afk
Latest
15 Minutes of Fame: Film follows fantasy of fighting Onyxia
Work Warning: Brief profanity in the video. From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. Just as Azeroth prepares to explode in all its cataclysmic glory, films on gaming seem to be exploding onto the scene. There's the documentary from LFG Productions (many of you may have seen them filming at BlizzCon and our reader meetup last month) that will be following leading raiding guild <Blood Legion> in a full-court press into Cataclysm. There's The Raid, another take on raiding life that we also saw at BlizzCon, and the "zanier" take on gaming culture of Gamers. In contrast to all those documentaries comes the short narrative film /afk. This live-action film, featuring extensive in-game footage produced by a whole host of well known machinimators -- Gigi, Teagen the Rogue, Baron Soosdon, the list goes on -- tells the tale of a WoW gamer whose psychiatrist informs him that he is gaming-addicted and should delete his character. Game over? Not quite. "The problem is that he always had this dream to solo Onyxia," explains creator Benjamin Dressler, "and he doesn't intend to leave without reaching that goal." /afk debuts on YouTube later this week with a unique, in-game event that literally "unlocks" the premiere. On Nov. 19, Aventhor, the night elf character from the movie, will appear on Alleria (EU-A) at 7 p.m. GMT and Drenden (US-A) at 5 p.m. CST. Find him and unlock "/afk"! Players must find Aventhor on each server and perform his quests to unlock the movie on YouTube. For more details on the premiere event, see the video at the end of the article -- and join us after the break for a peek behind the scenes with creator Benjamin Dressler.
WoW Moviewatch: /afk trailer
Work warning: There's a bit of cursing herein. The movie /afk is getting near release. A masterful mix of machinima styles and live-action performance, /afk tells the story of a young gamer whose only goal is to kill Onyxia. At the same time, his counselor warns the boy to free himself from the game, presumably before dire consequences happen. If you have been following the YouTube channels of artists like Gigi, you probably have already heard of /afk. There have been a dozen or more machinima-makers working on the movie behind the scenes. I'm especially excited to see the release of the movie and see how the collaboration has turned out. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at machinima@wow.com.
Officers' Quarters: Content is easy
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press. It's been a while here at Officers' Quarters since we've tackled some good, old-fashioned guild drama. This week's email comes from a guild leader dealing with an abrasive officer (and real-life friend) with a penchant for long, sudden and unexplained AFKs. Hi Scott, I am the guild leader of a new 10-man guild. I created the guild equally with several real-life friends and we co-share the leadership. The problem lies in this: One of the real-life friends has been doing things like going AFK for 45 minutes in the middle of a raid. This was a guild-led, non-scheduled ICC-25 PUG, but he gave me little warning and then disappeared for 45 minutes, which included the first two bosses.
The Game Archaeologist and the Quest for Camelot: Your journeys
These days just about everyone thinks he has what it takes to be a Knight of the Round Table. It takes more than a shiny shield and a sharp sword, as the Game Archaeologist discovered. It also requires a $14.95 credit card charge. Former and current knights poured out of the woodwork to offer up some of their very favorite memories of Dark Age of Camelot. It is, in a way, a better testimony to the game than an objective history and developers' opinions. For some, DAoC was their first MMO love, and more than a couple people said it was the single best MMO experience they've ever had. While many players have moved on, these memories burn bright, and it didn't take much prompting for DAoC vets to wing a quick word of praise our way. Blink twice to clear out any eye irritants, and prepare yourself for a marvelous trip back in time to an era of hodgepodge PvP and fierce realm rivalries.
