Let's Play

Today I want to talk about the joy of watching Let's Plays, or LP's.

I'm sure many of you already know about these, but for the uninitiated, I'll explain.

A Lets Play is a recording someone makes while playing a video game. What they see is what you see, as if you were playing it yourself. Many also like to add running commentary as they play, and with the right person, this can add a lot to the experience.

'Hang on', I hear you say. 'Watch someone else play a game? Why would I ever want to do that?'

There are in fact several very good reasons, lets take a look.

The perhaps biggest reason is money. Games are not cheap, even with services like Steam, and especially console games are ridiculously expensive. Add the cost of the console to that, if you don't own one (like me) and a Let's Play becomes a wonderful way to enjoy the many great stories that are out there, rather than go broke or miss out all together.

Another good reason, is to look at the LP as a preview. You can't really trust official trailers as these are often cherry picked to show off a particular scene, or are even sometimes misleading. An LP is an honest portrayal of what the game is about. Naturally, if you want to play the game at some point, you have to be careful not to spoil it for yourself.

Next we have games that are no longer available. There were, as an example, several great games released for the Nintendo Gamecube back in the day, but it's not that easy to lay your hands on them any more. To this we can also add the economic factor mentioned above. Again, Let's Play to the rescue.

Finally, you might want to find out what a popular game is all about, but it might not be a game you want to play yourself. For me personally, I love horror games, but can't stand all the sometimes arbitrary puzzles the game designers are so fond of. This makes Let's Plays very convenient.

So, where do you go to find these? Youtube is usually the easiest place, but a simple Google search of “game name LP” ought to do it.

But hold on. We're not quite finished yet. I still want to go through what makes an LP good. This is without a doubt a question of taste. I like to look for one where the player has a good voice and a suitable sense of humour. They also need to know when to just keep their mouths shut, as a cut scene is easily ruined by excessive babbling. If it's a horror game, I prefer the player to be a bit on the jumpy side, as their fear reaction heightens the mood for me. Browse around a bit, and you will eventually find one you like.

This weekend I watched this Let's Play of Dark Souls, a game that would make me tear my hair out, but instead Northernlion gave me several hours of pure entertainment. Well worth watching!

If you aren't convinced by now, let me just put it like this: can you watch sports without playing said sports yourself? If your answer is yes, you know why you can watch Let's Plays. It may be just another form of entertainment, but a very good one.

Conspiracies and dirty secrets

Today I want to bring two great shows to your attention.

State of Play (2003) and Utopia (2013).

Both are british, meaning they are fairly short, clocking in at six 1-hour long episodes, but they both manage to pack in a lot of story in these six hours. And I mean alot. Neither show is the kind you can watch with one eye while doing something else. You will need to pay attention.

Why did I choose to talk about these two in particular? Well, aside from being absolutely amazing, their common denominator is the conspiracy theme.

However, they approach this theme from two different sides. Where State of Play spends most of it's time in the realms of media and parliament, Utopia runs mostly in the streets, back rooms and abandoned buildings. This creates two very different atmospheres.

Both shows contain a fair amount of violence, with Utopia coming out on top, if that matters to you. In fact, Utopia dares to “go there” to such an extent that I was quite shocked. But I have to applaud them for daring to push boundaries. A great story sometimes have to grab you by the neck and shake you about a bit. Push you out of your comfort zone.

When it comes to the characters, State of Play has it over Utopia in my book. The characters in Utopia aren't bad by any means, and I'd like to commend the child actors in particular, but they aren't as deep or compelling as the cast of State of Play. I just found myself caring more about the people in State.

Next, let's take a look at the core of the shows; the conspiracies. State of Play has a more run of the mill kind of conspiracy, with pretty normal means and motives. Utopia's goals are harder to explain without spoiling anything, but suffice to say, I was pretty confused at first, and finally rather blown away.

If I were to call State of Play a normal show, I'd do it a disservice. It is not normal, but only in how it elevates itself above the rest. It looks normal, and it acts normal, but dark things hide under the surface. That said, I believe most people could watch it and like it.

Utopia on the other hand, is not for everyone I think. Brilliant but pretty disturbing. I'd say it recommends itself more to people with broader interests. Definitely not a family show, so put the kids to bed.

I have heard rumors of a second Utopia season, but I have no idea if this is true. I certainly hope it's not, as it's good as it sits. Less is without question more.

State of Play was made into film in 2009, starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, but I can't and I won't recommend this film. It's pure garbage, especially compared to the show. Stay away.

So now I've given you twelve hours of exciting entertainment. No excuse to claim you're bored. Have fun!

