prince
Latest
The Game Archaeologist and the Asheron Recall: Player sagas
It's an odd thing to realize how far MMOs have come right in front of our eyes in a relatively short span of time. After all, 1999 wasn't that long ago, despite what Prince and Y2K would have you believe. One day we'll be telling our children -- if we aren't already -- about the primitive MMOs that didn't feature RealGore™, motion sensor-linked emotes, and mostly nude elves dancing for tips on mailboxes. They may gasp and sputter in disbelief, but you'll assert that it is true: You experienced an era when polygons were blockier than LEGO pieces, people logged in over dial-up connections, and the community was small enough for GMs to host personal live events. There's been a lot of love flowing into my email inbox and Twitter since posting the first Game Archaeologist on Asheron's Call, enough to tell me that this title is a dear old friend to many a seasoned gamer out there (including a few on the Massively staff who won't stop writing epic haikus about AC in its honor this month). As a result, I got in touch with two die-hard fans of the game, and they agreed to scribe their memories of this MMO for future generations to discover, generations who will undoubtedly marvel at the hardship and perserverence that such scrappy gamers showed in being part of the first wave of MMO players. Without further ado, please give a warm round of applause to Amanda and Jon. No, nobody can hear you clap over the internet, but it's the thought that counts.
Prince offers the first proof that he's actually aging, says the internet is 'over'
This probably isn't going to go well. Prince -- who has famously fought for complete copyright control of his work -- has said something about the internet, and it's not good. In fact, the diminutive all star has been quoted in a Mirror interview as saying that the "internet's completely over." He explains: "The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good." Now, we know that the artist formerly known as "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" is going to (deservedly) take a lot of flack from the "internet" for this one -- after all, nobody likes to hear that they're "over," right? But, in his defense, he was never really into the internet to begin with -- as is evidenced by the awesome YouTube clip below. [Thanks to commenter xkaosu9x for the image]
Shifting Perspectives: Revenge of the Karapalooza
Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, we invade the menagerie, shut down the demon factory, defang the beaten dog, carefully avoid Netherspite, play some chess, and face not only Malchezaar but the legions he commands. Greetings, druids. This week we'll finish our look at stomping Kara from Curator through Prince. If you're looking for our first installment (covering Attumen through Nightbane), you'll find that here. Curator For most people, the Curator was the source of the first tier piece they ever got in Burning Crusade as he drops the tier 4 glove token. Note that the Defender tokens in tier 4 and 5 went to warriors, druids, and priests, which forced BC's more popular tanking and healing classes (in addition to the new legion of shadow priests that every raid wanted) to gear at each others' expense. It wasn't until tier 6 that Blizzard went for more sensible class combinations, splitting most tanking/healing classes to different tokens.
Guitar teacher claims music games helping his business
Anecdotally speaking, the guitar teaching business has never been better for Bo Moore, a West Pennsylvania guitar teacher. Speaking with The Tribune-Democrat, he says, "We're so busy right now, and I think these games have been a big factor behind it," referring to the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band inspiring young musicians to pick up the real thing after playing the plastic equivalent. Quick, somebody tell Prince to chill out!Moore says he's seen a 35 percent uptick in guitar lessons over the past two years, an increase he attributes to the mainstream ubiquity of Activision and EA's rhythm-based music games. In fact, around 80 percent of the over 100 students currently enrolled with him have taken to the guitar. Unfortunately for those teaching other instruments, business hasn't been so hot. Moore claims, from conversations he's had with other teachers, that business is down if you're not teaching the guitar. "We need more kids learning to play woodwind instruments ... we need more piano players," he says. The piece's author opines that titles like "Xylophone Xanadu" might help to push kids into other instruments, though we all know Sitar Hero is going to be the one to do it.[Via GamePolitics]
Prince turned down Guitar Hero, prefers kids 'learn how to actually play'
