About halfway through the instance, our new friend says that she is sorry but will have to go AFK because the “doctor has come to my room”. … After the run, one of our group members (and our kin leader) continues a private conversation with her and learns that she is 20 years old, her mother died when she was young, her father is not involved in her life, she has no other close friends or family, and is a hospice patient with Stage 4 bone cancer.  Her doctor tells her that she has maybe two months left. …

… Now, let me confess something right now.  Although I am not proud of the fact, I am quite often cynical of new people, particularly those with hard-luck stories.  Surely, someone wouldn’t lie about something as grave as this.

Unfortunately, it turns out that this is exactly what happened in this case…

UPDATE 06/23/09:

Good news and bad news.  The good news is “Gynnie” didn’t die after all.  The bad news is my cynicism about people has again been vindicated.  …  Therefore I have removed all references to her from this blog post.  I have chosen to leave this blog post largely intact because it’s purpose is to chronicle my adventures in LOTRO, and that means both good and bad.

Munchhausen by Internet is a type of disorder where a sufferer fakes an illness while participating in an online community to gain attention and sympathy.

I hope the person who perpetrated this particular fraud gets help, if that’s what they need. (Or gets the snot kicked out of them if they do this just for kicks. Karma’s a bitch.)

However, I think the blog’s author and the other members of his player guild seem to have handled this disturbing situation with a great deal of grace and class. Grats!

Welcome to the tale of Alice and Kev.

This is an experiment in playing a homeless family in The Sims 3. I created two Sims, moved them in to a place made to look like an abandoned park, removed all of their remaining money, and then attempted to help them survive without taking any job promotions or easy cash routes.

Kev is a crazy, mean-spirited S.O.B. who’s only goal in life is to get laid, and make life miserable for his daughter. Alice is Kev’s sweet young daughter just trying to survive, and maybe even thrive occasionally, in her hopeless circumstances.

The simple way their story is told is somehow more compelling than most of the over-wrought, over-dramatic, just-as-unreal crap I’ve been watching on TV and movie screens lately. The blog also provides links to real-world charities helping the homeless.

In the meantime, here’s a couple of interesting links from the past few days…

• Google Wave – “what email would look like if it were invented today”
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Cinematic Trailer – droooool

• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog – Watch Joss Whedon’s latest bout of brilliance while you still can.

• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic MMO – Finally!
• DC Universe Online – Sounds like its coming along nicely.
• Champions Online – Lots of recent coverage of this superhero MMO too.
• Watchmen – I’m watching the Watchmen.
• The Dark Knight – It’s been a loooong week so I’m passing on the midnight show, but I’ll definitely be visiting Gotham this weekend.

It’s a good time to be a geek!

I know… I don’t understand either why anyone would think to create a 90210 spin-off now, but that’s beside the point.

The point is that I’ve been in love with Lori Loughlin since I was a teenager (anyone else remember Secret Admirer?), and I’m overjoyed at the possibility of seeing her on a weekly basis again.

Welcome back Lori!

Jewel Staite and a number of other actors are auctioning off dinner dates on eBay to fund cancer treatments for a fellow actor named Babz Chula (which explains the sign Jewel is holding in the photo above)…

The winning bidder will receive a free dinner with Paul McGillian and Jewel Staite at a pre-selected restaurant in Vancouver, BC at a mutually agreeable date to be determined by both parties in between May 1, 2008 and December 1, 2009.

As any red-blooded sci-fi geek is aware, Jewel played the role of the adorable Kaylee in the Firefly TV series and the follow-up movie Serenity. She is currently appearing in Stargate Atlantis on the Sci-Fi Channel.

The auction runs through April 12th and is currently at $1,500 (Canadian). Other dinner dates include David Duchovny and Chris Carter from the X-Files, as well as other actors that you might (or might not) recognize.

So, anyone have a couple grand and a ticket to Vancouver to spare?

A few selected favorites…

• Speaking of Orcs… The Orcs were obviously stolen from PC game maker Blizzard and its Warcraft series. Too bad Blizzard is apparently too scared to sue New Line over it.
• Homage or theft? The “happy village of little people” idea was stolen from Willow.
• Homage or theft II? The wise old wizard character was stolen from Harry Potter.
• What’s that smell? As bad as the Lucasfilm internet leaks were with the last Star Wars trilogy, the filmmakers of Lord of the Rings allowed the paperback novelizations onto shelves years in advance. As if we needed any less of a reason to go see it.

However funny the list itself is, that’s not really the point of this post. What’s really interesting is the number of people who were moved to leave a comment ripping the article as if it were a serious criticism of the movies.

Now I’m sure that more than a few of the comments are from trolls just trying to stir things up, but I’m also sure that some moron well intentioned (but sarcastically challenged) individual somewhere feels that they struck a blow against the evil forces of sloppy journalism.

Things like this make me question whether there’s any intelligent life on this planet.

And based on everything I’ve read so far, I couldn’t be happier. Highlights include…

• Hi-Octane Excitement: No more boring auto attacks and lengthy recharge times. Champions Online combat is instantaneous — and electrifying!
• Total customization: Choose from hundreds of different costume pieces, colors and body types to create your character’s one-of-a-kind costume and look.
• Keep your enemies close: Every hero must have an archenemy. Design your character’s supreme adversary, choosing a name, powers and costume for a superpowered foe to bedevil your hero throughout his or her career.
• Endless exploration: The battle against evil rages across the world into outer space and alternate dimensions.
• Make your mark: The story of Champions Online is constantly changing, continually evolving. Villains are defeated. Heroes rise and fall. Cities transform. Your actions may decide the future!

The trailer doesn’t show a whole lot so far, but I am kinda digging the pseudo-cell shading effect…

“If you really look at the data there’s basically one [MMO] that’s successful and everything else wouldn’t meet our level or definition of commercial success,” he said. “And then you have to look [and say]: ‘Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?’ There’s a whole bunch of factors [in canceling the game].”

So basically, they were intimidated by World of Warcraft and didn’t feel that they would be able to replicate its success (or profits). And they’re probably right.

I just wish they weren’t so short-sighted. Trying to buy WoW-like success is definitely not a winning strategy, but innovative (and fun, of course) gameplay alongside superhero legends like Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, and the rest of the Marvel line-up would draw a dedicated (possibly rabid) subscriber base and make a decent amount of cash for Marvel and company.

Hopefully, the DC MMO will come to a more satisfying finale.