A Few Thoughts about Religion, Faith and Treating Fellows With Love

I originally posted this as part of a Facebook comment on a friend's post, who believed that all religion was wrong and was the cause of the present violence. 

I probably wouldn't go that far. But I have some experiences of a kind of extremism in my own life that I recognised and rejected. People ask me why terrorists make me sad, instead of angry. They're a little bit surprised when I say I understand the kind of thinking and teaching that creates them. I feel sorry for them, for the people and teaching they've been surrounded with their entire life. I feel sorry that they've dedicated their life on the basis of a lot of lies they were told, that basing decisions on religion, not humanity, would make their lives and world better in the long term. I'm going to call out a lot of behaviour, not just violence. So if you consider yourself a devout anything, be warned: this post is about you.

I don't have a problem with religion. I especially don't have a problem with faith. It can be great thing and has inspired many people to great art and actions. What really becomes a problem is that part of a which religion encourages you to involve other people around you. That's what should really stop. When you are basing actions not on what you think would be good for people around you, but instead on what you think are the wishes of some otherworldly entity you cannot produce or define clearly, that is a problem.

Let me highlight this with a more personal experience. Years ago i considered myself a devout Christian. I was married and we had a lot of support and friends in churches whereever we lived. I would have considered these people loving and peaceful.

When that marriage fell apart - due to my actions, I accept. Decisions made as a reaction to lots of other stuff that was wrong in that relationship - I only received messages of hate, judgement and unsupport (if that's a word - whatever the opposite of support is, that's what I experienced). The "friends" that I believed I had vanished overnight. That religion taught me one thing - if you don't tow the line of the group wishes of our community, you're on your own.

I walked away from my religion and my faith because I saw two things. Firstly, it was encouraging people to act based on what they thought God wanted them to do. This wasn't their own instinct. Vague religious texts and partisan preaching taught us to second guess our own reactions. This is how to turn a good person into a monster. You put aside your own feelings and thoughts and act according to a kind of "second personality." That makes it easy to justify extremism. When you're overcoming your own misgivings and acting according to someone else's wishes, it becomes duty. You think you're growing brave, devout, pious. In actual fact you're betraying everything that made you a good person: your conscience and responsibility to fellow humans. What did my old friends care if my marriage was over? It shouldn't have affected theirs (Unless, I suppose, it highlighted failings in their own relationships they weren't prepared to tackle.) They were acting out and quoting bible passages because they felt a responsibility on themselves to react in a certain way. not with love, but with law.

It didn't bring me closer to god. It changed me and drove me away from "faith" for good. It highlighted a second factor for me. I saw that I too had been capable and culpable of basing my decisions on an undefinable set of rules to which I felt I needed to adhere. I would say that I only got married at 20 in the first place because of religious teaching. I would also stay I only stayed in that marriage for as long as I did, despite the misery that relationship caused us both, because I felt my religion called me to stay in it. Those weren't common sense behaviours.

So I guess what I'm saying is, blowing people up or shooting them is part of the same behaviour as picketing abortion clinics, sending hate mail or even being judgemental about other people's life choices. You aren't helping anyone by telling them they're living their life wrong and should do it according to a set of rules you think are correct. If you're acting towards strangers in a way that is uncaring and that you wouldn't apply to your friends and family, that's bad; that's hypocrisy. Alternatively, if you would treat your friends your family that way, what the hell is wrong with you?

In summary, faith is fine as long as it brings you comfort, support and strength. As soon as it becomes something you need to apply to other people, it generally brings hate, pain and worse.

So yeah. Be free to believe whatever you like. But whether it's in violence, or just the day to day application of your views to other peoples lives: feel free to keep it to yourself.

New Audio Drama Series Announced for Chaos Reborn

The Radio Theatre Workshop has announced a partnership with Snapshot Games to create a range of new full-cast audio dramas, based on the fantasy combat game Chaos Reborn. The first releases are planned for early 2015. The new series of audio adventures will explore the diverse environments and characters and provide an experience which complements the game.

