Originally written by Shuemais for mmorgy.com

The tale of House Gallant is a short, unfortunate one. Originally started under a different name – /Taraes os Varol/, or ‘Master of Passion’ – the leader, Maeka, sought to create a guild in World of Warcraft that catered to a different style of play: that of Domination, Submission, and open slavery amongst its membership.

However, in the same month it started, House Gallant disbanded (due to internal conflicts, I was later told). But, Maeka agreed to talk to me, and tell me a little bit about what it was like to run a guild unlike any other in WoW.

Shuemais, WoW Reporter: Thanks so much for talking to me tonight. :)

Maeka, House Gallant guild leader: Not at all. Ask any question you like.

S: Why start a guild focused on a Dominant/Submissive lifestyle?

M: It wasn't based solely upon a dom/sub lifestyle.

S: So it was more of a 'regular' guild that incorporated those things?

M: An alternative guild, yes. It was a group of like-minded people. Only my ex-slave and I exercised the dom/sub lifestyle.

S: Was recruiting for the guild difficult?

M: No, it wasn't difficult -- those with like minds more or less gravitated to us.

S: How did a Dominant/Submissive aspect change the nature of the game for the players?

M: How so?

S: Well, how difficult is it to roleplay such relationships in World of Warcraft?

M: Not difficult, really, but anything above typical PDA was kept in private.

S: So you did choose to be open to the other gamers? What do you think are the biggest obstacles to overcome in the game to make it work?

M: The only obstacle I've seen has been the immaturity of others.

S: Can you explain that at all?

M: People can't take it seriously. Lots of immature people can't seem to grasp the concepts behind it. Of course, I understand where they're coming from. I wasn't too hardcore into it.

S: Then why not simply play regular characters, and refrain from including a Dominant/Submissive tilt to the game?

M: We wanted to try something new. :) It's not something that many others do. This IS a roleplaying server, after all [House Gallant was created on Argent Dawn, a heavily-populated Roleplaying server in WoW].

S: Very good point. Do you think you might ever try to create another guild similar to House Gallant?

M: No, not after that experience.

S: That's unfortunate -- at least, in my opinion. Finding people who're willing to try something different in a game like WoW is rare.

M: Perhaps. But, I'm here to play a game, not waste my time on useless drama.

S: I understand how you mean, and I’m sure other people probably could as well.

M: It was a good run while it lasted. Good things never last.

S: Very true.

M: It's all right. Call me a prude, but I prefer a more solid one-on-one relationship of mutualism, if not equality. House Gallant wasn't as hardcore as some would like to think. [It was] more soft and romantic.

S: It doesn't always have to be hardcore. Sometimes it's about the romantic, softer things. It's unfortunate to see it end up that way.

M: Yes.

S: Well, thank you for talking to me today.

M: Ha ha, thanks.

Originally written by Isabelle Pavlova for mmorgy.com

Naughty America, one of the new MMOs coming out this Spring, has taken the precautionary step of adding opt-in background checking to their virtual world. Sentry is usually thought of as an online identification verifer for corperations and financial services, and this will be their first foray into the world of pixel sex.

While searching around the web for information on this new feature, we actually found a comment from some of the staff at Safe Escape, the company behind Naughty America.

"Cheers mates, my name is Dusty from Naughty America! I just wanted to comment a little on what I am seeing. Basically, I get the sense that y'all feel this will be some sort of on-line orgy. Not the case. We have taken some serious steps to ensure user safety w/credit card age verification and background checks thru Sentry. You have to understand that this is a dating and networking realm, not unlike those w/o any "game-like" features that we have implemented. The "sex" is optional and must be agreed upon by both parties. There will be a sense of realism here unlike the 'without remorse or consequences' sentiment of some of the other games out there."

After seeing this, I think it's safe to take Naughty America out of the MMOVSG list, since they don't actually seem to be concentrating on it. It seems like they're trying to take over the market currently held by places like Match, or, more likely, OkCupid. I see NA as trying to approach real dating through a virtual environment, meaning that it'll be the sims with hook up features.

How well this will work is questionable. On one end, it does provide an interesting environment that will be a little more friendly than a non-real-time-interactive webpage. People will be able to talk in av form before they talk in webcam/audio, but the world will have both ready and available for whatever people want.

