Friday, June 28, 2019
Ghosts of Mistmoor
1369 DR
Eleint 3
North West of Tilverton
Late Evening.
After a long day of searching through only parts of the Manor House the adventurers fortify themselves in one of the bedrooms to sleep and tend to their wounds.
Visions of a gigantic raven following the dreamer plagues all of them.
And just after midnight, there is a scream coming from the hallway outside the door it snaps all of them from their restless sleep.
The group debates checking on it and Zimmerman finals it then opens the door and heads out. Her toe kicks something across the floor slides towards the railing of the balcony. Turick scoops it up and says “It’s that berry shite again.”
Light from under the Library Door draws the parties attention they head, cautiously down the hallway. Padgett complains about her bedroll going cold trying to hide her fear of the dark, being the only person that cannot see in low light.
Ayrid opens the door to the library cautiously. A lone candle stands on a table with a note in it’s flickering light. Turrik reads it, finding it to be a thank you from the spirit of Reveri for helping to loosen the curse on her.
“Thank you for destroying the bookworm and laying my aunt spirit to rest.”
Turrik writes a response in his blocky dwarven script “Is there a curse on this place?”
After waiting for a response that never came the group heads back to bed.
The rest of the night passes without much more incident. However the dreams continue. In the dream a teen girl with a raven on her shoulder and a bloody dagger in her hand. The dreamers see the house from her perspective and they wake tired as though they where the ones that were wondering the hallways of the mansion.
They check their gear and Zimmermans examines and tends to everyones wounds.
Ayrid heads back to the library to see if the note had a response.
“I can help. Meet me on the tower roof an hour after midnight.”
Morning light filters through dirty window pains and tattered curtain. After shaking the sleep away and get their bearings the adventurers quickly recheck the rooms they’ve already visited before continuing their investigation. They head back to the study and take the hidden starewell down to the first floor and pickup their more systematic search.
The first door they open leads them into the ballroom they had stumbled on the night before. Just off the ballroom is the Foye’. Empty save for an old tapestry of a Paladin of Lathander and footsteps in the largely undistubed dust on the floor. In a closet they find ancient cloaks and coats that seem to still be waiting for the wearers to head back into the world.
A small Iron bound door draws their attention and the only other exit leading back into the trophy room light by the morning sun that flooded through it’s sky lights.
White Pegasus on a Blue Field “Mistmoor Coat of Arms.
From there they begin checking the rest of the rooms on the first floor. Down a long hallway that carries them to a series of doors. The first one they open leads them into and aged Kitchen. Though it seems the Kitchen it’s self hasn’t been properly cleaned in years it does show signs of recent habitation. Fresh food stuffs and a pot of jam seemingly days cold from the crusting on the aged iron.
A door off the back of the kitchen reveals downward leading stairs. Ayrid peaks out another door that leads back outside. Only the morning bird song looks back.
They follow an narrow alocoved hallway tucked into the corner of the kichen to what appears to be servents quarters. Just past the quarters the end of the hall and it opens into the Tower.
They follow the parallel halway out of it back the towards the kitchens and find barracks capable of comfortably housing about twenty men at arms a smaller room just off of the barracks shows the armory.
The first floor nearly cleared they decide to poke their heads down the stairs from the kitchen before heading back to the otherside of the Manor.
They find themsleves in a wine celler, the distant sound of running water meets Ayrids elven ears, he points this out to the rest of the group. Two sets of the stairs lead deeper into the earth. One leading into what looks like a hallway the other into and darkened open room that seems to be where the water is coming from.
They look into the room with the sounds of water. It appears to be a cold storage room. Shelves line the walls and a pool of freezing cold water runs through one corner of the room.
The passage of the stream looks like it would fit a halfling inside. Turrik jumps into the water and looks down the tunnels. He reports that the stream is swift but not pulling him along, Zimmerman lights up the dwarfs helmet so that he can swim a little ways down the passage to check for openings.
Up stream the passage narrows into a sharp turn a little over forty feet from the pool. He pushes his way around the corner to find another sharp turn. His armor grinding against the passages walls Turrik heads back to the pool and tells the group what he founds. From there he heads downstream. About fifty or so feet down the passage it begins to narrow down into a smaller and smaller passage.
He returns to the party and begins taking his armor off so that he can make his way further upstream and investigate the switchback.
He wiggles his way through the swithback to discover a chamber with a bridge passing a bare five feet above the water. The sides of the stream and splashing of the current make the walls of the stream impossible to scale without assistance. He examines the water closer, following the water smoothed stone. He discovers and limed over corpse with a dagger pinning into to the stone. Near the skeleton Turrik finds hand holds to haul himself out with. He dislodges the dagger from the stone corps and pulls himself out of the freezing water to discover a tomb in a carved cave. Three bodies lie desecrated. The Dwarf does his best to right the mausoleum and offers his respects to the souls.
The Dwarf looks at the stairs leading up on the otherside of the bridge but decides to head back up stream. He stops, turns back, and starts moving the child sized corpse from the stream.
As soon as Turrik touches the body and spectral raven flies out of the wall, through the dwarf, and back out to the otherside of the room.
He puts the bones of the corpse on the dry land and quickly makes his way back through the underwater passage to let the group know what he’s found.