Former producer of Escape Velocity and director of the acclaimed Elite: Dangerous audiobooks Christopher Jarvis said, “We're massive fans of Julian Gollop's game and it's amazing to work alongside the developers, because we get access to all the art and sound effects, which enable us to create something really faithful. This will mean that fans of the Chaos Reborn game can keep enjoying the experience even when they're away from their PCs.”

SnapshotGames CEO Julian Gollop said, “The prospect of high quality audio drama based in the universe of Chaos Reborn is tremendously exciting. Exploring the universe of Chaos Reborn through drama will greatly enrich players' experience of the game.”

The next step for the series is to secure costs for actors and production and The Radio Theatre Workshop has a crowdfund project here.

Christopher Jarvis said, “It isn't just for the gamers. They'll enjoy hearing the game world expanded with great actors and exciting stories, while audio drama fans will get a wholly untapped fantasy setting to explore. It has everything: giants, unicorns, magic trees, dragons, goblins, vampires and, of course, battling wizards. Bringing that all together is an amazing challenge and a privilege.”

About Snapshot Games: Snapshot Games was founded in 2013 by Julian Gollop (XCOM/UFO, Laser Squad, Rebelstar, Ghost Recon, Shadow Wars) and David Kaye (Achaea, Gaming Insiders), to  develop video games in the tradition of Julian Gollop’s earlier titles with modern, high quality presentation and multiplayer and social features. The company’s first title is Chaos Reborn, a sequel to the classic Chaos game first published in 1985. It was successfully funded via Kickstarter in April 2014. www.snapshotgames.com

About The Radio Theatre Workshop: The Radio Theatre Workshop was founded in 2013 by Christopher Jarvis as an end-to-end production studio for audio drama and audiobooks, specialising in full sound effects treatment and musical score. Their flagship podcast serial  Escape Velocity became a huge hit with gamers and audio fans alike and the RTW have gone on to receive critical acclaim for a range of official Elite: Dangerous audiobooks. www.radiotheatreworkshop.com

Top 5 Tips for Enjoying Zelda Triforce Heroes (and why it isn't like a threesome)

I've been enjoying The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes on the Nintendo 3DS for about a week. I've mostly been playing online with strangers, since between running my Kickstarter for Full-Cast Audio Drama based on Chaos Reborn and looking after my daughter, one or two quick dungeon raids every couple of hours is the best I can fit in.

The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes is a game which takes some of the basic puzzles from The Legend of Zelda series and splits the tools for completion between three players. A co-op game, it requires teams to work together by combining skills, picking up each others' avatars to for a totem and communication using only 8 simple emoticons.

The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes - Communication Panel

I've had some good games and I've had some bad games. It strikes me that the best way to make Triforce Heroes a great experience starts with looking at your own behaviour. What should we called this Zelda etiquette? I wanted something snappy, like "Tri-fiquette", but that's terrible. I thought maybe Etiqulink", but I'm not sure it's even pronounceable. I'm settling with "Zeldiquette." Zeldiquette, as a phrase describing good behaviour in Triforce Heroes is only irksome to me for the same reason as my irritation at this game being called "The Legend of Zelda." ZELDA IS NOT EVEN IN IT!

That aside, here are my 5 tips for good Zeldiquette.

Good Zeldiquette

5. Veiled Communication is Actually Part of the Game

I've read a lot of reviews of The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes which completely miss the point. Take this quote from Arcade Sushi

Really this game is only held back by limited communication options when playing with strangers. 

Limited communication is at the heart of this game. Have you ever played charades and thought, "well, it's a good game, but surely it would be better if the players spoke"? Nope. If there were voice or text communication in Triforce Heroes then gameplay would boil down to more experienced players leading you through each level step-by-step. There's no fun in being told the solution. That's grinding.

One of the most interesting games of recent years was Journey. That did an exceptionally good job of matching you with random internet co-op buddies and giving you limited communication ability. Triforce Heroes is similar.

