I’ve been aware of the Southern Vampire Mysteries for a while now…  But I hadn’t read any of them until very recently.

I heard decent things about them from other people.  Saw vaguely interesting information on the web.  I was aware that HBO was doing a television series.  But I just wasn’t that interested.

I’d enjoyed Anne Rice’s vampire books…  And I usually enjoy vampires in general…  I generally enjoy supernatural stories, and thrillers, and mysteries…  But I had a suspicion that there was something wrong with the series if so many people liked it.  Especially since it seemed to be caught up in the same swirling miasma of supernatural romance that Twilight was.

But Dead Until Dark was on sale on B&N recently, and I picked it up.  And I’ve just recently finished reading it.  And I’m impressed.

I feel vaguely wrong saying that…  It feels like I’ve just admitted to liking Twilight…  Largely because there are some superficial similarities…

But it really was a decent book.  Decent enough that I’m eager to read another one in the series.

I was genuinely impressed with the handling of the vampires.  They aren’t some kind of sparkly, harmless things like we see in Twilight.  They’re genuinely powerful, frightening creatures.  And unlike most of Anne Rice’s vampires, these guys seem to be genuinely dangerous.

Anne Rice wrote her books from the vampire’s perspective.  They generally had enough self control not to go on killing sprees…  But even if they did, humans weren’t given a whole lot of attention in her books.  They were just blood-filled forms moving through the background.  Convenient snacks for the main characters.

Charlaine Harris writes her books from a human perspective.  Humans are weak, frail, mortal things.  Vampires are supernaturally strong, fast, and vicious.  There’s a genuine sense of danger when they’re around.  There’s a real question of just how much self control they have.

It’s very interesting to see a vampire that isn’t portrayed as something human, and yet is still a love interest.  It’s kind of like watching somebody fall in love with a rusty bear trap.

A few months back I posted my thoughts on how stereotypes affect me as a man.

It was not terribly well-received.

Greta Christina has done some research and come up with a much more eloquent version of basically what I said.

StarCraft II comes out tomorrow.  I’m not sure that I really care.  And that seems very weird to say.

In general, I’ve enjoyed Blizzard’s RTS games.  I thoroughly enjoyed WarCraft II and StarCraft.  WarCraft III, I thought, was a weaker title…  But it was still fun.  So I’d assume I’d probably enjoy SC2.  I have no real reason to believe that I wouldn’t…  Aside from WC3 being fairly weak in comparison to the other games.

And I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline presented in the original StarCraft.  There were some real characters that you could sink your teeth into – both good guys and bad.

But I’m just not sure I care that much about a new StarCraft title.

I think they let the franchise languish too long.  It’s been a long time since StarCraft came out.  Aside from some fanatics who’ve been playing the game non-stop for the last 12 years, folks have generally moved on.  I’ve played lots of games in the interim…  Some very good squad-based RTT/RPG kind of things, some very good RTS games…

Blizzard used to have a virtual stranglehold on the RTS market.  Their games were simply the king of the hill.  The only other franchise that gave them any challenge to the throne was Command and Conquer.  But these days C&C isn’t the powerhouse it used to be…  And we’ve got some great new RTS titles like Dawn of War, Supreme Commander II, and Dawn of War II – games that destroy Blizzard’s most recent RTS title in virtually every way possible.

That’s not to say that I’m actively against the idea of playing SC2…  I’m sure it would be a fun enough game.  And I’m curious to see how the storyline evolves.

But I really don’t think I care enough to run out and grab a copy of it, brand new, for $50+.  Especially when this first edition is supposed to focus on the Space Marines…  And there are two subsequent expansions already planned that will focus on the other two races.  And there’s supposed to be an increased focus on multiplayer…

I think I’ll wait until the inevitable Battle Chest is released.

And it seems very odd to say that.  There was a time when I would have been eagerly waiting for this game to come out.  I would have had my money down on a pre-order months ago.

And now, I just don’t care that much.

Hilariously accurate thread on the Bay 12 forums depicting the differences between casual gamers, hardcore gamers, and those of us who play Dwarf Fortress…

It looks like Blizzard is actually willing to listen to their players – they’ve decided not to roll out Real ID on their forums.

Looks like it’s still being implemented in-game to some degree…  But you won’t see anybody’s real name plastered all over their forums any time soon.

Looks like I came back to EVE just in time for Hulkageddon III.

I’m not doing any mining at the moment, and I’m certainly not going to go gank any hulks, but the drama is certainly entertaining.

Yup, even PZ Myers has something to say about Real ID.