Words for the wise from the mouth of a fool.
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The weblog of Seth Johnson -------------- INKSLINGER.ORG -------------- OD ARCHIVES -------------- FEEDS Posts:  Shared Items:
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Saturday, March 30, 2002
Apparently it's a day for me to crosspost things in an attempt to stir you into angry action; from Metafilter, in big (and hopefully convincing), bold type:
Congress is now calling for public comments on the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA). EF has a new action alert about it and a sample letter. Everyone should write, even if you have already.
To see the various sides of this debate, read the opinions of Michael Eisner/Disney (who desperately wants to stop those who would Free Mickey) and Tim O'Reilly. Then do something, before this crap gets into law.
(A crosspost from the Monkeyfan List:)
As I encouraged many of you to sign up for Yahoo accounts, I wanted you all to know that Yahoo quietly changed their privacy policy today in order to allow them to start sending you a pile of unsolicited emails. You can get around this by singing in to your account and editing your "marketing preferences" (look for the link about halfway down the page.)
If you don't go and do this, you are automatically giving Yahoo the right to sell your personal inforamtion; not just email address, but ANY OTHER information they have on you, including phone number and mailing address. In addition, opting out of the options they present now does not prevent them from auto-subscribing you to future "offerings".
Go. Change it now. And then tell Yahoo how much this pisses you off. Because it should.
Bastards.
--Seth
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Sigh. Yes, there is such a thing as n00d Super Punch-Out (mispelling deliberate to protect me from freaks using Google.)
The thread may have been hijacked, but at least it was hijacked in entertaining ways.
Also via MeFi, were I a millionaire, I'd get the new Sony PEG-NR70V. Or you could all chip in together and give me one. That would be awful nice of you.
Today's phrase: degenerate strategy. Learn it well, friends.
(I would add "game balance", but that seems pretty well covered by today's earlier link.)
Wednesday, March 27, 2002
You know, as we get caught up in more and more complicated games, it's nice to know that there are still those out there who revere simplicity*.
* One of the most brilliant websites I've seen in a while, by the way.
Look out! Behind you!
It's time for Wisconsin to decide what will be on it's quarter. Note that all Wisconsin ex-pats or those who wish to mess with Wisconsin's self image from afar should apparently feel free to vote. They don't ask where you are, and are limiting votes via the honor system.
Whether you're speaking artistically or procedurally, I think we're screwed.
You know what I miss? I miss--and this is going to sound strange--I miss bad Chinese food.
Here in Madison, we have a lot of Asian restaurants, and most of them serve somewhat authentic and at the very least adequate food. This has had the effect of raising the bar; what was 'great' food when I was a kid becomes merely good, and what was once 'okay' becomes 'bad'.
In almost all respects, this is a good thing. Better food all around, right? But there are times I miss the Chinese food from the restaurnat in the small town across the river from my home town, celery and beef in a glutinous gravy poured over crispy chow mein noodles.
Yeah, I could make exactly that with fine Chun King products from the supermarket. But I want to go somewhere and buy it once in a while. Y'know: comfort food. Sentimental food.
And, likely, the kind you find is never as tasty as you remember. But the memories--they're good...
Battlefield Google: the war between Xenu.net and the "Church" continues; I hearby declare this article your required reading for the day.
Not much to say today thus far. I must be officially back in home-mode, as I stayed up way too late doing nothing more than playing GTA3 and watching World News Now. I've started to wonder if the power of my insomnia is in direct proportion to how well I'm avoiding important things I should really be doing...
(Oh, and I finished the last novel in Michael Flynn's Firestar Saga, Falling Stars. It was okay. I much prefer the ideas behind In the Country of the Blind. But Carter Beats the Devil kicks their asses up and down the street with skill to spare. Not sick of me talking about it yet? You will be.)
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
While reading about the CBDTPA and checking out the online petition being organized against it, I decided to do a little bit of poking around to see if my elected officials were actually supporting it. Well, I haven't found the answer yet, but I did find this petition for those who want to DESTROY THE SATANIC GROUNDHOGS.
