The second half of spring and the first half of autumn are the best times to go out and explore the city, or at least that’s how it seems to me. Summer’s too hot and it can even be unsafe to be out because of that, early spring and late autumn are usually too rainy and likely also chilly, and winter may be a nice time to go out but needing to wear thick clothing, take care not to slip on ice and navigate through piles of snow makes it unfit for walking long distances and exploring unknown areas. That last part obviously only applies for real winters, like the last one was, because otherwise what I said about early spring and late autumn would also apply to pretty much any other winter we had during the last decade.
That said and seeing as we’re already well into the second half of spring, I’m starting to poke my nose out way more than I did during the past several months. Right now this was also helped by the fact that, due to unforeseen and highly unfortunate circumstances, I’ve been home alone for the past week, but I was planning to go exploring anyway. Now dad is back home, which in itself would still mean I’d be alone most of the time during the day, but it appears they’ll both be back on Saturday, though at this point I have no idea for how long. Either way, when I’m not alone I’m very unwilling to go out of my room unless I have to, which makes it quite unlikely to get out of the house more than once per week, as that’s the minimum quota I set for myself over three years ago, but going out once per week to explore certain areas of the city is still very different from going out once per week just be able to say that I was out, running right back in after a few minutes.
The first such “exploration” was supposed to take place last Saturday, but that didn’t work out. I meant to check out this supermarket that’s right across the street, as I might have ended up needing to buy something while alone and it could have been useful to know if I could somehow get it from here. But you’re certain to have at least a few pairs of eyes on you when you walk in there, so I only made it to the door, got cold feet and left without even going in.
Then I meant to try again on Monday, and at first that seemed to be an even worse failure, as I couldn’t even get myself to the door that time, panicking and walking right past despite meaning to go in. That left me wondering what to do next for the next couple of minutes, then decided to go to the park, cross through it and come out the other side. Once there, I realized there was little point to keep going, as I wasn’t going to explore anything else while in that state, so I just turned around and went right back the way I came. But just as I was passing in front of this supermarket on the way back, I saw an old man coming out, which suddenly gave me the courage to go in, thinking I can survive it if he can… That was about as uncomfortable as I thought it’ll be, as the place is very cramped and you can’t be “invisible” while inside, but at least I had a look and therefore accomplished what I set out to do.
But I went out yet again the very next day, the target being a farmers’ market that I noticed was supposed to be right next to an area I thought I knew reasonably well. That was another failure, not because I wandered around for a while before managing to find the place I thought I needed to get to, but because the market wasn’t there. I found a better map after getting back and plan to try again next week, however.
And then I also went out today. The target was another farmers’ market, with an added vague intention to have a look at a couple of other shops that are supposed to be close to it. And at least the primary goal was reached, as it was easy to find the market and have a quick look at the offer, but I had to quickly make my way out as soon as the first person invited me to buy something from them as I passed their stall, obviously being in no condition to do any more exploring after that, especially since the shops in question are pretty small and therefore all eyes may very well be on any person who enters.
So far, my primary targets when I went out exploring were often parks, either meaning to learn the best route to a particular park or to explore certain areas of the park itself. Occasionally, when I either needed something and thought I could get it myself or at least wanted to see what my options were, I’d change the primary target to a hypermarket. And when I learned of a potentially interesting fair, especially if it wasn’t strictly during the weekend, that could become my target, despite obviously not buying anything. But this time I think I want to make farmers’ markets the primary target, to learn where they are, what’s for sale and what the prices are there, and hopefully also get an idea about where you can find actual farmers’ products and where you’re likely to just be tricked with supermarket goods. If nothing else, it’ll give me something more to say to dad when I pointlessly try to talk to him about healthy food and the like…
As for the expected strange event, as Jen was noticing some time ago that I keep attracting strange people, it happened on Tuesday and involved me walking down the sidewalk and spotting three obviously Gypsy men coming from the opposite direction, pretty much blocking the entire sidewalk. There was a guy riding a bicycle behind them and trying to find a way to get past, moving slowly and looking back several times once he did. After he went past me as well, I made towards the street, as it seemed the best way to get around the three. Just then, I noticed a stream of yellow liquid coming from between the legs of the one who was closest to the street. The source, as expected and as noticed a moment later, was my esteemed pedestrian colleague’s dick, out of his pants and flapping about with each step he took. So I quickly made for the other side as the pissing guy yelled “forgive me for I know not what I’m doing”. Said other side appeared quite fully blocked by the other two, but they moved single file just when I reached them and allowed me to get around, with them in between me and the pissing guy. The one who actually moved aside to make room for me also threw a “making jokes mister, eh?” just as I passed him.
