Link Blogging Lives! Aka Interesting Times

Hey kids! Guess today's theme and win absolutely nothing!

Nope, still not over it. Step One. Cut a hole in a box.

This post about yet more fallout from the whole Day of the Flying Cocks over at Psychochild's place raises an interesting question. Namely: if I take a screenshot of someone else's character how does it differ from taking a picture of that person? The answer, surprisingly and probably counterintuitively, is a lot. As the cliché goes, interesting times we live in.

Also, Psychochild points out that if people want games to be taken seriously maybe its time to start getting the formating right. I'll be the first to admit I've been lax in this regard myself and given that my attitude towards Strunk and White can be best describe by the oh so adult phrase “Fuck, that's white” I'm probably the last person who should be talking about grammatical formating issues. But, yeah, italicizing or underlining video game titles makes sense.

Keeping rolling on the whole gaming tip, I hear Burning Crusade drops tonight. In fact, if you were smart you probably could have picked it up early - street date's already been broken. I worked up a big post about why, despite the urgings of my friends, I wouldn't be playing but hit the delete button when I realized it was just turning into yet another Guild Wars versus WoW discourse and it's not like the world needs another one of those. Basically, the game looks interesting but oh so not for me (And I'm still puzzled why they insist on not having a way to download and play the game without a box in this day and age along with the redesign of the Blood Elves but, whatever.). Still, this little passage is a gem that doesn't deserve to slip into the ethereal waters of the electron oceans. “I know several people who have the game. They keep trying to get me to play. I keep trying to tell them I don't want to. I just don't like the treadmill kind of gameplay that a traditional MMO implies. They respond by telling me that I just spent all weekend grinding out skills in Guild Wars so what the hell am I talking about. I tell them that unlike their game the grinding to get stuff is the first thing you do – there's actually a point to trying to get more and more stuff – and I ground it all out so that I could get that out of the way and get to playing with the skills and build combinations that I actually like to do. They tell me the social aspects and farming's a lot better in WoW. Communication breaks down around this point.” Yeah, bout the only thing worth a damn I've written all day.

Speaking of WoW, I know I'm oh so late to the party but according to Broken Toys they've reached 8 million subscribers – the vast bulk of which are in China (Where, you know, they don't pay the same monthly fee. So everyone who just went “Wow, 8 million times $12 a month is...well, it's a heck of a lot of money”can kindly shut up and get back on the short bus to go on home.). The thing to note here is that this figure includes a grand total of 0 for Korean players – and that's a huge gaming market where WoW is, reportedly, very popular (Though not as popular as in other regions.) so that's probably at least several hundred thousand more accounts. The thing to wonder about is not if the new expansion and their recent advertising blitz will push them over 9 million but just how quickly – there's still room to attract new users and not just for WoW, I think.

A hat tip or a curtsy or a firm handshake or however it's supposed to work to Broken Toys for this, too. If you design games, if you think about designing games, if you're even vaguely interested in the process go and read it. Now.

Then go read this thorough breakdown of a contract between a developer and a publisher who've since fallen into a court battle. Yeah, remember that the next time someone says they're wishing they could make video games for a living – it's a business just like making movies or books or fish sticks and you're going to be just a cog in the gears.

Frightened off yet? Good. Then go and read this little piece by Mr. Koster about the various gifts and mementos he's received from fans over the years. Because, you know, sometimes...some very rare and wonderful times it is worth it. Now go and make up your own damn mind about what you want to do with your life, thank you.

Speaking of Mr. Koster his latest poem is many things. And all of them are the purest of awesome.

Just not sure if it's filk or nerdcore or what at this point. But I know it exists and therefore must be labeled and shoved into a genre box.

So, someone tells me they're a kopimist and trying to figure out exactly what the fuck that means (Short answer – say it out loud. Supposed to sound like “copy me”. Here's a fascinating article dating to around the time the grand pirate ship was almost sunk over the summer. Not, you know, endorsing piracy – any more than I am when I say “go see Pirates of the Caribbean” - just pointing out an interesting history.) I stumbled onto this particularly wonderful mad scheme. Which is... I'm it's just... The only word I can think of is beautiful. Always remember: if you can't play by their rules, invent your own.

Loved the original by Bad Religion so the punkish trance cover by Groove Coverage - 21^st Century Digital Girl – is right up my alley.