The Party decides to backtrack and check more of the house before heading out to the grounds to try and find the tombs entrance. They check the Hallway off of the wine celler.
They open the door to find a Black Dragons treasure chamber...after a moment of fear the party notices that the dragon is stuffed and Regines spirit sits in a thrown below the Dragons rearing head. She looks up annoyed and says to the party “Go away, I’m doing things.” Zimmerman detects some traces of evil in the spirit but sees that it is actually eminating from the Raven spirit.
The stuffed dagon begins to move as the essence of the girl and raven fade from sight.
Padget tells the group to stand back and moves forward and drives her spear, it’s steel tip blazing to life with magical flames as she plunges it into the hide of the now animate Dragon. The Dragon, the spark of life no where in it’s eyes gives no sign that it was struck as the flesh beneith it’s scales gives off the scent of long rotte dand burning flesh. Turrik muscles his way into the fray next to Padgett as Ayrid lets looses a pair of wicked arrows. The shaft glances harmlessly off of the tick dragon scales. The crature, moving with the stiffness of the dead, snaps at Padgett and she stays just out of reach of the gnashing, rotting, teeth.
Padgett yells out “I get to keep the corpse.” as she plunges her spear back into the dragon. Turrik swings ghostwacker at the corpse but cannot get inside the creatures beating wings. Ayrid launches another pair of arrows at the rearing creature, this time, striking home in mouth opening in a hiss. Not acknowleding any of the strikes the jaws snap down on padget, teeth slicing flesh but not grabbing hold.
Zimmerman calls on Lothander to drive the beast away but in the darkness of the cave the power is not strong enough. Ayrid launches another volly of arrows into the soft interior of it’s mouth. One shaft sinks deep into the roof of the creatures mouth and it falls with a splash of coins into the piles of treasure.
The dwarf, clapping the celebrating elf on the shoulder. The sparkle of the treasure draws his attention. Suspicioiusly he picks up a handful of gems and coins. It all turns out to be fakes and copper. The treasure and Dragon meant to be an art piece rather than an actual horde.
“What is this tripe, it’s all cheap knock offs and glass.”
Ayrid, poking disapointedly through the “treasure” he discovers a hidden door hidden in the back of the wall. Listening carefully he examines the well concealed portal for any traps or hidden glyphs. Determining that it’s mostly harmless he opens it with an rusty creek.
It reveals a hallway leading to an iron bound wooden door. The Elf makes his way cautiously down the hall towards it and examines it with his delicate fingers. He opens it slowly to reveal a room with supplies scavanged from the rrest of the house. A young man is sleeping in one of the plethora of cells that the room houses.
Casting eyes over the hodge podge of furnishings they party can easily tell that there are at least two people living her outside of the cells. A ladder on the wall between two f the cells leads goes up into the ceiling.
Zimmerman studies the sleeping figure. He’s dressed as a woodsman, younger. Zimmerman grabs a set of keys from the wall and bangs them agains the cell bars.
The man starts awake thinking the group is his captors. Shaking away the sleep in his eyes he sees that the group is not his captors.
He claims his name is Joshua and he is employ of Lord Blain. He had been searching the house and in one of it’s privys and he doesn’t remember much between then and now aside from being visited by his captors. His captors have been treating him well but they’re obviously keeping him from reporting their presence.
Zimmerman unlocks the cell.
Joshua offers his help and the group starts going through the pilaged supplies and weapons to outfit the young man and re claim any treasures. After rummaging Turrik throws a fur cloak over his shoulders.
Zimmerman pulls hout a skull that they had found in the counts room and a scroll. After making some small preperations and saying prayers over the items the parchment glows. The glow rises and engulfs the skull.
The teeth of the skull chatters “Who summons me?
Zimmerman responds and demands the same of the spirit. The lord of the Manor speaks..
He tells them of the vault hidden in his room...that it is trapped...they already found the trap.Padget says, well then why don’t we take him up and have him help us unlock the vault.
Zimmerman scoops up the skull and they head to the lords room. They arrive in the room “How do we open the vault?”Zimmerman asks.
“The command word is Medussa”
At the utterance of the word the mirror begins to shimmer.
“To exit the command room is Persisus”
Zimmerman says a prayer to ward the room. The spirit of a Wyvern appears, bows to the young cleric, and then fades from vision.
The Party moves into the mirror.
the room on the otherside they find an absolute mountain of treasure. The room ringed by suits of Armor. In the shadows of the room figures begin to move. Skeletons materizlize from every shadow, the shadows continue to writh with movment. A six foot tall figure with blazing eyes aproaches them.
Zimmerman calls on Lothanders light and it’s blaze bursts forth from the rising sun on her shield and 10 of the approaching skeletons blast into dust.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
I saw Godzilla!
How do you human?
I do not understand this human thing that people do.
Worst of all.
The goddamn ringing in the ears.
It’s no excuse.
But poof, the words are gone all the same.
This is the part where I clear the my throat after uttering something unintelligible at a party and then dive into a conversation that I have no idea where it’s at, quietly slip away, or sit quietly trying to look distracted while I try to catch back up with where things are at.
Such is the life of living with Tinnitus. Whoa is me I know, but I’ll get to what that has to do with watching Godzilla and intelligent infrastructure in a moment.
