Monday, October 20, 2008

WoW, Iron Man and writing

First off, if you don't play, or have any interest in the World of Warcraft MMO, please disregard this firt paragraph...

So, this weekend I spent a lot of time playing World of Warcraft. My Tauren Hunter is now 61, and enjoying the challenges in Outland. I've heard a lot of people say this is where the game really begins. And I kind of have to agree. I'm actually having more fun here than most of the lower level areas. But I also played some on my Orc Warrior, Kagu. I'm realy into the story aspects of the game, and trying new arcs and unconventional patterns with characters. Kagu started his career in the Blood Elf lands, which was difficult, as there are no Warrior trainers except in the capital city. And as a second level character, he couldn't participate in the inital quests. So, he just killed stuff until he was high enough to get actual quests. But then I tired of that (having just done the are with a BE Paladin recently), so I decided Kagu is going to get Exalted with the Trolls so he can get one of their cool raptor mounts when he hits 30. That should be fun to do, I think. If anyone has any advice on how best to do this, let me know. Kagu is on Moon Guard, btw.

This weekend we bought Iron Man, finally. We watched it last night and it is still just as awesome as it was when I saw it in the theatre twice. I'm really looking forward to The Incredible Hulk tomorrow. I plan to get the special 3-disc edition (cuz I'm a geek like that). I think my favorite parts of Hulk was all of the nods and hints about Captain America. I am so jazzed about Thor in 2010, then Captain America and The Avengers in 2011. These are grand days to be a comic book geek.

I'm still planning to give NaNoWriMo a go this year, though with a baby that might arrive as early as halfway through the month, I'm not sure if I will be able to do it. Still, it's a fun excercise in writing. So, I have to figure out what I'm going to write. I know it will probably be fantasy/sword & sorcery. But I don't know if I want to start a new character, or maybe polish up one of my old ones. I may go with an older one, just because the research and background would be a bit easier. Anyone have any ideas of what kind of fantasy story they would like to see me try? My characters often tend to be cut from the same cloth as Conan, but I would be willing to venture into other archetypes, as long as the protagonist is heroic.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Defending Conan

Anyone who has ever lurked or posted at the Conan.com forums knows that 1982’s Conan the Barbarian is not very popular among “true” Conan fans. Most of their arguments stem from the fact that Arnold’s portrayal of the character is almost nothing like the character from the original stories, written for pulp magazine Weird Tales in the 1930s. They go on to lay blame for this not only on The Oak and his stilted acting, but also on the director, John Milius, for his “lack of respect for the source material.”

Well, I’m here to put my thoughts out there on the subject. Let me first start by saying that I LOVE the movie. It remains in my top ten favorites of all time, even after 26 years. And I have read the original Robert E. Howard stories, and I do recognize that the character is vastly different in the two mediums. Heck, he’s vastly different in every medium he is portrayed in, including comics, TV shows and paintings. But to understand why the movie deviates so much from the source material, one must first understand the history of the project.

In 1976 Buzz Feitshans was a Hollywood producer. He saw a little documentary about bodybuilding called Pumping Iron, which featured an Austrian named Arnold Schwarzenegger. He immediately started thinking of ways to capitalize on this newcomer’s obvious charisma. His first thought went to the character of Conan, which he knew from the comics. First Mistake.

Jump to 1981. After years of fighting to get the rights to do the movie, and then get a script written, they finally get the green light from Dino De Laurentiis. And the project began to take form. Originally, they wanted an unknown director by the name of Oliver Stone to helm it, but Dino said no after he bought the script, and brought in John Milius to work from Stone’s draft. A draft that was ten times further from the source material than the final product ended up being.

