Welcome, everyone, to Issue 96 of The Babbler!Can you believe we're almost at 100 issues? We've made a lot of changes over the last couple years, and especially over the last couple months, but I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has stuck with us this long, and especially since we've left Eorzea!This week, Lopp explores the nature of options in her article Optional Oppression: Live and Let Cry, while I share some of what we've been up to this week, including our trip to a place called Retem and what turned out to be an amazing concert! We also have another issue of The Bree-land Babbler for your perusal - who knew watermelons could be used as weapons?!I also ramble about nothing in particular in The Space Cafe. It's a chill place. There's a fountain. You should visit sometime.Anyway, we hope you enjoy this issue, and thank you for reading!

- Stuff and Things -

Stuff We Did

This week, the Babbler gang blasted off into space and landed on a planet called Halpha. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, but I'm glad we did; it's surprisingly been a lot of fun, and might even be my new hangout, who knows!

The highlight over the weekend was our trip to Retem to see a concert in person. Lopp and I had already seen the performance while at the little cafe in Central City, where they show it on a big screen at an outside theater, but we wanted to see if we could actually watch it up close. We could! And it was quite the experience. I actually got goosebumps watching Nadereh as she glided through the air surrounded by circling digital birds. Lopp shares one of the band's songs in her Song of the Week this week!

We also met a new type of bird called a Rappy (no relation to Chappy...maybe), and went through some dungeons called Cocoons.Anyway, eat your heart out, Section 9!

- Special Feature -

Optional Oppression
Live and Let Cry

I don’t want to put in a lot of preamble here, so I’m going to get right to the chase on this one. What is up with people getting upset over options existing as though it ruins their lives or an experience or something by virtue of existing? There, now that you know what I’m going to rant about you can keep reading or stop reading and ignore it. If you’re the type of person who hates options, sorry, forget I said anything. You HAVE to read this.

Okay now for a belated preamble because I’m uncomfortable without a jumping off point. Imagine you walk into a pizza shop because you really want the original, the one, the classic pepperoni pizza. As you go to place your order, you notice that, in addition to the pepperoni pizza you crave, they also offer olives, onions, chicken, anchovies. You are not MADE to order those, but they exist. Should you complain?I think most reasonable people would say that complaining over a diverse menu is probably a little bit ridiculous. Most restaurants offer more than one thing and society has gotten along with it pretty well. As someone who doesn’t eat meat, I appreciate that I can get a non-pepperoni pizza, and those who don’t want the type that I like are probably pretty happy they can enjoy their selection as well. So why is the subject of optional additions to games so vitriolic?This all came up because Babbit mentioned something about the community in a space we’ve been testing out a bit this week. For a bit of backstory, this older MMO had gone through some pretty extensive changes over the past few years. Now, I totally understand not liking changes and the community was pretty loudly opposed in large numbers. The game has not collapsed, but it certainly lost some people and since then, the developers have been working to make the game more appealing to both older players and newer ones, even recreating the pre-change game in the new engine, from what I understand.One of these new additions that wasn’t in the original version is a simple card game in which players can collect cards, make decks, and play against each other and NPCs in competitive and casual environments. A cute little activity to expand the list of things to do during down time. This entirely optional mini game that has no effect on the entire rest of the game at all and is available to everyone to interact with as they want was being torn apart by hyper fans disgusted by this additional content.

