preMEDitated » games

Facebook Reinstated!

admin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:38:54 +0000

I’m back!
The facebook powers that be have acted in mercy and reinstated my account. I got my Vamp back, but I’ll be abandoning him somewhat when he reaches Level 70. He isn’t content with other vamp blood. He wants to eat my time.

Vampire Wars and Facebook Deactivation

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:54:56 +0000

Meet Dirk, a Level 63 Modern Vampire.
He has 470 Clan members, earns 70 million blood from thousands of minions in an hour, has Attack and Defense Skills at more than 100, and he even has an arsenal of rare and coveted items. Unfortunately, Dirk is no more. A force greater than the Vampire Elders has consigned him to oblivion. In other words, Facebook has deactivated my account!
In a way, Dirk is to blame for the sanction. In order for him to become more powerful, I had to be “Friends” with strangers from all over the world to add to his clan. So I invited a host of other Vampire Wars players. Other players also invited me to join their Clan. Thus my Clan grew.
Eventually, I invited so many for the day that I was given a pink slip. Facebookers call it the pink slip of death, which basically warns users that that they are engaging in illicit behavior. I was attentive to these reprimands, but the system had a bug.
Reading your Inbox while under the sanction of the pink slip counts as a violation of the warning. Unfortunately, I read my Inbox while checking for mail from would be Clan members. Facebook did not approve of this. They deactivated my account last week.
I appealed my case to them. I told them I was dutiful in following their rules and regulations. I also pointed out the bug. They sent me an automated reply regarding my case along with a message that I review their Terms of Use. I have yet to hear from them again.
So Dirk is now stuck in purgatory. He cannot reach the dreaded Level 70, nor can he gain more powerful Clan members. He rests, and waits for the Facebook Elders to grant him his undeath back.

PS On another note, I am also glad that Facebook deactivated my account. At the least, I now have time to pursue more productive pursuits like blogging…

Tribal Wars: My Newest Addiction

admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:05:35 +0000

I must admit that I can easily get hooked on to games. This is partly the reason why I no longer install games in my PC. They usually just eat my time away.
So it was an ambivalent time when I came across Tribal Wars. I didn’t install it. It’s online based. I originally planned to check on it twice a day, but it is now on all the time I’m online.

Tribal Wars is a text based, RPG cum Strategy game. Yet despite being only text-based, it has captured the liking of hundreds of thousands of people across the world. At any given time in all the worlds (at least 35 as of recent count) of Tribal Wars, villages are either growing stronger, or getting plummeted. Troops are marching off in victory or defending otherwise hopeless villages. Merchants are hauling off tons of clay, wood, and iron for trade to drive the economy of war.
Players join tribes, or are kicked off from them. Tribes make alliances with other tribes as easily as they break them. Diplomats broker negotiations. In short, the game is the focal point of the epic fantasies of thousands. Yet for all its features, the game to me is just one big “Lord of the Flies” scenario, wherein everything is right as long as it is supported by might.
I have to go cold turkey on this game soon. It has started to encroach on my real life plans. It’s now demanding my all. I must remind myself that this game doesn’t have an end, or even a redeeming value. Sacrificing my precious time for a 6000 point village, or villages, is pointless.

So in tribute to my disappearance on World 34 of Tribal Wars, here’s a pic of my village.
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Click on the image to view it in full size.

Theme Hospital (A Review)

Engr. Dr. — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:59:16 +0000

You think you have what it takes to become a hospital administrator?
Then try your skills with Theme Hospital, Bullfrog’s best game ever. Deal with cocky doctors, docile nurses, and the not-so-handy-handymen. They could get tired, and this obviously would hassle you and your patients. Build diagnostic rooms, treatment rooms, and rooms for more personal use. Finally, don’t forget to manage your finances. Bankruptcy is the sure way to losing!
Patients with all kinds of complaints are your main source of income so take good care of them. They could die from lousy treatment, or leave your hospital in disgust at your method of running. So make sure you get a Slicer to hack away the extra tongue growth from speaking too much about soap operas. Employ at least two surgeons to repair Broken Hearts, and remove Kidney Beans and Spare Ribs. Hire a nurse and she’ll give them medicines to cure the Uncommon Cold, Gastric Ejections, and other ailments.
Do you think you’re still up to it? Then strap yourself to the computer chair and play. You won’t notice time pass by, but it will help if you have a dose of non-pharmaceutic grade caffeine from coffee to get you through your all nighters. Just make sure you don’t do this very often or you’ll get admitted to a real hospital.

Day of the Tentacle (A Review)

Engr. Dr. — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:18:43 +0000

It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played. It’s just one whacked up comedy that’ll leave you wasting hours playing it. If you like wit, sarcasm, and a little bit of dark humor; then you’d definitely love Maniac Mansion 2: Day of the Tentacle.
Travel into the Past, the Present, and the Future of the United States of America, and change history. Prevent a mutated Tentacle, who grew arms and developed a thirst for world domination from actually dominating the world. All it takes is a sharp and a wee bit twisted mind . A knowledge of American history, by the way, is also a great plus.
Not to brag, but my brother and I finished this game a long time ago. Studying at a school that had a curriculum literally plucked out from the USA certainly helped.* Having sharp and creative minds definitely helped. A walkthrough that we consulted only near the end part, in a way also somehow helped.**
That game is timeless! A dozen modern games would not weigh enough to rank with this classic.

*No. I’m not talking about the Philippine public school system even though it was initially based on the American system. My school taught us American history, American money, and American values. I knew about George Washington before I knew about Jose Rizal. I was more proficient in counting dimes, nickels, and pennies before I could count in centavos and pesos. I didn’t believe in utang na loob. And even though I only studied 6 years in that school, and have assimilated mostly into mainstream Filipino culture, there are still times when mainstream Filipino culture actually shock me. That topic, however, is for another blog entry…

** That game was hard!!

Rise of (my) Civilization

Engr. Dr. — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:21:23 +0000

The Germans didn’t stand a chance. They came too close within my borders for comfort that I decided to wipe them out. Besides, their land looked fertile. My people would love to live there. The Russians were no different. I gave them a choice to leave or declare war. They chose the latter and promptly got destroyed. Their legions of horsemen did not stand a chance against my cavalry half their number.
The Byzantines knelt and swore fealty to my superior might as my armies coming from a continent away took their cities piece by piece. They had an Oracle that I envied. I captured him and made him work for my cause. The Aztecs posed a challenge. I could have been driven out from their continent if not for the help of the Hittites. Eventually, their knees buckled and I took my place as Emperor in their land.
I made sure the English were my friends. I bribed them with luxuries they hadn’t even heard of. So when the Hittites called for their help against me, they flatly refused. Soon it was raining ICBMs across the Hittite lands. Cities that used to harbor millions were left with a few thousands. Land cultivated through millenia, in a single day became too dangerous for use. What’s worse for them was that I completely ravaged every Hittite city I’ve captured.
I would have done the same to the English except that the game decided that I had used up all my remaining turns. I was declared the winner and took top place in the roster of high scores. And that concluded game play that stretched for three real days to the exclusion of a lot of my responsibilities. It was a great game, but I wouldn’t be touching it for a few days.
I now remember why I uninstalled that game before. It was eating up everything in me, my life and even my thoughts. Truly Civilization 3: Conquests is perhaps the greatest strategy game ever made.