looks like I am not the only one living vicariously in Stormreach.
I lurve Get Fuzzy. How cool is it that I might have run by the artist before in the virtual world? Gonna check out every dude swinging a two-handed axe now. ha!
as a rude gamer t-shirt I saw online declare "Sleep is for the WEAK!"
LOL.
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Monday, May 01, 2006
Confessions of Ashara Stormborn, 4th level Cleric of Stormreach
Over the weekend, I was reminded that I had not been updating my blog for the longest time. Its kinda flattering to know people are reading your scribblings, so easily flattered goof that I am, I shall be suckered into trying to update again.
Anyhow: The reason why I have been offline on Blogger is pretty prosaic - I have been disgustingly obsessively playing Dungeons and Dragons Online, which launched in in April. It's my very first MMPORG - Massive Multi-player Online Role-playing Game. Within 30 days, I have racked up a shameful amount of gameplay into the wee hours of morning. But hey, anything to pry that +1 Flameburst Morningstar from the cold virtual hands of the evil Minotaur Priest right?
So in a short bunch of weeks, I have become one of the subculture of gaming nerds that sit in the LAN gaming centres at 3am, yelling, "RUN! THE SPIDER IS BEHIND!! WAH LAUUUUUUUUUUU." I have become well-acquainted with the bursts of virtual gunfire from Counterstrike ("Lock and Lode!" "Terrorists Win!") as well as the grunts of hard-working orcs from World of Warcraft ("workwork").
Apart from fulfilling my persistent need for gaming, it's a really fascinating phenomenon to dissect psychologically and sociologically. Ok, ok - so it sounds like yaya papaya justification for an insidiously time-consuming teenage-boy hobby but REALLY, I think the applications of MMPORG technology and thinking in other fields would be interesting to explore.
Darling Wikipedia informs us:
"MMORPGs have existed since the early 1990s. However, they have a history that extends back into the late 1970s. Over 25 years ago, players would connect to an entirely text-based world (no graphics) called a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) which was usually hosted at a University, sometimes without the knowledge of the system's administrators. The gameplay and community of these games was similar to the MMORPGs of today. MMORPGs have begun to attract significant academic attention, notably in the fields of economics and psychology that study relationships between real world economies and societies vs. synthetic economies and societies...."
What I think is interesting is how we take our real life personalities and ethics into the virtual world as well. Gaming - like sports - presents insights into people's motivations and character. I read somewhere that the cleric class tends to attract certain types of people - either the person wants to be really independent and self sufficient (able to fight and heal himself at the same time) or he does not mind using his own resources to help other people (spending spell points on healing other people instead of conserving for himself) Sounds more or less like why I keep playing the class.
Now based on that little tidbit of human psychology, we tested it out in real gameplay. My friend played a wizard and she got herself cursed and blinded - essentially useless to the party. I was too low level a cleric to have the spell Remove Curse/Blindness. So we sent her to a tavern in the game where other players from all over the world hang out and had her send a virtual shout-out, "Alms for the blind? Help the blind and needy". In-game, when you are cursed it is obvious to everybody as there is a gigantic ugly red and black light above your head. Sure enough, a total stranger helped out.
She, being Christian, could not resist sending out another virtual shout-out, "I was blind but now I see! Thnx."
Heh. Ok, Shall go find more serious topics to write about soon.
Meanwhile, I am officially a geek.
But you know....even The Geek shall inherit. haha
Anyhow: The reason why I have been offline on Blogger is pretty prosaic - I have been disgustingly obsessively playing Dungeons and Dragons Online, which launched in in April. It's my very first MMPORG - Massive Multi-player Online Role-playing Game. Within 30 days, I have racked up a shameful amount of gameplay into the wee hours of morning. But hey, anything to pry that +1 Flameburst Morningstar from the cold virtual hands of the evil Minotaur Priest right?
So in a short bunch of weeks, I have become one of the subculture of gaming nerds that sit in the LAN gaming centres at 3am, yelling, "RUN! THE SPIDER IS BEHIND!! WAH LAUUUUUUUUUUU." I have become well-acquainted with the bursts of virtual gunfire from Counterstrike ("Lock and Lode!" "Terrorists Win!") as well as the grunts of hard-working orcs from World of Warcraft ("workwork").
