• Why I Have a Goal in a Game

    Posted on by suguay

    Ok, so why shouldn’t a person have a goal in a game? Yeah, I know, it’s a game it’s just for fun. At least that is how I feel. I sometimes think some people take them way to seriously. And that is a topic for a different post.

    Yes, I have a goal in the game I am currently actively playing. I’ll get to which game it is in a moment. No, I won’t tell you my main character either. My goal is to have one high level character.

    Ok, I know you are thinking to yourself that’s everyone’s goal. Well, not always. That is an end to a means or something like that. It is usually a consequence of general game play and a desire to have something cool in a game that you can’t get until you get to a certain level. And let’s face it, all the really good stuff is in at the higher levels.

    That, however, is not why I want to have a high level character.

    It is mostly because I never have. My highest level character in any game was a Shade Assassin in Shadowbane and she was a level 55 when I gave up because my guild got wiped  off the map. I never got into any raiding or anything like that and wasn’t really into the pvp thing at the time. Though, I did try a duel. I also got ambushed a couple of times.

    I only seem to make it to about level 40 or 50 or so before I loose interest in the game or something along those lines. Of course, I’m not usually in a good guild or such either. This time though, I think I might make it. I have a couple of co-workers who play the game. One has been quite supportive. I’m playing World of Warcraft for the first time, well, since December. So I usually have questions for him. I ask what things like RFC and DPS are. I had to ask how to get to a battlefield last night. We whisper/tell to each other congrats on new levels and things like that. He led the first 5 man I did. So it’s been good. And because of that I think I may make a high level character in WOW.

    Since I have never really had any really strong characters in most of the games I’ve played, it’s been a different experience to attain higher levels. I’ll have to tell you about it some time. For now, that’s my goal in a game. I want a high level character. I feel compelled, it’s sort of like having the need to read all the “Harry Potter” books or all the books in the “Twilight” series. I just really want to do this.

    See you in the machine.

    Games

     

    Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.


    📂This entry was posted in Games Land

  • Manners and Courtesy

    Posted on by suguay

    I don’t know about you. I was raised knowing my “Yes, ma’am’s” and “Yes, sir’s”. I was taught how to set the table properly at a young age. I remember my mother speaking with pride about the fact that my sister and I could go anywhere, and dine anywhere and not be out of place. We knew how to behave and how to eat properly and how to be polite and if we didn’t have something nice to say or something that contributed to the conversation, we knew to keep quiet. I suspect we did a lot of keeping quiet. What can a 5 year-old contribute to a conversation with the Officers and their wives.

    I was an Air Force child at a time when our military was still respected by our citizens. Being a child of an Officer meant you had to be a good kid. 

    Years later, after my family leaving the military and attending school in places like Oklahoma and California at a time when life was tending towards the more relaxed atmosphere, I found my manners and courtesies in bad need of dusting off. 

    Last year, at work, we had need for a new person in our department. The role is an admin assistant/Help Desk operator. My Manager interviewed and hired a very nice lady that has inadvertantly helped me to dust off my manners. As I hear it, she used her “Yes ma’am’s” and “Mister’s” and “Ms” in the interview. While we joked a bit about this afterwards, when she started work, we became a much more genteel department. I like this.

    I work in an I.T. department. As consequence of society, reputation, and myth, many I.T. departments are not regarded with much admiration or as being particularly sophisticated in their behavior. As a result of our Assistant, we are probably the most polite I. T. Department.

    And yet, we do have people within the group that while they play part of the role, they do lack the finer points to really allow them to stand out. Things like taking into account that the number of us in the one office causes a certain amount of crowding and things such as fragant foods can cause conflict or at least frustration. They lack the courtesy of visiting our users personally and checking on them or assisting with a problem. 

    While I find it interesting to observe the other people with regards to manners and behaviors. I find it even more interesting to observe myself. I find I have become more polite, even outside my work. I am definitely more polite and considerate at my job. I do much less barging into someone’s cube and much more knocking first. I find myself dropping some annoying habits and returning to the teachings of my childhood and I think it’s a great thing. 

    Cheers

     

    Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.


