While Ubisoft is busy showing us their middle finger these days, it seems that the collector’s edition of Silent Hunter 5 is being shown the door in Germany.  It seems that someone at Ubisoft forgot to account for the German constitution and left in images that violate the same – that’s one heck of an “oops”.  This, of course, comes on the heels of a denial of service attack on those same Ubisoft servers that Assassins Creed 2 customers are required to keep in contact with for every minute that the software is in use.

Meanwhile Gabe Newell, who founded Valve along with Mike Harrington, was busy accepting his Pioneer Award at the Gamers Choice Awards…where he took a few moments to sound out about, amongst other issues, digital rights management.  In an article over at Arstechnicayou can take a look at the picture of Mr. Newell with the screen behind him sporting foot high letters that spell out “DRM is entertainment as dis-service”.  Here is a quote garnered by Ben Kuchera:

“One thing that you hear [Valve] talk a lot about is entertainment as a service, it’s an attitude that says ‘what have I done for my customers today?’” he said. “It informs all the decisions we make, and once you get into that mindset it helps you avoid things like some of the Digital Rights Management problems that actually make your entertainment products worth less by wrapping those negatives around them.” – Gabe Newell, via Arstechnica.com

A bit closer to home, because it is closer to our hearts, is a whole different set of initials: ADA.  It appears that Sony was forced to dip its toe in the waters of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in Stern vs. Sony. If you haven’t read the article about it over at Terra Novayou should (that’s an order from the nuns at No Prisoners, No Mercy).  The article is by “Greglas” and is entitled is Everquest II a place of public accommodation.  In short the answer, at least in California is “no”.  But it appears that the answer is not a final no but more like our mothers “I will think about it” no.  As the article reports, in other states like our home state of Illinois, the ADA is not limited to physical structures.  In Stern vs. Sony, Judge Percy Anderson relied “on past decisions in California courts interpreting the ADA”. Judge Anderson concluded that the ADA did not apply in this case because “SOE games are not physical places or services connected to physical places”.

Mind you no one here is a lawyer, but our own Julie has had to deal with ADA on a professional basis on prior occasions (and was raised by a mother with cerebral palsy).  One operative phrase that might end up being applied, even if the “is cyberspace a public place” hurdle can be passed is reasonable accommodation. Even if courts do eventually find that the ADA applies to Cyberspace as well as physical space will the “reasonable accommodation test” be applied? In other words if it were applied (and we have no idea if it would be) what could Sony be reasonably expected to do to accommodate needs which were the subject of the lawsuit? Interesting changes may be “afoot”.

See you online,

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team

Julie and Fran get recognized

It’s always good to be recognized for one’s work.  George Carlin once pointed out that he was one of the few people who had an audience on his job…and followed up with wouldn’t it be great if we all had an audience on our jobs (“Yay way to balance the debits and credits”).   From time to time we receive what my NCO (non-commissioned officer for all you non-military types out there) used to say constitutes an “Atta-girl”.  He always cautioned that one “Ah Shit” wipes out a thousand “Atta-girls”.  We’re not sure if the email that we received from Paul Barnett (who has been a guest on our show three times) late last night constitutes an “Ah Shit” on his part or not…

The curious aspect of the email was that it consisted of one line: a URL address. Here is what it went to…

Now we have received various forms of recognition before – professional developers have contacted us and asked to be on our show from time to time. We have even received a few write ups in the gaming press.  At this point we can only think to quote the immortal Charles Schultz, author of the comic strip Peanuts, in the form of his character Linus:

“There’s a lesson to be learned here somewhere but I’m not quite sure what it is.”

When Fran wrote back to Paul she pointed out that the term he may have been searching for was celibate not celebrex and certainly not cialis. We instantly recognized some of the names in the email (all but two have been partially deleted by ourselves) but one of the names that popped out at us instantly was the name Keen from Keen and Graevs gaming blog.  Keen has been a guest on the No Prisoners, No Mercy show a few times, but he seems like such a strapping young lad that the email can’t possibly be insinuating something about Keen either. It was at this point that we can only assume there is one of two factors at work here.  The first would be that Paul Barnett has decided, for some oddly twisted and incredibly painful reason (my eyes hurt just reading the advertisement) to share the more intimate details of his life (doubtful), in which case we will say simply “too much information Paul – really.”   To address the second, and more probable, factor at work we will simply suggest a good spyware protection program.  In any case, it’s nice to know that Paul Barnett still thinks about us from time to time, no matter how twisted the thoughts may be.

