I rented Call of Duty 4 (CoD4 from here on out) Friday night and finished it early Saturday afternoon (about 5-6 hours of play time). I confess I am not a big fan of FPSes on console games, though I have played one that I like quite well, and I have a history of playing Quake games on the PC and having a ball. Playing CoD4 however left me wanting more, and feeling quite unsatisfied and a little upset. Mind you I did not play any of the multiplayer online stuff, which I suspect is the main use case for the game, so this is only my reactions to the single player game, which I submit is only there to train you on how to use the game engine.

At fist blush the game presents itself as a bit of a modern day war simulation. You are either a short-lived Marine or an invincible S.A.S. soldier. They hand you and arsenal of what I can only assume are modern weapons (though I never did find a Barrett light 50 calibre rifle anywhere). The tagline of the game is "Modern Warfare" and to this end things seem up to snuff, though not having ever fired anything more advanced than a shotgun I cannot say how accurate they are. Nonetheless I'll assume they got the recoil right, the magazine capacities, rate of fire, blah blah blah all simulated right (although I never could change the fire mode for the MP5; it was always on full auto and I desperately wanted a 3-round burst). The game even goes so far as to start you out with a training level which to my eyes simulates modern warfare urban tactics (complete with flash-bangs, which I never used after that one level). Suffice it to say I got the distinct impression that the game was going to be a modern warfare simulation, and I was all geared up to go tactical, work with my team, and conserve ammo. Too bad I was wrong.

I would imagine that on a real battlefield if I took even one bullet to any part of my anatomy I'm fairly sure that would get me sent back to base-camp where a purple heart would await me (along with lots of morphine). In the game, however, I can withstand a barrage of bullets and even shrapnel from a grenade, if only I find cover and rest for about 10 seconds, after which I'm miraculously healed to 100% and ready to take more bullets. In one level I'm fairly sure I took 10 head shots and still didn't go down. They must have been using rubber bullets on me, but actual lead on my allies, because I saw them drop down dead. And this is an odd point: I cannot take the magazines from a dead comrade to replenish my dwindling supply. Instead I'm supposed to take the enemy rifles as my own, and lets face it an AK-47 doesn't hold up against any of the guns I start with.

At this point the simulation aspect is right out. And so are any tactical elements I was expecting. I cannot open any doors, I have to wait for my Captain or a Lieutenant to do so, and then they get to run in and sweep the room. I'm left to stand around like a useless wad of pixelated flesh (with X-Men healing capacity!). Hell, I can even stand in front of an M1 Abrams tank while it's firing it's main gun and suffer no hearing loss whatsoever! I mean talk about making me think that modern soldiers come straight out of the comic books; Marines are all Superman! WE PWN THE WRLD!!!

Allow me to move on to my next (and final) point: the story is a cruel exercise in railroading the players. My actions have absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the story, because if I fail they force me to restart the mission (thankfully from the last non-failed checkpoint). I cannot even over-succeed and save some of my dying comrades with an act of heroism. Everything in this game is fated, and you cannot fight Fate. This quite quickly kills any motivation to care, though you are given the sense that "maybe if I were a little faster in this timed level so-and-so would not have been shot to death". Nope. That's a futile thought. You are an utter loser and you can do nothing but watch the people around you die; yeah, that's right kids. War sucks, and heroes don't exist, not even modern near-invincible ones. You may be able to heal all kinds of battle wounds, but don't even think about trying to save a comrade, because you can't. Ain't nihilism great?

The worst part of all this was the stupid flashback level. Talk about total and utter futile loser lameness. They set up the level by introducing a character your Captain knows, and in the photo Mr. Bad Guy (who had a Russian sounding name I cannot remember) has only one arm. Then your Captain goes into some 15 year old flashback about how he was given an assassination mission to kill Mr. Bad Guy. Immediately I thought, "Oh great. The stupid f-er failed and now I get to play the mission. Thanks a ton Mr. Developer guy, because now I get to play a mission where I know I FAIL and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." I did wonder how I was supposed to shoot his arm off though, but I shouldn't have thought about it. Apparently 15 years ago the British had developed 50 caliber homing bullets, and not just any homing bullets, but homing bullets that would only shoot your bloody arm off. Now I'm not sure why our cousins from across the pond would only want to shoot people's arms off from 1,000 yards out, but I suppose they figure it's a more humane way to assassinate someone. I mean, it's just plain mean to blow someone's head off. At least let them die from shock and blood loss like your spotter suggests will happen (news flash Captain Moron: he won't die, and I had time to get a second shot off). It's sad but I think the developers were making some kind of political statement about the ineptitude of the S.A.S. at confirming their kills, and I think that is highly uncalled for. I'll bet those S.A.S. guys are some really bad mo-fos and I for one would not want to be in their sites for any reason.

