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Breakfast Topic: Who should play your character in the WoW movie?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. As we all know, there's the distinct possibility of a World of Warcraft movie some time in the (relatively) near future. Some people are skeptical, some optimistic. Hopefully, it will be an epic tale, full of the flavor and excitement we all feel every time we log in to Azeroth, not a rehashing of stories we've known for ages or a bastardization of the hobby we all enjoy so much. Whether it focuses on Horde or Alliance, there will need to be characters of various shapes and sizes, representing the varied peoples of the World of Warcraft. Gnomes, Humans, Trolls and Tauren, the movie presents the opportunity to show the fantasy genre on a scope unseen thus far. So who would you cast to play your character? Who brings the smarmy wit of the wily rogue, the cold confidence of the devious warlock or the young but arrogant sneer of the proud paladin on your character selection screen? Since I get first dibs, as the author of this, I'm going to go ahead and stake my claim. My Human protection warrior would be played by Deborah Ann Woll from True Blood. She brings just the right mix of strength, sexiness, and wide-eyed bewilderment to play my common Stormwind girl-gone-heroine.
US Navy explains basic mechanical principles of a fire control computer -- in 1953 (video)
Bits, bytes and silicon transistors? Boy, you have it good -- back in 1953, state-of-the-art computers were made of gears, sprockets, chains and cams, and we trusted them to accurately wreck lives with ginormous naval guns. If you're wondering how that could possibly work, you don't have to go far -- a series of seven videos after the break show you how it was done, and which might even ingratiate you with the grizzled old neighbor who desperately wants you off his lawn.
Patch 4.0.6 PTR: New restoration shaman spell animations
With all the changes up on the latest build of the PTR, something that wasn't documented is happening, and it is pretty awesome. Restoration shaman spells are now getting a different animation. Until now, our casting animation was very similar to that of druids. Green energy would glow around our hands and small leaves would form within that power. While it was nature-related, it wasn't very shaman-esque. A healing shaman's element has always been water, and now our spells are accompanied by that very element. Gone are the leaves and green; instead, our hands our now encapsulated in glowing blue orbs of water as we bargain with the element to heal our allies wounds. When Greater Healing Wave lands on a target, it has a water splash animation very similar to Riptide, and for now, Healing Surge and Healing Wave have had their leaves replaced with sprite-like things that fly up in a circle around the target. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if Healing Surge and Healing Wave get similar animations on target to Greater Healing Wave. I don't think anyone quite expected an update like this, but it certainly a welcome one. It gives us just a little bit more of a unique flair and really fits our style of healing. It also shows that even now, Blizzard is looking at all of those little things that make the game so awesome, like cool casting animations. What do you think? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Gears of War director passing on The Rock due to 'Doom connection'
As you may have heard, yesterday's Gearsiverse panel at San Diego Comic Con was light on news regarding the film adaptation of Epic's Gears of War franchise, save for one small detail -- it wouldn't feature Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in any capacity. Director Len Wiseman forthrightly explained why, and in the process, likely hurt the wrestler-turned-actor's (so, basically actor-turned-actor's) feelings -- he told the crowd that "a Doom connection would not be smart for us."We highly doubt that most people immediately associate Mr. Johnson's body of work with that first-person romp/cinematic nightmare -- regardless, Wiseman said he's "looking for an actor for the role and then [I'll] put him into shape." Why waste all that time and effort? Dwayne Johnson is already the only human being on Earth that actually looks like one of the space marines featured in Epic's blockbuster franchise. Scar his face up a bit and you're good to go, man.