When Prince isn't busy changing his name, starring in Hollywood movies, or giving your mother hot flashes, he enjoys making music. Nowadays, he's hawking his latest album at your local Target, which is the reason PBS caught up with the man for an interview. The interview is pretty extensive, spanning a great deal of Prince's illustrious career, but of most interest to the gaming crowd are surely Prince's thoughts on Guitar Hero. When asked, Prince said, "Well, I ain't mad at them. I hear it made, like, $2 billion and they came to us and offered us a very small portion of that," which Prince, obviously, turned down. Prince thinks, "it's more important that kids learn how to actually play the guitar," even though he says it's incredibly tough to learn. According to him, the payoff is the joy of creating something from nothing. Prince thinks that making music is the best thing in the world, but we think he's overlooking one important fact: You can create music with Guitar Hero's instruments.[Via superannuation]
Limited edition Prince Opus iPod touch just wants your kiss (and $2,100)
While certainly not the most expensive iPod we've ever seen, the limited edition Prince Opus iPod touch is definitely amongst the priciest. Sold only as part of an ultra rare kit that includes a luxurious book of Prince photographs from Kraken Opus, this touch (of unknown capacity) comes preloaded with 40 minutes of "exclusive" footage along with a live soundtrack from Indigo Nights. Of course, it's also doused in purple and splashed with Prince's symbol 'round back, but even with only 950 kits available, we still say the $2,100 price tag is far too lofty. Hate to break it to ya, Opus, but those hedge funds are no longer partying like it's 1999.[Via All Things Digital]
This afternoon, party like it's 1234567890 Unix time
Number aficionados, you probably already know what happens today. As of 6:31:30PM ET this afternoon it will officially be 1234567890 Unix time, which started at zero and has been counting seconds since the stroke of midnight on January 1, 1970, not counting leap seconds. We suggest you put on your best watch or other geek chic and enjoy that one fateful second of sequential bliss -- as the story goes, 1234567891, party over, oops, out of time. In case you've got other plans and can't celebrate the milestone, we'll see you December 22, 2282 at 3:13:30PM ET for the merriment of 9876543210. [Via Wired]
Meet Tenris Mirkblood, a new Kara boss, possibly for the Scourge event
Our friend Boubouille over at MMO Champion has done some more digging in the datafiles of the beta realms, and pulled out a brand new boss in Karazhan of all places. Meet Prince Tenris Mirkblood of the San'layn, a group of elven princes aligned with none other than The Lich King himself. He's not live on active servers at all -- again, Boubouille dug this up from beta realm files, so we may never actually see Tenris in game.But there are a few quests surrounding the boss as well -- for more on how he might be included in the game during the world event (including possible spoilers), hit the link below.
Raiding has never been easier than in 3.0.2
Karazhan isn't exactly cutting edge content. It's had a few nerfs in its time. That being said, walking into Medivh's home-away-from-evil with a collection of random alts, sightseers, and new-to-raiders can sometimes prove interesting. And by interesting, I mean "repair bill" and "love of all that's Holy, just kill the dang flares!" Last night was one of those nights. My Guild has spent the last few weeks helping folks prepare for 25-man raiding in Wrath. The gear from Karazhan won't be applicable in the expansion, sure, but the skills and habits you learn now will help you be successful in the future. We had some particularly green folks with us, and while we knew the changes from 3.0.2 would make it easier, we weren't quite aware how easy. We were breezing along. Who doesn't breeze past Attumen, Maiden, and even Opera? When we hit Curator, we started to really feel the difference. The chap barely made it to his first Evocation. We skipped on past, slapped Aran around, and went up to Prince. Prince got down two infernals before dying. Confused, I checked the raid's gear. Had our all-in-greens Rogue somehow been replaced with a Warglaive-wielding maniac? Did the new specs really make that much difference? And then we recalled -- every raid mob in the Burning Crusade got nerfed. So, now, for the next few weeks, we have an odd nirvana in which to help folks learn to raid.
15 Minutes of Fame: 10-boxing Karazhan, Part 1
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.This week's 15 Minutes of Fame is about a multiboxing team – but it's not that team that just ganked you in your last Battleground. Absolute Power-H of Archimonde and its team leader/main tank, Nixi, have made their mark not in Battlegrounds but in Karazhan.Ever curious about a unique perspective of the World of Warcraft, we visited with Nixi & Co. to find out what it's like to "solo" Karazhan. This week in Part 1 of our interview, we go straight for the throat with Nixi's Kara strats. Next week, Part 2 of 15 Minutes of Fame: 10-boxing Karazhan brings you a look at Nixi's hardware setup and his top five tips for new multiboxers.
