Blizzard: Tiananmen II

It's amazing how a few hollow words and the promise of entertainment can quell a crowd about to riot. It worked for the Romans, and it seems to be working for Blizzard too. For those not up to speed, here's a recap:

Blizzard is openly kowtowing to China. Business wise one assumes it would be big money for them at the cost of a little thing like morals and human rights, the same cost China is currently extracting from Hong Kong protestors - a few of whom Blizzard silenced. Game wise, things are being slowly changed for their market (which they deny). Less boobs and bones + more mobile games.

People got angry so Blizzard issued a statement of remorse (not an apology), and did not retract any of the offending actions. They then dazzled people with promises of cool games coming soon, which earned them redemption for some while their other supporters just have a general sense of apathy over the whole thing. It's an interesting disconnect.

I wonder, if an event like Tiananmen Square happens, will Blizzard supporters feel anything or will it just be "Blizzard just makes games man - they didn't pull the trigger", "It's not my fault they support China, I just like their games!" and "What they do with the money I give them is their business, not mine!"

While we ponder that, here's what's happening in Hong Kong now since it's not well covered by mainstream news:

Police are arresting students.

Allegedly raping females.

Making some "disappear".

Use of force has been escalating.

As of late, they're also openly shooting people too.

From point blank.

They were also trying to storm the universities.

Students barricaded defended said locations all night.

The general public is supporting them by delivering supplies.

(Perhaps not this dude in particular, he just looks cool getting his lunch!)

Now the students are gearing up with catapults and bows. 

Meanwhile the police are getting a special unit in to assist them.

Is it a massacre waiting to happen?

Do you even care?

If so, spread awareness of what's happening in Hong Kong and/or boycott what you can of China. Realistically Blizzard is low hanging fruit, but doing even a little is better than doing nothing. If you really can't let go of Blizzard, you might find some other way to help.

Remember: If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Dragon's Dogma: Now You See Me

Adventures of Skyrim - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

After the disastrous events last time, it was a good change of pace to have a simple quest in Cassardis in the form of helping the moronic Valmiro pack a boat for his "great" adventure, but once he had set sail it was back to the capital for some serious business! After switching to the "Magic Archer" class (because shooting heat seeking mana arrows is fun!) Ser Fedel and his aides Margel the warrior and Cedric the mage joined the party to hunt down a thieving ex-court mage and his band of hired thugs.

The wizard played a bit of whack-a-mole with all his teleporting around, but too bad for him he kept going to where my Port Crystals were and was put down very easily. We are then also tasked to aid Captain Mercedes handle a rebellion in that Northern Fort much to her disdain, asking me to stay out of her way. I oblige, deciding to take a back seat in the proceedings. Her forces do pretty well, taking down a Cockatrice en route to the fort and hold their own against the renegade soldiers. Not that I let them, because I'm bloodthirsty like that.

This band is led by Ser Julien who Captain Mercedes challenges to a duel. Julien prefers to fight me but Mercedes insists that I sit out of it so... fine. The silly Captain ends up losing to Julien's mace, and is only spared so that she can be whored to the rest of his forces. Lucky for her, he the "rest of his forces" are all dead. Content he has weakened this continent enough (which is why he helped Salvation in the first place), he withdraws back to his own country, and Captain Mercedes shamefully does the same. I suppose I could go chase them but via game magic all of them just vanish from the fort. Guess they all had port crystals too?

Or maybe Julien just *really* likes goats.

Tropico 3: Idle Advisor

[This is part of my Tropico 3 Journal!]

Due to my victories I am next assigned as an advisor to the presidente of Isla de la Rosalita, a small island with lousy geography and while there were a number of harvestable resources half of them were near inaccessible so I ignored them altogether. Seeing the lack of land for housing I built an immigration office first to stem the tide of new comers. Then the presidente does something stupid and enforces a pay rise to all the farmers and puts us so deep in debt that we can't build anything. This is made worse by a world economic crisis that makes our exports more worthless than before. As a first, both US and the USSR have gunships circling our waters. Who says they can't get along?

I say we launch a simultaneous attack in which you go first.

