fun

Hey, let's do another media round-up!

I was just about to cancel Netflix when my friend Dan recommended I check out Danger 5. So, I did. It's easily the most bizarre show I've seen in a while, and, not coincidentally, I absolutely loved it. It brings to mind the deranged sensibility of Garth Merenghi's Darkplace in the way it glorifies intentionally bad art. It starts out weird, and gets even more deeply strange throughout the first season, before taking a very dark (but still hilarious) turn in the heavily re-imagined second season. So, that was a... very memorable note on which to end my Netflix subscription.

Instead, I am now a happy subscriber to HBO Now. It's pretty fantastic. I'm reminded in a lot of ways of the revolution in digital music a little over a decade ago, which Apple also led. Up until that point, it was far easier to pirate music than to buy it; after iTunes came out, even people who knew how to pirate music were often happy enough to just pay a few bucks for the songs they wanted, since it was more convenient. That's very much how I feel about HBO Now: sure, you could just download Game of Thrones (and plenty of people do); but with Now, you can actually start watching it before the episode finished airing, and see it in high-definition without fiddling around with torrents or newsgroups or anything.

Of course, it's not just Game of Thrones. Considering it's twice as expensive as Netflix, it had better not be! I've been really digging the second season of Silicon Valley, which once again is an uncanny reflection of my real life. And I've also been plowing through a bunch of the movies they have. I think that Netflix technically has more movies than Now, but Now, has way more movies that I actually want to watch. So far I've seen a bunch of flicks that I never caught in the theater, like Edge of Tomorrow, The World's End, Gravity, The Darjeeling Limited, The Interpreter, and King Kong, along with some old favorites like Dark City. At first, I was kind of anxious about watching movies before they expired (movies rotate on and off every couple of months), carefully tracking their expiration dates and watching them in order, before finally realizing that this isn't Netflix and there are more than enough good movies that I want to watch, so I don't have to ration them.

But, perhaps unsurprisingly, most of my time on Now has actually been spent re-watching an old TV show: namely, The Wire. The re-watch has confirmed its status as my favorite TV show. I'm currently approaching the end of the third season, which is especially resonant given the awful events in Baltimore recently. Major Colvin is a clear stand-in for David Simon's philosophy, and gets many monologues throughout the season that perfectly capture Simon's understanding of the history of policing in Baltimore. But, of course, this is all in a show more than a decade ago, which makes it all the more painful to watch now... it feels like everyone knows that the current system isn't working, but everyone has kept doing the same thing anyways. I've been dreading the thought of watching the fourth season; it's probably the best, but is also incredibly painful, and will probably feel doubly so now given the real-world parallels. (During the opening credits of the third season, there's a brief shot of a wall covered in graffiti that reads "Body-more Murdaland." My heart aches whenever I see it.) So, I'm considering jumping directly from the season 3 finale to the season 5 finale, which is one of the best endings to any show ever.

Oh: it might be worth noting that this is my first time watching The Wire in high-definition and widescreen. It's been many years since my last viewing, so it's hard for me to give a detailed comparison, but I will note that I really love it. Apparently the first three seasons were shot in widescreen, so it makes sense that they would be fairly adaptable to the format. Also, I liked the second season a lot more the second time around. I think it's because during my first viewing I saw it as a distraction from the unresolved storylines of the first season; now that I understand the show's purpose and rhythm, though, it holds up much better.

On the gaming front, I just started playing Jaws of Hakkon, the first paid DLC for Dragon Age: Inquisition. The fan reception was a bit muted, so I didn't grab it at first, but now that I've started playing it I'm enjoying it. It helps that the base game has received some very welcome updates, most notably some major improvements to the keyboard-and-mouse controls and the return of the Black Emporium from Dragon Age 2. Thanks to the latter, I can finally fix my first Inquisitor's too-shiny lips. That... that probably sounds petty, but to me, it's much more important than a new sword or spell would be. Anyways - I'm sure I'll write up a full post later, but for now I'll note that the new areas are gorgeous, the combat is much harder than before, and there's lots of top-tier items and crafting resources to be found. I'm following my standard process and doing absolutely everything except for the main plot as long as possible, so I can't speak to that part just yet. I do appreciate that they allow it to be played either before or after beating the main game, which BioWare has done to good effect in the past with DLCs like Lair of the Shadow Broker.

