If anyone cares to read it, my 9/11 edition of my Hub-Bub column was, finally, put up yesterday.

I'm happy with what I wrote but I'm unhappy about how it was delayed 10 days. They feared it'd be "controversial", I guess. Anyway, it was written on 9/12 and should have gone up immediately or, probably, not at all.

http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/depart/sep01/hubbub5.html

-Andrew

"Me? Though I've often called myself one, these events prove to me that I'm no journalist.

Everyone else realized that right away.

I see some assmuncher has appropriated the Bullcrap name, in order to make it appear as if I had a negative opinion about "Bub's" journalistic credentials. Not sure why, except perhaps the imposter is a right-wing George Bush booster attempting to discredit this leftie's nick.

To be clear: the post above was written by someone else than all of the previous Bullcrap posts, which I have been writing from 9/11 to the present. I find this appropriation of my nick fairly tacky, but I pretty much expected it to happen eventually, given that there is no password protection on this username, and given that I've pissed off more than a few gamer nerds with right-wing philosophies gleaned from DOOM and DUKE NUKEM.

I have just now read the column linked to above and found it thoughtful and intelligent. I think it's a very good idea to question the idea of playing games, to think about why we do this, and whether or not this form of escapism has political consequences. Good job, "Andrew S. Bub."

PS: I fully expect a flood of further fake "Bullcrap" postings to follow this one, by one or more pseudo-clever shits with too much time on their hands. The means of attaining a member account on this board are not very clear, but I am attempting to register the name with this post. We'll see if it works.

Didn't seem to work. Oh, well.

You have to email Mark, with the username and password you want. Then it'll be set up. However, I don't know if it restricts someone from using the user name without the password - so they could STILL fake it.

The only real way to secure a name is to not allow usernames to be posted without a password, or check the entered name against the "reserved" list. But I highly doubt this script does that.

One simple way to solve this for all to see would be to include the poster's IP in the header.

Sample:

By Spam [127.0.0.1] on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 09:00 pm:

Discus can probably do that, but if not I'll be happy to add it to the script.

If you're registered, when you sign in your name appears in as a green link to your e-mail (which yours already does) and has your actual name, followed by your username in parentheses.

Not many people are registered, though -- including Tom and Mark themselves.

As they said, e-mail Mark and he'll set you up.

That was your funniest column yet!

Chet

Bullcrap. Don't worry about it, even though board imposters are much more annoying than anonymous posters, I wasn't really insulted by the imposter's remark.

Murph, I'm registered and my email doesn't appear linked to my name. I always wondered how to "go green," and link my email to my username though.

And thanks Chet,
your post, coming after all that board security stuff, actually made me laugh out loud. Even if I'm not entirely sure what you meant by it.

-Andrew

I have to apologize for that - I have been upgrading our mail server tonight and something just clicked with your post. Nothing was meant by it. it just made me giggle when i thougt of it.

Chet

Ok. I did take it the right way then.
But your post really did make me laugh. It was tough having a "humor" column due on September 13th 2001, but I was proud of what I did come up with.

That made it tough to wait 10 days to see it go up. That's what I meant by "should have gone up immediately or, probably, not at all."

I mean, the column doesn't describe how I feel now. Now I probably would be writing about canceled or postponed games in the wake of the event. Reading something that timely and immediate now makes it seem out of touch and, well, just plain late.

-Andrew

Hmm...Bub, when you edit your profile, do you have your e-mail in there? I think that might be why you're not green...

Hey Bub, in your second to last column at gd, about gencon, you wrote of Rubies of Eventide. Is it any good? Looks pretty cool... in a might and magic mmrpg way that is. I might actually take a graphically "inferior" mmrpg if the player base isnt too "leet" and the game is generally fun.

BTW, how do i have one name in my author thingy? ah whatever... i dont know what the hell im doing... it keeps putting double mtkafka. its been like that since Jaunuary... im just too lazy to change it. should i just put my real name? does it matter? hmmm

etc

Rubies of Eventide might well be a fine and wonderful game. But, I have no idea if it is though because I turned down that freebie they offered. I believe Cindy Yans and Robert Mayer of CGO got one.

As much as I made fun of them, I have to admire the group's dedication, but seeing them year after year always no closer to completion (until this year), became something of a joke for me.

I wonder how well they're doing with it.

-Andrew

im actually a chief ed of a computer gaming magazine... its in chinese so i doubt anyone of u have heard of it, its besides the point... while reading your article, bub, i know exactly how you felt... i was so disgusted at myself reading game news while i know for sure hundreds and thousands of rescuers are working into the night hoping they can find anything thats alive. but maybe i felt even strong than you, for i dont think i will ever "look forward to the day when we have the luxury of calling something like these subjects 'important' again." games arent important to me anymore, they are only a pastime to me but i wont have time for even that. because what matters now is my friends and family, the people that are still around me. i would rather spend time sitting at a cafe talking to them, seeing them in front of me, letting them see me in front of them. human relationships, the human touch, arent those what define us? i would rather go see the world if i have the money...

i am slowly learning the meaning of the real 'matters of consequence' in little prince, i am slowly embracing the same attitude as morrie schwaltz did about life...