Alright, so, for those of you that haven’t already googled Tinnitus or possibly already know what it is.
For the Former I say; try it for a day and then get back to me. For the Later I say; ...yup.
Tinnitus is a constant ringing in the ears that can be a different tone or pitch for different people. But in the quiet it’s there...always….there.
Cool?
We’ll come back to that.
So I went and saw Godzilla : King of Monsters tonight.
Let me start with this.
If you are going for the Kaiju fights...oh man….you are in for a damned treat. Hands down the King of Monsters has returned.
If you are going for a good coherent story. That is there.
If you are going to see likable characters react to cool giant monster fights, that’s in there.
If you’re going to see heartfelt moments….well...you know there’s some of that.
Clever science jargon? Check.
Recognizable and beloved character actors. Check.
High Brow award winning actors.
Check, check, and check.
But gorram it.
There was too much of White Hero Dad. And I’m sorry, the gent they got is a great actor, but hot damned was he used as the wrong damned character.
Alright….so let me break down the central Cast of characters for you real quick, gripe about the movie, make up my own movie using the existing assets, and then give you the spoilers and deep cuts.
The Cast.
There was too much of White Hero Dad. And I’m sorry, the gent they got is a great actor, but hot damned was he used as the wrong damned character.
Alright….so let me break down the central Cast of characters for you real quick, gripe about the movie, make up my own movie using the existing assets, and then give you the spoilers and deep cuts.
The Cast.
White Heroe Dad - The “Main Character” that the audience follows through these events. The Tinittus of this movie.
Doctor Mom - The Monster Expert lady who has a child
Famous Child Actor - “We have a part for a child in the cast.” “Boy or Girl?” “Doesn’t matter, whoever we find the other sibling dies off.” “I’ll see who we can get.”
The Scientist People-
Head Scientist Guy
Thoughtful Scientist Lady
Emotional Scientist Lady
Funny Scientist Guy
Weasley Scientist Guy
The Army People-
Head Army Lady
Army Guy
Other Army Guy
Army Lady
The Bad Guy
The Bad Guys Army
Alright. so there’s the Cast...mostly.
My Gripes?
The Casting was top notch. The actors where committed. And honestly the Army People where actually memroable and acted, within the confines of this script, logically enough that I walked away thinking I could have watched those people the whole movie.
The Scientists, again, great actors but the characters that where written ishly, were given so little to work with outside of providing the exposition that pertained to their “specialty?” but each where central enough to the plot that they all had “character arcs?”
Doctor Mom - The Monster Expert lady who has a child
Famous Child Actor - “We have a part for a child in the cast.” “Boy or Girl?” “Doesn’t matter, whoever we find the other sibling dies off.” “I’ll see who we can get.”
The Scientist People-
Head Scientist Guy
Thoughtful Scientist Lady
Emotional Scientist Lady
Funny Scientist Guy
Weasley Scientist Guy
The Army People-
Head Army Lady
Army Guy
Other Army Guy
Army Lady
The Bad Guy
The Bad Guys Army
Alright. so there’s the Cast...mostly.
My Gripes?
The Casting was top notch. The actors where committed. And honestly the Army People where actually memroable and acted, within the confines of this script, logically enough that I walked away thinking I could have watched those people the whole movie.
The Scientists, again, great actors but the characters that where written ishly, were given so little to work with outside of providing the exposition that pertained to their “specialty?” but each where central enough to the plot that they all had “character arcs?”
The Bad Guy was suitibly typcast and used rather surgically. A surprisingly brilliant stroke in the script….so not a gripe I guess.
Huh.
Head Army Lady was well used...if you didn’t have Hero Dad…..alright...I’ll get to him in a minute. I’m working our way back up the list.
Famous Child Actor was, oh man…the acting was believable but they never full on established her as a character beyond that she’s Hero dad and Doctor Mom’s kid. Yeah, brevity in back story is essential for movies that are giant monster movies. But Give me some reason to believe why Child Actor suddenly knows how to use all of this classified tech stuff and army gear? I know mom wants her to be a survivalist and all but….holy shit….I was just thinking about it and they do, slapdashidly scattered throughout the dialogue establish why Child Actor has these skills.
I’m trying to be a negative nancy here, stop filling plot holes silly movie.
Doctor Mom was….well….actually her motivations where clear and logicalish. She wants to protect her child. Pretty simple.
…..
……
This Mother Fucker.
White Hero Dad.
Alright, for starters.
He is the most unnecessary character in this entire film.
Every action he commits...yeah, that’s right commits, because there’s not a whole lot of logical explanation for this guy to be involved outside of the first thirty minutes of the movie or maybe to act as the bumbling dummy that the Army guys have to keep alive.
But his entire story arc is...I shit you not.
“I hate them, kill them all. Do what I say Army People.”
And They Do
“I love them, don’t kill them. Do what I say Army People.” And They Do
“Head Scientist Guy had and Idea. Do what I say Army People.” And They do
Again, the movie was a great monster movie, and I’ll get to the things that they did well here in a minute, but I really feel this needs addressed.
White Hero Dad literally do nothing but throw fits and make the army do other characters ideas.
