tracing lines to what connects me and binds me to (pt. II)

Picking up where we left off...

[Help] Crimson-Darke: Because they made a product that millions wanted to use
[Help] Crimson-Darke: That is why they are number 1

True, and even with their flaws, companies like Blizzard are success stories that all game companies want to have. They want their game to have the unpredictable, magic something that makes millions want to play that game over all others...at least for a while.

[Help] Metal Raven: I don't like Blizzard because they don't seem to grasp the concept of "Our customers got us to where we are now, why is it a bad idea to gouge them and throw away our core fanbase for the crowds that give us more money"
[Help] Ambient Light: You mean a product that's been done in dozens of iterations before?
[Help] Metal Raven: They got to where they were because they disregarded everything their core fanbase said in favor of the crowds that said "we have more money!"
[Help] Firebomb: And they know it, and they treat you like it. "We're the ebst. You wanna leave? We don't care. We have millions of you.
[Help] Temporal Surgeon: Why do people always beeline for "jealousy" to explain why people dislike something? Jealousy only occasionally factors in to complaints about something

Yeah, that confuses me, too, but it's another common understanding trope--"You don't get this thing/you're talking down this thing, so you must be jealous of it". That doesn't always work, yet a lot of folks fall into this conventional thinking rut anyway.

[[Help] Temporal Surgeon: Since we're playing armchair psychologist I strongly suspect people claim "jealousy" in order to try to summarily discredit complaints and act like they're doing nothing wrong

I think that's a fair assessment, too. It's always easier to shift blame; some folks are very, very good at that. (It's my biggest personality flaw, I openly admit this--it's very easy for me to shift blame, and it's been the constant struggle of my entire existence to accept when I'm at fault, keep that fault, and apologize if I need to.

But it's far from easy, and I'm speaking as someone who (possibly overly) analyzes her actions. What about everyone else, who usually don't bother--or don't have the life skills to analyze their own actions, anyway?

[Help] Damgun: Bliz WAS a great company. Now they're just a division.

Of who?

[Help] Third Discipline: And if they did, so what? Why hate them for it?
[Help] Temporal Surgeon: Third Discipline - What people are doing here isn't "hate." You are throwing out ad hominem attacks like it's candy to try to shut down discussion.

This happens a lot, too.

[Help] Third Discipline: Who's devils advocating? All I asked is why you guys are wasting time hating on a company when all you have to do is simply not pay them money. Like I do.
[Help] Third Discipline: Learn what ad hominem is. I haven't insulted anyone
And, as with every internet discussion, the conversation has turned from game debate, to actual debate debate, with tactics and definitions. You'd think folks would have tired of this long ago, but it keeps coming up.

[Help] Temporal Surgeon: People here aren't "hating" or "jealous." They are making some pretty reasonable criticisms of Blizzard.
[Help] Metal Raven: There's honestly nothing to be jealous about when it comes to blizz. Are they rich, rolling in money and arguably doing fairly well? well, sure.
[Help] M'rtin of Mars: If this argument gets any more meta it'll start eating its own tail.
[Help] daedrius warbrand: and there goes help chat again, lol

Oh, it was there long ago.

[Help] Temporal Surgeon: Ad hominem is not an insult. Ad hominem is an argument that targets the credibility of someone on the basis of some personal attribute.
[Help] Vibrobeast: ok fine. they somehow turned gold into paper
[Help] Metal Raven: I'm bowing out of the argument and going back to actually helping people :p

You are wiser than most of us, gentlebeing.

[Help] Third Discipline: You are correct, "I wouldn't trust Blizzard with my granny's ashes" isn't hate, it'
s just a legit argument
[Help] Metal Raven: Sure [Help] Third Discipline rolls eyes
[Help] Touchup: Yes--can you guys go argue this in a private channel labeled "Debates Etc"?

Wait, we have that channel??

[Help] Rita Ramjet: I don't think CoH is going to last, its just another WoW clone.

And now we've reached the level of players trolling the channel. Because, seriously, that's not even close to accurate. While both games premiered the same year, City of Heroes launched in Aprille of 2004, with WoW following in November.

[Help] Touchup: *tabs out of help before eyes bleed*
[Help] Vibrobeast: o.0 CoH came first
[Help] Wrath Talon: coh is a wow clone?????? since when????
[Help] Ambient Light: Rita, I... I really hope you were being sarcastic there.
[Help] Rita Ramjet: Wow was the first MMO

Not even close to close. Mazewar was the first graphical-based cooperative experience, being introduced in 1974, but it was pretty much cable-spined to the early ARPANet, and was close to being another form of online bulletin board, really. There were various MUDs in between, which were, again, essentially just online roleplay bulletin boards. The first quote-unquote "real" MMO--in sense of scale, at this point, the "massive" in "massively multiplayer role-playing game"--was Neverwinter Nights, which premiered in 1991.

[Help] daedrius warbrand: ...... don't take the bait

Yeah, because seriously, they have to be trolling.

[Help] Wrath Talon: Rita stop trolling
[Help] Rita Ramjet jiggles the bait

And now we have the admission.

