archaeology
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Cataclysm Beta: Archaeology achievements
It occurred to us here at WoW.com that we hadn't mentioned these lovely new achievements implemented for the archaeology profession. In addition to the standard "you have at least this many points" achievements, there are also three achievements with a bit more flavor to them. I Had It in My Hand, which grants the player the illustrious title of Assistant Professor, is rewarded for finding a rare artifact. Seven Scepters is granted for recovering, well, seven scepters. As you can see above, two are named, the rest are not -- so your guess is as good as mine. The Lost Thanes is one you earn by discovering the names of the Five Lost Dwarven Thanes, apparently by discovering items they once possessed. There are most likely more achievements coming for the profession, which is as yet not fully implemented on the beta servers (there are trainers available, but they don't actually train you yet) including, I can only hope, This Belongs in a Museum. Perhaps if I write on my eyelids.
New MIT software learns an entire dead language in just a few hours
Whenever we boot up our time machines, cruise back to 1200 B.C., and try to pick up chicks at our favorite wine bar in Western Syria, our rudimentary knowledge of Ugaritic is usually more embarrassing than helpful. The good folks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have us stoked on some new software we hope to have in pocket form soon. It analyzes an unknown language by comparing letter and word patterns to another known language (in Ugaritic's case, its close cousin is Hebrew) and spits out a translation quickly, using precious little computing power. To give some perspective, it took archaeologists four years to do the same thing back in 1928. It's not quite Berlitz yet, but this proof of concept is kind of like the Michael Jordan of computational linguists -- it's probably the first time that machine translations of dead scripts has been proven effective. If we plug some hopeful numbers into our TI-83, we calculate that we'll be inserting our own genes into the ancient Syrian pool in a matter of months. Thanks, MIT! [Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons]
EVE Evolved: Exploration -- Loot and plunder!
Exploration is one of EVE Online's most lucrative and enjoyable PvE professions, combining complex probe-scanning with mission-style combat. Through exploration, you'll find hidden sites across New Eden, packed full of NPCs to kill and loot to grab. Exploration is a casual PvE element that spans all skill levels, with new players able to get involved from their first week in the game. In last week's first part of this guide to exploration, I explained how new players can get into the lucrative profession and examined one of the most popular scanning techniques. A wide range of hidden sites spawn across EVE, just waiting for a lucky traveller to scan them out. Tucked away in the depths of space, you'll find hidden asteroid belts, hacking database, archeological relics, salvaging fields and unstable wormholes. Those looking for riches will be pleased to find cosmic anomalies full of NPCs to kill and dungeon-like military complexes with a chance to drop rare and expensive loot. In this guide, I look at the different types of site you can find via exploration, what loot you can expect to find in each of them and what kind of challenge you'll face.
CCP releases first video tutorial for exploration in EVE Online
Exploration is one of the more rewarding mini-professions a player can have in EVE Online. With the right skills you can scan down all types of hidden content, such as harvestable gas clouds, hidden asteroid belts, and combat encounters that take advantage of an explorer's skills like Archaeology and Hacking. The new exploration system that became part of EVE with the Apocrypha expansion last winter also made it possible for players to discover wormholes leading to uncharted space. However, exploration is also something a number of new players feel daunted by. (Truth be told though, the drag and drop system of manually guiding probes on a map and adjusting scan ranges is *far* easier than what many of the older players will remember from exploration pre-Apocrypha.) EVE Online currently has four different exploration tutorials in-game to help players get a handle on the profession, but sometimes it's easier to just sit back and watch how it's done. CCP has now released a video tutorial for exploration that teaches players how to scan down the hidden content. The EVE Online: Scanning Guide Tutorial is a tag team effort from EVE TV's CCP Charlie who goes through the steps while Stevie SG narrates. They show the viewer how it's possible to find a wormhole in just a few minutes. The video tutorial coincides with the free Zephyr exploration ship that players are receiving as a holiday gift from CCP Games. Stay with us after the jump for a video embed of the official Scanning Guide Tutorial for EVE Online.
Ghostcrawler on the Path of the Titans
Our good friend Ghostcrawler (I can say that now, because we all got to meet him at BlizzCon the other week) has done his best to explain the new Path of the Titans feature coming in the Cataclysm expansion over in this forum thread. We had this same question come up on last week's podcast as well, and we said pretty much the same thing GC does: Path of the Titans is a brand new way for max-level characters to keep improving themselves. Of course, the feature is still being developed, but the goal is a "gated, not grindy" way (as in, you'll earn rewards by doing things, not by doing them over and over again) to experience character progression outside of just reputation grinding, PvP, or raiding.He clarifies the idea more later in the thread as well. The different paths of the Titans are meant to be class-independent, but GC says that they do want players to debate which path is best for which class, even if they do end up with a "best" solution in the end. Archaeology is meant to be a part of it, so GC agrees that it could be more of a mandatory secondary profession than Cooking or Fishing has been in the past, but they're aware of that danger. And just because the paths may be tied to dailies or instances doesn't mean they'll work the same: the time in which you can progress might be longer than the daily quest limit or shorter than the weekly raid limit. The idea, as above, is to give players who don't necessarily raid or PvP something else to do with character progression at endgame.Should be interesting to see what they come up with. Personally, this sounds a little bit to me like D&D's prestige classes -- not nearly as powerful or varied, but a way of separating your character out from the rest of those that chose the same class you did. That's just me being hopeful, though -- Blizzard seems to have a lot of development before we see this as a finished product. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.
