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Breakfast Topic: I can do what now?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. I've been watching the clips of people flying about Eastern Kingdoms. I can hardly wait! It got me to thinking about all the mount changes I've witnessed in the course of my gaming time. I started towards the end of vanilla. The Burning Crusade had been announced. My daughter was in the beta, actually, and telling me that I needed to get into this game before it "expanded," whatever that meant. So I made my character and started to run everywhere. Dun Morogh, Loch Modan, Elwynn Forest, Redridge, Westfall, Wetlands, Arathi Highlands, Hinterlands, Ashenvale, Desolace, Feralas, Felwood were all done on foot. I knew the route from Nijel's Point to Maraudon to the point that I could hit auto run and be pretty certain I'd make it there without too much trouble, just a few swoops and centaur along the way. I didn't get my first ram until level 45, as I couldn't afford it. I didn't get my epic ram until level 65 because I couldn't afford it. I was four months into level 70 before getting flying because, yup, couldn't afford it. The joke "When I was your level, I ran everywhere, uphill, both ways, in snow, barefoot ..." is semi-serious. This isn't about Blizzard's changing the levels for mounts. I have low-level alts, and I absolutely love their having mounts to get to the places my main once ran. This is a post about those things you do even when you don't have to anymore.
Milestone XT720 spec changes again, this time for the worse
Hey, we admit it, as far as Motorola's concerned hacks like us probably have no business browsing its Motodev pages, but we can't help but be a little peeved at the freestyle updates the company is making to its Milestone XT720 spec sheet. The processor hasn't changed -- it's always been a 720MHz-capable TI OMAP3440 -- but its speed rating has fluctuated between 550MHz, 720MHz exactly, and now the most enigmatic value yet: "up to" 720MHz. The RAM too has gone on a rollercoaster journey, jumping from 256MB at first, to a tasty 512MB, and now back down to a lean quarter gig. What's going on over there, too many webmasters spoiling the spec soup? [Thanks, Marius]
PVI bets the farm, changes name to E Ink
Heard of PVI? What about E Ink? Well, PVI, the Taiwan-based owner of E Ink has renamed itself to E Ink Holdings Incorporated to better align itself with its popular electronic paper namesake. PVI's LCD products using its fringe-field switching technology will be sold under the brand Hydis. We guess it makes sense given PVI's dominance in the ePaper industry, but we can't help but question the merits of such a move with the world lusting after multi-purpose, transflective or IPS LCD tablets capable of displaying both text or full-motion, color video... imagine if Sony had renamed itself to Betamax in the early 80s, for example.
Rising labor costs in China may lead to pricier electronics, manufacturing relocation
You might recall that Foxconn, faced with the searing spotlight of the world's attention on its working conditions, recently announced not one but two wage increases for its employees, which is now looking like part of a larger trend in China toward higher pay. The city of Beijing has said it'll be raising its minimum wage by 20 percent, to 960 Yuan ($140) a month, and is expected to be followed by others. The New York Times pins this on numerous factors, including growing competition for workers, state authorities insisting on higher standards, and a national policy effort to ease the gap between rich and poor. All good news, you might think, but these worker-friendly measures are taking their toll on manufacturing costs, and now there's talk of companies relocating production to cheaper locales. Vietnam, India and Indonesia are the prime suspects for taking production duties away from China, with some companies also apparently contemplating shifting to poorer regions within the nation. These changes are unlikely to perturb high-end electronics manufacturing in the short term, due to its more sophisticated infrastructure and supply chain, but the end consumer might still feel their effect in the form of higher prices. Inflation within China and a projected increase in its currency value are likely to drive up the cost of exports, so we'd advise buying what you need sooner rather than later. [Thanks, Daniel]
The Anvil of Crom: Changes aren't permanent, but change is
Yeah, so they're pulling the rug out from under my rangers, in the form of a hefty class revamp that is basically taking a good chunk of everything familiar about Age of Conan's rascally rogues and tossing it out the proverbial window. I shouldn't be shocked by this, after all; spend more than a week playing in this genre and it becomes clear that MMORPG developers are the game-industry equivalent of George Lucas: constantly tinkering with their creations (sometimes to the dismay of their fans) and rarely leaving well enough alone. While it's a truism that one of the appeals of an MMORPG is its malleable nature, that doesn't make it any easier to adapt and adapt again, particularly if you were happy with the status quo. All that said, I'm not dismissing Funcom's upcoming ranger revamp out of hand, as I haven't yet been privy to testing any of the changes. They may well turn out to be a blessing, but ten years of messing around with these games has left me a little leery of radical revisitations. Hopefully my reservations are unfounded this time around. Read on after the cut to see what's in store for Hyboria's bow-and-crossbow crowd.
