Gaming with Celebrities

A couple of months ago I was checking my Twitter feed and I notice Fred Durst, the front man for Limp Bizkit had tweeted that he was getting on Quake 4 and that if anyone has the game to pop it in and hop on Xbox Live.

Well I didn't have Quake 4 but my brother Hellhammer did, so I mentioned it to him and he put the game in and he and Fred Durst were the only two people on the whole game! They played a couple of rounds and talked a bit and he is pretty laid back. They talked about gaming in general and he talked about how he has like ten Xbox 360's, like one in every room of his house and even on his tour bus.

Well after I Hellhammer won a game on Quake 4 he added him to his friends list but asked that he not give out him Gamertag to anyone, as he said he has to change it like every week as it is already. I can say he runs with (LBGC) tags in his name. Of course this means "Limp Bizkit Gaming Clan".

So he asked if Hellhammer had Black Ops and of course he does, so they switched over to that. He invited some band members into the party and Hellhammer invited me as well. I believe it was his DJ, Guitarist and son in the party with myself and my brother.

All of the people he invited sported the (LBGC) tags actually in their names and their names all were similar with a common theme. Which was Star Wars actually. I can safely say that now because they have gone on to change it to a different theme.
We got to talking and he was telling me how he always is playing on Xbox live and usually plays with other celebrities like James Hetfield (Singer for Metallica)apparently they play Gears Of War a lot, same with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Brent Smith from Shinedown.

He actually added me to his friends list and said he would get me in a party with Hetfield, since I told him what a huge Metallica fan I Was. One thing I thought was particularly funny was unprovoked Fred Durst totally trashed the PS3. He said he didn't really like to play it because he couldn't appear offline and would get slammed with invites, nobody had a mic and the voice chat sounded like the McDonald's drive through guy. He also went on to say if you ever see a celebrity endorsing the PS3 that you can bet they were paid to do so, as he didn't know a single celebrity that actually liked the PS3. Now I'm sure there are some out there, just not the ones he chills with.

So we played some rounds of Black Ops and I'll say Fred Durst got game, we played Hard Core CTF and won every match. I did get TKed by him twice though....good times.

Anyway you could hear him talk to his son and tell him that he needed to take his medicine so he could feel better, so I assume his son was ill and they were playing Xbox together.

All in all it was super cool to play with famous people, they all were super nice and talked like regular people and joked around with my brother and I. We ended the night around 1:00 a.m. est. and he said he'd hit me up for some Quake 4 and Black Ops in the future as him and his band like to play Quake 4 and do 4v4 and they are usually a man short to do this.

Now when we were actually in a lobby on XBL they said nothing, they didn't talk till we got in the game.


Nice to see my habits aren't too different from famous peoples....

Well there's my story, thought I'd share as I was super excited to actually play and meet with some celebrities over XBL. It's odd, sometimes you never know who you are going to end up meeting over XBL.

New MOH recruit benefits & performance bonuses!

Greetings! It's me. The one and only Crapgamer. Clan leader of the one and only MOH. Four years strong, you know how we roll, If your at a site with ad's on it and no dot com, you know your in the midst of imitators.

Anyway, I am here today to tell you about some promotions team MOH is about to start running. So if you know of us or have been in the clan in the past and would like to take advantage of what I am about to offer then feel free. We are always recruiting.

Part of being in a mature clan and having a clan leader like I am, who is an adult and stable is that I am able to offer some of these things. Honestly I don't know why I didn't think of these ideas before. This seems as good a time as any though, so here we go.

Okay, now let me ask you some questions, answer truthfully now.

1. Are you looking for a gaming clan and community? Perhaps one with staying power and stability unmatched in terms of quality and excellence?

2.Are you a person who is smarter then a monkey and can learn strategies and follow them without having to be constantly yelled at or having someone hold your hand?

3.Are you the type of gamer that is a team player, yet self sufficient enough that team leaders don't have to change your diapers and burp you afterwards?

4.Are the a type of person that likes to joke around and have a good time while gaming and still managing to stay competitive?

