Conservative Christian Investment Firm goes gay bashing in games
If the Gay-dar rings, don’t buy it. This is what the conservative Christian investment firm, The Timothy Plan, warns for parents planning to get games for their kids. Apart from the usual gaming no-no’s, such as sex, violence, and substance abuse, the investment firm also flags games with homosexual content as inappropriate and unsafe for minors.
For this, The Timothy Plan hands out a list of the 30 “most offensive” games on the market. They maintain a “Do Not Buy List” for morally responsible consumers, against publishers that trade in abortion, porno, anti-family entertainment, and vices. They evaluate games on these eight categories: Sex, Nudity, Gay & Lesbian, Violence, Language, Drugs, Alcohol, and Game Addiction. They also specified if games have “demonic” content.
The usual suspects are all here: Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) and Saint’s Row 2 (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) (both of which have a check mark on seven of eight categories - even gay content), Fallout 3 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC), and Age of Conan and World of Warcraft to name a few. If they’re such phobes about gay content, I’m surprised they didn’t tag Manhunt 2 with a gay title.
They made a lot of comments that made me laugh, here are a few of my favorites:
- God of War II: “This game has a sex mini-game. During the “game,” you press one of the four main PS2 buttons when indicated, which causes the women to moan louder, helping them reach climax.” Now that’s a detailed review!
- Saints Row 2: “Homosexual Encounters: …Characters like Randy the Tranny were used in marketing the game.”
- BioShock: “Strong Language: Strong profanity including the f-word , as well as numerous others we prefer to not include in this report.” Wow, that’s some hardcore swearing! Not to self: Get BioShock.
- Manhunt 2: “Strong Language: Strong Language: The game’s first two words are “Holy F k.”
- Blitz: The League II: “Suggestive Themes: Females appear in miniskirts with thong underwear only to be spanked by players during touchdown celebrations.”
- Bully: Scholarship Edition: “Homosexual Encounters: Gay achievements such as over the rainbow can be reached on the Xbox 360 when you kiss 20 boys.”
- Army of Two: Homosexual Encounters: (not mentioned): Somewhat homo-erotic undertones between the two main characters are present.
Well, I guess they’re not looking forward to joining FLAG, but hey, this was worth a few laughs. If you wanna see the full pdf, just click on the source link below
More on censorship and game ratings:
- Porn game company to bypass ESRB, Sony, Ninty, MS; to create own adult game industry
- Parental advisory: 5 Best Kid Friendly Games ‘08
- Parental Advisory Group: MK vs. DC is family-friendly
Funcom reaffirms commitment to AoC on PC and Xbox 360 following layoffs
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Business models, MMO industry, Consoles
After the rumors of staffing cuts at Funcom turned out to be true last week, many of you may have been predicting bad things for the future of Age of Conan — or at least, enough of you to have Erling Ellingsen provide MTV’s Multiplayer blog with a short statement regarding the health of their flagship title:
Our aim is for this to not affect development of ‘Age of Conan,’ or any of our other games, at all. We are sticking firmly to our plans. The Xbox 360 version of the game is still in production, but as before we are not committing to any specific dates. I wish I could give you more information, but I can’t at the time being.
This backs up what Funcom had to say last week, that this is simply “business as usual” and not anything to be concerned about. It is good to hear about the Xbox 360 version once in a while, even if essentially nothing was revealed other than “it’s still coming”. We’re pretty sure, however, that most of our readers that are interested in AoC haven’t been held back due to waiting on the console release, because let’s face it — if you’re an MMO-fan, you’ve got a PC. The 360 release stands to reach a new audience, one which will cause Conan‘s roleplaying-racism to join together with real-life racism through the magic of Xbox Live, and might just make the internets spontaneously combust.
Funcom reaffirms commitment to AoC on PC and Xbox 360 following layoffs originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Server Merger Update - Ten Ton Hammer
Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures (AoC) will be getting its long awaited server merger before Christmas. Funcom US Community Manager Glen "Famine" Swan laid out the plans in a recent post on the Official AoC forums. The future server mergers will include some free game time for players to cover the downtime needed for the mergers. Players will also have the option to use one free server transfer should they wish to start on a different server.
