Two boxers facing each other in the ring have long been compared to a dance.  Many will remember the fights featuring the great Muhammad Ali who would “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”   But these days the fight between Bethesda and Interplay seems to have reached the point of a good old fashion cat fight.

Bethesda VP of PR Pete Hines states rather emphatically that his company owns Fallout:

“We own the rights to everything Fallout. The license is ours. Fallout belongs to us. That’s what I’ll clarify,” he told the outlet during a phone conversation yesterday.

Caen [president of Interplay] claims that it’s bad news for Bethesda if Interplay doesn’t get to make its MMO:

“We sold the Fallout IP to Bethesda in exchange for a certain amount of cash and the right to do the Fallout MMO,” he said. “If they refuse to let us do the game, then the sale of the IP is terminated, and they will be allowed to do only one more Fallout, 5. But in that case, the IP will come back to us, and of course, we will complete our work and release Fallout MMO.”

Via: Gamepolics.com

In the meantime as Interplay fight it out in the court of public opinion (and probably in the courts again) the barn is burning down around them.  Here’s a hint gents: while you were all fighting it out someone already did a post apocalyptic mmo – it’s from Icarus Studios and it’s called Fallen Earth .

The Bureaucratic Shuffle

There are more than a few people these days who are doing the bureaucratic shuffle, and chief among them is Representative Marsha Blackburn (Republican – Tenn).  It seems that the Representative that spent much of her time in the last weeks taking shots at the FCC in attempt to shoot down their impending rules on net neutrality has been doing a bit of the Tennessee version of the shuffle.  The representative has called conservatives to join her in the fight for intellectual property rights including “strict deterrents to infringement, user-controlled privacy legislation and rogue website legislation” (source)

What has us puzzled is who it was that just recently called for less legislation of the internet stating…

“The only sector of our economy showing growth is online. In these times, for an unelected bureaucracy with dubious jurisdiction and misplaced motives to unilaterally regulate that growth is intolerable.” (source: Politico.com)

Oh yes, it was Representative Blackburn.  So are we to assume that there should be less legislation only if such a move favors big business?  Like say, we don’t know…perhaps the Comcast/NBC Merger?

Yes, it is a sad day friends, it seems the FCC has given the Comcast/NBC merger the green light.  We can only assume that Minnesota’s Senator Al Franken is hopping mad over the whole thing. If he is, he isn’t the only one:

“The FCC just blessed the merger of Comcast, the nation’s largest cable and home Internet provider, with NBC Universal. The Justice Department approved the merger, too, leading to the unprecedented consolidation of media and Internet power in the hands of one company.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Wherever you live, the Comcast-NBC merger is a disaster.

Letting one company control the pipes and the content that flows over those pipes is a formula for abuse. Comcast-NBC could soon hike up rates, take away your favorite channels or even stop you from watching your favorite shows online. Comcast has already targeted Netflix and other companies that compete with its video and Internet offerings.

The merger lays waste to then-candidate Barack Obama’s 2008 promise, when he said, ‘I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group. I strongly believe that all citizens should be able to receive information from the broadest range of sources.’

 

-Free Press CEO and President Joe Silver (source)

Dancing with the stars

Here we aren’t talking about Hollywood stars but the stars in the sky.  Just about everyone has heard about the ambitious modder who finally gave the mmo community what has been clamoring for – a Starcraft mmo – only to be shot down by the mighty Activision/Blizzard gorilla.  While that move was predictable, the good news is that even if the devs at Blizzard (read business executives who have probably never played an mmo in their life) didn’t like what they saw someone else did…

And that someone was League of Legends lead designer Tod Cadwell.

“When I see a modder with a lot of drive that has done something cool, I tend to contact them…”

– Tod Cadwell on the League of Legends forum. (source)

We’re glad that someone thought the price was right.

There is nothing to get you back into a game like the opportunity to sit down for a chat with the games Senior Designer and find out a bit about what has been going on behind the scenary.  When I heard that we would hace a chance to talk to Ms. Croall who was going to tell us about the live events on September 22nd I had to hit the virtual roads of post apocalyptic Arizona again.  

