Their original clip, from 10 years ago, has been taken down. They're 10 years older and some of them are having just a shade of trouble hitting the really high notes, but the A Capella group from Indiana University are still doing an excellent job with their rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas.
I hope it makes you smile as much as it does me.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Festivus, or just plain Happy Holidays.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Another one rides the bus
This morning while waiting for the bus, a (what's the PC term?) Residentially Challenged Man wandered up, scratching himself, fidgeting, and doing things your typical RC person is wont to do, like slapping himself and yelling at things only he can see.
I debated (with myself) the merits of calling my local P.D. but really, what had this fellow done other than be Residentially Challenged? That really shouldn't be a crime (and I doubt it is), and while he did look like he could use the attention of someone who'd take better care of him than he was himself, would my local P.D. be able to satisfy that role in his life? And considering the Bus Station is under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Department, not the local P.D., my friendly, neighborhood RCM would probably end up just getting a ride into downtown and wind up a few blocks from where I work.
He wasn't hurting anyone, and didn't really appear dangerous, so I figured what with it being Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanza/Winter Solstice, why not just let my fellow man be.
A Metro Bus came through and the RCM got all excited, but this particular Bus was Not In Service so it just drove on by without stopping, and the RCM calmed down (somewhat) and resumed his fidgeting and pacing. Then a Foothill Transit Bus pulled up at the station and the RCM jumped up and trotted over to the door, but as this Bus terminated at the Bus Station the RCM was once again disappointed. Then my Bus finally arrived and everyone in line got excited, but the RCM was more so than most.
Ignoring the line of passengers he trotted up to the door and got lucky. Normally the Drivers of the Express Buses into downtown close the front door when they go back to check their passengers and make sure everyone has paid the extra fare to ride into town, but this morning's driver didn't do that; he left the front door open.
The RCM pushed his way in front of the first person in line and when the driver was halfway down the bus he made his move and leaped aboard. Taking a couple of quick steps he plopped down into the first available seat, and his new neighbor immediately switched seats. I watched as the Bus Driver got to the back of the bus, checked his last passenger, then turned and made his way back towards the front. Surely he'd notice RCM and realize he hadn't been there earlier but RCM's sheer audacity paid off and the Driver walked past him without blinking, or even wrinkling up his nose.
For gaming the system and getting a free ride into downtown, we salute you, Mr. Smarter-than-you-look Residentially Challenged Man!
I debated (with myself) the merits of calling my local P.D. but really, what had this fellow done other than be Residentially Challenged? That really shouldn't be a crime (and I doubt it is), and while he did look like he could use the attention of someone who'd take better care of him than he was himself, would my local P.D. be able to satisfy that role in his life? And considering the Bus Station is under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Department, not the local P.D., my friendly, neighborhood RCM would probably end up just getting a ride into downtown and wind up a few blocks from where I work.
He wasn't hurting anyone, and didn't really appear dangerous, so I figured what with it being Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanza/Winter Solstice, why not just let my fellow man be.
A Metro Bus came through and the RCM got all excited, but this particular Bus was Not In Service so it just drove on by without stopping, and the RCM calmed down (somewhat) and resumed his fidgeting and pacing. Then a Foothill Transit Bus pulled up at the station and the RCM jumped up and trotted over to the door, but as this Bus terminated at the Bus Station the RCM was once again disappointed. Then my Bus finally arrived and everyone in line got excited, but the RCM was more so than most.
Ignoring the line of passengers he trotted up to the door and got lucky. Normally the Drivers of the Express Buses into downtown close the front door when they go back to check their passengers and make sure everyone has paid the extra fare to ride into town, but this morning's driver didn't do that; he left the front door open.
The RCM pushed his way in front of the first person in line and when the driver was halfway down the bus he made his move and leaped aboard. Taking a couple of quick steps he plopped down into the first available seat, and his new neighbor immediately switched seats. I watched as the Bus Driver got to the back of the bus, checked his last passenger, then turned and made his way back towards the front. Surely he'd notice RCM and realize he hadn't been there earlier but RCM's sheer audacity paid off and the Driver walked past him without blinking, or even wrinkling up his nose.
For gaming the system and getting a free ride into downtown, we salute you, Mr. Smarter-than-you-look Residentially Challenged Man!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Fable II
Does Microsoft really need to sell their X-Box so badly that they'll force gamers to buy it just to play Fable II?
Considering you can't play Halo on the PC (or we'd spank those console players arses, and they know it), it really shouldn't be a surprise, but it's still fucking annoying. And no, I'm not going to buy an X-Box just to play Fable II...I already have an X-Box, it's called a PC, and it kicks the X-Box's arse.
Fucking Microsoft.
/rant off
Considering you can't play Halo on the PC (or we'd spank those console players arses, and they know it), it really shouldn't be a surprise, but it's still fucking annoying. And no, I'm not going to buy an X-Box just to play Fable II...I already have an X-Box, it's called a PC, and it kicks the X-Box's arse.
Fucking Microsoft.
/rant off
Thursday, December 11, 2008
They play how much, now?
According to GigaOM, in Q2/2006 Blizzard made $30,000,000 from their 5,000,000 Chinese subscribers who, GigaOM quotes (but from where I'm not sure), pay approx. US4¢/hr to play.
$30m per quarter means $10m/month (on average).
$10m / 4¢ (per hour) = 250,000,000 hours.
250m hours / 5m players = 50 hours.
So on average, each Chinese player plays WoW for...just 50 hours per month?
Oddly enough, that really isn't much.
When I used to play, I could easily play for 2-3 hours every weeknight, plus the same (or more) on weekends. I'd be up early on weekends and get in a good couple of hours before Liz would be up, and then sometimes get in another hour or two after that as well. We'd go out somewhere for the afternoon/evening, get home, and I could easily put in another couple of hours before bed.
2-3 hours per weeknight + 12 hours per weekend (both days) = 22-25 hours per week.
4 weeks + 3/4 'extra' days per month = 100+ hours of WoW per month.
So I played twice as much as the average Chinese player, and I was just a casual-hardcore player.
True hardcore players would put in even more time, possibly as much as 150 hours per month. Raiding on multiple weeknights (4 hours per) would easily jack your monthly hours up that high.
I know what you're saying. What about Chinese Gold Farmers. They're on 24/7 (except Tuesdays). Allowing downtime for Tuesdays, let's say 29 days per month, at 24 hours per day, = approx. 700 hours. So one Chinese Gold Farmer = approx. 14 recreational players.
Unless...all of the Chinese players are Gold Farmers. How ironic would that be.
Assuming the average Chinese player is on for 50 hours, and the average Chinese Gold Farmers is on for 700 hours, given that there is 5,000,000 of them and together they play for a combined 250,000,000 hours, I'm sure there's a quadratic formula that would let you work out the ratio of Players to Farmers. I'm good with Maths, but I can't be stuffed working it out.
Anyone want to take a shot at it?
$30m per quarter means $10m/month (on average).
$10m / 4¢ (per hour) = 250,000,000 hours.
250m hours / 5m players = 50 hours.
So on average, each Chinese player plays WoW for...just 50 hours per month?
Oddly enough, that really isn't much.
When I used to play, I could easily play for 2-3 hours every weeknight, plus the same (or more) on weekends. I'd be up early on weekends and get in a good couple of hours before Liz would be up, and then sometimes get in another hour or two after that as well. We'd go out somewhere for the afternoon/evening, get home, and I could easily put in another couple of hours before bed.
2-3 hours per weeknight + 12 hours per weekend (both days) = 22-25 hours per week.
4 weeks + 3/4 'extra' days per month = 100+ hours of WoW per month.
So I played twice as much as the average Chinese player, and I was just a casual-hardcore player.
True hardcore players would put in even more time, possibly as much as 150 hours per month. Raiding on multiple weeknights (4 hours per) would easily jack your monthly hours up that high.
I know what you're saying. What about Chinese Gold Farmers. They're on 24/7 (except Tuesdays). Allowing downtime for Tuesdays, let's say 29 days per month, at 24 hours per day, = approx. 700 hours. So one Chinese Gold Farmer = approx. 14 recreational players.
Unless...all of the Chinese players are Gold Farmers. How ironic would that be.
Assuming the average Chinese player is on for 50 hours, and the average Chinese Gold Farmers is on for 700 hours, given that there is 5,000,000 of them and together they play for a combined 250,000,000 hours, I'm sure there's a quadratic formula that would let you work out the ratio of Players to Farmers. I'm good with Maths, but I can't be stuffed working it out.
Anyone want to take a shot at it?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Graffiti: Art, or Vandalism?
I thought I'd expand on the conversation/comments started by my last Post.
IMO, whether Graffiti is Art or Vandalism depends on the graffiti itself, and on the "canvas" that was used.
When we first moved into our townhouse our communal letterbox (that we shared with 6 neighbors) came with a piece of lumber across the top. About 3' wide, 12" tall, painted white, it proved an irresistible target, so I wasn't too surprised when I came home from work one day to see something unintelligible scribbled across it. But we'd been painting the house that past weekend so I happened to have a couple of cans of white paint in the garage, and as soon as I'd parked my car I was back out the front, paint & brush in hand.
When painted/written under a larger piece of work I could acknowledge that this:
is an artist's signature. But when it's scrawled in black marker across a letterbox it's nothing but senseless vandalism. I obliterated it with a coat of white paint (not this piece specifically).
A couple of days later it was back. Maybe the same Tagger, maybe not, I don't know; I lost the ability to read Scribble when I graduated from Kindergarten.
I painted over it again.
About a week went by before the Taggers struck again, and probably within hours of them scribbling their nonsense on my letterbox I'd once again erased it.
It was almost six months before they Tagged us again.
They were still around. I'd see their work up and down the street, on other letterboxes, For Sale signs, even spray painted on hedges, but for six months they left us alone. And when they finally did hit us I was back out there, painting over it again.
It didn't piss me off, in fact I got a smug sense of satisfaction by imagining the Tagger coming by later to admire his work, and seeing that his biggest Tag was already gone, just hours after he'd put it up.
That's Tagging. It's graffiti, and it's vandalism. It's exactly the same as your dog pissing on and marking every rock, tree & street sign when you take him for a walk.
"This is mine! And this is mine! Oh, this? This is mine, too! And this! It's mine as well!"
No, this letterbox is mine!
Now if the Taggers had shown a little bit of style and creativity, I might have left their work alone. If they'd done something like this:
or even this:
I'd have thought, "That's pretty cool! I like it!" and it could have stayed.
But when a dog takes a piss up against your letterbox it's only natural to grab your hose and clean it off. Or you piss right back, and you keep on doing that, and eventually the dog comes through saying, "This is mine! And this! And this, too! And...oh! This? No. This is yours."
IMO, whether Graffiti is Art or Vandalism depends on the graffiti itself, and on the "canvas" that was used.
When we first moved into our townhouse our communal letterbox (that we shared with 6 neighbors) came with a piece of lumber across the top. About 3' wide, 12" tall, painted white, it proved an irresistible target, so I wasn't too surprised when I came home from work one day to see something unintelligible scribbled across it. But we'd been painting the house that past weekend so I happened to have a couple of cans of white paint in the garage, and as soon as I'd parked my car I was back out the front, paint & brush in hand.
When painted/written under a larger piece of work I could acknowledge that this:
is an artist's signature. But when it's scrawled in black marker across a letterbox it's nothing but senseless vandalism. I obliterated it with a coat of white paint (not this piece specifically).A couple of days later it was back. Maybe the same Tagger, maybe not, I don't know; I lost the ability to read Scribble when I graduated from Kindergarten.
I painted over it again.
About a week went by before the Taggers struck again, and probably within hours of them scribbling their nonsense on my letterbox I'd once again erased it.
It was almost six months before they Tagged us again.
They were still around. I'd see their work up and down the street, on other letterboxes, For Sale signs, even spray painted on hedges, but for six months they left us alone. And when they finally did hit us I was back out there, painting over it again.
It didn't piss me off, in fact I got a smug sense of satisfaction by imagining the Tagger coming by later to admire his work, and seeing that his biggest Tag was already gone, just hours after he'd put it up.
That's Tagging. It's graffiti, and it's vandalism. It's exactly the same as your dog pissing on and marking every rock, tree & street sign when you take him for a walk.
"This is mine! And this is mine! Oh, this? This is mine, too! And this! It's mine as well!"
No, this letterbox is mine!
Now if the Taggers had shown a little bit of style and creativity, I might have left their work alone. If they'd done something like this:
or even this:
I'd have thought, "That's pretty cool! I like it!" and it could have stayed.
But when a dog takes a piss up against your letterbox it's only natural to grab your hose and clean it off. Or you piss right back, and you keep on doing that, and eventually the dog comes through saying, "This is mine! And this! And this, too! And...oh! This? No. This is yours."
Monday, December 08, 2008
Tagging
I've got about 100 posts left to Tag and I've noticed Blogger's main Edit Comments page allows you to Tag a bunch of posts all at once...except without exploding an entry, the title doesn't always tell me what it's about, especially when you're looking at a 2 y/old post.
Also I can only apply 1 tag at a time to multiple posts and that seems counterproductive. I'd need to explode every post, look at the first Tag, then go through every post to see if that Tag applies to that post, if so, check it, do that for every Post, then apply that first Tag. Uncheck every post, review every post with respect to the second Tag, apply second Tag, uncheck every post, and so on.
I think it's going to be faster to review every post, apply relevant Tags, then republish it.
I don't know if that means I'm about to spam the Readers of anyone who subscribes to my Blog or not, or if it doesn't count for Edits and re-publishes.
If it does, I apologize in advance for the next 100 or so spammed Posts just for me to get my Tags up-to-date.
Also I can only apply 1 tag at a time to multiple posts and that seems counterproductive. I'd need to explode every post, look at the first Tag, then go through every post to see if that Tag applies to that post, if so, check it, do that for every Post, then apply that first Tag. Uncheck every post, review every post with respect to the second Tag, apply second Tag, uncheck every post, and so on.
I think it's going to be faster to review every post, apply relevant Tags, then republish it.
I don't know if that means I'm about to spam the Readers of anyone who subscribes to my Blog or not, or if it doesn't count for Edits and re-publishes.
If it does, I apologize in advance for the next 100 or so spammed Posts just for me to get my Tags up-to-date.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
What a boring life we must lead :P
Almost a week since I last posted. Nothing to discuss, perhaps? Not even a rant?
Okay, so Thanksgiving was in there somewhere. Interesting bit of Thanksgiving trivia, not sure how accurate it is. Apparently 600 million pounds of Turkey is eaten each year on Thanksgiving Day. I don't know about you, but that seems an awful lot of Turkey.
Now when they say "Thanksgiving Day", do they just mean the Thursday? Coz I get Friday off as well as Thursday (perk of being a government lackey). Also, given there's barely 300 million folks in the U.S., total, that means every man, woman & child has to personally account for 2 pounds of Turkey (on average). Okay, so you eat 1 pound of turkey for lunch, then another pound for dinner. Done, right? How many kids do you know that would eat a full pound of meat in one sitting? That's the patties from four Quarter Pounders. Actually, it's probably the patties from five Quarter Pounders, because I doubt a Quarter Pounder patty weighs a full quarter of a pound after you fry it up. When you put it that way, a pound of meat is a fucking (sorry) shit load (sorry again) of meat.
So somehow every man, woman and child eats 10 Quarter Pounder patties worth of Turkey on Thanksgiving Day? I highly doubt that. Now I realize some people will eat that much, and some will eat even more, but I still find it hard to believe that as a nation we can consume 600 million pounds of Turkey in one day. More likely, it's 600 million pounds of Turkey sold for Thanksgiving Day, but there's no actual proof that all that Turkey gets eaten.
Monday night we decided to get a Christmas Tree, just a little one, about 4' tall, from one of the local lots. The young guy that helped us out tied the tree on top of our Highlander all by himself. I figured it was appropriate to tip him, and as he'd done such a good job I figured he deserved more than the single dollar I had, so I bummed another dollar off Liz, folded them together, then palmed them and handed them over during the Thank You handshake. I don't know whether or not they're supposed to pool their tips, but I figured he'd helped us out and tied the tree on our car by himself, he deserved to keep his $2 tip. The subtle way he slid the bills into his hip pocket without even looking at them first told me he was probably supposed to share his tips with the others, so I'm glad I tipped him on the sly. I'm sure the other guys don't share all their tips either so as long as they're all shorting each other, it's okay, right ;)
The kids had a great time decorating the tree when we got home, and we only had to shove Willow away a couple of times before she got the hint that the tree is not a new toy. We took a few pics but Liz hasn't uploaded them yet, and she's hidden the camera away somewhere, so at this point in time, you'll have to use your imagination ;)
*Edit - apparently the pictures were up...I just couldn't find them :P
Okay, so Thanksgiving was in there somewhere. Interesting bit of Thanksgiving trivia, not sure how accurate it is. Apparently 600 million pounds of Turkey is eaten each year on Thanksgiving Day. I don't know about you, but that seems an awful lot of Turkey.
Now when they say "Thanksgiving Day", do they just mean the Thursday? Coz I get Friday off as well as Thursday (perk of being a government lackey). Also, given there's barely 300 million folks in the U.S., total, that means every man, woman & child has to personally account for 2 pounds of Turkey (on average). Okay, so you eat 1 pound of turkey for lunch, then another pound for dinner. Done, right? How many kids do you know that would eat a full pound of meat in one sitting? That's the patties from four Quarter Pounders. Actually, it's probably the patties from five Quarter Pounders, because I doubt a Quarter Pounder patty weighs a full quarter of a pound after you fry it up. When you put it that way, a pound of meat is a fucking (sorry) shit load (sorry again) of meat.
So somehow every man, woman and child eats 10 Quarter Pounder patties worth of Turkey on Thanksgiving Day? I highly doubt that. Now I realize some people will eat that much, and some will eat even more, but I still find it hard to believe that as a nation we can consume 600 million pounds of Turkey in one day. More likely, it's 600 million pounds of Turkey sold for Thanksgiving Day, but there's no actual proof that all that Turkey gets eaten.
