Real Life

4th Annual Gamers Secret Santa Registration Has Started!

In case you’re not familiar, This will be the FOURTH year I’ve ran a gamers secret santa. Last year was my 2011, then 2010 Gamers Secret Santa, and the year before I ran the 2009 Gamers Secret Santa – and it was a huge success. I had over 100 people participate, and geeky gifts were sent out all over the world. This year I’ve decided to attempt to run another one. I know it’s not as big as the Reddit one and I’m sure there are others going on, but I really take a lot of pride in running this little event. If you’d like to participate or are interested in what it’s all about please read further!

What it is: Those who want to participate, are more then welcome to. You can be a gamer, blogger, a member of the game industry, whatever. As long as games are some how a part of your life. I will take names / addresses, and assign everyone a ‘secret’ person to buy a small less then $20 gift for, as well as give them the address required. Send out your gift and wait for one to head your way, and that’s it. Ok, let me explain it a bit better.

What is “Secret Santa?” here’s the definition!

How:

1. Send your full name and mailing address to me at stargrace@mmoquests.com, make sure it comes from a valid email address. If you happen to run a fan site or a blog, please mention which blog you write for. It doesn’t matter who you are or how involved in the gaming community you are, anyone can participate.

2. On December 1st I will email you back with someone else’ address.

3. The price limit is $20, don’t spend any more then that. Be creative, make something, have it be unique to your culture or your life, if you need suggestions then please don’t hesitate to let me know. Try to keep in mind that we’re all gamers, no matter where we come from.

4. Keep your person a secret! Don’t tell anyone who else you have. If you DO happen to run a fan site or blog, then when you receive your gift write about it and let everyone know.

5. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to let me know below in comments, or email me.

Details: I understand that you may not be comfortable with me or one other person having your mailing address, so if you’re not please don’t feel pressured to participate. The idea is to share with one another and realize what a fantastic community we have, not make you feel on edge that you’re going to potentially run into issues.

If you’d like to participate but simply can not afford to no matter what, send me an email and let me know, I will do my best to help you out. I want anyone who’s interested to be able to participate in this event. I think some times we forget that these people we all talk to online are not just random pixels, but are actual people on the other end of those computers.

Please keep in mind that only myself, and ONE other person will have your address. It won’t become a mailing list or anything like that. If you’re only comfortable with me having it and no one else then let me know, and I’ll have your gift sent to me and then I’ll send it out to you. Anything to make sure people are comfortable and still able to participate.

YOU HAVE UNTIL DECEMBER 1st TO EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS – please take your time to think about whether or not this is something you really want to do. If it is, get me your address by December 1st so that I can give people some time to get their shopping done. If it’s a little late (the gift, not the address) that’s alright.

If you don’t celebrate Christmas but still want to participate that’s alright too! This isn’t a religious thing, I just want to try it out and see how it works this year. There are some amazing gamers I have met from all over the world, and I think that we have a lot to share with one another.

I think that’s about it. If you can think of something I’ve missed then please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer it. If this is a completely horrible idea don’t feel shy to let me know. I just wanted to share some of the Christmas joy that’s going to be flying around before too long and figured this would be a fantastic idea for people to experience it with one another.

November means NaNoWriMo – And the 4th Annual Gamers Secret Santa!

It’s that time of year again! This will be my 5th year participating in NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month for those who have never heard of it before) and that means that the time I would normally spend writing a daily blog post will be going towards making my word goal for each day. The ‘goal’ of NaNoWriMo is to push out a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, stretching your creative mind to its limit. You can also add me as a buddy if you’re attempting NaNo this year, and we can help motivate one another!

Each year I attempt to write a new genre, and this year will be the hardest yet (personally speaking).

  • 2012 – Mystery /Thriller
  • 2011 – Erotica
  • 2010 – Fiction
  • 2009 – Fantasy
  • 2008 – Autobiography

November also means that very soon I will start posting details to the 2012 Gamers Secret Santa. I should be posting details on November 9th, and people will have until December 1st to decide whether or not they want to register. This will be the 4th year I’ve run the event, and I’m really looking forward to it (I do every year).

