03:56 EST
We're expecting some upgrade downtime to occur sometime in the next 12-24 hours. We are attempting a major upgrade to the forum and we will need to take the forum down for backups and, possibly, replacement. More info when I figure it out.
- The Management
01:00 EST
Hell hasn't frozen over, but it's probably having a cold snap right about now. The RPG Realm now has its very own Facebook group.
It's open to anyone, so if you're feelin' the urge to join...
Well, do it! Join us in our... social networking shame.
14:55 EST
22:13 EST
The Realm may not be constantly online during this period of time. Our forum is on another server and will not be affected. If you are seriously bored, I suggest bookmarking the forum address.
22:45 EST
With tribbles.
18:58 EST
Also of note, our search script is not working and may not be back up until we have moved to our new host. AIT has told me that it is the source of our script-kiddie problems and it has been deleted.
There will be another update when the forum is back up, and thank you for your patience!
11:26 EST
Sorry to anyone who might have gotten a virus today, that said run your virus checkers. For a while today, at least till 1020 am Central, we had a enhanced metafile vulnerablility hacked onto our front page. Alex may have more info later in the day, but as of now, all staffers need to be on alert and may want to get Alex to change their ftp passwords to something w/ at least 2 numbers and 2 special characters (though even that wont stop hackers if they really want to hack). That being said, any body who visited the front page this morning needs to run a virus scan and/or a trojan scanner to make sure they didnt fall victim to the emf vulnerability.
00:53 EST
I'm just taking a moment to introduce a new staffer, my good friend Pariah. He's just recently become
At the moment he's going through a crash-course of HTML, CSS, and eventually PHP and MySQL. How often he interacts with you guys is really going to be up to him and you, so I don't know that it will make an obvious difference, but on behalf of the Realm, we're glad to welcome him aboard.
---
Alex
23:56 EST
Luke Skywalker has returned to his home
planet of Tatooine in an attempt to rescue
his friend Han Solo from the clutches of the
vile gangsters Mr. Squirmgle and Shirow Wolf.
Little does Luke know that the RPG
REALM has secretly begun construction on a
new armored forum even more powerful
than the first dreaded Ikonboard.
When completed, this ultimate weapon will
spell certain doom for the small band of
Rebels struggling to restore freedom to the
galaxy...
13:33 EST
23:01 EST
00:24 EST
21:42 EST
21:36 EST
Shirow Wolf's review of Dragon Ball Z -- Budokai Tenkaich'i is now up, and it's a monster.
By that I mean, long, not bad.
01:55 EST
Right now, our Ikonboard forum -- the one that everyone uses -- is in terrible shape. The database that we were using seems to have been corrupted, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get everything back. The user accounts seem to have survived, and much of what most people commented in seems to have somehow survived, but in a personal affront the slow forum-style GURPS game has been completely wiped from existence. My attempt to save the database by converting the forum from DBM (an old Unix-style format) to MySQL (A much nicer standard database) has been thwarted by AIT demanding $30 for a way to access our MySQL database that was supposedly included in the monthly fee. This also nixes any future that the Realm would have with this host.
In lieu of returning the Forum to its former glory, I'm going to take part of the weekend to make it functional again. I haven't made any decisions about what to do with it when we inevitably swap hosts, but if anyone has anything to suggest, I'd like to hear it.
I'd also like to sincerely apologize for any and every inconvenience this has caused. I'd like to reiterate -- every user that existed prior to last week still exists, as do your post counts. All your friends will still be here. It's just going to take me a few days to clean up the mess.
Also, if anyone has any experience with hosting companies that 1. are cheap, 2. are reliable, and 3. offer scripting and database support, I would absolutely love to hear about it. I have some candidates, but this is the first time I've ever gone looking for a new host. I don't really know what I'm doing.
Email me if you feel the urge to yell at me, you've got any suggestions, or you have any questions. I should be around all weekend.
18:05 EST
00:30 EST
02:25 EST
It's finals time... has been for a week, and will be for the next week. So I've got to focus on that.
That's not to say that I don't have things I could be doing for the Realm; believe it or not, Shirow Wolf actually sent me reviews to put up! I have reviews of my own to write. But it will wait until next weekend.
