PROCRASTINATORS UNITE

or: Why it's best NOT to read old posts by people.

( Very long, very vitriolic rant about stupidity here. Gaze ye upon it, and go  )
Sorry, this is getting tangential.

But I've run out of things to say! whoohoo. now my brain is no longer in danger of exploding, I'm going to bed.

Okay, I'm getting tired of this cropping up.

Apparently, the politicos have it stuck in their tiny brains that rape is a common feature in commercial M-rated games, if not video games in general.

Let me start out by saying that this is about the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever seen come out of the gobs of those dickheads (and I've heard some pretty severe bull in my day, short though it may be) since they said that banning consmetic features of certain firearms would make the streets safer, and in reality, all it did was annoy people for the better part of a decade, with no noticeable effect on crime, but I digress (as usual).

You know how many games there are that simulate rape? To my knowledge, there is precisely ONE, and it's older than I am, for fuck's sake! And it sucked, besides. There ARE games that simulate CONSENSUAL sexual activity, but these are either a) published solely online, with independent age-verification, or b) games that only include it as an optional part of the story. I have NEVER, repeat, NEVER seen any mainstream game that simulates full-on sex by any stretch of the imagination, outside of user-created content, and that's usually behind another age-verification thing. The only ones I know of that do feature sex as the main object, are small-time projects, not even made in the US, and as such, not directly subject to US laws.

Summarizing: Stop being suck plonkers, and do your goddamn research, or cite your sources before gabbing off about shit that doesn't exist.

( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

*sounds of rifles cocking.*

You know the rest.

Okay, so now that the feline's outta the burlap, I suppose I'd better explain that. And if you don't know what I mean by 'feline out of burlap,' you probably need help dressing yourself. But I know that the people who read this tend to be intelligent enough to figure that out, so away we go, then.

One of the things that's very important to me, is firearms. Call me a trailer-park incestuous redneck if you must, but if you're gonna, know this: I live in the suburbs (shudder), I don't have a sister, my cousins are too far away, and I don't go outside often enough to qualify as a 'redneck.' Also, I don't have a pickup truck (nor do I particularly want one), let alone one that's falling apart, or that flies a Confederate Flag as large as the vehicle itself. And if you continue to think I'm a hillbilly or whatever, then please get hurled out of an airplane, and land anus-first on a cathedral spire. Moving on. The reason guns are so important to me, is because they're a great time-waster, and dead fascinating, besides. It's almost an art form; getting a small metal slug to fly x distance, and hit a spot a y inches across. And it gets more and more challenging as X increases. Though, from the firing line, Y always appears to be the same size, if you use standard bull targets at the right range.

On top of that, I also play vidjagames. By the logic of some who shall remain pants-on-head retarded, I should be a gibbering psychopath trying to kill everyone and their dog. And while I do gibber at times, it's mostly because my tongue has decided to rebel against the rest of my head (an insurrection that is quickly put down). As far as the psychopath junk goes: I'm about the most peaceable person you're like to meet. I like to think I'm easy to get along with. However, if you insult me for any reason, that will tend to disappear in a big damn hurry, replaced by you being on my bad side, and it's not easy to get off that.

But I digress again. Sorta.

Summarizing: If you want to disarm me of my legally-owned and operated firearms? Μολών Λαβέ. For those of you who DON'T read ancient Greek: Come and get them. I am not fond of anything other than what is ACTUALLY common sense gun control: Bar felons and such from owning them, those with mental instability, etc. And if you don't want one? Okay. So don't have one. If you think I shouldn't have one? Well, to paraphrase Everyone's Favorite Misanthropic Diagnostician: "I never met a... study I couldn't refute."

Woke up plenty early today ('roundabout 6ish), and found a funny message waiting for me. A happy birthday from Alicia. This caused me to raise an eyebrow, as you might expect. It ain't my birthday yet o_o;; I was gonna tell her, but she was offline when I woke up. Oh, well. I'll tell her tonight.

A few minutes ago, I got a call from Steven, who was using Sharon's phone (since his own is dead and missing, as is often the case. His room eats things). Evidently, Sharon is under the same impression Alicia is, namely, that it's my birthday.

I can't decide whether to be happy, laugh maniacally, or just gently point out the goof. Or to just pretend like it is, then milk them both for proper birthday greetings in two months.


EDIT: Turns out it was my own goof; I filled out user info on Facebook wrong. Which explains why it's been mostly limited to those two >_>

Well, now I know that another week has begun; they're on about video games again, lying through their teeth. This time, two different super-conservatives are claiming the BioWare's latest production, Mass Effect, contains X-rated material. One even goes so far as to claim that it has (and I couldn't have made this up; it's too goddamn idiotic) "customizable sodomy." Yeah. And I'm the king of all Londinium, complete with shiny hat. The scene in question involves the player character (who is the only user-customizable character, I might add), and one of the female supporting cast. I've not played Mass Effect (yet), but my guess is that it's a more.. uhm.. advanced form of what you can do in KOTOR; one of the other cast falls for your character (by default, only a heterosexual pairing is allowed. PC versions can be customized to unlock a lesbian one, though that's only implied). And even then, it was just a kiss at the absolute most (though, due to game engine limitations (I think), they faded to black). Yeah. That's the hardcore stuff all right. And from what I've heard of Mass Effect's "sex scene," it's not that far removed from the ones in the two God of War games; we don't really see anything, but oh, do we hear it.

