MO:UL Episode "Scars" .. A Post Mortem

Myst Online : Uru Live .. finally presented it's first 'episode' since announcing their move to episodic content release .. for one week each month I believe. This one was titled "Scars" .. and I have to admit it was fun and interesting to follow .. and I enjoyed the experience for the most part.

Despite the horrific .. and unnecessary .. death of a known young character (and her friend) .. that tied in several things that had been going on .. strange symbols .. the deaths of animals in Neghilan with Sharpers little revelatory expedition about the Bahro .. and the ultimate disappearance of the one girls distraught father .. I'd say it was pretty well presented. The episode week also gave us some nice new relto pages .. a new clothing item .. and finished it all off with a VERY cool, shiny new age too. :D

Just my feelings here on the nasty "Wheely" death .. I pegged Rose as obviously THE 'red-shirt' the minute I saw her .. and made perfect sense for the death of 'someone close' to the DRC. The same mysteries could have still been presented .. WITHOUT the wrenching emotional impact that hit so many so hard with Wheely's gruesome death so close to rescue. There were some in the city .. truly invested in the rescue .. standing there .. calming her .. trying to help. I was mostly an observer .. NOT so invested .. BUT .. I DO understand their upset .. I nearly lost each of my girls when they were young .. trust me .. NO one needs to relive that .. ever !! I truly do feel Cyan overdid it with the killing of the Wheely character. The introducing of 'expendable' characters is an oft used tact in all sorts of 'episodes' of programs .. works very well at moving story along .. can engage you emotionally .. especially if you get to really like the character in the short time they are there .. then their tragic demise .. which although a loss, does NOT wring out your heart. Though a testament to their story telling abilities .. to use the beloved child/teen character Wheely (lots of people referred to her as 'their' little sister) was just a poor choice - IN MY OPINION. Think of the direction Wheely might have taken .. so young .. losing her best friend .. blaming herself .. her father trying to cope with her obsession with the Bahro symbol and the Bahro .. could have been an amazing character/storyline development. But .. it's done now .. no taking it back .. I just hope they learn from it. And that is MY opinion .. for my own reasons .. and I'm standing by it. :)

I actually made it into the crowded city a half a dozen times .. waiting in the nexus for a spot to open up .. there were only 50 avvie spots available .. and was lucky enough to be there for actual things going on with the DRC characters on 4 of those occasions. I was in the city when the character Wheely and her friend Rose disappeared .. and for the dramatic ending where the Wheely character is killed .. and for several things in between. I consider myself fortunate to have made it in that much and at those times as it was not easy to get in .. or stay in as I generally 'stack dumped' out .. crashing as it were .. within about an hour or so of arriving. Which ticks me off .. because I NEVER used to stack dump .. ever.

One of the most annoying things was seeing peoples avvies in the /afk (away from keyboard) positions .. or seeming abandoned as they were unresponsive. Having been left there to 'hold their spot' .. in case they wanted to see what was going on. In effect taking up a spot that someone else could have used who actually wanted to be more then just a place marker for events. It is utterly selfish behavior that deprives others of at least a chance to be in there and experience the things going on with the ingame characters.

The same things went on with people 'camping' their avvies many hours before Rand Millers visit to the cavern and the opening of the new age Minkata the last day. MC made it into the city in the early afternoon before the age was released .. and said nearly half of the avvies she saw were in the /afk position around the library .. as that was where the new 'linking book' would most likely appear for it. She didn't even attempt the hood where Rand was supposed to show up .. it already showed over a hundred .. and we KNOW that a lot of them were just vacant avvies.

