Redwolf's Journal (continued)

I met my father for lunch today. This was nice, as it always is. It's good to hear how he's enjoying retirement and I think assuring him that I'm doing okay helps to convince me that's true. I did voice a possible need for a vacation. 'tis true, I think. I took a couple days off for a long weekend in February and... uh... that's about it for my planned time off this year. Past and future. Part of the problem is not really having anything to do. I could take time off and hang around at home for rest's sake, but it doesn't really get me a change of scenery or perspective. I've friends who would encourage me to visit, but the expense of traveling anywhere is a major kink in such things. I've still got a bad taste in my mouth from how an adventure I assisted in online, but didn't run myself, drew to a close. One of the villains, placed in my hands, was smarter than the players expected and made what might otherwise have been a solid victory ...

... but at least it's all "play" I guess. - I've multiple books on my to read list that I actually have physical possession of. - I have been helping run a villain in an adventure online, including encouragement to do things outside of the regular sessions. The adventure is technically complete now, though I expect there to be follow-up in the long run. - I have been... shall we say "very actively encouraged" to gear up for running a game. It's something I do want to do, but I've hit a few snags along the way and I'm having trouble directing the focus required to get things in order. - MUCK duties have picked up. After months of a lull, equipment requests have inexplicably jumped in the last couple weeks. Almost every night now, I have someone asking questions alongside whatever else I'm doing there. - I've actually made progress recently in WoW, and I have some drive to continue to do so. Of course, that "next level" can...

If you're going to watch Pirates 3 (and you probably are): Stay after the credits.

Ever get up from a nap and find your computer doesn't work? No? Hmm. Must just be me. Been running fine since my initual setup problems and sending parts back for replacement. Now it's dead. Near as I can figure, it's the motherboard. Pain in the ass. Somehow the most annoying part is that I'll be trying to figure out what board to replace it with, as it will have to be compatible with what I already have and yet different ('cause I'll be damned if I'm replacing it with the same thing I've already returned once before). Meh.

Recent comments elsewhere have got me thinking a little bit about my bias against social skills in RPGs. I tend to feel they should serve as guidelines, particularly for interaction with NPCs, rather than a form of "combat." I've heard the argument (repeatedly) that if the rules suppose lopping off someone's head merely by rolling dice, they should just as readily cover changing someone's opinion. While I see the rationale there, it's never sat well with me. Why can't I just accept that? Why indeed. First, there's a matter of interaction and immersion. That's a matter of play style that differs between people, though. See... they rules need to cover how my mercenary swordsman can slay a dragon because there's absolutely no way to simulate that in reality. Duels between characters? I'd rather see that on paper too, 'cause I don't want anyone hurt. Asking someone a question? THAT I would rather have done by "speaking" (o...

Finished this book last night - number 8 in the Dresden Files. I'm impressed by it - largely because I have trouble thinking of another series that I've read as much of and still held up well. Back in the day, I read the Belgariad and Mallorean, enjoying both, but after the first several books things didn't feel quite as interesting. The Wheel of Time started really wearing on me at book 4 or 5 and I pretty much stopped following it after that. It feels rather remarkable to me that I'm still reading a series after so long and it still has the same sort of fun to it. The characters and their relationships have changed, but slowly enough to feel like a natural evolution. The other oddity that strikes me is how this book felt less self-contained than I'm accustomed to. Sure, there are explanations of what has gone before, but very few of the characters are new and there are plenty of threads pulled over from previous books and even more left open for the future. Some...

Last week was particularly good. Two books finished, one short story written, some measure of cleaning done around the house. No complaints there. This week isn't bad so far, though I'm feeling more tired and I'm troubled by some talk at work. People are worried about one of our web developers - in that they're asking me how badly he could screw up our systems if he tried. Ugh. We have backups, but they're pretty tech-savvy over there and have more access than most people. I'm unclear on just what's going on, but if someone in that department wants to get vindictive, it could be ugly. God of War 2 Good game, of course. If you're into action with a few puzzles thrown in and you didn't play the first one, you missed out. If you did play the first one, you know what to expect pretty much - more of the same high quality. Gah! Think I spent over half an hour on one phase of one boss fight simply because I didn't realize what I had to do in orde...