[Help] Third Discipline: I'm not talking about legit or people talking about why they don't like a Blizzard product. I'm strictly talking about people who say things like "I wouldn't trust Blizzard with my granny's ashes". If you have legit complaints, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking about those who simply hate.
[Help] Damgun: I'm sorry, but Pandara or Pandarin or whatever is worthy of a good mocking.

That's actually a fair point.

[Help] Damgun: That's like saying every FPS is a Wolfenstein clone. There is no MMO quite like COH.

*snerks* No, but seriously, that's just an amusing concept. What if everything was a Wolfenstein clone? How often do we have games that are now throwing back to the days of the side-scroller? Both Minecraft and Trials: Evolution have player-made maps that make both games side-scrolling--to a limited extent in Minecraft, a much larger extent in Trials.

[Help] Techpoison: what clone do you call champions online?

And that one gets weird, because Cryptic--the company that runs Champions--sold off City of Heroes to NCSoft, who now runs it...but then ran off and created Champions. So...in essence, Champions is a clone of City of Heroes.

I want a stainless steel road stretching off to the sky

The Behind the Steam blog published an official review of the 2 Cent Show album by Steam Powered Giraffe, and overwhelmingly it's positive. Which is good news indeed!

[Help] Kneecapitator: So what's with this popup as I log in? "Given recent events", watch your info? What happened?
[Help] Hexman: wow hacked... again
[Help] Scourging Gale: presumably a bunch of gullible nublets have given their account info to scammers
[Help] Scourging Gale: oh
[Help] Scourging Gale: I stand corrected
[Help] Hexman: I should say blizzard since it wasnt limited to just wow

In brief: this news has been everywhere at this point, but Blizzard got hacked. Specifically a lot of matching information the hackers can use to access user accounts for Diablo III and WoW (that we know of), so that they can get in to those accounts and change those user passwords.

It's a huge, huge hack, and it's pretty grim in a lot of different ways.

[Help] Kneecapitator: Glad I quit when I did and decided not to buy any more of Activizzard's crap.
[Help] Kneecapitator: Then again, my bank blacklisted them years before that, I was playing on timecards from Wrath on.
[Help] Hexman: I want to return to the days when I could go to the store, buy a game, go home and just play it, I dont want to log into some server, or give my CC# or create an account, I just want to play what was in the frikkin box that I spent 50 bucks on

Yeah. Those were the days.

[Help] Ettu?: amen Hexman
[Help] Hexman: hopefully they will see that you cant have accounts hacked if you dont require your customers to HAVE accounts
[Help] Hexman: with the exception of MMOs for obvious reasons :P
[Help] Kneecapitator: Back when copy protection was "What's the third word in the second paragraph on page 15 of the manual? XD
[Help] Sgt. HellTouched: I was going to say...
[Help] Hexman: I dont believe in copy protection, it simply does not work.

Well, yes and no. Back in the days they're talking to, "hacking" was pretty much "we photocopied this sheet with the flag colors and country names on it, use it when you open the program". Things have gotten a lot more technical since then.

[Help] Hexman: and adds a cost to the product you purchase

Always.

[Help] ThornyDevil: it's like Jeff Goldblum said "Nature finds a way"
[Help] ThornyDevil: except with piracy
[Help] ThornyDevil: and thus better

Or worse, depending on your point of view.

Turning to more personal topics, what do we do when the thing that gives us joy and delight turns into anguish and pain? All the work of our hands turned to dust and splinters, ashes and thorns? If we're anyone else, we start over somewhere else, somewhere that doesn't burden our heart more than it gladdens it.

Ah, but I've always been stubborn.

So I listen to the demon's music, and dance with the serpent of honeyed tongue, and vaguely resent the moon while I wait for a dawn that may never come. It could be a very long night indeed, and I still have no answers. I thrash inside the cage I helped to build and wonder when I'll feel free enough to fly through the open door.

Maybe flight is not what I need. Maybe it's not the method of movement that's important, as much as the desire to move. Maybe it's less about wanting to stay, and more about wanting to leave.

Or maybe I'm still falling, and I need to hit bottom before rising again. I just hope I figure out where I need to be, before I crash through bedrock.

I've also realized something else. Over the past five months, I've been reacting instead of acting--to pain, to hurt, to confusion, multilayered and dizzying in scope. And rather than face up to the things causing that hurt and pain, I've been trying to shut them out entirely, desperately seeking distraction, oblivion, blindness...thinking that if I can't see it, I won't hurt over it. Out of sight, out of mind? Or at least pushed far enough away that I start to forget entirely.

But I'm not that lucky. I never have been.

The thing is, I can't do that anymore. I mean, I cannot keep carving bits of myself away, in the hopes that my losses won't be quite enough to kill me before I heal.

And I've always healed slowly.

What I've always done is not the way I get through this. And just because I don't see another path doesn't mean there isn't one. It just means I've been standing in my own way again.

So we start small. Still not up for the rounds of social engagement, but I might show up in Cubidon now and again. And I'm going to make another stab at getting the writing off the ground again. Building things, even if they're just for me and never for retail. Making an effort, as hard as that seems, because waiting for things to feel less stressed and strained is also not working.

