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Roku will stream the first season of 'Game of Thrones' for free
If you and your nearest and dearest have been meaning to check out Game of Thrones but haven't gotten around to it yet (or don't have an HBO subscription), you can stream the first season for free on Roku over the holiday season. The monstrously popular series' first 10 episodes will be available at no cost during Roku's second annual Stream-a-thon, which runs December 26th to January 1st.
Apple's new TV app is a work in progress
Apple's approach to digital video can best be described as slow and steady. While iTunes and the iPod effortlessly transformed the way we purchased and listened to music, it took the company years to figure out how to position the Apple TV. For the most part, films and TV were just additional categories in iTunes, which, as its name implies, was primarily focused on music. But now that Apple finally has a solid 4K set-top box, the next issue is helping people organize everything they have to watch.
Patch 6.0.3 hotfixes for November 5th
Once again into the breach, dear friends, and instead of using dead bodies as material for a wall, we're going to look at the hotfixes that Blizzard made for November 5th. Shall we? Let's do. Hunter's tenacity pets saw a couple of fixes. Tenacity Pet Specialization: Blood of the Rhino now reduces the pet's physical damage taken by 15% instead of increasing armor by 20%. Tenacity Pet Specialization: Great Stamina now increases the pet's health by 60% (up from 12%). Priests saw a 15% nerf to Holy Nova's healing, while Divine Star's healing or damage (based on spec) was buffed by 15% Fixed an issue where Zidormi may send players to an incorrect phase in the Blasted Lands. Once a Challenge Mode has started, characters can no longer change specializations, talents, or glyphs. For a full list of the hotfixes, follow us beyond the curtain.
WoW Archivist: Class protests and the Million Gnome March
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Betas make players nervous about their class. It happens every time. Blizzard makes changes, often drastically, and for better or worse some people hate the changes. I've been keeping my eye on the beta class forums since the Warlords beta began, and I've seen a lot of unhappiness this time around. The ability pruning that was one of Blizzard's major design goals for classes this year has removed depth from rotations, taken away both utility and cosmetic options, and in some cases radically altered or deleted abilities that players enjoyed. Beta testers have voiced strong opposition to many of the changes. In ten years, I haven't seen players this up in arms about class issues since classic WoW -- an era when many specs and mechanics were simply broken in PvE, PvP, or both. This past Friday, something happened that I believed would never again happen in WoW: an in-game class protest. With much more open lines of communication from developers to players in recent years, I thought the game had matured beyond the point where such things would ever be necessary. But here we are, almost ten years after the most famous class protest in WoW's history, and players once again felt the need to gather in Azeroth to voice their complaints.
Imagination Technologies to ARM: anything you can do, our new chips can do better
Despite Intel's best efforts, ARM remains the undisputed king of the mobile world, but another chip design house, just 51 miles down the road, is hoping to change that. Imagination Technologies, the outfit famous for its PowerVR mobile graphics tech, wants to knock its better-known rival off its perch with a new 64-bit MIPS chip. The Warrior I6400 promises to be a low-power, high-performance CPU for smartphones, tablets and internet of things devices that, the company claims, has the "technical superiority" over its competition. Since Android L will support silicon of this kind, Imagination is hoping that smartphone manufacturers will consider ditching ARM chips in favor of the plucky challenger. What does this mean for the consumer? Hopefully, faster devices, less power drain and a whole new topic where people can argue the merits of one architecture against the other.
Lineage Korea adds a new Warrior class
Who says old-school MMOs are dead? Here in North America, Ultima Online and EverQuest are still updating on a regular basis, while over in Korea, Lineage is quietly going about the business of being one of the most played MMORPGs in the world. The title, released in 1998, is still NCsoft's top earner, and now its loyal fans have a new Warrior class to play. This is the game's first new class in six years, according to MMO Culture, which also has a video of the Warrior in action. Click past the cut to have a look!
What's going wrong with tanking in five player content?
