"> <tr><th style="font-size:80%">Date Added</th><th style="font-size:80%">Song</th><th style="font-size:80%">Accomplishment</th><th style="font-size:80%">Vid Link</th></tr> <tr align="center"><td style="font-size:80%">7/22/08</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="Song_RB_Blackened">Blackened (DrumsX)</a></td><td style="font-size:80%">302k | 5</td><td style="font-size:80%"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmbz8nxc1VY">Watch</a></td></tr> <tr><td> </td></tr> <tr><td> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> "" ""<a name="Streaming"/>""===Streaming and Video Recording=== ---- ==YouTube Videos== My standard way of recording videos was to split my audio/video feeds. Until recently, I was using standard composite video/audio. One feed gets run to the TV, the other to a VCR, then the VCR-out is run to my PC. I would record on the VCR (yes, using a VHS tape) while I played for an hour. If I got something worth putting on youtube, I'd replay the VHS tape to transfer it to the PC. This way, I could re-record to the PC in case the video capture messed up (which it did a LOT). For video input, I'd use the VIVO (S-video) port of my GeForce4 TI4200. Unfortunately, this method is no longer open to me for recording. Now that I have an HDTV, I'm using component video from my 360. ==Streaming== Many people have seen my "high quality stream", that required either VLC or WMP to connect directly to a video/audio stream. For that, I was using VLC to directly encode and broadcast the video capture at 640x480 resolution, and a video encoding rate anywhere from 1,000-3,000 kbps. The result is a picture so clear that it's difficult to go back to watching ustream afterwards. Again, since I'm using component video, I've not found a way to make this work again. My webcam, which is my "backup plan", is actually pretty terrible. It's a Creative Live pos. ==Future Planning== ~- For the direct-video, I'm going to look into some way to directly capture the HD stream using a PC. I'm not even sure if it's possible, yet. ~- The webcam replacement is hopefully going to be some sort of HD camcorder that can be used both for video recording and for streaming. ~- Combining these two streams using WebCamMax (or a similar program), I hope that I can get a split-screen full HD feed running, someday. It wouldn't support that many users directly connected to it, because of the bandwidth requirements, but it would be a fun project nonetheless. ---- ""<a name="GamingBio"/>""====Gaming Background==== ---- ""<a name="ConsoleGaming"/>""===Console Gaming=== ---- ~- //Date Bought - Date Stopped Playing - Console// ""<TABLE border="1" border-spacing="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#cccccc" bgcolor="#f2f2f2" align="right"> <td style="font-size:80%;font-weight:bold;border-style: none"><a href="http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5223/pdrm0503yj7.jpg"><img src="http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5223/pdrm0503yj7.th.jpg"/></a><br><center>Console Gaming!</center></td></table>"" ~~- //I still own most of these, but I'll list the dates I actually played them as my primary system.// ~- 1983-1986 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_2600 ATARI 2600]] - Fav. Games: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms._Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_(arcade_game) Donkey Kong]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Raid River Raid]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lode_runner Lode Runner]] - By scoring over 100,000 on River Raid, I got a free hat or something from Activision. I was 3 or 4 at the time. ""[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">Citation Needed</a>]"" ~~- The ATARI was also where I got my first programming experience, by copying [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC BASIC]] programs out of a book. ~- 1987-1990 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)]] - Fav. Games: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_zelda The Legend of Zelda]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_Bobble Bubble Bobble]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros Mario 1]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros_2 2]] & [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._3 3]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid Metroid]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuckTales_(video_game) Duck Tales]] - I didn't own one of these for quite a while, so I would have to go to friends' houses to play constantly. Also, my parents were against violent video games, so I didn't have much exposure to fighting games until later. ~- 1992-1996 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snes Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)]] - Fav. Games: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_of_mana Secret of Mana]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Kart Super Mario Kart]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_A_Link_to_the_Past Zelda:Link to the Past]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_trigger Chrono Trigger]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_metroid Super Metroid]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-zero F-Zero]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Street_Fighter_II Super Street Fighter II (and Turbo)]] - I've replayed SoM more times than I care to admit. At -least- 20. It's got to be my all-time favorite console game. - I replay Super Metroid every so often, usually as a speed run. My usual time is 1:00 - 1:05 or so. My best time is 59 minutes. I never got good enough at the moch ball to count on using it in a speed run. - A friend and I played Super Mario Kart until our fingers bled. Many a day we'd play battle mode until 99-99 (it capped at 99). I feel confident pitting my SMK battle mode skills (specifically on stage 1) against anyone. -Anyone-. ~- 1996-2001 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation Playstation (PS1)]] - Fav. Games: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF7 FF7]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF8 8]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FF9 9]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Tactics FFT]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotn Castlevania: SotN]] - Yes, I'm an RPG whore. What of it? ~- 2000-2002 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast Dreamcast (DC)]] - Fav. Games: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Calibur Soul Calibur]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerstone PowerStone]] - Soul Calibur made for many fun nights with the floormates at college. I was best at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshimitsu_(Namco) Yoshimitsu]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilik#Kilik Kilik]]. ~- 2001-Current - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_2 Playstation 2 (PS2)]] ~~- Fav. Games: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_X FFX]], [[Game_GuitarHero Guitar Hero]], [[Game_GuitarHeroII Guitar Hero II]], ~- 2003-2005 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamecube Gamecube]] ~~- Fav. Games: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windwaker Zelda:Windwaker]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_prime Metroid Prime]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-Zero_GX F-Zero GX]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSB:M SSB:M]] ~- 2007-Current - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox360 Xbox 360]] ~~- Fav. Games: [[Game_GuitarHeroIIILegendsOfRock Guitar Hero 3]], [[Game_RockBand Rock Band]], [[Game_RockBand2 Rock Band 2]] ""<a name="PCGaming"/>""===PC Gaming=== ---- We got our first PC in 1990. It was a 386 SX16 with a 50mb HDD. Ahh, the "good old days". Primary games I remember playing: ~- 1991 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibbles_(computer_game) Nibbles]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorillas_(computer_game) Gorillas]] in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qbasic QBasic]] - Angle: 50 - Velocity: 72 ~- 1992 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfenstein_3d Wolfenstein 3d]] ~~- I played this at a friend's house, as his PC was better than mine. Plus, my parents probably wouldn't have approved of a nazi-shooting game when I was this young. ~- 1993 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_(computer_game) Civilization]] - I played this quite a lot, actually. Mostly at school. What? It was for a research project, I swear! - No, seriously. There was an optional project in 6th grade that involved playing Civ. Our 6th grade teacher was the best. ~- 1994 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft:_Orcs_%26_Humans Warcraft: Orcs & Humans]] ~~- I initially played this at a friend's house, and was hooked after 5 minutes. The wonderful world of RTS games was foreign to me until this point. I quickly acquired it for myself and played the crap out of it. ~- 1994-1995 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Red_Dragon LORD]] & Exitilus ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system BBS]] games) ~- 1996 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Nukem_3d Duke Nukem 3D]] ~~- I was introduced to Duke 3d, Quake, C&C and Diablo through a location called Cyberarena. It was 8 lanned PCs in a guy's garage (finished, clean). You paid per hour to come in and play games. Me and my friends would often rent 4 hours at a time to game together... and sometimes would rent 12 hours in a row on a Saturday. It was extremely good times. ~- 1996-1998 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft_II Warcraft II]] ~~- Great balance, good maps, fun teamwork. What's not to like here? ~- 1996-1997 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_conquer C&C]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer:_Red_Alert C&C:Red Alert]] - C&C was extremely fun until we figured out the optimal path to creating Mammoth tanks first. Then, it got old quickly. - Red Alert seemed more balanced, but we had played the original C&C to death so much that its sequels didn't get a ton of play. ~- 1997-2000 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake Quake I]] ~~- I got pretty competitive with Quake. Joined a clan and all that jazz. Mainly played [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuakeWorld QW]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_the_Flag#Software_and_games CTF]]. ~- 1997, 2000 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_(computer_game) Diablo I]] - Played it a lot at CyberArena (see above), but we rarely kept our saved characters in between sessions, so we saw a lot of the Butcher and Leoric. - In my freshman year of college, I was encouraged to give it another go by some new friends. We played through D1, then moved on to D2 immediately afterwards. The two games were responsible for more missed classes than either of us care to admit. ~- 2000-2004,2006,2008,2011 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_2 Diablo II]] & [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_II:_Lord_of_Destruction D2:LoD]] - The most addicting PC game I've ever played. Even worse than WoW, because its appeal never dies. - Round 1, in college, was played with a new college friend I met Freshman year. We would often play all the way through the night, then get breakfast together in the morning. We were still playing the game off and on in our Senior year. We played offline, because duping and cheating was so commonplace on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlenet Battle.Net]]. According to the spreadsheet I have, I have 275 of the 379 Unique items in the game (72.6%), and 81.9% of the set items. This was all done by myself and my friend, with no duping, maphacks, or botting. Yes, I'm that crazy about the game. ~~- I've come back to the game every 2 years or so since then. In '08, I started playing on BNet with some Scorehero friends, so I had a separate stash of items and toons online. (The