Monthly Update: June, 2015

Happy June everyone!  Unless June is an unhappy month for you, so in that case, "HAPPY JUNE EVERYONE ELSE!  And you too."

So updates from our gaming worlds it is now that we're on to talking about.

Within the realm of Dungeons & Dragons, I've come to the realization that I need to work on describing environments that the PCs are in when there are no descriptions prewritten from the module.  Sure I've got maps and whatnot, but for when the PCs are traversing along a well traveled road from morning to night through the grasslands of Faerûn, I need to do more than say "After you wake up, you continue traveling south along the road.  (Sound of a die rolling). . .The weather throughout the day is fairly windy and (die rolling). . . is uneventful.  You make it to about. . .here on the map by nightfall."  I also need to do a better job at describing enemies rather than by their name.  "A twig blight scuttles out of the bushes and goes after Dagnar."  I also feel that I should have a random name generator up because the few people that I've given names too have been "Joe" and "Bobby."

But Conklederp reminds me that people keep coming back so I must not be doing that bad of a job DMing descriptions.

I managed to finish Silent Hill on the PSP late last month.  It was about as stressful as I was expecting and after just over nine hours, I was able to see the fruits of my fingering labors.  There will be an article later in the week or the beginning of next week, somewhat akin to the Dead Space articles about my experience with the game rather than directly about the game.  It did come out 16 years ago after all.

I've also managed to progress a bit in Radiant Historia on the 3DS although I still find that I'm overthinking things as far as time travel and parallel universes.

In the PC gaming arena, Conklederp and I have been playing the proverbial fecal matter out of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited.  Last week alone we clocked in around 17+ hours traversing the vast swaths of High Rock and portions of Hammerfell.  I don't know if we will keep pace this week as I have a lot of real world work I have to finish.

Lastly, there are going to be some changes coming up this month that DRoBOTTS and I have been working on for just about the last month.  We're both happy to see this happen (no we're not monetizing and no we were not bought out for 4.7 million after a tense bidding war between PC Gamer and Gamespot), so stay tuned for more vague updates.  I'm sure you'll enjoy our cryptic ramblings as much as we've had creating them.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
I Oughta Get Going

Monthly Update: February 2015

If you're a frequent reader of our site, you may have noticed the fall off in posts towards the end of January.  The last couple of weeks have been taxing on me as coursework has begun to pile up and finding time to both play games and write about them has dwindled to a level that makes posting twice a week very difficult.  Thus, I have decided to cut myself back to posting once a week (Monday or Friday), but not including the MIDI Week Singles that has become a fun staple that both Dr. Potts and I contribute to on a whomever-has-an-article-written-and-ready-to-go-come-Wednesday basis.  Actually, I might post twice a week if I'm feeling up to it and am overly talkative.

That being said, I have managed to put in a fair amount of time with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call on the 3DS that will garner at least two posts this month.  I also started up playing Dungeons & Dragons again last week, which will hopefully turn into a weekly or biweekly event.  That DMing experience will also earn itself its own article, probably mid month.  This revised interest in D&D had also got me thinking again about painting miniatures, something that I haven't done since July 2011.

Around mid-January, Extra Credits put out a couple of videos about making your own video game and their recommended steps to going about that arduous process.  These series of videos got me motivated about using RPG Maker VX Ace to make a game in the same way that listening to Robert Rodriguez talk about making movies convinces me that I could shoot, cut and score my own movie.  It's simple things like starting out small and not trying to make Final Fantasy VI on my first attempt are more important than churning out a masterpiece and getting bogged down on my first attempt.  All good points and based on their most recent video (part 3 in this game making series), I've realized that I should still scale back my plan just so I can get the mechanics of using the program down.

And then there was that Super Bowl MLLXVXLIX that happened last Sunday as well.  Now, I know it's stereotypical for someone who plays video games, D&D, paints miniatures and cross stitches pixel art to either not know or care about the NFL (or to go to a Star Trek convention instead. . .1999 I think it was), but after the 49ers were eliminated during the playoffs, I sort of turned my brain off and until the middle of last week, I had forgotten all about the Super Bowl.  Plus, without expressed consent from the NFL, I'm not supposed to talk about or give any kind of recap about the game.  Besides, who was I supposed to root for?  The Seahawks eliminated the 49ers so I can't cheer for them, and the Patriots have that whole deflatinggatenonesense going on, but more importantly is that I've never been a New England (team, not the region) fan so I don't plan on aligning myself with them at the present date.  I also don't feel that I should hoorah for the Seahawks only because they're a West Coast team and are closer to Portland than San Francisco, or because 90% of the football fans in the Portland metropolitan area are Seahawks fans.  I ended up picking Seattle.

