The Music of WoW, and the Importance of Audio in Games

The music of World of Warcraft:

It’s no secret I love the music in World of Warcraft — or, more accurately, Russell Brower’s music for Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm. I think they’re among the greatest soundtracks ever produced, up there with Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings soundtrack and Bear McReary’s music for the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. I often half-joke that the music is what keeps me playing after so long.

But that’s the thing: I’m only half-joking. The music really does make a huge difference in my enjoyment of the game. My all-time favourite zones are the Grizzly Hills and the Storm Peaks. They also have my favourite soundtracks. I’m not really sure how much of my love of them stems from their fun quests and epic storylines, and how much stems from their fantastic music.

But there’s more to this than just my enjoying the music. It can have a major impact on how I perceive the game and its story, and that brings me to my next point.

Audio in games:

One of my favourite things about Cataclysm is its portrayal of Night Elves. For the first time in WoW’s history, they’ve gone back to their warrior roots, as seen in places like Darkshore, Ashenvale, and anywhere Thisalee Crow shows up.

For those who didn’t play Warcraft III, Night Elves are not just tree-huggers. They used to be badasses of the highest caliber. These are the people who fought Grom Hellscream — who was twice the warrior his son is — and handed him his ass on a platter.

A lot of the feeling of the Night Elves being badasses again did come from quest design and characterization. I don’t want to downplay that. But I think a lot of it may also have stemmed from them finally getting some epic, pulse-pounding music that wasn’t just bland, New Agey ambiance.

(Skip to about 1:20 in the video to hear what I’m talking about.)

And then there’s the Southern Barrens. I think this zone’s storyline is among the best in WoW’s history, and there’s a lot of reasons for that, but the music is one of them.

A number of quests take place in the Battlescar, a region consumed by the Horde-Alliance war. Blizzard could have given these area some intense, epic soundtrack to inspire people to battle. But they didn’t. They tied it to a song called “The Land Will Weep.”

It’s a mournful, tragic piece, and it speaks to the futility of war and the senselessness of the bloodshed. Blizzard gave the zone a wonderful moral with just a clever piece of soundtrack.

All this has really shown me the importance that sound and music can have in storytelling, and doubly so in video games, where it’s difficult to apply any real depth without lengthy exposition that most players would resent and/or skip through. And the lesson is especially apparent because Blizzard also provides us with an example of what not to do.

I have a very low opinion of most of the content from classic and Burning Crusade. There are a lot of diverse reasons for this, but the audio is one of them. With a handful of isolated exceptions, the music was extremely bland and ambient and ultimately forgettable.

Voice acting was also incredibly sparse. It sucked so much life out of the game when nearly any conversation or event of relevance had to be read as text on the screen.

I can’t overstate my joy when I got Wrath of the Lich King and heard regular voice acting from scripted events, mobs, and even a fully voice-acted quest (still the only one in the game). The Warcraft universe was reborn for me when I first heard a Vrykul shout, “I’LL EAT YOUR HEART!”

As with music, voice acting can be used to add nuances to the game that would otherwise require lengthy and largely unwelcome exposition. For example, Darion Mograine’s greetings show us his rage and cynicism, but also his hope for a brighter future. “All is not lost… not yet.”

So now, whenever I play a new game, I pay special attention to the audio, and it plays a key part in forming my opinion of the game. Did I stop playing Rift because it was a dull WoW clone, or because it had bland, forgettable music and voice acting?

I wonder…

Why I Love Fantasy + Writing and Graphics

Why I love fantasy:

Over at the GalacticaBBS forum, we’ve been having a very interesting discussion about what makes us love science fiction and fantasy. This struck me as an excellent topic for my blog. Rather than type all my thoughts again, I’ll just copy what I wrote there.

—————–

What do I love about fantasy? A lot. My reasons are very complex, and I’m still not sure I fully understand all of them, but here are some of the broad strokes:

Partly, it’s simply that I find the real world boring. Don’t ask me why. It just seems… pointless. None of us really matter; none of us will be remembered long after our deaths. Our parents tell us we’re special, but we’re not. We’re just another inauspicious human in a long line of them, bumbling along randomly until our lives draw to a close. There’s no moral to our stories. There’s no point or purpose.

But in fantasy, things matter. People matter. Decisions matter. There’s a point to events. There’s a sort of beautiful order to things, and there’s the comforting knowledge that everything will be okay when the book or movie ends. Sure, sometimes there are unhappy or tragic endings, but I feel — and I know many will disagree — a story has failed if it doesn’t provide us with a happy or at least somewhat optimistic ending.

I also like stories that present interesting moral conflicts or dilemmas. Sure, you can do this with stories set in the real world, but in a fantasy world, where anything is possible, there’s so much more potential. You can look at things from angles you couldn’t with a story set in the real world.

I hate to do this to you guys, but once again, I find a good example in the Warcraft universe. Now, Warcraft is generally pretty simple (bordering on the mindless at times), but once in a while, they tackle some very weighty issues, and one of the best examples of this is the Blood Elves. Their storyline dealt with intense subjects like addiction and what it’s like to survive a genocide.

