Showing posts with label books in games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books in games. Show all posts

Friday, January 23, 2009

More facets of the same jewel


I've posted several times now about the natural combination of my two hobbies -- the written word and videogames -- and how I can't seem to separate the two. During my brief but passionate stint in Second Life, I found myself in digital libraries holding digital book-readings. My ardor for the Final Fantasy series reached new heights when FFIII let me use weighty tomes as weapons. The codex-toting archaeologists in Lego Indy found themselves in heavier rotation than was really necessary. On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness features Tycho reading at all times, even when shooting evil in its grinning maw, and I just naturally had to unlock his super-weapon.

So, what about Warcraft? Oh yes, gentle reader, I have found a way.

When you're not killing things in Warcraft, you have a profession. That's right, a job in a fantasy world. Where's the fantasy in that, you ask? Well, my profession is Inscription. I make ink and write runes on scraps of paper. These "glyphs" have, unsurprisingly, magic properties, and I sell them for a more-than-tidy profit.

And, as if that wasn't enough, with the right training and some luck, a scribe like myself can make books. Big old grimoires that lend mighty powers to their holders. For example, I now carry around a book that lets my breathe fire. Fire breath! From holding a book! Marvelous.

The trouble is, sometimes my digital adventures creep into my waking life*. It's all I can do to take my bright, modern-feeling home office and redecorating it like this:


It's actually not all that far off, now that I think about it.


*videogames are far more restful for me than sleep. Ask around.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Lost in his own museum


Not all that long ago I was hooked by a game that allowed me to play as a character who liked books. Now I find myself deep into LEGO Indy, in which archaeologist characters can get by certain puzzles by decrypting hieroglyphs. They carry books around. I... I just can't stop.