This is where the Sentry issue comes in, though. If someone has a Sentry gold star on their profile, does that make them a star-bellied Sneech? Will this become something of an unwritten social rule within the world? What about all the plain-bellied Sneeches, cast into the same caste as criminals, rapists, and everyone else in the world that Sentry hasn't sniffed the privates of?

So, congratulations, Safe Escape, you beat the rest of the development community to the first implementation of Gattaca. A dating service where customers will be (possibly unwittingly) concentrating on what they don't know about a set of people that are missing a piece of flare doesn't seem like a good idea.

I'm interested in hearing other people's views on this, since I'm rather biased. Would having this feature make you want to use the world? Is this the end of anonymity in mainstream worlds? Please tell us what you think.

Violet Blue interviews The Thrillhammer Guy

So back at the Sex Machines Book (that I wasn't in) show in SF (that I didn't get to go to... notice the running theme here? Oklahoma and sex toys, not a happy venn diagram), Violet Blue interviewed Head Asshat-for-not-paying-my-way-to-Vegas Allen Stein of The Thrillhammer (Listen, Allen, you know I love you, but you're at AEE right now , and I'm not, so unless you come back with an autographed, urine soaked picture of Max Hardcore (HIS urine, not yours, I can SO tell the difference and you are NOT pulling that trick on me again) for me, you're sleeping on the couch). Learn wonderful things about teledildonics, and then stop the video half way and go watch Lazy Sunday again because they play a clip and you totally just can't sit there and only watch part of it without going to see the whole thing, even though you've watched it every day since it was on every blog on the face of the Earth.

Mr. Pibb and Red Vines, crazy fucking delicious.

Oh, anyways, yeah, and then watch the end of the video, 'cause they talk about sex some more, or something. I dunno, I've got that fucking song stuck in my head now.

Chronic WHUT cles of Narnia....

Yeah, that's right. Who needs AEE anyways? Not Violet Blue, and CERTAINLY not me. Why should I spend MY hard earned money getting my ass to the happiest place on Earth to spend a weekend hanging out with porn stars and writing snarky shit about the newest and best commercial sex toys when I can sit here in sunny Oklahoma and pray that the wildfires don't kill my cattle and make Pa fall off the tractor (again)?

No, I'm not jealous of the 3 fucking people who decided it'd be fun to IM me from the SHOW FLOOR today bragging about the parties they're at. Not at fucking all. (If you're there, please send us news tidbits and moblog'd pictures, as we're already going to be stuck with whatever scraps Fleshbot and Regina throw us.)

So, anyways, enough of my little pity fest, welcome to Slashdong in 2006. Once hell week is over (first week of year is always a bitch for me at ye ol' daily grind makin' da robots), I'll be back to updating the page, but for now, here's the status of Slashdong.

That, right there, is a hedgehog. A really cute stuffed hedgehog that I got for christmas. Don't you just want to squeeze it?

Next to that is the AVR dev board I picked up, which, once I figure out this whole microcontroller thing, will be the guts of the first non-controller controlled (That doesn't sound right) version of the SeXBox. That's also the point at which it will stop being the SeXBox, as I will hopefully have come up with some spiffy new name that doesn't make Microsoft employees bristle and call lawyers when I say it in public speeches.

Now, I'm sure you're asking, "WTF, this is a simple motor control board, do you REALLY need a ATMega32? 40 fucking pins? Seriously?"

Yes, yes I do. I think.

Or it could just be the fact that AVR dev boards seemed to be the Tickle Me Elmo of the christmas season this year, and this was one that I could find that was in stock, had USB preinstalled, and was within my meager budget.

The development plan is as follows:

• Make the LED on the board lightup - MILESTONE REACHED

• Do a bunch of other stuff that makes this into a sex toy controller - Current Milestone

• Profit - Goal Milestone

At least we've got that first step out of the way. I wrote to PORTB like a motherfucker, I did. Showed that LED whose boss.

It's gonna be a long dev road this time around, I think.

Originally written by Sumatrae for mmorgy.com

In the region of Eventide sits a fairly innocuous shopping mall. Yet beyond its nondescript doors lies the nexus of Second Life sex and the home of Xcite! interactive genitals.

I recently interviewed the spokesslaveman of Xcite to get the low down on the hard on.

