Shifter here (surprise surprise!)
Well, I ran a marathon yesterday - the Whistlestop marathon in Wisconsin. Several good things happened as a result: I got to drive through Wisconsin, which is gorgeous this time of year; I ran into some friends at the marathon; and I got a really good (for me) finishing time (around 3 hours 53 minutes - a personal record), AND best and most importantly, I had nothing to do but think of blog posts for 3 hours and 53 minutes! So I'm loaded with ideas and raring to go here. Too much for a single post, so I'll be doing them piece meal. But for now, the fam is about to go to dinner and, again surprise surprise, I'm going with them. So more very soon!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, October 09, 2009
Sacred Gold: A moderate timewaster
When I discovered the Good Old Games website that I blogged about before, I came across a downloadable, DRM free version of Sacred Gold. Sacred was a moderately successful Diablo-clone that I had actually tried more than a year ago and then stopped playing because it just didn't hold my interest very well. Since it was only $10, I decided to give it another try and see if I could last til the end. Which, I'm a little pleased to say, I did. It took probably about 20 hours over a few weeks but I beat the game on the "Silver" level with a Wood Elf (the archetypal archer class - aka the Amazon in D2, the Rogue in D1, the Vanquisher in the upcoming game Torchlight, and the list goes on and on). I say mildly pleased because the game was mildly pleasing.
Sacred has all the right elements. It's got a very fast paced combat system (the famed point and click variety) with some complexity thrown in by way of skill trees that allow customizing characters and specializing them. It's got oodles and oodles of monsters and even more oodles of treasures. It's god tons of quests. It's got a big world. It has loads of stats for your character that you can try to minimize or maximize til your geeky little heart explodes. It has a bunch of different character classes, from standards like the gladiator and wood elf to weird ones like the seraphim and demoness. It has all of that ... and it's just not that fun. You go through and do the quests, and kill the monsters, but you never really get into it. Not the way you did with D1, or D2, or even Fate. In fact, there is probably something to be learned by comparing Fate with Sacred.
Fate had a small budget, simpler design, fewer stats, MUCH smaller world, and MUCH less intricate quests. Sacred had a larger budget, much more complex design with more stats, HUGE world, and, well, not intricate quests but certainly more intricate than Fate. Oh, it also had more detailed graphics and sound. But Fate was incredibly fun. It wasn't incredibly fun not because it didn't have all the stuff Sacred had, it was incredibly fun because what it had was put together into a very entertaining, enjoyable whole that sucked you in and held your attention. It was (and is) addictive. It's a blast. Sacred has all these other great things in it but it just doesn't come together into a wonderful total package. It's not a bad game, really, at all, but it's far from addictive. Every single bit is there that should be there, but it doesn't merge well for some reason.
I could try to list the ways that Fate is more fun and Sacred is less, and I might talk about minutia like screen layout, number of monsters coming at you at a time, atmosphere as generated by graphics, lighting, and sound, the balance between enough choices in character design and too many choices, and so forth. But I think what it comes down to is more of the artistry of game design. A lot of games these days have all the right pieces, the pieces that are such a big part of the mega-hits like D1 and D2. But the artistry is not quite there, and so you end up with a decent game, but not a great one. The great games are the ones with all of these pieces in place that enhance the experience but don't distract from it, that immerse you further into the world instead of making you think so much you're out of the world. And so like a lot of art, I can say what I like but it's very difficult to say exactly why.
So there's my opinions on Sacred for you. One of these days, just to be fun, I'm going to play a game when it's released. And then I'll write about it when other people might even consider buying it and playing it. And that will be something special. But until that day comes I'll continue to comment on games that are 3-4 years out of date (Sacred 2 has already been released - no idea what that one's like) and leave the actual reviews to the people who get paid for it. And I'll continue to imagine that all the IR's are just enthralled by reading reviews of old games. I've got a great imagination.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Every time you think they can't get any worse
Well, conservapedia, which I have no intention of linking to, has gone and done it. They've decided it's time to translate the Bible into a 'conservative' edition. Evidently, the Bible as currently translated has a bunch of hippy commy socialist propaganda contained inside, and needs to be updated to meet 10 criteria for conservative correctness. A description is here. Now it is true, IMO, that the Bible has been interpreted, and reinterpreted, many many times and that often the interpretations were done for political or social agendas. The King James Version of the Bible, I think, is a good example. And it is also true that translating the Bible doesn't really matter all that much, perhaps, to someone like me who isn't a Christian anyway. But what bugs me about it is, well, let me explain.
