Menithos

Below is a quick writeup from the sim’s creators. Got a game you’d like to see here? IM Onder Skall today!

A wonderful sim that captivates the eye for the candy is a plenty here. This Roleplay sim has many hidden features and is set on a 3 level tier build, the owner and builder Dannon Robbiani has taken much care and dedication to detail this great sim. This opens to a dock area that channels through gates of theis medieval setting, a large market, and the second set of gates opens to a very detaild dragon statue and castle with many towers.

Beyond the castle is the warriors arena, one of the nicest around, across from the arena is also two grand builds, the cathedral and the ballroom which nothing compares. It has a very nicely set village for its residents and an entry to the underworld below, Incan temples, dark forests, foggy hills laiden with quicksand and a dark tower centered on water. in the market you can find a globe that will take you to the 3rd tier which is the Drakes Cove, lush forest crystal caves and a dragons lair, some resident prefer to reside here but even all the shops and home rentals are cheap for this kind of detail. The ballroom is a formal waltz ballroom so bring your tuxes and gowns for this prestigous place. dances start at 7pm nightly.

Felonhall City

By Osprey Therian
Although I’m not a role player I do enjoy wandering around in such places. Dystopian fantasies appeal to me and there are a few lovely ones in Second Life that have attracted fiercely loyal followers, but due to the current nature of SL with its sim-caps and peak-time lag (not to speak of the nature of Mankind itself in all its variety), it’s nice to have new places to explore.

A new role-play sim, housing the post-apocalyptic Felonhall City, is opening on the 13 November at 3pm SLT, and I paid a visit and spoke with Chaos Bikcin about this gritty place and its denizens.

 

Octoberville Returns

Consider this your teaser. The sim isn’t built yet, but more is coming.

I have a feeling that fall and winter are going to be insane for gaming in SL the way things are shaping up. I have a backlog. Watch this space.

Games Park

by Onder Skall

For those of you who haven’t seen it I wanted to tell you all about my little home in Second Life, the Games Park (SLurl).

Here I have a whole bunch of games and some free T-shirts if you’re into Atari or Nintendo.

Here I have a bunch of artwork. The tree changes color when you touch it, and you might remember those panels from Brian Eno’s big display…

… and over here, a chill-out area. Those panels can be clicked for notecards about sites around SL and landmarks if you want to visit them.

This whole thing might go away actually, I’m not sure. Things I can’t reveal are really moving at the moment. Basically: catch it while you can!

Samarkand RP Kicks Off

Images are 800×600

by Onder Skall

I caught one of the kickoff events at Samarkand tonight. (Here’s the SLurl.) The place is gorgeous, the role players really and truly role play, and I got pictures. It’s good to wear my “games reporter” hat sometimes! (Even if it has holes in it from the horns.)

Here’s a quick summary from the press release:

As one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, Samarkand is an international city set along the mysterious Central Asian/Persian/Arabian Silk Road. It is here, in ancient Samarkand (2000 BC - 1200 AD), that a group of outcasts have settled and begin to blend into the tribes of the land. These multi racial tribes–consisting of vampires (Vampire: The Masquerade clans, as well as vampires without clans), demons, nekos, drows, mages, mortals, shapeshifters dragons, angels, lycans, among many other species and cultures–draw all travelers into their ancient rivalries until, soon, Samarkand lives up to the meaning of its name:”land of war!!!”…

As role play areas go, I have to say that Samarkand is unique in that they control the style, but not really much of the content. You get “Masquerade” vampires and human goreans, sword fighters and magic users, angels and atheists, but in conversation they all seem to be on the same page about the tone and style of the environment. It’s an opportunity for people to take characters they play elsewhere and bring them into a new culture to see if there are new ways to make things fit.

The architecture is a mix of Arabian, Persian and Indian opulence, and I found myself looking forward to the day when Windlight lets us control the lighting effects. This kind of build will really win out against others when shadows and light can play against each other in a more subtle way. It’s running on a class 5 server so the details popped into view fairly quickly too.

The “Queen of Queens” in Samarkand is (currently) Pierce Malick, who would tell you that all of her subjects are loyal to her. That’s not completely true, however. There are always plots to overthrow the throne, but of course, none of the tribes will openly admit that to the Queen herself. Secrecy, politics, and strategy play as much a part in the daily lives of the city’s residents as DCS combat does.

Of course, every sim needs a club. Samarkand’s is called “The Silk Rose Club” and keeps with the multicultural feel, broadcasting dance radio from China, Afganistan, Russia, Iran, and even a little European mix now and again. Like most clubs they hold regular events on Fridays and Saturdays, and they’re hiring dancers and escorts now if you’re interested.

If you want to join in the general exotic fun at Samarkand, TP in and you’ll get notecards telling you how to join a tribe and meet interesting people. It’s nice to see somebody trying something unique, and I have a feeling old-time role players are going to love the refreshing change.

