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Feedback Loop: It's Google all the way down!
This week's edition of Feedback Loop is nearly all Google. We dish on Android "L," debate whether smartwatches are even useful, wonder if Android TV will save smart televisions, fondly remember our friend Aereo and talk about the games we've picked up during Steam's Summer Sale. Head past the break to talk about all this and more with Engadget readers like you.
Barely Related: Doctor Who on Aug. 23, Japan's realistic robots
What a week. Let's all chill out, cool down and enjoy some nerdy news. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Warlords of Draenor adds community member NPCs
This week's Warlords of Draenor alpha build includes a new NPCs named for WoW community members. A large number of them are members of the PvP community, but the list also includes individuals who are active on Twitter and other spheres of the community. Our own Sarah Pine, also known as Ilaniel, made the list with the NPC Ilaniel Pine. Congratulations, Sarah! Wowhead datamined the community nods and you can find the full list on their site.
Hyperspace Beacon: Fixing SWTOR's community representation problem
You might be aware that I was once a community representative for Star Wars Galaxies. The player governing body was called the Senate. I don't remember who started it, but I do remember the formal revamp during the time Kelly "Valara" Knox served as Community Manager. It was during that period that I represented the roleplay community in the SWG Senate. Because of my time serving as an MMO community representative and my vested interest in the Star Wars: The Old Republic community, I can say that the representative system employed by BioWare is ineffective. But I don't solely blame the BioWare community team for its shortcomings. Indulge me as I discuss how it could be better and how we could better utilize the current system.
Feedback Loop: Amazon's new phone, trust issues with password managers and more!
Do you need a break from watching the World Cup? Good! Because the latest Feedback Loop is right here. Amazon released a new phone this week and we discuss if it meets our expectations; we speculate on what makes password-management apps trustworthy; Kris shares her thoughts on a new startup that aims to disrupt coin machines; we share our favorite browser extensions that protect our most personal data; and we get ridiculously excited about Twitter's support for animated GIFs. You can find all that and more below!
Tree of Savior answers questions about wizards and companions
Are you excited to get your hands on Tree of Savior when and if it gets a release over here? Then you'll be happy to look through the latest community Q&A, which has been helpfully translated into English. Like most community addresses, it covers a variety of different topics, ranging from casting spells on the move to working with companions in the game. Not all spells in the game can be cast while moving, depending greatly upon the type of spell and the class using it. Similarly, there's been discussion about which classes, if any, will be allowed to dual-wield. Companions can be stored at the barracks, allowing you to choose between several different companions based upon the situation, although not all companions will have the same degree of closeness with a given character. For more information, peruse the full set of answers.
SOE relies on players to report inappropriate posts
If you see something, SOE definitely wants you to say something. EverQuest II CM Linda Carlson responded to a post on EQ2Wire to say that the studio depends on its players to help police the "meeelions" of comments in its forums. "Unless we are actually perusing the forums when something comes up, we do indeed rely on players helping to keep the forum community a reasonable and comfortable place to post by reporting disruptive or inappropriate posts," Carlson said. Carlson went on to give advice on how to constructively post on forums and avoid unnecessary conflict with other posters, including "Never post angry. Never post drunk." and "Two trolls do not make a right."
Feedback Loop: must-play video games, Netflix woes and more
June is here! Let's get this summer started with a fresh edition of Feedback Loop. Kris finds a list of video games we must play before we die; Netflix tries to shame ISPs; Tetris hits the big three-zero and we discuss whether everything announced at WWDC was innovative enough. All that and more past the break!
Fans grab development reins on Natural Selection 2
Unknown Worlds Entertainment has decided to pull its developers from cult-hit, team-based shooter Natural Selection 2, though instead of ending the game's lifespan the studio is handing development duties to a group of dedicated fans. WasabiOne, co-leader of the newly-founded fan development team, revealed this news via the Natural Selection 2 forums. While introducing his new team of amateur game developers, WasabiOne also outlines how his teams' plans for Natural Selection 2 differ from Unknown Worlds Entertainment. According to the nascent development lead, work on Natural Selection 2 will henceforth be more visible to the public, and the dev team is introducing a program which recognizes those community members who root out particularly egregious bugs or design especially awesome maps. Though WasabiOne is confident in his team's abilities, he remains realistic about its new task. "There is potential for greatness, but we will have many hurdles to overcome along the way," he states. "While these things take time to implement and grow, we plan on being very open with what we are actively working on." [Image: Unknown Worlds Entertainment]
Feedback Loop: WWDC predictions, Dropcam Pro impressions and more!
Ring in the weekend with the latest edition of Feedback Loop. Apple's WWDC kicks off on Monday and we try to predict what will be announced, share impressions of the Dropcam Pro, discuss the viability of DIY data storage, talk about our favorite task management apps and wonder where all the good Windows 8 apps are hiding. Head past the break to find out what Engadget readers like you are saying.
