Various Announcements

By Shamus Posted Sunday Sep 2, 2012

Filed under: Notices 207 comments

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Someone commented that the most flattering review of Guild Wars 2 so far is the empty hole it left in my blog. In order to make some halfhearted pretense of effort before alt-tabbing back to the game, allow me to hit you with a bunch of stuff that you need to know. Also there will be screenshots of Guild Wars 2 landscaping porn, because screenshots are more interesting than bullet-points.

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Yes, Spoiler Warning was a no-show last week. I did notice. On an unrelated note: I have discovered the secret to knowing when Josh is lying. You have to listen carefully, but if you hear the words, “I’m going to finish the second part of the 8 by Zombies episode this week” then you friend have been told a whopper, an untruth, or perhaps even a fib.

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Mumbles has left Spoiler Warning. According to Mumbles, “I lost my voice for commentary on the show.” We parted amicably. So now you’ll have no way whatsoever to get any more Mumbles content. Well, unless you read her blog. Or the gaming blog she’s on. Or on Twitter. Or play Guild Wars 2 with us.

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If you’re playing Guild Wars 2 with our guild: Yes, we need a voice server. A few people in the group have the address for the Spoiler Warning vent server. Up until now the thing has been friends-only, and the user limit is capped at 10. If we made the address public it would fill up instantly. Also, instead of being a private hangout for friends it would become a public place, with all the problems and obligations that entails. We’d need moderators and different rooms and password security so random idiots can’t crash Spoiler Warning while we’re recording.

So, I’m thinking about it. For those of you with access, please don’t spread it around until I fix this. For those without, please bear with us.

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IMMA UNCLE NOW! My youngest brother, who got married a year ago, has become a father. The new person has been named Dax Perseus, and I approve. You can do your kid no greater favor than giving them a rare or unique name. I’d been hoping the little guy would be born on my birthday, but being born on my blog’s birthday is pretty cool too.

For those of you Labor Day-ing: Hope you enjoy the long weekend.

 


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207 thoughts on “Various Announcements

  1. TMTVL says:

    Mumbles left SW? Oh no, who is Rutskarn going to troll now?

    Seriously, though, if GW2 is even halfway as fun as GW1 was, then you won’t hear complaints from me for spending time with it.

    Just make sure it doesn’t run your book aground *meaningful stare*

    1. Sigilis says:

      Rutskarn is going to troll everyone now. So no change there at least.

      As far as the Guild Wars 2 playing being a problem, it is slightly less noticeable if you are also playing Guild Wars 2. Everyone that is suffering SW withdrawal should take 60 cc of Guild Wars 2 and yell at Josh if your condition worsens.

    2. el_b says:

      you’re asking the wrong question. What you should be asking is who are we going to ship now?

      1. Arvind says:

        I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Chris and Rutskarn.

      2. Torsten says:

        All aboard to s/s Joshamus.

      3. AllenFromMars says:

        The one true ship: Josh and Rutskarn

        1. Loonyyy says:

          I dunno, I think the best ship involves Chris/Shamus and Rutskarn/Josh. Things always end badly.

      4. Halfling says:

        Well obviously we have to start shipping Randy and Rutskarn.

        Oh that means Randy would have to join the show….how convenient for me and the other three members of the Randy fan club.

    3. Volfram says:

      While Rutskarn is my favorite Spoiler Warning voice by far, I’m going to miss Mumbles. She functioned as a very powerful amplifier to Rutskarn’s hilarity. They played off each other better than anybody else as far as I’ve heard.

      1. Phantos says:

        And kept it from being a sausage-fest.

        No offense to the bros who are still on Spoiler Warning, and I know it’s a silly reason to include someone, but I think that’s one of the things that set SW apart from other Let’s Plays. Not merely having “The Girl”, but you have to admit, it does bring an extra perspective to the discussion.

        I mean, I’ll still watch SW. But it’s like, if I just want hear GUYS TALKIN’ ‘BOUT DEM GAEMZ, I’ve got “Game Grumps”.

        1. Arvind says:

          I don’t get what you’re talking about. Are you saying Rutskarn is male?

        2. newdarkcloud says:

          I think it’s very telling of the show, the audience, and Mumbles herself that there are so many more reasons we will miss her than that she is just “The Chick.”
          She was the most optimistic of the crew and had her own perspective of the games in question. She has wit and a good sense of humor. She talks candidly about eating people and setting things on fire and we can believe it. And BATMAN!!!

          But you’re right, it will be a bit of a sausage fest without her.

  2. wickedartist says:

    It is a shame that Mumbles has left Spoiler Warning, but it’s good to know you at least parted amicably. Mumbles, if you are reading this: you will be missed.

    Also, congratulations on being an uncle, Shamus! I am also fond of rare and unique names, and the name Dax reminds me of Jadzia Dax from Deep Space 9.

    1. Zak McKracken says:

      I’m also not happy Mumbles left.
      Dear Mumbles, had you not been in Spoiler Warning, I’d never started reading your blog (or listened to your last radio show) and would not be trolling people about those weird and obscure bands now.

      … I agree, though, that five people talking at the same time is a but much if you want to be able to follow anything that’s happening. She’ll still leave a hole. I hope she’ll return sometime or another.

      1. newdarkcloud says:

        Yeah. It would be great to have Mumbles come on every once in awhile as a guest.

        We’ll miss you Mumbles. Take care and keep your Twitter followers informed on any future projects you have going for you.

  3. Eric says:

    “Dax Perseus”

    Big mistake. Statistically, kids with unusual names have a higher chance of becoming social outcasts and criminals. Quick, change his name to something boring and mundane, like George or Jake, before it’s too late!

    1. Shamus says:

      I’m Shamus Telemachus Young, and I’m willing to take my chances with crazy names. :)

      1. Chuck Henebry says:

        Brilliant name. I gave my son the middle name “Erasmus”, but I’d always wanted to go with some thing Ancient, Greek, or both.

      2. Lovecrafter says:

        “I’m Shamus Telemachus Young” should be the way you introduce yourself everywhere, perhaps adding that this is your favorite establishment in town.

        1. decius says:

          Or you could add “And I approve this message.”

          1. Paul Spooner says:

            I’m partial to appending “and I am burdened with glorious purpose.” to introductions. It actually wouldn’t sound that pretentious with Shamus’ name.

        2. Jarenth says:

          It should, at the very least, be the way you tell people which stores you prefer.

          1. SKD says:

            I'm Shamus Telemachus Young and this is my favorite store on the Citadel

      3. Phantom Hoover says:

        Middle names are one thing; they’re little-used and you don’t normally tell them to people unless they ask. The problem with crazy first names is that people often don’t seem to put much thought into the fact that their child is going to have to be called that for the rest of their life (unless they change it, and that’s a last resort), so making it something that’s impossible to take seriously is a big deal. That being said ‘Dax’ is fine so long as you’re not hanging around with Trekkies.