 See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

Get together developers to talk about starting an “indie”?  Priceless.

Actually produce the game? Expensive – but doable.

Let Derek Smart talk about changes after you make him president?

Not very smart…

Those who are regular listeners, those who follow us on Virgin Worlds, and read us here, know that we are normally the champions of independent developers. In fact it was not that long ago that we had the community manager and lead designer for Quest Online Studios as guests on the show, where they described us as their “soldiers” making their game and efforts well known.  As a result, the No Prisoners, No Mercy team has been following the shakeup at Quest Online studios.   This morning’s news feed included some of the following Derek Smart quotes that came to us via Broken Toys in a post Scott Jennings calls “I am not making any of this up.”

“Dave Allen didn’t “depart”. I fired him back in February for insubordination and for acting against the best interests of the company. Shortly after the investors of the LLC unanimously voted him off the LLC….”  – Derek Smart

“The average gamer is as finicky as a hummingbird on acid, with a very short attention span and a penchant for being largely unforgiving.” – Derek Smart

It was just yesterday that one of our long time regulars, who goes by the name Token, said he missed a feature we used to do call “Flame Proof Undies.”  Well Token, my friend, buckle up and put on your asbestos long johns because the ride is going to rough and it might get a tad hot.

First off, in a proactive move I will anticipate some of the email and comments we will get regarding Messer Godwin’s Reductio ad Hitlerum –  Attorney Godwin may indeed be a kind and wonderful soul but he doesn’t pay the bills around here so let me set the stage with one of my favorite lawyer jokes.

Question: What can a goose do, a duck can’t and a lawyer should?

Answer: Stick his bill up his ass.

Now that we have set the proper mood, let me begin to violate said inane “law” by pointing out that, based the announcements by Derek Smart regarding Quest Online Studios (QOL), allowing him to do public relations for QOL is like asking to have  Joseph Mengele as your family physician.  First off a few words of advice to Mr. Smart who I know will tell us to put our advice the same place the joke above said lawyers should put the bill…

Derek, there is an old expression that says “be nice to the people you meet on the way up because you will meet the same people on the way back down.”  The gaming industry is a much smaller community than many people expect and bragging that you fired David Allen isn’t like burning your bridges behind you, it’s more like dynamiting the town on the other side as well.  Second, based on your opinion of the “average” gamer you really do need to get out more.  That or at least find a way out of the time warp that has left you stuck back in the 1970’s.  Your concept of the average gamer is about as archaic as the dial telephone, and useful as a third anus (considering, of course that a second one would be extraneous).

And speaking of extraneous…if you are there to turn things around for Quest Online Studios, you MIGHT not want to self destruct the studio’s reputation before they get their next product out the door.  At the rate you are going you probably wouldn’t be able to sell water to a man dying of thirst in the desert. Why am I saying all this? Because I care about Quest Online Studios and hope I am wrong…and if I am right I hope they survive you.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted by The Webmaster for Julie Whitefeather)

I have been introduced to a new game lately, and I find myself playing a lot of it; quite against my will. The game is called “hide and go aggravate” and is a new twist on one of everyone’s childhood favorite game that involves seeking – and believe me if you find yourself an unwilling participant in a game of “hide and go aggravate” you will indeed do a lot of seeking, but very little findings, for that is the nature, and the purpose of the game. 

The game recently arose out of player vs. player (pvp) in Star Trek Online (STO).  It is one of those examples of emergent gameplay that are the result of player taking the path of least resistance. For those not acquainted with pvp in Star Trek Online, there are both ground and space combat matches.  Those pvp matches set in space go until one side or the other gains 15 points…without a time limit.  Unfortunately (at least unfortunately for my peace of mind) cloaking technology (making a ship disappear for those one or two of you out there who have never seen Star Trek) is such a major part of the Star Trek universe that they couldn’t leave it out without the complaints reaching a deafening din.  You would think then that the side having use of cloaking technology (the Klingons) would be the one making the most use of it to prolong a match indefinitely.

You would think.

But it isn’t.