RAGE….yeah the plot points, but this dude is given so much unnecessary screen time for things that if the well ensembled supporting cast had been better written could have hit most, if not all, of Hero Dad’s plot points.
And at not point in the movie could anyone argue that he’s even a good or likable dad…..AHHH TINITUS!!!!! RAGE!!!!
Breath.
Huh.
Head Army Lady was well used...if you didn’t have Hero Dad…..alright...I’ll get to him in a minute. I’m working our way back up the list.
Famous Child Actor was, oh man…the acting was believable but they never full on established her as a character beyond that she’s Hero dad and Doctor Mom’s kid. Yeah, brevity in back story is essential for movies that are giant monster movies. But Give me some reason to believe why Child Actor suddenly knows how to use all of this classified tech stuff and army gear? I know mom wants her to be a survivalist and all but….holy shit….I was just thinking about it and they do, slapdashidly scattered throughout the dialogue establish why Child Actor has these skills.
I’m trying to be a negative nancy here, stop filling plot holes silly movie.
Doctor Mom was….well….actually her motivations where clear and logicalish. She wants to protect her child. Pretty simple.
…..
……
This Mother Fucker.
White Hero Dad.
Alright, for starters.
He is the most unnecessary character in this entire film.
Every action he commits...yeah, that’s right commits, because there’s not a whole lot of logical explanation for this guy to be involved outside of the first thirty minutes of the movie or maybe to act as the bumbling dummy that the Army guys have to keep alive.
But his entire story arc is...I shit you not.
“I hate them, kill them all. Do what I say Army People.”
And They Do
“I love them, don’t kill them. Do what I say Army People.” And They Do
“Head Scientist Guy had and Idea. Do what I say Army People.” And They do
Again, the movie was a great monster movie, and I’ll get to the things that they did well here in a minute, but I really feel this needs addressed.
White Hero Dad literally do nothing but throw fits and make the army do other characters ideas.
RAGE….yeah the plot points, but this dude is given so much unnecessary screen time for things that if the well ensembled supporting cast had been better written could have hit most, if not all, of Hero Dad’s plot points.
And at not point in the movie could anyone argue that he’s even a good or likable dad…..AHHH TINITUS!!!!! RAGE!!!!
Breath.
Okay.
Last nitpicks without spoiling anything.
Don’t Look directly into the friggin explosions morons, if that had been real you would be blind.
What there are blasts of wind and things kicking up dust and debrie…..again...you can’t look into that stuff. Protect your damned eyes, get glasses, close them, put your hands over them, something. Not even army people where wearing them….and I Know you gotta be able to see actors...but again...don’t look into explosions...don’t look into clouds of flying debris. That is the directors fault right there. The actors where amazingly committed to this deliciously creamy blend of fondu but give them a little direction about how to react to the things that are supposed to be happening to them. if the director doesn’t catch it then the damned technical director had bettter. It’s their damned job after all….technically….technically every single one of your survivors is blind dude. They all looked into explosions or blasts of debris or both. Jeez.
Hero dad droning on...got it.
Underutilized but well ensembled supporting cast. yes.
okay...so the version of the movie I would have written.
Keep all of the major plot points in the same places. Have the army people be in charge of protecting Doctor Mom and Child Actor because plot. Head Doctor takes on role of Hero Dad, except that he is not Dad, he’s just Hero Scientist.
Hero Dad plays essentially same role but is squished in place of a science person early in the film. Doctor Mom helps Child Actor Cope, Child Actor Copes by being able survivalist.
Army people given the Dad’s “Rescue” Story arc because McGuffin. Child Actor deals with fathers death when rescued.
McGuffin!!!
Don’t touch the monster stuff, leave it as is. That was amazing.
The monsters have...personalities. They put enough character into each of these critters that I could have easily watched a movie of them and how they interacted with things and each other and understood, generally what their over all plot was. Because ho man. Lest not forget that all of them there gripes were on the human side of the story. The Monster side was simple, Monsters fight to be king monster. In this corner we have this monster, and in this corner we have this monster...and there they go. In comes the chair. Yeah! Oh look, we have a masked fighter entering the ring, oh no. Tag in buddy, Bang Boom...and...oh yeah…..
This is the part where I straighten my tie and talk about sensable things like infrastructure.
Which, I really felt like that wasn’t something that the movie really explored all that well. Sure they established that their were hidden military bunkers and things but if there was the catastrophic event involving a giant monster years previously...what would their evacuation places look like. I mean I will absolutely hand it to the amount of love that obvioustly went into the design and world asthetic of this movie. But the only thing that was said about the evacuations was that they happen and you’re shown some folks standing in line for transport. But where were they being taken. The evacuation points were all well organized and the world had had five years to develop bunkers and shelters and refugee sites for all of these people got to….I needs to see it. The infrastructure nerd in me needs to see where they go with it.
Last nitpicks without spoiling anything.
Don’t Look directly into the friggin explosions morons, if that had been real you would be blind.
