The Winwin Situation

The Winwin Create-a-Class Contest WINNERS!!!

2008-06-18T12:07:00.007-05:00

The winners have been chosen by my judges. It was a very close call.

THE WINNER:

1. The Samurai - Colcos on the Oasis Server
Below is his entry:

~Samurai~

The Samurai have always been revered as a legendary breed of soldiers, honed offensive skills, strong, and graceful. Defensively capable without having to rely on the use of plate armor or a shield, however their true skills are in dealing damage.

Subclass: Soldier (Not entirely sure what it's counterpart may be, but soldier seems a fitting subclass)
Archetype- Fighter
Armor type - Chain
Alignment- Neutral
Important information: Due to their inability to use shields, their parry and riposte skills are naturally high. The amount of base avoidance they receive from the Agility stat is high. Their AA lines also give them the opportunity to raise their avoidance so that their potential avoidance is lower than that of brawlers, yet higher than that of other fighters. Their offensive skills are good in most categories, but to excel, they would do best to make use of their Blade Mastery AA line, which gives them a huge bonus to a Samurai wielding ONE one handed sword (If they choose to use axes, whips, spears, or maces, or to dual wield their offensive power will suffer)

Key Stats:
STR- Increases their base damage of weapons and combat arts, as well as increases their power pool.
AGI- Increases base avoidance (more significantly than the plate fighters)
INT- *I realize that INT is an unorthodox stat for a fighter type, however as a chain wearer, it would make sense for them to benefit from scout gear* increases the power pool, as well as the damage of combat arts (intelligent fighting is something that would be very important for a samurai)
STA Increases maximum health

Class Defining Abilities

Seppuku- this was the samurai ritual of honorable suicide. This is a buff that can be cast on themselves at any time that will activate only when the samurai becomes unconcious. Instead of being able to be healed through his (or her) purple bar, the samurai will draw his wakizashi and kill himself, resulting in a long stun/stifle as well as a large amount of damage to all the mobs in the encounter (does not effect mezzed or un-aggroed mobs)

Undeniable Focus- 10 seconds of Riposte for emergency situations, on a 5 minute recast timer. Requires large power cost.

Uncover Weakness- ~Group buff~15 seconds of 100% critical damage on all MELEE attacks~ 3 minute Recast timer.

Playstyles.

Solo~ Their strong offense and solid defense give them a decent ability to solo, however, without a healer, attemting to challenge heroic content would not be advised.

Group~ Should have no problem tanking heroic content, although they will never tank as well as an equally geared warrior.

Raid~ A samurai is a capable off tank, with strong offensive hate gain, quick attacks, and enough defense to keep them from going down too fast. Aside from that, A samurai spec'd for offense would fit well in the melee DPS groups of raids.

Epic Weapon, would HAVE to be a Katana, a long, ornate, yet classic Katana.

Overall I think Samurai would be an overall fun, exciting new class to play, Having a chain fighter would be kind of neat IMHO, and the class hat would kick face (I'm sure everyone knows the awesome looking samurai hats).

THE FIRST RUNNER UP:
2. The Combat Engineer - Crabbok of the Bazaar Server

Combat Engineer
Armor: Leather
Weapons:Crushing(Hammer)
General Role : Support / dps

The Combat Engineer is a support class who excells in constructing and deploying
siege weaponry and devices on the battlefield. Combat Engineers are masters of
thier craft, able to produce temporary items before combat, or able to avoid detection
long enough to deploy fortifying structures in the midst of combat. The combat engineer
is a difficult class to solo with, but can augment ANY group or raid to improve overall
effectiveness.

The Combat Engineer's Abilities generally have a longer than usual casting time, due to
the difficult and delicate nature of handling devices. Because of the long casting, a Combat
Engineer greatly benefits from Buffs and items that grant casting time reduction. The primary
attributes of the Combat Engineer are Strength and Intelligence.

At lower levels, Combat Engineers will have very basic inventions at their disposal.
As they level up, more advanced items and even siege type weapons will become avaialble.
Some of the engineer's abilities are:

Caltrops: PBAoE Slow Movement and Damage over Time.

Molitov Cocktail: Single Target Heat damage over time. (must be prepared in advance)

Scarecrow: Deployable on battlefield: Fears enemies within it's radius.

Deploy the Standard: Deploys a Standard(Flag) on the ground. All allies within it's range gain
+2 to all Crits, +2 to melee, ranged, and spell double attack, and +10 attack speed. All allies
who are GUILDED with the engineer receive DOUBLE this bonus.

Foxxhole: Long Casting Time, Friendly buff, allows target to avoid aoe, and gives them -50% hate
gain for 30 seconds, though they are rooted for it's duration. Can be cancelled early.

Ballista: One of the more powerful weapons in the Combat Engineer's Arsenal. Using this weapon
consumes Ballista Ammunition, which is expensive to replace. long casting time to deploy, but
after it is deployed, the ballista will fire on the engineer's target 3 times, 10 seconds apart,
inflicting MASSIVE damage. Like most of the engineer's deployables, this can be destoryed before
it's duration expires.

Shield Wall: Long cast time: Summons a temporary wall that adds tremendous defensive bonusses to
any allies within it's 5 meter radius. The wall also improves all ranged attack accuracy.

Solo, the "CE" tries to rely on his roots and snares to keep enemies at bay, laying traps along
the ground, and trying to buy himself enough time to deploy the bigger inventions that will finish
off enemies.

In a group, the engineer can focus on one of 2 roles. The CE can either deploy beneficial items and
structures to aid his comarades, or perhaps the CE will focus on taking alot of time to pull out the
devastating Ballista or unpack the tremendously powerful trebuchet, to take down that boss mob!

In raids the CE works well with a melee group, providing many items that add to accuracy and other melee
stats. Additionally, the Combat Engineer can gain the ability to focus on melee dps, and choose (through AA)
to Duel Wield 2 2-handed crushing weapons. This helps boost the dps of the combat engineer who is melee
minded.

Otherwise, the CE can give good benefits to a mage group. Providing defensive structures that will help
to save the life of the mages who get hit from AoEs. A Combat Engineer who Specs for a mage group can
unlock the largest siege weapons, which can launch flaming balls of molten rock at enemies from afar.

The Combat Engineer's weakness is the long casting times and the high amount of power they consume. a CE will
almost ALWAYS need to be in a group with good power regen.

THE SILLY ENTRY AND SECOND RUNNER-UP:

3. Ruatha from the Splitpaw Server sent me t3h aw350m3n355 of... wait for it... The Space Captain:

Class:
Space Captain

Description:
The space captain is somewhat of a combination between a swashbuckler, a paladin and a monk. Good class only. The space captain is adept at leading a group of adventurers in their travels, leading by example with their bravery and able to strengthen the hearts of their fellows with their easy charisma and willpower.

Only lightly armoured they unleash a devastating array of martial arts moves involving bewildering throws, punches, kicks and moves which defy understanding yet somehow seem to work wonders.

The space captain also always seems to be a hit with the ladies for reasons that are also bewildering and strange.

Key Abilities:
Fist swing: A double fist full arm swing that deals heavy damage
Engage: With this one word he inspires his fellow adventurers to great deeds. Temporary buff that increases party stats
Charm offensive: Releases the awesome power of his charm. No man, woman or beast can resist. Stun effect that can’t be resisted.

Solo ability:
Though able to handle their own in a fight through their amazing martial arts ability their lack of armour truly affects their survivability. The ability to use a charm offensive though can be a useful tactic to divert the attention of your opponent while you prepare a deadly assault or strategically withdraw.

Group ability:
This is where the space captain truly shines. The space captain can fight for the team while inspiring the group to greater deeds and strengths with his buffing abilities. Again charm offensive can be very useful here in distracting an opponent while your minions move in for the kill. Having a healer involved will help negate the captains lack of armouring.

Raid ability:
For raids the space captain will run in to the fray and deal damage but will not put himself at risk due to his limited survivability. Instead he will keep himself safe and use his buffs and abilities to inspire minions to do the dirty work for him. Why put himself at risk when someone less important (to himself largely) can take the blow. That is what minions are for… Right?

For the winners, however, contact me as soon as possible and we'll work out a time to meet on LoN. CONGRATULATIONS!

The Winwin Create-a-Class Contest!!!

2008-05-23T20:15:00.004-05:00

Watch the video for the 411. If you email asking for information in the video, I will tell you to WATCH THE VIDEO. :P

((Of course, if you are deaf, message me at thewinwinsituation@gmail.com and I'll tell you the rules. :) ))

Winwin Situation Video Bloggage!

2008-04-28T15:05:00.002-05:00

The Pinkening...