As announced a few weeks ago, we will merge the Age of Conan servers before the Christmas Holidays. Today we want to give you some detailed information about how these merges will happen and what this will mean for you, the players.
We will be spreading the server merges over the next few weeks so not all the servers will be merged at the exact same time. It is important to us to ensure that the merge process goes as smooth as possible. Therefore it is vital that we spread out the work rather than doing these complicated processes all at the same time in order to minimize possible risks.
The first servers that will be merged are the US servers ‘Bloodspire’ and ‘Hyperborea’. The list of servers for the next merges will be published shortly.
It is important to know that during the time servers will be merged, all servers of the same territory (US or EU) will not be available. This means that during this week’s downtime - where the two above mentioned servers are merged - all US servers will be unavailable. The exact duration of such a downtime will be announced soon but we do expect them to be longer than the usual update downtime.
When the merge process is complete we will be giving all active subscribers an appropriate amount of free game-time to compensate for the additional downtime required for the merges. The details of this will be communicated once the merge process is complete.
It’s important for us to ensure the best game-play experience for you all, and more healthy populations on each and every server will make sure we maintain healthy communities for the game in the future.
Once the merges are complete we will be offering a free one-use character transfer option for all characters so that if you wish to join a different community after the merge than the one you were allocated you are free to do so. This transfer will be free of charge and can be used once per character and will be available from your billing pages.
Also after the merges are complete we will be opening up new ‘fresh start’ servers in both the US and EU territories. One each for PVE and PVP rulesets. Transfer will not be allowed to these servers after the merges. These new servers are designed to allow players to start afresh in a totally new environment should they wish to do so and forge a new community instead of joining one of the newly merged ones.
We wanted to post this announcement with a server merge FAQ but we will aim for tomorrow instead. We saw no point in holding back the bulk of the announcement just on that minor issue.
RECAP
(Questions answered in the thread in relation to the above announcement)
Sorry for the delay. I did have to drive home! Here is a quick recap:
- Questions on battlekeeps, names, and ect will be covered tomorrow in the FAQ hopefully.
- We will have to pull all the US servers down to do this small merge.
- There is no official ETA on the downtime but the going rate thus far is 5-6 hours. More information on that soonish.
- We are still aiming to come up after the first merge. Future merges will happen shortly after but hopefully at a faster rate.
- The first set of merges are Oceanic servers and thus the two Oceanic servers are being merged.
These are answers to questions not posed in the FAQ for tomorrow. Please try to keep everything civil as I know not everyone will agree with the merges. I will try to address all concerns as much as I can throughout the entire process so please be patient. Even though I know it’s hard! It’s a very exciting time for everyone and it’s the best time for us to be as informative as we can at the right time.
Age of Conan server merge information released
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Server downtime
We’ve been following the efforts of Age of Conan director Craig Morrison to keep the player community more ‘in the loop’ since he took on the role a few months ago. Now the community team is laying out the details of one of the projects he headlined when he first stepped up: server merges. Community Manager Famine has put up a post in the official forums laying out details on the procedure. Which is good, because it’s a little complicated.
Here are the highlights:
- All servers will not be merged at once. Instead, they’ll be staged with “Hyberborea” and “Bloodspire” seeing a merger during this week’s patching.
- During downtimes when servers are merged, all servers from that region will be unavailable. So this week, all US servers will be down while the two above are fused. Funcom is going to provide compensatory playtime to users affected by these outages.
- After the servers are merged, all players on the resulting server will be given a free one-time-use character transfer if they want to move their primary character to another server. They’re doing this to ensure players like where they end up.
This is obviously a difficult time for the playerbase, and not something any MMO developer likes to do. Just the same, hats off to Funcom for obviously trying to do right by the playerbase, and for adequately compensating players for the inconvenience. For another ‘just the FAQs’ look at this issue, the AoC site has up an F-A-Q already.
