Multi-part RPG's (xenosaga, .hack, etc..)

[Sylentwulf]

WTF is this crap they're starting to pull?

After finishing Xenosaga my ONLY thought was "OH! They took a full length RPG and split it up into 6 parts (or however many)" I Thgouht it was going to be a 6 game Series, meaning 6 full games in one series, or even along the lines of Final Fantasy. Regardless, I was expecting a fuyll game and only got half of one. I'm HOPING this trend will not continue, OR I will not be charged Fifty friggin dollars per game-part.

OK, .hack had the bonus DVD. So what. That cost them and extra $1.... oooooooohhh aaaaaaaaahhhhhh.

[Kid Fenris]

Well, I've really enjoyed the gameplay portions of Xenosaga thus far, so I'd say that I've already gotten my money's worth. The first .hack game is shorter and less satisfying, but unlike Xenosaga, its subsequent episodes are clearly on the way.

In fact, I don't think that Monolith has even begun work on the next Xenosaga game, which makes me wonder if the series will turn out like some anime OVA that stops abruptly after the second or third episode.

I think that both .hack and Xenosaga are good enough (and many recent RPGs mediocre enough) to raise this question: which would you rather play, the first part of a unique, well-crafted RPG, or a run-of-the-mill, self-contained RPG that curtails its own vision just to wrap itself up in less than forty hours? (And don't you say "I'd rather play a shooter," Bargora.) It's kind of like a choice between watching the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, or Willow.

I must now steel myself for the inevitable assault from Willow fans.

[bargora]

Response the first:
Wha? /me <3 RPGs
They are fantastic for blowing things up.

Response the second:
What makes you think that I would spend precious seconds of my life reading this RPG thread? :-D

Response the third:
MMmmmmmmph! Rrrrrrrrgh! Uuuuuuurrrm!

Response the fourth:
Yes, I would rather be left hanging by a good RPG than play a crappy one that neatly ties up everything in 35-40 hours. Hypothetically speaking, of course. :P But if I didn't KNOW that I would be left hanging ahead of time, I would probably experience a moment of rage before laughing at myself and at the audacity of the game designers who dared to do such a thing.

Postscript:
I will not tell my wife about your vicious slandering of Willow.

[Sylentwulf]

But each LOTR movie is as lon or LONGER than any other full length movie out there. I think my end time for Xenosaga was low thirties.... not bad, but I was expecting something along the lines of, ohhh... I dunno.,... XENOGEARS in length, and magnitude.

Honestly, I was expecting 40-60 hours (not "getting everything there is to get") and a beginning to end RPG. I knew there were sequels, but I figured they would at least ATTEMPT to tie everything together at the end of each episode, this one is like driving into a brick wall, you'd think they would let the car slow down before it stops ya know? Or at least TELL you "Hey! Watch out for that brick wa<SMACK>"

[kainemaxwell]

I actually don't mind them. Adds mor eincentive to figure out more the story and see what happens next.

[zmeston]

WTF is this crap they're starting to pull?

After finishing Xenosaga my ONLY thought was "OH! They took a full length RPG and split it up into 6 parts (or however many)" I Thgouht it was going to be a 6 game Series, meaning 6 full games in one series, or even along the lines of Final Fantasy. Regardless, I was expecting a fuyll game and only got half of one. I'm HOPING this trend will not continue, OR I will not be charged Fifty friggin dollars per game-part.

OK, .hack had the bonus DVD. So what. That cost them and extra $1.... oooooooohhh aaaaaaaaahhhhhh.

My foremost complaint with the trend of serial RPGs is that they always end so horribly. Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers have ended at just the right moments, and even the wretched Star Wars: Episodes I and II went out decently, but these RPGs end like the Commando Cody shorts of the 1930s... "WILL Commandy Cody survive the Zortog Ray of Neblar-14?! Find out next week!!" After investing 10, 20, or 30 hours into an RPG, I want to end with a measure of resolution and satisfaction, not to be left dangling with a cheesy cliffhanger.

As for Xenosaga, I have my extreme doubts as to whether all six parts will even make it out. It took Namco a year just to LOCALIZE Xenosaga, after all. At 18-24 months per sequel, that's another seven to ten years at bare minimum, but you also have to include the time it takes to learn new hardware (since Monolith Soft will have to jump to the PS3 midway through).

As for .hack, it's just a single decent RPG split into fourths and priced at $200, not that fans of the franchise seem to care. What offends me more about .hack is the ridiculous assertion of the storyline that a sub-par dungeon crawler would become the most popular online experience in the world. (Insert slanderous EverQuest comment here.)

