In some ways, the Internet is like a medieval fantasy story.  The incompetent fools provide entertainment for the savvy much like a jester would for a king.  Websites build nations of loyal followers who take a fierce pride in their group, much like a king’s subjects would have pride in their kingdom.  Helpful communities provide assistance and guidance with technical issues in the way a shining knight would protect and assist the weak.  Less helpful communities provide insults and mockery when asked for help in the way a black knight would try to keep you from crossing a bridge.

And there are trolls.

No, not that kind of troll.

Trolls are evil creatures full of spite and mischief with physical features that not even a troll’s mother could consider attractive.  The same definition applies to the trolls of medieval fantasy.  Blizzard’s forums have been a major nexus of troll activity for quite some time, and it seems that Blizzard wants to take steps to catch them all in the sunlight.  Blizzard has announced that, prior to the July 27 release of StarCraft II, all user forum posts will be made using the user’s RealID, which consists of their first and last name.  The move is an attempt to battle the little-known, but much-experienced Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, wherein anonymity breeds trolling.

Negative responses have primarily focused on the public stigma associated with World of Warcraft players.  Many normal people play World of Warcraft.  Having their real name attached to a World of Warcraft account could cause damage to a person’s reputation if a potential employer or client researched them online.  Many female players, especially those who do not specify their sex online, have expressed concern that this could lead to a change in attitude towards them from other forum-goers (read as: lonely, horny nerds – it’s ok, I can say that because I used to be one) as well as e-stalking across other social networking sites.

While the change may indeed shame many trolls into returning to their human forms, I believe that those who are true trolls in heart and mind will continue their rampage, even without the sword and shield of anonymity equipped.

-[insert LEEEEEEEEROOOY JENKINS! here]

We kept ourselves on schedule for a second week in a row!  Following the macabre previous week, we had another big death: Billy Mays.  He had appeared on Conan just a few nights prior, doing fine.  We talked about Lindsey’s surprise birthday party, and our awesome Xbox 360 Elite that my mom got for our birthdays (mine is in October, so it’s very early)!  We also had fun talking about our dog’s spectacular diarrhea.  We talked about a bunch of other stuff, so go watch the saved episode to see it all!

Weekly picks:

Song of the Week (Chris): George Michael – Freedom ’90

Song of the Week (Lindsey): Breaking Benjamin – Breath

TV Show of the Week (Chris): Mr. Bean

TV Show of the Week (Lindsey): Dexter

Movie of the Week (Chris): Revenge of the Nerds

Movie fo the Week (Lindsey): Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

iPhone App of the Week (Chris): iPhone Browser

iPhone App of the Week (Lindsey): Chop Sushi

Video Game of the Week (Chris): Hexic HD

Video Game of the Week (Lindsey): Halo 3

See you this coming Friday, the 10th of July, at 7:00pm PST, http://www.justin.tv/worldofmeh/!

Make sure to check out our forums @ http://www.worldofmeh.com/forum also!

-Because I said so

Some of you may remember our first theme, a simple black background with a small visual flair. Most of you, however, will be more familiar with our more recent theme. We have been considering a change in our theme for a little while now, and feel that we have finally found something that will work for us on a long term basis.

We have added some new features, such as a Twitter feed for Lindsey and myself, as well as summaries of our posts so that you can browse more easily! The stationary tag cloud has been traded for a flash tag cloud, a random stream of our previous posts is constantly updating on the right, and along the top there is a side scrolling section containing hand-picked feature posts! We are still creating article images, which will replace the broken image icons you may be seeing for now.  This should be done by tomorrow, at the latest.  Hopefully our new theme and features will provide a more visually appealing as well as a more functional World of Meh experience.

Please provide your thoughts and opinions on our new theme and new features in our comment section and on our forum!

If any of you are regulars to our blog, you will know that a few months back we created some forums.

Unfortunately we are lazy bastards, and really didn’t do much with them. Sure there were a few posts done, a few people signed up… but it could’ve been so much more.

Since I’ve grown frustrated with many of the current gaming forums and sites out there, I figured that we should improve on what we have instead of going out there and bothering with other sites that don’t give two fucks what we think or feel.

After getting frustrated with CSS, I am proud to announce that our forums have a new, beautiful look to them and will be constantly updated as the days go by.

If you want to be a part of our growing community, and want to share something special with us, please sign up on our forums and help us get the ball rolling!

www.worldofmeh.com/forum

Hope to see you there!

- She Who Has The Last Word

(P.S… tell a friend, it’s always appreciated!)

As of yesterday, World of Meh now has a community forum!  We haven’t quite decided to what extent we will be using it, but we do have some thoughts and ideas.  The main purpose, however, is just to have a place where anyone interested in the Meh can hang out and talk about whatever they want.  Sign up and have fun!

-Because I said so