Tanking is not always easy, mind you. But tanking can be an incredible amount of fun, and I hope that it'll make a real comeback in terms of popularity when Warlords of Draenor goes live. Right now, I feel like a few problems really keep tanking from being as universally popular as it could be. Difficult to get starting gear - For most people, it's hard to get started as a tank. Gearing is an issue, because some tanks (DKs, warriors and paladins) need specific tanking gear, while even the leather tanks still generally use different stats to some degree, different enchants, different weapons for tanking than DPS or (especially) healing. This is a problem the gearing changes in Warlords should really help with. Where can you learn it? - Tanking requires a different skill set from DPS or healing. While proving grounds exist, they don't really teach the most important part of being a tank - reacting to other players. It can be hard as a new tank to walk into a dungeon having never done it before. That leads into the third difficulty of picking up tanking. Dungeons don't provide any sort of experience right now - With the wildly disparate gear levels on people running random dungeons, you can have a tank in 450 gear trying to hold aggro off of players in 580 gear. While it can be nice to be the tank in 580 gear, even you might have trouble when groups don't cooperate, run ahead of you, pull mobs half way across the zone, and generally simply refuse to act like any kind of groups at all. This is something I'm hoping the gear squish and ten levels will do away with - we'll all basically be on the same page when Warlords dungeons are being run. While there are still a lot of places where tanking is both fun and rewarding - raiding (especially in a guild group, be it heroic, normal or flex), challenge modes, even in LFD or LFR if you get lucky - I do think it can be a lot to ask a new tank (whether or not she or he is a new player or just new to the role) to grow a thick skin fast enough to deal with the toxicity possible in the current random queue environment. Which is a real shame, because tanking is fun - it can be stressful, and oftentimes groups have an expectation of a tank doing the work of knowing how every fight works for them, but that's not always a negative.
Warlords of Draenor: Tanking and the future
One of the things I'm thinking about lately is how tanking is changing in Warlords of Draenor. In at least one major way, it's not changing - Active Mitigation established itself in Mists, based in part on DK tanking in Cataclysm, and it's going to be front and center in Warlords of Draenor. But right now, AM tanking heavily relies on four stats (depending on the tank class) and all four of those stats will be gone come Warlords, meaning that we're looking at a pretty significant change depending on the class. The remaining stat, mastery, is probably going up in value, and in addition, we'll have crit, haste, readiness and multistrike to consider. But stats aren't the whole of the game, and they're not the whole of the changes, either. In addition to new stats, there are the abilities each tank will see affected by readiness to consider. There are also Draenor Perks for each tank spec, granted randomly as we level from 90 to 100. There are changes in what abilities exist, in what specs get them. Vengeance is gone, replaced with Resolve, buffing our self heals and absorbs. In short, while the basic idea remains the same - generate resources via attacks to spend on damage reduction in one fashion or another - how we go about it, how it interacts with us has so many changes that it's worth discussing in length. There's so much change coming in that I don't pretend I'll catch all of it, which is why we have comments, after all. So what do I expect to see out of tanking coming 6.0? It should be noted, this discussion is based on the Warlords alpha patch notes and such datamining as I've looked over, and I freely admit I only tank on one class, so while these are general observations I may be missing key class specific factors.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: This is the end
Yeah, goodbyes are hard. I started this column on June 15th, 2007. It has run continuously, one column a week, since that time. No one else has ever written a single The Care and Feeding of Warriors but me, and I have never missed a week. That's because, when I started this job, I had one goal - to tell you all how much I love playing a warrior in World of Warcraft. How awesome warriors are. It's 2014. A lot has changed in my life and in the game but one thing has not - I still love playing a warrior in World of Warcraft. I've loved the class through my days of PvP and through every raid in the game. I've loved them through being the least popular tank, through being underpowered and overpowered, through every mechanical change and system. I was here when Titan's Grip was announced. I was here when we got, and lost, and got Heroic Leap. I have played this class since 2004, and I have written about it since 2007. I'm going to keep playing a warrior, of course - I have like five max level warriors at this point, I'm not likely to stop now. And I'll keep writing about warrior news as it comes up. But this column you're reading now will be the last weekly The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the last time I sit down and write what has been a part of my weekly routine for more than six years now. There were many ways I could have chosen to end it - we could have done a retrospective column, going over my favorites from the past several years. I could do a big "This is what I hope for the class in Warlords" post. (I expect I'll be doing that in a different format anyway.) But this is the end. So I'm going to end it the way I started it - I'm going to tell you a story.
Warlords of Draenor: Character boost and Shadowmoon Valley gameplay footage
What we have here is video from today's Korean press event, showing footage of an orc warrior playing both on the Timeless Isle in the starter gear you get when boosting to level 90, followed at the four minute mark by a dwarf warrior running around Shadowmoon Valley on Warlords of Draenor's Draenor. We get to see the maps for several zones (most appear to be unfinished) as well as Draenor's position on the map next to Outland and Azeroth. We get to see several mobs, including a nether ray style mob, and the local draenei at the Temple of Karabor. Even better, we get extremely brief glimpses of new level 100 warrior talents! All in all it's pretty tantalizing, and perhaps they're further along than I would have thought - it seems more likely to me now that a beta is a month or two away than it did before I saw the video. Edited to add - The folks at MMO-Champion posted two more videos from the same source, Korean webzine Inven. You can watch them here and here. Thanks to Mintie for the tip.
