How to Change an Industry
It seems that the feminism issue rears its head on the speculative fiction blogosphere about once every six months, maybe more frequently if you follow specific blogs in question. I'd been meaning, with certain trepidation, to throw my hat in, and now seems an opportune time as I have found myself unwittingly participating in one editor's salvo in
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I agree re Ivy, even though Xianghua was always my favorite because I am a sucker for t'ai chi sword. anguirel had an obsession with being able to reliably pull off Summon Suffering back in the days of SC2. Some of the argument for SC did surface in the comments -- in that Voldo, for instance, is probably equally as physically impossible (as is the Soul Blade, for that matter) as Taki's SC3 boobs, but I think the point remains... in male characters the exaggeration is on attributes that emphasize their strength; in females the exaggeration is on sexualized elements that would impair their physical performance, and that is indicative ( ... )
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Not speaking for elenuial, but I actually think that if this happens, that is exactly how the industry will improve. This is how critical mass is achieved ( ... )
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Very much 110% absolutely agree, and this is well said. I meant to mention something along these lines in the original post. SoulCalibur, I think, does approach an uncanny valley problem with SC4, where they are getting just realistic enough that things are really starting to look grotesque, whereas some previous editions of the game bore greater exaggeration. But these are choices the creators are making, as all art is a series of choices, and recent production on their part is throwing into intense relief the specificity (and projected motivations) behind these choices.
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The human starting areas will always hold a special place in my heart, since that was my first experience in the game. I have since stopped playing with music, or even sound, stopped reading all the text, talking to random NPCs, and my sense of "magic" about the whole experience has been dulled because I've gotten down to the munchkin-ized core of the end-game, and now it's a stat-crunching game for me. Maybe if I were still the bright-eyed newb that I used to be, my opinion would change, but I look past most of the aesthetics now and just concentrate on what I feel is the most elegant mechanical design.
I do wish belves could be droods, though. I'm such a tree-hugger at heart.
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You should try a Draenei. I think they're my favorite race (and race is probably the single most important thing to me in an MMO), though that may just be because I'm a sucker for Things From Space. But the Exodar is well worth seeing if you haven't yet, and their starting area is probably the smoothest of any in game in terms of being able to speed through. I'm not sure I'm happy with that acceleration of the earlier levels, but I understand why they did it.
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The Draenei starting quests, on a interesting quest and fun-factor level, are probably the best series in the game, just as the Defias/Van Cleef line is probably still one of the best (if not the best) line of lore-based and interesting-in-a-RP-way quests in the game. Which is sort of sad considering how low-level they are. ;p There are a few similar lines scattered around, but I don' tthink any are quite of the same epic nature those are (though I never did finish up the Alliance-side of the quest lines -- it looked like the Onyxia attunement line might have been pretty impressive, given the interesting event in Stormwind it has).
That said, I absolutely loved the Druid Epic Flight Form quests. If you're 70 (and it sounds like you are) and haven't gotten Epic Flight yet, start working on it. It's well worth it.
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Agreed!
just as the Defias/Van Cleef line is probably still one of the best (if not the best) line of lore-based and interesting-in-a-RP-way quests in the game.
Absolutely agreed...which is why it saddens me to use Van Cleef as the go-to subject when proving that meaningful roleplay in the world of WoW (yes, I meant that) is impossible. I was utterly immersed in that storyline the first time I played through it.
Which is sort of sad considering how low-level they are. ;p I still maintain that the greatest experience anyone can have in WoW is playing levels 1-59 (I guess 1-69 now? Maybe?) for the very first time. It is quite simply a different game from the end game scene, and while the latter has many amazing things to experience (my first raid, in Molten Core, is something I'll never forget), the magic of that shiny newness, and the immersion that is most authentic at the lower levels, cannot be re-created, or even re-experienced the same way with subsequent ( ... )
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Did you see that they're putting Darth Vader in Soul Calibur 4?
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Yep. Darth Vader and Yoda (probably console-specific). My reasons to get a XBox 360 keep going up -- I may actually give in and get one soon, the console really has some very good content that isn't being matched on Wii or PS3 at this point. Wii has it's own interesting stuff, though, and I still don't know why anyone has a PS3. ;p But that's a completely different discussion.
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So the 360 is what you'd buy if you were buying a console now? For what games?
Between GTA4 and SC4 I was actually leaning toward buying a PS3, that and the solid stable of PS2 games still worth playing. But before those two I was in full agreement with you, not understanding why anyone would have a PS3 yet.
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I already have the PS2, so I don't need that, but I don't have a XBox, so I'd have access to those titles.
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