tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46725025010014093582024-03-13T05:26:18.967-07:00DeuwowlityUm, are you talking to me? Forget it, that was just me talking to me. Moving on...Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-8036034602449209792013-07-25T16:57:00.002-07:002013-07-25T16:59:26.179-07:00200<b>Foray</b> = (as Noun) = 1. "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">a sudden or irregular invasion or attack for war or spoils" or, 2. "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">a brief excursion or attempt especially outside one's accustomed sphere</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"> {</span><span class="vi" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">the novelist's <em>foray</em> into nonfiction}"</span><br />
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<span class="vi" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">I made my foray into blogging about World of Warcraft on January 20, 2010. I continued until May 9, 2012. To come back now I guess could simply be a second foray, or would it still fall under the definition as my first foray? Two years plus to blog may be brief to some, and a long time for others. Frankly, I had no idea what I was doing back in 2010, and know even less today. Be that as it may, I find myself unusually chatty, if only in my own head, as I'm still quite the introvert and would never be accused of being chatty in real life.</span><br />
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<span class="vi" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">This also happens to be my 200th blog post. If it hadn't been more than a year since my last post, this would carry some historic weight to it, or something like that. When a television show hits their 200th episode, that means that it has done quite well. Most network prime-time television shows record something like 22-24 episodes a year, which means that it would take an average show until sometime in season 9 before reaching 200 episodes. X-Files had 203 episodes (debatable #, but who cares). I found 37 TV shows with at least 200 episodes, ranging from shows like Smallville, JAG, Two and a Half Men, and Friends to the shows of more than 400, 500 or 600 episodes (Bonanza @ 430, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet @ 435, Law & Order @ 456, The Simpsons @ 530 and Bonanza @ 635 episodes over 20 years on air).</span><br />
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<span class="vi" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><b>200 Expansions?</b></span><br />
<span class="vi" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">How many years would it take to reach 200 WoW expansions? 250 years maybe? I'm completely guessing, not even the smallest amount of math was done in my head or otherwise to come up with that number. Even if we wanted to break it down by patch, we're still looking at what, 40-50 years until we hit patch #200? Of course there is no way that the technology used to create and run a game such as WoW would be acceptable 20 years from now. Either the game would have to evolve in every way imaginable, or it would have to go on, but without anyone playing it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><b>200 Raid Bosses?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">I don't mean how many raids will have to be made until we saw the 200th boss, I actually am thinking about a raid with 200 bosses in it. I don't know how many raid bosses there have been since Vanilla, but I'm guessing it won't be too difficult to get to 200 total raid bosses. If we haven't already, we probably will in the next 3-5 years, right? But imagine a raid with 200 or more bosses in it? With a community crying out for a huge raid like Ulduar, imagine for a moment if the devs said among themselves, "so they want a big raid?" How about a raid that will take more than 2 years to complete? What would the super high-end elite guilds to en racing for world firsts? I think Mountain Dew would be sold-out world wide, along with Hot Pockets and, uh, large glass jars (use your imagination).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><b>Conclusion</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">No, I have nothing special planned for my 200th post, which nobody will probably read since I've been inactive for over a year and the 4 people who read my blog probably don't play WoW anymore. /sigh</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">If you do stop in for a visit, let me know, what 200 of something would be worthy to broadcast in your gaming career? 200 Oculus dungeon runs? 200 flasks consumed during one raid season? 200 arena match wins? What, if you earned 200 of something, would be considered epic for you?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Thank you and have a wonderful day!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Gronthe of Deuwowlity</span></span><br />
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Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-28602581846740477942012-05-09T13:22:00.001-07:002012-05-09T13:23:47.800-07:00Wisdom, Take it or Leave itThe title of today's post is only partially representative of what I would like to say today. I'm almost done with War and Peace, a 19th century novel by Leo Tolsoy about the lives of many Russian aristocracy members and the war between Russia and Nepoleao led France and their ultimate invasion of and retreat from Russia.<br />
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It's one of the world's great pieces of literature, and for good reason. I was reading today when a couple things stuck out to me and I thought they were particularly applicable to some other modern-day things that have been on my mind.<br />
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To summarize in very general terms, "his Supreme Highness", or master general of the Russian army near the end of the French incursion was named Kutuzof. He continually ordered the retreat of his forces while Nepoleon occupied Moscow. But in October of 1812 the French abandoned Moscow and began their retreat, ultimately to their destruction, but all along the way many of Kutuzof's aids and officers under his command offered various offensive plans that they felt would serve severe blows to the French. Upon receiving a message of the French movements, and knowing of the youthful desires of many of his underlings and of the partisan (or guerilla) fighers, a thought crossed his mind that we still view as true today:<br />
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<em>"He (Kutuzof), with his sixty years' experience, knew how much dependence was to be put on heresay, knew how prone men who wished anything were to group all the indications in such a way as to conform with their desire, and he knew how in such a case as this they are glad to overlook anything that may seem opposed to it."</em><br />
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Whether it's a fight with your significant other, a disagreement with a professor, a difference of opinion with a complete stranger on a blog or Twitter or chat room (or other), or a political fight on a college campus or on CNN, it all sounds best in our own minds, because we are the ones who not only formulate facts, but arrange them in a way so as to fit or match our opinion, regardless of any other truth that may be staring us in the face.<br />
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I don't write about my experiences in World of Warcraft because I am right, I write about them because I <em>believe</em> I'm right and I have those facts that support whatever claim that I desire. The same is true for most of us out there that, for whatever reason, wish to put our intensely personal and biased opinions out there for comment or criticism. We all have access to that truth to disseminate, and which all other mortals are at our disposal to learn from or disagree with. Ah, how I truly love relative absoluteness.<br />
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<strong>BETA for MoP</strong><br />
I jump into the MoP beta from time to time to glance at things as they change. It's difficult sometimes to keep up with the changes, so I don't. It's overwhelming, especially when you may become attached emotionally to some "awesome buff/change" to your favorite class, only to see it nerfed into submission or removed completely. Maybe it's just a promise of a better tomorrow (Hello there, Path of the Titans), that isn't even given a chance to fail or succeed because the devs have decided, with their all-knowing powers, that it just won't work as intended.<br />
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An interesting case study, currently in progress is that of the new Druid talent <a href="http://mop.wowhead.com/spell=110309" target="_blank">Symbiosis.</a> Will it work? Is it too difficult to balance? Is it mostly for PvP or PvE, and is there a "best choice" that all druids will be forced to make, just as optimal raiding talent specs exist and have existed? It's surely not for solo play, it requires a Druid to group to even use this ability, which seems not well thought out, but hey, what do I know?<br />
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Then there is the constant whining of the Warriors. I'm sorry, but I see more blue posts about Warrior mechanics, etc than almost any other class, and I get annoyed by that. Not because I don't play a Warrior, because I do have one or two floating around, but there always seem to be this feeling I get that some classes are more talked about than others. This is and/or has been a natural course of action of players and devs for a while now, more now that players appear to have slightly more clout in their feedback, provided it's "constructive" or insightful.<br />
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But honestly, this is just my opinion, and I am right becasue I have an unspoken set of evidences that means you are wrong and you should, if you value your repuatation, agree with me.<br />
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<strong>Raiding</strong><br />
I find it somewhat sad that 25 man raids are dying. I really began serious raiding in Wrath, and even then towards the end of it when we assaulted ICC (I've never killed Arthas, btw). What I enjoyed was every once in a while I would try to find a 25 man group to run with, and I enjoyed the differences from my normal 10-man team, it just felt more "epic", if you get my drift.<br />
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Cataclysm came around and changes to lockout and loot rules effectively killed any reason to raid with 24 other people when you could obtain the same loot with less hastle and similar difficulty in 10-man groups. Blue comments in the last month worry me more and point towards the apathy the devs seem to have about the surviveability of legit 25-man teams.<br />
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Raid Finder has been a WoW changer, much like Dungeon Finder was back in Wrath, and I can certainly get my 25-man fix at even less of a struggle or danger to my physical well being (as a RF run can be done in 45 minutes or even less these days, depending on the group).<br />
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I mostly feel sorry for those guilds who, long ago, built themselves as 25-mans, and structure and rules have dictated a new paradigm for everyone. Whether that's good or bad is up for endless debate, I believe there's no one right answer, but for me I wish there were that lure for a more epic adventure (not heroic version) that gave me greater rewards.<br />
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<strong>War and Peace</strong><br />
It's taken me more than 5 years to read War and Peace, it took 4 and 3/4 to get through the first 120 pages, and the last couple months to get up to the 92% completed mark. I'm almost done, and now I wish I weren't. I wish I had a thousand or two thousand more pages to read, because like any great piece of literature I don't want it to stop.<br />
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Interestingly, when a computer game is finished, all the writers do is an another 2000 page appendix and call it The Burning Crusade, or Wrath of the Lich King. It's brilliant. The story of World of Warcraft will, nay, it MUST come to an end sometime. But not today. Mists of Pandaria gives us yet more to read, more to do, more to love and more to hate. More to argue about, more to agree with, more to learn and more to forget.<br />
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WoW is great literature, not in the way Tolstoy wrote, or Hugo, or Homer or Hemmingway, but it's proven that it has legs as hardy and stout as the Russians displayed as they took back their Mother Land from an invading army. Yes the French were low or cut off from their supplies, they invaded late in the year without thought for their keep, but one thing that kept Russia going, that sustained their soldiers and their aristocracy, was, according to Tolstoy, their Spirit.<br />
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It seems to me WoW has a spirit, and some may offend it while others defend, but I have to give the creators of this game the credit they deserve. They made something people want, and even when finished with one book, they come back for the sequels, the additions that reshape the world you play in, that I play in, that we all play or have played in. It's not perfect, no game ever will be, and for all they take away that I'll miss, I have in me my memories that they can never take away. That is worth something to me, and I'll keep those that will bring a smile to my face when I so need it.<br />
<br />Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-85149987433869914892012-04-18T13:45:00.002-07:002012-04-18T14:34:33.567-07:00Offensive You AreSo there is going to be some changes in how we can contact Blizzard in order to report someone that is somehow offensive to us. <a href="http://us.battle.net/support/en/blog/4684045/World_of_Warcraft_Patch_434_Customer_Support_Changes-4_16_2012">See Here</a>. It'll be easier to report a player because they have a name that makes us uncomfortable or is exploiting the game, foul language or violating some other important policy.<br /><br />The easy argument against this sort of change is that 'people will abuse this new feature and report innocent players for things they may not even have done because they "suck", or some other frivolous reason.' Guess what, rules and laws of games and real life get broken or cheated all the freakin' time, so suck it up and let's not worry about those who abuse those laws for now, we can deal with them in due time. What I'm thinking about today is WHAT IS OFFENSIVE TO YOU and WHY DO YOU CARE?<br /><br />I admit, I am not the type of person who feels that not only should people do whatever they want but that nobody else has any right to complain about their behavior, that if "you don't like it you can ignore it". To be clear, I do believe that people should be free and are free to choose their own behavior and for the most part that their behavior does not affect me or my life or how I feel and act any/every day of my life. But every civilized society that I have ever studied, from ancient Egyptians to Chinese to Greek to Roman, from British to French, American Indian and modern day Americans, all have had some rule of law. One of the reasons, I believe, that humans do this is that we all believe that although we should be granted certain freedoms that sometimes actions of us humans injure others; that, with obvious exceptions, is key to understanding every law or rule that every country, business, or game implements.<br /><br />Very few people believe in true anarchy, I know I do not. I think that we do have a responsibility to those people around us, that form our circle of influence and even those beyond it. I believe this perhaps because of the way I was raised, perhaps because of some human instict that tells me that something is wrong about hurting another human, perhaps for other reasons I don't understand at all. But this responsibility does not mean that I can't live the way I want, so the big question is WHERE IS THE LINE?