I'm tempted to hammer out a form letter to the powers that be:

Dear Sir(s) and/or Ma'am(s) (check one): Before you begin to consider government regulation of video games, consider this: Most of the big media kerfuffles of the past five years have been about things that were not issues at all. To save you the trouble, I've done the research for you.

A primer, first, though: The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) maintains a rating system that is supposed to be comparable to the one used by the MPAA. The first, and least objectionable rating, is "EC," for Early Childhood. These are the games for children aged 3 and up. The most objectionable content in these, if any exists at all, is likely to be cartoon violence, but no more than a Saturday morning cartoon. In practice, EC games are very rare. The next rating is "E." These games are intended for everyone, but may scare younger children. These two ratings are designed to be comparable to a "G" rating from the MPAA. The next step up is "E10+" for children aged 10 and over. These are comparable to PG movies. If "Home Alone" were a video game, it would likely recieve this rating. The next step up is "T," or Teen. These are intended for children from 13 and up, comparable to a PG13 movie. The next rating is, in practice, the absolute highest rating. "M" for Mature. These games are designed for mature players, aged 17 and up. Comparable to an R rated movie (and it often shows). The next highest game rating, which is almost never issued, is "AO," Adults Only. These are often either hyper-violent games, or games with a sexual theme. Nintendo and Sony, two of the three main video game console manufacturers, will not allow "AO" games on their consoles. These are the NC-17 movies, if you'll allow the metaphor. This concludes the ratings primer.

From the most recent video game kerfuffle, to the least, here we go:

Mass Effect: A role-playing game from Canadian firm BioWare. The stink raised here refers to a so-called "sex scene" between the player character, and one of the supporting cast, if you will. The scene in question consists primarily of kissing and light petting; nothing worse than you'd see in any good romantic movie. However, one pundit has suggested that the game offers "customizable sodomy," and that it basically allows players a front row seat to the action. I, personally, have not played Mass Effect, so I do not feel qualified to comment on whether or not his statement is true. However, considering that the game is rated M, and not AO (as such content would cause it to be rated), I find the statement a little hard to believe. I also do not believe that BioWare would produce such a game in the first place.

Manhunt 2: A third-person action game from Rockstar Games. This game was protested from its initial announcement, by those who were concerned about the high level of violence within it. Specifically, the way the player can execute non-player characters in various highly brutal fashions. So brutal, in fact, that the British Board of Film Classification, the body responsible for rating games and movies within the United Kingdom, refused to classify the game, effectively banning it from sale. I have not played either this game, nor its predecessor. Nor do I really have any intention to. However, the game should not be banned. The final release candidate (version) of the game was rated M by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. This rating is supposed to be comparable to an R-rated movie, however, from what I have heard, the hastily-added censoring to the game barely makes that cut.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: A third person "sandbox" adventure game from Rockstar Games. The major "stink" surrounding this game concerned a hidden minigame that was locked off by the developers before it was released. Called "Hot Coffee," this allowed the protagonist to enter his girlfriend's residence for what she called "Hot coffee" (hence the name of the minigame). In the main version of the game, this is limited to passionate cries from the two, while the camera focuses on the exterior of the house. In the minigame, however, it's rather obvious just what they're doing. While it is true that the developers made the minigame, and included it in the final release candidate, the minigame was inaccessible to the end user without "hacking" the game. For all intents and purposes, this menat that the minigame could not be seen. Were it not for the inquisitive hackers, the minigame wouldn't have even been found. It was, though, and once it came to light that the content was on all the game discs, the game was re-rated, from "M" to "AO," until Rockstar released a newer version of the game, this time without the minigame.

In conclusion, the three "big" issues about video games, are really not issues at all. Each of the games mentioned are designed and rated for mature audiences. If they were made into movies, rather than games, I can't see that they would have been issues at all. Holding video games to a higher standard than Hollywood is unfair. It is not right to force a new art form to conform to antiquated standards. The standards must adapt to the time. As a good example: Present fashions (to the best of my knowledge; I don't follow fashion) seem to trend towards more and more revealing clothing for women. If our standards had not adapted, we would be wearing clothes not that far removed from those that the Founding Fathers wore.

Thank you for your attention.

