The Funeral of WoW Gold

At first it took me about five hours to make one of these hats, but now I can do it in about two, and sometimes I can even crotchet with one hand. I make all sorts of random designs, thick stripes, letters, whatever people ask for.

I stop making hats in the summer, but in the winter I make one every few days. I probably make two a week. I don’t think about much when I crotchet. I don’t meditate, but it’s really calming for me. It’s one of the reasons that I do it, because it’s so calming, and I like making hats.

Some of my friends think it’s weird that I like to crotchet. They say it’s what girls do, but I tell them that I can make hats, and they can’t. That’s why I like World of Warcraft （Buy  wow gold ） - the game that I play online with other people. People that I meet there don’t really care if I crotchet and make hats. They just think it’s cool.

And people trade hats online. When I play World of Warcraft and I want better weapons for my characters, I’ll do a trade - I’ll make someone a hat if they give me better weapons for my characters. World of Warcraft is a game you buy and then play online with other people. I play World of Warcraft about three to five hours a day. It makes me feel really good because it’s not real, but it’s a lot like reality. The only difference is I can change it, and if I work at it I can become really good. Right now one of my characters is a level 9 paladin which means that my character can fight anybody, and he can team up with people who I meet in the game.

I do spend a lot of time on World of Warcraft because there I can control things. I don’t like what’s going on in this world, so I go and live in the World of Warcraft. If something isn’t going right in this world, I go to World of Warcraft and do whatever I want there. I go on missions, I improve my character. People in the World of Warcraft are more understanding. It seems like it. Just the idea of having medieval weapons, armor, and dungeons, and dragons is really cool. There’s also magic, wild boars, Lords, and all sorts of strange characters.

I meet so many different people from different countries, and yet we all have this game in common. I find the people I meet online playing the game with me to be really easy to get along with. I make friends because of the game. They’re from
Germany, England, China, all over the place. I have more friends online than in real life, more than people I’ve actually met. I just start talking to these people online about the game, and then I start talking to them about other things. I ask them where they live, what they do. They’re mostly my age, some are older, usually not younger. What’s cool about World of Warcraft is I can team up with other people; it’s easy to make friends that way because we’re fighting a war together.

I don’t like real wars though. I think people all over the world should fight World of Warcraft wars, not real wars, that way less people will get killed. I think President Bush should be playing World of Warcraft actually.

I am anti-war, but I play World of Warcraft because it takes away my stress. I don’t like some people that I meet in real life, they’re mean. They don’t understand me and they stress me out. I’m really tall, six-six, and people have made fun of me because of my height, but I don’t care. I’ve always been tall it seems, taller than everyone else. If I look at pictures of me in kindergarten, there was the whole class, and then there was me, taller than everyone else. At least my height has helped me in crew - I get a longer stroke, and it helps the team.

How about an epic PC versus console gaming smackdown, in the tradition of end-of-year numbers lists?

I spent part of 2008 taking polite shots at PC foibles like Microsoft’s halfhearted Games for Windows initiative, the functionality and game support travesties that plagued Vista for the better part of 2007 into 2008, PC gaming’s dwindling stable of A-list exclusives, and the short-term-gains mentality that’s increasingly dropping eggs in low-risk baskets labeled “World of Warcraft” and “The Sims.”

So here’s my last minute about-face defending the PC as a viable games platform, and a friendly rejoinder to Techradar’s “12 reasons console gaming beats PCs.”

1. PCs are scalable. Sure, it’s a glass half-full or half-empty proposition, because component upgrades often vandalize (and scandalize) your wallet. Question is, would you rather have a platform that can play nearly anything, past to present, contingent on do-it-yourself propensity? Or be locked into a restrictively governed molding that’s only changed out once every half-decade or so?

2. PC games are endlessly manipulable. Another “your mileage may vary” point, because tinkering’s not for everyone, and plenty of people just want something that works. On the other hand, if you’ve only played Far Cry 2 on a console, you’ve been prowling around in visuals that only shadow the game’s tricked-out PC sibling. And while stuff like NVIDIA’s PhysX is accessible on NVIDIA-derivative consoles, don’t expect Mirror’s Edge to ever look as gleefully dissolvable on a PS3 or Xbox 360 as its physics-enhanced PC version. Also: Two words = mod scene.

