Grete’s running another book give away on BookThing. Take a look, and let people know. Seven copies of Black and White by Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge up for grabs.
I love you Beth Cooper
Every once in a while you can be surprised by a film. I put I love you Beth Cooper on our LoveFilm rental list because the trailer had seemed quite amusing. I’m so glad I did.
One the outside, this is a reasonably standard coming-of-age American highschool flick. The main cast, a couple of newly graduated boys and a similar bunch of cheerleaders come together in amusing circumstances and learn lots about themselves, life and living. But on the inside, it’s an always funny and often heartwarming story which is more than worth the time invested in watching it.
Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) is convinced by his best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter) to be honest during his speech at the graduation. He extols the virtues of honest during his speech and how people should take this moment to say the things they feel so that they don’t regret not saying them later. Taking his own advice, he (among other things) declares his love for Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere), the head cheerleader and upsets her brawny, meat-head boyfriend in the process.
What follows is a collect of fast pace set pieces full of humour, some truly cringeworthy embarrassments and some entertaining and engaging dialogue. There are almost no surprises, although you might not guess the exact outcome (which I actually thought worked really well), but there are some true laugh out loud moments and plenty of reasons to want to keep watching.
The wet towel fight is well worth watching.
Not as gross-out as the likes of American Pie or Road Trip, and certainly funnier than some of the more recent American Pie movies, I love you Beth Cooper is something I think I could watch again and again and enjoy every time. It reminds me of Weird Science, and deserves to be just as much a cult classic.
Gamer
I had mixed hopes for Gamer. On the one hand, movies about computer games tend on the whole not to be very good, on the other hand it had a pretty good pedigree and some of the clips from the trailer looked promising. The premise is simple, through the use of nano technology the human brain can be modified so that a person can be controlled remotely. Some people will pay for the ability to control people, and those who are controlled can get paid. The Sims made real. Alongside that, criminals on death row are offered the chance to be controlled in live first-person-shooter style games, with the promise of surviving 30 games giving them their freedom. The technology was developed and is sold by Ken Castle (played by Michael C. Hall) who is now a multi-billionaire.
Our grisly combat-savy hero (Gerard Butler) has survived 27 or so battles controlled by a young male gamer. As he nears his 30th match, things take a turn south.
One could be forgiven for thinking this was a remake / reworking of The Running Man. Certainly there are many similarities, prisoners given a chance at freedom for the entertainment of the masses, those in charge of the game being corrupt or manipulating the outcome and media interest in the whole thing. In fact, there are plenty of comparisons to be made to the recent Death Race movie as well. Given the plot in general isn’t that original, the movie really needed to bring something else to the table.
The pop culture references are entertaining, with the look of the Society game clearly modelled on many current real-world MMO’s, and there are a few pokes and prods at the mindsets of a certain type of game player. The dialogue is okay, it’s no where near as cheesy as I feared, and the pace clips along pretty well. The characters are interesting, but not very deep, and there’s a definite sense of having seen much of this film before elsewhere (the anti-establishment hackers in Johnny Mnemonic for example). The action scenes are brutal (you’ll recognise the writers/directors from Crank and Crank 2) but give you a good sense of being inside a first-person-shooter.
The first two thirds of the movie are the strongest, sadly once our hero inevitably comes up against the bad guy, all sense of danger is lost and the story becomes almost a parody of itself.
Gamer was mostly enjoyable, and I’m glad I saw it, but I think it was a huge missed opportunity. It could have been a classic, a solid action sci-fi movie with something serious to say about where culture is heading with on-line gaming. But I don’t think the writers/directors quite had the balls to pull it off. Maybe the screenplay was better and it lost something on the way to the screen, but the movie misses the mark too often. Which is a shame, because it deserved to be and had the root of something much bigger than it turned into.
Pease Pudding
So, another go at pease pudding last night – no photo this time. Used a much smaller amount of split peas, an in general, it’s much better. For a start, it tastes like the pease pudding my mam used to make, and it’s mostly smooth and creamy. We had to push it through a sieve to get it like that though. Need to cook the split peas for longer, and not quite so tightly packed together (the ones in the middle were still mostly raw). But in general, we’re getting closer!
