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I got my copy in the mail a few weeks ago, right before I left on a trip. When I got back I picked it up and then didn't put it down until I was done. It's a real thrill ride of a "whodunit". Ok, it's not but it IS very compelling reading.

I enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps this was partly because I grew up in the town neighboring his so those stories had extra meaning to me. However, I think any geek will enjoy it, as someone else said in the comments, he's "one of us".

My formal review is on my blog: http://www.offlinetshirts.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/20/book-review-happiest-days-of-our-lives/

As a disclaimer, I must admit to having met Wil in person and to getting my copy for free (which was a very cool surprise).

Well, I generally refrain from blatantly commercial posts but in this case it's on topic and begging for it. If it's a PC gamer you are shopping for, esp. a MMORPG player, it would be hard to go wrong with a t-shirt from my girlfriend's Gaming and Geek T-Shirt shop.

Basically, wear the shirt and you won't have an issue with folks asking you to fix things for free or cheaply ;)

Seriously, try this mantra I read once online: I will work for money, I will work for trade, I will work for barter, I will work for charity... but I will not work FOR FREE.

A side benefit: She was a casual gamer at most when we met (I used to rib her for playing solitaire). But now look at her! My only complaint is that now she hogs all my bandwidth.

However I feel the original author left out one important part of a MMORPGs "hook" to me:

Exploration

If I really am "entering a world" I want to feel like I am. I felt that way in early EQ. And to those who have posted, "How different can a graphical MUD be from one that isn't graphical?" The answer is much different, we are largely visual people (come on guys, you know that is true ;) ) and adding "eye candy" is an immediate hit.

What's even better is adding eye candy that is an intriguing landscape, where you can feel like you are possibly the first person ever to have come to this exact corner, to see this exact view. That is an easy hit MMORPGs can give us.

Exploring a world without having to slay Dragon 1 2 and 3 just to enter the area, is also something a casual player can do. Perhaps I'm biased because I do things like this in real life, but I was thrilled to appear to be able to ascend the "mountains" in DAoC instead of hitting my head on the "world's ceiling" as in EQ.

Give me the mountains, the tiny little nooks in caves in which I find a quiet rest spot, and I'll go there to take a break from the leveling grind, perhaps it might even entice people to :: gasp :: roleplay more.

If you'd like to see my take on the MMORPGs I saw at this year's E3, see my article: Building a Better Mousetrap.

While driving today, I saw a guy with a SCO country sticker on the back of his car (similar to these), and the first thing I thought was "god, how could you like an OS/company like that so much that you'd put it on your car?"

Then, I realized that it was a Scottish flag next to the sticker, along with a simultaneous thought of "wow, I've been reading far too much /."

The reading comfort level and the portability of a book is also a bonus.

As far as print being dead... check the amount of gaming manuals printed these days: cheats, tips, tricks, several gaming mags. Where one venue seems to be closing, other print outlets are opening up due to the technological revolution.

Poor Shift though, I only discovered them by following a link from their site to my store so I'll have to agree with the other posters that they really didn't make too much of an impact on the geek scene.