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Blade & Soul introduces swimsuits with a hefty price tag
How much are you willing to pay for a new swimsuit? How about if that swimsuit is only available for your character in a video game? Blade & Soul has introduced a line of summer swimwear for characters in the Korean version, available either via the game's cash shop or through item trading, but the system for obtaining these suits from inside the game is a bit problematic. During the summer event, players can obtain a watermelon slice by clearing a daily dungeon. These slices are used as tokens to unlock these outfits. The problem is that it can be difficult to actually obtain enough slices through play unless you focus on running dungeons with a single-minded devotion, which forces you toward the cash shop option, which values the suits at $45. Still no word on when the game is being localized, but you can check out the suit trailers past the cut for a peek at what you probably aren't dropping $45 on. [Thanks to bnssswimwear for the tip!]
AT&T responds to FaceTime criticism, says you should be happy just to have apps at all
In a move that will surprise no one, AT&T released a statement regarding FaceTime on its cellular network. Apple announced FaceTime over cellular at WWDC, but AT&T this month was quick to point out that only its Mobile Share customers will be able to use Apple's video chat tool. There appears to be no restrictions on Skype, Google+, ooVoo, Yahoo Messenger, IM+, Fring, etc. Why? Because none of those apps are pre-installed on your iPhone, whereas FaceTime is. You see, after AT&T was called to the mat over net neutrality (which would mandate AT&T treat FaceTime data the same as all those other apps which will work just fine on my unlimited data plan), it cleverly pointed out that net neutrality doesn't apply because FaceTime is not only pre-installed, but is obviously "subject to some reasonable restrictions." AT&T goes even further, in my opinion. Not content to flick customers with their white glove, they add a little spit by informing us irate customers that AT&T is not legally obligated to allow your iPhone to have any preloaded apps at all. From AT&T's statement: "Indeed, the rules do not require that providers make available any preloaded apps. Rather, they address whether customers are able to download apps that compete with our voice or video telephony services." In the next paragraph they point out how lucky we all are! "Although the rules don't require it, some preloaded apps are available without charge on phones sold by AT&T, including FaceTime, but subject to some reasonable restrictions." See, we poor stupid iPhone owners are just lucky that we're even able to walk into an Apple Store and buy an AT&T phone with any apps on it at all. I mean, it's not like we have a choice in carrier these days. Can you imagine this being said while Steve Jobs was alive? Can you imagine how customers would respond if AT&T iPhones had no pre-installed apps? You can make your own joke about the efficacy of the Phone app on AT&T's network, I'll just be over here making sure no one tells them about Mobile Safari. By the way, FaceTime was downloaded after I signed up for AT&T service, although it obviously only started working once I moved from a 3GS to an iPhone 4. I'm not sure if AT&T counts this download since it was part of an OS update. Look, it's obviously what's going on here. Bean counters at AT&T decided the churn from lost customers was worth the added cost of lingering unlimited data customers like me. I've already been denied tethering (don't worry, I bought a Verizon iPad), and this is the last straw for me. AT&T clearly needs to bolster its network, and is happy to do that on the backs of clueless customers who are content to lump all their data needs together and be nickel-and-dimed over niceties like texting. As a divorced dad, my son likes to call me to chat every night he's not with me. He prefers FaceTime (he has an iPod touch), and is bummed when we have to use Skype. Now I get to tell him (after telling him FaceTime would work over cellular) that because daddy is an AT&T customer, he can't use FaceTime over cellular still. Oh wait, that won't happen because I'm switching to Verizon.
The Anvil of Crom: Combat, casuals, and birthday cake
So I've got a week's worth of healing under my belt, or more accurately, a week's worth of playing a healer class. Suffice it to say that I'm in uncharted territory here, despite the fact that I rolled through the familiar environs of Tortage and the semi-familiar environs of the Wild Lands this past week. Along the way, I met with a handful of friendly Massively readers, took a bunch of purty screenshots, and generally had a swell time. In a little over 15 hours of play, I managed to get my Bear Shaman to 30 and came away with a fairly solid understanding of the class's utility in low-level PvE. I also got reacquainted with Age of Conan's melee combat system, which, depending on your perspective, either makes Funcom's MMO the best thing on the market or one to avoid at all costs.
Cataclysm Class Changes: Holy paladin analysis
Apparently Christmas comes early in Irvine. Blizzard decided to share their notes for the paladin class a full two days ahead of time, which I have to say is a nice switch in tradition from their normal habit of pushing content back until "it's ready." While prot paladins are wondering what exactly Blizzard's plans are for their spec, ret paladins are worrying about losing their defensive capabilities that have been their go-to cooldowns in PvP play. The developers did however shine a light onto their plans for holy paladins in Cataclysm, revealing a bit of their design strategy. Nethaera Healing Hands (level 83): Healing Hands is a new healing spell. The paladin radiates heals from him or herself, almost like a Healing Stream Totem. It has a short range, but a long enough duration that the paladin can cast other heals while Healing Hands remains active. 15-second cooldown. 6-second duration. source The big reveal came in the form of Healing Hands, the future addition to our healing toolbox. While it satisfies a few of my requirements, such as having an AoE effect and being on a relatively short cooldown, there are still a lot of questions about exactly how powerful HH will be and how tiny the radius actually is. Either way, we've finally got something we can cast when our group is taking AoE damage, and that has me hopeful that we may finally escape the bonds of full-time tank healers. The power of this ability remains to be seen, but I'm glad that Blizzard knows what we lack and they're working to fix that.