S. M. [baweeted],
"Attorney at Lawl"
(no degree held; social title only)

This particular day/night cycle has been strange for me. I wake up at around... oh.. 5PM. Just in time for dinner. I don't even remember what it was now, but meh. I eat dinner, chat with my parents ('cause they think I'm deficient in some way just because I can't lock in a solid circadian rhythm), and go back to my room. I listen to freshly-torrented Doug Stanhope, who amuses me greatly (and is, seriously, the heir to Bill Hick's throne. Go ahead and sue his estate, Doug, I'll be rootin' for ya), while MUSHing, trying to learn to juggle three characters over two worlds at once. I think I'm finally getting it. I'm also torrenting down all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H (I'll have the first three done when I get home, with 4 about a third of the way done). The downside to that is, I can't play my awesome, recently-gifted games, all of which came to my in an Orange Box. They make the Torrent go "Oh, bugger, not enough memory to move the stuff," and stop dead in its tracks. This particular torrent will probably take the longest of any I've done; at least another week. Minimum. Yeah, it's pretty damn big. But I digress. Where was I.. oh. Anyway, around 11pm, My mom comes back, and, in that "I'm angry at you, but not enough to yell" voice, she tells me I need to go to bed. You woke me up seven hours ago, and you're telling me to go to bed? Incredible logic. Of course, I ignore the advice (which I'm now paying for), and stay up all night. Come wake-up time, I pull myself out of bed, check the weather outside, determine that it's just cold enough for my not-very-shiny new oilskin duster, and head out the door to take Steven to TCC so he can figure out just wtf to do. We get there, I piss about for an hour and change, and then skitter off to work. In.. two hours, I leave work, and go over to the blood bank for a double-draw. They're gonna suck two pints worth of packed red blood cells outta my arm, and replace it with a standard-medical-issue saline mix. The theory is I'll be more hydrated going out than I was coming in. Which is a good thing. Then I'll go home, waste some time, and then pass out shortly after my gal pal comes home from work at 9 pm (she keeps wierd hours). With luck, I'll wake up, go in to work for the morning, then, after work, go to the Gold's Gym that's right there for about an hour; full-body workout, plus cardio. Come home, do various things, and then pass out again. Tomorrow should become more or less my standard issue workday. Though I do need to find my elusive Work Shirt and make sure it's clean.

Um.. what else..
Oh. Played through Portal. Fun. Love the end song. Actually, love anything by Jonathan Coulton. That man is epic win.

Current Mood: tired

So a priest scribbled a column in a paper today, more or less saying "Video games bad! Make people dumb!" And, to a degree, he's right. However, as he stopped even really looking at games after Tetris, I don't feel he's qualified to speak on the matter. Admittedly, he's more qualified that the twits who're yammering for the entire industry to be closed down, (by actually admitting to playing game(s), specifically mentioning the title) but not by much. It was apparently brought about by a member of his parish bringing in an Xbox, and asking that it be given to a needy family. Rather than simply taking it and saying "Thank you; they will, as well, though they don't know who gave them this," he might've near run him off. (As it happens, he wound up giving the needy family the system.) For those interested, the article's on GP.

Different story: Vince Desi (The guy behind the Postal series) ranted briefly (and really, he just talked) about the Manhunt 2 Debacle (really, I'm getting tired of hearing about it. EVerybody. Shut. Up. About It.), and who was really to blame. "Politicians (lying asses), Publishers (kissing retailer ass), Retailers (do anything to keep their asses clean), Developers (kissing publisher ass while looking for their balls) and PLAYERS for not getting up off their asses to DEMAND THEIR RIGHTS TO BUY AND PLAY whatever games they want!" Vince said it best (though, actually, that's more for the state of the game industry as a whole. Personally, I think that professional lobbying is going to bring the country to its hands and knees (it's already on it's knees from it). All they do, really, is gum up the government with bureaucracy. And there's already enough of that going around. Don't need any more, don't want any more. On the off chance I find myself in Congress (assuming I don't shoot myself for getting into such a contrived situation; I don't WANT to be a member of congress. Not like it is now, anyway), any lobbyists will be turned out of the office, either by me personally, or someone working for me. They're wastes of money, and time. If someone in charge of an organization wants to come to my office and discuss something (and is willing to hear a conflicting viewpoint), then I'll let 'em in. But someone paid to push one agenda? Bugger off, I don't even wanna SEE you.

Since I wanna meander to another subject now, I may as well tell you.