As a Federation player (think Alliance vs. Horde for all you Warcraft players out there) I only rarely had to wait until the Klingons and their cloaked ships came out of hiding. Perhaps that is because they knew just how easy it was to wipe up the arena with our warp plasma ejected from our exploding ships.  However, now that my Federation Liberated Borg character has reached the level of  rear admiral “OMG what’s that on your face” I have been playing more of my Klingon character.  More often than not (at least in the lower levels) I find myself circling for what seems like an eternity while the Federation players hide…somewhere. And they have become very, very good at it.  More than once I have found myself logging off the game in disgust.  The odd factor in this is that Cryptic has arranged pvp matches so that win or lose, every side gains.  If this were truly about gaining something it would benefit the Federation players most to get the match over quickly if they had little chance of winning. After all, in the time they spent trying to aggravate the Klingons they could have lost that match and been half way through another (which is called “power leveling” by the way, but that is another story).

After spending an hour chatting with Joe Blancato from Cryptic Marketing during yesterdays recording session of show 57, it seems that the STO team has a lot of changes in mind – hopefully one of them will do something to address “hide and go aggravate.” 

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by The Webmaster)

Brand recognition of a different sort...

Many of our regular readers and listeners may have noticed that we tend to have  very pro-developer viewpoints lately…especially where there is some doubt in any given issue.  After all, as grandmother used to say, you get more industry professionals with honey than you do with vinegar (or was that flies…in any case the expression works either way). But this is one time where there is no doubt that the developer and publisher are solidly in the wrong.

*rummages around in her old duffle bag, gets out her bdu’s, and puts on her uniform.*

My strongest feelings on the matter, as you know from prior posts, come from reading articles over at Ars Technica that served as a slap in the face and a strong reminder not to forget my roots, nor the people serving over seas in places like Afghanistan.   Ars Technica has another article out today that caught my eye when the news feeds crossed my desk concerning the recent “outage” of Ubisoft servers – here is an excerpt (you can read the entire article here):

Ars Technica contacted Ubisoft to ask about the issue, and we were told that the issue wasn’t simply a server malfunction. “This ‘failure’ was due to a massive DDoS attack on our servers,” an Ubisoft spokesperson told Ars. “Our servers didn’t go down but 5 percent of the overall people attempting to connect received denial of service errors. This is, of course, unacceptable and our teams are working around the clock to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” – Ben Kuchera, Arstechnica.com

Ubisoft, per the same article, goes on to say the following:

“We worry about our customers and apologize to anyone who couldn’t play ACII or SH5yesterday. All in all, we hope people understand all this is done to preserve the future of PC gaming.” – Ubisoft

Now it may have rained here yesterday, but no one on staff on the No Prisoners, No Mercy team came down with it.  This isn’t about perserving anything but a draconian attempt at preserving the line on the quarterly profit and loss statement that reads “Net profit before depreciation.”  If anything it is a surefire way to drive off customers and drive a nail into what some in the main stream media already see as a nail in the P.C. Gaming coffin.   If Ubisoft were worried about their customers they wouldn’t be using the bizarre form of “Brand Recognition” that refers to an attempt to shove a hot brand up the nether regions of the gaming public.

It is, of course, their game, their product, and they have a right to do whatever they want with it.  They have the right to tell us that we can’t play their games unless we first put it all in a large paper bag, bring it out on the front lawn, twirl it above our heads and scream like a chicken (one no-prize to the first person that can tell us what 1960’s television show that line is from).  Even if the execs at Ubisoft making the decision to have an “always need to be connected” DRM failed to learn the lesson that Spore taught Electronic Arts – perhaps then names like Asherons Call 2, Earth and Beyond, Auto Assault, Tabula Rasa, and lately There.com will ring a bell.   Now many of you will point out that those names are all mmos and this is supposed to be a single player game. 

What is important about all those names is this…

There are some companies in game development industry, with names like Cryptic and Icarus, that listen to thier customers, and do so intently.  But sadly there are still some companies that develop what I have come to think of as the “Activision 800 pound gorilla” attitude.  They feel they can do whatever they want, treat (or more appropriately mis-treat) their customers in whatever manner they chose and we will all just bend over and take it up the bum.  Hopefully the market will teach Ubisoft a lesson that you don’t treat customers like something that crawled out from under a rock and then say “But we care…no really.”

