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GoldFire Studios announces caveman MMO
While it's certainly not the only genre out there, fantasy has dominated the MMO market for quite a while. Game developers looking for a change typically head in the direction of sci-fi and the future, churning out titles like Fallen Earth and Star Wars: The Old Republic. GoldFire Studios has chosen to go in a completely different direction with BC Wars, which is in open beta as of today. Want to channel your inner caveman? You might want to take a little bit of time to check out this browser-based, free-to-play number. It's a bit predictable -- you start on Pangea and clams are the local currency -- but it definitely has possibilities. You began as a low level caveman, wearing a loincloth and scavenging for food, and have 200 steps (turns) you may take each day to advance your character. Registration and character creation is quick and basic, and the game itself is a fun way to pass some time. Check it out here, explore the forest, and find some clams!
Cooking and clams get more convenient changes in patch 3.1
The patch notes for the 3.1 PTR have recently been updated, and they have quite a few nice updates and a few things that should make things more convenient for cooks everywhere. We were promised cooking would be easier in 3.1, and these patch notes definitely deliver on that promise. Let's check out the changes (compiled courtesy of MMO-Champion), which include even easier campfires and those 2 promised recipes:
Predicting a clamity: Patch 3.1
We've had some rather...bumpy... patches as of late from Blizzard. In patch 3.0.2 the servers were down for what was nearly a day before hand, and when the patch finally did arrive not everything was as it should have been. It took a month's time for all the changes to make their way to the live server.When Wrath of the Lich King was launched, there were countless servers inflicted with near game-ending lag and connection problems for people. And that's not to mention the hour long queues many of us faced (and still face to some degree).Patch 3.0.8 brought with it a whole new host of issues, leading Mike Schramm to proclaim The Disaster of Three-Oh-Eight. There are still lingering issues from that. Just ask any Hunter about the cower bug.So while we sit here with bated breath waiting for new information about patch 3.1, there is a little voice going on in the back of my head. "Do you really want this, Adam? Do you really want your email box to be flooded with tips about how buggy the patch is?"But then I think of happier things, like clam stacking, and I smile.I want to take a poll today. Do you think patch 3.1 will be a clamity or a cheering celebration? %Poll-25977%
Simple Wood no longer needed to make campfires
This is quite possibly the most game altering change Blizzard has implemented in WoW thus far: Building a Basic Campfire no longer needs Simple Wood, only Flint and Tinder or a Gnomish Army Knife. This is right up there with stackable clams! Personally, my mind is blown.Okay, let's be serious, this is actually a fairly decent (and convenient) change. Is it absolutely needed? No, not at all, but how many of us carried around Simple Wood and Flint and Tinder at all times? Who took those things to raids with them? Very few people, if anybody at all. And I can recall tons of times that people have rushed to a raid just after getting home from work and had forgotten to cook up their consumables. These fires would've been legitimately useful right then, but the small annoyance of carrying stacks of Wood around made it pretty unlikely that anybody had them. Nowadays, I think just about everyone carries a Gnomish Army Knife (and they should if they don't), so this is actually very convenient! You don't need to carry anything extra at all.
Clams getting more special treatment
Clams took this site by storm last week. 98 comments on a post about clams? Yes, sir!The clam issue itself is simple to understand: Blizzard is updating a relatively obscure area of the game in patch 3.0.8 while ignoring other problems. At least that's what some people think. Truth be told I'm not sure where I stand on the issue. I can see how updating clam stacking is easy programmatically and fixes a small annoyance for some players. But at the same time I can see where people are upset that larger issues are not being addressed. Massive Pwnage makes light of the situation in a comic posted today. "World of Warcraft: Ground-breaking changes with every patch," reads the subtitle.The comic gets my stamp of approval, and gave me a good chuckle this afternoon when it came through our tip line. Be sure to head over there and check out the larger version.This is so much easier!
[1.Local]: No one plays WoW because of clams
Reader comments – ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week. My city of ruinsWe suspect that reader Vektorix may have a bright future as a developer. Confronted with the state of Quel'danas today, he offers an idea that meets with resounding approval from other readers: "I really think that after all the work that was put in to taking and holding the Isle, killing Kael'thas and banishing Kil'jaeden, Blizzard should declare the war won and Quel'danas should become WoW's first resort. Beautiful golden sun, pleasant environment, no mobs -- it'd be the perfect sanctuary for weary adventurers. Who would hang out in Dalaran or Shattrath when there's a beach!!?"
Forum Post of the Day: How do you like DEM clams?
I love it when an amusing blue response to a forum post crops up, and this one made my day. Earlier in the week, Ghostcrawler made a light-hearted and funny little post mimicking a Beta tester testing a talent tree that includes such gems as "Clever Banter" and "Sarcastic Yet Suspiciously Unfunny."At the end of it, she announced that clams are becoming stackable items in order to cheer us all up.As good-natured as all forum-goers are, the jokes surfaced about how amazing this change is, how it's going to crash the clam market, and how Blizzard is clearly pandering to casuals again. In response, Ghostcrawler wrote up the product of a fictitious emergency developers meeting, held with the goal of bringing clam-related things to do for the hardcore. I actually laughed out loud: this one is not to be missed.