Weapons of Choice

[Originally published by me in New World Notes - small intro by Hamlet]

Unleashing the power of CCS high above the City of Lost Angels

Way back in its earliest beginnings, Second Life was conceived in part as a platform for game development. But as SL designers will eagerly tell you, hacking the code to support a playable system is a massive challenge. Accepting it are CCS and DSC, two robust gameplay engines already in use by many gamers in SL. NWN game correspondent Onder Skall breaks down the pros and cons of both in a compare and contrast accompanied by uniformly kickass screenshots. Whether you’re a gamer or game developer, it’s mandatory reading. Join Onder after the break.

Tiny Empires

by Onder Skall

I was sent this by Ultralite Design and haven’t been able to take it off my HUD since. It’s genius.

The basic premise of Tiny Empires is that you’re climbing the social hierarchy. To do that you need to buy land, get subjects, and grow your empire. The subjects are other, newbie players… which means that at the beginning YOU will be somebody’s subject.

That takes a bit because another player of a particular rank has to be logged on and playing in order to see that there are new subjects available. I had to wait about five minutes… and it didn’t really benefit me directly.

Indirectly the benefit is huge, though. My liege earns money on every acre of land I own, and I get occasional offers to leave him and become somebody else’s subject. That means that my liege is SUPER helpful, sending me friendly IMs and offering advice. Good guy. I’ll keep him around. For now.

You’ll get offers from “the king” to buy land occasionally, which is great because land means money. You’ll also get offers from other players to buy your land. If they’re offering you above fair market value, it might be worth it so you can buy more later at the regular price. More often than not though they’re offering you much less, so make SURE to turn them down!

It’s time-based gameplay so what you’ll end up doing is hitting the little minimize button on it and quickly opening it whenever the indicator flashes to see what the latest offers are. I’ve enjoyed having it there while waiting for IMs to come in.

You can pick up a free trial at Ultralite Design and get the full version when you’re ready. When you get the full version you can even hand out trial versions to your friends!

Nepenthe Roleplay Community Launches

by Onder Skall

Can’t wait for White Wolf’s MMORPG? Now you don’t have to. I caught this one from the forum:

The Nepenthe Roleplay Community is proud to announce the opening of its premier roleplay environment “The Domain of Nepenthe”.

The Domain of Nepenthe is based upon White Wolf’s new World of Darkness setting and its gamplay focuses on Vampire: the Requiem, Mage: the Awakening and Werewolf: the Forsaken, set in a custom designed, modern-day island city off the coast of Maine. Caught in the grasp of urban decay, criminal organizations, gang wars and even darker things that go bump in the night, the troubled city of Nepenthe, Maine has been beautifully rendered across three sims, the mixed architecture, decaying slums, bleak high-rises and the long shadows they cast adding to the dark, disturbed and dangerous theme that permeates every corner of the Domain of Nepenthe Roleplaying Environment.

The Nepenthe Roleplay Community offers options for beginners, casual and serious roleplayers, making use of the DCS2 as well as a modified version of the Mind’s Eye Theatre Live Action Roleplay ruleset.

Players have the option to simply join in the play at the basic level, creating a DCS2 character and taking part in the many oppurtunities for roleplay and interaction offered in the Domain of Nepenthe, including taking up ‘jobs’ in various venues (including a strip-club, a local diner, a posh but disturbing restaraunt, a hospital, asylum, courthouse and police department just to name a few) where they can earn tips, or on a more serious level by applying for membership in the Embraced Roleplay group, which offers weekly sessions for Vampire: the Requiem, Mage: the Awakening and Werewolf: the Forsaken (currently, only the Vampire group is active, meeting on Sundays at 2:30pm SLT, with the Mage group just forming and the Werewolf group to be coming together as interest increases) as well as defines the overall storyline for the Domain of Nepenthe, with sessions for individual/smaller groups at Storyteller discretion.

You can find our rules and a great deal of out-of-character and in-character information regarding the Domain of Nepenthe, as well as contact information for the GM & ST Teams in our OOC Lounge, located in Lost Nepenthe.

We hope you’ll find the Domain of Nepenthe to be as interesting as we’ve found creating it, and we look forward to seeing what you can do with it.

Tir a Slan

By Osprey Therian

Tir a Slan is a pleasant community of medieval-style role players who inhabit a small land in Green Goblin sim divided into many role-play friendly areas including a cave, a gypsy camp, and a town with ships at anchor. Buildings are carefully marked as private or for role play - which is undoubtedly a help for those who rent houses. The core group, which numbers about 120, is augmented by role players running their factions as separate groups. It’s only been running full tilt for about 6 weeks, but weekly events such as duels on a stone bridge (under which lurks a dragon) as well as the day-to-day polishing of the storyline keep inhabitants satisfied. I spent time here on my own, but also attended the weekly tournament. The Tir a Slan role players were gentle and courteous with each other (even when dueling) during my visit, however I have learned of age-old conflicts that must shake their good manners. I was told that players in RP wear the RP hud to indicate they are ‘in game’ and those that are just observing or shopping do not.

