World of Tanks is a hugely successful massively multiplayer online game. I rarely see it mentioned in the gaming media, but since my husband is an avid player, I hear about it all the time. He sent me a link to the video below. Even if World of Tanks isn’t your jam, this 15 minute “Developer…
Wouldn’t you know it: just after I posted about ArcheAge last week, praising the female plate armor for not being revealing, I got the next set as a quest reward and presto! Metal bustier (with leather and chain mail hot pants and metal garters). I suppose I should be happy that the metal armor doesn’t…
I did a speed review of ArcheAge last August, during the final hours of open beta, and I was unimpressed. Curious if things had improved, I installed it again in early June. It’s providing me some hours of mindless entertainment while I heal and I thought I should reexamine that review. Below is my character Tsofia at level…
Though Jakob gave me a pet wolf to keep me company when he’s unable to visit with me in Second Life, I didn’t open SL all weekend while he was in the hospital. The weather was gorgeous and I spent some time puttering in my yard or sprawled on the deck, enjoying the sunshine. I also…
Gacha machines have been spreading like wildfire through Second Life in the past couple years and they’re bringing a number of changes to the world. In fact, they’re so ubiquitous now that maybe we’re getting close to “Peak Gacha”. I think through my fingers sometimes, so let’s consider the impact they’ve had. What are gacha?…
It’s the second day of the 2015 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference! One thing that I can’t help noticing: my Kay avatar has existed in Second Life for five years, which is essentially “middle aged” for this world. At VWBPE sessions, it’s not unusual for more than half of the avatars to be older than her. The…
I’m a member of the Society for Medical Anthropology, but I don’t often see research in that field that intersects with my interest in digital anthropology. So, I was curious to read “‘I Swear to God, I Only Want People Here Who Are Losers!’ Cultural Dissonance and the Allure of Azeroth“* in the December issue of Medical…
I’ve needed a distraction from my thoughts this week. It’s too emotional to spend time in Second Life and I’m bored with my other games, so after reading a couple of reviews, I downloaded The Talos Principle on Steam. It’s a single player puzzle game, but it has lovely graphics and surprising depth. My comments…
I love CGI and some of my dear friends are digital graphic artists, but effects made with physical objects can be so delightful. The Verge has a nice piece about Lumino City, the sequel to the game Lume, which takes place in a 10 foot tall miniature city that was built in a studio. The article…
I don’t have much to say except: go read “What Sleeping Dogs Gets So Right About Being an Asian American” by Kevin Wong over at Kotaku. He writes eloquently about the authentic elements of his culture — not just Chinese, but also Chinese American — that he found in the game, and also about his own upbringing…