Video: "Warthunder's Strange History of April Fools"

 

 From ZoltanSultan on March 20. On April 1 2013, Fans of the "War Thunder" MMO were surprised to see the developers had added flying ponies in the style of "My Little Pony"armed with machine guns and candy bombs. While this only lasted one day, it continues to be talked about years later. But this would only be the first of many stunts pulled by War Thunder ever year. Perhaps none were as funny as the ponies, but most were interesting and some amusing.
 

April Fools, Part Two

Last week's April Fool story in the Newser was one of our more successful ones in terms of response. The first picture was the Newser building in Nydia Tungsten's Minecraft server, built by Jasmine Dawn. "Sneaky and clever" one reader called it."You got me," commented another. Still another deadpaningly suggested I delete the article in the grounds Linden Lab with their mentality might actually do what was in the joke article. Most just laughed, or groaned.

With this April being a particularly bad time, with the world in the worst epidemic since the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, pretty much everyone agreed that joking about spreading the virus wasn't funny at all. Some countries warned that spreading "Coronavirus misinformation on April Fools Day" was punishable by jail time. There were also a few suggestions from some that April Fools jokes shouldn't be done, period. But with so many essentially trapped in their homes on the verge of going stir crazy, more felt the country needed a chuckle more than ever.

As it turned out, the Newser's prank article wasn't the only April Fool played in Second Life. Gemma Cleanslate was witness to the Moles pulling some foolery of their own. Firestorm got into the act, with it's "Message of the Day" appearing scrambled, but I was told was actual languages (and unfortunately I never got a screenshot).

In the world of gaming, World of Tanks had a game called "Turret Town." War Thunder had a special game for the next few days : "Space Thunder." In Guild Wars, giant cats appeared in various places in the game. In Overwatch, googly-eyes appeared on characters.



(click here if the video fails to play)

Minecraft added a new feature that at first looked like a clever joke, tossing signed books into nether portals creating new dimensions. But it looks like an actual new feature.

There are a few more listed in PC Gamer and  Destructoid, such as a supposed "Ducktales" game in the making that turned out to be just "April Fool."


Sources: CCN, CNN, The Hill, PhlyDaily, PC Gamer,

Bixyl Shuftan

This And That: WoT's "Tankmas" and Swedish Tanks, War Thunder's Official Release, Rust Junks XP System, WarFrame, and Astroneer

So what has yours truly and his Second Life neighbors been playing when not in Second Life? A few things. There's been a few developments in a few of the MMO games we've been playing, World of Tanks, War Thunder, and Rust. There's also a couple we've recently started playing: Warframe and Astroneer.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Examples of April Foolery Across the Internet

If you're reading this, chances are by now you've seen the April Fool's article from us, our yearly tradition. But we're far from being the only ones pulling an April Fool.

World of Warships announced a new "Jacuzzi Mode" for four toy "Tier Zero" ships, the "Bottlesheep," the "Bathyscrap," the "Pokeyboat," and the "Das Boot." Taking place in a bathtub, matches could be either two teams in PvP or one in PvE against bots, pooting toy cannons against one another in sounds that compared to the rest of the game are rather cutsie. While players couldn't earn experience points or credits, there were missions to be done for rewards. (Click here for a video).

War Thunder continues to get comments over it's putting "My Little Pony" fighters in the game for April 1 a few years ago. This year, they've brought pirate ships into the game. There's only one kind of ship of for play, and aiming the cannons can be tricky as the ocean waves are rolling. But it is possible to fire at one enemy on one side, then switch to the other immediety and give another a broadside. For all the laughs about "Yo-ho-ho!" and "15 Men on a Dead Man's Chest," it's believed this is an open test to see how the game and the players handle ocean action. So this April Foolery has some seriousness behind it. (Click here for a video).

And then there are webcomics. Many engage in April Fools pranks such as the artists of two doing a one-shot joke comic for one another's strip. "General Protection Fault" by Jeff Darlington did something different this year, an ode to old time text-based computer adventure games.