So that's what happened last month and what is looking to happen in the upcoming/presently circumcised month of February.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

The Works of My Gods Receding Now

The Question of Geek or It's all Geek to Me - a response

 This post is a response to my blogging colleague and good friend's post:  What does it mean to you?

I think part of the problem presented by the meaning of Geek is connected to what Felicia Day presents as a concern: that Geek has become over-commercialized.  It's like Geeks were these rare and beautiful jewels, who were content to sparkle and be pretty and perhaps be set into the inlay on an elder blade, or curse a hapless treasure hunter.  But what ended up happening is that the world of business discovered that these jewels have monetary value, and can be traded for bucks.  And now they are circulating, and circulating. What once had to be stolen from a crypt in the amazon is now available for $4.99 on amazon.com. 

And to make matters worse: when something that used to be precious is now a commodity, it's hard not to begin to question authenticity.  I think this is where the phrase 'you're not a real...' - something or other - comes in.  There is a fear of receiving the fools gold of geekdom.  It's a legitimate concern, though I think some take it too far. 

I feel a certain frustration when I hear people toss around 'Geek' like it's something to be proud of.  It's hard to see that something that felt very costly to me as a youth claimed loudly as an adult.  However, I don't really think it's appropriate to publicly question someone's authenticity as a person, either.  That can be harmful.  Besides, for all the rejection I felt when I was young, I had at least an equal amount of connection-  I never went to a Star Trek convention alone.  

Now that I'm a grown up, with an adult life and adult job, the labels Geek and Nerd don't worry me too much anymore.  It's my 'adult' concerns that eat up the majority of my attention and identity. Or maybe I've just gotten really good at hiding it.  I certainly understand why it is a concern for Felicia Day, who has named her channel 'Geek and Sundry.'  If the term 'Geek' becomes watered down, where will that leave Felicia?  

I once read an article, way back when smartphones hadn't invaded, Steam really hadn't caught on, and Futurama was still canceled.  The author of this article had firm definitions of Nerd and Geek.  In it, they defined the Geek as the tinkerer, the one who could figure out how things work, who knew the computer coding language, who could do the advanced math, applied or no.  And the Nerd was the collector.  The one who consumed vast quantities of media and knowledge, and had it all organized, but didn't necessarily have any practical use for it. 

I think a dork was somewhere in between.  If there was a label that I identify with on the Nerd Continuum, I think it would be dork.  I just don't get it, I don't really mind that I don't get it, and I really hope you leave me alone about how I don't get it.  I do like stuff though, and if you ask about it, I will totally tell you all about it.  I guess it's kind of like Aspberger's Syndrome, which is on the chopping block for the DSM V.  Did I just wrinkle your brain? No?  Oh.  okay. 

I can't help but think I'm forgetting something.  I thought long and hard about this subject all day.  I guess I don't have to cover everything in just one try.  Anyway, Geek = label given to me as a kid.  Bitterness.  As adult it is now a good classification... whaaa?   The end. 

-D

Currently Playing: Final Fantasy II (NES)

Classify this.  Or just check the page out, it makes me feel better about things.

Drinking Quest 3: Nectar of the Gods

Copyright: Canada ~ Her Royal Majesty, The Queen of England

I don't know when it was that I first found out about Drinking Quest.  I think it might have actually been one of those "customized" adds on the right hand side of the screen while I was browsing facebook.  I don't even remember what made me click on the link, but I did and I'm pretty thankful that I did too.

Drinking Quest is the brainchild of Jason Anarchy, both of whom are based in Canada.  So, if you're looking to purchase said quest, you'll be converting your native currency to Canadian dollars, unless you already live in Canada.  Enough of the brass tacks though, Drinking Quest is a card game set in a fictional fantasy world where you have to. . . um, do stuff and drink while doing it.  It's all very non-complicated and it all sounds like fun as I have admittingly not played any of the games.  I have however played both Munchkin and Dungeons & Dragons (as well as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Drunk Dungeons & Dragons and Editions 2, 3, 3.5 and 4), so I feel somewhat qualified to plug these beautiful Canadians.

