What is it with experienced drivers complaining about P Platers speeding? Although its occasionally true (we have no experience of speed), I find its almost the exact reverse.
Yesterday I sat in my car driving down the 70kmh dual carriage road whilst cars overtook me driving way past the posted speed limit. This is clearly against the posted rules of the road and had there been a policeman with a radar gun there, those speeding drivers would have been behind me all the way. Either that, or on the side of the road getting a ticket.
On Sunday I was at a party where people were talking about P platers as if they were all speeding madmen/women. Of course, they didn't mean me, because I drive fairly cautiously (I have to, the roads are all full of speeding experienced drivers).
Its odd, you know. As the old adage goes, people speed faster than you, or drive way too slowly than you. But of course, to them its the other way around - you drive too fast or drive too slowly.
Me? I drive at the posted limit. I'm not in a hurry, I like to get to where I'm going with as less stress as possible and, to be honest, who cares if I'm 10 minutes late.
This isn't London, after all.
April 28, 2009
April 02, 2009
The ever winding road
The journey [pun intended] that I started 6 months ago has finally come to an end; at least, the formal journey has, but the road of unofficial learning continues ever on.
Six months ago, I decided to finally suck it up and learn to drive. As I had previously blogged, I had no need to drive in London as the transport infrastructure is such that its easy to get around on public transport.
In late September I called up an instructor and asked for a lesson, explaining that I was an older and nervous and that I had never driven anything before - such was my reticence on driving that I hadn't done anything for nine months after I had passed my Theory Test.
The lesson was simply amazing; driving at 15kmh, I drove around the small roads and even moved around parked cars. By lesson three, I was going at 90kmh along major roads.
My instructor felt I wasn't entirely ready for my practical test and kept putting back my test time after time after time, even though everyone else I'd driven with had said I was fine. I was cautious, I looked before turning, etc. If anything, I only had a problem with judging distances (I've had this issue for as long as I remember) when making turns. But nothing that would impede my test.
After a long preamble, my instructor agreed to 2 pre-tests so that I could see what the final test would be like. The first pre-test ended with me driving straight (lane changing) through a dual-lane roundabout essentially causing a huge traffic violation that would have had me automatically failing. But as I did it, I knew what I'd done - and that it would never happen again; and thats when I fell to pieces and had to pull over to one side to recover.
The second pre-test was a bit better but the instructor took me out of the way of the test and I failed to slow down enough when coming to speed bumps - another automatic fail. What annoyed me the most there was that that road was not on the test, so I would never have failed anything. Sticking to my guns, I stubbornly asked for the test to commence.
On the 21st of January, I finally took the test. It lasted 30 minutes but it felt like only 10 minutes had passed. I made a few errors but overall I was happy with my performance, and when I was told I had passed, I was over the moon.
After that, it was a laborious 6 weeks to get my 25 Hours Supervised driving logged (a practice to stop teenagers from jumping in their new car and wrapping it around a tree or around a family) and finally on the 20th of March, I took my Hazard Perception Test.
The Hazard Perception Test is a computer exam with flash-based videos to determine if the learner driver understands what hazards actually are - from sand on the roads to a motorcycle concealed behind a turning truck, to knowing when to safely over take. The questions were fairly ambiguous too as on occasion not slowing down was the safest thing to do. Another 30 minutes of testing and I had passed. I finally realised that the Hazard Perception Test was not really evaluating my understanding of the rules of the road, but whether or not I had falsified the 25 logged hours of supervised driving...
I now drive a White Hyundai Accent car, air conditioning inclusive. Its not the fastest car in the world nor the prettiest. Nor the most kitted out.
But for all those failings, its MY car.
Six months ago, I decided to finally suck it up and learn to drive. As I had previously blogged, I had no need to drive in London as the transport infrastructure is such that its easy to get around on public transport.
In late September I called up an instructor and asked for a lesson, explaining that I was an older and nervous and that I had never driven anything before - such was my reticence on driving that I hadn't done anything for nine months after I had passed my Theory Test.
The lesson was simply amazing; driving at 15kmh, I drove around the small roads and even moved around parked cars. By lesson three, I was going at 90kmh along major roads.
My instructor felt I wasn't entirely ready for my practical test and kept putting back my test time after time after time, even though everyone else I'd driven with had said I was fine. I was cautious, I looked before turning, etc. If anything, I only had a problem with judging distances (I've had this issue for as long as I remember) when making turns. But nothing that would impede my test.
After a long preamble, my instructor agreed to 2 pre-tests so that I could see what the final test would be like. The first pre-test ended with me driving straight (lane changing) through a dual-lane roundabout essentially causing a huge traffic violation that would have had me automatically failing. But as I did it, I knew what I'd done - and that it would never happen again; and thats when I fell to pieces and had to pull over to one side to recover.
The second pre-test was a bit better but the instructor took me out of the way of the test and I failed to slow down enough when coming to speed bumps - another automatic fail. What annoyed me the most there was that that road was not on the test, so I would never have failed anything. Sticking to my guns, I stubbornly asked for the test to commence.
On the 21st of January, I finally took the test. It lasted 30 minutes but it felt like only 10 minutes had passed. I made a few errors but overall I was happy with my performance, and when I was told I had passed, I was over the moon.
After that, it was a laborious 6 weeks to get my 25 Hours Supervised driving logged (a practice to stop teenagers from jumping in their new car and wrapping it around a tree or around a family) and finally on the 20th of March, I took my Hazard Perception Test.
The Hazard Perception Test is a computer exam with flash-based videos to determine if the learner driver understands what hazards actually are - from sand on the roads to a motorcycle concealed behind a turning truck, to knowing when to safely over take. The questions were fairly ambiguous too as on occasion not slowing down was the safest thing to do. Another 30 minutes of testing and I had passed. I finally realised that the Hazard Perception Test was not really evaluating my understanding of the rules of the road, but whether or not I had falsified the 25 logged hours of supervised driving...
I now drive a White Hyundai Accent car, air conditioning inclusive. Its not the fastest car in the world nor the prettiest. Nor the most kitted out.
But for all those failings, its MY car.
March 25, 2009
Silly Costumes
As Elsha pointed out today, she hates it when people dress up in a silly costume and then wander the streets looking for victims to de-purse of money.
Now, I will quite regularly donate to charities or funds that I think are quite deserving, like the Rememberance Day Poppy Appeal or Imperial Cancer Research or any of the similarly serious but deserving trusts.
What I will not do is be embarrassed into parting with cash as someone in a costume titters on in front of me. I just don't understand what they're trying to say. Is it ok to wear a silly costume and meander the streets asking for cash?
Not for me, at least.
