Meeple Like Us

Crikey, I had no idea this blog was still on the Internet.   Apparently picking up literally ones of views every month.   It's like having a tiny pension in a foreign currency that you can't remember how to access.

Anyway, you'll find my Real Proper blog over on Meeple Like Us if you arrived here through some weird route and unaccountably want more of my writing.   You can also find the previously mentioned Girlfriend (reader, I still didn't marry her) at her own blog where she talks about running.

Nasty Rash

So, I found a nasty rash this morning...

Best Website Ever

If you grew up in the UK, you will probably agree with me that this is the best website ever.

AUT Activist Academy

Had a great weekend before the Aimee Mann gig in Lemmington Spa at the AUT Activist Academy. This is an event hosting by the Association of University Teachers and aimed at bringing together younger and older members of the union with an eye to providing them with training in union matters. My girlfriend and I are both divisional representatives, and our LA president suggested we might find it worthwhile.

First of all, it was hot. Insanely hot. Boil the fillings out of your teeth hot. The grounds were lovely though - it was a very relaxing place to spend time, even if the itinerary was very full.

We spent the weekend discussing a huge number of issues, from Fixed Term contracts to personal case work to getting people involved in the union. I met a lot of interesting people there, and got quite inspired to become more involved in union work. I got an email the other day asking if they could quote some of us on their promotional literature, which I was very pleased about.

I discussed the current situation at Abertay (more on this later) with a lot of people, including the out-going union president. The treatment that fixed-term staff get was roundly considered to be shocking. However, some of the things going on at other institutions are even more shocking and I'm resolved to spend time fighting for the AUT in whatever capacity I can. Viva la revolution!

Aimee Mann

Unsurprisingly[1], I am a big fan of Aimee Mann, and the girlfriend and I had a chance to see her live on the 14th of July.

She was a little rigid at the beginning, and didn't have the same stage presence as Suzanne Vega, but eventually she warmed up and it was fantastic. There was a lot of material from her new album (which I hadn't heard), but also a lot of her better known stuff. Once she'd gotten into her stride, she was very entertaining and also quite funny at times. Upon receiving an audience request for the song 'Susan', she first tried to ignore it until it became overwhelming, and then confessed that she didn't think she'd remember it.

Nonetheless, game little soldier that she was, she attempted it (and forgot the words at one point), much to the delight of the crowd. In another song, she fluffed a chord and then said 'Hey, give me a break - it needs four fingers for that one!'.

All of that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the show and bought her live DVD on the way out. Aimee Mann is one of the few artists who still release music on an independent label, so I can buy her stuff without having to worry about funding the RIAA monster. Good news all around!

[1] I've been told that I have a lesbian's taste in music.

Lazy Boy - Wacraft

Bing!

I've gotten out of the habit of updating this blog - it was only to be expected really, but I'm still going to make an effort to post something every now and again.

Lot of stuff has been happening over the past few months - some of which I can write about (and will) and some of it I can't yet (but will when I can). Suffice to say that Abertay can go fuck itself.[1]

Anyway, on the Warcraft front I think I've finally managed to shake its hold on me. Alas, this wasn't through any Herculean feat of willpower, but simply due to the fact I finally hit level 60 and currently can't bear the thought of grinding for days until I get my epic mount. So for now, it's on the back-burner. There's a hell of a lot of game in there - it's well worth both the front-up fee and the monthly charge - but once you hit the level cap it all suddenly seems to futile. All that's left to do is continually run instances until you have all the best gear, and I get easily bored. I have a few other alts, but none of these interest me the way that my Druid does, and so I'm finding time to do more productive things.

I've been thinking about what it is that has attracted me for so long to Warcraft - partially it's because I have an addictive personality (anything I like, I do to excess), but I think it's largely to do with how inversive the game world is. When I started on Discworld MUD, I spent a month or game time playing before I decided to go creator - on Warcraft I don't find myself with much of an urge to develop (even if that was an avenue available to me). Blizzard have done an excellent job of providing a very well balanced and enjoyable game - it's just a shame it doesn't have more depth.

Things I would like to see would be: A guild system that wasn't idiotic, a crafts system that allows for genuine customisation of crafted objects, and an inversive world-system that allows for players to take on epic roles within the game world.

The guilds system is very primitive - compared to Discworld, it's a shadow of a system that really doesn't deserve the prominence it gets.

The crafts system is fun, but it's pretty dull that people keep creating the same things over and over again - what would be fantastic would be a system that lets you provide a basic shape for an item (a sword, a jacket, a pair of frilly panties) and then provides an opportunity to change the basic shape through a simple interface (we'll make the collar a little thicker and lined with fur, and the cuffs should be lined with diamonds). This unique shape would then dictate the material requirements. Dyes could then be used to change the colour to whatever was desired, and then special materials could be introduced to add the magical bonuses up to the craft person's skill levels. Now that's a system I could climb on board with - I hate the fact that items that have the bonuses I want end up looking like they were stitched by idiots. I'm currently wearing a pair of trousers that make me look like a damn boy scout because they are, in fact, short shorts.

There really isn't anything special to do once you've attained level 60 - I'd like to see a system that allowed for players to take on the roles of statesmen and politicians, as well as own their own shops and player houses (and guild houses).

All of these things are needed to make Wacraft a longer term investment in time than it currently is - but I have to say, I'm kind of glad that it isn't at the moment.

[1] I will expand on this point in future posts, undoubtedly.

More World of Warcraft

I wish I had never bought this game. I used to actually have time to do productive things, now I just play WoW. I'm sure the addiction will wear off eventually, but in the meantime it's pretty debilitating.

