Muse has released a new album.
For those of you who don't know, Muse currently competes with Gorillaz as my Greatest, Most Favouritest Band of all Time, Ever, a title I do not hand out frivolously, and so, when I heard that their new album, The Resistance, had arrived I jumped for joy.
I have not purchased this new GlitterDisk (ATOP) and so, being the cautious buyer I am (hur, hur hur,) I decided to see if I could here any of the new songs. After all, legitimate CDs are (relatively) expencive out here in the third world. I don't want to buy anything that's CRAP. Luckily, YouTube is packed to the brim with such videos.
So, here we go; Uprising.
Stop reading. Just ... listen to it.
Done? If so, good. If not, you're a disobedient little swine and I pity your inability to follow simple instructions. Of course, if you have good REASON not to listen, I guess you're forgiven ... just ... don't let it happen again, okay? Good. Now, have a cookie.
Anyway, wasn't that AWESOME!? I certainly think so. It's a strange mix of 1984, Dr. Who, Night of the Living Dead, V for Vendetta and the Teddy Bear's Picnic.
Now, I'll admit, at first I was a little taken aback by how techno it all sounded, but my fears were quickly put to rest by Matthew Bellamy's crooning and the piercing crash of his electric guitar.
Hey, Rude! I, once again, hear you shout, you're a slightly philosophical video-game/movie-nerd, you're not allowed to write about MUSIC!
Well, never fear, darling reader, for that's not the main topic of this little rant is not the song itself, (though it IS awesome,) but the general reaction to it. While YouTube comments are generally ... well ... shit, the ones for this song are unusually coherent. If you take a second to read a few, you'll notice another pattern emerging; they're mainly negative.
This is funny, as it reminds me of the reaction to some of the comments about Muse's LAST album, Black Holes and Revelations, with the masses screeming that it's not enough like Muse. I believe we can safely disregard these comments, as Uprising is MUCH more like Muse's early work than Revelations, and, to be frank, Muse is like whatever Muse wants Muse to be like.
So, why all the fuss? The answer is simple my friends: Neophobia!
I'm pretty that's what you'd call it, at least.
People do not like new things ... this is a fact. From the earth revolving around the sun to flying machines, new inventions, new versions of things and new editions of the same old thing annoy and frighten people.
I would go on a rant about how true and annoying this is, but, I see little point. It's well documented, and I'm sure you've experienced it at SOME point in your life. So, instead, I leave you with a thought: Next time you see or try something new, try going at it with an open mind. Who knows? It might be good ...
On a partially related note, how do you like the new look? I think the pink really suits ... but ... that's just my opinion.
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Sunday 20 September 2009
Brad Hookman? REALLY?
Today on the Blog with a Memorable Name; an experiment!
It's tradition that, during their final year, students at my place of education write two essays on a subject of their choise, and give an accompanying presentation. True to geeky-form, I did mine on Role-Playing Games, and the stereotypes associated with them. Specifically, why these stereotypes hamper the popularity of these games, and stop them from being accessed by a less geeky audience.
On a side note, have you seen some of the crap people think about RPGs!?! Check it out. You WILL be scared.
Anyway, inspired by this "Senior Project," I desided, "Hey, why don't I put my money where my mouth is and get some noobs to play an RPG?"
So, after some quick talks with a few people, I got a group together who had never played a Role Playing Game before. It consisted of an adult male (AM), an adult female (AF), a teenage male (TM), and a teenage female (TF). Yesterday, we played about 75% of the "Ill Tidings" adventure of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay with me as the GM, and each of them as a PC. My friend, with about as much RPG experience as myself was also there to help out, taking the role of a 5th PC. It's in the "Knights of the Grail" sourcebook, if you are inclined to look it up. I know you're not, but, hey, I try to be considerate.
The game itself went ... okay. Character creation took a LONG time due to me having to explain everything five times, but, really, you'd expect that, even with a group of experienced RPers using a new system. AF created a haughty Elf Envoy called Gythithy (I love randomly generated names! XD) TM, a tough Dwarf Pitfighter called Noragund, and TF, a crafty Halfling Knife-Thrower/Acrobat (Entertainer Career) named Agnes. AM, who was rather counter-productive throughout the whole game, created a none-descript Human Fisherman called Fisherman. After Vetoing this, he changed his name to Hookman. I told him to get a given-name, and he chose Brad (Which really fits with the Medeival Europian feel, doesn't it?). Brad Hookman.
This became a pattern throughout the game.
Being pressed for time, due to the lengthy character creation process, I rushed my introduction to the world. This, as any GM/DM will tell you, was a BIG mistake. This gave my players very little idea about their overall goal (Fighting Chaos) and so, when they found their first Chaos Mutants, rather than fighting, they wanted to run away. More my mistake than theirs, but, it's interesting to note that they felt such strong self-preservation insticts for their characters at such an early stage.
At the end, they all shared similar views about the game:
Character Creation: Way too complicated and WAY too long. They wanted to play the game, not spend an HOUR setting it up.
Story: They thought it was fun to play the story out, and enjoyed play with their characters, though, as above, they would've liked a little bit more background. My fault, and, therefore, not a great representation. They also liked the investigation elements, and seemed pleasently surprsied that we weren't just going around cutting down monsters.
