When nerds are gamers

The usual suspect : The nerdy gamers stereotype

In the main stream media, gamers are stereotyped as nerdy and such. While most of them in real life aren't playing games with thick specs, they are indeed some who were, ahem, nerds. This is what happens when people take a game too seriously.

What the hell ??

What looks indeed like a complex maths formula from hell here is actually the theoretical simulation for calculating the DPS (damage per second) of Frostfire bolt (A mage spell) in World of Warcraft (WoW). This was posted in a discussion titled, "mathematics of dynamic cycles" in a popular forum catering to WoW. This actually freak me out! You can follow the link to check out the nerdy talk in the thread yourself. Frankly, with my poor brain couldn't handle the maths and promptly short circuited. All I wanted was how to maximise my character in the game, not to get a PhD (Pernament Head Damage) in maths.

That's the Frostfire Bolt that I spam all day long in WoW.

This might have something to do with the fact that the demographics of WoW players is mostly 16 to 35. Maybe someone had too much free time at work, and went completely overboard in theorycrafting. While most of the game variables are unknown to the public, some players perform theorycrafting to make best guesses of the mechanics in the game in order to optimise their character. In this case, I bet that we have an army of bored maths professors trolling away in a WoW forum during working hours.

Yikes! Nerds alert !!! Back to spamming frostfire bolts in WoW !!!

Hello 2009

It has been quite some time since my last post and my final year project had finally ended, concluding my degree program. Right after that, I got lost in Northend in Azeroth, tolling hours after hours away on my alter ego.

This is the massive turnout at the World of Warcraft : Wrath of the Lich King expansion at Game Haven on the launch day. What isn't shown here is that the streets behind the building was flooded with addicts queuing up to grab their copy of the game.

... and the madness begins. My PS3 had accumulated a layer of dust from neglect.

Of course, I didn't went completely insane, mindlessly playing the game like the kids in South Park : Make Love, Not Warcraft. For the last 3 weekends, I burnt them by doing the much dreaded annual compulsory spring cleaning operation which resulted with rubbish 3 bags full. That's 1 big trash bag worth every weekend. To my horror, I wasn't done yet. My finance controller had approved the release of funds to purchase a new work desk and a new bed. I guess I have to burn a few more weekends getting this done as well.

During my shopping trip with my sisters to Suntec City last Saturday, the feeling of the recession could be felt everywhere. The stores were throwing discounts all over the place, we were treated well and attended to in every store we went to, the usual crowds were missing, there was no queue at Sizzler and taxis were actually waiting for us at the taxi stand at the end of the night.

Gone was the bor chap attitude from the stores, super pack crowds, long queues to every eateries during super peak dinner time and long snakes of taxi queues. Usually I had to call for a cab at Suntec City to skip the 30 man taxi queue but instead, there were so many cabs circling the fountain of wealth waiting for their source of wealth. And much to my horror, there was an additional $3 surcharge for Saturaday as well. Yikes. No wonder there was no queue.

It's recession people, and this will likely to bottom out in 2010. Meanwhile, I hope that we can all clinch and hug at our jobs during this crappy period.