3. PCs ape consoles in emulation. Here’s a point often missed. PCs can be nearly any past-tense console, by hook or by crook. Miss stuff like Rare’s Wizards & Warriors? The original tag-team Mario Bros.? Mega Man? Berzerk? No need to track down a moldering Atari 2600 or original NES, or Edward Stratton III’s original Tempest arcade box. Just find an emulator and a stack of ROMs, or a Flash or Java site like PlayNES.net running scads of these in ostensibly legal emulation (including save-state options!) and you’re golden.

4. PCs can be anywhere. If you’re living in the 1970s, you think computers still hunker in lightless basements, or converted linen closets, or musty shag-carpeted attics. I’ve never parked my PC anywhere other than a desk/armoire/piped-and-fluted-hybrid in a living room within cabling distance of my Dolby-fied flat-screened piece-de-resistance. Swapping between a desktop LCD and your larger living room variety is a snap, not to mention that doing so offers more audio/video playback options than any of the console manufacturers.

5. Keyboard and mouse beats all. We’ve yet to see an interface as intuitive and broadly commanding (and that’s including Nintendo’s vaunted Wiimote and nunchuk).

6. PCs do gamepads, surprise! Take that, all you blinkered QWERTY mockers. Got an Xbox 360 controller? Plug it into your PC and games like Dead Space and Gears of War adapt instantly. What’s more, I dare anyone to invoke a console’s comparably foggy web browser and tap out a response to this point, cycling through detached-panel ASCII symbols and frantically pulling triggers, one tedious sequential character at a time.

7. Consoles go kaplooey, too. I’ll see your “blue screen” and raise you a “red ring” or two (or 33 percent of total, if those early estimates were accurate). Leave your pity for PC gamers at the door, because consoles are just as prone to bellying up when something short circuits in quality control. (Because, hate to break it to you, consoles are PCs too!) And memo: Game-breaking creepy-crawlies and PC-style firmware updates and patches have consoles on the hook these days, too.

8. Consoles could vanish tomorrow, but PC gaming is forever. Planning to solve for the unified theory of everything while lounging on your sofa in front of you new 50-inch plasma power-gobbler? Chances are, not so much. Feng Shui your heart out, you still need a place to spread the tree-ware and focus without distractions. Vive
la PC! In the end, PC gaming soldiers on in part because the business-to-casual range of our daily activities remains wildly PC-centric. “And it plays games too?” There you go.

9. PC games are stylistically unbounded. It’s like the Irving Berlin song: Anything consoles can do, PCs can do better. There’s nothing consoles offer that PCs (and PC games) can’t, and we’re talking strictly one-way negotiation. Anything that requires fast-switch precision movement’s out the window on a 360, Wii, or PS3. Real-time strategy games are a tangled mess on consoles, and while certain tactical third-person shooters work well enough, a decent mouse/keyboard gamer will repeatedly roast anyone wielding a pair of comparably clumsy thumb-sticks. Don’t get me started on the complete lack of console support for serious simulations and wargames.

10. PCs are the creative heart of video gaming. This is where the grandest, wackiest, coolest, hippest, least predictable stuff in gaming’s happening, folks. Hands down and bar none. Don’t believe me? Then you need to try more stuff like Crayon Physics, DCS Black Shark, Synaesthete, Fret Nice, and for goodness sake spend some time with Iron Dukes. (Want some more? See my February 2008 feature on “Award Winning Indie Games.”)

11. PC games cost less. I’m not saying it makes a lick of sense (it doesn’t) but Epic’s Gears of War cost 60 bucks when it debuted on the 360. When it hit the PC with brand new content, that price dropped to $50, and that’s still the going rate for PC A-listers. A $10 delta may sound trivial if you only buy a few games a year, but even two games a month is pushing $240 — enough to fund a new Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii every 365 days.

12. Online PC matchmaking is free. I realize it’s only Microsoft dragging its base through the mud here, and analysts claiming Xbox Live offers something unique are simply wrong. Still, it’s worth mentioning that online PC matchmaking and multiplayer are, and always have been free. It’s not a luxury item, it’s not a special service, it’s not a value proposition — it’s an entrenched and completely reasonable customer expectation.

