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Leaderboard: Ninja vs. pirate
Theirs is a rivalry born not from historical conflict but from bored nerds eating cheap pizza and debating hypothetical grudge matches. Well done, nerds -- now the entire world thinks that you can have pirates and you can have ninjas, but you cannot have both without an epic beatdown. Everyone seems to take a side on which is cooler: the roguish pirate or the mysterious ninja. Practically all fantasy MMOs have both represented in some way, whether it be World of Warcraft's Bloodsail Buccaneers or Guild Wars Factions' Assassin. If developers really wanted to inject some life into PvP, they'd make it PvN -- Pirate vs. Ninja. In any case, these two pajama-clad murderers are inseparable from our games, and chances are you've come to a conclusion as to which adds more flavor, panache, and coolness to the setting. I'd like to say that we're going to settle this debate today, but whom am I kidding? It's never going to be settled because people are still bickering about Mike vs. Joel, Picard vs. Kirk, and Big Red vs. Doublemint. Let's just say our piece and then commence with a duel at dawn in the comments, m'kay?
Global Chat: September 3-10, 2011
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! We're all about comparing communities this week on Global Chat -- free-to-play vs. pay-to-play communities as well as PvE and PvP. As an added bonus, we've got a laugh to share from a Massively contest winner. Follow along after the jump to see what some of our readers had to say this week, then lend your voice to the discussion!
One Shots: Fear the frog
There's no doubt that a bunch of people have stampeded over into the lands of EverQuest II Extended to see what the experience is like. We know we've heard some interesting tales back from those first intrepid explorers. Apparently somewhere along the way they're running across a frog (likely a Froglok) who seems to be rather, shall we say, forgetful when it comes to things he wants you to do. You know the type: NPCs who send you somewhere, only to have them send you right back, leaving you to wonder why they didn't just give you a shopping list in the first place. Today's tale of forgetful frog frustration comes to us from Mike, who writes in to tell us a bit about his experience: "Hey! Just thought I'd share this shot of my new experiences in Norrath. Since EQ2 went F2P I decided I'd give it a try. To show my appreciation I threw them a few bucks and got the Silver account. Here is my MMO alter-ego Ocholivis standing atop a local peak overlooking the starting area below, contemplating his adventure thus far and wondering why that frog guy from the camp has sent him up here on yet another ridiculous errand. So it goes." Have you found a forgetful NPC? Would you like to show off what you're doing? We love to hear about our reader's travels. Email your picture and travel tale to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in. Couldn't be easier! %Gallery-85937%
Motorola's i465 Clutch coming to Mike in Canada
Boost Mobile won't be the only iDEN network to launch Motorola's first QWERTY iDEN set -- according to a leaked screenshot, it looks like Telus Mobility's Mike wants in on the action north of the border, too. The i465 Clutch is a low-end device that concentrates on messaging capabilities -- a common theme across carriers and network technologies these days -- and we're not terribly surprised to see Mike make a play for it. Of course, here's the million-dollar question for you, Mike users: how's texting for you? Fast? Slow? Unbearable? Intermittent?
Telus BlackBerry Curve 8350i review
The Telus Mike-branded BlackBerry 8350i Curve is a monstrous step in device technology for the Canadian giant as the only other BlackBerry in the lineup is the BlackBerry 7100i *cough*. So we'll start this off by saying goodbye to the year 2006, welcome Mike to the year 2009, and share a few thoughts -- and an enormous gallery -- about this new Direct Connect set.%Gallery-45863%
Telus launches BlackBerry Curve 8350i
Telus has launched the BlackBerry 8350i right on schedule and for just a few more pennies than we'd guesstimated last week. As the pic explains, it is yours for $249 on 3-years, $449 on two years, $549 on 1-year and completely off contract for an earth wobbling $599. So to recap: push-to-talk? Check. Push mail and all the other wonders of one of BlackBerry's finest? Check. Text messaging on Telus' Mike? Nope, though we hear it's coming soon. Missing messaging aside, anybody looking for the finest in iDEN on Telus has found home.[Thanks, Rileyfreeman]
Telus' Mike prepping to launch BlackBerry Curve 8350i
Seems everybody has some BlackBerry Curve, though Telus' Mike brand's BlackBerry Curve 8350i iteration is more a-la Sprint Nextel's Curve due to its push-to-talk nature. Featuring a 2 megapixel camera -- it can also be ordered without -- GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and, well, it's a real frickin' BlackBerry on Telus' Mike! Rumor has it the coming soon sign will roll over to now for sale on the 27th of January for $200 on a three-year deal.[Thanks, Rileyfreeman, kjb_ninja, and Pirate]
TUAW Best of the Week
Our best posts of the week, all organized in one post for your perusal. Erica's passed the baton off to me for this edition yet again, and here we go.Apple looks out for my best interestsAnd by that, Erica means they don't.The state of the iTouch jailbreakIs not good, unfortunately.Metaliveblogging's Apple's "Mum is no longer the word" eventIs it wrong of me to wish every post from Nik started with the words, "Good morning, TUAW readers. London calling"?Run widgets (kinda) on your iPhoneErica's (kinda) hackaround lets you have a portable Dashboard.Coming in iPhone 1.1.1, probablyA short look at what might be in the next iPhone update.TUAW + iPhone turns your loved ones into piratesYaaar maties, Talk Like a Pirate... and look like one, too. Smelling like a pirate is up to you.iTunes: Free ThursdayIncluding the Prison Break season premiere. I haven't seen it in a while-- is he still following that tattoo map or are they past that?iTunes: Free FridayMore freebies, including a few frepeats (TM).Radiohead ditches iTunes to keep album completeFighting for the consumer is great-- except when you're fighting against the artist?Orange gets French iPhone in NovemberAnd our French readers say oui.Mac 101: Three Dock tipsGet to know your Dock. All over again.NBC to offer content, DRM via NBC DirectNBC plans their own player, and no one cares.Ask TUAW: Automounting a network drive, iPhone flash memory, XMP photo metadata and moreYou ask, we answer. Coming soon: TUAW Direct, where you'll only be able to read our answers, and no one else's. Plus, special this week Ask TUAW, Round II.iPod touch dark screen problemsQuality control problem messing up iPod touch screens? Lame.