Bruce Campbell and Metzen on the movie at Comic-Con
I have geeked out many times while writing for this site, but I think this is the geekiest geekout I've ever geeked out about: Bruce Campbell talking about World of Warcraft. He's hanging out at Comic-Con promoting Burn Notice (a series that I'm still watching, if only because of him), and IGN cornered him on the topic of his friend Sam Raimi's new movie, based on our very own Azeroth. Campbell says he has no idea what Raimi has in mind for the movie, and that he only just heard about the job when we did. But then he says something that will lift all of our geeky hearts: when it comes time for casting, Bruce says, "I'll get a call." And Raimi will say to him, "You play some schmuck. Some idiot guy. Some garbage man."We can't think of too many garbagemen in Azeroth -- Topper Mcnabb, maybe? But the fact that Campbell knows about the movie and is ready to take a role is good enough for us. And he isn't the only person speculating on the part he might play: Chris Metzen brought up Campbell at Comic-Con and suggested he might play a CG-based character, like a goblin. That doesn't sound so awesome to us, though -- you've gotta let that world-famous mug shine through. It does seem a little unlikely that Campbell would play a really huge part, but a lot of people have brought up Varian Wrynn, and we can't really think of any part more fitting (plus, maybe that means the movie will focus on Horde instead of Alliance). Hail to the King, baby!Keep an eye over on our sister site Massively for more Comic-Con coverage all this weekend, and if we hear any more about the movie, we'll be sure to let you know.[via BlizzPlanet]
Breakfast Topic: Choosing the best mob noise in game
There's a fun little discussion on the forums right now about the best noise out of a mob in the game, and people have all kinds of different opinions. Among the many brilliant things Blizzard has done with World of Warcraft is the way their sound design makes each and every encounter with a mob very memorable, so that even if you're not paying close attention, you know a) when you've aggroed something, and b) what you've aggroed. We all know what a wolf growl sounds like, we know what it sounds like when the caster you're trying to sneak past starts casting (and many of us can probably tell what spell, just from the sound), and of course, probably most memorably, we all know what that gurgly murloc sound means, especially when you hear it in numbers.Lots of the best audio clips are actually from bosses (all of Molten Core's bosses were memorable, for some reason, and "Too soon!" has even reappeared in the game since). My personal favorite lately is the quote from Elder Nadox, the first boss in Ahn'Katet's Old Kingdom. He shouts an otherworldly phrase (apparently in Nerubian) and it ends with a "k-k-k-k-k" sound that must have been edited together -- it definitely doesn't sound human. Every time I hear that (and he says it a few times throughout the fight), I get the feeling that we are fighting something that is very, very old and very, very evil.But of course lots of the audio cues help pull you into the game like that. What are some of your favorite mob noises in the game?
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a Mage
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the sixteenth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself. It's also the first installment with a title that rhymes! The Mage is the foremost master of magic in the Warcraft universe. Although all the other classes excluding the Warrior and the Rogue use magic of one sort or another with equally wonderful effects, the Mage is the class that's named after the stuff.But what is magic? What does it feel like to harness it? Does the mage have to do a strange ritual or utter incomprehensible words in an ancient language in order to cast her spells? Other fantasy settings often have one or more of these elements together, but as far as I can tell, Warcraft lacks them.Arcane magic in the World of Warcraft is an ever-present energy field surrounding the whole world. Mages access it by concentrating in the magic energy within themselves, feeling it rush through their body, and directing it as they please. Those spells that require reagents need an extra focusing item with magical properties of its own in order to bring about the desired effect, but for the most part, fireballs, frostbolts and arcane explosions can be created through the mere act of will on the part of a properly educated mind.
New Furbolg form casting animation
Sure, this is hardly the most important change to come down in patch 3.0.2, but anything Furbolg is worth a mention in my book.Personally, a Furbolg casting is more than enough excitement for me, but you, our readers, are discerning people, and we know you'd like a little bit of insight tailored to your own expectations, so we're going "choose your own adventure" on this one. You can read either one of the next two sections of this post whether you're the sarcastic and cynical reader type or the excited, "can't get enough rumors and speculation" type:Meh: "So Blizzard improved an animation only used by lowbies (Alliance lowbies at that) with an obscure quest item? Is this why we can't have more battlegrounds?"OMG Rumorz: "Emerald Dream expansion confirmed, with playable Furblog races! I can't wait!"There you go: either you get a chance to whine that Blizzard isn't working on more important things, or you can extrapolate a ton of rumors from something that probably took a developer a few minutes to do. Enjoy.Thanks, Acyronius!