Monday night we decided to get a Christmas Tree, just a little one, about 4' tall, from one of the local lots. The young guy that helped us out tied the tree on top of our Highlander all by himself. I figured it was appropriate to tip him, and as he'd done such a good job I figured he deserved more than the single dollar I had, so I bummed another dollar off Liz, folded them together, then palmed them and handed them over during the Thank You handshake. I don't know whether or not they're supposed to pool their tips, but I figured he'd helped us out and tied the tree on our car by himself, he deserved to keep his $2 tip. The subtle way he slid the bills into his hip pocket without even looking at them first told me he was probably supposed to share his tips with the others, so I'm glad I tipped him on the sly. I'm sure the other guys don't share all their tips either so as long as they're all shorting each other, it's okay, right ;)
The kids had a great time decorating the tree when we got home, and we only had to shove Willow away a couple of times before she got the hint that the tree is not a new toy. We took a few pics but Liz hasn't uploaded them yet, and she's hidden the camera away somewhere, so at this point in time, you'll have to use your imagination ;)
*Edit - apparently the pictures were up...I just couldn't find them :P
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Shaking up WoW
A couple of WoW's Wrath quests have got people in a bit of a tiz lately, such as one which asks you to torture an NPC to extract information from them. Somehow some people find this quest morally repugnant.
Never mind that to get this far their toon has probably already committed numerous acts that are equally disturbing, and which together far outweigh one simple act of torture.
At least on the Alliance side, most players will:
Kill numerous sentient humanoids to collect their eyes to make a stew.
Kill numerous sentient humanoids for kelp, just so two youngsters can defy their parents and hang out together.
Slaughter wildlife by the thousands, in some cases for nothing but their paws, legs, or liver. "Go! Kill some pigs, and bring back their livers so I can make a few pies."
In some cases wildlife are slaughtered, literally by the hundreds, for no reason at all, other than to impress a couple of people. Yes, Nesingwary, I'm looking at you!
Almost all Alliance will be offered a quest to kill a man who helped rebuild Stormwind and who was then cheated and wronged by the Stormwind Nobles. Most Alliance will accept a contract to kill this honorable man, who refused the Nobles' bribes and who turned down a cushy government job because he was loyal to his men, men who were not brigands but common laborers and stonemasons. Most Alliance will take this quest and do everything they can to kill this man, one Edwin VanCleef, and they won't think twice about what they're doing.
How is it acceptable to kill a man whose crime was to speak out against injustice, but torturing someone for information is really, really not okay?
Seriously, it's not like the choices you make affect anything.
Kill a named Quest Mob, in 5 minutes he'll pop right back up. Mine that Node, half an hour later, another Node will spring up in its place.
In most cases, WoW is a very static world.
The in-game choices you make don't make a shred of difference, or at least any effects from the choice you make disappears after 5-10 minutes.
The only choices that really affect anything are the very first two you make: Do you choose Alliance or Horde, and what class? Pretty much any other choice you make is irrelevant.
In Shattrath you'll be able to choose between Scryer and Aldor, but if you make the wrong choice (for your craft) then it just takes a little bit of work to undo that choice. It's not a huge, game breaking decision. It might take an investment of time & gold on your behalf to undo your choice, but it can be reversed.
But, what if there was a choice to be made in-game which couldn't be reversed.
Take the Torture quest that's getting everyone up in arms. What if you strolled up to a camp with two Quest Givers and when you talk to the first one he says, "Psst. We've got a guy tied up in bushes. Go back there, smack him around a bit, and see if you can't get some information out of him."
I'm sorry, you want me to do what? Beat up a helpless guy? I don't think so.
So you click Decline then talk to the second Quest Giver. He says, "Psst. They've got a guy tied up in the bushes back there. Go get some food & wine from the Innkeeper, untie the guy and lead him up into the hills, then give him the food & wine and see if he'll open up to you."
Interesting. You've got two quests which seem to have the same goal in mind; Interrogate a prisoner for information. But in the first quest you'll use violence to extract the information, whereas the second quest has you be a little more subtle.
If you'd accepted the first guy's quest, the quest marker would have disappeared from second guy, and instead of offering you the subterfuge quest he now might say, "A man who thinks he's about to die will say anything to save his life. How can you trust information gained through torture?"
A smart cookie might make the connection between the two quest givers, then abandon the Torture quest to see what the second Quest Giver had to say.
And now you're presented with a moral choice, a very real choice. You no longer have a choice between doing or not doing a quest; now you have a choice between torturing someone for information, or befriending them to gain the same.
Imagine if this was how you chose between Aldor and Scryer, with your choice affecting who will talk to you in the future, what quests you can get, and even what City you will eventually call home at 80. Imagine if making a choice one way or the other gives you some sort of communication device which allows you to communicate in a channel specifically reserved for just the Torturers, or just the Spies...regardless of faction. Yes, suddenly Alliance and Horde could communicate with each other, but only those who'd chosen to torture the prisoner could communicate with each other, while only those who'd chosen to free and befriend the prisoner could communicate with each other.
Imagine Horde and Alliance being able to group up, together, to do lvl 80 Instances? And why not? With BC's introduction of Dranei Shamans and Bloodelf Paladins, the factions are practically the same now anyway.
Imagine if there were decisions to make in the World of Warcraft that really mattered, decisions with irreversible consequences.
If you think people are upset over the Torture quest now, just imagine the screaming, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth if players/toons were held accountable for their in-game decisions ;)
Never mind that to get this far their toon has probably already committed numerous acts that are equally disturbing, and which together far outweigh one simple act of torture.
At least on the Alliance side, most players will:
Kill numerous sentient humanoids to collect their eyes to make a stew.
Kill numerous sentient humanoids for kelp, just so two youngsters can defy their parents and hang out together.
Slaughter wildlife by the thousands, in some cases for nothing but their paws, legs, or liver. "Go! Kill some pigs, and bring back their livers so I can make a few pies."
In some cases wildlife are slaughtered, literally by the hundreds, for no reason at all, other than to impress a couple of people. Yes, Nesingwary, I'm looking at you!
Almost all Alliance will be offered a quest to kill a man who helped rebuild Stormwind and who was then cheated and wronged by the Stormwind Nobles. Most Alliance will accept a contract to kill this honorable man, who refused the Nobles' bribes and who turned down a cushy government job because he was loyal to his men, men who were not brigands but common laborers and stonemasons. Most Alliance will take this quest and do everything they can to kill this man, one Edwin VanCleef, and they won't think twice about what they're doing.
How is it acceptable to kill a man whose crime was to speak out against injustice, but torturing someone for information is really, really not okay?
Seriously, it's not like the choices you make affect anything.
Kill a named Quest Mob, in 5 minutes he'll pop right back up. Mine that Node, half an hour later, another Node will spring up in its place.
In most cases, WoW is a very static world.
The in-game choices you make don't make a shred of difference, or at least any effects from the choice you make disappears after 5-10 minutes.
The only choices that really affect anything are the very first two you make: Do you choose Alliance or Horde, and what class? Pretty much any other choice you make is irrelevant.
In Shattrath you'll be able to choose between Scryer and Aldor, but if you make the wrong choice (for your craft) then it just takes a little bit of work to undo that choice. It's not a huge, game breaking decision. It might take an investment of time & gold on your behalf to undo your choice, but it can be reversed.
But, what if there was a choice to be made in-game which couldn't be reversed.
Take the Torture quest that's getting everyone up in arms. What if you strolled up to a camp with two Quest Givers and when you talk to the first one he says, "Psst. We've got a guy tied up in bushes. Go back there, smack him around a bit, and see if you can't get some information out of him."
I'm sorry, you want me to do what? Beat up a helpless guy? I don't think so.
So you click Decline then talk to the second Quest Giver. He says, "Psst. They've got a guy tied up in the bushes back there. Go get some food & wine from the Innkeeper, untie the guy and lead him up into the hills, then give him the food & wine and see if he'll open up to you."
Interesting. You've got two quests which seem to have the same goal in mind; Interrogate a prisoner for information. But in the first quest you'll use violence to extract the information, whereas the second quest has you be a little more subtle.
If you'd accepted the first guy's quest, the quest marker would have disappeared from second guy, and instead of offering you the subterfuge quest he now might say, "A man who thinks he's about to die will say anything to save his life. How can you trust information gained through torture?"
A smart cookie might make the connection between the two quest givers, then abandon the Torture quest to see what the second Quest Giver had to say.
And now you're presented with a moral choice, a very real choice. You no longer have a choice between doing or not doing a quest; now you have a choice between torturing someone for information, or befriending them to gain the same.
Imagine if this was how you chose between Aldor and Scryer, with your choice affecting who will talk to you in the future, what quests you can get, and even what City you will eventually call home at 80. Imagine if making a choice one way or the other gives you some sort of communication device which allows you to communicate in a channel specifically reserved for just the Torturers, or just the Spies...regardless of faction. Yes, suddenly Alliance and Horde could communicate with each other, but only those who'd chosen to torture the prisoner could communicate with each other, while only those who'd chosen to free and befriend the prisoner could communicate with each other.
Imagine Horde and Alliance being able to group up, together, to do lvl 80 Instances? And why not? With BC's introduction of Dranei Shamans and Bloodelf Paladins, the factions are practically the same now anyway.
Imagine if there were decisions to make in the World of Warcraft that really mattered, decisions with irreversible consequences.
If you think people are upset over the Torture quest now, just imagine the screaming, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth if players/toons were held accountable for their in-game decisions ;)
Monday, November 24, 2008
QWOP
QWOP: First you move one foot forward then place it firmly on the ground, then you bring your other foot up past the first and place it firmly on the ground. Then you bring your first foot forward again, past the second foot, and place it firmly on the ground once more, or at least that's what you do in theory.
In practice, you kick your leading foot out ahead of you and almost do a backflip, or you shove yourself backwards with your leading foot, catch yourself with your second foot but only succeed in pushing yourself backwards further still, before crashing down on your head. Or you do a very painful looking Split then bounce along on your knee until your unborn children scream out in pain.
By the way, you have Tesh to thank for this complete bastard of a game. Uncoordinated people with no sense of rhythm need not apply. Upon the rest of you brave (foolhardy? Could never tell the difference...) souls I inflict upon you QWOP!!!
Run, you fool! Run! It's just Q&P, then W&O, then Q&P again...or...is it?
No, it's not that simple. It's QWOP!
In practice, you kick your leading foot out ahead of you and almost do a backflip, or you shove yourself backwards with your leading foot, catch yourself with your second foot but only succeed in pushing yourself backwards further still, before crashing down on your head. Or you do a very painful looking Split then bounce along on your knee until your unborn children scream out in pain.
By the way, you have Tesh to thank for this complete bastard of a game. Uncoordinated people with no sense of rhythm need not apply. Upon the rest of you brave (foolhardy? Could never tell the difference...) souls I inflict upon you QWOP!!!
Run, you fool! Run! It's just Q&P, then W&O, then Q&P again...or...is it?
No, it's not that simple. It's QWOP!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
LA Auto Show
Despite it being a Sunday (not a work day) this morning I still found myself in downtown L.A., although my destination was a few blocks over from my office.
First on the agenda was a pancake breakfast at IHOP at 8th & Flower, where it was just a short walk to the LA Convention Center to attend the Auto Show. And let me tell you, there was nowhere near the sexy girls I thought was almost compulsory at these things. Instead there were loads & loads of cars from your run of the mill Americans & Japanese autos, to the exotic Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Lotus. Even Aston Martin and Rolls Royce were in attendance.
Many of the cars were off limits, look but don't touch, and the attendants were quick to tell people "Hands off!" when they got a little too close, which included my son at one point :P
But many, many cars had people (almost) climbing all over them, and JE got to sit in the driver's seat more than a few times.
Surprise of the day was him being able to adjust the seat of a Passat (I think it was a Passat) so much that he could literally have driven it...and he's only EIGHT! The seat went so far forward, and raised up so much, that even at just 52" tall he was not only able to reach the pedals but see over the dash.
Downer of the day was getting to sit in the driver's seat of an Audi TT (my midlife crisis car) and realizing I don't like it! :(
Pleasant surprise was the Honda Fit. A very nice car for this (almost) 6' tall guy. The seat goes back further than I need (and I have long legs, so I need to sit back) and still allowed a quite reasonable amount of room for an adult (me again) in the backseat behind the driver.
Funny was seeing a 6'6" guy slide into the passenger seat of a Mini Cooper, and after putting the seat back he was actually quite comfortable. There was no room (literally) for anyone in the back seat behind him, but he had enough room so that's all that mattered.
Highlight of the day for both J.E. and I was the Test Drive area where I took a Camry SE (not the V6) and a Toyota Tundra for a spin around the test track. J.E. got to ride along with me in the back. Liz rode shotgun for the first lap then bailed before she hurled because I was driving!
J.E. thought the Camry was pretty cool, especially when I floored it on the straight then jammed on the brakes for the first curve...but then we went out in the V8 Tundra ;) Can you say VAH-ROOOOOM!!! I think you can ;) Now that was cool. The Tundra handled surprisingly well for a truck, although taking it through the S's from (almost) lock to opposite lock was tough; you need to do a lot of turning of the wheel if you don't want to take out half a dozen traffic cones, and I didn't...take them out, that is.
While the big barrel of the Tundra appeals to the Guy in me, the practical guy in me says, get the Honda Fit...then again, Liz's Highlander will eventually become J.E.'s First Car, while my next car will become the Bunny's First Car, and I think it would be awesome (& safe, for her ;) if her first car was actually a thumping great truck ;)
It's probably going to be a Honda Fit though :P
First on the agenda was a pancake breakfast at IHOP at 8th & Flower, where it was just a short walk to the LA Convention Center to attend the Auto Show. And let me tell you, there was nowhere near the sexy girls I thought was almost compulsory at these things. Instead there were loads & loads of cars from your run of the mill Americans & Japanese autos, to the exotic Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Lotus. Even Aston Martin and Rolls Royce were in attendance.
Many of the cars were off limits, look but don't touch, and the attendants were quick to tell people "Hands off!" when they got a little too close, which included my son at one point :P
But many, many cars had people (almost) climbing all over them, and JE got to sit in the driver's seat more than a few times.
Surprise of the day was him being able to adjust the seat of a Passat (I think it was a Passat) so much that he could literally have driven it...and he's only EIGHT! The seat went so far forward, and raised up so much, that even at just 52" tall he was not only able to reach the pedals but see over the dash.
Downer of the day was getting to sit in the driver's seat of an Audi TT (my midlife crisis car) and realizing I don't like it! :(
Pleasant surprise was the Honda Fit. A very nice car for this (almost) 6' tall guy. The seat goes back further than I need (and I have long legs, so I need to sit back) and still allowed a quite reasonable amount of room for an adult (me again) in the backseat behind the driver.
Funny was seeing a 6'6" guy slide into the passenger seat of a Mini Cooper, and after putting the seat back he was actually quite comfortable. There was no room (literally) for anyone in the back seat behind him, but he had enough room so that's all that mattered.
Highlight of the day for both J.E. and I was the Test Drive area where I took a Camry SE (not the V6) and a Toyota Tundra for a spin around the test track. J.E. got to ride along with me in the back. Liz rode shotgun for the first lap then bailed before she hurled because I was driving!
J.E. thought the Camry was pretty cool, especially when I floored it on the straight then jammed on the brakes for the first curve...but then we went out in the V8 Tundra ;) Can you say VAH-ROOOOOM!!! I think you can ;) Now that was cool. The Tundra handled surprisingly well for a truck, although taking it through the S's from (almost) lock to opposite lock was tough; you need to do a lot of turning of the wheel if you don't want to take out half a dozen traffic cones, and I didn't...take them out, that is.
While the big barrel of the Tundra appeals to the Guy in me, the practical guy in me says, get the Honda Fit...then again, Liz's Highlander will eventually become J.E.'s First Car, while my next car will become the Bunny's First Car, and I think it would be awesome (& safe, for her ;) if her first car was actually a thumping great truck ;)
It's probably going to be a Honda Fit though :P
Thursday, November 20, 2008
No Title
Can't think of a title for this one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When I woke up and looked around it took me a few seconds to orient myself, then I realized I was in the spare bedroom. I chuckled to myself. "Guess I came in for a nap and the wife just let me sleep through." I got up and peeked in our bedroom door; she was still fast asleep in our bed so I thought I'd surprise her with breakfast.
Maybe it was the coffee brewing, perhaps the toast, or the frying bacon, but shortly after I'd started breakfast I heard her stirring, and a few minutes later she came downstairs then peered around the corner.
"Good morning, beautiful," I said. "Looks like my nap in the spare bedroom went a little longer than planned." I smiled at her, and she smiled back but behind the eyes I saw...something else. Sadness?
"Something wrong?" I asked her.
"No," she said, "well, maybe. Yes, yes there is."
I poured a cup of coffee and handed it to her. She took a sip as I prompted her. "Well, come on. Out with it."
She sighed, then muttered almost under her breath, "this just gets harder and harder."
"Sorry?" I said, "What do you mean?"
"Oh honey," she said, bursting into tears. "You've got Alzheimer's. You've had it for years."
"I do?" I said. "Alzheimer's? You'd think I'd remember something like that."
She laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. "You always say that," she said.
I smiled at her. "So you're saying I forgot I have Alzheimer's?"
She nodded her head. "What's today's date?" she asked me.
"Ahh, a test," I replied. "Let's see now. Christmas was a couple of weeks ago so...I'm guessing...January 7th." I winked at her. "1995."
"It's August 12th," she said sadly. "August 12th, 2007."
I looked at her. She was serious. She pointed to the calendar hanging on the wall. It was on August, and the first 11 days had been crossed out. It was a calendar...for 2007. I was glad I'd been leaning nonchalantly against the counter because I needed it now to stop me from collapsing to the floor. I really did have Alzheimer's.
"How...how long..." I couldn't finish the question.
She answered anyway. "Twelve and a half years, since 1997. January 1st, 1997. We'd seen the signs the previous year. We knew it was coming, then you woke up on New Year's Day and...that was it."
"How bad is it?" I asked her.
She shook her head.
"That bad?"
"You don't remember anything."
"But...look at me! I...I remember it now. I'm good. Am I...cured?"
