Intro, Boycott, and Continuing

Daily Ramble 29: Intro, Boycott, and Continuing

Today’s ramble is a bit weird as I look into my first experiences in Everquest 2, my anger at Nike, and I continue my enjoyment of the original Spider-Man and the current Rat Queens.

Where’s the Intro>

One thing I missed when I started up my character in Everquest 2 is there didn’t seem to be much preamble. I mean sure, my character started out on a boat and I’m provided some simple quests to learn the ins and outs of movement and basic combat, looting and interacting with objects, but there isn’t much cohesion beyond the immediate quest. In WoW, there’s an establishing shot where you start the game with a wide view of the beginner zone and we slowly zoom into our character as a disembodied voice explains the local situation in the starter zone and you’re told why you need to take care of the current situation. In LOTRO, you’re immediately thrown into a story with a bunch of cutscenes that explain the situation and give you motivation to move forward into the event. You get to meet characters from the Lord of the Rings books/movies and it really hypes things up. In Secret World Legends, you swallow a bee and the next thing you know, you’re in some crazy conspiracy where you’ve got magical powers and have to seek out the Templars, Illuminati, or Dragon overlords to help you understand your powers and abilities…again, there’s a clear motivation given to proceed in the game. Finally, in FFXIV there’s a long cutscene with interactions that drive you towards the starter zone and explain the situation so that you’ve got a reason to move forward into the game.

Hmm…I suppose it’s one of the signs of EQ2’s age that they don’t do a very good job getting things rolling in the game. But that hasn’t stopped me from advancing. Being a veteran of many MMOs I really don’t need the motivation to figure things out and move on it’s just icing on the cake – and EQ2 at least at the start is pretty bare-bones.

Boycott Nike

Ok…I gave up on the NFL last season when they pretty much condoned disrespect for the American Flag in the guise of free speech and it looks like this year I’m gonna give up on Nike. Yup – I was one of the people who did not watch a single game of professional football last season – NCAA football was fine since they didn’t encourage contempt for veterans and patriots. I didn’t even watch the Superbowl. And this is after years of playing fantasy football, attending games, and watching the games on TV.

Apparently Nike has decided they would prefer that I not purchase their products any further because they chose someone to represent them that half of the country feels epitomizes the disrespect that the NFL endorses. I suppose they’re trying to see if the adage that ‘any publicity is good publicity’ works with regard to selling shoes and sports gear but I’m here to tell them that it certainly doesn’t work for me.

And it’s a prime time for me to begin my boycott since I’m getting back into fitness. I need to update my running shoes, my technical shirts, my hat – yeah, my hat was a Nike Angels hat but now I’m searching for something that doesn’t represent a company that chose to politicize their products. My shorts are also Nike so I’m hunting on Amazon for apparel that’s not supporting the disrespect that I oppose.

If anyone has a suggestion for running caps and shorts, please let me know.

I also had to delete the Nike Training app that I just started using again. No reason to get started with any of their products when there are plenty non-political products to chose from.

Spider-Man meets Doctor Doom and Rat Queens try to find their Attackers

On a lighter note, I read thorough the next issue of my Marvel 1963 reading and it was Spider-Man meeting up with Doctor Doom. Doom thought he might be able to get Peter to team up with him against the Fantastic Four but of course that was never gonna happen. Instead it turned into a really cool battle between one of the best bad guys of 1963 and the fledgling Spider-Man. It was great! And continuing with my Rat Queens reading, I got through issue #3 and the story continues to twist and turn. At the end of last issue, the Queens thought the mayor may have been involved in the attacks on the mercenaries but now they’re not so sure. They don’t really know who was behind it but they take steps in this issue to figure out what the deal is. We also meet Violet’s twin brother and he fights just as good as she does. I’m really enjoying this title.

Daily Ramble 29: Intro, Boycott, and Continuing