Motivation

Motivation is a tricky thing. So many of our goals that we set for ourselves are far-reaching, the kinds of things where success is a long ways off. Maybe it's weight loss, maybe it's getting published. Maybe it's smaller goals that we wonder if they are really worth the trouble.

So it's vitally important that, when approaching any kind of task, we examine the motivation behind our goals. Reminding ourselves that even the smaller goals have an important place. Keeping our eyes on that wonderful feeling of  satisfaction that comes with accomplishing something.

As I look at my plan for the next 10 days, I see a number of things that need to be done. Back to school clothes shopping and haircuts for the kids, the big pre-semester cleaning I do every semester, various ways of prepping for school and getting on top of that. All good things.

More good things is working on my writing and game designing. These are important to my professional development. The better my portfolio, the better internships, and later jobs, I can get for myself. More good things.

Then I also have quite a bit of WoW and other gaming goals. While I doubt I'll beat both Uncharted and ACII like I originally wanted, I'm trying to take a little time every day to slaughter Templars. While my WoW goals are more contingent on finishing prior to the release of Cataclysm (comeon Blizz, give me a date already!!!!!!!one!1eleven) I know that once school starts to get into full swing, my WoW time will dwindle to virtual nothingness. I'd rather try to meet as many of those goals prior to school starting, where I could spend the final countdown to the Cataclysm gearing and poking through some final things.

Obviously, as much as I prefer the reverse, the focus is on my other, "more important" goals. Trying to accomplish these around the everyday tasks of taking care of the kids, losing weight, and all the other day-to-day stuff that weighs us down and eat up our time.

That's why it's so important to know why you're doing these things. Keep it right in front of you. Write it down and tape it to your desk where you'll see it every minute. Knowing that you're dragging through rehashing last semester's stupid Assembly assignments so that way you don't have to do them during the semester when you're more pressed for time. Knowing that tediously porting the 2D RPG from crappy C++ to the super-shiny C# will give you better options to create your own game.

Keep your eyes on the prize. The prize will keep you motivated when the tedious intermediate steps drag you down. If nothing else, think of the satisfaction of completing a goal and being able to smugly tell everyone how awesome you are because of how much you can accomplish.

Well, I guess I better hop to it. After all, I have less time today with Dungeons to complete and Dragons to slay tonight.

The Importance of Planning

Here I am, a week and a half before school starts. I'm looking at what I wanted and needed to get done over my summer vacation, and exactly one word comes to mind.

FUCK.

I'm beyond behind on all this stuff. Why? Because I didn't plan. Sure, I had a nice little list where I could check off everything I accomplished, but that list kept growing, usually faster than I could knock things off. Now I'm finding myself stressed as the countdown timer to when I'm back in school (and all my free time goes out the window) quickly reaches Zero Hour.

A million and three things to do, and not nearly enough time to do them. But it's not too late. A re-evaluation of my goals, and a tight work schedule and I could get at least a good amount of stuff done. Carefully keeping on track, and not letting myself get distracted with arguments with idiots spouting the merits of pirating, or reading up on the vast amounts of amusing material on the internet is an important step.

But planning is a fickle thing. Don't plan enough, and you risk end up not accomplishing what you need to do. But, if you plan your time too tightly, you can cause a great deal of stress when things don't go according to plan. Something takes longer than planned, an unexpected errand comes up. Even fun can become stressful as you worry if the impromptu movie with the family is going to royally screw you.

It's a matter of finding balance. What can you reasonably accomplish in a day? What can you allot a little extra time to to create a buffer if something goes awry?

It's a fine line, and I know very few who have been able to master this skill. But, if you can, things will fall into place a lot more quickly and easily, reducing stress and giving you the life you want to live.

Dungeons and Dragons: The Importance of a Flexible DM

This past Friday, my husband and I ended up with much the same group we played with last week. Same DM, and 2 of the 4 other players were the same as well. Our group dynamic is one where we fight when we should negotiate, and negotiate when we should fight.

This week's particular module: DRAG 2-2 This Gathering Storm.