At some point, we have to realize that we fell into the hole on the path all on our own, and no one is going to come back and save us. That's not the point of falling. We have to save ourselves.

And if it's hard climbing out of the hole, well, maybe it needs to be. Maybe that will convince me not to fall again.

Or at least, not fall quite so far next time...

wash your face, dry your eyes, you've been waiting a long long time

Still deeply in love with Muppet Doctor Who, and at that same link, a Fairey-inspired Darkwing Duck print. (Both are available for sale, I think, elsewhere on the site.)

Is it just me? The Lindens are starting to sound pretty damned desperate for cash.

"I don't know why the world's leading designers on social media user experience would have made something as creepy feeling as the way this new seamless sharing was instituted, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's because behind the scenes Facebook is built by arrogant young people living charmed lives and sure they know what's best for the rest of us." While that link's specifically concerning Facebook, I wonder what the average median Linden age is these days?

If you've ever wanted a really good example of how physics work, to explain to students or children? This would work quite nicely.

They're terming the new Avengers posters "sleek" at First Showing, and I tend to agree--I especially adore the subtlety of portraying Bruce Banner, with just that mere hint of green light over his face. Very nicely done.

This--and everything else in that particular stream--are all photographs. They're a phenomenal collection of still lives, and every single one of them looks like the old masters to me, with oil and gouache and age crackling the paint. But they're all photographs. Seriously impressive.

In the meantime, a devoted World of Warcraft player sent me a stunning link with inside information on the Activision merger, and it's all sorts of jaw-dropping. If you have the time, I recommend you read the whole post on Team Liquid, but I did want to capture some highlights for posterity.

All of these are quotes from Activision CEO, Robert Kotick.

"On the Blizzard side, [we need to] really be figuring out things like the StarCraft business model for the future, with in-game advertising and sponsorship, [which have] really not been something that has moved the dial for anybody in the videogame industry, but that we think presents tremendous opportunity for the future." (as quoted by Shock News.)

"With respect to the franchises that don’t have the potential to be exploited every year across every platform, with clear sequel potential that can meet our objectives of, over time, becoming $100 million-plus franchises, that’s a strategy that has worked very well for us." (as quoted by Gamasutra.)

"Now that we have the weight of being the largest payer of royalties to the first-parties of any third-party company, I definitely see us as starting to influence hardware design, and they're thinking about the evolution of the next generation of hardware." (as quoted by Play.TM.)

"I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform...They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates are likely to slow...If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony." (as quoted by Gamasutra.)

"[Y]ou know if it was left to me, I would raise the prices even further." (as quoted on the Destructoid blog.)

"In the last cycle of videogames you spent $50 on a game, played it and took it back to the shop for credit. Today, we'll (charge) $100 for a guitar. You might add a microphone or drums; you might buy two or three expansions packs, different types of music. Over the life of your ownership you'll probably buy around 25 additional song packs in digital downloads. So, what used to be a $50 sale is a $500 sale today." (as quoted by MMO Champion.)

"We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games." (as quoted by NeoSeeker.)

"We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression." (as quoted in the same source.)

"Our significant accomplishments in 2009 are the result of the expertise and skills of our employees around the world. Their hard work and commitment to excellence made us stronger even during difficult times." (as quoted by Kotaku, and this after firing over 180 employees scattered through five different smaller studios that had sourced work for Blizzard or Activision, three of which were closed outright.)

So if you've been getting the feeling that Blizzartd's now all about the pocket change--namely yours--becoming theirs? This is why.

Of course, World of Warcraft just lost 800,000 subscribers. Maybe Kotick is too busy counting the millions earned from Call of Duty to care, but then again...

Finally, there's a lot of catcalling between Notch and the Yogscast fans over what happened at Minecon, and the scary part is Notch is the guy who sounds like the insane crazed fan, here. Simon and Lewis, the folks behind the Yogscast, issued a simple statement when all of this broke, saying they needed to get to the plane, off the plane, and back home to England (from Las Vegas) before they could properly respond. But they're the ones being accused of everything but lighting a goat on fire in the convention hall, and trying to sacrifice babies on an altar made of con guests.

Me, I'm not keen on the controversy coming up, especially where it involves Minecraftchick (because, dear gods, is she hateable--she's got raccoon eyes, she's insane, and she has at least one video up on her channel which is pretty much the Festival of Deathing); for me, easy targets don't make it easier to be outraged, it means we're spending our time kicking the puppy.

And the puppy has candyfloss-pink hair. That's not a good strong target, that's more of a pathetic, squishy target.

So mostly, I'm waiting until I get a statement from Simon or Lewis, as to what exactly happened, because honestly, what I think happened? Notch heard it second-hand, inflated by someone (which might even have been his Director of Fun, who organized and hosted all of Minecon; frankly, we just don't know), and then LOST HIS MIND on Twitter.

That's one of the problems with the internet; it's so easy to rant with zero validity to what we're ranting on. Trust me, I know this. Hells, I live this.