As per your request

An idea for a  horror story that came to me last night when I was falling asleep. Enjoy!

It sits there in my inbox. The clip. Taunting me, daring me to watch it. I don't want to, but I don't know how long I can stay away.

I got the first clip six days ago. At first I thought it was from a friend, but on closer inspection, the email address was slightly off. The email itself held no message, the subject line only said ”Per your request”. Being around the start of April, I figured it must have been a joke, but the video was seriously weird. Besides it wasn't funny. Quite the contrary, it was incredibly atmospheric and creepy.

A long shot descending a concrete stair, filth and discarded items slowing the journey down. The lighting was very poor, in fact there was just enough light to make out general details. The video had no sound, apart from a static buzzing that faded in and out.

At the bottom of the stairs, the camera rested, almost dwelling on a narrow corridor disappearing into darkness. It then panned slowly to the right, past a broken door frame, paint flaking off it's cheap finish. Harsh shadows threw the room beyond into a jagged mosaic of wet, stained concrete. Mostly empty, the chamber contained a few pieces of smashed furniture. Suddenly something scuttled in and out of frame across the lower right hand corner, and the clip cut off. That was all. In total, three minutes to the second.

I'm not ashamed to say I was pretty freaked out. It made no sense. I asked around, but none of my friends copped to making and sending it. A couple of days passed, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Finally, on Friday night, I pulled it up and watched it over and over again. I tried to figure out what the scuttling thing was, but I had no luck at all. It was too bulky to be a rat, it's motions were too crab-like to be a cat or a dog. Finally I gave up and went to bed. I slept badly, my dreams violated by the clip and it's undulating static buzzing.

When I woke up, my head was pounding and I felt like shit. With a cup of coffee at hand I sat down at my computer, and found another mail in my inbox. The subject line the same ”Per your request”. Again the message box was empty, but there was a new clip attached. I carefully scanned it for viruses, but it came up clean. I double clicked it.

The clip started exactly where the first one left off. Now entering the room, the camera panned slowly to the left, and I got the unpleasant feeling that the scuttling thing was right behind me. The camera kept turning, and a pale blurry mass came into view. As the picture slowly came into focus, the static buzz rose sharply in volume and I saw a manniquin standing stiffly in the corner. Her white plastic body was naked and she had what looked like jam smeared all over her groin, running in sticky red rivulets down her legs. The camera focused in on the dripping mess, before crawling obscenely up her body. My stomach bubbled as the camera passed her breasts and stopped at her face. Like all manniquins it held an empty, vacuous stare, but the way the corners of her mouth was pulled down made me feel like she was disgusted. After lingering on her face for what seemed like forever, the camera started to turn to the right. The buzzing was still almost painfully loud, but I didn't care. The picture swept across the filthy room, everything a hazy mess, and stopped at something I thought might be an old bed. As the focus sharpened, I saw that it was indeed an old rusty steel-framed bed with a nasty, stained mattress. Just as the picture became clear, a shrill scream tore through my speakers and something pale slammed into the lens from the left. Everything went black.

I screamed and knocked my coffee off the table.

The rest of the day was spent in a feverish haze. I thought about going to the police, but they'd just laugh at me.

Could it be some kind of art project? I knew several artists in college, some quite freaky and out there. That idea calmed me, that had to be it. Someone had made this as a project and sent it without warning to maximize the effect. Come Monday, they'd call and we'd laugh about it. But as darkness fell, the fear came creeping back. Unable, even unwilling to sleep, I spent the night watching anything I could find on the web to distract me. Comedy clips, failed stunts, anything to stop thinking about the videos. Maybe I should have tried to read instead, I don't know. Doesn't matter now.

I jerked awake in my chair, unaware that I had even dropped off. The clock showed 4.15 am. I rubbed my swollen eyes, and saw I had an unread mail. My whole body tensed up, and my hand shook so badly I barely got the page up. Same sender again, same goddamn subject line: ”As per your request”. I opened the mail. This time there was only a message.

”You got what you wanted, now payment is due.”.

I couldn't say how long I sat there just staring at the message. As the sun slowly rose above my windowsill, I became aware of another mail. Same subject line again. No message, just a clip.

Barely able to breathe, I started it.

Not the basement this time. A street. My street. My front door. The same sickening buzzing. Then it cut off.

My gut cramped and I vomited all over my lap. When the heavings stopped, there was a new mail, a new clip.

I don't want to watch it.

I think I have to.

It's a small world

If you never heard of the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy, don't feel bad. Neither had I until I looked further into the theory of Six Degrees. He invented it in his short story, Chains (Láncszemek) in 1929.