account has since expired/died.) ~- 2002-2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft_III Warcraft III]] - Fantastic game. Good balance, lots of replay value and customizable maps. Although I was pretty good at the standard game in multiplayer, I didn't play a lot of [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/7/26/make-me-a-match/ random matches]]. I preferred to play co-op against the computer with friends (I've always had a thing for co-op in games). My biggest strength was using hotkeys and good micromanagement to my benefit. I also loved trying out weird strategies and combinations, just to see if they could work. - We played a lot of custom maps in WC3. The most played was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dota Defense of the Ancients]] (and some of its successors). Whenever I have come back to WC3 in recent years, it has been for DotA and custom maps. My little group of friends got good at the game, especially when playing together... but not good enough to compete in tournaments, since we always put having fun above being hardcore. My favorite DotA characters (original, not allstars) were Omniknight, Void Demon, and Aqua. My teammates will tell you that my omniknight strategies were revolutionary. :) ~~- We were also big on Tower Defense maps. Enfos, Wintermaul, Ark's, etc. ~- 2003 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_Outcast Jedi Outcast]] - My (younger) brother started playing Jedi Outcast (a.k.a. Jedi Knight II) before I had heard of it. He eventually formed a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_(computer_gaming) clan]] and started recruiting the most skilled people around (playing Sabers-only [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_the_flag CTF]]). By the time he convinced me to try the game, his clan ("Executioners", [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_tag tagged]] =X=) had its own server and was definitely among the best clans (if not //the// best) in their specific game type. I did join the clan soon after starting to play. - Two members of the clan made their own mod to the game that ran on X's server (named [[http://jediknight3.filefront.com/file/;10270 xmod]]). I helped out in a very small way with the coding occasionally. ~~- The clan was only a dozen people strong at our largest point, but I have never played any game with another group of people who were so tightly coordinated, intelligent, and disciplined. I always compare every clan/guild I am in to =X=, and none have measured up. We were undefeated in clan matches, with most of our opponents never scoring a single time. ~- 2003-2004 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Galaxies Star Wars Galaxies]] - My first [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG MMO]] experience. I liked the idea of a game so large that it has its own economy systems. I quickly started to try to take advantage of this by hunting rare items to sell, which I had enjoyed doing in Diablo 2 as well. The teamplay dynamics and intricacies of coordinating a 20-man effort was very intriguing, too. Unfortunately, SWG was plagued with disappointing endgame material, which eventually led to me running out of things to do and quitting in favor of WoW. - My favorite build: Mind heal tree from Combat Medic, and all other points towards Doctor. Mind heal spam really keeps a team up longer than you'd think, and you can keep it up a long time with the right buffs. ~- 2004-2005, 2007 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft World of Warcraft]] - When WoW launched, I had graduated from college, but not yet found a job. So, I was able to spend a good, solid 6 months playing WoW all day, every day. - The only character I ever maxed was a Priest. I've always liked healer characters. I was the first alliance priest to 60 on my server. I was in the guild [[http://www.mq-guild.com/ Masquers]], and served as the primary/group 1 healer for my duration there. We raided MC for months... had a server first or two, but eventually it just got really old. - In 2007, a coworker convinced me to start playing again, so I came back for a few months. Played the expansion, raided AHQ, Naxx, etc. - I'll hand it to Blizzard; they've always known how to make a really addicting game. I am basically a slave to them. ~- 2007 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotro LOTRO]] ~~- My brother and I played this for a summer. We got bored of regular play very quickly; the gameplay just couldn't compare to WoW, in my opinion. We decided to play Monster Play (Monster side). I think we poured more time into it than most anyone else, because we were quickly the two highest ranked monsters on the server. Eventually, like all things, it got old. It was only meant to be a side note to the real game anyway. ~- 2011-2012 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWTOR SW:TOR]] ~~- Played since early access, mostly with my SWG crew. I currently play a max level Sith Assassin (tank spec), and am also leveling a Sorcerer (heal spec). ~- 2012-2025 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_3 Diablo III]] ~~- Stop looking at me like that. It's a reasonable estimate. ---- ""<a name="Hobbies"/>""====Hobbies===="" <hr/><TABLE border="1" border-spacing="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#cccccc" bgcolor="#f2f2f2" align="right"> <td style="font-size:80%;font-weight:bold;border-style: none"><a href="http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7759/fountain005ul3.jpg"><img src="http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7759/fountain005ul3.th.jpg"/></a><br><center>mmm, chocolate.