Thoughts on Blogging Part 12
Due to the ongoing Global Pandemic, many people are now finding themselves working from home or having to stay in for health or childcare reasons. Hence there has been a marked increase in online leisure activities. Steam has been hit by a record number of concurrent users and Netflix and Amazon prime have both seen an increased demand upon their respective streaming services. If you’re not commuting then you are freeing up a substantial amount of hours each week. This potential abundance of “free time” along with a practical need to channel your energy into something to prevent yourself from going “stir crazy”, presents some interesting opportunities. Many people who have previously expressed an interest in writing and content creation now have the leeway to do so. Naturally, as a writing enthusiast and a long time blogger, I am happy to encourage such activities.
Due to the ongoing Global Pandemic, many people are now finding themselves working from home or having to stay in for health or childcare reasons. Hence there has been a marked increase in online leisure activities. Steam has been hit by a record number of concurrent users and Netflix and Amazon prime have both seen an increased demand upon their respective streaming services. If you’re not commuting then you are freeing up a substantial amount of hours each week. This potential abundance of “free time” along with a practical need to channel your energy into something to prevent yourself from going “stir crazy”, presents some interesting opportunities. Many people who have previously expressed an interest in writing and content creation now have the leeway to do so. Naturally, as a writing enthusiast and a long time blogger, I am happy to encourage such activities.
I have been part of a wider content creating community for over a decade now and it struck me as soon as this situation developed that a lot of people were going to find themselves quarantined at home with time on their hands. Leisure time is usually a premium commodity these days but I suspect that a lot of people will not be prepared for such a rapid change in fortune. Plus having to work at home, possibly cheek by jowl with your entire family, is going to require some sort of “safety valve” to release the stress such confinement inevitably brings. So in many respects now is an ideal time to start a new hobby. If it is pursued in a measured way then writing, podcasting, live streaming or creating videos may well provide not only a pleasurable leisure activity but also a means to interact and communicate with others. Something that we have taken for granted up until now.
“Sod off and go and do something constructive, instead of continuously bothering me, you sweaty galloot”
For the sake of my example I shall focus upon writing but obviously the points I hope to make are applicable to other forms of content creation. Writing your thoughts down regarding any subject provides a sense of focus. Often when we marshall our thoughts it leads to a clearer understanding of a subject. It is also a process that we can control 100%. Such things are good for your mental wellbeing while we’re all in lockdown. If you start a blog and write regularly, having a schedule provides a clear routine. Structure is beneficial when in self isolation. Plus writing more often will improve your literacy skills. And then there is pleasure to be found in sharing your words with others, building an audience and becoming part of a social community. No matter how niche your chosen subject may be, there’s always an audience to be found. It is often this interaction that is the most rewarding aspect of writing and it subsequently fuels your creativity and desire to continue.
So if you’ve always toyed with the idea of blogging about your favourite games, movies or your cats, then why not grab yourself a free account over at wordpress.com and give it a go. Alternatively maybe you’ve always wanted to do some live streaming? Well now’s the time to do it. It’s not that hard to figure out. Even I’ve managed it. The same goes for YouTube. The barriers to entry are very low and there’s a wealth of online help available to get you started. It would be great to get a positive from a negative and see a resurgence in all kinds of content creation during these difficult times. And if you still need a nudge or the safety net of a community that you can draw upon for advice and guidance, then I wouldn’t be surprised if you see a lot of online communities rally and offer a helping hand. Don’t pass up on a golden opportunity. What would you prefer? To look back on 2020 as the year you were terminally bored while you holed up for 3 to 4 months. Or for it to be the year you started a new hobby that got you through a difficult period? The choice is yours.
Completing the Minas Morgul Expansion
Despite taking a short break out of pure frustration, I decided to grit my teeth and try to finish the Minas Morgul expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online over the last few days. As I suspected, once you start questing in Minas Morgul itself, it all becomes very homogenous. The circles of the city are deliberately ponderous to navigate and the quests are padded out with generic filler content that requires you to kill multiple types of mobs. Furthermore, Minas Morgul itself is a “lagfest” and you can often find yourself instantly in combat with a mob lurking immediately outside the door of the Rangers camps. The density of the enemies means that you’re continuously pulling aggro when travelling form A to B. And you often find yourself rubberbanding and stuttering due to the poor build of the city. Completing all of the various tiers of the city is a grueling task and upon completion you’re immediately sent to Thuringwath which has many of the same problems. Although some of the quest stories are well conceived, the realities of completing much of the content in Minas Morgul make it very much an uphill struggle.
Despite taking a short break out of pure frustration, I decided to grit my teeth and try to finish the Minas Morgul expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online over the last few days. As I suspected, once you start questing in Minas Morgul itself, it all becomes very homogenous. The circles of the city are deliberately ponderous to navigate and the quests are padded out with generic filler content that requires you to kill multiple types of mobs. Furthermore, Minas Morgul itself is a “lagfest” and you can often find yourself instantly in combat with a mob lurking immediately outside the door of the Rangers camps. The density of the enemies means that you’re continuously pulling aggro when travelling form A to B. And you often find yourself rubberbanding and stuttering due to the poor build of the city. Completing all of the various tiers of the city is a grueling task and upon completion you’re immediately sent to Thuringwath which has many of the same problems. Although some of the quest stories are well conceived, the realities of completing much of the content in Minas Morgul make it very much an uphill struggle.
So far I have completed the Circles of Wrath, Sorrow, Madness and am currently working on the aptly named Circle of Despair. To break up the monotony, I decided to tackle the Epic Story as I wanted to see the conclusion of the Black Book of Mordor. I was suitably impressed by the way the writers tied up all the loose ends, especially the manner in which Gothmog met his fate. The link to Golodir and the lineage of his sword Dúnachar was intriguing. I also liked the way that the author of the Black Book, the Zhelruka Dwarf Voin, turned out to be a benign character and was rather moved in the final scene in which he said goodbye to his wife and son and went off to die. I enjoyed the subtle inference that he may have found Thafar-gathol. Once again the musical score by Bill Champagne was outstanding and greatly enhanced the drama. The final epilogue where you have to decide who gets the Black Book proved interesting and presented three interesting choices. I decided it should be returned to Khîl Tale-spinner as he is a descendant of Voin. But I did flirt with the notion of giving it to Karazgar.
As ever with LOTRO, it is the strength of the stories and characters, along with the realisation of the world itself which are the game’s greatest strengths. Hence these have been the aspects of the Minas Morgul expansion that I’ve enjoyed the most. As I approach the completion of this expansion I am pleased that I have reached level cap with a relatively robust build. The gear I obtained from opening 22 Adventurer's Steel-bound Lootboxes has made a significant difference to my performance. In recent weeks I have added additional tiers to my LI Legacies and have also upgraded most of the settings. I am also levelling my slotted virtue traits, now that the level cap has been increased to 68. Yet despite these positive points, I cannot help but feel that this expansion is very much a product of two very distinct parts. I very much enjoyed the first section set during the Second Age. However, the second part feels notably weaker, with a lot of arbitrary content thrown together in a slapdash fashion. As for the new raids, I have not experienced these as of yet and am not likely to due to my kinship being quiet of late.
Classic Movie Themes: Friday the 13th
It was Friday the 13th yesterday, so I thought it was about time that I added Harry Manfredini’s iconic score to the annals of Classic Movie Themes. The 1980 slasher movie Friday the 13th has become as legendary in the pantheon of cinematic horror history as John Carpenter’s Halloween. Although there are marked differences between these two films, both use minimalist musical scores extremely effectively to punctuate the proceedings and embellish the overall atmosphere. However, Manfedini did not want to provide viewers with obvious audio cues during scenes of building tension. He preferred to focus his score upon the activities of the franchise's iconic killer, Jason Voorhees, and hence have strong musical cues when he was on screen. This approach meant that he had to use a unique musical motif to denote potential tension, without diminishing its effect on the audience by excessive use of obvious and melodramatic cues.
It was Friday the 13th yesterday, so I thought it was about time that I added Harry Manfredini’s iconic score to the annals of Classic Movie Themes. The 1980 slasher movie Friday the 13th has become as legendary in the pantheon of cinematic horror history as John Carpenter’s Halloween. Although there are marked differences between these two films, both use minimalist musical scores extremely effectively to punctuate the proceedings and embellish the overall atmosphere. However, Manfedini did not want to provide viewers with obvious audio cues during scenes of building tension. He preferred to focus his score upon the activities of the franchise's iconic killer, Jason Voorhees, and hence have strong musical cues when he was on screen. This approach meant that he had to use a unique musical motif to denote potential tension, without diminishing its effect on the audience by excessive use of obvious and melodramatic cues.
Harry Manfredini’s solution was to craft a combination of simple echoing chords combined with a vocal track which repeated the phrase "ki ki ki, ma ma ma". The concept was that these words were some kind of subliminal message; a corrupt version of "kill her, mommy" which would plague Pamela Voorhees, the protagonist from the first movie. Over the course of the franchise, Manfedini became far more adept of using this motif, which he subsequently expanded with the addition of some frenetic strings. This motif would play when something was about to happen on screen, ramping up the tension rather than mitigating it by more overt musical telegraphing. John Williams used a similar technique with his original score for Jaws. Furthermore, Manfredini would often use variations of this cue as musical red herrings, often culminating in a non-fatal jump scare.
Due to the longevity of the Friday the 13th franchise, Harry Manfredini has revised and expanded his work many times. The theme used for the opening credits of the original movie is in many ways the best example. It encapsulates the immediacy of his work and incorporates the "ki ki ki, ma ma ma" motif at its most unique point in history. Another standout version of the main title theme is for Friday the 13th Part III (1982) which was released in 3D. He again reworked the essential principles of basic cue into a pulsing new version with a distinct synth and disco vibe. Finally as an added bonus, I wanted to quickly reference Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) and the song that features while Violet (Tiffany Helm) indulged in that very eighties activity, robot dancing. His Eyes by Australian New Wave Band (and shameless Ultravox plagiarists) Pseudo Echo has gained a curious cult following over the years among Friday the 13th fans.
