Published on Wednesday, February 21 2007 .
So I’ve spent about fifteen minutes in game, and about three or four hours reading FAQs and wikis on creating the perfect character. I was not satisfied as with games like this you often realise the apparent shortcomings in your character about 20 hours after the last chance to change anything.
I used to do this with the Baldur’s Gate series. At the peak of my geekyness I’d be sitting for seemingly hours trying to get the perfect stats for my character, plotting how to enhance him and grow him. Then I realised that what I was doing was pointless power gaming. I was trying to perfect this character so he was the best in every way. Why? This is no MMO, I can’t show off these impressive stats. I’m not sure why, but I quickly realised that the game designers actually want people to complete their games and so it’s not necessary to power game in order to complete it.
With this in mind I made a sensible choice on my Oblivion character stats based on what kind of ‘character’ I am trying to play, walked out the sewers and started fighting, er, crabs. Time to have fun with this game rather than see it as one big spreadsheet.
Published on Monday, February 19 2007 .
So its my last week at work. Usually I’m all sentimental about leaving jobs (embarrassingly so), but the way the company is treating me because I am going leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I’ve mentioned it to people before and I’m sure its the case for many enormous corporations: the people are great, the company is dire. Anyway enough of that!
My new job is a lot closer to home and I’ll be taking my newly bought car which means no more commuting on the First Great Western commuter lines into London. Personally I don’t think the company is entitled to the words First or Great but calling the commuter line ‘Western’ would be a mite confusing (yes I know where the original name comes from nitpickers)! Like most people I hate commuting. The worst bit is that unless you are a super-bubbly person it turns you (for the hour commute at least) into a selfish suit and its hard not to come over all angry at the smallest thing. I did for a while but I’ve reined myself in. Now I have learned some tips to survive the commute on the train and the tube so I’m not the angry suit in the corner tutting that the train is delayed by thirty seconds:
- Know where you are going: take a map with you and plan ahead so you don’t have to stop in the wave of passengers leaving the station.
- Don’t walk right behind people with luggage, especially the wheeled kind. They stop at the drop of a hat and if you’re walking quite fast you may end up on the deck. I learned that one the hard way.
- When walking on the Underground, act as if you were in a car. Look behind you before changing lanes, don’t stop all of a sudden and don’t cut people up. That way you can avoid other people - especially those like me who are brain-dead first thing in the morning - rear-ending you and your coffee.
- Don’t enter a platform and loiter by the door. The suits will get annoyed and barge you and that part of the train is likely to me the most crowded. Move to the ends which are often close to empty.
- If you are likely to be in a rush on your normal route, learn where on the train to stand so that when the train pulls in to your stop you end up close to the exit, other platform etc.
Actually thinking about it the only tip that is really necessary is for everyone to calm down and be nice to each other. Ask yourself if you really need to sit down on the train and blank the poor pregnant lady who looks like she’s about to collapse, don’t barge people out of the way and then stand stuck in a train door because you’re too impatient to way 2 minutes for the next one and do warn the poor tourist who is about to get on the wrong train and end up in the middle of nowhere.
Hmm that’s probably my impression of London really: impatient and rude. It has a great night-life, there are a million and one things to see and do but on the whole it really gets you down. In some ways I’ll miss it however I’m looking forward to replacing the grey concrete skyline for one with trees.
Published on Sunday, February 18 2007 .
I’m trying to get into Oblivion on the PC. I bought it at launch but never got on with it but now cash is extremely tight (switching jobs means no cash for a couple of months) I’ve decided to play some of the games I never got round to finishing.
I spent about 2 hours downloading the recommended mods to make it look pretty, and another 3 playing with the character editor to get the perfect looking person. I haven’t even left the starting cell yet. The annoying thing is I know that I’ll play it for a while and get bored again. I must persevere!
Published on Sunday, February 18 2007 .
I popped into Reading Vue yesterday to see this and all I can say is I laughed all the way through. I don’t want to elaborate further and spoil the jokes, just go and see it. I picked up Shaun of the Dead today as well as I hear its just as good, if not better.
Published on Thursday, February 15 2007 .
Phew. I’d heard some doom-sayers proclaiming that BSG wasn’t going to be renewed for a fourth season, citing falling ratings. I even had a friend who told me that she met Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol) at a recent convention in the UK who said that (allegedly) it wasn’t get renewed and he was hunting for a new job.
But the news making the rounds now is that its confirmed that it’s being renewed. My money is still on them at least keeping it on the air until they get close to or exceed 100 episodes so they can syndicate it easily. It does annoy me however that a dire series like Star Trek: Enterprise (sorry!) made it to one hundred episodes (albeit barely) but there’s doubt over a series that’s superior in every way and has even made it into the mainstream, when it hasn’t even hit 60 episodes yet.
[Comments now disabled due to masses of spam]
Published on Friday, February 9 2007 .
I’ve been so busy of late, I don’t think I’ve turned on the 360 for at least a week.
I don’t like talking about work on here, but its been causing me stress. I recently quit my current job for a new one that’s closer to home and has more career opportunities. Problem was I have a 12 week notice period (I kid you not) and I was pleading to be let go sooner or I might have ended up with no job at all. Despite some pointless dragging of heels they’re letting me go in a couple of weeks. On the upside this means I can finally get (as I need it) a car, the downside is I’ve spent every evening either fretting about my notice (now solved) or car hunting. So I’m knackered. Very knackered. Another weekend of car hunting to go and hopefully I’ll have everything in place by the middle of the month so I can actually play Crackdown and possibly Supreme Commander if it will run on my PC.
That reminds me, the fan on my PC’s northbridge started emitting a whine. Its happened before and giving it a jiggle has done the trick, but not this time. I went to unscrew it but one of the screws was threaded. As I was tired and irritable I literally tore the thing out of the heatsink, bending half of the blades and ripping the screw out. After bending the blades back again, replacing the duff screw and putting a bit of oil on the bearings I put it back in and now its silent. How I get away with being so abusive to my PC I’ll never know, but the beast has served me well for quite a while now.