Tank Talk: The better (and lesser) angels of our nature
Tank Talk continues this week with one requisite "Why does my ingame life have to suck so hard?" story in deference to a point made by commenters on our first column. We will then take a look at the most fundamental decision you will encounter as a raiding tank -- and one you are likely to make, and then re-make, on just about every boss encounter in the game. There is a Druid on my server who messages me almost daily asking me to come tank his heroics. What annoys me is not being asked to tank per se, but that he, too, is a feral Druid. His gear isn't as good as mine simply because he hasn't raided past Magtheridon, but he's sitting on at least three of the better pieces of Tier 4, crafted epics, and several of the badge pieces that I'm still using to tank Tier 6. At a matter of fact, with the advent of two different badge vendors and badge drops from 10-man and 25-man bosses, his stats are significantly better than the ones I had tanking most of Tier 5. This guy literally has the gear to do just about anything in the game short of the more advanced content in Black Temple and Sunwell Plateau, and I used to point to him with no small measure of Druidic pride as proof of what a little elbow grease could accomplish.But he still wants me to come tank for him.I started getting irritated with the constant begging at one point and asked him, "How can you possibly have any difficulty getting groups? Everybody in LFG is looking for a tank, and your gear is excellent."At his computer, I'm sure he was shrugging. "You do it faster than I do.""I really don't. Just get some good DPS and you'll be fine."And then the truth came out: "Well, I don't really like tanking. I'd rather DPS." Ah.
Tank Talk: Do you feel lucky, punk?
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's new raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and myself (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. At least, that's what the others said they were doing. I intend to use it mostly as a soapbox to complain. Absolute power tends to......something something.Welcome to Tank Talk. I am your bear Druid hostess for this week, with a topic that occurred to me while reading a recent article here on the site. Eliah Hecht wrote that his guild is facing a not-uncommon tank shortage and that he has considered the possibility of leveling a tanking class to 70 before Wrath, or tanking on a Death Knight afterwards. A number of people on my server and in my guild have talked about doing the same thing, or switching mains once Wrath hits. With so many people playing Death Knights, I think it's very possible that more people will discover they enjoy -- or at least, don't mind -- tanking, and may seek to do so in a raid environment without necessarily knowing what they've really signed up for. From those of us who have tanked raid content in vanilla WoW or BC, here are the 10 questions you'll want to ask yourself if you're considering the possibility of tanking serious raid content:
Need a cure for the Karazhan blues? Try 10 Paladins
Don't get me wrong here, Karazhan's generally a pretty fun dungeon, aside from the odd incredibly annoying trash mob, but when you've run it time and time again, it's always nice to find a twist or a new way of doing stuff to spice things up again. The Senatus Redux guild of the Kul Tiras EU run have done just that, clearing most of Karazhan with a group 10 paladins, most of them in no better than T4 gear or lower, on a run done on March 1st. They managed to get down all the bosses but Prince Malchezaar and Nightbane - and they have pretty good reason to believe that they could have had the Prince, having him to 15% on their last attempt of the night.
Around Azeroth: Meet Malchezaar
This shot of Karazhan's Prince Malchezaar, sent in by reader Gabe, strikes a little close to home for me, personally. If you've never visited Karazhan and encountered the Prince, let me explain: throughout the fight infernals fall from the sky. When they land, they stand in one place send out damaging pulses of hellfire in a circle around them. As the fight progresses, your raid will find positioning more and more difficult until you reach the point this image shows us: infernals are everywhere and, without a safe place to stand, your raid has perished. Prince Malchezaar, having eliminated everyone else in your group, is now coming after you. Gabe explains the moment for us, "I've run to the door screaming for someone to let me out, (he's too tall to fit) but no one answers."Have any memorable raid wipes of your own to share? Send them to us at Around Azeroth! All you have to do is e-mail aroundazeroth@gmail.com with a copy of your screenshot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could find your pictures and story featured next!%Gallery-1816%
More polls on the WoW forums
The first poll on the official WoW forums was mentioned on WoW Insider when it was posted a few weeks ago, but since then a few more polls have been created. While one of them is obviously just for fun, the other two are more interesting.When asked "What is your favorite arena?" the Ring of Trials in Nagrand won out as everyone's favorite with 46.3% of the votes. The Ruins of Lordaeron received second place with a tally of 25.14% of the votes. While I didn't vote in this particular poll, my choices would have matched these results.Admittedly, I'm pretty much a noob to the arena. Like many other players, I mostly just get my ten matches a week to scrape up enough points for some welfare epics. Probably due to this fact, I dislike the Blade's Edge arena. The ramps, pillars, ropes and bridge create a lot of variables during an already hectic fight which can lead to panic, confusion and ultimately an inglorious defeat. Even more inglorious than normal, that is. Also, this arena in particular makes it more difficult for stealthy types (my 2v2 team is composed of a rogue and druid) to get the drop on their foes because the narrow catwalk makes a convenient place for an opposing team to make a stand with their AoE and stealth detection. What are your thoughts on the poll? Do they match the results?
