Game Review: World of Warcraft - The Darkspear Rebellion

By Bixyl Shuftan

(Note, the article has some spoilers about what happens in this World of Warcraft adventure)

The biggest Multiplayer Online Game, World of Warcraft, recently went though a few changes in the form of a "patch." Patch 5.3, also known as "Escalation." There are four new scenarios players can play out, two of which are aimed at one of the factions, one Horde, one Alliance. Two new battlegrounds for player vs player action. There's new PvP gear and some Pet Battle and Brawler's Guild Tweaks. But the biggest feature is the Darkspear Rebellion.

For those who don't remember much about the game in it's earlier days, the Horde used to be led by Orcish Warchief Thrall. Thrall valued peace with the Alliance and the freedom of the Horde's peoples. But when Azeroth was threatened with being torn apart in the Cataclysm, Thrall steped down to help stop it as a shaman. In his place, he appoints Garrosh Hellscream as the new Orc and Horde leader. But unlike Thrall, Hellscream sees little need to negotiate for what can be taken by force, and refuses to listen to the Orcs' allies. His brutal ways lead to increased conflict with the Alliance, and the alienation of the other peoples of the Horde who see him more and more as a tyrant.

With opposition against him increasing, Garrosh brands the the Trolls of the Horde, the Darkspear, as traitors, rounding up those still in the Orc capital Ogrimmar and moves against them elsewhere in the province of Durotar (the home province to the Orcs and trolls). The Troll leader Vol'jin responds by declaring open rebellion, dubbed the Darkspear Rebellion.

Both Horde and Alliance players can take part in quest chains, Horde players as part of the rebellion, and Alliance players aiding it. Level 90 players will get a letter in the mail from Lorewalker Cho, and upon entering the Vale of Eternal Blossoms in Pandaria will see him waving at them from Mogu'shan Palace. Talking to him, the player hears about actions concerning the Alliance and the Horde, and sends out the player in two scenarios via his "dream brew" on a nearby table: "Blood in the Snow," and "The Warchief and the Darkness." Normally playable by just one faction, in this case the opposite one can do so as well, Horde players in "Blood" disguised as humans, and Alliance ones in "Darkness" taking on the guise of Goblins.

Following the revelations, Cho will send the player off. For Horde players, they head to Duartor and to Sen'jin Village. Vol'jin is there, among with Chen Stormstout and Thrall. Thrall has finally had enough of Hellscream, and is aiding the effort against him.

Speaking to Vol'jin, the player hears about the rebellion, and will be asked to gather resources from the Northern Barrens to help supply it. These resources are in camps set up by Hellscream's Kor'kron, once elite soldiers of the Horde now Hellscream's personal army, loyal only to him and determined to carry out his will (see later in the article on more how to get the resources). After the player returns to the village, the place is attacked by the Kor'kron.

After the player helps defeat the assault, Thrall heads off to convince some Orc leaders to more actively support the rebellion. Vol'jin will launch a counterattack north to Razor Hill. There, the player has to free several captives (dissident Orcs are among the Trolls), in addition to defeating three elite NPC enemies, a gunman, a shaman, and a Lvl 92 axe-wielding melee fighter. Speaking to the NPC Zulu de Voice just outside the town will provide a healing buff that without defeating them single-handed is nearly impossible. Even with it, players may need to team up to defeat them.

After the battle, Horde players will see a scene between Vol'jin and the Tauren leader Baine Bloodhoof, discussing the future of the rebellion.

For Alliance players, they can take a shortcut to Duartor via a teleporter at the upper level on the Summer Terrace (the Alliance hub in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms), which takes them to the town of Ratchet in the Southern Barrens. Flying to above the defenses south of Ogrimmar, they'll see two Alliance agents, who will ask them to help scout for intelligence. Once they find out just how badly Hellscream and Vol'jin have fallen out, the player is send as an emissary to contact them. After talking to the Troll leader, the player is offered a chance to show his good intentions by getting some supplies from the Kor'kron camps in the Barrens and delivering them to the insurrection.

Following these quests, both Horde and Alliance players will be asked by Chen Stormstout to return to Pandaria to Mount Neverest in the Kun-Lai Summit to talk to an old seer about some answers to questions about Pandaria's situation. Meeting up with him, he accompanies the player up the mountain. Once they reach Seeker's Point, the seer will reveal his true identity, why Pandaria was hidden from the world, and how that is relevant to the current situation, "Only by working together can we overcome the darkness."

Horde and Alliance players can continue to gather supplies in a weekly "Battlefied: Barrens" quest. The player needs to gather 150 units each of lumber, stone, oil, and meat. These can be gathered at four camps in the Northern Barrens. Players can gather them by clobbering Kor'kron guards or the workers helping them or swiping crates and slabs of meat there. One can also get meat from slain wolf mounts.

There are two quicker ways to get resources. One is by escorting caravans of goods. Multiple players are needed to ensure the caravans survive the attacks by Kor'kron raiders. Once it reaches it's destination, the player gets rewarded with surplus supplies. You can also get supplies by taking down elite Kor'kron commanders, but they're too tough to fight alone. It takes a team to defeat them. One can also get supplies by overturned Kor'kron caravans, announced in Barrens chat when these events happen. But only if you can get them before they're recovered.

Rewards include new titles, "Darkspear Revolutionary" for Horde Players, and "Hordebreaker" for Alliance, some high level gear from some of the quests, and the "Radical Mojo" rewards from the weekly Barrens quests can be combined with "Latent Kor'kron armor" you get either from battle or the Darkspear Quartermaster into items with "randomized stats that may have some unexpected results that you won't be able to get from other gear."

The Darkspear Rebellion won't last forever. Eventually another patch will close these events, "where the story will continue beyond the Barrens and take the next step toward what could be a historic shift in power."

So players of WoW, whether you're "For the Horde" or "For the Alliance," get into the action while you can in this turning point in Azeroth's history.

