Raider
Latest
MSI crams an unlocked, desktop-class Core i9 into its new laptop
MSI's Titan-series laptops can only be described as an Absolute Unit, and with a laptop this beefy, you need a chip that can keep up. That's why the new GT76 Titan is packing an unlocked, desktop-class Core i9 into its hefty frame.
Turbine: Raiders make up the smallest player group in LotRO
If you've wondered why Turbine has decided to forgo developing new raids for Lord of the Rings Online (at least for the time being), it all comes down to numbers. According to CM Rick Heaton, raiders make up the smallest portion of the playerbase even if they are quite vocal on the forums: Raiders comprise the smallest, by far, group in our game. PvMP players are far larger and even they are small. in fact together the two groups wouldn't comprise 10% of the total player base and never have (this is important. it's not a new thing, it's a long standing historical fact). Forum posters comprise a slightly larger group than the combined group of PvMP and Raiders. However, Raiders and PvMP players make up the overwhelming majority of forum posters (More than half. Though raiders are the smaller group of the two (PvMP/Raiders)). So you have a tiny group, inside a small group that is grossly disproportionately represented on the forums. [Thanks to Dan for the tip!]
Why raiders and multiboxers are overestimated
Recently, Blizzard Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street tweeted the following: Two things that the forum posting / tweeting community tend to overestimate: number of multiboxers, number of players interested in raiding. - Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) May 11, 2013 This was something of a surprising tweet. Now, of course, there are several subjective notions in there, but it merits some discussion nonetheless. Firstly, what is considered the forum posting or tweeting community? It seems that this would simply be those who regularly contribute to either of those venues, putting it simply, and indeed those with whom he is in regular contact. Do you consider yourself part of either community? And why does that community overestimate the number of people raiding or multiboxing, if they do at all? Confirmation Bias Confirmation bias is a cognitive science term, that describes a human tendency to search for, remember or interpret information in such a way that it confirms one's own preconceptions. A fine example of this is the "everybody thinks X" idea, which crops up a lot. If you believe that, for example, frost mages don't have enough burst, you might seek out other opinions that support your own, and partly ignore the clamoring crowd who assert that frost mage burst is out of control. Confirmation bias is particularly prevalent on the internet, where it's almost always possible to find another opinion that supports your own.
Breakfast Topic: Is the raid finder ever 'real' raiding?
When does a player who dips one toe into raiding via the raid finder accumulate so much raid group experience that he becomes a bona fide raider? Is that even something that can happen? I feel fairly confident that a good number of players will say it's not -- but if that's the case, then we'll have to stop putting performance expectations on raid finder players. We've all seen experienced raiders fussing and fuming about other players when they're running the raid finder, as if they expected polished gearing and gameplay from players for whom they refuse to allow it's even possible. Spot the disconnect? The raid finder didn't only allow the so-called unwashed masses to claw their way up into pseudo-raiding. (See that lump in my cheek? That's my tongue.) It also allowed countless tautly stretched raiders to deflate with much relief, tour busing their way through the game's most epic sights and stories and then logging out for the rest of the week to kick back on the couch with a good movie and a homebrew. None of these players suddenly lost the skills and discipline they'd accumulated over years of guild raiding simply by dint of choosing to run the raid finder instead of running with a raid group. Conversely, the players coming into organized raiding via the raid finder are no different from raiders past in their ability to pick up raiding conventions as well as personal and group strategies from repeated exposure to these events. We seem to be coming to the conclusion that the hardcore game is dead. So who's a raider in today's World of Warcraft? To make a final decision, we'd probably have to come to a consensus on what the purpose of the raid finder actually is. Even so, I'm sure we can agree that someone who runs the raid finder once or twice ever simply to see the sights is probably not considered a WoW raider. But what about someone who runs the raid finder regularly every week? Does that change if participation drops to every other week or less? Is being a raider more a matter of mindset, skill, or performance? Do you think we've simply concluded as a community that even regulars of the raid finder are simply not part of the raiding game? Tell us what the view is from your end of the swimming pool.