5.Are you looking for a clan where you have a chance very quickly to become a team Captain and get more responsibility?

6.Are you looking for a clan that can offer perks and bonuses for joining as well as rewards you for doing good?

If you answered YES to these questions then I know MOH is the perfect clan for you.

If you answered no, then your retarded, and I can think of the perfect clan for you......

It breaks down like this.

all new recruits get Netflix access for joining up.

I will be offering incentives to stay active and do good in the clan. If you like getting free Microsoft points every month as an incentive then this is important for you to hear as well.

Every month starts off a new contest. Based on a point system. an example of this would be for every 10 posts made on the site you get 1 point. For every practice you attend you get 2 points, every person you recruit you get 3 points, For every GB you are in you get 5 points, for winning MVP of the month you get 25 points, there are points for winning everything from Post Whore to Team Player each month, which garner large point totals. which can easily put you over the top.

At the end of each month the person who has the most points wins a $20 Microsoft points card. We are going to be doing this EVERY MONTH. This is available for new members as well as old members.

Also as an added bonus to people serious about being loyal and long term members here at the one and only MOH, the person who wins MVP the most in a year, gets either their choice of a new game for free or a free year of XBL servie.

Were planning lots of other promotions as well, from things like Turtle Beach Discounts to free Kontrol Freaks and one month as well as three month XBL memberships.

We will have the rundown on this and everything else on the MOH site soon. www.teammoh.com is the place to be.

As for the future for team MOH, were going to be hitting Call of duty black ops hard by the end of May, or early June. We have regular practices still, but with so many new members, and new strategies to learn and go over I think shooting for June is a good idea.

Also for you Gears fanatics, we are planning to play Gears Of War 3 when it launches in September. MOH has always been a clan great at multi tasking and were getting back to that. There is no reason we cant be on a couple of different games at a time, as long as it's done right.

MOH we regulate, the rest imitate. PEACE!

So much easier on Battlefront

I must admit that things were so much easier when we started out on Star Wars Battlefront 2, I think it was mainly because there weren't a ton of other games that people were playing, everyone stayed focused on Battlefront and we excelled.

Also, back then I had so much more time to dedicate to gaming and the clan as a whole. Now it seems like everyone wants one thing or another and it leaves me very little time to do anything else. It's like I work and game and am not allowed any time for anything else, it can get very frustrating.

I am a clan leader true enough, but I am not the "Daddy" of the clan, where everything has to be cleared with me, I've done everything I can from promoting new leaders, making a secondary team on GameBattles, making everyone Captains on that team so they can get a match without me being around. I was so busy last week that I was literally falling asleep on the headset, but I still managed to make practice and tried very hard to be seen on the site and online whenever possible.

Why was it that on Battlefront a good majority of our members were younger then they are now, but they seemed to grasp what needed to be done a lot better? It's almost like I have to hold most people's hand to get anything done.

It definitely should not take me getting online for people to party up, yesterday was a prime example. I get online and see around seven or eight members on XBox Live, many on the same game and yet they weren't in a party together. Everyone was just running Solo.

We have leaders for a reason and I am getting very worn out trying to fit everything into what little free time I do have, it's making the clan more of a hassle then anything, I used to have fun with it, now it's almost like a chore and I very much want it to go back to being fun.

I think part of the problem could be there are an overabundance of solid games out and people's tastes in genre's and games themselves are varied. I know in particular the PS3 team tends to shut down for all purposes when they flock to a game that isn't Call Of Duty, to the point that it's like having no team at all.

I know for a fact I am busier then anyone else in the clan, but I still find time, I guess it's dedication or stupidity honestly. I don't want to see the clan die out, but at the same time I need to be able to do things in my real life.

I hate to sound like a broken record but if the people I appointed would actually be active and step up there would be no issue, when I was in Merc we had many leaders, myself included and we all had the same authority and respect, it didn't matter which one you come to, you would go to whichever leader was on. I'd love to see people who have a problem or issue go to someone who isn't me for a change.....