Waiting for the New Middle-earth MMO
In late 2018 it was announced that Amazon Game Studios and Leyou were collaborating on massively multiplayer online game for PC and consoles set in Middle-earth. Ongoing development is being handled by Athlon Games, a global developer and publisher of free-to-play console and PC games. The studio is a subsidiary of Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited. But beyond the fairly vague press releases that can be found on the Athlon Games website (the last was posted in July 2019), little detail has emerged about the project. There has been unsubstantiated rumours that the project may well tie-in with the forthcoming Amazon Prime TV show that is set in the Second Age of Middle Earth. However, there is little information at present in the public domain to fully substantiate this or any of the other ongoing speculation. Hence, the entire situation raises some interesting questions and I’m sure like me, you have probably pondered some of them. Here are just a few that have crossed my mind.
In late 2018 it was announced that Amazon Game Studios and Leyou were collaborating on massively multiplayer online game for PC and consoles set in Middle-earth. Ongoing development is being handled by Athlon Games, a global developer and publisher of free-to-play console and PC games. The studio is a subsidiary of Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited. But beyond the fairly vague press releases that can be found on the Athlon Games website (the last was posted in July 2019), little detail has emerged about the project. There has been unsubstantiated rumours that the project may well tie-in with the forthcoming Amazon Prime TV show that is set in the Second Age of Middle Earth. However, there is little information at present in the public domain to fully substantiate this or any of the other ongoing speculation. Hence, the entire situation raises some interesting questions and I’m sure like me, you have probably pondered some of them. Here are just a few that have crossed my mind.
Will this title be directly competing with Standing Stone Games MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online?
Exactly what sort of MMO will this new LOTR based game be, as the very term MMO is extremely elastic these days.
Will the appropriate licensing body allow two games from the same genre to exist simultaneously?
Exactly what business model will this new MMO have?
What iteration of the franchise will this game be based upon? Will it draw directly from the Peter Jackson movies (like games such as Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War) or will it create a unique vision of Middle Earth as with SSG’s LOTRO?
Due to the lack of any definitive information, all we can presently do is speculate about the answers to these questions. Firstly, as to “do we need another The Lord of the Rings themed MMO”, I certainly think the market can sustain one. Competition can be a healthy thing and it is nice as a consumer to have choice. Products can co-exist harmoniously if they provide different experiences. I am always interested in seeing different people’s visions of Professor Tolkien's work, such as artists like Alan Lee, John Howe and Ted Nasmith, so for me a new game would be welcome purely from an creative and aesthetic perspective. There is also a wealth of lore that is available to be developed into new storylines. This is something that Turbine and Standing Stone Games have managed to do successfully over the past thirteen years. Any new game can easily explore an aspect of Tolkien’s work that hasn’t been touched by any previous product. There is no need to simply tread old ground.
Now if this new The Lord of the Rings themed MMO is marketed in direct competition to LOTRO, then I would expect it to be a very different beast, based around the mechanics and systems that are currently popular within the genre. I do not see any benefit in simply creating an MMO that replicates what exactly LOTRO does. I would not be surprised if this new MMO was closer to The Elder Scrolls Online in its systems design. It is also worth considering licensing arrangements. When Star Wars: The Old Republic was released in late 2011, a decision was made to close the older MMO Star Wars Galaxies. Exactly why this happened has never been officially discussed, so we do not know if this was solely about concerns over competition. However, the legal rights for Tolkien’s work are administered by a completely different body, so it doesn’t mean that a similar fate necessarily awaits LOTRO. But it is prudent to at least reflect upon what happened to SWG.
Personally, I would like to see a less linear game with a far more open world environment, dynamic content that is proximity based and the chance to develop charterers that aren't solely based around combat. To be able to lose oneself in a virtual Middle Earth, where you are free to explore, craft, farm, trade or simply aimlessly meander, would be a massive step forward for fans of the IP. But I am fully aware that what delights me may well deter other gamers and that ultimately any game is going to have to find a balance between the new and established systems that are economically viable. The development costs required to create a truly open world version of Middle-earth would be substantial and more importantly, the risk of such an experimental project would potentially be the biggest obstacle. Conversely, just using Tolkien’s world for yet another PVP or Battle Royale game would in my view be a waste of the franchise.
I'm sure that many interested parties will be keeping an eye on Athlon Games over the next year to see how this new MMO pans out. Let us hope that further information is forthcoming regarding its development and its specific nature. However, a quality MMO is not made overnight and so I’m not optimistic that I’ll be playing this new game any time soon. If it is tied to the Amazon Prime TV show, then the games launch may also depend on whether that show gains any traction. Furthermore, the TV show may well be intended to run over numerous seasons and try and emulate the sustained success of Game of Thrones. If that's the case then this new MMO may not appear until the TV show has hit its peak popularity. And if the show is not well received the game could well be cancelled before release. Therefore, it may well be best for Tolkien fans to simply just keep an eye on this project and continue to focus on those games such as LOTRO that do currently exist and provide a specific service.
Old is New
If you keep up with news in the MMORPG community, you’ll be aware that there has been a recent resurgence in “rogue server” offering emulation services for titles that have officially closed. City of Heroes and Star Wars Galaxies continue to sustain a player base and the level of interest clearly indicates that this is not just due to mere nostalgia. Simply put these games maintain an audience because they are good. They’re well designed, engaging and rewarding to play. Similarly, remastered games are proving to be both popular and commercially successful. Resident Evil 2 which was released last year has sold over 5 million copies and received critical acclaim. It currently has a rating of 91% on Metacritic (for those who put stock in such things). Pundits are already predicting that the remake of Final Fantasy VII will enjoy similar success. Again when you analyse the reviews and critiques available online, you find that these remastered titles fare well due to their inherent quality. Is this something newer games are lacking?
If you keep up with news in the MMORPG community, you’ll be aware that there has been a recent resurgence in “rogue server” offering emulation services for titles that have officially closed. City of Heroes and Star Wars Galaxies continue to sustain a player base and the level of interest clearly indicates that this is not just due to mere nostalgia. Simply put these games maintain an audience because they are good. They’re well designed, engaging and rewarding to play. Similarly, remastered games are proving to be both popular and commercially successful. Resident Evil 2 which was released last year has sold over 5 million copies and received critical acclaim. It currently has a rating of 91% on Metacritic (for those who put stock in such things). Pundits are already predicting that the remake of Final Fantasy VII will enjoy similar success. Again when you analyse the reviews and critiques available online, you find that these remastered titles fare well due to their inherent quality. Is this something newer games are lacking?
Games commentator Jim Sterling touches upon this subject in the latest edition of The Jimquisition (09.03.20). He strongly believes that too many contemporary so called “triple A” games are hobbled by microtransactions and content gated behind paywalls. Season passes promise future content thus justifying incomplete titles to be released and that creativity and innovation are sidelined when creating a game as a “live service”. Hence he states it is customer dissatisfaction with current games that makes remastered titles more appealing. They present an opportunity to play through a game with any impediment, interruption or requirement to pay more money to access further content. Furthermore, these are titles that hail from an era where the creative focus was on the gameplay and new ideas were not subordinate to business imperatives. All are cogent points that I broadly agree with, as I’ve experienced all of these over several decades of gaming.
The mainstream video game industry is not known for responding quickly or adapting promptly to new situations. Once a successful trend is established it is frequently slavishly followed. Hence multiple genres have each experienced a brief time in the sun. All too often a couple of games will arrive late to the proverbial party and fail to find an audience and quickly close. Some titles will even get canned while in development, if the marketing tide has turned. However, sooner or later the boardrooms of these multi billion dollar companies have got to notice what is selling and what is not. EA stated a few years ago that single player games were done as a genre and yet Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a conspicuously single player game without live service trappings, has proven very successful. No matter how glacial the rate of change may be, sooner or later major publishers are going to connect the dots and see what is selling and more importantly why it is doing so. At this point will the old become new? Only time will tell.
Making Your Own Fun
I’ve yet to read a cogent definition of the term “emergent gameplay”, so it won’t feature in this post because I’m not sure if I fully grasp the concept. It seems to be a very elastic term. However, what I will say is that sometimes you run out of officially sanctioned tasks to do, when playing an MMO. You find yourself having completed all quests and missions, languishing at level cap with acceptable gear and kicking your virtual heels. It is at this point one of two things happens. You either find a means of keeping yourself engaged with the game, or you logout and find something else to play. Too often have I done the latter. At present, I’m currently at the “what should I do now” stage both in The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. This time rather than just temporarily abandoning these games, I intend to set myself some new goals and effectively make my own fun. It may or may not work. But at the least it will make for a couple of blog posts.
I’ve yet to read a cogent definition of the term “emergent gameplay”, so it won’t feature in this post because I’m not sure if I fully grasp the concept. It seems to be a very elastic term. However, what I will say is that sometimes you run out of officially sanctioned tasks to do, when playing an MMO. You find yourself having completed all quests and missions, languishing at level cap with acceptable gear and kicking your virtual heels. It is at this point one of two things happens. You either find a means of keeping yourself engaged with the game, or you logout and find something else to play. Too often have I done the latter. At present, I’m currently at the “what should I do now” stage both in The Lord of the Rings Online and Star Trek Online. This time rather than just temporarily abandoning these games, I intend to set myself some new goals and effectively make my own fun. It may or may not work. But at the least it will make for a couple of blog posts.
I still have a hankering for a Tier 6 Constitution Class ship in STO. Specifically one from the TOS era, rather than the Kelvin Timeline or DISCO period. However, to get one I’ve either got to buy the 10th Anniversary Legendary Ship Bundle (which requires selling a kidney) or open a ton of Infinity Promotion Research & Development Packs. You can either buy these for Zen (real money) or Energy Credits (ingame currency) via the Exchange. Occasionally a reward pack containing one of these ships does come up for sale on the Exchange but this is usually between 1.5 and 2 billion Energy Credits. Which leads me neatly on to the subject of earning this in-game currency. Some MMOs are laid back when it comes to generating revenue. STO is not one of them. Something that Cryptic has tried to address over the years. So I thought it would be interesting to see how many Energy Credits I could earn in a fixed period of time. This would then be an interesting litmus test to see if a player could realistically raise the necessary funds to buy one of these ridiculously expensive vessels. So having blown all my in-game cash, I’m going to see how much I can raise over the next 28 days. Watch this space for further details.
Meanwhile in LOTRO, I’m going to grasp the nettle and see what I can do to improve my Legendary Items. There has got to be another way to earn Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment, other than just running the same old Minas Tirith dailies. I shall search through all my festival and rep related barter currencies and see if there’s anything that can be cashed in. This reminds me of yet another promise that Turbine/Standing Stone Games have yet to make good on; a decent currency exchange program or a universal barter currency. And if grinding chores for LI improvement fails to excite me (and I suspect it that it will) there is always completing deeds to raise the level of slotted virtue traits. The level cap has now been raised to 68, so there’s scope for statistical improvement if these are maxed out. And if both these options are a washout, I may just do some buying and selling on the auction house. Playing the markets in an MMO has always been a fun way to enjoy commodities trading without any of the risk of its real world counterpart.
