An Unexpected Fan of Harry Potter

As has been established, I'm a geek. I love scifi, fantasy, science, gaming, reading, gadgets, and even (gasp!) math. (I used to do geometry proofs for fun, but that's not really the point . . . )

One of my fandoms is the Harry Potter universe, written by J.K. Rowlings. Now, I was a latecomer to this one. I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone years and years ago, but wasn't impressed. So I never read any further.

Then I met Roswenthe (as she's sometimes known online), and we quickly became close friends. Except she's a huge HP fan, and so are almost all our mutual friends, especially those on our forum, TechnoChicks! So after being left out of about a zillion conversations (online and offline) in anticipation of book seven, I gave in and decided to give Harry Potter another chance.

 I checked out book one and read it again; still just okay. Then I read book two, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and decided it was actually pretty good. So I read book three. Then book four. Book five. Book six . . . at least I didn't have to wait for Deathly Hallows! (I devoured it at light speed, though I hated to finish it.)

As you can no doubt guess, I had become invested in the story. I cared about the Rowling's characters; they are well-written, demonstrating real depth and complexity. The plot is well-developed, providing surprises while still meeting the need for a story you can follow.  I was infuriated by the injustices. I wanted good to triumph over evil.

And in the end, that's what got me. I am a sucker for the epic battle of good versus evil, righting injustices, making the world a better place. And on that score, J.K. Rowling delivers.

Defining Drian, or How to Figure Out Your Character's Identity

I've been playing D&D (that's Dungeons and Dragons, for those of you not into the gaming thing), off and on for, well, years. Right now I'm in an intermittent, extended campaign with a couple of our closest friends. My character is Drian, a second level half-elven cleric. (That's a healer.)

Tonight our party found itself disagreeing over our course of action. As a player, I had certain ideas about the wise thing to do. But I'm not Drian; I'm me. Drian doesn't know what I know about her world.

To figure out her stance on the issue, I had to figure out who she was. That's pretty incredible, because I usually have a full back story and a personality worked out before the first session. Somehow, that didn't happen this time.

Defining a character can be a bit intimidating to a new player. I spent literally weeks agonizing over Xandria the elven cleric-sorceress, my first character. So I thought it might help some new gamer out there if I worked through my process on the web. Here we go.…

Drian is a cleric.
Perhaps nothing else defines Drian so much as her chosen vocation, a cleric. As a cleric, she cares for her party, healing them when they need it, and calling on her god to bless and protect them in difficult situations. As such, she feels very responsible for them. Very, very responsible. In fact, the mental, physical, and spiritual welfare of her allies is second only to her duty to her god, Pelor.

Drian serves Pelor.
Pelor is the god of the sun, and by extension the god of summer, agriculture, and time. His clerics are sworn to uphold the cause of good, and to battle the undead. Such beings are anathema to him, having left behind the natural order of things. They are called to help the helpless wherever they can, and stand vigiliant against evil. Did I mention really, really hates undead?

Drian is good.
Okay, I lied before; this is Drian's most defining characteristic. Everything else plays out around it. Above all else, Drian wants to do what's right; it's why she's a cleric, instead of a merchant or an artisan. It's why she's an adventurer, heading out into every kind of dangerous and unpredictable situation when she could settle down in a nice, safe village or city to serve in Pelor's temple.

Drian is a cultural half-elf.
As a half-elf, Drian has been reconciling two different natures all her life. Half-elves are not elves, and they are not humans, yet they are both. Many half-elves are conflicted, torn between the two societies yet never fully accepted by either. However, Drian was raised in a half-elf community, with a distinctive racial identity. Being raised among people who were comfortable with both races, in a society where each half-elf is encouraged to integrate the aspects of humanity and of elvenkind that best fit them, she's confident and adaptable. She's also more able to relate to someone with a different point of view, making her a natural diplomat and quite insightful. Oh, did I mention that most half-elves dabble in other professions? Well, Drian spent enough time with the warlock down the street to pick up a thing or two.

That's only one part of the picture, though. Drian is also defined by her ability scores and skills. They define her strengths and weaknesses, as well as her areas of interest.