I’m considering just putting the gammon joint into water, with the split peas loose, and boiling it until the peas go soft, and then straining the water away (for stock), rather than putting the peas in muslin.
Tesco – Coke Zero – It’s back?
So a friend reports Coke Zero in bottles is back in Tesco in Ipswich, and my wife told me it’s back in one Tesco in Nottingham as well.
Will we ever know what really happened?
Does anyone really care?
Anyway, good news for those of us who like the drink!
Random MMO Frustrations: #1 – varying difficulty for class based quests
I find a few things about MMO game design frustrating. One thing that’s on my mind at the moment is when every class has to do something to get a class specific reward, but those somethings vary in difficulty (often by a great amount). A specific example would be the Moria Class Quests for Legendary Traits in the Lord of the Rings Online.
The rewards are obtained by doing a little quest line, which leads up to a kill in one of the Moria 6-man instances. Each of the instances in question supports two of the classes (who need different kills). So, each class has one quest, that one quest takes place in one of the instances, two classes share an instance but have different creatures in that instance.
Now when the designers put the instances together, they made them vary in difficulty. This is fine, I think MMO content should vary, some should suit certain style groups, and some should encourage people to look at their gear or their skills (or in Lord of the Rings online, their traits, etc.)
The problem comes when class X has no choice but to do instance Y to get their reward, while class B can do instance C. If instance C is generally considered to be easier than instance Y, you’re going to generate unhappiness. Easier of course is subjective. Maybe it’s easier because the players have a lot of Hunters and no Guardians, or because their general tactics suit that particular instance. But it doesn’t really matter why it’s easier, or even harder, that variation without choice causes friction.
Here’s a live example. Our little group is struggling to beat one of the encounters in the Forges instance, we need to complete all the bosses so that we can get to the final mob for the Loremaster quest. However, in the 16th Hall, once we’d worked the wrinkles out, we beat the whole instance quite easily, and not only that, but we only needed to kill the 1st boss to get to the Runekeeper quest mob.
There’s no good in-game reason for this. It just causes friction. Yes, it means you are forced to see all the instances if you want to see all the class quests, but being forced into stuff is never good. It’s bad design. I suspect it went like this. Developer X designs a bunch of instances (or more likely, several developers do), and they vary in toughness and mindset. This is find. Deveoper Y is tasked with putting in the rewards for class traits somewhere in the game, and decides to put them into the instances, they pick them almost at random, and place the final mobs at random (behind boss 1, at the start, at the end) without really considering the different difficulties this will impose.
The instances and the quests were not designed together.
It’s bad design in my view. And it could be easily avoided. Each class could be told to ‘bring the head of a terror from the depths of Moria’. The final boss in each instance could then drop 1 or 2 heads (or ears, or whatever body part makes sense). People can then choose the instance they want to do to get their reward. Yes, it means people can pick the ‘easy’ instance, but then designers should strive to make them all challenging. But it would reduce the friction and ensure different classes didn’t get the short or long stick.
This is only one example, there are many (like the 2.0 Epic quests in EverQuest, where the final fights varied widely in difficulty, not to mention the run-up quests and mobs).
Content difficulty should always vary, but if you’re going to design a bunch of quests, one per class, then you should ensure each class can choose to follow an equally difficult route to their reward.
iPad?
So everyone’s blogging about Apple’s new iPad. You know what? I like it, I think it has a place. I sit in the lounge trying to read web pages on my iPhone to find out who the person in the TV program is, or check my mail on it or whatever it might be. I can see myself dragging the ‘pad off the table, checking a web page and then sliding it back on there. I can see them being used in small business meetings. I can see them being used to read magazines or similar material in that style. Tried ordering from an online grocery store on an iPhone? Imagine doing it in the lounge with your iPad, nice and convenient, big enough that you can read it. Easier and more convenient than a laptop, who needs keys if you’re going to be mostly reading. Not mobile as such, but certainly something you can drop into a backpack and drag out when you’re sitting somewhere.
