What Is Opensim And What Is A Hypergrid/Metaverse?

By Angel Fencer (Ender Leven)

As you all know Second Life is known for having multiple regions right? Well, what if instead of an region, it's an entire different server that's controlling the regions and login? This has been well-known in the MMORPG community as an Private Server.

This is exactly what Opensim enables users to do. But what if i can tell you there is more to it then just an alternative Second life experience, what if  tell you you can connect different grids (Second Life Private Servers) let me introduce you the Hypergrid and the Metaverse and its infinite grids.

Multi-Grid Users and Local Grid Users in OSGrid:

So what are the differences between Second life and Opensim?

There an few things diffrend about Opensim and Second life the main are:
Opensim grids are not owned by Linden Labs but by external companies/users.
Opensim has an Extension of LSL (Linden Scripting Language) scripting known as OSSL.
Second Life stuff is NOT exportable to Opensim (without using stuff which might get you banned in Second life).
Since Newer Viewers use Havok code that prohibits the usage of Opensim this means there missing features in the physics department.
Illegal and bad activities are covered by server owners, NOT Linden Labs.
God Mode and blue names are not restricted to Lindens only in Opensim.
Opensim region borders are buggier.
Nothing is goverened by Second Life’s EULA or guidelines as grid owners make there own rules.

Is Opensim illegal?

No Opensim uses old viewer versions governed under the GPL which doesn't prohibits connecting to external non second life services.

How do I join other grids

Be sure to download an viewer wich supports Opensim for example this Firestorm version (https://www.firestormviewer.org/os-operating-system/)

Showing how to enable other grids:

Install it and Enable other grids in the options

And your done for it go ahead go nuts and explore all the grids. I really recommend OSGrid it has no currency,is very active and the people are very polite in the main lobby LBSA.

What is your experiences in OSGrid?

I used to be on Second Life and figured out about OSGrid about an year ago (did join on another account but haven't played a lot) and instantly I fall in love with there building capabilities. I remember flying over some kind of dragon landscape (sadly removed) that isn't possible in Second Life because of its limited prim and region (actually not limited but its super expensive) count making it the perfect place to build the wildest things and with free upload and no currency (some regions do have them but its externally setup). You can bet your bum off you get a lot of freebees there. Just look at these jaw dropping max prim numbers for example.

Showing Primcount maxed out on Opensim:

God mode?! Blue Names?!

Yes you can become an Linden in your own grid and OSGrid sims.

Showing Names:

God Mod Enabled Message:

In god mode(On Opensim):
You can:
Bypass parcel,region and estate bans
Bypass parcel permissions
Edit any parcel
Force Ownership of objects,parcels and edit there settings
Mess people’s attachments up (grin)
Use extra commands (if setup in OSSL.ini!)
Bypass Damage in Non-Safe regions

With god names you can:

Get an Linden (Blue) name
Have something to brag about in your grid

FAQ:
Q: What is Havok and does it kill opensim
A: Its Linden Lab’s custom physics engine it does affect opensim but does not kill it
Q: What are the dangers of exploring grids in Opensim
A: Exploring unsafe grids may expose your IP and Mac address this however is not an issue people cannot really get much info and your quite safe if u stick with the grids Firestorm has build in!
Q: I see in those screenshots Manikineko Grid what is this?
A: An project i am working
Q: How in the name of Govendor Linden did u get 999999 Max Prims?!
A: Edit the Region.ini file add:
MaxPrims = 99999999
Restart your sim and There you go enough prims to waste your life building anything u ever dreamed
Q: Can I connect Second Life to opensim and/or export/import stuff between them
A: No you cannot connect them, yes you can “Rip” second life stuff and put it in Opensim altough you may get banned for using such applications or worse get an virus!

 Angel Fencer

Commentary: Top Ten Videogame Music Tunes

By Cyfir

Most gamers have an opinion about what their favorite video game music is and in this article I will list ten of mine. Of course, you may not agree with this list, but music and sound in general are always a subjective experience. This list was compiled from games that I’ve played and owned. So if you don’t see your favorites here, that’s probably why.

