Dispatches

- Superstruct is entering its third week and there’s a lot to see and do, and some truly brilliant ideas – but so far players seem to be struggling to put ideas into motion. This week I’m focusing on creating missions and having people enact them in real life (for example, creating and displaying posters).

- I’m participating in both 24 Hour Comics Day (technically this took place last Saturday but I was out of town) and NaNoWriMo, both of which rely on generating a certain amount of content in a set time frame…not unlike a game mechanic, really. Is content over quality the writing equivalent of WoW level grinding?

- Just got Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I have been waiting it to arrive for WEEKS, painstakingly tracking the shipment, and am now more than ready to bust out the DS every night. I’ve been missing it ever since I finished Phantom Hourglass.

A time to work, a time to play

No time for gaming, lately, but I hope to return to a regular posting schedule some time this week. I’ve started a new job with shorter hours, and (my next big time investment) Superstruct launches on October 6.

I’ve been spending a lot of time preparing my back story and materials I’ll need as a Community Leader-type (not sure of my official title), although I’m not going to introduce it until the official game start – but lots of people have dug in deeply already. There are a handful of blogs listed here, many with some extremely in-depth content – check out this entry from Ark_Keeper, which talks about gaming ten years from now:

. . .Speaking of WoS, my guild decided to join up with many of the other guilds in supporting the ReDs relief. We’re trying to raise money in game for medicine, respirator systems, and other supplies for ReDs victims. We’re also trying to get Blizzard to match our donations, or give a percentage of the daily auction traffic to ReDs relief. With the strength of the WoS dollar, it would be a huge step to help all of those struggling to breath while we play games in comfort.

- and there are already over a thousand members of the Facebook group. It’s a little overwhelming to fathom, honestly, but that’s exactly why I’m taking time to plot out my story and blog content for the six week gaming period.

Another quick note – I’ll be using this blog to discuss the meta aspects of playing the game, helping the community, building superstructs and telling stories. But all of my “in-game” action – things taking place in 2019, commentary and links to other stories – will be at http://laura2019.wordpress.com.

The game hasn’t even started it’s already making me deal with incredibly detailed examinations of both my current life, and what I imagine and hope my life will be like ten years down the road. This is going to be an intense six weeks.

Back to life, back to reality…

Well, I’ve somehow managed to survive the several weeks’ worth of madness I mentioned in this earlier post, and though I feel a little worse for the wear* I’m really relieved to be able to turn my attention to new things.

I’m currently lying on the sofa with no energy to even pick up the Wii remote, however, so I will conclude this entry for now, with the promise to return tomorrow with more details on my recent Superstruct and gaming activities.

* in order, I was/had/am: sick from hurricane dust, allergies from mold that appeared mysteriously in my house, sleep-deprived, burnt out, jetlagged in one direction, sleep deprived, dehyrated, jetlagged in the other direction, woken up at 6 AM by a cat poking me in the back so I would pet her.

I can has powerup pls?

Wearing a heart container necklace made by my friend Rach, as I could use the extra life today.

Visit her etsy shop for more pixelly jewelry – there are no hearts in stock but she would probably make one for you if you ask very nicely.

These days

Argh. In what should be the restful downtime between games, I find my every waking moment is occupied with work, chores or preparation for my travel later this month. I have a couple of posts to write and I’ve even outlined them, but I’m so frazzled that it’s hard to wrap my head around them whenever I sit down with the blank post window. But I will oil the hamster wheels and power through til Friday.

What I am looking forward to:

Secret game thing which I’ll edit in later (Sept 5)

Spore (Sept 7)

travel to London (Sept 12)

game project-related thing (Sept 13)

travel to Boston (Sept 21)

Samba de Amigo (Sept 23)

Superstruct (late Sept)

And that’s not even counting television fall season premieres.

There are some who call her…Steward?