I'm sure the game plays like a ton of fun in the free-for-all multiplayer semi-tactical online play, but I'll never find out. I'm not all that good at that sort of game on a console, and what I really cared about was the story, which I found all too linear and way to railroading. I wanted to know what happened when I didn't let Son of Mr. Bad Guy cap himself. I wanted to know what happened if the Marine I played managed to escape the nuclear blast (and yes, the British survive, but the Marines all die. Semper what now?). I know games can be written with branching story-lines, I've played a couple. Without this I'm afraid CoD4 is just an online FPS with a weak story-mode game that must only be there to train you for the "fun" you'll have taking headshot after headshot while killing some poor 10 year old kid from New Jersey. 'Oorah!

I came home last night to find my PS3, the workhorse of my entertainment universe, quietly dead upon my entertainment unit. Sometime during my work day it gave up it's binary ghost, refusing to live in stand-by mode any longer. No amount of coaxing brought it back, so we called Sony and after forty minutes they are shipping us a box to bury Our Little Friend in, whereupon they shall perform an autopsy and attempt to void my warranty before shipping me a new unit.

My favorite part is when they suggest I backup the PS3 HDD so I don't lose things like my saved games. Thankfully I'm not a total dork when it comes to following instructions on removing the HDD; I'll have to commandeer a work machine (I don't have SATA at home anywhere) and make a copy of the files from there.

It'll be a sad two weeks. I'll have to dig my DVD player out of mothballs, and have to limit myself to SD content only, and no video games. Hrm, maybe now I'll finish Neverwinter Nights, or even Zork. Or maybe JD will hammer on me to get some programming done; jerk.

I took (am taking) yet another plunge. Tonight I secured for myself a copy of Spirit of the Century and Cat. I was fortunate enough to get in on the bundle deal with Spirit of the Century, meaning I bought the PDF with the book for an added $5. This means I'll start reading the book before I get the hard copy.

My initial plans include playing Spirit of the Century with my wife, my office-mate, and possibly his wife. Anyone else in the area is more than willing to join in. That door is always open, as long as you bathe. If things are as fun as I anticipate them to be I will consider running a version of Spirit of the Century via email/blog to include my poor SLC friend.

As for Cat, I might go crazy and try to play that with just Holly if I can't find any other cat lovers who will try an RPG with me.

Stay tuned!

[composed and posted withecto]

(It really sucks when you can't think up a good title.)

I went to Borderlands today. Now you all get to suffer with me.

I have been in a bit of a gaming slump over the last few months. It's not that I no longer find my collection of board and card games interesting, rather I am preoccupied, distracted if you will, with storytelling games, and thus distracted by RPGs. I now find myself browsing the RPG section of Borderlands almost as much as I browse the board game sections.

On the one hand it was refreshing to return to the store which steals my money. I did see a few games I want to pick up, and more that I'd love to play. Cave Troll caught my eye, and since I had heard an interview with Tom Jolly that touched on the game I can say, with some level of confidence, that I will probably like the game. As to how it will stack up with my other dungeon crawling games, well that is something which is holding me back. I love playing Dungeoneer, Runeboud, and even Descent, so do I really need yet another one “just like” it? Yes. And I'll probably pick it up this week and play it for the first time, sometime this summer (as I said, I am in a gaming slump, and so is Holly).

The next two (technically three) that caught my eye cause me no small amount of gnashing of teeth. I found the sixth edition of Call of Cthulhu (the RPG). I've really wanted to give this game a whirl, and the only thing keeping me from buying the book on the off chance that I'll get to play it, is the stack of other RPGs I've purchased and am still waiting for their off chances. Still, I want to play that game!

Then along comes Anima (another link). I don't know a lot about this game, in fact I've heard nothing of it, but it has an RPG, a card game, and a miniatures line, which on the outset does sound like an identity crisis. I wouldn't really look at the game except it's illustrated (painted?) by Japanese manga-kas. I get pretty manga/anime artwork with a European game. The other thing that caught my attention is the marketing speak talking about storytelling. So naturally I'm hooked and want to dig deeper into the game. I'll probably only pick up the card game and not the RPG for the same reasons above.

Oh! I also saw the expansions to Arkham Horror, but I will probably not pick those up until I convince people to play the game with me. I still think it has the potential to be a terrifically fun time, but then I say that about a lot of games I can't find players for.

[composed and posted with ecto]

Step One: secure a new job before the old job decomposes into a bubbling pile of putrescence.

Step Two: go out to dinner and dessert. I would recommend a good Chinese restaurant for the dinner and then a cake shop for dessert. Spend this time talking over Step One if need be.

