Where was I, anyway?
So I've been officially unemployed for about a month and half, now, and find myself a bit disoriented. Not in terms of anything particularly bad, but rather in the sense that despite my best efforts, I can't seem to lock into any type of set schedule. I'm getting to bed earlier (around 2 in the morning) more often, but I'm not getting up as early as I like, and while having the freedom to pretty much do what I want when I want (within budget restrictions), it's rare that I feel like I'm making the most of my time. I feel like each day I should be getting a good amount done on the job hunt, working on getting a date, further developing my UT3 level, working on at least 2 seperate writing projects, updating Madness, cleaning the apartment, catching up on my Muppet Show DVDs, drawing, exercising, researching the possibility of getting into a photo gallery and starting a writing column, working on cooking new recipes, and, of course, reading about the Browns preseason.
In reality, however, usually I manage to eat cereal, surf the web, and sigh as I read the hefty requirements for a job which I'd like to get.
Something of a difference between the two, it seems. Oh, I have some solid days, but other times I wonder what I need in order to get a consistent feeling of production. Maybe if I start each day with a cup of hot chocolate....
In any case, on the unemployment front:
[ S H I E L D B R E A K ! ! ! ]
Talk continues around the Cleveland Browns QB race. A couple of sports pundits are saying that based on Anderson's performance last week, he should be the season starter. My response is that these pundits obviously didn't watch him last season, as he is maddeningly inconsistent. He'll throw great balls downfield one week, and then struggle to make a completion the next 3 weeks.
The flip side is that the QB race is tight not because both are doing brilliant, but rather because both Anderson and Quinn have been, well, somewhat unremarkable. They've made some good plays, but neither has a touchdown pass yet.
I guess, for me, I'd rather see Quinn get the start. He never really had a chance, yet, to really show what he can do; he's only had about 2 1/2 NFL games, really. Assuming he starts this week, I hope he can lead the Browns offense on a touchdown drive, because, after all, that's what you want a QB to do.
[ S H I E L D B R E A K ! ! ! ]
I ran a (very brief) high-level D&D 4ed game last night, with some interesting results. It was pretty much just an experiment, as both the players and I hadn't played any characters higher than 5 thus far, and we wanted to see what a high-level run might be like.
A lot of time was lost just do to getting used to the plethora of powers and abilities. Which, you know, is just fine; in the end they went through just one battle (we plan to pick up on the game at some point in the future), but man, did I learn a lot from that:
In reality, however, usually I manage to eat cereal, surf the web, and sigh as I read the hefty requirements for a job which I'd like to get.
Something of a difference between the two, it seems. Oh, I have some solid days, but other times I wonder what I need in order to get a consistent feeling of production. Maybe if I start each day with a cup of hot chocolate....
In any case, on the unemployment front:
- I had bites from a couple of companies I had contacted. One included a writing test, which was actually quite cool, and I sent that in on Tuesday. We'll see if anything comes of it.
- Despite the lack of apparent NYC jobs, I continue to dig around in search of companies that might be on the prowl. I'll be sending out some more today and tomorrow, and, as always, we'll have to wait and see if anything develops.
- My health insurance coverage is still up in the air; I need to contact Nick again and find out if he called Oxford yet, so that I can get that straightened out (and ease my mind).
- I (finally) got a reply to the UT3 level I designed, which mentions that it might have too much open space. I can see that as a possible issue, but at this point, I think that given that I've gotten one reply after it's been up for about a week, I will, instead, move on to dressing it up more pretty, so that way I can at least set up it up on my Game Design site as another string to my bow. If I can get some more feedback, and they all agree there's too much open space, I can easily make adjustments.
[ S H I E L D B R E A K ! ! ! ]
Talk continues around the Cleveland Browns QB race. A couple of sports pundits are saying that based on Anderson's performance last week, he should be the season starter. My response is that these pundits obviously didn't watch him last season, as he is maddeningly inconsistent. He'll throw great balls downfield one week, and then struggle to make a completion the next 3 weeks.
The flip side is that the QB race is tight not because both are doing brilliant, but rather because both Anderson and Quinn have been, well, somewhat unremarkable. They've made some good plays, but neither has a touchdown pass yet.
I guess, for me, I'd rather see Quinn get the start. He never really had a chance, yet, to really show what he can do; he's only had about 2 1/2 NFL games, really. Assuming he starts this week, I hope he can lead the Browns offense on a touchdown drive, because, after all, that's what you want a QB to do.
[ S H I E L D B R E A K ! ! ! ]
I ran a (very brief) high-level D&D 4ed game last night, with some interesting results. It was pretty much just an experiment, as both the players and I hadn't played any characters higher than 5 thus far, and we wanted to see what a high-level run might be like.
A lot of time was lost just do to getting used to the plethora of powers and abilities. Which, you know, is just fine; in the end they went through just one battle (we plan to pick up on the game at some point in the future), but man, did I learn a lot from that:
- Things like Skill Challenges really don't change as you scale up; at least, from my vantage point, the players were challenged the right amount because while they had much higher rolls, the DCs were also much higher, so in the end it flows fine.
- The higher level really underlines some important considerations in terms of combat. For example, a monster that has a high AC but a low chance to hit is not really a danger for the players, and in fact, can make for a boring fight. The players may have an issue actually hitting the creature, and it may have a lot of HP to soak up damage, but when the creature can only hit the players on a roll of 19 or 2o, then they are not in any real danger. Worse, the battle can drag on for a while as both sides are constantly missing.
- In relation to what I just mentioned, long battles (that are not the major "boss" battles) are generally not good things in the new system, because what inevitably happens is that the players burn through their Encounter Powers, but want to save their Daily powers for the "main" event. So they wind up just making basic attacks or use their At-Will powers over and over again, which can get stagnant after a while.
- Powers, on both the Players and monsters sides, are far more valuable if they give you bonuses to hit, rather than damage. One player was playing a Warlord, a class I play in the main campaign, and he has since realized that the ironic part is that the Warlord can dish out major bonuses to allies, but often only if he hits his foe. And, when the foe can only be hit by rolling a 16 or better, chances are strong that you'll waste the power by missing (another reason to hold off on Dailies as much as possible).