2008-04-17T20:15:00.004-05:00

This past week was a lot of fun... Got to see my good friends Kiara and Tara!

And GUESS WHAT!:D

The pink hair...

Eet ees returninkz!

Happy Birfday To Meeeeeeeee!

2008-04-08T11:38:00.004-05:00

Today, I turn 29 years old. Thank goodness, I've ensured that nobody will be singing to me at any restaurants.

*looks back and forth as the pile of waiters and waitresses with ball gags in their mouths behind her grows*

One can never be too cautious.

Thomas Beatie, The Pregnant Man

2008-04-04T15:25:00.002-05:00

Okay...
so over the past few days, I've gotten an INSANE number of phone calls, emails, and text messages over Thomas Beatie. As you all know, Thomas Beatie is the first pregnant legal male, originally born female but is nonetheless a man.

The general question seems to be the same: "Winter, you're a transsexual so what do you think about Thomas being pregnant?"

Firstly and most importantly - it does not MATTER what I think. The only person that matters in this is Thomas. I am absolutely thrilled for Thomas and wish him and his wife the best! I don't know him personally (everyone seems to think we trannies are of hive mind), so I can't say with certainty what kind of father he will be. And in regards to my last statement, yes, people have been asking me what kind of father I think he will be. I think he will be a fully capable father however, and just as human as the rest of us.

Now... I must say that I am absolutely disgusted by the way the medical world has treated Thomas Beatie. Many of you have said that you do not believe he was denied proper care... You're more than entitled to your opinion, but I've lived through being denied both medical care and legal assistance... The world is far less an ideal place than many think it to be. Ignorance is bliss, guys... Medical care is medical care and, in the USA, it is a premium we pay for. That said, we should get cared for on the basics (including fertility treatments, etc) if we are willing to pay the price monetarily and physically.

That said, guys... LEAVE THOMAS ALONE. Let him do his thing... I mean, really... Sure, he went on Oprah to increase awareness and I am VERY PROUD of him for that... but that doesn't necessarily entitle everyone to a piece of his being. Your opinions in this don't matter. My opinions in this don't matter. Just let the man be happy.

I apologize if this seems random and off-topic for this blog, but I had to set this straight.

~A Fine Line Between Love and Hate~

2008-04-03T18:49:00.006-05:00

A Fine Line Between Love and Hate
Yet another bizarre little Winwin Situation
By Winwin... yeah.

So the news has been out for a while now - Game Update 44 brings the return of the Shard of Hate. Rather than focus on the raid zone for my story, I focused on the live event that will be accompanying it and invited a couple guests, Jethal (and Cheesit) and Elquinjena. I hope you enjoy - I've been through a metric ton of computer and internet problems and a small tornado since the announcement. Needless to say, I didn't have time to get extra screenshots and such. Fun times, yo! In other words, it took a long time to get it all written up. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it. :) Oh! And, like totally btw and stuff (cue Aquanet commercial), I think the reference to the origin of Winwin's spirit bud is obvious but if you don't think so, let me know in comments and I'll change it up. (Yes, that sentence was a disaster. It was kinda sorta meant to be.)

Winwin popped out of her home and smiled. She straightened her bright pink dress and took a deep breath. The air smelled of baked goods and fresh morning dew. Birds chirped happily as Winwin flitted about, watching the citizens of Kelethin go about their daily routine. The day couldn't get any better.

"What a beautiful day," Winwin sighed loudly as she hovered by the Kelethin First Regional Bank. A squirrel hopped down from a nearby tree and viciously mauled a nearby male fae in a gruesome display of violence.

"What in Tunare's name what that," Winwin squeaked loudly as the squirrel scurried back up the tree with a severed hand in his mouth. The victim ran around in circles screaming, flapping his injured wings about furiously.

"That's the power of pure, unadulterated hate," said a smooth masculine voice behind her.

"Hate? There's no hate in Kelethin," Winwin slowly averted her gaze from the victim, turning to see the man behind her. He was a short, silver-haired wood elf with chiseled features. Beside him stood a wood elven woman with lustrous red hair and between them, a white ratonga dragging a wooden chest. Winwin lifted a brow at the motley crew.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Jethal Silverwing and this is Elquinjena," the wood elf extended a hand to Winwin.

"I'm Winwin, youngest daughter of Queen Amree. You know, this may sound odd, but I feel as if I've met you before," Winwin shook his hand and studied Jethal's face.

"Ooh, Jethal! She's one of the princesses. How awkward is that? Hey, you don't think," the giggly ratonga was interrupted by a bonk on the head from Elquinjena.

"Hey, Cheesit, how about we head for the Butcherblock Mountains? We have a boat to catch," she smiled awkwardly.

"Ignore the little guy,” Jethal chuckled, “he’s helping us move to Qeynos.”

"Helping? I'm moving everything," Cheesit's was again interrupted by a bonk on the head. "Hey,” Cheesit mumbled.

"Allow me to help you then," Winwin pulled a small stone out of her pocket and closed her eyes.

"No, no, we're okay," Jethal said in a tone that indicated awkward feelings.

"I insist," Winwin smiled as the stone in her hand turned to dust. Within seconds, the dust floated from her hands and formed a portal through which Antonica was visible. "There," Winwin giggled, "this should make travel easier for your ratonga friend."

"Wow, Jethal, she's much nicer than you made," Cheesit squealed loudly as he and the wooden chest were tossed through the portal by Elquinjena.

"Go ahead," Winwin leaned her head to one side and looked at the wood elves. Jethal and Elquinjena looked at one another then back at Winwin, making for an awkward silence.

"Please, Tunare! No! No, not again," a voice cried out. Winwin, Jethal, and Elquinjena turned around to see another hate-riddled squirrel scurry up a tree with a foot in his mouth.

"On that note," Jethal lifted a brow and stepped into the portal, followed by Elquinjena and Winwin.

The motley crew stepped into Antonica and slowly made their way to Qeynos. Occasionally, Jethal and Elquinjena would look back at Winwin awkwardly and she would lean her head to the side in confusion. Cheesit and Winwin talked seemingly nonstop during their travels, covering every cutesy topic imaginable. The random looks from the wood elves became looks of disbelief as Winwin and Cheesit seemingly became best friends within moments, even occasionally tickling one another. Their travels lead them across a bridge to the North Qeynos gate.

"Excuse me good citizens, but would you be so kind as to hear our plight," a priest and an ogre approached the travelers, stopping them from entering Qeynos.

"I pity da foo that no spread da love," said an ogre standing next to the priest.

"Pardon me a moment," the priest pulled the ogre aside and started to whisper in his ear. "That's the youngest princess of Kelethin, so don't throw any people over the bridge for a while."

"Awwww, but Grubdok like the splashy sound," the Ogre sighed loudly as the priest slapped his hand. "Okay, okay," the ogre pouted and shook his hand in the air as the duo returned to the travelers.

"Sorry about that. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Aaronolis Swornlove and this ogre is my assistant, Grubdok. Now, I'm sure you've all seen what's happening," the priest smiled as he looked down at Winwin.

"I saw a squirrel dismember a fae today," Winwin scratched her head, causing the priest to close his eyes and smirk in frustration.

"No, princess, I mean the hate. Can't you smell it in the air," Aaronolis looked even more frustrated.

"Wasn't me this time," Grubdok quickly said as Winwin sniffed the air and lifted a brow.

"Let me spell it out for you," Aaronolis rolled his eyes in disgust. "The priests of hate in Neriak found a portal to what remains of the Plane of Hate. Now, pure hate is pouring forth into Norrath and," he paused and pointed at the guards who were fighting one another, "well, it's causing problems like that."

"Oh, that's not very nice at all," Winwin sat on the ground and rummaged through her backpack.

"What are you doing, princess," Cheesit asked as he sat down next to Winwin and peeked inside her backpack. "Are those cookies," Cheesit's ears perked up as he spotted them in her backpack.

"Yes, feel free," Winwin giggled and handed Cheesit the pink heart-shaped cookies from her bag. Winwin looked up, making bizarre faces as she reached deep into her backpack and finally pulled out a huge fluffy plush shaped like a burynai. A smile came across her face.

"That's cute," Cheesit kicked his feet on the ground as he sprayed crumbs on Jethal's boots as he spoke. Winwin just turned around and winked at him as she stood up and started to hover towards the guards at the end of the bridge.

"We don't have time for this, Jethal," Elquinjena said with her lips held tightly taut with aggravation, "we have to finalize our purchase of the house."

"I think I had better stay with them," Jethal winked very obviously at Elquinjena who nodded in reply. "Go on ahead and take the chest to the house," he handed Elquinjena his gold pouch, "I'll make sure nothing gets out of hand."

"Look," Aaronolis gasped and pointed at Winwin and the guards, "she stopped the fight!"

