October 2008 Entries
Not every day I get a scoop like this, being one of those folks who does this sort of thing for personal catharsis, the ability to set my own working hours, and of course, no remuneration at all. But this week I managed to take some time out of being ill enough to be grumpy, (but not ill enough for professional medical help, or any kind of sympathy,) to actually play a Alpha MMO Test Client. I don't remember having to sign anything NDA-ish, and am far too thick to imply one, although to be fair, one...
More shows here! As Rick quite rightly pointed out, I was indeed slacking off last week, but in Belgium, rather than Egypt, but still managed to get back in time to do a show. Five hundred miles on English, French and Belgian Roads, interspersed with visits to far more war graves than I'll ever want to see again lent something of an introspective mood to the proceedings, and Burnout came to mind. What happens when we've had more than our fill? Can anything be done? Should anything be done? The Van Hemlock Podcast; Burnout (Ep 23):...
After a brief, but entirely unrelated sojourn in Belgium (Chocolates, Wine, Acres and Acres of First World War Cemeteries, Reasonable Weather), it's back to it. Life on what I've loosely termed 'Hemlock Beach' seems to be getting a bit busy. There's four of us beavering away on the Brick Racks now, with two of you folks having been sufficiently curious to work through a variety of clues scattered throughout this here blog, and the podcast, and stalked us sufficiently well to have set up Compounds in a spot which is almost impossible for a random new player to settle...
It's all gone a bit Tale In The Desert at the Van Hemlock Podcast, but as ever, being the pretentious wannabe MMO Intelligentsia that we are, it all spilled out into more general purpose ruminations on the genre as a whole. Spoilers are an all-pervading fact of online gaming life; wikis, databases, guides and walkthroughs can be found all over the place for almost all of our MMOs. Are they helpful? Are they harmful? Does it even matter? Van Hemlock: Spoilers (Ep21): A lengthy and rambling discussion about The Appropriate Use of Short Cuts. Not Entirely...
The big Technology Push took a new turn with the arrival on the beach spot nextdoor of a New Rival, who promptly put up a monstrosity of a Compound, all asymmetrical angles and mismatched walls, which given my appreciation of order (With a small 'o'), is tantamount to a declaration of war! (Also with a little 'w'). I have a few days head start on him, and have so far unlocked the secrets of Leather and Oil. On the other hand, he's managed to invent the Shovel, which I didn't see coming. A hard fought race lies ahead...
Much of...
Having got through a somewhat involved tutorial, which I suspect gives a fair impression of the complexity of the game as a whole, its time to find myself a place to call home in Ancient Egypt. The game gives you a number of locations you can teleport to to start a new life, which by the look of it seem to be banners errected by the existing citizens for this very purpose. Also, for the first 24 hours of life, the new player can 'reroll' on this chart, offering a way to see quite a lot of the world without...
Another week, and some more Talking and Stuff. Yet To Think Of a Snappy Name (Ep20): In which various Mountains of News are eroded by the Wind and Rain of Bemusement, to become the Pebbles of Whatever The Hell It Is We Actually Do! Also, first impression garblings on Warhammer Online, and A Tale In The Desert! On a somewhat related note, preparations seem to be underway for another of our Clueless Outdoor Broadcast shows, this time, in association with the Limited Edition Podcast. The plan so far seems to...