---

10. Wave Race 64 [Nintendo 64]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz9eYvuZOYg

Let’s be honest, the music in this game is a big reason for why it’s so memorable today. It’s mellow and fits perfectly with the gameplay and aesthetic of the game.

9. Streets of Rage 2 [Genesis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXQzyVy9fYM

Just listen to the opening theme of this game and you will know why. This game is widely regarded as having great music and I would tend to agree.

 8. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core [PlayStation 2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKJ9AVrpM9s

I just recently picked this game up. There are other versions of this game but this is the one that was available at my local retro game store. I may not be a big fan of the final boss, but I am a fan of her theme song. It’s not often that I fire up a game for the first time and am immediately blown away by the music, but it happened with this game.

7. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty [PlayStation 2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvEDSkK3GQU




Hideo Kojima is known for making games which play out like movies, and the soundtrack in this game definitely makes you feel like you’re playing a movie. It’s one of the first games which made me feel that way, and the opening track is still great.

6. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 [Sega Genesis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl6kjAkVw_s

I could have put the original Sonic the Hedgehog here too but I believe that the second game in the series is where everything came together both gameplay wise and musically. 



5. Super Mario 64 [Nintendo 64]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx6nOkdeNKs

I played this game so much as a kid that the songs are still stuck in my head, forever resurfacing and playing. I’m not complaining.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time [Nintendo 64]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3OZoErzJg0

I might actually make some people mad by putting this game all the way down at number 4 on this list. While this game is a favorite to many, I actually have a love/hate relationship with it. However, there’s no denying that the music for this game is widely regarded as some of the best music that Nintendo has produced. There are many songs in this game that are unforgettable.

3. Final Fantasy IX [PlayStation]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaGz7rkPd54

I’m not an RPG fan at all, but there’s something about this game that grabbed me. The characters are just great. The music also helped. Sure, there are other Final Fantasy games with similar music, but this is the one I played and still play.

2. Rocket Knight Adventures [Sega Genesis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNb9_JuHjAk

From the moment you start up Rocket Knight Adventures, the action never stops until the end and the catchy music doesn’t as well. This is one of the better looking Sega Genesis games and one of the best sounding as well. I’m still amazed by how many sound channels they were able to utilize in the compositions on a system that was made in 1988.

1. Night in the Woods [Multiple Platforms]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZlHxcklOc4

The music in this game takes my number one spot for just how incredibly haunting it is, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. The compositions will stay in your head long after you’ve finished playing it. Unfortunately, the brilliant composer of these tracks is no longer with us for reasons that I will not get in to due to how complicated the unfortunate situation was, but his music will live on in this masterpiece.

---

So those are my personal top ten video game soundtracks. I do find it a bit interesting that I ended up choosing games from only a handful of systems. I didn’t plan it that way but it probably has to do with the systems that I grew up with. So what are your favorite video game soundtracks? Did I miss out on an obvious choice? Sound off in the comments below!

Reader Submitted: Subnautica Revisited

By Rita Mariner

I have played SUBNAUTICA now for one game shy of 6500 hours.  You might ask how can you play a game that much and it not get boring?  Simple, the game is never the same, each time you play it.  The developers mix things up, each time you start a new game.  While the basics stay the same, they do like to move some of the elements around to keep you guessing.

The game still has the four basic game modes of play. Survival, where you have to watch your food, water, air and health. Freedom, where you only have to watch your air and health, they figure your automatically watching your food and water.  Hardcore, where you have to watch your food, water, air and health, but you only get one life and if you die, you start over! Ouch.  Creative, you don't have to worry about anything, you get all blueprints from the start and build everything at no cost. Basically you ignore the storyline and just explore for fun.

