It's Okay If Men Are Players, But You're Not That Kind of Girl

So this is something that has bothered me for quite a long time, but over the past few days/weeks I've noticed it more. I've been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic pretty regularly since it came out. I've got several characters - most are female, but one is male.

Guess who gets the [Flirt] options?

Despite the fact that apparently the entire galaxy is heterosexual, and a significant majority of the NPCs are male, it's the dude PC, NOT the chicks. And while theoretically it's possible that the difference is based on the PC's occupation, something tells me it goes a bit deeper.

Because it's not the first time I've experienced this in stories. It's particularly frustrating in interactive stories, because it feels much more personal. There are always plenty of barmaids for the male characters to schmooze, but the soldiers on leave? They're not interested in having fun for some reason. :P

Anyway, I'm going to leave it at that because I really don't feel like thinking about it anymore. :P

Mih.

So it's now 8 PM and I've been at an event that I have PAID to go to for several hours, and I've spent the time not at the event but in my room, surfing the web (thank God I have internet access). I just haven't felt the least bit interested in what I've seen listed to do.

Maybe I'm just a snob, but things feel ... poorly designed. I mean, I would think that a "Literary" series would be about, you know, READING. But it isn't! Those are the writing panels. There kind of aren't any book-focused panels.

And it strikes me as just a little unfair that the Disney trivia contest was put in the Kids category, while Star Wars and Doctor Who get to be General. I would've thought NERDS would be the sort to understand that grown-ups geek out over Disney details as much as children do. :P

I've heard nothing about a drum circle, either. Serious bummer, that.

Speaking of bummers, one of my online buddies recently went silent. SAD FACE, CHEV. I'll miss ya. If you're ever heading East, lemme know. :)

Nothing More Than Feelings

I've got bunches to do today, so this will probably just be a stub for now. Anyway.

Whoever wrote the Jedi Code was an idiot.

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.

In fairness, this isn't the only version of the code, but it's the only one (that I've heard) in the new MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. And one of the elements of the original stories - and the later ones - that I miss in the game is the exploration of philosophy. While I've enjoyed learning to use interrupt actions and finding out how the gathering/crafting system works in this game, the story options are heavy-handed and clunky. More than once I've found myself wishing I had a good tabletop group instead.

However, in the absence of that, SW:TOR will have to do. :P