Guiding other players to a solution

There's a lot of satisfaction in working it out for yourself, which is why the 8 emoticons available in each level are a good way of providing basic communication to work as a team, without robbing you of gameplay. There's a great feeling of accomplishment from figuring out a complex bit of a level together. It's just as fun if you know the solution and help guide your team to success using only the simplest of language tools.

4. Wheaton's Law Applies

In Triforce Heroes, you only get one chance to make a good impression.

Here's an equation:

• We all want to try playing The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes online with strangers at some point.
• None of us wants to get matched with a pain in the ass.
• The game makes it very easy to add players to a permanent blocklist.

The maths for that is very easy. If you behave rudely, every player you meet will block you on your first meeting. If that happens a lot, you're going to find yourself waiting in the lobby for connections for a very long time, because none of the regular players will want to play with you.

If you want to come across as friendly, remember to wave hello at your new team-mates when they join. No-one knows what to make of a player who stays silent, throws you at the starting Triforce and yells "Let's Go!" over and over.

Using the emoticons to celebrate success and good effort

3. It's The Opposite of a Threesome

I've heard lots of jokes on Facebook and other places about Triforce Heroes and threesomes. It's a fun gag for gamers who don't want to admit how attracted they are to each other. But there is a big difference between this game and a menage-a-trois and that is: the person in the middle is having the least fun.

However you organise a sexual threesome, the person in the middle is generally having the best time. But, when you form a three person totem in Triforce Heroes, spare a thought for the player in the middle. They don't get to use movement controls or items. They are willing passengers until such a time as the three-story target has been hit.

Forming a three-player totem to reach a high object

So, be nice. Everybody wants a chance to play. Being carried around a level by someone else is no fun. Put your co-op buddies down safely after they've helped with an objective.

2. There Can Be Multiple Solutions

I've done it myself. Another player and I are throwing icons at each other from opposite sides of a ravine, both yelling about how to reach the last balloon floating over the chasm.

The fact is, many of the puzzles in The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes can be overcome in multiple ways, given the tools at hand. I may favour wearing the Big Bomb Outfit and blasting the hell out of anything that moves (including other players) but someone else might have worked out that the same target can be hit from a ledge a little way over.

Tackling a boss together

So, rather that stubbornly following a tried and true path you know to work, why not listen to your fellow players and try what they are suggesting? Even if their approach doesn't work, it's much more enjoyable to try an idea and see the results than to have someone shout a solution over you, again and again. Unless it's against the timer, what do you really have to lose?

1. Above All, Be Patient

Good advice for all aspects of life, it's especially valuable when playing The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes. If, like me, you're attempting your seventh run at Moblin Base to try and get a Sweet Shroom because for some reason your last few attempts have won you the Gohma's Eye six times in a row (the probability of which being a maddening 0.14%!). then it's fair to say you probably know the level pretty well.

Passing a active bomb between players

Here's a thought: One of your online party might not know the level at all. This might be their first visit. Continually spamming the "NO!" icon and throwing them around the level isn't going to be the best gameplay for you or your new buddy. Given time, they'd probably even figure out the level on their own, so be patient, try to use the emoticons helpfully and give them space to work it out. Be extra patient if you're on a time-challenge map with someone who didn't vote for it - it's not the best way to experience a level first time.

Christopher Jarvis is a writer, audio drama producer and co-host on the LaveRadio.com podcast and is best known for creating the science fiction series Elite: Escape Velocity. He is an avid gamer and is currently running a Kickstarter for Full-Cast Audio Drama based on the game Chaos Reborn.

3DS Swapnote Special Stationery List - trying to complete

Okay so I know I don't blog very much on this channel anymore. I'm mostly taken up with my Newbie GM blog, all about my Doctor Who Roleplaying experiences and Lave Radio, the Elite: Dangerous Podcast as well as Escape Velocity the full-cast audio drama based on Elite: Dangerous.