After clever torrent-hunting (okay, so I scanned Isohunt), I found an ebook version of Starship Troopers. It looks to be based on what I call the Heinlein "signature" series; there's the cover art, and on the spine side, a single color bar with Heinlein's signature on it, but that's really beside the point. Since when I read it before, I was still in a haze from the movie (having selected the book for an assignment in high school, I was under time constraints, and didn't read it as I really should have), I missed a lot of stuff, I took my time, and chewed over every line properly. I certainly feel I could do a better job of it now, but as I don't have to, I'm not gonna. Well, not deliberately. The biggest difference from the movie to the book (discounting the distinct lack of powersuits in the movie, which probably would've been easier than they thought) was the overall philosophy; in the book, the Bug War was defensive (and, in the movie, it's portrayed the same way, and there are few, if any, things to make you think otherwise), and people go into Federal Service for various reasons, and the attrition rate (for the MI, at least) is crazy high (Of Rico's class, they started with over 2,000. They graduated with less that 1% of that number. Thirteen dead in training, one executed after desertion and killing a baby girl, and the rest quit, or could not hack it, and got medical discharges (though some didn't accept them). In the movie, the boot camp seems to have either lost some effectiveness, or people are a lot tougher, both in mind and body. Either way, that's just part of it. In the book, RIco says that you can't buy an MI; the best you can do is find one. With a 1% rate (assuming Rico's battalion's graduation rate was more or less average), that's not a whole lot of people who are actual soldiers. And in the MI, *everybody* fights. Cooks, chaplains, engineers, EVERYone. Rico said it in the beginning of the book: "Once all the capsules left the ship, there wouldn't be a Roughneck left on the ship, except Jenkins, and that' wasn't his fault." (Jenkins had been ordered to stay aboard due to a fever. He'd initially complained, but the platoon leader overruled him: "The surgeon ain't makin' a drop, and neither are you, with a... fever!") When not fighting, every MI worked to take care of the other stuff that they needed to do in order to make sure that when they DO fight, they're as caught up with other stuff as they can be. It takes the old Marine Corps adage ("Every Marine is a rifleman first"), and takes it to the next level. Every MI has a secondary job on the ship (even if it's just scrubbing bulkheads). That's not seen, but rather, assumed, in the movie (which is more an action flick than anything). Actually, anything non-combat in the movie is marginalized, and barely seen. The opposite is true in the book. There are a grand total of about three drops shown in the book: The raid on the Skinnies in the first chapter, Operation Bughouse (the Klendathu invasion; as ill-fated in the book as the movie), and the raid on Planet P, and they're of secondary importance. In the movie, there are five drops (though they're more accurately termed "missions;" the troopers land in dropships not unlike the ones in Aliens, at least in function). The combat is the centerpiece of the movie (and understandably so; when's the last time you paid $7.50 for a two-hour civics lecture against a backdrop of war?). Each trooper is still considered expendable, but their leaders have it drilled into their heads that the troopers are literally the LAST thing that is to be expended. Indeed, in the book, Lt. Rasczak is killed making a double wounded pickup; he throws the two wounded men the last twenty feet into the retrieval boat, and immediately after, is hit with some sort of weapon, and dies. If you've seen the movie, in that "same" unit (he says mockingly..), Raczak's platoon sergeant is wounded by a Hopper bug. Instead of going and grabbing him for a medevac, Rasczak takes the one sharpshooter rifle (One per platoon? Yeah, right..), and shoots the sergeant. Doesn't even make an effort to go retrieve his body. Later in the movie, the Lieutenant gets his legs bit off (by what I presume to be a Tanker bug; y'know, those overgrown beetles with the dragon breath?), and orders Rico to shoot him. Interestingly, the same sequence shows the only real use of tactics in the whole damn movie: They all got on the wall, aimed at the approaching horde of Bugs (and the two guys on the tower with the twin-.50 turrets helped out), and cut loose. Given that they later seem to run low on ammo (and, in one case, completely out,) you'd think that they'd at least try to pick their targets. However, those rifles they had were rifles in nothing but name and mechanical function; there were no sights, save on the sniper rifle. Poor design feature, yes?

yeah, okay, done yammering.

Current Music: Jonathan Coulton - Re Vos Cerveaux

After reading through the NIMF's "report card" on the gaming industry, available here (well, most of it. After they said that the ESRB's arguement that they can't examine all the content on 1000 release candidates per year was nonsense, I closed the document in disgust), I have come to the conclusion that the NIMF is going off news reports more than actual research; the more media attention goes to a certain game, the greater weight it was given in the report. I lost track of the number of times I saw "Manhunt 2." Also, they say that a "major failure" of the system is that a 16-year old girl, after being carded, was still allowed to purchase an M-rated game. While this may technically be an infraction, in all honesty, if a 16-year-old can be tried as an adult in criminal court and operate a multi-ton steel death machine, then I'd say they can play an M-rated game (though their parents should have a word with them, anyway). They have a few good points (namely the universal rating system, though that's a pipe dream at the moment, with the MPAA's trademark on their rating system), but the general scope of the document assumes that no one has common sense. It's rather insulting to the game industry, I feel. The ESRB is overworked, underappreciated, and blamed for things that they can't rate. Every game that I've seen with online capability since Half Life had a disclaimer: Game experience may change during online play. To me, that means that, no matter what the rating on the box is, if a kid is playing, I'm watching over his shoulder to alt-F4 him if need be.

An example of this is something that happened to my girlfriend, Kelly. She was watching her nephew play WoW (as a responsible parent-substitute would), and some twit ran up to the lad's avatar, and began to do emotes normally reserved for cybering. She quickly bounced her nephew off, reported the guy to the GM's, who are essentially the "police" of the game, and chewed him out. This is an example of several things: Responsible supervision (not by parents, but we can't have everything, can we?), what the ESRB is talking about when they say that the game experience may change during online play (for the two of you who don't know, WoW cannot be played offline), and the correct response to someone misbehaving (this is actually what you do, anyway); you blame the person who misbehaves, not the thing with which they misbehave. I don't know offhand how old her nephew is (I've not asked), but it is my guess that she thinks highly enough of the boy to allow him to play a game that may or may not be rated one tier over his age group, with supervision. I've stated previously (in my last LJ entry, if memory serves) that if a person demonstrates sufficient maturity, then they should be allowed to play a game one tier over their age bracket, albeit with direct supervision by parents, or a similarly responsible party (ie, a close relative; someone with a genuine interest in that kid's well being, not fiscally motivated. Babysitters are good for a coupla nights, but don't rely too heavily on them; they have lives, too.)