Guest Post: Top 10 opportunities to go AFK in raids
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. Throughout my time raiding in WoW, I've noticed that a lot of things factor into the success or failure of a raid. Coordination, cooldown timing, proper raid composition and end-game gear can only go so far if your raid is physically or (more likely) mentally exhausted. Playing as both a raid leader and a rank-and-file member has allowed me to find the best times to take a breather and recharge my gaming battery during a raid environment. Here are some of the best times as a raid leader to call a break and some convenient times for raid members to sneak a quick breather that will minimize the effect on the raid as a whole. 10. The Prescheduled Break The prescheduled break is just that: prescheduled. Your raiders know exactly when they will be able to leave their keyboards for that much-needed bio break or to change out the laundry. I've been in guilds that called five-minute breaks on the top of the hour, and I've been in guilds that decided that the two-hour mark was the key to success. Whatever your time, your raiders will know when they are not needed, allowing them the flexibility to plan according to the set schedule. 9. The Flask Break The flask break is similar to the prescheduled break; the break occurs as soon as flasks expire. I find that this system works remarkably well, as raiders spend time, gold and resources obtaining flasks and have a vested interest in how the time is spent using it. I've seen faster and more efficient trash pulls and a bit more boss awareness when using this method, as it's a race against the clock in order to prevent using another flask to obtain the objective.
Call for submissions: The pause that refreshes
What are the absolute best opportunities during a WoW session for grabbing a quick break? Whether you're desperate for a bio break, need to make a brief phone call or simply need a moment to stretch and get a drink, when is the right moment to go AFK when solo, grouped or in a raid? What if you're a raid or event leader -- how do you build in the pause that refreshes? We're looking for the Top 10 chances to take a break while playing WoW. Submissions should be between 500 and 1,000 words. Artwork is not mandatory, but any you choose to include must be your own work or from creative commons. We will not accept articles submitted under player names or pen names; please use your real name and email. We'll only be accepting the very best article. Ready to submit? Read up about our guest post program, then sign up for Seed and submit your article here. (You can't see the article page unless you have a Seed account.) Unfortunately, the Seed program currently only allows us to accept submissions from individuals living in the United States; we hope to be able to accept international submissions in the future. We'll accept submissions for this assignment until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thurs., July 1. Good luck and good writing!
Fallen Earth mobile app goes live
Those hard-working wasteland crafters over at Icarus Studios are taking the wraps off their latest creation, as today not only brings the new Patch 1.5, but also marks the launch of the Fallen Earth Companion App for Android and iPhone mobile units. Developed in a partnership with AFK Interactive, the app allows real-time access to the Fallen Earth game server and gives players the ability to perform a number of in-game functions on the go. While life for your post-apocalyptic clone characters couldn't be much tougher, the Companion App makes your out-of-game life a breeze by allowing you to: View the world map Examine character pages and gear Check active crafting recipes Browse auction house bids Chat with clan members and online friends Check in-game mail View Achievements (iPhone version only) "The degree of mobile interactivity is unparalleled. Players now have the ability to interact with the live game server in ways that, until now, weren't possible without a PC," said Icarus CEO Phil Hall. In addition to the launch day functionality, Icarus and AFK are already planning future upgrades, including the ability to buy and sell from the auction house, send in-game mail and attachments and craft new items. You can pick up the Companion App via iTunes or the Android App Store for $1.99 (USD). The Blackberry version will be available in the coming weeks for $2.99. Want to see it for yourself before buying? Check out our exclusive video presentation of the app on the iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms right after the jump.
Drama Mamas: Make it work
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. Wives get a bad reputation. We are often portrayed more like evil stepmothers than the helpmates and lovers that we would like to be seen as. Some of us deserve it, from time to time. But often we are just trying to be the voice of responsibility in the face of a spouse who's behaving more like a carefree teen. Supervisors and guild leaders are also put in uncomfortable situations, where they are forced to be The Bad Guy in order take care of their responsibilities. This week, we mamas put on our stern caps and wag our fingers a bit more than usual. But we really hope things turn out well for the letter writer and those he interacts with.
The Daily Grind: Do you hate being left behind?
Real life happens, and as unreasonable as it seems, it even happens when we're gaming. The phone rings, a parent needs you to take the garbage out, a child gets out of bed for a drink of water, the cat wants out and in and out again, the spouse needs help carrying something in. That kind of thing takes precedence over a game -- we all (should) know that. When it happens, you afk to take care of it. Chances are that this has happened to you, and you returned from afk to find that your group has raced ahead without waiting, leaving you to catch up as best you can. We've all been there, so what are your feelings on it? Are you okay with being the straggler trying to find the group if you are called afk or have to stop to sort inventory, or do you prefer the "stay with the group" approach?
