The Stepfather (1987)
The evil stepparent is a common trope in cinema. One can argue that is does perpetuate a negative stereotype but then Hollywood has never been quick to reflect social change or been overly concerned about its depiction of certain aspects of society. However, as a plot device this is money for old rope. So dovetailing a murderous stepfather into a slasher movie was a logical step in 1987 when the genre was booming. In many respects The Stepfather is an arbitrary, low budget movie, with all the associated hallmarks. Its cinematography is functional but no more so and it is shot on low grade film stock. Hence the colour palette is somewhat lurid. It is mainly a housebound production with standard suburban exterior shots. The score is a typical eighties synthesiser offering, that both under performs and dates the proceedings. Yet one thing stands out and makes The Stepfather better than what it deserves. The central performance by Terry O'Quinn is compelling and drives the movie forward.
Gas and Meat
Over the last few weeks, Bree has mentioned on the Massively OP Podcast how she’s been farming both gas and meat in Star Wars Galaxies (played via an emulator. No pedantry please). Co-host Justin has naturally ribbed her and raised the question as to whether this is a valid and more importantly, fun use of her time while gaming. This is some of the light-hearted banter that makes this particular show so enjoyable. But there’s an old adage that states “many a true word spoken in jest”. Most people who have played any MMO, even in the most casual fashion, have at some point found themselves farming specific commodities for crafting or sale. Or they may spend time repeating a task as a means of gaining experience points. Perhaps they’ve gone so far as to undertake some extensive project for something as arbitrary as a title or a reward that simply amuses them. The bottom line is at some point we have all done the “gas and meat” thing.
Thoughts on Work Part 2
In a previous post I wrote about my own personal employment history and the various ups and downs of my working life (so far). In this post I want to reflect upon the broader concept of work, because it has radically changed since I entered the job market in the late eighties. Contracts, job descriptions, the working environment and even the way in which we find work have evolved rapidly due to the internet and the advent of social media. Some of these changes have been good, but others I feel have been detrimental for job seekers. The job market is always subject to a lot of ebb and flow and depending on the state of the economy, it can either favour of the employer or employee. At present in the UK, it strikes me as being very much the former.
The Banana Splits Movie (2019)
I was very surprised when I first saw a trailer for The Banana Splits Movie. It is unusual for a big studio such as Warner Bros. to allow one of its intellectual properties to be “repurposed” in this way. However, a little research online has yielded a few interviews in trade magazines where the inference is that this movie is a test. Naturally the studio wouldn’t take such a risk with a more popular franchise like The Flintstones or Scooby Doo, so The Banana Splits were chosen instead to see if they could successfully crossover into another genre. And the horror genre lends itself to low budget productions that can quickly be made, marketed and yield a satisfactory return on investment. It will be interesting to see if this gamble pays off and whether we’ll see a sequel or another beloved children’s show turned into a blood-soaked comedy horror.
Quest Bestowal in MMOs
When playing a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, such as The Lord of the Rings Online, acquiring quests is a very straightforward process. Key locations such as towns, villages or anywhere with a stable are usually quest hubs. Non-playable characters denote that they have quest(s) available by having a glowing ring icon above their heads. It’s not subtle but you’d have to have a bag over your head to miss such an obvious clue. Most MMOs have some version of this bestowal system. A clearly visible means to show that an NPC or object is the starting point for a quest. It’s a rather unsophisticated system but it gets the job done. Hence it has been around for quite a while in the genre (silence, dissenting old school gamers, blathering on about how in the good old days, MMOs didn’t have quests).
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Fellow blogger and all round good guy Murf, posted an ode to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure today. It is clearly a movie that he enjoys (Go read his review). He references how due to this movie (along with others), as well as being a decent person in real life, that actor Keanu Reeves enjoys a great deal of goodwill from fans and pop culture cognoscenti. Which is a good thing for Mr Reeves, because goodwill often means that folk are prepared to overlook past transgressions and misdemeanours. And in cinematic terms, Keanu has had a few. The Day the Earth Stood Still is definitely one of them. Now I’ve questioned before the wisdom and merits of writing a predominantly negative film review and believe me my thoughts on The Day the Earth Stood Still are most definitely so. However, I think that something positive can still be gained from scrutinising this film. It can be held up as a textbook example of how not to remake a classic.