And, I should probably also confess my secret shame: for reasons that are still unclear to me, I recently installed and started playing Lord of the Rings Online. I'm really not sure why! I'm famously hostile towards MMOs, even more famously hostile towards free-to-play games, and supremely skeptical towards video games based on Tolkien's writings. I think the thing that caught my attention was some character art from the game which really struck me... it has a wonderful aesthetic that isn't hyper-stylized like many Asian fantasy games, but also isn't the sort of grimy "realistic" mode preferred by many Western RPGs. It's human, attractive, kind of modest but not bashful, if that makes sense.

I've been poking away at it for a bit and am not sure if I'll stick with it. As usual, I appreciate the technical and creative concepts behind MMOs far more than I enjoy the experience of actually playing it. In the case of LOTRO, I've so far been pretty impressed at how lore-friendly Turbine has been in creating it. It's definitely not another WOW clone or gimmicky attempt to break into the market: it feels suffused by Tolkien's ethos, not just in the names and stories, but the flavor and values and overall feel of it. Most modern MMOs are all about getting as many points in a Skinner box as possible, as you are rapidly trained to perform actions in exchange for rewards. In LOTRO, the most overwhelming sensation I've felt so far is a love for Middle-earth. Yes, there are quests and fights and such, but the whole tenor of the game is very conducive to wandering the landscape, listening to music, reading and learning. All players are on the same "side," defending the Free Peoples against Sauron's threat, and are unabashedly "good". Your characters have stats like Will and Fate, but also can gain virtues like Determination, Patience, Fidelity, Innocence, Tolerance, and Mercy. I mean, seriously, how many RPGs let you gain levels in Innocence?!

The game is pretty ancient, having just passed its eight birthday. For reference, that's two and a half years before Dragon Age: Origins came out. Considering that, I'm absolutely astonished at how good it looks. I'm pretty sure that's mostly thanks to the art direction - it certainly doesn't challenge my graphics hardware at all, even with settings maxed. But thanks to the fantastic use of color palettes and... well, just making pretty environments, it's very easy to look at.

Most of all, I've just been enjoying the feeling of being "in" Middle-earth. That's a sensation that I've craved for most of my life. As a kid, I would daydream frequently about living a life in whatever fantasy land currently had my attention: as Lone Wolf in Magnamund, or a Ranger in Middle-earth, or a traveler in Midkemia. I vaguely thought that, if I could somehow experience being in those worlds, I would be perfectly happy to just maintain that experience forever. I would fantasize about wandering through the forests that I'd read about, climbing the watchtowers, sitting on the shores. My fantasies weren't about killing enemies or gaining glory: just being there.

Looking back, it does make a certain amount of sense. Kids are impressionable, and those books certainly made an impression on me. Also, there were aspects of my life that I didn't like back then, so it's almost logical that I would prefer to live another life. All that said, it's kind of funny that I still can feel that kind of yearning sometimes. My life today is fantastic, and I wouldn't want to give up the real world for anything... but somehow, the thought of vicariously living in Middle-earth continues to command my attention.

Like I said before, we'll see how long this experiment lasts. I'm currently playing as an elven minstrel named Taharien. In keeping with the lore-friendly design of the game, there aren't any mages or clerics or paladins. The minstrel class is inspired by Luthien from the Lay of Beren and Luthien, although it can be selected by all genders and races. The mechanics are interesting and a lot of fun, and involve aspects of dissonance, resonance, and harmony; skills include ballads, anthems, and codas. I've also taken on the Explorer vocation, which includes Prospecting, Forestry, and Tailoring professions. There's a lot to like, including terrific support for cosmetic wardrobes - you can dye clothing into the color you want, can hide individual pieces of armor based on preference, can support multiple wardrobes, and can even visibly wear one outfit whose appearance you like while gaining the stats from another outfit. That's something BioWare could take notes from!

I imagine that the F2P mechanics will annoy me at some point... I'm currently at level 12, and it sounds like it starts getting hard to advance without paying around level 30 or so. I've done some advance research and have a rough plan for how I'll spend money if I do decide to spend money. I figure I'll give Turbine the same opportunity I gave Failbetter: play all of the freely available content for as long as I can, and if I feel like I owe them money by the end of that time, start showing my appreciation with my hard-earned cash.

Hm... there's probably more to write but that will do for now. Time to watch Game of Thrones!

A Glimpse of Things to Come

Thanks as usual to the immensely talented Isbjorg!

Underneath

Below, Chris Gardiner's narrative dungeon-delving game, is now live! I've had a blast playtesting the beta, and am very happy to see it move on to a broader audience.