Sources: Blizzard,  Wowpedia

Bixyl Shuftan

This is Your Life, Grease Coakes

By DrFran Babcock

Grease Coakes, SL Newser Reporter, was rezzed on June 12, 2007. This makes him six years old—an old-timer in this virtual world that is about to be ten years old. SL Newser sat down with this remarkable griffin on June 11^th to learn a little bit about him, and see what he was up to. Grease needed no prompting:

Grease Coakes: Tomorrow is my sixth SL birthday and I’ve done a lot in Second Life™. I’ve learned to deejay,  I’m well known in furry clubs, and humans are familiar with me. I think that says a lot about an avatar, for SL.

SL Newser: How did you come to be in Second Life™?

Grease Coakes: Well, a friend from Neopets (the online virtual pet community) was saying I should check out Second Life™. I had no idea what it was about. I came on like a complete newbie, and my friend told me about camping for Lindens, so I tried it.  At first, I wasn’t earning jack, but then I figured out I could buy Lindens with real money, and I bought for my first furry avatar: a mutant red fox from Mutation Industries. I thought I was too cool walking around in that ugly avatar.

SL Newser: haha

Grease Coakes: I spent my own money a few times, but when I learned you could work in SL earning Lindens I wanted a part of that. I think the first job I got was as a male stripper for a club that’s long gone called The Spot. I used to hang out at a club that’s Dance Island now, but was called TJ Icey’s. Just for kicks I still use their really old glowsticks. I met RAFTWET Jewell there, who is one of the co-owners of the A-List and is Xavier’s wife, and Sneaky Krugman, a deejay who almost never changes his clothes. He’s always dressed in his longcoat and that Russian hat.  Later on I learned to host for a club that’s still around, Blackhearts Café, that you may have heard of—that plays 80’s music. I think back then in 2007/2008 it was a new club. It was fairly popular as an 80’s club. I guess it was a new thing in SL, an 80’s club, so lots of people came while I hosted and I made good money.

By that time I had my second avatar, an Aventity black fox. I started buying those like crazy, but the thing was I was earning the money from hosting instead of going to my debit card. I also found out about furry clubs a little later. Before, I only went to human clubs. The first furry club I went to was The Ark. Other furries, when I mentioned human clubs, said I was lucky for not being ejected as a furry, or at least being griefed. I guess I went to the right clubs back then. Even Blackhearts Café, a human club, got so used to me they let me host there. So I might of been the first furry to host at a human club in all of Second Life™.

    I ran into Tantari Kim at The Ark, who became one of my friends for a long time. She also gave me positive feedback about my children’s story before it got published. So she has always been a good friend.  And she's the leader of her very own Vixen Scouts. Every time I IM her to say “hi” she always says “arf!” Yeah Tantari is a helpful and kind person, but I can’t join her Vixen Scouts because I’m a guy. She likes recruiting vixens that are helpful and kind like her. She’s also been in SL a long time (2004), a longer time then me. So, even if I’m old in Second Life™ at six, her avatar is almost a decade old. Her last name, Kim, was the only last name she could pick out back then

SL Newser: Will you be deejaying at SL10B?

Grease Coakes: Yes, I might have to change my time though because it conflicts with a game I play over Skype. For those who haven't heard me I play house trance and video game remixes.

SL Newser: Have  you been a griffin for long?

Grease Coakes: Yes, for a while. The first griffins I bought were Toshuki, and today I have all nine of their colors, even the pink color.  One way or the other I’ve found a way to earn Lindens in SL. I haven't bought Lindens with real money for a long time. I’ve been in tail sales; lots of them (See: http://slnewserextra.blogspot.com/2013/02/at-tail-sale.html ). In fact, speaking of pink anyone who buys my children's story for 250L in SL gets a pink shirt with the book cover on it that is also a sixth birthday shirt. So far I have had three people buy it.

SL Newser: So, tell me about the book. How did you come to write a children's book?

Grease Coakes: Well I always remembered the Richard Scary books with the talking animals. As a kid I related to those stories, so I was a furry at heart although I didn't what it was a called back then. I thought wouldn’t it be cool if I wrote something similar? My character deals with something that children might relate to in the real world.

   My book was rejected many times, but in real life a woman did help me. I found her first life phone number on a website called Literary Market In the end she didn’t accept my book, but she was encouraging me and giving me advice. Her name is Annette Johnson, and she runs allwrite publishing. She’s a nice lady, and even though she did not publish my book in real life she helped a lot, just like Tantari Kim did. She was proud of me when I published my book in first life through a website called lulu.com It cost me a lot of money, but I was excited when I saw my book get published. I used a tax refund, so I didn’t really lose out. I can promote myself too in Second Life™.

   I like having fun too. I just blew 4,000 Lindens on buying an artist at a tail sale. I forget what club it was though.

SL Newser: Could you please explain about tail sales for readers who might not understand?

Grease Coakes: At a tail sale, for example, a furry can bid on me for my writing abilty. The last furry who bought me wanted a story about pirates, so i wrote a high seas adventure with his character and his girlfriend. One time, Dragon Heart bought me at a club for 5,000L. I kept 2,500 the other 2,500 went to the club to help pay for club fees. He had an interesting request, one that isn't suitable for the SL Newser (grin).

SL Newser: OK, we can move along…

Grease Coakes: Chazore Ayers is the exception, because she just wanted a flat out adventure without adult themes. The story I wrote for her is more PG-13, not so much XXX. She just wanted to be in a fantasy adventure. I thought it would be easy, but it took a while to write. She also gave me a 7,500L bonus when I finished because it was so long.  It was close to 40 pages long. I made 10k off a single story. I didn’t have to worry about Lindens for a while.

SL Newser: So, what would you like for your birthday? What gift would make you the happiest ?

Grease Coakes: Probably just people buying my book, Ginny Griffin’s First Day Of School, and then turning around saying it was a good book .

SL Newser: And, you said it deals with something folks could relate to in First Life ?

