Over 20 000

And all of a sudden I've had over 20 000 visitors to my blog in the last 2 years. The last 10 000 in the last nine months. During the last three months I've had over 1 500 visitors each month. I'm thrilled but also a little intimidated by the whole thing.
At the same time I know I like it. A lot.
I need your ideas though - to continue writing about the things that interest my visitors I obviously need to know what you're interested in. Go ahead. Surprise me.

There's no place like Home

Oh darlings!

It's good to be back but for some reason I say that with a heavy heart. While New York is an incredible city it wasn't the actual buildings or the billboards or whatnot that remain etched to my brain. It's who you see and meet. In stores, on the street, at the hostel and wherever else we went we met so many wonderful people. They say New Yorkers are an indifferent and heartless bunch but I beg to differ.
All in all, New York was good to me and my pale friend (except her camera broke and she caught a cold). I packed a jacket that I didn't use once. Actually, I never wore anything warmer than jeans and a t-shirt becuase of the amazing weather. More of that another day when I've looked through my camera.

Coming up soon: the thrilling "Riding with the Super Shuttle", "When Lina and Sofia Found Broadway" and "The Hunt For Forbidden Planet". Also coming up is the action-packed "What Nerds Do When Bored" and "Falling For Fragrances". Don't miss out!

Diablo III - an afterthought

I've played through the game and must admit: I'm disappointed.

Normal difficulty is too easy, the jump in difficulty to Nightmare too big and the game is too short. The four acts were over too soon and having said that I actually mean it in the bad way and not the good way. To clarify: it’s not in the "I can't believe the game is already over because I really wanted to play forever and ever *insert dreamy stare*"-way but more of the "what the fuck do you mean 'end credits'?! WAS THAT IT?!!?"-way.

Let me tell about more of the things I didn't like:
This game is the bastard child that Torchlight and World of Warcraft should never been allowed to have. Personally, I disliked the design of Torchlight and hate WoW so deeply it’s bordering on the obsessed, so it's awful either way.
You can't play it without an internet connection. Not even single player. My connection is unstable at best which makes every fight a possibly lethal one as the game might freeze at any point and unfreeze when my life is so low I can't possibly heal. Trust me, I've been killed by those teeny tiny spider thingies in the second act... Not to mention all the cock-up’s that those overloaded servers have caused constantly since the release.

Diablo himself looks like a mix between the xenomorph queen in Alien and a balrog. I’m not impressed. What was wrong with the old design? Since Diablo III hurls old character names and insider information from the first game at you I thought they'd be more careful about making Diablo closer to what we ran away from like scared babies that first time we ran into him all those years ago. But no. It was not to be. Forget the hulking figure of the first game and throw your hopes of meeting the gigantic demon king of the second game in the bin because it’s not going to happen.

Was there anything to like? Well, yes. Of course.
I love my Collector's Edition box - it's beautiful. I like the music. I like that reading the journals and books you find hidden away all over give you experience and little stories about all kinds of things from myths to the history of Sanctuary. It gives some of the depth and story that I wanted to be included after reading the Diablo Archive.

I enjoy the beauty of the game, the art. Some things look so closely related to Torchlight I couldn’t quite make myself like them but when one looks at the detail that has gone in to suits of armor and in-game movies I almost forgive Blizzard and concludes that it really is a pretty game after all.
Ambience is what dragged me in and made me play Diablo to begin with but I can’t help but feel that ambience is exactly what Diablo III is missing. It’s the kind of game you speedily run through once only to return in order to play with friends or possibly find good loot. I don’t play for loot. It’s a bonus but not my primary target.

Dear Blizzard, either hop it or give me a game that makes me proud to be a Diablo nerd.

Jitters

So.
In about 36 hours I'll be off to New York. I'm so nervous Jell-O's more solid than my legs.
I've been to NYC before and shouldn't be nervous. I'm almost packed.
I will not be sleeping until I'm on that goddamn plane.