Both of the guards laughed as Winwin handed one of them the giant plush burynai. The guards looked down at Winwin as if she was the cutest thing to ever exist and smiled at one another. They nodded at Winwin and shook hands. Winwin waved goodbye to them and made her way back to Cheesit and her backpack.

"Good show, princess," Aaronolis exclaimed as Winwin returned.

"Please, I insist, just call me Winwin," as the plush burynai exploded in a cloud of pink confetti and threw the guards off opposite sides of the bridge and into the water below. Cheesit's mouth hung open as he watched the guards splashdown into the water. "They're fine, Cheesit. Really, I promise," Winwin giggled and Cheesit continued to stuff his face.

"Haha, splaaaaash," Grubdok jumped up and down clapping. "She good, boss," he continued as a guard's helmet fell to the ground with a clang.

"Your methods of dealing with things are," Aaronolis paused, "unique? You're a young woman with power, Winwin. We've got citizens spreading the love throughout Norrath to fight the hate, but we need somebody to deal with the problem at its source."

"You want me to blow up Neriak? That's a bit severe," Winwin leaned her head to the side as her imagination ran wild.

"No, you twit," the priest caught himself. "Excuse me, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated with the whole situation. Look, Winwin, the citizens of Neriak won't touch you for fear of starting a war they cannot handle. Would you please aid us by going to Neriak and investigating the Spires of Innoruuk? You can't close the Shard of Hate, but maybe you can stop this proliferation."

"Well, I suppose I could," Winwin pondered aloud. "For the squirrels," she nodded to Aaronolis with a smile.

"Right," Aaronolis obviously thought Winwin to be an idiot, "for the squirrels."

"Oo Oo Oo! I've got an idea," Cheesit yelled loudly as he jumped to his feet, spraying pink crumbs all over the priest's robe.

"Oh, please, no," Jethal covered his face with his right hand as Cheesit proceeded to whisper in Winwin's ear. "Bristlebane have mercy on my soul," Jethal moaned aloud as he watched an impish grin come over Winwin's face.

"Meet me back here at the break of dawn tomorrow," Winwin giggled and pulled a handful of plat out of her bag, "I'll explain then." Winwin sped off before Jethal had a chance to argue.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning," Cheesit smiled at Jethal then ran as quickly as could into Qeynos and towards his home.

"Cheesit.. what in the world are you two plotting?” Jethal chased after Cheesit but couldn't keep up with him. Tired and frustrated, Jethal made his way to his new home and retired for the evening.

The next morning, when Jethal arrived at the North Qeynos gate, he was shocked to see Winwin standing alone and seemingly well-behaved.

"Morning, sleepyhead. Hope you had a nice rest, we have a long day ahead of us," Winwin laughed loudly and opened the gate, revealing the bridge to Antonica. A giant pink cake on wheels assaulted Jethal's eyes and next to it stood Cheesit, dressed all in black.

"Something is very wrong with the two of you," Jethal mumbled in disgust as he walked out onto the bridge. "So, what is this for," Jethal asked as he approached the cake with trepidation.

"You and Winwin are going to hide in the cake," Cheesit jumped up and down happily and pointed to a trick door left open on the side of the cake. "Aaronolis should be here any minute with a scroll of teleportation! When he gets here, you two hide in the cake and he'll send us directly to Neriak," Cheesit fell silent, unsettled by the way Jethal was staring at him.

"Once there, Cheesit will sneak us into the building between the Spires of Innoruuk. When the coast is clear, we'll exit the cake and find the priests of hate. Then, we'll have a little chat," Winwin attached a giant spiky hammer to her belt. "Aaronolis is here," she pointed at the priest making his way down the bridge, "so let's go."

"Is that black eyeliner," Jethal asked as he adjusted the quiver on his back. "Really, you look ridiculous, Cheesit," Jethal chuckled and climbed into the cake followed by Winwin.

"I don't look silly! I look eeevil," Cheesit yelled as Winwin closed the door to the cake.

"Good luck, you three," Aaronolis pulled out the scroll and started to chant. Within seconds, Cheesit and the giant cake materialized in front of the cave to Neriak.

"That made my tummy angry," Cheesit thought aloud as he looked around. "Ooh, big creepy ladies," Cheesit commented on the big statues indicating the entrance to Neriaks before pushing the cake towards the gate. The guards eyed both the ratonga and the cake strangely, but showed no concern as they moved by. Cheesit continued to push the cake along uneventfully towards the Spires of Innoruuk.

"You know," Jethal broke the awkward silence, illuminated by Winwin's bright pink glow, "you would have been easier if you had just escorted us in." Jethal paused and covered his eyes with his right hand. "Wow, that glow is obnoxiously bright," he mocked her, "can you turn it off or something?"

"Why, how inconsiderate of me. I'll get right on that, meaniepants," Winwin crossed her arms and quickly turned her back to Jethal, accidentally smacking him with her wings and covering him in pink dust.

"You dusted me! You winged little," Jethal tackled Winwin, tossing them out of the cake and onto the floor in an explosion of pink icing and edible fluff.

Noticing they had in arrived at their destination, Jethal hopped to his feet. Altars to Innoruuk decorated the room, lighting the rough stone walls all the way up to the high ceiling. In the center of the room was a round wooden table with four settings and chairs. A pretentious looking dark elf in elaborate leather armor sat at the table. He was bald but he compensated for it with well groomed brows and a curly moustache that rivaled most architectural designs.

"Oh, that hate is delicious," the dark elf chuckled to himself as he poured himself a cup of tea. "Come, come, I've been expecting you," he smiled and poured three more cups of tea.

"My, what a lovely tea party," Cheesit could think of nothing else to say before he helped Winwin off the floor.

"If I may ask, who are you," Winwin asked as she picked cake from her wings.

"Oh, how terribly rude of me! I'm Adintrin Du'Voy," the dark elf paused to sip his tea, "one of Innoruuk's faithful. Have a seat! Make yourself at home, please. I insist."

"Okay, I suppose," Winwin reluctantly sat at the table as did Cheesit and Jethal.

"Would you like a cookie? I made them myself," Adintrin passed a tray of cookies to Cheesit, who happily dug in. The four of them sat in an awkward silence for what seemed to be minutes.

"Oh my, that's a way to break a silence," Winwin frowned and looked around as a horrible odor seemingly materialized around the table.

"Please tell me one of you smells that," Jethal gagged as the odor made for an awkward moment at the table. Winwin, Cheesit, and Jethal looked around as if accusing one another.

"Well now, I know it wasn't Winwin, it would have sounded like a unicorn giggle," Adintrin's attempt at humour fell flat, leaving him the only one laughing.

"Unicorn giggles? What is he talking about, Winwin," Cheesit looked at Winwin with genuine curiousity. She blatantly ignored the question and scowled at Adintrin.

"Yes, well, it is rather strong, isn't it," he cleared his throat in embarrassment as he looked around the room. "Don't tell me," Adintrin rolled his eyes and looked under the table. "Blast it, Percy! What did I tell you about hiding under the table. You're embarassing me in front of our guests! Now go outside and chase some of those nasty little arasai," he waved his hand as if to dismiss the dead body.

"Oh, grody," Winwin gagged as a corpse popped up from under the table and ran for the door. "Please tell me that didn't just happen," Winwin winced.

"He's my pet, ignore him," Adintrin poured himself another cup of tea and turned to Jethal. "So, Jethal, how many times did you hunt down that Princess Joleena back in the day," he asked as he put down the teapot. "Was that legendary bow worth it," he snickered.

"Shut up," Jethal's looked around wildly. "Just stop. That was a long time ago," he sneered at the dark elf.

"Just imagine the trauma some poor fae girl is living with today," Adintrin took a loud sip of tea, "what with that spirit bud recycling program they have going on these days. Oh, the humanity of it all. Or would it be the faeality of it all? Oh, whatever." Adintrin nibbled on a cookie, obviously amused with himself.

"Wait, I knew I remembered you," Winwin stared down at the table for a moment as he head was flooded with memories.

"It wasn't me, Jethal," Cheesit whimpered and watched Winwin's face grew increasingly angry.

"Oh, oh, that was you!? It is so on," Winwin jumped up on the table, pulled the hammer from her belt, and smacked Jethal in the side of the head.

"Yes, yes, isn't this hate delicious," Adintrin laughed and looked up at Winwin as the spikes on her hammer started to spin. "Oh no," Adintrin smirked.

"I hope you like the taste of hammer because you're going down, you tea sipping hippy," Winwin screamed as she swung her hammer and knocked the dark elf clear across the room, lodging his body into the wall and knocking a few stones loose.