Perhaps they were upset that it was not something major that expanded the game world in a significant way. Perhaps cards just make them so angry because cards burned their house down and they swore revenge to the old gods until their dying breath that all cards would suffer under the sting of their blade. Who knows? Either way, it feels like a weird thing to be upset about to me.As both someone who has played this game both before and after the massive direction shift, as well as recently coming to terms with disappointment in changes in a certain other game, I am totally sympathetic to those upset with the change. These things are not optional and even though developers can recreate things, once a change sets in there is no going back so it makes sense to feel betrayed. But why in the world would an optional thing you can play the entire thing without engaging with be a bother to anyone?I don’t post a ton on social media because I’m pretty boring and don’t want strangers to say mean things to me because I like things, but I read social media with a powerful desperation to see everything going on. Because of that and my enjoyment of video games, I get to see exciting conversations like “women don’t have chins” and “women characters aren’t allowed to wear conservative attire.” I’m paraphrasing, of course, because for one, certain people who are apparently the voice of reason in how women can be like to say “female” instead, as though women are a curiosity they can only understand in scientific terms (I’m sure for many of them, this is probably true). It also got me caught up on the exciting new game I totally know a ton about, Dragon Age something or other.In case it isn’t clear, I don’t really care about Dragon Age and maybe it’s something I would like, maybe not, but it’s just never really been something I’ve wanted to get into. It feels lore dense and as I’ve said before I’m in game worlds to play not to read. Or listen. Depending on voice acting budget and scale and whatnot. This isn’t really important, let’s get back into it.The latest Dragon Age controversy centers around the character creator, in which the player can opt to have things like vitiligo, a skin condition that causes loss of color in patches, as well as some scars. Now, I like a character creator as much as the next person because it is fun to make a character that resonates with you whether you look exactly the same or not. Making Argonians in Elder Scrolls Online can be cool, even if you aren’t a lizard person who communes with the Hist, but it can also be fun to try to recreate yourself and imagine actually fighting Dagoth Ur and then in the midst of battle he stops because you are his Moon and Star and he cherishes you and you get married and live happily ever after in a stately villa on the northeastern coast of Morrowind. Or whatever, who knows. But is it really okay to allow cosmetic options that you don’t plan on using?

Yes. The answer is yes. Like I really don’t get why this is a thing. Even if you hate the idea of other people, it’s still absurd to get so worked up over it. Yet any time someone suggests more than one thing existing, people get insanely peeved.On top of my dedication to reading every tweet ever made, I also like to peruse the FF14 forums from time to time and, believe it or not, people are pretty upset about the idea of options there as well. A hot topic there is the changes implemented with the launch of Dawntrail and whether or not the game is dying. I don’t have exact numbers but I think it’s fair to suggest that a large chunk of the population wasn’t exactly thrilled with the graphics update based on the thousands of posts on the subject, so it isn’t all that surprising to me to see people suggest “why not make the graphics change optional?”Now, I am sure such a thing isn’t easy to implement and would take time to figure out, but either way, this is a suggestion and question being asked as to why not do something like this. Every time it comes up, though, someone decides to explain that “no.” No one ever really explains WHY no, just that no. They often say more words, but at the end of the day, they are simply dismissive of the idea, perhaps nervous that having more than one graphics style that only people who pick will see may ruin the game somehow.Similarly, when people suggest having different styles of play, others are equally as offended, though usually with more reasons about how it might hurt balance or run times. I can understand the reasoning a little better here, but when it comes to a gaming experience, even if it is online, if implemented in a way that has minimal effect on balance, how does one person being different from you (general you) harm you (specifically you, the reader. Yeah that’s right it’s personal now)?

The quick answer is, it doesn’t, not really, not enough to get very angry about. I can say this with extreme certainty because Final Fantasy 14 offers a couple systems that already let people play the cookie cutter classes differently through two types of control systems (controller/mouse and keyboard), and macros. As a controller player, targeting can be a little slower for me than for Babbit, who uses a mouse and keyboard, for example, and yet, when we played together, it was never a game breaking issue. Because of how standardized movesets are, some people commit their combos to macros because why not, it saves a button space and it’s not like variation is all that important.The point of all this is that people can play games differently and often do so. I mean, look at Super Smash Bros and its varied controllers. I have seen two people play, one using a Game Cube controller, the other using a Nintendo 3DS and somehow, the customization didn’t cause an uproar. So I guess the point of this rant is confusion.I am confused why people are so averse to options, to differences. Does it really matter if things are not the same all the time? Does it hurt anyone that people like and choose different options?There is far too much contention in the world these days. It feels like online spheres are always at each other's throats to the point where not attacking the other may end in some apocalyptic disaster. Even here, I am taking a side and to some I may come across as not being particularly balanced or unbiased. Maybe I’m not, but even if that’s the case does that make what I have had to say wrong at all?We don’t need to come together as gamers and unite under one banner or whatever, but that’s kind of the point of this, I guess. That there ARE different banners is a good thing. We have more options now than ever, but games aren’t a finite pie, they are being newly made all the time. If mushroom onion anchovy pizza doesn’t appeal to you, you don’t need to spit on the manager and trash the store. Just order pepperoni.

