The Elite Forum

The Big Three Plus One => Perfect Dark => Topic started by: SamSim on November 22, 2002, 04:37:00 pm

Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SamSim on November 22, 2002, 04:37:00 pm
I was a little younger than you.
I'd been getting numerous records,
but I was obsessed with one thing and one thing only:
the top of the world rankings.

I played, day in day out, I got as far as second place.
I was two points behind.
The time finally came and there I was,
trying for my last PR,
and suddenly it happened.

It all clicked.

All the parts of the game.

glitches
objectives
guard patterns
strafe patterns


they all became one




And then





became nothing.





In that moment, I realized there was no world record I couldn't get.
Competition didn't matter anymore, because I was one with
the higher truth that is Perfect Dark.

So when it came to that last record





I just put down my pad





and walked away.





Didn't you care what people said?

Oh, people said a lot of things that weren't true.

He couldnt get the record.
He was scared.
Mafia this...

No, it didn't bother me.
Because they couldn't take away what I knew in my heart.



I can play.



And it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: youseinthehouse on November 22, 2002, 04:50:00 pm
how touching and mostly, true.  use of the formal element of dramatic pause really escalates the feeling of the work.  i enjoyed it.

it basically embodies my philosophy being 100th (FINALLY).  i could get to be 1st, but i just put down the pad and walked away ;) .

[okay actually i'm still playing for that top 75 spot]
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SamSim on November 22, 2002, 05:11:00 pm
Don't forget to quote it in your sigs :p
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Silfreon8 on November 22, 2002, 09:32:00 pm
Hey, that was a really good poem. That thought holds good in many other things, too.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SlayerRocket on November 22, 2002, 11:35:00 pm
I dont get it... Could he get the record or was he just a dumbass?
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: XylusSSJ1 on November 23, 2002, 03:08:00 am
It doesn't matter, SR, and that's Sam's point.  The poem is told from a PD God's point of view.  He can basically get any record he shoots for, and it finally comes to the last record and he realizes that he doesn't need to prove to anyone anything.  He's already proved to himself that nothing is impossible.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: daphunky1 on November 23, 2002, 01:54:00 pm
that dude is stupid, why wouldnt he just get the last one? besides proving something, he shood just do it for himself.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Breckish on November 26, 2002, 02:08:00 am
Well done Sam. :)

-- Breck Fresen
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Mallow on November 26, 2002, 06:42:00 pm
:lol  I liked this part Mafia this...
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Skedar-Hunter on November 30, 2002, 09:18:00 pm
Hmm.....sucks. NEXT!

Lol, j/k. Pretty nice, the only bad thing is it doesn't fit the bill of a poem.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SamSim on December 01, 2002, 10:22:00 am
It's not really meant to be a poem. First two paragraphs would need messing with for that. It's more of a monologue.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Silfreon8 on December 01, 2002, 11:48:00 pm
Wasn't this actually meant to be a parody of that famous poem? I don't remember the name, though.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Skedar-Hunter on December 11, 2002, 09:41:00 pm
*hooks boom box up to speakers and plays Linkin Park "In The End"*

He tried so hard and got so far, but in the end, it doesn't even matter...
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: JugadorJ3 on December 12, 2002, 05:02:00 am
That line is ludicrously chiche.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Bizichyld on December 12, 2002, 05:13:00 am
Indubitably.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SamSim on December 12, 2002, 07:23:00 pm
Good song though, you can't deny it.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: JugadorJ3 on March 04, 2003, 05:26:00 am
*cough*NOT ORIGINAL*cough*

edit: cos here i am watching frasier and niles is talking about when he was in a spelling championship and he walked off stage at the last word. And he said what sam wrote but in the context of spelling.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Skedar-Hunter on March 06, 2003, 01:19:00 pm
"That line is ludicrously chiche. "

WTF does "chiche" mean, unless you meant to post "cliche"?
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Pearldrumma on March 06, 2003, 03:01:00 pm
Sam, the only problem with your statement is that you are forgeting how people look up to your achievements.  Yes, you are at peace with yourself and your playing, but just think about everyone who has pushed themselves harder and further because they were inspired by your willingness to achieve the impossible.  While you are doing yourself a favor, you're showing to the rest of us that everything you have done was for nobody other than yourself.  The Elite is not about one person, it is about working together to reach impossible heights.  I say you should go for that last record just to show everyone what you are willing to do for the Elite as a whole.  Besides, it'll feel so much better when you kick PD's ass one more time.  Lol  


Guns dont kill people, its just that loud sound they make.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: JugadorJ3 on March 07, 2003, 12:57:00 am
Thanks for informing me of my error skedar hunter, i guess:-/ You realise how old this topic is btw?