"That," Winwin paused to catch her breath, "felt really good.Maybe a little hate isn't that bad after all." She stretched her neck from side to side and reattached the hammer to her belt. She reached into her pocket and produced a stone.

"That was awesome," Cheesit laughed loudly as he made his way over to the unconscious Jethal. "He's out cold, Winwin," Cheesit laughed uncontrollably as he failed to wake Jethal by slapping him in the face repeatedly.

"That might leave a bruise," Winwin bent over, picked up the teapot with her right hand, and drank directly from the spout. "I'm stealing your tea, hippy," Winwin took another sip and flew through the portal.

"In a way, Jethal," Cheesit dragged the poor wood elf off the floor and up onto the table, "you kind of asked for it. Gosh, you're heavy. No more cookies for you, sir." Cheesit eventually got Jethal through the portal.

"Oh, man. Just wait til I tell Elquin that you got your butt handed to you by a fae," Cheesit snagged some cookies and hopped through the portal.

I hope you enjoyed the story flavoured with my special brand of weirdness! Below are a couple screenshots of the Shard of Hate. The artwork is absolutely FANTASTIC. I do think the zone would benefit from some new models, though. I personally imagine the Maestro to be much more intimidating than he appears this go around. While I would have preferred for the Shard of Hate to be a group zone akin to Shard of Fear, I don't think it would have matched the feel of the original Plane of Fear. The Plane of Fear was one of the most memorable raid instancess in EQlive so reducing it to a group instance would have taken away from that. That's my opinion anyway. I love the fact that there is a mender within the zone itself. I can't tell you how redundant asking a friend for a "menderbot" or bringing a ton of repair kits can be. Granted, those redundant options beat leaving, mending, and returning. I will let you all know what I think once I actually raid the zone and tell the Maestro what it is. Til then, I leave you with a couple SoH screenies:

BREAKING NEWS: The Ghost of Velious!!!

2008-03-31T21:28:00.005-05:00

So, today I got an exclusive look at the new expansion!!! I am excited to bring you this new information!:D

Upcoming Expansion: "The Ghost of Velious"

1. The expansion will largely take place on the remaining unmelted parts of Velious, where the Coldain run the show.

2. A new playable race: The Othmir! A race of intelligent, angry otter-men, they are the first mostly underwater race.

3. New starting zone: The Cobalt Scar!

4. Awesome new methods of transportation including sharks!

3. Three gods will return, including Prexus and a altogether NEW god!!!! The new god is based on Grimwell, and grants the user extra crowd control abilities.

So, I've been stressed out due to computer and internet problems (the later due to local construction) over the last week... THEN today hit...Today was absolutely horrrrrrible. The weather has been 150% ebil. A tornado touched down fairly close to my house and my internet is now TOTALLY down. Luckily, my friend let me borrow her computer to put a little something something up for April Fools.

Anyway, my net will hopefully be up and running normally tomorrow so I can get my story on the Shard of Hate up... I'm dying to share it with you guys. I'm also dying for my computer and internet to work properly. :/

Til then, Happy Prankedy Goodness to you all... Watch out for hankedy pankedy prankness!

Erolissi Day/Inquisitor Contest Winners!!!

2008-03-04T13:38:00.003-06:00

It was very difficult for my judges to go through all the entries as there was some confusion about the rules (i.e. some people wrote stories, some people wrote concepts, some people wrote both). So to be fair, the three of them decided on two first place winners (one concept, one story), one second place winner (story and concept), and a third place winner (some concept, beautiful painting).

Now, the entries are VERY VERY long so I had to store them outside the site. Simply click on the link next to the name to see the entry. :)

FIRST PLACE WINNERS
Vyspir of Antonia Bayle
Brasse of Crushbone

SECOND PLACE WINNER
Aphao of Unrest

THIRD PLACE WINNER
Zeal of Guk (Zeal's amazing painting it the one at the top!)

There were SO MANY great entries, guys... They had a TRULY hard time deciding on the winners. All the winners above were chosen according to how fleshed out their stories or concepts were and their creativity. Congratulations, guys. See me this coming Saturday (the 8th) for your prize. ((May be available on the 7th, dependent upon how long it takes LoN to come up from the implementation of Inquisitor.))

Thank you all SO much for taking the time to enter. It never ceases to amaze me how creative the EQ2 community is.

The Erollisi Day/Inquisitor CONTEST!

2008-02-18T01:29:00.004-06:00

Well, Erollisi Day is now upon us in EQ2 and the Inquisitor card set will soon be released for Legends of Norrath.

That got me to thinking: What better way to celebrate a great event, a great new card set, and the overusage of the word great than with a great contest!?

Whether you are a rabid fan of Legends of Norrath or just really want a shot at a loot card, here is your chance...

I want you to send me an email (at thewinwinsituation@gmail.com) with the following:

If Erollisi were to fully return to Norrath, what would you want from her? What miracles and such would you like to see? Feel free to use the current pantheon as a template if you wish... Be creative, share as much info as possible as to why you would like these things. What classes would she be conceptually built around? Would she be versatile or specialized? What would her deity pet be? What kind of things would they say? Knowing how very active this community is, I want to see just how creative and involved your ideas are. Heck, include a picture if you like! After all, the long sabbatical changed the "appearance" of many of the deities.

MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

Your name in Legends of Norrath
The name of your main character in EQ2 OR EQ1
The server you play on

GRAND PRIZE: 25 PACKS OF THE INQUISITOR CARDSET FOR LEGENDS OF NORRATH

RUNNER UP: 11 PACKS OF THE INQUISITOR CARDSET FOR LEGENDS OF NORRATH

HONORABLE MENTION: Digital Starter Deck of their choice from any of the three LoN card sets.

The cut-off date for this contest is February 29th, 2008 at midnight *CENTRAL* time. Winners will be notified after all entries have been looked over by my judges - they will be chosen according to creativity... well, and how much sense they make, of course!:) By entering this contest, remember that you are giving me permission to post your entries and your character name/server.

Also, I have to let you know that this is a contest I am running myself... I am not an SOE employee nor does SOE have any sort of direct involvement in this contest.

Have fun guys... :)

Taste the... Rainbow?

2008-02-03T17:58:00.000-06:00

We all know by now that this week brings with is LU 42! Epic weapons, new avatars, new crafted stuff (gamers like stuff) including mannequins, and... soon it will be Erollisi Day! Keep your eyes open for an Erollisi Day contest here at The Winwin Situation... Here is a little story I cooked up for all of you in celebration of this month's events.

TASTE THE... RAINBOW?
A Very Special Winwin Situation
By Winwin. Duh.

"Next time, please leave that beast at home, princess" a halfling addressed Winwin as she stepped off the boat onto Qeynos Harbor. A giant lumbering rhinocerous in bright pink armor followed her closely. They walked towards the tavern paying little attention to the halfing's discontent. It was a day of celebration for, after thousands of years, more of the pantheon had returned to the physical realm of Norrath.

"I wonder how they're going to celebrate. Oooh, do you hear that, Mister Tumpykins," the pink fae asked the rhino as she walked him to a pool of drinkable water. "Stay here, I'm going to get a drink myself," she neared the door.

...And the angry little cloud
Tells a tale
About terrible weather
And beluga whales...

The odd lyrics caused Winwin to pause for a moment as she entered the tavern. She leaned her head to one side as the song continued.

...The return of Karana
Turning Norrath
Into a sauna
Won't you stay a while?...

"Jes don' put much thought inta it," a familiar voice said from a nearby table, "she ne'er makes sense." It was none other than Brasse, the well-known dwarven cartographer. "Come, sit wit us! I'll not hurt ye," Brasse smoothed her beard with a chuckle before taking a swig from her tankard. A statuesque female dark elf in silver armor was propping up the drunken dwarf.

"Thank goodness that song is over," Winwin smoothed out her bright pink dress and took a seat at the table. "Kiara? Is that you," Winwin looked up at the dark elf, "how did you get here from Freeport?"

"Oh my gosh, it was so much fun, Winwin," Kiara giggled as Brasse fell to the floor with a thud. "I was bored, so I killed some pirates," the dark elf beamed on as she took her seat.

"You killed pirates," Winwin lifted a brow, "and it was fun?"

"Oh, you don't know!? Today is so much different! Look at this," Kiara handed a reddish piece of paper to Winwin with a big smile.

"I can't even read this, what is it," Winwin looked at the paper blankly.

"It's a love note," Kiara smiled. "Every single one of them was like a fortune cookie of love! Look, there are even lottery numbers on the back," she laughed as Winwin dropped the note in disgust. "What? They had candy inside them too! It's almost Erollisi," Kiara's voice trailed off as a new song startled everyone.

