[Long post] Sims 2, Temeraire, and Archana.

Well, let's try to recap the past couple days.

As mentioned last post I was playing Sims 2 a lot. Unfortunately, during the course of play I discovered that the new expansion (Bon Voyage) had some nasty bugs to it that were slowing my game. And it was a progressive thing... I was noticing more and more slowdown over time. It ended up being a combination of things, including the high generation of NPCs that the expansion creates (vacationers, tour guides, chefs, clerks, etc.)

Fortunately, a patch was released very recently to deal with those issues. It DOES seem to be working -- however, I still get load times now and then, and with a game that takes as long to load as Sims 2 does, I am not pleased. :P I lament not waiting till the patch to get the expansion, because there's no way to just permanently delete the NPCs that were already generated.

At least the patch prevents any further issues (assuming it really IS working as it should) of the sort. It just sucks that there's no way to really fix my neighborhood fully now. There is just no way I'm starting over a 3 year old neighborhood. Though the more I think of it, the more I realize I really ought to get moving on my plans to kill off more of the townies and even some of my own created Sims.

On the other hand, it might be futile anyway because for every Sim that dies, a couple makes several more babies. I mean, there's no way I can prevent population from rising with the sheer number of Sims I have. And even if I delete Sims, they are still stored in the database because Sims may have memories of associating with them (I discovered this unpleasantly through using third-party Sims 2 package editors like SimPE).

Just seems kind of sad that I might have to consider restarting my neighborhood some day. :P I suppose I could just make some huge population purge instead and say a plague hit Tower Island or something. Then find out if there's some hacky way to get rid of the memory files, too. Creepy... it could be like this virus so potent it destroys your memories of people who died from it, too. :D (Yes, I really do think up complex scenarios like that for my Sims games. :P)

Anyway, all of this trouble with Bon Voyage has made me reluctant to even go to vacation lots at all. But I can't uninstall it 'cause I'd have to revert to saves from a month ago. Of course, I only ever went on vacations 4 times before the patch... but it still generated enough of a problem that I'm noticing it today. Grrr. I thought it was hardware at first, and had Jon check the video card fan and my RAM and stuff, but it wasn't.

So I just messed with various lots, instead. Today was particularly me messing with Irianna and Oberon's -- Irianna's been a vampire for some time now, and I finally found a way to get Oberon to become a werewolf. I was tired of waiting for the leader of the pack to show up, and just cheat-spawned him instead. FINALLY! I can start a werewolf population on Tower Island now, over a year (two years?) after getting the related expansion. Hah, I'm just slow.

Werewolves are actually decent to have, and don't punish your play style nearly as much as vampires do (vamps are immortal and their bars pretty much never decrease until they're in the sun). You can pretty much have a werewolf never sleep, because the werewolf transformation at 8pm totally replenishes every bar except Hunger (which gets reduced by something like 75% of full). Other than that they still play like normal Sims, except you can turn other people into werewolves too, and howl at the moon now and then. The only downsides are in appearance (some don't like the werewolf look, though it doesn't bother me) and personality (werewolves get reduced in Neat and Nice). Every day as a werewolf gains a Body skill point, too, and I've heard they train pets easier than most people do. Interesting stuff.

Irianna and Oberon don't have any dogs though. Just two cats (one a lazy fluffy white one and another a smart but otherwise balanced black one). The cats don't get along at ALL though, which boggles me... I guess their signs are opposed. :P I had thought I'd made them to be compatible, but the black one keeps antagonizing the white one a lot. o.O So much for breeding with them, I guess. Too bad I can't make kitty vampires. :D

Between load times (which have gotten even more severe with Bon Voyage, sigh) I've been reading the book Kraken got me really, really belatedly for my birthday. It's called Temeraire, by Naomi Novik. I enjoyed it plenty. :D It was set in this AU Europe that had dragons employed in their military, during Napoleon's time, and the story's from the perspective of the British fighting off the French. The main character, Will Laurence, is a captain in the British Navy who takes a French frigate holding a dragon egg. The French in this setting have plenty of dragons to their disposal, so any way of reducing their numbers would normally be considered a victory for the British. But the dragon ends up hatching on board, and Laurence ends up losing his Navy position when the dragon decides that he is the only one he'll allow to harness and ride him.

I liked reading about the differences between the Navy and the Aerial Corps (which were not only in their function, but in the behavior and interaction of their soldiers as well). You get this feeling that life working with dragons is a lot more hectic and fast paced than on a ship. And there's also more than just the condition of the ship to think about, because the dragons are very much alive, with their own distinctive personalities and quirks. Even the least intelligent among them can still talk, and form life-long bonds with the captains they accept as their handlers.

There's plenty of variety of dragons, too -- even more so than something like Pern, which is what most fantasy readers would think of when they think of dragonriders. It's nothing like Pern, really, though. Much more of a military bent, and some of the dragons get HUGE... like several tons large, enough to carry a captain, a crew and gunners, much like if the dragon were actually a ship. Also, depending on breeding and type, the dragons have different abilities and specialties. Some are bred small and quick, for couriers, some can breathe acid or fire and are prized for such in naval battles, and some -- like Temeraire -- are bred for their beauty and intelligence.