Pearldrumma i tend to see what you're saying but sam's poem is about "one guy (imo) ie it doesn't apply to everyone, just this one guy. It's his opinions. It's not meant to symbolise every player that gets to second so obviously some of those will choose to get the last record.

sorry if i sound wierd i'm high.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Bizichyld on March 07, 2003, 03:04:00 am
I dunno, I thought it was kinda meant to apply to everyone in that situation, not just one particular guy. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I think that the reason people quit is that once you achieve somthing you thought was nearly impossible, the novelty soon wears off and it doesn't seem so great anymore. If this happens, and you're smart, you'll quit now because you realize that you will never be satisfied.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: JugadorJ3 on March 07, 2003, 06:26:00 am
I don't think you realise that you'll never be satisfied. I think that you ARE satisfied. You "realise" you're satisfied / you've done well. Get me?

edit : missed a word.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Pearldrumma on March 08, 2003, 11:28:00 am
I see where you guys are coming from, and I agree.  I was just upset cause it Sam sounds like hes leaving, and that sucks.  


   -Chavez, eres un hijo de puta ojala mueres mama huevo pudrete en la mungre coo de tu madre!-
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SamSim on March 09, 2003, 12:42:00 pm
Perfect Dark isn't about working together anymore, because only about four of the people who are currently active have the skills necessary to actually get world records. It's just not possible for the average Joe. Two years ago, every frontier was a new one. Today, nobody has a hope, certainly not me.

PD is a personal quest for glory. For me, it always was. A lot of things I strove for in the old days - 3:01 Invest PA, 1:15 Villa A, were never world records. At the time I got them, the records were 2:43 and 1:12 respectively. But it was about achievement and proving things to myself. 0:16 Chicago A, 0:27 War A were two records that I did get, records that were considered near-impossible to untie, but the impossible happened, twice. I was very upset when that happened, because I knew for sure that PD was now way out of my league.

I have never been particularly good at videogames. This may sound crazy, but actually I'm pretty mediocre. Pretty much anyone else I talk to seems to have an innate ability to pick up games and get the scores with relative ease. Say, only a couple of hours' play. Whereas I don't have that. I was never actually that talented at PD. But what I did have was willpower, enthusiasm and devotion, and a great love of videogames. When I was PR'ing, I was working twice as hard as everybody else for the same results. When I got a record, I know I worked for it.

It took me several hours a day for ten whole days to beat the Invest PA bot and survive. That was epic. Similar amounts of effort were put in for Chicago, and Duel SA, and Villa. I devoted an entire, agonizing week of play to the War A world record, which is why I was nearly moved to tears when Bryan Bosshardt took that away from me.

The poem is basically fiction. "Memoirs of a Master Gamer" doesn't refer to me. I'm not that good at PD. I know my limits. The "Master Gamer" refers to those players - Karl, Phil, Ben - who, in their prime, knew full well that if they put their mind to it, they could have any record they liked.

Pearldrumma, I left at the start of July 2002. My posts on this board have been gradually decreasing in frequency, as I hardly play TS2 either. I will probably leave for good one day.

I DID push for that last PR. It was 1:15 Villa A. You might not consider it to be anything special, but it was everything to me. So there you go.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SamSim on March 09, 2003, 12:58:00 pm
I can tell you one thing, though. Unlike a very large number of other people, all my times are real, and always have been.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Neo on March 10, 2003, 03:41:00 am
*applaudes*

Awesome speech Sam, and I'm not being sarcastic.

I WOULD have cried if I had 27 War when Bosshart got 26...
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Pearldrumma on March 10, 2003, 10:15:00 am
Its crazy how so much can change in the little time I was away.  I remember when I started nearly 2 years ago, and how everyone had the desire to get our total time down as low as possible.  When records were smashed, and blood and tears were shed, it was as if all anyone ever wanted was to prove to the world and themselves that they could go the extra mile.  Now, I agree with Sam that the Elite has changed drastically, and it doesn't spark fire like it used to.  I can see this because for me its a drastic change from when I first joined, and it hasn't been slowly imposed onto me like those who have been here all this time.  However, as grim as it looks now, I believe that we will never die.  We just have to overcome this small hill, before we seal ourselves into gaming history like we did with Goldeneye.  I see a comeback in a big way.  There are many gamers after us who are going to be inspired by the near impossible feats we have layed out for them, and there will be a new generation of players with even more desire to get there than before.  Sam you day you left in July, but I feel that you stuck with us the whole way.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Tom-the-Toad on March 10, 2003, 11:35:00 am
all very f**king touching!!

i never played GE or PD, the fps never appealed to me, it would be a sad shame if both games stopped competitively. i can make comparisons with MK64 in so far as champions come and go and new ones in the making, the degree of accuracy 0.01 means that records are that much tighter, imagine the flap for LR which goes by 0.01!! Thats pain, i've not been in that situation but i can imagine from my own feats. I agree that this game isn't over by a long shot and thats from a spectator. Have you lot pushed to find out anytning of japanese players? Or rivalries dead? I know there are players hoarding but teamwork and encouragement are the steps forward. Some players are born, some are made, thats a fact. Check out the www.mariokart64.com page, where activity is fresh, check out the smk page where theres more WR's broken there daily than ever before and that game is 10years old! People will not stop playing PD and GE if theres passion, get on AIM and effing egg on the nearest players. If i hadn't have begged sami cetin for help on mk64 then he might not have started playing again and we'd not have the current WC!

