Freaky Sex vs Ethics?

So one of my little time wasters lately has been playing around with Dragon Age Origins.  It is a basic RPG format, where you are in charge of a party of 4 players who specialize in different types of combat and fight their way through ever increasingly complicated enemy scenarios.  It is a very visually well done game, with enough entertainment value to keep you busy for at least a few weeks of time.  One of the aspects of the game that I enjoy is that it has a built in reputation meter that takes into account what choices you make when responding to the dialog of the NPC characters that advance the plot throughout the game.  It isn’t quite as integral to the experience as some RPG’s I have played, but it still allows you to either kill, mangle, and destroy your way through… or take time to help every sorry excuse who stumbles along your path with a sob story.  The choices you make don’t make a huge difference in the rather linear game-play, but your decisions do impact your reputation with the different characters in your party.   It doesn’t take long to figure out that if you wanna get into Morrigan’s freaky virtual pants (I mean she isn’t nicknamed a Witch of the Wild for nothing) you are going to be rewarded for taking the lowest moral path.

Morrigan’s visual aid:

This relationship got me to thinking about how I have seen this scenario play out before… in many different RPG’s that allow for you to take control over your characters actions (like StarWars Knights of the Old Republic franchise).  If you happen to live under a rock and not understand how the gameplay works in these RPG’s it is very similar to the old choose your own adventure books, that I used to love as a kid.  You are presented with a scenario, you then choose option A, B, C, or sometimes even D in response to the scenario.  Instead of now skipping ahead to the correct page number, the software does all the work for you, and the situation responds to your input.

Let me give you an example scenario:

You come across an old man, whose one and only daughter has been taken by a group of brain eating zombies back into a castle.  He is not aware if she lives or not, but he has the utmost faith that she still is alive, but he is too weak to go in after her.  He requests your aid to go into the castle and either retrieve his daughter or at least bring him back confirmation of her death so he can grieve and put the matter behind him. Do you…

A.  Swear to him you will sacrifice your own life and limb to assist him to find his daughter.

B.  Tell him you do not have time to assist him with this matter because otherwise the entire world will be consumed by the plague.

C.  (Force Persuade) him that he does not have a daughter.

D. Kill him for wasting your valuable time.

If you think you are a male player who always picks option A:  Then you are going to end up with a really “chummy” veteran male soldier willing to swap spit with you, and a loyal dog.  If you are an option B or C kinda player:  You are going to end up working through the plot line without any real close companions, and you will be forced to go it alone.  If you are an option D kinda player… you will have all the hot chicks thinking you are the next Colin Farrell.

So what is it about the psyche of these programmer types that think that only the bad boys are going to get the hot chicks?  Is it the traditional cliche?  Is it true that to really become appealing you are always going to put yourself ahead of any other thing?  That altruism is a turn off every single time?

I like to think that I am smart enough to see through it, but you kinda have to wonder about all the young pre-teens out there who are being taught the stereotypes from their actions.  I am not a big proponent of video game violence causing real violence, and don’t want to get into that here… but it does seem to be a play to modify behavior types to teach kids that you are going to be rewarded with the girl by picking all the least altruistic options.  It is also built from a sexist viewpoint, because a female playing can easily still find male suitors by picking from the high road options.

Habbo’s Twilight Pale vs SL’s Rich Bloodlines

The Cast of Twilight

The Internet has been buzzing this past week with the announcement that the hit TV turned feature film saga Twilight is coming to the 3D world of Habbo.  Summit Entertainment is pulling out all the stops to promote their Twilight Franchise not only on Habbo, but on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and even the iTunes store.

A Burning Hunger

Vampire stories are supposed to be textured in rich dark velvety tones and at least a minimal nod to the gothic antiquity of their “bloodlines.”   Recreating this feeling in the Lego-people environment of Habbo is a FAIL.

The Avatars of Habbo are about as visually interesting and “dark” as a Precious Moments figurine. Even young children know the difference between this “Lego-Land” and the high quality digital characters (Avatars) of their favorite video games.

Habbo Vampires

By the time they are old enough to appreciate the Twilight story, their aesthetic tastes are 15 years beyond the primitive early 80’s video game like interface of Habbo.

If you’re over 18 and want to hang out with some “real” vampires avatars, you need to check out Second Life .   Here you will find a diverse and beautifully rendered collection of vampire communities to wet your darker appetites.

Crimson Shadow by Winter Jefferson

Be a vampire, vampire hunter or familiar, choose your appearance, clothing and even wings.  Entertain, dance, socialize, “hunt” and even fly with others of your bloodline. You can even make your avatar look like your favorite Twilight character or buy/build recreations of where they live!

