My little cohort of fellow gamers were huddled around the latest XBox magazine last night at work. Generally I tune out when they get like that - they play online Halo-type stuff, which is not my personal cup of tea. This time, though, I got pulled into the debate. One of the guys handed me the mag and asked, "Hey, what do you think about this? Would you call this cheating or not?"
It seems this one guy by the name of David Harr ran into a bit of a snag trying to get all of the Achievement awards in Perfect Dark Zero. Good ol' David had already put over 50 hours into the game, and didn't particularly feel like playing another 2,000 rounds, so with a little ingenuity he put together what he calls the xBot. This little contraption is wrapped around the controller, and begins by hitting the START button to begin a match. After a set time, it mashes the B button to back out, then finds another game. With this handy-dandy little contraption, he is capable of going through around 40 games an hour, while its creator goes out to eat dinner, catches a nap, reads Great Expectations...you get the idea.
I looked up at my buddies and said, "That lazy sonofab*****..."
Cohort A looks down on me from his perch on the side of his desk to where I sit in my computer chair, and grins. "You know, that's sheer genius. We've been using rubber bands on our joysticks to keep our guys running around in circles all night long."
I swivel around to stare at Cohort B. "You actually do that kind of thing, too?" He just laughs and nods at me. No skin off his nose (found out later he's the one who came up with that idea). I'm still feeling somewhat amazed. I look back down at the article and notice the last sentence..."For our two cents, Harr's mad-genius powers alone mean those Achievements are richly deserved." And THAT'S when it really starts kicking around my brain.
Yeah, on the face of it, it made me downright ill. But then again, how often do we gamers spend hours making our protagonists into little Six-Million-Dollar men, investing our time (and on occasion, our money) into making them better, stronger, faster? For me personally, it's usually the desire to open every secret, find each hidden item, and catch all the potential story scenarios that makes me push those characters into Rocky-esque form. For example, in order to beat Ruby and Emerald Weapon in FFVII I spent about 20-plus hours in the sunken sub with several accelerated-Materia-growth weapons to gain duplicate copies of Master Final Attack, Phoenix, Mime and Knights of the Round Materia (the sub boasts monsters with the highest AP values). The fact that I also got all my team members up to Level 99 was really an added bonus at that point, and it was totally moot that the Weapon battles were optional. I didn't even need the prizes for defeating them. I simply enjoy trying to do everything that CAN be done in a game, but I definitely fought a lot of mindless battles just to get there. There were a few times I half-dozed off and found myself repeatedly mashing the attack button when Cloud was just standing there in the middle of the sub, scratching his head (he was probably wondering what the hell I was doing, and who did I think he was supposed to fight). If it was within my ability to screw together a few solenoids, a couple of batteries and a circuit board to do some of that means-to-an-end fighting, darn skippy I'd have pulled out the Erector set. Somehow, that stung a bit. Wasn't I always proud of earning things the hard way? Well, yeah...but if I had figured out an easier way I'd have been even more smug with myself. The point I suppose I found myself sticking at the time was, when does the end justify the means? Thinking further on that, I had to admit I was making certain assumptions - that David's little trick there 1- give him an edge against other online players, 2 - hurts others who got the Achievements through the tried-and-true blood sweat and tears method, and 3 - harmed the overall game experience for others. Since I'm not an online player, I was in no position to comment, but patient questioning and a few toothpicks under the fingernails of Cohort A and B gave me an answer. Neither had played Perfect Dark Zero much, but they thought it was just a matter of getting an Achievement Award. So if he just wanted a nice shiny little badge (or whatever it is that Zero offers), I was being a real hypocrite. And what if it gave him some really great weapon, or raised his stats to inhuman level, or such? Hmm...well, in my RPG's, if I can't hack the beasties in a certain area, I go back to a place where the monsters are a step down, and I boost myself up. If it's something without level stats (say, Silent Hill) then I try switching to stronger weapons, or go find more ammo so I can afford to perforate the creepy-crawlies with quantity over the quality of my aiming. Gamers are always on the lookout for an edge, but now I had to take into consideration that I wasn't used to looking for an edge over other gamers, and I was thinking of things in somewhat idealized terms. Is gaining higher stats over the competition unfair? Am I expecting warfare to be...well, nice? I like the idea of equality, but the spirit of competition isn't about equality. It's about "one of us here is gonna look like a colander, and it AIN'T going to be ME!" Sure, battles are fun, and we should play games for fun. But there is a good percentage of folks out there who want to be the best there is, and to do that, you need to fight other players. Unfortunately, not everybody out there is a master of reflex and hand-eye coordination (I definitely fall into that category). If I WAS an online gamer, I'd like to think I could at least gain a certain measure of respect from showing I put time into something, if not skill. I think this is where Harr's little project rubbed me the wrong way. I know nothing about the guy, but it's easy to assume that somebody who takes shortcuts must be a sucky player who will use any underhanded means to come out on top of the bodybags. So now I'm taking this as an affront to my honor as a gamer? The guy was damnably clever. In one fell swoop he proved himself smarter than me and my cohorts. I already knew I lacked skill, I just hated the thought of being out-thought, because that's my strong point. Hah, haven't even played the stupid game and the guy beat me...
All of this great mass o' thought came after I got home from work, so I don't think I'll share the epiphany with the guys. I did borrow the mag, though. There's some guy who started an online company that trains you to play Halo 2 for $155 an hour....dammit, why didn't I think of that?....out-thunk again...anybody know how to train your brain?