<br /><br />When you sign up to play any game you must agree to a standard of rules and laws that govern not only how we play the game but how we interact with those within. One of the wonderful things about our world, and I truly believe this, is there are people from all variety of backgrounds. There are absolutely selfish dolts that everything they do is solely for their own gratification, even and especially at the expense of others. There are nearly perfectly charitable people who give of all their time and talents to lift others up and try to make the lives of others better than their own, even sometimes at their own expense. Then there is mostly everyone else, who any given day will swing from one extreme to the other, or slowly swing in the middle ground between those extremes.<br /><br /><strong>CHARACTER NAMES</strong><br />Full disclosure, I'm not one who cries out for politically correct speach, but it's also important to be sensitive to how your actions affect others. It's a difficult to sometimes impossible balance, but I at least make an effort. Now, character names, many of which are clever and well thought out. I enjoy wondering what it was that drove "that guy" to name himself "that name", as I'm sure for everyone it's a little different. Myself I use combinations of names in my family or friends, then change some sounds and letters around but still all myself to know to whom I am referring. Other times I'll simply just make up sounds and combinations and try to come up with a fantasy name that seems to fit both the game and race of the character I'm naming.<br /><br />Others see naming as an opportunity to point out what class they play, like "Isapu" or "Shamtastic" or "Palistrong" or "Huntress". While I don't have much respect for people who use the class name or specialization name as their own name, it doesn't offend me but simply makes me shake my head. I would hope that you would be more clever than to call yourself "Elemental" (if you play an elemental shaman), but I take no offence.<br /><br />But names that do offend me may not offend you, but why should I care if a name offends me? Should I not just let you live your life and you let me live mine? "It's just a game, noob"!!!! But when I least expect it, up pops a name that does offend me. My reasons are my own, but for the two times that I actually have reported someone it wasn't that just it offended me, but it was in blatant violation of the naming rules. So, someone clearly broke the rules, many people felt it wasn't their place to tell this person how to name their characters, and so it only came down to me, who did take offence. The funny thing was was that once the person changed the name, they only changed the spelling, but the phonetic sound meant that he/she didn't change the name at all. I sent a second report and since that day I have not seen that name.<br /><br />All I'm saying is that when I make a name I don't ever believe that my name is offensive to anyone, and perhaps I should give people the benefit of the doubt that they don't think what their name is can possbily offend. But people are clever, smart, and not at all cut off from the world entirely. So when I see a name that is so obviously offensive, I know that that person does not believe that I should care, that they have no social responsibility to keep their character's name within the rules that THEY AGREED TO in the first place. So basically, I know people will break and abuse rules, and they do it knowing that the majority of us are either complicit or to cowardly to do anything about it. They flaunt their name without shame or regret. And I, even I, will sometimes just let it slide because I will probably never see them after this random BG or LFR/LFD, so why do I care?<br /><br />I have made a rule, to apply to myself alone, that I won't report anyone who's not on my realm. The reason is what I just said, becuase there is a good chance that I don't have to walk around Stormwind seeing this person flaunt the rules in my face, and offend me in the process. To this day I have only ever reported two people, both on my main realm, and I suspect that I may never report but one more person at most before I quit. But maybe, just maybe, given that it'll be so much easier to do the reporting that I might, in a fit of rage in a lost cause of a BG report that person who combines profanity with something religious, because let's face it, I'm allowed to take offence, even though most of the time I don't act on it.<br /><br /><strong>CHEATING</strong><br />I don't know what cheating is most of the time. It's not very easy to detect for me, to be honest. There was one time it appeared that some dude in Warsong Gulch was jumping through a wall to get away from us, but I can't say for sure because I couldn't see him. Do I report him for cheating when I didn't actually see him jump INTO then OUT of the wall? I suspected he was in there, but I couldn't prove it.<br /><br />This week in Beta there were some Warlocks who were taking advantage of a bug that game them super powers, essentially, and engaged in killing quest givers and kings and warchiefs all by their lonesome. My own Warlock, Gronthe, experienced this bug, but I didn't go around shredding camps of Alliance or killing questgivers or soloing faction leaders. Funny thing, however, is when I saw people brag about their exploits on the beta forums...yes, people admitting not just that they experienced the bug and the conditions under which it occured, but that they actually exploited the bug to do things that they should not have been doing (according to the rules of the game or common sense would suggest they shouldn't do).<br /><br />Yet I was reported for exploiting the bug, something that my conscience can clearly say that I did not. Replicate and report it, yes, but exploit no. So someone takes the opportunity to report any Warlock with more than 300K health and assumes guilt. Fine, they can do that, but from my perspective I did nothing wrong. I suppose that's how some people feel when it comes to names. They don't like that this or that happened or you're running around with this or that name and you get reported.<br /><br />In the end we cant' control each other, only ourselves. I would hope that most of the people who read my blog will use some common sense when/if they use this new reporting feature. But you are responsible for the names you give your character, you are responsible for following rules you agreed to, and you are free to turn your head or report according to your own beliefs. I cannot say at what point you are offended or you are offensive. I guess I'll know it when I see it, or feel it.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-9498788084808184472012-04-13T11:36:00.002-07:002012-04-13T11:59:14.586-07:00Evolution, PvP Style - Cont...So there I was, about to crown myself king of PvP because my little level 14 hunter was seriously unstoppable. I thought, heck, if a hunter can be so good, I'm sure a Warrior could be even better.<br /><br />So I began to level a warrior, got into some intro BG's, and realized that I never had enough rage when I needed it and that I could never seem to get close enough to those stupid hunters. I was enraged and wanted to quit, considering PvP to be the bane I always believed it to be. Sure, I hadn't really given it a fair try, using only low level BG experiences to define and shape my opinion, but like you and everyone else I wasn't rational.<br /><br />I randomly rolled this alt and that, trying to find something that felt comfortable and natural. It wasn't for a few months that I finally had the courage to try some max level PvP. At first I thought I should play with a class I felt most comfortable with, so the next thing I knew I was a PvPing Shadow Priest.<br /><br />Ah, pvp as Shadow at max level, one word...a bad idea. Ok, that was 3 words, but I got a C+ in my first college algebra class, so sue me. Yeah, I later went on to become an economics, finance, and accounting superstar, but that was when I finally figured things out. Same thing happened in PvP, I realized that in a PvE setting I was most comfortable with my Enhancement Shaman and Shadow Priest, but this wasn't PvE, I needed to find my comfort zone. Enter Frost Mage.<br /><br />I quickly began to appreciate the tools at my disposal, and although at first I felt underpowered, I knew that with my frost mage I had the ability to survive longer to try and figure out what I was doing so that I could improve upon things. Funny thing, I was still having trouble with Hunters, which made little sense. Then my 9 year old (8 at the time) taught me how a frost mage can do pvp battle and win every time against those stupid hunters, and the next thing I knew I was powering my way up the learning curve.<br /><br />Now my story does not end with me rising the ranks of arena charts, becoming this all powerful mage. I will not say that PvP is easysawce and make fun of all the people who, like me still, struggle with the finer points of PvP battle and the required quick thinking that goes into any battle. No, even today I don't consider myself great, just good enough to enjoy myself most of the time.<br /><br />One thing I didn't expect in my evolution was my inner desire to scream at people. I can proudly say that I am NOT "that guy" who starts spamming BG chat telling everyone that they suck and how I can't believe that I'm stuck with a bunch of morons who must all have on PvE gear or they wouldn't suck so bad. I don't type it, but regretably I sometimes scream it to my monitor. I slowly began doing it so much that my family actually asked me to stop PvPing. Which at the end of patch 4.2 and the beginning of 4.3 and LFR I did stop max level PvP.<br /><br />For all the tricks I learned on my ranged DPSers and my slow improvement with melee PvP toons, I had anger issues that I have needed to deal with. Lately I have slowly eased back into all PvP at ll levels, but at max level I only run BG's with two toons, and with those I heal...no more blood and guts. Now my Pali is new to 85 and I purchased some gear off the AH so I wouldn't get kicked out of every BG I entered, and I've even been accused of being a BOT as a result (why I don't know), but the experience is much different now. Now I mend people and feel like I actually make a difference in a BG. Before I had an inflated ego and believed that my ability to smash people's face in meant that I was contributing more than those noobs who didn't know or didn't follow commonly accepted BG strategies. In truth, people who just run around for kills are probably just as bad as the people I was yelling at, making me "that guy" who just fights on roads and yells at everyone for sucking. <br /><br />I was wrong. Now, I don't know, I'm less wrong I suppose. I heal, I help, I support, and yelling? Well I don't really do that anymore, I'm too focused on keeping people alive.<br /><br />I don't know what I'm talking about. I know I enjoy PvP in a different way now more than I did 6 months ago. I know that I can as easily be on a winning team as on a losing one. I know I am better at playing with my still leveling up Warrior and Rogue, but try not to let things go to my head. I admit that I can easily fall back into old habits, but for my sake that that of my family's hearing, I hope I don't.<br /><br />Oh well, have fun, and maybe I'll see you on the battlefield somewhere.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-59027575347581715122012-04-13T01:43:00.003-07:002012-04-13T02:05:18.643-07:00Evolution, PvP StyleI have NEVER done a single Troll heroic dungeon, that is ZA/ZG for the acronym inclined. I never raided at the beginning of Cataclysm, there was no LFR at the time. But that big patch thingy came out and these new, long, difficult heroic dungeons that offered a marginal increase in gear ilvl were all the rage. Then I began to hear of all the rage because that's all there was to do and people were getting sick of it.<br /><br />Well hahaha, I just never ran them, so suck on that for a while. That's right, I was simply too cool for those hunchback trolls, but I still felt like doing something...PvP came a knocking at my door.<br /><br />I had leveled 5 characters to 85 and even through the initial launch of Cata had NEVER, EVER even stepped into a simple BG at any level. PvP was a distant nightmare that I had no wish to endulge. I had dueled with my priest at level 32 with a level 24 Pali and lost, I was that bad. I was convinced that PvP, in any form, was not my cup of smoking hot tea. Leave it to the kids, I said to myself, but as for me and my multi-vitamins and adult diapers, I'm sticking with the other end game activities like raiding.<br /><br />Only I didn't raid anymore due to my bad back.<br /><br />Oops! My bad! I couldn't do that either. So what to do, quit? What other choices did I have? I always had and continue to have plenty of alts, and I play with all of them. But I wanted something to do with my max level toons, for getting them to 85 and doing nothing else just wasn't an option.<br /><br />Once again PvP came a knocking at my door, but this time it was more of a BANG and a "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER" type of invitation.<br /><br />So, I looked at my Shaman, Priest, Hunter, Mage, Druid, DK, Warlock, and later Paladin and asked myself, of all these who would be the most "fun" to PvP with. In the end I decided that DK and Mage would have the greatest fun factor. But before I entered a max level BG, I decided I'd go back to the beginning and learn a little bit at a time.<br /><br />Enter more alts.<br /><br />I made more low level druids, mages, hunters, shamans, priests, Locks and even a Warrior and Rogue and began at level 10 in what has become my most hated BG, Warsong Gulch. <br /><br />Tangent: I really wish there were more BG's available at lower levels and that those offered a diverse enough gameplay to make each BG fresh and challenging and entertaining. Seriously, now we have two WG's (Twin Peaks) and two Arathi Basins (Battle for Gilneas). At least in MoP it appears that they are at least trying to do something different.<br /><br />Anyhoo, my beginnings were centered around mostly my Hunter, as I figured in PvP if I can hit you from far before you hit me up close I have a better chance of winning the battle. I have learned much since, but indulge me for a bit longer. Unfortunately, my early success with my Hunter, as I have come to discover, gave me a false sense of security. As many of you know, Hunters are incredibly effective at those lower levels, as many melee fighters have no way to get close to you if you can get off a concussive shot before they begin their attack. Then it's a few nukes and POW they are dead and you and your pet are eating man-flesh.<br /><br />Speaking of man-flesh, I gave it up because it's just too stringy, and got stuck in between my teeth.<br /><br />My adventures continued, and I have more stories to tell, but please allow me multiple posts to continue on in my evolution from scrub to where I am today. You see, it's 2am and I am finally tired, I shall continue this tomorrow. Cleverly leaving you hanging so you'll come back and buy my toaster oven I shall offer at just 7 easy payments of $16.47.<br /><br />Until the next day,<br /><br />GrontheGronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-22124514512089050102012-04-12T13:09:00.002-07:002012-04-12T13:45:30.357-07:00The Why of No-Facebook ManHands up please, how many of you know someone that does NOT have a Facebook page? Are all of your friends wired into one of the most addictive social networks in the history of our entire, freakin, planet? Please do not inlcude your 80 year old grandma who still doesn't own a computer, old people are old for a reason, they were born before you were.<br /><br />Let's say, for today's discussion, that we include ourselves and anyone we know up to and including people our parent's age. Beyond that most older people, not all, but many are too stubborn to learn this new technology crap. So, back to the question, how many people do you know that are NOT on Facebook? What could possibly stop these people from creating an account and posting a simple photo and fill in a few personal things about themselves. How hard could that possibly be?<br /><br />I will try to explain why a person would not join Facebook. Whether I am speaking of myself or anyone I know it matters not, but I believe that I'm thoughtful enough to understand people's motives in this matter. At least let me try.