 | I entered 16 photos in the 'Williston Hard Spring Wheat Show" last weekend. Don't ask me what hard spring wheat is, but I know my photos had nothing to do with it. That may be one reason none of my 'landscape' or 'buildings/ equipment' photos didn't get anywhere, I'll see if I can find out what did do well, and if I can do better next year :). My people photos did pretty well though, a second and a third. Not bad for my first ever photo competition. Never mind that one of the winning ones was thirteen years old. I wonder how my niece Hayley feels about me winning a competition with a nude photo of her, even if she was only about three at the time. I called the piece Folk and it is my step father Richard Harford and his grand daughter taking a moment together during a camping trip for the Auckland Folk Festival (Auckland, New Zealand) in 1993. I have this photo up around the house as it's so real, such an amazing portrayal of Richard, his personality and everything he means to his children and grand children. Shot in black and white and taken with a Sigma camera and Sigma 28-70mm lense. A photo of my step-daughter Ella took second place. Again this was shot in black and white with the Sigma, but the film was not true black and white and lacks some of the grainy depth that gives character to other black and white shots. I called it Chaste and it shows Ella fleeing from me across the virgin sand of Long Beach in Washington, USA on a windy day in May 2004. If I can just figure out how to post it, I'll put up a sidebar with a sample of the phots. |
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Photo Competition
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Massively Multiplayer On-line games
MMO, often with RPG (Role Play Game) tacked on the end. It's the new 'thing'. World of Warcraft and Lineage 2 have in the order of 8M subscribers between the two. This phenomenon is a major part of why the game industry now has a larger slice of the media market than even film.
Players purchase a game, then pay a monthly fee to play in a world that persists even when they are off-line, that is populated by thousands of other real players. Players sometimes in competition with each other, sometimes co-operating, and more often than not simply players co-existing. Much like real life, and yet, not. A place where the suspension of disbelief isn't that big a stretch, which means a greater sense of immersion.
It gives players a chance to act out their inner fantasies - what I could be if I wasn't held back by, time, money, physical constraints - or laws and morals. I posted a couple of links earlier for tests to determine what sort of player you might be in these worlds. Interesting results and no surprises for me.
For about 18 months I followed the development of Star Wars: Galaxies. I'm obviously a huge fan of Star Wars and computer games in general, and here was a game setting out to allow me to live, learn, explore and socialise within the Star Wars setting and timbering that hold so much mystique for me. I was incredibly excited.
Then I saw this video and my excitement level went through the roof - these guys were talking directly to me, everything I wanted was right there in the interview.
I pre-ordered the game and installed it on the day it was released, then I played it for about 2 and a half years.
A MMO because of the nature of it's 'persistent world' status needs to be constantly tweaked to ensure that the numbers that were worked out during development remain reasonable for the calculations as people, equipment and events progress. This is normal and necessary for the game. But somewhere along the way, developers changed and what got me so excited about that video slipped away. Instead of tweaking numbers up and down to maintain the balance of the game, they began making changes to the actual mechanics of the game.
The change entitled 'CU' or Combat Upgrade was harsh, it messed with a game that I and others had developed a sense of ownership for. The graphics and mechanic changes now seemed to target the audience who were currently making Blizzard lots of money for their World of Warcraft game, and not the player base who had supported Sony through development and a year or more of subscriptions.
Then a few months back came 'NGE' New Game Enhancements. Wow. It was a whole new game, built on the same world environment. Our characters were destroyed, the essential parts of the intellectual property that was a major part of their draw were devalued, and the whole game was 'dumbed down' to the point I was frustrated with the over simplicity, yet at the same time the twitch aspect of the game was ramped up. This now played like a First Person Shooter (Wolfenstien, Doom, Quake, Unreal, etc.) not an RPG at all.
When I was on the development boards way back, I recall picking three things out as key points to why this game was for me.
This meant that there were a number of skill 'trees' and you could pick and chose which trees and which branches you advanced down. You had the choice of going with purely combat skills, purely social skills, crafting or healing, or you could mix and match. Become a two master hybrid, or a jack of all trades. The choice was yours. Not only that, but you could let go of skills to free up available learning points to advance in a new area, at any time.