What there are blasts of wind and things kicking up dust and debrie…..again...you can’t look into that stuff. Protect your damned eyes, get glasses, close them, put your hands over them, something. Not even army people where wearing them….and I Know you gotta be able to see actors...but again...don’t look into explosions...don’t look into clouds of flying debris. That is the directors fault right there. The actors where amazingly committed to this deliciously creamy blend of fondu but give them a little direction about how to react to the things that are supposed to be happening to them. if the director doesn’t catch it then the damned technical director had bettter. It’s their damned job after all….technically….technically every single one of your survivors is blind dude. They all looked into explosions or blasts of debris or both. Jeez.
Hero dad droning on...got it.
Underutilized but well ensembled supporting cast. yes.
okay...so the version of the movie I would have written.
Keep all of the major plot points in the same places. Have the army people be in charge of protecting Doctor Mom and Child Actor because plot. Head Doctor takes on role of Hero Dad, except that he is not Dad, he’s just Hero Scientist.
Hero Dad plays essentially same role but is squished in place of a science person early in the film. Doctor Mom helps Child Actor Cope, Child Actor Copes by being able survivalist.
Army people given the Dad’s “Rescue” Story arc because McGuffin. Child Actor deals with fathers death when rescued.
McGuffin!!!
Don’t touch the monster stuff, leave it as is. That was amazing.
The monsters have...personalities. They put enough character into each of these critters that I could have easily watched a movie of them and how they interacted with things and each other and understood, generally what their over all plot was. Because ho man. Lest not forget that all of them there gripes were on the human side of the story. The Monster side was simple, Monsters fight to be king monster. In this corner we have this monster, and in this corner we have this monster...and there they go. In comes the chair. Yeah! Oh look, we have a masked fighter entering the ring, oh no. Tag in buddy, Bang Boom...and...oh yeah…..
This is the part where I straighten my tie and talk about sensable things like infrastructure.
Which, I really felt like that wasn’t something that the movie really explored all that well. Sure they established that their were hidden military bunkers and things but if there was the catastrophic event involving a giant monster years previously...what would their evacuation places look like. I mean I will absolutely hand it to the amount of love that obvioustly went into the design and world asthetic of this movie. But the only thing that was said about the evacuations was that they happen and you’re shown some folks standing in line for transport. But where were they being taken. The evacuation points were all well organized and the world had had five years to develop bunkers and shelters and refugee sites for all of these people got to….I needs to see it. The infrastructure nerd in me needs to see where they go with it.
Saturday, December 9, 2017
The Modern Cost of Video Games
If you've paid even a little attention to video game news in the past few months, or even the past couple of years you will have no doubt heard about the cost of Micro-transactions and DLC's
For starters, the price. $100 is historically fair for a full game. $60 is the modern standard, but that is also the standard pricing for games who's primary play is offline, and does not require server maintenance. Someone has to pay to keep the servers up as well as pay the team who fixes all of the balance issues and things that keep the game playable and fair for both new and old players.
But as it stands right now there are two companies being barraged with community hate the most. One rightfully so and the other not so much, but before I get into defending evil corporations lets do a brief history of the cost of a video game and their prices adjusted for inflation. Side note: I'm focusing on Console Games because those are what is purchased and played by the majority of consumers.
The following prices are the at retail during the launch window of most first party games.
The following prices are the at retail during the launch window of most first party games.
Atari 2600 Cartridge
1980 - $25
2017 - $80
NES Cartridge
1990 - $50
2017 - $96.81
N64 Cartridge
1998 - $70
2017 - 106.85
Playstation 2 Disc
2005 - $50
2017 - $64.87
One important fact about all of these games is that they were made before the days of online gaming, dedicated game servers, and patches. Once a game was completed and released that was it. The publisher never touched it again unless they made a sequel or remaster.
The next thing to look at is MMO's World of Warcraft and Elder Scrolls Online two of the more successful and loved. They have monthly subscriptions, content locked behind paywalls, and micro-transactions. But unlike previous generations of console games MMOs require constant (usually weekly) server maintenance and patching to maintain game balance and software stability. Which requires staff and resources to do. People who need to be paid for their work and hardware that has to be maintained.
So, back to the console side of things.
During the previous generation of consoles, the 360 and PS3 systems, online gaming started to emerge. Most of the games, like their PC counterparts over a decade before them, had direct connections from system to system as their multiplayer functionality. The stability of a Multiplayer game being based on the hosting systems processing power and internet connection. Which, in some cases required a small post release patch to make sure the a particular game maintained stability over the internet. At this point both players, and companies, started to realize that direct system connections could not support large scale stable game play.
During the previous generation of consoles, the 360 and PS3 systems, online gaming started to emerge. Most of the games, like their PC counterparts over a decade before them, had direct connections from system to system as their multiplayer functionality. The stability of a Multiplayer game being based on the hosting systems processing power and internet connection. Which, in some cases required a small post release patch to make sure the a particular game maintained stability over the internet. At this point both players, and companies, started to realize that direct system connections could not support large scale stable game play.
Which brings us to modern day: the end of the 360/PS3 era into the current generation of console games, where games are becoming increasingly online and less off. And to maintain the staff, hardware, and servers to keep these games playable, console games are starting to see micro-transactions, subscriptions, and paid DLC for games.
All of what I stated above brings me to the press surrounding two modern games and their respective companies.
Destiny 2
All of what I stated above brings me to the press surrounding two modern games and their respective companies.
Destiny 2
and
Star Wars Battlefront 2.
