collecting
Latest
A look at the new WoW figures at SDCC 2010
Last weekend saw one of the greatest comic book conventions in North America, the San Diego Comic Con, come and go. One of our own WoW.com crew attended the great event and came back with photos of DC Unlimited's newest (and some older) World of Warcraft action figures. These displays featured many from the Premium Series 2 and 3, along with the regular series 6 and 7. I personally have a few of these around my apartment. They're of superb quality, and the regular series usually costs around or under $20. The larger premium series goes for quite a bit more (usually hovering around the $50 mark) but is undoubtedly worth it. You can actually preorder some of these (including those not show, like the Lich King) right from DC Unlimited's website. Check out the full gallery below! %Gallery-98354%
WoW, Casually: Is WoW still fun?
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. Of course, you people with lots of playtime can read this too, but you may get annoyed by the fact that we are unashamed, even proud, of the fact that beating WoW isn't our highest priority. Take solace in the fact that your gear is better than ours, but if that doesn't work, remember that we outnumber you. Not that that's a threat, after all, we don't have time to do anything about it. But if WoW were a democracy, we'd win. I'm letting you into my thought process again this week, because I think I'm one of many players with limited playtime asking themselves if they are still having fun in WoW. Me: I hate that video. Stormtroopers are cold, impersonal evil -- they don't dance! Myself: I love it! Yay! I: I don't know. I just don't know. Me: So here we are again. I: Yep. The List is pretty obsolete right now until I do more playtesting and research. Myself: Playing WoW is fun! Me: Is it? Still? I: I don't know. Myself: Yes it is! Me: Prove it.
Breakfast Topic: Breaking the bank
I have a confession to make. I am... the world's biggest collector of useless junk in game. At this point, bank space is something that doesn't exist unless I delete something first. From trinkets to weapons to armor sets to items that are utterly and completely useless, it's all sitting in my bank, begging to be thrown away, but I simply cannot bring myself to do it. While some call me utterly mad for hanging on to outdated items and armor, others share my passion for collecting. We commiserate over limited bank space and remember the days way back when. The days of yore when pets, mounts and keys also had to be carried in bags -- and not the fancy 24 slotters people carry around today, no sir. We had Mooncloth Bags and we liked it. Well... we didn't like it, but there wasn't really another alternative. We are obsessed. And we need bigger bags. There is one particular thing that all of my characters banks have in common, however. A full, unused stack of Really Sticky Glue. I mean come on. It'll come in handy someday. So how about it -- are you a packrat? Is there something you absolutely must keep on every character? And more importantly, what's the weirdest thing in your bank?
Plants vs. Zombies coming to iPhone on February 15th
Yes, PopCap is at it again -- this time, their crazy addictive (just like all of their games) take on the tower defense genre, Plants vs. Zombies, is headed off to the iPhone. They just tweeted confirmation a little while ago, and released this trailer showing all of the flower vs. undead action that we enjoyed so much in the other versions of the game, squeezed into the smaller screen of the iPhone. They don't mention a price point, but I'm guessing it'll come out at $4.99, since that's what most of their releases have debuted at (though if you're patient, it'll probably drop down in price after a while). I'll tell you that yes, if you've never played it, the game is more than worth $5, but even if you don't believe me, you can go play it online for free and see what you think. PopCap is the master of dropping colorful graphics, sparkling gameplay, and constant little rewards on your plate, so PvZ on the iPhone will probably be yet another meal you won't want to stop eating.
