I Wrote Dat Shit

NaNoWriMo is over. I wrote my shitfest of a novel, but it hasn't finished yet.

History textbooks arrived. I'm studying History with the British International Distance College, run by Cambridge University.

Their textbooks arrived and it was a shitton of work.

Also, I played Skyrim.

There's not much I can say about Skyrim, really, just play it an you'll get the idea.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Type-type-type

Close to finishing. I expect to finish NaNoWriMo on time, even if I cut it a bit close.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Soon Skyrim

Sooooooon, I'll finish my novel and start Skyrim. I'll probably finish about a week ahead of schedule and be able to enjoy the game. I bought and installed it on the day it released and have somehow fought the urge to just play it.

And not soon like Jagex says it, but soon with a solid estimate on dates, not some bullshit about when it's ready.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Consider this Mess Revived

Started writing new blog posts and scheduling them on the 13th of November.

Railgun Fetishist is back from its break.

Regards, IVIilitarus

NaNoWriMo is the Shit

NaNoWriMo.

National Novel Writing Month.

1 November to 30 November. 30 days and nights. The goal is to write 50000 words in those 30 days and nights. Take a page from their website on the idea: a novel is just a lengthy work of fiction. So 50000 words is a very, very short novel. Most are closer to 70000, but there's nothing wrong with a fifty.

The goal is to write a 50000 word novel in a month's span, not a good 50000 novel in a month's span. You can write crap. There's a section dedicated to dirty tricks and clean tricks on the forum for reaching the word count on time. As long as you write the damned thing, you're golden.

This goes for me, too. I usually enjoy writing, and this will be a nice bit of fast fun. I ignored it last year, but I'mma do this thing this year. The problem with NaNo this year is it dropped into the middle of the busiest time of my year. Half of NaNoWriMo is in the middle of my exams, I have a writing course to start and I've registered for a History course with Cambridge University (it's actually the British International College, but I say Cambridge because it sounds better). This is not the time to be pounding out a novel.

That's why I picked this time to pound out a novel.

It's not hard.

I wrote this post before posting it, days before, actually. I'm playing around with the post scheduling system. I've got Just over 23000 words as of the 14th of November, so I'm ahead of schedule (barely).

If you haven't started and you're new to this, it's probably too late. Good luck next year.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Still Remembered

A year ago, today, man.

I ain't forgotten yet.

Regards, IVIilitarus

This Man

Is awesome.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Economics Lecture

I'm busy researching for a project and dug some fun stuff up.

In class, I piped up when someone asked how the value of money is measured. I mentioned that the world uses gold to back up their currencies and cited examples like Fort Knox and various recent events to back that up. Basically, I was pulling stuff outta my ass and cruising on hearsay.

The textbook mentioned a few pages later that South African hadn't used gold backing since the 70's. The teacher's mentions I'm wrong and that lovely girl I have a crush on faints in mock-shock (<3). I made it sound so real, apparently.

Turns out, the truth is much worse.

We've been running on a thing called Fiat money in recent history. Inflation has caused gold backing to become worthless, because $1 to 0.0000000002 ounces of gold is probably a bad idea. Or some other absurd number like that. Only the Swiss have currency with any gold/silver backing. The rest are using Fiat money.

Fiat is Latin, meaning 'let it be done,' so "Fiat lux" means, "Let there be light."

I like to think it means, "Make it so." which it kinda does.

It got it's name because the Fiat money has very little or no backing. It has value because governments say so. The government tells the people to use the money. If foreigners come into play, the government promises that this money has value. They just say, "Let there be money." and it happens.

So when you hear boring people on TV go on and on about 'Confidence in the US dollar dropping,' what they actually mean is, someone realised it was a bad idea to trust people up to their top hats in debt with even more loans and they're getting less confident about those promises of being paid back.

Which basically means that the world's largest nations and greatest leaders, buying, selling and loaning billions per day and occasionally run into debt are dishing out IOUs to each other.

Even EVE Online players did better. When hauling contracts were signed (have my stuff, take it somewhere for me), there is always collateral. If the cargo does not reach its destination, then the delivery guy loses a predetermined portion of money. So even those guys who do pull Number 7 and Number 1 have more to back their promises than our esteemed leaders.

Economics is destroying my faith in the world, rather than showing me that there is enough money and resources in circulation to solve most of our problems.

Regards, IVIilitarus

In a Perfect World

We'd have more Mass Effect.

Played the first one for old time's sake and the second one to prepare a character for the upcoming third game.

Definitely my favourite RPG series of all time, bar none. It's just so wonderful. I love both of them to bits. Preliminary trailers of the third one show a more actiony, war story approach, which I don't like as much. I prefer the story part more. I love mindless violence, but Mass Effect's story is too deep to be wasted.

Nothing of note going on. Stellar Dawn might as well be dead.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Ricochet!

Jagex is doing nothing. Being dicks about crappy marketing.

Got into World of Tanks. It's an MMORPG, natch. Combo of third-person shooter, team strategy and RPG. You advance up a tech tree of tanks from weak to strong by throwing experience points earned on battlefields into research to upgrade your vehicle(s). There's a lot of room for customisation and teamwork, but most people don't do the teamwork thing. It's not a Build-Your-Own-Tank game. The combat mechanics are very realistic for something as fun as this, and your equipment upgrades are limited to pre-selected things that can plausibly fit onto your tank.

A good game, but a bit grindy before you hit the nice stuff.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Fail.

Jagex fucked up.

Mod Craddock posted on the War of Legends forum that the Stellar Dawn Official Forums would be shut down until a time closer to the Beta.

Shitstorm ensued.

A backup forum was launched to house the community, hundreds of threads were backed up, The Combine included. Took a good 12 hours, but Mod Markg finally showed up and clarified it.

The first official Jagex moderator post on the SDOF since last year is a clarification that basically comes down to, "We fucked up and caused a shitstorm. Sorry, guys."



If you want an example of what the main section on a pre-release video game's forum is not supposed to look like, here's one:



Nice.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Maybe They're Just Naturally Dicks

Got pulled into the SDC Skype the other day. I don't usually talk to the guy who pulled me in and left the other chats he dragged me into.

I was welcomed. Then I left. Was gonna leave anyway, I get pissed by people who pull me into chats I don't care about.




