Sunday, February 11, 2007
My mind is all over the place trying to sit and write—anything. I have a journal that needs attention, a couple emails that need doing, and then this blog. So, let's try this for now. . .
The last couple days, I heard from Lord of the Rings Online, which is in beta. My account got turned on for the beta and a few hours into it, I'd say it's really a lot of fun. Having experience in Entropia Universe helps, as I imagine experience in any of those type of games would. A key difference: Entropia is completely open-ended; LOTRO is quest-oriented. Entropia can get boring if you're not a self starter or very social. LOTRO seems like it could feel constricted by being driven by the game itself all the time. Players, at least from what I've seen so far, are less friendly in LOTRO, I think because they have the game itself to occupy them. Entropia certainly does a better job in connoting the notion of a virtual world. LOTRO feels more like a game. One technicality that contributes to that is this: When you enter a new area in LOTRO, the game stops and displays a load screen while the next landscape is set up. Entropia is seamless from end to end in a large world with no reloads at all. LOTRO's doing that very much kills the immersion and natural feel that its fine graphics work so hard to build. Its a shame and makes a bigger difference in feel that I would have imagined. All in all, though, both are fun, but different beasts.
Front levers are about the same this week. Just logging progress for me.
I'm 60 pages—out of something like 800—or so into Dhalgren, possibly my favorite book of all time. It's the fourth read in 27 years. I've read a lot about and by Delany between then and now, and it feels getting used to his style speeds it up. Also, having some biographical information on him is enlightening with regard to certain details in the book. I just love the thing. It communicates a mood and atmosphere that is unlike anything else I've ever read.
The last couple days, I heard from Lord of the Rings Online, which is in beta. My account got turned on for the beta and a few hours into it, I'd say it's really a lot of fun. Having experience in Entropia Universe helps, as I imagine experience in any of those type of games would. A key difference: Entropia is completely open-ended; LOTRO is quest-oriented. Entropia can get boring if you're not a self starter or very social. LOTRO seems like it could feel constricted by being driven by the game itself all the time. Players, at least from what I've seen so far, are less friendly in LOTRO, I think because they have the game itself to occupy them. Entropia certainly does a better job in connoting the notion of a virtual world. LOTRO feels more like a game. One technicality that contributes to that is this: When you enter a new area in LOTRO, the game stops and displays a load screen while the next landscape is set up. Entropia is seamless from end to end in a large world with no reloads at all. LOTRO's doing that very much kills the immersion and natural feel that its fine graphics work so hard to build. Its a shame and makes a bigger difference in feel that I would have imagined. All in all, though, both are fun, but different beasts.
Front levers are about the same this week. Just logging progress for me.
I'm 60 pages—out of something like 800—or so into Dhalgren, possibly my favorite book of all time. It's the fourth read in 27 years. I've read a lot about and by Delany between then and now, and it feels getting used to his style speeds it up. Also, having some biographical information on him is enlightening with regard to certain details in the book. I just love the thing. It communicates a mood and atmosphere that is unlike anything else I've ever read.
# posted by goldpython @ 4:28 PM 