But, I am still an avid gamer and a bunch of us have been trying to figure out our Swapnote Special Stationery list, especially since the Swapnote Update in April 2013 gave us the ability to see how many we had each collected.

I've search the internet a bunch of times, but I can't find a list of Swapnote Special Stationeries I can understand, so I thought I'd make my own, based on the ones I have on my system. Hopefully my 3DS pals can send me the ones I'm missing.

I have 52 pieces of Swapnote Special Stationery at the time of writing (now 63 - see updates at bottom). My list is:

• Animal Crossing (insect outlines)
• Animal Crossing (Japanese - border of character faces)
• Art Academcy (Faint flowers in background)
• Bravely Default Flying Fairy (Character with giant speech bubble)
• Christmas Candy Cane, Baubles and falling stars
• Christmas Gift Bow and falling flowers
• Denpa RPG 2 (Japanese - Antenna Tower)
• Denpa RPG 2 (Japanese - Denpa Men in conga line holding a green cloth?)
• Denpa RPG 2 (Japanese - Family in fron of figure with bouquet)
• Denpa RPG 2 (Japanese - Girl sitting in front of pile of presents)
• Dillon's Rolling Western  (Faded paper poster)
• Dillon's Rolling Western (Rope outline with silhouettes)
• Dragon Quest Monsters (Japanese - Wood frame with vines)
• Dragon Quest Monsters (Slime silhouetees)
• Fallblox (2 columns of cartoon figures)
• Fire Emblem (Japanese - Row of pixel sprite figures across bottom)
• Fire Emblem Awakening (Character in front of faint world map)
• General - Beach with surfer silhouette
• General - Writing Paper/Pad with coloured lines
• Harmoknight (floating musical notes)
• I Fight Dragons (Photo booth faces with zooming figures)
• Lego City Undercover (group of 5 crooks)
• Lego City Undercover (police car)
• Luigi's Mansion (Ghosts zooming down corridor)
• Luigi's Mansion (side-scrolling ghosts)
• Mario and Sonic (Tennis and Fencing)
• Monster Hunter? (Cartoon Cat holding meat above head)
• Monster Hunter? (Cartoon Cat holding sword in front of waves)
• New Super Mario Bros 2 (Falling coins with gold mario and silver luigi)
• New Super Mario Bros 2 (Gold mario with fireball, ALONE, with falling coins and coin stack)
• New Super Mario Bros 2 (Luigi tripping with coins and Mario jumping)
• New Super Mario Bros 2 (Raccoon mario flying with scrolling coins)
• New Year Party Poppers with falling confetti
• Nintendo Direct (Japanese - Super Mario Land 8-bi scene with pagoda)
• Nintendo Direct (Nintendo Direct logo with Japanese pagoda with hills and fireworks, on blue stripe background)
• Nintendo Direct (Red top+bottom borders with map of europe)
• Nintendo Direct WiiU Black
• Nintendo E3 2012 with zooming bubbles
• Nintendogs and Cats (with reverse-zooming cloverleaves)
• Paper Mario Sticker Star (Mario with hammer in front of yellow checked background)
• Pokedex 3d Pro (Cartoon Genesect on white background)
• Pokemon Black/White 2 (Genesect on blue/purple background)
• Pokemon Black/White 2 (Genesect on grey background)
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (3 blue circles)
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (Blue)
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (Red)
• Swapnote Update (Flying letter with green baseline + pencil)
• The Legend of Zelda (Vine border with 6 pixel-sprite figures)
• Valentines (chocolate birds and falling flowers)
• Valentines (frame with stitched hearts)
• Valentines (Lace corners with zooming hearts)
• WiiU (Faint Miiverse in background)

UPDATE!