Nerfs to Warriors' Charge and Warbringer reverted... for now
Blizzard Community Manager Lore has posted on the official forums about the reversion of a recent, controversial change to Warrior control against casters. While any class will likely complain about the removal of a CC ability, warriors were particularly vehement about their dislike of the change to take the stun off Charge on the patch 5.4.7 PTR. Warbringer was also altered to stun instead of rooting, so that if you were happy to sacrifice the tier's other talents, you could get the stun back. Those nay-sayers will be happy to hear that this change has been reverted. Instead, Pummel will be on a shared 15-second cooldown with Disrupting Shout. So, if you Pummel, that will mean your Disrupting Shout is put on a 15-second cooldown, and if you use Disrupting Shout, your Pummel will be put on a 15-second cooldown. The purpose of this change is to make warriors less disruptive to casters -- the same as the purpose of the previous change to Charge, but Charge is a far more difficult ability to alter in the proposed way. Lore gives the example of Charge onto a target with Hand of Freedom active, and there are several other issues that may arise. While this change is superior for PvP, it might have a larger impact on PvE warriors than the previous Charge nerf. With the changes to CC going forward, in Warlords, it would be no surprise to see this CC change return. But Lore says they don't have time right now... does this mean the new season and patch 5.4.7 are imminent?
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: All we know so far from BlizzCon
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column dedicated to arms, fury and protection warriors. Despite repeated blows to the head from dragons, demons, Old Gods and whatever that thing over there was, Matthew Rossi will be your host. Let's go over some things we learned this weekend that will have an effect on us as warriors (as always, keep in mind this is all subject to change): We learned that there will be new level 100 talents (which we'll go over) Hit and expertise are gone, baby. In their place are will be new stats like movement speed and Cleave, which will act like the Siege of Orgrimmar trinkets we've seen that allow either damage or healing to chain to other nearby targets. Also gone? Dodge and parry as stats on gear. We will still be dodging and parrying, but not via gear itemization. Also also gone? Reforging. A lot of gear changes, in total. There will also be changes to armor itemization to make it easier to share gear between classes and specs. Plate will switch primary stat based on your spec, so all plate with be strength plate unless you're a holy pally (which you aren't) whereupon it will switch to int plate. Plate is plate now. You will be able to choose one character and boost it to level 90, be it a new fresh level 1 you roll as soon as you get Warlords of Draenor or an old alt you left by the wayside. Did you stop playing in Wrath? Your level 80 can skip those 10 levels. Since we know a lot of people have rerolled other classes, this could be useful to get some warriors back in the saddle. I don't pretend that this is all we'll end up finding out, but it's enough to start talking about.
WildStar's livestream serves up a big helping of Warrior fun
Are you looking forward to WildStar's big Warrior livestream? Because... we've got bad news for you then; that was yesterday. It happened. You missed it. But there's no need to fret. The livestream is still archived, and you can take a look at the full thing just past the break. And what does it contain? A whole lot of Warrior time as well as a whole lot of time looking at what's changed compared to previous game builds. For starters, this build has a chance to show off both the new ability enhancement and AMP systems, replacements to the original Milestone setup (although the interface for both is still obviously in beta stages). The Warrior also gets to demonstrate some of the new elements of the UI, like telegraphs serving as cast bars, allowing you to know just when dodging out will be absolutely vital. No need to take our word for it, though; check out the full video just past the break!
WildStar's latest AMA features the Warrior
Carbine hosted an AMA session earlier today focused on the Warrior class for its upcoming WildStar MMO. Representing the dev team was lead combat designer Chris Lynch, class lead Hugh Shelton, Warrior class designer Marc Matzenbacher, and senior community manager David Bass. The talk ranged from protective abilities to taunts to underwater and zero gravity gameplay situations. If you're interested in more Warrior-centric info, you can read the whole AMA via the links below. And don't forget about Carbine's Warrior livestream on November 9th at 3:00 p.m. EST.
WildStar shows off the Warrior in its newest DevSpeak
In every game, there has to be at least one class that focuses entirely upon hitting something really hard until it stops moving, then hitting it a few more times. That's WildStar's Warrior at a glance. And no, there's really not a whole lot more to the class than that; what you see is what you get. But what you see is also a monstrously powerful technological hitting machine in heavy armor with a power sword, arm cannon, and the strength to just kick things into place when needed. No, the Warrior doesn't master magic or the like. The Warrior just has a versatile toolbox, and several tools that are very good at allowing the Warrior to survive a beating before delivering one of his own. Don't take our word for it -- check out the newest DevSpeak video past the break and watch the Warrior do his thing. It's all just smashing stuff, but it's smashing with panache. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR Marauders will suck but Operatives will not
Update 2.5 for Star Wars: The Old Republic will release at the same time the Galactic Starfighter expansion will hit for subscribers. Perhaps this timing is meant to hide the awful mistakes BioWare is making with two of its best Advanced Classes. One will receive a thorough thrashing with a nerf bat, while the other will only get a stern talking-to -- not even a wag of the finger. Of course, I'm talking about the Marauder/Sentinel class and the Operative/Scoundrel class. Last week, the Inquisitor/Consular class took center stage because there is a chance that the Madness spec might actually become viable in PvP. But at the same time the Assassin/Shadow tank becomes viable in PvE, it'll become a wrecking ball in PvP. (Time to roll another character!) Unfortunately, two of my favorite classes aren't seeing the changes they need in the next SWTOR update. Because I'm so helpful to the SWTOR developers, I will sit in my armchair and tell them exactly what to do. But first, let's talk about the tweaks coming for these two enormously popular classes.
