Scuba diving in Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia

Here’s an edited version of an email that I sent to my usual scuba diving buddies about a trip that I took in April 2006.

“We stayed at Tulamben Wreck Divers and it was great. Because of the shore diving, TWD has a very flexible system. One Dive Master is allocated to two divers and we can jolly well go diving whenever we want, at most nearby sites. We were not charged extra for the 25min boat rides to Seraya or the 10min drive to Kubu.

The bill came up to US$410 for 6 days 5 nights. We logged a total of 20 dives. Together with the air tickets, the cost per dive came up to a little over S$50 per dive. Which is pretty good value especially with regards to the quality of the dives and the DM:Diver ratio.

We arrived at the resort at about 5pm-ish in the evening of 12th April 2006 and did a Night Check-out dive. Which was a bizarre introduction to the Liberty Wreck, since we had zero bearings whatsoever. Not a very smart idea doing a night dive without having done the dive in the day before.

While many divers and operators call the ship the USS Liberty, it is the wrong name. The ship was in fact USAT Liberty Glo, and has quite a history as well.

The next day, we abused ourselves with 5 dives, but decided we could not keep it up and did 4 dives for the subsequent days. Giving up the night dives later on, since they have been disappointing so far.

The diving was great. Visibility was great all through the week. There were two specimens of Pygmy Seahorses, one at 27m off the bow of the Liberty, and one was at 24m at the Tulamben Dropoff. As a result, my buddy had decompression dives every day, and sometimes twice a day.

The highlight of the trip, for me, was the numbers of Harlequin Shrimp I saw. I must have seen at least 6 seperate specimens. On two occasions they were in pairs. Having never seen them before, it was a real treat.

Most of them was at Seraya, but we saw a pair at 2m at the Tulamben Dropoff. It was strange to start hearing the DM banging his tank right after we have slipped on our fins. We also brought the DMs luck as they found at least 2 specimens of frogfish and harlequin shrimps each that they have never seen before.

Other notable finds are Seahorses (one “pregnant”), banded pipefish (with itty bitty baby), ornate ghost pipefish, about 4 to 6 specimens of frogfish (some painted), two different specimens of Mantis Shrimp, and a whole host of crinoid shrimp and other coral shrimps and squat lobsters. A topless sunbather at Kubu. And at least two specimens of hairy squat lobsters. Of course, two specimens of juvenile yellow box fish, so my life is complete.

A school of Bumphead Parrotfish (15-20) sleeps at the Wreck and feeds along the various dive sites, so they were a constant companion. Hitting the water at exactly 7am, you should be able to see them start their day with the usual “White-Face” leader herding them on. Several specimens of really large Great Barracuda which just hang out near the sands not doing anything. And the occasional black-tip reef shark. Large specimens of groupers (not giant groupers), and amazingly huge Oriental Sweetlips. So Tulamben offers a nice mix of big and small stuff for all types of divers.”

Cycling and Mobile Phones

Under no circumstances should you be using your mobile phone while you are cycling, beyond listening to the radio or music with it. I do not advocate the use of the mobile phone to make calls using a hands-free kit either.

However, having a mobile phone with you while cycling can be useful if you come into disputes with errant drivers who do not feel that you have a right to be on the roads.

Know your rights Cyclists have the same right to be using Singapore roads as drivers. Even if their cars are a hundred or even a thousand times more expensive than our bicycle. Do not let anyone tell you that just because they pay a Road Tax, that they have more right to the road than you.

With our environment in the state that it is in, cyclists perhaps have more right to the roads because we pollute the earth with not much more than our drops of sweat.

The Singapore Amateur Cycling Association has a communique clearly outlining cyclists rights to use the roads. You might want to print a copy of this and carry it with you to show errant drivers.

Traffic Police phone number If that does not convince them, perhaps a word with the Traffic Police would change their minds. You might want to save the Traffic Police phone number in your mobile phone, so that you can clarify matters with the police if you find yourself in a dispute.

Traffic Police Department
Address : 10 Ubi Avenue 3 Singapore 408865
Tel : 6 547 0000
Fax : 6 547 4900

Maybe troubling the Traffic Police with such trivial matters is not quite your style. You can have a mobile phone entry called “Traffic Police” that dials up to one of your friends in the know. So your friend can play the part of a police representative and chew out the driver. Serves the same function.