Now a guy pissing while walking, with his dick out and flapping freely, is certainly not what you expect to see while walking past the commercial area of a relatively important street! And, after checking my pants to make sure I didn’t get sprayed, the surprise quickly turned into amusement, making me struggle to keep from bursting too loudly into laughter on the way back.
As you may, and very likely should, already know, today is Earth Day! Not that we should need a day to be reminded of our planet, and certainly not that we should only care for it one day per year, but it can’t hurt to have a day to celebrate this, or this, or this, or this. It is, after all, our only home.
Yet we seem to be awful housekeepers, don’t we? At least when it comes to emissions and climate there are some volcanoes that have something to say about it, like the unpronounceable Icelandic one. Sure, such eruptions spew forth immense quantities of harmful substances, but they shape the Earth and, most importantly, are completely natural events, which means they can’t be “bad”. On the other hand, reducing the amount of air travel can only benefit the Earth, considering the tremendous amount of emissions that this form of transportation is responsible for and the fact that those emissions are much more harmful for the planet up there than at lower altitudes. Not to mention that such a fast and easy mode of transportation is indirectly responsible for the spread of disease and even partially for overconsumption.
But it’s not Earth who needs us, it’s us and all the other species we share it with who need it. And there may still be time to turn the tide. So try to think about the true environmental consequences of your actions and behavior patterns, as well as the real costs of your purchases. This last part is very important, because you don’t only vote during elections, but also every time you buy something. And fight for the cause, persuading, helping or even, if need be, forcing as many others as you possibly can to live sustainably from an environmental perspective, pressuring governments into passing laws that will truly protect the environment and companies into operating in an environmentally sustainable manner. The actions, habits and purchases of a single person may matter extremely little in a world with nearly seven billion of us, but everything adds up, every bit of help matters. Who knows when you’ll end up being just the one to make the difference?
And, of course, as a very militant GINK was bound to say, keep in mind that the single most important thing you can do for Earth is not breeding. (Though I obviously firmly disagree with the position stated by the author of that manifesto regarding those who do have children. Being childfree primarily for environmental reasons and yet saying that you have nothing against those who do have children is something like being a cop and saying that, while you are proud to state that you’ll never commit murder yourself, you have nothing against those who do. If those who want to have children could have and raise them on another planet, using that planet’s resources, then it’ll be all right, but breeding under the current circumstances is a crime on this little blue sphere.)
Until next time, may you all live in harmony with yourselves, each other, all the other species we share this planet with, and the planet itself.
I find it pleasing that two news pieces regarding population control efforts have caught my eye one after the other during the past few days, though I’m sure nearly all human rights activists are appalled by both of them. This time, it’s about the authorities from Puning county, Guangdong Province, China, who are so determined to sterilize those who have violated the one-child policy that they are rounding up the relatives of those who refuse, in order to pressure them into it. And it seems to be a far more effective tactic than applying the penalties according to the law.
Sure, punishing the relatives of the culprits is completely unfair, though the fact that they’re made to listen to lectures on the rules limiting the size of families while in detention is a nice twist. The right thing to do would have obviously been to go after the actual culprits who refused to come voluntarily like after common criminals, round them up, sterilize them and then make them listen to those lectures. Admittedly, picking up whatever relatives the authorities could get their hands on and then waiting for the culprits to give themselves up in exchange for their relatives’ freedom makes it much easier for the officials, but it’s really not right.
China’s one-child policy is wrong in many ways, starting with the fact that in its most basic form it allows every couple, from brilliant scientists or athletes to wretches with the IQ of a newt and enough genetically transmissible diseases for an entire village, to have the same number of descendants, then because there are so many exceptions that its effectiveness is marginal at best, but mainly because the children often suffer for their parents’ crime of having had them. Yet it is an attempt to reduce the number of births and ultimately also the population, and that fact in itself should be appreciated.
