I’m weak. I picked up my preorder of Hellgate: London.

While it is buggy, I can’t help not enjoy the game. It has pretty much what I want in a rpg. Hack and slash light on the story. So far the two hours I can play at a time are a blast. I even joined the SA Goon guild Londen on the US server Shulgoth.

Which brings me to the new poll. Simple question with two possible answers.

Are you Playing Hellgate: London?

• Yes
• No

View Results

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Hellgate: London flavored chat log:

[05:01] Turk: HELLGATE!
[05:02] Gawain: I’m not as crazy as that.
[05:02] Gawain: thats fucking crazy ass crazy.
[05:02] Gawain: I saw that and I was like.. oh, hes just fucking with me.
[05:02] Turk: sorry
[05:02] Gawain: no.. you really did buy it.
[05:02] Turk: yes
[05:02] Gawain: so then I was like… well, they must have fixed a bunch of shit.
[05:02] Gawain: and then I was reading and you’re like “they haven’t fixed shit”
[05:02] Turk: I’ll update later with the current status
[05:03] Gawain: the extra funny comes in when you see that post right above the post with the forum pic on it.
[05:03] Turk: yeah yeah
[05:03] Gawain: jesus you’re not… subscribing… are you?
[05:03] Gawain: oh my god.
[05:03] Gawain: you’re subscribing.
[05:03] Turk: just to for a month
[05:03] Turk: to see, it’s only ten bucks
[05:03] Gawain: jesus christ you are sick. you need help.
[05:03] Turk: yeah
[05:03] Turk: the december patch sounds nice
[05:03] Turk: stonehenge as a hub
[05:03] Turk: outside areas
[05:04] Turk: again if they can fix shit
[05:04] Turk: and that is a big if
[05:04] Gawain: I don’t know you anymore.
[05:04] Gawain: fucking subscribing to hellgate.
[05:04] Gawain: jesus.

It gets worse. Below are two entries from my online banking statement:

11/05/2007 POS PURCHASE 11/03 20:55 HELLGATE PING0 800-346-3425 CAUS VCP 9.99
11/05/2007 POS PURCHASE 11/03 02:40 HELLGATE PING0 800-346-3425 CAUS VCP 9.99

So I’m already in for more than I wanted. Though the official website makes no mention of this billing issue (why scare away more suckers?) in the private forums the do at least admit they are aware. They offer little help. You can fill out an Ask a Question form. I received an email with this very unreassuring message:

Your inquiry has been received. You should receive a response from a Hellgate Customer Service Representative within 24 hours.

By my clock 24 hours have passed and I have yet to hear back from them. My bank account has not been credited. Perhaps Gawain is right and I’m sick and need help. But I hope they get the game in order. The glimmer of fun is there. The december patch also sounds like it has potential. I’ve heard mention of Stonehenge as a hub and the inclusion of more outside areas like forests. I just hope it doesn’t take longer than a month or two to fix these issues.

Here are some links from the game sites with more on this billing fuck up: Hellgate Billing Issues, Hellgate Subs Gone Wild?, and Hellgate London Subscribers Report Extra Charges, Restricted Access to Membership Benefits. Also worth reading is the Shacknews review of the game. Which gives a honest dead on review on how the game really is.

So I’m jonesing for a real mmorpg to play. I thought I had one to play. No not fucking Hellgate: London. I had purchased Tabula Rasa from GoGamer.com when it was on sale for $29.90. Me and Gawain both tried it out when it was in beta. It was an enjoyable game. It a nice change from the fantasy type mmo I usually play. It has a nice sci-fi guns thing going on.

The problem is that I ordered this on the 9th and I have yet to get the game. Damn me for being a cheapskate. The USPS tracking number is no good at all. It makes me wish I would have picked UPS or something other than the damn USPS. Here is the info I get with my tracking number:

• Electronic Shipping Info Received, November 09, 2007
• Processed, November 10, 2007, 2:01 pm, BELL, CA 90201

Since the 10th there has been no update. With UPS I could always check daily and see what was going on. I’m starting to think the package is sitting somewhere in Bell, California, perhaps it fell off the truck. Maybe I won’t ever get my game. Give me an update USPS!

Back to Hellgate: London for a moment. I feel foolish for wasting 10 bucks to subscribe only to get some lame Halloween shit and even lamer Guy Fawkes stuff. I’m canceling on next friday which is payday. I’m waiting because I don’t trust this assholes and their billing department. The game is fun, 10 bucks a month is not worth basically only extra character slots and a bigger stash.

Next Mass Effect. A Xbox 360 Bioware rpg. What more do you need to say? It could be said that Mass Effect is the spiritual sequel to the great Knights of the Old Republic. The 20th just can’t get here fast enough.

Man talk about a total geek out. The Fifth Doctor gets to meet the Tenth Doctor in a charity special called Time Crash. I’m jazzed big time. I’m a huge fan of the multiple Doctor stuff. I’m also a big fan of the 5th Doctor. The Big Finish audio plays helped quite a bit for me to name a favorite.

But then I’m so terrified on how it will play out. The idea of the spaztic 10th Doctor meeting the previous Doctors just does not excite me. I would have liked to see the 5th meet the 7th much more if things hadn’t have ended the way they did for the original show.

This airs tonight in the UK. I’ll have to wait till tomorrow to get this 7 minute scene off of Pirates Bay.

What a bunch of Harry Potter nerds:

This is as pathetic to me as those fucktards who want to be furries.

Nine years ago today I was fired from the worst hotel ever for the first time. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 are all the past entries in which I’ve done this look back on the past year. Last year was a new beginning of sorts for me.

It is so refreshing to work at a real hotel. It is also nice to have owners that take care of both the employees and the hotel itself. These people give raises and they do not let their building get run into the ground. It’s also nice to be at a hotel whose clientele is not made up of pimps, whores, and drug dealers. I for once am happy about my job. I enjoy doing it.

I am also happy to report that the worst hotel ever has not changed. I still wait for its closing. One only has to read the recent insider chat to see things have only got worse since TT wrote her unfinished memoirs. In fact the worst hotel ever actually was closed for about a week. It was a nice preview of what the inevitable final death will be like. Hopefully in a years time when I do this again it will be dead.