--- "Bill Chivers" wrote:

Hey Bill! Viva el (ex) presidente!

> You know, its a LONG time since we last played an LRP game. I
recall
> talking to Rog at the time (when Ghost Recon became de rigeur for
us
> and we had networked sessions at Kim and Sparkies). He
said 'perhaps
> this is the year virtual eclipse goes virtual'.

Many of us seem to have expanded a "tiny" bit in the waist
department, so our next LARP event could possibly be called "Mission
Womble" (especially if we did another underground one - LOL)! ;)

I've heard of the odd VE Ghost Recon net game, but didn't have ADSL
back then so wasn't involved. I don't think they do so many GR games
lately as everyone knows the maps. I'll see if I can get joining
details if anyone is still interested.

For anyone who has never played Ghost Recon once you pay for it you
can play online or net games for free. Don't buy the new Ghost Recon
Advanced Warfare game - it looks good but is unplayable. VE players
use the old Ghost Recon.

> Anyway, I'd like to draw your attention to:
>
> http://planetside.station.sony.com/reserves/
>
> Planetside is a first person sci fi shooter I play. It really
> rewards teamwork and I reckon some of you folks would find it a lot
> of fun. I've been playing it for 3 years on a paying account, but
> they now have a free version, called planetside reserves.

Free stuff is always good!

> The only real difference is you are limited in Battle Rank and
> Command Rank. This does not prevent you from being reasonably
> effective on the battlefield, although your character will be less
> flexible than a higher ranking one. But its not like say D@D where
a
> level 20 character will completely outclass a level 6 character.
The
> Battle rank limits the number of different weapons / vehicles /
> support equipment you can use, but does not decrease the
> effectiveness of each piece of kit. In other words you will not be
a
> sitting duck for players on full accounts.

I had a quick look and it sounds very interesting. I'm a bit busy at
the moment (I've been offline for *ages* and am still catching up
with people and online things). However I'll check it out again in a
week or so.

> I am in an outfit that uses teamspeak for tactics, and would love
to
> see some of you guys in game.

A few VE members have got into playing World of Warcraft and have
started their own guild. They use Teamspeak as well. It seems like a
really good way to co-ordinate games.

I'll see if I can get hold of the details of the VE WoW guild (and
the WoW server they play on), just in case anyone else wants to join
them. WoW is *not* a free game, but there is a free trial offer
somewhere. I'll look for that as well.

> Remember, its free, but if you like it you can upgrade.

The free game expires on March 24, 2007! So people have until then to
decide if they like it. Even though it isn't free forever, I think
that is a good period for a free trial. If you don't like it by then,
I don't think you are ever going to like it.

> Anyway, here is our guild website: www.khaosclan.com
>
> Our main faction within the game is New Conglomerate (NC) on the
> Werner server. My main characters name is Beachball.

Beachball? Interesting name. Any reason for picking it? Does your
guild (or PlanetSide) have some sort of naming convention or did it
come off the top of your head?

> Hope to see some of you there; additionally its about time we met
> up. I need beer and curry.

I haven't done any online gaming yet but it sounds fun. The beer and
curry sounds great (well the curry does - I don't drink). I hope we
can all meet up sometime this year and catch up.

David "Big Mac" Shepheard