Phone camera Sometimes we cyclists might encounter drivers on the road whom we know are purposefully driving dangerously or honk menacingly to show us that they own the road. There are not much we can do to these drivers in the past besides to give them an icy glare, or gesticulating with our fingers, when we pass them at the next traffic junction.

The marvels of technology have given us a new weapon, the mobile phone camera. If faced with errant drivers such as those described above, take out your mobile phone and point it at his license place and his face as if you are taking pictures of him. That should usually cow him into behaving himself.

Some drivers go too far and truly threaten our lives with their behaviour. At times like this, a confrontation is probably required so that this driver will not end up taking our lives, or lives of other road users.

I have met cyclists who have stopped their bicycles in front of buses and cars and demanded that the drivers come down to talk to them. It is a very high risk act, but the previous actions of the driver must have been equally dangerous. Road rage, and even worse, a driver who decides to run the cyclist over, are possible scenarios.

If you find yourself in such a situation, a mobile phone might deter the driver from any rash acts. That Traffic Police number you saved would just come in handy.

When there are traffic accidents Mobile phones will definitely come in handy when a traffic accident occurs, whether it involves the cyclists or not. Cyclists can stop quickly and safely to call an ambulance, much easier than a driver can.

Do be aware that in the event of a traffic accident that someone is injured, the Road Traffic Rules require that all vehicles involved in the accident cannot be moved. This includes any small traffic accident that a bicycle might be involved in.

If a dangerous driver caused an accident with you on a bicycle, call the ambulance and traffic police. This means that the driver cannot attempt to settle the case with a payoff, and that the driver would be breaking the law if he moves his vehicle or drives off.

My cyclist friend was in an accident with a car. He was forced to veer off the road to avoid collision with the car, as a result injuring himself and damaging his bicycle beyond repair. Although it took many months, he successfully claimed compensation from the driver’s insurance company, buying himself a brand new spanking bicycle.

Of course, in many bicycle and car accidents, the cyclist comes off quite badly and would not be in any state to handle the situation.

Have a mobile phone handy when cycling and only use it when you are stationary. Be safe.

Time Versus Skill

The Time Versus Skill debate is probably the greatest divide between gamers. Much more emotive than artificial story factions like Alliance vs. Horde, Luxon vs. Kurzicks, Romans vs. Barbarians, Axis vs. Allies, etc.

Sometimes referred to as Grind Versus Skill, it is actually the difference between truly good gamers, and everyone else. The arguments usually revolve around how truly good gamers are unhappy that other players can close the gap on them by simply putting more hours into the game.

Lets look at the parties involved:

The Elite The truly skilled gamers inevitably put in a lot of time into their games. They have deep understanding of the mechanics of the game, know all the maps and skills by hard. They improvise and have better reflexes to fully exploit this knowledge. They are the epitome of both Time invested, and Skills at the game.

The Grinder They have no life outside the game, and spend inhuman hours playing it. They may know as much about the game as The Elite, but they cannot think as deep, or click as fast to play on a level playing field as the Elite. They are the epitome of Time invested in the game.

The Casual Gamer These people are truly casual, spending no more than 2-3 hours a day on games. Most spend much less than that. They just want to experience the game, see new scenary, kill some monsters, and hopefully be able to tackle some higher end content someday. They spend the least Time on the game. Skill level, and understand of the game will vary widely with this group.

The Newbie Everyone is new to the game at some stage. Some bring skills and knowledge of gaming from other games they have played before, and are only inhibited by their levels and equipment, while others might very well be completely new to the genre of gaming.

Some people remain Perma-Noobs due to their inability to think, and their unwillingness to learn. Inability to communicate with the wider game community may be a factor in this, whether it the result of a language barrier or a lack of social skill. They are largely out of this debate, because they are too far away to be any threat to the way The Elite like to play their games.

Different approaches to game design also create a different environment for the gamers:

Carrot on a stick Most subscription based MMORPG use the Carrot on a stick approach. They continually keep players interested by dangling the next bit of cool gear or content just out of reach of the majority of the players. So players have to keep leveling, and getting better equipment before they can enjoy the content.