<br /><br />#1: Personal Safety. It may not occur to many, but some people are in witness protection, whether officially under FBI protection or self-protection due to some crazy family member or EX-"anything" that would love nothing more than to cause you harm. To me this is a very good reason to keep a low profile, a small or non-existant virtual footprint. I actually know somebody like this, and it's sad, but it happens.<br /><br />#2: Stubborn. There are many who reject progressing along with the rate of technology in our world, people who use paper calendars to schedule meetings, people who will drive to your office to meet with you even when an email will suffice. There are actually quite a few people in this category who refuse to interact in the manner that many do these days because they have some deep-seeded bias against the evils of technology and how they dehumanize us, turning us into a web page and not a person. OK, I can totally respect that, really, becuase I believe that touch is deeply important to humans, to touch via a handshake or a hug...A REAL HUG...not a /hug. Now, can one have a Facebook page and still place importance on people, on touching them and looking into their eyes and hearing their voice on the phone if they live at a distance? I'm sure it is quite possible, and I've seen the kindest and most personable people also able to effectively use the internet and the ability to connect with others online. But still there is that person who believes that the two cannot co-exist. Fine, I'll let that dude be stubborn, after all it's his choice in the end.<br /><br />#3: Fear. Now we get into a reason that could extend to fear of many, many things. One could be afraid of putting themselves out there and face potential harassment or ridicule. Now I could easily say that I got plenty harasssed in high school when there wasn't even an interent except in Al Gore's office (the unofficial inventor of the internet). But what if someone has a low self-esteem? What if they don't like what they physically look like and therefore there is no way that they will put any sort of picture on the internet for fear of people judging them because of their appearance. I am sure this is a very good reason to not be on Facebook. What the person may need is a friend, a lover, a diet, a motivational speaker, basically anthting that could help them improve their self image and help this person learn to love themselves. <br /><br />This person I totally get, probably a bit too much. I probably wouldn't want people to see my disability, it may lead to discrimination when a potential employer is surfing the net for some dirt on me. This is also a reason to NOT be on Facebook, out of fear of potential employers discriminating. Wouldn't we much rathe be judged on the work we do than on what we did last weekend at that one place with that one person? I know I would. This probably should be a fear of many people, in my opinion only, but possibly not a fear that should lead one to live in absolute isolation. But who am I to judge? I understand fear very well.<br /><br />Others still may fear offending people. One great way to decline the friend invite of your boss is to not have an account to begin with. But then again, what if everyone else in the office has a page and people use it as a means of connecting after hours, getting together and making new friends? For someone who fears letting people down, that same person is letting his/her co-workers down by not being available like EVERYONE else. <br /><br /><strong>Conclusion & One More Thing</strong><br />Personally, I think to join or not to join is a highly personal decision, and should not be judged one way or another. I know, fence sitters don't make good stories and I certainly wouldn't be a good MSNBC or FOXNEWS TV host, I'm not combative enough. Well too bad. Should I as a blogger (big or small) be connected in other ways socially in order to get my words out to you, the reader? Do I limit myself by using one medium where I could gain more readers spamming all kinds of social media? I don't know and I don't really care. I don't write for your sake but for mine. I just happen to be supremely grateful to any and all who read my stupid words, and hope they come back some time next week so we can think, talk, and/or laugh just a bit more.<br /><br />FYI, I do not have a personal Facebook page, and have had very old friends plead with me to have a bigger virtual footprint so people can contact me. Ultimately the reasons are my own and I don't owe and explanation to anyone. As a blogger as well I use only this website, this page alone to share my thoughts, and I thank you for stopping by.<br /><br />BTW, I finally got a MoP beta invite this morning. I'm glad I did. I expect to be a good tester, trying to supply quality feedback to Blizzard because I want to be a small, tiny part of making this next expansion better than the last. We shall see.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-73754638873165082632012-04-05T12:07:00.002-07:002012-04-05T13:06:07.596-07:00Just a Small Idea for Guild PropertyNot being very well versed in the plethora of games that have been created I have no idea if an idea that I had recently has ever been, even in part, implemented. If so then I claim full ignorance and am not liable for any damages of any kind to any person or entity that may wish to claim that I stole their idea.<br /><br />That said I was thinking about real property in a gaming environment, and how a guild could take advantage of the vast spaces in the wilds of Azeroth or beyond to strengthen and fortify themselves. I realize that the idea of player created property in the game world isn't a new idea, I'm sure I've read of it many times before, but I'd like to go into some depth on what I think would be an entertaining use of this "real, virtual, land".<br /><br />To start with, let's assume that the purchasing of land in any zone in the game is limited to guilds only, so a single, guildless player is unable to purchase land while a guild officer, in the name of the guild, has power to buy a spot of land in, let's say, Arathi Highlands.<br /><br /><strong>PHASE 1: LAND PURCHASING</strong><br />The purchasing of a plot of land would need to be approved by 50% or more of the guildies with the rank of officer or higher. So, for example, if a guild with only 1 player wants to purchase land he/she can do so simply because of the 100% ownership. A 2 person guild would simply require one of the 2 to buy the land, and a guild with 3 or more at rank of officer or higher would require 50% or a majority, depending on whether internals have an even or odd number of eligible voters.<br /><br />So, this rule being simple to apply, if someone wanted to be a radical and attempt to go to zone X to the "Land Officer" and try to purchase a plot of land without anyone knowing, they will be surprised to find out that they are unable to complete the buy without the vote of the eligible guildies. They then smack their keyboard and make a stupid joke in guild chat about how "it was worth a try", while the rest of the guild gives them sideways glances wondering if that will be the first person to defect in the upcoming patch.<br /><br />The vote system would be initiated via an in-game pop-up once an eligible voter logs in. The location of the desired plot of land will be displayed on a map, and that officer may cast his/her vote before of after any discussion with their fellow guildies. Once a site has been approved, the next phase of my idea begins.<br /><br />P.S. Buyable land will be marked by a zone's Land Officer, and only a finite number of sites per zone will be allowed. However, just becuase someone else buys a certain plot of land, doesn't mean they get to keep it forever, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Moving on.<br /><br /><strong>PHASE 2: SETTING UP HOUSING</strong><br />The most difficult part about this is how to maintain the beauty of the game world while providing real estate for guilds to enjoy. The solution is not an easy one, and I won't pretend to assume that any idea I have is a perfect one, but I'll attempt to explain myself no matter the cost. Understanding this issue and being one who does not desire to disrupt the balance of nature or of the world that has been so carefully at artfully crafted, the building created in the establishment of the guild housing will need to be carefully phased, let me explain.<br /><br />The starter building created on each plot of land will only be visible to the members of that particular guild at first. There is planted outside the front door a sign, one that has style, coloring, and material of the zone in which it is located so as to not disrupt the artistic balance too much. This sign is visible to all who pass by, and is the means of communicating with the guild inside.<br /><br />The building itself is instanced, so a guild member upon entering will appear to disappear to an outsider watching them, but will be transported into their housing. Back outdoors is left the friend from a diffent guild, wondering if he'll ever be able to see this cool new guild house. Well, all that's required is to click on the guild sign/standard and a menu will appear.<br /><br />Part of this menu will be a "I come in peace" salutation. If anyone is inside the guild house, they will receive a message that person X from guild Y and/or faction Z is outside the door and wishes to see your guild house so that he/she may then enter. If you agree, you click yes and suddenly your guild housing becomes visible and the friend may enter to see your beautiful shack.<br /><br />While your guild house exists, you may step out to see how life progresses on your new property. Phased workers appear here and there bringing in new loads of trade goods from all over the world to help support the guild and build a stronger fortress and powerful empire. The amounts of goods and materials are minimal and possibly random (possibly not, I haven't decided), nevertheless what you see is a real, living property in action, one that you and your guild built and can be proud of. <br /><br />Over time you can build additions to your house, your land ownership can expand to a fixed space from it's humble beginnings, and the more land you own the more goods and materials your workers bring to you. But there exist enmies to beware of, both in your faction and the opposing. Let's talk about how those issues are handled.<br /><br /><strong>PHASE 3: PROTECT THIS HOUSE</strong><br />Recall the guild sign posted in your front yard, the only thing visible to outsiders who don't have permission to view your palace/shack and enter your gates. There may be a time when a rival guild wishes to challenge your guild for the resources of your land. An enemy may come to the posted sign and click on an option that reads something like "Challenge from Opposing Guild (same/rival faction)". If someone is in your guild house they may step out to view the threat or send a spy to check out the enemies movements. One way or another they will need to assess the threat and decide whether they wish to accept the challenge.<br /><br />If nobody is in guild housing, a message is still sent to an officer online that a challenge has been made. The terms of the challenge may include 1 v 1 duel, a BG wargame challenge, maybe even one of the new Scenarios or Challenge mode dungeons where their time is compared to your team's time. However the challenge is constructed, you can accept the challenge and be instantly teleported to your guild house, ready to protect your guild's integrity.<br /><br />Losing a challenge means a small percentage of your property's goods and materials collected by your loyal workers will be automatically re-routed to the winning guild's vaults. You may reclaim this portion by issuing a challenge to them in return, possibly making for some entertaining, and heated rivalries.<br /><br />Obviously I don't have all the details worked out completely, but the general idea still exists. Guild housing can have a minimal impact on the environment, can be both shared with outsiders and its honor and prestige protected through targeted and victorious challenges. Your guild's power and influence can be increased, or decreased through a reckless and gambling nature of just a few wildcard guildies. Thus making guild management a truly complex but rewarding duty.<br /><br /><strong>A FEW MORE THINGS</strong><br />Just a few loose ends to tie up my idea, a guild house can never be destroyed. Even if you are a solo person guild, if you have the money to purchase land and plop a small house there, you may keep it and the small rewards that come with the minimum. But if you are an extremely astute and skilled player, even solo, you can expand your empire through careful and targeted challenges, ones that play to your strengths. No reason to just cater to large guilds. After all, if a guild does not want to accept a challenge, they don't have to. They keep their house at whatever size they wish, and live contently in their playstyle. Large or small guilds, both can flurish if they are smart enough, and skilled enough.<br /><br />There were other things that I wanted to throw out there, but forgot them for the moment. I will continue to refine this idea as much as possible because I see potential in it. Fun, excitement, rewards, and potential and epic failure. Tell me, do you think this idea has any possibility or am I simply in a dream world and don't know what I'm talking about?<br /><br />That's all for today, cheers peeps!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-6837810349850665582012-04-02T13:40:00.002-07:002012-04-02T13:46:42.957-07:00Spring BreakNot mine, I'm not in school of any kind, but my kids are on spring break this week (4th and 6th grade respectively). This means less time for me on the computer, which I don't know if I can handle not getting my fix of 01011101000110101.<br /><br />I just wanted to say that I'd like to throw myself into the ring of <a href="http://thebigbearbutt.com/2012/03/28/let-slip-the-bears-of-war/">Big Bear Butt's pvp idea</a>. I heard about it via Tesh first, and I liked <a href="http://tishtoshtesh.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/dead-mans-party/">his idea </a>as well. I'm simply shameless plugging myself as a wannabe contestant, if anything could ever come to fruition.<br /><br />If there's anyone out there still listening to me, please drop me a line if they hear of anything getting together for a giant blogger war, I'd love to jump back into the fray.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Me<br /><br />P.S. I'm really, really good looking and could easily distract the opposing team with my bright, shiny smile and charming personality. That and I've got a HUGE...oh wait, someone's knocking at the door, cya'lls later.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-66948710176276081342012-03-27T12:57:00.002-07:002012-03-27T13:20:39.263-07:00The Dream I Cannot RememberI had a dream last night. That fact alone I am sure won't surprise anyone since all humans dream multiple times each night as the sleep cycle demands. But in my dream I had an idea, a wonderful, witty, fresh, poetic idea that is now lost from me. Clearly I did not bribe my synapses enough to funnel this great idea to any memory portion of my brain, I shant make that mistake again...even on a budget.<br /><br />After unplugging myself so completely from the blogging community for so long, it's no wonder that I may begin again not knowing if what I write has been exhausted by hundreds of others, but that matters not right now, I'm just a stupid bloke talking about dreams I can't remember.<br /><br />Speaking of dreams, I never did dream or hope for a perfect game to play. Console games, computer games, single player, multi-player, whatever type, you pick, I don't have an ideal. I simply wish to be diverted and not leave feeling worse than I did when I sat down. Low expectations, I know, but I'm simple that way. I really love playing LOTRO for it's an interactive form of some of my favorite stories, some of the best ever told. The people are few, but friendly at worst. Rift I play off an on as a means of ultra escape for my feeble mind. World of Warcraft I still ride, but do so on such a casual and distant mindset that I'm perfectly happy inhabiting a world filled with unprincipaled loud-mouths because I care very little about any sort of "progression", only diversion.