    📂This entry was posted in The Blog!

  • Ventrillo, TeamSpeak and the Like

    Posted on by suguay

    If you’ve gotten involved enough in any MMORPG (Online Role Playing Game) and involved yourself with one of the player created organizations then you have probably run into the suggestion or request that you use Vent (short for Ventrillo) or TeamSpeak. If you haven’t run into them yet or you have and you don’t get why you need them, a little explanation.

    These programs, and I am sure they are not the only two just the most popular, are programs that allow for group voice chat. Often times a play organization such as a guild will insist on it’s usage for group raids, hunts, and other such group events. Many seem to feel it enhances and eases team communication. 

    I have used both programs. I can’t tell you I have a preference for one over the other. I don’t. I dislike them both equally.

    Yes, you read correctly. I dislike both of these programs. Not because I think either one is bad software. For me they take away from the game play. I honestly do not want to hear someone else whining about this or the other. I’ve been there. It’s annoying. I am busy concentrating on the game and what I am doing in the game. I have no desire to listen to the ramblings of others. I feel obligated to be prepared to respond. And it interrupts my enjoyment of my own music that I am listening to while I’m playing the game.

    As you might guess I’ve had a less than ideal experience with the voice chat programs. I was involved in a player group that insisted, to the point of being hounded, that everyone have and be on Teamspeak and later Ventrillo. I got the full experience of the mutterings and ramblings of the group leader who did not much more than complain with regards to other players in the group and how they didn’t respect and apreciate what he did and how much he put into the game and the group. I have even been yelled at over the chat for not good reason.

    For the record, in my opinion, there is NEVER a good reason to yell at someone over voice chat when playing a game. It is just a game. I don’t care if it seems to be meant in jest. Without proper face to face communication where you can see the expression you can never be sure.

    I am sure that these programs do offer a great tool for larger raid groups. I can see where when you get up past 5 people it is probably very helpful for planning strategy and assigning tasks. I however, will do almost anything I can to avoid using them. Perhaps you will have a different experience.

    See you in the machine.

    Games

    Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.


    📂This entry was posted in Games Land

  • Inspiration in Odd Places

    Posted on by suguay

    In November my niece had to tell us all how good the movie “Twilight” is. She thinks it is the best movie ever. My niece is a new teenager. She proceeded to offer anyone who might be interested, to borrow her book if they would like. At the time, I passed. I didn’t get off that easy. I was promised to take her to see the movie ‘again’.

    So December comes and I have some extra time off from work. My niece and I go to see the movie. On my way over, I couldn’t help but think about the vampire movie that came out when I was a teenager. And then the movies since. I have a feeling that every generation has it’s vampire movie or tv show or some sort of depiction in the media of the time. Possibly since Bram Stoker first wrote Dracula. Even with these thoughts, I did find it an enjoyable movie.

    I even decided that perhaps I would read the book. So when her book came back from the friend who did take her up on the offer to borrow it, I did the same. I read it last week. I found it interesting in that I found a certain quiet inspiration in Edward.

    Not really what you would think. He seems to be noble and all that, for what he is. No, where I found inspiration is the implied way in which he utilized all the time he has.

    As a vampire he has no need to sleep. What does one do with all that time? Apparently one of the things he has done is to become a very talented musician as well as how very good he must be a certain subjects due to have to repete them so many times. 

    I have recently had a significant change in living arrangements from previous years. I no longer own a house with a yard and I now live alone. When I had a house with yard and lived with someone, there seemed to always be so much to be done. The yard and the cleaning and the maintenance. These days I find myself with a lot more unspoken for time on my hands.

    I find that though I still have so many projects to work on and things I want to learn, I just don’t seem to do them. I find, much like so many onther people, that I fill my time with inconsequential things. I watch television or play a game on the computer, or spend so much time aimlessly searching the internet. Hmm. At least Edward spent enough of those endless hours learning music.

    And so I find Edward Cullen from “Twilight” a quietly inspiring character. 

    Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.


    📂This entry was posted in The Blog!