One of the things that always surprises me about things like this is that the people who come up with them are able to read and write. The other is that they have just incredible abilities to ignore their own hypocrisy. These are the same people who just hated political correctness. They cried out, yea loudly, in the wilderness: Why should you have to change what you say to match someone's sensibilities? What is this, the thought police? If that's what it says, leave it alone, and if someone doesn't like it, screw them. Ok, fine.
Enter conservapedia. An effort to come up with a conservative body of knowledge, because the current bodies of knowledge are tainted with liberal bias. Things like physics and, evidently, the Bible, that the commies have altered to diss hardworking Americans or whatever. Tree huggers have changed the definition of benzine on wikipedia and sissified the descriptions of hair follicles. Oh, and added that whole thing about the concentration camps - the bastards. This must be corrected! (Yeah, I know there are a LOT of cheap shots there, but I'm annoyed and besides, what is this, the thought police?)
So we've got to expunge the liberal bias. But what this translates to is this: conservative correctness. Whatever is said, or written, has to be said in a conservatively correct way. If it's not, we'll translate it into a conservatively correct form, such as conservapedia itself or the conservative bible.
So the hypocrisy is kind of apparent, right? Let me restate the position, only now applied to conservative correctness: What is this, the thought police? Why should you have to change what you say to match someone's sensibilities? If that's what it says, leave it alone, and if someone doesn't like it, screw them.
I imagine the argument they'll make, those who can read and write, is that "they started it!" Liberals have been changing things for decades, centuries even (how long ago was the King James Version of the bible written? By those pinko commies, right?). And so they're just going to change it back. And you know, they could make that argument if 1) they demonstrated convincingly that this liberal bias is as endemic as they shrilly proclaim it is and 2) they were changing it back instead of changing it into something new like say, a conservative edition of the Bible.
And let's get real. Even if the liberal bias is out there, it's relatively rare for a source of knowledge like, say, wikipedia or oh, the Bible, to be deliberately and openly established to espouse only one political viewpoint. At least wikipedia and translators of the Bible claim to try to be accurate. Even if there's bias, at least these sources pretend (and are thus somewhat accountable?) to seek truth. It's kind of like science - science comes up with bad ideas, even wrong ideas, all the time. But it is intended to reach right ideas, and it has procedures in place to help it do so. It does not have an agenda. If it had an agenda, it would be religion, not science. And that's what conservative correctness seems to become - a religion. Which is fine, but if it's a frigging religion, don't expect me to buy it as "the truth" any more than I'm going to buy any other that comes floating down the river. On the other hand, if it is a religion, I suppose it makes perfect sense it wants its own bible.
One of the things that always surprises me about things like this is that the people who come up with them are able to read and write. The other is that they have just incredible abilities to ignore their own hypocrisy. These are the same people who just hated political correctness. They cried out, yea loudly, in the wilderness: Why should you have to change what you say to match someone's sensibilities? What is this, the thought police? If that's what it says, leave it alone, and if someone doesn't like it, screw them. Ok, fine.
Enter conservapedia. An effort to come up with a conservative body of knowledge, because the current bodies of knowledge are tainted with liberal bias. Things like physics and, evidently, the Bible, that the commies have altered to diss hardworking Americans or whatever. Tree huggers have changed the definition of benzine on wikipedia and sissified the descriptions of hair follicles. Oh, and added that whole thing about the concentration camps - the bastards. This must be corrected! (Yeah, I know there are a LOT of cheap shots there, but I'm annoyed and besides, what is this, the thought police?)
So we've got to expunge the liberal bias. But what this translates to is this: conservative correctness. Whatever is said, or written, has to be said in a conservatively correct way. If it's not, we'll translate it into a conservatively correct form, such as conservapedia itself or the conservative bible.
So the hypocrisy is kind of apparent, right? Let me restate the position, only now applied to conservative correctness: What is this, the thought police? Why should you have to change what you say to match someone's sensibilities? If that's what it says, leave it alone, and if someone doesn't like it, screw them.