Grease Coakes: Yes, for children on their first day of school who don’t know anyone. Ginny Griffin runs into some bad things at her new school. I won't say what, but it’s a big issue now.

Starting tomorrow I will start handing out limited edition shirts to celebrate my SL birthday. I’ll be handing them out for a week or so, and after that no more shirts. Last year I handed out my fifth SL birthday shirts only on my SL birthday.  Giving away the shirts is fun as they are limited edition, making them rarities, like Linden bears.

Find Grease Coakes and get a limited edition birthday tee shirt, see if you can guess what issue troubles Ginny Griffin on her first day at school, and:

Come see Grease Coakes deejaying for SL10B on June 20^th from  4:00-6:00 SL time.

DrFran Babcock

Minecraft Angels Village: An Ending and a Beginning

By Bixyl Shuftan

Since I last wrote on Minecraft, the activity continued in Angel's Village's server. Jasmine continued to work on improving her chicken cooker at her place of Havenshire, and then went on to work on other projects. She built an object sorter, a "silkstone" maker, an obsidian generator that worked on redstone dust, and more. One of her newest, an "enderman spawner" in the nether. She had corralled them so in one region they spawned only in one place, and players could easily hack away at them from spots they couldn't reach, getting lots of experience orbs. Trouble was, there were more orbs than could be easily absorbed at times. So a player could easily be swinging blind at the enders in front, and not notice another player stepping in front of him/her. The result could easily be one player back to her bedroom, without her gear.


Jasmine and I had been alone with occasional visits from others, other friends of Nydia preferring her "Feed the Beast" and the Kitsunuki servers. But we soon had company. Kryxia and Valkyre signed up on Minecraft and joined. Kryxia made a nice longhouse near Havenshire with Jasmine's and my help. Valkyre once she had a little time to figure things out went on a 24 hour building spree, creating a *massive* tower. Taking a look at it, Jasmine had thought Nydia had made Valkyre a server op without telling her. That wasn't the case. Valkyre had done the big build simply through hard work.

Then Jasmine went to work on her biggest project: literally. Nydia's Village was surrounded with a  detailed wall. Jasmine planned to do even better by surrounding the place with castle walls and towers. So starting in one corner, the first structure went up, and bit by bit the walls extended away from it, with castle gates and battlements going up along the way. Jasmine did the planning and the bulk of the work with some help from Kryxia and I. We soon came across one problem: Jasmine's house was built into a hill that would be level or taller than the castle walls. So an excavation was called for, one done partly through server op powers of easy digging, and partially through blasting through TNT, "Jazzy wants big boom." Eventually most of the hill was replaced with flat land on level with most of Havenshire, and the walls continued to go up.

Soon, the walls were more or less done. Havenshire was surrounded by castle structures that could be walked through via gates or climbed from the inside via doors in the battlements and ladders upward. It was so big, only from the air could one see the whole thing. From the castle led roads to Valkyre's tower and Kryxia's longhouse. There was also a road heading north to the desert. To the east deep in a region of tundra was Nydia's ice castle. And further east of that was Skylark's home. The area north of Angel's was getting some truly great builds.

It was about this time that came two major events. One was the Dragon. If Minecraft has a way to win, it's beating the Dragon at "The End," accessible only through the nether. Getting there, there's only two ways out, die or defeat the Dragon. Nydia never had, and when she was on with Jasmine, Kryxia, and Valkyrie also there, they decided to team up to beat him. And they did. Jasmine got a dragons egg out of it, as well as able to say she had "beaten" Minecraft.

Going to the spot where they had gone to "The End," instead I was shown the credits, as well as something else. What is it? Well, I won't spoil the surprise. You'll just have to find out for yourself.

The other event, well, it seems all that has been created in Angles will soon be coming to an end. Nydia says the servers will soon be updated, an update that will essentially wipe the slate clean. Back to an unspoiled wilderness with no buildings, roads, machines, farms, or roads. Just the players, the wilds, and the monsters that come out at night.

Nydia says those whom were still active there will be made server ops, once this change occurs. Which means the option of playing the regular way, or being able to create as we please, flying across the land. And since the server's starting over anyway, Nydia's installing a modification called "Terra Firma Craft." It's a bit different from normal Minecraft in a number of ways. For one, you can't just knock down sections of tree trunk to get wood for a shelter. You need to collect small rocks on the ground, gather branches from trees, notch a rock to make an axe head, make a hatchet, *then* cut down the tree. There's also a thirst bar in addition to the hunger bar. But the hunger bar doesn't go down as fast. And the monsters at night are stronger. More information can be found in the Tera Firma Craft Wiki, in addition to the youtube Brandi Strussel sent me (Click Here).

Our friend Ranchan, or Amaya as she's sometimes called, has a server as well, the Kitsunuki one, of which the Angels world is one of several the players can free hop and take inventory from one to another. Her Angel's Village was duplicated there, as well as the Newser building (before the top floor was finished). The difference there seems to be mainly graphics. Nydia also has a server with a modified version of Minecraft called "Feed the Beast," but as of the writing of this article it is shut down due to bugs. Our friend Kit Repine has a FTB server as well. I've heard that one has a number of machines one can build. It also has a number of new materials, and plants. A short look at Kit's server also revealed new dangers. There's quicksand in places which can trap you if you're not careful. Some of the monsters are more powerful here too. There seems to be a number of different versions of FTB, so what works in one may not work in another.

So it looks like the Minecraft journeys of Jasmine and I will be taking a new turn. Will we build a new Castle Havenshire, or just take things one step at a time. We'll soon see.

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: Star Wars The Old Republic - Free vs Paid Accounts

By Nydia Tungsten

 While I claim to be a gamer I do NOT claim to be a good one. I game to have fun, NOT to prove I am the best. I am more than likely to complement you on the way you killed me, than to cuss the fact that you killed me. Hell, it’s how we learn, THAT said you now know where I am coming from gaming wise and I hope you try every game I review to see for yourself. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t. Just remember what games are for, having fun, and I hope you enjoy what I have to say.