Below combines elements of several disparate genres, but ends up with a unique flavor of its own. It has the semi-random structure and permadeath of a roguelike; it's played in the browser like a casual game; it's text-heavy like a classic adventure game; it has the atmosphere and character-building dynamic of a fantasy roleplaying game. The result is a game that feels a great deal like a folk tale,  filled with both abstract, representational elements and very specific moments that strike you with their evocative detail.

The mechanics have changed a great deal during the time it's been in beta, with many of my early powergaming techniques being nerfed or obsoleted by later developments. A significant change to Second Chance items was made recently, and I haven't yet adapted my playstyle in response, so I'm probably not the best source for tips. Still, here are some general suggestions I have for new players.

• Both of the available characters (Barefoot Friar and Blacksmith's Daughter) are of roughly equal utility. The Friar is probably slightly more forgiving for new characters thanks to his Condition-removing ability, while the Smith can be a bit more powerful at endgame.
• Don't feel like you need to pump up all of your stats. Particularly when starting off, you'll usually need to trade off one for another. Try to pick one or two to focus on, and dump on the remaining one.
• Whenever you can, try to get heirlooms that will help future characters, or reputations, prestige cards, and items that will carry over to your current character's future quests. In the long run, you'll probably end up with more XP than you can spend, so don't hoard it.
• You can unlock achievements by dying, or by retiring characters. It makes sense to do this early on with your starter characters, before you have too much invested in them.
• I usually use my Above cards to cure Spirit. But Sails of the Sea-Kings only causes problems once it hits 20, so don't be afraid to spend them on other things so long as you stay under. (You can check your current value in the More tab, under Story.)
• There's no shame in hanging out on the upper levels of the dungeon. The challenges are much easier here, and the penalties for failure are less. It does mean spending more time acquiring the resources you need, but now that action limits have effectively been removed, there isn't much downside to it.
• Drop by the Google+ Community to discuss strategy and lore with other players.

There's a bunch of other stuff I could say, but I don't want to spoil the fun of figuring it out.  Below is challenging, but rewards you for suffering and for figuring things out. Over time you'll gradually come to know the dungeon well and feel more confident navigating through it, but there's never a moment where it becomes safe: the enemies you face can't be beaten back with swords or dispelled with magic, and you'll need to stay cunning and cautious in order to achieve your goals.

Whatnot

I haven't done one of these in a while, so here's a random rundown of televised entertainment I've been watching lately!

I'm currently rushing through a bunch of Netflix exclusives, in a stupid quest to finish all of them before HBO Now is released so I can cancel my Netflix subscription and switch to that in time for Game of Thrones / Silicon Valley. Some shows are better than others.

At the top of the list, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is fantastically funny. It manages to be really surprising and engaging and clever. I was pretty impressed at how they were able to develop an actual arc over the course of the season... I thought that they were just going to use their strong premise and cast for a typical sitcom structure, but it evolves into this really great overarching story. I'm still a bit baffled why NBC let this one go, it would have easily been the best comedy on the network.

Speaking of great comedies let go by NBC: The Yahoo! TV season of Community has been really good so far. It got off to a strong start, evoking the show's typical love of meta-referential humor thanks to Abed's musing over spin-offs and the study group's disparate levels of attachment to Shirley's and Pierce's vacant chairs. I'd been bracing myself for lowered production values with the jump from network television, but it's actually felt pretty much the same as before; the opening frisbee disaster seems like vintage Community shenanigans. And as a final bonus, I adore Paget and she's been terrific in this.

Archer's also having a very strong season. I'd been bummed by them pressing the reset switch at the end of the previous season, but the show's story and mythology is still continuing to evolve, and the character relationships provide their own form of dynamism. It's great fun, and they continue to outdo themselves in animation quality with each new year. The show also has probably the best-calibrated sense of any show regarding when to repeat their catchphrases and when to give it a rest.

Moving on to dramas, Better Call Saul has been fantastic. I'm a big Bob Odenkirk fan and was on board for whatever happened. It's ended up being a really interesting alternative to Breaking Bad. BB was a master at propulsive serial storytelling: you were always wondering what was going to happen next, how Walt would get out of his current jam. Obviously, since BCS is a prequel, we already know where the character is going to end up, but there ends up being much more ambiguity in this show than the original. It moves forwards and backwards in time, giving us tantalizing glimpses of different moments and revealing character glimpses. When watching this show, I usually don't ask myself "What will happen next?"; instead I'm wondering why characters are relating to each other the way they are, what reasons people have for the actions they take. The payoff to these questions is slow, and many are still outstanding, but the revelations we've gotten so far have been incredibly satisfying. I'm really looking forward to what happens in the rest of this show's run.

