It’s been a while…

Dear readers,

I have been somewhat busy in real life and haven’t had the chance to update this blog. But my writing and my continuance of mass education, will go on. But at this present time, I have to focus on real life activities.

I will continue to write again in Jan of 2007…well in about 2 weeks. So get ready, I have a lot of material to be put down into this Blog.

However, in the meantime, I do wish you all a very happy new  year. Be safe and appreciate that you are alive and well.

Zum~

Confession Booth : I am a Gamer Chic

I have been playing MMORGS, and Firstshooter Games for a very long time. I’ve started  gaming, years and years ago, by playing Quake, I/II/III.

I remember, I had Dial Up internet back then, and it was a pain the ass to compete with the DSL players. Which lead me to using Speedbots, which are cracks/ hacks to enhance the gaming speed. And I became a pretty well known Frag Queen. So playing Quake I, was just awesome.

I’ve had friends on an old Chat called “Mplayer”, where you could do anything from creating Chatrooms, to watching people on Webcams, to playing cardgames and playing Quake. We all went in hordes to play Quake I, which had some orginial NIN tunes .

Just looking back at these times, yea..these were good times, on a Pentium I/ 166 MHZ, 8 gig of Harddrive, hah!

Anyhow, thats where everything started. Mplayer eventually shut down for good, I suppose lack of funds or bandwith problems. I don’t know, but we were all majorly pissed at this. And as it goes on the WWW, you loose contact with these people, who once you shared every free minute together with. I have one friend left from back then, and he found me on “Myspace”. The rest of the people…I don’t know what they do or of their where abouts.

Later on I started playing my very first MMORG, called “Star Wars Galaxies”! I started SWG on Dec 27th, 2003. The game was amazing, it seemed like an real world to me. I learned on how to become a Artisan, Tailor and later on eventually indulged in Combat. My first finished Profession ( Grind ) was Fencer. I thought Fencer’s were just more “elegant” then Carbineers, Pistoleers and the rare breed of Jedi ( back then it was rare…).

I went from Fencer to TKM, “Teras Kasi Master”, ( a few of us ) as roleplayed in the game, we were from an ancient Bunduki Tribe, and used the Martial Arts as our defence, against the imperial Empire aka Darth Vader.

I loved this game!

Til SOE, Sony destroyed the game with their retarded money making “game enhancements”, basicly ruining the game for the entire playerbase. We , the players, protested in

” Theed / Naboo “. Crashed the server numerous times by lagging the entire server up. The CSR’s, tried to stop our protests by adding spider like enemies who shoot at us ( I can’t remember the name of these spidery things ).

But we came back and back and back. Well long story short, SWG players eventually split up, by starting to play WoW, COV (City of Villains) and just went all their own ways. I toggled a bit longer in SWG, because most of us just didn’t wanted to “Let Go”.

So I picked up ” World of Warcraft ” and instantly hated the game! I wasn’t used to Gnomes, Nightelves and specially not USED to the mickey mousish/ cartoonish graphics. I played a little bit on my Human/ Mage andjust felt so lost in this huge Player Base. I didn’t knew anyone. Everyone was already a lvl 60 or close to it, and I was by myself. I fought myself through these endless Grinds and managed to become a LvL 43 Mage ( btw, which I still am today ).

The game burned me out. I didn’t had the backup of a guild or the chat on Teamspeak as I did have with SWG. Everyone in Ironforge seemed to be so ” ueber leet “, and sat on their 800 gold Rides, showing off to us low levels.

I eventually stopped WoW, and went back to SWG – my game! But only to find out, that those 100+ friends I had on my friends list are not in game anymore. I had tons of in game emails from friends, writing a fare well note to me and wishing me good luck….I fucking cried!

I loved this game so much, the daily talk with my friends and everyone just vanished.

So, I played a little and eventually found a guy from my old guild in the “Mos Eisley Cantina “! I was so happy to see him and we quickly went on Teamspeak to catch up on what happend. And it turned out that most of my guildies came back and we wanted to re/ create/ re – play a game , that just didn’t existed anymore.

After a few month, the hype was gone, guild issues and changes. And I was just pissed and about to delete every damn game, SWG, WoW from my PC.

Til one of my guildies told me about Second Life. I totally hesitated at first. He told me about the mature Adult Content of the game and how everything is so RP related. ( roleplaying ).

In SWG… we made fun of role players or shims ( HE’s that played SHE’s ).

