Raymond Padilla

Let’s Play Heroes of Dragon Age!

For the last few months, I’ve been playing a ton of Let’s Play Heroes of Dragon Age. For professional reasons, I can’t review the game, but I’d love for you RPadholics to give it a shot. It’s available on iTunes for iOS devices and Google Play for Android devices. So please, please, please give it a download and give the game some time. When you’re done with that, kindly share your (completely unfiltered) thoughts on the game in the comments section.

For those of you that need more information, Heroes of Dragon Age is a strategy game of sorts. You take a team of characters and (kind of) battle your way through different parts of the Dragon Age universe. Different periods of history are explored. There’s a huge collectible aspect to the game as well. You’ll be able to earn or buy some really cool characters — including heroes and villains from the videogames.

Here’s an excerpt from the official description:

Collect the heroes. Become a legend! Build a party of famous warriors and epic monsters from Dragon Age lore. Battle other players in strategic, CCG-inspired 3D combat. Fight bosses on engaging quests from the award-winning, dark fantasy RPG games.

Like I said, I’ve been playing a ton of Heroes of Dragon Age. Part of it is due to habits developed from work and part of it is that I’m addicted to collecting the characters (it’s the Pokemon nerd in me). I love the Dragon Age role-playing games and while I can’t say that I love Heroes of Dragon Age, I admit that I’m addicted to it — worts and all.

But I’ve probably said too much. Ha! That’s where you come in. Let’s do this as a fun group activity. I’d super appreciate it if you gave the game a whirl. Please note that the early going is slow and you’ll probably need to spend a couple of hours with it before things get interesting. At that point, I’m sure you guys and gals will have lots of interesting things to say about the game. Fire away (please)!

Harry Potter: The Early Years

Fabulously wealthy Harry Potter author JK Rowling has announced that she’ll be involved with a play based on the titular wizard’s early years living with the Dursley family. Rowling will be a co-producer for the Harry Potter play and will consult with the writers, but will not write the script herself. Writers and directors are being considered, with the project moving into development next year. Here’s a clip from the announcement:

What was it like to be the boy in the cupboard under the stairs? This brand new play, which will be developed for the UK theatre, will explore the previously untold story of Harry’s early years as an orphan and outcast. Featuring some of our favourite characters from the Harry Potter books, this new work will offer a unique insight into the heart and mind of the now legendary young wizard. A seemingly ordinary boy, but one for whom Destiny has plans…

Uh…what? This seems like a missed opportunity. It would have been awesome to explore the Harry Potter world when Voldemort was running wilder than Hulkamania. It would have been cool to learn more about the original Order of the Phoenix. The books have so many interesting adult characters and it would have been fantastic to see them in their primes. Instead, we’re getting a tale of Harry Potter’s life in the cupboard. The books already tell enough about that stage of Harry’s life: it was crap.

On the plus side, I imagine that a large chunk of the play will be Harry talking to himself while locked in the cupboard. At least production costs will be cheap.

Hopefully my initial feelings about the play are dead wrong and the writers can work some magic to create a heart-tugging experience. What’s your first reaction to a play based on Harry Potter’s life living under the stairs? Does it have potential? Or does it sound ridiculous? Please leave a comment and let me know.

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Vaping Diaries #160: On Cleaning New Vape Gear

One of the things that surprises me about vapers is that many of them use their gear right out of the mail or straight from the store. I’m talking about drip tips, clearomizers, and rebuildable atomizers, specifically. These are all parts you’re using to ingest vapor. Shouldn’t you give them a good cleaning before using them? That seems logical and reasonable to me, yet many vapers I know are happy to use a clearomizer straight from the mailbox or use a drip tip right from the store. I think that’s ~~kind of gross~~ a little bit unsanitary. I’m puzzled as to why cleaning new vape gear is unimportant to many vapers.

Let’s look at clearomizers for a minute. The vast majority of clearos are made in China in Chinese factories (duh). You have no idea what factory conditions are like, let alone packing conditions and anything that happens during shipping. There are many opportunities for grime and germs to latch onto the clearo before you use it. Shouldn’t cleaning new vape gear be a priority with clearomizers? The clearomizer is, after all, the receptacle that holds your juice before it enters your body.

Then there are drip tips. You’re putting these things on your lips and in your mouth. I’m amazed by people that use drip tips that are on display on store shelves (for god knows how long) right in the store. Recently, I picked up a beautiful drip tip from a top manufacturer. It took five Q-Tips to get all the machine oil and grime off. Imagine if I inhaled that stuff?!? Gross. Cleaning new vape gear is important!

Compare clearomizers and drip tips to tools that you use to ingest drinks or food. Would you buy drinkware or flatware from Amazon without washing it before use? Would you buy dishes from Target and use them straight out of the box? Most vapers would wash these items before using them to eat or drink, yet many have no problem using a clearomizer or drip tip without washing them first.

