Game of Thrones Ascent: Reincarnation

Hello again,

So, I've finally finished collecting all the screen shots that I needed to take you through the process of reincarnation. I realize that not many people are aware of the full process or what it means and I hope to elevate some of your queries.

First of all, I have done this enough to know pretty much the inside and outside of this, however, I do know that my knowledge might be limited so you'll have to bare with me. I'm a wizard still trying to figure out these muggle things after all.

Alright, what is reincarnation? Reincarnation is the process in which your character literally starts over, from the beginning. You'll go through all the training quests that teaches you how to upgrade buildings, buy swords, the basic stuff that you did, the very first time you started playing.

That's right, you basically start off as a new player with a few extra stuff.

1) Your amount of power that you've accumulated so far, will not be reset. It will continue from where you left off, so that's a good thing.

2) Gold that you've purchased or have gotten free from playing the game 7 straight days in a row, will not disappear. They will stay with your account.

3) Permanent items/sworn swords. They are as described, they will be permanently available to your new character but you can only use them after you've passed level 4. So don't panic if you don't see them.

4) Speed-ups. These are your food items, that help speed things up. Those that are tagged "Persists through reincarnation" means that it will stay with you and would not be reset after you've reincarnated.

5) Gold upgrades will stay unlocked as well. You do however need to spend the silver or achieve the requirements to unlock it again but you will not need to spend more gold on it.

Some of you might ask, "What is the point of reincarnating if we do not get anything new from it and we have to start over?".

Well, you do not have to reincarnate. It is a choice some players make that's depending on every individual's play style. You might be a casual player who just wants to play the game and experience the world for yourself, following the story line that is on par with the television series. In that case, perhaps it is not for you. On the other hand, you might be a regular player who might want to play the game seriously, weighing every decision while comparing its pros and cons. This might be for you, because every reincarnation will give you a permanent talent point. You can assign this talent point to which ever node you think would be useful to you. Most people assign it to their fealties' house building. This would unlock that particular building, allowing you to build that even if you've sworn allegiance to another fealty. There are also players that have reincarnate more than 30 times, I would presume that their goal was to make max out every talent node for every fealty but I have yet to ask them about it, so you can't take my word for it.

Now that you've decided what kind of player you are, perhaps it is time to look at the steps you would take to reincarnate.

The following picture shows you the reincarnation quest that will appear after you've completed volume one, epilogue.

If you do not see it or have already said no, you will still be able to access the reincarnation process by going to your character tab,

character history,

 and then clicking on the "Reincarnate" button.

For now, let's assume that you've clicked on the quest.

Gammer would talk to you and you'll have three choices to choose from. The first choice would show you the following conversation.

The second choice would be the following.

And the third choice.

All but the third choice would trigger the following. The first option would trigger the reincarnation process while the second one would stop it (you can decide in the future, you can find it in your character history page).

If you choose the first option, you'll see the following.

If you choose the second option, you'll see the following.

Now that you've made your choice, we can proceed. You would see the following image when you have decided to go for it.

It is a reminder to you, about the things that you will lose and the things that you would keep after going through with it. If you change your mind, it's not too late to click "Cancel". Once you click the "Reincarnate" button, there is no turning back.

So, to reiterate, you WILL lose EVERYTHING except your gold, the stuff that you've spent gold on (items made permanent by gold, upgrades bought using gold, etc,), power and speed-ups that has the "persists through reincarnation" description.

Now that you've decided to click on that button, there will be no turning back and you'll see the following picture. Here, you are give a permanent talent point to place so that you'll have that talent permanently.

I would recommend that you select your fealty's building to unlock, as shown below. It's the same as when you normally assign those talent points. Select on the talent node you want and then click "Choose Talent". Here you can see that I chose the Stark's "Hunting Lodge" because I was a Stark at the point when I was taking the screen shot. This will allow me buy the "Hunting Lodge" when I reach level 13 on my next life.

After you've selected (Yes. You can decide which node you want. You might not want to unlock that building, you might want one of the other stuff and you may do so but I should warn you again, if you do select a different fealty, you will not be able to access this same fealty tab nor its building), the following picture will pop up and you'll have to confirm if that is the talent node that you've chosen.

At this point, if you changed your mind, click "Cancel" but if you are certain, click "Restart".

Congratulations. You have just reincarnated. Welcome to the world of Westeros, you new born thingy. The following image shows you the grayed out talent nodes of the Stark fealty (I have chosen a different fealty) and you can see a purple circle on the building node. This permanent point indicates that I will be able to buy the Stark's fealty building at level 13 even if I'm in a different fealty (Yes. I know. I have repeated this multiple times but I am fairly certain that there are people out there that needed the explanation).

There we have it. A complete step by step guide on the reincarnation progress. Thank you for reading till the end, and also for sticking it out all the way through. I know I have included some lengthy explanations but, well, I figured it's something that needs to be explained quite thoroughly.

Now that my humor has dried out and the guide is at its end, I'll stop now, hope that you have an awesome time with the game and hope that this helps you, even if it's a little.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

It's been a while..

Hello again,

It has been a while since I've done any updating and here is another short update. Why? Well, I have been really busy with a few muggle projects that I have on my hands and that makes it harder for me to pour any attention to the magical world or other muggle stuff that might have interested me. I would love a time turner, but alas, they were all destroyed.

A little digression, it has been raining rather heavily during the past few days and I must say, I have been enjoying the cool weather. It was a rather decent change to the sweltering heat that had been plaguing the area, the last couple of months.