The idea of the theory is that through no more than six persons, you are connected to everyone on the entire planet. Of course, you can question how well you have to know someone for them to count as a degree. Let's assume for the sake of this post, that you have at least chatted amiably with the persons in question, on more than one occasion.

Now considering that both the Chinese and the Indian populations have exceeded a billion each, it's likely that the theory falls apart, particularly in the more rural areas. However, I don't think it would take too many extra degrees, until even these huge populations are connected.

I am an average middle class guy from Helsinki, Finland. A nobody on the global scale. I have no famous friends, but a former colleague of mine (1^st degree (I'll respect her privacy and won't post her name)) is the mother of HIM frontman Ville Valo (2^nd degree). He in turn, is friends with Jackass star Bam Margera (3^rd degree). Bam knows an awful lot of people, but let's take a few examples from his MTV show Viva la Bam; the band Slayer, Jack Osbourne and Sean Penn (all 4^th degrees).

From Slayer, we get as an example the bands Motorhead and Manowar as my 5th degrees. (They toured together).

Jack Osbourne is the son of Ozzy Osbourne (5^th degree), and I can't even begin to guess at all the people he knows. All these people are my 6^th degrees.

With Sean Penn, we get a veritable Who's Who of Hollywood stars like Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman and Al Pacino. They are all also my 5^th degrees. And let's not forget that Sean was married to Madonna. So all their friends and aquaintances are my 6^th degrees.

Of course, none of these famous people have the faintest idea who I am, and it won't affect my life in any way what so ever, but it is fun to see how the connections can criss-cross the planet.

House of Cards, then and now

I first saw House of Cards in the early 90's on the BBC, and I fell in love. I had never seen anything like it. The treachery, the plotting, the cold-blooded destruction of lives, careers and reputations. Incredibly powerful stuff.

Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart, the Tory Chief Whip has been cemented in my mind as the ultimate cunning statesman; as smooth and charming as he is vicious and cruel.

But this isn't about that. Well not exactly. This is about the 2013 remake starring Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood, the Democratic Congressional Majority Whip. Mr. Spacey is an excellent veteran actor, and delivers a good performance as usual.

Both shows follow the same path more or less, but with the BBC version lasting only four hours, and the Netflix show spanning thirteen 45 minute episodes, the americans have been forced to find more things to do. This naturally changes the story quite a bit, but it's not necessarily a bad thing.

At first, I was unconvinced as I started watching, but I soon realized that to simply copy the original would have been wrong. This remake is more of a proper rewrite, in that it is an american show about american politics. Their political system is bigger and perhaps more complicated (I'm no expert), and the new show reflects that I think. Soon enough I happily settled in to enjoy what they had to offer.

That's when a creeping sense of unease set in. Several changes have been made, and while mostly understandable, several major changes felt out of place.

Take Francis as an example. Superficially the changes from Urquhart to Underwood are unimportant, but where Urquhart wielded a scalpel, Underwood uses an axe, and there is no way Urquhart would ever have made the mistakes Underwood did. Like go on CNN and make an absolute ass of himself. This takes away a great deal of the characters panache. At times it feels as if he hadn't really thought out his scheme at all.

Underwood does use the famous line ”You might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment”. This line was made famous by the original House of Cards, and has been used by real politicians since.

Then there's Francis's right hand man. Originally Tim Stamper, now Doug Stamper. The name change is of no matter, but the personality change is definately a problem. A whips job is to reign in and guide the more junior members of the party, MP and Congressman alike. Now Tim could get the job done, with terror if need be, but Doug comes across as whiny rather than scary. Not good...

But the worst major personality change comes in the shape of the young female journalist. Mattie Storin becomes Zoe Barnes. Again no issue with the name, but the character, as an inexperienced reporter with a keen nose for a good story and great instincts, who becomes involved with the great statesman, Mattie filled the role admirably where Zoe is rude, arrogant and as sublte as a brick to the face. The whole character fails completely. Instead of sympathy I felt contempt.

There's a long plotline with Mrs. Underwood and her work, that never existed in the original, but this works pretty well, as they really needed something to do with their time increase. I didn't find it that interesting, but it wasn't bad.

They have also done a good job depicting the relationship between corporate and political America, I have no complaints about that.

Overall, the Netflix version is pretty enjoyable, but it feels quite clumsy compared to the original. It misses the mark more than once, but not so often as to ruin the show.

Selecting the Enemy

Many if not most RPG's have monsters, which is awesome. Let's face it, fighting monsters is good fun, but how to pick the right one?