Again, you could cover these with a real world story. You could write a story about a man who is hopelessly addicted, who suffers constant agony from withdrawal and fears he will die if he doesn’t get his next fix. You could even make him the survivor of a genocide to add more drama.

But it’s so much more interesting when the story is about an entire race that is hopelessly addicted and in the constant agony of withdrawal. There’s so much more drama for the characters when they fear that not finding their next fix will not only kill them, but bring about the extinction of their entire species and culture — a culture that has already been ravaged beyond repair by a nightmarish genocide.

The Blood Elves did some awful things after their fall, consorting with Demons and other monsters. But can you honestly say you would have done differently? Could you really have said, “Yes, our civilization has been crushed, and we’re all dying a slow and agonizing death from withdrawal, but I’m not going to accept the one and only offer of help our people have received. This guy seems kind of fishy.”

That’s the kind of story you just can’t tell in a real world setting.

Also on the subject of morality, there’s what I said in my opening blog post about how I find the concept of ultimate evil oddly comforting. If ultimate evil exists, then, theoretically, so must ultimate good. I would happily make the world suffer through a Darth Vader or a Lich King (who are really the same character, let’s face it) if it meant we could get a Luke Skywalker or a Thrall in exchange.

I also love the sense of history the genre brings. I’m not sure why, but I can never get enough of the vast histories people create for fantasy worlds. In the Three Worlds books, I think I almost enjoy reading about the worlds’ ancient history more than the actual action of the books.

And I like studying the differing psychologies of the non-human races in fantasy culture. Some people may zone out when they hear about Elves and Dragons, but I love trying to imagine the world through the eyes of a being who has an entirely different perspective and thought process from a human.

And then there’s the mystery and sense of adventure that comes from a universe where literally anything is possible.

Finally, there’s the more basic appeals, like “Elves r hawt” and “lazerz go pew pew.” Sometimes, it’s just fun to watch people beat each over the head with flaming swords.

I think I’ll close it there, as I’ve already written a small book here, but I think I’ve covered all the main reasons why fantasy appeals to me. Most of this also holds true for science fiction, though not all of it. Sci-fi tends to lack the sense of history fantasy brings, for instance.

Writing and graphics:

WhatMMO has posted another of my articles, 5 Lamest MMO Races. All apologies to those of you who play those races; please try to remember that it’s all in good fun.

I’ve also done some more tinkering with GIMP. Since I recreated my novel characters with Aion, it occurred to me I could do a mock-up of how I always pictured the cover art for my first novel.

I did this in the middle of the night while I was half asleep, which probably wasn’t the best idea, as I can now see a dozen different ways I screwed it up. Still, it was an interesting experiment, if nothing else.

WoW News: Lost Subscribers, Pandaria Talents, and Macaroni Dragons

Lost subscribers:

Blizzard recently held their quarterly investor conference call. Among the news of note was that Diablo III was being delayed again (gee, what a shock) and is not expected until Q2 2012 at the earliest, and that Blizzard is probably only going to release two games this year. These are most likely D3 and Mists of Pandaria, so the wait for Heart of the Swarm continues.

This is mildly disappointing, but not at all surprising if you’re remotely familiar with Blizzard.

After the major subscription losses mentioned at previous conference calls, the thing most people wanted to hear was the World of Warcraft subscription numbers. WoW reportedly has 10.2 million subscribers right now, which means a loss of 100,000 since November.

Fan reaction to this news is, of course, mixed. Plenty of people are still ready to declare Warcraft dead. But I see this as good news. Yes, they’re still losing subscribers, but the loss has gone from a flood to a trickle. The next conference call will let us known if the game is out of the woods yet — if it ever was truly in the proverbial woods — but for now, things have stabilized.

Pandaria talents:

Yesterday, Blizzard posted a long-awaited update to the Mists of Pandaria talent calculator on their site. Now, it occurs to me I haven’t taken much time to discuss my opinions of the MoP talents here, so here’s a brief rundown on how I felt about them before today:

Mage: Okay. No major complaints.

Paladin: Okay. No major complaints.

Warlock: OMGWTFAWESOMESAUCE I WANT IT NOW!!!!!

Rogue: Sucktacular. Nothing new to be excited about. Killing spree is watered down to Adrenaline Rush 2: Electric Boogaloo. Shadowstep for all specs is the only redeeming feature. In fact, I hated it so much I ended up participating in two massive threads on the official forum about how to fix it.

I don’t know or care enough about the other classes to intelligently comment on them, but I will note the death knight and druid trees looked pretty interesting.

But yesterday, many were updated. And to my great joy, the rogue tree was heavily revamped.

Now, there are still some parts that don’t thrill me. The poison talents are underwhelming, killing spree has still had the fun sucked out of it, and the stealth tier is pretty useless for a PvE combat rogue. But we also have some awesome new stuff to compensate.