But I was bored with SWG and gave Second Life a try. I was amazed at first how COOL this Virtual Reality was. I planned on creating things in game, and make RL money like everyone else. But this all never happend. I saw a huge community, who mainly was out to have ” AV – Avartar – Cybersex “.

The average Joe Shmoe, was able to live out his wildest fantasies in this game. It’s amazing and sickening at the same time. “Citizens” become Escorts, Submissive Slaves, or go all the way into the Marvel Hero “Gor”.

Basicly the majority of the  game is about Sex and getting pixel laid. Yes, you can even purchase your ” genitals and sound effects ” in game.

I was hooked on this game for about 3 month during this past summer. I’ve managed to sell a little bit of  Art Prints, and get myself a small Cottage, by becoming a Premium Member, for $9.95 / a month. While I played SL, I became a Club Host, and hosted “Costume/ Best Dressed etc Events”. I’ve listend nightly to retarded Pop Disco and Techno and pretended to be the most happiest Hostess in skimpy Clothes, just to make a “few lindens ( the SL currency )”, and to blow it away by going shopping to buy more dumber outfits for the “Club Events”.

I eventually seperated myself from the “club scene” and gotten into Arts and took some TUI/ Builder Classes, to make the money I never made. My patience just gotten in my own way and I was upset again at all these retarded role players, pretending to be something they aren’t.

I guess, I mix to much real life into a game and can’t really get into the roleplaying aspect. So I pretty much dropped the game, and picked up WoW again.

It’s a back and fourth continuance of a gamer chic like me. I am looking forward to “Vanguard – Saga Of Heroes”, but I am sure the “Hype” will die out again. Because SWG was MY game, and Sony Entertainment ruined it for me.

I guess, a part of me died with this game (SWG) – because no other game could ever hold my attention and the fun times I had, like SWG.

The End-

zum~

WoW-nnui

By Mike Sellers

Since its release not quite two years ago, World of Warcraft has been the undisputed market leader in MMOs.  It smashed through the formerly unattainable one million user mark and kept right on going, now steaming toward 7,000,000 paying users.  WoW has blown out all previous expectations for MMOs in US, European, and Asian markets and keeps right on going.

And yet.

Last night I logged in to WoW for the first time in a long time. I visited my characters one by one, but didn’t stick around to play very long despite finally having an evening free to play.   I felt a distinct detachment from my characters and soon recognized my old friend, game ennui. 

Now I don’t mean to sound like I’m spelling doom for WoW (or MMOs in general!). Far from it.  I don’t know WoW’s sales numbers, but as far as I know their box sales remain at or near the top of the charts.  And of course there’s a much-anticipated expansion pack coming up that will give them a welcome, if perhaps temporary, bump in their usage numbers. 

But in my case, not only could I really not gather any excitement about playing these characters, knowing as I do that I just don’t have multiple hours per week (much less per day!) to play them, but the more advanced the character the more difficult it was to get back into. I could sorta drive my 22lvl hunter; my 37 warlock was almost incomprehensible — and for many more expert players such levels are “lowbies.” Remembering all those spells, weapons, abilities, talents, etc., just seemed like way too much trouble. And all the quests that were driving these characters’ progress were entirely meaningless now (this is the danger of external motivation—it’s just too easy to lose all sense of why I should care about an entirely artificial set of quests).

I’m involved, loosely speaking (given my lack of attendance), in several different guilds on PvE, RP, and PvP servers.  In each, multiple people I know — both those with multiple level 60 characters and those who have never come close to that — have sort of run aground on the over-and-over again gameplay, whether that’s yet-another-kill-X-creatures quest or yet-another-raid for yet-another-piece-of-armor.   

No one I’ve talked to dislikes the game; there’s no sense of having been spurned or that the experience has curdled.  But in even the best parties there seems to sometimes come a moment when, amidst the music and noise you and your friends silently agree “great party; we’re outta here.”   For some people that moment has come with WoW.  And I’m guessing that trend is only going to accelerate. 

So if this isn’t just a local phenomenon — if I’m not just hanging out with multiple groups of all the wrong people — then it seems possible that while WoW continues to be grow (bringing new people into contact with MMOGs all the time), it may be approaching that point where significant numbers of long-term satisfied players nevertheless begin to cycle off.  That’s not too surprising given the typical longevity of any individual’s interest in a particular MMO. 

But if that’s so, then two big questions leap out: where are all these players going to go, and, as I’m so fond of asking, what comes next?