- Special Feature -

Deve-Lopp-ing Chappy’s Quest
Part 3

It’s time to… D-d-d-d-dddddddd-defend my actions cause I didn’t do my job this week! As some of you may have guessed, despite my otherworldly presence that I hope I give off, I’m probably mortal and, with it, am subject to all the follies such things invite. So, you’ll have to forgive me because, totally through no fault of my own, I became hopelessly addicted to Yu-Gi-Oh cards.Now, of course, when you say it like that it sounds bad, so if anyone asks, officially, I was at a workshop to learn game design theory, okay? Cool, you can just cut out the introduction that I have here, I’ll start over, thanks editor! (Editor’s Note: No. It’s staying in, you lazy lump. Suffer for your sins.)Hello all! This week, I wasn’t able to work on Chappy Quest because, most unfortunately, I was forced to attend a game design theory workshop, looking at card games as a way to understand the principles of engaging with rulesets. The subject? Yu-Gi-Oh cards! The difficulty? Extreme to nonexistent! The fun? Nowhere to be found, I was busy working, what kinds of questions are these?!If you’ve never played a trading card game, although I’m kind of surprised to say this, I think you should, especially if you want to get into any sort of other game design work. All games must have parameters to operate within and it seems that trading card games are peerless in the complexity of these bounds they must remain in. you might be wondering “Even Yu-Gi-Oh?” To which I profess with vigor, holy smokes yes, are you kidding me? What’s Link Summon do? Pendulums? Why are all my cards exploding? What about the effects? Somebody help me!!

So, yeah, it’s really difficult to wrap your head around everything. Despite that, I was able to play online and even got to gold rank after some intensive training sessions with the solo machine and Babbit! And through getting that far into the “competitive” scene, I learned a lot about the game itself, as well as how crucial balance is to a game.I have often heard people talk about balance, especially in the PVP and raiding circles I’ve gotten near, but I’ve never really concerned myself with it all that much. I knew it was important, but I never really considered it because, typically, I don’t do things that require so much attention to those details. However, playing a few matches with people really hammered home just how much it matters to a good experience.Perhaps, instead of saying balance, it could be described as difficulty, if that helps those confused. In principle, a game is balanced when the difficulty is consistent on both ends, meaning the challenge is not too great for either side and it becomes a matter of skill to see who the victor is. As Babbit and I tried new things out against each other, it became pretty clear that Yu-Gi-Oh is really lacking in balance.

In our first few matches, I destroyed her over and over, then she me, after she figured out how to make a better combo, then back to me, then back to her, until I finally made a set so evil that there was no longer any hope of her winning. At no point in these little tests did we find anything that felt fair, it was more a game of “okay you’re the winner but you still have to sit here for 30 minutes.” There were points to learn from, of course, and tweaking sets to improve was interesting, but the game itself just felt obnoxious.Then I tried ranked because I was bored and curious and realized I didn’t know what obnoxious felt like. At first, it was really strange because I’d get in a match and either the other side would quit immediately after I started my moves or the other person would do some absurd combo to win in the first turn. Neither of these were very fun, and considering the latter match types, I can sympathize with those who would leave early.Later on, though, I started to find opponents who were more interesting to play with. We would have a solid few back and forths, which, inevitably, led to a crushing defeat for someone, but it was those moves before the end where I started to really see where the game was FUN and not just too cheap or too easy. These were the mysterious balance points, but with one fatal flaw that makes Yu-Gi-Oh a frustrating game: balance only exists in specific matchups.

The cards are neat to look at and putting together different decks is a fun pastime, but playing them against each other is really hit or miss. If you lose every time without being able to do anything, is that fun? How about if you win every time? I can attest to a slight dopamine uptick upon seeing “victory,” but it’s really very hollow when no effort went into it.Be it a card game, an action game, a puzzle, or anything, there are points on either end, losing and winning, where it’s just not fun anymore. The difficulty is too intense and it feels hopeless, too light and winning loses all meaning. This is what makes balance so crucial to game development. We crave challenge, but only so much.So, thanks to this helpful work conference for work that I was working in, I have learned some important development lessons that I will implement in the future work on Chappy Quest! Because I was working. This was WORK Yu-Gi-Oh cards. No more questions!!!

