Several new mounts are being added to the game files with 3.3.3. Please keep in mind that some of these will not be available right when the patch releases, and some may not even be available until later patches.
Blizzard is adding a new random battleground system in 3.3.3 similar to the Dungeon Finder. The first time you complete either a random battleground or the Call to Arms for that day you will receive a sizable amount of bonus honor (equal to 30 honorable kills) plus some arena points. Each time after that you will receive additional bonus honor equal to 15 honorable kills.
The Call to Arms version should replace the battleground dailies, meaning you’ll still be able to complete the Call to Arms! achievement. Queueing for a specific battleground offers no additional honor beyond what you receive for completing objectives within the BG.
According to the old saying, March should be shuffling out meekly like a lamb at the moment, but the March version update to Final Fantasy XI has just come roaring on to the live servers. Usually we get a bit more warning from Square-Enix before a patch goes live, but with all of the information we’d heard about the contents of the update from VanaFest 2010 it came with no warning other than an early rumor. That means that trivia contest winners and attendees of the festival will gain access to their special hats, and it means that everyone gets a huge load of content added to the game.
The latest patch’s inclusion of Odin and Alexander as summons was well-known, as was the continuation of the Wings of the Goddess storyline as it nears its conclusion. Less sweeping but still significant is a number of boosts to Puppetmasters, including an upgrade in hand-to-hand skill to B+ level and the removal of range-based calculations from automaton ranged attacks. There are also new Notorious Monsters and new Campaign locations for players to enjoy, so if you’re a Final Fantasy XI player you should probably get to downloading the update.
Realm maintenance for Tuesday, March 23rd is scheduled from 3:00AMPDT/6:00AM EDT until 11:00AM PDT/ 2:00PM PDT. Please note that the maintenance is starting a little earlier than last week — so get your stuff done early! Here’s the full announcement:
DalathmordusWe will be performing scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, March 23rd. Maintenance will begin at 3:00 AM PDT and conclude at approximately 11:00 AM PDT. During this time, all realms and many web services will be unavailable.
Patch 3.3.3 will be going live tomorrow, Tuesday, March 23rd on the N.A. realms, and Wednesday, March 24th on the E.U. realms. This patch will bring a host of minor improvements to the game, along with some key balance changes.
WoW.com’s Guide to Patch 3.3.3 will give you everything you need to know about the patch. Head over and check it out. A few of the more major things happening in patch 3.3.3:
Patch Notes (latest from the PTR) Gallery of datamining finds (including the Celestial Steed) Frozen Orbs to be greed only in patch 3.3.3 New uses for Frozen Orbs Profession changes Changes to the auction house and game economy Battleground and honor changes Raid buff changes The maintenance running tomorrow should, if everything goes smoothly, be over at 11 a.m. PDT / 2:00 p.m. EDT. If not, WoW.com will provide you with running updates; so keep your eyes open.
So, some big news out of the Electronic Arts/BioWare camp today — it’s going to take one million subscribers to break even on Star Wars: The Old Republic, and EA is shooting for two million subscribers on the game. Those are some pretty intense numbers for a game, but when you’re sinking as much money into a project as they’re sinking into SWTOR, those are the numbers you need.
But, are they realistic numbers? This isn’t the first time EA poured their heart and soul into a MMO, only to find that the subscriptions weren’t to their liking. Then again, when you’re dealing with a well known IP and an already successful RPG developer who knows how to handle said IP, you might just have the recipe for a subscriber explosion.
Nethaera hit the forums this morning, asking for feedback from tanks around the globe. Ghostcrawler has been having a lively discussion with tanks (most specifically protection warriors) recently, and now they seem to be formalizing the discussion for the wider audience.
NethaeraWe’re currently working on the tanking cooldowns for tanks in Cataclysm. We’re interested in feedback from the community on what makes cooldowns fun and useful. For example, what is the sweet spot in cooldown duration between an ability with such a short cooldown that you must mash it constantly versus an ability with such a long cooldown? Which current abilities are fun? Putting aside any rose-colored glasses, were there cooldowns in Burning Crusade or classic WoW that you miss in Lich King? What, in your minds, should the role be for talents and glyphs. For example, if glyphs shouldn’t reduce cooldowns, what can they do?
source
Nethaera goes on to remind people that this thread isn’t the place for balance discussions necessarily, and certainly not a place to debate who’s overpowered. This feedback also won’t dictate exactly what the developers will do, it will simply help them make the right decisions. Do you have an opinion? Then head on over to the forums and make it known! Politely, of course.
