"Blizzard has announced that they will be dropping LAN support for Starcraft II, citing piracy and quality concerns. Instead, all multiplayer games will be hosted through their new Battle.net service. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this move, but wasn't LAN play how the original Starcraft became popular? Blizzard said, 'More people on Battle.net means more even more resources devoted to evolving this online platform to cater to further community building and new ways to enjoy the game online. World of Warcraft is a great example of a game that has evolved beyond anyone's imagination since their Day 1 and will continue to do so to better the player experience for as long as players support the title. ... We would not take out LAN if we did not feel we could offer players something better.'"
http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/07/01/1628259/Blizzard-Confirms-No-LAN-Support-For-emStarcraft-2em?from=rss

I'm sorry, but what???
No LAN support?
Only Battle.net?

Wow.

Yeah, I've been bad about keeping up with my LJ lately.
Been working a lot.

Not going to GenCon. Need to save the money for other stuff. The smart thing to do is save up for next year and Illuxcon in Nov.

Out of the 35 (turned in to 37) images to do in a month, I have 26 done and I have 8 days left. Of course I did request an extension but never heard back. I dunno if I got canned/ replaced or not.

I'm also in the midst of a couple reviews: one done, one starting tonight (well...the reading part). Courage and Honour by Graham McNeill is a good read, I recommend it. Review over at Flames Rising. I spoke with the author a bit this morning about the review. I tend to occasionally be a harsh mistress when it comes to reviews as I don't believe in sugar-coating what I write. I don't write with "stars in my eyes". While I know a lot of writers, I'm hopefully known as a fair, objective reviewer who "tells it like it is". Graham McNeill is a great guy. He's one of those creatives that pours a lot of heart and soul in to his writing, yet doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve: he wants honest reviews and forthright critique. You can't help but respect that!

There have been some tragedies of late. Some far away, some very near and dear to my heart. My heart goes out to those who have lost someone important in their lives recently. I don't handle death well.

We've had some local weirdness and drama lately as well. I think I may have been at the heart of it or caused it. In D&D terms I tend towards Lawful Stupid, and in doing so, my overwhelming disdain for talking behind someone's back and having to make sure what I say in private is also perfectly clear in public as well...well...I may have really stomped on a friend's feelings. I was a bit TOO honest in a way.

I try to be tactful, and considerate, always. But at some point (in this case) I felt that my tactful words were falling on deaf ears...repeatedly...for months and when I brought it up again and was faced with anger...I fired back with both barrels, as honest and clear as crystal. I dunno. I may have went overboard a little. Thankfully we're still friends. I've since apologised for my excessive force.

I'm supposed to be running a WFRP campaign starting Sunday. May be a short run. I'm starting them at a bit of an odd angle and then seeing where they want to go with it. It's entirely up to them, it's their game, and their story. Of course after the last weird set of emails and all that...all eyes are now on me to put my money where my mouth is. Joy!

My Friday evenings are booked as well, seeing a couple dear friends on a regular schedule now for a bit of Gaming/ Dinner goodness. I know I am very much a creature of habit, and seeing people is something I have to do on a regular basis, else I'll fall back to just staying home. It's too easy to just stay home. I work at home, I live at home, I play at home, I sleep at home...I DO need to get out of the house on occasion before that weird lack of social skills sets in. Maybe it already has (see previous paragraphs).

I'll end this note with an homage to my favorite artist of ALL TIME:


That's right...Tim Bradstreet (swoon).