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Anti-Aliased: What are we doing?
Click. 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 5, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 5, 1, 1, 3, 4, 1. /cheerSitting next to my friend in his room littered with Diet Mountain Dew cans, reports past due, and his girlfriend passed out on the bed, I slowly came to a very scary realization. Some of our best loved MMOs can be boiled down to not just pressing different buttons, but pressing the same button repeatedly. What really drove this home was me and a bunch of his friends were in the other room adjacent to his room, yet he was neglecting to join our roleplaying session and hang out. He'd rather sit in his small, cluttered room and farm a raid he's done at least 20 times, somehow finding enjoyment from pressing the button "1" repeatedly.So... what are we doing? Are we drinking the proverbial Windex because someone said it was a good idea?
Cinemassively: Hubert, the Caffeinated Baby Hawkstrider
Last month, we asked viewers what their gamer fuel of choice was. The answers ranged from Red Bull to tea. Now you can get your energy fix in World of Warcraft with Hubert, the Caffeinated Baby Hawkstrider!What makes this video particularly interesting is that it was created for a machinima class taught at the University at Buffalo. Their assignment was to make a caffeinated product commercial, and she actually won several Mana energy potions! As this form of expression becomes more mainstream, we wouldn't be surprised if machinima appeared on the big screen![Thanks, Allie!]If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
Now Hiring: NCsoft needs you!
You can play the heck out of an MMO, you know this already, but have you ever thought about working on one? If you've already dismissed this idea because you're not a programmer or you couldn't draw a stick figure to save your life, don't worry! Game companies need a variety of talent these days, so you might just find something that fits your qualifications.Most game developer websites have a spot somewhere near the bottom in tiny two point type advertising the fact that they're hiring. Others post on job boards, or even major forums for their respective games. Recently, NCsoft took a slightly more aggressive approach by planting their help-wanted sign right on their front page. Others have done this recently as well, including Blizzard. Don't be afraid to check out the job listings on your favorite MMO's website for the possibility to get yourself started on the track to developing games, too.
Blizzard to Boll: Thanks, but no thanks
There is probably no name more reviled in the realm of film than Uwe Boll -- he's the man behind such horrible games-to-films as House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark (the latter of which, I am somewhat embarrassed to say, I tried to watch). And while it isn't really news that Uwe Boll isn't directing the World of Warcraft movie (we already knew, from back at Blizzcon, that Legendary Pictures is handling it, and Boll usually uses his own financing and production companies), but this is too great a story to pass up. Apparently when Boll heard that a Warcraft movie was being made, he actually went to Blizzard to try to get it done, and they told him straight up: no, never, not in a million years.Actually, Boll himself tells the story over on MTV Movies as "we will not sell the movie rights, not to you.... especially not to you." Which is pretty hilarious. He himself also says that "because it's such a big online game success, maybe a bad movie would destroy that ongoing income, what the company has with it." So yes, he pretty much guarantees that any movie he makes would be a bad movie anyway.So there's at least one great thing we can say about the Warcraft movie so far: Blizzard at least cares enough about the quality of the flick to not let Uwe Boll make it. This doesn't guarantee us a good movie, of course. But it's nice to know that the higher ups at Blizzard know to keep their property away from this nut.[via Worldofwar.net]
New Season 4 items sneak out on live realms
Yes, that pic above is the priest's robe, direct from Arena season 4 (you can click on it to see a bigger version), and here is the priest's helm from season 4. As the story goes over at World of Raids, a player on EU Arathor accidentally deleted some season 1 items, and a GM then accidentally gave him season 4 items in replacement instead. The items were taken right back (duh), but their IDs were activated on that realm, so anyone with a little item ID knowledge could pull up the stats.For comparison, these have boosts almost all around from the season 3 items, which is pretty much to be expected. And while the Stamina is clearly much higher than anything we've seen at the higher levels, the actual damage doesn't compare much to even the Tier 6 stuff. PvP gear in season 4 is all about staying alive -- we've seen a few other items leak out already, and it's the same deal on those.Which is probably as it should be. We should note, also, that this stuff may not actually be done -- although the fact that it's spawnable on the live realms might mean that Blizzard is ready for season 4. I still don't think we'll see it until after the arena tourney, but who knows?