-- Z.

[bizounce]

Yeah...kinda gave up on .hack. It was a really good idea, IMO, but not good enough as a game for me. I think they rushed this idea way too fast and it could be a million times better than it already is.

Xenosaga, I really like it. I wish it had more music though, not just 9 repeated tracks. As for being unique and all, it makes me play it. I love the idea of KOS-MOS, and I love Ziggy's story. I enjoy the whole play, watch, play, watch. It builds up between each part and gives you a break from the game play with a nice chunk of story to immerse you in. I've enjoyed the game immensely.

Yeah, I've also become a complete fanboy because of FFX-2. I know a lot of people are going to totally kick my ass for wanting to play this so bad. I just love the atmosphere. Call it bad taste or whatever you will, but all I know is that I'm going to enjoy it. In the end, that's all that matters, right?

[Dahne]

The one that really pissed me off was Golden Sun.

"La la la, on to the next village."

"Just kidding! Buy Golden Sun 2!"

[kainemaxwell]

Only thing I like so far of FFX-2 is the opening song and video myself.

[Sylentwulf]

FFX-2:

Square - "Man, we spent a LOT of time and money on these character models and graphics engine. Can't we use them for something else?"

Employee in the back of the room - "I know! Pick me! Pick Me!"

[zmeston]

Yeah...kinda gave up on .hack. It was a really good idea, IMO, but not good enough as a game for me. I think they rushed this idea way too fast and it could be a million times better than it already is.

Xenosaga, I really like it. I wish it had more music though, not just 9 repeated tracks. As for being unique and all, it makes me play it. I love the idea of KOS-MOS, and I love Ziggy's story. I enjoy the whole play, watch, play, watch. It builds up between each part and gives you a break from the game play with a nice chunk of story to immerse you in. I've enjoyed the game immensely.

Yeah, I've also become a complete fanboy because of FFX-2. I know a lot of people are going to totally kick my ass for wanting to play this so bad. I just love the atmosphere. Call it bad taste or whatever you will, but all I know is that I'm going to enjoy it. In the end, that's all that matters, right?

I don't know that I even think .hack is a good idea. (It's certainly not an original one -- there have been variations on the "malevolent ghost in the machine" story for a couple of decades now.) I do realize that fans will buy the games no matter what, though; Bandai's titles are absolutely review-proof. There are millions of hardcore Tolkien fans, but Universal's crappy LOTR games deservedly sold like crap, while hardcore Bandai fans snap up Mobile Suit Gundam and Dragon Ball and .hack tie-in games regardless of their mediocre content.

Xenosaga is a very good game, but I loathe KOS-MOS -- she's a ridiculous character that virtually destroys the sophisticated storyline by her/its very presence. What the hell would motivate a humble, timid female (just the way Japanese men seem to like 'em) to design an artificial sex kitten? No self-respecting woman, and certainly not one possessed with considerable intelligence, would design or even tolerate a robot with KOS-MOS' blatantly sexual appearance. It's illogical fanservice, and it totally clashes with the mature story. FFX-2, from what I've read and seen of it so far, seems to be a lighthearted romp, so the fanservice works in that case. (The fanservice bromides in the PS1 Lunar remakes were also dubious, but I tried to handle 'em with the proper amount of silliness.)

-- Z.

[kainemaxwell]

Yeah...kinda gave up on .hack. It was a really good idea, IMO, but not good enough as a game for me. I think they rushed this idea way too fast and it could be a million times better than it already is.

Xenosaga, I really like it. I wish it had more music though, not just 9 repeated tracks. As for being unique and all, it makes me play it. I love the idea of KOS-MOS, and I love Ziggy's story. I enjoy the whole play, watch, play, watch. It builds up between each part and gives you a break from the game play with a nice chunk of story to immerse you in. I've enjoyed the game immensely.

Yeah, I've also become a complete fanboy because of FFX-2. I know a lot of people are going to totally kick my ass for wanting to play this so bad. I just love the atmosphere. Call it bad taste or whatever you will, but all I know is that I'm going to enjoy it. In the end, that's all that matters, right?

I don't know that I even think .hack is a good idea. (It's certainly not an original one -- there have been variations on the "malevolent ghost in the machine" story for a couple of decades now.) I do realize that fans will buy the games no matter what, though; Bandai's titles are absolutely review-proof. There are millions of hardcore Tolkien fans, but Universal's crappy LOTR games deservedly sold like crap, while hardcore Bandai fans snap up Mobile Suit Gundam and Dragon Ball and .hack tie-in games regardless of their mediocre content.

