Upgrading this blog

Attempting to add a slideshow to this blog is, so far, no easy task. Tried with Picasa and with Flickr. Must be doing something wrong...

Accounts woes

Well, it seems that this time, the account is fixed. This comes as a relief. Will enjoy 1 year of play. Thanks to all those that expressed support and / or partook in the solution.

Account issues

January has been quite unnerving as far as logging into the game was concerned - hence the little amount of posts. Since January 5th, I've been repeatedly barred from accessing the game, because I couldn't renew my subscription. Several tickets and phone support later, I found out that my account was locked, because I attempted to pay with my credit card and SOE's secure payment flagged the transaction each time...

So, a first set of tickets and chats granted me a Three Days Pass (Jan. 20th - Jan. 23rd) during which I was able to renew my subscription...only to see it gone after the three days. A new set of tickets, chats and phone support, granted me a 10 Days Pass (which is currently in effect).

In theory, I should now wait for the 10th day to elapse, wait one day to make sure that my account is closed and I shall be able to renew my subscription. I'll wait to see that...

In the meantime, I have discovered that the 10 Days Pass is a Trial Account, meaning, I have no access to VoiceChat (there's no one in Scylla, atm so that's not really an issue) and limited Spatial Chat, with the odd consequence that I had to finish a conversation using /tell and /reply.

The real unfortunate consequence of all this, is with the Demolition Day Sarlaac Trash Can Deluxe version of the reward, which is likely to be downgraded to the regular version since my account has not been active during the identified windows of time. Obviously, I've prepared for a new set of tickets, to petition the issue. More soon...

Galaxies, really?

Err, no...It wasn't online but it was an excellent moment, Tarn and Jed kept busy in the Star Wars universe, however differently than the usual....

Next time, we'll actually try to score victories, or perhaps, again, just enjoy the moment and talk about victories.

Humor, Meatlumps and Infinite Regress

The Meatlumps are fun. Not only they are fun in and out of themselves, but also because their universe is zany. Something absurd that given enough time answers to its own logic. Despite this, it is also an opportunity to dwell in time old famous Star Wars quotes - a kind of "best SW quotes ever". From my own count, there are at least three:
- Aren't you a little bit short to be a smuggler? (to a Jawa)
- The famous Dr Evazan / Obi Wan dialog (we're wanted in 12 systems...)
- and the infamous and, greatest of all "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" (to the bomb manufacturer in the Meatlump compound).

While it's a great pleasure to actually repeat these dialogs in game, it also creates a case of infinite regress. Sure, avatars have no way of knowing that these pieces of texts are famous, so we can imagine that they come up, a kind of strange sense of humor that they develop. And which echoes in the player's memories. But what about the actual Star Wars movies posters earned from the anniversary? Does Tarn Pagott go to the movies and watch the Empire Strikes Back? He would, it's a great movie, but the tribute creates some level of inconsistency. We can choose to ignore. Sometimes, I don't.

For all it's worth, Leia's model Tantive IV, it is rumored had two pieces of decoration in the cockpit (not visible in the movies): a Playboy pin up and A New Hope poster...Infinite regress are somehow are brand name in the SW brand, or a movie within a movie.

Readership ?

Much to my surprise, I have discovered that they are regular readers to this blog. Thank you all for it, it's always a pleasure to see that time and efforts spent to make these columns interesting are appreciated. /deepbow

Poll Results ! (II)

How often do you log into Scylla ? Such was the question asked on this blog. Interestingly, the poll response does not match direct observation. With 33% logging everyday, and 33% logging several times a week and 33% logging hardly ever, it seems a contradiction exist between respondants and players. While small, the TMB community tends to log in more often than 33% hardly ever - hardly ever being understood as less often than a monthly basis.

Of memories and friends

With returning players visiting more often, it's interesting to see how conversations among players change. Discussions about keymap setup, knowing where and how to keep in touch with memorable friends arise more often. Beyond game mechanics, it's been said that players come into a game for the mechanics and remain (or return) for the community. Those last days have mainly been about that. Gives a sense of home to a galaxy far, far away.