Many of my gamer friends and colleagues make their own fun when playing MMOs. Some will set themselves “iron man” criteria for their ongoing gameplay, playing within fixed builds or specific gear sets. Others confine themselves to specific expansions or just continuously roll new alts. I often find players in my kinship/fleet/guild busy achieving accolades, completing obscure deeds and generally pursuing that game in an unconventional manner. Thankfully the MMO genre lends itself to these kinds of extracurricular activities. There can be pleasure and enjoyment found in many obscure aspects of the virtual worlds we visit. For example, I will sometimes log into LOTRO and just ride around where my fancy takes me, enjoy the aesthetics of the world. If the MMO genre didn’t offer these kind of adaptable freedoms I think a lot of these games would soon lose their audience once they had exhausted traditional content. So here’s to making your own fun and doing things your way. The fact that this annoys certain types of gamers makes it all the more enjoyable.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
I’m not familiar with the original series of children’s books that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is based upon. From what I’ve read, it would appear that the film manages to channel the spirit (if you’ll pardon the pun) of the short stories by Alvin Schwartz, via the four supernatural vignettes that feature in the movies plot. Furthermore, the illustrations featured in the original publications, by Stephen Gammell, have obviously influenced the visual effects and production design of the movie. However, despite being marketed as a portmanteau movie, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is much more than that. The framing story is more than just an arbitrary pair of cinematic bookends, designed to wrap around the proceedings. It is entwined into the central narrative and the four supernatural meta stories. Rather than being a pure anthology movie, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is at its heart, a film about the nature and inherent power of stories themselves.
I’m not familiar with the original series of children’s books that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is based upon. From what I’ve read, it would appear that the film manages to channel the spirit (if you’ll pardon the pun) of the short stories by Alvin Schwartz, via the four supernatural vignettes that feature in the movies plot. Furthermore, the illustrations featured in the original publications, by Stephen Gammell, have obviously influenced the visual effects and production design of the movie. However, despite being marketed as a portmanteau movie, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is much more than that. The framing story is more than just an arbitrary pair of cinematic bookends, designed to wrap around the proceedings. It is entwined into the central narrative and the four supernatural meta stories. Rather than being a pure anthology movie, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is at its heart, a film about the nature and inherent power of stories themselves.
Set in the small town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, in 1968, the plot focuses on three high school students. Stella (Zoe Colletti), Chuck (Austin Zajur) and Auggie (Gabriel Rush) go out to celebrate Halloween. When a prank goes wrong, they're chased by the school bully Tommy (Austin Abrams) and forced to hide at the local drive-in. A mysterious drifter Ramón (Michael Garza) let's them hide in his car and in return for his help, they decide to take him to the neighbourhood haunted house; the infamous Bellows Mansion. The town was founded by the Bellows family who grew rich from the paper mill they built. However, local legends state that the Bellows family incarcerated their daughter Sarah and kept her locked in a darkened room. She would whisper ghost stories through the wall to scare the local children. While investigating the derelict mansion, Stalla finds an old book which appears to be Sarah's. She takes it home and while reading it, a new story appears before her very eyes. It appears to be about the local bully Tommy. The following day he is reported as missing. Another story subsequently appears in the book. This time it’s about Auggie. Is the book hunting the three friends?
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark makes the most of its $28 million budget. It has a stylised late sixties production design, along with vivid and colourful lighting. The visual aesthetic of Roman Osin’s cinematography greatly adds to the atmosphere. The youthful cast are engaging and deliver good performances. The screenplay by Dan and Kevin Hageman focuses upon their perspective of events and confines adults characters such as the local Sheriff (Gill Bellows) and Stella’s Father (Dean Norris) to the sidelines. The spectre of the Vietnam War, the national draft and the oppressive nature of small town life also hangs over the proceedings. Our protagonists are on the periphery of the adult world and their respective futures do not look especially good. Posters for Richard Nixon seeking election encapsulate this dismal period in US history. It is against this backdrop that the story explores the power of words and narratives. How they can have both a positive and negative effect. And that adult life is filled with ambiguity and this often manifests itself in the use of nuanced language.
The actual “scary stories” that befall the cast are grim and inherently creepy rather than overtly violent. Yet that is not to say that they are not disturbing. And therein lies the rub or at least has been a talking point associated with this movie. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark despite being drawn from children’s literature, is too ghoulish and frightening for such a young demographic. Despite being rated PG-13 in the US, the BBFC saw fit to award it a 15 rating in the UK and a lot of that simply comes down to tone. Something that you cannot address by re-editing. Hence we have a story about teenagers having to deal with the supernatural, which is potentially of more interest to adult viewers, rather than its target audience. Gore hounds of all ages will be disappointed. However, despite this possible contradiction, the film still performed acceptably at the box office and may well garner a sequel. The story certainly has scope for one.
Because of the pedigree of all associated with this production, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark makes for absorbing viewing and superior genre entertainment. The assured direction by André Øvredal (Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) offers not only a series of grim supernatural tales but also a degree of emotional intelligence and metaphorical depth. The adult world is not as black and white as our heroes think and coming of age is often bittersweet. Where The Monster Squad explored such themes through horror and humour, this movie achieves it with ghosts and melancholy. The ending resolves the immediate plot but does not deliver a textbook happy ending. The surviving characters are changed and realise that their future lies outside of Mill Valley. I would definitely like to know what happens next and see the central characters progress on their emotional journey. The answers to which lies in Sarah Bellow’s book of stories. I hope it is opened again.
Countdown (2019)
I believe that Countdown received an unnecessarily hard time from the US critics. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Countdown is a masterpiece. It is not. But it is adequate. A phrase that a lot of people could do with reacquainting themselves with. I won’t retread old ground, as I’ve written about this subject before. I simply think that many people (and critics are people) just have unrealistic expectations when it comes to movies. Not every film created should be, or can be a boundary pushing, cinematic masterpiece. Once again I will invoke my cuisine analogy. There are Michelin five star rated restaurants and then there are fast food franchises. Both serve a purpose, cater for a specific market and can provide relative pleasure. Therefore comparing “like for like” is a critical mistake and based upon a misplaced assumption of false equivalence. Which brings me onto Countdown. It is not The Shining. Nor is it Plan 9 from Outer Space. But it is as I said, “adequate”.
I believe that Countdown received an unnecessarily hard time from the US critics. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Countdown is a masterpiece. It is not. But it is adequate. A phrase that a lot of people could do with reacquainting themselves with. I won’t retread old ground, as I’ve written about this subject before. I simply think that many people (and critics are people) just have unrealistic expectations when it comes to movies. Not every film created should be, or can be a boundary pushing, cinematic masterpiece. Once again I will invoke my cuisine analogy. There are Michelin five star rated restaurants and then there are fast food franchises. Both serve a purpose, cater for a specific market and can provide relative pleasure. Therefore comparing “like for like” is a critical mistake and based upon a misplaced assumption of false equivalence. Which brings me onto Countdown. It is not The Shining. Nor is it Plan 9 from Outer Space. But it is as I said, “adequate”.
A group of friends download an app called "Countdown" that predicts when the user will die. When Courtney sees that she has just a couple of hours to live, she refuses a ride home from her drunken boyfriend Evan. She is later killed by a supernatural creature when the “countdown” app on her phone reaches zero. Evan crashes his car at the same time of her death. A branch pierces the passenger seat, where she would have sat. At the hospital, Evan tells nurse Quinn Harris (Elizabeth Lail) that he is afraid to have surgery as the app predicts that he will die at the same time. Sceptical of the teenagers concerns, the hospital staff decide to download the app and Quinn learns that she has only three days of life. When Evan mysteriously dies in an accident, Quinn buys a new phone only to find that the app is already installed. She subsequently meets Matt Monroe (Jordon Calloway) when leaving the phone store and learns that his imminent death has also been predicted by the app. So the pair team up and their subsequent investigations uncover a spate of deaths associated with it.
Countdown is a low budget, modern take on the classic ghost story Casting the Runes by M. R. James, with more than a nod towards the Final Destination franchise. Gone are scraps of parchment with runic symbols which are neatly replaced by phone app. This in a nutshell, is what Countdown has to offer; a modern spin on a classic and established plot concept. The film makes a decent attempt at creating a sense of atmosphere and the jump scares are efficiently delivered. There is a recurring visual device in which victims keep seeing an indistinct figure in reflections, which is never there when they turn and look directly. It is a simple device but effective. The mixing of modern technology and biblical demonology also works quite well as the screenplay by Justin Dec doesn’t overthink it, or try to explain every aspect of it. The lead protagonists are not obnoxious, as they so often are in this genre and some of the supporting characters are quite quirky and droll. Derek the cell phone store manager and Father John, the expert on the occult, being clear examples of this.
Countdown also widens its narrative scope by including a subplot about a senior doctor who’s a sexual predator. This brings some interesting and very contemporary moral and ethical questions into the story. Something that gets amplified in the final act, when it is mooted that maybe this abusive man could be used as a surrogate sacrifice, to save another “more deserving” persons life. Another bold piece of moral manoeuvring comes when the lead characters need to examine the terms and conditions of the “killer app”; something they naturally neglected to do themselves initially. So they persuade a drunken conspiracy theorist (who is also a Holocaust denier) to install the app, thus potentially putting him in harms way. I didn’t expect such a plot device and I quite enjoyed it. It’s an indication that Countdown is at least trying to do more than just retread familiar territory. The film’s resolution does “takes liberties” with its own rules and there is a set up for a possible sequel. However, if viewed as convenient and undemanding entertainment, then Countdown serves its purpose. You’ll find far worse horror movies available.
A Month in Gaming
The problem I find with monthly gaming articles is that they tend to cover ground that I’ve already written about over the last 4 weeks in other blog posts, only in less detail. So here is the brief version of my gaming activities throughout February. I played through the entirety of the Star Trek Online 10th Anniversary event and received the new hybrid Tier 6 ship. I enjoyed the new 2 part feature episode and have managed to maintain a schedule of doing “odds and sods” to keep myself busy. STO is currently my primary game. I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online, as soon as I start questing in Minas Morgul itself. It is simply too uninspiring and grindy an area. So I’ve focused on completing deeds for virtue experience and daily repeatable quests for Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment. Due to constraints upon my schedule, I decided to temporarily stop my subscription to ESO Plus, as I simply do not have the time to invest in The Elder Scrolls Online at present. ESO is a good game and deserves attention when played. Committing to multiple MMOs at once is always a mistake.
