Silver Linings And Cloud Party

So, today my CE of Vanguard came in, except it wasn't a CE (as listed) and the key was already consumed. I was very, very let down but the seller was kind enough to give me a full refund. They said they misinformed about the item, that they would refund it and not have me ship the box back because of it. I suppose I ended up with another game box to sit beside the others on my fireplace in my room, and the handbook along with a paper map with only time really wasted (and a little heartbreak when I opened up that box, lol). I was so excited when it got here. My son hid it under the bed and laughed while I looked for it, heh. He knew how excited I was and he opened the package, hid the case under the bed, leaving an empty package on my desk, the rascal. Maybe next time I'll score an actual CE. I'll probably go to Amazon instead of Ebay.

On another note TSW beta #4 is out and I'm still downloading it. I'm excited to try it out but I've been so busy with real life and I have so many other things going on with games. I sort of forgot to last night, pouring over 3D art programs until the wee morning hours. Which brings me to my next topic.

I read a lot, probably more than any sane human should, about many different games, games that are in development, games I play, games I don't play and blogs on top of that. I'm a forum junkie but I rarely post as I mostly read those on my android. However, I came across an interesting game yesterday. It is only a few days old and it shows a lot of promise. It is called Cloud Party. It is a sandbox/ virtual world much like Second Life but you have to access it through Facebook. It looks really good, very smooth and you can use WASD, /cheer!

Now I don't hunt for FB games, I just happen to find some neat ones while reading. It's really cool, very young and I think it has a huge amount of potential. Now Cloud Party isn't exactly like Second Life but with time I think it will grow and turn into something grand, a great SL alternative if anything. I think some other games like IMUV will take a hit though.

Will Cloud Party give Second Life a run for it's money? Maybe not for people who are very socially invested. For people like myself who are more interested in designing and creating it is very enticing. But I'll play both. First off, there isn't any lag. It plays in my browser smooth as butter, this will vary from computer to computer but for someone who has a machine to specifically do art and gaming on it runs great. No lag, yes! It works differently than SL so it isn't going to have as much lag, like apples and oranges but I really get sick of lag. I play the biggest and newest MMOs and RPG games and I don't have a tenth of the problems, I have in SL, with them. This may appeal to some.

Chillin' with my party hat and new house. 

Second, it isn't charging me for uploads, mesh uploads at that. It is still in beta, so we'll see. It does have a 25mb limit. Yes, I've tried to see how much I could pack into an upload, heh. Second Life charges me every time, unless I do a temp item and you can't do that with mesh. Currently it doesn't appear that you can upload textures, I hope that changes soon.

What are some other good points? Free house. No prim count, for those of you who know what a prim count if you probably just fainted. It has an object/item count, so that 63 prim mesh item I uploaded to SL only counts as one object in CP.

Drawbacks? I'm not kaozz, or Sable Le'Fay, or even Sablesix in this game, I'm me, sorta. Yeah, RL kaozz aka Jen Atkins. It makes me use my real name since it is connected to Facebook. I don't really mind all that much but in a virtual world it can be kind of creepy if someone got an idea to stalk someone else or be abusive. That can be very scary. That I do have some issues with, I'm sure many others will. I don't mind people knowing my real name, it isn't my full name and Jen is a nickname but Facebook has a lot of personal stuff and that is where it gets creepy. Sort of like the Real ID thing. I use it, I'm not in love with it, but there I can pick and choose who I add.

Anyhow, I'm very excited about this game/virtual world/sandbox. It has a lot of potential and even has some former Lindens working on the team, or so I've read. If you're interested check it out on Facebook or pop into the forums. Combined with SL this gives me some great outlets for being creative.

Yes, I'm a NElf again, heh. What can I say, I love elves. 

Other than that, I've been puttering around in World of Warcraft and the Midsummer Fire Festival. This is great fun for me as I travel around to get money, achievements, kill several rares along the way (great money for transmog stuff!) and some archaeology on the way. Last night I got my first blue item from archaeology- Haunted War Drum. So exciting! I'm a collector, I collect things, cool, fun, frivolous things, the more the better.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I am so glad it is Friday, I actually got some rest today, exhausted from the week! Safe adventures!