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Eleven alpha tester: Game is 'identical to Glitch'
"Incredible! I didn't expect it to be identical to Glitch, which it is." So sayeth one of Eleven's select few alpha testers, some of whom posted testimonials on the site about their experience. While a second tester cited "overwhelming" nostalgia, others were more critical of bugs, reloads, and generic visuals. The fan remake of Glitch has more than doubled its alpha test pool, from 13 to 31 players, and continues to advance the project as a whole. "This has been a great success, with many improvements being made to help improve the stability and experience while some other work is ongoing in order to bring over some more features," the devs said.
Eleven (the Glitch resurrection project) is moving into alpha
It's been two years since Glitch shut down, and there are two possible responses to that. The first is to be sad that the MMO landscape lost an attractive, quirky, interesting little game. The second is to be quite happy because Eleven, the project that seeks to restore the original functionality of Glitch with a new team as a labor of love, is entering its alpha test phase. How awesome is that? The first phase of testing is not a particularly large one: The amount of functional stuff in the game is tiny, and only 13 people are getting let in for test purposes. But it does mean that the project is moving along, and those lucky 13 people are going to get to play a game whose fans have been mourning ever since its shutdown. It's also a project done with Tiny Speck's blessing, ensuring that a successful alpha test now is the first step toward opening the doors of this world once more.
Hearthstone unveils new Rebirth card
The latest card revealed from Hearthstone's upcoming Curse of Naxxramas set is a new shaman spell: Rebirth. Rebirth destroys a minion before returning it to full health, a spell that will play well with the myriad of new minions with Deathrattle. Rebirth turns any minion's Deathrattle into an on-demand ability for 2 mana -- and puts it back onto the field to be used again. Rebirth could be a terrifying spell even with pre-existing Deathrattle minions such as the Abomination or Sylvanas Windrunner. It could also be used aggressively -- for example, against someone who made the mistake of playing the previously-revealed Anub'ar Ambusher. By destroying your opponent's Ambusher, you could potentially force a far more dangerous minion back into their hand as a delay tactic. Some of the current mechanics surrounding the way resurrections work (such as with Redemption) means this spell could even be used as a Silence effect. Buffs that have been cast on a minion do not reapply after death, meaning you can easily knock a druid's superpowered tank down to size. It should also be noted that Battlecry effects only apply when a minion is played directly from the hand -- resurrecting it with Rebirth is unlikely to allow that Battlecry to happen a second time. Some players have voiced concern regarding this card's potential synergy with legendary Leeroy Jenkins. Leeroy is an extremely powerful card right now, particularly in decks that find ways to play it multiple times in a row. A rogue with a pair of Shadowsteps in their hand can attack with Leeroy three times in one turn -- 18 direct damage. More if they have Cold Blood in their hand. A shaman with Rebirth, if Leeroy's Charge ability triggers after resurrection, could now perform the same tactic.
Propellerhead to stop selling ReBirth for iPhone
Act quickly mobile music producers. Propellerhead, makers of the recording software Reason, have announced that they will stop selling and supporting the iPhone app ReBirth on June 1. ReBirth is an iOS version of the company's Techno Micro Composer that started as a Mac program. The app emulates a Roland TB-303 bass synth and TR-808 and 909 drum machines. Using FX and sequencers, the app allows users to create whole songs. The more expensive iPad version of ReBirth isn't going anywhere, so home producers will still have that option. Ultimately, the iPad version of the program is the strongest one, adding the ability to export your songs as MP3 files, unlike the iPhone version which can only share songs with other ReBirth for iPhone users. Sadly along with pulling the app from the iTunes store Propellerhead is also pulling support for ReBirth, meaning users will no longer be able to share their songs with other users who have the app. By removing the app's only method of sharing the music it creates it seems like Propellerhead is intentionally crippling a popular feature on the app in favor of its iPad alternative. ReBirth is stil available in the iTunes store for $2.99 until June 1.