<br /><br />IF, and that's a big IF, I were to dream a perfect game it would no doubt be any game that I play right now, because what one game lacks in one feature I am sure to find in another. There is no perfection out there, why expect it? Why demand it? Perfection in my games are the totality of those experiences, and even then a dreamy perfection is not realized. But enjoyment is, which is quite enough.<br /><br />One thing I still enjoy, however, is contemplating the motives of all parties involved. The developers, the business people, the gamers, the parents who have children who play and the parents who play themselves. I have a vested interest in my son, for example, and wonder how his gaming experiences will affect his life and the choices he makes. He's quite smart, actually, smarter (verified through all kinds of test, I am proud to brag), than everyone in his school. That will change one day as he enters larger populations of students, there is always someone smarter and therefore always a need to learn more. But I digress, I'm getting personal, aren't I?<br /><br />Bah!<br /><br />I'm as curious as any to see the new Pandaren continent in WoW, and I'll be happy to stroll through the gardens and forests and snow capped mountains. Engaged I will try to be, to the best of my limited ability. I won't stop playing many other games either, and all the time I'll be dreaming of that great idea, the one I am SURE, ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE, that I had last night but faded quickly from my mind upon awakening. But maybe that's what all games are like, a dream fulfilled, that is until we play them and we realize that the game's imperfections have caused us to forget our dreams, or perhaps we only believe we recall them but they have become distorted, and we only THINK we know what we want.<br /><br />Ah well, tis no matter. Well wishes to you all, and sweet dreams tonight. Here's a bit of advice I once got from a stupid movie, if you ever awake from a dream write it down immediately by keeping a pen and paper by your bedside. You never know when you'll imaging something truly genius only to be let down looking in the mirror the next day and seeing yourself staring back, idea lost, dream forgotten. It would do us all a bit of good to remember our dreams, they are good stuff.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-28237534678029718152012-03-26T12:35:00.002-07:002012-03-26T13:16:30.014-07:00DisconnectI was sitting in front of my computer this morning, unable to take my eyes off of my desktop wallpaper that I put up a couple days ago. It's a screenshot from what I assume is the <a href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Wandering_Isle">Wandering Isle</a>, although it could be from anywhere I suppose. I really don't know, but it doesn't really matter. Anyhoo, it's a picture of a Pandaren on a hill looking over a hill of blossoming trees. The colors of green and pink and blue are wonderfully contrasting and provide a sort of serenity to my mind. I wonder what that Pandaren is thinking? Happy and hoping for a fruitful season? Or maybe he's glad to get away from the onslaught of new Pandarens appearing in their new world (whereas from our perspective it's players testing out the beta in the new starting area). The picture reminds me of someone telling their boss, or significant other, or parent, or co-worker that they were glad to be able to get away last weekend, that the disconnect from real life was a life saver and they are back and recharged and ready to start fresh.<br /><br />How nice. But this happy-go-lucky story is not about THAT sort of disconnect, no, I'd like to mention something on the disconnect between those in charge of giving yet another expansion to explore and the gamers exploring that expansion.<br /><br />The stark and obvious disconnect reared its ugly head the morning people realized that MoP beta was open and ready for play. People commenting around the interwebsnetses, complaining that even though they had signed up for the now infamous Annual Pass, they had not yet received their beta invite. Conversely could be seen Blizzard's famous "blues" attempting to quell fears and reassure everyone that all worthy and eligible for invites would receive them in due time.<br /><br />So who's to blame? Who's at fault? Must there be a guilty party or is this just a case of innocent miscommunication?<br /><br />Ok, so I thought about it and came to this conclusion...everyone's at fault. Disconnects happen when people don't honestly strive to understand what the other is trying to communicate. I think, and appropriately enough Confucius helps us out there, that the following explains things nicely:<br /><br /><em>"If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything."<br /></em><br /><em>—Confucius</em><br /><br />Blizzard's responsibility in this disconnect is important, because even up through the media event of a couple weeks ago, they did not share their plan of how and when they would let people into the beta. It's possible they did have a plan, in which case they really did a poor job at detailing that plan to everyone else. It's also possible that they didn't have a plan, which would be worse since they would simply rely on hubris to WILL a plan together when the need presented itself. Problem was, the need existed a while ago and their language wasn't very clear.<br /><br />Players are equally lacking in that there were too many who refused patience or who did not properly express their expectations in advance. Or if they did express their expectations in advance, upon realizing that they didn't get what they wanted the second they wanted it resorted to "unproductive" language, usually made up of frustration or anger or severe displeasure.<br /><br />The media covering all this wasn't any help either. I don't know how many interviews I read that came out of the media event, but there weren't too many difficult questions, probably because they were all afraid of not being part of the "in crowd" for future events. When Blizzard higher-ups stated that they hadn't worked out a plan as to how to get people into beta, whey were there not follow up questions like "Why don't you already have a plan? Don't you think your investors would want you to plan for things this big in advance? Do you really believe that people will just blindly follow because you hold all the power and the gamers are without recourse? A multi-million dollar company, on the verge of one of their largest beta releases, and still no plan? What exactly are you doing over there in your cubicle or office?"<br /><br />As one of those players, it would have been nice to have the media express my voice instead of giggling their way through interview questions my 9 year old son could come up with. Then why as a player did I not hold these media outlets, these large and popular blogs, responsible for their less than informative behavior? I think the answer to all of this is a jaded one on my part, I think that people enjoy being satisfied with something on one hand, but still allow themselves the freedom to criticize what's in the other. It leaves us, as people, in a position of power. Players hate feeling dictated to, so we speak out, often using incorrect and unproductive language in the process. The big business strategizes and contemplates then acts in a manner they believe will be most profitable for their businesses. Media acts much like businesses, but allows themselves freedom to act like they are allied with the player-base, that way they do their business and placate the players at the same time.<br /><br />All the while there is a terrible disconnect. Players don't understand all the motives of the developer/business, and the business doesn't have to always capitulate to the players. But we don't understand each other sometimes not because we are incapable, but because we're unwilling. A business doensn't want to lose business, and a player doesn't want to feel like their investment of time and money into a game has been wasted. So we often find ourselves in the same place, probably more often than we like to admit. But we all seem to like it there. It's where we're comfortable.<br /><br />I, for one, asked myself these things ever since Blizz Con, wondering about the plan to grant access to one of if not the largest betas ever, but since I was self-disconnected from the world I kept all these things to myself. But now I am speaking up again, wondering if the disconnect will ever go away, or if this is how it will always be?<br /><br />As always I hope for the best, but expect more of the same.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-25863677254025289472012-03-18T18:47:00.002-07:002012-03-18T18:58:18.644-07:00Out of ExileTo those of you who don't know me, welcome! My name is Gronthe, and I used to be a blogaholic. Still am at heart, really, but this is more of a simple introduction to those who never knew me, and a hearty hello to those who used to visit my wall of words every once in a while.<br /><br />I have been on a self-imposed exile from blogging. It had a lot, if not all, to do with real life issues overwhelming my creative spirit. Despite some of those issues lingering, a spirit of introspection and creative thought may just be gripping me once again. I said I'd be back, I just didn't know when or under what circumstances.<br /><br />I will float from issue to issue here at Deuwowlity, but will always try to remember one important tenant, that people play games! These people, both you and I, we are real beings with thoughts and emotions, opinions and prejudices. All of these things go into not only our beliefs but our behavior in an online gaming world that despite our best efforts we will never fully understand. At least, I won't understand, but I will venture to guess why you and I do what we do nevertheless.<br /><br />I don't know how long it will be until people realize that I'm back, but I have decided after much pondering over the subject, that I won't change a bit about the tone and feel of my blog. It's my voice, and for good or bad I share that voice with you. And maybe, just maybe, we can converse once again in as friendly a manner that we once did. For you new kids, well, I may not be your "cup of tea", so to speak, but give me a chance and I may surprise you yet.<br /><br />I've stepped out of the shadows and into the sunlight, the fresh air fills my lungs and the birds grant me visions of flying free through the skies. Ah yes, it's good to be out of exile.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Gronthe of DeuwowlityGronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-35151442038167532632011-09-08T11:26:00.000-07:002011-09-08T11:47:37.436-07:00"We were on a break!"<strong>Anecdote</strong><br />My wife made me watch an episode of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends">Friends</a> one time, years ago now. I did it out of love and loyalty to her, not willingly or because I liked it. In this particular episode, Ross and Rachel had stopped dating per Rachel's request, Ross ended hooking up with a Chole chick. Well Rachel finds out about it, gets mad for Ross being "unfaithful", and Ross spends the next four years of the show justifying his trist by yelling "WE WERE ON A BREAK".<br /><br />Not Emmy worthy stuff, I admit, but it made its way enough into pop culture to have some sort of a lasting impact.<br /><br />So, why do I bring this up? Because I noticed I haven't written anything since July. I've lost all my 7 readers, probably, and well that's ok. I guess you could say I'm taking a break due to real life crap. Being unemployed for 10 months with a family of four to shelter and feed is tougher than you may realize. But it's not like I'm being unfaithful and writing a separate blog on the side or sworn off MMO's and went back to board games. No, I just spend most of my days trying to find work as a partially disabled dude, and worrying about how to pay my power bill (which is like, really important here in the 110 degree desert).<br /><br /><strong>Surprises</strong><br />One thing I've done is continued to play in the evenings. I have tried something...refreshing. I decided to not throw all my alts into my main guild and branch out a bit, meet new people and all. It's been such a pleasure. I've seen debates in my guild chat about how it's so hard to split toons between guilds on the same server, but really I think that only applies to serious players or raiders, not casuals like myself.<br /><br />It ceases to amaze me how many great, friendly, and helpful people are out there. People willing to laugh at me and themselves, but never in a way to make anyone feel worse about themselves. People willing to commit to having a good time and doing it together. Oh yes, I'm all for splitting time between guilds, if I didn't I'd meet fewer and fewer of you fine folk out there.<br /><br /><strong>Observations</strong><br />I haven't been ignorant of the goings on in the blogosphere, I never am. I see there continue to be more and more discussions on game design. I still try to stay away from that since I don't really wish to think too much about it. For myself (and myself only) I try to ask "am I having a good time" (per my personal standars). If yes I keep playing, if not I stop. The one thing I noticed is that as soon as I went multi-guild I started having a better time again. Proving to me, and me only, that these personal connections are useful in fulfilling my gaming satisfaction quota for the night. I still enjoy the freedom of playing multiple classes in all kinds of roles, but it's still the interactive nature of MMO's that helps me to come back, even if I'm feeling down cause I just went through another day with nobody wanting to hire me.<br /><br /><strong>Plans</strong><br />What do I have planned for the future? I enjoy writing, I enjoy connecting with readers and other bloggers. I will continue that, but later. Once I can find a good job and have my family in order, I'll be back and with a bang. Probably I'll re-brand myself as a more sociopathic personality, and make you constantly look over your shoulder wondering if I'm watching you read my stuff right now...like I really am, just look behind you!!!!<br /><br />Peace out! I'll talk to ya'lls later.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-23854946270734172142011-07-11T11:15:00.000-07:002011-07-11T11:43:22.585-07:00Alien Invasion: Who I Want on My SideAlien invasion movies is a fairly popular genre over the past 50 years or so. Today there are not only movies about alien invasions, there have been TV shows (past and current) on the subject as well. From V (the old and new) to Invasion to the newer Falling Skies, there is one constant through all of them. Seeminly regular folk, some with added skills, form a revolution to fight back and take back planet earth for the benevolent humans (sarcasm inferred).<br /><br />If an alien invasion happened in real life, and the military and special forces and all the highly trained government agents were either dead or didn't want anything to do with "civilians", who would I go to to raise the flag of revolution and fight along side me? Nerds!<br /><br />More specifically, gaming nerds. In fact, I'll take some gaming nerds over CIA operative anyday, and here's why:<br /><br />1) Coordination<br />2) Battle Strategy<br />3) Improved Stealth Capabilities<br />4) Resources & Technology<br /><br /><strong>Coordination</strong><br />In real life, sort of like the show Survivor (which is totally real :D), when a new group forms there is often a struggle for power. It's human nature to fight for leadership. It occurs in MMO's sometimes; take a pug raid, for example, where there tends to be a person who challenges the authority of the raid leader who set everything up. Either the group will accept this new leader or shout him down and throw their support behind the one who set up the raid in the first place. Either way, sooner or later there is an agreed leader, which leads to improved coordination.