Forum Activity for @tatiana-dokuchic

What are you Reading? v2

Book Lovers

Massie's book about Catherine the Great is one of my favourites as well, @leopoldina.  Perhaps it's because I find her so fascinating. 

Peter, though interesting, was just so ruthless.  Perhaps he had to be so to survive & thrive in his environment?  I always wonder the same about Henry VIII.  Would kinder men have made it as far as they did?

Both The Romanov's - The Final Chapter and Nicholas and Alexandra are good reads though knowing how the story ends makes me dread finishing the books.  I'm always trying to find a way for them to escape their fates.

BTW: I've searched JR and I don't think you can post images straight from the web.  They have to be local to your machine first.  I'm guessing that this is mainly a security feature.

What are you Reading? v2

Book Lovers

I just finished Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Knowing it was a script I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it but after seeing it at the top of the Bestseller Lists for a bit I decided to give it a whirl.

I found it kind of "meh".  I can see how it works better as a play than a novel since you would get to revisit the whole HP experience on stage.  I found Albus a tad annoying as he tends to be a bit of a whiner.  On the bright side, it did have some interesting twists and it was nice to see what various "old friends" had done with their lives.  Somehow I guess I just expected more

Have you read it?  What did you think?

What are you Reading? v2

Book Lovers

I'm always looking for reading suggestions so I thought it would be fun to make a list of books currently being read.

What are you reading now?

Please note that this is a continuation of the original  What are you Reading?

Westworld a New HBO Series SPOILERS

Off Topic

I vaguely remember the original movie which is why I'd have some qualms about actually visiting the park.  When things go bad ... boy do they go bad ...

I too make a connection between SL admins & the Westworld management.  All those people not only delivering the physical infrastructure, including the hosts, but writing the narratives to keep the guests entertained.

Westworld recap: episode four – these cigars will blow your mind

While Ford is keen to tell Theresa that he has never once messed up a plan or narrative, he lets her know that any authorisation he might have goes way over her head. He also drops in a quick diss of old pal Arnold for good measure, suggesting that it was his bleak view of humanity that inspired the park’s random and egregious sex and violence.

I don't remember the exact words but Ford said something about writing hundreds of positive scenarios, all which got tossed in favour of the sex and violence.  Kind of reminds me of the media's limited view of SL

Westworld a New HBO Series SPOILERS

Off Topic

@claire-sophie-de-rocoulle  The first season has ten episodes of which four have already been shown.  If it continues as it started I would hope for more seasons to come.  Time to jump on the bandwagon now  

Perhaps we could have a Westworld Week in SL?  Who do we know with an Old West Estate on the ground and a SciFi Lab in the sky?

On a related note, I was commenting in @leopoldina 's topic that Red Dead Redemption reminded me of Westworld.  I guess I had good reason to make the connection!

Westworld’s creators were inspired by Red Dead Redemption and BioShock

Westworld is about a Western theme park where the “hosts” are all hyper-human robots that the human visitors can interact with. It’s easy to draw similarities between the titular Westworld and a video game. The hosts in the park serve as NPCs, drawing the guests into adventures. That could mean something as innocuous as a treasure hunt, or something as taboo as murder. The guests have free rein to do as they please.

Among the video game inspirations for Westworld were Rockstar’s open-world adventure games — most notably, Red Dead Redemption and the Grand Theft Auto series, which both Nolans played for research.

...

But the Nolans are fascinated by the way that people can use games to explore violent fantasies that might be completely at odds with their everyday personalities.

Westworld a New HBO Series SPOILERS

Off Topic

Is anyone else watching the new Westworld HBO series?

The program takes place in fictional Westworld, a technologically advanced, Western-themed amusement park populated completely by synthetic androids dubbed "hosts". Westworld caters to high-paying visitors dubbed "newcomers" (also known as "guests"), who can do whatever they wish within the park, without fear of retaliation from the hosts.

I'm finding it fascinating.

Here you have the ultimate gaming experience, a rich & complex world, where most "guests" seem to limit themselves to rather unimaginative scenarios.  Reminds me of SL the "Your World, Your Imagination" place.

On ther other hand, the NPCs or "hosts", seem to be developing human consciousness.  Wonder where that's going to lead?

What do you think?  Have you seen it?  Are you enjoying it?  Do you feel sorry for the NPCs like I do?  Would you go if you could?  What would you do there? 

updated by @tatiana-dokuchic: 15 Nov 2016 04:46:22PM

QH Hosting Challenges

QH Challenges

You did a fabulous job with this banquet, Una! Thanks for sharing your story & photos.  Thank you also for not bringing your persoanl chef to the banquet - he still scares me

Many congratulations on the Bronze Award! 

The Great Grape Hunt on Rocca Sorrentina - October 15-23

Communty News & Events

Too much fun!!  Thanks again to Sere & Aldo and everyone that contributed to this community event.

Goats (Verr) - Always Free to QH/LH Members!

G&S Roleplay

Hi @mansur-marawi!

One goat has a LI=5.  You also need a Feeder LI=3 which can be used for multiple goats.

We spent years looking for a good system to enhance our roleplay and finally went with G&S.  Combat isn't something we are interested in plus we need a system heavy on crafting. 

Since adopting it back in March 2016 it's been quite successful.  Personally, I find the experience a whole lot of fun and I'm not bored yet (wonder of wonders). 

There are also a number of other Historical Communities that use it, including Antiquity, so the potential for trade & cross-rp exists.

You can learn more about our experience at the QH C-op .  Here's the discussion that we launched with Queen's Hamlet Co-op: A New Community Activity!

If you'd like to discuss this in more detail please feel free to launch another topic.

What People in 1900 Thought the Year 2000 Would Look Like

History

Ugh, those underwater living spaces STILL give me the creeps, @zed-tremont!  I just keep imagining all the force of that water and then I start looking for tiny leaks