March 2013

The Snugg ipad Case Review

photo (1)I was sent a free Snugg ipad case to review from the fine folks over at The Snugg, and since I’ve been really unsatisfied with the $60 one I purchased from Apple, I decided to try it out. It shipped very quickly (less than a week) and came in a nice clean box with instructions on how to use it, along with a cord for recharging. In specific I decided to review the snugg ipad3 ultra slim bluetooth keyboard case. I know this probably sounds silly, but I didn’t expect the case to actually come with a bluetooth keyboard. I have one of my own and I figured I would have to slip it into the case. This case comes with one along with a USB cable so that you can recharge the battery which lasts for approx. 55 hours of use. I haven’t had to recharge it yet, and I’ve had it about a week.

The case is a hard plastic, which is much sturdier than the previous one I had been using. The ipad snaps into it easily and (go figure) snug (via the picture above).

photo (2)The case itself props the ipad open like a miniature laptop, you basically just prop it up against three small pegs at the bottom that hold the ipad in place. My only issue with the case is that these pegs don’t actually secure your ipad so if you were to use the case on an unstable surface that tilts, you could drop your ipad out of it very easily. If you’re using it on your lap and tilt the case backwards or forward it would eventually slide out. However, I don’t believe that this sort of case it meant to be used that way, so the chances of that happening are quite slim and would be something you are (hopefully) planning for. Using the case on a flat surface works best, pictured above I have it set up on my desk. I also used it just fine on the couch or coffee table or even in bed beside me.

All of the components to this case are well made which I was pleased about. The USB cord is sturdy, the case has an off and on switch for the bluetooth, and gave separate instructions on how to sync the bluetooth keyboard up to your device.

Over all I was pleased with this case – especially since the price point is lower than the apple triangle cover I had purchased with the ipad. My original case is incredibly flimsy, and gives practically no protection what so ever. As I mentioned above the only downside is that the ipad is not actually secured into the case, it’s propped up but as long as you’re not bouncing around I don’t see it being that much of an issue.

Day Four DAW: Wurm Online #WurmOnline

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Another game that is incredibly near and dear to my heart is Wurm Online. A game that combines combat (if you feel like it) with an incredibly large crafting system, AND terraforming. I have such love for the developer team of this game that it is probably borderline stalking.

So my fourth (wait, four? Isn’t there only one for Glitch up there so far? Just hold on, I’ve got two more coming that I’m post-dating) Developer Appreciation Award goes out to the team at Wurm Online.

We’ve had a lot of awesome changes lately, and these are all thanks to the dev team. New graphics, new sounds, new options for terraforming. For the first time since I’ve started playing on Deliverance, we have bison. That’s a pretty big deal. Of course every time a change is implemented there’s a mob of angry gamers looking to rip a new one into those responsible, so I just wanted to say

THANK YOU

for making this game so amazing. Never in any game before have I seen such a robust crafting system. I’ve never had the ability to physically shape the land in an MMO to my specifications and some of the amazing stuff people have created over time is just that – amazing.

 

Day 3 Daw: Emerald Kingdom

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This game hasn’t been released yet, it’s still in alpha testing, but the team working on Emerald Kingdom have been incredibly helpful and vocal with their growing community, and that’s why I’m nominating them as my day 3 Developers Appreciation Award recipients. In specific I want to give a big thank you to Azrael Deling who has been fostering the community since day one.

I love community, it’s what keeps us playing in pretty much every single game when we’re ‘done’ the game. Communication between those who are creating our favorite games and those of us playing helps to keep everyone happy.

Want to learn more about the game? Check out their Emerald Kingdompedia, or the Emerald Kingdom web page. To learn more about the team at Double Cluepon Studios who are making all of this happen, you can check out their page.

Day 2 DAW: EverQuest #EverQuest

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14 years old, and still going strong. My second nomination for Developer Appreciation Week (thanks again Scarybooster for running this event) is the good folks who work on EverQuest – no matter what year they worked on it.

I recently started playing EverQuest again, and I’m so glad I did. There are over 600 people on most evenings (on my server, Drinal). The quests and expansions are still going strong and while it’s certainly not the glory days of this game any more the community is there and the developers have a close relationship to them. There have even been some developer changes lately to help bring the game more in line to those released these days, with an offline mode for the auction house, and mail that you can use to send items instead of just text (not that I ever get any mail, if I do it’s usually just spam).

This is a game that a lot of people use to mark how ‘fun’ they have in other games. Even if they don’t feel like they can return any more they’ll re-live the glory days over and over again, measuring each of their newer games against how much fun they had in it. Developers have left lasting impressions on players (not always positive), and honestly that’s what we all hope to do some day.

So thank you, developers of EverQuest. Without this game I would have never met some of the most amazing people I’ve ever known. I wouldn’t have started my blog (way back when, MmoQuests used to be just about EverQuest) and I would have never had so many new and amazing opportunities come my way.

Day One DAW: Glitch #playglitch

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So by now you’re looking at the title wondering “what the hell is DAW?!” – it’s a week long celebration of developers. In specific, it’s an event created by Scarybooster that has run for the last four years, giving thanks to the developers of our favorite games instead of acting like the ungrateful consumers of content we often come across as. Welcome to day one of the Developer Appreciation Awards.

My first award goes out to the wonderful developers of Glitch. Every single one of them. They created a game that was outside of the norm, and isn’t that what all of us keep asking for? Something different. Something new. Sadly, Glitch shut down last year and that’s why it’s even more important that I award this. If you enjoy playing a game, it’s so very important that you show your support, because not all games last forever. Eventually they shut down, and losing a game that you enjoy playing really sucks. I can’t even begin to imagine what that feeling would be like had I created the game. I imagine that when you work on a project like that you put little pieces of your heart and soul into it, and pray that the other gamers understand where you’re coming from.

So thank you, wonderful developers of Glitch. I really liked your game and appreciate all the hard work you all must have done on it.

Nomadic Gamer