text:
A method and apparatus for treating gland dysfunction caused by gland obstruction in order to restore the natural flow of secretion from the gland comprises the application of a combination of energy, suction, vibration, heat, aspiration, chemical agents and pharmacological agents to loosen and thereafter remove the obstructive material.
1. A method of treating meibomian gland dysfunction wherein the flow of naturally occurring secretion from a meibomian gland in an eyelid is occluded due to the presence of an obstruction within a meibomian gland channel of the meibomian gland, comprising:
softening the obstruction within the meibomian gland channel of a meibomian gland through an application of thermal energy to the obstruction;
placing one or more rollers in contact with the eyelid; and
applying a regulated force to the meibomian gland channel by moving the one or more rollers, the regulated force causing the obstruction to be extracted from within the meibomian gland channel and through a meibomian gland orifice of the meibomian gland.
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The present application is a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/434,446, filed May 15, 2006, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING GLAND DYSFUNCTION," which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/700,233, filed Jul. 18, 2005, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING GLAND DYSFUNCTION," both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The present application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,990, filed Feb. 11, 2011, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING GLAND DYSFUNCTION," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and which is also a continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/434,446, filed May 15, 2006, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING GLAND DYSFUNCTION."
This invention relates generally to the field of treatment of glands in order to restore natural secretory function to obstructed glands within the body and specifically, the meibomian glands of the eye.
The human body contains a number of glands including the lacrimal and meibomian glands of the eye, the sebaceous or pilo-sebaceous hair glands on the face and underarms, and the mammary glands in the breasts. These glands may malfunction due to age, irritation, environmental conditions, cellular debris, inflammation, hormonal imbalance and other causes. One common malfunction is the restriction or stoppage of the natural flow of secretions out of the gland. The present invention provides methods and modalities to enhance and/or restore the natural flow of secretions out of the glands.
While the description that follows is directed to the meibomian glands of the eye, it will be understood that the present invention may be employed to treat all of the external glands of the body. With particular reference to the human eye, the tear film covering the ocular surfaces is composed of three layers. The innermost layer in contact with the ocular surface is the mucus layer. The middle layer comprising the bulk of the tear film is the aqueous layer, and the outermost layer is a thin (less than 250 nm) layer comprised of many lipids known as "meibum" or "sebum". The sebum is secreted by the meibomian glands, enlarged specialized sebaceous-type glands (hence, the use of "sebum" to describe the secretion) located on both the upper and lower eye lids, with orifices designed to discharge the lipid secretions onto the lid margins, thus forming the lipid layer of the tear film. The typical upper lid has approximately 25 meibomian glands and the lower lid has approximately 20 meibomian glands, which are somewhat larger than those located in the upper lid. The meibomian gland comprises various sac-like acini which discharge the secretion into the duct of the gland. The secretion then passes into the orifices which are surrounded by smooth muscle tissue and the muscle of Riolan which are presumed to aid in the expression of sebum. The meibomian gland orifices open on the lid margin usually along the mucocutaneous junction also known as the gray line. The meibomian gland orifices are assumed to open with blinking and release minute amounts of sebum secretions onto the lid margin and then into the inferior tear meniscus. The lipid "sebum" in the tear meniscus is spread upward and over the tear film of the open eye by the upward blink action. If the lipid secretions are optimal, and adequate lipid layer is maintained at the air interface to minimize evaporation and prevent dry eye states. If the lipid secretions are inadequate the lipid layer is not adequate to minimize evaporation with resulting rapid evaporation leading to dry eye states. Thus, it will be seen that a defective lipid layer or an incorrect quantity or quality of such lipids can result in accelerated evaporation of the aqueous layer which, in turn, causes symptoms which may include symptoms such as dryness, scratching, irritation, burning, tearing, redness, and itchiness, which are collectively be referred to as "dry eye" symptoms.
Dry eye states have many etiologies. A common cause of common dry eye states is the condition known as "meibomian gland dysfunction", a disorder where the glands are obstructed or occluded. As employed herein the terms "occluded" and "obstruction" as they relate to meibomian gland dysfunction are defined as partially or completely blocked or plugged meibomian glands. If completely obstructed the gland cannot secrete. If partially or intermittently occluded the gland may secrete either normal or decreased amounts of sebum. More usually the secretions are altered having semi-solid, thickened, congested secretions, frequently described as inspissated. The secretions may be clear or yellowish, the latter indicating possible infection meibomitis, an inflammation of the meibomian glands leading to their dysfunction, is usually accompanied by blepharitis (inflammation of the lids). Meibomian gland dysfunction may accompany meibomitis, or meibomian gland dysfunction may be present without obvious lid inflammation. Meibomian gland dysfunction is frequently the result of keratotic obstruction of the individual meibomian gland orifices and/or the central duct (canal) of the gland which compromises the secretory functions of the individual meibomian glands. More particularly, these keratotic obstructions include a combination of desquamated epitlelial cells, keratin, sebaceous ground substance, and bacteria, see, Korb et al., "Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Contact Lens Intolerance", Journal of the Optometric Association, Vol. 51, Number 3, (1980), pp. 243-251. While meibomitis is obvious by inspection of the external lids, meibomian gland dysfunction may not be obvious even when examined with the magnification of the slit-lamp biomicroscope, since there may not be external signs or the external signs may be so minimal that they are overlooked. The external signs of meibomian gland dysfunction may be limited to subtle alterations of the meibomian gland orifices, subtle or pronounced overgrowth of epithelium over the orifices, and pouting of the orifices of the glands with congealed material acting as the obstructive material under the epithelia overgrowth resulting in the pouting of the orifices.
Hormonal changes include those which occur during menopause, and particularly changing estrogen levels, can result in thickening of the oils secreted by the meibomian glands which results in clogged gland orifices. Further, decreased estrogen levels may also enhance conditions under which staphylococcal bacteria can proliferate. This can cause migration of the bacteria into the glands, thus resulting in a decreased secretion rate.
When the flow of secretions from the meibomian gland is restricted due to the existence of an obstruction, epithelial cells on the eyelid margin tend to grow over the gland orifice thus further restricting sebum flow and exacerbating the dry eye condition.
Additional factors which may cause or exacerbate meibomian gland dysfunction include, age, contact lens wear and hygiene, disorders of blinking, extended computer use, cosmetic use, or other illness, particularly diabetes.
Clinical evaluation of the meibomian glands requires the application of pressure to the external surface of the eyelids over the meibomian glands in order to determine whether secretion is obtained from the individual gland with gentle pressure. If gentle pressure does not provide secretion, forceful expression may be utilized to determine if secretion can be obtained. Thus, the state of an individual meibomian gland can vary from optimal, where clear meibomian sebum is expressed with gentle pressure; to mild or moderate meibomian gland dysfunction where milky fluid or inspissated or creamy secretion may be obtained; to total blockage where no secretion of any sort can be obtained even with the application of extreme pressure (see Korb, et al., "Increase in Tear Film Lipid Layer Thickness Following Treatment of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction", Lacrimal Gland, tear Film, ad Dry Eye Syndromes, pp. 293-298, Edited by D. A. Sullivan, Plenum Press, N.Y. (1994)). Significant chemical changes of the meibomian gland secretions occur with meibomian gland dysfunction and consequently, the composition of the naturally occurring tear film is altered, which in turn, contributes to ocular disease which is generally known as "dye eye".
While the tear film operates as a singular entity and all of the layers thereof are important, the lipid layer, which is secreted from the meibomian glands is of particular significance as it functions to slow the evaporation of the underlying layers and to lubricate the eyelid during blinking which prevents dry eye.
In response to the foregoing, various treatment modalities have been developed in order to treat the dry eye condition, including drops which are intended to replicate and replace the natural tear film, pharmaceuticals which are intended to stimulate the gland and cells providing the components of the tear film and various warm compresses and warming devices which are designed to treat meibomitis and the meibomian glands.