I know for example that Vanguard is jockeying for position as WoW’s successor, but I wonder about that.  It is supposed to have more flexible grouping and a few other innovations (in addition to expensive and detailed, if perhaps less-than-stunning graphics), but when it comes right down to it, what’s the draw for games like this?  Are those struck with WoW-nnui (whether this is their first MMOG or their tenth), who may have taken a handful of characters to level 60 in WoW, and then stuck around or come back to see what’s new on the way to level 70 in the upcoming expansion, really going to be excited to  play YAMITG (yet another men in tights game)?  If a player has become bored with  the by now well-trodden traditional MMOFRPG gameplay, how will another game bring them a new sort of experience, and not just present old dwarves in new clothing? 

 IMO this is the question to which Vanguard, Warhammer, Conan, LOTRO, Hero’s Journey, and any other contenders must have a clear and ready answer.

To my Readers – on a personal note

i have been receiving a lot of negative comments regarding some entries i’ve wrote.  in particular about the armenian genocide.

i write about matters that are of personal interest for me, and the armenian genocide is one of them. i also write about the apartheid against palestine, the american ” lost villager” and more.

i understand that many of you wont agree with me or my writings – hey thats life.

but what i am asking for is simple. if you have something to say, please do so in english. i write in english and i would appreciate constructive comments in english as well. i speak several languages, but turkish is not one of them.

yet, i do understand some words and had to remove a comment which has nothing – and i mean absolutley nothing to do with my writings. a loud bark calling me very vulgar names. this i wont tolerate.

this is MY blog and i write about whatever i feel like. if you don’t like it, please click the X on the upper right hand corner and leave. if  there is an contiunance of “name calling”, i will block your IP.

please don’t underestimate me, i do know where the comments are coming from, i DO know where each and everyone post’s from. i can see every IP and location of the invidual commenter. and it seems Amsterdam is right now invading my blog in a non called manner.

if you have something to say – i welcome you, i welcome healthy critique, i welcome anyone who can agree to disagree with me.

yet, please refrain from name calling and non english comments. my native language isn’t english neither. but if you respond in turkish to an english written article, i assume you did understand the articles content.

zum~

Borat is sued!

By SAM WOSTEAR

BORAT the movie has been “great success” to quote the unapologetic Kazakhstan TV presenter. However, more and more of the people who appear in the film are speaking out against his creator, Sacha Baron Cohen. Some say they were tricked into thinking they were being interviewed for a Belarus documentary about American life. US contributors say they were paid as little as £70. Those in Kazakhstan allegedly got just £3 for being in the £27million smash. Here, they speak out.

NICU TUDORACHE
villager:

In the movie, Glod, a poverty-stricken village in Romania, is home to Borat and a community of male incestuous rapists and female prostitutes.It is presented as a typical Kazakhstan town.Just four of the 1,000 residents have a job, so they welcomed the £3 fee for appearing in the film. Grandfather Nicu has got together with some of the other villagers to pool funds in order to sue the film-makers. They believe they have been exploited and humiliated,Nicu lost an arm in an accident and in the film had a rubber sex toy attached instead. He claims he had no idea what it was and now feels ashamed and deeply disturbed by the incident.He said: “Our region is very poor, and everyone is trying hard to get out of this misery. It is outrageous to exploit people’s misfortune like this — to laugh at them. We will try to hire a lawyer to take legal action for being cheated and exploited.”Spirea Ciorobea was dubbed “village mechanic and abortionist.” He is furious with his portrayal.He said: “What I saw looks disgusting. Even if we are uneducated and poor, it is not fair that someone does this to us.” But vice-mayor Petre Buzea said: “They got paid so I’m sure they’re happy.”

FRATERNITY BOYS: The college kids,who wish to be known only as John Doe one and John Doe two, pick Borat up after he is left stranded on his mission to get to California to meet and marry Pamela Anderson. The boozed-up boys offer him a wide range of advice when it comes to courting the opposite sex. Since seeing the film, they claim they were duped into looking like boozy idiots. Now the frat boys are suing for fraud, breach of contract, invasion of privacy and distress. The pair want to have the scenes deleted — so catch the movie while you still can.

The road trippers show Borat the infamous sex video Pamela Anderson made with Tommy Lee.

DHARMA ARTHUR, TV producer: She lost her job as producer of the lunchtime news show on the WAPT network in Jackson, Mississippi.

She unwittingly booked Borat to appear on the show — and he disrupted the broadcast.

Anchorman Brad McMullan was struggling to control the Kazak guest, who insisted on standing up throughout the interview and attempted to walk out midway through as he needed to use the toilet.

