Monday, July 27, 2015

Escape Rooms: Rule #1

So you've gotten yourself signed up for a In-Real-Life Room Escape game, eh?  Don't panic.  I'll tell you exactly what to do if you want to be helpful and escape.  If... you somehow don't want to be helpful in escaping a room, maybe you should reconsider paying money to be locked in a room?

RULE #1: DO SOMETHING, GODDAMMIT

This is the ultimate rule of room escape in a collaborative environment.  Please, please, please.  Do not think to yourself "well I'm not very smart I'll just sit here in the corner and hope we escape."  No.  For the love of all that is holy, NO.  The people who make these puzzle rooms literally do so to entertain a certain number of people, and usually make it challenging enough for that number.  If they let in 12 people at once, you can be sure they expect all 12 people to be doing something at all times, and if they are not, you cannot win.  Trust me, a handful of people utterly cannot win these events alone - there's simply too much to do in too little time for that to be possible.  Look, you don't even need to solve anything, just don't stand there helpless-like.  Look around, turn things over, open drawers, read signs, take down paintings, look behind dressers, try to lift things, flip through books, talk out loud about clues.  (I will accept inane side commentary like: "I wonder what this clock is for.")  Absolutely anything is better than a carbonite version of you, taking up the space of a person who could have been helping instead.

Bad example: We played a game recently where we had to escape a room, but the the twist was: there was also a zombie in the room, trying to eat us.  The zombie had a limited range (dictated by some shackles) but there were plenty of clues and puzzles within its reach.  We had to jury-rig this or that, or fish something out of a cage, and had no other option but to drop the rod and run away when the zombie started to come our direction (you can't fight the zombie, and any touch is game over).  I asked the people on the other side of the room to distract the zombie, but they chose instead to cower in a corner out of its reach, not doing (or solving) anything at all, so it was forced to keep coming for us.  Distracting the zombie didn't take any special skills or smarts or athletic prowess.  Just a will to help out.  Don't be these people.  They could have literally been eaten by the zombie and been more helpful.  At least it would have been kept busy for a few seconds.  As it was, we had to sacrifice one of our own friends, an actively helping person, to stop puzzling and take the responsibility of distracting the zombie.  Out of the recommended 12 people, there were 3 useless statues, 1-2 people for zombie distracting, and only 4-5 people at any time actually solving puzzles.  It made it needlessly difficult.

Good example: Friend #1 had solved a piece of paper which referenced, let's say in this case (to avoid spoilers) a yellow house.  I had no idea what yellow house was supposed to mean.  No one we showed the paper to had any idea.  But we kept showing the paper to every single person in the room while they were running around, and eventually, Friend #2 knew what we were talking about.  Because while we had been heads down over the paper, Friend #2 wasn't idle.  He was surveying all the photos and newspaper clippings and books.  He remembered that there was a yellow house pictured in one of the photo frames, and that was the key to unlocking the puzzle.  None of us would have caught that if he hadn't been active and kept his eyes and ears open.

TO REITERATE: Do not stand by and think you're useless.  You are only useless if you're standing by.  It's better to ask a total stranger: "did you see the numbers written here?" or "did you already solve this puzzle?" or "did you already use this clue?" than to sit on that information, thinking the other people in the room already know about it.  Your fellow escapers won't be offended if you bring them repeat information, and it doesn't take them almost any time to answer these kinds of questions.  They won't be offended if you poke your head in on them looking at a puzzle, and they won't be offended if you re-search a drawer or cabinet again.  People miss things, the atmosphere can be a little hectic, don't be afraid to participate in any way you can.  Trust me, it's MUCH more offensive to sit around and waste a space inside the room.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

NA LCS Playoff: CRS vs CLS Quarterfinals


--- Game 1 ---
Crs Bans: Vayne, Zed, Kha'Zix
CLG Bans: Tristana, Alistar, Corki
Crs: Nidalee, Nocturne, Syndra, Lucian, Zilean
CLG: Lulu, Nunu, Kog'Maw, Twitch, Thresh
Unusual team comps from both sides?  You think that it's something that CLG brought back from Korea, but then they let the Nidalee get away from them.