"No," she said, "you have days like this, every now and then...every year or two. One day, every couple of years, you're okay. And...I know you're okay on that day because...you make me breakfast." Tears were running down her cheeks now.
"The other days?" I asked her. "What am I like...on the other days?"
"You don't know me," she said. "You get up and fix yourself a bowl of cereal, and you're surprised when I come downstairs. That's why...you sleep in the spare bedroom. You don't know me. You don't remember me. You don't even know we're married."
"So the other days, it's like we're dating, right?" I grasped for something to hold on to. Something to let me know that when I wasn't here, that I was at least sort of still there for her.
She shook her head, she couldn't give me that. "I fix you lunch and I make you dinner, and you thank me, then ignore me. And in the evening I go to our bedroom, and you go to your room. And that's our day. Except for those few good days, that's been our life for the past twelve years. I take care of you every day, hoping you'll get better, waiting for days like today, because they make it all worthwhile."
I took her in my arms and we held each other for the longest time. Our coffee grew cold, but we couldn't let each other go. It didn't feel like it to me, but for her, we'd been apart for so long that today, she needed to be close to me.
It was like we were dating all over again. We went out for lunch, enjoying an unusually mild summer day. Not too hot. Just nice. We watched a movie. We went for a walk in the park. We had dinner at the restaurant where I'd proposed to her all those years ago. Hard to believe it was still open.
"So...tomorrow?" I said to her, as we walked in our front door.
"You won't remember any of this," she said. "You'll forget it all, and I'll go back to taking care of a husband who doesn't even know me. Maybe you'll be back in a year or two...but it's been getting longer," she said. "March 30 was the last day we spent together. March 30th, 2005. Almost two and a half years ago."
I stared at the woman who'd promised to love and cherish me, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. And she was sticking to that promise, even though I was no longer the man she'd married...except for one day every few years. Like today.
Until death do us part.
She was still a beautiful woman. She still had so much to live for. She didn't deserve to spend the rest of her days like this. She needed to live. Not waste away taking care of a man who barely acknowledged her existence.
Until death do us part.
"I'm going to shower before bed," I said to her. "Do I...still do that?"
"Only if I remind you," she told me.
Wow. When I wasn't me, I was a pig. An ungrateful, inconsiderate pig. I took everything from her and gave nothing back. Nothing but one day every year or so...and she'd said those days were getting further and further apart.
"You don't need to remind me tonight," I told her, smiling. Then I kissed her. "I love you," I told her. "I've always loved you, even if I don't remember. Thank you, for everything."
Upstairs, as I got ready for my shower, I slipped the phone into the pocket of my robe. In the bathroom I found the hair scissors. Still razor sharp, as if they were brand new. Which they practically were, or at least never used. I remember I'd got the set for Christmas, 1996. My last Christmas, or at least the last one I could remember.
Did we...celebrate Christmas? It didn't sound like we did. No Christmas. No birthday. No anniversary. I just lived here while my devoted wife spent her life looking after me.
The water was hot now, and steaming up the bathroom mirror. On a whim I grabbed the bar of soap and wrote on the mirror "I love you".
Then I took the phone out of my pocket and dialed 9-1-1.
I was on hold for a minute or so, and my heart began beating faster as I contemplated the next few minutes.
"Nine-one-one. Please state the nature of the emergency."
I gently tapped the receiver on the counter, three times. I knew the internal microphone would pick up the taps and relay them loud & clear to the operator.
"Please confirm. If you need emergency assistance, please...knock three times again."
I leaned close to the phone and whispered "help..." Then I gently knocked three times again before dropping the phone the one inch to the counter top. It gave a quiet rattle that I knew the operator would have heard in her headset.
I heard her saying, "Sir, please hold on. Help is on the way!"
Then I took the scissors and stepped into the shower.
The hot water was relaxing. It had been a beautiful day. It really seemed a shame to end it like this, but I felt like I owed it to my wife. She'd stood by me all these years, even though I no longer knew her. Many years ago she'd made a promise, and only one person could release her from that. Tomorrow, that person would no longer exist, but today...he was here today.
Before I could change my mind I drove the needle point of the scissors deep into my wrist, then sliced the razor-like blade up my arm. The pain was incredible, but...what pain had my wife been enduring all these years? This was nothing but a few minutes of discomfort. The blood poured from my arm as I flexed my fingers. I could still use that hand, for the moment, but I only needed a moment more.
The blood running down my ruined wrist mixed with the water and it was hard to hold the scissors in that hand. I was already feeling light headed. Both hands were tingling, not just the hand on the end of the ruined arm. I couldn't feel the scissors, but I could see them in that hand, the blade protruding from my fist. I slammed my other arm down onto the wicked blade then dragged it up my forearm as best as I could.
Then I sat down. In a pool of swirling crimson water. So much red. Gushing from each arm.
I could hear sirens. Getting louder. 9-1-1 had responded pretty quickly. Hopefully not quickly enough.
I tried to flex my hands, to keep the blood flowing.
Did they move? I stared at them. Were...these my hands?
They seemed so far away.
My wrists had stopped hurting now but the edges of my vision had gone black.
My hands...I squinted. I could hardly see them. So blurry.
I forced myself to focus. Pointless. Vision. Fading.
Everything went dark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Word says this is about 1,600 words. Funny. In my senior year of High School we had a year long essay project. We had to write several 500-word essays, and one 1,500+ word essay. It seemed so hard back then, and now, just like that, I've cranked one out without batting an eye lid.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When I woke up and looked around it took me a few seconds to orient myself, then I realized I was in the spare bedroom. I chuckled to myself. "Guess I came in for a nap and the wife just let me sleep through." I got up and peeked in our bedroom door; she was still fast asleep in our bed so I thought I'd surprise her with breakfast.
Maybe it was the coffee brewing, perhaps the toast, or the frying bacon, but shortly after I'd started breakfast I heard her stirring, and a few minutes later she came downstairs then peered around the corner.
"Good morning, beautiful," I said. "Looks like my nap in the spare bedroom went a little longer than planned." I smiled at her, and she smiled back but behind the eyes I saw...something else. Sadness?
"Something wrong?" I asked her.
"No," she said, "well, maybe. Yes, yes there is."
I poured a cup of coffee and handed it to her. She took a sip as I prompted her. "Well, come on. Out with it."
She sighed, then muttered almost under her breath, "this just gets harder and harder."
"Sorry?" I said, "What do you mean?"
"Oh honey," she said, bursting into tears. "You've got Alzheimer's. You've had it for years."
"I do?" I said. "Alzheimer's? You'd think I'd remember something like that."
She laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. "You always say that," she said.
I smiled at her. "So you're saying I forgot I have Alzheimer's?"
She nodded her head. "What's today's date?" she asked me.
"Ahh, a test," I replied. "Let's see now. Christmas was a couple of weeks ago so...I'm guessing...January 7th." I winked at her. "1995."
"It's August 12th," she said sadly. "August 12th, 2007."
I looked at her. She was serious. She pointed to the calendar hanging on the wall. It was on August, and the first 11 days had been crossed out. It was a calendar...for 2007. I was glad I'd been leaning nonchalantly against the counter because I needed it now to stop me from collapsing to the floor. I really did have Alzheimer's.
"How...how long..." I couldn't finish the question.
She answered anyway. "Twelve and a half years, since 1997. January 1st, 1997. We'd seen the signs the previous year. We knew it was coming, then you woke up on New Year's Day and...that was it."
"How bad is it?" I asked her.
She shook her head.
"That bad?"
"You don't remember anything."
"But...look at me! I...I remember it now. I'm good. Am I...cured?"
"No," she said, "you have days like this, every now and then...every year or two. One day, every couple of years, you're okay. And...I know you're okay on that day because...you make me breakfast." Tears were running down her cheeks now.
"The other days?" I asked her. "What am I like...on the other days?"
"You don't know me," she said. "You get up and fix yourself a bowl of cereal, and you're surprised when I come downstairs. That's why...you sleep in the spare bedroom. You don't know me. You don't remember me. You don't even know we're married."
"So the other days, it's like we're dating, right?" I grasped for something to hold on to. Something to let me know that when I wasn't here, that I was at least sort of still there for her.
She shook her head, she couldn't give me that. "I fix you lunch and I make you dinner, and you thank me, then ignore me. And in the evening I go to our bedroom, and you go to your room. And that's our day. Except for those few good days, that's been our life for the past twelve years. I take care of you every day, hoping you'll get better, waiting for days like today, because they make it all worthwhile."
I took her in my arms and we held each other for the longest time. Our coffee grew cold, but we couldn't let each other go. It didn't feel like it to me, but for her, we'd been apart for so long that today, she needed to be close to me.
It was like we were dating all over again. We went out for lunch, enjoying an unusually mild summer day. Not too hot. Just nice. We watched a movie. We went for a walk in the park. We had dinner at the restaurant where I'd proposed to her all those years ago. Hard to believe it was still open.
"So...tomorrow?" I said to her, as we walked in our front door.
"You won't remember any of this," she said. "You'll forget it all, and I'll go back to taking care of a husband who doesn't even know me. Maybe you'll be back in a year or two...but it's been getting longer," she said. "March 30 was the last day we spent together. March 30th, 2005. Almost two and a half years ago."
I stared at the woman who'd promised to love and cherish me, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. And she was sticking to that promise, even though I was no longer the man she'd married...except for one day every few years. Like today.
Until death do us part.
She was still a beautiful woman. She still had so much to live for. She didn't deserve to spend the rest of her days like this. She needed to live. Not waste away taking care of a man who barely acknowledged her existence.
Until death do us part.
"I'm going to shower before bed," I said to her. "Do I...still do that?"
"Only if I remind you," she told me.
Wow. When I wasn't me, I was a pig. An ungrateful, inconsiderate pig. I took everything from her and gave nothing back. Nothing but one day every year or so...and she'd said those days were getting further and further apart.
"You don't need to remind me tonight," I told her, smiling. Then I kissed her. "I love you," I told her. "I've always loved you, even if I don't remember. Thank you, for everything."
Upstairs, as I got ready for my shower, I slipped the phone into the pocket of my robe. In the bathroom I found the hair scissors. Still razor sharp, as if they were brand new. Which they practically were, or at least never used. I remember I'd got the set for Christmas, 1996. My last Christmas, or at least the last one I could remember.
Did we...celebrate Christmas? It didn't sound like we did. No Christmas. No birthday. No anniversary. I just lived here while my devoted wife spent her life looking after me.
The water was hot now, and steaming up the bathroom mirror. On a whim I grabbed the bar of soap and wrote on the mirror "I love you".
Then I took the phone out of my pocket and dialed 9-1-1.
I was on hold for a minute or so, and my heart began beating faster as I contemplated the next few minutes.
"Nine-one-one. Please state the nature of the emergency."
I gently tapped the receiver on the counter, three times. I knew the internal microphone would pick up the taps and relay them loud & clear to the operator.
"Please confirm. If you need emergency assistance, please...knock three times again."
I leaned close to the phone and whispered "help..." Then I gently knocked three times again before dropping the phone the one inch to the counter top. It gave a quiet rattle that I knew the operator would have heard in her headset.
I heard her saying, "Sir, please hold on. Help is on the way!"
Then I took the scissors and stepped into the shower.
The hot water was relaxing. It had been a beautiful day. It really seemed a shame to end it like this, but I felt like I owed it to my wife. She'd stood by me all these years, even though I no longer knew her. Many years ago she'd made a promise, and only one person could release her from that. Tomorrow, that person would no longer exist, but today...he was here today.
Before I could change my mind I drove the needle point of the scissors deep into my wrist, then sliced the razor-like blade up my arm. The pain was incredible, but...what pain had my wife been enduring all these years? This was nothing but a few minutes of discomfort. The blood poured from my arm as I flexed my fingers. I could still use that hand, for the moment, but I only needed a moment more.
The blood running down my ruined wrist mixed with the water and it was hard to hold the scissors in that hand. I was already feeling light headed. Both hands were tingling, not just the hand on the end of the ruined arm. I couldn't feel the scissors, but I could see them in that hand, the blade protruding from my fist. I slammed my other arm down onto the wicked blade then dragged it up my forearm as best as I could.
Then I sat down. In a pool of swirling crimson water. So much red. Gushing from each arm.
I could hear sirens. Getting louder. 9-1-1 had responded pretty quickly. Hopefully not quickly enough.
I tried to flex my hands, to keep the blood flowing.
Did they move? I stared at them. Were...these my hands?
They seemed so far away.
My wrists had stopped hurting now but the edges of my vision had gone black.
My hands...I squinted. I could hardly see them. So blurry.
I forced myself to focus. Pointless. Vision. Fading.
Everything went dark.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Word says this is about 1,600 words. Funny. In my senior year of High School we had a year long essay project. We had to write several 500-word essays, and one 1,500+ word essay. It seemed so hard back then, and now, just like that, I've cranked one out without batting an eye lid.
Fallout 3
I'm really enjoying this game, in fact I haven't played Wizard 101 since I got it...of course that wasn't that long ago :P
I've restarted my game a couple of times, the first time after I discovered V.A.T.S. and realized it could save me ammunition versus shooting in FPS mode and missing. Then I reloaded again when I wanted to kill a certain quest giver. He's a bad guy (well, that's relative, really ;) who disappears after you help him, or defy him, but you can also kill him if you squeal on him, but if you do turn him in you need a quick trigger finger or good people will die. Thank heavens for Quick-saves and reloads because I wasn't fast enough the first time...or the next few times, either :P
That's the big difference between an MMO-RPG and an offline SP-RPG (or story-driven SP-FPS, what ever you want to call it). In an MMO any choices you make are, for the most part, permanent for your character...unless you want to reroll. My Main in WoW got screwed out of a lot of things, which was shame, because I loved playing him so he was often the first Toon to do things. And because of that he was also the Guinea Pig, meaning he was the guy from which I learned what not to do.
The Timbermaw Furbolg in the tunnel between Felwood and Winterspring? Grind Rep with them to at least Unfriendly before setting foot inside. It doesn't take long, maybe half an hour doing two grinding quests and you're there. Do NOT fight your way through because it just makes it so much harder later when you've either got to fight your way back, or spend money to fly back, and forth, and back, and forth. Yeah, I fought my way through...a couple of times. Took me freaking forever to get back in the Timbermaw's good books.
Now if WoW were offline SP-RGP you'd just reload. You might lose an hour of progress but it's soooo much better than the alternative.
Of course if it were an offline SP-RPG you'd probably never have the thousands of hours invested into your Toon that most of us ended up with. By the way, a thousand hours isn't long, it's just 40 days /played.
So I restarted/rerolled my FO3 "Toon" a couple of times and after the second or third time, I saved my Toon at the exit to Vault 101 which, oddly enough, is where you get a final chance to change everything about your character. You've already assigned points to your Stats, and chosen your Skills/Perks, you've done the Intro/Tutorial but now, before you set foot into the Big, Bad Wasteworld...do you want to change anything about your Toon...and they do mean anything. You get one last chance to change not just your Stats but your physical appearance, including your gender! So I saved a game there meaning now when I "reroll" I don't need to do the Tutorial again, not unless I really, really want to.
The controls are standard WASD FPS controls so if you've played any FPS in the last 10 years you should have very little trouble getting around. Hitting TAB opens your PIPBoy which also Pauses the game. That's something which makes Liz very happy and she's probably not the only spouse...not that I have more than one spouse...other people's spouses, they're probably happy their SO is finally playing a game with a Pause button.
The PIPBoy is where you change weapons, armor, medicate/heal yourself, etc. You can keep track of your current quests in it, track the objective/destination for a quest, view your Map, etc. Because it completely fills your screen it's by necessity that the game also Pauses when you access your PIPBoy, otherwise Mobs would be chewing on your head while you're looking at your Map.
Back in the game combat occurs, for the most part, in Real Time, although Bullet Time is used for some of the flashier kills. You can choose to play FO3 as an FPS, or you can take advantage of V.A.T.S., the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. This means Combat gets paused while you choose your targets. You start combat with a certain number of Action Points (depending on a few factors, your Stats, length of time since last Combat, etc) and you basically choose which opponent (if more than one) to shoot at, and which body part to target. Certain Mobs are more heavily armored in certain areas, so while you might have an excellent chance of shooting a RadScorption's Carapace, you won't do as much damage to it as if you targeted its legs, which are naturally harder to hit.
V.A.T.S. has its good points, and its bad points. It allows you to stop/pause combat while you think things through, which is good you're a more mature gamer (like me) where your reactions might be a little slower than when you were half your age (even if you won't admit it to yourself, or anyone else ;) It's also very good if a Mob ambushes you. Spin to face it, hit V (to engage V.A.T.S. of course), pick your target, maybe select it a couple of times if you have sufficient Action Points, then hit A (or is it E) to Accept your choice, leave V.A.T.S. and resume combat. Now you don't need to do anything until your Toon has completed doing what you told it to...which is where the bad part of V.A.T.S. kicks in.
You just told your Toon to shoot the Mob four times in the head. As he begins firing the camera view changes, and here are two Mobs behind your target, with Assault Rifles, that they've got aimed right at you. Your first shot to your target's head is a good one, it does a lot of damage and he's stunned, so your second shot finishes him off. Queue the almost obligatory slow-mo death sequence as your target's head flies off (yes, body parts are easily separated from their owners during combat) and his body cartwheels through the air and down the adjacent stairwell.
Meanwhile...his two buddies are shooting the hell out of you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it, not until the game gives you back control of your Toon. Before that happens, let's just watch that body slide down the last couple of stairs, shall we? Ok, now, where were we? Oh, you're getting shot. And you're low on health. Oh dear.