The problem I find with monthly gaming articles is that they tend to cover ground that I’ve already written about over the last 4 weeks in other blog posts, only in less detail. So here is the brief version of my gaming activities throughout February. I played through the entirety of the Star Trek Online 10th Anniversary event and received the new hybrid Tier 6 ship. I enjoyed the new 2 part feature episode and have managed to maintain a schedule of doing “odds and sods” to keep myself busy. STO is currently my primary game. I’ve ground to a halt in The Lord of the Rings Online, as soon as I start questing in Minas Morgul itself. It is simply too uninspiring and grindy an area. So I’ve focused on completing deeds for virtue experience and daily repeatable quests for Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment. Due to constraints upon my schedule, I decided to temporarily stop my subscription to ESO Plus, as I simply do not have the time to invest in The Elder Scrolls Online at present. ESO is a good game and deserves attention when played. Committing to multiple MMOs at once is always a mistake.
I tried to return to Red Dead Redemption 2, which I believe I’m currently halfway through. Sadly, again this is a game that you have to apply yourself to if you wish to get the most from it. The quests need to be read and savoured, rather than rushed through. So I’ve put this game on hold as well, although I do intend to finish it as I have a lot to say about its complex and challenging narrative structure. I bought two other games in February. Deathtrap Dungeon and Gang Beasts. The former is a wonderful old school adventure game, told as a narrative story. I’ve written a more comprehensive post already about this title, so if you’re interested at all, I would urge you to read my thoughts there. And I purchased Gang Beasts in a Steam sale. Sadly, I neglected to read a comprehensive breakdown of the game specifications and discovered that there is no single player mode at present. This silly physics driven comedy fighting game is great fun when played competitively with others but I was expecting a single player versus bots mode. This was entirely my own fault and stands as a reminder that you should always to do your research thoroughly first before buying a new game.
I’ve been using GoG Galaxy as a one stop game launcher for a while now and I must admit it saves a lot of hassle and seems to be working well. I have it launch by default upon Windows startup and it allows me to fire up any title I have installed from one location and avoid trawling through multiple launchers to find what I want to play. It’s also very convenient to import all your game libraries into one place, so you actually have a fighting chance of seeing what you’ve purchased over the years. I have dozens of obscure titles from bundles and giveaways that are just gathering virtual dust. If it wasn’t for GoG Galaxy, I wouldn’t even know about half of these. I am hoping to install and play some of them over Easter as part of a new ongoing recurring blog post series. GoG Galaxy also does a pretty good job of collating all my social and friends list so I can see who is online. With further functionality under development, I see no reason at present to stop using this product.
I suspect that March will be more of the same for me, with regard to my gaming activities. I shall continue with one predominant MMO and possible experiment with another single player game. Beyond that I have no immediate gaming goals at present, apart from the fact that it’s better to be playing something rather than nothing. I’ll report back in April.
The Idiot Box
Thoughts on TV shows and my current viewing habits.
The last instalment of Idiot Box was back in September 2019. Despite the Christmas holidays and being very busy in general, I have managed to watch some good TV shows over the last five month. As ever, there has been plenty of quality material to choose from and I still have an ever growing “watchlist” for all the content I cannot currently accommodate. It is interesting to note that most of the shows I watch are via streaming services. Out of the various titles I discuss in this post, only one was viewed via digital terrestrial network television. Furthermore, we started watching an hour after the broadcast commenced, so that we could bypass the commercial breaks. Watching anything in this fashion is my least favourite means of viewing television and because it happens so infrequently, it is quite jarring when it occurs.
Thoughts on TV shows and my current viewing habits.
The last instalment of Idiot Box was back in September 2019. Despite the Christmas holidays and being very busy in general, I have managed to watch some good TV shows over the last five month. As ever, there has been plenty of quality material to choose from and I still have an ever growing “watchlist” for all the content I cannot currently accommodate. It is interesting to note that most of the shows I watch are via streaming services. Out of the various titles I discuss in this post, only one was viewed via digital terrestrial network television. Furthermore, we started watching an hour after the broadcast commenced, so that we could bypass the commercial breaks. Watching anything in this fashion is my least favourite means of viewing television and because it happens so infrequently, it is quite jarring when it occurs.
The Crown: The third season of this prestigious Netflix show covers historical events from 1964 to 1977 and the role the UK Monarchy had to play in them. These begin with Harold Wilson's election as prime minister and ending with the Queens Silver Jubilee. The Aberfan disaster was a standout episode and explored how the precedence of Royal visits in such situations, was established. There was a greater focus on Prince Charles and family interferences in both his investiture as Prince of Wales and his personal relationship with Camila Shand. The change of cast to more mature actors was seamless and the standard of writing remained high and insightful. I find myself oddly invested in this show mainly because it covers a period of time during which I was growing up. Many of the historical events that are depicted, I was aware of as a child but had little interest or understanding of their significance. To see them in a wider context now is most illuminating.
The Witcher: My initial point of contact with this franchise was via their video game adaptations. However as television is an entirely different medium, I adjusted my expectations accordingly. Broadly I enjoyed the first season of The Witcher, although I was initially confused by its non-linear timeline. The character development was more in depth than I was expecting and rather than being given swathes of exposition about the “Continent” and its history and customs, the viewer was simply exposed to elements of these as the story unfolded. There was a lot of sexual content in the show but it is entirely relevant to the proceedings. Witchcraft is often entwined with human sexuality and free from the restrictive dogma of traditional religions. By the last episode I was left with my interests piqued and clearly wanting more. And as for casting Henry Cavill, it worked out fine as far as I’m concerned.
COBRA: This UK set drama proved to be far better than the sum of its parts. The initial premise set out in the first episode appeared to frame the narrative as a disaster story with borderline science fiction elements (the calamity afflicting the UK in the story being a solar storm). However, it quickly changed into a political thriller about civil unrest brought about by power outages. It touched upon many “hot topics” such as migrant detentions, anti-establishment sentiments and the economic and social divide between London and other parts of the UK. It was odd and vaguely compelling to see Robert Carlyle as a Conservative Prime Minister and David Haig was excellent as duplicitous and scheming Home Secretary. There were also some rather good low key CGI visual effects that worked very well. As I said, it was all unexpectedly entertaining.
Star Trek Picard: Star Trek has always reflected the world in which we live. During the sixties TOS channeled many optimistic, inclusive and progressive narratives which were still prevalent in the post Kennedy years. TNG was broadcast while such events as the fall of The Berlin Wall took place. Thus the show often explored concepts of reunification and forging uneasy truces. For me, what I like about STP is not only the central character, who is still multifaceted and engaging but the bold storyline in which the Federation has lost it ways due to an excess of “politics”. It is a world weary show, where social contracts have failed and the future has lost its utopian status. It isn’t to everyone's taste and it is clear that a lot of people just wanted more TNG in an identical idiom. However, that is not what Patrick Stewart wanted to do, so that is not what they got. I like it and am interested to see where it goes and whether any optimism will manifest itself.
Endeavour: The latest season of Endeavour sees the arrival of the seventies and a serial murderer prowling the towpath of the local canal. Is this one brutal muder to many for DI Fred Thursday? The cumulative effect of investigating violent crime seems to be taking its toll and also causing division between Thursday and Morse. Season seven covers a lot of ground in just three episodes and strays into rather bleak and unhappy territory, especially for Chief Inspector Bright. As ever, it is smart with lots of pop culture references and superb performances. I suspect that next year’s season will be the last of this period police drama.
Unforgotten: Because Endeavour came and went so quickly, Mrs P and I decided to revisit the first series of Unforgotten. We subsequently watched all available seasons and eagerly await the series four which is currently being filmed. What make’s this show so different from others is that the actual solving of the crime is only half of the narrative. The other 50% of the story is the “emotional splash damage” and “fallout” caused by investigating these cold cases. The level of technical accuracy in depicting real policing is outstanding and the acting is always top drawer. The central characters of Detectives Cassie Stuart and Sunil "Sunny" Khan (played by Nichola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar) are both credible and likeable. Over 18 episodes we get an insight into their very normal personal lives and an understanding of the emotional stress that solving historical cases causes to all involved. Often the subjects explored are incredibly sad and disturbing but the writing is so measured and intelligent that events never spills into melodrama, nor denigrate the difficult subjects.
As an addendum to this post, we abandoned a couple of shows that we were watching previously. We stopped watching Instinct as it really didn’t have anything new to say. I suspect that is why it was cancelled by the network. We also stopped viewing Evil, mainly because of time constraints. We may return to it later on in the year. I decided not to proceed with season 2 of Project Blue Book. Despite a good cast and fine production values, the show just seemed to be retreading familiar ground and not offering anything different within the confines of the “alien conspiracy” sub genre. Time is always precious therefore I strongly advocate dispensing with shows you’re not enjoying.
Star Trek Online: The Admiralty System and Farming Dilithium
Dilithium is one of the major currencies that can be earned in the MMORPG Star Trek Online. It is given as a reward for playing through Story Missions, Task Force Operations (group PVE content), Duty Officer Assignments and other aspects of the game. Dilithium is initially awarded as ore. The player then has to refine it to be able to spend it. Furthermore, there is a cap of 8,000 Dilithium ore refined per day. Once refined, players can use Dilithium to purchase various items and services ranging from new ships, as well as space and ground equipment. Dilithium is also used in upgrading or re-engineering equipment. Another benefit of Dilithium is that it can be exchanged for Zen, STO’s premium currency. Although Zen is primarily bought with real money, Cryptic provides an in-game exchange service in which players can trade surplus Dilithium for Zen. The exchange rate can fluctuate and has steadily risen over the last ten years. Yet despite this, Dilithium continues to be a tangible and much desired resource.
Dilithium is one of the major currencies that can be earned in the MMORPG Star Trek Online. It is given as a reward for playing through Story Missions, Task Force Operations (group PVE content), Duty Officer Assignments and other aspects of the game. Dilithium is initially awarded as ore. The player then has to refine it to be able to spend it. Furthermore, there is a cap of 8,000 Dilithium ore refined per day. Once refined, players can use Dilithium to purchase various items and services ranging from new ships, as well as space and ground equipment. Dilithium is also used in upgrading or re-engineering equipment. Another benefit of Dilithium is that it can be exchanged for Zen, STO’s premium currency. Although Zen is primarily bought with real money, Cryptic provides an in-game exchange service in which players can trade surplus Dilithium for Zen. The exchange rate can fluctuate and has steadily risen over the last ten years. Yet despite this, Dilithium continues to be a tangible and much desired resource.
