So Tycho already talked about our match against the guys over at SOE. Even though we lost again I'd say it was still one of our best. Part of that probably has to do with me finally winning my first match. When we got there they introduced their team starting with their team captain. They yanked the sheet off and there stood Diabolus in all his glory. Here's the comic in case you forgot it and here's a picture of the actual robot they built.

I suppose it is Halloween, a date which has historically called for scarifying content. Though it was not our intention to deliver horror, there is a horrifying subtext when you consider the unbridled power retailers have over what you can play.

Pork is here. He won't leave. Who invited him? Not me. I'm so angry.

If you were able to grab a copy of Eye of Judgment last week you might be interested in this EOJ tournament. It's being organized by our Forum and sign ups are going on right now through Wednesday. You can get all the details right here.

Our Pokemon League will be meeting again tomorrow night at the Comic Stop. Last week we had about thirty people show up and it was a blast. Our plan for tomorrow is to try and start as close to six as possible. We got a late start last time and that limited the number of games we were able to play. I think we will try and do 40 min rounds which means if we start on time three rounds should be easy. Also, don't forget that the new expansion Secret Wonders comes out November 7th. I actually attended a prerelease event for the new expansion over the weekend and scored some boosters. I know a few other people from our crew made it out to the event as well so there should be quite a few of the new cards floating around tomorrow night. We'll have the miniatures there again and you Diamond/Pearl players are also welcome. We've got our own forum now so please use it. Feel free to post deck ideas or trading requests. I know we've got a few people in there that are experts so if you have any questions about cards or strategies post them.

Finally, thank you all very much for the kind words regarding the artwork recently. The last two strips have been a lot of fun to draw.  Having the entire joke rest on the art is always a lot of pressure. I had a few people ask if Tycho is involved in the strips with no text and the answer is yes. We still sit down together and "write" them. In fact in the case of the Ratchet and Clank comic we actually had dialogue for each panel and then Tycho said "can we do it without text?" It was a challenge but I think that decision made it a much stronger comic.

-Gabe out

Last Friday saw the long awaited conflict between Penny Arcade and Sony erupt into fierce conflict, as rackets were drawn from the sheath and the respective battlecries were gutturally delivered. Our warcry was not sufficient to claim victory: the bloodthirsty gods it was directed toward were otherwise engaged. The final score was two rounds to five, their favor, but more than any previous match we made our opponents acutely aware of their own fleeting mortality.

This thing is shit hot.

The new Ratchet & Clank is a marvel, further proof that Insomniac is the surest thing that platform has going for it. You'll travel to lush, hitch-free worlds where the brutal load times found in other Playstation titles are nowhere to be found. It's something everyone with the system will be playing, and it's executed at a level that should generate jealousy in the non-owner. I don't know if it's enough to make someone pick it up, but we're moving into that territory. I imagine it largely depends on whether they've heard the sound it makes when you pick up bolts. I know that our desire to obtain bolts is second only to our desire to obtain even more bolts, and this is due largely to its captivating jingle slash jangle.

The Arcadia Battle Academy (our local Pokemon TCG League) now has it's own forum.

-Gabe out

Last night's Pokemon get together was a big success. We actually had a really good turn out and lots of people brought their cards. I ended up playing some miniatures and then a few rounds of the TCG. We're meeting again next Tuesday same time and place. After that we'll go every other Tuesday night. Assuming everyone sticks with it we can register our league with the Pokemon site and do some official tournaments and even get some prize support I think. In the meantime we can talk about the league in this forum thread. Now that I think about it we might actually want to have a separate forum instead of just a thread. I'll look into setting that up.

This rumor - the rumor about a Texas based BioWare being behind a Star Wars MMO - keeps coming back because I think we really want it to be true. We invest in it, we fantasize about it. It's also just a great rumor: it flips all the right switches, it has that Returning King quality that manufactures legend.

