Wow, I just wasted a LOT of time on that website. I had never seen that OK Go video before. Impressive!
Enron, Aeryk and I decided to have a little "mini-con" for two nights this upcoming weekend (the 15th-16th) in celebration of our birthdays and rented out a hotel room in glorious Burlingame. We're planning on playing 4th ed D&D/Combat Commander/Slapjack/whatever until our hearts fall out. I know it's pretty sudden notice but if any action teamers want to make it out for the weekend for some nerd action, stupendous!
Friday, August 08, 2008
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Internet Memes
Very interesting site that has a timeline noting apparently all the significant goings ons with the Series of Tubes known as Al Gore's The Intarwebz.
Some of this stuff I know, some of it I don't and am now glad that I do. One of them regarding a dude that got a spider bite on his face and rather than going to the doctor let it fester until he opened and squeezed the wound on camera, I would rather forget.
Make sure you zoom in to about a weekly breakdown to see all the goodies.
But don't watch the spider bite video. Just don't.
Some of this stuff I know, some of it I don't and am now glad that I do. One of them regarding a dude that got a spider bite on his face and rather than going to the doctor let it fester until he opened and squeezed the wound on camera, I would rather forget.
Make sure you zoom in to about a weekly breakdown to see all the goodies.
But don't watch the spider bite video. Just don't.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
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4th ed is dead
(Not really, just looking for an attention-grabbing title.)
I've been reading more thoroughly through the 4th ed books and the more I read, the more I want to play. In particular, I like the stuff in the DM's guide about setting up encounters. Basically, in previous editions, creating encounters was a really time-consuming hassle. In 3rd ed this was because the monster stat blocks are so complicated and the CR/EL (Challenge Rating/Encounter Level) systems were turbo lame. (The last encounter that I put together for our 3rd ed campaign -- which sadly we never even got to -- consisted of four NPCs and took me several hours to put together. This was not a problem when I did not have a girlfriend or job.) In previous editions it was because there was never a coherent explanation of how all the parts fit together. You had to just kind of feel it out.
In 4th edition the process is very modular. If you want to build an average encounter for four 1st-level characters, you consult the chart that tells you approximately how many XP worth of monsters you want for a balanced encounter, then go for it. This kind of system would be easy to screw up but word is that it works very well.
This feeling of modularity goes throughout the entire system and has its ups and downs. As a downside example, the magic items (as Denis mentioned a while back) are presented in the Player's Guide in the equipment chapter and are very strictly broken down by level, price (which are standard per level), etc. But as there are always things like artifacts which the DM designs and implements, I guess this isn't such a big deal.
As a more neutral example the classes are distinctly fit into roles (controller, striker, etc.) and the players are encouraged to make sure they have members of each role. While this is really more of a formalization of the old "oh we still need a cleric and mage" thing that has always happened, it seems a little weird to say "well, I know you want to play a ranger, but Denis is already a warlock so the striker role is filled, why don't you play a paladin instead?"
(Note: Denis is not really a Warlock. He is a Pumpkin.)
Another thing that I really like is the system for Skill Challenges. This is the system by which you resolve any kind of non-combat event that you want to make important enough to award XP for: negotiations, investigations, chases, etc. It's kind of hard to explain, and is very "gamey," but seems really fun in practice.
All in all I like the system. It has its quirks, but ultimately I don't think it really promotes role-playing any less than the previous incarnations. It just has a tighter focus on role-playing within its own specific milieu and that is fine. There are plenty of other awesome games to run when you want to do something off-beat but for straight up dungeon crawling type campaigns this seems like a real winner.
I've been reading more thoroughly through the 4th ed books and the more I read, the more I want to play. In particular, I like the stuff in the DM's guide about setting up encounters. Basically, in previous editions, creating encounters was a really time-consuming hassle. In 3rd ed this was because the monster stat blocks are so complicated and the CR/EL (Challenge Rating/Encounter Level) systems were turbo lame. (The last encounter that I put together for our 3rd ed campaign -- which sadly we never even got to -- consisted of four NPCs and took me several hours to put together. This was not a problem when I did not have a girlfriend or job.) In previous editions it was because there was never a coherent explanation of how all the parts fit together. You had to just kind of feel it out.
In 4th edition the process is very modular. If you want to build an average encounter for four 1st-level characters, you consult the chart that tells you approximately how many XP worth of monsters you want for a balanced encounter, then go for it. This kind of system would be easy to screw up but word is that it works very well.
This feeling of modularity goes throughout the entire system and has its ups and downs. As a downside example, the magic items (as Denis mentioned a while back) are presented in the Player's Guide in the equipment chapter and are very strictly broken down by level, price (which are standard per level), etc. But as there are always things like artifacts which the DM designs and implements, I guess this isn't such a big deal.