--- Game 2 ---
Crs Bans: Vyne, Twitch, Alistar
CLG Bans: Tristana, Corki, Kog'Maw
Crs: Nidalee, Nunu, Syndra, Jinx, Braum
CLG: Maokai, Kha'Zix, Ryze, Lucian, Zilean
CLG lets Crs have the Nidalee again, but lane-swaps to try and keep Quas down, but no.

--- Game 3 ---
Crs Bans: Vayne, Twitch, Alistar
CLG Bans: Tristana, Syndra, Nidalee
Crs: MaoKai, Nunu, Yasuo, Corki, Zilean
CLG: Lulu, Evelyn, Ryze, Kog'Maw, Nami
Okay, now CLG has banned Nidalee, but their comp is still unusual.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

NA LCS Playoffs: DIG v TSM Quarterfinals

Reminder - they have a Roku channel now for VODs, so get yourself some snacks and settle in for eons of watching LCS if you've got one.

EU playoffs was pretty dull, what I caught of it, so I'll quickly sum up NA playoffs and then get to the rest of the vods.  It'll be brief, but you'll know what to watch.

DIGNITAS VS TSM, QUARTERFINAL

--- GAME 1 ---
TSM bans: Nidalee, Lulu, Ryze
DIG bans: Zed, Nunu, Alistar
TSM: Maokai, Lee Sin, Syndra, Kog'Maw
DIG: Nasus, Kha'Zix, Zigs, Corki, Thresh
This one is quite interesting, especially at the very end.  It's another great showcase for ZionSpartan; he's had a few of those.

--- GAME 2 ---
TSM bans: Nidalee, Ryze, Lulu
DIG bans: Zed, Lee Sin, Alistar
TSM: Maokai, Elise, Syndra, Lucian Nami
DIG: Dr. Mundo, Nunu, Zigs, Kog'Maw, Thresh
This one was quite long, due to DIG getting behind early and then ever-so-slowly digging their way out of a gold deficit.  DIG gets it all the way back to even, then there was another wacky base race at the end very similar to game 1... Crazy times. 

--- GAME 3 ---
TSM bans: Nidalee, Zigs, Ryze
DIG bans: Zed, Lee Sin, Alistar
TSM: Lulu, Nunu, Orianna, Tristana, Nami
DIG: Maokai, Kha'Zix, Ahri, Lucian, Braum
TSM gets rid of the Zigs long-range tower defense and then plays Protect the Tristana.  Wildturtle gets god-like damage by the end and there's no stopping him.

--- GAME 4 ---
TSM bans: Nidalee, Zigs, Ryze
DIG bans: Zed, Lee Sin, Alistar
TSM: Lulu, Nunu, Syndra, Lucian, Nami
DIG: Olaf, Kha'Zix, Xerath, Corki, Thresh
In all of these games, there's been a 'cheese' - well I wouldn't go so far as to call it a cheese, but there's been a 'gimmick' at the very least, and I'm pretty surprised that the bans in the next game never reflected that.  Maybe I'm really falling out of touch with the science behind bans.  But, despite not banning Nasus in game 2, DIG never played it again, and have instead opted for a new gimmick: Olaf / Xerath.  Nasus was successful and TSM never came up with an answer, why not give him another go?


Sunday, March 16, 2014

EU LCS W8D3 (Spoilers)

--- ALL vs GMB ---
It's been a long super-week, and Kha'zix, Kassadin, and LeBlanc were all banned, so you can forgive me if my attention started to stray when ALL started to lose this game.  Froggen was on Lulu, after all, and not only is that largely un-entertaining to watch, GMB is also virtually a sure thing once they've carved out even the smallest of advantages.  But this is one of the only examples on record of how to come back against GMB, even if ALL wasn't actually all that down in gold.

--- SK vs ROC ---
Pretty non-risk filled game.  You could probably guess that from Lulu mid and Kayle support.

--- MIL vs SHC ---
This is your chance to see some Olaf top and Zilean support.  Also, SHC just doesn't look dominant anymore, and MIL has somehow gotten their act together?

--- FNC vs SK ---
Another fine upset for SK, who actually look like a valid team now.  Gotta love EU, where all the teams can just end up tied at the end of the season.

