Ever since D got me hooked on Magic, I've started reading up on it and finding out what truly goes on in this world of Trading Card Gaming / Collectible Card Gaming (TCG / CCG). They're not exactly the world, but they come close - they've been around for more than a dozen years, and their same product line is still going strong. Their base product has just entered its 15th edition or something ridiculous, and in the world of gaming that's really saying something. It's comparable to Microsoft in the world of Operating Systems and/or Office Productivity Software.
Something they do that makes the name and line keep going strong is they have a company dedicated to running Magic events all over the world - basically, they have a system to enable other people to run their competitions and whatnot. Empowering people with the ability to run competitions on their own, without sending their own people down to babysit them; and encouraging participation by giving out lots of freebies. They even have their own system of making complaints or reviewing judgements (something the Malaysian government could learn a bit of).
So what happens is that an annual event at Malacca's Multimedia University (MMU), GACC (Games, Anime, Comic Circle) had a Magic Tournament and I decided to go. They have 2 types of Tournaments: what they call Sealed Deck and Standard Constructed. Standard Constructed means bring your own deck of cards, and any card that came out in the past 6 expansions are legit (except for what's in a banned list); Sealed Deck means you're given 6 packs of boosters (that's 15 cards each) and you make a deck from that. Yes, they have clever terminology and tournament structures too.
I joined the Sealed Deck for several reasons: 1) I could play without spending tons of money building up my collection just to have THAT RIGHT card or whatever; 2) for RM70, I get to keep those 6 packs I'm given, I'm guaranteed to win 2 more packs, and I get to play with some seriously experienced people; 3) it's a road-trip down to Malacca; 4) I get to see what such a convention is all about (albeit in a smaller scale than perhaps elsewhere around the world).
How much did it all come to? Well, to run some numbers:
Toll = RM20 one-way x 2 = RM40
Petrol = ~RM35
Tournament = RM70
Chicken Rice Balls = RM8 per person
Car wear-and-tear = ... well, whatever lah. Let's say RM20 or something.
2 of us made the trip down, and say we split everything evenly (except the tournament, which only I participated) = 20 + 18 + 70 + 8 + 10 = RM126.
What did I get out of all that? Yummy food, a nice (short) walk around Jonker Street, 8 Magic booster packs, good times to remember and some mad experiences.
So firstly, the tournament. 1st round, I faced off against some really experienced dude, who even has his own Magic Tournament shirt. Amazingly (to me), I won the 1st game. After that, he switched some cards in his deck, and proceeded to own me. 3rd game I was quite unlucky with the cards I drew, but I didn't care so much - I was so damn nervous my hands were shaking that whole round.
2nd round, I got completely owned 2 games straight. When I reflect on the game, he might've done some dodgy stuff - but I was too busy trying to put up a decent fight to notice. 3rd round started badly - 1st game gave me a serious headache as his best card came out early and really put me off. Kicked my ass, and I had already assured myself that that would be the norm that tournament. I changed some cards, played the 2nd round and totally whooped him. Yay! 3rd round was another whacking, and I rejoiced my 1st complete win that day.
4th round was my most interesting round. A lot of harrowing decisions had to be made, and a lot of thinking was needed (and made harder by the fact that it was several games into the day). 1st game I got jedi-mind-tricked and lost. 2nd game I returned the favour and won the same way. 3rd game was especially tough but in the end, I lost it.
End of day, 14th place. Out of 16. Ah well, it was a great experience and I came out in the middle of all the people I played - the 1st guy came in 3rd overall, the 2nd guy somewhere in the middle of the board and the last 2 guys came in last, below me. Something about the way they calculate game wins and losses. Best of all, I got a bonus free card in the middle of the tournament. Guess it's the Magic player's equivalent of a mid-game Kool-Aid.
Event-wise, was quite something. Firstly, the detail: it was in the MMU exam hall, which is essentially a big space but not as high as a badminton court - just a standard one-storey-height floor. There were lots of stalls: Magic, boardgames (Monopoly, Risk and Cluedo; yes, horrifying), comics, anime, toys, PS3 games, food & drinks. What was a sight to see were the cosplays (costume plays, get with it) - people dressed up like their favourite anime characters. I'd estimate about 15% of the attendees were dressed up that way, and whoa what a job - funky costumes, funky hairdos, funky props.
What blew me away was that they didn't just dress up to strut around - quite a number actually performed! Sketches, songs, whatever (I wasn't really paying attention to the stage). There's a band that has released their own album, and they play in full gear. Amazing.
Of course, not everyone's cosplay is nice. And of course, it was an opportunity for all the inner divas to come out and 'be themselves'. But whatever, it's wonderful to not know the drama queens of an event; definitely an aspect of theatre I don't miss.