Strength: 14
With a strength of 14, Drian's not the greatest fighter. However, she's not especially weak, so she's not helpless; her mace shows enough wear to make that clear. But fighting's definitely not her strongest suit…

Constitution: 12
Drian's constitution is about average for an adventurer, which is just slightly above average for a regular person. It means she has more than enough endurance to carry a good set of gear (including bearing up under the added weight of a fair amount of armor), and she's not especially fragile. Combine that with strength, and she can stand to put herself in harm's way if necessary to get into position to help a wounded ally or innocent. She'll do it, too, if they need her.

Dexterity: 11
Good thing Drian never wanted to be an archer, because she's not especially dexterous. In fact, she's a bit less so that the typical adventurer. Fortunately, her party members aren't counting on her to pick off distant targets, even if she does carry a crossbow; the party's fighter is much better at that. But she has to hope she doesn't get into a situation where fancy footwork is called for, because she's not cut out for dodging attacks or balancing on a precarious ledge! (She would also make a terrible sneak thief, by the way, if she were the type.)

Intelligence: 12
Drian's book smarts are a bit above the average person's, but dead average for an adventurer. She's certainly not dumb, but she doesn't have an extensive education or a head for obscure facts. The only areas where she shines are the arcane, history and religion, and that's only because of her religious training. But where did she learn to speak and read giant, of all things?

Wisdom: 16
Ah yes, now we're getting to areas where Drian shines! She may not be the most intelligent, but she's got more than her fair share of street smarts. She's also quite empathetic (that's useful in healer), and very self-disciplined. If someone in her party is going to pick up on the subtle clues that indicate danger in the making or get a read on the stranger they encounter on the road, chances are it will be her.

Charisma: 15
And with a high charisma, she'll probably do well getting that stranger to trust her. She's persuasive, with a strong personality and innate leadership abilities. Combine that with her diplomacy skills, and she's a good choice to represent the party, if the party leader isn't available. In a pinch, she may even be able to intimidate those standing in their way; they're less likely to see through her bluffs.

Customizing Clothing and Killing Sims

So I've been playing The Sims 3 for about a week now, and I love the customization features; it's almost like Second Life in that respect (except that you can't re-edit them constantly).

That you can't edit their basic physical attributes (their face, anyway) after creation does make sense. In-universe, you are one person per sim; each persona is a separate sim. In Second Life, your one avatar is many different personas, depending on your mood or the sim you're visiting. So the fixed facial features makes sense for The Sims.

Speaking of customization, I love the hair coloring! If you choose the advanced editing, you can edit hair color in four different areas: base, roots, highlights, and tips! So both natural and decidedly unnatural hair colors are easy to create on the fly! And you can assign different hairstyles for different categories. It's great that I don't have to change hairstyles manually every time my sim changes into her swimsuit (and back). Really, who wears the same hairstyle to swim and to go to the theater?

Okay, what woman?

I also love the editing features for clothes and objects. All the patterns divided into categories, and every single color editable through swatches, hex or RGB code, or a color picker? It's brilliant! And I can use any pattern for any item, regardless of what the original creators [i]thought[/i] it should be used for! But I wish they had made more styles; there really aren't that many available. (What is it, four or five beds?) It looks like they put all their effort into patterns. I'm really glad there are so many patterns; don't get me wrong. But I'd feel better if I didn't suspect part of it was so you'd buy items through the Sims store…

I also like "Lifetime Wishes" much better than the old "Wants and Fears". Being able to choose and save the four you want to promise–and still work on the ones in the current queue, at least until they disappear–is great!

When it comes to controlling a sim, I love the new moodlets! Everything that happens to affect your sim's mood results in a "moodlet". These little icons reflect how your sim is feeling. If somthing good happens (you fulfill a wish), it's positive (Fulfilled), and gives a buff to your mood; if it's bad (a dirty room), it's negative and you suffer a penalty. Each has a duration and a value. The better the event, the higher the mood boost and the longer it lasts. The same goes for bad stuff: if it's just a bit bad, it's a small penalty with a short duration. But if you don't eat, it's a -40 to your mood!

Speaking of being hungry… There are also neutral moodlets, like "Hungry", which clue you in that your sim will need something soon. (Very handy, if you ask me, since that means you If you give your sim what it needs before the time on the moodlet expires, you're fine. But if you don't, the resulting moodlet is usually pretty bad! Fortunately, the lead time is pretty long! Sims seem to eat and use the bathroom way less than in the previous games.