Since I have been playing, there was a huge update to the game and they installed a new graphics engine, which is suppose to make the textures pop more.  It might have, but it also caused havoc with the game, tossing bugs in everywhere.  Which I constantly ran into and reported and they have seemed to have fixed most of them. I still run into new ones, or at least I think they are bugs. They might have changed the story slightly.  Who knows.

The best thing I love about the game, is building.  Make your builder tool, collect all the blueprints to all the base modules and elements and go to town.  What you can create, is limited only by your own imagination and how much time you willing to devote to collecting the resources needed to building your dream home.  I have come up with a design that works wonderfully for me. It does take several hours to collect the blueprints and then the resources to build it.  Followed by zipping around to various wrecks to loot them for collectibles, to decorate my base. There are toys, posters, lab gear, caps, dolls all waiting for you to discover, grab and put on display in your new base.

Then we have Time Capsules.  These little surprise gift packages are what other players leave behind, when they depart the planet in their escape rocket.  They can put in a few items, a picture and some comments who comes across it.  You never know what will be in the capsule.  Could be some good stuff, could be useless stuff, but to open one, you will need at least six open spots in your inventory.

There are also numerous different biomes in the game and each is unique.  Not only in how they look, but in the flora and fauna that dwells within.  I have also learned hat each of these biomes specializes in one or more resource.  For example.  The Jellyshroom Caverns, are brimming with Gold, Lithium and Magnetite, but not much else. Unless you count Crabsnake trying to eat you.  The Lost Tree Biome contains Nickel, Crystal Sulfur, Lead, Silver, Titanium, Copper, some Lithium, some Magnetite, but also a rather unfriendly Ghost Leviathan and a bunch of nasty River Prowlers and Blood Crawlers.

The last biome you need to tackle is the Lava Zone.  Here you need to go to collect Kyanite to finish construction on your vehicles to complete the game.  You you also run into WARPER Central, LAVA Lizards and the Sea Dragon.  If you remember the old saying, busier than a one legged man, at a butt-kicking contest.  This is the place it can happen, and it isn't fun. If they all gang up on you, RUN and try to fix your PRAWN Suit and heal yourself ASAP.  You will have no place to go otherwise.

The Thermal Plant is in the area, once you collect enough Kyanite, find the entrance on the mountain. Go through it to the Thermal Plant, get the needed date inside.  Make your up grades. Come back, then head to the Primary Alien Containment Faciltily a short walk away to meet the Sea Emperor, help her out. get the cure, turn off the cannon (important), then blast your booty off the planet.  Simple enough.  Not really, the last few items will take you about three hours, if you know what you're doing and if you have the resources to make the potion on hand, add a few more hours, if you don't.  Isn't Subnautica fun?  I love it!

Rita Mariner

Video Game Collecting: Part Two - How To Cheaply Start Collecting Video Games

By Cyfir

In my last article on this subject, I wrote about why I started collecting physical video games again. In this installment, I’ll be focusing on how I acquired 100 physical games and 11 systems in under a year without breaking the bank. With video game collecting being the equivalent of comic book collecting in this day and age, how did I do this?

As I mentioned in the last article, I’m far from rich. In fact, I’m quite the opposite at this point in my life. However, I’m fairly thrifty, so I’ve been able to find some pretty good deals and obtain many of my childhood games and systems back. The first place I started was Nintendo Entertainment System games. While I had an Atari 2600 in my household growing up, it wasn’t until the NES that I started to gain an appreciation for video games. It just so happens that many great titles for the NES are dirt cheap, usually selling at retro video game store for more or less $5. Of course there are more expensive titles, but my most expensive NES game was $25. Another system that is super cheap to collect for now is PlayStation 2.

Now, I wouldn’t rely on just retro video game stores. They usually want to make a profit, and their prices often reflect that. You can sometimes find good or fair enough deals in them, and I do believe that it is important to support them as they provide a valuable resource, but you’re not going to find everything or always get the best deals there. I would also check out local flea markets, thrift stores, and even Facebook Marketplace (but please use caution when meeting strangers from FaceBook and making deals with them. They may try to scam you or you could end up in a dangerous situation.)

