COS
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WSJ: China's government wants homegrown, backdoor-free phones
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that China's government has now leant on ZTE to produce a smartphone using predominantly local hardware that'll run COS, a homegrown operating system that's designed to be immune to US-based hacking attempts. The paper goes on to say that Alibaba is now working with the nation's ministry of public security to develop another operating system that's secure enough for police officers to use. It's all part of the country's attempts to put water between itself and the US in a post-Snowden world after backdoors were found in numerous American-designed products.
City of Steam is merging US servers on October 21st
City of Steam's US servers are coming back together. On October 21st, the US servers for the game will be merged into a single server for everyone in the US. Players on the US2 and US3 servers affected by the merges will be getting a bit of an extra benefit out of this change; not only will they get to play with a larger population, but a consolation package is being offered to players for the delay in starting the other servers in the first place. The packages consist of subscription time, Metal, Alloy, Revamp Gems, Vehicle Parts, and Lucky Scrolls; US3 characters get more of these things, but the core contents are identical. There's also an offer to European players to obtain a similar package by emailing the support department, as those servers are already merged. Read up on the details, and get ready for the world to become a bit smaller but more populated.
China's government-backed operating system should hit desktops in October
China's next try at a government-supported operating system may soon become a practical reality. The Chinese Academy of Engineering tells the People's Post that a desktop version of China Operating System (COS) should be ready by October, with mobile device support coming later. That's pretty quick considering that we first heard about the software in January, although there's a chance it could slip. Xinhua claims that the project is suffering from both a lack of funding and developers "pulling in different directions" -- not totally surprising if true, since it's the work of a public-private alliance that might not always share the same vision.
China reveals COS: a government-approved operating system designed to break the monopoly of foreign software
China's tried to create its very own mobile OS ecosystem in the past, but let's face it: The attempt with OPhone was hardly something that would make the nation proud. This time round, though, a company by the name of Shanghai Liantong has joined forces with the ISCAS (Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences) and the government to launch COS, which simply stands for China Operating System. While there's no official mention of this, it appears that HTC is a big supporter behind this project, which would match what we heard from a Wall Street Journal report from August. Apart from the open-source code, this Linux-based OS is said to be developed "entirely independently," in the hopes of breaking the foreign software monopoly, as well as providing better localization for the likes of language input, cloud services and monetization. At yesterday's launch event, the head of ISCAS criticized iOS for being a closed ecosystem, while Android has the infamous fragmentation problem, and both Windows plus Android are let down by poor security. Ironically, all the COS variants -- in the form of phones, tablets, PCs and set-top boxes -- shown in the promo video after the break are very Android-like, and some of those features, like multitasking, content streaming and remote desktop, are nothing new. Even the HTC One and Butterfly S we saw looked like they were still carrying Sense 5. But hey, maybe such a close relationship with the Chinese government is just what HTC needs for its recovery this year. Update: We reached out to HTC regarding its involvement in COS, but the spokesperson wasn't keen to talk about it: HTC remains focused on working with its current OS partners and we do not comment on speculation regarding other OS.
Encrypted Text: The incredible, indestructible rogue
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. There used to be a saying amongst healers: "It costs less mana to rez a rogue than to heal one." Rogues were the only non-plate melee class (shaman and druids were healers), and our leather armor didn't absorb heavy blows. I remember gearing my first rogue specifically for stamina and fire resistance. I wouldn't be invited to the raid unless I could meet the 4,000 HP minimum health requirement. If I accidentally stole aggro, I would be squashed like a grape. Times have changed. Rogues are now the most durable melee class, and it's not even close. Enhancement shamans and fury warriors can't toss on a shield without severing all hope of dealing competitive DPS. Rogues are capable of dealing nearly their maximum damage while taking less damage than any other class in the raid.
Some Assembly Required: Citadel of Sorcery interview reveals a dynamic world
When word filtered to us that a new virtual world was in the works with unique features, I said what any other sandbox-loving player would: Yeah ri... er, I mean, "Show me what you've got." And that's exactly what the folks making Citadel of Sorcery did! And they didn't just tease me with a couple of phrases and leave me dangling; they offered a deluge of information about the upcoming game. In fact, they sent me enough to complete five different articles. That's more Some Assembly Requireds than you can shake a stick at. Not only did I get to learn many facts about Citadel of Sorcery, but in sitting down and talking with Philip Blood, Director of Game Design at MMO Magic, Inc., I also got to experience first-hand the passion that the developers have for their game. Philip graciously answered a barrage of questions (perhaps part of the reason the interview grew so long!) and helped paint CoS as a game that might satisfy the longing of players who yearn for a vibrant, living world where their choices make a difference. Unlike traditional games, CoS promises a vast world where each player will experience the game in very different ways. In all, the game sounds innovative and exciting. But don't just take my word on it; check out the details for yourself in this in-depth interview.
