My World Is a Vampire

About a day after I wrote my last post, I got a copy of Vampire:  the Masquerade, fifth edition, from my local game/comic book store Page 3's Game Zone.  Late on that day, I found out that I could have gotten it from at least one of my book distributors, even though it wasn't available the last time I had checked.  Never mind.   The point is I finally had a new book in almost ten years.  (I did purchase some replacement books, as well as one older one that I missed out on when it first came out.). I had heard some doubters say that they didn't like many of the changes, but I am keeping an open mind.  I haven't had enough time to fully read it, schoolwork and all, but here are some of my first thoughts.  The cover is predominantly purple, with a woman dominant.  The green marble from the original is there, but you have to search for it.  In fact, almost all the pictures are in color, and I do mean pictures.  Actual photos are used in place.  The art style is more to date, but something seems missing, even if it meshes well with the setting.  Most of the metaplot and backstory have been kept, with the much needed updates.  Nothing too outlandish, and it makes perfect sense.  The setting is about the same, as are the general rules.  You can only choose from the original seven clans, although most of the other thirteen are mentioned, if not prominently.  The big changes are in character creation, systems, and rules.  Character creation has been simplified; it is actually based on making rounder characters from the start, instead of having to be forced to go back to add later on.  Some plot details make things confusing, especially the retooling of clan weaknesses into banes.  You are also only allowed two sects, the Camirilla and the Anarchs, at the start.  Others are hinted at, but not yet available.  Many of the systems have been streamlined, but a few have been added.  Damage is simpler, but can now apply to mental concerns as well as physical.  The biggest change is to disciplines, vampiric powers.  Now, you can have have as many powers at each level as you want, per  Vampire: the Requiem.  However, you are limited to one power per level in a discipline, meaning you would be forgoing a higher power by getting multiple lower ones.  Blood sorcery is changed as well.  The paths are forgotten, it seems, but rituals are easier.  There are even new dice and special rules for some of the new ones.   Some of the storytelling advice needs to be made clearer, as well as some of the antagonists, many of the more supernatural ones are even vaguer than they were in earlier editions.  Overall, I will need a good long reading before making any final verdicts, including downloading the free pdf version and errata.  (I'm waiting until after I upgrade to Mohave OS this week, just to make sure I won't lose it.). I will probably wait until the first supplements, on each of the first two sects, to see if there are any more surprises before starting anything.  Be back for updates.  Happy Halloween!!

V Is for Vampire, and Five

A few months ago, the latest edition of a role-playing game I like came out.  I haven't mentioned it until now, because I have yet to get my hands on more than a brief preview.  That game is Vampire:  the Masquerade.  I have been a fan of it since the mid-90's, although I haven't actually played it with others.  It was originally produced by White Wolf, before the studio decided to end all of their game lines based in the horror genre (known as the World of Darkness).  They then re-started a new line of horror games, ultimately called Chronicles of Darkness, but at the time was just called World of Darkness 2.0.  Then, White Wolf got bought out by a video game company from Iceland, who later sold the rights to another video game company, possibly from Sweden.  White Wolf became a print-on-demand production, so I was left out on new products for years, barely keeping up with new product.  One of the reasons I opened a book store was to make sure I could get my game products without having to hope that my local game store remembered to get it in.  White Wolf later dissolved as a separate entity, but the game line continued with a secondary company, Onyx Path Publishing, gaining the rights to continue to publish new material based on the intellectual properties.  The company was started with many of the original developers, so they knew what they were doing.  They ultimately brought back the original World of Darkness in 20th anniversary editions, including new and updated books.  Still, I was unable to purchase them.  It is hard to get things when you don't have modern banking options.  Anyway, about a year ago, the Swedish game studio announced that they were producing a new edition of the World of Darkness games, starting with Vampire.  The task would be performed with a new subsidiary called White Wolf.  The production would all be in house, with a new set or writers and artists, as well as updating many of the old rules.  Much of the olde meta-fiction and background info would be kept, but new twists would be added, to update the styled and plot lines.  Onyx Path would be involved in the production of new product as a third party developer, but they would not have any final say.  Strangely enough, the new edition would be available through certain retailers, but I have yet been able to access them through any of my distributors.  Much of the sales are still online only, but I am hoping to get my hands on something soon.  You know, at one point, I wanted to be a writer for these games.  Part of me still would enjoy it, although with the company now controlled in Europe, there is less of a chance.