On to other stuff, I would probably not be updating for the next few weeks as well or perhaps update short entries like this to let you know that I am still alive and have not yet been carted off to Azkaban.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Short update

Hello again,

Sorry for skipping today's game entry but I'm currently busy checking out a muggle game that I would probably be talking about soon and working on another project of mine. It might be a while before I'll make my appearance here but feel free to go check out the videos that the sloth is uploading.

I think the current game he is playing is Still Life 2. For those that have been following the first game, you might be interested to see how this continues.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

FutureMe.org - Part 1

Hello again,

I've recently discovered this website called futureme.org. What this website does is to allow one to write a letter for one's future self. It can be dated any time into the future, no matter if it's the next day (although this is rather odd in my opinion) or six months, five years, four decades, three centuries (assuming one lives that long), etc. There are public and private letters, so you'll get to choose the option that you would prefer your letter to be and after writing and selecting all the options, the letter would probably be stored into their database until the date that you chose arrives and they send it to you, through your email.

I think it is an interesting idea. I have done one and it would be received on my birthday although I would probably forget all about it until it arrives. I think that's the beauty of it, especially if you decide to send one that is a couple of months ahead into the future.

With that said, this would be my initial thoughts into this idea. I would be writing another one when I get my letter in the future. Also, I have linked the website below if you are interested in checking it out.

FutureMe

Anyway, my initial thoughts are that it would be interesting to know if what your past self has predicted would happen in the future. It's almost like the muggles trying to come up with a different kind of motivation system. Just imagine, that you've set a deadline to complete something in the future and you've set all sorts of little deadlines to complete it. Sending one of these would be an awesome reminder. Nothing like having the past, check up on you.

Well, I suppose you can tell that I'm quite excited and fascinated by this muggle invention. So, I hope you'll come back to check out my thoughts about receiving a letter from my past self. Do follow or subscribe or whatever is the equivalent so you'll get a notification when I put up part two.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Cards against Humanity (online game) - thoughts

Hello again,

So I have come across this muggle game called 'Cards against Humanity' and I understand that it's a physical game, in which I meant that it's a game that a group of friends gather around a table and play, much like any game that exists in the physical world. I didn't get a chance to play it with real muggles but I found an online version of it.

The image below is what you will see when you click on the link that I have provided.

Link to play: Cards against humanity

Anyway, I have played a couple of rounds with some muggles and I have to say that some of the things that these muggles think of shows quite a new side to muggles.

Let me first explain the basics of the game. Each player gets a few cards with random words on each that they will have to throw into the play area each round. These cards are called white cards and are used to answer questions or fill in the blanks of statements that are written on black cards. Yes. They are called black cards.

A round starts when there is a new black card and what you do is to play a card or two or three, depending on what is required for that black card from your cards. There will be a judge every round and players take turns deciding the winner (the one who has the funniest, or makes the most sense, or whatever). The judge is called the card czar and no one knows who played which card. The only time you know who played which card is when the white card is picked as the winner.

I first found out about this online game from one of the YouTube channels that I've been following. I've provided a link to one of the videos that she has posted up if you are interested to watch how the game is like.

Link to watch: Cards against humanity gameplay

Anyway, it's pretty fun game, whether it's playing with a bunch of friends or with a couple of strangers. I suppose the whole anonymous thing helps players chose really offensive and yet hilarious answers. If only there were some wizarding community references. That would be fun.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Facebook real name policy

Hello again,

Well, there have been a rather huge backlash from people who were forced to use their real names on facebook. Apparently, as I've read somewhere, someone had taken upon themselves to report people that weren't using their real names. Mostly targeting drag queens and entertainers.

I've got two thoughts here. One, facebook did write in their terms and conditions about requiring people to use their real names, and that we have all signed it (possibly without reading). Now, I'm not defending facebook's policy here nor am I saying that people shouldn't be pissed if their account was taken away. I am just stating a fact that it has always been the case although not heavily enforced.

Which brings me to my next thought. If the policy wasn't heavily enforced, why is it enforced now? Was it because facebook suddenly decided that it was time to "clear out" it's databases? Perhaps, it was because they hadn't thought about the downsides of enforcing the usage of putting your real self out there, so to speak. Or perhaps it was some vigilante or malicious user/s that decided they should report users which aren't using real names.

I do not claim to know what is going on behind the scenes nor what went on during the meetings that facebook had with the drag community. Perhaps this is an issue that has already passed it's "current news" status but it was rather curious that around the same time, a few people I know are facing the same problems on facebook with regards to their real names.

I have stumbled upon a wizarding community on facebook and perhaps some of them are genuine wizards (like me, attempting to mingle with the muggles), most of them are muggles pretending to be wizards, often having the same persona over on pottermore (that website that I talked about which tries to imitate the wizarding community for muggles).

Also, in some ways, I can understand the point of view of facebook, in some ways, to make it a transparent space where people are more mindful of what they write because it's essentially taking away the anonymous factor that plagues many other similar sites or forums. However, I do think that facebook has become such an iconic thing to have of every individual, that people are looked upon as weird if one doesn't have one. With that, it is rather apparent for many who for their own reasons decide to create profiles that may not reflect their real lives just so that they can continue to connect with people they want to without giving away certain things that they do not wish to expose.

My opinion on this is quite simple really. Facebook should take away their real name policy because they have become an essential commodity among muggles and there are many muggles who might have been hiding from certain people or just for the simple reason of wanting to protect themselves online. I do not think that there is a site that can fully protect it's users (no matter how confident they are of doing so) which is rather arrogant (in some ways) to "demand" that their users use their real identity. Would they be held accountable if rape victims are then harassed, victims of abuse are being haunted (yet again) by their abusers, people looking to start a new life elsewhere but having their past lives catch up to them, etc.? Would facebook then cough up money, time and resources to protect these people? Making sure that these people are taken care of emotionally, physically and mentally?

