Although the Massively staff often has difficulty reading books, what with their "walls of text" and poor graphics engine, we'd be remiss to ignore this terrific news. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, better known as "That Zero Punctuation Guy," is looking to increase his considerable fame and fortune by heading into the literary world with his debut novel Mogworld. The profanely amusing game critic has become well-known for his verbal barrages against titles like EVE Online and Age of Conan, as well as being an amateur game designer in his spare time.
As a comedic fantasy, Yahtzee claims to draw from his MMO experience for Mogworld: In a world full to bursting with would-be heroes, Jim couldn't be less interested in saving the day. His fireballs fizzle. He's awfully grumpy. Plus, he's been dead for about sixty years. When a renegade necromancer wrenches him from eternal slumber and into a world gone terribly, bizarrely wrong, all Jim wants is to find a way to die properly, once and for all. On his side, he's got a few shambling corpses, an inept thief, and a powerful death wish. But he's up against tough odds: angry mobs of adventurers, a body falling apart at the seams and a team of programmers racing a deadline to hammer out the last few bugs in their AI.
You can pre-order Mogworld on Amazon.com or by staking out a nice, comfy spot at your local book retailer.
Reader Comments (19)
Posted: Apr 6th 2010 8:26PM fatpanda said
sounds a little Terry Pratchettesque... that is a compliment!
Posted: Apr 7th 2010 10:03AM CaseyTheBrash said
I was thinking the same thing, as in "It's been done before, and better. With shopping carts." I'm not too sure about this one, I hope it fades quickly so we don't have a barrage of these. I do enjoy his rants though. Even if he can't grow a beard or wear a hat properly. The kid can rant.
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Posted: Apr 6th 2010 7:49PM myr said
Please tell me I'm not the only one that instantly thought this would have something to do with Final Fantasy moogles.
Posted: Apr 7th 2010 12:06PM whateveryousay said
Confusing "Mog" with "Moog" ey? Shame on you.
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Posted: Apr 6th 2010 7:57PM ultimateq said
Oh yah, Yahtzee is the guy who made those funny rambling reviews. Forgot about him, I imagine a lot of people did after his initial debut.
I used to watch them pretty avidly every week, but after a while I just fell out of the loop.
His humor is good, the novel is either very funny or very dry. Either way, I don't plan to buy it.
I used to watch them pretty avidly every week, but after a while I just fell out of the loop.
His humor is good, the novel is either very funny or very dry. Either way, I don't plan to buy it.
Posted: Apr 6th 2010 10:46PM dudemanjac said
I was introduced to him when someone sent me his take on Conan or Eve. I laugh my self silly and still LOL when I see them now. It's part of my Friday routine.
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Posted: Apr 7th 2010 12:21AM ultimateq said
Well, fatpanda. I am special, don't you know? People follow my trends. Remember that thing, from back then? Yeah, that was me. And when I gave it up, everyone else gave it up. I tend to just have that effect on the world. People just tend to flock to my interests or shun my disinterests, it's the way of the world.
But in all honesty. I assumed that because a lot of my friends seemed to have stopped talking about him too, and we really loved the guy. I figure a group of a couple dozen of people forgetting about him would possibly mean that his initial popularity had declined.
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But in all honesty. I assumed that because a lot of my friends seemed to have stopped talking about him too, and we really loved the guy. I figure a group of a couple dozen of people forgetting about him would possibly mean that his initial popularity had declined.
Posted: Apr 7th 2010 10:29AM MewmewGrrl said
The first time I heard some of his stuff, I really didn't like it at all. It's not the least bit funny to me, nor intelligent in ANY way. He blasts games like a little kid who has played a few minutes of them (which half the time, that's all he's done). He definitely thinks he's funny, but I don't find him to be so.
I bookmarked his site before I listened to his rants. After listening to some, I promptly deleted the bookmark. Then I looked at the sorry games that he has tried to make himself, and I re-bookmarked his site, so I could review his games in the same way that he reviews others and share my thoughts with him.
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I bookmarked his site before I listened to his rants. After listening to some, I promptly deleted the bookmark. Then I looked at the sorry games that he has tried to make himself, and I re-bookmarked his site, so I could review his games in the same way that he reviews others and share my thoughts with him.
Posted: Apr 7th 2010 5:35PM (Unverified) said
Yea, I forgot about him too. His shtick was just too consistent and predictable. Funny in small doses though.
As for the book, I'll pass until some reader reviews start rolling in a few months down the road.
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As for the book, I'll pass until some reader reviews start rolling in a few months down the road.
Posted: Apr 6th 2010 10:26PM GRT said
Who cares? What does this have to do with MMOs?
Posted: Apr 6th 2010 10:54PM dudemanjac said
I'm pretty sure I'm going to be buying this, but only if it is paperback. I'm a cheapskate. I may even just go to the library depending on my mood. No I take that back. Gotta support writers. At least I hope someone says that when I publish something.
Posted: Apr 6th 2010 11:15PM Bartlebe said
Somebody read it quickly and make a terribly inaccurate and scathing review of it where you only highlight the bad things.
Posted: Apr 7th 2010 3:57AM Russell Clarke said
...with lots of snarky emphasis, of course.
Oh how the twelve-year-olds must chortle.
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Oh how the twelve-year-olds must chortle.
Posted: Apr 7th 2010 12:38PM wjowski said
What is it with internet jackass-celebrities and stupid hats?
Posted: Apr 7th 2010 2:13PM Softserve said
No thanks. This guy has written a web comic before too and it's really awful. I can't imagine a full book.










