As if you all didn’t know by now, I’m a forum veteran, which really is a dolled up version of saying “forum whore”. I love forums – they provide a great medium for discussion, they have persistent threads that retain the history of the forum, and they are a good place to expand your online social circle, through others that share your interests.
But forums are also an interesting beast, and by that I mean a beast that bucks and kicks and threatens to throw you off. The dynamic nature of forums and forum posting means that as little as a single line can turn into a multi-page flame fest, filled with the usual internet memes, name-calling, and e-thugging many of us have come to expect. When you run forums as I have, the practice almost becomes popcorn-worthy, as a simple disagreement can turn into two or more people ripping each other to shreds.
Despite all this, I still like forums. For all their serious business and electronic trolling, the idea of having discussions among peers that you normally wouldn’t due to distance is an amazing thing that I think people take for granted these days. Even though social networking sites have worked to enhance connections people hold with those that aren’t in their immediate circle of friends, all of that had a foundation in forums, where people who regularly visit talk about themselves and the things they enjoy. This kind of core is what keeps me managing forums, despite the difficulties it presents.
I think that if geekfolks were less concerned about presenting themselves in a serious, credible light and more about discussing the matter at hand, forums themselves would be less turbulent. The faceless anonymity of forums is both a blessing and a curse after all – you can be credibly seen on the internet as the foremost expert on something and within minutes be seen as a great online fraud. The internet is fickle, and it’s a harsh mistress when it comes to things like this. But if it wasn’t exciting to navigate, a lot of us would be sworn off forums completely, content to post on our blogs or even eschew the internet’s lures entirely. No, many of us are hopelessly hooked on the siren call of a good forum discussion – I just hope most of you learn not to take it so seriously.
Recently I was fortunate enough to finish Dragon Age: Origins, and I do have to say, it was an interesting experience in many ways. Not to worry – those of you who haven’t played or aren’t finished playing won’t get spoilers to the ending. Today’s most positive note will talk about the journey to get there, which I found the most enjoyable thing about the game.
Today marks the first day of the holiday shopping season, and Black Friday, long since known to be a day when you can get the best deals on deeply discounted material, has been one of its biggest contributors. Early shopping, the mad rush to get things normally tens if not hundreds of dollars cheaper, and hopefully not getting trampled have been Black Friday staples for years.
Ah yes, Thanksgiving – that American holiday where the Butterball Turkey hotline is jammed up for hours, food coma is a given, and people start gearing up for Black Friday (post on that coming early in the morn, tomorrow) and the inevitable march towards the holiday season.
One thing that I have always enjoyed about Bioware games is that the moral choices that you make in them have lasting impact in the game. Whether it is the state of a planet, the disposition of NPCs, or the way your party members either applaud or oppose what you do, Bioware’s polished their system to a mirror sheen.