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186: The Best of All Possible Worlds
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The Best of All Possible Worlds
For all their doom and gloom, videogames are pretty much always about the unqualified triumph of good over evil, a happy occasion that's pretty rare in everyday life. So why do critics insist that games need to be polluted with more ambiguity?
Brilliant. Love the 'shaggy dog' stories as well.
Evil can be a way to go, but you really need to be Evil, not just a petty thug who kicks puppies. Not unless those puppies squeal as they hurtle in front of the speeding truck.
I enjoyed this article. Gaming worlds are so much easier to do the right thing in, black and white are so much more clearly marked out.
Though I would have liked to see Tommy Vercetti die in a Scarface-esque fashion really.
It's not 'critics' who want more ambiguity in games - it's gamers. Anyway, why can't there be room for both simplistic 'good guy vs bad world' tales and more complex ones where the player's character has more of a choice about the morality of his character?
Besides, it's not the ambiguity that's the point - it's having a choice.
Good article. But failed to note that almost every game on the market is a mindless shooter, so arguing we need more of the same is really unnecessary.
Does anyone else want to play "Cuttlefish Wars: The Inkening" as badly as I do?
In games, you are often only presented with the unambiguous moral path out of necessity. It wouldn't make any sense if, say, in Super Mario Bros., you stopped to ponder whether the princess wants to be with Bowser instead, because then you'd just stop playing. There is no other option. Rescue the princess or die. However, now that we have greater technology, people want more choices. There are plenty of games that are excellent without allowing choices, and there are games that show the dilemma of moral ambiguity through cut scenes without actually giving the player any control over the final outcome. To attempt to give the player a significant say in how the game plays out would be a cyclopean task, but it would also be more impressive and provide a richer experience, if done well. Think of it as a modern Choose Your Own Adventure book.
Me. That game sounds absolutely epic.
The article itself managed to not only be amusing, but also make an interesting point. I agree with much of what it said. I really hate the common RPG choice trichotomy of A: I'm really nice so I'll do it. B: Grr I am evil, no I will not do it. and C: I'll do it, but I'm greedy. Give me money.
You totally missed the choice to be made in Bioshock. There will be some *spoilers* so stop now if you haven't played the game. You arrive a stranger, being told what to do by an unknown voice. The path before you is set, everyone who plays the game follows the same basic path. Killing little girls for a minor performance benefit isn't really the choice to make, it just points you toward the choice. You don't choose the path but you can choose why you follow it. Are you there to accumulate money and power because that is the obvious path, or is there a greater purpose, saving the orphan girls and giving them a chance at life. This is reflected in the two endings. The ultimate test comes near the end where you have to protect the Little Sisters as you approach the final boss fight. You have an unlimited supply of girls so if you don't protect one you can always get more, but you can use your ammo and health to protect this stranger or you can save it for the big fight. The real challenge is being a protector, the final fight was easy by design. It was a secondary objective, one last minor errand before you take the girls to their new life. After the obvious metaphor for growing up and going through puberty, this acceptance of parental responsibility is the final step in growing up. It is just sad that most people missed this part of the the game, leaving them with the empty feeling that comes with the aimless wandering of perpetual adolescence.
Really interesting read, and I mostly agree, although I'm not sure quite how far. Much as the central point is true, perhaps I'm just particularly poor at suspending disbelief but I don't get such a altruistic rush when I'm forced to be the saintly good guy. I think a small degree of moral ambiguity, if done properly, as it rarely is, could very much add to a game. I'm not talking about KOTOR 2's infamous beggar sequence, either.
Because, ambiguity or not, games let us do what we couldn't in real life. If we take as an example the your tale of misplaced kindness and place it in a game, it wouldn't end there. You would have the seemingly clear-cut choice to start of to help or not to help. If you help and return to find an item stolen, in a game that wouldn't have to be the end of the story. You could find him again, and then what would you do? Would you exact your revenge on him for betraying your trust? How far would that revenge go? Or would you take the moral high ground anyway? By adding that end bit on the edge is taken off the ambiguity, of course, but it would place the spectrum of actions much more into the grey, and I believe would make the plot somewhat more compelling. Would you get such a rush from taking the high path when the low path is justified?
I'm aware that that's hardly the depth of ambiguity some people seem to desire, but games are entertainment after all and we play them to be entertained, not depressed. But I think if a game can bring in that slight element of ambiguity, and drag you through the shadows before the way to the light is clear, it would only add to it.
" No one wants to experience the inner emotional life of a videogame character; no one wants to see Tommy Vercetti die like Al Pacino in Scarface; and certainly no one wants to play a videogame about someone's descent into heroin addiction."
I dig the Candide reference, and your article makes me wonder why (both as humanity and gamers) we focus so much on destruction. As for me, I'm going to go play Viva Piñata and work in my garden.
This is the exact same thing as people who read cheesy romance novels (or any other easy-to-read -but-entertaining book) instead of reading a piece of literature. Sometimes, yeah, you just want to be entertained, but sometimes you want something with a bit more meaning. You say you always just want to be entertained... that's your opinion. There are other people who could stand to be moved by a game sometimes.
To piggyback on Boober the Pig, in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (SPOILERS!!) you are given a similar choice to join the Emperor, let your friends die, and kill Darth Vader. If you don't run to destroy the Emperor immediately, I think you will be stuck playing bad Star Wars games and attending Star Wars conventions for quite sometime. But I think growing up means turning back into a child before you even had a crush on Star Wars, Bioshock, or video games. The ability to put a game or video games behind you is similar to a child's ability to remain interested in many new things instead of becoming some specialist. I think Bioshock's use of children is a metaphor for respecting and revisiting your childhood. If you kill the children and don't protect them, you are way too into video games and need to "grow up".
