So the two guilds we started over on the new Dark Iron server are packed out. We are not currently accepting members into either the Knights of Arcadia or the Fancy Lads. I imagine that very soon we will start to see that a lot of the people who joined up just did it on a lark and really have no intention of staying and fighting the Horde with us. So My guess is we will be looking for new blood at some point in the future. However there is always the possibility that all 854 members of these two guilds came to play and we won’t be losing members anytime soon.

Bioware has a poll on their front page asking what your favorite web comic is. I think you should vote for PA but that's just me.

At San Diego Comic-Con, a reader told me about a game called "Cave Story" that I simply couldn't live without - a completely independent platformer whose quality and craft had really surprised him. I'd forgotten about it until I read TIGS' interview with the creator.

Reading The Independent Games Source earlier this week brought Kenta Cho to mind, and if you've never lost hours to his sometimes gripping shooters please do yourself a favor - unless you have a project or something coming up, in which case you should avoid the link at all costs.

There can be no doubt that I "protest too much" on matters of geekery outside the boundaries of good discretion. It is only raw will that keeps me from spilling over into the dark appetites of the full-on dork - the wearing of capes, the leading of other lives, and so forth. That I perceive a distinction between my own level of nerdity relative to others is probably itself illusory, but the notion must be maintained if I am to continue behaving with a smug superiority.

The Penny Arcade assault on the Dark Iron server was pretty incredible. Please check this forum thread for the whole story.

Scott and his wife recently started a new WOW guild for fans of his comic. Everyone is aware of our long standing rivalry so as soon as I heard this news the wheels were already in motion. Then I read this on his page today:

The concerts and Omegathon games have been finalized. On Friday Night, the show look a little sumpin' like:

Our new Gabe and Tycho laser cell is now available. It’s priced at what I believe is a very reasonable $25.00 and you can get it from our online store. This particular print is not a limited edition. We thought it was important to make a run of prints like this so that everyone who wanted to own a PA laser cell could. It’s the same quality as the larger limited edition prints and even comes matted ready for framing.

I really had escaped, you know - before my relapse.

Gabe just finished the cover for this year's PAX guide, and I thought it looked cool:

I keep trying to find the truth of the matter regarding the "enhanced" video capabilities of the 2.0 PSP firmware, and I'm not sure the fullness of it actually grokked by English speakers at this time.

Kiko (a.k.a. "Keeks LaRue") let me know that he's currently rocking two new garments: not only timely Leroy Jenkins attire, but a hoodified version of an earlier classic.

(To maintain the prior analogy, "alts" can be considered children. Of course, if you're on an RP server, that's probably true both ways. Nerd.)

Like Tycho said the game really does change as you progress. Since we hit level 60 Kara and I have started no less than five alts and are playing back through the game with new characters and having a blast. The problem we ran into at 60 is that our adventures became more like a trip through some sort of fantasy casino. At 60 we’re no longer gaining XP so what that means is that now we’re after loot. Like pretty much every other Rogue I’m hungry for the Shadowcraft armor and Kara like any good Druid is hunting down her Wildheart set. So every other night we jump into a ten man raid group and we run through one of the three instances that hold these rare treasures. Like a trip to Vegas this involves a lot of finger crossing and dice rolling. Every time no matter what group we fall in with it’s exactly the same. The most effective paths through each of these dungeons has been plotted out long ago and like a ride a Disney Land we simply latch the bar and follow the rails. The same mobs are pulled in the same order and through the same rooms while the same spells are cast for roughly two or three hours.

You really have to play this game. I've never seen anything quite like it.