break
Latest
Breakfast Topic: What keeps you hanging on?
For most of vanilla WoW and Burning Crusade, my main was a Druid. I healed, I tanked, I DPS, I raided, I PvPed, I did everything with him. He was a great character, I found the class fun (Yes, even before patch 1.8, thank you very much). But somewhere around mid-Burning Crusade, I just plain burnt out on Druids. I don't know if it was just one too many bad raids, if it was just familiarity breeding contempt, or what, but I switched to a Hunter and never looked back.When Death Knights were announced, I knew that was my new class, and I also knew that my Druid was probably doomed to be level 70 for good. I'd focus on my Death Knight, then my Hunter, then probably my Shaman for heals, followed by my Warlock. My Druid would just languish in Shattrath unless I was really, incredibly bored.
Will Ulduar break your guild?
Dueg is the first blogger I've seen to suggest this, but I feel like it's an undercurrent that's been going around since the 3.1 release last week (and we'll probably find out more when Guildwatch comes out later tonight). He suggests that Ulduar might be, of all things, a guildbreaker. Now certainly it won't be nearly as much of a roadblock as Karazhan -- not only was that a tough instance, but it was also the first one we came across in Burning Crusade, and guilds who couldn't make it in Kara had no place to turn back to (at least guilds that can't make it in Ulduar can fall back on Naxx farming). But there's no question that Ulduar requires some excellent gear and some serious tactics, and if your guild has people raiding who are missing either one of those, you're going to be hitting your head on the wall quite a bit in there.That's not to say that it's super hard -- it's not, especially if you know not to stand in the fire and you've got the kind of gear on that lets you conquer the Heroic achievements. A lot of guilds have 25 of those people, and they're doing very well in Ulduar so far. But as Dueg says, Naxx is a casual instance, and Ulduar is not. In Naxx, you can get away with losing a few people, or having a few folks in greens along. In Ulduar, you can't.It's not the apocalypse for guilds -- most guilds will go back to Naxx if they have trouble in Ulduar, grab a few more epics and tier pieces, and try again later. And some probably won't bother with Ulduar at all -- my casual guild is having fun just taking our time finishing Naxx wing by wing. But Ulduar seems to be where the rubber meets the road with casual raiding. If there's a guild out there who has a few lesser raiders carried along by a few high-level veterans, Ulduar's likely to cause some friction.
BRK taking a break from World of Warcraft
Our good friend and colleague Daniel "BigRedKitty" Howell has announced on his blog that he is taking a break from World of Warcraft. He's taking time off of the game and his blog to, as he says, "rededicate myself to my family." He thanks readers for their attention and kind words, and hopes that everyone will understand his decision, as well as examine their own lives to make sure that they focus on what's most important to them.We of course wish him well -- BRK was an excellent contributor to our site and podcast, and we commend him on making the decision to do what's right for him and his family. We hope that everything turns out OK. And as many of his commenters have said, we wish him the best of luck in everything, WoW-related and otherwise.Phaelia of Resto4Life, you'll remember, also closed her blog down recently, also choosing to focus on her family (and the sapling about to grow into it). Trying to figure out a good balance between your free time and your work and family life is a tough thing -- our Azeroth Interrupted column has covered exactly that battle. And as even Blizzard says, if any other part of your life is suffering because you're choosing to play this game or be a part of this community, it's time to make a break. Raiding the wilds of Azeroth is a lot of fun, and it's possible to do it while leading a healthy life. But if that balance ever gets thrown off, it's time to take a step back and do what's right for you and those closest to you.