Even though, according to the forum only two other human beings will be attending our Pokemon night I'm still very excited. So excited in fact that I did some fan art. Colors coming soon.

I guess there's a chance that some of you reading this might not have pets with leaky butts. I do, and let me tell you it's no fun. Every time we take our cat to get her butt squeezed the doctor tells me she can show me how to do it at home. She suggests it would save me some money. There are certain things I am willing to do at home to save money. For example, I ask my wife to cut my hair. Something I won't do is reach into my cats asshole and wring out its butt juice. I'm willing to pay a professional for that.

Tomorrow night is the first meeting of the Arcadia Battle Academy. That's the name given to the Pokemon TCG league we're trying to start. We'll be meeting at the Comic Stop in Lynnwood from 6pm to 8pm tomorrow (Tuesday the 23rd). I've gone ahead and created a thread that you can post in right here. If you're planning on attending and you wouldn't mind making a quick post in there I'd appreciate it. I'd like to get an idea of attendance before tomorrow if possible. We're going to focus mainly on the Pokemon TCG. It will be a chance to play new decks and hopefully learn more about the game. Go ahead and bring your boxes and binders if you want to do some trading. Also, this is an all ages deal so if your kids play please feel free to bring them.

Like I said I want to focus on the TCG but I will also be bringing a box of the new Pokemon Miniatures if anyone wants to give that a try. You can even bring your Diamonds and pearls if you want to trade or battle on the DS.

It turns out there's another Pokemon TCG league that meets at the same time pretty close to us. We may end up wanting to shift our time for the next get together so as not to compete with the other group. We can figure out the frequency and time of our meetings tomorrow night.

Speaking of card games it looks like Eye of Judgment is still set to ship tomorrow. If you pick it up and your looking for a game Tycho and I are ready. We have it set up here in the office and the account on this PS3 is "CWGabe". So go ahead and add that name to your friends list.

-Gabe out

In case you are wondering, cats apparently need regular maintenance, like cars. And, like an oil change, this juicing process can be done (I'm told) at home, preferably with the curtains drawn and a couple inches of sawdust laid down. That's right: you can wring out your own cat's asshole. This is the kind of helpful information you can expect when you visit Penny Arcade. Don't everybody run home at once.

I just have two quick things to mention.

The second page of our Assassins Creed comic is now up. These are the only two pages they're going to release online so if you want more you'll need to pick up the collectors edition of the game.

Also if you're interested in the Pokemon CCG check out my post from Monday. I'm planning a get together Tuesday the 23rd at the Comic Stop in Lynnwood. It will be 6pm to 8pm or until they kick us out. You can read my old post for all the details.

-Gabe out

There was so much news, we had to poke it with a schtick. I'm allowed one or two puns like that a year. At least, I hope.

As suggested by Gabriel's recent communique, pokemania is not only going strong but has burst, like some foul canker, and the infection has spread. It's true that I have built a so-called "Leaf Deck," but this is because I was fairly certain they would beat me up if I didn't. Now he's hauling in his case of Next Quest figurines each day, as I myself once hauled a tacklebox of Necrons, only I need to stress that it was more awesome when I was doing it, because Necrons are unkillable harvesters of flesh and not some kind of weird fox or living scarf. It's absolutely fucked that I have spent almost fourteen years trying to reveal the subtle glories of table gaming, only to be cast down time and time again. However wise my counsel, it apparently lacked that crucial munchkin component.

I'm pretty frustrated with the Dunder Mifflin Infinity ARG. The site functionality is just trash. The biggest offense is the piece of shit forum they've got. It's the one way for the whole branch to talk together and it's absolute crap. Also I still can't hire new employees. There's almost 1500 people waiting to join the Spokane branch but trying to hire anymore than two at a time breaks the site for me. I contacted tech support last week and never heard back. A couple people have suggested that the website being shitty is on purpose. I don't know if I'm ready to believe it's all some ironic joke. What I do know is that interacting with their game is frustrating and I'm not sure I want to bother with it anymore.