August 27

COD World League 2020 Update!

Call of Duty World League

As you have already heard Call of Duty league play is receiving an overhaul. Right now, it is hard to tell what the lasting effects these changes will make. I am excited about the new year and hope this transition goes smoothly. There are always bumps in the road and things to be learned in the inception year. If anything, it will be fun to watch as the Owners, GMs, and Players all work it out!

As of right now, not much is known about the structure of the 2020 season. Below you will see what we know so far.

  • Teams will be city-based.
  • The minimum pro roster the teams can have is 7 and the maximum is 10.
  • On August 26th 2019 all teams established teams (See the list below) have the ability to sign new players who were on the 2019 CWL roster.
  • On September 3rd 2019 all teams have the ability to sign new players who were on the 2019 CWL roster.
  • All signed pro player will be paid a minimum base salary of $50,000 USD per year, health care benefits, and retirement benefits.
  • Teams are required to distribute at least 50% of their prize pool earnings to players directly
  • Matches will be 5v5 multiteam play.
  • There is talk about mid-series substitutions.
  • Know teams and cities so far:
    • Atlanta – Atlanta Reign
    • Dallas – Dallas Fuel
    • New York – NY Excelsior
    • Paris – Paris Eternal (Rumored)
    • Toronto – Toronto Defiant
    • Los Angeles – LA Valiant
    • Los Angeles – LA Gladiators
    • Minnesota – (Not Known)
    • Florida – Florida Mayhem
  • CDL has stated that they will support the amateur players with competitions, both online and via open bracket tournaments around the world and will have dedicated prize pools for those events.

So that is what we know so far and will keep you updated as new information trickles in.

As always stay nerdy everyone!

June 7

Mixing up your Stream!

Welcome nerds and nerdettes!

Today I want to direct your attention to a 1 year old streaming platform Mixer.com! Mixer.com (formally know as Beam) was purchased in August of 2016 by Microsoft and shortly thereafter was integrated into Windows 10 and Xbox One. On May 25th Beam was relaunched with its new name Mixer.

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way…

So, I am sure many of you are asking yourself why in the heck do I care about a streaming service. Well because this nerd right here is about to embark on an epic journey of nerdiness by throwing his jester hat into the ring of streaming. I have been playing around with this idea for some time and last week started to stream live on twitch.tv and uploading those streams to my YouTube channel.

As I delved deeper in to streaming I found another site I could stream to and it was called Mixer. I decided to check it out and created an account and what I found was a very welcoming and tight knit community that is supportive of new comers.

I decided to start streaming to Mixer, Like my Mom always told me “Never put all your eggs in one basket.” so what the heck right?  I still wanted to stream to Twitch.tv  so I started digging around to see what it would take to stream to both platforms and found a website that allows me to stream to multiple sites at the same time called restream.io. I quickly setup an account and configured my streaming software so I could do just that. On June 2nd I streamed my Aion Online game play live to both sites without a glitch.

By this time, I started watching more and more streamers on Mixer than the other guys… what was their name… oh yeah Twitch. I started asking Mixer streamers on how to build my base and the majority of them said I need to concentrate on one platform. When I asked them why they choose Mixer they all said they felt more at home, that the community was awesome, and more room for follower growth. After I digested all their feedback I decided to concentrate my efforts and build up my following on Mixer and YouTube but still stream to Twitch just to keep that account active.

If you are interested in watching me live-stream here are my links on Mixer as well as my YouTube and Twitch account!

Mixer
Twitch
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook

Stay nerdy everyone!

February 18

Review – Can you hear that Echo?!

I have been looking the Amazon Echo ($179.00) for sometime. I have gone back and forth on just how useful this tool would be in my household. I decided to take the plunge…. Today it arrived in all its glory!

The Amazon Echo
The Amazon Echo

When I opened the box I was greeted by the attractive packing. As you can guess it did not take long for me to bust out this puppy so I could take it for a test drive.

Outer case removed
Outer case removed

As I started to manhandle the box the first thing I noticed was the weight. I mean this thing weighs in at 4 pounds! This guy is a sturdy piece of equipment and the weight shows it.

What is in the box
What is in the box?

As I opened the inner box I found the Echo loving tucked into a cozy little nook. I gently pulled it out and set it aside so I could remove the other contents. Which included the power supply, setup instruction, & a quick start guide.

Fintie Protective Case
Fintie Protective Case

Fintie Protective Case
Fintie Protective Case

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As many know I am a bit of a freak when it comes to my electronics and with the money spent on this device I decided to purchase a Fintie Protective Case for Echo ($17.99). It snapped on very easy and is wraps the Echo tightly. Not only does it have a strap to slip your hand through and secure it from being dropped it has a separate bottom cover to protect the Echo from being set down into something less than desirable. There are so many color choices that anyone can find something that tickles the fancy. I chose purple because, well it is my favorite color and I am a Baltimore Raven’s fan!

There are two minor things I questioned….