    For some strange reason I'm a member of The Gamespots: Designer's Union; it's a nifty little union offering tutorials in Photoshop and other design programs.  Not that I know a blessed thing about Photoshop - I signed on to learn, not because I'm a great creator or anything.  Since I don't do enough creating to post a lot, I got a thread going listing different unions that are in need of sigs, tags, and such.  The concept is for people to use this as a springboard for their skills, plus help some unions out that don't already have someone artistically able on board.  So, I'm asking all you darling people who check my blog out:
1.  Do you know of any unions that could use a facelift, or for that matter, a face?  So far I've got two listed - Alive by '85 and The Book Writers Union.  I'm getting permission from the leader before I post them, but if you can post me a link I'll do all the work as far as that is concerned.
2.  Anybody interested in joining a designer's union?  I hate sending out invites to my friend list - I try to only extend invites to people I think would be interested in a particular union, but frankly everybody I know who's really good is already a member of this one or a similar one.  The Gamespots is small, but it's got a lot of potential, I think!  If you would like to check it out, click on this link.  I know there's other design unions out there, but try this one out, you may like it.
   

       Okay, so first the officer/leader tags vanish.  Then I'm going thru a bout of now-you-have-it, now-you-don't emblems.  Now nobody can get into the threads or the boards?  This really blows chunks...mornings are about the only time I can read and post in peace, and now this?  I'm so glad I'm not a paying subscriber, because I would be just a tad bit...peeved.  Several long-timers said that usually things like this only last for a few hours, a day at most, but this is getting kind of silly, don't you think?  Ah, well, guess I can at least go catch up on everybody's blogs, let's hope this gets worked out soon, cuz it's closing in on beddy-bye time for me.

    A few of you out there and a few friends here in my little world have been mentioning some good authors and book titles lately.  Seemed like a great time to mention a few of my favorites.  This is by no means all of them, as I read all sorts of things from fantasy to historical biographies to classics, but these are ones I'm thinking a lot of you may enjoy (if you aren't already familiar with them!).  So many of you guys mentioned sci-fi and fantasy as being your favorites, I'm pretty much going with those type authors right now, but please feel free to comment on any titles or authors you really like, no matter what genre.  Also, I've posted links to a few sites so you can check out their work for yourselves.

C.S. Friedman writes some really great sci-fi and fantasy.  I highly recommend This Alien Shore, a tale about a future society that has seeded itself across the galaxy.  The secret to interstellar travel lies with the Guerans, the only race left that embraces madness as a gift and not something genetically purged from their culture.  And one young girl finds out what others will do to find that power for themselves...

Dan Simmons is a Hugo award-winning author.  He deals with sci-fi and horror in equal measure, and you will often find elements of one overlapping the other. The Hyperion Cantos series is amazing, although I've only read the first two.  I also read Carrion Comfort and Song of Kali, which are both heavy reading but worthwhile.

Tad Williams is probably best known for his incredible fantasy series Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.  An epic adventure complete with magic swords, dark forces, elves and the occasional dragon, Williams weaves a haunting tale about mankind's battle against an ancient foe, the spirit of one defeated long ago, and an ancient prophecy that may be the last hope...but for whom?  He also wrote Tailchaser's Song - a book about cats that I can only describe as being reminiscent of Watership Down with a strong mythical element to it - a nifty little read.