Xenosaga is a very good game, but I loathe KOS-MOS -- she's a ridiculous character that virtually destroys the sophisticated storyline by her/its very presence. What the hell would motivate a humble, timid female (just the way Japanese men seem to like 'em) to design an artificial sex kitten? No self-respecting woman, and certainly not one possessed with considerable intelligence, would design or even tolerate a robot with KOS-MOS' blatantly sexual appearance. It's illogical fanservice, and it totally clashes with the mature story. FFX-2, from what I've read and seen of it so far, seems to be a lighthearted romp, so the fanservice works in that case. (The fanservice bromides in the PS1 Lunar remakes were also dubious, but I tried to handle 'em with the proper amount of silliness.)

-- Z.
I still have nightmares from Borgan's Bromide.

[Sylentwulf]

Yeah, they should have made KOS-MOS a 60 year old toothless fat hairy chick. That would have been better.

They were building it with the intent of making it human looking, why make it ugly?

[zmeston]

Yeah, they should have made KOS-MOS a 60 year old toothless fat hairy chick. That would have been better.

They were building it with the intent of making it human looking, why make it ugly?

There's a difference between looking human and looking like a cyborg Playboy Playmate. If the intent of KOS-MOS was to disarm and seduce the enemy with its beauty (a la the Terminatrix in Terminator 3), that would make sense, and be a cool plot point, as well. Alas, the point of KOS-MOS is blatant fanservice, and in a game with a Nietzsche reference in the title, that's an absurdity. You can't take the high road and the low road at the same time.

Or, try the role-reversal approach: if you were a male scientist, would you design a cyborg who walked around with a bare chest and bike shorts, so that the whole world could see his unit? It's totally ludicrous.

Humans have always wanted to look at attractive members of their species, of course; that's why we have movie stars. God knows I do. But KOS-MOS belonged in another game, not this one.

-- Z.

[bizounce]

I also look at the fact that it is fantasy, and it really doesn't have to make sense. KOS-MOS, the actual idea, was needed in the story. Her image, yes, could have been much different. There was nothing wrong with making her look beautiful, but they didn't have to give her the legs and chest. This on the other hand doesn't bother me. KOS-MOS is my favorite character in the game, and would still be in any other image.

[zmeston]

I also look at the fact that it is fantasy, and it really doesn't have to make sense. KOS-MOS, the actual idea, was needed in the story. Her image, yes, could have been much different. There was nothing wrong with making her look beautiful, but they didn't have to give her the legs and chest. This on the other hand doesn't bother me. KOS-MOS is my favorite character in the game, and would still be in any other image.

Of course it's fantasy. Of course it doesn't need to make sense. Watership Down is a wonderful story about talking rabbits.

The point is that KOS-MOS's blatant sexuality conflicts with the TYPE OF STORY being told here. Monolith Soft has loudly boasted of the sophistication of the story, how it demands to be told across a series of six games, but sophistication and fanservice don't mix. (Or at least, Monolith Soft hasn't mixed them well here.)

KOS-MOS disconnects me from the story because I refuse to believe that any woman with a shred of self-respect would construct this robot. Anime girls have almost always been sexualized, yes, but this example of it is especially onerous.

KOS-MOS also reinforces the ever-present stereotype of RPG fans as socially inept males who are incapable of relating to real women, a stereotype that was unfortunately reinforced in my mind during my WD stint.

-- Z.

[Sylentwulf]

<shrug>
I think you're gonna have a hard time getting anyone to agree with ya, but hey. To each their own.

MY thoughts on it were "What story?"

Everyone's reviews of this game were fight for 10 minutes, watch for an hour. To me it seemed more like play for 40 minutes, watch for 10 minutes. Especially after playing FFX.

[bizounce]

Yeah, I agree with you there actually. It was more like "There are things happening! Oh yeah, here's a little story line too. A little."

As for the KOS-MOS image thing though, I really do understand. I really like her face, very pretty, almost angelic. Every woman would want to have a beautiful daughter, but wouldn't want their daughter to look slutty. To me looks really don't matter. The image of KOS-MOS doesn't bother me, but I see what you mean. I thought she looked cool. Her image rather reminded me of Cammy from Street Fighter (Alpha sprite).

Hey Zach, what do you think of Shion's image?

[zmeston]

<shrug>
I think you're gonna have a hard time getting anyone to agree with ya, but hey. To each their own.