I think the key lies in making them fit in the game world. In a sense, a monster being an unnatural creature, will always stand out in a way an animal wouldn't. But if that animal was wildly out of place, like finding a polar bear in a jungle, you might well think your GM has lost it. Likewise, a misplaced monster can make a player sit up and say; What?

Let's first separate the monsters into Fantasy and Horror, these being the genres that use them the most.

Broadly speaking, any monster can fit into Fantasy, but there are pitfalls. The first is to use a very thematic monster that does not belong outside it's own game, i.e. a beholder making an apperance in Warhammer. Sure, thanks to the corrupting effect of Chaos in WFRP, you could explain away a beholder in the Old World, but it is such a poster-monster for D&D, that it doesn't really fit in anywhere else.

The second pitfall is to use too many different monsters in a too rapid a succession. Goblins followed by skeletons followed by three different oozes followed by, well you get the idea. The sheer volume of available creatures can make it tempting to just throw them out there, but this can make it chaotic and confusing, and in turn lessen the wonder and impact of the monsters you really want to showcase. Less is more, as the old saying goes, and it's true. Now I'm not saying you have to be stingy with the beasties, but try not to overdo it either.

Finally, there are monsters that really need a certain type of environment to make sense. Obviously these critters need to stay in these places, or they'll look foolish. From stone giants in sewers to finding mermaids in deserts, these guys should stay at home.

Now, Horror is a slightly different kettle of fish. Horror games tend to be more thematic than their Fantasy cousins, so obviously if you're playing a zombie survival game, zombies are what you'll face. Now this means you have less options when it comes to choosing monsters for your game, and this in turn means each monster becomes more important.

There are some exceptions though, such as Call of Cthulhu, that do have lots of different monsters, but these cases pretty much follow the second Fantasy pitfall.

When I say the Horror monsters are more important, I'm talking about their impact on the mood of the game. One of the finest examples of this is not a tabletop rpg at all, but a computer game series: Silent Hill.

Every monster you encounter in Silent Hill means something to the story. From the iconic Pyramid Head, to the Nurses, not to mention the Bosses, they don't just look scary, their existence makes sense in the world. This makes their impact stronger, which in turn makes the overall horror better.

Finally, Horror monsters need better timing than their Fantasy counterparts, since over use lessens the impact. You could argue that the monsters in Silent Hill appear too frequently for a tabletop horror RPG, and you'd be right. However, computer games use a very different dynamic than ”regular” rpgs. When it comes to good horror timing, movies are a better guide than electronic games.

So pick your monsters with care, and happy gaming!

Keeping your Villain in good health

As a rule, most villains are great at what they do. But so are the heroes. And what do heroes do? They defeat villains, that's what. And this usually means one dead antagonist. Or does it?

All GM's have felt the pain of having their lovingly crafted villain get minced in the first round, and the temptation to have him use some unknown immunity talisman and then teleport away shaking his fist, is tremendous. Sure, this is viable, but only if the PC's genuinely had no idea he could do that (or failed to take it into consideration), and if it is used consistently in the campaign. Otherwise the players will feel cheated. And rightly so, because you would be cheating.

A competent villain must of course have a good array of defenses, unless he is supremely overconfident that he can't be bested. The trick to these defenses is to have them clear in your mind from the start, and to use them fairly. If a PC can stop teleportation, so be it.

So how do you keep Mr. B. Adguy alive?

Of course, it depends a bit on the type of villain he is, but let the him go about his business in peace. He really shouldn't care about the PC's until they have foiled his schemes enough times. If the campaign devolves into nothing but the bad guy chasing the characters around, trying his level best to kill them, you will either get a TPK or your villain will go splat. Game over in any case.

And when he does notice, use mooks, goons and thugs with the occasionally more powerful henchman. After all, there are evil plans to organize! He can't be expected to chase after just anybody. Imagine Emperor Palpatine standing at the arrivals gate on some planet, checking passports just to catch rebels... it's just not on, right?

The added benefit to this, is not only keeping your villain in one piece, but it will make the final, encounter more dramatic. As the old adage goes: Familiarity breeds contempt. The Lord of Doom shouldn't frequent the same coffee shop the PC's do, at least not in his Doom-ly regalia.

In other words, don't over use him. It's cool if he shows up now and then, but be aware that the players will most likely try to kill him given half a chance. And there is nothing more devious than a determined group of players.

Besides, defeating an awesome right hand man makes for a good middle-of-the-story victory.

Let me finish with an example; In the old Transformers cartoon, the evil Decepticons were usually busy trying to steal energon cubes, or whatever, and the Autobots would inevitably show up to stop them. Fight ensues, Decepticons flee. If the show had been all about pure confrontation, it would have been a very short show indeed.