"Song of War: Against Fate" by Nadereh

Anime music isn't always my first choice but.... Big bands rule.

Click here to read the third issue of The Bree-Land Babbler, bringing you exclusive news from Bree and surrounding areas! This week: watermelon violence and Baggins' birthday!

The Geometric Labyrinth of Central Retem
(It's a pyramid!)
_{Shard: Halpha}

- Space Cafe -

Stories from the
Space Cafe

Yep, that's me! Anime Babbit with the fox ears. Our time away from Eorzea has taken us to a number of places, from Tyria to Middle-earth to...Yu-Gi-Oh Land, and now I'm sitting in a space cafe next to a fountain in Central City. What's the planet we're on called? I don't actually know, don't worry about it. Halpha, Lopp says.It's hard to say you've found a new "home" when you've only been someplace for a few days, but spending a little time in Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis Central City, I already feel like I've found a new place to just chill out. Middle-earth is great, don't get me wrong, and I'm far from finished there. But here? Glamours everywhere, customization galore, and fun space iceskates that I can fly around on and blast ice bolts at my enemies? What more do you want!

It doesn't hurt that there's no annoying afk kick timer security guards who tell me to stop loitering and buy a sandwich or something. I want peace! I want atmosphere!Anyway, I went out looking for fish over the weekend, and wound up by some natural hotsprings in southern Aelio (that's the region we live in, I guess). While there, I got assaulted by a gigantic purple robot dinosaur and we had a very romantic battle under the moonlight.

After that, I gathered fruit from some trees, and then got to work on building my new house.You heard me. Housing in Eorzea and Middle-earth may involve going up and buying an estate and furnishing the property (and eventually risking it exploding if you don't pay your dues), but on Halpha? You show up, they give you an island, and tell you to go build the whole thing yourself. You could even build a small neighborhood if you really wanted to!For now, I'm just recreating Nophica's. But it'll be Space Nophica's, and nicer, and also not called Nophica's, because I don't actually know who that is, anymore. Some herbalist back in ancient times, who really cares? The writers sure don't!

There are two things I look for in an MMO a home away from home: I need to be able to connect with my character, and I need to have some nice places to just be. It can't just be go go go all the time, and it's really hard to get that right. Sure, there might be downtime, but it can be a restless downtime when you don't really feel connected to the world you're in. I need to be able to sit in chairs or on benches, and just listen to music, and feel the vibe. Eorzea was good for that, until it wasn't (in my opinion), and Halpha is good for that, too.So I'm sitting here writing this at a little space cafe, listening to a coastal tune on my robot, and thinking about what weird stuff we might get up to tomorrow. Who knows!

Chappy's Maze of wonders

"Where is he?!" - Anonymous

Leave A Message!

Dear Chappy,What's your favorite Middle-Earth creature?

Kweh! [Huorns! Which are trees who can move and make noise, they're tended by the Ents.]

Total Number Of Hi's: 210.

Do you have a question or suggestion for The Babbler team? Submit one below, and we'll probably answer it next issue! Or someone will, at least!

Art by P'pol Orubasay

(From the Artist)Lopp made me do a comic because she wanted to play cards all weekend. I've been coloring a bunch so it was no problem. Here is a tragic tale for your soul, about a lovely and amazing young bear and the vile evil malevolent awful awful no good Krevin.

Puzzles & things

- Sunshine Love -

This Week: Wednesday Show Somewhere!

- Babbler Ombudsman & Venue PR Officer -

Krevin's Desk

Krevin Krevinson VII, Tunaologist, PhD

It's been a long week.

Issue 95, dated September 16, 2024. The errors were as follows:

If you have any questions or comments, or if you notice errors, please reach out. Have a nice day.- The Krev

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Don't Miss!

There's more inside! Don't forget to check out this issue's features!

☰ Playstation Or Workstation: Transmuting Fun To Jobs

☰ The Bree-Land Babbler: Issue 1

Thank You for Reading
The Babbler!