Good part of FO3? Hit TAB to bring up your PIPBoy and shoot yourself up with a couple of Stimpacks. Get that Health Bar back up to a more...healthier level. Much better. Your 10mm Pistol is good for taking out a single bad guy, but you've got two guys shooting at you now. Break out the Combat Shotgun. TAB out of your PIPBoy and resume combat, in real time. You're almost back at full health again so you can take a second to line up your shot and KA-BLAM! The second bad guy loses his head after taking a load of double-ought to the face. Unlike the first guy's death which occurred in V.A.T.S., this second guy doesn't get the honor of a slow-mo bullet time death. Now it's just one guy left so...you hit V again. Hellooooo V.A.T.S. and refreshingly slow combat where you have all the time in the world to plan your moves. Close range, guy in front of you in an open corridor. Got to be a shotgun blast to the face...again >:)
It's a Critical Hit, and because it happened in V.A.T.S., there's that slow-mo death sequence that sometimes produces the most hilarious of death scenes. Seriously. Sometimes they're so over the top they're beyond belief. Last night I shot a Raider on a bridge above me. The best shot I had, according to the percentages shown by V.A.T.S., was targeting his left leg, so I did. All three rounds from my Hunting Rifle hit the Raider in the leg, the last one tore his leg off. No, he didn't hop around on his good leg before collapsing in a heap. The game engine decided to toss him into the air, and he practically cartwheeled across a gap in the bridge which, if the guy was 6-feet tall, was a 10' wide gap. He almost made it all the way across, too :D
Speaking of the physics engine FO3's has really impressed me, on more than one occasion.
I had a stupid Raider charge me. I know he was stupid because he was bringing a Pool Cue to a Gun Fight. I dropped him with a couple of rounds from my Hunting Rifle, and he dropped the Pool Cue. We were on the side of a hill and his Pool Cue hit the ground and began rolling down hill. It rolled all the way down to the bottom of the hill then continued on for a bit before finally losing all momentum.
Another Raider lost his head after losing a gun fight with me (it's amazing how poorly heads and limbs are attached in this game) and I watched bemused as his head rolled away from its body before coming to a stop in a ditch.
Then there was a Centaur (not your typical mythical half-man/half-horse critter, something a lot uglier) spitting at me, or tossing body parts, or doing god knows what, but it was engaging me at extreme range by spitting/throwing "something" at me. I pulled out my Sniper Rifle and fired off the last few .308 rounds I had. I hit it a couple of times but not enough to kill it, so I switched to my Hunting Rifle (chambered for .32, not .308) and...the Centaur disintegrated. WTF? I stared in surprise, wondering just what the hell had happened, and that's when the truck behind the Centaur exploded. I ducked, literally (me, not my toon) as the hood of the truck flew across the river and bounced past my toon. I still don't know what happened to the Centaur, whether there'd been an initial, smaller explosion from the truck that I hadn't seen, which finished it off, or if it somehow self-destructed, setting fire to the truck, which caused the explosion. It doesn't matter, the Centaur was dead and I was alive.
Now, is the game worth $50? Which is what I paid for it (that's what you get buying newly released games). I'd say so. Sure, it may not keep my interest as much as WoW or Wrath would, but for them, I'd still be paying to play every month (or every 6 months in my case). Even when I'm done with it, there'll probably be a time in the future when I'll pull it back out and play it some more. Good value for money, in my books.
There's also a large Modding community, who are constantly coming up with changes to the game. Different graphics, different specs for the weapons, etc. So there's a lot of after-market support. If you've an aversion to paying full price for games, then wait for the price to drop. It will come down sooner or later. If you don't mind paying $50 for a game, and you like quasi-Role Playing games with guns, bombs, explosions, and detachable body parts, you'll probably enjoy Fallout 3.
It's very easy to get into, can be played for 5 to 10 minutes, or an hour or two, and paused at will when the wife calls. It may not be Fallout 1 & 2 done as an FPS, but it's still (IMO) a fun game. No, I'm not offering you a money back guarantee if you don't like it. By now you should already know if you'd like it ;)
I've restarted my game a couple of times, the first time after I discovered V.A.T.S. and realized it could save me ammunition versus shooting in FPS mode and missing. Then I reloaded again when I wanted to kill a certain quest giver. He's a bad guy (well, that's relative, really ;) who disappears after you help him, or defy him, but you can also kill him if you squeal on him, but if you do turn him in you need a quick trigger finger or good people will die. Thank heavens for Quick-saves and reloads because I wasn't fast enough the first time...or the next few times, either :P
That's the big difference between an MMO-RPG and an offline SP-RPG (or story-driven SP-FPS, what ever you want to call it). In an MMO any choices you make are, for the most part, permanent for your character...unless you want to reroll. My Main in WoW got screwed out of a lot of things, which was shame, because I loved playing him so he was often the first Toon to do things. And because of that he was also the Guinea Pig, meaning he was the guy from which I learned what not to do.
The Timbermaw Furbolg in the tunnel between Felwood and Winterspring? Grind Rep with them to at least Unfriendly before setting foot inside. It doesn't take long, maybe half an hour doing two grinding quests and you're there. Do NOT fight your way through because it just makes it so much harder later when you've either got to fight your way back, or spend money to fly back, and forth, and back, and forth. Yeah, I fought my way through...a couple of times. Took me freaking forever to get back in the Timbermaw's good books.
Now if WoW were offline SP-RGP you'd just reload. You might lose an hour of progress but it's soooo much better than the alternative.
Of course if it were an offline SP-RPG you'd probably never have the thousands of hours invested into your Toon that most of us ended up with. By the way, a thousand hours isn't long, it's just 40 days /played.
So I restarted/rerolled my FO3 "Toon" a couple of times and after the second or third time, I saved my Toon at the exit to Vault 101 which, oddly enough, is where you get a final chance to change everything about your character. You've already assigned points to your Stats, and chosen your Skills/Perks, you've done the Intro/Tutorial but now, before you set foot into the Big, Bad Wasteworld...do you want to change anything about your Toon...and they do mean anything. You get one last chance to change not just your Stats but your physical appearance, including your gender! So I saved a game there meaning now when I "reroll" I don't need to do the Tutorial again, not unless I really, really want to.
The controls are standard WASD FPS controls so if you've played any FPS in the last 10 years you should have very little trouble getting around. Hitting TAB opens your PIPBoy which also Pauses the game. That's something which makes Liz very happy and she's probably not the only spouse...not that I have more than one spouse...other people's spouses, they're probably happy their SO is finally playing a game with a Pause button.
The PIPBoy is where you change weapons, armor, medicate/heal yourself, etc. You can keep track of your current quests in it, track the objective/destination for a quest, view your Map, etc. Because it completely fills your screen it's by necessity that the game also Pauses when you access your PIPBoy, otherwise Mobs would be chewing on your head while you're looking at your Map.
Back in the game combat occurs, for the most part, in Real Time, although Bullet Time is used for some of the flashier kills. You can choose to play FO3 as an FPS, or you can take advantage of V.A.T.S., the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. This means Combat gets paused while you choose your targets. You start combat with a certain number of Action Points (depending on a few factors, your Stats, length of time since last Combat, etc) and you basically choose which opponent (if more than one) to shoot at, and which body part to target. Certain Mobs are more heavily armored in certain areas, so while you might have an excellent chance of shooting a RadScorption's Carapace, you won't do as much damage to it as if you targeted its legs, which are naturally harder to hit.
V.A.T.S. has its good points, and its bad points. It allows you to stop/pause combat while you think things through, which is good you're a more mature gamer (like me) where your reactions might be a little slower than when you were half your age (even if you won't admit it to yourself, or anyone else ;) It's also very good if a Mob ambushes you. Spin to face it, hit V (to engage V.A.T.S. of course), pick your target, maybe select it a couple of times if you have sufficient Action Points, then hit A (or is it E) to Accept your choice, leave V.A.T.S. and resume combat. Now you don't need to do anything until your Toon has completed doing what you told it to...which is where the bad part of V.A.T.S. kicks in.
You just told your Toon to shoot the Mob four times in the head. As he begins firing the camera view changes, and here are two Mobs behind your target, with Assault Rifles, that they've got aimed right at you. Your first shot to your target's head is a good one, it does a lot of damage and he's stunned, so your second shot finishes him off. Queue the almost obligatory slow-mo death sequence as your target's head flies off (yes, body parts are easily separated from their owners during combat) and his body cartwheels through the air and down the adjacent stairwell.
Meanwhile...his two buddies are shooting the hell out of you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it, not until the game gives you back control of your Toon. Before that happens, let's just watch that body slide down the last couple of stairs, shall we? Ok, now, where were we? Oh, you're getting shot. And you're low on health. Oh dear.
Good part of FO3? Hit TAB to bring up your PIPBoy and shoot yourself up with a couple of Stimpacks. Get that Health Bar back up to a more...healthier level. Much better. Your 10mm Pistol is good for taking out a single bad guy, but you've got two guys shooting at you now. Break out the Combat Shotgun. TAB out of your PIPBoy and resume combat, in real time. You're almost back at full health again so you can take a second to line up your shot and KA-BLAM! The second bad guy loses his head after taking a load of double-ought to the face. Unlike the first guy's death which occurred in V.A.T.S., this second guy doesn't get the honor of a slow-mo bullet time death. Now it's just one guy left so...you hit V again. Hellooooo V.A.T.S. and refreshingly slow combat where you have all the time in the world to plan your moves. Close range, guy in front of you in an open corridor. Got to be a shotgun blast to the face...again >:)
It's a Critical Hit, and because it happened in V.A.T.S., there's that slow-mo death sequence that sometimes produces the most hilarious of death scenes. Seriously. Sometimes they're so over the top they're beyond belief. Last night I shot a Raider on a bridge above me. The best shot I had, according to the percentages shown by V.A.T.S., was targeting his left leg, so I did. All three rounds from my Hunting Rifle hit the Raider in the leg, the last one tore his leg off. No, he didn't hop around on his good leg before collapsing in a heap. The game engine decided to toss him into the air, and he practically cartwheeled across a gap in the bridge which, if the guy was 6-feet tall, was a 10' wide gap. He almost made it all the way across, too :D
Speaking of the physics engine FO3's has really impressed me, on more than one occasion.
I had a stupid Raider charge me. I know he was stupid because he was bringing a Pool Cue to a Gun Fight. I dropped him with a couple of rounds from my Hunting Rifle, and he dropped the Pool Cue. We were on the side of a hill and his Pool Cue hit the ground and began rolling down hill. It rolled all the way down to the bottom of the hill then continued on for a bit before finally losing all momentum.
Another Raider lost his head after losing a gun fight with me (it's amazing how poorly heads and limbs are attached in this game) and I watched bemused as his head rolled away from its body before coming to a stop in a ditch.
Then there was a Centaur (not your typical mythical half-man/half-horse critter, something a lot uglier) spitting at me, or tossing body parts, or doing god knows what, but it was engaging me at extreme range by spitting/throwing "something" at me. I pulled out my Sniper Rifle and fired off the last few .308 rounds I had. I hit it a couple of times but not enough to kill it, so I switched to my Hunting Rifle (chambered for .32, not .308) and...the Centaur disintegrated. WTF? I stared in surprise, wondering just what the hell had happened, and that's when the truck behind the Centaur exploded. I ducked, literally (me, not my toon) as the hood of the truck flew across the river and bounced past my toon. I still don't know what happened to the Centaur, whether there'd been an initial, smaller explosion from the truck that I hadn't seen, which finished it off, or if it somehow self-destructed, setting fire to the truck, which caused the explosion. It doesn't matter, the Centaur was dead and I was alive.
Now, is the game worth $50? Which is what I paid for it (that's what you get buying newly released games). I'd say so. Sure, it may not keep my interest as much as WoW or Wrath would, but for them, I'd still be paying to play every month (or every 6 months in my case). Even when I'm done with it, there'll probably be a time in the future when I'll pull it back out and play it some more. Good value for money, in my books.
There's also a large Modding community, who are constantly coming up with changes to the game. Different graphics, different specs for the weapons, etc. So there's a lot of after-market support. If you've an aversion to paying full price for games, then wait for the price to drop. It will come down sooner or later. If you don't mind paying $50 for a game, and you like quasi-Role Playing games with guns, bombs, explosions, and detachable body parts, you'll probably enjoy Fallout 3.
It's very easy to get into, can be played for 5 to 10 minutes, or an hour or two, and paused at will when the wife calls. It may not be Fallout 1 & 2 done as an FPS, but it's still (IMO) a fun game. No, I'm not offering you a money back guarantee if you don't like it. By now you should already know if you'd like it ;)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A hypothetical
John Doe, a U.S. Presidential candidate, collects 62,000,000 "popular" votes, three million more than his opponent. He also wins 30 states, 50 per cent more than his opponent.
With an Electoral College tally of 278, the winning candidate is...John Doe's opponent???
That is what almost happened in 2004.
John Kerry received three million fewer popular votes than GW, he also won just 19 states. It doesn't matter which way you look at it Kerry was clearly not the popular candidate, and yet if he'd won Florida...
You give credit where it's due and this is why I respect the Democrats, because they clearly know how to play the game. (That doesn't mean I support them, just respect them, big difference.)
The 2008 Election was practically a reverse of '04. The Democrats won the same number of states as GW in '04, but their Electoral College tally was almost 80 points higher. A clear and decisive win by a party that knows how to play the game.
If the Democrats can get their shit together, the Republican party will never be in power again. That's not a good thing. As it stands now it's either Republican or Democrat, there's no real choice. If you remove the Republicans it becomes all Democrat, all the time. That's not a good thing.
With an Electoral College tally of 278, the winning candidate is...John Doe's opponent???
That is what almost happened in 2004.
John Kerry received three million fewer popular votes than GW, he also won just 19 states. It doesn't matter which way you look at it Kerry was clearly not the popular candidate, and yet if he'd won Florida...
You give credit where it's due and this is why I respect the Democrats, because they clearly know how to play the game. (That doesn't mean I support them, just respect them, big difference.)
The 2008 Election was practically a reverse of '04. The Democrats won the same number of states as GW in '04, but their Electoral College tally was almost 80 points higher. A clear and decisive win by a party that knows how to play the game.
If the Democrats can get their shit together, the Republican party will never be in power again. That's not a good thing. As it stands now it's either Republican or Democrat, there's no real choice. If you remove the Republicans it becomes all Democrat, all the time. That's not a good thing.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Congratulations? I'm confused.
Tobold, I'm not sure what you're congratulating us for. All we did was elect a politician to the office of President of the United States. We do that every four years, you know. (And yes, I know; technically our Electoral College system means that We, The People, don't really elect our President.)
So what if he's Black? Why is that such a big deal? It might look like we overcame our prejudice and elected a Black President, but Californians still voted to discriminate against homosexuals and deny them the same rights the State bestows upon heterosexuals. We're not exactly the forward thinking nation you perceive us to be.
Record turn out? Hardly. Obama got (approx.) 63,350,000 votes, while McCain got 56,000,000. That's 119,350,000 votes.
In 2004, Bush & Kerry got 121,000,000 votes between them. They beat the Obama/McCain team by 1,650,000 votes.
Also Obama got just 1.3 million more votes than Bush did in 2004. That's hardly an example of overwhelming support or inspiring a nation.
Considering the approx. adult population of the U.S. is 220 million, slightly more than half of those eligible actually voted. (Yes, I know. Some of those adults are Felons, Residential Aliens, or Illegals, none of whom can vote.) But what does it really say about someone who realistically only garnered the support of a quarter of the population?
American's two-party system also practically handpicks the candidates the Public think they're voting on, so by "electing" a Black President it's not like we did anything amazing. We flipped a coin, and this time it came up heads. A black head, sure, but it's still just the head of a Politician. What's the big deal?
By the way, this is not Sour Grapes, I'm not a sore loser (didn't the pro-homosexual rights statement give that away?) because I'm not a Republican. I'm an Independent-Libertarian who is disillusioned with the U.S. political system, and I'm neither rich nor powerful enough to change it.
Change? Ha!
Obama is a Politician. You know he lied during his campaign because he has the exact same tell as every other Politician who's gone before him: Their lips moved.
So what if he's Black? Why is that such a big deal? It might look like we overcame our prejudice and elected a Black President, but Californians still voted to discriminate against homosexuals and deny them the same rights the State bestows upon heterosexuals. We're not exactly the forward thinking nation you perceive us to be.
Record turn out? Hardly. Obama got (approx.) 63,350,000 votes, while McCain got 56,000,000. That's 119,350,000 votes.
In 2004, Bush & Kerry got 121,000,000 votes between them. They beat the Obama/McCain team by 1,650,000 votes.
Also Obama got just 1.3 million more votes than Bush did in 2004. That's hardly an example of overwhelming support or inspiring a nation.
Considering the approx. adult population of the U.S. is 220 million, slightly more than half of those eligible actually voted. (Yes, I know. Some of those adults are Felons, Residential Aliens, or Illegals, none of whom can vote.) But what does it really say about someone who realistically only garnered the support of a quarter of the population?
American's two-party system also practically handpicks the candidates the Public think they're voting on, so by "electing" a Black President it's not like we did anything amazing. We flipped a coin, and this time it came up heads. A black head, sure, but it's still just the head of a Politician. What's the big deal?
By the way, this is not Sour Grapes, I'm not a sore loser (didn't the pro-homosexual rights statement give that away?) because I'm not a Republican. I'm an Independent-Libertarian who is disillusioned with the U.S. political system, and I'm neither rich nor powerful enough to change it.
Change? Ha!
Obama is a Politician. You know he lied during his campaign because he has the exact same tell as every other Politician who's gone before him: Their lips moved.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
One-way escalator
TJ's recent blog entry reminded me of an incident that I witnessed not too long ago.
My local Bus Station has just one escalator from the lower level to the upper level (or perhaps it's the other way...), which changes directions from Up in the morning to Down in the afternoon. There's also a flight of stairs next to it (as well as an elevator), so people can still go down or up when the Escalator is going the "wrong" way.
One afternoon I was walking down the stairs while other commuters rode the escalator down (they don't walk here in L.A. but rudely stand two abreast so sometimes it's actually faster walking down the 20 or so steps), when a woman approached the bottom of the (currently) "Down" escalator.
She laughed in a bemused sort of way and said to the people coming down the "Down" escalator, "You're going the wrong way." Then I watched incredulously as she tried to push her way between the exiting riders. She wasn't joking, she honestly thought the people coming down the "Down" escalator were riding the wrong way.
She was trying to step onto the bottom of a Down escalator.
As I descended the last couple of steps the woman actually managed to take two steps onto the "Down" escalator before being pushed back the way she'd come. As she stumbled backwards her look of bemusement was replaced with one of complete and utter confusion, and it took her a couple of seconds to realize what she'd just done.