Terry Prachett is massively hilarious.  If you have NOT read one of his books, then you, my friend, are NOT a serious fantasy fan.  His biggest series is about a realm called Discworld, which is nice and flat, and riding through space balanced on four elephants standing on the back of a turtle (which should tell you how wacky the local deities are).  His novels are satire of some very familiar things, anything from Quentin Tarantino movies to police crime series to Shakespeare.  If you have been living under a rock all this time and never heard of him, I recommend you start with Mort, Guards! Guards! or Wyrd Sisters.  If you really get into Discworld, you'll find that there's series within the series that revolve around some of the more colorful characters, but fortunately most of the books can be enjoyed independently of each other.  Discworld has even jumped into the realm of gamers, although I haven't played any of them...if anybody out there has, tell me about it!  Also coming out in 2007 is a movie based on The Wee Free Men.

Well, that's all for now, peeps.  Please share some of your favorite titles and I'll do my best to find and read them.

    Isn't it funny when you find some deeper thought in something as shallow as a game or cartoon?  Or pick up a thread of thought from some book that gets your brain rattling?  I had a few of them on my mind lately, thought I'd share them.
    I'm a really fast reader - generally I have two or three novels going at the same time.  I read the unabridged version of The Stand in, like, four hours.  Several years ago, I grabbed a copy of Orson Scott Card's The Worthing Saga.  He lives in the same state as me (N.C.) and I really enjoyed Ender's Game, so I was anticipating a good sci-fi read.  What I got was something that really got me pondering about the nature of God and man that eventually wound up with me being baptized as a Christian.  Okay, before you start the moaning....the book (or this blog, for that matter) isn't about becoming a Christian.  The novel begins with a world where no one has ever, in their life, experienced any pain, physical or mental.  For generations no one has injured themselves, felt incapacitating sorrow, or seen a young person or loved one die unless they were very old.  Then life on this idyllic  world is suddenly shattered when families begin finding people dead in their beds, a child burns to death, and people are cropping up with bruises, cuts, and crippling injuries...and a spaceship lands with two people who can read minds, who have a strange tale to tell that started thousands of years ago...  Without going into a lot of detail, it brought up a lot of things that I never really considered before.  Like, how much can you possibly protect others before you turn them into puppets?  How much responsibility do you expect from those who watch over you, and who watches them?  Yes, utlimately it lead to me accepting Christ but the point I'm making that it started FROM A SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL.  This is not where one generally looks for spiritual epiphanies.  But it set off a serious chain of thought that led me somewhere I  NEVER would have expected. 
    I think most of us can relate to being moved by a game's storyline.  I've read dozens of posts from people who admitted crying over Aeris in FF7, or over Yuna and Tidus in FF10 (okay, I'm a SquareHead, I admit it, I was one of the crying people).  And for some reason, I have been thinking a LOT lately about the storyline of FF Tactics Advance.  No, not that it moved me to tears.  Four kids find themselves transported to the world of Ivalice.  All of them recognize it as a game world (yes, a Final Fantasy game) yet only the main character has any desire to return to reality.  The others actively try to stop him, and he finds himself trying to convince them that no matter what problems they face in reality, staying in Ivalice is only running away.  It's kind of an ironic echo of myself as a gamer - I love games because they are my retreat from the issues of the day, and no matter how badly something goes at home or work, I know I can at least beat the crud out of some beastie somewhere.  And if a magic portal popped up to whisk me away to Ivalice, I'd be in faster than you could say "huh?".  Unfortunately that's not likely to happen, and sooner or later I know I have to shut the system off and go deal with the messes that make up daily life.  It's kind of surprising to  admit to yourself thet HECK YEA you would dump your problems for a chance to live in a made-up world, it's not something I would expect me to do! (As if I were watching myself third-person, lol)  Was this a really life-changing revelation?  Nah, but it did provoke a brief self-exam along the lines of  "Gee, am I really that much of a wuss?" I seriously doubt that Square/Enix was telling us "Gamers are avoiding reality!  STEP AWAY from the system!" but you have to wonder, how many people do give up living a real life?  We look to games, books, music and movies to distract us, to move us, to show us things we can't see or imagine for ourselves.  When does the distraction become more important than the reality?
    There's tons of anime out there, and I collect LOTS.  Me and my husband are pretty diverse; we got samurai stuff, horror, comedy, sci-fi, romance, you name it, we probably got it.  Recently we finally got around to acquiring Princess Mononoke on DVD.  At the heart of the story is man's conflict with nature; we as a people have a nasty habit of destroying things around us.  In the case of Mononoke, nature has some pretty sharp teeth and is amazingly good at fighting back.  You know, as we hear stories about greenhouse gasses, glacial ice melting, wars over dwindling oil supplies and such I can't help but think Nature doesn't need to fight back, sooner or later we will end up destroying ourselves.  I'm not a tree-hugger, but I do feel sad seeing forested areas get torn down just to make room for another overpriced development.  Is it really possible to find a middle ground?  We can't just scream "Stop destroying the environment!  No more new houses!" - people need homes, too, and land to grow food, and transportation.  It's just depressing that so often it comes down to one or the other getting shot down entirely. 
    I'm not one for trying to be profound.  It's just interesting how something so trite as a game or a fiction novel can actually make me think about bigger issues.  And that's what really good entertainment should do - it should make you use that hunk of tissue in your head and actually think.  I get the feeling I'm going to get bashed on this blog, but I'm not trying to rattle anybody's cage here. All I really want to convey is how funny it is that you find inspiration for mental debate in the oddest places.  And, well, if  I do get bashed, at least I made you think about why I'm wrong.