This doesn't stop the presidente from spending more money we don't have, donating funds to his cousin's jet pack research and getting a half price power plant that semi-melts down. Good thing humanitarian aid camps are free. As people begin striking I am forced to begin executions as stopping work or paying off the protesters is not a wise option. Sure, some people become rebels due to this but I had already foreseen it happening and was slowly building up the military presence on the island to deal with those traitorous scum. I believe in the end we killed them all, the highlight being that the rebels occupied the radio station to broadcast their opinions. I simply told the army to setup C4 and collapse the whole thing. There is no negotiation with terrorists and so called "freedom fighters".

Eventually KGB agent Boris Pavlovich asks for help to remove the current presidente through violent means. I refuse but he goes through with it anyway and somehow win the following elections (102/12) as the starving, overworked, and terrified people love me. Or fear me. Whatever. The super powers never invade which is unfortunate, as the rest of the time this is becoming more like an idle game where I am just waiting for stuff to happen. Anyway, with no real opposition left this mission is completed - though I finish with the treasury in a state of staggering debt at -97k!

Welp, I've had enough of governing for awhile so I pack up my bags from Tropico for a vacation elsewhere. Hope you enjoyed reading! =)

Tropico 3: The Pirate King

[This is part of my Tropico 3 Journal!]

Looks like the pirates liked me so much that the more violent military types took me to a nearby island to be their king! It's not a bad place with four easily accessible mines and some oil. Not so much of a logging industry though, and -no- elections. It's a monarchy after all. Turns out it's my job to actually change that with reforms and putting together an advisory cabinet for free speech is just the first step toward that goal. I do question their line of trying to make rum the island's primary export though, given I don't make a single factory for that.

With the eager US pushing forward money to help the island become a democracy it is pretty easy to keep everyone, especially the supposedly monarchist military people happy. The religious folk get a bit upset when I allow Mardi Gras, "Tropicostock" (Woodstock) and other various freedoms (like same sex marriages) to happen but I simply remind them with a visit from the Pope that they should know their place. My aide, Penultimo then manages a stroke of brilliance - getting self proclaimed monarchists to wear the red knight's cross making them easy targets to fall prey to "accidents" for my secret police. I kill most of them before the rest rebel, a number small enough for my army to annihilate without my further intervention.

Soon enough the citizens are ready to move to a democracy, and though I win the following election against Itzlar Pena (135/3) the lesson is taught and the mission is completed - I am free to let someone else rule once my term is up, and since I know that none of the citizens could handle that I made an alliance with the most qualified faction when it comes to liberty: The USSR!

Tropico 3: A Generous Thief

[This is part of my Tropico 3 Journal!]

After my previous success I was asked to help govern the isle of Carmencita, which is basically populated by modern pirates. Before I go further I had to modify El Presidente a little for this mission as it's main goal was to see how much money you can swindle into his Swiss bank account which is an impossibility if you are "incorruptible", so for this map I've swapped that out for "well traveled" which seems to suit this story. Too bad I didn't get to bring that huge wallet I amassed from the last island.

Carmencita has a few minable spots going for it, but with no oil or harvestable trees and very little agriculture spots it is pretty clear early on that I'm going to need tourism to keep this place afloat. From past experience I've learned to build up things for the residents first though including a police station which I often neglected previously as "incorruptible" gave -30% to crime. I also setup a humanitarian aid camp right away for free medicine and food while I setup fisheries, and got a sweet deal on a half price power station from the USSR, because they are awesome at building those things.

Maybe the Marked One will pay me a visit!

My thinking about tourism is verified when I learn that the movie "Pirates of the Tropics" is released and adds +15 to tourism. Alas, I'm nowhere near ready with my airport still half constructed and no other hotels or touristy venues constructed. Unsurprisingly I already have a handful of rebels as well, some of whom I had to personally kill when they attacked one of the mines (always the mines?). No doubt they also are the cause behind various workers striking across the island and as much as I'd like to send the army in I know that's what the rebels want so this time I'm just paying them off. If I'm going to be stealing from their treasury anyway (the main point of this mission) I figured I'd at least share. :P

Tropico 3: Voodoo Tech

[This is part of my Tropico 3 Journal!]