Apart from fulfilling my persistent need for gaming, it's a really fascinating phenomenon to dissect psychologically and sociologically. Ok, ok - so it sounds like yaya papaya justification for an insidiously time-consuming teenage-boy hobby but REALLY, I think the applications of MMPORG technology and thinking in other fields would be interesting to explore.
Darling Wikipedia informs us:
"MMORPGs have existed since the early 1990s. However, they have a history that extends back into the late 1970s. Over 25 years ago, players would connect to an entirely text-based world (no graphics) called a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) which was usually hosted at a University, sometimes without the knowledge of the system's administrators. The gameplay and community of these games was similar to the MMORPGs of today. MMORPGs have begun to attract significant academic attention, notably in the fields of economics and psychology that study relationships between real world economies and societies vs. synthetic economies and societies...."
What I think is interesting is how we take our real life personalities and ethics into the virtual world as well. Gaming - like sports - presents insights into people's motivations and character. I read somewhere that the cleric class tends to attract certain types of people - either the person wants to be really independent and self sufficient (able to fight and heal himself at the same time) or he does not mind using his own resources to help other people (spending spell points on healing other people instead of conserving for himself) Sounds more or less like why I keep playing the class.
Now based on that little tidbit of human psychology, we tested it out in real gameplay. My friend played a wizard and she got herself cursed and blinded - essentially useless to the party. I was too low level a cleric to have the spell Remove Curse/Blindness. So we sent her to a tavern in the game where other players from all over the world hang out and had her send a virtual shout-out, "Alms for the blind? Help the blind and needy". In-game, when you are cursed it is obvious to everybody as there is a gigantic ugly red and black light above your head. Sure enough, a total stranger helped out.
She, being Christian, could not resist sending out another virtual shout-out, "I was blind but now I see! Thnx."
Heh. Ok, Shall go find more serious topics to write about soon.
Meanwhile, I am officially a geek.
But you know....even The Geek shall inherit. haha
Sunday, December 11, 2005
The Game of Life
Warning: meandering post
In between working on school proposals for 2006 and doing much copious gaming as a mind-reliever. Right now, am playing a Gestalt version Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign with two of my ex-students. It's movie-worthy stuff: 3 clerics, each from a different faith, take on a dangerous fact-gathering mission in a Dark Tower to stop a war between the Living and the Dead. I built a (very cool) elven 6th level monk/6th level cleric, a Whirling Dervish from the Order of the Phoenix.
I often get polite smiles when I mention I am a gamer to people over the age of 20. The polite would good-heartedly show some interest. Less polite audiences would a) proclaim gaming was something they 'outgrew' (insert pompous look before shifting conversation to more 'adult' topics) b) laugh off with embarrassment for me c) ignore what I said. Hence, I pick my audiences for revealing my pet hobby.
Among some people, it seems more kosher for a girl approaching the big 30 to announce she is into shopping and fine dining than it is to announce you like occasionally roughing up a bunch of no-good orcs. Is it so unbelievable that a girl can get as much kick out of finding a cute cropped cardi as much as finding a non-existent +5 Cloak of Improved Invisibility?
Traditional table-top D&D gaming is more fun than its flashier computerised versions. Of course if you are a simple Hack & Slash type of Power Gamer, who only plays to rack up bajillions of points or for an ego rush of kicking some one else's ass, you would definitely disagree. If you love spontaneity , social aspect and creative story-telling, nothing beats good ol' table-top gaming.
The smartest game software written cannot replace the unpredictability from playing with real-life people, making choices for their characters based on existing values and ideas.
While I loved Neverwinter Nights and Tomb Raider, in computer gaming....
1) your character's ethical choices are not a real make or break factor.
2) victory is a pre-programmed, sure-thing thanks to the button "SAVE GAME" and the plethora of cheat codes
3) you don't get face-to-face, humour-to-humour, idea-to-idea interaction
4) you get less of a chance at building up real-time relationships from gaming relationships
vs. table-top D&D roleplaying where....
