Time to learn

 Hello and welcome back to Eccentric Spheres!

This week we're once again putting on our learning hats, and watching some documentaries. I have found one about some of Egypt's lost wonders, one about Tsunamis and one about how the Soviet Union lost the war in Afghanistan. I hope you find them interesting and entertaining. 

Beyond that, I don't really have anything else to say, so please enjoy and join me again next week for more eccentricity. Until then, have a great week and stay safe!

Egypt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfJykypi7o

Tsunami: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ci0q-r7RHw

Afghanistan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1joxBmBYZw0

Dragonlance Chronicles

 

A couple of days ago, I finished the original Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy, and I figured I'd talk about it. This wasn't the first time I read the trilogy, but the first and only time I did, was about twenty years ago, so it was time.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Spring Dawning are by now iconic fantasy novels. Published in 1984-1985, they began as adventure modules for the new Dragonlance setting for Dungeons & Dragons. The modules were written by Tracy Hickman, and he wanted to expand on the game he was running in these modules by turning the game sessions into a series of novels, which TSR (the then publisher of D&D) reluctantly agreed to. Another writer was slated to write the novels but he fell through so Hickman and his assigned editor Margaret Weis decided to write the trilogy on their own.

Enough back story, let's crack on. Mild spoilers ahead.

The story follows a band of heroes which includes Tanis Half-Elven, Flint Fireforge, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, the brothers Raistlin and Caramon Majere and Sturm Brightblade as they return home after a long five years apart. But times have changed and evil now stalks the land as the minions of the cruel Dragon Highlords cause trouble for everyone. The meet, rescue and team up with two plains barbarians Goldmoon and Riverwind and set off on adventure. Later on, they are joined by Tika Waylan, Laurana and Gilthanas Kanan (brother and sister) and a couple of others. Together they seek to stop the Dragon Highlords from conquering the world for the evil Goddess Takhisis.

The cast is pretty big but it isn't that hard to follow. The names aren't that similar and since the entire group is rarely in one place at the same time, there is little risk of getting them mixed up.

The story is solid if not groundbreaking. The Chronicles follow an old arc also used in the original Star Wars trilogy, with the threatening setup followed by a dark middle and ultimately a costly but happy ending. Simple and functional.

The writing is clean and easy to digest, but it is in the world and the locations that the Chronicles really shine in my opinion. The world of Krynn is presented in a believable way and feels both natural and functional which contrasts nicely with the more outlandish places that the heroes visit. Making everything incredibly fantastic is an easy trap for fantasy designers fall into, and Hickman and Weis elegantly sidesteps this, making the world feel alive and if not real then at least believable.

There are a couple of nitpicks though. A description of the elven homelands explains that it took the elves several hundreds of years to sculpt but “what is that to people who measure their lives in centuries”... I'd say that is quite a thing then.

The second book starts with a brief recap of an entire adventure that took place between the books. This felt very odd as not only did it sound like a very cool adventure, but why structure your story in such a way? Why not include it? If it would have made the Chronicles too long, then change the story. Imagine if the Lord of the Rings had started as it does, but then had jumped to Rivendell and merely mentioned that the journey had been perilous and that the encounters with the Ringwraiths were scary and so on. It jarred me quite badly, but it is what it is.

The Dragonlance Chronicles is not great literature, and that is in many ways its strength. It's a simple and clean fantasy adventure story. One might call it naive, and maybe it is, at least compared to the above mentioned Lord of the Rings, but it is also easier to read and nowhere near as cumbersome. It knows what it is and it doesn't try to be anything beyond that, which I respect. In the world of role-playing game novels, it is a venerable old war horse and if that is your thing, you do yourself a disservice by not reading it. If you come looking for high art you are in the wrong place.

I liked it and I recommend it.

That will do for this time. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week and stay safe.

Gaming Quiz

 

Hello and welcome to Eccentric Spheres. Last week we did general trivia and this week it's gaming. I decided to go for multiple choice this time, as I think it'll fit better.

