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Netflix tests the 'Play Something' button on mobile, starting with Android
Can't decide what to stream? Netflix's 'Play Something' button is starting to pop up on phones too.
Google can tell you which Android phone you should buy
The sheer variety of Android devices out there means that it's hard to know which one best serves your needs. That's what we're here for, but if you'd prefer not to take the advice of technology reviewers, then Google is now offering a second opinion. The company has launched Which Phone, a website that asks you a handful of questions to narrow down which device you should purchase.
The Mog Log Extra: Tips for a Final Fantasy XIV beginner
We're all kind of beginners with the new version of Final Fantasy XIV. Some of us have high-level characters already, but none of us has years of experience with the game. At best, you have memories of how things worked in the last beta test or two. But there's still a difference between having a character from version 1.0 dripping with high-level items and having a fresh guy or gal stepping off the boat into Limsa. Fortunately, the game's tutorials now do a solid job of introducing you to how the game works. But there are still some tips and tricks to consider, and it's with that in mind that I present this column. If you're new to the game completely or even just an occasional dabbler in the previous beta tests, here's some advice to help you out during your first steps.
The Mog Log: Starting fresh in Final Fantasy XIV, pre-2.0
So you're interested in Final Fantasy XIV version 2.0. You're not alone; really, a lot of people are. But you don't want to be the guy struggling to catch up when the change happens. No, you're buying your copy now and heading into the game, figuring that anything good you accomplish now will be well worth the effort after the end of the world. And truth be told, you're probably right, since you'll be free to bask in all of the newfound glory of the updated game with plenty of money and resources to start. Of course, none of that helps with the fact that you're jumping in to a game that doesn't make the road easy for a new player. It's not like other MMOs. It's a game that seems to have followed a wholly divergent evolutionary path, one that I've previously compared to a species of carnivorous dinosaur lumbering alongside modern tigers. So what would I suggest to someone starting Final Fantasy XIV right now? A lot of things. Let's cover some basic advice for new players who'd like to see the game as it is while they wait for the game that it will be.
The Mog Log: Class actions
The biggest news about Final Fantasy XIV this week, other than the somewhat mollifying UI update preview, was the addition of another 30 days of free playtime for everyone. This is the sort of thing that I don't think you can really see as anything other than a classy move on the part of Square-Enix. It's also very unexpected, but in the best possible way -- I can't help but be surprised that the company which has long been seen as completely dispassionate by Final Fantasy XI players has essentially responded to the "I don't want to pay for beta" complaints with "that's fair, we'll let you play for free." So as long as we're talking about class, let's talk about Final Fantasy XIV's classes. I'm a big fan of games that give you a broad toolbox and let you decide what you want to do with everything, and building a field class is one of my biggest joys in the game. It's not that you can't mix-and-match abilities from Disciples of the Land or Disciples of the Hand, but there's less variance than the combat-oriented classes. Let's start dipping our toes into character building, yes?
Twitter adds 'Suggestions for You' feature, has impeccably good taste
Ask Twitter, you can never follow enough people. The company has offered numerous ways to expand your lists, but this one will probably prove most effective. The Suggestions For You tab, rolling out now for most users (you might already have it -- check the "Find People" section), shows you users that might be relevant to your interests and / or are an extra degree off of our social circle. Worth a look, at least; if nothing else, you might find an account or two you thought you already followed (apologies to @engadgetmobile). And while you're meddling with your follow list, consider checking out our "Who Should I Follow" series for some more suggestions. Hey, editors need love, too.
A leveling server, just for leveling
Reader Tiago sent us an interesting idea I thought was worth sharing. He suggests that Blizzard create a "leveling server" -- a server that would be marked as specifically for new characters, so when you rolled a new toon on there, you'd be surrounded by a bunch of other people pre-80. And the key here would be that when you hit 80 on this server, then you would get a free server transfer off. In other words, Blizzard would have one server (completely optional, of course) designed for people to level on, with a realm full of people playing in the old world and leveling through the old quests.Sounds good, right? Like most of our ideas, Blizzard probably won't go for it -- they've already knocked down the idea of vanilla realms, and while this isn't the same thing (you'd be able to level to 80, the idea is just that you'd leave the server when you got there), it does mean creating a different ruleset for a brand new type of server. Plus, to a much lesser extent, it could create an even more lonely existence on the normal servers. Not to mention that Blizzard has been focusing on speeding past the low levels, not emphasizing them.But I like the idea anyway -- it doesn't seem too tough to do (mark one realm recommended, and provide free server transfers off of it), and it seems like an excellent way to get people who enjoy leveling up all together in the same place. And that's really what MMOs like this are all about, right?
Forum post of the day: Pick up groups to pick up points
I'll give you a quick run down of the general forums today: Take away the arena point requirement, or else! Epic flight costs too much! Requiring arena points for PvP gear is a slap in the face! I can't get this or that achievement because it involves something I don't want to do! This is the end of casuals, I don't have time to play arenas! /waggle GG Bliz, the arena requirement is going to make me go play <insert any other MMORPG here>! Death Knights should tank! If you're going to make us play arenas, let us PUG them like battlegrounds! It is hard to find someone who is happy with this new PvP development. I'm indifferent. Personally I find arenas to be the best part of PvP and the purpose of battlegrounds anyway. Like so many others, you need not agree. That last theme however, Blizzard should players to PUG arenas, gave me a moment of pause.
