I'm In

Two days ago my life took another change. This one I consider of course for the better. At 8 AM Wednesday morning, the recruitment center told me that I was in and had a job waiting for me if I still wanted it. Of course I said yes. I will be leaving soon to report in for training Feb 20, 2006. Suffice to say, I can't wait. I'm anxious, but still, it'll be a new experience and something I should look forward to since I've been mulling it over for so long and wanting it for the past couple months. Wish me luck, I'll need it.

- W. Visarett

The Invincibles

In the vein of going ultimately fast without reason, we run ourselves into a completely different wall with this other estranged fact. This little brick and mortar construct that impedes us when we role play is our over-attachment to our characters. We develop such a connection with our characters that often, we don't want to see them get hurt, especially were, or if, we spend hours upon hours or days upon days crafting those characters.

This is somewhat understandable, however, since the characters themselves are supposed to be extensions of ourselves. As we wish to avoid pain, so too do our characters, and this avoidance to pain and suffering can also be detrimental. In dueling, as with real life, the fact is, we feel pain. While we might wish to save our characters from feeling those same pains, whether physical or emotional, it is better that we don't. Pain teaches experience, after all; a lack of pain means a lack of feeling.

The character, especially in dueling, is supposed to take a hit, supposed to become hurt. A fantasy world we may be playing in, but some semblance of reality is still there, or leaks through, and thus it can only be expected that the character would become hurt. We don't like it when our characters get hurt, when they experience physical pain. In dueling, the characters are supposed to get hit, take a hit every so often. When you evade everything thrown at you, you are in turn God Modding.

There are guides out there that say how to determine damage done, but here's a thought--instead of just taking damage based on how powerful you percieve the attack to be, take damage based on how you think a person would take damage based on the reality of getting hit by such. Of course, if you can evade within reason, do so, but always remember that sooner or later, you're going to tire and fatigued people make mistakes.

Then again, some attacks are so outstandingly overpowered that were you to take the damage based on how powerful the attack was, the character would die. It comes down to descretion, as always, on how much damage should be taken. Some people have a habit of taking too much damage, even from simple attacks, while others take too little. Again, always searching for that happy medium where everything fits.

 

- W. Visarett

Hiatus

As you can see, this hasn't been updated in a long while. Fear not, I have two articles in the works. Unfortunately, they're on my computer, and my computer now lacks Internet access, thus they haven't been posted as yet. Also, I discovered this thing called a life, so the already sporadic posts are going to be few and far between (as if they weren't already).

Thanks to the other contributors, of course, for being here when I'm not, and the reader base, for actually reading the shit I happen to spew now and again.

- W. Visarett

Collision Report

I had a car. It was a nice car...a navy Toyota Tercel, four door, '98; I liked it--it was a good car to drive. Will I be driving it again? Well, I suppose that's if or when it gets fixed, since, well, I totaled it on Monday. Now, of course when I say total, I mean crashed, and by crashed, I mean flew the vehicle off the road down a seventy foot embankment whereupon the only thing that kept me from flipping the car onto the roof and sliding into a small creek followed promptly by splashing into a river were a pair of trees, which I might add also caused the front fender to totally implode inward. Almost something you'd see in a movie.

So, yeah, I had my first car accident. It matters not that I had brand new snow tires, or that I was maintaining a speed well below the limit--black ice plus slush plus snow/rain combo destroys any hope of obtaining traction. So, of course, sliding off the road is a very real threat. And that, folks, is exactly what happened. The car is a write off since there was that much damage to it. Not so much damage to the exterior--just damage to the underside, the rad, and various other underbelly parts that met with low-lying shrubs and saplings. Poor saplings.

Of course, I wasn't alone when I went over the embankment at seventy kilometers per hour. A friend was with me. If you're wondering, there were no injuries. We walked away from it. The worst "injury" was slight whiplash for me, which only set in for about a day. Other than that, both I and my friend are fine.

In other news, I've starting going to the gym with another friend of mine. I'm sore, and bitchy. Is this a good thing? Possibly. Oh, yes, and I'm never online anymore. Go cry for the loss of me now.

[UPDATE Feb 14, 2006]

The car is a complete write-off and not being fixed. Should've said that a while ago, but I didn't. Oh well.