Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive simulation of the Old West around the beginning of the 20th century. It's an incredibly detailed game, loaded with quests, challenges, secrets, and several systems in which the world responds to how you play the game. You play Arthur Morgan, a member of the Dutch Van der Linde gang. Among…
I've played in World of Warcraft (WoW) since before its formal beginning; that is, I played in WoW beta test in 2004. When you start either a Human or a Dwarf character in WoW, you quickly learn about flying between the Human capital of Stormwind and the Dwarf capital of Ironforge. Your character flies on the back…
In past years I've voted straight down the Democratic Party ticket. The exception was when the Democratic candidate was also running as a candidate for a minority party (e.g., Working Families); then I vote for them under the minority ticket in an attempt to give greater voice to those who feel underrepresented. This year, I feel I'm…
Sometimes you only have one chance to make a good first impression. Shroud of the Avatar makes a lousy one. After spending a few hours with the game, I feel no desire to continue playing it. I didn't even get out of the starting area. Shroud of the Avatar (SotA) is a MMORPG (massively multiplayer on-line role-playing…
About a year ago, I posted my review of Economix, a graphic book that provides an overview of economic theory and practice through to about 2011. The author, Michael Goodwin, working with the artist Dan E. Burr, has occasionally posted additional comics on his website on topics like Obamacare and Net Neutrality. Recently, Goodwin and Burr have…
The last remaining boxes of Isaac's papers are out of my apartment. They're on their way to the University of California at Santa Barbara's Religious Studies Collection. I used to think that the stuff Phaedra Bonewits and I were sending to UCSB was just being warehoused somewhere. If you click on the above link, you'll see I…
After working on Isaac Bonewits' biography on-and-off for eight years (mostly off), I've finally completed one of my key tasks: To scan in all his files and papers. (The exception is if Phaedra Bonewits sends me any more boxes of Isaac's old material.) So what's next? Send all the remaining physical files, papers, and calendars to the…
It's probably unfair for me to review Shadow of the Tomb Raider so soon after Spider-Man. My viewpoint is skewed because Spider-Man is clearly the better game. It's also unfair because I'm not a professional videogame reviewer, though I feel compelled to write reviews; I feel that one game is better than the other, but I struggle…
I'll start by addressing the big problem with this game: On its easy difficulty setting (dubbed "Friendly"), the game is much too hard for casual players -- at first. The game starts in media res, with Spider-Man fighting the thugs of Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin. Since this videogame is frequently compared with Batman: Arkham Asylum, I'll…
Through a World of Warcraft discussion message board, I heard of a research study being conducted by West Virginia University on the relationships between videogame players and their avatars. In a "what the hell" mood, I responded to the survey with a story about one of my WoW characters. I thought the story was minor, but to…