I logged back on and my precious cargo bike was right where I left it, right outside the bunker bar and casino at the heart of New Flagstaff.  All the regulars from The Older Gamers where online and I had a chat or two.  Heading out of New Flagstaff I headed toward Kristo’s Rest only to be stopped by a Union Roadblock. Fortunately the big bike moves faster than Union thugs on foot.  When I rolled into town I was tasked with deliver of a package to one Thomas Allgood who started out our conversation with “you can trust me.”  If there is one thing I have learned in life it is to NEVER trust anyone who says you can trust them let alone starts out the conversation that way.

Back in my military days grand dad gave me this bit of advice before I spent my days wearing  o.d. green…

Always make friends with two people – the supply sergeant and the mess sergeant.

Good advice – even in the virtual world.  So when the merchant who controls the ammo at Kristo’s Rest wants some help I was anxious to lend a hand (and a pistol).

One of the people I ran across in my adventures at Kristo’s Rest is Ramona Alvarez.  If it pays to make friends with the supply sergeant and the mess sergeant, next in line for me is Franklin’s Riders. Remember the Kevin Costner character in the movie The Postman? Well the same thing applies here – these are some people it pays to stay in good with.  It turns out some of the ladies and gents down at the local saloon called “The Empty Trough” are getting a bit rough and rowdy for local tastes.

Pulling up on my bike outside The Empty Trough I can already hear the gunsots inside, and a few other players running out of the front door – this really is a rough place!  Time to teach some piggies at the trough how to be clean!

It turns out there is a reason they asked a clone to do this particular job – it’s tougher than it looks! Before the job is through the patrons re-introduce me to the cloning chamber.

Once the job is through it’s time to collect the reward.  Currency in Fallen Earth is in Poker Chips.  Still, food is scarce in the post apocalyptic world and when she says “250 chips” for a few glorious moments I thought I might be getting potato chips.

We didn’t want to leave you with the impression that the entire world of Fallen Earth is all bomb shelters, bombed out buildings and people living on the edge. As the picture taken outside Kristo’s Rest shows there is still a little green left in the world.

See you online,

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team

Marie Croall

Alls well that ends well…

After a disasterous first attempt (our fault as you can see below) thanks to the kindness of Icarus Studios’ senior designer, the No Prisoners, No Mercy Team was able to sit down for a cup of coffee and a chat. Topics included the one year anniversary celebration with live events this coming Wednesday September 22.  She also explained the new faction points, blood sports and many other changes to the game since we played last.   The NPNM team is back in post apocalyptic Arizona and having fun.

You can expect the discussion with Marie Croall, along with the rest of No Prisoners, No Mercy Show 70 out this weekend on www.virginworlds.com.

The NPNM Team

(photocredit: Lulu.com)

[Depicted above: When I read this recent Doonesbury the first thing that it reminded me of was my return to Fallen Earth and my adventure traveling from New Flagstaff to Kristo’s Rest.  One of the road blocks was by that ever persistent npc faction, The Union.]

There are a few things that push our buttons and we have done more than a few shows about them.  Our regular listeners know that one of the actions that causes’ us to react are those members of the community and blogosphere that pronounce a game to be dead merely because they don’t play it or don’t like it.  One of the most noted instances of such behavior was the blogger who tried a game for 5 minutes (and in early beta at that) and wrote a two word review… “It sucks.”  (I will just be he made his creative writing teacher proud with that review eh?

Those astute followers of our show who occasionally peruse our companion site will also note the lack of adverts on the show and the site…this is, of course, because we absorb the cost ourselves. This means that sometimes there are only so many dollars to go around. So when we were given the chance to try out Fallen Earth again and see what had changes we jumped at the chance – and, as the designated post apocalyptic lore member of the No Prisoners, No Mercy team I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

Not only that, the kind folks at Icarus Studios have even agreed to send over their Senior Game Designer, Ms. Marie Croall to have a chat with us this week. The way we will be handling the interview is much the way we did the interview sessions with Mr. Paul Barnett, then of Mythic Entertainment, and break it down into subjects over more than one show. Is this a ploy to get new listeners to come back more than once? Heaven forfend of course not! (O.K. maybe just a little). More than that, however, is our desire to meet the requests of our listeners.