I imagine the argument they'll make, those who can read and write, is that "they started it!" Liberals have been changing things for decades, centuries even (how long ago was the King James Version of the bible written? By those pinko commies, right?). And so they're just going to change it back. And you know, they could make that argument if 1) they demonstrated convincingly that this liberal bias is as endemic as they shrilly proclaim it is and 2) they were changing it back instead of changing it into something new like say, a conservative edition of the Bible.
And let's get real. Even if the liberal bias is out there, it's relatively rare for a source of knowledge like, say, wikipedia or oh, the Bible, to be deliberately and openly established to espouse only one political viewpoint. At least wikipedia and translators of the Bible claim to try to be accurate. Even if there's bias, at least these sources pretend (and are thus somewhat accountable?) to seek truth. It's kind of like science - science comes up with bad ideas, even wrong ideas, all the time. But it is intended to reach right ideas, and it has procedures in place to help it do so. It does not have an agenda. If it had an agenda, it would be religion, not science. And that's what conservative correctness seems to become - a religion. Which is fine, but if it's a frigging religion, don't expect me to buy it as "the truth" any more than I'm going to buy any other that comes floating down the river. On the other hand, if it is a religion, I suppose it makes perfect sense it wants its own bible.
A nice thing about the YMCA
Well, I've been at the Y a few times as I work on torturing myself (aka swimming) and for some reason I really noticed something that's been on my mind for a while. It has to do with the kinds of people you see at the Y.
So, who do you see at the Y? Just about everybody.
Tall folk, short folk, fat folk, skinny folk, uber-fit folk, way way way out of shape folk. Nice folk. Mean folk. Just any old folks. I guess I didn't used to think that would be the case. I thought it would be all hard-bodies and elites who were obsessive exercisers. And the reality is there are some of them there. But there are a lot of people, as I said, who look like it's hard for them to climb the stairs and a huge range in the middle. And the cool thing is, all of that is inspiring. When I'm running the track and I'm zipping by people who either can't run or are running a lot slower, I feel good because hey, I can run better. But I also feel good because I see people working and trying and think that they look exactly like I looked 6 years ago when I started exercising, and I feel good for all the potential gains they can make. And I also really respect the guts it takes to go to a health club, even the Y, when you are way out of shape and start doing something about it. And that is inspiring.
Then there are the people who zip by me when I'm running. Or who are lifting the equivalent weight of 2 trucks over at the weight machines. Or who aren't running but just by looking at them you can tell they could outrace you, then kickbox you to unconsciousness, and then slam dunk your body through a basketball hoop. And when I see them that's inspiring too. Because they you think, wow, if I work at it I can be closer to that kind of shape. Not that I can ever be in that shape. There are some genetic and in my opinion kind of insanity things necessary to be that damn fit. But I'm closer to it than I've ever been and I could get closer still, and that's inspiring.
Then there are the people who are just about where I am, and they drive me nuts. Because if you're running, they're right there with you. They're not so fast you can't hope to catch them, and they're not so slow you zoom by them without effort - they're right there with you and it makes you work harder. Whatever they're doing, they push you just a bit by being there doing about the same thing. So that's cool too.
I know there are health clubs where you get a lot more of the elites and the beautiful people, and I doubt they'd let me in the door (well they probably would cause they want my money, but you know what I mean). But I really prefer a place where normal people go to work on themselves and improve their lives. It's more welcoming, and more fun.
This post was paid for by your local YMCA association (just kidding).
So, who do you see at the Y? Just about everybody.
Tall folk, short folk, fat folk, skinny folk, uber-fit folk, way way way out of shape folk. Nice folk. Mean folk. Just any old folks. I guess I didn't used to think that would be the case. I thought it would be all hard-bodies and elites who were obsessive exercisers. And the reality is there are some of them there. But there are a lot of people, as I said, who look like it's hard for them to climb the stairs and a huge range in the middle. And the cool thing is, all of that is inspiring. When I'm running the track and I'm zipping by people who either can't run or are running a lot slower, I feel good because hey, I can run better. But I also feel good because I see people working and trying and think that they look exactly like I looked 6 years ago when I started exercising, and I feel good for all the potential gains they can make. And I also really respect the guts it takes to go to a health club, even the Y, when you are way out of shape and start doing something about it. And that is inspiring.