I was a Smuggler and a Combat Medic. That meant I was support crew for the true fighters, I knew my skill set really well, and I was very good at it.
With NGE you have to choose your 'class' when you create your character. That character will now advance through the levels of that class as you gain experience. Any level 45 smuggler will be IDENTICAL to any other level 45 smuggler, there is no variety, and no options. You can only be one thing.
Player driven economy
Crafting was a huge part of SW:G, and revolutionary in the MMO field. It is the benchmark against which future MMO's are measured on the crafting portion of there design. Craters make all the equipment needed in the game, from clothes and food, to weapons and space ships.
For all but the very best rewards for completing quests - player crafted gear was the best you could have. You could pick up items off corpses when you fought them, but they were invariable inferior. The best of the best player items required components that could be gained as loot of corpses, so tieing the loot in to the player economy too.
Since NGE and other alterations to the game, the best of the best equipment now drops ready made from NPC (non-player character, computer controlled) people and critters. This simply cuts the crafters out of the loop and undermines the economy and the promise that the game and it's player base were built around.
Star Wars
My biggest thing with regards to 'Star Wars' is Jedi. Jedi are essential to the Star Wars feel of any medium, but the proper control of Jedi is even more essential. When SW:G launched it was a long, harrowing, and largely unknown path to reach that exalted target. It was simplified a little as time progressed - possibly with CU, possibly just as a matter of course. The simplification meant that now people knew the steps required to reach Jedi, that it was a big task, but far from impossible. It also meant dragging all the prospective Jedi to the one place where the process occurred and making Jedi 'familiar'. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Despite the difficulty involved with achieving the Jedi status, Jedi were not as powerful as I felt they should be. Now we get past my feeling of ownership for the game, and into my ownership of Star Wars. The mythos, the sacredness, tradition and history of Star Wars - you can't mess with Star Wars!!
With NGE, Jedi are now a starting option, players may choose to be a Jedi the moment they create their account. Half the population are running around in Jedi pajamas and Star Wars is dead. At the point in the Star Wars timeline where the game is supposed to be set, there are three known Jedi: Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Darth Vader had been corrupted by the Sith lord Darth Sidious - Emperor Palpatine - and sent on a pogrom to destroy all Jedi. Which he had pretty much succeeded in doing. Sure, there is space in the story for the game to allow some Jedi to exist, in hiding. But not for me to drop into the star port at Bestine, Tatooine, and see 50 Jedi waving their light sabers around. Vader and 5 divisions of ST would descent on them and crush them.
Anyway, all this rant came about because I found that video again and was reminded how much I loved the game they're talking about.
Watch the video :) http://media2.yahoo.com/player/games/?k=/genre/roleplaying/starwarsgalaxiesaned/6023592
Players purchase a game, then pay a monthly fee to play in a world that persists even when they are off-line, that is populated by thousands of other real players. Players sometimes in competition with each other, sometimes co-operating, and more often than not simply players co-existing. Much like real life, and yet, not. A place where the suspension of disbelief isn't that big a stretch, which means a greater sense of immersion.
It gives players a chance to act out their inner fantasies - what I could be if I wasn't held back by, time, money, physical constraints - or laws and morals. I posted a couple of links earlier for tests to determine what sort of player you might be in these worlds. Interesting results and no surprises for me.
For about 18 months I followed the development of Star Wars: Galaxies. I'm obviously a huge fan of Star Wars and computer games in general, and here was a game setting out to allow me to live, learn, explore and socialise within the Star Wars setting and timbering that hold so much mystique for me. I was incredibly excited.
Then I saw this video and my excitement level went through the roof - these guys were talking directly to me, everything I wanted was right there in the interview.
I pre-ordered the game and installed it on the day it was released, then I played it for about 2 and a half years.
A MMO because of the nature of it's 'persistent world' status needs to be constantly tweaked to ensure that the numbers that were worked out during development remain reasonable for the calculations as people, equipment and events progress. This is normal and necessary for the game. But somewhere along the way, developers changed and what got me so excited about that video slipped away. Instead of tweaking numbers up and down to maintain the balance of the game, they began making changes to the actual mechanics of the game.
