Over the Edge + November 25, 2009

~ Gamers make geekiness a Steampunk Computer Creations:
good thing

SHAWN O'HARA
NEXUS (CAMOSUN COLLEGE)

VICTORIA (CUP) — Some
people have never heard the
phrases “roll for initiative” or “at-
tack of opportunity” before, and
theyd probably be confused if
someone asked how many ranks
they had in Spot.

For others, phrases like this
make up a vocabulary they know
all too well — one that’s been part
of what they do, and also a part
of how they keep themselves
sane when the trials and tribu-
lations of everyday life come a-
knockin, They're gamers. More
specifically, they're role-playing
gamers.

Role-playing games (RPGs)
allow players to each control
a single character, made using
the game's rules. They speak for
them, describe their actions and
make dice rolls to determine
their outcome, Another player,
called the game master (GM),
controls the setting and support
characters, as well as villains and
enemies, describing the events of
the fantasy world.

Gamers come from all walks of
life, and many get into the hobby
by accident.

“It’s something I found in a
bookstore on vacation when I
was younger,’ says Jesse Cowell,
a writing and theatre student
at the University of Victoria
(UVic). Cowell was drawn to
gaming as an outlet for his in-
terest in storytelling, “I'd sort of
been making stuff up for a long
time,” he says.

Despite an interest and pas-
sion for gaming, a lot of players
are reluctant to bring up their

hobby with friends and family,

for fear of ridicule and embar-
rassment. Cowell recalls a time
in acting class when the subject
came up.

“All but one or two people
laughed. No one likes to feel like
that. No one likes that feeling of
derision,” he says.

Carson Upton, a graduate
of Victoria-based Camosun
College's computer engineering
program, found his RPG hobby
was with disapproval from his
family.

“My parents both used to be
pretty conservative Christians,’
recalls Upton. “There was a time
when [RPG Dungeons & Drag-
ons] had a bad reputation, and
my parents were being told that
it was somehow evil, and would
lead to things like Satan wor-
ship. They never really tried to
stop me, but they didn't approve.
They're okay with it now, though
I doubt they'd ever give it a try or
anything.’

Despite the criticism they find
along the way, neither Cowell
nor Upton regret what they do.

“Tt’s my hobby. I sort of make
of a point of it,’ says Cowell.
“When I make friends, I say,
‘I'm a gamer, Is there gonna be a
thing with that?”

Upton says he's “always sort of
reveled in the geekiness” of gam-
ing.

Like most hobbies, real-life
gaming isn't free. With rule-
books costing upwards of $30 or
$40 a pop, it can start to add up.
Upton says over the course of his
gaming career he's probably spent
around $1000 on books, as well
as thousands more on trips to
various gaming conventions.

Similarly, Cowell, over the
course of the last six or seven
years, says hes spent close to
$10,000 on rulebooks and other
gaming paraphernalia.

“Let me put it this way. I don't
drink, and I don’t have a car,’ says
Cowell. “This is where I spend a
lot of my money, Sometimes
T'll buy a game to read it, even
though I know I'll never play it.”

For a lot of gamers, RPGs
are an easy and enjoyable way
of spending time with their
friends,

“When enough people hang
out and do this it becomes
the default social activity, says
Cowell. “You can spend eight
hours gaming, but not all of it’s
[for the game]. A lot of it is other
social interaction, like hanging
out and eating.”

Despite the social stigma at-
tached to gaming, gaming com-
munities continue to grow. Up-
ton co-founded the Vancouver
Island Gaming Guild in 2003
with a group of friends as a way
of helping gamers network.

“Geeks accept other geeks,’
says Upton.

Once the reputations, myths,
and misconceptions are stripped
away, role-playing games are just
that: games,

“RPGs are my social activity
of choice,’ says Upton. “They let
me get together with my friends
and we work together to create
a story.”

Alan Jackson: A Boot-

Arts and Culture

SAMANTHA FARROW
ARTS EDITOR

Okay, yes, I am aware that computers
are not necessarily Entertainment or Arts.
However, steampunk computer creations

are works of art. They're computers re-
done in the theme of steampunk to look
Victorian, often containing brass, bone, and wood. These
elaborately done creations are becoming quite popular. One
look at them and it’s easy to see why.

First of all, what is steampunk you ask, or at least I did
when I first heard the term, Steampunk is a branch of
group from cyberpunk, and although they have some things
in common, they are not the same thing, the main differ-
ence being that steampunk settings usually tend to be less
obviously dystopian (Dystopia is the opposite of Utopia)
than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely (in
other words, lacking the whole life-is-tragic sense). Both
cyberpunk and steampunk cultures tend to have a heavy
influence on one another, the difference is that steampunk
is more of the Victorian era, early machines combined with
sci-fi or frattasy, Think H.G, Wells or the scientific romance
era of the 19° century. Although K.W. Jeter’s 1979 novel
Morlock Night is typically considered to have established the
genre, the steampunk movement was coined in the late 80's

2

as a tongue-in-cheek variant of cyberpunk. It then became
its own movement, given the whole difference with the dys-
topian mood that is generally embraced by the cyberpunk
movement,

In light of the combination of the Victorian look com-
bined with sci-fi/fantasy, steampunk has created a new look
for home PCs that is becoming quite popular. Making or
creating one of these PC is no easy feat. It involves table
saws, your monitor, and a bunch of nail biting. This process
is not to be taken on lightly, nor should be unless you are ex-
perienced in carpentry and computer assembling. As I type
this on my new Sony Vaio, I cannot imagine taking it apart
and redoing it, though me and power tools could result in
a very serious accident. The end result of one of these cre-
ations, though, is stunning. Beautifully carved wood, hinged
with brass, buttons made out of bone; it’s enough to make
Mark Twain feel at home if he were to rise from the grave.
If you want to check out the process involved with mak-
ing one of these computers, or learn more about them, go

to http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/24/

diyer-crafts-victorian-style-all-in-one-pc/
to view the video on assembling.