Today in Perth it was Radio Lollipop Day, a day when the Perth Transit Authority is supposed to put on the radio in their buses and entertain everyone whilst their silly costume prats accost you for cash for kids in hospitals. Whilst the notion of giving charity to children in hospital is undoubtedly a rewarding one, today was an unmitigated disaster.
No radios on in buses but even worse, no buses. At the stop I normally take, I was left having to wait 12 minutes. Not a long time perhaps but try waiting 12 minutes during rush hour on Ealing Broadway in Greater London and you will soon imagine the type of crowd that developed here.
And of course these were people who were not dressed in silly costumes but just trying to get to work. No radios on in buses as people shoved and pushed their way onto a coveted place on the bus.
I'm not sure what changed this year but it was a far cry from the entertaining morning that we had last year, and if you base your fund raising around entertaining people, well then one must wonder if the people in silly costumes have any other tricks up their sleeves for next year.
Now, I will quite regularly donate to charities or funds that I think are quite deserving, like the Rememberance Day Poppy Appeal or Imperial Cancer Research or any of the similarly serious but deserving trusts.
What I will not do is be embarrassed into parting with cash as someone in a costume titters on in front of me. I just don't understand what they're trying to say. Is it ok to wear a silly costume and meander the streets asking for cash?
Not for me, at least.
Today in Perth it was Radio Lollipop Day, a day when the Perth Transit Authority is supposed to put on the radio in their buses and entertain everyone whilst their silly costume prats accost you for cash for kids in hospitals. Whilst the notion of giving charity to children in hospital is undoubtedly a rewarding one, today was an unmitigated disaster.
No radios on in buses but even worse, no buses. At the stop I normally take, I was left having to wait 12 minutes. Not a long time perhaps but try waiting 12 minutes during rush hour on Ealing Broadway in Greater London and you will soon imagine the type of crowd that developed here.
And of course these were people who were not dressed in silly costumes but just trying to get to work. No radios on in buses as people shoved and pushed their way onto a coveted place on the bus.
I'm not sure what changed this year but it was a far cry from the entertaining morning that we had last year, and if you base your fund raising around entertaining people, well then one must wonder if the people in silly costumes have any other tricks up their sleeves for next year.
March 22, 2009
Back and posting
I've just realised that I haven't written a post since January.
Hmm.
I've definitely started lots of posts but somehow their connectivity to topical issues always seem dated by the time I've finished.
Like the aborted post about how it was snowing in England and I how I was jealous. I had a post written up but by the time I had put my thoughts into order and bypassed co-workers watching over my shoulder, the snow had melted and England was back to working order.
Still. Here's a post. Saying I'm back.
I'm back.
Hurrah!
Hmm.
I've definitely started lots of posts but somehow their connectivity to topical issues always seem dated by the time I've finished.
Like the aborted post about how it was snowing in England and I how I was jealous. I had a post written up but by the time I had put my thoughts into order and bypassed co-workers watching over my shoulder, the snow had melted and England was back to working order.
Still. Here's a post. Saying I'm back.
I'm back.
Hurrah!
January 29, 2009
The Driving Test
The Driving Test is perhaps one of the most important events in your life, alongside Marriage, mainly because it opens up opportunities for greater travel (at least in Australia).
In London, I was never really that interested in learning to drive because the transportation network was amazingly efficient. Not only did you have buses, ferries, 'tubes', trains and aeroplanes, you also had mini-cabs and taxi cabs. Add all these to walking and you have the ability to pretty much go anywhere.
In Perth, West Australia, you really do need to drive around, unfortunately, as the distance between landmarks and locations is so much greater. They do have a great metro transportation network but in terms of reaching the outskirts of the city where all the people live, a car just makes it easy by several magnitudes.
So, last year I decided to learn to drive. First off was the Theoretical Test, a set of 40 questions aimed at general rules of the road. Who has right of way when turning left onto a road, for example. Most of the questions are fairly self evident but some of them do get confusing.
Passing that earns you a Learner's Permit and you get to then spend your time driving around in a car with an L plate hanging off the back whilst either a professional instructor or a supervisor teach you how to drive. My first lesson was at 6pm and probably not the best time as the light was beginning to fade. Still, driving a half-tonne of metal on the backstreets around the house was amazingly fun but equally nerve-wracking. My hands were shaking when I finally got home.
Lesson after lesson constantly pushed the driving envelope until I was driving at 100kmh up the Freeway and learning about merging traffic.
Eventually though, given enough time and practice, you get to sit The Test. Here in Perth, you need to complete 3 exercises - Stopping For Shopping, Finding An Address and Retrieving Your Wallet - with the Examiner checking your surreptitiously checking your general driving skills.
Stopping for shopping is based around the notion that whilst driving you pass a shopping centre that you meant to have turned into. The exercise calls for you to turn the car around, drive back to the centre and find a spot to reverse park in; the other two exercises call for similar manoeuvers. Passing The Test requires that the manoeuvres are completed above a certain level and, unfortunately for you, that level is fairly high - at least 75%. Unlike normal tests, getting above the minimum mark does not guarantee a pass as the Examiner is likely to find that even though you have demonstrated that you can drive, your safety record is such that as a whole you are not safe to pass.
So I am pleased to say that the Wednesday before last, not only did I take the test (with much pressure from friends, family and co-workers) but that I passed with good marks. Of course, there were mistakes but these were of issues that I can but learn from and become a better driver. All I have to do now is log 25 hours of supervised driving and sit a Hazard Perception Test - a computer-based exam that tests my ability to recognise potential issues on the road and to adequately react to it.
I'm a bit surprised though by this final test. Why have this at the end? And why allow me to drive this half-tonne metal object around in broad daylight if my reactions are not adequate.
Still, I am glad to be past The Test and on my way to driving in West Australia.
In London, I was never really that interested in learning to drive because the transportation network was amazingly efficient. Not only did you have buses, ferries, 'tubes', trains and aeroplanes, you also had mini-cabs and taxi cabs. Add all these to walking and you have the ability to pretty much go anywhere.
In Perth, West Australia, you really do need to drive around, unfortunately, as the distance between landmarks and locations is so much greater. They do have a great metro transportation network but in terms of reaching the outskirts of the city where all the people live, a car just makes it easy by several magnitudes.
So, last year I decided to learn to drive. First off was the Theoretical Test, a set of 40 questions aimed at general rules of the road. Who has right of way when turning left onto a road, for example. Most of the questions are fairly self evident but some of them do get confusing.