...The boys and girls are running
Bertoxxulous is coming
To infect the village
Blister, boil, and pillage...

The troubador had returned to the lute, playing it violently and screaming at the top of her lungs. She tossed her hair around wildly, banging her head as she continued. Drinks crashed to the floor as some patrons ran for the door and others stared at the red-haired bard in shock. Within seconds, the chaos had given way to a barfight.

...The little deer and bunnies
Now they smell kinda funky
They're all oozy and chunky
Exploding squirrels and monkeys...

Kiara happily joined in the melee as Winwin darted under the table and hid within her own wings.

"Brasse! I better get her off the floor," Winwin opened her wings to reach for the dwarf and pull her to safety. "Where is she," Winwin popped out from under the table in a panic.

"Noooooooo! I'm sober," Brasse was atop a table, a large chunk of bread in her hand. "Calthine, yer goin' down," she screamed as she launched the bread towards the troubador. The chunk of bread quickly ended the song and rendered Calthine unconscious.

"Awwwww. They just don't understand us, Calthine. You're so ahead of your time," a chubby blue emo arasai pouted and played with his vision-inhibiting bangs. A piece of bread to the head quieted him as well.

"Oi've told ye," Brasse walked over to Calthine's body and took the lute. "Ye would nae like meh sober," she broked the lute on her knee and approached the bartender for another drink.

"I wonder if she has candy in there too," Kiara approached the bard with Winwin.

"And people say I'm a freak with my pink obsession," Winwin splashed water on Calthine's face, waking her.

"Where? What? Who? Oh! I got carried away again, huh? Oh, my head," Calthine moaned as she sat up. "Aw, Brasse, he was my biggest fan," she said as she rose to her feet slowly and pointed at the blue arasai. "Is he dead?"

"Oh, well then," Kiara dragged the arasai's body into the next room.

"He will be soon enough," Brasse said as the bartender handed her another ale.

"A mildly disturbing day," Winwin thought aloud as Kiara returned quickly to the bar with another letter. "Make that very disturbing."

"These candies aren't half bad," Kiara popped a candy into her mouth as Calthine, Brasse, and Winwin stared at her. "Waste not, want not, right?"

"That is totally grody, Kiara. I mean, how do you know," Winwin gagged momentarily as a sound from outside interrupted her train of thought. "Nevermind," Winwin and her three friends slowly moved towards an open window.

Outside, a huge line of adventurers had formed neatly on the dock. A man in brilliantly coloured armor slowly walked down the line and blindfolded the adventurers one by one. His teeth sparkled almost as much as his armor in the sun.

"Okay, folks. POD would like to welcome all you new adventurers to Qeynos," the man walked back down the line towards his guild, a group of equally adorned adventurers. "After all, who better to welcome you than us, the premier dungeon raiders. We have taken it upon ourselves to construct a giant, animated pinata just for you guys," the blindfolded adventurers cheered in excitement. "Now, leave those blindfolds on tight," he walked back down the line and handed sticks to each of the adventurers slowly. "My druids will now open a portal to Antonica and we will escort you to our secret party spot," he smiled to himself as several druids opened portals at the same time. The man and his guildies proceeded to lead the adventurers through the portals.

"POD? Premier raiding guild? Like a pod of whales? What does it stand for," Winwin asked the others.

"Tha Pinnacle of Destruction," Brasse laughed loudly.

"I have a song about raiders," Calthine chimed in quickly before Kiara covered her mouth.

"I'm going to check out the party," Winwin darted out the door to her rhino. After the last adventurer had entered the portal, she waited a few seconds and rode Mister Tumpykins through the portal and into the druid ring in Antonica. Brasse, Calthine, and Kiara followed soon after, joining Winwin in ducking behind a bush. They watched as the large group of adventurers was lead down a stretch of land where a giant old man stood overlooking the sea.

"You guys know you're a lot taller than me, right? They can probably see you," Winwin said as she looked up. Her three friends towered over the bush but were still ducking as if hidden.

"Oi'll be. Tha's nae pinata. Tha's Karana," Brasse laughed and took a swig of her ale.

"Oh, this is going to be good," Kiara jumped up and ran towards the adventurers, making sure to stop at a safe distance. Calthine and Brasse followed Kiara closely while Winwin slowly made her way towards them. As she closed in on them, she could recognize that the giant old man was a physical manifestation of Karana.

"Are you guys ready for some candy," the leader of POD yelled a question to the adventurers, causing the giant old man to turn around with a confused look on his face. "Bards, start the music in five, four, three, two, one," the man in shiny armour counted aloud and the music started.

"Talk about newbies," Calthine said as the crowd of blindfolded adventurers started to beat on Karana's ankles with sticks. A rainbow formed in the sky as Karana summoned a lightning bolt, zapping a nearby gnome. The poor newbie gnome exploded into bits, covering enough distance that his hand landed in front of Winwin.

"Calthine. Are you thinking what I'm thinking," Kiara picked up the hand and pulled what looked to be a piece of candy out of it.

"Pot pie," Calthine and Kiara giggled in unison.

"Wait, wait. I don't think that's candy, Kiara," Calthine said as Kiara tossed the hand and what she previously thought to be candy behind her.

The poor newbies continued to meet grisly fates, one by one, as candy, letters, and viscera filled the air. The four friends were either too in awe or too disgusted to do anything about it.

"Look on tha bright side," Brasse said as a bone fell from the sky and hit Winwin in the head, throwing her to the ground. "At least it's nae the Tribunal or Bertoxxulous. Now that would be disgusting," Brasse's normally strong accent seemed to fade a bit as she watched the sky rain candy and miscellany.

"Ow! Was that a femur!? Ewww," Winwin squeaked as she stood back up, holding the nasty bone in her hand. A tall, robed dark elf with flaming eyes stepped up from behind Winwin.

"You gonna rez that," the dark elf asked as he grabbed the bone gently from the little pink fae's hand. "This is like Frostfell all over again," he giggled as he walked away from the four ladies, dragging a bag behind him. Winwin leaned her head to the side and stared off into the ensuing carnage as the dark elf walked off, hypnotized by the strange things that can happen in the magical land of Norrath.

UPDATE 42!!!!

2008-02-01T13:46:00.000-06:00

I think I speak for everyone when I say I am super excited about this update to EverQuest 2. You can see some stunning pictures in Gnobrin's preview at http://www.eq2players.com/

The epics are absolutely gorgeous, with eye-catching effects. Here are a couple pictures from his featurette:

As far as the epics go, I am most excited about the lore behind them. I absolutely love Norrath's lore and cannot wait to see the stories they have come up with for these gorgeous pieces of mob-slaying uberness. :)

Speaking of uberness, the Tribunal, Bertoxxulous, and Karana will now have manifestations akin to the others gods and goddesses of Norrath... What will they drop? Uberguilds are likely drooling at the mere thought of their Uberlewtz brand uberloot.

Tradeskillers rejoice! There will be lots of updatedy goodness for us too!!! Cloaks, mannequins... who knows, maybe more!:) I'm so excited!!!!

How do you guys feel about the upcoming update?:)

An Interview With Nathan "Kaitheel" McCall of SOE!

2008-01-18T14:58:00.000-06:00

I recently had a chance to talk with Nathan McCall, Associate Designer for EverQuest 2, about the creative process, epic weapons, pancake house conspiracies and... THE FUTURE. /cue Theremin music and flying robot.

Myself and Kaitheel, Fan Faire '07. Fear my chin!

1. Frostfell was a smash again!!! What was your favorite part of working on it?

Decorating Neriak, hands down! It’s not often that you get to decorate for the holidays using skulls and daggers.

2. A lot of people really have no idea what goes into the creation of quests in an mmorpg. What is your step-by-step process from the concept to implementation?

The step-by-step process varies from quest to quest, depending upon how much it is to contain and how grand a story it is to tell, but I have found that every quest goes through the same basic outline;

1) Outline –Make an outline of what you want the player to accomplish, and the story it is to tell. Make sure it does not conflict with something someone else is planning, or other facts given in game.

2) Details –Refine the outline by adding all the necessary details, such as names, locations, targets to interact with, etc.

3) Create and edit files –Create the necessary new quest, reward, character, dialog, etc. files, and change whatever files that may already in game, but need to be updated for this quest. This is the longest step and the one that is directly affected by the scope of the quest.

4) Test, test and more testing! –Run through the files themselves, looking for bugs, or any area where you were incomplete. Then run through the quest on the development server . Resolve any issues found! Keep repeating until no bugs are found.

5) Submit content for QA & Test server –Once you are confident enough of the content, submit the new and changed files to Quality Assurance for them to run through. Then the content is submitted to the public TEST server for players to experience and test.

