Mindscythe

Episode 2 - Kings Row, is now available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDmpmCBk-qk&feature=plcp

I've been reading these forums for weeks now, and watching the amazing videos people have been producing, the posters and graphics, the songs, and all the other outpourings of support, and I've thought long and hard about what I could do to contribute. I'm an audio guy, so the answer didn't leap out at me right away.

And then, one day, I was going through my archives from the w00t Radio days, and I happened across the old Stan & Lou skits that Hertz did. I listened to them again, and laughed again. And then something a little scary happened.

One morning, I suddenly had Stan and Lou talking in my head. Sounding off, as only they could, about the possibility of their world coming to an end, and how in their gloriously misguided way, they might affect the outcome. Somehow.

Hertz has been absent for years now, all attempts to contact him have met with silence, and Stan and Lou were talking loudly in my head. And so, I did the only thing I could do: I let them out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28DUbMcf100&feature=plcp

I know I'm not Hertz, so the voices aren't exact (I liken it to how Kermit sounds these days), but it's close enough to be the homage to Hertz and those two insanely lucky Hellions that I hoped for.

I have to go now, they're already telling me what happened next. I hope they'll be patient with me. -Mindscythe

Phenomenal! Just outstanding! I've already posted it to my FB feed in the hopes of getting a bit more attention (and some shares).

Off-topic, FANTASTIC name! I get teased about how that's my favorite pair of Blood, Sweat & Tears songs, but it's an awesome two-track song!

I'll say goodbye if we get to Nov 29 and they're still shutting the game down on Nov 30. Until then, I'm going to be optimistic (and believe me, it's WAY out of character for me) that something's going to happen to keep the lights on.

See you all in December for the Winter seasonal shenanigans!

As has been posted by someone in the know over on the Titan forums: No news is good news.

In all likelihood, Paragon Studios and NCsoft are still in the aforementioned "delicate negotiations" and are under a strict NDA. The fact that we haven't heard anything from Posi, or War Witch, or Z, is actually a good sign. It means they're otherwise occupied, and since we know that there are negotiations ongoing, the silence should be read as good news.

The silence means "We're not dead yet."

I know it sucks. I, like everyone else, want to know NOW, but it'll take as long as it'll take, and I'd rather be uncomfortable with the silence now and find out later it was because Paragon was fighting for their life (and succeeded) than do something to mess up whatever's going on now.

Emails sent to all three addresses. I stressed the importance of the community (and how it should be allowed to continue) as well as my personal and professional stake in the game, all in a 100% positive way. I hope it helps.

We'd love to see a picture or two from the dinner! Another chance to see everyone together would warm the heart.

And here's day two for both classes. I've had several requests for links to the NCsoft Launcher so they can install it on their home computers (which I archived already and have posted to the class website for them).


Monday-Wednesday class, day 2.


Tuesday-Thursday class, day 2.

http://us.ncsoft.com/en/launcher/ncsoft-launcher.html

That's the launcher for all NCsoft products (Windows and Mac).

Well done, and way to keep your head in the game (the RL one, I mean)!

Hi, I'm Mindscythe, and I'm a CoH Lifer since about three months after launch. Never unsubbed, never stopped playing, never stopped paying, even created a second account (also VIP) a few years back.

When I'm not running around as a crimson-clad magic mind controller, I'm a professor at Central Michigan University, where I teach our introductory web design for electronic media class. Currently, I have two sections, a Monday-Wednesday class and a Tuesday-Thursday class. Although I helped write the course many years back, this is my first time teaching it.

Week 1 is all about Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) theory, talking about virtual identity, community, and culture. This is right up my alley, since that's what my doctoral dissertation was about. In week 3, the students get assigned an exercise that asks them to explore an online community, participate, and write a short (3-5 pages) paper on their experience when the week is over.

Long before the NCsoft announcement, I knew I'd love to send my students into Paragon and let them experience the same virtual community I've come to love and call home. That was an easy decision. Getting the college computer techs to install a "game program" on the computers in the lab I teach in, on the other hand, wasn't, but I convinced them. And this week...


The Monday-Wednesday class.


The Tuesday-Thursday class

I'm not ashamed to say that I teared up just a little taking these pictures. And it was wonderful to see comments in the main Pinnacle channel like "Why are their *20* level 2's running around AP?" yesterday.

And best of all, I've already gotten requests from students for the client so they can install the game at home. Fortunately, I have copies of both that I can give them.

So there are forty new citizens of Paragon, some of whom will stick around after the exercise is over. And next semester, gods-willing, there will be forty more. And forty more every semester after that. All they need is a game to log into.

#SaveCoH

Voted. It's much higher in total number of votes now, but the margin's about the same. At least we're consistent!

Ok, it's fixed. Thank you GMLloyd! Turns out, it wasn't anything that could be fixed from the player-end.

Also tried /reloadgfx and /requestexitmission 1 - no help there either.

So the end "fight" zone, where you have to take down 15 shivans, and then the big boss-shivan, seems to be stuck. I have the window entitled "The Shivan Crater" and the bar measuring the 15 shivans, but there are NO shivans in the zone. Anywhere. And I've been in the zone for 10 minutes now.

Any help possible?

Absolutely. I joined about 3 months after release, and I've been a constant subscriber ever since. In 2008 I added a second account (originally for my wife, but when she decided the game wasn't for her I kept it going).

Moving from $30 to $40 a month for both accounts is eminently doable. If that's what it takes, I'm in. Completely in. With bells on.

I started playing on a friend's account within a month of launch, and when I started teaching three months later, my first purchase with my first paycheck was to sub to CoH.

Since then I've made more friends than I can count, produced the radio missions as actual radio broadcasts (recorded, of course), joined the crew of a streaming radio station (w00t), attended three different RL gatherings of folks from the Pinnacle server, and imbibed a lot of alcohol while hanging out in Paragon. Hey, Pinnacle's the drunk server... it's what we do. Did. *sigh*

The folks at Paragon Studios have been... there isn't a word for it. Brilliant, wonderful, genius, caring, considerate, dedicated... heroic. I can't imagine what this is like for you all, and when I try I start crying (again). I consider CoH my home, and losing it feels EXACTLY like one would imagine losing a home feels like.

Thank you, everyone, and know that Radio Free Opportunity will always be on-the-air somewhere. -Mindscythe/Jeff