So Milius began researching the character, getting a lot of input from his long time friend and surfing buddy Gerry Lopez, who was also a huge Robert E. Howard buff (and would later be cast as Subotai for the film). They sat down and reworked the Stone script into something that could a) fit within the budget, b) be handled by the inexperienced Arnold, and c) still retain a passing resemblance to the source material. The first two points were incontrovertible successes. The third is highly debatable, and still debated to this day. With outstanding visuals by production designer Ron Cobb (who also makes a cameo appearance in the film), and some great cinematography, action sequences, and supporting performances by great talents such as Sandahl Bergman, Mako and Max Von Sydow, the finished product was a resounding success at the time. It opened to rave reviews, did huge business, and set the standard for Sword & Sorcery movies from then on

In my opinion, Milius and his crew did a fantastic job, considering the tools they were given. He was not allowed the cast the main character, he was asked to learn everything he could about Conan in a short time (thank God he had Gerry there), and he had to listen to the technical advisor, L. Sprague DeCamp, who for years did both good and bad things for the property, and who was very biased in his view of the author, Howard. In the end, we got a movie that was very Conan, but not totally pure. It was a Hollywoodization. But a good one, all things considered.

So, why do Howard fans have such a hate-on for it?

Strictly speaking, it’s because it wasn’t a direct interpretation of a Robert E. Howard story. The character and his background were drastically changed, the events of the movie’s plot was cobbled together from bits and pieces of Howard stories (some not even Conan), and Arnold was obviously only cast because of his physique. In short, it was a purist’s nightmare. And this phenomenon is something that happens EVERY time a book or series is adapted to film. Especially, it seems, with science fiction and fantasy films. I mean, suspense thrillers are often completely changed for the film’s version. Look at 1982’s First Blood. Completely different from the novel, yet still applauded as a great movie, even by the author of the original book, David Morrell.

So why do Conan fans, and fantasy/sci fi fans in general (often referred to as “geeks”) lament the film adaptations of their favorite books? Truth is, nobody knows. I suspect it’s because they feel that this material is somehow “theirs” because it’s not so mainstream. And they are particularly defensive about it. And maybe it’s because a lot of them don’t have a passion for much else, so they latch onto this platform like a Right-Winger latches onto his Bible, and a Left-Winger latches onto her Peace symbol.

In the end, the only thing that matters is that some people will never be happy. With the rumors surrounding the new Conan film in pre-production, there is a lot of negativity in the air. And it’s not just the fans, but the media that is fueling the fires of doubt. Every time a piece of news comes out, following closely on it’s heels is a plethora of badly-informed and overly-biased opinions from so-called “experts” who try to portray it as a sequel (which it’s not) with a list of “talentless hack” directors attached at one time or another. I sincerely hope they are wrong. I sincerely hope that the movie takes it’s inspiration from the stories, rather than the comics, or, Crom forbid, the previous films (and I use the plural loosely, as I consistently disavow the second one). And if it sucks, guess what. We still have the original stories, which have seen a recent resurgence in popularity.

So, swing that sword, Hollywood! And let the heads fall where they may.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

What's in the cards...

So, last night, after overhearing some discussion on the matter here at work, I went into my closet and dug out my old L5R CCG boxes. After dusting off the old decks, and rebuilding my Crab Honor-Runner, I sat at the kitchen table and taught my wife how to play. She had played Magic: The Gathering before, so the idea behind a CCG wasn’t anything new to her. It was a matter of mechanics, and me remembering how to play. I was surprised at how much I retained after the initial start up. In the end, with a little coaching from me on how certain cards worked, she won. Not surprising. She was playing one of my Dragon decks, which had been tested and found to be well-constructed years ago, whereas my Crab deck was hastily thrown back together. Not to mention some bad luck on the draws for me. But still, it was fun, and I look forward to us playing more, and eventually getting back into the game with it’s current set (my decks are about five years out of date).

The first story arc of my D&D game was completed this past weekend. The party did well. In fact, I think I under-challenged them. But I kept their interest, and the story was fun and relatively fast-paced. I have an idea where I want to go next with it, so I will probably spend most of the day Saturday writing the next part of the adventure. This is a new tact for me. I have no clear plot in mind. I am writing each session individually, based on the actions and outcomes of the last session. It’s working well, more or less. But sometimes I have hard time coming up with what I want to happen without an over-arcing plot. Still, I have managed four sessions without any real hiccups, so no worries I guess.