Imagination details Warrior P5600 CPU core, promises high speed in a small package
After teasing us this summer, Imagination is ready to provide full details of its first Warrior CPU core. Its new P5600 design centers on the MIPS Series5 architecture, which brings performance upgrades like 128-bit SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) code support, hardware virtualization and numerous low-level optimizations. The design reportedly manages brisk 32-bit performance in a considerably smaller footprint than rivals -- a P5600 occupies about 30 percent less space than a "comparable" Exynos 5 Octa, Imagination says. It may be a long while before we see that speed in a smartphone, however. The company will start licensing the core this quarter, but customers still have to build processors and ship finished devices.
SOE Live 2013: Five of EverQuest Next's classes announced
While yesterday's big reveal showed us what races are confirmed as playable so far in EverQuest Next (Dwarf, Human, Ogre, Elf, Dark Elf, and Kerran), only two classes were highlighted during the demonstration. We also discovered that characters will be able to learn more classes -- and there are more than 40 of them -- as they adventure. But what are all the classes and which ones can players choose when they first embark on their next Norrathian exploits? We cannot answer the latter, but we now have a partial answer to the former. Five of the classes that will be available in EQ Next are: Rogue, Warrior, Tempest, Blademaster, and Wizard. Any, all, or even none of these may be one of eight starting classes. A few other tidbits about classes were also discussed during SOE panels, including how to distinguish what class a player or NPC is (answer: how s/he stands and holds his or her weapon) and character builds (items plus abilities will together constitute a build). Hungry for more info? Keep your eyes peeled for a more in-depth look at the philosophy and mechanics of classes coming soon! What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas, at least where SOE Live is concerned! Massively sent intrepid reporters MJ Guthrie and Karen Bryan to this year's SOE Live, from which they'll be transmitting all the best fan news on EverQuest Next, EverQuest II, DC Universe Online, and the other MMOs on SOE's roster.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Vengeance changes
If you're a tank in World of Warcraft you know what Vengeance is. Originally intended to allow tanks to keep up with increased DPS from improved gear with DPS stats on it while accumulating tanking gear that generally lacked those stats, it's turned into a means for tanking players to do chart topping DPS on some pulls (especially AoE ones with multiple tanked mobs). There's been a lot of discussion about what might happen with Vengeance in patch 5.4, and now we have our first look at what Blizzard is contemplating for the tanking specialization. Rygarius - 5.4 PTR Patch Notes - August 2 Vengeance has received several changes. Vengeance now grants Attack Power equal to 1.5% of the damage taken, down from 1.8% (The tooltip said 2% but it was actually 1.8%). Tanks no longer receive Vengeance from many persistent area damage effects (standing in the fire) or from missed attacks (dodging and parrying an attack will continue to work as it has before). There are now diminishing returns on Vengeance gains while tanking multiple targets. Each additional target grants progressively less Vengeance. source These changes are almost certainly aimed at reducing the very high DPS that we can see on trash pulls and boss fights with a great many streaming adds (such as Tortos' bats or the packs before Iron Qon) especially as we head into the final tier of gear for Mists of Pandaria, which would inflate these numbers even more. Raids that use tanks with the highest DPS tanks will probably feel these changes the most. As always, this is the PTR, so if you have an opinion on these changes getting on the test servers and testing them out is useful so you can give proper feedback.
Imagination Tech CEO: 'The industry needs MIPS as much as MIPS needs the industry'
At an earlier press event in Shenzhen, Imagination Technologies' CEO Sir Hossein Yassaie delivered a clear message: his company's $100 million acquisition of MIPS isn't a short term strategy. Additionally, he has ambitious plans with the latter's chip architecture -- a well-known rival of ARM and Intel's x86. In his presentation, Yassaie boasted that there are currently over 300 SoCs based on MIPS. And out of the five billion devices shipped with Imagination Tech's IP to date, three billion of them use MIPS. These include phones, tablets (especially in China), wearables, printers, networking devices, storage devices and more.
