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An ode to old faces
In recent years, I've stated often that Blizzard didn't pull from the established stable of World of Warcraft characters nearly often enough. They focused primarily on characters from the Warcraft RTS games and, beyond that, only on the few new characters they've selected as "faction leaders." I've always felt that players rarely had real attachment to those characters. The faction leaders often played a part in a narrative outside of the player character; they had their own things happen wherein the player often played a small part, if any part at all. Players become more attached to the characters that play a role in gameplay -- memorable faces and personalities that are a part of the leveling process, ranging from questgivers to vendors. Though there are a few notable exceptions, those familiar faces never returned, with each expansion bringing in a whole new cast rather than utilizing the rich pre-existing world. I have to give credit where it's due: Warlords of Draenor changed that. While yes, it does commit the same sin of reusing RTS characters for the umpteenth time (and in the most egregious way yet), it's also the first expansion that has pulled from the little people of World of Warcraft's history. Familiar faces from all corners of Azeroth make appearances, some in big ways and some in small, and that is what has driven me to invest in the world of Warlords of Draenor, not the return of the orcish warlords. Let's look at some examples, shall we?
Lichborne: Passing time until Pandaria on your death knight
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done. With a release date finally forthcoming for Mists of Pandaria, we have less than two months until the expansion drops and even less time until we reach patch 5.0.4. With all that in mind, how do you pass the time until then? This week, we'll take a look at a few things death knights can do to look and feel their best when the expansion drops. Solo to swell your stables Soloing is a time-honored death knight tradition, and with the expansion winding down, it's the perfect way to pass the time. When choosing your soloing target, you may factor in nostalgia, transmogrification needs, or just plain ease of access. Another popular reason is grabbing mounts and pets. In the Cataclysm era, both Vortex Pinnacle and The Stonecore normal modes drop a mount. Soloing same-level dungeons can be a bit hairy, but considering these two were in the game at the start of the expansion, you should find that even with Dragon Soul raid finder gear, you'll barely break a sweat in blood spec. As a bonus, both of these mounts will be going account-wide in Mists of Pandaria, so you'll be grabbing some possible stylish mount options for your alts as well.
MMObility: Some new gear, and some new news
It's been a pretty exciting time in mobile gaming this week. Not only am I finding more reasons to love minimal specs and portable gaming, but I see even more applications coming down the pike that will make mobile gaming even more exciting and possible. I envision a future in which cloud computing, storage and high-speed internet make devices thinner, lighter, and faster. Of course, this all depends on several factors from developers who might wish to take advantage of the technologies to companies that will provide the pipeline to us all. In my opinion, it's not a matter of if but when this switch to portable, cloud-based gaming happens. It just makes sense when you look at all of the ways we have switched to a more cloud-based world. I write these articles through the cloud; I do my banking on a website that is hosted somewhere far, far away. If you've ever bought a product online, you have trusted the internet in more ways than one. So let's take a look at some of the exciting new mobile goodies I discovered this week!
The MMO Report: Baby names edition
This week on The MMO Report, Casey discusses the un-disbanding of the Multiverse project and associated Firefly/Buffy IPs, Wakfu's bright and bizarre character classes, DC Universe Online's timely crafting update, and Razer's new Fiona gaming tablet. He also notes that Bethesda came away the clear victor in the Fallout Online settlement. Now, where's our Fallout MMO? Finally, Casey dips into the mailbag to dispense advice to aspiring game designers and gratitude to a pair of gamers who are planning to name their first child after Casey himself. Says the Beard: "I am equally honored and aghast... I'm just a loudmouth with a camera who reads hit-or-miss jokes about nerd stuff off a teleprompter so that someone can put it on the internet." Watch Casey blush at the prospect of little baby beardlings in the full MMO Report video tucked behind the break.
Engadget fiddles with Razer's 'Project Fiona'
Razer's "Project Fiona," a tablet with an Intel Core i7 processor and the ability to play "current-generation PC games," is on display this week at CES. The crew at Engadget got to spend some time with the device, and made a moving-picture document of the experience.
Razer's Project Fiona hands-on (video)
Breaking new ground in the nearly nonexistent market of "hardcore gaming tablets" with renders is interesting, but there's nothing quite grasping something tangible. Razer's project Fiona, for example, is something to grasp -- sporting twin joystick handles on either side, it begs to be held. We couldn't help but oblige, and dropped by Razer's CES booth for a few minutes with the bold Windows 8 slab. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan gave us the skinny -- read on get it yourself.
Nexon Europe gearing up for Vindictus closed beta
Better late than never, right? That's what Nexon Europe is hoping its fans are saying about the late arrival of Vindictus. The free-to-play title launched in Korea in January 2010, then it took a bow in North America in October 2010, but the game is just now getting around to its European closed beta phase. The beta begins on September 15th, and testers will need a key to participate. Registration happens on the game's official website, and there's more info on the Vindictus Europe Facebook page as well. Nexon has also released a new trailer to mark the occasion -- view it after the break. [Source: Nexon Europe press release]
Vindictus invaded by pumpkin-headed vampires and skimpier costumes
Just when you thought it was safe to wander into the raucous carnage of Nexon's Vindictus, their "Fall Fear Festival" Halloween event is here. Indeed, these normally bloody lands have been invaded by vampires who appear to have mistakenly left their fangs at home, forgot that vampires are normally quite allergic to fire, and instead slapped their Headless Horsemen costumes on. (Perhaps they were a little drunk on AB+ at the time this picture was taken? Who knows.) Although, if you take down enough of these confused creatures of the night, you can be rewarded with the 'Mashing Pumpkins" title. Along with the festivities, there's also new goodies for players to pick up in the form of a pretty awesome full-body skeleton costume for Lann, and what can only be termed a "bikini with a skull on it" for Fiona. Oh, wait, that's an "inner armor" costume, which just makes us wonder what the point is if you're smacking armor over it. We'll add that to the "we'll never know" column right next to that age-old question about how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie-roll pop. If you're curious for a peek at what the new Vindictus holiday events look like, as well as the costumes, check out the newest screenshots in our gallery below. %Gallery-97587%
Slim Amazon Kindle 'Shasta' to be first with WiFi?
You know what Amazon's Kindle doesn't have? No, we're not talking about color, the other thing. Right, WiFi. That looks set to change when the rumored slimster -- codenamed "Shasta" -- launches in August. The screencap above displaying the results of an internal Amazon device query shows entries for "Shasta" and "Shasta WiFi." That would seem to indicate that Amazon's next reader will launch in two flavors: WiFi + 3G and 3G-only (our source isn't sure). There's even an outside chance that one could be a WiFi-only device. Another grab after the break. Oh, and here's an interesting footnote: the original Kindle was apparently codenamed "Fiona" after Fiona Hackworth in Neal Stephenson's novel The Diamond Age. Many of the names in the device list above -- Nell (the protagonist), Miranda (mother figure to Nell), and Turing (i.e., Turing Machines) -- are all related to that very same story. What we can't figure out is how the word "Shasta" fits into all this so lay it on us Cyberpunks if you know. Update: Freddo411 seems to have nailed it in the comments: Shasta, Lassen, and Mazama are all volcanoes in the Cascades.