So if there is anything you want to ask the Senior Designer feel free to send it in to us at noprisonersnomercy@gmail.com .

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

[posted for Julie Whitefeather by The Webmaster]

If you started this article expecting us to predict the downfall of Fallen Earth or Icarus Studios  you came to the wrong place. In fact I find it interesting how many news sources  fall into the same category as day the Chicago Daily Tribune when it heralded  the now  famous “Dewy Defeats Truman” – by regaling us with the “Icarus Studios Closes” headline.  Yes, some sources qualified it with “rumor” on the page somewhere. I must have gone to the wrong schools; it used to be we called that yellow journalism.

Going to the dogs

So why is Fallen Earth going to the dogs? Well as you may or may not know, there are now pets in the game in the form of wasteland mutts (see above).  Ask yourself, what post apocalyptic setting is complete without a dog? Mel Gibson had a dog in The Road Warrior.  Don Johnson had a dog in the roadside garbage of a movie (how do you really feel?) from 1975 called “A boy and his dog”. Will Smith had a dog in “I am legend”, and Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone was a dog (I think that counts but I am not sure).   It turns out that your local feed merchant (at ever gas station throughout Fallen Earth) has a well stocked kennel.   When I took my cargo bike out for a spin it turns out the fell has some fantastic tracking abilities – even when I left him in the dust he eventually caught up.  Yes I will admit that there was a time when he had a time of it trying to make his way back after my twists and turns across post apocalyptic Arizona became a bit labyrinthine.   But it turns out, not only can you have your wayward car or motorcycle towed to a gas station  you can also have your dogged towed.

Tow Truck Operator: “Okay doggie open wide, we’re gonna take you back to your mistress Auntie Maim”

Auntie’s Dog: woof, growl, bark, bark, bark *

*translation: What in the frell are you doing? Get that hook out of my mouth!

Riding a bike

And speaking of riding bikes…I usually find that going back to an mmo after an extended absence isn’t quite like riding one. Fortunately the basics of most games are the same where things like movement are concerned. Still, I often find myself saying “Oh ya…” after asking where something is located for the umpteenth time. Fortunately the clan I belong to (part of The Older Gamers) are patient with returning players.

What was the problem?

When returning to any mmo after a long break, one of the first questions I find crossing my mind is, of course, “Why did I have a problem with this game?”   In some case, I find myself saying “oh yes THAT was why.”  If there was a reason, other than a simple matter of pairing back the number of MMOs that grabbed my attention each week, the only thought I remember having was a bit of a dearth of things to do somewhere around the late level 20s.  Part of the reason for that is I tend to “press the envelope” where PVE is concerned, often completing (and sometimes failing) quests well beyond my character’s level.   Another factor that comes into play at this point is something Paul Barnett talked about when he was  a guest on the show and that is “perceived leveling speed.”   The idea is this: If you play World of Warcraft you will find your ability to level though 1 to 70 is lightening fast because most of the new development (up until Cataclysm of course) has been tacked on to the end of the game. It’s easy to get used to something like that and begin to see other mmos as grindy that really aren’t.

Attitude Adjustment

It was an attitude adjustment
I guess it was his first time
An attitude adjustment
Now he understands just fine
He got bent out of shape
And he opened his mouth
And just one appointment
Straightened him right out
It was an attitude adjustment
Oh It’ll work every time