  1. The weight of the Echo makes it hard to take with you, whether it be the office or someplace else.
  2. There is no battery. The Echo has to be plugged in all the time for it to work. (I did some research and found this nifty solution by Echo Battery Boot that tackles this deficiency. They are running special pricing ($69.99 12-14hr, 59.99 9-10hr, 49.99 6-7hr.) for those that pre-order. I think you should really consider doing so if you want your Echo to be portable.)

Tomorrow I will go over the setup and my first day using it.

Stay Nerdy!

September 26

Blurb – Stonhenge: What Lies Beneath?

For the last four years archaeologists from Birmingham and Bradford universities, and from the Ludwig Boltzman Institute in Vienna, have  been using powerful ground-penetrating radar around Stonehenge. What they have detected is a trove of previously unknown burial mounds, chapels, shrines, pits — and most remarkable of all — a massive megalithic monument made up of more than 50 giant stones buried along a 1,082-foot-long c-shaped enclosure.

Stonehenge: What's Underneath?
Stonehenge: What Lies Beneath?

If you are interested in knowing more about this magnificent discovery head over to i09.com to read more. You can find the two part series on YouTube Episode 1 and Episode 2.

Enjoy Nerds!

September 25

RPG – 5E: The Bone Devil!

Wow the art work alone on this guy just makes your blood curdle! This fiend is what nightmares are made of! Check out the page below to see what I mean! Oh and when you are done head over to your favorite local gaming store and pick it up (it is available at Wizards Play Network stores early prior to the September 30th release date)!

5E: Bone Devil
5E: Bone Devil

This book is a hardbound, 352 page behemoth and cost $49.99 (you can pre-order it for 29.97 on amazon.com)! It is a must have if you are planning to run a 5th edition campaign!

Later Nerds!

September 4

Blurb – Orkney Island dig reveals early Man not so primitive!

Ness of Brodgar
Ness of Brodgar

Archaeologist have uncovered a 5,000-year-old temple complex in Orkney that suggests that prehistoric people were a great deal more sophisticated than previously thought.

The dig at Ness of Brodgar, which is at it’s infancy, has revealed facts that will have us re-evaluate our understanding of how early humans lived. The complex featured paved walkways, carved stonework, colored facades, even slate roofs at a time when buildings were usually covered with turf, hides, or thatch.

If you find this interesting head on over to the full story on the www.scotsman.com.

Enjoy Nerds!

August 25

Blurb – Days of Wonder Merging With Asmodee!

Days of Wonder best known for it’s award winning Ticket to Ride tabletop game, announced today that it will merge with Asmodee Group.

Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride

Asmodee is a huge distributor of board and trading card games.  These guys handle other known brands such as Dixit and 7 Wonders and the French publishing rights to the Pokémon card game.

This move will allow Asmodee to find more exposure in the US gaming market. With the gaming community growing in the US (as one can see in the attendance at this years Gen Con) I am sure this will be a lucrative move for them.

One other thing! Not to worry the staff at Days of Wonder will continue heading up the brand as a independent company.

Only good things can come out a merger such as this. Lets face it more backing you have the more you experiment and create!

Until next time Nerds!

August 19

Blurb – New Release Day!

Here is a list of releases that were scheduled to be in stores today. This is not an exhausted list (expecially books where hundreds are released) but what caught my eye. If I missed something you think I should have mention or if you have a suggestion on what else to list every Tuesday let me know in the comments! Without further ado your releases for the week!

 

DVD Releases:

Adventure Planet

Go for Sisters

The Sacrament

Only Lovers Left Alive

The Amazing Spiderman 2

Fading Gigolo

The Quit Ones

 

Video Games:

Counterspy (PS4, PS3, Vita)

Crimsonland (Vita)

The Golf Club (Xbox One)

Gravity Badgers (Vita)

Hotline Miami (PS4)

The Last Tinker (PS4)

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (PS4, PS3)

Tales of Xillia 2 (PS3)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – Ultimate Evil Edition (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)

 

Books:

Players Hand Book (Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition)

Hoard of the Dragon Queen (Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition)

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Mummy’s Mask Part 5 – The Slave Trenches of (Paizo)

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Mummy’s Mask Part 6 – Pyramid of the Sky Pharaoh (Paizo)

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Mummy’s Mask Poster Map Folio (Paizo)

Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the River (Paizo)

Percy Jackson Greek Gods (Rick Riordan)

Tales of Xillia 2: Pima Official Game Guide

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Ultimate Evil Edition Signature Series Strategy Guide (BradyGames)

Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Volume 9 (Kirkman, Ottley, Rathburn, and Rauch)

Monster Musume Vol. 4 (OKAYADO)

The Complete Elfquest Volume 1 (Wendy Pini and Richard Pini)

Bounty Hunter Code: From The Files of Boba Fett (Star Wars) (Wallace, Windham, and Fry)

Marvels: The Platinum Edition Slipcase (Busiek and Ross)

The Ring of Nibelung (The Ring of the Nibelung) ( Russel and Kindzierski)

The Scorched Earth (The Chaos Born) (Karpyshyn)

Sherlock Holmes: The Spirit Box (Mann)

Warriors of the Imperium (Space Marines) (Hoare and Cawkwell)

 

Later Nerds!