My question is, what is facebook going to do about it? Continue with the real name policy and disregarding the possible danger and or inconvenience they might cause to the users which are affected or take away their real name policy?

Will this cause affected users to find other sites that might be more lenient towards online anonymity? Will this shift of users lead others to follow suit? Will this cause some other person to start their own site for a particular community (just like how facebook started) and then grow from there, perhaps becoming a future rival to facebook?

I think it would be quite intriguing if someone were to create a pottermore version of facebook. All the features (and perhaps more) of facebook, plus the online anonymity that is sometimes quite essential. Well, if someone does this, I want to say it right now, you better credit me for giving you the idea and I'll like a cut of your profits too. After all, I need some way to make muggle money right?

Anyway, that's my two cents (I used a muggle phrase!) on this and I'm hopping that facebook would come up with a satisfactory solution for these affected users soon.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

One lonely night (game) - thoughts

Hello again,

So, I was talking to this muggle who was playing this game the other day and I was watching his play through and I have to say, this game seems quite interesting so far. You are basically left alone at home (I'm assuming it's home) and you're wandering around trying to figure out what had happened to the lights. At least, in the beginning.

As the game progresses, you'll find yourself proceeding into different spaces, trying to figure out your next step without dying needlessly. The atmosphere of the game is quite good with the occasional loud sound that I'm presuming is an audio jump scare.

It looks like a pretty fun game to play and I'm definitely looking forward to finding out what is happening, who that creepy girl is, why are there blood patches around, why is there a pentagram, presumably drawn with blood, why are there dismembered bodies moving about in certain rooms, and etc.

I believe that it is a free game as well so do go check it out for yourself if you're inclined to. I've included a link if you're interested.

One lonely night game

Alternatively, you can continue finding out what happens on the muggle's channel, assuming that he would continue with it. He tends to get quite bored when things are repetitive.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Mystery books

Hello again,

I have been reading a couple of muggle books that are classified under mystery and amazingly, I find myself able to pick out the murderer even if I do not know how the murder was done.

Perhaps, I've gone on a ramble. The books that I am currently reading is written by Agatha Christie and I have been going down the list of books that she's written in alphabetical order. Well, sort of. So far, I have to say that the murderer is often someone unexpected and perhaps I have caught on to her style of writing or perhaps her thought processes, I find myself able to ascertain whodunit and am delighted to find myself right when I get to the end of the story.

My reason for bringing this up is not to boast about my crime solving skills, rather, for you to introduce any such books that you think I might find interesting.

On a side note, I have found this rather interesting blog called Beneath the Blanket Book Blog. Although they are currently reviews on romance books, I think it is an interesting concept. I do read books in bed and I loved that this is catered to those "late night" readers as this blog has termed us. If you love books, especially romance types, do go and check it out. I believe that you can recommend books as well.

Anyway, I'm currently onto another Hercule Poirot mystery called "Elephants can remember". Let's hope that I can continue to sit back (or in my case, lie back) and think, exercise my tiny grey cells and solve it along side poirot.



As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Short announcement.

Hello again,

Well, I've been thinking (yes, again) about the muggle channel thing and I have decided to give all my videos to the muggle. So, all videos would be posted on SevTheSloth, so you can head over there to watch the rest of the series. I will of course be creating a playlist so you do not need to hover over two different channels.

Yeah. I know what I said in the previous entry about completing the series in one channel. I just realized that I was too enthusiastic over my new found "freedom".

Anyway, I'll be doing the videos on and off for fun while juggling a couple of other loose ends at Hogwarts. It's rather nice of them, allowing me to keep my rooms here so that's another worry off my shoulders. I seriously wonder how muggles survive without magic. I find it such a hassle to pack even when I'm using magic. Alright, I shall end here. I've got a few students to meet.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Cleithrophobia (game) - Thoughts

Hello again,

Today I'll be talking about this game called 'Cleithrophobia'. It's an Indie RPG horror type game that essentially requires the player to solve puzzles and escape.

First off, cleithrophobia is actually the fear of being trapped and it is what the game is about. You start off in a room that isn't really bright and you'll have to find ways to escape from the room. The door of course is locked. The player will progress to the next "level" once the door is unlocked.

Secondly, even thought it seems as though it wouldn't be very scary compared to other games, I have to say, this game has quite a few jump scares that continue to keep you on edge. There is a monster that would appear at random points in the game, chasing you around and you'll have to run away successfully or basically die (which I have a couple of times).

Thirdly, besides exploring the area, running away from monsters, you'll also have to keep an eye out for shiny objects. These objects indicate that you'll be able to pick them up. They could be stuff that is required for the puzzle you're trying to solve right now, or for later use. Some of them might kill you immediately after picking it up.

The whole experience of playing this game includes feeling fear because of the atmospheric sounds and music in the background, the shock when that monster appears and that adrenaline rush when you'll have to escape the creature. Also, the game is quite annoying when you've died a couple of times from being unable to escape the monster and that's why there is a significant amount of time in between videos.

To be honest, it's a love and hate relationship with this game. Although it's similar to many other games that follow the 'escape the room' format, the puzzles aren't that straightforward and you'll come across things that might not matter to you at that particular moment. That usually confuses me. Yet, I hate the game for making that creature run so fast. It pisses me off that I am unable to run away fast enough and have to repeat that particular section, escape from the monster successfully before being allowed to continue the story. I guess, I'm not very good and you can blame it on my skill but, well, I'm pissed.

