Will Stargate Worlds be bigger than World of Warcraft? Is the market even ready for another sci-fi themed MMO? And what’s so special about the holiday season anyhow? This episode of GateBuzz attempts to answer these questions and bring the results of the feedback competition, with the help of the latest MMOGChart.com statistics and an article from Escapist Magazine.

 

 Gate Buzz Episode 20 [18:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (122)

We’re sitting at 9,933 downloads of the podcast. Only a few more and we break the 10,000 download mark. Way to go folks! This is a huge moment and something I find quite humbling. Thanks for listening!

[edit, 8:00am, May 7th]

9,990 and counting…

[edit, 8:17am]

9,994 …

[edit, 9:55am]

10,000 downloads, and it was a Linux user no less!

Its been a wild couple of weeks, with speculation and unprecedented levels of anticipation and excitement regarding the Stargate Worlds Beta. This episode of the Gate Buzz podcast covers the buzz, including an exclusive regarding just how many and how fast people were signing up, and looks at how you can get a sneak-peek at the gameplay as it stands right now.

 

 Gate Buzz Episode 19 [21:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (854)

I created my account on Facebook ages ago and have done my best to neglect it. Honestly I blame atrizu - he was the one who convinced me that I really needed to bother with it again. So, if you’re on Facebook, feel free to friend me.

I’ve updated my Progress of the Beta page - Desy stumbled upon something that looks a lot like a login page for beta testers…

I’ve created a page that the team here will attempt to keep up to date with what’s happening as far as the Stargate Worlds Beta Program is concerned. Add the page to your bookmarks. Visit it early, visit it often!

If you’re interested in the progress of the Stargate Worlds Beta Program, stop by the “progress of the beta” page here on GateBuzz!

Sneak peak:

Key points along the way:

• 04-17-2008, 02:42 PM - Khatie

  We’ll be sending invitations to REGISTERED FORUM MEMBERS in the next couple of weeks. Once you register you’ll be put into a database and from that database we will be pulling in early beta testers VERY soon!!

• 04-22-2008, 01:24 PM - Khatie
  

  Friends and Family beta began in the past couple of weeks with the company employees testing as well as a handful of friends and family.

  We will be ramping up soon.

  IF YOU GET ASKED TO REGISTER and/or JOIN the friends and family testing, please keep your NDA agreement. We will take action on anyone who is dishonoring this. Thank you.

• 04-22-2008, 03:01 PM - Khatie
  

  We’re gonna link to the registration page soon. When that happens you’ll all sign up and from that database we’ll start selecting users a few at a time and ramp up over the next weeks to more and more.

  Be patient guys. Don’t want to break our baby game eh?

Even I am going to have that page bookmarked!

As promised in the podcast, here’s the raw information I found as I was investigating “FireSky”

1. “whois” command output for “FireSky.com”
2. “traceroute” command output for “FireSky.com”
3. The “Wayback Machine” archive of “FireSky.com“
4. Netcraft survey results for:
   • www.stargateworlds.com (link)
   • forums.stargateworlds.com (link)

note: the server software for “forums.stargateworlds.com” was upgraded from IIS v6.0 - I misread the survey when I did the research … apologies if it misrepresented anyone!

Episode 18 of GateBuzz: covering an exciting news item about the upcoming beta of Stargate Worlds (as mentioned by Khatie in the official forums) and my fascinating in depth investigation into the mysterious “FireSky” game publisher along with the unexpected gems of information I uncovered in the process.

 

 Gate Buzz Episode 18 [25:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (862)

The observant visitors will have noticed that my phone number has changed. I’ve moved over to a far more versatile voice-over-IP provider - the venerable Skype. Voicemail there has proven to have higher sound quality, and be orders of magnitude better for sound editing afterward … just judge from the audio in episode 17 of the podcast!

I’ll be re-recording the intro to the podcast for the next episode … something I have been meaning to do ever since I got the new mic and mixing desk! I’ve been thinking about the intro music too, but I’m not musician enough to go writing and performing something of my own there! I’ll settle for just talking and creating websites.

There’s a really cool website if you’re a Doctor Who fan. The theme for the TV show has evolved over the 30+ years that the TV show has been on the air while keeping the essential elements the same. This has spawned an entire website of people creating their own remixed and re-imaginings of the Doctor Who theme. The podcast (”Whomix Radio“) is really worth subscribing to. The thing it makes me wonder is this: where are all the remixes of the Stargate theme?

Anyhow, feel free to add me to your Skype contacts, and if you see me, drop me a message (or chat to me, I don’t bite!)