This bus is under attack. Please dial 999.

Apparently there are tons of OverheardIn-Websites out in the deep darknesses of the internet. I've only looked at a couple of them from Britain. They are deeply entertaining, particularly the London one. I love the idle comments that bus/tube drivers make over their speakers. It made me remember some of the nice accents and funny comments of the Ryanair and Easyjet captains on the planes, and also the conversation of an American dad with his son in the Collosseum in Rome (of which, unfortunately, I only remember that it was about a cat that could cross the boundaries to the restricted section of the Collosseum).

I've felt like going away again for a bit recently. It's probably just because it's winter and my last medieval fair has been months ago, and now there aren't any fairs nearby, so I can't go off for a weekend and have fun with like-minded people. Right now I'm just glad that my D&D group in Salzburg works out so well. The guys are really nice and work well together, so I'm always looking forward to meeting up.

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Apparently this video showing the WoW GM powers has been going around and depressing some players. I'm not a WoW player, so I guess I'm not so emotionally involved. Still, it surprises me that such a video would gain such interest and cause such emotions. The powers shown in the video are far from surprising - basic stuff that, I reckon, GMs/developers in all online games can do (I could in the games that I GMed). I also always thought that most players are aware that GMs can do stuff like that, and everybody I asked has agreed with me.
This is interesting: People know about the GM powers, have always known about them, but seeing them in action still depresses them. One reply I got was that "It's depressing to see how one line of command has the same effect as weeks of work for me". Well, if you consider levelling "work" then there're already some issue arising, I think (as a game's a game and work's work, and work can be fun, but games being work is a different thing altogether).

People don't consider that, while you can do that stuff as a GM, you really can't do it for your own character (or if you do, Blizzard hopefully fires you instantly). It's not that much fun anyway. When you can change your character's level at will, the level doesn't matter anymore, because you lose your goals (of gaining levels) - and goals are the most important factor to keep playing, at least for most players. In the end these powers mean nothing to you. Enjoying yourself while playing no matter what level you are is more important then (and if there's a community, the focus shifts from the levelling to the community).

I think you get better off if you enjoy playing and interacting instead of working on gaining the next level.

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So ... I'll try to post at least one picture with every post from now on (even if it's just a crappy sketch with bad anatomy, like ... today). Just to make this blog more artsy again and to force me to practice more. I do really need it.