Eye drops such as Refresh«, Soothe« and Systane« are designed to closely replicate the naturally occurring healthy tear film. However, their use and administration is merely a treatment of symptoms and not of the underlying cause. Further, the use of drops is generally for an indefinite length of time and consequently, extended use can become burdensome and costly. Pharmaceutical modalities such as the use of tetracycline have also been suggested to treat meibomian gland dysfunction and one such treatment is disclosed in United States Patent Publication No. US2003/011426 titled "Method for Treating Meibomian Gland Disease", U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,583 titled "Method for Treating Meibomian Gland Disease" to Pflugfelder et al. and PCT Publication No. WO 99/58131 titled "Use of Tetracyclines for Treating Meibomian Gland Disease". However, this treatment has not proven to be clinically effective for meibomian gland obstruction, and it may be unnecessary as much meibomian gland dysfunction is the result of an obstruction of the gland without infection. The use of corticosteroids have also been proposed to treat meibomian gland dysfunction as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,607 titled "Non-preserved Topical Corticosteroid for Treatment of Dry Eye, filamentary Keratitis, and Delayed Tear Clearance (or Turnover)" to Pflugfelder et al. Again, this proposed treatment appears to treat the symptom of dry eye, as opposed to treatment of the underlying cause and further presents the risks of inducing cataracts and glaucoma. Additionally, the use of topically applied androgens or androgen analogues have also been used to treat acute dry eye signs and symptoms in Keratoconjuctivitis Sicca as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,912 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,107,289 both titled "Ocular Therapy in Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca Using Topically Applied Androgens of TGF-β" and both issued to Sullivan.
Another modality for the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction is disclosed in European Patent Application Ser. No. PCT/GB2003/004782 titled "Eyelid Margin Wipes Comprising Chemical Means for Temperature Adjustment". As disclosed in this patent application, an eyelid margin wipe is provided wherein prior to use, a chemical agent is activated that will heat the wipe to about 32░ C. to about 55░ C. and wherein the temperature will be maintained for at least ten minutes to treat the eyelid margin. This method is not without its drawbacks in that lid irritation can be exacerbated by non-specific heating and the heating range noted as comfortable at over 50░ C. would burn the skin. Another method of heating the eyelids and meibomian glands uses near infrared radiation. More specifically, two hard eye patches were attached to an eye mask according to the pupillary distance of the subject. The eye mask was held in place by an elastic headband. Each patch employed 19 light emitting diodes, emitting near infrared radiation from 850 nm to 1050 nm, with a peak at 940 nm. The device produced 10 mW/cm2 of energy operating on electrical power. Goto, E., et al., "Treatment of Non-Inflamed Obstructive Meibomian Gland dysfunction by an Infrared Warm Compression Device", British Journal of Ophthalmology, Vol. 86 (2002), pp. 1403-1407.
United States Patent Publication US2004/0237969 titled "Therapeutic Eye and Eye Lid Cover" comprises a pair of goggles that are adapted to deliver humid saturated air around the eyelids. This modality is also discussed in greater detail in the article titled "Tear Film Lipid Layer Thickness and Ocular Comfort after Meibomian Therapy via Latent Heat with a Novel Device in Normal Subjects" by Mitra et al, published in Eye, (2004) at pages 1-4.
United States Patent Publication US2003/0233135 titled "Method and Apparatus for Preventing and Treating Eyelid Problems" by Yee attempts to clear the plugged meibomian glands by means of electrical stimulation of the muscle of Riolan which the invention presumed to aid in the expression of the meibomian gland secretion.
It will be noted that all of the above-noted treatment modalities are not without their inherent drawbacks and deficiencies. For example, the current application of heat to the meibomian glands treatment is very time consuming. Normally, treatment consists of at least fifteen minutes of heat application which is followed by manual expression, which normally consists of placing a cotton swab or firm surface behind the portion of the eye lid where the blocked meibomian gland is located and manually squeezing the obstruction from the gland, the foregoing often being quite painful despite the use of topical anesthesia provided in eye drop form.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a meibomian gland treatment that overcomes the drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a meibomian gland treatment device that is a single step treatment, thus, eliminating the need for manual expression.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a meibomian gland treatment device which treats meibomian gland disease and not merely its symptoms.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a meibomian gland treatment device that restores the natural sebum flow rather than merely attempting to replace or replicate the naturally occurring tear components.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a meibomian gland treatment device which minimizes the chance of infection.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a meibomian gland treatment device that is simple, inexpensive, and easy to use by the health care provider and the patient.
According to the present invention there is provided a method and apparatus for treating meibomian gland dysfunction wherein the flow of naturally occurring secretions from the meibomian gland is restored. The method comprises applying a regulated force, regulated energy, regulated heat and/or chemical/pharmacological agent or combinations thereof to the eyelid to remove obstruction in order to restore the natural flow of secretion from the meibomian gland. In further aspects of the invention, the obstruction may be dissolved, extracted and/or loosened from the gland wall, softened prior to extraction and/or expansion of the gland orifice or channel such that the normal secretions from the gland are restored. In other aspects of the invention the obstruction may be loosened from the gland wall or softened prior to extraction. Additionally, the force applied to loosen the obstruction may be of a pre-selected magnitude and applied for a pre-selected period of time.
The apparatus comprises means for applying an external or internal force, energy or heat (or a combination of the foregoing) to the gland to loosen the obstruction. Further aspects of the invention include providing means for softening, breaking up, and/or liquefying the obstruction prior to extraction and means for extracting the obstruction.
While the present invention will be described more fully hereinafter, it is to be understood at the outset that persons of skill in the art may modify the invention herein described while still achieving the favorable results of this invention. Accordingly, the description that follows is to be understood as a broad teaching disclosure directed to persons of skill in the appropriate arts, and not as limiting upon the present invention.
Referring now to
As briefly mentioned herein above, obstruction composition will vary with the etiology which produced it. However, the obstruction will, in most cases, consist of a combination of, dead cells, keratin, bacteria, desquamated cells, sebaceous ground substance, milky fluid, inspissated or creamy secretions, or any combination of the foregoing in solid, semi-solid and thickened forms. The obstruction may be in the gland channel, at the gland orifice, atop the gland orifice or a combination of the foregoing. As employed herein, obstruction refers to any of the foregoing.
Thus, it is self-evident that any obstruction of the channel will restrict or prevent secretions from exiting the gland and further, that in order to clear such obstructions or "occlusions", the obstruction may be loosened from the gland wall, and/or broken up, fractured, softened, or liquefied so that it will fit through the gland orifice without causing excessive pain. Lastly, the obstruction remnants must be expressed from the gland. The present invention provides a method and apparatus to accomplish these tasks.
According to the method of the present invention, the obstruction P should be softened or liquefied prior to attempting extraction or expression. With respect to the foregoing, the terms "softened" or "liquefied" are intended to mean a "non-solid" flowable state. In addition, in order to be clinically satisfactory, softening or liquefying of the obstruction P should be effected as quickly as possible and regulated heat treatment time should be less than five (5) minutes with one to two (1-2) minutes being preferred without causing damage to the surrounding tissues of the ocular globe or the eye, such heat treatments can be electrical, laser heating, hot water conductive heating, infrared heating, ultrasonic heating, RF heating, etc. This necessarily requires the addition of a greater amount of energy (heating) than is deliverable by the conventional application of hot compresses which according to current practice are applied for 3-15 minutes prior to the clinician attempting to remove the obstruction. Once the obstruction is softened or liquefied, removal is obtained by the application of a regulated force to the gland. More specifically, it is contemplated by the present invention that the force applied be a repeatable controlled force, as more fully explained herein below.
Treatment to remove the obstruction will involve the application of an external regulated force to the eyelid and/or directly over the obstructed orifice to loosen the obstruction within the gland G and the orifice. The means for applying the force may be selected from one or more of a number of modalities wherein the frequency of vibration may be including low frequency vibration (generally less than 1000 Hz), sonic (generally 1000 Hz to 20,000 Hz) or ultrasonic energy (generally greater than 20,000 Hz), fluid jet such as air or water, microwave energy, needles, laser energy, RF energy, aspiration/suction, vacuum, pressure, compression and functional equivalents thereof. In addition, once a modality is chosen, the physician will have to determine the optimum treatment parameters so that each of the foregoing modalities will be applied to the eyelid such that the force (or energy, as appropriate) provided thereby is transmitted through the eyelid tissue to the obstruction. Further, the treatment intensity and length of application of these external forces will vary with the size and composition of the obstruction. Once a treatment protocol is established, the force can either be set per variable within a preselected range. Experiments were performed using an eccentric vibrating motor applied directly to the human eyelids. Bench tests of the vibration revealed the following data points, specifically setting number 3 was shown to be clinically effective to loosen the obstruction within the meibomian gland and orifice:
Once the obstruction has been loosened from the walls of the gland, it may be operated upon such that it will pass through the orifice O in a manner which causes little or no pain or discomfort to the patent. This can be accomplished by heating to soften or liquefy the obstruction up to a range of thirty seven degrees centigrade (37░ C.) to fifty degrees centigrade (50░ C.) with the preferred operating range being forty degrees centigrade (40░ C.) to forty seven degrees centigrade (47░ C.) and desired modality of forty two degrees centigrade (42░ C.) to forty six degrees centigrade (46░ C.) so that it easily passes through the orifice (or with minimal non-painful expansion thereof). Modalities for heating may include conduction, convection and radiation supplied by one or more of the following: thermal conduction, thermal convection, ultrasonic energy, laser energy, RF energy, direct and/or indirect transfer from heat source and microwave energy which may be applied for a preselected period of time. By varying the amplitude, intensity and length of application, some of the foregoing modalities may also be employed to fracture or break up the obstruction. It will be noted that a closed loop feedback control system, well known to those skilled in the art (not shown) may be employed during heating to measure temperature proximate the eyelid to ensure that the obstruction does, in fact, reach a temperature sufficient to turn the obstructive material into a flowable, liquid or semi-liquid state.
