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Instagram will tell you which of your boring friends to unfollow
Instagram has added some more ways to organize the list of people you're following. You can see which people are flooding your feed and Stories the most and which accounts you interact with least often. So, if you've realized you're following too many people and want to make your feed a bit more manageable, you'll have easier ways to figure out who the biggest spammers are and whose posts you don't actually care about.
Twitter limits daily follows to combat spammers
In an apparent attempt to combat spam and bot accounts that populate its platform, Twitter announced today that it is changing its rules to allow users to follow up to 400 accounts per day. The change marks a considerable drop from the previous cap, which allowed up to 1,000 follows in a single day, though still allows for more following than the average human user is likely to do in a 24 hour period.
Twitter tweaks profiles in iOS app to emphasize names and bios
If you've glanced at your Twitter profile lately and noticed your follower number has shrunk (in terms of text size, at least), you're probably not just seeing things. That's because Twitter has tweaked how profiles appear in its iOS app to place more focus on names and bios. A spokesperson told Engadget the company reduced the font size and spacing on details such as follower and followed account numbers, locations, join dates, birthdays and mutual follows.
Instagram's 'follows you' feature reveals your true friends
In what might be one of the most overdue updates of all time, Instagram is finally testing a feature that lets you see if someone is following you directly from their bio. Previously, you'd have to laboriously scroll through your followers list to see if your crush/boss/favorite celebrity cat was following you -- now you can just check their bio for the "follows you" label.
Quench your thirst with Instagram likes from a vending machine
Ever since the dawn of the internet, people have found a way to artificially make themselves look more popular online. In exchange for a small sum, various dodgy-looking websites have long promised to boost your ego by selling you fake followers. Now, one Russian company is taking that concept offline, allowing you to improve your social standing by buying likes at a vending machine.
The NBA counts more than a billion likes and followers
Ahead of tonight's NBA All-Star Game, the league proclaimed it's the first pro sports association with over a billion combined likes and followers on social media. It's debatable how many people that figure actually represents, but it apparently comes from combining likes and follows for the league, teams and individual players across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tencent and Sina. However you count it, there's no doubt that the NBA encourages interaction online, claiming nearly 90 percent of players have an account at least one platform. Unsurprisingly, LeBron James leads players with 66.3 million likes and followers, while the Lakers are the number one team despite racking up an 11 - 44 record this season.
Most of your Facebook friends couldn't care less about you
Even if you have thousands of Facebook friends, you can probably only count on a handful in a pinch, according to a new study. The author, anthropologist Robin Dunbar, should know. He's the guy who came up with Dunbar's number, which shows that in the real world, people can only maintain about 150 stable relationships. For his latest research, Dunbar analyzed a UK study of 3,375 Facebook users between the ages of 18 and 65. On average, folks had 150 followers but said that they could only count on 4.1 of them during an "emotional crisis," and only 13.6 ever express sympathy.
Facebook is using your Instagram feed to suggest new friends
Notice some familiar faces popping up in Facebook's "People You May Know" section? Well, there's a reason for that. Zuckerberg & Co. recently began serving up suggestions for prospective connections based on your Instagram feed. It's no surprise that Facebook would pull data from the filter-driven app, especially from folks who've linked the two -- it does own the photo software after all. And as we've heard a few times before, Facebook likes its apps to share info. Of course, if you're like me, you use the two social networks for entirely different reasons (food pics and keeping up with old pals, natch). Facebook confirmed that it "recently" began pulling data from Instagram based on who you follow, but wasn't too keen on elaborating further.
You can get Twitter DMs from anyone (if you want)
If you're feeling brave, Twitter is (once again) letting you receive direct messages (DMs) from any old person. As before, you'll have to opt-in by ticking a box in the settings -- but once you do, even folks who don't follow you can send you a note. On top of that, you can now reply to anyone who DMs you, even if they're not a follower. That's a big change from the status quo -- previously, you've only been able to receive messages from people you follow, and send them to those who follow you. To drive home the point, Twitter put a Direct Message button front and center on your contact page for its iPhone and Android apps.