My area doesn’t have a ton of games at Goodwill, but I’ve heard that it’s different throughout the country. I’ve had much better luck at flea markets and my area has a handful of them. In my experience, pawn shops don’t have the best deals. They want to make as big of a profit on their inventory as possible, but your mileage may vary.

Before you head out, it’s important to have a list of all the games and systems you’re looking for and check the fair prices on those items. I use an Android app called Gameye to keep a wishlist as well as keep track of all the games and systems that I already own (and accidentally buying duplicates is a thing that happens; trust me.) I also use a site called PriceCharting to make sure that I’m not overpaying too much for a game.

Never be afraid to buy a game or system that looks dirty or has something internally wrong with it, as long as it’s at a fair price. Many games and systems are decades old and it’s unfair to think that you’re going to find something in pristine condition all the time. Cleaning and fixing games and systems is actually not a bad way to get in to a new and fun hobby and could end up saving you a ton of money. For instance, you could find a Sega Dreamcast that doesn’t play discs, and the person selling it is offering it for $5. You could get a disc drive assembly online for around $15 and open it up and replace it. Now you have a Sega Dreamcast for $20 when they’re going for upwards of $60 or more. There are plenty of YoutTube videos and tutorials out there on how to clean and fix games and systems. If you’re new to it, I would take your time, take pictures as you go, and keep track of all the screws. Also, when screwing things back together, turn counter clockwise first until the threads slip in properly. Most of the plastic on old games and systems are old and brittle and are prone to strip or break.

In conclusion, it’s not enough to do any of the above if you’re just going to go crazy and buy everything you see. Be strict on yourself. I only allow myself to go game hunting once per payday. Keep a budget in mind as much as possible and try to avoid temptation. That’s easier said than done sometimes, but we’re adults now and we should be able to maintain a budget. Finally, collect what you enjoy. I would never recommend going out and buying something just because it’s valuable. Sure, if you find a copy of a rare and expensive game for $5, grab that, but don’t go out of your way for it. I personally only collect what I have nostalgia for or what I want to play. After all, that’s what it’s all about.

Cyfir

News and Commentary: More on Blizzard's China Controversy

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last month, Blizzard stripped a Hearthstone tournament winner of his prize money and suspended him from further matches for a year following the gamer from Hong Kong using the short time he was given for an interview to openly proclaim his support for the protests there. The company stated he had violated one of the rules by "engaging in an act that ... brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard image." The company also dismissed the two men who were doing the interview. At first, it appeared that the two men, independent contractors whom were not directly employed by Blizzard, were dismissed for no reason. But it turned out they knew what the gamer they were about to interview was up to. The reaction of a number of gamers in Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and other games Blizzard owns, was to cancel their accounts and call for a boycott.

Since my first article on the subject, the story has continued to develop. A CBS story on October 10 stated the stock price of Activision/Blizzard had fallen. Access Now, a group aimed at protecting peoples rights online, called out, "Blizzard demonstrates a lack of respect for the human rights of its users." Some US politicians also spoke out against Blizzard's actions.

Blizzard eventually gave Blitzchung his prize money back and reduced his ban to six months. It would also reduce the ban of the two broadcasters, whom were in on the protest the gamer was about do. While Blizzard's President Allen Brack admitted they had acted too quickly in response to the incident, they insisted they had to act to keep gamers focused on games, The specific views expressed by Blitzchung were not a factor in the decision we made. ... I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision."

There would be another protest, and suspension. On October 16, Blizzard banned three players over holding up a sign, "Free Hong Kong, Boycott Blizzard" during a livestream a few days before. Despite that banning, and stories about people being banned from the Blizzard forums for bringing up the Hong Kong controversy, there were talks about mass-protests at Blizcon on November 1. While Blizzard had canceled a scheduled launch event for it's Overwatch game, it couldn't just up and cancel it's annual convention.