An AoE vanish for the whole raid? Hells to the yes. I’ll never have a group wipe again! An honest to god ranged attack? With no cooldown? Again, hells to the yes. Deadly throw finally has a reason to exist. And no more sitting around while the ranged own me on Recount on boss phases where I can’t melee!

A lot of people are upset about preparation and shadowstep being on the same tier, fearing the effect it will have on PvP, but while I sympathize with them, it doesn’t have an impact on a PvE player like me.

As for the other classes, the warlock tree isn’t greatly changed and still looks awesome, but there are now a few confusing things. Apparently, destruction’s new infernal embers resource will also cause damage to them, which some people are understandably leery of. Even stranger, they’re also the only spec (in the game) that can auto-attack with a wand. Okay?

Warlocks still have an option to play petless, which is a dream come true for me.

The paladin tree has been cleaned up, with some of the more dull or situational talents removed. They’ve also gained a very interesting new level 90 tier that involves spells that damage enemies and heal allies simultaneously. I’ll be picking up holy prism, personally. Sounds like a very versatile and fun spell.

Most of the changes to the mage tree are minor tweaks to make the new spells more appealing, but arcane spec has gotten some significant changes, and the very dull polymorph tier has been replaced with a tier devoted to mana recharge abilities that also buff damage. I don’t find this tier as exciting as most other people seem to, but it beats an entire tier of different ways to turn people into sheep.

Edit: The more I think I about the new mage tier, the less I like it. I get to choose between interrupting my rotation to evocate every 30 seconds, losing all of my mobility, or a useful but extremely situational shield that will only be worth having on certain fights. My warlock is looking better all the time.

Again, I can’t really comment on the other classes too much. And of course, we’re still pre-beta, and possibly pre-alpha, so this is all heavily subject to change.

How about you? What do you make of the new Mists of Pandaria talent system, and yesterday’s updates?

Sparkly new dragons:

And, as if all that wasn’t enough, Blizzard has released the latest mount from its pet store. Following the sparkle pony, the disco lion, and the annual pass cotton ball, we now have the magnificent macaroni dragon!

Actually, it’s called the Heart of the Aspects, and it does look pretty amazing. At least until you realize that it has no ground animation and never stops its undulating, “air-hump” animation.

Never.

Ever.

Of course, this has caused all the usual nerd rage and craziness. Personally, I think it’s nuts to charge $25 for a mount, but as long as it grants no in-game advantage (*glares at guardian cub*), I have no problem with Blizzard selling it.

Writing and other stuff:

Weird Worm has posted another of my articles: Six Ridiculous Fictional Races from Otherwise Good Franchises.

I’ve also been tagged in one of those memes by a fellow blogger. It requires me to post the sixth picture from my sixth image folder. My sixth folder doesn’t have a sixth picture, so I’m just gonna cheat and pick the sixth one from my standard graphics folder.

Why am I not surprised it’s a Blood Elf?

I will not be tagging anyone else, cause I don’t know six other bloggers and am a killjoy.

Writerly Musings + Guild Wars Fanboyism

Writerly musings:

Amidst all the Warcraft and general nerdery, it occurred to me I had not given any real attention on this blog to my life as a freelancer in some time. Considering that was supposed to be roughly 50% of the blog’s purpose, I suppose I should rectify that.

I have been getting more work as of late. It’s still not as much as I’d like, and being a freelancer, I expect it all to evaporate at any moment, but for now, things are looking a bit better than they did a few months ago.

You’d think I’d be happy about this, but I’ve always been the sort of person who feels the sting of defeat much more strongly than the pleasure of success, so the whole business leaves me feeling rather empty.

Even working for an environmental lawyer, furthering a cause I strongly believe in, doesn’t help. I’m fighting the good fight, and I still feel no sense of accomplishment.

And then there’s the fiction side of my writing life. I largely gave up on that a few months ago, but I’m feeling like I may want to try publishing again. Of all things, recreating my characters in Aion got me thinking of it.

Ah, Seesha. I never even started your book.

Of course, I’m still worried about the topsy-turvy state of the publishing industry right now. I could self-publish, but then I’d have to do all my own marketing, which is not an area where I have a lot of experience or expertise.

And then there’s the question of whether my books are actually good enough to be a hit. I realize it takes a while to get published, but my rejection stack is getting pretty massive, and I have no empirical indication that my writing is any good aside from being a finalist in Blizzard’s contest, which hardly counts.

This post seemed longer and more interesting in my head. Being a freelance writer sounds exciting and romantic, but all I do is write silly lists, spam Craigslist ads, and write angry emails to the people who think paying your writers is an optional step.

Guild Wars Fanboyism:

Since I’ve got some extra space in this post, I might as well share a video of Guild Wars 2 gameplay footage I saw on another blog the other day. This isn’t new, and if you’ve been following GW2′s development closely, you may have seen it before, but I’m a newcomer to the Guild Wars 2 bandwagon, so it was news to me.

A few things come to mind immediately upon viewing this:

1: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!