Passing that earns you a Learner's Permit and you get to then spend your time driving around in a car with an L plate hanging off the back whilst either a professional instructor or a supervisor teach you how to drive. My first lesson was at 6pm and probably not the best time as the light was beginning to fade. Still, driving a half-tonne of metal on the backstreets around the house was amazingly fun but equally nerve-wracking. My hands were shaking when I finally got home.
Lesson after lesson constantly pushed the driving envelope until I was driving at 100kmh up the Freeway and learning about merging traffic.
Eventually though, given enough time and practice, you get to sit The Test. Here in Perth, you need to complete 3 exercises - Stopping For Shopping, Finding An Address and Retrieving Your Wallet - with the Examiner checking your surreptitiously checking your general driving skills.
Stopping for shopping is based around the notion that whilst driving you pass a shopping centre that you meant to have turned into. The exercise calls for you to turn the car around, drive back to the centre and find a spot to reverse park in; the other two exercises call for similar manoeuvers. Passing The Test requires that the manoeuvres are completed above a certain level and, unfortunately for you, that level is fairly high - at least 75%. Unlike normal tests, getting above the minimum mark does not guarantee a pass as the Examiner is likely to find that even though you have demonstrated that you can drive, your safety record is such that as a whole you are not safe to pass.
So I am pleased to say that the Wednesday before last, not only did I take the test (with much pressure from friends, family and co-workers) but that I passed with good marks. Of course, there were mistakes but these were of issues that I can but learn from and become a better driver. All I have to do now is log 25 hours of supervised driving and sit a Hazard Perception Test - a computer-based exam that tests my ability to recognise potential issues on the road and to adequately react to it.
I'm a bit surprised though by this final test. Why have this at the end? And why allow me to drive this half-tonne metal object around in broad daylight if my reactions are not adequate.
Still, I am glad to be past The Test and on my way to driving in West Australia.
January 06, 2009
A New Day, A New Year
Where to begin? 2008 is over and now we're prancing into 2009, a new year with new opportunities.
2008 was a great year for me. As I've previously blogged, Elsha and I got married, bought a house, and I began the long, slow path to getting a Driving License, something that will continue into 2009. New opportunities will include getting my Australian Citizenship sorted out so that I can come and go as I please.
I didn't post at Christmas primarily because I was having too much fun, so here's the present list:
- Nintendo DS Lite
This is a great present. I really like the idea of the DS Lite, that you use a stylus to interact with the game in some way. For years I had liked the idea of having a PDA but good games just aren't made for PDA's (or at least not the ones I've been looking at).
With the DS Lite came some games...
Transformers: Autobots should have been a great game. You get to run around shooting at things, scanning vehicles to add them to your repository of known forms, and then transforming into them and driving around. Except that age old problem of the boss. At the end of each section, there is a humongous fight where you have to smash your controller to death to get to kill the boss. In this case, I'm playing Bumblebee and I'm fighting Barricade (the police car in the movie), who just happens to have heatseeking missiles, whereas I get to have a pea shooter.
Star Trek Tactical Assault is a cool game. It mirrors Star Fleet Command for the PC, itself modelled on the Star Fleet Battles boardgame. You get to take command of a starship, and then you get to fight alien ships like the Romulans or the Klingons. Its great fun, especially when you realise that if you switch to Red Alert (to get your weapons charged up) the attitude of the enemy ships become aggresive. Stay at Yellow Alert and you run the risk of getting attacked versus calming the enemy down.
Sight Training is just that. Its a series of activities designed to increase your use of vision. Some of it is luck I find but its a good way of calming yourself down after frantically pressing buttons as Bumblebee.
The other two games I received were of the Final Fantasy variety, one a rpg and the other an rpg strategy game. I haven't really had the chance to get involved with those but give me time.
Dvd's next. I received a fair few and one set, arguably the best present of the evening, was especially well received:
I can't say much more about Blackadder Seasons 1-4 than what you probably already know. Its brilliant!
Next up was Season 4 Part 1 of Battlestar Galactica, the continuing re-imagined series I had watched with diligence so far. In the previous season, we had just discovered the 4 of the final cylon models, one is left to be revealed!
Another DVD I received was a Harry Palmer movie - Funeral In Berlin. I've been in love with the Harry Palmer movies ever since I was introduced to them by my eldest brother. He's so typically English and in sharp contrast to the Americanised James Bond. He even has to sign a form to get his "new" car. I love it!
In any collection, Transformers the Live Action Movie would be a gem even if it is overshadowed by my other DVDs. Its still a great romp though.
Other than the DVDs and the DS Lite, I also received some Dragon Car Covers for the seats of our new car and a car vacuum cleaner, which will come in handy seeing that some people never ever clean their cars.
I also received a World of Warcraft Calendar from a co-worker and it was a great present to get, and totally unexpected.
I'm sure I've forgotten something but hey, thats what the next blog post will probably be about.
2008 was a great year for me. As I've previously blogged, Elsha and I got married, bought a house, and I began the long, slow path to getting a Driving License, something that will continue into 2009. New opportunities will include getting my Australian Citizenship sorted out so that I can come and go as I please.
I didn't post at Christmas primarily because I was having too much fun, so here's the present list:
- Nintendo DS Lite
This is a great present. I really like the idea of the DS Lite, that you use a stylus to interact with the game in some way. For years I had liked the idea of having a PDA but good games just aren't made for PDA's (or at least not the ones I've been looking at).
With the DS Lite came some games...
Transformers: Autobots should have been a great game. You get to run around shooting at things, scanning vehicles to add them to your repository of known forms, and then transforming into them and driving around. Except that age old problem of the boss. At the end of each section, there is a humongous fight where you have to smash your controller to death to get to kill the boss. In this case, I'm playing Bumblebee and I'm fighting Barricade (the police car in the movie), who just happens to have heatseeking missiles, whereas I get to have a pea shooter.
Star Trek Tactical Assault is a cool game. It mirrors Star Fleet Command for the PC, itself modelled on the Star Fleet Battles boardgame. You get to take command of a starship, and then you get to fight alien ships like the Romulans or the Klingons. Its great fun, especially when you realise that if you switch to Red Alert (to get your weapons charged up) the attitude of the enemy ships become aggresive. Stay at Yellow Alert and you run the risk of getting attacked versus calming the enemy down.
Sight Training is just that. Its a series of activities designed to increase your use of vision. Some of it is luck I find but its a good way of calming yourself down after frantically pressing buttons as Bumblebee.
The other two games I received were of the Final Fantasy variety, one a rpg and the other an rpg strategy game. I haven't really had the chance to get involved with those but give me time.
Dvd's next. I received a fair few and one set, arguably the best present of the evening, was especially well received:
I can't say much more about Blackadder Seasons 1-4 than what you probably already know. Its brilliant!