Would I read a book on one? Maybe. But really when they’re cheap enough, I see them being the first permanent computer we have in the lounge. Bored with the news? Quick game of Peggle on the iPad while waiting for the movie to start.
The key thing of course is that it’ll finally drive tablets into the house – and give them a foothold – and that will increase the competition and drive new technology (hopefully).
I’m British, let’s talk about the weather
So we’ve crawled, wrapped in our fleece blankets and new hats, out of the freezing white bitter cold of December into the wet miserable damp grey cold of January. We’ve managed to stay above freezing for a week or so, but it doesn’t make it any more pleasant out there. I’m no lover of sun, I don’t like bright lights and never have, but I’d rather have the white cold of snow than the grey murk of whatever-it-is-we-have now. Soon though it’ll be spring (and as we get older, the seasons come and go faster, so it’ll be spring before we know it and autumn will be fast approaching with summer just a hint of heat in the middle), and hopefully we’ll get out and get the outside of the house sorted a bit.
Woodwork, holes in the walls, the garden – that’s this years focus I feel.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Yes, I know I’m late to the party (borrowed it from a friend) and yes, I know it’s been said before, and yes, I know the game is really a vehicle for months of online player vs player gun toting action, and finally, yes I know that I could repeat the single player campaign on different difficulty settings, but, all that said, just over 7 hours of gameplay for the single player campaign at the selling price is shockingly bad value.
Lord of the Rings Online – Virtues, Traits and Deeds! (part five)
This is the fifth article in a series of articles about the Trait system in Lord of the Rings Online. This article covers Class based Traits. You can check out the previous articles here – 1, 2, 3, 4 or on the articles page.
Introduction
Of all the Traits in the Lord of the Rings Online system, Class Traits are the most numerous. As the name suggests, they are all unique on a per class basis, and there are many of them to choose from. More than any other Trait, Class Traits will affect how your character performs in nearly all combat situations. They change skills, improve effects, remove or replace abilities and generally have a profound impact on what your character can achieve.
Since there are so many of them, this article is not going to cover them all in any specific detail. Instead it will focus on the general system, the Class Trait sets introduced in the Moria expansion and the bonuses they bring, and provide resources where you can find out more about what Traits your favourite character gets.
Gaining Class Traits
Earning Class Traits is the same for every class, and every Trait. From level 15 upwards, using various class skills will trigger a new Deed. That Deed will require you to use the same skill a certain number of times, at the end of that process you will earn the particular Class Trait as a reward. Not all skills trigger Deeds at the same time, and since skills are earned at varying levels, you’ll earn the Class Traits at different rates as well. Also, not all the Deeds are equally difficult and many are affected by play style. For example, you may use Quick Thrust 50 times in a fight but use Shield Bash once per day, and as a result, you’re going to earn Deeds at different rates. The intent I believe is to emulate improving your character in-line with those skills you use most often. However, it doesn’t always work out that neatly because some underused skills are much improved by their Deeds so while you would not normally use them, you are eager to do so to gain the improved version.
The following image shows the Deed window open at the list of Class Traits, the progress of one of those Traits and details about how many uses are still required to complete the Deed.
The number of times a skill can be used each day in order to progress a Class Trait Deed varies, and is usually based on the skill cool-down and whether it needs to be used in combat or not. Non-combat skills tend to have a smaller use per day limit (5, 10 or 15 for example), while combat related skills that refresh quickly tend to be much higher (in the hundreds). The number of times you must use the skill to complete the Deed also varies and can be in the low 10’s to 2000 or more. For some skills you use all the time this won’t be an issue, but for other skills you’ll have to remind yourself to do something about using them, and as you can see above, you can add the Deed progress to your quest tracker sidebar as a reminder.
It is generally true that combat skills must be used on enemies which return experience points in order to qualify as having successfully used them to progress the Deed, and likewise, if you use a skill and miss, it may not count (usually skill dependant).