<br /><br />The great thing about group play in games is that everyone comes in knowing their role. So whether you like the holy trinity (tank, damage, healer) or not, everyone knows who is supposed to do what, and who is good at what. When people know their jobs before a plan is enacted, it makes coordinating them much easier. Imagine what it would be like trying to coordinate people in your neighboorhood for a strike on an alien outpost. Gamers with predispositions to one of the trinity roles would come to the planning meeting knowing what they are good at, what they can do for the group, and the knowledge of how to best fulfill their role. When fighting aliens, people who know their jobs well who can be easily coordinated have a far greater chance at victory. Round one goes to the nerds.<br /><br /><strong>2) Battle Strategy</strong><br />There is both good and bad about gaming nerds ability to develop a battle strategy. The bad is that it may take a few groups a few times to figure out how not to win, but ultimately a valid and powerful strategy will be formed and shared throughout the network of revolutionaries, and we would begin to see quick and decisive victories at battlegrounds all around the world because of the analytical minds of those involved in the initial attacks.<br /><br />We'd throw up monuments to the early fighters, those who lost their lives so that we may have a strategy that works. But guaranteed, if followed exactly, failure would be nearly impossbile. Round 2 goes to the nerds for their ability to formulate a battle strategy. It would certainly be better than a real estate agent trying to put one together, or a politician, wouldn't you agree?<br /><br /><strong>3) Stealth Capabilities</strong><br />Gaming nerds have a long and storied history of being able to hide from nearly anyone. For years they have been hiding in their mother's basements, or a dingy apartment not exactly legally leased to them. They also take the shape of a CFO, who would never be expected to be a gamer, or a doctor or a business owner. People of all walks of life enjoying various forms of gaming, unknown to the world to avoid negative public reaction to their secret habits. Nevertheless, gaming nerds can stealth with the best of navy seals or international spies.<br /><br />A nerd's ability in today's world, invaded by aliens bent on our destruction, to blend in or hide in locations that nobody can hack, would be a powerful strategic advantage in our revolution against the aliens. Round 3, nerds.<br /><br /><strong>4) Resources & Technology</strong><br />Nobody is more capable of obtaining the resources and technology than hackers. Instead of bringing down "the man", they could then bring down "the alien...man", or woman, or whatever gender they are. Of these hackers, many would certainly be gamers, nerds from their infancy, unknown to the world except by their powerful viruses, or ability to hack the pentagon or NSA databases.<br /><br />Imagine the combined efforts of hackers who were also gamers who were also revolutionaries in a war against an invading alien army. In my opinion, they would be a force for much destruction, but for the good of the human race. In the end, however, they wouldn't be rewarded, they would simply take of the spoils of war, be given the alien ships as payment, and fly to a different planet to hack and reek havoc. Round 4 goes to nerdy gaming hacker.<br /><br />How close are we to a real alien invasion? I don't know, but I'd venture to guess not too close. But if it did happen, I know who I would want on my side. Nerds. Gaming nerds. For all the "nothing" we do for society, supposedly, imaging the good that will come of our habits and our skills when the aliens come crashing down on earth in a blaze of lazers and heated metal.<br /><br />Well I say BRING IT ON, E.T., cause I got gamers on my side!!!!!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-80535912825627078302011-07-06T14:13:00.000-07:002011-07-06T14:46:31.194-07:00It's Not Personal, It's Business...Final Part IIIJust a few more thoughts on the business of games and the business of business. I caution myself first, then anyone else that reads this, to not be too harsh in our judgements of the decisions businesses make for the sake of profits. It's very difficult to truly know the motives in the hearts of people who run any business, Blizzard included. Actions do speak volumes, and we have the right to study those actions and applaud or criticize them. I just don't want to jump to too many damning conclusions where I am not part of that decision making process.<br /><br />I worked at a mortgage company once, and we literally went out of business overnight. Better said, we were told one day that we might be out of business the next day, but things had been brewing for a long time before. To defend my fellow accounting/finance co-workers, we flagged many things long in advance and yet ownership continued to make choices to boost short-term profitability. But they failed to see the long-term consequences of their choices. Hence, the apparent over-night shutdown and loss of over 1,000 jobs. Tragedy.<br /><br />Whether it be Blizzard (ATVI), Trion, or any other game developer out there, decisions are made for both short-term profit and long-term viability. At the same time, there is an effort (which is often the subject of criticism) to make MMORPG's that people enjoy and have long-term viability. I think as a business, Blizzard does things that are ethical and fair, for they were the ones who created World of Warcraft. They created what has become the world's most successful MMO, so at some point in time they did something that gamers enjoyed. I believe they also include things in WoW that are time-consumingly addictive, and take away from my personal definition of enjoyment (such as daily quest grinding, etc). It's a bit manipulative, but it's also an accepted practice within the industry, and from a business point of view is acceptable but can be construed by some outsiders/consumers as leaning towards the unethical.<br /><br />The way I see it, we're all greedy. Sure, I guess we can sit here and say that all these businesses want is to squeeze us for all we got, but we can't blame any corporation (MMO developer or other) for our choices to purchase and consume the product(s) being offered. Gamers are greedy too. It seems that we want the "perfect" game, and if not perfect, then at least on the path to exceptional.<br /><br />Webster's defines greed as: "A selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed."<br /><br />What is need? I guarantee you that there are currently 6 billion different definition of this word on planet earth. When somebody outside of ourselves exceeds some imaginary limit that we place on need, we label them greedy. Is it not possible that the person making money has a different idea of what "need" is? But often we don't care about that, because when our own personal threshold is exceeded, in our minds we classify the excess as greed, and we take it personally.<br /><br />I don't need games in my life, but I enjoy them. Enough to pay for them. Enough to place value in them because I choose to spend part of my life playing them. I have my reasons, and I think they are good enough. Others may disagree with me and think I'm greedy for wanting to play games when I could be feeding the homeless. Well I sure don't want people judging me for my supposed greed; this is why I am careful at casually labeling business people, and especially MMO and other gaming companies as greedy, because I'm sure that there are good people at these companies who really do want to just make a good game, and to be judged harshly by people who don't know what's in my heart would seem to me unfair.<br /><br />I don't think I'll ever write again on the business of game developers. Unless, of course, they try the crap that Blizzard tried with revealing my real name or something like that. I think it's fair to criticize the products these developers are sending to the market. It's fair to bash them if they suck, and praise them for the good they offer. I think it's fair to complain when and if we discover that a company will pursue a policy that leads to profit when they openly and knowingly (internally) are manipulating people with addictive material (like the tobacco companies). <br /><br />But I think we need to understand when to separate the business from the personal. People conduct business, it's how most of the world survives and thrives, because somebody started a business. So the concept of business should not be demonized. But it's our right as consumers to monitor businesses, to demand that they follow the laws of the land governing them, and to hope for good products to consume. It's also our right as consumers to NOT consume them, if the product isn't to our satisfaction. Remember, they don't make money if we don't pay. If nobody bought the Sparkle Pony, they wouldn't keep selling them or other vanity mounts and items.<br /><br />We have the power to change the industry we consume. Keep using your voice, or your imagination, or knowledge, and even expectations to change the game. Don't buy into those things that you view as manipulative or out to get more from your pocket out of "greed". Don't rush to judgement, unless you're willing to be judged unfaily yourself. Even though there is greed, there is also honest dealings by good business people, and it would be in all of our best interest to find and support those developers who have good intentions, who we are willing to support by spending our hard earned money on their products.<br /><br />After all, business is not just business...it's personal!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-39159976191132059012011-07-05T12:33:00.000-07:002011-07-05T14:02:49.227-07:00It's Not Personal, It's Business...Part IIOne of the world's leaders in economics and business once said:<br /><br />"...businesses have a right to make money. How they make it, though becomes a discussion of ethics, something sorely lacking in many megacorps nowadays."<br /><br />Actually, Stubborn pointed that out in the comments from Part I, I thought I'd start with that because this is precisely what I wanted to discuss in Part II, the "HOW" part of the money making equation.<br /><br /><strong>Politics</strong><br />I hate politics. Per MY definition, politics is a series of lies, perpetuated by people with enough money to make a sign or poster with their face on it, and spread by the mindless mass slaves of irrational thought called "you and me", for the purpose of granting more power and influence to those who probably shouldn't have a driver's license to begin with.<br /><br />Politics play into MMORPG's, really they do. Not only those elected officials that set some of the ground rules for doing business in this or any other country, but the politics that occur within a business. In my personal life, I've worked very hard to distance myself from office politics. It never, I repeat, it never ends up how you want it to and almost always puts you in a position where you must make a decision that either goes against your personal values or potentially loss of employment. The reason is simple, I hate politics. It's the grandstanding, it's the deception, it's the power grabs, it's the complete disregard for others and the epitome of self-gratification. Some like it, some are really good at it, I am not one of those. Sure, I am selfish, but aren't we all, so let's move on.<br /><br />For a moment let's pretend that we are.../gasp...mature. People start and run business, and while the business entity is not of itself evil or immoral or unethical, people who control them can be sometimes. Office and business politics places people in positions where they choose an ethical path or not. In my comments in Part I, I described a situation that actually happened at a place I used to work. If the idea of deferred commission is new to you, it's basically where an employer will hold back a part of a commission (gross salary) due to someone on their staff, usually an independent contractor working for the employer, and use those funds to pay for things like golf club membership fees and many types of other, expensive and fun things. Why? So that the independent contractor effectively has a lower gross income, thereby lessening their tax liability.<br /><br />This is unethical, but creative methods are often used to cover up accounts such as these. Politics came into play the moment the independent contractor requested this arrangement. In my situation, this employee brought a lot of business into the company, and they felt it acceptable to give the ultimatum to the owner: "Set up this deferred commission account for me or I'll find somewhere else that will". Leverage, that's what they used to get their way, but the question is, should a company give in to their top salespeople and committ either unethical or illegal actions in order to maintain a desired revenue stream and resulting profits?<br /><br />In business the answer is simple...DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KEEP YOUR BEST PEOPLE...WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!<br /><br />It may seem that the ethical choice is the easy one, but my experience and observations prove otherwise. In fact, most owners/managers of business often will make many, many unethical (yet legal) choices in order to get or keep business and revenues. It's so rampant in business, in fact, that it seems to have become the norm. The problem with ethics is that unlike laws, they are not written down. Not only that, due to people's various upbringings in different cultures, religions, etc there is not one set of unwritten "right vs wrong" rules to be followed. To be perfectly honest, I find it difficult to make too many judgements on businesses whose practices may be unethical, because there truly is a posibility that my values are not their values, and in their eyes they are doing nothing wrong.<br /><br />There are some consistencies, however. Most everyone believes it's unethical to lie in business. Also it's not ethical to spy on other businesses, in fact there are laws governing corporate spying, so maybe that's not a good example. But something like greed is difficult to measure. Is greed unethical? Is is illegal? I don't think it is, but it's what greed leads people to do, such as lie, that most have a problem with. <br /><br />Politics in business are always messy. One person putting another in a compromising situation, forcing them to make a choice that may or may not be ethical and may even be illegal. But when it comes down to it, somebody in a position of power needs to do make a decision and then live with the consequences.<br /><br /><strong>Choices in Management</strong><br />I do wonder what the discussions were like when Blizzard was pondering the release of the Sparkle Pony. I wasn't there but I guarantee you that a financial analysis was done, as well as a marketing one as well that provided the research and evidence that if offered to the players there would be enough to buy it that the venture would be profitable. Consequently, many other companies who engage in the new trend of micro-transactions, didn't decide to offer them on a whim, but because research and analysis showed that it would be a profitable venture.<br /><br />It's the same reason there have been many WoW immitations, because research and analysis showed that if they adhered to certain guidelines, they too could potentially be profitable. But why does a manager/owner make the decisions he/she does?<br /><br />It's profit based, guaranteed.<br /><br />Everyone thinks they know how to run a business. More than that, everyone thinks they know more than the next guy about business in general. Every MMORPG developer, their managers and owners have this one thing in common...EGO. I love to draw mazes, and I think that I am really, really good at it. So good, in fact, that I have bragged about it many times to many different people, like I am now. Now I know that I am not the best in the world, but I know that if I really wanted to, I could make a book of mazes and sell it, and hope to make a profit from it.<br /><br />Like me, these CEO's and CFO have huge egos. They all think that they are so good that their choices are always the best. They think they are so ingenious that even though an idea here or there may fail, if they keep at it their genious will shine through and they will have the profitable financial statements to prove it. I'm sure there have been many CEO's of gaming companies who have produced failures, but who believed during development that the game would be a success. Why would they publish a game if they believed it sucked? They wouldn't, and it's because they all believe in their skills to produce products that will sell.