Dear FoxNews

FoxNews,

 

I have been very curious about a lack of reporting on an issue that is near and dear to my heart.  When the Virginia Tech shootings occurred, you allowed attorney Jack Thompson to speak for upwards of six minutes about the possible profile of the shooter, touting Mr. Thompson as a “School Shootings Expert”.

 

I would hope that you are aware that your “expert” is now permanently disbarred, effective at the end of October.  I do not condone you for putting this man on television, as your newscast is not the only one he swindled into believing that he had some sort of credentials.  I do, however, expect a journalism device and media giant such as yourselves to do a small report or mention in passing that you made a mistake in allowing this man to present himself and his unsupported claims on your network and furthermore, I would like a promise from your network that we will not see Mr. Thompson again as an “expert” unless he has some sort of credentials proving himself as such.

 

Thank you.

A Rant of Epic Proportions

“Average” People of the World,

Adults play videogames.  Many of us do.  Many of us enjoy them.  Many of us consider them a hobby.  Of all of us, there IS a portion of us that are not serial killers and are not going to become one.  Also, there’s a group of gamers out there that DON’T enjoy games like GTAIV or Manhunt 2.  I know that this is all hard to believe, as your TV news programs don’t want you to.

As I may have mentioned before, I work in a K-12 school, and I have a job that gets me in all the different classrooms (I’m not a teacher).  I get an interesting mix of people to converse with in the school, as I can talk with the 4th graders about Kirby (yes, he still seems at least a bit popular down there, as does Pokemon and Sonic) and then move on to the High Schoolers and discuss the possible outcomes of mixing elements of Bioshock and Portal.  I love talking to the kids about games.  Sometimes they mention games that I have missed and need to find out about, sometimes I can razz them about their choices in games (tell a senior gamer boy that you think the Halo series are mediocre tripe and watch the results…great fun), and we have a good time.  I even have kids that feel comfortable enough using slang around me in the hallway in front of their peers.

Then I have many of the classroom teachers.  There’s always those few teachers (unfortunately mostly male, but a few females are also included) that know games.  Usually not nearly as well as their classes do, and usually more mainstream games (Guitar Hero with your Science teacher, anyone?), but they at least know how to wield a controller (or a keyboard). 

I’m not addressing that original statement to them.  This is directed to all those people at the school that know NOTHING about games.  How do you do that?  How can you look me in the eye and tell me that you will forbid your own children to own a game console or PC because it will stunt and warp their imagination?  Give your child the Spore Creature Creator or Sim City or Animal Crossing and watch the good times roll.  All of a sudden, that child will have made a creature or a city or a person that is theirs.  They have a backstory for that place or thing and they are more than willing to tell you.  Seems to me that it would ENCOURAGE imagination (in healthy doses…there’s also the story of the 6th grader who doesn’t know how to ride a bike but has two lvl 70’s…).  You could even take it one step further and have the child write a story about how their creature eats or what kind of people live in their city.  Have them send letters to every animal in their town.  There’s a wealth of interaction possibilities for you and your child…and I think that’s much better than sitting in front of a TV dormant, which many of the same people don’t have a problem with.

Then there’s the people that get this look of horror on their faces when I tell them I’m a gamer…like I’ve just told them that I am a murderer that somehow got a job in their little hometown school.  I’ve received such statements as “My, but you are a grown woman!” to “Well, no wonder you don’t have any kids yet…you are too busy being one yourself…” to “Those bloody things?  Why would you waste your time doing something like that?”  The same thought always pops into my head when I hear one of these statements.  First, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I didn’t get upset.  I’m very passionate about gaming and hate the bad rap it continues to receive even as those same games become mainstream (and they are, moreso everyday).  Second, I just take a step back and look at the person. This person is a 5th grade teacher that has no concept of what his/her 5th graders do with their time.  How are you suppose to build up any kind of rappor with a class when you know about nothing they do?  I’m not saying that all the kids play games, not by any means, but there’s a good number that do…and I’m pretty sure that those same people that are questioning my hobby don’t know a lot about Barbies or Bratz or Finger Boards or Webkins or Hot Wheels either.

