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EpicAdvice.com lets you ask and answer Warcraft questions
Reader Jesta sent us a note about his new website. He's a big fan of Stack Overflow, which is a big Q&A/advice site for programmers -- you show up, ask your question, and then other folks who might or might not be working on the same problem post their answers, in moderated and organized threads for everyone to read. Jesta decided this same type of thing could work for our little game, so he put together EpicAdvice.com -- the idea is that you go there, leave a question about anything in the game, and then wait for your answer from other people browsing the site.Stack Overflow actually has a little "badge" system where answerers can earn reputation points for answering questions correctly, and Jesta says that they're working on doing something similar for Epic Advice (though they'll probably have Achievements, as that's more Warcraft-y). But as of this writing, the site definitely needs more questions and answers, so if there's something bugging you about WoW (that our own Queue hasn't answered yet), or you consider yourself an expert and want to clear some things up, head over and give the site a look.
Drama Mamas: Dealing
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com.This week's drama includes a guild leader who needs to deal with her most negative guildie. We also have a PuG leader who needs to deal with a DPSer who taunts. Let's not deal with any more of this introduction.The Negative Guy Dear Drama Mamas: I am an older Guild Leader of a great guild. I have a recent guildie that is completely draining me. He is a complete 'Eeyore' . He came to my guild as a friend of my mom's from another server.
Drama Mamas: What are you here for?
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com.Why do you play World of Warcraft? If you don't know what you want to get out of playing – if you're just surfing the wave after being swept up by the current – you'll be vulnerable to making poor choices when something that happens in game or even gaming itself conflicts with something else in your life. What is it that you value most about your WoW time? (Do you relish mastering raiding content with your guild? Do you savor the downtime of ticking off levels and achievements on your alts? Do you simply want to deflate after a long day by hanging out on Vent with your buddies?)Prioritizing what's going on in your game is the first step in prioritizing what's going on in the rest of your life. Things get especially tricky when you're trying to balance your hobby time with your own family. This week, the Drama Mamas help two readers tighten their focus. One young player discovers that there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything he'd like to plus play WoW, too, and another reader struggles to figure out how to balance tells from a pesky young relative with enjoying a relaxing evening.
Ask a Faction Leader: Genn Greymane
WoW.com is likely the luckiest news outlet out there, as we've stumbled upon an unprecedented opportunity -- the faction leaders of the Horde and Alliance have agreed to give us an audience and let us ask them questions about whatever we'd like. To take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, we're letting our readers send in questions to ask the leaders -- whether they're looking for advice, seeking answers to lore questions that've stymied them, or need a great idea for a gift for that special someone. This week's leader, in honor of the upcoming Cataclysm expansion, is King Genn Greymane, ruler of Gilneas and leader of the playable Worgen faction. Greymane has taken time out of his very busy day to let us have a word with him in Greymane Manor on the coast of the besieged Gilnean Peninsula. Our first reader question: Dear King Greymane, My friend Spookydark has been acting a bit strange lately. When he's not chasing the undercity mail master around, he's either digging down various insignificant items or running aimlessly in circles. He also spends a great deal of time shaving, and when we tried to confront him about his behaviour a week ago, he bit my guildmaster and ran away for 3 days. Is this something to be concerned about, or is it simply a phase he's going through? Yours sincerely Kilran P.S. Do houses in Gilneas have stairs in them?
Breakfast topic: Your priority list
We got an email from a reader concerned with the amount of time he spends playing WoW. It seems to be negatively impacting his school and social lives. Most of us manage to balance out WoW time with our real life obligations, but there is a strong possibility that addiction can set in. I cannot stress enough the importance of balance.I think that one of the keys to keeping both your WoW life and your real life balanced is by identifying your priority list. Every once in a while do a reality check and make sure you're keeping it in line. For me WoW sits somewhere between work and sleep (then again, I've never slept much). My guildies know that I will not be on on Friday nights, that's "sister time." I do play WoW when I'm on work trips, but I never go anywhere particularly exciting.
