Amongst the chaos of the past few weeks, we (Tami and I) were given a chance this week to escape for a few hours as we travelled South to Seattle to attend Penny Arcade Expo 2008 (henceforth to be referred to as PAX, because my typing sucks and 3 letters is harder to screw up than 19).
My overall impressions on PAX this year was somewhat of a letdown. Having attended last years event, where the panels included discussions on Penny Arcade’s debut game (which was set to come out on xBox Live) held by Hothead Games, a discussion on the History Of Guild Wars, The Future Of MMOs (which covered a lot of what Guild Wars 2 would be about), and ArenaNet Culture And Origins, I was left with a feeling that something good had happened… I had learned a lot about the gaming industry, and felt confident in it’s future.
This year… where do I start? The PAX staff were, for the most part, a letdown. While some managed to remain civil and polite (even funny in a few cases), the bad seeds ruined the entire event for me. Some of them were rude, obnoxious, and in one case, an outright bitch. “Line up here! No, you can’t line up here, you’re blocking the lane… line up there! NO! DON’T LINE UP WHERE I JUST TOLD YOU TO LINE UP, THERE ARE PEOPLE WALKING NEAR BY! GO THERE INSTEAD!!” Not to mention getting pissed at attendees for, gods forbid, sitting on the beanbag chairs where the staff had put them, only to be told that you can’t sit there, you need to move somewhere else. Hmm… it was fine last year, and I don’t really know why someone coming down an escalator would need a full 40 feet of lane space in order to be herded down the next escalator (there was actually a woman at the event who’s job was to yell at people that the down escalator was the only way down, so that was where you had to go… you know, unless you wanted to attend a panel, or get in line, or go to the OTHER down escalator on the other side of the center…). The general feeling of the panel discussions was that I was being herded like a sheep to slaughter. We had to go and sit exactly where we were told to, no exceptions… if your husband, wife, or partner was in front of you and got told to sit at the end of a chair lane, tough luck for you sitting with them… you’re in the lane behind them now, at the far end of the lane. Argue or question? Get kicked out of the panel discussion. Even the ArenaNet staff were rolling their eyes at the “Enforcers”.
The panel discussions themselves, as well as the booth occupiers, were the only saving grace for this years event. Even some of the people were a prime example of what is wrong with the World (although that is to be expected… rude staff is unacceptable). Attending the panel discussion “Female Gamer Community” this year with Tami, I found myself disgusted with what I was exposed to. Hold on, don’t read into that wrong. I am one of those types that supports girls in gaming, and believes that yep, they are quite capable of kicking the ass of anyone else that faces them in-game, irregardless of gender. What disgusted me was not what was being said on stage or in the general audience… it was what was being said at the back of the group by a few guys who felt it necessary to fall into a typical chauvinistic elitist asshole stereotype… commenting on who in the panel was, and was not “hot”, among other comments best left unpublished. Apparently there are even some on the PAX discussion forum commenting on how they had to get away from the panel quickly, lest they loose their testicles. Idiots like that are a good enough reason for me to not want to visit that community, thanks. I would think those guys would be more concerned with getting their asses kicked repeatedly in-game by these girls, since that is the threat they face. In regards to the actual Panel Discussion, I think I’ll leave Tami to write about that on her site… I unfortunately came into the discussion 15 minutes late due to my need for Tylenol and food).
The Guild Wars panel was umm… short. It was 90% a question/answer session, and didn’t touch GW2 very much due to the “secrecy” they are now operating under. While I focused on what was being said by the Panel, Tami was unfortunately forced to listen to some guy sitting on the sidelines (apparently another wonderfully trained Monkey brought on to be PAX staff) openly commenting on the responses and criticizing the panel as well as how they spoke. Nothing better to do with his time, other than bang on that keyboard hoping for Shakespeare, I guess. Chris (the Marketing Head) mentioned that they have entered into a 3 book deal for Guild Wars, which is set to focus firstly on what takes place immediately after GW1 (basically, the books are meant to fill the void of 250 years between GW1 and GW2). We got to hear a bit about the original concept art for GW (yep, every single thing we see in Guild Wars is started off as concept art), and how ArenaNet supports in-game Guild-hosted events and actually does follow them.
Wandering the floor, I was absolutely blown away by 1 game at the NCSoft booth. This game was phenomenal. Much like Guild Wars in the concept sense (although one of the staff did point out that this game is more story-driven than quest-driven), the graphics were amazing. Initial features of the game that jumped out was, of course, the graphics, but also the ability to customize your character completely. Every single facial and body detail was editable, allowing for you to finally create a full physical avatar of yourself for in game. Now, I must simply wait for release… which can’t happen until they decide HOW they plan to release it, and what sort of subscription system they plan to use, if any. So yeah, the game is amazing, but it could be a long time before we get to actually see it. What’s it called? Aion. Watch for it.
Overall, if not for the PAX staff and long lines for little fulfillment, PAX 2008 could count as a decent event. Unfortunately, those two things really ruined it for me.
And besides, why hold a panel discussion for Hothead Games (the developers of the Penny Arcade video game) 2 hours after all the exhibit booths have closed up and people have been told to get out? Where’s the logic in that?
I started this post by saying we were given the chance to escape. Unfortunately, the only escape we got on this trip was when we got out of Washington and back into our own Country.