The effects of re-releases on classic game pricing
In a survey of (presumably) eBay prices for rare and collectible games, MTV Multiplayer's Jason Cipriani illustrates what re-releases of these games do to their resale value -- and, by association, to the people who hoard these game for profit. As it turns out, re-releasing rarities like Dracula X affects game collectors negatively in the same way it affects normal people positively -- by making the games more easily available, thus driving down the cost of copies in the original format. Won't someone please think of the jerks trying to make a profit from their rare games? To use another Castlevania example, Castlevania Chronicles: Cipriani found a three-year high price of $70 for the 2001 PlayStation release in 2007. Two years later, after the game's release on PlayStation Network, physical copies dropped to a low price of $26.93. The people who just wanted to play the game could now get it for six bucks, leaving the PS1 discs for collectors only. It's not as simple as a re-release dropping the value globally, however: the data shows some weirdly fluctuating prices, like Persona 2: Eternal Punishment on PlayStation, which seems to have gone up in price significantly following a reissue. Perhaps interest rose when buyers got the idea that it was even possible to buy an old Atlus game.
Warcraft Mounts helps you keep track of your corral
As a Pet collector, I'm very much appreciative of WarcraftPets.com's Collector's checklist. As a Mount collector, I've always wanted a similar list to keep track of my climb to the Dragonhawk. Today, that want is fulfilled. Mania's Warcraft Mounts now has a collection feature, just in time for all the new mounts and mount rule changes in Patch 3.2.Once you sign up for an account, you can list up to 3 characters per a screen name and start keeping track of which mounts you have and which mounts you want to have. You can also ignore the mounts you don't want or can't get. Once you have it all sorted out, you can share your collection with others if you wish (For example, here's Mania's collection).The site has always been a pretty handy tool for mount collectors or people who just want a refresher about what forms of locomotion are out there, and the collection tool only makes it better. Kudos to Mania, who's once again come through with a nice little tool for the WoW community.
The Daily Grind: Collector or pack rat?
Let's face it - when it comes to MMOs, some of us are a bit pack-ratty. From little things like keeping the strange and interesting things you find in mission wreckage in EVE Online, or overflowing bags in World of Warcraft, to having entire sets of furniture for player housing in games like EverQuest II, Lord of the Rings Online, or Runes of Magic, we really seem to like having lots of stuff. Well, at least most of us do - there are a handful who manage to keep their bags nearly empty. Personally, I haven't mastered that art, as I love fun MMO shinies.Then there are those we'd call collectors, who actively seek out things for a very specific purpose. Collectors range pretty broadly, we find. Sometimes, it's for projects like Stargrace's insatiable desire to compile the player-written books on Antonia Bayle in EverQuest II. Other times it can be something as weird as trying to collect 100,000 corpses to prove your love to someone. We've also heard of gardens, open houses to show off limited edition goodies, and pet collectors. This morning we thought we'd ask - are you a collector, who is going after some very specific things? What do you plan to use them for once you have them? Or are you just a bit pack-ratty, with hangars full of indiscriminate stuff that you never sell off, or bags ready to burst with the random tidbits you've picked up gaming? And hey - if you're the type to clean your bags, tell us how you resist those MMO shinies, eh?
Beating Cheese for Glowergold
I could not agree more -- of all of the cooking dailies, Cheese for Glowergold is my least favorite. All of the cooking collecting quests usually involve a little shoulder rubbing with people doing the same quest -- Infused Mushroom Meatloaf is another one where it's usually every man for himself down in those sewers. But none of them are more annoying than Glowergold's quest. I don't know if it's just that the respawn time seems longer, or that there are fewer spawn points and more to collect (you need six glasses, which doesn't seem like much as collecting quests go, but it's a lot while doing it), or that there's no specific place to find the glasses (they're littered around tables, usually in restaurants, around Dalaran). But yeah -- every time the wine and cheese quest comes up, I sigh, knowing that I'm going to be standing in the inn straight across from the cheese shop waiiting for a spawn.But just so this isn't a complete QQ post, let's give you a few tips for next time. That inn is usually where I stand, but it's pretty crowded -- it's definitely worth, after just picking up the quest, looking around the faction inn where you get the cooking daily as there's usually one or two in there. And I didn't know this, but apparently there are a few spawn points downstairs in The Cantrips and Crows tavern (so when you run down there for the Jewel of the Sewers, keep an eye out for glasses also). And there are four spawns in the Violet Hold as well (so you can stop by and grab those while picking up the Heroic and dungeon dailies).This might help a bit, but the fact is that this is an annoying quest, made more annoying when someone swoops in and grabs that glass you were headed for. Bornakk rightfully says it doesn't need a nerf (and as more people get everything they want out of the cooking dailies, we'll probably see less competition out there), but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.
