Video Game Review - Ruined King: A League of Legends Story

So, I don't usually buy or play video games right when they come out. In fact, I think I started DC Universe Online four YEARS after it debuted. But I've been very interested in League of Legends for awhile, mostly because of their awesome music videos. With the release of their full animated series, Arcane, I became even more interested.

Now, in the gaming community, League of Legends is a big deal. Players get millions of dollars for being good at it.

But there's a big problem with League of Legends for me. I hate PvP. I don't like any type of Player versus Player games. I have found that I get far too intense and stupid and turn into almost literally a monster. So I avoid PvP whenever possible. I just don't like doing it at all. I will play against people very casually, but in League of Legends, casual doesn't work so well. So I've mostly ignored the game while being fascinated by its lore.

So when they announced a single-player turn-based RPG set in the League of Legends universe that explores some of the lore, I was intrigued. And after I mentioned my interest to hubby-Eric, he suggested I buy it and try it. For the first time ever, I bought a game on release day as an adult and started playing.

Ruined King: A League of Legends Story

After three weeks, I've finished the game (on the easiest setting) and I gotta say, I really enjoyed it.

It's a fairly standard RPG with turn-based battles (you set up your next move, the foes set up their moves, the battle is run until you need to pick what you are going to do again). You start with a single character and eventually "collect" six characters with different skill sets. You run battles with three of them at a time - and depending on which characters are active, you might see different things in the world around you. For example, a certain type of treasure might only be visible to one character, so if that character isn't one of your three active characters as you move around the map, you might miss it.

Everything has a solid story reason behind it, and despite what really is an absolutely lunatic combination of characters, it works. I mean, we have a happy Viking-type, a pirate, a samurai, a vampire, a honorable priestess, and a stealthy revenant - all on the same team. But each character has a backstory that you learn throughout the game. Despite some tension, they work together well as you take them on a world-changing quest. I quickly developed a favored pair of characters, which allowed me to switch out my third for whoever I needed in the storyline at that moment.

Gameplay was easy enough on the normal setting, with battles taking a few attempts to figure out, then becoming pleasant puzzles. Learning the fighting system thoroughly helped immensely when I got to the final battle, which pulled in all the knowledge into one nasty bundle. I lost on my first try because I went in under-powered. I made sure to remedy that with a little bit of grinding out the game's many side-quests, and handlily managed my second attempt.

The main storyline is filled with good gameplay - not just fighting. There are a number of puzzles to solve, some obvious, some a little more difficult. Paying attention to detail really pays off - like noticing when an object drops off something. Huh, could that object have a clue on it? Better go find it and check. In addition to the main storyline, there are a lot of side quests. As usual for this type of game, some are ridiculous. Some are necessary to advance. Some are necessary to get better gear. But can you really claim you've won the game if you haven't found Fluffy?

The art is good, and some of the opponents are very fun. I like battling a "Possessed Tome". As in other games, you quickly get a sense of what enemies you can't handle yet and which ones are fine to take on without fear. Unfortunately, just because one baddie shows up in the overall scene you are moving through doesn't mean that when you enter the fight it hasn't brought along a few friends. Ouch. The style overall reminds me, pleasantly, of games I used to play in high school. It is not complicated, sophisticated, or hyper-realistic. It's just fun. I felt like a teenager again while playing.

The story drove me on, because I wanted to read it all and find out what really happened. There is a central mystery to it - the opening cinematic sets it up beautifully. Why did the Blessed Isles fall? What is the Harrowing? You get some solid answers by the end. It's like reading a novel while playing it as well. It was an experience I very much enjoyed. In addition to the main story there were the individual tales of each of our six main characters as well as bits of lore featuring dozens of other characters, some related and some not, that you just find as you explore the world.

On the downside, the initial release had some bugs. The worst were some quests that remained in the quest log after you finish them, and some items on the map that never showed up as completed. As far as I experienced it, fighting and movement were not affected so I was able to mostly ignore the problems.

Another issue was backtracking. Although the game introduces some "quick travel" options, they don't cover everything, and you really do have to retread a lot of ground to finish quests and figure stuff out. It's not ideal, but the closer I got to end game, the less backtracking I needed to do, so it wasn't too bad. It just was bad enough to be noticable.

Also. Fishing. Yeah, that's a thing. Like in almost every game in this genre. For some reason. I don't know why. Fishing. I think it must be a requirement.

In the meta-game, I found it very easy to get Steam Achievements. Most of them happened just by doing all the side quests, and the one or two I missed (the fishing achievement and the "meet every opponent" achievement) were easy to go back and get once I finished the game. In fact, the only two Steam Achievements I still need to do are to complete the game on the two higher levels of difficulty. Which I plan to do, because I enjoyed it and don't mind replaying it.

So, overall, well worth the cost of the game. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and kind of wish I had more of it to play. I hope there is a new story DLC in the future, but I'm not counting on it.

Computer Issues.... again.

I have fiddled with my laptop to the point where, with a generous helping of electrical tape and the occasional tap on the screen, I'm able to usually not have monitor problems, huzzah. I ended up having to take off the screen itself, which I was loathe to do. I managed, but it was annoying and I broke a few more little pieces of plastic and basically I just need a new computer.

Which isn't going to happen soon.

Still, my computer was working and the monitor is now mostly behaving. Then yesterday morning, after a three-hour power outage in the middle of the night, I noticed that the computer wasn't charging. I got the message "Plugged in, not charging" when I looked at the battery icon. Um. Ok.

I generally use the computer plugged in, although I frequently take it downstairs unplugged... so it's not a thing that would completely break the computer for me. But it's worrying. What if the battery has gone bad, or I somehow damaged it during my efforts to fix the screen? A visit to Google and I learned that Windows 10 laptops have this problem A LOT. Not just a little, but so frequently that there is a lot of information and misinformation out there about it.

