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|  |  | |  | | What is Armed and Hammered?
Armed & Hammered is an MMORPG clan that has been around since '97 in one form or another.
The Details: A&H is a smaller, tight knit clan, and our recruitment policies are strict so we can weed out the riff raff. Although it's not easy to get into the clan, once you are on the inside we are a laid back group who are just looking to have a good time. We help eachother out in our times of need, and because we are a smaller group we feel it is important to support eachother, like true brothers.
We are a PvP oriented clan that loves crafting and crafters. Some of our founding members are true crafters at heart, and in such we know how difficult it can be trying to craft in a PvP oriented world. We offer much aid to our crafters, whether it be supplying resources to someone down on their luck, or offering armed escorts to merchants. Bottom line, we love both crafters and fighters, and we extend our hand out to both equally.
A Little Background: A&H was founded back in '97 as RONIN, a Diablo/Starcraft clan. We soon tired of the RTS style combat, and decided it was time to set our roots into a game that would offer both a persistent challenge, and more meaningful competition. At this point we began Ultima Online. It was here that the clan remained for 6 years until a few select members decided they didn't like how everything was being run. These 13 members splintered off from RONIN and became A&H; 6 of the 13 members were founders of RONIN. Armed & Hammered remained in UO up until late '06, but is currently roaming around looking for a new home.
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 | News - Fallout Beyond the Games |  | | | 
| A small article here about Fallout, Bethesda and some curious trademarks.
Trademarking Fallout for television and the big screen? Inconceivable!
Perhaps not as inconceivable as one may think, though. The speculation goes in two obvious directions, A) They are securing the IP so others can't get in on it, or B) They are securing the IP, so they can expand upon it themselves and ??? Profit!
It's no secret that Bethesda dropped the ball in many people's opinion in regards to the game (Fallout 3). This makes one wonder, if they do plan on approaching our TV screens, do they have the competence to pull it off?
Many seem to think it's possible to make a movie, so long as the proper backing is put up for a good director, notable actors and a proper story. . High hopes abound for a satisfying ghoul/raider slaying adventure, to be sure.
As far as a television series goes, the supporters feel it would be very easy to pull off, seeing as how there's an abundance of lore to draw from, and the atmosphere/conflicts are perfectly suited to keeping people occupied for an hour or two every week.
On the opposite side of all of this, the nay-sayers and doom-speakers have valid points of their own! For one, in order to make a good Fallout movie -- this is on top of the already high demands/expectations of the supporters -- you would have to make it horrifyingly long to give it a good/proper story. This is so much so that it would be difficult to captivate your standard movie goer, and keep them interested the entire time (the nightmare that was Titanic comes to mind. . .)
There are also valid points as to why a television series would fail miserably. One of the biggest being that it would be impossible to get any closer than Fallout-esque, simply because you can't throw in all of the gore, violence, substance abuse, verbage and the all around ugliness that is Fallout. . It just wouldn't work with societies current views towards television. Fallout isn't exactly what you'd call family friendly, nor PC.
There's always hope for the supporters though, namely HBO.
All in all, this has sparked some debate in various circles around the internet, and despite whether any of this would work out or not, it's still a big mystery in regards to what plans Bethesda has up their sleeve.
Disclaimer: I'm entirely aware this information is a few months old, but it is far from widespread knowledge. I'm just doing my part to keep the juicy information flowing in the right direction.
- Spyridon
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| | Clan - A Game of Interest? | | | | 
| There appears to be a new game on the horizon that seems to have caught the attention of a few members. What's the game called you ask? Dawntide, my boy! Clickie here for their site.
It's currently in Beta Phase 1(?*), preparing for Phase 2 (currently accepting applications). The body pool seems rather small right now, good chances for acceptance.
As far as the game itself goes. . . It's a sandbox that advocates risk vs reward, in the form of full loot and to an extent time investment (mostly travel time). It has all of the bells and whistles one might ask for including, but not limited to, housing, sailing, crafting, city building and territorial conflict, somewhat FFA PvP(*), an interesting take on combat, et cetera.
Notes of interest -
(?*) - We currently have no idea how many Phases this beta will entail, though it does seem to be mid-way through the process. They are passed system testing and have progressed into actually functioning in and around the world, testing the various game mechanics and functionalities.