Breakfast topic: Boast your titles
A lot of WoW folks seem to be collectors: Pets, Mounts, even hats. Collecting titles is the next big thing. It's kind of fun to display some hard earned achievement proudly to other players. Rágnaros of Duskwood asked in general chat. He's interested in knowing which titles are most popular and most rare. It also adds some flavor to the game. Several responders reported having five or six titles.I'm not much of a title hunter. A friend of mine was running UBRS for the Jenkins title so I was happy to come along. It was relatively easy to get with a handful of 70s and was fun to get. My job was to sprint about and aggro as many dragons as I could, then I dropped a Hurricane to join in quick AOE attack which easily killed at least fifty of them instantly.
Tag Games bringing Rock'n'Roll to the iPhone's accelerometer
The folks over at Touch Arcade are doing a terrific job of keeping up with all the good-looking games on the App Store (and even some not-so-good-looking ones) but for my money, this one falls solidly into the first category. Rock'n'Roll is an accelerometer-based puzzle/platforming game (ported from other mobile platforms). As you can see in the video above, it plays like a much more colorful version of the already-fun Spinner, as you rotate the iPhone to control the little circle and get him to fall down in the right place. There are power-ups and items to collect as you explore the little mazes, and though there's no sound in the video, we're told the game will have a "traditional Americana" rock soundtrack, which sounds like fun.A few people have mentioned motion sickness, and while that's a possibility, my guess is that it's more from the video itself -- playing Spinner has kind of the same effect, but when it's you controlling the spinning and the image is confined to the iPhone's screen, it's not so bad. At any rate, we'll find out soon whether the game is as fun as it looks -- it's due for a release later this month.
Nintendo Game & Watch collectors poked, prodded, exposed
When their moms told them that they needed hobbies, collecting Nintendo Game & Watch machines was probably not what they had in mind. We're not about to judge Andy Cole or Michael Panayiotakis, two collectors who have all 60 Game & Watch handhelds ever produced. New in box. Untouched by human hands. So why did they do it? Because they could, we suppose. In an interview by DS Fanboy, the two Game & Watch collectors are deconstructed and investigated, revealing such nuggets as once spending $1,200 on a boxed Super Mario Bros. Special Edition, keeping their products out of the sun and air, and some advice on starting a collection of your own. Hit the read link to see the collectors in action.
