Mike D'Anna
Articles by Mike D'Anna
WoW Breeding Online Vigilantes In China
In the holy-lord-I-hope-this-never-happens-to-me dept., an article today over at the International Herald Tribune shines a light on an interesting phenomenon that's making headlines in China; internet hunting. No, it's not when you click the mouse on those 'shoot the duck' pop-up ads; internet hunting is nothing less than a virtual mob of people tracking down the perpetrator of an alleged indescretion online & basically making their life a living hell any way they can. It began with the case a couple of years ago where a woman seen being abusive to her pet in public was tracked down online & harrassed mercilessly by hundreds of Chinese internet users, and the latest case started right in our beloved World of Warcraft.As the article states, a player named Freezing Blade apparently discoved a communication between his wife & an acquaintance that led him to believe the two were having an affair. So, he gathered a group of online friends & proceeded to 'hunt' the other guy. Soon, the 'hunt' included literally thousands of other players & net users, in what might be a bigger manhunt than the FBI has conducted in years.The net can be a powerful tool for a variety of things, so I'm surprised it's taken this long for online revenge to make the news. I just hope none of my ex-girlfriends ever reads this and gets any bright ideas. In any case, it's a fascinating read. Check out the full article right here.
International Fan Art Gallery Updated
The folks across the pond have been churning out some really nice artwork, and Blizzard has just updated it's fan art site with some of the best examples. You can see the selected works here. My personal favorite is the pictured Fare Thee Well, My Friend, by Elodie Doumolin...but I'll be danged if I'm gonna try to pronounce that....
WoW Moviewatch: 500 Miles
Which is approximately the distance that I was willing to walk to get away from any radio station playing this song back in 1993. Fortunately, this version is much cooler...it's actually kinda heartwarming. And it doesn't have those annoying Poindexter guys screaming in my face...
Top 25 WoW-Playing Schools
Apparently the University of Washington really likes it's Warcraft. In an interesting social poll, MapWoW has compiled a list of the 25 Universities with the most students who play WoW. Washington heads the list with the University of Michigan & Rochester Institute of Technology coming in at second & third place, respectively. What does this mean? Who knows, but you can read the full article over at MapWoW right here.
WoW Board Game Review
For any of you out there looking to get your hands on the new World of Warcraft Board Game, a fellow blogger has posted a review of the game over at her site. The game sounds like it may be fairly enjoyable, from the review, but one thing leapt out at me: an $80 price tag? I don't know if this is correct or if these are the prices in some remote corner of Zanzibar, but if that's the case, then I think I'll stick with the video version. It's cheaper, and I don't have to expend the energy to pick up all those dang cards....
Leeroy Invades WoW Card Game
If this isn't immortality, I don't know what is. In the latest chapter in the saga of Leeroy Jenkins (and if you don't know who that is, just give up now), it seems everyone's favorite raid wiper will now be honored with his very own card in the upcoming WoW Collectible Card Game. The card will apparently be a special card that will be used as 'a reward or a prize', according to this announcement over at WarcraftCardGame.com, a blog dedicated to the development of the game. You can view the official Leeroy art by following the link. You think the guys who originally made that video had any idea the joke would go this far? God, I hope not.
WoW + Second Life Crossover Event?
While browsing the latest WoW news today, I stumbled across this tidbit of info; A faction of players from two of the most popular online games, WoW and Second Life, are apparently planning some sort of unofficial crossover event, to take place in late July, according to this blog posting. No solid details are given on exactly what the event is or how it's to take place, but I'm just curious as to how such an event could happen. Players from one game meeting up in the other, and vice-versa? Ok, fine...but doesn't sound all that sexy right off the bat. Then again, there could be something actually cool going on here that I'm just completely unaware of....it happens. I'll keep my ears open...
More Competition for WoW from E3
As you can imagine, there were a flood of new MMO titles being showcased at this year's E3, all of them hoping to get a slice of Blizzard's pie in the online gaming sweepstakes. MSNBC has an article previewing some of the upcoming challengers to the throne, including Age of Conan, Vanguard, and Richard Garriott's aforementioned Tabula Rasa.Although some of these games look quite interesting, I can't help but wonder when we're going to see someone really try and break the MMO mold, and get away from the fantasy/sci-fi rut that all the major games still seem to be stuck in. Where is our western MMO? Or a horror-themed one? Sure, Test Drive might be fun, but it sounds basically just like a GTA clone online, and the one about Ancient Rome sounds cool, but when it comes down to it, it will still just be a bunch of swords & shields. There are so many settings that would make for an amazing online gaming experience, and I don't see anything putting a real dent in WoW's population anytime soon...it's time to get creative here, folks...
Virtual Networking in WoW
ZDNet has a video report today on a group of CEO's and venture capitalists who have taken their business into the virtual realm, holding meetings & networking in World of Warcraft. The piece doesn't cover much that we haven't heard on the subject before, but it's a good example of the growth of virtual worlds & the directions they might take in the future. Alas, ZDNet doesn't have one of those nifty embedable video players, so click here to see the show...
Lord British Defies Blizzard's Throne
Longtime gamers will immidiately recognize the name of Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British, creator of the original Ultima series & MMO pioneer. After several years out of the spotlight, Garriott has teamed up with NCSoft, makers of CIty of Heroes & Lineage, for a new MMO called Tabula Rasa. In this audio interview from TGDaily.com, the Lord talks about his vision for a next-generation MMO and why he doesn't fear competing with Blizzard's juggernaut.I've played Garriott's games for around 20 years now, in one form or another, and I'd love to see him at the forefront of online gaming again, but a lot of things have changed since Ultima Online, and it will be curious to see how Garriott's new venture fares. The interview can be found here.