Arcane Brilliance: What Cataclysm will mean to Mages, part 2
Welcome to the latest edition of Arcane Brilliance, the weekly Mage column and internet meeting place for IHATEWARLOCKS. If you can't remember what that acronym stands for, you can check last week's column, about two paragraphs from the end. If you can't be bothered, it doesn't matter. The name says it all, really. When I was growing up, way back at the dawn of time, in the late eighties, I didn't have access to a lot of games. It wasn't like it is now, where I have an unplayed backlog of quality electronic entertainment so deep my house reeks of shrinkwrap and unfulfilled potential. No, back then, I remember saving my pennies for an entire summer with an eye on getting a new game, then going to the game store and having a choice between Lufia and 7th Saga. I chose 7th Saga (mostly because you could be a robot in that one), and even though time hasn't been particularly kind to that game, it still holds a special place in my heart. You know why? Because I played it. I played the crap out of it, and when I finished it, I started over and played it again. And the next time I saved up enough money for another game, or tricked a relative into buying one for me, I snagged Lufia, and repeated the process. With the really great games--the Chrono Triggers, the Secrets of Mana, the Shining Forces--I played them so many times I came to the point where my fondest wish was that I could discover a way to excise them from my brain...to selectively forget I'd ever played them so I could plug them back in and experience their unique joys afresh. Yes, back in the late eighties and early nineties, we were pretty starved for games. But the ones we had, we loved. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing really, just thought I'd share. Ok fine. Read on, I promise I'll find a flimsy way to tie it in to the actual subject of this week's column.
BlizzCon 2009 Insider Trader: Cataclysmic professions part two
A week has passed since BlizzCon 2009 and we're still digging up more news, getting clarification from the blues, and analyzing all of the panels. Last week, Insider Trader discussed some of the major professions-related features coming up in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the next expansion pack. Pass through the break to learn all about: Profession racial abilities and how they will be changing. The new direction for Alchemy. A totally revamped Fishing system! Archaeology details and speculation about the leveling process. The evolution of Inscription. Then, continue on to part three of this discussion to learn more about: Reforging and (not) repairing our own gear. Woodworking. Profession specializations and the new direction for differentiation.
The best of WoW.com: August 18-26, 2009
What a week it has been in the World of Warcraft. Last weekend in Anaheim, Blizzard held BlizzCon, a convention of over 20,000 people, and announced the third expansion of the world's biggest MMO: Cataclysm. New races, new levels, new systems and instances, and oh yeah: the entire world will explode thanks to the return of a very evil and very angry dragon. Here's our most popular posts from the past seven days to catch you up. News BlizzCon 2009: Opening Ceremony liveblog Straight from the convention floor, here's the announcement in all of its live glory. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm announced After all of the leaks and speculation, it's official. The game is getting another expansion. BlizzCon 2009: Archaeology and Path of the Titans A new secondary profession, and a brand new way for characters to grow even beyond the new level cap of 85. Patch 3.2.0a being deployed today Right in the midst of BlizzCon madness, Blizzard dropped a bugfix patch on the live servers. BlizzCon 2009: Guild leveling and talents Guilds will earn points for ingame success, and be able to spend those points on all kinds of fun rewards. Features BlizzCon 2009: The costumes What is a convention without fans crazy enough to dress up (or dress down) as their favorite characters? Feast your eyes on these. BlizzCon 2009: Worgen animation Here's what the change everyone wants to see looks like. Know Your Lore: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Worgen A special KYL for the new Alliance race. BlizzCon 2009: Cataclysm, the story so far What we know about the story behind the new expansion. BlizzCon 2009: Stats vastly simplified It's all back to core stats when Deathwing takes over.
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BlizzCon 2009 Insider Trader: Cataclysmic professions
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Over the course of several BlizzCon panels, we've been treated to a preview of how professions will be changing in Cataclysm, the next expansion pack. Pass through the break to learn all about: The new title and level cap. Revamped skill gains. Archaeology, the new profession! Reforging, a new dimension to crafting professions. Hints about the future of Engineering, Fishing, and Gathering. Information about things we wanted to see, but won't.
