Redwolf's Journal (continued)

Reading Fire in the Blood it struck me how potent the ability to see someone's "soul" can really be. Farideh, as a Chosen of Asmodeus, has the power to concentrate and see things about people. For her, it manifests as colors, but she gets distinct impressions from it. Most obvious is whether a person is touched or claimed by a particular deity - something used in the book to ferret out agents of Shar as well as identifying other Chosen. But she also gets sort of a devil's-eye-view of a person, seeing how a person might consign him/herself to Baator. In the story, she shies away from the latter use, but the former proves a lot faster and more accurate than wizardly divinations for finding saboteurs and traitors. When I designed Amani, the infernal on Furryfaire that I haven't actually played IC as yet, I envisioned something similar - as a being whose very essence is centered around desire she would be able to see what it is people want. It makes sense, and s

The Brimstone Angels series continues from The Adversary . I still love the cast, even if they're a little tight-lipped at times, though it's a little dizzying to see that expanded. Maybe I'm imagining it, but this installment feels like the author had a little more creative freedom. The sisters being Chosen of Asmodeus feels less forced, as does Cormyr's defense against an invasion. It feels more like a story she wanted to tell than a story she had to tell, even though I suspect the setting developments are woven into the 5E changes for the Forgotten Realms. Mehen's sexual preference gets an open nod this time, though I don't see it as a big deal and the characters don't have any hang ups about it other than initial surprise. Lorcan still hovers in that realm of "maybe he could be redeemed without the pressures of Hell all around him," but his manipulations of Farideh are pretty much textbook "abusive relationship" when you step back

Imprecise terminology seems to be something of a pet peeve of mine. Certainly, we all get lazy with our words at times and say things in a way that makes perfect sense to use, but not others. But in an age where information can spread faster than wildfire, some attention to detail is important. It is not enough to speak (or write) to be understood, but rather to not be misunderstood. I like to think my father's journalism background instilled some "good" values in this regard. It may seem silly to call people "suspects" in some situations, but it's proper until there is solid, accepted proof otherwise - little details like that can be important, and jumping to conclusions without sufficient information just confuses matters.

I was asked recently if I'll be getting back into WoW, as the latest expansion releases next month. While I don't want to get too negative or depressing, and I realize it can be a touchy subject in some quarters, the answer is really: I don't think so. The game itself is still fundamentally solid and polished, but not revolutionary at this point. I haven't seen anything in the pre-expansion information to make me think my spending of time in the game would change notably from previous. There will surely be a bunch of quests to go through while leveling up to the new cap, with profession advancement on the side. Then daily quests, and dungeons, and maaaaaaybe some measure of raiding. The "mechanics" of the experience remain pretty much the same. The garrison is new, but does not seem (from what I've seen) to live up to its potential as far as personalization, making it... well, not "meaningless," but it doesn't really capture my interest ei

Bleh. Really hasn't been a great week. And so I feel justified in saying I'm feeling down. At least there's a reason for it rather than the random depression of the past. A power supply replacement at work didn't fix one computer - Oh look, bad capacitors on the motherboard! Then we had another laptop go down and ordered a replace which... had some issues and is now not serviceable itself. Then there's the all-too-frequent "hey, we have someone starting tomorrow who needs all this equipment!" Work has felt like I've been treading water. I'm not angry about it, but it's wearying. Saturday eve I decided not to cook and went out to grab some food, including a dessert. Then my car wouldn't start to return home. Suspecting the battery (I think it's original), I called over a helpful friend and we tried to jump start it. When that didn't work, I was left with little alternative but to call for a tow. Towing coverage on insurance takes

This week has been pretty crazy at work. Computers going down. New computers going in. New people starting. Major changes in workflow. It's been... a lot to deal with. I take some solace in knowing that sometime tonight I'll be able to legitimately say "F-it" and go home for the weekend.

So... I'm nearing the end of my "trial" period and there's probably more I can say. It took just over three weeks of regular play for me to hit level 50 with dragoon/lancer (which includes 15 levels of marauder), which So... I'm nearing the end of my "trial" period and there's probably more I can say. It took just over three weeks of regular play for me to hit level 50 with dragoon/lancer (which includes 15 levels of marauder), which stands as the current cap. The leveling experience wasn't quite as smooth as ideal, but it wasn't too painful to push through the "dead" spots. The main storyline has been reasonably solid. The player character is given an important, but not quite unique, role in events. Being gifted with the "Echo" is a clear story benefit in connecting with the beast tribes and resisting the primals, but an NPC has the same ability and there's nothing that precludes other "adventurers" from

Finally roused myself this morning from a dream where I was a friend of Tony Stark doing hostage rescue alongside Iron Man. No armor myself, but video game-worthy weapon skills, including targeting vulnerable points on a flying vehicle of some sort. Heh. Neat. And then while not so asleep, and slowly nudging myself to really get up and do some things, my mind wandered back to SCA fencing training. That... is a little strange. A few moments of imagination can carry a whole load of baggage. The thought of me having opportunity and desire to stick to that is a biiiig road not traveled for me.

Credit where credit is due, I came across this at a blog post elsewhere - a reference to a Michael Ironside "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit. There are some links to some funny stories he's got there.

Blargh. Heating system at work on the fritz. Was toasty during the nights last week, and now during the morning. Seems to be overcompensating for cooling weather outside, but one really shouldn't be sitting at an office desk and sweating. A couple weeks in and in FFXIV I've got a level 41 (of 50) dragoon. It's definitely becoming slower to level, which is fairly predictable, but I find the pacing to be a little annoying in availability of quests. At this point, I can do the most recent story quests and the side quests that are unlocked in the area, and still have half a level to go before reaching the next. It seems there's greater expectation of gaining experience from dungeons and the like. That seems to me a poor design choice, personally. Amusingly, there are a fair number of in-game comments about how you keep getting sidetracked as people require you to prove yourself in some fashion before rendering needed aid so you can continue your actual quest. I've be

I think it's something of an achievement in art and entertainment to evoke emotion. Some might argue that's the whole point. But when you get down to it, the bulk of quests in an MMO are fleeting and forgetable. If I really focus on it, sure, killing those ten rats in the basement may have been a huge relief for the tavernkeep, but I wasn't ever really drawn into his plight - to use cliche as example. Most of the big emotional events I recall from WoW were meta-game events, where I felt a sense of accomplishment come from playing well or overcoming challenges with a team. There aren't a lot of purely in-lore events that evoked a major response. But I can think of a few. - It may be an edge case, but seeing the changes Cataclysm wrought on territories instilled a great sense of loss within me. - Facing the inevitability of death in the Bridenbrad quest chain was mournfully sad. - I felt a certain kinship toward the alien Klaxxi after working with them, and I suspec

Just keep getting stuff piled up even as we make headway. All the little frustrations of poor communication and last-minute orders pile up. There's plenty to do without hand-holding others. I managed to take a couple nights off, thinking that wouldn't be too big a deal. Heh. I'm a pessimist, I shouldn't be surprised at getting swamped upon return.