More later. (or WILL THERE BE!? *melodramatic music*)

Enough with the Manhunt 2 stuff already!

Honestly. It's a mediocre game (owing to poorly-implemented censorship in post-production), and the people who care about it already have a copy, finished it, and have put it on their shelves, where it's like to stay. And if those people happen to have kids, it's going on the top shelf, out of Junior's reach, probably behind Halo, so the kid'll have to get through it, first.

To Sens. Brownback, Lieberman, Bayh, Clinton: Send a follow up letter with the following message: "Never mind; we realized that we're playing into their advertising campaign by pitching a fit about a collection of ones and zeroes on an optical disc, and the ability of that to warp the minds of kids."

It's really making you look like idiots, and you don't need any more help, I assure you. The ESRB's present system is as effective as you can ask it to be. You don't want kids to play things like that? Don't ban it. Instead, run ads like the TV folks did when they rolled out their program ratings. Inform parents what those curious little white boxes int he lower-right corner on their new game purchase means, and that if it's shaped like two inverted V's touching, then it's probably not for Little Timmy. I'm fairly certain that all current-gen game systems have parental controls; when used, they won't allow any titles over a certain rating to be played. Whether this includes the use of an ovverride code or not, I don't know, but if it does, it's a safe bet that it's not likely to be an easy guess.

More later, probably..

Yay for boredom?

So, in the past few weeks, I was able to watch 300 (HAROO!! *beat* Holy shit, that's the USMC battle cry, reversed. This explains so much..) and re-read Starship Troopers (A very good political essay, as well as a clever novel). Also, I was made happy by the fact that Maya was made to watch that movie(Though she complained about the graphic-ness of the movie, which I blame on the director, who is the same man who brought us such pieces as Robocop. I swear. Same guy.), so she has a bit better background on an RP I'm doing with her, set in a version of that particular universe, more closely based upon the short-lived TV series than the movie or the book. (I modified the "Marauders" to be a special forces detatchment, rather than the combat walkers they are in the series; I marked those as "Hercules-class Armored Personal Transport", or "Herc" for short). I should probably tell Maya to use the movie as an alternate view of the rp universe. Especially since Verhoeven never finished the book (he found it depressing), and the VFX were limited to the space sequences and the bugs ('cause did you see so much as a powerloader there? I didn't. I Jim Cameron can do it ten years before, then someone shoulda done it in '97, too)

dum dum dum.. what else.. hm. Very little, really. Oh. I'm now able to follow along on most Jonathan Coulton songs I hear. (So long as I've heard them before. I'm still learning The Presidents, though.)

*trolls the blogs I normally leave for work..* Oh, for.. >_<

So, apparently, Hil Clinton is now calling for the ESRB to be thoroughly investigated. And for them to play through every game to completion before rating it. Hey, airhead. Three letters. M. M. O. Let's see the understaffed ESRB muddle through 70 levels in WoW, minimum twice, and go through all the raid content. Not gonna happen. That ALONE would take them the better part of a full year, if not more. And that's devoting every person there to doing it, which they can't do. You wanna turn a republic into a dictatorship, you'll have a very ugly fight on your hands. And the Army can't get back here fast enough to save you from the mobs that will erupt. The sad part is, most people don't realize they're practically living in one now (Early 90's, we had a pres named Bush. From 93 to y2k, we had Clinton. From 01 to '08, we've got Bush II, and if we're not careful, we're gonna wind up with Clinton 2.0; more reactionary that the first version, and incapable of doing anything constructive. Granted, Bush II is as much an idiot as his ancestor, Frank Pierce (Pierce's own party didn't want him after his term), and his brother, while guv here in Flori-duh, did a number of rather silly things. Either way, I say let's get out of the rut. Everyone with the ability to write in a candidate, scribble in Doug Stanhope-Libertarian. He may be an asshole, he may not be educated past high school, but he's got the right mindset; individual rights come before government ones. For example. My right to own a firearm to defend house and home from someone who wants to take something that isn't theirs. Yes, we have police, but they can't be everywhere at once. (and really, do you WANT them everywhere at once? I sure's shit don't. If they were, I'd have so many speeding tickets..) As such, I follow the maxim: A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone. Now, where I live, there's an LCSO (Leon County Sheriff's Office) deputy that lives, quite literally, right across the street. I could yell really loud, and they're like to hear me. Problem is, I don't think it wise to yell when someone's trying to break in. For all I know, he could be a no-witnesses psycho. Cops are backup to armed citizens, though when the real psycho-badguys start running around the malls with automatic weapons, firing at the clers, it's the other way around, 'cause let's face it, the cops are trained to deal with that kinda stuff. For my part, though, if that happens, I'm offering my ability as a sharpshooter.

bubububububububububububub non smokers die every day! Sleep tight.. *puff* -Bill Hicks

Current Music: Jonathan Coulton- The Big Boom

Okay, I feel dirty for having said that.

