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Valiant's superheroes will get multi-platform video games
Valiant wants some of that money you're setting aside for superhero stuff. In addition to making a Bloodshot movie with Vin Diesel, the company has also teamed up with indie developer Blowfish Studios to create multi-platform video games based on Valiant characters. They didn't reveal much about the scope of their team-up, but they said that it's a multi-game partnership for a "slate of all new action-packed video games."
Mobile Miscellany: week of August 26th, 2013
If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought convincing signs that BlackBerry users are moving away from physical keyboards, along with a new budget Android smartphone for MetroPCS and a stumbling block that's holding up AT&T's acquisition of Alltel. These stories and more await. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of August 26th, 2013.
Duck Hunt pinball machine unites analog and PC in a nostalgia singularity (video)
We like pinball. We like classic NES games. Accordingly, it doesn't take much deduction to know that we really, really like Skit-B Pinball's Duck Hunt pinball machine. It has a fully mechanical, themed pinball machine below, but there's also a PC up top that replicates the images and sounds of Nintendo's light gun video game in sync with the analog action. The conversion of a Williams Valiant took about a year of off-hours work to finish, and it shows -- the attention to detail is what we'd expect if Gunpei Yokoi had put all his energy into pinball instead. Our only lament is that the Duck Hunt machine is a side project, and it likely won't escape into the wild. At least there's a video (after the break) to sate our curiosity.
Star Trek Online's Vigilant class revealed
Oh, man. We can just hear the cries of Star Trek fans who know they won't get to pretend they're Worf gliding around the battlefield with this new Vigilant class vessel for Star Trek Online. You can bet that we're one of those fans, but who could blame us with this thing's sleek design? If you're a Deep Space Nine fan, then the acquisition of this bad boy is an unquestionable must.Don't let the Vigilant's size belie its deadliness. This is a warship that packs a lot more heat than you'd imagine, which is kind of the point. It's also highly maneuverable because of its overall size and engine power, giving it the very tactical option of firing off a torpedo before turning its strongest shield towards an impending attack. With these traits, it makes a wonderful convoy, protecting all kinds of larger ships against everything from raiders to the Borg. Yep, we think this may be the ship for us, especially since we're all about frontline fights.
Changes coming to the Crusader title
We were just talking about this on the podcast last night -- Turpster's tip a week or so ago was that going for the Crusader title in the Argent Tournament actually puts you at a disadvantage, because if you keep from turning in the last Valiant quest for the achievement, you don't lock off having the ability to do both Valiant and Champion quests together, thus, as you can see in the thread, earning an extra 36 gold a day, which adds up to 1000g a month. After you earn the ability to represent every city, you can't do the Valiant quests any more (instead, you have to earn city reputation through the Champion's Writ, which costs you 10g from the opposite reward). In short, right now, if you're leveling through the AT quests, stay away from the Crusader achievement until you have all of the city reputations covered, and all the gold you want.Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), Bornakk says that Blizzard probably will make a change here soon to smooth everything out. But how they'll do that isn't quite clear -- they could leave the dailies (or some form of them) open even after you get the achievement, or they could beef up the achievement reward to make up for it. Not a hard fix either way. But yes, until then, you might want to rethink racing to the Crusader achievement, as there's more reward to be had by waiting.
Argent Tournament Dailies: At the Enemy's Gates
Congratulations, Argent Valiant! You've progressed past the Aspirant rank and proven your chops at mounted combat before your peers. You've even become a representative of your home city in the Argent Tournament. Well, guess what? Playtime's over. Remember, the whole point of the Argent Tournament is to train all comers into Scourge-killing badasses, so now that you've proven yourself, it's time to crack some decaying skulls. And this time, you get to do it on horseback.Find out how after the jump.
Argent Tournament Dailies: A Valiant's Field Training
This is one of the quickest and easiest dailies to complete for your Argent Tournament prestige. The questgiver asks simply that you kill 10 Scourge units in Icecrown.Remember, in 3.1 any mob that will grant you quest credit will show as much on their tooltip when you mouseover them. Use this to your advantage and don't waste your time with an AOE pack that won't give you credit!Given its close proximity to the Tournament grounds, many players are likely to flock to Sindragosa's Fall to kill the Scourge mobs there, including Frostbrood Whelps and Cultist Corrupters. You have some other choices, though -- the Valley of Lost Hope is chock-full of mobs that grant quest credit, as is Aldur'thar, and both are close enough to the Grounds that you don't need to fly all around the zone just to get your quest done. Crack some Scourge skulls and grab your reward!Reward: 1 Valiant's Seal and 13g 23s Editor's note from Alex Ziebart: I happen to like doing the Shadow Vault dailies side-by-side with this one. The vrykul for Leave Our Mark count as Scourge for this quest!
How to level up through the Argent Tournament
Banana Shoulders has a really excellent guide to just what the Argent Tournament is all about. I played it for the first time the other night (while we were streaming live from the PTR), and it's a strange little mix of minigame, questing, and rep grind. The Argent Tournament has set up north of Sindragosa's Fall, and there are three basic stages: first, we've got to help them build the place (which will send you to quest in other parts of the world), second, you'll be moving up the ranks from Aspirant in the tournament to Champion, and third, you'll be acting as an Argent Tournament Champion, and picking up Champion's Seals to spend on various rewards and items.The tournament itself involves a minigame of mounted combat -- you can ride around on a mount, lance equipped, that has a few different abilities. There's a ranged attack that will let you break down an opponent's shield, there's a Defend ability that will let you build up your own shield, and then there's a Thrust melee attack that just does damage, and a Charge attack that will do damage as well as break down your opponent's shield. And out of combat, you can fully heal your mount or challenge someone else to a duel. The Aspirant quests teach you all of this, and then the Valiant quests really put your knowledge to the test as you move up through the ranks, fighting NPC mobs as challengers to the title.The Argent Tournament definitely seems like a lot of fun -- as I said way back when, the whole event seems like a one-stop shop for picking up rep and items in Northrend, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if Blizzard plans to add more events and more daily quests on to what we're building up there. Banana Shoulders will be posting part three of their guide soon, and of course you can stay tuned to WoW Insider -- as we get closer to the patch 3.1 release on the live realms, we'll have everything you need to know about the Tournament and then some.