Extraction of the softened, broken apart or fractured obstruction may be accomplished by one or more of the following: needles, micro-needles, aspiration/suction, vacuum, pressure and compression. One embodiment of the invention is a suction system that is placed over the gland orifice may be employed to suck out the components of the softened, loosened or liquefied obstruction or the pieces thereof, as appropriate or alternatively, to employ suction to collect the obstruction as it exits the gland orifice. In order to be clinically effective, the foregoing modalities for extracting or expressing the obstruction should be administered in a fashion that is regulated, i.e., done in a repeatable manner.
An apparatus for unplugging the obstructed gland channel C is schematically illustrated in
Turning now to
In addition to vibration alternative force, energy, aspiration and/or chemical/pharmacological agents can be used to open up the channel C. The probe may be further equipped with aspiration means 260 (best illustrated in
In another aspect of the invention, the probe 230 may be equipped with a means for heating 270 such as a solid state heating element which may be regulated to provide relatively precise amounts of energy in the previously mentioned ranges that assists in softening, liquifying or melting the obstruction P via heat transfer through the tissue when the probe is placed against the tissue.
A second embodiment of the invention (
In operation, the clinician would place the abrasive tip 310 in contact over the gland orifice creating a seal between the tip and the skin. Movement of the probe 330 would cause the abrasive 310 on the bottom of the tip to separate the cells from the skin and the aspiration, suction or vacuum would extract the cellular material from the vicinity of the gland opening. In addition, depending upon the obstruction, aspiration, suction and/or vacuum alone may be sufficient to extract the obstruction.
Additional features may also be providing to the microdermabraision tip such as a heating element 340 which could be placed in the outer covering 335 near the tip. In addition, the inner tube 320 could be equipped such that ultrasonic energy could be delivered to the obstruction as discussed herein above.
Another embodiment of the invention may employ a chemical agent to clean the gland margin and to remove or exfoliate cells from the meibomian gland orifice. For example Ophthaine« or a similar pharmacological agent may be employed to assist in removing epithelial cells from over the gland orifice. A probe similar to that shown in
A further embodiment of the invention may deliver vibrational and/or thermal energy to the obstruction P without contacting the gland. One potential energy source is laser light supplied by titanium, argon, krypton or microwave energy. Extraction of the obstruction would be accomplished by the means described herein above.
A third embodiment of the invention employs pressure applied to the tissue as shown in
In operation, the physician would place the rollers 375 in contact with the eyelid, either inside, outside or both. Lateral movement of the rollers 375 would cause pressure to be applied to the gland to remove the obstruction. Alternatively, aspiration, suction and/or vacuum could be applied to extract the obstruction and material from the vicinity of the gland opening. In addition, depending upon the obstruction, aspiration, suction and/or vacuum alone may be sufficient to extract the obstruction.
Additional features may also be provided to the rollers such as a regulated heating element (not shown) which could be placed in the outer covering near the tip as shown in
The embodiment illustrated in
Another embodiment of the invention is shown in
Another embodiment of the invention may employ a chemical agent or compound to clean the glandular margin to remove or exfoliate cells from the gland orifice. A probe similar to that shown in
A further embodiment of the invention may deliver vibrational and/or thermal energy to the obstruction P without contacting the gland. One potential energy source is laser light supplied by a titanium-sapphire, argon, krypton, RF energy or microwave energy. Extraction of the obstruction would be accomplished by the means described herein above.
Another embodiment of the invention employs the use of chemical or pharmacological agents to open or dilate the gland and gland orifice wherein the obstruction naturally is expressed and returns the normal secretions of the gland. Alternatively, the chemical or pharmaceutical agent would be used to soften or breakup the obstruction with such obstruction being expressed with the use of devices as defined above or combinations thereof. Chemical or pharmacological agents may also be used in connection with the device for post treatment. Once the glands have been opened then chemical or pharmacological agents may be used to enhance the normal production or secretion to maintain the glands in its unblocked state.
Dilation of the meibomian gland channel and orifice may also be employed to loosen or free the obstruction from the gland walls. Dilation may be accomplished by chemical, pharmacological, or mechanical means.
Stimulation of the meibomian gland may also be employed in conjunction with the other modalities discussed above to loosen or fracture the obstruction.
As mentioned herein above, the present invention has been described in detail on conjunction with the figures in connection with the meibomian glands of the eye. The reader will note that the principals of this invention may be applied with equal efficacy to the other glands of the human body and potentially to valuable domesticated farm animals to treat various ailments.
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Why did you choose this product?
My daughter loves her new bed set. I couldn't get her to sleep in her room until the bed set came in and she just loves it now. Always reading in her room on her bed now....
Zebra Black/White 7-piece Bed-in-a-Bag with Sheet Set
ITEM#: 14346539This ultra-soft microfiber comforter set features a stylized Zebra print in black and white. The comforter and sham reverse to a solid black. The coordinating sheets feature a tonal white zebra print.
- Set includes: Comforter, two shams, (one sham with twin), flat sheet, fitted sheet and two pillowcases (one pillowcase with twin)
- Comforter pattern: Zebra
- Comforter reverse: Solid white
- Comforter detail: Printed fabric
- Sheet weave: Plain
- Fitted sheet pocket depth: 10 inches
- Fully elasticized fitted sheet: Yes
- Care instructions: Machine washable
- Materials: 100-percent polyester microfiber
Twin Dimensions
- Comforter: 64 inches wide x 86 inches long
- Sham: 20 inches wide x 26 inches long
- Flat sheet: 66 inches wide x 96 inches long
- Fitted sheet: 39 inches wide x 80 inches long
- Pillowcase: 20 inches x 30 inches
Full Dimensions
- Comforter: 76 inches wide x 86 inches long
- Sham: 20 inches wide x 26 inches long
- Flat sheet: 81 inches wide x 96 inches long
- Fitted sheet: 54 inches wide x 75 inches long
- Pillowcase: 20 inches x 30 inches
Queen Dimensions
- Comforter: 86 inches wide x 86 inches long
- Sham: 20 inches wide x 26 inches long
- Flat sheet: 90 inches wide x 102 inches long
- Fitted sheet: 60 inches wide x 80 inches long
- Pillowcase: 20 inches x 30 inches
The digital images we display have the most accurate color possible. However, due to differences in computer monitors, we cannot be responsible for variations in color between the actual product and your screen.
|Boys Girls
|Care Instruction
|Machine Wash
|Reversible Bedding
|See description
|See description
|Model Number
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Happy Camper
My daughter loves her new bed set. I couldn't get her to sleep in her room until the bed set came in and she just loves it now. Always reading in her room on her bed now.Read More
It's Ok
Sheets are kind of hard. Don't really like this set!Read More
Lady Gee
Easily fades the colors are black and white turned to grayRead More
Poor quality
Wasn't made very well. After washing started falling apart.Read More
sexy eyes
love this set, gotta order it in another color thank youRead More
Sheet set - polyester microfiber
I wish I had read the details a little better when buying this bed set. The comforter is great and washes well. The sheet set is polyester as well. My daughter hasn't used them yet, but they feel like they could be uncomfortable if you are used to cotton sheets. If you are buying for the comforter alone, I highly recommend. We will probably not use the sheets though.Read More
Zebra/Cheetah Bed-in-a Bag
I recently purchased a Cheetah Bed-in a-Bag for my granddaughter and was very pleased with the quality of the bedding and sheet set I received. The bedding is very soft and the colors very vibrant. I then again purchases a Zebra bedding set for another granddaughter and was very pleased with the quality as well. After spending some time shopping around I found the price of these items very reasonable and am happy with my choice of purchases.Read More
Waste of my hard earned money
I bought two sets. The pattern is lovely. They appeared to be of decent quality. But then I started seeing greenish smears against the wall next to both twins' bed. It was the dye rubbing off! I washed and dried the comforters per instructions. To my disappointment, the black dye washed out and bled. The black and white zebra morphed to greenish black and gray stripes. Sheets are fairly soft, but twin size fits horribly, they are so loose the corners pop off every night.Read More
I love this comforter
I need a comforter that would be soft and looked stylish. I ordered it. When I received it I was like this is nice and soft. The set includes a Comforter, fitted sheet, regular sheet, pillow case and a decorative pillow case. The comforter is reversible the black side is the softest side very fluffy. I love it and vert affordable, Thank you Overstock.Read More
Not Bad, Not Excellent, Just O.K.
This is an average bedding set and will work just fine for now. I got the twin and don't think my eyes could take anymore zebra than that size. I turned it to the black side anyway .Read More
Questions & Answers
Purchase for guest room
It should be a perfect pattern for my daughter who loves zebra print. I like that it all comes as a set, and a different color sheet set can change the whole look.
the them of my room
My grand daughter likes it very much .She is moving into a new house and wanted this design for her room.
like the grey sheet
I chose this product because I remolded my bedroom and painted it blue. I like zebra with the color blue.
My children and I suffer from Hypermobility Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and the zebra is the mascot for our medical condition because in medical school doctors are taught to look for horses not zebras and we are those medical zebras that they don't look for and we are often misdiagnosed and mistreated.
Redoing daughters bedroom
I like the pattern and color. I also found the price good.
for my son's back to college
My neice wanted it for her birthday and it was a great price compared to a lot of other places
This is a gift for a friend
my granddaughter loves the color combo.
Product looked very nice.
where are the 7 pcs??
comfoter, pillow shams. sheets and pillow cases.
it does say 7 pics ???? I orderd a twin set.. Is that why i got less???
Hello bvalenzuela,We're sorry for the confusion. The twin set comes with just one sham. Thanks for shopping with us!
The picture seems to show the reverse side as black, but the item description states white. Which is it?
Thank you for contacting us jmott. It is black on the reverse side. Please let us know if you have any further questions.
it says 7 piece , where are the other 2 piece?
Hello yaya12! This set is beautiful! The set includes one comforter, two shams, (one sham with twin), flat sheet, fitted sheet and two pillowcases (one pillowcase with twin). I hope this helps. Thanks for shopping with us.
What is the sheets thread count?
They are not cotton and, as such, are not measured in thread count.
what is the sheet thread count
Hello lexylady1, Thread count only applies to cotton. This set is 100% polyester microfiber and does not have a thread count. Thank you for shopping with us.
Is the material scratchy or very soft?
This blanket should not be scratchy. It should be soft.
is this confomforter thick?
This is a mid-weight comforter.
how thick is the comforter
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Blow me, Kesten.
Report: iPhone 4 least likely to malfunction, most likely to shatter
In a report by SquareTrade, a company that sells extended warranties for many mobile devices, Apple's iPhone 4 was found to be the device least likely to have electronic malfunctions. However, it also had the highest likelihood of breaking when dropped. From TechCrunch:
The year long study looked at 50,000 warranty replacements. The iPhone 4 had the fewest malfunctions not due to accidental damage while Motorola and HTC Android phones tied for second. As for breakage, the iPhone 4 is king of the heap with 9.4%
Not related to the possible Glassgate situation, this news is still rather off-putting in a world where the iPhone 4 is one of the greatest designed phones around -- but that design includes glass on both sides.
Does this concern any of you iPhone 4 users? Sound off in the comments!
[SquareTrade via TechCrunch]
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
Report: iPhone 4 least likely to malfunction, most likely to shatter
Also I like how it's a year long study... Really? The phone hasnt even been put 6 months yet lol!!
Actually, Ryszard, that's not what it says. It's the percentage of phones warranted by SquareTrade that had a general malfunction, water damage, or drop damage. And at that, the "accident rate" (the rate at which devices are dropped or wet) is NOT the same thing as the rate at which devices are damaged. Squaretrade says that 11.1% of iPhone 4 owners will experience drop-related damage in a year, compared to 6% of 3GS owners.
Now, where the problem is is that they have made no attempt to correct for the fact that people who buy SquareTrade warranties - which specifically DO cover accidental damage - are perhaps more likely to NOT further protect their device with covers or even gentle handling. After all, they may well reason that they're covered by their extended warranty. I'm not convinced that it's reasonable to extrapolate the accident rate for Squaretrade purchasers to people who haven't bought an extended warranty.
Ben, the report specifically says:
Given that Android phones really started gaining traction in 2010, we have 8 months of solid data for Motorola and HTC, and 4 months of data for the iPhone 4, which launched in June of this year. Using this data, we predicted the 12 month failure rates using the failure curve for other phone models.
I mean, if you don't put a case on your iPhone 4, you're dumb. That's what Otterbox is for. My red Otterbox Defeder has saved my phone more than once.
Really, it doesn't even have to be an Otterbox or bulky protective case. Any case (on any phone, for that matter) is better than none at all.
how do you have a year long study when the phones been out only like 5 months? not saying it won't shatter. i saw one. weird
"SquareTrade, a company that sells extended warranties"
Taking their report seriously is something akin to taking advice on your vacuum cleaner from a door to door salesman. Square Trade makes its coin by convincing people they need an extended warranty to protect against exactly this kind of damage. Hardly likely they will report the models aren't more prone to damage.
Sorry but the greatest designed phone doesn't shatter when you sneeze on it or lose reception when you hold it. The only reason the ifail 4 sells is because of Jobs' reality distortion field. Jobs could poop on a plate, call it wonderful and millions of ilemmings would proclaim it the greatest thing ever.
I've dropped my 4 a handful of times and there is not a nick on it. I've had a countless number of cellphones over the last decade or so and they've all taken a fall. No phone no matter the brand is going to fair well smashing the sidewalk.
I want to take my bumper off because I love the design, but fear prevents me from doing so. Right now I have a bumper and ghost armor on it, Ive dropped it tons of times with no problem. I still love the phone, I just wish that I could pull the bumper and enjoy the design.
CJ, I am on my fifth iPhone 4 and finally have a working proximity sensor. I waiting until 4.1 before going to Genius Bar and thought that if it were do to early hardware I would be fine. But instead I had replacements that did not ring, vibrate and had much worse proximity sensor issues. It was frustrating to continue to replace but glad I did. My current phone works just as well as my previous 3GS with regards to proximity sensor.
But, the study says that the iPhone 4 is least likely to malfunction not due to accidental damage. I disagree. I had 4 phones that should not have passed QA. Was I very unlucky or does Apple have a QA issue?
I don't think you can sell the argument that people who buy a warranty are less careful than people who don't.
If anything buying a warranty speaks to being MORE careful.
Its not like you can get a AD warranty from AT&T or Apple.
You are using this argument to denigrate the data, because the data "seems" to suggest a problem with a device you hold dear. Recognize that tendency in yourself, and learn to work past it.
I'm responding to this article as a pissed off iPhone consumer. I purchased the 3G, 3GS, and now 4. I didnt' have a single problem with the glass breaking, or cracking on my previous phones, but on the first day I purchased my iPhone 4, it slid off my table and cracked the bottom corner of the glass... THROUGH the case. I thought this was supposed to be revolutionary gorilla glass, or something of the sort. But now I have to keep this cracked phone, because Apple Care does not cover cracked screens. My iPhone 4 is still this shiznit, but WTF


text: Kay Elaine Schweining passed away Thursday evening, March 7, 2013 at the age of 75. Beloved daughter of Milton and Mollie Schweining, Kay was born January 1, 1938 and the 1st baby born in the New Year. Kay is survived by her brother: Barry (Butch) Schweining of Falcon CO, two children: Warren Decker of Pagosa Springs, CO, and Ronna Decker of Nacogdoches, TX; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Kay will be remembered for her love of the Lord, her humor, and how she loved to quilt. Kay never met a stranger and was always one to help out anyone in need.


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August 3, 2015
Eastbound SH 21 West Lanes Closed at SH 47-I am happy to report that all lanes of SH 21 are now open. This is what we know, a tractor trailer hauling a trackhoe on SH 21 eastbound hit the SH 47 bridge. TxDOT patched the roadway where the trackhoe fell on SH 21. There was no concrete damage to the SH 47 bridge. No one was hurt in this accident.
TxDOT has closed the eastbound lanes of SH 21 West at SH 47 because the bridge has been hit by a heavy load. Eastbound traffic on SH 21 west is begin detoured down SH 47. Crews are on the scene accessing the damage.
We hope to have the eastbound lanes reopen by 3pm this afternoon.
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Five NFL executives polled by NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah believe South Carolina junior DE Jadeveon Clowney's dip in production is only a minor concern.
FSU HC Jimbo Fisher says junior Jalen Ramsey can play S, but his NFL position is CB.
Akron is still not recognizing dismissed Oklahoma State junior WR/RB Tyreek Hill on their roster.
Texas A&M HC Kevin Sumlin called sophomore DE Myles Garrett a blend of Adrian Peterson, Jean-Claude Van Damme and a cat.
USF redshirt sophomore QB Asiantii Woulard is applying for a waiver to earn immediate eligibility after transferring from UCLA.
Michigan State junior RB Delton Williams will officially rejoin the football team in mid-August.
Miami sophomore RB Joe Yearby has returned to the school and team activities.
An NFC scout said his team has two grades on Ohio State graduate Braxton Miller, with the "athlete" grade "much… better."
247Sports reports that South Carolina HC Steve Spurrier told 2017 four-star quarterback recruit Jake Fromm he would "stay at South Carolina six more years" if Fromm committed to the Gamecocks.
NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah believes OSU redshirt junior Cardale Jones is the most talented QB in the 2016 class.
Texas HC Charlie Strong has already stated he will use two quarterbacks in the season opener against Notre Dame.
Braxton Miller's father says his son still considers himself a QB first and a move to a hybrid receiver position is a backup plan.


text: I think Doctor Sleep sounds like it's going to be fantastic! The Shining is probably my favourite book by King - and the idea of this sequel and the story it's going to tell sounds absolutely amazing, must read stuff! January 2013 can't come fast enough, and there's still plenty of unread King books to keep me occupied until then!


text:
Rachel Dove-Baldwin
Staff Writer
WILLIAMSON — The first baby of the New Year for the Tug Valley area decided to not make her debut until Friday, Jan. 4, at the Williamson Memorial Hospital. At 11:40 a.m., Karsynn Mae Johnson, weighing 6 lbs and 11 oz. entered the world, much to her family's joy.
Karysynn is the daughter of Tabitha Wright and Curtis Johnson of Warfield, Ky., and the sister of Kaddence Johnson. Her maternal grandparents are David and Margie Wright of Crum and paternal grandparents are Linda Jude and the late Gregory Johnson of Warfield. Karysynn was delivered by Dr. N.S. Panwar.


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Engineering Ring Ceremony
Engineering Ring Ceremony and Pledge of the Computing Professional
10:00 a.m.
Welcome, Dr. Eric T. Baumgartner
Invocation, Dr. Jed Marquart
Order of the Engineer - a solemn obligation to oneself "to uphold devotion to the standards and teh dignity of the engineering profession." It is an obligation to turn to "practical use, the principles of science and the means of technology...to serve humanity by making the best use of earth's precious wealth."
History of the Engineer's Ring, Dr. Eric T. Baumgartner
Acceptance of the Obligation of an Engineer, Prof. Laurie K. Laird
Presentation of the Rings, Ring Bearers
Charge for the Order of the Engineer, Dr. Eric T. Baumgartner
Pledge of the Computing Professional History and Purpose, Dr. John Estell
Induction Oath, Dr. John Estell
Presentation to Initiates, Dr. John Estell


text:
The Erie BayHawks were part of the top two plays of the D-League Top 5 Plays of the Week for Dec. 17-24.
No. 2. Mychel Thompson's reverse lay up at Springfield. The BayHawks won 127-119.
No. 1. Boston Celtics rookie 7-footer Fab Melo blocked a D-League single-game record 14 shots for the Maine Red Claws against BayHawks. Erie won the game, 85-78.
Me personally, the best play of them all is No. 3: JaJuan Johnson, who used to play for the Boston Celtics, served up a facial on Melo.


text:
We're finally here. I'm happy to be out of the trash can we call our car and semi-unpacked. We had a nice stay in Portland, then drove up the coast through Cannon Beach and into Washington. I managed to visit a few quilt shops, the top one is still my all time favorite. If you ever get a chance to go to Rupert, ID….GO, its worth the drive. Then I made it to Fabric Depot in Portland. Lots of you told me to check this one out, and now I see why! They had so much fabric, and everything was on sale, and it was packed full of nice little old ladies ramming each other down with shopping carts.
Honestly that store totally overwhelmed me, I just walked around for about an hour with drool coming out of my mouth not knowing where to start. I came home with a little stack, mainly because I have a hard time remembering what I already have…..which means I probably have too much fabric already.
Hopefully I'll get some sewing done this week. I'm trying to make myself excited to quilt the 9 patch quilt, but its just not happening, so unless I have any volunteers to quilt it for me (anyone??????:) it will probably stay in its cozy little storage bin for awhile longer.


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|155 posts found
Novice Member
Joined: 8/09/09
This is seriously a shame. The Secret World is one of the best MMORPG's in the last five years. The story telling and emersion are the absolute pinacle in MMORPG's at the moment and its a crying shame this game isn't getting more attention like the hype machine GW2.
Spiritsever - AR/Ele - The Secret World
Ashmaker - Ranger < Prophets > - Age of Conan - #1 in Kills
Sweety - Sorceress < Infinite Darkeness > - SWTOR - 2.6K PvP Rating
??? - Pilot - ??? - EVE
Symir - Swordmaster - Warhammer - RR100
Dreadnaught - Rogue - Rift
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Novice Member
Joined: 5/10/06
Funcom really did it to themselves with this one. They got the product out just ahead of their competitors, but failed to move beyond the dated mechanics such as mob tapping, the horrifically idiotic trinity system, clunky combat mechanics, etc etc. They brought good atmosphere and story, and a much needed improvement of having to think about puzzles. The technical problems were pretty bad, such as chat not working, and puzzle mechanics seemingly not able to handle multiple players(how do you miss this during MMO design?). Add in PVP being an absolute shallow joke, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Novice Member
Joined: 11/25/08
"releasing TSW less than two months before the much more familiar and touted Guild Wars 2 and less than three months before WoW: Mists of Pandaria was a big mistake"
Novice Member
Joined: 11/30/11
Reading this over when people say they dont care for the game. that the game itself has something wrong with it (this usually means something along the lines of gameplay or Story) however i keep hearing constantly about Money related things. Sorry to tell you this, but thats not part of the game. its part of the games buisness model. Anyone who says that the end game is Holy trinity based hasnt played the endgame. Sorry but saying you played the endgame based of Elites is wrong. Play a nightmare where if you try to simply Holy trinity your way through a boss, you will die horribly.
Because i can.
Novice Member
Joined: 4/27/10
Originally posted by HeroEvermore
Yeah, we all got our many lovely gaming years in high fantasy, we grew up on it, some on mmos some on single player games. I do enjoy TSW and will continue to play it, but I also need my fantasy fix, and now that GW is out I even don't have to pay monthly for it. For me those 2 games are in perfect balance :)
Novice Member
Joined: 2/15/10
Well said, you two. I'm enjoying TSW, I'm happy to pay the monthly sub, and I'm looking forward to more great content and gameplay.
Novice Member
Joined: 3/20/12
For TSW to get more people playing it above 200,000, it needs a better combat system, and better more flouid animations to go along with it. Everything else in the game is great, but when it is an MMO and fighting is what you do for 97% of the time you are in the game and that is very lacking, players just aren't going to spend the money and sub for 15$ a month. Maybe with the change in the combat they dropped the sub to 7$ or even 5$ with the cash shop maybe players wouldn't feel like Funcom is just being greedy.
Novice Member
Joined: 3/17/10
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different"
200k is pretty dissapointing. I thought there was enough interest for 500k tbh. I really like TSW but i also really like GW2 and GW2 doesnt cost me 15 a month so........
Playing: PO, EVE
Advanced Member
Joined: 6/22/05
Yea the game really ran awful in beta, I had a dual core e8500, 4870 ati card 4 gigs ram on win xp and had to run it on low settings. That and peope were saving for guild wars 2 cut down the subs, although 200k is not bad
Novice Member
Joined: 11/07/10
I played with a friend during beta and I can tell you why I never got the game.
1) Graphics. Had the faint hint of unreality and looked 2-3 years out of date. All of the characters looked like they were zonked out on prozac. Unfocused stare. Weaving side-to-side. Think uncanny valley. Made it really hard to watch the cutscenes.
2) Gameplay. Seemed like a lot of grinding of mobs and IMO some mobs were beyond the reasonable level of the grinder.
3) Story. Seemed really good. I can't say I really got into it but I think that was more of playing the beta rather than a bad story. Definately not a reason I didn't play the game.
Old School
Joined: 3/08/04
Players come for the game, but they stay for the people- Most Devs have forgotten this.
Originally posted by BadSpock
Agreed Spock
Novice Member
Joined: 12/14/03
I didn't find TSW all the refreshing. For all the changes that Funcom made from the skills to the story and world setting, it comes down to one simple fact. TSW is just another themepark in a MMO genre full of other themeparks. In the end, there is not that much different about it to make it standout.
I just want to say here this comment is misleading for me. I think the reason why there are so many MMO game hoopers is firstly the games arent very good. Secondly they offer little to no long term sustainment. Thirdly, they are designed with the McMMO philosophy and lastly there is ZERO lasting appeal. WHat I mean is the reason why MMOs became popualr is because they were designed with the explicit goal of creating a "Vrtual World" Now a days MMO's are designed as a game . TSW is no exception. The game started out great for me. It was original, fun and immersive but complete the main storyline and your treated to a WoW gear threadmill clone without any raiding or group finder support.
Untill MMO's revert to their roots and create worlds instead of games this trend will continue. We need MMO's designed that are hard, detailed and takes a minimum of 6+ months for even the most diehard hardcore gamer to get to max level. We need real meaninful death and we need incentives for socializing, grouping, crafting, exploring and living in the world. Remove all vestiges of vertical progression.
Novice Member
Joined: 12/14/07
I play, pay the subscription fees, and can say 100% that my friends who game whether they are hardcore WoW heads or Rift people or whatever mmo of the day they are playing, they have tried TSW and find nothing wrong with combat or story or progression. They find it to be refreshing and there are places that you find very dark with things that aren't really there moving in the shadows(or at least they might not be there). The only things that need work are all the buggy quests and a better way to organize inventory. And with the factions I have ran quite a few "faction" quest lines and can say that sure I wish there were more early on (but I'm barely into egypt) and feel this is far superior to SWTOR and combat is way better than Tera. my 2 cents, but a solid game if more people would give it a shot.
Novice Member
Joined: 11/07/10
I gotta agree with Zylaxx. I've had the most fun playing the MMOs where a lot of the time was spend on class and race quests. Now-a-days it's almost a waste to play more than one character as 95+% of the game are the exact same quests. It's like getting a PS3 game and playing it over and over with slightly different strategies. Having a good guild with socializing and an offbeat sense of humor makes it fun to play, but it doesn't really change the gameplay at all.
SWTOR is a great example, play as a Chiss Bounty Hunter and a Human Sith Warrior and how much of the gameplay itself is different? Maybe 10% of the quests if that? Now add PvP and the percentage of time playing a different game is small. Guess what game I don't play anymore.
Novice Member
Joined: 7/28/12
Originally posted by BadSpock
The game has a number of bugs and issues, just like every other game, that's for sure, and it won't be appealing to everyone, but in my opinion, the good greatly outweighs the bad.
Take GW2 for instance. In my opinion, a shallow game with a generic and horrible story, awful voice acting, repetitive and tedious "dynamic" events, worst generic pve content I've ever seen in the form of "hearts", questionable game design (auto pilot attack, dungeons only starting at level 30, people being able to level up and get rewards with little to no effort at all via mindless pve zergs, more mindless zergs in pvp, getting rid of the "trinity" is not exactly good design as many people still love playing predefined roles), and I could go on.
People have different tastes and opinions, but I believe what is making a big difference in these times of economic hardship and f2p entitlement mentality is the subscription based model.
Look at Tera. It doesn't get a lot of attention anywhere. It launched only 4 months ago in the west, and it is pretty decent, and still its playerbase is very small. I know because I play the game.
What about Rift ? In spite of being labeled many times as a "wow clone" it gets a lot of praise for all the updates and polish it gets on a regular basis, and while it has a decent population, it is estimated to be in the 200k-300k range. Not exactly a huge success by 2012 standards (200-300k would have been huge back in 2002 for instance). But again, the game has a few good points.
SWTOR ? In spite of all the hate it receives, it is one of the best story-driven games I've played, and it has plenty of content. People not enjoying said content is a totally different story, but it had an excellent playerbase at launch in terms of number of people playing. With the switch to f2p it will attract LOTS of people, just look at the freeloaders on this site saying "I hate the game, but I'll go and finish my class story for free". I don't know if the f2p conversion will be a success for EA/Bioware, but the change in business model will at least increase the playerbase.
These are only a few examples of games, that along with TSW, have not seen the kind of financial success their developers were aiming for. The obvious exception here of course is World of Warcraft. And I believe the reason for this is that Blizzard built the vast majority of their playerbase a few years ago when sub based games were the norm, and not the exception.
Players have spent so many many hours into their characters and have developed strong ties with their friends and guilds through the years (Heck it took me 6 years of uninterrupted gameplay to finally say goodbye to WoW) that I don't see WoW changing their business model anytime soon, if ever.
But even Blizzard has experienced a slow but steady decline in population in recent years with the rising in popularity of new business models, something they have to keep an eye on and find ways to keep their sub based model attractive to their playerbase, or just see their player numbers slowly decrease every year.
Now think for a moment about GW2 launch, and slap a $14.99 monthly fee instead of its current B2P business model. It's not going to happen, but I'm pretty sure this game would not be selling nearly as well as it's doing right now with a P2P business model, especially with the technical issues that popped up during headstart. Just look at threads with people saying things like " Oh it's not like we're losing game time. The game doesn't have a sub. Give them time, they'll fix it". It seems people are way more forgiving if they don't have to pay any extra money after paying for a game box. These are usually the same kind of people who were outraged at SWTOR for the long queues and some technical issues at launch.
Now in other threads you see the typical " This game is so good that yes, I'd pay a sub". While I don't doubt that many people would actually do this, again, I believe GW2 would not have sold half the boxes it's sold so far with a subscription attached to it.
My conclusion is that making a good game is just not enough to appeal to a large number of players in the MMO industry nowadays. Game studios need to really start looking into alternate business models to be profitable and competitive.
I have no problems paying for entertainment. Right now I have 5 active subscriptions (Tera, SWTOR, Rift, AoC, and Station Access for EQ2 and DCUO) and I also purchased lifetime for TSW, and that's perfectly fine with me, but I think I'm not the average MMO gamer, and I hope that Funcom and other gaming companies make the necessary adjustments to stay in business and keep providing us gamers with this excellent form of entertainment.
P.S I stand by all my comments about GW2, and still think it's a shallow and mediocre game at best, but to those playing it, hope you have a good time. I have plenty of entertainment at hand.
Novice Member
Joined: 9/12/11
The storyline and cutscenes are the best MMO's can offer at the moment. It's a pure delight to follow the quest lines, just because of the intelligent, witty and extremely well acted cutscenes. These are the real rewards of the game.
To understand what I mean compare the cutscenes in TSW and SWTOR with certain adverts in the UK
-SWOTOR: The horrible "Go compare" adverts where you switch channel or tell the guy to stfu
-TSW: The witty and entertaining "Compare the Meerkat" adverts that you want to see again and again
I will most certainly continue to support Funcom
Originally posted by HeroEvermore
Got any screenshots?
Novice Member
Joined: 9/30/04
I find the gameplay to be boring and repetitive, to such an extent that I really don't see myself playing TSW even if goes f2p. The features sound great on paper but the execution is horrible.
Novice Member
Joined: 7/09/06
I like TSW, once it goes F2P i think it'll do fine


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Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Dear Editor:
Alzheimer's is the most expensive disease and its prevalence is only growing.
I watched my parents struggle day to day to make it through the past 10 years of my father's battle with this condition, until it claimed his life in January of this year.
My father, who was a hard working husband and father, proudly served for 20 years with the U.S. Navy, followed by 25 years with the U.S. Postal Service. Relying on my father's meager retirement and Social Security, my parents made just enough to place them out of reach of any funding relief. Nursing homes have long waiting lists for people with Alzheimer's, and due to the care required are also very expensive unless you have planned ahead and established a long-term healthcare policy, which is almost unattainable for the middle-income families.
Even though my father served and sacrificed unselfishly for the U.S. Navy, there was very little assistance available for him through the VA Benefits.
My mother, who battles her own health issues, cared for my father 24/7, with the limited assistance she was able to receive from Hospice Pallative Care towards the end. My mother would not have changed what she had done for my father, though honestly she also had no other options.
I have seen the physical/emotional toll it has taken upon her and the decline in her health as well. I have also seen other family members and friends go through this battle, walking our very same footsteps.
This disease not only affects the individual, but the caregiver as well. Today there are more than 5 million Americans living with this disease and 15.4 million caregivers.
We are at a critical moment, and I urge you to reach out to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key member of the U.S. Senate appropriations Subcommitte on Health to support a strong National Alzheimer's Plan with the needed resources for patients and caregivers, including funding of $100 million in fiscal year 2014 for Alzheimer's research, education, and outreach and caregiver support services.
Teena Wyatt
Moncks Corner
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|161 posts found
Managing Editor
Joined: 7/08/05
MMORPG.com Columnist Scott Jennings returns this week to talk about the gold farming problem in MMORPGs and addresses three of the most common myths about gold farming and how MMO companies react to them.
Read Jennings: Real Money, Real Problems.
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Novice Member
Joined: 1/03/07
"Inanimate objects must pay for their insolence"
I'll probably get flamed for this but....
1.) No trading between characters/accounts at all. You sell or give your item (acquired by crafting or looting) to an NPC or an NPC auction house and they resell it to another player at a fixed rate(or variable based on in game availablity of the item at the time of sale) - and then send you back the money.
2.) Force antivirus on the client - same as business VPN solutions - if your not running AV or it is not up to date, then you fail the logon.
3.) Run your own scan after the AV check - looking for keyloggers or IP/MAC spoofing software on the client. - Do this in the open - not hiding it from the client.
4.) Ban people caught in RMT based on IP/MAC/credit card information.
5.) Enforce password complexity.
For starters...
Novice Member
Joined: 1/06/04
A friend's WoW account was hacked. The guild noticed almost immediately, alerted Blizzard through standard channels (in-game petitions, emails, etc.), and it still took several hours for Blizzard to act. During that time, the gold farmer took everything he could from the guild bank, sold every item on most of the characters of that account and mailed it off to other characters, and started up a mining bot for the character with the highest mining skill. When the account was finally shutoff and returned to its owner, the mining character was almost full with mined ore.
We have two problems here:
1) The lack of response to multiple people telling Blizzard an account has been hijacked.
2) The lack of response to a bot being used to farm resources for several hours.
I will say this for Blizzard - after about a week and a lot of hassle, the account has been mostly restored to its former status.
Elite Member
Joined: 1/06/05
Originally posted by dterry
No flaming from me. I've actually thought about #1 for quite some time. Sure, players who enjoy being in game moguls will get upset but there is no reason that every game has to be about every aspect of the mmo experience.
I've often thought that not allowing any direct transfers between characters is the way to go.
Novice Member
Joined: 8/05/04
did he get to keep the ore? :)
I understand why some players think the devs/support team dont care about goldfarmers, as in some games it is very hard to report them and often take you some time to do, and it take days before anything is done.
While other games it takes you max 5 secs, and the goldseller/spammer is delt within 5 mins.
Novice Member
Joined: 10/17/07
Number one will alienate some of your customers [including me]. IMO, the proposed cure is worse than the disease. I think the only way MMO companies will ever defeat the farmers is to beat them at their own game. Although Lum didn't mention EVE [he hates scifi games :) ] I like what CCP has done with game time cards as a mechanism to allow players to convert real money into isk.
Novice Member
Joined: 10/05/09
No I aint dead yet, I just smell that way.
Ihave played alotta game for a good many yrs, and have seen the growth of gold farmer exployed. I have seen why to I call this the play station era, for alotta yrs now a kid gets a playstaion or xbox what ever game concil they want, and what the first thing they do is go online and get all the cheat codes, why so they dont have to actually do the work, and that is one of the big things gold spammers do for coin. I have a frien had 8 toons payed for each 1 to be powrlvled and say 200g per he paid bout 400 in real money he and his friends who all do same thing, "Oh I want that oh no funds no prob just buy some gold and its mine", so i say it starts long before they start playing in larger MMo's.
I played DAOC since beta till this yr bout may, and I seen were they boot them withing 20 min to still seeing them a week later. I also seen how it ruined the economy for regular players cause they cannot afford 200plat for a item no were near that. How do i try to fix that I report as sooon as i see a goldspammer, but i make all the crafters that way i dont pay the coin for it and get fairly good equipment .I liked Daoc cause crafters made best stuff so i had top the line stuff, u say that takes forever, well I do play the game to play not just to brag what i got and u dont.It didnt fix the prob but mayed it easier for me to ignore what i couldnt stop. I play to play and paying for someone to lvl a toon (am old man, and believe in earning my own way) is not even a question in my book.
Advanced Member
Joined: 1/01/06
Originally posted by battleaxe
Do not confuse the lack of visable immediate action with a lack of response. This is one of the common mistakes that our instant gratification generation makes. Instead just read through your post carefully and see why the Providor may have waited and watched for a little bit before simply banning. The hacker/gold farmer created a trail. Honestly Blizzard, Scott or anyone who deals with this does not want to simply shut down and ban a single hacked account. They want to ban a whole trail and where possible shutdown a process. That means observing and generating logs of what they do. Where did that hacker send gold and items? How did he dispose of things? WHat in game mechanisms did he use? What other accounts were touched? How far out did the account relays chain? How was the mining bot behaving? Where was it being run? over what sort of patern? Is there something about it that could be detected by Warden? How are those resources being used or distributed?
Yes, instantly locking down and banning a hacked character does prevent a certain level of annoyance to the guild and the players. But most of that damage can be easily undone. Whereas instantly banning the hacker simply gives info to the hacker himself on how the games security and CS works. Sometimes it is better to wait and watch a little bit. (This is not saying that your friend did not simply hit an extended CS queue or an after hours point where a response may have been otherwise delayed.)
Advanced Member
Joined: 1/01/06
Originally posted by Sovrath
No flaming from me. I've actually thought about #1 for quite some time. Sure, players who enjoy being in game moguls will get upset but there is no reason that every game has to be about every aspect of the mmo experience.
I've often thought that not allowing any direct transfers between characters is the way to go.
It won't work for more then a few hours. Many of the RMT transactions now are provided through in game auction services and similar. Dummy transactions used to mask the actual purpose.
Advanced Member
Joined: 8/17/09
Gratz on a successful job hunt, Lum. :)
It's a tough balancing act for MMOs: how to keep the paying customers happy, how to keep the bad guys out, how to keep the game fun to play. The trick seems to be balancing just enough to make it workable and worthwhile for the majority, which means the minorities will still have plenty to complain about. It's tough on everyone.
Novice Member
Joined: 2/19/04
I thik the first step to combating this problem is simple: Transaction regulations on box sales.
My point is that someone is buying all these accts, and you bet the company can track down certain sales and where they originate, and if they cant that seems pretty silly to me.
I play all ghame
Ultima Online Correspondent
Joined: 10/29/06
Blessed be the lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.
NCSoft definitely needs a watch dog for gold sellers. Have you logged into Aion? It's atrocious. Well....the game is too, but the gold spammers are even worse. I remember playing Ultima when it first came out and the only spam I ever saw was people at the bank in Britain yelling about things they had for sale, as there were no auction houses in MMO's at the time.
Ah the good old days of actual communication.
Novice Member
Joined: 12/10/07
The leg is good. It''ll bleed plenty and we avoid any necessary organs.
So here is the rub. NcSoft stated those exact things 4 years ago. I know because I posted them verbatum on the website after my evening with gmSpam.
So in those years, NcSoft has lost confidence because of the continuation of the preception of the botting and the gold selling. Interesting part is, in game, everyone knows who is doing it, but NcSoft waited too long in Lineage 2 land to deal with the issue. The market in the North American games is now reliant on them because of the usebase numbers don't support the current drop rates needed for the crafting of high level objects.
In the newer game, NcSoft has tried to be proactive but alas, these same issues dog them. If that is what you are going to focus on, you have gmSpam who feels as strongly as you do, but the tools to stop this are lacking. NcSoft America was assured by their Korean counterparts that better tools would be available to stop all of this.
The bottom line is it can't be stopped because the financial benefits of the goldsellers and the botters far outweights the what NcSoft can throw at the problem via GM's and active reporting.
And it is not the deman sir, it is the game mechanics design that is truly the issue here. Look at it really from NcSoft's side. A bit of gold to a person who doesn't have 24/7 to devote to a game, keeps a paying customer in the game longer, balances the playing area against the kid that can stay in game forever and allows everyone to progress. The company of NcSoft doesn't want ot loose paying customers but it has to balance this with the ones who twink themselves to be the top of the server and drive everyone else out of the game because of the imbalance given via the armors and weapon levels.
While your intentions are fine and good, it ultimatle comes down to the game's design to be fixed so these in game assessts don't mean as much as they do now and allow for all kinds of game players to be able to compete at some decent level.
Fruity Oaty Bars!
Hard Core Member
Joined: 3/19/09
well the first will pretty much make the GMs or the game be the economy, simple put player would not have any control over ir anymore, what would cause people not to play together.
ban for ip /mac, pc adress name or whatever you can simulate another mac, ip using other programs so it do nothing.
the problem for rmt is have people who buy from then, is almost the same thing was buying stealed things if you buy you are helping then to continue they work. so you would need to hunt not only the gold seller, but also the buyer what I see some people complain about it, to ignore buyers and just go after the gold seller.
and I really hope no one do what blizzard and the publisher of the eve are doingnow making some extra money selling pets(even if make no diference in game) or selling money or any other item, I really hate the mode of subs + RMT on the same game, when I see a game like that I just move on.
and to our friend Scott Jennings here (I hope you read this ^^) since i'm playing aion I can say one thing, almost all the gold seller keep a shop open with they site there in the citys, sometimes one or another yell on LFG chats or even send tell to others, having a lvl limit just make then have a little more work, putting a limit of 30 min make no diference for me or anyone who can make a optical mouse move alone (you just need a nice piece of paper) so even when I wnat to sell things using a personal shop I could just leave him there for all nigh, pretty much what people do to make the gold seller less annoying don't work and that normally piss off the normal player.
but in the end the only way I see any game can be free from gold sellers is people not buy from then, when we still have people buying this thing will happen.
and I only saw one game really free for gold seller and it was a F2P game from aeria, because money there was easy to make and people there don't buy from then, also from that time money used a slot so can't have a lot of money back then
Apprentice Member
Joined: 1/12/05
NCSoft has a great feature in City of Heroes, global ignore. Instead of just ignoring 1 character with a gibberish name, you ignore ALL characters that account makes. Now developers could use this to see if any account gets mass global ignores, that would be 1 sign that it's a gold spammer.
Another simple solution is have a GM 24/7 that watches the main trade/general/global channel. They are (in theory) online anyways monitoring petitions, so would not be hard to have a window up showing whatever channel the spammers frequent. The moment he sees one, boot that person offline and suspend the account.
Also, delete the account on anyone caught buying items thru the RMT market. Sure buy that gold, get your epic mount then POOF your 80 toon is gone forever as well as any alts you may have. No excuses, no exceptions, delete the player's account. They can be free to start a new one if they wish.
I think checking for antivirus software before allowing login would fine too, as long as it is clearly stated the client is doing that check.
Novice Member
Joined: 12/10/07
The leg is good. It''ll bleed plenty and we avoid any necessary organs.
How can NcSoft be 100% sure you bought gold with r/l money. With in our clan there are loans, gifts, rewards all the time in adena and we talk about them in Vent, so no log of those transactions and why would be in game as reference. Also, there is the abiltiy to scam people so if you look for something being sold at a very high price, you ban both players?
No, NcSoft can't just ban. They must be so sure and that is the 2nd rub of the gm's life. It would be nice if they grep'd the sql logs every morning, ran a report to see the amount of adena that changed hands and looked further, but now you have the real problem of places selling in game items too for real life money. How does one track and kill those? Can't be done unless someone says something stupid in chat.
We don't have the gold spammers in Lineage 2 that much any more, but the global block wouldn't help much. They need to be able to kill those accounts as fast as they spam their announcements. That would require Ncsoft to double or triple the GM staff and up their training and find gm's that love the game and not just borg's looking for a paycheck.
Fruity Oaty Bars!
Apprentice Member
Joined: 5/19/04
It seems to me the main problem of every company is a lack of software (or additional function in the game) that able to monitor simple things like character names, time spent in game and so on. Take Aion, for example. I know, NCsoft developed a special tool to prove the bot from a normal customer (like placing some item on the ground that only bot program can target). Nice thing but only for individual work. And in Aion we have hundreds of bots. You need enormous time to get them all this way. Yet, the simplest things like inappropriate names, 24/7 play time, IP changes – all seems to be ignored.
Bitter Vet™
Joined: 9/13/06
Fools find no pleasure in understanding, but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Good article outlining the problems RMT presents the industry, addresses some of the long standing myths and assumptions, and lacks in only one real area, potential solutions to the problem. (which I'm sure OP is keeping close to the vest in light of his new position with NCSoft).
There are many possible solutions, from more active enforcement using GM's, algorithms that scan for illegal gold trading activities and perhaps, just maybe, designing a game so that told buying and selling has little real impact on the game world. (which many companies are doing of course)
Each solution has pluses and minues of course, and its not an issue that will soon go away.
In my day MMORPG's were so hard we fought our way through dungeons in the snow, uphill both ways.
Novice Member
Joined: 10/09/06
Amusingly, and paradoxically, every party in this mess has the same interests:
Players, Developers, GMs and Goldsellers all need the company in question to try their best to ban, restrict and hinder Goldsellers, as long as they do not do so by devalueing farmable ingame items or currency.
Why would a Goldseller want GMs to ban him? Well, of course he would prefer if the GM banned all other Goldseller Chars but his own, but since that isnt likely, and backdoor deals are simply not done (kudos for bringing that up, Lum!), he ll take the good with the bad.
THe reason is that the product, or service, of the Goldseller rises and falls in value depending on the popularity of the game, which in turn relies on its playability and health.
Goldfarmers, esp. rampant Botting, cause large damage to the game, make some areas almost impossible to play in, and generally esp. in the western markets drive off players and damage the ingame economy. If Goldsellers were left alone to their devices, within weeks the competing companies would, in an attempt to outdo each other, overrun the entire server with their bots, drive off the players, kill off the server for most intents and purposes, if not the entire game. Of course, that inevitably renders their investment (time, accounts, workhours, hardware etc.) useless: They have effectively killed their own market. Already beforehand, sales will drop fast as people lose confidence in the game.... few people will buy ingame currency if there just isnt much of a gameworld left.
Thus, as long as you dont get rid of the Goldsellers entirely, every ban is a minor increase in quality of gameplay, and thus raises the value of the Goldsellers service, because it keeps people playing, and that means it keeps giving goldbuyers reason to buy.
Not to go into the motivations for gold buying too much, but many do it to be richer than the people around them, to show off their superior equipment and luxury items, and the less people there are, the less useful these things become.
At this time, I believe the RMT problem has to be incorporated and solved at basic game design level. Its not something you can viably battle through customer service anymore, it got too big and too professional.
Elite Member
Joined: 1/06/05
Originally posted by faefrost
It won't work for more then a few hours. Many of the RMT transactions now are provided through in game auction services and similar. Dummy transactions used to mask the actual purpose.
but you have to read his whole solution. And yes, this will not work for people whose main purpose is to buy and sell.
His solution is that you sell to npc's. Npc's sell to the players and at a controlled price point or price range.
So you won't get one person selling a piece of thread for a million of the current currency.
One could still make money by collecting and crafting but they wouldn't be able to charge huge sums for their wares. I realize people would hate this but since I've always hated the whole economy thing it would work for me just fine.


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