6) Address any concerns, resolve any bugs! –Address the feedback and bugs that you will receive from both QA and TEST. Yes, you will.

7) Profit, err Live! –Content is live but you are not done with it, yet. You still watch for feedback and bugs, (often due to the many changes made to files during the testing phases).

3. Can you tell us a bit about the process of creating an expansion? The phases that the team goes through from start to finish and such?

Preproduction -Pitches are made. Producers and Lead Designers weigh the concepts , both from the team itself, and the players (suggestions from the boards) and decide upon the one to go forward with. Documents are written to flesh out the concepts of the chosen expansion. Zone docs, feature lists, new creatures, etc. (These will continue to be written and refined all through production.)

Production -Art starts building the new zones, creatures, animations, etc. Code starts creating the new code features. Design begins to populate the expansion as the zones become available by art. Design, code and art work together giving feedback, having one another make adjustments as needed. When zone content is ready for testing it is then submitted to the QA team. Issues are addressed, and bugs resolved. At a later point of Production Beta will open and players get to test the expansion, too. Often this is while other content is being added and the entire expansion is being polished in anticipation of that great day—launch!

4. Keeping lore intact has to be difficult. How do you guys ensure, when writing a line of quests, that nothing contradicts previous lore?

It can be tricky, I’ll tell you that! But we have several wonderful tools that help to avoid any such conflicts. First of all, it’s best for us to already know the building blocks by having played and experienced Norrath. Above that we have a good internal website where all our game documents are housed; zones, races, characters, lore, timelines, events, etc. Everything can be documented and updated there! If I am writing some quests that will involve The Commonlands and Xegony I will read up on the zone and goddess. I can also do an extensive search through all of our game files for key words and look for any other stories or quests that are related, but not included in the website docs. The EQ role playing game and interweb guides for both EQ Live and EQll, are always useful, too! Last but not least, I use the amazing amount of knowledge around our office. Lore gurus such as Tony Garcia and Jeremy Gess are invaluable. And if something is going to conflict with previous lore, then you either change what you were writing, or you look for a way that it will fit.

5. What steps do you and other team members take to ensure that quests don't become formulaic and cliche?

First, you have them kill 10 rats. Seriously, the most important part of keeping quests feeling fresh is by employing different interactions. Hunt and kill? Formulaic. Hunt and entrap, and then release to kill another beast? Different! You can have some of the “hunt and kill” or “harvest and return” style quests in a quest line, as long as you throw in different ones, too, or employ a different step in the middle of a quest that would have otherwise been formulaic. The newbie experiences, crafted by Ellery Jones and Steve Kramer, found in Darklight Woods and Timorous Deep are some amazing examples of creative and engaging quests.

6. As a player, I personally get annoyed when people simply do a quest without reading the lore. Playstyles will be playstyles though - and that is simply mine (roleplaying dork meets lore lover meets raider). What do you personally do to get players interested in the lore of a quest you work on?

You can’t make someone interested in something that bores them, but you can help to keep the interests of everyone else, and peak those that can be swayed. Try to have the lore delivered in an entertaining and lively manner; funny characters, delusional journals, dangerous situations, boots with notes in them! Lore does not have to be a dusty tome. Even the way one chooses to write dialogue can affect this. I have found that if I am given multiple dialogue response choices I am even more interested in reading and weighing my responses. This keeps the interaction engaging and the information flowing. It is not just being thrown at me in a big block of text.

7. Speaking of questedy goodness, are you able to tell us whether or not the epic weapon quests will involve the original epic quests from EQlive?

Many of the epic quests do involve the original epic quests from EQLive (and some even involve EQOA). It may be in reference, or through a character’s ancestor, an enemy long thought defeated, or as much as a continuation of the story!

8. Epics aside, are there any particular changes coming up that you are excited about?

The guild halls! I have seen some very impressive things done with housing by particularly ingenious players and can only imagine what may be done with the guild halls.

9. You're being held a prisoner in a pancake house. You will be given back your freedom... But first, you must literally eat a metric ton of lingonberry butter or cream cheese. What is your choice and why???

Lingonberry butter. You can’t go wrong with something that is otherwise known as a cowberry!

Thank you very very much for your time, Nathan. :) Hopefully, this gives all the players some insight into all the hard work that goes into quests, lore, and the product as a whole...

Player-Created Rumours - Do They Serve a Function?

2008-01-15T12:48:00.000-06:00

Let me start with addressing something before I start: Quite literally dozens of people (from various servers) have been asking about the possibility of free server transfers in EverQuest 2. I have no idea how this rumour got started, however, I did ask Gnobrin for the official word. The answer is no - there are no free server transfers planned at this time.

I'd also like to reiterate that while I may have friends and contacts at SOE, and I write a lot about the uberawesomeness that is EQ2, I am not an employee of SOE myself (though that's not to say I wouldn't LOVE being one). Thusly, if you ask me about a rumour, the only answer I can honestly give you is quite literally " I do not know." And as for people who ask me for strange pieces of 'inside info', I don't believe in exploiting a friend's professional position - that's just extraordinarily disrespectful. As a matter of fact, I don't even ask them for 'inside information' (cue curious music) - well... I joke sometimes. I ask if they're going to add more pink stuff. O.O I like stuff. And I love pink - but I reckon you all know that by now. LOL.

Now onto my thoughts... While I got bombarded with questions over this rumour, I started to think. Yes, I do think now and then. Yes, really. You... you can pick your jaw up off the floor now. :P

Do player-created rumours serve a purpose in the online community? Yes? No? Maybe a itty bitty bit of both?

Personally, I have to go with the itty bitty bit of both. Gossip has always served an essential albeit twisted function. Look at some of the longer-lasting celebrities for example. One minute, somebody is famous and the next their star is gone... but somehow they're lingering around. Okay, big whoop, right? Thanks to the paparazzi, rumours abound. Do you think people would care about half the pop starlets out there if the gossip wasn't everpresent? Of course not, that would be silly... Humans are predictable - they forget things.

However, what about the stars/starlets that get wound up in the drama these rumours bring about? What if it takes too much bearing on their career? Celebrity breakdown much? OMG, toooootally (sorry, 80's moment). A lot of those stars end up washed up via the rumours that keep them or kept them famous. Preconceived notions take place of that person's little star in the sky. /shooting star sound. Don't pass go, don't collect $200 much?

When a player starts a rumour, it can get WAY out of control. I've encountered everything from UI mockups, itemization rumours, racial respec rumours, etc etc etc in EverQuest 2. Is this good? Well... that's all perspective. Any pot needs to be stirred once in a while or things burn, right? And if the response to the concept is overwhelmingly positive, perhaps it will inspire change, no? These rumours do allow developers a peek into the players' minds. Granted, a simple suggestion thread in a forum is much more constructive and much more likely to be taken seriously... but rumours do serve that strange purpose of keeping things fresh. Think of them as the MMOPaparazzi! Rawr! Teh viciousness! Watch out! They'll distract you and then I'mma steal all yer potaters!!! Mmm. Potaterz.

But when do these rumours get out of control? I think they get out of control when they start to create expectations. No product on the market can please every single person out there... Thusly, no product will EVER ever ever (like omg srsly) successfully please a decently large amount of people if rumours are king. If a player's attention is kept or lost within the first few minutes of gameplay and rumoured features they expect aren't in place... well, do the math. They're going to be disappointed. What if, however, that totally awesome rumour were TRUTH? Well, then you just possibly gained even more players via what is virtually viral marketing.

See what I mean? This whole thing is a little bit of both - good and bad.

Now, that said, confirming or denying rumours is one of the underappreciated functions of a community manager. If rumours were aloud to run wild, unchecked, they would take us over. They would have families, buy cars, maybe even buy a puppy. Community Managers and forum mods get the shot guns... and, baby, it's rumour hunting season. BANG! OMG INK EVERYWHERE! DUCK!... I like ducks. They're cute.

You know, I would like your opinions... discuss if you'd like. :)

Anyway, you get my idea... discuss.

BTW, I liked that picture from one of the best sites EVARRRRRRRRRR: http://www.cuteoverload.com/ ... Srsly. Go there. It's like cute and stuff.

The Anonymity of the Online World

2008-01-13T15:04:00.000-06:00

Over the past year, literally dozens of people have been "coming out" to me over the internet... And this communication is from multiple games on multiple servers. Of course, it flatters me to no end that people feel they can open up to me. It also makes me think though - the internet and online gaming both have really revolutionized the "coming out" process, no?