Binding of Isaac: Rebirth PS3, Vita, PC ports in progress
Surely Edmund McMillen didn't think 1 million Binding of Isaac fans would be satisfied with the scant details he provided about the game's console version, Rebirth, in yesterday's postmortem.He's taken to Tumblr to clear up questions about Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, confirming that publisher Nicalis is working on ports for PS3, Vita and PC via Steam. Nicalis is talking to Microsoft and Nintendo, and even iOS is an option, "if it's not garbage."Rebirth will include Wrath of the Lamb and a new, similarly sized expansion that features a fresh final chapter and ending, two new playable characters, and "tons more items, rooms, enemies, bosses and the like."Rebirth will have local co-op only, and it will contain some "secret stuff" that couldn't be added to the Flash version. Composer Danny Baranowsky is mixing up some new songs for the console version. It's set to begin development on January 1 and be finished by the end of 2013, and McMillen wants to have a loyalty pre-order discount for anyone who owns Isaac already."The biggest thing to keep in mind here is that development is just starting with the remake, nothing is totally set in stone and a lot will change over time," McMillen cautions. "I'm currently in full-time development of Mew-Genics with Tommy and we have a few other little tricks in store for you next year, so my goal with Rebirth is to simply make sure the remake is top-quality and then detail out the expansion and updates once development is much farther along."Yeah, yeah, whatever, McMillen – our eyes glazed over in glee right after reading "Vita."
Silkroad-R adding new server, gearing up for re-launch
When we heard about Silkroad-R, our first thought was buhwhat? Is Joymax getting into race cars or something? As it turns out, the "R" stands for rebirth, and the free-to-play fantasy MMO is being groomed for a new launch in 2012 (sans some of the problems that plagued it in its original run). A new Joymax press release describes the leaner, meaner Silkroad as "the all-new, light and easy- to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game that picks up where the original left off." The company is also touting a "bot-free and lag-free experience" that includes a new server to cope with the expected new-user demand. Open beta testing is going on now through January 17th, 2012, and you can learn more about the reboot at the official Silkroad website. [Source: Joymax press release]
Shifting Perspectives: The hybridization and utility debate
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. Welcome to our feral cat edition, brought to you by Chase Hasbrouck, aka Alaron of The Fluid Druid blog. Let the face clawing begin! As many of you know, the class Q&A was this week, and featured many thought-provoking questions and answers that reveal Blizzard's intention of how the feral class will work going forward.. One of the most prominent topics discussed was hybridization. Blizzard has always loved the idea of druids shapeshifting more, but has never succeeded in implementing a model where they do. In today's column, I'll discuss feral utility and how it relates to the hybridization concept. Class Q&A Celestalon answered: We are very interested in opening opportunities for more hybrid gameplay in druids, as you can see in the level 90 talent tier, while still allowing an option for players who want to never do anything outside their role. We don't intend for that added hybridization to be offset by any sort of DPS nerf. While DPSing, a druid's DPS will be entirely competitive with other DPS. We hope to see druids that do things like, DPS in Cat Form most of the fight, but during one phase, when healing is super difficult, pop out of Cat, hit Heart of the Wild, Tranquility, and spam heals on the raid to help top everyone off, then go back to Cat and resume DPSing. In that sort of the situation, the Cat will have spent less time DPSing than other DPSers, but his/her DPS while DPSing would have been competitive, and in exchange helped save the raid when healers were falling behind...To clarify a bit further on how the druids will perform at their off-roles: Ferals and Guardians will have Nurturing Instinct, which increases spell power based on Agility, and Balance and Restoration will have Killer Instinct, which increases attack power based on Intellect. They will have a smaller toolbox of spells for their off-role, but the strength of those spells will be competitive, when under the effects of those hybrid talents. source
Shifting Perspectives: A first look at Mists of Pandaria talents for feral druids
