I picked up a game last week when I was in Wichita, called "The World Ends With You". Cheery title, huh? But I thought; hey, it's by Square-Enix, and they've got a pretty good track record as far as I'm concerned.
TWEWY (as the forums have taken to calling it) is a recent title from the Square-Enix's RPG offerings. RPGs or "Role-Playing Games" is a fairly broad category which pretty much boils down to "characters get stronger by gaining experience, usually by winning fights".[1] I usually prefer turn-based to aRPGs[2], but I figured I'd give it a shot. If I didn't like it, I could always sell it back to Gamestop and not totally be at a loss.
TWEWY's unique battle system takes some getting used to; it's also something that probably could not have been done a system other than the DS. While Neko (your character) fights on the bottom screen using the various touch commands, you direct your partner's top screen attacks using the D-pad or ABXY buttons[3].
You start out with a limited number of spells/attacks/useful things to do, each signified by a different pin. Yes, your magic powers are fueled by casual-dining restaurant flair; oh, excuse me... designer casual-dining restaurant style flair. After the tutorial battles, you'll equip two of a half-dozen fairly standard fantasy tropes. You've got your sword swing, a wall of fire, a magic missile, a hand to throw obstacles with, lightning, and a limited-use cure spell.
But because it's an RPG -- at least in my opinion -- the story is at least as important (if not more so) as the combat. So, you wake up in the middle of Shibuya, basically Tokyo's version of Time's Square. Nobody interacts with you (which suits Neko fine) but you start hearing people's thoughts. Your phone rings and you get a mysterious text message. A countdown timer appears, burned into your hand. And then the giant frogs with skeletal back feet show up. And start attacking you. Over the first hour or two of game play, you learn that you're a player in the "Reaper's Game"; you're dead in the real world; and if you aren't able to finish the mission from the daily text message, you not only lose the game, you lose your right to exist.
It's a Square game, so you're going to have a bit of philosophy injected. And with this one, it's in the title. "The World Ends with You", meaning your view of the world is limited by your own perceptions and biases. By challenging those biases, expanding your perceptions, letting other people in, you'll be able to change -- if not the whole world, then your part of it.
Saying much more would be saying too much, giving away too much of the story. It's worth picking up.
[1] Contrast this with Adventure games like Legend of Zelda or Metroid, where you can fight all the enemies you want and won't get stronger, you have to collect items/weapons to do so. Or with Action title like the early Sonic games where your character has set abilities throughout, and can temporarily gain extra powers -- invincibility, take extra damage -- by picking up power-ups along the way.
[2] Action RPGs; games that mix traditional console RPG prep-screens with real-time battles.
[3] If you get to fighting on the touch screen and forget about your partner, there is an AI option that will take over after so long.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Tipping
I've been reading through the Waiter Rant blog (link above) archives. Two posts right in a row -- one about tipping baristas and the other basically about jackass customers causing the people around them to tip less -- caught my attention for a little longer than most and got me thinking.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a great tipper. When I tip, it's usually around 15%, but can vary from 10-20 depending on the overall cost of the meal and the service; but then again, I don't make a habit of going places where tipping 20% is the norm, either. That said, I'm not even halfway through the archive and I'm already making mental notes to bump my normal tips a bit.
But the story about a jerk customer negatively affecting his server's tips got me a bit introspective. Two reasons; first, I try not to be that guy. The Waiter (author of the above blog) generalizes them as Yuppies; basically, the "I'm right, you're not; everything must be the way I want it and if it's not there will be hell to pay" guy. Anyone who has worked anything resembling "customer service" knows at least one. If you're my server, I try not to be your that guy for the day. And if that guy is in your section while I'm there -- and the service is still decent -- you can almost be assured to be palmed a extra fiver when I pay the tab. Doesn't sound like much; but when my bills normally come out to $50-60, it is what it is.
But the tipping for baristas sent me back in my own mind. I know it's their job to make those ten-option drinks[1]; but I still feel slightly bad ordering anything more complicated than an iced latte. Besides, your barista is your friend -- or at least you should treat her like she is. Especially if they're busy and you're intending on ordering something more complicated than "Large Coffee, Black".