Her subsequent reaction was very typical of people who encounter unexpected change in their life: anger and indignation.
My local Bus Station has just one escalator from the lower level to the upper level (or perhaps it's the other way...), which changes directions from Up in the morning to Down in the afternoon. There's also a flight of stairs next to it (as well as an elevator), so people can still go down or up when the Escalator is going the "wrong" way.
One afternoon I was walking down the stairs while other commuters rode the escalator down (they don't walk here in L.A. but rudely stand two abreast so sometimes it's actually faster walking down the 20 or so steps), when a woman approached the bottom of the (currently) "Down" escalator.
She laughed in a bemused sort of way and said to the people coming down the "Down" escalator, "You're going the wrong way." Then I watched incredulously as she tried to push her way between the exiting riders. She wasn't joking, she honestly thought the people coming down the "Down" escalator were riding the wrong way.
She was trying to step onto the bottom of a Down escalator.
As I descended the last couple of steps the woman actually managed to take two steps onto the "Down" escalator before being pushed back the way she'd come. As she stumbled backwards her look of bemusement was replaced with one of complete and utter confusion, and it took her a couple of seconds to realize what she'd just done.
Her subsequent reaction was very typical of people who encounter unexpected change in their life: anger and indignation.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Communist China?
This is what happens when you let your government oppress you.
First your government takes away your guns.
Then they want to restrict your access to information.
Then they deny you a voice and try to silence their critics.
No, this is not China, folks; I'm sad to report that this is my former homeland. This is what's happening in Australia, right now.
First your government takes away your guns.
Then they want to restrict your access to information.
Then they deny you a voice and try to silence their critics.
No, this is not China, folks; I'm sad to report that this is my former homeland. This is what's happening in Australia, right now.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Improving WSG
It occurs to me that by posting these ideas, I'm actually screwing Blizzard (and WoW players) out of possible improvements. Blizzard probably can't implement my ideas even if they did like them and wanted to, without actually buying them from me. Yes, I've put them out here in the public domain, but the ideas remain mine, and if I don't post "Blizzard, you've got carte blanche to use my ideas" then they can't use them for fear of me suing them. And if Blizzard can't use my ideas, it means the players lose out, too (assuming my ideas really are that good ;)
So how do we fix WSG? Well, what's the biggest problem with WSG?
It takes too long, right? Your team gets 2 Flag Caps and what happens? Everyone on the other team falls back to their base and now you've got a turtle. How can we fix this?
We could implement a Timer...but a Timer can actually negatively affect two evenly matched teams who are fighting an ebb & flow battle. Where Flags are constantly being picked up, huge fights are being fought mid-field, Flags are being dropped and returned, or dropped & picked up again, or returned and...someone hiding in your Base picks it up again! These are the fun WSGs where players are trying to support each other, they're actively PvPing, nobody is trying to Turtle or just let the other team lose, and everyone is having a blast. Then 15 minutes later...Bam! Everyone finds themself dumped back in front of their Battlemaster. Talk about Coitus Interruptus!
So while a Timer might be a good idea when you're up 2 & 0 and the other team is Turtling and try as you might you can't get their Flag out of their Base, but for a game where that's not happening? Where it's just two evenly matched teams thrusting, repelling, counter thrusting. Then a Timer literally is Couitus Interruptus.
If we look at the other BGs they all have Timers of a sort. Okay, it's actually a Counter.
AB - every few seconds the two Teams get points based on how many Bases they hold. First Team to 2000 points wins.
EOTS - every second the two Teams get points based on how many Bases they hold, with Flag Caps awarding more Points the more Bases you hold. First to 2000 wins.
AV - Both Teams start with 600 points. You win by reducing your opponent's Points to zero, by defeating their General (instant win), taking enemy-held Keeps & Towers, killing their Captain, or just killing opposing players (1 pt each).
WSG is (currently) the only BG that does not use a Counter/Timer. Get three Flag Caps and you win. That's it. If that takes you 10 minutes, or an hour, or half a day, it ain't over 'til one of the teams has scored 3 points.
But what if the game was played to 150 points, and a Flag Cap was worth 50 points?
That doesn't sound much different than it's current scoring system, right? But if we incorporate part of the AV Counter system, and for every HK your team gets you score 1 point, now it becomes a little more interesting.
Now if two teams are evenly matched, and they're fighting mid-field tooth & nail but neither team is giving up any ground. Flags are getting picked up, dropped, returned, then picked up again. Players are fighting and dying, then rezzing and running back in, but neither team's Flag Runner can break through. With each death the counter slowly ticks up. Now you need to win by attrition, and if one Team turtles, the team on the outside can either send players to the roof to rain death down upon those below with AOE attacks, DOTs, etc, and slowly kill them one by one. Now you don't need to get their Flag, it's enough to know that with every death they incur, your Team moves one step closer to Victory.
Would this work? Would you like to see a counter like this incorporated into WSG? Are Blizzard likely to do anything like this?
Not now, at least not unless I write: If there is anyone out there who could use this idea to compliment one of their games, you are more than welcome to it. Now it might get incorporated, assuming anyone from Blizzard reads the ramblings of the Famous Wizard 101 Blogger ;)
So how do we fix WSG? Well, what's the biggest problem with WSG?
It takes too long, right? Your team gets 2 Flag Caps and what happens? Everyone on the other team falls back to their base and now you've got a turtle. How can we fix this?
We could implement a Timer...but a Timer can actually negatively affect two evenly matched teams who are fighting an ebb & flow battle. Where Flags are constantly being picked up, huge fights are being fought mid-field, Flags are being dropped and returned, or dropped & picked up again, or returned and...someone hiding in your Base picks it up again! These are the fun WSGs where players are trying to support each other, they're actively PvPing, nobody is trying to Turtle or just let the other team lose, and everyone is having a blast. Then 15 minutes later...Bam! Everyone finds themself dumped back in front of their Battlemaster. Talk about Coitus Interruptus!
So while a Timer might be a good idea when you're up 2 & 0 and the other team is Turtling and try as you might you can't get their Flag out of their Base, but for a game where that's not happening? Where it's just two evenly matched teams thrusting, repelling, counter thrusting. Then a Timer literally is Couitus Interruptus.
If we look at the other BGs they all have Timers of a sort. Okay, it's actually a Counter.
AB - every few seconds the two Teams get points based on how many Bases they hold. First Team to 2000 points wins.
EOTS - every second the two Teams get points based on how many Bases they hold, with Flag Caps awarding more Points the more Bases you hold. First to 2000 wins.
AV - Both Teams start with 600 points. You win by reducing your opponent's Points to zero, by defeating their General (instant win), taking enemy-held Keeps & Towers, killing their Captain, or just killing opposing players (1 pt each).
WSG is (currently) the only BG that does not use a Counter/Timer. Get three Flag Caps and you win. That's it. If that takes you 10 minutes, or an hour, or half a day, it ain't over 'til one of the teams has scored 3 points.
But what if the game was played to 150 points, and a Flag Cap was worth 50 points?
That doesn't sound much different than it's current scoring system, right? But if we incorporate part of the AV Counter system, and for every HK your team gets you score 1 point, now it becomes a little more interesting.
Now if two teams are evenly matched, and they're fighting mid-field tooth & nail but neither team is giving up any ground. Flags are getting picked up, dropped, returned, then picked up again. Players are fighting and dying, then rezzing and running back in, but neither team's Flag Runner can break through. With each death the counter slowly ticks up. Now you need to win by attrition, and if one Team turtles, the team on the outside can either send players to the roof to rain death down upon those below with AOE attacks, DOTs, etc, and slowly kill them one by one. Now you don't need to get their Flag, it's enough to know that with every death they incur, your Team moves one step closer to Victory.
Would this work? Would you like to see a counter like this incorporated into WSG? Are Blizzard likely to do anything like this?
Not now, at least not unless I write: If there is anyone out there who could use this idea to compliment one of their games, you are more than welcome to it. Now it might get incorporated, assuming anyone from Blizzard reads the ramblings of the Famous Wizard 101 Blogger ;)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Fucking brilliant!!!
So I've been reading a few Yahoo! Answers lately, and I ran across this one, which asked "Can you tell me why your[sic] voting for the candidate that you are?"
One of the respondents wrote (IMHO) this Fucking Brilliant Gem of a response.
* * * * *
Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read: 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed.
Once in the restaurant my server had on an 'Obama '08' tie. Again I laughed--just imagine the coincidence.
When the bill came, I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama 'Redistribution of Wealth' concept. He stood there in disbelief as I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $5 and told him to thank the server inside. He looked at me questioningly, so I explained that even though the server did the work and had earned the money, I decided that he, the homeless guy, was more in need of the money. The homeless guy was grateful.
At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment, it had been clearly proven that while the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, the waiter was very angry that I gave away the money he did earn, even though the actual recipient deserved the money more.
It seems redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept, than in practical application.........
You want me to give your hard earned money to someone else. This is what I will continue to do daily until the day Obama is out of Office, that is if he makes it.
Vote for the closet Democrat over the flaming Socialist any day.
* * * * *
One of the respondents wrote (IMHO) this Fucking Brilliant Gem of a response.
* * * * *
Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read: 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed.
Once in the restaurant my server had on an 'Obama '08' tie. Again I laughed--just imagine the coincidence.
When the bill came, I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama 'Redistribution of Wealth' concept. He stood there in disbelief as I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.
I went outside, gave the homeless guy $5 and told him to thank the server inside. He looked at me questioningly, so I explained that even though the server did the work and had earned the money, I decided that he, the homeless guy, was more in need of the money. The homeless guy was grateful.
At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment, it had been clearly proven that while the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, the waiter was very angry that I gave away the money he did earn, even though the actual recipient deserved the money more.
It seems redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept, than in practical application.........
You want me to give your hard earned money to someone else. This is what I will continue to do daily until the day Obama is out of Office, that is if he makes it.
Vote for the closet Democrat over the flaming Socialist any day.
* * * * *
Monday, October 27, 2008
The lesser of two evils?
It doesn't have to be this way, so don't be a sheep and don't allow the media to brainwash you. A vote for someone other than one of the two evils is not a wasted vote.
When it's not compulsory to vote you should be free to vote for the candidate of your choice, in fact you should be commended for taking an interest in the running of your country, not made to feel guilty for doing so.
The truth is if everyone who could legally vote did so, and if everyone voted for the candidate of their choice, not just for one of the two evils, then both evils would probably be more than a little shocked at the result.
Although I am the famous Wizard 101 Blogger, I don't claim to have a huge readership, but perhaps the following will inspire others to get the message out and together we can educate the masses.
You have a choice, and it's your own choice to make. Don't make a choice out of fear, don't feel you have to vote for one of the two evils. Vote for the candidate you think actually has the knowledge and experience to run the country.
Because they already get enough air time I'm not going to name either of the two evils here (or even link to their pages), instead, here are the people the two evils would probably much rather you didn't know about.
The Libertarian Party candidate, Congressman Bob Barr.
The Constitution Party candidate, Pastor Chuck Baldwin.
The Green Party candidate, former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
Independent candidate Ralph Nader.
Of particular note is that Cynthia McKinney is not just a woman, but an African-American woman! Now why the hell isn't she getting more press time?
Because the media want you to vote for one of the two evils, so they promote them and forsake everyone else.
Don't let the wolf lead you astray, or the shepherd pull the wool over your eyes.
Vote (or don't vote) for the candidate of your choice. Now if your choice is one of the two evils, good for you, but be true to yourself, make sure it's your choice, not that of the media.
When it's not compulsory to vote you should be free to vote for the candidate of your choice, in fact you should be commended for taking an interest in the running of your country, not made to feel guilty for doing so.
The truth is if everyone who could legally vote did so, and if everyone voted for the candidate of their choice, not just for one of the two evils, then both evils would probably be more than a little shocked at the result.
Although I am the famous Wizard 101 Blogger, I don't claim to have a huge readership, but perhaps the following will inspire others to get the message out and together we can educate the masses.
You have a choice, and it's your own choice to make. Don't make a choice out of fear, don't feel you have to vote for one of the two evils. Vote for the candidate you think actually has the knowledge and experience to run the country.
Because they already get enough air time I'm not going to name either of the two evils here (or even link to their pages), instead, here are the people the two evils would probably much rather you didn't know about.
The Libertarian Party candidate, Congressman Bob Barr.
The Constitution Party candidate, Pastor Chuck Baldwin.
The Green Party candidate, former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
Independent candidate Ralph Nader.
Of particular note is that Cynthia McKinney is not just a woman, but an African-American woman! Now why the hell isn't she getting more press time?
Because the media want you to vote for one of the two evils, so they promote them and forsake everyone else.
Don't let the wolf lead you astray, or the shepherd pull the wool over your eyes.
Vote (or don't vote) for the candidate of your choice. Now if your choice is one of the two evils, good for you, but be true to yourself, make sure it's your choice, not that of the media.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
What WAR could have been...
but would it have been better?
Mythic could have made WAR a squad-based (sort of) game, not unlike the real, table-top Warhammer game. I know, I know. GW's stable of table-top games are almost all Army-based games (as opposed to squads), but that would make you a General and WAR an RTS and that's already been done, in countless incarnations (some good, some bad). Being an MMO, WAR needed to be a little more personal, but to capture that true GW feeling while also making WAR stand out as an MMO, WAR could have been a squad-based game, instead of the individual-based MMO it currently is.
Like all MMOs, to start with you'd create your Avatar, but then you'd get to create your squad, based on the avatar you chose.
If you played as a Black Orc, Orc Shaman, etc, your squad could consist of 4 Orc grunts, or up to 9 Goblins. Your choice.
Want to join Chaos? Then you'll have several Servants of Chaos at your command, maybe Northmen or Cultists.
Join the Empire, and depending on your Class you'd get several Knights or a squad of soldiers at your disposal.
And so on.
You wouldn't be able to customize too much about your squad, because units would die and get replaced when you get back to town and "repair". So it wouldn't be like creating 10 different characters to serve under you. Changing "hair color", for example, would change everyone's hair to within a shade or two of the selected color. Choosing a Gaulish-style mustache would give everyone a long, flowing mustache. Hired reinforcements would automatically (magic, perhaps? ;) resemble your current troops, in order to maintain uniformity. The character over whose appearance you'd have the most control, would naturally be your own Avatar.
Game play would still be remarkably similar to current WAR, where you go out, get Quests, do Scenarios, etc, but instead of fighting by yourself, or grouping up with others, you'd have a Squad at your command, led by your Avatar, and now you'd do battle with more than just one Mob at a time.
A typical battle, in this example with you as a Black Orc leading a squad of Goblins, could feasibly go like this:
You approach your opponents, half a dozen Grudgebringers, and you slowly move up until you're within bow range. Then you give the order to Open Fire.
Your Goblins draw their Bows and 8 arrows soar through the air before arcing gracefully down towards the squad of Dwarves. One of your Goblins looks a little embarrassed as he holds up a bow with a broken string.
A couple of the arrows strike the ground around the Dwarves but most find their mark and the stunned Dwarves yelp in pain. Then they turn towards your squad and begin charging your position.
Your Goblins draw their Bows and loose another flight of arrows. The thud and grunt as arrows embed themselves in Dwarven flesh is particularly satisfying to you, but even more so is seeing two of the Stunties fall to the ground with several red & black-fletched arrows sticking out of their bodies. (Red & Black being the predominant colors in the heraldry you've chosen for your troops.)
Not only undeterred but spurred on by the death of the comrades, the four remaining Dwarves roar a battle cry and charge onwards.
With no time left for another volley of arrows you pick a target and hit your own Charge hotkey, which by default orders your goblin troops to Attack!
With a gutteral roar and much high pitched squealing (not unlike finger nails being drawn down a blackboard or wet fingers across a pane of glass) you and your squad of goblins rush forward, meeting the Stunties charge head on.
And now the game more closely resembles combat in a traditional MMO, with, perhaps, one big exception. You're not going to be jumping and spinning around like you see Rogues and Elves doing WoW's PvP. And you'll learn very quickly not to do this. Oh, yes. You will learn.
You see when you walk around the land, you're not just in control of your Avatar; you're the leader of your squad, they echo your own movements. You move forward, they move forward. You back up, they retreat. And so on.
So if you're fighting, and you try to run through your opponent or leap around them like a hyperactive flea on Red Bull, your squad is going to try to follow your lead. Inspiring Chaos among your troops is good if you worship Khorne, it's not so good when you're leading easily confused goblins.
"'ere! What's da boss up to?"
"I dunno! He's leapin' about like he's a flamin' Elf!"
"Ya fink 'e wants us ta do that, too?"
"We'd better! Ya 'member what 'appened last time we didn't do what 'e said?"
"Oi, yer right! Come on, lads! Make wif da jumpin'!"
Suddenly your squad of Goblins break combat, stop attacking, and start leaping around like they're also flamin' Elves. Because that's, essentially, the command you've just given them.
The Dwarves, however, do no such thing. They quickly carve up your leaping Goblins, who make no attempt to parry, block or defend themselves (Sorry, Boss! Too busy jumpin'!"), and now it's you versus four very angry Dwarves. You were not a good role model for your troops, you just got them killed. If it's any consolation, you've probably just gotten yourself killed, too.
However, if you don't leap all over the place, and instead use your combat skills to fight strategically and successfully, you'll find your goblins are buoyed by the prowess of their fearsome Black Orc Leader. Their morale will increase, and they'll hit a little harder, doing a little more damage. Perhaps they'll parry or block more often, and when one or two of their mates fall to the flashing hammers & axes wielded by the Stunties, they won't mind so much, because you're such a great leader they're more than happy to die for you. Well, maybe "happy to die" is not entirely accurate, but it serves its purpose.
Now had you not been fighting so well, but instead were losing combat to your own Dwarven opponent, your Goblins would be dismayed at the pathetic skills displayed by their leader. As the Dwarves proved themselves to be more than worthy opponents, your Goblins' morale would have dropped. They might parry less often, their attacks would do less damage, and perhaps the Stunties would step it up and start hitting harder themselves. If you think that means you're losing the battle, you're right.