Breakfast topic: Your favourite patch 3.3.3 change?
You psyched about the latest 3.3.3 changes? In case you need a download mirror, check out our sister site over at Big Download. I'm not looking forward to fixing my addons but I know there will be a few issues with it. For me, there are good number of updates that I'm extremely happy about: The changes with the Frozen Orbs being greed only and the new uses for it? Excellent. Auction house updates and cooldown removals? Nice. I'm a tailor myself. Free raid buffs just by being able to manufacture the specialty cloths anywhere, right? Changes to the way raid buffs function? Score! I haven't tried out the new Random Battleground system yet, but I think I'll be sold on it as well. I'm a little disappointed about: The changes to the healing priest tier 10 4 piece bonus. (Redesigned. This bonus now increases the effectiveness of the caster's Power Word: Shield by 5% and Circle of Healing by 10%.) But my favourite change of all? The ability to skip the Culling of Stratholme introduction dialog. In my dungeon runs, I'd always see players who drop group upon finding out that was the instance we were in. Truly awesome! So what's been your favourite change so far in the latest patch?
2K Boston is bringing back Irrational Games name, legacy
[Image credit: Game Informer] Halo: Reach isn't the only story that you'll find in next month's Game Informer -- the magazine's blog has also revealed that the developer known for the past two years as 2K Boston will be returning to its roots as Irrational Games. The change isn't unexpected, as we've seen hints of the old identity coming back to the spotlight for a while. But apparently the company is going full force with the "renewed commitment" to the legacy: it'll be kicking off a new website soon (in about three days and 16 hours as of this writing, according to the countdown now running on IrrationalGames.com) that will contain lots of community features and information about Irrational's past -- including fan favorites like System Shock 2 and Freedom Force, in addition to 2K Boston's BioShock and future titles. Meanwhile, the company has a new logo -- spiffy! -- and the next Game Informer will have more information about the studios' history and why it made the choice to turn back the clock on its identity. We look forward to reading all about it.
Officers' Quarters: How to persuade your guild leader
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. Every so often I write a post purely for my own convenience, and this is one of them. I get a lot of e-mails week to week all asking the same question: How can I try to change my guild leader's mind? The topics can vary greatly, from loot systems to promotions to guild bank rules to the level of roleplaying the guild enforces. I want to point all those people in one direction. Now that this column is live, I'll be able to send them here, as a starting point, and offer to answer any follow-up questions they might have. So without further ado, here is, from my point of view as a guild leader, the best way to persuade yours. 1. Spend time thinking about why he or she instituted the rule or the policy. Try to put yourself in your guild leader's place and imagine what motivated him or her to do things that way. Is it a matter of convenience or fairness? Is it meant to quell drama? You'll have a much better chance to get your guild leader's attention if you can begin your argument with a statement showing that you understand why they made the original decision. The first thing your GL is going to assume is that you don't understand why, so if you can get past that point, you'll be in better shape to persuade! 2. Spend time thinking about the consequences of changing the policy. Notice that you have taken no action yet. This is intentional. Many players approach me with knee-jerk reactions to a guild situation they don't like. They try to talk me out of it before even thinking too deeply about why that policy is in place or what would happen if it were changed.