If you look at gaming from a historic perspective $60 at retail for these games is relatively inexpensive. If they were stand alone games that did not require servers, updates, and patching it would be more than enough money. The $100 that Destiny asked for it's basic game plus it's 2 DLC's over the next few months, historically, is what the actual retail price of a full game should be if pricing trends had followed inflation.
How Star Wars Battlefront is Doing it Wrong.
Star Wars Battlefront 2.
If you look at gaming from a historic perspective $60 at retail for these games is relatively inexpensive. If they were stand alone games that did not require servers, updates, and patching it would be more than enough money. The $100 that Destiny asked for it's basic game plus it's 2 DLC's over the next few months, historically, is what the actual retail price of a full game should be if pricing trends had followed inflation.
How Star Wars Battlefront is Doing it Wrong.
The rage directed towards EA in the case of Battlefront is justified. They released an online game that is meant to be competitive. However, the balance and competitive edge has to be purchased. Which even though pay-to-win micro-transactions pay the bills and keeps the servers up an running it makes the game much less fun for those who do not have the money or the time to sink into unlocking the items or characters to be able play fairly against those that do.
How Destiny 2 is doing it right.
How Destiny 2 is doing it right.
For starters, the price. $100 is historically fair for a full game. $60 is the modern standard, but that is also the standard pricing for games who's primary play is offline, and does not require server maintenance. Someone has to pay to keep the servers up as well as pay the team who fixes all of the balance issues and things that keep the game playable and fair for both new and old players.
When looking at the micro-transaction purchasable items in Destiney: they are cosmetic. They do not effect game balance. A fresh starting player can still compete with a weathered veteran if they have similar skill levels.
I'll admit that it's kind of crappy for certain game modes to be locked behind DLC as it drops. But, on the flip side an extra $20 to $40 to keep the servers up and keep access to all of the game content is a small price to pay compared to the average of $15 a month most MMO players pay just to have access to their game vanilla or not.
TL:DR Welcome to the real world of continuous online gaming. It's expensive.
TL:DR Welcome to the real world of continuous online gaming. It's expensive.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Bees in the Belfry (part 1)
The silhouette of a long forgotten tower juts up from the flattened plain. The ground so cracked only the hardiest of plants cling desperately to the fissures in the landscapes surface as the blazing sun inches it’s way to the horizon. The light of the dipping did show that that the tower was a solid silhouette at least and the crumbled walls at it’s base offered shelter from the cold winds that the promise of night held.
As the sun dipped below the horizon and the soft hues of dusk began dominating the skyline Evie in the driver's seat watches for Arenel and Rin's guidance as she cautiously maneuvers the horses and cart into the sheltering walls of what appeared to be an old entryway that lay in the shadow of the tower.
As the sun dipped below the horizon and the soft hues of dusk began dominating the skyline Evie in the driver's seat watches for Arenel and Rin's guidance as she cautiously maneuvers the horses and cart into the sheltering walls of what appeared to be an old entryway that lay in the shadow of the tower.
Being closer to the tower now and not having the blaze of the setting sun in his eyes Rock notes that the tower is not nearly so solid as it appeared from the distance. Parts of the walls chunked out and missing make the gnome fear for it’s stability if the night winds decided to gust. In one part cautiousness and three parts curiosity he decides to investigate the tower closer and with a prayer to Selune lifts silently from the ground and glides towards the rickety structure.
As the small cleric approaches the winds of the plains carry to him a soft buzzing. The hairs on the back of his neck stand of their own accord as he slows his approach and stops dead just beyond the towers walls.
Then he sees it.
Just inside a man sized opening. A mass of honeycomb being crawled on by black and yellow bodies. One of the black and yellow creatures peels away from the rest and begins an angry buzz in Rocks direction. The little fellow turns, to late to avoid detection, and shoots like an arrow back towards the rest of the group...
Then he sees it.
LFG
Trying to find the motivation to write more stories. Something new, something original.
Ha.
Most of the story ideas that have been banging around in my head have all been based on old Dungeons and Dragons games. Which...that just doesn't work for me. I didn't take enough notes back then. And if I'm going to be writing any stories the way that I was I need someone else running the game so that I can focus on note taking.
As a DM, note taking of the events doesn't work very well because I'm too busy running the game. Trying to keep events and actions flowing and keeping the players interested and engaged. Also, as a DM, trying to write out to many details in advance pigeonholes the players and leaves them little to no choice in their actions. So I need to find a DM that will let me sit with my computer out and up so that I can tap tap away as events take place. I might even have to forgo playing.
But then again it brings me back to the concept of new and original. Or telling my story.
And that's what I'm trying to find again. Not a wife.
I have one of those, and after a few years of writing out stories from our various role playing adventures we ran into the same problem. Lopsided, mostly, romance stories that either left the other players or the GM butthurt that we were writing as much and the story would get altered or the other characters left out.
And we do write the romance angle quite a bit, I mean...well we're both hopeless in that regard. Or I am and I steer the writing that way.
Oh yeah,
Letting characters fall out of a narrative isn't done because a character is more or less interesting than any other. It comes from trying to keep the narrative moving at a good clip and sometimes you have to focus on a smaller group.