2: This is absurdly similar to the Vrykul and the Howling Fjord. Am I crazy, or does even the music smack of Wrath of the Lich King? Not that I’m complaining, mind you.

3: I love the emphasis on your character’s personal story. I have always hated the facelessness of player characters in World of Warcraft, and frankly any game where your character is given no personality or development

4: Those graphics are amazing. I hope my feeble computer will be able to run this game.

5: OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!

Who Knew?

I had such good fashion sense:

Yesterday, after much anticipation, Blizzard finally launched their transmogrification screenshot gallery, showing off all the very best outfits submitted to them by World of Warcraft players. I myself had submitted four of my mog sets to them a few weeks back, and I combed through the images hoping that one of the might have made the cut.

Imagine my surprise when, in amongst the ten thousand shots of paladins in plate bikinis, I found that three of my sets had made it into the gallery: my warlock, my rogue, and my paladin (tank set).

Who knew I was such a virtual fashionista?

But enough talk — it’s picture time. *Adopts snotty, non-specific European accent.*

‘ere ve have zhe latest in rogue fashion. Zhe shoulders, helm, and legs are zhe finest VanCleef’s Battlegear, zhe chest is zhe Tunic of the Dark Hour (available for justice points at Shattrath or Quel’danas), and zhe Argent Crusade reward Boots of the Neverending Path are both functional and elegant. Zhe look is finished with Riplimb’s Lost Collar and some season nine PvP gloves, and zhe daggers are Twinblade of the Hakkari and Azure Lightblade. Zhis set says, “I am a proud warrior of the Alliance, and I will shank you. In the face.”

And here ve have a fine paladin set, proud and powerful. An old classic, Lightbringer shoulders, are complimented by a warrior tier eight helm recolour, zhe chest and legs are tier nine for zhat special Alliance-centrique look, and tier eleven off-set pieces play off zhe blue guild tabard. Zhe look is given an extra splash of drama with Quickening Blade of the Prince from Magister’s Terrace and zhe Royal Crest of Lordaeron from Culling of Stratholme.

Finally, we come to zhe warlock. The legs, gloves, and shoulders are Brutal Gladiator’s Dreadweave, but zhe look is given a unique and classy flair with the Drakeweave Raiment for a non-robe chest, and further drama is added by zhe Horns of the Left Hand Path. Zhe Firebane Cloak adds a splash of colour appropriate for a Blood Elf lady. Silver-Thread Boots* and Sash and zhe Brutal Gladiator’s Staff completes zhe look. As zhis character is only level 70, zhis set proves one does not need to be max level to be stylish.

/endcheesyaccent

*(The boots in this picture are actually Netherweave Boots, but I started using Silver-Thread shortly after, and I think it looks much better.)

Here are direct links to the screenshots on their site:

Rogue.

Paladin.

Warlock.

Ironically, the set I thought was best, my mage’s, is the one set that didn’t make the cut.

EBR Application: Peterborough Sustainability Training and Community Empowerment Centre

To my regular readers: I’m posting this for archival purposes as part of my online portfolio. Feel free to ignore it.

To potential employers: This is an application I co-authored with environmental lawyer David McRobert. The parts written by myself are highlighted in red.

SUBJECT-MATTER OF REQUESTED REVIEW

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board is currently planning to close Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School, a popular high school in the heart of downtown Peterborough, and move its students to the suburban Thomas A. Stewart high school, which has sharply declining enrollment, as a way to consolidate resources. However, the school is an important part of Peterborough’s history, community, and economy, and many feel that closing it would do considerable harm to the city.

Thus, we, the Applicants, propose an alternative solution: the creation of a pilot project to partially convert PCVS into a Peterborough Sustainability Training and Community Empowerment Centre in conjunction with the local Trent University, Ministry of Natural Resources, Sir Sandford Fleming College and the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.

The training center would allow PCVS to continue functioning as a high school in some capacity, but would also provide numerous university courses on sustainability and other environmental studies. It would be a unique and vibrant learning environment that would preserve the school’s economic and historical importance while still being an efficient use of resources and expanding Trent’s capabilities as a university.

REASONS FOR REQUESTED REVIEW

The Applicants submit that the sustainability training center would be a boon for Peterborough and the area as a whole, and that closing would PCVS be a blow to the area, for the following reasons:

1. Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational is the oldest school in Peterborough and the second oldest high school in the province. Founded in 1827, PCVS has a rich and proud history that does not deserve this ignoble end.

2. Trent University already has one of the best environmental studies programs in the country. The addition of the PSTCEC would allow the ES program to improve even further and make Peterborough a true force for both environmental education and the development of new green technologies across Canada.

3. Trent would gain a downtown campus. Currently, students must go north of the city for nearly all classes, which is both wasteful and inconvenient.  Since most Trent students in their second, third and fourth years live off campus, we submit that these students would appreciate being able to take night classes a short walk from their residences.

4. Unemployment in Peterborough already hovers at roughly ten percent. The loss of the jobs offered by PCVS can only do further harm to the city, but converting the school into a sustainability training center has the potential to create new jobs and lessen the unemployment burden.