I just thought I'd post my thoughts on the game. I can't comment substantively on anything happening outside the game world, because time and space and politics have ceased to have any real meaning for me. All that exists is Warcraft, and a hazy semi-conscious dream-state I have taken to calling 'The Levelling Zone'.

I just made level 38... along the way I have had an opportunity to explore much more of the game world, and even so have yet to even visit large tracts of land. I've taken part in Alliance raids and fended off Horde aggression. I've entered sprawling dungeons full of enemy warriors and assassinated a large number of influential figures. I've become a big game hunter, and a slayer of demons. It's been great.

Speaking as someone with only Alliance experience, I have to say that the PVP system is perhaps the most fun. It's opt-in (on Argent Dawn) and reversible... you can join in when you're in the mood, and keep to yourself the rest of the time. The Horde players excel at PVP - it's like fighting the Vietcong in Platoon. You may have the material and numerical advantage, but it's only an illusion before you're cut to shreds and your foes fade back into the night.

Being involved in an Alliance raid group on the other hand is like taking part in the special Olympics. The keystone kops are in charge, directing people to 'take that beach and give the Hun a black eye, what?', and then you're left lying dead in the sand after having been severely ass-fucked by a much smaller force of Horde ninja assassins. Then you have to return to your death site and watch the Horde gather around your corpse whilst your Alliance colleagues circle around in the distance trying to untangle their wheelchairs.

Not that I'm bitter.

Alas, it seems that the qualification to lead one of these raids is a high level, which I don't have. It is however gratifying to know that when I finally reach the lofty levels of 60, I'll be able to put all that Sun Tzu knowledge to good use. I would never have believed it would ever come in handy.

I started off with leatherworking as a profession. I dropped that in favour of mining, and I'm glad I did. I managed to get about four gold pieces in two weeks of play with leatherworking. As a miner I'm now sitting on about 140 gold pieces - more than enough to buy my mount at level 40, and all the new spells and abilities that come with that lofty achievement. People will pay crazy money for raw materials, and so my skinning (which provides leather) and my mining (which provides mineral bars) are raking in the big pennies.

That's about all I have to say at the moment. More updates as my game experience continues. :-P

World of Warcraft

So, I bought World of Warcraft last week. I don't think I've done a single thing with my free time since except play the damn thing. It's really very well done - I did want to be able to play with my Australian Friends, but alas my authentication key won't work on the servers they play on, and so I am (mostly) All Alone in a Brave New World.

Nonetheless, I have managed to make some progress. Exploring this vast and beautifully rendered 3D world is very exhilarating - and the gameplay is perfectly balanced. You're never at a loss for something to do. I've played perhaps 40 hours over the last week, and I don't think I've seen any more than perhaps 10% of the game world judging by the map. Even those bits I have explored, I haven't explored fully. It's truly immense.

It's a very worthwhile gaming experience - and although I begrudge having to pay upfront for a game and also pay per month (£8), in real terms of the amount of entertainment I'm getting for my money and regular outlay, the cost is trivial. I'd spend £8 going to a movie and only get a couple of hours of entertainment out of it.

Currently I'm a level 24 druid - I play on Argent Dawn (the EU server) as Drakkos. Feel free to give me a shout if you see me around.

Baffling Search Strings #1124

This one is fantastic... 'hegemony sitcoms'. It just instantly conjures up a brilliant premise for a comedy set in the United Nations. We could just take the general formulaic 'churn by numbers' style of many American comedies and mix together a zany cast picked from the most appropriate Comedy Stable Archetypes. It could be like Friends with politics.

The United States would be Joey. Dim and willing to hop into bed with any dubious right-wing dictatorship. Fiercely loyal to its friends, but you can't help but think that most of its actions stem from the fact it's a little bit slow-witted.

The United Kingdom would be Monica - so concerned about appearance and the perception of being on the winning side that it continually lies to itself about its influence. Everything in the UK suites is shiny and spotless... who would like a spot of tea before we kiss America's ass as part of the Great Game we are still powerful enough to play?

France is Ross - full of itself and irritatingly nasal. Probably very intelligent, albeit about the dullest areas, and probably in the scheme of things, a little bit higher-class than its colleagues - but still someone with a punchable personality that you can't bear to be around.

North Korea could be Pheobe - kooky and crazy, with an estimated six nuclear devices.

Chandler is Israel - always ready with a handy quip about why it's okay to slaughter Palestinians by the lorryload. Palestine is Rachel - unwilling to accept any role that involves taking responsibility for its own part in the middle east crisis.

Together, these six crazy characters flesh out the ambassadorship of the Comedy United Nations... and when they are in a room together, HILARITY ENSUES.

I was so enthused about this idea that I started to type up a pilot - but then I realised there already is a comedy that plays out every day in the United Nations. It's called 'diplomacy'.

Carnivale Closing Its Tents

Jesus... bad news about the best show on television. I honestly don't know what the hell is wrong with TV executives... it's like there's a pre-promotion tradition of beating them around the head.

I suppose I just have to mark it up as another in a long list of excellent shows that were killed before their time (Futurama, Firefly, et al) and before they had a chance to explore the promise that they displayed (Dark Angel, for example).

I suppose this year has actually been pretty good for television on both sides of the Atlantic - Lost and Veronica Mars are both excellent freshman shows. The new Doctor Who is great in all sorts of ways, and Family Guy makes a welcome return to our screens. The loss of Carnivale tho' is a major blow.

I guess it's time to start collecting personal effects for my own HBO Executive voodoo doll.