have anyone here seen secondlife?
http://secondlife.com/

it is very odd in that it is, at its base, a purely capitalistic mmorg.. complete with land ownership, buying and selling products and exchange rates to \"real\" currencies.

but with that said, it is quite amazing .. i personally did not really find it fun to play mind you.. but amazing in that is really one heck of a  socio-economic experiment.  everything is apparently built and owned by the users (they have rights to what they build anyway).. which ends up, go figure, resulting in lots of casinos.. but also clothes that people sell, and i saw a weird rollercoaster.. anyhow, the feeling i got from it is that it is like one crazy vegas

Apparently, according to some economists, people *can* make more money in this game then they can doing \"real\" jobs.

ref
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1271788.cms

anyhow, i would say it is simply worth checking out for the spectacle.

Originally posted by derwoodly

Quote

Originally posted by pwxyzg
actually.. in sept of 2002..

\"The Taliban offers to turn over bin Laden if presented with evidence of his guilt. They also suggest that they will allow him to be tried by Muslim clerics.\"
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/taliban-time.html

so really, the usOFa declined to tun over any evidence, and attacked in an act of agression instead.

Please do not rewrite history.  

sorry.. .. um, i meant 2001 (see the llink, its a typo) .. my appologies.  i am actually not the one rewriting history here.

and

Originally posted by Xordan
I remember..

for everyone\'s enjoyment..another link, another time (1 month later).. alludes to the previous offer but this also talks about the one after aerial attacks started ..when they said basically, ok, ok..just take him, forget evidence.. geeesh:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,575593,00.html

have a look.

yes, i think there is much disinformation; it seems much of the media have misinformed or rewritten history by under/over reporting to follow a popular belief while the drum of war beat on. (/me points in flight attendent style to WMD\'s or lack thereof   ).  Albeit they have a difficult problem in that it is a bit like the duality of light.. the more/less they report, the more they change the reality (a bit of what i am doing here in fact by putting out this information )

it seems to me that most people honestly don\'t care much about the facts, they are only posturing a political ideology, in the effort to root for a team -  the world is much simpler and easier that way; imho this siding is one of the worst things for journalism and democracy.

Anyhow, as to what derwoodly said w/r/t memory and the side you feel you are on: seems you are implying a belief and an ideology and well, i would wager that the side you side with are probably telling you what you want to hear and have always heard.  Open your mind for possibilities, and make up your own mind based on your world view; not for the rest of your life, but for now, with the facts at hand. *shrugs* (stir well, repeat to infinity).  

low and behold, a friend found this.. thought others may dig it..

all about \'urban gaming\' ..  http://www.howstuffworks.com/urban-gaming.htm

really i\'m sure it will not be a shock to many here, as to the origins of such things .. ? (if you don\'t want to actually read the article.. i will spoil it .. you just have to put together the first letters of the paragraphs for the acronym!?)

participation in a urban scale pacman game would just simply have to be a blast from either end fo the game!?  and the other games.. well yeah, they look fun too!

two thoughts ..
two .. two for the price of one!

1.. to aid RP adventuring.. it would be swell if a group could *link* up so that only one individual would have to actually do the running and all could type and RP on the way as appropriate.   now, so as to keep things.. easy, the group would probably work best in a line and it could only go as fast as its slowest member .

2.. so as not to put the runner (scout .. hmm sounds good!! scout.)  at disadvantage, perhaps via a skill one could lead the way,  running along the path automatically o_O  

ok, there is no map in game,  so a lower level could learn only say 1 path or a short path..and a high level a many long complicated paths.. but nontheless ONLY paths they have followed before.. like a macro, just recording then following the keys presses when put into memory, which would then when played follow the path followed the last time (how could you get into the path from the middle of the macro?.. i\'m not sure.. maybe it could just look for a position xyz on the selected path and one would have to be within a radius of that path?).

i assume both of these would be quite difficult... (esp for the 1st with so many dropping out between zones as it is ) but i thought i would throw it into the arena ..  
/me looks to the emperor whom gives an undecided thumb sideways leaving their fate to the realms gladiators!?

not meaning to shoot this off topic..  with my small rant :S

to try to help undo what i perhaps have helped diverge from..

it seems the other points, although as many have said are not fleshed out enough, still hold some merit??

also, as to talamir\'s 1st raucous rousing post..
/me reads from the scrolls

Originally posted by Talamir
What you need are ranks .
 

ahemm....
.  have you heard of communism?  social democracy? all-for-one, one-for-all???  a flat management structure? the ideal (not the reality) is that everyone should be er.. equal!?  ha. .. seems if millions of people can be organized in this manner, so could a guild? .. and heck, it could change/evolve when they perhaps figure out it doesn\'t work .. i would even wager the established guilds have done this in some sense?

janner.. maybe you should focus on anarchy as a cornerstone in your guild,  somehow, seems it would fit?? )

i have yet to see this anywhere, (i did search, really .. REALLY)

.. to combat the problems of guild and duel spam which is frankly, quite ridiculous within the bounds of PS and IC RP\'n (you want me to be in your guild/duel???  i have never even seen you before???   nonetheless, where are you??  we are like on opposite sides of the PS world?? )  how about we get two check boxes in the options that would block invites.

i figure it like this, it will promote free choice and as well as RP\'n that in the case of duels, if you got beef, real beef, then you uncheck the box and then its just .. \'float like a butterfly.. sting like a bee.. you can\'t hit what you can\'t see.....\'

and for guilds .. if you want to join, you uncheck it and voila .. you can then get the invite.