Refresh Roundup: week of March 26th, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Vodafone bringing LTE speeds to Germany, with the HTC Velocity
HTC has confirmed plans to bring its very first LTE handset to Germany, with the launch of the Velocity. The phone, known Stateside as the Vivid and in South Korea as the Raider, features a 4.5-inch qHD touchscreen and is fueled by a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU. The Gingerbread-laced device also boasts 1GB of RAM, 16GB of flash memory and an eight-megapixel camera, along with your standard 1.3-megapixel front facing sensor. As far as networking goes, you'll find support for quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dualband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA at 900/2100 MHz and, most compelling, dualband LTE at 800/2600 MHz. Vodafone confirmed the news to Germany's Computer Woche, though it has yet to offer a price or release date.
Bell Mobility hints at Ice Cream Sandwich release dates for Galaxy S II, Raider and Sensation
We've come across an internal document from Bell Mobility that's bound to raise the hopes of a few good Canadians. Yes folks, we're talking Ice Cream Sandwich. The carrier to the north estimates that it'll have Android 4.0 ready for the Sensation in February, which is to be followed by the Raider's update in March -- this handset may be more familiar to AT&T customers as the Vivid. Pulling up the rear, users of the Galaxy S II are to expect the upgrade in April, and while the Optimus LTE is also mentioned, there's no specific time frame for that one. Certainly estimated release dates don't always come to fruition, but at least we know what Bell's aiming for, anyway.
WoW, Casually: What is casual?
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. Of course, you people with lots of playtime can read this too, but you may get annoyed by the fact that we are unashamed, even proud, of the fact that beating WoW isn't our highest priority. Take solace in the fact that your gear is better than ours, but if that doesn't work, remember that we outnumber you. Not that that's a threat, after all, we don't have time to do anything about it. But if WoW were a democracy, we'd win.Turtlehead wrote in wanting to know "what the heck casual is." This is a good question, but the answer seems to change according to the context. I learned long ago to explain how I'm defining casual for a particular article, or else face the wrath of my readers. When I write Wow, Casually, I define casual as a player with limited playtime and address my content accordingly. But there are many other kinds of players that could be called casual and we use the word to describe any or all of them. So, is it possible to define the word to please everybody? Probably not, but I'm going to try.
Tank Talk: Building and keeping your tanking corps, Part II
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's new raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and Allison Robert (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish.This week in Tank Talk I'm covering the various stages a tank exists in during their time in a guild. Yesterday in Part I of the column I talked about the recruitment and applicant stages. These stages help clarify the beginning life of a tank within a guild. While talking about what these stages are and what they mean to the tank, I also covered how the guild can keep them happy while ensuring the best tanking possible is done. The job of keeping a tank happy is arguably unique task when compared to non-tanks in that they are the ones which everything eventually comes back to in the game. If a ranged DPS dies, they're going to feel it in a longer encounter. If a healer dies they'll notice the healing start to lack. Finding a way to communicate everything to a tank and taking in their unique situations can be a challenge, but it is a necessary one.Lets resume our look at the last few stages of a tank's life within a guild, starting with the raider tank stage.
Tank Talk: Building and keeping your tanking corps, Part I
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's new raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and Allison Robert (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. This week on Tank Talk I'd like to step outside the technical aspects of being a tank and focus more on the psychosocial side of things. In particular I want to look at what happens when a tank is introduced into a tanking corps of a new guild, how to keep current tanks around, and how to deal with all those old tanks that have been in the guild forever.For lack of a better phrase, I'll call the time from when a tank joining the guild until their eventual status as "god of all things tank" the life span of a tank. And perhaps the most important part of a tanks life is the new part, and it's something that I've been on both sides of the coin – the one doing the inviting, and the one being invited. Each is equally exciting. When joining a new guild I had not only the opportunity to see new content and progress to new heights, but also an opportunity to improve my skill and focus my ability to tank a mean game. And when I became class lead and eventually the guild's leader, I gained an opportunity to help new tanks become acquainted with our style of game play and watch them succeed and excel within the guild.I like to look at there being mainly fives stages of a tank's life within a guild: Recruitment, Applicant, Raider, Senior Tank, and Mentor. Let's take a look at each of these and see how people in various stages can help usher a new tank into a guild's tanking corpse while keeping the old tanks around and happy. Since this is a long subject, today I'll cover the recruitment and applicant stages in a tank's life, with the raider, senior tank, and mentor stages coming in the second installment tomorrow.