Collecting & Obsessing: Game & Watch
Throughout the 1980s, Nintendo's Game & Watch series of handhelds provided the soundtrack to innumerable school playgrounds across the globe. A pre-Game Boy attempt to capture the portable games market, Game & Watch titles were relatively cheap but sturdily built toys which came with a single game and, as the name suggests, a watch. For the best part of eleven years, Nintendo kept manufacturing these forerunners to its other handheld devices, only for the Game Boy and Tetris to emerge in 1989 and squash the whole enterprise flat.Nevertheless, the spirit of Game & Watch lives on through the hundreds of individuals who collect the games. For this one-off piece, DS Fanboy decided to interview two hardcore collectors in a bid to understand their love of Nintendo's first portable phenomenon.Both 35-year-old Michael Panayiotakis (founder of Mike's Nintendo Game & Watch forum and the author of a quite superb FAQ on the subject) and 38-year-old Andy Cole possess the kind of retrolicious Game & Watch collections that we would maim (and possibly kill) for. To find out what they love about this charming series, why they collect Game & Watch, and why they dedicate so much time and money to their hobby, hit the break for our full interview. Once you've done that, don't forget to browse our gallery for a pictorial history of the Game & Watch phenomenon!%Gallery-25216%
Player vs. Everything: Maxed out and bored
Congratulations! You've hit level 70 (or whatever max level is in your favorite game), and you're officially a badass. For many players, this is a goal they've been striving towards for months -- even years in some cases. The feeling of having that first max level character is immensely invigorating. It's like putting the finishing touches on a long-term project or getting to the last page of a monstrous novel. What an accomplishment! However, after basking in the glow of your newly maxed out character for a few days, you quickly realize you have a small problem: What do you do with yourself now? The answer to that question is going to depend heavily on what game you play. For most people, it's going to be PvP, raiding, or a nice mix of both. You'll probably continue collecting gear for your character or working on your skills. Depending on the game, you might be able to work on some sort of alternate advancement or achievement system for your character -- maybe even hunt down some unique titles. All of this is pretty standard fare for endgame content. Sooner or later, you'll probably get a little bored of it. Don't fret, though! There's a whole host of other interesting things you can do to keep yourself entertained at maximum level that go beyond the planned content. Read on for a few suggestions.
Cost: Virtual Console vs. Actual Console
Do the prices of Virtual Console games seem high to you? They do to us, as well, but it turns out that they may not be as bad a deal as they look. JJ Hendricks compared some recent secondhand sale prices for vintage games with their VC price, and found that for almost every VC system, you save money by buying the virtual version -- if you buy every game. With the exception of the NES, the aggregate cost of every VC game for each system was lower than the cost of physical copies. In the case of the Turbografx-16, the difference is especially dramatic: when calculating the difference between total cost (which was already $883 in favor of the Virtual Console), JJ couldn't find a recent price for the super-rare Dynastic Hero. One of those just ended on eBay for an initial bid of $350.Of course, with the Virtual Console, you don't get a physical item. That may be important to you, and used to be for us, but these days, with limited storage space and unlimited desire for things, we find it slightly distasteful when something takes up space. In that regard, virtual copies are a bonus for us.Where this really falls apart is buying individual games. You're unlikely to buy every game using either method, and while you save on something like Shining Force ($31.99 out in the real world vs. $8) you lose on more common stuff like Soccer (which you shouldn't be buying anyway). But the point stands that the Virtual Console pricing is not ... one hundred percent terrible.Of course, you could always just use this article as a guide to which games to buy on the VC and which to buy from eBay. Be a smart shopper!
The Daily Grind: Collecting thoughts
Hi, my name is Krystalle, and I'm a WoW Tabard addict. I don't really know what it is about them, but I absolutely love them. If I find there's a quest out there that will grant me another tabard, I will jump all over it. I've managed to pick up special tabards, such as the Argent Dawn one, the one from the Dark Portal opening, and the one that drops in the Scarlet Monastery. Of course, the truly silly part about this is that I'm most often in my guild's tabard, so my collection sits in the bank, taking up space more often than not. For today's Daily Grind, we'd like to ask what your coveted collection is? Do you also collect tabards? Perhaps you like to collect strange and exotic weaponry or you like non-combat pets in pretty much any game you run across them. It could be that mounts are your thing, and you just have to have one of each color. Maybe you're more into collecting certain pieces of furniture for your in-game housing or like making sure that you've collected all the "collections" in EQ2 and turned them all in. So what do you collect?
Thank you Mario! But our postage is in another country!
The Japanese Postal Service released a set of Mario stamps last year in a nice collectible binder. Somehow, NCSX has gotten a small shipment of these stamps, which carry a postage value of 80 yen ($0.66) each. The markup for this set ($105) is pretty severe, but if you are a desperate Mario collector, this is one of the coolest things you could have. They have fewer than 50, and of course we just publicized the item, so go go go buy buy buy.We want the US Postal Service to get in on the act. We're afraid that there's a short moment before opening mail from us that someone might not be able to determine that we're huge nerds.