13. Piracy ain’t just a PC problem. Console piracy rates barely scratch the PC’s reportedly onerous numbers, but the former’s aren’t exactly waning. The more people playing console games, the more the scene laser-targets each console’s proprietary padlocks, the more increasingly end-user-friendly workaround hacks and mod-jobs and firmware-fooling pre-insert ROM disc tools flood the market. While there may be cash to have short-term by switching gears, abandoning the PC over piracy rates may turn out to be yet another iteration of the “grass-is-greener” myth.

14. PCs excel at family-hotseat-group-play, too. First of all, You Don’t Know Jack was working the lines long before the likes of Scene It!. Second, sure, there’s stuff like Buzz Quiz and, you know, Amercan Idol Encore 2 on tap, but they’re still a tiny fraction of the broader number of family-friendly party games you can pull up (many for free) and play on your PC, whether piped through an office monitor or jacked into your Dolby/plasma master-lounge-center.

15. PC display screens trump living room TVs. The old anti-CRT/NTSC argument is finally weakening now that HDTVs with 1080p have a foot in, but I’ll still see your 1920 x 1080 max lines of resolution and raise you 3840 x 2400 while you’re waiting for market momentum to clumsily foist the Next Big Thing on entertainment centers (while online entertainment providers ironically bleed the life out of picture quality by compressing the heck out of on-demand digital video). Okay, so picture quality’s not as big a deal these days for non-videophiles, and graphics bickering is pretty 1990s. Still, I needed a 15th point, so there you go!

World of Warcraft has been available for the Mac since 2004, spawned two expansion packs

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraft’s subscriber base has reached 11.5 million players worldwide, continuing its reign as the world’s most popular multiplayer online role-playing game.

The Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard’s recently-released expansion pack for the game, has sold more than 4 million copies since its release on 13 November, 2008. 2.8 million of those were sold in the first 24 hours of availability, according to Blizzard.

World of Warcraft has been available for the Mac and PC since 2004, and has spawned two expansion packs.

The game - played entirely online - requires players to pay a monthly subscription fee in order to play. In October, Blizzard announced that it had hit the 11 million subscriber mark.

The last time Macworld reported on World of Warcraft subscriber statistics, forum commenters voiced some questions about how that number is tabulated. So without revision, here is Blizzard’s definition:

“World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.”

Scientists and other researchers have found an appealing environment in virtual worlds such as “World of Warcraft ( Buy wow gold )” and Second Life. The draw of these virtual worlds for scientists is that they can conduct experiments whose results are similar to the real world without the expense of travel and physical construction.

Universities and government agencies are conducting all kinds of research, both scientific and sociological, in virtual worlds — but is this merely a newfangled boondoggle or is the research really real?

“My general perspective is that virtual worlds are at least as real as many parts of the so-called real world,” William Sims Bainbridge, program director in human-centered computing at the National Science Foundation (NSF), told LinuxInsider. “Is religion ‘real?’ Is music ‘real?’ Is the stock market ‘real?’ These institutions are real only because many people take them seriously. They are socially and culturally constructed, rather than being innately real.”

In the Heat of the Meet

To bring his point to a fine head, Bainbridge recently conducted a scientific conference in a game world to discuss research in game worlds. Certainly it was the ultimate of demonstrations, virtually speaking. The conference was the first ever held in “World of Warcraft” (“WoW”) and it had its upsides: None of the scientists had to physically travel and none had to buy any additional hardware. But it also had its downsides: Not everyone was familiar with the game; newbie levels limited access to key meeting places in the game world; in-game chat communications require a minimum typing speed of 50wpm; and, newbies are the natural diet for any number of monsters in the game.

Several attendees met their deaths, as in plural, on the way to the various conference dinners, events and meeting places. A few gave up after one or more resurrections. All of the near-300 attendees ended up “dead” at the end of the conference. The recently deceased lauded the success of the entire operation.

Mirror, Mirror, Where Did Your Ethics Go?

While the allure of a game world is attractive in itself, the research conducted in virtual worlds is the end-goal of the play.

“Key advantages to virtual world experimentation include the ability to conduct research on sensitive issues including ethical and even racial dilemmas,” Aimee M. Roberts, analyst of digital media at Frost & Sullivan, told LinuxInsider. “Additionally, due to the nature of virtual worlds, experiments can be conducted with greater flexibility than those conducted in the real world.”

