Personal: Perhaps you’ll like?

Okay…

So (deep breath), I started a new experiment with an old project.

As I’ve mentioned, or alluded, or expected you to know through ESP & Osmosis… I’m a storyteller at heart.  What one might call an “author” or a “writer”.  Titles are not necessary for those of us “Gonzo” representatives of the world (Muppet, not Hunter S Thompson).  Anyway–In 2002, during my Creative Writing masters @ Cardiff University, Wales, I started a writing project called:

The Misadventures of the Royal Runaways:
A tale of Princesses, evil Jesters, Dragons, Knights, Delivery Gnomes, chickens,
and (of course) Fairies.

It was fun and very much in “izzy voice” — as it was typically read aloud on Open Mic nights.

I’ve always written– if nothing more to tell myself stories (as you get older– telling OTHER people your fictional stories gets a little more difficult, sadly).  So, after returning (albeit begrudgingly) from the UK, I jumped into my late job @ Star Farm.  And as creativity is a constant tool there, my passion for writing somewhat disappeared (or needed post-work-day rest).

Well, now that I’m in California (and relatively social-life-less, I know, you may weep for me later), I’ve started writing again.  A LOT.  But none of it has to do with my old (editorial need) fictional pieces.

Feeling sentimental, I recently jumped back into my old documents & such… and found this story.  I’m not willing to give up my current work (teaser: Beyond the Cork, and no, it’s not about baseball or Sosa), so I thought maybe I’d try something new…

And being the SOCIAL NETWORKING chick I like to think I am… I decided, Hey! I’ve got this all safe-i-fied legally in real life, why not take a chance and put it online?

So that’s what I did.  Every Sunday I will be placing new installments of THE MISADVENTURES OF THE ROYAL RUNAWAYS online.  So, I invite you to stick the blog on your RSS feeds for a little Monday escapism.  I’m not promising it to be some master piece, or even well written at times (I’ve mentioned my lack of editorial passion before, yeah?).  But it is fun, and light, and silly, and exactly what a stressed adult who appreciates a little goofball fantasy might like….

As soon as I get my geeky headset, I will start podcasting each section (for those who like to work out & listen to podcasts).  Joi and I will probably start out podcast (or re-start) then too (it’s not as easy as it seems folks– especially when we start talking about everything BEFORE the podcast, then end up with nothing to say during it, doh!).

I invite you to leave comments, questions, side notes, thoughts of your own, etc on the blog I have set up for the story.  And, if you have a hankerin’ for some creative outlets too– send me your blog story link and I’ll add it.  Also, if it’s entertaining at ALL (we all have varying tastes, now don’t we), please pass it along.  I’d love to see how this experiment works, fails, encourages, etc.

Also, there’s a group in facebook for it too, if you’d like to be nice and join (hint, hint, nudge, nudge).

Any readership, comments, etc are not only welcomed but encouraged (and I’ll be thankful to you all).  I wasn’t going to mention it here, but I just had a cookie… and cookies, well, they seem to make everything in life easier.  So I gave in.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Noteworthy: Sparkplay & Earth Eternal

Sparkplay Media announced today that it had received $4.25 million in a Series A round of financing from Redpoint Ventures and Prism Ventureworks. Started by Iron Realms principals, the company plans to use the money to continue development of its browser-based MMO platform and first game, Earth Eternal.  “We’ve been self-financing, and thus bootstrapping, for two years now and are incredibly excited about the chance to expand and accelerate our plans. We’re developing a different kind of game: one that combines compelling traditional MMO gameplay with new experiences that can be shared with friends on social networks and beyond,” said Matt Mihaly, CEO of Sparkplay Media. “We’re also very happy to have the great people at Redpoint and Prism backing us up. It’s gratifying that they share our vision of where MMOs and virtual worlds are heading and are willing to give us the chance to prove that vision to the market.”

Virtual Worlds News: Sparkplay Gets $4.25M in Series A

Interesting.  I’ll dig in and see what else I can find out.

