The Book Wyrm

Monday, January 23, 2012

Monday, January 2, 2012

This is not really a review, but I wanted to tell you guys about this book/series, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. Just as a note- this book series should be read my adults only (as in 18 and up) as it deals with some pretty mature issues at times.

I've said this before, but Terry Goodkind is an amazing author. He is very adept at getting you emotionally involved into the characters and the story, and then toying with you the majority of the novel. He builds up the tension and the sense of urgency the whole book, then takes away all hope, and somehow resolves it in the end, making everything better. So amazing! He is one of my favorite authors of all time; right up there with Tolkien, Cornwell, and Crichton! It's a crying shame that Goodind isn't all that popular.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Advice For Role-Playing Games

Here's a list of some tips, tricks, and observations I've discovered after my experience playing RPG's. Most of these are applicable to RPG video games (most of those related to Skyrim!), but there are also some general role playing tips as well for use in other styles- like Dungeons and Dragons or other d20 systems.

Do's

Save often!

Save yourself the grief and frustration and save every time you start a quest or enter a dungeon. You don't want to die (or your console freezes) after not saving for 3 hours.

Watch where you're going

This is especially true for when there are a lot of trees that block your vision. For some reason, being on horseback exacerbates this issue. Basically, what I'm trying to say is be careful when you're exploring. You don't want to run head-long over a cliff!

Learn a healing spell

I don't care if you're all fired up to play a warrior- you need to be able to heal yourself when you take all of that damage! You don't even need to get more than the basic healing spell (you get one for free with any character in Oblivion and Skyrim). Yeah, you could buy a ton of potions, but I would rather save that money for better weapons, armor, etc. It only depends on your amount of magicka/mana/MP. Trust me!

Find a good center of operations

By this I mean find a place where you can get as many of your "errands" done at once. In Skyrim for example, I like using Whiterun because my house (where I store all my stuff), the forge, alchemy table, enchantment table, and shops are all relatively close to each other. Makes things run more smoothly, and you can get back to questing sooner.

Learn crafting skills

While you may think that it's a drag and it's taking experience you can allot elsewhere, crafting your own weapons and armor (enchanted or otherwise) & potions saves you a lot of money. Plus, you get more of a sense of accomplishment that way. I like to craft, upgrade, and enchant as many of my pieces of gear as possible.

Find a safe storage spot

At least in The Elder Scrolls game, no chest or barrel is safe to store things in unless it is in a house that you own. Make it a point to save money early on for a house where you can dump all of your unused items. I usually leave all of my crafting items and special weapons and armor (that I'm not currently using) at home. Why waste your precious space on items that you aren't even using?

Role-play well

This is mainly a D&D tip. Basically, I believe that you should role-play to the best of your abilities and to the extent of your imagination. Get into your character! The more you invest in a character, the more fun the game becomes. Avoid meta-gaming as much as humanly possible. Try figure out who your character really is before you start playing, and develop it as you play, both character traits and your backstory.

Figure it out for yourself

Try and figure out puzzles and quests by yourself (at least the first time). Looking at walkthroughs and game guides detracts from the fun of a game. The game developers made the game for you to play, not for you to do what someone else figured out themselves. I only look for help when I cannot figure it out for myself and have tried to multiple times. This goes for cheats too as many of them are overpowered.

Play with friends

Games with co-op and multiplayer are meant to be played that way! Granted- most RPG's are single player, but you can still play them with a buddy. One person plays while the other person acts as their "spotter" (just think of them as your personal Navi- only less annoying)- helping you with puzzes, riddles, or finding treasure chests that you may have missed. After a while, switch places.

Play through earlier games in a series

This is especially pertinent now that all of these Elder Scrolls n00bs are getting into Skyrim, but don't want to play Morrowind or Oblivion. They then ask a ton of questions that would have been answered if they had played the earlier games! It helps to fill out your understanding of the story, and gives you hours of enjoyment, and for those of you who actually care- that means more achievements/trophies.

Use mods!

Sorry console gamers! Unfortunately, you can only mod PC games. For those of you who do play games on your computer, check out mods for your games! It can add lots of gear, sharpen graphics, add companions, etc. I recommend these sites: Skyrim Nexus, Morrowind & Oblivion Nexus, & Dragon Age Nexus.

