A few interesting news notes if people want to comment:
1) The EFF has a critical take on Blizzard's "Warden" software that scans user drives. Kind of old news here -- Jess posted on this back in August and it was discussed then. Eric Goldman's take on a similar flap about Sony's EULAized scanware is here. (Update from Ross Smith in the comments: this is too funny -- according to Security Focus, Sony's rootkit hack will reportedly let WoW hackers escape Warden's detection by adding a "$sys$" prefix to file names.)
2) There were apparently reports on Pacific Epoch of a "mass suicide" protest on China's WoW servers to protest the new fatigue regulations, noted here previously. As usual, it's hard to get independent confirmation or details. (Here's another story today from Pacific Epoch about an unusual "hunger strike.") (Update: Joystiq points to a virtual funeral for another player who reportedly died from overplaying -- so I guess these people might support the regulations?)
3) Are "virtual" things bad for you? It's a question as old as Plato, but it's still very much alive. Joystiq takes up the old questions with a NY Times health editorial where a psychologist states:
The growth of technology has cleaved us from the reality of self, as well. We say that we are "going" places on the Internet without ever leaving the room. In elaborate Internet-based games, people pay thousands of dollars to own "real estate" that isn't real at all.
Can't say how many times we've talked about that before.
4) Speaking of Plato, do you want to try your hand at a pre-MUD MMORPG MMORPG-resembling thinget? (Richard can clarify why this really wasn't a MMORPG). Then read on:
A friend of Terra Nova sends this announcement of the revival of a PLATO game, Oubliette, which is now available to VW historians wanting a peek:
Oubliette -- a pioneering graphics-based 3D MUD originally written for PLATO in 1977 -- has been reborn on the Cybis system. The Cybis client can be downloaded at www.cyber1.org; the sponsor and operator of the Cybis system (Mike Cochran) will provide signons and access to the system and the game upon request -- details available at the above website (as well as a rudimentary primer in PLATO key conventions). The "lesson" name (once you are on the Cybis system) is "oubliette;" the "help" lesson is "svipdag;" the notesfile (online discussion about the game) is "fantasy."
Oubliette was conceived and largely written by Jim Schwaiger -- a true pioneer in the history of online games. Dr. Schwaiger (now a radiologist) has actually devoted some of his sparse spare time to bringing the game back, and is actively working on tweaking Oubliette to restore it to the state it was in back in the late '70's (reversing some subsequent data changes and other tweaks). Notable among Oubliette's innovations were:
* invention of a common dungeon universe, allowing players to form "parties" and fight dungeon encounters together in real time;
* invention of "special rooms" (a randomly placed "mean" encounter with special treasure, that can be "hit" each time through each dungeon level);
* specialized monster attacks (such as breath, spells, draining, poison and disease) in a multiplayer graphical mud;
* real time combat routine (player "option" timing based on character dexterity; monster "option" timing based on its dexterity, all occurring in real time); and
* many others that I'm sure I'm taking for granted
Definitely sounds worth a spin, if you're curious as to what some people did before WoW & Everquest & Ultima & M59 & Habitat & Kesmai & MUD (& all the others that really ought to be mentioned)...