Breakfast Topic: Abuse of the "Report player AFK" feature
I make liberal use of the "Report player AFK" feature when I'm in Battlegrounds, particularly Alterac Valley. I can't stand AFKers who leech XP and honor off of the rest of us actually trying to win a game. But while I also abhor when one of my fellow Hordies caps Snowfall Graveyard (don't get me started on that), I would never consider reporting him AFK in retaliation. Sure, I don't want to play with him anymore, but I wouldn't abuse the report AFK feature to try to force the issue either. Others, it seems, are not above AFK reporting abuse. There have been a couple of times that I've died and run off for a biobreak only to come back to being in town and a deserter debuff. That's kinda understandable: I was actually AFK. But just how quick are people reporting? It's like being at a stoplight in New York City, where people start beeping their horns to hurry you up before the light even turns green. And then the other night, I was trying to get through a bottleneck near Stormpike Graveyard -- which admittedly wasn't the smart way to get around -- and next thing I know I'm at a loading screen. Obviously, I got reported for being in the group of people fighting on the road; but since I was just trying to get through, I didn't get rid of the debuff. Here's how reporting people AFK works:
Drama Mamas: Reading is hard
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. "Reading is hard." We've seen that snarky little comeback all too often around WoW.com comments, the Blizzard forums and various cracks and crevices in between. Judging from the number of comments we get from readers for whom "skimming" has obviously replaced "reading" (yes, all of you who bunnyhopped over the point of last week's advice on playing a character of the opposite gender – we're looking at you!), we might be inclined to concur, in a most un-snarky, literal way. What concerns the Drama Mamas is when players blunder through their game without really reading what their fellow players are communicating, both explicitly and between the lines. We all know how easily humor (and especially sarcasm) can fall flat on the internet. Disaster strikes when players stop reading and start reading into what others say. It's all too easy to miss connections when we stop "listening" halfway through. Players can even do this to themselves, second-guessing situations and making assumptions that prevent them from truly enjoying the game the way they'd like. This week, we'll help two players slice through their anxieties and clearly communicate their wishes. Say what you mean! Mean what you say! And in the meantime, we urge all our readers to read up, line by line, when other players have something to say. Don't seize upon a single phrase that inflames your sensibilities while heedlessly abandoning the rest. Connecting with other players is best done in black and white -- and "read" all over.
The Daze of Darkfall Week 3: Keep rollin', rollin', rollin', yeah
Hey there avid Darkfall readers! It's week three of The Daze of Darkfall, and that means we only have one week left in our feature! Time sure does fly when you're getting your butt kicked in defense of your city!And that is totally what I did this week! Yes, that's right, it's time for a real look into "hardcore" PvP and raiding! I was out in the PvE sections killing skeletons, I was defending our city against enemy invaders, and I was working with others in harvesting camps.So this is it. This is the cream of the Darkfall crop. This is what people say is the most amazing part of this game. Is it? Will it live up to the hype? Skip along with me after the break, and we'll go through week three, step by step.
The Daze of Darkfall week 2: AFK your way to fame and fortune
Confused as to why this isn't in Anti-Aliased? Well, "The Daze of Darkfall" month long feature has moved to a new home as a standalone feature! Isn't that grand? Now I can talk about my adventures in Darkfall while still unleashing my biased opinions upon you in Anti-Aliased. It's a win/win situation, if you ask me.So what's in the picture above? Well that's me AFKing my way to hardcore status in Darkfall. All you need is an old college textbook and a comb cleverly placed on your left arrow key and you too can get to max run skill with just a few nights of AFKing! Forget running into walls, this is the future! I like to call it "hardware macroing."But this isn't all, dear readers! I have lots more fun inside of this week's Darkfall report! Come, continue reading and enjoy the insanity of Agon, where AFKing is better than playing and naked is the new armored!