Scenarios presented in virtual worlds mimic real life scenarios that provide researchers the opportunity to gain insight into real-world responses as well as human behavior, Roberts said.

Experiments, including modern adaptations of the ethically controversial 1960s psychological experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram, provided confirmation of previous results. The test asks subjects to administer shocks of increasing voltage to an individual who incorrectly recalls a series of word pairs. With each incorrect recollection, voltage would be increased. In Milgram’s tests, the person being “shocked” was in no pain and only acted out the suffering. But the person administering the shocks didn’t know that.

“Results in the virtual world were just as startling as in the real world,” says Roberts. The study’s conclusion: Test subjects made no distinction between real and virtual tortured victims.

Getting Real in Second Life

Second Life is a popular virtual world for creating a wide variety of scenarios for an incalculable number of uses. Children’s Memorial hospital in
Chicago, for example, has built a three-dimensional hospital, complete with the exact streets and scenery of Lincoln Park, to practice mock emergency drills for real-life responses. This would be nearly impossible for the hospital safety and emergency staff to simulate in real life and the virtual model allows for unlimited possible scenarios at a very low cost to help with future emergency planning.

WaterPartners International, a nonprofit that provides safe drinking water and sanitation to developing countries, used Second Life to host a virtual World Water Day concert to help raise awareness about this world issue.

Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine uses Second Life to give its students more practice time to communicate with mock patients with its virtual dental patient, Masha.

The Cost of Character

There’s nothing virtual about real dollar costs — in either world. Turns out, though, that going virtual is the same as going on the cheap. For example of the savings: Virtual worlds cut out all need for real-being travel and related expenses, and no one gets sued if the test subject dies. Virtual worlds also cut the construct of custom environments to the cost of a few hours of a coder’s time, and if an existing game world will suffice, there may not even be an admissions fee. Certainly there are no costly regulations to meet.

The creators of Second Life have enabled residents to do virtually anything which has ultimately led to a low-cost way to experiment in a virtual setting. “While we do work with educators and researchers to help them get the most out of their Second Life presence, they don’t need our permission to conduct research as long as they do so in a way that is respectful of our community standards,” John Lester, operations director at Linden Lab, the creators of Second Life. Lester is known as “Pathfinder Linden” in-world.

The experiments are easy to set up in Second Life, speaking in terms of code, of course. “Second Life provides an open platform for creativity and experimentation. That makes it very popular with academics, who use it to research everything from urban planning to computer science to psychology,” explains Lester.

Bainbridge’s conference cost attendees a mere US$15 to attend, though Bainbridge himself spent hours constructing the venue to his liking — but that was as much due to his love of the game as it was to the needs of the conference itself.

It all raises the question: When a game comes to life, is life still a game? Who knows these days, but the stakes are sure real.

As 2008 draws to a close and with 2009 just around the corner, it has been an eventful year for the games industry

Call of Duty: World at War surpassed expectations, Wii Fit showed us that you can play video games and still keep the spare tyre in check, Gears of War 2 proved the Xbox 360 was still a force to be reckoned with, selling over two million units world wide.

World of Warcraft ( Buy wow gold ) released the Wrath of the Lich King and kept millions of gamers glued to their PCs for another six months, and Grand Theft Auto IV took the world by storm.

But with the economy cooling, games companies like Sony shedding jobs, and a shortage of triple A titles scheduled for release, what does 2009 have in store for gamers and the video game industry?

We put that question to some of the industry stalwarts, asking them for their thoughts on how 2008 has been for them and what they think the next year will bring.

PETER MOLYNEUX: Video game designer, Lionhead Studios

“2008 was the year that the Nintendo Wii got even better, more than anyone really thought possible when it first launched. The 360 did well, although it was put into the shade somewhat by the Wii. PlayStation 3 has been disappointing to say the least.

On the gaming front, GTA IV was a real moment for the industry. Rockstar nailed how you characterise a game and their engine and cut sequences are state of the art. However, only a few people actually saw all the cut sequences because the game was so tough to play. Are we making games too difficult? That’s a question the industry has been asking itself of late.

We - as developers - are finally comfortable with the next-gen consoles and we saw a slew of sequels this year. Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Fable II, the seventh Tomb Raider.

