I've read through Travis' critique of EVN several times since he posted it way back when, and it's good stuff. I don't have the energy to write out a thorough analysis of the game like he did, unfortunately, and I've been meaning to post this for a while, so I'll just outline my thoughts.

Stuff I liked:

- The ships and their graphics. Each faction had a great design aesthetic, and the ships and outfits were all really well done.
- Federation and Polaris space was fleshed out really well. Interesting, unique worlds and stations with a lot of history and even some ambiance.

We've implemented a "Virtual Office" system that seems to be really working- combined with the amazing efforts of the new locals. Nothing like having somebody actually be able to kick your butt to keep you moving and motivated. And that motivation seems to be spreading to the CWS Software Remote Nodes (AKA people who aren't physically Here). We've had a lot of time schedule conflicts- life does go on, after all- but seems like we're getting people back into the fray. I'm contemplating activating our sound engineer, something I can't take lightly (talk about busy!

So the business is dead. Mac will be taking all the assets he can in an attempt to recoup our outlays, and maybe start it himself based in Fresno. Shortest serious business venture in recent memory as far as I know.

Well as Charlie said, hell of a month and here we go again. So as for some of you who might be in the know and not. Here is some background to fill in the gaps and explain the rational behind my recent "vacation".

So I am one of those guys that you either want to kill right off the bat or you fall in love with. I have as of yet been unable to find a happy meadium...hmmm

So the Conana MMO is in beta. I read a post on something awful by a goon doing recruiting drive. I'm quite perplexed as to why they have options for race and class. Maybe I'm just strange but why anyone would want to play something other than a Cimmerian Barbarian is quite frankly beyond me.

Well maybe script is a strong word but working on some plot out lines. No doubt that these things are going to be rewritten and made to jive with what the other writers are doing and what Charlie wants to accomplish, but thats ok.

The only other thing I have to say is that I finally got around to seeing Grind House and while the movie(s) where great, I have never liked a soundtrack to a movie so much.

The last 30 days have been a hell of a roller-coaster ride. Scratch that, it's been downhill the entire way, so I think it's more like a skeleton ride (head-first Luge). First up, Mine gets her student Visa yanked, putting her in danger of deportation and makes her illegal for the first time ever. Great. $1800 (which I don't have) later we have that one pretty much fixed and the greencard is getting processed. We'll see over the next six months if it actually works out.

Ok so here is the first trip to the blog land. I am Charlies other 1/4 since Mine' seems to be the other 3/4 and jealous if that's possible.

Aaaannnndddd.... we're back up and running! Got the servers moved, which was a major undertaking, and integrated into a new network I only partially control. But everything is up and going! I'll post some pictures of the new shop soon.

Also, we got some real webspace to host our new cwscomputing.com domain. I'm also launching nukejapan.org on it, which is my community site devoted to cataloging all the reasons we should have finished the job the first time- Ingrish, perverts, odd fashion trends, Gackt, you name it, I hope to trash it.

Things are coming together like clockwork for the new business. CWS Computing should be up and running by Monday! Sunday is the big move-in push. We'll be setting up the shop, building shelves and benches, moving desks, and, most pertinent to you guys, moving the server rack- now there's an undertaking. If any of you local guys can volunteer, I think we'll need at least one more good strong back to move that heavy chunk of steel.