Then there are the people who zip by me when I'm running. Or who are lifting the equivalent weight of 2 trucks over at the weight machines. Or who aren't running but just by looking at them you can tell they could outrace you, then kickbox you to unconsciousness, and then slam dunk your body through a basketball hoop. And when I see them that's inspiring too. Because they you think, wow, if I work at it I can be closer to that kind of shape. Not that I can ever be in that shape. There are some genetic and in my opinion kind of insanity things necessary to be that damn fit. But I'm closer to it than I've ever been and I could get closer still, and that's inspiring.
Then there are the people who are just about where I am, and they drive me nuts. Because if you're running, they're right there with you. They're not so fast you can't hope to catch them, and they're not so slow you zoom by them without effort - they're right there with you and it makes you work harder. Whatever they're doing, they push you just a bit by being there doing about the same thing. So that's cool too.
I know there are health clubs where you get a lot more of the elites and the beautiful people, and I doubt they'd let me in the door (well they probably would cause they want my money, but you know what I mean). But I really prefer a place where normal people go to work on themselves and improve their lives. It's more welcoming, and more fun.
This post was paid for by your local YMCA association (just kidding).
Shifter Ascendant
I was at the Y over a year ago when this happened, but it took a while for me to remember to describe it.
It was in the evening after I had finished a workout and I was on my way out the door. There was this young guy, and a young girl, both reasonably attractive and both manning the front desk at the Y. On my way out I said good night and they said good night and then the girl asked me a question. They were playing some trivia game, it seemed, and had a disagreement. She asked me if Flash Gordon and The Flash were the same person or different. I didn't even blink, or think about it, "Different people," I said.
Then the guy, who seemed kind of excitable, said to the girl "But he doesn't know! He's just guessing!" I suppose he was in the Single Person camp and didn't like hearing a dissenting voice.
Unfortunately for him, and also unbeknownst, he was talking to an uber-geek. And, even worse, he had just challenged my geek-ness. I didn't know?!? Excuse me?? About two comic book characters?? Before I could even think about it my wounded geek pride lashed out and I said, firmly "One guy goes around in space ships and fights Ming the Merciless. The other guy wears red tights with little lightning bolts on his head to fight crime. They're different guys." And I walked off, secure in my ascendency, imagining the stunned looks on their faces behind my back as they took in the awesomeness of my comic book trivia mastery.
It was only, oh, 10 minutes later that I realized I had just lost any cool points I had ever, ever had at the Y with my burst of nerdy superiority. Indeed, my chances of scoring a date with some young attractive female Y employee who would have otherwise been blind to my marital status, middle age, lack of hair, and over abundance of sweat glands had in fact just been shattered by my display. But by god, it was worth it. Yes, it was worth it.
Different guys. End of story.
It was in the evening after I had finished a workout and I was on my way out the door. There was this young guy, and a young girl, both reasonably attractive and both manning the front desk at the Y. On my way out I said good night and they said good night and then the girl asked me a question. They were playing some trivia game, it seemed, and had a disagreement. She asked me if Flash Gordon and The Flash were the same person or different. I didn't even blink, or think about it, "Different people," I said.
Then the guy, who seemed kind of excitable, said to the girl "But he doesn't know! He's just guessing!" I suppose he was in the Single Person camp and didn't like hearing a dissenting voice.
Unfortunately for him, and also unbeknownst, he was talking to an uber-geek. And, even worse, he had just challenged my geek-ness. I didn't know?!? Excuse me?? About two comic book characters?? Before I could even think about it my wounded geek pride lashed out and I said, firmly "One guy goes around in space ships and fights Ming the Merciless. The other guy wears red tights with little lightning bolts on his head to fight crime. They're different guys." And I walked off, secure in my ascendency, imagining the stunned looks on their faces behind my back as they took in the awesomeness of my comic book trivia mastery.
It was only, oh, 10 minutes later that I realized I had just lost any cool points I had ever, ever had at the Y with my burst of nerdy superiority. Indeed, my chances of scoring a date with some young attractive female Y employee who would have otherwise been blind to my marital status, middle age, lack of hair, and over abundance of sweat glands had in fact just been shattered by my display. But by god, it was worth it. Yes, it was worth it.
Different guys. End of story.
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