Like most M.M.O.R.P.’s, in this game you start by creating your in game avatar.  Starting with what side of the coin you begin at, either the “Republic” side or the “Empire” side.  After that, you choose what class you want to be, then the gender and after that the race.  From there you can further edit the details slightly about your Star Wars embodiment with sliders that adjust the body, face, skin and other features as well.  The most challenging part in this process, like with other long running M.M.O.R.P.G.s, is choosing a name that hasn’t been taken by someone.

You start out with basic missions but even at the lower levels you are given choices as to the direction you will go, and when you group you ALL get the choices but only one will answer and you each get social points for the answer but if you choose a different answer than the one given, you STILL get the light or dark points of the answer you have given

BUT where this is different is there are two ways to play.  You can have either a paid account or free, and I have played both sides of this coin.  The main difference is how badly the free side is cut to the bone.  You can’t even trade with fellow players.  If someone wants to give you a piece of better equipment, they have to “mail” it to you, which like the real-life postal service can take a while.  I have heard of it taking as long as overnight, and by that time that item isn’t a boost up but a step down.

You can’t “Sprint” until level 15 meaning you have a hard time keeping up with other paid players, causing some frustration on both sides.   Can’t get a speeder until level 25, which is the old level that players had to make it to before SW:TOR became free to play, again causing frustration between paid and unpaid accounts.   Free accounts have been “Nerfed” BADLY and feel like the put upon redheaded.

As for customer support…. Well lets say that has been “out sourced” and if you call them it can be hard to understand them through the thick accents

All that said, let’s look at some of the good things.  While the free accounts have been “Nerfed” it can still be a great game to play, especially if you get with the right group.  This is the only game that I know of that you can choose your path on how “Dark” or “Light” you can go. I have tried it both ways, a light and dark side. I play with “The Furry Gamers” Group.  We are on two servers, some paid some free.   We take that into account when we play and help each other’s characters level. 

Have they neutered the free to play accounts? Most definitely! Is it still fun to play as a free player? I must give a resounding YES! But don’t just take my word for it, try it for yourself.

May the force be with you!

And remember if you have a game you think should be reviewed shoot a notecard to me with its name and link and I will take a look.

GOOD GAMING TO YOU!!

By Nydia Tungsten

Reader Submitted: Game Review - World of Warcraft

By Nydia Tungsten

While I claim to be a gamer I do NOT claim to be a good one, I game to have fun, NOT to prove I am the best, I am more than likely to complement you on the way you killed me than to cuss the fact that you killed me, hell it’s how we learn, THAT said you will now know where I am coming from gaming wise and I hope you try every game I review to see for yourself, just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t just remember what games are for, having fun, and I hope you enjoy what I have to say.

I have been playing WOW off and on for almost….(have to think here)…I would have to say… almost ten years….(holy cow)  Do I have any level 90’s? Pfffft! not even close! But I do have a lot of levels between 20 and 70 and I enjoyed every min. I have 3 guilds and 2 servers and in a 4rth with my SL family The Sunweavers where I play with the Fox Newshound himself, Bixyl, and the original Micro Kitty Lomgren Smalls, as well as others from the Sunweavers.

Now in ALL the years I have been playing, I have found one thing to be true. With any and I mean ANY type of MMO you have WAY more fun if you have friends with you.

Unlike 90% of the games I play, WoW is a paid game. You can either have a reoccurring bank charge or do like I do and get the prepaid cards when you can afford them, when you can’t your account will be blocked or frozen.

But Blizzard keeps it in their system for a LONG time, I was inactive for 3 years and thought I would have to start all over. NOPE! The boys at Blizzard kept my data and account right there ready for me when I was.


When you first start you will end up on a creation page like this with ALL the Races and Classes and sexes. It can be overwhelming to some, but take a deep breath, it WILL help you through it. There is the “more info” button. It will tell you about the race and class you have highlighted.

I have always chosen the oddball races. I started with the Draenei (Space goats LOL). I loved the fact they had tails. Then came the Worgen. I was so disappointed that they had no tails. Then came the Pandaren. YAY! They could have a tail!

Then you go through what seem the endless choices for your appearance, just like in SL you can choose who YOU want to be!

And once done with all that, you get to face the

ULTIMATE CHALLENGE!

.... finding a name that ISN'T taken.

Now you have your character all set the way you want it. A name you like, then you click play and you are sent deep into the story line you chose.

I think it is important to listen and learn from the narration as you fly to your new body to your first quest, which is pretty easy, most of them are set to teach you how to move and defend yourself before you leave the newbies area. Once done there, you find a wonderful word to explore and have fun with, there are some pretty crazy quests,  with all kinds of pop culture references, one of my favorites is the  “Rambo” quest. I won’t spoil it but when you find it you will know.

So I give this game a BIG thumbs up and recommend it. Find some friends that play and have a ball, good luck and Good Hunting to you!

Nydia Tungsten

Reader Submitted: Game Review "World of Tanks"

By Nydia Tungsten


This is my first attempt to right a “review” if you will. Now while I claim to be a gamer, I do NOT claim to be a good one. I game to have fun, NOT to prove I am the best. I am more than likely to complement you on the way you killed me than to cuss the fact that you killed me. Hell it’s how we learn.

THAT said, you will now know where I am coming from gaming wise. And I hope you try every game I review to see for yourself. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t. Just remember what games are for, having fun, and I hope you enjoy what I have to say.

I started playing World Of Tanks, or WoT to those who play a lot and I do. A few months ago, it was recommended to me by Jessicabelle Dayafter, whom I have the privilege of playing with.

You can download it here:  http://worldoftanks.com/ . Be prepared to wait a bit there is a LOT to download, but it is WELL worth the wait. The graphics are fantastic, and if you enjoy first person shooters you will like this one.