Due to the value players place upon Dilithium, many create multiple alts so that they can farm it on a daily basis. The easiest means to do this are Duty Officer Assignments and the Admiralty System. Both are card based mini games, involving assigning Duty Officers or Ships with appropriate statistics to a specific mission. These virtual tasks are time based and if completed with a positive outcome, yield a modest supply of Dilithium as a reward. Now with any such undertaking, the merits of the time to cost ratio are subjective. If you have two or three alts, it will take about 5 to 10 minutes to log in and set up the various tasks that will net you the Dilithium you require. However, there are players that farm across dozens of alts, spending up to an hour or more setting up the appropriate missions. A long time favourite has been the Klingon Admiralty campaign as it yields the most Dilithium. Dedicated players can easily gain a 70K plus of Dilithium across a dozen alts. And STO has lots of very dedicated players. Hence, many have built up substantial stock piles of Dilithium over time.
It is this glut of Dilithium that has prompted STO’s developers, Cryptic, to once again take action. In the past cosmetic items have been made available for purchase with Dilithium to try and absorb some of the surplus stock. Then the much coveted Phoenix Prize Pack would from time to time appear, again purchasable for Dilithium only. But the problem persists and for Cryptic it is indeed a problem. As a developer and a business, they would prefer players to buy Zen with real money, rather than stockpiled Dilithium. However, simply removing the Dilithium exchange service would be a PR nightmare, so they have just announced plans to alter the Klingon Admiralty Campaign, so that instead of rewarding players with actual Dilithium ore, it will instead give them a voucher for Dilithium that can be used on Fleet Projects. Essentially, this is a form of Dilithium that cannot be exchanged and can only be used for one specific purpose. Naturally, this “revision” has been met with a somewhat mixed response among the STO community. Casual players such as myself, tend not to farm Dilithium beyond what can be acquired on just one character. I gain enough each time I play to upgrade gear but have never raised sufficient to buy tangible amounts of Zen. But there are a substantial amount of players that run Dilithium farming as a cottage industry and this change will set them back.
Cryptic’s “reset” is not quite as catastrophic as some players would have you believe. It is a nuisance to those who farm and will impact upon how much Dilithium they can obtain a day. But it didn’t take long for some rather comprehensive actions plans to emerge on the official STO subreddit. Knowledgeable players have already suggested alternative means of farming Dilithium. Specific Duty Officer Assignment chains have been recommended, along with trading Duty Officers themselves. Then there is creating new alts, leveling and claiming account wide rewards from previous Delta, Gamma and Temporal events. The bottom line is resourceful players will find a way to continue farming Dilithium. It may even have the positive side effect of seeing players return to previously ignored parts of the game, such as the Ground Battlezone in the Solanae Dyson Sphere. Currency adjustments are always tricky to implement both logistically and “politically”. On this occasion I think Cryptic have managed to find the right path between both.
“It’s Only a Game” and Other Perennial Arguments
Irrespective of one’s opinion (or lack thereof) of the “popular” streamer and gamer Ninja, one cannot deny that he has both influence and reach in certain quarters of the gaming community. Hence when he makes a statement such as the one he did recently on Twitter, it will inevitably become a talking point and cause ripples within the current gaming zeitgeist. “The phrase "it’s just a game" is such a weak mindset. You are okay with what happened, losing, imperfection of a craft. When you stop getting angry after losing, you’ve lost twice. There’s always something to learn, and always room for improvement, never settle”. For the sake of context, something that is sometimes lost due to the brevity of Twitter, Ninja is a Professional Gamer (among other things) so naturally this has a bearing upon his gaming worldview. However, even bearing this in mind, he hasn’t really said anything new. A robust rejection of the old “it’s only a game” statement is a hardy perennial argument in the gaming community. One that makes me roll my eyes and sigh heavily every time I see it, as it’s been addressed so many times.
Irrespective of one’s opinion (or lack thereof) of the “popular” streamer and gamer Ninja, one cannot deny that he has both influence and reach in certain quarters of the gaming community. Hence when he makes a statement such as the one he did recently on Twitter, it will inevitably become a talking point and cause ripples within the current gaming zeitgeist. “The phrase "it’s just a game" is such a weak mindset. You are okay with what happened, losing, imperfection of a craft. When you stop getting angry after losing, you’ve lost twice. There’s always something to learn, and always room for improvement, never settle”. For the sake of context, something that is sometimes lost due to the brevity of Twitter, Ninja is a Professional Gamer (among other things) so naturally this has a bearing upon his gaming worldview. However, even bearing this in mind, he hasn’t really said anything new. A robust rejection of the old “it’s only a game” statement is a hardy perennial argument in the gaming community. One that makes me roll my eyes and sigh heavily every time I see it, as it’s been addressed so many times.
There are so many ways to counter this argument. Not all games are competitive challenges nor need to be experienced as one. Then there’s the fact that people play games for different reasons. Not everyone sees every activity as an opportunity for continuous self improvement. In fact rendering the entire human condition into terms of winning or losing is not really the most flexible philosophy for navigating life. And then there’s the concept that failure is an invaluable learning tool and that it should be embraced instead of eschewed. All of these and many more counter points have often been employed to address the assertion that if you’re not learning and improving, then you’re playing the game wrong. But the one aspect of Ninja’s comments that I’d like to focus upon is the notion that you need to get “angry” and that not having an emotional response to losing is a failing. I find it a troubling comment because of his fanbase and audience. They tend to be mainly teenagers and young people. Gamers who play such titles as Fortnite and Apex Legends. Many of whom are just starting out in life and having to find their way around the complexities of the modern world. I don’t believe that encouraging anger as a means of motivation is the best advice one can give or that it will yield positive results.
Anger is an emotional response. There is such a thing as “righteous anger” but I don’t think it is relevant to losing a video game. It’s something I more associate with lobbying and campaigning. The survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have a justifiable reason to be legitimately angry. Losing your shit because you lost a game of Fortnite seems somewhat shallow and self indulgent. Exactly what or whom are you angry with anyway? Yourself for your own poor performance? Well that may well be a legitimate concern but wouldn’t it be more useful to turn that rage into a dogged determination to improve? And as for anger at your opponent, well that’s something you need to come to terms with if you wish to grow emotionally. If competitive gaming of any kind evolves into a mass sulk-fest, then all you end up doing is driving people away. I don’t like to be around people continuously losing their temper and getting angry. Ill worlds and behaviour promote ill feelings. Plus I don’t consider emotional outbursts to be some form of uncompromised self expression. What ever happened to such concepts as being gracious in defeat, learning from your mistakes and the spirit of the game. Is there no longer joy in competing or is it now just a case of winning and everything else is “crap”?
Another aspect of Ninja’s comments that has given me pause for thought, is that they seem to reveal a need for validation. Competitive gaming is like many other sports, driven by aspirations to be the best. There’s nothing wrong with such motivations but they can also be fueled by a desire for ego stroking and public adulation. Furthermore, when I see terms like “craft” it clearly indicates to me that here is someone who considers what they’re doing to be a serious and skilled undertaking. In this instance it is Ninja’s perspective on competitive gaming. But such sentiments necessarily apply to the gamer who’s playing at home for their own amusement, or with friends for the fun of social interaction. The validation that Ninja has sought and found in his relationship with gaming, may not exist for others who pursue their hobby in a different manner and for different reasons. Youth has enough social pressures placed upon them in the 21st century. Seeking some sort of fulfilment through professional gaming is not going to be readily available or even possible for all. I wouldn’t like it to see it advocated as yet another path to happiness.
The “it’s only a game” argument comes back regularly like a bad penny. Looking back at my own writing, I seem to get a blog post out of the subject at least once a year. That and the other old favourite, “you’re playing wrong”. However, despite my advocacy that a healthy sense of detachment is good with regard to all passionate pursuits, I do understand why someone like Ninja finds his hackles rising when the old “it’s only a game” adage is trotted out. I believe it comes down to the fact that the statement carries a whiff of dismissal. That in some circumstances, the person using this old chestnut is putting down, pooh-poohing or looking down on something that others have invested a great deal into. I do believe that some games can be art and that gaming per se is as valid a leisure pursuit as fishing or Kabbadi. However, there are those (and it’s usually a generational divide) who think the opposite. Where I and possibly Ninja differ, is that I don’t worry about others opinions, nor feel the need to convince them otherwise. I do not wish or need their approval. Wouldn’t it be easier to simply evangelise about what you love to those who already do the same, rather than demanding “respect” from those who don’t wish to give it?
Considering the platform that Ninja commands, it would be nice to see him disseminating more nuanced and thoughtful ideas. But I guess when you have reached his position in the gaming food chain, his perspective is naturally going to be somewhat skewed. When I first saw his comments, I was initially reminded of how certain sports personalities, particularly boxers and cage fighters, sometimes regale us with their thoughts on contemporary masculinity, racial diversity and sexual politics. Often these are considered to be out of step with modern sensibilities and “progressive” thinking. But again when one considers such individuals, their personal background and world experiences, it’s hardly surprising that they hold such worldviews. So taking stock of the situation, I guess Ninja’s comments should not come as a surprise. Nor the ensuing debate. Life is cyclical, so I see no reason why gaming culture should be any different. The only thing that changes as a result of the passage of time is my response. 15 years ago I’d stridently refute Ninja’s perspective and add my voice to the growing cacophony. Now I just muse upon the flaws inherent in such tweets, if indeed they are indeed flaws. Or is this just another manufactured debacle because Fortnite has another season starting soon?
Deathtrap Dungeon: The Interactive Adventure
I watched Welsh Troll stream Deathtrap Dungeon: The Interactive Adventure this morning and was instantly hooked by this bold new adaptation of a much beloved adventure gamebook. So I subsequently purchased the game via Steam for £7.99 which is a very reasonable price. Despite being in early access, this game’s old school appeal is instantly apparent. Based upon the 1984 book by Ian Livingstone, it perfectly captures the tone and spirit of source text. Rather than providing a visual depiction of navigating a dungeon as previous video game adaptations have done, the developers, Branching Narrative, have opted for a minimalist narrative interpretation. Hence we have actor Eddie Marsan sitting in a battered leather chair, telling the story of Baron Sukumvit's "Trial of Champions” and how those who undertake the challenge must traverse a dangerous subterranean labyrinth, from which none have ever returned. There are occasional illustrations to orientate the player but overall this is an intimate experience between the player and narrator, without an excess of visual distractions. It focuses on the power of imagination and storytelling.
