Wired News: The End of the Affair

I’ve always wondered why this happens! In fact, I thought it was unique to me. The thing that interested me in this article was how he said that eventually you play so long that you see the actual underlying game - and then you notice it’s flaws.

I think todays game creators are awesome, and I think that there are great games out there. And movies. And Music. but, without putting those people down too much, I am constantly suprised at how shallow most of it is. It seems, almost, that humanity has lost it’s ability to create truly great works. Michelangelo’s paintings still awe people to this day, and Shakespeare’s writings still enthrall viewers and readers. Bach and Beethoven have positions that Coldplay and R.E.M. will never even hold a candle to.

So what’s the difference? Are we creating great works, and they just need time to be filtered out? In all the thousands of years of human creation, there are only a few “things” - Pyramids, Chess, Mozart, etc.. - that are considered truly great. But will any XBox game hold the attention of its players for thousands of years?

Who knows? I guess only time will tell!

As you may have noticed, they’re doing some stuff to Glenmore, and the results will be pretty interesting.

I use Glenmore almost every day, and while I was sitting in traffic today, I decided to figure out how they were going to improve my life with all this construction. One of the first things I found out was they’re spending about $100 million on this thing, so I’m expecting something pretty exciting. You know, like walls with fish, or something. Don’t worry, they’ll TOTALLY deliver on the fish walls (see the pics). Click on the pictures - they’ll GROW.

First, what are they doing? Check these artist’s drawings of what is possible:



That’s the lower part of Glenmore looking West from 5th Street (the back entrance to the Chinook theatres). Why did the artist draw the fish? Are they really going to be there? Is he/she a Pisces? Is it a comment on how pollution is killing our environment, including the fish, which nobody thinks about when they’re driving? Maybe he/she wants a fish, or is getting one in return for drawing these. Ahhh, if only I could answer those questions.

Lovely! You can see the upper and lower parts of Glemore in this one. And more fish, of course.

They’re taking Glemore and turning into one of the most complicated sets of intersections I’ve ever seen. A bit harsh? Nah, it’s probably easy as pie. But look at more pictures!

What they’re doing now, is called the “Pre Stage 1″ phase. They’re building another Glemore for us to use while they build the rest of the new Glenmore. This new Glenmore will be about 50 feet below the current Glemore - which I think they destroy and turn into an upper level access road to Elbow and 5th Street, but I’ll let you interpret that your own way. Yeah. Heeeeeeere we go.

Pre-Stage 1:



What they’re building there is the road we’re all going to drive while they play around for the next few phases. This will be removed afterwards.

Stage 1:



They actually let us use the new detour, and they’ve started working on the neat-o overpass for Elbow Drive, and the really weird windy streets, which I still have a bit of a tough time following.

Stage 2:



Now Elbow is working again (but as an overpass), and the purpose of this stage is to build the new and improved Glenmore Trail. Or at least start building all the roads. Weird to be driving on an overpass while they work away at the foundation? I think so. I don’t think I’ll be driving over that for a few years …

Stage 3:



Destroy the temporary Glenmore Trail that they’re actually building at this moment in time and enable the new super Glenmore. At this point, you’ll be able to get off the Deerfoot and jump onto Glenmore and not hit a light until 37th Street.

The new Glenmore



Here’s the new Glenmore in all it’s Glory. It’s pretty … road like. I think it’ll be sweet in 2008.

Check out the aforementioned Calgary transportation link too, for what they’re doing to 14th Street. It’s pretty interesting and they are actually building into the resevoir, which has me a little worried as I like clean water. I’ll try to take some LIVE pictures for y’all (maybe Jeff with his super digital camera can help), and I’ll keep you up to date on the insanity on Glenmore.

It’s actually been faster on Glenmore recently, so I don’t mean to give the impression they’re slowing things down. When the detour is in place, it looks like it’ll be 3 lanes through McLoed and Elbow, which is much better than 2. We’ll see how things go.

I need a little break from work, so here is something interesting…

Thrice is going open source on the first single from their new album. They are holding a contest to remix Image of the Invisible and the winner gets a wack of recording gear.

I think this is a great idea. I wish more bands would do this. I am really looking forward to hearing some of the entries from this. Stay tuned, I am going to be following up with a remix of my own. This is going to be FUN!

This is one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever seen. I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Calgary recently, and I like to think that means something. But every now and then, I’m reminded that it doesn’t (necessarily, anyway).

