Top Ten Colleges with the
Highest Paid Professors
Rockefeller University—$129,800
Harvard—$128,900
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center—$121,900
Stanford—$121,100
Princeton—$120,000
Yale—$119,000
University of Chicago—$118,500
California Institute of Technology—$118,400
New York University—$116,100
Pennsylvania—$114,800
Source: chronicle.com; average salary of all full professors.
Top Ten Colleges with the
lowest Paid Professors
Cornish College of the Arts—$27,800
University of the Sacred Heart—$30,300
Tennessee Wesleyan College—$31,700
Talladega College—$32,200
Trocaire College—$33,200
Concordia University-Austin—$33,200
Oakwood College—$33,700
Bethany College (Kan.)—$34,300
Bethel College (Tenn.)—$34,500
Faith Baptist Bible College and Seminary—$34,700
Source: chronicle.com; average salary of all full professors.
GAMES
RPG Renaissance
Role Playing Games stage a comeback in Europe and America.
I By Karen Zierler
There’s no doubt any longer: Role-playing computer games
(RPG) are in the height of a Renaissance. The September North
American bestseller list, found at GameWeek.com, shows Diablo
2 in the no. 3 spot, with Deus Ex (15), Icewind Dale (19) and
EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark (20) all high on the list as well.
This situation is radically different than it was three years ago,
when the RPG genre was all but dead.
In Europe, at the European Leisure Software Publishers
Association (ELSPA) site, one finds Deus Ex in the no. 2 slot, and
Diablo 2 in sixth position in the PC category (over all platforms,
including PlayStation and N64).
Whether it’s in first-person shooter (Deus Ex), or top-down
AD&.D packaging (Icewind Dale), the RPG elements of strong
character development, dungeon crawling and unique story pro
gression—with a sleek presentation—are in demand.
Take for example Blizzard’s Diablo 2. Not a thinking man’s
game, but a true RPG, based on the old Angband, Moria and
Nethack ASCII text-based titles. Fight evil in groups or alone, and
figure out how best to develop your character’s stats and skills.
The fast graphics (you need an
excellent system) and cama
raderie online at Battle.net
make it one of the most addic
tive forms of gameplay in five
years.
Black Isle’s Icewind Dale has
a slower pace. Its micro-manage
ment and tactical flow offers
relaxing fun with optional turn-based combat allowing fans of
AD&D dungeon crawling to experience trolls as they are meant to
be. The story is less expansive than that of its direct predecessors,
Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment. However, superb voice
Diablo 2 is one of the
most addictive forms
of gameplay to come
around in five years.
acting ana music along with excellent artwork help one overlook
its minor flaws (a patch correcting some bugs also helps).
Can the trend continue? The makers of Baldur’s Gate are bank
ing on it, as Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn finally gears up
for its release (expected this fall). This will be the fourth title
using the now very dated
Infinity Engine that lies at the
heart of the original Baldur’s,
Planescape and Icewind Dale.
Too much of a good thing?
We’ll see shortly—BG II has
over 360 hours of gameplay.
The soon-to-be-released Wizardry 8.
While top-down viewing is
hot, author D.W. Bradley and
developers Heuristic Park are
hoping to change all that with
their first-person view, six party
member title, Wizards &
Warriors. It’s a return to the
classic RPG viewpoint. Bradley
was the author of the last three
heralded Wizardry titles (end
ing in 1992). Not to be out
done by Bradley, Sirtech
Canada (keepers of the
Links to Games in
this Article
Diablo 2
blizzard.com
battle.net
Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale,
and Planescape: Torment
bioware.com/bgate2/
index.html
interplay.com/icewind (for the
patch download)
planescape-torment.com
Wizards &. Warriors
heuristicpark.com
activision.com/games/wizards
Wizardry 8
wizardry8.com
European Leisure Software
Publishers Association
(charts lists)
elspa.com
History of AD&D games
gamespot.com/features/
history_add/index.html
Wizardry license) are also work
ing on finalizing their “official" Wizardry sequel, Wizardry 8.
And I haven’t even mentioned the Diablo 2 Expansion set. It
would appear there’s more life in the old Renaissance yet. •