1) your character's ethical choices would really have a discernable consequence on the rest of your gaming team.
e.g. If you created a lawful good righteous paladin but thought there was nothing hypocritical about using him to torture enemies into confession or cheating on taxes, your little misdeeds would cause you to lose your faith and powers.
2) victory is a lot more open-ended and unsure where a lot depends on the rationality and wisdom of choices made by your team-mates. There is no "SAVE GAME" - death is death especially if your game master decides to rule out the availability of character resurrection. There are no cheat codes that you can download. You wanna cheat, it's up for debate among your team and your game master to approve and allow.
3) you get to know the inner quirks, beliefs and ideals of people thanks to their being put in outrageously, unreal situations.
Designed well, table-top gaming can be a smart, social game with in-built capabilities for challenging people about their pre-conceived notions and beliefs about Cause and Effect. An example of in-game conversations:
"Oy, Why your stupid barbarian go and chop off the man's head for? He already begged for mercy!"
"He got money what. KIll him then can take lor. His +5 longsword very nice."
"You supposed to play a GOOD character man! Some more your barbarian wisdom supposed to be high. Eh must think through your next decision ok..."
Occasionally I get bouts of wondering what is a Christian way to game. Or whether Christians should game in the first place.
I thought this article put it quite well.."What Game is the Devil's Game?"
http://www.geocities.com/christian_gamers_guild/chaplain/faga015.html
"Faith and Gaming: Devil's Game: The question is often asked as to whether there are any games Christians should not play. Series author M. Joseph Young names one that would surprise most people, and in so doing sheds some light on the question itself..."
Of course I don't believe D&D, Harry Potter, Buffy, golf, tennis, photography, pop music etc are without their pitfalls of course. Take gaming - I get exceedingly tempted to turn down invites to socials and talks because of the allure of a D&D game. When I start to prioritise chopping up virtual monster spiders and collecting virtual gold over talking to flesh and blood people, I know I need to stop. When I start wasting too much time, money and brain-space on gaming, I know I am in trouble.
Fpr myself, I actually think I am in far more danger when I watch a trashy Hollywood romance or read some rubbishy "chick-lit" than when I read Harry Potter or play D&D. I realised that when I was channel-surfing the other day and found myself watching the whole of America's Sweethearts. It was a total candy-floss of a movie where Julia Roberts ends up canoodling with John Cusack after losing 65 pounds and conditioning her hair. Catherine Zeta Jones also whines, pouts and purrs her way out of adultery and general brattish behaviour. My thoughts after the movie were a mix of "yeah yeah life is easy if you are as gorgeous as those two women", "I want that room" and "I wish I could find a guy like John Cusack".
They were frivolous passing thoughts but I was struck by how they registered so clearly in my head. I can objectively recognise the silliness of the thoughts but nevertheless they surface unasked for. And the thoughts speak to my personal doubts, chinks in my Christian armour. I am sure enough of Christ's work in me to not be stumbled totally but nevertheless, I would not want to tempt myself with a marathon trashy romance movie marathon if I can help it. Conversely, another person might be able to turn his brain off in the face of a romance movie, but finds himself thinking "I wish I really had magic powers. Life would be easy" when he plays D&D.
So should a Christian play D&D, go Zouk, play mahjong, watch RA movies? My layman understanding - We all face the same problem of Sin. But Different people have different strongholds or weak spot, different ways to go astray. We cannot ban everything for the sake of not stumbling another because it is near impossible. There is always something in this fallen world to stumble someone. Instead we really have to just tailor our responses and choices to every unique relationship, every unique context and always always go back to seeking God's Will.
If we think the most evil game in the world is Pokemon, Golf, Gin rummy, Monopoly, Harry Potter or D&D...we have failed to remember what the Game of Life is really about. There is a more real and terribly insiduous form of Evil out there. To simplistically equate the work of the devil with games and Harry Potter movies would show we don't really understand how terrible Real Evil is. If we make Evil into a straw man, we reduce the Christian fight into a simple list of "Do" and "Don't Do", "Do Read" and "Don't Read".
Evil looks a lot easier to understand and conquer when we reduce it to a bits and pieces of pop culture to avoid.
God and The Devil seem a lot less real and less intimidating when we cariacature them.
