Major sort-of upheaval in my life: my sister has made it her mission to see that I finish my thesis on time, or kill me trying. While I do appreciate her effort, I'm going to hold back giving her my gratitude until I actually finish the damned thing, which has been for the last two years.

Yeah, I know, I suck. :b

Recent changes: I've taken a vow to avoid softdrinks and sodas as much as possible. Shouldn't be too hard, given the high cost of them drinks.

I've recently tried my hand at Rising Force (RF) Online. Man, it reminds me of Tantra. KSers galore, and the bad part is you can't go into PK mode and off the mothas, if the motha-F-ing KSers are of your race. Sheesh.

Backstory: After the mechanical Accretian Empire was shamefully defeated by the combined weak flesh and blood forces of the Bellato Union and the Holy Order of Cora, all three factions decided that they wanted this holystone-rich planet in the Novus sector. Bellato and Cora broke off their truce - the holystone is up for grabs.

The Accretians are like a massive capitalist robotic ant hive. Each of the three castes are expected to kick ass in the name of and improve the economy of the Empire. If they don't Darth Vader will come back from the dead and whup their non-performing asses silly, and no one wants that to happen. Basically, a master ROM BIOS, either a warrior, ranger, or specialist, is cloned and downloaded into an upgradable hardware bundle - the characters. This basic ROM features no unique or flashy skills, unlike the characters of the other factions. The one good thing that comes out of this mass produced intelligence is that every Accretian is built with the knowledge of Launcher usage. These missile/rocket launchers cannot be wielded by puny humans due to weight and recoil - and it is not unheard of for frontline close combat Accretian units to unleash a withering volley of missile fire before drawing weapons and engaging. Also, Accretian scientists have developed a wide variety of Launcher ammunition to deal with any situations their soldiers might encounter. (In fantasy MMORPG terms, Launchers can be equipped with Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, and Neutral elemental bullets.) Accretians can deploy and enjoy launchers as early as level 15.

If Accretians were this good, why did they lose to the Bellato and Cora Combine?

Well, they were up versus 2:1 odds. The Cora had elemental attack magic, and the Bellato had MAUs (Mobile Assault Units - aka BattleMechs / Mobile Armor). While Accretians could hold their own against the big, bulky MAUs, and they have consumable items that boost magic resistance, in the long run numbers will tip the battle.

To wit: a lv 35 Accretian Specialist might have around 2000-3000 HP. A single MAU, the lowest grade, has at least 100,000 HP, and is piloted by a Lv 35 Bellato Driver. MAUs come in 2 flavors, Goliath (close combat) and Catapult (ranged combat). MAUs are huge - the average Accretian is roughly 6 to 9 feet tall (2-3 meters), and MAUs are easily 5 to 10 times bigger. (There is an unsurety of height ratio, as no MAU has stood still long enough for a curious Accretia unit to measure it. Scientists attribute this to the caffeine in Bellato Driver's favorite beverage.)

So why did I pick Accretia? Because robots are cool. Because elemental rockets and missiles are cool. Because flesh is weak, and steel is strong, which was why the Bellato built MAUs in the first place. It is proper to say that Accretians have no souls; only living things have mere souls. What Accretians have are spirits of steel.