This approach is meant to slow down the players’ access to new content, so that the developer do not need to continually ship new content to keep the players interested. Time-sinks also means that players will play longer hours, and hopefully be subscribed for a longer period of time.

This is the playground of The Grinder. The going gets a bit tough for The Casual Gamer, who will end up not having as much new content to experience, because of his lower investment in playing Time. The Elite players would be right up there with the Grinders, usually one step ahead.

The level playing field This may or may not be absolutely true. The level playing field may not be quite so level after all, but its usually a distance from the Carrot on a stick approach. Competitive gaming tends to go this way. Real Time Strategy (RTS) games and First Person Shooter (FPS) games all use the level playing field approach. Guild Wars also endeavour to have a level playing field, where there is essentially one single character level and one tier of equipment. The PvP aspect of the game is probably closer to the level playing field ideal.

Players are kept interested because they are competing on their own skill, rather than someone who has an unfair advantage because he spent more time grinding, or if he got lucky with an item drop. Developers are forced to constantly balance the game and to remove any exploits that gamers use.

So what is the problem? It seems that every one have their own space. However, many games, particularly MMORPG try to encompass more than one type of gaming. With PvP gaming, as well as the gaming economy, it is inevitably that one player’s playing style is going to impact the playing life of another player.

Two very straight forward situations are these:

Elite Zones Many games have these elite zones that are really tough and only the The Elite and the top end of Grinders can survive in. Inevitably, elite zones mean phat loot. So for game economic reasons, Elite players would like their zones kept exclusive.

This situation is pulled in the other direction by the fact that the Elite players are a tiny minority of the player base. The vast majority are Grinders and Casual Players, and they too paid money for those zones that they cannot enjoy. The two gaming approach works differently here, the Carrot on a stick method means that everyone can potentially grind their way to any content. While the level playing field developers might be forced to nerf the elite zone so that more players can access it.

If too few players can enjoy a zone, it would inevitably lead to people abandoning all hope of ever playing that zone, which will cause that zone’s little community to dwindle and die, regardless of how phat the loot is. However, a balance needs to be struck when attempting to tone down a really tough zone, because if it gets too easy, the sense of achievement for completing the zone is gone, and with it, any desirability to play it. Its a tug of war between fanning the aspirations to play the content, and rewarding players with a sense of achievement of having tackled it.

PvP This is another form of gaming where the way other players play will make a rude intrusion into your playing. I like to seperate PvP gaming out between World PvP, and Arena PvP.

World PvP is when someone comes up to you and blasts you into four hundred tiny bits while you’re walking around hunting rabbits. I do not have a big problem with power differentials in this form of PvP. Its like real life, if you are mugged by a guy twice your size, it is going to hurt.

Arena PvP is any form of PvP gaming where you enter knowing full well that you’ll be fighting other people. Multiplayer RTS and FPS are included in this. I believe that it is fundamental that Arena PvP have some sort of a level playing field.

It is the same reason why we watch sports. We do not condone performing enhancement of sports to gain a competitive advantage, in the same way that Arena PvP is only really fun and fair if all parties are balanced and fight each other on their own skill.

Ideally, combatants should enter the Arena with equal game skills and equipment, and will have to depend on their wits and skills to win. Developers also need to constantly be on top of the game to have a full awareness of the latest metagame, and how individual game skills are impacting the dynamics. There needs to be an established knowledge of that requires playing skill, and what simply requires button mashing. That difference is what attracts high end PvPers to certain games.

Developers also need to constantly break the current metagame, in order for it to constantly evolve and change. This keeps the competition interesting. It gets boring after a while if people are using the identical tactics to play for months on end, even if that tactic is the epitomy of efficiency and requires high player skill. Therein lies the contradiction. Game balancing is never done, it needs to be constantly undone, and redone.

What about the vast majority of gamers? Who are not at the cutting edge of any game to notice the nuance of a few game balances? We aspire to play like the Elite, while we do not have the skills or investment in time to compete with them. Yet, we paid good money for a game, and feel it within our right to experience as much content as possible.

It is generally a bad idea for any gaming company to ignore the majority gamer, so they tend to have enough content created to interest us. The Elite gamers might find themselves bored not to have greater and greater challenges put before them, and as key influencers and flag bearers for the game, their needs have to addressed as well.