<s>
Forumwarz	B-Application
is	O
a	O
multiplayer	O
browser-based	B-Protocol
role-playing	O
game	O
that	O
is	O
a	O
parody	O
of	O
Internet	O
culture	O
designed	O
by	O
Crotch	B-Application
Zombie	I-Application
Productions	I-Application
,	O
a	O
Toronto-based	O
company	O
run	O
by	O
Robin	O
Ward	O
,	O
Mike	O
Drach	O
,	O
and	O
Jason	O
Kogan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Written	O
in	O
the	O
Ruby	B-Application
on	I-Application
Rails	I-Application
web	O
application	O
framework	O
using	O
the	O
Haml	B-Application
markup	O
language	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
launched	O
on	O
February	O
7	O
,	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Forumwarz	B-Application
is	O
notable	O
for	O
its	O
humorous	O
and	O
sometimes	O
ribald	O
writing	O
and	O
references	O
to	O
Internet	O
memes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
January	O
20	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
Forumwarz	B-Application
released	O
its	O
third	O
episode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
many	O
traditional	O
role-playing	O
games	O
(	O
RPGs	O
)	O
,	O
Forumwarz	B-Application
takes	O
place	O
on	O
a	O
fake	O
,	O
parodic	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
battlegrounds	O
are	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
virtual	O
internet	B-Application
forums	I-Application
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
the	O
fantasy	O
settings	O
found	O
in	O
traditional	O
RPGs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
begins	O
as	O
a	O
bored	O
Internet	O
user	O
,	O
searching	O
on	O
a	O
parodied	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
(	O
a	O
thinly	O
veiled	O
analogue	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Soon	O
their	O
search	O
query	O
is	O
interrupted	O
by	O
an	O
instant	B-Application
message	I-Application
from	O
"	O
Shallow	O
Esophagus	O
"	O
,	O
a	O
mysterious	O
non-player	O
character	O
and	O
possible	O
parody	O
of	O
Deep	O
Throat	O
who	O
introduces	O
them	O
to	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
"	O
pwnage	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
soon	O
begins	O
"	O
pwning	O
"	O
,	O
or	O
attacking	O
,	O
forums	B-Application
through	O
various	O
trolling	O
methods	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
archetypes	B-Language
were	O
chosen	O
as	O
the	O
most	O
"	O
narcissistic	O
and	O
crude	O
web	B-Application
forum	I-Application
stereotypes	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
forums	B-Application
become	O
increasingly	O
difficult	O
to	O
pwn	O
,	O
characters	O
earn	O
experience	O
points	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
"	O
cred	O
"	O
,	O
thus	O
improving	O
their	O
statistics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Forumwarz	B-Application
takes	O
place	O
on	O
a	O
parodic	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
interface	O
reflects	O
this	O
with	O
an	O
Instant	B-Application
Messaging	I-Application
client	O
,	O
online	O
shopping	O
for	O
virtual	O
items	O
and	O
services	O
,	O
and	O
Internet	B-Application
forum	I-Application
battlegrounds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Instant	B-Application
Messaging	I-Application
Client	O
is	O
called	O
sTalk	O
,	O
a	O
pun	O
on	O
"	O
stalk	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
parody	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
IM	O
client	O
gTalk	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
may	O
attack	O
virtual	O
forums	B-Application
,	O
each	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
different	O
theme	O
,	O
with	O
various	O
attacks	O
suited	O
to	O
their	O
character	O
class	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attacks	O
consist	O
of	O
posting	O
varying	O
obnoxious	O
comments	O
and	O
trolling	O
,	O
via	O
an	O
array	O
of	O
attacks	O
specific	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
class	O
including	O
"	O
self-mutilation	O
"	O
(	O
Emo	O
Kids	O
)	O
,	O
"	O
threaten	O
to	O
contact	O
authorities	O
"	O
(	O
Camwhores	O
)	O
,	O
"	O
ASCII	O
art	O
attacks	O
"	O
(	O
Trolls	O
)	O
,	O
"	O
font	O
changing	O
"	O
(	O
Hacker	O
)	O
and	O
Tech	B-General_Concept
support	I-General_Concept
(	O
Permanoob	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hit	O
points	O
used	O
in	O
most	O
RPGs	O
are	O
replaced	O
with	O
"	O
ego	O
"	O
in	O
Forumwarz	B-Application
-	O
if	O
a	O
player	O
's	O
ego	O
is	O
reduced	O
to	O
zero	O
,	O
the	O
player	O
is	O
defeated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Brownie	O
Points	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
buy	O
"	O
illegal	O
game	O
enhancements	O
"	O
that	O
allow	O
for	O
accelerated	O
progress	O
through	O
the	O
game	O
by	O
giving	O
the	O
player	O
many	O
more	O
forum	O
visits	O
than	O
the	O
standard	O
4	O
per	O
day	O
,	O
an	O
attack	O
that	O
instantly	O
defeats	O
forums	B-Application
,	O
or	O
large	O
amounts	O
of	O
in-game	O
currency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Brownie	O
points	O
"	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
buy	O
custom	O
avatars	B-Application
or	O
forum	O
nicknames	O
,	O
for	O
themselves	O
or	O
other	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Players	O
are	O
able	O
to	O
contribute	O
to	O
their	O
own	O
forums	B-Application
using	O
forumbuildr	O
v2.0	O
Beta	O
,	O
an	O
in-game	O
application	O
named	O
after	O
Web	O
2.0	O
jargon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
may	O
be	O
co-operatively	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
players	O
joining	O
in	O
klans	O
,	O
to	O
work	O
together	O
in	O
Domination	O
raids	B-Protocol
,	O
or	O
just	O
use	O
is	O
as	O
a	O
place	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
others	O
aside	O
from	O
Flamebate	O
(	O
the	O
standard	O
forums	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Players	O
can	O
also	O
compete	O
in	O
INCIT	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
a	O
random	O
picture	O
taken	O
from	O
Flickr	B-Algorithm
is	O
shown	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
motivational	O
poster	O
must	O
be	O
created	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
title	O
and	O
motivational	O
text	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
picture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Forumwarz	B-Application
was	O
written	O
using	O
tools	O
including	O
Ruby	B-Application
on	I-Application
Rails	I-Application
,	O
MySQL	B-Application
,	O
Haml	B-Application
,	O
memcached	B-Application
,	O
script.aculo.us	B-Language
and	O
the	O
Prototype	B-Language
Javascript	I-Language
Framework	I-Language
and	O
Phusion	B-Language
Passenger	I-Language
behind	O
Nginx	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
the	O
approximately	O
5	O
million	O
dynamic	O
requests	O
a	O
day	O
(	O
varying	O
from	O
55	O
to	O
75	O
requests	O
per	O
second	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
day	O
)	O
and	O
25Gb	O
of	O
data	O
transfer	O
,	O
Crotch	O
Zombie	O
uses	O
a	O
single	O
3GHz	O
Xeon	B-Device
server	O
(	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
small	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
requests	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
elements	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
Forumwarz	B-Application
was	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
tool	O
,	O
called	O
Unintelligencer	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tool	O
translates	O
standard	O
written	O
text	O
into	O
"	O
unintelligent	O
"	O
,	O
mimicking	O
"	O
a	O
literate	O
person	O
's	O
text	O
into	O
something	O
that	O
would	O
n't	O
look	O
out	O
of	O
place	O
on	O
a	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
comment	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tool	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
elements	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
Forumwarz	B-Application
creators	O
to	O
create	O
unique	O
personalities	O
for	O
the	O
artificial	O
denizens	O
of	O
its	O
simulated	O
forums	B-Application
.	O
</s>
