Am I the only one who noticed this? I think it's pretty annoying... it's at the bottom of GWX pages. See what I'm talking about by clicking here.
Doesn't that annoy any one else? Hasn't anybody noticed it? I'm ususally not annoyed by stuff like this, but I am today.
By the way, what was that "hating Sonny Uppal" thing all about? I never got to find out because whatever was there is gone.
Brian
Thanks for the tip, Brian. I actually had noticed it and Sonny's gone ahead and fixed it. Thanks for the heads-up.
As far as the "hating Sonny" thing goes, some of you may not know what Brian's talking about. If you click into the X Clusive menu of the site, you'll find that I write odd little teasers for each week of Cooking with John. I've written stuff about monkeys, song lyrics, hair extensions, etc., figuring nobody will read them anyway. Apparently Brian did.
Also, some of you may have noticed that my original signature at the bottom of this week's column was signed "John 'I hate Sonny Uppal' Luedtke".
You see, Sonny is a card carrying member of the thought police, figuring he can add and erase history to suit his liking. But don't worry, I'll continue to battle this oppression at every turn. I won't let the man, or in this case the little man keep me down.
Have you noticed how he likes the word "epoch"? You see it peppered throughout this site as though he just received a shiny new thesaurus for an early Christmas gift.
Masterhand writes:
I want to know if Baldur's gate Dark Alliance 2 will be on Game Cube and if not why ? I want to know also if it will be possible to transfer our characters from the first baldur's to the second. Thanks for answering me.
Masterhand
Well, Masterhand, what hand are you the master of? I'll call you "Lefty" from now on. Lefty, I've turned your question over to Brendon, the master of all things Baldur's Gate.
According to Dark Alliance 2's Senior Programmer, Frank Kowalkowski, the new game won't be making it to the GameCube at this time. During our interview with Frank, he has this to say:
"At this time there are no plans for a GameCube version. The sales of the original on the GameCube simply don't warrant a concerted effort at this time sadly. I'd love to do it, but I don't think the cost can be justified. We'd also need to port in the GameCube codebase and merge it with our current stuff-and redo the assets."
And though we too were hoping to somehow transfer our characters from the first game over to the second, that's also a no-go, as the team would have to strip all of the character's equipment and feats from them, in which case, you'd end up with just the character model and a few feat points. You will however, find out what happens to those three characters as soon as you boot up the disc.
So there you have it, Lefty. Straight from the horse's - and Brendon's - mouth. Thanks for the question and write again soon.
One correction from yesterday, Jessie wrote in and discussed a bit of D&D. Jessie, if you would like to get a hold of Joe, email him here rather than the GWX address I gave you. The email system that the Thought Policeman has installed here at GWX is a bit fussy as it too likes to erase things at will. Joe would rather readers email him at his personal address.
And that's all for today. Hopefully most of what I wrote will remain published long enough for you all to read it.
Arrogance Many of you may have been following the little pissing contest that is raging over on Penny-Arcade. I’ve been following the thing all day long, and found it fascinating as it parallels events that we’ve run into as a site numerous times.
The gist of the story is that the host of a web comic called Squidie contacted Gabe from PA asking his assistance in removing Squidie artwork from the avatars of PA forums members. Now, whether he has any legal precedence is highly debatable, but Gabe, rather than doing as Squidie asked, offered him a bit of advice on how not to alienate people by threatening litigation over such a petty thing.
Enter the pissing match.
Each party has continued the conversation through their respective site updates for the entertainment of their readers.
Hilden and I just started the Drunken Gamers comic – how long it will last I can’t say – but I’d be honored if people were to use Hilden’s illustrations in their avatars. The threat of legal action against people who are not profiting from your work and are, in fact, displaying an affection and tribute to your work is something that boggles my mind.
There’s a bit of arrogance in that and a bit of humility and perspective is needed. I’ve found that many of these self-righteous people are generally Doogie Howser wannabe teenagers who excel in the classroom but don’t know the first thing about relating to the rest of society. They feign superiority by using words they don’t understand and are condescending to anyone with a dissenting opinion. In the end, these people are simply looking for justification that the work they do is important and consequently, they are themselves important.
Of course, I’m not talking about anyone in particular.
Truth be told, in the past, litigation has been threatened against GWX by the same kind of sad, silly little boys as Mr. Squidie. The whole event was rather amusing and one that I look back at with wonder. The need for justification and recognition is a universal one.
Hell, let me throw myself into the ring for a moment. The entire backbone and concept of this very column has a tinge of arrogance. Think about it: to do this column on a regular basis and feature it on the main page of the site, I must actually think that a selection of GWX’s demographic actually gives a shit about me, my life, my views, and what I have to say. If that doesn’t reek of arrogance, I don’t know what does.
The good thing – if there is one – is that I realize where I stand in the grand scheme of things. This column is about as consequential as a speck of dirt. Nobody’s clock is set around my updates (at least I hope they’re not), and I can’t imagine anyone really taking my little blurbs here seriously.
The fact is that we’re all on this Internet thingy to entertain, be entertained, share ideas, and be inspired. Of course some are after the almighty dollar as well, and I suppose that’s a legitimate pursuit; as long as it’s not done through threats and all around bullshit behavior.
That’s all I have to say about the topic for now. I’ll be back later. Don’t pretend to care just for my sake.
Well, I've been informed that today is the first anniversary of this column.
Big fucking deal, right?
