A Gamer's Rant

So, there are actual people who find Western RPGs (character customizations and all that have mostly the same story with mostly point and click or active combat) better than the JRPGs (storyline based characters with mostly turn based combat). Sad.

Although, I have to admit. JRPGs suck the big one in their latest developments in their games. There's no more towns to go to. There's no more secret worlds or secret things to do. Yes, I am talking to you Square Enix. There's no more 108 characters to recruit. Yes, I am talking to you Konami!

But, I am more into the gameplay and storyline of it all. And when it comes to storyline, nothing beats an old school JRPG like Suikoden or Chrono Trigger.

Graphics-wise though the same line of gaming that Western RPGs have been always there and so graphics and gaming wise, they're almost always consistently developed.

Sadly today, people are going retro on most JRPGs as well that the iOS is actually filled with retro games, which actually is cool. Until, you realize that all of them are retro! No good game that has high quality graphics. Even Chaos Rings for me is like a, "I yield to the developers" kind of game because its not really how JRPGs are done. Where are the towns? Where are the people I can recruit? Where is that obnoxiously hard boss in the middle of the game that will feel so good to kill? Where are those winding maps that are so fun to explore and that's not so linear?

I will understand that new gamers will always fall in love with the Western style of RPGs but for the old gamers, I don't understand. I just hope one day, someone gets to bonk the heads of these JRPG developers and get back to something that was essentially what got us into gaming in the first place and do it on a scale that is worthy of using the graphics processor now and not the one 10 years ago.

Western RPGs, wait, just you wait..

P.S. I have to apologize for the bad syntax. This was just supposed to be a status update rant in Facebook when it escalated to an actual blog post with more than four paragraphs.

The Geek Plays: Cut the Rope

Holding up my output for thesis!

This part is all about the games that I play, which are mostly iOS games. I already have materials for this but it took some time before I got to post because of my impending thesis defense that finished just this Wednesday. Other than the post-thesis requirements and for all intents and purposes, I am officially graduating! Finally!

Om Nom, that cute, little creature

Cut the Rope is one of the cutest games in the iOS that was developed by ZeptoLab. This game is highly addictive because it gradually tests your logic, physics, and motor skills especially as the levels progress and the objectives get harder. It is plain and simple actually.

A pile of candy

A box was delivered to the door of a scientist. The box only had a note saying, "Feed with Candy". Inside the box, a cute, little creature named Om Nom appeared and all you have to do in the game is really feed it candy.

Get that star!

Feed it! (in the Ghost Box)

Three stars per level (4 if you have superpowers; optional)

The Opinionated Geek

This is a repost with some edits of my Facebook status this morning. I just want to say that I was able to hold the line and defend my thesis (no matter how poorly) against Dr. Sibayan, Mr. Mariano, and Ms. Diaz! All OrgComm and CommArts students from DLSU-M know what I'm talking about. I'm finally graduating and, now, I can fully say these opinions.

In light of the RH Bill, the argument raised by losing a child due to the use of contraceptives should not lead you to becoming anti-RH bill. The RH bill aims to actually educate you with all aspects pertaining to reproduction. This means that people will be educated on the use of contraceptives, among other things, and learn why, how, and what to use each for. This is exempting the actual fact that contraceptives before were a new development and not as stable as the products that are developed now. Elaborating on this, other facts excluded here is that there is no scientific evidence that points out that using contraceptives causes birth defects and that this argument has been stated before but has been exaggerated to a proportion with tears and proses by this politician.

It looks like politics can be a performance art and he can be nominated for best actor as an antagonist of a show called "Pro-Life and its Education". (If this really works, maybe actors should really become politicians, huh? I apologize for the hell of sarcasm here.)

Moreover, educating the general population about reproduction will also help in reducing the mindset that is set on the masses that the better chances at success is having so much children aside from the other misconceptions.

On the other hand, this senator that is a so-called prolife advocate should apologize for plagarizing his speech from a US blogger and directly translating to Filipino a speech from a US politician.

Lastly, this bill and the issues that come along with it have to start ending soon so that we can actually move forward and develop a better economy. This is not discounting the fact that the RH bill will actually help boost our economy.

To the big church against the RH bill, can you have any other tactic than scaring the general population about things you are against because you have been doing that since the beginning of your stay here on Earth? The general population needs to be educated and all you do is hide behind your walls and robes scared that educating them is evil. If you aren't one of those people but part of the big church, don't be offended please.

TPBB - New Segment!