Out-of-Combat actions: Everyone (other than AM) took to these quickly, and enjoyed the roles their character had to play.
Combat: Similar to Character Creation, though, there were parts that they enjoyed. I could tell TF was taking great pleasure in knifing everyone to death, and TM's joy was palpable when he finally killed the choas cultist he's been fighting.
The general consensus was that, if we had a little more time (I.E. more than one session,) it'd be more enjoyable, as the rules confusion and character-creation process wouldn't be a problem.
AM - Unenthusiastic, wasn't paying attention, didn't seem to enjoy it. When he DID have input, it was (for the most part) unconstructive. I explained to him several times that he only determines the actions of his character, not the results, yet he INSISTED on saying "I hear the wizard inside the building killing people!" *Shakes head with dismay*
AF - Was involved, enjoying them game and really getting into it. I was impressed!
TM - Seemed slightly bummed that he didn't have great success with his character (Bad rolls) but, other than that, liked the game.
TF - The real success story of this game. While she wasn't as enthused as AF, her enjoyment far exceeded my expectations.
So, our verdict? Role Playing isn't for everyone, but, the "Not everyone" isn't nessicarily confined to gamers/geeks. Success? Partially. Am I going to do it again? I would like to. Not just so I can verify what we've seen here, but also to show more people that RPGs don't turn you into a bloodthirsty killer.
In closing, Jack Chick rhymes with dick.
It's tradition that, during their final year, students at my place of education write two essays on a subject of their choise, and give an accompanying presentation. True to geeky-form, I did mine on Role-Playing Games, and the stereotypes associated with them. Specifically, why these stereotypes hamper the popularity of these games, and stop them from being accessed by a less geeky audience.
On a side note, have you seen some of the crap people think about RPGs!?! Check it out. You WILL be scared.
Anyway, inspired by this "Senior Project," I desided, "Hey, why don't I put my money where my mouth is and get some noobs to play an RPG?"
So, after some quick talks with a few people, I got a group together who had never played a Role Playing Game before. It consisted of an adult male (AM), an adult female (AF), a teenage male (TM), and a teenage female (TF). Yesterday, we played about 75% of the "Ill Tidings" adventure of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay with me as the GM, and each of them as a PC. My friend, with about as much RPG experience as myself was also there to help out, taking the role of a 5th PC. It's in the "Knights of the Grail" sourcebook, if you are inclined to look it up. I know you're not, but, hey, I try to be considerate.
The game itself went ... okay. Character creation took a LONG time due to me having to explain everything five times, but, really, you'd expect that, even with a group of experienced RPers using a new system. AF created a haughty Elf Envoy called Gythithy (I love randomly generated names! XD) TM, a tough Dwarf Pitfighter called Noragund, and TF, a crafty Halfling Knife-Thrower/Acrobat (Entertainer Career) named Agnes. AM, who was rather counter-productive throughout the whole game, created a none-descript Human Fisherman called Fisherman. After Vetoing this, he changed his name to Hookman. I told him to get a given-name, and he chose Brad (Which really fits with the Medeival Europian feel, doesn't it?). Brad Hookman.
This became a pattern throughout the game.
Being pressed for time, due to the lengthy character creation process, I rushed my introduction to the world. This, as any GM/DM will tell you, was a BIG mistake. This gave my players very little idea about their overall goal (Fighting Chaos) and so, when they found their first Chaos Mutants, rather than fighting, they wanted to run away. More my mistake than theirs, but, it's interesting to note that they felt such strong self-preservation insticts for their characters at such an early stage.
At the end, they all shared similar views about the game:
Character Creation: Way too complicated and WAY too long. They wanted to play the game, not spend an HOUR setting it up.
Story: They thought it was fun to play the story out, and enjoyed play with their characters, though, as above, they would've liked a little bit more background. My fault, and, therefore, not a great representation. They also liked the investigation elements, and seemed pleasently surprsied that we weren't just going around cutting down monsters.
Out-of-Combat actions: Everyone (other than AM) took to these quickly, and enjoyed the roles their character had to play.
Combat: Similar to Character Creation, though, there were parts that they enjoyed. I could tell TF was taking great pleasure in knifing everyone to death, and TM's joy was palpable when he finally killed the choas cultist he's been fighting.
The general consensus was that, if we had a little more time (I.E. more than one session,) it'd be more enjoyable, as the rules confusion and character-creation process wouldn't be a problem.
AM - Unenthusiastic, wasn't paying attention, didn't seem to enjoy it. When he DID have input, it was (for the most part) unconstructive. I explained to him several times that he only determines the actions of his character, not the results, yet he INSISTED on saying "I hear the wizard inside the building killing people!" *Shakes head with dismay*
AF - Was involved, enjoying them game and really getting into it. I was impressed!
TM - Seemed slightly bummed that he didn't have great success with his character (Bad rolls) but, other than that, liked the game.
TF - The real success story of this game. While she wasn't as enthused as AF, her enjoyment far exceeded my expectations.
So, our verdict? Role Playing isn't for everyone, but, the "Not everyone" isn't nessicarily confined to gamers/geeks. Success? Partially. Am I going to do it again? I would like to. Not just so I can verify what we've seen here, but also to show more people that RPGs don't turn you into a bloodthirsty killer.
In closing, Jack Chick rhymes with dick.
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