Classic Game Themes: Lords of the Fallen
Lords of the Fallen is an action role-playing game from 2014, played from a third-person perspective. It is broadly in the same idiom to Darksiders and Dark Souls with the emphasis on complex and challenging combat. And it is for that reason that I didn’t get on with this title when I bought it in a Steam sale a few years ago. I felt that the long, protracted fights were an impediment to the narrative, which I quite enjoyed. However, the game was designed this way to appeal to the combat focused gamer and “git gud” culture. But I think that it’s important to try different genres of games from time to time and to step occasionally out of your comfort zone. I would cite the Hand of Fate series as a positive example of this. Both of those titles are from a genre I wouldn’t usually consider and playing them turned out to be a very positive experience
Can LOTRO Modernise Any Further?
A while back Syp wrote a blog post over on his personal website Bio Break, in which he discussed how The Lord of the Rings Online had avoided the “complexity trap” he feels affects other MMORPGs over time. It’s a sentiment I broadly concur with. The 12-year-old game has now reached a point where it has a fixed set of systems. Developers Standing Stone Games continue to produce regular PVE content in the form of quests, instances and raids. But they haven’t added a major new component to the game since the introductions of Epic Battles. Instead they have refined and fine-tuned existing facets of the game. Consider the recent overhaul of the Virtue Trait system. The basic functionality remains but the way a player advances their chosen virtues has been streamlined and now provides more tangible benefits. Overall, LOTRO has settled into a comfortable niche. New content is forthcoming but is very much a case of “same meat, different gravy”.
Star Trek Online: The Problem with the Latest Roadmap
Game developers enjoy a “roadmap”, don’t they? I always get snippy about marketing speak as it’s an industry I have zero respect or tolerance for. Perhaps such a position is a cliché? But I digress. Cryptic recently released their latest roadmap for Star Trek Online, after their successful appearance at the Star Trek: Las Vegas convention. At first glance it promises a lot of content which is its purpose. But if you take a minute or two to digest the list of forthcoming material, it soon becomes clear that it is predominantly group Task Force Operations. Apart from one new story episode, Awakening, it is decidedly light on narrative material. Now Cryptic have constantly tinkered with the story arc of STO over the years and have also experimented with the format in which its presented. Hence terms such as “featured episode” have become ambiguous. But if you look beyond the semantics, there seems to have been fewer story driven missions being this year.
The Pleasure of Internet Questionnaires
Naithin over at Time to Loot has compiled a Blaugust related internet questionnaire. As I’ve made clear in the past, I have a weakness for these sorts of things and will happily indulge the most peculiar enquiries. I’m not really sure why I like to do questionnaires. Perhaps I feel at some level that even the crassest or vacuous of questions can yield a good or at least entertaining answer. Not that I’m saying that Naithin’s questions are any of those things. In fact I think they are quite engaging. The other thing about questionnaires is that I can make a really obscure and impenetrable pop culture reference about the band Sparks. So here are my responses to the all of them in full. An unedited stream of consciousness or load of bollocks, depending upon your perspective. I hope some of the other Blaugust participants also take part. It will be interesting to compare notes, so to speak.
Safe (2012)
During the eighties there was a clear league table of action movie stars. By the mid-nineties this system fell into decline and the Hollywood lacked any clearly defined exponents of the genre. A decade later, due to the success of Luc Besson’s Transporter films, Jason Statham became a bankable box office star in this field. When you look at Statham's early work in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels it is hard to envisage the "mockney geezer" as an international action star. Yet he has successfully stepped into the role and enjoys a large following. I enjoy his work as he has a likeable on-screen persona. My 88-year-old Mum likes him to because "he wears nice suits". The action genre seldom reaches such a diverse demographic.