badda-bing badda-boom.

short time player/forum reader .. old school roleplayer
/you roll-eyes!?


reading these posts has made me think about the game, and it seems the RP\'s are all missing something.. the thing that Neryam has not quite said but is quite clear to me in actions not words :  a decision has been made at some point as to who the game caters to .. it is the PL\'s.


i shake my magic 8ball .. \'all signs point to yes\'  somewhere it seems the RP vision / mission / dream has been put on the back burner or gone astray; instances :
0> stats.. everything is stats and numbers, makes it difficult to get around trying to make someone stronger / faster to \"succeed\".
1> skills.. what skills are available and funcional?  ahhh...*thumb in the air* i\'ll say 95% of the currently functional skills are directed toward the battle aspects (what, you gonna use your spells to bake bread!? who / what is gonna use that bread? )
2> quests.. this is central to roleplaying.  no one roleplays sitting in a tavern (no one i know) i have done many of the quests in the game in the days (not weeks) i have been playing.. lets be honest, there are not enough, and they are not all so challenging.. and many are non functional!?
3> extras.. most are monsters, and of the NPC\'s, most are not active for conversation, they are like a bench or a tree!?

now there are solutions as i see it for roleplayers to take back the game..
(SPOILER.. see here for very similar ideas in much shorter form
http://www.planeshift3d.com/wbboard/thread.php?threadid=17220&boardid=11&sid=9fbdc7ac4d71df6e2886ae165efe7a7e
)
(NOTE : now, i\'m sorry that I am a bit ignorant to all the facts, which should make me keep my mouth shut, but regardless, here\'s a try at some solutions.. ALSO, I know they should probably be put into the wish list (although some could be done by the community NOT developers), but regardless, i feel it needs to be said HERE, I don\'t want to just complain)
forward > .. How live RP\'ng  (ones you sit around someone\'s table and roll dice) and this virtual RP\'ng differ is PEOPLE.  The people that are playing have a huge effect as to how it is played, when i was 12, we were PL\'ng!!  It wasn\'t until much later (after being bored due to the PL cycle and putting it down for awhile) that someone, a person, not just a storyline you bought in the store, but one that could weave and adjust the stories so that they captured and interested and challenged us.  This weaving aspect is particularly dependent on the skill of the GM. The GM that interacts to create, constantly fixe and adjust the mission and levels to the players intellect, skills and abilities.  This type of interactivity does not seem to be able to be automized in this type of medium (without a level of AI programming that to date i don\'t think has been made successfully (there is always hope in the singularity!?), regardless, it does not seem to be in the plans here).  So, it falls to people.  Honestly, if interactivity between gm and universe and players isn\'t somehow built into the GM interface it seems the roleplaying will always be 2nd fiddle (btw, just curious, what does the GM interface look like?).

0> stats.. stats are the basis of all RPGames i have played; but they were ultimately controlled not so much by the player but by GM\'s, by people, for \"worthy\" endeavors.
1> skills.. this is a touchy subject i am sure.  Of course the development of the other parts of the game need to coagulate to lead to more choices AND (hopefullY) interaction!  
2> quests.. let me tell you a story.  One day, i met a PL jerk & co at a big AND weak monster they were camping on (david and goliath, you know who was goliath!), after a short chat (i\'m new.. i was just wondering why they told me to get lost ) discovering their \"stats\" without really asking and finding out the monster was weak;  i teased them, saying they were quite manly to be so tough and pick on such a weak monster and then told them i thought it seemed boring to just kill the same monster and i was off to find some adventure or a quest.. one told me (/tell) \"i would really like that too\"  well!? ..ok, maybe they should just do it then!? but, where are the quests and guidance involved to help keep them challenged and in character!?

Lets face it, mike tyson needed don king.  (mike tyson =PL, don king = RP).  Maybe the RP\'s need to take a managing roll.  They can create quests / missions and the PL\'s should like it esp. as it gives them something else to brag about!  I think it is the mission / the quest is the glue that makes the PL\'s a part of the RP\'s universe!?

some ideas .. Perhaps every 2 hours, a group could meet and be selected for a \"special quest\" (eg put some low players against difficult monsters, the players will interact, probably as RP\'s, esp if the quest giver tags along!).  If PL\'s are not included they would obviously get bored (lets face it, to create a high level PL\'s quest, would be ridiculous, annoying for all other players and unchallenging in the universe as it is today and unfortunately, par for the course; something like \"get 500 items from monsters in 5 hours\", so maybe the PL\'s could go do their duels against eachother, it seems to be what they really want, a medieval quake arena (and here it isn\'t even about keyboard skillz, just levels and random luck (maybe we need a bookie trade/skill type to take wagers and odds!?) !?)!?) Another idea could be to create a class of known RP\'s that can actively create quests?  or maybe just a signup board for quests is all that is needed, if people want to get into one, the /tell the organizer and it puts their name into the pot and a giant die is rolled!?
3> extras.. here\'s an idea, give some people that are RP\'s a job to help keep the NPC\'s talking!? .. probably not possible / likely.  But, tying in with the rant above, perhaps all that is needed is that they could assume a GM role and could create missions or quests with some kind of rewards?  

I don\'t know... and i scrolling up, I have DEFINATELY said enough.
............................................................
now.. let the flailing begin.. ouch.. oowwww!