Outside Reviewed
May well be the best game review I've ever read. Too bad it's only a post in a longer thread.
Thanks to Kira for knowing how much her dad would enjoy it.
May well be the best game review I've ever read. Too bad it's only a post in a longer thread.
Thanks to Kira for knowing how much her dad would enjoy it.
World of Warcraft and one of my favorite songs, all in one YouTube video?
Yes, it's pop, but who could hate a song with the lines:
Code Monkey get up, get coffee
Code Monkey go to job.
Code Monkey have boring meeting with boring manager, Rob.
Rob say Code Monkey very diligent, but his output stink.
His code not functional or elegant, what do Code Monkey think?
Code Monkey think maybe manager want to write goddamn login page himself
Code Monkey not saying outloud.
Code Monkey not crazy, just proud.
All available, by the way, under a Creative Commons license. Coincidence? I think not.
Thanks to m for finding it.
I know there are some gamers who read this blog. Even if you're not a self-identified gamer, you might consider trying the leisurely pace of this text-, and browser-based game, Legend of the Green Dragon.
I've been playing this game for almost two years now, and it's deceptively simple. There's depth here, and quite a bit of fun, if you take the time to explore the various classes and the towns. The charge you'll experience when you hit the high levels and kill the Green Dragon for the first time is quite invigorating.
The server this game's on is run by my good friend, Paleck. The game's totally free, totally fun, and it's a low population server, which means that you'd have a chance at creating a character that's prominent in the game universe.
if
The quantity of blogging a writer does = b
and the amount of MMORPG gaming that same writer does = m
Then the following axiom is true:
b = 1/m
In other words, the amount of blogging performed by a given writer is inversely proportional to the amount of gaming engaged in by said writer.
quod erat demonstrandum
There's a fascinating read in Salon about Turbine's decision to remove marriage altogether from the newly released Lord of the Rings Online because they couldn't tackle the issue of gay relationships.
Turbine claims that the decision has a lot to do with the desire for authenticity, i.e., staying true to the source material. However, as any Melville scholar can attest, claiming that Tolkien doesn't explicitly allow gay characters in the trilogy doesn't get them off the hook. I've read the books (and, of course, seen the movies), and there are--at a minimum--elements of the homosocial in both. Could anyone over the age of consent not at least consider the possibilty that Sam and Frodo's compelling, tender, and heroic love for one another is homoerotic?
I found it interesting to discover that gay marriages have been in computer games since Fallout 2 in 1998.
Kudos to game designers like Timothy Cain with Interplay who insist on letting players decide what kinds of relationships they build online. In-game marriages are a commonplace. The article quotes noted gaming researcher Nick Yee, who points out that 23% of EverQuest players role-played falling in love in the game. Notwithstanding Turbine's desire to remain true to the source material, MMORPGs are rife with sexual role playing (and homophobic players). A game without restrictions that defaults to letting players decide for themselves seems like the best policy.
I don't think I could have articulated it any better. The poor execution of some of these issues in my WoW guild is largely responsible for my leaving the game (not that that was a bad thing in the long run). I was no doubt partially responsible for some of the communication difficulties in our guild as we shifted from high-end to end-game content. Yet, there's a lesson here: be careful who your guildmates are....
Peridyd
A humorous example of unintended consequences.
Though we'll see how funny I think it is when I get my Wii and have spent 10 hours in simulated auto racing in one day.
Thanks to Paleck for finding this.
An interesting commercial out of China:
For the few of you who don't recognize it, this is a cooperative venture between Coca Cola and Blizzard Entertainment, of World of Warcraft fame. The commercial is intriguing for me on several levels.
First, let's take a look at what happens in the 30 second spot.
Three young women who are watching a WoW video with a large Orc in it are told by a music producer (which I'm basing on the fact that his office is decorated on all sides by gold records) that sexy sells. As he's telling them this--beginning with his calling them girls--he holds up an image of a Western, white woman and asks them if they get his drift. They firmly tell him no; he takes offense and says, "what do you mean, no?" and in the process is transformed into the Orc warrior the women were watching earlier. The young women don't back down and firmly respond "no means no" as they too are transformed into WoW characters, a Night Elf hunter (notice the ears and the bow), a human mage, and a human warrior. Sorry. I've played this game a lot.
The producer appears to be a formidable enemy, though he never scores a hit against any of the three women. These agile avatars, meanwhile, pwn this poor guy, and he goes down, leaving some phat loot to the players (a chest full of ice-cold Coke) in the process. Flash back to reality, where the women are drinking their Cokes and the producer now stands nearly naked himself and reaching to cover his genitals, clearly emasculated. Score one for the young women, right?
On the surface, this appears to be a feminist, anti-capitalist narrative. And in some respects, perhaps, it is. I'm certainly no expert on China or Chinese culture, so I won't pretend to be. Indeed, this commercial was in many respects a revelation for me. Yet, I do know something about feminism, and something about the game of WoW as well--enough, certainly, to feel that there's something disingenuous about this feminist narrative.
First, there's the issue of the Night Elf hunter. As anyone who's ever played the game can tell you, there's nothing more sexualized in WoW than female Night Elves. I'll leave you the task of finding a video of Night Elf females dancing, but suffice it to say that their moves would threaten the livelihoods of the best strip club pole dancers out there. Second, speaking of costumes, look at the way the women are dressed. Only the mage is dressed in a fashion that's remotely modest. Indeed the warrior seems to be absent any decent armor whatsoever. Watch how the camera follows them, which parts it focuses on as the action progresses. Finally, focus on that tableau at the end of the animation which then segues back into the real conference room/office. How are the women dressed? How real is their triumph, really, if it is meant to be a rebellion against his attempts at sexualizing them?
All of which leaves aside, doesn't it, the whole notion that it's Coke they receive as the boon for their valiant efforts. Again, the multinational appears to liberate us while really intending to put us back in our place, purchasing their products and, hopefully, seeing that as an appropriate and just reward for our labors. Maybe, just maybe, there's an unintended moral to this narrative. Isn't it the case, after all that, despite all of our heroic struggles, the rewards that we reap in support of governments and mainstream culture are meager and completely out of proportion to effort we put into gaining them? As consumer culture marches further and further across the globe, into places (like China) where I would have never expected to see it a mere generation ago, it's good to be reminded of the essential emptiness of the pursuit. You'd just better hope that it pays you a living wage.
In the final analysis, the rewards must be intrinsic. The extrinsic ones are just far too meager.
Food for thought.
Peri