My personal suggestion is to give any atomizer, clearomizer, or drip tip a thorough wash with light soap and warm water. After that, give it a healthy rinse (soap residue sucks). Before using it, give it an overnight soak in vodka (ingestible alcohol is safer than rubbing alcohol). It’s a really simple process that I wished more vapers followed. If you haven’t made a New Year’s resolution yet then think about cleaning new vape gear in 2014. Better yet, start now.

Coffee Talk #606: Fire Jeff Smisek (Or United Airlines Sucks Now)

From 1998 to 2009 I did a lot of traveling on United Airlines. For several of those years, I had Premier 1K status (100,000 miles flown per year) and I’m close to Million Miler status. You know how some people say that they hate traveling? I loved it, and United Airlines was a big reason why. The company had great international service and an extremely generous frequent flyer program. These days, United Airlines is a shell of its former self and CEO Jeff Smisek is largely to blame.

The biggest reason why I was a loyal United Airlines customer was…continued

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Colgate Salt toothpaste, enjoying the glorious humidity of Southeast Asia, or expensive DSLR backpacks, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The biggest reason why I was a loyal United Airlines customer was the Mileage Plus program. The company awarded its best customers with top-tier benefits. Complimentary upgrades — hugely important on international flights — were plentiful and easy to get. Jeff Smisek doesn’t believe in rewarding loyal customers with upgrades. He believes in selling them. Upgrades that were once available for free to top-tier frequent flyers on United Airlines are now sold to everyone, regardless of status. This makes upgrading much more difficult and more of a crapshoot (especially considering that you now have to buy a higher fare just to use an upgrade instrument).

But wait, there’s more! Jeff Smisek has also slashed benefits at every level of United Airlines’ frequent flyer program. The lowest level, Premier Silver, is next to useless. The once generous benefits to Million Miler status — which costs a lot of money to attain — have been slashed as well. Even the lofty Premier 1K status isn’t as powerful as it used to be. It seems like United Airlines is only interested in rewarding its Global Services customers, which is an invite-only program offered to customers the purchase several business class fares every year.

Essentially, Jeff Smisek is taking the short money by selling upgrades and giving benefits to those that get United Airlines credit cards. It looks great in the short term and I’m sure there are many United Airlines shareholders that are happy with his strategies. That said, I know a lot of travelers (I’m a FlyerTalk nerd too) that have left United Airlines for American Airlines or simply buying the lowest fare available.

While some of the changes are simply the cost of doing business, Smisek and his executive team are making things worse with PR gaffs. Smisek once promised several “changes you’ll like” to his customers. While there have been some improvements to United Airlines’ hard product (seats, entertainment), United’s soft product (food, service, etc.) has gotten much worse. United CFO John Rainey once called some United Airlines’ frequent flyers “over-entitled,” which was a tremendously stupid thing to say publicly.

In the last month, I’ve flown more than 21,000 miles on United Airlines and I no longer love the experience. Everything is worse. I hate seeing Jeff Smisek in the airplane’s promo videos; seeing his face makes me want to punch the screen. While I used to love flying United Airlines, most of the time it’s just “meh” to me (especially compared to my experiences on Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways) and sometimes I just hate it (getting downgraded after settling into my business class seat?!?).

While I’d love to see Jeff Smisek fired, I doubt it will happen any time soon. He’s bringing in the short money and Wall Street seems to like that. I’ll probably fly United enough to get Million Miler status. After that, I’ll probably fly American Airlines exclusively (been using AA most of the last two years for domestic travel). *sigh* I suppose this column was just about taking a stroll down memory lane and remembering how much I enjoyed traveling thanks to United Airlines. With its decreased benefits and mediocre products, the airline is turning me into one of those people that hates to travel.

Paul Rudd is…Ant-Man

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paul Rudd has been cast as the titular character in the upcoming Ant-Man movie. Rudd is famous for his comedic (and bromantic) performances in Anchorman, The 40-Year Old Virgin, I Love You Man, and more. Ant-Man is famous…well, he’s not really a famous Marvel superhero, is he? The casting is interesting; Ant-Man is an unusual character and it’s surprising that he’s getting his own movie, while it’s equally surprising that Rudd will don some spandex and play a superhero on the big screen. It’s so wacky that it just might work!

For those of you that haven’t been keeping up with news on the movie, Ant-Man will be directed by Edgar Wright. The English director is best known for Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the big-screen adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. While many comic-book fanboys expect a healthy dose of comedy, I’m hoping that the quirkiness behind the humor permeates Ant-Man.

So what are the chances of the following exchange happening in a future Avengers movie?

Ant-Man: Do you know how I know you’re gay?

Captain America: How?

Ant-Man: You had a little boy as a sidekick and crashed an airplane into some ice instead of making out with a hot British chick.

