Friday, July 25, 2003

... in which the fool thinks on RPG's he's played

Cancer Deathmask
You are Cancer Deathmask. You have few friends and
are considered oen of the cruelist saints to
have ever lived. Your house is covered with
faces of those you have killed. You love to
send people to hell and laugh. You work for
whoever offers you the most. Much like Pisces.
You are well known for having the most kills in
all of sanctuary.


What Saint Seiya Gold Saint are You?
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With the return of my phone line at home, the Dune books I've been passing the time with suddenly got snubbed. I'm well into half of the third book now, and frankly, something's wrong with the third book... It feels so inferior to the previous two books, as though it were written just to tie up loose ends that were revealed in the earlier volumes...

I can't summon the interest to finish the third book right now... Although this is probably due to my excitement to get back to Ragnarok after abstaining for over a week. After meeting the queen ant Maya this morning, I'm anxious to defeat it, even though I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do anything to it right now... maybe eventually...

In last Saturday's DnD game, I made a character that I've never created before: a sorcerer. I never made an arcane spellcaster before, because I know they can never fight pysically... At least, not in the way that I'd be satisfied in... They could never be able to deal sufficient damage to an ogre if they insist on fighting it with their staves or short swords, so I tend to stay away from them. Last Saturday, however, I've finally felt the fun that arcane spellcasters experience when they adventure... Sorcerers can just "point-and-click" at their enemies, and voila!

Instant fried meat. Or frozen meat. Or battered-up meat. Depending on the style.

But I don't think I would have enjoyed playing a spell-caster starting from the bottom. I just... don't.

I wish there were some nice movie to watch this week. I'm feeling quite bored, even with Ragnarok consuming most of my free time. It would be nice to watch a movie with friends, after abstaining for a few months... It seems like everyone is just so busy around me -- can't they all just relax and slow down for a while?

Been thinking about playing Suikoden 3... the new style integrated into the game is still putting me off, after all these months, but I know I'm going to play that game. Eventually. It's my favorite game series, even more than Final Fantasy. I just like the story a little better than the FF series (but not more than Chrono Trigger, although I regret not having to play Chrono Cross)...

I haven't touched Xenosaga either. Although I'm planning on at least taking a look at the sequel to Xenogears (even if I never finished the first game). And at least trying .hack too. There's a lot of hype surrounding that game, it would be nice to at least try it out.

Hopefully, when Star Ocean 3 comes out, I'd be able to find the time to play it (together with Suikoden 3). I feel like I don't have enough time to sample everything that I'm interested in (as compared to my studies... hehehe...).

Monday, July 21, 2003

... in which the fool is suddenly inspired to write

Bright Shield Rune
Which Suikoden True Rune Are You Compatible With?

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Our phone line still isn't up. Thankfully, as I've mentioned in the journal, I've managed to spend my time reading my brother's Dune books. They're quite an engaging read, really, despite my initial apprehensions about them when my brother first took them home. Or perhaps, I just love inter-familial (inter-house) intrigue... Which would probably explain why I love White Wolf works, but I digress...

After reading through the first two books though, I feel like the plot is a little too obvious. After all, the trilogy is supposed to be a prequel . Meaning, no matter what interesting things they mangage to write down for them, in the end, they'd have to take everything away if it has no purpose in the main books written by Frank Herbert. I pity the waste of their hard work just to conform to an existing reality...

This subconscious realization that prequels are "almost a waste of time" probably led to my dislike of the books in the first place (and my dislike of the Star Wars prequel trilogy). Perhaps if they made a bunch of books that didn't affect the history of the main Dune books so much -- like a book that recounted the history of the various Houses in the Landsraad -- it would have been more interesting at first glance...

I'm now starting to read the third book in the series, and am planning to look for the new "prequel" trilogy which recounts the tale of the Imperium, at the time when Humans have just started to throw off the yoke of their machine masters (I find this theme a little too repetitive in current science fiction works)... Perhaps this new trilogy would tell us the names and the reasons behind the various Houses and their rivalries...

A most curious experience I've found in the Harkonnen book was an interest in another set of rival families. Perhaps I got curious with the paralellism between Houses Ecaz and Moritani, as well as Houses Atreides and Harkonnen. Perhaps I grew bored with the unending and obvious feud between the two more well-known houses. In any case, I find myself wanting to know more about the two lesser-known houses of the Landsraad. Would the authors say anything about the two of them in their new book? I hope so...

Thanks to my brother, I find myself with a nice stockpile of books waiting to be read. After I finish with the Dune Trilogies, I'd be able to start on the new White Wolf Trilogy about the new Demons that they have. I'm pretty curious about what those people in White Wolf were thinking when they thought about the Demon concept, as well as what they can do with their powers. While corrupting other people could be pretty cool, I find the concept boring as hell (pardon the pun) after a long time, unless corrupting other people brought rewards in intself... I'll find that out for myself when the books arrive. Probably in two weeks time.

Hopefully, it wouldn't take that long for our phone services to be reconnected. I can already feel the wastefulness of lost time not playing Ragnarok Online... My mage is practically begging for attention right now...

I just remembered, I have an exam tomorrow. And I've barely studied a word. Perhaps I should focus my attentions on them tonight?

Or perhaps I should concentrate on doing something else instead? Like watching a movie perhaps? Too bad there's no movie worth watching this week... Perhaps next week. When League of Extraordinary Gentlemen hits the big screen in the States.

As a final note, I recall hearing about a second set of Terminator movies (from Patrick) that would tell the story of how John Connor fought the war? And for each movie in the second trilogy, they'd be sending a Terminator back in time to ensure that Connor survives (though a living human would be sent the first time, to ensure that Connor gets born...)? I say that idea is a little too stupid... Unless they can find a significant number of events that changed due to the number of times that a terminator was sent through time. Obviously, the writers would need to find a way to go around time travel paradox and the formation of a parallel reality...

Perhaps it would be better if we wait and see...