The change entitled 'CU' or Combat Upgrade was harsh, it messed with a game that I and others had developed a sense of ownership for. The graphics and mechanic changes now seemed to target the audience who were currently making Blizzard lots of money for their World of Warcraft game, and not the player base who had supported Sony through development and a year or more of subscriptions.
Then a few months back came 'NGE' New Game Enhancements. Wow. It was a whole new game, built on the same world environment. Our characters were destroyed, the essential parts of the intellectual property that was a major part of their draw were devalued, and the whole game was 'dumbed down' to the point I was frustrated with the over simplicity, yet at the same time the twitch aspect of the game was ramped up. This now played like a First Person Shooter (Wolfenstien, Doom, Quake, Unreal, etc.) not an RPG at all.
When I was on the development boards way back, I recall picking three things out as key points to why this game was for me.
- Skill based advancement
- Player driven economy
- Star Wars
This meant that there were a number of skill 'trees' and you could pick and chose which trees and which branches you advanced down. You had the choice of going with purely combat skills, purely social skills, crafting or healing, or you could mix and match. Become a two master hybrid, or a jack of all trades. The choice was yours. Not only that, but you could let go of skills to free up available learning points to advance in a new area, at any time.
I was a Smuggler and a Combat Medic. That meant I was support crew for the true fighters, I knew my skill set really well, and I was very good at it.
With NGE you have to choose your 'class' when you create your character. That character will now advance through the levels of that class as you gain experience. Any level 45 smuggler will be IDENTICAL to any other level 45 smuggler, there is no variety, and no options. You can only be one thing.
Player driven economy
Crafting was a huge part of SW:G, and revolutionary in the MMO field. It is the benchmark against which future MMO's are measured on the crafting portion of there design. Craters make all the equipment needed in the game, from clothes and food, to weapons and space ships.
For all but the very best rewards for completing quests - player crafted gear was the best you could have. You could pick up items off corpses when you fought them, but they were invariable inferior. The best of the best player items required components that could be gained as loot of corpses, so tieing the loot in to the player economy too.
Since NGE and other alterations to the game, the best of the best equipment now drops ready made from NPC (non-player character, computer controlled) people and critters. This simply cuts the crafters out of the loop and undermines the economy and the promise that the game and it's player base were built around.
Star Wars
My biggest thing with regards to 'Star Wars' is Jedi. Jedi are essential to the Star Wars feel of any medium, but the proper control of Jedi is even more essential. When SW:G launched it was a long, harrowing, and largely unknown path to reach that exalted target. It was simplified a little as time progressed - possibly with CU, possibly just as a matter of course. The simplification meant that now people knew the steps required to reach Jedi, that it was a big task, but far from impossible. It also meant dragging all the prospective Jedi to the one place where the process occurred and making Jedi 'familiar'. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Despite the difficulty involved with achieving the Jedi status, Jedi were not as powerful as I felt they should be. Now we get past my feeling of ownership for the game, and into my ownership of Star Wars. The mythos, the sacredness, tradition and history of Star Wars - you can't mess with Star Wars!!
With NGE, Jedi are now a starting option, players may choose to be a Jedi the moment they create their account. Half the population are running around in Jedi pajamas and Star Wars is dead. At the point in the Star Wars timeline where the game is supposed to be set, there are three known Jedi: Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Darth Vader had been corrupted by the Sith lord Darth Sidious - Emperor Palpatine - and sent on a pogrom to destroy all Jedi. Which he had pretty much succeeded in doing. Sure, there is space in the story for the game to allow some Jedi to exist, in hiding. But not for me to drop into the star port at Bestine, Tatooine, and see 50 Jedi waving their light sabers around. Vader and 5 divisions of ST would descent on them and crush them.
Anyway, all this rant came about because I found that video again and was reminded how much I loved the game they're talking about.
Watch the video :) http://media2.yahoo.com/player/games/?k=/genre/roleplaying/starwarsgalaxiesaned/6023592
Monday, January 16, 2006
The Daedalus Project: Take the Motivations Assessment
The Daedalus Project: Take the Motivations Assessment
http://www.andreasen.org/bartle/test.cgi
Two tests to determine the style of player you are when it comes to Masively Multiplayer Online Games. Essential determinant when considering the design of a persistent virtual world.