Now this is where the above mentioned link comes in, when I clicked the aforementioned advertisement, it took me to Indiegogo, which is kind of like Kickstarter, except that it isn't.  That's the only difference that I've noticed.  Maybe there are more differences, but I haven't found them yet, mainly because I haven't looked.  It turns out that Drinking Quest has had two previous iterations prior to Drinking Quest 3: Nectar of the Gods, which they are trying to crowdfund up to their initial goal of $11,500 Canadian (that's $11,280.04 US).  The video up on their Indiegogo page is below to give you an idea of how these people seem to have done a great job blending Dungeons & Dragons and Canada (the drinking game, not the country, although that too I guess, considering that is the game's origin):

Looking at their Indiegogo page, I really feel the best option, if you have the money, is the $65 ($85 with shipping) option, which earns/gives/buys you hard copies of all three games.  Volume 1 is currently sold out and not available on their website, so the only way to acquire Volume 1, is by helping them reach their goal of $11,500, of which they are 73.8% complete and there are still 24 days left in their campaign.

That's all I will say, which has been a bit.  I'll probably go help fund them sometime within the week but they definitely seem to be on their way towards reaching their goal and that's mainly what this is all about: people doing something they love and having like-minded people helping out.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Another Brick in Hadrian's Wall

Never Stopped Feeling Like a 12 Year Old Geek.

Last Thursday, Conklederp and I were having Coolman over for a game of Munchkin and I had previously thought that a d10 die would be perfect to keep track of your level, which apparently Steve Jackson and Company had previously thought of, but are no longer producing.  Now between the two of us, Conklederp and I have three full sets of D&D dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 & d100) and I didn't want to take the d10's out of each little box and possibly lose them.  I wanted dedicated dice for the sole purpose of being used in Munchkin.

The obvious solution was to go to a pseudo close by gaming store, except the closeness of said gaming store meant driving through a downtown area of a smallish yuppie-ville, over an apparently crumbling bridge and then all the way back.  So a 16.6 mile round trip for 6d10 worth of dice.  Enter Yelp to see if I could locate a closer gaming, or even a comic store that might sell d10 dice.  As it turned out, there is a gaming store less than five miles away.  I'll go there, and pick up some Dutch Bros. coffee on my way back, because I have a horrible love affair with caffeine.

We'll now jump ahead to the part when I'm at Dutch Bros., after I was convinced that I had been on the wrong road for Epic Games and made a U-turn, only to discover 3/4 of the way to Dutch Bros., that I was, in fact, on the correct street.  So I pull up to the ordering window, order my iced ER911 and sit back.  Then the  guy at the window turns to me and says, "So, what are you doing today?"  It's a simple/normal enough question.  I just wasn't expecting to be talked to after the initial ordering.  I also took a moment to answer.  My first thought was, "Well, I'm going to a gaming store to buy some d10's for a game of Munchkin that I'm going to be playing with friends later tonight."

For some reason, I felt mildly shamed at possibly replying with that sentence.  And that bothered me.  The fact that I'm 32 years old, and I felt even the slightest bit like I'm being judged in that I was out to do something incredibly geeky as buy dice  Not to mention that it wasn't a six sided die either, but one with ten sides!!  So I ended up just saying that I was going to a store to buy dice, not bothering to mention the Munchkin part of it in fear that I would have to talk to this person further and try to explain what Munchkin was.  Don't get me wrong though, he didn't seem like a bad/intimidating person, I just get uncomfortable talking to people, mainly when they're people in public.  Or people on the phone, but that will come up later in Friday's post.  So naturally (??), the guy said "You're buying dice?  What're they for?"  Now, I get that he's just trying to be nice and trying to make conversation, but in my head I was thinking "God damn, please stop talking to me."  I instead say, "They're dice, for um, like Dungeons & Dragons."  He then said something about needing coffee for that, I said something like "Yup."  I then received my coffee, I thanked him, then drove off blaring Russian folk metal, because that's what I was listening to before I drove up to the window.

As I drove away, I thought, "Holy shit, that was similar to part of Ken Levine's keynote from PAX 2008." 

The entire keynote can be watched here.

 Granted in Ken Levine's story, he actually was being laughed at and I felt like I could've been laughed at.  

The point is, I shouldn't have to feel like that.  Ever.  And I shouldn't let myself feel that way just because the purpose of my leaving our apartment was to buy coffee and buy 6d10.  I guess it's something that I'll still have to learn to get over.  And in the meantime, I'll listen to this song again:

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Part III of Munchkin Will Be Published On Friday.

Confession Time:  I was actually working backstage in the main theatre at PAX when Ken Levine was giving his keynote address.  At that time, I hadn't played Bioshock and didn't even know who Ken Levine was.  And it wasn't until I got the PAX08 DVD's after working PAX09, that I watched his keynote that I finally saw what all the visual jokes were.  I'm pretty slow on some fronts.