You start off with “tier one” tanks the lowest level and earliest ever made tanks as the “T1 Cunningham.” The higher you progress in the ranks, or “tiers,” the more modern the tanks become.  The load out of ammo consists of “Armor piercing” and “HEAT” rounds as to be expected. But they also have “gold” rounds, which will do at least a third more in damage. But here is the catch. In order to have “gold” rounds you need to buy them, and risk being called a “wallet warrior” by other players.

It is the same for “Premium” tanks such as one of my favorites the “TOG II.” It is by far the slowest tank on the battle field and doesn’t do the most damage either. But it DOES have one of the highest hit points in the game, but weak armor so it can’t go toe to toe with almost anything. Then why do I like it? Easy, remember what I said at the beginning? IT’S FUN!

Once the other players see a TOG on the list the good natured comments start flying, “we have a whale”, “No fair you have a battleship!” “I bet I could park on your back and you would STILL have room to move your turret!” and they go on, and I play into it whole heartedly, “The HMS White Vixen reporting for duty!” I call out to the other players.

This is strictly a PvP game, 15 tanks on each side face off and slug it out. You have the “Heavy” class as well as the “Medium,” “Tank Destroyer,” “Light,” and “Artillery.” So you have to find your niche in the game. There is a bit of thinking as well, knowing what rounds go best with what barrel on what tank, etc. There are TONS of videos on “How To’s”  to learn from, or just jump in with both feet and start blasting away.

Now like ANY MMO you will have the “Game Gods” that know everything, and are not shy to tell you how much of a “Noob” you are as their battered tank husk burns across the battlefield. Take my advice and ignore them and just have fun.

And if you come across me on the battlefield,  remember to do one thing…..DUCK!!

Nydia Tungsten

Reader Submitted: Castle Dark Haven

by Theonlyjohnny Resident

I found this place when I was looking for just a good place to hang out. I will be honest, I was a bit overwhelmed, at first, by the amount of visitors I saw at the club. The dance floor was filled, as were all the seats.


The DJ was rocking the stream better than I have seen anyone else. I immediately came to the conclusion that no one could follow such a great DJ. That was soon proven wrong. All of the DJs have performed the best I have ever seen a DJ perform.

Unlike other clubs, where either only one or two people say hello, I was welcomed by everyone there. I did apply for a job, on my first visit, but was amazed to find that, instead of turning me down, they let me know that I did not meet the requirements of the job. However, they DID give me a shot at being a host, and I was hired.

Be warned, this is an Adult furry club. However, it's not the kind of adult club that is about sexuality and what not. Furrys, and humans alike, come here to hear great music, and just have fun. No one is turned away, and everyone is treated as if they're family.

The design of the club is not simple, and is actually very complex, with each brick having a slightly different texture than the rest (Yes I have looked at the bricks, ha-ha). And the placement of everything is precise and shows how much work was truly put into this club. Even the placement of the dance poles, which are open to everyone as are the tip jars next to them, show that this was not just a random make. It was designed to perfection.

All in all I give this club,

Originality: 5 of 5
Design and Look: 5 of 5
Music: 5 of 5
Staff: 5 of 5
Owner involvement: 4 of 5

In total 24 of 25


TheonlyJohnny

Back to Minecraft Part 2

Earlier this month, I wrote about the continued activity in Nydia Tungsten's Minecraft servers, notably what Jasmine Dawn Shuftan had been doing. Far away from Angel's Village, she had been building a place of her own. Since I first wrote about it, her progress continued.

Jasmine's complex, seen from a log cabin on the outskirts. Note the archery tower to the right, with a flaming netherbrick roof for easy visibility at night.

Jasmine soon made a second archery tower, with the two connected by a glass and iron rail walkway.

 The first level of Jasmine's place, or "Jazzytown" as I dubbed it, which contains some stables. Here's some unusual cows I hadn't seen before, which she called "moo-shrooms."

Looking for monster spawners, she found this zombie one not far from the surface. Since they're not as bad as other hostile mobs, slow and they don't blow up on you, she had the idea of an experience farm.

So she surrounded it with fencing, and the zombies were trapped. She made a ladder, and built around it, including a glass ceiling. Now one could hack and slash the baddies and have the experience orbs fall into your lap, just waiting for new mobs and occasionally having to replace your sword.

And yes, that's my sword. Jasmine tossed me a few diamonds for one. Reminds me a little of being a "rune goon" in Runescape.

While digging her tunnel, Jasmine came across this place, which she named "Strussel Village." I later came back and added this nether portal for quicker access.

While digging the tunnel, Jasmine wanted to take a break, as well as get a few supplies. So we made this waystation that she later dubbed "Havenshire."

And this is where our marathon tunneling session ended, a village northwest of Angels that someone had built a wall around and improved. Not sure who made it or what name it was given. After that, Jasmine's main focus went back to Jazzytown.

While finishing the tunnel, digging west from Angels and south from the walled village, I came across a few obstacles, such as water when coming across rivers. So the way to go was lower, at least until it was past.

Ranchan's ship, due west of Angel's Village. The tunnel went under it, and I built an entrance next to the boat.

"And the twain shall meet." Finally Jasmine's subway from her place to Angel's Village was complete.

Jasmine showing off her place to a neighbor, Skylark and friend, who made their own place north of Angels, and east of Jazzytown. Note the signs showing how far it is to Angels and Strussel.

And Jasmine's latest creation: her "chicken plucker." The fowl in the upper chamber lay eggs, which fall through the water, into dispensers, which lay chicks into the lower chamber. When grown, a user can press the pistons to crush the birdies, "Buck-AWWKK!!" And one gets seperated feathers, meat, and sometimes more eggs.

Small irony it was built by a fox, "Colonel Sanders, eat your heart out!"

And that's it for now from the Angels server.