About The Babbler

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Thank you for reading The Babbler, Eorzea's #1 News Source, dedicated to covering the news you care about! Maybe.Fun facts:

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Lone Wizard Refuses to Let Farmers Faire Be Over

As festivities come to an end in Bywater, a photograph shared with The Bree-land Babbler shows a lone man standing quietly flying his kite in what can only be described as wistful sorrow. Did he forget to spend his tokens? Does he miss fishing chairs and paper out of the nearby pond? Will he ever feel happiness again? Worry not, mystery adventurer - the faire will return next year!

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- Special Feature -

Playstation or Workstation?
Transmuting Fun To Jobs

I really enjoy my day job, most days, anyway. I find the work to be challenging enough that I am engaged, while not being so difficult that it becomes frustrating. Fulfilling tasks comes with a rewarding sense that gives me a bit of joy here and there, making it bearable.Now, don’t mistake this for true passion, because there are things I would much rather do, but considering the necessity of employment to living in relative comfort, my career isn’t too bad to me and that’s a win. Still, as soon as I can each day, the bad computer shuts down and I forget everything because no matter how much it can be rewarding, it’s still a job and all work and no play et cetera, et cetera. Just as life requires basic necessities, so too should rest be considered important.

Unfortunately, jobs are not exclusive to the workplace, though. Coming home, most of us can usually find something or another that needs to be taken care of. Laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, vacuuming, maybe lawn maintenance, there is always another task preventing that true rest state the couch potato in all of us strives for.I, like many others I am sure, often put some of these supplemental chores away into the vaults of time for a future version of myself to deal with that I might gain a bit of relaxation in the wilder times. Unlike the office space, home allows for such frivolous disregard for duties. It is this reason that most people enjoy the thought of going home from work, rather than being truly chained to a position. Being able to have fun is just a more appealing prospect than having to make fun out of labor.It probably comes as no shock that one of my hobbies outside of the drudgeries of life is playing games, as certainly those reading this can relate. Escaping into other worlds to experience things we normally cannot is dreadfully attractive. More and more, though, it has started to occur to me that typically, even games are usually compressed down into a list of chores to carry out.Maybe I am getting… not as young, or maybe this is something everyone realizes and I am just a little slow to catch on, but lately I feel as though when playing a lot of games the experience is more akin to taking care of real life problems but without any of the pleasantness that comes with having one more thing done. Delivering 10 logs to an NPC might be as mindless as washing 10 dishes and it might take as much time, but is it more fun or did I just trick myself into doing a chore with no reward?Now, of course, it is far easier on the body to play a game, there is a sense of relaxation even in doing these mundane little quests, but to call them “fun” might be a bit much. I adore games like Monster Hunter because I get really into the thrill of the hunt, but deep down is it any different than something like Powerwash Simulator? I’m just roleplaying as a person with a job (albeit a more fantastical one), doing their job, one sliced Rathalos with a side of Anjanath coming up, thank you for your order.

What do Monster Hunters do in their down time? The games give you a room, you can meet with other hunters and sit around or maybe arm wrestle, but what silly little nonsense is there to do when the weight of all those slain animals crashes down? Meld materials? Shovel coal? These are just other chores. Where is the light-hearted fun?Even one of my more favorite hobbies, making music to perform in LotRO, previously FF14, could be considered work and I sure do get caught up in it. Just the other week, I stared at notes for 4 hours just to make a few songs. And even though I consider this a fun job, it still really is just that with the bonus of being a passion.Getting to perform these songs even qualifies as work! I love doing it, but the preparation takes time, staying in the right spirit, everything that goes into our little Wednesday shows is a task that, no matter how much I smile doing it, still ends up being just a bit draining because it is not that relaxation couch potato nirvana that differentiates strife from juvenile play.

Back in our Eorzea days, after a show the band would run off to the middle of nowhere, maybe take a quick picture if we had fun costumes, then say our goodbyes because although we had a good time, we all needed to unwind and recharge. Unfortunately, Eorzea had not much in terms of mindless fun to engage with. Jump puzzles were one, but aside from that we really only had quests or dungeons and after a couple hours of fake work, more chores just felt too much. So, like coming home after a long day at the office and watching a TV show instead of getting to the pile of sullied plates piling up in the sink, we elected to do something a little less “important” to escape burnout.I want to take things back a moment. Do you remember being in elementary school and going out for recess or lunch or whatever else, splitting up a day of learning with a break for running, talking, laughing, swinging, jumping, whatever else? When we enter our adult years, and even teen years in some respects, such things become too childish for us and we no longer engage with it, opting instead for our pseudo jobs, maybe reading, watching videos, but never really playing anymore.I miss those days sometimes, the weightlessness of it all, nothing important to consider. Not to confuse such things with a mindless task, because a mindless task is still a task, but there does need to be a distinct lack of mental focus, I feel, when considering something fun. True fun needs to be more instinctual, more in the moment and when you do need to start revving your brain into overdrive, you are leaving that relaxed state necessary to the freeing nature of true fun.

