Avatar diversity.

 Kinda following PP2's lament here. Not many people blog anymore it seems. Honestly though, most of us lead pretty normal lifes apart from our binding factor called gaming. How many blogs can you fill with tales from the cubicle or my case, tales from the wheelchair? I'm sure that if had the skills to write up day-to-day ho-hum events into rivetting tales of chivalry and debouchery, I would do so. But yeah...

Skyrim:

I find that the game fails to hold my interest for very long. It's beautiful, atmospheric and accessible but at the same time it lacks that certain something that keeps me interested for long sessions. I can't pinpoint it exactly, I would describe it as a lack of depth where it matters for me. Statbending, numbercrunching... In Fallout, perks were an icing on the cake and you could weave them in with the statbending. In Skyrim you just select a perk aaaaand.., that's it. I love all the little touches that make the game interesting for roleplayers like me, there's certainly that sinergy between what happens on screen and the little side-story that I have going on my head. But Skyrim misses that magnetic power that Oblivion and Fallout3 have. That little bit extra that you can't explain or pinpoint and of which you're never quite sure of what it is exactly -- Skyrim doesn't have it.

I still have a lot to do in Skyrim and the game is nowhere near a punishment to play. I would even say that Skyrim is a joy to play, even with all the Bethesda signature flaws, but meh. Is there such a thing as a game being too beautiful?

The Sims 2:

One of the older games on the PC is still going strong today. (It's not as old as DiabloIILoD, another game that is prolly undead given it's longevity.) When my old computer died I lost an entire virtual-computer-people society I had painstakingly build up. From starting with a single farm to ending with a metropole of well over hundred families spread out over sub-hoods. I was on the 25th rotation when it all went to hell. It was a project that spanned well over 5 years.

I'm currently restarting on my new hand-me-down PC (Try buying a new PC on disability... good luck.) I'm thinking of creating a tropical-paradise like region this time. Wooden buildings, lots of foilage and seasons set to summer, summer, summer, fall. When you set out to create a neighborhood from scratch like this, you need to start by creating collections. Those are folders that contain elements you use the most, for easy access. For instance, I want uniformity of architecture for my districts. So grouping all my architectural elements that match well together, makes my life easy when I start with the buildings.

I'm also thinking about the region being colonized in the past, so there will be district with old european style houses, run down, with sleezy bars and little shops. Also, a district where the well-to-does live and a large district with everyday people that populate the wooden houses. I'm also thinking about greasy tenement buildings, where the "invisible" people live, sex-offenders (I have a mod that can make any male-sim a rapist), criminals and serial-killers (I have many weapon mods that allow for the strangest happenings)

I have started a thread in the "Other PC games" forum, looking for more Sims2 players. I'm always ready to talk Sims2. =))