Enough of that, you might want to check the game out, it's a free to play game or if you're lazy, I have included a link to my let's play below and you can check that out.

'Cleithrophobia' Let's play.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

A decision.

Hello again,

Well, I have been thinking about a certain decision that might affect the future of this and perhaps the direction that I might take it but I have decided to separate the YouTube channel from this personality. I would finish the games that are currently ongoing but any new videos would be on another channel.

My reasons for doing so? Well, firstly, I find it increasingly difficult to maintain this personality while playing a game. In some ways, it's rather restricting worrying about keeping within the boundaries of the fandom. Secondly, I feel that I would free myself from the constraints of only targeting a particular group or fandom.

Also, my twitter feed would be changed to reflect the new personality and would thereby be the "muggle" in which I get most of my information from.

This could be a wrong move or a right one but at this point, I feel that it's better for me. I hope that you'll continue to support my endeavors and thank you.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

The muggle behind the screen.

Vanish (game) - My thoughts

Hello again,

Well, as you might know, I have been trying out a few muggle games that are available out there and I would like to talk about this particular game called, Vanish.

Firstly, what is Vanish all about? From what I understand from playing the game, I've been captured by something and thrown into a cell that I'm guessing is beneath a city, in the sewers. I guess, my goal is to escape from the sewers since I do not have a weapon to defend myself.

Perhaps it's because I have not been exposed to such games but I was literally perspiring buckets. My face was soaked by the time I ended the game. Granted, it might not be a good idea to play at night but that was the time when the muggles around me are relatively quiet.

My main thought as I was playing through the game was, "why do the muggles do this?" and I have to say, I am still wondering about that. Ever since I've played this, I have come across many different games that have a similar set up. The main character is always lost, trapped or kidnapped or something along those lines, in a room, an abandoned house, forest, and the list goes on. Do the muggles really enjoy getting spooked that much? I understand that there is a term they use for moments in the game when you are supposed to get scared and it's called, jump scares.

They are basically moments in the game when something usually jumps out at you that is supposed to scare you. These moments are deliberately written into the game to perhaps make it more exciting? I'm not entirely sure about that but I have to admit that I was very much dreading my time spent in the sewers because of those jump scare moments.

I have linked my let's play on the game below, so feel free to check them out and laugh at my failure (SPOILERS!).

I don't want to die.. - Vanish
Lost - Vanish - Part 2

It's a free game so you might want to try it out for yourselves. I am very sure that there are many out there that would perform so much better than I have. For the time being, well, let's just say that I'm playing games that would not rip my heart out every time I play it. Pomfrey is already having a hard time concocting those medicines for my nerves.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

What I've been up to...

Hello again,

So as the title of the post suggests, this entry is about the things that I've been up to. Well, the answer to that is nothing much. I have spent most of my time observing muggles and the way they scurry about on their day.

It's rather fascinating as I've come to notice that muggles tend to walk about without noticing much. It's like they are moving or walking on auto-pilot. Auto-pilot, as I have come to understand is the movement in which an object is travelling without any external interference (usually a human being). Used on a human being, I believe the term describes the void of conscious thought in an individual that's on the move. I have to clarify here, the muggles that I was observing were alone. Anyway, I have seen on a few occasions that these muggles bumped into something while walking along. Granted, their focus was on the mobile phone or some other mobile device (which I later found out to be called iPads).

You might have been wondering why I've had that much time observing muggles, well, I have been granted free reign to observe and research about muggles from the ministry and have thus given up my position at Hogwarts. I do still have my office at Hogwarts though so I might still whine about the annoying first years that are zipping past the corridors. Although, it appears that there is an increasing amount of them that are muggle born. Which suggests that we might not be that different after all.

Going back to the subject, I might talk to a few muggles to learn more about this auto-pilot thing they have going. I suppose, it's similar to us being caught up in our own thoughts that we often find ourselves at our destination without realizing it.

Anyway, apart from muggle watching, I have been playing around with muggle games as well. There are a few games that I have been enjoying and a few that have made me jump, most of which are being recorded and being edited. I do enjoy the editing process, the steps in which muggles go through to produce a piece of work although I'm blindly bundling my way around.

Alright, I shall stop here for now.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Still Life (game) - My thoughts

Hello again,

I'll be looking at this game called 'Still Life' and one thing that I do know about this game is that it is a pretty old game. What do I mean by old? Well, it was first launched in 2005 and from what I understand from the gaming world, anything more than one or two years is considered old.

Anyway, I was first enticed by the introduction to the game. The player is supposed to solve a series of murders that are most likely committed by the same murderer. So you get to be a female FBI agent that is trying to get onto the trail of this elusive cloaked murderer while also controlling a detective in 1920s Prague (which I have to say, I got confused for London). The game is basically a point and click type format, in which the only thing you need to play the game is just a mouse. The story line is quite linear in the sense that your decisions doesn't really count and the goal of each segment is to find everything that is worth finding in that particular scene. Also, the story is quite mysterious and I have to say, I am quite drawn to it. I find myself wanting to continue the game just so I can get to the bottom of the mystery and it's like reading a mystery novel accept I get to see the world that the author sees instead of relying on my imagination. The artwork is pretty good too and I find myself looking forward to the next cut scene. There are some puzzles thrown into the game so it's not entirely a sit back and enjoy the story type of game and I have to say, I am rather stumped at some of the puzzles that I have encountered.