At BlizzCon 2011, druids received the groundbreaking news that we were changing to a four-specialization model. With this news, plus the new talents that were revealed, obviously large changes to the spec are planned. With today's column, I'd like to look at the talents that were revealed during Blizzcon, and make some first guesses as to what players will be looking for. Of course, the standard disclaimer applies: this is pre-alpha stuff, so I won't be commenting on numbers specifically, just the design choices. Feel free to follow along on the Wowhead MoP talent calculator. Onward! Tier 1: Movement Feline Swiftness: Increases your movement speed by 10% and by an additional 20% while in Cat Form. Displacer Beast (Instant, 3 min cooldown): Teleports the Druid up to 20 yards in a random direction, purging all periodic damage effects and providing stealth for 10 sec. Attacking or taking damage cancels this effect. Using this ability activates Cat Form. Tireless Pursuit (Instant, 3 min cooldown): Removes all roots and snares, and increases movement speed by 70% while in Cat Form for 15 sec. Does not break prowling. Using this ability activates Cat Form. I'm happy that movement choices come first. At level 15, you spend a LOT of time walking from place to place, so any movement talents are welcome. Feline Swiftness is likely your default choice, replacing Feral Swiftness. The vast majority of your playtime is spent moving your character from place to place, after all, so let's get there faster! Let's face it: the stationary tank-and-spank model is mostly dead, so being able to move faster is a key part of good DPS. Not to mention, it's always annoyed me when playing my resto off-spec that I didn't go faster in cat form, so I'm glad I'll be able to pick this up there as well. Now, I think this choice is a pretty good example of the "optimal, but..." design. The other choices are clearly more intended for PvP, but they could very well be useful for survival on encountersthat feature large periodic damage effects or roots/snares. Displacer Beast is interesting if the Charge->Ravage mechanic stays in (my guess is it does) but the random component will make it confusing to use, so it will likely be only useful as an escape in PvP. Finally, my guess would be that Tireless Pursuit heralds the removal of Stampeding Roar, or possibly Dash.
Synth fans rejoice: ReBirth for iPad now available
I've got to admit that I have a fascination with synthesizers. When I was in engineering school 35 years ago, I soldered together two synth kits and became familiar with the early sequencers and waveform generators. I listened to the early synth music of Larry Fast (Synergy), Yes, Kraftwerk, Tomita, ELP, and Wendy Carlos religiously. That love of synth stayed with me through the years. So when we received a tip from reader Dioxide about ReBirth for iPad (US$14.99), and I realized that he was talking about an iPad version of the incredible ReBirth RB-338 software synthesizer, I immediately jumped on the story. ReBirth was an application initially created for Mac back in late 1996, and emulated two Roland TB-303 synthesizers, a Roland TR-808 drum machine, and a Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer simultaneously. These devices were all created in the early 1980s, and their sound has been replicated extensively in hip-hop, house, techno, and other music genres. ReBirth received a "rebirth" of sorts this year when Propellerhead Software, the Swedish company that published ReBirth through 2005, revived the classic software with a ReBirth iPhone app ($6.99). Now it's available on iPad, and it looks amazing.You can share songs with friends through social networking, use multi-touch to control more knobs than you'd be able to on the actual TB-303, save as MP3 and more. There's a video of ReBirth for iPad in action following the break. We'll have a full review of the app soon.
Blizzard clarifies combat resurrections for Cataclysm
Earlier today, Blizzard's Zarhym posted some clarifications on the changes to Create Soulstone and Rebirth that we can expect to see in Cataclysm. I know a lot of warlocks and druids who are going to be very unhappy about this change. These mechanics are not fully implemented on beta yet. These limitations affect raid content only. One combat resurrection is allowed per boss attempt in 10-man raids (Rebirth or Soulstone). Three combat resurrections are allowed per boss attempt in 25-man raids (any combination of Rebirth and Soulstone). Accepting a combat resurrection is what counts towards the total accrued, not the cast. Create Soulstone has a 15-minute cooldown. Rebirth has a 10-minute cooldown. Zarhym also hinted at the possibility of adding to the existing functionality of Soulstone by allowing one to be cast in combat on a deceased character, a change that would soften the blow ever so slightly for many raid leaders. Zarhym remained cagey when questioned about the ultimate fate of Reincarnation, but it seems that reincarnating currently counts towards the attempt combat resurrection total. Whether this is a bug or a feature is yet to be determined. The full blue posts are after the jump.