Blizzard's Paul Sams on the Wow Movie
Everyone has been buzzing about the announcement last week of a live-action Warcraft film, and now Gamespot has an interview with Blizzard exec Paul Sams, where he discusses some of the goals in bringing WoW to the big screen." We're not trying to take what we've done and...try to make a literal translation to the big screen. What we want to do is to make a great movie that happens to be set in a video game universe. That's a differentiator, and a key differentiator."It sounds to me like they have the right attitude about the project, as no direct adaptation, if one is even possible, is going to please everyone. The best idea is for them to craft a solid, compelling story that happens to be set in the gameworld we all know & love, and just try to make a good film first & foremost. From this interview, it seems that's exactly what they're trying to do, so lets just hope the suits don't stick too many fingers in the pie between script & screen...
WoW Druid Simulator for Excel
Ok, I'll admit that I have no real idea what this thing does, or if it's even useful, but I figured I'd let you guys be the judge of that. FileFront.com is hosting a user-created Druid Simulator for MS Excel that allows that allows "druids to test their gear setups. It should allow them to determine which gear to aim for."So, I guess it's a spreadsheet kind of thing? Personally, I don't get into the minutae of stats & all the numbers when I'm playing an MMO...or any game, for that matter...but I know there are plenty of folks that do, so maybe some of you will find this useful. You can download it from this link.
WoW Pre-Paid Game Cards on Sale
For all of you who, like me, choose to subscribe to WoW via pre-paid time cards, Amazon.com currently has the best price on them that I've yet to come across. The cards are now on sale for $24.99 (several dollars less than my local retail outlet), and if you purchase anything else to push your total over the $25.00 mark, then shipping is free. Heck, just do what I did...buy 2 cards!No idea how long this price will last, so get 'em while they're hot...
WoW Machinima Spotlight
The folks over at Machinima.com have put together a great collection of Warcraft machinima videos & featured them in their very own channel over at their website. There are some really clever videos here, some of which you may have seen, but plenty which were new to me.The Vengeance series, in particular, is a lot of fun, but all the movies are worth watching. Any particular favorites that you guys enjoyed?
Expansion Map Previews
It looks like some enterprising soul managed to snap a couple of pics at E3 of some maps that are supposedly of the new Blood Elf & Draenei starting areas. MapWoW.com has posted the images on their site for the interested to check out; you can see them right here.The Draenei area is called Azuremist Isle, in Amman Vale. The Blood Elf area does not identify itself on the given image, so the name is still a mystery as of now. I vote for Bloodelphia...
Blame the Parents?
By now, you've all probably heard the tragic story of a 13-year-old Chinese boy who committed suicide after a marathon session playing Warcraft 3. The parents of the boy have filed a lawsuit against the game's Chinese distributors, but the author of this article from the University of South Florida Oracle makes the case that the boy's parents, rather than the game, are really to blame.Although the article is short & doesn't give much reasoning to back up the author's point, I have to say that I agree, at least in principle. It is the parent's responsibility to teach their children the difference between fantasty & reality, after all. I have, and have always had, serious doubts about the media's ability to 'corrupt' our children, as long as we're talking about a sane, well-adjusted child to begin with. As Dennis Miller once said on the subject: "If your kids can be influenced by anything Gene Simmons has to say, then you're not doing your job as a parent somewhere down the line." I don't see where video games are any different. What do you all think?
Poll: Are You Happy With the New Alliance Race?
Are You Happy With the Draenei as the New Alliance Race? Yes; brilliant choice They could have done better Doesn't really matter At least they aren't Murlocs... Hate it! Worst....race....ever! Free polls from Pollhost.com
WoW Collectible Card Game on the Way
For all you lovers of trading card games, Upper Deck Entertainment, makers of Yuh-Gi-Oh & many other card games, has teamed up with Blizzard to create the official WoW Collectible Card Game.The website for the game was just recently launched, and it gives no hint of a release date...or much of anything else about the game. There is, however, an option to register for a newsletter & get more info, so if you're interested, check it out at Upper Deck's official page here.
Young and Wired
In the continuing saga of our nation's youth being taken over by evil computer overlords, the San Fransisco Chronicle has jumped into the scene with an article about technology use among teens, and what the consequences might be.According to research by the Kaiser Foundation (apparently they study more than just rolls), young people spend over 6 hours per day engrossed in some form of media or the other, which is up an hour from five years ago. And yes, of course WoW gets to share a little bit of the blame.It's hard for me to even imagine growing up today as a kid, with the internet & all the other technology we have available. There's a pretty good chance that if I'd had a modern PC when I was 13 or so, I would have never left the house...especially if my parents were as lax about monitoring it as they were about cable TV.
Blizzard Not Relying on it's Cash Cow
With over six million subscribers to WoW, and with no end in sight, it might be understandable if Blizzard focused all of their rescources on support for World of Warcraft. According to this Gamespot article, however, WoW is only one iron in Blizzard's fire, as they plan to actively develop a wide range of new games, for both PC's and consoles.Of course, there's no mention of what these new games might be, or exactly which platform they will appear on...but they're working on it, apparently. Which is fine with me, as long as they don't spead themselves too thin & allow WoW to suffer as a result. You know what I mean by suffer; long queue times, server outages, lag.....oh, wait a minute...