Maybe they're just naturally dicks. With some minor flamewars about how the SDC have egos that rival Dubai's building projects in size and incredible shittyness. Thing is, they're a close community who don't always have a penchant for welcoming the new guys. They post their obligatory welcome and then maybe, when your post count is high enough, you'll see some respect.

Thing is, I ain't part of that close community and after this, I don't want to be. Ren and PoultryChamp are good people. If this is anything to go by, the rest are just dicks who insult each other (which is fine), because they're close and insult new people (which is not fine), because they're dumbasses who can't tell the difference between familiar and unfamiliar.

Here's a protip, motherfucker: If you're gonna open with a 'fun, joking' insult to a newcomer, you either address it as just fucking that really, really soon or don't bother until they've gotten used to your demeanor to each other. I don't care if you poo-poo each other because you're close, but dickishness to the new people ain't right.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Full Circle

For some real news before the crap starts.

SDCombine now has a blog. SDComBlog. Original, huh? It's posted upon by Combine members, launched by me.

Time to retire from RuneScape.

Not like it's a massive surprise. I've been off for a long time. A week or two of heavy playing and a month on break. That sums up the last half a year or so. I just had to make it official. Tie up some loose ends.

I've been around RuneScape in late 2006 and saw half of it. Through a good bit of playing and at least a year and a half of total inactivity, I've passed the 1900 total. More than 90% of my Quest list and Music list is green. I said I'd finish Eagle's Peak and Observatory, the quests I started on the first day but never finished now, but I'll only do one: Eagle's Peak.

I'll leave Observatory. Eagle's Peak signals the end of my story on RuneScape, but RuneScape carries on. Observatory can be left to the end of RuneScape.

Eagle's Peak is actually the perfect way to end RuneScape for me. Hunter was made my new lowest skill recently, but before I got membership, I was fascinated by Hunter. It was the only skill that, to someone who hadn't attempted it before, had real depth. Slayer was killing things. Agility was running in circles, Herblore was making potions I'd never use, Farming was boring, Thieving was boring etc. Hunter had depth. You'd travel across RuneScape, using camouflage and tools, advanced and primitive to trap an enormous variety of exotic wildlife for resources.

Hunter was the first thing I tried on a member's server. Feldip coast, catching birds. It was the reason I started Eagle's Peak. I found more interesting things to do and it happened to be left to now. Eagle's Peak is perfect for closing the book.



I started RuneScape when I was in the late sixth grade and was clueless about things like efficiency, guides and so on. My first business venture in RuneScape was selling bronze armour sets I smithed in Lumbridge court. I just did what came to mind and never asked for help. The opposite happened when I played EVE recently. I knew about the playerbase, player factions, backstory, ship classes and progressions and dove right in and shot to the top (and fell right back done). Information is valuable to a new player's experience.

My only regret is not Googling 'RuneScape' guides when I was in the sixth grade. That's another reason The Combine switched gears to teaching. I don't want people to waste time like I did.

My last work in RuneScape was materialistic. I got my 3rd-Age Helm and kitted myself out in Armadyl (it was a success, owing to hard work and great friends). Money has always been a focal point in RuneScape. It's to show off, it's for practicality, show but quite like having something nice to strut around in during my retirement.



Killing goblins behind Lumbridge castle before I did the Flap emote for the first time taught me that constant effort leads to constant reward.

Mining ore and smithing iron weapons to sell to NPC merchants in Varrock before I complained about the Grim Reaper's Hood not being black taught me that there are other ways to make money.

Air rune running before I entered a clan chat for the first time taught me to look beyond skills for money making.

Merchanting unidentified herbs when the Obsidian set was still valuable taught me about big money.

Cutting yew logs the first time whips were 1.3 million per taught me that not all money is fast, but it can be simple sometimes and I just have to wait.

Cutting magic logs during an uproar over free trade taught me that things escalate and it really does get better eventually.

Catching sharks whilst internally replacing the words 'High Definition' with 'High Detail' in a whole new world taught me that sometimes, money can be easy and reasonably fast.

Catching Rocktail whilst wielding a Dragonfire Shield and Amulet of Fury just to look good taught me that I can do it.

Selling my valuables as my journey ends and putting together one last outfit for retirement has taught me that effort will be rewarded.

I am the richest, most highly skilled and most fulfilled player in the history of RuneScape and nobody can take that away from me.

My name is IVIilitarus

I am retired.

The Difference Between Goals and Dreams

One thing I was surprised by was that people on my Friends list I rarely talked to were coming back with wishes for me to stay. I thought there'd be more of a "Okay, good luck out there." than a, "Why? Stay!" thing going on with people I don't speak to.

One that I paid more attention to was a response after I told them I'd achieved all of my dreams, "Just make new ones!"

That's mistaking a goal and a dream. Most of it is up to interpretation, but here's my gist:

Goals dominate.

Goals take up your time and effort. Making that last million to the stupidly overpriced Amulet of Fury. Making the last 12 million to the stupidly overpriced Amulet of Fury. 99 Cooking. 99 Runecrafing. Get it done, cheer, enjoy your reward and move onto the next. That's what goals are all about. If I want a new whip. Or a minigame reward because I need to make myself better, or look cooler. It's a goal. We set them every day. I remember when there was a Goals system in RuneScape just for that. Set a goal to complete a quest, or attain a level and it counted up progress in a percentage. We still have Set Exp Target and Set Level Target for that.

That's a goal. There's nothing wrong with goals. They keep us active.

Now, despite all of that jabber about working hard for your dreams and your dreams taking endless toil, I don't think it's true. I think dreams are a polar opposite of goals.


Dreams annoy.

That's the word. They piss you off about not getting something done. Dreams are always down the line and you inch closer every single day of your life. When you push it front and centre and turn it into your Next Big Thing, it becomes a goal.

Dreams are the things that sit there and slowly crawl toward an end. These happen most often in the beginning. I'd dreamed of a Godsword at one point. I dreamed of 10 million coins. I dreamed of a Third-age armour piece. My goal at the time was money and I fished for it. Then I turned 99 Fishing into a goal and made money on the side, but whenever someone passed me wielding my dreams, I'd do a mental tally of how much longer it would take to get me there and I'd realised it'd be a while and put it aside.

I achieved them all eventually and I was damned happy about it, too. Dreams have more sentimental value that way. Thinking of getting a nice house is not a dream. Sitting down and realising you have a nice house one day and remembering the moments leading up to it is achieving the dream. You'll see your achieved dreams in reflection when it's over. If you cheer in the moments leading up to it and the moment without looking back.