New Wii drives breaking modchips, hearts, legs
Are you a Wii fanatic? Do you enjoy getting "in" "there" and really messing about? Well here's a word to the wise: if you want to keep on keepin' on with your funky mods and hacks, don't get a new Wii. Apparently, fresh shipments of Nintendo's cash cow are stocked with an optical drive configuration that somehow breaks current modchips -- thus rendering your freedom from gaming oppression null and void. It seems that the drives sport a new fusion of older components (including the controller chip) which contribute to the disruption in your regularly scheduled program of l33t hackery. Luckily for you, you're too hardcore to spring for a new system -- so you're safe from this glaring affront to your personal freedom... right?[Thanks, Mike]
BlackBerry Bold doesn't handle pavement well
Always looking to make lemonade out of lemons, the self-proclaimed BGizzle took the opportunity to inform prospective (and current) BlackBerry Bold owners of the handset's fragile nature. To no one's surprise, the naked Bold didn't stand up too well to pavement when dropped from about two feet -- maybe this is where a real metal bezel would come in handy? Anywho, we're not told whether or not the essential functions were fubared, but we'd recommend taking his advice and snapping up a skin / case before welcoming it to the world.
Five tips to minimize raiding downtime
I'm a rather avid raider, putting in a solid 20 hours a week on my Warrior. One of the major things about the time spent raiding is that it can be very precious. There is only so much time that 24 other people, plus appropriate class substitutions, can be available each week. It's critical that the time spent raiding is used well.Unfortunately, using raiding time well is about as much of a challenge as is downing Illidan. In preparation for this article, I've spent the past three weeks keeping track of the down time in raids. We raid Sunday through Thursday nights, from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. We experience a downtime of about 51 minutes for each raid, which is about 20% of the time. Down time is defined as the time that my character is standing still, not attacking, not moving, and not being MDed to.Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not really sure. Tip #1: Chain pullingPersonally, I do my best at the main tank to chain pull and push the trash through as fast as possible. This works out 99% of the time, however the 1% of the time it doesn't work out can grind the raid to a halt. Case and point: The trash to Supremus isn't too bad, and is a lot of packs where the MT, OT, and Pally tank each have some mobs to tank. There are also some ranged dragons that the Warlocks tank. These pulls can go very fast, and are very predictable. Pulling slowly we can do this in about 40 minutes, while chain pulling each group, we can push through in 15.Tip #2: Fully self buffed, all the timeIt doesn't take much to buff yourself. Every class has some buff they can apply to themselves, be it food buffs, spell buffs, or shouts. The key here is that you can find a minute or two to always buff at least yourself, if not others. Although, it might not always be possible to buff others as you're going along - and that's okay with most raid leaders for trash pulls.
Getting back into the game
Knightless is having the same problem I'd guess quite a few players have -- her interest in her character is flagging a bit, and she's trying to figure out a way to get more involved in what she's doing in Azeroth. This is an interesting situation, because at this point, with almost any other game, the player would just leave and go find something else to play (and actually, I can say from experience that sometimes taking a short break from the game completely can rebuild your interest in it), but things don't really work that way in World of Warcraft -- responsibilities to your guild and the people you've met in game will keep you around even when your interest is low.So what tips can we offer Knightless and others who are looking for ways to refresh their interest in the game? Rerolling is a big one -- I've always found that picking up a new class you've never played before can get you to look at a game in a different way. Running an instance that you haven't run in a while is always fun, too -- it only takes a little while to level up a character to Deadmines or Wailing Caverns levels, and both of those instances always renew my interest in playing through Warcraft. Running guild activities or contests are always fun, too -- especially since Knightless is a guild officer, she could organize some lower level runs or some "grind days," where guildies all get together in groups to level each other up.Any other ideas for reviving a flagging interest in playing a character that you feel a need to play due to responsibilities or other connections in the game?
Samsung X820 takes a licking and keeps on ticking
Hey Motorola, just because you snapped it doesn't mean you broke it.[Thanks, Bilgin O.]