Insider Trader: Fair wages
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.If you ever listen in on trade channel, you might have noticed just how little trading actually gets done. Amidst the ego trips, show-offs, begging, insults, whining, wooting, and the like, you may notice another trend; that of complaining about prices for goods and services. I often see people harassing others about the price of twink gear, crafted items, enchants, gathered materials, or even dungeon and world drops. Sometimes, the criticism is warranted, to protect the more naive members of the community. Most of the time, unfortunately, the comments begin to flow because players have not caught up to, and accepted, the cost of things.
Gamer Interrupted: You can be a great parent, spouse and gamer
Each week, Robin Torres contributes Gamer Interrupted, a column about balancing real life with MMOs.There is an interesting article over at Channel Massive that states in very strong terms that "You can be a great parent or a great gamer but you can't be both." He defines a "great gamer" as someone who is in a hardcore raiding guild in WoW or a top level ranked PvPer. He compares gaming to other activities which parents indulge in to escape familial responsibilities. He also claims that these "great gamers" play more in their MMO of choice than the average person watches TV and that watching TV is more conducive to parenting than "hardcore" gaming is. He breaks down the hours that must be required to be a "great gamer" and that leave no time for being a great or even good parent, spouse, billpayer, etc. Hi, my name is Robin Torres and this is the new home for my column about having a successful MMO life while still having a successful real life -- formerly Azeroth Interrupted on WoW Insider. I have a hard time with many of the opinions put forth by the article mentioned. I don't like the definition of "great gamer". I disagree with the playtime required to maintain a "great gamer" status. And I really dislike the judgmental tone directed at anyone who seems to be trying to achieve the balance of "hardcore" MMO gaming and living an otherwise successful life.
Azeroth Interrupted: Casuals are good players too
Each week, Robin Torres contributes Azeroth Interrupted, a column about balancing real life with WoW. Last week, I talked about how raiders can be successful both in-game and out by applying professional skills such as time management to their gameplay hours. I had no idea it would be a more controversial topic than when I tackled religion in game. One of the big complaints in the sea of comments was that I was making my categories too narrow. I don't think that everyone falls neatly under the labels of casual or raider, but they are convenient, commonly defined categories to use when describing 2 opposing groups of players. Last week's topic was directed toward the people who believe that all "hardcore" raiders must neglect the rest of their lives in order to see so much of the endgame content. This week I want to talk to the "serious" raiders who think all casuals stink as players. Some do, certainly, but just as there are successful raiders vs. wannabe raiders, there are also a very large percentage of casual players who are skilled at playing their class in a variety of situations. For this discussion, I will refer to them as "Skilled Casuals".
Confirmed: 10th Anniversary Edition of Tomb Raider
Eidos Interactive confirmed yesterday, by way of press release, that a 10th Anniversary Edition of the original Tomb Raider would make its way to the PSP, along with other consoles. The game is currently under development through Crystal Dynamics, who're responsible for the recent Tomb Raider: Legend. Nothing else in the way of features or release date were mentioned in the release, so stay tuned to PSP Fanboy for further updates in the future.
Tomb Raider: Legend exclusive PSP content revealed
Tomb Raider: Legend will be releasing for the PSP on the 21st of this month over here in the states and this PS2 port has been holding back some details on exclusive content up until now. In utilizing the PSP's wireless capabilities, three multiplayer modes will be present in multiplayer racing, head-to-head treasure hunting, and obstacle course modes. In addition to the added game modes, new skins for Ms. Croft will be available along with image galleries, wallpapers, and songs from the soundtrack. With what has already been a solid showing on the PS2, PSP owners should definitely get their money's worth when this releases later this month.
Tomb Raider Legend coming to DS
Chief Executive Jane Cavanagh of SCi, the company that acquisitioned Eidos in early 2005, recently spoke with MCV about the company's plans going on into the future, attempting to recover from a multi-million-dollar loss last year. One of the company's goals is that the next Tomb Raider and Hitman games see a lot of success, and with the Tomb Raider title, this means releasing on as many consoles as they can. So the upcoming Tomb Raider Legends, slated for release on the PS2, Xbox, PSP, and Xbox 360, will now see an incarnation on the GameCube, GBA, and more importantly, the DS. Sadly, however, nothing was said in regards to how the game will interact on the handheld in regards toward the touch screen or when it will release.[Via Nintendo Gal]