Xcite is the leading provider of Second Life genitalia with over 5,000 visitors a day. What started as a simple scripting hobby has grown into a worldwide phenomenon with no end in sight. Love them or hate them, interactive naughty bits are quite the rage. The process is simple:

A simple touch by your partner(s) on your Xcite! enabled nipples, penis, vagina, etc. triggers a posed, scripted reaction and/or a preloaded sound...culminating in an explosive orgasm. Its both a floor wax and a dessert topping - giving you the virtual genitalia you need and the interactivity thats intended to make cybersex easier.

Javier Puff sat down with me recently to discuss the Xcite craze.

Sumatrae Baphomet: Some basic questions first. How did Xcite get started?

Javier Puff: It really started back in July when I first joined Second Life. A friend helped me out as a noob, taking me shopping, getting me a decent skin, etc. This is common in Second Life as you know. They also gave me an old set of genitals they had. Suffice to say I was disappointed with it. So one day I set out to build my own and the response was terrific. So...I did a lot of thinking, identified a niche not being well served by the existing merchants, thought I could do better, and a month or so later launched Xcite!

Sumatrae Baphomet: Theres the argument that interactive genitals is a two edged sword...adding to the sexual roleplay but also running the risk of being annoying or obnoxious. What's your take?

Javier Puff: It's completely up to the individual, and as you say there are positives and negatives to both. Some hard core roleplayers would never want to use these devices. They want to emote everything and have full control. Others love the idea that people they do or do not know can actually affect their bodies through the use of these devices. That is something strict roleplay cannot really give you. So it really just depends on what type of cybersex you enjoy

Sumatrae Baphomet: it sort of evens the playing field, would you say?

Javier Puff: How do you mean?

Sumatrae Baphomet: It gives the novice the ability to add to the rp experience.

Javier Puff: Oh yes, it's fantastic for those who have little experience, or for those who simply want to enjoy cybersex without having to think a lot.

Sumatrae Baphomet: Your xcite brand started with the obvious...penis and vagina. Where did it go from there?

Javier Puff: We shipped other body parts pretty quickly, nipples and the ass. The we started fleshing out the toy line and just kept adding whatever people seemed to indicate they wanted most. We're fairly customer driven in that regard.

Sumatrae Baphomet: Whats the strangest requests you've had?

Javier Puff: I had one gentleman actually ask whether the cock could be shrunk to fit a small boy. The answer was yes, and I didn't really want to know more.

Sumatrae Baphomet: ...

Sumatrae Baphomet: What are some of the advancements to the Xcite line that you're most proud of?

Javier Puff: I'm most proud when we innovate. We shipped a flogger that hangs down realistically. We ship a ball and chain that's a riot to play with. Our blindfold is rather unique and allows others to blind the wearer without notice. These were ideas specific to Xcite that nobody had been doing that I know of.

Sumatrae Baphomet: Fascinating. It sounds like you're trying to keep up with the state of sex on SL. Do you think its becoming darker? Perhaps people want more than just the vanilla?

Javier Puff: I think there's been a mile wide kinky streak through the population of SL since long before I arrived. I'm not sure I'd say 'darker'.

Sumatrae Baphomet: With the innovation you're working on ...whats the next step? Can you give us a peek behind the curtain?

Javier Puff: In the next few days we're shipping collars. Collars are a fairly mature market here in SL.

Sumatrae Baphomet: What sets yours apart?

Javier Puff: We're shipping some unique 'Xtras' that can plug into ours. For example, a electric fence Xtra that electrically zaps the wearer if they get too close to fence poles.

Sumatrae Baphomet: Coded by a slave to train slaves.

Javier Puff: Yes. :) And of course our collars are Xcite! compatible so actions that are taken can increase (or reduce) arousal

Sumatrae Baphomet: What about enhancements to your current genitalia...say...vaginal ejaculation?

Javier Puff: We have a (quite lengthy) list of enhancement people continually ask for from our products, and vaginal ejaculation is on that list. Every once in a while we sit down and prioritize the list according to how popular the requests are.

Sumatrae Baphomet: Anything else that you'd like to share with our readers?

Javier Puff: Just remember it's all about having fun. :) That's the business we're really in, just enhancing the online experience of those who enjoy adult entertainment.

Sumatrae Baphomet: I'll let you go..you have a busy public. Thanks for your time.

Javier Puff: I wish your site lots of success!