Hey guys! It's been a while since I've made a post - job hunting is REALLY HARD - but I'm back! It's been two months since I graduated college and I still have yet to find a suitable job. So in the meantime, I've been keeping myself busy by playing on the iPad. And since I play a lot these days, why not make a whole segment dedicated just for games/apps? Presenting my own segment, The Princess's Boredom Buddies! And here's TPBB#1:

Ticket To Ride

This game is one of my favorites, and I wouldn't have found out about it if not for The Geek - thank you! The rules are pretty easy, but they're hard to understand without actually playing the game. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try! I taught my mom how to play this game, so I think I'm pretty capable of doing it again. Haha! :)

The Ticket To Ride app features six variants - USA, Europe, Swiss, USA 1910 Classic, USA 1910 Mega (my favorite!) and USA 1910 Big Cities. For this post, I'll be showing you the USA version, which is I find the easiest and most basic.

Extra large so y'all can see what I'm talking about!

The main objective of the game is to score the highest points by claiming routes (connecting between two cities) on destination tickets, which are the three cards at the bottom. Each destination ticket is equivalent to a certain amount of points, which can be found at the lower right corner of each ticket (in this case 20, 9 and 17). For the USA variant, players need to choose at least 2 destination tickets at the start of the game. From the tickets I've selected, I need to connect Montreal to Vancouver to get 20 points, and Portland to Nashville to get 17 points. Follow the blue circles (which turn green in-game) highlighted on the map to know where you're supposed to go.

To complete your destination tickets, players need to claim routes, those colored spaces on the map. Each player is given 45 trains that match the color of their character. You'll see mine at the lower right corner (I'll explain that zero later). Trains are placed on the map each time a player claims a route between two cities. These go hand in hand with train cards, those five cards above my character. Each player starts with four randomly selected train cards. These come in 8 colors that correspond to all the routes in the game . The grey routes are neutral and can be filled with any color train cards (but they have to match!). Locomotives (not pictured) are special train cards that can be played alone or in combination with standard train cards. To claim a route, players need the same number and color as the tiles/lines of that route. So if I plan to claim the route from Vancouver to Calgary, I'll need 3 trains and 3 train cards of any color. And if I want to claim the route between Calgary and Winnipeg, I'll need 6 trains and 6 white train cards. Am I coming through to you? :P

All tangled up and whatnot

Here's a screenshot from a different game, and it's a mess, ain't it? Here you can see all the train card colors and there's the Locomotive - the rainbow colored train card at the very end of my deck (in between my destination tickets and character photo). Every turn, players can either choose train cards from the deck (two train cards or one locomotive) or claim a route. Players can also select more destination cards, found on top of the train cards - but this is advised only if you have either completed your routes and have trains to spare, or if your routes have been completely blocked and you want more points. Only take more tcokets if you're sure because you can't cancel the action once you click "yes". Here, you can see at the bottom right next to the destination tickets are numbers that say I've selected three destination tickets and I have one left to complete. To do that, I have to claim the route from Denver to Phoenix. I'll need two more white train cards (or one if I plan to use the Locomotive) and five trains to complete the ticket.

And now to explain the zero! That zero, now replaced with 68 under my character, is the score you get for claiming routes. Since routes have varying lengths and require different numbers of trains and train cards, you can bet that they correspond to different scores. I'm not sure what those scores are though, sorry, haha! But the longer the routes, the higher the score. Trains turn into colored blocks on the map, and show which route has been claimed by a player. Those blue, purple, and green blocks belong to my AI opponents,  found at the upper part of the map, and the yellow blocks are mine. Glad to say I'm not the lowest scorer this round. :)

The game ends when a player has two or less trains left. Each player takes a final turn and then points are scored. The player with the highest score wins! To do that, you need to complete all your tickets;  not doing so will result in a score deduction for each incomplete ticket. Players also gain ten bonus points for having the longest continuous route on the map.

Personal best, USA 1910 Mega. Excuse the username! :)

And those are the rules! But once you actually put those into action, the game is relatively easy to understand. The first time I saw The Geek playing this, I didn't even bother to look at it. But because I promised to learn one of his board games, I gave it a shot without telling him. And now I'm addicted too! It's one of those games where you find yourself cursing because your opponent took the card you needed or cut off your route. Haha! My mom and two sisters play the game too, and there were times that the four of us would play against each other all day - you can do this by selecting the Pass and Play option if you're using just one device, or the Local option if you have several devices sharing the same WiFi connection. You can also play with others in the Online option. Although I've yet to try the actual board game, and I will at least once because I promised, I think I'm sticking to the app just because it's more convenient. And because Francis beat my score. :( Haha! :P

I hope you guys understood my explanation even a little, and somehow got encouraged to try the game. Stay tuned for more Boredom Buddies! God bless everyone! :)