Why do I feel like a Big Daddy laden with kittens is far scarier than a big Daddy with a Rivet Gun?
Regardless, lovely article.
wow, fuck you. I don't want to play Good Triumphs Over Evil 5286: The Inkening, 'cause after about the fifth one of those games, they get really really boring. I want games to get to where they can be respected as much as any other art form. I don't want games to be just toys anymore. I've had enough of good vs evil, right vs wrong, and bringing light to the darkness. I want to play something I can respect.
Congrats on your act of subway heroism. I feel that.
Interesting viewpoints, but I agree, and yet I don't agree. It depends on the specific game, there's no one set standard that all should follow. Mario? Yeah, he should save the princess every time (although Mario is getting kinda stale to me after 25 years). In that case, good should (and will) triumph over evil.
But to say that no gamer wants to experience a characters inner emotional life??? I can prove you wrong right now by saying that I do. I'll never forget the first time I felt real emotion coming from a game, the ending of Final Fantasy X. The tearful goodbye between Tidus and Yuna is heart wrenching, and looking back afterwards I realized that throughout the game we were experiencing the inner emotions of several characters the whole way. And that made it all the more amazing of an experience.
Perhaps I'm jaded and mean, but in the situation outside your apartment, I don't know that I'd do what you did. How often do people covered in blood stagger up to you saying that "bad men" are after him and will kill him. There are more lies and scams these days than murders and I, for one, would question his motives. But again, maybe I'm jaded. But, linking back to the point, those are the kinds of decisions that I think would be cool in games, not all games, but certain games.
Like another said before me, not everyone plays for the sheer escapism. My life, while not perfect, is not so bad that I need to sit down and play a videogame just to get the unpolluted "happiness" into my day. Sure, sometimes I play for the triumph of good over evil. But whether that's the case or not, I'm almost always playing for the emotion and the story of the game; to put myself in this character's shoes and see how his/her story unfolds.
The article is a brilliant satire of an indefensible position. No one gamer gets to decree "that's what games are for," thank God.
I'm not even gonna read the heartgaugingly bland mess of replies that must be here.
I hate it when a game tries to flip an ending, what are u supposed to do, go "wow my imagination is somehow insufficient to come up with that, thank you for changing my life and wasting my effort"?
What they're trying to say is, they don't want stupid games, make the world magically a little less stupid why don't you.
I'm kinda bored because you can't agree* with me so I'm gonna go do something else.
EDIT: I'm tired
Wait, I may have misunderstood, but I got from this article, "Games shouldn't be realistic, because realistic games aren't fun."
Which just makes me say, "Games can be whatever the developer wants them to be, even if it's realistic, because some people think that realistic games are fun."
Seriously, I would like to play a gritty game set in the Civil War or something. Very, very few games ever actually try to take on important, real-world issues like movies or books do, and I think it's time. Why does no one try to make a game that sends an important, real-life message to the player? If books can change people's lives, games should be able to, also. Games should be able to motivate players to take action in their own lives, not just their virtual ones. If people did more of this, I think that most of society would see gamers with more respect.
You get criticized for your game if you try to apply too much realism to it. I recall people complain about that new Brothers in arms game for showing Nazis dragging a woman into a barn and later show that woman lynched in the middle of that barn (and that was from a Videogame magazine). Games are still kid's toys, even if they're all violent and gruesome, in that case, they're big kid's toys. 100% entertainment, 0% pretension.
But I have to disagree with the article. Who says I don't want to see the protagonist suffer from regular life's problems and see him handle them? I don't want any more black/white worlds, and I think many people agree with me.
New York City? and you let some bloody guy into your lobby and just left him there? Silly Noob.
I disagree as well. My favorite games are Sandbox style games that allow you multiple approaches and styles to win and allow you to decide what is right and wrong. Escapism from moral decision making can be cool and all, but I prefer freedom to do as I please in a game.
As a matter of fact, there are a couple Civil War first-person shooter games produced by the History Channel... I've been wanting to play them, too. They seem pretty cool.
As for the article...
By this logic, no one would want to play as, say, a murderer, a homicidal warlord, a person struggling through their deep inner turmoil, a death row inmate, or a trained hitman whose targets are not always unambiguously evil.
Hm, yet this trend (fortunately) continues throughout video games. Games have reached the point where it isn't always about saving the day, and it is perfectly okay to just tell a story instead. I for one would not like to go back to the NES days of 'There is a bad guy and possibly some kind of hostage so go right and kill monsters until the day is saved!'.
Yeah, I just really couldn't disagree more with this article. I enjoy my Mario and My Zelda good vs. evil as much as the next guy, but to essentially say that all video gaming comes down to the need for escapism (and any opinion to the contrary is coming from the snoots and not the gamers) is sort of ignorant.
I disagree. In Braid you find yourself in the same situation - you're trying to rescue the princess. But, without spoiling the story, the game asks you whether you really should be with the princess or not.
"No one wants to experience the inner emotional life of a videogame character; no one wants to see Tommy Vercetti die like Al Pacino in Scarface; and certainly no one wants to play a videogame about someone's descent into heroin addiction."
If a game could make me feel the inner turmoil of a heroin addict as well as the movie Half Nelson did, then I think it would be a game worth playing. Thank you Podunk for backing up my point before I made it. Saved me a bit of time. (also, thanks for reminding me to play Indigo Prophesy again, I've been meaning to get around to it)
this basically sums up what I thought.
EDIT: Just to add an afterthought.
This is where the all important ambiguity comes in.
This is the sort of the thing that will bring gaming closer to real life, and in the right way.