Celebrating Difference
The great things about Blaugust Festival of Blogging is that it’s a truly international event. For me that a big part of its appeal. Because although English may well be the universal language of all participants, it is not necessarily their first language. Hence a great deal of a writer’s native culture can bleed though into their posts. Rather than advocating a homogeneous approach to writing in which an international standard is enforced, I much prefer people writing as it naturally occurs to them, in the same way I enjoy and regional accents. In the internet age, it’s easy to think that there exists a universal, international pop culture. At a very simple level that may be true. Gaming is a major pastime all over the world. But look beyond the obvious and you’ll find that all countries have their own cultural foibles and idiosyncrasies. And that is one of the reasons I love to read other people’s blogs because I get to share in these.
Phase IV (1974)
Every now and then, a mainstream film studio employs an artisan director to helm some sort of experimental or vanity project. The studio executives often have very little understanding of the film maker or their body of work, beyond that their artistically respected by their peers. Hence there is the corporate hope that the resulting production will be both critically acclaimed and financially successful. However, what all too often happens is that the said director goes off and indulges themselves, or simply does what they’re hired to do and delivers a finished picture that is beyond the intellectual horizons of the studio. Sphincter’s subsequently tighten among executives; the director is denied final cut and the film is taken a way and re-edited in the hope of rendering it more commercially viable. In the worse cases, a second director is brought onboard and new material shot in the hope of “saving” the picture. The net result is usually acrimony among all involved parties and a film that fails to make its money back at the box office.
Topics, Talking Points and Ideas for Blog Posts
According to the Blaugust schedule, its “Topic Brainstorming Week”. I shall interpret this literally and see if I can come up with some hints and tips about what to write about. Because at some point, all bloggers (and potentially other content creators) will sit down in their preferred environment, crack their knuckles and then remain with their hands poised over the keyboards, waiting for inspiration to strike like a thunderbolt. And sometimes nothing comes, or more to the point none of the ideas you come up with particularly inspire you. And therein in lies the reality of blogging. Not every post is a labour of love, a literary milestone or of social significance like the Gettysburg Address (feel free to insert an alternative regionally relevant stirring speech here. I prefer Henry V Act 3, Scene 1 myself). Sometimes, you have to pick something straight forward to write about and produce three or so paragraphs of adequate material. It may not be Shakespeare but it doesn’t have to be “filler” either.
Stout-Axe Dwarves and Race Changes Coming to LOTRO
Some interesting news came out of Gen Con 2019, where Standing Stone Games recently held their Dungeons & Dragons Online/The Lord of the Rings Online “meet up”. According to Draculetta who attended the social event, Severlin AKA Rob Ciccolini, Lead Producer for LOTRO stated that Stout-Axe Dwarves were to be added to the game as a new playable race. Furthermore, the ability to change the race of existing characters was also coming to the game. It was later clarified that the race change ability was subject to the existing class restrictions. Hence an existing Hobbit Guardian could become an Elf if the player so desires. But races such as Hobbits and Dwarves are still excluded from certain classes such as Captain or Lore-master. Although this was a very informal setting, the statement has been seen as a formal announcement and SSG have not said anything to the contrary so far.
A Month in Gaming
Contrary to my last A Month in Gaming post, I did actually end up buying a discount copy of Elsweyr and returning to The Elder Scrolls Online. And I’m rather glad that I did, because it has provided a welcome change of scene and an opportunity to do something different. However, you can’t just fire up ESO and dive right in. No sir. The first thing you have to do is update all your addons and if your starting a new alt (which I decided to do), ensure that your key mappings and custom settings are ported over. This process was a pain in the butt; however it did inspire a couple of blog posts. Creating a new alt is the perfect way to reacquaint yourself with ESO after a lengthy absence. In my case it has been 12 months. I decided to try the new Necromancer class and so far, it has proven to be both fun and rewarding. Rather than try to do a thousand things at once, I just started the Elsweyr main story and doggedly pursued it. The narrative is enjoyable and it was fun to see Cadwell as part of the plot focus. For practical reasons I’ve re-subscribed to ESO plus to unlock various DLC and I intend to continue playing for the next month or so.
