won't you pick the pieces up, 'cos it feels just like I'm walking on broken glass

The Anatomy of Lag. I didn't agree with everything Gwyneth Llewelyn said, the first time she wrote on what actually causes lag in SL. This time, I'm on board with many more of her suggestions, and explanations. And--while I still want to go through and put the prim count next to all of the hair I'm keeping--I think she's dead-on where the ARC figures are concerned, too.

I'm actually wondering if I can get along with a simple one-prim scripted HUD object for basic, slow radar, as opposed to the Mysti with all the bells and whistles. I need the Mysti for building, yes, and for a couple of upper functionals I run on my own parcels, but I really don't need the whole thing running for events.

Also, per earlier's JIRA mention, this meta-issue has a couple of .xml files that purportedly restore the pie menu to functionality. I'll test it later, see how accurate those play out.

Still obsessing on yesterday's event, and twisting on the why of it. Going back on certain gentles' 'bad people' list...well, that happens, I adapt. And it's not the first time I've been in a conversation involving the verbal evisceration of an avatar (present or not).

I think it is the first time where I've felt current income (and future income) depended on how I worded things, and so, I didn't defend the one under attack as much as I should have, maybe. Or as much as I wanted to. And I get the decided feeling there was more back story to things than I knew, because people I would have thought had no reason to hold such damaging opinions were the ones with the greatest vitriol to pour into the conversation.

I pair with this the discovery that history has been rewritten in major ways, I wasn't there for it, and all I can do is stand back and be appalled. In considerably under a month, an avatar who was the bane of several individuals' existence has gone from the receiver of karmic justice to the tragic hero slain before his time. Somehow, things have changed, and changed in ways I cannot comprehend. How does one being move from "I'm glad he's banned" to signing a petition to bring him back?

If you're one of those people currently rousing support, do let me know how the switch happens. I'd be fascinated, though I can't guarantee I'll understand.

So...think I'm back to coming in for gigs, staying away from SL for a bit, and if I'm in, not talking. Because I really have no idea what to say.

More images from Runes of Magic.



I admit, I took this shot mostly for the humor value, but it's worth the explanation.

Runes of Magic, as with all major MMOs, has gold spammers infesting it. Normally, to talk at all in main zone chat in Runes, one has to achieve five levels of experience. This is not a bad thing, mind.

But some spammers can't even manage to get that far, so they'll hang out at major port points in the game, speaking in local chat, advertising for cheap gold, no waiting. They're nearly instantaneously banned by 95% of all residents--because the management of Runes is very strict: they find you've bought gold or diamonds from people not them, they ban your account. No appeals. No reconsideration.

This fellow, then, was standing by the roadside to Varanas, the capitol city. One can only assume, as he was level one (to adventure in the regions around the capitol, it's recommended the adventurer be at least level ten), that some wandering beetle nipped him with a feeler and down he fell.

Only...he didn't resurrect. He just laid there, dead, spamming local chat with offers of gold and diamonds on the cheap.

I couldn't take it, I had to say something.

Needless to say, being dead, he didn't respond. Save to send out more local blurbs on gold and diamonds through his website.



It's an MMO, you die a lot. This is the post-death look at the Demon Witch Ancalon.

Now, I will be honest, there are bigger and badder bosses in the game. But I do believe that Ancalon remains one of the single most adaptive and intelligent AIs Runes of Magic has. Why? Because she can anticipate; because she can turn and target individual characters, not just the one fighting her; because she has a HUGE area of effect (over 250 meters from her, she can still kill with a single wave of her hand).

She's fast, she's lethal, and she's tactically superior. This? Equals mass deathing.



It's an oddity of Runes--at times I port into a place, and all the NPCs are floating in midair, arms extended, little legs kicking.

This is the first time I'd seen a floating horse, though.



Think I'm just playing camera tricks and the horse isn't actually floating, just leaping? The larger picture will cement, then: it's me sitting under the horse.



Back in the old armor, because it's now been subtly improved and protects better than the celery-green plate. Only problem is, the pants just do not blend in this version.

Fawkes' solution? Don't wear pants. I'm not entirely sure I favor this look on me...



...even though Fawkes says he really likes the view from behind.