OTOH, there's nothing wrong with having a hobby and feeling passionate about it. It doesn't dehumanize anyone to enjoy gaming and care about it a lot.

"there's nothing wrong with having a hobby and feeling passionate about it."

Exactly. There's nothing uniquely petty about computer gaming. I imagine a lot of people lost interest in their hobbies, jobs, leisure activities, etc. when they heard the news.

-Tom

Ethan,
Something may've gotten lost in the translation. I did emphasize that games are unimportant, especially at a time like two weeks ago, but I also pointed out how valuable distractions are and what a luxury and joy it truly is that we can get all worked up over how bad the writing is in Max Payne or how brilliant Half-Life is. Beats subsistence farming, eh? When I was saying games are unimportant I was talking "in the now" as they say.

You enjoy gaming Ethan. That's what freedom is. (Oh, do travel too though. It's time well spent!)

-Andrew

"OTOH, there's nothing wrong with having a hobby and feeling passionate about it. It doesn't dehumanize anyone to enjoy gaming and care about it a lot"

of course not, im just saying in my case, i feel what i feel

how we are coping with the situation varies with each individual. in my case, this incident have taught me a big lesson, thats why im concentrating on the people i know, thats why im paying more attention to the people around me.

this might be a bit of an extreme case, but games have taken a big chunk of my life, imagine i have been playing games since apple ii (i think most of u probably would snicker at this ^_^) but i could go on all day all night, skipping classes after classes, meals after meals... im giving up on games cause im kinda burnt out, i should have burnt out years ago but i didnt, games were what i did to ignore everything in my life, yes like a distraction or a place to hide if u will... not anymore, cause i need my life back... more importantly, i needa girlfriend man ^_^

well i havent been to australia / NZL, havent been to most of egypt, never been to south america, nor russia and eastern europe, of course the poles too... other than those, i have been to quite a lot of places ^_^v

"imagine i have been playing games since apple ii (i think most of u probably would snicker at this)"

I think you'd be surprised how many Apple II veteran gamers hang out here. I'm one, for example.

Cheers,
-Andrew

While games may seem like trivial forms of entertainment, I still believe they have an important impact on society. Games have been around almost as long as history can remember, and modern computer games inherit that legacy. As much as we laugh at the prospect of games as "instructional tools," they probably have an impact on the development of hand-eye coordination and pattern recognition skills. For me, this hobby is more about studying how people learn. While admittedly games are a luxury, I would hesitate to classify games as pure excess.

- Alan

I think Bub was just classifying game journalism and getting worked up about things like nerfs as pure excess. But, anyway, he was only talking about in the face of sept 11.

I guess my comment was more in response to Ethan than to Bub. While Ethan expressed interest in a more balanced life, I think it's important to remember that a proper balance includes time for play.

- Alan

"I think you'd be surprised how many Apple II veteran gamers hang out here."

Heh - yeah, a number of us had Apple IIs; my first one was in 1980 (and I had an Ohio Scientific before that. I'll bet that's a REAL small group! ;) )

Wolfenstein on my IIc was great. ;0

"Schweinheund!"

"S.S.!"

"a proper balance includes time for play"

that is a good point, i might sound like im renouncing all kinds of computer games, well thats not true, i still play eq, i still play diablo 2... but im playing with my real life friends, at the very least it might be someone i dont know, who lives in a place that i have never been to, but im sure those are real people, so we can chat. the point is, life to me has taken a turn, i would enjoy more face to face human interactions these days. in fact play can also include going to throw frisbee with your dog, enjoying your nice fall weather in a not-so-busy-road-side cafe etc.

oh yeah i did mean that im sure most of u are veteran video games players, miss the old load runner on a monochrome anyone? ^_^

"a proper balance includes time for play"

not necessarily, if you mean playing computer games. maybe you can spend that time doing better things. All this stuff about why people play computer game is just made up.

"For me, this hobby is more about studying how people learn."

you are either lying or fooling yourself or are drunk off your ass. Yuo say you are playing computer games because you want to see how people learn. PLS post again to confirm this stupid statement.

It's a release, plain and simple. It helps us escape, blow off some steam. Some of us might have more reason than that -- but we don't have to. It's fun. It's what we enjoy doing. And that's enough.

There does have to be time to play. What you choose to play is up to you, but anything that you enjoy will help you to de-stress. The more enjoyment, the more "de-stressing" it is.

"miss the old load runner on a monochrome anyone? ^_^ "

i had that exact experience! I remember playing alot of great games on the apple2c clone my family had. I practically spent a whole year on Ultima 3 and Bards Tale on the apple 2c. Those were the days i could get ALOT of mileage for just a few games. Anybody remember spy vs spy? hehe that game was awesome!

etc

My Apple][ favorites were Choplifter and Karateka

Concerning the 'play' statement, you may be reading more into that statement than is there. I specifically did *not* restrict it to computer games. As this is a gaming board, I probably should have emphasized that distinction. Sorry.

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Quote:

you are either lying or fooling yourself or are drunk off your ass. Yuo say you are playing computer games because you want to see how people learn. PLS post again to confirm this stupid statement.

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