* * *
After writing the last post, I went out and cut the grass. I actually managed to get it all cut without having to go buy gas, and as a bonus when I got back inside and checked the weather again I saw that there was significant rain heading this way.
So although I felt embalmed, I was glad I gutted it up and got it done. There are better than even odds of rain every day for the coming week, until Wednesday--and if I'd waited that long I'd have had to rent a combine to cut it. Or a herd of goats. Or something.
Still, I didn't do anything else, as predicted. I was too tired even to do something fun like going for a ride on the motorcycle. I ended up going facedown and sleeping for five hours.
* * *
I got an e-mail from the guys responsible for Tera asking me to buy the software and subscribe to the game.
$60 for the game and $15 per month? Oh, but the software purchase includes a free month....
Nuh-uh.
Yes, the graphics are gorgeous. No, I don't think they're $60 plus $15 per month ad infinitum gorgeous since I find the UI and gameplay subpar compared to WoW. I'd like to play around with it some more, but I don't think I want to pay for the privilege.
* * *
...while we're at it: anyone who was over the age of 15 in the 1990s remembers how ubiquitous AOL software CDs were. AOL mass-mailed the damn things, even to trying various tricks to get people not to immediately shitcan them with the rest of the junk mail. I remember receiving one in a tin big enough to hold 3 or so CDs, for crying out loud.
That is how you get people to use your subscription service: shotgun the client software for free. Someone who plays the game for four months is unlikely to quit after that time, but four months is $60 and you've recouped the cost of giving the client away.
You can even charge for expansion packs, if you want. "The first hit is free! But if you want to advance your characters past level 50 you have to buy the ZOMGDRAGONWIZARDELF! expansion pack...."
* * *
More filkage on the music from King of the Jungle:
So Noah sent a raven outThe actual last line was "He never turned around" but I like mine better.
To find some solid ground
The raven, he just flew away
So Noah SHOT HIM DOWN!!!!
* * *
Now that this "musical" stuff is dispensed with, maybe I can begin to concentrate on my novel again. We'll see.