I gave computer lessons to a teacher the other day, one on one (one of the perks of my job, I guess).  She not only had no concept of how to e-mail, or save a document, or open a web browser…she had no understanding of any of the things that the kids consider normal.  She had never heard of MySpace, Facebook, Wikipedia…in fact, the only two names I mentioned that she recognized was eBay and Google (but didn’t know how to navigate to either one or what they looked like).  We got on the topic of slang and she had never heard the phrase LOL.

Anyway, we spent the entire day working on the computer.  As we did so, we chatted, and I told her about my trip to Japan, some of my International friends, the Cucumber Pepsi my friend had brought home from Japan with her the previous weekend, my husband’s guitar, movies we liked, and things of that nature.  At one point, she mentioned that she felt that I had done more in my 25 years of life than she has experienced in her (probably twice as long) time on this Earth.  I told her that I was really glad she said that, as so many people tend to tell me that I’m “wasting my life on those silly video games” and she obviously felt that I was doing just fine balancing them with everything else.

The point I’m trying to make here is that gaming does not ruin one’s life…or rather, it doesn’t have to.  I’ve seen people become crazy over TV shows, I’ve seen people waste their time watching every movie that makes it to theaters.  I’ve known people who watch more kinds of Anime than I know words with the letter ‘e’ in them.  I know people who collect action figures, I know people who collect license plates.  I know people who collect and trade the stickers off of produce bananas in the grocery store.  I know people who fish, hunt, watch sports, knit, sew, kayak, go to NASCAR races, and lift weights in their free time.  Let me have my hobby, if you all are allowed to have yours.  I won’t bug you if you won’t bug me.

And to those TV networks….quit adding fuel to the fire (especially since you folks are the ones who started it in the first place).

An Open Application

News companies of the United States and World:  You need me.

 I am a 24 year old FEMALE gamer.  I have some sense when it comes to games.  I play the games that your “knowledgable” panelists continue to defame over and over again.  I also refuse to play a game that disgusts me, but I read reviews, try the demo, or watch someone else play it before I make that decision.

 I have just watched a clip from FOX news that was a new low in a series of sad examples of journalism.  In this clip, a person who said themselves that they had not played Mass Effect were appalled by what appeared within the game.  This should strike the news companies as odd, giving a person with no hands-on experience with the product air time.  Yet I have seen Jack Thompson (I so badly wanted to write this without that name, but I couldn’t make my point as well without it) repeatedly cited as a “school shootings expert” (type that into Google, the fourth hit is “dissecting Jack’s lies”) and given air time to make his point, which is, unfortunately, to be as stupid-looking as possible to anyone who knows anything about video games.

 If any of the big news corporations have given time to the video gaming public, let me know and I will gladly edit this post.  As it stands, I am arguing that we are not the 15-year old boys that are playing games in their parents’ basements that the news media so quickly wants to present us as.

We are not just the frat boys and pimply teenagers.  We are your wives, husbands, girlfriends, co-workers, teachers, and grandmothers.  And our numbers increase every day.  Why?  Because everyone likes to be entertained.

I am given strange looks in the school that I am employed at when I say that I will go home and play World of Warcraft that evening.  If I had said that I was going to go home and watch Lord of the Rings, I would hear comments about how great a movie that was, or how this teacher or that teacher does not like fantasy movies as well as comedies.

 My point is, movies are accepted.  Television is accepted.  Video Games are not accepted.  Part of the reason for this is that news media will not leave video games alone.

If we take the rating systems that we currently have and match them up, what do we have?