5. The loss of 900 students and faculty from the downtown would be a major loss for local businesses and do further damage to the local economy. 85% of businesses surveyed felt that the closure would have a negative effect on them.

6. Conversely, expanding PCVS to a sustainability training center would increase traffic in the downtown and provide more wealth and customers for local businesses, strengthening the city’s economy.

7. PCVS has had the highest average enrollment of any city schools over the past five years, with enrollment currently sitting at 90%. This is despite declining enrollment in numerous other high schools in the region.

8. The school sits within a vibrant downtown arts community, creating a unique and inspirational environment that cannot be duplicated at another school. On the other hand, the school can become an even livelier marketplace of ideas with the grounds also being used by Trent University and Sir Sandford Fleming College students.

9. PCVS is the only high school in downtown Peterborough and currently has the fewest number of bused students in the city. Moving its 750 students to a suburban school would increase travel time and bus use, which is an inconvenience for the students and their families, harmful to the environment, and a strain on local infrastructure.

10. The closure of PCVS is not likely to solve the issue of enrollment shortfalls, with projections stating that there will be over 1,000 empty spaces in local high schools by 2014, far too many for the closure of PCVS to compensate for.

11. Allowing the PCVS grounds to also be used as a campus by Trent University and SSFC at nights, as well as for continuing education courses offered by the school board is a win-win-win for all the parties.   The Peterborough Sustainability Training and Community Empowerment Centrecould make use of unoccupied classrooms during the day is a more efficient use of resources and allows the burden of keeping the school open to be spread between multiple parties. This should be compelling to all concerned in this time of budget constraint.  It also could be used on the weekends for Executive Sustainability training and conferences.

12. The focus on eco-friendly post-secondary courses would also create the infrastructure for potentially teaching sustainability courses to the high school students as well, creating new generations of eco-smart and environmentally aware youth.

13.  Staff working at the Ministry of Natural Resources might also be more inclined to provide guest lectures and participate in the work of the PSTCEC if it is located at PCVS.

14.  The new Sustainable Food program at Trent would benefit if students were able to interact directly with caterers and restaurant owners operating in city’s core.

15.  Establish the Peterborough region as Ontario’s premier area for healthy retirement by providing a well developed system of trail systems for biking, cross-country skiing, etc by encouraging collaboration between MCTR, MTO, MNR, other provincial ministries, county and local governments, First Nations, aboriginal organizations, cultural organizations and the federal government.

Description of Relevant Ministries, Acts, and Policies:

The primary laws, regulations, policies and instruments relevant to this submission for a pilot project to partially convert PCVS into a sustainability training center are administered by the following ministries:

Ministry of Natural Resources

the Ministry of the Environment

the Ministry of Government Services

the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

the Ministry of Energy

We request that this submission be directed to each of these ministries for official responses as required by Part IV of the EBR.

However related laws, regulations, policies and instruments administered by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities also need to be considered, and this could require prescription of these ministries and others (as listed below) under O. Reg. 73/94 of the Environmental Bill of Rights.

Thus we request that MOE review the need to prescribe several ministries, as indicated below, including the:

- the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation for reviews under Part IV of the EBR

Purposes:

1. We are seeking a review of the need for a new Act to establish a pilot project for a Peterborough Sustainability Training and Community Empowerment Centre (PSTCEC) at PCVS.  This project would partially convert PCVS into a sustainability training center in conjunction with the local Trent University, Ministry of Natural Resources, Sir Sandford Fleming College and the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.  We are proposing that this law would be enacted by MNR, with significant input from MGS, MOE, MMAH, and MCTR.  The first four of these ministries are prescribed for reviews under the EBR.

2. We request a review of the need to create a multi-stakeholder task group, funded by the Ministry of Natural Resources, MCTU and others to explore the details of the required legal changes and consult with affected stakeholders and the public.

3. Pursuant to Section 61 of the Environmental Bill of Rights, the Applicants request a review of the need for amendments to the primary regulation under the EBR to ensure that a number of ministries and agencies be prescribed for various purposes and provisions of the EBR including:

a.  preparation of Statements of Environmental Values under Part II; and

b.  Applications for Review under Part IV of the EBR.

These include:

Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities

Ministry of Finance (MOF)

Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs

Ministry of Economic Development and Trade

Ontario Heritage Trust

For Applications for Review under Part IV of the EBR

Ministry of Education

Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation

Ministry of Transportation

Ministry of Economic Development and Trade

Ministry of Labour

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) needs to be prescribed under O. Reg. 73/94 of the Environmental Bill of Rights because MOF oversees expenditures by all ministries and is ideally positioned to promote integration of environmental, social, cultural, scientific and economic factors in the work of all prescribed ministries in Ontario.  It also will play a crucial role in approving these types of future sustainability pilot projects.