Which is why I've started wandering a little further down the road from the Starbucks I usually frequent[2]. Usually I try to be as economical as possible when I go shopping: it's about a four hour drive to Wichita and back; even a "quick" trip might as well be an all-day event. Besides, I get lost in downtown Wichita (Kansas City, I can handle, but I just haven't got the hang of Wichita yet), so I tend to stick to the outskirts and places I know. That means -- for me -- Maize, Tyler, Rock and Kellogg. And since Maize Road has the distinction of being the closest to street to home with restaurants and a grocery store, it tends to be my last run when I'm in the "big city". Plus, on the way out of town, we tend to stop at a grocery store, and because of the location -- and since the wife really likes the chicken and gnocchi at Olive Garden that's across the street -- we usually ends up at the Maize SuperTarget.
And inside, there's a Starbucks.
Great location, too... I can grab the few things from SuperTarget we can't get here or in Great Bend, then grab a humungo coffee for the 2 hour trip home (usually with a pit stop in either Hutch or Stafford). But the last few times, I've been driving back through the shopping center (which basically amounts to a 5-block long strip mall) to get to the stand-alone Starbucks on the other side.[3] I've done this for one very important reason.
The in-store Starbucks (or, more likely; Target, which leased space to the Starbucks) wouldn't let me tip the barista.
Now, I haven't always tipped baristas. Mostly because of what I normally drink: either black coffee or iced coffee. And there, I'd tell the wife what I want and hit the restroom; by the time I got back, she'd already taken care of the tab. But when the barista told me that, my mouth kinda hung open. I was really shocked -- though I had noticed the lack of tip jar, I'd just chalked it up to the majority of customers being credit cards instead.
We kinda stopped going to that one after that. There was always an excuse -- it's raining and the stand-alone has a drive through; it's getting late and I'm pretty sure they close the in-store shops early -- but I was of a mixed mind. On one hand; good for Starbucks/Target (the baristas always had Target branded nametags, so I assume they were actually Target employees rather than Starbucks) for paying the baristas enough they didn't need to rely on tips. On the other, if an employee is good at their job, and goes out of their way to make me want to come back (and then spend more money), why can't I -- as the customer -- thank that employee as well? Money may be a base way of saying thank you; but last time I checked, thank you cards don't pay the rent.
[1] You know, the ones they make fun of in the Dunkin Donuts commercials. Yes, I know it's how they make sure the customer gets exactly what they want. But I never know when to actually quit ordering. I've actually gotten intimidated by listening to the guy in line before me order... instead of a cup of coffee, I wound up with a venti half-caff vanilla macchiatto with extra foam.
[2] I say frequented. Not quite accurate, since it's not a daily, weekly, or even monthly thing for me. It's when I make it over to Wichita -- usually once every two or three months.
[3] Yes, there is a Starbucks about 5 blocks from a Starbucks. Don't believe me? Check Google Maps "Starbucks, Maize KS"; between 21st and 29th on Maize. Apparently, if you go down the road a ways, there's another 3 on Central between Maize and Ridge; and another couple on Maple. All west of I-235.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a great tipper. When I tip, it's usually around 15%, but can vary from 10-20 depending on the overall cost of the meal and the service; but then again, I don't make a habit of going places where tipping 20% is the norm, either. That said, I'm not even halfway through the archive and I'm already making mental notes to bump my normal tips a bit.
But the story about a jerk customer negatively affecting his server's tips got me a bit introspective. Two reasons; first, I try not to be that guy. The Waiter (author of the above blog) generalizes them as Yuppies; basically, the "I'm right, you're not; everything must be the way I want it and if it's not there will be hell to pay" guy. Anyone who has worked anything resembling "customer service" knows at least one. If you're my server, I try not to be your that guy for the day. And if that guy is in your section while I'm there -- and the service is still decent -- you can almost be assured to be palmed a extra fiver when I pay the tab. Doesn't sound like much; but when my bills normally come out to $50-60, it is what it is.
But the tipping for baristas sent me back in my own mind. I know it's their job to make those ten-option drinks[1]; but I still feel slightly bad ordering anything more complicated than an iced latte. Besides, your barista is your friend -- or at least you should treat her like she is. Especially if they're busy and you're intending on ordering something more complicated than "Large Coffee, Black".