Next up was Season 4 Part 1 of Battlestar Galactica, the continuing re-imagined series I had watched with diligence so far. In the previous season, we had just discovered the 4 of the final cylon models, one is left to be revealed!
Another DVD I received was a Harry Palmer movie - Funeral In Berlin. I've been in love with the Harry Palmer movies ever since I was introduced to them by my eldest brother. He's so typically English and in sharp contrast to the Americanised James Bond. He even has to sign a form to get his "new" car. I love it!
In any collection, Transformers the Live Action Movie would be a gem even if it is overshadowed by my other DVDs. Its still a great romp though.
Other than the DVDs and the DS Lite, I also received some Dragon Car Covers for the seats of our new car and a car vacuum cleaner, which will come in handy seeing that some people never ever clean their cars.
I also received a World of Warcraft Calendar from a co-worker and it was a great present to get, and totally unexpected.
I'm sure I've forgotten something but hey, thats what the next blog post will probably be about.
November 14, 2008
Busy Bee
With the new job it has been a very busy several weeks. I wish I now had the time to write up more posts but sadly I have had a very steep learning curve getting to grips with Lotus Notes administration and SMS Client - remote installations.
Today, Wrath of the Lich King launches in Australia and so I expect I will be busy all weekend being glamoured by the new shiny sights in Northrend, but I will be writing up a proper post.
Today, Wrath of the Lich King launches in Australia and so I expect I will be busy all weekend being glamoured by the new shiny sights in Northrend, but I will be writing up a proper post.
October 10, 2008
Ten years on
It was exactly ten years ago today that I arrived in Australia for the first time. I had had a long internet relationship with Elsha and we had moved onto 'phone calls and had even met up in London for 6 weeks so by no means was I coming to Australia blindly.
Unfortunately, it is also the date that Elsha's mother passed away, so its not something that can be celebrated. We've since moved our anniversary to the 15th of February, the date we first met in London, simply to avoid celebrating a date that has such horrible connotations.
Ten years ago, I spent months at Elsha's home watching Tv, reading books, playing computer games and looking desperately for jobs that might come my way. I did land two jobs, one with Home Building Society and the other with Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital - both of those have left me with co-workers who became friends.
Ten years on, and I'm now living in Australia permanently. I've met those guys but equally I've made new friends and have fit in to the social network - enough now so that I get the regular invite to the pub for a few drinks and to chit chat about work and home life. And of course, since they invite their friends and co-workers, its a great way to network.
One way in which this has paid off for me is that I'm leaving my current job and moving to a mining company; a friend mentioned my name in passing and I got a call for a job interview. The friend will be working with me so he of course gets a referral fee and since he's currently working there, I have backup in terms of dealing with sticky jobs (and it makes meeting up for drinks easier!).
So this is how ten long years have changed me from the guy who lived in London to the guy who now owns a house, is learning to drive and is in the process of getting a top notch job.
Bravo! - (even if I do say so myself)
Unfortunately, it is also the date that Elsha's mother passed away, so its not something that can be celebrated. We've since moved our anniversary to the 15th of February, the date we first met in London, simply to avoid celebrating a date that has such horrible connotations.
Ten years ago, I spent months at Elsha's home watching Tv, reading books, playing computer games and looking desperately for jobs that might come my way. I did land two jobs, one with Home Building Society and the other with Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital - both of those have left me with co-workers who became friends.
Ten years on, and I'm now living in Australia permanently. I've met those guys but equally I've made new friends and have fit in to the social network - enough now so that I get the regular invite to the pub for a few drinks and to chit chat about work and home life. And of course, since they invite their friends and co-workers, its a great way to network.
One way in which this has paid off for me is that I'm leaving my current job and moving to a mining company; a friend mentioned my name in passing and I got a call for a job interview. The friend will be working with me so he of course gets a referral fee and since he's currently working there, I have backup in terms of dealing with sticky jobs (and it makes meeting up for drinks easier!).
So this is how ten long years have changed me from the guy who lived in London to the guy who now owns a house, is learning to drive and is in the process of getting a top notch job.
Bravo! - (even if I do say so myself)
September 15, 2008
DPS: Their role
Cap'n John said in a previous comment that the DPS should listen to instructions and know how to perform their role, so I thought I would make a post about it.
DPS encompasses pretty much every class in World of Warcraft; that is, even warriors and priests have the ability to perform some amount of DPS. Due to this, it is very rare that a request for a DPS member will take long to fulfill for an instance.
So why are DPS so bad in instances?
Well, for a start, the game allows for solo play, suggesting that group play for DPS is actually a bad idea. In a previous MMO, I was a healer, and I was regularly picked up for group quests because it was more efficient to kill things with other people than it was by myself, or them by themselves. Monsters were very powerful as compared to a healer or a tank, and DPS classes did not have enough health or armour to keep themselves alive long enough to kill the monster - they NEEDED a tank or a healer, and we needed someone to kill for us.
In World of Warcraft, you don't NEED a tank or a healer to kill normal monsters. And you can avoid group quests all the way up to the end cap, level 70. At which point, suddenly you DO need a tank and a healer.
DPS classes have low to medium health, low to medium armour and high Damage Per Second.
This means they are able to solo more efficiently than a tank or a healer so long as they do not encounter more than 1 monster at a time. Two or three, and they won't survive the fight (meanwhile tanks and healers may survive but the fight will go on for a very long time, as their DPS is low in comparison, potentially causing more monsters to join in). In fact, solo grinding is actually more profitable than killing things in a team, in terms of speed and experience points.
Thus, DPS players do not have any experience with the role that a Tank or a Healer should bring to the group. Equally, Tanks and Healers know that something is very wrong when DPS players either take aggro away from the tank or force healers to switch to them rather than healing the tank. Many a time, DPS players will say things like "L2Play Tank! Keep Aggro!" with a swear word thrown in when the monsters turn away from the tank and bash up the DPS player. My response to this is and has always been:
Any DPS Class should be able to steal aggro from the Tank. The skill is in not doing it.
DPS encompasses pretty much every class in World of Warcraft; that is, even warriors and priests have the ability to perform some amount of DPS. Due to this, it is very rare that a request for a DPS member will take long to fulfill for an instance.
So why are DPS so bad in instances?
Well, for a start, the game allows for solo play, suggesting that group play for DPS is actually a bad idea. In a previous MMO, I was a healer, and I was regularly picked up for group quests because it was more efficient to kill things with other people than it was by myself, or them by themselves. Monsters were very powerful as compared to a healer or a tank, and DPS classes did not have enough health or armour to keep themselves alive long enough to kill the monster - they NEEDED a tank or a healer, and we needed someone to kill for us.