Drama Mamas: Of phone calls and slanderers
Let the Drama Mamas guide you through the sticky business of dodging drama, toward becoming that player everyone wants in their group. 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 are taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com. Like patches through the PTR, so go the Raids of Our Lives. (Thanks, Matticus!) We got quite a few questions after last week's column. There's a lot of drama out there! We'll be answering two questions each episode, so if we don't get to your question this week ... we will eventually. This week, we're talking about the drama caused by fellow raiders when they take phone calls during raids. We also talk about how to handle officers who end up being not-so-loyal. Let's get to it!
Jade Dynasty goes into open beta, supplies new trailer
Perfect World Entertainment's new flagship game, Jade Dynasty, has pulled itself out of closed beta right on time and has jumped into open beta, swords and magic at the ready.If you're looking to check out this new free-to-play MMO, or at least judge some of the controversial game options for yourself, you can head right on over to the Jade Dynasty website, sign up for Perfect World Entertainment's portal, and jump into the game with no beta key required.With the release of the open beta client comes a new trailer, and we here at Massively have cleverly embedded the video after the break. If you want to see some high flying combat, just hit continue reading and enjoy the video!
Anti-Aliased: My first 30 levels with AFK... er... Jade Dynasty pt. 2
So that's why it's called AFK Dynasty...When I finally found a new area to level in as my awesome level 30 self, I actually found that the quests had surprisingly become more tedious. Now it was kill 30 of a monster, or collect 10 to 15 of an item that would only drop once every 7 monsters. This is when I began to make crazy use of the invigorate feature, where I'd press the "kill stuff" button and my character would go off killing whatever she pleased.Was I worried about dying? Pfft, no! Using my wonderous cash shop gold I got a health and mana battery! These two items carried 700,000 HP and 700,000 SP inside of them, and would use enough of their charges to bring my character back up to full HP and SP when I dropped below 10% in a category. I had absolutely nothing to fear now all because my character was basically on a potion IV drip. Everything in my path was easily slaughtered, and I didn't have to be present for any of it.It scared me.Is this what an MMO is?Other games try to hide it with cutscenes, story, diversions, and other tactics. Jade Dynasty is the full, unabashed version of what a MMO is -- grindy grindy grind. But when the game becomes so advanced that it can play itself, then I need to ask an important question What the heck is the point? "Jade Dynasty is the full, unabashed version of what a MMO is -- grindy grindy grind." A better designer than I once said, "Making video games for a living comes down to one cold, hard truth -- you're making pushing buttons fun. Your job is making an extremely mundane task into an experience with impact." The fact that a game like Jade Dynasty exists is a scary proposition for our industry as a whole. It means we're walking the path of making timesinks, not games. It's like one of those old addages -- "How can we have fun playing a game when we're not playing the game?" I sound like a broken record, but this is a very strong reason why I preach about the necessity of storyline and impact in a game. While gameplay is very, very important, any repetitive activity will become boring unless it is spiced up with enough change to keep it engaging. We use to have a strong grasp of making worlds with engaging content. That grasp, however, has diminished since the dawn of the EverQuest and the rise of "kill X to level" quests. How do I know that we've lost our path regarding storyline? Well because Bioware is touting storyline as a new feature in The Old Republic. When we've gotten to the point that storyline is a "on-the-box" feature for a game, then we've done something horribly wrong in our designing. Our original designs focused on the adventure in the world, not the quick grind sessions to max level and the repetition of raids. I wish we could re-find those designs.My final note to you all for this week: if you want to play a game of numbers without playing the game, I have a recommendation for you. It's a "game" that runs on anyone's computer thanks to low graphical requirements and provides all of the same action and features that Jade Dynasty provides. It's called Progress Quest, it's equivolent to Jade Dynasty, and it's 100% free. Try it, you'll love it. Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who is totally level 45 in Jade Dynasty by only playing it for an hour. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's rambling on his personal blog, The Experience Curve. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com. You can also follow him on Twitter through Massively, or through his personal feed.