A Rallying cry might help here, or a Challenging Roar to demoralize, even Stun your opponents. If you're losing, there would be ways to rally your troops and perhaps turn the tide of battle back in your favor. While this is squad based combat, the success of your squad depends on you being a successful, inspiring leader, doing the right thing at the right time, and not jumping all over the place like you're a flamin' Elf.
Now picture you teaming up with several other players, each in control of their own squad, in pitched battles consisting of, quite possibly, hundreds of units. Hmm, that's probably why Mythic didn't go this route. We're talking Lag Central. If we wanted a game that played like this to look as good as it should, you'd probably need cutting edge machines just to play it, unless you want the graphics to take a huge hit.
Ahh well, I guess it'll just have to remain a pipe dream...unless, of course, someone thinks they can really do this. So if you can and you want to, go for it. You don't have my funding, but you do have my blessing to turn my dreams into your reality :)
*EDIT* to respond to Joseph's comment, because this was becoming a FHUGE comment of my own ;)
Joseph, it seems like what you're saying is your squad members' AI needs to actually be IAI, as in Intuitively Artificially Intelligent, instead of today's standard AI, being (usually) Atrociously Incompetent.
I would agree with you. If controlling the squad requires too much micro-management, this theoretical game would fall flat on its face (or needs to be developed as a Turn-based game, which can be fun but is not quite what we're looking for here), however, if your squad could coordinate their actions a little better, based on what you're trying to do with your own Avatar...
I'd like to use WoW's Hunter class as an example here, expanding the Pet from a single entity into several entities, which all obey the same command from you...except WoW's Hunter is notoriously known as the Huntard and for very good reason. Part of the problem is the Player, but part of the problem is also the horribly scripted AI of the Pet.
* * *
PET: "You want me to attack the Mob in front of us? Okay! I'll just run down these stairs behind us, out this door, then circle back around through three rooms to come up behind the Mob. As a bonus, I'll even aggro every Mob I find on the way."
Hunter . o O (Where'd my Pet go?)
30 seconds later.
Hunter . o O (Aah, there he is.)
Party: "WTF? Where'd the Adds come from?"
Hunter . o O (Uh oh.)
* * *
That's why I say the Squad would need to take orders from you in a more intuitive fashion (with intelligent pathing and AI).
When you attack from ranged (with a Bow, Fireball spell, etc), your squad would likewise use any Ranged Attacks they may have against the same target (or units of the same squad you're targeting). Of course if you're a Shaman in Melee using what could be considered a Ranged attack, such as a Chain Lightning spell, your squad would need to intuitively know, "I'm in Melee. I shouldn't try to use my Ranged attack just because Da Boss is."
So when you Charge into Melee, your Squad should intuitively recognize you're closing with your enemy and likewise attempt to do the same, to the same enemy/squad, without anyone peeling off to dry hump a nearby cargo ship. (Thanks to Joseph for that line ;)
The less micromanaging of your squad, the better their IAI, and the more it controls like a single-player MMO-RPG where you can almost forget about your squad because they'll intuitively do what you're wanting them to, the better this game would be.
*Last Edit* I just reminded myself of one of (IMO) the best wrestling video games, to date. Oddly enough, from yesteryear on the N64, it's WCW/nWo Revenge.
I could play this game for hours on end, and often had, and one day even after logging hundreds of in-game hours playing it, something happened which totally blew my mind.
My opponent had gained the upper hand, slammed me to the mat, then climbed up on the top turnbuckle. But just as he got to the top and was getting ready to launch himself through the air to come crashing down on me, my wrestler recovered and got to his feet.
Without thinking, literally acting on instinct, I ran to the corner and hit the grapple button...and my wrestler did exactly what I wanted him to.
He reached up, grabbed his opponent, and body slammed him off the top turnbuckle.
Just to make this clear, in all the time I'd played Revenge, and I'm literally talking hundreds of hours, possibly thousands (don't scoff, just check your /played time in WoW...not you, Tesh :P) in all that time I'd never once seen this move before. I'd never done it to anyone, never had it done to me; I didn't even know it existed.
Up until this point turnbuckle moves had always involved beat downs on a wrestler slammed into the corner, or a high risk, high flying move from the top rope that could help you win or cost you the match.
Running to the corner and pressing the grapple button was a purely intuitive move on my part.
I knew what I wanted my wrestler to do. I'd never seen him do it before, I didn't know if he'd do it or not, in fact whether or not he would do what I was asking never entered my mind. But he did. He did exactly what I was expecting him to do.
That's how much work went into the AI and script of a game written over 10 years ago. If they were able to program so much into a 64-bit cartridge-based game 10 years ago, there's absolutely no excuse for poor AI coding these days, other than laziness, and that's not an acceptable excuse.
Mythic could have made WAR a squad-based (sort of) game, not unlike the real, table-top Warhammer game. I know, I know. GW's stable of table-top games are almost all Army-based games (as opposed to squads), but that would make you a General and WAR an RTS and that's already been done, in countless incarnations (some good, some bad). Being an MMO, WAR needed to be a little more personal, but to capture that true GW feeling while also making WAR stand out as an MMO, WAR could have been a squad-based game, instead of the individual-based MMO it currently is.
Like all MMOs, to start with you'd create your Avatar, but then you'd get to create your squad, based on the avatar you chose.
If you played as a Black Orc, Orc Shaman, etc, your squad could consist of 4 Orc grunts, or up to 9 Goblins. Your choice.
Want to join Chaos? Then you'll have several Servants of Chaos at your command, maybe Northmen or Cultists.
Join the Empire, and depending on your Class you'd get several Knights or a squad of soldiers at your disposal.
And so on.
You wouldn't be able to customize too much about your squad, because units would die and get replaced when you get back to town and "repair". So it wouldn't be like creating 10 different characters to serve under you. Changing "hair color", for example, would change everyone's hair to within a shade or two of the selected color. Choosing a Gaulish-style mustache would give everyone a long, flowing mustache. Hired reinforcements would automatically (magic, perhaps? ;) resemble your current troops, in order to maintain uniformity. The character over whose appearance you'd have the most control, would naturally be your own Avatar.
Game play would still be remarkably similar to current WAR, where you go out, get Quests, do Scenarios, etc, but instead of fighting by yourself, or grouping up with others, you'd have a Squad at your command, led by your Avatar, and now you'd do battle with more than just one Mob at a time.
A typical battle, in this example with you as a Black Orc leading a squad of Goblins, could feasibly go like this:
You approach your opponents, half a dozen Grudgebringers, and you slowly move up until you're within bow range. Then you give the order to Open Fire.
Your Goblins draw their Bows and 8 arrows soar through the air before arcing gracefully down towards the squad of Dwarves. One of your Goblins looks a little embarrassed as he holds up a bow with a broken string.
A couple of the arrows strike the ground around the Dwarves but most find their mark and the stunned Dwarves yelp in pain. Then they turn towards your squad and begin charging your position.
Your Goblins draw their Bows and loose another flight of arrows. The thud and grunt as arrows embed themselves in Dwarven flesh is particularly satisfying to you, but even more so is seeing two of the Stunties fall to the ground with several red & black-fletched arrows sticking out of their bodies. (Red & Black being the predominant colors in the heraldry you've chosen for your troops.)
Not only undeterred but spurred on by the death of the comrades, the four remaining Dwarves roar a battle cry and charge onwards.
With no time left for another volley of arrows you pick a target and hit your own Charge hotkey, which by default orders your goblin troops to Attack!
With a gutteral roar and much high pitched squealing (not unlike finger nails being drawn down a blackboard or wet fingers across a pane of glass) you and your squad of goblins rush forward, meeting the Stunties charge head on.
And now the game more closely resembles combat in a traditional MMO, with, perhaps, one big exception. You're not going to be jumping and spinning around like you see Rogues and Elves doing WoW's PvP. And you'll learn very quickly not to do this. Oh, yes. You will learn.
You see when you walk around the land, you're not just in control of your Avatar; you're the leader of your squad, they echo your own movements. You move forward, they move forward. You back up, they retreat. And so on.
So if you're fighting, and you try to run through your opponent or leap around them like a hyperactive flea on Red Bull, your squad is going to try to follow your lead. Inspiring Chaos among your troops is good if you worship Khorne, it's not so good when you're leading easily confused goblins.
"'ere! What's da boss up to?"
"I dunno! He's leapin' about like he's a flamin' Elf!"
"Ya fink 'e wants us ta do that, too?"
"We'd better! Ya 'member what 'appened last time we didn't do what 'e said?"
"Oi, yer right! Come on, lads! Make wif da jumpin'!"
Suddenly your squad of Goblins break combat, stop attacking, and start leaping around like they're also flamin' Elves. Because that's, essentially, the command you've just given them.
The Dwarves, however, do no such thing. They quickly carve up your leaping Goblins, who make no attempt to parry, block or defend themselves (Sorry, Boss! Too busy jumpin'!"), and now it's you versus four very angry Dwarves. You were not a good role model for your troops, you just got them killed. If it's any consolation, you've probably just gotten yourself killed, too.
However, if you don't leap all over the place, and instead use your combat skills to fight strategically and successfully, you'll find your goblins are buoyed by the prowess of their fearsome Black Orc Leader. Their morale will increase, and they'll hit a little harder, doing a little more damage. Perhaps they'll parry or block more often, and when one or two of their mates fall to the flashing hammers & axes wielded by the Stunties, they won't mind so much, because you're such a great leader they're more than happy to die for you. Well, maybe "happy to die" is not entirely accurate, but it serves its purpose.
Now had you not been fighting so well, but instead were losing combat to your own Dwarven opponent, your Goblins would be dismayed at the pathetic skills displayed by their leader. As the Dwarves proved themselves to be more than worthy opponents, your Goblins' morale would have dropped. They might parry less often, their attacks would do less damage, and perhaps the Stunties would step it up and start hitting harder themselves. If you think that means you're losing the battle, you're right.
A Rallying cry might help here, or a Challenging Roar to demoralize, even Stun your opponents. If you're losing, there would be ways to rally your troops and perhaps turn the tide of battle back in your favor. While this is squad based combat, the success of your squad depends on you being a successful, inspiring leader, doing the right thing at the right time, and not jumping all over the place like you're a flamin' Elf.
Now picture you teaming up with several other players, each in control of their own squad, in pitched battles consisting of, quite possibly, hundreds of units. Hmm, that's probably why Mythic didn't go this route. We're talking Lag Central. If we wanted a game that played like this to look as good as it should, you'd probably need cutting edge machines just to play it, unless you want the graphics to take a huge hit.
Ahh well, I guess it'll just have to remain a pipe dream...unless, of course, someone thinks they can really do this. So if you can and you want to, go for it. You don't have my funding, but you do have my blessing to turn my dreams into your reality :)
*EDIT* to respond to Joseph's comment, because this was becoming a FHUGE comment of my own ;)
Joseph, it seems like what you're saying is your squad members' AI needs to actually be IAI, as in Intuitively Artificially Intelligent, instead of today's standard AI, being (usually) Atrociously Incompetent.
I would agree with you. If controlling the squad requires too much micro-management, this theoretical game would fall flat on its face (or needs to be developed as a Turn-based game, which can be fun but is not quite what we're looking for here), however, if your squad could coordinate their actions a little better, based on what you're trying to do with your own Avatar...
I'd like to use WoW's Hunter class as an example here, expanding the Pet from a single entity into several entities, which all obey the same command from you...except WoW's Hunter is notoriously known as the Huntard and for very good reason. Part of the problem is the Player, but part of the problem is also the horribly scripted AI of the Pet.
* * *
PET: "You want me to attack the Mob in front of us? Okay! I'll just run down these stairs behind us, out this door, then circle back around through three rooms to come up behind the Mob. As a bonus, I'll even aggro every Mob I find on the way."
Hunter . o O (Where'd my Pet go?)
30 seconds later.
Hunter . o O (Aah, there he is.)
Party: "WTF? Where'd the Adds come from?"
Hunter . o O (Uh oh.)
* * *
That's why I say the Squad would need to take orders from you in a more intuitive fashion (with intelligent pathing and AI).
When you attack from ranged (with a Bow, Fireball spell, etc), your squad would likewise use any Ranged Attacks they may have against the same target (or units of the same squad you're targeting). Of course if you're a Shaman in Melee using what could be considered a Ranged attack, such as a Chain Lightning spell, your squad would need to intuitively know, "I'm in Melee. I shouldn't try to use my Ranged attack just because Da Boss is."
So when you Charge into Melee, your Squad should intuitively recognize you're closing with your enemy and likewise attempt to do the same, to the same enemy/squad, without anyone peeling off to dry hump a nearby cargo ship. (Thanks to Joseph for that line ;)
The less micromanaging of your squad, the better their IAI, and the more it controls like a single-player MMO-RPG where you can almost forget about your squad because they'll intuitively do what you're wanting them to, the better this game would be.
*Last Edit* I just reminded myself of one of (IMO) the best wrestling video games, to date. Oddly enough, from yesteryear on the N64, it's WCW/nWo Revenge.
I could play this game for hours on end, and often had, and one day even after logging hundreds of in-game hours playing it, something happened which totally blew my mind.
My opponent had gained the upper hand, slammed me to the mat, then climbed up on the top turnbuckle. But just as he got to the top and was getting ready to launch himself through the air to come crashing down on me, my wrestler recovered and got to his feet.
Without thinking, literally acting on instinct, I ran to the corner and hit the grapple button...and my wrestler did exactly what I wanted him to.
He reached up, grabbed his opponent, and body slammed him off the top turnbuckle.
Just to make this clear, in all the time I'd played Revenge, and I'm literally talking hundreds of hours, possibly thousands (don't scoff, just check your /played time in WoW...not you, Tesh :P) in all that time I'd never once seen this move before. I'd never done it to anyone, never had it done to me; I didn't even know it existed.
Up until this point turnbuckle moves had always involved beat downs on a wrestler slammed into the corner, or a high risk, high flying move from the top rope that could help you win or cost you the match.
Running to the corner and pressing the grapple button was a purely intuitive move on my part.
I knew what I wanted my wrestler to do. I'd never seen him do it before, I didn't know if he'd do it or not, in fact whether or not he would do what I was asking never entered my mind. But he did. He did exactly what I was expecting him to do.
That's how much work went into the AI and script of a game written over 10 years ago. If they were able to program so much into a 64-bit cartridge-based game 10 years ago, there's absolutely no excuse for poor AI coding these days, other than laziness, and that's not an acceptable excuse.
$100 Starbucks Card
For quite a few months now the folks at my local Starbucks have been after my Starbucks Card. When I make the purchase which brings its balance down to $0, I have to ask for it back.
"Oh, you want it back?" they say, as if people frequently burn them down then just reload a new one.
I do get a new card when they come out with them, but they all go in The Drawer at home, this particular card I've been using for a couple of years now.
Then today, the cashier asked if he could have it when I'm finished with it.
I told him when it's empty I just reload it.
He then offered me $100 for it.
I looked at him. "I might take you up on that," I said to him, "if I thought you were serious."
"I am serious," he replied. "I spend more than that on shoes."
"$100 for my card," I repeated. "I guess it would give you bragging rights. I know you all have been after my card for months."
He laughed and mimed flashing my card around at the other 'Bucks employees. Apparently it's the same style card that you get from Seattle, which you can no longer get down here in California.
"When I get paid," he said, "in two weeks time. Think about it."
I am thinking about it. One hundred dollars for my Starbucks card. And he'll be getting it empty, of course, or at least with a very low balance.
I guess it's time to look through The Drawer, and find my new Starbucks Card :P
"Oh, you want it back?" they say, as if people frequently burn them down then just reload a new one.
I do get a new card when they come out with them, but they all go in The Drawer at home, this particular card I've been using for a couple of years now.
Then today, the cashier asked if he could have it when I'm finished with it.
I told him when it's empty I just reload it.
He then offered me $100 for it.
I looked at him. "I might take you up on that," I said to him, "if I thought you were serious."
"I am serious," he replied. "I spend more than that on shoes."
"$100 for my card," I repeated. "I guess it would give you bragging rights. I know you all have been after my card for months."
He laughed and mimed flashing my card around at the other 'Bucks employees. Apparently it's the same style card that you get from Seattle, which you can no longer get down here in California.
"When I get paid," he said, "in two weeks time. Think about it."
I am thinking about it. One hundred dollars for my Starbucks card. And he'll be getting it empty, of course, or at least with a very low balance.
I guess it's time to look through The Drawer, and find my new Starbucks Card :P
Monday, October 13, 2008
Griddle Cafe
With Monday being Columbus Day and a Public Holiday, at least for me, Liz decided we would have breakfast at The Griddle Cafe. After dropping the kids at school (JE wasn't too happy that he had to go to school when Dad wasn't going to work) we jumped on the Freeway and headed for West Hollywood. We had an interesting conversation on the way about if North Hollywood has been dubbed NoHo, does that mean West Hollywood should be called WeeHo? Liz disagreed, and also said she thought NoHo sounds silly, too. I asked "What about Soho?", which totally confused her.
We found The Griddle Cafe fairly easily (south side of Sunset, just west of Fairfax) and pulled into Hayworth Ave. where we found street parking at 25c/hour. Not bad for that part of town. The Griddle Cafe has tables on the sidewalk out front but even at 9:30am on a warmish Fall morning nobody was sitting outside. All the customers were inside, where just a couple of tables were free.
The greeter waved us further inside with a "sit anywhere, I could care less" attitude. Almost as an afterthought he handed me two menus. We sat ourselves down at a cozy (small) table-for-two and I handed Liz her menu. I thought Liz wanted pancakes so I chose the "Addicted to Noiselle" Stuffed French Toast, then Liz said she wanted Eggs and was going to order a Manhattan Frittata, so I switched my order to the BLUESBerry Pancakes. They came with Blueberry-laced Sour Cream and weren't too bad, but the portion was so large (and doughy) that as hungry as I was, I barely ate half of the three very large blueberry-stuffed pancakes.
Liz's Manhattan Frittata wasn't too bad but she couldn't finish it either. I needed protein, not just empty carbs, so I polished off the last of her ham steak and we took the rest of the pancakes home.