        1. Alexander The 1st says:

          Also, though you don’t get much control over this in today’s society, try and give them a unique last name.

          I’m serious – my last name is a *very* common first name…And people kept getting it mixed up. It’s annoying to always be called by it, especially in the presence of others with the name.

          Granted, my 2 middle names (One of which is German, and a last name on my mother’s side) are *also* common first names. So I can’t really blame my parents for that.

          1. Josh says:

            Try having “Viel” as a last name. Nonsensical in English and uses a spelling nobody gets right, and gibberish in German.

            1. Zukhramm says:

              It’s not gibberish in German, it means a lot, literally (HOHOOO!). Of course, v is pronounced as English f in German.

              1. Mephane says:

                It does not say “Die Bart, Die”, it’s German and means “The Bart, The”.

        2. StashAugustine says:

          My middle name is Stanislaus, which is what my parents used. My first name is different so I could have an out if I didn’t like it.

          1. Mari says:

            That’s interesting. I’ve only ever seen that name in one book (“One Quest, Hold the Dragons”) so it’s kind of neat to see a real person have it.

      4. Rory says:

        Speaking from my own experience, having a name that was unusual – not that “Rory” is even particularly weird, just uncommon in that time and place – was nothing but a stick for other kids to beat me with. I would never, ever give any child of mine anything but the most normal and common of first names. If you must get creative, hide it in the middle names where nobody will find out.

        1. Sigilis says:

          Either that or you could give him an interesting name and roll the dice that determine whether he rises above the rabble and shines or gets slightly bummed occasionally. Unusual names are a test of character at worst.

          Signed Cordially,
          Titifaccio Bellandius

        2. Coblen says:

          I can only speak from my experience, but I’ve managed into adulthood with the name Khayman, and its been nothing but a conversation starter. People hear my name and wonder what kind of crazy was running through my parents veins, and where they came up with a name like that.

          Do you really think that you wouldn’t have been made fun of if you where born with a common name?

          1. I have *the* most common female name in the United States, and I got teased and bullied as a kid.

            Plus, they can always change it later if they don’t like it. I think you should give your kids names with the aim of not feeling like a fool when you yell it in public. Other than that, whatever.

            1. Phantos says:

              Yes, kids with mundane names get made fun of too. But kids with interesting names get made fun of MORE. Kids will pick apart and destroy anyone for the flimsiest reasons, and the least a parent can do is not give the little jerks more ammunition.

              And changing it later can’t erase the pain of being singled out and made fun of, just because Mommy and Daddy wanted to get “Creative”.

              1. Zukhramm says:

                Living with everything in your life as plain and bland as possible as not to give bullies anything to work with seems a pretty hard thing to do, and one I’m not sure about even if it wasn’t.

              2. Shamus says:

                Kids get made fun of for being different. Any kind of different. Throwing a bunch of same-age kids into a large group with one distant adult leads to rigorously enforced conformity and imitation. They end up with a very narrow view of “normal”. If all the boys were named “Dave”, the one guy named “John” would get made fun of. The problem isn’t the name, it’s the environment.

                But the question stands: If you had to choose for your kid:

                1) Cruel mockery and individuality.
                2) Harmonious conformity.

                …which would you choose?

                1. Dreadjaws says:

                  It kind of depends on the name. “Dax Perseus” sounds awesome enough for the other kids to treat him as either a natural leader or a rap star. That being said, with a wrong experience he might end up growing up to be a Batman villain.

                2. Phantom Hoover says:

                  That’s a false dichotomy if I ever saw one. For one thing, having an unusual name is a petty and shallow kind of ‘individuality’; you’re not choosing it for your child, you’re choosing to express yourself using your child’s name. That’s OK if it’s just something unusual or novel, but giving your child a wacky name is simple, thoughtless selfishness.

                  1. Shamus says:

                    It’s one false dichotomy in response to the first. I said “memorable” name, I didn’t say “loony”. I would say giving your child an overused name to adhere to child-driven conformity is a different form of selfishness. “Oh no! What will the neighbors think?” If you’re naming your kid to avoid the shame of a room full of shallow idiots, then you are letting the littlest tyrants make your decisions for you. That’s not healthy.

                    I’m on board with the idea that stunt-naming can be thoughtless. I wouldn’t name a kid “Funbuster Nopants Terminator Young”. But I would also rather go for Wolfgang, Dax, or Julius as opposed to another John, Dave, or Mike.

                    We can argue about where you want to draw the line between stunt-naming and creative-naming, but mindless dull conformity is cultural stagnation.

                    EDIT: I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Mike, Dave, and John. If you really love the name, use the name. (A significant number of important figures in my life are named Dave.) But use the name you love, and don’t let people shame you into something less because they’re not comfortable with different. If someone can’t accept you because you’re named Titus and that’s different, then they are narrow-minded and the problem is on their end.

                    1. ps238principal says:

                      But what if you find someone who’s named their kid Robert Joseph MacCready, after a rather infamous mayor in Fallout 3? :)

                3. newdarkcloud says:

                  That’s an interesting question. There isn’t really a clear-cut answer and it mostly comes down to individual values.

                  Since you’ve always been a nonconformist, it’s pretty easy to see what you would choose. Nonetheless, it is something that each person needs to consider separately.

              3. Raygereio says:

                Yes, kids with mundane names get made fun of too. But kids with interesting names get made fun of MORE.
                That’s nonsense. You said it yourself: Kids will pick apart and destroy anyone for the flimsiest reasons. If the name doesn’t provide the excuse, it’s the clothing, the hair, nose, glasses, whatever.
                If you look like you have the potential to be a victim, then you will be picked on. That’s all there is to it, your name doesn’t matter in the slightest.

                That said, I’ll grant you that some names do scream “I’m a victim”. In my opinion one of the things a parent should take in account when deciding on a name is wether or not people will laugh in your kid’s face when he introduces himself. Obvioius examples from parents who did not do this, include such wonders like “Fifi Trixibelle” and “Diva Thin Muffin”. But personally I don’t classify those names as “interesting”, but as “oh-dear-Ao-those-parents-were-bat-shit-insane”.

                As for “Dax Perseus”? Meh; it sounds unusual. But not silly or ridiculous. At least not to me.

        3. Blake says:

          My name is Blake.
          I was 17 before I met another Blake.
          Got nothing but compliments about my name.

          Named after a sci-fi character, and it’s only done me well.

          1. Phantom Hoover says:

            If only you’d found several more Blakes, then you could’ve been the Blakes 7.

        4. I have the boring-est name in the world (okay, not as bad as Mary or Marie or Jane but there were 4 Heathers in my senior class) and kids STILL made fun of me using my name– from kindergarten on. I am a huge fan of interesting names because being one of many is miserable– especially when people start numbering you because you are always all in the same class.

          1. krellen says:

            Commonality has its advantages, though: anonymity, for example. Knowing that my name is Paul Gaffney doesn’t help you track me down very well at all.