April Fool's Day pranks have a long tradition here at GPF. For 2016, I had the idea of replacing the front page with an old style computer screen, like and old DOS oe UNIX prompt, or, even better, something related to old home computers like the Commodore 64 or TRS-80 Color Computer. I wanted it to be able to play a game of some sort, something that would hearken back to the simple games I played as a kid.

The comic itself started in 1998, and after almost two decades has gone through a number of plots with characters going through a lot of changes. One can also find April Foolery in other comics, but Darlington's 1980's throwback is almost certainly the most unique.

That's all for now with the foolery. Happy April Fool's.

Bixyl Shuftan

April Fools Jokes by Linden Lab, And Others

The April Fool's article Second Life Newser did on Wednesday, about Luskwood's founder supposedly getting a job as a TV news anchorwoman, got some chatter on Facebook and in Second Life group chat (though none in the comment section of the article). Michi herself (who was in on the joke) reportedly was asked about it all day, so as usual we fooled a number of people who didn't bother clicking the link at the bottom.

But the Newser wasn't alone in pulling April Fools jokes. Linden Lab itself got into the act by saying there was a new retro 2-D viewer: "Introducing 2DSS."

There’s been a lot of excitement recently around our integration of the Oculus Rift with Second Life. The addition of HMD (head-mounted display) mode offers a new level of immersion for 3D experiences, but what about people who want less immersion? Today, we’re happy to announce a new way to explore the wide variety of community-created experiences in Second Life, without the complexity of the third dimension: 2D side-scrolling (2DSS) mode. Without the third dimension, you can enjoy Second Life just like your favorite 8-bit games from the past!

Note: while this new mode is compatible with HMD mode, we do not recommend trying both simultaneously. If you were to  turn your head 90 degrees while doing so, the world may simply disappear from view - causing a rather jarring experience that might make you feel a bit foolish. The new 2DSS mode is available as of April 1, 2015, and you can now download the Project Viewer to start enjoying some retro-future fun in Second Life!

And of course the link led to an "April Fool."

Among Second Life blogs, Jo Yardley told her readers, "A Linden Lab employee who wants to remain anonymous today send me this video that is top secret and shows what Second Life Next Generation will look like, it also seems to suggest it will be called ‘Digital World’. The video is apparently some sort of introduction video. I for one am very excited and think it looks stunning although I am a bit worried about the Sesamestreet-ish style." The link at the bottom led to the Wikipedia entry of April Fools Day.

Of other Second Life newsletters, the Enquirer didn't do an April Fool of their own, but did an article about pranks people had played on one another. New World Notes commented that with incidents such as people getting the help of a drag queen in trying to keep Facebook accounts in their avatar names, there was no need for "smartass April Fools posts."

Outside Second Life, various games had their own April Fools pranks and stunts. Blizzard announced a "Patch 6.1.4" that supposedly offered options such as a "T.I.N.D.R. Box" for matchmaking Garrison followers for romance, and changes in the rules such as "All Worgen characters must wear a collar and carry around little blue baggies." "Star Wars: The Old Republic" announced they were offering "stationary mounts" for characters, such as tree logs, "why go anywhere when you can go nowhere?" Star Trek Online announced they were starting the game over, "After over 5 years and countless updates, Holodeck is going to be retired. The old girl has had a good run, but she’s tired, and it’s time to begin again."

"World of Tanks" announced that those destroying ten enemy tanks on April 1st would get a special suitcase that allowed them reguardless of tank to go into artillery mode and send a rainbow beam that would beam down to smite their enemies.They also announced that inspired by the jokes about TOG II tanks being run aground boats, they were doing a new "Waterworld of Tanks" game. They also had an actual minigame: "Operation Undead."