 Movies                                               Video Games

G (general audience)         =           E (for everyone)

PG (parental guidance)    =           E 10+ (everyone over 10)

PG13 (PG over 13)            =          T   (for teen)

R (Restricted)                    =           M (Mature Audiences)

NC-17 (No One Under 17) =         AO (Adults Only)

 Ok…now we are getting somewhere.  I don’t understand why so many people are pushing to get so many games listed AO.  How many NC-17 movies can you think of?  Showgirls is R, as is Scarface.  You find me a game that’s got as much profanity as Scarface or as much nudity as Showgirls, and then we’ll talk (and that’s not even taking into consideration the time comparison between a 2-hour movie and a 30+ hour game).  Stop trying to give a game like Mass Effect an AO rating for the 30 seconds of side nudity it shows.  Monty Python’s Life of Brian had a longer nudity scene, and full frontal at that…and it’s an R rating.

 One more point on the ratings, and I’ll get off the soapbox.  Stop using the argument that “kids can buy these games”.  Kids can buy those movies too.  Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back has 228 instances of the “f-word” and I was able to buy that movie in a store without my family present when I was the ripe old age of 15.  If the “kids can buy these games” argument flies, remove all the R rated movies from store shelves too.

 Anyway, to get back on point.  If you, Big News Companies With The Power to Confuse Instead of Educate, would be interested in making some changes in your sad, sad, state of technology affairs, I would be interested in talking with you.  I’m more than willing to present my argument on other topics in technology as well as more points in video gaming.  I’m waiting.

Geek!? Nerd!? BOTH!?!?

Most anyone surfing the Internet has come across those time wasting tests that tell you if you are a Klingon or a Romulan or what anime character you are but the ones I come across mostly are the geek or nerd tests. I have taken a lot of these tests in my countless hours of procrastination web surfing and I find that these tests are some of the most interesting and sometimes frustrating ones out there. The question I’m going to propose here is what is a measure of Geekdom or Nerdom and what are the overlapping interests and social traits…. I personally like to consider myself a Geek because in my mind a Geek is a person that is well versed in computer hardware and things related to the physical being of the computer such as building, modding repairing. On the opposite end, in my opinion, is where the Nerd excels, computer programing, computer engineering, anything dealing with the analytical side of computing. I’m definitely not saying that only geeks can fix a computer and only nerds can write programs I’m just making a generalization based on the people I know and what traits they have that I would consider nerdy or geeky. Now of course there are a lot more factors that lead themselves to personality traits than what you do with computers if you deal with computers at all. Lets just list off some things that may lend themselves as a trait geeks carry.

Geeks

Computer Repair, Modding, Repairing. Video games, genres, FPS, RPGS, Action, Survival Horror. Can possess some social skills but would rather not deal with other humans and if they must have to talk down to some one that does not understand technology like they do.
This is by no means a complete list at all just what I am able to think of right now. Now on to the Nerds.

Nerds

Computer Programing, Computer Engineering. Video games, genres, RTS, Simulations. Reading. Tabletop gaming (D&D, Risk, CCGs Etc.) Typically lacking in social skills but is eager to help anyone that asks for it with out making them feel stupid.

Once again not a complete list but you get the idea.

Mostly I think most people exhibit traits from both categories. I think that I’m a geek with nerd tendencies as most of the geek section applies to me but I enjoy D&D and other table top games. My wife I would consider a nerd with geek tendencies as she likes reading and writing but also is very good with fixing computers and possesses good social skills.

So the question again is witch one are you Geek, Nerd or Both?

Great Orb of Jello?!?

My $0.02:

 Why is it that in most RPGs, characters are “graced by the light”, “protectors of the light”, or in lesser, more awesome cases, “blinded by the light”?  Just once, I would like my character to be “protector of the Jello”.  What amazing prospects arise when we change just that one word!  Watch as our hero (who shouldn’t have to be a warrior or a mage, the local not-quite-prosperous dung salesman can be a hero as well) goes to the vast volcano dungeon to find the great Strawberry-Banana Orb of Jello just to find that the awesome heat of the said volcano (of which the dungeon resides) has magically transformed the great Strawberry-Banana Orb of Jello into the much-less-great Strawberry-Banana Puddle of Jello!  I’m not even going to go into the lack of originality of the volcano, water, forest, or ruins of evil dungeon locales (a jokeshop of horror would be much more interesting).

