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Miscellanea
Jun. 17th, 2016 11:01 pmStepped away from FB again. It was wonderful for a while, but it couldn't have lasted. I'm not interested in playing debating society games about everything that's happened. I have said what I wanted to say about it, and I see nothing further to discuss. I'll vote on the 23rd, for all the good it will do, and then whatever happens, happens.
[Note: anyone in any online context asking me (other than jokingly) "what part of [word in common usage] do you not understand?" when they could say "I disagree with you and here's why" will from now on receive no response. Even if they preface it with a faux apology. Which, I think, will please everyone. Insult my intelligence all you like, if you can find it. Insult my vocabulary and we have a problem. :) ]
One good thing that came out of my spell on FB was contact with the writer Jo Clifford, who has written a beautiful, moving and profound play entitled The Gospel According To Jesus, Queen of Heaven. I don't believe there is anything in it that could legitimately offend any Christian that I know, and there is much that is spiritually enriching and life-enhancing, whatever you believe or don't believe and whoever you are. If you get the chance to see or read it, do. It's not long, but it's very deep.
I haven't talked about Myst and its children in a long while, but my love for them has not died. For the next four days, GOG.com is offering all the Myst games it has to offer (i.e. all except Exile and Revelation which Ubisoft are still sitting on) for about seven quid the lot. I don't think anybody could call that an unreasonable price. Okay, you do get two versions of Myst itself where one would perhaps have done, but you also get Riven, offline Uru (with its expansions) and End of Ages. So if you want to know what I've been droning on about, now's a really good time to head over to https://www.gog.com/promo/20160615_summer_bundle_myst and check it out.
In the meantime, in among my various other activities, I've been playing some Skyrim.
"What!" you cry, aghast. "Zander the peace-loving, the gentle, nine times runner-up for Wimp of the Year and never even complained, indulging in the hack and/or slash? O, say not so!" Well, I did use to play D&D, you know, in primordial darkness when d20s were only d6es, so I do know which way the pointy end goes. And Skyrim has become a lot more than hack'n'slash.
You see, Bethesda (the makers, who are not three women named Bethany, Esther and Danielle but should have been) picked up and ran with the ball that Cyan so badly fumbled for so long, and threw the game open (not their first time either, I gather) for users to add content, and boy have they. The only absolutely obligatory fighting is in the main questline, and the rest of your time's your own; as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lexin pointed out to me, you can farm, you can mine, you can make weapons and armour, you can become a bard, study the philosophy of dragons, start a guild, found a kingdom, deal a little dope on the side, and probably much more I haven't even seen yet, or you can just wander around doing odd jobs for people. Also, the game looks absolutely beautiful (I can't help wondering whether, if Myst hadn't come along and raised expectations, we wouldn't still be looking at graphics not much more sophisticated than Lords of Midnight...no, probably not).
And as for the actual fighting...well. Let me be clear. When playing a game with others, on or off line, I will absolutely never cheat. When playing a game on my own, though, and especially if I can thereby cheat myself of the thrill of refighting the same boring fight over and over again, taking longer each time, till the moment when the damn water vole finally dies before I do, I will cheat like billy-o. I am supposed to be having fun here, after all. So I'm glad that Skyrim has console codes which allow me to turn my character into an amped-up killing machine for whom no fight lasts longer than ten seconds. I have more interesting things to do.
And yes, of course my character is female.
EDIT to add screenshots:
So that's where I am at the moment. How about you?
[Note: anyone in any online context asking me (other than jokingly) "what part of [word in common usage] do you not understand?" when they could say "I disagree with you and here's why" will from now on receive no response. Even if they preface it with a faux apology. Which, I think, will please everyone. Insult my intelligence all you like, if you can find it. Insult my vocabulary and we have a problem. :) ]
One good thing that came out of my spell on FB was contact with the writer Jo Clifford, who has written a beautiful, moving and profound play entitled The Gospel According To Jesus, Queen of Heaven. I don't believe there is anything in it that could legitimately offend any Christian that I know, and there is much that is spiritually enriching and life-enhancing, whatever you believe or don't believe and whoever you are. If you get the chance to see or read it, do. It's not long, but it's very deep.
I haven't talked about Myst and its children in a long while, but my love for them has not died. For the next four days, GOG.com is offering all the Myst games it has to offer (i.e. all except Exile and Revelation which Ubisoft are still sitting on) for about seven quid the lot. I don't think anybody could call that an unreasonable price. Okay, you do get two versions of Myst itself where one would perhaps have done, but you also get Riven, offline Uru (with its expansions) and End of Ages. So if you want to know what I've been droning on about, now's a really good time to head over to https://www.gog.com/promo/20160615_summer_bundle_myst and check it out.
In the meantime, in among my various other activities, I've been playing some Skyrim.
"What!" you cry, aghast. "Zander the peace-loving, the gentle, nine times runner-up for Wimp of the Year and never even complained, indulging in the hack and/or slash? O, say not so!" Well, I did use to play D&D, you know, in primordial darkness when d20s were only d6es, so I do know which way the pointy end goes. And Skyrim has become a lot more than hack'n'slash.
You see, Bethesda (the makers, who are not three women named Bethany, Esther and Danielle but should have been) picked up and ran with the ball that Cyan so badly fumbled for so long, and threw the game open (not their first time either, I gather) for users to add content, and boy have they. The only absolutely obligatory fighting is in the main questline, and the rest of your time's your own; as
lexin pointed out to me, you can farm, you can mine, you can make weapons and armour, you can become a bard, study the philosophy of dragons, start a guild, found a kingdom, deal a little dope on the side, and probably much more I haven't even seen yet, or you can just wander around doing odd jobs for people. Also, the game looks absolutely beautiful (I can't help wondering whether, if Myst hadn't come along and raised expectations, we wouldn't still be looking at graphics not much more sophisticated than Lords of Midnight...no, probably not).And as for the actual fighting...well. Let me be clear. When playing a game with others, on or off line, I will absolutely never cheat. When playing a game on my own, though, and especially if I can thereby cheat myself of the thrill of refighting the same boring fight over and over again, taking longer each time, till the moment when the damn water vole finally dies before I do, I will cheat like billy-o. I am supposed to be having fun here, after all. So I'm glad that Skyrim has console codes which allow me to turn my character into an amped-up killing machine for whom no fight lasts longer than ten seconds. I have more interesting things to do.
And yes, of course my character is female.
EDIT to add screenshots:
So that's where I am at the moment. How about you?