But either way, more later, when I hear things. I'll let you know.

up and down my spine go shock waves now, tumbling heels over head

Monday, November 14, 2011 While most of the issues contained in our Known Issues list (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=271603) are scheduled to be fixed with the build going live on Tuesday, November 15, we wanted to make you aware of one that may be affecting you if you have a supergroup or villaingroup base. Please note that base defense items will be attacking you whether you have a supergroup or a villaingroup base equipped with any defense item. The issue affecting their behavior has not yet been resolved and now affects either type of base. As a temporary work-around, you can remove defense items until this issue has been addressed. We appreciate your patience in this matter and thank you for your continued support! The City of Heroes Freedom team

Gah! Are they kidding?!?

So, basically, since I'm IN two supergroups, but don't actually own either one, I can't disable any base defenses. So I just have to not go to my own bases. Argh.

Samsung recently acquired a new technology, and they're going to be putting out flexible computer devices in a very short time. (There's an actual prototype picture attached to that separate article, since the first article's photo is broken.)

Pondering things to eat in Skyrim? Gus Mastrapa's done the dirty work for you. Apparently, the answer is everything.

More Skyrim news: in addition to people wearing baskets, gyroscopically frozen polar bears, and dragon-riding horses, there are now detective chickens.

And that's leaving out all mention of the horses that defy all known laws of physics and the many amusing ways to die.

(For anyone who's interested, the How to Die in Skyrim series is likely going to be a long one, so in addition to part two, above, there's also part one, three, four, five and six.)

In other news, who remembers ATLUS' giant crane game, back when they had their own sim? Now there's a way to duplicate that...sort of. Gizmodo's set up their own giant crane game, in their gallery, but there's a catch--people near it can't play it, just people online.

If you choose to play, and you actually win a prize, it will be dropped down the chute of the physical game, and whomever's closest gets to grab it. If you win a specially-marked ball, the prize will both be dropped down the chute, and sent to your home. Try it if you want, but remember, there are long wait lines, so be as patient as you can.)

And if you're one of the Minecraft players reading along, you will understand the pain of this player. (Of course, me, I'm wondering why she was wandering around with all those diamonds in the first place...but I'm known to build chests on the fly and drop things in them walking through forests.)

More randomly, some owls like to be petted. Who knew?

And Blizzard reports that their flagship MMO, World of Warcraft, has lost 800,000 subscribers, and they're blaming that loss on the players. Yeah, great way to win people back, Blizzard. Are you sure you didn't hire any former Lindens to write that press release?

And I'll end this with an elegantly hostile teapot. That definitely would add an intriguing tension to the question, "More tea?"

and now this could be the last of all the rides we take

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised anymore, when these things happen...

[07:22 PM] Bianca Namori: I'm going to make an alt, and whore her out to help with sim cost.
[07:22 PM] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Sultana!
[07:22 PM] SteelCobra Calamari: Magistrate!
[07:23 PM] Erehwon Yoshikawa: Miss Bianca!
[07:23 PM] Annechen Lowey facepalms.

The problem with this particular exchange? Isn't even that it's tacky as hell, though it is. It's that this is the leader of the new ally-state, Cala Mondrago.

But then, this is part of why I've detached from Caledon so much of late. Caledon is now the place of once-was. Once, social niceties mattered. Once, there was something resembling polite society. Once, Caledon was something to aspire to, the pearl of great price, a virtual pinnacle of life on the grid.

Maybe I make too much of a deal on it. Or I'm too set in my ways and too steeped in nostalgia--still. The current powers-that-hang-out seem to have no problem with the things that make my head spin, and it's certainly not prudishness that guides my actions. I don't mind flirtatiousness, innuendo, sly asides, the covert play of words and meanings; fencing using phrases, not rapiers, for enjoyment and the thrill of the interchange itself.

I suppose I simply see a difference between gentle flirtation, even wicked innuendo, on the one hand, and...such blunt and raw-edged attempts at..humor? Mayhap? Especially the concept of 'whoring' anything...on the other. Caledon has finally outpaced me in terms of culture; I am too staid for that environment.

To be fair, that means the problem is with me, not Caledon as a whole. It's more than a little depressing, and indicates a deep unwillingness to change that is still frustrating me on other issues in my life. And at this point I can't even say that Caledon as it is doesn't work--it had some moments of stagger, early in the transition from peered société to...this...but there is music, there is community, there is support and genuine caring in Caledon. I see it; I hear it. In my own way, distantly, I rejoice that it is there.

I just can't embrace the changes. Not yet. Maybe not ever. To me, all of this could have been reversed with a little care and a little attention, by those that matter. Unfortunately, I didn't think I was one of those who mattered, so I..and so many others...just watched it happen.

And again, I can't even say the current residents are wrong, because the current residents are happy. How can I argue with happiness? Why should I, why should anyone?