But killing sims seems harder. I think I'm going to have to talk to an undesirable townie, lure him or her to my home in Mosquito Cove, and wall them in. After a few days, that should do it. I'll just ignore that corner of my property until whoever it is dies. Maybe then I can start a little private graveyard!

A Return to PvP

So last night I did PvP with my Guild Wars guild for the first time in months.

We chose alliance battles because it's easier to put together four person groups, and AB is way more rewarding than Team Arenas or Random Arenas. (Plus, I hate them.) They're also much more newbie-friendly, and we're trying to recruit some new blood from our alliance.

Another bonus? Kurzick and Luxon faction are actually worth something! When you redeem it, it counts towards your Alliegance Rank title track (Kurzick or Luxon, depending upon your allegiance). You can cash it in for valuable crafting materials (amber chunks for Kurzick and jadeite shards for Luxon). If you're title-crazy, you can donate it to your guild and get double credit towards your title! Plus, it can be used to get PvE skills, which also counts double.

I had so much fun! Why have I been away? I love my guildees!

You're a geek girl if...

This is sort of an informal list I've been keeping for a few years. A few months back, I posted it on Technochicks, and got a few more good ones. The events of Valentine's Day prompted me to post it on my blog. :)

You're a geek girl if...

You own more computer media than makeup (and carry more of it with you, too).

When you wear makeup, your friends ask you "What's the special occasion?"

You can keep track of chargers for your iPod, DS, PDA, GPS unit, digital camera, and laptop, but you've lost your lipstick. Again.

You've been hit on by a Jedi, a Klingon, a pirate, and an elf, and it's not even lunchtime yet.

After the last entry, you added "Jedi" and "Klingon" to your spell check, and then threw in a dozen other words for good measure.

You miss Surge, because it was a great stand-in for Bouncy Bubble Beverage during gaming sessions.

You've had to replace elf ears or horns because they're worn out.

Your costume wardrobe is bigger than your real life one.

Packing for a vacation requires an extra bag for your laptop and all your travel chargers.

You barely read the local paper, but you know about strange events all around the world.

Your sweetie has bought you things with power cords for Valentine's Day, and you were ecstatic. (Who needs onyx jewelry when you can have an onyx DS Lite?

You don't know the names of your neighbors, but you know the handles and real life names of dozens of people around the world...

And their blogs, websites, and social networking IDs.

You go through your day looking for things to blog.

Google is your best friend.

Your favorite number is pi.

In your mind hottest = smartest (Courtesy of Anathema)

You're in the hospital and a guy comes in to replace the monitor, and the nurses get upset it will bother you, but all you want to know is the resolution on it. (This really happened with Ishy; she's a bigger geek than I am!)

And now for true confession time:

You're a geek girl if your husband gives you diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, and topazes for Valentine's Day...in Diablo II...

...And you're terribly excited about it, and spend an hour selling off stuff to make room for them in your inventory.

Yes, it's really true. And my favorite number really is pi.

Come knit a dragon with me!

Over at Craft Wonderland, we're doing a dragon stole knit-along. Actually, it's a knit- or crochet-along; Ishy is finishing up a crocheted dragon.

It's inspired by the Vegan Fox on Knitty. I would say "based on," but it seems we all left the pattern after about row three...Anyway, it's an awesome pattern, and we're having a blast.

For the record, mine is now 23.5" long. I'm using TCL Amore in black (yes, it's cheap, I know, but it did what I wanted!) and Patons Brilliant in Black Dazzle. I'm using size 8 bamboo needles.

So if you knit or crochet, even if you're a total beginner, come play!

Confessions of a Guild Wars addict!

Wow. Can't believe I've never talked about Guild Wars. I mean, I'm an addict. Really.

I've been playing Guild Wars since less than two months after its release on April 28, 2005. For the first seven months, my husband and I played on our own or with a small group of RL friends. Then, in January 2006, I found Christian Gamers Alliance, which has a very active GW chapter! Woohoo! We joined and found out that GW is even more fun with an active guild...cause my husband talked me into liking PvP!