Players have continued to express their disapproval, such as a commentary in Massively, "The Blizzard I Knew Is Dead." Tyler Edwards would write, "... the theme of fighting to overthrow tyrannical governments has come up again and again. Suramar, Mists of Pandaria, Battle for Azeroth… The face of StarCraft is Jim Raynor, a character who spent most of the franchise fighting for freedom against oppressive regimes. And now Blizzard has actively aided and abetted oppression by a real world dictatorship. When one of its players spoke up in favor of democracy, Blizzard helped silence his voice, at a time when democracy is under fire all over the world – all to protect business interests in mainland China, a country that makes up only a tiny fraction of its global revenue. It’s wrong, and it’s cowardly, and it goes against everything Blizzard is supposed to stand for."

Other protests included artistic ones. The character Mei of Blizzard's game Overwatch, was drawn by numerous people protesting the company as being a sympathizer of Hong Kong's resistance. There was also at least one online cartoon, Sandra and Woo, in which the artist mocked Blizzard for pretending to stand for human rights while submitting to China's demands.

Finally came Blizzcon, which had the company President Brack appear on stage for the opening ceremonies. And at one point, he brought up the controversy and apologized, “When I think about what I’m most unhappy about, it’s really two things. The first one is we didn’t live up to our high standards that we set for ourselves. And the second is, we failed in our purpose. And for that I’m sorry, and I accept accountability."

While Brack got a standing ovation for his apology at Blizcon, checking the responses to the apology in the article, most I saw were negative saying the response was inadequate. There were some saying this was either as good as they could expect from a corporation to that there was nothing that could be done about Hong Kong, "I feel for the peeps at hong kong, I truly do... I wish them nothing but the best... but I'm still going to play their games. I believe no matter what phrases we say, it wont change the way China is." Nydia Tungsten of the Furry Gamers Group in Second Life would comment the apology reminded her of a child chastised by it's parents that was saying "sorry" only because it was ordered to.

Blizzard would go on to introduce the next expansion for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. And in the game itself is having it's fifteenth anniversary. But the controversy is a dark cloud over the occasion. As a similar controversy has been hounding the NBA, it seems what happened with Blizzard/Activision is part of a larger problem. American companies love Chinese money so much, many if not most will compromise their principles to get it.

For yours truly, I ended up getting back into the game just before Blizzard banned the gamer from Hong Kong for calling out for his city being able to keep the freedoms it's people enjoyed. That the company, or at least it's President, went out and apologized makes me feel like I can stay in with a clean conscience. But why did it have to get in this mess to begin with? As some friends are sticking around, I will too, at least for now.

 Sources: CBS, Tech Times, Vice, Tweaktown, Massively, Kotaku, IGN


Bixyl Shuftan

Video Game Collecting : Part One - Why I Collect Physical Games

By Cyfir (Cyfiremmerich Resident)

In Second Life, everything is digital and on Linden Lab’s servers. If Linden Lab’s shut down Second Life tomorrow, everything that you have in your inventory and everything that you’ve built up in the virtual world would be gone. Is this likely any time soon? No, but this scenario isn’t unheard of in today’s age. All that needs to be done is for a company to pull the plug and everything that you’ve worked towards in a social space or game is wasted time and this is why I like to collect physical media. If everything else shuts down, I can still plug in my Nintendo 64 and play some Cruis’n USA. Or I can plug in my Wii and play a complete $3 copy of Ghost Squad with the Wii Zapper and relive my time in the arcade playing lightgun games like Time Crisis. Or I can start up my original PlayStation and steam roll through Metal Gear. You get the idea.

I don’t have a huge collection at the moment. There was a long period of time where I swore off playing video games in favor of doing things that I felt were more productive with my spare time, such as helping out communities in Second Life and elsewhere. It felt more fulfilling than beating a game for seemingly no reason. However, that started to change as I fell out with the groups that I was part of and I found myself needing a hobby. So I fell back into video games. I found myself regretting getting rid of all the great games and systems that I had as a kid, especially since a handful of those are rare now.