<br /><br />There are no rational developers, no rational managers, no rational business owners. They all think they are good at what they do, if they didn't they probably wouldn't have their job. Ego, however, tends to leads people to make certain choices, and often it comes across as a "greedy" choice. Over time I'm beginning to think that all business is greed. People want to make money, so they become part of a business. If you don't want to make money, join the peace corps or something. I'm trying to say that's it's difficult to define greed when ALL business is about making money. <br /><br />Is there a specific amount of money that one can make before it becomes wrong? How much is too much? Seriously, what is the cut off point? One million profit? Ten million? One billion? There must be some reason why we call businessmen greedy, and I wonder how that's defined. Money, profits, greed, all these things are accepted in the business world. Hurting people is generally frowned upon, and there are many legal remedies for various types of harm one inflicts on another. But I've been around in the business world enough to know that greed is not viewed as unethical within the business circles. It's a label of negativity only directed by outsiders.<br /><br />I would bet all I have (which isn't much right now) that Blizzard's belief internally is not one of "how can we screw the player", rather "how can we create a game that is good and profitable". Unfortunately the consumer takes his gaming personally; he/she is, after all, giving of their personal funds and time to a game and expect gratification in return. When the player, however, realizes that he's viewed as a means to an end [i.e. "profit"], of course the player will take it personally. The usual response is to call a company like Blizzard greedy, interested only in appeasing their investor base. The player feels used.<br /><br />No wonder there is a growing animosity in the community, people feel used and not gratified to their standards. And yet, isn't that a bit greedy on the part of the player? Who says you have the right to play the perfect game? Who says you have the right to be viewed as anything but a paying customer? I'm not advocating the thought, I'm simply offering a counter argument.<br /><br /><strong>Where I try to make sense but fail</strong><br />Politics put people in positions of compromise (personal compromise or legal compromise). Choices are made from management's ego, not necessarily the greed center of their brain. I want to say somthing that I believe personally, because sometimes I may write something I don't believe but I feel both sides deserve a defense:<br /><br />I believe in greed, and I believe it's wrong. I do not put a dollar amount on it, however, and I don't believe that 5 billion in profits is greedy. I believe what the CEO/CFO/COO does with their annual 100 Million bonus measures their level of greed. I also believe that any time a business attempts illegal and/or untehical accounting practices, that is borne of ego AND greed, and should be brought to light and the individual replaced by someone who won't be easily pushed around, someone who wants to make money by following the laws and not by offering "deferred commissions" to their employees.<br /><br />I do not believe, however, that offering a Sparkle Pony is greedy, I think it's manipulative. Why? Because if research shows that people are dumb enough to pay stupid amounts of money for a "vanity item", it's a business simply taking advantage of the tendencies of the person. Psychology is important in business research, and is used extensively in MMO's to get people to play and to STAY.<br /><br />I live in Las Vegas, where Casinos all over bring you in to darkened rooms with no clocks, with lots of noises and bells going off to make people believe there are other people winning all the time. I see how businesses manipulate people because of psychological research, and use it to profit from it. I believe this is wrong. The problem we face is, not only with MMORPG developers, but with all business, that if you use knowledge to gain an advantage and profit from it you, as a business are doing nothing wrong. Therefore, by extension, Blizzard and other developers don't believe they are doing anything wrong by using addictive behavior to keep people playing, they do nothing different than Vegas casinos in that respect.<br /><br />The kicker is, businesses are run by people, which means that more and more people don't view it as unethical to manipulate others to keep using a substandard product, as long as everyone makes money, nobody is doing anything wrong. So, what the heck are we doing compaining about it when chances are some day we will be sucked into the business world in order to support our families, then support our addictions, then just to support our greed? Seriously, why bother fighting for a system, for games that we really, really would love to play, if sooner or later we'll be managing a business and make choices for the sake of profit?<br /><br />Because if you have read this far in this post there is a part of you that believes that we, as people, can be better. We can choose to NOT manipulate others into buying our product, that there is a way to do business in an honest manner and provide a product that people love. I'm a cynic sometimes, but I pull myself out by being an idealist at other times. I believe you CAN do business honestly and ethically. I believe that you can AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO make a lot of money in the process. And I believe that it's that kind of person who will take their annual bonus and use it to help people, or to invent and innovate to create something that will be good, clean, worthwhile fun to people.<br /><br />I think we should slow down on labeling people as greedy, it may just be that they are so egotistical, that greed doesn't enter the equation, they actually believe they are better at what they do than everyone else, even if they're not.<br /><br />And despite what I said about politics, go vote anyway. Sooner or later there's got to be somebody not totally corrupt. Someday...maybe.<br /><br />And oh, keep speaking up and demanding a better product. It will happen!!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-29170859249476538672011-06-27T12:40:00.000-07:002011-06-27T13:32:10.943-07:00It's Not Personal, It's Business...Part IThere's nothing wrong with somebody wanting to make money. All motive or context aside, there's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong for a game maker wanting to make money on the game(s) he/she makes. The problem, I have observed, is with the consumer.<br /><br />I've been thinking a lot lately, a lot more than writing, given that I've been unemployed for seven months now barely making rent. Some of you who may know my history of back trouble and my insurance company's absolute refusal to approve my much needed treatment (because, according to them, I don't match the criteria 100% that would merit the kind of treatment I seek...i.e. "It's a business decision, we need to save money where we can by enforcing our policies strictly...it's nothing against you personally"). Anyway, where was I. Oh yes, so knowing my issues with my insurance company it may seem odd when I stand by a businesses right to, yes, make money and place that as priority.<br /><br />I've witnessed and observed a lot, from childhood until now. I've gone to college and have many, many years as a financial professional under my belt, so I believe I'm quite quailified to speak on something such as business. Of course, even the college kid who took a Bus 101 course and 20 political science courses by a professor extolling the virtues of communism can also have an opinion, it's just that I think we'll disagree on some points.<br /><br />Getting back on topic, I have noticed a general tone throughout the blogging community over the past year growing sentiments against game makers for not producing better gaming experiences due to their lust for money and wealth and power and money and more money. I actually have mixed feelings over the issue, for one I am a fairly new online gamer. I have a console game but don't even have it connected to the net because I refuse to buy a longer chord. So, generally speaking I can both understand the cry and hope of gamers for an experience more to their liking, but at the same time I can simpathize with game makers who wish to actually make game making their....shock....business.<br /><br /><strong>Childhood</strong><br />Where did you grow up? Was it hot in the summer? I grew up some in Utah (6 years from 2-8) but before and after that it was all New England all the time, both Maine and New Hampshire. I still consider myself a true New Englander. Anyway, it could get hot in both places, and in both places I took the opportunity with my brother and friends to capitalize on the heat and those who worked outside by establishing a lemondade stand. And yes, I sold lemonade to people, I did not give it away. <br /><br />Why?<br /><br />Because there was this cool arcade down the road, and by pulling in 5 bucks I was set for an entire weekend of arcade gaming. It was beautiful. I was also quite unaware of anyone in the local community or even nationally who protested against my lemonade stand and the fact that I sold it in exchange for real american coins.<br /><br />There was another trend in my childhood that I would like to point out. <strong>The Playground.</strong> Now, if you wish to deny what I am about to tell you, be my guest. I can only assume it will be becuase you were a sheltered child that had no friends. So, here I go with my observation: Often while playing some game, whether it was made up or more well known and traditional, I often found myself on the losing end of a "new rule" that some other child made up in order to gain an advantage over me. Let's say I was make believe sword fighting, somebody would suddenly claim to be Darth Vader with a light saber and proceed to cut my sword in half, gain the advantage, kill me and claim victory. I hated that.<br /><br />Of course I was free to change my mind and the rules of any game I wanted to if that's that choice I wished to make, but that wasn't my style...most of the time. I was a stick-in-the-mud-follow-the-rules type kid, so it would take somebody really pissing me off and taking advantage of me to push me to change the rules right back on them. But that usually led to both parties just getting pissed off and quit playing with each other. So what I'm saying is that I, and I would bet my life that you too, and many experiences where somebody changed or added a rule in a game you were playing that lessened the joy of your playtime, annoyed or frustrated you, or perhaps just pissed you off. Or maybe you were the kid who always changed the rules on others, and if that's the case then let me say now that I'll get you someday, so watch your back!!!<br /><br /><strong>Application</strong><br />So how does childhood apply to what I'm beginning to talk about? Well I've observed that people don't change that much from childhood, and businesses both change the rules and have the rules changed on them continuously. Added to that the continually changing desires and expectations of gamers, I'm surprised that game developers can make anything worth playing. Well, no I'm not really surprised, but hyperbole seemed appropriate in the moment.<br /><br />Governments change laws constantly that affect the business decisions of a company. Here are a few decisions that a business must consider depending on the law changes:<br /><br />1) Business Structure<br />2) Personnel<br />3) Tax strategies<br />4) Location<br />5) In-House vs Outscourcing<br />6) Overall Strategy<br />7) Revenue markets/Opportunities<br />8) Threaths (including but not limited to Competition)<br />9) The list could go on and on but I'll stop here for now<br /><br />New laws require a business to conform to new rules (Sarbanes-Oxley), but sometimes a business will be so innovative that they will create the new rules themselves. The automobile assembly line was an innovation that changed how car companies made cars. It effectively changed the rules of car-making to a level never before seen in the industry. Both the PC and gaming consoles changed how people played games, or what type of games people played. True, people still play board games today, I know there are quite a few I still love to play, but as Atari and others early in the industry discovered, the rules of what, when and how to play a game changed in what the world would consider a very short amount of time.<br /><br />Expectations are a force in rule making. But notice, expectations are not as strong a factor, and as a result, I believe, the consumer is left to complain that progress isn't progressing as fast as they like. To make it worse, younger generations, meaning those 10-15 or more years younger than me, were not alive to experience the growth from Apple II games to today's incredibly detailed console games and MMO's. Their view on the pace of growth and advancement is far different than mine or those older than me. It feels that their expectations grow faster than an industry is capable of growing.<br /><br />Of course a counter argument (of many) could be that the game developers today know what is wanted, have the knowledge and technology to make it happen, but simply refuse to out of either greed or fear or whatever. I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt considering the evolution of gaming that I witnessed before my eyes. I'll give them a bit more time to figure things out.<br /><br /><strong>Part I Conclusion</strong><br />I would like to conclude today's discussion with this thought. Remember that at some time or another we are all or have been rule changers. We know it happens, and sometimes we don't allow for imperfection despite the knowledge that there is a complicated dance happening between the changers of our rules. Governemnts create rules through legislation and politics (be they corrupted or not). Businesses create rules through innovation and even sometimes greed, new thought expands technology, and yet there are some who use these tools for more philanthropic ends and others towards more selfish ends. Expectations changes the rules, although those changes are slower and lead to more dissatisfaction in the consumer.<br /><br />Part II will focus more on the inner working of a business, the politics, the people, the realities of finance vs what the average person thinks of those finances. I hope you will join me next time, most likely this week, as I continue to wonder whether it's just business, or if it's truly personal.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-15213265423305807372011-06-20T11:52:00.000-07:002011-06-20T12:14:12.190-07:00MY Outlook on 1.3.a...NO, it's 3.1.6...Dangit, No, It's 4.2.YoMamaWhenever a new patch is on the horizon or even immediately upon us, it requires personal introspection to a degree previosly unattainable. No poppycock allowed in this corner, that is for absolute certain; I require absolute peace and quiet, and a cold root beer on a coaster (so I don't get those ringy things on my desk).<br /><br />So, this week I read the patch notes, or what I believed to be the patch notes, and these are my conclusions.<br /><br />1) I'm still quite as awesome today as I was the day I entered first grade. True, the girls don't all flock to me, but that's because of the barbed wire and electric fence surrounding my yard. When asked by my son who would win, Aragorn (of LOTR) or my Shaman I confidently stated that my Shaman would wipe his booty and like it. Yes, the patch notes did certainly confirm that my awesomeness can't be stopped.<br /><br />2) WoW sort of plays like Pac-Man. I run around feeding on tiny bubbles/circles (questing), sometimes being buffed by larger circles (Heroism/Bloodlust/WhateverCrapSpellMagesStoleFromShamans) and occaisionally doing a nicely scripted dance with those pesky ghosts, sort of like a mix between <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/npc=15936/heigan-the-unclean">Hiegan</a> and Alterac Valley. In the end, after I've cleared the level it just resets and the wheel turns again and again (i.e. the next new awesome patch, or whatever).