Okay, "talked into" is a bit of a stretch. What really happened is that he told me, "Here, they need a mesmer. Do what Fiona Dredd tells you." He then logged me in to TeamSpeak and left me there!

After I got over the shock, I started having fun. Sure, I had NO IDEA what I was doing, but it was still fun. And now we do PvP every Tuesday and Friday night. (Oh yeah, Friday night playing a video game. I really am a geek.) In fact, I'm now rank 3 (/rank)...and I only earned about twenty or thirty of that rank during double fame. GO SoE!

Oh yeah, "SoE" would be "Spirit of Elijah," my guild. Well, technically I'm in two guilds; my husband and I have two accounts, and we each have characters on each account. One account is in each guild. So to be exact, I'm an officer in both SoE AND SOE...Spirit of Elisha, that is. Twice the fun! Except that we're actually one guild. (Yeah, it confuses us, too.)

And now my social life depends heavily on TeamSpeak, alliance chat, guild chat, and team chat. Is that good or bad?

Craft Wonderland for Christian Crafters!

Well, my friend Ishy of TechnoChicks has started up another new forum: Craft Wonderland! So far, I've racked up thirty-eight posts in four days, and we aren't even "really" up and running. But feel free to come join; we DO have stuff going on.

Since it's a "Craft Wonderland," the theme is Alice in Wonderland. And in case you were wondering, yes, we ARE all mad. In fact, Ishy is the Mad Hatter; I'm the Queen of Hearts. OFF with your head!

Okay, all better. :)

On a serious note, we have some great features. The most interesting one to me is our Member Showcase, which is just that: a subforum where every member can create a thread to showcase all their creative stuff, whether it's digital art or photos of your work; you can also include writing, whether it's creative writing or short essays.

Speaking of creative writing, Ishy is working on the Creative Writing forum. Should be fun; Ishy is a very creative person, and quite a good writer. I'm working with the Art and Digital Art section, as well as Papercrafts (which is currently part of the Other Handicrafts section. Ishy and I are both working with the Knitting and Crochet section, too.

Know what we have that other craft forums don't? Faith Talk and Prayer Requests. That's right: Craft Wonderland is a Christian-oriented craft site. You don't have to be a Christian to join, but you do have to respect our faith. So, we'll be keeping it clean. Yay!

For the low price of nothing, all this can be yours. So come join us!

Star Wars: Geek Vindication

Star Wars in the Rose Parade! Who would have imagined it?

But it's true. For the thirtieth anniversary of Star Wars, George Lucas and company planned the Star Wars Spectacular as part of the Rose Parade. It started with plans to honor the 501st Legion, a very dedicated fan group comprised mainly of Stormtroopers. From there, George Lucas chose the Gramling Tiger Band (Grambling State University) to participate...in Imperial uniform, with the dancers and flag corps in Twilek costumes. Then they asked for floats...so Lucas commissioned two floats, one of the Forest Planet of Endor and one of the Garden Planet of Naboo. Then George Lucas was chosen on Grand Marshall.

But know what's funniest? My mother-in-law has always treated us as if we were strange for liking scifi and fantasy. (So being addicted to football is okay, but enjoying the rather-intellectual fields of scifi and fantasy isn't? I don't get it.) But for one day, it's cool? I don't get it. But this is proof that geeks are finally, finally, coming into their own!

This photo and the links are from bonniegrrl's photo sets on Flickr...

Full of 8bit geeky goodness!

I love 8bit Theatre! Some of my friends at Fans for Christ got me addicted. The first day, I read the first one hundred episodes. (So pathetic, I know.)

8bit Theatre takes a jab at everything gaming-geeky, but in a good-natured way. You name it, it's there. D&D? It's there? Trekkiedom? It's there, too. And of course the whole thing is inspired by Final Fantasy. So if you're a fan of the old 8 bit RPGs (and gaming in general) and you haven't read it, head over there right now!

By the way, my favorite character is White Mage. She's the only consciously good character in the bunch! Fighter is great, too, with his ridiculous fixation on swords and shinies. Black Mage is just so...not good (but eternally hilarious). And while Red Mage and Thief aren't evil, they definitely wouldn't be found on the good axis. Of course, they're just as neurotic as everyone else!

