The Inkwell Runs Dry

The first report I got back from Gaff in his new adventures in EverQuest II is that my major source of income is gone.

There is no more ink!

My main character back in EQII, a dwarf cleric named Nomu Stonemantle was also a level 60 alchemist.

He made a little money doing quests and a little money selling drops and a little money making skills for other players.

But he made a lot of money selling ink.  Ink of any kind.  Ink from any tier.

Nomu could not make enough ink to satisfy demand.  My guild-mates would call me to come out of that damn trade skill instance and heal.  But greedy dwarf that he was, he could hear the tinkle of gold coins and pressed on with ink production.

Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it was a steady income.  Not great, but steady.  Enough to outfit him and 5 alts with equipment and mounts and still have 50 plat or so in the bank.

50 plat isn’t going to win anybody a spot on the Top 100 wealthiest on any server, but it was a nice nest egg.

And it is a good thing I still have it.  If I go back some day I will have to find an honest trade.

What to do?  Can you still get killed by the forge when blacksmithing?

Red Hat Mix Up

Completely off the subject of gaming.

This morning there was a headline in the newspaper about Oracle and open source software. Larry wants to wipe Red Hat off of the map it would seem.

My wife asked what “open source” software was. So I explained the basic concept and the potential revenue models. Since I could see the look in her eye when she grasped the whole “free” thing (she is a sales rep and knows that the commission on nothing is pretty darn small) I gave some samples of companies making money via open source.

Since it was part of the article, I started with Red Hat Linux.

My wife gaped at me and asked, “They have an operating system for women over 50?!?”

Then it was my turn to give that head tilted, confused doggy look.

After some awkward attempts to get back to where I was going, my wife helped me out. She was thinking of the Red Hat Society, which is a club for women over 50. I am not sure what it involves, only that it was part of a Simpsons episode once. (Last of the Red Hat Mamas, Season 17)

Hilarity ensued.

And, in an adjunct to that and in direct reference to the article in the paper that set this off, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs has a funny post on the subject here.