pft, You can still find wonder and awe in well written non-fiction. As a teen I highly enjoyed reading about Richard Feynmann and about chaos theory and the like.
James Gleick has a fantastic writing style that portrays the normally dry material in a engaging style.
Otherwise, books on logic, astrophysics etc can all be found in some books that present the information in a format edible for younger kids.
I read this series when I was younger, and while I enjoyed it to a certain degree, it seemed too gritty at that stage, too realistic, with none of the escapism I was after at that age.
One thing I've noticed, with regards to the point of 'knowing that you've hit the key' is typing in long passwords into password fields.
With the responsiveness of the 'clicky' keyboards, I can actually backspace the required number of letters that I -know- I've mistyped, instead of having to clear the entire field because I realise I've hit two or more keys at once, and not knowing how many extra letters there have been.
That being said - raiding dungeons cannot be the only end game for an MMO...
WoW has expanded its end-game. If you want mindless grind. You can grind. You can grind. You can grind. You can grind. You have more choices.
Fixed.
It's not so much lack of end game content, it's inaccessible end game content that isn't worth accessing. Meanwhile, endless repetition to pass the time to get to the inaccessible content you don't want to bother accessing.
That's more due to the fact that the 'end-game' content you're referring to, only the ultra-ultra-ultra hardcore raiders ever achieve. A large percentage of the remainder are 70, and since the changes to levelling made the grind to 70 easier, there have been more people achieving that milestone.
However, the 5% that literally live for raiding see the actual current end-game content. Those of us who have not the time to spend raiding a few days a week have to be happy with what lower level raids we can get. Hell, I can't even commit to twice a week for raiding, so I don't see a lot of the higher end raid instances.
It's not really the time commitment overall that prevents players from getting into raids, it's the fact that the time committed -must- be scheduled to match everyone else's (who are hopefully in the same time zone). I'd much rather have the leeway to say "Sorry, I'm not raiding tonight, going out with friends" than "Sorry, can't go out with you, have got to raid". And so, I miss out on end game content =P
Hehe, I love Modesitt's books, Recluce, mind you, not that horrible Soprano Sorceress series =\
However, they're all fairly much predictable in their execution, which is not to say they aren't eminently readable, since although the plot points are all the same, the journey to them is different. And for some reason, they're completely re-readable, which is fantastic.
One thing I admire is his separation of universes in his different series, with authors like Eddings, their characters/situations tend to be identical across the different series, but with Modesitt, it's completely separate. His Tangible Ghosts series is a fascinating exercise in alternate history, and I love his single protagonist scifi books (the multiprotagonist ones I can't quite get into).
As for Pterry, what more need be said? He has a grasp of the absurdity of reality few have, and can express it in ways that us norms can comprehend.
Meh.
I'll be excited when they have self building lego.
Then it'll be a short step to self-constructing nanobots...
And then the world!
But until then, very cool self building legos..
Slashdot Mirror
James Gleick has a fantastic writing style that portrays the normally dry material in a engaging style.
Otherwise, books on logic, astrophysics etc can all be found in some books that present the information in a format edible for younger kids.
I totally second the Dark is Rising series, highly entertaining, and well written, avoid at -all- costs the movie =)
I read this series when I was younger, and while I enjoyed it to a certain degree, it seemed too gritty at that stage, too realistic, with none of the escapism I was after at that age.
Seconded, although not precisely scifi, Redwall was an enthralling series for me when I was younger =)
One thing I've noticed, with regards to the point of 'knowing that you've hit the key' is typing in long passwords into password fields.
With the responsiveness of the 'clicky' keyboards, I can actually backspace the required number of letters that I -know- I've mistyped, instead of having to clear the entire field because I realise I've hit two or more keys at once, and not knowing how many extra letters there have been.
my god, it's like a gravity assisted game of snakes and ladders...
only if you're older than NINE THOUSAND!!!
It's a cartoon, with subsequent japanese overdramatisation etc.
Although there are probably game spinoffs, it's not like the Japanese to not take advantage of such merchandise.
What is this? A lawsuit for ants? The focus of this lawsuit has to be at least... three times bigger than this!
I dunno, 15 people with backhoes in a synchronous dance of digging would be kinda cool to watch...
*watches as SS-SM62704 and SS-Point silently sail majestically past each other in the night*
That's what I said =P
Better comments from a guy named Zombie than Anonymous Coward.
I mean, he's not unreasonable, he's not going to eat your eyes.
I agree. I was totally going to say:
IT'S A TRPA!
Er, not doubting your knowledge at all...
Psst, you might want to at least mouseover the links in the OP's post.
I think you missed the links the OP posted. =P
WoW has expanded its end-game. If you want mindless grind. You can grind. You can grind. You can grind. You can grind. You have more choices.
Fixed.
It's not so much lack of end game content, it's inaccessible end game content that isn't worth accessing. Meanwhile, endless repetition to pass the time to get to the inaccessible content you don't want to bother accessing.
(Can you tell I've burnt out on WoW? =P)
That's more due to the fact that the 'end-game' content you're referring to, only the ultra-ultra-ultra hardcore raiders ever achieve. A large percentage of the remainder are 70, and since the changes to levelling made the grind to 70 easier, there have been more people achieving that milestone.
However, the 5% that literally live for raiding see the actual current end-game content. Those of us who have not the time to spend raiding a few days a week have to be happy with what lower level raids we can get. Hell, I can't even commit to twice a week for raiding, so I don't see a lot of the higher end raid instances.
It's not really the time commitment overall that prevents players from getting into raids, it's the fact that the time committed -must- be scheduled to match everyone else's (who are hopefully in the same time zone). I'd much rather have the leeway to say "Sorry, I'm not raiding tonight, going out with friends" than "Sorry, can't go out with you, have got to raid". And so, I miss out on end game content =P
"Unbelievable. You, _subject name here_ must be the pride of _subject hometown here_."
Hehe, I love Modesitt's books, Recluce, mind you, not that horrible Soprano Sorceress series =\ However, they're all fairly much predictable in their execution, which is not to say they aren't eminently readable, since although the plot points are all the same, the journey to them is different. And for some reason, they're completely re-readable, which is fantastic. One thing I admire is his separation of universes in his different series, with authors like Eddings, their characters/situations tend to be identical across the different series, but with Modesitt, it's completely separate. His Tangible Ghosts series is a fascinating exercise in alternate history, and I love his single protagonist scifi books (the multiprotagonist ones I can't quite get into). As for Pterry, what more need be said? He has a grasp of the absurdity of reality few have, and can express it in ways that us norms can comprehend.
Well, to be brutally honest, the paperclip is a whole lot more aerodynamic than the penguin =)
Acceptance of reversal of stance citing location of terminal as plausible cause for lack of appropriate research.
Mostly on-topic fanboi-ing of previously ascertained musical group.
Subtle meta-reference to non-sequiterish subject.
-- Overused lyric from mainstream ex-alternative band used with a completely inappropriate misunderstanding of subject
Naive expression of hope.... mp3
Reluctance to accept that this is wrong
I'm reminded of The Title Of The Song: http://www.neimeyer.org/schooling/Music/TitleSong
Last Remnant
Last Remnanter
Last Remnant with a Vengeance
Live Free or Last Remnant
Meh. I'll be excited when they have self building lego. Then it'll be a short step to self-constructing nanobots... And then the world! But until then, very cool self building legos..
Never underestimate the self destructive powers of the human race. Especially if they had everything they need, and never needed for anything
40 years pass... Humanity dies from obesity and sloth from not having to do -anything- to survive.