...So much easier on Battlefront, everyone so eager, we were pretty solid, knew what we wanted and went out and took it, now we seem a bit more confused then anything......

My Gears Of War 3 Beta Impressions

Well back when it was announced BulletStorm Epic edition owners would get first chance at the Gears 3 beta I decided I would spend the money on the game for that reason alone. Turns out BulletStorm was an amazing game all it's own and well worth the price, but now the real reason I bought the game has come around.

Everyone knows that when the current console generation started I was torn as to which console to purchase, I had a PS2 and a original XBox and I knew spending $1100 on both to start out with wouldn't work. So I was looking for that killer App so to speak. Sony lacked one and when I saw Gears Of War at E3 I knew I had to get a 360 and that game. I have never looked back and have never been disappointed.

Gears of War 2 I spent a lot of time playing online with, I didn't play it to start off with online though, I was drawn in by Gravedigger. I originally hated how slow paced it was and it seemed impossible to do well in the game. Grave suggested that I hide behind corners and chainsaw people. I know it's a total noob tactic, but I was actually having fun with it. People would send me messages and complain, I loved it!

Eventually I got used to using the shotgun and two piecing people and I never turned back. Since we got into the game so late after it's release we couldn't play it competitively because teams would be so much better then us and know all the in's and out's, but we still managed to have a lot of fun and we still play it from time to time, especially when they do 18Xp weekends.

Back to the Gears 3 beta, I went into it playing it like Gears 2 and I got SLAPPED! It wasn't until I changed my tactics and went on the offensive that I started doing pretty good.

1.The regular Lancer owns all, long range, short range and the chainsaw is pure bliss

2,The Retro Lancer is powerful, but has massive kickback, the bayonet is fun to use

3.The Shotgun is not as good as the one in Gears 2, but is still solid

4.The Saw Off Shotgun is a one hit kill, but you only get one shot and it's a bitch to reload

5.The Digger launcher is a new weapon that shoots grenades underground that come up and and explode. It is difficult to master but once you have it down it's a lot of fun and helpful

6.The incendiary grenades are also new and a lot of fun, they BURN YOU ALIVE!

7.The Torque Bow is back and works as well as ever

8.The Long shot is also back and works like a charm

9.Hammerburst is back as well, powerful but lacks the ammo clip of the other more effective weapons

10.There are gun camo's to unlock. Urban, Gears of War colored, Flame, Gold

11.The Mulcher is back and is still a beast, though heavy a load it is to carry

12.Mortar launcher is back as well, you'll know when it's been launched

*One thing I noticed in the Beta is that people don't really go running for the specials as much anymore. The main weapons work well enough that the power weapons aren't a game changer.

*Even the beta of Gears 3 offers more variety in characters, weapons, specials then any other Gears title to date.

*Even though the beta is using peer to peer with it, the actual Gears 3 game will have dedicated servers, so no more host advantage BS. Though I will say that the hit detection even on P2P is very good, I have no complaints about it.

*People will definitely complain about the Saw Off Shotgun, but in reality they shouldn't, it's a one hit kill but only works right on top of an enemy. It also takes a long time to reload and you only get four bullets, so if you miss you are screwed. If they make it weaker, nobody would use it, as two shot kills would be impossible with the short range of the weapon.

*The two maps that I've gotten to play are pretty beast, my favorite is Coles Thrash Ball field. It's a smaller map and is really well done. I consider it the "Shipment" map of Gears Of War. Things are fast and furious and that is what I love best about it.

*I've only gotten the chance to play the new Team Death Match mode, where as your team has a set of reinforcements and they get depleted you lose, this sets a much, much faster pace then any previous Gears game. In Gears 2 if you played Warzone or Execution it played a lot like a game on Search and Destroy for Call Of Duty games, you get one life per round and if you die you end up sitting for the last five minutes for your team to win or lose so you can play the next round. Now to me, this really takes any momentum out of your game, if you make one mistake you are screwed, which was my main complaint about Gears online, now with Gears 3 it looks like we finally get a chance to do multiple spawn games and it's so much better.