It also helped that I had NO idea who they were trying to dress up as.
The minute I heard that this was out, I had to get it. Anyone who plays Real-Time Strategies (RTSes) would have at the very least heard of Company of Heroes (CoH), though whether or not one likes it is a different matter. It's a squad-based strategy game that's set in the World War 2 era, where getting resources for your armies was done by capturing points on the battlefield itself (and they're all usually between yourself and your opponent). None of that 'build miner' 'tell miner to dig gold in my backyard' business - your soldiers are out there earning your money for you, to build more soldiers to earn more money for you, kicking opponent ass all in the meantime.
Now CoH is Axis vs Allies, Axis being German obviously (erm Italian army, anyone?? Click 'special abilities' - 'deploy reinforcements to wrong country') but the Allies being Americans (hooo yah go GIs! Hey they speak funny here in France!) - with CoH Opposing Fronts (CoHOF), it's Panzer Elites (German special forces kinda dudes) vs British. I've only played halfway but it's quite a different playstyle here, with things happening at a more micro-intensive level. Lots of little buttons to kick more butt here, be more kickass there. Less variety of infantry but more variety of vehicles - lots more smaller vehicles, and then lots more very big vehicles (each side's got a new mother artillery piece) and then some variants on the medium-sized ones.
Overall, I'm loving it so far. It adds so much to the game, and of course their original engine was so brilliant, 'more of the same' can't go wrong. I'd luuuurve to play the new armies vs the old ones just to see the new balance, but unfortunately our cyber cafes are STILL filled with the same old shit - DotA, CS, DotA, occasional WoW, and DotA. Ugh hairy bollocks. Some technical issues though: 1. I first bought pariah at 1U for RM30 (it's 2 DVD5s) but it didn't work. I changed it but it still didn't work. So I bought original (I wanted to put it off until they had a double-set) and THAT has its own set of problems. But buy original.
2. When you first run the game, it'll go online and check for patches, then ask you to patch. The first patch is 135MB (or so). If you cannot wait for such nonsense and are dying to play (single player, since for online you MUST have the patch), disconnect your internet before starting the game. Then it'll ask you for your DVD to verify it. Note that it MUST be in your first DVD drive (yes the software is dumb) - if not, disconnect the rest to make sure it finds the right drive.
3. If you decide to patch, and decide against the in-game downloader, you can go here to get the patch. Or Google for it, there are a few games sites that hosts the patches. If you get the following problem: (that reads Error code 10077:00000070) it really DOES mean you don't have enough space. I had 4GB spare when I got this (multiple multiple times). Empty, clean, destroy; until you have about 8GB. I'm serious. It's a great game but the software for 1) authenticity verification and 2) patching are as dumbass as dumbassedness goes.
4. Any other problems (and from the looks of it there are some), go to the Relic forums. They tend to be very good there.
5. Problems IN the game? Well, practice! The Relic forums above are a good guide to strategies and other help. Another favourite of mine is GameFAQs.
Extras: A. This thread is a Technical FAQ from the Relic forums, but has one bit of very useful info: if, for any reason, you install CoHOF before CoH, you can't install CoH (it'll say you've already got it). To play CoH, all you have to do it run CoHOF, click 'Add Product' and input your CoH CD-Key.
B. You can unlock another 2v2 map called Bedum by adding a registry key using regedit. The map is a special unlock available to Best Buy customers (which we don't have in Malaysia) but this adds it for anyone else to play with. Instructions:
Open regedit
Press Ctrl-F and search for "THQ"
When you find the THQ entry look for Company of Heroes and select it. If you see an entry called "CoHOFProductKey" in the right pane you have the right registry entry.
Right click and add a new "String Value" called "CoHOFRetailerContentKey" and in the data field for that key type in 4B9E-488D-B797
The direct path in XP and Vista 32 bit is [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\THQ\C ompany of Heroes]
Alternatively, if you see this BEFORE installing CoHOF, you can just add the key (4B9E etc) into that funny Retailer Key box during installation. What can I say. CoH kicks ass, CoHOF does too. Go get it!
Yes, a break in the chain of QotDs! 'Bout bloody time eh?
Tons of shit to put in, so this'll be long.
Tunku & Acting
Tunku's in the 2nd month of rehearsals now, with us meeting 5 times a week (6/week next month!) for 30mins breathing, 1hr dancing and 2hrs singing (with minor variations). It's quite a change from Broken Bridges - a more sombre, more mature play. In fact it makes BB look like a silly hee-hee-ha-ha affair (it wasn't, but the many laughing memories of it stay) - it tackled father-son relations, the whole subject of old-vs-new, morality of who decides what's better or worse, filial piety, responsibility, etc. This one, so far, handles racism, the responsibility of power, politics and playing the "good public image" game. Very VERY much focused around race and politics, which sadly are underdiscussed issues in this wonderful country that's so dominated by these 2 affairs.
