One of the consequences of the proposed radical changes to rage generation and abilities like Whirlwind and Heroic Strike has been that DPS warriors (especially fury) have been sitting around wondering what their rotation will look like in Cataclysm. So this forum thread is of interest to any warrior who enjoys the fury playstyle. Since we know Whirlwind is going to be an ability you use specifically when AoE is the way to go instead of a free extra DPS on trash ability, and HS isn’t going to be an on next ability, warriors will be left left with a lot of space in their rotation to fill. What will fill it?
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The down side to EVE Online’s truly massive single-server design that puts all players in the same universe is that lag has been a constant problem since the game’s launch. For the most part, the game runs smoothly and lag doesn’t affect the day-to-day lives of players. It’s when too many players congregate in one place that the server node they’re on begins to grind to a halt. Circumstances can rapidly go from bad to worse, with server nodes collapsing under the strain and database failures occurring.
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Memory Alpha
Okay, so now that you understand crafting materials, it’s time to discuss using them. At level 4, you should receive a mission to deliver anomalous data from Earth Starbase to Memory Alpha, which is where all crafting takes place. Head to the Teneebia Sector of Alpha Centauri Sector Space and scoot on over to Memory Alpha.
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One of my favorite WoW information sites, Armory Data Mining and its related blog, has now been updated for patch 3.3.3. We’ve profiled the site here before, but if you’re not familiar with it, it’s run by a fellow named Zardoz who trawls the armory assembling statistics on race, class and spec popularity. He also gathers information on class battleground performance and professions.
From what I’ve seen, there haven’t been any giant changes between the patch 3.3 and patch 3.3.3 data (you can find the former at the profile link above). Paladins are still the most popular class, followed by death knights, druids, priests and warriors. It’s well worth a look if you’re interested in seeing what WoW’s statistics look like right now.
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Aion producer Chris ‘Kinslon’ Hager has dropped a bomb of a community letter on the game’s players, packing it full of information including the North American release dates for the highly anticipated 1.9 patch. The letter also mentions an upcoming character transfer service (free for a limited time), as well as server merges.
“I don’t relish the idea of mergers,” Hager says. “However, once it is complete you should notice improvements in each of the new server economies, an abundance of players to group and run instances with, a number of great Legions to join or people to form new ones with, and a more tightly knit community.When all is said and done, Aion will be a better game because of the server merge. We’re in the planning stages, and will have more information on the timing and execution in the coming weeks.”
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Kotaku has an interesting article regarding the recently announced pricing options for Realtime Worlds’ All Points Bulletin. The urban crime MMORPG made waves late last month with their unique access model that allows gamers the ability to purchase time blocks in certain sections of the game world in addition to the traditional all-encompassing monthly access fee.
E.J. Moreland, APB’s lead designer, draws a distinction between players that are likely to prefer the game’s gunplay versus those that will be more interested in the socialization options in the game, which are considerable. “With the social district there is a compelling investigation to be made into making the social district entirely free to play, building that out to be a stand alone. There is going to be two kinds of audiences in APB: People who want to play the action game and think it’s cool and then people for whom customization is the driver,” he says.
Moreland goes on to state that the Realtime Worlds team is planning on adding to the social game in short order, beginning with player housing. Check out the full article over at Kotaku.
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Back in the day, the Heroes of Might and Magic series was the definition of “just one more turn!” gameplay. Even in the face of real-time strategy titles, HoMaM stuck to their turn-based guns and challenged players to explore a fantasy land, conquer towns, build up armies, and survive the inevitable epic conflict.
Likewise, in the face of real-time 3D MMORPGs, Heroes of Might and Magic Online is holding tight to what made it so popular — a lush isometric look coupled with turn-based exploration and combat. Hoping to recapture the players who loved the single-player titles — and draw in a new crowd — Ubisoft has announced the launch of the HoMaMO closed beta this past weekend.
The closed beta will end with a data wipe, per the results of a player survey, so no need to worry about getting off on the wrong foot. With eight factions to choose from and exciting PvE and PvP campaigns awaiting, the temptation to explore Heroes of Might and Magic Online may prove strong indeed.
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It’s been an interesting process to watch the growth of Star Trek Online over the past few months, with Cryptic clearly making a concerted effort to pack a great deal more content into the game as fast as possible. They’ve stated prior that they would like to go no more than three months between major content updates, with smaller updates happening on a monthly basis. In the most recent Engineering Report on the official site, we get more details about what’s being planned and worked on for the near future — and the many players eagerly awaiting ship interiors don’t have to wait that much longer.
The report outlines the rough plan for the next three months, for the Season 1.2 patch, the followup 1.3 patch, and the Season 2 update planned in July. 1.2 is aiming at adding a “sidekick” system a la City of Heroes, new playable races, and social improvements. 1.3, targeted for June, is adding Dabo, the option to trade bridge officers, and weekly episodes. And as could be expected, Season 2 is packed to the gills with new features — including Klingon episodes, “neutral” episodes for all factions, and ship interiors. Take a look at the full report for more looks at what’s on the table and being tested for Star Trek Online.
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Nethaera posted a call for feedback on hunter pets on the official forums:
NethaeraWe’re looking to get some feedback on the types of pets that hunters would like to be able to tame and the types of abilities that might be interesting for those pets to have. Is there a type of creature in the game now that you would like to be able to tame or an ability that you’ve always thought should be added? Here’s your chance to share a bit more about what you think could be great additions for the hunter class.
