International Ragnarok Online server, known under the acronym “iRO”, have opened a free server.
However, a lot of things in this free server are nerfed. Halved EXP (not really a problem for the veterans), more severe penalty on death. BUT, if one is willing to pay, they gain access to exclusive kafra shop item, alterated exp rate and monster drop, and many more. Gravity is aiming to attract more players, but they also expect some people to pay for the extras. This was already tested on Korea Ragnorok Online “Baphomet” server. And last time I heard about it, it scored a nice success.
Now, with the Ragnarok Online Renewal that aim to remake the game mechanisms and rebalance things, one can hope a renewed life in an outdated game. And no, I don’t like WoW.
While I was browsing Clausewitz’s livejournal, to research a bit about the ever underrated medieval european swordmanship, I clicked on one link that broadened my horizon as I started to read its many rants. No, those are not “LOL U SUCK I AM RIGTH URE WRONG!!!” sort of rants and advices on writing, it is all the contrary. Anyone aspiring to write, seriously or for the lolz, should humble himself or herself, put his or her pride down and open this link. There you will find a lot of sound advices about worldcrafting, characters and characterization and plot writing, a lot of them are very wise and pinpoint the many pitfalls that too many aspiring writers tend to fall in, especially angst. If you are too proud and turn down everything with a “fuck these advices, I roll as I wish and I do it for fun, RULE OF COOL FOREVER!!!!”, maybe you need to take a pause and rethink the reasons you are writing. I mean, it’s easy to handwave flaws with “I do it for fun” or “rule of cool and epic first!”, but even “cool” and “epic” stories had to have a given plot, world and character logic behind it to make it believable and acceptable. That’s how I perceive it.
I mean, come on, a table-top role playing game where you rolepay maids. I like them, but I am just so used to play brainless brutes (mercenary or barbarian) or cowardly rogues that I cannot mentally picture my near-30 self calling one of my fellow rolepayers “Ojou-sama”.
I am frankly doubting the maturity of the players. From my personal experience, the majority of the gaming tables can’t properly role play court intrigues like in Legend of the Five Rings or police investigations like in The Call of Cthuluh. Not to say it is a bad thing tho. It’s only bad if you are one of these “SERIOUS BUSINESS” game masters.
As far as my personal scope goes, I can’t see how a game can go nice and dandy without my players joking about “office affairs” or “cigars”. Maybe it is one of these games you would properly enjoy with a boatload of whisky, coca cola, beer and weed. Maybe that is it, the secret of happiness in a tabletop rpg, loose expectations and lot of “artificial paradises” devices.
EDIT:
krisslanza, the girl who showed me the link, had gotten her hands on a pdf of the book and rolled Sheba meido for the lol:
Sheba meido is:
- A pure lolita
- Nekomimi Mermaid
- Low athletic and affection stats.
- Kinda low in Cunning stat.
- Kinda low in Luck.
- Average Will
- Had a tragic love story where lover have died.
- Have learnt Necromancy.
- Act like a spoiled brat when under stress.
- Have a hammer as a signature weapon.
- Her dress is a hammer space as long as she is in the mansion.
- Can be tenacious.
- is a part of a shadow clan.
If I spin it well, she is a loli with poor battle skills, but compensate it with necromancy and hammer space. And she can be right at home in Gensokyo or Seto no Hanayome.
According to one guy on the animesuki forums, Strike Witches are the most moe thing ever. Apparently, it will trample its competition w/o breaking a sweat. I, and a couple of regular reader of Asuki’s Saimoe thread, loled over it. But we were also facepalming because that guy was adamant in his conviction, and he really think that pantless, this part alone makes me cringe, lolis with random animal ears and pants would stand a chance against the Nanoha, Hayate no Gotoku and Higurashi blocks.
I’ll say it again out loud, pantless lolis is a fucking bad idea.
I didn’t get swallowed by a black hole, I didn’t killed myself either.
Instead, I have been very busy, writing up something, fiction related, as a form of mental challenge.
Before going in the topic, here a little story of my life. Before I was like ten, I used to not give two shit about music in movies. However, tunes had stuck in my mind. Especially, this one. It was actually the year I watched “Predator” that I actually started to pay attention to the music. Because, Predator would not be as awesome in my eyes without Alan Silvestri’s score.
Once in a while I shall voice my opinion over this tournament.
Today was the upset of the year, in my opinion. Indeed, Rei Ayanami, trumpeted to be the one who will effortlessly wipe out her competition, is out.
This picture portrays my emotion over the result:
I am not sure why Rei have lost. Maybe it is fans being too confident, not caring or people have moved on (I mean, 12 years have passed, people like me have grown up and opened to new kinds of moe). Maybe it is a combination of all of that. In my opinion, it’s a relief that she is out.
However, as far as this tournament go, I have cast away my illusions over the odds of a Key/KyoAni character getting the title. One cannot win saimoe if she:
- is a KeyKyoAni character.
- is not a loli.
- is not a tsundere.
- all of above.
I am not too sure if any of the Higurashi characters can grab another win in a row, Fate Testarossa from the Nanoha series may be cursed to fail again in the most unexpected moment, she often does. Lucky Star? Not a chance in hell, they are KyoAni and I already said what’s about KyoAni and Saimoe. Clannad? LOL. Maybe this year will be Shana, Shugo Chara or Minami-ke. Depending on the outcome of Sunday’s match (where Horo is running), we may see if Horo have the same caliber as the heavyweights of the tournament.
I am rooting for Hanyuu, Fate Testarossa (Can she win once please?), Nagisa Furukawa, Kotomi Ichinose, the Aria girls and Chiaki Minami (she have the strongest chances compared to Haruka who is not loli).
If you want more regular covers of the tournament, you can check Kurogane’s animeblog.
It would be redundant to say what’s NHK. For the uneducated, it’s to Japan what CNN or Fox TV is to USA, or what TF1 or France 2 is to mainstream french TV.
Now, you are all wondering what is the big deal about it. I’ll say, it is a big deal.
It’s quite a feat when one’s creation, that started as a hobby, is being enriched by the fans and have grown to the point it turns into a cultural or/and internet phenomenon. Big enough to grab the attention of the mainstream medias who would make the author the subject of one of their shows. It’s something dreamt by most of nerds, but rarely achieved, or never.
I can think of another nerd that achieved such a thing, in my opinion. His contribution was enough to have given birth to a whole new genre in gaming: Gary Gygax, father of Dungeons & Dragons. Sure, he don’t enjoy nicevideos made by crazy fans, but a lot of authors have used his game as basic framework and expanded upon it. ZUN and Gygax are, in my eyes, nerds deities, but in way different fields.
Next step for ZUN would be to be nominated as one of Japan’s National Treasures. But, having read about the man, his ambitions are on a more modest scale. So he will continue to churn out crazy danmaku and godmoded bishoujos until he call it a day and let Yukari Yakumo kill Gensokyo. But who would want to let its lovely self-built universe die? Certainly not me.
Sorry guys, I’ll leave you to your mecha musume. Seriously, it fucking creep me out. As for the Alternative WWII settings, my eyes got caught by a movie that seems to be a collaboration between japanese and russians. It goes by the title “First Squad“. And from the look of the trailer, it looks to be effing awesome.
All I can hope for them is to cross my fingers and pray for it to be awesome. Russians knows their Eastern Front well enough to butcher it at a minimum level.
Entries (RSS)