Schedule Shakeup

So tonight I normally don't stream.  Except I am.  And this Friday I wouldn't normally stream either, and I won't, however I will be doing a short live stream.  Why, you ask??

Cause I'll be at Salt Lake Comic Con!

Super excited to be going to one of my favorite places with the family.  We won't be doing any celebrity hounding this year but its ok because there's so much more to do than stand in long lines and listen to two dudes argue the virtues and vices of Kirk and Picard.  (Picard completely blows Kirk out of the water in intelligence, sophistication and sexiness - just sayin.)

So tonight in my semi-obsessive need to have all the healers, I might be leveling my agent some.  One thing I haven't really tried in Star Wars: The Old Republic is PvP healing.  None of the classes are really great for that.  Merc healers can be quite mobile with their heals and they get some nice shield procs and protective bubbles, but they only have one really good 'get out of stun lock free' and its cooldown makes it pretty unimpressive.  Sorcerer heals just got a nice big nerf stick to the face not too long ago and so while they have some nice abilities for heals on the run and escapes, they've seen a big loss in pure healing umph.  Which leaves me with the agent.

I have to admit.  Agent was fun to level but its not very much fun to play otherwise (note: IMO). As I've said before, I'm not a fan of melee DPS.  I much prefer ranged but agents as much as Gunslinger Smugglers suffer from ridiculously long cast times for their abilities with little to no mobility at all, if you want to cast the hard hitters.  I seriously tip my hat to the players that make the Sniper/Gunglslinger a viable and deadly class in PvP.  I just can't find the knack for it.  Which leads into some of the things I do not like about the agent heals.  Agent heals are less mobile than mercs, and they have more potential healing ability than sorcs.  But their abilities suffer from longish cast times.  The only thing, for me, that makes the agent rise above the rest for PvP is all its lovely escapes.  Which, having rarely played stealth classes, will be the hardest thing for me to learn and make intuitive.

So here's to throwing myself in the pool and making myself learn to swim so to speak.  And I'm going to do all for your enjoyment!

Here goes nothing -    www.twitch.tv/scrappywheelz

Also remember, you still have time to sub to your favorite Twitch-er for half off the normal sub price!  SubTember is almost over so make sure you take advantage of this fantastic offer while it lasts.


~~~   Scrappywheelz   ~~~

Bits and Scraps

Like I promised, I have finally implemented a few new features!  Not only do I have a tip mug

You can now visually see those bit cheers when you tip!  Throw as many bits as you like in my mug, and watch the magic.

Bits are fun but you do not need to donate them to participate in my stream.

Introducing - scraps!  For every 5 minutes you watch my live stream, you will receive 5 scraps!  Scraps can be used for playing games on my stream, or redeeming prizes.

You might have noticed that there is a button on the lower righthand of my screen.  This is the menu button where you play games, redeem scraps and request songs from SoundCloud.

Here is the initial offerings for scraps:

Also watch for the bouncing chest!  If you see one bouncing around my screen, click on it for a reward!  The amounts contained in the chest will change from time to time so you'll never know how much you're going to get.

I'll be streaming tonight at 9pm MST.  Tonight's adventure will be the follow up chapter to the Revan series - Ziost!  Please feel free to join me and earn those scraps!

And don't forget - September is SubTember at Twitch.  All month long any level of subscriptions are 50% off for your first month's subscription to your favorite streamer.  My sub button is in the upper right hand corner of my stream!

www.twitch.tv/scrappywheelz

~~~   Scrappywheelz  ~~~

Half Price Subs! and Revan

No, not that kind of sub!  Subscriptions!  During the month of September, Twitch is offering you the chance to support my stream for your first month for only $2.99 - half off the normal $4.99 pricetag.  SUBtember is here! (That one wasn't mine.  Blame Twitch.) Do you have to sub to enjoy my awkward and nerdy antics?  Of course not.  I don't normally pander the fact that I'm affiliated.  I figure if that's something you are interested in the button in the upper right hand corner of my screen next to the Follow button should be enough of a clue.  But since this something outside the norm, I'd figure I'd let you know about it!  If this something that interests you, great!  Let's rock and roll.  If not, great!  Let's rock and roll.

Did you also know that if you are an Amazon Prime member you are also eligible for an upgrade to Twitch Prime for free?  Yes!  Meaning commercial-free streams, access to monthly gaming specials and freebies and the ability to subscribe to one of your favorite Twitch channels for no extra out of pocket (meaning you don't have pony up another $5 [normally] a month).  That would be me, right?

So all this information directs you to one big question - "Why would you do that?".  Well, outside of the fact that I'm awesome which would be fairly specious of me to say, I've got lots of fun things planned for the folk who do subscribe to me coming up in the near future.  I've already hinted at one of them in a previous post, so keep your eye out for more updates.