The lag in crowded areas was horrendous .. and the crashing annoying .. and our compy's are NO slouches .. I made sure of that when we had them built .. so our problems were not so severe as many others had. Despite the handful of 'Cyanfan apologist' assertions .. the game HAS 'issues' .. that's no secret to anyone .. and I'm hoping after the 'stress test' that the servers underwent this past week that some serious thought and work will go into improving those areas that so sorely need it. The game went down bigtime with so many gathered in there and those attempting to link to the new age in a bunch .. hundreds of people really .. that's all .. yet the combination of bad netcode (among other things I have on VERY GOOD authority ;) ) and game servers could not handle the load. People were locked out of the game and screamin' foul on the forums .. made for some entertaining reading :D .. while waiting calmly on this side of the screen for them to get things sorted and back up before heading in to explore Minkata. I hate to think I'm to the point that I've become so used to the failures that I've accepted them as 'normal' .. O_o

MC and I have been playing in the Minkata age .. even finished it .. and as much as I loved it .. it has beautiful music .. intriguing layout .. outstanding puzzle too .. did my fair share of wandering aimlessly in the sandy winds before understanding the map book .. IN THE END .. it is STILL just one more age .. with one main puzzle .. that means NOTHING. There is NO reason for doing it .. NO connection to anything going on. The events of the week could have culminated in the releasing of the age to help the DRC find out what is going on .. appealing to the explorers for help .. and suggesting perhaps there might be something in Minkata that would help them figure it out .. as it obviously has signs of Bahro occupancy at some time, everywhere. At least we'd know WHY we were even there doing a puzzle.

I .. like most people I know .. need to know that there is a reason for what I'm doing .. even if I don't know what that reason is .. as in Myst ;) .. there must be some impetus to act .. especially in the context of the story that Uru is .. otherwise .. it's just doing for the sake of doing .. and remains without substance. Ah well .. we're getting there I suppose .. slowly but surely .. but tying the ages into the storyline is KEY for myself .. and EVERY person I've discussed that with in the past few days .. and is really something that NEEDS working on to integrate it all into a cohesive mystery worth solving. This was a grand learning experience for everyone .. this episode called "Scars" .. let's see what comes of it .. :)

I Am a Carpenters Daughter ..

.... so is that why I got shingles ?? O_o

I kid you not .. I woke up a week ago Friday with a very sore right eyebrow .. thinking that I must have a sinus infection. By Saturday I had several welts of varying sizes over my eye and into my hair .. one .. above the right half of my eyebrow was HUGE with great red spots in it. I thought .. good God !! what kind of a bug leaves marks like that ?! I figured it must have been a bug bite of some sort as it itched like crazy .. and was red and swollen .. like a bad reaction to a bite. And hurt .. my goodness .. shooting pains that make a person cringe.

By Monday .. things not looking any better .. I called my naturopath and as soon as I described it .. she told me to get to my other 'mainstream' doctor .. as she said it sounded like shingles and there was a new med .. that although she rarely encouraged the use of such things .. this worked very well at reducing the severity and length of the ailment.

Great .. I haven't seen a 'regular' doctor in years !! I hope they still recognize me .. O_o

He did .. and confirmed that 'yup .. sure is what you have' .. and prescribed the meds for me. By then I hadn't been feeling very well for a couple of days .. the pain was in stabbing waves .. the itch insistent .. I had swollen glands along the right side of my face near my ear and into my jaw .. and .. for some reason .. my eyelids had begun swelling with fluid and I could hardly see out of my right eye. I was VERY concerned as the face .. around the eye .. is a very BAD spot for shingles ! He told me .. 10 - 14 days to get over the virus .. 3 - 6 MONTHS for the marks on my forehead to disappear .. and possibly nerve pains for up to a year after !! Um .. WHAT ?! .. O_O .. and this is WITH the med ?!?! O_o

It seems that shingles is a bit of left over virus .. from when we have chicken pox as kids .. that goes dormant in our spinal column .. the doc pointed to a spot behind his head on his neck .. that .. for reasons they don't fully understand .. becomes active along nerve paths .. hence the awful pains. My naturopath said I must be run down ... but I have been feeling fine before .. so .. who knows.

Regardless .. I've put in a miserable week .. and have a good week left. My welts have opened and I am now contagious .. NOT for shingles, mind you .. but for CHICKEN POX !! O_O

Good thing everyone in this house has had them already. O_o

** Update : May 23/07 .. feeling much better .. the swelling has .. thankfully .. left my eye in the past couple of days .. so I no longer have the urge to scream .. "I am NOT an ah-nee-maahl" every time I pass a mirror .. :D And .. aside from the occasional itchiness in the STILL reddened area .. some small pains .. and some weird godawful crawling/pressure sensation along my eyebrow .. I'm mostly better .. :)