Don't get me wrong, I love a well done good vs clearly evil FPS/Survival Horror/RPG/RTS/etc but I would like to see games like what I have described being made also brought into existence.
Gaming is not just a form of light entertainment intended for kids, it is as valid an art form as theatre, television and film, just one filled with far more potential due to it's ability to be far more immersive than any of the other three.
Damn good article and an excellent argument. I half agree with you, but I also enjoy games with a lot of depth as well. I have one specific point of disagreement.
SPOILERS (for The Force Unleashed)
When you said that no one wants to see Tommy Vercetti mowed down like Pacino in Scarface, I have to beg to differ. I think it's perfectly acceptable within the context of certain stories and games to have the main character die. I (unlike everyone else it seems) loved The Force Unleashed, especially the ending. I felt truly sad for our character, but much better when I completed the "bad" ending and saw the alternative. Sure, it sucks to lose the character you've grown to love in a game, but sometimes it makes the story that much more powerful. I would have accepted such an ending to the Max Payne series as well. It just seems appropriate sometimes.
You know, sometimes, you're perfectly right. Sometimes I want to sit down and enjoy a few hours of Team Fortress 2 in all its violent and cartoony splendour. And, if I interpreted your aims correctly, you did a good job of lampooning the "SERIOUS BUSINESS" thought trend that seems to forget that games should, generally speaking, be fun.
But sometimes, I want something a bit more mentally stimulating - and there certainly is a significant number of gamers who also feel that way. Games are supposed to be challenging, so why not pose a moral challenge along with the more conventional tests of skill?
I applaud the author for the subway thing. It made me laugh because I notice it happening to other people too often, and just laughing when they're manipulated and sent on their way.
Also, the point of the article is seen by me, and agreed to - to a point.
I just think that some games that have ambiguity can increase the experience, and characters with mixed feelings about certain things can also be more interesting to analyze and think about.
Take Spike Siegel for example...
You are contradicting yourself right there. Real world problems, as far as video games go, are considered "too much realism". Think about it, it's "not facing problems by not mentioning them" the Ostrich Effect. That's why you don't see thing like that in video games: run down heroin addicts, working-class family harassed to death by IRS, beaten up guy asking for help then robbing your home, the main protagonist dying a horrible and meaningless death in the end...etc. You won't see really "realistic" games, it won't happen.
Here is a good example of that by my favorite author, David Wong: The Ultimate War Simulation Game
Man I would love to have seen the expression on her face...
Good vs Evil will do to a certain point, but i think most people have that nagging little need for more depth. In the realms of ambiguity video games have a lot of potential and can only improve.
While games that offer pure escapist entertainment will always exist, and I will continue playing them, my favorite games not only offer great game play, but also really draw me into the story and create a connection between me and the other characters on an emotional level to a point where I really care about the characters. For example, Half Life 2 and the sequels did this for me. I don't know if it connected with everybody, but I know the developers wanted you to care about Alyx and company and it worked for me. I didn't mind when I was sent again to take care of business, or fix this or open that to help the characters advance. On the other hand, when I played Dead Space, I found myself getting really annoyed every time something was wrong and I was the only one to fix it. While I found it very entertaining to cut the limbs off as a new way of taking on the enemy, I just didn't care about any of the characters or the outcome and so I didn't finish the game.
Did you forget about the Tenpenny Tower quest in Fallout 3? SPOILER: It's just like your man in the rain example. You do the seemingly Good thing by helping the Ghouls live in "harmony" with the residents, but ultimately the ghouls murder everyone else in the tower.
This is one of the worst Escapist features I've seen. 99% of games that have a plot are written with pre-kindergarten morality as is. If that's all you want, fine, but at least don't go and write an essay on how no one else should be allowed a choice either.
Splitter's reply says everything constructive I wanted to say on this.
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Two or three of them are undoubtedly not going to be the right gender to be "lolis". Even if it were three female characters the person you see in the in-game screenshots is definitely a guy.
I will wait and see. The site has good music.
For the one that cares, here's a new trailer.


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Monday, August 11, 2008
WotLK Beta Update
- Winter's Chill (Frost Mage Talent) is now a 3 point talent and gives your frost spells a 33/66/100% chance to apply the winter's chill effect. increases the chance Arcane, Fire and Frost spells will critically hit the target by 2% for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times. - This talent has been hinted at in the offical talent calculator for the beta but hadn't been included in the beta until the last build and Lissanna has confirmed that this included in the latest build. From a moonkin perspective this is an awesome change, but it maintains the status quo. After the changes to Natures Grace, Curse of Elements and the Mana on Crit mechanic, I have openly wondered if Starfire would still be our primary nuke. This talent combined with Imp Scorch ensure Starfires future as our main raid spell. These buffs are highly dependent on your raid make up and the encounter, but they are also very powerful since the provide 10% buff to damage, 10% buff to Crit, and therefore more mana regen.
The down sided to this is that it reenforces the status quo. Currently Wrath has no real use in a raid. It uses more mana, and with raid buffs does only a little more damage then Starfire does. If you of Tier bonuses Wrath actually does less damage. Murmurs on the Druid forums was saying that the changes in CoE and Natures Grace was an effort to make Wrath a High DPS, High Mana Cost spell that we could use at the end of a fight for alittle extra DPS to empty our mana bar. Imp Scorch and Winter's Chill appear to contradict his. Anyway, it is still early. This chould change.