*update*  Those reading the article may ask themselves, “What would it take to make you happy?” Or perhaps “How about a solution other than removing the DRM altogether?”  Want to keep us happy?  The Ubisoft CEO should apologize to veterans and active duty military everywhere and offer a free copy of Silent Hunter 5 to any active duty service member in a hardship tour for a limited time – and furnish a special (but complete) “military copy” that does not require an active connection.  As a further suggestion, Ubisoft could perhaps make the military copy require a disk check with a limited number of installs, upgradeable by request of the active duty service member.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

Side Note:

Side Notes

We here at No Prisoners, No Mercy would like to thank Rubi Bayer, and Massively.com for the kindness of featuring show number 55 on thier web site.   We had a fantastic time recording the show and I must say that Glen Swan had us salivating at the thought of playing there upcoming mmo “The Secret World” by the end of the show.

Thanks again.

“I beamed back onto my ship and hailed Star Fleet to report my progress.   In times gone by there would have been such a thing as “being kicked upstairs”. After all, those who wear the Admirals insignia rarely fly anything but a desk.  But these are not those times; these are desperate times.  When Benjamin Sisko first flew the U.S.S. Defiant through the Bajor Wormhole he had no idea what the future held – and what a furor it would unleash…” Rear Admiral 1 of 9, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01

As soon as my character hit rear admiral 3, Leonard Nimoy’s voice rang though the computer’s speakers with a very familiar “congratulations admiral”.   I was “hailed” by Star Fleet and Admiral Quinn gave me a mission summoning to the Gamma Quadrant – now I know what that transwarp conduit located just outside the Sol System is for. 

Welcome to the Gamma Quadrant

Exiting the other end of the transwarp conduit to the Gama sector found me in the midst of a Federation Fleet, with a Klingon Fleet camped on their doorstep.  Another liberated Borg, much like myself, welcomed me to the front lines.  Those who stay in the Gama Quadrant will not find themselves on a leisurely stroll through the corridors of Earth Space Station or the promenade of Deep Space 9. Any needs the new rear admiral or her crew (you have to be rear admiral 3 to get the quest that gives you access to the Gama Quadrant)  are served by individual ships who serve particular needs, found by winding your way through a central corridor that runs through the massive fleet of ships.

One of the early story line quests gave me the mission of rescuing colonists whose world had been beset by the Borg and Species 8472 (known as the “Undine” to you non-assimilated types out there). In the process of rescuing the colonists and simultaneously battling both Borg and Undine, a desperate colonist ran up to my bridge crew and I.  “Help us,” she cried out, “We’re being invaded and it’s like being caught in the middle of a battle between two giants.”  The first image that came to mind was a scene from the movie Time Bandits where Napoleon, portrayed by Ian Holm, is seated between two of his generals and exclaims, “With you on one side and him on the other it’s like being at the bottom of a bloody well” – and that aptly portrays the theme of the Gama Quadrant. 

Players find themselves in the midst of a titanic battle while trying to protect the interests of the Federation.   The player will find daily exploratory missions to an adjoining expanse, the reward for which are medals which garner very rare items once enough are accumulated, at the rate of five per day.  There are story missions and an abundance of patrol missions.   This quadrant is also the site of the new “raidisode” (read five person raid/instance for all you World of Warcraft players out there).   When it says “five players required” believe you me it means it.  No matter how good you are, no matter how well equipped your ship, the solo player will find the Borg that make up the antagonists in “The Infected”  will simply laugh at the even the toughest shield strengths and blast away the individual player in seconds.  This is one time where there is no substitute for a team.  This is not to say there is no room for the solo player.  The lone ship and her crew will find it possible to complete the missions by themselves. The Borg and Undine in this case are far from being easy, even in the case of a well shielded, heavily armed ship.

One of the many pleasures in Star Trek Online (STO) are the continuation of story lines that were started in the many Star Trek series.  STO being set beyond the latest time line covered by any of the Star trek shows or movies, it is a common occurrence to meet the relatives  of, or those influenced by characters that the fans are familiar with – and the Gama Qaudrant in Star Trek Online is no exception.  One of the earlier storyline missions has the player rescue a ship, only to meet the “son of Q” (the Q played by John Delancie) that was born during the Star Trek Voyager years.  Having once rescued the ship this new Q has you complete the rescue “with feeling this time.”  Having completed the same rescue mission a second time the New Q is still not satisfied and has you do it “again as if your life depended on it.”   It is then that the player is given a chance to go back and participate in a famous battle from Star Trek lore.