Uwe Boll won't be making a World of Warcraft film
It's been known for some time that Blizzard has a movie adaptation of their popular World of Warcraft MMO in the works. The movie panel at last year's BlizzCon event was chock full of details, and it really seemed like they were on track. So you have to wonder at what point it got into Uwe Boll's head to approach the company about the possibility of directing such a film. Boll talks about his contact with the folks at Blizzard in a new interview with the MTV Movies blog.As you might imagine, Blizzard's response was in the negative. If you can believe Boll, their response was, "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you...especially not to you." The famed schlock director went on, "Because it's such a big online game success, maybe a bad movie would destroy that ongoing income, what the company has with it." The MTV Movie blog notes with glee that his hypothetical movie, in his estimation, would have been 'bad'. So why do one at all? We here at Massively would just like to take this opportunity to thank Blizzard for recognizing the difference between directing talent and navel lint.
Blizzard denies Boll request to direct WoW movie
That sound you just heard? It was over 10 million World of Warcraft subscribers breathing a simultaneous sigh of relief, now that the MTV Movies Blog is reporting that reviled game-film director Uwe Boll won't be getting his hands on the movie version of the popular fantasy franchise.Boll recounted a conversation with Paul Sams in which the Blizzard COO reportedly told the director, "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you ... especially not to you." In a rare moment of self-awareness, Boll seemed to understand Blizzard's reluctance, speculating that "because it's such a big online game success, maybe a bad movie would destroy that ongoing income." A bad movie? But how could the self-described "only genius in the whole fucking business" ever make a bad movie? It just doesn't make sense!Blizzard joins Konami in the exclusive "Smart companies that definitively won't let Uwe Boll near their successful franchises" club.
Massively goes hands-on with LotRO Book 13 video
We could write reams of text that describe in loving detail all the features that await you in Lord of the Rings Online's Book 13 content patch. We could lay out screenshot after screenshot that could perfectly capture the chilly northlands that are being introduced, the eerie agent of Angmar who is tearing apart the land or the monstrous beasts that roam the wintry tundra.Or you can just click after the jump and watch a video that sums it up in less than 5 minutes. Plus, glimpses of Fishing, new trophies and new environmental effects.Don't worry you lovers of words and pictures, a write up is coming your way in the next day or two complete with a gallery of shiny shots to accompany the purple prose.
WoW Insider plays host to leaked Lich King screenshots
If you've been waiting for more news on Blizzard's in-development Wrath of the Lich King expansion, you're pretty much just like everyone on-staff here at Massively. We hope you'll join us, then, in our open-mouthed appreciation of these leaked screenshots for the next addition to World of Warcraft's Azeroth. Our sister site WoW Insider obtained them via various clandestine internet meetings, and ran them past the same source that let us know the expansion was already in Alpha testing. According to Deep Murloc many of the screenshots currently out there are faked, but the images hosted on WoW Insider are verified (by the source) to be legit. They're essentially identical to what the friends-and-family Alpha testers are experiencing right now. We're told that eventually the site will offer up some of the faked shots for comparison, so make sure to check back later this week!The real images show several different scenes from life around the Utgarde Keep area, including what appears to be a killshot for a boss named Ingvar the Plunderer. For your first glimpse of Death Knights in action, dead expansion bosses, and what appears to be a very angry Ram, click through to the gallery. Gallery: WotLK Leaks
The Digital Continuum: Cinematic combat
I've played a lot of MMOs in my life, but to be honest I've grown very tired of the tried-and-true combat most games offer. For a long time I've thought that maybe adding extra layers of mechanics on top of the combat -- like WAR seems to be doing -- would help, but now I'm not so sure that's quite the right answersDo I think that real-time combat is the only answer? No. While I love that type of gameplay, there is definitely something to be said for the combat styles of Everquest, Everquest II, World of Warcraft and the upcoming Warhammer Online. However, to maintain overall player interest, traditional combat in MMOs seriously needs to evolve.
AoC answers from 'Ask Kalanthes' #2
The second batch of answers from Age of Conan's "Ask Kalanthes" have appeared. This time around we're treated to a large batch of pre-launch questions such as system requirements, RP-PvE servers, what happens when you die and various class-related questions.RP-PvE servers are an interesting topic, as the forums have been in hot debate over the subject of whether or not AoC should have them. Some players insist that such servers are an absolute necessity, while others contend that players who want to role play can simply do so in specialized guilds.