I watched Welsh Troll stream Deathtrap Dungeon: The Interactive Adventure this morning and was instantly hooked by this bold new adaptation of a much beloved adventure gamebook. So I subsequently purchased the game via Steam for £7.99 which is a very reasonable price. Despite being in early access, this game’s old school appeal is instantly apparent. Based upon the 1984 book by Ian Livingstone, it perfectly captures the tone and spirit of source text. Rather than providing a visual depiction of navigating a dungeon as previous video game adaptations have done, the developers, Branching Narrative, have opted for a minimalist narrative interpretation. Hence we have actor Eddie Marsan sitting in a battered leather chair, telling the story of Baron Sukumvit's "Trial of Champions” and how those who undertake the challenge must traverse a dangerous subterranean labyrinth, from which none have ever returned. There are occasional illustrations to orientate the player but overall this is an intimate experience between the player and narrator, without an excess of visual distractions. It focuses on the power of imagination and storytelling.
When first published, books with branching narratives were quite a novelty. However, despite the innovation of the format they are essentially a linear experience. Therefore, simply duplicating that structure visually, may not necessarily make for a “good” gaming experience. Hence developers Branching Narrative have decided to add additional mechanics, so that the player has more involvement in the unfolding story and a degree of control over their character’s performance. As a result, there are battles where the players statistics are combined with the score from the roll of a pair of dice. There are also the option to use consumables to heal or to boost stamina. The player can also tactically withdraw if they see fit to do so, although that too comes with a penalty. Then there’s an inventory system for storing items that you find along the way. These further add an element of interaction, affording the player more than just a series of binary choices. Furthermore, fights can potentially be avoided if a door can be opened and an obstacle bypassed. But such a choice may again have consequences. All these decisions impact on the story’s outcome, making it more like a video game without compromising the original narrative format
I grew up in the seventies and eighties when adventure gamebooks and Dungeons and Dragons were commonplace aspects of a child’s entertainment (or at least within the social circles that I moved in). Deathtrap Dungeon: The Interactive Adventure immediately taps into this sense of nostalgia and also references wider aspects of pop culture from those decades. Seeing Eddie Marsan so eloquently narrate this dungeon adventure, made me reflect upon such TV shows as Jim Henson’s The Storyteller and the BBC’s Jackanory. The additional game mechanics that Branching Narrative have added ensure that this is more than just a story with multiple endings. The player has more agency over their character's fate and the save feature even allows you to “correct” a mistake or poor decision if you wish to. Overall, Deathtrap Dungeon: The Interactive Adventure is a very intelligent and immensely enjoyable adaptation of an old classic. It is a great contrast to the overblown visuals of many contemporary, so-called Triple A video games. For the best results, play at a time when you won’t be disturbed and at a measured pace, in an environment without any additional distractions. That way you can savour the game’s atmosphere and Eddie Marsan’s dramatic narration.
We Need a New Video Games Lexicon
Some video game related subjects are “hardy perennials”, to coin a gardening term. As are the blog posts, forum thread and subreddits that explore them. I read an article over at Massively Overpowered that posed the question “How essential are hardcore gamers to an MMO’s health?”. It wasn’t the actual main premise that got me thinking, but a minor side dispute that arose about the definition of a specific term. And that term was “hardcore”. It’s a phrase that’s been associated with video game culture for over two decades. Yet there is no single, immutable dictionary definition as to what this term specifically means. Which is odd for a word that is extremely commonplace in video games parlance. Because of its elastic nature it leads a lot of scope for misinterpretation when used, be it deliberately or accidentally. So I made a self indulgent comment on the original post in which I paraphrased some dialogue from the 1986 movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
McCoy : How essential are “hardcore” gamers to an MMO’s health?
Spock : It is impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame-of-reference.
Some video game related subjects are “hardy perennials”, to coin a gardening term. As are the blog posts, forum thread and subreddits that explore them. I read an article over at Massively Overpowered that posed the question “How essential are hardcore gamers to an MMO’s health?”. It wasn’t the actual main premise that got me thinking, but a minor side dispute that arose about the definition of a specific term. And that term was “hardcore”. It’s a phrase that’s been associated with video game culture for over two decades. Yet there is no single, immutable dictionary definition as to what this term specifically means. Which is odd for a word that is extremely commonplace in video games parlance. Because of its elastic nature it leads a lot of scope for misinterpretation when used, be it deliberately or accidentally. So I made a self indulgent comment on the original post in which I paraphrased some dialogue from the 1986 movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
McCoy : How essential are “hardcore” gamers to an MMO’s health?
Spock : It is impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame-of-reference.
Words, semantics and languages are complex things. None of these things remain static and they all evolve over time. Words and phrases are often co-opted and adapted, leading to a situation where their very meaning varies depending upon who you’re addressing. The mosy obvious example is the word “gay” which has changed a lot in my lifetime. As have such words as “sick” or “pimp”. Slang is a particularly fluid aspect of language. Naturally gaming culture is no different. Which brings me onto the term “hardcore”. Does it mean a passionate player who dedicates a lot of time to a specific game? Or is this about the raiding community and those pursuing achievements and seek to test their skills? Alternatively, does the phrase refer to a player who sees the game and the way in which it is played within a very rigid framework? Or is it simply a player who may not technically achieve much but is a consummate fan and evangelist of the game they love? Frankly the word “hardcore” in the gaming context, could embrace all these meanings.
Which leads me neatly to my final point. The video games industry has changed greatly in the last three decades. Terms that once succinctly defined genres are now vague. Should we still even use such phrases as MMORPG anymore, or would it be better to come up with new terms to describe games that share aspects of the old definition but also have newer attributes. It is important to have a common lexicon so that the gaming community can communicate effectively and clearly. If we all use terms which have a universally accepted definition, then conversations will not get bogged down in ambiguity and unnecessary misunderstandings. Such clarity would also be beneficial for the video games industry when communicating with its customers. Sadly, the cynic in me also thinks that having such obsolete terms still in common use serves a wider business purpose. Vagueness can be used to sell a product based upon an erroneous interpretation. It can also deflect blame and legal culpability.
Gaming Ambassadors
Over four years ago, I wrote a blog post discussing the concept of “Digital Ambassadors” and how they can be an invaluable source of goodwill and promotion that compliments the traditional marketing departments and PR associated with leisure industries. A smart business sees the value of fans and the contribution they make in getting "the message" across. I recently sent in a question to the Massively OP Podcast which specifically raised this issue with regard to the the MMORPG community. There was a time when key bloggers and podcasters became integral to the promotion of specific games and that they became an unofficial form of community management. In my question I also suggested that this has waned due to the rise of Twitch TV and YouTube and that the personalities that arise from these platforms are free agents who tend to follow the latest trends. They are not so tied to one specific community. Justin and Bree kindly addressed my question on the show and it made for a very interesting discussion. Many of the points they raised had crossed my mind as well.
Over four years ago, I wrote a blog post discussing the concept of “Digital Ambassadors” and how they can be an invaluable source of goodwill and promotion that compliments the traditional marketing departments and PR associated with leisure industries. A smart business sees the value of fans and the contribution they make in getting "the message" across. I recently sent in a question to the Massively OP Podcast which specifically raised this issue with regard to the the MMORPG community. There was a time when key bloggers and podcasters became integral to the promotion of specific games and that they became an unofficial form of community management. In my question I also suggested that this has waned due to the rise of Twitch TV and YouTube and that the personalities that arise from these platforms are free agents who tend to follow the latest trends. They are not so tied to one specific community. Justin and Bree kindly addressed my question on the show and it made for a very interesting discussion. Many of the points they raised had crossed my mind as well.
I believe there is still a role for “Gaming Ambassadors” although the way that role presents itself has changed. In some ways, the Massively OP Podcast provides the service that some prominent game blogs or shows used to. The only difference is Justin and Bree advocate on behalf of multiple games instead of just one. But the enthusiasm and willingness to help is there and the show is happy to provide a platform for players, devs and pundits alike. There are other shows that are associated with particular games but a lot seem to have become quasi-official. Take the Priority One Podcast for STO for example. Often when gaining access to those that actually create and run a game, there is a degree of editorial compromise required. Hence some content creators find themselves as “poacher turned gamekeeper” to coin an old phrase. Editorial independence is not something to give up lightly but it is often the price of admission such inner circles. This is something that Massively OP Podcast has not done.
Fandom per se, has certainly become more mainstream over the last two decades. Conventions are now seen as lucrative, wide reaching marketing opportunities. They are no longer seen as niche nerd social activities. But I feel that the “commercialisation and commodification” of fandom has also made it more ephemeral. Yes, there still are fan sites dedicated to just one game who invest heavily in their community but the main focus is now on other platforms and “influencers”. The major difference is that contemporary internet personalities that gain traction are usually not exclusively wedded to just one community. A game will be played and its virtuals extolled until it ceases to be popular. When that occurs, it’s onto the next big thing and there’s nothing wrong with this approach. Ultimately, the games that popular YouTubers and Streamers play are secondary to their “personality”, which is often the key to their following.
In my lifetime fandom has evolved. In the seventies, we hand crafted fanzines. We typed the content, cut it out and inserted pictures, then took them to the printers and had as many copies produced for as cheap a price as possible. Then along came the home PC and self publishing became easier and more professional. The internet then put content online and its reach became far bigger. And then along came social media and the focus changed very quickly from blogs and podcasts, to videos, streams and subreddits. And like any other leisure market, its widening reach and increasing diversity has also led to smaller, more insular communities.
I do not doubt that there’s a specific place that’s the community focus of Black Desert Online and that in the months to come, they’ll be a similar space for the MMO New World. But I think that these communal focal points will be far more targeted than those we’ve previously seen and will be more specific to their player base, using more immediate social media platforms. They may also come and go more quickly as gamers consume and then move on. Hence I am beginning to think my nostalgic affection for the LOTRO podcast, A Casual Stroll to Mordor, is just that. The show existed and thrived within the internet and fan context of the time. And times change and that specific era I remember has gone and been replaced with something similar and different. “It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be”. Isaac Asimov.
