That’s Fine, Just No Kissing On The Lips.

“Y helo thar.”

Yes, you may all be wondering who I am and just what I am doing posting on Wolf’s blog. No, I’m not some ingenious hacker, and no I didn’t hypnotize Wolf to let me post here. As you may or may not know, Wolf a.k.a. Wolfgang Visarett is working on a comprehensive guide to forum dueling, and to help him out Tier and I will be addressing some of the issues that Wolf intended to handle, so if you need a question answered, don’t be afraid to hit any of us up.

Now, back to my topic; it seems that in the current age of dueling, the main concept is nothing but fight, fight, fight! Now, don’t get me wrong, fighting is good and all, but it does get a tad stale when the character interaction flies out the window and we get a ten car pile-up of slashing swords and overpowered energy blasts. What ever happened to the romance, people?! Who says there can’t be a little kiss in between two duelists fighting on the same side, why can’t we save a helpless NPC and then get repaid by a sexual fav…er, I mean hug? I’ll tell you who says this, a lot of people….

DeePee: “dueling is fighting... not meant to be character interaction.”

Now, to some degree, I would say that this statement is true, but there is that other 160 degrees that leads me into my next point; wouldn’t forum dueling be a bit more fun, and a bit more appealing to the masses if there was a little background to it? For example, take a look at dueling in its most linear form;

"All right, it's starting," Lizard thought to himself as the gate on the opposite side began opening. All nervousness was lost. The feeling of battle overtook him. His hand was instinctively led to Reiniku's handle.

Then suddenly, an unexpected calm washed over the stadium. Was it usually this quiet when the fighter entered the ring? No, the noise was quite loud on his entrance. What could-

"Wait a second, it's a woman," Lizard did not commonly see women on the battlefield, and those he did see were rarely his target.

As she walked closer, more detail could be identified. Especially that of her face. Instantly, Lizard's thoughts strayed from the battle... 'Is this my opponent... or some pre-fight entertainment? I can't fight like- wait, the fight!'

The steel gates from behind closed. "That's it," Lizard's eyes widened, the direct focus taken off his opponent. He took this opportunity to make a strike.

He made a direct charge towards the female fighter, making a jump just a few feet in front of her. Propelled by the extra force from his tail, Lizard would attempt to end the match quickly by taking a slash at his opponent's throat...

Look at this, I give my opponent the outmost opportunity to take a stab (Not literally, but emotionally) at the female character, and yet he could care less how beautiful she is, and instead charges headlong in to kill her. Now, if I see a female character that I am about to fight, I shall at least hit on her. Now, I’m not saying this guarantees some sort of relationship, which would be up to the other writer, but it does give way to a bit more fun and clever ways to play out the duel.

Now, everyone can run and slash, but to try and plant a gentle kiss on the woman’s cheek while you attack, now that is an art my friend. So what if you leave that attack with your face imprinted by five fingers and an angry palm, it’s better than a slice by a sword into the gonads, right? Now, the reasoning behind this isn’t to just put interaction into the duel, it may also put your opponent into an unforeseen corner, somewhere that they may not be familiar, and it will lead way to you holding the upper hand.

Now, instead of being a gun-totting, magical sword-wielding robots that live to fight, go out there and show some emotion. It lets the readers enjoy the duel more, and it may give you that key advantage to winning…

Corbow6

Hey Pa! I'm Gonna Go Hunt Me Some Zerg!

I had a chat with my older brother a couple days ago about my decision to join the army. He was shocked and surprised, but said that whatever I do, do it for me--which is why I'm doing this. He also asked if I had told our parents about this decision yet, to which I said no I hadn't. He wanted to know if he could tell them. I replied saying that "it'd be best if they heard it from me."

Well, I got a phone call today from my folks with my dad saying "Your brother says we should call you, says you have something important to tell us." It was around there that I began to both laugh at the situation that was about to ensue, and to slightly rue it. So, I told my dad flat out, "Yeah, I'm going to be enlisting in the army in the next couple weeks."

Now, I'd both seen and heard my dad flip out thousands of times in my life. I wasn't prepared for the amount of surprise/shock he espoused over the phone when he heard that. He literally yelled back into my ear: "WHAT!? You're joining the army!? You're crazy!"