On a more negative side, I thought season 3 of House of Cards was its weakest yet. I didn't hate it, but it felt the least engaging out of all so far. In principle, I like the idea of showing Frank under more duress and struggling to maintain power rather than fighting to claim it; but so much time was spent on sideplots that never went anywhere or had little payoff, like Remy and Jackie's relationship or Tom's book or anything Seth and Meechum did. It didn't help matters that Frank was completely ridiculous for the entire season. It's clear that Kevin Spacey is having a lot of fun, which I suppose is a good thing, but the snarling and scenery-chewing and increasingly desperate search for new mores to break got old. (On the plus side, Robin Wright continues to be fantastic. She pretty much carried the season for me.)

I've also begun tearing through Orange Is the New Black and have been really enjoying it. This show also feels pretty loose and has lots of digressions, particularly when it flashes back to the pre-prison lives of its inmates, but in this case that seems to enhance the show: it highlights the vast ensemble's diverse experiences, and also emphasizes the basic randomness of events. We're regularly reminded that these women aren't particularly bad or dangerous; they made mistakes, and were unlucky enough to get caught. There's a ton I like about this show, and perhaps I'll give it its own post later, but for now I'll mention how much I appreciate the complexity of its characters. Someone like Caputo is a great example: he's personally sleazy, and can be really capricious; but he's also a reformer who seems to genuinely want the prison to be run well (although, granted, there's some self-advancement attached to this). On the other hand, Healy is much friendlier than most of the staff and seems like a quintessential nice guy; but he's deeply homophobic and can be extremely petty. What I like about this show is that it isn't just a matter of "This character is good fooled you! no they're bad"; it isn't afraid to make a character sympathetic, then show them being really crass, then show them demonstrating compassion. Every character is a collection of good and bad, just like all of us in the real world.

Hm... I think that's about all that I've watched lately (other than viewing this amazing mashup of Taylor Swift and Nine Inch Nails approximately 50 times over the past two months and Panic Switch another two dozen). I'm definitely looking forward to trying out HBO Now. Netflix has been good and all, but it's been months since I found a movie on there that I actually wanted to watch, and if it weren't for TV shows I would have canceled it long ago. Between Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Veep, and the new movies (including Going Clear) and maybe even that Vice news show, I should have plenty of good entertainment in my future.

Now You Zee Me, Now You Don't

Andrew reminded me that I never posted my final experiences on Sunless Sea. So, here they are!

As previously noted, I had started to pay attention to the unlockable Legacies. They're a bit like achievements, and come with the advantage of an extra +25 in a starting stat for all future characters. A few of them require ending the game, but others can be acquired in the midst of your voyages. I plotted out a "leveling up" run that would efficiently unlock all remaining Legacies for me, putting me in a strong position for any future ventures.

MEGA SPOILERS

One of these was fairly straightforward, if obtuse: finish delivering Sphinxstone to the Bazaar without having picked a background for your character. I'm very impressed with whoever figured out that solution on their own. In retrospect it makes at least some sense: the destination for the sphinxstone varies depending on your background, and an unknown background translates to St. Joshua's Shrine. Still, I'd always taken it to the Grand Geode, so I never would have stumbled across that solution without the wiki's help.

The next, A Dream of Red, can be gotten in two ways. I'd hoped to take the Scarred Sister up to the Surface, but in this game I failed my Mirrors roll when her house burned down and she died before I could rescue her. Fortunately, there's a fallback, which requires completing the Acolyte's questline. Thanks to my linked Fallen London account I always start out with a Soothe & Cooper longbox to kick this off, and in this game Station III was located conveniently enough where I could swing by it at the start and end of every voyage. In previous games I had lied to protect her, and I really liked how the story ended after showing her the truth and comforting her.

I'd already picked up a Legacy in my previous game from the fantastic Empire of Hands story. That left two challenging-but-feasible ones for the complete set. One would require working with the Anarchists to destroy London. That doesn't technically end the game, but it does expel you from the City and bar you from any Admiralty work. The next requires finishing the Merchant Venturer's storyline. In the past, I've usually gotten stuck on steps like "Collect 7 Hunting Trophies." They're entirely random, though, and in this game I really lucked out since nearly everything could be bought right at Wolfstack: it's even still (slightly) profitable. I got to the last step, which would require upgrading to a larger vessel like the Merchant ship.

