Corner of Randomness Archives - Page 19 of 21

The Corner of Randomness: Gaming with Friends

March 12, 2015 By Chris Nitz Leave a Comment

Last weekend I went to Texas to visit Keri. While I might say I did it to take some family photos for her, I really did it to have some drinks and hang out. It was a ton of fun to say the least! It also made me realize just how much I miss LAN parties, couch co-op, and just getting together with friend to play video games…in person…like in the same room!

When I arrived, we had to setup for a podcast. While we were podcasting, I was busy doing things such as playing Elite: Dangerous and Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls. Keri looked over and commented how pretty Elite: Dangerous was. She also got to see just how easy it was to make oodles of money in D3.

Where things really get fun is when I played Dragon Age: Origins. I hooked my laptop up to her television so we didn’t have to hunker down around a smaller laptop screen. As we sat on the inflated bed, she got to see just how deadly I am to the inhabitants of Ferelden. It was humorous to hear/see her reactions to various aspects of how different my experience was going versus hers.

Being in the same room and sharing the same experiences led to something unexpectedly handy. Keri was able to use the strategy guide and help me out. She was able to easily tell me if my chosen courses of murder were going to make my life worse, or if my killing spree was just another day in the life of Vlad the Heartless. This wouldn’t have been so easy had we not been in the same room and sharing this experience.

Things became even more interesting when her husband and another friend joined us. Suddenly there were jokes going around about how cool Vlad was. As I was a few drinks in, there was a bit more back seating going on, and that was totally cool. By the time I finished my quest, we all had some good laughs at the misfortunes of the peons of the land.

As Keri drove me to the airport, we talked about how it would be fun to live closer to one another so that we could both just play this game in the same room and compare our stories. It also made me realize just how much I miss having friends over to play video games. To talk smack at someone else’s failure. To be in awe after a friend brings down a difficult boss. To just share in the enjoyment that is exploring a virtual world together while sipping on an adult beverage and consuming junk food.

The Corner of Randomness: Forging Your Own Story

March 4, 2015 By Chris Nitz Leave a Comment

Why must you be so addicting?

If you happen to listen to the SGR Coffee Break, then you know I am addicted to Elite: Dangerous. The addiction runs deep, and I have no intentions of fighting it or trying to rid myself of this disease. Over the weekend, I was chatting with a friend about it and started to realize just why this game is so fun for me.

Elite: Dangerous doesn’t have a story. It doesn’t hold your hand and point you where to go. You get some basic flight tutorials, and then the game releases you into the black and you decide what to do next. You make your own story. You decide how the game will play out during your stay. It is up to you to utilize the mechanics that the developers have put in place. It is this freedom that keeps me hooked.

This isn’t the first game to really do this, however. Minecraft is a game I still play and I still deeply love. It is much the same ordeal as well. You make your own story. You do what you want with the tools provided to you. Heck, even Demon’s Souls/Dark Souls/Dark Souls 2 are fairly open in such a way that you forge your story. Sure, the souls games do have a story, of sorts, but these games allow you to find it. It’s more of a stretch, but that same freedom to roam the virtual world and not be told what needs to be done at a specific point is what really makes that series so mind-numbingly fun for me.

Then we get to today. Here I am, playing the bejesus out of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Like so many games on this list, this game provides me some tools and a world, but it is up to me to make my story. Yeah, it can be a bit grindy to have to constantly go farm for materials, but I still do it and I have a lot of fun while doing it.

I understand that these types of games are not for everyone, yet I am so thankful that they exist. Dare I say, they are probably my favorite genre of games? There is just something about being able to talk to other players and realize everyone has had a different experience, a different story, and a different view of how best to play these games. Hmmm, I think I need to go kill a few monsters to farm some pelts now!

The Corner of Randomness: Gaming Medication

February 26, 2015 By Chris Nitz Leave a Comment

Earlier this week I found out a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. This is hitting me a bit hard as they are one of those friends that are so close, I just give up calling them a friend and refer to them as part of my adopted family. While this cancer is treatable, it’s still devastating to have happen to someone I know and care about.

