Fable 3: Review

Warning: Possible Spoilers.

So LOML picked up the Collector's Edition of Fable 3 on October 26th and brought it home. It was the hardest thing in the world to stumble home after a day of school and work and to only rip off the packaging and not shove the disc into the Xbox and spend the next eight hours playing it. Instead, I only ripped off the packaging and studied for a test I was having the following afternoon. And messed around with the Villager Maker, but apparently due to never getting the code from GameStop I wasn't able to put it into my game.

It wasn't for several days until I was able to start Fable 3 in earnest. First was the sultry voice of Theresa, asking me what I would be. The options were either a Prince or Princess. I chose Princess ('X' button). I then watched the opening story involving a chicken on a quest for freedom, only for the chicken to be shot and hauled into the castle kitchen while the camera pans up to the window of the Princess, where she is getting prodded out of bed by Jasper, the faithful and helpful butler every secretly aspiring Hero wishes they had.

I shan't reiterate the entire story, but I would like to say I found Fable 3 pleasantly different from Fable 2. There was less control over the emotes, but at least it was more intuitive to use them ('A' for good, "X' for evil, 'Y' for silly), and there is no more holding down the left trigger to collect little glowy balls of experience, which I always found annoying, as they like evaporating before I killed everything.

Due to my allergy to grinding, I was unable to do any of the jobs (blacksmithing, piemaking, barding) for any length of time (Yes, I play Runescape. Shut up). I slowly made money via renting out houses and owning shops but as it turned out I didn't accumulate enough money before embarking on the year of reign and then the year of reigning advanced rather faster than I expected, making me lose 2/3rds of the population of Albion. But at least they still liked me afterward.

I set up two families and adopted about eight runts from the orphanage before calling it a weekend on Sunday night. I started another character (a prince) with the intent of making him evil but sometimes even the greatest obsessions necessitate a break from them.

Fable 3: Two thumbs up!

Weekends, Or, When the World Starts Turning

I've discovered a curious side effect of leading a life full of the responsibility of work and school and relationships.

I go through the entire week of class-to-class and class-to-work and work-to-school routine and it's all very Tab A into Slot B, really. I get some variations in what I do in the times around Tab-A-into-Slot-B but inevitably I go to bed and then start Tabbing A into Slot B all over again.

But around 3pm on Friday afternoon, as I walk to the most distant school parking lot where I park my car and meet up with Roommate, there's this little feeling. And sometimes I don't even notice it.

We make the ten minute drive home and I hurriedly start packing stuff into my backpack--dice,  Magic deck, playmat, Monster, water bottle. We then all pile in LOML's car and head away to the gaming hall.

And there's the feeling.

And then I realize: it's like the world has started turning.

Sunday night I'll hear the squeaking of the world slowly winding down to a standstill and it'll be back to Tab-A-into-Slot-B again, as I run around doing homework and other things that must be got into line for the tabbing of A into slot B. But until then, the world is full of magic. And evil vampire lords. And death-defying acts of heroism.

 And dragons.

What Kind of Gamer am I?

While reading Runescape Reader's Digest Blog I ran across the following link purported to tell me what kind of gamer I am:
Gamer DNA test

I admit I have to agree with the results, i.e. 113% explorer, 67% achiever, 53% killer and 33% socializer, making me a Explorer Achiever.
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Your gamerDNA is:
Explorer
The Explorer motto: "No stone unturned!" Description:

It's not so much the wandering around and poking about, but that euphoric eureka moment the Explorer strives for. The joys of discovery do not necessarily involve geography, real or virtual. They may derive from the mental road less traveled, the uncovering of esoteric or hidden knowledge and it's creative application. Explorers make great theory crafters. The most infinitesimal bit of newness can deliver the most delicious zing to an Explorer.
Secondary influences

* Explorer Killers enjoy seeing the world, meeting interesting people...and killing them. EKs love all discovery, but finding an edge over the competition is best. Always seeking new opportunity, an EK likely knows the ten best places to find certain types of opponents, as well as ten different ways for taking them down.

* Explorer Achievers have been there, done that and have the t-shirt...in fact they have a plethora of t-shirts, badges, trophies and other rewards. EAs are the completionists of the gamer world. They like to find new places, quests, easter eggs, unlocks, maps etc. and check them off as have, visited or beaten. Like real world travelers, EAs enjoy collecting memorabilia that helps them relive their experiences later.

* Explorer Socializers are the glue of the online world. Not only do they like to delve in to find all the cool stuff, but they also enjoy sharing that knowledge with others. Explorer socializers power the wikis, maps, forums and theory craft sites of the gamer world.
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Too Awesome to Not Say Anything About

Click here, really, it's funny
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Okay, hopefully you clicked on the link.

I just want to say that was an awesome counter-protest and does what any serious counter-protesting would have probably not been able to accomplish.

It's a shame there's people that have to go around spouting hate and exemplifying the utter slime to be found in their hearts while hiding behind a false cover of religion. If they really want to read their Bibles with an open heart and mind they'd find that without love they're nothing. It says that in the literal black and white print they're so fond of making up misquoting.

Thank God for Comic Con Nerds!