Step Three: visit a local retailer of video games and thereupon purchase Final Fantasy XII, Resident Evil 4, and Devil May Cry 3.

Step Four: play some of each of the games purchased, watch a football game, and write up a lengthly blog post about how Step One occurred.

Thus was my weekend.

[composed and posted with ecto]

(Your comments are requested as I'd like to get an idea about the feasibility of these ideas. If you cannot comment here then please email me: seth at 0kelvin.net.)

Halloween is not so near that I should be planning it already, but due to some recent cloudy weather, and the impending college football season, I have begun to think about the glorious autumn days ahead, and that gloomiest of all days of the year Halloween. No Halloween seems complete without some sort of party, and this year I think I'll be able to have two, one will be our regular gaming night (but Halloween/horror themed) and the other will be a “traditional” Halloween party. I mention this now because I had two ideas, and I want to get some feedback now (and one of them will require participants to start very soon).

Idea the First

On either the game day or the Halloween party (or both) we could play a modified version of Crispin Glover is Here to Kill Me (scroll down to find the rules). I'll want to modify it so some goblin, ghoul, wight, zombie, monster is trying to kill off people, but I ran this idea by Holly and she seemed to think it would be a fabulous idea (and Dwight, if you try it and have success do let us know). I'll be open to any suggestions for modifications, but I think the basic idea is a good one.

Idea the Second

At the Halloween party we could have a “It was a dark and stormy night” exhibition. This would take some planning and some preparation, as I would need to have people willing (and committed) to creating a story (no more than 5,000 words) to read (or have someone else read) at the party. Now . . . I know I could do it, and if the theme turns off too many people then it could just be a ghost story or a haunted house story or some such (and I've got some of those for Promethean Logophile already). But what do ya'll think? Is this a good idea, or would I be asking too much of some (but not all) of my guests? Granted, at this point we don't even have a roster of who we'd invite, so I don't even know who would participate.

Assuming we had 3 stories, and assuming they were moderate to really good, would you be interested or entertained if such a thing happened at a party in which you were in attendance? Is this a good idea or a bad idea?

Idea the Third

Holly came up with the idea of going through our Once Upon a Time game and stack the deck as it were to make for a more Halloween style tale. No happy endings, and lots of the darker cards. I'm wondering, for those of you who've played this game, if there might also be some other changes that could be made to steer things toward a more ghostly tale (if any).

[composed and posted with ecto]

What I am about to say might cause a wee bit of friction, which is why I chose to write this up as a blog post to delicately hint that this is my personal opinion and observations.

First, an admission: I have only ever read 4 RPG books in my entire life. I am not well versed in the entire genre. However, I have done some reading and research about the theory of role playing games and more than a few designer-centric essays on RPGs. This by no means qualifies me to be an expert, but I have made a few observations along the way. That being said allow me to “put my foot in it.”

Unless I am mistaken the common/average/expected pattern of play in an RPG goes something like this:

1. The [GDS]M sets the scene/conflict.
2. Player[s] indicate their response.
3. Rules of conflict resolution are enacted.
4. The [GDS]M narrates the result[s].

I have been poisoned, and it is the fault of two games, Polaris and The Mountain Witch. Because of these two games I have come to realize what draws me to the RPG genre. I am a storyteller (or I aspire to be one) and the aspect of playing a game that tells a story has always caught my attention. I love imagination, and the RPG genre has always seemed the pinnacle of game + imagination. However, I have a little problem with step #4 up there, and this is largely due to The Mountain Witch.

You see, if the [GDS]M is in charge of setting the scene (narration) and in charge of narrating the outcome of all the conflicts, what am I as the player doing? I'm not telling the story, rather I am participating in an on the fly choose-your-own-adventure story. Admittedly those books were a ton of fun, and I bought and read everyone I could find. But, that's not the kind of storytelling that draws me to RPGs.

Enter, The Mountain Witch where the winner of the conflict has won the right to narrate the result. Immediately I am more interested as a player, because now I have narrative control over my character, his (her?) actions, and what exactly happened that resulted in the demise of my foe. (To those who might be paying attention, this does put Step #1 on some rather interesting ground due to the fact that the player does have right and control over some the setting as well, but the rules for TMW cover that angle).

Enter Polaris where there the four steps above are redacted to the point of unrecognizability, but in the end build a game completely around storytelling. This game excites me to no end because it's all about telling “the” story and all conflicts are about who of two people get to have control. There isn't a GM who has control of anything.

