This week Merric is asking for your help in deciding which of the Riders of Rohan pre-order editions he should buy.
Comments Off 
What I did in Games Week of June 17-23, 2012
Eustoma the hobbit huntress decided to sneak back to Hobbiton to do some farming. She reached Master Artisan level. One day, with enough ale she’ll tell the story of why she has to sneak back into town. Alinniel traveled to … Continue reading →
Comments Off
The Search for a Profession in Guild Wars 2
I’m really looking forward to Guild Wars 2 (GW2). I’ve joined in on the last two Beta Weekend Events (BWE) for GW2, and had an absolute blast. I didn’t want to spend too much time on the personal stories. I … Continue reading →
Comments Off
What Video Games Can Teach Us About Life
There are a lot of things that we can learn about life
through video games as long as we keep an open mind and avoid being extremely dismissive
about them. Wait! Before you turn away thinking that this is going to be
another one of those generic long tirades about the wonderful stories behind a
select few video game titles that you couldn’t really care less about such as
Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, Skyrim or something similar, then you’re horribly
mistaken. While admittedly, there are some video game stories that are so
engaging that hardcore fans might find their stories infinitely memorable, the everyman/average
Joe/Jane really cannot be expected to take a liking to these stories given the
fact that not everyone plays these types of in-depth video games. Fortunately,
this article is all about the real life lessons that we can learn from much
simpler games; the kind of games that every other person on FaceBook plays or
has played at some point; the “casual games” – so to speak. Of course, given
that there are hundreds of different casual games on the market, I will be
focusing on only a select few games which I have had some personal experience
with either through observation, actual gameplay or both.
Plan Ahead
Of course, this is not a lesson that you can learn only from
video games alone, but that’s not the point that I’m trying to get across here.
What I would like to say is that the importance of planning ahead can really be
visibly seen when you play video games. For example, take a game like Tetris –
which is seeing quite a revival nowadays thanks to Tetris Friends partnering up
with Facebook to make the game easily accessible for anyone with a Facebook account.
video games alone, but that’s not the point that I’m trying to get across here.
What I would like to say is that the importance of planning ahead can really be
visibly seen when you play video games. For example, take a game like Tetris –
which is seeing quite a revival nowadays thanks to Tetris Friends partnering up
with Facebook to make the game easily accessible for anyone with a Facebook account.
At this point, I’m going to assume that everyone is pretty
familiar with the mechanics of Tetris so I’m going to go ahead and get directly
to the meat and potatoes of the subject matter. When playing Tetris, your main
objective should be to go for as many Tetrises as possible by clearing your
stack in lines of 4. A newbie Tetris player will simply place the blocks in any
way that he/she sees fit as long as it doesn’t create gaps and go for singles
or doubles as well as occasional triples by chance. While this might work well
enough for slower speeds, the weakness of this strategy becomes quite apparent
as soon as the game starts to speed up. A stack that was built without proper
planning is quite prone to gaps and goes up pretty quickly even with modern
piece-holding mechanics in place.
familiar with the mechanics of Tetris so I’m going to go ahead and get directly
to the meat and potatoes of the subject matter. When playing Tetris, your main
objective should be to go for as many Tetrises as possible by clearing your
stack in lines of 4. A newbie Tetris player will simply place the blocks in any
way that he/she sees fit as long as it doesn’t create gaps and go for singles
or doubles as well as occasional triples by chance. While this might work well
enough for slower speeds, the weakness of this strategy becomes quite apparent
as soon as the game starts to speed up. A stack that was built without proper
planning is quite prone to gaps and goes up pretty quickly even with modern
piece-holding mechanics in place.
On the other hand, a savvy Tetris player
knows that building a good stack is the key to beating the game at higher
levels and usually stacks with multiple Tetrises or, depending on which version
of Tetris he is playing, stacks with long combos in mind.
knows that building a good stack is the key to beating the game at higher
levels and usually stacks with multiple Tetrises or, depending on which version
of Tetris he is playing, stacks with long combos in mind.
