It started in Moonshine...

Okay, didn't get around to doing another dry run on-air Saturday night and doubt there be one for Tonight (Sunday).

We got caught up in a small bike run to Moonshine, IL.

Well, after we ate....one thing led to another. Vincennes IN, French Lick, Salem..etc etc. Lots of sun, almost 500 miles, good food, yeah it just happened. Hopefully back on track about Tues.

Good start

Started out a little bumpy with the Links and everyone trying to connect, but overall it went well. Trying to keep chatting and talking over Skype, watching the server (that went down a few times) it was a busy night.

Appreciate the support and help from everyone that showed up, and we will continue..as time permits..and my bandwidth.

Show Notes..

Music News -

Robert Plant,  (Led Zepplin) Covers Los Lobos Song,  Angel Dance. Shoots video in Chicago's Latin neighborhood, La Villita.

Decent cover from Mr Plant, you can grab the Video here

Bachman Turner Overdrive - BTO, as we all remember have lost the O.

Getting sued for your O...story here

Game News - 

  BEST BUY on USED GAMES??

Best Buy has begun testing a new in-store program for customers to trade in their old games for store gift cards. So congratulations, you all have another entry to the list of places that will buy your games for less than the amount of change in your pockets.

The program is beginning with 600 locations across the country. Some will have special video game trade-in counters, while others will just use their existing customer service area.

Full story here

Thanks again for the turn out...more fine tuning as we go.

Was excited with the response, and surprised..

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I was surprised that the word got out so fast. I received several calls on Skype already, okay a few, but nice all the same.

I am attempting to go live tonight between 8 and 9p CST, this depends on my Friday Night cravings, but this will be way cheaper...

Not sure if I will start out with an 80's set, or mix it up, either way I am sure I will screw it up, out of the gate. It has been awhile since I have done this.

Thanks to Keth, Plac, Drac, SilentBoob, DirtNap, TopGun, Jabble....for the thumbs up...hope to se you guys tonight..

Back to School...Let the games begin!

I read an article awhile back and was amused at that point where we are in entertainment. Back to school still carries a certain “Blech” feeling when I hear it. Now that we are at that point or past it and school has changed the summer schedules and activities, there is always that helpful advice we get on helping our “mini-me's” survive the transition. The past few weeks, day time TV has been riddled with the helpful hints from snacks to homework, too rest and recreation. It was always a struggle for everyone to balance what's needed.

"We're going to make this short and sweet, parents: You probably shouldn't try to dodge a back-to-school gaming tuneup. Sure, talking about responsibilities and setting screen time limits is no fun. Kids hate rules, and parents hate having to play traffic cop. But back-to-school time means re-balancing languid, lazy summer schedules -- and if you're going to help your kids develop time management skills and a head for how to balance their own activities and schedules, this is the perfect teaching moment."

MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family, from tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate online games for everyone in the family.

Gaming has grown over the years and has taken its place among the “R&R” portions of our life. This is evident in several ways, but really gives notice when your local TV news mentions gaming along with other entertainment outlets, when offering the helpful hints entering the school year. For me, in the dark ages, it was a black and white TV with three channels. No real competition there, it was three channels.

I don’t have to worry about battle plans for a back to school tune up, I'm just waiting on grand kids. Those of you that do, I wish you the best, do right by your mini-me, because children are cool and deserve our best. Of course this means that Mom and Dad have to set the example and make sure they are showing restraint for the school season, it's only fair. Since I don’t have to worry about setting any examples, when asked “you played games for 6 hours?”, my retort is “I'm grown, I can do what I want”.

I remember family nights when “Alone in the Dark”, a survival horror game developed by Infogames was played.

Image via Wikipedia

"In 1925, Jeremy Hartwood, a noted artist and the owner of the Louisiana mansion Derceto, has committed suicide by hanging himself. His death appears suspicious yet seems to surprise no-one, for Derceto is widely reputed to be haunted by an evil power. The case is quickly dealt with by the police and soon forgotten by the public. The player assumes the role of either Edward Carnby – a private investigator who is sent to find a piano in the loft for an antique dealer - or Emily Hartwood, Jeremy's niece, who is also interested in finding the piano because she believes a secret drawer in it has a note in which Jeremy explains his suicide. The player, either as Carnby or Hartwood, goes to the mansion to investigate. As the player enters the house, the doors mysteriously slam shut behind him or her. Reluctantly, he or she continues up to the attic. In that room, the action begins."