Bixyl Shuftan

Back to Minecraft

By Bixyl Shuftan

I haven't mentioned too much about Minecraft lately. That doesn't mean things have been quiet there. Nydia Tungsten has continued to keep a presence there. Besides her original server, she also got a second one. This was of a variant of Minecraft called "Feed The Beast," which has more things to build. And "Angels Village" with the other builds was duplicated on it. Then Alynna Vixen and Skylark Lefarve got their own servers, and with another copy of Nydia's map became part of a group of realms which players could freely move from one to another. These were an upgraded version with slightly better graphics. Nydia's original "Vanilla" server was getting only a little traffic.


Then my partner Jasmine got into the act. After she had a talk with Nydia about Minecraft, she gave it a try and began building on her own. Unlike most of Nydia's friends, she preferred the original of Nydia's worlds, and so began leaving her mark there. Unlike myself, who set up a location not far from Angel's Village, Jasmine wanted to go far off. Earlier, Nydia had dug a tunnel about a couple miles long to encourage exploring. Jasmine went down that, and set up a place. With Nydia's help, a portal was set up and in the Nether (to those who don't know, a hellish-looking paraell world Minecrafters use to get resources and travel through as a shortcut) a tunnel was dug through to the Angels' Village own portal. Jasmine was in business.

 I've been going in time to time to check on Jasmine's progress and help her out. But she's done most of the work. She's expanded her original "safe haven" to quite a complex, with a few structures poking up onto the surface. We have done a little exploring. Going into a dungeon area, we stumbled across an abandoned library. The two of us together made off with well over a hundred books, to be used later for an enchanting room.

Thinking of Nydia's tunnel, she wanted to do one of her own. So we both began digging. Two players with iron pickaxes can dig pretty fast, so we made quite a bit of progress. We did find a village about a third of a mile away from Jasmine's place, which she named Streusel village after Nydia's partner Brandi Streusel. After a couple other stops along the way to get wood and other materials, we finally stopped at a large village most of the way over.

Jasmine plans to finish the tunnel, eventually. For now, she's gone back to improving her place, putting in underground gardens, an underground greenhouse with the sun shining through glass on the surface, animal pens, pastures, and an archery tower, taking down those pesky creepers from a distance. I pop back on occasionally, to help her out, work on the tunnels, and maybe work some on finishing the SL Newser office. The unfinished office was duplicated in all three locations, so it does seem I won't be bored for some time as far as Minecraft's concerned.

What's that hissing noise? Oh, great … *BOOM!!*

Bixyl Shuftan

A Tarot Reader in Second Life

By Grease Coakes

One of the things you may of heard in Second Life that there are people who offer tarot readings for various prices. Tarot cards hold mysticism and mystery and maybe even seem exotic to some people. Tarot readings have been used for a few hundred years in Europe to show a probable outcome to a question by a layout of cards.

My friend Amehana Reikaz (Amehana Ishtari) has done many Tarot readings for me for a moderate price of 300L per reading. I joked one time that she did so many readings for me that she’s problary rich by now. Today (April 3^rd) I asked her what my next move should be concerning my children’s book. Lucky timing on my part that when I imed her she said sure.

So I met her in her hang out and asked what I should do now to market myself as an author? Amehana’s first card was the 10 of swords in the spirit position saying that would have to make a sacrifice to further my writing. When I typed my ideas out loud it made sense that I would have my character Ginny Griffin do something that I would not do. That’s a huge sacrifice.

The next card was the empress which Amehana explained as thus, "We have the Empress inverted for the Air position actually. The pregnant empress' robes flow away like the river she's beside, while talking to a white lunar/death dragon. This card for me is often about strength and learning to work within cycles." Maybe it showed I needed strength to move forward and same with my children’s book character that was facing a difficult and unpopular decision.

The next card was the Knight of cups came up inverted or also upside down. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but Amehana explained that to me as two sides of a coin or yin and yang. Meaning that my main character Ginny and a newer character are two opposites.

When I was talking back and forth with Amehana, she was being helpful as I was talking out my ideas for my next book. Amehana is a writer herself so it made perfect sense that I picked her as a tarot reader. When I talked about my book with her and what ideas I had she drew the next card, "The water position has The Sun upright. Although this is traditionally the area of emotions and the psychological state, we have the solar dragon burning brightly. Very active once the fire starts it will take off quickly."

I picked up on that right away meaning the story itself will be easy to write when I get started, but I said for now I’m feeling lazy after writing Dragon Heart’s story. Amehana said that’s understandable. Next question I asked will I run into someone to take my book to the next level. Here’s what she had to say, "The Eight of wands shows a flight of dragons all carrying wands. When you find the right people, they will help. Word of mouth will be important. So make certain to provide a gentle reminder that reviews are appreciated in your back matter."

 

Sounds positive and we both agreed that when I write the sequel which shown by the sun shouldn’t take too long I have a stronger stance as a writer and author. I thanked Amehana for her help and she encouraged me and said you’re welcome as we talked for a little bit afterwards.

Tarot readings even after a few hundred years seem like an interesting way to see what’s going on around you. With a little critical thinking it shows what you should be doing towards whatever goal or what will happen soon. Keep in mind though it’s best to get Tarot card readings from your friends or someone who seems legitimate. 300L is generally the average price for a Tarot card reading (in my experience). If someone asks for a ridiculous amount of Linden it might be a scam. A tarot reading from a friend however may be very insightful though.

Grease Coakes

ApRiL fOoL!!

Happy April Fool's Day from Second Life Newser.

May it be full of merriment, joy, and of course general foolery.

For last year's April Fool, Click Here. For 2011, Click Here. For examples of SLN's April Foolery, Click the following: 2010, 2009, and 2008. 

Bixyl Shuftan

Ghostbusters Sim

By Grease Coakes

 

An iconic movie of the 80’s was the Ghostbusters with Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray. The movie where New York was terrorized by ghosts and the Ghostbusters busted the ghosts with laughs and chills. To most people it’s an entertaining movie. To Kheph777 Enoch he was inspired to take it one step further and create his own sim based upon the Ghostbusters movies.

