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ArcheAge fansite compiles the game's current problems
It's hard out there for an ArcheAge fan in the USA; the game still isn't out here, seems to be getting no closer to release, and is getting an official release in what seems like every other possible country. So one of the biggest ArcheAge fansites is trying to make the localization job for Trion Worlds just a little bit easier by explaining exactly what the game's major issues are, with a specific eye toward its most recent patch. Essentially, the complaints in the thread focus around the idea that the game continues to reduce the effectiveness of open PvP while adding in far more standard themepark elements, including a heavy reliance on daily quests near the level cap. If you've played the game's Korean version, you can feel free to jump in on the thread and add your own views. No word on how much this will be heard by the localization team, but it's a good snapshot of what the community likes about the game and what could be improved. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Feedback Loop: Gaming PCs and next-gen consoles, favorite Kickstarter projects 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 discussed whether gaming PCs and next-gen gaming consoles can peacefully co-exist in the same home. We also tackled tips and tricks for tracking daily routines, fondly remembered our most satisfying app experiences and shared our favorite Kickstarter projects. Click past the break and read what fellow Engadget users like you have to say.
15 Minutes of Fame: Converting all of Azeroth to raid by the thousands
You know the new guild on the scene is making a impact on the community when other players offer it up as a solution to other players' woes. Take a look at this excerpt from the comments of a recent Drama Mamas column, wherein a player was unhappy with the way her new raid guild membership was unfolding: janet.houck I think you need to leave your current team, do some research to find a good match, and move. Aerie Peak has the CTR uber guild, and we're sitting at over 90 raid teams. You can always find a team for you. If you can't, you can build it. MarshallGlenn @janet.houck wth is CTR uber guild? janet.houck @MarshallGlenn @janet.houck Convert to Raid, the podcast, has a greenwall'ed guild on Aerie Peak-US A. I think there's 8 sub-guilds at the moment. We tend to attract an older and more serious crowd, so for a 45-year old player, it might be a nice place to check out. :) TaxmanCDN @janet.houck @MarshallGlenn All of my toons are in the CTR guild. Best guild I've ever been in. I'm on two raid teams, and on my off-nights if I feel like doing a flex there's always someone looking. Great community there, and I've found it to be a better class of raiders (in general) than on other realms. Liopleurodon @MarshallGlenn @janet.houckConvert To Raid is a popular WoW podcast. They have a series of raiding guilds on Aerie Peak, because there's a cap to the number of people you can have in a guild. I was also under the impression that there were 'steps', like the more casual guild splinter vs the hardcore one to make it easier to find your niche but I'm not entirely sure about that. There are a few other mega/meta-guilds similar to this around, too. MarshallGlenn @Liopleurodon @MarshallGlenn @janet.houck ahhh very cool. Edit bluefer I had something like this problem and I transferred my toons to Aerie Peak and joined CTR. I suggest you roll an alt on Aerie Peak. AT L15 you can join CTR mega guild and find a ton of teams to choose from with good people and lots of raiders who treat each other pretty well. Best of luck. While Bluefer sent our letter-writer off with a "best of luck," we don't suspect the Convert to Raid success story has anything to do with luck. We suspect it has everything to do with Pat Krane.
Random Acts of Uberness: Around the world with a friendly troll
Why stop at one world boss when you can knock out a whole handful of them? It's easy with a little help from a fellow Hordie. No transportation? No problem! Caught being uber: Kaza, Zul'jin (US-Horde) Why hello there! I'm Evianary, a level 84 Undead Mage, that's currently on Zul'jin. While on my mage the other day I found a World Boss group and thought why not do it on my mage to try and get prepared for level 90? Unfortunately, I cannot fly in Pandaria, and there were no Warlocks in my group! I was in quite the pickle, till Kaza, an awesome troll hunter also from Zul'jin. She, or he, flew me to all the various bosses including Sha, Galleon, Oondasta, and Nalak! I even got some shiny epics that are currently waiting for me. I'd just like to really thank her/him for helping a fellow Hordie out! -- Evianary, Zul'jin (US-Horde)
Feedback Loop: Strange games, desktop recommendations, iTunes alternatives 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 took a look through Steam's catalog and highlighted some of the strangest games we could find. We also asked for recommendations on reliable and cheap desktop computers, as well as discussed options for data recovery. Lastly, we kicked off the Engadget Game Club with Outlast on the PS4. Click past the break and read what fellow Engadget users like you have to say.