I got myself a chance to work with Tony Pietra again on a series called Dark City. See the next blog entry about it, I'm in the episode called Death Row showing this Wed 10.30pm on Astro Ria (yes it's in Malay). I don't say a word but a previous entry depicted how I end up. Halfway through the show.
Also got to work with some graduates of Joe Hasham's recent Acting for Beginners on a film called Unsecured Loan. Don't know too much details as yet but currently no commercial release planned, with the intention of entering it for some film festival. The fact that this damn film happened at all is quite miraculous (if you're of that bent) - or at the very least, demonstrates the sheer power of intention. Julie (hat's off to you!) finishes class, wants to do a project with her coursemates; posts entry in Kakiseni's audition page requesting for: actors (preferably Joe's graduates), scriptwriters, production team. Yes, it also reads as: I don't got nuthin', let's everybody get together and see what happens. Sheer poetry. Coincidentally, I end up working with an ex-primary schoolmate. Again (Horizons last year).
Lastly, in another play called Tari Canggung Hamidah. Yes, it's in Malay (eh my name IS Malay after all, innit mate?) and yes I do have lines in Malay, though thankfully few and straightforward. Thankfully because, even though I'd relish the challenge of upping my standard of Bahasa, the play runs in under 2 weeks. Yes, crikey bikey - 4th July at Shah Alam. Yes, wtf. It's for the Selangor Theatre Fest lah, so should be a good experience whatever happens.
Agel
A new product has come in for Agel from another network marketing company (starts with an S) and it absolutely kicks ass. Here's a quick video (2.5 mins) with the doctor who invented it talking about it. In short, it's anti-aging, a natural viagra, lowers cholesterol and is meant to build muscle. Watch it:
Or if you prefer it direct, here's the YouTube link.
Books
Jack Canfield's The Success Principles. Kickass compilation of most of the best books out there. Packed into an easy-to-read volume divided into 10-minute chapters with memorable quotes and immediate action steps. Highly recommended.
Paul Zane Pilzer's The Wellness Revolution (revised edition)is a great insight into an massively growing industry - what makes it especially great is that the 1st edition was written in 2002 and this edition was written in 2007, and updates the relevant issues that cropped up in between. Quite a number of chapters is US-focused, so doesn't quite make sense here. But his economist background and his experience and his brains (he's a damn smart fella) provides great ideas and perspective into upcoming opportunities in wellness. Exciting stuff.
David Deida's The Way of the Superior Man was a book I bought and read quite some ago, and for some reason (yes yes there's no such thing as coincidence) I recently picked it up again. Wonderful stuff lah, such
May 13th (read more) is a brave publication that really should be read by every Malaysian - it provides an almost factual account of what really happened, with its main crux the drive for honesty, accountability and mature discussion about possibly the darkest event in our history. Can be quite dry at times, as its biggest feature is the documents recently declassified (under the Official Secrets Act in Her Majesty's government), which contains communiques from diplomats and journalists at the time of the event.
The Malaysian Journey (buy from Silverfish; comments from Amazon) has been republished and is an excellent read. Rehman Rashid is wonderfully witty, erudite and perceptive, and his observations are truly enjoyable. He basically takes us through a journey of his life and of his country after quite some time away and talks about his experiences. Highly recommended.
I really should start writing proper reviews of these books. An idea I've been having is to write up reviews and post up snippets of the reviews with a tag, "if you want to read the full review, please contact me for details on purchasing it" or something like that. Has anyone tried/seen it before?
Writing
Writing for Malaysian Today has been interesting so far - my first article should come up next week (it's about social networking sites). Interesting because it's all so bloody new to me - how it works is that I'm meant to pitch a headline (The Power of Racism!) with a standfirst (The Ku Klax Klan did it. Hitler did it. Here's an ultimate guide for the supremacist who wants to wave a keris in Parliament!) to the editor, who then provides feedback and a deadline. Irony is that I usually shake my head at some of our headlines and now I'm the one who'll be providing them. Also, I've never 'sold' my writing before so yes, quite out of my comfort zone.
Asset Trader, on the other hand, has been wonderfully smooth sailing. Editor really likes my writing and it tends to be he asks, I provide and there's little extra work to be done. First print's in August, looking forward to seeing how everything comes out.
An idea I've recently been toying with is doing boardgame reviews. Seeing as I've become a regular at The Mage Cafe (next to Atria in Damansara Jaya, again mentioned here [damn I'm still doing the same damn things!]) and they've a massive supply of these games, why not? I'm thinking of designing some kind of system to review such that regular readers can follow and get to know a lot of the game (and decide whether or not to buy it) from the review. Any feedback?