- Potion Sickness is not included in the latest Beta build. - This is according to WoWInsider. There were a lot of different opinions on Potion Sickness. Some felt that it was awesome in that it reduces the amount of cosumables that would be needed for Wrath raiding. Moonkin and some other classes were worried what this would mean for their mana regen. Many Alchemists were mad because this would significantly reduce the profit ability of thier profession. Well it appears that the anti potion sickness people have won. I as never a fan or a hater of Potion Sickness, but it is good to know that my mana regen isn't changing significantly in a negative direction.
- Wild Growth - Embrace the natural energies surrounding you, healing you for 2000 over 15 sec. Instant, 5 min cooldown. - A while it was released that gatheing professions were getting passive buffs that were trainable. Miners got extra stamina and skinners got extra crit, but the herbalist buff was not released. Well, now it has and its name is Wild Growth. To say the very least I am NOT happy. It is an underpowered heal that isn't affected by any of the usual modifiers. I currently have close to 10k raid buffed, by the time I hit 80 I am sure that I will have close to 16k at least. This ability will heal me for only 1/8th of my health and will only get worse as my gear improves. On top of that it is a 15 second HoT that takes a global cooldown, so it reduces my DPS and by the time it is done I will have most likely been healed to full or killed. The only good part I can see about this is that it is usable in forms. This one needs to go back to the drawing board.
-Totem of Wrath (Elemental Shaman) increases the damage done by spells and effects by 6% and increases the chance strike chance of spells and effects by by 3%. (Previously increased hit chance by 3%) - This is an interesting change. It's hard to say if it's good or bad until we see how easy it is to hit cap. From my perspective I currently don't need the extra spell hit. So an extra 6% damage to my spells is a great trade.
- Ritual of Souls now lasts 3 minutes or 25 charges (instead of 10). - WOOT!! I'm not a warlock but any raider should love this. Many times I have seen a cookie basket drop and be gone in seconds because all 10 stones were taken. This just makes sense.
- Starfire Rank 9 and 10 had their damage increased a little. (661-779 to 670-790 for Rank 10) - Not huge but better then nothing.
Glyphs: Blizzard added a bunch of Glyphs to the beta for Pallys, Priests, and Shaman. There wasn't anything too exciting there from my perspective, but I would like to go back and look at the Druid Glyphs released a few weeks ago.
Glyph of Starfire - Your Starfall ability increases the duration of your Moonfire effect on the target by 3 sec.
Glyph of Moonfire - Increases the periodic damage of your Moonfire ability by 75% but initial damage is decreased by -90%.
Glyph of Insect Swarm - Increases the damage of your Insect Swarm ability by 30% but it no longer affects your victim's chance to hit.
Glyph of Hurricane - Your Hurricane ability now also slows the movement speed of its victims by -20%.
Glyph of Starfall- Increases the duration of Starfall by 2 sec.
Glyph of Wrath - Increases the chance you'll resist spell interruption when casting your Wrath spell by 50%.
Glyph of Entangling Roots - Increases the damage your Entangling Roots victims can take before the Entangling Roots automatically breaks by 20%.
Glyph of Thorns - Empowers a Minor Glyph to reduce the mana cost of your Thorns spells by %s1%.
These are all the Balance related Druid Glyphs. We don't know what level of Glyph most of them are but It does provides some interesting possiblities. My first question is, does the Glyph of Starfire increase the MF duration every time you hit the mob with the Moonfire. Basically, could you keep one MF rolling the whole time by just casting SF over and over? This is a mechanic that blizzard has implented for Priest and Warlock DoTs. If that is the case then this glyph should be used in conjunction with the Glyph of the Moonfire and the damage would be awesome. Moonfire would probably tick off eventually but having to refresh it only once every 30 seconds instead of once every 12 would be awesome.
The other Glyphs aren't that big of a deal to me right now. Glyph of Insect Swarm will make it into a decent DoT damage wise, but it looses its avoidence. This could be good or bad depending on who you talk to. The Roots and Thorns Glyphs are ok to if they both are Minor Glyphs. Over all I'm not that inpressed with Incriptions yet as a non professional. People who take up the profession have some nice abilities like the hearth scrolls but they aren't good enough to make me think I should switch.
Edit: Eclipse: I wanted to let all of you know that I am offically off the Eclipse train. In a couple of posts ago I linked a thread on the WoW forums talking about Koraa's comments. In that thread I started debating the value of Eclipse with them. This thread is what clue'd me into Winter's Chill, and showed me how Eclipse compared to other talents available. I also did some more math.
My new thinking comes down to three things. 1) Preemptive casting to get a buff is a bad idea. You will spend extra mana to get extra damage, but by my math that extra damage is very mana inefficent. 2) Winter's Chill combined with Improved Scorch make SF a superior spell. With the Wrath buff you will be doing more DPS but it is a huge mana efficency lose. 3) The extra damage you get for a Tier 9 talent is small compared to Improved Shapeshifter and other talents.
So If WotLK dropped right now I see no need to pick up this talent by anyone.
Toon Update:
Graylo - He had a very busy weekend. I transfered Graylo with only 400 gold. I did it because I wanted Grayfel to get his flying mount as quick as possible when he hit 70. I figured 400g was enough to deal with repairs and reagents and such and that I could farm gold fairly easily when I needed it. Well, there was one thing I had not considered. Shadow Resist Gear. My new guild is fast approching Mother Shahraz. Luckly I have been selected as part of the group that will get SR gear for the progression kill, but that has sent me scrambling.
To build the full SR gear sets provided by the BT rep you need 9 Heart of Darkness, 5 Void Crystal, 13 Primal Life, and 18 Primal Shadow. An entire raid will need that times 25. Even more if you don't have the same 25 each week. As you can imagine that is lot to provide for a guild that has only been around for two months. So what they desided to do was make us get the Cloak on our own and they would provide the Heart of Darkness for the Wrists, Belt, and Boots. We are ignoring the Legs for now until we get more HoDs.