If Star Trek Online is your game, and you are ready for a challenge (aside from letting the Klingons drive you into the ground like a tent stake in pvp) you will find it in the Gama Quadrant.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by the Webmaster)

Update:

Side Notes

Let me add a little update here.  We have managed to obtain an interview with a member of the team that brings us all my favorite mmo.  I am always afraid to put the cart before the horse, so I will let you all know tommorow.  Much can happen between now and the scheduled recording time.

Also, in catching up with some of my favorite blog sites we found a very nice endorsement over at Kill Ten Rats (see below) Thanks Ravious for the kind endorsement!

- Julie

“No Prisoners, No Mercy – How could anybody not like a podcast about MMOs run by two nuns?!  Not only that, they are great journalists snagging tons of interviews from across the board for game companies.  Sister Julie Whitefeather and Sister Frances  have a good format with some interesting discussion.  A lot of time and love is put in to this podcast.  Butter doesn’t melt in the mouths of these two ladies.” – Ravious, Kill Ten Rats

The link for the show is on the right or you can listen here.

The early release of the No Prisoners, No Mercy show 55 is live, for those of our listeners who demanded the ability to hear it before the show goes public to ITUNES and the Virgin Worlds collective.  After all, Saylah, of Mystic Worlds fame and a regular guest, tells me it is one of the only three podcasts she listens to.

Now many of you may see the picture above and think we have become an Age of Conan podcast. However that isn’t the case. Some of our long term listeners will remember that we actually started out as an Age of Conan podcast entitled “Age of Conuns” back “in the day” as they say.

This time, the picture is actually in honor of this weeks guests, who are Glen Swan and Oliver Kunz, two of the community managers from Funcom.   The community managers talk about many topics, including where the name “Famine” in Glen “Famine” Swan comes from, they talk about the new Age of Conan Expansion, debunk some of the opinions  by the blogging community about the decisions made in the development of Age of Conan, and talk about their new mmos (including The Secret World) as well as other topics.

We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did producing the show.

Well there, as the immortal bard once said, “lays the rub”.  For those of you not already in the know, I give you paragraph 32, page 10 of the law suit brought against Activision by Mr. West and Mr. Zampella, (via Indie Game Developer, you can read the entire article here)

Activision conducted the investigation in a manner to maximize the inconvenience and anxiety it would cause West and Zampella. On little notice, Activision insisted on conducting interviews over the President’s Day holiday weekend; West and Zampella were interrogated for over six hours in a windowless conference room; Activision investigators brought other Infinity Ward employees to tears in their questioning and accusations and threatened West and Zampella with “insubordination” if they attempted to console them; Activision’s outside counsel demanded that West and Zampella surrender their personal computers, phones, and communication devices to Activison for review by Activision’s outside counsel and, when West and Zampella asserted their legally protected privacy rights, Activision’s counsel said that doing so constituted further acts of insubordination.

For those looking for some additional background into the matter you can find it over at Jakeworld:  The IW/Activision Spat )

Beyond the two infinity ward former studio execs violating  Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and their Contracts, Activision has been silent on the matter to date.  On the face of it, everyone outside Activision/Blizzard (and at this point that is everyone writing about the incident) will read about “interrogated over six hours in a windowless conference room” and Activision Interrogators bringing Infinity Ward employees to tears and feel outrage.  We can read about Activision counsel demanding that “West and Zampella surrender their personal computers, phones and communication devices to Activision” and it will, no doubt, summon up images of criminals in 1960’s black and white film, in darkened rooms, with searing white light shining in their faces.  However, without knowing the other side of the story, just developing an opinion based half the facts has the very real possibility of leaving any author writing about the issue with a heaping pile of crow to eat, depending on the outcome of the lawsuit.  While many of us will point out that everyone is entitled to “due process” it is easy to forget about “just cause.” 