The interview went from bad to worse when he made a string of sexual references, repeatedly kissed McMullan, in line with the traditional Kazakhstan greeting, before intruding on a live weather forecast, leaving weatherman Ken Johnson in hysterics, unable to finish the report.

Dharma now plans to sue. She said: “Because of him my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter.

“I spiralled into depression and before I could recover I was released from my contract early.

“It took me three months to find another job and now I’m thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house.

Good Glod … Romanian village, left, and outraged Nicu

“How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comic genius. Think of all the other people who’ve probably been fired because of his antics.”

BOBBY ROWE, rodeo manager: Lulled into a sense of false security, the man from Tennessee appears as the face of redneck America and is outspoken about Iraq, homosexuals and Muslims.

The crowd at the rodeo provide enough ammunition to fill a full 90 minutes — one cowboy goes so far as to recommend Borat shave off his moustache or risk the terrible fate of being mistaken for a Muslim.

Borat takes centre stage before the rodeo begins and addresses the packed stadium, offering his nation’s support for Bush’s War On Terror.

The audience noisily lends its approval with cheers and applause even when Borat calls for Iraq to be bombed “so only lizard survive.”

His popularity comes to an abrupt end when he bursts into song — reciting the Kazak national anthem to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner.

The anthem declares that all other countries are run by little girls and Kazakhstan boasts the area’s cleanest prostitutes, with the exception of Turkestan.

Funny side … with humour coach Pat, and behind the wheel with Michael

Bobby is keen to avoid the public glare. He said: “I got into the mess by someone calling me and telling me who they was and they weren’t.

“So now I don’t do any interviews over the phone any more.

“This phone rings ten or 12 times a day. That’s what got me into this mess and I don’t want to get in any deeper.”

MICHAEL PSENICSKA, driving instructor: He believes his life was put at risk after Borat drove on the wrong side of the road.

Michael, of Baltimore County, Maryland, says he got a call from a foreign TV company saying they were making a documentary film.

He claims that, as he was signing a release form agreeing to his participation, the producers flashed cash in front of him.

Michael said: “I saw 500 dollars and signed it. I thought nothing about it but I was allowing them to make a documentary.

“I don’t care what I signed. I know what they did to me and it’s just not fair. Borat has not heard the end of me.”

JIM SELL, car salesman: He was approached by the producers of the film at his Chevrolet car dealership in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and asked to take part in the film.

Sell claims the film crew had already begun filming when he was handed 150 dollars.

In the film the car dealer appears to sell the reporter an ice cream van after advising Borat which car is most suitable for killing a family of gipsies.

Jim claims his reputation has been ruined as a result, as he cannot sell second-hand vans.

JOE BEHAR, bed and breakfast owner: He and his wife say a scene showing cockroaches running around at their home has hurt their business in Massachusetts.

Borat is seen throwing money at the cockroaches, claiming the Jewish couple have used their evil to “change shapes” and become insects, before fleeing the elderly couple’s home.

Joe claims they were told the film was being made for the Kazakhstan Tourism Department. The cockroaches were added digitally by film-makers.

Joe said: “This is very insulting. They never told us they were going to do this. It is really terrible.”

PAT HAGGERTY, speech and humour coach: Not everyone is annoyed with their part in the film. The Washington DC public-speaking expert claims he realised Borat was a spoof character during the interview and is happy to have the free publicity his 15 minutes of fame has brought.

Pat said: “About halfway through the session we took a break and I went up to one of the producer guys and said, ‘This guy can’t be real.’

“If you let me in on the gag, I will help you reach your goals because I don’t care if you are from Kazakhstan. Nobody is this crazy.

“But I soldiered on and figured they paid me my money and they deserve an hour of my time and I’m going to be as professional as I can.”

Throughout the tutorial Borat introduced Pat to popular Kazak jokes, including one about having sex with your mother-in-law.

Borat’s “retard” brother is also a figure of fun and he explains how he is kept in a cage to control his “craziness.”

Pat, who has not yet seen the film, added: “To the best of my memory I don’t believe I said anything stupid.

“However, I’m in the movie. The only downside I see is if I appear to be a fool.”

– – –

editors note by zum:

whateverrrrrr, lol , i thought the movie was hilarious. i watched it on the day of release. the movie theater was packed, and everyone was laughing their asses off, incl me… i cried tears of laughter at some of Borat’s antics.

some people don’t seem to know that Sacha Baron Cohen, is a jew himself. he just shows how america really is. which i can contest ( specially about the southern part ), because i am a foreigner in this country and what some of these rednecks say on the flic – that’s how it truly is. a pretty much racist country.