    Somehow, within a very short span of time, the Portable System Wars Union has grown like a marshmallow in a microwave. It's really mind-boggling to me, I didn't think people enjoyed bashing rival systems THAT much. Well, maybe if I had thought more about it, I'd realize people enjoy bashing, period. Why else are we all gamers? Every time I check the intro thread, it's like a platoon moved in....so far the officer gig is going GREAT, even though I'm more likely to get off-topic than most of the recruits :D Big Daddy Stripeknight is doing a lot of spot-checking, officers are all over the place and getting involved...this is a prime time to take a peek, folks, the enthusiasm is high, the threads are great, and, well...really, you need to GO. Now. Right this minute.
    Next item...The Silent Hill Resort, bless their everlovin' gory blood-drippin' lil' hearts, has also promoted me to officer. Man, that really blew me away. Gee, was it the blog?....but it seems this was in the works before I posted. I really love this union lots, and it surprised even me that I was so, well, dang it, moved. I've learned lately I'm a lot more emotional than I thought....and here I thought I'd squashed that little detail of my personality....:cry: Survival horror is my game of choice, and to find a great group of folks who enjoy it as much as I do is an amazingly wonderful thing. Living out in the sticks like I do, there's no one in my immediate circle of friends who has the same passion for that genre (nearly all of them are XBox Live gamers who get together for missions). These guys are terrific and I only hope I can do a good job for them.
S    o, within a three-day period, I went from perpetual recruit to officer in two really excellent unions - and I didn't see either of them coming. Check back with me later to see if I survive.