If you shoved a giant TV through a wall ... you might be a redneck
GamerDeals shows off a pimped out redneck flat screen system that shows the wonders you can work in small spaces with just a little bit of ingenuity, some know-how, and a lot of muscle. This adheres to the old DIY adage, "If it don't fit, just give it a good shove." The real question here though is ... what makes that house redneckish? Other than the guy who submitted it calling it redneck-style, it looks fairly decent to us, although we're not talking about the giant hole in the wall. Hopefully he didn't have to go through anything load-bearing.[Thanks, Fargo]
Retractable Wii Sports Cuff fails to reel us in
The Retractable Wii Sports Cuff replaces the subtlety and elegance of the Wii remote's wrist strap with a bulky band that we wouldn't be caught dead wearing. We don't doubt that the adjustable neoprene cuff has an agreeable fit, but did anyone ever find the original straps uncomfortable, if even noticeable at all?And what sort of human does the retractable thirteen inches of slack benefit? Are there people whose hands extend that far away from their wrist? Or are these cuffs marketed towards some sort of video-game-playing race of long-fingered mutants? Creepy!You would think that the shop would take advantage of all the "faulty Wii Strap" controversy and emphasize the durability of the cuff's cord, but the product description makes no mention of any improved toughness. What's there to reassure us that we won't end up with a Wii remote sticking out of our television after a heated game of Wii Tennis? Even at a sale price of $5.99, you'll probably want to stay clear from this accessory.[Via CAG]
Smash my PSP: katana claims victory over Sony handheld
While a bevy of gadgets have been laid to rest for 15 seconds of YouTube fame, Sony's PSP has somehow eluded the brutal beatings that the iPod, PlayStation 3, Wii, and other highly coveted gizmos have suffered. Unfortunately, the PlayStation Portable has now received the same off-kilter treatment as the electronics that have come (and gone) before, as a couple of rowdy youngsters with a faux katana laid the smack down on a helpless PSP. Interestingly, the device seemed to hold up fairly well to the bashing it took, but we can't help but wonder just how sharp the sword was that was used in this melee. Seriously, we know how bad you want a PSP2 to finally surface, but we promise that getting medieval on your current rendition won't encourage those Sony execs to move their plans along any faster. If you dare, click on through for the ruthless obliteration.[Via PSPFanboy]
Samsung considering legal action against X820 video
We're not quite sure what to make of this one. A video kicking around the so-called Internet lately (see picture) depicts a rather cheery woman fatally wounding a SGH-X820, and apparently Samsung has taken offense. They're claiming the phone was probably pre-damaged to make the phone seem unusually easy to destroy, but let's face it -- the phone's 6.9 millimeters don't afford a ton of protection against this kind of abuse. At any rate, Sammy's "conducting a probe" to hunt down the video's origin and is suggesting that a little courtroom action might be in order. The frightening lesson here, folks, is that if you want to break your phone, don't do it on camera.Update: The Korea Times is reporting that Motorola created the video but may have never intended for it to enter the public domain, citing YouTube's statement that the video's copyright belongs to Moto and has pulled the video as a result. It seems unlikely to us that Motorola would put together a video like this for internal use, particularly if the phone was pre-damaged as Samsung is suggesting -- but who knows? We love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy.[Via textually.org]
Morons break stuff, gain fame
Everybody seems to like these videos of dorks destroying -- excuse me -- stress testing their expensive Microsoft hardware, so why not link to a whole collection.
The Xbox 360 and glitching, six months later
While the occasional glitching is just a part of owning new technology, there's something about that little red power ring that has the potential to send chills down any 360 gamer's spine. IGN set out to investigate the "glitch in the system" that plagued certain consoles last November from a six-month-later perspective.Some cases are just extreme though. Take Chris Szarek, for example, who had to go through so many replacement consoles that he eventually got a personal call from Peter Moore who apologized for the matter. While he and other gamers with such issues could possibly be storing their consoles in an oven or something, there are other people who are clearly taking the right steps to avoid any sort of problems.One of the IGN staffers had this to say once his own system bit the dust: "... while I was on the customer support line, I heard two guys in the background giving the exact same 'detach cables and hard drive' speech to other poor souls with dead 360s, so I think the problem of dying 360s is still pretty common." Read on for some interesting information regarding this "common" issue. It makes us wonder though: Are any of our readers out there still experiencing such problems?