Our DM, fortunately, is one that is able to think on the fly, and adjust to our group's unique way of handling things. Something the folks at The Escapist agree with is that the DM should not be hard and fast to the module, and should not discourage the players from creating their own story.

When our group managed to start a brawl in a brothel (something not covered in the module at all) he was able to quickly match us punch for punch, and maintained balance by removing a different skirmish along the way. What ensued was a barrel of laughs, and a great deal of enjoyment as we were able to react to a situation in ways that our characters naturally would. Other DMs I've played with would have stuck to the script, and guided us back on track.

Ours, glory be, let us build our own story. He even let us burn down the ugly building.

Later, we were supposed to confront the pirates we suspected of heinous acts outright, causing them to be mistrustful of us, and against us in the upcoming battle.

We joined them instead. Rather than being outright distrustful, we skill-checked our way into the crew where we could gather more evidence in the fight to come.

Again, our DM was able to adjust and roll with the punches, allowing us to maintain control over our own story.

The result was the same as last week: we managed to build a story that was utterly unique to our group. This is the core of why I love tabletop gaming. Our little group (hopefully we'll get the same people next week) has become an inside joke. Our modules will never be handled the same way by anyone else. Every module I play with these people makes it harder and harder to imagine playing the same modules with a different group (and character). The stories we come up with are just too unique and too much fun to get the same result elsewhere.

Especially when too many DMs can't roll with the punches.

Cataclysm: A Look at Hunters (BM)

With Cataclysm coming, I wanted to take a brief look at the changes coming to each class. As my main is a Hunter, this seemed to be the most logical place to start. Sadly, I'm not in Beta, so I can't do my own empirical tests of things like DPS changes and increases.

This look will be far more in-depth than any of the other classes. I've been playing a hunter for 4 years, and have nearly 6 months of /played on her. I've raided on her, dabbled in PvP, and have theorycrafted the class pretty extensively through BC, and a lesser extent in Wrath.

First, a look at the talent trees.

For Beast Mastery (my preferred spec, and the spec I'll be switching to when Cata drops) I would (if the spec wasn't currently nerfed to the ground) spec this way. When Cataclysm comes out, I'd be looking to go with something like this.

So let's look at what I gain, what I lose, etc etc.

Improved Aspect of the Hawk has been removed. Currently, you have a chance to increase your ranged attack speed. But, as Haste is being changed to affect utility regen, this was something I was expecting.

Endurance Training has also been removed (in fact, it's cousin in the Survival tree has been removed as well). I don't have a major beef with this as with the change over to focus, Stamina will most likely be our 2nd heaviest stat, making up for the increases provided by these.

Focus Fire has been removed. Without being able to check empirically, I am not concerned as this ability (2% increase to damage when your pet is active, and your pet gets and increase chance to crit when under effects of Kill Command) is one that is very easy to simply build into the class. Even if we lose the 2% increase, it's not a huge nerf. A 10,000 dps hunter would lose 200 dps. That's not a huge nerf.

Aspect Mastery has been revamped to a 3-pt talent that will provide the same bonus to Aspect of the Hawk, though we lose the bonus to Aspect of the Monkey. It buffs the regen of Aspect of the Fox, which is different from the buff it currently provides Viper, but since Fox won't have the damage reduction debuff, it really doesn't matter.

Also removed are both Ferocity and Unleashed Fury. While these were important pet buffs, it seems these will be covered in the Beast Mastery's Class Mastery abilities, so I'm not concerned.

Improved Mend Pet is pretty much unchanged. The difference being that they removed the cost mechanism. Considering the ability now costs 0 focus, I guess I can take the loss of the 20% cost reduction.

Bestial Discpline has taken a huge hit. Instead of doubling your pet's Focus regeneration, it will only increase it by 30%. However, this again depends on how other mechanics interfere. With Haste now increasing regen, it's possible that the rest of the pet's regen will come from the player's haste.

Intimidation appears to have been outright removed. While not a crippling nerf, one that I'm not thrilled with. It was nice having a stun on hand for PvP that didn't rely on the specific pet I was using. While it wasn't a move I necessarily used all the time, or even that often, it was a good "Oh Shit" move. However, it's possible (I wasn't able to find out) that it's simply becoming a trainable option.