Despite a few funny glitches, I have been enjoying myself immensely while playing. A mixture of story telling, logical thinking and puzzle solving, the game does break up the game play quite a bit although I would not deny that there are times when you'll find yourself overwhelmed with the conversation between characters. These conversations do help hint the player on where they are supposed to go next or what they are supposed to do but sometimes it is buried in between a huge chunk of words. I'm not saying the the conversation doesn't help with the understanding of the story but sometimes, one does feel tired and just want to get to the next bit.

Perhaps this is too soon to write a review of it, considering the fact that I haven't completed the game but I will say, there is a chance that I might not like the ending of the game but I suppose that is a risk that I'm willing to take for a game that I have been enjoying so far. I should also mention that I have purchased Still Life 2 and would definitely play that after completing this. That's how much I enjoyed this game and besides, it rather interesting to see the kind of ways these muggles get up to, to solve cases.

I would recommend getting the game if you're a fan of such games but if you're a little lazy and perhaps short of cash, you can check out my let's play of it. As of this entry, I have not completed the game but the playlist that I have linked to below, will update automatically whenever I upload new videos of it. So do subscribe to know when new videos for this game are up.

Get Still Life.
'Still Life' let's play.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Pottermore and Sony breakup

Note: I had no idea that this wasn't posted. Must have clicked on the wrong button. So, to risk being out of date, I'll still post this up. It's a short entry anyway.

Hello again,

Finally a little free time and while trying to catch up with muggle news, I found out that the muggles trying to recreate the magical world using muggle technology has suffered a little set back. Well, I say set back because it sounds like a break up.

My question now would be whether those muggles down at pottermore have the ability to continue or rather, improve the experience. I have heard some rather awful reviews from the muggles using that site and it's slightly worrying, considering that is almost similar to the magical world and honestly, I would hate for the muggles to think that the magical community is nasty and incompetent.

The pottermore community seems to be split down the middle as well. One side seems to think the world of the site, that they are doing a really good job while the other side seems to think that more should be done for the site.

So the question is, is pottermore really going downhill? Had sony foreseen this and thus decided to break away from this to minimize the effect it would have on it's reputation? Or has pottermore decided to place it's focus on other things and had found sony to be too cumbersome, therefore the break? Of course, these are just hypothetical questions that I have and am in no way affiliated with any or either of the companies.

I am not here to influence your opinions, just merely to state some questions and perhaps concerns of mine and you can decide on your own.

As always, leave me a comment, let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

The wolf among us: episode one (game) - My thoughts

Hello again,

Today, I'll be talking about this muggle game called 'The wolf among us'. It is an episodic game which means that content is being released in episodes. I have completed the first episode and I must say that this game is really quite interesting.

The story is about how fables (as they are called in the game) who were characters from fairy tales that muggles have grown up with, survive in the muggle world or as the game calls them, mundies. The main character of the story is a sheriff called Bigby and he is supposedly the big bad wolf of the red ridding hood story. He is supposed to keep the law in the supposedly fable community and I'm guessing his status in the mundy community is that he is a private detective? I'm not sure, I don't think it's addressed in the series.

Anyway, without giving too much away, there seems to be some killer running loose in the fable community and Bigby is tracking him or her down. I have linked my play through of the first episode below and you can check out the decisions that I've made.

My 'The wolf among us' let's play.

I think the game evolves accordingly to the decisions that you make so the game would be different to each individual. Which I am quite interested in. I wonder how my decisions would affect the later episodes. I like the artwork as well. It's different from other games that I've seen (which isn't much) and it has that comic book quality to it.

Comic books are what muggles call books that tells the story in a picture format with minimal dialogue or text.

Of course there are different styles of these comic books but I like that the game chooses to use that style for their characters and their world. I have been enjoying the game so far, with the timed responses and testing the response time that the player has. For example, there are a variety of ways the game asks you for a decision and one of them is your reply to questions or conversations. Another example is that the game presents two different locations and the player would have to choose which location to go to. I feel that these timed responses forces the player to really think while playing the game instead of just going through the motions and wanting to get to the bottom of everything. Adding in events like clicking different letters on the keyboard to avoid objects while chasing down a suspect helps break the monotony of just clicking through the conversation quickly just so you'll get to the end and find out whodunit.

I would recommend this game to those who are looking for something different from the other games out there. Or, if you are patient enough, watch me play through the rest of the episodes. There are five in total so it would probably take me some time to go through it all.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Muggle technology problem

Hello again,

Well, as some of you might know, I have been putting up a couple of videos showing my game play of some of these muggle games and I think it's a rather fun thing to do. I do have to say though, some of these games are really creepy. What are these muggles thinking? Then again, they do not have the forbidden forest right by their doorstep to go exploring.

I do have a problem with a particular game though. Dead Space and Dead Space 2. I am unable to work the muggle technology to record my game play of those games. Not really sure why since I could still use it for the other games. If any one of you out there who might know the reason why, please do let me know. In the meantime, I'll probably continue playing the game.

Anyway, on to other news, I haven't really been keeping up with the events in either the wizarding world or the muggle world lately. Have been too focused on exploring some of the muggle technology and games that is available. So, I should say that I am definitely behind times here, which is also another reason why I haven't been updating much. There hasn't been much happening around Hogwarts either. Might be why I have more time on my hands to mess around with muggle stuff. I am considering resigning from my professor position and focus more on the research into the muggle world. The wizarding society doesn't seem to require my class anymore, considering the peace we have had the past few years. I don't know. It's not a definite decision yet but I do want to have more time to observe muggles since my time is rather split up at the moment.