Civilization IV: Better than

HAAKON SULLIVAN

History Class

Stomping Good Concert

as) _ a =
SAMANTHA FARROW
ARTS EDITOR

It definitely wasnt an Itty-Bitty
good time on November 16th as

Alan Jackson and crew took the

stage, driving a bunch of good ti-
min’ gals and guys into a country
stomping frenzy. The sea of cowboy hats moved
and bounced to the authentic country sounds of
this country legend. Songs such as “Summer Time
Blues,’ “Itty-Bitty,’ “Like a Red Rose,” and Alan's
tribute to 9/11 “Where Were You (When the

World Stopped Turning)” echoed through CN
Centre.

Alan Jackson likes to keep it light, writing songs
about things he likes, such as “I Still Like Bologna.”
He's a down to earth, good ole’ fashioned, south-
ern country boy who hails from Newnan, Georgia.
Of course, to kick start his country music career,
he and his wife relocated to Nashville, Tennessee,
the home of country music, In the 90's, Jackson was
considered one of the most popular country sing-
ers, preferring the sound of traditional country. In
fact, he and George Strait released a single in 2000
called “Murder on Music Row” in honour of coun-
try’s turn to a more rock and pop sound; the single
sparked a big debate in the country music commu-
nity as to whether or not the sound of traditional
country music was really dead. Jackson has stuck
with the traditional sound of country throughout
most of his songs, despite the popularity of a more
rock/pop sound to modern country.

Just like Brooks and Dunn, Jackson interacted
with the crowd on a personal level, throwing guitar
pics out to the audience during his songs. He also
stopped to accept a bouquet of roses from some en-
amoured ladies at the front of the stage. Although
my preference for music is rock and pop, and I found
some of his songs a little too religious, I have to say
I really enjoyed this show. Between Jackson's deep,
melodic voice, and the enthusiasm of the crowd, it
was a really charged, energetic show. Hats off to
Alan Jackson; now where are my cowboy boots?

PRODUCTION CO-
ORDINATOR

Ever thought of
what things would
be like if the Rom-
ns built the pyra-
ids? What if the
ikings got into
a war with the Japanese? Wouldn't
things get interesting if the Aztecs had
nuclear weapons? All of these ques-
tions can be answered with Firaxis’s
new installment of the Civilization
series.

This game plays very similar to a
strategy board game. You choose one
of many starting factions (English,
Greeks, Mongols, etc.) and start with
a settler on either a randomly gener-
ated map or a pre-selected one like a
mock up of the real planet Earth. You
then use the settler to establish your
own city, and embark on what could
be the most in depth turn based strat-
egy ever created.

There will be many different things
you will have to worry about when
managing your new civilization. Dip-
lomacy, research, warfare, and religion
are only a few of many important con-
cepts you will have to grasp. Research
done over each turn will unlock a se-
lection of religions and political phil-

osophies (as well as military units and
buildings among other things) that
your civilization can adopt, with each
having their own pros and cons, There
are many different combinations, of-
fering many different ways to manage
your state.

In the expansion, Beyond the Sword,
another interesting dynamic is intro-
duced to the game. When you have
had enough research, you can start
your own corporation that can spread
to cities across the world. As far as I
understand, these corporations give a
resource bonus to the city (i.e. a food
corporation giving more food toa city),
but they also take some money away
from the player who owns the city for
the service. If the opponent has, say,
free trade for a political philosophy
then there's no way they can stop it
from happening. If they had mercan-
tilism, it wouldn't happen at all.

The AI opponents in this game are
pretty clever when it comes to dip-
lomacy and war. On the diplomatic
stage, they always offer trade deals
that are hard to refuse and will always
reject trade deals that you offer that
put them at a disadvantage, When it
comes to war, they always attack you
when they will win and always fall
back when there's no chance, As smart
as that is, it doesn’t exactly make war

fun, You may never even use your mil-
itary units if you're using a defensive
strategy.

This game is just beautiful on so
many levels. The graphics are crisp and
clear, the music is well suited to what-
ever age you're in or whoever you're
talking to, and there are classic quotes
read by Leonard Nemoy whenever
you research something. This creates
an epic environment that makes it feel
like you're actually managing an em-
pire that will last throughout the ages.

Don't let the size of this review mis-
lead you. Civilization IV is a very deep,
very involved game that demands that
you pay attention to every minor
detail of your civilization (and rival
civilizations). It is a very entertain-
ing game that is also highly addictive.
When you get playing it's always “one
more turn” as you watch hours pass
by. Go on and lead the Egyptians to
world domination with force, or have
the French dominate the world with
their culture. The world is yours.

Premise/Story: 19/20
Gameplay: 37/40
Presentation: 18/20
Replay Value: 20/20
Total: 94/100