            1. newdarkcloud says:

              You can’t hide from me.
              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_G._Gaffney_II

              Of course, I also have an incredibly common name and I never encountered any problems with it.

              1. krellen says:

                Dang, you caught me.

            2. Dave B says:

              My name is extremely common, and that becomes an annoyance at times. At this moment, I can think of six people that I personally know who have the same first name. My surname is a bit unusual, so there’s that…

            3. whoami says:

              Actually, um… not to be super creepy, but you might not want to put that out there quite so blithely. It took me about ten seconds. (‘Paul Gaffney krellen’ brings up links to your lj.)

              Anyway, how’d you like working for the food bank? I understand it ended poorly, just curious about nonprofits vs for-profits from an employee standpoint.

              1. krellen says:

                Knowing my name is Paul Gaffney doesn’t help you. I didn’t say anything about krellen – there’s a reason I use it as a name almost everywhere. It’s more my identity than my real name.

                The only for-profit companies I’ve worked at for any significant time have been pizza delivery places, so I cannot reasonably comment on non-profit vs. for-profit.

          2. Mari says:

            But at least people know how to SAY your name. That was my problem with my unusual name – I dreaded the first day of school or a trip to a new doctor or any situation where my strange name would be spoken out loud in public because I knew that pause and stumble all too well. “Marie…lynn? Marlane? Mara line? Uhhh…..” As an introverted kid it was the ultimate torture to have to speak up in a room full of strangers and explain how to say my name. And then the Waltons jokes could commence. “Is John Boy your brother? How many sisters do you have? Is it cold on Waltons Mountain?” If I could have fallen through the floor I happily would have.

            When my husband insisted on “different” names for our kids we ended up settling it with unusual spellings that were at least pronounceable. Although we’ve discovered the downside of at least one of those (beyond constant misspelling in the newspaper and from public school when they were in kid prison) because the older one can’t use her name as a user name on many “kid sites” because it “Uh oh, you have a naughty word in your user name. Try again.” For the record, her name is Mindie. Apparently “die” is a naughty word and many over-zealous word filters reject Mindie as a valid name.

            1. Phantom Hoover says:

              Oh man, my first name is spelt really weirdly *and* it sounds enough like a common Scottish name that *everyone* mistakes it for that even if you just say it to them. It’s the worst of both worlds.

        5. LintMan says:

          I have a somewhat common name, but with an unusual spelling that causes people to misread it and “autocorrect” it to a different name – including on the paperwork they are processing.

          In my freshman year high school spanish class, the teacher game out “spanish-equivalent” names to some people (ie: Steven -> Esteban), but for some reason, my name spelling induced the teacher to give me a completely unrelated (and somewhat cartoonish) name which then stuck, so I was called that by non-friends for the next 4 years.

          So when it was time to name my kids, they all got nice, straight-forward names.

        6. Canthros says:

          Speaking as somebody with perfectly common first and middle names, it’s going to be a stick for the other kids to beat him with, anyway. Kids are cruel. As long as the name doesn’t obviously write the puerile jokes itself, I think it’s likely to be OK. He may not blend in well, but, hey, we’re not all here to blend in.

          OTOH, a unique name is likely to make for easy Googling down the road, which has its ups and downs.

          (Personally, I favor the idea of giving kids at least one ‘normal’ name. OTOH, I don’t have kids, so that’s a fairly academic discussion from my perspective.)

      5. MrWhales says:

        Well we have all ready your biography Shamus, and we know you weren’t exactly Mr Popular ;)

        1. newdarkcloud says:

          Yeah. We also read it to find out this information.

          Sorry. I couldn’t resist. XD

      6. Zak McKracken says:

        Hah, and you wonder why you never quite fit in at school! :)

        more seriously:
        Boring names are boring. Interesting names are interesting, and weird names are … weird. If your names sticks out too much you have it less easy to just blend in if you want to.
        That said, “Dax” is completely pronouncable around most of the world, and it might strike some people as unsusual, but then even people called “Dick” can have a completely normal childhood, even these days.
        “Perseus” — different story but it’s the middle name, so it will not often come up except intentionally, so nothing to worry. I do wonder, though, how the average American pronounces “Perseus”, since the “eu” is supposed to form something that’s sounds similar to “oi”, and I can’t imagine that in the middle of an English sentence.

        1. Piflik says:

          It’s Per-See-Us.

          1. Raygereio says:

            See-zar, kay-zar…
            Tomaydo, tomahhdo…

        2. And Perseus became super popular with the Percy Jackson series so he will have others to share his name with.

          1. Hyrum says:

            Yeah, you can always shorten it to Percy if you want. Perseus is already a cool name though…

      7. 13_cbs says:

        Your…your middle name is Telemachus?

        Sir, I wish I could be so awesome. :(

        (Seriously, if my name were Telemachus I’d go around shoving it in people’s faces constantly. Greek names taken straight from the Trojan War cycle automatically give you a +10 to your Awesome check. I don’t think it’s a silly name in the slightest.)

        1. Volfram says:

          This. Coolest middle name evar.

        2. Dave B says:

          Interesting, I didn’t know about the Greek mythological origin. I always assumed it was a reference to this guy.

          1. shlainn says:

            Strange, when I heard Telemachus I instantly thought of this guy.

            But I agree on +10 awesomeness.

            Now we sit and wait until someone comes along calling the young one “Old Man”…

      8. Vipermagi says:

        I’m doing fine, and my parents decided on Elmo. *shrug*

        It helps that I’m ~special~, I suppose; autism spectrum disorder. Gotta learn to live with it or die a weirdo (and learning to live with it doesn’t start until puberty). They had plenty to harrass me with, so jokes about my name were hardly noticable really. :)

      9. Crusader Corim says:

        Well, I am named Matthew, and I had *7* Matthews in my fraternity (and it wasn’t a huge one). So instead of burdening my child with that, I named him Phinehas Calvin.

        We’ll see what he thinks of me when he’s grown.

      10. Anachronist says:

        I dubbed my son (now 3 years old) “Kirinor” as his legal middle name. It started out as Quirinus (Latin “spear thrower”) evolved to referencing the mythical dragonlike Asian creature (look at a Kirin beer label). The “or” on the end gives it a nice D&D ring. I learned only later an early edition of D&D had a monster called “Ki-rin”.

    2. somniorum says:

      Well I’ll be damned – for the first time outside of Star Trek, I have now heard of another human being other than my brother with the name “Dax”.

      (incidentally, he IS a social outcast too! :D )

      1. Phantom Hoover says:

        Is Bill Bailey your father? His son is called Dax too, although he asserts that it had nothing to do with DS9.

        1. somniorum says:

          I almost said “i WISH he was my father” but then I started feeling bad about the implications of saying that would be for my dad -_-;

        2. gyfrmabrd says:

          Well, statistically speaking, your chances of becoming say, a serial killer, or a desk clerk should be *coughcoughmumblerandommadeupnumber* percent higher if you happen to have a common, conventional name, right?