15 Minutes of Fame: Japanese players build their own community in World of Warcraft
What does World of Warcraft sound like from an entirely different cultural perspective? Jump to about 8:30 in the above video and listen to the last moments of this heroic boss kill -- the point at which terse expletives usually bristle from from even the most disciplined, well-oiled raiders, the whole thing followed by a deafening avalanche of shouts and cheers when the boss finally falls. Contrast those expectations with the understated pleasure here of CAVAG, a guild of Japanese players on Proudmoore (US-Horde), and you'll gain a sense of just one of the more outward cultural differences between this group and the typical American raiding guild. Welcome to the world of #wowjp, a network of Japanese WoW players who've learned English primarily through playing the game. You can find localized versions of World of Warcraft in Korea, mainland China and Taiwan, but Japanese players are left to their own devices -- no dedicated servers, no language localization. To solve those challenges, Japanese players have banded together to create their own Japanese game guides, share addons and tips for typing in Japanese within the game, and form a network of Japanese-language guilds across several North American realms. Bringing us this interview with two Japanese WoW players is the Sha of Happiness, herself a native Japanese speaker and a member of the #wowjp community. But before we begin, a simple and heartfelt message from the Japanese players: The wowjp community wished to tell the readers/Blizzard: "Thank you for providing the Hippogryph Hatchling for the tsunami relief efforts. Thank you for all of your donations."
Random Acts of Uberness: The power of glasnost
After a veritable hurricane of goodwill during the holidays, it's seemingly back to business as usual on the highways and byways of Azeroth -- except for these players who took something personally in all the right ways. Caught being uber: Glasnost and Purix, Zul'jin (US-Horde) So I've been trying to tame Degu for weeks on end. I'm just not coordinated enough to do it on my own. So tonight, after my fourth or fifth death, an 88 mage, Purix on Zul'Jin, asked if I wanted some help taming him. We both died a bunch more times trying. So I started advertising for a tank. Oddly enough, I had a DK volunteer, Glasnost on Zul'Jin. The three of us tried countless times, and the three of us died countless times. Finally, after the DK made the comment, "Alright, now this is personal," we tried a few more times with the three of us and died. Then the DK had the idea to have the mage not do anything, just to let him tank Degu alone. He took the beating until Degu was down under 20% and let himself die. I threw down the ice trap, Deterrence, and hit tame. I got him! I tried to pay both the folks who helped me and they wouldn't let me. I gave the mage all the cloth I had in my bags and the DK says, "Nah, just name him after me." So I did. -- Zentagia, Zul'jin (US-Horde)
Feedback Loop: Pebble apps, music services, Google happenings 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 discussed the best apps for your shiny new Pebble smartwatch. We also had an enthusiastic discussion over our favorite music services, speculated about what's happening with the Google/Motorola/Lenovo deal, waxed poetic about the future of Nintendo and debated the benefits of 1080p and 4K televisions. Click past the break and read what fellow Engadget users like you have to say.
Have a favorite music streaming service? Sound off, people of Engadget
Wrapping your head around all the various options for streaming music can be overwhelming. How do you choose between Spotify, Rdio, Beats Music, Rhapsody, Google Play Music All Access or any of the other services out there? Engadget Forums member daninbusiness is here to help, and he's done a great job breaking down the pros and cons of each music provider that he's used. But one man's opinion does not a consensus make, y'all. What's your go-to choice for music? How would you persuade your friends that the benefits of Spotify far exceed those of Rdio? Sound off in the forums, folks, your wisdom is needed.