</center></td></table>"" ~- Dousing marshmallows in chocolate. --> ~- I enjoy replaying old games occasionally, just because they're so much fun. Old games I still enjoy include: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_metroid Super metroid]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_of_mana Secret of Mana]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_trigger Chrono trigger]], most of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_fantasy FF series]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda_(series) Zelda games]]... you get the idea. ~- I've let this hobby slide recently, but I enjoy playing the game [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game) Go]]. I got pretty good at it, studied books, played a decent amount of people. I think I was probably about an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_ranks_and_ratings 8th kyu]] in strength. See [[http://www.usgo.org/usa/waytogo/ this page]] to learn how to play. ~- Also haven't kept up on this, but I can play piano fairly well. Had probably 10 years of lessons, could pick it back up if I ever wanted to I suppose. I inherited the family piano, so it's in my new house. The proximity will probably cause me to pick it back up at some point. ~- In my early teens, I was a heavy coin collector. I focused mostly on pennies (being the cheapest to acquire), but also have most any coin denomination in some form. I have a few [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Eagle_cent flying eagles]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Head_nickel buffalo nickels]], a zillion [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_cent wheat pennies]], and who knows what else. For a long time, my uncle (also a collector) would buy me [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_coinage proof]] and mint sets every year, so I have a fair collection of those, too. I'd like to find time to get back into this and organize my collection somehow. ~- Although I'm a software engineer, and thus program all day for work, I still have little side projects that I maintain on my own accord. I wrote a mp3 renaming program a while back (that is now way out of date). The IRC script that I run (not necessarily the #scorehero-ban script, but the rest of it) is self-made and ~10 years old. I also do some coding for ScoreHero itself, mainly in the form of admin tools. ---- ""<a name="Favorites"/>""====Favorite Things==== ---- I'm going to have to try to not [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Favorite_Things_(song) break out into song]] during this section. That's right, I just referenced a 40 year-old movie. I wasn't planning on putting in a "favorites" section, because it seemed too myspace-ish. However, I suppose it does provide some sort of insight on my sense of humor and other such things. Favorite TV shows: ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_md House, M.D.]] ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_park South Park]] ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_guy Family Guy]] ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythbusters Mythbusters]] ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_teller_bullshit Penn & Teller: Bullshit!]] ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_sg1 Stargate SG-1]] Favorite Movies (besides the obvious list of star wars, indiana jones, LOTR blah blah blah): ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_space Office Space]] (ok, ok, I'm allowed //one// obvious one) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_for_Red_October_(film) Hunt for Red October]] (first PG movie I ever saw) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawshank_redemption Shawshank Redemption]] (maybe obvious, but must be listed as it is a fantastic movie.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Wonderful_Life It's a Wonderful Life]] (parents made me watch it enough that it grew on me. I like the premise and lesson of the movie.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerks Clerks]] (and everything else Kevin Smith does </fanboy>) Favorite Animes (I was introduced to anime in 2000 by a college friend. Blame him for my obsessions): ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_Kenshin Kenshin]] (My first anime.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigun Trigun]] (Fantastic characters.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrno_Crusade Chrno Crusade]] (Love the characters, plot, action, everything really.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_note Death Note]] (Great one to "think-along" with. Lots of edge-of-your-seat type moments without a lot of physical action.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_no_go Hikaru No Go]] (Any anime with a board game basis that can get past your anti-board-game-anime biases deserves recognition.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_metal_alchemist Full Metal Alchemist]] (Solid all around.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_x_hunter Hunter X Hunter]] (Fun progression/adventure anime.) ~- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakitate_Japan Yakitate!! Japan]] (See comment on Hikaru; change "board game" to "bread baking".) Favorite Drink: ~- Minute Maid Orange Juice + Captain Morgan's Rum. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it. ---- ""<a name="Etymology"/>""====[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology Etymology]] of Echelar==== ---- A long time ago (10 years), I used the alias "Quakeman". Yes, to play [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake_(game) Quake]]. Yes, it was horribly uncreative. It was basically a joke name that stuck, unfortunately for me. The first time I had to actually say it out loud, in person, to a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl girl]] I was trying to flirt with, I decided to change it. I came across the word "[[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/echelon Echelon]]" at some point, decided it sounded cool, and based the new alias on that. "Echelar" isn't meant to have any specific meaning; I mainly wanted it to be creative and unique. In that regard, it's a success. The name is always available when I register at any website. Note: It's pronounced ""<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/Spell_pron_key.html">[<b>Esh</b>-uh-lahr]</a>""

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