With the lights off and the sound turned up, everyone would take their turn playing either character. Hours were spent working through puzzles, getting scared and generally laughing ourselves to tears. We played the game through to the end and when asked what shall we do on family night, “Lets play the Dark game dad.”, so we visited mansion Derceto on several occasions.

 Our family night wasn’t the norm, gaming was the majority vote. Through Monkey Island, Indian Jones to Willy Beamish and Quest for Glory, we were gamers before gaming was cool. So naturally, these days, getting ready for the new school year has to include game time adjustments. No more playing games with dad until 1am.

New stream up and running...Test Test MIC CHECK MIC CHECK

Okay, too many projects over the last few weeks, but I think I am almost ready. I want to make sure the equipment is tested and fine tuned, so I will be having several dry runs over the next week or so.

My plan is to be live every night at 8 or 9pm CST, starting 8/27. During this time I want to get my "DJ Sets" in order, so most of the time they will be handled as a live show except for the occasional tweaking. At some point I will be testing the call in feature so I can take callers live on air through Skype. There are several transitions that need work, so this will give me the time to get them set.

I suggest using the Winamp or Windows Media links that are on this page to connect.


If you happen to catch me when I am on, please let me know how the audio is.....constructive criticism is best served with Rock and Roll.

Appreciate the listen...

Coming soon...

Greetings and welcome to “Art’s Closet” Blog spot…

After a short hiatus,  Art’s Closet will be back on air with a mixture of  ”Everything that Rocks” from the 70′s 80′s and 90′s.  We will slip back into our old format, and cover the topics that catch our eye concerning the gaming world. We will also look at whats happening in the world of music and our favorite artists.

As we progress with the show my hope is to have guest appearances with live “Jam sessions” streaming from the closet, but more on this at a later date.

At present I am working with Gamer Network Radio to secure a spot and time and when the dust settles all the show notes and discussions will be posted here.

MMO Radio "Where Gamers Rock!

Taking a few steps back, say back about late 2004 I would guess, City of Heroes was a few months new and Paragon Radio was rocking the new world. This is where it began for me and continued through the Gameamp, and TMS Broadcasting changes. Gaming radio for MMO's was the “live on the scene play by play” that added an extra element to Online gaming. Contests, Party's, live commentary for quests or missions and the chance that your character may get a "shout out" on air. If you were listening on-air but not in game, it made you want to be in game and join in. If you were in game and not on-air...that was just odd. There was a good variety of music for everyone. The news was informative and up to date. It was our very own private radio station geared toward the MMO gamer, it was harmony. Sadly, MMO Radio is no longer kicking out the jams but it's legacy lives on.

The last 6 years we have seen a collection of Internet radio stations come and go, almost as much as some games. I still believe that Gaming Radio is a solid viable form of media information/entertainment. If you are one of the lucky ones who have a Net Radio station with the call letters of your fav MMO, you have your own private media outlet. There are others that are a “Collective” or group of Podcasters that will enlighten, instruct and entertain on everyday life of a gamer, as well as the latest news. There is a plethora of these on several MMO's and always worth a listen.

This is also a business. We have major players in the arena with the backing capital and clout to present for us Game Developers, CEO's and the brightest talents of our time. We are always with updates, guides, interviews and industry news so we can all keep track of this industry that we love so well. We have even advanced into streaming video and a TV format. The inter-webs are alive with the sound of gaming. With all of the polish and fine tuning, the voice talents and notable persona’s, my heart still goes back to the early days. With a cheap headset, impromptu shows, because who in the hell would write a format, we made our way to internet radio.

I remember having to practice keeping the interview running smoothly. Working to keep the silence, the pauses in a conversation and the “Um..Uh...Um” to a minimum. If you were the one editing you found out very quickly that 90 minutes of raw audio could take over 5 hours to edit. If you were lucky enough to have all of your guests in one room, it was easier to control Darth Vader breathing into the mic. No matter how many sound checks you do before, there is always Capt Munchy who decides to unwrap his twinkie, live on air. Live or prerecorded there was always something moving it off center. Just a bunch of gamers doing a show, along with Darth Vader and the Twinkie we had one hell of a good time.

