Ark's Ark

My Adventuring with Ark Minecraft Build

Arkenor — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:20:13 +0000

I’ve more or less finalised my Minecraft build for the promised videos. It took a little poking and prodding of config files to get everything working together properly, but it wasn’t terribly difficult. I needed to wait for a few vital pieces to update to Minecraft 1.5.1. That happy event has now occurred, though some are pre-release versions, meaning there’ll be no shortage of bugs to discover as we go.

I should note that I have not dipped into many [...]

My Adventuring with Ark Minecraft Build is a post from: Ark's Ark

Minecraft: The Return

Arkenor — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:41:10 +0000

Many moons ago, a young adventurer journeyed through a strange land, punching trees, and dying in a variety of embarrassing ways. Creepers, mostly, as I recall. Some of those adventures were recorded for posterity, and they were kind of popular, at least in comparison to most of what I do here. Took me rather by surprise! Alas, health and other distractions took their toll, and new episodes became rare, and then stopped forever.

Until now. Circumstances have conspired, and the [...]

Minecraft: The Return is a post from: Ark's Ark

Defiance TV show will be on iTunes

Arkenor — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:46:02 +0000

Trion’s upcoming MMOFPS, Defiance, will be launching twinned with its very own television show. Alas, not all of us have access to the SyFy channel (I can’t take them seriously since they did that to their name), so may have been contemplating “other” means of viewing the Defiance show.

However, as I just learned from a tweet by Defiance writer Clark Perry, it turns out that it will be coming out on iTunes. I’d have preferred Netflix to avoid having [...]

Defiance TV show will be on iTunes is a post from: Ark's Ark

Sim City compensation package is revealed.

Arkenor — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:15:51 +0000

I have resisted the urge to post about Sim City, thus far. Suffice it to say that I am deeply displeased, and, anyway, mainstream game journalists are doing a surprisingly good job of covering how broken it is. However, we just got some information on the compensation package, and I thought it might be worth mentioning.

For Our Patient And Amazing Mayors – A Free PC Download From Origin

Fortunately, those of us who are neither patient nor amazing are [...]

Sim City compensation package is revealed. is a post from: Ark's Ark

The Jigsaw of Lord British – What lies beyond the gate?

Arkenor — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:52:41 +0000

The timer over at “Lord British Presents” continues to tick down (causing me no end of excitement), but our noble leader has not been idle.

We now know that the announcement relates to his “Ultimate RPG”. I suspect that’s intended as a name as close to “Ultima” as possible, rather that a claim that it will be the last RPG ever made. Let’s hope so, at any rate.

The Ultimate RPG facebook page has been releasing pieces of a map, [...]

The Jigsaw of Lord British – What lies beyond the gate? is a post from: Ark's Ark

In which my liege doth call, and I do not tarry to answer.

Arkenor — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:48:45 +0000

There is but one man which Arkenor of Britain calleth “Liege”. He who called out across Britannia for virtue to be sought above all else, and ushered in an age of peace and learning. There were those who sought to bring us low. The Shadowlords. Blackthorne the usurper. The Guardian in all his guile. But none proved equal to the good people of Britannia, strengthened by our dedication to the Virtues, lead by our wise monarch, Lord British.

Now our [...]

In which my liege doth call, and I do not tarry to answer. is a post from: Ark's Ark

On Leadership

Arkenor — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:47:06 +0000

If I was the leader of a political party, or the leader of anything at all, and I heard “general non-specific allegations” of serious misconduct about a member, they would not remain general and non-specific for very long. They would either become very specific indeed, and dealt with accordingly, or they would be disproven. Those are the only two acceptable results.

While my current ire is directed against Nick Clegg, leader of the UK Liberal Democrats, for his attempts to [...]

On Leadership is a post from: Ark's Ark

SOE increases prices for European customers.

Arkenor — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:01:46 +0000

I received the following email yesterday. SOE is increasing European prices for a variety of currencies, claiming currency fluctuations.

I am not convinced. Seeing as my podcast co-host, Petter, is Swedish, let’s see how he’ll be treated under the new pricing. A month of an SOE game will now cost 130 Swedish Krona. According to current exchange rates, that’s £13.03 in UK money, or $20.31 in US dollars. The same digital product costs $14.99 in the US. To the naked [...]

SOE increases prices for European customers. is a post from: Ark's Ark

Neverwinter: A Drizzle of Drizzts. The Heroes of the North Founder’s Pack.

Arkenor — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:29:03 +0000

When I first saw this video, I thought it was satire, or some sort of very early April Fool joke. But no, it is quite genuine, in all its cheesy infomercial glory. Your friends will be SO JEALOUS when they see you’ve decided to buy the Heroes of the North pack!

Only Heroes of the North will receive exclusive access to the MENZOBERRANZAN RENEGADE.

a unique playable race armed with the “Faerie Fire” racial ability and tattoo cosmetic option. [...]

Neverwinter: A Drizzle of Drizzts. The Heroes of the North Founder’s Pack. is a post from: Ark's Ark

Planetside 2: A Roadmap to Respect or to Rudeness.

Arkenor — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:26:12 +0000

Planetside 2 just released its Roadmap site. It’s quite a nifty idea, allowing players to vote for which game features they want to see implemented. There’s a lot of very promising game ideas there that make me quite hopeful for the future of Planetside 2. Given how much time I spend at spawnpoints, I’m particularly pleased that farming spawn-points will be becoming less optimal.

However, it is also true that SOE is notorious for launching terrible game-changes on players without [...]

Planetside 2: A Roadmap to Respect or to Rudeness. is a post from: Ark's Ark

EQ2 : New Erollisi Day Achievements

Arkenor — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:44:03 +0000

Today I noticed a couple of completed achievements in Maltheas’ log that I had no recollection of getting. “A Rose By Any Other Name…” and “Make That A Bouquet”. After a little rummaging, it looks like these were received for my rose-throwing efforts in the Erollisi “My Romantic Reputation” quest over the past few years. I gained the achievements automatically when I logged in after the patch on the 17th, and just didn’t notice. Hurrah for achieving things without even [...]

EQ2 : New Erollisi Day Achievements is a post from: Ark's Ark

Star Trek Online : A Guide to Recruiting Duty Officers

Arkenor — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:09:56 +0000

Here’s to the Finest Crew in Starfleet!!!

I love Star Trek Online’s Duty Officer system. Recently however, to my fright, I discovered that some of my fleet buddies didn’t know how to get their hands on a great crew, and it occurred to me that they might not be the only ones. And so I present my little guide to getting your hands on “The Finest Crew in Starfleet”. For the sake of brevity, I’m going to assume you know [...]

Star Trek Online : A Guide to Recruiting Duty Officers is a post from: Ark's Ark