"Shit, that was a lot of work." is a goal.

"Wasn't I thinking of doing that thing 2 years ago? I finally got it down yesterday." is a dream fulfilled.

What I'm trying to say is, all of this is a load of sentimental, subjective bullshit. Goals can become dreams. When I was working my ass off for a whip, it was a goal. When I got that whip and looked back on how envious I was of people with whips back when I when I was a freeplayer, it became dream. The last couple of days have been extra dreamy!

Sure, I sold a lot of them, just to fulfill more. I got my Opulent table, Marble burners and altar in the chapel, full portal room, 7 or so pets. Owned Godswords, God Wars armour, whips, have fought with melee, range and mage at some point. Got ancients. At some point, I was always envious of people who had those things and I've passed them. I'm at Third-age (it's once piece, sure, but how many are there?), Armadyl armour. I strut around in 85 million gear and at one point, I was worth 110.

I earned it all.

That's why I'm retiring. I'm not quitting. When people quit, they do it because they're pissed. Tired of losing, tired of difficulties, challenges, gameplay. That's quitting. I'm retiring. I'm gonna leave this game happy and fulfilled.

The differences between goals and dreams are very, very few and those that exist are clear as South Africa's rivers.

The difference between quitting and retiring is much, much simpler.

Regards, IVIilitarus

RuneScape is Good

Playing RuneScape extremely hard for the last few days has shown me something that reading blogs or popping in once a week can never show me;

RuneScape is slightly better than when I left it.

Ambient sounds are my favourite effect. I always play with sound on. Some of the updates have been great. I see a bright future ahead of RuneScape, a tarnished one, but still bright.

I've gained far more levels than I expected. Originally, I would have thought it good to get a 1900 total.

I am now at 1912.

70 Crafting and 70 Herblore were done in half the time I thought they'd take. 70 Smithing took 2 days out of an expected 4. I took to Soul Wars and dominated the matches to obtain 4 levels of Magic in, incredibly, a single evening.



The beginning of this post mentions a bright, but tarnished future for RuneScape. Here's why:

In my previous post, I mentioned I sold my Godsword. Nothing special there. I found a way to spend that money I got, too. I split it between 3 of my best friends I've ever met on RuneScape. 2 million per person.

It was meaningful to me, because a Godsword was for a long time, a distant dream of mine. I have nothing against the fact that I paid 20 million for it and only got 6 million in return. That's fine. It was a dream, not an investment. And when I gave my friends the money, I didn't give money to them. One had 70+ in every skill. The other was a level 130 something on the way to 99 Herblore. The other marched around every day in Armadyl armour.



It wasn't charity, it was a sentiment. In essence, I had given them each a small part of my dreams and they were grateful. All of them asked if I was sure I wanted to do this. I hit 'Accept Trade' first every time and they waited to make sure it was okay. They're far better people than me, all of them, in that regard. 2 of them promised to, "never spend your dreams". I nudged them on. Told them to buy something in case of an emergency, or blow it off on a friend.

That's a pretty nice story, if you ask me.

Thing is, I'm typing this post in between waiting for my Fruit Bat's Special Move bar to recharge so I can use Fruitfall. Papayas = money.

Why would I need money anymore? I have a Third-age full helmet. I have Armadyl clothing. I got my Staff of Light and still have over 8 million to spare. It's like parking a Bugatti in front of a soup kitchen and telling the worker there you haven't eaten for 2 days.



It's because I have a dream. I have one last dream to fulfill before I can retire happily.



I don't have enough time.

I bought a Third-age helm, an Armadyl Chestplate. I have everything except one item to complete my final outfit. I need an Armadyl Chainskirt. Not cheap at 14 million, but considering the numbers I've been dropping in the last couple of days, it's pocket change. Problem is, after I gave my Godsword returns away, I only had 6 million left. I sold as much as possible and it's now up to 5.5 million. I have a week left before I consider RuneScape over. I doubt I can pull it off.

And that's why today, I feel like the worst person in the world when I asked the first of those friends to return 2 million. The other 2 aren't online. It's a sick metaphor. They've helped reach my dreams and I gave them a share of those dreams. Now I have to ask for it back, to achieve one final dream.



I'm up to 7.5 million, now. I can ask one more for 9.5, another for 11.5. The rest I'll do myself. I'm closing in, now. The papayas help.

Worst part is, if the damage to RuneScape's future had been stopped, I wouldn't be in this mess. I'd be well on my way to a happy retirement by now. Normally, I'd catch Rocktails for money. Fishing got me where I am today. Before sudden deflation, I was worth over 110 million at a certain point. It's dropped to little above 75, but it's a lot and fishing got me there. The problem is, 25 Rocktails into my planned 3500, I did a price check out of curiosity. Just to see if I would be pulling in 50k or 45k per 25 fish.

It turns out, it was closer to 35k.

I pay attention. Since playing more, I've seen the complaints about the Botstorm (I'm coining that phrase, bitch) that's overtaken RuneScape after free trade returns. I've seen them, too. Most of the time, I see players going, "Anyone who's not a botter wanna chat?" at resource areas. The bots are just water in a lake, now. They're part of life. In the strictest terms, they're not a problem for us. We don't starve. Sure, prices drop a bit, but we can just take the extra week or two to get our next partyhat.

I don't have an extra week or two.

Rocktails managed to drop over %25 in the time since Free Trade returned. There are so many bots out there, that they managed to push the price of a vital commodity down by 25% when it was once stable. Imagine if your fuel prices dropped %25 in the span of 5 months and continued dropping from there because of oversupply. Imagine how much more supply it must take.

And that's why I'm taking my chances with papayas, rather than go back to the caves for Rocktail. It might not be worth it. One of the best foods in RuneScape, that takes over 95 in a skill to catch, catches at less than 200 per hour and is situated in a cave of level 120 monsters isn't even worth catching anymore.

Fruit bat's gone. 180k in 45 minutes. Very, very slightly ahead of 170k in an hour at Rocktails.

One final dream.

I've been wearing my helmet non-stop. I deserve the ego-boost; the break. I'm effectively retired. I can walk around and show off. I've been drawing a lot of beggars, too. They can't be bothered to make money, but they can identify valuable equipment in a large crowd. One even came up to me and asked me for 100k in a Soul Wars match.