My latest adventure in Internet Broadcasting Tom Foolery was a couple of years ago with Gamer Network Radio or GNET Radio. We had gone through a few transitions ourselves, Vanguard Radio, Uberguilds Radio, and GNET Radio is where it has finally settled. I had so much fun during this time and met so many fantastic people. We were lucky enough to even get a few gaming celebs to help with radio ads, like Chris "Binky" Launius, Community Manager, Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, April “Cuppa Joe” Burba who was the Community Manager for Tabula Rasa, Jeremy Dale Lead Animator for Warhammer Online. I know two of these games fell short and are no longer operating but the people we met were wonderful and supportive.

Shameless plug incoming....

Vanguard Radio ad for Vanguard Roleplayers

DJ Artagus "Art's Closet" intro

For the adult gaming crowd GNET Radio offers a variety of information for the gamer, PC, Console, FPS, MMO and more. They offer an IRC chat room, live call in capability during some shows and encourages participation from all their listeners. The podcasts and live shows do an excellent job at keeping me entertained. They are a large part of my listening library. If you stop by, tell them Art sent ya and you might get a some pie or visit The ESCape Show and get a coupon for Popeye's Chicken, or not.

...end shameless plug.

Either way, the gaming media we have within reach offer so much in support of our favorite hobby. Bloggers, Podcasts, Game Radio, Game TV, Video Blogs, it's a wealth of entertainment and information. Professional or your buddy with a 5 dollar headset, if they share some interesting tidbit, play your favorite tune, make you laugh once or twice a week it's worth the time spent.

Everquest Smorgasboard...and there is Pie

The inter-webs have been busy on the SOE announcements concerning Everquest and Everquest II. It's a feast, a SOE feast of goodies to sink your whatever into.  Everquests 17th expansion , Everquest 2 expansion Destiny of Velious, EQNext. All the beefy tidbits that I could grab from my fav reading spots about Fan Faire 2010, had me begging for more. It appears that some great content is coming for EQ and EQ2 Fans.

Even if Everquests “House of Thule” sucks, just having 17 expansions is epic. Revisiting Velious and seeing the landmarks I remember including Velks Lab has me looking forward to Destiny of Velious. The crowning jewel though, the Pièce de résistance,  is EQNext. Mark my words, this will be the most followed development since Brad McQuaid announced Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.

Everquest had the Love/Hate relationship, the Bitter/Sweet of Gaming. Traveling time sinks, the corpse runs, it was the elitists true and only real game. My move from EQ into EQ2 wasn’t due to boredom or because EQ was to hard and had too many time sinks. It was because the graphics in EQ2 was breath taking. As I've said before the cosmetics of a game is important to me.

The in game screen shots are promising and the bitter sweet of EQ will migrate to EQNext. My only hope at this point would be open zones like Vanguard, continue that feel of a vast open world and shelve the days of running along the zone walls. If SOE will truly build off the original EQ concept and salt and pepper the fine points from their other games, crafting, trades, diplomacy, flying mounts, even extending Bard abilities similar to the musician trades in Star Wars Galaxies. Okay, yeah I am reaching here but this really has some fantastic possibilities. This will be the one to watch.

Please snag the following links for more info..

Related articles by Zemanta

• EverQuest II: Destiny of Velious announced (news.bigdownload.com)
• The Tattered Notebook: Flying mounts and what's Next (massively.com)
• Rumor: EQII's next expansion returns to Velious (massively.com)
• The Future Of Everquest: Everquest Next (rockpapershotgun.com)
• SOE unveils 'EverQuest Next' at Fan Faire (joystiq.com)

Shipwrecked into another MMO.....Final

My first introduction to “instancing” in a game was Everquest, Lost Dungeons of Norrath. The LDoN quests were unique, challenging and a nice addition to the, then present content. Instancing has become an expected feature in may games these days including DDO. Clicking on the entrance to one of these instanced areas, a window will pop up that allows you to set the difficulty level. There is also an explanation for each setting to give you an idea just what you are getting yourself into. Casual, Normal, Hard, Elite and Epic, I chose normal because it's not casual and it makes me feel like I'm not taking the easiest route. I'm not casual, I'm normal.