About now I could hear my mom launched into laughter and hysterics over this. While I know she didn't see this decision coming, although I've been brooding over it for nearly eight months, she probably understands my reasoning behind doing it more than my dad. So, I ended up explaining to my dad that yes, this is something I wanted to do, yes I know I could get sent off to a foreign country to get shot at, and yes, I know it'd be tough, but it's something I want to do.

The end result was that my dad, although shocked, wished me well. My mom even wished me well, which wasn't what I had been expecting from her at all. Of course, my parents' reaction to my decision wasn't what I had been expecting. I'd thought they would be screaming and telling me I was insane, although my dad did say I was crazy for even thinking this. Either way, turned out well. Of course, with me enlisting, it might mean dropping the courses I am taking part in and heading home for the remainder of the wait before I ship out for training--because I'm pretty damn sure I'll get in without any hassle or problem whatsoever. Only time will tell though, eh?

And, this Friday, I will be seeing two movies: Domino and Two For the Money. The follow-up might be me seeing another two movies on Saturday, The Legend of Zorro and The Weather Man. Here's hoping they're all excellent movies, although I'm pretty sure they will be.

And speaking of good movies, Doom was okay, better than I expected (although I hadn't had high expectations to begin with), but as I've told many people, if you want something with good acting, a rich story and a great amount of plot, don't see it. If you like guns, monsters, and killing said monsters, then this would be something for you. I, honestly, believe anyone should see if just for the sake of seeing it to give it a chance and decide whether it was good or bad. I'm pretty sure the 'Net's already filled with reviews for and against the movie; so really, it's up to you whether you want to see it.

 

- W. Visarett

So, I Knew This Guy, Right--Real Asshole

Well, since I've started on the path of character creation, the only thing is to actually create a character, as an example, mind you. I'll create it all on the fly.

Now, me personally, I like to start with a name. You can try either Behind the Name or Baby Names for a name of choice. Or, you can use my strange method of coming up with original names.

First, you take an ordinary name: Matthew

Second, you take the name and split it in half: Matt hew

You then switch these two pieces: Hew matt

Add a "yk" to the end of "Hew": Hewyk Matt

Subtract the "tt" and add "nz" to the end of "Ma": Hewyk Manz

Finally, change the "a" to "ae": Hewyk Maenz

Pronounced: He-EW-ick Muh-enz

My method doesn't work for everyone, so only try it if you feel comfortable with it. The trick is the addition and subtraction of specific letters to produce a certain sound.

As a follow up to the name, then we decide whether the name is masculine or feminine, as this will decide whether the character is a guy or gal. I, personally, think the name Hewyk is masculine, so our character in question is male. Next we then describe the character, what he/she looks like, how he/she acts, etc.

Most people follow a preformatted guideline, using name, age, gender, race, appearance (eyes, hair, build, clothing, etc) and finally some kind of personality. I, on the other hand, try and just start writing about the character. Put the character in a situation and then write a way for the character to get out of the situation, and based on that, ascribe specific traits to the character. But for the sake of convention, I'll use the traditional method.

• Name: Hewyk Maenz
• Age:
• Gender: Male
• Race:
• Appearance:
• Personality:

Now, when filling all that out, you have to think about the character, what's he like. Most people already know in some subconscious portion of their mind what they want the character to be like. Each character is really some small extension of ourselves in a small manner.

• Name: Hewyk Maenz
• Age: 29
• Gender: Male
• Race: Human
• Appearance:
• Personality: Calm, cool, collected with sarcastic/wry humor

Notice I left off the appearance bit for the moment. I'll throw together a small writing piece, as that's generally the best way to capture what a character looks like, at least in my mind. Remember, though, what might work for me doesn't always work for someone else, and it's best to experiment until you get something you like or feel comfortable with.

It's ten PM. The sky's dark; pissing rain. His trenchcoat is soaked, the fedora atop his head along with it. The streets are turned slanted under the streetlights. It's twisted how the world changes in the dark. He stands about six foot, with cruel blue eyes, and a glint of blonde hair beneath the dripping outcrop of hat. A business suit, he wears, with one hand at his face holding the smoldering remains of a cigarette while the other is perched in his pocket. He holds himself like a man of class, but the shifty look in his eyes says anything but.

That's a pretty good description of the man's appearance. What you really need to do, then, is take the key points and put them into the appearance portion. The hardest part, mind you, is creation a back-story, a history or origin for your character, and there I can't help you. It's completely up to you what to do.

Anyway, I hope this little example proved at least somewhat useful. I'd hate to think that I'm wasting my time writing all this.

 

- W. Visarett