Patch 6.1 PTR: A Legendary follower for your garrison
The 6.1 PTR isn't even live yet, but datamining continues apace, and the folks at Wowhead have certainly dug up a doozy for us. Apparently as part of the legendary questline, we'll be getting the first ever legendary follower, namely Garona Halforcen, the infamous Shadow Council assassin. If you're curious about what a legendary follower gets, it's impressive. It's very interesting to see the quest open up in this way, really . It broadens the idea of the kinds of rewards you can get from a legendary chain, and it also makes me hope that we might see other such followers. Perhaps my hope that Maraad can make a comeback isn't entirely unwarranted.
You'll soon be able to buy WoW garrison followers directly
If you missed out on snagging one of your World of Warcraft garrison followers or are willing to trade gold for time to complete your collection, then Blizzard is prepared to humbly accept your patronage. The studio announced on the forums that it will be adding a follower vendor in the next patch. "One specific change I can share is in the next patch we're planning to add a new NPC to tier 3 garrisons who will sell followers you might not have access to based upon which buildings and outposts you've chosen," Community Manager Crithto wrote. "You'll be able to browse for followers you did not choose from quests and any you might have missed from failed missions."
New garrison NPC in patch 6.1 will sell you missed followers
Community Manager Crithto teased a new garrison NPC coming in patch 6.1 that will sell followers you may have missed because of quests, missions, buildings, or outpost choices. Remember that quest in Shadowmoon Valley that had you choose 1 of 3 followers? It looks like you'll now be able to get the other 2 -- for a price. This may address one of the concerns I posted yesterday (#5) regarding how easy it is to skip past potential followers on alts. Keep an eye out for more details once the 6.1 PTR launches. Crithto All of this feedback is great so thank you! We have some really cool changes coming to Garrisons in the future and a lot of them are based on what you've shared with us in recent weeks. Also, I've relayed many of the ideas you've posted here, too. One specific change I can share is in the next patch we're planning to add a new NPC to tier 3 Garrisons who will sell followers you might not have access to based upon which buildings and Outposts you've chosen. Definitely keep an eye out for that on the next PTR, test it out, and let us know what you think. Quote: Ohhh, what about for followers that came from quests that give you a choice of three but you can only choose 1. Gotta catch'em all you know =P. Yup! You'll be able to browse for followers you did not choose from quests and any you might have missed from failed missions. source
Garrisons and Alts: How can it be improved?
I sometimes find myself wishing that garrisons were designed to be account-wide from the beginning. It may sound silly, but I'd love to see my alts hanging out in my single account-wide garrison when I'm logged on another character. This is obviously not in the cards, but maybe there could be some changes to make managing multiple garrisons a little bit easier. You can tell yourself that they are "optional" as much as you want, but you'd be missing out a large portion of this expansion if you simply ignored them, even on alts. Thankfully, Blizzard is listening to feedback and plans on making adjustments in the future. Takralus We're looking into ways to make Garrisons a bit more friendly in future patches for those of you who enjoy alts. We see that Garrisons are a bit too much for you guys right now. source Good to hear. I have a few ideas on how things might be improved, some more realistic than others. 1. BoA follower armor and weapon upgrades As it stands, having a Dwarven Bunker/War Mill and Salvage Yard are essentially requirements if you want to partake in the most worthwhile follower missions. Wouldn't it be nice if after your first or second garrison this was no longer the case? I've put a significant amount of time and resources into my main's followers, and I'm at the point where most of them are maxed out in item level. However, I still have a ton of items like War Ravaged Weaponry which I can no longer use on this character. My alts could put them to good use.
How to send your followers on raid missions
With the right followers, it's possible to get yourself a piece of genuine Highmaul raid loot without ever setting foot inside the raid. Before you endeavor to do this, you should know that the Dwarven Bunker/War Mill and Salvage Yard are basically required to do this in any sane amount of time. You need both buildings to get enough follower armor and weapon upgrades, as these missions require a roster of ilvl 645+ followers to complete. Raid mission basics Your first raid mission will unlock when you have 3 followers at 645 or higher item level. The mission should stick around for at least a couple days if you want to spend some time getting other followers ready. After completing a raid mission, your next one will unlock 2 weeks later. Any piece of loot from the raid appropriate to your loot specialization can drop, with the exception of weapons. Just like normal drops, these can be warforged, socketed, or have tertiary stats. The quality of loot is based on your current progression in the raid itself: Normal caches (ilvl 655 loot) are rewarded if you've killed 0-14 bosses in normal mode. Heroic caches (ilvl 670 loot) are rewarded if you've killed 15+ bosses in normal mode. Mythic caches (ilvl 685 loot) are rewarded if you've killed 15+ bosses in heroic mode. Mythic caches plus a bonus of 1000 gold are rewarded if you've killed 15+ bosses in mythic mode.