Well, Hearts of Darkness currently cost about 500g. Along with that I needed 12 Primal Shadows. Luckly I transfered over most of my Primal Lifes and was able to trade some of them for Primal Shadow. All I had to do was come up with the HoD. I did all of the SSO dailies on Saturday and got the money for one Heart, but it left me fairly broke. Plus, If I wanted to get SR cloak enchant I would need another 8 primal shadow. So, on sunday I did another 24 dailies and I am up to a decent amount of gold.
I do have a lot of Shadow Resist now. The 4 peices of crafted gear and the BT attunment neck give me 228 Shadow resist. On top of that I have a pair of green SR gloves and a green SR ring that I just happened to get from my SSO dailies. I also have my old T4 helm in the bank (being a pack rat paid off) which I as able to put a SR enchant on for another 20 shadow resist. These three items bring my SR up to 292. With the buffs I will be up to 362, only 3 below the cap. This should be enough. The problem with all this is I am dropping a lot of DPS gear to get there. Hopefully we will get enough hearts to make the pants soon.
On top of all this I need to get the [Medallion of the Alliance]. Apparently it is needed to down Archimond. So I had about 7000 Honor to farm on a WSG weekend. I was not looking forward to it. Luckily I had a lot of honor marks in the bank from the various BGs, and as able to turn them in for honor.
Graypal and Grayfel didn't see much action, due to my focus on Graylo. I originally had a goal of getting Grayfel to 70 by the end of August, but that doesn't look likely anymore. There are just to manythings I need to do with Graylo right now to push him forward.
6 comments:
Hi. Wanted to hear your thoughts on these issues.
1. What do you think about the talent redundancy regarding spell pushback. There are 9 talents for this: Control of Nature, Celestial Focus and Owlkin Frenzy. Don't you think Celestial Focus should apply to Starfire and Hurricane, and Control of Nature to Hibernate, giving Owlkin Frenzy stun immunity or damage reduction instead of pushback immunity?
2. What do you think of Typhoon and Starfall? Isn't Starfall cooldown just too big for a top tier talent? Also, don't you agree Typhoon's knockback is laughable as a defense mechanism for pvp?
3. What are your thoughts on Treants? Mage's WE has a lot of synergy with Frost's Spells (as well as a Pet Bar, and is in the same Talent Tier as Force of Nature). Shaman's Wolves apparently will have abilities as well. I'm underwhelmed with the current status of Treants, even after the cd reduction and daze mechanism (another proc for moonkins...)
I'm a little worried that Balance Druids are not getting the attention and playstyle consolidation it needs, when I read the Beta Forums.
- August 11, 2008 at 1:06 PM
- Cdin said...
Great questions. Of course I willl be answering these from my PvE raiding perspective unless stated otherwise.
1) I don't really know how I feel about this since it isn't really an option. For most raids pushback resistance is nice but not required. Raid wide damage is infrequent enough to not significantly reduce our DPS. However, I am starting to do some of he BT fights were raid wide damage is high and I am wondering how this will limit my DPS.
So, I would love Starfire adn other spells to be included into Celestial Focus. My problem is I don't know If I could pick it up. I already have almost all of my Talent Points used and don't know IF I could find 3 to put in CF. Ulitimately I don't think Pushback resistance should play a big roll in raiding as long as a tank is doing his job. If pushback is going to become a big part of all boss fights then blizzard needs to provide an good way to combat it. That means reducing the number of talent points you need to get some talents.
Control of Nature is fine as a separate talent in my opinion, but I do think it makes sense to include Hibernate in the talent.
Owlkin Frenzy is mostly a PvP talent in my opinion. In such a case the push back resistance is a little redundant with CF. Eljefe has proposed that OF might be a good raid talent though if WotLK bosses are designed like the BT and SWP bosses with a lot of raid wide damage.
In short, I think there is some redundency there and there are holes in the protection, but we won't know if it matters until we see how new bosses are designed.
2) I don't really like Typhoon or Starfall.
Typhoon is a pvp talent that might be ok in BGs but I don't know how it would work in arena. In raiding it would suck because of its cooldown and you can knock mobs out of range for the other AoE.
Starfall sounds cool but seems to have limited use. Its an AoE spell that requires me to get into the thick of the fighting and it has a 5 minute cooldown. Using the BC boss fights as an example, when would you us it. Every third of fourth wave in Hyjal, 2 or 3 times on tidewalker, phase two of keal. I agree that it leaves a little to be desired given that it is so high in the tree with such low utility.
3. I actually like trents and I think some of the things they are doing in WotLK fixes most of their problems. I have heard rumors that They have a pet bar in WotLK but haven't seen anything offical. Also brambles will increase their damage a little. I'm not sure they are worth a 41 point talent, but they are a good source of threat free DPS if used correctly.
Thanks for reading.
- August 11, 2008 at 2:09 PM
Another thing that came to my mind is, if Owlkin Frenzy is changed to reduce dmg by 10%, if Typhoon is changed to apply a slow, and if Celestial Focus is changed to give pushback protection to Hurricane, Moonkins can become AoE offtanks for pulls like the ones in Zul'Aman, or Morogrim (not Hyjal obviosly). Remember also that Hurricane now reduces spell and attack speed by 50%.
- August 11, 2008 at 4:49 PM
Don't you think Eclipse would be a lot better if instead of activating on casts, to be activated by an ability?
Eclipse: Earth. Increases the damage done by Nature spells by 10% but decreases damage done by Arcane spells by 10% for 10/15/20 seconds. 3 minute cooldown
Eclipse: Moon. Increases the critical chance of Arcane spells by 10% but decreases the critical chance of Nature spells by 10% for 10/15/20 seconds. 3 minute cooldown.
