The Gophur Hole

From Russia with Love

2008-06-09T09:29:00.001-05:00

You've probably heard about this one before. The Russian built anti-tank cluster bomb which can penetrate the top armor of every tank known to exist and 39 of its closest friends all at once. This little gem is affectionaltly refered to as a can of whoop ass. /agree

Thanks DT

Aniversary Week Goings On

2008-06-06T15:48:00.001-05:00

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Day 1- June 6th, 2008

WELCOME BACK SOLDIER
Playnet is inviting all previous players to enjoy 7 days of free game time between June 6th and June 13th. Tens of thousands of accounts will be activated for the promotion.
more details <

14-DAY FREE TRIAL
From June 6th through June 13th, new players can create a 14-day FREE trial account and to celebrate our anniversary, there is no credit card required to sign-up and at the end of the free trial, we're giving you a an activation key ($19.99 value) FOR FREE!
more details <

Day 2- June 7th

BLITZKRIEGERS VS THE WORLD!
Here's a chance for all our veteran players to really show their stuff! All players who have the 'B' or 'B1" decal are invited to join a special veteran's brigade. This elite brigade will dig into Area 51 and challenge the world. They will be hard pressed to hold against wave upon wave of fresh-faced recruits eager to prove their mettle on the battlefield. Who will emerge supreme? Only you can decide! Log into the Battleground Europe Training server on June 7th for a battle to remember!
more details <

Day 3- June 8th

HIGH SCORE WINNER - WE'LL MAKE YOU FAMOUS!
The highest scoring fighter pilot on June 8th will win an incredibly unique prize: Their own face immortalized in game! Don't miss this opportunity to have your likeness digitized and added to the Battleground Europe catalogue of avatar faces. Log in on June 8th and rid the skies of your enemies!
more details <

REALISM EVENT- OPERATION SEA LION
The Realism Event team is a group of players who volunteer tremendous amounts of time to create special events and recreations of World War II battles. The team is hosting an event of June 8th dubbed "OPERATION SEA LION".

The Axis High Command has captured the mainland of Europe and have set their sights on the capture of England to control all of Europe. Months of planning, preparation, training, and gathering of troops and equipment have come to a close and it's time now for "Operation Sea lion" to commence. The England invasion orders have been issued and dispatched to the troops.

Full details of the event can be found in the Realism Event forums. Please sign up and help make this event memorable!
more details <

Day 4- June 9th

HIGH SCORE WINNER - WE'LL MAKE YOU FAMOUS! (PART DEUX)
Here's the chance for ground pounders to make their mark in Battleground Europe: The top scoring infantry player for June 9th will have their face digitized and entered into the catalogue of game avatars. So log in, pick up a weapon, and hit the battlefield to scrap it out for this great prize!
more details <

Day 5- June 10th

KILL-A-RAT
Everybody's favorite! Add 3 Rat (Game Staff) kills to your CS&R (ststs) and earn bragging rights, a T-shirt and a shot at a free year of gameplay! An announcement will be made as to which part of the map The Rats will be located. Don't worry, they're splitting up and fighting for both the Allies and the Axis. T-shirts will be awarded for 3 kills on a Rat and the grand prize is a one-year free subscription.
more details <

Day 6- June 11th

THE RATS LAST STAND
Cornered Rats in name, Cornered Rats in reality...The premise is simple: The Rats have infested Willemstad Castle, and the community must exterminate them. The Rats have taken refuge in the castle and must hold it at all cost until a transport ship From Hellevoetsluis arrives to withdraw them to Cromstrijen. If Willemstad is captured before the transport ship arrives and the Rats cannot make good their escape, the community claims victory! If the Rats holds against the unwashed horde and can board the transport, then all shall bow before their might!

2pm - Rats will play Axis
8pm - Rats will play Allied

A few hours prior to the beginning of the event, there will be a sytem message reminding players to log in to the training server to begin this titanic struggle.
more details <

Day 7- June 12th

SERVER-WIDE CEASE FIRE
Battleground Europe may be the most immersive and realistic war game you can play, but it pales drastically in comparison to the real thing. Join us in-game at 2pm and 8pm CST to quietly honor all of the men and women in the armed forces around the world who served and sacrificed during World War II. Axis and Allied players are requested to meet on the bridge at Dinant for a 15-minute peaceful gathering and memorial service.
more details <

We hope that you all enjoy the celebration. The staff at Playnet and Cornered Rat Software is thankful for your continued support of BATTLEGROUND EUROPE. We look forward to providing you with many more years of quality gaming.

SALUTE!