  • Player Created Organizations…

    Posted on by suguay

    That’s a pretty loaded and wide subject is it not? I mean those organizations with in the games that the game makers included to foster a sense of community and belonging. They are usually, groups, societies, corporations, guilds and even parties (as in political). So far these are the titles I have encounters. In addition to fostering a sense of community, these organizations usually have a common goal of some sort and the members try to assist the other members. We’re going to just call these organizations guilds as the concept works well and the term is fairly common within the online massive multiplayer game genre.

    The functions of the guild varies depending on the game. And the personality depending on the people involved.

    I have been fortunate enough to be a member of a very large guild that had control of a large area and this allowed me the opportuntiy to advance my character a good bit, in a fairly short time. The members were into helping each other quite a bit, and without really expecting a lot in return. The first thing I was asked was if I had a certain weapon or armour skill at a particular level and I was to let that person know when I did. When I did, they gave me a wicked awesome level of whichever it was, armour or weapon. This was a great experience. I took a two week break from playing only to return to the game somewhere I didn’t leave myself and without a guild. I was horrified, I thought I had been kicked out. That wasn’t the case, some other guilds got together and raided and wiped my guild off the map, literally. It was a shock. And a disappointment.

    I have also been a member of a guild that for some reason the leader was trying very hard to make it very large. He/She was insistent on a very regimented sort of behavior. We had to use a voice service while in game. We were expected to get on it. We were expected to greet the group in the guild chat and things like that. I remember being very tired and having a headache and just wanting to be left alone one night and he/she was taking a bunch on some exploring expedition and I didn’t want to go. He/She was trying very hard to get me to. I left the group after the drama got really too much. I think I was a member all of a month. In that same game some members of that group splintered off to form their own and asked me to join them. I did for a while. They were too small and had grandiose and altruistic ideas and after a while I decided I was better off guild-less. Interestingly, the leader has left the game completely, and many of the members of the splinter group have rejoined the original.

    The unfortunate experience in that particular game has taught me a few things with regards to guilds.

    Becoming a member of a guild can be easy or complicated depending on the guild and the game. Often times, as you are off doing your own thing and minding your game business, someone will ask if you might be interested in joining their guild. That’s what happened in the case of the less than ideal case. In the ideal case, I was actually ‘advertising’ that I was looking for a guild. I was at a point in that game where I needed a strong guild to advance further. That was all I knew and I was very lucky. I have been asked to be a member of a start-up guild. This happens sort of randomly. Someone is forming a guild for some reason, they need a certain number of people as founding members and they are a couple short. I’ve never taken up this offer to join a start up other than that splinter group. Sometimes you have to go through an application process and sometimes it appears to be very simple event. 

    I think I was actually interviewed for the guild in the less than ideal case. I didn’t register that at the time. I was asked to be a member of a guild in a different game because of the equipment I had at the time and the activity I was participating in. Believe it or not, a lot of these games have mining as a component. I guess so since you tend to need weapons, ships, and other stuff of the ilk. In any case, I didn’t really think to ask about the guild, I’m really not sure why I bothered as I had never intended to be a member of a guild in that game. I wanted to create my own since in this game you can have a guild of one if you would like. I was a member of the guild in this particular game for less than a week. I found it disturbed the way I had come to enjoy playing the game. I went back to a system guild for a while and I have since created my one person guild. I does leave something to be desired.

    So, in that game that I had the less than ideal experience,  I was once again asked if I might be interested in joining a guild. I like this game, I don’t want my play to be colored by frustration with other players. When I was asked, I asked. I asked about the guild, what it’s goals are, what the expectations are of the members, and then I said yes. I have to say, so far it has been a very pleasurable experience. Within the first week or so I was invited on a group hunt that was a lot of fun. I realized I hadn’t had so much fun in quite a while. And when I was done it wasn’t a big deal to say I had to go. Wow. I’ve gone on a hunt with another member as well and we did pretty good, especially since we were hunting things that are a little out of my league. I’m hoping this continues to be a good experience. 

    When the guild experience is a good one it really does enhance game play and create a sense of community. 

     

    See you in the machine.

    Games

     

    Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.


    📂This entry was posted in Games Land