One of my personal favourites was Little Big Planet; superb artistry and a fantastic marketing job by Sony - yet it didn’t make the numbers. I wonder if Christmas is really the right time to release a new title. We’ve got into a rhythm [of sequels at Christmas] which is all fair and well while people are buying games but we have to make sure we don’t get complacent.

Next year, well, it’s all looking a bit dry. All the triple A titles came out this Christmas and while there is stuff in 2010 we can look forward to, off the top of my head I cannot think of anything next year that really excites me.

Everyone says games are good value for home entertainment, despite the relatively high price. I’m not so sure. I think we’re going to see a lot of price pressure put on games.

And as for Lionhead: now we’ve got Fable II out of the door we can focus on our other project - it’s super secret for now - but we might announce it next year.”

PAUL BARNETT: Creative director, Mythic Entertainment

“Personally 2008 was like giving birth: lots of pain, struggle, huffing, and puffing. But the end result [Warhammer Online] was worth it; it’s no longer ours, it belongs to the players.

It was a year of disappointing big games; budgets too big, development too long, platforms underdeveloped, and expectations were too high. The Wii produced some kooky games that defied logic, the 360 continues to do well, the PS3 is desperately trying to find a market, and the PC was coming to terms with DRM (digital rights management).

At the same time, 2008 was the year that web browser games came of age: proof that backroom coders, great art design, and business know-how can exist under the same roof: Passage, Shift, World of Goo, and Portal were all very curious.

GTA IV was the most impressive game of 2009, because it’s almost impossible to deliver a game that good. It was a proper computer game, it sold bucket loads, and it improved on the original. Not only that, but it was British! I’m not a fan of the game but I am really respectful of what they [Rockstar] have done.

Bioshock proved that art direction matters in a game - and it was truly a triumph of art. It looked good and every icon and element felt connected. People get wrapped up in the story and narrative. Bioshock never had a story - people pretended it does - it doesn’t. It’s simple and linear, but in terms of art it is fantastic.

That said, some people confuse games with art and developing a game as an art title (as opposed to a good game with great art in it) will lead us into madness.

As for Warhammer, we’re going to make good on our promises. We’ve got RvR [Realm vs Realm] hobby experience; this means bigger battles, more character, a stronger campaign. Basically, war is everywhere.

As for next year, it’s going to be a year of pain for all the big labels and a continuing fight between games defining themselves as ‘art’, ‘design’ and ‘entertainment’.

The games industry is going to go through the pain the music industry went through when the traditional way of making and selling their products goes through a radical shift. The route to the customer is undefined and income streams are uncertain. Large firms have a history of not being responsive (and being fearful) of change - the DRM fiasco (with Spore) is a classic example of that.

I expect to see some large studios go under and some big name titles fail.”

“For me, the
high point - quite literally - was spending 12 days on the International Space Station. As a result, I’ve been somewhat outside the gaming scene; I was in quarantine for nearly three months in 2008.

That said, Halo’s sequel was a big deal. World of Warcraft continues to dominate the massive multiplayer arena - more power to them. If I had to pick a developer who has done a bang up job, it would be Blizzard [the development team behind World of Warcraft]. The number of people they have converted is just amazing. They have shown all of us what good game development is all about.

After 25 years at Origin, the last thing I wanted to make was yet another medieval fantasy game. Now, after a very interesting break, I’m keen to get back into the fray and work on a new game. Probably medieval fantasy and probably online; there’s something very powerful about getting people together.”

WILL WRIGHT : Video game designer, Electronic Arts

“2008 was the year that the console hit its stride, we’re seeing the rise of mobile gaming (along with user generated content) and, as we hear every eight years, the death of PC gaming.

The Wii took everyone by surprise - not for its looks, but its accessibility. Games like Guitar Hero attracted non-gamers and Sony and Microsoft are responding to that with things like the ‘Avatar’ system and Little Big Planet.

Next year, we’re going to see more connected games - more social networking rather than just multiplayer. What’s more, they are going to be more fractal in nature; how you interact with the game will depend not only on what you play (360 vs mobile) but where you play. So, for example, a mobile game that interacts with a GPS (global positioning system) so that where you physically play the game in the real world will have a direct effect on the game you are playing.”