Age of Conan server merge information released originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AoC Season Giveaway Contest - Ten Ton Hammer
Would you like to win free Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures (AoC) items for your account? Of course you would and now you can! Funcom is having a Season Giveaway contest that will give some items to a few lucky AoC winners including a chance at the new mount, The Snow Mammoth!
Now is your chance to win an exclusive set of in-game items for your Age of Conan account including the brand new Snow Mammoth player mount!
Falling snow, chilling winds, icy plains and snow covered forests - Winter is upon us. To celebrate this special time of the year, Funcom is giving away tons of great prizes.
All you have to do is send an e-mail to contest@ageofconan.com with the subject “Season Give-away”. Please provide the following information in your e-mail: your name, your address, your telephone number and your Age of Conan account name.With a bit of luck you might win a whole set of in-game items for your Age of Conan account. Each set contains:
- The brand new Snow Mammoth
- The War Mammoth
- The Killer Rhino
- Ring of Acheron
- Drinking Cape
- Bag of Holding
- Amazon Bow
- Totem of Origins
Starting 1st of December 2008, we will randomly pick one lucky winner from all valid entries, every day until 31st of December 2008. The winners will be contacted via e-mail by Funcom.
Good luck!
No purchase necessary. Prizes are 31 upgrades to existing Age of Conan accounts in form of in-game items. Odds of winning dependant on number of entries. Competition open to residents of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S.(except Rhode Island and Puerto Rico). Draw will be made by manner of random draw in Oslo Norway in December 2008. Any applicable taxes or customs fees are responsibility of winner. Entry to this competition is void where prohibited by local laws.
Snow Mammoth mount mauls jaws, takes names in Age of Conan
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, New titles
Let’s put aside any complaints or upsets any of us might have with Age of Conan and take that moment to appreciate the amazingness of this new mount being added to the game. This mount is the kind of thing that, when rolling up on a friend (or enemy), a person wants to possess. If you’re at all into the business of looking like a person nobody would want to mess with, than this is a must-own accessory. Plus, as an added bonus it comes in three — that’s right, three — colors!
Our minds are now racing with possibilities of other sweet-mad mounts, such as unreasonably large sabertooth tigers and cautiously evil-looking hippopotomi. We can dream, can’t we?
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Having fun in Conan’s homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age! |
Snow Mammoth mount mauls jaws, takes names in Age of Conan originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Reply by kotttonmouth :: [EQ2] What General Skills on the new TSO AA trees are you putting 10 points in?
I think that putting into both is kinda over kill, but really not sure which on my dirge. Wizzy is getting mana up and probably mount speed.
I really do like the way the new AAs are laid out except the point reqs for class/subclass. What do you guys think. Is 120/170 fair?
With the NEW AA tree, I took points out of personal run speed (on the old tree) to get some abilities in the new tree. I wasn’t giving up DPS, so that is what had to go. So my primary transportation is now my new mount. Yea all the time run speed is nice, but as long as I can take off when I need to, that is all that matters to me. It may be different from a PVP stand point.
As for the point requirements, I was a little pissed when I found that out too, but I guess I understand. This new tree has some GREAT stuff in it, so they don’t want people over-powered when they have not yet progressed to that point. Its almost like a reward for progressing that far.
![Reply by kotttonmouth :: [EQ2] What General Skills on the new TSO AA trees are you putting 10 points in?](http://aoc.wowgoldfr.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/fc105_Eq2DailyMainForum "Reply by kotttonmouth :: [EQ2] What General Skills on the new TSO AA trees are you putting 10 points in?")
