Today I posted an article on iRez on avatars and identity in Mass Effect. iRez is a collaboration of multiple authors with different backgrounds, with virtual identity as subject. The writers form a mix of Second Life girls, professional artists and MMO players. It's refreshing to write for a public of non-MMO players for a change and look at gaming from a different point of view.
Writing about Mass Effect reminded me of some things I should do:
- Play the Extended Cut - I still don't know what they changed about the ending!
- Replay Mass Effect 3 with the Omega and Leviathan DLC, just waiting for that third content DLC to get released
- But before all that, I should finally write that article about Mass Effect 3's ending!
If you're curious at some Mass Effect theory-crafting, check out Avatar & Identity - Mass Effect (2) at iRez.
*runs over to the iRez site to read the article*
ReplyDelete~ Rakuno
Have fun! I have no idea if you will like it, since it is different stuff from what I post here... but that's why it's posted over there and not here. :)
DeleteI did like it. I even wrote a comment there. Although I think my comment might have been too big and the site didn't like it much since I got an "Access Denied" error. Apparently the anti-spammer plugin there thought I was one. :x
DeleteOh, well. I guess that should teach me to be more succinct in my comments. @_@
~ Rakuno
"Oh, well. I guess that should teach me to be more succinct in my comments." Hahahahaha.
DeleteBut seriously, that is not supposed to happen. Did the comment just... disappear? Did you loose it? :S
I mean, Vaneesa usually posts whole books over there as well, and it's never a problem.
I'll contact the blog owner and see if she can do anything about it.
Well, there are two possibilities. One is that since it was my first time commenting over there, it was flagged as spam and is waiting for an admin of the site to approve it as a valid comment or delete it once and for all. In this case that is the first time I see a message like that. Usually when something like that either the blog silently accepts the comment and then e-mails the admin that there is a new comment (unless they changed the settings for that) or gives a message that the comment was held for moderation.
DeleteThe second, and most likely, was due to me being an idiot. You see, by the time I finished writing the comment I was looking where to put the usual information about who I am (so I don't appear as an anonymous commenter). But I was already signed up for some reason just like in a regular Wordpress.com blog. I thought that was weird for a second since it is a self-hosted site, even if the software is the same. But in typical Rakuno fashion I just ignored it and just went with it. So if that is the case, yes, I am afraid the comment is pretty much lost.
Worst case scenario I can always write it again. @_@
~ Rakuno
Hey Rakuno,
DeleteI got a really long reply for you from Vaneesa, but I have no e-mail address to forward it to. In short, she said she is really sorry about this, especially since iRez is much about comments. She couldn't find your comment in spam and fears it is gone. :( She also asks if you could make some test comments on iRez (doesn't matter what it says) to find out where the problem lies. In her words:
"Thank you so much for visiting, and my apologies for the frustration in your experience -- I really do "feel your pain." But if we can figure out what went wrong, you'll totally get 2 gold stars (one for your forehead and one for your comment) for helping us out!"
Rav
Thank you and Vaneesa both for trying to figure this out. :)
DeleteI just tried again, this time I wasn't automagically logged in. So I had to put my e-mail, name and website like it was my first time using it. The comment went through without any issues.
I am start to wonder if when we use a Wordpress.com site to post a comment if the browser doesn't save a cookie with that info. Then when I tried to comment on iRez the browser tought it was all the same thing and already showed me logged in with my Wordpress.com account. But since the iRez only use the same software it didn't like that and thus gave the error. Going to test that theory now. @_@
I ran into the same Error as Rakuno: "Access Denied
ReplyDeleteThis site is protected by the Stop Spammer Registrations Plugin." My comment was only a few lines, and my info was already filled out. I believe I've commented on other iRez posts in the past, though, and seeing my info filled in was not surprising.
It's an interesting read. I completely agree about characterization/roleplaying enhancing gameplay, and have written about it on my own blog in the context of MMOs.
Cool that you agree with the article! Have you played Mass Effect as well?
DeleteAnd grrr @ even more comments being eaten. :O
Contacting Van once more.
Oh my, I think the problem is found and it was all due to that overly ambitious plugin, which might have caused a LOT of damage, but is now disabled. I'm so sorry for you guys, I really hate it myself when comments get eaten!
ReplyDeleteOn a positive note, Rakuno, this means that you are *not* an idiot at all! (Not that we needed all this horror to come to that conclusion in the first place.) :P
iRez owner (Vaneesa) wrote to me:
"I'm really, really, sorry to Rowan and Rakuno and perhaps many others who have been blocked in the past six weeks, but please do let them know that they've helped us track down this issue and so we hope that they and everyone else can comment with far greater ease now. If they have a minute, we'd be very appreciative if they'd drop by and leave a quickie comment just to check that it's all good now."
I really hope everything is solved now!
Yeah. It might have been the plugin. I just tested my theory and the comment went flawlessly too.
DeleteSo I guess it is all solved. :)
~ Rakuno