As you can imagine, all this adds up to mean that progressing Class Trait based Deeds can be very time consuming and something you need to work at, rather than just happening by default. It also means you could still be working on them well beyond level 50.
Equipping Class Traits
Class Traits are equipped in the same way all Traits are, by visiting a Bard. You’ll see the same dialog, and you simply select the Class Traits you have available from the left, as shown in the screenshot below.
Viewing Class Traits
Class Traits are viewed using the regular Trait dialog, but there is an added element of complexity since the release of the Mines of Moria – Class Trait sets. Each Class Trait belongs to one of three different sets, the process is covered in more detail in the next section, but it results in there being three screens to look at when viewing your Class Traits.
At the opening screen of the Trait dialog, you can see your class Traits and on the right side all the bonuses you have earned (more on bonuses later), this is shown in the following screenshot.
Once you click on the ‘Class’ tab in the dialog, there is a further tab at the bottom of the dialog which selects which of the Trait sets you are viewing. An example of a single classes set of Traits is shown below (click on each image for a larger version).
The icons in the Class Trait section are similar to the Virtue section. A diamond on each edge means the Trait is equipped. A coloured icon with no diamonds means the Trait has been earned but is not equipped. A light grey icon with a ring means that a Deed is in progress to earn this Trait but is not yet complete, and a grey icon with no ring means that no progress is being made to earn this Trait.
On the right of the dialog you will see a list of bonuses, they are explained in more detail in the next section.
Class Trait Sets
Prior to the Mines of Moria expansion, classes had a single list of Traits. Sometimes they complimented each other, and in some ways groups of them directed the character towards certain roles. With Moria, this was formalised into three sets for each class. There is no requirement to only use Traits from a specific set, however, there are incentives to do so. Each set is designed to give a character a certain focus, for example with Guardians there is a Trait set for generating more hate, a Trait set for doing damage with two-handed weapons and a Trait set for lasting longer in fights with single large enemies. Each set has a name and a brief description which you can read.
Within each set, the Traits are geared towards the stated aim of that set, although it’s not always entirely obvious why some Traits are included (however since the Traits existed before the sets, there’s probably a few they just had to find homes for). As mentioned, you are not penalised for picking Traits from a mix of sets, and it’s a valid approach to get the customisations you want.
However, if you do pick Traits from within a single set, the more you equip, the better the resulting set bonus is, and eventually, you earn the chance to equip a set specific Legendary Trait. That list of bonuses are shown on the right side of the Class Trait window, as shown in the previous section.
Each set provides a minor bonus with 2 Traits equipped, better bonuses at 3, the best bonuses at 4 and with 5 equipped you get an additionally Legendary Trait which you may then use. You do get all the bonuses you are eligible for, so picking two Traits from one set and three from another gives you two different sets of bonuses. Changing your equipped Traits later will change the bonus and if you become ineligible for the Legendary Trait then you will no longer be able to use it.
The following screenshots show a Champion class Trait window. Hovering over an equipped Trait in a set shows you any bonuses in effect. The first shows a Trait from a set with only one Trait equipped (no bonuses) and the second from a set with 5 Traits equipped (all bonuses).
As well as being listed when you hover over skills, the bonuses in effect are listed in the basic Trait dialog. This is a repeat of the dialog shown earlier, on the right-hand side you can see the three bonuses that are in effect due to having 4+ Traits equipped from the same set, and no more than 1 from any other set (in this case).
It is well worth taking the time to understand the three different sets, what they mean for your character and which Traits you need to earn to achieve them. It is not cheap to move Class Traits around, but it is one area that might support different play styles (solo vs grouped for example).
Summary
Class Traits provides the greatest and most visible customisations of your character. They are the Trait above all other Traits that affect everything your character does. They can totally change the way in which your character behaves during different kinds of combat and let you focus on the play style you enjoy most.
You can find out more about your Class Traits over at the Lotro Wiki, and you can check out information on Trait Sets (and all the Class Traits in them) at the Lotro Lorebook.