Professional Warcraft III players to carry Olympic torch in China
All political controversy aside, bearing the Olympic torch during its long route to the Games is an incredible honor, and this year two professional gamers will take part in the international relay. Through a sponsorship deal with peripheral manufacturer Razer, XiaoFeng "Sky" Li and Jae ho "Moon" Jang will both bear the torch as it passes through China en route to the Beijing National Stadium.Both Sky and Moon are professional Warcraft III players, with the former being recognized as the world's best Human-class player, and the latter as the one of the world's best Night Elf-class players. Both were chosen by Razer from a group of ten professional gamers, selected by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games. Congrats go out to both.
Penny Arcade's WoW CCG contest ends, hilariously
Early this month we discussed a contest, announced by the creators of Penny Arcade and aimed squarely at the hearts of card-and-mmo-players everywhere. It seemed so simple: craft a ten-word story about World of Warcraft and win yourself a huge pile of trading card game loot. The devil is, as is so often the case, in the details. With many hundreds of entrants the competition was quite fierce, and today's unveiling of the top five entries proves out just how fierce. Like you, a lot of bloggers from the site submitted stories, but we know when we're beaten. How can you top "Overlord Saurfang is only afraid of one thing... Mrs. Saurfang?" Or "Naked they run, level 1 banks: Clark Kents of Azeroth?" I espcially like winner #3's tale: "The gunshot echoed like a ghost with nobody to haunt." Many of the honorable mentions are great too, like "'Small trogg problem in Orgrimmar's basement.' What an understatement, Thrall", or "Tipping his sombrero in salute, he dismounted his mechanical chicken." We're curious, though: did you enter? If you'd be willing, why don't you share your submission(s) with us in the comments? This blogger volunteers to go first: "The murlocs, their scales glinting, advanced with hungry mouths wide."
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Taxing your virtual economy
Logging into World of Warcraft to check the mailbox for a new treasure trove of gold is pretty normal. Logging into WoW and seeing Taxman102 spamming the trade channel about new tax laws is not very normal. In fact, some people find that more frightening than an angry raid leader deprived of sleep. The real scary thing is, two governments are actually talking about it. The US Congress sat down on the 1st of April and, despite the nature of the day, had a serious discussion on turning copper, isk, lindens, and doubloons into cold, hard, cash. Sweden also had some interesting things to say on taxing virtual transactions. What the heck is going on? Are W-4s going to start arriving from Blizzard addressed to Sirtradesalot of Destromath?Luckily, the issue is not a problem for the players who deal solely in virtual property. For example, buying x item on the auction house for x gold. The issue affects those MMOs that utilize microtransactions as a part of their content or subscription methods. For each silver bought, there might be a small sales tax attached if the talk ever becomes reality. Make sure to keep those sales receipts next year or you could get an unpleasant knock on your door!
EU gives Activision-Blizzard a big thumbs up
After reviewing Activision-Blizzard's case for a few weeks, the European Commission announced its approval of the huge merger yesterday. The EU had final say approving the merger because Vivendi is a French company. Officials decided the deal wouldn't threaten the fairness of the market.The commission made a statement, saying that Activision Blizzard "would continue to face several strong, effective competitors, such as Electronic Arts, and the game console manufacturers, such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft." There were some concerns that the company could have an unfair advantage in licensing music for games because Vivendi owns Universal Music Group, but they were set aside because "competing game publishers would continue to have access to a sufficiently large portfolio of music rights from alternative suppliers."The lesson: Activision Blizzard is officially not a monopoly, thanks to EA. We could go into extreme detail weighing the pluses and negatives of the decision, but we've analyzed this merger plenty enough already. At some point, you just have to decide to sit back and see what happens.
Europe approves of the Activizzard merger
Regardless of whatever you think of the big Activizzard merger and what it might mean for World of Warcraft (I don't believe it'll hurt a thing, but think what you will), it's going to happen. It's literally official now, as European Union officials have finally approved the merger after several weeks of deliberating on the issue.Approval by the European Commission was necessary because Vivendi (the owner of Blizzard and now the buyer of Activision, if you haven't been keeping up with all this) is a French media company, and therefore subject to EU business laws and antitrust concerns. Officials were mulling over the merger because of fears that Vivendi's ownership of Universal Music Group would give Activision Blizzard an unfair advantage in licensing music for games like Guitar Hero.They finally decided that it's not a threat to the health of the market, and approved the merger. So there it is. It's done. The government can't save you now; Activision Blizzard is your new master. I tremble in terror before the fictional (yet somehow inevitable) Bard class and its l33t Guitar Hero skillz!