JOHNATHAN ‘Fatal1ty’ WENDEL: Professional games player

“The high point for me was getting my new line of headphones. I’ve been working really hard to develop them with Creative and we saw our sales increase by 50% since 2007.

That said, I think the credit crunch and subsequent fall out really hurt sponsorship of professional gamers. We used to have 300 people making a living from playing games; now we have less than 100.

Because of that, I want to start sponsoring other gamers. They’re having a tough time at the moment, so I want to give something back to help them follow their dreams to become a professional gamer.

I’m going to continue working on a professional series of headphones. I want people to use my headphones, not just to talk smack, but to use them in the real world by making them stylish and attractive. We’re close to getting that finalised and then we can launch.

And as for the future, well I hope we’ll soon start seeing real 3D. You already get that experience in an iMax cinema. I think games will eventually go that way. I still want to use a mouse and keyboard to play, but if I can get that kind of graphical feel, that would be great. We really need to change the way we view a game.”

DSO Founder Wicked Fate DSO will be leading the new division that enters into the PC arena of competitive gaming with the opening of this division and establishment of the ClanDSO Guild.

Orlando, FL, December 30, 2008 –(PR.com)– DSO Gaming Clan LLC (DSO Clan) announces a bold move into competitive PC gaming: a World of Warcraft Division. DSO Clan’s new Guild, ClanDSO, will be competing in Blizzard Entertainment’s most popular game, World of Warcraft (WoW), a massive multiplayer online role playing game, or MMORPG, in upcoming seasons through tournaments such as BlizzCon, Major League Gaming (MLG) and Championship Gaming Series (CGS).

Progressing into the competitive PC gaming arena by establishing the ClanDSO Guild on Battle.net for World of Warcraft ( Currency: wow gold ), DSO Clan’s reputation and sportsmanship appeal is reaching far beyond the console gamers playing Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 on Microsoft’s Xbox 360. PC gaming is an exciting new experience to DSO’s community.

“DSO’s Guild opens up the world of PC gaming to current and future members of DSO Clan,” says Guild Leader Kelli Arron, known as Wicked Fate DSO. “According to Blizzard Entertainment, over 11 million subscribers play World of Warcraft each month. DSO intends to be a large part of that world. The recent release of the WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, allows DSO to compete world-wide, while bringing DSO’s reputation and philosophy of fair play to the table.”

Guild members will have the opportunity to explore the entire World of Warcraft experience. Newcomers and veterans of all skill levels are playing and learning together. DSO’s Guild will include Player vs. Environment (PvE), Player vs. Player (PvP) arena teams and end game content. DSO hopes to send individuals and teams to compete in WoW in events around the country.

DSO Clan is actively recruiting serious female and male gamers with great attitudes. The guild offers playability in the original World of Warcraft and its expansions, The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King.

About DSO Gaming Clan LLC: DSO Clan is an Organization of Professional and Casual Gamers designed to provide a safe, competitive and enjoyable gaming experience for all Gamers everywhere. Membership is open to gamers worldwide, of all types on multiple platforms. They applaud, encourage and develop skill and place a higher value on professionalism, attitude and enthusiasm.

About Blizzard Entertainment: A division of Activision, Blizzard develops and publishes entertainment software. Blizzard’s online-gaming service, Battle.net®, has millions of active users.

Interested WoW gamers should visit DSO at DSOclan.com or contact Wickedfate on Blizzard’s Cenarion Circle server.

The bad news is that Tabula Rasa, the NCsoft developed MMO that drew on the experience of Richard “Lord British” Garriot, of Ultima fame, is closing down. The good news the publisher announced is that the game would be playable for free until then. Initially, the MMO was supposed to become free to play on January 10, 2009 but it seems that, as a sort of Christmas gift, NCsoft eliminated the subscription element, which means that anyone can now play the game, if only to see what’s all about before it closes down.

Tabula Rasa promised gamers a break from the fantasy MMOs that are dominating the market, with World of Warcraft ( Currency : wow gold  )from Blizzard as the most successful subscription based massive multiplayer experience in the gaming world. The story involved aliens, weird scripts and artifacts, while the fighting aspect of the game was supposed to be rather based on the reflexes of the players than on simple number crunching and mashing of abilities. It should have been an evolution on the mechanics employed by the MMOs of the moment.