The Queue: Acronymification, FWIW
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.The last few editions of The Queue had a lot about tanking, and deciding which Heroic is the best Heroic to tank your first time around. Adam said Utgarde Pinnacle was a good training ground, and his opinion was thoroughly stomped upon for being wrong. I have to say, though... Utgarde Pinnacle was my first Wrath heroic as a tank and it worked pretty well. I did a lot of tanking in The Burning Crusade so maybe I'm a little different since I already knew what I was doing, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it's made out to be. Mobs in Utgarde Pinnacle hit really hard, and it taught me to get back into the habit of using my cooldowns properly and not relying completely on my healer to keep me standing.I won't say Adam was right, but I also won't say he was wrong. Heroic Utgarde Pinnacle and Heroic CoT: Stratholme are the two dungeons that taught me the most about tanking. Teaching myself to remember to use my own cooldowns and mitigation abilities, learning how to pace a group and keep them moving, relearning how to handle different types of mobs. They were a challenge, oh yes, but that's why I learned so much from them. Easier heroics like Violet Hold didn't teach me to do much because you basically nap through the thing. Then again, I am sort of a 'trial by fire' kind of guy. I need to die a few times to figure out whether I'm capable of something or not.CallMeIrd asked.."Are they going to change or remove the School of Hard Knocks achievements? It's pretty much impossible for a lot of players to achieve."
Cryptic Studios profiles Star Trek Online producer Daniel Stahl
Cryptic Studios has been running a "Meet the Team" series of profiles of their developers, across both Champions Online and Star Trek Online. The latest from the Star Trek Online team is an interview with producer Daniel Stahl. Stahl discusses his work on STO and how his career led him to Cryptic Studios, and passes on some advice for readers who want to break into the gaming industry. "There are a lot of different avenues into the gaming industry and they all start with pursuing a hobbyist's dream. Find something that you have a passion for, and develop that passion," Stahl says. You can read the Star Trek Online profile of Daniel Stahl for more on his role at Cryptic Studios, and why you should never face him in ship to ship combat once the game launches.[Via WarCry]
Cryptic Studios profiles Champions Online artist Brad Stokan
Cryptic Studios has been running a "Meet the Team" series of profiles of their developers working on Champions Online. The latest Q&A is with Brad Stokan, the Lead Character Artist for Champions Online. He discusses what he does at Cryptic Studios and what led him to the industry in the first place. Although it's a rather lighthearted interview, Stokan offers some solid advice for artists who want to break into the gaming industry. He points out what he sees as the pitfalls many fall into when honing their skills and trying to get their work recognized by potential employers. His final piece of advice? Stokan says, "Play Champions, because we need to eat. Also, never give up your dream of working in games, kid!" Check out "Meet the Team: Brad Stokan" for more about the Champions Online Lead Character Artist.[Via MMORPG.com]
WoW Insider Show Episode 73: Yes, Virginia, there is a Martin Thunder
Great show on the podcast this past weekend, if I may say so myself. We started off with a kickass intro from David over at Trekcast.com, and I think it set the tone well: we had Michael Sacco (a.k.a. onetime Blizzard GM Belfaire) on the show, and he revealed some great stories about what it's like to be on the other end of Blizzard's ticket system. Turpster was on with his wacky self as usual (along with some excellent Warrior insight), and we all talked about the most embarassing thing we've done in game, and how to know when you're ready to head off into Heroics, as well as the Death Knight changes coming up in the next patch.If you want to send us an intro or anything else, the address is theshow AT wow.com. You can listen to last weekend's show using the links below, and if you'd like to hear us live, definitely make plans to listen in next weekend: we record the show live every Saturday at 3:30pm Eastern / 20:30 GMT. Oh, and don't forget to become a fan of our site on Facebook -- we're almost 3/4 of the way to our goal of 4,000 fans, and if we can reach that goal, Turpster's promised us a brand new, exclusive song. Tell your friends!Enjoy the show and have a great week. And if you're wondering who Martin Thunder is, here you go.Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
A look at hiring mercenaries in EVE Online
The galactic setting of EVE Online is always buzzing with conflict, somewhere. The game is very PvP-centric, although not all players have an interest in the violent side of EVE. That's all fine and good, even those who concentrate on industry (EVE's take on the crafting system) have a powerful weapon at their disposal to fend off, or spark, hostilities from other players -- their in-game currrency. The power of the Inter Stellar Kredit (ISK) makes many things possible in EVE, and there are a number of mercenary corporations active in the game that are willing to kill or die for you, for the right price. While many players are aware that mercs can be contracted for industrial warfare, to force retractions of war declarations from aggressors, to secure territory, and complete a wide range of objectives for their clients, the protocols involved with making this happen are less transparent. That's where the Guide to Hiring Mercenaries comes in, written by Alekseyev Karrde, founder and CEO of the mercenary corp Noir.