          At least, a cursory glance at the Primo Guide to Serial Murderers shows no Horatios, Isengrimms Gandalfs, Tetsuos, or Batmans , so I guess there you have it, unassailable science agrees, I’m right…

      2. anaphysik says:

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dax#In_people

        There’s even a real Dax Shepard.

        Also, regards Dax Bailey:
        “I may just have given him too much baggage,” Bailey joked. “I’ll tell him he's named after the German stock exchange.”

    3. HiEv says:

      “Statistically, kids with unusual names have a higher chance of becoming social outcasts and criminals.”

      I think you’re thinking of men with the middle name “Wayne”. ;-)

      1. whoami says:

        Not last name Wayne?

    4. Naota says:

      Try Ross Andrew Zevenhuizen III on for size. I commit crimes against social norms with my collection of 1920’s headwear.

      Having 23 years to reflect on the matter, I bear my name no ill-will even if it does put me at the furthest end of every alphabetical list in history. Where would I do my overly-infrequent game ranting otherwise? BobHouse? Seventh Steve?

  4. ehlijen says:

    Congrats on the unclehood! Sad to hear the SW team is shrinking again, but better to step back than to force it. It’s a hobby and those are meant to be fun after all.

    And happy escalated armed conflicting between trade cartells!

  5. Josh says:

    In my defense, “Guild Wars.”

    Also there’s that whole news writing gig I just started at the Escapist…

    1. StranaMente says:

      You do? I should check the escapist more…

      1. Tohron says:

        There’ve only been a few articles recently – think the last one was about City of Heroes/Villians shutting down.

    2. Mechakisc says:

      If you’re writing – as opposed to making videos, which I don’t watch – then you should post that somewhere (like here).

    3. Mari says:

      Defense accepted. The grand jury has returned a no bill.

    4. newdarkcloud says:

      Congrats on your new gig.

    5. Peter H. Coffin says:

      Can’t argue with that point. Bought the game Friday at about 8 PM, while on the road out for the evening. Installed Saturday morning. Burned 10 hours that day, have burned four hours this evening, after nominally “spending the day with my parents”. I will probably burn eight hours tomorrow on it. Then the work week starts and I’m going to have to be on another floor, away from the computer that has it on it, or else I’m never going to get anything done.

    6. anaphysik says:

      Unacceptable! How dare you earn money instead of dancing the no-pants underpants dance for our free entertainment! :P

    7. ps238principal says:

      I have this vision of you having to do a revision to an article under orders from the Escapist while growling “STOP EDITING ME!”

    8. Joneleth says:

      So, speaking of Guild Wars 2… Does a server being full mean that it does not accept any new players? I got the game purely because of the Twenty Sided/Spoiler Warning endorsement. I was looking forward to joining the Eikosi League, but obviously the servers have other plans :(

      1. Shamus says:

        I didn’t even know this was POSSIBLE. Interesting. Anyone else know anything about this?

        1. Vipermagi says:

          When you go to World Select in the character screen, you’ll see a list going form Low to Full. They’re forcing the userbase to spread out over different servers to reduce complaints about the servers being crappy because 50% of the world’s population is on Henge :P

          World vs. World is something you do in huge crowds. I’m anything but surprised your world is full, to be honest.

        2. Joneleth says:

          Well, I got my answer tonight, and turns out it was a temporary lock. I’m aboard and waiting to hear back from Josh. Whee!!!

  6. Artur CalDazar says:

    Mumbles gone from the show?
    Well that’s ruined my day, I liked her comments best.

    Congrats to your brother. Tell him a random person from the Internet wishes him well.

  7. Dante says:

    We’ll miss you Mumbles! But we’ll always have the SW FNV ep “Fission Mailed”

  8. Museli says:

    Farewell, Mumbles. It’s been a pleasure to listen to you on Spoiler Warning, and I wish you luck with your other projects.

    Congratulations on joining Club Uncle, Shamus! And congratulations to young Dax and his parents too. I wish them the best.

    Congrats to you too on the new gig, Josh. I don’t usually use the Escapist as a news source, but I’ll keep an eye out for your work. :)

  9. Entropy says:

    :( See ya, Mumbles.

    Does this mean Randy’s random return will be a recurring thing, or will you go back down to the 4 remaining guys.

    1. Randy Johnson says:

      Unlikely, because Guild Wars

  10. Entropy says:

    :( See ya Mumbles. She who gets trolled twice as bright, is trolled half as long. Or something.

    Does this mean Randy’s random return will be a recurring thing, or will you go back down to the 4 remaining guys?

  11. Brandon says:

    I’ll be honest. I was expecting announcements like:

    “All posts from now on will be Guild Wars 2 Related”

    “If you don’t play Guild Wars 2, you shouldn’t read this blog from now on”

    etc. :p

    I have actually really been enjoying your thoughts on the game. The MMO genre is really interesting to me, I’ve played a lot of them over the years, and have become very unhappy with the Skinner Box design of most. I’m very tempted to shell out the monies to give GW2 a try. If I do, I’ll look up the Eikosi Guild. :)

  12. AJ_Wings says:

    Bye Mumbles. :(

    Hope your voice gets better.

    Also Dax is a pretty badass name if you ask me.

  13. The Other Matt K says:

    Mumbles will be missed! I can definitely understand wanting to step back from the time commitment of something like Spoiler Warning (especially with all her other projects!) and individual voices have gotten a bit diluted with the size the cast has grown into.

    Still, it is especially unfortunate for it to happen with the Mass Effect series, which I think is where Mumbles had one of the stronger voices on the series, and a lot of the more enlightening things to say based on her comments on it when it was being mentioned during earlier seasons.

    (Or maybe it’s all just an analogy for the Mass Effect series having lost its own voice of consistency and reason over the course of the three games, and this is how Spoiler Warning can truly help us live the similar feelings of loss and sadness experienced by those who played Mass Effect 3?)

    1. That’s deep, man.

      Mumbles, you will be missed!

  14. KMJX says:

    Try Mumble. I hear it’s cheaper than Vent or TeamSpeak (as in Hosting costs only, if you can set it up yourself). Some say it’s also better. Don’t know about that yet.

    1. StranaMente says:

      Isn’t there the mumble server up for twentymine? I thought you were using that one…

      1. Zukhramm says:

        I suggested using it temporarily but only to or three people tried it.

      2. Peter says:

        We do have a GW2 channel in our server, feel free to join.

        Server information:
        address: mumble.twentymine.com
        port: 64738
        password (if needed): First name of blog author (first letter Capitalized)

    2. newdarkcloud says:

      I must be a five year old, because I chuckled at the prospect of Mumbles using Mumble.

      1. anaphysik says:

        I must be a two-and-a-half-year-old, since I chuckled at both the idea and your chuckling.

