The MMO part isn’t bad either.
Even with the preview event being a closed beta (invite only) there were plenty of people to interact with. The community is extremely friendly and I had a great deal of fun. Looks like its shut down now in preparation for the final launch.
The actual game launches on April 4th.
See you there!
Link, via GameOgre.
In a rare term of wit, one of my favorite states—as I live there part of the year—has managed to come down with a ruling about recording the police while in public. This happened over a case involving rapper Dr. Dre and one of his concerts.
According to an article in the Michigan Messenger,
The suit was filed by Gary Brown, now a Detroit City Councilman but formerly a high-ranking police official. He and other officers were videotaped while threatening to shut down a concert featuring Dre and Eminem if they showed a sexually explicit video. The video was then included in a DVD produced about the tour.
The court, in a 6-1 ruling, dismissed the suit, saying that there is no right to privacy for police while on the job. The implications of this ruling are far more important than they may seem initially because it explicitly makes it legal in the state of Michigan to record the police while they perform their duties.
This is incredibly important because cell phone videos of police officers have revealed misconduct, abuse and lying on reports in case after case around the country. But in some states, like Illinois, it is illegal to videotape the police in the performance of their duties.
It should be made clear that the police in this happened to be proceeding in the back stage of a concert with multiple cameras and third parties wandering everywhere. The concept of a “public space” was in full force and the conversation was not taken out of public into private.
The entire idea that public officers would be stupid enough to argue that they had an “expectation of privacy” in these circumstances is wholly ridiculous. I would love to see what the single dissenting ruling opinion had to say on this subject.
Furthermore, if you are a public official and operating in that capacity and in public while doing so there’s no real expectation of privacy. Many police SOP is to report all contact with civilians when operating in an official capacity; the requirement of report itself removes any concept of expectation of privacy. The operations of law upon the citizenry should be fully accessible to the citizens they affect sans a writ or warrant withdrawing it from them. This is necessary especially for the ability of the public to assist with their own defense against the State in matters of accusation.
I should be able to record any conversation I am a participant thereof—and further, especially those that involve the operations of public law.
This does not infer that such recordings should be automatically admissible in a court of law; but it should proceed forth from the law that anything that I can legally access should be mine to retain.
The ex-officer in this case felt that the recording of his actions embarrassed him. And they did—his actions were embarrassing. As an officer of the court and a holder of the public trust he was entrusted with certain powers and authorities that flow forth from that public trust and part of being a public official is being under public scrutiny and the public eye.
Many states still have laws on their books which make recording the police illegal; even when the police have the right to record a conversation or action with an individual who is directly affected by it. This really needs to stop. Recording the police is not “wiretapping” and stretching laws that prohibit wiretapping and eavesdropping is obviously ridiculous when the police are exempt from the same rules sans need of a warrant.
If you happen to play, please give me a peep in the comments section; even if you don’t let me know what you think of the game from my review and if you’re interested in trying it out.
Link, via GameOgre.
Why should you buy it and read it?
Because, if you have a Kindle it’s only $2.99 and it’ll give you at least a night of enjoyment (if not several.) Plus, with Nokia in the news so many times recently, it should also be semi-topical—even if it is set almost a hundred years into our presumed cybertech future.
Who knows. Perhaps Nokia will take over the mobile industry and give us near-telepathy.
It could happen.
Link, via Amazon.com.
I won’t spoil it here for you (as we’ve already put a commentary up about my review on Vox Ex Machina) but suffice it to say: I really liked the game. I am not one for FPS-style games; but this one really has taken some of what I’d love to see in an MMOFPSRPG to heart. Yes, it’s a Massively Multiplayer Game, a First-Person-Shooter, and a Role Playing Game.
I love the stories that it tells, and I’ve even fought in some PvP matches in order to finish some missions for the various crime families around the city.
Level progression is interesting and having jobs that run along the lines of ”shoot this many people with a rifle” to complete really make for an interesting job-on-the-side in a job where you’re already shooting people.
Be sure to read the full review.
Link, via GameOgre.
Most recent post for the Green Dragon Inn, decided to do up a little discussion on the newer instances in Azeroth.
Two weeks ago or so, Ghostcralwer, everyone’s favorite dev, decided to weigh in on complaints that the new instances are much too difficult. Some disagree, but he seems to believe they’re on the money. As I’ve seen, the new instances certainly require a lot more coordination than the standard dungeons (up ‘til 80.)
Conclusion: They seem harder, but it’s because of the increased coordination and lack of knowledge…they’re also more fun. You should check it out and tell me what you think.
Link, via the Green Dragon Inn.
Lucent Hearts is a cutesy anime game that has a closed beta right now (very closed from what I saw) but the world is certainly already full of stuff.
Much of the initial game revolves around picking your astrological sign—in fact, the character creation involves delivering your birth date so that it can pick your astrological sign. (In my case, it’s Gemini.) Also, like many Asian-style cultures you can give your blood-type as that’s often connected to mysticism about personality.
In game, these elements build together in order to create a romantic matching system so that players can find “soul mates.” After people pair up, they’re able to gain a type of relationship points, which they can turn into temporary buffs, special items, and when a person plays with a soul mate in game they both earn experience together faster.
In fact, a great deal of the game seems to be written around anime romance. Just watch the trailer on the official site and you’ll see a dungeon group get wiped out at a boss—but the hero sees his life flash before him, and his time with friends with a romantic interlude, and he stands tall with a rush of emotion.
Rather like the Power Of Love fiction trope.
A bit of the game also seems to be centered around emotions.
I’ll know more as I get deeper into the game.
In abstract: it’s too OCD for me.
Now, when archaeology actually got released into the game it came to me as a little bit of a disappointment. I expected to see another glyph-like system based around it, so-called “Paths of the Titans” at the time which filled me which much glee. The chance to find other ways of tweaking my characters both after they’d reached their level 85 pinnacle or during their careers as rising stars really appealed to me. Then, when it finally came to fruition, I’d learned too late that Paths of the Titans had been scrapped and what I got in its stead is the old hitting rocks and…playing a game of hot-or-cold?
Link, via Green Dragon Inn.
I went and published a review over at Vox Ex Machina for everyone to read, final conclusion: fairly okay, if you have Netflix, popcorn, and a night to burn.
Just last week, I fired up the Netflix and saw that Halo Legends had finally wound its way into the instant queue and I figured it was about time that I sat down with my favorite My Little Pwny pillow, a bag of popcorn, and the effervescent glow of the laptop monitor and watched it. So there I was, cozy with my pillow, sipping my Raume soda, and I’m watching a series of animé shorts based on a best-selling computer game.
Not exactly how I expected I’d be spending my night if I’d pondering this a few days before.
Link, via Vox Ex Machina.
For those not in the know, CrimeCraft is a free-to-play FPS MMO published by Vogster. It’s mostly guns-and-mayhem style with a deeply immersive narrative written onto a post-apocalyptic United States like city after the world runs out of oil.
After a grueling 10-day hunt, and approximately 113.3 hours, I have finally tamed the elusive spirit beast, Loque’nahak. (See me above, posing for the picture with my newly tamed kitty on Ogrimm’s Hammer in Icecrown.)
The case finally broke when a newfound friend of mine, Maidentaiwan, located the furball patrolling next to the Skyreach Pillar and called me in—she is Grumplepuss’s kaywng (yet another hunter who I’ve befriended from my time in Scholazar Basin.)
While I might be going there on-and-off in order to run Oracle quests for reputation, I think that I’m going to spend time in Icecrown to uncover the storyline unfolding there (and perhaps I’ll actually check up on the devastated Azeroth.)
I ended up naming him Yule after the the season that I’ve finally tamed him during.
#%*!
The good news? The hunter who picked him up happened to be Grumplepuss, aided by his kaywngstiad MaidenTaiwan, who have been helping me find the spirit beast as well. In fact, they tried to see if I was online first—as I wasn’t—and then tamed the critter. At least I am very happy that they cat didn’t go to waste, even if I failed to tame him myself.
The worst part of this is that the kitty spawned in my camp spot during the 20 minutes I was out to take a shower.
Talk about the worst of the bad fortunes.
Still, I’d like to thank Grumplepuss and MaidenTaiwan (Thunderhorn) for their help so far. I’m not going to be able to keep this up without some sort of help.
Once again winter closes its grip around the valley, dropping temperatures into the 50s. On the same night as the Festival of Lights parade leaving behind interesting trashcans and a slightly smaller presence of people on the Ave.
Certainly the temperature has a little to do with this.
Upon arrival, I got a little bit of interview time in with some buskers and some of the usual street rats who had stories to tell. In particular, a pair that I love seeing outside of Hippy Gypsy who wished us well and warmth.
I made it out there and discovered the street preachers out and about. Marcus and his sister had taken up on the corner with the Post Office as well as Al and his crew. I meant to get an interview with him as well, but it felt so cold I felt it would be necessary to close up the night a little earlier.
I also had a chance to speak with a part-Welsh (ethnically) woman named Winifred. The conversation ran the lot about languages, history, linguistics, paganism, and anthropology.
I have very little in the way of notes. (The temperature fell so far that my fingers ached from it.)
Crystal also made the street.
The Mill Avenue Resistance did not make a show. As usual for this year the drum circle remained empty and dark, the melancholy of the vacant space still calls out to me. I hope some day soon it will be filled once again with the sounds of hands on music.
Not too much to report again.
No photos, only footprints and red bricks.
I've been camping the kitty-who-swallowed-a-willowisp (I don't know why he swallowed a willowisp, perhaps he'll die). I've been trying to do this from 9am until 2am, or whatever times of day I can possibly stay up. The spot I've chosen in the easternmost spawn points in Sholazar Basin where the gorillas gather.
Well, today I was sitting around minding my own business when NpcScan went off. I looked eagerly down and noticed it had triggered on King Krush—a huge, green Tyrannosaurus rex who happens to also be a rare spawn in the region. I don't really care for the dinosaur.
However, he is a rare, so I figured: Sure, whatever.
I flittered off down past the wasp hive, spotted the dinosaur stomping his way blithely through the swampy ground. Landed, set down my trap, and hit tame.
The big guy went straight through my trap and whomped me with a fearbomb. As I ran, I waited for it to wear off with the big green dino on my tail. I quickly recovered, hit tame again, and waited. He hollered liked a giant, pissed-off elephant as hearts appeared over his head. As the hearts flew, he slashed chunks out of my health with his colossal flesh rending teeth.
At about 2% heath, he tamed.
My kaywngstiad suggests that I rename him: Killasaurus.
Come along and keep up with me!
Cataclysm Elemental Invasion: Papers Please. When Orgrimmar became a post 9-11 wasteland, our reporter came to the scene to watch Blood Gaurd orcs frisking incomers. Those who were found to be holding cultist paraphernalia or literature were immediately arrested. Also, oddly, numerous cultists had set up around the city trying to open rifts into the elemental planes.
Cataclysm Elemental Invasion: Under Attack! Giant elementals have been emerging in the city themselves assaulting citizens and heroes alike! They have been trapping people in elemental prisons and the cities have gone into lockdown. Orgrimmar has been set aflame as fire and earth elemental manifestations stomp through the streets and the population flees out the gates; Thunder Bluff hunches underneath peals of thunder and glittering claws of lightning as water and air elementals harass and zap the unwary.
The Ave felt pretty dead.
All things being considered, it had become quite cold over the past few days and that perhaps chased people into their homes and away from the red bricks.
The crowds had dwindled down to a trickle of people passing through the intersections.
I tarried only an hour on Mill, bought a soda from The Thirsty Dog, greeted everyone I could, and then headed back home again.
Mill Avenue had a strange visit today from a belligerent set of street preachers led by Ruben Israel.
Marcus Mattingly, one of the proper Mill Ave Christian street preachers, describes Ruben Israel as a heretic and people shouldn’t listen to him anyway. The presence of the new preachers and their signs did not affect the major Mill Ave preachers at all. The crowds did start to clutter around the Mill Cue Club, but it didn’t draw attention from the street preachers nor did it cause them any frustration. Other than a few shrugged shoulders and rolled eyes, thus was the entirety of Israel’s impact.
The Mill Avenue Resistance, in the persons of Gadfly and Kazz, quit their usual position protesting the usual street preachers and moved next to Israel and his crew in front of the Mill Cue Club.
Instead of putting up any sort of rational discussion or civil conversation, Israel and his posse only spat back insults and vituperations. Responses consisted primarily of non sequitur nonsense, abuse, racial slurs, and political insults. Gadfly brought the brunt of the attacks with her femininity being called into question and other hyper-misogynistic speech. Kazz was met with name-calling about his appearance every time he spoke, being called a hippy and branded as effeminate. These men obviously have massive problems with women—it certainly explains why there wasn’t a single woman among them.
Passersby also absorbed some abuse from them as they tried to shout over the noise from within the bar.
Mostly they would stop random people and call them “gay” as if that were actually an insult.
When I attempted to stop Rube Israel himself to ask him who he was with and what they were doing he chose to insult me ineffectually. At one point he called me out for not being able to read his sign even though I wear spectacles (wouldn’t that be why I’m wearing spectacles?) The address of his web page, whilst visible on the signs, was printed over the point where the pole inserts into the sign itself and thus made it difficult to make out. He also casually claimed that I was a Satanist. Not that I am, nor is that really much of an insult either, but he used it with the same role as their attention grabbing insults.
There wasn’t much of any substance to Ruben Israel’s circus act.
They’ve also got an excellent podcast.
Cataclysm Elemental Invasion: The Cult in Azeroth. There's a strange cult spreading around town, in this case Orgrimmar, that I'd like everyone to meet. They appear to be an extension of the Twilight's Hammer, doomsaying and preaching end times dogma for all to hear. Except what you'll find surprising is who they're working for.
Cataclysm Elemental Invasion: The Elements Agitated. In this one our intrepid reporter becomes a one woman broom and dustbin service for the street of Orgrimmar and singlehandedly fights off a dragon. Well, not really, but read up and you'll see how that goes. Do I smell ash?
This post entails an anecdotal narrative about an experience on Mill Ave, Hallowse’en 2010, involving a Christian congregation called The Door. There have been previous problems with them and their behavior on Mill Ave; but this year they managed to comport themselves mildly and without too much friction.
The first man to approach us from The Door zeroed in on me and immediately said, "I just wanted to let you know that Jesus loves you." He said this over-and-over as if I were failing the proper social reply. He was a small Latino man, the orbits of his eyes set further apart than is normal, but his face appeared round that gave him a sort of intense effect. He'd cropped his dark hair short against his skull and wore jeans and a collared shirt. I never even got his name during the entire discussion, but I did attempt to steer the conversation away from culture shock, but he felt rather committed to the hard sell.
"Thank you," I said, thinking that the "Jesus loves you," meme is generally a sort of blessing that Christians use (especially this evangelical type) to connect with the other person; however, that didn't do it for him. He quickly went on into his mirror speech, something that probably fits the jargon term "witness statement." Such as cliché to these statements he starts talking about how he used to live a self-destructive life, he did drugs (marijuana), drank alcohol, and partied all the time. And, now that's all changed.
Ostensively he would have attributed this change to his conversion to a particular religion. I am not certain what sect of Christianity that the Door belongs to, but it's probably theirs he would espouse.
His mirror speech followed script extremely well as he passed onto the question, "If you were to die, where would you go right now?"
And, as I like to work from Celtic mythology, as is my heritage, I said, "Well, the Otherworld."
He immediately went on to talk about Christian mythology, including about how they propose that when people die they'll be judged and then be sent to one of two places: Heaven or Hell. Here his mirror speech failed him for a moment as he ran into someone to whom these two terms create a sense of culture shock. So he attempted one of the worst metaphors I have ever heard on the subject,
"What do you see right there? In the street," he asks. Well, it's a street and it has cars driving in it. "What would happen if you tried to drive the wrong way down that street?" Well, you'd collide head on into another car. "After you die there's only two directions you can go."
That's not what the rest of the world thinks and it's certainly not related to any knowable reality (i.e. Heaven, Hell, the Otherworld, Xibalba, etc. aren't demonstrable so pretending they are is just stupid.) So I said, "No they're not..." I didn't get a chance to go on that every culture that has ever lived as invented itself afterlives of different sorts, from heavens, to hells, to happy hunting grounds, to the dwelling abode of the gods. There are near infinite and myriad answers to that question and not a single one of them can be tested (although some of them are logically absurd) so I have no reason to accept his assertion over any other.
Then he said something actually interesting and mentioned that The Door had a visiting preacher who had gone to Romania. I asked if the preacher himself was Romanian, no he wasn't, but his wife was.
Anyone who doesn't know, but there's a famous critter on YouTUBE, ZOMGitsCriss who also lives in Romania. So I'd be interested to see what she thinks about some of these subjects, but I have no reason to bother her.
Finally, our conversation ended when said missionary from Romania appeared.
He was a large man, almost taller than me—in fact loomed over me because I stood in the street and he stood up on the curb--square spectacles, broad shoulders bearing a plaid shirt, and dress slacks. His hair, dark from its appearance, buzz cut into a flat top. He carried with him a Bible that his hands dwarfed and introduced himself as John. When he spoke he delivered his mildly accented Midwestern words with a cheerful bombast that grew on his face and I could hear the slight pull of another language in some of his words (knowing that Romanian is a Romance language gave me some insight into some of the pronunciation changes, but I could have been supplying that through my own bias.) In all, John's ability to cover a full range of language and answer questions made him an interesting foil to the Latino man who had originally approached me.
I should point out that because he's a visiting missionary he's not connected to The Door or their cultish behavior directly and he's probably using them to help score himself money for his missions in Romania. This would readily explain why it felt like a totally different level of discussion talking to him rather than the Latino man who never gave me his name.
He also went on to say that treatment of women in Romania is next to the most ugly, citing that they're second highest in the world for lack of women's rights; also that Romania is second highest in the world for abortions. He mentions there is no 911 service and that he continually hears crying and weeping where he lives in a multistory apartment building of women and children pleading not to be beaten. (I have no way of verifying these anecdotes or statistics, so I invite Romanian citizens and scholars to opine.)
I enjoyed speaking to him, but didn't get a chance for a full interview of his experience. He had to leave too early for that.
Welcome to Mill Ave, John. Just, next time choose a better congregation to spend time with.
Let's get this out of the way - Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's sort of my Christmas. I share it with the goths.
Every year I like to get in the spirit of the season (pun not intended but impossible to avoid) by writing something creepy, like last year's Halloween story and... this year's Halloween story! You can read the 2010 story on the 30th and 31st, but I wanted something to keep you busy until then. So I asked everyone on Twitter to send me Halloween story links. As it is with Peacock King, all of these stories are available online to read for free! It's just like trick-or-treating, except I guess tricks don't happen unless someone's server goes down. Please enjoy these stories and support the authors if they show you a good time.
Stories include 100 Candles, DarkSight, Haunting Sins, Bradbury’s Ghost, and The Legend of Sleepy Phoenix (by moi). Irk and Char are the two authors of the Internet famous The Peacock King story weblit serial. If you want more to read after getting your scare on, theirs is a good place to look.
Link, via The Peacock King.
Burning rubber where angels fear to tread.