Since posting this appeal to my 3DS buddies I have had an excellent response from the lovely Alana who has provided me with the following additional swapnote special stationery:

• GameCenter CX (Japanese - Pixel art King on zooming starfield)
• Pokemon Black/White 2 (paper in two halves, black border left, white right, black and white Kyurem depicted)
• Super Mario 3D Land (Jumping mario with raccoon shadow on airmail border with logo)
• Mario Tennis Open (Peach on right with tennis balls scrolling left to right)
• Mario Tennis Open (Mario on left with tennis balls scrolling right to left)
• Monster Hunter? (Cartoon Cat holding playing card? with duck on head and pink background)
• Culdcept (Japanese - shows zooming rectangles with Manga girl in foreground, reads "Omiya Soft" in border)

UPDATE 2!

I also have the following stationery:

• Super Mario AR Card
• Mario and Donkey Kong - Minis on the Move
• Animal Crossing (Isabelle with zooming leaves)
• Monster Hunter 4 - Big English Logo and Silhouette Tribal Design

Gaming and Spirituality

I can't even remember the number of times I used to sit through long Church sermons wistfully imagining I was somewhere else playing a videogame.

This isn't quite that. But in taking a game with a chillout vibe and little excessive context of its own, Exeter Cathedral have experimented with using Flower as a visual and participatory aid to worship.

Whatever you believe in, I think its interesting how this game appears to create an focus for reflection and meditation, much like lighting a candle or listening to recorded natural sounds.

GAME's administration: A gamer's view

I'd be lying if I said I was an expert in economics, but there are one or two things about the coverage of GAME's potential collapse which I - as a gamer and consumer - find it hard to accept. There's lots of talk about credit terms and competition with supermarkets - which is the downfall of so many high street retailers - but for me this doesn't cover GAME's failings.

Years ago there were two specialist high street retail chains: GAME and Electronics Boutique (since I'm digging out brain cells that have been dormant for a while, I think EB was Futurezone before that - that's going back a bit). GAME successfully bought out all of EB's stores, but never consolidated them, resulting in the current situation in which most major retail-oriented city centres have two branches of GAME. This must have meant a lot of staff and property overhead for little extra profit. Buying games isn't like wanting an overpriced coffee, you don't need to just turn your head and see a branch.

Some time later, a new chain emerged which specialised in the then-fledgling trade-in market, Gamestation. GAME decided to buy out the competition again, acquiring all of Gamestation's branches, many of which were - again - in cities which already had two branches of GAME. Additionally, by this time GAME had also adopted a major pre-owned strategy of their own and for most gamers, to be honest, GAME and Gamestation had become interchangeable.

It never made sense to me why GAME continued to maintain so much duplication on the high street. In many cities they effectively had three stores, often within a couple of streets of each other. I always though it was the perfect opportunity to compare which branch enjoyed the most footfall and conversion and to close the lesser locations.

The talk of supermarket's undercutting GAME is also confusing. As a gamer, I have to say that I find neither supermarkets or GAME to be a particularly competitive option. Play.com and Amazon pretty much set the standard best price for new game releases. GAME's best feature, for me, was the regular weekly deals and occasional discounts they would offer. There was always a good reason to visit GAME regularly and for me it simply wasn't the new releases.

Obviously the high street struggles to compete with online. What is particularly irritating about GAME's practices over the last few years is that they don't even compete with their own website. The same titles would regularly be £5-£10 cheaper on their website than in-store and local staff were powerless to price match. Perhaps the branches were having to pay for their multiple presence in the high street?

I think it would be a sad day for gamers in the UK if GAME and Gamestation disappear, leaving HMV left as the only struggling retail chain to specialise in entertainment products. For those towns with a decent independent game shop it will be a good season, but I fear many gamers will be left with only online options and for the casual gamer it will be a very confusing time.

Does the PS Vita add any value?

Today marks my last opportunity to pre-order Sony's new handheld console, the Playstation Vita. To be honest I'm still uncertain as to whether I want it or not. To get my own thoughts in order and to provide you with some food for thought, below is the summary of my current thinking. This is not consumer advice, nor is it an analysis of the specification of the console; this is purely my experiences as a buyer and as a gamer.