In film it's easier to do ensemble stories because you can have everyone on screen doing their own thing in the same shot. Where as from a writing stand point, for reading word format you have to tell the story from one or another characters perspective or get bogged down in the details of each characters motivation etc. is. Why do you think that group stories always turn into sweeping epics? Look at any series of books. You get so much mileage out of the same story because the author is telling it from several different perspectives simultaneously.
Ha.
Most of the story ideas that have been banging around in my head have all been based on old Dungeons and Dragons games. Which...that just doesn't work for me. I didn't take enough notes back then. And if I'm going to be writing any stories the way that I was I need someone else running the game so that I can focus on note taking.
As a DM, note taking of the events doesn't work very well because I'm too busy running the game. Trying to keep events and actions flowing and keeping the players interested and engaged. Also, as a DM, trying to write out to many details in advance pigeonholes the players and leaves them little to no choice in their actions. So I need to find a DM that will let me sit with my computer out and up so that I can tap tap away as events take place. I might even have to forgo playing.
But then again it brings me back to the concept of new and original. Or telling my story.
What ever the hell that is.
Na, just playing in a game isn't going to work if I'm going to tell a story that interests me. I'll need to co-dm a game. Let the other DM either run the bulk of the game while I take notes or the other way around.
(wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more)
(wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more)
But then again I'll need to find someone that is willing to put that sort of time and effort into creating a story. Players that are willing to let me take their characters and give them voice beyond the table.
That's the hard part.
I've brought such an idea, writing out the adventures of the game using notes from, in the past. More often than not the players are keen on the idea but throw in the caveat "I want to write my own character." Which is great in theory, but no one ever picks up the ball and runs with it. And me being me, I respect that. The the story falls fallow and the ideas grow stale because the other players don't hold up their end of the story. In that, no story comes from their side of the table. So the finished thing ends up lopsided with only one or two of the NPC's dominating the action
Except this one time, with this one player...
Have you met my wife?
That's the hard part.
I've brought such an idea, writing out the adventures of the game using notes from, in the past. More often than not the players are keen on the idea but throw in the caveat "I want to write my own character." Which is great in theory, but no one ever picks up the ball and runs with it. And me being me, I respect that. The the story falls fallow and the ideas grow stale because the other players don't hold up their end of the story. In that, no story comes from their side of the table. So the finished thing ends up lopsided with only one or two of the NPC's dominating the action
Except this one time, with this one player...
Have you met my wife?
And that's what I'm trying to find again. Not a wife.
I have one of those, and after a few years of writing out stories from our various role playing adventures we ran into the same problem. Lopsided, mostly, romance stories that either left the other players or the GM butthurt that we were writing as much and the story would get altered or the other characters left out.
And we do write the romance angle quite a bit, I mean...well we're both hopeless in that regard. Or I am and I steer the writing that way.
I'm not really sure which but there are mountains of fluffy, directionless romance, in both of our respective writing piles because of it.
Point is, I either need to find a group of people that want to write with me, or a group of people that will let me take the characters and story and craft it in my own words without the butt hurtness of having a character fall to the wayside in the narrative. Because...
Also, side note: finding a place to live where my neighbors don't have dogs that bark insistently just outside the window. Nothing blows your train of thought like a little yipper going to town just a few feet from where you're writing.
Where was I?...something about butt hurt players and yippie dogs....no...that's not right
Oh yeah,
Letting characters fall out of a narrative isn't done because a character is more or less interesting than any other. It comes from trying to keep the narrative moving at a good clip and sometimes you have to focus on a smaller group.
In film it's easier to do ensemble stories because you can have everyone on screen doing their own thing in the same shot. Where as from a writing stand point, for reading word format you have to tell the story from one or another characters perspective or get bogged down in the details of each characters motivation etc. is. Why do you think that group stories always turn into sweeping epics? Look at any series of books. You get so much mileage out of the same story because the author is telling it from several different perspectives simultaneously.
Ack, but I digress.
Long and short of it is that if ti is going to be an ensemble writing piece everyone has to contribute in the writing department or their character gets left out of the story or side lined. And if my wife and I are left to our own devices and only have our characters to work with it devolves, very quickly, into mushy romantic stuff.
Long and short of it is that if ti is going to be an ensemble writing piece everyone has to contribute in the writing department or their character gets left out of the story or side lined. And if my wife and I are left to our own devices and only have our characters to work with it devolves, very quickly, into mushy romantic stuff.
Write what you know I guess.
Now, I'm going to go back to editing notes from some recent games I played in...and probably piss a few players off for not treating their characters the way that they would.
But maybe, just maybe, one day I'll be able to publish something without fear of retribution from old players thinking they didn't get a fair shake, or that they own the character even if they never wrote the character. *sigh* or I'll just have to come up with a whole new story.
But for now, editing.
Now, I'm going to go back to editing notes from some recent games I played in...and probably piss a few players off for not treating their characters the way that they would.
But maybe, just maybe, one day I'll be able to publish something without fear of retribution from old players thinking they didn't get a fair shake, or that they own the character even if they never wrote the character. *sigh* or I'll just have to come up with a whole new story.
But for now, editing.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Prep Work
It's zero hour before this weeks D&D game and wouldn't you know it; I'm pacing back and forth again.
