It's MOSTLY working.

Right, so DNS settings are set and this blog now shows up as www.nosignalinput.co.uk as .blogspot.com now re-directs to this address. This means any incoming links to the blog will still show up as blogspot.com (if you hover over the link) but will re-direct to the new address, meaning you don't have to change anything on your side.

There's one big problem though. If you type in www.nosignalinput.co.uk my website will load fine, but if you type in nosignalinput.co.uk the website won't load - at all. This is apparently a known problem by blogger (although they've still not given us a way to fix it) and is causing much frustration amongst people with custom domains and many posts on the Blogger Help Group.

Apparently there's a fix here but I'm not too confident about trying it and I don't want to screw up the DNS settings now I've got them sorted.

Everything is re-directing so I'm fine with that. I just have to hope that no-one types the URL in their address bar (like I'm that popular) and said person is lazy enough to miss the 'WWW' (Ok, I know we all do). If you do link to me remember to put the 'WWW' in first or just save yourself the hassle and link to nosignalinput.blogspot.com instead.

It's all a big barrel of fun!

'No More Fantasy MMO's! - Says EVE Online Boss.

In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson questioned why MMO developers seem to be stuck in a rut. For once, a company CEO is making sense.

"I just don't understand why people do yet another fantasy game. Why make a clone of World of Warcraft?" said Petursson, in an exclusive interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

"World of Warcraft is the perfect implementation of this [genre]. It's been done. Do something else. - gamesindustry.biz

It's obvious why developers continue to concentrate on dwarfs and elves - they want to echo World of Warcraft's immense success. Of course, whenever a highly successful product hits the market there are always people who want to cash in on their rival's success by emulating the product but, as Petursson pointed out, plenty have already done that and largely failed. What's needed now is the next big thing, the thing that can have a chance of knocking World of Warcraft off its high pedestal (although it's sure to be a though challenge). To have that thing mirroring the top guy is not something that will appeal to people, or will it?

On the other hand these developers may be concentrating on the fantasy genre because they know it's an established genre that many millions of people seem to enjoy, yet people are eventually going to get bored with the same old thing. World of Warcraft became so popular because it did something different. Ok, the fantasy genre had been around long before World of Warcraft arrived (Everquest for example) but Blizzard successfully identified a gap and plugged it with a game that would appeal to the casual gamer. Having said that I don't believe there's much more developers can do with the fantasy genre so it's time to switch to something else.

Whatever rises to become the next big MMO is obviously also going to have to appeal to casual gamers. I don't believe EVE Online, although the basic premise might, appeals to the casual gamer as EVE largely seems to be based on meta-gaming, an aspect casual gamers don't usually get involved in. SEED was something different from the norm yet it relied heavily on meta-gaming so probably wouldn't appeal to the casual gamer. Still, the game crashed because no one was willing to support it. It's this kind of attitude that leads to the continuation of clones flooding the video game market.

You could say that many people playing World of Warcraft, some of which had never really bothered with video games before, have become pretty hardcore gamers as a result of whiling away the hours in Azeroth. In this sense does the casual gamer label really apply to them? They'll eventually get bored of World of Warcraft (as many already have) and will want something new to spend their free time on. Are they really going to want to be playing in a fantasy world again or will something like sci-fi appeal to these people? Can sci-fi appeal to people that have become so used to the fantasy genre? EVE is the only decent game in the sci-fi genre at the moment, so there's plenty of room for more. You may think I'm contradicting myself saying that but EVE doesn't have even half the user base World of Warcraft does.

World of Warcraft got boring to me because the casual gamer aspect fell away for me. People wanted you to dedicate so much time to the game that it became a chore to play. Moreover, the endless click-wait-click-wait-click-move-click aspect got boring fast. I want something that's based on skill (like a first-person-shooter) rather than the gear you carry and ARGGGGGGH! statistics.

I don't know what the next big thing is, and I'm far from qualified to guess. Whatever it is though, don't let it be another World of Warcraft clone.

EVE Online boss questions glut of fantasy MMOs - Gamesindustry.biz (Via Kotaku)

Nosignalinput.co.uk Has Arrived!

It's a momentous occasion here at No Signal Input as I've finally done the inevitable and registered my own domain name.

The domain in question, nosignalinput.co.uk (.com was taken), currently forwards itself to nosignalinput.blogspot.com. So, if you hit nosignalinput.co.uk or www.nosignalinput.co.uk into your browser then you'll end up at this blog. Instead of getting your URL address bar showing nosignalinput.blogspot.com it'll show nosignalinput.co.uk.

For the moment I'm having a bit of trouble re-directing my blogspot address to the .co.uk one because of DNS settings (which are a tad bit confusing to say the least) so if you go straight to the blogspot.com address (as all the incoming links here will) it'll still show up as blogspot.com. The reason for this is that it takes up to 48 hours for any DNS settings to take effect and changing the address in the blogger settings right now just re-directs my blog to a blank page (although the page source on the blank page does show the meta tag details I entered at the domain registration site so it should, in effect, be working properly soon) . Of course I don't want my blog down for 48 hours so I'm going to wait until the DNS settings are working properly.