 I warp in and land in the fire house and by dumb luck there’s the sim owner Kheph777 Enoch. I tell him I write for the SL Newser and he gives me a tour around the SL version of the firehouse where the Ghostbusters hang out at. Down in the basement is the vault of where ghosts are stored like in the movie and also where to buy my very own proton pack and trap. To do battle against slimer and his buddies costs 500L to buy the newest proton pack. There was also Kheph777’s friend Stabitha who helps build around the sim too.

 

I pay the 500L and Kheph777 shows me the tutorial. It’s simpler then it seems to blast ghosts and trap them. First you turn on your proton pack, (Everything is done in a simple HUD) then you grab you proton beam in your hand. You activate your stream and fire away! The tutorial only has you fight a class 1 ghost where you just zap to defeat. Kheph777 then showed me upstairs where there’s a phone where you click to automate a call. Kheph777 took lines from Janine’s phone calls in the movie typed out in text and then you know where to go to fight the fiendish ghost.

 

Fighting a mere spirit in the training was easy, but fighting a live class 3 ghost was tricky. It weaved and dodged my proton blasting for a few minutes hiding behind walls. Eventfully I got the bugger, but I still had to trap him! I had to bring in the ghost by walking my avatar close to the trap and then mouse click the foot pedal to trap him in the energy trap. The cash over my proton pack HUD went up some (cash within the game not Linden).

 

Now that I captured a ghost I have to return to the Ghostbusters firehouse to place the trap and drop off the ghost.  You flick the red switch and the drop box falls down, you insert the trap flip it back up and when the light it green the trap is clean. Fair warning you always want to clean your trap. 

Cash you use for upgrades from Egon’s equipment closet and also to recharge your pack. Kheph777 was telling me that your proton pack has an hour of real time charge so you always want to keep it off unless you’re fighting ghosts. He said it’s happened that Joe Birdsong was fighting ghosts and all of the sudden his proton pack turned off. That must be a pain in the butt I bet!

 

Various upgrades go to your trap capacity and goggles to act as radar to see the ghosts. Oh and fighting ghosts in New York is dangerous when you fight a class 6 or 7 ghost. They can attack you, causing you to lose in game hp/s that you see in your HUD. When you drop to zero and die, you’re penalized by having to recharge your pack for $5,000. Don’t have $5,000? Not to worry there’s a petty cash box in the fire house to help you out. You also have to recharge your pack when your hour of battery life is used up.

 

Kheph777 wants to create stronger ghosts like the staypuft marshmallow man to be a bigger challenge. Also there’s a lot of detail in the sim in not only the firehouse but all over like the keymaster and gatekeeper’s apartments. The call I took was at the hotel where the ghostbusters fought slimer. There’s also the library with the gray ghost lady. When I typed something I got a text message saying shhhh!

 

Kheph777 also says his sim is "light RP," meaning you can roleplay as a Ghostbuster or whatever you like. But it’s not required you can come in and fight ghosts by yourself or with your friends just being yourself. When you want to take a break from fighting ghosts there’s also a movie theater showing the first Ghostbusters film and Ghostbusters 2. There’s even the Ecto 1 car sitting in the firehouse for you to drive around to whatever location to reach your call. Zheph777 thought of everything to add realism to the Ghostbusters universe. There was even Zuul and the demon dogs.

 

There’s plenty to do here if you want to try something different even if you’re not a fan of the Ghostbusters. This is the right place for die-hards too who love the series as there’s even voice emotes you can activate from your proton pack HUD as the speech balloon icon. Oh by the way for kicks I tried to trap a ghost in my trap when I already had a ghost. There was a white explosion as my pixel Grease Coakes fell over and died. Luckily I had enough cash to recharge my pack Stabitha kept saying “I want to see him die!” To see my digital death I’d say it was worth blowing the $5,000 in game cash. 

 

The sim itself is loads of fun to play around in I recommend checking out this exciting sim.

 

The Ghostbusters sim and "Light RP" is at Slime Square, Whatever Burg (77, 92, 27). The group has a page on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/GBRPSL . The sim was also featured in a Ghostbusters fan website last month, ghostbustersnews.com (article here).

 

Grease Coakes

 

 

A Day in Second Life

By Grease Coakes

One day Xavier Thiebaud, one of the owners of the A-List, asked me to write out what I did in Second Life as a blog. Writing a blog constantly would be taxing over time. Xavier had a point though that people may be interested in what goes on in a furry’s doings on Second Life, especially one who hops between human and furry hangouts and activities.

So I figured I’d write about a Saturday where I had a few things lined up. For starters on a Saturday morning is brahma yoga class at 4 AM SLT which is 7 AM my time east coast time. The morning class on Saturday is the bajons or spiritual dancing with some meditation. I woke up on time and was frustrated that my Guru Pramiil Magne wasn’t online. 

Not that I can blame him he’s been busy with his job in real life. Despite that my fellow classmates and I decided to meditate without him. Aldaida said she liked my shirt with a picture of Watabou from dragon warrior monsters 1. She called it an alien, but it’s really a tree spirit from the video game. I was in meditation for a short while and I snapped out of it refreshed. I stuck around though and I wanted to prepare a notecard for a tailsale later in the day for IYC. 

I explained about tail sales in an earlier article. I talked with my friends after they got out of meditation for a bit. Celtic wanted to talk about things in her real life so I stopped and listened. When she logged off I warped to AX for a fave event I like to attend. I warped there and left my avatar there as I went afk to grab some breakfast.

After grabbing a bowl of cereal and a soda, no one is at AX yet. Do I look at my notices and DJ Starfall is playing at IYC. I warp over and I hear some awesome trance. Even at 5:30AM SL time, the dance floor is filled with various avatars shaking their tails. Not a lot of them are talking though, so I IM the DJ Ohni Starfall and say a lot of them are afk or in IM/s. He agrees with me. I let his trance relax me as I do my dailies for neopets. When it’s close to 6AM SL time,  I warp back to AX and see Dj Aurora Avila dance with one of her friends Jamaris Pawpaw.

