The Perfect Game (Or not)

So I was just playing Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning and I couldn't help but notice the bits and pieces of Fable 2, Dragon Age: Origins and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion  in there. They even ripped the dialogue wheel right out of Mass Effect, which is the first thing I noticed.

The control scheme in Reckoning is simple enough, and I can't complain about the user interface. There is some interesting lore behind the land as well. Yes, it seems they have finally created the perfect mix of all my favorite games.

The only problem I have is with the way they played off the story. The game throws you right in to the fray, and I was accidentally completing quests all over the place. It needs to explain itself better for it to turn out good.

And then there's that confusing maze-world they plop you down in. Every area is like a maze, and if it wasn't for those generic circular quest markers, I might have to wander for 5 times as long as I ended up having to anyway to accomplish anything.

The game has everything it needs to be good, it's just sloppy. I hope they refine things before release.

Cyclone Party

I had a very strange dream, where some kids I knew and my Grade 5 teacher went on a class trip to 2 facilities where some bad things happened. In the second, they were cloning people to test acid on them. Nothing really happened there so we all left an somehow fit in to a convertible. We left, but we started seeing weird stuff, like every cloud was suddenly a small cyclone and there were tornados and falling rocks everywhere. So this convertible got stuck under one of those falling rocks, and it formed a convenient cave over us. Some boulders started falling around but an opening formed itself after about 2 minutes. Then my teacher started to go crazy saying that "Our lives are a story, and this rock IS the story! We can't leave until it's over!". So I left with some people to go look for survivors, but everything was apparently fine outside the rock and the sky was back to normal. Apocalypse averted. I started to look for work because I needed a way to complete the journey home, and I was offered a job at "Jesus loves jars".
About 1 year later (according to a magic timecard) I went back in to the rock to tell my friends we could leave, but they didn't want to because the rock was the story. So one of them showed me a game he had been making called "This rock is" and then I woke up. Like what the hell.

I think I know what this means. The clones they had been launching through acid jets were like curled up jar babies, and the jesus loves jar place had babies on the sign poster. All the day before I had been animating babies in jars for a project.

Moral: I need to play Mass Effect more and get all its achievements.

Quitting Tribal Wars

I've had an account on this Real-time-strategy browser game called Tribal Wars for a number of years, and I've been on World 59 since October 11th, 2011 (the day it opened). So far I've gotten 5 villages and numerous medals (including accidental self-conquest), but I think I'm going to quit. It's just not a game I can get in to. I also didn't get nearly enough villages nearly fast enough. I'm not in any situation where quitting is the only option (although I am surrounded by enemies), but I'm going to start working on a flash game or something, and I don't want to be worrying about which train I should be sniping, or faking at the right times.
It's also a little irritating playing with people in different time zones, we're always awake at different times or something. it's also helpful for just that reason, but communication is definitely an issue.
So yeah, I think I'll be quitting that world. I also won't be joining World 61 when it opens in 2 days.

Edit (Feb 6 2012): I did join World 61, and these are my final stats from 59

Rank 630, 36653 points, 8 villages, 27 awards
26002 ODA + 119653 ODD = 145655 OD, 1145 ODAS
1 Self-Conquer

Minecraft On The Mind

Last night I had 2 dreams. One about my cat finding a small squirrel-like critter in our house and trying to use it as a chew toy, and one about Minecraft. I was walking around in a marsh with 7 or 8 new plant types (including carrots, beans and some other random stuff), non-blocky rock formations (volcanoes) and some red flower people. The whole thing was damn well vivid, hence the title of this post.

Moral: STOP PLAYING VIDEO GAMES!

Independance

A guest speaker came in today to tell us about his condition, Cerebral Palsy.
He told us the usual stuff (don't pity us, and don't mock us) but he told us so many stories of all the times he had to deal with his condition in ways others wouldn't have to.
They're not my stories to tell, but anyway, this guy was hilarious. The second question on the list he made was "will you die". His answer was "yes. but i got news for you. So will you".

The message was that disabilities are normal, and in every society and country, people have them, and it's been that way forever.
He wrapped up with 3 rules (I forget 1, so here are 2):
1: Value your diversity (Of course)
2: Seek the story in a stranger

That second one is all about not dismissing people based on how they dress, or talk. It's about finding common ground and making connections, so you can co-exist more happily (a good message).

On the subject of wanting to be accepted, I say "don't join a group, make your own."
That way, you'll never be caught deciding between one group or another.

Funky Ass Dream

Last night i had this realistic dream, where i and my little brother were on a playground, and some kid started pushing him around, trying to knock him off bars and stuff. I told him to quit it (In my head of course) and his dad came over and started trying to roughhouse me. It ended well (in my head of course), and then the setting switched to some country that i now forget the name of.
I was on an accidental plane ride with some old friends, and i didn't want to be. When i tried to leave, i realized that Canada was oceans away, and my friend told me: "Unless you have a ride, your sticking with us for another 3 weeks". While i was in that place, i came across a large field, with a building smack in the middle, and forest lining every side of it.
The building, (from my head of course), was filled with angry people doing angry things, like swiping things from hard workers and looking at me funny. I walked to a back room, which was like a small enclosure for animals. There was some hay on the floor, and the kid from the playground. Then, his whole family poured in the front door, and charged up a hill into the room.
I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but i went outside and that playground was to the left of the building looking from the front. They were both run down, but the sky was bright now, and everything except the people were cheery. I walked back inside the building, but the interior had changed from a dank, musty orphanage into some weird congregational place. As i strolled past a glass barrier, i saw inside, a bunch of people i knew very well, and i was overcome with a feeling of dire sadness. After that, the dream went to hell, and i don't remember anything past that.

And the Moral of the Story IS: Don't eat red mushrooms. No seriously.

Tough Kids

Today some little Indian kid and his "posse" walked up to me and started chanting: "White boys, White boys, watcha gonna do, watcha gonna do when i come for you"
I laughed inside becuase they were all about a third as tall as me, but I started trash talking:
"Man, you wanna go? i know jiu-jitsu, ima beat you down, son!"

And this little prat goes "Ima @#$% you up!"
I told him to watch his language and grow a pair before he goes blabbing up my walk, and he stormed away dropping F-bombs everywhere. My brother just looked and said: "That's adorable"


Also, when I was in a forest, some cops walked by looking for a "large cement object".
I walked out of the woods and saw a big ass Buddha bust sitting in between some trees just outside the tech wing of my school. Needless to say, I took some video and it will be in my 100th Episode Spectacular.
It was gone when i went to check about 1 hour later.

What a weird day.