As a side note, I just finished learning PHP and MySQL, and I must admit -- it is INFINITELY nicer than the poorly-cobbled-together database I made myself. I can already see all the uses I can put it to. There may be PHP in the Realm's future.
15:03 EST
A while back I put up another Ionic Mind review, this time of the GBA game "Megaman Battle Network". You can read it here: Megaman Battle Network.
Our release dates have been automated; no more messy HTML updating for us. This means that Shirow Wolf (who gave me the updated release dates) can now update things himself. Hopefully this means that one more section of the site has become more relevant.
19:22 EST
This does not mean that I'm leaving the Realm. I still think it is great to check in once in a while, but I gotta say that my interest in the world of roleplaying games and fantasy have almost completely vanished in the recent years. I have little, if any, interest in the gaming world and thus I don't see myself doing much good except for being the only staff member from Europe.
Keep up the good work Alex!
So, that's all. See you on the Realm forum.
12:16 EST
One of our staff members (I haven't figured out WHO, yet) or, alternately, a computer user using the same computer as one of our staff members, was gullible enough to open an attachment in a virus email. They have since gotten the latest version of the SoBig virus, which tells people that it's an email from either the FBI or the CIA and that you've done something bad (or had your IP logged, or need to read the attached message, etc...).
As a result, our email servers are down. We cannot read any email sent to us until further notice.
I would highly recommend that our visitors and staff all use common sense when looking at email. No, the FBI or the CIA are not going to email you. And no, if you are sent an email, the message is NOT going to be in an attachment.
Please please PLEASE use a secure email client. DO NOT use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express! If you do, YOU are responsible for the consequences -- which, if you're not careful, WILL INVOLVE GETTING VIRUSES. Good alternatives include Mozilla Thunderbird (This is what I use, it's free), Foxmail (Terrible download server, but excellent program. Also free.), or Eudora (Free versions exist).
01:39 EST
What brings this up is that Ionic Mind has sent us some commentary on the ESRB, and you can read it here.
Archmagi1 added his own article a while back and again, didn't tell anyone! You can read that here.
I hope to have the whole "frames" mess and the "our layout is hard to use" mess and the "where did everything go" problem fixed with the new layout, which I'm still working on. I'd like to have it up soon, but I'm more interested in getting it right, so no promises yet.
So spend your free time reading the articles!
11:24 EST
01:44 EST
Well, I've finally had a tiny bit of time to myself, and I've been playing again. Featured is Soul Calibur 3. I just got it in from EB, and you can see my first impressions here.
03:04 EST
Jack Thompson has been committing character assassination, shrilly advocating points of view that have no basis in reality, and threatening people with arrest when they call him on it. In my humble opinion, he is the worst kind of scum that humanity has to offer. At least most criminals understand that what they do is wrong; Mr. Thompson is so far gone as to think that he cannot be wrong, even though it's apparent to everyone else that he is crazy. I mean, this man cannot even understand how email works.
Recently, Jack Thompson was called in for a brief commentary about NFL Blitz on CNN -- specifically, Anderson Cooper's 360. Now, I kinda like Mr. Cooper, but whoever's bright idea this was to bring Mr. Thompson on the air didn't do their homework, and they're just feeding this man's twisted ego.
In short, my request is this: Please email CNN and tell them not to bring Mr. Thompson back on the air. This link goes directly to CNN's feedback page.
I'm not asking anyone to do this blindly -- if you would like to see what kind of nut I'm talking about, here are some links.
- Penny Arcade news, 10-18-05.
- Joystiq.com, Thompson breaks his word on what was already a ridiculous idea
- GamePolitics.com - even the NIMF can't agree with Jack's methods
There are many, many more links but I need to get to bed. If you have any questions or random comments, just email me. All you gotta do is click the image and fill out the form.
20:40 EST
All I know is that most people still seems to be around somewhere. I know that Theogal is occupied with trying to reinvent the site and such. I also know that Shirow is our absolutely most frequent poster in the forum and that myself and arch drop in once in a while to see what's happening. Where TQ, Shinlord, Carrot and Arkwin are in the world, I don't know.