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I am at a loss for words…

A shocking new energy powder designed and marketed to look like cocaine is set to cause a storm of controversy when it hits the shelves in Britain.
The white substance, which contains caffeine and other stimulants, is called I Love Blow and comes in a box complete with a mirror and fake credit card.

Energy powder designed to look like COCAINE could be sold in Britain | the Daily Mail

I was made aware of this through Anastasia’s brilliancy in Ypulse.com.

I am literally at a loss for…. just at a loss.

I have never been more disappointed with anything as I am at this moment. Morons. Classless. Inappropriate. Enablers.

Why would anyone want to take advantage of their own culture like this? To this lowest of the low extent?

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Vtech’s future virtual world?

Edutech firm VTech has just announced its product line for 2008, and it includes something called Planet VTech, which is described as “an online virtual world for kids ages 5 and up”. I’m always a bit wary about this kind of announcement, as it could just be a community site, rather than the kind of avatar-based virtual world covered by this blog. However, assuming it’s the latter, it sounds interesting.

It’ll involve a range of web-connected learning laptops and handhelds, which connect to the internet via USB to let children access the Planet VTech website. Games are a big element, with players earning points that can be redeemed for “great rewards”.

It also seems that community features will be part of it, including direct interaction between users – although the announcement also mentions that the content is safe and contained, for parents’ peace of mind. The world is also intended to promote VTech’s other products too, with three dedicated areas to showcase the latest. The tie-in products will come with a free one-year membership to Planet VTech, but the company hasn’t said how much a subscription will cost after that point

Virtual Economic Forum Content Library

I love the Virtual Economic blog. They’ve got some great gems to check out. I almost wanted to just cut and paste their entire site into one entry… lol. But of course I wouldn’t. I’d suggest heading over and checking out some of their latest stories– they’re mostly around the youth audience.

Oh, edutainment. Early 2009 (late 2008) seems like it will be the period of “edutaining virtual environments for youth”. There’s a growing buzz around it. I’m quite content in the entertainment virtual worlds for youth (hoping to build some sort of role modeling of social behavior within the entertainment needs of this demographic). But I’m always floored to see the edutainment trend grow from others.

Also, I continue to update my Beta Virtual World list, so if you have any more to add, please speak up– or if you’re looking for a running list, take a wee gander.

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Tags: Virtualworlds, beta, websites, youth, entertainment, edutainment

Neopets adds more outlets for revenue

Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products introduces the first products from its new line of Neopets at Target stores and www.target.com, and will be showcased at Toy Fair next week in NYC. The initial launch includes products from Jakks Pacific (Series 1 collector plushes), all of which will tie into the new multiplayer game Neopets Key Quest, and Enterplay (Fun Paks, Trading Cards). Each new product provides Neopets members that purchase them with special codes that unlock exclusive content online. The full line is slated to rollout at retail in fall 2008.

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis – Cyn Kids 2/15/08

Wow, this is an interesting addition to the Neopets format. It started as a free site, added a second layer of economy & purchasing with their microbuys (which caused a bit of a revolt at the time, and lost them a good percentage of users), and now they’re doing the product buys??

All roads leading to the site have peppered in tolls, except for the one free road of obnoxious, sketchtastic ads.

Hey, getting paid to produce stuff is all well and fine and needed. You pay for a babysitter, right? Otherwise you end up having the creepy old lady next door watch the kids, and that’s not always a great choice (as someone who was taught piano for free by a creepy old lady who smelled of moth balls and scared the crap out of me, let’s just say I never showed a vested interest in piano again). Let’s see them take a chunk of those HORRIBLE ads of their site, and maybe create a virtual environment for roaming– but of course, the world-for-roaming isn’t necessary.  The system seems to be working for them.  I’m just not a fan of their in-your-face ads that occasionally take kids to other browser sites that are “skinned” to look like Neopets, but aren’t.  Personal choice, I suppose.

Overall, it seems like a natural trend for Neopets.  It makes me wonder how successful their micro-buy system is.  I see loads of active kids with pimped out avatars, which means it must have some sort of reaction.  But is the $$ enough to sustain?  Curious.

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