That said, the punishment for having more than the legal number of children should obviously be sterilization, by force if necessary, while the resulting illegal children, if they have already been born or the pregnancy was only discovered in the final trimester, which is likely too late for abortion to be the proper solution, should be treated just like legal ones, because it’s most definitely not their fault that they were born. Actually, to send a clear enough message, the punishment for giving birth to an illegal child should involve neutering in such a way as to make sexual activity impossible from that moment forward, and it should obviously apply to both parents unless they broke up well before the date of the birth and the father can prove that he was unaware of the pregnancy. Entering the final trimester of pregnancy or even giving birth while being unaware that you are pregnant, or unaware that the woman you live with or at least see frequently is pregnant, is not an acceptable excuse.
I’ll say that making these changes to the punishments listed in the policy would be a huge improvement, both greatly increasing its effectiveness and ensuring that only the culprits are punished, leaving their relatives and especially their illegal children, if they ended up being born, alone. Fairness and efficiency in the same package is not something that you often see…
Of course, that would still leave the problem of the policy itself. In order to solve that, exceptions would need to stop being made for any reason other than the actual genetic qualities that the parents are likely to pass on to any potential children. Sure, saying that any couple can have one child and truly worthy ones, from a strictly genetic point of view, can also have a second one is very far from my idea, but it would at least be a huge improvement over the current situation.
In fact, if all countries would adopt such a policy, allowing only one child for most couples and two for the few who would actually be worthy of having any, it could be a reasonable first step in the right direction. In itself, such a measure would be far from sufficient, something far more drastic certainly being needed no later than 2030, and preferably even before 2020, but I guess there may still be a little bit of time to take it a little slower. There will most definitely be a price to pay for taking it slower, but it will be much smaller than the one we’ll be paying for doing nothing at all, and such a measure may even have the tiniest bit of a chance to be adopted in some places, unlike the plan I have in mind…
Still, seeing as at the start of the year I was saying that overpopulation is unlikely to be an issue the world will care any more about this year than in the previous ones, it’s good to see that reducing the number of births and ultimately the population is an issue for at least a few countries and that news about this make it out now and then, despite the tone of most of those articles. The problem, of course, being that the countries in question are among those that are otherwise very bad examples to follow, considering their authoritarian governments. Yet it appears that such regimes are required in order to even attempt to enact a population control policy, as all but an extremely small number of people think only with their gonads when it comes to the issue of reproduction.
On the other hand, the very bad news is that there are certain other countries, such as Russia, Ukraine or Japan, who strongly push their citizens to have more children, thinking of nothing but their own economic growth. And most developed countries also tend to encourage their citizens to have children, though without being so adamant about it, for the exact same reason. So I need to rephrase the above statement and say that, when it comes to the issue of reproduction, all but very few common people think with nothing but their gonads and all but very few of those who are in positions of authority think with nothing but their pockets.
Certain activist sites are in an uproar for the past few days because, they claim, women are forced to have hysterectomies in Uzbekistan, as the country’s authorities are desperate to curb its excessive population. However, after looking for something that I believe to be a reliable report about the situation, I really have to say that they certainly don’t seem to be forced to do anything. In many cases they appear to be persuaded to undergo the procedure, though it does seem that some may be tricked into it, which can be a problem, but that’s very different from forcing. Yet even if they would be forced, how exactly would that be a problem in itself, considering that human overpopulation is the worst threat to the world?
Let’s analyze what we know about that situation for a moment. The officials deny such orders, but say that the normal childbearing age is between 20 and 30, that it’s really not recommended for women under 20 or over 35 to have children and than a woman should wait at least three years between births, which all seem to be pretty sensible and fair recommendations, so no problem so far. The only mention of hysterectomies is an order that describes these procedures as a safe and effective form of contraception if performed properly and specifies that they should be conducted only by experienced physicians, free of charge, and with the consent of the patient, while also ordering provincial health officials to offer voluntary surgical contraception at hospitals. The authorities also state that the recommended methods of contraception take into account the woman’s health and perhaps her ability to care for any more children, which also seems perfectly fair.
