Low HP

Last night, as my wife and I were out buying some armor, potions and other things, I must have run into an enemy using stealth or something, because out of the blue, I got debuffed. My HP got lowered, and I got a big headache and chills.

When I woke up this morning, some of the debuff seemed to have worn off. The chills were gone, but the headache was still there. I stayed home resting, so that I wouldn't get the rest of the Church congregation sick.

Hopefully by tomorrow my HP will be where it's supposed to be. Anyone have any buffs to counteract my debuffs?

Blah

I don't know what to post today, and I'm a bit sick. Not only that, but it's not really "today." It's "tomorrow," but because I forgot to post today, I told the blog to say that it was today.

Time travel.

HP recovery

In Mario games, you "eat" a mushroom to grow bigger and stronger, so that it takes one more hit to take down a life. In Zelda games, you drink potions to restore health (In one, you can eat apples, too). In RPGs of several varieties, there are potions, foods, etc. that you can use to recover your health.

Ah, food. Apparently when I was a n00b (when I was a baby), I would associate food with pain. I've since gotten over that. Now I enjoy my HP recovery time. Tonight we had a small potluck with some friends. There were chicken wings, guacamole, pizza, curry, wraps... It was great.

:)

There's an app for that.

Today in my software localization class, we had "iPhone app localization part 1." For those of you who aren't familiar with the terminology, localization = translation of software and websites.

And the app in question? A simple game that tests reaction time. I got 142 milliseconds on one run through (It's called "luck").

Next week is part 2. And then I can say that I officially know how to localize iPhone apps. Nifty.

Why games?

Why am I blogging about games vs. life?

Games are a representation of several aspects of life. Some were a way to train for war. Others a more peaceful alternative to war. Still others were religious ceremonies. The Olympics honored Zeus, for example, and a truce was put into place so that Olympians could travel safely¹.

Games can be a way to bring people together. I still remember family sessions of Monopoly, Yahtzee, and Boggle, not to mention The Game of Life. (If ever there was a game that simulates life, The Game of Life is it).

Why else do people play games? For the same reasons that they do a lot of things. To escape. To divert. To socialize. To pretend. To relax. To test their skills. To acquire skills. To train their skills. (You know those flight simulation video games? They use similar games to train pilots.)

Games are an unavoidable part of life. Some people have their football, soccer, chess, solitaire, etc. I have my RPGs and other video games. Yes, I stick to my preferred format and genres, but all games have come to form a part of society.

Stats part II: Strength, Constitution, HP

In games, strength has to do with... your physical strength. Guess what the real life correlation is?

Constitution (sometimes referred to as stamina) affects your HP level and thus how much damage you can take before you have to rest. I like to think of this as in-game endurance. You can run all-out longer.

HP is your total health. Keeping yourself healthy is essential for a good gaming and living experience.

Yep, this is as "in-depth" as it gets for this.

I mentioned before some of the moral obligations of a Scout. Right up there in the Scout Oath is the promise, "On my honor, I will do my best... to keep myself physically strong." It doesn't really matter how smart you are (and you're not proving yourself very wise) if you don't keep up your physical health.

I also mentioned that one of the main things that I am is an active Christian. I can't serve God and my fellow men if I don't keep my body, referred to as a temple in the scriptures, in good shape.

It's not as though it's very hard to keep in shape. For most people, all it takes is a healthier diet and a bit more physical activity. I've found myself slacking in that a little. I hop on the computer in the morning instead of doing a light workout. Maybe I'll have to devote some of my training to my strength and constitution stats in the future.

AFK

Yes, I was going to post about some more stats today, but I was pretty much AFK most of the day. "AFK," for those of you who don't know, means "Away from keyboard." In my case, today, it just means that I was super busy with classes, homework, etc.

And that I forgot to post earlier when I did have the time. I guess my mind went AFK for a bit, too...