Dear Aunt TUAW: How do I get started programming for the iPhone?
Dear Auntie TUAW, I've been thinking about trying my hand at development for the iPhone (I've got some good app ideas already), and I was wondering where a good place to start might be. Should I mess around with learning some Objective-C first, or just spend the $99 and dive in with the dev kit? I know some PHP, Javascript, and a smattering of C++, but have never tried developing in Objective-C or Cocoa. I have some free time this weekend to try messing around with development and see if it's something I might be able to do. Where's a good place to stick my toe in and see if the water's good for swimming? Should I buy an Objective-C book and spend the whole weekend with that, or is it worth it to put down the money on a dev kit and see what I can make my iPhone do? Let me know! Just thinking of you, there's this scent in the air... like a mixture of 4711, hard candies and Aqua Net. Your devoted nephew, Mikey
The fallacies of skill training plans in EVE Online
New players to EVE Online invariably receive the same advice from those more experienced: train your learning skills as soon as possible. Each skill level gained in the learning category adds a point to an attribute linked to that skill. Attributes determine your skill training times, so by boosting your attributes as high as you can, as fast as you can, you dramatically reduce your skill training times further down the road. This becomes especially noticeable when training higher ranked skills. But Dee Carson, from the Miner With Fangs blog, says that diving right into training your learning skills instead of getting a feel for the game can be a mistake. He should know. Carson is a director of EVE University, a corp that has trained thousands of new players since its inception and helped them to become competent pilots.Carson points out that training up learning skills right off the bat serves to crush a new player's interest in the game. In those first weeks and months, when players could be out trying new things in EVE, they're limited by the fact that they're simply not progressing in any noticeable way. Yes, training up your learning skills is important if you're in for the long-term, but for those just trying out the game, locking yourself into skills that don't unlock new ships and modules kills the fun.
The 10 people you need to know in WoW
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/10_MMO_Players_You_Need_to_Know'; One of my favorite people to read online is a fellow by the name of Pjammer on Livejournal. He's smart, funny, and a gifted writer, and if you are not sobbing by the end of "King of Masochists" then you are pretty much a terrible person. But another great entry is "The 16 Essential People In Your Life," which lists such valuable acquaintances as the Computer Security Guru, the Wolf, the Consigliere, and (most importantly) the Best Friend. Pjammer, quoting Harvey Mackay, correctly notes that 2 am is a bad time to make new friends. These are the kind of people you want in your life as early as possible, and to exercise a positive influence on its course. My realm's seen a number of guild instability issues of late, which is something most of us have come to expect with an upcoming expansion. I've found reason to mull over how the virtual world differs from the real world with respect to friendship, backstabbing, greed, betrayal, honor, and how people choose to handle their problems. In my considered opinion it doesn't differ at all, and your experience ingame is largely determined by the network of players assembled around you, whether that alliance is a recognized one in the form of a guild or simply a more informal group of friends.So, from my own experience and with a hat tip to Pjammer, these are the people you want in your posse for the best possible experience in the game:
Advice columnist covers WoW addiction
This just keeps coming up. This time, anonymous husband "Walking on Eggshells" wrote advice columnist Amy Dickinson for help. His wife of 20 years has succumbed to the dread WoW Addiction, and is forsaking both Walking and their mutual children. Apparently, she's had an affair with a Guildmate and everything.Of course, Walking is feeling dejected, and especially burdened since he's picking up the slack around the house. He wants to get therapy, do something to help the relationship -- but his wife's just saying that he needs to love it or leave it.It's always a little frustrating as a WoW player to read about this kind of thing. My personal stance is that if they're having this kind of problem from World of Warcraft, the same would have cropped up with something else eventually. Issues like these don't appear magically on their own, wrecking houses as the login screens comes up.Amy does direct Walking to Online Gamers Anonymous. As she points out, they've got a 12 step program and everything. Well, good luck to them. I really do hope they manage to get the problem worked out. Quitting WoW can be done, but they'll need more to solve their family issues.