The undersigned further contend that the creation of a PSTCEC at PCVS in conjunction with Trent University, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Sir Sandford Fleming College and the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board likely will require new approaches to financing mechanisms for these types of pilot projects.  It will be essential to review the need for revisions to existing policies, amendments to existing legislation, regulations and/or supporting technical guidelines for funding to school boards, universities, colleges and private sector providers of higher learning to provide for more effective implementation and service delivery.

Additional Acts to Prescribe

Additionally, parts of the Municipal Act, 2001 may have to be prescribed as being subject to the EBR.

Environmental Benefits:

The environmental benefits of this pilot project would include:

- reduced commuting by students, relieving the City of Peterborough of the need to operate and maintain a growing number of buses

- development of new environmental technologies for refillable and reuseable packaging, community composting, various other waste handling mechanisms

- promotion of green industries in southern Ontario

- development of leading edge executive training programs for ISO and other related environmental sustainability

- opportunities to promote cross-fertilization between agencies and deal with nagging structural unemployment in the Peterborough area

Background to the Application

In September of 2011, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board voted to close Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School, effective the end of the current school year. The stated reasoning was dropping attendance among various high schools in the Peterborough area as well as budget concerns, both of which caused the Board to view consolidation of schools to be a good option.

However, many feel the plan was enacted too hastily, and without taking into account all the facts. The Accommodation Review Committee appointed by the Board to find solutions to falling enrollment was shut down last spring before it could propose any other solutions or gather public opinions on the matter.

News of the closure triggered a massive backlash from students, faculty, and community members, who feel that PCVS is a remarkable school and a crucial part of the community. This led to the creation of the creation of the “Peterborough Needs PCVS” campaign, a large grassroots effort by former and current students and faculty members to prevent the closing of the school.

This campaign has held events such as charity concerts and auctions to raise money to fight the legal battle to keep the school open. These events were supported by famous PCVS alumni such as comedian Sean Cullen and Juno award winner Serena Ryder, and were even commented on by CBC personality Rick Mercer, who said, “The fact that these kids are trying to save the school obviously speaks volumes about how important the school is.”

As of yet, the Peterborough Needs PCVS campaign has not been successful in preventing the school’s closing, but their passion and determination should show how much the people of Peterborough value PCVS as an institution.

Why A Review is Required

Partially converting PCVS into a sustainability training center tied to Trent University allows the school to continue to be an important focal point of the community while also being an efficient use of resources. The university can make use of the campus for night classes, as well as during the day if and when attendance drops such that classrooms are sitting empty.

The pooled efforts of the school board, Trent, and the Ontario government would allow for the creation of a truly special educational setting without overly taxing any one party. The sustainability training center has the potential to be an advanced, top-notch educational facility, fully wired and equipped with the latest technology, but without the need for excessive wireless radiation due to its facilities being concentrated in a single location.

The Peterborough Sustainability Training and Community Empowerment Centrewould also create a vibrant and inspiring environment for both the high school and university students as they interact with each other and learn together. It has the potential to put Peterborough on the map as a major center of sustainability and environmentally conscious thought.

Finally, it would allow Peterborough to retain an essential part of its community and history while enhancing the sustainability .

In recognition of the remarkable contribution of the founding president of Trent, We would propose that the full name of the centre could be the Tom Symons Community and PSTCEC.

Information filed in Support of this Review

Attached to this submission are various documents for consideration by the various ministers in their deliberation on the scope of the proposed law.

D. McRobert, Review of Application R2004002: (Review Accepted), Prescribing the Ministry of Education under the EBR, Prepared by David McRobert while working as In-house Counsel at the ECO (2006).

Other Resources that are available on request:

D. McRobert and G. Ruby, “Law and Sustainability: The Canadian Case.”  Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (2008).  Geneva: UNESCO, United Nations.

D. McRobert (ed.), Green Industry Development and the 3Rs Sector in Ontario.  Report Prepared for the Waste Reduction Office, MOEE by Dianne Tsang et al., University of Toronto, May 1993.

D. McRobert, “Restructuring Ontario’s Economy: A Look at the Economic Implications of Shifting to Secondary Materials,” Alternatives, Jan-Feb. 1993.

D. McRobert, “Attitudes about Sustainable Development in Yukon,” In: P. Adams (ed.)  Student Research in Canada’s North.  Ottawa: Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies, 1988.