I next found myself governing the isle of El Muerte which while having natural mineral deposits and crude oil for mining was a mess for people to navigate due to its terrible terrain structure. To make matters worse there was a serial killer and terrorist of the "magical" voodoo variety named Katunga who enjoyed demanding tribute lest he unleash his dark magics in the forms of sorcery and curses. Refusing to bargain with terrorists, the island was subjected to bad luck, earthquakes and hurricanes that destroyed buildings and killed people. There were also USSR gun ships ready to attack who I managed to dissuade at the last minute, and a strange microchip doctors discovered inside me that cost 15k to remove, putting the treasury deeper in debt!

Being generally unhappy, some of the populace resorted to rebellion, and attempted to destroy one of the oil refineries. Fortunately I've learned that a well paid military often performs better so they managed to drive them back into the jungle after a short gun fight. A bomb threat on the same refinery saw it still closed as it was swept for explosives though. Meanwhile the US kept offering all sorts of deals to establish various businesses (fronts for the CIA) on the island to secure their interests and despite my constant public rejections the KGB tried to off me by sending agent Mina Petrova to kill me and install their own puppet in my place. I spent a lavish 7k to seduce the woman instead. El Presidente is smooth with the ladies.

Then I had my portrait painted. 

It is soon made clear to me that the two ways to "succeed" here were either to take the capitalist method of earning $500k worth in exports or the communist way of increasing population to 250 people with a happiness rating of 60 or higher. Due to the tryst with Mina, I foolishly chose the latter.

Tropico 3: No Puppet

[This is part of my Tropico 3 Journal!]

My good friends from USSR offered their help in my little situation. I had the choice of getting free construction or construction bonuses but instead I chose for them to send in KGB agents to hunt down any stupid rebels hiding in the jungle. In an effort to cut their numbers down even more I offered them amnesty, forgiveness so they would return to the fold. Alas only one fool agreed to that (and was never heard from again). Soon it was election time again and somehow, the people loved me so much that I won against Erwin Jefferson by a landslide of 97 - 26. Mothers were even naming babies after me. I must be doing something right!

And then once more, the tide turned. Our little island had to fight off pirates while the gold mines ran out of gold and soon people began dying of starvation! Without enough food to feed the 170 people under my rule I ordered the immigration office to use a "closed door" policy (no one enters) and immediately went into debt with the World Bank by rapid construction of farms and fisheries. During this time, the wife of General Navarro (the guy who thinks I'm his puppet) casually asks me for $10k to buy a fur coat. Obviously I say no. The rebel leader Enrique takes this as a sign that I might be turning to his side and via letter bluntly gives me one last chance to choose my allegiances. I finally reply which side I truly am on: My own.

Storming into General Navarro's camp I put a bullet right into his face and capture his wife to be sold as a slave. My reputation with the military is so high now that it becomes a non-event, but despite their loyalty they are badly outnumbered by the rebels, who I learn are about to try storm my palace. I could make an alliance with the US or USSR to strengthen my numbers here but I decide that it must be a battle settled by the people. I decide to put conscription into effect, allowing uneducated people to be soldiers (poor ones) and swelling the ranks of my army immediately. To boost morale (and because I just wanted to) I also organized a Papal visit so that my soldiers could be blessed by the powers of god (no, the Pope in game doesn't do that - he just makes all factions respect you more).

El Presidente doesn't compensate for anything!

Soon enough Enrique and his main rebel force came into open conflict with me and my soldiers at the Presidential Palace itself. After intense fighting, only I and two of my men remained at the end. As for the assassin at large? I had enough funds the next time his trail was caught to hire a better assassin to kill him. Total victory was mine. Alas, I knew that with the island's major gold resource vein depleted, it would only be a matter of time before the place descended into anarchy so it was time to quietly move again elsewhere.

Tropico 3: The Secret Police

[This is part of my Tropico 3 Journal!]

After the failed assassination attempt on my life, I decided to build not only a police station but an immigration station to try control the flow of people onto the island. This way there would be less rebels coming in, and certainly less rebels escaping! I also decided to create a secret police force and chose their base as the immigration station, but since that meant it stopped doing it's original function I was forced to build another immigration station right next to it. Hopefully no one noticed...