Castcounting macro counts your spellcasts
Xalit is entertaining himself before the expansion by crafting some macros, and he's come up with a pretty clever one that will count the number of times you cast a certain spell. He's got a few different versions (including one that pushes the total out to "say" occasionally), but here's probably the most helpful:/cast Water Shield/run i="Water Shield" if ws==nil then ws=0 end t=GetSpellCooldown(i) if t==b then else c=0 end b=GetSpellCooldown(i) if b==t and c==0 then ws=ws+1 c=1 endWhich will both cast Water Shield for you (obviously, you'll have to change the name if you want to count casts of a different spell), and then use:/run SendChatMessage(ws,"SAY")To kick the count out to the Say chat channel. Naysayers among you may say "well that's pointless," and they're kind of right -- it doesn't really matter how many times you cast something, and the macro doesn't do anything else for you besides update a variable to keep track of that number.But it is interesting to see just how many times, say, you pressed the Fireball button during the raid last night, and maybe there is some use for this information somewhere (maybe checking the frequency of use or viability of certain spells or trinkets?). Might be a good macro to have when you want to know more about what you're casting.
Earth Shock replacement to be implemented due to downranking changes
People are still reeling from the downranking change on Beta, but as the dust clears and Blizzard continues to stick to their guns, it may be that we'll have to live with it. One thing Blizzard has said, however, is that if it looks like there's genuine void created somewhere by the loss of downranking, they'll fix it. One genuine void is that of rank 1 Earth Shock. Shamans have longed used the spell as a spell interrupt when they can't afford to spend the mana on a max rank shock, both in PvE and PvP. With the new mana cost rules, that cheap interrupt is now gone, complicating a shaman's already touchy mana preservation issues. Luckily, not all is lost for Shamans, as Koraa says that they are creating a rank 1 Earth Shock spell equivalent that should show up in the Beta at some point in the future. This, at the least, is a good indication that Blizzard means to make good on plugging up holes left by the abolishment of downranking -- or at least the holes that the dev team sees as needing to be plugged. Will we see a replacement for rank 1 Moonfire for totem killing, or for rank 1 Arcane Explosion or rank 1 Consecration for flushing out stealthers? That remains to be seen, but it seems much less likely, since those are roundabout ways of using a damage spell for a non-DPS reason rather than the straightforward purpose of using rank 1 Earth Shock as a cheap spell interrupter.
Wife Swap seeking gamer families
WoW Insider has been contacted by a producer of the reality show Wife Swap -- apparently they're on the hunt for families who play WoW and other MMOs together, so they're sending out a casting call to the community. Any families applying should play MMOs together, have two parents and two children between 7 and 17, and live somewhere in the United States. If you're chosen for the show, you get a $20,000 honorarium, and anyone who refers a family that makes it on the show gets a grand for their efforts.Of course, you couldn't pay me enough to appear on a show like this (and there is no guarantee, of course, that the show will competently portray a family that plays games together as a healthy, valuable thing), but to each their own -- maybe this is just the opportunity you've been waiting for. If so, drop an email to the producer: gaby dot wifeswap AT gmail dot com, with a family photo and a description.It definitely sounds like an interesting experience, though. If you're willing to throw your family's hat into the ring, there you go -- throw away.
Priest DPS flowchart
Any DPS guide that has flowcharts is a winner. So it is with this Priest DPS guide from DwarfPriest.com -- not only does it include some good insight on the spells both Shadow and Holy Priests have available to them for laying down the damage, but it also includes this great flowchart, which will tell you exactly how to min-max your DPS lickety-split.The basic outline is keep VT up and pour on the shadow damage, but with all the cooldowns in Shadow Priests' spells, it becomes more of a "casting priority" thing, hence the flowchart. There are also some interesting notes about DoTs (which are integral to both facemelters and 'locks) -- the last tick of a DoT falls right on the end of it, so it's always better to wait for a DoT to time out before reapplying, otherwise you lose some of the damage you paid good mana for. Excellent and in-depth guide (and the Holy Priest DPS section inspired a few laughs, too).Thanks, ErsatzPotato!
Apple's doubleshot casting--and the Zune
Last week, the USPTO published an Apple patent for doubleshot casting. Doubleshot casting allows manufacturers to create housings using two color applications, like the clear-over-white and clear-over-black molding that makes the iPod so visually striking. It's the same process that creates the beautiful (at least it is beautiful in my opinion) brown-over-green Zune casing. As Ryan Block, over at our sister blog Engadget, points out, if this patent is granted, Microsoft may be paying Apple a tariff as well coughing up the dough to Universal. Which would be kind of cool.