MY thoughts on it were "What story?"

Everyone's reviews of this game were fight for 10 minutes, watch for an hour. To me it seemed more like play for 40 minutes, watch for 10 minutes. Especially after playing FFX.

I'm not trying to get anyone to agree with my opinions; I'm just sharing them. Believe me, I know that ranting against the evils of unrealistic women in videogames is futile.

-- Z.

[Sylentwulf]

Well, Shion didn't know about the weapon KOS-MOS had in her stomach, so who says she designed her anyways? :) You'd think if you made something you would know about 6 panels opening up in it's chest and shooting a huge blue beam from them.

[kainemaxwell]

I so gotta play Xenosaga soon now...

[Kid Fenris]

Of course it's fantasy. Of course it doesn't need to make sense. Watership Down is a wonderful story about talking rabbits.
The point is that KOS-MOS's blatant sexuality conflicts with the TYPE OF STORY being told here. Monolith Soft has loudly boasted of the sophistication of the story, how it demands to be told across a series of six games, but sophistication and fanservice don't mix. (Or at least, Monolith Soft hasn't mixed them well here.)
KOS-MOS disconnects me from the story because I refuse to believe that any woman with a shred of self-respect would construct this robot. Anime girls have almost always been sexualized, yes, but this example of it is especially onerous.
KOS-MOS also reinforces the ever-present stereotype of RPG fans as socially inept males who are incapable of relating to real women, a stereotype that was unfortunately reinforced in my mind during my WD stint.

-- Z.

Warning: Mild spoilers and excessive, possibly delusional, analyses follow.

If I remember correctly, Shion didn't create KOS-MOS. Shion only helped in her programming at first, while KOS-MOS was designed by Shion's erstwhile lover Kevin and some other, less obvious parties. Shion took over the project and repaired KOS-MOS after . . . well, a SPOILER happened. This would explain why KOS-MOS has abilities that Shion knows nothing about, why Shion can't really control KOS-MOS in some situations, why Shion views KOS-MOS as a surrogate daughter of sorts, and perhaps even why Shion allows KOS-MOS to strut about looking like an android whore.

Or maybe Kunihiko Tanaka was just told to "draw a sexy robot with Rei Ayanami's hair color."

And yet I wasn't put off by KOS-MOS's appearance, as I found that it actually added to her ominous, sociopathic personality. It's difficult for me to view her as a sex object, considering that's she's foremost a kill-droid operating on inhuman logic and undisclosed directives. Like chaos, KOS-MOS comes across as some nigh-godlike being meddling with humans in ways they can't understand, and for me, her sexaroid looks evoke a disturbingly alien sense of morals instead of priming any fanboy drool glands.

In a way, KOS-MOS's embodiment of suggestive design and unsettling nature reminds me of Quon Kisaragi from RahXephon. There's fan service, and then there's fan service with a twist. (And, dare I say it, sophistication?) I think KOS-MOS is in the latter category.

Anyway, let's move on to Shion: As zmeston points out, she's within the Japanese proclivity for shy, sweet-natured women. All the same, she's a well-sketched character. She isn't a brazen, fiercely independent female like, say, Jean from Lunar 2, but she's not a weak-willed healer either. And despite her vulnerability, Shion often shows an inner strength, an example being the scene where Virgil's squad almost guns her down.

Still, I agree that there is indeed irony-free sexism afoot in Xenosaga. Note that Shion and the rest of the female characters all follow the same short-skirts dress code that was observed in those old Star Trek shows. And I don't even want to think about what Monolith was trying to do with Momo's design.

Edit: I want to hear more stories of the hardcore geeks you met while working for WD. I'm not sure why. Call it morbid fascination.

[Sylentwulf]

Aye, if you wanna talk fanservice, how about putting Shion in a bikini during battle. Now THAT is blatant fanservice that serves the story in no way shape or form.

BUT, I DID have her in that bikini nontheless for about a third of the game :D

[zmeston]

Edit: I want to hear more stories of the hardcore geeks you met while working for WD. I'm not sure why. Call it morbid fascination.

Thank you (and Sylent) for clearing up my confusion about Shion's role in the creation of KOS-MOS, and for your excellent observations about the characters and story. Now, of course, I'm wondering why Shion never asked Kevin why he was designing an android whore. Heh.

I'll share a hardcore geek story tomorrow, I swear.

-- Z.

[zmeston]

Okay, to make partial amends for my KOS-MOS rant, a few anecdotes about hardcore-geek encounters during my stint at Working Designs. My apologies in advance if these suck.