Anyway. Some of you who follow such things (in my case, out of morbid curiosity, of the type "What are these pinheads gonna think of next?"), may have noticed that there's a hacked version of the PSP version of Manhunt 2 floating around (remember Hot Coffee? Same general idea), which removes some (NOT ALL) of the visual filters that make it hard to see just HOW you're horrifically mutilating that poor bastard you just attacked. However, PA said it best behind the link. From the sounds of things, MH2 is a fair-to-middlin' game at best. GameSpy (Who I normally don't listen to ever since they started charging for Fileplanet not to suck) said that the game is ultimately too violent for children and too toned down for mature gamers. Which begs the question: Rockstar, just WHO THE FUCK DID YOU MAKE THIS GAME FOR!? If you wanna make it for adults, do so. Ask an ESRB ratings rep to help oversee development so you toe the "M" line, and don't overdo it. If you're making it for kids.. wait, this is Rockstar, they don't make games for kids. Never mind, then.

In other news. There's apparently a second LAN center in town in one of the malls. (right above the movie theater, too. How amusing..) In it, I played DOA4 (and got my ass kicked 'cause I couldn't figure out the damned controls), Guitar Hero 2 (The PS2 version, with a played-out guitar controller; I barely got half the notes of "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'," a song I normally nail), GH3 (the 360 version. Must get that at some point), and Resistance: Fall of Man (They have a PS3 there, but only one). Had a lot of fun with Resistance, though I'm trying to figure out just why the weapon I was using for most of my time playing it looked like an M4A1 with the action of an M14. Very wierd for me, really, being a gun nut. But anyway. Lotta fun, but not with the $650 and change I'd need to spend for it. Maybe after the PS3's library expands a bit more. I still need to pick up an X360 at some point, and hook it into XBL so I can play through all three Halo games back to back (Which, now I think of it, I've never done).

hm.. yep, that's about everything for now.

So, Manhunt 2 hits store shelves today (Theoretically, at least; I saw it at Best Buy yesterday afternoon), and, as is expected from Rockstar titles since GTA3, the "news" media was scrambling over themselves to paint a go tsao de (dog-humping) video game as some dark, satanic tome of evil that sucks the souls of all who look upon it into a vortex of sin and degradation (Why in the hell am I channeling Emo Phillips?), and the guys who had any hand in putting it on the shelves, from the poor kid at the cashier's desk and the UPS guy who dropped it off, up to the guys who run Take Two and Rockstar, as subhumans who are worse than active pedophiles*, Communists, and Osama Bin Laden all rolled into one festering, suppurating boil of an entity. (I'm proud of that image..)

I have but one thing to say to the press: Grow up. You guys are still gonna be around, so you, and everyone else who thinks vidjamagames are the evil force previously described (I'm proud of that image, too, by the way), can go and stick your heads in buckets. The theater said the movies were evil, and now there's at least one cinema in even the smallest of towns. Hollywood said TV turned people into zombies, and now those idiot boxes are in damn near every home in the US, and a lot of the rest of the world, and Hollywood ain't so much as made a peep about it in at least 30 years. Now that its your turn to stare down the barrel of the next evolution of entertainment media and soil your designer pants, you're reacting in much the same way as they did; you're panicking, and trying to delay the inevitable. You are not the "immovable object" you once might have been, "news" media.

I don't even have a TV in my room. I play the PS2 over a magic little box that makes my computer able to interpret the output signal from the PS2, and display it on my screen (if only it were a higher-quality capture device, but it works for me for now.) And if I did have a TV in my room, I'd be playing the PS2 on it, and not watching your stupid, bullshit fear mongering. The only TV programs I'd even consider watching are Mythbusters, NCIS (which I do watch regularly), House ('cause who doesn't like crippled, Vicodin-addicted diagnosticians who hate their patients?), and, if I none of those are available, I'll turn on CNBC. Why? Simple: They don't do spin jobs, they do straight numbers. Gods bless those reckoners of legumes, if only for that. They'll cover disasters, but only to the point of: "The plane crash caused [the involved airline's] stock to plummet to an all-time low." They'll barely even MENTION the body count.

As far as the decisions by the Aussies and their counterparts in Pommieland (AKA Britain) to refuse classification to Manhunt 2 (effectively banning the game there for EVERYONE, even adults), that concept is just plain dumb. I've not played either of the Manhunt games. Don't plan to, either. Does that make me some kind of saint? No. It's me exercising my right as an adult to choose what I expose myself to. And if I have kids someday (assuming the near-fascists don't get their way, and ban all videogames, pong and its clones included), I will be responsible enough to watch them, and monitor their activities on their computers, and limit their access to M-rated games, and R-rated movies (which, by the way, are supposed to be comparable in content). Why? Because I don't believe it's the government's job to tell me how to raise a kid. (Of course, I still have that rather problematic step of finding a woman crazy enough to put up with me for the 20+ years necessary for that sort of thing, that I can at least tolerate without the quote, aid, unquote, of heavy drinking.) You know whose job that is? MY OWN.