 Basically, what I’m saying is that I would like a game in which my noble dung salesmen must travel far and wide to the jokeshop of horror in search of the Strawberry-Banana Orb of Jello, as prophecized by the almighty Gelatin Gods, and then three more Orbs of Jello must follow (Tropical Punch, Orange, and Blue Raspberry) in more daring dungeons (the haunted pizza parlor, the worn-down amusement park, and the bright and cheerful medical office plaza).  After the orbs are retrieved, they must be placed in the Freezer of Re-wigglyness, to bring wiggly and jiggly back to the Kingdom.

 In the second playthrough, I would like to play as Bill Cosby searching for the great Pudding Pops.

Vista More like Crapsta

So last night I decided to take the plunge and install Vista (don’t worry I’m dual booting it) on my computer. After a very uneventful install process I proceed to take World of Warcraft for a spin to see if there is any change between good ‘ol Xp and it. Bringing up the log in page I notice right away that every thing is very jagged and its stalling a bit but I log in anyway… big mistake. Awaiting me where such graphical horrors such as my 2 handed sword clipping though my head my other wise round shield looking like a stop sign, it really seemed if I touched my screen I would cut my finger open on the polygons. I was taken aback by the horrendous 18 frames a second I was getting I mean I think I made little stick figure flip books back in school that had better frame rates. I know I cant have the latest drivers for my video card so I shuffle down to nvidia and get the new drivers and another uneventful install later I’m ready to try Warcraft again. Launching the game again shows that the login screen is smother and presentable then it all goes to hell. Standing there my Pally just looks like the world took a dump on him the jaggedness has gotten worse and now the frame rate is a screaming 4-8 frames a second. By this time its almost 2 in the morning and I just gave up leaving Ronalopolis standing there in Stormwind not knowing whats going on.

Warriors of Light Unite

For our first game that we are playing though we decided to start with the classic franchise Final Fantasy. We decided we would pull out the good ol’ NES to start this off right. After we blew into the cartridge till we hyperventilated we figured we would hook up the Game Boy Player and play the GBA release of this game.

For the starting party we chose a Warrior, Monk, White Mage and the ever popular Black Mage. The first mission we have to both prove to the king that we are truly the warriors of light and clean up the kings mess buy rescuing the fair princess Sarah.

The first boss fight against Garland the greatest swordsman in the land turns out to be very disappointing and anticlimactic. We save the Princess and found out that we truly are the Warriors of Light that the prophecy foretold. As a show of gratitude the king orders the bridge to the north to be rebuilt so we can return light to the four crystals. And with that knowledge the opening credits roll and the game begins. After crossing the bridge the first battle we fight is against an ogre instead of goblins and turns out to be more difficult than Garland himself.

In the city of Pravoka we find its over ran by some blood thirsty pirates, so we take it upon our selves to send them to Davey Jones’ locker. Not only do we fight the pirates but there are nine count em nine of them (oh the chores of being heroes) so after some fancy axe work from Zeza our warrior the pirates are belly up and we get their ship.

Welcome!

Welcome to the gaming chronicles. Here you will find the obligatory first post, in all it’s glory. We have links on the side to some favorite websites, my del.icio.us, and a progress bar (eventually, ya know, when we actually start some games). This is a husband and wife project, so you’ll see two of us posting on here. I’m Amauriel, the wife, and you can find me in WoW under this same name on both the Bloodhoof and Staghelm servers. Ronalopolis is my hubby, and it’s easy to tell our posts apart…if it’s misspelled, it’s probably Ronalopolis.

Anyway, have a seat, enjoy the festivities, we’ll probably get better at this as we go along (this is the first real blog for both of us), so come back often and we’ll aim to provide some insight into some great games and where they started.