(no subject)

[camwyn]

And this is my response to the five things meme- or rather, my elaboration on gao's response, which was:

1. Turning video game characters into RP characters
2. Your bike.
3. Being a mod
4. Cats
5. The supernatural.

1. Turning video game characters into RP characters

As often as I used to joke about this or that video game concept that much surely have existed offscreen- f'rex, the Valley of the Dead Marios, where the skeletons of every game character who died by falling into seemingly bottomless pits could be found- I don't know that the prospect really occurred to me until I started reading TVTropes on a regular basis. Funny, really, how many articles about concepts I liked (Badass Normal, Badass Bookworm, etc.) included references to this Gordon Freeman guy. And, well, I knew there'd been fanfic about game characters before, and back in college I'd even speculated a little about what must have been going through B. J. Blazkowicz's head as things got weirder and weirder during his progress through Castle Wolfenstein. So... why not put some actual effort into getting into the head of one of these characters? Because damn, that can't be a normal situation to be in.

I started with Gordon Freeman. I think my next attempt was in mixed_muses, with the Prince of Persia from the Sands of Time video game. (I liked PoP in college and I haven't played any of the other PoP games before or since.) I couldn't really get the feel of a personality from the main character when I played Bioshock, pretty as the game was, so I never bothered trying to flesh out Jack. And when someone applied for the RED Scout from Team Fortress 2 at Milliways, and I discovered that Valve Software had actually created at least a little personality basis for each of the characters in-game, I figured what the hey, why not try for Medic? Adrian Shephard, from HL: Opposing Force, was probably the biggest challenge of the bunch. I mean, Medic's a crack character no matter how you slice it. Shephard was part of the Half-Life story and, technically, was on the opposite side from Gordon. Someone who was a good guy who nevertheless was not on Team Hero and did not even like the hero, and blamed him for the deaths of his brothers... that's more conflict and opportunity for development than some books give their main characters.

Ultimately, I have to nod in the direction of something the people who make the James Bond movies said when they were developing the Quantum of Solace video game: "If you watch the movie, you spend two hours with our character. If you play the video game, you're likely to spend a good thirty hours or more with our character. We'd better make those thirty hours worth spending with James Bond." If you have a game from a company that understands that concept, even a little, then you've got the opportunity for one hell of an RP character. Frankly, I spent more time with Gordon Freeman on my first HL playthrough than I ever did with Harry Potter. (Average reading speed over the HP series: 3 hours per book x 7 books = 21 hours, maybe 22 or 23 if you include going back to reread critical bits. Time spent trying to think like a terrified theoretical physicist: 28+ hours before replays.)

2. My bike.

I've always loved riding bikes, although I was one of the few people in North America ever to forget how to ride one. (I first learned when I was seven, in the autumn of the year. Come spring I found to my horror that I couldn't balance, even though it was exactly the same bike.) When I moved to Jersey City I discovered how damn expensive cars were, specifically in the form of their insurance, and decided that between that and something like four days a week of alternate-side-of-the-street parking rules, there was no good reason to own a car. A bike with saddlebags, or at least a good cargo rack, would do. I've made a point of owning a good-quality chainless bike ever since, and was deeply put out when my second one got stolen (the first went to daniidebrabant). My bike is to me what a car is to most other Americans, and is as close as I'm ever gonna get to owning a horse, and I'm damned proud of it.

3. Being a mod.

I'm glad to be of assistance in running Milliways, such as it is; I like approving characters, and I like being able to help people when they have game problems. Admittedly, there are times when I start frothing at the mouth and can't do anything about it because a mod ought to treat all his or her players fairly and not throttle them, but I'm led to understand this is a common enough issue among parents as well, and the stakes are a lot higher there. So I do my best to keep things going well at Milliways and I hope people don't think that I'm overbearing or incompetent.

4. Cats.

I have two. I'm more of a dog person by nature, but when you work long, not-that-predictable hours and live in a small apartment, having a pet that has to be taken outside on schedule if it's to avoid pooping everywhere... that doesn't really work. I'm very fond of my cats, and I like their species in general.

5. The supernatural

First things first, for disclosure's sake: I am not a particular believer in the supernatural in general, in the sense of occult and psychic phenomena and the associated trappings. I don't have a whole lot of what I consider to be sufficiently rigorous proof that it exists in the forms which are most commonly accepted by the general public. That being said, I find the possibility of things we haven't got the science to properly understand yet fascinating. I'm also deeply fascinated by the systems and thought-structures humanity's come up with to approach these subjects and categorize or manipulate what they perceive exists. The faces we use to understand and approach forces beyond the common run- forces which may or may not genuinely exist- reveal a lot about the individuals and societies that use them. I studied anthropology and religion in college (religion mostly because there was supposed to be a course in Greek mystery religions that only the religion majors could take- just my luck the prof went on sabbatical that year and never taught it again), and, well, the habit sticks.

Comments

[gramarye1971]

...I don't know why I have never heard of chainless bikes before. This is something I will have to investigate seriously when I finally upgrade from the battered old hybrid that I've had since I was 15 or so.

[camwyn]

They're kind of rare. The technology's old- there were ads for them in 1898- but the thing is that until recently there was no way of making shaft drive bikes work with multiple gearing. I suggest stopping by Dynamic Bicycles' web site for a look at how these things are done.

[tundra-no-caps.livejournal.com]

Have you read "Only You Can Save Mankind"? The first Johnny Maxwell book?

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Regarding 3:

*eyes back room*

*sends Scharffen Berger chocolate with ground coffee beans in*