    3. Even says:

      The guild I’m in has used it pretty extensively while playing Lotro, doing raids and smaller instances and coming from that experience I’d heartily recommend it if only by the quality and clarity of sound it can provide. Comes with a handful of optional features too. My favorite one being automatic sound reduction for other applications whenever somebody speaks. The customizable overlay can also be handy when you have a lot of people on the same channel. The server we use is privately hosted and I don’t recall ever having any major hiccups as long as I’ve had a stable connection from my end. I’ve only ever connected to servers in my own country and as such have had to deal with an average latency of 30-70 ms, so I really can’t speak for its overseas capabilities, but I doubt it could be much worse than Vent.

  15. Klay F. says:

    Nooooooo Mumbles!! Who will take the cannibalism perk now?

    In all seriousness, even though its fun to hang with you while you are DJing and stuff, I’ll still miss you Warning all the Spoils.

    Also, congrats to Shamus on being an uncle!

  16. Hitch says:

    I’m sure Shamus has already told her this, but seconding from the point of view of a fan, Mumbles is always welcome back any time she feels like she would like to contribute to Spoiler Warning.

  17. Sigilis says:

    By empty hole, are you referring to the number of Guild Wars 2 posts on the blog? I think those are probably the most flattering, especially all of those wonderful images portraying the amazing curvaceous… landscape in all its glory. Or perhaps it would be how you have declared every other MMO to be inferior. Maybe it was those series of posts on The Old Republic that were concluded by the assertion that Guild Wars 2 looks better than the infinite amount of money lavished on The Old Republic. Yes, the only thing more flattering would be if you tried to make your own Guild Wars 2 clone.

    Also, I’m curious as to how much better the Guild Wars 2 experience will be when held up against a game as frustrating and terrible as Mass Effect 3. The contrast between my personal assessments of the two games is like white and the color of an object so massive that photons cannot escape the area around it. In other words, I would very much appreciate more Spoiler Warning.

    Of course, the reverse may also hold so do not record Spoiler Warning immediately after a session of Guild Wars as there may be some quality whiplash. The last thing I want is to drive the crew to a homicidal rage that ends in the destruction of a certain publisher due to my own selfish desires.

  18. Rick Tacular says:

    GW2 looks so gorgeous, and I so wanted to play it, but after hearing what NC Soft is doing to City of Heroes, I’m not going to do business with them now. I know I’m missing out on something great. =(

    1. Sigilis says:

      I heard they were shuttering an under performing free to play MMO that was competing in the exact same space as two other MMOs, including another free one. Was there some outrageous harm they performed against the world, or at the very least against your person that might give you further cause for displeasure?

      While you should do as you feel is right, slandering the good name of anyone involved in the manufacture of such a fine game as this shall not go unanswered. But it is proved that NCSoft are villains, my money has already passed from my wallet, and it is truly the only sum that need to spend to fully enjoy this masterpiece. Others, however, may yet be prevented from supporting the people you consider to be such heinous and wanton rogues. If only we knew why you consider this action on their part to be worthy of such contempt.

      1. Helm says:

        I’d have thought it was fairly obvious why people would be pissed off that COH was shut down especially in the way it was done. I also suspect from the wording of the post it’s a case of Trollism *shrug*

        1. Sigilis says:

          The wording may be odd, but I assure you that it is not intended to troll. From what I have read, not being a person who currently plays CoH, the MMO is going to be shut down later this year. Evidently it is still turning a profit, but I am not certain what bearing that has on the issue of how the players have been treated (which is something important to me). I was looking for more information because I lacked potentially vital perspective required to fully understand the situation.

          Of course since this post, people have discussed this at length and not mentioned anything approaching mistreatment or misrepresentation on the part of the publisher so I’m sufficiently reassured that this company is not especially terrible. It only makes moves that are confusing from an outside perspective so far.

          1. Blackbird71 says:

            So far as mistreatment of players, how about refusing refunds to those with paid subscriptions beyond the life of the game? There are many who paid for up to a year in advance, and to date, NCSoft has given no indication that there will be any recourse for these players to recover what they spent on game time they will never see.

    2. Zukhramm says:

      Too bad they announced that after releasing Guild Wars 2.

    3. Tuck says:

      I find this an intriguing stance to take. It’s an old game and they clearly think it’s no longer sustainable, which has happened to many many games in the past: what’s different about this case?

      With regards to shutting down Paragon Studios, sure it’s sad that people are losing jobs but they’ve been working on one game for the last 8 years. That’s a good run and it was bound to end sooner or later. One might ask why NCSoft doesn’t give them/move them to another project, but a) the publisher doesn’t have unlimited money and b) maybe there just isn’t another project for them at present.

      Care to expand upon your comment?

      1. Rick Tacular says:

        I will admit to a bit of petulance on my part. To punish one group of developers in response to the treatment of another group of developers is a little unfair. But ultimately those profits do find their way to the pocketbooks of the publisher, and they’re the ones I’m looking to punish. Specifically, no, the publisher doesn’t have unlimited money, but wasn’t CoH a moneymaker for them? Is there something that says that CoH was losing money? And whether or not a game is succeeding in a market or not, isn’t making money enough? As for projects, I’d say coming up with new updates every few months is a good, long-term plan.

        Now I really can’t wait for the Neverwinter beta. =\

        1. Skyy_High says:

          “Specifically, no, the publisher doesn't have unlimited money, but wasn't CoH a moneymaker for them?”

          Apparently not a very good one. It was profitable, yes, but the conversion to F2P did nothing to increase its profitability, which is the point of converting the game to F2P, remember. It’s not just a matter of “Are we making money off of this game?” it’s, “Could we make more money if we devoted these resources somewhere else?”

          1. Rick Tacular says:

            I still don’t like it. *pouts*

            I think the real crime here is that while CoH is closing, Champions Online still exists. *ducks the bricks from CO fans* ;-)

          2. krellen says:

            City of Heroes was paying for itself, and they’re not “devoting resources elsewhere” – they’re shuttering Paragon Studios altogether.

            1. Skyy_High says:

              In this case, “devoting resources” for the publisher means “spending money on other developers”.

              Look, I’m not saying I like it, but this isn’t exactly a unique situation. If someone’s going to swear off NCSoft titles because of this, they’d better swear off anything that EA has ever touched as well.

              1. krellen says:

                You’re completely missing the point. They aren’t spending money on Paragon Studios. Paragon Studios is supporting their own salaries; the money City of Heroes brings in is more than the cost of Paragon Studios. They are eliminating an expense AND a larger income at the same time.

                1. Daimbert says:

                  The problem is that those profit statements generally only include the day-to-day costs, so basically keeping the servers running and doing patches and new features. It doesn’t include facilities, administration, server replacements/upgrades, and things like that. So that the game might be profitable doesn’t mean that there aren’t additional costs associated with keeping the studio open that would mean that it would have diminishing returns, so much so that basically they’d be thinking that they’d have to cut it off sometime, and that now might be the right time … or, at least, as good a time as any.

              2. Rick Tacular says:

                “If someone's going to swear off NCSoft titles because of this, they'd better swear off anything that EA has ever touched as well.”