This holds quite
true whether you are pitting your skills against another player in Tetris
Battle or going for the fastest time in a game of 40 lines or Sprint. It doesn’t
matter whether you place your gap at the right side, the left side, or even in
the center as some players do and whether you prefer Tetrises or the more
stylish T-spins. What is really important is that you have a good plan of
action and that you execute this plan effectively.
true whether you are pitting your skills against another player in Tetris
Battle or going for the fastest time in a game of 40 lines or Sprint. It doesn’t
matter whether you place your gap at the right side, the left side, or even in
the center as some players do and whether you prefer Tetrises or the more
stylish T-spins. What is really important is that you have a good plan of
action and that you execute this plan effectively.
In real life, if you don’t set your goals ahead of time and plan ahead, you will often find your past mistakes catching up with you just as that gap that you failed to recover from earlier will eventually catch up with you when you play Tetris.
Recognition is
Shallow
Shallow
Have you ever failed at something – anything at all in life
and you just knew that you deserved the consequences of your failure because
you simply did not do enough? On the flip-side, what is more common is this feeling
that you just got robbed just like how Manny Pacquiao must have felt against
Timothy Bradley when he lost his Welterweight Title Belt to a man who (he must
have thought) he clearly defeated.
and you just knew that you deserved the consequences of your failure because
you simply did not do enough? On the flip-side, what is more common is this feeling
that you just got robbed just like how Manny Pacquiao must have felt against
Timothy Bradley when he lost his Welterweight Title Belt to a man who (he must
have thought) he clearly defeated.
If you have ever played Tetris Arena on the
Tetris Friends network, you would recognize right away just how this lesson
fits squarely into the realm of video games. In Tetris Arena, you are “recognized”
for your win/loss ratio against different opponents in games using Battle
Tetris rules that can consist of up to six players at a time. Depending on how
many times you have lost/won, you will get ranked as a Bronze, Silver, Gold or
Platinum player using an rpg-style level-up/level-down system.
Tetris Friends network, you would recognize right away just how this lesson
fits squarely into the realm of video games. In Tetris Arena, you are “recognized”
for your win/loss ratio against different opponents in games using Battle
Tetris rules that can consist of up to six players at a time. Depending on how
many times you have lost/won, you will get ranked as a Bronze, Silver, Gold or
Platinum player using an rpg-style level-up/level-down system.
Once you have
spent a little time on the network however, you will soon clearly realize that
these ranks are quite meaningless. The truth is that a highly skilled Bronze,
level 1 Ranked Player can easily wipe the floor against a mediocre Level 14
Gold Ranked player in a one on one battle. In fact, it happens all the time.
This is because once the battle begins, the only thing that really matters is
skill. Your Gold or Platinum Rank won’t help you much if all you’ve been doing
is cherry-picking in rooms with players that you can handily defeat, in a level
playing field, if your skills are inferior to your Level 1 opponent, you will
definitely lose.
spent a little time on the network however, you will soon clearly realize that
these ranks are quite meaningless. The truth is that a highly skilled Bronze,
level 1 Ranked Player can easily wipe the floor against a mediocre Level 14
Gold Ranked player in a one on one battle. In fact, it happens all the time.
This is because once the battle begins, the only thing that really matters is
skill. Your Gold or Platinum Rank won’t help you much if all you’ve been doing
is cherry-picking in rooms with players that you can handily defeat, in a level
playing field, if your skills are inferior to your Level 1 opponent, you will
definitely lose.
This is a lesson that holds quite true in real life as well.
In any field of endeavor, it doesn’t matter if one person is a Harvard Graduate
in that field and the other guy is a graduate of UI-Phinma. When it comes to
actually performing the task at hand, skill and experience will always be the
more accurate measures of competence rather than a shiny Master’s or Doctorate
Degree.
In any field of endeavor, it doesn’t matter if one person is a Harvard Graduate
in that field and the other guy is a graduate of UI-Phinma. When it comes to
actually performing the task at hand, skill and experience will always be the
more accurate measures of competence rather than a shiny Master’s or Doctorate
Degree.