My herbalism trainer is so disappointed
Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a slacker.My resto shaman is definitely my main, and he's very, very helpful-- he can heal like a priest, DPS close to a mage (or at least a well geared moonkin), and he's even got Mana Tide totem and that always useful Earth Shield. But one thing he doesn't have... is a 375 profession.He's an herb/alch, and therein lies the rub: I can't collect anything. Skinning, I'm great at-- I've gotten multiple toons to 375 skinning, just because it's so easy to take a second after a kill to skin. First aid, I rock, because there's so much cloth around-- my 63 rogue is already at 375. But mining and herbalism, I just can't seem to get done. By the time I level out of a zone, I haven't picked up enough herbs to get my skill up, and eventually I'm leveling near herbs that are red to me. Now I'm leveling a blood elf mage, and she's having the same problem with jewelcrafting-- I'm not finding the mine nodes on my normal journey, and as a result I'm falling behind.A high end guild would probably have kicked me out by now for not bringing potions to raids (fortunately, my guild is very forgiving). But it is wrong of me to show up to a raid empty-handed just because I've been lazy. So what's the problem here? Am I missing some secret method of collecting as I level up? I do forget to turn on my tracking sometimes, although I know there are addons out there that will help with that. Unfortunately, since I've already hit 70, it looks like I'm just going to have to go back and grind it out, but maybe that's the best way to do it. Did you level your collecting profession while you were leveling or did you do it all in one big run? And what tips do you have for me to keep me from slacking off in the future?
Monster Rancher DS has a surprising developer
We've been keeping a close eye on Monster Rancher DS (or, to use the more exciting! Japanese name, Kaite, Shabette, Hajimeyou! Monster Farm DS). Now we have more reason to be excited, we think. Who has Tecmo "farmed" (heh, heh) the development of this title out to?Cing, for some reason! Cing, who is responsible for Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk, both of which were fairly well-received and high-profile. We aren't sure how their adventure-game development skills will transfer into monster-training, but we're optimistic. Cing at least knows a lot about making good use of DS features. What do you think about the news? Is there another DS-centric developer you'd rather see on the Ranch?
Gotta have caught them all: a look back at Pokemon
We love reading about gaming history. Gaming Target has posted a retrospective about one of the most influential series ever, and one that is especially resonant for Nintendo faithful: Pokémon. The article begins with background information on series creator Satoshi Tajiri, and then goes into fairly detailed analysis of not only games in the main series, but the merchandising phenomenon and spinoff titles as well. The article finishes with a preview of the upcoming Diamond and Pearl.If you're like us and enjoy reading retrospectives, or if you just love Pokémon, then this article is a totally worthwhile read. We encourage you to let them show you it.
World of collectorcraft
Redra asks a fun question over on the forums: What items have you saved throughout the game as souvenirs?Not everyone plays the game as a packrat, but sometimes you come across an item you just can't bear to give up. For me, it was probably Lil Timmy's Peashooter-- I came across it early on in Deadmines with my warrior, and used it to pull all the way up to level 60. Of course, on my first raid, our MT checked me out, and the next day I had a gun in my mailbox with some Stamina and Strength on it. I thanked him and equipped the new gun, but felt a little pang of sorrow saying goodbye to my Peashooter-- in fact, it's still sitting in the bank.There are some good ones in the thread, too-- Severed Night Elf Heads (from a previous iteration of AV), holiday items (I don't think my warrior has ever actually used that food horn, but I always have it with me just in case), early epics and set pieces, and quest leftovers. My shaman still has a charge or two left on his Mechanical Yeti-- I keep saving it thinking that someday we'll be in a raid fighting Raggy or Nef, we'll start to wipe, and my summoning the yeti will be the final straw we need to take the guy down. So what do you have taking up valuable inventory space that you can't bear to part with?