I was recently introduced to some of my colleagues from the University through a communication on a mailing list that I’m still a part of. I’m still on the Internship list, so I get little nuggets from it every now and then. A couple days ago, a request went out for worksite visits from the internship co-oridnator. Today, this fell into my inbox (identifying information removed, to protect those who don’t deserve protection):

Hi [coordinator]:
My name is [ridiculous], ID [student ID]. Since I just got my work permit approved, I
will start my internship in [company] on [date]. When is a good time
for you to do a work site visiting?
Thanks
[ridiculous]

…Okay, what?! Never mind the fact that they hit reply-to-all and responded to the mailing list. As asenine as that is, it’s really not worthy of making fun of; that’s just too easy. What makes this particularily dumb is the Student ID, Name, Company, and starting Date. I went through ridiculous hoops because of FOIP, and now these idiots just broadcast everything everywhere. Great. Why did I have to write my name on one pageof an exam and my ID on another, again?

But wait, it get’s better. A few hours later:

Hey [ridiculous]

How could a person who emails the mailing list get a job at [company]? I hope
you’re not doing webmail stuff for [company]. LOL

Why are you cluttering everyones inbox to make fun of the guy who cluttered everyone’s inbox? At least you didn’t include your ID number. In fact, you didn’t even include your name, coward. And I shouldn’t even touch the lame AOLer “LOL” stuff. 1998 called, and ICQ wants their acronyms back.

A couple minutes later…

Hey NoName,

However good your webmail skills are, your personality is not good enough to deserve a job. LOL

(it actually says “NoName”) I can’t tell, though, if this email was an insult, or a seizure.

It goes on. As I was writing this post, I just got a new one:

Actually,
He said what we are all thinking. I’m sick of getting mass response
messages because people cannot figure out a simple thing like email or
mailing lists.

People are too lazy to reply to the actual person and just hit reply
sender, and in this case, giving out very personal information. Next time
be more careful.

I would like to introduce the readers of SE to a principle: That which is understood, need not be spoken. If we all know this, then why are you telling it to us? Besides, it really doesn’t happen that often, and if you hate it so much, why are you participating? Stop spamming me, you ignoramous.

Next…

i am not [ridiculous]..
^^
have good one
i don’t know why he sent this mail to me..

Who is not [ridiculous]? What are you talking about? Don’t you understand that this is a mailing list? Why would you send this message at all. The other ones were stupid, but at least they made sense.

Anyway, whatever. That’s it for the moment, but I’ll keep you posted on further developments of the mailing list for the mentally deficient. I figured I’d introduce you all to these people before they join the workforce in couple years. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to thinking my degree actually meant anything.

Why the University runs an open mailing list in the first place is an issue for another rant…. sigh

Thrice has a new album,Vheissu, coming out on the 18th. Thanks to the incredible-eatable internet, I have the mp3s now.

This album absolutely rules. Now, before I get to specific, I should tell you, if you haven’t listened to Thrice before and have no reference, that’s OK. Infact, now is a good time to get in. This album is pretty accessible, I think. It’s not quite as heavy or loud as their past few albums, but they stay true to their hardcore roots in these songs too.

Vheissu is all about experimentation. Thrice didn’t just come up with a couple of pop-punk songs, record them in a weekend, and then slap it out there. No, Island records has Fall Out Boy for that purpose. This is music that has staying power. This album is deep and musical. The lyrics are incredible. Right from track 1, you will be screaming along.

I don’t want to go through this track by track, but I will tell you of the highlights of my listening so far.

Image of the Invisible is the first single. Great song, sort of a sing-along anthem type thing. I really like it. You should watch the video for this one. It’s one of the better in recent years.

Between Then End And Where We Lie is track 2, but also a favorite of mine. Right from the first beat, you’ll know this is not an Artist In The Ambulance remake.

The Earth Will Shake is track 3 (are you noticing a pattern here…) and definately worth a listen, even if you are not a fan of punk music at all.

Track 5, For Miles is great too. If you like Queen (yes, I am talking about Freddie Mercury), then give this song a listen. Thrice is really showing of the piano skill on this album. Gotta give it to Teppei, the guy really can play every instrument under the sun.

I could tell you about each of the songs on this record, but I want to leave something for you to discover. Go get this album on the 18th. Or borrow it from me on the 19th. But check it out either way. You can stream the album from Thrices myspace site for the time being.

I can’t wait ’til this thing hits the stores so I can get the special release with the extended liner notes and artwork. This is easily my favorite release of 2005. I encourage you to give it a try.

I started writing this post to explain a bit about how I would improve the game. Then I started to really think about it, and my complaints sounded a bit weak. The reality is it’s a great game. Online, role playing (Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Game, you could say), lots of characters, great graphics, fun quests, IRC style chat complete with actions, warring factions, an entire auctioning system that’s just like ebay in real life, and tonnes of extras.

I especially enjoy the little details they’ve included - while running through a wilderness, you’ll see lots of animals like cougars or rabbits … if a rabbit goes to near a cougar, the cougar will chase it down and kill it. Pretty nice work! The details like that are just awesome, and the game provides tonnes of them.