Of course, it all hinges on whether I can keep myself out of World of Warcraft for long enough to actually work on my D&D game. Lately I have become obsessed with that game to a certain extent. My highest character is 59 right now, and with the new expansion coming next month, I really want to get to 70 before it hits. 11 levels doesn’t seem like much, unless you factor in the fact that I am almost exclusively a solo player. I should really start trying to team up more.

NaNoWriMo is coming soon. For those who don’t know, November is National Novel Writing Month. The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I’ve tried twice before and failed. But, I will be trying again. Last year I tried writing a Mack Bolan novel. This year, I’m probably going to stick with original fantasy. Not sure what it’s going to be yet, but I have a couple of weeks to work out a concept.

Being Green is my Orc RPG, and it’s coming along nicely. I have the basic core rules laid out, a smattering of flavor text, and am preparing to detail Combat and Experience. The Experience part is going to be unique. Well, unique for me. Apparently the idea has been used in a couple of other games. But my take will be perfect for Orcs.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

A Gamer's Life

Most people today hear "gaming" and immediately think of casinos. And while I am fond of pulling a lever or two in the hopes of a payout, that's not the gaming I'm talking about. I'm talking mainly about Role Playing Games, and to a lesser extent, Collectible Card Games and Board Games.

I was introduced to RPGs just as many people were, though D&D. In 1982, my step-father had decided to re-enter the Air Force, and my mom decided to join up too. So, while they were off training, I went to live with my grandparents in my hometown of Walnut Creek, CA. I was in 6th grade. During that time, I was asked if I played D&D. My response was "What's that?"

Thus began a long journey that has lasted over 25 years, and encompassed games of nearly every genre you can imagine. Supers, horror, pulp, science fiction, non-D&D fantasy, espionage...you name it, I've probably played it. And it was because of my playing D&D that my mom allowed me to watch Conan the Barbarian when I was 13. And that lead me to reading Robert E. Howard, which in turn lead me to reading all sorts of fantasy and science fiction literature (not to mention the class in high school on the genres).

Today I still play D&D (though right now I'm actually running a game, rather than playing). I am considering dipping my toe back into the CCG pool with L5R again, and I play World of Warcraft almost religiously (alternating with City of Heroes, through which I met my wife).

And not only do I play these games, I have tried my hand at writing them as well. I've written several supplements to various systems (my conversion of the Gargoyles TV series for the World of Darkness setting was considered one of the best efforts back in the day). I wrote my own universal system, and have been tweaking it for several years now. Granted, it's a mish-mash of all of the best elements from my favorite RPGs, but I feel that's what most games are anyways. I recently started to convert my universal system to one that is purely Sword & Sorcery (low-magic, high-adventure). And my latest effort is an RPG where the characters are Orcs, and there is a special purpose to the game beyond the adventure itself. More on that some other time.

In short, I am gamer to the core. I love being one, and I will probably be running D&D 10.5 when I am in the retirement home. And no doubt, my beautiful wife will be one of my loyal players.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

To your internet, welcome!

Ok, the title is a paraphrase from a movie. Can you guess which one?

Anyways, I'm not new to blogging, but I am new to blogging with a purpose. As time goes on, you will see me spout off about politics, gaming (as in Role-Playing Games), fiction, my favorite authors, books I recommend, and various and sundry other things.

Do not be alarmed, and certainly do not be offended. My views on certain things (particularly politics) may rub some the wrong way, but bare in mind that my wife's political views are almost polar opposite to mine, and yet we manage to maintain a relationship more open, honest and loving than either of us have ever experienced before. So, if she can put up with naive conservatism, and my often blind patriotism, then so should anyone else. But, I will probably prelude my political views with a warning.

Of course, I may never wax political. It all depends on my mood.