When the game launched, most players found the universe to be only half finished, with some significant bugs affecting the experience and with little to do after the initial levels. NCsoft labored to increase the content offered by the MMO, yet the game never attracted a significant following, which made new players rather uninterested in getting involved in the universe.

With subscription revenue limited, NCsoft decided that the game would be closed down on February 28, 2009, with the official servers going offline. Meanwhile, anyone interested in the experience of a sci fi MMO can take Tabula Rasa on, even though motivation for progress might be limited by the nearing cut off date.

LOS ANGELES – A year ago, newly minted lawyer Shawn Foust approached a senior partner at his
Los Angeles firm with an idea: dedicate an entire practice to the video-game industry.

Today, the 26-year-old coordinates a team of 20 lawyers at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton. The group tackles mergers, licensing contracts and other deals that help make the burgeoning game business hum.

“I’m pursuing my lifelong dream of combining the two things I love – games and law,” Foust said.

Never a group to steer clear of the action, lawyers across California are retooling their entertainment practices to cater to the game industry. Video games are expected to generate almost $50 billion in global revenue this year, despite a slowdown in consumer spending, and sales have already surpassed old-line businesses including music.

As the game industry grows, so do its legal needs.

“There’s tax work, litigation, risk management, immigration, labor – the list goes on and on,” said Seth Steinberg, who last year left his position as general counsel of George Lucas’ video game publisher, LucasArts, to start a private practice in San Francisco specializing in the game industry.

Other firms have joined in. Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, the law firm of record for the likes of Tom Cruise and Warren Beatty, has cultivated a game practice led by Stephen Smith and Suann MacIsaac.

For Greenberg Glusker, billings from game-industry clients quickly sprouted from nothing to millions of dollars a year.

The firm’s first big case came in 2004, when one of its clients, Ubisoft Entertainment, was sued by MGA Entertainment Inc., the Los Angeles maker of Bratz dolls and toys. MGA sought to revoke a license it had granted Ubisoft to make games based on the Bratz franchise.

The game publisher countersued and won an arbitration award of more than $13 million in damages, including $2.5 million in attorney fees.

The increasing sophistication of video games and game consoles has generated technical problems, and class-action lawyers have jumped in to pursue claims on behalf of consumers.

Knowing how to play games – particularly complex online titles such as World of Warcraft – can be an asset. For these games, Foust said, the typical software end-user license agreements that limit a company’s liability and protect its intellectual property don’t work.

“Games aren’t like software,” he said. “People who play them feel a deep intimacy with the game. They feel very attached to the virtual items they acquire in the game through hundreds of hours of playing it. That presents some interesting twists in property law.”

Drop the fork and step away from the pie! Good. Now, very slowly, reach into your wallet, grab your credit cards and toss them into the paper shredder. Nice and easy! Finally, take that pack of cigarettes and crush them beneath your feet… no sudden moves! So maybe New Year’s resolutions can sometimes come off as a prison sentence, often presenting difficult aspirations for many Americans. But while these tests of fortitude might seem overwhelming, even cliché, the idea of bettering one’s self at the beginning of each year is a cultural and introspective tradition.

For members of the U.S. Army, New Year’s resolutions reflect a commitment to constantly improve upon each individual’s professional and personal goals. “New Year’s Day is the most active-minded holiday, because it is the one where people evaluate their lives, and plan and resolve to take action. Common of all resolutions is that on the first day of the year people take their values more seriously,” said Lt. Col. Ronald Morris, the deputy commander of
Camp Atterbury, a training site dedicated to training Army National Guard and Reserve Soldiers prior to deployment. “Soldiers live these values, and commitment to service and country every day,” Morris said. “Not just New Year’s Day; Soldiers know the words loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.

They understand what these values truly mean and what it means to live up to them.” Living up to New Year’s resolutions doesn’t have to be a lofty goal. Many Americans choose something common to improve on, such as losing weight, becoming active or quitting a bad habit.

“The most common New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight and get in shape, spend more quality time with loved ones, quit smoking, get organized, travel more and reduce debt,” Morris said. “Experts agree that you should have clear, concise and easy-to-implement ideas in mind.