Prince of Persia prequel confirmed
It looks like that rumored Prince of Persia prequel is going to be a reality soon, as word hits that the title has been confirmed in the latest issue of Computer and Video Games Magazine. Dubbed Prince of Persia: Ghosts of the Past, the title is supposedly headed in a more fantasy-like direction, ditching the dark material of the last two titles in the trilogy. People are saying it's going to be a mix between Ico, Zelda and Sands of Time.Sounds like it already has some awfully large shoes to fill.[Via Go Nintendo]
Prince gets into the Wii racket
Leave it to Prince, a real tennis racquet maker, to make a nice, high quality fake Wiimote tennis racquet attachment. Their Wii accessory is, quite simply, the nicest, most authentic-looking tennis-racquet-looking Wiimote topper that we've seen yet. Unfortunately, it's still kind of ridiculous. However, if the tiny Brando tennis racquet can increase the realistic feeling of Wii Sports, maybe a more realistic tennis racquet can do even better.Luckily, you won't be paying Prince racquet prices for these sort-of-racquets-- Prince is marketing them at only $15. Maybe we'll get one for some very confusing Manhunt 2.
Prince brings its tennis racket-making skills to the Wii
While there's certainly no shortage of tennis racket-esque accessories available to make your Wii Tennis experience a tad more realistic, those looking for even more authenticity can will soon be able to turn to a familiar name for their fix, as racker-maker Prince has now announced that it's making the jump into the Wiicessory business. According to IGN, Prince has teamed up with Qualtech Global to produce the rackets, which will be available in your choice of three colors and will apparently be exclusive to Circuit City (at least for the time being), where they'll set you back $15 apiece. You'll have to make do with your imagination for a little while longer though, as the rackets won't be available until November 15th.[Via Crave]
Phat Loot Phriday: Ruby Drape of the Mysticant
Who knew a piece of cloth on your back could be so badass?Name: Ruby Drape of the MysticantType: Epic CloakArmor: 105Abilities: +22 Stamina, +21 Intellect Improves spell hit rating by 18 (hot for a cloak) +30 spell damage and healing, which is even hotter, especially for an item from Karazhan. There are better caster cloaks in the game, but they're all from higher level raids, so get this one and you'll be set for a while. How to Get It: As Kirk might say, KarazhAAAAAAAANNN!!! Prince Malchezaar, one of the last bosses in Medivh's tower, drops this baby. In fact, getting there is only half the battle-- because this cloak is so great, you'll probably have a harder time winning the roll to get this than you will actually defeating the Prince. It's around a 10% drop, which ain't bad, but every Mage, Shaman, Warlock, and maybe a Moonkin or two are going to be after this cloak, so it's really more luck than anything.But the good news is that once you get it, you're pretty much set-- there are sidegrades coming up, but there's really nothing that matches up to it until you hit Kael'thas.Getting Rid of It: Disenchants into a Void Crystal, and sells to vendors for 3g 71s 96c.
Phat Loot Phriday: The Decapitator
A name so nice Blizzard used it twice, this axe is so B.A. Baracus you can even throw it.Name: The DecapitatorType: Epic Main Hand AxeDamage / Speed: 167-312 / 2.60 (92.1 DPS)Abilities: +27 critical strike rating Here's the fun part: on use, you can throw it at a target up to 40 feet away for 513-567 damage. Oh, and the throw can crit as well (at about 5%, most players say), so while you can't really use it to spike your DPS in PvE (most bosses are immune to it, apparently), it's very helpful in PvP. Got a runner with just a little health left? Toss this guy and watch the numbers fly and the dude die. Then go eat some pie. 3 minute cooldown on the use, which is kind of lame. Also happens to share a cooldown with trinkets that increase your attack power, which is kind of a bummer, but not a gamebreaker. How to Get It: Drops from the Prince in Karazhan at around 11.5%, so chances are your guild may have Voided one already. But if you're a Fury Warrior or a Shaman with an axe fetish who really likes the sound of throwing this thing around in PvP, you can probably convince them to give it to you.Getting Rid of It: Bored of tossing axes around already? Disenchants into a Void Crystal, and sells to a vendor for 12g44s56c.