China - battle for territories and connections between them. Strategic fun.
Puerto Rico - balancing the right strategies toward victory. Second-guessing what other people will do and playing that to your tactical advantage. Great fun.
Caylus - balancing the right strategies toward victory. Many many factors to take into account make this quite a brain drain to play.
Dis-X - simple rules but quite a lot of fun. A numbers game that requires you to calculate the ramifications of your actions far ahead to play well. I think... haven't discovered the nuances of the game yet.
Manila - very much a gambling game where every round hinges a lot on the dice. Good simple fun though.
HeckMeck (yes, also known as Pickomino) - no-brainer fun, very dice dependent.
The Great Dalmuti - a variant of Chor Tai Tee. Additional rules make it fun (in a silly way - loser has to wear a chicken hat and sit on the floor, that kinda thing). Ingenious - another Mensa game (Blockus being the other) which has simple rules but complex strategies. Good fun without being too mentally taxing.
Settlers of Catan - brilliant game, there's a great reason why it's called a 'gateway' game. It's simple enough to entice non-gamers, yet complex enough to keep people playing past their 100th game. Quite dice-dependent though.
Hooked on boardgames man. They're so superior to video games in that 1) they usually require some brain power and 2) they require social interaction. I'm sure that the reason my mind has such an able grasp on strategic games was because I played boardgames when I was a kid (thanks Jee Koh). Parents, get some boardgames and start playing them with your kids! TV and videogames provide poor fodder for growing up! They might end up like me though.
Onto the PC (yes yes poor fodder but I'm grown up now, fuck off). There've been some interesting new stuff out - Supreme Commander, C&C3, can't remember what else. Been so out of the loop, haven't been playing much PC games besides the cybercafe usuals like Company of Heroes (which still rocks), Call of Duty 2 and Battlefield 2. In fact, what I'm currently hooked on are arcade games! Damn ridiculous, stuff from gamehouse.com like Fibre Twig (1&2), Alien Shooter and Age of Castles. Mindless nonsense but they're the most fun, aren't they? Not completely mindless lah... Fibre Twig requires & develops excellent pattern-matching and spatial visualisation skills, Alien Shooter... well, reflexes and hand-eye coordination, and Age of Castles... erm, stats, basic strategy and cause-effect measurement. And yes I'm still a fan of Spider Solitaire and Minesweeper.
Miscellany
On a whim, I decided to find out what the Sentul Link's all about. I've been passing it almost every day for the past year or so (it's just outside KLPac) and so, after a little exploration into Sentul, I took it. It goes straight onto Mahameru Highway, kickass! It comes out not far before the Jln Duta turnoff, the next turnoff after which is Sentral and Jln Bangsar.
The Sentul exploration, on the other hand, was quite an adventure. You'd think a left, left, left and left again would take you back to where you were, just some ways behind. That thought would be wrong again, again, again and again. I ended up in some serious depths of Sentul and at one point, got seriously scared. You know the point when street lights no longer function, it starts getting a bit jungle-y, houses start disappearing, it looks chilly... there's a bend ahead and you use the headlights and there's mist (and you're not on a hill)? Yeah that's when I went fuck this shit I'm retracing every fucking road I took at minimum 80km/h too. I tell you, there's loads of opportunities for adventure in KL.
And to conclude, Michael Jackson's Thriller, Bollywood style!
So there's this method of breathing called kapalabati (sp?). Think of it as my kepala batty. Dominique's just started getting us to do it during rehearsals, and basically what happens is that we quite forcefully breathe through our nose, working our diaphragm and thoracic cage. Inhale, stomach outwards and cage downwards; exhale, stomach in and cage up. As big a breath as you can, at your own rate (but I think he's working towards a faster rate if possible) - I'm on an in-and-out per second.
Now what happens is that this creates a lot of pressure in your sinus system. To me, the effect is not unlike having dived a couple of dives. The point of this lau-hei story is that quite a lot of shit has come out of my sinus system in the past few days. Light greenish shit. Yellow shit. I'd show you pictures, but I'm not the kind of guy who takes pictures of snot. It is a LOT of shit. It is therefore irrevocably proven that I'm full of it.
But you already knew that. What's actually mildly interesting about this anecdote is that I normally only get to cleanse out my sinus system once or twice a year, which is usually during the haze times (or whenever our air & weather goes funny) - which is when I suffer from sinus problems that cleanses out after a day of intense pain. Or when I go diving. So now I can do it anytime, any day, and feel funny for a few days (there's still crap coming out now). Merci, Monsieur Le Breathing Specialist.
Recognise him?
His name's Zeratul. He's a Dark Templar. No?
How about this character? He's a Hydralisk.
Getting warmer? Check out the lowdown on GameSpot.