In the end I'd like to point out that I am not talking about a particular system or about the genre itself. In the end I am making a statement about what I want out of a RPG. Any RPG that gives me control over my character and the narration around him is something that I will want to participate in. For me, the game is about the storytelling, not about the combat, exploring someone else's setting/world, politics, romance, or anything else you can come up with. If I am allowed to help tell the story I'll play it, but if I am de-protagonized I'll lose interest and lose heart.

[composed and posted with ecto]

All I can say is, “wow”. Reading those two books has been inspiring. I have finished them both now (just finished The Mountain Witch tonight) and in some ways I cannot wait to get started playing (in others I nervous as all heck to actually be responsible for running these games and roping you, my friends, into it). Here are some quick thoughts:

Polaris promises to be a very fun and interactive game. Since there is no GM and all the conflict as to do with who has narration rights I cannot help but be eager to give it a try. The outcome of the game is known (psst, it's a tragedy of an extinct “race” of people) so one can always know how things will turn out and spend their time working on building how that comes about. The more I have talked to Holly about this game the more she seems interested. There are some really dastardly things that people can do in this game that would be quite very fun to play out. The game also plays on average 20 hours, so the commitment is not huge.

The Mountain Witch is one I think daglo-kun will find most enjoyable. It's steeped in Medieval Japanese setting, culture, folklore, et cetera. The setup is, a group of ronin (hint: it's a shameful thing to be a ronin, thus you are poor and desperate) have agreed to assault a fortress at the top of Mt. Fuji, the fortress of the Mountain Witch. The game has a GM (which is where I am most nervous), but the GM merely sets the scenes leaving a vast amount of control to the players; the GM's role is reactionary. Each player is given a dark fate, which is kept hidden, but must be developed. They range from betrayal, to collection of a blood-debt. Throughout the game the players must build trust, break trust, and all the while face the Witch's minions. This should be a lot of fun for anyone who loves samurai movies. And since the character sheets are simple the only hard part of playing via Skype is sharing dice rolls. An average game should last about 12 hours, unless my calculations are off.

I think I will try to play Polaris first, since as the host of the game I don't also have to worry about being a GM. I hope to learn some skills which will lend to being a good GM by the time my first game of Polaris is over, then I can GM a game of TMW. Now as to arranging my first game of Polaris, I have 2 players here ready to play, and I need 2 more who are willing to meet about 10 times, 2 hours at a time, and are willing to explore a fairy-tale apocalypse with us. Any takers willing to give it a try with me? Skype or in person, whatever can be done.

[composed and posted with ecto]

(I was so very tempted to add “and other words my spell checker doesn't know” to the Title.)

It has been an interesting weekend for gaming in my life. The biggest news is I finished reading Ars Magica, although I am not yet certain of my next steps. I'm excited about the system. I think it has potential to be everything I want in an RPG “experience” but now I need to figure out how to find players, explain the game to them, and determine if they need to buy the book (and how much they'd need to read) in order to start playing with me. Holly will be a good test case as I am fairly certain she will not want to read the entire book.

This means I am starting to read Polaris now, partly because I think I can get people interested in that game quicker and more readily than in Ars Magica due to the length of the game. An average game of Polaris will run about 20 hours (according to the author) and I think I can get people to commit to 20 hours in an unknown genre of games rather than an indefinite period of play. In short I hope to use Polaris (as well as Once Upon a Time) to transition people into Ars Magica (but not giving up on Polaris).

Keeping with the RPG theme for a moment, while I was at Borderlands this weekend (it was a spur of the moment trip, and it paid off!) I spied Shadowrun and had to fight with myself not to pick it up. I had already given up on it because I hadn't seen it at Borderlands before, but seeing it now made me really want to pick it up. The only thing stopping me was the size of the book and the certainty that I would have a harder time finding players for Shadowrun than I will for Ars Magica. I would be willing to pick it up if I found a group that would let me join in, but I don't think I want to try to run it, not yet anyway.

While I was at Borderlands I also saw they had one remaining copy of Tsuro, which I picked up in a hurry. Holly and I played it a couple of times tonight and so far it is a fun game that I have nothing bad to say about. It's simple yet profound, and can be played with care and strategy, or with whimsy and chance, either way I had fun. I can't wait to play that game with more people, but even with two people it was a blast.

[composed and posted with ecto]

I was honestly surprised to open my mailbox tonight and find my order from Indie Press Revolution waiting for me. I honestly thought I would have to wait at least a week for the two RPGs I ordered. Instead I waited 3 days and now I have them; they were even shipped from New Jersey.

The books look good. The paper quality and printing quality are all satisfactory. One of them even has color pictures inserted here and there. I haven't had a chance to skim any of the text yet so I cannot comment on them in that regard, but I am now eager to read and digest them.

[composed and posted with ecto]