Life Goes On
This is a very important lesson about life that becomes all
the more apparent in games such as Zuma and Tumblebugs. The object of these
types of games is to get rid of all the balls in your playing field by hitting
them with the same colored balls and forming groups of 3 or more. For this
example, let’s go with Zuma – since it’s simpler, but also much more
challenging when compared to the combo-friendly and power-up loaded Tumblebugs.
the more apparent in games such as Zuma and Tumblebugs. The object of these
types of games is to get rid of all the balls in your playing field by hitting
them with the same colored balls and forming groups of 3 or more. For this
example, let’s go with Zuma – since it’s simpler, but also much more
challenging when compared to the combo-friendly and power-up loaded Tumblebugs.
The theme that “life goes on” is so apparent in the game of
Zuma that it makes me wonder if the developers actually had it in mind when
they created this little gem. It becomes much more apparent when you watch
someone else playing it – in my case, my mother. My mother only uses the
computer to surf Facebook and she wouldn’t even have had an FB account if she
didn’t need it for her graduate school studies. I suppose some of you might be
interested as to how FB might be connected to graduate school studies, but I
digress. In any case, she got hooked on the game after she saw my niece playing
around with it and she tried it out and was instantly hooked as soon as I
explained the simple mouse-based controls as well as the basics of the game to
her.
Zuma that it makes me wonder if the developers actually had it in mind when
they created this little gem. It becomes much more apparent when you watch
someone else playing it – in my case, my mother. My mother only uses the
computer to surf Facebook and she wouldn’t even have had an FB account if she
didn’t need it for her graduate school studies. I suppose some of you might be
interested as to how FB might be connected to graduate school studies, but I
digress. In any case, she got hooked on the game after she saw my niece playing
around with it and she tried it out and was instantly hooked as soon as I
explained the simple mouse-based controls as well as the basics of the game to
her.
At first, as you might expect, my mother was not very good
at the game and would often yell out in frustration when she placed a ball in
the wrong area or if the game didn’t seem to give her the right-colored ball to
end a particular level. After a few weeks of getting acclimated to some of the
more advanced intricacies of the game however, she began to understand some of
the finer points of game and it is these points which drive home the lesson
that “life goes on.”
at the game and would often yell out in frustration when she placed a ball in
the wrong area or if the game didn’t seem to give her the right-colored ball to
end a particular level. After a few weeks of getting acclimated to some of the
more advanced intricacies of the game however, she began to understand some of
the finer points of game and it is these points which drive home the lesson
that “life goes on.”
Mistakes are quite common in Zuma. When you make a mistake,
especially a costly one, you can choose to rage about it and even slam the
mouse at times, but the fact of the matter is that this will not help you in
any way whatsoever. The little Zuma balls will simply keep moving forward and
slowly but surely inch their way towards the hole – as if they were trying to
mock you. They won’t stop moving just because you yell out in frustration over
a costly mistake. As you continue to play the game, it soon becomes quite
apparent that your only real choice is to calm down and try to recover
gracefully whenever you make a mistake – otherwise, you’ll simply be stuck in
the same level forever.
especially a costly one, you can choose to rage about it and even slam the
mouse at times, but the fact of the matter is that this will not help you in
any way whatsoever. The little Zuma balls will simply keep moving forward and
slowly but surely inch their way towards the hole – as if they were trying to
mock you. They won’t stop moving just because you yell out in frustration over
a costly mistake. As you continue to play the game, it soon becomes quite
apparent that your only real choice is to calm down and try to recover
gracefully whenever you make a mistake – otherwise, you’ll simply be stuck in
the same level forever.
Doesn’t that sound familiar? It’s very similar to real
life. We often encounter a huge setback, a harsh failure, a major inconvenience
or sometimes, simply a mild annoyance that might test the limits of our
patience. When we encounter adversity, we can choose to shout, get angry and
blame others for our frustrations, but the reality is that life goes on whether
we like it or not – the wheel of fate won’t stop turning simply because you are
angry at the cards that life has dealt you with.
life. We often encounter a huge setback, a harsh failure, a major inconvenience
or sometimes, simply a mild annoyance that might test the limits of our
patience. When we encounter adversity, we can choose to shout, get angry and
blame others for our frustrations, but the reality is that life goes on whether
we like it or not – the wheel of fate won’t stop turning simply because you are
angry at the cards that life has dealt you with.