On a side-note, I finally started to process some of the video that was shot while the Mendella crew were here visiting… with that, I give you a small sample… Mendella Invades the 2008 Abbotsford International Airshow.

On this date in 2008, an outcome to years of hard work and effort is finally reached.  Greg King, who launched dozens of attacks against killanet, decided today to finally admit to his wrongdoing, and entered a guilty plea before the United States Court.

Below is the official press release sent out by the United States Department Of Justice.  I’d just like to take a second to thank everyone who helped on this case, as well as Tami (of course) for riding this out to the end.

I think it’s time to breath a heavy sigh of relief.  One less headache. 
 

Department of Justice

Eastern District of California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           CONTACT: Lauren Horwood

Tuesday, June 10, 2008                          PHONE: (916) 554-2706

www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae                          lauren.horwood@usdoj.gov

Docket #: 07-cr-442-LKK

COMPUTER HACKER PLEADS GUILTY AND AGREES TO TWO YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that GREGORY KING, 21, of Fairfield, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton to two counts of transmitting code to cause damage to a protected computer. As part of the plea agreement KING agreed to a two-year prison sentence.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the FBI, whose agents analyzed Internet logs, executed search warrants, performed forensic analysis of KING’s computers, and took KING’s confession. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew D. Segal, a member of the U.S. Attorney’s Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Unit, prosecuted the case.

According to Segal, KING admitted to using a “botnet” to conduct distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks against two different Web sites: Killanet and Castlecops. A botnet is a network of malware-infected, zombie computers (bots) that can be used to conduct DDOS attacks, send spam, and commit fraud over the Internet. Bots are also used to infect other computers and thus propagate the botnet. The owners of the infected computers do not know that their computers have been infected with “botware,” but their computers can nonetheless be secretly directed by the “bot herder,” the person in control of the botnet. In a DDOS attack, a bot herder directs the bots to flood a victim computer with information and thereby disable the target computer.

Known online as Silenz, Silenz420, sZ, GregK, and Gregk707, KING admitted to controlling about 7,000 bots and using them to DDOS attack Killanet and Castlecops. Killanet, an interactive forum where members share advice on graphic design, Web design, photography, and gaming was DDOS-attacked in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Castlecops is an Internet security community specializing in anti-phishing, malware analysis, and combating spam; it was DDOS-attacked in 2007.

On October 1, 2007, FBI agents went to KING’s residence to arrest him. After agents knocked on the front door, KING exited the back door, hid a laptop computer in the backyard, and then returned to answer the front door. Pursuant to a search warrant, the laptop was seized and searched. It contained, among other things, botnet software and references to KING’s various Internet monikers.

The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Karlton on September 3, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. The maximum statutory penalty for this violation is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.

    I am sad.  So very very sad.

    Why?

    I went out to the bar last week with Tami to celebrate her birthday, and experienced first-hand, that which is to be the future of mankind… the hope for our species as a whole.

    …

    We’re doomed.