Free MMO: Dungeon Runners

by Onder Skall

This post officially marks the fact that I’m sick of holding back on cool gaming stories. If it’s a good story about online gaming, it goes up at Second Life Games. It’s official. I’m putting my foot down. My house, my rules. You don’t like it, there’s the door. You know, when I was your age … what was I writing about again? OH YEAH! FREE MMO!

NCSoft, makers of Lineage, City Of Heroes, and Guild Wars, have released Dungeon Runners. Free download, free to play, still not sure how they’re making any money although I’d bet it’s a micro-transaction deal like Habbo. I’m going to play it this weekend, I’ll take a few screencaps, and I’ll give you some first impressions.

Second Earth

By Osprey Therian

My first visit to Second Earth in PhoenixPass RP sim was today during their open house. It’s a well-built place with much to look at, including the walled settlement in this picture. I explored a bit and found Elven dwellings and other things, and was luckily not attacked by any Orcish minions of the local foul necromancer. I do hate it when that happens.

Midgar

Originally published at New World Notes under the Onder’s Game series.

Arashi Baxter on Midgar’s mean streets
Onder Skall reviews some of the Grid’s most intriguing games

With the constant threat of fanfic lawsuits and DMCA takedown notices, it’s a wonder anybody dares show appreciation for anything anymore. Still, there are those among us who remember one of the best RPGs ever created, Final Fantasy VII (by Square Co Ltd), and dare to dream about it.

City Of Lost Angels Combat System Goes Open Source

by Onder Skall

This was originally published in the Herald.

Fight freely - community combat system combat system to be released in May

by Onder Skall, Gaming in SL desk

I’ve been billing the City of Lost Angels for awhile now as the “queen of SL RPGs”. It’s among the oldest, has the most unbelievably hardcore players, and has been tested as having the fastest and most lag-free RPG interface. The sim owner, Suzanna Soyinka, has been expanding the game by several sims. Tonight she dropped a major bombshell on me though: they’re making CoLA Combat System an open source project.

Got a dream for an RPG you want to run in SL? Now you won’t have to reinvent the wheel, and you won’t have to pay rent to have the privilege of using somebody else’s system.

Onder Skall: You are my goddamn hero today.
Suzanna Soyinka laughs
Suzanna Soyinka: Peoples games shouldn’t be about making a few people rich
Suzanna Soyinka: Not here
Suzanna Soyinka: Not in this world
Suzanna Soyinka: There are ways to support yourself here, through creativity and not selling other peoples concepts
…
Suzanna Soyinka: Oh also the sim of Primordealism has joined the CoLA/NoR RP chain, even moved their sim to due ease of the NoR Reliance sim.
Suzanna Soyinka: So we’re up to 7 continguous sims. With an 8th on the way
Onder Skall: available right now?
Suzanna Soyinka: Yes its there right now actually. Just not on the map, probably won’t be til tommorrow. Primordealism or Noumenon Roleplay as its called is a more dark fantasy based play area focused on faeries and elves and demons in a quasi modernistic steampunkish atmosphere.
Suzanna Soyinka: We’re working with the admin of that sim, Super Calamari to implement it as a parallel realm that supports our supernatural races and will be expending the CCS system to integrate them into the game more fully with more defined race and class choices for that style of character.

Press release follows:

Onder’s Game - Dragon Quest, Quiz Time, Go Karts

by Onder Skall

The following originally appeared in my column over at New World Notes. Right now I have an article running over there about Midgar that just got Slashotted… so bully for NWN.

Onder Skall reviews some of the Grid’s most intriguing games

I’m often surprised at the amount of quality content in Second Life that I find tucked behind a corner or even inside a single prim. This week I’m going to focus on three very different games that, if you didn’t know they were there, you might have walked right by without ever noticing. Let’s take a look at some hidden gems.

City of Lost Angels

by Onder Skall

I originally sent this story to New World Notes, where it appeared in my column there. I was just finally reposting it tonight when I received the incredible news that CCS, the system upon which the RPG is based, is going open source! I’m going to send that in to the Herald I think… they’re always up for something timely…

Onder Skall reviews some of the Grid’s most intriguing games

There are a number of dark roleplay environments in SL, but City of Lost Angels (CoLA) is the queen of them all. The CoLA Combat System, a marriage of LSL and SQL, has created an efficiently run mini-MMO that packs the sim to capacity all day and night.

Now they’re planning a move to an island of their own (purchased as of the 10th according to the website) and things will only get more insane from here.

Let’s take a closer look at what these creepy cats are up to.