Attention, Stupid Parents: Sit up, and take a swig of coffee, 'cause I'm talkin' to you now. If you don't want your kids to play Postal 3 (when it comes out), or Soldier of Fortune: Payback (also forthcoming), then either a) don't buy it, or b), keep it, and the other M-rated games, in a lockbox somewhere, and make sure that the only copies of the key are on your key ring, or around your neck, or something like that. Just keep it out of your kid's hands. If your kid can demonstrate a maturity consistent with the next tier of game ratings, then sure, let them play it, but I would be watchin' em the whole time, and lettin' em know when somethin that happens in the game isn't appropriate behavior in civilized society, like shooting a guy in the face because he looks like he might be trouble later, and he's just sittin' in the corner, readin' a book, not bothering anybody. It's a fairly simple concept to grasp, isn't it? Just watching your kids and making sure they don't do something like set the cat alight? Doesn't sound like too much work.

Current Location: Work. Yeah, yeah, call CNN...
Current Mood: zzzzzzzzzz...

So, Maya-chan got me back into WoW. And it's almost as bad as when I left back in July. Some ways, worse; my raid group fell apart, I'm guildless (for now; I got an offer last night, and I'm considering it, but I'm waiting for the decision from TWK, my old guild.), and a little rusty. Hazards of not following the patch notes. However, a quick jaunt into the Eye of the Storm proved that my skills hadn't depleted as much as I was afraid; I still managed a positive K/D ratio (10 kill-shots, 6 deaths. Not bad, but still a positive ratio). However, my gear still is in dire need of an upgrade. My pants are still Dragonstalkers. They're damned good, but the Outland dungeon sets are a fair bit better. Which brings me to my next problem; finding people to help clear out my quest log. Apart from daily quests, of which I have like 3 or 4 available, every entry in my Quest Log is tagged either (Group) (Dungeon) or (Raid), which is a very troubling way of Blizzard to force me to associate with twits. Or it would, if any of them were still willing to go to the 5man dungeons or help with world group quests. And until I find folk willing to bring me along, raids are right out. Which is fine for me, 'cause I'm having trouble adjusting my mic to a point where it'll pick me up at a comfortable volume level. I *just* got it picking up properly last night, but the pickup levels are maxed, and it has to be RIGHT NEXT TO MY MOUTH for it to register anything. And the design of the mic makes that unfeasible; it was designed to clip onto the main headset cable, and behave as one of those interview lapel-mics. It's not sensitive enough to do the job, though. So I either need to get a new mic, or leave myself open to being strangled. Or, alternately, I can try clipping it to my lip, but that would interfere with my speaking in general. That's my ONLY complaint about my headset, by the way. I'm actually happy that I can leave the main volume level one click of the volume wheel on my keyboard from muted, and still hear most things fine. So far, the only thing I have trouble with is WoW voice chat (again, levels maxed, and I could barely hear Rav in SM last night. Troublesome.)

In real-world news, I've started going to the gym, and will become a proper member of said gym (Yes, it's Gold's, shaddap) at the beginning of the month (at which time I'll be picking up a Green Dot card for use with the Sony MMO's, which refuse to believe that my card is valid). I don't think I've lost any of my considerable weight yet, but my muscles are burning the day after, so I guess I'm makin' some progress. I'm actually kinda afraid to go in today; we did shoulders yesterday, and I was barely able to drive in to work today x_x I'm worried that I'll push myself too far again (I'm told that this is a good thing, by the way) and wind up being barely able to type.

Back to the virtual world, which is, in many ways superior to the real. I learned a few days ago that Quake 2 uses IP packets for everything. However, this was coded rather sloppily, and has a rather nasty side effect; it locks off most of the Windows sockets (at least under XP), and reduces even the mightiest of broadband connections to dial-up speed. And that's without the game running. If I decide to jump for the Steam version, and it does the same thing, I'm going to id, and there's gonna be some skull-cracking. That's just irresponsible.

I should probably get back to work now.

Current Mood: sore

Happy October, and may the zombies wander away from your homes.

I present for your (dis)approval, proof of my dorkiness. And I challenge ANY of you to top it.

For those of you who don't trust strange links (applause if you do), that's the character backstory/data page for the character I play on the MUSH that page is a wiki for.

Current Mood: apathetic

Pick some new companies to advertise with. I'm getting supremely tired of seeing gold-buy ads. To the point that if I see another one, I'm likely to take an axe to something. And I don't even OWN an axe, which is the bad thing.

( Look ma! I can do LJ cuts! (semi-controversial stuff here) )

Now taking comments on the Crap Behind The Cut. (Damn, I'm good. Not a single spelling error (despite what the spell check button says.)

A recent entry from Kiki has inspired me to dust off this puppy and whack the keys to produce words and sentences and the like.