My response is the same, "Go work your ass off like I did. Maybe you'll get money that way."

I'm going to work my ass off, like I used to. Maybe I'll get money that way.

Years of work have culminated in this last week.

Botters are ruining it.

Shower.

Sleep.

Thought.

Regards, IVIilitarus

It Ends Here

That is cool.

Too bad I won't be around to see it.

I've got my last month of membership lined up. I'll last just long enough to test out Clan Citadels, maybe. The plan is to get the 1900 total (more), 70 Herblore and 70 Crafting. Both are already at 67 and I've brought the materials for the rest. Sold the Dragon Claws and Godsword. Will use the money somehow, eventually.

The only thing I really have to do before membership ends is Eagle's Peak and Observatory. Both were quests I started on the first day of my RuneScape membership and despite their ease, I've completed neither. It's a strange feeling, that I'll be doing the same thing on my last day as I did on my first day years ago.

It's been a good run, but there's just nothing left on RuneScape for me.

Regards, IVIilitarus

New Tag

It reads 'Jagex Rocks'.

Don't expect a lotta posts with that tag.

Saw the behind the scenes for July. Saw the Clan Citadel. I'm going to get one last month of membership on RuneScape. It died for a bit, but I'll come back to change my name back, check out the Citadels, build our own, get that 1900 Total and leave RuneScape. Forever. The 'About Me' column in my blog says I'm a bitter RuneScape veteran, and that implies I'm also retired, so I need to retire.


Also fun, I got some screenshots of a very, very productive strategy meeting between myself and another Combine member, we were planning out the Reform and rank structure, mostly.



Well, I think it was productive.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Like, Why?

Why does writer's block happen?

I mean, I had a stroke of genius. And nearly had a stroke, too, but mostly the genius, not the fatal kind. I'd suddenly plotted out the entire story end-to-end. I knew exactly where the characters would go, how the story ends, what happens to who. I even had a half other chapters plotted out, down to who would be doing what.

So why is it an hour after all of that, I slam into a wall and suddenly, can't put a single word down? I know exactly what's supposed to happen, so how can it all stop now? Moros' writer's block was justifiable. I had no story, I just had explosions and violence, but this time, I've got something that might work and I've still been screwed over.

Well, that felt better. Time to write.

Regards, IVIilitarus

I Made an Oopsie

I was reading the Elements of Style by Some Guy.

It's an awesome book.

Until I realise that I screwed something up the book tells me not to.

"Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed."

"Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the laboratory method."

"The left-hand version gives the impression that the writer is undecided or timid; he seems unable or afraid to choose one form of expression and hold to it. The right-hand version shows that the writer has at least made his choice and abided by it."

Well, damn. I do it all the time.

I like to pretend I'm demonstrating my impressive vocabulary. I often flat-out refuse to use the same words in one sentence, because I know there's another. This doesn't lead to purple prose, I make sure the writing is varied, but I need to lessen it.

There's probably a lot more I got wrong.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Where Men Fear to Tread

70 Dungeoneering. Might push for 85 for Frost Dragons, might realise that when Jagex thought they had an effective system of bot-killing, they lied through their teeth/got screwed over. I'm just happy for the 70. Slayer next.

Brings the total to 1892. No Champion scroll in sight yet. I switched over to whip from Dragon darts against those skeletons, works faster.

Regards, IVIilitarus

That Which Does Not Kill Me...

Getting into RuneScape isn't as painful as you'd think, but there was pain.

3 or 4 Crafting levels set me back quite a bit. I miscalculated and turned out to be making a 50% loss instead of a 50% profit like I thought. 1.5 million I'll never see again.

I caught a few Dungeoneering levels and I'm well on my way to 70. 2 levels to go. I got a Slayer level, and an Agility level just because I can.

All of this puts me at 1890, which is shockingly speedier than I'd expected to reach my 1900 Total level goal.

I am now buying off some Dragon Darts and I'm heading to the Lumbridge Catacombs.

The Skeletons down there drop Champion's Scrolls.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Stupid Fish

I've got a month offa school. Look's nice. Got a bit of RuneScape on, that's something I haven't done in months.

I found out the economy on RuneScape fell apart whilst I wasn't looking. Bandos Godswords somehow made it to 6.4 million. It's really nice for people who want to buy one, but I'm one of those bastards who already had one and can no longer show off because it's worthless! Still have the Armadyl Armour, Dragonfire Shield and Dragon Claws to back up my ego, but still.

Did what I haven't done in a long time. Caught some Rocktail. 250? It's a start. I've got enough living minerals stocked up to be worth 4 million in Rocktail once caught and sold. At least the Rocktail prices didn't die. Cooked shark was at 443 and my order bought at 300 each. Strange.

The Stellar Dawn website's first birthday is coming up on the 14th of July and there is a RuneScape event being held to commemorate it, on the 16th. It's only been about half a year since we've gotten anything official from Jagex.

I'mma set a goal for myself. 18 levels on RuneScape. Any levels. I'm shockingly close to a 1900 total level and can probably push most of it out by the time the month is past. I don't have anything else to do. Battlefield 2142 is getting little, and I can only shoot so many people before it gets boring.

This also means I can complete a few of those longstanding goals of mine, like 70 Slayer and 70 Dungeoneering. These are some of the lower skills I have and could use a boost. I won't even look at Runecrafting because I hate it so much.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Good Trolls

Fun story.

Yesterday, a troll made a few accounts and feigned a rather convincing roleplay on the SDOF, very similar to the type the J Mods used, capitalising on the activity spike. The thread reached over 400 posts in less than 48 hours. It was then confirmed fake and hidden.

What's notable here is the fact that a determined troll can cause that level of enthusiasm. Most players were skeptical, but hopeful. Among his first actions, the troll opened communications with a similar protocol to the ones used to shut them down, but with one crucial flaw: Mod ComNet, a Jagex Moderator made the last post. This person wasn't a J Mod.

Then another account was used to spam the threads in the Headquarters section.

Several characters were used in the main thread, short conversations were held, the group went completely nuts.

I responded with complete skepticism and negativity, as is standard. When he showed up on the Combine's thread, I promptly told him to, "get the fuck off of my thread."

Respect to the guy who pulled this.