Over on the Rock Paper Shotgun blog, there's a bit of explanation behind the meteoric rise and subsequent fall in flames of "World of Starcraft"--or, at least, the trailers posted on YouTube. What leaves me curious is, while Blizzard/Activision have every right to kill the trailers for this, as they could possibly infringe on World of Warcraft copyright, they've left the actual development site for the mod alone. Why wouldn't they attempt a take-down on the site and the forums, as well? That may relate to why they released modkits for StarCraft in the first place...

FInally, this is the single worst suggestion for an MMO feature I have ever, ever heard. Ever. Hands down. I pray--hourly--that this is all a joke.

But if I see an MMO emerge with bathroom physics? It will be the end of gaming as we know it.

oh no, don't you dare hang up this phone

So, Laneroth over at Blizzard handily got back to me. Problem solved, yay! So this is over...right?

Oh, I wish.

From: Blizzard Entertainment (wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com)
Sent at: 9:27 PM
To: Emilly
Date: Tue, Aug 17, 2010
Subject: Login IP Illegal Warning
mailed by: hotmail.com

Dear customer,

Due to suspicious activity, the Battle.net account emilly.orr@gmail.com has been locked. You tried to login your account on 2010-8-18 from several different IP.

Actually, no. It's been verified, NOTHING that accesses ANYTHING Blizzard makes comes from emilly.orr@gmail.com.

You tried to login your account on 2010-8-18 from several different IP.

Um, no, no I didn't.

We are concerned about whether your account has been stolen.

Gosh, thanks for your concern.

In order to guarantee the legitimacy of your account, we need you follow these steps:

Step 1: Secure Your Computer

In the event that your computer has been infected with malicious software such as a keylogger or trojan, simply changing your password may not deter future attacks without first ensuring that your computer is free from these programs. Please visit our Account Security website to learn how to secure your computer from unauthorized access.

Which, note, they don't give in the email. To their credit, though, I do run malware and virus checkers about once a week. This week I'm overdue, so I'll run a sequence tonight.

Step 2: Secure Your E-mail Account

After you have secured your computer, check your e-mail filters and rules and look for any e-mail forwarding rules that you did not create. For more information on securing your e-mail account, visit our Support page.

Again, they don't provide it, which may be a good or a bad thing. But it's never a bad idea to go through email precautions as well, and because of this, I went ahead and changed my password on Gmail, again, even though I'd switched it last week.

Step 3: Restore access to Your account

We now provide a secure website for you to verify whether you have taken the appropriate steps to secure the account, your computer, and your email address. Please follow this site to restore the access to your account: www.worldofwarcraft.accountadmin.net site

One wonders who precisely owns that site (and yes, I trimmed out the exact link). Because seriously, it used to be, we had a problem with a spammer, we wrote the site admins. What if the site admins are the spammers, though?

If you still have questions or concerns after following the steps above, feel free to contact Customer Support

To the spammer's credit (which isn't worth hardly a tenth-piece at this point) they did have a correct link, it just went to a specific dead-end area. So I kept the link to US Customer Support, but changed it to the pick-your-game initial stop.

Sincerely,
The Battle.net Account Team
Online Privacy Policy

BWAHAHAHA...I mean, so, yeah, still getting things, but considering I've now determined the "accountadmin" people have ZERO connection to Blizzard at large, I've now reported them as spam. This should result in less spam to sort through!

when nightmare's memories fades to dust, we'll get back on our feet again

"Okay, I've got one: 'Snowstorm' is a really unfortunate name."

She's not wrong. But beyond that, I'm wondering what they're doing, too. By removing the development channel for SnowGlobe, they're removing the only viewer for me that has consistently worked, day in and day out, with only a smattering of difficulty, since I made the jump from Nicholaz.

But she goes on in a later essay on the same topic to say that what Linden Labs seems to be doing is splitting into problem-solving groups; f'rinstance, one group solves login concerns, another solves port issues, another solves group chat difficulties...which would be great if it works, but there's one big problem: will all these little bits of code developed and written independently, work as a unit? Miss Nino has doubts:

Linden Lab still remains authoritative for all contributions. The Lab may veto any contribution, and no Lab contribution may be vetoed or negotiated. This is as it should be (and as it has always been), since it is the Lab’s project, and it sets the rules – except for one problem.

The problem with this is that the Lab has a history of making bad decisions in this regard. Does anyone remember the Single-Sign-On debacle a couple years ago?

The Lab introduced a new login system, which met with 100% opposition from the open-source contributors on several grounds: technical (it wouldn’t really work properly) and would interfere with other software, scalability (it was quite inefficient), and misguidedness (it would not actually achieve the stated goals).

The Lab refused to back out of its plans, and refused to listen to or discuss the issues with them. Months of development time went into the new system, which reached beta… and then had to be abandoned, for all of the reasons the open-source contributors had raised in the first place. This wasn’t the only such similar instance.

I can remember others. Combine this with the other thing the Labs does really well--namely, to additionally make extraordinarily controversial decisions (banning Lolita as a search term because of "ageplay issues" for several months; the Homestead debacle; and the entire project of Zindra spring unerringly to mind) and then failcompletely to understand why people are angry, frustrated, and yelling at them for those decisions.