Insider Trader: Blacksmith and Jewelcrafting
We talked a few weeks ago about the ability bonuses exclusive to each profession. The idea behind this, of course, is that the majority of these bonuses are relatively equal to one another. If you're a master of your profession, you can expect to receive about 80 Attack Power or 47 Spell Power. You could also pick up an additional 60 Stamina if you're an Enchanter or a Miner. These are the most common bonuses available to all the professions. However, there are a lot more stats in the game than just Spell Power, Attack Power, and Stamina. (Although, it's a fairly reasonable argument that these are three "sexiest" stats in the game, since they tend to be the centerpiece of many e-peen arguments.) Especially when you're coming up in the ranks as a new character, there are other stats that are even more important. For example, Hit Rating is frequently regarded as a must have stat. If you're not at the appropriate hit cap for your class, you can never achieve your maximum damage. This is one of the ways Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting really shine. These two stats have the ability to laser-focus manage exactly how your crafting bonus will buff your character. Let's take a look behind the cut and start breaking down these two crafting abilities.
Crafted Death Knight tanking weapons removed from PTR
One of the initial changes in patch 3.0.8 was the inclusion of Death Knight tanking weapons that could be crafted by a high level Blacksmith. As of the latest 3.0.8 PTR update, these have been removed. And all indication is that they'll stay removed. Ghostcrawler doesn't want Death Knights to hang onto the weapons throughout their time in Wrath of the Lich King, which is apparently what Blizzard is afraid will happen. The other issue with providing 2H tanking weapons was that Blizzard would have needed to start itemizing (putting tanking stats on and crafting gear for) 2H tanking weapons overall, and that's something they didn't want to do.The Ghost also points out that the new sigil and runeforge enchant should be enough to get the Death Knight defense up to where it needs to be.
The latest blacksmithing patterns from Wrath
Blacksmiths received a happy surprise in the latest beta build that launched tonight in the form of a bunch of new craftable gear, including the ability to add a socket slot to belts, bracers, and gloves and some nice new epic items. So far, we're seeing epic helms and boots of three different playstyles: With defense: Tempered Titansteel Helm, Tempered Titansteel Treads, With crit: Spiked Titansteel Helm, Spiked Titansteel Treads With spell power: Brilliant Titansteel Helm, Brilliant Titansteel Treads The epic weapon options also have good variety, though they're missing an obvious tanking weapon. There's the Titansteel Bonecrusher (a one-hander with stamina and AP), the Titansteel Guardian (a level 80 spell power weapon with less spell power than what I'm wielding at level 70 -- open to guesses on who Blizzard expects to use this one), and the Titansteel Destroyer (the two-hander every Death Knight wants).That's all the epics, but if you want to see all of the recent additions, check them out in our blacksmithing gallery!%Gallery-29308%
PTR notes: get your epic BoEs crafted now
Wow, I sure am glad I came across this in my internet travels yesterday, since I seem to have missed it in the patch notes. But there it is: when 2.1 goes live, "The Epic bind on equip Blacksmith weapon recipes now require more materials to make." How much more, you ask? The image above (via World of Raids) shows the new recipes. Here's how they compare to the old: Khorium Champion: Four more Primal Nethers Felsteel Reaper: Ten Khorium bars (no Khorium required previously), four more PNs Hand of Eternity: Ten Khorium bars, two more PNs Felsteel Longblade: Ten Khorium bars, four more PNs Eternium Runed Blade: Four Felsteel changed to ten Khorium and four Hardened Adamantite; two more PNs Dirge: Ten Khorium bars, two more PNs Fel Edged Battleaxe: Ten Khorium bars, two more PNs Fel Hardened Maul: Ten Khorium bars, four more PNs Runic Hammer: Ten Khorium bars, two more PNs Guess I better get a move on farming the mights for my Hand of Eternity. The price impact of this change will vary depending on the crafters you know, but based on the rates I've seen should be a few hundred gold. Fortunately, it doesn't look like the patch is going up today, so we have at least a week to get our mats together.
Rumorang: Apple's game console
Here we go again, another rumorang. AppleInsider is quoting Prudential analyst Jesse Tortora who thinks it's a "distinct possibility" that Apple is looking to enter the video game market in a more significant way than iPod game downloads. His evidence? Apple has recently "hired game developers at both the software and hardware levels." Well that settles it. Expect the iConsole any day now.Tortora thinks that Apple will be forced into the highly competitive console market by downloadable TV and movie offerings from the likes of Sony and Microsoft. We don't buy it though ... the Apple iTV seems focused on a distinctly different segment of the market than the high end gaming machines from MS and Sony. Tortora also said that Apple's brand name and design savvy would help any console they released, but Apple's lack of games experience and connections in the games industry would likely hurt them more. After all, the Apple brand and design weren't enough to save the Pippin.We'd like to buy into the wishful thinking that causes this rumor to pop up every few months, but until something more substantial comes down the pike, we've got to call BS.