In between working on school proposals for 2006 and doing much copious gaming as a mind-reliever. Right now, am playing a Gestalt version Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign with two of my ex-students. It's movie-worthy stuff: 3 clerics, each from a different faith, take on a dangerous fact-gathering mission in a Dark Tower to stop a war between the Living and the Dead. I built a (very cool) elven 6th level monk/6th level cleric, a Whirling Dervish from the Order of the Phoenix.
I often get polite smiles when I mention I am a gamer to people over the age of 20. The polite would good-heartedly show some interest. Less polite audiences would a) proclaim gaming was something they 'outgrew' (insert pompous look before shifting conversation to more 'adult' topics) b) laugh off with embarrassment for me c) ignore what I said. Hence, I pick my audiences for revealing my pet hobby.
Among some people, it seems more kosher for a girl approaching the big 30 to announce she is into shopping and fine dining than it is to announce you like occasionally roughing up a bunch of no-good orcs. Is it so unbelievable that a girl can get as much kick out of finding a cute cropped cardi as much as finding a non-existent +5 Cloak of Improved Invisibility?
Traditional table-top D&D gaming is more fun than its flashier computerised versions. Of course if you are a simple Hack & Slash type of Power Gamer, who only plays to rack up bajillions of points or for an ego rush of kicking some one else's ass, you would definitely disagree. If you love spontaneity , social aspect and creative story-telling, nothing beats good ol' table-top gaming.
The smartest game software written cannot replace the unpredictability from playing with real-life people, making choices for their characters based on existing values and ideas.
While I loved Neverwinter Nights and Tomb Raider, in computer gaming....
1) your character's ethical choices are not a real make or break factor.
2) victory is a pre-programmed, sure-thing thanks to the button "SAVE GAME" and the plethora of cheat codes
3) you don't get face-to-face, humour-to-humour, idea-to-idea interaction
4) you get less of a chance at building up real-time relationships from gaming relationships
vs. table-top D&D roleplaying where....
1) your character's ethical choices would really have a discernable consequence on the rest of your gaming team.
e.g. If you created a lawful good righteous paladin but thought there was nothing hypocritical about using him to torture enemies into confession or cheating on taxes, your little misdeeds would cause you to lose your faith and powers.
2) victory is a lot more open-ended and unsure where a lot depends on the rationality and wisdom of choices made by your team-mates. There is no "SAVE GAME" - death is death especially if your game master decides to rule out the availability of character resurrection. There are no cheat codes that you can download. You wanna cheat, it's up for debate among your team and your game master to approve and allow.
3) you get to know the inner quirks, beliefs and ideals of people thanks to their being put in outrageously, unreal situations.
Designed well, table-top gaming can be a smart, social game with in-built capabilities for challenging people about their pre-conceived notions and beliefs about Cause and Effect. An example of in-game conversations:
"Oy, Why your stupid barbarian go and chop off the man's head for? He already begged for mercy!"
"He got money what. KIll him then can take lor. His +5 longsword very nice."
"You supposed to play a GOOD character man! Some more your barbarian wisdom supposed to be high. Eh must think through your next decision ok..."
Occasionally I get bouts of wondering what is a Christian way to game. Or whether Christians should game in the first place.
I thought this article put it quite well.."What Game is the Devil's Game?"
http://www.geocities.com/christian_gamers_guild/chaplain/faga015.html
"Faith and Gaming: Devil's Game: The question is often asked as to whether there are any games Christians should not play. Series author M. Joseph Young names one that would surprise most people, and in so doing sheds some light on the question itself..."
Of course I don't believe D&D, Harry Potter, Buffy, golf, tennis, photography, pop music etc are without their pitfalls of course. Take gaming - I get exceedingly tempted to turn down invites to socials and talks because of the allure of a D&D game. When I start to prioritise chopping up virtual monster spiders and collecting virtual gold over talking to flesh and blood people, I know I need to stop. When I start wasting too much time, money and brain-space on gaming, I know I am in trouble.