<br /><br />3) There is no spoon.<br /><br />4) I may be illiterate. It's true, I'm not actually writing this, I'm thinking it and it's manifesting itself on this page, right here and now. Amazing. So ultimately I'm not even sure that I read the patch notes, how could I if I can't even read.<br /><br />5) I'm glad I play one of each class in the game, for when my Shadow Priest gets nerfed for doing "too much" PvE damage (I would have liked to have seen some of that come my way before getting rid of it, btw), I can always jump on some other toon and blow people's face off, like with my Black Arrow shooting Hunter. The results of my altitis is that I can't gear up anyone at level 85, but whatever, I'm not on that hamster wheel at this point in my career.<br /><br />6) I'm so glad Blizzard pays me to play...Wait...What's that? I'm getting a message from my agent...he says that I pay Blizz. Then why am I paying you, you sniveling bloodsucking lawyer? You're fired!<br /><br />7) Finally, after reading (or not) through the patch notes I know this: I'm still enjoying the little things, not taking really ANYTHING too seriously. I love yelling and screaming during BG's, it helps me release my inner rage. And I'm so glad that I've finished all the Hyjal quests on all my 85's before the patch hits, I'd hate to fall behind in the race that is imminent indeed.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-3036347560968678732011-06-08T13:13:00.000-07:002011-06-08T13:39:27.264-07:00Dare to Die WellAside from the obvious differences that exist between real life and the MMO's we play, one great difference is that in real life there is such a thing to "Dare to die well", while in MMO's the same behavior is called out as noobish or just plain stupid. Let me explain.<br /><br />Hugo wrote of his fearless Friends of the ABC leader Enjorlas:<br /><br />'Daring to die well always moves other men. As soon as Enjorlas folded his arms, accepting the end, the deafening clamor of the struggle died down in the room, and the chaos suddenly abated in a sort of sepulchral solemnity. It was as if the threatening of majesty of Enjorlas, disarmed and motionless, weighed on the tumult, and that, if only by the authority of his tranquil gaze, this young man, who alone had no wound, superb, cruel, dashing, indifferent as though invulnerable, was forcing that sinister mob to kill him with respect. His beauty, at that moment enhanced by his dignity, was resplendent, and, as though he could no more feel than be wouinded after the terrible twenty-four hours that had just elapsed, he was fresh and rosy. It was, perhaps, about him that a witness was speaking when he said later before the ensuing court-martial: "There was one insurgent I heard them call Apollo." A National Guard who was aiming at Enjorlas lowered his weapon, saying: "I feel like I'm about to shoot a flower."<br /><br />Then a sergeant shouted: "Take aim!"<br />An officer intervened.<br />"Wait."<br />And addressing Enjorlas: "Would you like us to put a blindfold over your eyes?"<br /><br /><strong>"No."'</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Fiction or not, the author makes the point that man can be majestic in the face of death, even inspire awe in his enemy, because "Daring to die well always moves other men."<br /><br />In that story Enjorlas found himself alone, face to face with a multitude of enemies ready and anxious to end his life. He not only stood before death but threw himself in harms way in the first place.<br /><br />Now, I make a distinction of an MMO player when I say daring to die well is not the same as to die intelligently. As a former raid healer, Shaman, I knew very well that if my death seemed imminent that there are better places to die than others. For example, running in front of the boss to die, planning to Reincarnate while the boss cleaves his way to victory is unintelligent. Finding a place away from add spawns, behind the boss, but in range of the tank(s) is better (again, given that death is unavoidable).<br /><br />But as a healer I never charged the boss with my arms wide open, and in suprise and shock no boss ever stood in awe of my daring, my courage, nor my faith and dropped his club and whispered to himself "How could I ever hurt such a precious thing?" No, the raid bosses I fought with were pure evil, evidently, and were completely given over to the darkside. Otherwise I'm sure raiding would have been significantly easier.<br /><br />No trash mob, no boss, no opposing faction player is going to care if you display courage when you decide, foolishly, to charge the Lumber Mill, alone, headlong into a group of 5 or more enemies. They will mercilessly strike you down without a second thought, and you will lose every time.<br /><br />Death is a joke in MMO's, made moreso by the fact that no person is allowed to dare to die well. (Again, not intelligently, but bravely and courageously). There is no mercy, there is no enemy willing to offer you a blindfold, it's pure blood for blood and anything short of that is weakness.<br /><br />The only person who cares about daring to die well is you, and the only other who recognizes it is your Id. That said, if you continue to feel like 1 on 5 is courageous or Healer vs Raid boss, by all means, be a hero to yourself. Your fellow raider may not appreciate the wipe.<br /><br />I'm all for intelligent deaths in MMO's, it's good for you and everyone else you play with. <br /><br />Until next time!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-90004865863351597292011-04-23T12:26:00.000-07:002011-04-23T12:49:52.568-07:00So You're More Important? Is that it?There has been, since the start of the Cataclysm, a devaluation of lower level characters. But let's understand the context in which I wish to place this statement. While guilds were emphasized to a large degree, it's been made clear that only the highest level characters are valued.<br /><br />What?<br /><br />I wondered to myself the other night, as I was trying to reach honored with my guild with my level 85 DK, why is it that I deserve more guild reputation than someone questing from level 10-80? I can go from 80-85 far faster than from 10-80, yet I seem to be valued by the system in such a way that my guild reputation increases significantly faster than my level 33 Hunter.<br /><br />I have no doubt that GC or someone has made a blue post on this subject, and I'm just not aware of it, but it got me thinking about one's value in a guild. I suppose accept it the same way I accept that I'm not granted with the same amount of experience for completing a quest at 20 as I am at 83, it would only make sense that the same level 20 toon of mine is not worthy of any guild reputation. <br /><br />For me it think of it very simply, is your quest more important than mine? Is is more valuable? Are you, then, more important? Now I'm not one to talk too much about game design because I'd rather leave those discussions to people with more experience and knowledge of these things. I'm just sharing my observations based on my experiences, not attempting to design the perfect game. But in this game I play, I can't but help feel devalued by the devs as they tell me that all the time I put into leveling this toon to 80 is so much less important and significant than those who level from 80-85.<br /><br />In leveling my alts I do all things I'm allowed in order to help provide experience for the guild. I quest, I BG, I dungeon, I gather and I craft and I even give gold to the guild bank. But what am I given for my efforts? About 30 rep points in 30 levels, that's what. On the other hand, if I log into my DK I can do 1/4 of the things that I do at lower levels but earn more rep. This must mean that I'm more valuable, more important.<br /><br />The only reason to be in a guild for the first 70-80 levels is to take advantage of guild perks. Well not the ONLY reason, there is playing a game with friends or other good people, but that's a different subject, I'd prefer sarcasm in this post. So for the sake of making a point, let's assume tha the only reason is for guild perks. But what emperical evidence can I produce at lower levels that proves that I even deserve these perks? I'm not a source of significant experience or reputation (for myself), so why bother? Why even grant access to low level toons to guild perks if they can't actually show they've contributed?<br /><br />I don't really have a solution, I'm just a bit upset by this reality. I like to earn what I get, but that's just me. Ah well, it's the system and I guess I just need to get used to it, right? It doesn't stop me from enjoying my games, but it just doesn't seem to make sense to me, that's all.<br /><br />Have a wonderful weekend!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-70060311860103802122011-04-16T17:17:00.001-07:002011-04-16T17:22:03.948-07:00ClarificationSo <a href="http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/16/the-daily-quest-who-what-how/">WoWInsider</a> was kind enough on Saturday to link to my latest article about storytelling. I wanted to clarify something that I believe they got wrong in their introduction where it reads: <br /><br />"Deuwowlity ponders who is responsible for the failures of storytelling in MMOs, what the main issue is, and <strong>how to fix the problem</strong>."<br /><br />I don't recall suggesting HOW to fix the problem, rather that it's a problem that can't be overcome 100%.<br /><br />Still, as my wife tells me, I'm not complaining over the link love. I appreciate it and would appreciate any good discussion about what ya'lls think I got right or what I got wrong or didn't think to point out.<br /><br />Have a wonderful weeked, everyone!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-62580568094303968502011-04-14T12:20:00.000-07:002011-04-14T13:00:52.892-07:00MMO's Failures at StorytellingIt's not really their fault, MMO's can tell a story, it's just it falls short in so many ways. It's just this, I think it's hard for a video game to truly, in a deep and emotional way, move you with its story. Why? It's the fault of books. <br /><br />So to that end I propose, for the sake of the future of MMO's, that we burn all the books in the world. <br /><br />/waitforit <br /><br />/waitforit <br /><br />/waitforit <br /><br />Dang, I hope you didn't believe me there! Of course I think book burning is tragic, immoral, illogical, illwhatevered baddness and all out evilness. That still doesn't mean that it's not the fault of thousands of years of literature, whether it be carved into stone or typed out and posted to the world wide interwebnetsess or bound and sold at Border's Bookstore. <br /><br />I'm no expert at these kinds of things, but I've got a pretty good idea why a story from an MMO doesn't measure up in quality with that of good old fashioned literature in book form. It's not internalized the same way word on a page are. Let me attempt to explain (although I'm sure I'll suck at it). <br /><br />From personal experience, when I'm reading a book that doesn't completely suck, something happens to my brain. I enter a sort of trancelike state where my mind receives the information from the words and then is given freedom to shape images in his head in a very personal way. True, many book authors will describe a scene or a person with great detail, letting you, the reader, know of the color of the carpet or the temperature of the air or the amount of light coming through the windows. But even then our mind creates other details that the author never thinks to include, and it's these little things that makes the scene personal to us, almost to a point where the reader is authoring the story simultaneously with the actual writer. <br /><br />Have you ever seen a movie or TV show adapted from a book and said to yourself or someone else "that's not how I pictured him/her to look like". It's funny, really, because even when an author describes a person, each reader pictures someone unique and different, sometimes even changing major features to suit his/her whims. This is an example of a book becoming personal, and a reader's relationship with that piece of literature. <br /><br />In a video game, all the visuals are provided, and often story is communicated with words or text or quests or whatever, but a visual is given to you with no room for interpretation or personalization. That barrier to personalization keeps the user from fully participating in the story in the way that readers participate in creating details while reading a book. <br /><br />So right away MMO devs are at a disadvantage when trying to tell a story. They can make the story compelling, but they lose the ability for the player to participate in the character's creation. <br /><br />I have some experience in writing...some. I've written some short stories and am about 75% completed with a fictional novel, along with a lot of poetry between the years of 16-26 (the "wooing years" I call them). I have my wife read what I write, to criticize and to encourage me, but often when I discuss with her the "behind the scenes" details of my characters or scenes, she tells me that she pictured something different in her mind while reading. It's good, really, because it forces me to make sure that I'm consistent, but it also proves the point I made earlier about a reader personalizing a story regardless of what the author wrote. <br /><br />The story of Arthas, as told via the game of WoW, is interesting. There are points that you see where you want to reach through the screen and strangle him for making some of the decisions that he made, but ultimately I have never felt for Arthas or any other character in that fantasy world the same I have felt about hundreds of other characters I've read in books. <br /><br />Perhaps a contributing factor is that MMO's generally deal with fantsay, while much of literature, even fantasy novels, often deal with real human issues of love, hate, jealousy, power, etc in ways that are significanly more realistic than a cartoon character on a computer monitor. <br /><br />Again, I don't blame MMO's for not being as good, I just think that there are inevitable barriers that cannot be crossed no matter the skill of the dev in creating compelling story lines or scenes. Not to mention, often in liturature you share the journey of the main character, from their insecure beginnings to their heroic finale. Music, TV, movies, and MMO's just don't measure up to books in sucking in the reader/player and immersing them in such a personal way as to make that person feel that, at times, that they are actually there. <br /><br />So, why talk about something like this? Why bash MMO's for their failures? <br /><br />Well partly because I, like others, have been thinking or discussing a lot lately about the future of MMO's and how they could be "better", that is please old and newer type players. I'm not really intelligent enough about game design to throw my hat into the ring too often, I'd just like to say that I don't think that we should expect MMO's to create immersive stories because I don't believe that they are capable of it. <br /><br />So let's try to fix them in other ways. RP is immersive, but it's personal and done in the player's mind. Images on a screen have never proven to immerse someone into a story the way words on a page do, and I'll argue that point till the day I die. I'd love to see changes to the World of WoW, I'd really love it. I'd like to see consistency and reason in the stories I play through as well, but I'm not asking for something that I don't think a video game is capable of. <br /><br />That's all I have for now, I'm sure I'll think of other stuff later, I usually do. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day in whatever world you play in.