                I do that too. I’m pretty petty & vindictive that way. =/

      2. Alexander The 1st says:

        What’s different about this case is that it’s an always online game that you can no longer play legitly.

        As for Paragon Studios, shutting it down after one game means they now have to look for a job in the market – with only one game to their portfolio.

        1. SKD says:

          It is hardly the first online only game to close its doors. And being F@P for a decent stretch doesn’t help that much. Heck think of the outrage that would strike the internet if Blizzard were to announce the shuttering of WoW, a subscription service (which also wouldn’t be the first to close its doors). The ones that are still going more than a decade after launch are the true mysteries.

          All that said, it is sad to see these things go. As I said on the Escapist, it would be nice if the publishers would open source the games when they are no longer interested in supporting them. Heck, I am sure there would be fans that would pay to be able to host their own small community servers if they were allowed to charge a small fee for server upkeep.

          1. krellen says:

            It may be the first that was consistently profitable to do so, however.

            1. SKD says:

              That is where business gets weird though. To you and me it may be enough that it is profitable, IE its revenues exceed its costs. That is not always enough for a corporation though. Stockholders generally want to see increasing profits, so a company that has a steady but flat revenue stream, even though profitable, is not necessarily a good thing.

              1. Zukhramm says:

                Are you saying they’d rather have less money than more? Getting rid of the game does not make their other games increase in profits faster, it only shifts the point (lowers) that they can increase their profit from.

        2. Tuck says:

          “What's different about this case is that it's an always online game that you can no longer play legitly.”

          So was Tabula Rasa. And I suspect the reasons for shutting down the game are similar, but less apparent to players or outsiders.

          As for the portfolios: quality over quantity in game dev CVs (who’d you rather hire, someone who only worked on HL2 or someone who worked on a dozen Zynga games?). Not to mention that employers are hardly responsible for an employee’s continued suitability for the job market, that’s up to the individuals.

        3. Naota says:

          That beats looking for a job in the market with no games in their portfolio. Unfortunately most development studios follow the same ludicrous circular logic that you find elsewhere in the market: you must have shipped a AAA title to work on a AAA title. It’s self-defeating nonsense of the highest order and ignores the fact that in an introductory position a person’s work should speak for itself.

          If you want to hire team leads or directors from external sources that have AAA experience because knowing the process is integral to their job, fair enough, but it’s just idiotic to gate entry-level positions behind something as arbitrary as having shipped a specific class of game. If everyone does it, nobody actually gets new talent. Regardless of skill, new artists can’t even get in the door to build up their credentials.

    4. Daimbert says:

      I think the main reason I come to this site is to hear news that I don’t hear anywhere else, because I didn’t know that it was going to be shutdown.

      I’m disappointed. I really liked that game and thought that it was one of the best superhero MMOs out there. I liked it a lot better than DCUO and even though I wasn’t really playing it much I was still willing to keep subscribed because their F2P model made it more worth it. I suppose this removes some pressure for me to play it and so I can focus my attention more on other games, but I was looking at taking another run at it after watching Smallville again.

      Shame. It’s one of the three MMOs that I love, and now it’s gone.

    5. Amarsir says:

      I just reinstalled CoH, now “for old time’s sake” more than any actual plans, and the first graphic that came up on NCSoft’s launcher had their slogan “PLAY FOR FREE. FOREVER.” I guess forever ain’t what it used to be.

      The free conversion never worked for me, because the cutoff was just below everything I’d already done to death. The undone Incarnate endgame was left, and if that was enticing enough to subscribe I’d never have left in the first place. But they did take a serious run at using F2P to entice new players, in a way Champions certainly didn’t. So credit for that.

      What CoH never did was server merges, particularly a serverless model. And they never really advanced beyond the basic player search tool, which was groundbreaking 8 years ago but inadequate in the days of automated team forming. These stand out to me because as an MMO the goal should be to put players together. Shamus, never really all that MMO of a person anyway, has already pointed out how GW2 is great for teamwork. And CoH had key early elements with scaling missions, global friends lists, and user-created chat channels. But they didn’t keep up.

      It’s a huge shame. MMOs are inherently a type of DRM that we seem to accept. But they raise the same question: what happens when the game you bought is one day completely unavailable? This now has me wondering: if NCSoft shutters games that might be a distraction, how long until GW1 servers go down?

      1. Skyy_High says:

        GW1 is still potentially profitable, in that anyone who’s getting pulled into the game with GW2 may see the game for sale for $20 and pick it up. Also: HoM rewards look awesome. And frankly, with its instanced structure and the fact that the Live Team currently consists of 4 full time people plus rotating ANet staff (who are already getting paid to work on GW2 full time), I can’t imagine it being as big of a money sink as an old stand-alone game like CoH. It’s attached to another, high profile, highly profitable project, is what I’m saying.

        1. krellen says:

          I will repeat one more time: City of Heroes was profitable. That means it makes more money than it costs. The “cost” of the game includes the studio that develops for it.

  19. Jjkaybomb says:

    Man. There were jokes about mumbles leaving for so long, it’s bizarre that she’s actually gone….

  20. TheZoobler says:

    Gonna miss you Mumbles! SW has lost a sizable portion of its awesome D:.

    (Still fun to watch, but lessened.)

    Thank goodness for the blogs.

    And congrats on uncle’ing Shamus!

  21. Harry says:

    Oh no Mummmbles. Now who will be the cool one? Rutskarn??? We all know Rutskarn can’t be the cool one, people. IT JUST WON’T WORK.

    In all seriousness, though, it’s a great shame, and I and I’m sure the rest of the SW viewers will miss her. I hope she comes back at some point for a few one-off specials or something, or whatever won’t eat into her time too much :)

  22. somniorum says:

    Shamus! I don’t suppose you could tell me where they got the name “Dax” from, could you? My brother is named Dax as well, but my parents, for the life of them, can’t remember where they got the name from. The only thing we can see is that it’s a city in France (and, yes, this was *very* pre-Deep Space Nine).

  23. Tharwen says:

    So what’s this Labour Day thing?

    1. Mari says:

      It’s the “day” (if by “day” you mean an entire freaking 4-day weekend!) that every restaurant in town closes to celebrate not working and making my husband insane. Or, alternatively, it’s the communist holiday we celebrate in America.

      Seriously, it’s some kind of celebration of the working schmuck that we celebrate here in the U.S. because…somebody told us to and the government always loves an excuse to shut down for a long weekend. And theoretically all the poor worker people get a nice long weekend out of the deal because we’re celebrating workers, right? Except that most stores and restaurants (except the ones in our one-horse town) and car dealerships and – pretty much everywhere except banks and post offices – don’t close anyway and lots of them have huge sales so it becomes more like a holiday to pay lip service to the working class while shafting them extra hard.

      1. Alexander The 1st says:

        In Canada here, it was always the day before the school term began. To me, at least.