(*) - The game world is split into three categories, something akin to the way EvE works. There's areas that are strongly protected by NPC factions, and while you could do something bad here, it's virtually impossible to get away with it. No colonizing is permitted in these regions, and they are primarily located around major NPC faction hubs.
The next step down is still protected, but much less vigilantly, and the protecting NPCs can actually be challenged. Better resources and rewards can be found in these regions, as well as limited colonization.
The final step, and the bottom of the pit, would be the lawless territories! Absolutely no protection beyond your own combat capabilities. . These areas are primed with the most valuable of resources and are the only areas that can truly be colonized to full potential. As such the lawless territories are along the lines of the end game.
- Fing
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| | Game - DDO: Eberron Unlimited | | | | |
| It was recently brought to my attention that Dungeons and Dragons Online has gone free to play, as of Sep. 9th. Needless to say we thought it was an interesting proposition put in front of us by Turbine, so several of us took the opportunity to re-examine the game, for better or for worse.
I won't start spouting out a review here and now, but I will go ahead and say that, for a (mostly) free game, DDO is an enjoyable experience. If you ever took any pleasure in the whole Baldur's Gate/NWN thing, you'd probably like the game because that's pretty much what it is (implemented in a GW sort of fashion).
There's no way to play the game truly free, as it's impossible to hit level cap without purchasing one or two adventure packs, and sometimes those leveling sigils just won't drop, but overall it can be a very cheap experience (or expensive if you wish it to be).
A few of us have decided to play DDO alongside, or in lieu of, what we are already playing. If you'd like further details about the game, or an actual review, contact Khan, Josh, Wicked or myself.
- Spyridon
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| | Earthrise - (QOTW 04132009) The 30 Second Loot Timer - (Apr 13th) April 17th, 20 | | | | |
| I'm doing a little catch-up on some missed articles, first up is a QotW from Earthrise.
"Hello!
This interesting comment from an interview recently is getting a lot of talk on our forums so we thought it would make a great QOTW!
Atanasov
says, "There will be a time limit. Right now we're planning for 30
seconds, which means that once you die nobody can pick up your
inventory for that first 30 seconds. So you have the time to choose
whether or not you want your inventory back," at a cost, of course.
We thought we'd ask our developers a bit more about this topic, including the questions:
Why 30 seconds?
What are your choices at this point?
As soon as you choose what to do is your inventory available for pickup by anyone?
Here's what they had to say:
We
did a lot of internal testing of the automatic retrieval system and we
have ran into two conflicting interests - the desire of the victim to
recover lost items whatever the cost, and the rightful claim of the
victor over the spoils. In order to give both sides an opportunity to
act, we have set the period to 30 seconds and are running extensive
testing to make sure that the victor is not penalized by an excessive
wait period. At the same time, we are calculating the time needed for
players to recover after death and actively prepare themselves to enter
the fray (such as re-insuring their equipment, etc.) The mentioned 30
seconds are close to match, although still open for a change during the
beta.
So what options do players have? Through the recovery
period of time, the victim has the option to recover the items at a
higher cost (often close to their market price) or forfeit them. The
victor is forced to wait for the items to become available for looting,
which is intended to give criminals an extra challenge, having to stay
and deal with security guards to ensure he gets to keep the loot
instead of quickly disposing of their victim, looting it immediately
and running away. Once the period ends, there's another time period
when the dropped loot is only available for pickup by the killer and/or
his party members. Once that additional time period has passed,
everyone can pick the items, and after a prolonged time period, if not
picked by anyone, they are removed from the game.
Now that we
have more information on this topic, we're going to continue discussion
here, and hope that people feel free to take time to read and add their
new thoughts on the loot timer below.
See you next week, and around the forums in the meantime.
~ m."
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| | (QOTW 03022009) Meet the Nathura - March 3rd, 2009 | | | | |
| Hello!
Lore? We've got lore. Today we'll meet one of the leaders
behind the Nathura, and find out a little about where this mysterious
group sprouted from.