*The graphics, even though this is just a beta the character models look the best they have ever looked, usually online modes dumb down graphics but the Gears 3 graphics are some of the best I have ever seen. The textures and bump mapping and lighting are all flawless!

I absolutely cannot wait to get Gears 3 in September and play through the campaign, which is supposed to take a solid 12 hours to beat. Rare for a multiplayer title to have such a long and complete campaign.

*The beta which started April 18th if you bought BulletStorm Epic edition and ends May 15th offers ways to unlock items in the retail copy of the game, like Cole's Thrash Ball uniform, Flaming Retro Lancer, Flaming HammerBurst, Flaming Lancer ect... So it's a solid way to earn something through playing the beta. You can still get in the beta on the 25th of April by pre ordering Gears Of War 3 and putting $5 down on it.

*They allow you to earn medals and wear them very much like in the COD games, you might even be able to prestige, seeing as how you level up much, much faster in Gears 3 I am leaning towards this as a possibility. I played Gears 2 for almost two years and am only a level 60, while on the Gears 3 beta I am already a level 13 and see level 30's running around already as well.

*My final verdict* The Gears 3 beta is the best 3rd person shooter I've ever seen or played. I wont say it is 100% flawless because I believe no game is, but it's damn good and worth playing if your a Gears fan or a TPS fan.

Gears 3 is my most anticipated game coming out this year and the beta has only added to my impatience.

Nice Change up in attitude

Recently I posted some blogs and various other things about how many people complain or spam me with invites when I'm on a game that isn't a online multiplayer gamer or shooter.

Now I'm happy to say that more people in the clan are starting to realize the joys of just "Gaming" with no built in limits on a certain type or genre or even online play involved. Personally I own hundreds of games and a fair amount are online, even more are offline and single player games however. I think Xbox Live Party chat has helped keep the clan together and enable all the members in the clan to branch out and play other types of games, even solo games and still feel part of the clan via the party chat option.

Many times I will be on a single player game but remain in a party chat with the other clan members and we all joke around and have a good time none the less, it's all in good fun. Now more and more people are realizing that it's okay to be on other games, there is more to a gaming clan and gaming community then forcing people to play the same game all the time.

Yesterday was a prime example of why things like XBL party chat has been instrumental in helping our clan stay in touch and together, we managed to get two Black Ops GameBattles and win both, but in the meantime we had people playing other games in the party chat, when the GB was over the team joined back in and we all carried on. It's a wonderful thing.

We can have some people on a MMO like Lotro or Runescape and be in the party chat, this even helps with co op campaign in some games, we were even able to do a leadership meeting on XBL and I thought it sounded and went better then any of the ones we did on Skype.

So I was pretty happy to see some of these changes in attitude and now people seem to know it's okay to buy a different game, even if the rest of the clan doesn't have it. You are still allowed to have fun, game and do what you want and play what your interested in without getting burdened or having a guilt trip laid upon you.

Game on my friends!

Misconceptions about clan gamers

Lately I've noticed that there are quite a few misconceptions about clan gamers, mostly it's by other clan members who feel like you should game on nothing but online FPS games, personally I consider myself a "Gamer" not any in particular, rather just a gamer. I like to game to have fun.

Yes I'm still very competitive and I like to win on Gambattles as much as anyone else, however instances like this past week where I was on Dragon Age 2 and people get upset or complain that I'm not on a game like Black Ops. I find it very hard to play the FPS games for extended periods lately, I've been gaming for over 20 years now, since before the internet as we know it anyway, so I've enjoyed platform, sports, RPG and Action Adventure games longer then most people in the clan have been alive, been online gaming for around ten years, since the Dreamcast.

So that being said, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I enjoy those types of games even to this day, I can enjoy a game like Dragon Age 2 on the Xbox 360, Kinect Sports with my Kinect and lately Lord Of The Rings Online, which surprisingly was a lot of fun and as a clan we've gotten into it a bit.