Nick Yee from the Daedalus Project is now looking for data for a new project he’s working on with the Palo Alto Research Center. Now, PARC is a pretty big name in computing, and Nick Yee is justly known for his long running work on the Daedalus Project, so the idea that a group with PARC’s resources is studying WoW and other MMO’s using someone as knowledgeable as Mr. Yee is very interesting all told. The idea of trying to ‘predict who people are just from the way they behave in a virtual world ‘ and my own personal curiosity for whether nor not they’ll run into a certain Mr. Gabriel’s GIFT (warning, there is a swearword behind that link) has me decidedly curious.
The full text of the press release will be behind the cut for those interested.
Have you ever wondered about who it is behind that gnome rogue with the pink mohawk? Or whether it’s possible to figure out if a player is a man or a woman just from the way they play the game? We’re social scientists from the US, Taiwan, and Hong Kong and we’ve wondered about that too. And that’s what this study is about.
We’re trying to find out how well we can predict who people are just from the way they behave in a virtual world. Our research team has a long history of studying interesting aspects of online games. We are also the same researchers who brought you the Daedalus Project and the PARC PlayOn Project.
To be a part of our newest research project takes only about 15 minutes to complete a web survey. If you are a FaceBook user, we’ll also ask you to install a FaceBook app to gather some of your real world data. Individuals who are under the age of 18 or incarcerated are not eligible for participation. Follow this link to begin:
If you play on EU servers, not only are you probably far more handsome and personable than I am (to be fair, so is just about every other human being in existence) but you now have more options as to what servers you can play on. Wryxian posted a list of realms and free character moves available. There will be Alliance and Horde only transfers off of various realms not only to these realms, but to others as well. (It should be noted that Vek’nilash appears to have been open since February, and Boulderfist since March 10th.)
The full text of the post will be included after the jump.
Wryxian – 17/03 Realms & Free Character MovesPrevious thread: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=12878617896&sid=1
New Player Realms
Normal/PvE: Vek’nilash
PvP: Boulderfist
Free Character Moves (FCM)
The free Character Moves below are available until the end of March 23rd. To use a free Character Move, please login to your Account Management and select Character Move, or click on the following link:
https://www.wow-europe.com/character/character-move.html
Please note: FCMs are opened based on realm population tracking and analysis and not by request. If you’re looking for a specific Character Move (from realm A to realm B), you are in most cases better off using Paid Character Transfer, or you could end up waiting for a very long time. For more information on FCMs, please check our Support FAQ:
http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=30558
PvE Realms
From: Stormrage
To: Vek’nilash
Alliance only:
From: Runetotem, Silvermoon
To: Vek’nilash, Chamber of Aspects
Horde only:
From: Draenor
To: Vek’nilash, Bronzebeard
PvP Realms
From: Burning Legion, Darksorrow, Grim Batol, Outland, Sylvanas
To: Boulderfist, Laughing Skull
From: Crushridge
To: Hakkar
Alliance only:
From: Auchindoun, Frostmane, Neptulon, Ravencrest
To: Ahn’Qiraj, Al’Akir, Boulderfist, Dragonmaw, Emeriss
Horde only:
From: Al’Akir, Kazzak, Magtheridon, Stormscale
To: Trollbane
RP Realms
From: Argent Dawn
To: Darkmoon Faire, Earthen Ring, Moonglade, Steamwheedle Cartel, The Sha’tar
Just under a month ago, CCP announced Tyrannis, the next big expansion for EVE Online. Tyrannis centres around the planets of New Eden, which have so far played a purely visual role in the game. The expansion promises to open these planets for exploration and industrialisation, with players scanning for juicy mineral deposits and setting up vast, sprawling industrial networks. An early prototype of the planetary interaction feature has even been put on the EVE test server and players can help develop the expansion by giving their feedback.
