Craigslist copycat

Close on the heels of the awesome F4M I posted the other day comes this entry, “Hot girl for hot guy!” For extra hilarity, the ad seems to restrict itself to purely in-game interaction, though I get the feeling there may be a horse of a different color on the other side of the keyboard. To each his (or her) own!

Hot girl for hot guy!

Date: 2008-07-29, 8:22AM MDT

Hi! I’m a level 44 female blood elf (will be 50 this weekend) seeking my true love. Long dark red hair, sexy red lips, and I can bust a move like you’ve never seen. Must be from Duskwood server, where I am. Specifically looking for a male blood elf or undead to rock my world (of warcraft). Bonus points if you’re a 70 and have any of your epics above teir 4. No trolls!!! Send me an email with your name and we can go on a date. There is a cute little spot in the Barrens I would love to bring a date. Maybe set up a fire and drink some volatile rum? See where things go from there. See you soon!

It worked!

Back to Black

Sorry for the long delay in posting; I’m in the middle of a very busy month, work and personal projects-wise.

It’s also been a very busy week for Find The Lost Ring, as all the characters traveled to Beijing to play out the last chapter.

It’s hard to describe how I’m feeling right now. Last week, I had kinda steeled myself for the end of it all, and tried to wrap up loose ends – the forums slowed down to a few threads a day, I sent emails to the two people I’d communicated with the most (Diego and Mei Hui) to wish them luck, and I started an outline for a summary video (as requested by Ariadne).

But once they arrived in Beijing, it became clear that it wouldn’t be that easy. They wore t-shirts that Weezel designed early in the game, they wrapped up a plot point using a ritual created by the Couberteam, and they did a dance choreographed by Canzonett and Dav. They had one final task where they asked for our help (encoding a video address in a website and emailing it to the bad guys).

But now, that’s all over. We’ve been rooting for these people to succeed for five months, so when they return to their home worlds (and the pms/actors stop talking to us, because the game is over) – it really will – in a non-This Is A Game sense – be as if they’ve left the planet. We’ll also be losing the community of friends and support that we’ve all had for the last five months, as we’ll all disperse, having accomplished our goal. And we’re all feeling a very real sense of loss at that.

The athletes have been posting farewell videos, and seem to be feeling quite emotional themselves. For example, check out Diego’s; you can hear it in his voice.

The final event happens during the closing ceremonies. They’ll harness the power of 91,000 people in synchronization by performing the official Olympic cheer:

…which on top of the massive synch power from the global omphalos net, will allow them to return to their home worlds and families.

I’m wishing them luck, but at the same time, I’m still sad that it has to end.

Ten hours to go.

The best Craigslist f4m I’ve ever seen

Looking for gamer guy! PST!

Date: 2008-04-22, 4:29PM EDT

Heeyyaa! I’m an independent 21 year-old Asian gamer chick that is currently looking for a fun and honest relationship with a cute guy!

Pre-reqs include:
World of Warcraft player
Having at least 2 70’s
Having a personal PVP rating of at least 2000.
Good and quirky sense of humour (interests in shows such as South Park and Family Guy help with that)
Honesty
Loyalty
Intelligence
Age: Between 22 and 26.

I am currently working full-time and pay for all my own stuff, including my own place, car, etc. I will be attending university in the fall as a full-time student. My musical preference is metal although that isn’t too much of an issue issue.

If you think you have what it takes, send me a message with a picture attachment and a brief description of your characters! If I’m interested, I will message you back with a few of my pics. XD

P.S. The WoW requirements are not a joke. Kthnxbai!

* Location: Montreal
* it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Quote of the day

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.

— Jawaharlal Nehru

Going casual

Two weeks ago, Guardian Games blogger Greg Howson revealed that casual games rule the UK charts: “Forget GTA, Metal Gear Solid 3 and the rest of the recent “hardcore” titles – Brain Training, Wii Play and the rest are outselling the lot.”

While according to the comments it’s unclear if this is due to staggered summer releases, over-hyped and inaccurate charts, or sticker shock, there are some truly insightful (and charmingly British) messages:

Commenter EvilBean reminds us to “Look beyond the weekly top ten chart. . . Has anyone mentioned WoW? You know, that MMO that found a huge market no one knew about. I think the same could apply with casual games. Is it silly to suggest that the Wii has hit a previously untapped market? Everyone here must know someone who never owned a console/gaming PC and now plays Wii. They are outside the demographic that visits this blog thing.”