(It’s early morning and I have jet lag. I’ll come up with a much better joke later.)

My initial reaction is, “I don’t know about this one.” To me, Ant-Man (the Hank Pym version) is notable for two reasons — being one of the smartest men in the Marvel Universe and being an abusive husband. I can’t see Rudd being a genius or a wife-beater, let alone both.

Anyway, please let me know what you think of Paul Rudd as Ant-Man in the comments section. Are you intrigued by the casting? Or do you see him as too much of a comedian to play a superhero (even a tiny one)?

Ant-Man is slated for a July 2015 release.

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Vaping Diaries #159: Craft Vapery Curated E-Liquid

Craft Vapery is taking a unique and intelligent approach to e-liquids that benefits newcomers to vaping, vaping veterans, and everyone in between. The company offers a curated and personalized vaping experience. After selecting different types of flavors you like, Craft Vapery sends you three selections per month. Your flavor choices and the recommendations of the company’s expert curators determine what juices you’re sent. Throughout your subscription, your flavor profile evolves in order to help you find different e-liquids that hit your vaping sweet spot.

In a recent press release, Craft Vapery CEO Omri Agam said, “With so many new products coming on the market all the time and no system to determine what’s good and what’s not, we’ve also felt the confusion and frustration shared by so many of our fellow vapers. Basically, we wanted to create a company that we wish had existed when we started vaping. So we put together a team of incredibly talented industry veterans in order to bring the very best in-store experience online, to everybody.”

To give you an idea of what the Craft Vapery experience is like, check out the web site images below.

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New vapers have the option of adding a starter kit to the mix, while intermediate vapers can add cartomizers, clearomizers, and clearo heads to their monthly orders. Advanced vapers that primarily use rebuildable atomizers can focus on the juice. One of the cool things about Craft Vapery’s curated service is that it appeals to all levels of vapers. In the aforementioned press release, Craft Vapery president Joshua Krane said, “In the end, we believe that it’s this passion that will make a curated, premium subscription offering like ours a success. We’re set to deliver the best of the vape shop experience, straight to your door.”

Craft Vapery will initially be available to 300 vapers. It will cost $40 a month (juices only) for three 15ml bottles of e-liquid. Here are more details from the press release.

Signup for the exclusive box subscriptions, delivered directly to homes, begins December 16, with the first boxes shipping early January 2014. Each box contains three hand picked and curated flavors of vaping liquid, selected by personal curators drawing on each subscriber’s ‘flavor profile’ and assisted by Craft’s personal recommendation engine. Craft Vapery users can each rate their monthly selection, awarding their favorites and noting personal preferences, to aid future curation and ensure the most tailored experience possible.

While the cost per milliliter is slightly higher than what many top online e-liquid vendors offer, Craft Vapery includes personalized service that’s constantly evolving. In addition to the company’s recommendation engine and expert curators, there will be Craft Vapery employees available by email and phone, ready to help you find the juice that’s right for you. On paper, it sounds like a great idea with tremendous potential to help vapers find what’s best for them. More importantly, Craft Vapery has the potential to help vapers avoid wasting money on juices they don’t like. It’s like having a great store at your disposal without having to leave the comfort of your home. (Translate: It’s like being able to go to a great vape shop in your boxers!)

In addition to checking out the Craft Vapery web site, you can get more information by keeping up with the company’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. If you’re all set to give Craft Vapery a shot, the company has a special offer for RPad.TV readers — use the coupon code RPAD20 to receive 20 percent off your first Craft Vapery order.

I’ve a bunch of Craft Vapery coverage slated for the future. For now, please let me know what you think of the company’s approach to vaping e-liquids.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I got back from Hawaii this week and it’s off to Asia next week. Unfortunately, I won’t have any time for console games this weekend. There’s too much work and laundry to be done before takeoff. I will be playing lots of Heroes of Dragon Age on my iPhone 5. Yesterday, I posted a link to an interview my buddy Paul Semel conducted with Heroes of Dragon Age producer ~~Zoo~~ Joe Lander. I urge you to download the game so that we can have a little experiment on RPad.TV. It’ll be a neat little project for all of us! Just in case you’re rocking an Android phone or tablet, here’s the Google Play link for the game.

So in addition to Heroes of Dragon Age, what’s on your weekend playlist?

Heroes of Dragon Age Interview

My buddy Paul Semel of PaulSemel.com has an excellent interview with Heroes of Dragon Age producer Tim Lander. For those of you not familiar with the game, Heroes of Dragon Age (Android, iOS) mixes strategy and collectible-card gameplay. It uses several characters, races, and locations from the Dragon Age universe, expanding on some of the rich history that was merely touched on in the games.

I urge you to check out the interview…for several reasons. As many of you know, I’m a mark for the Dragon Age series, but I also have a professional interest in this particular title. In fact, I’m going to ask several of you RPadholics to play it for a completely informal focus group of sorts. I really, really want your opinions on this game.

