/PIZZA, Prodding it along...

There are two approaches to motivating someone to do something. The first is the carrot and stick, or motivation from potential reward. The second is the sharp stick in the rear, or motivation to be free from pain or annoyance.

Today I started with the first approach to try and encourage the industry to move towards /PIZZA. The email below is elecronic feedback I provided to Papa John's via their website. When I get a response I will post it here to let you know the progress I'm making. I intend to pursue this with the other major chains as well to see what their plans are.

I would like to know if you have plans to provide a interface for third party software developers to implement online ordering in their applications? Something like an API or webservices that would allow registered users of your site to order directly from applications other than a web browser. Thank you very much for your time in responding.

P.S. I just received a response to my feedback from an actual representative. Looks like Papa John's is really on the ball as far as customer service goes.

Thank you for the interest in Papa John's.  I have forwarded your request on to the appropriate people for review and I am sure they will have plenty of information for you.  Again, thank you.



 Michelle

PetFeeder In the Trenches - World of Warcraft UI Mod

Well it took me a week to set it up but I finally got PetFeeder running! This is one of the handiest mods I have found for my Hunter. I'll relay my difficulties in the hopes that it will ease the installation for someone else.

I downloaded the mod double clicked on the file using Xp's built in file extractor. I copied the PetFeeder directory to my World of Warcraft/Interface/Addons directory and used Cosmos to fire up WOW. Cosmos then happily deleted PetFeeder as it thought it was out of date. I had to close out of WOW and re-extract PetFeeder. This time when I launched Cosmos I turned off the "keep directory clean" option. This let me keep the mod but when I got to my character selection screen and clicked the addons button I did not see PetFeeder in the list.

Frustrated I ran through the whole process several times. I still could not get PetFeeder to show up on my addons list. At this point I let it go and decided I would have to live without it.

A few nights of playing and I was longing for the PetFeeder. It was wearing me out to keep forgetting to feed my raptor and have him charging into battle doing less than optimal damage. In a petty show of anger I typed "/pf".

Low and behold my pet begins rumaging through my packs for food! Excitedly I typed "/PetFeeder". There was the interface!



I quickly queued up my meat supply and my pet wasted no time in chowing down. Now Whenever he drops below happy he will nicely go into my pack and find himself some "Mystery Meat" to snack on. My life is a joy!

If you are a hunter get this mod! You will be so happy you did.


Happy Gaming!


The Chef

All in One Inventory - World Of Warcraft UI Mod

This Mod allows you to view all of your inventory items without opening each individual bag. This is great for the times when you are in the middle of combat and can't remember where you put that healing potion.

Rating - 8 out of 10



All in One Inventory - World of Warcraft Mod

/PIZZA Where is it?

Ok, /PIZZA. Is this always going to be vaporware?

If I ran a major pizza chain I'd be beating down the doors of the online game companies to get integrated into their games. I'd work out a commission system with them and probably even pay for the development time involved for their staff

Pizza and other food options are rapidly becoming about convenience. Pizza chains need to implement features that make buying a pie like picking up a candy bar at the grocery store checkout.

As a society we want convenience and ease of use. We work hard all day on complex things, when we get home we want simplicity.

The first chain that integrates with our entertainment in a convenient and unobtrusive way is going to walk away with a major prize. This extends to other mediums like satellite TV and TiVo. If I could use my remote to order take out like I order Pay-Per-View I'd do it all the time.

Apple knows this. You can order your iPod at their web store and download tunes from them as well. All without ever leaving your computer chair. Enterprise knows this too with their "We'll pick you up." slogan. Other companies need to take the bull by the horns and take some risks. Yes, there will be failures and that is scary. However, the home runs that will be hit will transform business as we know it. Time for some "outside the box" thinking.

Happy gaming!

The Chef

Comments Now Available for Posts

I added the ability for everyone to post comments regarding entries today. All you have to do is:

1. Click the title of the post you are interested in. This will take you to the post details. Comments are listed below the post itself.


2. Enter a handle and your comment in the boxes provided and click the "Post Comment" button.


3. Your comment will be submitted and should appear within a few minutes on the post details page.

I am excited to be able to get feedback from all of you. I look forward to reading your comments.

Happy gaming!

The Chef

EverQuest II, Splinter Cell to introduce in-game ads - Feb. 18, 2005

This article, EverQuest II, Splinter Cell to introduce in-game ads - Feb. 18, 2005, discusses EQ II's implementation of a /PIZZA function. I have seen other sites that indicate that this function has been disabled. I cannot find any reference on the EQ II site.

Does anyone know if this is still a valid feature of EQ II? If anyone has used it I'd love to hear about how it worked out.

Happy gaming!

The Chef

We've Moved!

I moved the blog to a more permanent home this weekend. I wanted to expand the blog's theme a little and this seemed the best way to do it.

/PIZZA or slashpizza is a mod that many gamers have sought for a long time. In it's most true form it will allow gamers to order pizza delivery in game with a slash command. I know there are other dream mods out there along with "Killer Apps". I want this blog to promote those ideas along with more mainstream mods. If we keep raising the bar then there are bound to be some really creative mods coming for the MMOG industry.

Your comments will help drive the content here towards what the gaming community wants. We might even bend the ears of the designers themselves. I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Gaming!

The Chef

PetFeeder – World of Warcraft UI Mod / Addon

Ok, this is unforgivable. I have been playing my hunter for almost 34 levels and I never heard of this mod. This is absolutely going to change how I look at my pet.

Until now he has been VERY high maintenance in the food department. If I don’t keep a close eye on him I’m going into combat with a gimped, hungry pet. That won’t happen any more!

Now all I have to do is keep my food supply up to date and this WOW mod will feed him for me. I’m more excited about this than the automated fish feeder on my aquarium at home.

If you are a hunter you NEED this WOW addon.

Interface view

More Info:

PetFeeder -WOW Mod / Addon

Cosmos - World of Warcraft UI Mod

What can I say? This is a granddaddy of a WOW mod. So many different mods depend on it that it is almost essential to the modded player. Features such as enhanced toolbars, alarms and quick loot make World of Warcraft so much easier to play. I am so dependant on this mod that if my Cosmos install is not working then my WOW is not working.

If you aren’t using Cosmos I sincerely encourage you to try it. You’ll like it!

Cosmos - World of Warcraft UI Mod

Gatherer - World of Warcraft UI Mod

World of Warcraft herbalists, miners and treasure hunters have cause to celebrate. This WOW mod tracks information regarding resource nodes that you have visited in the past and provides that information in your mini-map when those nodes come into range.

With configuration options such as type of resource, travel time, and travel distance this is a Swiss Army Knife mod if I ever saw one. Just for treasure hunting this should be in everyone’s arsenal.

Gatherer - World of Warcraft UI Mod

Atlas - World of Warcraft UI Mod

If you spend any time in instance dungeons in World of Warcraft then this is the mod for you. This WOW mod provides you with an instance map in a framed window. You access the map with the simple ‘/atlas’ command.

The maps have fantastic detail and provide you with tons of information on the instance. This is one of my must have mods.

Atlas - World of Warcraft UI Mod

Discuss World of Warcraft Mods

What WOW mods do you use? Which ones can you absolutely not live without? Which ones will you never under any circumstances use?