So, I started making Sunlight runs up to the Surface in my tramp steamer while working with the Anarchists. This was the only game where I remained on good terms with the Blind Bruiser, who gives really good prices for Sunlight and returns your boxes. He does require periodic services from you, though, so I would interrupt my trips to Venice with occasional journeys to Khan's Heart or other faraway locations.

Along the way, I earned a good number of echoes. This was just before Failbetter added some penalties for carrying Sunlight, and I understand it's become less viable now, but I got to something like 6500 by the time I wrapped up the Anarchists' work. I cut my ties with the Admiralty, liquidated my remaining assets with the Alarming Scholar (Tales of Terror, a Searing Enigma, etc.), picked up the merchant cruiser, loaded it up with the Merchant Venturer's supplies, then sailed North.

We made it to Avid Horizon after evading Mount Nomad. It was my first experience with any ship other than the Steamer, and I had been a bit worried that it would be unbearably slow, but it actually felt like it was going about the same speed. That might be because I had upgraded engines already on the steamer; I'm still not totally clear on how speed works, but you might need a minimum power level to drive a certain mass.

In the Horizon, we prepared ourselves at the Gate, then prepared to step through, which required only a Searing Enigma.... oh, crap! There had been no advance warning of needing this item, and I had already sold the only spare one I had. I cursed myself for not extensively reading every aspect of the wiki before making any major decisions in this game.

Enigmas aren't just expensive; they're also one of the hardest items to get. I had already exhausted the easier sources, like Nuncio and the Tomb of the Emperor. I wracked my brain thinking of other solutions, before remembering that you can get an Enigma at the end of the Presbyterate Adventuress's story. I'd been really bummed the first time I did this, since I hate losing companions, but by this point I would have gladly sold my entire crew and my own mother for a single delicious enigma.

For some reason I hadn't even recruited the Adventuress in this game, so I did a few more Sunlight-snatching trips while waiting for her to show up in London. Fortunately, since I had done her quest before, I had a better idea of what stuff I would need on hand to complete it. The first time around I had spent a lot of time and money to open up the shops in Khan's Heart and pick up Romantic Literature; having done Empire of Hands since then, though, I knew that trading with the apes would be a far cheaper and easier affair.

I basically fast-forwarded through the stages, dining with the Adventuress multiple times instantly after acquiring her even before leaving London, then immediately facing her assassins and pledging to help her find death. A single long voyage later, we were back at Abbey Rock, watching her face a worthy foe. Enigma in hand, I raced NORTH once again, stepped through the gate, and ended the game feeling elated. Like the Zeppelin ending, it's technically a loss, but it feels like a victory.

END SPOILERS

I had earned a fair amount of echoes by the end of this game: I've maxed out the Heirloom storage of my Mansion, and still had something like 30000 echoes left over. Previously I had been selecting Iron and Hearts to carry forward my Memento Mori and Disillusioned Doctor. Once you have a nice set of cash, though, it seems much better to pick Veils and Mirrors, which lets you carry all of that money forward.

I did that, skipped picking a background, and selected my ambition: Retire to a Life of Luxury. Sold off my starting goods, went to my Mansion, visited my Study, selected the option to Retire, and... that was it! I won the game in less than 60 seconds, having never once left London.

I burst out laughing. After all of the days and weeks spent zailing, struggling, scrapping, losing, my first victory felt completely ridiculous. In the meta sense, I had earned it, but thinking of it as an actual story was really odd. "This is the story of a young woman, who wanted nothing better than to live in luxury. Fortunately, her mother had recently died, bequeathing her entire estate to her. The young woman never needed to work a day in her life, and lived happily ever after. The End."

And... that's it! There are other, more interesting Ambitions in the game. I've started a new game with the Father's Bones ambition, which already has an extra interesting story component to it. I definitely feel like the game should feel far more manageable from here on out, though. Between the beefy starting stats I've built up and the sizable purse each character can start with, I'm able to hit the ground running and start doing cool stuff pretty much from the start, without the fumbling I'm used to.

I mentioned this in my previous post, but the company name Failbetter perfectly captures the experience of playing this game. You're expected to fail, and die, over and over again. But each time, you acquire tools that help you do better the next time. Some of these are mechanical in-game tools like Legacies; but the biggest of all is the mental capital you build up. Knowing what items you'll keep and which you can sell, which ports to prioritize visiting, how to navigate the various island plots... all of that hard-earned experience becomes incredibly valuable in subsequent games, and ultimately will lead you to victory.