The talent itself would provide both abilities, and each point would give 5 more seconds to the buff duration.
- August 22, 2008 at 9:41 AM
- Cdin said...
@Anonymous #3
Making Eclipse an Activated/Trinket-like ability would definately improve the talent and most moonkin would pick it up, and it is a decent idea. However, there is no chance of this happening in my opinion.
I think this because an activated ability wouldn't accomplish Blizzards goal. They have designed this talent to create more casting complexity so that wrath is used in raids and starfire is used in pvp.
The problem comes down to the math behind the spells. In a raid with normal raid buffs (CoE, WC, Imp Scorch) Starfire will still kill Wrath in mana efficency, and they will be very similar in terms of DPS. If you add a 10 buff to wrath then you would get a DPS buff of about 13% but Wrath would be about 27% less mana efficent. So activating the nature buff could potentially kill your mana.
In the end People would only use it for the Arcane buff thus not promoting the casting diversity that blizzard wants.
If they want us to use Wrath more in raids then they need to increase the buffs that Eclipse would give. So that preemptive casting and reactive switching would actually benifical.
- August 22, 2008 at 2:00 PM
I think its OK for PvE because you can control your rotations more easily. The problem is that the talent is very difficult to use in PvP, when you consider Resilience reducing crits, and the fact that using Starfire in PvP is difficult, because of no pushback protection and its long casting time, and we are subject to a lot of interrupts.
If it is changed to an ability, it would be benefitial to both PvE and PvP. We would have more control burst, something that in PvP we currently lack.
Also, for PvE, depending on the complexity of a fight, sometimes its better to depend on an activated ability, than on a proc chance that could likely be wasted because of the proc timing.
- August 22, 2008 at 2:50 PM


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John Fisher probably figured he'd gotten away with inappropriately touching that 10-year old girl. That is, until police showed him the photos his victim took of him mid-molestation on her Nintendo DS.
Fisher, age 46, initially denied touching the unidentified victim in January 2010 and November 2011 but recanted his testimony and admitted guilt when presented with "indisputable proof of what had happened," according to Detective Constable Annabelle Bunn.
"She was brave enough to come forward and report the incident and give us a full and accurate account of what had gone on," Bunn told The Daily Mirror. "Although Fisher initially denied assaulting her, when confronted with the image he had no choice but to concede he had done exactly as she had reported." Ipswich Crown Court sentenced Fisher to three and a half years in custody and indefinite inclusion on the British nation sex offender registry. [UPI - Image: WilleeCole / Shutterstock]


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Join shock jock extraordinaire, Wendy Williams as she takes you on the ride of your life through flashbacks of the rise and fall of her alter ego Ritz Harper. In a serial novel rife with dirt, scandal, and drama, readers will be left salivating as they try to figure out where the fictional Ritz Harper ends and the real life Wendy Williams begins.
DRAMA IS HER MIDDLE NAME is the first in an exciting series of innovative serial novels. In a marketing ploy that is simply too scrumptious for words, Wendy will involve her millions of radio listeners by asking them how the second book in the series should end. This revelation will be revealed at the beginning of the next book which we will publish in the fall of 2006 just in time for Christmas.
Ritz Harper is New York's hottest radio DJ. She's put the "S" in Shock, the "G" in Gossip and "Drama� is her middle name. She is also a homegrown suburban girl on the outside but inside she's a hustler all the way. She's an all-purpose broad who's masterfully maneuvered her way into the spotlight after ruining the career of a well-respected newswoman (and former college friend.) Ritz's "exclusive" torpedoes her to the top of the ratings and she's rewarded with her very own show.
As Ritz's star grows brighter and brighter, even friends become foes as Ritz welcomes her guests onto her show and like a talking Venus fly trap verbally seduces them and then watches their lives crumble. Ritz soon becomes the darling of the station's afternoon drive-time slot. But what happens when Ritz goes from drive-time diva to drive by victim? Has Ritz finally bad-mouthed the wrong person? Have her exposes and "exclusives" backfired? Has her signature cat and mouse "Bomb drop" been dropped on her instead?
As Ritz lies crumpled in a heap on a New York City sidewalk not far from her studio, felled by bullets with her name on them, all she can think as she struggles to maintain consciousness is "Who did this to me? Who? Who? Who?"
In DRAMA IS HER MIDDLE NAME, Shock jock extraordinaire Wendy Williams lets loose with the first in a series of serial novels based on her alter ego, the fabulous, incomparable, over-the-top divalicious radio DJ Ritz Harper.Â
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DRAMA IS HER MIDDLE NAME (Harlem Moon/Broadway Books, on-sale 6/20/06, Trade Paperback Original, ISBN 0-7679-2486-X)
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Carey Mulligan is tired
From partying with Taylor Swift after the BRITS last night?
So there's Mrs Timberlake, the touring wife. And then there's Carey Mulligan, also supporting her husband, Marcus Mumford, on the awards circuit. What's the difference?
Oh...just an Oscar nomination.
I just finished up at the Canadian Oscar Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Wilshire -- Pretty Woman! -- and am rushing back to the hotel to blog. Saw these pics of Carey and Marcus and wanted to get these up quick. Super cute, right?
INF, Dave M. Benett/ Getty


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Prelude in D minor
I haven't really decided on a name yet.
Should I stick with Scherzo form or turn it into a Sonata?