The upshot seems to be that from here on out, there's no 1.x viewer, there's no 2.x viewer, there's no SnowGlobe; there's just Snowstorm. Dress warm, now.

There's an excellent article on Wired about the history of computer/technology symbols. Well worth a read-through, and I remain amused by @ in particular, as prevailing research cannot seem to determine when it first became popularly used.

Next up: spiderwebs as big as a room? Yes.

What I want to know is what they didn't cover--apparently, that artificial webbing was created by first laying foundations of adhesive tape around the pillars, then choreographing a dance troupe to carry and unspool yard after yard of adhesive tape in room-filling leaps.

When can we see that? Or wasn't that taped as part of the project?

I think I can safely say that the confusion with Blizzard and emails has drawn to a close, but in an amusing way. Keep in mind, this is post sending two emails to Billing and calling yesterday and today (and both times, getting a recorded 'Our queue is full, and besides, you likely don't need to talk to us anyway, run along' message when calling). I went back to the Blizzard site and discovered that, in addition to the email address for Billing and the phone number, there was an actual webform for concerns.

A support ticket filer are me!

So, that's what I did, sketching out both what I received, and giving them the two best blog entries that featured the emails. Within the hour, I received contact back from Blizzard:

Greetings,

***Yeah thats an ID theft email. They spoof the email and mass mail them. Kind of like the "you won the lottery" spam.***

After a thorough database search, I can confirm that the email address you have contacted us from is not currently associated with any account in our system, and no emails have recently been sent from us to this address. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Blizzard Entertainment is the developer of the online video game World of Warcraft. We have recently seen in increase in phishing or scam emails that are sent out by unknown third parties to many of our players, in an attempt to obtain World of Warcraft account information. While we are unsure of how these email addresses are obtained, it appears that even individuals that are not customers of Blizzard Entertainment are receiving these email scams.

Many of these emails contain valid contact information from Blizzard Entertainment, in an attempt to appear legitimate and coax players to reply with their account details. Examples of some e-mail scams can be found here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=965511383. You do not need to be an account holder to view this thread.

If you have no intention of using Blizzard's products, I would recommend adding "Blizzard" to your spam block, or any other block option on your email account to prevent the receipt of further response. Please note that Blizzard cannot stop the receipt of these emails, as they are not originating from us.

For your own protection, we encourage you to review the following page which has details regarding Trojans and viruses, as well as programs to remove them: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/30812.

If you have additional questions or concerns, please reply to this email. If you would rather speak with a representative directly, please contact Account & Technical Services. Our contact information can be found at http://blizzard.com/support/article/cs.


Regards,

Sidney S.
Game Master Laneroth
Customer Service
Blizzard Entertainment
www.blizzard.com/support

Well. I am refreshingly surprised by the insta-contact back, by someone who seems to have a handle on the situation. Was it mentioning the blog? Was it mentioning that someone had attempted to gain personal details/credit card information by telling me that my credit card had been compromised?

And how many people are falling for these emails, anyway?

I can nearly forgive them for the thousands of WoW players who think "toon" is an interchangeable term for any avatar of a player in a virtual world.

Nearly.

somewhere up in these hills awaits the darkest chills; can you hear?

Readers, writers, you are welcome to peruse the index of banned words. Sadly, several words I like using are on that list. Even more tragically--for my readers at least--I'm not going to stop using them.

After some small amount of personal consideration, and a fair bit of worry and hand-wringing, I have decided to allow only registered users (Google accounts and/or OpenID accounts) to comment, with an additional Captcha setting (those odd words you have to type in additionally on certain blogs to send your comment). I may lift the registered users restriction in a while, but today was the absolute last straw in Anonymous commenting.

On this entry, Anonymous Whomever sent this:

chicago pornstars
xposed chicks
anatuer chick
paris hilton and blowjob
black ob blonde redtube

which started his comment (and yes, typos and all, that's how I received it), followed by a very long list of porn URLs, all tracing back to a specific fly-by-night site.

I am not anti-sex; far from it, and anyone who knows me knows that. What I am against is having people decide my blog is a great place to park their spam. This is not that forum; move on. Hopefully a few weeks of not being allowed to spam my blog will convince them to cruise on to the next hapless service.

Sphynx, I apologize in advance, I know you have problems with Captcha, and they are understood ones. But I've hit the end of my ability to tolerate the spammers with a smile.



Just so you know? These are lovelier in person.

In person, they're also 81 prims. Complete with slowly falling black rose petals, a charming cut crystal vase, containing three drooping blooms on withered stems. A small drift of fallen petals curves around the base of the vase.

Loveliness incarnate, truly; excellent work. And all for L$200 at Belle Amie.

But...81 prims. Ouch. You pay for pretty.

"Already the writers are complaining that there is too much freedom. They need some pressure. The worse your daily life, the better your art. If you have to be careful because of oppression and censorship, this pressure produces diamonds."

Tatyana Tolstoya wrote that. Is it surprising to anyone that she's a writer--a Russian writer, at that? (Though Tolstoya as a last name is a giveaway. Tatyana, for that matter, also.)