Vanish "change" coming in patch 3.3
Ghostcrawler (who decided to back off the forums, and then decided to back off that decision slightly) is now back on the forums with word of a change that Rogues will probably be intrigued by: he promises, in patch 3.3, a "change" to Vanish. That's about all we get, unfortunately -- some players assume that it's the Vanish fix they've been seeking for so long, but it sounds more to me like a reworking than a straight-out fix, considering that he points out that if Blizzard finds it's too much of a buff to Rogues (is he actually saying that Vanish working as intended is OP?) then they'll nerf it down.Anyway, as for when we'll get to try it out, GC gives an official "soon (tm)," so look for a fix on a 3.3 PTR near you coming up quick. Hopefully they've come up with a solution that both keeps Rogues happy in terms of using Vanish the way it's intended, and also keeps the ability in line with other classes in the game.
Friday's in-game fixes
Self: "Self, I wonder if there's any more in-game fixes for today."Self: "I don't know Self, let me go look."Self looks around.Self: "Why look at that self, there is!"It's not weird that I'm talking to myself in a disconnected third person voice, is it? Perhaps all these fixes are getting to my head.The changes announced late last night are not as prevalent as other days, but are still important none the less. Some of the more interesting fixes for today include: The damage of XT-002 Deconstructor's Gravity Bomb ability has been reduced. The trash mobs before XT-002 Deconstructor have gone through additional changes that should make them a little easier to get through. The Rogue talent Savage Combat should now properly be removed after leaving an arena match. The full list of changes after the break.
Ammo stacks in 1000, sells in 200
Whoo, boy. When the news came out that ammo was changing big time in the game, Hunters everywhere pretty much praised it -- no longer would we have to worry about carrying around tons of ammo, with one bag slot spent on just one consumable. But since then, things haven't been so peachy. First, we heard that consumable ammunition wasn't going anywhere, and then we noticed that none of the other changes were happening either. Then, ammo stacks were fixed to 1000 in a recent hotfix on the PTR, but now there's a whole other issue: while it stacks in 1000, it still only sells in stacks of 200. Which means you have to buy, and buy, and buy, and buy, and buy just to fill one slot. And what's more, Dresorull says it's not a bug -- we'll likely see this on the live realms.And as BRK points out, the "1000" stacks aren't even labeled on the PTR yet. He says you can fill your quiver with 28,000 rounds of ammo (of course, you'd have to hit buy 140 times just to do that), but what happened to the quiver changes? Aren't Hunters supposed to get that bag slot back in 3.1 anyway?It's all very confusing, and this smacks of a missed followthrough: the original Hunter changes as suggested were popular, but we're guessing something came up in their way (either the team was needed on another task, or some flaw in the system as designed kept them from turning consumable ammunition into a permanent item). Either way, we hope this gets fixed -- we know this is the PTR and everything is subject to change, but as it stands, it looks like we're getting a half-finished ammo system when patch 3.1 goes live.
Priests: 2008 the year of change
That year flew by really quick, didn't it? Last year, I remember I was working my way through Tempest Keep (Kael'Thas even). 2008 brought in a complete set of additions and changes for the Priest class across all 3 specs. So, shall we get down to Priest class changes? Ranked in no particular order, we'll go over a few of the changes and the impact they had on the current game.
Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1, how would you change it?
Just like last week's How Would You Change, the latest episode is also dealing with one of the snazziest new smartphones to hit the US market. It's certainly not without its fair share of niggles, though, so why not head on over if you've a brilliant idea of how to make SE's XPERIA X1 better? Sure, it's all fun and games, but what the heck is wrong with fun and games? Nothing, that's what.
Name one thing you'd change about your class
Ghostcrawler is known to recite this line here and there. He mentions often that the purpose of saying such a thing isn't to get them (Blizzard) to change just one thing in a class the next patch, but to get people to zone in on a real problem.A real problem is something like "Fury Warriors do not have enough survivability and therefore are less effective in terms of spike PvP and PvE damage."A non real problem is something like "Blizzard hates Shamans and doesn't pay enough attention to them."So as an exercise this evening let's see what the WoW Insider readers think. Name one thing you would like changed about your class.As a full time PvE Protection Warrior, I think that we have a problem with obtaining the hit cap and would like to see more +hit gear drop in heroics and 10-man raid instances. I think an inclusion of items that have both +hit and +parry would help solve this wonderfully. I've also been known to dabble in Holy Paladins once in a while.