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-45352000207177299722011-04-08T11:23:00.000-07:002011-04-09T08:27:04.124-07:00Why a Warcraft Movie Won't Work for Most<a href="http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/08/breakfast-topic-what-are-your-warcraft-movie-predictions/">WoWInsider's breakfast topic today</a> got me thinking about movies based on stories (or games or other, etc). When it comes down to it, I just don't think any Warcraft movie would be very good...and this is the key point...according to Warcraft fans. <br /><br />Does anyone remember that Harry Potter stuff? TANGENT: The 7th book came out HOW LONG AGO? And we're just now, this year, on the verge of finally getting the final movie? Too long to produce, peoples, there are some people who've completely forgotten about HP. Moving on. <br /><br />Going back to HP & the Goblet of Fire (#4 book/movie), there was a lot of uproar among fans because there were significant changes and omissions from book to movie screen. Granted, the book was much longer than any previous book and therefore more difficult to adapt to the silver screen. There's always a necessity to cut out things from long books when making a movie, that's something that most people understand. But it doesn't mean that the fans of the book necessarily liked it. I'm not saying that fans didn't like the fourth movie, I'm saying that so much was changed or omitted from the fourth (and fifth, I may add) that some fans didn't receive those movies as well as the first three. The director has attempted to appease the fans by making two movies from book 7, to get in as much of the book as possible, so in the end people will leave fairly happy to see their boy hero portrayed as accurately as possible from how they recall him in the books. <br /><br />The thing about the Warcraft franchise is that the stories are huge, made up of many, many more characters than Harry Potter ever was, and their story arcs are long and deep. Does anyone have any idea how much of the story that we all know is going to be necessarily omitted when they finally do make a movie? Answer: A lot more than HP movies combined. It's a fact, and I think will become a painful one as devoted Warcraft geeks glimpse those things they love fall by the wayside on the director room's cutting floor. <br /><br />How many blogs or comments or whatever will we see saying something like: <br /><br />"<em>How could they leave out the story about XXXX or YYYY? ZZZZ clearly is important, every fan knows that, yet these stupid producers just don't have a clue and the movie is the worse for it."</em> <br /><br />I tell you now, so you're prepared, if there ever is a Warcraft movie made, it will receive more complaints and negative comments than positive ones, and mainly for the reasons I've listed. It will mostly be for all that's left out of the movie, which will make it more difficult for people to focues on the potential good things about it. <br /><br />Don't tell me that that's never happened to you, where you read a book, then a movie is made from it, you go and see the movie and your brain can't help but make comparisons throughout the movie, sometimes ruining the experience for you, and complaining to your date or whomever on the way home about all the things "they got wrong". <br /><br />Will I go see a Warcraft movie if it ever gets made? Probably. But hopefully I've learned enough and accepted the fact about story/book/game adaptation to the big screen that I won't want to complain about the omissions to this or that. <br /><br />Heck, my favorite book in literature, <em>Les Miserables</em>, has had a movie and a broadway musical made about it and both omitt more than half, easily, of everything that Victor Hugo ever wrote in the UNABRIDGED/ORIGINAL version. I've accepted that and simply enjoy the entertainment for what it's worth. <br /><br />But Warcraft fans are far more geeky and dedicated than someone who likes 19th century french literature. I know, it's just an opinion, but I've seen it happen to so many stories that have been adapted and made into movies, I think it's pretty clear what will happen this time around if a Warcraft movie is made. <br /><br />If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and I'd be happy to admit that. But I don't think I will be, and I'm sticking to it!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-64572038857829653872011-03-23T13:37:00.000-07:002011-03-23T13:54:11.122-07:00Positively Chipper CasualThat's me, folksy folk. Chipper man in the flesh. At least, that's how I feel now that I am a true-blue casual player of not only WoW but all other games I roll every now and then. There is a tangible relief and sense of freedom every time I log in (which isn't as much the last few weeks due to how awful my back as been feeling). The fact that I can play which whichever of my 25 toons I wish, do anything with them when I do log on, and stop any time I like, even in the middle of an instance if the mood takes me (which is hasn't, I'm just saying it might), means the world to me.<br /><br />On my main's realm, I intentionally keep multiple alts out of my main's guild so that I can experience gameplay on that server from different perspectives, either other guilds or guildless. I'll take freedom over all things, whether it's gold, gear, or honor, the freedom to be my own, on my own, helps to keep my batteries charged and going forward in an age of a new type of burnout.<br /><br />I'm free to go back to raiding, or participate in rated BG's, but I choose not to. True, there are real life reasons why I don't raid, but I could ignore those and raid anyway. It wouldn't be smart, but nobody can stop me if I did.<br /><br />Freedom of mind and soul is an unparalled joy in my little gaming world. To stop mid-way through a quest and literally stop and smell (or pick) the flowers, to fly high and take in the views of a new world that I have yet to see all of, even months after the Cataclysm. Casual play is my new best friend, (which means I'm sorry to my previous best friend, my invisible friend Frank who used to tickle me while trying to heal ICC - that led to more wipes than I care to admit).<br /><br />Freedom is serene, it is strength, it is music and it flows through my fingertips endlessly as I press 2, 3, then 2, then 5, 6, oops, I got to interrupt, -, then 9, 2, 3, 5, 4, 4, 5! Sometimes, when I'm feeling really rebellious, I'll open with a 7, then a 3 then a 2. Sorry 2, you aren't always my first choice of spell, sometimes I need to 7 and you'll just have to get over it.<br /><br />Ugh, all this burnout talk on the "internets", I need to stay away from it, I need to jump on my mount and fly above it into the far reaches of the cloudless skies towards the sun that frankly isn't all that hot. What? Forget it, I'm just walking while I'm talking.<br /><br />What's my point? Well for me I've found great solace in my casual gametime, grace has given me the freedom that I've sought (whether I knew it or not) for a very long time. Gaming is supposed to be fun, and fun is what this chipper bloke is having right now.<br /><br />On, on to victory! Freedom shall be ours!!!!!Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-3743555791181668562011-03-09T13:43:00.000-08:002011-03-09T14:27:13.896-08:00There's No Crying in MMO's!Thanks to actor Tom Hanks, we know that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_League_of_Their_Own">"There's no crying in baseball"</a>. I guess certain basketball players from the Miami Heat didn't get that memo, or at very least didn't watch that movie, as their coach threw them under the bus the other day saying during a press conference that there were a coupld players in their locker room crying after a particularly difficult loss.<br /><br />But what about gaming? Is there crying in gaming? I'm not referring to <em>complaining</em>, but rather real emotional outpouring in the form of real tears, difficulty breathing, all out crying. Should I share anything that's ever happened to me where I allowed myself to cry or perhaps stopped myself? Maybe...I'll think about it.<br /><br />What brings on that powerful manifestation of emotion anyway? Death? Joy? Pain (physical or mental, etc)? Certainly everyone has different thresholds, different breaking points for different situations. I just wonder how much crying in front of the monitor actually goes on in online gaming. What would cause you or me to flood our cheeks with the salty moisture of the entrance to our souls?<br /><br /><strong>Crying in General</strong><br />I just had this talk with my kids the other day, where they mentioned to me that "if you cry in school your life, your reputation, everything that you love and want out of school will be destroyed...forever...never to recover." A bit of an overreaction, I suppose, but what do you expect from an 8 and 10 year old boy? My basic stance on crying is this: There's a time and place for everything, usually, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with crying in general. It would be wise, like my kids say, to control yourself in public if you can. But there are definately circumstances where it's acceptable to cry in public, for example if you were told of a death in a public place, everyone would understand your emotional response, even mean little kids in elementary school.<br /><br />Crying is natural, we were all born crying, or cried soon after birth and long into our first few years of life. It's a means of communication, it let's people know that we have a need, whether that's physical or emotional comfort, and let's others know that we deem some issue important. Frankly I despise the macho male society that I live in. Especially in sports. As a "MAN" I'm not supposed to cry, like ever. I'm supposed to, per some unwritten cultural rules, remain stone faced and play the role of the tough, good solier. THAT'S BULL CRAP! There is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING WRONG WITH CRYING. Anyone who says any different is, in my sole-important opinion, mentally disturbed and example of a repressive household. How are humans supposed to make any lasting bonds if their not allowed to express their true emotions? We're NOT animals, we're above that, our capacity to think and feel make us so.<br /><br />But I still teach my kids to be aware of your surroundings, and protect themselves from unnecessary ridicule by expressing themselves, ALL OF THEMSELVES, to the appropriate person at the appropriate time. This means they work hard not to cry at school, but when they get home, I let them and encourage them to pour out their hearts about the pain they suffer at school from bullies and other affects of really bad kids. So, if you want to cry I got nothing against you. The more the better I say.<br /><br /><strong>Crying in Games</strong><br />So I'm not raiding anymore. Like...ever. Unless I get a new back or something, it's done, I'm done. And for me that's a touchy subject. It's a recent decision, really. I tried to get strong for Cataclysm raiding, but when it came to it I just can't take sitting in a chair for 3-4 hours, it's too difficult on my body. I had to tell my guild leader, and that was difficult.<br /><br />My wife tells me I take everything too seriously, and she's probably right. It's my personality to take ownership of my life's activities, to give them meaning. Even sitting in the park on a blanket with my kids, that's important because it's a time of bonding. Equally the last couple years I've come to bond with the people I raided with. We're not lovers or lifelong friends, but I internalize my contributions and view them as significant because I've had to suffer through some painful nights, nights which physically hurt me for days after in the real world, for the sake of contributing to the team and driving us to success. That success meant something to me, it meant that I had sacrificed physical comfort for an opportunity to achieve something with 9 other human beings, even if it was a game, it was done with other real people.<br /><br />So when I had to tell my guild that my body was just too broken and I couldn't contribute any more, I do recall my eyes watering. So for me, I guess there is crying in MMO's. Who woulda thunk it? I'm not ashamed, I am proud that I feel, and more than that that I value human connections enough to allow myself to feel loss when I cannot enjoy those connections as much or in the same way that I used to. I have my breaking point, and for the first time ever playing a video game I reached it. In the end it's about the people. Because I helped form the guild, I'm allowed to stay and do whatever I can whenever I can, and I still help cut gems, make flasks, etc. I still run some fun things on the weekend when I don't have to give up too much time. It's nice.<br /><br /><strong>Crying and You</strong><br />There is a time and place for everything, for the most part. I still feel that while on vent or whatever, people should control their emotions, or at least control to whom they express them. It's ok to let it out to the right person at the right time, but I still think one should protect him/herself from general ridicule. What we do, what we play, because it's with other people who feel, I think in principle there is no feeling that needs to be repressed, nor any manifestion of those feelings. Just do it at the right time. Most circumstances in gaming really don't merit crying, but I think there are a few that do, and all of those deal with the relationships we forge with other sentient beings.<br /><br />So, Tom Hanks, there may not be crying in baseball, but maybe there should be...in private.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4672502501001409358.post-9923197334526491992011-03-08T13:43:00.000-08:002011-03-08T14:00:30.628-08:00Where Did I Come From? Contemplating Character CreationI never thought about it much, even when taking my first steps into Azeroth, about where I came from, ya know, how did I actually come into being? Given that I never thought about it much means that, for me at least, it's not really that important. But something happened recently that made me think about it and whether it's important or not.<br /><br />I gave RIFT a go.<br /><br />While watching the opening cinematics for both Guardians and Defiants I noticed that I am told about my creators, about where I come from, whereas in WoW, I just appear out of nowhere and am supposed to have feelings all of a sudden. It's interesting, to me at least, how the Guardians have been risen by their gods as Ascended (I think I'm getting this right, I didn't take notes and am going off poor memory), super heros brought back to life to defeat the evil Regulos and do some other heroic stuff and stuff.<br /><br />The Defiant built machines, and with those machines created a race of "Ascended", in other words, magical Frankensteins with a defined purpose. In either case the story makes a HUGE point of telling you where you come from. It also tells you why you're here, but that's a separate subject.<br /><br />WoW just kind of apparates you into Northshire and gives you a stick without telling you where you came from. I guess in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter. I mean, sooner or later you learn that you are not intended to be a hero anyway but a punching bag for elitist jerks who treat you like you're 3 years old...AND, LET'S NOT FORGET, TO GET MORE LOOT!!!!!!<br /><br />All jesting aside, I don't know whether it's better to be created from "nowhere" or made by a machine. It seems like the Guardians in RIFT get the lucky draw, risen by the all powerful beings or whatnot, while Defiants or WoW players are either some rare cyborg meat suit or a nothingless creature brought from some alternate dimension by some dude in his mom's basement looking for some cheap weekend thrills.<br /><br />No, I suppose none of it really matters. I was just thinking and all, you know how that goes. It's "just a game", who cares about story when you can pew pew all day long and get shiny purple shinies thingies. Aargh, I'm in a bad mood today, can you tell? I'm treating this issue as if it doesn't matter, which it doesn't, but in some weird way I'm supposed to think that it does? When it comes down to it, I appreciate that the creators of RIFT were thoughtful enough to tell me where I come from. I do enjoy WoW still, or I wouldn't play it, but now whenever I create a new toon I know I'm going to be thinking, somewhere in the back of my mind, that I drew the short straw when it came to <em>character creation lore/background</em>. /sigh.<br /><br />I'll be alright, I'll get over this tragedy, and maybe, just maybe the reason I'm here (in Azeroth), will be compelling enough to make up for the fact that I have no idea where I come from.Gronthehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440374214301179615noreply@blogger.com2