Happy 7th WWIIOL

2008-06-06T15:06:00.002-05:00

Big seven years for us today. There aren;t many around that can say that. All in all I'd have to say I'm very proud to be a part of this project. Sure, there are other things I'd like to do and I wish I had the resources to make this game more than it is but you know what? WWIIOL is a great game, the community that supports us is amazing and the people that I've had the opportunity to work with past and present are amazing. I get up every morning smiling at the chance to go to work. That is the biggest prize of all. Thank you to all of our players, past and present for allowing us to make this amazing game.

From today's Newsletter

REMEMBER WHEN?

Many people have contributed to the success of WWIIOL over the years. Former Senior Producer Chris "MO" Sherland and CRS President John "KILLER" MacQueen remember what those early days were like:

"One of the things I'll never forget is designing the game on a park bench in Grapevine TX over the course of about a month." MO recalls. "We just had yellow pads and pencils...it was a super creative time."

"The most striking aspect (of WWIIOL)", KILLER muses "is that much of the team was from a background of multiplayer gaming going back into the 1980's long before even many in the games industry had any idea MMOG games existed."

One of the things that sticks out about the first development cycle for MO was the first test of the physics model: "Actually seeing a vehicle moving in the world gave us all a huge boost in confidence. Of course the first attempt is always perfect fodder for stories, HOOF had built a A6M Japanese Zero that went about Mach 1.5!!"

While KILLER wasn't overly surprised at the following the game drew when it was announced ("The idea of an MMOG war sim has been a dream of alot of simulation players"), MO found it exhilarating. "We were all blown away. Strategy First did a great job at marketing the launch...it was amazing to see that many folks signing up."

WWIIOLs launch wasn't exactly smooth, something many early MMOs suffered from at that time. "We couldn't just come out and explain that our ISP screwed the pooch and left us hanging", KILLER says. "It just wouldn't be appropriate so we just took it on the chin. Everything else was down to developing on a budget a fraction of what is typically spent on an MMO and some shortcomings that fell out of that." MO agrees: "I'd love to have had another 6 months of development, as well as been settled with our ISP. Those two thing could have made a huge impact on the launch."

WWIIOL a.k.a BATTLEGROUND EUROPE has outlasted many MMOs and is still going strong. The scope of the project still fires the imaginations of players. MO's pride in his participation is evident: "CRS took on the first (and possibly only real) virtual battlefield. It is still the only source of realistic combined arms combat available and that is what makes it so special. To have been part of the team that realized that vision is something I'll be proud of for the rest of my life". That pride is mirrored by KILLER: "Taking gaming where it has never gone before in terms of sheer scale of a game world and total PvP on a scale of combined arms that we have done. It's very cool to have experienced getting that accomplished."

QUICK LINKS

EVENTS SCHEDULE

ORDER AN ANNIVERSARY TSHIRT!

WELCOME BACK SOLDIER

Some Links from the Masses:
WWII Online: Battleground Europe Celebrates 7 Years Online
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA

World War II Online 7th Anniversary Celebration Begins
Inside Mac Games - Franklin,TN,USA

Battleground Europe: WWII Online: 7th Year Promotion
By news@mmorpg.com

Battleground Europe: WWII Online: 7th Year Promotion on MMORPG.com
By RSS Feed

World War II Online - 7th Anniversary!

JT Going Out with a BANG!

2008-06-06T12:09:00.002-05:00

Everyone's favorite anti-gaming lawyer, Jack "Machine Gun" Thimpson has finally done something that makes me smile. Sure his usual antics make me giggle at his sheer ineptitude but now he has gone and threatened to get the Judge presiding over his disbarment trial and the entire Florida Supreme Court removed from office. LOLerz. That Jack, what a nut. Apparently they al have forged loyalty oaths. Can you believe it? here's the gem:

The consequence of
all of this post facto oath taking is that all that the Florida Supreme
Court has done in this case is invalid and will be voided, and if you
think I will not accomplish that end then a) you do not understand the
lawsuit already filed, and b) you don’t know Jack.

What a wholesome fun loving game that was. I fear Jack may really be in the pickle this time. What a loss it would be for the community of gamers if we were to loose this valuable source of free entertainment content. Luckily JT is calling on his friends Clinton and Obama to aid him. that kinda sounds like Aquaman calling on the Wonder Twins to form an ice bucet filled with water but whatever Super Jack. For the full read...

Link

New Killer Bot

2008-06-04T10:23:00.001-05:00

For some reason this bot reminds me of playing Crusader back in the day. The little spider bot bomb was my fav. I guess the new 350 pound MAARS is probably a bit more action packed. You may remember this guy in the news recently as accidentally firing on some friendly troops. Accident they say? Yeah, u-huh. Everyone knows robots, especially the completely non-sentient, remote controlled kind have nothing on their mind but destroying all humans! Oh, this post merely exists to test my new ScribeFire plug-in. If you want more about the bot though...

Link

Want!

