Nostalgia and lessons from my Childhood.

Enough with all the baby and girl posts already :) I thought I would make a man post (Gurr…) for all the husbands who probably don’t read this :). As a side note, parts of this are a bit lengthy don't feel obligated to read it all. I included it because for those who do want to read it I feel that it has a lot to offer.

The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past, often in idealized form. The word is made up of two Greek roots (νόστος nostos "returning home", and άλγος algos "pain"), to refer to "the pain a sick person feels because he wishes to return to his native home, and fears never to see it again"

This past week for some odd reason I came across a remake of a song that I thought was pretty cool when I was a kid.

Oddly enough the song comes from a…. yep a computer game. (I know women roll your eyes.) The song is called Stones. Stones is a song, composed by David "Iolo" Watson for ORIGIN, inc.'s Ultima computergame series. His wife Kathleen "Gwenno" Jones wrote the lyrics. This song became one of the most famous in computer gaming history. The game actually set the precendence for games to come, but more on that later.

The Lyrics are:

Long ago ran the sun on a folk who had a dream
And the heart and the will and the power:
They moved the earth; they carved the stone; moulded hill and channeled stream
That we might stand on the wide plains of Wiltshire

Now men asked who they were, how they built and wonder why
That they wrought standing stones of such size
What was done 'neath our shade? What was pray'ed 'neath our skies
As we stood on the wyrd plains of Wiltshire

Oh what secrets we could tell if you'd listen and be still
Rid the stink and the noise from our skirts
But you haven't got the clue and perhaps you never will
Mute we stand on the cold plains of Wiltshire

Still we loom in the mists as the ages roll away
And we say of our folk, "they are here!"
That they built us and they died and you'll not be knowing why
Save we stand on the bare plains of Wiltshire

For those of you who don’t know Wiltshire is where Stonehedge is found.

So it’s a pretty cool song with a catchy beat. Not to mention the memories it brings back as a kid. Now to explain why it was so great.

To listen to the song click here.(This will navigate away from this site)

When I was a kid I played a game with my brother and sister named Ultima 6. It was actually the 6^th of 9 games made in 1990. It makes me think of some of the earlier movies where since the technology wasn’t too great entertainment had to rely more on an involving story than flashy graphics and special effects. The game stirred my imagination and creativity. To this day when I think of it I get warm fuzzies thinking of times playing the game with my brother and sister. Maybe there were better ways to spend time together or be outside but it still has fostered lasting happy memories.

Here is a little background on the game.

In the game you use a stone to travel to another world that is in need. There you make friends and together save the land.

The creator of the series Richard Garriott stated that he began writing this game when he realized (partly from letters of enraged parents) that in the earlier games immoral actions like stealing and murder of peaceful citizens had been necessary or at least very useful actions in order to win the game, and that such features might be objectionable.

The object of the game is to focus on the main character's development in virtuous life, and become a spiritual leader and an example to the people of the world of Britannia. The game follows the protagonist's struggle to understand and exercise the Eight Virtues.

As told throughout Ultima, The Eight Virtues explored in Ultima are based on Three Principles: Truth, Love, and Courage.

The Eight Virtues are:

Virtue	Principles
Honesty	Truth
Compassion	Love
Valor	Courage
Justice	Truth, Love
Sacrifice	Love, Courage
Honor	Truth, Courage
Spirituality	Truth, Love, and Courage
Humility	Independent of Truth, Love, and Courage

The relationship between the Principles and Virtues is often explained this way:

· Honesty is respect for Truth

· Compassion is Love of others

· Valor is Courage to stand up against risks

· Justice is Truth, tempered by Love

· Sacrifice is Courage to give oneself in name of Love

· Honor is Courage to seek and uphold the Truth

· Spirituality is to seek Truth, Love and Courage from one's own self and the world around

· Humility is the opposite of Pride, which is the absence of Truth, Love or Courage

Humility is the most difficult Virtue to describe, as it cannot really be understood without its Anti-Virtue, Pride. Pride merely has nothing to do with Truth, Love and Courage; Humility is similar, but rather than being a complete antithesis, it exists independently of the Principles and acts as their foundation.

Humility: The absence of Truth, Love, and Courage is Pride. Pride is the surest measure of goals never attained. Pride goeth before, Shame cometh after. This Shame leads to awareness of Humility, the root from which all Virtues grow. Humility is to strip oneself of all conceits.

Surprising the game is quite deep in philosophy in many areas. In almost every game there are virtues or principles taught. Here is another gem of knowledge I learned from the ultima games:

“All begins with the three principles: Control, Passion and Diligence. From Control springs Direction. From Passion springs Feeling. From Diligence springs Persistence. But these three virtues are no more important than the other five: Control combines with Passion to give Balance. Passion combines with Diligence to yield Achievement. And Diligence joins with Control to provide Precision. The absence of Control, Passion and Diligence is Chaos. Thus the absence of the principles points toward the seventh virtue, Order. The three principles unify to form Singularity. This is the eighth virtue, but it is also the first, because within Singularity can be found all the principles, and thus all the virtues. A circle has no end. It continues forever, with all parts equally important in the success of the whole. Our society is the same. It too continues forever, with all members (and all virtues) equal parts of the unified whole."

As you can see it is a not a typical Role Playing Game though it has its Good versus Evil, magic, quests, fantasy, etc…but really is about teaching people to be better. Imagine a game that teaches people to be noble.