Regards, IVIilitarus

Time Waster

I played Sins of a Solar Empire over the weekend.

SoaSE had 2 expansions stuck to the original and I grabbed both. I heard a new expansion was coming out sometime in a few months and it would include massive ships called Titans. It's already got starbases. Feels too much like EVE for me to ignore.

In short, SoaSE is a very, very big RTS in SPACE! The developers tagged it as a RT4X game, but it doesn't have enough 4X elements to really qualify. It's much more about fleetbuilding and genocide.

Incredibly, the game is very ,very long. I played a game with/against 9 AIs and it took 9 hours to finish on Normal difficulty. The games are hellishly long, owing to the scale and some realism. It's a magnificent time waster.

Regards, IVIilitarus

You Shall not Parse!

No meaning in the title. I just like the pun.

Activity on Stellar Dawn is spiking. That's a problem, considering that an off-hand comment in an interview can cause this. Pre-Beta forum activity is supposed to remain steady and increase over time, not spike at intervals. Things only spike after a low average. Low forum activity average screams of incompetent marketing. A spike means it's likely to drop back to original levels.

EVE Online is fun. Lasers are win and stuff. I got bored of Moros and needed something with less violence (but not lacking violence) and more thought to get the noodle working.

Regards, IVIilitarus

inb4alpha

So some employee at Jagex did an interview and let it slip that Stellar Dawn was now in the internal alpha-testing phase.

http://www.thealistdaily.com/news/feature-jagex-finds-a-hero/

They visiting moderators will either keep it quiet or vehemently deny it and point to The Vaunted Plan again. (Hint: The latter ain't worth shit.)

My return-to-EVE plan is coming along nicely and if Stellar Dawn doesn't get anything really, really soon, I'm hitting EVE Online seriously. I miss that Rattlesnake I lost a whole lot and Jagex isn't exactly doing much.

One thing I always find laughable is when employees make excuses like, "Less time spent chatting to you means more time in the office."

This gets particularly impressive when it comes from a community team member. Not talking Jagex, though they've done this before. Just in general. As the community manager, your paycheck rests on sitting at your comfy chair in the office and typing messages to the players. It's not hard to keep a window open on the side to tell people that the game is in progress and you're at your desk, working on it.

Better yet, you're the only link between community and designers, which means it's up to you to take into consideration the last 7 months or so of complaints about your company doing jack shit to someone who cares and making sure they realise that they're making a negative impact on people. Negative impact on people, not a substantial amount of customers. The few dozen or so of us complaining don't matter on the income graphs, but it isn't that hard to have enough empathy to realise that your plan sucks ass.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Escalation

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6855533/3/Moros

http://www.stellardawncentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17435

Regards, IVIilitarus

Big, Stupid Jellyfish

Battlefield 2142 is great, if it weren't trying to kill me through lag. My average ping on an international server is 300. 280 on a good day. That is one on a long list of Very, Very Bad Things. The last South African server shut down over a year ago. They've go servers for every other Battlefield except 2142. Which really sucks.

I played anywhere. On international servers, I risked getting kicked by a bastard admin every time they saw I had a ping of 300. Does the fact that I'm doing better than half the people with double digit pings mean anything to you, fuckwad?

I racked up a few rather nice awards 8 or 9 Collector's Pins for killing 8 people with a knife in one round (knifing server). A silver and bronze star, for coming in second and third place on the scoreboard in a round, respectively. Nice thing about 2142's rewards is that many can be awarded multiple times. No achievements here, just unlockable equipment and shiny awards.

Also today, I got into EVE again. Started a Minmatar character. It got boring real quick. Minmatar ships are just ugly rustbuckets to me, despite their PvP prowess. My serious character will be Gallentean.

Also got screenies from my 2142 happy fun time. The scoreboard was me against the AI, with 49 kills and 66 total points in a single life, before dying. There's one of a conversation I caught on the knifing server (top left corner) and the last is a coupla giant robots (battlwalkers, for the uptight).





Regards, IVIilitarus

I Don't Give a Shit About Either of You

http://www.stellardawncentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17474

http://services.stellardawn.com/m=forum_fo/c=CNYru3Kscpg/forums.ws?86,87,658,97268

Really, I just want my game.

Exams are coming up. I'm probably gonna go get back into EVE Online. The friend I gave my stuff and money to helped me work out a plan. The new Buddy System lets the 21 day invite be redeemed with a PLEX to the inviter. She'll invite me for a 21 Day trial. At the end of the trial, I'll use the PLEX she is given to add 30 Days. Then she'll sell all of my old stuff and send most of the money over, enough for a startup fund and another PLEX. That's 81 days in total, should be enough to get me started.

Which might work, if I hadn't suddenly gotten into Battlefield 2142. It was one of the first 5 video games I ever brought, and my first real FPS. I was about 13 at the time, and had no clue how to work the account, registration, patching and multiplayer element. In fact, the singleplayer was above me, too because I still had my old computer which couldn't even run the game. It collected dust for years and I got my new PC last year, so I installed it, but still had capped internet, so the multiplayer and patching. Battlefield singleplayer is notoriously shitty, with no more than 16 players per map and most of the maps locked.

Exams are coming up.

Battlefield 2142 is coming up.

This can't end well.

Regards, IVIilitarus

I Miss EVE Online

I really, really do. Was a great game. Is a great game. Can't afford to go back on a nonexistent salary.

Fallout: New Vegas is going strong. Sniper did an awesome job. Got a new character and I'm busy chopping things with a big ol' axe.

I came to what I think is the best solution to the Combine Reform. (I'm the leader, I decide what's best.) I dropped it on them and told them I didn't feel like doing it anymore. 3 volunteers so far. Gonna see where this goes, I want to be a passive observer.

Also, I got picked for the second round of beta testers for 8Realms. I checked the forums after the first round and they were deader than Stellar Dawn's pre-beta forum (I'm coining that phrase).

Playing it for a bit. It's nothing special so far.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Great Games Revisited 'n' Stuff

I don't feel like writing a long, winded bitching post today, so I'll keep it short; break from school is over. Minecraft was a lot of fun, and I'm looking into doing more, just need a bit of extra time. Exams are an route, ain't that a kick in the head?

Got some distance in Fallout: New Vegas. Very, very good game. Lots of fun stuff to do and quests to complete. Second chapter of Moros is coming along nicely. I really took my sweet time with that one, future chapters will be quicker. Probably. Maybe.