Similarly, in Zuma, you will
not always get the balls that you actually need to get yourself out of a sticky
situation. Sometimes, the game’s algorithms are sadistic enough to provide you
with two red colored balls just when you can’t use them because the long combo
of red balls have been obscured from your line of sight by a haze of
different-colored balls giving you no choice but to quickly place one of your
red balls somewhere else and adjust to the situation accordingly.
not always get the balls that you actually need to get yourself out of a sticky
situation. Sometimes, the game’s algorithms are sadistic enough to provide you
with two red colored balls just when you can’t use them because the long combo
of red balls have been obscured from your line of sight by a haze of
different-colored balls giving you no choice but to quickly place one of your
red balls somewhere else and adjust to the situation accordingly.
Games such as Zuma don’t always play fair and sometimes,
life doesn’t either, and when this happens, you can either quit playing and be
a failure forever, or simply try again until you finally succeed. By the way,
my Mother is at Stage 12 now and if you play Zuma, you’d know that this is quite
an accomplishment whether you are a gamer or not.
life doesn’t either, and when this happens, you can either quit playing and be
a failure forever, or simply try again until you finally succeed. By the way,
my Mother is at Stage 12 now and if you play Zuma, you’d know that this is quite
an accomplishment whether you are a gamer or not.
Real Life Is Just A Stupid Game
If my ramblings haven’t bored you yet, I would just like to
conclude by saying that these insights that I’ve shared with you about video
games are nothing new and I’m sure that you might have a few of them to share
yourself. The last real-life lesson that I have learned from video games and that I’d
like to share with you, is best illustrated in Hatsune Miku’s RPG Maker-Esque PV and song,
Real-Life Stupid Game. For the lazy/vocaloid paranoid individuals out there,
the last few lines of the song go:
conclude by saying that these insights that I’ve shared with you about video
games are nothing new and I’m sure that you might have a few of them to share
yourself. The last real-life lesson that I have learned from video games and that I’d
like to share with you, is best illustrated in Hatsune Miku’s RPG Maker-Esque PV and song,
Real-Life Stupid Game. For the lazy/vocaloid paranoid individuals out there,
the last few lines of the song go:
“This world is full of stupid specifications
With lots of depressing events
But if you get discouraged and roll-up in a corner
You’ll never move ahead.
My life is a stupid specification
It won’t go how I want it to
But I’ll keep on going until
I reach my happy end.”
*Note: I am not affiliated with the uploader of this video
nor any of its original creators and I am simply using the said video to better
illustrate the point of this article. Credits to the uploader/translator and
the original creators of the video for making one of the best vocaloid PVs in
existence.
nor any of its original creators and I am simply using the said video to better
illustrate the point of this article. Credits to the uploader/translator and
the original creators of the video for making one of the best vocaloid PVs in
existence.
Comments Off
The Secret World: Welcome to Happyville
I looked up and the clock said 12:15 a.m. Not good. I just felt like I had gotten into the game, and here it was three hours later. I guess what I’m saying is that The Secret World is initially … Continue reading →
Comments Off
TSW: Dark Days Are Here
I have to agree with Syp on this one — Funcom lets you make some pretty freakin’ hot female characters. Well, at least I think mine’s also looking quite attractive. I asked my husband what he thought, and also my dad and my brother who are in town at the moment, and since the three [...]
Comments Off
The Secret World has Launched Successfully
Since yesterday noon EST “The Secret World” is life with its Early Access program. Things look very stable with a few kinks in the system still. But those don’t diminish an overall successful launch. It’s something Funcom needed, to improve their track record. No small feat considering the state of the game just one week [...]
The Secret World has Launched Successfully is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this notice anywhere else but your RSS reader, the site you are looking at is infringing on the copyright of The MMO Compendium
Comments Off
New Riders of Rohan Music from Chance Thomas
Today Turbine released a new song from the Riders of Rohan soundtrack by Chance Thomas. This piece is called “Shadow of the Argonath”.
Comments Off
The Return of Adventure Games
Point and click adventure games were one of my favourite genres in the 90s. For a long time however, they were very much out of fashion, especially throughout the early and mid 00s. Today, the Walking Dead game episode 2 was finally released, and I think the popularity of games such as this, demonstrate a new age for the genre.
