GOOD BOOKS

John The Ax · Post by **John The Ax** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 8:08 pm

I like the Mask of the Red Death. That was an excellent story.

Da_Goat · Post by **Da_Goat** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 10:28 pm

I'm always alone with this, but my favorite is The Cask of Amontillado. It's just paints the coolest picture in my head, for some reason.

Post by **Dogbreath** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 10:46 pm

I'm afraid the Fall of the House of Usher won't pass as much more than a scary story if you don't understand the metaphores. (The crumbling rock in the solid looking house represents a family that looks solid from the outside but is really on the verge of collapse. The dark moat around the house represents the darkness surrounding the family that ultimately engulphs it. (Remember at the end where he notices the water "seeping" over the remains of the house?) etc. It's a good story if you just generally look at it, but if you closely examine it you can see so much more that it completely changes the way you think about it)

I have heard from several literary experts that I know that The Fall of the House of Usher is the best way to introduce someone to Poe, as it has all of the charicteristics of his writing. (Symbolism, horror, disperspection, surrealness, mystery, fear, percise and mathimatical writing (well, maybe not that, but this numerology interest is seen in other stories such as Red Death or Bells (I just read the latter last week)) and an obsession with death) Of course, some may prefer his more focused stories when he narrows it down to one key subject but I still enjoy the creative blend of The Fall of the House of Usher best.

Da_Goat · Post by **Da_Goat** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 10:51 pm

Off-topic, sort of: There's an average shooter game based on The Fall of the House of Usher at Game Hippo.

Post by **Dogbreath** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 11:23 pm

Whoever wrote that game should be taken out and shot. It totally ruins the feel of the story and trivializes it as some childrens ghost story with witches and demons and glowing jack-o-lantrens. It has none of the majesty of Poe.

Da_Goat · Post by **Da_Goat** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 11:36 pm

Yeah, I didn't like it too much either. They should have made a sierra-like adventure instead. That would be cool, and they could have still kept the poe style.

eViL bOrIs I · Post by **eViL bOrIs I** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 9:51 am

Sheesh. It's just a game, DB.

Yes, I realize the metaphors in FotHoU, that is why I said it is scary. Combined with the surface of the story, it's really something.

Post by **Dogbreath** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 6:23 pm

eViL bOrIs I wrote:Sheesh. It's just a game, DB.

No, if it was "just a game" then they wouldn't have named it The Fall of the House of Usher and I would be okay with it. If they had named it, "Ghost Mansion" or something like that I would be okay. But this game has NOTHING to do with Poe and thus is unworthy of the title.

eViL bOrIs I · Post by **eViL bOrIs I** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 6:28 pm

If you say so

John The Ax · Post by **John The Ax** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 7:57 pm

Actually I kinda agree with DB here.

Post by **Dogbreath** » Mon Feb 24, 2003 10:34 pm

Indeed. From the title, you would expect a masterful, suspence filled adventure game with a great deal of cutscenes and very story-oriented action where there is any. Essentially, a game that respects Poe's work. Not some cheap 2D shooter with little animated spooks that couldn't scare a fly.

Imagine going out and buying The Fellowship of the Ring by BlackLabel only to find a game with a little 2D wizard with a blue hat running back and forth throwing fireballs at fakey, pasted-on looking goblins to advance through some poorly animated, simple looking cave after the other.

Imagine reading about ADOM and then downloading it only to find a poorly written zzt game made by my 7-year-old sister that crashes whenever you press "P."

I'm not against simple games with non-existent plots, they can be fun, though akin to talking to Thunderdog's sister at times.

I'm against games like that that claim to be the recreation of the works of a brillient and inspired author.

Kazer0 · Post by **Kazer0** » Tue Feb 25, 2003 1:22 pm

remebered: Pit dragon trilogy

eViL bOrIs I · Post by **eViL bOrIs I** » Tue Feb 25, 2003 9:45 pm

It doesn't claim to be anything, it just has the same name. The author prolly thought it a tribute to Poe. So the title does not match the game, it's no reason for you to waste 10's of minutes of your life typing up huge posts

.
Then again, mebbe it is.

Post by **Dogbreath** » Tue Feb 25, 2003 10:45 pm

1. Heh, 10 minutes? I type (near) word perfect at 65 WPM so it's more like 3 or 4.

2. You ain't got no comprehension of what huge is, mate. I have several times in the past here, mostly back on IB where I was wasting my time by trying to intelligently explain to trolls and other social retards why their behaviour is incorrect and inappropriate... ah yes, the days before I learnt that pressing the "Lock" button was so much more affective in curbing their zeal to be stupid, I have posted replies in excess of four printed pages. Also, if you choose to read Usenet, you may find some posts to be so long that they can take over an hour to read. (No joke, pal, I've seen 'em)

But, I have begun to understand the usefulness of brievity on such forums and have dramatically attempted to hamper my long-winded urges. Apoligies if I have offended you by posting something over a paragraph... at least you didn't insist that I speak in chattalk like some people here have. (Anyone remember Dolphin and her "i cnt undrstan U! UR uzin 2 many big wurdz!!!!!11!1!111!!!!

:(:(:(:(:(" ?)

Da_Goat · Post by **Da_Goat** » Tue Feb 25, 2003 11:17 pm

Dogbreath wrote:1. Heh, 10 minutes? I type (near) word perfect at 65 WPM so it's more like 3 or 4.

Actually, I type just as fast as that, if I want to....

And DFD@GameHippo can type at 200+ WPM....

Kazer0 · Post by **Kazer0** » Wed Feb 26, 2003 1:13 pm

I higly doubt that.

John The Ax · Post by **John The Ax** » Wed Feb 26, 2003 2:36 pm

So do I.

Post by **Dogbreath** » Wed Feb 26, 2003 4:20 pm

probably 200 LETTERS per second which would be ~70 WPM.

Da_Goat · Post by **Da_Goat** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 12:06 pm

No, it's true. DFD is too normal to lie. He can exaggerate, though, so he might mean that was his top speed ever.....

John The Ax · Post by **John The Ax** » Thu Feb 27, 2003 2:32 pm

Probably he set his typing program to home row only and typed away.