Oh yeah, here’s a snippet from the interview (please read the whole thing when you have a chance!):

Capital Games have a history of making deeply strategic experiences, and since fans of Dragon Age are also looking for a deeply strategic experience, it was a natural fit. Our focus then simply became creating an experience that was easy to play but hard to master, with accessible gameplay, visually stunning graphics, and an experience made for phones and tablets.

I’m most excited about making Heroes Of Dragon Age continue to be an incredible experience for our players. These games have long life spans, and we’re dedicated to providing additional content, both in terms of new features and additional characters after launch. We want to give them lots of reasons to come back to the game and keep playing for years to come.

I’ll start another story shortly for your assorted thoughts on Heroes of Dragon Age. Now I’m going to bug Paul about why he didn’t lead with the obvious introductory statement: “Tim Lander. I think I know your brother, Zoo!”

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Vaping Diaries #158: Win an EHPro Nzonic Clone

This month I’m giving away an EHPro Nzonic clone. I reviewed this mod last month and while I had some issues with the build quality, I was impressed with its strong performance. None of the issues should matter though because, you know, free mod! All you have to do is:

Follow me on Twitter.
Tweet this article to spread the word. There’s even a handy Twitter button on the left sidebar for your convenience.

For extra karma points, please let your friends know about this contest. Now here are the boring contest rules.

Only one entry per participant
Contest closes on December 22, 2013 11:59PM PST
Winner will be chosen with a random number generator
Must 18 or older to participate
Must have a U.S. mailing address to be eligible
RPad Productions Inc. is not responsible for the prize being lost or damaged by USPS

Vaping Diaries #157: Vapour Art GP Paps X Review

It’s hard to write a review of the Vapour Art GP Paps X without sounding like a bootlicker. There are just so many extraordinary aspects of the mod that it’s easy to spend hundreds of words lavishing it with praise. While I’m a fan of Vapour Art products, I can also objectively say that the GP Paps X easily one of the best mods on the market today.

Build Quality and Construction: The GP Paps X is made from 316 stainless steel. This type of steel is heavier and more expensive than the 303 and 304 varieties most mechanical mods are made from. To put in perspective, 303 and 304 stainless steel are used for pots and pans, while 316 stainless steel is used for jewelry and watches. This grade of steel gives the GP Paps X a nice heft and a luxurious feel.

The contact points on the GP Paps X are silver-plated brass. Silver is tops when it comes to conductivity and it’s lower maintenance than copper. While you do need to clean the contacts periodically, you don’t have to do so as often as you would with bare brass or copper contacts.

The threads on the GP Paps X are extraordinary. After a thorough wash, they’re still considerably smoother than lubricated threads on any of the mods in my collection. So yeah, there’s buttery and then there’s the threads on the GP Paps X. Even when they’re completely dry, the action on the threads is so silky that they feel lubed. It’s impossible to adequately illustrate in words or in video how remarkable the machining on the GP Paps X is; when you feel it yourself, you’ll have a “Wow!” moment.

In terms of materials and craftsmanship, the GP Paps X is one of the best mods you can buy today.

Design and Ergonomics: The GP Paps X can be used with 18350 to 18650 batteries. It can also be used with an 18650 battery with an Evolv Kick, which is atypical for high-end mods.

The main body is brushed steel, while the accents are polished. By default, the top ring lets you adjust airflow. If you’re using an atomizer that has its own airflow control, like the Aqua or Kayfun, then you can pick up the optional replacement top ring for a flush appearance. Keep in mind that the GP Paps X has a 23mm diameter, which is slightly larger than most popular atomizers.

The firing button on the GP Paps X is another outstanding feature. The throw is incredibly short and the mod require a soft touch to fire, yet it can stand unlocked without firing. Outside of Vapour Art products, I’ve never felt a firing button like this. Again, describing with words or in a video doesn’t do it justice. It’s really quite amazing.

The aesthetics of the GP Paps X are blessedly subtle. The bottom of the tube has the GP logo on one side and the serial number on the other — that’s it. I love the understated and classy appearance of the GP Paps X, but looks are, of course, subjective.

Performance: The GP Paps X hits hard and has very low voltage drop. Compared with other stainless steel mods, the GP Paps X is among the best performers. The silver-plated contacts and tight engineering factor into its performance. Of course there are brass and copper mods with lower voltage drop, but as far as stainless steel mechs go, this mod is one of the best.

Verdict: With a price of $240, the GP Paps X is slightly more expensive than many high-end mods. Considering its superior materials and phenomenal workmanship, I think the price is absolutely worth it. It’s easily the best mod in my collection and certainly one of the best mods you can buy today. Now bring on the aluminum bronze GP Paps X Lux Vapour Art!