We'll see who's still playing by the end of our lives. Passion and didication are limitless.

tom
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SamSim on March 11, 2003, 06:01:00 am
Mario Kart times to 1/100 of a second. PD times to 1 second. In other words, the effort to get one PD record is equivalent to as much as a hundred MK records. (Probably around 10.) When you look at it that way, we ARE WR'ing as fast as you...
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Ngamer on March 11, 2003, 11:31:00 am
I agree...  as long as they're being updated, none of the rankings (the ones that have lasted this far, at least) will ever die.  Just look at, like you said, MK64, or better yet Crawford's great F-Zero site, or the page for the SNES Mario Kart.  Or even N64 High Scores, where (before Kent's break) you'd still see people setting scores for old games like Ocarina and DK64 on nearly a daily basis.  It's true:

Perfect Dark' is forever.  (Goldeneye is forever +3.)
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Bizichyld on March 11, 2003, 02:58:00 pm
Jugador: I guess I was sorta satisfied ie. I'd achieved a few of my goals, but that just made me want more. At that point, I knew it would never stop.

To all the people who don't play anymore:

Why did you quit playing?
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: MrFood1 on March 12, 2003, 02:40:00 am
i quit (twice...once dishonorably, i might add) because i realized id never have a hope of holding a wr (besides duel).  it demanded time i didnt want to spend on a video game.  the closest  i ever got was only 2 secs off on invetigation a (i think it was 1:35 at the time), and then snap did something to lower it more and then i just stopped because i didnt feel like spending every waking moment of the day playing for the appreciation of people i dont know.

btw, i quit after only after being in for 2 months, and only 3 months after it started.  WAY back in september 2000.  it seems like yesterday, yet at the same time, like a long time ago.  that bothers me.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: deletedprofile.u on March 12, 2003, 08:35:00 am
I quit because I found other things that were more interesting/funner/fulfilling.

-Karl
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SXR on March 12, 2003, 06:42:00 pm
I only play when I don't have anything else to do. Besides, it IS fun to play for fast times.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: SamSim on March 12, 2003, 07:58:00 pm
I quit because I was going insane with boredom. I had 415 hours logged. I must have been crazy.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: GoldenGreg007 on March 12, 2003, 08:06:00 pm
Quote
Quote:
I have never been particularly good at videogames. This may sound crazy, but actually I'm pretty mediocre.
 

no, that's pretty sane to me. ;)
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Djie on March 12, 2003, 08:42:00 pm
a 1"00 MK64 second is not equivalent to a 1"00 PD second. Not even close, if u were actually playing this game Sam you would know. In Mk64 it can take me over 2hours to get a single 0"10 improvement. In PD I have potential to get a WR everyrun (just like most good players), but since of luck/gayness it doesnt happen. I'm nowhere as "proud" of most of my PD WRs than my Legend times at MK64.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: PDplum on March 14, 2003, 08:49:00 am
yeah it's great to see that old games are doing well. for instance i just got added to the 1080 records and have 1 WR.. which was rather suprising.

the games will continue to live only if enough people are devoted to it. however i think PD/GE are on their very last runs

PD: karl stole every wr obtainable by mediocre players/ only shade/greg k have the skills to pass him and only shade appears to still play

GE: even worse. wouter and bosshardt own the game. Now that wouter whoards i think it will die very very soon.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Tom-the-Toad on March 14, 2003, 10:11:00 am
i just dont get it.. why would people give up if some people are so good? SO?? i know i'll never be number 1 at MK64 ( i dont have the time/patience/love for it anymore) but i still want(ed) to know how high up i can get.. surely like most games it's just a case of defeating a set program.. run.. shoot here and shoot there.. i dont understand what separates the best players so much? (it's surely my ignorance.. please tell me!)

tom
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: Djie on March 14, 2003, 06:19:00 pm
appears to play, I'm not really. I received my PAL cart yesterday, but yeah still no 64 so its pointless for now. As for GregK...where the hell is he?

Tom, in mk64 its fun to see how high we can get since it's only based on skill (patience too in some cases). I know too that I'll never be Top5 in that game, but Top20 yes and I,ll try to be. For PD its luck, so yeah the one who plays the most or the luckiest will get out 1st.
Title: Memoirs of a Master Gamer
Post by: MrFood1 on March 14, 2003, 08:27:00 pm
Even if I were legendary at PD, it would only have been a matter of time before I wouldn't feel like spending the time to play to hold onto that status.  

Not being legendary quickened the process because there was nothing to maintain in the first place.