Some might think “why not just get a raspberry pi and emulate all your favorite retro games. Well, for one. I’m a huge fan of original physical hardware. I’m a hardware geek. I love how owning a physical system and cartridge is kind of like owning a mini arcade board. I love to mod my Gameboy Advance and open up and fix old games that aren’t working. It’s just another aspect of the hobby that’s right up my alley. If I wanted to emulate games, I would just do so on my PC. You don’t need another physical box to do it. I’ve also not had the best experiences with emulation. Sure, emulated versions of older systems like the Playstation and Nintendo 64 look tons better thanks to modern technological advances and modding, but they’re also prone to game crashing bugs and glitches that haven’t been ironed out in the emulators. I was playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time via emulation, and the game suddenly crashed and I found myself realizing that I hadn’t saved in a while and I lost hours of my time in the game. I turned around and bought the port of the game for 3DS and that issue was eliminated. I just prefer the reliability of the actual legit hardware and software.

Now, I’m not rich. In fact, I’m the opposite, so I can’t just go out and buy all the old video games I want. However, I could have gone out and found a big lot of really cheap games and I could have had hundreds of games by now. However, I just don’t see a point in that. I want games that I actually want to play, that holds nostalgic value to me, or that I just think looks cool. At the moment, I only own 79 physical games since I started collecting again. Surely, getting 79 good games in nine months would be expensive right? Not really. In part two I will be covering how I’ve built up my collection so far and different ways that you can do it.

Cyfir

News and Commentary: Blizzard's Removing Hong Kong Gamer From Tournament Sparks Calls for Boycott, Debate on Free Speech

By Bixyl Shuftan

I had hoped to make my next article related to Blizzard about it's upcoming version of World of Warcraft in which the heroes go up against a horrific enemy of the likes one sees in a Lovecraft novel, and there are a couple new player races to choose from, the half-machine Mechagnomes for the Alliance and the foxlike Vulpera for the Horde. With the latter, some Second Life friends were looking forward to going about as fluffy-tailed folks and wisecracking jokes like, "What’s a Vulpera’s favorite dance? The fox trot." Some of us whom had gotten out of the game due to both lighter interest and it's subscription fee got back in. This included yours truly, whom last week returned and signed up for a few months as some good gaming friends would be spending time there, so I thought.

But there's been some news in the world of gaming that has given some of us second thoughts about adventuring in Azeroth, and it isn't about the content of the game, but the actions of the company that owns it, Blizzard, concerning another of it's games, Hearhstone.

Last weekend, there was an Asia-Pacific Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament. Among those taking part was Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung of Hong Kong. He won, and when interviewed afterwards, he declared his support for the protests going on in the city, "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time," wearing a mask and goggles much like what some of the protesters have been wearing. For those who haven't been paying attention much to news from Asia, over time the government of China has made a number of demands on the autonomous city of Hong Kong which many of it's inhabitants feel break the promise it made of letting them govern themselves when Britain ceded control of the city over twenty years ago. This includes that anyone running for office there has to be approved by China's government. Months ago, Hong Kong's council was set to vote on a bill that would mean anyone in the city charged with a crime by the Communist government would be subject to arrest by local police and deportation. Since then, many of the people of the city of 7.5 million have been protesting in the streets. Over 2300 have been arrested so far and over 2000 injured. There is no end in sight to the protests.

Blizzard responded by taking down the video of the interview (though copies of it can be seen elsewhere), and on Tuesday October 8, the company stripped Ng of his prize, and banning him from Hearthstone tournaments for a year. They stated that he had violated one of the rules of the game, "Engaging in any act that, in Blizzard’s sole discretion, brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard image will result in removal from Grandmasters and reduction of the player’s prize total to $0 USD ..." Blizzard also fired the two commentators whom did the interview, Mr. Yee and Virtual (real name unknown). Virtual would later explain neither he or Mr Yee were told why they were dismissed, and about half of his income comes from broadcasting the tournaments, "If Blizzard bans me from casting any Hearthstone tournament, it will really hurt." Neither worked directly for Blizzard, but were independent contractors.