The gates hiss open for a peek at City of Steam
The steampunk genre is loved by a lot of gamers, but it has yet to see a surfeit of titles. The good news for fans is that City of Steam is on the horizon, and it's promising a free-to-play browser-based experience for anyone who wants to take part in exploring ancient mechanical ruins. Of course, the question then becomes whether or not the game is worth the investment of time... something that can be solved by taking part in the game's currently running sneak peek event. The sneak peek is available only to players who already snagged a code for access, meaning that players just coming into the game will be out of luck. It's certainly an encouraging sign that the game is moving toward its full release, which should make fans of clockwork automatons and arcane science quite happy. And if you're one of the players taking part in the sneak peek... well, all the better, right?
Encrypted Text: A rogue's guide to patch 4.2
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article topics you'd like to see covered! Rogues have a lot to look forward to when patch 4.2 is released. If you spend most of your time in dungeons or raiding, you'll be happy to hear about the sizable buffs to all three of our talent trees. Unfortunately for rogues that favor PVP, there are some cooldown changes to Cloak of Shadows and Combat Readiness that won't be well-received. While I'm not completely satisfied with the size of our buff when compared to our relative position in the DPS pack, our potency in Firelands still remains to be seen. In addition to the slew of balance changes, we can start salivating over the new gear that will be available. Our tier 12 set has some very fun bonuses, and also some great crafted gear coming up. Our caster rivals will get access to their first legendary weapon since Atiesh, so we'll have to do our best to keep up. The duration of Blind in PVE is going up to a full minute, giving us two forms of long-term CC in Sap and Blind. As proof that rogues are designed to be the best at what they do, most other CC effects in the game are going to start mirroring Sap. Polymorph and the rest won't aggro mobs that they're used on, which should make it far easier to coordinate CC in a PUG. Plus, even if the group manages to somehow mess up CC and starts combat early, we can just use Blind as a stand-in for Sap anyway.
WoW Moviewatch: Culling of Stratholme Role Play
In case you haven't heard, in patch 3.3.3, you will be able to skip the role play section at the beginning of Culling of Stratholme. This NPC theatre has become somewhat of an epic, painful period for many WoW players. My wife and I can recite the entire dialogue from heart, often mocking Jaina for her particularly emo delivery. Lilromimi, though, seems to have created an even more fitting monument to the Culling of Stratholme Role Play. A group of young actors created a live performance of the dialogue and action, bringing a little bit of extra culture to the Ironforge bank area. Whether the Grim Batol (EU) server really had full appreciation for their thespian skills or not, this video is definitely one that will go down for the ages. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
Upcoming Adjustments announced for Old Kingdom, Nexus, Culling of Stratholme
Zarhym popped into one of the many official forum topics complaining about the seemingly inordinate amount of times Old Kingdom pops on the Dungeon Finder to offer some welcome news for exhausted dungeon runners: Old Kingdom and Nexus alike will be receiving some adjustments meant to bring the dungeons in line with other Wrath heroics.
Bugs confirmed for Cloak of Shadows and Vanish
A fairly lengthy thread on the official Bug Report forum today led to the discovery of a problem related to two Rogue skills. Cloak of Shadows and Vanish were both reported by players as simply not working. For whatever reason, rogues were unable to escape the attacks of their opponents in PvP when using these skills.Reports of problems with Vanish often plague the forums. Most often these issues are caused by client/server latency, as Hortus reminds us, but this time they've identified a separate problem. While not disclosing the nature of the bug, Hortus has informed the rogues in the thread that their feedback has resulted in the discovery of a problem with these two skills and they're currently investigating the issue in hopes of finding a fix.It's nice to see that players are able to help contribute to fixing the game. If you've had any problems with these skills recently, I'd suggest that you read over the thread and see if your experience adds anything to the discussion.
Warlock changes in 1.9
It has been a little over a week and I have been grinding my warlock towards getting my mount... Since I am purely spec’d for affliction right now, I haven't seen much downside (personally) from the recent patch. I have seen a lot of whining about the CoS/CoE nerf on the forums. Most of the whining is geared towards the fact that CoS is only useful in groups/raids now because the damage buff is easily overrun by CoA when running solo. Any warlocks with real numbers done a comparison? The other item I wanted to discuss was the addition of the soul shard bag - I have mixed feelings about them. I am running with 19-20 shards on me, average now. Even thought I have more shards, I find I still use them up at the same old rate when running solo (I don't have shadowburn, yet). I have seen a lot of flak about the cost of the bags and the fact that they should have been a quest reward, at least for the low end bag. Ecksvee has started an effort on Uldum to take donated components and money to make free bags for everyone - a brilliant idea! What are your thoughts on the shard bags? Was 1.9 a buff or nerf for warlocks, or do you not care? :)