Don'ts

Don't be a jack-of-all-trades

I feel like this is a no brainer, but then I see people playing characters like this: "A warrior who uses warhammers and bows, who is kind of sneaky, but can also cast fire spells" (read this in your best SoCal surfer/Bro voice). If you try to be good at everything, you will end up being good at nothing- only mediocre. There are character archetypes for a reason, so stick as closely to one as possible. Now there are cross-classes, so if you want to use those make sure you're not spreading yourself too thin skills-wise.

Don't forget to keep potions & poisons on hand

They're useful! Use them to as an alternative to healing spells if you must, or if your magic stat (whatever that may be) is depleted. It's a pretty simple concept.

Don't start killing or stealing from people at low levels!

You will get pwn'd. If you try to be an assassin/thief starting off at level one, the people you're trying to kill will see you and kill you as soon as they get the chance. Hold off on those urges for a while until you level up a bit and can confidently use your skills. The same concept goes for other classes (I have just noticed this more with rogue/thief players)- don't go trying to kill a dragon at level one!

Don't do every single quest with one character

This is more from a role-playing standpoint. Why on earth would a warrior do Mage Guild quests? Other than the fact that you're just trying to make more money, there doesn't seem to be a point to it. Pick your character archetype and stick with it! If you wanted to do Mage Guild quests, then make a new character that uses magic!

Don't try and do someone else's job for them

This is also a D&D tip. There are different classes with different specialties/abilities for a reason. If you're a Ranger, you're good at search/spot/survival. If you're a thief, you're good with traps/sneaking/backstabbing. If you're a fighter, you're good at...well, fighting. Don't do someone else's job for them, especially when they're better at it than you are! Half the party doesn't need to search the room for traps, etc. when the right character can do it faster and better (unless they're rolling luck has run out). Stick with what your class is good at, it helps to develop your character anyway.

Don't take it too seriously!

This is true for any game, but especially games you're playing with other people. Yes it can get stressful at times, and you may fail a lot, or you may not always get what you want but always remember this: IT'S JUST A GAME! You're supposed to have fun! Yes, what just happened might have really sucked, but in the end, it's not that big a deal. Getting too angry only makes you look like a selfish, whiny jerk, and detracts from the fun of the whole party. Learn to go with the flow.

I hope that these were helpful to you. If you have your own tips or opinions on mine, let me know and leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

War Horse Review

So if you don't know of what I'm talking about, here is the War Horse trailer:

So overall, I would say that this is a good movie. It's definitely more of a family film than a blockbuster or date movie (unless your significant other really likes horses- like my girlfriend). Directed by Steven Spielberg and soundtrack by John Williams (definitely a good reason to go see it!).

The character stories in this movie were amazing- you really cared about the people. Unfortunately, at least for me, is where the problem lies. The movie makes you care about the people, and not so much about the horse...and it's a movie about a horse. I'm not totally uncaring though, as there's definitely one scene that made me cringe and feel bad for Joey (won't spoil the details for those of you who have not seen it yet), but I feel like I cared more about Emilie, the German brothers (Gunther and Friedrich were their names, I believe), or the Narracott family, but not Joey.

I feel like in a way, this movie is like Pearl Harbor (the 2001 movie with Ben Affleck). By that I mean that they tried to combine two movie genres that don't usually work well together (not all the time, there are some that did work out). Pearl Harbor was a war movie that had a romance plot shoved in, and War Horse is a war movie that had what I call a "horse movie" plot shoved in.

Even though the entire experience wasn't all that enjoyable (an older lady tripped and fell on top of me walking up the steps of the theater, spilling a full soda onto my brand new argyle sweater I had just gotten for Christmas earlier that day), it was still a good movie despite my personal preferences. I would definitely recommend you go see it.

I would rate it 4 stars out of 5

And if you want to read a real movie review blog, check out a blog written by a friend of mine here: Puzzle Noggin Paradoxes

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Further Fantasy Reading

This was originally going to be the "Advanced" guide to fantasy, but I feel like people wouldn't necessarily agree with my choices. The great thing is that people all read at different levels. I read The Lord of the Rings when I was in junior high, but someone else could have read it earlier, or later. This list is for either books with more mature content or ones I have left out in my other lists (see here: Beginner's Guide to Fantasy & Intermediate Guide to Fantasy). Note that I have not read all of the books on this list, nor necessarily enjoyed them myself (I hated Jonathan Strange), but they come highly recommended by lots of other people. I hope you enjoy these books if you ever get the opportunity to! These are in no particular order.