More oddity from Blizzard:

From: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com
Sent: 2:56 AM (GMT+08:00).
To: emilly.orr@gmail.com
Date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010; 2:56 AM
Subject: Survey of World of Warcraft account
Mailed-by: hotmail.com

Hello dear players

Your account by other players reported using illegal plug-ins, that is, robots! If not, you use the robot, I hope you work with our survey! Here we need to verify your account information, please visit: battle.net/login leave your phone number, we will contact you the first time! Solve the problem!

World of Warcraft Support
Blizzard Entertainment

At least this one sounds like spam on the face of it. (Note the actual send-from stamp of "Hotmail" on the missive, f'rinstance.) Still...so odd. And again, I exchanged the words in blue for what they actually wanted me to visit to "confirm" this mysterious account I do not possess--namely, wow-account-battle.dipns.com. (I don't recommend anyone goes, by the way. Just putting it up for reference.)

I mean, I'm all for people trying to make a living, but spamming people who don't even have the accounts they're trying to hack to gain...what? WoW gold? Can you get WoW gold from someone who doesn't have it? I just don't get it.

It's like all the spammers infesting Runes of Magic. Runes has now made it impossible to buy diamonds and use them to transfer gifts or purchase things in the Auction House; and they auto-ban anyone who happens to follow one of the spammer's screamed chats for whatever website they're top-hawking this week, so...what's the point? How are they making money?

Seriously, I'm starting to think all spam websites are codes by secret government organizations. Like, every time you see an advertisement for that simple/easy/effective/ teeth whitening formula, it's actually a CIA agent checking in with their field office, or something.

Hey, it makes more sense than the alternative of people actually buying the "cheap and simple" tooth whitening formula--whatever it is this week--over, and over, and over again...Doesn't it?

and now I'm paying with my, paying with my life

More Blizzard oddity.

Hello,

This is an automated notification regarding your World of Warcraft account. Your account options was recently modified through the Account Management website.

I am amazed! I don't even have a WoW account! What else can you do? Do you know the interlocking rings trick?

If you made this change to your subscription type, please disregard this automatic notification.

What if I don't have a subscription type? What do I do then?

*** If you did NOT make any changes to your account or subscription, we recommend you login to Account Management at the following link to review your account settings:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/billing/

Thanks, but I'm still back on how I even have an account type, considering I've never played WoW.

If you cannot sign into Account Management using the link above, or if unauthorized changes continue to happen, please contact Blizzard Billing & Account Services for advanced assistance.

Billing & Account Services can be reached at 1-800-59-BLIZZARD (1-800-592-5499 Mon-Fri, 8Am-8PM Pacific Time) or at billing@blizzard.com.

I did this! I sent the last email I got to Billing! Yay for doing the right thing.

...I think.

Account security is solely the responsibility of the accountholder. Please be advised that in the event of a compromised account, Blizzard representatives will typically lock the account. In these cases the Account Administration team will require faxed receipt of ID materials before releasing the account for play.

Regards,

The World of Warcraft Support Team
Blizzard Entertainment

http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowindex/

Hey, I'd be happy if y'all want to lock down the account I don't have so that people who aren't me can't use it. Though maybe that's mean. Maybe someone SHOULD be allowed to use it, because I certainly don't...

...because...

...it doesn't exist...

This is getting so damned recursive, I swear.

Then, on the heels of that, I got this:

Hello,

Blizzard Entertainment recently received a request to change the e-mail address used to log in to the Battle.net account with the username emilly.orr@gmail.com. The e-mail address n***@hotmail.com has been specified as the new username for this Battle.net account. An email has been sent to this new address containing a verification link to complete the change.

Uh-huh. A request to change the account I don't have to a Hotmail account that's blocked out to protect...their privacy? Yes, there is definite fishiness occurring.

Once the new address has been verified, the e-mail address emilly.orr@gmail.com can no longer be used to log in to this Battle.net account or any World of Warcraft accounts merged with this Battle.net account.

If you did not initiate this request, please click here to contact the Blizzard Billing & Account Services team immediately.

Riiiiight. What you don't notice--because I didn't make it an active link--is that where the words "click here" were in the original email? Was an active link to something called "factionconfirm.eu". I don't want to confirm any faction, thank you, I just want to know why I'm getting these emails!

Are they spam? Why are they targeting me? Why do some of them use Blizzard's actual customer service contact procedures?

I am very confused. Monday, Blizzard's going to get a call.

and what she doesn't know is how long it takes for the water to rise

This has been the morning for bizarre emails. First, woke up this morning, checked email, and was sent this by the Lindens:

Hi Emilly Orr,

We are writing to let you know that we removed some content you had in Second Life under our Intellectual Property Policy. For a list of the specific content we removed, please see the "IP Complaint Details" below at the bottom of this email.

When we receive an intellectual property complaint, we investigate it and look for copies of the content identified in the complaint. Our investigation found that you had some of this content. We replaced the content with generic placeholder item(s), as described in our FAQs on our Intellectual Property Complaint Process.

If you weren't aware of an intellectual property issue, don't panic or take it personally! Just take steps to avoid content that may have intellectual property issues. Here are some tips to protect yourself and keep your inworld shopping safe and fun.

