A Few Morning Thoughts for Fake Worlds

It'd be nice if the elves in The Elder Scrolls Online looked as good as the wood elf in the trailer rather than uniformly bearing the facial structure of Darkness from Legend. Not saying Tim Curry's character from the Ridley Scott film doesn't look great but cheekbones and brows you can cut granite with detract from the fundamental appeal of an elf maiden.

It's nice to see the Imperial City from Oblivion in the trailer. I hope this is a sign the colour palette will be as lush as Oblivion's rather than generally greyed out, as in Skyrim. I fear, though, once bitten by the muted colour bug, designers tend to keep going back to it.

My friend Tim pointed me to the trailer last night. I can only hope the game itself is as good. From what I have seen, I'm excited so far.

I really like that the gameplay is as hands on and kinetic as the other Elder Scrolls games rather being the more abstract, stats based combat of other MMORPGs. Though I will say I'm continuing to enjoy Guild Wars 2, in the meagre amounts of time I've actually had to play it--so far no more than around five hours a week. Despite this I've managed to get my character up to level 20 without any of the tedious grinding MMORPGs are notorious for. It doesn't seem like anything as dynamic as Elder Scrolls Online appears to be could possibly have that problem--that sort of thing seems to be on the way out. Yet World of Warcraft maintains its dominance of the market which suggests to me there is something addictive about the level grind. Well, it makes sense--gaining power and prestige through easy, repetitive action. 

Twitter Sonnet #593

Brilliant modems blind the amber bloodline.

Sovereigns stepping through bluer mist breathe shade.

Bank vaults hum behind the chrome crinoline.

Cages scream at the flying lamb parade.

Unchecked brown leaves are no longer present.

Don't mind unmentioned unimportant pens.

Bullish staples stumble in a crescent.

That quill in the orange juice is Ed Wynn's.

Zorro sells no houses below China.

Tea set porcelain pertains to caffeine.

Tesseracts take the fifth Carolina.

Spice racks spill into the cocktail ravine.

Donald Duck stands at the end of the hall.

Cracked cartons pinned to paintings on the wall.