![Reply by kotttonmouth :: [EQ2] What General Skills on the new TSO AA trees are you putting 10 points in?](http://aoc.wowgoldfr.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/cdd38_465037785 "Reply by kotttonmouth :: [EQ2] What General Skills on the new TSO AA trees are you putting 10 points in?"){kind=small}
PC Games : Will this play halo 2
Author: masters12
Subject: Will this play halo 2
Posted: 24 Nov 2008 at 9:43pm
I was wondering if this customization will play halo 2 and quake wars? Please let me know, this was my first time configuring a computer
- CASE: Hot !!! Apevia X-Telstar Junior 420W Case w/ Temp Display and Fan Control (G Type Black Color with Side-Window)
- Neon Light Upgrade: NONE
- Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans
- POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: STANDARD CASE POWER SUPPLY
- CPU: AMD Athlon™ X2 5400+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
- COOLING FAN : AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
- MOTHERBOARD: MSI K9N SLI-F V.2 NVIDIA nForce 570 LT SLI Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, &7.1Audio
- MEMORY: 2GB (2×1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
- FREEBIES: None
- VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
- VIDEO CARD 2: NONE
- VIDEO CARD 3: NONE
- LCD Monitor: NONE
- 2nd Monitor: NONE
- HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (250GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
- Data Hard Drive: NONE
- Hard Drive Cooler: None
- USB PORTABLE DRIVE: NONE
- Optical Drive: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
- Optical Drive 2: NONE
- SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
- SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers
- NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
- MODEM: NONE
- KEYBOARD: Logitech Deluxe 104 PS/2 Keyboard (Black Color)
- MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
- Extra Thermal Display : NONE
- Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: NONE
- Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
- Cable Wiring: None
- Rounded Cable: None
- VIDEO CAMERA: NONE
- PRINTER: None
- PRINTER CABLE: None
- IEEE CARD: NONE
- USB PORT: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
- FLOPPY: 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE (BLACK COLOR)
- OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Basic w/ Service Pack 1 (32-bit Edition)
- FREEBIES: None
- Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner: None
- SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
- RUSH SERVICE: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
$590.00
before all applicable rebates
Monday, 12/8/2008
[Interplay] In Bad Shape
Man these guys look like they are really really hurting, but some interesting news from their new 10-Q statement.
Link here: http://biz.yahoo.com/e/081119/iply.ob10-q.html
But specificallly:
Bad news is they are broke and needing at least $30 million to fund….
They entered into some type of Agreement with Interactive Game Group (I2G) Now sure who they are…
Interactive Game Group (I2G) is a company producing and acquiring video
games and other interactive entertainment properties, whether packaged
media, online or wireless. Created by Frederic Chesnais, former Chief
Executive Officer of Atari Interactive, Inc. with a decade-long experience
in acquiring, financing and licensing intellectual property rights in the
video game industry, I2G is developing and financing a portfolio of video
game properties, joining forces with the best studios, publishers and
distributors for each project on a worldwide scale.
![[Interplay] In Bad Shape](http://aoc.wowgoldfr.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/5df9b_Eq2DailyMainForum "[Interplay] In Bad Shape")
![[Interplay] In Bad Shape](http://aoc.wowgoldfr.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/5ecf0_465576590 "[Interplay] In Bad Shape"){kind=small}
Funcom layoffs not what you think… or are they?
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, Rumors
Last week, rumors were scattered all across the internet regarding massive layoffs at Funcom. Some of these rumors stated that the layoffs reached as high as 70% of Funcom’s total empoyees, as many gamers and media outlets were quick on the draw to predict a coming death for Age of Conan. Although we can’t help but shake our heads every time one of these rumors surfaces, developer layoffs and game closures are still a very real threat.
So when we heard today that the Funcom rumors were (partially) true, we got a bit worried. As we all know, the extent of these rumors could be complete bunk, or they could eventually pan out much as the initial NCsoft rumors did. The fact is though, all we know is what Funcom has released officially: “We did have some staffing cuts at Funcom this week as well as new positions opening in the organization as part of our ongoing cost based efficiency and performance initiatives that are vital to any business.”
So is Funcom taking PR classes from NCsoft, or is this truly a harmlessly normal part of running their business?
Funcom layoffs not what you think… or are they? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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