Battlestar Galactica Online -- http://battlestar-galactica.browsergamez.com/

Battlestar Galactica Online is a free-to-play browser game that gives players the chance to experience the universe of the famed television series like never before. Featuring the Unity 3D engine, this browser game plays and looks like a client game, but there is no need for a download or install. As we have already covered the basics in our review, we thought it would be nice to let you know what has been going in sci-fi universe!

Since the launch of Battlestar Galactica Online, there have been several changes to the game play that have improved the mechanics as well as fun factor. For starters, some players out there may not have been very happy with their original faction choice or they feel like that the factions are unfairly balanced. Well, in response to player feedback, publishers Bigpoint give the pilots of the online game the chance to change factions every once in a while. This is great for a couple reasons – not only do you get to play on a more balanced and fair server, you have the opportunity to try out the other faction as well, without losing all of your hard-earned equipment.

Another big game changer that arrived in Battlestar Galactica Online was the introduction of carriers. These massive ships are the most impressive things that have been cruising the sectors since their introduction and can really make a difference in the struggle for control of the galaxy. Both factions, the Cylons and Colonials, have carriers that are basically the big boys of the playground. It is always nice to see a carrier backing you up when you are flying head-long at the enemy.

To make sure things stay interesting in the online universe, there are also tournaments that are being tested. These tournaments add an extra edge of competition; challenging players to not only compete in PvP as they go about their missions, but to prove what they got in all out combat. Although the system hasn’t had all of the kinks ironed out yet, players around the world are still getting down and dirty in various competitions, whether it is for resources or kills!

Aftermath: BSG panel at HiChristina!

The BSG Party at HiChristina! went wonderfully!  There was plenty of ambrosia (well, the Earth analogue of ambrosia.  I'm led to understand that it was almost pure grain alcohol mixed with some kind of citrus punch). We played all sorts of BSG trivia games (some of those questions were hard!  I was reluctant to play because I knew I would get royally shellacked.), and my personal favorite game, Baltar Karaoke.  In this game, they played a silent video of an iconic scene between Baltar, Head Six, and some other person.  Three people from the crowd were handed scripts, and they read the lines of that scene, in time (well, more or less) with the actors on the screen.  It is a lot of fun, and not as easy as you think!

Then we had the BSG Panel.  The participants were Ajay Chaudhary, (teacher of philosophy and religion at Columbia University, and versed in all things Battlestar and Joss Whedon), Shane Froebel of Battlestar Wiki, and your humble narrator.  The audience was... well, just amazing.  The questions (and the answers -- no one was shy about voicing their opinions!) were incredibly insightful -- they brought up stuff about the show I literally had never thought about before.  All in all it was a fascinating evening.  Look for the same group of people to repeat the event at a NerdNight in Manhattan some time in the not too distant future.

Battlestar Galactica panel at Hi Christina TONIGHT!!!

Lean back and let John Brooks rocket you around the Battlestar Galaxia! Are you still going through Battlestar withdrawl? Feel nostalgic whenever you hear “All Along the Watchtower”? Making your friends watch the mini-series so you can also get them hooked? Join us for Battlestar themed evening of interactive games, trivia, special prizes, and heaping spoonfuls of stimulating DISCUSSION with other folks who give a frak. Oh, and let's not forget the ambrosia.

Battlestar Wiki, the online reference material and episode guide for all of the Battlestar Galactica sagas and their spinoffs, will have Shane Froebel represent the website at a Battlestar Galactica panel in Brooklyn, New York.

The Battlestar panel, which will be held at the Hi Christina art space in Brooklyn, will be part of a night of Battlestar fun and activities. As part of these activities that include Cylon Arm Wrestling, Gaius Inner-Monologue Karaoke, and "Frak, What's My Line!?" improv, the BSG panel will be lead by John Brooks. Brooks will be joined with his two special guests, a philosophy/religion teacher from Columbia University and Shane Froebel, the Wiki administrator, editor and IT specialist who oversees the Wiki's technical assets.

The event begins at 6 PM ET on Sunday, August 30, with the panel beginning at 8 PM ET. The panel will run anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half.

For this event, there is a small cover charge of $5 per person, which goes to support the art house and its worthwhile endeavors.

"We're very excited to be able to partake in this event," said Joe Beaudoin Jr., Project Leader of the Battlestar Wiki. "It's a wonderful feeling to have one of our own hard-working editors and contributors represent the Wiki at a public gathering and retrospective of Battlestar Galactica. To be able to have Shane attend such an event in a great city like Brooklyn is a testament to the trust and hard work that fans have put into the Wiki, since our launch in February 2005."

The night will be wrapped up with Sacred Scrolls Trivia and prizes that shall include stogies, eye patches (for the Colonel Tigh in all of us), and more.

Stay tuned to Battlestar Wiki (http://www.battlestarwiki.org), its blog (http://blog.battlestarwiki.org) and its Twitter feed (http://www.twitter.com/battlestarwiki) for information and updates.

Hi Christina is an art gallery and venue located at: 632 Grand Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. Hi Christina is near the L train at Lorimer. Its official website is: http://www.hichristina.com
BYOB $5 donation

Felix Gaeta Redux

HELP!! We need fan input: What is your attitude toward Felix Gaeta? Traitor? Misguided martyr? Dweeb who got what he deserved? Hero? Something else?

Earth

[SPOILERS, READ NO FURTHER!!!!]

Did I call it? Didn't I predict that the radioactive planet was not the Earth that you and I are sitting on right now? Didn't I?

The Oath

I'm rooting for Gaeta. He'll ultimately lose, I'm sure, as he always ultimately loses. But I'm still rooting for him.

A Holiday Note to The Reader(s)

Thank you for still reading this blog! If anyone is still reading this, that is. :-)

It was probably a very prudent thing to shut down this blog while I was writing the book. I know I lost your immediate feedback, but for various reasons I _still_ can't talk about, it was better to write this without being in the public eye.

But the news is good! The manuscript is just about finished, and the book is still on schedule for a 2009 release! I'm sure I'll be at various cons in 2009, as well as doing book readings in any medium I can manage! As the book release gets closer, this blog (as well as our Facebook group) will become more active.

Have a wonderful holiday, whether you celebrate Hanukkah, or Christmas, or Kwanzaa, or Sol Invictus, or whatever dark-solstice sacrifices are required by the Twelve Lords of Kobol.

Thank you for maintaining your interest! We'll see more of each other in the new year!!!