I have completed the A section of my Presto piece, or at least what I have thought of for it so far. It is quite quick at quarter note = 190 BPM. This is another piece for which I was aiming for a humorous character and I think I have done it. I titled my piece Presto in D major, because I wasn't sure if it could be considered a scherzo or not, but I did know that 190 BPM is well within the range for Presto. I also am not sure if I should stick to your typical scherzo form or if I should expand this out to a sonata form and have what I am now considering the A section be the First Theme. This is your typical Scherzo form:
I sometimes, especially in Beethoven and Chopin, see diversions away from this form and more towards sonata form in their scherzos(most commonly a coda is added, but sometimes the B section is extended to be more like the development section of a sonata). But currently, what I have would be the A section if I stuck to your typical Scherzo form. In comparison, here is your typical sonata form which I am thinking of possibly expanding this piece into due to the sheer speed of the notes. I mean, most Scherzos that I hear are at least 5 minutes long. Anyway, this is your typical sonata form:
And here is what would most likely happen if I were to expand the piece from typical Scherzo form to Sonata form:
It isn't the speed or how humorous it is that is making me question whether what I have right now could be considered the start of a scherzo. Rather, it is the time signature that is making me question it. Most scherzos are in 3/4. What I have so far of my piece is in 4/4 and the only simple time signatures that it could fit into are 2/4 and 4/4 because of the Alberti Bass in it. That isn't to say that you can't have Alberti Bass in 3/4, you can. But the Alberti Bass I have doesn't fit well into 3/4. Here is my piece so that you can give feedback on it:
And should I stick to the Scherzo form and just have it be a 2 minute Scherzo? Or should I expand it into a longer Sonata Form that might be say 10 minutes long at the same Presto tempo?
New Song
I´ve written a song and would love to hear your opinion about it.
thanks for listening. :)
Piccola Fiamma
This is my first composition.It talks about a flame suddenly extinguished by a gust of wind.Enojy!


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September 24, 2012
Secretary of State on campus to help register voters
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted chats with Student Ambassador Stacey McKnight last week on campus during the Show you Care and Vote bus tour sponsored by 10TV. The bus stopped at four other campuses last week before arriving at Columbus State on Friday. The goal was to register students to vote at each location, with representatives from the Secretary of State's office on hand to answer questions.
Aviation Maintenance assists with disaster drill
Columbus State's Aviation Maintenance Technology lent a hand to the Columbus Regional Airport Authority during their annual disaster drill, held September 20 at Bolton Field Airport. The mock disaster exercises are required by the Federal Aviation Authority. Columbus State's Aviation program lent the Port Authority one of their aircraft for the exercise, as well as one of the facility's parking lots. Numerous federal, state, and local agencies where involved in the exercise. Franklin County Commissioner President Paula Brooks expressed her gratitude to Columbus State for helping Columbus complete the drill.
In the FAA Disaster Drill, a Columbus State-owned Piper Apache is used in a simulated crash with bio-hazard agent aboard.
Deadline drawing near for Health Rewards
The deadline for fulltime employees with United Health Care insurance to complete the Health Rewards program's required eight points is Sunday, September 30. Employees covered under either of the UHC plans through Columbus State must reach eight points to maintain a 20% payroll contribution.
A new website was made available on September 1. The link below has information on the Health Rewards Wellness Program and points. Dental points are not yet viewable. http://www.cscc.edu/about/faculty-staff/health-rewards.shtml
In order to calculate your current number of points you must:
Log into myuhc.com
Click on Health & Wellness (upper right)
Click on "I Get"-My Rewards
Click on "Earn Rewards" box on the screen
Click on the box for the current year and click: 9/1/2011-6/30/12 (previous year)
Add the points from current year to the previous year for your total points
(If you still need to complete Health Coaching, go under "I do" and click on online programs and start a session by 9/30/2012 to get 1 point.)
If you started a health coaching session before August 24, you will receive credit based on the start date of the coaching. In the future, credit will be awarded based on the completion date of health coaching.
A Health Rewards Briefing Session will be held Thursday, September 27, at 9:00 a.m. in CT-107. Contact Nichole Bowman-Glover for information on broadcasting to the Delaware Campus. For more information on the Health Rewards program, contact Bowman-Glover or Deborah Robinson, Benefits Administrator, at ext. 2177.
Flu shots to be offered on In-Service Day October 17
The Columbus State Wellness Initiative will offer seasonal flu shots to fulltime employees on In-Service Day, October 17. You will be able to register for these free flu shots online soon.
Sexual Assault Prevention seminar offered Thurs.
Columbus State's Public Safety, Counseling Services, Student Engagement and Leadership, and Human Resources Departments will offer a seminar on the prevention of sexual assault Thursday, September 27, at 12:00 p.m. in Delaware Hall Room 021. The seminar is being offered free of charge to all Columbus State students and employees interested in learning more about personal safety.
In the seminar, attendees will learn:
What is sexual assault?
Prevention and safety tactics
The important role of bystanders
What to expect from the Police
What to expect from the Student Conduct Office
How to access local resources for help
How to use the RAVE Mobile Alert System, the Virtual Escort, the Guardian system and how to text tips.
Pre-registration is not required. For more information about the seminar, contact Lieutenant Smith, Crime Prevention Officer, at ext. 2166.
There's still time to join Weight Watchers at Work
Meet your weight-loss goals with Columbus State's Weight Watchers at Work program! The next session will be on Tuesday, September 25, at 12:00 p.m. in the DX Conference Room, on the 3rd floor of the Bookstore. Columbus State needs a minimum of 20 participants to sign up in order to keep this opportunity for our employees. If you are interested in joining Weight Watchers at Work, please contact Nichole Bowman-Glover, Wellness coordinator, or come to the Tuesday meeting!