In World of Warcraft, you don't NEED a tank or a healer to kill normal monsters. And you can avoid group quests all the way up to the end cap, level 70. At which point, suddenly you DO need a tank and a healer.
DPS classes have low to medium health, low to medium armour and high Damage Per Second.
This means they are able to solo more efficiently than a tank or a healer so long as they do not encounter more than 1 monster at a time. Two or three, and they won't survive the fight (meanwhile tanks and healers may survive but the fight will go on for a very long time, as their DPS is low in comparison, potentially causing more monsters to join in). In fact, solo grinding is actually more profitable than killing things in a team, in terms of speed and experience points.
Thus, DPS players do not have any experience with the role that a Tank or a Healer should bring to the group. Equally, Tanks and Healers know that something is very wrong when DPS players either take aggro away from the tank or force healers to switch to them rather than healing the tank. Many a time, DPS players will say things like "L2Play Tank! Keep Aggro!" with a swear word thrown in when the monsters turn away from the tank and bash up the DPS player. My response to this is and has always been:
Any DPS Class should be able to steal aggro from the Tank. The skill is in not doing it.
August 14, 2008
Interim Measures
If you're wondering why there's no forthcoming posts, its because I'm currently in the position of moving house. And not only that, but buying a house too.
Although at the moment I'm waiting for the banks to make their mind up and do their job properly so the settlement can be lodged, so I can actually own a house and not just rent one from the seller.
Thus I have no home internet. I do have internet at work and, even though I regularly abuse it, making blog posts is difficult at best when I'm supposed to be working.
I still read though and I'm making some notes for some blog posts once I do get internet at home.
Or when things calm down around here...
Although at the moment I'm waiting for the banks to make their mind up and do their job properly so the settlement can be lodged, so I can actually own a house and not just rent one from the seller.
Thus I have no home internet. I do have internet at work and, even though I regularly abuse it, making blog posts is difficult at best when I'm supposed to be working.
I still read though and I'm making some notes for some blog posts once I do get internet at home.
Or when things calm down around here...
July 15, 2008
Tanking: Protection Paladins
Protection [Prot] Paladins tank through reactive damage.
That's a pretty interesting sentence, so let me explain what it means.
Prot Paladins cause aggro and threat by essentially taking damage. Yes, that's right. By taking damage.
Whilst other tanks have a rage bar that allows them to use abilities that cause monsters to single them out and beat on them, paladins have a mana bar that they use to cause holy damage to gain the attention of monsters and then shield spells that reflect damage when they are hit.
It's pretty fun to tank as a Protection Paladin because you can be surrounded by monsters and know you will kill them not because of anything you are doing but because you know that every time they hit you they will be damaged. Ergo, all you have to do is keep yourself healed and keep those shield spells up and the monsters will both be captivated by your damaging them AND by the threat of the damage that is being caused by them hitting you.
The problem comes when you are playing with a group of people that have no idea how a Protection Paladin functions (and let me tell you - this accounts for 4 in 5 WoW players).
I was doing a dungeon a few days ago with B-I-L who is geared for heroic instances (they're a
harder level of the same maps) so I knew the chances of my dying was fairly remote. But what irked me was when the DPS (yes them again) attacked straight away, casting spells, firing arrows, using pets - without giving me the chance to gain the acquaintance of the monsters.
Politely warning them that they need to give me a few seconds extra to pick up the slack got me a polite "sure". That particular group worked well, and apart from a few silly deaths, we managed to get through the whole thing fairly quickly.
But, of course, MY understanding of how Prot Paladins operate has only come about because I'm now playing one, which means that essentially until players try playing a tank, they will never learn what a tank is used for, or how to function around one.
That's a pretty interesting sentence, so let me explain what it means.
Prot Paladins cause aggro and threat by essentially taking damage. Yes, that's right. By taking damage.
Whilst other tanks have a rage bar that allows them to use abilities that cause monsters to single them out and beat on them, paladins have a mana bar that they use to cause holy damage to gain the attention of monsters and then shield spells that reflect damage when they are hit.
It's pretty fun to tank as a Protection Paladin because you can be surrounded by monsters and know you will kill them not because of anything you are doing but because you know that every time they hit you they will be damaged. Ergo, all you have to do is keep yourself healed and keep those shield spells up and the monsters will both be captivated by your damaging them AND by the threat of the damage that is being caused by them hitting you.
The problem comes when you are playing with a group of people that have no idea how a Protection Paladin functions (and let me tell you - this accounts for 4 in 5 WoW players).
I was doing a dungeon a few days ago with B-I-L who is geared for heroic instances (they're a
harder level of the same maps) so I knew the chances of my dying was fairly remote. But what irked me was when the DPS (yes them again) attacked straight away, casting spells, firing arrows, using pets - without giving me the chance to gain the acquaintance of the monsters.
Politely warning them that they need to give me a few seconds extra to pick up the slack got me a polite "sure". That particular group worked well, and apart from a few silly deaths, we managed to get through the whole thing fairly quickly.
But, of course, MY understanding of how Prot Paladins operate has only come about because I'm now playing one, which means that essentially until players try playing a tank, they will never learn what a tank is used for, or how to function around one.
July 10, 2008
And Me
I'm seeing this phrase used more and more.
When I was at school, my teachers made a point of highlighting that this was lazy English, and that the correct phrase was "and I", but it all really depends on the context of the sentence.
For example:
"My friend and I went to a party last night" is correct.
"My friend and me went to a party last night" is wrong.
On the other hand:
"John invited my wife and me to the party" is correct.
"John invited my wife and I to the party" is wrong.
The basic rule that applies to this form of grammatical correctness is this:
I am the subject of the sentence, but the object of the sentence is me.
When I was at school, my teachers made a point of highlighting that this was lazy English, and that the correct phrase was "and I", but it all really depends on the context of the sentence.
For example:
"My friend and I went to a party last night" is correct.
"My friend and me went to a party last night" is wrong.
On the other hand:
"John invited my wife and me to the party" is correct.
"John invited my wife and I to the party" is wrong.
The basic rule that applies to this form of grammatical correctness is this:
I am the subject of the sentence, but the object of the sentence is me.
July 02, 2008
Tanking: A Basic Explanation
There are generally 3 main archetypes of characters in World of Warcraft; the Tank, the Healer and the DPSer.
Tanks are invariably heavily armoured, high health characters with the ability to dodge, block or resilient in some form or another to incoming melee attacks. This allows them to stand at the front and be a shield for the group whilst everyone else can safely attack. Tanks are normally paired up with a healer so they can last for as long as the healer has mana.
Healers are usually low armoured, low health, high mana characters with the ability to heal others over time or in one-shots. They normally stand at the back and are paired up with a tank.
