The Central Nexus Blog

Cover of the Day - 09/08/2010

Cover of the Day - 09/07/2010

Cover of the Day - 09/06/2010

Cover of the Day - 09/05/2010

Comic of the Day - 09/04/2010

DragonCon 2010 -- Day 1

Day one was �doozy. �Busier than the last several Fridays for Dragon*Con. � I went to several sessions. � Starting off with a Steampunk track entry, followed quickly by the Warehouse 13 track. �Star Trek Deep Space 9 was after lunch, followed by MMO Flops, another Steampunk track, and finally by Machinama. �It is spread over FIVE hotels now, and the hill is beginning to be a killer. �I pulled a hamstring mid afternoon which slowed me down, and then my knee kicked in. � On day one? �This is going to be a long convention...

Lots of restaurant changes in the area -- but it is still a pain to find something AND a seat when you want to. �You can't sit in so many places without hotel security coming and saying you can eat/sit/be there. � *sigh*

I got a couple Dragon*Con shirts, some 5 for $25 graphic novels, and a couple Dr. Who shirts -- A neat one has an interstection between Time Travel, Space, & Killer Robots. � Time-Travel + Space being Star Trek, Space + Killer Robots being Battlestar Galactica, and Time Travel + Killer Robots being The Terminator. � All three has a picture of The Tardis. � It was just too geeky to pass up.

I saw the bling Gnome trophy at the MMO track -- They use it as for their MMO trivia quiz; �To my surprise My picture was on the base from when Doug and I were on the first winning team. �A nice surprise.

That being said, at the MMO track, 2 people asked me about being on the panel Sunday for City of Heroes. �I suspect it will happen. � And there is some unique plans in the works for that track. �NCSoft is not here -- again. �People are *NOT* happy. � With their competitor celebrating a year anniversary, DC Universe online only months away, and them with Going Rogue just released, you would have thought putting in at least a minor appearance would have been a given. � Such isn't the case. � If DC Universe is as good as it is looking so far, NCSoft could face a player exodus if they aren't VERY careful.�

Saw some guys from GuildLaunch.com -- a place I'll have to look into for "clan" websites. �They *do* City, although their examples didn't sing out TOO much that Guildportal couldn't do. �Nice to see some alternatves out there though.

Picture will be forthcoming, but not today. �I've got to hit the hay quickly for tomorrow I've got to make tracks early if I'm to beat the traffic shutdown for the parade. �The parade starts at 10, but I want to be their well before 9. � Tomorrow I hope to get to see Stan Lee.

Dragon*Con begins...

I managed to get my tickets last night -- beating the crowds big time. �There were only about 20 or so in line in front of me -- even though the room at the Sheraton this year could probably hold hundreds. � It was a pain getting there though -- Rush hour , con crowds, plus several blocks of deactivated traffic lights made GETTING there very ... interesting.

Parking is going to be interesting. �My favorite lot has raised rates for the con; �I'll probably have to go and pay it. � I've had bad luck with other lots, having my car broken into one year. � And you don't want to find a lot that is going to lock tight the hard way.

I've a stop on the way in for fuel, batteries, and snacks. � My first session isn't for 2 and a half hours, but I've still got to beat normal Atlanta traffic and get to the parking lot before 9 am. � Breakfast I'll probably get on site.

I've already seen a few designs for t-shirts I'll keep an eye out for. � My schedule is SO full that I've no idea when I'll be "shopping", but it will likely be VERY brief. � Anne has her requests; DragonCon shirts, pins from the Hard Rock cafe, etc.

Its finally here ! � Let the fun -- and the walking --- commence.

Comic of the Day - 09/03/2010

Cover of the Day - 09/02/2010

Cover of the Day - 09/01/2010

Comic Cover of the Day - 08/31/2010

Dragon*Con Cometh

With Dragon*Con�coming up Friday, I'm going through checking everything. �Going thru the schedule, double checking to see which events I'm going to try for. �Like many years too many events on different tracks tend to coincide. �It means a weekend of choices -- and usually running from one hotel to another. �The worst part of Dragon*Con is being spread out over 4 hotels now is that you will likely be racing sometimes through thick crowds to get to one place or another. �And the crowds usually mean if you don't go early, you'll miss some of the popular tracks.

Stan Lee is going to be there this year, and there are two tracks to see him. �Some bizarre surprises like an I Dream of Jeanie Barbara Eden / Larry Hagman panel. �Lots of Trek actors, Stargate, Warehouse 13, Eureka, Firefly, Battlestar Galacatica, etc. �You never know WHAT to expect at Dragon*Con

I go for the costumes mostly -- Snapping picture after picture. �Especially during the Saturday morning parade.�

I did notice that we have a bigger room for the City of Heroes panel on Sunday. � It looks like it will be hosted by Massively.com, with no word of any attendance from NCSoft. �Come on guys -- Send Someone. � With Massively behind this, I hope for something more than they we-know-nothing that we have had the last two years. � As a panel member last year for the session, drafted literally minutes before the session was to start, there were lots of people with questions that DEVs could better answer.�

That being said, I believe I'm ready. �Business cards printed, schedule laid out, going through camera cards already. � I hope to go Thursday night for registration as last year's Friday morning registration line was a LONG one. � �

It will be a hectic schedule from the look of it, and Monday events actually have some meat on them. �Expect some photos one way or the other in about a week as I go through them. � � If you are going to the event, I'll have some Comic covers & Central Nexus Blog �& COH logos clipped to my lanyard. �I didn't see anyone ELSE wearing a COH Logo last year, so if you see one, most likely it will be me. �If you do see me, say hello!

Comic Cover of the Day - 08/30/2010

Copyright violation -- Backwards?

Many a new player comes into the game trying to duplicate an existing hero. �Some are direct rip-offs of Marvel and DC characters, changing the name by adding an extra character or two, and have violating background information coming from the same sources. � Since the Marvel lawsuit of several years ago, NCSoft makes a good effort at identifying such characters and giving them the heave-ho by renaming the character to GENERIC , giving them a number and a blank uniform. � Some characters are in grey areas -- where one of their uniforms MIGHT remind you of a copyright even if their name doesn't. � Movie characters are also duped; The recent Avatar movie had multiple blue skinned archer characters complete with pony-tails and tails visit Paragon. � But most didn't last. �I suppose it is to be expected. � The fine print of the EULA isn't read by many, even though they have to accept it to log in. � I've seen level 50 character complain to no end when they suddenly go generic for copying a video game character. � But other people's copyrights need to be protected as well.

The other day I was on the Freedom Server and noticed a character believe I've seen long ago -- Starborn. I researched it and there is a complete alliance of groups on Guildportal based on the groups he's created. Starborn Alliance

Now the name caught my eye because Stan Lee has created a character called Starborn. Using the same name that has been in City of Hero for what? Months? Years? I'm wondering if the MMO character and the group in City will be at risk. If City of Heroes owns the copyrights to all the characters we create, could this be used to sue the Boom-Studios for copyright violation?

Considering that we have had multiple servers with hundreds of thousand users playing for years, I'm surprised this backward violation has NOT happened before. I for one will be watching to see if anything is done, one way or another...