Spell haste rating revealed
This came up when we reported on the new "rating" system a long time ago (implemented so that Blizzard could better scale gear on the way up), but like Cyberdemon of Frostwolf-A, I missed it. Alongside the self-explanatory stuff like critical strike rating, and the new resilience rating, there's a new rating called "Spell Haste." Cyberdemon wondered what it was, and Tseric confirms that a higher spell haste rating speeds up the cast times of all your spells. Pretty cool.The reason we likely haven't seen it much yet is because so far, spell haste stuff only drops at the highest levels, and, from what I can see, in the form of temporary buffs that allow you to get a few casts off quickly. An equipped high spell haste rating would fundamentally change the way the game was played in many situations-- if mages could kick out a quicker pyroblast whenever they wanted, that would have a big effect in a lot of PvP situations.Tseric also clarifies that this only affects cast time, not DoT tick time, or duration of spells. And while the two trinkets linked above are the only places I could find it in the game so far, I wouldn't be surprised if this rating found its way into certain instance specific buffs, either for us (players could get a DoT put on them that would kill them in 30 seconds, but let them cast all their spells almost instantly within that time) or against us (mind-controlled players get their spells hasted for a short period against the raid). Either way, as more and more players move into the endgame, spell haste will be something to look out for.Update: Commenters have found a few other spell haste items, including this 60 trinket, and an awesome BoE caster sword.
Casting gets easier thanks to live HD videoconferencing
While you've probably heard how Peter Jackson relied heavily on his trusty iPod to complete the production of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it looks like casting work for the Halo film could take place from afar. Thanks to a "high-definition video communications technology" known as LifeSize -- which has apparently stepped up since its humble beginnings -- casting agents, producers, and directors alike can catch more than a glimpse of potential candidates from around the world without ever setting foot on their private jet. Gearing up to become a hot commodity around Hollywood sets, the LifeSize room features video panels to display the 1,280 x 720 resolution feeds, full-room audio coverage, a camera, wireless remote, and a sweet speakerphone to boot. The video and data are captured in real time and sent instantaneously through an IP address, so long as the bandwidth can handle the pressure. So if you're itching to become an extra in that forthcoming Spielberg flick, but don't exactly reside in LA or NYC, you just might be in luck.
Verizon seeks unidentified black male
My brother the starving actor sent me this SAG casting call for a gaming related Verizon DSL commercial. They're looking for a "genuine cyber-athlete" who is highly ranked at PC or Xbox online role playing games and happens to be an African-American male. Here's the notice in its entirety in case any of our readers fit the bill:Monday, Mar. 27, 2006, 1:07 PM PacificVERIZON DSL BROADBANDCommercialTELEVISION COMMERCIAL PRINTSAG Casting: Thursday, 3/30 and one day of the first week of April TBDTV Shoots: w/o 4/24 (4/24, 4/25 & 4/26)Print Shoots: o/a 4/20 or 4/21Location: NY areaUsage: National Network, Cable, Internet, Possibly Spot TV and IndustrialPrint: $5,000 buyout: All forms of Print including POP and OOH and for anypublicity purposes. Territory: Worldwide. Usage: Perpetuity. SEEKING: AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE20's. We're looking for an amazing (tournament level or High Ranking gamer, depending on what game) who plays online interactive role-playing game from their computer or gaming unit (could be from system such as XBOX or from their home PC), using a Verizon DSL broadband connection (**Note: Only looking for a great gamer that plays interactively with other people over their broadband connection, not just plays the game itself). Ideally this person will live in a NY accessible area (NY, Philly, Washington D.C., Norfolk VA, Baltimore) but if the perfect person with national rankings doesn't live in one of these areas then still feel free to submit 'cause we're looking for the best people. Again this person must have, and if chosen will need to provide, proof by showing past Verizon DSL broadband bills with a drivers license matching the address (not necessary to show proof in the initial submission). We're looking for a genuine, real cyber-athlete who loves these types of interactive online games and has a track record to prove it (tournaments, rankings, etc). We're NOT looking for the occasional gamer - only serious! Since the gaming industry has made a fortune off of offensive racial stereotypes, I suppose we should note this opportunity for an African-American gamer as a step forward for diversity. It goes 1% of the way towards making up for 50 Cent: Bulletproof.