Fpr myself, I actually think I am in far more danger when I watch a trashy Hollywood romance or read some rubbishy "chick-lit" than when I read Harry Potter or play D&D. I realised that when I was channel-surfing the other day and found myself watching the whole of America's Sweethearts. It was a total candy-floss of a movie where Julia Roberts ends up canoodling with John Cusack after losing 65 pounds and conditioning her hair. Catherine Zeta Jones also whines, pouts and purrs her way out of adultery and general brattish behaviour. My thoughts after the movie were a mix of "yeah yeah life is easy if you are as gorgeous as those two women", "I want that room" and "I wish I could find a guy like John Cusack".
They were frivolous passing thoughts but I was struck by how they registered so clearly in my head. I can objectively recognise the silliness of the thoughts but nevertheless they surface unasked for. And the thoughts speak to my personal doubts, chinks in my Christian armour. I am sure enough of Christ's work in me to not be stumbled totally but nevertheless, I would not want to tempt myself with a marathon trashy romance movie marathon if I can help it. Conversely, another person might be able to turn his brain off in the face of a romance movie, but finds himself thinking "I wish I really had magic powers. Life would be easy" when he plays D&D.
So should a Christian play D&D, go Zouk, play mahjong, watch RA movies? My layman understanding - We all face the same problem of Sin. But Different people have different strongholds or weak spot, different ways to go astray. We cannot ban everything for the sake of not stumbling another because it is near impossible. There is always something in this fallen world to stumble someone. Instead we really have to just tailor our responses and choices to every unique relationship, every unique context and always always go back to seeking God's Will.
If we think the most evil game in the world is Pokemon, Golf, Gin rummy, Monopoly, Harry Potter or D&D...we have failed to remember what the Game of Life is really about. There is a more real and terribly insiduous form of Evil out there. To simplistically equate the work of the devil with games and Harry Potter movies would show we don't really understand how terrible Real Evil is. If we make Evil into a straw man, we reduce the Christian fight into a simple list of "Do" and "Don't Do", "Do Read" and "Don't Read".
Evil looks a lot easier to understand and conquer when we reduce it to a bits and pieces of pop culture to avoid.
God and The Devil seem a lot less real and less intimidating when we cariacature them.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Oxymoron: Christian Gamer?
Was reading Don's comment (hi Don! at least i hope you are the don i know) about DND under my spinach pasta entry, wanted to reply but Blogger hates my OS.So I thought would do it in an entry instead.
I realise that in my old church I might not have so readily talked about my love for gaming as gaming has come to be associated strongly with satanism, occult etc since the 1980s. I would approach the DND issue with as much balance as the whole "Harry Potter is Satan" fiasco.
Don't know how many of you have seen this infamous anti DND tract drawn by an infamous guy called Jack Chick, who is renown for adrawing a couple of other anti-Catholic Church, anti-Islam etc tracts. For a more detailed run-down on his point of view, click here.
Personally, what I feel about DND and gaming in general (ala Never winter Nights!) is summed up by this famous article by Mark Joseph Young, a youth pastor/DM. He points out the potential pitfalls in it and also the possibility of it being a teaching tool.
He also has a cool little alignment quiz here, if you wanna find out what moral alignment your character would take on in the DND world.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My earliest memory of DND was watching my brother DM all nighter games with his friends. They build massive, elaborate landscapes on our family ping-pong table, accessorised with little hand-painted lead miniatures which pale in detail compared to today's metal die-cast stuff. Anyhow one day my brother was bored and desperate enough to make me play a game with him as all his pals were out. I must have been in lower primary school back then. Did not know any rules, I just rolled dice when my brother said roll and watched my tragic little band of characters get killed from my incompetence. :) I was playing an early DND module based on the Dragonlance Chronicles series of books so my characters were actually pre-made ones based on the characters in the books. So when my favourites bit the dust, I did feel sore. I think I killed off either Goldmoon or Sturn Brightblade or something. :)
I only started playing DND for real in 2003 with a group of university friends - we played a total of 2 campaigns and 3 casts of characters. One cast got tragically wiped out in a DM orchestrated wave of killer goblins who managed to cut off all our heads literally. Stupid dice. Unfair DM.
I tend to keep picking cleric characters and find it interestingly very difficult to make unethical decisions even within the "game" context. I persist in playing the medic/ warrior archetype that must right wrongs. I ought to play paladins given my tendencies but secretly think they are uncool. haha. I pick neutral good alignments but always get warned in game that I am playing towards lawful good all the time. Stupid do-gooder cleric who tells rogues not to pick pocket and always nobly attempts to reason with the Big Bad VIllain.