1) At the end of the 1999 E3, I walked around a corner of the Working Designs booth to find a man standing in front of the door to one of the meeting rooms. The previous day, a fanboy had literally fallen to his knees and kissed Victor Ireland's feet as Victor came out of a meeting room, so I thought this might be another fanboy waiting to pay his obsessive respects. Then I noticed the door to the room was open.

I approached the man and said "Excuse me...", at which point he immediately turned and speed-walked away. Figuring my halitosis had once again saved the day, I turned to close the door -- and saw a second fanboy inside the room, literally peeling a Lunar poster off the wall. "Excuse me?!" I loudly asked, and the fanboy turned his head, but his hands still grasped the poster. "May I help you?!" (Is a polite question still polite when you're screaming it? Hmmm.) "Um, I thought you were giving these away," the fanboy replied, and I almost laughed before shooing him out.

2) The first hintline call I ever fielded at WD was from a very obviously drunk woman playing through Albert Odyssey, and having trouble defeating the female boss who was armed with a whip. "She's my favorite boss," Drunk Lady rambled. "She reminds me of me." "And, uh, why is that?" I asked. "Oh, I'm a dominatrix," Drunk Lady replied, and I proceeded to ask her a series of questions about her profession until Victor shooed me off the line.

3) One of our customer-service peeps received a call from a gentleman who claimed that he knew Sylvia Schmitt, the owner of Working Designs. (Victor is the president of WD, but Sylvia, the wife of a very successful NASCAR driver, controls the cash.) He claimed that Sylvia said he could come by the office and pick up a bunch of games, so the well-meaning customer-service peep scheduled a pick-up time. Then he wisely checked with his supervisor, who called Sylvia and discovered that this guy didn't know Sylvia at all. In fact, he'd showed up unannounced at Working Designs' former location, asked to see Victor, and became angry when he was turned away.

The guy showed up at the appointed time, and Don Shirley (WD's marketing guy) went into the hallway to speak with him. The fanboy was covered with tattoos of characters and logos from games that WD had localized. When Don explained that Sylvia didn't know the guy and that he wouldn't be taking any games home, he got pissed and stormed off. The fanboy placed a series of calls to the office over the next day or two, making ever more outrageous and bizarre claims, such as he'd driven to Redding from the Midwest to pick up the games, that he knew Victor like a brother, et al.

After this incident, Victor had an electronic security system installed. I was always regretful about how it went down -- I think if we'd approached the guy with warmth instead of suspicion, we could've turned it into a great PR thing. I mean, Acclaim pays people to change their names to "Turok," but this guy had willingly turned himself into a WD billboard.

4) During a hintline conversation with Oliver (a fanboy who called the office almost every day for several months), I put him on hold and came back on with my "voice of Satan," which my current girlfriend forbids me from doing because it freaks her out. "You've been thinking naughty thoughts, haven't you, Oliver?" I accused. "You've been thinking naughty thoughts about Jessica" (the spunky chick from Lunar). Oliver gasped and responded, "How did you know?!"

And then there were the dozens of letters from fans -- some of them wonderful and sweet, but the majority of them frightening and disturbing. I'd read the scariest letters aloud so that my fellow employees could share in the laughter. Fanboys get obsessive about RPG characters like they get obsessive about TV characters; they spend so much time with them that they begin to regard them as real people.

Not that Playboy centerfold and pornstars aren't practically as fictional as Luna and Mia, but you could tell from the tone of certain letters that the authors had never developed the social skills to speak with real women, much less to engage in relationships with them. I think that's why KOS-MOS tweaks me as much as she does; she reminds me of all those terrifying letters.

I even made the mistake of engaging in a brief online tryst with an obsessed fanGIRL who casually discussed the brazen sexual acts we would engage in upon meeting in person, but that's a story best left untold for more reasons than I can count.

-- Z.

[bizounce]

OMG BUT JESSICA ISN'T REAL :o .

......

Back to reality.

Yeah, fanboys can be a handful, I'm sure. I've been to a few anime conventions and boy to you meet some interesting people. I suggest everyone read this (if you haven't before) http://maddox.xmission.com/anime_nerd.html .
Now I'm cos playing (dressing up as a CHARACTER(Iori) from a fictional videogame (King of Fighters). This is the first time I've ever done this and the only reason I'm doing it is because a friend of mine asked me to join him in his cos playing ventures. That's about as far as I will go as a fan of a series of videogames. Don't get me wrong, I love this stuff, but those people that you just mentioned, Zach, scare the bejeezuz outta me LOL .

