Archive by Author
Consider my thunder stolen,
Linden Labs dropped their bomb today. Second Life has given real-world property rights to content created in game. This is a world gone mad. i haven’t even played Second Life and now I feel that I must visit it jsut to watch the repurcussions ripple through. You can read the Press Release here.
Full StoryInternational SimCon to Take Place in February
According to a press release from the Splash Entertainment Group, an international convention for players of TSO is being planned for this coming February in Detroit, Michigan. Here are the particulars from the press release: “The International SimCon (short for sim convention) will be the first of its kind since TSO’s public release one year [...]
Full Story“Challenge Everything?”: Third-Party Harm and Online Gaming
Lately, I’ve been losing more sleep than usual. I started playing TSO in Alphaville. I had wanted to further explore some legal issues in the course of my graduate studies. My first exposure to Alphaville was light-hearted, fun, and it struck me as a seemingly benign little place. Then something freaked me out. Another player, [...]
Full StoryTSO: High School Redux?
Most MMORPGs have some way of marking achievement (moving up through a guild or acquiring weath, for example), and TSO is no exception; the game is designed so that one can achieve both by acquiring virtual goods and currency and by attaining social status (which is indicated by posted rankings). The problem is that the [...]
Full StoryWoot! Go Alphaville Herald. Now get to work!
In a couple of recent posts on Terra Nova, Ted Castronova at Cal State Fullerton and Dan Hunter at U Penn’s Wharton School have had some nice – indeed, for me, inspirational – comments on the mission of the Alphaville Herald. I ordinarily don’t care much for self-promotion, but this *is* the internet and this [...]
Full StoryHalloween in Alphaville
Lot’s to complain about wrt TSO, as with any other MMORPG, but I thought I’d weigh in with some happy on the party we had on Halloween night at our home, The Church of Mephistopheles, in Alphaville. I think it shows something about the potential for the medium once one gets away from all the [...]
Full StorySWG is a silly silly place
Game Girl Advance, has linked an excellent article concerning the failings of Star Wars Galaxies to do nearly anything right. Please take a moment to read The Mystery of Star Wars Galaxies. On another note, I continue to stand in awe with the rapidity with which essays and observations like these are popping up, it [...]
Full StoryHow Inane can these Jobs Be?
One of my sims (Doctor Legion) foolishly took a job in a robot factory. Now he/she/it is hounded by M.O.M.I. for absenteeism. And there is no obvious way for Doc to quit. Today was the last straw; Doc was standing outside Doc’s store relishing a 50 grand sale of goth items, when the car pool [...]
Full StoryEven Worse than I Imagined
Well, the pets and jobs have come to Alpha, and the transition has been an absolute technical nightmare. I’d have to guess that Alpha has been down half of the time (just a guess). The problem is that people are unable to enter the city and or properties. Alpha is down again as I write, [...]
Full StoryThought Experiment (part1)
A while ago I was brainstorming a VR idea with a few friends and eventually have the wherewithal to write the ideas down. The concept is yet to be fully fleshed out so I’m posting the text below and would love to hear commentary and rumination about the structure and so forth. I will be [...]
Full Story
Recent Comments