Which is why I've started wandering a little further down the road from the Starbucks I usually frequent[2]. Usually I try to be as economical as possible when I go shopping: it's about a four hour drive to Wichita and back; even a "quick" trip might as well be an all-day event. Besides, I get lost in downtown Wichita (Kansas City, I can handle, but I just haven't got the hang of Wichita yet), so I tend to stick to the outskirts and places I know. That means -- for me -- Maize, Tyler, Rock and Kellogg. And since Maize Road has the distinction of being the closest to street to home with restaurants and a grocery store, it tends to be my last run when I'm in the "big city". Plus, on the way out of town, we tend to stop at a grocery store, and because of the location -- and since the wife really likes the chicken and gnocchi at Olive Garden that's across the street -- we usually ends up at the Maize SuperTarget.
And inside, there's a Starbucks.
Great location, too... I can grab the few things from SuperTarget we can't get here or in Great Bend, then grab a humungo coffee for the 2 hour trip home (usually with a pit stop in either Hutch or Stafford). But the last few times, I've been driving back through the shopping center (which basically amounts to a 5-block long strip mall) to get to the stand-alone Starbucks on the other side.[3] I've done this for one very important reason.
The in-store Starbucks (or, more likely; Target, which leased space to the Starbucks) wouldn't let me tip the barista.
Now, I haven't always tipped baristas. Mostly because of what I normally drink: either black coffee or iced coffee. And there, I'd tell the wife what I want and hit the restroom; by the time I got back, she'd already taken care of the tab. But when the barista told me that, my mouth kinda hung open. I was really shocked -- though I had noticed the lack of tip jar, I'd just chalked it up to the majority of customers being credit cards instead.
We kinda stopped going to that one after that. There was always an excuse -- it's raining and the stand-alone has a drive through; it's getting late and I'm pretty sure they close the in-store shops early -- but I was of a mixed mind. On one hand; good for Starbucks/Target (the baristas always had Target branded nametags, so I assume they were actually Target employees rather than Starbucks) for paying the baristas enough they didn't need to rely on tips. On the other, if an employee is good at their job, and goes out of their way to make me want to come back (and then spend more money), why can't I -- as the customer -- thank that employee as well? Money may be a base way of saying thank you; but last time I checked, thank you cards don't pay the rent.
[1] You know, the ones they make fun of in the Dunkin Donuts commercials. Yes, I know it's how they make sure the customer gets exactly what they want. But I never know when to actually quit ordering. I've actually gotten intimidated by listening to the guy in line before me order... instead of a cup of coffee, I wound up with a venti half-caff vanilla macchiatto with extra foam.
[2] I say frequented. Not quite accurate, since it's not a daily, weekly, or even monthly thing for me. It's when I make it over to Wichita -- usually once every two or three months.
[3] Yes, there is a Starbucks about 5 blocks from a Starbucks. Don't believe me? Check Google Maps "Starbucks, Maize KS"; between 21st and 29th on Maize. Apparently, if you go down the road a ways, there's another 3 on Central between Maize and Ridge; and another couple on Maple. All west of I-235.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Gentoo: X Update Problems
When building xorg-server-1.6.3.901-r2 with the "+hal +evdev" USE flags:
- X -configure will give you your base xorg.conf.new file
- Use "evdev" as the driver for both keyboard and mouse
- X -config
no longer automatically starts twm. Instead, you'll end up with a black screen. This is normal, expected behavior for Xorg. - Instead, use startx to test your configuration. However, the current version of startx seems to require an existing /etc/X11/xorg.conf to run. So move your new config file over (backing up the old one first if this is an upgrade); and if all goes well, you'll see three xterm and an xclock.
Why is this important?
I spent about 3 day trying to "fix" the new default behavior, attempting to get twm to startup with X -config /root/xorg.conf.new . And since the Gentoo Xorg How-To still uses the old default behavior (as of this writing); I figure I had better write this down for the next upgrade. And since knowledge is just information unless it is shared... I'll put it up here in case someone else needs it, too.
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