I can't help but be excited. This is the fourth run I've taken at playing through this campaign I'm running this evening. And this time the players are half way through and seem as though they're going to work their way through the whole of it.
The first time I ran this adventure the players decided to go a completely different rout and gave up on it half way through to explore character hooks. At the time this didn't really bother me all that much since I used to abhor canned adventures. Preferring the fluid nature of character driven story lines and random encounters to rule the day. And now, since I no longer spend nearly twenty hours of prep time on my adventures the way that I did when I was a little younger, having a steady through line of adventure and pre-made dungeons to explore along with my players has become a little more my speed.
The second time I ran this adventure path was for a Library group that I was DMing as part of a summer reading program. This is rewarding in a way that other games are not, but also somewhat frustrating. When doing the whole "paid GM" thing you only have a small window of opportunity to get adventuring done. Since most of the time these players have either never played outside of that instance or have little motivation to explore the books and game info on their own game sessions can be slowed down considerably with rules explanations and getting the idea across that; No this is not quite like an MMO and that the actions that their characters can take are much more robust than most digital offerings have. Mostly because they're not limited by digital storage space and pre-planned responses. The other reason that this adventure was never completed during a library run is because the goal of the Library games is more an educational one. To teach the players how to play and run their own games while teaching the basic research skills necessary to play the game. This is doubly important since these games are meant to be geared towards middle to highschoolers in an effort to help them apply these same skills to non game projects. Which, so far, has worked. For the adventure it means barely scratching the surface in the handful of weeks the program takes place and constantly reintroducing a rotating crop of players.
The third time...well...technically this is a continuation of the third time.
I started it with a group of new players, taught them the basics of the game and then dove in head first into the adventure. They were making great headway and really enjoying the game. But as often happens with role playing groups; life happened. People moved, changed availability and the like.
So, now here I am with the remnants of two groups come together to pick up where the third group left off.
Last week we started by giving a brief introduction of "Last time on Dungeons and Dragons..." that detailed each of the characters journeys that led them to this point coupled with expositioning in the parts of the first half of the adventure some of them weren't there for. And after taking a small detour to chase down a monster bounty that almost killed some of their number, they jumped onto the investigation train "In Character" to set themselves on the path of adventure.
So here I am, waiting for the players to show up, going over my notes from the previous sessions, the notes for the coming session, and generally being a Nervous Nelly about and doing the "Did I do enough prep work" dance that always has me teed up before a game starts.
Which I think I did..hopefully. But, as always with these table top games. The pace is dictated a lot by where the players want to go and what they want to do and I'm simply here to provide the backdrop and the adventure paths for them to follow.
I can't help but be excited. This is the fourth run I've taken at playing through this campaign I'm running this evening. And this time the players are half way through and seem as though they're going to work their way through the whole of it.
The first time I ran this adventure the players decided to go a completely different rout and gave up on it half way through to explore character hooks. At the time this didn't really bother me all that much since I used to abhor canned adventures. Preferring the fluid nature of character driven story lines and random encounters to rule the day. And now, since I no longer spend nearly twenty hours of prep time on my adventures the way that I did when I was a little younger, having a steady through line of adventure and pre-made dungeons to explore along with my players has become a little more my speed.
The second time I ran this adventure path was for a Library group that I was DMing as part of a summer reading program. This is rewarding in a way that other games are not, but also somewhat frustrating. When doing the whole "paid GM" thing you only have a small window of opportunity to get adventuring done. Since most of the time these players have either never played outside of that instance or have little motivation to explore the books and game info on their own game sessions can be slowed down considerably with rules explanations and getting the idea across that; No this is not quite like an MMO and that the actions that their characters can take are much more robust than most digital offerings have. Mostly because they're not limited by digital storage space and pre-planned responses. The other reason that this adventure was never completed during a library run is because the goal of the Library games is more an educational one. To teach the players how to play and run their own games while teaching the basic research skills necessary to play the game. This is doubly important since these games are meant to be geared towards middle to highschoolers in an effort to help them apply these same skills to non game projects. Which, so far, has worked. For the adventure it means barely scratching the surface in the handful of weeks the program takes place and constantly reintroducing a rotating crop of players.
The third time...well...technically this is a continuation of the third time.
I started it with a group of new players, taught them the basics of the game and then dove in head first into the adventure. They were making great headway and really enjoying the game. But as often happens with role playing groups; life happened. People moved, changed availability and the like.
So, now here I am with the remnants of two groups come together to pick up where the third group left off.
Last week we started by giving a brief introduction of "Last time on Dungeons and Dragons..." that detailed each of the characters journeys that led them to this point coupled with expositioning in the parts of the first half of the adventure some of them weren't there for. And after taking a small detour to chase down a monster bounty that almost killed some of their number, they jumped onto the investigation train "In Character" to set themselves on the path of adventure.
So here I am, waiting for the players to show up, going over my notes from the previous sessions, the notes for the coming session, and generally being a Nervous Nelly about and doing the "Did I do enough prep work" dance that always has me teed up before a game starts.
Which I think I did..hopefully. But, as always with these table top games. The pace is dictated a lot by where the players want to go and what they want to do and I'm simply here to provide the backdrop and the adventure paths for them to follow.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
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