"War Thunder's April Fool joke was actually a one day stunt with two temporary scenarios. One was "Unrealistic Battles," in which players fought in rubber tanks and pelted one another with potatoes and carrots. If a tank was clobbered, the X-Ray revealed men on bicycles. Then there was the "March to Victory" which allowed the players to enter a battlefield as a walking tank, the "ST-1." They went as far as to claim it was an actual experimental tank, "The first world war, which was also called “the trench war”, showed an inefficiency in the usual infantry breakthrough and required the creation of an absolutely new type of ground vehicle - something that could cross destroyed roads and ground torn apart from explosions. This is what the ST-1 was about - the first and the only model of a walking tank."

Playing "War Thunder" that day, the balloon tanks were a chuckle to fight in, with their rubbery cannons flopping around as they scooted. As for "March to Victory" the ST-1s were one of several vehicles one could take to the battle, though you had to choose one of two smaller tanks first and had to earn enough points to bring the walker onto the field once you were clobbered. But taking the 1940s equivalent of an Imperial Scoutwalker, I soon found why gamers prefer low profile tanks like the Hetzer. Those tall things were a bigger target and quicker to take down. Too bad, those things looked cool, but coolness doesn't always win on the battlefield, especially once the surprise wears off.

For more April Foolery, check the article on PC Gamer.

It was a fun April Fools.

Bixyl Shuftan

Gamer Weekend

Besides Second Life, there was a bit going on in online games last weekend.

The "War Thunder" multiplayer online game has gotten attention for being an air combat game with players in planes bombing enemy tanks and AA positions, as well as scrapping against each other. On May 15, they had their "Update 1.41," which released their open beta for the tank action. So far, only Russian and German tanks are available for research, and there's just one beginning tank for each.

It was also the last few days for the "Wildstar" Open Beta. This space-themed MMO in development had been talked about by a few friends of mine. In the game, players choose one of two factions, the Exiles and the Dominion, one of eight races (four for each faction), one of six classes of character (warrior, medic, engineer, etc.), and one of four paths (soldier, scientists, explorer, settler). After your introduction on your faction's spaceship, players go down to the planet Nexus where the action takes place.

The game had a bit of a cartoony feel compared to "World of Warcraft." But it wasn't kiddie stuff with some of the language. I got to level eight for one character of each faction (Chua and Aurin), in which the plot gave each faction a reason for hating the other. It wasn't perfect as bugs slowed down the action sometimes, but I thought the game was worth keeping an eye on.

So what have my neighbors in Second Life been up to when not in Second Life? The "Furry Gamers" from HV Community have taken interest in a new one from Steam: Space Engineers. In this game, players mine asteroids to build stations and ships, and can either cooperate, or fight one another. There have been some fun short films of what happens when ships ram one another.

Well, all for now. More from the gaming front soon.

Bixyl Shuftan

Image credit: warthunder.com

April Fool Part Two

Yesterday's April Fool got quite a bit of chatter on Facebook, and a little inworld. The reporter who pulled the stunt sends his thanks, and promises more in the future.

We weren't exactly alone in pulling one over on Second Life residents. Jessica Lyon and her Firestorm team pulled off one of their own with their "Firestorm Mobile."



Firestorm in an old Atari 2600? At this point, the April Fool would have been obvious, at least to those who hadn't already noticed Jessica's grins and winks.

Outside Second Life, the April Fooleries were too numerous to mention every single one. Iris Ophelia of New World Notes highlighted the one from the "Guild Wars2" MMO supposed 8-bit throwback "Super Adventure Box." Warcraftpets.com did a piece about a supposed World of Warcraft update that would have allowed players to have more than one pet on the screen at once, though at a cost. By the bottom of the page, well, the April Fool was obvious.

Probably the April Fool that took the most effort, and one of the funniest, was that of The "War Thunder" WW2 Aircraft MMO. The folks at Gaijin Entertainment threw their pilots for a loop when not only did they have a news announcement for "My Little Ponies" heavily armed with machine guns, but logging on, you could actually fly the rascals. They were described as hard to turn, and blacked out easily, but were outclassing everything else that day. Perhaps some pilots had the opportunity to do some fun machinimas that day. I imagine the pilots in that game will be talking about the stunt for a while.

Happy April Fools

Hat tip: Nydia Tungsten

Bixyl Shuftan