Mandatory update, I guess. You might've noticed the new layout. Honestly, I just don't have time to continue changing the old one, so I just picked the least offensive of the pre-created templates.
The result, I think, is somewhere between modern art-deco and a George Foreman grill. Kind of explains why I always get hungry whenever I come here now. In any event, I suppose I should update. I've had a lot to say, but it's mostly serious stuff. I don't like talking about serious stuff, because either A) People think I'm a serious person and switch off, or B) People take things too seriously and get into a fight. I don't mind debates, but I'm seriously wondering how many people can tell the difference between disagreeing with a point someone makes, and actually believing that person is an idiot.
Most people are just inclined to believe that what they know is right, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a nut.
In any event (see, too serious), the written works are on hold right now. The University has decided to make it their mission to include group projects for every class they can get away with, and this means that almost all of my free time is spent trying to manage or be managed by other people. I guess the U got ragged on because its graduates couldn't work properly as a team, so they're trying to rectify the issue by cramming it down our throats. I can foresee a new complaint next year that U graduates will become homicidal whenever they're forced into a team.
On the topic of games, I've been mostly sucked into Skyrim right now. I hear people describing it as an "off-line" MMO. Idiots. It's a free-roaming role-playing game in the truest sense, and if you're looking for something to sink hours and hours of gameplay into, it's a good bet. I also recently purchased Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's the same garbage all over again, and anyone who measures their prowess by their success with these games is a fucking idiot. And probably a closet fascist.
I also got SW:TOR for Christmas. As an MMO, it's decent, but the whole addiction right now is group interaction when picking up or turning in quests. Unlike WoW, when you interact with an NPC while in a group, the whole group can take part in the conversation. The NPC will say something, everyone dials in their answers, and then - like a loot-rolling system - everyone rolls a random number and the highest number's answer becomes the group's response.
If you're wondering what the big deal is, it's this: you don't know whether other people are playing light side or dark side, so sometimes your pleasant conversation can instantly turn in to homicide.
Example:
Street Urchin: Please sir, let me out of here! I'm hungry and scared!
Player 1: Who are you? Are you infected?
Street Urchin: I don't know! I'm scared!
Player 1: Hold on, let me find the key.
//insert mandatory scavenger hunt mission
Player 1: I found it. Are you sure you're not infected?
Street Urchin: I don't think so. I'm hungry!
*beep boop*
Street Urchin: NOOOoooooooo!
Usually followed by lots of laughs and copious amounts of jedi raeg.
Yes, I am playing a morally ambiguous character. Bioware made it really easy to do so.