A couple of weeks ago, after doing a show in LotRO, I had expected a swift round of goodbyes from everyone followed by a few more hours of texting each other about whatever meme was trending on Twitter or some upcoming movie. Instead, Lynk asked Babbit and I to follow him to not far from where we had been performing. LotRO has an exceptionally large and open map and I had expected he wanted to show us a lake or tree off the beaten path he had found appealing.To my surprise, Lynk had discovered something far more interesting in a tiny area built to facilitate tag. Just tag, the basic children’s game of running around and tapping someone else to be “it” until everyone was worn out or it was time to go in for the day. Admittedly, I was a bit dubious at first, because we are adults, we don’t play.Then we did play. We chased each other around this miniscule space for 2 hours, only stopping because it was bedtime. I had not giggled and shrieked in pure joy like that in a while.After our most recent show, we went back because Lynk found another type of tag, this time involving freeze. On the way, I wandered into a maze and got lost for a bit trying to get out. Afterwards, we again spent an unreasonable amount of time just running after each other, trying to trick the others into making mistakes, hiding in corners, fleeing for our lives from whoever was “it” and once again it was more delightful than I could have imagined.Occasionally in the past, I have tried to make my own fun in games like trying to drive normally in Mario Kart to take in the sites on a scenic time trial or jumping around on cliffs and into bodies of water in Skyrim just to see what would happen. Basically, anything that wasn’t what I was “supposed” to do to progress in the game because, frankly, sometimes game chores can be as tedious as mopping. It never really occurred to me, though, until these recent activities, how important silliness is to fun and how without it burnout can sneak into even our most favorite games.

Not every game needs to have a built in tag feature, that might be a bit much, honestly. Even so, there needs to be SOMETHING to stave off the boredom from engaging with systems lest a game just devolve into a colorful digital career. Lately, and it might just be what I have tried in the past while, I have found few things that allow nonsense on the side.If you have been following our post-Eorzea journey, you may recall we spent some time in Pax Dei, an ambitious attempt at a sandbox MMO that, sadly, ended up falling flat for us at its current unfinished state. This was not because it was a bad game, I actually really like it and keep up with all development announcements waiting for an improved state. What made it so difficult to keep doing was the fact that, no matter how many people there were, aside from talking the only activity was chores.Chop trees for wood to make tools to open a blacksmith or bakery so you could go look for more supplies to make more things to look for supplies to make things with. I built a gigantic tavern and inn, but because we were not even afforded a simple “roll dice” mechanic I couldn’t offer anything there aside from too much free bread and dull conversation about where to do more chores, assuming anyone stopped by. There just wasn’t anything to do that was purely for fun, at least directed. Yes, we probably could have played tag, but as I alluded to above, such things were not something on my mind until I was shown that it could be done.

So is there a solution or am I just going to complain? It’s complicated! On the one hand, it would be nice for the people maintaining and caring for these worlds we flock to to consider activities that serve as refuge from the grind. That, however, is not something that we as players can adequately insist upon and expect in every case.Therefore, probably the simplest solution is to take a moment and recall our childhoods and remember what it means to play. To take a step back and shed the embarrassment towards expressing joy that we all inevitably develop as we age. At the end of it all, even with a nudge from developers, it is on us to separate ourselves from a task-oriented mindset, so why not just cut out the middleman and start doing such things on our own?I know this probably sounds silly, but after a few years of feeling burned out by games and hopping around between a few, rarely finishing anything, it is becoming increasingly clear to me how important it is to have fun and not chores. We all work, whether we have jobs or not, and this is taxing on our bodies, minds, and souls. It’s vital to clock out, drop the to-do list, and run around a bit just to giggle. I hope you’ll try it sometime soon, kiddos.

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