It is at this point that many people will instantly leap to the defense saying, nothing justifies treating employees or anyone in the manner described in the law suit.  Keep in mind, however that anyone can ALLEGE anything, factual or not.  And before you say “nothing justifies” keep in mind what the circumstances may or may not be.  Yes, it could be as much of an outrage as circumstances appear.  However, what if Activision, as tight lipped as it always is about their business, has a whole deck of Aces up their proverbial sleeves?  

Still, it leaves a question that goes begging…do the professional and personal actions of someone in any aspect of the entertainment industry affect how we feel about their work?

When Paul Reubens, otherwise known as “Pee Wee Herman” was arrested for indecent exposure in an “adult” movie theater it all but killed his career, taking 20 years to get any public “exposure” of his work.

When Tonya Harding was concerned about competition from Nancy Kerrigan in 1994 she hired someone to attack her.

When Mel Gibson was arrested for driving under the influence of Alcohol he made anti-Semitic remarks to arresting Officer James Mee, saying, “Fucking Jews…Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world” (source) .  Aside from the heinous nature of the statement (for which he later publicly apologized) this is also a statement made, ironically, by the same man who brought us the movie entitled “The Passion of the Christ”.  What do you expect from a man who obviously didn’t bother to read the gospels before he made the movie (for some twisted reason he portrayed Mary Magdalene as a prostitute – she was nothing of the kind. Read Luke 8:1-3)

In the end we must each ask ourselves if the behavior of an actor, or even a game developer affects our patronage.  Would you still see a Mel Gibson movie if he insulted someone of your ancestry?  Now that Paul Reubens is trying to rekindle his career would you let  your children see one of his performances? And what if the treatment of Jason West, Vince Zampella, and Infinity Ward employees turns out to be an overreaction tantamount to dynamiting open a can of beans? Will you still purchase any of their games? Will you cancel your World of Warcraft account?

See you online

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by the Webmaster)

Perhaps “Star Trek Online” faces its biggest challenge with its price tag. You’ve got to buy the game, and then you’ll have to shell out as much as $15 per month in subscription fees to keep playing. – Dirk Lammers, “ Star Trek Online falls short in several areas”

During recording of the No Prisoners, No Mercy show (being edited now) with community managers from Funcom one of the subjects that came up was reviews, and of course the epitome of bad reviews – where the author who penned the article played the beta for 10 minutes and wrote a two word review “It sucks.”  Aside from pointing out how proud his English professor would have been of such a lofty, and well thought out review I was brought to another conclusion. More than once I have penned a private message to the author of a review whose works I otherwise respected and found myself saying “Come on, you know better.”  Then it occurred to me that perhaps they didn’t.

Time and again, as members of the game development industry pass through our doors, the voice they tell us that they hear, the opinions that matter, are those who are actively involved in the community that make up their target market.  As one senior producer opined of professional reviewers, “They may spend one or two levels with our game before they write the review.” 

More the rule, rather than the exception, are those authors whose lack of acquaintance with both the game and mmo market in general shows in their review – and the review by Dirk Lammers is no exception.  The claim Cryptic Studios will face a “challenge” because their prospective customers will have to both buy the game and pay a monthly subscription fee so blatantly screams of a complete lack of knowledge of the MMO gaming market that is like a slap in the face with a dead mackerel – it instantly negates the credibility of the remainder of the review and anything else the author has written on the subject.

Note to Mr. Lammers and anyone else reading these words or considering penning a game review: before faulting a game developer with something you might want to at least find out whether or not it is the industry standard. In other words “look before you leap”.

Mr. Lammer’s insistence that “But the frenzied pace hits the brakes when combat moves to the ground” tells of an author who was not only determined to find fault with the game ahead of time, but tells those who really are acquainted with the work of Cryptic Studios that the author hasn’t kept current with the product being reviewed.  I can only assume that there was a significant lead time between the writing and the publication of the review.

Does the review trouble Cryptic Studios? Well you would have to ask someone like Craig Zinkievich, executive producer for Star Trek Online, that question to find out the “straight skinny”.  Based on the professional developers we have spoken with, chances are they could care less – and doubtless neither will their target market.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted for Julie Whitefeather by the webmaster)

 Star Trek Online’ falls short in several areas

That’s a tall order for the game as it stands now, but online games can improve over time.