DPSers are those classes that are rated for their Damage Per Second (hence DPS). Most classes fit into this category in form or another. DPSing is insanely easy. You pick a target, you use an ability and you cause damage.
For most of WoW, there is a very singular course of gameplay. As a player is trying to kill the opponent as fast as possible, there is an onus to cause as much damage as possible so that the monster can be killed before it can do its damage. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to Instances, Dungeons or Raids, and here's the reason:
Inflicting as much damage in as short a time as possible will cause the monster in the dungeon to come after you. Unless you are over-geared against the monster, you will die.
I cannot stress this highly enough.
DPSers are generally people wearing anything up to Mail armour and usually they've sacrificed the ability to shrug off damage to gain the ability to inflict as much damage as possible. They cannot tank, and if they try to, they will die. Usually, this starts a chain reaction in which everyone tries to speed up damage rather than let the tank take over, and inevitably one by one, they die too.
Equally, but rarely, healers sometimes commit themselves to healing everyone in the team rather than just the main tank. And this also causes the team to die because healing more than one person generally means they're going to attract the attention of the monster. Healing the Tank is both health-efficient and mana-efficient; the Tank can take damage, he can block, dodge, etc.
Other players are not designed to take damage so their health will drop quicker, and that will cost more mana in the long run.
I've said all this because in my runs to dungeons, players invariably try and do as much damage as possible and when the team dies because they've attracted too much attention, the Tank is generally blamed.
Tanks are invariably heavily armoured, high health characters with the ability to dodge, block or resilient in some form or another to incoming melee attacks. This allows them to stand at the front and be a shield for the group whilst everyone else can safely attack. Tanks are normally paired up with a healer so they can last for as long as the healer has mana.
Healers are usually low armoured, low health, high mana characters with the ability to heal others over time or in one-shots. They normally stand at the back and are paired up with a tank.
DPSers are those classes that are rated for their Damage Per Second (hence DPS). Most classes fit into this category in form or another. DPSing is insanely easy. You pick a target, you use an ability and you cause damage.
For most of WoW, there is a very singular course of gameplay. As a player is trying to kill the opponent as fast as possible, there is an onus to cause as much damage as possible so that the monster can be killed before it can do its damage. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to Instances, Dungeons or Raids, and here's the reason:
Inflicting as much damage in as short a time as possible will cause the monster in the dungeon to come after you. Unless you are over-geared against the monster, you will die.
I cannot stress this highly enough.
DPSers are generally people wearing anything up to Mail armour and usually they've sacrificed the ability to shrug off damage to gain the ability to inflict as much damage as possible. They cannot tank, and if they try to, they will die. Usually, this starts a chain reaction in which everyone tries to speed up damage rather than let the tank take over, and inevitably one by one, they die too.
Equally, but rarely, healers sometimes commit themselves to healing everyone in the team rather than just the main tank. And this also causes the team to die because healing more than one person generally means they're going to attract the attention of the monster. Healing the Tank is both health-efficient and mana-efficient; the Tank can take damage, he can block, dodge, etc.
Other players are not designed to take damage so their health will drop quicker, and that will cost more mana in the long run.
I've said all this because in my runs to dungeons, players invariably try and do as much damage as possible and when the team dies because they've attracted too much attention, the Tank is generally blamed.
June 06, 2008
Time to move on virtually...
And so the guild that I helped co-create back in April 2006 finally came to an abrupt end last month. A lack of impetus coupled with slowing momentum caused the guild to slow down and then... stop.
A long discussion with the mods/officers of the guild revealed that they had slowly burned out with the content of the game, resulting in sheer boredom. Having friends online helped but eventually they had no other recourse but to pull the plug.
Most of the guildies have moved on to other guilds on the same server, others have transferred to different realms and others have just stopped playing MMOs in general.
Meanwhile, I'm now playing on the Oceanic Servers and have created my own guild. This time I'm only aiming for a simple progression guild with mature values. I haven't really put much effort into the creation of the guild and much of the structure has been lifted from past efforts.
At the moment I've decided to go for the Tankadin, a Protection Specced Paladin. So far so good, enjoying myself and my time online.
A long discussion with the mods/officers of the guild revealed that they had slowly burned out with the content of the game, resulting in sheer boredom. Having friends online helped but eventually they had no other recourse but to pull the plug.
Most of the guildies have moved on to other guilds on the same server, others have transferred to different realms and others have just stopped playing MMOs in general.
Meanwhile, I'm now playing on the Oceanic Servers and have created my own guild. This time I'm only aiming for a simple progression guild with mature values. I haven't really put much effort into the creation of the guild and much of the structure has been lifted from past efforts.
At the moment I've decided to go for the Tankadin, a Protection Specced Paladin. So far so good, enjoying myself and my time online.
April 29, 2008
A different version of WoW?
So.
I finally decided to give WOW US a go. After much anguish over not going to Karazhan, over having to go to instances with kids bunking off school, over generally not playing with mature adults, I plucked up courage and installed WOW US.
Or at least I tried to.
The problem, it seems, is that WoW EU and WoW US, although claiming to be different versions with different patches, is that they're exactly the same. So when I came to try and install WoW US, my computer quite rightly told me to stop being an idiot - WoW was already installed.
Of course, this made me pause. If my computer thinks WoW is already installed, then thats because it has registry entries telling it so. How do I tell my computer that I want to install WOW somewhere else because I want TWO versions of it?
The simple answer is that you can't.
The only way out for me was to make a copy of the entire WoW folder and move it to a different directory or, in my case, drive. I've since renamed the folder and the shortcut to WoW US. And thanks to Elsha, I had a valid WoW & TBC license Key. And just to top it off, I went and got a free 14 trial key so I could play for free for a couple of extra weeks (I now have 44 free days to play to see whether I like it or not).
I checked with Elsha's B-I-L, and picked an Oceanic Server as my new home. Oceanic Servers are those that have been formatted to match the Australian daytime so our night is the Server's night. Unfortunately, the server itself is in America, so I still have latency, but it's not as bad as Europe - 400 to 800ms.
Umming and aahing, I decided to pick Paladin (I have so far played Druid, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Warrior, Shaman, Rogue and Warlock) and try levelling her as Protection-specced. That basically means I level slightly slower but I have boosted Armour and by picking the right equipment to wear, I can also boost my health.
Elsha's B-I-L went for a Priest, ostensibly so we could form up and play a healer/tank combo.
So far so good.
But... I do miss my old guild. I have friends and companions there whom I miss.
Must Blizzard really make me start all over again simply because they couldn't stick my details onto a dvd and send it overseas? Even though WoW EU and WoW US are exactly the same?