Spirit Bond sadly has been left unchanged.This is a pity because it's current incarnation is very lackluster. Regaining only 2% of one's health may be nice while leveling (I'll probably pick it up for leveling to reduce downtime) but for use in groups or PvP, it's just too little to really help. While it is clearly an ability that can become grossly overpowered very quickly, I really think it's in need of a slight buff to make it truly useful.

Frenzy has been nerfed as well. Currently, you can (in my current build) get 8 secs of a 30% increased attack speed after landing a critical strike. This is an ability that with very little effort maintains near constant uptime. Now, you'll be looking at a 15% increase, but with the same uptime. Again, without seeing how attack speeds look in Cataclysm, it's hard to say how big of a nerf this really is.

Beast Mastery's signature talents: Bestial Wrath and The Beast Within have been left unchanged. My only surprise is that with the condensing and consolidation of the talents, they didn't merge these into one talent.

Serpent's Switftness (another ability tied to how Haste currently works) has been removed. Considering weapon speeds haven't been reduced, it will be interesting to see if we can really overcome this. However, with a steep increase to damage, it may balance out.

Ferocious Inspiration is remaining the same, just nicely being reduced to a 1 point talent.

Animal Handler has been removed, which again plays to how well the Mastery ability will compensate.

Cobra Strikes has been only slightly modified. The only difference is only Basic Attacks can be buffed by it, not Special Attacks. Ok, fair enough. A minor nerf.

Longevity and Beast Mastery have been left unchanged.

Kindred Spirits has been massively changed. Rather than granting your pet a damage increase, it increases yours and your pet's focus to 110 max, rather than 100.


There are changes to the "sub" specs of MM and Survival as well, but I'd rather cover these with their respective main specs.

Stay tuned for looks at more classes, other Hunter specs, Hunter pets, and Hunters in general.

Dungeons and Dragons: The Fun of Defining Your Own Adventure

This past Friday, playing through the Silver Linings quest for Dungeons and Dragons really illustrated why I'm coming to love tabletop gaming, and why in many ways it still surpasses many computer games for me. In Dungeons and Dragons, the choices you make with your friends have consequences that can change the entire game.

During this quest, you're clearing out a Goblin town/cave/thing of Orcs. Now, many groups, when they finally reach the rampaging and murderous Orcs who are mining out the Goblin caves for relics for an unseen master would instantly attack.

Not us. We happened to have a guy (our Fighter, so he's pretty intimidating in the first place) who could speak Orcish. Add in two wizards (myself and another) who used our Prestidigitation to give him things like demon wings, glowing fiery armor, and thunderbolts arcing across said armor, we managed to convince the Orcs to parley with us.

Not only did we successfully bargain with them (turning what should have been a 3-fight quest into a 1-fight quest) but, we managed to save 2 slaves who weren't supposed to be saveable (more just there as window dressing).

We may not have gotten all the rewards, but we managed to solve the quest in a way that was truly unique. To find another group who both reacted as we did, and had the proper make up to be able to accomplish what we managed to accomplish, would be nearly impossible.

When one is used to computer games (consoles are considered computers for this), you're usually given scripted encounters. Even in a game like Dragon Age: Origins, where you can make choices that drastically affect the story of the game, you are still limited by the programming of the game as to what kind of choices you can make.

But in a tabletop game, if you can imagine it (and hit the proper dice rolls for it) you can make it happen. You can discover things that, possibly, no one else who's ever done that particular encounter ever thought of. It makes it far more immersive, and far easier to fall into a roleplaying groove.

I think this is what keeps tabletop gaming so alive, even in this digital age.

Review: Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

This is one of those movies where only the pleas of my children managed to drag me to the theatre to see. I was sure that the movie would cause me to claw my eyes out in irritation and disgust. However, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

This is not to say it was really "good". The characters were stereotypical of the James Bond and buddy-cop movies. Digs, the German Shepard, is your standard agent who plays by his own rules, and consistently screws up because of it. Butch is the experienced agent with a short amount of patience for the young agent, and comes down (sometimes too harshly) on him for his lack of control. Katherine is the sleek female agent that is smart, capable, yet has a major obstacle she must overcome to save her friends. Kitty Galore is the absolutely insane villain that is determined to destroy those who have wronged her. None of them had any deep development, or motivations that weren't woefully 1-dimensional.