The Combine reform is pretty much dead on account of one person not doing their job: Me. I'm considering relegating the remains of the reform to everyone else. No input from me. They work between themselves to do what's left to do and present it to me for editing and review. This is to:

A. Kick their asses into gear.
B. Make them realise that I won't be here forever, and they better be able to work on their own if they want the Combine to get anywhere.
C. Make them realise I am fucking lazy and I'm the leader. If I don't want to do something, I don't have to and they're stuck picking up the slack in my stead.

Jagex is being stupid about their marketing for Stellar Dawn, which hasn't really changed in the last 5 months or so. In fact, their marketing strategy for Stellar Dawn is dumber than a particularly unintelligent sack of hammers.

Whoops. I said I wasn't gonna write a bitching post.

Well, it was only 25% bitching, right?

Regards, IVIilitarus

I Always Wanted to be a Jedi

I tucked into Knights of the Old Republic 2 recently, because I really, really wanted to see what happens a few years after KotOR, which I'd bought and played years ago.

Thing I've noticed is that KotOR 2 is a lot like KotOR, but better in every way. It's the same, but better. I dunno how they pulled it off. The missions and characters are more interesting. The story is more engaging. It intertwines perfectly. The first game was my first RPG and awesome, and this one is just whoa.

However, Kreia is a sanctimonious bitch.

This also got me interested in Star Wars: The Old Republic. For those of you living under a rock or just not interested in the latest gaming news, The Old Republic is an upcoming MMORPG set a few years after KotOR 2. All part of that era. Once done with the game, I went over to The Old Republic's website to find some more stuff about it.

So the bitching starts here. When I got there and began staring in awe at how well updated the website was and how active and large the community is, I realised that Jagex is so terrible at marketing MMORPGs, that they've dulled me to good MMORPG marketing. I got the same feeling I got from Empire at War before release, of seeing a very filled website full of detail on game mechanics, classes, units, story and location. I was stunned, and then realised that this is what a pre-release site for a game should look like. Too many months spent on Stellar Dawn means I've forgotten just what a good game looked like.

I still have no idea why Jagex would do this to their game. They're a company running games on an obscure platform without the gigantic budget Bioware has, so that means they should be doing everything they can to build support for their game. Bioware doesn't have to do a thing. It's Star Wars and it's Bioware. Those 2 things alone would make me buy it. Jagex is doing a homebrewed universe with half the recognition and they're doing jack shit to promote their big title.

It's understandable that they wouldn't care about a few of their players like me complaining before release. They'll get enough publicity to get it going even if the people on the forums now dropped dead. What I don't understand is why they're going to jeopardise their into game's future for their vaunted, bullshit 'Plan'. The moderators think its funny when they say the first rule of the plan is, 'Do not talk about the plan.' They haven't been sitting around for years, waiting for something that's already died once.

Is it the company's execs who are too stupid to market what could be a great title? Does player support have a good reason for sitting on their collective ass? The employees aren't allowed to discuss their game on their own website. Recently, the BETA application system saw downtime and was changed slightly and threads started cropping up about it. When a bug in the system, followed by one extra field you're supposed to fill in a 3 field application causes a spike in activity, you know something's wrong with your game.

Stellar Dawn is slated for a 2011 release. No details given.

The Old Republic is slated for a 2011 release. No details given.

Compare these two websites:

http://www.stellardawn.com/

http://www.swtor.com/

And tell me which upcoming sci-fi MMORPG is more likely to make their 2011 release date.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Bohemian Rhapsody Redux

Regards, IVIilitarus

The First Night is the Hardest

Well, Jagex is being a stubborn ass as they've been for the last 5 or so months. Best part is, they don't care. When Stellar Dawn is released, they can bank on the fact that their release will catch tens of thousands of players regardless of the few hundred they disappointed for months before release.

I found something else.

I found Minecraft.

Let's recap. If you spend a lot of time on the internet, you'll have heard of Minecraft recently. It's a strange game. I've played the sort before, but Minecraft might be the best.

Here's how it works in the singleplayer mode: You're alone in a randomly generated world. You craft tools from raw materials and use those tools to improve harvesting techniques. The world is build like lego, with blocks being stacked up. Some blocks have different effects and the core of the game is in the title; Mining and Crafting.

Mining is the main source of raw materials for all of your building projects. Crafting turns materials into new tools, useful items or blocks you can use to build.

The ingenuity of Minecraft is the same as that of Dwarf Fortress, anther game with shitty graphics which drops you on a randomly generated world to gather materials and exploit game mechanics.

There is a physics engine. There are a few items with reasonably realistic effects. There's no end or objective in sight.

So that leaves it to the players to make their own fun, given materials and limitations.

Some pretty awesome stuff comes up.













But the thing is, those creations were done by people who knew what they were doing. I started today, and I was barely able to grapple with the concept of 'the monsters come out at night and you should build a fucking shelter'. I did what every first timer in Minecraft does: build a house. Once you get your first permanent shelter up in Minecraft, the world really becomes yours. You're not just cowering in terror when night falls, you're pulling back to your base of operations for a good night's rest. That's how it works.

Me being a decadent brat, I decided to...opulentify my shelter a bit. The process will be shown below.

Bear in mind that I kept generating random maps until I found one that would suit me, with all the necessary resources nearby, rather than just taking the first one I got, so I was able to get started on a nice hilltop spot surrounded by potential resource sites.

My house is the main attraction. I set up a small grove of trees from which to harvest the very important wood resource. There was a mountain in the background which I plan to explore later on. The entire house was built from a new game in 2.5 hours, but I had the entire afternoon to play and get used to the system, so this was done with a day's worth of experience.


This was my shelter for the first night. The title of this blog post is relevant, and I had too little time and tools to build a permanent shelter, so I carved out a cave and camped it there for the evening.


"Go away, this is my hiding spot."


Before I dug into a cave for the night, I built this spire real quick, marking the spot where my house would be. I am also standing on where the tree grove will eventually be. You are now seeing it on the morning after my cave experience.


This is the beginnings of the grove, with saplings planted, torches to provide light and one tree fully grown. I'm not sure about growth rates, they seem semi-random.


Here's a picture of the grove, with more trees grown. The pig is part of the local wildlife which you can use for additional resources such as milk or wool. Eating is not essential, but it is the main way of healing.


