I've noticed that people who are unnecessarily competitive in real life tend to project this unfortunate personality trait into games as well. I've never played war games as such, but you'd think there'd be a lot of strategy involved...after all, strategy won wars in the past, rather than sending wave after wave of expendable men at the enemy, right?
I totally agree. Back when I was an avid Final Fantasy addict, I would often concentrate my levelling up only two things: HP and max damage.
But it wasn't until recently that I realised just how repetetive and void of fun that actually was. I finally understood this after having lots of mad fun with reflecting spells. So much more interesting than simply having 9999+ HP. It's like in Buffy: the magic motif would be dead boring if they won every fight through sheer strength.
Yeah, it is like that - I mean, I do want to advance in level and do cool stuff and become more powerful, and I like smooshing monsters as much as the next person - but I don't think that's all there is to it :)
In most final fantasy games, there is a 'reflect' spell so that if an enemy casts fire on you, it reflects back on him/her/it. Unless of course they have also cast reflect on themselves, in which case it reflects off you, off them, and then back onto you.
Sometimes there are funny loopholes. for instance, if you cast reflect on yourself and then heal yourself, it will bounce off you and heal the enemy. but if the enemy is petrified/zombified, the reflected heal spell kills them!
Heh, is Gary Stu the male equivalent of Mary Sue, by any chance?
Yes, I'm still thesisising. Well, I took a break, and then I moved house, which has been going for some weeks now - hopefully most unpacking will be done by the end of this week, and then I can start working on it again.
Haven't seen you around an LJ much, what have you been doing, apart from admiring wildlife and cooking? (both of which are awesome pursuits)
I've been doing *stuff*, stuff which is distressingly unquantifiable even though it fills my day. Although some of that stuff has been things like "pruning rose bushes", "submitting job apps" and "visiting grandma". And, of course, "accumulating possible LJ entries which I never post". I'm back, though (I think!)
I've also been researching and plotting and suchlike. Naturlich.
A Gary Stu is indeed the male equivalent of a Mary Sue. Where the Sue tends to be universally loved and admired and the bestest, most bootifullest person EVAR, the Stu is generally an uberpowered badass loner who comes in and takes on the toughest canon characters without breaking a sweat. Like, say, laying the smackdown on Sauron and crushing the One Ring beneath his anachronistic steel boot-heel. A Gary Stu fanfic can generally be recognised by the large amount of fighting, the point of which is to show off how powerful the Stu is.
unfortunately, i don't play WoW because of precisely that element to game: it seems to lack role-playing in most senses of the word. In fact, I know i would get an account, learn to play the rules till the dials fell off, and then get bored. As someone who was playing the Warcraft series before they decide to market it as a narcotic, i know the silliness to which blizzard units and heroes can stoop
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I've noticed that people who are unnecessarily competitive in real life tend to project this unfortunate personality trait into games as well. I've never played war games as such, but you'd think there'd be a lot of strategy involved...after all, strategy won wars in the past, rather than sending wave after wave of expendable men at the enemy, right?
Simulationist vs narrativist?
Would you say min/maxing is akin to munchkining?
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But it wasn't until recently that I realised just how repetetive and void of fun that actually was. I finally understood this after having lots of mad fun with reflecting spells. So much more interesting than simply having 9999+ HP. It's like in Buffy: the magic motif would be dead boring if they won every fight through sheer strength.
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Yeah, it is like that - I mean, I do want to advance in level and do cool stuff and become more powerful, and I like smooshing monsters as much as the next person - but I don't think that's all there is to it :)
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Sometimes there are funny loopholes. for instance, if you cast reflect on yourself and then heal yourself, it will bounce off you and heal the enemy. but if the enemy is petrified/zombified, the reflected heal spell kills them!
good times. :D
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Witness the trippy opening sequences to FF-8 and FF-10. :D
(hope the links work! if not then try copy + paste)
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Incidentally, are you still thesising?
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Yes, I'm still thesisising. Well, I took a break, and then I moved house, which has been going for some weeks now - hopefully most unpacking will be done by the end of this week, and then I can start working on it again.
Haven't seen you around an LJ much, what have you been doing, apart from admiring wildlife and cooking? (both of which are awesome pursuits)
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I've also been researching and plotting and suchlike. Naturlich.
A Gary Stu is indeed the male equivalent of a Mary Sue. Where the Sue tends to be universally loved and admired and the bestest, most bootifullest person EVAR, the Stu is generally an uberpowered badass loner who comes in and takes on the toughest canon characters without breaking a sweat. Like, say, laying the smackdown on Sauron and crushing the One Ring beneath his anachronistic steel boot-heel. A Gary Stu fanfic can generally be recognised by the large amount of fighting, the point of which is to show off how powerful the Stu is.
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