The result was a backlash from a number of gamers, whom began cancelling accounts to Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and other games owned by Blizzard. Some expressed their comments on a "Boycott Blizzard" Twitter feed. One posted his response to when Blizzard asked his reasons for canceling his subscription, "I have been a loyal WoW player since 2007, spending literal years of my life on Azeroth. However, I can no longer support a company whose corporate policy considers speaking outu against human rights violations constitutes a "breach of contract." I'm still rooting for all the talented developers, artists, and writers working at Blizard but I will no longer support the company until these oppressive practices change." A thread on the topic in the Blizzard forums would get over 7300 responses as of the writing of this article.

Not everyone at Blizzard agrees with the company's reaction to the incident. A small number of employees did a walkout at the main office, gathering at it's Orc statue. Some had umbrellas, a symbol of the protests in Hong Kong. One employee would comment online, "The action Blizzard took against the player was pretty appalling but not surprising. Blizzard makes a lot of money in China, but now the company is in this awkward position where we can’t abide by our values."

This incident comes at about the time of two other high-profile ones involving business, free speech, and China. Last Friday, Daryl Morey, the General Manager of the Houston Rockets made and later deleted a Twitter post in support of the Hong Kong protesters. Despite the team owner speaking out against the comment, and that the tweet couldn't be see in China as it is banned there, the Chinese Basketball Association suspended all cooperation with the team, and events by the team would no longer be broadcasted by China's top station. At first, the NBA, which after investing years and millions in China gets about ten percent of it's revenue from the country, distanced itself from the comment. But when a number of Americans complained, including several politicians of both political parties, on Tuesday October 8 NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated they would not censor players or team owners over remarks about China.

The other incident was the 300th episode of the "South Park" animated comedy show, "Band in China." The show poked fun at Chinese censorship and American companies bowing down to pressure from the Chinese government in order to do business there. The result was the show practically vanishing from the Internet within China. The response from the show's two creators was a mock apology, "Like the NBA, we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts. We too love money more than freedom and democracy. ... Long live the great Communist Party of China. May the autumn's sorghum harvest be bountiful. We good now China?"

These three incidents combined have reignited debate nationwide about how much should American companies compromise their principles in order to do business with a dictatorship that controls over a billion people. But Blizzard's move also presented an ethical dilemma to some of my gaming friends in Second Life. For Nydia Tungsten, the head of the Furry Gamers group, as much as she relished the idea of going about Azeroth as a bushy-tailed vixen, Blizzard's move led her to cancel her account. She would post the following.

My friends and I were all looking forward to this, but due to Blizzards actions we as well as the gaming groups we belong to have canceled our subscriptions, the only way to get a companies attention is to hit them where they will notice it, their wallets. They MAY have appeased China, but can they be supported by China alone? I don't think so, spread the word and take your money from their wallets.

"I am not leaving the game forever," Nydia would also state, "but I DO want Blizzard to feel the backlash of their actions." Not everyone in the Furry Gamers went along however, notably some longtime players of World of Warcraft, "I am refusing to get drawn into a political flame war. I'm going to keep playing because I've spent far too many years in this damn game to stop doing it over politics."

For yours truly, the timing of Blizzard's move happened just after I'd gotten back in World of Warcraft. Since a number of my friends were either ramping up their time in Warcraft or getting back in, and Ark and Rust were getting laggier and crashy, I went ahead and bought the latest version of the game *and* subscribed for the next few months. I intend to go ahead and get what I paid for. But unless Blizzard makes some kind of amends, I might as well cancel my subscription as well. So where will I and the white vixen be gaming next? We'll find a place.

Sources: Kotaku, Blizzard forums, Ars Technica, PC Gamer, CNN, Vulture,

Bixyl Shuftan