THE "NEWS" MEDIA: Anyone else notice that they seem to only report the bad things that happen? "Today the wildfires in California consumed another 1k acres, caused another million in damage, etc. etc." Or, "Serial killer escapes from prison." Shit like this is why I turned it off. Not just the news, but nearly all the TV. I only turn it on for NCIS, House", (which is tough to catch without seeing part of that crap designated "American Idol") and Mythbusters. Only decent shows on. Everything else, is the same prepackaged crap they've been feeding us in a new wrapper, and nobody seems to notice or care. I almost feel like a modern-day Bill Hicks, in that I see the world swirling the drain, and I'm the only one who sees it. Very irritating.

OVER-LIBERALISM: Their motivation is admirable. They want to keep everyone safe from harm. Well, unfortunately, the world doesn't work like that. They see big businesses as a major problem. Well, in some cases, they're right. Enron and Worldcom are prime examples of this. However, GOOD and RESPONSIBLE businesses drive the goddamn economy. They protest against the tax breaks that businesses get. Yeah? Well, the best business owners take the money the tax breaks give them, and dump it RIGHT BACK INTO THEIR BUSINESSES, to improve them, and the quality of life for those around them. Know what that does? It inspires those around them to do better, to emulate the good biz owners. They see guns as the problem, and not the assholes using them. Well, guess what, idiots. The crime would probably still happen without the gun. They'd just use a knife or something. And oh! News Flash: a gun is a TOOL. Granted, it's a tool that's designed solely for the purpose of taking a life, but it is a tool. I could, for example, load a magazine for my SIG-Sauer P226 handgun (which is very popular among police departments and militaries across the world, and was the runner up to become the standard-issue service pistol for the US military), slap it into place, rack the slide, thus chambering a round, and readying it for use. (I would say "Then click the safety on," but the SIG doesn't have a manual safety. This further illustrates my point, which is soon.) I could then lay it on a table, and leave it alone. I can safely say that the SIG would not take a life in that configuration. A safety device is active, and preventing it from firing. Know what it is? A GOD DAMNED OPERATOR! Unless and until someone makes the conscious decision to point it at someone, and pull the trigger, its main use is as a FUCKING PAPERWEIGHT.

GENERAL DUMBFUCKERY
This is a subject covered ad nauseum by others, who are easily found on my list of friends. Of special note: The journal of Vati.

Current Location: Hell
Current Mood: cynical
Current Music: Social Crime Syndicate. Though I may cut on Haggis later.

Taking a leaf from the LJ of Vati, I've decided to make this a WoW Journal. Mainly because I have no real inclination to include anything else in it.

However, unlike Vati's, we will not be covering the stupidity of others. At least, not until I get fed up with it, but I'm not there yet.

Okay, so. WoW.

As you may or may not know (if you're reading this, I *hope* you know, but meh), my main character is a L60 Hunter named Elunara. She is known to her friends, generally, as "Lulu." Used to be "Elu," and still is to some, but Lulu's grown on her. I say "she," in reference to the character, because she's rolled up on a Role playing server. Specifically, Scarlet Crusade. Along with many other folks who monkey about here. As you can tell from her picture, she's Kaldorei (Night Elf, to those who don't know the game lore), and she tends to be rather friendly; I've found that every other emote is a smile of some form or another with her. Currently, she's the officer in charge of Hunters for The Wandering Knights. Of course, she's also the ONLY hunter that guild has who's on more than once a week. She's currently helping the Alliance military fend off the Horde (Though she bears no grievance toward them. Well, maybe the Warsong clan), and has recently (last night/very early this morning) become a leading commander with the Stormpike Guard (The AV dwarfs). She's also considered to be a friend of the Silverwing Sentinels (WSG, how I hate thee..), and of the League of Arathor (ooo.. shiny cape...). The Alliance leadership (whom she refers to as "The Paperweights in Stormwind"), has recognized her for her efforts, recently renewing her officer commission (read: She's back to the Knight rank. Hopefully Knight-Lieutenant, actually..). As well, she works to protect the entire world from major threats; Onyxia, Ragnaros, Hakkar.. And she's just beginning. She's also found time for a personal life; She's engaged to be married (for the sake of everyone's sanity, I won't say to whom. Especially since I'd likely be burned in effigy by three or four different special interest groups; some for desecrating marriage by bringing it into a video game, and likely a few others whose own sanity must be called into question), and plans to settle down with her fiance after they've removed as many threats to Azeroth as they can, and raise a child.

Current Location: State of Indifference
Current Mood: lazy
Current Music: The whirring of fans.

ITS *Monty Python theme*

okay, now that that's out of the way.

A few of the people who read this may be wondering about my main image. No, it's not a graphical representation of myself. Well, not really.

That's a picture done by Triese/Darcy of my main character on Scarlet Crusade; Elunara Shandriev Moonglow.

Well, maybe not..

I seem to be short one job, and, currently, one paycheck. Now to find a new one with the fairly pitiful qualifications I have, and/or to increase those qualifications either through classes.

Don'tcha just hate it when I'm this succinct?