So without further ado:

1. Which was the original D&D setting created by Gary Gygax?

   1. Forgotten Realms

   2. Dragonlance

   3. Greyhawk

2. What is the green crystal the hovers over the Sims called?

   1. Plumbob

   2. Life Gem

   3. Spinner

3. In the Fallout Universe, what is the small computer worn on the left arm called?

   1. Infotron

   2. Pipboy

   3. Personal Communicator

4. Conan the Barbarian hails from which country?

   1. Cimmeria

   2. Aquilonia

   3. Hyrkania

5. What year was the Super Nintendo system released?

   1. 1990

   2. 1991

   3. 1992

6. Which game series features the evil Umbrella Corporation?

   1. Alone in the Dark

   2. Fallout

   3. Resident Evil

7. Which movie inspired The Silent Hill franchise greatly?

   1. Jacob's Ladder

   2. Videodrome

   3. Pan's Labyrinth

8. Which classic arcade game caused a coin shortage in Japan?

   1. Pac-Man

   2. Space Invaders

   3. Asteroids

9. In the Elder Scrolls setting, what race are Orcs?

   1. Dwarves

   2. Humans

   3. Elves

10. What is the name of the most common currency in the Zelda games?

    1. Coins

    2. Rupees

    3. Chunks

And there we have it. Look below for the answers and as last time, you win nothing by answering the questions except fun. Join me again next time, have a great week and stay safe!

 

Answers: C A B A B C A B C B

Quiz time

 

It is time to get your quiz on. I have selected a number of questions from the internet and thought I'd challenge you to answer them. I have not chosen any questions that I couldn't answer without looking up the answer, so there will be nothing too esoteric.

Why do this? Well, why not? Perhaps you can challenge family and friends or perhaps the questions will come up in some other quiz you might partake in, like a pub quiz. And no, you don't win anything for getting the answers right. Knowledge is its own reward and all that.

Here we go:

1. What was Eleanor Roosevelt's maiden name?

2. What is the world's smallest country?

3. Under which nickname was Edward Teach better known as?

4. Since 1945, what foodstuff can be made in all British tanks?

5. Which actor played Batman in the 60's TV show?

6. In which country is Machu Picchu located?

7. In which year was the Great Fire of London?

8. What country has the most vending machines per Capita?

9. What has a head and a tail, but no body?

10. Which one of the seven wonders of the ancient world is still standing?

11. What is the only food that never expires?

12. What is the largest country in the Caribbean?

13. In which unit is force measured?

14. 50-70% of a whale's weight consists of what?

15. What is molten rock beneath the surface of the earth called? 

    There we go. Fifteen questions for you to mull over. The answers are located below this video.
    

     

     

Answers:

1. Roosevelt.

2. The Vatican.

3. Blackbeard.

4. Tea.

5. Adam West.

6. Peru.

7. 1666.

8. Japan.

9. A coin.

10. The Great Pyramid of Giza.

11. Honey.

12. Cuba.

13. Newton.

14. Blubber.

15. Magma.

And that's that. Join me again next time, and until then have a great week and stay safe!

Learn and Laugh

Alright, it is Monday. It is Monday and I have to cut it short due to things that like to appear in numbers and be dealt with, so here are three videos for your entertainment and education.

The first concerns some of the most dangerous phenomena on earth, the second illustrates how big space really is and the third is an animation from How It Should Have Ended, called Villain Pub where different villains drink at Emperor Palpatines pub. 

So enjoy and I'll see you next time, until then have a great week and stay safe!

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_laoaV9Fkw

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy7NzjCmUf0

3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzsop9HnJJ4

More Game News

 

A new week and new news. It's a case of the good, the bad and the ugly but not in that order.

We'll start with the bad.

NBA 2K21 was released recently, and as one might expect from a modern sports game, it comes with all the lootboxes one could want. However, 2K Games managed to really give the nasty taste of the lootbox a new twist. The lootboxes, or in this case card packs, contain random players with varying stats. One of the most sought after player in this case was James Harden and the player base, eager to gain an advantage over the competition forked over a lot of money as soon as they could for a chance to get Harden. The twist? For the first 23 minutes after release, Harden wasn't even in the packs! False advertising? Outright fraud? You decide.

This story broke on Reddit, and the story spread quickly, but since 2K hasn't (to my knowledge) commented I can't be 100% sure it happened. However I really wouldn't be surprised. Either way it's another sobering reason to avoid lootboxes and pay-2-win.

Time for the ugly.

The highly anticipated Playstation 5 is just around the corner, with a release date of November 12^th. A much lauded feature is backwards compatibility for all but a small handful of games, which means you can play older PS4 titles on the new system and even port over your saves. The issue of backwards compatibility is one that has been hotly debated in the console world going back a long time and players are pleased about the PS5's ability to do so.