        As for the working class thing – as a STAY, those that do work the weekend do get paid more for the day.

        I personally don’t mind the lip service when we already go to war during Remembrance Day. :p

        1. Mari says:

          I’m a few years too young to appreciate Labor Day as the last of summer vacation from school. Some years when I was in school we started up as early as August 8. Texas has recently moved to a unified start date that seems to be a week or two before Labor Day.

      2. Paul Spooner says:

        I like to think of it as a day celebrating labor unions. Kind of a symbolic strike.
        Of course, it’s also a good time to do work on industrial equipment when everyone else is out of the plant. Just finished a grueling two day install. Otherwise we might have had to wait until Christmas shutdown. So, labor and the lack thereof often go hand in hand.

      3. JPH says:

        It’s also the day when us retail workers work even *more* hours. Apparently our labor doesn’t count.

        1. JPH says:

          And of course I didn’t read the whole comment before responding, so now I see you already addressed that.

          Stupid JPH.

      4. Amarsir says:

        Labor day is a 19th century holdover. It comes from a time when workers were effectively undifferentiated mindless machines, and easily-replaceable ones at that. Over the 20th century society advanced, such that workers are valued for their skills and individuality.

        Today people by-and-large choose when they want to work, and the culture has changed such that many companies have to push their employees to take vacations against their will. To say nothing of the self-employed, who have no concept of a “day off”. (I’m working today, though obviously not very hard.)

        So happy last-day-of-summer day, whether you’re working or benefitting from services purchased from someone who is.

        1. ps238principal says:

          “…and the culture has changed such that many companies have to push their employees to take vacations against their will.”

          HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! Wow, that’s a good one!

          Oh, wait, you might have been serious. Americas receive, on average, 14 days of paid vacation per year. The U.S. is one of only six countries without mandatory paid days off. There’s no penalty to the employer if you don’t take time off, so there’s no pushing or cajoling, unless you’ve got some citation to the contrary?

          In this economy, nobody wants to be “that guy who’s never at work,” even if the time off is fully entitled to. It’s really a sad state of affairs, if you ask me. When I worked in an office during the “boom” of the 90’s, I and a lot of my colleagues didn’t use our vacation time for actual vacations, but for when we were sick, needed to have our cars serviced, etc.

          1. Amarsir says:

            I’ll resist the urge to be as rude to you as you were to me, though if you’re going to throw around words like “mandatory” you’d better explain why threatening force against people is your way of making the world better.

            Of course employers have reasons. Productivity and accuracy both go up as stress and fatigue go down. Turnover – which is very costly – is also reduced as regular breaks make long-term employment more tolerable. Some even pay employees bonuses for taking vacation because broken routines are better for creativity and inspiration. But even a bitter person who disregards all of that can still point to accounting benefit: when employees push back vacation time, it ends up getting paid out at higher salary.

            The US average is 19 days per year, not 14 as you said, but either number is irrelevant because 57% don’t use it. Despite it being something we negotiate for, nobody schedules actual time off. Which is exactly why it has to be encouraged. Use-it-or-lose-it policies are being pushed by worker advocates exactly for this reason and more are adopting it. No doubt people are afraid to take vacation for fear of seeming replaceable. But it’s not to anyone’s benefit.

            In fact, I suspect a bigger reason, which fits well with the trend, is that people won’t leave because they’re not replaceable. We each have individual skills and responsibilities others can’t quite fill, and we know if we don’t do something it doesn’t get done. Being important really isn’t a bad problem to have, but it is a problem and I’m sorry but it’s not one you can solve at gunpoint.

            1. stratigo says:

              people don’t take vacations so that when they get sick they haven’t burned their vacation days and oh hey the company is now canning your ass.

              Seriously, the nation has been facing increasing work hour creep in the majority of industries. People are more often working harder for longer for less. Or they aren’t working.

  24. Glenn says:

    What I want to know is, WHAT HAPPENED IN SHOGUN?!?

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Gunpowder fell,everybody died in agony.

  25. Daemian Lucifer says:

    With Mumbles gone,who will play the part of the manly man now?Farewell,sassy girl.

    Also yay for uncle Shamus.Or should we call you uncle Sham now?

    As for guild wars…Meh,doesnt scratch my itch.Still a single player dude.And enjoying some snoring canines.

    1. Paul Spooner says:

      Uncle Shamus. UncaShmus. Uncus? Isn’t that part of the brain?

  26. Irridium says:

    And so, Spoiler Warning lost its manliest member. She will be missed. But not really, because of all the other stuff she does, but still.

  27. Aanok says:

    It’s a damn shame we lost the Mumbles. I blame Chris and his faux-intellectual, very punctual academic insight.

    Congrats to the other Young, though!

  28. Zagzag says:

    So, it is now technically correct to use the term “Uncle Shamus”. The internet just became a more awesome place.

    1. Dovius says:

      I may never look at an Uncle Sam ad ever again.

      1. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

        Internet! You know what to do!

        1. Dovius says:

          Indeed I do, but I’m crap with Photoshop.

          1. Daemian Lucifer says:

            Who needs that fancy thing when you can use paint?

            Here,a crappy meme.

  29. swenson says:

    No Mumbles? D: But who will defend Garrus to the end and talk about Damian Wayne now?

    Anyway, Shamus, you are seriously starting to nudge me toward buying Guild Wars. Is there a demo version I can try for a couple of levels or anything? I don’t want to spend full price on a game that I don’t even know if I’d like… but man, those screenshots and all your drooling over it are getting me seriously interested.

    And on a final note, congratulations to your brother and his wife! Dax Perseus is a very cool name.

    1. Skyy_High says:

      No, there’s no demo out right now. Their servers are stressed to the breaking point as-is with paying customers, I don’t think they’re interested in letting people in for free at the moment.

      1. swenson says:

        I’ll just have to wait for now, then.

  30. Torsten says:

    It is really sad to see Mumbles go. I think that her commentary really kept improving on last season, and it would have been great to hear her thoughts on ME3. Hopefully she will show up occasionally on Spoiler Warning still, and at least we still have her other projects to enjoy.

    Congratulations on unclehood Shamus. As a fellow person with a relatively rare name I present your nephew the lifetime membership to the Club of Persons Always Called by Their First Name.

  31. Kian says:

    Did you know the digital edition of GW2 is currently sold out?

    1. Hitch says:

      ArenaNet has suspended direct sales of their digital download until they can stabilize their servers with the capacity to handle everyone. Digital copies may be available from third party sources.

    2. kanodin says:

      I do, sadly.

    3. Mephane says:

      Okay, now that is hilarious. But also says a lot about the impact the game’s release had on the market.

  32. Steve C says:

    I know people like Guild Wars jumping puzzles. This is a link to the mother of all jumping puzzles. I could say “spoiler” but it’s insanely complex. There’s no way you’d remember the details by watching it once.