Katamari Damacy: "Clumps of Soul"

First, let me get it out of my system: I LOVE KATAMARI DAMACY! Okay, now I can talk about the game.

I loved the idea the first time I saw it. "I really wish I could play that!", I thought. "That game is so perfect for me!" I read about it time and again, longing to roll up giant whales into my very own "Clump of Soul" (literal translation). Finally, I noticed some magic words: PlayStation 2. My brother and one of my best friends own the PS2! (And I won't admit how long it took me to make the connection.)

By the weekend, I owned Katamari Damacy. That's right, I bought a game–and a memory card–for a system I don't even own. But it's been worth it!

The game is even more addictive than I expected, with great gameplay. Your "katamari" (weird sticky ball you roll around) is controlled a lot like a tank, using the two joysticks. You start out tiny, "rolling up" pushpins and dice, advancing to bigger and bigger items. As you progress, your goals become more challenging, with shorter deadlines. It's a blast!

The storyline is wonderfully absurd. You are the Prince, son of the King of All Cosmos. Your dad got carried away (due to some interesting mushrooms, I suspect) and broke all the stars. Now it's your job to fix it: your dad sends you to earth to create katamaris, which he will turn into stars (or stardust) to restore the sky.

Eggs hatch, chickens cluck, and people squeal or giggle as you collect them all, determined to make your dad proud. If you don't meet your goal, though, be prepared! Let's just say he's not exactly understanding.

A dedicated gamer can beat it fairly quickly, but there's real replay value. You can repeat levels to get faster times, shooting stars, and bigger stars/more complete constellations. If you make a big enough star, you reach "Eternal", removing the time limit for that stage. Then there's the Royal Presents to go back and collect on each stage except the first. The best (and one of the hardest to get) is a camera which allows you to take photos of your katamaris.

Plus, there's two player mode. The "Space Mushroom" is a sort of arena where you and a friend (playing as a Royal Cousin) compete to make the biggest katamari. If you're big enough, you can even roll up the other player! How fun is that?

My advice: if you have a PS2, start rolling. Too bad the game's not available for other platforms.

Xandria

Confessions of a Female Geek

Hi, my name is Xandria, and I'm a geek. (Hi, Xandria.)

I like science, math, computers, and gadgets. I've spent Friday nights at the observatory, at software launch events, and at gaming marathons. I play D&D, board games, and an MMORPG; I've even played a TCG. I love scifi/fantasy, and am rarely without a book. I can't find my eyeliner or lipstick, but I can keep track of a TiBook, an iPod, a cell phone, a PDA/GPSr, and a GBA (with only a little trouble). I've even done Live Action Role-Playing and attended movies in costume. Like I said, I'm a geek.

Amazingly, I was in denial until two or three years ago. Sure, I was a bit odd, but that hadn't kept me from finding a (really wonderful!) husband; I had friends, too. In truth, though, I'd been a geek since childhood; I had just never realized it.

It started innocently enough. My parents were both big Star Trek fans, so I grew up watching reruns. Then of course there was Star Wars; my sister and I were avid fans. (I was Princess Leia, and I had the Underoos to prove it! And I can't count how many times we saw A New Hope at the drive-in.) Too, my favorite cartoon was Battle of the Planets. Bad sign!

School didn't improve things: my favorite classes were math and science. (They told me girls could be whatever they wanted to be; I believed them.) I became a bookworm, visiting the library almost daily.

High school was worse: I attended a science magnet program in ninth grade. I took BASIC programming and joined marching band (Flag Corps). When I got bored, I read Niven, Asimov, Robert Aspirin, and Harlan Ellison; I carried a book everywhere. I was guaranteed a place with the "outcasts"—who were much more interesting than the popular kids, since they were willing to be themselves!

In college, I found the local Baptist Student Union, where conformity was not demanded! Freed of the last constraints of high school, I followed a path of increased geekiness and vastly improved pool skills... My new boyfriend (now husband) was a true geek, and he leaped at the chance to indoctrinate me, starting with the writings of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Frank Herbert. His roommates were worse: their contributions included David Eddings, the PlayStation, Nuclear War, and the Illuminati game! (And Paranoia, and AD&D.)