 By DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press Writer Dirk Lammers, Associated Press Writer – Tue Feb 23, 7:45 am ET

Two-and-a-half out of four stars.

The “Star Trek” franchise embarks on a bold journey into the massively multiplayer online realm in a game that excels in space combat but falls short in other areas.

“Star Trek Online” (Atari/Cryptic Studios, $50 with $15-per-month subscription fee, for the PC) thrives when multiple ships crisscross through space while exchanging phaser fire and photon torpedoes. The battles look spectacular, and piloting a starship around a planet while dodging enemy fire is both challenging and enjoyable.

But the frenzied pace hits the brakes when combat moves to the ground.

Away missions were a key part of both the original TV series and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” but you’ll find yourself calling for Scotty to beam you up shortly after landing on your feet.

The first away mission, which acts as a tutorial, has your character beaming over to a damaged Star Fleet vessel to make some repairs and kill a few Borg. It does little to draw you in.

But when your character is given command of a Miranda-class Federation starship (think USS Reliant from “Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan”), things start to look up.

You’re sent out to explore the galaxies with various orders such as beaming a ship’s survivors to your own vessel or destroying various targets.

Maneuvering through 3-D space at impulse power takes some talent, and angling your ship to protect the forward, aft, port and starboard shields while multiple enemies are firing at will is no easy task.

The epic battles stray far from the character-driven original series and the diplomacy-happy “Next Generation,” but they’re a heck of a lot of fun. That said, even they grow repetitive as the adventure continues.

Despite some of these weaknesses, though, “Star Trek Online” offers plenty to please die-hard fans.

The game begins with a robust character creation and customization feature letting players choose to live as a human, Vulcan, Cardassian, liberated Borg or more. You can even create your own alien species.

And inside the closet you’ll find myriad uniform styles spanning the various movies and series installments. You’ll even get to name your character and ship, which really makes you feel like it’s your captain’s chair.

Both the new Spock, Zachary Quinto from the 2009 film, and Leonard Nimoy, who originated the role, generously lend their voices, and the game does a fabulous job sprinkling in subtle and some not-so-subtle episode references throughout.

The game avoids any “Star Trek” timeline issues by setting it far into the future, which returns the Klingons to enemy status. You just can’t beat a good villain.

Perhaps “Star Trek Online” faces its biggest challenge with its price tag. You’ve got to buy the game, and then you’ll have to shell out as much as $15 per month in subscription fees to keep playing.

What about Ubisoft?

Ubisoft is busy telling their customer’s “Let’s all play death of Edward the II” (O.K. a bit of an obscure reference – just google “death of Edward the II king of England to find out how he died).  When news that Ubisofts draconic DRM had been cracked within 24 hours they were so swift with a denial that it set land speed records – the original Edge Online article is here:

Reports suggesting that Ubisoft’s controversial new DRM platform have already been cracked are wide of the mark, according to the publisher.

As part of Ubisoft’s new anti-piracy measures, consumers of its PC titles are required to connect to Ubi.com accounts to authenticate games online each time they play them, meaning they always need to be connected to the internet.

The new scheme didn’t go down too well with some sections of the PC community, and reports over the past 24 hours have suggested that pirated copies of Ubisoft games circumventing the new protection are doing the rounds on file sharing sites.

“You have probably seen rumors on the web that Assassin’s Creed II and Silent Hunter 5 have been cracked,” Ubisoft told us in a statement this morning.

“Please know that this rumor is false and while a pirated version may seem to be complete at start up, any gamer who downloads and plays a cracked version will find that their version is not complete.”

Submarine Warfare games go back before there was an internet to play an MMO on period.  I remember playing naval warfare games when “going online” meant dial up a bulletin board.  But whether or not the digital rights management for Silent Hunter 5 has already been cracked, or even will be is far from the point.  The point is that not only is Ubisoft not interested in listening to their consumers, they are so filled with hubris that they are telling you that your opinion doesn’t matter.   They believe they know the market place, and sadly they just may be correct.  As agent K says in Men in Black “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”

As much as I am enjoying reruns of the Seaquest television series on Netflix, as much as I might want to play Silent Hunter 5, I have no intention of letting Ubisoft play Edward the II with me – I am wearing my solid steel panties.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

(posted by the Webmaster for Julie Whitefeather)