Presently, I play DND and Earthdawn with a group of 20/30somethings. My current DM and his wife, also a gamer, are both Christians. Personally, I thought one of the most brilliant moments in his campaign was when all of us were trapped in some kind of mystical moral limbo where we faced Judgement. Those of us who chose to hold onto self-centredness stayed in limbo, those who chose to admit our wrongs were given redemption, a second chance.
Okay, so its not exactly word for word BIble theology but it does give an interesting opportunity to discuss ethical "what would you do? why did you do that?" situations with your non-christian gaming buddies. :)
I also realise why non gamers may feel antsy about how "harmless" these games are. Gamers talk casually about "casting spells" and "memorising spells" - no actual memorising or casting of mumbojumbo actually happens at all in the game. When I say I had to memorise a sleep spell, all I mean is that I had to pencil in the words "sleep spell" onto my character sheet . If i am playing Never Winter on the comp, memorising spells just means clicking a button.
that said, there is a whole genre of gaming known as LARP - live action role play. now honestly that gets a bit more dodgy. While conventional table top gaming is just a bunch of nerds (me!) sitting around talking and imagining stuff in the head, LARP advocates you Really get into character. Thats when reality can go fuzzy to me...for kids with low self-esteem, the glamour of playing out a powerful, beautiful, intelligent alter ego can be intoxicating i would imagine.
DND table top gaming still happens to be the cheapest way to get your fantast genre fix. It's like how dinosaurs used to play Diablo and Neverwinter Nights back when computers were still orange and green VGA graphics. ah the good old days. It's imaginative, creative, lots of fun interaction, you see sides of your friends that never came out before but yes....as with all things on this sordid world, exercise caution and never go overboard. and never never never let it compromise the more important things in life. :)
I realise that in my old church I might not have so readily talked about my love for gaming as gaming has come to be associated strongly with satanism, occult etc since the 1980s. I would approach the DND issue with as much balance as the whole "Harry Potter is Satan" fiasco.
Don't know how many of you have seen this infamous anti DND tract drawn by an infamous guy called Jack Chick, who is renown for adrawing a couple of other anti-Catholic Church, anti-Islam etc tracts. For a more detailed run-down on his point of view, click here.
Personally, what I feel about DND and gaming in general (ala Never winter Nights!) is summed up by this famous article by Mark Joseph Young, a youth pastor/DM. He points out the potential pitfalls in it and also the possibility of it being a teaching tool.
He also has a cool little alignment quiz here, if you wanna find out what moral alignment your character would take on in the DND world.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My earliest memory of DND was watching my brother DM all nighter games with his friends. They build massive, elaborate landscapes on our family ping-pong table, accessorised with little hand-painted lead miniatures which pale in detail compared to today's metal die-cast stuff. Anyhow one day my brother was bored and desperate enough to make me play a game with him as all his pals were out. I must have been in lower primary school back then. Did not know any rules, I just rolled dice when my brother said roll and watched my tragic little band of characters get killed from my incompetence. :) I was playing an early DND module based on the Dragonlance Chronicles series of books so my characters were actually pre-made ones based on the characters in the books. So when my favourites bit the dust, I did feel sore. I think I killed off either Goldmoon or Sturn Brightblade or something. :)
I only started playing DND for real in 2003 with a group of university friends - we played a total of 2 campaigns and 3 casts of characters. One cast got tragically wiped out in a DM orchestrated wave of killer goblins who managed to cut off all our heads literally. Stupid dice. Unfair DM.
I tend to keep picking cleric characters and find it interestingly very difficult to make unethical decisions even within the "game" context. I persist in playing the medic/ warrior archetype that must right wrongs. I ought to play paladins given my tendencies but secretly think they are uncool. haha. I pick neutral good alignments but always get warned in game that I am playing towards lawful good all the time. Stupid do-gooder cleric who tells rogues not to pick pocket and always nobly attempts to reason with the Big Bad VIllain.
