Alrighty then. It would seem I’ve woken up to a new government. I did my duty and voted last night, bringing the little squirts along. We were going to “hide behind the boxes” as my youngest put it. And it would seem that I was not alone. Canada rarely has large sweeps in office, unless there are mitigating factors – mainly an economy in the toilet. We have one of the highest GDPs, 7% unemployment and a nomial inflation rate – so all quite good. We’re not at war, inside or out the country. Even the governing party was only in a majority for 4 years, finishing off a 9 year term. No, this was an election that was won on ideals. It was eerily similar to the Obama campaign.
Our previous PM did a lot of good; got through a recession, cut back on government spending, made significant trade agreements (though not all are ratified). Unfortunately, that office also applied some of the most divisive wedge politics ever seen in our country. If you’re at all familiar with the US style attack ads, those were pretty much non-existent in Canada up until a few years ago. Most candidates focused on themselves, what they could do. The party line however… not so much. There were dozens of new and modified laws that brought us back 50 years in social liberties, many of which were overturned by the Supreme Court. For all the good that was done, there was always that tinge of horrible right next to it.
It would seem that Canadians as a whole had enough of that. From 35 seats to 184 is unheard of in our country’s history. From a distant third to a majority. Even the other parties who didn’t make out as well (Green and NDP) were happy it was anything but the old guard. Heck, here’s Paul Dewar’s concession speech, after having lost one of the only seats the NDP thought they had no chance of losing.
“In fact, let’s celebrate tonight, because it’s the end of cynicism, it’s the end of Harper, it’s a joyous occasion,” he added.
It’s abundantly clear that it was less about who to vote for as much as it was “how do we get rid of these folks?” Now it’s time for the new crew to step up and follow through with their promises. Fingers crossed.
Shade’s Eve
I ran Wildstar’s event quests last night, and was neatly impressed. There are some basic quests in town to complete, nothing terribly complex. Then there’s a Trick or Treat quest that has you visit 8 different housing plots. That one is neat since it has you see other plots but actually finding plots with the specific candy you need is a major pain (thanks Reddit!). Plus, you’re not actually tracking the candy, just a %, so that needs a little tweak methinks.
The neato quest is an expedition-like zone called Quiet Downs. There are 3 parts to it, with varying levels of success. The first is a maze-like portion where you’re given a flashlight and instructions to find a fountain. Little critters can come around and knock you out, but you can also outrun them. You’re timed here, and my first run through I failed this portion. I personally find this portion of the zone too long, though the suspense portion is cool. The 2nd part is more an interactive play, with no real impact other than to the story. The 3rd part is a mini dungeon, similar to the Gauntlet ship layout. Kill some ooze, baddies and then the big boss. I will say that Jack Shade looks amazing, and the voice acting is tops.
All those quests give event currency, used to buy housing items, pets, costumes or a hoverboard. I’m pretty sure I can unlock most everything with daily logins. There are 2 items in the cash stop, a fabkit for the house (single use) and a mount (single character) that are drawing some ire. Each is about $20 and since it can only be used once… that’s ticking a lot of people off. Issue 1 with the fabkit (which admittedly is pretty neat) is that you can’t remove it, or you lose it. Issue 2 is that you can only use the items once. Carbine is working on making more things go across the entire account though, so for the meantime I’m just stacking everything on my Esper. I’ll pick up the mount, since it comes out to being the cost of a monthly sub – plus who doesn’t want to ride a flaming ghost/skeleton warpig?
I like this event because it doesn’t make you run all over the darn world, or force you to do PvP. It’s contained, it looks good, the story is ok and the prices (outside cash stop) are more than reasonable.
Leo's Life 