My normal cleric finds out there is an abnormal sound coming from the Heyton Family Crypt. Get out the recipe for Spooky and see what is needed. The ingredients were here but it lacked the flavor I was hoping for. I understand that this is still “noob adventuring” at this level, and school was still in session as the tutorials continued with new content, but it still seemed bland.

Sarcophagus smashing skill is maxed, no there is no such skill but if there was I would have been maxed out. The Crypt, appropriately so, is lined with Sarcophagi along the walls, one right after another. I suppose in order to find out where the strange sound was coming from one would indeed smash them. Process of elimination, two steps “Wack”, two steps “Wack”. Sometimes you would yield coin and other times a ticked off dead family member. There was enough Sarcophagi to Sarcopha-gag-me.

One appealing aspect that was introduced in this dungeon was the puzzle. I personally like the puzzle as long as it's done well. This puzzle was not difficult, it was...normal. Certain artifacts found in the Crypt, not in any of the 275 Sarcophacrap along the walls, but found in rooms is what allowed you to advance. Finding a way to get past the magic doorway, which was locating the items to place in the Sockets, added that little bit of mystery. This is much better than just entering the room for your final encounter.




The puzzle and the ambiance of the final room was the best parts of the this dungeon. I guess after I had to destroy crates and boxes for money when I first entered the game, I should have expected that all my coin drops would be similar.

Pillaging the Crypt made sense by busting up the Sarcophagi but I think a few would suffice. This was the part that seemed to outplay or overwhelm the reason for the adventure. It sadly dwarfed the cool puzzle and became very mundane. Speaking of Dwarf, my Cleric will be off to other adventures when time permits and hopefully as we progress, so will the puzzles and I am sure plenty of random stuff to break, smash and crush. 

Trivial as it may sound, the ability to keymap movement is critical to me. A player should not be limited to how they can move their avatar. Having the left mouse button preset and unchangeable is unnecessary.  The Free to Play option doesn't make me feel obligated or committed and makes it worth the space on my hard drive. 

Shipwrecked into another MMO.....part 2

Where I ended my last post, my Cleric made it into Korthos and of course a Tavern would've been the appropriate first stop, at least that’s what my Cleric was thinking, really..he told me. Entering into Korthos, and I mean just as soon as you zone in, it's Randall.

Good 'ole Randall standing cross-legged and waiting for all of those newly shipwrecked adventurers to guide them on their way. This is usually where I get in trouble for not following the path that is given. I am sure that Randall had some important and very informative things to tell me, but being the overzealous noob that I am I just clicked through the dialog so I could explore the village.

Korthos was familiar. The usual starting area I have seen in other games, Merchants, Trainers, quests to continue the story line and a mob of other noobs just like me. I was running around checking out all of the buildings and characters to interact with when I noticed something amusing. Every player running around, was swinging their weapon like it was a battle for their soul. It got to the point I kept turning around to see who was fighting. I ran to a merchant and a player was there hacking at the air just before he left. I came up on a trainer and another player was swinging at the wind.

When I first entered the game and began to get the feel of the controls, it was awkward. I am not used to the W-A-S-D to move my avatar. I'm not sure when the change took place because my early days of gaming, the WASD keys were the key, so to speak. These days I use or configure both mouse buttons to move forward and control the camera, it's much easier for me to navigate. Unfortunately with DDO, a player can't map the mouse buttons this way. I was able to use the scroll wheel to help create my perfect mode of movement, which brings me to my point.

So far, everyplace or person I have approached, I was swinging my mace. I run up to an NPC and turn to look at a quest, “Swiff Swiff”. I run up a ramp and adjust my camera angle “Swiff Swiff”. I wanted to make sure to get this corrected before I entered an open zone. It's embarrassing to be milling about doing your odds and ends in town, and the whole time you're swinging your weapon like someone swatting flies. It's like that Jumper syndrome that some have. You know the ones, they jump all the time, jump, jump, jump. You are at a merchant selling your wares and the whole time some Pally is jumping non-stop, It's just annoying. But if everyone is jumping....? With everyone running around me swinging their weapons wildly in the air I felt right at home, I guess there's a lot of people not used to the WASD keys.