Ask WoW Insider: Seeking motivation to level
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week JJ writes in:I was wondering if you could give any advice to those who struggle with leveling. I guess you could call me a very casual wow player as I hardly have any time for it.Recently my friend let me look at his level 70 and once I saw those in action, I have a hard time committing to leveling. When I play WoW I generally hang out around cities chilling with the other players. I just can't seem to get myself to level. I get bored very easily and I don't have a very high-level character. My highest is a level 29 hunter on a PvE but i recently rolled a warlock (level 12 -.-).Please explain how you go about leveling. Is there a state of mind that you use to continue?Thanks in advanceJJ
Ask WoW Insider: Any point to starting to raid before Wrath?
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week Kedou writes in:Hi,I'm wondering what people think about starting to raid (as in, starting Kara) now, with WotLK on the horizon. Is there any point?Thanks.
WoW Moviewatch: Ask a Warlock, Episode 1
On WoW Moviewatch, we regularly ask for and blog about user submissions. However, not all of the submissions are what we would call ... impressive. Such is the case with Ask a Warlock: Episode 1 - "Why is the what?" According to his show page, though, the poor soul actually asks for feedback.Ask and ye shall receive, young warlock! First of all, we'll start with the premise. He solicits questions on his blog and then answers them in video format. Ask a Warlock is obviously a WoW knockoff of Ask a Ninja, which is a much better production. Maybe you're trying to emulate Ask a Chola, who isn't even a real chola, but the point is that you'll need to improve your schtick. For a much better example, see Ian Beckman's Ask an Assassin.[Thanks, Andrew!]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...Read on for more feedback ...
Spiritual Guidance: 30 If statements that Priests should adhere to
Our Priest column is back! Every Sunday, Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is now Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus, and this week he's written different "If" statements to follow. Yeah, I'm late this week, I know. Technical issues were the problem for me on Sunday. But alas! The other night I had the pleasure of participating in a pickup Serpentshrine Cavern raid consisting of members from several prominent guilds on my server. It was one of the most costliest runs I've ever been in on. I did learn a lot about Priests by observing the other ones in my party. "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." -Maya Angelou If you're a programmer, then you are familiar with what the If statement represents. It symbolizes a condition that has to occur and the effect that results from it. As a Priest, I frequently have my own set of rules that I internalize and follow whether I'm raiding, questing, or PvPing.
Battleground anti-tip of the day
Based on your votes last week for the best piece of anti-advice, congratulations to Eldron for submitting the winning entry: "Hey everyone! Type /afk list when to see who is afk!" He wins fame, respect, and ooh and ahhhs from crowds of adoring fans! Eldron's anti-advice won with 28.7% of the votes.When I first saw this piece of anti-advice I have to admit I went and tried it right away. I went in AV and typed in /bg, "Man... look at all these AFK people." A few folks responded and agreed with me, annoyed about it. "Type /afk list and report everyone that comes up, please," I say next.I kid you not – 15 people immediately afk'd out. At that point I started getting some pretty hate-filled tells, so I decided to /afk out myself.But nonetheless, I just about died from laughter. Of course, this is kind of mean, and just a tad underhanded, but really... sometimes things like this are just too funny to pass up. I tried this again later in a AB match that was going awful, and after I told everyone to type /afk list, someone replied "Yeah, wow, look at all those people." He then sent me a tell: "lol! I've been doing that all day!"All the people that were dragging us down left the BG, and new ones came in and we won. So maybe this isn't that bad of advice after all...
Champions Online dev discusses how to become a game designer
'Heretic' on the Champions Online developer blog, has posted a short piece on how to "break the wall" and become a game designer. The factors involved are fairly obvious once given consideration, but it's always worth going over them again, to refresh one's memory. Among the important issues are getting experience in a related, or "parallel" line of work, such as programming or art; noting that there are few available design positions available, and these are typically filled from within the company; and remembering professionalism, courtesy, responsibility, confidence and diplomacy as important assets for any employee.