CCP typically release two expansions per year and Tyrannis has been roughly slated for this year’s summer expansion. Although the summer expansion can sometimes come as late as July, CCP have just released a new teaser trailer confirming a May 18th release date. This gives the developers just over 8 weeks to get the expansion into shape. This should give the team more time to work on the next expansion, which most are hoping will be Incarna. Skip past the cut to watch the official Tyrannis teaser.
If you’re curious as to the fate of the WoW TCG, then check out this official statement by Bornakk. While the future of the TCG has been questionable since since Upper Deck had parted ways with Blizzard, that doesn’t mean the TCG is going to end. The upcoming Wrathgate and Icecrown expansions are still on pace for the spring and summer. Realm Championships will still happen this weekend around North America, and all announced prizes will still be awarded (but trophies will not be ready yet).
We have a nice update to the patch 3.3.3 PTR patch notes for you today, right from the mouth of Zarhym. Listed below is the update, and you can check out the complete patch notes and our patch 3.3.3 coverage to catch up on everything else.
Zarhym — Updates to the Patch 3.3.3 Patch NotesDungeons & Raids
Blood-Queen Lana’thel: Pact of the Darkfallen now applies damage twice as often, but for half the damage. This change will make the removal of the spell a bit more responsive. Hellscream’s Warsong and Strength of Wrynn now provide their bonuses to player pet health and damage, as well as the absorption amounts of Power Word: Shield and Sacred Shield. Death Knights
Icy Talons: Fixed a numerical value error for rank 2 of this talent.
Items
Glyphs
Glyph of Icebound Fortitude: Now always grants at least 40% damage reduction. Glyph of Scourge Imprisonment: Now reduces the cast time of Shackle Undead by 1 second, up from 0.5 seconds. Glyph of Deadly Throw: Now increases the slowing effect on Deadly Throw by 20%, up from 10%. Priest Tier-10 4-Piece Healing Set Bonus: Redesigned. This bonus now increases the effectiveness of the caster’s Power Word: Shield by 5% and Circle of Healing by 10%.
No! They are not! A common fallacy I read sometimes is people arguing that since they farmed part of whatever it is they’re selling, it’s cheaper for them to make than it is for me to make. This is, quite simply, not true. It’s easy to see where the error comes from, but much harder to win an argument about it.
Opportunity cost
If you farm herbs, you mill them, create inks, and then use those to make armor vellum, those vellums are not free, nor are they the cost of the vendor paper. The farmed materials can be sold a certain amount, and many people neglect to factor this. Farming feels like getting something for free — after all, you’re playing a game, and then when you finish playing, you have goods you didn’t have before.
Opportunity cost is, simply, what something would have been worth had you done something differently. The opportunity cost of going to law school is not the tuition, but the money you would have made had you not been studying law. Add that to the direct cost (tuition, books, bribes, what have you), and you get the total cost. Compare this to the profits at the end of the run to determine whether it’s worth it.
In game, the opportunity cost of using goods you farm (or earn, or get for free), is what you could have sold them for. Of course, if you are processing these farmed goods in some way, you are probably doing it to increase the final amount of money you get. If you still have to farm, this can be a valuable use of your time. If, however, you find yourself having to cut your prices below that the value of the unprocessed goods, you’re officially wasting your time. You just took your mats, spent time to turn them into a finished product, and are now selling it for less than you would have gotten by not bothering.
Never tell yourself that you can afford to go below the total cost of your product just because you farmed for the ingredients of whatever you are selling.
As you know, today was maintenance day and the background downloader is downloading more data for patch 3.3.3. However, that doesn’t mean the patch itself is today. In fact, I know it’s not because I logged on to my home server of Norgannon without having any of the patch data downloaded yet, and checked to make sure Revenge wasn’t improved yet. It’s not. No patch today. Sad face.
This is standard procedure for the weeks leading up to a patch: as much of the data as can be loaded before it actually drops is sent out to reduce the strain of thousands upon thousands of people all trying to log on and download the whole patch in one go. While it does mean we’re possibly close to seeing 3.3.3, with me personally willing to bet before the end of the month, that day is not today.
Vendarvan of
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