But, the plot, while again not original, was at least solid. There were no glaring plot holes. A little drama, a little intrigue, a little heart-warming tenderness, a little action, and a lot of slapstick made the movie at least tolerable. The humor, while it didn't make me laugh out loud very often, at least had me cracking a smile. Some of the jokes were adult, but without being crass for family viewing. (My personal favorite was the announced seminar "Even if she's a Doberman, don't pinch her"). Kitty Galore having a mouse that takes the place of the evil cat most villains have was vastly amusing, as was the Hannibal Lecter-inspired Mr. Tinkles.

Given the lack of depth, there isn't much more to say about the movie. The bottom line is that if you don't have kids who want to see the movie, don't bother. It's definitely not worth it. But, if your kids are like mine and are dying to see the movie, you can at least go in and have an enjoyable time.

Review: Silent Movie

Mel Brooks' Silent Movie may not be my favorite of his movies, but was still a highly enjoyable movie.

The movie follows a washed up director trying to make a modern silent movie. The studio, who is in dire straits trying to keep by getting bought out by a conglomerate (a jab at the current events in Hollywood at the time), agrees on the condition that he can nail some big name talent.

He then goes after Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Liza Minnelli, Anne Bancroft, Marcel Marceau and Paul Newman in an attempt to get talent for his movie.

While the plot is in many ways incredibly predictable, the slapstick comedy is great fun to watch. With Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman as his two sidekicks, they manage to get in quite a lot of trouble as they go around Hollywood recruiting these actors. One of my favorite things about the movie was you could tell the characters were mouthing obscenities, yet the dialogue cards showed more "family friendly" language.

Really not a whole lot to say about the movie. Character development was thin, the plot was thin, but if you're looking for an enjoyable movie, and you're a fan of Mel Brooks, you'll enjoy this as well.

Review: Robin Hood (1938)

This retelling of the classic story is one that is both fun to watch, and incredibly well designed.

Many movies from this era tended towards the campy. Special Effects were not really given the same importance that they are today, and often, these movies come off as painfully dated. This movie avoids that, and manages to put together a package that is as enjoyable as any out today.

Errol Flynn plays Robin, and he pulls of the role masterfully. He is cocky, sure, funny and irrepressible. He does the perfect job portraying a bandit who is only acting in the interests of his country. His offhanded remarks carry just the right undertone of threat and insult to them that makes his already witty banter all that much more fun to watch.

I am not going to comment much on the rest of the cast specifically. They all performed their roles beautifully, but I didn't feel were anything truly remarkable. They were all fun characters to watch, fulfilling their responsibility to the storyline admirably.

But where this movie really shined for me was in the visually effects. The movie made use of all eleven Technicolor cameras in existence at the time. For a movie so early on in color, this had all the clarity of any movie today, allowing for bright colors, and a vibrant look that hasn't dimmed over time. The backdrop featured footage that was correctly out of focus, drawing attention away from itself, and maintaining a look of being outside without actually being so.

Another point of interest was that the stuntmen were shot with real arrows (they were carefully padded of course) by the production's archery master (who also plays Robin's opponent in the tournament.) This man also fired Robin's arrow which split his opponent's down the middle, winning him the tournament. This was done in one take, with no camera tricks. Skills.... You're doing it right.

If I had to find one problem with the movie, it would be the lighting. The lighting often felt overly bright, as if everything was taking place at high-noon during the summer. But this was something that didn't really click with me until after viewing, so it really does nothing to downplay the movie.

Truly a masterpiece, and it's very clear why Disney in 1973 and Mel Brooks in 1993 drew so heavily on this movie for their inspiration (Mel Brooks so much so that during the scene where Robin meets John Little that my husband and I were cracking up at the memory of the Mel Brooks scene more so than the already funny 1938 scene).

