A long while ago, almost a year to the day in fact, I discussed what a danger I felt The Sims Online could become given geeky predilections for romantic drama. As it turns out, strange things do happen there - and my original assessment, submitting to you that perhaps a boy and a girl would meet and like each other, turns out to have been on the tame side.
It's really very important to me that you go to the Alphaville Herald and read the articles it contains. Consisting largely of player interviews, the pieces available cover such unimaginable topics as the origin of the Shadow Government, demolition of player property, money trading, prostitution, player abuse, and in general conversations with people at the highest levels of simulated power. Please note that the person who runs the site, Urizenus, was recently banned from the game for putting a link to an external site in his profile and on his in-game property, which apparently constitutes a violation of the Terms Of Service. For everyone keeping score at home, this means that fraternal crime organizations are okay and that madames running electronic whorehouses, making real money selling sex with newbies, that's okay, but if you post a Goddamn URL it's some kind of war crime. I honestly don't know what other lesson we are supposed to take from that. Urizenus actually believes he was banned for his activities on the Alphaville Herald, which is something I can't speak to - I don't doubt that those terms of service are written in such a way that they could eject you for using vowels. They don't just own the ball, which they can take and go home. They own the ball, the entire block, the world which contains that block and their logo is emblazoned upon the constituent atoms. They are the authors of physical law and have a switch - as God does - which can make and unmake the world.
Just a quick note, but have you checked out Unreal II's "XMP" demo - the Expanded Multiplayer? Originally intended for ship, to get the game out on time they "focused on the single player experience," which was unfortunate because I had a lot of faith in the vague rumors and incomplete game concepts I had heard. Try the free demo I mentioned before or, if you own Unreal II already, download the real thing which clocks in at three hundred megs. Tribes fans will, I think, find a lot to like here - expansive outdoor areas, light, medium, and heavy armors, and double-jumps that give men wings. Aside from looking completely fantastic, I like how it combines CTF style gameplay with resource management, diverse ordinance, and vehicles.
As for Child's Play, things are essentially nuts but we're in the home stretch now. You can take a look at some of the new pictures I uploaded last night, if you'd like - they deal with getting the truck and also how you can open toys for almost eleven hours and not make a dent. To give the gifts even a remote chance of Christmas delivery, we'll be taking the Wishlist down later today - if you've been meaning to get in there, that's something you should do immediately.
(CW)TB out.
it takes a nation of sellouts to keep us back
