Outspark Blog

As Silky and I were doing our daily wandering on the streets of the SOMA district, we had walked into a store to buy a pack of M&M’s. It was then when I was informed by Silky, about the existence of an M&M, that has not only peanut butter, but also… strawberries!?

Was this true? I couldn’t believe it at first myself, but as I took Silky’s word, we decided to begin a quest, the quest for the elusive M&M’s. After we waved Shutian a fond farewell, we set off on our journey. Little did we know of the perils that lay before us. Traffic filled streets, stray dogs, unstocked convenient stores.

To make a long story short, and omitting the details of the arduous journey, after 7 places and days of searching, …during our lunch break of course.., we’ve found the said candy. Here it is.

I’ve so far seen Silky’s and Rider’s seal of approval, but have yet to try them myself.

Wish me luck. And good luck to all of you on your own candy quests. (Level 25+)
To add some relevance to this posting, I should also mention that some of the Fiesta team will also be in-game for the next few days distributing the new Trick or Treat bags that we just added to the store, for free! Just find us. Add yourself as a fan on our Fiesta page on Facebook account HERE to get the details on where you can find us.

For reasons both good and bad, we’ve all got to admit that we need a quick fix once in awhile. Hoping at the same time that you hadn’t taken the last sentence out of context, I’d like to present to you… free browser mini games! Exactly what you need while waiting for those four gigs of Fiesta to finish downloading and installing.

You can access all the new addicting browser mini games from here. Try some out. I’ve become quite a fan of the asteroid-based one myself, go and check that out too.

Whew! We’ve been rolling out feature after feature these last two weeks. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

I’m sure by now you’ve all noticed the nifty little bar at the bottom of your browser after you’ve logged on to out website. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s right here:

This magical little bar is capable of quite a few features that are brand new to our web portal. Outspark has teamed up with Meebo to give our users free chat capability when you’re online! Your buddy lists will be directly imported from your friends on your SparkID.

I could think of no better method to convey your excitement to your friends about the new happenings at Outspark or to bug our GMs about events if you ever catch them online. So, if you see Nekopon online (even though she sits four feet away from me), tell her I said hi, and feel free to bug me as well.

This is just one of the many improvements we’ll be making to our web portal so stay tuned for more cool features!

Don’t have an account yet? Join in on the fun.

Anxious? So am I.

Today we’ve got a special treat for our community, especially for those Solstice fans who’ve gotten to know this particular GM. He’s been everywhere in gaming and still has time to spin! A seasoned vet, one of our most popular GMs, and a nice guy to boot. This is the interview with [GM]Murdock!

Note: Since there are times when actions speak louder than words I just had to include the physical things that transpired during this conversation. 

In-game handle: Murdock or Murdie
Name: Mr. CHOE (No relation to our CEO)
Hometown: Suwon, South Korea but living in Cali
Specialty: Hiphop DJ, “Uber Salesman”, GM’n MMOs, and being nice to players.
Game: Secret of the Solstice

Straega: Mistah Murdock! You’ve established quite a history over here at Outspark and our community from what I hear. I imagine that you’ve been a part of many games over the years. Mind listing some?

Murdock: Sure, I’ve been a Game Master for Gunbound, Soldier Front, GunZ, Drift City, KwonHo, Gunster, Golfking, Fiesta, Secret of the Solstice, Project Powder, Blackshot, Wind Slayer, and even more to come! I’ve also worked on Need for Speed Underground, NFL Street, In the Groove, Guitar Hero but I did not GM these games because, unfortunately, console games don’t have GMs.

Straega: Murdie, Murdock, Murple. Where does your name come from?

Murdock: …Don’t call me Murple… My name comes from the A-Team, a popular TV show from the 80’s.

Straega: Yes, I believe most people would recognize it as the show that popularized Mr. T.

Murdock: Murdock was the crazy pilot trying to get discharged from service by pretending to be crazy. He never got discharged, and he wasn’t crazy at all, it was just an act. Murdock also has mad skills flying helicopters.

Straega: So is that your M.O.? When you run up and down the halls of the office screaming “Moonbear invasion in Brynhild!” [just so the readers know, he doesn’t actually do that] you’re not actually crazy?

Murdock: [Murdock immediately takes off his shoe and throws it at me]

Straega: Aah! Why? This is serious! Next question… When you aren’t gaming, or throwing shoes at people, what do you enjoy doing most?

Murdock: DJ’n beats or making beats! That’s my second passion in life after games. Oh, I also love to race my Subaru WRX STI!

Straega: We’re talking safe, legitimate, non-street, non-Fast and Furious type racing, correct?

Murdock: Uh… I plead the fifth!

Straega: Tell us the most amazing moment you’ve experience thus far as a GM for Solstice.

Murdock: The most amazing moment was on my birthday last year in June. Basically, everyone shouted “Happy B-Day!” all day long. I really felt loved and got to appreciate all the hard work that we do as GMs. I’d also say that the events that make our users happy are pretty gratifying as well.

Straega: Other than, of course, Solstice, what’s your favorite game and genre that you enjoy playing?

Murdock: Well, I have many favorites so it typically depends on what title is new and what’s out. At the moment, I’d say my favorite game is Call of Duty 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4. I love first person adventure games, but since I love racing games as well, I know I’ll be spending a lot of my free time on Forza 3 when it comes out.

Straega: Unlike Rayse, I can’t see you from where I’m sitting so I’ve no idea what your preferred in-game snack is. What is it?

Murdock: [laughs] Rice crispy treats and/or beef jerky!

Straega: I knew it! You’re the one that takes all the rice crispy treats!

Murdock: Dude, you snooze, you lose.

Straega: Murdock, you seem a nice guy, and wouldn’t ban people in real life *cough* Nekopon *cough*. So if you could take a proficiency, a spell, an attribute, or an item from Solstice and bring it to real life, what would it be and why?

Murdock: Dude! Mountable pets! MOUNTABLE PETS!

Straega: Why?

Murdock: So I could ride my pit bull around of course!

Straega: Wait, so if you could make yourself smaller or your pet bigger so that you could ride it, which would it be?

Murdock: I’d make my pet bigger!

Straega: And you’re fully well aware that your pit bull would then become the size of a large cow?

Murdock: Yes.

Straega: Well, then you’d probably want to take a “cleanse spell” as well, seein as there’d be a chance of rabies and all.

Murdock: [Murdock immediately takes off the other shoe and throws it at me]

Straega: Hah! Too bad, you’re out of ammo now, buddy. Next question. If you could choose between being able to fly, turn invisible, or teleport which would you choose and why?

Murdock: Teleport! Dude, how many times do you say this to yourself. “I wish I could just port there.” [laughs]

Straega: So you’re a teleporter huh? If you had a warp stone right now, that could take you anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Murdock: I’d go to Korea!

Straega: Why Korea?

Murdock: You’ve just got to be there to know it.

Straega: I’ll keep that in mind.

Murdock: I’d also make sure I stocked up on warp stones so I could go to the UK, Miami, New York City, Japan, Germany, Paris, and Brazil!

Straega: The beauty of teleporting. Making trouble getting your irregularly sized pit bull through customs, easy as cake!

Murdock: You’re lucky I only have two feet.

Much thanks to Murdock for this interview. Check out his profile here and add him as a friend!