World of Warcrack

I have become slightly addicted to World of Warcraft over the last week. Jordan gave me his free ten-day pass last Friday, so after work I installed the game and started playing. I played quite a bit over the weekend and also for a couple of hours that I could squeeze in on Monday and Tuesday.

It was Sunday afternoon sometime when I realized why people can become literally addicted to these games. There is a strange phenomenon in these Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games in which people become obsessed with levelling up their character as quickly as possible until they hit the level cap that is set by the developers. Instead of taking time to enjoy portions of the unfolding narrative or marvel at the colorful environments that have been designed by the artists, what do we watch? We watch that little purple bar at the bottom of the screen that indicates how much experience we have and how much we need to achieve the next level. It's the one that makes us glow in an explosion of yellow light when it fills completely. With so many phenomenal things to look at in this game, I find myself watching this bar a few times too many.

So, why do we watch this bar so closely? What compels us to pay more attention to that bar than game world? I believe that there are two reasons. The first reason, the one that applies to the game itself and is quite obvious, is that as I increase in level I also increase in power. As my power increases, my status grows in the game world, not only because I can vanquish increasingly powerful enemies controlled by the computer, but also because I am stronger in comparison to the other humans playing the game.

The second reason, while still relatively obvious, is more socially inspired than the first. If my online companions are playing while I am not, their characters are slowly growing better than mine while I am away. If I don't play for an extended period of time, when I finally do log into the game server, I risk not being able to play with those people with whom I have established relationships. In other words, the game itself has rolled the idea of "keeping up with Jones'" into the act of playing the game. Not only will my online companions be able to go to areas where my character would easily be outgunned by enemies, they also have no real incentive to play with me. In World of Warcraft, if my character is 5 levels or more below another character, there is no incentive for that other player to play with me because they will receive little to no reward in terms of experience for doing so.

In a game based at least fifty percent on social interaction, this seems strange. Do I want to be required to make new friends if I can't play with my regular friends for a few days, or heaven forbid, a couple of weeks? I hold the opinion that it is more fun to play with people you actually know in real life than those you only know in the game. Regardless, while I very much like my friends, I can't control when they play the game and when they don't. Therefore, I am continously logging into the game simply to ensure that I am still able to play with them.

This question becomes even more relevant when considered in light of the fifteen dollar monthly fee that is all but standard for these types of games. If I am paying additional money on a monthly basis to play, I feel obligated to get my money's worth out of the game. I already payed $50 for the game itself, and I pay almost as much for the internet service required to play it.

So, in short, I very much like World of Warcraft. It is a fun game with so much to see that I can't even begin to fathom how long it would take me to experience everything the game has to offer. But, the verdict on my interest in the game for the long haul is still out. There's something about feeling literally tethered to a computer game that warns me to enjoy it, but at the same time, to keep my distance.

The Revenge of the Son of Redroom!

Ron was in town with his orchestra for a competition last Saturday and we took some time out of our painting schedule to go check out one of the performances. We also got to hang out with him for a couple of hours downtown while his students got into trouble around the Magnificent Mile area of the city. It was a short time, but it was fun catching up with Ron and hearing of his escapades with the students. As it turns out, a few of the students were stupid enough to get caught smoking the mary jane the night before. It also turns out that one of those students had become ill on the bus the previous day and used his backpack as a vomit receptacle which is gross enough on its own but snowballs to gross^100 when you realize that once the student was caught with marijuana, the teachers/chaperones had to pick through all the rancid puke in his backpack looking for any more secret stash.

Feel free to take a moment...

So, anyway, once we got back from visiting with Ron we finished painting the living room and by Sunday afternoon we had the furniture back where it belonged. Here are a few pictures:







Once we get some purty pitchers or maybe some collector's plates up on the walls, it should be a right snazzy space. Just kidding about the collector's plates.

A Taxing Week

Ah, Friday afternoon! Finally. This week has been extremely busy. I got three new format projects handed to me this week and all of them were quite large. All three projects contain lots of voice over, sound effects, and dual tone MIDI melodies. In addition, they're supposed to be completely finished (meaning perfect executable code and ready for manufacturing) by next Friday! I'm not so sure about that, but I'll certainly try.

I was able to farm out the dual tone melodies and some sound effects to a couple of my coworkers and even with three of us working on different portions at the same time, we just finished creating and editing all of the assets for the projects this afternoon. Next Monday will invariably be spent revising and re-editing all of the sounds that aren't desireable to the editor or Jordan. Fortunately, this is about the worst our crunch time ever gets and I still get to go home. It's nowhere near EA-style hell and I'm really thankful for that!

Tomorrow, Amy and I plan to finally finish up the painting project we started three weeks ago. Tonight, we'll spend a few hours taping and tomorrow I plan on completing the application of the second coat of paint. Then, Sunday we'll return everything including the furniture to where it belongs and celebrate the completion of our first real project with some Asti.

Adam called me earlier this week and invited me to be a member of his wedding party. I gratefully accepted, of course. The service is being planned for sometime around Thanksgiving. I forget where the service will be held, but I think in the Virginia Beach area as that's where Theresa's family lives. I'm embarrassed to admit that he did tell me this information on the phone and I've forgotten already, but I can only remember so much and if something is not in need of my immediate attention, I'll get to it later.

Finally, I started commuting to work by bicycle again for the season. So, as long as the weather cooperates, I won't be depending on the buses for a few months. Ever since they changed the bus schedules in March, my commute home by bus has doubled in time. They "convenienced" me right out of a ride home!

Redroom! Redroom!

We started painting the living room last weekend. It's taking us a little longer than we expected, but it's great to finally be free from apartment-styled white walls peppered with lots of scuff marks, glitter glue spots, and claw scratches. Here's what we started with.



On Sunday, we had a finished ceiling.



Over the next week we finished the trim. Here's a just a portion of it.



Finally, this past Saturday, we started painting the walls. The color in the photographs is a bit more vibrantly red due to the camera's flash. Obviously, this is the first coat. Also, the color of the ceiling is a bit more visible in this photograph.



I think the area around the stairs looks especially good. It looks better with all the trim showing, though.



Today, we finished the northern wall, completing the first coat on the walls. This next week will be spent re-taping for the second coat next Saturday. Hopefully, it will be entirely finished by Sunday. We've got a bottle of champagne ready!