I loved the first episode. It’s basically a point and click game with some quick time events thrown in too. It does feel very much like a console port, but not a terrible one. Telltale’s unique system of having the game remember a lot of your dialogue choices across all the episodes means that you should be careful what you say. A new group isn’t going to be too happy if further down the line they found out you lied about who you are. This really tickles my fancy. Being a fan of the post-apocalyptic setting I believe that all of the real drama comes from the tension between individuals under pressure. This game personifies that feeling of being cooped up with a bunch of strangers, some of which you heartily despise.
But this game is by no means the only adventure game around these days. A cursory glance at Steam reveals a veritable bounty of new titles, almost exclusively made by indie developers. Double Fine recently raised over 3 million dollars for their Kickstarter funded adventure game. The genre seems to be undergoing something of a renaissance.
Perhaps this is down to some new found hunger for convoluted puzzles and silly jokes by new gamers, or most likely those who played many adventure games during the 90s and miss their fix. Whether its fuelled by the discovery of the genre by a new generation, or just good old retro appeal, it’s great to have adventure games back in my life.
Comments Off
What’s a Nerdy Bookah?
Really guys, I can’t figure it out. I mean, I get what it means to be nerdy, sure. But what’s a Bookah? Is it even supposed to be capitalized every time? Is it just “bookah”? My first thought is, “Well, … Continue reading →
Comments Off
I’m not ugly, and other TSW happiness
Only been in The Secret World for a little bit (I’m Yeti on Arcadia, say hi if you’re on!), but dang, am I loving this game. I’m going to save longer impressions for later, but three quick things: 1. I … Continue reading →
Comments Off
But I Digress…
I am impatiently waiting for the maintenance and repair work to be completed, got about 30 minutes until I can embark back out into the unknown. That’s what I call patch time.What am I going to do today? Yesterday was a little titillating for my usual …
Comments Off
Why blog? Why call it the Full Moon?
I always thought of having a go at blogging, but I was too lazy. You know how you get those incredible stories in your head, but somehow they seem to remain there. It’s like “Yeah….I’ll write that, but I’ll do it tomorrow” and then tomorrow dawns bri…
Comments Off
Why You Should Try Board Games
No, I’m not talking about Monopoly. The board games I’m talking about are a whole new breed of modern board game. They are varied in theme and in playstyle, but one thing is certain: they are quickly gaining popularity, and not just with the video game and RPG crowd, but with the mainstream. Let’s take [...]
Thank you for reading Why You Should Try Board Games, a post from Professor Beej.
Comments Off
Played Lately: Week At A Glance
Well, this has certainly been a busy week for gaming, I’m sure my Raptr feed has not seen action like this in months. Here’s what has been occupying my time: The Secret War I’d originally planned on going into this “blind” but I caved during last week’s beta 4 weekend. My husband and I played [...]
Comments Off
RIFT’s Mentoring: Helping by hurting
Happy The Secret World Early Access Day for Hopefuls and the Faithful! I’m looking forward to getting some time in with this odd new MMO at some point today if the server gods are kind. I’m sure I’ll be talking … Continue reading →
Comments Off
Guild Leader Perspective: Casual Fun
Previously on Guild Leader Perspective, I discussed the debate of scheduled fun events. Most of us agreed that scheduling fun events (ie not mandatory) is…well…a bit of a headache, to say the least. That doesn’t mean that you can’t still have … Continue reading →
Comments Off
Spicing up short news
Guild Wars 2 will be released on August 28th.
Actually that is all there is to say about that, but for most bloggers that half a line appears to be too short. Thus I found various interesting additions to the news:
MMO Melting Pot: “Servers actually…
Comments Off
Player Achievements for the Week
Each week we ask you to share your successes in Middle Earth with the rest of the community. Post a comment letting us know what you’ve accomplished this past week.
Comments Off
The action economy of D&D Next
Another post in the D&D Next developer’s blog is about the action economy, that is the rules that govern how much stuff you can do in a turn. In 4th edition you can do one standard action, one movement action, and one minor action during your turn…
Comments Off