However, some women and activists claim that doctors try to persuade them to have hysterectomies by stressing all the possible advantages and ignoring any potential problems that may be caused by the procedure. That’s not fair, but at the same time people are being persuaded to do a whole lot of things, including having children, by that same method. I’d really like to know how many doctors stress all the potential problems and disadvantages, affecting either the individual person or the world as a whole, that can be generated by having a child to patients who come to them with fertility problems, or even simply appear to consider having a baby! Now two wrongs don’t make a right, but I’d like to see both of these situations viewed and handled in the same way.
The real potential problem, if true, is that some women appear to be tricked into having a hysterectomy by doctors who tell them that an operation is required in order to solve a “dangerous gynecological disease” they supposedly suffer from. That’s still far from forcing them to have it done, but it is certainly a bad approach. However, I don’t particularly blame them, because if you’re stupid enough to go along with it without at least demanding to know exactly what the “dangerous disease” is and how exactly will it be solved and researching the answers you receive, you likely shouldn’t have children anyway.
As for actual forcing, even according to the activists that seems to only happen to women over 35 who have just had children, as those may either have the hysterectomy performed or at least have an intrauterine device implanted right after giving birth. Admittedly, if true, that certainly counts as having it done to them by force, but is it necessarily a bad thing? I don’t think so, because the frequency of complications caused by pregnancies does indeed increase after the age of 35, so this seems to be doing two good things at once, seeing as there are far too many people as it is and preventing further births can only help. It may be argued that a very small number of women over 35 who have already had one child could have one more because they possess truly extraordinary qualities that should be passed on to future generations, but those cases are extremely few and, considering the seriousness of the overpopulation problem, truly not something to worry about at this time. And besides, for example I know that in Finland it’s illegal to have a hysterectomy if you’re under 30, which seems no different from where I’m standing, yet I’m not seeing activist organizations in an uproar over that!
Overall, even if the activists are right, what’s going on in Uzbekistan doesn’t seem wrong to me. Sure, men should obviously also be targeted and it would be fairer to do without the trickery and at least openly force the procedure upon those who really should have it done, but it seems a step in the right direction from where I’m standing. Only a small step though, as something needs to be urgently done to drastically reduce birth rates everywhere in the world.
Still, it depends on what exactly the procedure entails. I’m saying it’s not wrong because that report states the procedure involves partially removing the uterus, no mention of the ovaries as well. Removing the ovaries could obviously have serious negative consequences and that would change my opinion, though those consequences wouldn’t be significantly different from those of spaying a pet, and nobody seems to agree with me when I say that spaying or neutering pets is very wrong…
I’m still pushing for much more drastic measures, but I could also work with what may currently be happening in Uzbekistan and make some recommendations to improve the program, if it indeed exists:
Firstly, it’s mandatory to target men as well as women. It may be that the baby develops in the woman’s body and therefore she has more say in whether or not the pregnancy will be carried to term than the man, but it takes two to make a baby.
Secondly, people who appear willing and capable of understanding and applying other safe methods of contraception should be given the benefit of the doubt and not pressured to use surgical methods if they don’t want to unless they prove to be undeserving of such trust by unwillingly getting pregnant or causing pregnancies. Actually, such people should still be allowed to use other methods of contraception even if they make one or two mistakes, though no more than that, as long as they show responsibility by terminating the resulting pregnancies within the first trimester.
Thirdly, if indeed that’s what’s currently happening, the authorities and doctors should stop hiding behind words and tricking people into undergoing such procedures, openly forcing them upon those who are either unwilling or incapable of properly avoiding pregnancies by using other methods.
If writing a review just after you finish a game is hard, writing it nearly six months later is even worse. But waiting longer wasn’t going to make it any easier, and I think it needed to be done because this game received far less attention than it deserved. Or at least that’s the case for the fully patched version, because all I heard about the problems the original release had made me keep my distance until they got around to working them out.
Of course, fixing most problems later doesn’t make releasing a game in such a state any more acceptable, but I can only write about what I saw when I played it, which means this review will deal with how the game was in version 1.7 and not before. And it will be split rather awkwardly into good and bad parts, because there are good and bad things about most aspects of the game but I am writing this for MobyGames and I have to make it fit their review format.
The first good thing I need to mention is something you’ll notice before actually starting the game, and that’s the menu song. It’s a matter of taste, but it really caught my attention since I wasn’t expecting such a song in a game, and especially not at that moment. Several times I just sat and listened to it, and hardly ever loaded my last save to resume playing without allowing the first minute and a half of the song to play. The game’s soundtrack has a few other nice moments, but this really stands out.