--- SHC vs CW ---
As we have seen before, Amazing on Lee Sin is a surprisingly terrifying prospect.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

EU LCS W8D1-D2 (Spoilers)

--- CW vs FNC ---
Ugh, the worst for me, since I hate Lulu mid and Annie support.  And somehow, they still win.  Someone make this trend go away.

--- ROC vs GMB ---
The battle for all the first places.  A very good one, Deman was shrieking at them for nearly a solid half hour at the end.  Great plays, too.  I think, in the end, though, that Gambit shouldn't have tried to fight after they grabbed that last baron.  Just back off, let it heal you up, come back stronger.

--- SK vs MIL ---
Relatively even game, but not all that exciting - low kills.  Boo Lulu/Annie!  Not a big fan of Zigs/Evelyn, either.

--- SHC vs ALL ---
Wow, that was a boring game.  Usually when the team you're rooting for wins, at least it's a 'good' game.  But no, despite this, it was amazingly boring, like SHC was slowly giving ground and giving ground, and then realized too late there was no comeback left to mount.

--- ROC vs MIL ---
This first place vs last place, and ROC is running that mid-Mord again.  Two huge pauses early in the game, fast forward to the 45 min mark.  There's a fight at the 17:30 mark in-game, which is pretty cool, and makes you grateful that EU and NA just like to YOLO it and stay in the fight until they win or die.  Have you ever watched the OGN?  Their 5v5 engages become a whole lot of disengage and run away, really quick.  Maybe it's smarter to live and fight another day, but 5v5 fights are just more entertaining when champs throw their lives away.  Also, you gotta love an upset of that caliber!

--- GMB vs SK ---
Alex on LeBlanc, yup, this one went how you would expect.

--- CW vs ALL ---
I'm rooting for ALL, of course, but nowadays I'm also rooting against Annie support and for Nid mid.  It's selfish, and I hope you do it too: what works in LCS affects what we, the rest of LoL players, see in soloQ.  Good game for me in that case, Shook is always effective on Elise, and Froggen's mid Nid makes the rest of us Nidalees look smart.

--- FNC vs SHC ---
xPeke on LeBlanc and Soaz on Malphite, whee.  SHC didn't really show up, so I actually wonder what took so long for FNC to close it out.

--- GMB vs CW ----
Alex gets Kassadin.  You'll have to watch the separate video they have of picks and bans to find out how that one happened.  But regardless of how or why, you know what it means.  Also, I've mentioned at least twice now that I don't like Annie support, and Edward is obviously the only exception to that rule, because Edward doesn't really play as a support.  That's part of the reason why Gambit either snowballs furiously to a win, or to a horrible loss.

--- ALL vs ROC ---
ALL won of course (Kassadin to Froggen, wtf), but the vid seems to be missing from the youtube playlist...  Doesn't everyone love how Wickd is the only one who plays Irelia ever?

--- MIL vs FNC ---
Much more exciting with no Lulu or Annie on the map.  LeBlanc  and Zed are all about go in and get someone, or die trying.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

NA LCS W7D1-D2 (Spoilers)

Watch out for that preshow.  I know you probably skip it to get straight to the games, but they interview Doublelift and Aphromoo, that's always full of 'oh, snap!' moments.  Do you not love Doublelift?  Come on!  He's either a more awesome version of you, or a more uncensored version of any sports star.  Like, for once getting an unfiltered, honest answer out of Peyton Manning: "What do you think of the Manning bowl?" "Well, we would always throw Eli up against walls by his underwear, so no, I'm not worried."  Also, since a player named Sheep has joined the league, this is Phreak's first opportunity to go nuts with the puns.  Even if you hate puns (like me), you will definitely be impressed by Kobe, who does not smack anyone, even though he's within arms reach of Phreak most of the time.

--- C9 vs XDG ---
If you haven't been paying attention, XDG made another switch, taking Zuna full circle back to his original role.  I'm kinda glad it worked out for them; he's better as an ADC than anything else he's tried.  The new support, Sheep, is good.  They hinted at something unpleasant with their last support's departure, and that's always sad to hear.  In other news, Lemonnation was caught fruit-handed on stage, where no food is allowed.  An orange and a banana were confiscated, and am I the only crazy one that wants some hard-hitting investigative journalism on this issue?  Where did this fruit come from?  Why did C9 lose after it was confiscated?  Why did he have an orange, if his name is LEMONnation?  Questions.