I found the solution that finally worked for me on HP's website, after trying a number of different things and having every one of them fail. I had been using the HP diagnostic tools to see if the battery itself was failing, but got lots of green lights as far as it was concerned. It even started charging for a brief moment during the testing! To fix it "completely" (as far as I can tell), I ended up following these directions:

Perform the following steps to isolate the issue and arrive at a fix:

Power off the laptop.

Disconnect AC adapter from the laptop.

Press and hold the power button for 15 seconds.

Plug the AC adapter back in.

Power on the laptop.

Uninstall the battery drivers and then reinstall them:

Open the device manager.

Expand "Batteries". Right click on the ACPI drivers and select uninstall.

Close the device manager.

Restart the laptop. While restarting, Windows will reinstall the battery drivers.

Thank goodness, removing the ACPI drivers fixed it. I have no idea what ACPI drivers are or any interest in learning, but they apparently have something to do with battery charging. I was ready to do the next step, a BIOS flash, but was not looking forward to it since there are so many things that can go wrong when you get down to the firmware level.

As I was working through these steps, hubby-Eric told me about a lovely video promo for a Supernatural/Scooby-Doo crossover, so I of course had to watch it... and there was no sound. In fact, every single attempt I made to turn up the volume, it reset itself down to "2" and didn't move. Guess who had to reinstall sound drivers right after reinstalling battery drivers?

Doing all this with a nasty cold and barely any brain power was difficult as well. I suppose I thrive on it, though. I love troubleshooting. I just wish I didn't have to do it quite so often. And I wish I could run more things on my computer (like Fallout 4, which I could eventually get through Steam via Swagbucks). I want to buy myself a Dell gaming laptop, but the cheapest ones that will run what I want are $800 or more. First-world problems, I know. At least with my repairs I'm still able to play DC Universe Online, which I now have ALL the downloadable content from, thanks to Swagbucks, and enough left over to buy the Aquaman DLC when it comes out later this month.

DC Universe Online is going Aquatic...

First there was the announcement that Mera has been added to the Valentine's Day event...

Now DCUO has announced that the next DLC/episode will be called "Deluge" and will be based on the Aquaman storyline featuring the terrorist organization of that name. The new episode will launch next month some time, and will feature Aquaman, Mera, Black Manta, Corum Rath, and Starro! In fact, the Starro event from last year will be folded into this episode.

Aquaman content already in DCUO includes a low-level mission in which you fight off an Atlantean invasion in Metropolis then rescue Aquaman and Mera from Circe, the summer event featuring an Atlantean civil war between Ocean Master and Aquaman's forces fought in the waters near Metropolis, and the aforementioned Starro event which included an Atlantean outpost taken over by Starro after the scientists there made mistakes while studying Starro.

This new episode will be available for a couple of months to everyone, including free-to-play gamers. Right now, the Earth-3 episode is available to all. The development team has set up a system where each new episode has an "event" side that's available to all players of the game until the next episode comes out. Once the next episode is released, anyone who hasn't bought the episode (or a membership to the game) loses access to it.

DCUO has three levels of players. The free-to-play gamers are able to access the main game and the most current "event" episode. The Premium players are people who have spent at least $5 one time on the game, and have a few small perks... and access to any episodes they've bought along with the main game. Players with a membership (legendary players) have access to all episodes for a monthly fee. I'm a premium player.

For me, this means I need to earn enough money through Swagbucks or something to buy the DLC when it comes out (probably about $10), since we can't spare any real cash on it. I haven't used Swagbucks in awhile, because it's really a spammy thing, but I recently got back to it. Through it, I can get Steam gift cards. With the Steam gift cards, I can buy stuff, including the DLCs from the DCUO game. I considered asking for Steam gift cards for Christmas and my birthday, but I felt guilty about it so I didn't.

The good thing about Swagbucks is that I can set it to show a bunch of videos while I'm writing, and I'll earn a few pennies every hour that way. The bad thing is when I get distracted from my writing by the videos and actually start to pay attention to them. At least one of the ads captivated me so much I actually sat and watched the whole thing and forgot what I was writing about. Not good.

Linkages for Tuesday

No, a kid did NOT find an ancient Mayan city by comparing ruin locations to the stars.

Weapons of Math Instruction?

Ursula K. Le Guin writes about her cat.

Huh. Wizards of the Coast has some tournament judges suing them, claiming they were effectively employees and should have been compensated as such.

The Chronicles of Cisco continues for fans of The Flash tv show: Part One (in which Cisco tries to improve the Flash suit and falls asleep), Part Two (in which Cisco tries to find an intruder at 3:45 a.m.), Part Three (in which Cisco makes a mistake), and Part Four (in which we learn... well, watch and see).

Boing Boing has a list of disappearances that still make people scratch their heads. Some fascinating stories there.

More fascinating stories came out of Remote Year, a social experiment that didn't turn out perfect, but certainly makes for good reading.

Here's a brutal Fortean topic: The terror of albinism in parts of Africa. In short, if you are albino, you do not exist and are constantly at risk of death.

This piece from Popehat has to be read to be believed. This guy seriously wanted an amendment declaring only people descended from white Europeans to be allowed to be citizens? Now the guy is a Trump delegate... what a surprise.

Hugo Corner:

• Boing Boing on Chuck Tingle's epic troll of the rabid puppies.
• GRRM on other awards.
• Bujold on her Locus nomination.
• A review of one of the works I don't plan to bother reading, because it's from the rabid puppies' master's publishing house (It sounds about as worthless as I suspected it would, building strawmen based on scant facts). The reviewer then responds to the morons who support the original piece.
• And lastly, a painful piece on the current status of the comic book industry, which also mentions the Hugo mess.

And now, a four-minute video that will make you cry. Maybe.

The Present from Jacob Frey on Vimeo.

A Sunday Review

The Wiz Live - Is it ironic or something that I waited quite some time and watched this one on DVR? Ahem. It was fun, and interesting, and loads better than the movie. Since I've never seen a proper stage production of The Wiz, I don't really have anything except the movie to compare it to. As a result, I can just say it was good, but not fantastic.