15 Minutes of Fame: Turwinkle the gnome charms with adventure videos and community interviews
Sometimes a letter from an appreciative fan is the best way to introduce a player to WoW Insider readers: I'm writing in to nominate a wonderful man that I recently had the pleasure of working with. Known as Turwinkle on Twitter or Palmerbomber1 on YouTube, he comes from Moon Guard and has recently begun making rounds on Wyrmrest Accord, where he gets in touch with various guilds and interviews them about what they are, what their stories are, and advertises their members. He also has a series with his gnome Turwinkle where he records himself leveling through the game, narrating the adventures of his mage. The exposure he's done for the Wyrmrest community is second to none, and I'd love to see him get the recognition he deserves. The two hours he spent with our guild was a blast for everyone involved, and I'm sure many of the others he's spoken with felt the same. Introducing the gentle good humor of Turwinkle the gnome, star of the "let's play" Adventures of Turwinkle and host of Turwinkle Talks interviewing roleplay guilds across Azeroth.
Stick and Rudder: It's the Massively Star Citizen guild
I love me some guild management tools, which is strange since I don't manage guilds all that often. It's a bit of work, see, as one look through the titles and topics in our Guild Counsel category will make clear. At any rate, I can't stop playing around with Star Citizen's recently launched Organization stuff.
Feedback Loop: 30 years of Mac, mechanical keyboards, Bitcoin alternatives 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, the Macintosh turned 30, so naturally, we had to share our fondest memories of our first Mac. We also dove into the complex world of mechanical keyboards, examined the potential health benefits of WiFi-connected LED lightbulbs, discussed the viability of Bitcoin alternatives and asked about the best laptops for software development. Click past the break and read what fellow Engadget users like you have to say.
Random Acts of Uberness: Defender of Hellfire Peninsula
Nobody ever protected me from the Fel Reaver when I was a mere young'un in Hellfire Peninsula ... /sniff Caught being uber: Fireßugz, Ravencrest (US-Alliance) I'd like to send a shout-out to Fireßugz, level 85 dwarf shaman on Ravencrest-US(Alliance). There I was, minding my own business killing Crust Bursters in Hellfire Peninsula ... when the notorious horror of Hellfire appeared overhead! It was a Fel Reaver, of course, and despite popping a health potion and Darkflight, things looked grim ... until suddenly the Fel Reaver turned aside from me, distracted by a flame shock! Fireßugz descended from the heavens, destroyed the Fel Reaver, and went on his way. I don't know what he was doing in Hellfire Peninsula, or what inspired him to stop to kill it, but it's truly appreciated. -- Carnassial, Ravencrest-US (Alliance)
Feedback Loop: TiVo services, getting fit with apps, fun with a NAS 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 broke down the cost of TiVo services, shared our favorite apps and gadgets for getting fit, asked for recommendations on underwater cameras and looked for fun things that you can do with a NAS. Click past the break to read what fellow Engadget users like you have to say.
Level 90 boosting is not the end of the World of Warcraft
There seems to be a common misconception flying around in regards to Warlords of Draenor. Yes, you will be able to boost one character to level 90 upon purchase of the game -- in fact, as it was revealed yesterday, upon pre-order of the game. Yes, Blizzard will be offering this service as an optional purchase in the Blizzard store as well. But what people seem to be worried about is that this is a "pay-to-win" feature that is very quickly going to kill the game. Which is a really odd assessment to make. There is no real "winning" in World of Warcraft, unless you want to count sweeping a PvP season, or maybe being the first to complete all heroic modes of every raid in the current expansion. The thought of "winning the game" is an arbitrary, muddy label that doesn't actually apply to anything in Warcraft -- it's not a game designed with a finite endpoint or a finish line you can cross. Let's be clear, here -- level 90 boosts may not be for you. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be available, and it definitely doesn't mean they're going to kill the game.