Now don't get me wrong, I would never leave the wizarding community, maybe just spending lesser time there. Who knows, Hogwarts might need more professors teaching muggle stuff in the future.

Oh. One more thing, I do appreciate if I could get feedback on some of the videos that I've been putting out. After all, I'm just a wizard trying to blend in.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Korean cuisine.

Hello again,

I haven't had much time recording my game play so I apologize for my slow uploading speed. There were a couple of new games that I was trying out and besides, my muggle environment unfortunately has a lot of outside noise. I would use magic but that takes away the muggle experience don't you think? I'll try to find some time to continue playing Still Life because I am curious as to what happens. I've got a few other similar type games that I would probably be uploading as well.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I was randomly looking through videos on YouTube and came across this channel. Maangchi is someone that uploads her korean recipes for anyone who wishes to learn about korean cuisine. She is pretty funny, her style of presentation is simple and the recipes that she presents, looks really delicious. Her accent takes a while to get used to but I highly recommend checking her channel out if you love cooking or love trying different foods from different cultures. I might ask the house elf to watch and try. I've linked the first video that I've watched of hers below, so feel free to check that out.

Also, check out her blog, http://www.maangchi.com/

Now that I've watched it again, I'm hungry for some korean food. I better stop here before my stomach protests.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

YouTube fun.

Hello again,

As some of you might know, I have been playing around with a couple of things recently. YouTube, a recording software and now I'm trying out a new editing software. Muggles use it to change the videos that they have recorded. I haven't been able to figure out the different parts of it yet but it's one of the things that I would most likely do on my free time.

In other news, I have been uploading videos of muggle games that I have been playing and I think, this would be something that I'll be doing, in addition to my research on muggles. It's kind of fun, really. Also, I get to recommend muggle games that you might want to check out or well, if you are curious to see me play.

Speaking of which, I've chanced upon a game show that's called "The Chase" and it's quite an interesting idea. Game shows are what muggles called shows that feature people playing a game. Usually it's a game that muggles try to win money and the game usually revolves around answers questions or solving puzzles. I thought wizards chess was exciting, these muggle game shows are pretty good. This one especially seems to have that element of excitement, not knowing if the player would be able to produce the correct answer and if the chaser would be able to catch up.

Well, the video just finished loading, so I'll just stop here.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Update

Hello again,

So it has been a while between entries and I've decided to do a little update on what I have been up to. I have been really busy with the secret stuff the ministry wanted me to find out and on my own personal projects as well.

One of them right now is that, I have been fiddling with the muggles call, a recording software. It seems pretty simple and easy to use so I don't think I'll have much problems using it.

Now, what am I going to use it for? Well, I found this game called "Still Life" and thought that it was a really interesting game, so I figured I could test out that recording software at the same time I am playing the game. At the same time, I'm also trying out that thing called YouTube? Yeah. I believe I've mentioned this in an earlier post but to refresh your memories, it is a place, much like the room of requirement, where muggles go to add or take out stuff. A place that houses many different things, videos they call them, of anything you can imagine.

I don't really have a specific goal besides trying it out for myself. These muggle technologies are really quite simple to understand if you spend the time and effort. So, I'll probably figure it out as I go and please do bear with me. After all, it's a wizard fiddling around with something that is relatively unknown to him.

Well, do go check it out. The game really is intriguing.

Still Life - Part 1

Click it. Go ahead.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Whisper of the Dead - Xcape

Hello again,

It has been a while and I have been busy with quite a number of things but today, I'll like to talk about this interesting muggle concept that I was kindly invited to join.

It's called an escape room. I am sure many of you are aware of those point and click escape room games, the whole goal of the game is to find clues, solve puzzles and escape from the room, well, this is the same concept except, you're doing it for real.

I apologize for the lack of photos, we weren't allowed to bring cameras or phones or any such stuff in. We were basically entering the game, empty handed. I didn't even get to bring my wand.








So, the game that we chose was called the "Whisper of the Dead". You're trapped in Dr. Hachi's mansion and you'll have to overcome his tests in order to escape.


Initially, we were all quite confused at what we were supposed to do. We were led into a room and was briefed about the background of the place and about Dr. Hachi and were then locked in. I could remember the shocked look in all our faces and wondering if we were supposed to start.

With the initial shock gone, all of us proceeded to look around the room and figure out what were clues and what weren't related.

What the room looked like from the inside, photo on the right is taken from asiaone news.

As you can see, the room is narrow and there are many paintings on the wall, which does help engage the players and brings on a level of realism to the whole experience.

Now don't worry, I will not include any spoilers.

It was a really fun experience. A rather unique and alternative form of entertainment from the usual types of entertainment like movie watching, cafe going, shopping, bar hopping and many more.

Depending on the group of people that you are trapped with as well, it could be your group of friends or perhaps other strangers might be trapped in the room with you, but the ultimate goal is to work together to solve the codes and eventually getting out.

The puzzles were rather straight forward and for this particular room, you really need to be observant enough. Once the group of us were warmed up enough, we started to get into the puzzle solving zone and were able to crack many puzzles. The feeling when you input the correct code for the lock is such an exhilarating feeling. The moment the lock gets unlocked, the cheers and anticipation of the next section of the room are feelings that seemed to be shared among all of us. Those were the few moments that truly disregarded social standing, friends, strangers, wizards and muggles, the few moments that we were unified in one goal. Was a pretty good feeling really.