Handmade tile necklaces feature WoW sayings
Reader Randy N. sent a link to these tile necklaces along to us, and they look awesome. They're made by a husband/wife team in New Mexico, and they're made from Scrabble tiles (the back apparently still has the letter on it) coated in a glassy glaze, with an assortment of colors and sayings. Very nice -- could be just the thing for someone who's a fan of Warcraft and handmade jewelry in your life.They're $9.99 apiece with free shipping, which is not too bad. And if that's too much and you want to try making them yourself, they've even got a tutorial on how it's done right there on the site. We do have one issue, though -- these pretty pendants and cute crafts are fine for the ladies and all, but what about us dudes? Maybe we can get some "pwned" or "woot" cufflinks?
Traveling in patch 3.1
Patch 3.1 will be changing how we all get around. Travel is usually a bit of a touchy subject, but there are some huge improvements on the way. If you love Kirin'Tor bling, you'll be happy to note that their transportation rings are getting an upgrade. Should you purchase one, you get a free teleport to Dalaran once every hour. The Hearthstone that you've carried with you since you day one, unless you deleted it and had to bribe an Innkeeper for a new one, is changing radically. The cooldown is being reduced from one hour to half an hour. This was done partially to appease the whining over nerf to ghetto hearthing. Ghetto Hearthing is/was the process of dropping your group while in a dungeon and waiting one minute for a free hearth, provided your hearthstone was on a cooldown. In 3.1, you will no longer be able to do this. Fortunately, you can still use the method to get yourself out of a dungeon. Ghetto hearthing will be less of a hearth and more of a shifting of your virtual person to the nearest graveyard, alive and well. This will stop people from doing things like entering Ragefire Chasm while grouped, dropping, and getting a free hearth.
When AFK attacks redux
Matthew Rossi's triumphant tale about his wife's taming of the elusive Loque'nahak, otherwise known as the Death Star pet, reminded me of a similar scenario that happened with a guildie. This time, it was nowhere near as peaceful, nowhere near as innocent, but every bit as triumphant. See, my guildie, a Shadow Priest, had been looking for the Time-Lost Proto Drake in the Storm Peaks for almost a month. Every day, he'd log on and spend a few hours circling the rare mob's known path hoping to get the Reins of the Time-Lost Proto Drake. As the mob is guaranteed to drop the mount, he wasn't the only one on the hunt. One day, though, he got lucky and finally spotted the fantastic creature... except that it was already tagged by a Gnome Death Knight. Instinctively, he did what any red-blooded member of the Horde would do. He Mind Controlled the Gnome, used him to tank the drake, and when the drake was low on life, tossed the Death Knight off the edge of a cliff. One Shadow Word: Death and a hearthstone later, the priest was in Krasus' Landing sitting atop his pretty green drake.
When AFK attacks
My wife is a hunter. I don't say plays a hunter because that might give you the idea that she's playing and oh heck no. She's not playing. She's very very serious about taming rare or unique skins of pets, to the point where I find myself leveling a second shaman for the express purpose of using heroism to tame a spectral lupine. The other day, she completed her most recent mission, which was to tame the attractive fellow in the picture above. As you might expect, there were other hunters trying to accomplish it, so we ended up with a two day marathon of sleeplessness, calls from work asking me to check the zone to make sure he hadn't spawned, a mix-up with a hunter who followed her around dropping flares at her feet while she wasn't shadowmelded, and other exciting (and not so exciting) adventures.The other day while I was gleefully stealing baby wolvar from the still-cooling embrace of their mothers because a walrus paid me to, I heard a strangled gasp from my wife over at her computer. Somewhat distracted by wrangling bereaved pups, I at first didn't process what "I got the spirit beast" meant, especially since she gasped it out as one word. Eventually, of course, the congratulations started (in my happiness that I wouldn't have to camp Shol... er, I mean for her, yes, of course I mean for her success) and then I saw on her screen that orc hunter she'd mentioned before.He was AFK.