I finally decided to give WOW US a go. After much anguish over not going to Karazhan, over having to go to instances with kids bunking off school, over generally not playing with mature adults, I plucked up courage and installed WOW US.
Or at least I tried to.
The problem, it seems, is that WoW EU and WoW US, although claiming to be different versions with different patches, is that they're exactly the same. So when I came to try and install WoW US, my computer quite rightly told me to stop being an idiot - WoW was already installed.
Of course, this made me pause. If my computer thinks WoW is already installed, then thats because it has registry entries telling it so. How do I tell my computer that I want to install WOW somewhere else because I want TWO versions of it?
The simple answer is that you can't.
The only way out for me was to make a copy of the entire WoW folder and move it to a different directory or, in my case, drive. I've since renamed the folder and the shortcut to WoW US. And thanks to Elsha, I had a valid WoW & TBC license Key. And just to top it off, I went and got a free 14 trial key so I could play for free for a couple of extra weeks (I now have 44 free days to play to see whether I like it or not).
I checked with Elsha's B-I-L, and picked an Oceanic Server as my new home. Oceanic Servers are those that have been formatted to match the Australian daytime so our night is the Server's night. Unfortunately, the server itself is in America, so I still have latency, but it's not as bad as Europe - 400 to 800ms.
Umming and aahing, I decided to pick Paladin (I have so far played Druid, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Warrior, Shaman, Rogue and Warlock) and try levelling her as Protection-specced. That basically means I level slightly slower but I have boosted Armour and by picking the right equipment to wear, I can also boost my health.
Elsha's B-I-L went for a Priest, ostensibly so we could form up and play a healer/tank combo.
So far so good.
But... I do miss my old guild. I have friends and companions there whom I miss.
Must Blizzard really make me start all over again simply because they couldn't stick my details onto a dvd and send it overseas? Even though WoW EU and WoW US are exactly the same?
April 24, 2008
Why Western?
A long time ago, I was bought Bushido: The Way of the Warrior roleplaying game, and it remains today one of the few games I really want to play but have not managed to find anyone who could either understand its rules or want to play it.
Its a really interesting game system because it doesn't hinge at all on Western Ideology. Western ideology is apparent no matter which game you play in now, and I blame that fair and square on Capitalism.
Just for once I'd like to see a game where money doesn't matter, but in fact social status does.
The more quests you do, the more honour you receive. You can't trade honour, you can't sell it or buy it, you can only personally make it.
Killing things does not give you phat lewt. Saving towns gives you honour, helping people, etc.
MMOs should adopt a pyramid scheme so better and more social players can help lower level
players. Suddenly you have a game where community is more important than the gear you wear.
Why must we play Westernised games?
Its a really interesting game system because it doesn't hinge at all on Western Ideology. Western ideology is apparent no matter which game you play in now, and I blame that fair and square on Capitalism.
Just for once I'd like to see a game where money doesn't matter, but in fact social status does.
The more quests you do, the more honour you receive. You can't trade honour, you can't sell it or buy it, you can only personally make it.
Killing things does not give you phat lewt. Saving towns gives you honour, helping people, etc.
MMOs should adopt a pyramid scheme so better and more social players can help lower level
players. Suddenly you have a game where community is more important than the gear you wear.
Why must we play Westernised games?
March 31, 2008
Time
Here in Perth, we've finally completed our second cycle of Daylight Savings. Clocks have gone back an hour, assisting our transition into Winter. On the weekend it was bright and sunny.
Today it's raining cats and dogs. On steroids. Winter is truly here.
But what interests me is how we adults are affected by time. Time is, in itself, a very interesting "thing".
Time in nature exists as the following:
Sunrise. Noon. Sunset. Twilight.
Changing of Seasons.
Waxing and waning of the Moon and Tidal changes.
For us, time affects us like trees that get rings as they grow older - our body and appearance change as we grow older.
But beyond those things, time has no real "value" - its hard to quantify time from a layman's point of view.
Oh, we can look at it as seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millenia, aeons, but those are all man-made concepts. Those are things we've created in order to allow us to record events that have happened and to date them.
From a child's point of view, time has no real meaning. You wake up, you eat, you play, you eat some more, you nap, you play some more and then you go to bed. At some point, around the age of seven, you become self-aware. At that point, time 'requires' meaning. You begin to realise that your working parent(s) is away some days and not away other days; those days being weekends. The adult world creeps into your child life and imposes values.
But what if those values didn't impose themselves? What if all concepts of time ceased. If there were no work days and weekends, if there were no clocks or watches to check timetables?
Would we 'miss' time?
Today it's raining cats and dogs. On steroids. Winter is truly here.
But what interests me is how we adults are affected by time. Time is, in itself, a very interesting "thing".
Time in nature exists as the following:
Sunrise. Noon. Sunset. Twilight.
Changing of Seasons.
Waxing and waning of the Moon and Tidal changes.
For us, time affects us like trees that get rings as they grow older - our body and appearance change as we grow older.
But beyond those things, time has no real "value" - its hard to quantify time from a layman's point of view.
Oh, we can look at it as seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millenia, aeons, but those are all man-made concepts. Those are things we've created in order to allow us to record events that have happened and to date them.
From a child's point of view, time has no real meaning. You wake up, you eat, you play, you eat some more, you nap, you play some more and then you go to bed. At some point, around the age of seven, you become self-aware. At that point, time 'requires' meaning. You begin to realise that your working parent(s) is away some days and not away other days; those days being weekends. The adult world creeps into your child life and imposes values.
But what if those values didn't impose themselves? What if all concepts of time ceased. If there were no work days and weekends, if there were no clocks or watches to check timetables?
Would we 'miss' time?
March 26, 2008
Burnout
Every several months, I get burnt out from playing World of Warcraft. Honestly, it's a great game but it's just repetitious to the extreme.
"Go kill 10 of these rats" becomes "Go kill 10 of these Giant Ultra-Elite Dragonspawns" until eventually its "Go kill 10 of these Ancient Dragons and bring back their ears".
Comparatively, Asheron's Call 2 was also repetitive but for some reason I enjoyed that repetition. Perhaps it was the feeling that around every corner there was something new waiting whereas in Azeroth/Outland/Northrend, its all the same.
Anyway, as you may have noticed from the title, I burnt out from playing my Level 70 druid. The guild I co-created is still thriving but I just can't bring myself to log in and get involved. So I'm busy creating a mage who is at level 33. I've tried levelling a mage before but got stuck around level 27 but I think I'll persevere with this one; she plays well.
In the meantime, I have finished Puzzle Quest. It's a good game and is a different challenge to normal crpgs. A decent 7.5 out of 10.