Shifting Perspectives: Beta build 12803
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting feral/restoration druids and those who group with them. This week, we ponder change. Beta build 12803 dropped late Friday, and with it a number of changes to the feral and restoration specs. Some are what you'd expect after some recent forum conversations with Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer), and others came out of left field. We'll take a look past the cut.
App review: Propellerheads ReBirth 1.1 for iPhone
As you're no doubt well aware, music geekdom and gadget geekdom go hand in hand. When they combine in a single device or app, however, the results can be magical. That's why we usually end up trying every music making app out there at some point or another. Indeed, we just received word that Rebirth for iPhone version 1.1 has just been released, and decided to take it for a spin. Promising new mods and some bug fixes, it's compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad (iPhone OS 3.1 or later). But how does it fare as a music-making tool? And is it worth the whopping $6.99? Read on after the break to find out. %Gallery-93989%
WoW Rookie: The method in the madness of resurrection
New around here? See all our collected tips, tricks and how-to's for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. It ain't over 'til it's over -- and in World of Warcraft, it ain't over 'til every player has used the last resurrection cooldown and trick. Death is far from permanent in Azeroth, and over time, the available methods of resurrection ("rezzing") have multiplied. Some classes can resurrect only outside of combat; one class can rez even in the heat of battle. Some classes have rezzes that work only on themselves. Now that the dungeon finder makes running instance groups so easy for a leveling player, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with all the alternatives for coming back to life. There's a specific etiquette that's risen up around rezzes, as well, so take note and don't get caught looking like a chump.
Battle resurrections may get increased cooldowns
This was actually an offhand remark of Ghostcrawler's a few days ago, but it didn't seem to get much attention. In a thread devoted to the possibility of extending buffs like Blessing of Kings to additional classes in Cataclysm, Ghostcrawler mentioned the following: Ghostcrawler Obviously things like Rebirth can't just be handed to out to more classes unless we did something like a second exhaustion mechanic for battle rez or whatever. For now we're going to try the cooldown at 30 min again. In Icecrown's world of limited attempts, a 30 min cooldown likely meant you just cooled your heels until the cooldown was available again. In Cataclysm the hope is sometimes you'll have the benefit available but not every time, which scales back on how much of a game-changer it is. An alternative to a longer cooldown for Rebirth is something where one druid using it would trip everyone's cooldown for a few minutes. That it's a bit gamey, but might solve the problem. Also keep in mind that Rebirth is much more useful in today's game where people tend to die from massive damage. In a world where people sometimes die because the healers have run out of mana, then Rebirth doesn't buy you quite as much. source
Raid Rx: 5 Factors to consider for Rebirth
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a new WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. This week, we look at Rebirth and what to consider before using them. There were a few comments from last week's Raid Rx in regards to raid saving abilities. One of the abilities mentioned was the Druid's Rebirth (and to a lesser extent, a Shaman's Reincarnation). Both have their uses. What's the difference between these two spells and the ones mentioned last week?
Shifting Perspectives: A brief history of time
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting Druids and those who group with them. This week, we plagiarize from Stephen Hawking, jack a WABAC Machine, and begin a joyride through the evolution of the Druid class.Dear Blizzard,There are too many bosses to write about in Ulduar. I find this vexing. Please eliminate 5. Sincerely,Sleepless in SilithusSalutations, Druids. As is probably obvious, we're going to take a detour out of Ulduar class strategy this week, because I'm going to shoot myself if I have to write about another boss I haven't been able to smack around since the PTR. We'll be back for Freya, Thorim, and assorted vaguely Norse-sounding entitites wishing to destroy the world for some unspecified reason but they drop phat lewtz so who cares next week.Anyway, one of the things that's fascinated me about the Druid class since Burning Crusade is the growth in its popularity. Historically we have never been among the more commonly-played classes, and for a wide swathe of classic WoW and BC, were actually the least-played class or within the bottom 3. While there are various reasons for this (and I could devote a column to how this probably happened), Druids became more popular as time went on, and an increasing number of people began to play the class without knowing just how far it's come. A little time spent reading through Wowwiki's list of the game's patches makes for interesting reading. A little more than 5 years ago, Druids could Feign Death, the Feral 31-point talent was Improved Pounce, and Moonkin form wasn't even in a gleam in a designer's eye.