Making the Racial traits more individual
Hot on the heels of word about all the new changes to racial abilities in Wrath, reader Mike sent us a suggestion he thought up to give a little twist to racial abilities in game: Blizzard could unlock some of them from a few races, and instead give players the ability to choose a few on a peronal basis -- they could pick and choose certain abilities for their characters to have from the beginning. As in, each ability would get put into a budget, and instead of merely choosing a race, players could then choose one or two skills from the budget to give to their characters. You could end up having a Troll with Escape Artist and Diplomacy, or a Human with Hardiness and Magic resistance.Of course, some abilities are pretty strictly defined by the races themselves, so not everything could be pick and choose -- Gift of the Naaru and Will of the Forsaken would have to stick with Draenei and Undead, respectively (they'd have to stay Racial traits, not personal ones). But abilities like Endurance and Quickness are so insignificant in the bigger picture of things that it would be nice to customize your character a little bit more -- match it up to your style of play rather than just want race you'd like to be. Character creation is quickly becoming the one thing in the game that's stayed exactly the same since launch, and for many reasons, from RP to theorycrafting, players would really get a kick out of customizing their characters that little bit more.As Mike told us, each character has their own personal background and insights, so why shouldn't each individual character have their own personal traits to shine in? It's a little late for Wrath, of course, but it's something to think about in the future -- if Pets get their own choices about their strengths, why shouldn't the different ingame races?
Mac 101: Pressing F5 in a text field
More Mac 101, TUAW tips for new and returning Mac users. If you're typing in a text field (in Safari, TextEdit, or most any Mac OS X app), you can press F5 while your cursor rests in a particular word to see a list of words that begin with the letters after the last space. Holding down Option and Pressing Escape works, too. So, for example, if you type create, you get a list of words including create, created, and creates. If there are a lot of words in the list, it only shows the first 100 results, sorted alphabetically. The results come from Mac OS X's built-in dictionary. This trick is useful for when you have a word on the tip of your tongue, need help with possessive apostrophes, or are stuck on a crossword clue. [Via AppleGroup]
Forum post of the day: Arena Leagues
We all know that it can be hard for new level 70 characters to break into the arena. Many people start out playing their 10 games a week in order to scrounge up arena points for their first PvP pieces. Welfare epics? Maybe, but having decent gear makes it easier for many players to progress. It make some time for players to really learn to play their classes in a competitive PvP setting. Despite their best efforts, Blizzard has largely failed at fixing problems in the arenas. Cyrse of Farstriders suggested the creation of a minor league arena with reduced rewards to help players get their feet wet in PvP. The oginal poster listed several advantages of such a system. A minor league for PvP might discourage point and team selling, which despite Blizzard's efforts is persistent in the arena. It would also allow elite players to only be bracketed with folks who give them more of a challenge.
Tournament Test Realm: The good, the bad, and the bovine
The Arena Tournament Test Realm (TTR) has been live for a few days now. It seems there have been some hiccups, which is to be expected during a stress test. Hortus has popped up in a few instances on the TTR forum to address some of the major concerns that players have brought up. Lag is far and away the biggest issue on the TTR. Hortus indicated that one of the main functions of the TTR is measuring the best way to handle the massive number of contenders on the official tournament server. Blizzard currently has no plans for opening up any new TTRs to relive the stress. Logging into the server, I find the term "laggy" to be an understatement. Movement is dizzying, and players crowd around.
Breakfast Topic: Arena dreaming
I love playing in the Arenas, but I'm getting kind of bored with the same three maps. I was very exited Ruins of Lordaeron map was introduced with Season two. It was something new and exciting. It's still my favorite, but now its just as dull as the other two. I wish they would introduce a new fighting ground for Season four.I would love to see a map in Stormwind City. I picture it as something like the legendary tournament venues of the Medieval Knights. There would be banners all around it and an audience of noisy NPCs in the stands. In order to spice things up, it would be awesome to include environmental hazards like boiling oil or escapable, but painful pit traps. Also, if I were designing an Arena, players would be forced into combat more quickly, since the preparation areas would close one minute after the battle began.It would never happen, but a girl can dream. If you could design a battleground for Arena combat, what would it look like? What new features would you add?
Tauren cat form updated a little in patch 2.3
We just talked about this issue in Shifting Perspectives a week ago, but it appears Blizzard is already doing something about the tauren cat form -- albeit not very much. Many tauren have long complained that their cat form is much uglier than the night elf version (compare for yourself here), and while these changes aren't comprehensive, at least they're a tiny step in a new direction. Beaux on the US forums showed everyone how, in patch 2.3, Blizzard has modified the tauren cat form's face to look more like a lion and less like a monkey, and changed the neck of the lion so that it doesn't look so hunchbacked as it moves. It's not as pretty as the tauren cat form suggestion submitted in Blizzard's art contest, but it'll do for now I would think.[Update]: Our reader tmklein supplied us with some interesting links for what the EU player Andrige thought the various forms should look like -- all with a distinct visual style. Would you like this sort of change? Dire Bear Forms Worgen Forms (to replace cat form? I don't know about this one...) Travel Forms