As a more neutral example the classes are distinctly fit into roles (controller, striker, etc.) and the players are encouraged to make sure they have members of each role. While this is really more of a formalization of the old "oh we still need a cleric and mage" thing that has always happened, it seems a little weird to say "well, I know you want to play a ranger, but Denis is already a warlock so the striker role is filled, why don't you play a paladin instead?"
(Note: Denis is not really a Warlock. He is a Pumpkin.)
Another thing that I really like is the system for Skill Challenges. This is the system by which you resolve any kind of non-combat event that you want to make important enough to award XP for: negotiations, investigations, chases, etc. It's kind of hard to explain, and is very "gamey," but seems really fun in practice.
All in all I like the system. It has its quirks, but ultimately I don't think it really promotes role-playing any less than the previous incarnations. It just has a tighter focus on role-playing within its own specific milieu and that is fine. There are plenty of other awesome games to run when you want to do something off-beat but for straight up dungeon crawling type campaigns this seems like a real winner.
Monday, August 04, 2008
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Blah blah - about me-
The family and I met in HK for a brief vacation for our semi annual visits. Heh, my mom sold some gold bars which she was really happy to have bought a few years ago. She bought them at 300 dollars an ounce, I think it's like 900 an ounce now so she made quite a killing. I made no new discoveries, just looking around for good cell phones, but found out that US is the best place to buy electronic gadgets. There was a time where hong Kong was a good place to buy, but now with the Internet, traditional retailers are really dying - See Circuit City. Ebay is just the king of them all, especially if second hand stuff is ok. The problem with Mobile phones is the unlocking crap you have to deal with.
Then the rest of the time i just spent in the hotel room watching the poolside for beautiful bikini clad flesh. Periodic rain however put a damper in the pool plan but the room offered good porno previews on their paybox.
Its really true about health, sanitation and bateria in food. In the states we take all that for granted. My proof is that I noticed in Hong kong, similar to the US, my poo is long strong and firm, but in the Philippines the power of the poo evaporates like kryptonite to superman. And the poo is easily destroyed. I think there's just so much bacteria in the food from the lack of proper sanitation control. But on the other hand, you can't die from it unless you get some viral strain. Guess, what i'm trying to say is that that's one reason i miss the US.
Then the rest of the time i just spent in the hotel room watching the poolside for beautiful bikini clad flesh. Periodic rain however put a damper in the pool plan but the room offered good porno previews on their paybox.
Its really true about health, sanitation and bateria in food. In the states we take all that for granted. My proof is that I noticed in Hong kong, similar to the US, my poo is long strong and firm, but in the Philippines the power of the poo evaporates like kryptonite to superman. And the poo is easily destroyed. I think there's just so much bacteria in the food from the lack of proper sanitation control. But on the other hand, you can't die from it unless you get some viral strain. Guess, what i'm trying to say is that that's one reason i miss the US.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
I'm seeing it again tomorrow in IMAX... hoping it's good the second time around as well.
Congratulations on the house Art!
I saw Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior tonight. Really not very good. I definitely prefer the works of Steven Seagal. I mean, who can forget this classic moment from On Deadly Ground?
Congratulations on the house Art!
I saw Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior tonight. Really not very good. I definitely prefer the works of Steven Seagal. I mean, who can forget this classic moment from On Deadly Ground?
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Movie Rocks!
just watched thru the batman movie, and was pretty cool - Dark thriller, lots of plot twists, and surprises. Can only nitpick (so i will), thought was too pitch dark most of the times even during the daytime, far too few fight action (wanted more coreographed fight scenes than chase scenes which you get in every other action movie. Chase scenes = the suck now, too overdone) and it seems the joker was in most of the scenes and had most of the cool rhetorical lines. Batman on the otherhand sorta got stuck with the one liners but luckily nothing silly like Robocop cliches. "My friends call me wayne, but you can call me, the Batman" you get the jist, woulda been ugly.
- Yeah - Joker was pretty awesome as the dark serious villain. None of his stories were funny, and he only laughed once. I was imagining if it would have been the same replacing him with Hannibal Lectar. I appreciated the character though, but definitely would have been dissapointed if I was expecting a happy clown? -
As I said, i'm nitpicking, Overall, the movie worked wonders, better than the previous ones and the other megamegamega franchises. good stuff
- Yeah - Joker was pretty awesome as the dark serious villain. None of his stories were funny, and he only laughed once. I was imagining if it would have been the same replacing him with Hannibal Lectar. I appreciated the character though, but definitely would have been dissapointed if I was expecting a happy clown? -
As I said, i'm nitpicking, Overall, the movie worked wonders, better than the previous ones and the other megamegamega franchises. good stuff
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