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After one iteration at the start of the new year and another run that coincided with VanaFest 2010, you would think that Final Fantasy XI was done with the Mog Bonanza for a while. But you’d apparently be wrong, as the official site has just announced that it will be running once again. But it’s kind of understandable when you realize it’s to celebrate the momentous eight-year milestone the game is hitting. That’s a fine reason for players to start up the number-guessing engine in their heads again, especially when the rewards are still more wonderful prizes for every adventurer.
Most of the rules from prior offerings still apply here — a maximum of ten marbles per character, with prizes handed out in ascending ranks. Getting just the last digit right nets some small but pleasing prizes, while getting all five brings huge piles of gil or rare equipment. While it’s not on par with the Relic and Mythic weapons offered at VanaFest, they’re still desirable for almost any player. So mark your calendar foor May 16th, when marbles go on sale, and enjoy a solid eight years of Final Fantasy XI.
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Information on the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XIV has been coming in great rushes with the testing in full swing, and what we’ve been hearing only whets the appetite. Robust character customization, diverse character growth, and a unique battle system all offer something at once reminiscent and yet different from Final Fantasy XI. While Square-Enix has stayed fairly tight-lipped even as we’ve gotten more Japanese news on the game, the first major “leak” from the test has emerged: a full disclosure of the Alpha Tester’s Manual, as sent out by Square to all of the game’s testers.
Although many elements of the game have already been disclosed from other sources, seeing everything laid out in the manual format helps make things a bit clearer. It also goes into more details about the limitations on the test, implying that several of them (such as the 20-ability limit) are unique to this phase of testing. There are also firmer details on things like Aetheryte, which function much like Final Fantasy XII’s Save Crystals. If you’re interested in Final Fantasy XIV, you can still glean more information from the newest leak, but like much news on the game it might just whet your appetite.
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A post in the official forums today, later confirmed by a blue, points to hackers attempting to take advantage of a new avenue to attack the user — the World of Warcraft Launcher.
As you can see from the screenshot above (large version here) the real launcher apparently is replaced with a fake launcher that sends the user to a web site that pretends to be official, asking for subscription information (including answers to secret questions and the original CD-Key) in what is meant to appear as the means to restore a supposedly suspended account. One of the telltale signs that this isn’t legit, besides the very invasive information requested, is the version number in the upper left corner of the screen. We’re way past patch 3.1.1 — however not everyone might know this.
Ancilorn posts confirming that this is not genuine (reiterating that they will never ask for your password in such a manner, and also requesting that such things be sent directly to Blizzard if they happen to you). Goes to show that as security is increased, those looking to breach it become more desperate.
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Blizzard has released a rather detailed look into a new feature coming in Cataclysm that we first heard about at BlizzCon 2009 — the mastery system. The system will “allow players to become better at what makes their chosen talent tree cool or unique.” Mastery bonuses are passive and are tied to each talent tree for every class. The more talent points you put in the tree, the more your mastery for that tree will increase. Each talent tree will have three mastery bonuses:
Bonus 1: Increase to damage, healing, or survivability Bonus 2: Increase to a stat that’s relevant to the given talent tree Bonus 3: A completely unique effect to the given talent tree The mastery statistic on gear you’ll get from 80 to 85 will increase the effect of bonus #3. Mechanically, the point of the mastery system is to remove talents like “6% more damage” and regulate those effects into the entire tree.
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Sadly, the ultimate answer appears to be “very reluctantly” but it’s an interesting read anyway. J. Allen Brack talks to G4 about WoW, consoles, and the barriers to entry for an MMO. The usual suspects apply, of course. WoW was designed for keyboards, consoles tend to have a short lifespan compared to the development time of a MMO, and WoW currently takes up about 15gb worth of memory while consoles like an XBox 360 have at most 20gb worth of hard drive space without buying any additions. This is no surprise, of course… they’ve said all this before.
What I really found interesting was that this is supposedly something they think about a lot. “In the case of WoW, we talk about it all the time.” I’m the curious sort, so I find myself wondering why, given all the reasons Brack himself lists. Personally, I’d love to see a single player Warcraft property of some sort for consoles, perhaps a God of War style action game or even a Dragon Age/Mass Effect hybrid RPG. And who knows, perhaps Blizzard will come up with a way to do it despite their laundry list of reasons why they won’t, they’ve surprised me before.
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Blizzard appears to be trying to make it easier for everyone to have an Authenticator and to that end, there is now a Mobile Authenticator for Android. The Android version works just like the iPhone/iTouch app and is available at the Android App store (you can view it via a third party site). Once you get it on your phone, you then link it to your account at the official World of Warcraft Account Management page. We have reports of the app working for people.
Though we were unable to find this app from Blizzard directly, we believe it to be legitimate. However, we have contacted Blizzard for confirmation. We’ll let you know what they have to say when we hear back from them. Update: Here is the link to the official Blizzard support page for the Android app. Looks like it’s legit. Update 2: Here is the official announcement.
If you don’t have an Authenticator yet, we can’t recommend it enough. The added protection an authenticator provides to your account is much greater than the slight inconvenience of needing access to your phone whenever you login. This is particularly the case if you game at internet cafes.
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