After that, I decided to finish off the Neverwinter Night expansions I have and am stuck in Hordes of the Underdark. But that too has become a bit repetitious so I wanted to try something else - a little bit different than your run of the mill crpg.
And lo and behold, I find Fastcrawl. A dungeon game that will last for around 30 minutes. I had a quick go of the demo and like it a lot; I may even buy it and give it a proper go.
And finally, my attention swings ponderously to Dungeon Runners, a free game made by my old friends NCSoft (they also make City of Heroes). Dungeon Runners is no World of Warcraft. It's buggy, slow, and even on my machine, runs like a dog. But its very much Diablo-esque, and a lot easier to jump into than WoW, even though its based very much on that Blizzard game. DR does not require membership subscription but if you do pay, you get to have equipment that's otherwise restricted. I probably won't pay membership rates but that's fine. I just want to play something a little different.
The other big deal is that I don't have anyone to play with. One part of MMO's that I don't get is that they're meant to be collaborative games. I wish they would make a game where meeting people was a lot easier...
"Go kill 10 of these rats" becomes "Go kill 10 of these Giant Ultra-Elite Dragonspawns" until eventually its "Go kill 10 of these Ancient Dragons and bring back their ears".
Comparatively, Asheron's Call 2 was also repetitive but for some reason I enjoyed that repetition. Perhaps it was the feeling that around every corner there was something new waiting whereas in Azeroth/Outland/Northrend, its all the same.
Anyway, as you may have noticed from the title, I burnt out from playing my Level 70 druid. The guild I co-created is still thriving but I just can't bring myself to log in and get involved. So I'm busy creating a mage who is at level 33. I've tried levelling a mage before but got stuck around level 27 but I think I'll persevere with this one; she plays well.
In the meantime, I have finished Puzzle Quest. It's a good game and is a different challenge to normal crpgs. A decent 7.5 out of 10.
After that, I decided to finish off the Neverwinter Night expansions I have and am stuck in Hordes of the Underdark. But that too has become a bit repetitious so I wanted to try something else - a little bit different than your run of the mill crpg.
And lo and behold, I find Fastcrawl. A dungeon game that will last for around 30 minutes. I had a quick go of the demo and like it a lot; I may even buy it and give it a proper go.
And finally, my attention swings ponderously to Dungeon Runners, a free game made by my old friends NCSoft (they also make City of Heroes). Dungeon Runners is no World of Warcraft. It's buggy, slow, and even on my machine, runs like a dog. But its very much Diablo-esque, and a lot easier to jump into than WoW, even though its based very much on that Blizzard game. DR does not require membership subscription but if you do pay, you get to have equipment that's otherwise restricted. I probably won't pay membership rates but that's fine. I just want to play something a little different.
The other big deal is that I don't have anyone to play with. One part of MMO's that I don't get is that they're meant to be collaborative games. I wish they would make a game where meeting people was a lot easier...
March 17, 2008
E. Gary Gygax (July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008)
The man primarily responsible for the view of fantasy in the modern era sadly passed away on the 4th of March 2008. His name was E. Gary Gygax and he was one of the co-partners involved in creating, designing and publishing Dungeons & Dragons.
Dungeons & Dragons was the first real game of its kind in the world. A system of rules to allow for collaborative improvisation in a fantasy setting. From humble beginnings, its now a game known worldwide and has spawned a myriad number of other roleplaying games, wargames and computer games that all trace their lineage back to that first set of simplistic rules in a pamphlet of a rule book.
I was first introduced to D&D back in 1979, when I was but 7. My brother had had the basic edition box set purchased for him by a family friend but he really didn't get into it. I, on the other hand, loved the idea and spent hours reading up on the rules and on the examples of gameplay. I finally could actually immerse myself in a fantasy world where elves were the good guys and orcs were the bad guys and where, most importantly, I could change the outcome of that.
These days D&D is most prominently compared to its online successor World of Warcraft. But WoW is not a proper immersive setting, nor do any of your actions change anything in the game.
For that alone, I think WoW is years behind D&D.
Returning to Gary Gygax, there has been a marked outcry from gamers around the globe on the best way to honour his memory. Some have made joking remarks such as "Roll for 1d4 minutes of silence".
But I think the best way to honour Gary would be to create and name a deity in his name. And so, in all my games, there shall be...
"Zagyg, the God of Gaming"
Dungeons & Dragons was the first real game of its kind in the world. A system of rules to allow for collaborative improvisation in a fantasy setting. From humble beginnings, its now a game known worldwide and has spawned a myriad number of other roleplaying games, wargames and computer games that all trace their lineage back to that first set of simplistic rules in a pamphlet of a rule book.
I was first introduced to D&D back in 1979, when I was but 7. My brother had had the basic edition box set purchased for him by a family friend but he really didn't get into it. I, on the other hand, loved the idea and spent hours reading up on the rules and on the examples of gameplay. I finally could actually immerse myself in a fantasy world where elves were the good guys and orcs were the bad guys and where, most importantly, I could change the outcome of that.
These days D&D is most prominently compared to its online successor World of Warcraft. But WoW is not a proper immersive setting, nor do any of your actions change anything in the game.
For that alone, I think WoW is years behind D&D.
Returning to Gary Gygax, there has been a marked outcry from gamers around the globe on the best way to honour his memory. Some have made joking remarks such as "Roll for 1d4 minutes of silence".
But I think the best way to honour Gary would be to create and name a deity in his name. And so, in all my games, there shall be...
"Zagyg, the God of Gaming"
Pet Peeve #3 - Queuing
Australian's, please take note. This is how we Poms queue:
1. Discuss what your companions/relatives/friends want in advance.
2. Stand in line by yourself. Have money on hand, preferably correct change (this is why you were taught Mathematics in school)
3. Declare in a clear loud voice what you want. You are not allowed to change your mind half way through.
4. Take your purchase and leave the queue.
Congratulations, you have queued correctly.
Do not:
* Take your kids with you, all 4 of the little brats, letting them run amok.
* Look at the display or product and wonder to yourself what it is you want. If you don't know, you shouldn't be queuing.
1. Discuss what your companions/relatives/friends want in advance.
2. Stand in line by yourself. Have money on hand, preferably correct change (this is why you were taught Mathematics in school)
3. Declare in a clear loud voice what you want. You are not allowed to change your mind half way through.
4. Take your purchase and leave the queue.
Congratulations, you have queued correctly.
Do not:
* Take your kids with you, all 4 of the little brats, letting them run amok.
* Look at the display or product and wonder to yourself what it is you want. If you don't know, you shouldn't be queuing.
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