As a version of The Wizard of Oz, I didn't like all the changes, but found some to be excellent. There are a few songs I really love from the movie, but nobody can sing "You Can't Win" like Michael Jackson. And "Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News" was amazing in the movie and just passable in this version. But otherwise, I think I liked this version's songs, mostly.

The acting wasn't too bad, except for the guy playing the guardian at the gate. Ug. Aunt Em was probably the best of the lot... she looked comfortable, while everyone else seemed a tiny bit stressed... although the Lion wasn't too bad.

I admit that I've probably seen far too many versions of The Wizard of Oz to judge even this fairly, but when it comes right down to it, I liked it.

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The Room Two by Fireproof Games - I went ahead and purchased this one because I enjoyed the first one so much. At $2, it wasn't a hard choice. This edition is MUCH darker and spookier than the original game, including two "rooms" that made me more than a little squeamish. There's also much more of the occult in this one, although it is along the same lines as the first game: fake occult there for flavor and Lovecraftian horror. This one didn't feel quite as tight as the first one... I kept thinking there must be more puzzles to solve in each chapter and found myself disappointed when I moved on. Again, I played it twice, both times without the hints. I got hopelessly stuck only twice. Overall, I liked it about as much as the first one, which means I really liked it.

But I'm not sure I like it quite enough to buy the third one for a couple of reasons: 1) The third installment is $5 in the iOS app store, 2) I've seen a good amount of the game thanks to Adi, so it won't be quite as much mystery, 3) I have a first-gen iPad Mini, and the game apparently doesn't run well on it. To be totally honest with myself, number 3 is the killer. If I thought my tablet could handle it, I'd already have bought it. But the uncertainty mixed with the other two reasons is just enough to keep me away. Barely. I've hovered over the "buy" button more than once since I finished the second installment (I definitely don't like it enough to buy a new iPad mini to play it).

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Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold - I purchased the eArc edition almost as soon as it was available, but savored it as long as possible. This is the 17th book in the Vorkosigan saga, according to Amazon. It takes place three years after the end of Cryoburn, and this is very much a romance and a story about people working out how their relationships ought to work. There is almost no antics or major adventures... this is all characters working themselves out. As such, I suspect there are a lot of people who will find it disappointing. I didn't. It was like a particularly excellent review of the entire series at times, mixed in with a bit of plot. If you haven't read many/most of the rest of the series, this one will make utterly no sense to you, I think. But for fans of the series, it's a lovely bookend.

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Saving the Sammi by Frank Tuttle - A novella featuring Mage Meralda and Mug of Tirlin, characters seen in All the Paths of Shadow and All the Turns of Light. In this entirely-too-short story, Meralda must rescue a family lost in an airship using new magic she's not yet perfected. The story is nice and solid, Mug is still one of the most unique characters ever introduced in fantasy fiction and the "technology" is also lovely. A good little story.

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Here are reviews of the DCBS comic books that I've gotten around to reading and reviewing, sorted by the original shipping date:

• Nov 4th
• Harley Quinn & Power Girl #5 - Harley channeling the Joker is frightening. And that moustache! All-in-all, this is just a really strange book.
• Green Lantern #46 - Does this mean this plotline is over and we can move on to something more interesting?
• Scooby-Doo Team-Up #13 - So... did it happen or not? And if it did, will there be any long-term effects on Scooby? There are some nice twists in this one. Lots of fun, and only natural to team-up the Scooby gang with DC's various ghost heroes.
• Doctor Strange #2 - This is really very creepy. And continues to be strange.
• This Damned Band #4 - This book gets more and more ridiculous. After the cliffhanger from the previous issue, we get armed men threatening the band while more scary events are still happening.
• Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #2 - I know there are some new bits in this issue, but overall I'm recognizing the story a little better. I still want to dig out Eric's copies of the original series to grep the two, but it's been long enough it's interesting.
• UFOlogy #6 - Such a strange book, but I think I understand the gist of it. I need to pull all the issues out and reread.
• Doctor Who 8th #1 - This issue almost makes me want to listen to all the Big Finish stories. That said, fun little done-in-one with a nice set-up for further mysteries. Fun stuff.
• Doctor Who 11th #2.2 - Absalom Daak is always a fun appearance, but you add in this Squire character and Alice, who really is awesome, and you have something of a riot. The story is still a little opaque, but I'm sure it'll clear up.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- My Kindle Wishlist -- Hugo 2016 Posts page

A Sunday Review

Ok, let's start with something different. Some time ago I quit all Facebook games cold turkey. When I won my iPad mini, I started playing Doctor Who: Legacy, because I'd heard so much good stuff about it. Since then, DWL has been the only game I play. My gamer itch has been satisfied, when I needed it, by watching The Adipose on Twitch. For example, I'd never play Fallout, despite how much it resembles Wasteland... but Adi's played it and I've been along for the ride.

Another game Adi has been playing recently is The Room 3. I thought it was fascinating, and checked out the earlier versions. To my pleasant surprise, The Room, the first one, is available free on iOS. So I downloaded it and tried it.

The Room by Fireproof Games - It's basically a puzzle box game. You are greeted by a safe and invited to open it by solving puzzles. And there are a lot of puzzles. To add to the atmosphere, there's a Victorian/Lovecraftian sense of horror in the music and background noises. The puzzles aren't hard, but can be challenging in unexpected ways. You have to listen, watch and touch everything you can see to come up with the solution. Sometimes you have to think *ahem* outside the box. There are hints available. The first time through, I used them. Then I played it again without the hints. It was surprisingly replayable, because there are so many puzzles to go through you can't remember the solution to all of them. A very satisfying game... although you are definitely left wanting more by the end.

I noticed one of the reviews in the Apple store complained about the occult nature of the game... I can say that there's not much, if any, in this game. There are symbols, but I didn't see more than a passing reference to actual occult symbols anywhere. Those were only used to lend the Lovecraft feel to the story. There are tarot cards at the end of the game, but again, mostly for atmosphere. This is a horror tale, to be sure, and there is an ongoing sense of "things man was not meant to know" in the letters you uncover... but actual occult? Not in this game. Maybe the sequels have more, but what I saw in Adi's playthrough shows more along the lines of Cthulu than actual real-world stupidity. However, if you are leery of anything even appearing to be occult, then you might find this game uncomfortable.