The coffee comes served in a 6-cup French Press and was pretty good, although the waitress was slow bringing out the cream. When it arrived I was glad she brought two little jugs because one of them had little black bits of something floating in it. I don't mind little black bits of something floating in my coffee, but I'm not too keen on little black bits of something floating in my creamer.
Although the triple-stack serving of pancakes is huge, I'm not quite sure they were worth the $10 price tag. Liz's Manhattan was also $10 though, so that's not too bad. We got out of there for $30+tip, which is a little more than I like to spend on breakfast, even for two, especially at what amounts to (in my opinion) nothing more than a rather pretentious diner.
Overall, given the neighborhood in which it's located, I'd give The Griddle Cafe 2 stars out of 5.
Now given my druthers, I'd rather eat at Le Roy's on Huntington in Monrovia, where a very hearty breakfast for two is more likely to weigh in under $25, including tip, and where I can get some of the tastiest and crunchiest Tater Tots this side of the Pecos.
Le Roy's has their own parking lot (which they share with a neighboring mechanic) so parking is free but limited; it fills up quickly when they're busy, which they usually are as it's a popular spot with the locals. Besides being small, the parking lot is also hard to navigate in anything much larger than a sedan, but street parking is also available, sometimes right out front if you get lucky. That said, if you get there early, or don't mind a wait, or don't mind rubbing shoulders with your neighbor at the counter or a communal table, Le Roy's is a good place to go to get a hearty, home-style breakfast at a reasonable price.
The warm welcome from the staff at Le Roy's is also more convincing than the display put on by the lack luster greeter at The Griddle Cafe. If you go during the week and you can wait until after 8:30 to 9am, you should be able to just walk in and sit down. Go during prime breakfast time, or on a weekend, or just turn up without your full party, and you can expect a wait, but it's a wait worth bearing.
We found The Griddle Cafe fairly easily (south side of Sunset, just west of Fairfax) and pulled into Hayworth Ave. where we found street parking at 25c/hour. Not bad for that part of town. The Griddle Cafe has tables on the sidewalk out front but even at 9:30am on a warmish Fall morning nobody was sitting outside. All the customers were inside, where just a couple of tables were free.
The greeter waved us further inside with a "sit anywhere, I could care less" attitude. Almost as an afterthought he handed me two menus. We sat ourselves down at a cozy (small) table-for-two and I handed Liz her menu. I thought Liz wanted pancakes so I chose the "Addicted to Noiselle" Stuffed French Toast, then Liz said she wanted Eggs and was going to order a Manhattan Frittata, so I switched my order to the BLUESBerry Pancakes. They came with Blueberry-laced Sour Cream and weren't too bad, but the portion was so large (and doughy) that as hungry as I was, I barely ate half of the three very large blueberry-stuffed pancakes.
Liz's Manhattan Frittata wasn't too bad but she couldn't finish it either. I needed protein, not just empty carbs, so I polished off the last of her ham steak and we took the rest of the pancakes home.
The coffee comes served in a 6-cup French Press and was pretty good, although the waitress was slow bringing out the cream. When it arrived I was glad she brought two little jugs because one of them had little black bits of something floating in it. I don't mind little black bits of something floating in my coffee, but I'm not too keen on little black bits of something floating in my creamer.
Although the triple-stack serving of pancakes is huge, I'm not quite sure they were worth the $10 price tag. Liz's Manhattan was also $10 though, so that's not too bad. We got out of there for $30+tip, which is a little more than I like to spend on breakfast, even for two, especially at what amounts to (in my opinion) nothing more than a rather pretentious diner.
Overall, given the neighborhood in which it's located, I'd give The Griddle Cafe 2 stars out of 5.
Now given my druthers, I'd rather eat at Le Roy's on Huntington in Monrovia, where a very hearty breakfast for two is more likely to weigh in under $25, including tip, and where I can get some of the tastiest and crunchiest Tater Tots this side of the Pecos.
Le Roy's has their own parking lot (which they share with a neighboring mechanic) so parking is free but limited; it fills up quickly when they're busy, which they usually are as it's a popular spot with the locals. Besides being small, the parking lot is also hard to navigate in anything much larger than a sedan, but street parking is also available, sometimes right out front if you get lucky. That said, if you get there early, or don't mind a wait, or don't mind rubbing shoulders with your neighbor at the counter or a communal table, Le Roy's is a good place to go to get a hearty, home-style breakfast at a reasonable price.
The warm welcome from the staff at Le Roy's is also more convincing than the display put on by the lack luster greeter at The Griddle Cafe. If you go during the week and you can wait until after 8:30 to 9am, you should be able to just walk in and sit down. Go during prime breakfast time, or on a weekend, or just turn up without your full party, and you can expect a wait, but it's a wait worth bearing.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Harvest Moon: Online
If you're not familiar with the Harvest Moon video game series and want to know more, click here. Basically, the game is an RPG Farming Sim, and it's a lot more fun than you'd expect.
Harvest Moon: Online does not exist. If it did, I'd have a link to it...and I'd probably be playing it :D The following is how I'd like to see Harvest Moon done, if it was ever made into an MMO game.
Like all MMOs, at the start of HM:O you create your avatar. But before you begin playing you're presented with a choice: Do you want to play HM:O as an MMO Farming Sim? Or do you want to play it in the more traditional MMO vein, a la WoW, EQ, WAR, LOTRO, etc?
Cast your mind back to the first Dungeon Siege game. You began life as a farmer, and when you entered the game your farm was being attacked by the Krug. So you grabedb a nearby pitchfork and drove them off. You then set out into the world to become a mighty hero.
But imagine if you'd been able to choose to stay on the farm, remain a simple farmer, and just work the land.
That's HM:O in a nutshell.
Some people want to be the Hero, others are more the stay-at-home type. HM:O would give you that choice.
So your first choice is whether you want to be a Hero or a Farmer (unlike typical MMOs, in HM:O a Farmer is not necessarily a bad thing ;)
If you choose to be a Hero, you're plopped down into the world where you can join up with other like-minded souls, go out, slay monsters, obtain shiny armor and powerful weapons, become a Hero, etc.
If you choose to be a Farmer you'll be presented with a second choice.
Where do you want to "build" your Farm?
You'll be shown a map of the game world. That's a real map, where you'll see existing farms being managed by other players, etc, along with all possible locations in each zone. Naturally most of the prime locations will already be taken if you're coming in late, but, HM:O will have a tax/upkeep system in place so if you stop playing for a while you'll lose your farm, thus making your plot of land available for other players.
If you're a regular Farmer, logging in just a couple of times a month would be sufficient to keep your farm running and your taxes paid. If you do lose your farm, HM:O will "sell" off your assets, deduct any outstanding taxes, and deposit any remaining gold into your toon's bank account. So if you come back to the game after losing your Farm, you can choose a new plot of land (or maybe your old plot is still available) and you'll be able to rebuild.
We don't need to talk too much about the Hero side of HM:O because most people know how traditional RPG MMOs work. However, there will be no open world PvP, otherwise Heroes could just gear up then come into town and slaughter/grief the Farmers. Heroes can still choose to Duel each other, and perhaps there'd be a BG system similar to WoW, but unlike WoW the BGs would just be for fun. If it turns out that one or two classes are the strongest when it comes to PvP, and everyone else gets slaughtered by them, then that's just the way it goes. The designers would not try to balance PvP by nerfing those classes because PvP is just a side game in HM:O, and if everyone rolls a Mage or Priest, or whatever the two OP PvP classes are, then that's fine. Personally, I think a BG would be a lot more fun if every player was the same class, or one of two classes, and everybody was fairly evenly matched. But that's just me.
Back to the Farming side of HM:O.
Players could grow crops, raise livestock, etc, and sell them on the in-game Auction House. Now I say Farmer, but in HM:O a Farmer could be one of many different types. A Farmer in HM:O would actually be a dedicated Crafter in another MMO. For example, you might have a Farmer who's chosen to settle down on a very rocky, barren plot of land.
Why?
Because he's not so much a Farmer as a Miner, Stonecutter, or Stonemason. Unlike WoW and other MMOs, Players cannot just wander the land and mine random lodes. A Player needs to become a Miner and work their own Rock Quarry in order to gather Stone. And in case you're wondering, two neighboring Miners could not Ninja each other's stone. Now as the Player improves his Farmer/Miner within the game, his Farm/Rock Quarry will likewise improve. The Quarry will initially produce the most basic rock, but as the player levels his Miner and Rock Quarry with new Buildings, learns new Techniques, etc, his Rock Quarry will produce better grade stone, perhaps even ore or gems at higher levels.
The Farmer/Miner can then take his finished goods and sell them on the in-game Auction House where another Player will buy them to advance his own Blacksmith, Armorsmith, or Weaponsmith. If nobody chooses to be a Miner, the game itself will seed the Auction House with Stone & Ore of various grades, but it will be expensive to buy, thus players will be encouraged to create Miners to take advantage of this seemingly profitable profession.
Another Farmer may choose to raise Cattle for slaughter, to provide other players with Meat and Leather which they turn into Pies or Sausages (the Meat, not the Leather), which provide Food Buffs to Hero players. The Leather is naturally bought by Armorsmiths, for quite obvious reasons.
Hero classes cannot be Gatherers or Crafters, which only makes sense.
A Blacksmith may leave his hearth & anvil to become a mighty Warrior, but in doing so he is no longer a Blacksmith. He still knows how to wield a hammer and beat out a sword, but he's no longer a Blacksmith.
The Farmer who leaves his land to become a Soldier and fight for his King will still know how to till the land and raise crops, but he's a Soldier now, not a Farmer. He's not going to do those things even if he still knows how.
Essentially the Hero players will be relying on the Farmers to outfit them, which is how the Real World works. Yes, the Heroes can still do quests, kill 10 rats, and pick up weapons and armor (& vendor trash) but in most cases armor & weapons dropped by Mobs will be inferior to what the Farmers/Crafters can make, with Epic Items from Instance Bosses being the exception.
*Edit* - Just had a thought, that with this being a Harvest Moon game versus your more traditional hack & slash RPG, that Instance Bosses and Raid Bosses should not provide better items than what can be manufactured by the best in-game Crafters. But rather, they should drop Recipes or Patterns which would be used by those Crafters to manufacture the desired item.
PROBLEM? - How can the Hero trade his Pattern for an Uber Hammer of Thumpiness to a Weaponsmith and not get ripped off?
SOLUTION! - A Weaponsmith or Armorsmith's "Farm" could have an RFP Ledger where Hero-types could deposit their Pattern and...Ooh! The Hero providing the Pattern must purchase and provide the Mats along with the Pattern. As said Mats are purchased The Game will check if they have a Pattern in their inventory, and if so, will ask the Hero if they want their newly purchased Mats linked to said Pattern (assuming, that is, said Mats are a requirement of said Pattern). The Hero can also Examine/Read the Pattern at any time and when they do, the game will again check their inventory (& bank) and if it finds required, unlinked Mats, will ask if they want them linked to a particular Pattern.
Once the Hero acquires all the Mats and has them linked to the Pattern it can then be deposited in an RFP Ledger. The Hero will be prompted to pay a fee for the service (yes, on top of acquiring the Mats) which the Weaponsmith can accept, reject, or counter with a higher offer (or a lower offer if they're feeling benevolent). On accepting the RFP the Smith will immediately and automatically begin crafting the desired item, which will be automatically mailed to the Hero on completion. At any time, prior to acceptance by the Smith, the Hero can choose to cancel their RFP, and the Recipe, linked Mats, & fee will all be returned to him/her.
*END EDIT*
Unlike traditional MMOs, the Blacksmith will not need to make lots of super expensive Items for those last few Skills points, because a Blacksmith doesn't level his profession by making countless weapons. Instead he gains the ability to build better Weapons & Items by upgrading his Smithy, perhaps with an improved Forge, a better Anvil, higher quality hammers & tools, etc. He's also not reliant on selling weapons to the Hero players; the Blacksmith can also build superior Tools that other Farmers can use to improve their own lot in life.
A Farmer could just buy a Hoe from the Sears & Roebuck catalog, but if he wants to increase his yield and make more Gold and improve his Farm, he'll till his land with a Superior Hoe made by a Blacksmith. And if nobody is buying the Blacksmith's Tools, or perhaps there's a glut of Tools on the Auction House? The Blacksmith can just vendor them rather than sell them at a loss. Remember I mentioned the game will seed the Auction House with Mats? The Tools the Blacksmith makes will always vendor for more than the combined price of the Mats at the inflated AH price. So he can still make a profit and still, slowly, improve his Smithy.
Just as in traditional MMOs where players acquire more and more powerful weapons and armor and their Avatars become more and more visually impressive, as the HM:O Farmer/Blacksmith upgrades his Farm/Smithy so too would its appearance change and improve.
I could go on, but that's what I'd like to see in Harvest Moon: Online. A vibrant, living community where towns and even cities are built, quite literally, by the players.
Harvest Moon: Online does not exist. If it did, I'd have a link to it...and I'd probably be playing it :D The following is how I'd like to see Harvest Moon done, if it was ever made into an MMO game.
Like all MMOs, at the start of HM:O you create your avatar. But before you begin playing you're presented with a choice: Do you want to play HM:O as an MMO Farming Sim? Or do you want to play it in the more traditional MMO vein, a la WoW, EQ, WAR, LOTRO, etc?
Cast your mind back to the first Dungeon Siege game. You began life as a farmer, and when you entered the game your farm was being attacked by the Krug. So you grabedb a nearby pitchfork and drove them off. You then set out into the world to become a mighty hero.
But imagine if you'd been able to choose to stay on the farm, remain a simple farmer, and just work the land.
That's HM:O in a nutshell.
Some people want to be the Hero, others are more the stay-at-home type. HM:O would give you that choice.
So your first choice is whether you want to be a Hero or a Farmer (unlike typical MMOs, in HM:O a Farmer is not necessarily a bad thing ;)
If you choose to be a Hero, you're plopped down into the world where you can join up with other like-minded souls, go out, slay monsters, obtain shiny armor and powerful weapons, become a Hero, etc.
If you choose to be a Farmer you'll be presented with a second choice.
Where do you want to "build" your Farm?
You'll be shown a map of the game world. That's a real map, where you'll see existing farms being managed by other players, etc, along with all possible locations in each zone. Naturally most of the prime locations will already be taken if you're coming in late, but, HM:O will have a tax/upkeep system in place so if you stop playing for a while you'll lose your farm, thus making your plot of land available for other players.
If you're a regular Farmer, logging in just a couple of times a month would be sufficient to keep your farm running and your taxes paid. If you do lose your farm, HM:O will "sell" off your assets, deduct any outstanding taxes, and deposit any remaining gold into your toon's bank account. So if you come back to the game after losing your Farm, you can choose a new plot of land (or maybe your old plot is still available) and you'll be able to rebuild.
We don't need to talk too much about the Hero side of HM:O because most people know how traditional RPG MMOs work. However, there will be no open world PvP, otherwise Heroes could just gear up then come into town and slaughter/grief the Farmers. Heroes can still choose to Duel each other, and perhaps there'd be a BG system similar to WoW, but unlike WoW the BGs would just be for fun. If it turns out that one or two classes are the strongest when it comes to PvP, and everyone else gets slaughtered by them, then that's just the way it goes. The designers would not try to balance PvP by nerfing those classes because PvP is just a side game in HM:O, and if everyone rolls a Mage or Priest, or whatever the two OP PvP classes are, then that's fine. Personally, I think a BG would be a lot more fun if every player was the same class, or one of two classes, and everybody was fairly evenly matched. But that's just me.
Back to the Farming side of HM:O.
Players could grow crops, raise livestock, etc, and sell them on the in-game Auction House. Now I say Farmer, but in HM:O a Farmer could be one of many different types. A Farmer in HM:O would actually be a dedicated Crafter in another MMO. For example, you might have a Farmer who's chosen to settle down on a very rocky, barren plot of land.
Why?
Because he's not so much a Farmer as a Miner, Stonecutter, or Stonemason. Unlike WoW and other MMOs, Players cannot just wander the land and mine random lodes. A Player needs to become a Miner and work their own Rock Quarry in order to gather Stone. And in case you're wondering, two neighboring Miners could not Ninja each other's stone. Now as the Player improves his Farmer/Miner within the game, his Farm/Rock Quarry will likewise improve. The Quarry will initially produce the most basic rock, but as the player levels his Miner and Rock Quarry with new Buildings, learns new Techniques, etc, his Rock Quarry will produce better grade stone, perhaps even ore or gems at higher levels.
The Farmer/Miner can then take his finished goods and sell them on the in-game Auction House where another Player will buy them to advance his own Blacksmith, Armorsmith, or Weaponsmith. If nobody chooses to be a Miner, the game itself will seed the Auction House with Stone & Ore of various grades, but it will be expensive to buy, thus players will be encouraged to create Miners to take advantage of this seemingly profitable profession.
Another Farmer may choose to raise Cattle for slaughter, to provide other players with Meat and Leather which they turn into Pies or Sausages (the Meat, not the Leather), which provide Food Buffs to Hero players. The Leather is naturally bought by Armorsmiths, for quite obvious reasons.
Hero classes cannot be Gatherers or Crafters, which only makes sense.
A Blacksmith may leave his hearth & anvil to become a mighty Warrior, but in doing so he is no longer a Blacksmith. He still knows how to wield a hammer and beat out a sword, but he's no longer a Blacksmith.
The Farmer who leaves his land to become a Soldier and fight for his King will still know how to till the land and raise crops, but he's a Soldier now, not a Farmer. He's not going to do those things even if he still knows how.
Essentially the Hero players will be relying on the Farmers to outfit them, which is how the Real World works. Yes, the Heroes can still do quests, kill 10 rats, and pick up weapons and armor (& vendor trash) but in most cases armor & weapons dropped by Mobs will be inferior to what the Farmers/Crafters can make, with Epic Items from Instance Bosses being the exception.
*Edit* - Just had a thought, that with this being a Harvest Moon game versus your more traditional hack & slash RPG, that Instance Bosses and Raid Bosses should not provide better items than what can be manufactured by the best in-game Crafters. But rather, they should drop Recipes or Patterns which would be used by those Crafters to manufacture the desired item.