Planning is also important.” Capt. Matthew McGowen, with the Morale, Welfare and Recreation Office here, said that many Soldiers at the beginning of each year resolve to change how they reduce stress in their daily lives. “It really comes down to stress and what we do to relieve it,” McGowen said. “A negative stress reliever, such as smoking or drinking, never improves your overall well being. Things like exercise and dieting obviously do a better job relieving stress, and you’re keeping yourself healthy too.” McGowen recommended a quid pro quo method for developing a New Year’s resolution. “Pick something you don’t like doing, like smoking, and replace it with something positive,” he said. “Every time you have the urge to commit that negative action, immediately do something else. In the case of smoking, try something that will keep your mind occupied, like going for a quick jog or solving a brain teaser.” Getting in shape may be one resolution, but trimming the fat from financial expenses is a huge goal for Americans because of current economics.

Capt. Michael Dick, a financial officer at Camp Atterbury, said that Americans can resolve to be more responsible with their money while still enjoying the fruits of their labors. “I still think people should go out to dinner and shop and things like that, but they need to prioritize,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with spending money and having fun, but you have to be responsible. Think about starting a retirement fund. Establish an emergency fund and create a budget for the new year. Contribute at least 10 percent of your pay to a savings plans, plus another 10 percent to the emergency fund. That’s definitely showing financial discipline.”

Dick said that preparedness is a solid resolution for planning for the rest of the years ahead. “You never know what’s to be expected next year, so you have to prepare for any type of curve life throws at you,” he said. “If you get into a bind, at least you have a contingency.” Resolving to relieve stress doesn’t have to revolve solely around physical or financial fitness, however. For Camp Atterbury Military Police Officer Spc. Tiffany Hempstead, a stress-free 2009 involves her friends and a video game called World of Warcraft. “My resolution is to get to level 80 with my Ork Death Knight,” Hempstead said. “I know it sounds dorky, but it’s nice to feel like a kid for New Years.”

Some even resolve to stop making resolutions. “I’m not making any resolutions, at least, not this year,” said Maj. Dave Rader, Camp Atterbury’s airfield commander. “I’m looking to improve myself all the time, so I don’t need New Year’s for that. Improving myself should be constant, not seasonal.” While many resolve to make individual goals, some agree that commitment to others yields the greatest results. “We need to constantly ask ourselves, ‘How can we improve someone’s life, at least one per day?’” asked Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony L. Edwards, the command sergeant major for the 205th Infantry Brigade here.

“What can we do for each individual Soldier and civilian for the next year? If I had to decide, I would have others resolve to make an impact on at least one new person, civilian or Soldier, everyday.”

The Guild is a comedy web show based around a group of MMORPG players known as The Guild. While a lot of the humor is clearly inspired by World of Warcraft ( Buy wow gold ), the name of the game the actors are playing is never mentioned, and the comedy should strike home for any video game fan, MMORPG players especially. Each show is about 5 minutes in length, which is great for those of us who have important video games that take up most of our time.

For its primary storyline, The Guild humorously examines what happens when online game players meet in real life. In season one, Zaboo, played by Sandeep Parikh, decided to show up at the doorstep of Codex, played by Felicia Day, after a misunderstood online message. So far, season two has Codex trying to rid herself of Zaboo’s company.

This is where the humor of The Guild does most of its work - in the meeting of the game world and the real world. For example, one of the funniest running gags is Zaboo’s constant use of the “‘d” construction at the end of words, as referenced in the title of the second Webisode. Zaboo uses phrases like “obvious’d” and “Kinko’d,” presumably references to “pwned” from the online gaming language ‘leetspeak’. Only, Zaboo uses this language in real life.

The climax of the first season came when the entire group decided to meet in person for the first time to discuss guild business. Again, this show is ultimately about the intersection of real life and gaming culture.

Of course, MMOs have been a ripe spot of humor for a while now, going back to things like Leroy Jenkins. But, more often than not, people are laughing at us MMORPG players and gamers in general. With The Guild, I think the creators are laughing with us, which is a refreshing change.

The Guild is a hilariously funny show and definitely worth the five minutes a week. In fact, you can still watch the entire first season in about an hour. The new season is available in HD on MSN Video, in the Zune store, on YouTube, and even on Xbox Live.