I’ll try to keep writing on MmoQuests as often as possible, but if you see me go silent, well. Those are the reasons! As always you can follow me on twitter: @stargrace or you can find me on G+ or even facebook. I hope everyone has a great November! Happy gaming, or writing, or whatever you find yourself doing!

Product Review: UnoTelly

Note: It should be noted before I go forward with this post that I was given a review account to test this product out with, and I did not purchase it with my own money.

One of my biggest complaints living here in Canada (in regards to the internet and entertainment) has always been that I can’t access shows in other countries without having to resort to VPN changes or some other work around in order to watch some of my favorite shows. Even shows I pay for on Netflix differ from US to Canada. When I was approached in an email asked if I’d like to test out UnoTelly, I was only too eager.

The web site claimed that UnoDNS was easy to set up on every device you may possibly own, so I started out by installing their ‘UnoHelper’ on my PC, it was quick and painless and I had it up and running without any troubles. I was able to watch Hulu and Netflix.com without any interruptions in my speed, and if it were not for the small icon on my desktop I probably wouldn’t have even known it was running at all. I used it for a few hours without any of the noticeable slow downs that I’ve experienced with other VPN services, especially in prime time.

I did attempt to also get this working on my ipad, but ran into some login issues, so I wasn’t able to test it further. My only concern is that occasionally I would get a message saying my IP address had changed and I should refresh it. Being the non-tech savvy person that I am, I’m guessing this has to do with my ISP and not with UnoTelly. It was a bit distracting but nothing that wasn’t solved by hitting the refresh button. ** edit ** I just have to say again, what great and prompt service I was given during my review. I emailed support, found all my questions answered, and have no more difficulties. Works fantastic!

The product comes at a great price (thee tiers with different pricing depending on what you’re looking for) and they include channels for you to use which I found really helpful. They are right on with the speed, and I experienced no slow downs. Over all, I’m really pleased. The contact emails I’ve received were pleasant and helpful, and prompt which is something I really value in customer support.

It’s a great system, and so far I have no complaints. I’m looking forward to using UnoTelly more in the future, and hopefully it continues to work as well as they’ve suggested. Anyone else out there have any experience with UnoTelly? Let me know in comments, thanks!

It’s Never “Just A Game” #EQ2 #MMORPG

If you ever thought that video games were “just games” then you’ve never really been a part of a community like the ones I’ve been a part of over the last 10 years. A little while ago I heard about Ribbitribbitt – a 6 year old boy with cancer who was given 6-12 weeks to live. His mother put out a plea on the EQ2 forums to players, she wanted an amazing play ground that her little boy could run around in, since he was unable to do so in real life.

The players stepped forward with something that went well above and beyond what anyone could have predicted. The event was massive, and Zam.com has put together a wealth of videos, screen shots, and tributes.

It was with a heavy heart that we all learned that Ribbitribbitt passed away quietly in his sleep, May 20th. Players once more poured forth their condolences, although what the family is even going through I can’t begin to imagine, having never been there myself.

Video games are never ‘just’ games any more. As soon as you have interaction with another human being – even in a virtual world, you’re leaving some sort of foot print on their actual lives. Keep that in mind, next time you’re sitting down to play.

R.I.P. Ribbitribbitt. Thank you, for showing me what an amazing community of people is out there. I’m so sorry that it some times takes such a sad circumstance to shed so much light.

A Podcast Worth Listening To – The Three MMOsketeers

I’m not a podcast person. I’ve tried in the past, and I just can’t get into them. It’s partially due to the length that most are, and a mixture of other issues like topics and technicalities. However. There is an exception to every rule and I have found it in The Three MMOsketeers!

I will admit, I’m 100% biased, being quite partial to two of the podcasters, Arkenor and Petter. Teppo makes an appearance in there as well, and this podcast has so many good things going for it you should certainly give it a listen. It’s got accents! Loads of accents. Oh, and great information about MMOs, and other tid bits of greatness.

You can listen to the podcast in a bunch of different ways here. So be sure to check it out!