Even with all of the running, “whooshing” and “swiffing” going on, we all paused in silence when we saw it.

Yes there it is....a Tavern. 

“Onward Lads we can do some “whooshing” in here.”

Shipwrecked into another MMO - Part 1

You wake up on a beach in ragged clothes and no belongings. The beach is littered with whats left of the ship and it's cargo, and some spry individual calls you by name. You are either in the never ending re-run of Gilligan’s Island or started a new MMO.

The spry individual is Jeets Shimis and the game is Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited. When DDO was launched I spent the first few weeks looking around but nothing held my attention enough to yield adequate game play. I remember that there were some interesting factors in DDO and since it's now a free to play model I thought I would “adventure” back in.

We all know Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I try to be fair when it comes to graphics as much as possible. It's the graphics, the “eye candy”, the detail that is somewhat important to me and why not. The gaming industry, art and development, has advanced to far not to delivery highly detailed worlds and characters. 

Looking around after entering I was not disappointed. The area was crisp and detailed from the water to the trees right down to the falling snow. Snow? On a tropical island? I bet that Dragon that is flying over has something to do with it, after all it was the reason I am shipwrecked.

The opening dialogue that moves the new player into the game, scenario or story line was rather intrusive. Jeets Shimis a rogue who stands a few feet away, relentlessly calls to you. Due to the fact that I wanted to look around first before jumping right in, poor Jeets just got on my nerves. It's almost like the developers were afraid that Jeets wouldn’t get anyone’s attention, every 3 seconds Jeets was speaking to me. I am sure it wasn’t every 3 seconds but it was annoying. 

After talking to Jeets we begin riding the MMO rail. This is where you get led around to certain points and people in the game so you can perform your daring deeds of do. This is needed of course to establish the new player with the game mechanics. Tutorial/introduction on how to talk, walk, run and if you are brand new to a game like this, its your best friend.

After breaking a few boxes for coin and getting my new weapon from Motormouth Jeets he sends you to find Cellimas Villuhne, this of course is you first real adventure type quest that further teaches you the game mechanics. There really wasn’t anything new in DDO's starting area compared to others. The only improvement, as a whole, has been making these starting areas more informative.

My little Tutorial quest introduced me to swimming, pulling levers to open doors and “Search” for searching traps. I will have to admit that this added animation when searching for a trap in a room is cool. It gives everyone that “pause” as if you were actually looking for something out of place, instead of a random behind the scenes number check that amounts to a click on an icon.

Another noticeable thing for me was the armor reward. We had bested our foes in battle, thwarted the evil Sahuagin High Priestess, and Jeets walked us to our reward. “Oh Look...a Chest.” the universal iconic graphic for reward, the proverbial pirates chest. Okay the chest wasn’t the cool thing here it was the armor. I always give a nod of acceptance to any game that can give me a variance in apparel and not only that, it isn’t painted on so 2 nods.

Got my game on, looking good like a Cleric should and our next stop is Korthos Village. Hope thay have a Tavern, getting a little thirsty.

Doing my part..

I was perusing, as that's what I do, and came across this article. Nielsen has researched and found that gaming accounts for 10% of all US internet time.

Now at first, 10% didn't sound like news, more like a passing thought or observation. It was the 407 million hours per month that sounded news worthy. I wonder how much of that is me, I'll have to check into that. I would much rather interact with my entertainment instead of digesting whatever it may be spewing out, TV comes to mind. Don't get me wrong, I like my share of Movies but very soon I get bored and want to play with my food. In other words I want to be more involved, decision making, hand an eye coordination, which I find waning these days.

Creative expression on a daily basis, your own Journal of the mundane is far more beneficial than 407 million hours of the Tube.

*I saunter off singing Frank Zappa's "I am the slime from your video"
in reference to: Nielsen: Gaming Accounts For 10% Of US Internet Time | Edge Magazine (view on Google Sidewiki)

Full Flavored MMO

Whatever happened to the days of grabbing your sword and shield for a good old killing spree.