After I got the news, I tried my best to focus and handle what I needed to get done for my businesses. However, that just wasn’t happening. So instead, I loaded up Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls and ran some rifts, tackled a lot of bounties, and slayed many demons. Later on, my friends joined in and we joked and laughed. It was just what I needed to take my mind off things.

Over the last few days, I’ve being doing much the same routine anytime the thought of cancer crosses my mind. At night I run around Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate until my body just crashes and I fall asleep. I’m currently downloading Homeworld Remastered and I look forward to losing the rest of my day to a game I have so many fond memories of.

I also realized that I have turned to video games in the past when difficult situations decided they needed to be a part of my life. My childhood best friend and I played the crap out of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past as we dealt with parental issues. I believe that game is what kept us both sane, actually. World of Warcraft and EverQuest 2 pulled me through having no job, needing to depend on the generosity of others, and all that happened while I was living in a completely new state. The list goes on.

While I’m not saying video games are a cure all when dealing with difficult issues/times, I do believe they can provide us a rest when we need it most. Even just an hour in a virtual world can do a lot to let the mind have a break and re-center itself, thus allowing us to tackle what needs doing with more focus. Video games, you are my mental medication when I need it most, and I love you for it!

The Corner of Randomness: I am Vlad the Heartless

February 20, 2015 By Chris Nitz 2 Comments

Some people just like to watch the world burn, and here I am holding the matches.

It’s funny how decision based games can really bring out the true colors in me. For instance, take my recent jaunt into Ferelden with Dragon Age: Origins. I decided that I was just going to play how I enjoy games the most, and that is being a heartless bastard. I have let a town burn to the ground thanks to the darkspawn. I fed the corpse of Cailan to the wolves without batting an eye. I let a girl get possessed by a demon. I even killed a little boy after bludgeoning his mother in the head with my sword. The list goes on. And you know what? I am totally fine with my heartless decisions, and that is why Keri now thinks I am a horrible person.

I don’t know why I enjoy being so brutal. My wife couldn’t even sit and watch me play the evil storyline in inFamous because I had no remorse for the evil things I was doing. In fact, I’d totally send Princess Peach a letter telling her to deal with her captivity if there were an option to go have a beer with Bowser and complain about how terrible of a cook she is. She really should stop getting herself kidnapped.

When it comes to video games, yes, I am a horrible person. Maybe it is because playing in such a ruthless manner produces a nice separation of my video game life from my “normal” life. Maybe it is because I can determine the fate of some character, and I choose to let that character die. The results of that choice provides the disconnection from reality that I need to get into some video games. Whatever the reasoning is, if you are a character in my game and I get to decide your fate…..Well, I am gonna go all George R. R. Martin on you.

I’ve been playing video games for quite some time. While I might be an evil heartless prick in the virtual world, I like to believe I am far from it in reality. Please don’t send help to my door. Don’t tell me I need a therapist to work out some deeply rooted personal issues. This is just how I enjoy playing games. I’m nice to my fellow humans for the bulk of the day. Let me murder a virtual town in peace. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a king to go kill. After all, I am Vlad the Heartless.

The Corner of Randomness: Another Go at Dragon Age: Origins

February 13, 2015 By Chris Nitz Leave a Comment

If you know Keri, you know she has a Dragon Age problem. The addiction of this game runs deep in her. There are drug addicts with better self-control. Okay, probably not, but you get the idea. So when she found out that I’ve never completed the game, it was like a shot to her gamer heart.

It’s true, I own two versions of Dragon Age: Origins, and I have yet to complete either one. Looking at my played time on Steam shows I have invested 19hrs between the two versions, with the Ultimate Edition barely clocking in at an hour. However, I’ve never gotten very far and so those hours are simply me repeatedly replaying the starting area of the game, but with different characters.

Now we arrive at today. After a promise to Keri that I’d actually attempt to beat the game, I am starting another Dragon Age: Origins attempt. I have the game downloaded and linked to my EA account. I started a new character and made it to the first town. By the time this gets posted, I will hopefully be a bit further than that.

Maybe it is because I’m a dwarf warrior this time around. Maybe it is because I went all peasant rising up to rule the world as my origin story. Whatever it is, I’m enjoying the game a bit more than I remember. Hopefully this means I will finally beat it, and I can take another game off the ever expanding Stack of Shame. Only time will tell!

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