Whoa, got seriously tangled with unions this weekend! Everybody who hasn't already needs to check out the latest union, Portable System Wars. It isn't even 24 hours old and it's already wide open on the throttle. Plus, it's my first officer gig, wish me well! I have really tried to be a viable member of my unions and be an active participant, but sad to say some of them seem to be more along the lines of twitching corpses than well-visited sites.
So far I've gotta give major kudos to The Silent Hill Resort - lustiagamer (sorry Bruno, did I spell that right?) is a totally devoted leader, and he and his officers keeps things hopping even though SH is between releases (a time that can make or break any union!). A few other similar unions I have tried out or just looked at have much larger enrollments but nothing current going on; I'll take a smaller group anyday if the members are really into the topic! Kind of sad when the only activity going on is the game thread...I'm also anticipating great stuff from PSW - stripeknight is a intensely colorful dude with a lot of energy, he's sure to keep things lively, plus my fellow officers seem to be chomping at the bit. Last but not least, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for The Gamespots. This one started up at the first of the year, and has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, as its leader had to go on hiatus almost immediately after its opening. This union is for the designers out there and offers some great tutorials for those beginning with Photoshop and such. It's got a lot of potential, and I'm hoping we can get past the teething troubles and get rolling.
I've read on several blogs that a lot of you guys have gotten burned out on too many unions, either as members or officers. For a while, I think I was headed that way...not because I had too many but because I put more energy in them than I was getting out. Rule of science, guys - it takes energy to make energy. I took everyone else's stories to heart and avoided turning into a Union junkie, but even with only 6 or 7 I found I had too few relays and too small a generator! The simple fact is this: no matter how great an idea for a union, if you can't maintain the energy, either change the fuses or pull the plug My personal moral - if you invite me to your union, it had better not be a graveside service!
MY GUIDELINES FOR UNION INVOLVEMENT!
1. If the leader hasn't posted in over two weeks without citing a reason (illness, family issues), forget it.
2. Look at the old threads. Is it the equvalent of the canned meat aisle at the grocery store, or is is the butcher's counter? In other words, is it 99% a bunch of buddies swapping spam, or is it people taking a topic and running with it? (And hey, not that some filler is bad - it shows the members know each other and are on comfortable terms. However, if the threads are just a lot of BS going back and forth, look elsewhere)
3. Officers are involved with the union community. I'm proud as heck that I finally made officer, and I love looking at that lil' orange tag, but I'd like to think I got it because I AM an invovled person. Officers need to be there to stir up the troops, help the union grow, moderate, and otherwise do all those little things that keep a union alive.
4. CUT THE DEAD WOOD. Got an officer who hasn't posted in 6 months? If they aren't around online anywhere, put someone there that will do some good. Are you an officer in 20 different unions? If you have lost interest in any of them and the bloom is off the rose for you, resign.
5. Nothing going on but the Tell A Dirty Joke thread? Time to put it out of its misery. If there's only three people out of 100 who bother to post anymore, then good grief just start PM'ing each other and bury the poor thing!

Not that I expect a lot to happen out of this - It's more of my personal feelings than anything. I have enjoyed the heck out of some of these unions, and it's irksome that some people have a great idea but can't get it in gear (ah, the best-laid plans of mice and men...). Just bear in mind that if you want people to spend some time, make it worth their time.

                                          

Entertainment has lost yet another creator in the animation industry. Iwao Takamoto, creater of Scooby Doo, died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Monday.
Takamoto was responsible for the creation and character designs of some of the most popular animated creations including Astro from The Jetsons, Muttley, and, of course, Scooby Doo. He also did designs for Disney which included 101 Dalmations, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and Cinderella.
The animator was born in Los Angeles, of Japanese immigrant parents. At the time of his high school graduation, World War II broke out and the government sent those of Japanese descent to Manzanar, an interment camp in the middle of the desert. This included Takamoto and his family. It was here he began his study of animation with other inmates at the camp. Although he had little formal training, his skill was enough to land him an interview with Disney, and later, a job.
In 1961, Takamoto went to work at Hanna-Barbera where he worked on many classic shows such as The Great Grape Ape Show and Harlem Globetrotters. He also worked on the original animated feature, Charlotte's Web.

                            


Probably his greatest-known creation, Scooby-Doo, was created after he spoke with a breeder who raised Great Danes. While the Dane breeder spoke of the important points that breeders look for in an animal (straight legs and back, and a small chin), Takamoto envisioned a dog hero at the other end of the spectrum, giving his creation bowled legs, the wrong color, and a hunched back. The name "Scooby-Doo", he said, came from the last song in Strangers In The Night, sung by Frank Sinatra.
Iwao Takamoto is survived by his wife, Barbara; his son, Michael; and his stepdaughter, Leslie. He was 81 at the time of his passing.

Had an overjoyed 20 minutes, found out Blue Man Group was coming to NC in March.  Promptly went home, hit the website...and found the cheapest seating is $168.00, so that's over $300 for the hubby and me....that is so wrong...maybe I'll get my tax money back in time..:cry:

Just saw on the news that a Duke University student is suing the school.  He says he was given a failing grade by an instructor because he was a lacrosse player (he wasn't involved in the rape incident).  Poor old North Carolina....2006 gave us rapists at Duke University, then my hometown gets major publicity because a local woman rips off a guy's privates (try Googling "malicious castration", like there's any other type...). Seems like whenever we're dealing with customers at work, that's all they want to ask us about - all we can do is "yeah, we got a lot of sick people here..."  You can't even tell them to shut up already because the boss gets kind of irate if you swear at people who are responsible for 20% of the company's income.  It's enough to make me want to move somewhere like West Virginia...oh, wait...(sorry, Chuck, wherever you are...):oops: