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  THE UNREAL COST OF CHEATING2001-01-31 11:22:00 [Filed by Arcadian Del Sol] |
| Long before every home computer sold with its own internet account, there were nationwide (and continent-wide) networks of 486SX machines that would telephone one another in the wee dawn hours to exchange new data. We had email, but the turnaround was about as fast as the Postal Service. You just didn't have to lick a stamp. At the heart of every bulletin board were three major components: discussion threads, downloadable files, and multiplayer games.
It has been almost thirty years since those 600 baud days when downloading a four page document meant going to bed and printing it out in the morning, but one thing has remained with us as technology grew and the SysOp Generation turned adults, and continues to boggle the minds of those who believe that honesty is indeed the best policy: Cheaters. Read more: Official: Cheaters will stop at nothing to win. Discuss: Join me in the forum, but please - no running in the halls. |
| SAVANT'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, PART II 2001-01-31 00:44:00 [Filed by Savant] |
| Once again I made the 40-minute trek to the Davidson Conference Center at USC. I got quite lucky as I got to follow an Injured Person Relocation Unit Engineer (ambulance, for those of you who don't work at GOD) the entire way. Slowly I made my way into the den of evil…
Before the conference began, I got to meet one of our loyal readers and board posters "Damiano" as we had some… "talk" regarding current and future games. Not long after we started to speak, people began flooding into the room, so we took our seats. Today I was prepared: Dr. Kevorkian's phone number on speed dial on the cell phone, and a sniper rifle in my back pocket. Read more: More... Discuss: Comments? |
 HOW TO SELL ON EBAY2001-01-30 16:50:00 [Filed by Buur] |
| Verant are trying their damnedest to stomp out player auctions for in-game items. The players, however, are getting rather creative in an effort to get around the EverQuest EULA. Read more: How creative are they? Discuss: Comments? |
| NEWS FROM BEYOND THE PALE 2001-01-30 12:55:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| Well I've asked Mako to come on and do this sort of thing three or four times weekly -- but he doesn't start until next week so I guess I'll have to fill in until then. Those of you who hang out in #lummies will know that most of us are huge Farscape fans. So while this news may not thrill some of you, others will be happy to see the Computer Games Online report that Simon and Schuster Interactive is going to produce a Farscape game. Lets hope its not a lame FPS. Moving right along to actual MMOG news, the Adrenaline Vault reports that Interplay is forming Interplay.com in order to move themselves into the online market. Interplay owns, among others, Black Isle Studios, the publishers of Fallout 1 and II, Baldurs Gate I and II, Icewind Dale and PlaneScape Torment. You can read what the Grumpy Gamer has to say about Black Isle back over at Computer Games Online. MSNBC has discovered gaming. More specifically they've discovered EA and have some interesting things to say about Majestic and Sims Online. In other news, it appears that Stevie Case is leaving Ion Storm. Breaking up is hard to do. Her website, as well as Ion Storm's, was down when I wrote this. Back over at the Adrenaline Vault there's an article about how Black and White will be all touchy-feely. There's also a great article by Bob Mandel on the Characteristics of the Ideal Computer Gamer. Last but not least, Jinx has a few good things to say about UO Veteran Awards, the new 3D beta and the AOL ads on UO.com.
Discuss: Comments? |
| EVERNERF 2001-01-30 11:50:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| Tal started whining to me over ICQ about some new nerf in EQ. I haven't really started playing yet so I asked him to write up something and send it to me. Here it is in all its glory. Read more: Something about a breastplate for clerics Discuss: Bitch at Tal here |
 FACTIONS STILL BROKEN. PLAYERS STILL NEED PATCH2001-01-30 07:33:00 [Filed by Arcadian Del Sol] |
| Factions is the latest recreation of player-versus-player combat in Ultima Online, in which players register with one of four teams in a massive capture-the-flag contest without any rewards to the victors or impact upon the defeated. It is moderately popular right now, but for one reason alone: PURPLE SPELLBOOKS. Want to know more? Read this first-person report of the status of the True Britain faction of the Chesapeake shard. Read more: In a word: Morons Discuss: Hopefully some of them will post here and prove it. |
| SAVANT'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, PART I 2001-01-29 21:16:00 [Filed by Savant] |
| If you can't remember where I said I'd be today and tomorrow, go here.
It started a normal day, really it did - but soon, the clouds began to darken and the sky rumbled... It was then I knew I should have stayed home. The conference opened up with an awe inspiring comparison of gaming to rock and roll, with the underlying Toys R Us theme, "I don't wanna grow up..." I tried to sneak out immediately, but to no avail, lunacy had me in her unforgiving grip. With an aspirin bottle in one hand, and a spoon (in case I decided to dig out my own eyeballs) in the other, I was ready to face the evils the day was about to offer. When the opening analogy was over, as if my twitching and convulsing hadn't given away that my inner child was having gas, I was indulged with the pleasure of listening to someone by the name of J.C. Herz (Joystick Nation), who not only used the word "brilliant" seven times during her 10 minute speech, but compared narration in games to "the path of a particle." Read more: More... Discuss: Comments? |
| COMINGS AND GOINGS AT ORIGIN UNIVERSITY 2001-01-29 19:10:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| I had heard Jeff Anderson had left the UWOO: WOO WOO: NEXUS: TGFKAUO2 project to work elsewhere and had been replaced by Tyrant. I wrote Origin to confirm this and Cal sent me this:
Read more: Spin me baby! Discuss: Lum thinks its all Clinton's fault but I think its Dubya. What do you think? |
| HAST THOU LET THINE DOGS OUT? 2001-01-29 14:54:00 [Filed by Arcadian Del Sol] |
| or....
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 PLEASE HELP... PLEASE, SAVE THE CHILDREN.2001-01-29 01:56:00 [Filed by delusion] |
| Help! I'm a prisoner of The Corporation, Alexandria bureau. This is near the end of Day Two. Their demands are simple: they're holding me prisoner until I agree to seek employment with Glitchless.
Fight the power! |
 NO MORE BANNING2001-01-28 09:21:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| Yes my friends its another Dawn update. I'm sorry but you know I just can't make this stuff up and they can. They are better than I.
Read more: Make the madness stop Daddy Discuss: Yet another Dawn comment thread for the easily amused among you |
| RADAR READS FINE PRINT, RULES PRINT FINE. 2001-01-26 14:02:00 [Filed by Arcadian Del Sol] |
| Episode IV: The Wrath of Kangaskhan
You know them and you love them, but most of all you love just knowing them. Daily Radar, the Matt Drudge of Fair and Balanced reporting of Pokemon news, has decided to restore the once great and mighty kingdom of Daily Radar Nintendo Coverage. Read more: Click here for lots and lots of green text Discuss: Click here for lots and lots of inline images and inane banter |
| NEXT, ON A VERY SPECIAL EPISODE OF BLOSSOM 2001-01-25 15:55:00 [Filed by delusion] |
| This isn't "news" by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought enough of our readers might have on opinion on Gamespot's Question of the Week, which this week is "What game convention would you like to see changed in 2001?". Better yet, they might actually want to discuss the issue...
...but if not, you can vote against breasts. Take that as you will. Discuss: Comments? |
| FAR NATION 2001-01-25 14:55:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| Sega, despite ceasing production on the Dreamcast has a MMOG in development specifically for the Dreamcast. The Gaming Intelligence Agency and IGN-DC report that the game is scheduled for release this summer and will be an "online-only experience." I wish I could tell you more or even describe the game for you but there aren't many details available. A quick search of Sega's website could not find any mention of the game.
Discuss: Comments? |
| SILLY PARODIST KISSES FORTUNECITY NA NA HEY HEY GOODBYE 2001-01-25 10:47:00 [Filed by Brent] |
| Update: Buh bye, Fortunecities. Now we get to eat up more of xrgaming's bandwidth!
'Episode Two' of The Comics Of Lum The Mad is now uploaded. In this installment, see: more wacky Verant antics! more wacky Lum people antics! more wacky GodGames antics! more wacky Origin antics! more wacky Shadowbane antics! more wacky Anarchy Online antics! Raph Koster as Princess Leia! BOOBIES! and other stuff too. The Comics Of Lum The Mad Read more: Click here for optional hi-this-is-my-first-update junk Discuss: Talk about comics! Post comics about comics! It's all good. |
| FIRST RULE OF REVIEW: YOU MUST ACTUALLY *PLAY* THE GAME 2001-01-25 06:55:00 [Filed by Arcadian Del Sol] |
| I've had some criticisms of EverQuest in the past, and some choice words for the various designs and policies of the good folks at Verant. I've have even formed opinions about why I don't particularly care for a game I have never played; a game I have never even watched being played. But I do my best to talk to people who have played EQ, so when I form those opinions, I don't end up sounding like this guy. Read more: At least he spelled OooOoOoo correctly. Discuss: We here at Ltm.NET promote social interaction. |
| BRAD SPEAKS 2001-01-24 20:44:00 [Filed by Buur] |
| I sent an e-mail over to the guys at Verant tonight because I wanted to give them a chance to tell their side of the Terris Thule story. Brad McQuaid, Executive Producer of EverQuest, was kind enough to respond with the following:
We found some artificially buffed and equipped characters who were illegally moved from the Test server to a live server. Those characters will be moved back to Test. The situation has been dealt with internally and we'll do our best to not let something like this occur again. Shortly after he wrote me he posted pretty much the same statement on Whineplay, much to the players delight. If Terris Thule is happy then that is good enough for me. Discuss: One more time... |
| SPECIAL BENEFITS: PART II 2001-01-24 16:50:00 [Filed by Buur] |
| Despite the players repeated requests for some sort of answer regarding the Terris-Thule twink situation, Verant still won't say anything. Threads on the subject are being locked, if not outright deleted. Read more: Read more about this.... Discuss: Join this thread, already in progress. |
| PLANES OF MISCHIEF 2001-01-24 15:14:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| So who else did you expect to do this update? The Plane of Mischief in the new EQ SOV expansion pack is nothing short of amazing. Not that I've seen it myself because I don't actually play EQ. However, I will say that this expansion is the first thing I've seen that makes me want to play the game. I'm still not real jazzed about having to read a book or find alternate entertainment while I 'rest' in the game or having to camp spawn points -- and remembering that I'd have to do that is the only thing keeping me from running out right now and buying EQ in order to experience this amazingly cool new addition to the game. From what I've seen of the screenshots, I'm very very impressed.
Read more: But all is not well in the Planes of Mischief. Discuss: Comments? |
 PASSED!2001-01-24 11:53:00 [Filed by Lietgardis] |
| If you can access the Zone this morning, you can read the original text. If you can't, like me, you can look at CoD's news item on the topic. Either way, you'll get the happy news that yesterday's "dude, we can crash the server and dupe and stuff, and we won't get in trouble for it because it's Turbine's fault we can do so" kiddies were actually banned for their sins.
Unfortunately, the news blurb also notes that the "AC Team's" essential policy isn't changing. The good news is that we were able to track down all the players who were exploiting this bug and crashing the servers. As we have stated in the past: Since Asheron's Call was commercially released, it has been our policy that if players make use of a bug that we did not catch or did not have time to fix before releasing the game, we would not punish them for our mistake, instead directing our efforts toward fixing those bugs as soon as possible. The exceptions to this are with those bugs that significantly affect the performance or stability of the game. Perhaps the problem wouldn't have exploded in the first place if players wouldn't haved believed that they have a license to exploit, merely by logging in. Nice work this time. Work harder next time. Discuss: BUT I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT WITH MY $10 A MONTH |
| THIS GUY HAS SOME ISSUES 2001-01-24 10:46:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| Be sure to read the description. Discuss: Pika? |
| THE MORE YOU STIR IT THE THICKER IT GETS 2001-01-24 10:17:00 [Filed by Arcadian Del Sol] |
| Brace yourself for I am about to utter two words that will divide the readers of this site like Charlton Heston at the shores of the river Nile: Daily Radar.
Still with me? I admire your fortitude. At first glance, it appeared that Daily Radar was being roughed up Teamster-style by Nintendo. Peering through the dimly lit, smoke filled room, it became increasingly clear that Daily Radar was simply handing out pitchforks and torches to anyone willing to join the big peasant revolt against Super Mario (I'm selling my pitchfork on EBay later in the week). To "clarify" the situation (in Daily Radar Speak, that means "further muddy up an already murky pond"), Frank O'Conner, "Executive Producer" of said web page issued a statement. Read more: Brought to you by Arcadian Del Sol, Executive Producer of this particular update. Discuss: The Executive Post Producers meeting is here. |
| LUM INTERVIEWS WITH CORPORATION 2001-01-24 07:15:00 [Filed by Arcadian Del Sol] |