Many thanks for your interest in Second Life.

-- The IP Team at Linden Lab

IP COMPLAINT DETAILS

Content Removed:

• Item: Animation named "AK Dance 1 suave" Location: Inventory of Emilly Orr
  
• Item: Animation named "AK Dance 16 energico" Location: Inventory of Emilly Orr

*If animations were removed, the replacement animation may be in your HUD or animation override (AO).

Okay. So their IP department is working. The problem? I don't remember buying either of these dances. I did a quick scan--obviously not for those, because they're gone--and it's nothing I've put in my chimera (all official, bought moves, mostly Sine Wave club dances and fan dances) or that I still had in Winter's dance bracelet (still freebie content, but for the most part verified freebie content).

How'ver, I have the habit of picking up stray animation HUDs. Why? Because there may be an animation or two in there that's good for posing for photographs, or using myself in or out of a photography studio. Nothing turned up, but I'm thinking it wasn't something I was using anyway.

Then this came in:

From: wowaccountadmin@blizzard.com
To: me

Greetings!

It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell/trade your personal World of Warcraft account(s).

As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement.

If this proves to be true, your account can and will be disabled. It will be ongoing for further investigation by Blizzard Entertainment's employees.

If you wish to not get your account suspended you should immediately verify your account ownership.

If the information is deemed accurate, the investigation will be dropped.

This action is taken because we at Blizzard Entertainment take these sales quite seriously. We need to confirm you are the original owner of the account. This is easiest done by confirming your personal information along with concealed information about your account.

we recommend you Login verify Information your account:

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com

If you ignore this mail your account can and will be closed permanently. Once we verify your account, we will reply to your e-mail informing you that we have dropped the investigation.

Using the automated system, please contact Billing & Account Services at

1-800-59-BLIZZARD (1-800-592-5499) Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm Pacific Time or at billing@blizzard.com. Account security is solely the responsibility of the account holder. Please be advised that in the event of a compromised account, Blizzard representatives typically must lock the account. In these cases the Account Administration team will require faxed receipt of ID materials before releasing the account for play.

Regards,

Blizzard Entertainment Inc Account Administration Team
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623

Huh. There's one problem with this. I don't have a WoW account.

How could I be trying to sell something I don't own?

I mean, they're welcome to disable my access to the game I've never downloaded, so I can't get into the virtual world I've never entered. Seems awfully recursive, somehow.

But then came this:

From: Blizzard Entertainment
To: me

Hello, thank you for shopping at the Blizzard Store!

StarCraft II®: Wings of Liberty™: 6129523855006794206159153

To use this key to activate the game, simply follow these instructions:
1. Log in to your Battle.n Account - Or Create a Battle.net Account

2. Verify your e-mail address. (If you have previously verified your address, skip this step.) From the main Account Management page, click the 'verify this e-mail address' link. Then, check your e-mail account for a verification e-mail. Click the link in this e-mail to verify your e-mail address.

3. Return to the Battle.net account management page, then click on 'Code Redemption'.

4. Enter the above CDKey in the code field.

5. Once you have successfully redeemed this code, you will be able to play the game.

NOTE: If you have previously chosen to gift your digital purchase, attaching this key to their Battle.net account will prevent you from being able to redeem this key with your Battle.net account.

Order Date: 2010-8-10
Order #: 2573775

(1) StarCraft II®: Wings of Liberty™ - $59.99

Credit Card Number : ****-****-****-9527
Credit Card Type : Vista
Item Subtotal: $59.99
Tax: $0.00
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Shipping Tax: $0.00
Grand Total: $59.99
===========================================

If you have any questions or concerns about your order, please contact us at:

Phone: Toll-free at (1-800-592-5499)
Website: http://us.blizzard.net/account

Live phone support is available seven days a week, 8:00AM - 8:00PM Pacific Time.

Thanks for shopping with us!
Blizzard Customer Service

Friends and neighbors, I do believe I've been hacked.

But it's an odd hack; I don't recognize the last four numbers of the "Vista" card, so...huh? I did what any responsible netizen would do; I took down the message headers, went to the WoW main site (NOT through any link given in EITHER of these messages!) and reported it to Billing, because they seemed the likeliest culprit of all the other help categories.

My second concern in all of this--people are paying sixty bucks for a pair of wings? A pair. Of wings. A pair. Of wings.

Seriously? Man, I see sixty bucks free, I'm thinking two movies each for three people. Three new hardcover books. Dinner at that posh Moroccan place. Dinner at the not-so-posh-but-better Lebanese place, for more people.

A tattoo.

Come on, guys--WINGS?!? Sixty bucks for WINGS?!? That has to be a joke.

ANGRY FREUDIAN PENIS is now Online.
ANGRY FREUDIAN PENIS: HEY
ANGRY FREUDIAN PENIS: one mo thing
ANGRY FREUDIAN PENIS: Take your shirt off
ANGRY FREUDIAN PENIS is now Offline.

And on THAT note, I think I'm hiding from strange people who email me stranger things.