I’m super pleased to reveal that I’ve been asked to be a Steward on PMOG. Mostly I’ll just keep an eye on the forum, help direct people to the right areas, that sort of thing. But I love PMOG and its community and am honored to have been invited.

Also, I have it on good authority that each of the five of us were chosen, at least in part, to represent archetypes, just like the Planeteers.

One type is professional, one is conservative, one is a naysayer…mine is “kindness”.

Which makes me Ma-Ti.

“By your powers combined, I am Captain PMOG!”

You are what you play

The other day I took the Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology, “a series of questions and an accompanying scoring formula that classifies players of multiplayer online games (including MUDs and MMORPGs) into categories based on their gaming preferences.” I cut my gaming teeth on MUDs, but even then I wasn’t interested in (read: any good at) pvp, and to this day I avoid games that feature bug monsters leaping at your face or sniping friends and neighbors.

My Bartle Test results do reflect how I used to play, in text-based RPGs (in Achaea, that involved guild functions, Druid grove parties, taverns, hanging out at North of Thera, and more):

ESAK – “Explorers Do It All Over”

ESAK players often see the game world as a great stage, full of things to see and people to meet. They love teaming up with people to get to the hard-to-see places, and they relish unique experiences.

Breakdown: Achiever 40.00%, Explorer 93.33%, Killer 0.00%, Socializer 66.67%

The test itself is, as Wikipedia notes, a bit dichotomous:

Would you rather:
- Hear what someone has to say?
- Show someone the sharp blade of your axe?

…and while I’m not convinced that my desires and behaviors can be whittled down into points in a quadrant, it’s still a useful tool that does give insight into games that aren’t MUDs or MMORPGs (types around which the test was designed).

The goal of this blog is to show a side of gaming that involves no combat, killing, sniping or face-leaping, but focuses on puzzles, community and quality. Thus, I shall embrace my role as an ESAK/fluffy bunny/spade/heart combo, illustrated below by the KoL version of the Bartle test, and will continue hopping along in the verdant fields of gaming, spreading the seeds of my labyrinth making, podcasting, bone-collecting and Katamari-rolling everywhere I go.

A tale of mystery and intrigue

Great story in the New York Times today that describes the power and magic of immersive puzzles and mysteries.

“Finally, one day last fall, more than a year after they moved in, Mr. Klinsky received a letter in the mail containing a poem that began:

We’ve taken liberties with Yeats

to lead you through a tale

that tells of most inspired fates

in hopes to lift the veil.

The letter directed the family to a hidden panel in the front hall that contained a beautifully bound and printed book, Ms. Bensko’s opus. The book led them on a scavenger hunt through their own apartment.”

This photo gallery shows many of the beautifully intricate puzzles and how they were subtly worked into the design of the home.

I read From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as a kid, and still remember the intense feeling of wonder and potential it suggested; The Egypt Game, Bridge to Terabithia and The Westing Game are three other beloved titles that captured a similar feeling for me.

I think this house puzzle and books like The Da Vinci Code address a very real human desire for beauty and imagination in our everyday lives, as well as a need to sense something greater than oneself at work, and is part of the reason I play and write about games, today.

The Career Interests Game

Always striving to discover and refine their identity, high school- and college-age students love to take classification quizzes online. “Are You A Good Kisser?” asks a banner ad on Facebook. “What American city are you?” (For the record, I’m Austin.) OKCuipd has harnessed this tendency and turned it to their advantage, offering up the results of their multitude of quizzes as part of users’ dating profiles.

So, it makes sense that the University of Missouri’s Career Center would use a similar tactic to help students discover potential career paths.

Dividing peoples’ skillsets into only six types is a little simplistic, though it asks you to select the three you are most like, which is probably broad enough to at least start heading in the right direction. But I have no quips to offer up about this. If I’m honest with myself, I really only identify with one, and halves of two others. I firmly believe self-discovery never ends; my current job encompasses several of the types, so I will spend some time meditating on ways to draw in more elements relevant to my strengths.