That is a mountain in the distance I intend to explore when I'm ready.


Here's the outside of the earliest version of my house. All wood, torches for light. Light in this game plays a major role because enemies cannot spawn in lit areas. If my house were unlit and nightfall came, the enemies would spawn in my house.


This is the inside of the house I finished in 2 game days, which is about 20 minutes of work. Everything is hand made. The wood was chopped with axes I made, the torches were made with charcoal and sticks made from the wood I chopped. The wood formed the walls etc.


Whilst mining for resources, I struck gold, or rather, iron. The iron ore in this game is actually reasonably uncommon and I was lucky to have enough to make a bucket to carry liquids. Buckets in this game let you carry milk, water or lava. Yeah. You heard me. In a game where eating isn't needed for survival, they let you carry milk, whats up with that?


So the first real renovation a new player usually makes is to turn their wooden house to stone. This is to fireproof it. I'll only be doing the first floor, since the lava flood probably won't be big enough to reach the second. Probably.
I started from the bottom and let my house levitate for a bit while I filled the stone in.


There's a look at the mountain from inside, as I was ripping out wood in favour of stone.


I'd just got in the door when the monsters started spawning, but did catch that rather pretty picture.


This would be the house, with windows and ground floor completely stoned (hah).


My 2 furnaces, one producing more glass and a view of the mountain again.


This is my house, when I was finished for the day. It's gotten a bit bigger. Yes, that's a waterfall and 2 balconies on 2 different floors. I got carried away. It's still not finished.


That's the waterfall and the pool. You can see a bit of the incomplete spiral staircase that's still gonna go further.


A closeup of the spiral staircase.

So, yeah.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Cool But Overlooked

Activity on the Stellar Dawn got corpsified again.

So, I wound up digging through all of my old games and found Rise of Legends. Very good game. Wonderfully imagined world, lots of cool stuff, nice blend of magic vs technology and magic + technology vs better technology. Too bad it got such a lukewarm reception when it was released.

Totally worth a look, if you're into real-time strategy with a hint of city building.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Oh, I Forgot You Existed

I've totally got a 10 day break from school. It's significant to me. >.>

I also got a mic, so I'm actually present on Skype and stuff these days. And I ain't as useless on Team Fortress 2 anymore.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Activity on the SDOF is Like Summer Rain

Sporadic and unpredictable.

At least there's no shortage of stupid people anywhere on the internet.



Clan Camp got released. Launched The Combine RSB on RuneScape. Activity died just in time to see the CRB become useless.

I quite like the emblem, though. Used the Combine colours. Surprisingly pretty.




Regards, IVIilitarus

Existential Questions

Okay, so I made a calendar fuckup.

Turns out, the Clan Camp would be released the Tuesday in 3 days, not the Tuesday in 10 days like I'd thought.

Which is kinda awesome.

I'm gonna need those 4 players or so to help me start it off, though. Not sure if I need them friendlisted, or on the same world or even at the location. Hard to tell.

I want to use RuneScape's system as a testbed for how much I need to adapt the Combine's leadership and advancement systems for use in Stellar Dawn, as RuneScape's system is likely to be very similiar and almost identical in the beginning of Stellar Dawn. The Combine needs the complex system of specialisation and independence from a leader's orders because I don't trust myself enough to be there when I'm always needed, so I need everyone to pull their weight.


Another bit of nostalgia that hit me was whilst going through Marlaine's blog links, I found Tim's (one of the major bloggers back in the day) and through the links in Tim's blog, I found Mat's (former clan mate) blog. And I found the piece below.



Thing a lot of the bloggers (including me) don't realise when they leave a blog inactive or quit it completely is how many of their readers have just lot out. Every blog gets a readership. You don't write successfully because you're an attention whore (like me), you write because you love it. I really envy people like Marlaine, who almost never seem to take breaks from this sort of thing. The kind who outlast their readers.

I really, really miss those days, now that I think about it.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Hard Work is Happy Work

Math sucks.

Let this kid explain it to you.



Regards, IVIilitarus

In Spite of Consequence

Things are looking up. The Clan Camp will finally give all of those bored Combine members a little something on RuneScape a little something to do in the wait leading up to Stellar Dawn. If Stellar Dawn's clan support is anywhere near as good as RuneScape's is advertised, I'll be satisfied, as long as they include a good system of war and conflict, not just hiscores, but real, high-stakes warfare.

Combine's making some or other progress. We've passed the 1900 post mark on our thread and the logo is sort of moving forward. Still wondering about media organisation and various other junk like that.

Today's Livid Farm update also brought along the Clan Camp in its first form; the camp is now under construction, with trees being felled and a Guard Captain and Sergeant standing in front of a pile of supplies.

Guess it'll be done, despite their lack of effort by the 12th, anyway. I'm gonna need a few active Combine members around for release. The Guard Captain said you need 5 friends to form a clan.




Also, whilst hammering out a very, very long comment on one of Marlaine's recent blog posts, I realised that with the release of the new clan Vexillum and if it is wearable on the back or cape slot, I could theoretically have 3 banners out at one time; my Banner Carrier, the Vexillum and a standard PoH banner wielded in the weapon arm.



Regards, IVIilitarus

A Thing of Beauty

The Stellar Dawn Official Forums have seen a boost in activity lately. Which is great news for me, because that means The Combine's catching some activity. New logo's progressing fine and I uploaded a list of possible colour schemes for everyone to argue over. It's pretty much been decided that upward pointy thingy + star + motto + translation of motto is going to be our new logo. Just need to work out the design.



School starts tomorrow. So expect more bitching and fewer blog posts.

Regards, IVIilitarus

Incoming!

Short version is, Jagex is being a collected buncha morons about their perceived ability to market their games, so I'm hoping to clobber together some Combine members on RuneScape for a bit of fun, and to test out the new clan system.

In preparation for the upcoming Clan Camp, I've registered the Combine on Runehead and launched a Combine RuneScape Branch.

Following that, I put together a new logo and pretentious Latin motto for the Combine. The first picture was just me playing around with new brushes in Photoshop. The second is pretty much our new logo.




Regards, IVIilitarus

Jagex Trolls

Here's the full transcript of Jagex' fake, April Fool's Behind the Scenes. The fake was removed and the real one was posted in the afternoon.

