Play Around the World

Monday, April 20, 2009

One of the great things about Second Life is its international community. Linden Lab hasn't published user metrics in quite a while, but here is a visualization from the end of 2007 that shows USA-based players are only 37% of the user base. I'm sure that number has only decreased. Through my store I've met and made friends with people from countries all over the world.


Playing games is a great way to get to know someone. You might not have anything in common with a dentist from Brazil, and not having any language in common might make communication seem impossible. But once you face off in a match of En Garde, the only point you need to make is at the end of your epeé. Euro-style games, in particular, force you to get inside the head of your opponent. And that works even if you can't talk to him.

I try to keep the language-specific components of my games to a minimum, so once you know how to play you're not hampered by an unintelligible interface. But that "once you know how to play" can be a barrier. So I've started to add translations of the game rules to the website. So far I have Frootcake in French, and En Garde in Italian. These were both contributed by bi-lingual players (thanks to Jyzabelle Andel for the French rules!). If you or someone you know can help translate rules into another language, you can either email it to me or drop a notecard on me in-world. A Spanish or Portuguese translation of En Garde would be great -- I know there's a fair number of players who would be helped by that. There's also quite a few Tinies who like to play Frootcake, but I suppose I could just make a copy of the rules in a really small font.

Do you have a story about meeting/playing against someone from another country? Post it in the comments here!

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En Garde review at New World Notes

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Kanomi Pikajuna is the new games reviewer at Wagner James Au's New World Notes blog, and for her first review she has chosen En Garde! It's a nice write-up and should hopefully bring a lot of new players to the game. I'd encourage people to post comments there -- especially if you're running tournaments and want to bring in some fresh blood.

Kanomi Plays: En Garde

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En Garde Tournament

Monday, April 6, 2009

NSG Tulip is running an interesting En Garde tournament. Instead of doing it with an elimination bracket like most other tournaments, she's using the World Ranking system to determine the best player. Here is the info:

The En Garde World Open
You can enter the tournament here by paying the Yellow Tournament Board 100 L.
UPDATE: This SLURL will take you directly to the board if you couldn't find it before (it's hidden in a corner of the mall)


Tournament Begins April 8th 12 noon
Tournament Ends April 22nd 12 noon

Thousands in Prizes!!!

1st Place 1500
2nd Place 1000
3rd Place 500
(prizes are guaranteed minimums)

The Details:

  • You can play any player in SL...regardless of whether they have entered the tournament or not. All your games count!
  • You can play ANY player ANY number of times. All your games count!
  • You can play on ANY En Garde Platform ANYWHERE in SL! All your games count!
  • To Win prizes, you must have entered the tournament. Non-entrants will appear on the scoreboard, of course...but they won't win any lindens! Also, they will be considered decidedly uncool.
  • To enter the Tournament, please click on the Landmark Below, and pay the Yellow Tournament Board 100 L.


How to Enter the SL World Open

Rules:
Standard En Garde Rules apply.

The Tournament Ranking system will be The SL world ranking system. If you want to check your ranking quickly, just hop on any En Garde Platform., and you will see your up-to-date rank. Or, check your rank at the Procyon Games web site.

To Win, you must enter the tournament. The highest ranked tournament entrants will win 1st , 2nd , and 3rd place.

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