| As most of you regular readers already know, Lum the Mad has recently taken a sabbatical in order to pursue his options in the industry upon which he formerly threw flaming pots of Greek fire. Recently, he was interviewed by the Corporation, and with the assistance of the Master of Espionage, I managed to locate the corporate transcripts of this interview on their website. This might make for some interesting reading. Discuss: You can express yourself here. |
| OUTAGES 2001-01-24 07:03:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| As you may have noticed we are having a few problems. The problems stem from the C|Net cutbacks and there isn't much we can do about it until XRgaming signs a new contract with someone else. Once they do sign a new contract there may be some moving pains associated with it. So it looks like we are in for a bumpy ride for the next couple of weeks. Please bear with us. Thanks. |
| HE'S DEAD, JIM 2001-01-24 01:10:00 [Filed by Savant] |
| Long since the days of old, the "GM Model" has been slowly withering away. His days have come and gone; yet he still hangs on. From free MUDs, to the watered down cousin known as OPS in IRC, to the remote GM model used by Simutronics, to the latest in-house incarnations from two of the big three, it has failed - each and every time. Read more: More... Discuss: Comments? |
| ASTONISHING PANORAMA OF THE ENDTIMES 2001-01-23 14:46:00 [Filed by Lietgardis] |
| Players logging in to Asheron's Call at this time receive the following message:
We are aware of a bug that allows a player to intentionally crash a server. We are working on a fix. PLEASE NOTE: Use of this bug may result in immediate removal from the game. A review of the boards doesn't reveal any further information, other than that this server crash bug is performed in-game, brings down a server block, and enables easy duping. Some are reporting bans. Some are reporting their duping goes well, and they're leaving packs of valuable and rare equipment all over Dereth. And, surprisingly, the majority of the rest are calling for blood. It's common sense. If anything deserved a ban, would it not be deliberate disruption of the servers? Duping is just a nice side effect. "AC Team," I think your test is here. Update, 3:05 CST: New login message. The servers are down in preparation for a hotfix to a bug that allows a player to intentionally crash a server. Please check the State of the Network for continual updates. No ETA |
 TOUR THE DAOC BETA2001-01-23 12:52:00 [Filed by myschyf] |
| Games Domain Review has a kind of interesting tour of the DAOC beta. They go on to do some comparisons between the Camelot version of Britian and 'the way it really was.' There are some nice screen shots. Mad propz to Xilren's Twin for posting it on our boards and thereby bringing it to my attention.
Discuss: Comments? |
| SPECIAL BENEFITS 2001-01-23 08:16:00 [Filed by Buur] |
| It would appear that Verant didn't learn their lesson with the whole Bunnies of Chaos thing. Either that or it has just been so long that they hoped everyone had forgot. Read more: Wonder what the hell I am talking about? Discuss: Comments? |
| SHOW ME SOMETHING 2001-01-23 07:55:00 [Filed by Arcadian Del Sol] |
| It was a friendly wager until Jinx decided to get jiggy with it. In typical brash beer-smelling New York fashion, he decided to do his fighting on the internet instead of letting his football team do its fighting in Tampa Bay. I don't blame him. If my team were as hapless and limp as the New York Gnats, I'd take the battle to any place I could, as long as it wasn't on the football field.
So myself being a native of Baltimore, I am naturally a Raven's fan. As Jinx was quick to point out, The Raven's moved from Cleveland five years ago - something he seems to think will improve the chances of his lack luster Gnats in the Super Bowl. Whatever you have to do Jinx, to help you forget that whole 3 point underdog thing. Whatever you do to help you forget that I've heard the same thing three weeks ago from Tennessee Titan fans (Note to Jinx and anyone else living in denial: They were formerly the Houston Oilers), and I heard the same thing two weeks ago from the Oakland Raiders (Note to Jinx and anyone else living in denial: They were formerly the Los Angeles Raiders). You see, Jinx still thinks the year is 1995. If I were a Giants fan, I would, too. The Wager: Because websites make chump change and not even much of it, we didn't make any cash bets. If you learn anything from me, learn this: Never make a cash wager on a sporting event with a native New Yorker. Our wager is that the loser must compose a love poem in honor and tribute to the victor following the Big Game. Yeah, I agree with you, but it's the best we could come up with, us being poor and all. But at least if I win this bet, the chances of me being buried next to Jimmy Hoffa underneath the endzone at Giant's stadium are slim. So good luck on Sunday Jinx. In the meantime: MSNBC ESPN CBS (proof that our bet isn't the dumbest) NFL Discuss: By Popular Demand, A discussion thread. |
| THE LAST WORD 2001-01-23 01:12:00 [Filed by Lietgardis] |
| Turbine, trying VERY VERY HARD to atone for last week's messy exploit recovery, has resorted to working towards the playerbase's baser instincts. Ranter-gone-bad Nik "Azeraphel" Davidson says it all in his latest Page from the Producer: I don't expect an apology to totally appease someone who lost a night's worth of XP and treasure, but we are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience that Friday's trouble caused. ... That being said, make sure to leave an inventory slot free on your character when the February prop comes around -- some database gnomes will deposit a little token of apology. Mmm, gimmicky.
Discuss: There's a perfectly fine thread right here. |
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