Category: General

“We’re breaking down barriers. With extra salsa.” Why link to a three-month-old joke post? Because I can, and it is still funny. Archives exist to be read.

: Zubon

It doesn’t exist. I’d almost go as far as to say it cannot exist.

Long being held as a staple of “what makes PvP interesting”, this player remains purely in the realm of the mythical. Of course there is evidence arguing for its existence, but it’s purely anecdotical and cannot be reproduced.

Tonight on KTR Mythbusters we examine the elusive Unpredictable PvP Player. Its humble beginnings as a post-slaughter campfire tale, its rise to legendary status and its ultimate demise at the hands of science.

Continue reading KTR Mythbusters: The Unpredictable PvP Player

Have you been reading DM of the Rings? It is a webcomic made from screenshots of the Lord of the Rings films, done as a D&D game. The last comic is scheduled for Friday, so you have just enough time to catch up before the big finish.

: Zubon

Pvthudson would like you to test the game if you are a beta tester. Revolutionary concept, I know. I skip most betas for that reason: why provide free bug-testing for some company when you could pay to play someone’s live-but-should-still-be-in-beta MMO? Wait, that didn’t come out right…

I propose something in the opposite direction: developers, please tell your players what you want from this test. Pvthudson cites the mis-labeled stress test. If you are not seeking feedback on something, let us know that, since it does no one any good if you invite 20,000 people and they fill your forums with comments on balance. And frankly, it will just annoy everyone who feels like his feedback was ignored. On your test server, please do not describe the change as “increased fire damage”; your players cannot test if something is working as intended unless you tell them what is intended. Don’t be vague or coy here. You can even tell players, “This will be on test until we are sure of X, Y, and Z.”

If you want to harness the power of your playerbase, you should attach that harness to something.

: Zubon

In the beginning, my Virtual Villagers were few. I watched them closely and took part in all their affairs. It was I who guided them to food and fire, and it was my hand that led them to open the waters once, twice, three times. When they begat, I chose the pairings and placed them together. They daily saw the architect of their lives.

Later, I allowed them more freedom. Once I was certain that they would not starve in my absence, I left them unattended to live their lives as they would. I would check in a few times a day, a few times a decade in their time, and lo the hand from the sky would again steer them. The lazy were sent to work, others’ careers changed in a moment, and many flew through the air to land where I wanted them to carry out my tasks. None could say where these tasks would lead, not even I, but the villagers were compelled to obey.

I stand outside their time and world. I can double their speed or freeze their time. With merely an adjustment to my computer’s clock, I can send their lives forward centuries, without their noticing any change in the flow of time. I cannot be in many places at once, but if I freeze their world and change many things, it looks to them as though the invisible hand is everywhere.

I mostly leave them to themselves now. In the early days I knew every name, every job. I celebrated the first Master Scientist and mourned the first death. Now I know them not. They breed in great numbers, and I do not gaze upon them for decades of their time. I do not recognize the names on the new graves being filled today. Now when I appear, I check a few metrics, I heal the sick, and I smile upon the frolicking children. They live in a tropical paradise with endless food and no enemies. I mostly ignore their world, but I do not delete it, and they do not notice that all the years of their lives pass in the instant of calculation when I restart their world from its stasis.

: Zubon

Hey folks…the awesome team over at RevolutionG has just posted Podcast #9 featuring yours truly (Yeah, my real name is Robert Rice).

Go check it out.

PS I may have been a little long-winded and ranty about a few things, but overall it was a pretty good interview. Enjoy.

Robert “Nicodemus” Rice

I’ve been playing this so-called “Super” Mario Brothers for a long time now, and let me tell you: there is NOTHING to do after 8-4. I’ve been there for months now, and it’s like the game just stops. Did the developers even THINK about having an endgame? Where is the high-level content? No, their idea was to just let you play the game over again – with more beetles! Yeah, there’s a bunch of creative devs. Your reward for getting through 32 levels is to start the same 32 levels over. “Unlock epic mode” my sweet plumber arse.

Don’t tell me that I just sped through the game with the warp zones. Yes, I have used warp zones, but I have also played through every single level. It is like there is no point except to farm: farm lakitu for spinies, farm turtles for extra lives, farm gold coins endlessly. There is not even anywhere to spend the gold coins! The entire economy is broken.

I swear, it’s like the devs have given up on this game. I’m not the only one who is moving on to other games. I want thank all the people who made my time in-game so much fun, and a shout out to my guild who helped me as I became one of the top-ranked players in the game. I’ll check back in a few months to see if there are any improvements, but I doubt it. See you all in Zelda 2!