Recruit Soulare of Andorhal for your garrison
How would you like a follower who will happily throw a beam of light on you if you /praise him, and hand over a toy for your Toy Box just to be nice? Soulare of Andorhal isn't your typical follower at all. He's a protection paladin with the usual array of good follower abilities, but it's the fun things this follower does that makes him appealing. There's also the fact that he's a thinly-veiled reference to the Dark Soul character Solaire of Astora, but that's just the icing on the cake. Getting this follower, however, is slightly more difficult than you'd think. He starts out at level 90, because you don't find him out in the wilds of Draenor -- you recruit him from your Inn. In order to get Soulare, you're going to need the right building, the right set of abilities, and a whopping dollop of luck on top of it. But it's all worth it in the end. And if you're not quite feeling up to the challenge ... well, there's some good news on that end, too.
World of Warcraft in the new year
Blizzard has just released a preview of some exciting new things we can expect from WoW in 2015. Let's get right down to the highlights: In patch 6.1, the legendary quest will be rewarding you with a legendary follower. They will be testing the ability to send tweets (with screenshots) from inside the game. Better flight paths, with more direct routing. New incentives to invite friends into your garrison with daily tasks (complete with rewards and achievements). New ways to spend Garrison Resources, new follower missions and rewards, new follower modification items, and a new tier of difficulty for garrison invasions. The ability to purchase game time tokens (with real money) that can be traded with other players in game for gold. Account-wide heirloom system, with the ability to upgrade heirlooms to level 100. New blood elf models and tweaks for existing models. Improving Ashran faction balance. Blackrock Foundry will begin opening in February 2015. Check out the full blue post after the break.
Recruit garrison kitty Goldmane as a follower
He may not be the best-dressed or most literate garrison follower you'll ever have, but Goldmane has one thing going for him, and it's right in his name. Goldmane the Skinner is a level 100 follower with the Skinning trait, allowing him to work at your garrison Barn and increase work order production. Available to both Alliance and Horde, Goldmane is pretty easy to pick up -- he just requires a short trip out to the southern coast of Nagrand. Head to Ironfist Harbor on the southwest shores of Nagrand and you'll come across a base for the Iron Horde that also includes a bonus mission, if you feel up to the challenge of killing a lot of orcs. If not, look around for the tallest tower in the base -- your objective is at the top. Fight your way up the tower, and you'll see two things of note: One very angry kitty locked away in a cage, and an orc by the name of Bolkar the Cruel, who is gloating over his latest captive.
The Queue: Khadgar is not your minion
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Another Monday shortday! CaptainCakewalk asked: What is that little change in Warlords that you really like / love? My vote would go to the random upgrading of gear, it's given me pieces of gear which are often Epic quality when I really needed them, it's amazing!
Master Plan addon makes Garrison mission management a breeze
Garrisons are an integral part of the leveling game in Warlords of Draenor, but they're also part of the endgame, too -- collecting various followers and sending them on the appropriate missions will net you rewards like gear, gold, resources, and more. But although I love the garrison game, when you've got 20 followers, trying to keep track of who does what is almost a logistical nightmare. Sure, there's only a handful of threats that your follower's abilities need to counter, but remembering which follower does what is something that I still haven't mastered. Beyond that, the mission interface itself is decent and fairly intuitive, but it's not quite as user-friendly as it could be. So it was with great anticipation that I awaited the inevitable addons that would take missions and follower management to the next level -- because if there's one thing I've learned in 10 years of gameplay, it's that addon authors are ridiculously talented when it comes to redesigning UI functions into elegant masterpieces of design. And the addon Master Plan by Foxlit has done exactly that with the missions and follower interface.
The Queue: Garrisons, bladefists, and Blackrocks
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. As is often the case with Monday editions of The Queue, we might be a bit brief today. Benjamin Seeberger asked: What's the max number of followers you can have? What happens when I want another follower but have no more room? What should I do!