- Attitude Adjustment, Hank Williams Jr.,

Maybe it was an attitude adjustment. Perhaps I just remember wrong. Maybe the dev’s at Icarus Studios actually change something and did tell anyone. It could also be that I simply haven’t followed Fallen Earth very closely.  Still, I seem to remember Auntie Maim, my level 27 character, getting her butt whomped a lot more when she was making her way around Blaine in Sector 2 – not so this time.  After I got a handle on swinging the six guns again, stocked up on ammo and polished up the techie maces I took on a quest chain that ended in Mission: treachery and lies. Some people don’t like long quest lines, some people do. Some people only tell you one way or another when they have something to complain about. Me? I like long quest lines that aren’t long because an NPC said “Oh by the way, did I tell you to go get that widget from the other side of the world? I should have asked you to bring the box it came in as well.”  Quest lines that tell a good story are a joy. Such is the Dead Mines quest line in WoW, and now I will add the “treachery and lies” quest line to the list.  The story is good and the reward is gruesome:

Severed Ear

Slot: Storage

Weight: 0.001 kg

Resists: Sonic +228

Modifiers:  +5 perception, +5 mind

What also drew my attention was the new Blood Sport arena. In the future I plan to participate…after I get a handle on things and get a few more action point quests under my belt.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

[posted for Julie Whitefeather by The Webmaster]

Your clone is among the first born, Maim
Your bike runs through the desert hummin’
And kickin’ up a lot of desert sand,
Your shot gun is ready for some pumpin’
Out in post apocalyptic land.

And so I asked myself, as I so often do when I reflect back on some of the mmos I have played, why I left.  Aion Online? That game was so grindy that keeping my nose to the grindstone took my nose right down to my medula oblongata.  Age of Conan? As much fun as it was our meager computer turned parts of the new content into a slideshow.  World of Warcraft? Well I am back but, when I left it had to do with being called a “huntard” one too many times.

Fallen Earth?

That one I had to think about a while – a long while.  Then it dawned on me…it was budgetary constraints.  But a good friend solved that problem when least expected and now we are able to once again bring you all the news from post apocolyptic Arizona with the same glee we always did.

See you online,

Julie Whitefeather

Fallen Earth:  The Review by R.W. Harper
Game Title: Fallen Earth
Developer: Icarus Studios, LLC
Publisher: Self Published
Website: http://www.fallenearth.com
Retail Price: $49.99 (including a 1-month subscription) – Note:  There is currently a special running where you can get the game for $29.99 as well as some other discount.  Check their site for details.
Subscription Price: $14.99 per month

In a time where you can’t swing a dead varmint without hitting a fantasy based MMORPG, Icarus Studios released Fallen Earth a few months ago to a gaming community looking for something new and different. I had the pleasure of playing it post release and pre-release in Beta.  It’s a new and refreshing take on MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) gaming and it holds up quite well as an RPG (Role Playing Game) type game – if not also crossing the boundaries into FPS (First Person Shooter) and social gaming.

Awesome Looking Creatures

I took a good bit of time to play the game before writing a review, since I had some doubts early on as to how I really felt about this title and wanted to give it a fair shakedown.  I think after about three months of playing I can confidently say that I like the game a lot.  The game experience is quite immersive and there is nothing about the game play that I find trivial.

Let’s break it down…

The Setting

The Southwest United States is not exactly the most happening place on the planet currently but it’s a bustling paradise compared to other places in the post-Apocolyptic setting that Fallen Earth drops the player into.  Essentially, the world (at least as we know thus far in the lore) is in shambles following a deadly virus outbreak that wipes out most of Humanity.  The environment is full of mutated folks and fauna that are just plain mean, nasty and out to make your time in their territory less-than-pleasurable.  I don’t want to regurgitate the lore, as I doubt that I will do it much justice, but there is a bountiful overview of this great storyline on their official web site.

The Visuals

There’s not much you can do about making the American Southwest more visually appealing that what’s done by the development team at Icarus Studios in Fallen Earth.  It’s just a hard place to make look cheery with inspirational color palettes.

A male character from the game.

There has been a good deal of discussion that the graphics are just plain and uninspiring but then again, what would you expect in post apocalyptic Arizona?  When taking a look at the clothing, vehicles, armaments, towns – it all fits in with the story and lore and I think the folks at Icarus did well to make their environment immersive through the visuals.