Time is also an issue. You are only given an hour to escape. If the time is up, you will be let out and well, you would have failed to escape so time management is essential. If you think that you can't solve the puzzle, you should utilize the hint card that is provided to you. You can use it twice so if you feel that you are really stuck and have no clue how to proceed, don't be obstinate, use it before you run out of time for the other rooms and thus ensuring that you'll get trapped forever, or until the game master comes in to let you out. It was a good thing too. I was about to apparate out of the room and risk exposing the existence of the wizarding world. I'm pretty sure that muggles aren't ready for something like that... Yet.

Come to think of it, this could be a really interesting concept to implement in the wizarding society. Granted, getting locked in a room might not be a challenge for wizarding folk but it could be designed for wizards. Creating anti-apparation spells, puzzles that requires certain knowledge of certain spells, real monsters and beasts, for those that want the adventure and the danger without really risking their lives. Or perhaps remove the wands entirely and force the wizards to think of solving the puzzles without magic. That could be interesting but alas, I'm too busy to be thinking about such lucrative business propositions, so whichever wizard out there thinks it's a good idea to do something like that, feel free to take my idea but don't forget to give me credit for being the one that gave you that spark.

All in all, this was a really interesting experience, challenges your brain and tests your logical thinking and puzzle solving skills without the help of online game guides. I would most likely go back to try out the other rooms that this company offers. For those of you who are interested, you can head to their website, http://www.xcape.sg/, to check it out for yourselves. Also, I'm pretty sure for those of you who are in other countries and reading this, a search on the internet might reveal the existence of such an experience near you, or you could apparate here and try it for yourself.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

World Cup 2014

Hello again,

I've noticed that the muggle world is filled with this thing called the world cup and I think it's similar to the quidditch world cup that we have in the wizarding world. It surprises me sometimes, how similar we are to the muggles.

Anyway, it's a sporting event, much like the quidditch world cup that brings together fans from all over the world, supporting their country or are fans of certain players thus supporting that particular country. The players play a sport called football in some countries and soccer in others but it doesn't seem to be as exciting as quidditch.

Well, for starters, the players chase around a single ball that doesn't move around like the snitch. There is a huge net for each team and a goal keeper that prevents the ball from getting in. It is rather interesting to see the muggles behaving so similarly to us wizarding folk and I have to say that I really should find sometime to sit down and watch a match. I have only been looking at those videos showing highlights of the different matches. I highly doubt that they have placed an anti-apparating spell on the event but my schedule is the problem. Perhaps I'll be able to figure out how to work this muggle technology and get to watch it on this muggle device. Any helpful suggestions?

I think it is an event, like the quidditch world cup, that brings different people from different backgrounds, from different places with different cultures and languages together. Everyone disregarding the troubles of the day, all focused on supporting their country or favorite team, cheering them on together, sharing in the disappointment and the euphoria from the goals being scored.

It really is interesting how these muggles react to one another, strangers hugging when their team has scored and the whining and complaining that ensues when their team has missed a shot or the opposite team has scored. I suppose, this is one of the few things that has to continue on to remind us, every once in a while, that we are essentially all the same when you take away things like culture and languages and countries.

A nice reminder that the wizarding world and the muggle world could co-exist.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Hunger Games Series (book) - My thoughts

Hello again,

I have been recommended this book series by a couple of good muggle friends and have never had the time to read them but fret not, by writing this, I can officially say that I've read them. I'll try not to include any spoilers (a muggle term for exposing plots from the book that might affect the I-don't-know-what's-next feeling of reading) but I can't promise anything.

The muggles are making the movies too. I've seen the first two and well, I won't talk about them. Although, the final part of the book series is being split into two movies following in the steps of a couple other book to screen adaptations and the first part of the movie is coming out soon. I'm not entirely sure if it's a good idea considering my feelings after finishing the series but who knows.

What is the series about? Well, it is basically set in a world that separates the rich and powerful literally into cities or zones or districts (to use the word in the books), with the poorest on the outer most zone. The rich and powerful have gotten so bored of their lives that they are finding the excitement in the sport of killing. That's where the hunger games (yes, the name of the series) comes in. It is supposedly a yearly event that takes two people from each districts and force them to fight each other to the death in an arena specifically built for that particular year. That's right, it is like the Romans and their gladiators. Rich people who do not care about the lives of the lowly scum, drunk with the power of controlling another person's life, and how a girl who fights against the odds, trying to survive in a world that is so skewed and ultimately try to change her fate and the fate of those who are close to her.

Okay, on with my thoughts. I have to say up front that I'm not very fond of the ending of the series just because well, I felt quite cheated from it but in hindsight, I suppose, it was meant to push the character into a particular situation and a particular decision which must have been quite difficult for the author to decide.

I was left with a feeling of what-did-I-just-read and had stared at the last page of the book series for a relatively long period of time. I guess, if an author has managed to evoke such emotions from a reader, doesn't matter if it was a good emotion or a bad emotion, it's a good thing. It shows that the author has some flair in writing and had successfully engaged the reader, making the reader feel for the characters, wanting more out of the world, perhaps causing the reader to invest a real part of themselves into the world.

I like the idea of that world, some of the concepts and customs. It is an intriguing world with themes touching upon real world situations like the rich and the poor, the people who have power and the people who don't. It really allows the reader to stop and think about such stuff, at least to me. It really reminded me of the days when the pure blood families would flaunt their purity, claiming ownership over those who aren't pure blooded. Although there are still people like that in the wizarding world, many have accepted and have started to broaden their minds a bit.