The Room was published in 2012 and is available for a variety of platforms, including Apple, Android and Amazon. As of this writing it is free on iOS, but not on other platforms. Playthrough time is 2-4 hours, depending on how good you are at puzzles and if you use the hints.

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Eric and I have recently seen two movies that I haven't reviewed. Most recently, we saw this weekend's big movie:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Non-spoilers... I liked the new characters and loved the appearance of the original series characters. I have some trouble believing it's been this long, but oh, it felt so good. The plot itself was... how to put this delicately? Um, a little derivative. But also classic with enough twists to work. The balance between drama and humor was lovely, back at the right level. There were so many good little bits of humor mixed in that it worked overall. The big thing, the one that will have many hardcore fans upset, is that this story does not fit at all in the "extended universe" (although it wouldn't surprise me if someone no-prizes it into place). As I'm only mildly invested in the extended universe, it didn't bother me at all, but some fans I'm sure are upset and disappointed due to the canon being broken.

Ok, let's look at some spoilery moments. Gur qrngu... bu, gur qrngu jnf qenzngvp naq cnvashy. Bapr ur jnyxrq bhg bagb gung oevqtr gurer yvgrenyyl jnf ab bgure jnl sbe vg gb raq. V xarj, gunaxf gb nyy gur fcbvyref va gur genvyref, gung gur znfxrq gjvg jnfa'g tbvat gb fhqqrayl ghea tbbq. Naq V pbhyqa'g frr uvz yrggvat Una rfpncr. Fb gung jnf gung. V fnj vg pbzvat naq qvqa'g cerqvpg vg ng nyy. Arkg hc: gur svefg nccrnenapr bs gur Zvyyraavhz Snypba jnf bar bs gubfr terng zbzragf bs uhzbe. Erl naq Svaa unq gur orfg punggre qhevat gung pbairefngvba, ohg jura gurl ghea gb gur "tneontr" naq vg'f bhe byq sevraq, lrnu... purref naq ynhtugre. Nabgure gryyvat zbzrag jnf jura Erl gbhpurq gur yvtugfnore. V guvax gung zrnaf fur'f Yhxr'f qnhtugre... gung'f ubj V "ernq" gur synfuonpxf. Bgure sbyxf zvtug unir bgure bcvavbaf. Ohg sbe gur erfg bs gur svyz V xrcg guvaxvat bs ure nf Una'f avrpr, be znfxrq gjvg'f pbhfva. Gung znqr gur rcvp fnore svtug n onggyr orgjrra pbhfvaf. Fbzr guvatf gung jrer qhzo: jul vf gurer n znc gb jurer Yhxr jnf tbvat? V zrna, frevbhfyl. Naq ubj qvq by' jungfvfsnpr va gur bcravat fprar trg uvf unaqf ba vg? Sbe gung znggre, jul vf vg vzcbegnag sbe znfxrq gjvg naq rzcrebe Tbyyhz gb svaq Yhxr? Ur'f bar thl naq ur'f orra zvffvat n ybat gvzr. Jul abg whfg trg ba jvgu yvirf? Nyfb, gur yvtug fvqr qbrfa'g grzcg, fb znfxrq gjvg vfa'g orvat frqhprq ol gur yvtug... ur'f n crefba jub fgvyy unf n pbafpvrapr naq vf gelvat gb xvyy vg. Nf sbe orvat qrevingvir... jr'ir tbg gur oenir eroryf tbvat hc ntnvafg gur rivy rzcver naq gurve qrngu fgne. Fbeg bs. Gurer jrer n ybg bs zbzragf gung jrer qverpg pnyyonpxf gb gur bevtvany frevrf, vapyhqvat gur jnl Yrvn ernpgrq ng Una'f qrngu orvat gur fnzr nf Bov-Jna'f ernpgvat gb gur qrfgehpgvba bs Nyqrenna. Gung svany fprar, jvgu Erl snpvat Yhxr, jnf nznmvat. Gurer jrer n ybg bs zbzragf yvxr gung guebhtubhg gur zbivr.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie a lot, but still see it has a few flaws. But I'm dying to see the next one.

The other movie we saw thanks to the library happening to have a copy:

Inside Out - A really cute animated movie with a basic enough plot but a nicely unique way of looking at inner turmoil. I loved the voice acting and found it to be a solid little movie that says a lot about how people think and feel. It was a great movie all through, and I enjoyed it a lot... but the absolute funniest moment for me was the looks at other people in the end - particularly the look at the cat. I'm still giggling about the cat every time I think about it. A nice little solid movie for everyone to enjoy.

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TV this week:

• Supergirl: "Human For a Day" - So much good stuff in this one. Xnen trgf gb qrny jvgu orvat uhzna naq zber vzcbegnagyl, orvat uheg, sbe gur svefg gvzr. Jvaa trg wrnybhf. Png trgf n pbzcyvzrag. Znkjryy vf n wrex, ohg n tbbq-urnegrq wrex nccneragyl. Naq jr svanyyl yrnea jung Unax npghnyyl vf qhr gb n ybiryl fvrtr frdhrapr ng gur QRB. Guvf rcvfbqr vf nabgure erzvaqre gung guvf vf ABG gur znva QP Havirefr nf frra va gur pbzvpf. A fun little episode.
• Supergirl: "Hostile Takeover" - The season finale, juvpu fhecevfvatyl raqf ba n pyvssunatre. Xnen'f srryvatf sbe ure Nhag Nfgen ner gur ubbx guvf fgbel unatf ba, naq vg'f n cerggl tbbq ubbx. Ohg gur ovt fhecevfr sbe zr jnf Png svanyyl znxvat gur shyy pbaarpgvba naq pbasebagvat Xnen. Lrnu, Png vfa'g fghcvq naq vg jbhyq unir orra ernyyl onq gb pbagvahr npgvat yvxr fur jnf. Gur bayl dhrfgvba abj vf jung qverpgvba Png jvyy gnxr jvgu gung xabjyrqtr? This has been a fun show and I'm looking forward to the next season.


