I've been seeing a lot of recent excitement on the Diablo 3 forums about user operated gambling, the most popular of these being the Arena / PVP Gambling.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3341759283
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3393349439
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3123032773
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3195920425
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3182738500
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/2690982214
http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=27810240878
It's no surprise that a lot of players are highly supportive of gambling within the game and all of this was bound to happen. They're already talking ideas on how to do it, rules, and making initial preparations well in advance of the game's release.
My favorite part was when a user said that placing a wage on an arena fight was not illegal or gambling because their actions are skills-based and there's no luck involved. I love hearing all of these justifications. :)
What's interesting about these forum posts, though, is that they're not being told NOT to do this. These forums are moderated, and when players start talking about gambling, cheating, exploitation, or discrimination in WOW forums, for example, they are reprimanded and censored.
All of this reminds me of classic internet libel cases. Companies are much more "protected" if their forums are left unmoderated because they have no control over what users post. The logic goes something like this; if you have a forum that is unmoderated, it's like a library where users can write libelous material in their books. They don't know about it, and hence can't be held responsible for it. However, if you have complete control over all subject matter and approve what is written, then you are responsible for all content and "officially support" what is written.
Now, that specifically deals with libel of course, but it can also apply directly to personal opinions within any moderated forum. If a forum is moderated and content is reviewed, then anything that is written is "supported" by the forum owner. When you talk bad about a company (their game, rules, people, etc), the content is deleted or edited. Good, supportive, and praising comments are left alone. Of course, some posts are hard to spot, and those get by, but when you have very popular (and multiple) posts with thousands of players saying the same thing, then whatever they write (or the idea they are promoting) is essentially "supported" by the company. :)
Okay, looks like it's finally online now.
It's a very disappointing read, and rather short. Nothing about Lore or Titan like what was implied, it was just a Metzen personal nostalgia and feelings piece..
Apparently, there's more to come though: "Check back tomorrow for part two!" (Even though this article was sort of Part Two already, so the next one would be Part Three.)
I'm not sure if you watch "The Adventures of Merlin" (aka "Merlin"), but I've been watching the BBC series since it first came out. I don't really like the series mind you, and I'm surprised it's gone on for so long, but I guess the only reason I watch it is because there's really nothing else on that day. :)
The other reason I watch it is really to see the production value increase over time. During the first couple seasons, they had to keep using the same sets, scenery and props over and over. As it became more popular, they had more money to spend, and suddenly there were new locations, new sets, and much improved special effects.
The TV series is still much better than "Camelot" though. "Camelot" had a great first episode.. and the rest was rubbish. Everyone really needs to stop rebooting the King Arthur and Robin Hood franchises.. just leave them alone for a couple decades for heavens sake.
So anyways, I was watching "The Wicked Day" the other day and it pissed me off a little. In the beginning, Merlin had plenty of opportunities to expose Morgana, but I can understand that the writers wanted him to foolish, young, and naive. But now he's supposed to be smarter, more clever dealing with Morgana's tricks, and you'd figure he would clue in now that they're 4 whole seasons in. It's just plain bad writing, and it would have made much more common sense if the episode happened like this:
