The Championship Gaming Series has announced its second World of Warcraft Arena championship, to be held in June and July later this year. It'll be a 3v3 tourney, and CGS is taking its cues from Blizzard -- they've got their own Arena realm to hold it on, and all the options on the official tournament realm will be available on theirs, too.
In fact, it sounds like the tournament is actually starting on the live realms themselves -- CGS says that they're going to invite the top 1,000 Arena teams from North America and Europe, so if you're one of those buy wow gold, you can probably expect an email with an invite. The actual tournament takes place in June, with the finals in Los Angeles on July 19th, and the winner netting a $25,000 purse. The second place team gets half of that ($12,500), and the 3rd and 4th place teams will each take home $6,250.
Nice work if you can get it cheap wow gold. Good luck to everyone out there.
2008年5月20日星期二
Ready Check: The Twin Eredars
Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, ZA or Sunwell Plateau world of warcraft, everyone can get in on the action and get mad purpz. Today, we encounter Mary-Kate and Ashley. The fourth encounter in the Sunwell, the Eredar Twins is a really interesting fight -- a ballet of managing debuffs, of exact positioning, of not blowing up the raid. The Twins themselves are Lady Sacrolash and Grand Warlock Alythess, one 'shadow twin' who deals melee damage and one 'fire twin' who casts fire spells at the tank. Unlike some previous 'twin' encounters, their health is not linked; when one dies buy wow gold, the surviving twin gains some of her abilities, so you can choose which to kill first.
The encounter itself is very flexible and dozens of guilds have come up with different strategies, so we're not going to dictate the "must-follow" hard and fast rules here cheap wow gold. Instead, let's take a look at the bosses and their abilities and provide you with the tools to come up with your own plan of attack, along with some tips and tricks.
The encounter itself is very flexible and dozens of guilds have come up with different strategies, so we're not going to dictate the "must-follow" hard and fast rules here cheap wow gold. Instead, let's take a look at the bosses and their abilities and provide you with the tools to come up with your own plan of attack, along with some tips and tricks.
2008年5月19日星期一
Around Azeroth: Rules lawyer, rules
Okay, I'll level with you -- this is not an Around Azeroth. This is a picture I made for someone special.
You see, today's my dad's sixtieth birthday world of warcraft gold. He didn't want us to get him anything. But I wanted to do something for him, even though he's a thousand miles away. So I made him into a tauren. He's all dressed up to defend a client in court, but is also ready to go fishing afterwards. The club with a nail in it represents the fact that you can't get a fishing pole until level 5, so I figured he could use a more primitive form of fly-fishing until then.
My dad was born in a small town in eastern Wisconsin, and was the first person in his family to go to college. He served in the military before going to law school. He's spent most of his life defending people, rich, poor, guilty or innocent. Even if they were guilty, he would say, his job was important wow gold, because even guilty people need a good lawyer to keep the system fair and honest. He's been married for over thirty years, raised two daughters, and has traveled everywhere from Argentina to Italy. He also owns a bottle opener with the pope's head on top, which he refers to as the Popener and never fails to bring out at family gatherings.
But what does this have to do with WoW? Well, my dad is the whole reason I'm writing here today. When I was seven, he bought an original Nintendo, ostensibly for the kids but really for him. We used to play Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy together, with him doing the controller and me "advising" him on where to go next. We even played that horrible game Shadowgate that always ended with a description of your gory death cheap wow gold. My dad got me into gaming, and thus is responsible for every article I've written here for the past year and a half. Considering that, one paragraph of reading about his life isn't too much to ask.
Happy birthday, Dad.2008年5月18日星期日
All The World's A Stage: RP on a non-RP server
No David this week, I'm sorry to report. No, you're stuck with me. Before we get rolling, I'll establish my 'cred' wow, so to speak. I started playing Dungeons and Dragons in 1981, when I was ten years old. You can scroll down the page at the Acaeum till you hit the eight edition: that's the set my mom bought for me at a local department store. To this day I still remember the Erol Otus cover. From there, it's been a long, rambling flirtation with the genre, from AD&D to the Hero System (Champions mostly) to Steve Jackson's GURPS to the various FASA offerings (mostly Mechwarrior and Shadowrun world of warcraft, I liked Earthdawn but no one else wanted to play it) to Chaosium's Pendragon and Call of Cthulhu lines (and Stormbringer, the Elric RPG) to the present day, with d20 system games like Mutants and Masterminds and Arcana Evolved ans well asWhite Wolf's Exalted setting being in my current pile.
As a result, when I first got into World of Warcraft, I was under the impression that you were expected to role play your character. My poor human paladin (who I had decided had been sent to the order as a child because his parents didn't particularly care to feed yet another mouth after the war cheap wow gold, and who was frankly too slow to grasp book learning to make a good priest) quickly learned that any attempt to discuss epic adventure, make comments about how boring life at the Abbey had been, or even treat kobolds as anything other than copper shedding piñatas to be beaten until the glittering candy came out would be treated with extreme derision. I didn't know about things like roleplaying servers back then.
As a result, when I first got into World of Warcraft, I was under the impression that you were expected to role play your character. My poor human paladin (who I had decided had been sent to the order as a child because his parents didn't particularly care to feed yet another mouth after the war cheap wow gold, and who was frankly too slow to grasp book learning to make a good priest) quickly learned that any attempt to discuss epic adventure, make comments about how boring life at the Abbey had been, or even treat kobolds as anything other than copper shedding piñatas to be beaten until the glittering candy came out would be treated with extreme derision. I didn't know about things like roleplaying servers back then.
2008年5月17日星期六
China's quake calms Olympic controversies
BEIJING - China's deadliest earthquake in a generation has jarred Chinese who expected to be reveling in anticipation of the Beijing Olympics. In less dramatic ways, the disaster is shifting perceptions between China and the world of warcraft gold, deflating the contentiousness building around the games.
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Newspaper front pages and all-news television around the world have filled with sympathetic coverage since the quake battered a vast, mountainous area, killing tens of thousands. The authoritarian Chinese government's rapid, full-throttle rescue and the unprecedented flow of news it has allowed have enabled ordinary Chinese and foreigners to share in the immense tragedy.
More than just knocking bad press about the Beijing games out of the news, the disaster has given China and the world a chance to reassess.
Foreign audiences, especially in the West, are empathizing with the Chinese perhaps more than any at time since democracy demonstrators occupied Tiananmen Square 19 years ago. At the same time wow gold, the quake's devastation has diminished the importance for Chinese of Olympics in August and the accolades from abroad that a spectacular Games was supposed to bring.
"This is a turning point. We're seeing a reconciliation," said Wenran Jiang, a Chinese politics expert at the University of Alberta.
Foreign leaders are sending condolences and aid, instead of discussing boycotts of the Olympics.
The atmosphere is markedly less rancorous than a few weeks ago when an uprising by Tibetans against China's rule and rowdy protests overseas against the Olympic torch relay seemed to expose vast differences in the ways Chinese and foreigners viewed the world.
For Chinese, the Olympics was supposed to be a crowning moment, signifying China's full acceptance by the international community after decades of isolation and then decades of economic catch-up. The government gave it a grandiose buildup, running the torch to all corners of the globe and the top of Mount Everest.
For foreigners, China's suppression of the Tibet protests brought reminders of the military's crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen protests, dashing hopes that awarding Beijing the Olympics had inspired tolerance and change.
The result: angry and violent protests for the torch and a furious backlash from Chinese. By early May, China's standing in the West plummeted. Online surveys in the U.S. and Europe found that Americans disapproved of Beijing hosting the Olympics cheap wow gold, while Europeans said China had overtaken the United States as the greatest threat to global stability. Chinese were issuing death threats against Western media and calling for boycotts of French goods.
While the earthquake has dispelled those tensions, they could still resurface in the 81 days until the Aug. 8 start of the games. Foreign pressure groups have not announced any scale-back in plans to use the Olympic spotlight to induce Beijing to change policies on human rights, press freedom, Sudan's Darfur region and other issues. Pro-Tibet groups reported fresh rounds of detentions and protests in Tibetan areas early this month.
But China has done much right in the wake of the earthquake. Responding to public grief, the government reversed course, toning down what had been a boisterous, triumphal torch relay through China to include a moment of silence.
Its decision to allow a freer flow of information on the quake has been rewarded with an outpouring of support. Donations have flooded in — $860 million as of Saturday, according to the government news agency Xinhua.
Aside from money, ordinary Chinese have bought medicines, food, blankets, loaded up their private cars and driven to the disaster areas buy wow gold, where they have helped in the rescue.
For the first time, Beijing accepted not just foreign aid but allowed specialized rescue teams from Japan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan to operate in China. And state media have widely publicized their efforts.
The overall effect is an unheard of degree of participation by Chinese and foreigners in a matter — disaster relief — that the communist leadership has long preferred to manage alone as proof it is capable of handling China's affairs and providing for its people.
"The earthquake has brought the best out of the Chinese government and Chinese people and demonstrated the regime and the Chinese are capable of working together to build up a better future," said Xu Guoqi, a historian at Kalamazoo College in Michigan and author of the recently published book "Olympic Dreams: China and Sports, 1895-2008."
The comparison that some Chinese make is to Sept. 11, 2001, when a spirit of volunteerism and patriotism buoyed Americans after the terror attacks.
Many overseas in the West may not be ready to accept the communist leadership as a force for good; it still persecutes people for political activism or religious beliefs. But in the wake of earthquake, it is being recognized for doing some good.
ADVERTISEMENT
Newspaper front pages and all-news television around the world have filled with sympathetic coverage since the quake battered a vast, mountainous area, killing tens of thousands. The authoritarian Chinese government's rapid, full-throttle rescue and the unprecedented flow of news it has allowed have enabled ordinary Chinese and foreigners to share in the immense tragedy.
More than just knocking bad press about the Beijing games out of the news, the disaster has given China and the world a chance to reassess.
Foreign audiences, especially in the West, are empathizing with the Chinese perhaps more than any at time since democracy demonstrators occupied Tiananmen Square 19 years ago. At the same time wow gold, the quake's devastation has diminished the importance for Chinese of Olympics in August and the accolades from abroad that a spectacular Games was supposed to bring.
"This is a turning point. We're seeing a reconciliation," said Wenran Jiang, a Chinese politics expert at the University of Alberta.
Foreign leaders are sending condolences and aid, instead of discussing boycotts of the Olympics.
The atmosphere is markedly less rancorous than a few weeks ago when an uprising by Tibetans against China's rule and rowdy protests overseas against the Olympic torch relay seemed to expose vast differences in the ways Chinese and foreigners viewed the world.
For Chinese, the Olympics was supposed to be a crowning moment, signifying China's full acceptance by the international community after decades of isolation and then decades of economic catch-up. The government gave it a grandiose buildup, running the torch to all corners of the globe and the top of Mount Everest.
For foreigners, China's suppression of the Tibet protests brought reminders of the military's crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen protests, dashing hopes that awarding Beijing the Olympics had inspired tolerance and change.
The result: angry and violent protests for the torch and a furious backlash from Chinese. By early May, China's standing in the West plummeted. Online surveys in the U.S. and Europe found that Americans disapproved of Beijing hosting the Olympics cheap wow gold, while Europeans said China had overtaken the United States as the greatest threat to global stability. Chinese were issuing death threats against Western media and calling for boycotts of French goods.
While the earthquake has dispelled those tensions, they could still resurface in the 81 days until the Aug. 8 start of the games. Foreign pressure groups have not announced any scale-back in plans to use the Olympic spotlight to induce Beijing to change policies on human rights, press freedom, Sudan's Darfur region and other issues. Pro-Tibet groups reported fresh rounds of detentions and protests in Tibetan areas early this month.
But China has done much right in the wake of the earthquake. Responding to public grief, the government reversed course, toning down what had been a boisterous, triumphal torch relay through China to include a moment of silence.
Its decision to allow a freer flow of information on the quake has been rewarded with an outpouring of support. Donations have flooded in — $860 million as of Saturday, according to the government news agency Xinhua.
Aside from money, ordinary Chinese have bought medicines, food, blankets, loaded up their private cars and driven to the disaster areas buy wow gold, where they have helped in the rescue.
For the first time, Beijing accepted not just foreign aid but allowed specialized rescue teams from Japan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan to operate in China. And state media have widely publicized their efforts.
The overall effect is an unheard of degree of participation by Chinese and foreigners in a matter — disaster relief — that the communist leadership has long preferred to manage alone as proof it is capable of handling China's affairs and providing for its people.
"The earthquake has brought the best out of the Chinese government and Chinese people and demonstrated the regime and the Chinese are capable of working together to build up a better future," said Xu Guoqi, a historian at Kalamazoo College in Michigan and author of the recently published book "Olympic Dreams: China and Sports, 1895-2008."
The comparison that some Chinese make is to Sept. 11, 2001, when a spirit of volunteerism and patriotism buoyed Americans after the terror attacks.
Many overseas in the West may not be ready to accept the communist leadership as a force for good; it still persecutes people for political activism or religious beliefs. But in the wake of earthquake, it is being recognized for doing some good.
Thousands flee China quake area over flood fears
DONGHEKOU, China - Two rivers blocked by landslides threatened to flood towns shattered by China's massive earthquake, sending thousands of survivors fleeing Saturday in a region still staggering from the country's worst disaster in 30 years.
A mountain sheared off by the mighty tremor cut the Qingzhu river and swallowed the riverside village of Donghekou whole, entombing an unknown number of people inside a huge mound of brown earth.
Compounding the horror for survivors wow gold, a lake rising behind the wall of debris threatens to break its banks and send torrents cascading into villages downstream.
Pannicky residents streamed out of the entire county on the northern edge of the quake zone, spurred on by mobile phone text messages sent en masse by local government officials warning that the water level was rising and people downstream were being evacuated.
In the town of Beichuan, 60 miles to the south, thousands fled as the reports circulated.
Rescue work resumed later in the day and experts were monitoring the river above Beichuan, the People's Daily newspaper said on its web site. The swift exodus underscored the jitters running through the disaster zone. A strong aftershock — the second in two days and measured by the U.S. Geological Survey at magnitude 5.7 — shook the area early Sunday for 45 seconds, causing people to run into the streets.
In all the devastation wrought by the quake, little looks as bleak as Donghekou.
The road to the village ends in a tangled twist of metal and tar. In the small valley below, the village itself has disappeared when the mountain collapsed. Locals said two other villages further upstream, Ciban and Kangle cheap wow gold, had suffered the same fate. The three villages were home to about 300 families, locals said.
Eerie and still, the remaining landscape has few signs of human life — a soiled green floral scarf, a rubber pipe, a log.
"Oh God! I have lost everything," said Wen Xiaoying, 32, whose voice shook as she surveyed the valley below for the first time since returning from far-off Guangdong province where she worked.
She held up one hand as she ticked off the family members that died — her father, her mother, her sister and her brother-in-law — all of them buried somewhere in the muck before her.
"When I saw them the last time, we celebrated together," said Wen, a glimmer of a smile showing through as she remembered happier days buy wow gold. "I didn't expect it would be the last time I saw them."
Su Ciyao trudged over the bend in plastic slippers, carrying a plastic rice bag stuffed with salvaged clothes.
"My village is over there," the 44-year-old said, gesturing to the swollen earth behind him. Asked where his family was, he could only shake his head.
"Only me," he said, and then set off without a backward glance.
Drizzling rain in the valley added to the gloom, and to the fear of carloads of people who clogged the twisting mountain roads as they streamed out of the region.
The government's daily update added another few thousand bodies to the death toll as it continued climbing toward an expected final tally of at least 50,000. Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin said 28,881 deaths have been confirmed so far.
The official Xinhua News Agency, citing regional officials, said more than 10,600 people were known to be still buried almost one week after the 7.9 magnitude quake hit, shattering thousands of buildings in dozens of towns and cities in Sichuan province.
More than 200 rescuers from Japan, Russia, South Korea and Singapore are searching alongside Chinese soldiers.
More international aid was arriving, with a U.S. Air Force cargo plane loaded with tents, lanterns and 15,000 meals landing Sunday in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu.
The number of security forces helping victims rose to almost 150,000, and the government added cash payments to victims to its response.
The government would give $715 in compensation to each family that lost a member in the earthquake, China National Radio reported Saturday on its web site world of warcraft gold. At a State Council meeting hosted by Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, the government also decided it would also hand out a daily ration of food and $1.40 to survivors, the report said.
Almost a week after the quake struck, rescues were still occurring.
Rescuers pulled at least seven more survivors from collapsed buildings, the last a man saved after 128 hours. Both of his legs had to be amputated. Another, 20-year-old highway worker Jiang Yuhang was pulled free shortly after his mother arrived from a neighboring province.
"I was expecting to see my son's body. I never expected to see him alive," his mother, Long Jinyu, said on state television.
Experts say buried earthquake survivors can last a week or more, depending on factors including the temperature and whether they have water to drink, but that the chances of survival diminish rapidly after the first 24 hours.
Nearly a week after the quake, soldiers who first arrived with little but shovels were better supplied. In the town of Yinghua, rescuers worked through the day, using saws, drills, torches and hands, to free 31-year-old Bian Gengfeng from the wreckage of a six-story chemical factory.
A man rescued from the same site Friday told rescuers that he had been talking with a woman still trapped, setting off Saturday's effort.
"Uncle called me yesterday and said 'mom was alive' and I should come and wait here," said 10-year-old Luo Ting, who watched her mother being rescued.
Xinhua said Russian rescuers had found a 61-year-old woman alive late Saturday after being buried for 127 hours, the first survivor found by foreign workers.
"I express heartfelt thanks to the foreign governments and international friends that have contributed to our quake relief work," Chinese President Hu Jintao was quoted as saying by Xinhua Sunday.
2008年5月13日星期二
Racism in arena names
I think there are few things more disturbing in the modern world than ill-conceived notions of racial, religious, and sexual divisions. For some reason parts of humanity continue to believe that just because one group or another looks and/or acts differently, they are bad. One of the reasons I enjoy cheap wow gold and just games in general is because it allows us to escape the problems this world gives to us, even if only for a few hours a week.
Unfortunately, some people find it necessary to bring their attitudes in game. We've covered some of this before, from border-line inappropriate arena names to sexism in WoW. However while playing an arena game recently fellow writer Amanda Dean came up against a team named "Rosa Parks Stole My Seat," and this name is possibly the most offensive one I've seen wow gold. Rosa Parks (for those of you who need a history lesson) refused to go to the back of a bus because of her skin color and continued to sit in the white only section of the bus, despite being told to do otherwise. She represented a key moment in the history of civil rights.
There are 65 arena teams with this racist name.
When Amanda buy wow gold ran into one of the teams she reported it via a GM ticket.
Unfortunately, some people find it necessary to bring their attitudes in game. We've covered some of this before, from border-line inappropriate arena names to sexism in WoW. However while playing an arena game recently fellow writer Amanda Dean came up against a team named "Rosa Parks Stole My Seat," and this name is possibly the most offensive one I've seen wow gold. Rosa Parks (for those of you who need a history lesson) refused to go to the back of a bus because of her skin color and continued to sit in the white only section of the bus, despite being told to do otherwise. She represented a key moment in the history of civil rights.
There are 65 arena teams with this racist name.
When Amanda buy wow gold ran into one of the teams she reported it via a GM ticket.
2008年5月12日星期一
The possible outcomes of Blizzard's Glider lawsuit
Terra Nova put a quick post up about putting the Blizzard vs. WoW Glider case (and the Public Knowledge amicus brief) in the larger context of whether or not End User License Agreements are "good" or "bad," but even better than the post is the comments section. Lots of MMO heavies, including Richard Bartle, show up to break down just what Blizzard is trying to do with their claim against the botting software, and what they might end up doing to the industry at large.
No one is against Blizzard's goal of trying to stop cheaters. But the way Blizzard is going about it puts their stance in jeopardy -- they're saying that cheating in their MMO is a violation of copyright, and that is a completely different issue. Even Bartle himsef says this is an "ends justify the means" argument -- Blizzard is just using the copyright issue to get the judge to say that cheating is bad. As we posted the other day, Public Knowledge believes that any decision that says "yes, Glider breaks copyright law buy wow gold," could then be used as a precedent for calling any EULA violation a copyright violation.
Adam Hyland, in the Terra Nova thread, has the breakdown of outcomes: either a judge rules completely in favor of MDY/Glider (thus leaving every software maker open to EULA violations -- very unlikely), or a judge rules either narrowly in favor of Blizzard (saying that yes, cheating is wrong, but it's not a copyright issue), or wholly in favor of Blizzard (which Public Knowledge fears the most -- if breaking the EULA is a copyright violation, everyone who names their character XXNoobz0rXX is breaking copyright law). We'll have to see what comes out of this case cheap wow gold, and hope that it's for the best for both Blizzard and their players.
No one is against Blizzard's goal of trying to stop cheaters. But the way Blizzard is going about it puts their stance in jeopardy -- they're saying that cheating in their MMO is a violation of copyright, and that is a completely different issue. Even Bartle himsef says this is an "ends justify the means" argument -- Blizzard is just using the copyright issue to get the judge to say that cheating is bad. As we posted the other day, Public Knowledge believes that any decision that says "yes, Glider breaks copyright law buy wow gold," could then be used as a precedent for calling any EULA violation a copyright violation.
Adam Hyland, in the Terra Nova thread, has the breakdown of outcomes: either a judge rules completely in favor of MDY/Glider (thus leaving every software maker open to EULA violations -- very unlikely), or a judge rules either narrowly in favor of Blizzard (saying that yes, cheating is wrong, but it's not a copyright issue), or wholly in favor of Blizzard (which Public Knowledge fears the most -- if breaking the EULA is a copyright violation, everyone who names their character XXNoobz0rXX is breaking copyright law). We'll have to see what comes out of this case cheap wow gold, and hope that it's for the best for both Blizzard and their players.
2008年5月11日星期日
Around Azeroth: Shine a light
Hey, it's Banshih of on Steamwheedle Cartel again! Not satisfied with robbing banks in our Grand Theft Azeroth competition, she's upped the ante with a more daring heist -- the heart of Hakkar the Soulflayer himself. Sure world of warcraft, Hakkar isn't exactly in his prime anymore, but he always appreciates having visitors talk to him, kill all his friends and rip out his internal organs. It's lonely in the jungle these days, with those damn kids and their Zul'Aman and their ... jukebox music ....
Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder cheap wow gold? We'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing. And please wow gold, no more sunsets, and don't shoot anyone in the city of Durham today.
Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder cheap wow gold? We'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing. And please wow gold, no more sunsets, and don't shoot anyone in the city of Durham today.
2008年5月10日星期六
WoW Moviewatch: Kake Buk Island, Episode 1
Baron Soosdon has been threatening to make a plotline machinima for quite some time, so it's good to see that he followed through with it! Kake Buk Island: Episode 1 - "You Damn Beach" is about an orc, Thok, that wakes up on a strange island world of warcraft gold. While exploring the island, he befriends two girls, Noki and Jiki, that need his help rescuing their pig from the sinister gnome, Sergei Gnum. All is not as it seems on Kake Buk Island, but I guess we'll have to wait for Episode 2 to find out!
KBI: YDB has an incredible line-up of special guests, including Drewbie, Olibith, and Baron himself buy wow gold, but I'm not sure what was up with some of the dialogue. Nevertheless, the cross-blend of World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament 2004 made for a surreal set for Baron to weave his magic. As always, if you enjoyed the machinima, download the high quality version!
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
KBI: YDB has an incredible line-up of special guests, including Drewbie, Olibith, and Baron himself buy wow gold, but I'm not sure what was up with some of the dialogue. Nevertheless, the cross-blend of World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament 2004 made for a surreal set for Baron to weave his magic. As always, if you enjoyed the machinima, download the high quality version!
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
2008年5月6日星期二
Bornakk speaks on the whole esports thing
So a while back, Tom Chilton talked about turning WoW into a "viable Esports platform" in an interview with Gamespy, and lots of players did not take it well. Some time later, the fire has still not died down. Darqchild of the Perenolde server posted another complaint about this the other day, expressing a belief that the creation of a 2nd rule set and the domination of the esports concept had already gone with the implementation of a Tournament server.
2008年5月5日星期一
Knaak works on more graphic novels for Blizzard
I don't think this is new news (though Blizzplanet has a note about it at the New York Comic Con a week or so ago, so maybe it came from there), but Richard Knaak is apparently working on a new World of Warcraft manga comic, called The Dragons of Outland. While Amazon still has the release date at June 17th, the date given for release at NY Comic Con is Fall 2009 (though that may be for Volume 2). Apparently the book will feature Jorad Mace, a Paladin who can be seen in Netherstorm right now, will touch on Malygos' insanity (which we may see firsthand in Wrath), and it will also be the continuation of the Netherwing quests storyline (which some fans aren't really excited to see in Knaak's hands).
It does sound interesting, though, and it might be fun to see something in the books that's a result of player actions. In other WoW graphic novel news cheap wow gold, there is another book planned as well, called Warcraft: Legends, that will have two stories in it. One will be called "Fallen," about a Tauren Hunter who's been featured before in The Sunwell Trilogy, and another story called "How to Win Friends and Influence People," written by Dan Jolley about a Gnome of some kind (who knew they were important enough to write about?).
Legends is due a little sooner than Dragons of Outland -- Blizzplanet says it's expected in August of this year. So WoW graphic novel fans have a lot to look forward to.
It does sound interesting, though, and it might be fun to see something in the books that's a result of player actions. In other WoW graphic novel news cheap wow gold, there is another book planned as well, called Warcraft: Legends, that will have two stories in it. One will be called "Fallen," about a Tauren Hunter who's been featured before in The Sunwell Trilogy, and another story called "How to Win Friends and Influence People," written by Dan Jolley about a Gnome of some kind (who knew they were important enough to write about?).
Legends is due a little sooner than Dragons of Outland -- Blizzplanet says it's expected in August of this year. So WoW graphic novel fans have a lot to look forward to.
2008年4月30日星期三
Some remarks on drop rates
I'm going to keep this relatively short, because a full discussion of probability could fill several college semesters. However, there is one misconception that some WoW players have that has been bugging me lately.
Let's say you read that Shattered Sun Supplies have a 10% chance to contain a Badge of Justice, and, excited, you go out and do enough dailies get 10 Shattered Sun Supplies. You open them all and find not a single Badge, or you find five badges. Do either of these outcomes mean the 10% drop rate is wrong? No! They do not! All a 10% drop rate means is that for each Supplies, there is a 10% chance that it contains a Badge wow gold. Random events have no memory, so no matter how many badges you get in the first nine Supplies, your chance to get a Badge in the tenth Supplies is still 10%. The traditional analogy is that if you flip a coin nine times and get heads each time, the chance of getting heads on the next flip is still 50%.
Now it is true that you will probably get a Badge in ten Supplies if the drop rate is 10%. If you're interested in how likely it is, here's the calculation to do. The chance of not getting a Badge in one Supplies is (100% - 10%) = 90%, or 0.9. Raise that to the tenth power, for your ten independent Supplies-opening events cheap wow gold, and you get the chance of, ten times out of ten, not getting a Badge: 0.9^10 = 0.349, about 35%. So in fact, out of ten Supplies, you will get a badge (100% - 35%) = 65% of the time, about two thirds.
TL;DR version: A drop rate is a probability, not a guarantee.
Let's say you read that Shattered Sun Supplies have a 10% chance to contain a Badge of Justice, and, excited, you go out and do enough dailies get 10 Shattered Sun Supplies. You open them all and find not a single Badge, or you find five badges. Do either of these outcomes mean the 10% drop rate is wrong? No! They do not! All a 10% drop rate means is that for each Supplies, there is a 10% chance that it contains a Badge wow gold. Random events have no memory, so no matter how many badges you get in the first nine Supplies, your chance to get a Badge in the tenth Supplies is still 10%. The traditional analogy is that if you flip a coin nine times and get heads each time, the chance of getting heads on the next flip is still 50%.
Now it is true that you will probably get a Badge in ten Supplies if the drop rate is 10%. If you're interested in how likely it is, here's the calculation to do. The chance of not getting a Badge in one Supplies is (100% - 10%) = 90%, or 0.9. Raise that to the tenth power, for your ten independent Supplies-opening events cheap wow gold, and you get the chance of, ten times out of ten, not getting a Badge: 0.9^10 = 0.349, about 35%. So in fact, out of ten Supplies, you will get a badge (100% - 35%) = 65% of the time, about two thirds.
TL;DR version: A drop rate is a probability, not a guarantee.
2008年4月28日星期一
Bobby Kotick: Activision is "considerate of the culture" at Blizzard
Portfolio has an interview with Bobby Kotick himself, warchief of the Activision Blizzard clan, and in there, they talk about the merger itself (obviously) buy wow gold, as well as Kotick's past and what he's trying to do with Activision Blizzard.
If you believe everything he's saying, then our favorite game company sounds like it may have landed on pretty good ground. Apparently Activision was originally trying to buy out Vivendi (Kotick says he'd realized that World of Warcraft wasn't so much a game as a full-fledged social network), but Vivendi made the counter-offer of a partnership instead. And while Kotick only chats briefly about Activizzard's other properties (he thinks facial and mouth movement will help videogames tell great stories -- sigh), he does say that Activision is a place where Blizzard can grow as a studio of its own, as compared to a faceless corporation like, ahem, EA.
All in all, Kotick doesn't sound like too bad a guy, although I can't imagine that any CEOs being profiled in something called "Portfolio" would. It does at least sound like he'll let Blizzard do their thing, although just as we've said before, while things are great now cheap wow gold when the money is rolling in, there's no knowing what will happen in the future.
If you believe everything he's saying, then our favorite game company sounds like it may have landed on pretty good ground. Apparently Activision was originally trying to buy out Vivendi (Kotick says he'd realized that World of Warcraft wasn't so much a game as a full-fledged social network), but Vivendi made the counter-offer of a partnership instead. And while Kotick only chats briefly about Activizzard's other properties (he thinks facial and mouth movement will help videogames tell great stories -- sigh), he does say that Activision is a place where Blizzard can grow as a studio of its own, as compared to a faceless corporation like, ahem, EA.
All in all, Kotick doesn't sound like too bad a guy, although I can't imagine that any CEOs being profiled in something called "Portfolio" would. It does at least sound like he'll let Blizzard do their thing, although just as we've said before, while things are great now cheap wow gold when the money is rolling in, there's no knowing what will happen in the future.
2008年4月27日星期日
Forum post of the day: Docking DKP
To function properly, all guilds must have rules for participation, gear, and general order. Since the ancient MMORPG days, many guilds have assigned Dragon Kill Points (DKP) to players for their participation in raids and events. The points are turned in for gear rewards from raids. Some guilds dock DKP for members that do not meet their standards world of warcraft. Aerte of Blackrock has questioned the wisdom of his guild's policy on this practice for a member that had regularly violated the rules.
The conundrum begins with the statement. "Recently we had a member quit who during the course of his rather brief stay managed to have about 130 DKP docked for various infractions. Not showing up specced properly buy wow gold, gems unacceptable, enchants unacceptable or non-existent, bad attitude....etc..." The original poster expressed that this may not be the best way to keep players in line.
The conundrum begins with the statement. "Recently we had a member quit who during the course of his rather brief stay managed to have about 130 DKP docked for various infractions. Not showing up specced properly buy wow gold, gems unacceptable, enchants unacceptable or non-existent, bad attitude....etc..." The original poster expressed that this may not be the best way to keep players in line.
2008年4月26日星期六
Tuesday morning maintenance
Sometimes I feel like Blizzard chooses a handful of random servers to Ice Block every few days – not letting players on, and giving a (hopefully) short window when the servers will be offline.
If you're on the unlucky servers of Agamaggan, Azshara, Baelgun, Dark Iron, Detheroc, Emerald Dream, Greymane, Kalecgos, Lightninghoof, Maelstrom, Malfurion, Moonrunner, Nazjatar, Sargeras, Staghelm, Twisting Nether, Ursin, WildHammer, or either of the Tournamenet Servers, you're going to have at least two hours of downtime from 5:00 a.m. PDT until 7:00 a.m. PDT. Blizzard will also be doing rolling restarts across all realms this morning.
For those of you waiting to get your morning fix of WoW, fear not. There are several pieces of news and entertaining reads to catch up on.
New WotLK alpha screenshots – Did you know that WotLK is in alpha, and the first batch of new screenshots has been leaked? We've got them confirmed from an inside source and mirrored here for your enjoyment.
As a tank, I hate to pug. Our Warrior columnist Matthew Rossi agrees with me. Check out his enlightening piece for One reason tanks won't pug. And I hope the subject of his piece, Primula, enjoys his or her new found fame as one lowly ninja-looter.
Do you have a life outside of WoW? Not that I do, but if I did I would be a casual player and appreciate Robin Torres' advice from WoW, Casually: Finding groups fast. Just remember that they don't always have to be random pug groups.
Two pieces of Season 4 gear have been accidently enabled by a GM on the live realms. You can check out the new stats and have look at them. They remind me a bit of the Ori from Stargate, so I have to ask: Hallowed are the Ori, anyone?wow gold Hopefully the bosses at Blizzard are a bit more understand than the Ori and will let the GM that made this mistake keep his job.
And finally you can check out my new favorite column of the week, [1. Local] by Lisa Poisso. Lisa takes a look at all the comments posted on WoW Insider and rounds up the best of them for us to marvel over. I know that I've sent her a few lately world of warcraft.
If you're on the unlucky servers of Agamaggan, Azshara, Baelgun, Dark Iron, Detheroc, Emerald Dream, Greymane, Kalecgos, Lightninghoof, Maelstrom, Malfurion, Moonrunner, Nazjatar, Sargeras, Staghelm, Twisting Nether, Ursin, WildHammer, or either of the Tournamenet Servers, you're going to have at least two hours of downtime from 5:00 a.m. PDT until 7:00 a.m. PDT. Blizzard will also be doing rolling restarts across all realms this morning.
For those of you waiting to get your morning fix of WoW, fear not. There are several pieces of news and entertaining reads to catch up on.
New WotLK alpha screenshots – Did you know that WotLK is in alpha, and the first batch of new screenshots has been leaked? We've got them confirmed from an inside source and mirrored here for your enjoyment.
As a tank, I hate to pug. Our Warrior columnist Matthew Rossi agrees with me. Check out his enlightening piece for One reason tanks won't pug. And I hope the subject of his piece, Primula, enjoys his or her new found fame as one lowly ninja-looter.
Do you have a life outside of WoW? Not that I do, but if I did I would be a casual player and appreciate Robin Torres' advice from WoW, Casually: Finding groups fast. Just remember that they don't always have to be random pug groups.
Two pieces of Season 4 gear have been accidently enabled by a GM on the live realms. You can check out the new stats and have look at them. They remind me a bit of the Ori from Stargate, so I have to ask: Hallowed are the Ori, anyone?wow gold Hopefully the bosses at Blizzard are a bit more understand than the Ori and will let the GM that made this mistake keep his job.
And finally you can check out my new favorite column of the week, [1. Local] by Lisa Poisso. Lisa takes a look at all the comments posted on WoW Insider and rounds up the best of them for us to marvel over. I know that I've sent her a few lately world of warcraft.
Scare Beast Change: Does it make Hunters the new anti-Druid?
In what could be the biggest change in 2.4.2, Hunters are getting a pretty generous buff to the spell Scare Beast wow gold. Not only is the range ballooning from 10 yards to 30 yards, but it will have an instant cast time as well. Well it does have limited application in PvE, this will be huge in PvP, for one simple reason: It will work on Druids in forms.
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