Presently, I play DND and Earthdawn with a group of 20/30somethings. My current DM and his wife, also a gamer, are both Christians. Personally, I thought one of the most brilliant moments in his campaign was when all of us were trapped in some kind of mystical moral limbo where we faced Judgement. Those of us who chose to hold onto self-centredness stayed in limbo, those who chose to admit our wrongs were given redemption, a second chance.
Okay, so its not exactly word for word BIble theology but it does give an interesting opportunity to discuss ethical "what would you do? why did you do that?" situations with your non-christian gaming buddies. :)
I also realise why non gamers may feel antsy about how "harmless" these games are. Gamers talk casually about "casting spells" and "memorising spells" - no actual memorising or casting of mumbojumbo actually happens at all in the game. When I say I had to memorise a sleep spell, all I mean is that I had to pencil in the words "sleep spell" onto my character sheet . If i am playing Never Winter on the comp, memorising spells just means clicking a button.
that said, there is a whole genre of gaming known as LARP - live action role play. now honestly that gets a bit more dodgy. While conventional table top gaming is just a bunch of nerds (me!) sitting around talking and imagining stuff in the head, LARP advocates you Really get into character. Thats when reality can go fuzzy to me...for kids with low self-esteem, the glamour of playing out a powerful, beautiful, intelligent alter ego can be intoxicating i would imagine.
DND table top gaming still happens to be the cheapest way to get your fantast genre fix. It's like how dinosaurs used to play Diablo and Neverwinter Nights back when computers were still orange and green VGA graphics. ah the good old days. It's imaginative, creative, lots of fun interaction, you see sides of your friends that never came out before but yes....as with all things on this sordid world, exercise caution and never go overboard. and never never never let it compromise the more important things in life. :)
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
'Cos DND ain't mean Dinner and Dance
this was a sketch of the first group of characters my friends and i ever player in our first DND (dungeons and dragons for all you newbies) campaign.
I lovingly dub all my DND drawings as propaganda. This is because while the pictures make us look heroic and worthy, truthfully we played like a bunch of idiots.
the elven rogue (same one from some posts down) fought incessantly with the dwarven cleric. Oh and rogue accidentally acquired vampiric abilities that made her liability.
dwarven cleric had bad habit of drinking every questionable substance in every trap laden room; though he was SUPPOSED to be lawful good, he regularly made unethical choices that caused even his God (in guise of fed up DM) to abandon him.
Elven sorceress traumatised DM by "dirty talking" guards to get them on her side.
i played half elven ranger who could not cast even one stupid Talk With Animals spell because I accidentally placed too low a score under Wisdom trait to allow me to cast magic. Pui. Was not a happy ranger.
fun times. :)
I lovingly dub all my DND drawings as propaganda. This is because while the pictures make us look heroic and worthy, truthfully we played like a bunch of idiots.
the elven rogue (same one from some posts down) fought incessantly with the dwarven cleric. Oh and rogue accidentally acquired vampiric abilities that made her liability.
dwarven cleric had bad habit of drinking every questionable substance in every trap laden room; though he was SUPPOSED to be lawful good, he regularly made unethical choices that caused even his God (in guise of fed up DM) to abandon him.
Elven sorceress traumatised DM by "dirty talking" guards to get them on her side.
i played half elven ranger who could not cast even one stupid Talk With Animals spell because I accidentally placed too low a score under Wisdom trait to allow me to cast magic. Pui. Was not a happy ranger.
fun times. :)
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Blogger hates my OS
just wanted to shout-out to TolkienFanGirl and Spots, that I saw your comments and valiantly attempted to comment back but Blogger hates my Mac OS. I see blank page when I click on "Add Comment". sigh.
neh mind. I paste yet another random pic from hard drive. Its a drawing of my friend's elven rogue character from our very first D&D campaign.
I played a female half-elven ranger who did not look half as cool cos I love upping my combat based stats over my charisma stats. who needs looks when you got two weapon fighting! phwoar. :)
neh mind. I paste yet another random pic from hard drive. Its a drawing of my friend's elven rogue character from our very first D&D campaign.
I played a female half-elven ranger who did not look half as cool cos I love upping my combat based stats over my charisma stats. who needs looks when you got two weapon fighting! phwoar. :)
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