metaViper

If you haven’t already, see the first post in my series before reading this.

My life continued for many years MMORPG-free. Then, deep in the labs of a company called Turbine some evil genius came up with a way around all of my objections. They offered a one-time payment for a lifetime subscription. A game with a pedigree no D&D game could argue with. Ever wonder where all these D&D races, rules, and ideas came from? The Father of fantasy writing and the idea that would launch all of the fantasy role playing games that would follow, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Following the success of the movie trilogy it was only logical that someone would make video games about the movie. I played a few of the hack ‘n slash, 3^rd person RPGs. I wasn’t impressed. So when the MMO was announced, I didn’t pay much attention.

One fateful day a disc arrived in the mail inviting me to try the game in beta for free. Free? Free! “Ha,” I thought, “I can suck all the life out of the game during beta and never play again”. Best of all, my old D&D buddies got copies and we could play together for free!

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It seemed stupid, I told people I wouldn’t do it. What could on online role playing game offer that I didn’t already have? There are many great single player role playing games out there; my favorite of all time is the Gothic series, www.gothic.net . In Gothic there is a medieval world that’s truly alive, everyone stays in character, and you are the center of the universe. No one is better than you, and no one can take away from your experience. But paradoxically, no living person can add to it either.

I found myself learning weaknesses in the AI of almost all video games and exploiting them. No matter how new or great the game there is always a way around the next tough boss or “impossible” puzzle. Don’t believe me? Try building five pieces of +20% blur armor in Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Wear them all at once and say hello to God mode. You’ll be able to walk through the whole game bashing monsters in the face. All they can do is stand there and die.

The video game industry and I grew up together. Back in the day, and in some respects still today, the RPG world was trying to match table-top gaming. Most video role playing gamers over the age of 20 have roots in Dungeons and Dragons. I did my time as dungeon master for 13 years – yes, I’m an alpha geek. Then everybody grew up, got jobs and the other people in their lives prefer they don’t spend every spare moment on weekends in the basement with potato chips and D&D buddies.

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What they say: (excerpted from http://www.ventrilo.com)
Ventrilo 2.3.0 is the next evolutionary step of Voice over IP (VoIP) group communications software. Ventrilo is also the industry standard by which all others measure themselves as they attempt to imitate its features.

By offering surround sound positioning and special sound effects on a per user, per channel, per server or global configuration level the program provides each user the option to fully customize exactly how they wish to hear sounds from other users or events.

Ventrilo is best known for it’s superior sound quality and minimal use of CPU resources so as not to interfere with day to day operations of the computer or during online game competitions. It is also preferred for the simple user interface that any first time computer user can very quickly learn because the most commonly used features are immediately visible and can be activated with a single click of the mouse.

What the Viper Sez: my test of Ventrilo found it to be easy to install and use in its client mode. To set up your own server requires navigating through a clunky DOS based interface, but the instructions are pretty easy to follow. Best of all, this baby is FREE. Ventrilo sports higher ping rates, faster transmission, plus all the features you would expect from a typical VoIP solution. A binding a Push to Talk (PTT) key allows you to assign a spare mouse button, like your “back” button to keep noise down on your channel. But if you want the good old Darth Vader sound, use voice activation with your mic, that way you can taunt others with the rasp of each breath. Voice is near phone quality, and the fast transmission makes this software a premiere choice for first person shooter fans, who can’t afford lag in their communications.

Ventrilo’s claim of “minimal use of CPU resources” remains to be seen as some mid-level systems running high-level games may experience some performance issues. My system ran Ventrilo at the cost of 6,436k in vitrual memory. While this shouldn’t be an issue for most gaming rigs, remember to turn off virus scan during play.

Another fun feature in Ventrilo is its naming function. It allows you to phonetically type in the names of your channels and yourself. Your name is announced when you join the server for everyone already online to hear. The system also tells you what channel you’re in. The naming function is subject to abuse, the phonetics are limited only by your imagination.

Europe, the old world — for many a trip to Europe is very high on their life goals list. Many Americans have ancestral roots in Europe and can’t wait to visit. I was among those and while on my first trip to the old world I created a notebook of tips which I’ll be sharing with you on metaViper.

The European union has made it easy to tour western Europe. Cars, planes, trains, and boats zip across open boards with few checks, and the Euro means one currency for many countries. Communication wasn’t a barrier because English seems to be the primary language of any tourist area.

That said, I spent time in Italy and Austria and was shocked at the prices, the swindles, and the complexity of a European Vacation. The Euro has made everything more expensive, from bread to Internet access. With the dollar only worth about $.70 for every Euro I met many other Americans who were finding their European vacation much more expensive than what they bargained for.

Indigenous people also are finding it harder to do business. The Italians, robbed of their local currency the Lira, (more…)