Because all of these people are totally under the radar. (Photo by baketsuki)

The construction of a foreign embassy also fixed matters with USSR as their warships departed, leaving me to deal with the constant nuisance that was the rebel threat. I again had to close the jewellery factory due to bomb threats and fought off another group attacking a gold mine (got injured this time to a grenade). My secret police actually managed to capture the rebel bomber which was great as it gave me someone to execute. They also had a hot lead on the assassin but during the chase it was they who got killed, leaving me to hire more experts from abroad to fill their now empty and bloodied shoes.

At the same time I'm trying to meet the demands of the populace, giving them churches, cathedrals, cabarets, schools, markets, restaurants and newspapers which somehow increase liberty. I also gain the favour of the military, building a second base and armory. Increasing the respect of the general public for me just angers rebel leader Enrique as that assassin again comes after me. With a lack of funds and forces to counteract this I tell the secret police to get my double ready. Soon enough my look alike is dead and the killer is again in the wind. I'm going to have to do something about that.

Tropico 3: An Island with No Name

[This is part of my Tropico 3 Journal!]

On this island with no name, I have been installed as Governor in the stead of General Luis Navarro who realized that while he is a good fighter - he's a crappy leader. I learn early on that this isle has not one but two gold deposits and immediately set to work making the most of that for export, putting up a jewelry crafting factory soon after. It is the most expensive start to a term ever and I find myself so deep in debt with the World Bank that there are times I cannot actually purchase anything. Luckily there are quick pesos to be made here and there, like exporting Fool's Gold to our neighbors for quick profit.

The other problem is the ever growing number of rebels led by someone named Enrique. They manage to incite a dock strike, one that I cannot afford to be violent in so I just pay off the people striking. More painful is when I am forced to temporarily shut down the Jewel Factory to disarm the bombs they planted there. With their very strong presence it isn't long before I increase the soldiers wages, bases, and technology. It pays off too when my soldiers, led by me personally, destroyed a rebel group attacking one of the mines.

Are you a rebel?

With all my focus on the military the people again were forgotten and when an election was called I faced a steep defeat once more especially as my speech was not so effective this time. Fortunately my old tricks of Food for the People, Social Security and Tax Cuts led me to victory against Barrut Ramirez to the tune of 43 to 29. His reaction was to send an assassin after me, most likely an agent from one of those USSR warships circling the island. The attempt failed, but with the assassin in the wind and no proof to throw around I simply made an announcement to calm the people. Finally, things are getting interesting!

Tropico 3: Fist of Iron

[This is part of my Tropico 3 Journal!]

My next office was at the isle of El Acantilado, where I had to govern refugees from some nearby conflict and ship out 5000 units of iron. I immediately got the mining operations, roads and housing started as I had the benefit of a foreign aid corporation helping out with medicine and food. Another set of foreigners, a group of explorers, also arrived and requested permission to go on an expedition into the deep jungle. I simply made them pay a $2000 dollar expedition tax and sent them on their merry way. They would never be found again, believed to have been eaten by El Chupacabra.

Back in the city I increased the wages for the miners to encourage a better performance from them, paying out big time with each export freighter that left our shores. Most of the money I had to spend on importing educated experts to run a lot of the facilities though - I completely forgot to put a High School up. Along with a few, other mistakes... like not connecting the garage to the road, so no one had cars. Despite me enacting the Food for the People and Social Security edicts again some people were leaving the island, and some were becoming rebels!

This came to a head when a gang of them decided to attack the police station. I went with my handful of soldiers but they were so untrained (oops, forgot to tick that option) that they all got killed. I managed to take down some rebels too but was wounded in the encounter and had to withdraw, letting the remaining two destroy that building. Fortunately my heroism must have shone through because in the next election I easily won 63 to 29 against Veronica Martinez, who I assume was a rebel. In no time at all, I had again met my quota and finished my task here so I left my subjects to the tender cares of the real Chupacabra, which I was keeping in a cage all this time. And boy was it hungry.

It can smell fear.