If it doesn't work after the 48 hours then I'm really at a loss at what to do next. Are any of you out there using custom domain settings for a 123-reg.co.uk registered domain? Did you have any trouble? It's been a bit frustrating and confusing so far and having to wait 48 hours every time I change something makes it more so.

Remember you WON'T have to change any of your links here because, when it's sorted, the old blogspot address will just re-direct to the new .co.uk address.

I Love New Tokyo.

A simply amazing video of the sights and life in and around Tokyo.

I've promised myself that I will go here one day. Anyone want to tag along?

First Build in Second Life.

I've been in Second Life since 2005 (give or take a few long breaks) but I've never actually had a shot at building anything. So, yesterday, I headed over to the ABC Island Sandbox (when I talk about SL I'll link locations with their SL url so you can go straight there!) and started creating. Here's what I came up with (as always, click the image to view them at their full size):


It's not the best build in the world but I think it's a pretty good effort for my first time, even if the checkered design is horrible! It even has an opening and closing door (the darker area) although I can't take the credit for that because it was just ripped off a house I had bought earlier. I'm looking forward to playing around with building more since I find it highly enjoyable.

I've also undergone a bit of a makeover, which was probably needed. Here's what I used to look like:


That scooter was a nifty little thing! Here's what I look like now:



I thought I'd see how she handled the pole! As you can see I still play a woman because I take Second Life literally and actually live a Second Life. What's the point in playing a guy when I'm a guy in real life? I don't think I'm tricking anyone by pretending to be a woman because it's not like I'll ever meet any of the friends I make in SL in my real life. Anyway, I've talked about my stance on this before so I'm not going to get into it again, I'm just having some virtual fun.

Graaaagh: Browser-Based Zombie Fun!

Show me a zombie and I'll gleefully hug it before getting my arm bitten off and promptly being turned into one myself. Of course, every morning for us pesky little humans is a lesson in zombification, but looking like we've just crawled out of a grave doesn't quench my thirst for zombie goodness. Neither does the pretty lack luster effort made by zombie films as of late (28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later put in a pretty good show but there's some debate by zombie lovers whether or not they can actually be classed as zombie films). So, I turn to games to get my fill.

Resident Evil? Been there done that. Though there's also the excellent Dead Rising. The upcoming Left 4 Dead looks set to combine my two great loves, zombies and online multiplayer games, but it's still some way off. For now, then, I have to be content with browser-based zombie games to get my fill; but what a lovely bunch of decaying, diseased, scum ridden games they are.



Probably the best known zombie browser-based game out there is Urban Dead, which could be classified as a zombie MMO (we may actually have one coming). I won't touch upon this one much since you can always read this lovely description of the game by Gnome over at Siliconera. If you like your point-and-click turn-based games then you'll love Urban Dead, especially as you get a choice whether you want to be human or zombie. Urban Dead has a vibrant role-playing community that maintains an extremely detailed wiki. If you're into role-playing then you'll no doubt find the game extremely fun. If not then you'll probably tire of it quickly, but it's sure worth a try.



Next up is a game I'm very fond of. Boxhead: More Rooms is over at the amazingly awesome site Kongregate. If you feel like wasting an hour or two you can also check out the original Boxhead: The Rooms or Boxhead: A Halloween Special (this is different from the first two as it takes place in an actual city where you rescue extremely dim civilians). The game takes place in, well, a room, that you choose from a list (strip is my personal favourite). From then on you proceed through the rounds trying to keep your chain kills high (see the metre at the top) as to gain more weapons and upgrades, whilst avoiding countless zombies and a red bastard that shoots fireballs at you. It starts off pretty slow so, for those of you keen enough, skip a few difficulties ahead once you've got the hang of it. Nightmare mode is frantic fun and, to be honest, I don't play on any other difficulty mode these days.



Finally The Last Stand is always there if you haven't got enough zombie action already. The entire game takes place behind a barricade shooting at oncoming zombies (see picture). Doesn't sound that fun? Well, it isn't really. The first few rounds are fun, if a bit on the light side, but the rest of the twenty 'nights' just seem more of the same. Sure, more zombies attack as the game goes on, even throwing some running zombies and zombie dogs into the mix, but it quickly gets boring. Also, once you've picked up the Uzi and the full amount of survivors (you find these by dedicating a few hours out of the twelve each night towards searching whilst also having to repair your barricade) the zombie hordes just seem like turning a hose pipe onto a group of ants.

So, there you have it, enough zombie fun to keep you entertained for a day or two. Got any more browser-based zombie games you'd like me to take a look at? Comment below or hit me with an email.

A Triumphant Return.

Didn't I tell you I'd be back? I'm finally done with all my work so I have a lot of free time on my hands now, meaning this blog can get a bit of a look-in!

Regular blogging will resume momentarily.