Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July! At the moment I am in the basement being antisocial. I figured this would be a good time to post. First off let me just say that I though everyone's post this week weren't very good. All of them were dull and brief (with the exception of Greg's). But honestly, I don't expect every week to be super interesting so I'm ok with it. BUT. I have a holiday post so mine should be somewhat entertaining! Anyways I went to the Quonset Air show which was GREAT! It was really cool and I got to see the red arrows! (a British acrobatic team) The only bad part was I ended up with a nasty sunburn.

My FAVORITE book. well that's just plain easy. Enders game! Everything about it is just spectacular, I mean the end? amazing. The end changed my life. I still can't get over how good it was. Now Anne's copy of Enders Game is in Kuwait with Matt, so when Dad and I went to Borders yesterday I got my own copy. I also got Gulliver's Travels which I heard from Dad is good. And I heard from Frank that it's bad. I prefer to make own opinions though so when I get a chance I'll tell you what I think. So I think that is about the end of my post. I'm not satisfied with it and I'm seriously considering of editing this later. Especially since if I'm going to critizize other post mine should be really good. Oh and this post is dedicated to Grandpa.
-Liz

Phrank: Awesomeness abound

My book is the Bible, author is the Holy Spirit. To be fair, I'll pick the book of Job, written as a Wisdom book from the Judaic tradition. I think it's one of the most challenging but ultimately one of the most rewarding books of the Bible.

Today in Kingdom of Loathing(KoL) is Arrrbor Day, and the Arrboretum is open. You have the option of sharing the love for Mother Earth and planting saplings in the Arrboretum with the aid of the pirates. The pirates are there to share the love of Mother Earth and definitely aren't planning on cutting down all the planted trees next Arrbor Day for wood to make pirate ships. Yeah, that's the ticket.


I have a job, but due to Company policy, I am not allowed to state what company I am now working for. I'm looking forward to getting back to work, and earning some fat stacks of cash.

The Red Sox got swept by the team formerly known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I've caught baseball fever and am really into watching the Red Sox lately.

Wait, what?

Is it time to post already?

Ok, so I was thinking about the challenge. It was hard for me! There are so many books that have influenced me. So I think I'll name a bunch. The Screwtape Letters by Lewis has had a great impact on my spiritual life. It really brought my faith into a day-to-day perspective. Julius Caesar was my first foray in Shakespeare, and still looms large in my legend. The monologues are so powerful in that play. It's a testament to Shakespeare's way with words. Let's see... Anne of Green Gables was of course important to me. It was entertaining, but still wholesome. It's the literary equivalent of mashed potatoes. Mmmm, mashed potatoes.

And that's it for now! Congratulations go out to Erica and Justin for the birth of Emily Jane- I can't wait to see her!! :)

RTFM

I have so much news to tell. First lets start off with the biggest news. Justin and Erica had thier baby early this morning. both Mom and baby are healthy and doing fine, I should know I just saw them. So welcome to the world, Emily Jane. What a good day to be born on, my day to post!

Second important thing. As I am writing this on the family computer that means it is working. Last night after moving the computer it "did not work". I did not venture a guess why but Frank, Liz and Dad said it was dead. Frank's laptop was running out of power due to Mom leaving her power cord at home and taking his. That meant looking at not posting, due to every computer in the house being dead. But then I step in, did a little of this and a little of that, played around till the internet came on and BAMM! Here I am posting. So read my favorite book, a manual any manual, as in RTFM. 60% of the time is works all the time.

So bow down to me and my awesomeness again...

NIFOC

What is your THAC0?

I was considering to write about The Quark and the Jaguar or Godel-Escher-Bach. If I had, this would have been a heady discourse which splits hairs to make a point. I changed last night after I got a chance to play Dungeon and Dragons... The new 4th edition (4e) ! So... the book I'm writing about is:

The Official Advanced Dungeon and Dragon Dungeon Master's Guide
(Also known as the DMG) Written by Gary Gygax... For those too lazy to read his wiki article, Gygax was the godfather of the modern Role Playing Game (RPG). While my personal copy is from the 11th printing from 1988, the original copywrite is 1979. For those keeping score, I'm talking about a book that is as old as I am.

I grew up playing DND... I've seen several editions of the game and printings. In terms of the DMG, this version is still my favorite. Its still the best edition based on the content that in the book. The specific rules may have changed, but the content that is in this book is still incredible. Other editions just feel incomplete... Parts are missing and they've started to show up in other products...

And there's parts of the book which haven't been reprinted. The Ancient Artifact rules? Only here. For the Diablo Fans out there, if you follow the trail of influence back to the source, you'll find this book and the information in here.

Look, I'm a professional Game Developer. DND is critical foundation to what we do. We have whole industries of companies that have developed because of this one game. I'm better at my job because of what I've learned form this book and how I've used it.

So, now 30 years of DND, we've got the 4th Edition (4e) of the game now. Last night I got a chance to build a character and through combat... I've got some mixed feelings about the game. It plays well and it's fun... but I'm walking away from game asking is this really DND? I'm not sure. It feels more table top version of a computer game than it feels like DND.

Here's what's up in detail:
The basic attack was the meat and potatoes of the older editions. In 4e, you get at-will-powers, encounter-powers, and daily-powers... These are written specificly for combat... in fact all of these powers are combat skills. What's happened to social interaction, using your skills and powers to affect an NPC? All of the classes have these powers. These powers bogged down play cause everyone was trying to figure out what they have an how to use them. This was a common sight in 2e or 3e for spell casters. But for fighters? What is worse is that some these low level (read: you can have them on starting characters) at-will-powers are basic attacks with some extra effects. It makes using a basic attack pointless when you have a souped up special attach you can use over and over. That's what bothers me... It's a core change to the game, and I'm still not sure about it. Are we seeing the old classic evolving in response to computer games? Perhaps... but I want to play some more 4e before I'll say what's going on.

In other news, Jess and I have been playing punch buggy. The score is
Greg : one --- Jess : much more

Challenge for the Week of 6/30/08

This challenge was given by Anne:

Name and briefly discuss a book that has influenced you.
It doesn't have to be the full 5 sentences, just the book & author and why you chose it.