When BBS'es (Bulletin Board Systems) were still all the rage, I would take comfort in anonymity. When I was in my very young teens, I was able to talk to people and simply be myself. My parents had absolutely NO clue at the time. Then came the introduction of the full-on internet for the home when I was 13/14... America Online, Prodigy, blablabla - all those services. When my family got America Online (which was actually pay per block of time then), a whole new world opened up to me. Not only was I anonymous locally, I was anonymous with seemingly endless resources. Chat rooms opened up left and right for different parts of the LGBT community and we finally had a virtual space of our own. I FINALLY had people to run to! People who were older and understood what I was going through...

Somewhere around this point, The Sierra Network became available to me. I was able to play my first TRUE online game that wasn't text-based. All of my characters, from Sierra Land to MidievaLand (Shadows of Yserbius) were female, and everyone I talked to thought I was born female... It was beyond liberating to me despite the fact that it concerned my parents.

Anyway, back to the internet, people would freak out because I was so young. The internet wasn't entirely regulated at that point, so nothing was in place to prevent my access to information or mature chat rooms. Ya, sure, I got to see a million pictures that left my brain feeling defiled for days... Hahaha! The birth of spam and the "how did I get to THAT" moments. Sorry, got sidetracked. ANYWAY, the internet connected me to Dr Eugene Schrang... Being that I was only 14, he was very limited in how he could assist me without parental permission. Oi. Ya, that was the catch. But I got an idea of how much the surgery would cost me, what kind of hormone therapy, etc I would need. I was 14 and already able to plan for my future. That was largely unheard of before the internet... The information simply wasn't easy to come across for people with gender identity disorder. I started scrounging all my money and, by the age of 18, was able to afford my surgery. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I was 20 to get it, but that's another story... Same situation with the family drama I haven't covered in the above (lots of people ask about it), that's yet another story.

The day I graduated highschool, I no longer introduced myself as Anthony. I took up the name of Winter and moved on with my life. A few months after graduation in 1997, Ultima Online came out. I was able to be myself on there up until EverQuest was released. After THAT was released, I moved onto that... so on and so forth, blablabla, to modern day.

Today, though the internet is heavily regulated, information is more available than ever... and online games allow more interaction and more expression of identity than ever. In EverQuest 2, WoW, City of Heroes, etc (ya, I subscribe to multiple games LOL), I have noticed that the 'out' community has grown exponentially. More and more people are being true! And... in the end, isn't that the most important thing? After all, how can a person ever be honest with others if they are not honest with their self? And I'm proud to be one of those people others feel they can run to anonymously.

A New Year! A New Look! A Brand New Winwin!

2008-01-04T18:12:00.001-06:00

So this year is going to be a big one for me. :)

I'm over my illnesses, thank goodness... And this last time was the FIRST time in the past year I had gotten sick without getting pneumonia! Wow, last year was quite the year for me health-wise. Fractured my jaw, got sick repeatedly... Just wow. LOL

But my health is finally back on track... And I'm glad to be back in the saddle. Be on the lookout for new stories, interviews, maybe something else that may be showing up in a kinda sorta not so commital way as I'm not quite sure who I will team up with on it yet, and MANY... MANY run-on sentences too!:D

I would like to send a personal thanks out there to Ariven and Lunna. Ariven did my beautiful new page layout (complete with pink sparkles!!!) and Lunna did the fantastic new header (HOORAY for pink hair.)...

There are so many things I am looking forward to this year... and I'm so glad to have you guys along for the ride:

1. Writing much more now that my health is in order
2. More interaction with you guys
3. Working on my debut album (yepyep, finally healthy enough to get the music career back on track)
4. More picture of cute woodland critters
5. Getting back in shape
6. ... maybe a little plastic surgery >.> Ya, no joke. But that's my thing. HAHAHA!

Love me, hate me, I'm here to love yooooooou!

Happy New Year!
Happiness health, and disgustingly pink and sparkly Winwin cuddles to you ALL!

A New Winwin Situation Coming Soon to Eyeballs Near You... Or Rather On You... I Hope.

2007-12-22T21:52:00.000-06:00

Hellooooooo!:D

I apologize for the long delay in posts. :)

Good news!:D Going on my second year CANCER FREE!:D

Bad news - my blood is still a bit off. LOL. I'm getting ill fairly often... but I'm getting my feet back on the ground and I'm going to start running ASAP. :) I've got a busy year ahead of me and I can't wait to bring you guys along for the ride. :) Getting over stomach flu (AGAIN! lol), but I've got some great new stuff in the works including a great new layout. :)

I hope you all are having an absolutely amazing holiday season. :)

Happy Holidays! May you and yours experience and be blessed with much fantastifabulousity!

Holy Flashback, Batman! (Real life update as well)

2007-11-07T00:28:00.000-06:00

Oh wow...

Sorry, real life time for a second...

So I'm talking to an old friend from middle school... and I noticed this picture on his profile...

Yep. That second person in line is me... as a boy. Wow. Funny thing is, I look exactly the same - I just grew my hair out. Back then, my parents used to do all they could to make sure I looked 'boyish'. Thusly, oversized glasses and super short hair. Gag me with a spoon. :/

But I was just looking at that and thinking about how far I've come along...

Yepyep... same old person, longer hair. I still think I could use some facial plastic surgery but whatevs... :P

I'm still the world's biggest dork...

And here I am crying emo tears for my haters:

Anyway, on the real life front, I have an update. Come 2008, I'm officially starting work on my debut album... I may give snippets as time goes along, but I'm largely going to wait for the finished product before I go all out promo on it. Going to finish that up, find people to play live with me, and so on and so forth. Then I'll do a little touring and start doing showcases for labels with a finished product. I'm sick of labels going 'well, let's turn you into Turbo Tranny 2010, with runny black eyeliner and a harder edge'. Not goin' to happen. If I wanted to be that, I'd go on the Springer Show, k thx.

Anyway :) Music career on the roll. I'll further update you guys come next year. :)

WINWIN SOME BETABETA WINNERS!

2007-11-06T00:05:00.000-06:00

Hey, guys!:D

I got some GREAT entries. Alas, the cutoff is here and my three judges have been keeping track of the entries... As I promised before, no names to respect people's privacy, but just their server names. They are more than welcome to reveal themselves as winners, but (as I've won beta access before and been bugged by people about it) I wish to respect their privacy. :)

The first winner is an amazing Swashbuckler concept from a player on the Mistmoore Server! It doesn't look like your typical rapier, but my judges loved the piratey feel (YARRRRRRR):

Name: Corsair's Revenge

Rapier
One Handed Piercing
125-350
+42 Str +35 Sta +35 Agi
+210 Health +210 Power
+950 poison +950 disease +950 mental
+50 to Combat Arts
Maritime Disaster
On a successful melee attack this spell has a chance to cast
Maritime Disaster.

Inflicts 850 piercing dmg
100% crit chance on next 4 successful attacks
Increases Attack speed by 40 for 20sec.

The visual effect would be a sparse light blue fog with lightning moving up and down the blade.

Next, we have a wonderful concept for a Brigan epic from a player on the Najena server! My judges particularly liked how he wanted to stray a bit from rapier-styled weapons and add a darker edge:

1) a sword, definitely needs to be a sword...rapiers are more the swashbuckling thing...axes are more zerkers, and daggers are more for assassins.

2) You could have the sward want to thirst for blood. It could have a procing effect that when it drinks its full of blood (becomes satiated) it lets loose some very special effect. The effect could vary depending on what the game designers were planning, personally I think an encounter knockdown similar to the brigands fun use one is nice that might do some damage. I know effects were not asked...but wanted to give the idea of the concept. As the sword becomes more full...blood starts to continuously drip from the sword at a faster rate. This would also "drain" the sword of its stored up blood supply. You could also...instead of blood dripping...create an aura that becomes more or less intense until it "peaks." Seting up the weapon this way means that it takes a while for the brigand to get his weapon to go nutz on the epic special...kinda a buildup. It also makes its use more controlable too.

3) I like the idea of the sword talking too. It could be constantly saying (at a reasonable rate of course) how it wants to kill someone, or drink the blood of creatures...etc. Outside players could interact with the sword and hail it if the game designers could do that.

4) You could have the weapon be hailable by the player, and depending on the conversation he has with it could make it do various different abilities. This could have the sword do a poison proc, a stun/stiffle, or a dps or mit debuff depending on what the brigand needs at the time. The weapon in its various phases could gleam a different color, say red for poison...yellow for stuns/stiffles...and blue for debuffs..Thats all my ideas for the brigand weapon one.

And last, but certainly not least, we have a very original Warden concept from a player on the Antonia Bayle server! My judges actually liked the concept of the staff breaking into two pieces to become a buckler and a mace. Another deviation from the norm, yet very fitting:

To all of those that entered, thank you SO very much for your time. You all had amazing ideas - it was a very difficult decision for my judges.