So, I think everyone knows that it’s a cool game. Hell, it’s more than that, it’s a cool social experience. Teaming up with a dude in Idaho, someone from New Zealand and some others from accross the globe is a pretty interesting experience. And then don’t forget that you’re either a member of the Alliance, or the Horde, and the 2 factions fight each other. That means that tonnes of your players can get together and form a raiding party and raid against cities of the opposing faction. Pretty fun stuff. As the game stands, it’s just fantastic. It’s dead easy to learn, and if you sign up, you can have as many characters as you want, on as many servers as you’d like. It’s quite entertaining to get together with a friend and just hang out doing something, it’s especially useful if you live far apart.

It’s also pretty easy to get a group of friends together and play for a few hours. I know, that’s not very social, but sometimes that’s not such a bad thing, right?

I know this review isn’t very specific towards anything in the game. But I just thought it was odd I hadn’t mentioned it at all yet, considering how much time I’ve sunk into it.

There’s something to be said for being able to just go and fight things. It’s enough of a challenge to not be boring, and it feels much better than just sitting in front of the TV. Granted, it’s not much different, but there’s a different sense of accomplishment.

They really did a great job with this game. It’s very fun and very playable. They showed us something bigger and cooler than we’ve ever seen, or at least I’d ever seen. I take this game to be a proof of concept, though, in that in proved that if you make something cool enough, even if there are massive problems, you’ll still get a huge online user base.

It’s great how many characters there are. They’re all awesome. I’d like to see more, though. More customizeable characters like old D&D style? Bigger skill trees. More skills, more points awarded per level up, more variety. I think it’s fun that they have the trees like in diablo, but make them BIG, and at each level, give a shit load of points. That way the variations become more noticeable. Still make the depth of the tree hard to get to, though. What I’m looking for there is more unique characters. Understand that there are 1000’s of people playing and when you have that many, it’s tough to be unique.

Trade skills are a great idea! Don’t limit them. Give everyone equal opportunity to learn all they want. And don’t limit the stuff they can make or the enchantments they can come up with. Make everything more dynamic! It would be nice to see the ability to create things that are truly unique. It’s cool to be able to create things, but then you run off to the auction house and you can find 15 of them.

I’d also like to make it much easier to get around in the game. It’s great that you can wander all over the place, but really, it’s a big world, and it’s kinda annoying to spend an entire 30 minutes travelling the globe when you really just want to go check an auction house. Even though the world is quite large, I think it could be bigger, and I think it would be great if there were more ways to explore and travel it. Actually, for the first 20 levels, wandering around was awesome. It still is, for the most part. But sometimes I want to move a big quicker to meet up with some people, and it would be nice to speed up the travel time.

I have been expecting to see more world developments that affect all the players. It would be good to see an unforseen new race attack, or some sort of event or plague that would be nicely unique. One of those Guardians going insane or something - just events that would be outside the normal quests, but affect everyone.

Speaking of quests - they’re quite fun, but sometimes they can be hard to find - I found myself in the mid twenty levels and not really sure what to do. I am thinking of some sort of menu item to help point out where you can go for things to do that are relevant to your level.

In summary, it’s a great game. I still play it, and it’s worth the 15$ a month to play. I hope you guys have tried the game, but beware if you haven’t - it’s damn addictive for the first month or so when you start!

Just as an example of how to waste your time:

I just aquired another 250GB drive and 512 MB RAM. I picked up some PC3200 RAM even though the machine I was getting it for took 2700 because the dude at memoryexpress said it would work, and ’cause it was cheaper. I don’t know how the better RAM is cheaper, but whatever. So, last night I decided to install all that, and it went well, except turning it back on - no beeps, no errors, just no display. I though I had blown the video card, as when I opened it up, the thing wasn’t seated properly in the AGP slot. Playing with that didn’t fix anything. What I needed was a video card to check if it was the card that was toast, or the MB. I’ll also note that when I started up the machine, the thing went off and seemed to be working normally - HD activity and all the rest. It really did seem like the video was toast.

So, after much effort, I was able to borrow a card from work, and try it out - same results. Fuck, now I’ve actually broken the MB, right? No - actually taking out the RAM fixed everything. The video card and RAM were fine. So, then I mixed 3200 with 3200 and left the 2700 to itself and everything is happy again.

I mean, I’m not as gifted as the Typing Walrus with computer HW, but I’m not a complete louse. I’ve been taking them apart for a decade, so I figure the replacement of RAM and addition of a HDD is not beyond my meagre skills. The lesson: do not believe the damn store clerks. The dudes might know their shit, or they might be stoned at the time and think it’d be funny to waste a few days of your time. Regardless, now you - the faithful reader - know the ramifications of mixing your RAMs.

A great film! 4/5.

First, over the next week or so, Future Shop is selling the whole season of Firefly for 30$. It’s definitely worth the cash. There was only one season ever made, but it’s a great show.

The movie, Serenity, takes off nicely from the show. It does a great job of answering some questions that the series had poised, so we’ll see if the series comes back or if they make more movies.

If you get a chance, definitely go see it.