Cinemassively: Hogger goes to Undercity
Every now and then, we here at Massively want you to think of the little guy. For example, Hogger, the misunderstood gnoll. Despite being just a level 11 lowbie boss, he'll run with you wherever you want to go, which is exactly what Ganouille and friends did. They took him all the way to Undercity! While it may seem like an easy task, it was actually quite difficult due to random passersby killing him. Have you taken your (WoW) boss anywhere lately?[Via Warcraftmovies.com]If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
Player vs. Everything: When will the players leave WoW?
I always think it's interesting when I hear developers talk about how World of Warcraft opened up the MMOG market for new entrants. We have all these new and exciting games coming out: Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, The Chronicles of Spellborn, and plenty more. However, the overwhelming response that I get from WoW players when I talk about these games is a blank stare and something along the lines of, "Okay, that sounds all right... but why would I ever want to leave WoW?" I think that developers tend to underestimate how attached people get to their MMOG of choice. There are now over 10 million World of Warcraft players. The question is, do they even want something different? I've read a number of bloggers in the past few months and talked to a number of players who claim that they're only playing WoW right now because "it's the best thing out there." They're yearning for something else. Not something totally different, mind you, since they obviously have a blast in Azeroth. But something fresh enough to be new and exciting without bastardizing the game style they know and love. However, I've noticed something interesting. This breed of player tends to overwhelmingly be comprised of people for whom World of Warcraft was not their first MMOG. Otherwise, people just want WoW to put more content in and are willing to make do with what they have until then. I think there's an intriguing bit of psychology there that's worth examining.
The art of the Arena point sell
What's a good way to earn Gold? Some PvP players seem to think that Arena point selling is a viable option. As detrimental it is to the spirit of competition and working for achievements, it currently does not qualify as a violation of Blizzard's Terms of Use. This small loophole has helped make it a rampant, although unsupported and unsavory, practice. It's an old practice that dates back from Season 1. There are a couple of ways by which players sell Arena points. One is through outright sale of a moderately ranked team. Players take a team to a decent ranking of, say, 1800-2000, and sell the team wholesale, transferring leadership of the team to the purchaser. Depending on the size of the team, costs can vary. A 1900 2v2 team can sell for maybe 900 Gold, while a 3v3 team can go for about 1,300 Gold, and a 5v5 will cost anywhere from 1,700 to 2,000 Gold. The one caveat of team buying is that players will almost never get what they're paying for. The irony is that those who purchase teams are almost never equipped or skilled to compete at the level they're purchasing. These players often end up tanking their newly-bought team a couple of hundred points just to complete the minimum 10 games to qualify for Arena point gain. In this way, team purchases are an unwise investment unless players can competitively maintain the team's rating. In some dastardly cases, very high-rated teams are bought by win traders who use the purchase to inflate their team ratings.
Breakfast Topic: The secret lives of Blizzard employees
Tom "Kalgan" Chilton, in his interview we posted yesterday, said that one of Blizzard's class designers was the guild leader of one of the world's best known PvP guilds, but he wants to keep him anonymous. Wait, what?Chilton meant that Blizzard has solid ties into the community, but should it worry us at all that those ties might be a little too close-knit? We already know that Jeff "Tigole" Kaplan has major ties to a guild in the game (he was actually hired by Blizzard from his Everquest raiding guild), and quest designer Alex "Furor" Afrasiabi also comes from a guild that is still active in World of Warcraft. In fact, we've already seen Blizzard get in trouble by their own admission for treating the devs' guilds differently -- is it right for them to keep their guild associations anonymous?On the one hand, obviously it's much easier to keep the developers' ingame identities anonymous, otherwise they wouldn't be able to play the game at all without getting approached with questions and complaints every time they log on. But on the other hand, not only is there the potential for favoritism in terms of game design, but what if the PvP guild mentioned in the article was one that won an eSports or the Arena realm tournament? Is it right for Blizzard's developers to keep their guild associations anonymous?