Moving on to the game itself, the massive and very open map, containing several very different areas, needs to be pointed out. There are very few places where you’re not allowed to go before reaching a certain point in the story and you’re not really pressured to focus on the main quest either. In fact, since the amount of experience you get for completing a quest increases along with your level, the game actually encourages you to explore as much of the map and kill as many enemies as possible before advancing the story. Sure, strong enemies can theoretically stop you from reaching many areas too soon, but if you’re careful, patient, good at sneaking and at finding alternate routes, you’ll be able to go pretty much anywhere at any moment. You can even find ways to climb mountains that probably shouldn’t be climbed, which will often reward you with nothing but empty terrain and perhaps a nice view, but occasionally you’ll find some useful plants, perhaps even a few more enemies to kill and potentially even manage to reach certain key areas without having to deal with the enemies that would normally block your way. Plus that riding feels pretty nice, and in fact until the very end of the game I almost always chose to ride back and forth across the map instead of using the teleporters, except when I was trying to sell items gathered after a battle and needed several trips to carry them all.
And, as I said, the story gives you an equal amount of freedom as well. You have a main quest to complete and the character usually acts as if in a hurry while talking to others, but in fact there’s absolutely no rush and you can take your time to explore everything the game has to offer and do all the many side quests you’ll get from NPCs everywhere. I’m sure someone could even finish Two Worlds in a few hours if they knew exactly what to do and really set their mind to it, but the game can offer over 100 hours of gameplay just as well, if you’re very thorough and take your time. In addition, many killed enemies leave behind ghosts, which appear at night around the area where they died and can even justify exploring the world twice over if you want to see just how much experience you can gather. (I finished the game at level 95, and I’m sure there were a fair number of ghosts left.)
The fact that the game doesn’t restrict you according to class, allowing you to freely develop your character as you see fit, was another thing I liked, as was the game’s difficulty. This may bother those who want games to be a challenge, and in fact even I chose to play it as a regular RPG, ignoring the fact that you’re resurrected with no penalties at the nearest shrine whenever you die and reloading my last save whenever the unfortunate event happened, but it does encourage you to explore the world more when you know that, once you gain a few levels and a few useful skills, there’s hardly anything that has much of a chance against you. That’s especially true as a mage, one particular spell standing out as ridiculously overpowered, even more so since you increase the power of your magical arsenal by simply putting together identical spell “cards”, just like you improve your equipment by combining identical pieces.
However, this low difficulty and lack of focus can make it rather boring after a while, especially if you’re not as keen to explore every nook and cranny as I am. A game with a great story and nice side quests can greatly benefit from being easy, as that allows you to focus on those elements instead of game mechanics and challenges, but this is not really the case here. There is an interesting twist in the main story and you may be surprised by a few more nice moments here and there, but overall it’s nothing to write home about, few quests standing out and many making you wonder why are you the only person in the world who can do such apparently simple things. Then again, extremely few games stand out when it comes to this…
Another potential problem, for those who are not as determined to always play mages as I am, is just the fact that spells can be so overpowered. Sure, focusing on your fighting abilities and combining powerful pieces of equipment can easily turn you into a walking tank, but enemies will basically never even reach you if you focus on your magical abilities. This is especially important when fighting the most powerful enemies, as those can deal insane amounts of damage if allowed to reach you. And still on the issue of warrior characters, mounted combat is handled quite poorly, the increased speed and damage often not being enough to make up for the significantly decreased maneuverability.
And then you have the voice acting… From what I heard, it was even worse when the game was originally released, but even so it just doesn’t express anything. It’s all too obvious that the people who recorded the voices were simply reading lines, without caring or even knowing what it was all supposed to be about. At least you may amuse yourself a little when the camera closes in during dialogues by noticing that the character models tend to have heads that are too small for their bodies… Anyway, this is a game that should have done without voice acting, as the text alone would have often been better.
Overall, Two Worlds is not a game that you must play, but certainly one that you can play without fearing that you’ll be too disappointed. If you like exploring a large and diverse world, and especially if you like doing it with the help of spells and cloaks instead of weapons and armor, it should provide a fair amount of entertainment and keep you interested for quite some time, despite never excelling in any area.
