[26] Get Me Some Quarters

console

< Piro >

"somethin's gotta give II"

Thursday - October 12, 2000

Well, it was a good 2 months before i finally stumbled and got caught up in a time crunch and a bad cold. I missed the rant for wednesday's strip, and for today i copped out and just did a little drawing (tho I gotta say its the best drawing of Piro I've done so far)

and three guesses as to who the kitty on my head is... :P

I was rather suprised that people have responded as favorably as they have to the gift arts that I've sent to some folks. It was the best way I could think of for repaying some of thier support and for being nice to us. :) Its very common for Japanese CG artists to trade gift art (its not really called fan art) to celebrate a particular hit count, or for a birthday, or whatever. Besides, I like the challenge of trying to draw other characters :)

I'm at work today, sadly (got too much to do) but I do feel like I have three pillows stuffed in my head. It's a good day to type up a 30 page document... -_-;;

I was gonna suprize everyone with a bench strip over the weekend, but largo's got a big mouth :) Look for that sometime either sunday or saturday.

I'm gonna go get some hot soup, and try not to pour it down my pants...

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< Largo >

"Verant"

Thursday - October 12, 2000

[Largo] - 18:16:00 - [link here]

Welcome to Largo's 'House of Rant', take a seat and order something… Meanwhile I have some good news… and some bad news…

First off - the bad news, there will not be a 'normal' strip on Friday. Now the good news, instead we will post sometime this weekend a MegaTokyo / Penny-Arcade - bench strip.

Piro has some things… 'work' things that he needs to do .. or something.. so he says… I couldn't really tell.. I just know it involves some death ray or Las Vegas.. or something.

Since everyone else is taking time out to blast Verant over a recent Everquest player ban regarding some illicit fan fiction that was posted, then I suppose I should cast my two stones in as well. I personally didn't find said fan fiction interesting, tasteful… or even appropriate by any means, but banning a player for something done out of game seems… odd?

I would like some of the crack that Verant's employees are smoking though, They continue to handle so many things…. badly. However I think they see things in a more uplifting light then I do, afterall - they are raking in the cash… Now why is that? - is it because they have a kickass engine? no… is it because they listen to their customers? nope.. is it because of fan loyalty? not really… Nope, see the only reason people continue to put up with Verant is they don't have another game that's better to pick from at the moment.

I can't help but wonder how long it will take before they panic once other MMORPG's come out that use modern graphics engines, or new companies who try giving the players what they want. See I don't really blame Verant for their problems, they are making money right now, and as long as they continue to do so - why should they change their business practices? From a corporate perspective- change isn't needed so long as people continue to pay for the service. So, people who bitch about Verant, yet don't cancel their accounts are just adding to the problem. Personally I don't think people should complain and threaten to quit - unless they actually do it. Companies like Verant will not listen to you, but they will listen to your wallets.

I suppose it's a sort of a apathy, if you think about it, most players stuck in this Love/Hate cycle with Verant would rather all the 'other' players cancel their accounts and lose their items and characters, rather then taking it upon themselves to make that sacrifice, and so nothing has changed.

I personally don't have strong opinions on the matter anymore, once some of the newer MMORPG's come out, the problem … will fix itself.