I'm definitely looking into getting the sequel to Temeraire now. :D The book is a pretty quick read and kept my attention all the way to the end. I couldn't help but think of Sky and Saphira in Wardragon while reading it, too, because Kraken had specifically mentioned being inspired by the book in how he wanted Saphira to develop. And I think he's even talked about it to Grey, too, so it may actually happen :D Saphy is supposed to be a young dragon and will eventually grow several tons large. It will be interesting to see whether Kraken will actually try and get a full crew aboard her and stuff.

Me, I think it's an awesome idea. But I have high hopes myself for what I want Archana to achieve :D So my mind keeps thinking in terms of Archa acquiring a larger body and variety of troops, which inevitably will need transportation of some sort to move more quickly. I don't think that Archa owns Sky or Saphy or anything like THAT (really, only Deirdre and 17 are "hers". And I wonder if Deirdre will end up with Gunchei Esparada -- assuming that Landsraad is even going to WANT to let her be a part of Archa's group :P) but the idea of coordinating ground and/or naval troops with Sky and Saphira's aerial support sounds like a lot of fun. :O I mean, I'm talking big scale battles here. I'm talking "Celestials are fucked up so we're going to take on the dead ourselves with the best we've got." :D

That's the kinda think I'd like to see Archa and the rest of the Wardragon team do. So I admit that I think big sometimes. I don't think it's enough to just stick with one "branch" of combat. I could see Deirdre in a strike force like Forlorn Hope, Seventeen with his small, specially trained group of intelligence / infiltrator / saboteur types, Sky with her aerial corps -- and Ember too assuming he EVER meets up with us again, and so on. And I feel like I'm arrogant, I admit, to think of putting Archa at the command of all of that, but... no one else actually tried to do it, and no one else is thinking that far ahead, and so I would LIKE to. Besides, there doesn't necessarily have to be a complete authority on Archa's part, she'd just be the "glue" putting them all together, so to speak. They'd all be separate units cooperating together on a common goal.

Besides, as awesome as it looks to carry around a high military rank, it comes with a lot of responsibility. It's actually NOT the fun place to play in RP, for most people. I mean, there's more to think about, then, besides just being in the thick of the action. You have to be good at thinking ahead, and you have to be good at convincing people that the course of action you've planned is the best one, even when people can't comprehend (or refuse to comprehend) the results from the start. Plus there's times you have to assert authority, and be able to show that the assertion is NOT because you're into flaunting authority, but because you truly believe it is for the best of the entirety of the units under your command. I think that's the part I dislike the most, playing Archa, because there is at least ONE person who does not like that she's all-but-officially taken command (the only "officially" would come from the Deliberative, and I'm desperately hoping there will be someone with the authority to grant it to her in Hollow.)

I suppose I can't totally avoid looking arrogant, though. I mean, I DO want Archa to rise in rank. I DO want her to have more troops at her command, and if I could get her a ship, that would be EXCELLENT. But I don't think it's 'cause I enjoy RPing the dominant leader. It's because I like the idea of bringing a disparate group of people together to be focused, organized and successful at achieving a common goal. There's this moment, when everything falls together and you see people working in tandem like a well-oiled machine, where you realize... "Wow. There is power in cooperation." And when the job's done and the same people are congratulating one another, sharing in each other's victory, there's a satisfaction in that sense of community, and knowing you had a hand in making it happen.

Heh, there I go with communities again, even in RP. I don't even know I will achieve even half of what I envision for Archa in WD40K -- I don't even know the game will LAST long enough for her to. :P But it's nice to imagine the results. I always feel somewhat of a wistful pang when I think of the communities I used to put together online, and I guess trying for it in RP is the next best thing.

I do have a fatal flaw as a leader, though, and that's that I'm too empathic. Archana herself actually DOESN'T have that, which is probably a large part of my enjoyment in playing her as a leader, too. :P She DOES feel a fair amount of guilt at times, but she doesn't let it stop her from her goals. She just feels it... quietly. Seventeen and Deirdre are probably the only two she'd really confide her true feelings in, and even then, not a lot. 17 also serves another purpose besides that, though -- or will, when the need arises. He is the silent enforcer of Archana's authority. That means dealing with troublemakers and traitors in a way that will not stain Archana's hands directly, particularly if she becomes more socially visible as she rises in rank.

She will probably need it less than I would, if I were in her position, though. :P There are times I've had to call on Jon to deal with sticky situations, because I don't trust myself to do what must be done. I might lose my confidence halfway through, or get swamped in guilt for things I have to say or do, and thus not have the kind of force or certainty I need to be understood and obeyed. It's particularly pressing in times there's conflicts between people in the community, and I'm paranoid about hurting people's feelings, but cannot allow whatever behavior is causing trouble to continue.

It is a blessing and a curse to be as empathic as I am. I just... wish I could harden myself more, sometimes. Archana is very much wishful thinking for me. I want to BE her. But at the same time, I don't want to lose my ability to make people feel comfortable, to understand and sympathize with their troubles. It's that part of me that has given me the few good friendships I have, and the few people who trust me unconditionally.

Ah well. I wanted to go take a walk, and I think I still will, even though it is 4 am. I've been sitting around WAY too much these past couple days, and I'm all stiff. *sigh* Tomorrow I guess I will make a show of being around again... even though my heart isn't totally in it. I can't totally say why, either, but I will say that I'm tired of lying to myself. The more I feel that way, the less I want to be around, except in small doses. Call it a period of self-discovery if you will. I need to know who I really am, and what I will fight for. Cheesy as it sounds, those words are very, very appropriate to me right now.