Deadalus Project
Achievement 32% Socialising 75% Immersion 96%
Bartle Test
http://www.andreasen.org/bartle/test.cgi
Two tests to determine the style of player you are when it comes to Masively Multiplayer Online Games. Essential determinant when considering the design of a persistent virtual world.
Deadalus Project
- Advancement 24%
- Mechanics 64%
- Competition 24%
- Chat 80%
- Relate 79%
- Teamwork 40%
- Discovery 92%
- Roleplay 91%
- Customisation 68%
- Escapism 92%
Bartle Test
Explorer 86%
Socializer 60%
Achiever 40%
Killer 13%
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Chewbacca passes exam, should we all?
I was reading an interesting tid-bit the other day.
Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca in four of the Star Wars movies) has become an American citizen. He loves a Texan, so good for him.
Yahoo news story
What really caught my eye though was this line:
I know the electoral college was designed to get around the unwashed masses casting their uneducated votes, but the electoral college is a joke. They don't cast votes proportional to the state vote, and they don't educate them selves and disregard the uneducated votes, so why bother? The electoral college doesn't do the thing it was instituted to do, and it doesn't remove itself from the process either in effect or actuality.
I submit that in the interests of the future stability of the country, there should be some basic understanding requirement for voters. They need to know what they are voting on and how the voting process works. They need to show they are capable of educating themselves on the specific issues too. Whether they then make random choices or choices I may disagree with is their right, but why should my government be influenced by someone who doesn't understand what they are doing, or what is relevant?
Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca in four of the Star Wars movies) has become an American citizen. He loves a Texan, so good for him.
Yahoo news story
What really caught my eye though was this line:
Candidates also must pass history, English and civics exams.Sounds good to me, maybe not necessarily the history, but the English and civics certainly. But this is the exam to be a citizen. Surely it would be more appropriate to put this sort of testing in to be a voter? American born and immigrants alike, some sort of qualification to be determining the future and direction of the country would be a wise idea.
I know the electoral college was designed to get around the unwashed masses casting their uneducated votes, but the electoral college is a joke. They don't cast votes proportional to the state vote, and they don't educate them selves and disregard the uneducated votes, so why bother? The electoral college doesn't do the thing it was instituted to do, and it doesn't remove itself from the process either in effect or actuality.
I submit that in the interests of the future stability of the country, there should be some basic understanding requirement for voters. They need to know what they are voting on and how the voting process works. They need to show they are capable of educating themselves on the specific issues too. Whether they then make random choices or choices I may disagree with is their right, but why should my government be influenced by someone who doesn't understand what they are doing, or what is relevant?
Thursday, April 14, 2005
As I watched the Schivo case unfold recently I was struck by something. Not so much the right to life, vs. the right to die debate, but the degree to which out news providers were caught up in the argument.
There was a lot of discussion about whether the congress made the right choice by forcing a judicial review. There was a lot of talk about whether the judges had made the right choice by not ordering the tube put back in. There was a lot of talk about whether Terry had the right to die peacfully. There was a lot of talk about whether not reinstating her feeding tube was murder.
And everyone has an opinion. Not just the commentators, but the anchors and the journalists. The poeople we rely on to provide the facts to us so we can make informed decisions and form educated opinions have been focusing on the verdicts handed down in these major cases, rather than the process.
How many reports looked at the processes involved . . .
Hmmm - a thought started on the 14th of April and somehow never finished. Posting anyway.
There was a lot of discussion about whether the congress made the right choice by forcing a judicial review. There was a lot of talk about whether the judges had made the right choice by not ordering the tube put back in. There was a lot of talk about whether Terry had the right to die peacfully. There was a lot of talk about whether not reinstating her feeding tube was murder.
As Michael Jackson goes on trial and the latest information comes out daily, the media who report it seem to have a clear idea on the verdict.
And everyone has an opinion. Not just the commentators, but the anchors and the journalists. The poeople we rely on to provide the facts to us so we can make informed decisions and form educated opinions have been focusing on the verdicts handed down in these major cases, rather than the process.
How many reports looked at the processes involved . . .
Hmmm - a thought started on the 14th of April and somehow never finished. Posting anyway.
A day in the life
06:00 - Wake up. Wake everyone else up.