Leave a Comment
It’s the first day of the month and the Blaugust 2019 Festival of Blogging is currently underway. So far there have been numerous posts from established bloggers, offering sound advice and encouragement to those participating in this annual event. However, I wish to focus on one specific aspect of blogging that appears to be on the wane at present. Something that can be invaluable to the new and enthusiastic blogger. And as Blaugust is no longer solely focused on writing, this is also applicable to podcasters, live streamers and You Tubers (I hate that phrase, but it appears to be an accepted collective term, so let’s roll with it). The thing I am alluding to is audience feedback or put more plainly, reader comments. Yes, the thoughts and musings of those who consume your work, left on your site, blog or channel, in the form of a few lines of text. They can be both praising or damning. Supportive, insulting or sometimes incomprehensible. But at least they indicate that someone thinks sufficient of your work to leave some sort of statement.
"Rest in Peace"
From time to time, when an actor, film maker or creative artists dies, I will write a brief post about my appreciation of their work. Nothing hyperbolic, stating how they’ve been a major influence in my life. Just a few simple thoughts about how I and society perceived them and what I enjoy about their careers. If I was more of a sports fan or strongly affiliated to a specific political ideology, I suppose I’d cover more sports men and women, politicians and public figures. But I write about what I like, so naturally those in the film and television industry feature more. I don’t consider my personal musings to be anything more than just that. Western society is still very uncomfortable with the subject of death, plus the partisan nature of the internet can also lead to odd reactions when people express grief or remorse over “celebrities”. Comments like “you didn’t know them” or accusations of virtue signalling often accompany genuine expressions of sympathy and sadness. But I retain a somewhat old fashioned and possibly even quaint notion that if someone’s work has brought me pleasure and enjoyment, it seems only logical and polite to acknowledge that.
The Changing Face of MMOs
The above promotional video for Guild Wars 2 (dated July 19th, 2011) came up in an online discussion recently. The game as it exists today is radically different to this eight-year-old marketing presentation. It got me thinking about MMOs, how they evolve and those that have fallen from grace. Naturally the spectre of World of Warcraft looms large in such a discussion, because for many years this was the game to beat. Subsequently the market was awash with clones, which proved to be an unwise business tactic. The tumultuous life of Star Wars: The Old Republic along with the closure of Warhammer: Online, Vanguard and recently WildStar indicates that more of the same is not necessarily what players want or at the least, insufficient to keep them engaged. Guild Wars 2 initially deviated noticeably from the perceived wisdom but then contradicted its own ideology out of necessity to remain financially viable. Subsequent expansions have proven far more “traditional”. A decade on from the MMO boom, the genre has had to become far more niche to survive. MMOs exist and make money, but the are no longer seen as cash cows.
Preparing for Blaugust 2019
According to the schedule (which is purely for guidance and not a metaphorical gun to your head) Blaugust 2019 Festival of Blogging starts today. This is “prep week”; a golden opportunity to get all your ducks in a row. Now there’s nothing to stop you going into the event blind and winging it. For some content creators, that’s how they roll. However, for most of us, it helps if we have some kind of plan in place and have figured some stuff out in advance. For me this is important as I have a fluid day-to-day schedule and I’m also away for three days due to my son’s wedding. So I thought I’d share my approach to Blaugust, in the hope that it may be helpful to others. Like most things in life, there is no “one size fits all approach”, so you may want to temper my methods and adapt them to your own. You know your own strengths and weaknesses better than I. But the underlying point is still sound. Doing some degree of preparation for Blaugust will certainly help you.