Monday, December 16, 2013

Corvania Reboot Imminent

CORVANIACHRONICLES It’s that time of year. Corvania players should have been sent an invoice and request for renewal commitment. If you are planning to continue with the game after the reboot, you MUST have your payment in by New Year’s Eve at 11:59 PM. Late payments will be refunded. Failure to pay will result in exclusion.

There are two possible slots opening up. If you are on the list, slots will be given out as they open in the order of request, and holds will be notified and given an extra three days to make payment.

We HIGHLY recommend that players consider a half year subscription. Subbing for 6 months does not in any way change your status, nor will it move your place as an active member. We remind about the reboot in June. You pay half the cost, naturally, for a half year.

Reminder: members pay $250 for a year; $125 for a half year.

Monday, October 21, 2013

IP Tracer Shout Out

300px-Tmux_scrot2 I am cross posting this to save time. ALL Ops on Corvania and Sceptics’ Tank are being asked to run an IRC ip tracer script.  I have sent a text file to everyone, and it is available in our private archives.

Copy and paste into REMOTES if you want the shortcut.

I’m also apologizing in advance to anyone who was inconvenienced over the past week by relatives from East ButtBone Virginia. I really LOVE that my people had the absolute, perfect, best response ever to our stalker. I love you all. :)

unnamed The benefit of the code I have sent out – even though Minnesota Fathead can’t join private channels, the stringer IP trace pops on the attempt, as well as popping on join in public channels.

Thanks, everyone!!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Turning off Windows 8 Gestures for Gaming and Not Shooting Yourself

Download the new device driver:  http://www.synaptics.com/resources/drivers

A lot of recs out on the web are creating a registry key. Don’t do it. You may void your warranty, and will very likely muck up your system. Download the new driver and there will be settings installed.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

A Legacy in IRC and the Death of Dalnet

TANKIRC
Recent developments at Dalnet have signaled what most agree is the beginning of the end.

While this may delight some, The Sceptic’s Tank greets the slow and painful demise of Dalnet with sadness. We, as most recall, formed there many years ago.

Most casual users of the internet remember only a saturated version that took baby steps with Compuserve, Prodigy, and then some weird thing call AOL. Our membership was crawling out of the primordial ooze of the net back in the days of the BBS systems. Marc Springwell was around in 1988 when Jarkko Oikarinen created it in Finland, attempting to replace MUT (MultiUser Talk) on their BBS. By 1990 things were growing, and in 1994 a bunch of Efnet Star Trek dorks formed Dalnet.

Khaled changed things with mIRC. By 1995 a lot of us were scripting, and mIRC opened up flood gates for users who might not have otherwise shown interest. The Sceptic’s Tank was already in its infancy, though we had not formed. But The Twelve were there in 1996 as hired guns, watching the scroll for trouble. Over the years we grew and evolved. By 2000 we had our own network. We were still chilling in other parts of the underbelly of the internet, keeping in touch. We were still building scripts, tearing code, designing. From that core group came what we are today. 

It started on Dalnet, which has always been the dog everyone likes to kick. It’s hard to argue that the network has become nearly unusable due to the failure to change as they grew. They were the first to offer WallOps and K:Lines… the latter probably fairly identified as the poison in the cup. Mass bannings are crippling the network, and the sad thing is it really comes down to lazy Ops and management.

Whatever the issues there, this group will not participate in the slinging of stones. Marc Springwell, Tom Livingston, Chrissy Olinger, Seth Harris, Tiny McKay, Terry Justin… if you use web search your algorithms were born there. Technology for tracing IP strings effectively was born there. Ironically, abuse of KILL/AKILL is shutting out so many ISPs, this very problem is the strangle hold killing the network. It’s true that bad server connections are the reason for a huge part of the mass exodus, but it began with mass K:Line bans, and seems to have resulted in mass lethargy.

Recently Tank IRC ventured into gaming. The popularity of Corvania Chronicles resulted in expansion, and this month Corvania got a shiny new home under the umbrella of Tank Net, individual servers for power and speed. A large flurry of requests came soaring over the wall, and most of them were old friends from Dalnet.

We’d love to be able to host the lost, but we have stayed strong, stable, and private since 2000. The Tank’s privately owned and occupied home on IRC was born on New Year’s Eve, 2001. We’ve never been shut down unless we were doing our own reboots. We’ve never been victims to exploits, slams, or wars. Not so much as a bump in the road. Being members-only is why.

That doesn’t mean we can’t relate to the sorrow many feel as Dalnet appears to take its final breaths. The BBW channels there gave us two relationships that are still going strong. Friendships, marriages, and even babies have come of those early connections. The Tank would not exist if The Twelve had not been there in the early days. We wish them well, however the current issues play out.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

System32 Scam

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It’s hard to believe anyone is this stupid, but this is actually happening. Seth Harrison reports that a System 32 virus hoax has gone viral. The hoaxers indicate users should look for a folder named System32, and delete it, then empty the recycling bin and reboot.

No. Really.

Please let the stupid people know that they are deleting their operating system.

Hard to believe this is necessary, but...

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Current Rankings After the Corvania Reboot

First Circle:
Abados (Warrior) 32,171
Riley (Wizard) 31,781
Finnvara (Thief) 28,292

Deaths/Outcastings:
Ladvaris - Dungeon by Abados
Mellinarin - Killed by Finnvara
Rezeva - Killed by Ladvaris

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Corvania Chronicles Half Year Reboot New Benefits

corvania The half-year mark is nigh! All members/players of the Corvania Chronicles have renewed, and only two payments are pending.

We are currently in debate about how to handle membership size. As gamers know, the current cap is at 22, with a non-participatory Game Master, who is paid for his position.

The push to add more members/gamers has been increasing, but we are hesitant to cave. There are several reasons for this:

  • Smaller membership means better, tighter play.
  • The players all know one another, and intimacy is part of the game.
  • The current membership is dedicated, and shows up.
  • Because of all of the above, the game works smoothly and dramatically.
  • Scripting and world building are better, simpler, and tighter when the numbers are low.

That being said, arguments for a somewhat larger game base are not insignificant. They include:

  • Good gamers, some known to the membership, want in.
  • More players equal more revenue, and fees could bring increased benefits for all.
  • Revenue could fund the long-discussed comic books and/or RPG kits.
  • There is a possibility for shared character ownership, so that two paying members could occupy one space in the universe and coding.
  • We could, possibly, lower the fees for all gamers.
  • We could, possibly, increase the salary for the Game Master.

Currently the cost gets members gaming privileges, but also includes a free email account, private IRC rooms for personal use, and free downloads in the archives. Should expansion take place, more benefits would be part of that discussion. If you want to be part of this process, you will need to pipe up on the loop and attend meetings!

In the mean time... roll those dice, and let the games begin anew!