If you enjoy the story of Robin Hood, this is a must-see. It's enjoyable, funny, and incredibly well crafted.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

With a new movie out and a sequel series set to come out next year, I wanted to take a look at the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The series is an incredible one, particularly for a children's show. while many shows today focus on 11 minute shorts, and even if they go out to the full 20+ minutes, there is rarely a continuous storyline.

TLA transcends this and creates a fully developed world, populated with realistic characters and a perpetual storyline that is both engrossing and well-rounded.

 We follow the young Airbender, Aang, as he emerges from a supernatural 100 year sleep. Just before running away and getting trapped in an iceberg, he learns that he is the Avatar. The Avatar has the ability to master all four elements (Water, Earth, Fire, Air) whereas normal benders can only master their nation's element. As such a powerful person, the Avatar maintains balance within the world, and can communicate with the Spirit World as well.

Aang was revealed as the Avatar four years early (typically it's revealed at age 16, Aang found out at 12) due to the aggressions of the Fire Nation. So this is all pretty overwhelming, and it's understandable that he fled for what he thought was a few days.

Once he is released from the iceberg he got trapped in, Aang discovers that his absence lead to 100 years of war and strife, as well as the massacre of his people.This drives him, with the help of the Water Tribe siblings Sokka and Katara who found and released him, to travel the world to find masters to teach him the remaining 3 elements so he can set things right.

Meanwhile, he is hunted by Prince Zuko, exiled prince of the Fire Nation. His father banished him, and gave him the impossible-seeming task of finding the Avatar and capturing him before his exile can be lifted.

The series grows and develops with it's characters in a unique way that is not often seen in children's TV. We are introduced to a world with four distinct nations, each with it's own style of dress, mannerisms, local scenery and customs. The animals are all fantasy-like, often created by combining two "real world" animals (such as a platypus-bear or a rabbit-kangaroo). It seems rare to run across such depth of the story world in television. Those that don't simply use our own world tend to only develop what's absolutely necessary.

The characters are both believeable and likeable and go through a number of changes throughout the series to create characters who are very complex. We watch as Aang, who is carefree by nature, struggles to come to terms with all that he must be, and he learns to be less jesterly and more serious about the task at hand, while at the same time balancing his peaceful monk upbringing with the violent war we must fight.

Sokka begins the show as mostly lazy and sarcastic, and yet with a deep drive to prove himself as a warrior to make his father (who he hasn't seen in years due to his father fighting in the war) proud. As the series progresses, we see him realize his potential as a leader and warrior.

Katara is the last waterbender of her tribe. She grapples with discovering how to use her powers on her own, while suffering a great deal of guilt over the death of hers and Sokka's mother, who was killed by Fire Nation soldiers while she was protecting young Katara. She grows in her waterbending prowess, as well as providing a level head for "Team Avatar", as Sokka calls their little group, and making sure that everyone is cared for.

Prince Zuko is perhaps the most complex of all the characters, and certainly goes through the greatest transformation. At first, he is the banished prince, and defines himself by his desire to regain his honor in the eyes of his father, and fulfill his destiny, which he believes is to capture young Aang. As he clashes with his own people, culminating in a betrayal by his sister, the evil Azula, we watch him as he struggles to redefine his destiny and make his own choices in life. Guided by his mentor, his uncle Iroh, he begins a change that leads him down a difficult road to self discovery.

And those are just the four primary characters. We also get a host of other memorable, interesting characters, including many strong female charracters. One of the areas this show excels is in portraying various aspects of female personality while keeping them strong and capable. We see the nurterer, the tomboy, the truly evil, the cheerfully perky, the overly emotionally oppressed. Yet all of these are strong, capable and enthralling characters.

The bending movements of each nation are art in and of themselves. Each is based off a different style of Kung Fu, adding beauty and purpose to the bending movements. Each style was also carefully chosen to match the element it represents. Fire uses a ferocious and powerful style, Earth a more steady and controlled style, Water a slower more rhythmic style, and Air more spinning of the hands and body to simulate tornado like movements.