07:00 - Deliver Crysta to work.
08:00 - Deliver Cameron to school.
09:00 - Check mail and run errands.
10:30 - Story hour at the library.
11:15 - Pick up Crysta for lunch.
12:00 - Deliver Maia to school.
13:00 - E-bay and laundry while Ella naps.
15:00 - Pick up Maia and Cameron from school
16:30 - Pick up Crysta from work.
17:30 - Go out to dinner.
19:00 - Go out to rehearsal.
Luckily I don't have to do everything everyday. But I'm feeling pouty and whiney. I never have 30 consecutive minutes to myself - even if there is a lot of time in the day.
Getting out of this motel room and into a house; getting the second car back - I might just turn christian and praise god.
07:00 - Deliver Crysta to work.
08:00 - Deliver Cameron to school.
09:00 - Check mail and run errands.
10:30 - Story hour at the library.
11:15 - Pick up Crysta for lunch.
12:00 - Deliver Maia to school.
13:00 - E-bay and laundry while Ella naps.
15:00 - Pick up Maia and Cameron from school
16:30 - Pick up Crysta from work.
17:30 - Go out to dinner.
19:00 - Go out to rehearsal.
Luckily I don't have to do everything everyday. But I'm feeling pouty and whiney. I never have 30 consecutive minutes to myself - even if there is a lot of time in the day.
Getting out of this motel room and into a house; getting the second car back - I might just turn christian and praise god.
The end justifies the means . . ?
We are victorious!
We have started the domino effect of democracy in the middle east. Women no longer have to wear a veil and every person has the right to vote in Iraq and Afghanistan. A ruthless dictator has been over thrown and the people of Iraq, nay, the world are better off for it!
Our mission is accomplished, just as we set out to do!
But wait.
On March 6 2003, President George W. Bush said "Saddam Hussein and his weapons are a direct threat to this country, to our people, and to all free people.... I will not leave the American people at the mercy of the Iraqi dictator and his weapons."
Later that month the war began.
During the 2004 election poll after poll was taken, after the dust had settled 41% of voters said that National Security was the single biggest factor in determining their vote (Rasmussen Reports, 11/8/2004).
The United Nations inspectors had been giving preliminary reports that indicated there were no WMD to be found in Iraq, but they were unable to complete their investigation after war broke out. President Bush appointed his own investigator, and he did complete his report, saying that the UN inspectors were correct - there were no weapons of mass destruction.
So tell me again, why did we enter Iraq? Was it to over throw a tyrant and install democracy, as the claim goes now? Was it to gain more control of the oil? Was it an election stunt to garner a second term of office and finally pull George W. out of his father's shadow?
What ever it was, it certainly seems it was not to eliminate the Weapons of Mass destruction and the terror threat that presented to the United States, as the claim went before the war. We have been duped and lied to.
But does the end justify the means?
We have started the domino effect of democracy in the middle east. Women no longer have to wear a veil and every person has the right to vote in Iraq and Afghanistan. A ruthless dictator has been over thrown and the people of Iraq, nay, the world are better off for it!
Our mission is accomplished, just as we set out to do!
But wait.
On March 6 2003, President George W. Bush said "Saddam Hussein and his weapons are a direct threat to this country, to our people, and to all free people.... I will not leave the American people at the mercy of the Iraqi dictator and his weapons."
Later that month the war began.
During the 2004 election poll after poll was taken, after the dust had settled 41% of voters said that National Security was the single biggest factor in determining their vote (Rasmussen Reports, 11/8/2004).
The United Nations inspectors had been giving preliminary reports that indicated there were no WMD to be found in Iraq, but they were unable to complete their investigation after war broke out. President Bush appointed his own investigator, and he did complete his report, saying that the UN inspectors were correct - there were no weapons of mass destruction.
So tell me again, why did we enter Iraq? Was it to over throw a tyrant and install democracy, as the claim goes now? Was it to gain more control of the oil? Was it an election stunt to garner a second term of office and finally pull George W. out of his father's shadow?
What ever it was, it certainly seems it was not to eliminate the Weapons of Mass destruction and the terror threat that presented to the United States, as the claim went before the war. We have been duped and lied to.
But does the end justify the means?
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