I have a lot of games systems. Currently vying for my attention are the Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS. Really I need to consider what the Vita offers that these do not.

Compared to the 3DS

On the one hand I love the 3DS as a portable games system. Poor battery life aside, the increase in power and resolution over the DS makes it a highly credible machine for more serious games. By "serious games" I mean bigger adventures, with deep stories and levels and cinematic presentation.

Having said that, the 3DS (as is often the case with Nintendo platforms) still lacks a generous quantity of these kinds of games. Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (3DS) and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (3DS) have been good examples of the kind of excellent games at which the system can excel. However, I still haven't caught up with Super Mario 3D Land or the new Resident Evil and around the corner is Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure and Heroes of Ruin, so I still have plenty of opportunity for decent adventure games on the 3DS handheld.

But with the PS Vita I wouldn't have to wait ages for good quality singleplayer adventures to appear. The PS Vita will allow for much the same kind of games as are released for the PS3. Uncharted, Killzone, Unit 13 - these are all the kinds of games that can and will make a regular appearance on the handheld. If I'm going on a trip and I want a single game to really involve me and keep me company, I know that with the Vita I will be able to walk into a shop and find something I fancy, whereas the 3DS library may possibly let me down. The 3DS is still unable to deliver comparable ports of big console titles, as is demonstrated by the Lego games. The 3DS versions tend to be upscaled from the DS, rather than downscaled from the Wii.

Online

Multiplayer is a possible issue. Multiplayer gaming on any Nintendo system is usually a horrible experience, and online is often not offered at all - except in a few excellent exceptions, such as Mario Kart 7 or Tetris 3D. The Vita will benefit from Sony's existing expertise with PSN and most of the Vita games look to be highly supportive of online multiplayer.

Having said that I don't really like multiplayer all that much. Shooters aren't really my thing, although I do love anything that offers online co-op. Ironically (apart from Uncharted 2) the most fun I have had online has been with Nintendo's Pokemon and Animal Crossing and also the Wii diving game Endless Ocean. I'm certainly not interested enough to fork out for a 3G Vita so I'm really only going to do multiplayer on my home wireless (where my PS3 and 360 are already located).

Backwards compatibility and watching movies

I did have a PSP once, until it was stolen. I still have cartridges of a few games which I dearly loved on the PSP and would love to play again, such as Metal Gear Ac!d 1 & 2. It disturbs me that the only way I will get to play these games is to pay to download them again from PSN, IF they ever become available. Sony are very bad at offering backwards compatibility because it cuts into their profits, hence why my PS2 is still connected to a TV in the house.

I liked my PSP at the time because I could transfer DVDs and music to it and use it as a portable movie player. At the time this made it a killer machine. I'm still hugely disappointed that Nintendo have not made good on their promise to bring full 3D movies to the 3DS in Europe. Times have moved on since the PSP, though, and now my phone now delivers all of the peripheral benefits the PSP once offered. Now the Vita must stand up as a games machine alone.

Remote and cross-platform play

The remote play feature looks interesting, but from what I have seen around this will be extremely limited. I love my PS3 games and I would love to be able to sit in bed and play them on the handheld. I think I would be more committed to the Vita if Sony sounded more like they were going to follow through on the promises of universal remote play.

It will also be good to be able to engage in multiplayer across the Vita and PS3 networks. Although, as with the remote play feature, it remains to be seen how extensive this will be in practice.

Conclusion

I really like the look of the PS Vita as a piece of kit and its ability to play great games without compromise to limited hardware. If I didn't have a PS3 or Xbox 360 I would definitely get one to use as a serious games machine.

But most of the games I would really enjoy are available in some form or another on the PS3 or Xbox 360. Sure I'd like to play the Vita Uncharted game, but I do already have three Uncharted games on my shelf. Is it worth paying over £200 for another one?



If you'd like to join the debate, feel free to post below or find me on Twitter as @holdmykidney.