Barely Related: Reading Rainbow makes big bucks
Are you ready, weekend? Because we're coming for you. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Ask Massively: Misconceptions about jerk players, Kickstarters, and untrustworthy studios
Continuing our miniseries theme from the last Ask Massively, today's edition will focus on a brand-new set of misconceptions commonly held by MMO gamers and participants in our comments section: jerk players in MMORPGs, the playerbase of one particular sci-fi sandbox, Kickstarters vs. investments, and learning to trust a studio that's done you wrong. As always, if there's a misconception you want me to add to my list, let me know in the comments!
EVE Online posts training session schedule
Are you a terrible EVE Online player? Shh, it's all right, there's no shaming here. Everyone starts somewhere. That's why the development team is hosting a series of new player training sessions, designed to help novices or clueless veterans figure out how to play in the sprawling spaceship spreadsheet sandbox. The newest schedule has just been posted for several exploration-themed training sessions in anticipation of the game's next expansion, starting with "How to Scan" on May 28th. Data, Relic, and Ghost Sites are covered on May 31st, Ore, Gas, and Ice get the spotlight on June 4th, and Combat Sites and Escalation are getting covered on June 7th. From there it's a tour through wormholes on June 11th and a conclusion with the developer-led exploration fleet on June 14th. For more details on how to join in on training sessions, there's a handy guide available; if you want the exact times for these sessions to check your own schedule, check out the full posting.
The Daily Grind: Do you report other players?
I have a few social rules that I follow when I'm in any MMO. I am courteous to other players and helpful when I can be. I stay the heck out of political, religious, or World of Warcraft-themed "debates" in general chat. I resist correcting others' grammar or mocking them for a poorly chosen name. And if someone is being verbally abusive to anyone, I report them. Maybe that makes me a narc, a thin-skinned snitch who's just waiting to tattle on anyone with a potty mouth. Actually, I don't care if you swear, but there are certain words and phrases meant to put others down that cross a line with me. Communities should be better than that, and that's why I have no problem hitting the report button now and then. Do you report other players for things apart from gold selling site spam? If so, what's your threshold? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Feedback Loop: Home automation, Chrome extensions and more
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we take a look at getting started with home automation, try to identify apps that drain our phone batteries, share our favorite Chrome extensions and discuss whether digital magazine subscriptions make sense. All this and more past the break!
Feedback Loop: Street photography, using Flickr, mouse shootouts and more
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we take a look at the perfect camera for inconspicuous street photography, discuss how we're currently using (or not using) Flickr, speculate on the Microsoft Surface 3, ask about mouse recommendations for FPS games and get advice on fitness trackers for tennis players. And that's just a handful of the conversations happening in the forums. Head past the break to discover what everyone's talking about.
Feedback Loop: Running with watches, dissing on games and unpacking net neutrality
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. The weekend is finally here! More importantly, it's time for the latest edition of Feedback Loop. This week, we ask some questions about net neutrality, look for recommendations on running watches, talk about the worst video games we've ever played and share some of our favorite characters we've encountered. You can read all this and more past the break.
ArcheAge player sentenced to 13 hours in jail by peers
ArcheAge's court system came into the limelight yesterday when a player in beta was sentenced to over 13 hours of in-game jail time by a jury of his or her peers. Players who break the various laws in the game and then die have a choice to either accept a short prison sentence or go to court and plead their case to a jury of five other players. These players then vote on the defendant's guilt or innocence, and in the case of the former, sentence the defendant to prison. Prisoners can wait out their sentence, play soccer in the jail courtyard, or attempt to tunnel their way to freedom. This particular player had over 100 criminal charges, which incurred a high amount (770 minutes) of jail time. If you want to learn more about ArcheAge's criminal justice system, check out the video after the break!
The Mog Log: Why aren't there more tanks in Final Fantasy XIV?
To the surprise of pretty much no one, tanks are the rarest thing to find in Final Fantasy XIV at the moment. It's so rare to see a role other than tank in need on the Duty Roulette that people take notice of the times when it changes. Everyone knows that tanks are in short supply, leading to the supposed "tank rewards" introduced in 2.2 that don't seem to hit the mark. I've seen a number of posts in which people ask why there are so few tanks and what can be done about it, and most of them seem to miss the mark, either by completely misunderstanding what tanking actually entails or by misunderstanding why people aren't tanking. Really, I don't think it's terribly complicated. Why aren't there more tanks in Final Fantasy XIV? Three pretty straightforward reasons, none of which tends to be addressed when I see people asking that question.
Feedback Loop: phone prices, mobile Chrome extensions, television shows and more!
Welcome to Feedback Loop, a weekly roundup of the most interesting discussions happening within the Engadget community. There's so much technology to talk about and so little time to enjoy it, but you have a lot of great ideas and opinions that need to be shared! Join us every Saturday as we highlight some of the most interesting discussions that happened during the past week. This week, we talk about the ridiculous pricing structure of cellphones, discuss the possibility of extensions in a mobile browser, share thoughts on HBO's Silicon Valley and fondly recall our memories of the Game Boy. Do you have something to say? Head past the break to join the conversation!