    …

    The band that played are old friends of Tami’s, and go by the name of "Cease and Desist".  They also put on a show, where they dress up as the singers of the songs they cover (for example, they do an amazing cover of "Maggie May" by Rod Steward, while the lead singer dons the wig and clothes to match) as "Atlantic Crossing", but they didn’t do that for this show.  So yeah, they’re a cover band… but a GREAT cover band.  The part that left me with an empty feeling for society?  The kiddies that were in the bar at the time.  While many of them really got into the music, some were just… sad.  Not "boo hoo" sad, but "what the fuck" sad.  Some of them were damn near breeding right on the dance floor (when, given their general overall look, they shouldn’t even be breeding in the privacy of their own dorm rooms).  The paper towel dispenser in the bathroom ran out of towel, okay?  No big deal, just tell one of the staff and it’ll get looked after, right?  Nuh uh… some dumbass actually tore it off the wall and left it sitting on the floor.  Yeah, that’s a good way to get it refilled.  I hope the person went in there later, pissed all over themselves, and then couldn’t dry their hands when they were done because there was NO FREAKIN’ TOWEL DISPENSER ANYMORE!!  Morons.

    Some of the kids in this bar were outright obnoxious.  Of course, it was obvious that it wasn’t a true bar, but more of a college bar, given the crap that was being played over the radio during breaks in the live show.  Just the same though, we got some networking in, and may have a great announcement coming up soon.  It’s in the works… like everything else… damn, we have a lot of things "in the works" right now.  Oh well, it’s all good.

    Anyway, now that I’ve managed to get over the childish antics of a bar full of apparently prepubescent teenage boys and barely-dressed barely-legal streetwalkers, I can move on to some great news.

    DSL 2008 is going to have a live concert!  That’s right, Mendella has been confirmed to play at DSL 2008.  I’m really psyched about this, and once we have figured out the final details (we have a date, and location, but need to sort out the small details), a massive announcement about it will go up on the DSL site, as well as on Village Gamer.  I will of course echo it here, for the 3 readers I have.  *cough*

    Great things are coming… just as long as those kiddies from the bar aren’t a part of it.  And as long as our datacenter doesn’t try to explode again.  Yeah, wishful thinking.

Is job dissatisfaction truly a necessary part to any employment? The past few weeks, I have (for the first time, since entering this type of work when I was a teen) been starting to really dislike my job. Its seeming like every time something happens in a negative fashion, I am the one who egts lectured about it (whether I played a part or not), yet when things go well, there are few who actually notice or say anything in regards to it. The typical "negative is loudest" way of life at work, to sum it up.

I don’t want to be a "job hopper"… you know the type, who will work at one place just long enough to become annoyed with it, then suddenly quit and start looking for employment somewhere else. I have a good work history, and I want to keep it that way. Besides, with DSL coming, money will of course be welcome… and it flows a little better when you actually show up at your job in order to obtain the paycheck. I guess I’m just… annoyed.

Anyway, rants aside, this hasn’t been that bad of a… damn, its been a few weeks, hasn’t it.. all things considered. We went out last Friday night to an Industry Mixer, and ended up hanging out with a few of the guys from RockStar games (unfortunately, I can’t namedrop this time, due to the secrecy that the company operates under, and the fact that in doing so, I may end up with a hit out on me *cough*). We discussed to some extent the enjoyment that Mike has been getting out of GTA 4, and they tipped us off to a Rockband competition taking place in Vancouver that we should check out… so we did. You can read about that over at
http://www.villagegamer.net.  We actually attended the finals today, and got a chance to see an amazing up-and-coming band from the UK play live. There are some amazing announcements regarding them, but I’ll save that for later. In the meantime though, check them out. The name is "Mendella".
http://www.myspace.com/mendellaband

Went shopping with Tami yesterday (yeah, I’m jumping all over the calendar), and among the many things we picked up was a brand new Nintendo Wii for the house. It was technically an investment for Killanet and DSL, but just the same… I didn’t initially think it would be that fun of a system when it first came out, but I am the first to admit in this case that I was wrong, and I
apologize to Nintendo (who will be visiting us at DSL 2008). I beg your forgiveness in hopes that you do not dispatch a short pudgy plumber to deal with me. *cough*

We’ve launched a brand new site, focused on the Vancouver Gaming Industry.
http://www.villagegamer.net.  The site also has a good idea on what I’ve been up to over the past few weeks. Check it out.

Anyway, things are rocking hard here, and I predict an amazing Summer ahead. Keep tuned to
http://www.bladeradio.com for Mendella, and keep tuned to this site for personal updates.

Take care everyone.