October 31, 2007
My Hella-big Issue with Hellgate London
I admit it, I'm an old school "Diablo 2" addict, I really didn't care for the original and nothing since has really twisted my fancy as far as action RPGs go.
Sure, "Titan Quest" was ok, if just a little boring, especially for interesting item drops. "Sacred" was an ok diversion, but was sort of rough around the edges and definitely not polished to the mirror sheen of Diablo 2.
Plus Sacred had one of the most hilarious random item naming systems to date. Anyone who has played Diablo 2 will know that certain attributes are always linked to certain naming conventions, a "Blazing" weapon will always do fire damage, etc… However, in Sacred, the names weren't linked to specific properties, so it was completely common to have "Rotten Leather of Smelly Muck" with attributes that far exceeded "Exhausted Super Armour of the Most Glorious Gods", which always makes for some good laughs.
Anyhow, the point here is that after getting every single ounce of juice out of Diablo 2, I've been really hurting for a good action RPG. Something that's easy to fire up and hack away at, for those days when you just want a quick diversion. So I was more than just a little excited when I learned that a bunch of ex-Blizzard employees that had worked on Diablo 2 had gotten together to form their own company and were working on a spiritual sibling of Diablo 2 called "Hellgate London".
And after trying out the demo version of Hellgate London, I have to say that I was totally impressed and started to get that little giddy feeling that I get when I think about the possibility of finally having a good action RPG to plunk away at. Expecially one that crosses a totally cool post apocalyptic world with loads of demon slaying action!
However, the ending of the demo was a little odd, in that, there wasn't one. Just a few quests that eventually lead to a pretty big dead end, not exactly what I'm used to in a demo. In my experience, most demos end with a nice little "if you'd like to see more, buy the damn game" sort of thing. (In fact, the most frustrating demo of all time was for Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail, which ends with a female character finally pulling down her top to reveal a nice "if you want to see the real thing, buy the damn game" message. Talk about guerrilla advertising!)
Having been left completely unsatisfied by the inconclusive ending, I decided to check Google, just in case I had missed something, which it turns out that I both had and hadn't, in that no, the demo doesn't have any sort of proper ending, but yes, the demo apparently comes with a type of advertising software that some folks are dubbing "spyware".
Basically, it's a package that allows the game to connect to a special server to download fresh advertising content, which is then displayed in-game. Which, while incredibly tacky, it's not precisely "spyware", which is a name I normally reserve for the crappy sort of advertising software that tries to take over your computer and do things that it's not supposed to, like crash or run very slowly.
Now, why do I call in game advertisements tacky? Well, it's because of Hellgate London's developer's choice to also add a subscription service to their game. In that, sure, you can buy the game and play it all you want, both on and offline, however, if you want access to "exclusive items and features", you have to dole out a $10 monthly extortion fee.
So, let me get this straight: I'm going to be paying a recurring fee for the "privilege" of being advertised to in a game which out of the box doesn't contain the game's full content?
I don't f-in think so!
I have nothing against developers making some extra money by putting out add-ons after a game has been released. I have nothing against MMOs and monthly fees that support new content. But I have a hella-big problem if a game is already receiving advertising support and charging me for new content. Hellgate's devs really need to sit down and look at other precedence, like Anarchy Online, where I can play for free and see ads or pay a fee to have the ads removed (or maybe at Diablo 2 and Blizzard.net's FREE out of the box access to the WHOLE game!)
Ya dudes, you make be making one cool game, but that doesn't entitle you to double dip consumers.
Guess I'll just have to wait (and wait and wait) for Diablo 3 for the "real" action RPG "fix" I've been looking for!
October 17, 2007
Ultimate Cannonball Run
Amazing Transcontinental Dash!
October 9, 2007
Finally back in print!
After being out of print for nearly a year, "The Art of Chainmail: Volume I" is finally available again and looking better than ever!
All of the original art for AoCv1 has been digitally remastered for this brand new third edition! This is also the first time that AoCv1 has been reproduced using 4-colour process printing on heavy duty gloss stock.
"The Art of Chainmail: Volume I" is currently available from the following sources:
Spiderchain Jewelry (with special thanks to Spider for helping get AoCv1 back in print!)
Spider also has exclusive distribution for the first 100 third edition copies, which have been signed and numbered by Dylon Whyte.
Metal Designz
Chain Tutorial Bonanza!
In between preparations for the fall market/show season and working on the new book for Lark, I somehow found time to put together 10 all-new chain tutorials, which are now available on through Metal Designz and through Etsy.com.
Painstakingly written and illustrated, all of my tutorials feature high resolution 3D images, a proven step-by-step instruction method for construction and have been reproduced from high resolution digital files on a state-of-the-art colour laser printer on heavy paper stock for durability.
If you are familiar with any either of my best-selling books on the construction of chains and chainmail jewelry, you will know exactly what to expect from these well-respected quality tutorials.
Patterns include:
1 in 3 Half Persian
Ormlank
Silver Serpent
Full Persian
Double Half-Persian
Persian Star
Fieldstone
Sweet Pea
Double Spiral
Rings of Saturn
Take a look today!
October 4, 2007
Fall Events
Here's a quick list of a couple of events that I will be attending this fall:
October 27th - The Fall Crown Tournament of Trumbrand and Kaylah - This is the Fall SCA Crown Tournament for all of Ealdormere and also the 20th crown tournament since Ealdormere became a kingdom. I will be attending with my regular assortment of chain jewelry and books and will also be teaching all day chainmail classes to anyone who is interested in learning new chainmail patterns. So bring your rings, bring your pliers and enjoy!
November 10th and 11th - The Toronto Bead Society Fall Bead and Jewellery Fair 2007 - I will have a table with my regular jewelry and books, as well as kits and jump rings from my friends at Metal Designz. I will also be teaching a class on how to make the bracelet seen below, more details to come!
April 2008