2008-05-16T13:13:00.000-05:00

mobilefortress.jpg (JPEG Image, 677x480 pixels)

W00 H00 Time to Shoot Hookers!!!...?

2008-04-29T10:05:00.002-05:00

GTA IV comes out today kids, but you already knew that. Jack Thompson is on the rampage again. You probably already guessed that. Hot coffee? Nah, he doesn't need that this time around. This time, IGN supplies the juice by means of pre-release vid. There's nothing really here that wasn't in the others except it is ratcheted up a notch and shown back to back. Hookers and strippers, hit and runs and drive bys. Nothing here to see kids.

I'm a free speech kinda guy but honestly, I really hope that when the newsies write their inevitable stories tomorrow about how the games biz is taking Hollyw00t for a ride, they don't have too many lines about how we are destroying the yewts. Hate to say Jack is right, kinda, but this stuff really ain't for kids. I'm pretty sure I'll get an extra day in heck for saying that.

Campaign Stats

2008-04-23T11:24:00.003-05:00

We've been mulling over the campaigns and some upcoming rule changes in the office as we are wont to do and Bloo put together some nice charts I though I would share. The info from these is readily available at Battleground Tools.

Victories:

Average Campaign Length: All-Time: 36 Days
Moving Average Currently: ~42 Days

All-Time Total: 49
Axis: 29 (60%)
Allied: 19 (39%)
Truce: 1 (2%)
(Percentages rounded)

Last 10 Campaigns (back to 2/21/2007, during which 1.25 was released):
Axis: 3 (30%)
Allied: 6 (60%)
Truce: 1 (10%)

This shows the winners and losers of each of the campaigns and how long they lasted. We use this to cross check with RDP cycle times and what not and of course look for trends. Of course charts can;t ever tell the whole tale as they don;t cover things like morale but they are interesting. Longer campaigns tend to be won by the Axis. Shorter campaigns tend to be won by the Axis. Since ToEs the Allies have had their first real strings of victories. I love pondering these types of numbers. What are your thoughts?

Thanks to Bloo for the data.

20 Reasons Not to Play D&D 4e

2008-04-17T11:57:00.001-05:00

The guys at Topless Robot have an awesome take on some of the changes for DD4E. I'd been following it lightly and planning on running a game around the office when it comes out but...

No Half-Orcs? No Bards? No half naked Succubus on p.230 of the DM Guide? WTF!

The read is a nice little romp through the nostalgia for some of the finer points of DD1E. Sure I won't miss THAC0 but if I can't continue the legacy of Grukk the Half-Orc barbarian and his faithful pal Piffin Fandershall, Gnone Illusionist, well then, I just don't think I'll play. Maybe it's time for more Hackmaster...

Thanks for the link Bloo.
Topless Robot - A 20-Point Letter of Protest Regarding the New 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons (from a Gnome and a Half-Orc)

All I want for Christmas...

2008-04-08T13:32:00.002-05:00

Is a PAINTBALL TANK!!1! Utter brilliance. This guys takes DIY to glorious new heights. I think they can pretty much just stop Maker Faire at this point. No more crocheted Flying Spaghetti Monsters needed TYVM. Thanks to Bloo and Ahwulf for the linkage.

WWIIOL Damage Video

2008-04-03T15:59:00.002-05:00

This is an oldie but a goodie recently redone with some voice over by our resident croc wrangler, a.k.a. DOC. This video really shows the guts of the sim, showcasing our damage and ballistics. You'll notice no hitpionts or look up tables are used. This, gentlemen, is the real deal. We'll be redoing this with the new graphics engine upgrade and the new models in the near future.

Digg It

2008-03-24T12:10:00.001-05:00

I feel compelled to throw out a call for Diggs. Lockheed has thrown a DMCA take down notice to TurboSquid over an artists sculpture of a WWII bomber posted on the site. TurboSquid, as you may know, is an outlet for artists to offer their work for sale. Needless to say, not only did our tax dollars fund the design and production of this aircraft but at heart this is a work of art for sale, no different than buying a calendar in the back of a warbird magazine. Lockheed has tried this copyright infringement crapola before. They tend to try and pick on the little guys.

Digg - DMCA abuse: 3D art is "trademark infringement."

Giga Gophur

2008-03-16T14:38:00.002-05:00

It's all about exposure don't you know. I'll be on Giga TV this afternoon (night for you eoros) talking about BE or WWIIOL or whatever you wish to call this massively multi-player online first-person shooter strategy role playing game (MMO, MMOFPS, MMORPG ?) that we all so dearly love to live and breath.

I have no idea what they will ask me. I have no idea what the program format is like to be. I have no idea how to actually watch this from the office in Bedford...

What I do know is that for a small independent game developer and defacto publisher this is huge. I also know that Greni and Hofnarr will be on set to show off the game. Hope you cats can tune in.