Monday, March 25, 2002
Stumbled by the SA Forums for a few minutes today, and found a link to Michael Swanwick's Periodic Table of Science Fiction. Haven't read it yet, but thought I'd share it with you at the same time I remind myself to read it later.
Okay. I'm back, firmly re-ensconced at my desk to share GDC goodness (and cruddy GDC souvenirs, like the awesome Intel beach ball) with my co-workers.
Before I go too much further, some terrific quotes from my reading during the trip:
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." --Niccolo Machiavelli
(which I have to offset by again quoting Lileks, from today's Bleat: "He knew me when I was young and insufferable, when my pretension, self-regard and overclocked sense of personal misery was unbearable to anyone who’d spent a few days in the adult world and taken notes. ")
and something I think is far more true than simply in its stated context of magic:
"What people want in a magic trick is a miracle: a tragedy with a happy ending."
--Charles Carter in Carter Beats the Devil, by Glen David Gold
Okay. So. The trip home. To say it was long was an understatement, as it took me to four states, three time zones, two different modes of transport, and twenty-five hours.
Okay, I did volunteer for the job. And I did see some interesting things on the way back: the Sun-Maid Raisins Factory Outlet Store; the enormous aircraft storage field at Avtel in Mojave, Califormia; California's enormously impressive wind farms; Boron, CA, home to the world's first supply of Borox (which I had only learned about a few days before in Carter Beats the Devil; Tehachapi, CA, completing my quest to visit every town mentioned in the song "Willin' "; Edwards Air Force Base, joining my list of shuttle-related sites I've passed through; Mean Gene's Burgers, a burger chain owned by Mean Gene Okerlund of WWF fame; Death Valley, where in a tribute to Cecil I startled Tim by yelling "We can't stop here--THIS IS BAT COUNTRY!"; shortly thereafter, a traffic accident so fresh that the wheels on the overturned trailer were still spinning (we pulled over but then continued; somebody was already on the nearby roadside Call Box, and there was a sizeable crowd of people helping--rapidly nearing the point of getting in one another's way).
Then we arrived in Vegas. Again. We still had quite a while before Tim's wife would arrive to join him for a few days' vacation and the (at this point) deadweight (read: me) was loaded on a plane for home. So we went to check Tim into his hotel, the palatial Venitian. If there's something you hate about Vegas, it was probably in that building. Then again, if there's something you like about Vegas, that was there too. Two major art museums. A dozen restaurants. An aloha shirt made up of old Spider-Man covers that I really wanted, but resisted buying.
But did we stay? Of course not! We dropped off Tim's luggage and made our way over to the Las Vegas Hilton, home of the Star Trek Experience. This made the fourth time I've been there, and much like when I saw the movie Ghost Dog four times, a good thing has begun to turn to ashes in my mouth. However, to completely break my turn of phrase, we ate at Quark's Bar and the food was terrific.
Nothing really interesting to report from the fligths home, other than to note that red-eye flights are creepily quiet--until the mechanical parts under rows 29 and 30 kick in and scare the shit out of three dozen sleeping people. Of course, for those who chose not to sleep, Delta kindly provided an unending video stream of the Best of Cable Television; I remember waking up to see a fashion designer's home, dozing off, and waking up to see crime scene photos of murdered Chicago gangsters up on the screen. I actually sat up and looked around to make sure I wasn't dreaming...
Okay, off to start catching up on the backlog. Enjoy some paper dolls.
Sunday, March 24, 2002
GDC Day Three:
(Whew! I look forward to next week,when I can go back to short meaningless posts and a bunch of links. Then again, I appreciate that these have been enjoyed enough to be quoted on PC. Thanks, Matt.)
Okay; you know the morning drill by now. The only difference is that the hotel breakfast was particularly crappy, and the bus downtown particularly full. I didn't really have anything I wanted to see, and the exhibit hall was closed, so I wandered around until I found something sufficently non-technical and sufficently interesting enough for that time of the morning/conference. It turned out to be "Startup Horror Stories", anecdote after anecdote that illustrated for me how lucky I am to work for an independant developer that actually managed to get off the ground, and what special blend of brave and lucky the founders had to be.