Shifting Perspectives: The Druid of 2008
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting Druids and those who group with them. This week, our author is completely spaced out on cold medication, and is somewhat concerned that her raid performance has improved under the circumstances.The time has come (the Allie said)To talk of many things.Of Roots and Bash and Travel Form,And Strength (which scales with Kings).Why Tauren cat form sucks so hard,And whether trees have wings!And, yes, before anyone asks, I'm tripping on too much cough syrup and ibuprofen after receiving a belated viral Christmas gift from a relative. So I'll just put this out there right now; this column's probably on the weird side. I took a long look at all three Druid specs over 2008 and saw a few sad things, a few happy things, a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants, and now I'm channeling the famous Mary Tyler Moore episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust," and that has to stop because I do not believe Mary Tyler Moore ever played a Druid.If you're completely uninterested in reading an account of any spec that's not your own -- although that would make me weep into my little cup of generic label cough syrup -- here's a set of quick links to each: Balance Feral Resto
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a Druid
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the nineteenth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself. Nature is a system of life energy in constant flow, peaceful one moment and turbulent the next. All living things draw their life from it, and depend upon its balance for their existence. Druids are the protectors of this balance, who harness the energies it contains and try to live their lives according to its laws and principles. In this way, they become intimate members of the natural system, embodying the very force that they seek to protect. The druid is not merely a spellcaster who draws on nature to do cool stuff -- he is nature, in himself, completely one with it in every way. The world is his body, and he is an inseparable part of the whole. It can be rather hard for those of us living in the concrete jungles of modern city life to get a feeling for what nature really is, or what it feels like to be a part of it. Perhaps if you have ever ventured off the paved highway into the distant reaches of the world, you will know the feeling of connection to the greatness of the natural world in which the human race evolved, long, long ago in a state of mind far, far away from billboards and electronic devices, pop culture and prime-time TV programming. It may no longer be possible for human beings to simply return to its ancient state, nor would that necessarily be a good thing. Today, people look out at the world outside the closed-off bubble of material civilization and wonder their new relationship with the ancient balance of nature could be.To play a druid in WoW as a class in a game is one thing, but to try and get inside the druid worldview and understand what they might be thinking is something else. To start, it would help to look inside ourselves and see what sort of connection to nature exists there. Is there a balance? What would balance look like? How would it feel to be in complete harmony with the natural world? What would it be like to channel all the power of nature through your body or indeed feel the world itself as an extension of your body?
Ryzom opens free accounts to new users
With the recent news of Ryzom's slow rebirth, allowing previous subscribers to reactivate their accounts for free, we're happy to report that free accounts are open to new players as well. This new account reactivation is happening in increments though, so if you've unsuccessfully applied previously, be patient! These activation stages will occur when each previous limit is reached, gradually bringing the populations back up in the game.This new player activation is completely free, but they say it won't last long. If you've never tried the game and were put off by the reports of its untimely death, now is your chance to see what all the buzz is about.
Hail Mandy: The Druid's Soulstone
We've all wiped in an instance from time to time. It is significantly easier to keep going when a rezzer has a self-rez ability so the group doesn't have to waste time running back to the instance. Soulstone and Reincarnation are wonderful things. The Druid's Rebirth spell can also be used occasionally to save the party the walk of shame back to the instance. I call this maneuver the "Hail Mandy." I started doing this when I was multiboxing my Paladin and Druid. When the Paladin, who was tanking, died and the Druid was going down, I would cast rebirth on the Pally. Then after the Druid was killed and the mobs reset, I would accept the rez. This allowed me to raise both characters and start back up on my merry, dualboxing way- just like using a Soulstone.