Well, honestly, I think we've accomplished a few important things in Cooking with John. The most important of which is proving that discussing nothing of importance can actually be a successful concept for a regular column. I mean honestly, what the hell do we discuss here that makes any difference to anybody? But somehow, a good deal of you still tune in on a regular basis.
Call me crazy, but that's amazing.
So by now you've all seen the relaunched site. I mean, how the hell else did you navigate to this page? We're still working on implementing some new changes, so please be patient with us. For example, please take a moment to scroll to the very bottom of this page.
Did you see that? Hopefully having a little email form on the bottom of this page will encourage you to write in. I'm not exactly sure how it will do that, but perhaps you're too lazy to open a new page to email me. Who the hell knows? Either way, be sure to use that little email form at the bottom of this page.
I could kill you.
Brian writes:
Hey John,
I like the new layout. It is very different... it seems kind of more, I don't know how to describe it, but definitely more of something. Let's put it this way; it looks more comically stylistic (I mean this in a good way; I don't understand what I just said either). One thing that caught my eye was the big X Clusive right there and the the latest reviews right under. Those are the things that make this website great. I then noticed the new banner at the top with the the accompying BAR, delivering messages that fit this crazy site greatly. The only problem that I see with the page is the "old layout in old articles" glitch, and the fact that the pictures in Latest Headline get cut off on the right a little bit; maybe new pictures could be wider to fit three at one time and not 3 ½. I also love Drunken Gamers and of course, Cooking With John. I think that's enough talking for me today.
-Brian
Thanks for the comments, Brian. I'm glad you like the new changes. As far as the "Lates Headlines" being cut off, it's kind of meant to be that way. Having them cut off on the right slightly encourages people to scroll to the right to see what other articles we have.
Our response to Drunken Gamers has been extremely positive and I'm honestly surprised. That column really takes us about twenty minutes to write and I'm amazed at how much people like it. Personally, I think it needs a great deal of work, but Hilden and I have a great deal of fun writing it. Over the next few weeks we'll be tweaking it and hopefully it'll meet our standards.
Some of you may remember me speaking of my neighbors and how much of a pain in the ass they are. I'm convinced that there were absolutely no adults living there. Every night I would find some drunk ass teenager pissing in my yard or busting up some shit. Hilden, who lives next door, had his car broken into, as did a couple other of my neighbors. Well, it seems the problem has been solved.
The morons burned their house down.
No shit. Apparently Junior dropped his crack pipe and burned the freaking house down. I guess that's one way to get rid of dumbass neighbors.
Let's get to one more letter before I hang things up for the night. This could very well be the coolest letter in GWX history:
I just found this site and I think it's wonderful. The editorials are well-written and witty. The humor dry, just the way I like it. Reviews and Previews informative. I am a newbie gamer, having had my first system (PS2) for about two years now. I am female and 41... not your typical budding enthusiast, but hey, better late than never. I am a closet D&Der from the 70s-80s... you remember (or maybe not) when D&D was the scape goat for death and disorientation among the youth. Now it's video gaming... geez, I guess parenting has nothing to do with it, eh?
Anyway, I just wanted to send kuddos to you guys. I am a writer (albeit unemployed at the moment) so I appreciate what you've done here on both the gaming and writing levels.
You have been bookmarked and I will be visiting often. In the meantime, I am anxiously awaiting Baulder's Gate: Dark Alliance 2!!
Jessie (the gaming grandmother!!)
"Wisdom Begins in Wonder"... Socrates
Jessie, you just made my day. You came to the right place if you want to talk D&D. Our resident D&Der, Joe Mackie can answer all of your questions. If you'd like to talk D&D, email him here. Otherwise, be sure to check out our forums. There's plenty of RPG talk going on there.
So that's it for today. As Rod the Canuck might say, use that form at the bottom, eh?
As you can see, the much-anticipated, much-delayed GamingWorld X relaunch has finally taken effect. I hope you like the new look as it’s taken a great deal of time, effort, brainstorming, arguing, punching, and kicking to settle on the changes. And no, we’re not done. Before long, you should see some significant changes to our forums, thanks to our partners at Mogusland, as well as a few new features on our main page. But for now, we’re pretty proud of how things have turned out.
You’ll notice that all of the news is located in the same, rather than spread out all over the page as before. This will hopefully allow you to find the information you’re after more quickly and efficiently. I hope you’re all digging the way we’ve decided to feature reviews and previews as well. By scrolling to the left or right, you can find all of our most recent featured previews and reviews in one handy section.
But the thing I am most proud of at the moment is our flash bar for announcements, news bits, and random phrases. We’ll be posting vital information that area (which we’ve dubbed “BAR”), so keep an eye on it. You may see some strange stuff up there.
And finally, our “X-Clusives” have also undergone a drastic overhaul. Yes, from time to time we will still have the old favorites that you’ve grown to love – or at least tolerate – such as the Editor’s Roundtable and the Classic Game of the Week. However, we will be concentrating on our “Big Three” features, which will go live Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Our goal with these features is to provide regular, meaty, entertaining, and lengthy articles that you’ll get to know and enjoy from week to week.
As far as Cooking with John, the format will remain relatively unchanged. I’ll still post random rants and gibberish as well as video game related commentary. However, I will also be handling the GWX mailbag in this space. So when you write into the site with your questions or comments, you’ll be able to find your answers here, rather than in our X-Communication feature. Hopefully this will be able to add to the running discourse that takes place in Cooking with John.
So with that in mind, please send in your comments and suggestions on the new layout. Do you love it or hate it? Is there something you’d like to have added or removed? We’ll be tinkering and modifying things over the next several weeks and promise to take your comments to heart.
