Faith, Freedom and Frags

Subjective vs. Objective and Xbox 360's

Apparently, some enterprising folks have bought Xbox 360's solely for the purpose of reselling them at what looks to be a considerable profit. While I do not understand paying $600 or even $1000 just to get a gaming console a few weeks sooner, I see nothing wrong with people providing this service to others. If they wish to pay so much, it is good for them that it is available.

Since I continue to stay away from much of what counts for official "news" these days, I have been following games and technology as much as ever. So now I get my economics lessons from there instead.

There is a conception among many people (and for a very long time) that certain goods or services have a "fair" or "reasonable" price. From my observations, this amounts to little more than animism, assigning human like attributes to mere physical objects. The way I see it, ALL value is inherently subjective, in that it is ONLY subjects (aka, conscious entities) that assign value to anything, and that there is in no such thing as objective value, since objects in and of themselves cannot place value on anything.

Take a glass of water, for instance. There is no way to reckon any kind of objective value to it. It ALL depends on the context and the person assigning value to it. I may not value it very highly, a few pennies if it isn't some kind of bottled water. But if I were in the desert for a couple of days, I might give up everything I have to get that glass of water. The value of an object is determined not only by how much the subject cares for it (preferring Mozart to Bach, for instance), but also where in time and space that object is.

Here's the kicker: I believe that all moral values are ALSO entirely subjective. This might surprise those of you who know my religious beliefs, but I think it fits perfectly. I have determined that it is not the moral values of God that are objective, but it is that God himself values certain things, and He is, essentially, the only subject that matters (He being eternal, infinite and having created all objects in the first place). I find this actually fits rather well with Christian, Jewish and Islamic understandings of God, and particularly the Christian attitude of seeing God as a Person to whom we can relate. God is not bound by rules or morals outside of Himself, rather His preferences (yes, just what he likes and doesn't like, the way you prefer chocolate to vanilla) determine morals in the only sense that matters.

Feel free to call me crazy, blasphemous or stupid, but it'd be nice to get some feedback on this one.

Video games or bad parenting?

If you have a strong stomach, check this out.

It's basically a 9 year old kid cussing out his mom for not getting him chocolate milk while he's playing "Rainbow Six", which is a shooting game on Xbox (and entirely innapropriate for 9 year olds). It's incredibly disturbing for a multitude of reasons, and is practicaly a "how to" on raising a future felon.

Oooh, new gadget! Must have!

http://www.ergodex.com/mainpage.htm

I am addicted to keyboard alternatives. I have bought:

Nostromo SpeedPad n52

Thrustmaster TacticalBoard

XKeys Desktop

Microsoft Strategic Commander

The Claw (versions one and two!)

And a few more that aren't even around anymore. I've spent more on these devices than on video cards. Of course I actually use them, three of the above currently even. This latest looks pretty groovy, you can actually just pick up your keys and move them wherever you want, but the price is a bit much at $150 (though there was one device I spent $250 on in a fit of gadget envy). I'm older and wiser now, though, so I think I'll have to take a pass. If you're looking for a gift for me, though...

Rethinking Gaming

The last few days I've been thinking hard about what I think I am getting out of video games. I go back to the old adage of "all work and no play", but I don't know anymore. I think gaming is far better than TV (which we do not have), but given how low I put TV on any kind of list that isn't saying too much. I like playing Halo 2 with Kim (yes, my wife plays Halo 2, and yes, she's better than I am), because we do it together and it's pretty interactive, if a bit too competitve for me at times. But most of my other games... I just don't know. Everquest takes an awful lot of time to keep up, Planetside is great but the good battles are hard to find, and it just all has this feeling of futility to it.

Does all entertainment have to be futile? DOES all work and no play make John a dull boy? Anyone faced similar questions? Leave comments!

Sony legitimizes black market in Everquest characters

Read this.

Everquest 2 is essentially a game set in a fantasy world (like Lord of the Rings) where you play a character such as a Wizard or a Paladin (like DnD). This game is played exclusively online, and your character "lives" on a server with thousands of others (and there are dozens of servers). Your character moves from a pathetic peon, running for dear life from sewer rats to a powerful behemoth, destroying even powerful dragons and giants. This takes HUNDREDS of hours to do, though. While doing it, you earn in game money to buy better equipment, housing and even pets.

These types of games (MMORPG's) have been around for many years now, and there has always been a "grey" market where someone will spend the hundreds of hours to create a character and then sell the right to play this character or in game money on ebay for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. Officially, Sony(the makers of Everquest) has always opposed this grey market and has kicked people off the game when they were found using it.

But now Sony has decided, at least on a few of the servers, to make this an officially sponsored activity. People will be able to sell things in game for real life money, and Sony itself will oversee this market (estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars!)  and ensure people do not get ripped off (as previously that was quite easy).

Where this will go no one knows. Sweatshops in China with workers being paid pennies an hour to play Everyquest? Maybe. College students making a good side income creating and trading Everquest goods? Probably. Fascinating insight into human behavior, computer gaming and economics? Most definitely!

Halo 2 Update tomorrow!

Any Halo 2 fans out there, the Big Update is tomorrow! Fixes the cheats, which have been hurting this game for some months now. Plus, they rebalanced the weapons so single-wielding is not only for people who haven't found a second weapon.