However, there are a few things that are annoying to me at the moment.  Characters essentially all look the same.  Body structure and shape is pretty much static and everyone has a strong mongoloid, middle linebacker profile (especially the males).  There are most likely technical reasons for this (texture mapping for armor, attachment placements for animations, etc…).  For some player like me, this is not that big of a deal since I think the game compensates quite well with more tattoos and piercings choices than you would find at a Marilyn Manson concert.

Animations, on the other hand, are the things that get to me sometimes.  Now, before I go into a negative mode here, let me prop up the developers a little.  I don’t hate the animation system – I just think there are some things that are annoying.  This game has a hybrid play style that is admirable.  Melding a first person shooter camera with the additional usage of a third person camera system makes for a long day in the animation department.  Those two view perspective brings with it, a truckload of work, both artistic as well as technical.  However, some of the animations are a little sloppy and blending is sometimes choppy and truncated.   Some animations are just too long and some just require some tweaking.

But, and I say BUT; let it be known that I have the utmost confidence that this system will be improved upon and these things will be addressed – or I will just become acclimated and it will not be annoying to me any more.   There are plenty more things in the game that make this observation trivial when compared to gaming goodness that abounds within this title.

The environments look like what I would expect a wasteland to look like and the creature models are very nicely done.  There’s a nice mix of recognizable flora and fauna along with some that looks like I would imagine mutated creatures would look like.

The Audio

One of the keys to creating an immersive experience in any game is creating an environmental soundscape that capture your attention, or set you at ease, to where you recognize sounds on a subliminal level.  Between the soundtrack (which is original and quite good) and the environmental audio, immersiveness is a guarantee if you’re playing with your sound on.  The areas where the sounds are lacking, or not very appealing, are few and far between.

The Features

If you ask anyone that’s currently playing what their favorite feature of Fallen Earth is, 9 times out of 10 they will tell you about the crafting system.  You create (and this quote varies from person to person) about 95% of everything you will use in-game.  You salvage and scavenge for materials and components to do your own cooking, armor creation, ammo and firearm creation, and just about anything else you would use in game – including mounts.  However, this is strictly optional, as you have ample opportunity to purchase or barter with other players’ in-game for the things you need.  Crafting is not for everyone but for those that enjoy it – you will truly enjoy this system found in this game.

Now that's awesome looking!

There are no classes or archetypes in the game.  You can’t sign up to be a Mage, Ranger or Warrior.  However, you can act like one by learning skills that are open to everyone else in the game.  You can hybridize your skill sets to your heart delight – or you can specialize in anything from Mutatations to Rifles or Melee.  The sky is the limit in defining  you character and just as if it was really you out in the wild of post apocalyptic Arizona – you need to have some sort of way to fend off those mean-ass Prairie Chickens that have just identified you as the “other white meat.”

You earn AP (Advancement Points) as you fight and earn levels. The player earns 20 AP per level that can be used to train in four different areas: Attributes, Active Skills, Mutations, and Tradeskills.  This is explained in great detail on the Fallen Earth web site.  I won’t even attempt it in this review.

There are 6 factions in the game that you have a choice of joining.  Each faction has two allied factions, one arch-enemy faction, and two enemy factions.  However, you don’t have to join a faction.  Being in a faction has benefits and I would refer you to the Fallen Earth web site where they explain it so much better than I ever could.

Combat in the game is a hybrid mix of your familiar FPS and RPG modes.  You can carry out combat in either the first person, or third person, camera perspective. I find myself switching between both a lot, since I like playing in both modes.  Even though the camera views may be different, the combat mechanics still work the same.  There is no target selection (read that:  no click, select and press button to make die).  As the player, you have to use your aiming reticule (which is different between melee and ranged combat) to put your axe or bullets into some poor critters or bandit (or other player’s) face.  The challenge is staying on target as your mark is moving around trying to place his/her weapon in your face at the same time.  It’s all good times.

Again, I refer you to the Fallen Earth web site for detailed information on this great combat mode as well as more features that are contained within this game.