Appraisal Institute (US), Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum, guidelines for appraising green and energy efficient homes, 2011 http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/education/downloads/AI_82003_ReslGreenEnergyEffddendum

Allen, G.; Persram, S.; Kani, M.; and Lester, S., Assessment of North American Property-Attached and Other Financing Programs For Low-Rise Residential Energy Retrofits, Final Report Prepared for the City of Toronto, Toronto Environment Office, December 2010

Baser, Bob, Le Pan, Nick and Peters, Roger, Pay As You Save Loans (PAYSL): A call for leadership and good policy, 27 September 2010, Ecology Ottawa http://www.ecologyottawa.ca/publications/index.php?WEBYEP_DI=1

Reports and other resources:

Persram, Sonja, Property-Assessed Payments for Energy Retrofits: Recommendations for Regulatory Change and Optimal Program Features, David Suzuki Foundation, 2011. http://www.sustainable-alternatives.ca/PAPER_Persram_for_DSF.pdf

Persram, Sonja, Property-Assessed Payments for Energy Retrofits and Other Financing Options, David Suzuki Foundation, 2011. http://www.sustainable-alternatives.ca/PAPER_+_other_financing_options_-_Persram_for_DSF.pdf

Persram, Sonja, Strategic Recommendations for an Optimal PAPER Program, David Suzuki Foundation, 2011. http://www.sustainable-alternatives.ca/Strategic_recommendations_for_an_optimal_PAPER_program.pdf

Duffy, Robert and Fussell, Heather, This Green House: Building Fast Action for Climate Change and Green Jobs, Columbia Institute, May 2011. http://www.civicgovernance.ca/sites/default/files/publications/This%20Green%20House_Report.pdf

Fuller, Merrian, Enabling Investments in Energy Efficiency: A study of energy efficiency programs that reduce first-cost barriers in the residential sector, Energy & Resources Group,

UC Berkeley, prepared for California Institute for Energy and Environment, May 21, 2009 http://wpui.wisc.edu/files/webcontent/reports/Residential%20Financing%20White%20Paper.pdf

Home Performance Resource Center, Best Practices for Residential Energy Retrofit Program Design: Financing Incentives and Recommendations, March 2010 http://www.hprcenter.org/sites/default/files/ec_pro/hprcenter/best_practices_financing_and_incentives.pdf

LaScelles, Eric, (TD Securities’ Chief Canada Macro Strategist at time of writing), Canadian Mortgage Market Primer, June 17,

2010 http://www.td.com/document/PDF/economics/special/td-economics-special-el0610-cdn-mort-market-di.pdf

Morrison Park Advisors, Tower Renewal Financing Options Report, May 2010, http://www.toronto.ca/city_manager/pdf/tr_financing_options_report.pdf

Natural Resources Defense Council, PACE Now, Renewable Funding, LLC and The Vote Solar Initiative, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Programs White Paper: helping achieve environmental sustainability and energy independence, improving homeowner cash flow and credit profile, protecting mortgage lenders, and creating jobs, May 2010, http://www.renewfund.com/resources/resources

Peters, Roger; Horne, Matt; and Heap, Nicholas, Using Local Improvement Charges to Finance Building Energy Efficiency Improvements: A Concept Report, Pembina Institute, May 1, 2004, http://www.pembina.org/pub/170

Peters, Roger; Whitmore, Johanne; and Horne, Matt: Using Local Improvement Charges to Finance Energy Efficiency Improvements: Applicability Across Canada, Pembina Institute, June 1, 2005 http://www.pembina.org/pub/197

Toronto Real Estate Board, Letter of Support Re: Property Attached Payments for Energy Retrofits (PAPER) Financing Program, March 25, 2011

U.S. Department of Energy, Guidelines for PACE Financing Programs, May 7, 2010:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/pdfs/arra_guidelines_for_pilot_pace_programs.pdf

Long Island Green Homes www.ligreenhomes.com

PACENOW www.pacenow.org

Appraisal Institute (US), Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum, guidelines for appraising green and energy efficient homes, 2011 http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/education/downloads/AI_82003_ReslGreenEnergyEffAddendum

Allen, G.; Persram, S.; Kani, M.; and Lester, S., Assessment of North American Property-Attached and Other Financing Programs For Low-Rise Residential Energy Retrofits, Final Report Prepared for the City of Toronto, Toronto Environment Office, December 2010

Baser, Bob, Le Pan, Nick and Peters, Roger, Pay As You Save Loans (PAYSL): A call for leadership and good policy, 27 September 2010, Ecology Ottawa http://www.ecologyottawa.ca/publications/index.php?WEBYEP_DI=1

Market and health-based research

Canadian Medical Association, No Breathing Room: National Illness Costs of Air Pollution, 2008, http://www.cma.ca/index.php/ci_id/86830/la_id/1.htm

City of Toronto Home Energy Financing Survey, Ipsos Reid, 2010 (full disclosure: with assistance from Sustainable Alternatives Consulting Inc. for survey development and results analysis)

Ipsos Reid Public Affairs, Green Home Improvement Program Qualitative Research Final Report, February 2009 for Climate Change Central

Sandhu, Parminder and Willis, Paul (Willis Environmental Services Ltd.) and Wang, Kitty, Mims, Natalie, and Bell, Mathius (Rocky Mountain Institute), Opportunity Assessment of Strategies to Increase Private Sector Investment in Energy Efficiency, August 2009, prepared for BC Hydro http://www.mendeley.com/research/opportunity-assessment-strategies-increase-private-sector-investment-energy-efficiency-prepared-bc-hydro/

SES Research (Ottawa), Municipal Enviro-Loans for Energy Efficiency and Alternative Energy Study, for the City of Ottawa, June 2007

Bibliography

ECO Special Report, Looking Forward: The Environmental Bill of Rights (March 1, 2005), page 2 [ECO Special Report].

