jesseharward

[jesseharward]

I was in a waiting area at the local Firestone shop - a pretty nice one with large windows open forming an L to look out at the intersection and the taco stand across the street. I was trying to read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie (thoughts on this coming), but was distracted by MSNBC, one of the many 24 hour news networks. 

Police had just apprehended the man who was suspected of being responsible for the rash of mailed pipe bombs sent to democrats and liberals around the country. The two hosts, a man and a woman, kept talking to experts from different fields as details trickled in, from some unseen team of researchers in the back.  And trickle it did: he was the only follower of two different Facebook pages! Apparently he had attended a Trump rally in 2016! We talked to his cousin who said when he saw him at get-togethers, it was clear “he had issues”! 

Because these came in a slow trickle from the harried researchers, the hosts did what they could to vamp - either riffing on these facts or getting a primer on something related from an expert. The biggest rant was the woman host who continued to latch onto the fact that there were two Facebook pages, (followed by one person only, remember) that were titled Kill So and So and something like Kill These People.  She could not believe that Facebook allowed those pages up. When the expert tried to explain that FB was “so big” it probably hadn’t seen these pages, she would not believe it. Prodded on by her co-host, she lamented that Facebook, this very large organization - “it’s no IRS” - would allow this. Her co-host added, “you would think they could make an algorithm to stop pages with the word ‘kill’ in them.”  

This led to more interludes about where free speech ended and threats began - (Is kill So and So ok? But Go kill So and So not? - they remained unclear on where the line was), how FB could improve their service, what “people” (they never clarified what people) expected other people to actually do when they said “see something, say something”. And on and on and on.

The tone was always hurried, frantic, and urgent. So urgent. Each fact, each opinion, each moment of education was important news! and they needed you to know that.

But that is the nature of 24-hour news. You have to fill the time. And with a story like this, you cant talk about something else, as that might show callousness towards the people involved. So you talk and opine and make declarations authoritatively because that is what you are paid to do. 

Anyway, later I went to the coffee shop and read the actual paper. And that was nice.

[jesseharward]

Gaming Thoughts: Zelda: BoTW

I met an NPC last night (while playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) who mentioned that I could ride other animals besides horses. So I tried it with a boar first (unsuccessful) and then with a doe (success!). My playtime counter says that I am “over 135 hours played”. And I just found this out. And I haven’t finished the game either.

Out of all the games I’ve played, this world is one I enjoy returning to over and over again. I could start the endgame (I think), but still enjoy wandering around, certain that there is always something over the next horizon, around the next corner. And there always is.

Which to me - is one of the biggest strengths of the game and the world - that there is always a gameplay reason to keep me going, that from a gameplay standpoint - that old rewarding behavior cycle, I still am sucked in. That it is a gorgeous world full of charming characters is a bonus.

Because there is always something around the next corner. At the very least I know I’ll find a Korok seed or a treasure chest. Some ore maybe, or a random NPC with a quest or activity or even a brief snippet of a story. And all these things still matter, even 135 hours into the game.  Money is easy to spend and not easy enough to come by that I don’t see ore rocks with some delight. Due to weapons degrading (a polarizing point for some) I’m always excited about a new weapon, even a simple one because maybe I don’t have a picture of it to add to my compendium, a compendium which I am filling out with enemies, weapons, animals and insects meaning each new encounter rewards me in some way. And Korok seeds, brilliantly doled out as one travels and taught by the game to recognize the telltale signs of what to look for - they are simple enough to not get frustrating, but copious enough, with enough personality, sound effects and rewards for the seeds to create a loop I am still not sick of.

This idea that there is always something new, helped out by the fact that there is no percentage of game ‘finished’ to push me to do anything I don’t want to do - this makes Zelda stick out as one of the best, densest worlds in gaming. I love GTAV, but as awe-inspiring as it is to travel around and drive, there is no compelling gameplay reason to keep exploring. Collectibles are scattered, requiring you to go square foot by square foot to find them, or go online and find them there, meaning you run from place to place when back in the game. There’s no gameplay discovery there. (And I really loved GTAV).

Which is why, even though the endgame is close, I am loath to start it. I’ve enjoyed my time in this world tremendously.

Random Thoughts

I wish I could assign “outfits” I could change into - helpful when I go from sneaking, to climbing, to a mix of amber earrings, champion tunic and soldier greaves so often.

A better person than me probably loves all the cooking. I just cook some durian, and then 4 apples at a time or so over and over. That’s enough time for me next to a stove.

The map is so great: hints of buildings and bones, uncluttered unless I want it to be - it really does lend itself to wanting to wander and discover things for oneself. (Assassin’s Creed - I’m looking at you).

(Link on a deer screenshot from AppTrigger article by Rebekah Valentine) 

[jesseharward]

I’ve finally been playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Switch. I mean, I started it a long time ago; I became really interested in buying a house in Hateno Village and upgrading everything within the house. But when that was over, and I had gone to Zora’s Domain and freed one of the Divine Beasts, I… I just kind of stopped. 

Mostly this was because I didn’t feel strong enough to defeat many of the monsters, and had no clear path to getting there. But also my completionist personality began to shine through just a touch; I began to wonder if I should document all the different meals I could make - (couldn’t just go online and find them, that would be cheating) - or thinking that I should maybe, just possibly find all the shrines and secrets in one area before moving onto the next. 

In the end, I just stopped playing.

I’m pretty sure this says something about me, most likely many things about me. I do have a tendency to want things organized just so (intangible things - tangible things could go wherever), it’s a strong desire for some type of organizational system to handle what can seem to be an overwhelming number of factors. And an impulse that tells me that if I were really a gamer (but really, insert any noun here) I would categorize all this myself.

Life has changed now. I tell myself to simply do more and think less. This has also helped in video games. I don’t need to finish this region before I move on or understand every permutation of elixirs before I step forward. So that is how I found myself in Deep Akkala, running away from a blue-haired Lynel that I was in absolutely no shape to fight. And just cooking apples in different numbers to have a variety of health tonics, to hell with all the effects. (Except anti-electricity. I made a shit-ton of those).

I’m glad I came back to Zelda. I’m in a better place for a game like this anyhow. 

[jesseharward]

A Saturday

Theatre is unique in that we create something that will disappear, that will be played X number of times (and each of those times unique) and then poof - gone. Forever. 

We create for a moment, for the people around us and the people who come to see. Each night a blank canvas, and once its painted on, we take one more look and then burn it.