The ending of that series just felt flat and rushed. It might have been the intention of the author to disorient the reader and thus evoke a deeper thought process, in which I'll applaud for that, but it somehow feels like the author just ran out of time and wrote that ending.

I am happy to receive other thoughts and theories that you might have as I am pretty sure there are people who disagrees with me and may the odds ever be in your favor.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, soundtrack performed live with full movie

Hello again,

I had the opportunity to go watch a wonderful orchestra playing the music from the genius that is Howard Shore while watching the accompanying movie and yes, I am aware that this entry is a few days, alright, many days late. I was busy with other stuff okay?

I have to say that this was a rather new experience, listening to the soundtrack of the movie being played live, simultaneously as the movie is playing. Needless to say, orchestra did a brilliant job although I have to say that I've spotted some mistakes here and there. Nothing serious though, after all, muggles and wizards alike, make mistakes.

The hall itself was really big and rather grand. Supposedly a brand new theater hall built right into a shopping mall, I was a little shocked to see that it wasn't a full house, considering the ease of access (it is beside a train station, a couple of minutes walk, tops), the many shops that are within the building, the look and feel of the place, not to mention how awesome it would be to hear the soundtrack of one of the best movies live.

The seats were rather comfortable, nicely cushioned, heavy so you don't feel like you need a lot of weight to keep the seat down and the spacing in between the seats were apart enough to not block the view of the person behind you. Although, if the person in front of you slants to the side, you might find your view partially blocked. I was seated rather far from the stage because it was an orchestra and not a play or musical and it really doesn't matter in my opinion.




























My honest thoughts about this whole experience. We need to have something like that in the wizarding world. Sure, magic and all that can do this better, but we need to forget about what magic can do and appreciate how these muggles, without magic, are able to work around that and produce something so magical and amazing. Alright, I admit, I am a little bias, I love how muggles are able to function without magic, using these things called technology to make their lives better. It's fascinating.

I didn't manage to take a lot of these still photos as I was rather in awe of the place. The wide empty spaces, the high ceilings, I guess it wouldn't be this empty if it was a full house instead of a half filled show but these muggles were orderly and didn't seem to be as rowdy as you wizarding folk might think.

Although the event is over, I'm fairly certain that they will come back again next year, with part three of the movie series. I highly recommend this to muggles and wizarding folk alike. It doesn't matter if you aren't a fan of the movie or if you are, I believe you'll enjoy the experience if you're a music lover. The pieces by Howard Shore really does take a person on a journey through the wide grassy plains to the dense wooden forests to the cold dark caves to the fiery desolate lands of middle earth.

Perhaps, next year, I might be sharing the theater with those of you who decided to take the plunge and enjoy such a wonderful treat of the eyes and the ears.





As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus

Game of Thrones Ascent: Adventure Party.

Hello again,

Well, I was asked to create a step by step guide for the adventure party and seeing that it's a pretty relaxing weekend with no pesky first years barging through my office door, I've decided to do just that. I'll probably not find another good opportunity like this anytime in the near future.

So first of all, what is the adventure party? The adventure party is exactly what the words mean. A party of people sent on adventures. In this case, your sworn swords. Going on these adventures help you to level up your sworn swords and also to collect resources, depending on which adventures you're sending them to.

Now, the first step is to unlock that adventure party ability. Where do you find this? It's simple, really. After leveling up to level 20, you'll be able to assign a talent as usual. Go to the talent page and select the "Party" tab and you'll see the following below. Click on the top left ability, which increases your adventure party size by 6. Once you assign the talent here, you've unlocked that ability.

Next, go over to your sworn swords screen. Make sure you have available swords to send on these adventures. Click on the "Adventure Party" tab.











You'll see the following screen and this is where you'll be able to choose which swords to send for adventures, what actions to use and the adventures you want them to go on.
1. This will fill every slot with all your idle sworn swords.
2. This will fill the individual slot with the idle sword of your choosing.
3. This will set the same action for all the swords that have been assigned a slot. You'll need to pay with gold to unlock the option for individual actions.
4. This will set the same adventure for all the swords assigned. Same as the above, you'll need to pay with gold to unlock.
5. This will send all your swords assigned to the adventure/s chosen.

Clicking on the "Set Sworn Sword" button will bring up this window. You'll be able to choose which sword you'll want to assign. For the purposes of this guide, we'll choose Mysie Locke here. Once you've chosen, click on the "Select" button.












You'll see that she has appeared in the first slot. Next, click on the "Set Action" button to assign the action the sword will be taking.

You'll see this window popping out. Choose the action and click on the "Go" button.

Click on the "Set Same For All" button and you'll see this menu. Click on which ever adventure that you'll want to send your sword or swords to. Yes. Click on the pictures. Which ever one you want. There are plenty.
















Once that is done, you'll see the slot being filled with your chosen sword, action and adventure. Now, all that is left to do is to click on the bottom right button.



















The following image is what you'll see after the sword or swords come back from the adventure. What do you know? I won! You'll get to see the rewards that you've gotten, in this case, 26 silvers, 20 training points (which are basically the points needed for your sword to get to the next level/rank) and a wood resource.
1. This will show you the details of that adventure.
2. This will send out the sword or swords again.

And now, you've learnt how to use the adventure party feature. It really is a lazy person's answer to sending a whole bunch of swords at the same time with only a click of a button. Well, that's after you've assigned everything. It's also a good way to keep training your swords and getting additional resources without relying solely on your village center. Adventures also get increasingly difficult as the level increases but they yield better rewards too.

So, have fun with it, after all, you're the lord or lady of your hold.

As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or just say hi!

Farewell,
Lord Severus