Blarsies
I do so hate it when I manage to blow my mood on a Saturday (or Friday night) and leave myself mopey through the rest of the weekend. Ah well. So it goes.
Planning a visit to the Grand Canyon at the end of the month, since my dad and stepmom are over there as campground hosts for the summer. Probably three nights there. Have had to make sure my tent in still intact, which led to it being set up in the second bedroom. It looks sorta funny in there, really.
I've made my way through nine of the Honor Harrington books. There's a lot I like there in the strategy, tactics, and characters. Even the politics are usually bearable (for politics). It's interesting, and perhaps educational, to read the interplay between government and military motivations - I could certainly draw some parallels to real life.
On the other hand, the down sides are getting bigger as well. The stories are feeling sort of formulaic. Even the chapters are often follow the pattern of 1) brief exchange between characters starting a discussion, 2) lots of exposition and non-dialog thoughts setting things up, 3) conversation continues about the situation. There's so much exposition that it's feeling pretty unwieldy, especially with the need to establish some of the same basic things in every book.
So they're becoming somewhat less fun to read at this stage and I find myself skimming some sections. Might be time for other reading material.
I've also been playing The Witcher 3. I can safely say it's an all around great game. As with any big, open-world game there are bugs to be found, but I've seen few of them in my play. A lot of things seem to have improved in direct evolution from 2: default levels of combat difficulty are less punishing, there's better explanation of systems early on, sex scenes are less superfluous and ubiquitous, and the decisions flow more organically than a big in-your-face choice of going with one version of a chapter over another.
Ciri, who isn't around much and yet the story revolves around, feels a little bit too special, but I guess that's just fantasy cliche for you. Otherwise, I enjoy the fantasy paradigm that's a little different from the norm, being based on Polish lore.
I do have to say I have some issues with Yennefer - Geralt's "long lost love" who's been no more than background mention in the previous games. I've seen some people put forth that she's a strong, fitting companion for Geralt. In absence of info from the books, though, I find her abrasive, distant, and morally somewhere between "questionable" and "bankrupt." There are enough glimpses of where she's coming from that I can sort of sympathize with her, but the way she steals holy artifacts, throws around black magic, burns out sacred sites, and just generally seems to embrace the whole "ends justify the means" philosophy make it hard for me to like her. And her bossy attitude toward Geralt makes it difficult for me to see him loving her. I find it much easier to favor Triss, who (at least in the games) has been more of a companion and partner to him. But... I guess it's a positive thing that the game has characters you might evoke reactions like that.
There are certainly annoying bits, like weapon degradation, candle placement, XP pacing in places and such, but it still really is a pretty great game. Hopefully the ending doesn't crash and burn.
Planning a visit to the Grand Canyon at the end of the month, since my dad and stepmom are over there as campground hosts for the summer. Probably three nights there. Have had to make sure my tent in still intact, which led to it being set up in the second bedroom. It looks sorta funny in there, really.
I've made my way through nine of the Honor Harrington books. There's a lot I like there in the strategy, tactics, and characters. Even the politics are usually bearable (for politics). It's interesting, and perhaps educational, to read the interplay between government and military motivations - I could certainly draw some parallels to real life.
On the other hand, the down sides are getting bigger as well. The stories are feeling sort of formulaic. Even the chapters are often follow the pattern of 1) brief exchange between characters starting a discussion, 2) lots of exposition and non-dialog thoughts setting things up, 3) conversation continues about the situation. There's so much exposition that it's feeling pretty unwieldy, especially with the need to establish some of the same basic things in every book.
So they're becoming somewhat less fun to read at this stage and I find myself skimming some sections. Might be time for other reading material.
I've also been playing The Witcher 3. I can safely say it's an all around great game. As with any big, open-world game there are bugs to be found, but I've seen few of them in my play. A lot of things seem to have improved in direct evolution from 2: default levels of combat difficulty are less punishing, there's better explanation of systems early on, sex scenes are less superfluous and ubiquitous, and the decisions flow more organically than a big in-your-face choice of going with one version of a chapter over another.
Ciri, who isn't around much and yet the story revolves around, feels a little bit too special, but I guess that's just fantasy cliche for you. Otherwise, I enjoy the fantasy paradigm that's a little different from the norm, being based on Polish lore.
I do have to say I have some issues with Yennefer - Geralt's "long lost love" who's been no more than background mention in the previous games. I've seen some people put forth that she's a strong, fitting companion for Geralt. In absence of info from the books, though, I find her abrasive, distant, and morally somewhere between "questionable" and "bankrupt." There are enough glimpses of where she's coming from that I can sort of sympathize with her, but the way she steals holy artifacts, throws around black magic, burns out sacred sites, and just generally seems to embrace the whole "ends justify the means" philosophy make it hard for me to like her. And her bossy attitude toward Geralt makes it difficult for me to see him loving her. I find it much easier to favor Triss, who (at least in the games) has been more of a companion and partner to him. But... I guess it's a positive thing that the game has characters you might evoke reactions like that.
There are certainly annoying bits, like weapon degradation, candle placement, XP pacing in places and such, but it still really is a pretty great game. Hopefully the ending doesn't crash and burn.
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