• Arrow: "Brotherhood" - Naq gur cnfg pngpurf hc. Ng yrnfg, bar cnfg. Naq vg'f abg n cyrnfnag rkcrevrapr sbe Qvttyr, bar bs gur orggre punenpgref ba gur fubj. Enl'f qrcerffvba vf fnq va fhpu na bcgvzvfgvp punenpgre, ohg vg'f avpr gb frr uvz jbexvat ba n ceboyrz. Naq Gurn unf n cbffvoyr fbyhgvba gb ure ceboyrz. Bayl, ubj vf fur tbvat gb trg Qneux gb pbbcrengr? Another good episode on lots of levels.
• Arrow: "Legends of Yesterday" - Gur snpg gung rirelbar qvrf va n tehrfbzr synfu bs sver naq qrngu va guvf rcvfbqr qvqa'g qrgenpg sebz ubj tbbq vg jnf va gur raq. Lrf, gvzr geniry, gung qnatrebhf gbl, vf hfrq... ohg jr xarj sebz gur ortvaavat gung vg jnf pbzvat. Naq gung zrnaf jr xarj nalguvat ng nyy pbhyq unccra va gur bcravat npg. Naq obl, nalguvat ng nyy fher unccrarq. Gur pybfvat unys jnf avpryl qbar, jvgu Oneel gnxvat gur guernqf bs gebhoyr sebz gur svefg gvzr guebhtu naq svkvat ybgf bs gurz. I enjoyed this one.
• Arrow: "Dark Waters" - Bu, sbe gung gb unir orra gur raq bs Qneux! Ohg lbh xabj gur ivyynva nyjnlf svaqf n jnl gb rfpncr, rira jvgu gjb neebjf va uvz naq n obzo tbvat bss arkg gb uvf urnq. Guvf rcvfbqr ernyyl uvg zr uneq, cnegvphyneyl gur thafuvc qebar ng gur ornpu. Gur fubpx bs frrvat xvqf, vapyhqvat n irel phgr "zvav-Sryvpvgl" nggnpxrq fb ivbyragyl npghnyyl znqr zr jnag gb fgbc jngpuvat sbe n ovg. Sbe fbzr ernfba, gung fprar jnf nyzbfg bire gur rqtr sbe zr. Gur cbvfba tnf jnf nyfb nyzbfg gbb zhpu. In fact, there were a lot of bits and pieces in this that really shocked me. A difficult episode to watch.


• The Flash: "Gorilla Warfare" - Cbbe Tebqq. Guvf irefvba qvqa'g qrfreir uvf sngr naq qrsvavgryl qvqa'g qrfreir gb or fghpx hc nybar va gur jngpugbjre jbaqrevat jung gb qb jvgu uvzfrys. V'z unccl gurl tbg uvz gb Rnegu-2 Tbevyyn Pvgl, ohg V'z n yvggyr jbeevrq ng jung ur jvyy qb gurer. Fgvyy, guvf vfa'g gur znva QPH... znlor vg'yy ghea bhg bx? Decent little episode with the potential to come back and bite the heroes in the future.
• The Flash: "Legends of Today" - Gur fcrrq sbezhyn... na nznmvat pnyyonpx gb gur Tbyqra Ntr, rira vs vg'f abg fbzrguvat fnvq (juvpu arire znqr n yvpx bs frafr) naq vafgrnq vf n frehz. Wnl vf fgvyy orvat n wrex. Gura jr'ir tbg Grnz Neebj naq Grnz Synfu gelvat gb cebgrpg Pvfpb'f tvey sebz Inaqny Fnintr. Awesome on just so many levels. A fun episode.
• The Flash: "Running to Stand Still" - Znex Unzvyy nf Fnagn Pynhf vf bar bs gur sernxvrfg guvatf V'ir frra guvf lrne. Naq vg'f orra n sernxl lrne. Guvf jnf n qrprag rcvfbqr jvgu onq thlf pbzovavat gb xvyy Gur Synfu. Gura gurer'f n pbhcyr bs tbbq fhocybgf nf jryy... Jnyyl Jrfg orvat gur bar gung xvaq bs pyvss-unatf. Ohg Uneel'f nterrzrag jvgu Mbbz vf gur fpnel bar. Vs guvf Uneevfba Jryyf vf n tbbq thl, ur'f tbg gb or senagvpnyyl guvaxvat bs jnlf gb znxr Oneel tbbq rabhtu gb erfphr uvf qnhtugre. Vg'f abg tbvat gb or rnfl. Lots to think about with this one.

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Here are reviews of the DCBS comic books that I've gotten around to reading and reviewing, sorted by the original shipping date:

• Oct 7th
• Batman Beyond #5 - Freaky story. Seems to me the fight against Brother Eye would be over quickly in Gotham, so I'm not sure how much time Batman has to put whatever plan he's got into action.
• Green Lantern #45 - Um, yay Hal? Really, there just isn't much to say about this.
• Doctor Strange #1 - It certainly lives up to the "strange" in the title. The one thing for sure I can say about this book is that it really doesn't make being a magic user appealing at all.
• This Damned Band #3 - Set in a French mansion/recording studio, this issue has the band confronting some of their demons. Sort of. Maybe? Well, probably not, because things just get worse. I love the comments from the camera crew.
• CBLDF Liberty Annual 2015 - If you are easily offended, this is not something you want to try to read. I'm no longer easily offended, but there were some pieces in here that I felt went over the line from "making a point" to "tasteless for the heck of it." Which I guess is also a point to make. I did like it overall: the key to proper censorship is for the reader to say, "Oh, I don't like this," and skip to the next item rather than attempt to shut up the original creator/publisher. And I'm capable of jumping to the next item when I'm offended.
• Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #1 - I don't know if this is the same as the original series' first issue, but it certainly is very familiar. I enjoyed this the first time around, I hope to enjoy it this time, too. I think there's an extra supplemental tale in here, as well.
• Grimm Fairy Tales: Oz: Reign of the Witch Queen #5 - There are moments I really like this book (although the clothing design for the women is often a major turn-off) and there are moments I just go, "huh?" I admit, the huh moments are more common than the enjoyable moments. But there's a good moment in this one for me, as Dorothy embraces the bad and something good happens.
• Oct 14th
• Justice League of America #4 - A single panel of Aquaman, four lines between him and Mera. Blah. The story itself isn't too bad, with the mystery of what Rao actually is coming to a head. But I need more Aquaman to be happy.
• Justice League United #14 - Caught in an eddy of time, they are stuck in a moment or two. Lots of great characters showing up, but the plot is a bit overwhelmed by it all! I think once it ends I'll try to sort out what happened.
• Earth 2 Society #5 - Jay is overwhelmed by being what he is, and quits? That's a choice for a superhero? Apparently not, as he gets dragged back into it. The identity of the villain was slightly unexpected, but I guess I buy it, considering the nature of the character in this universe.
• DC Comics Bombshells #3 - Yay! More Mera! Ahem. This one has three distinct chapters, starting with the Bat, moving to the terror in Germany, then going to Wonder Woman and Mera meeting the war on land. I love this version of Mera, teasing Wonder Woman and protecting her dolphin friends. Great stuff.
• Spider-Man 2099 #1 - A very strange first issue with a new status quo. It seems a little nasty that he's using his abilities to win a game show. I'm sure this won't turn out well.
• Star Trek/Green Lantern #4 - I was just sort of nodding along, slightly amused by this book, until the final page. I'm glad I'm familiar enough with the "new" Star Trek universe to know what that cliffhanger actually means.
• Spongebob Comics #49 - This had a few odd bits even for this comic. As the Halloween issue, it was focused on the scary... as scary as Spongebob gets, which isn't very. Still, fun enough. I am amused and unsurprised by the fate of the various delivery boys. Ha.
• Rebels #7 - A nice standalone issue featuring a woman who followed her husband into the Revolutionary War and what became of her later in life. The statement by the soldier as he left, that they couldn't make an exception, was definitely a comment on how women who fought were treated.
• Oct 21st
• Justice League #45 - I'm hoping this crossover ends soon, because I'm finding it completely boring. I'm glad Aquaman isn't involved in this snooze-fest.
• Green Lantern: The Lost Army #5 - More of Lanterns in space. Prison break, new weapons... ongoing war. What next?
• Titans Hunt #1 - So, are they remembering the original universe or something else? That's clearly Garth, so what's his deal in this universe?
• Teen Titans Go #12 - Starfire wants to date, and Robin is jealous. Then anti-Titans run into Titans and there are some issues. A silly book, but cute.
• Astro City #28 - The origin story of Wolfspider along with a more modern tale related to his past makes for excellent reading. As usual, one of the best of the super-hero books out there.
• Tales of Honor: Bred to Kill #3 - Pretty good! More twists in the story and more developments. And we catch up to the opening, as well, so by the end we are moving into unexplored territory. Great stuff. This series is so much better than the first attempt it's not even funny. This is what happens when you allow your writers to actually write comics instead of illustrated text.
• Usagi Yojimbo #149 - A very nice done-in-one story that had an utterly predictable ending. I found the premise all too believable... rich jerk spends too much on a worthless item. I thought Usagi's solution was perfect, if a tiny bit deceptive.
• Back to the Future #1 - How did Marty meet Doc in the first place? The first story in this issue tells the tale, which is just as backwards as you might expect. The second story goes back to Doc's youth as a professor, and is cringe-worthy.
• Doctor Who 9th #4 - Time agents? Much like Captain Jack is supposed to be? Interesting how they force the Doctor to do their work. What are they really up to? And what's up with Rose? What has she learned?
• Doctor Who 10th Year Two #2 - This is a story that really needs some sound to bring out the best. I would love to hear this one as an audio drama. The solution was simple, but cool.
• Doctor Who 11th Year Two #1 - Wow, this is a mess of a plot. Oh, it makes sense in context, but there's so much happening and so many strange bits... and that cliffhanger. Not a character I was expecting to see in this particular version, although I admit I'm kind of pleased to see him. There's a lot here to digest, and I'm guessing the next issue isn't going to be any easier.
• Doctor Who 12th #13 - Hyperions invading Earth, and doing an all-too-good job of it. We get a nice origin story for the creatures, including the fact that they were originally a force for good. The next question is what the Doctor is going to do about it... his initial attempt seems a little misguided.
• Oct 28th
• Aquaman #45 - I still haven't quite figured out what is going on, but now it apparently involves other worlds. I liked this one better than the last couple of issues, but the art still looks wrong to me.
• Batman '66 #28 - Scarecrow and Killer Croc. A fun issue with classic villains reimagined for the 1966 universe. Very nice.
• Sinestro #16 - Oooh, Sinestro goes on a quest and visits Evil Shazam. I find Soranik's "crush" on Black Adam to be quite cute. I guess she does like bad boys.
• Spider-Man 2099 #2 - Back in the saddle again after a terrorist attack. I'm not sure I like that he decided to quit in the first place, but I know I don't like how he's been brought back.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- My Kindle Wishlist -- Hugo 2016 Posts page

Exploding Kittens

Over the weekend, we had guests at our house. We played Exploding Kittens and I was the second to explode. Eric was the third, and his co-author Karyl was the survivor of the match.

It is a very funny game, especially if you watch the videos on how to play before you play and imagine your competitors exploding like in the videos. The cards are so incredibly crazy that everyone spent a little bit of time just reading them and saying, "What?!" as they read. The rules are pretty simple... don't draw an exploding kitten and if you do, have a defuse card. The oddest thing about the game is that you draw a card at the end of your turn, which took some serious getting-used-to.