User 5ynic proposes that the audience is the same, but are now finding themselves with more responsibilities and fewer time for playing games:

“As gamers grow up, I reckon some of the old hardcore are switching to casual games for at least some of their downtime, especially if their circle of friends includes non-gamers who visit…. Personally, I look for titles I can play with a bub on my knee, and/or in the 10-20 chunks of free time between work, housework, washing, drying & changing nappies, weeding the garden, cooking dinner for 3, doing the shopping, making babyfood and sleeping… And that’s more likely to be MarioKart WFC set to “Friends” than MGS4.
How my 22-year-old self would tut and shake his workshy, studenty, dreddlocked, grass-addled head if he could see me now.”

Howson promises to post a future entry about “hardcore gamers turned casual by time restraints,” positing that game choices might be affected by more by lack of variety than by lack of time. I have to disagree, though.

While I’m definitely within the demographic that visits “this blog thing,” I also fulfill both requirements for their new game-consuming audience – first, having no interest in first person shooters, and second, having basically no free time. My gaming experience over the past few weeks has been limited to reading forums and playing a little bit of Phantom Hourglass every night before bed.

I’m happy to announce…

…that I’ll be a Supporting Community Leader/Game Master for California-based non-profit Institute for the Future’s upcoming massively-multiplayer forecasting game, SuperStruct, a creation by futurist James Cascio and games creator Jane McGonigal.

By playing the game, you’ll help us chronicle the world of 2019–and imagine how we might solve the problems we’ll face. Because this is about more than just envisioning the future. It’s about making the future, inventing new ways to organize the human race and augment our collective human potential. Superstruct FAQ

I’m really looking forward to the solutions and structures that the players develop as a way to deal with these terrible events, and seeing what we’d need – not just as professionals who are paid to think about the future, but as normal people.

There’ll also be some great awards given out by a committee of celebs, including Heroes’ Tim Kring, Ze Frank, Chris DiBona and Warren Ellis.

The game launches in late September; visit http://www.superstructgame.org/ to sign up for more news and a reminder when the game begins.

Daily thought

“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.” – Heraclitus

Gamespotting – El Orfanato

“Uno, dos, tres, toca la pared!”

These words, part of a child’s game, open the scene in the Spanish film The Orphanage (El Orfanato), a subtle, well-wrought horror film produced by cinema master Guillermo del Toro.

The film is well spooky – there were a couple of instances where I shrieked (apparently making it that much scarier for the friend I was watching with). The plot (which you can read about, spoiler-free, here) focuses on a woman who returns to the orphanage where she grew up, and the mysterious and disturbing events which permeate the household after her son makes an imaginary friend.

The game she and the other orphans play is known as “Un, dos, tres, chocolate inglés“. One child faces a tree (or a wall), and counts (in the film they say, “Un, dos, tres, toca la pared”) while the other children creep forward, freezing when the counter turns to face them again. This is similar to the American game “Red light/Green light.” There are also variations in the UK (“What’s the time, Mr. Wolf?“) and Japan (“Darumasan ga koronda“).

The game appears a few times in the film, a way to show both the clarity and inscrutability of their innocence, which serves as both a source of joy, and of terror. Similarly, a scavenger hunt played by mother and son is great fun for the child, naive of its implications, while the mother grows increasingly frightened as she becomes aware of what it could mean.

In trying to research this part of El Orfanato I found a few references to the childrens’ game, but many were related to the film, making me wonder if its box office success in Spain helped generate a renewed interest in the game. (According to Wikipedia, it took in $8.3 million over four days, giving it the biggest opening of the year and becoming the second highest-grossing debut ever for a local movie.)

But for my sanity’s sake, I hope that’s not the case. Considering how spooky the film is, I would be really freaked out should I ever come across packs of children playing this thing.

PMOGgin’

Heads up, peeps – episode six of the Tubenauts podcast (“2Shoats1Crate”) is up and ready for your listening pleasure. I host, we talk about benefactoring and shoats, we interview Trustee Marc Adams. As usual, it is full of win! Listen here.

We also got blogged by community liason Joe “burdenday” Wagner!