---
When the A.S.H.E.S. that caused all the mutated flora and fauna around Enterra,
an unintended side effect occurred to cause unforeseen distress among
its people. In the first few years following the Awakening, genius
biogenetic scientist Kiga Isley was tasked with the mission to solve
the unexpected and grievous problem that humanity now faced on Enterra
- notably, the inability to procreate. Not only were the A.S.H.E.S.
devastating to plants, but they would destroy the human fetus still in
the womb of the mother. It was so virulent that creating a sterile
medium was impossible.
Years passed with little progress, and
Continoma placed the project on the back burner, deeming it as "low
priority" for the time being. Dissatisfied with the decision, but also
faced with no funding, Kiga Isley and his associates began to withdraw
equipment and facilities and routed them towards outlying tech
facilities, preparing to leave Continoma. In the midst of the
turbulence separating Noir from Continoma, Isley took the opportunity
to also depart, and with his supporters created the Nathura society.
Procreation
wasn't the only thing Isley had in mind upon his departure. He and his
followers had a radical vision of humanity cohabitating in harmony with
nature, with minimum impact on it. Eventually his idea progressed to
the point he became completely convinced that the only way for his
ideal to exist would be to alter humanity itself and create a fusion
between human and plant. It is believed by many that his wife and
fellow scientist Nora had a great deal of influence on this altered way
of thinking, as she was the lead researcher of this new "man-plant"
hybrid. If they succeeded the new type of man would be able to live in
harmony with nature and procreate too, a lofty goal. A certain portion
of Nathura's leading scientists disagreed with this course of action,
but Isley had all the authority at the time and a great deal of support
from many others. It was enough to keep going.
The project
proceeded. When the time of the final experiment came, Kiga and his
selected associates departed to a remote facility to perform the first
fusion. At the same time, an anonymous high ranking scientist contacted
SVS and gave them the coordinates of the experiment's location. The
enemy was within, but for those living within the Nathura ranks, it was
understandable. It was not power or money that led to such decision,
but pure principle - many Nathura held fast to the the belief that
society can live in harmony with nature but without paying the price of
mankind's humanity sacrificed.
Only Kiga returned half dead from
the facility, the experiment a failure. He had also lost his wife and
along with it, a great portion of her research. To this day and despite
these setbacks, he refuses to give up and works every day to accomplish
his goals once more. Despite these disagreements within the Nathura,
Isley still commands a great deal of respect and has followers who
believe as he does. Due to his agenda, Kiga does not engage extensively
in the political struggles on Enterra. Blaming the outside world for
destroying his dream and life, Kiga and his community seek haven in
their own unique habitat with their own rules.
The home of
Nathura is unique artificial ecosystem, serving as both testing grounds
and self-sustaining city for the scientists of Nathura. Some of the
artifacts of their research are a unique fusion of technology and
biology, mechanical parts growing from body flesh and vice versa.
Others are bio-engineered creatures and plants, serving certain purpose
in the complex metabolism of the habitat. What is even more bizzare -
Nathura have left their creations with the option to mutate and fit
more perfectly into their roles, and even serving new ones. To the
outlander, the habitat seems as bizarre and alien as its inhabitants,
revealing its beauty and harmony only to the open-minded.
I heard we may be seeing some more delicious artwork from this area soon...
~ m.
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| | Site Error - New Users - March 2nd, 2009 | | | | |
| It has been brought to my attention that it is currently impossible to create an account on the website, the activation link appears to be bad. I am currently looking into the problem, but there's no specific error to point me in the general direction, so it could take some time.
In the mean time, anyone who needs/wants to create an account should shoot an email to AnHGaming@gmail.com. We will manually create you an account. Alternatively you can also send an ICQ to 174020303.
We appologize for any inconvenience this causes, and we will have everything operational again as soon as possible.
UPDATE:
The problem appears to be resolved, save for a few instances. If anyone runs into the problem send details to the above email address, so that we may pinpoint the exact problem and nip it in the ass for good.
Useful details would consist of your web browser, any add-ons you may be running, email provider and any security programs that run through your browser. We thank you for your patience in this matter.
For those still running into the problem, feel free to request an account be created manually when you send in your information.
- Spyridon, Fing
(comments? | Score: 0) | | | | | | |
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