Some statistics to be removed from achievement tracking
Over the weekend Thundgot on the EU forums came out and said that the attributes section of the achievements tab will be removed from the game. You can find the attributes section right now by pressing "y" on your keyboard to open up the achievement window, then going to the "Statistics" tab located at the bottom of the window, then the "Character" heading on the left hand side of the window, and finally clicking on the "Attributes" section. Your attributes will look something like the ones above, but much more uber than my priest alt has.Thundgot makes a point of saying this will improve performance. If you think about it, many of these statistics revolve around "best" or "top" attributes from a character's dataset. Collecting this much information for each character will take a few extra process cycles each time an attribute changes, or each time damage is doled out (since many spells / enchants / procs change these numbers). Multiply this by a few thousand times for a character in a given night (due to potential changes via combat), and then multiply it by around 11 million people playing the game... and you get the picture.
Microsoft fesses up to a new, tweaked Xbox 360 controller
According to gamesindustry.biz, Microsoft is confirming a slight revision to its Xbox 360 controller design. Apparently, the new iteration of the gamepad includes enhancements to its d-pad, which admittedly has always been somewhat lacking. In Microsoft's words: "The new limited edition green wireless controller offers enhancements to d-pad functionality, which will add to the experience of playing games where the d-pad is the primary control mechanism." We'd like to think that this d-pad tweak will finally give us an opportunity to level up in COD4 from Corporal to Lieutenant General in no time.
What if you could change the iPhone 3G?
You can just feel the surge of power running through your veins, can't you? Engadget Classic's latest How Would You Change touches on Apple's latest handset, and if you feel best equipped to chime in, head on over and do so right now. Like, literally, right now.
Kaplan announces Outlands leveling to be shortened
Jeff Kaplan, the lead game designer, posted in the forums under his username Tigole that Blizzard will be speeding up leveling in the 60 to 70 bracket just as they sped up the 20 to 60 bracket. This has long been rumored and it's great to see this get implemented.Initial reports tell us the amount of experience points necessary to progress to each level has been decreased by 30% (for the 60 to 70 range only). Additional posters are reporting that mobs which give 500xp on the live server are now giving 600xp on the beta server. There doesn't seem to be any increase in the XP rewarded by quests yet, but this might be a future change.Kaplan asks everyone to provide feedback on the change (if you're in the beta), and it looks like they've got his ear for the time being. So if you're in the beta and want to weigh in on the subject, now's the time.Many thanks to the various users who submitted this news tip.
Breakfast topic: Problem paradigms
My main is a resto Shaman, but I've been spending my spare time either leveling a Rogue or gearing up my Ret Paladin. It is a completely different experience. I've spent hours in the battlegrounds and have managed to earn the honor for the Merciless Gladiator's Greatsword. Thus far is has been a real challenge for me. I have a harder time with the Paladin than the Rogue. In the battlegrounds my first reaction when I see someone going down is to heal them. I do drop an emergency heal here and a bubble there, I know that my heals are generally crummy. I should just keep swinging my sword and leave the healing to the healers. With the Rogue, there is no option for healing, so I just keep Slicing and Dicing away through the levels. On top of that, I'm used to trying to get away from my opponent, not trying to stay on top of them. The whole paradigm shift has been difficult for me, but I've learned a lot from it. How do you feel when you play something totally different from your main?
Reading between the lines: are more PvE to PvP transfers possible?
The announcement earlier in the week that Blizzard was allowing free transfers from a couple Oceanic PvE realms to the Oceanic PvP realm Thaurissan lead to a storm of speculation that Blizzard could be considering opening up PvE to PvP transfers on a wide scale.Blizzard has recently said that they won't be allowing large scale transfers from PvE to PvP servers. This rule was supposedly in place for a number of reasons, the main one of which has always been the relative ease of leveling a character on a PvE server compared to that of a PvP server. Having done both, I can say that it wasn't too different – a few more tricks had to be used when leveling on the PvP server, but in no way was my leveling prolonged on the PvP server because of the PvP elements.Drysc chimed in on this very topic yesterday.