The extremely popular Bloodlines Vampire and Lycan Role Playing System in Second Life has thousands of dedicated players and includes a full line of products, designed to help you build and Role Play in a Vampire or Lycan world of your own creation.

If you are new to the SL world of Vampires, you may want to check out some of the following links to get your started.

• Vampires On Flickr *
• Vampire “stuff” on XstreetSL
• Le Cimetiere (Vampire / Lycan Sim in SL)**
• SL Transylvania (Transylvania Region in SL)**
• Umbral Falls (Vampire Sim in SL)**

* You must be logged in to Flickr to view this photo group.
** You must either have Second Life installed or install it to visit these locations.

The bottom line: www.secondlife.com is the place for “real” Vampire / Twilight fun. By comparison, Habbo “sucks!”

We’re All Stars in the Freakshow

So there I was… getting ready for the Hair Fair.

ARC… whut? Nah, haha, Kidding!

Courtesy of Nitestar Albion, Jell and I got outfitted up in !Freakshow gear. The latest in post-apocalyptic couture, Freakshow offers a pretty decent-sized initial collection.

Though she plans to do more clothing designs, Nitestar’s real passion is prims… mega boots, bracers, belts, backpacks. I’ve known Nitestar since my very first days in SL and it was so exciting to see what she’d created.

You will find that the offerings are made up of the grimy, the almost indecent, and the prepared for battle. And look! OMG the Mean Girl Back Pack!! Isn’t it to die for?!

I’m truly thrilled with the level of detail and quality that Nitestar has put into her items. Tattered, nippled, weathered, and worn… Freakshow lends a bit of authenticity to your rough second life 😀

What Jell is Wearing:

HAIR: :: Refuge ::  Harriet – FROM HF 2009
SKIN: <TheAbyss> Jadzia_Sol [2]C (Jadzia Skins can now be purchased at Body Doubles) SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dark%20Oasis/227/20/33
GOGGLES: FREAKSHOW Aviator Goggles
NECKLACE: FREAKSHOW DoubleWrapped Greystone Arrowhead Necklace F
SHORTS: FREAKSHOW Cut Offs
TOP: FREAKSHOW Tank Numbered
BELT: FREAKSHOW Voodoo Belt <womens> <BLACK>
ARM BANDS: FREAKSHOW Voodoo <Female Arm Bands> <BLACK>
BACKPACK: FREAKSHOW Mean Girls BackPack <BLACK>
SOCKS: FREAKSHOW Dirty Tartans
BOOTS: [0N] AM_Bb Boots SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koenji/227/41/40

What Rosie’s Wearing:

Hair: ETD Nadia Strawberry Blackened

Skin: ::Dutch Touch:: Star Cream Special

Eyes: La Sylphide Bright Blue

FREAKSHOW Aviator Goggles *worn in hair*

FREAKSHOW The Hunter’s Female Black Leg Band

FREAKSHOW Urban Girl Combat Boots Female

FREAKSHOW Wanderer’s Belt Black Female

FREAKSHOW Tank Killer Bunneh

FREAKSHOW CaptainSpaulding Jeans Unisex

FREAKSHOW Ripped Black (on jacket layer)

FREAKSHOW Collar Lil Beast

The Sims 3: A Review by an SL Resident – Part 1

In a lot of ways, for me, The Sims series was training ground for Second Life. First, it gave me my oh-so-delicious first taste of internet fame. Second, it gave me my first experiences with online community drama (content theft, giant pointless flame wars, etc.) Third, it taught me how to sift through massive amounts of total shit content to find the few sparkling gems. And fourth, it got me used to the idea of playing with virtual dolls —  I mean, virtual action figures.

Due to the sheer amount of time spent being awesome, I haven’t actually had too many opportunities to sit and really play the game. I will, post a follow-up review of the actual gameplay — which I hear is very similar to The Sims 2 until late in the game.

But I would like to talk about the “Create-a-Sim” portion of the game and how it compares to creating an avatar in Second Life. And at first, I was all like, totally different. I mean, for example, one of the first decisions you make in terms of physical appearance is your Sim’s skin tone. You pick a general colour palette (some realistic, some not) and use a slider to choose from a range of very light to very dark. Whereas in SL, I thought, you’re at the mercy of the base skin tones your skin designer of choice offers.

I thought. The truth is, I had completely forgotten that you are able to tint Linden Labs base skin thousands of different colours. Because why would you want to? The only colour you could tint that skin to make at all aesthetically pleasing is pure black, hiding all the details. In almost every way the Create-a-Sim is LL’s default avatar creator minus all the suck.