In any case, I promised to link to the game here, so anyone interested can go to the Exploding Kittens website to find out how to get their own copy and start avoiding exploding.

Monday Linkdump

Cliff Mass has photos that explain why you shouldn't stand under a tree in a lightning storm. Better to get a little wet, yeah?

One of the nastiest pieces of malware out there is the ransomware... it locks your computer's files and won't free them unless you pay the criminals. Apparently, Kaspersky thinks they've cracked the encryption.

Savage Chickens looks at the Fourth Doctor's hair. Um. Ok.

It is slightly amazing to me how recently the theory of plate tectonics came onto the scene. But then I read this story and I'm just furious at men who say stupid things like "girl talk" about serious scientific discoveries. Argh. Seriously, all this misogyny is holding the world back.

I remember hearing about NetHack back in the day... this article makes me glad I didn't try it, because it sounds like I'd still be playing it.

The new look for the Joker? No, I'm not a fan. It just seems over-the-top silly in the wrong way. Joker is supposed to be scary and silly, but there's something just not scary about this version. The active portrayal will make the difference.

Yet another study finds no link between autism and vaccines. But anti-vaxxers are beyond logic, now.

Finally!

Links

Boing Boing has rules for a quick dice game to play whenever. I think I'm going to start carrying some dice just so I can play if I get bored. Scoring: 4-5-6 wins automatically and nobody else gets to roll after in that round. Three of a kind ("Trips") is next highest, with higher numbers winning. "Spare and a Pair" next highest, with the high spare being the higher score. 1-2-3 is automatic loss. Each player only gets five rolls to get a usable roll. Seems simple enough...

How about a totally awesome Batman Beyond short? I really did enjoy that show, although I suffer from too-much-Batman-itis (Hey, DC, you have OTHER CHARACTERS).

Top 5 reasons why the customer isn't always right. Personally, it disgusts me when rude customers get better service or free product simply because they are rude. People who work in customer service deserve basic respect. I've often thought that all teenagers should work in public service for a few years in order to see what it's like on the other side of the counter. I also think rude customers should be banned from stores. Let them figure out how to buy stuff if no store will allow them entry.

Linkdump

Some interesting images in the 25 most upvoted photos in Reddit history. I personally love cat facts and the "this is not my cat" photo.

XKCD's epic comic "Time" is done. See the whole thing here in an easy to view format at your own pace.

The Muppets welcome the royal baby.

I like this list of 11 things it took me 42 years to learn.

But then, I also like these 20 great insults from Science Fiction and Fantasy books.

This handy explanation of How to Live with Introverts is a must-read.

Congrats to Digger for winning the 2013 Mythopoeic Award for adult literature!

SAVE THE TARDIS!

Even video games have creepy urban legends.

Another Linkdump

I'm rooting for the Girl Genius Kickstarter to hit at least $220,000 so I'll get all the wallpapers (and see a video of Phil and Kaja fainting).

This is a great 3-minute video from space, and the Canadian Space Agency has other neat videos with Chris Hadfield as well. If you've only seen his music video, you haven't seen anything.

Boing Boing has a great video from when the New Zealand parliament voted for marriage equality.

We've all gone a bit far with our fear of terrorism. Check out Act of Terror, a seven-minute documentary about videotaping police and getting in trouble for it.

I'm not sure I'm willing to try any of these 9 exercises you can do with your cats. Inkwell might shred me.

A software company had an awesome idea of how to handle piracy.

Massive Linkdump

While I've never been a huge P!nk fan, I do like some of her songs. Now I like her even more. Showing basic human decency in the middle of a concert can be tough in today's world. But she showed it.

Cake mixes make life a little easier. But you don't have to buy them. Here's a brownie mix you can pre-make and prepare when needed. Also, the comments on this post are very interesting for the potential substitutions.

I kind of want this T-shirt, but a) I haven't got any money and b) I don't really need any more t-shirts. So I guess I'll just enjoy the illo as is.

This is freakin' cool. Leonard Nimoy writes a response to a teen's letter about how difficult it was to be a half-white, half-black child. Really worth reading. Via Blastr.

Need to make a quick meal? Cressida Bell created an awesome poster that can get you started with some basic ingredients (there's also a vegetarian version).

I can't decide whether I like the videos of a Russian bus driver who doesn't stop for vehicles that cut him off or I'm horrified by his aggressive driving.

I'm not sure I believe this story, but it's an interesting argument about violence in games.

Cracked tends to language that I think of as lazy (e.g. swear words) but I have to admit I like a lot of the articles. Like Five shockingly advanced ancient buildings and Six most (awesome) way people have escaped countries

A Handul of Links

Today you, tomorrow me.

Paul Cornell's Custom Doctor Who Apples to Apples cards.

Christmas ornament in space.

Reuters looks into the charges against Assange, and while it doesn't clear up the whole mess, it certainly makes more sense after reading this than all the misinformation being spread previously.

Is It Wednesday?

From Web to Print, John Klima at Tor.com looks at two webcomics making the jump.

This MetaFilter entry takes me back. I played a LOT of those old games, and Defender of the Crown was a favorite (once I figured out how to joust).

Three-Armed Romance. Be sure to read the author's take.

The Doctor Who theme played on Tesla Coils. In other Doctor Who news, is Zimbabwe's Mugabe holding missing Doctor Who episodes? Um. Sure. And more on Doctor Who: Morgan reports that Doctor Who wins international Visual Effects Award. And I'm with M, the show was constantly innovating, which is why many of the effects look dated now. They did a lot with very little. Speaking of little, Dalek found in pond.

The Nine Weirdest Public Service Videos Ever Made. And they are BIZARRE.

Filesharing witnesses wife gets flowers from filesharers. The whole Pirate Bay trial has been a mockery, as made clear by the accused remotely fixing server problems during the trial.

Why We Immunize. Even if you don't read the rest, READ THIS. And then, if you have time, read this comprehensive overview of the entire antivaccination movement that pretty much demolishes their arguments from top to bottom. As I've said before, I have no problem with people choosing to not vaccinate their children. However, if they are unvaccinated, they should be kept apart from vaccinated children so they cannot damage herd immunity. If they catch polio or measles or whatever, the unvaccinated should die alone, not risk children who were vaccinated but for whom the vaccines didn't work.