BlizzCon 2009: Class panel #2, the good parts version
The second and final class, item, and profession panel has concluded. Disappointingly, the presentation part of the panel was mainly a re-run of yesterday's, but the Q&A, of course, was all-new. There were even a few new tidbits in the presentation. Here are some parts of the presentation that are not repeats from yesterday: They didn't give any new classes to Draenei because there are too many of the space goats already. There's a chance that Hunter Aspects will go away entirely. New tidbit on Archaeology: putting pieces of artifacts together sends you to "face some sort of challenge" out in the world. They like the way fishing works in Animal Crossing, and might look to that for inspiration on how to rework the process. And here are the good parts from the Q&A:
BlizzCon 2009: Path of the Titans explained
For my money, one of the most interesting Cataclysm features they've alluded to is Path of the Titans, another character advancement system at max level. Before the Systems panel today, we didn't have a lot of solid information on it. There are still questions to be answered, but here's how it appears to work so far: At maximum level, you choose to align yourself with a given Titan cult - i.e., you choose a specific path. The paths are not class- or role-specific. Players will have to figure out for themselves what path they want to take. Turning in artifacts found with Archeology (the new secondary profession) will cause you to progress along your chosen path. The main rewards are Ancient Glyphs (not part of the Inscription profession). At each rank in your Path you have two to three choices of Glyphs. Some examples of Ancient Glyphs are: Bleed reduction Bandage improvement Increased damage following a crit More Glyphs will probably come after launch. Everyone is going to eventually be able to get all the glyphs for their path, and it will not be grindy (i.e. not like Sons of Hodir). I'm looking forward to learning more about this as Cataclysm comes towards beta and release. I'm especially excited that they're focusing on making it not feel grindy, because that's a definite risk for a system like this. BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Q&A with Cory Stockton
The DirecTV stream has been of questionable stability today, but it has brought us an excellent interview with Cory Stockton, WoW's lead world designer. Here's what we learned: Development on Cataclysm was started before Wrath of the Lich King was done. Deathwing is the main boss of Cataclysm, as Arthas was for Wrath. You will not be able to go back to the old world content at all post-Cataclysm. Faction transfer will let you choose any race that can play your class. Archaeology is a secondary skill, like cooking, so anyone can get it. It ties in very closely with Path of the Titans, the new advancement system. It's all about traveling through Azeroth finding ancient artifacts, with a mini-game to decipher what the artifact is, and then you get rewards for it. Rewards will include profession recipes, items, and money, and the big reward will be new glyph slots for Path of the Titans (hopefully more on this later). The Worgen will have their own district in Stormwind. Odds and ends, sure, but some darn interesting ones. BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Archaeology and Path of the Titans
The upcoming expansion, Cataclysm, will be incorporating greater levels of character customization than ever before. From guild talent trees, a different talent tree system, new races and race/class combinations, to a new profession that will be all about customization. Enter the Path of the Titans, and the new secondary profession, Archaeology.Pass through the break for all the details, but be warned, spoilers lay ahead!
'Handwriting' recognition offers accurate way for dating stone tablets
Archaeology 101 will tell you that accurately dating an object is critical to understanding its meaning and value. When it comes to stone carvings, this typically requires a researcher with plenty of energy, time and skill, but scientists at the National Technical University of Athens have now developed a computer algorithm that promises to revolutionize the entire process. By overlaying digital scans of known inscribers' work, the Greek team are able to recognize stylistic idiosyncrasies and thereby identify the author of a carving. Their accuracy was confirmed by a recent test, in which they attributed proper authorship of 24 stone tablets, picking out the correct chiseler each time. Next step: seeking royalty payments for the works of your great uncle Xanthos.
Robotic Indiana Jones set to explore Pyramid of Cheops
Proving once again that Harrison Ford was an idiot to risk death by snake bite, blow dart, and Nazi in order to collect a few historical trinkets, archaeologists in Egypt are preparing to perform their next exploration of the Pyramid of Cheops at Giza from the comfort of an air-conditioned tent. Instead of trying to squeeze volunteer grad students or small children down the pyramid's narrow passageways, researchers from Egypt, Singapore, Britain, and Hong Kong will be using a camera-equipped robot to navigate the country's largest ancient structure when they attempt to unlock its secrets next February. A bulkier bot was employed for this same task during a similar expedition in 2002, and though it was able to drill through walls and identify a previously unknown chamber, multiple impediments prevented it from actually discovering what, if anything, lay within. It's still not clear how the newer robot will succeed where its predecessor failed -- after all, chances are slim that the pharaohs had robotic doggy doors built into their innermost sanctums -- but apparently the international team is confident that the upcoming mission has a better shot at solving this mystery. Experts are still torn over what will likely be found in the supposed resting place of Cheops himself, but after having watched a documentary on this very subject featuring Brendan Fraser, it seems pretty clear that our tomb raiding bot can expect numerous encounters with The Rock and/or killer mummies.[Via The Raw Feed]