To the winners - ENJOY YOUR BETA!:D

RoK'in' like Dokken

2007-11-03T17:35:00.000-05:00

((Pardon the mess, guys, my blog is being mean and not accepting formats right now...))

A couple days ago, Grimwell took me on a guided tour of EQ2's new expansion, Rise of Kunark. Being the Fae-and-cuteness-obsessed person that I am, I went in half expecting to be disappointed. After all, what could be better than Echoes of Faydwer??? Well... let me just say that RISE OF KUNARK BLEW ME AWAY! (and into a lava pit - literally. Big dragons+Fae glide=Boobooz!). I am so impressed, I hardly know where to begin...

Let's start with some of the new features that will come with the expansion:

PROGRESSION TO LEVEL 80: Both adventurers and tradeskillers now have even more room to grow. A myriad of new recipes and skills will be available! And there is some special level 80 lovin' for each and every class.

EPIC WEAPONS: Every single class will be getting their own epic weapon. Two versions will be available - a group version, and a raid version for the hardcore.

PLAYABLE SARNAK: Come on, you guys know you have wanted this for a while now! The Sarnak are absolutely amazing! This new race comes with incredibly deep new lore, a new starting zone, and a new city as well, Gorowyn. Though they are technically evil, stuff is goin' down in Sarnak town and they are focused on that more than anything. Oh - and by the way, VIVA LA WOMAN! That's right, for once the women are the big strong ones! Rawr! /flex.

THREE NEW DEITIES: Three more deities make their way back to Norrath with the Rise of Kunark! Classic EQlive players will be happy to hear these names... Karana (the Rainkeeper), Bertoxxulous (the Plaguebringer), and The Tribunal (a group of six beings that reigned over the Plane of Justice in classic EQ lore).

LARGER ZONES!!!: Less time zoning equals more time playing. The new zones in RoK are designed in such a way that they are 'macrozones' - large zones containing many smaller ones. And with this comes environmental blending, a gradual introduction of different effects as you move between smaller zones within the larger ones to create a seamless presentation. Remember going from a rainy zone to a zone on fire? These new zones are nothing like that.

RHINO MOUNTS!!!: You've seen them in the official EQ2 artwork since launch. You knew they would come sometime. Well, they're here. And they rock hard. /airguitar. Seriously though, they are all you had hoped for and then some. I know my Fae will be riding around on a rhino soon enough. And his name will be Mister Tubbykins. Don't ask, it's just me.

NEW RAID ZONES!!!: Hardcore raiders delight! There is much more Uberlewtz (tm) brand Uberlewtz to be had with RoK. A casual player? No worries, there is more than enough content to go around. They have been very generous to ALL playstyles with this expansion.

(And you too can be) CAPTAIN FACTIONPANTS!: Remember the classic, faction-dependent EQlive play? That classic concept has integrated seamlessly with EQ2. Don't worry - no need to grind your faction (and your brain into a fine dust) needlessly, there are plenty of quests to give you faction lovin'. With this expansion, players will feel as if they have wonderful things to work toward.

Now that I've explained some of the new features, I'll tell you a little about some of the new zones:

TIMOROUS DEEP

This grouping of islands serves as the training grounds for the new characters in Rise of Kunark as well as an introduction to the troubles facing the newly-awakened Sarnak. The artwork is breathtaking from the start. You find yourself on a stretch of sand that leads into a tropical area. The ocean literally sprays as it crashes on the nearby rocks, giving an epic feel from the start. As you run around, the new zone design is obvious. Points of interest show up in the distance, almost in every direction, calling your name. To make things even better, it's seamless - you see things coming nearer and nearer, more detail coming into view. You have to see it to believe it, it's THAT beautiful. This zone focuses on level 1-20.

KYLONG PLAINS

A level 65-70 zone, this is the first area veteran players will see. Four distinctly memorable areas make up the larger zone of Kylong Plains: the Dreadlands, the Ryjesium Peaks, the Stonewood, and Kunzar Bay. Again, the new zone design is obvious as soon as you get off the docks. A short walk up the docks reveals a small settlement of people, the Dreadlands stretched out before the player with Karnor's Castle and some forest in the distance. It FEELS epic. The environmental blending also contributes an epic feel you travel towards the Ryjesium Peaks. First, the lighting starts to change a bit, then little flecks of snow start to fall, then little patches of snow appear on the ground. Soon, you find yourself walking into a mountainous area covered in snow. There are no sudden changes here that ruin the feeling of immersion.

KARNOR'S CASTLE

Now under new ownership (read: Captain Fraznesh and the Drolvarg done pwnded previous management, Venril Sathir and his Iksar army), this is as classic as it gets. This level 72-76 zone serves as the first new group area. Mister Drolvarg says, "Rawr." What a cute puppy! Give me my arm baaaaack! :D No, really... Please?

KUNZAR JUNGLE

The Iksar Empire has total control over these lands, focused on players level 73-78. Remember the City of Mist? If not, be ready for an introduction. The eastern portion is left wild (rawr, bebeh!) for the training of the Iksar. Conflicts erupt out here often, but the Iksar here are so strong that they lay the smack down like a wrestler. CAGE MATCH! er..... er... Onto the next area.

SEBILIS (Sebilisalisalisalisa in native Winwinspeak.)

Meemooooriiiiiies! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the old capital city of the Iksar Empire! After EQlive, this area was taken over by Trakanon (Trakalakalakanonnynon in Winwinspeak) and some particularly nasty frogloks. However, Venril Sathir and his Iksar army of DOOOOOOOM have taken it back! It's like hot potato, but it's not covered in foil or on fire. Sorry, mental image. At any rate, it has been rebuilt for the Iksar Empire's current needs! Who knows, you may even find some.... *cue the music* hidden surpriiiiiiiises! I personally can't wait to get in here, use my LoN Cloak to shrink down, and break some Iksar ankles. Vicious Fae. Rawr.

JARSATH WASTES

The Jarsath Wastes is an enormous wasteland torn apart by circumstance. Wars, magical storms, and time have taken their toll. It feels desolate, but still maintains the same design concept - you can see distant points of interest that draw you in. One of the details I loved in this zone was a dead dragon being picked apart by birds. You can feel the danger in this zone. (DARNIT! I just got that 80's song stuck in my head! You're EVIL, Kenny Loggins! Pure, unadulterated, heavily-bearded EVIL)... A great chasm called the Goblin Straits shows just how bad this are has been affected. Skyfire Mountains is by far one of the most impressive zones in the game. As you walk up the steps into the mountains, the lighting starts to turn red. You can almost feel the temperature rising as you step further and further into this area full of... (wait for it)... liquid hot MAG-mAH. This is the "end of the line" for the expansion's overland zones, a real challenge built for levels 77-80+.

VEESHAN'S PEAK

Hey raiders... Want a challenge? Trust me, I went in here without buffs... This is the challenge you've been waiting for - the home of the Ring of Scale! Everything in this zone is ENORMOUS. As the CUTEST FAE EVER, I found this zone very intimidating. First off, it's not pink - it's very red and rocky, lots of lava too. Pardon me while I place the interior designer inside me (redundant?) on the shelf. Okay, there. This place. Is scary. You will like it if you can handle it. This will be where the best of the best come to lay the smack down.

((My blog is being mean and not currently allowing me to post more than one picture in this story!!! If any of you out there are familiar with this sort of format, please email me at thewinwinsituation.blogspot.com and let me know what I can do about this. I'll explain more via email))

I don't know what else to tell you guys except for GET EXCITED!!!!! This expansion has by far exceeded any of my expectations and I'm hard to please. It is honestly some of the BEST content I have ever seen in an mmorpg. I'll see you there!

Winwin's Draw Me Your Dream Epic Contest! RoK Beta Access!

2007-11-02T12:50:00.000-05:00

SOE has been kind enough to give me three beta keys to run an RoK Beta Access contest.

People are excited about the return of Epic Weapons (yes, capitalized for effect) with Rise of Kunark. Such being the case, I want you to draw me your dream epic weapon. This isn't a contest of artistic skill, this is pure concept vs. concept. I have three independent judges ready to pick the coolest concept.

So draw up a concept, let me know what class it is for, and let me know what effect/animation you would like to see on it - email me at thewinwinsituation@gmail.com. :) Also, include your name and what server you play on regularly.

Here's the nitty gritty:

1. The deadline is midnight, Tuesday the 6th... Yes, this is a short contest - but I want to make sure the winners get maximum time in beta. So get crackin'. :)

2. You must be willing to abide by SOE's regulations regarding beta.

3. By submitting a concept to me, you are giving me the right to post the picture on The Winwin Situation as well as SOE's official EQ2 forums. Names will be kept private - I will simply say which server the person is from for each winning entry.

4. Have fun!