See, if these were classes to help us with our actual jobs, that would fine. If they were training sessions for procedures and processes that we're supposed to follow, that would be acceptable. But I've been to several of them so far, and so far they seem to be training sessions for no good reason whatsoever. Not one single thing about my actual job has been changed by these sessions. One of the two turned out to be information that a manager would probably need to know... But not programmers.
Nope; we're taking the classes because in order to achieve the rating the corporate gibbons want, all employees must be trained in all these things. Doesn't matter if we actually use it. Doesn't matter if we actually remember it ten minutes after the session. Heck, it doesn't seem to matter if we pay any attention whatsoever during the session, as long as we sign in, occupy a chair, and fill out the little form at the end that says, essentially, "Yes, I was present for this lecture."
Why am I raving about this now? Because I've got yet another of these corporate constipation classes today. In fact, apparently someone had a hissy fit because we're not being trained fast enough, and now I've got one of these idiot training sessions at least every other week for the next four months. And I'm not anticipating any fun, because with the number of people on the posted lists, the conference room is not going to be big enough to hold us all.
The only good thing about these sessions is that the company provides lunch, catered from one of the local restaurants. Unfortunately, I just started my diet back up. I can not afford to eat catered food. So I brought my bagged lunch anyway, and when everyone else starts eating, I'll have to hope I can slip away and microwave my lunch. Though I might order a salad, as long as they're not ordering from the Italian place.
I'm just thanking my lucky stars that I've got Anna Karenina on my Palm.
So it looks like everyone is excited about Matt's 7th Sea game, which is good - I'm very excited, and it's no fun playing a game with people who aren't excited when you are.
One of the interesting things about 7th Sea is that there aren't any "throwaway" scores. In AD&D, for example, no one really worries about having a low Charisma score. It's never really used, and unless you're a paladin or a ranger, it's the stat you give short shrift. (To be honest, the best-played Charisma I've ever seen was an low score, which was played for comic relief.) And there are other stats that can be ignored depending on character class. Unless you're playing a priest, there's no need for a high wisdom. High constitution and strength scores are generally reserved for fighters. Like that.
But in 7th Sea, there aren't really character classes (aside from the stipulation that it's practically impossible to be both a sorcerer and a swordsman, because of the point costs) and all of the stats are important to everyone. Especially since there's an aspect of the game that depends on your lowest stat.
Anyway, it makes for interesting character creation. Matt was telling me that there are some rules in the GM's guide to make character creation even more interesting - like having everyone create characters at the same time, and use a pool of points for the whole party that's five or ten points short of enough to give everyone the standard 100. It wouldn't have worked for this game, because we're all novices with no idea what's actually game-important, but I could see a more experienced group of players having to really dig deep to get the most out of their points and working together to make sure all the important bases are covered.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
Word of the Day: internecine - marked by slaughter; deadly; mutually destructive; of or relating to conflict within a group
Well, the results of yesterday's poll seem to indicate that no-one is actually opposed to polls. As of this morning, two people would love to see a new poll every day, and four think an occasional poll would be acceptable. So we'll see how it goes. I'm still playing with the script, so hopefully I'll be able to manage a more attractive results display. I'm glad no one is opposed; it's not like I expected an internecine war among camps of my legions of readers, but I do try to keep y'all happy.
Polls will almost certainly not be a daily thing, if only because at the moment they're a bit of a pain to set up. But every now and then, I've been interested in getting feedback from you, and this will help me do that.
Speaking of which...
- River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Current Projects:
- trying to get back into the diet swing
Diet Progress: 1.5 lbs gained (those daily fluctuations suck)
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