Same Old Games, Brand New Rules

Lately, I have been so busy with work and school, that I haven't been working puzzles and playing games as much as I used to.  I am about a week or two behind schedule in finishing up some of my puzzle magazines.  I haven't even been able to solve a contest that is due in by the end of the month.  I actually had to delete some of my games apps, and I might have to drop a few more, just to keep playing my favorites, but only for an hour or so combined most days.  Unfortunately, some of my games have made changes that have made them less fun to play.  Take Candy Crush Saga.  A few weeks ago, I was playing a quick round or two, when I realized that the winning streak bonus wasn't coming up.  With that bonus, I had been able to work some levels out with just one move.  Now, I have had to take days and multiple tries to solve a level, if I don't want to use up all of my boosters.  Apparently, the producers removed the feature from the Facebook version of the games, but not from the mobile or PC versions.  Since I only have a Mac, I am out of luck getting to play the game the way I used to.  Strangely enough, other features weren't effected, even as others that didn't give me any problems were.  A few minor features also went, but I didn't mind them as much.  I wouldn't be complaining, but just before the feature went, it looked like they were changing the motif from spaceships and hats to robots.  There is even a new game in the series, Candy Crush Friends Saga, but it is so far only available for mobile and PC, not Facebook or Mac, so I am out of luck there, too. Another game that has changed is Golf Crush.  They added the feature of clans, groups of up to fifty who compete against other groups, and receiving in game bonuses for winning as a group.  Along with this new quirk, the pairing algorithm for match-ups changed.  The game now made sure to pair up competitors based on best performance, and to current performance.  This meant that someone on a losing streak could continue to face better opponents that were harder to beat.  When the change occurred, I had 698 trophies.  Now, I have 390.  I spent almost all of my in game resources to try and keep up, but I am still losing well more than winning.  I am so afraid that I will be kicked out of my clan, Kentucky BBN who is currently at the top of our division, that I spent currency I didn't have to enter a tournament, as a means of showing that I am qualified to be there.  So far, I haven't been able to advance.  If I don't, I don't know what will happen.  I doubt any other clan will take me in, with my recent record.  I lucked out getting this clan.  I love the feeling of being on a winning team.  I just think I won't be there much longer.

Plus, Make That Minus One

News recently cam out that Google will soon be discontinuing its social media platform, Google +.  I never really got into the platform, as it was my first foray into social media.  It was 2016, and I finally got my own email account.  Technically, I was using one set up for my store, but I didn't think twice about using it for my own.  One of the benefits I had was being on Google +.  I barely realized it was there.  Since I didn't own a computer at the time, I only checked ion on the site about once a week or so, at most.  Sure, I set up some collections, but I didn't really know what I was doing.  It wasn't until I joined Facebook, that I tried out what was available on Google +.  I tried looking up some people I know on it, but I came up blank.  I just knew some of them had to have a Gmail account as well, but they apparently didn't try to explore the site.  Even after I got a computer, I still found myself forgetting about checking in on Google +.  It was just another app connected to my email.  To be honest, I barely checked out any of the other apps in the Google family either.  I only started checking out and posting on YouTube in the past two months.  Now, Google will be phasing out its service.  It could be it part to a data hacking incident, but no one could be quite sure about all the reasons.  When I first realized the potential for social media, a few months after I was with Google, I tried to find resources to help me and my business get a leg up on social media.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much out there.  What little there was, I found to be just out-of-date for my best uses.  I am still on other social media, as well as my store for as long as it exists, but who can tell how much longer some of these things will last.  I was just starting to get more out of something, I now I won't be able to.

As the Wheel Turns

I recently caught an article about how a certain online streaming service, which I refuse to name for various reasons, is thinking about adapting one of my favorite high fantasy book series. That series is Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time."  For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Jordan's series is set in a world that was devastated by an unbelievable war and its fallout.  Now, hundreds, if not thousands of years later, the enemy is returning to finish the job.  Three young men from a small village are the subject to a prophecy that will save the world, or possibly destroy it if things go wrong.  Together, with a very large cast of supporting characters, they will try to save the world.  Jordan was only able to finish the first eleven books of the series, plus a prequel and other background information, before he died.  His widow and publisher chose Brandon Sanderson to finish the final book of the series, based on notes and some scenes he had written before he died.  That final book was so large, that it wound up being split into three books.  For comparison, think of it as a PG-13 version of Game of Thrones, with that show being a hard R or M.  There would be much less sex and nudity.  There's only three or four scenes in the entire series, and all of it is consensual.  There's is  a lot of warfare and death, but most of it is not too violent.  There is a lot more magic, as most of the main cast and the antagonists can use a from it.  There are creatures that 'look' like dragons, but they are called something else.  There are over two dozen main cast members, some of whom don't even appear until halfway through the series. Many of the villains show up in multiple guises, as the main enemy can reincarnate its soldiers on occasion.  I had been thinking that this would make a great show, although it would have to last at least ten years to get through all of the material.  The actual plot takes place a little over two years worth of actual time, although I might be misremembering it.  It has been a few years since I have read any of the books.  While Game of Thrones reduced the number of lead characters,  I don't see how anyone could easily do so here.  There's just too many of them, many whose importance isn't revealed for a two or more books in.  There's also the fact that a race of giants (around nine feet or so) and sentient wolves (at least in a dream realm) both have major parts to play.  I hope they do the series the justice it deserves, but I fear it might be too much of a job to take on.