I will say that I've not been on Black Ops or those types of games very much lately and part of that is because they are "upgrading" my internet, well turns out to upgrade it, they downgrade it first to work on the lines and that type of thing.

I don't want to be the type of guy that appears offline to play through a game, I think people should respect whatever game/s the other clan members play, we still have our rules for playing in GB's for the "Hardcore" people, we can still get GB's whenever you guys want, just ask.

Bottom line is as a gamer, I play games, it's my hobby, my investment, I own hundreds and hundreds of games, so it shouldn't surprise people or upset them if I'm playing something else sometimes.

It's the same misconception of the gaming clan/gaming community we have, people think we should be on a FPS 24/7 and it's just not the case, we can be a supportive and active gaming clan/community and play other types of games together, it doesn't always have to be serious. It can be Black Ops, Gears 2, COD4, Left 4Dead, Runescape, Lord Of The Rings or even something like Star Wars Battlefront.

Not everyone is going to be happy 100% of the time, but it's impossible to keep so many people 100% happy and honestly....I don't try. If people have issues, then bring them up in the barracks. If your not happy in the clan, then it's okay to find another, nobody is forced to stay. I'd like to think a good bunch of you guys are good friends of mine and we have a pretty good time playing games together, but I understand some of the guys are more about competitive gaming and thats fine too, there is a median there somewhere.

Reboots and other complaints.

So this is something that has been bothering me for a while now, it seems everyday we hear about some franchise (either game or Movie) that is getting the "Reboot" treatment. This is a highly disturbing trend in my honest opinion. There are a few good examples, like the new Batman movies, I really liked the Micheal Keaton Batman movies from the late 1980's and early 1990's. Then they went into disarray with George Clooney as Batman and once Tim Burton dropped from directing I knew Batman was indeed in trouble. Flash forward to 2005 and we get a new Batman, this one turns out to be great, Batman Begins was perfectly cast, acted, directed, written.

I really enjoyed how they made Batman less fake, he used equipment that is actually around and it was very feasible and realistic. Enough time had passed to make these new movies successful. For every success there is utter failure however.

Now I really enjoyed the last three Spiderman movies, I thought they were really well done, we the fans were all set to get a Spiderman 4 movie sometime this year or next year, however when the Directer and cast and crew didn't want to shoot the movie in 3-D because they were unfamiliar with the technology and felt it was too much of a gimmick, we get a Reboot taking Peter Parker back to high school, which is someplace we've been with him less then eight years ago.

Another Rebooted series is X-men, the reason for this reboot is simple, the original cast was too expensive to get for a new film. Now days when people or film makers smell money they lock up the cast for a multi picture deal, so most of the original X-Men cast were signed on for three movies, now they reboot it with lesses known actors and save money. It's a mistake in my opinion and I pity the people that actually want to see such a travesty.

Games get rebooted now it seems too, Tomb Raider is getting a new look, where she pretty much looks like a guy with short hair, Tomb Raider has come out with some of the best games in recent memory, so why the reboot? I guess the creators just felt she needed an update, this pretty much coincides with the reboot Tomb Raider movie I've been hearing about, not sure why Angelina Jolie couldn't still play the character, she isn't old and is still attractive enough to play the part. It's just one of those things.

The Punisher reboot is another horrid debacle that I suffered through, I actually really enjoyed the Punisher movie from 2005 with Tom Jane, it was filmed locally and I thought it was well done without being over the top, they they reboot it, with a crummy actor who didn't even have a line for thirty five minutes into the movie, the enemies were all over the top, much like the late 1990's Batman films, too colorful for what it's supposed to be.

Switching notes here, I want to say I'm kind of pissed off that some of our great American Super Hero's are now being played by Non Americans, the new Superman for example is played by a British actor, Henry Cavil. The new Spiderman isn't American, even the Green Hornet is played by a Canadian. It's slightly upsetting.

The main reason we get reboots is because Hollywood and film/game makers have run out of original ideas, they bank on the name selling tickets or games, no matter what slop they throw in front of us. I for one will not get suckered into this type of trash. I hope at least some of you feel the same way.