It was bumped for a job.

I have killed 20 Bugbears, completed 15 Quests for the Mayor, saved a small village from certain doom all before noon. I'm bored, guess I'll go stand around in the center of town. It's like the game developers thought there just wasn’t enough. In fact, they thought about it to the point of creating jobs.

Image via Wikipedia

For me it all started with a box, or crate in Everquest. I would combine certain components to make Fish Rolls. It's not good enough that I had to quest all day to buy rancid water and bread, now I have a trade, I have a job. I made......fish rolls.

If that wasn’t humiliating enough. 

Not only did I have to craft things I could use,

I eventually had to go get the resources myself?

“You mean I need a pick, a shovel and an Axe?”

And what happened to my clicky crate? Now I have to slave over a hot stove and watch closely so that it doesn’t get to hot, or I fail. I remember people in EQ2 getting dead working at a forge. Too many reactions that didn’t get counteracted and you end up taking a dirt nap, that was harsh but the Forge got a "Ding".

The endeavor to make games bigger and better, more immersible and bring that “something new” to the masses, have really put the Mass in Massive.

“I am a Cleric of 50 seasons and a candle stick maker.” ..and I thinks it's cool.

It's opened up alternatives for all gamers. I've known several that spent more time harvesting and crafting than adventuring, because its what they liked to do. Of course those are the people to be friends with if you don't have a job. They have 6 character slots and each one has a trade, that person is their own store.

I know there are many debates on the need or if there is a true benefit, but in the circles I've traveled over the years craftsmen were always needed. Its just another facet of the MMO that can be enjoyed. I know myself that after a hard or long day, harvesting can be relaxing. All is good in the world. We have adventuring, crafting and harvesting. One could almost be self sufficient making their own food, armor or weapons. It seem to be a healthy balance, until someone wanted to parley,

“Parley what?”

Image via Wikipedia

When Vanguard Saga of Heroes shared their “Spheres” with the public, Diplomacy was their new, never before attempted without a safety net, show for the gaming world, one more Job for the player. I don't believe that diplomacy achieved all the goals that were set, of course there were a lot of goals for Vanguard that fell short. 

On a side note here, Vanguard was just short of perfection for what I wanted in an MMO, performance issues shortened my time there, it has so much potential.

Image via Wikipedia

The beginning concept of diplomacy was unique, and for me, very enjoyable. This was just another road to travel for the gamer along with everything else, crafting, harvesting and adventuring. We have the perfect world now, complete with work and recreation.



Friday night I am going to run a Dungeon with the guys and Saturday I am going fishing, but first a little diplomacy with the Missus.




What more can a gamer want in their fantasy world.
I know...how about some personality.

Image via Wikipedia

Curtis Johnson, one of the designers on Guild Wars 2,  gives us a little insight.

In Guild Wars 2, we’re going even further to make the out-of-combat experience a role playing experience by introducing “personality” as a player character role. How you respond to other characters develops and changes your personality over time, letting you affect how the game treats you. Personality is your character’s attitude toward others; it grows and changes as you play through your personal story and as you adventure in the persistent world

Read more of Curtis's Blog here

Okay, now we're complete. Personality is the piece that my world was lacking. I now have character for my character. Curtis does say that there are some rewards but the adverse effect doesn’t make you an outcast. If you are honorable there will be perks, if you are a jerk you will just have to pay a little more for service or they will spit in your soup at the Inn. It's really not an issue on how big a role personality will have, but more of how will the world react to you. I do remember the feeling in my early EQ2 days on how I was approached depending on my faction. It was nice the day I was saluted entering the Freeport Militia House.

There isn’t the pot of gold or a major end game advantage, it's just another, rather cool, facet of the game to work with. I do understand the benefits of crafting, harvesting, diplomacy and I am sure personality will have its place as well. I simply see this as being another choice or option for the gamer to advance as an individual in our wonderful world.

Adventure awhile, craft awhile, harvest awhile, then negotiate a night at the tavern with the Missus and cash in on your Karma. Now that’s a day at the office, if we can get them all into one MMO.