    1. Lovecrafter says:

      Oh god, and I thought Breached Wall was bad…

    2. Mumbles says:

      Everytime I run around with people they’re like hey mumbles u wanna do jumpin shit and I’m like NO. I’LL STAY DOWN HERE AND WATCH YOUR BEAR.

  33. > The new person has been named Dax Perseus

    As in Curzon or as in Jadzia? :D

    Seriously though, do you know if their name is actually DS9-inspired? Because that would be pretty awesome.

    1. SKD says:

      I could have sworn that Dax started out on TNG. Apparently I am wrong because Wikipedia, and the various Star Trek wikis say she was on DS9. Guess I must have watched a few of those after all.

      1. silver Harloe says:

        The symbiotic race Dax was a member of was introduced in a TNG episode, but with a different character.
        (That episode also completely wimped out on the setup which was meant to lead to Riker accepting that feelings are feelings regardless of gender and kissing the dude at the end, but that’s a different point)

        1. krellen says:

          The love interest in the Trill episode was Crusher, actually.

          Also, the Trill went from having ridges to having spots, for some reason.

  34. fenix says:

    Shamus.

    Over at Twentymine we host a mumble server and we could easily add a Guild Wars 2 section along with a bunch of subchannels.
    We’re hosted at MIT so bandwidth isn’t an issue.

    We can even add a Spoiler Warning channel with a password if you’d like.
    Mumble has great audio quality and you can record audio straight from the server with seperated audio channels which I believe was one of your requirements for Spoiler Warning.

    If you’re interested you can comment here, send me a PM on the Twentymine forums (username fenixkane), or email me with the email I used to comment (which I assume you can see).

  35. Arjen says:

    Spoiler Warning sucks now.

  36. hborrgg says:

    Well rats, maybe while they are gone those of us who just aren’t that interested in guild wars will just have to start a conversation of our own.

    . . .

    Anyone? Hello?

    Oh. . .

    : (

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Sure.Soo….Ummm…How bout that game last night?

      1. hborrgg says:

        Oh. . . Yeah. . .
        That. . . sports guy sure sported some sport points in. . . uh. . . that sport.

        I was able to. . . um. . . viewmaster it. . . from my talky box.

        1. Destrustor says:

          And how about that crazy weather, guys?

          …umm…

          …We, uh, probably don’t even live in the same timezone, actually…

          1. GM says:

            Raining you?

            1. Daemian Lucifer says:

              Sunshine and lollipops.

  37. TehShrike says:

    Have you considered starting a text chat room for 20-Sided folks to use for chatting and matchmaking? There’s always room on Freenode!

    I wouldn’t mind being able to hold conversations with the other fine folks who hang around here, but voice chats can get pretty crowded.

    1. Peter says:

      We could easily make another channel on the TwentyMine IRC server. (irc.twentymine.com) The main chat is #twentymine, but that is linked in-game for the minecraft servers. Either way, feel free to join us for random conversations!

  38. drlemaster says:

    Sorry to see Mumbles go, you will be missed.

    Congrats on the uncle thing.

    Just a suggestion, if everyone is GWing is up, you could just record yourselves playing that. I am sure many of us would love to see SW guys playing Guild Wars and talking about nothing in particular.

  39. Phantos says:

    You can do your kid no greater favor than giving them a rare or unique name.

    I’ve actually heard that’s not true. Apparently it really screws ’em up because other kids like to make fun of weird names.

    1. SKD says:

      Other kids like to make fun of common names as well.

      Truthfully, kids are cruel bastards that will make fun of anyone for anything. The bonus of an unusual name is that you get used to it fairly quickly thanks to the limited imagination of most kids.

      ” Boys with uncommon names are often ridiculed by peers, come from families of low socioeconomic status and face discrimination in the workforce, according to the study.

      The top 10 bad-boy names in the United States – Alec, Ernest, Garland, Ivan, Kareem, Luke, Malcolm, Preston, Tyrell and Walter. ”

      I would point to the bolded portion as aleading cause of them becoming a “bad boy” and of the 10 bad boy names listed I would classify 3 as unusual, 1 as preppy, and the rest as common. One study does not make a definitive finding.

      1. Entropy says:

        I concur with David Mitchell on the matter.

  40. Destrustor says:

    Why Mumbles WHYYYYY???
    Can you at least give us some parting words or something?
    It makes me kinda sad to see how sudden this seems.
    We’ll miss you, dude.

    1. X2Eliah says:

      She’s not dead, you know. Just follow her on twitter and get all the Microsoft Certified Mumbles Experience v1.5 you’ll ever need.

      1. Zukhramm says:

        That’s the strangest euphemism for swearing I’ve ever heard.

    2. Dude says:

      Yeah. So now it’s commentary by four dudes who mostly rip games apart and sometimes talk about good things in the game.

      Mumbles provided a nice shade to them by being one of those people who mostly liked the game and sometimes ripped it apart.

      I’m sorry for your loss, Rutskarn.

  41. Winter says:

    Awwe, no more Mumbles! Sad times. Maybe Mumbles and Randy will start an “ex-Spoiler Warning” show, where the people who quit go.

    Also: Get a public Mumble server. Or at least Team Speak, i guess. Something open source and cheap, then it could probably be run off of donations.

  42. ccesarano says:

    The way I see it, different things leave different content holes for different people. I really do not have the time to regularly watch Spoiler Warning. I cannot do it. Therefore, technically, Spoiler Warning is leaving a content hole for me.

    But there are plenty of other people that enjoy it, and more so, you and the others enjoy it. Who am I to complain that there is different content than what I “want” here?

    Besides, this blog has been transforming year after year. Who knows what will be hear next year, or the year after, or the year after. I stick around because even if everything you do doesn’t pertain to my interests, there are still things that do, such as the recent Spec Ops write-ups. You have no obligation to provide content for everyone, especially individuals. This is your blog to do with as you please.

  43. Chris says:

    I will miss the push for cannibalism, I have enjoyed you on the show.

    Congrats Shamus.

  44. Eljacko says:

    Aw, things won’t be the same without Mumbles around. Somehow I feel that, with Mumbles gone, the show will be less lighthearted and silly. Obviously too much lighthearted and silly would be no good, but I feel like Spoiler Warning had just the right amount to maintain the integrity of the commentary while still keeping the series interesting during the slow parts of the games.

    Plus she gave us “Buttskarn”. I mean come on, no way that’s not pure gold.

    1. JPH says:

      Plus Mumbles offered some really interesting and valued commentary of her own. I remember really liking some of the stuff she said in the Alan Wake season in particular.

  45. ps238principal says:

    So if Mumbles is gone, and everyone else is playing Guild Wars 2…

    …THEN WHO’S FLYING THE PLANE?!

    1. Indy says:

      The snakes, obviously.

  46. Vekni says:

    Mumbles didn’t leave because of harassment stemming from being female? YAY US. I really need to socialize more with this crowd.

  47. Even says:

    Show won’t be the same, that’s for sure. You’ll be missed, Mumbles. Maybe you can still stick around in the comments?

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