Blog Facelift

Hey guys! For those of you who first saw our blog, you may have noticed that it's had a recent makeover. And because of the apparent femininity in the colors and fonts chosen, obviously, The Geek had no say in what went down. He'll be so surprised when he sees it! :P

Our new look, courtesy of moi :>

Although I'm all for rainbows, I didn't really like how the blog looked (Sorry Francis!) so I decided to give it a facelift. But his is all temporary because this blog isn't just about me, it's about my Geek too! Maybe one of these days, when we're both not so busy with our own lives, we can give this blog a better and more permanent layout. I hope we decide keep the banner, though - I put a lot of extra but unnecessary effort into that! :)

Until next time. Take care! :)

The Princess

Hey guys! I'm Jhen, The Princess! Now, I don't really think of myself as a princess because... well, I just don't. But, The Geek insists I am, and he already named the blog so I can't do anything about that anymore. Haha! :)

Jhen, The Princess

I'm a bookworm, doodlebug, insomniac, and I like using smileys. Books, movies, music, makeup and shopping are what I'll probably write about most often. I like to fancy myself as some sort of creative, artistic person, so I might even share some of my drawings. But since I'm into trying new things nowadays, mostly because of Francis, expect some surprises every now and then! :)

This is my first venture into blogging. So I hope my love for reading and writing, and a little help from The Geek, makes this journey fun for me and the readers of this blog. Till my next post. Take care guys! :)

Ticket to Ride: A Geek's Experience

Palabasan, 2011

I remember trying out Ticket to Ride for the first time in my life. It was the summer of 2011 and I brought home a copy of Ticket to Ride: Europe that I borrowed from a friend and owner of Gaming Library, the first and only online board gaming retailer here in the Philippines. I was starting out a gaming group and my food business, Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods, from my house in Katipunan and it was one of the games that I liked in an instant.

Carag, 2011

I bought it the week after and it was the third board game title that I bought and the first game that got me to fall in love with euro, economic, and train games. I think this can be considered as the game that got me hooked into real board gaming and not just all the card games that I played back then.

I had a knack for it. You just had to build train routes from city to city and hit all your destinations to gain victory points. The most victory points win the game.

It actually took a year before anybody was able to beat me on the actual board game. Although the game count would be at least just a little above twenty games, I still think of it as a mini achievement.

Just like Sheldon Cooper, I fell in love with trains after that. I went on playing and buying a game called 1830: Railways & Robber Barons, an economic game based on the train companies in the US back in the 1830s, which is considered as the Golden Age of trains.

I wanted to play it more and the online one was just too pricey. But then, the iPad came into our lives back a month or so and, thanks to a friend, I was able to play it more: solo with AIs, online, and so on. And, my girlfriend, The Princess, and most of her family now plays the game in the iPad as well!

Ticket to Ride: Europe Tournament Practice
Fabie, 2011

A month back, the owner of Gaming Library and organizer of the All Aboard event every month in Galleria decided to create a Ticket to Ride Tournament for the Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride: Europe maps this coming July 21, 2012.

Train Routes all done!
Fabie, 2011

Because of this, we have been practicing for the past few weeks in the iPad, online, and in the actual board game as much as we can. I still have a lot more to learn but it really is a fun and simple game.

Ticket to Ride Tournament - July 21, 2012, 1PM onwards

For all the guys who will be competing in the tournament, see you there!

In any case people are wondering, what was the point? I guess I just want to share an experience instead of actually giving a review. Why boardgames? It is because time flies by when you play it and you actually do not realize that you really are bonding and socializing with the people in the table when you play board games.

The Geek Starts..

Hi! I'm Francis and I'm The Geek half of this blog. I'm a frustrated writer and blogger who likes a lot of things but can't seem to be good at articulating. I want to learn how to be a better writer.

I am opinionated on different subject matters like politics, environment, and current events. I am also a cook, a dancer, a photographer, a foodie, a board gamer, and a hopeless romantic.

My mind kind of lives in the moment so I think and talk about a lot of different things and so I think it would be good to just put it all into this blog with The Princess.

I will try to learn how to do good reviews of board games, apps, tech stuff, and food. I will share some of my photography works and my blogs. I will also give opinions on a lot of things and even post events that circle in my interests. Personal things will be shared too of course.

Hi, Guys!

In every step in life, there is a milestone to be achieved. In every corner of the world there is something that we wish to talk about or see.

We are The Princess and The Geek and this is our blog. We will write about different things like reviews, our opinions, and many more. Stay tuned because we'll be starting this up soon.