Visually, it is also beautiful. While each nation draws on heavily from Asian influence, each is unique and diverse. From the almost delicate construction of the Northern Water Tribe's ice city, to the floating citadels of the Air Nomads, to the strong walled fortresses of the Earth Kingdom, and the more traditionally styled Fire Nation, it is an incredible style that is so often lost today.

Emotionally, it showcases the power love, the dangers of obsession, the pain of loss, and struggle to do what you know is right against overwhelming odds. It is a rich, complex and diverse storyline keeps both children and adults interested.

If you have never watched the series, go give it a go. I think you'll enjoy, regardless of your age.



Jaded Scribe's Personal Favorite Episodes:


Book 1: Water
Southern Air Temple
Avatar Roku
The Storm
Siege of the North (2 parts)

Book 2: Earth
The Blind Bandit
Tales of Ba Sing Se
The Guru/Crossroads of Destiny (2 parts)


Book 2: Fire (Jaded's Favorite Season)
Sokka's Master
The Beach
The Avatar and the Firelord
The Western Air Temple
The Firebending Masters
The Boiling Rock (2 parts)
Sozin's Comet (4 parts)

Review: Metropolis

Metropolis was made in 1927 in Germany by famed director Fritz Lang. The screenplay was written by his wife of the time, Thea von Harbou. It's old-school black and white and silent. So it's not the kind of fare most of us are used to.

One of the first interesting things about the movie, is that while most Science Fiction films can be slated as "Tech Noir" (Tech is bad) or "Tech Blanc" (Tech is good), this movie is very much Tech Neutral. There isn't a big pro or con either way. The technology simply is.

Instead, it focuses on the strains between the Haves, and the Have Nots. However, it also had an additional moral, that gets beaten into the viewer: The Mediator between the Hands and Head must be the Heart. This moral is announced roughly every 15 minutes or so. Subtlety, a German strength it is not.

But, the movie was actually very good in terms of story. It surprises me that no one has done a remake. The story surrounds young Freder, the son of the leader of Metropolis. He lives "topside" with the all the other rich people. Life is good. He gets a different pretty woman every day, food and sunshine are plenty, and is a reflection of all the upper businessmen of the time.

He, like most of the Haves, gives no thought to the Worker class that slave and toil away to keep the machines working to provide paradise to Metropolis' masters. At least, not until a lovely young worker woman appears with a slew of children, giving a stirring speech about how these youngsters should "look upon their brothers" and see the hedonist, carefree lifestyle they live, and that they should hope someday that the Haves will, in fact, accept them as brothers. As she and the children disappear back into the bowels of the city.

Young Freder, instantly enamoured, chases after our young mystery woman (Maria) where he discovers the plight of the worker class, as well as the fact that his beloved is a prophetess. She has foretold the coming of one who will bring peace and happiness to everyone.

I don't want to go any further, so as not to spoil the plot.

The story, while lagging in areas, was very good, and despite the length, kept the viewer interested through most of it. The dialogue cards were a little on the "meh" side, but considering that you don't have a natural dialogue system, and everything has to be handled on a card or two, it's clearly a necessary evil.

The special effects were, for the time, actually quite amazing, and the attention to detail is great. Watching the workers at the machines, they were not just moving pieces, but moved in a carefully choreographed movement that was actually beautiful to watch.

The acting was a little overdone, even for a silent movie though. But this did little to detract from my interest in the film. With it being a silent film, a lot can be forgiven seeing as exaggerated gestures were the best thing they had for conveying emotion.

All in all, if you can dig up this movie somewhere, watch it. Much of the original footage has been lost, but the story is still comprehensible. The version I watched included extra text frames explaining what has happened in the areas you miss.

A truly enjoyable movie, and one that I would love to see revamped and rebooted for the modern era of talkies and color.

It was, given it's origins in Germany, hard to watch on some levels though. While the director was at least partially Jewish, his wife was a supporter of the Nazi party. Given that the actors were German, I could not help but think "So.... Over the next 20 years, how many of you are going to do some very bad things..."

Interesting how an event that holds little personal significance for me (WWII) could still bring about such an uncomfortable feeling when I watch anything with Germans in it from that era.