Want to know more about Shared Governance and SAC?
Columbus State offers a series of "Onboarding" sessions for new employees throughout the year which introduce them to the different departments and opportunities available at Columbus State. On Friday, September 28, all employees are invited to join the new hires for an opportunity to learn more about Shared Governance and the Staff Advisory Council. The session will be offered from 9:00-10:30 a.m. in CT 107.
Videoconferencing will be available for Delaware Campus employees in the Delaware Administration Building Room 129. To register to attend this session, go online here:
Space is limited so sign up today!
Have lunch…or dinner at Christopher's this Thursday!
Christopher's, the student-run dining room in Eibling Hall Room 05, will reopen for Fall Semester on Thursday, September 27 for lunch from 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. and for dinner from 6:00-7:30 p.m. You can see this week's menu online here!


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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS - Illinois Republican officials are calling for a Chicago-area congressional candidate to leave the GOP race after she blamed bad weather on legalized abortions and gay rights, but Susanne Atanus said she won't back down.
Jack Dorgan, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, said the 55-year-old's comments to a newspaper's editorial board were "offensive."
"She has no place on the ballot as a Republican," he said in a statement to The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald. "Her candidacy is neither supported nor endorsed by the leaders of our party, and she should withdraw from the race immediately."
Adam Robinson, chairman of the Chicago Republican Party, also distanced himself from Atanus.
"Atanus is not in any way affiliated with any of our efforts in the Chicago GOP, nor have we ever supported, endorsed, or assisted her in any way at any time," Robinson said in a statement.
Atanus, of Niles, is running against David Earl Williams III in the March primary for the 9th Congressional District, which includes part of Chicago and its northern and northwestern suburbs. The winner will face U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, in the November general election.
Atanus said she stands by her comments and won't withdraw.
"I don't know why they are not standing behind me," Atanus said.
Atanus told The Daily Herald's editorial board Monday that she believes God controls the weather and said tornadoes and diseases - including autism and dementia - are a response to gay rights and legalized abortions, the newspaper reported.
She continued to defend her position in an article published Friday.
"I care a lot about the world and I care a lot about my obedience to serve God the right way," she said. "I can't turn my eye and look the other way when I know that abortions, gay rights and civil unions are making God very angry."
Atanus isn't new to politics.
She ran for the seat in 2010, but lost in the primary. She was removed from the ballot in 2012 because she didn't have enough valid signatures.


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Nobody is restricting access to birth control
Lauren Briggs
Within moments of the Supreme Court decision on the Hobby Lobby case, my Facebook page lit up with exclamations of glee, anger, victory and outrage. The rhetoric was so high from all corners, that I decided to delve a little deeper for my own discovery. I started with the definition of the word contraception. It's origin goes back to the late 19th century from "contra" meaning "against" and "ception" which is a shortened form of conception, or "against conception."
The Oxford Dictionary defines contraception as: the deliberate use of artificial methods or other techniques to prevent pregnancy.
Merriam-Webster uses a similar definition: deliberate prevention of conception or impregnation.
Hillary Clinton's response to the ruling declared it "a setback for women's health, denying women the right to contraceptives as a part of a health care plan." She added, "It's very troubling that a sales clerk…who needs contraception, which is pretty expensive, is not going to get that service through her employer's health care plan because her employer doesn't think she should be using contraception."
The Supreme Court decision does not deny women access to contraceptives, as Hillary Clinton would lead us to believe.
There are 20 different contraceptive prescriptions, only four of which did Hobby Lobby object to. Those four include the "morning after pill" which is designed to prevent the implanting of a fertilized egg. The four are "abortion related drugs." Drugs that terminate an already fertilized egg.
Hobby Lobby never objected to covering birth control. It only objected to paying for what it considers to be abortifacients, which don't prevent a pregnancy, but terminate one.
This decision does not prevent women from accessing those four prescriptions, only that their employer can not be required to provide (pay for) those four. Hobby Lobby has willingly and will continue to provide the 16 or 80% of the 20 available forms of contraception. No woman is being denied access to any means of preventing conception, only a method or medicine that would in fact abort an existing fertilized egg.
I do not believe this is a Republican or Democratic issue. I do not see it as a War on Women. But I do see it as an example of government overreach, about protecting the First Amendment and religious freedom.
Charles Krauthammer said the real significance of the ruling is the court's affirmation that, as the government expands, it is encroaching upon religious freedom. "Even when…[the government is] doing stuff unintentionally, has no intention of impinging on religious practice, it will inevitably." He added, "Especially if you're going to control a sixth of the economy in the most intimate interaction a citizen has, which is healthcare."
Another interesting facet to this discussion is that there is no Obamacare contraception mandate. This issue was not covered in the Obamacare Law that was voted on by congress, but instead is a regulation added later by the Department of Health and Human Services. The 2009-10 Congress never debated the question of whether companies can be forced to provide such coverage. The HHS simply asserted they could impose such a requirement. Ramesh Ponnuru of the National Review said, "Several pro-life Democrats who provided the law's narrow margin of victory in the House have said they would have voted against the law had it included the mandate.
I am in agreement with the Supreme Court decision, but I must admit, I do not feel it is time for celebration and rejoicing. I realize it was a narrow 5-4 ruling. That means that four members of the Supreme Court of the United States did not find this a First Amendment issue and for that I am gravely concerned. I also find it ironic that this ruling was based on the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
The pro-abortion-rights lobby argues that "abortion" and "birth control" are synonymous terms, but that doesn't make it true.
To those who believe that life begins at the time of conception, it is a huge difference.
Lauren Briggs is the president of the Redlands Republican Women's Club. She can be reached at email@example.com.