More LOLCat Theology.

Pug for the in-laws.

Wednesday Rantlings

Phil Foglio's Good Omens Artwork is on eBay. All the money will go to the Alzheimer's Research Trust in honor of Terry Pratchett. I tried to put in a bid, but it was already well beyond my limit (and growing) when I submitted.

This story about a track star reinstated as champion got to me, especially the bit about the second-place winner, when given the gold medal, went to the disqualified runner and gave her the medal.

Cryptomundo is reporting on Bushnell's One Million Dollar Trail Cam Contest to get a picture of bigfoot that is declared as genuine by a panel of experts.

The RIAA's thugs, MediaDefender, illegally attack a legit torrent site and take down the company's entire website as a result. Again, illegally. Through a Denial of Service attack. Which is illegal. The RIAA sucks. Any company that sues its customers, especially without evidence in most cases, sucks. I hope Revision 3 sues MediaDefender into oblivion, where thugs like them belong.

More on Stonehenge. In fact, it may have been a Royal Cemetary. Thanks to Maggie for the first tip on this one.

German Twit looted Machu Picchu 40 years before its official discovery.

Top Ten British Top Ten Sports Lists according to the Observer Sport Monthly.

An explanation of why TV sets don't have a channel one. This may not mean anything at all to the current generation, but it was a minor question in mine.

Loss of rights: while am Amtrak spokesman is telling a news crew that it's fine to take pictures in DC's Union Station, a security guard shows up and tells them to stop filming. Then refuses to explain the policy that makes guards harass photographers.

A gamer makes a comment on a new trend in video games of leaving dead bodies as part of the landscape, and what that means to gamers and how they see the game.

Boy abducted by Ircenrraat (the Alaskan equivalent of leprechauns). This is from the Museum of Hoaxes, but I wonder if Cryptomundo would be interested in it as well.

Wait... California allows amendments to their constitution through a simple majority of the popular vote? That can't be right.

A blogger at the NY Times explains why he hates traffic cameras. Yeah, I think they are the wrong way to enforce laws as well. Especially since the companies that run the red light cameras tinker with light timing and make intersections more dangerous.

Pug Puppy for the in-laws.

Tardy Linkdump

The 100 Most Powerful People in British Culture.

More from Mike Manley on babymen. While I don't agree entirely with everything he says about fandom, I agree with most of it.

Polite Scott has a cool article that links to a very cool short story. Thanks Scott!

Making Light reports on a book cover that would just annoy me.

Teen creates Chemistry Card Game: I want. Can you add your own cards, I wonder? Expansion packs would be cool.

As of July 1st, Washington state is going to have a tax like this, and it's insane. Especially since the state's tax affects small businesses that really can't afford to figure out the tax for every single municipality in the state. Sales taxes are regressive, anyway. I think they aren't the best way to get money for government.

The Bad Astronomer makes a webcomic about Creationist "logic".

Doctor Who Quiz Answers.

Earthquakes off the coast of Oregon are probably Godzilla.

Invasive species are BAD.

LOLcats are developing their own theology. I like it a little better than FSM in some ways. Happycat is happy. Ceiling cat is a pervert.

Thursday Already? Links

Wil Wheaton is coming to Emerald City Comicon, and I plan to troll him if possible.

Speaking of small friends, Bully gets a Doctor Who scarf. I recall that he wore Monty the Penguin's scarf when he visited, but now he's got his own!

A review of Outside, the first massively multiplayer game.

Robin Williams saves the day.

Eminem, Benny Hill, and Doctor Who, enough said.

Before I move to Ubuntu for good, I need this book.

The Bad Astronomer has spotted a really cool clock. I wouldn't want it myself, but it's very cool.

MetroLyrics goes Legit. Now you all know where to look up song lyrics online.

Students fight back against the RIAA's illegal tactics.

Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial. My uncle Neil.

Game Day!

So I went to hubby-Eric's school today and presented some games for students.

The most popular would have to have been the Giant Blokus. One student told me "We all have ADHD, so the big colorful game is attractive!" They started out just fitting the pieces into the board, then eventually I taught them the game itself. A group of kids remained playing the game for the rest of the two plus hours.

Another game that was played a bit was Batik, which has the advantage of being a quick game with really simple rules. Eric played a round of Quits with one student. He also played Pirateer with a couple of students, one who took to the cheating aspect of the game a little too enthusiastically. I played Quarto with a couple of students as well. The other games remained mostly untouched.

There was a fairly small turnout to start, then more students wandered in throughout the duration of the time. By the end I had some trouble keeping track of the folks playing. Luckily, they were all good kids and they helped put the games away.

Games

Because I was so sick last night, hubby-Eric and I didn't learn a game. So tonight we had to learn to play both Quits and Blokus.

We started with Quits, before dinner. Eric read the rules and set out the game to teach me. We played a round in which I somehow managed to barely win. In Quits, you have three marbles that you are trying to get off the field of play. The field consists of a 5X5 square of tiles with indents to hold the marbles. On your turn you can either move one of your marbles OR slide a row of tiles that one of your marbles is on. The goal is to get your marbles across the field to the opposite corner. At the same time, you want to block your opponent from getting his marbles across. Eventually I realized that my best bet was to just race him for the corner, and, like I said, I just barely beat him. I can see myself losing this game consistently against just about anyone.

After dinner and before Torchwood we played a round of Blokus. Blokus is a simple game in which you attempt to just put all your pieces on the board. As a bonus, you also try to block out your opponent. Eric and I played a good round in which I think both of us won. I did have to point out a move to Eric so he could get all his pieces down, but we both put every piece down. It felt like a cooperative game instead of a competition, which was nice. I suspect that this is another game I'll get consistently beat at when I play in the future.

So, tomorrow is the big game day. I hope I'm ready.