Well, back to having sexual fantasies about KOS-MOS.....I mean......being normal......BYE!

[kainemaxwell]

Jessica was in Lunar 1 (Kyle reminds me of one my old gym teachers).
You mean Jean or the money-hungrey Lemina in Lunar 2?

[zmeston]

Jessica was in Lunar 1 (Kyle reminds me of one my old gym teachers).
You mean Jean or the money-hungrey Lemina in Lunar 2?

Damn those 1 and 2 keys for being so close together.

If my anecdotes inspired you only to point out a typo, they must be even lamer than I thought. Sigh.

-- Z.

[kainemaxwell]

I'm finishing up Lunar 2 sometime soon myself, up to the Star Dragon tower.

[Kid Fenris]

Jessica was in Lunar 1 (Kyle reminds me of one my old gym teachers).
You mean Jean or the money-hungrey Lemina in Lunar 2?

Damn those 1 and 2 keys for being so close together.

If my anecdotes inspired you only to point out a typo, they must be even lamer than I thought. Sigh.

-- Z.

Nah, that was quite entertaining. I had hoped for some inadvertent dirt on Vic Ireland, but it was nonetheless amusing. And here I thought that only anime fans stole posters.

Speaking of anime fans, here's another guide to the annoying varieties. For some of them, it's just as accurate if you replace "anime" with "video games."

http://www.animejump.com/cgi-bin/go.cgi?go=editorial/d-meter/dmeter-old19

[kainemaxwell]

Funny Fenris, i spread that list around a couple other anime boards I'm on.

Beat Lunar 2. Sappy ending.

[zmeston]

Nah, that was quite entertaining. I had hoped for some inadvertent dirt on Vic Ireland, but it was nonetheless amusing. And here I thought that only anime fans stole posters.

While I'm about as much of a jerk as Victor, and certainly have just as many character faults, here are a few random tidbits about the one-man band behind Working Designs.

1) He perms his hair. Yes, that Brillo-pad "hairstyle" is intentional.

2) I always get scolded when I mention this one, but anyway: he's a member of the Jehovah's Witness cult, along with most of his employee-relatives. Witnesses are the people who walk door-to-door and hand out the Watchtower, don't celebrate birthdays or holidays, refuse blood transfusions (even if their children will die without receiving them), and interpret the Bible as stating that a mere 144,000 people will enter Heaven, among other things. Now, I'm a hardcore atheist who considers all religions to be superstitious cults, but even in the religious world, Witnesses' beliefs are notably eccentric.

Witnesses have regular meetings (the name of which I forget), and when Victor would disappear from the office for two or three days without warning or explanation, it was because he was attending one of these regional retreats.

Presumably as a result of his religious inclinations, Victor believes that supernatural creatures are real. That's why he uses the substitute word "fiend" (which means "demon") in his localizations. It's like the ancients who believed that "Jehovah" was a holy word which would kill anyone who uttered it, so they came up with substitute terms.

I once eavesdropped on a couple of Witnesses who were talking smack about Victor for his "evil" work in the videogame industry. (They had mistakenly come to my house in Redding, thinking it was his, and I listened through the door instead of answering it.) I told Victor about the visit, but not about the smack-talk, and he said the two men were friends of his. Made me wonder how many real friends Victor had.

3) He loves pinball machines, and there were about a half-dozen pins in the WD office at the end of my three-year stint. Every employee, Victor and myself most certainly included, pissed away untold work hours with Indiana Jones and Jack-Bot and Medieval Madness. Victor and I were the best players in the office, so we often got into heated high-score battles.

4) He bombards the female voice actresses with double entendres and other sexually oriented humor during their recording sessions -- at least, during every recording session I observed. Funny for ten minutes, then uncomfortable, then creepy.

5) He made every male employee of Working Designs help move all his belongings from his old house to a new home in a ritzy section of Redding. It took about a week, during which work on WD's localizations ground to a halt.

6) While certainly well within his rights to do so, Victor constantly snooped on employees' computers to see what they were up to when he wasn't watching. At least one employee was terminated as a result of leaving incriminating IM logs on his work PC.

And these are probably even more boring than the previous anecdotes, so I'll shut up and save the rest of the stories for my autobiography, "Adventures of a Freelance Weasel."

-- Z.

[bizounce]

Yeah right, Zach. That stuff is GOLD! Don't put yourself down man, you're a very interesting person and I quite enjoyed are chat the other day.