PROBLEM? - How can the Hero trade his Pattern for an Uber Hammer of Thumpiness to a Weaponsmith and not get ripped off?
SOLUTION! - A Weaponsmith or Armorsmith's "Farm" could have an RFP Ledger where Hero-types could deposit their Pattern and...Ooh! The Hero providing the Pattern must purchase and provide the Mats along with the Pattern. As said Mats are purchased The Game will check if they have a Pattern in their inventory, and if so, will ask the Hero if they want their newly purchased Mats linked to said Pattern (assuming, that is, said Mats are a requirement of said Pattern). The Hero can also Examine/Read the Pattern at any time and when they do, the game will again check their inventory (& bank) and if it finds required, unlinked Mats, will ask if they want them linked to a particular Pattern.
Once the Hero acquires all the Mats and has them linked to the Pattern it can then be deposited in an RFP Ledger. The Hero will be prompted to pay a fee for the service (yes, on top of acquiring the Mats) which the Weaponsmith can accept, reject, or counter with a higher offer (or a lower offer if they're feeling benevolent). On accepting the RFP the Smith will immediately and automatically begin crafting the desired item, which will be automatically mailed to the Hero on completion. At any time, prior to acceptance by the Smith, the Hero can choose to cancel their RFP, and the Recipe, linked Mats, & fee will all be returned to him/her.
*END EDIT*
Unlike traditional MMOs, the Blacksmith will not need to make lots of super expensive Items for those last few Skills points, because a Blacksmith doesn't level his profession by making countless weapons. Instead he gains the ability to build better Weapons & Items by upgrading his Smithy, perhaps with an improved Forge, a better Anvil, higher quality hammers & tools, etc. He's also not reliant on selling weapons to the Hero players; the Blacksmith can also build superior Tools that other Farmers can use to improve their own lot in life.
A Farmer could just buy a Hoe from the Sears & Roebuck catalog, but if he wants to increase his yield and make more Gold and improve his Farm, he'll till his land with a Superior Hoe made by a Blacksmith. And if nobody is buying the Blacksmith's Tools, or perhaps there's a glut of Tools on the Auction House? The Blacksmith can just vendor them rather than sell them at a loss. Remember I mentioned the game will seed the Auction House with Mats? The Tools the Blacksmith makes will always vendor for more than the combined price of the Mats at the inflated AH price. So he can still make a profit and still, slowly, improve his Smithy.
Just as in traditional MMOs where players acquire more and more powerful weapons and armor and their Avatars become more and more visually impressive, as the HM:O Farmer/Blacksmith upgrades his Farm/Smithy so too would its appearance change and improve.
I could go on, but that's what I'd like to see in Harvest Moon: Online. A vibrant, living community where towns and even cities are built, quite literally, by the players.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Nintendo DSi - Now with less portability
Joseph alerted me to one of Nintendo's latest products, the DSi.
It's a revamped DS with bigger screens and TWO built-in cameras, and yet it's somehow lighter than its predecessor. Pretty fricking awesome, right?
But wait, there's more! It also comes with Regional Locking, just like your Gaming Console and DVD player!
Yeah! Regional Locking!
Wait a minute? Regional Locking? As in...I visit a games store in another country, like Japan, and find an awesome RPG that hasn't been released in my country...and there's no point buying it because it won't play in my DSi? That kind of Regional Locking?
Yes. That kind of Regional Locking.
You know the chip to incorporate Regional Locking had to increase the base cost of the DSi, even if only by a small margin. And once word gets out of the Regional Locking, other gamers like Joseph and myself, who may have bought a bigger, lighter DS with TWO Built-In Cameras, won't buy it now.
For some reason Nintendo increased the production cost of the DSi while also decreasing customer demand. The decision to incorporate Regional Locking will increase expenses while decreasing revenue. How on earth could that be perceived as a financially sound business decision?
Nintendo did issue a statement re: the DSi and Regional Locking, claiming: "DSi software (ie, DSi games/cartridges) is region locked, eg: European DSi software can only be played on European DSi consoles.
Nintendo DS software however is region free so you can play any DS software on DSi from any region. You can also browse the Internet on your DSi wherever you are in the world and exchange your photos with friends from around the world."
However, Nintendo did confirm that download-able games and future DSi-only cartridge-based games would be region locked.
So yes, you can play your old DS games on your new DSi, regardless of which country you bought those DS Carts...but your DSi Carts? You'll only be able to play them on a compatible DSi.
How can Nintendo ensure customers will buy the technically flawed DSi? By releasing DSi-only cartridges. How many new GBA-SP games do you see now? I don't mean units that have been sitting on the shelf for a year or more and haven't sold, I mean new releases? You don't see any, they're all DS, and by the time the DSi comes out Nintendo will have already begun phasing out the DS carts. After all, what better way to sell the DSi than by having some awesome new titles already available for it at release.
I wonder if Nintendo and the DSi will receive similar treatment from the gaming community as did EA & Spore? I feel that as a Gamer who vehemently objects to Regional Locking on a portable gaming unit, it's my duty to give the DSi a negative, 1-star review on Amazon, once they have a page up for it, that is.
The Nintendo DSi. Now with even less portability.
It's a revamped DS with bigger screens and TWO built-in cameras, and yet it's somehow lighter than its predecessor. Pretty fricking awesome, right?
But wait, there's more! It also comes with Regional Locking, just like your Gaming Console and DVD player!
Yeah! Regional Locking!
Wait a minute? Regional Locking? As in...I visit a games store in another country, like Japan, and find an awesome RPG that hasn't been released in my country...and there's no point buying it because it won't play in my DSi? That kind of Regional Locking?
Yes. That kind of Regional Locking.
You know the chip to incorporate Regional Locking had to increase the base cost of the DSi, even if only by a small margin. And once word gets out of the Regional Locking, other gamers like Joseph and myself, who may have bought a bigger, lighter DS with TWO Built-In Cameras, won't buy it now.
For some reason Nintendo increased the production cost of the DSi while also decreasing customer demand. The decision to incorporate Regional Locking will increase expenses while decreasing revenue. How on earth could that be perceived as a financially sound business decision?
Nintendo did issue a statement re: the DSi and Regional Locking, claiming: "DSi software (ie, DSi games/cartridges) is region locked, eg: European DSi software can only be played on European DSi consoles.
Nintendo DS software however is region free so you can play any DS software on DSi from any region. You can also browse the Internet on your DSi wherever you are in the world and exchange your photos with friends from around the world."
However, Nintendo did confirm that download-able games and future DSi-only cartridge-based games would be region locked.
So yes, you can play your old DS games on your new DSi, regardless of which country you bought those DS Carts...but your DSi Carts? You'll only be able to play them on a compatible DSi.
How can Nintendo ensure customers will buy the technically flawed DSi? By releasing DSi-only cartridges. How many new GBA-SP games do you see now? I don't mean units that have been sitting on the shelf for a year or more and haven't sold, I mean new releases? You don't see any, they're all DS, and by the time the DSi comes out Nintendo will have already begun phasing out the DS carts. After all, what better way to sell the DSi than by having some awesome new titles already available for it at release.
I wonder if Nintendo and the DSi will receive similar treatment from the gaming community as did EA & Spore? I feel that as a Gamer who vehemently objects to Regional Locking on a portable gaming unit, it's my duty to give the DSi a negative, 1-star review on Amazon, once they have a page up for it, that is.
The Nintendo DSi. Now with even less portability.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
A heroic weekend
Not much to report. Thursday at our Cub Scout Den Meeting I had the boys do Paper Mache, with the plan to make masks for the Pack Meeting later this month. Friday morning the DISH Guy turned up and took a little over 2 hours to install our Dish. He did a pretty good job so I tipped him $10. After lunch we picked up the Paper Mache (I'd left them in the Teacher's Lounge at the school where we meet), then dropped off our old DVR Cable Box. When we got home I discovered The Blood of Heroes DVD had arrived from Netflix so I popped it in and watched it. The final match between Hauer's "challengers" and the League team was just as intense as I remembered.
Afterwards I popped in the first Disc from Heroes season 1, in spite of Liz's protests that she was already over it even though she hadn't really started watching it.
2 1/2 DVDs and several hours later, we crawled into bed at 2am after watching the first 7 episodes. Saturday we got up, and while Liz took the bunny to Ballet class I cleaned the house. Liz bought home In 'n' Out for lunch and after we'd scarfed down our Double-Doubles (Animal-style, of course) we resumed watching Disc 3 of Heroes...then put in Disc 4, and so on :D
This morning JE and I sold Popcorn outside the local Trader Joe's for 3 hours to raise money for the Cub Scouts. After we got home we had lunch...and then it was Heroes time. We've just eaten dinner, and now it's time for the season finale. We watched 23 episodes of Heroes this weekend! :P
Afterwards I popped in the first Disc from Heroes season 1, in spite of Liz's protests that she was already over it even though she hadn't really started watching it.
2 1/2 DVDs and several hours later, we crawled into bed at 2am after watching the first 7 episodes. Saturday we got up, and while Liz took the bunny to Ballet class I cleaned the house. Liz bought home In 'n' Out for lunch and after we'd scarfed down our Double-Doubles (Animal-style, of course) we resumed watching Disc 3 of Heroes...then put in Disc 4, and so on :D
This morning JE and I sold Popcorn outside the local Trader Joe's for 3 hours to raise money for the Cub Scouts. After we got home we had lunch...and then it was Heroes time. We've just eaten dinner, and now it's time for the season finale. We watched 23 episodes of Heroes this weekend! :P
Thursday, October 02, 2008
AT&T DISH Customer Disservice
About a month or so ago, shortly after we switched to AT&T DSL, Liz tried to order DISH through AT&T as well. She went online because that was their best price, except when she got to their website and entered our Zip/Area Code, she was informed we couldn't order online, that we'd need to call an 800 number, so we did.
When we called we were informed the only way we could get the same online package & price was if we signed a 24-month contract. No contract is required if you order online, which pissed off Liz no end, so she hung up.
Tuesday afternoon she'd finally calmed down enough to go online and try again, and this time she was able to place the order online, except the order could not actually be completed online. A Service Rep would need to call us to complete the transaction and schedule the installation, so Liz left my Cell Phone number as the one to call and specified a time between 8am & 12pm.
Yesterday morning, around 9:30am, they called us...at home. We missed their call because we weren't home which is why Liz had specifically requested they call my Cell Phone.
I'm a considerably patient person (most of the time) which is why I've just spent almost two hours on the phone, getting bounced around between AT&T and DISH, then AT&T again, then DISH again, and again, and again. Nobody could help me, nobody could find my order. They did confirm a note in my account left by "somebody" who logged that they'd called us at 9:30 yesterday, but nobody could actually determine which department or person had left the note.
Just like last time, the Reps who tried to help me could not honor the Online price until I was finally able to talk to somebody at the Online Order Dept., who even though they are the Online Order Dept. were still unable to find the order we'd placed ONLINE less than 48 hours ago.
Finally, after spending an hour & a half on the phone, I dealt with a woman who helped me place the order, and lo & behold, she got me a cheaper price than ordering online.
This Rant and seriously o_O moment brought to you by AT&T DISH Network.
When we called we were informed the only way we could get the same online package & price was if we signed a 24-month contract. No contract is required if you order online, which pissed off Liz no end, so she hung up.
Tuesday afternoon she'd finally calmed down enough to go online and try again, and this time she was able to place the order online, except the order could not actually be completed online. A Service Rep would need to call us to complete the transaction and schedule the installation, so Liz left my Cell Phone number as the one to call and specified a time between 8am & 12pm.
Yesterday morning, around 9:30am, they called us...at home. We missed their call because we weren't home which is why Liz had specifically requested they call my Cell Phone.
I'm a considerably patient person (most of the time) which is why I've just spent almost two hours on the phone, getting bounced around between AT&T and DISH, then AT&T again, then DISH again, and again, and again. Nobody could help me, nobody could find my order. They did confirm a note in my account left by "somebody" who logged that they'd called us at 9:30 yesterday, but nobody could actually determine which department or person had left the note.
Just like last time, the Reps who tried to help me could not honor the Online price until I was finally able to talk to somebody at the Online Order Dept., who even though they are the Online Order Dept. were still unable to find the order we'd placed ONLINE less than 48 hours ago.
Finally, after spending an hour & a half on the phone, I dealt with a woman who helped me place the order, and lo & behold, she got me a cheaper price than ordering online.
This Rant and seriously o_O moment brought to you by AT&T DISH Network.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Last Chance, allegedly ;)
This just in, from the W101 News Page in the Launcher:
I know, I know. I've been raving about Wizard 101, and I've even become known as the Famous Wizard101 Blogger ;)
$60 for a 12-month subscription. That's just $5 per month.
$60 is about the price of one, new release video game (@ $50+tax).
Now, there's no guarantees KingsIsle won't extend this offer, and maybe they'll even introduce a cheaper offer in the future, but if they do. Well, when they introduced the Family Plan (still not as cheap as two 12-month Subs at $60 each) anyone who'd bought several regular subscriptions and upgraded to the Family Plan got an in-game Crown allowance. Apparently enough Crowns to buy a couple of items, per account. And if you've seen what Crowns get you in W101, you'd realize that's not a bad deal.
At the very least, I encourage you to head over to the Wizard101 site, download the program for free and play it for a bit for free. Check it out, see if it's to your liking, and if you like what you see then now (and the next few days) is a good time to consider subscribing.
I know, I know. I've been raving about Wizard 101, and I've even become known as the Famous Wizard101 Blogger ;)
$60 for a 12-month subscription. That's just $5 per month.
$60 is about the price of one, new release video game (@ $50+tax).
Now, there's no guarantees KingsIsle won't extend this offer, and maybe they'll even introduce a cheaper offer in the future, but if they do. Well, when they introduced the Family Plan (still not as cheap as two 12-month Subs at $60 each) anyone who'd bought several regular subscriptions and upgraded to the Family Plan got an in-game Crown allowance. Apparently enough Crowns to buy a couple of items, per account. And if you've seen what Crowns get you in W101, you'd realize that's not a bad deal.
At the very least, I encourage you to head over to the Wizard101 site, download the program for free and play it for a bit for free. Check it out, see if it's to your liking, and if you like what you see then now (and the next few days) is a good time to consider subscribing.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Blizzard and WoW kill PC gaming
Purely hypothetically, of course ;)
Several years ago, before I began playing WoW, I used to buy a new PC game every month or two. There were probably a lot of folks like me who did the same. The PC Gaming Industry survived because of our never ending search for The Perfect Game®.
Then I found it, or at least I came the closest I've ever been to finding The Perfect Game®. I got sucked into WoW and it was glorious! Even with the subscription model I rationalized that at $13/month, it was cheaper than buying a new game every month or two. In fact with a new PC game costing $40 to $50, it was like slowing down my habit of one game every month or two, to just one game every three months. The big difference of course is that now I was buying the same game every month, over, and over, and over again. Instead of my money going to various, different gaming companies, it was all going to Blizzard.
And there were/are probably a lot of gamers like me.
We ceased our search for The Perfect Game®, because we'd actually found it (or a Close Facsimile Thereof®). We stopped buying a new and different game every month or two. We stopped funding innovation. We told the PC Gaming Industry, "We like This Game. If you ever want to see our money again you'll have to make a game just like this one, only better."
But the small gaming companies can't make a game just like WoW only better because that costs a lot of money, money which they didn't have. And they didn't have it because we, the Gamers, were no longer buying their games.
Not too long after I began playing WoW, rather than look at racks & racks of shoes with my wife, I wandered into a Best Buy and made my way to my favorite part of their store.
No, wait. These are PS2 games.
Here? No, X-Box games.
Then...where are??? I found a clerk.
"Excuse me. Where are your PC Games?"
He showed me one shelf.
One shelf of games. Filled with rows of WoW and Everquest, and oddly enough boxes of the very same puzzle games you can download off the 'net for free then pay $10 to $20 to "unlock".
The shelves of innovation were gone. The gaming companies that survived on me, and others like me, buying their games every month or two? They'd fallen by the wayside. They'd been driven off the road and left eating the dust of an 18-wheeler with WoW on the side.
PC Gaming is dead, but the Consoles cannot take the credit; that dubious honor belongs to the World of Warcraft, the PC Game that killed PC Gaming.
Several years ago, before I began playing WoW, I used to buy a new PC game every month or two. There were probably a lot of folks like me who did the same. The PC Gaming Industry survived because of our never ending search for The Perfect Game®.
Then I found it, or at least I came the closest I've ever been to finding The Perfect Game®. I got sucked into WoW and it was glorious! Even with the subscription model I rationalized that at $13/month, it was cheaper than buying a new game every month or two. In fact with a new PC game costing $40 to $50, it was like slowing down my habit of one game every month or two, to just one game every three months. The big difference of course is that now I was buying the same game every month, over, and over, and over again. Instead of my money going to various, different gaming companies, it was all going to Blizzard.
And there were/are probably a lot of gamers like me.
We ceased our search for The Perfect Game®, because we'd actually found it (or a Close Facsimile Thereof®). We stopped buying a new and different game every month or two. We stopped funding innovation. We told the PC Gaming Industry, "We like This Game. If you ever want to see our money again you'll have to make a game just like this one, only better."
But the small gaming companies can't make a game just like WoW only better because that costs a lot of money, money which they didn't have. And they didn't have it because we, the Gamers, were no longer buying their games.
Not too long after I began playing WoW, rather than look at racks & racks of shoes with my wife, I wandered into a Best Buy and made my way to my favorite part of their store.
No, wait. These are PS2 games.
Here? No, X-Box games.
Then...where are??? I found a clerk.
"Excuse me. Where are your PC Games?"
He showed me one shelf.
One shelf of games. Filled with rows of WoW and Everquest, and oddly enough boxes of the very same puzzle games you can download off the 'net for free then pay $10 to $20 to "unlock".
The shelves of innovation were gone. The gaming companies that survived on me, and others like me, buying their games every month or two? They'd fallen by the wayside. They'd been driven off the road and left eating the dust of an 18-wheeler with WoW on the side.
PC Gaming is dead, but the Consoles cannot take the credit; that dubious honor belongs to the World of Warcraft, the PC Game that killed PC Gaming.
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