BEGM: Battleground Europe Game Monitor

2008-03-14T10:27:00.000-05:00

The latest version of BEGM is out. If you play WWIIOL (I still never think of it as Battleground Europe) then you owe it to yourself to take a look at this amazingly cool tool. Many hats off to Xiper for doing this. His map is SWEET.

BEGM: Battleground Europe Game Monitor

"Kbar" from CinC to Ink

2008-03-12T10:59:00.004-05:00

Rob "Kbar" Kauder has been a long time member of the WWIIOL community. He came to the MMO as a day one player if I recall correctly. He was a CinC for the Allied High Command. He's a hell of a paintball player and I think he met his wife at a player convention. Well now it comes to my attention that he's just published an account of some of his time in Iraq titled The Highlanders: Charlie Company goes to the Iraq Training Center. I'm looking forward to reading his accounts of time spent away from the game and in the real deal. S! to you Kbar and all the men and women who have served along side of you.

Thanks to Onchas for the heads up on this one. Looking forward to seeing you at the next con K.

CTotD

2008-03-10T10:09:00.005-05:00

I don't actually consider myself a "gun nut". Sure I like to go birding with my dad when I can and oogling that .50 cal rifle is always fun but today's post just grabbed the inner geek in me. I grew up on James Bond and SoF magazine like any red-blooded ninja loving kid and this thing is just the fix for those fond memories.

Today's cool thing of the day brought to you by Defense Tech.

CToTD

2008-03-07T10:43:00.002-06:00

What do you get when you cross a Pz II with, well hell, I don't know what with. Apparently this is some oddball German tank thingy that can be found in a Russian tank museum. I think we should build it!

Thanks Coop via Boing Boing.

1.5 Million Concurrent Users!?!

2008-03-05T09:23:00.000-06:00

I've never heard of ZT Online have you? Well, we don;t live in China, but still I watch this stuff like a hawk everyday. In conventional western wisdom that would mean they probably have around 15 million subscribers. Wow! And that's more wow than WoW. OK, well it isn't the west and Chinese games aren't conventional by our standards but I think this makes a pretty good case why we are releasing into China. I still can't believe we haven't gotten any press on that one...

Peak Concurrent Users for ZT Online Exceeds 1.5 Million | RedlineChina

MMOGCHART.COM has Returned.

2008-02-15T16:59:00.000-06:00

SirBruce is back in action reporting all of your MMO numbers in one place. A great resource in the business. Did you know he is an original Playnet guy? Yes indeedee. Great to see you back on track SirB.

MMOGCHART.COM

Spore Released into the Wild Sept 7

2008-02-12T13:51:00.001-06:00

Three days before my birthday and I'll have a week off for the Austin Game Conference! Oh man, this may be the best birthday ever. I think I'll sit in the hotel room and play on the laptop...oh crap. My ACER probably won't play it... Good thing I talked Killer into springing for that ASUS beast with the DX10 card in it! HOOWAH!

UPDATE:

It's on the DS. Shannon got me a DS for Christmas. Life is good. Also, an indepth interview on Newsweek.
Spore finally evolves to retail Sept 7, 2008 - Joystiq

Sid Thinks MMO

2008-02-06T13:59:00.001-06:00

So everyone and their uncle is covering the brief blab that Sid Meier has thoughts about doing an MMO down the road. I hope it isn't going to be Pirates (snark). I would really like to see what direction that would go in though. Colonization but in space against other planets? IN.

Dambusters Video

2008-02-06T13:54:00.000-06:00

Great stuff for you fly boys out there.

Gallery of the Bizzare

2008-02-01T10:42:00.000-06:00

Sometimes things just don't go right. A late check-in post data freeze, a QA pass that just didn't think to look in third person, a misplaced multi-texture comment in an art file, any of these can and do happen. And when they do, they are all my fault! Yup. I wear the pants in this family and as you can see, yesterday they fell off. Hehe. Wee, this shit will happen on occasion. Best to laugh. Oh, that's a French infantry man firing his weapon...in another dimension apparently. If you have more photos of this madness I'm collecting them for The Gallery Of the Bizarre.

BOOM!

2008-02-01T10:17:00.000-06:00

The Navy is set to fire its big railgun today. Word on the street iis they've cranked it up to "11", and by that I mean 10 MEGAJOULES. Holy mother! I think I'll build one and put it on a Laffly and see if the recoil gets me airborn. Somedays my job is sheer fun.

I Always Wanted to be an Astronaut

2008-01-29T10:41:00.000-06:00

Killer and I were talking about this and we really want to submit a proposal. What better place to steal great ideas than from you guys! C'mon, be a part of the future. Ask not what Playnet can do for you but what you can do for Gophur And Killer!

DEVELOPMENT OF A NASA-BASED MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE LEARNING GAME