I made this update solely to show any visitors that we're still here. We're really really busy, but we're still here. Just so you know!
/ "Dal"
20:08 EST
17:53 EST
The "click to email" script may not work until further notice. No guarantees either way.
Sorry for the trouble!
19:34 EST
16:25 EST
Explanation:
Apache is sort of the OS that runs the servers we're on.
A Kernel is sort of the operating code...
I don't know exactly what the Apache Kernel attack is, but I'll find out later. I don't know for sure that AIT is to blame, but apache is generally very secure. Right now I'm inclined to believe that they didn't patch.
23:37 EST
23:58 EST
Not much else to report for now, this took almost all day yesterday and today. Enjoy!
20:45 EST
12:33 EST
I've finished coding the scripts for our links page, and they are now automated. (oooh, aaah...) It's now a breeze for us to add and edit links. Eventually you'll be able to sort them and automatically suggest links, but for now if you want to add a link email one of the staff, okay?
Also, Tiger Queen and I have been working on the Forum. I would place it at around 70% completed. It will be up on or before Friday night, EST.
Also, I have deleted our old Message Board. It hurts -- we've had it for six and a half years now. But no one was using it for anything but ROM requests, and that's not what we're here for.
I also have a press build of Dungeon Lords to review. I'll have stuff to talk about with it soon!
22:35 EST
09:09 EST
It's all better now, though, and many apologies for that!
You'll notice the "read this entry" link on the left side -- this is new. If you wish to look at any entry individually, click on this link and, well, that's it!
Worth noting is that from now on, we'll be using both the full entry and a shorter summary for every news item. The summaries are what you'll see on the RSS feed and on the front page, while the longer ones you'll see on the archives and in the full entry view.
Don't forget to subscribe to our RSS feed if you haven't already!
11:15 EST
This will be linked to from the RSS feed as well, although I haven't worked out all the kinks yet...
08:09 EST
The big change for today is that I've finished updating the Release Dates page. Looking for a particular game? It's easy as all get-out to find it here. If you see any spelling errors or the like let me know.
Also, automating the Links page is about 30% completed. No Pen and Paper updates from me until I'm done with automating "updates" for the P&P, sorry.
And as a final note, we are now insufficiently copyright protected for the new year. :)
Speaking of which, I hope everyone enjoyed winter break, and good luck in the new year!
14:29 EST
Shortcut: Character Resources
00:41 EST
I guess we'll call it beta.
We'll see how it goes.
21:25 EST
You may or may not notice that the links look a little differently. That's recent.
More recent is the update to the Pen and Paper page. At the moment it doesn't have much new content, but I spent the day programming a drop-down menu for it (to replace the one I borrowed from a scripts site). I've also added "Pen and Paper" to our news database. Hopefully this will help keep the clutter down.
22:31 EST
20:00 EST
I haven't finished adding the Gaming News content to the new database yet. That should be happening tomorrow, and at the same time I'll be redoing the Pen and Paper and Features pages.
10:40 EST
First, I've got a new article up. It's not so much an article as it is an introduction to some reviews which will be going up shortly.
Also, Dalamar is officially on the inactive list. We've all been taking a break, his is now just more official.
14:04 EST
13:51 EST
link: The Death of all that is sacred!!!!
14:47 EST
linkage: EFF reports
21:41 EST
Yay for freedom of press against the big man! Reported on Slashdot. Many of you may not have heard, but recently announced, the website HardOCP has won the lawsuit matter with Infinium Labs! And also, not mentioned in the article, but mentioned by the webmaster of the place the article (currently /.'ed and thus overloaded server) said 3 of infiniums employees have recently quit for reasons which include a late paycheck. all i have to say is HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! thats what big business gets for screwing with videogamers (i still dont believe the phantom will ever exist).
linkage: Victory for Press! Note: Link may still have server overload.
00:07 EST
But, speaking of backgrounds... we have a new one for the main page! :D So now Dalamar can kindly stop complaining about the blue squiggles... ;P
21:17 EST
Neverwinter Nights : Hordes of the Underdark review
Enjoy - and have a nice weekend.
12:27 EST
07:00 EST
15:24 EST