For those not in the know, back in 2014, Konami released P.T. or Playable Teaser to hype up their upcoming Silent Hills game by veteran game director Hideo Kojima and movie director Guillermo del Toro. Sadly, the game was canceled after Konami and Kojima had a bitter falling out, and Konami decided to focus mainly on Pachinko machines.

The P.T. however remained available for a time, and it was incredibly popular. Polygon recently ported P.T. to their review copy of the PS5 and found that it worked perfectly. Then apparently Konami got wind of this and removed it from the list of games that can be ported to the PS5. Sony has confirmed that this decision came from Konami and not from them.

Whether this is due to some petty desire for vengeance against Kojima, or general pettiness in general no one knows, but since new copies of P.T. can't be downloaded, it seems weird to bother limiting access to the fairly small group of players who still has it. Now there is a rumor of a rumor that a new Silent Hill game is in the works, which could explain the decision, but with Konami's recent track record, I doubt it. Whatever the reason may be, it's an ugly thing to do.

Now for the good. Hopefully.

Bioware has finally announced the long awaited remaster of their incredible sci-fi masterpiece, the Mass Effect trilogy. The remaster will include the entire trilogy, all DLC and extra promotional items, all available in modern resolutions. Good news, if they do it right. After all, not all remasters are created equal. Earlier this year, Blizzard released their catastrophic remaster of Warcraft 3 Reforged, which quickly became known as Warcraft 3 Refunded.

I have high hopes for this, I love the original Mass Effect games, and if Bioware sits down and does the work it can become a best seller. If they rely on “Bioware magic” like with Anthem, it will be garbage, and dead before arrival.

They also announced that a new Mass Effect game is in the works, but seeing as what they did with Mass Effect Andromeda, this is very much a question mark, might be good, might be worth skipping. Time will tell. Either way, they still have to finish and ship Dragon Age 4, so this game is far away.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, have a great week and stay safe!

Game News

 

It's been a tumultuous week in game news.

Cyberpunk 2077 got delayed again. Not just again but for the third time. I absolutely support finishing a game before releasing it, and it is a simple fact that COVID has made everyone's lives difficult. A third delay, however is fairly unheard of, even though it may be needed. Then CD Project Red's boss made some really dumb comments about crunch and was forced to apologize. The end result was a 25% drop in stock value which is never good, although it is rising again. I'm sure Cyberpunk 2077 will be released one day before 2077. Maybe.

Speaking of delayed, the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Shadowlands got delayed a while back but the new release date is set as November 23-24 (depending on region) for those who are interested but maybe hadn't heard.

*edit* I got the date wrong when I wrote this. the above date should be correct*

 

Google Stadia Games & Entertainment Creative Director, Alex Hutchinson caused a storm when he tweeted that streamers and let's players should pay a license fee to game companies in order to stream games. This elicited a reaction ranging from scornful laughter to pure anger from gamers and creators worldwide.

Many sources from developers to journalists pointed out that game companies benefit hugely from the streaming community as it is, and in fact many give out free copies of their games to streamers in order to promote their product. Live-streams and let's plays are one of, if not the best form of advertisement in the games industry today, which makes Alex's statement ignorant and foolish. Google Stadia has since stated:

“The recent tweets by Alex Hutchinson, creative director at the Montreal Studio of Stadia Games and Entertainment, do not reflect those of Stadia, YouTube or Google.”

Hutchinson has also been forced to state that all his opinions are purely his own. Way to prove you are out of touch from your own job.

Finally, EA got their asses handed to them by the Dutch District Court. The debacle surrounding EA's FIFA lootboxes is nothing new and back in 2018 they became illegal in Belgium. Now the Dutch court has given the Netherlands Gambling Authority, Ksa (Kansspelautoriteit) the authority to fine EA $10 million for illegal gambling.

EA, of course, will still try to appeal, forever claiming that they don't agree with scientific evidence concerning lootboxes, gambling and minors. They also keep yammering on about how the card packs and lootboxes are “surprise mechanics” and so on. The sands are running out on this anti-consumer practice, and in my opinion, game publishers who push for this aggressive monetization should read the fable about the goose who laid golden eggs. It fits today's game market perfectly, and there are quite a few publishers who are sharpening the knives.

On top of this, there is a class action lawsuit in California and one in Canada accusing EA of illegal gambling and promoting gambling to children. After all, FIFA is rated E for Everyone, which includes the kids.

That is that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week and stay safe! (Don't forget to wash your hands).