ESO: The Problem with Update 25
ZeniMax are allegedly addressing some major performance issues with the forthcoming Update 25 for The Elder Scrolls Online. If this latest patch improves loading times, the game’s overall performance and makes updating the client faster, then it will be well received by players. However, Update 25 requires players to reinstall the entire game client due to technical reasons. Furthermore, the patch is not going to be available prior to release on Monday February 24th, so player’s cannot download the necessary files in advance. Unfortunately, as soon as the patch server comes online, all players will have to reinstall the full ESO client and wait accordingly. Considering the disparity between internet connections in the US and Europe, player experience will vary greatly. Some will download the client in hours where others will have to simply leave their PC running and wait all day. Considering the popularity of ESO and the estimated size of its player base, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are queues or connectivity issues.
ZeniMax are allegedly addressing some major performance issues with the forthcoming Update 25 for The Elder Scrolls Online. If this latest patch improves loading times, the game’s overall performance and makes updating the client faster, then it will be well received by players. However, Update 25 requires players to reinstall the entire game client due to technical reasons. Furthermore, the patch is not going to be available prior to release on Monday February 24th, so player’s cannot download the necessary files in advance. Unfortunately, as soon as the patch server comes online, all players will have to reinstall the full ESO client and wait accordingly. Considering the disparity between internet connections in the US and Europe, player experience will vary greatly. Some will download the client in hours where others will have to simply leave their PC running and wait all day. Considering the popularity of ESO and the estimated size of its player base, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are queues or connectivity issues.
At present, the game client for ESO is about 90GB. Hardly surprising, considering how much the game has grown since its launch in 2014. This is a substantial download by anyone's standards and it is worth remembering that there are still many players that have ADSL internet connections which are throttled to a maximum speed and that come with a data cap. Simply put, reinstalling the entire game is a major headache for them. It has to be done and I’m sure most players will doggedly go about installing Update 25, while “grinning and bearing it”, as the expression goes. But for many it may mean several days on not playing while the download is undertaken in stages. There are also bound to be some players who have a particular permutation of hardware, that results in a fully reinstalled client that won’t launch for some obscure reason. And then, for those who manage to install the download without any hitch, there is the entire issue of addons and how they will inevitably be broken.
I therefore think that ZeniMax has potentially failed to grasp what a big deal totally reinstalling the game client is. Players do appreciate that the patch is ultimately beneficial to them but the logistics of installing it come with an element of risk as well as inconvenience. It may take a long time to download and install, there’s the risk of errors and there could even be financial implications if they find themselves exceeding their data cap. Hence offering a free cosmetic pet (in this case it’s a Crimson Torchbug) doesn’t really strike me as the best way to placate paying customers. Perhaps an allocation of crowns would be more tangible. At the very least I would have liked a more empathetic post on the Official ESO website. The existing one acknowledges that reinstalling the game is a pain but still happily goes along with the notion that it isn’t a big deal. Well, sorry to contradict you ZeniMax but it is.
Star Trek Online: Keeping Busy
Although the 10th anniversary event is still ongoing in Star Trek Online, the overall excitement seems to be ebbing. I have played the new two part Feature Episode and it is indeed a thoroughly enjoyable fan service. Cryptic hit exactly the right tone with this story and it has re-invigorated my enthusiasm for the Star Trek franchise as a whole. I have managed to organise things so that I can complete the Omega Molecule Stabilisation anniversary event early each morning. This way I can complete this quick 15 minute task before I leave the house. I’m hoping to be able to claim the new ship early next week. However, overall I have little to do in the game at present. I did some housekeeping and deleted some unused alts, after asset stripping them of anything of note. I also cleaned up my personal bank and either “salvaged” or sold numerous items that weren’t currently being used. I have placed all my Tier 5U ships into Dry Dock and rationalised my active Tier 6 vessels. I am now setting myself some minor goals, as a means of keeping busy, until further new content is released.
Although the 10th anniversary event is still ongoing in Star Trek Online, the overall excitement seems to be ebbing. I have played the new two part Feature Episode and it is indeed a thoroughly enjoyable fan service. Cryptic hit exactly the right tone with this story and it has re-invigorated my enthusiasm for the Star Trek franchise as a whole. I have managed to organise things so that I can complete the Omega Molecule Stabilisation anniversary event early each morning. This way I can complete this quick 15 minute task before I leave the house. I’m hoping to be able to claim the new ship early next week. However, overall I have little to do in the game at present. I did some housekeeping and deleted some unused alts, after asset stripping them of anything of note. I also cleaned up my personal bank and either “salvaged” or sold numerous items that weren’t currently being used. I have placed all my Tier 5U ships into Dry Dock and rationalised my active Tier 6 vessels. I am now setting myself some minor goals, as a means of keeping busy, until further new content is released.
Whilst organising my ships, I noticed that several had not reached full Starship Mastery. This is a simple five tier experience system for each individual T5U/T6 ship. Each level unlocks a trait relevant to that ship and full mastery offers a unique starship trait which can then be slotted regardless of what ship you are using. Some ships have especially desirable top tier traits. So I’ve been rotating through a variety of vessels and taking part in various Task Force Operations and Battlezones to gain the necessary mastery XP. It is worth doing some research beforehand as some of these activities offer more XP than others and there are a few that offer no XP at all. One of the benefits of alternating between a wide variety of vessels in a short period of time, is that you quickly get a feel for their respective strengths and weaknesses. It is also a great way of determining what suits your play style and then deciding what would be your best choice in the long run.
Something else that I’m doing to keep busy, is completing various Duty Officer Assignment Chains, although it is not exactly “enthralling”. I’ve never really been that invested in the entire Duty Officer sub-game in STO and have only done what is immediately available to me. As I’m by default usually hanging out at Earth Spacedock, I have run mainly the assignments that are presented there or at Starfleet Academy. Over time I have achieved Rank 4 in all commendation categories but have ignored the assignment chains associated with Sector Space. Hence, I am currently rotating between the Delta Volanis Cluster, the Eridan Belt and the Khazan Cluster. Once these are complete I’ll just progress through the others assignment nodes in each Sector. It does provide a useful alternative means to earn further Dilithium and bespoke Duty Officers.
After having watched a few YouTube videos, I’ve been replaying selected missions to earn various items that are still deemed to be of benefit. Over the last decade a lot of gear sets have fallen out of favour as the prevailing optimal combat meta has moved on. Several years ago, Antiproton weapons were “king”, but once the Embassy Consoles that enhanced them were nerfed, they were quickly superseded as the go to weapon of choice. I personally always like to use Phaser weapons with my Federation ships, so I tend to just find a practical build that enhances their use. I do not have the best traits and gear as much of these are tied to specific ships that can only be obtained from lootboxes. So I use my common sense and work with what I can obtain from the Reputation System and Fleet Resources. It can be fun to try different permutations of equipment and as I’m between major projects at present, this is a good time for a little experimentation. Hopefully, these relatively low key activities can keep me busy and engaged with STO for the immediate future.
Caring for the Elderly: Part 10
My Mother, who has had limited mobility for a decade, fell and broke her arm just before Christmas. She subsequently spent nine weeks at a specialist rehabilitation unit at our local hospital. During that time she had surgery on her arm to repair the fracture and extensive physiotherapy to try and increase her mobility. She was discharged at the beginning of February with a support package in place to facilitate her return home. Sadly, despite physiotherapy, she is immobile as the day she was admitted. Until she sees the Consultant at the Fracture Clinic and is told if her arm can bear weight, she is not allowed to do anything for herself. Hence she is currently having four home visits a day from two carers and is confined to her bedroom. The carers help her get washed, dressed and use the commode in her room. Naturally, the current situation and the inability to do anything for herself, along with the uncertainty of her long term recovery and future, is causing a great deal of anxiety not only for my Mother but the rest of the family as well. At present we have a 3 week wait before she gets to see the consultant.
My Mother, who has had limited mobility for a decade, fell and broke her arm just before Christmas. She subsequently spent nine weeks at a specialist rehabilitation unit at our local hospital. During that time she had surgery on her arm to repair the fracture and extensive physiotherapy to try and increase her mobility. She was discharged at the beginning of February with a support package in place to facilitate her return home. Sadly, despite physiotherapy, she is immobile as the day she was admitted. Until she sees the Consultant at the Fracture Clinic and is told if her arm can bear weight, she is not allowed to do anything for herself. Hence she is currently having four home visits a day from two carers and is confined to her bedroom. The carers help her get washed, dressed and use the commode in her room. Naturally, the current situation and the inability to do anything for herself, along with the uncertainty of her long term recovery and future, is causing a great deal of anxiety not only for my Mother but the rest of the family as well. At present we have a 3 week wait before she gets to see the consultant.
My Mother’s return home has inevitably caused some logistical problems. The first is managing the multiple visits by carers to the premises. My disabled Father has his own carers who tend to his needs twice a day, along with two visits from the District Nurse. My Mother now has four visits of her own. These comings and goings have been scheduled as to not conflict with my Sisters routine. She lives with my parents and has a fulltime job. Then there is the actual management of the carers themselves. Anyone who has had experience with such services will know it is somewhat of a lottery. Some are superb, some are adequate and others are barely competent and have to be micromanaged. So far the care company has broadly supplied staff who are very professional. Mainly, those coming to the house are experienced and adaptable. However, a few less experienced carers have come at the weekend and not shut doors or locked the premises properly, which is cause for concern. For the present, myself and my Sister are trying to accommodate this new daily regime during its initial stages. Sadly, I cannot be on site indefinitely and I need to have full confidence that all care duties are undertaken properly along with ensuring the house is secure.
The second issue is that although carers can assist my Mother with washing, dressing and toilet breaks, they cannot provide her with any long term companionship. In between visits, she is alone in her room without company of any immediate form of entertainment or interaction. I am concerned that there will be both physical and mental health consequences as a result of this. The local Community Physiotherapy Team has supplied an Orthopedic chair but my Mother struggles to sit up in it. After a week she is already developing lower back pain due to her posture. This could potentially worsen over the next three weeks if not addressed. Recent changes in my Mother’s medication, made while she was in hospital have also caused some problems. She is currently having difficulty swallowing which is worrying. And then there is the psychological aspect to my Mother’s condition. She spends large amounts of time, alone with only her own thoughts for company. She is bored, agitated and generally sad. Lack of mobility leads to continence issues which are distressing for a lady of her age. Having to be dependent on others to assist in washing, dressing and going to the toilet is not something that everyone is immediately comfortable with. Loss of dignity is a major contribution to her overall unhappiness.