--- CLG vs CRS ---
Do you ever watch these games, maybe live, and think during picks and bans: "This is over, please skip me to the end."?  Maybe even in ban phase, you could call this - Crs let LeBlanc through to Link, who was MVP last week.

--- Dig vs TSM ---
Reggie is temporarily back mid, subbing for Bjergsen, and it's basically old times: a roll against Dig.

--- CST vs EG ---
Another game where you couldn't say what exactly went wrong for EG, or what CST was doing so much better, but they were clearly ahead, start to finish.  Me, I don't believe in support Annie.

--- C9 vs TSM ---
Reggie is on LeBlanc, but you don't get to see him do anything good with her.  C9 is legendary for their team fight phase, but they were already ahead by lane phase, so nobody looked good on TSM, of course.

--- EG vs Dig ---
EG brings out Top Yasuo, in case you haven't seen that before.  It seems to be going well with the jungle Panth early on, but the game becomes a very back and forth affair, and EG lives up to what we thought about them: high level individual play, but no end-game plan or clear direction in team fights.  Hope that is either untrue, or changes, for EG's sake.

--- XDG vs CLG ---
Wow, this one was quick.  CLG is massive ahead before 20 minutes and just toys with XDG for the remainder.  Lulu mid was a bad idea against Link, Mancloud.  Sheep was good on Morgana support, though.

--- Crs vs CST ---
Nice try, banning Jax, Nid, and Leblanc, Crs.  Shiphtur just takes Ahri and dodges around Voyboy's Gragas.  There's a long game pause early on, so speed ahead to nearly the hour-mark of the vid, where you will see a terribly sad flash by Wizfuzin, attempting to block the Cait ult, but he totally overshoots the mark, and Ace in the Hole whizzes behind him to kill Daydreamin. Nice game again from CST, they always look so dominant when they start winning.

EU LCS W7D1-D2 (Spoilers)

--- ALL vs FNC ---
ALL does a thing where they lock in Lulu first, and then wait to see what xPeke will pick mid into Lulu, then pick something else mid and let Nyph support Lulu.  Also, Wickd goes back to Irelia, and tries to lvl 1 jump on someone with her.  When that doesn't work, he just teleports back to top lane before he loses any cs.  There's a kind of amazing Karthus ult that takes down Rekkles, even though it doesn't look like it's going to.  Rekkles didn't even barrier.  ALL wrap this one up pretty neatly.

--- SK vs SHC ---
It seems that SK's lineup is brutal: Renekton, Panth, Nid, Vayne, Annie.  Once they use their combo, or Nid starts massively damaging with spears, you wonder why all these picks got through.  Beer goggles for champions, I guess.  Win-goggles.  Panth will channel his ult, and just as it becomes visible to the enemy team, Annie slams Tibbers down in the center, so the target takes max damage from the Grand Skyfall.  They blow up SHC's bot lane multiple times with this move.

--- MIL vs GMB ---
It was closer early on than I expected, after MIL chose Swain mid and Elise top.  Did you just hear the slightly muffled derisive laughter of five Russians?  Yup.  At the end, Deficio deadpans: "And Diamond has Manamune.  On Aatrox.  Really, Darian?  Really?"

--- ROC vs CW ---
Leblanc top, Zigs mid, Morgana support?  Really, ROC?  Has that been working for you in scrims?  Because I'm not sure how that's sensible.

--- FNC vs GMB ---
I just criticized the triple-AP lineup, but Fnatic makes it work with Lulu top and Nidalee mid.  Maybe because they've been playing it longer, maybe because they just got ahead really early and never let up the advantage.  They started their losing streak with Gambit, and they ended it with Gambit.  After losing to every other team in league, wow!

--- CW vs MIL ---
A high level show of Lee Sin skills by CW's Amazing, but otherwise a pretty standard game.

--- ALL vs SK ---
ALL gets down at about the 10-15 min mark, and never gets their act together to get back in it, though it keeps looking like they will.  Just another case of that inevitable snowball.

--- SHC vs ROC ---
Mostly dull.