Random Acts of Uberness: Recruit-a-gear
The author of this week's first Random Acts of Uberness letter reports hearing rumblings in trade chat as he was busily receiving Recruit-A-Friend levels. What happens when you attract the attention of townies when you're insta-leveling in public? Caught being uber: Axtin, Stormreaver (US-Alliance) I was in Stormwind receiving free levels from 23 to 85 from the RAF benefit. Some people were commenting about it, and when I hit 85, I mentioned that I needed to get some gear, now. I was just going to go to the adventuring supplies vendor and buy everything I needed, when Axtin told me to hold on. He came back a few minutes later and gave me a complete set of plate gear, rings, and weapon for my newly minted 85 warrior. I tried to pay him for it, but he refused. By far one of the coolest experiences I've had. Saved me a huge amount of gold buying all the vendor gear. -- Eriine, Stormreaver (US-Alliance)
Feedback Loop: Ducking autocorrect, Steam Machines, 12-inch tablets 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. It's hard to believe CES is finally over and it seems like the Engadget community was just as busy as the Engadget editorial team. This week we speculated about who would be buying Steam Machines, discussed whether or not 12-inch tablets make sense, wondered why the duck autocorrect is annoying, sought good headphone recommendations for the PlayStation 4 and asked about USB hubs to manage the cable clutter. Click past the break and read what fellow Engadget users like you have to say.
The Daily Grind: Do you get annoyed when game devs communicate via Reddit?
I loathe Reddit. I won't go into the hows and whys because that's better saved for a Soapbox, but suffice it to say that I roll my eyes when game companies including SOE, ArenaNet, and countless others take to the service to communicate with their fanbases instead of using their own forums or Twitter accounts. I understand why they do it -- salesmen always need to speak to a larger audience, of course -- but it still rankles. What about you, Massively readers? Am I alone here or do you also get annoyed having to go through a third-party community to learn about your game of choice? 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!
Random Acts of Uberness: Some Crashin' Thrashin' good help
That one holiday achievement you can never seem to check off, no matter how many years you persist? With the help of a random act of uberness, consider it done! Caught being uber: Aliviani, Kilrogg (US-Alliance) I've been unable to complete the achievement Crashin' and Thrashin' for five years. My guild tends to scatter for the last half of December in order to enjoy the holidays, and I've had the darnedest luck getting people to crash my little toy car into. I had 4 crashes leading into the holiday this year. Well, that all changed! Thanks to cross realm zones I headed over to Ironforge and asked for help. Aliviani, a druid from the Kilrogg server kindly offered to group up with me and summoned her own racer as many time as necessary until I had gotten the achievement. She already had the achievement, and wanted nothing in return! She has no idea how much I appreciate the kind gesture. Now that one achievement no longer haunts me! -- Celna, Silvermoon (US-Alliance)
EVE Evolved: Designing EVE Onland, part 2
When it comes to living sandbox MMOs, there really isn't a bigger name than EVE Online. Throughout its decade-long history, EVE has produced some huge gaming headlines, delivered record-breaking in-game thefts and heists, and played host to the complex political machinations of dozens of warring alliances. EVE's sandbox design has even made it remarkably resistant to changes in the market, with subscription numbers remaining relatively stable in the face of new releases and the free to play phenomenon. It comes as no surprise then that the sandbox genre is seeing a triple-A revival, with games like Star Citizen, EverQuest Next Landmark, and Camelot Unchained on the way. With the sandbox genre due to explode back onto the fantasy scene, I've been left wondering how much of the core gameplay that makes EVE tick could be easily adapted for an avatar-based game on land. Even features such as EVE Online's trademark territorial warfare and player-run economy have roots in classic fantasy MMOs like Ultima Online, so they should be easy to convert to modern fantasy equivalents. Last week I started this game design thought experiment with a territorial warfare system and free-for-all PvP with harsh consequences for attackers, but there's a lot more to a good sandbox than smashing people's heads in. In this week's EVE Evolved, I delve into the hypothetical world of EVE Onland again and tackle issues of realistic world scale, exploration, economics, and the evils of global banking.