So far we have spent a week as a family trying to find a routine that works. It has been a very fluid situation so far. There was an initial requirement for numerous practical items which we did not have. So we had to buy a hospital table, water jugs, lightweight cutlery and utensils, wet wipes, and sanitary disposal bags. My Mother’s bedroom had to be rearranged to accommodate a hospital bed, commode and Orthopedic chair. A lot of her personal items had to be cleared away to free up space for healthcare products and medication. As so many people are now coming and going from my Mother’s room, there needs to be space and clear access. I also had to remove the carpet and have easy to clean linoleum put down instead. When dealing with commodes, there is always scope for accidents and keeping the carpet simply wasn’t practical or hygienic. I managed to get my local GP to visit recently and she is concerned that being sedentary for 9 hours a day may cause additional health issues for my Mother. She also notes that simply waiting 3 weeks for an appointment while confined to a single room is not beneficial for her mental well being. Hence, I have asked Social Services to look into the possibility of short term respite care in an more suitable environment. If for whatever reason this cannot be provided, then we may bypass the Local Authority and simply self fund it. It will cost about £2,500 for 14 days.
At present everything hinges upon the Fracture Clinic appointment and whether the Consultant thinks my Mother’s left arm can now bear weight. If they say it can, then physiotherapy will resume and we can determine whether my Mother can increase her mobility. Naturally we want this to happen but we have to be realistic about the bigger picture. Irrespective of my Mother’s fall and subsequent broken arm, she has Chronic Arthritis and her mobility has always been destined to decrease regardless of other factors. There is a good chance that her current state of health is the new baseline. If she cannot rebuild the muscle in her left arm, then she cannot use her walking frame. If she cannot use her walking frame then she cannot come down stairs to the lounge and resume her normal habits. If the status quo prevails, then she faces being confined to one room and I cannot allow that to be the extent of her remaining life. Hence there may well be some tough questions to consider come the end of March. However, for the next two months it is just a waiting game. As ever, I am considering all possibilities and exploring them should they arise. It is a rather bleak undertaking for all concerned. We are hoping for the best while simultaneously planning for the worst.
Hand-Me-Down Technology
Just before Christmas as part of my ongoing mobile phone contract, I upgraded my handset to a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. This left me with a Samsung Galaxy S8, that I no longer needed. Usually, I sell old handsets online as they tend to hold their value. But as this one had a few knocks and scrapes (due to one single unfortunate drop), I couldn’t really get a good price for it. However, quite to my surprise, Mrs P expressed an interest in it. This was unusual as she is somewhere between a technology Muggle and a militant Luddite. But she does appreciate the practical necessity of having a smartphone these days and her existing Motorola Moto G was no longer fit for purpose. So I bought her a case for the S8, which covered the minor damage to the handset, unlocked it so she could use it with her network and transferred all her personal data. She seems content with its capabilities and so this handset continues to be of practical use. This naturally got me thinking about the nature of hand-me-down technology.
Just before Christmas as part of my ongoing mobile phone contract, I upgraded my handset to a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. This left me with a Samsung Galaxy S8, that I no longer needed. Usually, I sell old handsets online as they tend to hold their value. But as this one had a few knocks and scrapes (due to one single unfortunate drop), I couldn’t really get a good price for it. However, quite to my surprise, Mrs P expressed an interest in it. This was unusual as she is somewhere between a technology Muggle and a militant Luddite. But she does appreciate the practical necessity of having a smartphone these days and her existing Motorola Moto G was no longer fit for purpose. So I bought her a case for the S8, which covered the minor damage to the handset, unlocked it so she could use it with her network and transferred all her personal data. She seems content with its capabilities and so this handset continues to be of practical use. This naturally got me thinking about the nature of hand-me-down technology.
Over the last three decades there has been a proliferation of consumer technology. This cultural shift has seen gadgets and devices become readily available to all and evolve beyond mere functionality into fashion accessories. But as technology has become cheaper and more disposable, we are left with an ever growing supply of obsolete, redundant or simply older products. Often these can still be of use but may simply not have the latest specifications. At present I have a 4 year old Android Tablet, 2 older PCs with Intel Core i5 and i3 processors and several phone handsets sitting in a bedroom cupboard. I also have numerous old PC peripherals and items of obsolete technology like portable MP3 players or PDAs. There are also bags full of cables, docking stations, HDD caddies, old modems and routers, as well as a plethora of AC power adaptors for devices I can no longer identify. Rather than just take all this to the local borough recycling facility, I’ve decided to see if I can find homes for some of these items.
Passing on an old PC is not too difficult to do. Reformatting the hard disk and removing all personal data is essential but hardly a chore. If you search online, it’s not too difficult to find cheap OEM Windows 10 keys. Hence a clean and legitimate installation of the operating system can be done for a few pounds. The tricky part is finding the right person to give the “refurbished” PC to. Donating or selling an old PC to someone does not come with an obligation to provide technical support but sadly the opposite is often assumed. Make sure that whoever ends up with your old PC fully understands they are taking it “as is”. If they buy it from you, have something worded to that effect on a receipt and get them to sign it. Mercifully, you don’t get such problems with tablets and old phones. My old tablet can still be used quite well for reading ebooks and listening to podcasts. As long as whoever inherits it knows its technical limitations, this can be passed on and be of service for a few more years. As for older phone handsets, I was surprised to learn that they find favour in certain quarters specifically due to the limited functionality. I read that small charities like them for their staff as they provide a low cost means of communications without any obvious scope for personal misuse.
Hence, I already have a few ideas as to how I may be able to dispose of my current cupboard full of old technology. I think some of the peripherals and cables will have to be recycled but the hardware should prove useful to others. It is worth remembering that although phones, tablets and PCs have indeed fallen in price in recent years, their respective cost is still relative. There are still families on low incomes where even buying a budget PC is a major financial outlay. Therefore, if selling isn’t an option, then giving away to a worthy cause or individual is a good alternative. It is something I’ve done in the past. Plus, not everyone needs or wants to be at the cutting edge of technology. In fact, there are times when older technology has distinct advantages. Older PCs can have a Linux installation and serve as a media server within the home. Left to this single task, they’ll be stable and reliable. And you’ll certainly get much longer battery life out of pre-smartphone handsets. So hopefully, I’ll have disposed of all my old tech by the end of the month in an ethical and environmentally friendly fashion.
The Problem with Raiding
The subject of raiding in MMOs raised its head once again over at Massively Overpowered. It would appear that ArenaNet have been looking into the current raiding content in Guild Wars 2 and found that it is only undertaken by a relatively small percentage of the playerbase. Hence they are currently looking at producing some sort of intermediary content to encourage “endgamers” who have completed all the PVE material, to work towards raiding. Whether they are successful remains to be seen but it does show once again that raiding is not a universal pastime in the MMO genre. I remember Turbine making a similar statement to this effect, back when they were developing The Lord of the Rings Online. But this post is not intended as a discussion about the validity of raiding or any of the traditional debates associated with it. I think raiding has a place in the genre. What I want to do is state the reasons why it is not something I actively do anymore. I suspect my experience is not unique.
The subject of raiding in MMOs raised its head once again over at Massively Overpowered. It would appear that ArenaNet have been looking into the current raiding content in Guild Wars 2 and found that it is only undertaken by a relatively small percentage of the playerbase. Hence they are currently looking at producing some sort of intermediary content to encourage “endgamers” who have completed all the PVE material, to work towards raiding. Whether they are successful remains to be seen but it does show once again that raiding is not a universal pastime in the MMO genre. I remember Turbine making a similar statement to this effect, back when they were developing The Lord of the Rings Online. But this post is not intended as a discussion about the validity of raiding or any of the traditional debates associated with it. I think raiding has a place in the genre. What I want to do is state the reasons why it is not something I actively do anymore. I suspect my experience is not unique.
Time: I have in the past done a degree of raiding in LOTRO. This was during a period of my life when I was living alone, worked from home and had the time necessary to undertake this aspect of MMO gaming. Time is a key aspect of raiding and the MMO genre per se. Raiding requires assembling people online at a specific time. Something that is akin to herding cats, because often your raid team will live across multiple time zones. Some will have been raised in heathen cultures that have no concept of punctuality. Also let us not forget that “real life” can get in the way. Once you have everyone online you next have to ensure that they are good to go. Does everyone have the right consumables? Have they switched to the right builds and brought the right gear? All these things take time because they involve “people”. Then you need to allot the appropriate time to actually play through the content. You may wipe and have to do it again. I can recollect times where we started a raid at 8:45 PM and finished roundabout 1:00 AM. So to summarise, raiding is a major time sink that I can no longer afford.
The Human Factor: If you are a member of a well run Guild, then raiding will often be organised by even tempered, supportive individuals with good communication skills. It is also incumbent upon those participating to do their best, follow any instructions and keep their wits about them. If there are any issues, then calmly raise them as combat in raids can be a fluid situation. But it doesn’t always go this way. Simply put, the human factor can complicate things. People are not all the same. There are a multitude of factors to consider such as egos and different personalities. Hence there is much scope for a group to pull in different directions as there is for them to work together. Plus some people do not perform well in a team dynamic. Extroverts and introverts are not always compatible. Then there are those players who tolerate the group requirement of raiding because they want the achievement or the rewards on offer. I fall into the latter category and have no time for “drama” or players who are high maintenance. I’ve also had my fair share of bad experiences with pick-up groups. Therefore, if a raid is populated by people I do not know and trust, then I’m not likely to participate.
Quid Pro Quo: I do not see raiding as a test of character nor do I see it as a prestige event that if undertaken successfully, confirms status. It is simply a process with complex systems and fail states. These mechanics can be learned, just like any other form of choreography. Undertaking raid content requires preparation, organisation and a degree of skill. Players have to make a considerable investment of time and effort when raiding. Therefore, I see the entire process as a “quid pro quo”. If you successfully complete content you should be given a reward. Rewards should scale according to how many of the raid’s criteria you have met. Drops should not be random, nor should players run the risk of receiving rewards that are of no benefit to them. Raiding should be a clearly defined enterprise. If you do what is required then you get the reward that was advertised. If you partially complete the terms of the raid then you get a lower tier reward, again something that you knew about in advance. You should never leave empty handed if you have succeeded, nor should you be palmed off with junk. Any raid that cannot honour this social contract is poorly conceived.