Nerd Culture Podcast

Hi all!

Welcome to a special audio post featuring the NCP crew & special guest star Mr Larry Boxshall’s Favourite Cartoons!

This segment was cut from episode #38 and it was a shame to lose it, but it had to be cut for length.

So sit back and enjoy this DVD Special Features style post and if you like it, comment!

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25 mins

The official Man of Steel trailer is out and the interwebs are abuzz with what seems like equal part joy & outrage.

Despite my reservations towards Zack Snyder as director, I am growing more and more excited for this film as we get closer to its June 14 2013 release date, and this trailer is definitely helping fan the flames.

I’ve watched this quite a few times now and I have a few thoughts, the most important being that I now think I know what the storyline is.

This is only a guess so I’m not calling spoiler alert 🙂 but I think the basic plot is this:

Jonathan teaching Clark that the world will fear him, and the emotional damage caused when that actually happens after the rescue of the school bus, leads Clark to a life of solitude and loneliness. Until Zod arrives.

That’s right, I think Zod will arrive on Earth, along with a couple of Kryptonians (well at least Faora), and attempt to take control, much like the New Krypton/War of the Supermen storyline.

It is Zod who will finally reveal the truth to Clark about his true heritage and then use that to try and recruit him to his side. After being initially tempted, Clark will then become Superman in order to combat Zod and his evil plans, but because of Zod’s misdeeds the world will initially fear Clark and arrest him, only for him to either convince them of his goodness and release him, or call on him to help (like Hancock), or both.

In defeating Zod Clark will lose all connections to his birth planet, but will be happy that he defended his adopted one.

They’ll also have a scene with Clark inside the Fortress of Solitude with his eyes closed smiling, as he finally finds the place he can relax from all the sensory input.

There you have it. I may change it slightly as more tidbits are revealed, but I can’t wait to see how accurate, if at all, I was, and especially can’t wait to see this film.

Likes/Dislikes about the trailer:

Likes – Every action scene looked cool / Martha calming Clark down when his super hearing kicks in / Clark and Lois holding hands
Dislikes – The promo version of the S shield looks weird, a little over done (although the suit version looks fine / Cavill still doesn’t look convincing as Supes / and of course the ‘Maybe’ uttered by Jonathan

This simple piece of dialogue is what has caused the outrage I mentioned at the start of this post, and to be honest I really don’t see what all the fuss is about. There are 2 reasons why I’m not launching into a total Nerdrage over this scene.

1. The detractors are right, the Jonathan we all know and love would never say this. It just wouldn’t happen. But this isn’t the Jonathan we all know. This isn’t the comic or Donner version. It is a brand new take and to be honest, I think he’s a bit of a dick. And although part of me wants to scream at this portrayal, the other part is interested in seeing how this goes.

2. We don’t know what he says after this bit. It could be something like “Maybe. But that’s not who you are Clark and that’s why you’re going to become the great man I know you will.” Hopefully not something as clunky as that but you get my drift.

Anyway, that’s my opinion on the new Man of Steel trailer. I’m excited! What’s yours? Let me know with a comment!

Our Best of Bond Special!

We celebrate 50 years of the world’s greatest super spy by discussing the best & worse Theme Songs, Gadgets, Villains, Bonds & Films!

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Click here to listen on iPad or download as an mp3

Welcome to a special audio edition of Who Review. For this edition NCP presents the one and only Terry ‘Davros‘ Molloy.

I had the honor of interviewing Mr Molloy at the last Armageddon Expo and thought that Who Review would be the perfect place to share it with you guys. Enjoy!

P.S. I know I’ve already used the cool soundbyte Mr Molloy did for us on episode #37 but it was too awesome not to include here as well 🙂

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Duration: 22 minutes

Hail Storm is designed to keep your enemies in the cold, while you shatter them into tiny pieces with barrages of ice and frost. The main purpose for this spec is to keep enemies frozen or chilled at all times to allow for better targeting, damage, and survivability.

http://www.wowhead.com/talent#my\N|kmozR0

This Frost spec should have an easier time with adds and group pulls due to the total of 3 Frost Nova types of attacks, being Frost Nova, Ice Ward, and your Elemental’s Freeze spell. With these, it is far easier to single out a large mob from a group, or hitting them all with Blizzard, Cone of Cold, and/or Frozen Orb.

As for the damage aspect, all of these freezing abilities allow for the use of a more powerful version of Ice Lance (4x normal damage) or Deep Freeze (5 sec stun). Also, due to Fingers of Frost (passive) your Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt, Blizzard, and Frozen Orb all have a chance to make your next Ice Lance or Deep Freeze act as though your enemy was frozen. Invocation will also keep damage up by 25% so long as its used every 40 seconds, easily enough time to dispatch of your foes.

Survivability will be increased not only due to the fact that you are slowing or rooting your enemies, but also due to Ice Barrier and Presence of Mind. The reason why I included Presence of Mind is due to the face that it allows for a split second reaction for a just in case situation. One such situation for me was a point when I had a few adds on me in the Jade Forest, I used Presence of Mind to cast my Frost Bomb on a mob. Yes, it may have only a 1.5 sec cast time, however, when you are near death from having fought several enemies and was interrupted by the current mob from replenishing HP and MP, an instant cast for a few second to an explosion that slows enemies is very handy. Especially when it’s followed by an Ice Barrier then Frost Nova and AoE damage galore!

GLYPHS
For Major Glyphs, I chose 2 for damage, and 1 for utility. Cone of Cold and Ice Lance increases the damage of 2 of the main 2 instant cast damage spells that will be used with Frost spec. Frost Nova is a keystone for this spec, so a reduced cool down time is very beneficial. For Minor Glyphs, Momentum is great for gaining more distance from frozen enemies, so long as you make sure there are no enemies in the area you are going. Loose Mana is not a requirement for this spec, but there may be some moments where gaining mana a little slower could be useful, especially since having Invocation, which reduced mana regeneration by 50%.

ROTATION
Try to make sure Ice Barrier stays up at all times along with your Invocation bonus (if you are level 90 that is). Your go to spell will always be Frostbolt. It places up to 3 stacks of vulnerability for a total of 15% to a few of your main spells, and that of your Water Elemental as well.  After you have your stacks, or if you feel your enemy is too close, feel free to use Freeze from your Elemental, or go for Frost Nova. I recommend keeping Ice Ward for just in case situations. Then when they are covered in ice, you can go for a Deep Freeze, or If that’s on cool down, go straight for a barrage of Ice Lance and Cone of Cold. Also, be sure to use Ice Lance whenever you have a proc from your Fingers of Frost (or Deep Freeze if necessary). As for groups, be sure to put in a Frost Bomb as early as possible. Then try to get the group of enemies clustered together, so you can freeze them with one of your 3 options from above, then Blink and us Frozen Orb and Blizzard.