DJ Aurora, in my opinion, is the queen of video game music as she plays a wide variety of video game remixes along with Asian music. She was the first person I reported on for the SL Newser when Bixyl hired me back in January last year. When anyone tips Aurora you’ll get a surprise if you haven’t been to her DJ sets before. DJ Aurora starts her set and suddenly I get an IM.

Spencer Mactire asks “Wait, were you just holding fire?”

I say, “Yes that’s my chat AO. I have lots of them."

Spencer says “That’s cool…” He also says hi to the readers when I tell him his comment is going in my article. I bring up a comment about Iron Man versus Samus Aran (the woman bounty hunter you play as from Metroid) Aurora has this to say as she’s a big fan of the Metroid series. 

[06:09] Aurora Avila: But I know Samus, and Lord knows that if she fights Iron Man, she'll be walking out with about half his modifications customized into her suit, and with a shiny new Repulser Beam. 

I think Tony Stark will have a bad day if he fights the Metroid hunter.

Listening to Aurora’s video game tunes, I decide to play Hubrid’s Hero heist. The worst game you can play in neopets if you want to earn neopoints as quickly as possible as a full game takes a ½ hour or so. It is fun to play in my opinion though, and I have a gold champion trophy in that game sitting on my neopets user lookup as greasy711. Sadly I play a lousy game. But it’s not all bad as I still hold the top score in rink runner of 534.

With expert mouse clicking while listening to Aurora’s music I do much better at rink runner. I asked a lady in a wild crux avatar named Sonicblue Dudek to slow dance with me. She says sure.

Over time the club fills up with various furries as I multitask chatting with people in the club and playing various neopets games earning neopoints. Fun is had by all while everyone hangs out listening to Aurora’s music.

At the end of Aurora’s DJ set I start playing Extreme Herder off neopets, and wanting faster music I warp over to Dance Island. When I started my Grease Coakes account I used to go Tj Icey’s a lot for the club music. Today it’s now Dance Island which features a bunch of DJ/s playing various genres. Dance Island is known for a lot of gestures but it doesn’t bother me as I’m used to Dance Island being an emote fest along with the music.

I click a dance a ball as I say hi to Deirdre Masala who hangs out a lot there. I jam to the trance being played by Bel Air and I start playing more Extreme Herder. My highest score in extreme herder was 353 today which is a good score but not high enough to reach the top scores. I see a notice at Book Island the sim dedicated to books and promoting your own literary works. The event is Jackson Arthur hosting a book discussion at 10am SLT. I leave Dance Island and wander around Book Island instead.

Using my mini map I find a bunch of green dots and hear a man’s voice over voice chat. So I join in and see a group of people sitting around a round table. Looking at Arthur’s top hat makes me think of Simon Linden. He’s one of the Lindens I met in SL and I found his teddy bear. He also asked about moles in SL and Olivia Whitsend answered that moles are a group in SL headed by the Lindens as a public works group.

Brokali, a blue alien, mentioned he was organizing 75 stories about food. Over voice chat he was geeking out about vegetables. He said that the definition of geeking was to be focused on a hobby or interest as their thing. I said jokingly then I geek out about neopets. Olivia said her kids also play neopets so I said my grey neopet will destroy their pets! Arthur said that doesn’t sound good and I joked no it doesn’t ha-ha!

I discussed my children’s book with the group and how I had to rework my book on lulu a few times to get it right. Also how I found an artist to draw for the cover as Arthur was saying he didn’t want to work with covers. A lot of the book discussion covered writing and ways to get published.

When the event was over I was invited to another book Island event, but I declined saying I wanted to go IYC for their tail sale event at 12noon SLT. The sim had to restart but I warped back with ease. A while later IYC got their tail sale under way as I warped through a ball to a waiting area. I joined a separate group IYC tail 4 sale when I was accepted to be sold as a tail for IYC.  

At 12 noon SLT things were still being sorted out as everyone waited for the first tail to go up for sale. The tail sale got a late start as Havok Muircastle wanted to grab more buyers into the sim and kick off the afk avatars. At 12:30 SL time they finally got the tail sale started as Havok spoke out the rules over Voice chat. One thing about tail sales it take a long time as each tail being sold is stretched out being bid on going once, twice, and then a third time.

Many furries ahead of me went for various amounts of Linden of 3k or so. A majority of the sales were offering art work or adult services like the article I wrote earlier on the AX tail sale. Atheu Blindside ahead of me was offering scripting and building weapons was bought by TeiTei for 2,500. I went up next and I can’t move! The sim screwed with my avatar so I could not sit on the podium to be sold. However amazingly, I had high bids and I was finally sold for 5k to Dragonheart. I warped to a sim on my picks then back and I IMed Dragonheart about what she wanted and she was interested in my writing ability. Then DragonHeart kept going and bid on KJ, a girl furry for her artistic ability, for 32,000L!

Jenny of the Sunweavers asked for a DJ for Club Cutlass, so I volunteered. Rita needed my DJ stream so I sent her the DJ information I bought from shoutcast. Then I checked my friends list and my Guru Pramiil Magne was online! Cool. I was excited that he was able to come online for class as I enjoy meditation class with him. I had an intense meditation but I quickly left class to set up my DJ stream with Rita and Jenni of the Sunweavers.

I played a good balance of disco/70’s/60’s and what I usually play for the Sunweavers crowd. I made a fair amount of tips as I played songs like "Hotel California" by the Eagles and "American Pie" by Don McLean. I played a few video game remixes and some House, but I also remembered the audience I was playing for and played disco etc. But the last song I played was a video game remix based upon the first Mega Man.

All in all it was a busy day for me as Grease Coakes in Second Life.  There’s many things to do and experience here on the Grid. Don’t limit yourself to one club or one thing. I guess that’s the moral of this article, if there is one, is just enjoy life and do what you enjoy.

Grease Coakes