Then, over for a panel, "Business and Creative Aspects of Sequels". An interesting discussion, and one I'll want to listen to again once we get the recordings. It made me feel for the lead on Thief 3--he was part of the Thief 1/2 teams, and it sounds like while he's glad to be part of a successful franchise and have a chance to develop its unique gameplay, he's looking forward to working on something different in the near future.
One last visit to the exhibit hall, where I grabbed my hard-won GDC T-Shirt.Wandered around to see if anyone else was giving away interesting stuff, but no dice. (Although Brian, if you're reading this, I did get you a Game Developer subscription form.) Took advantage of the free lunch that was being out, though I can't say I "enjoyed" it.
Off to see Randy Smith again, this time giving a talk on "Design Fundamentals of Stealth Gameplay". It was a terrific talk, and probably the most immediately applicable of anything I attended all weekend, as he explained and demonstrated what he and the Ion Austin folks call "Analog Interaction Structures", a way for describing and displaying how gameplay systems interact. I not only want to listen to this talk again, I want to get ahold of his Power POint presentation so I can show it to some of the folks in the office; I'd love to see the idea take a broader hold. Deep thought. Structure. Systemic Design. I have to stop before I get all excited again.
Across the street--
(I should mention that though it sounds like I was running around like a dervish, each of these seminars, talks and activities was seperated by a half-hour long 'coffee break' where they handed out coffee and soda in the hallways. It was great to have creature comforts to help justify the hefty cost of admission, but I think I've imbibed my bodyweight in Diet Coke this weekend, something only made possible by the subsequently required and constant trips to the bathroom. A trip back to the desert might be a good thing to dry me out.
But I get ahead of myself.)
Across the street to the main lecture hall for "Practical Game Analysis with Doug and Warren"--that is, Doug Church and Warren Spector. Team leaders for Thief and Deus Ex, respectively, each had a deep love of the other's game, but disagreements with how various things were implemented. F'rinstance, Doug didn't understand why the DX team interrupted gameplay with conversation, Warren was upset the the Thief team constantly put the player in situations where usage of their inventory resources was not an informed decision. Each was able to defend their position and why they made their design decision pretty darn well, and it was a fascinating discussion that reminded me of the long, wandering talks I have with JP and Bezzy--Doug and Warren only have a bit more experience and thought under their belts. It made me respect both guys, their teams, and their games that much more.
(Aside: Spector mentioned that DX for the PS2 recently wrapped up, and mentioned some of the challenges they put to the QA team to test various things. Among the challenges successfully completed:
- Play DX without ever installing an aug
- Play DX without ever raising your skills
and, my favorite,
- Play DX without ever drawing a weapon of any sort.)
Back to the Head rally point, where I got to say hello to Elan Lee one more time. Then, though there was one more talk by Peter Molyneux that we had considered attending, we decided we were burned out. Tim, Rowan, Rowan's longtime friend Jason (from childhood to Midway and beyond) and I set out for a restaurant Tim had been to the previous year and enjoyed good seafood. Tim took us across the parking lot afterwards to show us what has to be one of the weirdest bars in the world--the Peppermill--but we decided to go back downtown and hang out in the bar at the Fairmont, de facto GDC hangout.
At the Fairmont, Tim and I played a board game that someone pulled out of their pockets (literally), a terrific little territory capture game set in ancient Italy. Surprisingly, I won. So adopting Jon's policy, I stepped away from the table and went over to hang out with some of the Epic crew, who were drinking and carousing nearby. Much fun was had, though I didn't even try--well, begin, actually--to keep up with the average Epicite intake.
Then, it was back to the hotel, where I have packed my bags in preparation for tomorrow, when 24 hours of travel begins. From San Jose I drive to Las Vegas, fly from Vegas to Cincinnati, fly from there to Madison. It's hard to believe I approved my own travel schedule, but I did. At least I have a fresh novel to read.
When next you hear from me, I'll be back in the land of beef and cheese (unless I'm stranded in Ohio and patch in my cel phone to call for help...)
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