DarthTemoc Deviantart

Revan!  What more can I say about this enigmatic force-user other than he is fascinating?  Now don't get all excited.  I have not read one word of any other EU Star Wars books on him (don't worry I have had friends chastise me on this already).  I didn't even know he was a thing until I started playing my first warrior in Star Wars: The Old Republic.  But ever since I played that first questline in Dromand Kaas (now located at The Wall), the duality of his nature, his seeming inability to assimilate both his light and dark sides has intrigued me.  Because let's be honest.  Who hasn't warred with aspects of their own nature in their way?  Who hasn't discovered that one decision changed the whole direction of your entire future, for good or for bad?

So for the next few play dates, I'll be focusing on playing out the entire Revan storyline that should take me from Mask of Revan on Dromand Kaas to Call to Arms for Boarding Party and The Foundry to Shadow of Revan on Rishi andYavin 4.  It should be a fun ride!

Hope to see you there!


~~~   Scrappywheelz   ~~~

Houston Strong

On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall at Corpus Christi, TX,  near Houston.  And once again history repeated itself, sort of.  Anyone that was alive in the early 2000's remembers Hurricane Katrina and the disaster that was.  And I'm not really talking about the hurricane itself.  Or the floods.  Or the poorly maintained levys breaking.  I'm talking about the human disaster that played out in the weeks and months after the storm had subsided.  All the news reported was efforts to help.  People transporting people by boat when they had been living out in the open on the tops of their roofs for days.  Animals clinging to logs too exhausted to swim anymore.  Old and disabled people abandoned by their 'caretakers' to roll the dice with fate.  Lousisana's Superdome became a gigantic shelter with thousands upon thousands of displaced people camping out practically on top of each other.  People who had no place else to go sat in the heat, wondered if they were going to eat that day and worried about sending their family members to the bathroom because they never knew if they were going to be physically attacked or sexually assaulted by the predators that shared their roof.  And the worst of it - the politicians on both sides of the aisle in Washington DC and in the affected areas playing the blame game with pointed fingers instead of rolling up their sleeves and putting their power to do good to work, delaying help and funding for weeks!  It was a pretty bleak picture for a long time.

Its not going to be like that this time.  People in the wake of Katrina saw that the most effective help that those people and areas received were not government agencies.  They were by organizations, old and new, whose sole purpose was to intervene in times like these.  And this time, while the support of government agencies are important (why should we pay taxes if all its going to do is pay politician salaries?), this time we know where our time and money should be going.

Today, Wednesday, September 6th at 8pm EDT, a group of us who stream on Twitch** are going to have a fundraising stream to help those affected by the hurricane.  Our group specifically plays the game Star Wars: The Old Republic.  As the guild Unholy Alliance on the Harbringer server, we'll gather to raid, to goof off, laugh and help raise awareness of the different ways you can help.  Join us for the fun, but also consider making a donation too.  Think about it.  There were 114.8 million families living in the United States in 2010.  If each family in this country donated just $1, that would be $114.8 million going towards helping put people back on their feet, returning animals to their owners and cleaning up the mess Mother Nature made.   That's a lot of power to do good for just $1.

I've included of list of reputable organizations you can make donations to, that have proven track records of effective emergency help:

Global Giving
Red Cross
Salvation Army
LDS Church Humanitarian Aid Fund (100% of funds donated are used for relief services, not administration)
Houston SPCA
Houston Humane Society

US Only

Text HARVEY to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross adds $10 to monthly cellphone bill.

Text STORM to 51555 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army adds $10 to monthly cellphone bill.

Keep in mind -- donating money without making sure where your money goes risks it going to the wrong people and there will always be people whose purpose it is to defaud others at the expense of people who could use it more!  Do your due diligence before handing over your cash or credit/debit card numbers to anyone!

I never want to see Katrina happen again.  I have family and friends that live in the Houston and southern Texas areas, or personally know people who were displaced to different states because where they lived was destroyed or no longer safe to live in.  Most of ones I know that lived in Texas during Harvey had the ability to get their families to safety, but not everyone has the means or the ability to do that.  Let's make sure everyone gets back on their feet - in a safe home, with food, clothes, pets and family members.

See you at 8pm EDT on my Twitch channel! - www.twitch.tv/scrappywheelz


**  Disclaimer:  I am an affliated broadcaster with Twitch.  Any monies raised during this event will be strictly for relief effots and will not be used for personal gain or to pad Twitch's pockets!  This is not a Twitch sponsored event.

~~~   Scrappywheelz  ~~~