ECO, Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the EBR and the ECO, 2004

ECO, The Last Line of Defence: A Review of Ontario’s New Protections for Species at Risk (February 2009).

EA Advisory Panel (Executive Group), Improving Environmental Assessment in Ontario: A Framework for Reform (March 2005), Volume I, page 90 [EA Advisory Panel Report].

Report of the Task Force on the Ontario EBR (July 1992), [EBR Task Force Report].

 

Cheating on WoW: Aion (+ New Writing)

It’s becoming a minor tradition. Every few months, I get bored with World of Warcraft, download the free trial of another MMO, and then come on my blog to tear it apart and explain all the reasons WoW is better. I’ve already done this to Rift and Star Trek: Online, and now I come to my next victim: Aion.

But something went wrong this time. Against all odds and expectations, I actually kind of like this game.

The basics:

In many ways, the joke “WoW + wings = Aion” is fairly accurate (more on the wings in a minute). The broad strokes are very much in the traditional MMO vein: there’s a guy with a glowing symbol above his head who needs 30 bear asses. Guess whose problem that is?

Still, while it may not be wildly original, it’s enjoyable enough. The quests I’ve done so far flow along at a good pace, there’s not much travel time, and the classes are fun.

Combat in Aion emphasizes combinations and interactions between abilities, which I find very enjoyable. It makes rotations feel more engaging and skillful. There’s an element of strategy to rotations that WoW often lacks.

Amazingly, Aion’s quests seem to be even easier than Warcraft’s. The enemies die slower, so you need to put more effort into killing them, but most mobs have very small or even non-existant aggro ranges, so it’s almost impossible to die while questing.

Red Bull Aion gives you wings!

Aion’s most unique gimmick is the the wings every character receives upon hitting level ten. Unlike in WoW, flight in Aion is intended to be a core gameplay mechanic, and you can do everything from fight to gather trade materials while aloft — though I haven’t encountered much aerial content yet.

The flight is fun enough, but I’ve yet to see it make a major impact, and there are a lot of obtrusive no fly zones, so that takes some of the thrill out of it. Does make getting to a new quest area more exciting, though.

The bad:

Aion has many flaws, but most of are minor and mostly consist of irritating quality of life issues. Imagine having a chance to fail every time you try to pick an herb, or having the risk of losing all gems in a piece of gear every time you try to socket a new one. These are dumb mechanics in the extreme, but to be fair, I didn’t find them enough to seriously hurt my enjoyment of the game. Yet.

I can see things getting more troublesome later on. The game doesn’t seem to have any dungeon finder tool, which is the biggest potential deal-breaker for me. Seeing all the people begging for tanks in the LFG channel brought back some nasty memories.

I’m also told that the game requires a lot of grinding in later levels.

The quest design could use some work, as well. It’s very much a Burning Crusade questing model — get a dozen unrelated quests dumped on you the moment you enter a zone, most of which are just culling the local wildlife. It’s “killing rats” syndrome.

The charm:

But Aion does have a lot of very nice features, as well. The graphics are beautiful, and unlike Rift, even my mediocre computer could still handle it at high settings with minimal lag.

Most impressive are the character models, which are visually stunning and almost infinitely customizable. There are only two playable races, and there’s little visual variation between them, but the customization options are so good that it’s hardly an issue. If you want to play a two-foot tall pink pixie, you can, and if you want to play an eight-foot snarling savage, you can — and both characters can be of the same race.

In fact, the customization is so amazingly good that I took to recreating characters from my novels. I can’t really describe the kind of thrill that was, to see a character I’d created staring me in the face.

I’ve written two books and a short story about that girl.

The world of Aion, Atreia, is interesting, with a unique and alien atmosphere. It has a good backstory that manages to not be a clone of Warcraft, and the cultures are surprisingly rich and well-developed.

I’ve spent most of my time playing on the Asmodian faction, and I find I’ve quickly developed a strong sense of faction pride. I honestly think Blizzard could take a lesson from the Asmodians on how to portray a culture with dark and Spartan themes without making them into cartoon villains — as has happened to the Horde lately.

I’ve often said that an RPG needs two things to work: good ambiance and fun classes. Aion has managed to succeed in both these areas.

The verdict:

Aion’s does have its fair share of flaws, and it’s not as fun as World of Warcraft, but the core of a solid game is there. It’s not as soulless and over-complicated as Rift, and it’s not as obtuse and dull as Star Trek: Online.

I don’t see myself paying to keep playing Aion after my trial runs out. I’ve already shelled out for the WoW annual pass, and I don’t have a huge amount of disposable income right now.

But if Aion ever becomes free to play, I may just have to make a return to Atreia. Aion is already free to play in Europe, so it might not be that unlikely.

New writing:

Weird Worm has posted another of my articles: Five TV Idiots (And Why We Love Them). No prizes for guessing who made it to #1.