The Community

It’s uncommon to join an online community (an in-game community) these days and not feel annoyed within the first few minutes.  General Chat is usually the bane of any MMO with its usual compliment of clowns and gold spammers.  However, one of the first things that you will notice in Fallen Earth is that these people are pretty decent and somewhat enjoyable to be around.  You can’t go too long in-game without seeing a real GM (Game Manager) or CM (Community Manager) in the chat channels helping out, offering advice, and being friendly and helpful.

Don't even try to be a Gold Spammer in this game or these guys come and visit you and womp you upside the head.

There is a Clan system that will allow players to assemble into an in-game organization complete with their own chat channels and Clan Vaults (to share loot and crafting materials).  This system is fairly typical of other MMORPGs.

The Fallen Earth web site has great community forums that are moderated and quite useful.  If you’ve been intimidated by visiting forums from other MMORPG game communities – don’t fret too much on the Fallen Earth forums.  It’s well moderated and quite tame compared to those other sites.  You will find that people are quite friendly and helpful for the most part, and your errant asshat will find a hard row to hoe, should they go to kicking up a fuss.  The GMs monitor the game and community quite effectively.

Summation

Fallen Earth is a solid game.  It has so many good things going for it that the few annoyances I mentioned above are trivial and not major at all.  Yes, there are bugs but the development team is quick to address them when they are discovered and even happy to offer assistance with work-arounds whenever possible or when they are required.

Those reviewers that have panned the game based on graphics and combat mechanics all had valid observations but it’s my feeling that they didn’t give it enough time to find the true rewarding qualities that this game holds.  This is a game that you have to play a while to figure out if it’s really the game for you.  It is not a game for everyone and the learning curve is steep.  However, it suits me, and I find that my casual play style is right at home in this game.

It’s refreshing to find a new idea or two in a game when so many MMORPGs share design philosophy and can be compared almost directly to one another.  With Fallen Earth, their design philosophy is something unique with some minor similarities to the other MMOs — but with just enough commonality to be familiar and enjoyable.

If there’s one final prop I can give this game, it’s going to be for the writing.  The script and dialogs in this game are just great.  The dialog, especially, is well done and entertaining.   The writing style sets the mood for the game in whole.  The designers and writers at Icarus deserve a well earned atta-boy for this effort.

Nothing says happy holidays like a shot from a 45!

In between breaks from wrapping presents, decorating trees and plowing snow this last weekend, I stopped to ponder some of the virtual Christmases I have experienced.  Everquest 2 regaled me with an instance filled with rainbows, reindeer, frolicking elves and Christmas crafts.  World of Warcraft (WoW) had me unwrapping gnomish toys, baking cookies and rescuing reindeer for an Azerothian Santa.  Eve Online was a bit better – they had snowball launchers to replace missiles (although I always seemed to miss out somehow).

Yes, the saturation of sweetness that fills virtual holidays is enough to sicken a herd of Yak. It puts me in mind of the time that the master of horror fiction, Rod Serling, appeared on the Tonight Show back in the days when it was hosted by Johnny Carson.  Rod Serling spoke of the challenge of creating the proper mood, building up the suspense to a crescendo only to have it ruined by a commercial break with “10 bunny rabbits dancing around with toilet paper.”

And then there’s Fallen Earth…

If there is no place like home for the holidays, there is no place like post-apocalyptic Arizona for the virtual holidays. 

Now our listeners are used to the interaction between my co-host and I…in fact it is one of the strong points of our show.  Our long time listeners have often heard Fran complete my sentences; so often that I have wondered if I have a glass head.  Yet we don’t always agree on everything when it comes to gaming, and World of Warcraft is one of those places where we often hold diametrically opposed viewpoints.  For example, while she may now laud the praises of the new “Looking for group” tool, it is that same tool that has (at least when I use it) become a “Looking for someone else besides you” tool.  It’s bad enough for other players in a pick-up group to tell me I don’t have good enough armor, but when the system itself does as well?  Let’s just say that not only does it feel like Activision/Blizzard has buried my hunter under a ton of dingo dung…now they aren’t even bothering to tell me to try and eat my way back out.  Now it is as if Jeff Kaplan and Rod Pardo have personally teamed up to send me a special delivery telegram that says “We don’t want YOU. Just leave your money on the counter and get the hell out!”