I switched my degree from science to art. (Gee, four quarters of calculus and a semester of quantum mechanics are lovely as electives...) My husband and I did a short stint with live action RPG; then third edition D&D came out, and I was hooked. I also got sucked into MagiNation...and Munchkin, and all the classic "beer and pretzels" games (without the beer).

I realized he was a geek. We began hanging out at the local gaming shop. (No one complained about having an extra female gamer around...even an almost-thirty married chick.)

Oh, did I mention I'm a Mac addict? And I have a gadget problem? (Just a small one—I can still lift my purse...)
With all of this, it became too obvious to ignore: I was a geek. It was hard, at first. But I have embraced my geekness, and wear the label proudly. The geek shall inherit the earth!

Xandria

The Bible on an iPod

I just found a great new way to use my iPod: to listen to and read the Bible! A new company called BiblePlayer has found a way to use the "Notes" feature to deliver both an audio and text version of the Bible!

I just downloaded it fifteen minutes ago, but so far I love it! I'm trying out the freeware version first, but I'll probably buy the Deluxe version. Here's how it works: first, upload the audio files onto your iPod. Next, install everything else into the "Notes" folder (just make sure disk mode is enabled). Now disconnect the iPod and navigate to the Notes section. Wait for the notes to load (it takes a while; even the totally free version contains the full Gospels). Then, choose what you want to do: "Read the Bible", "Hear the Bible", "Bible in a Year", "Devotionals", or "Bible Stories".

The totally free version, "BiblePlayer Lite", contains the full Gospels, "Gospel in a Year" (twice through, I believe), Charles Spurgeon's "Faith's Checkbook" devotionals for January, and fifteen or sixteen Bible stories. There are also three sample audio files: Proverbs 5, in King James, World English, and Reina Valera (which I believe is the Spanish New Testament).

The $5 version contains the full text of the Old and New Testament, complete year of Faith's Checkbook, eight more reading plans, over one hundred Bible stories, and a "God's Promises" module. The deluxe version, which is only $20 this month, contains all that, plus full audio files.

I like that each text file has a link to allow you to listen to the audio for it (for the Deluxe version, of course), without going through Playlists. (Though I would assume you can create playlists with the audio files; after all, to iTunes, they're just mp3 files.)

Only downside: the iPod is limited to one thousand notes, so you can install the Old Testament or the New Testament–but not both. To switch, you must uninstall one before installing the other. (Though it should be no problem to install both sets of audio files, disk space permitting...)

Just for reference, I chose the World English Version: I don't already have it, and no one in my Sunday School class ever has it, so it will be useful for version comparisions. I'll research it more before I buy one, of course, but I can always download the KJV for the freeware, if I want. (My study Bible is a New King James, so it's pretty easy to switch over to KJV. But all the "eth" and "est" and "wherefores" can get tiresome, so I doubt I will. Besides, if I already have my Bible, I don't need to use my iPod!)

I'll post again once I've given BiblePlayer a more thorough trial.

Xandria

Online RPGs as an economy?

I was never really interested in MMORPGs until a friend let me try Guild Wars. It's so much fun! (Check out the screenshots of "Maid Mirawyn". Mirawyn loves yaks, and especially enjoys visiting Yak's Bend.) My husband also got me to try Diablo II (which neither of us ever thought would happen), and it's fun, too. But I still can't understand the EverCrack and WarCrack addictions! (That's "EverQuest" and "World of Warcraft" to the normals. If you ever have an addicted friend, you'll understand the nicknames.)

EverQuest players, in particular, are infamous for the incredible amounts of money they will pay for in-game stuff. High level characters or rare items can go for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. That's real money, mind you, not in-game money! And players have to pay a monthly fee (neither of my games has a fee), as well as buying the game and expansions. (The games require a pretty fast computer with lots of memory, and high speed access, too. I have the computer and broadband anyway, but you get the idea...)

Anyway, one economist-gamer by the name of Edward Castronova wrote a scholarly paper on virtual economies, primarily EverQuest and Ultima Online. He calculated how much a platinum piece is worth in real-world dollars, as well as how much wealth is created every day. By his reckoning, the world of EverQuest is the seventy-seventh richest country in the world, based on the real-world value of its "virtual property." Wow!

If you're looking for a career and are good with video games, there are people who make a living aquiring and selling that virtual property! How do you list that job on a resume?