"April has always been an unpredictable month, particularly in the United Kingdom, with sunlight shifting to rain and then back again in a matter of minutes. It seems only suitable, then, that April takes an unpredictable turn with our first rhythm action music game, unlikely Hunter targets, an update to a popular but rather old quest, and some bloodthirsty familiars.

TzHaar Hero:

The TzHaar, self-proclaimed Monsters of Rock, will be taking the natural next step from theatre to rock ‘n’ roll in our latest distraction and diversion! Smith a rune ‘axe’ in the lava forge, string it with the beard-hair of an imcando dwarf, and perform some fiery licks with TzTok-El-Slash! Activate TzHaar Power to earn extra points and play solos so hot even carbonite couldn’t freeze them!

The latest diversion takes a similar form to the circus, allowing you to ‘rock around the clock’ once a week and earn a batch of Agility, Magic, Prayer and Slayer XP. You will need to have completed TokTz-Ket-Dill to play this diversion. Tracklisting includes Magma Mae, Is This The Way To Armadillo?, Gielinor Rigby, Great Capes of Fire and I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do Jad).

Werewolf and Vampire Hunting:

We have two Van Helpings of Hunter updates this month, as we take the Hunter skill into Morytania. These updates will be high level (78 and 86 Hunter respectively) but will deliver rewards that make you the very pinnacle of fashion.

Wander about Morytania and you’ll find that the ghouls have twisted swamp reeds into shapes that look remarkably like kennels. Using a ‘moon on a stick’ item, you’ll be able to lure werewolves into the kennel traps and leave them there until they get tired of struggling. Domesticate them and you will be able to carry them in your bag and dress them in a selection of hats. Canifis? Yes you can!

It’s possible to spot the twinkling of vampires in the underbrush of Morytania this month. Lure them out with longing looks and a tin of swamp gel and you’ll be able to catch them before they skulk away. Train these beasts to be used in PvP combat, activate their combat buff(y)s and watch them twi-fight from all three corners of the love triangle. Team Drakan!

Gertrude’s Cataclysm:

At RuneScape, we’re asked one question more than any other: what was Gertrude’s cat doing in the Lumber Yard in the Gertrude’s Cat quest? Well, ask no more! Gertrude’s cat will be producing a litter so big that it literally topples buildings and lays waste to Varrock in this month’s quest! Your Summoning and Hunter skills will be called into question as you gather the cats by their neck and tempt them back to Gertrude’s house with doogle leaves.

This cat-based apocalypse also allows us to rethink the starting experience of RuneScape, adding an extra degree of danger and excitement to the tutorial and first hours of gameplay. Sir Vant will now face a giant cat called Deathpaw, while the Blood Pact will be revamped to become Tigerblood Pact. You will also find that, rather than a flashing hint arrow, a ball of string will lead you from Task to Task. Don’t want to see so many cats? Activate your cat filter.

Little Pwny Unicorns:

This month we introduce little pwny unicorns, summoning familiars that are as deadly as they are wuvverly. High level summoners will be able to create these adorable little unicorns in the magical realm of Sparklesky, left of Taverley, using a mixture of sugar charms, spice shards and bloody unicorn parts.

Wrap your eyes around these: Cherryboom (level 93 Summoning) is a sweet little brown unicorn that packs an explosive smile and eyelashes that can cut through corporeal beasts. Pinky Power (level 99 Summoning) is pink, has wings – making it a pegacorn - and can decapitate a clan with one swish of its sharpened sequin tail.

In Other News:

The Jagex Store is being stocked with action figures this month, in the form of Gower Rangers. Each of these mighty morphing models comes with pet cabbage, horses and a can of tuna.

If you find Clan Wars games occasionally tame and uninspiring, we will be adding chompies and jubblies to the catapult area. Fire these agitated birds to see if you can hit Pigzilla in Draynor Market and contribute to your team’s score.

Sailing.

Due to an editing error, the ‘wear’ option on party hats will no longer be the default option. Be careful when donning one, as we have corrected it to the intended ‘tear’ left-click option, for those who need to clear inventory space for ranaar.

We will be fixing the clipping issues on the Emperor’s New Clothes gear that was released with last week’s update.

Appryfooz, Brother of Zimberfizz
Head of April Fools

**(We wish you the very best this April Fools, and you can expect the real Behind the Scenes later on today! Promise!)**"

Reforms Finished Ahead of Time

I finished the Reform way ahead of schedule.

http://services.stellardawn.com/m=forum_fo/c=WeaB5*KL4Po/forums.ws?96,97,114,92831

Regards, IVIilitarus

Slam

This post was named in honour of my overuse of the word 'slam' and variations thereof in my newest fanfic, Moros.

Back from vacation to the Victoria Falls. Not worth spending 4 nights there. Great for 2 nights, though. Got pictures!

First's a fun one. I happened to be pointing the camera upward at the vultures circling (no, I wasn't gonna die. The restaurant there feeds the vultures every day with leftovers for the tourists 'n' stuff). So in the picture, you really have to ask yourself whether it's a bird or a plane.


The falls themselves were a lot more interesting from the chopper. At ground level, it was hard to see anything. The spray's huge and gets in the way, and once you venture past the first set, you won't see anything. The spray's thicker than most rainstorms and has zero visibility. The spray is also 100% water, so you will be soaked from the top-down.




The Falls are situated almost in between Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. There happened to be a rainstorm going on in Botswana and I got a picture.


Other fun stuff included taking this photo of the chopper coming for a landing. Then whilst going through them, I saw that big smokestack in the background. Worked out it was the spray from the falls a bit later.



Also, poked lions with a stick and rode an elephant. Didn't get the picture of lion poking, because the guy missed it and I didn't feel like doing it again, on account of 3 lions I'd be pissing off.



Rode the elephant. Fed the elephant. Smelled like the elephant afterward. If you ever do that sort of thing, don't wear your best.


Wrote the prologue and first chapter of Moros over there. Updated some Combine stuff. Wrote more stuff for the Reform.

I cannot wait for Runescape's clan update. I wanna test it out, because I am a clan leader now.

There's been a spike of activity on the SDOF while I was gone. 2 or 3 of the members received a message in their Jagex inbox about Stellar Dawn, but were told to keep it quiet, or some variation. 2 Forum Moderators started posting again and SallyD is on the 'Just Dropping By' thread on the Stellar Dawn Central forum.