But when World of Warcraft and Activision/Blizzard doesn’t want me, Fallen Earth and Icarus studios welcomes me with open arms. Not only do they welcome me, but they have give me the perfect way to feel better about not being wanted by WoW – a Fallen Earth holiday season.

Yes, there is nothing that says “Happy Holidays” like a shotgun blast in the back of the head to one of the post apocalyptic ELFS (Emissary for leaving free stuff).  Or as I summed up my session of holiday revelry and mayhem

“HO-HO-HO THAT NIGHT ELF!!!”

See you online,

The No Prisoners, No Mercy team.

Artwork credit:  The wonderful montage of images, and accompanying artwork is by our own Fran Kosac…note the shadow the nun casts (the nun and the elf weren’t in the picture to start with). Note the highlighting of the night elf and the oh so appropriate (in our opinion) pool of blood under the night elf!

Transient yes, but TOO transient

We do like the new camps that are available to make, and we don’t mind the transient nature of the housing. What we do mind is just how transient they are:  It takes 2 hours to make a pup tent and it only lasts for 30 minutes…and is only good for one use. It was hoped that even if the tent wasn’t designed to be used as often as you want that at least it would be good for multiple uses.

On the positive side, Icarus got rid of the “new and improved” vehicle sounds.  Julie’s cargo motorcycle was starting to sound like the clunking of a broken washing machine when she went over bumps.  We are pleased that Icarus responded to quickly to the communities reaction to the change. As R.W. Harper pointed out on an earlier show, when the company is a smaller independent studio that means they can respond to the needs (and demands) of their player community in a much more expedient fashion (o.k. we will admit he didn’t exactly use the word expedient but you take our meaning).

The No Prisoners, No Mercy team was discussing all this late last night and we feel that Icarus is missing out on a possible income stream however.  In retrospect we feel that not only should Icarus have left the sound in but they should have made it louder. Then they could have sent out a message to the players saying, “Pay us $10.00 and we will make the sound stop.” O.K. – We’re just kidding. But a member of Julie’s clan did have an actual useful suggestion for the use of the one time loud noise – leave loud sound in but only activate it when the vehicle reaches 10% “health.”

See you online,

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team

Icarus Rocks On...

Tis’ the season for the Seasonal Arctic Network of Toy-based Altruism (S.A.N.T.A.) to band together and reinstate the age old tradition of gift giving in post apocalyptic Arizona.  S.A.N.T.A. have loaded up their all-terrain sleighs at North Poland and travelled across the globe to distribute presents. (I haven’t quite figure out why North Poland yet – except perhaps some dev from Icarus Stuidos “hails” from there as they say).

This, of course, is only possible with the help of the Emissaries Leaving Free Stuff (E.L.F.S.) acting as a “special ops team ensuring proper protocols for supply distribution”.  I know this is all true for I have it all straight from the mouth of Corporal Claus.

While the military faction (The Enforcers) is busy bringing toys in “Operation Nice” the scientific faction (The Techs) have been figuring out how to build a snowman in the middle of an irradiated desert. I must say I like their solution. Icarus studios rocks on… I give you the rock man (see image above)

Now there are plenty of seasonal goodies to be had, but just in time for Christmas the devs at Icarus Studios have brought us all some permanent presents that are now in full swing…camp sites and bunker bars.

My first stop, of course, was the “construction zone” (a street corner in New Flagstaff was the one nearest me) where I learned how to build camping equipment…

Time to learn to camp!

After that, of course, it was off to the nearest city run by the Traveler Faction where our clan leader and I (read guild leader for all you World of Warcraft players out there) hit the slots and the black jack machines.

After winning a few chips I head over to the bar to enjoy a drink, and wonder how hard it would be to build my own rock man.

See you online,

The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team