Let my Orc shoulders grow
Change comes a lot in this game. Some changes are small, and some are big. Some changes players hate at first, and then they learn to live with and even like them. But some changes are simply and totally unacceptable. And of course when I say that, I mean the change to the male Orc shoulder size.We male Orcs are especially proud of our powerful, broad shoulders. I love my shoulder pieces-- I once ran UBRS countless times (and I do mean countless times-- just ask my guild, who I dragged through with me) just to get the Pauldrons of Elements. We have broad, towering, expansive shoulder armor, and we are respected, loved, and feared because of it. Your male Orc Warlocks, your Warriors, your Shamans, Rogues and Hunters all stand proud knowing that each of our shoulder pieces is as big as our head.Or at least they were. Now, after the patch, they're small, a fraction of their former size. They're diminuitive, tiny, and a paltry shadow of what they should be. They're-- dare I say it-- puny and pathetic. We are male Orcs! Like Thrall, we are the real heroes of Warcraft. We're the ones who rage into battle at a moment's notice. If anyone deserves gigantic shoulders, it's us. We are true heroes, sung and unsung-- we are Orc males, and our shoulders must be large, majestic, and befitting of our muscular stature. Blizzard has acknowledged the bug, sure, and they say it'll be fixed in the next major patch.But this-- this, my friends, is a true injustice. The next time you see your favorite male Orc, don't make jokes about whether size matters or not. Resist the urge to mention "shrinkage." We are our shoulders, their size, their width, their girth-- when they suffer, we suffer as well.[ Thanks to all who sent this in-- I feel your pain, my brethren! ]
Mii Spotlight: Take a look inside
It's Saturday, and obviously, that means another week in the Mii Spotlight! This week, however, we offer something a little different than our usual fare. Or, depending on how you look at things, it could be seen as exactly the same as our usual fare. Decide for yourself!
Tetris ice cubes for the remarkably unashamed
Some of us prefer to hide our geekiness, fearing a loss of social status and reduced favor with the opposite sex. Others know that such things are mere trifles, and display their dorkdom with honor and pride. For those of the latter, we would point you to a step-by-step walkthrough of how to make your very own tetromino ice cubes. Yes, it must be Tetris craft week all around the intertron.The steps are clearly written and easy to follow, but some woodwork and silicone supplies are required. If you're a handyman (or woman), go make yourself some cubes: they'll go wonderfully with that Russian vodka. Just kidding. We mean pop. (Punch Out!! reference FTW)
Blizz Prez Mike Morhaime, #4 on PC World's Most Important People on the Web
As you might imagine, we here at WoW Insider love World of Warcraft. It's the greatest thing to come along since at least Diablo. Blizzard is a great company, and when it comes to computer gaming, you could solidly make the argument that nobody does it better than they do.But when PC World announced their "Most Important People on the Web" list today, I was surprised to see, right there in between the inventor of Bittorrent and Jimbo Wales of Wikipedia, Mike Morhaime, President of Blizzard Entertainment as the 4th Most Important Person on the Internet (a big jump up from a previous list). PC World cites WoW's huge player base and Blizzard's profits of $1.5 billion a year (not to mention all the money floating around WoW's black market services), but does the president of a videogame company really deserve to be two slots down from Steve Jobs, in between the man who basically created an anonymous peer-to-peer sharing system and the man who's developing the definitive online collection of knowledge?Call me cynical, but I say no. WoW may have influence over a lot of people, but Blizzard is using that influence to nerf druids and tweak raid bosses, not affect the Internet population. Then again, the guy did appear in animated form on South Park, and Jimbo Wales has never done that. We should all know by now that these lists are just a cheap way of encouraging discussion (and attention), but Morhaime's inclusion on the list means that WoW's ascent into our culture isn't done yet.
