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WoW Archivist: Controversies of BlizzCon
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? BlizzCon has been no stranger to controversy. As the premier Blizzard event, the stakes are high. Players are heavily invested in both the weekend and the games, and sometimes emotions run hot. We've already got a potential controversy brewing for 2013's event. Players have expressed strong feelings both for and against a possible "Warlords of Draenor" concept for the next expansion, and we know little at this point aside from the name and what it could imply. In light of Blink 182's presence at the convention, Blizzard also asked attendees to wear clothes. It could be a truly wild BlizzCon this year! Let's look back at other controversies from the past six BlizzCons. The first BlizzCon In October 2005, BlizzCon made its debut to enthusiastic crowds. However, it was hardly the massively anticipated event, with tickets selling out in seconds, that it is today. Tickets were $125, and the total attendance was a mere 8000. To put this in perspective, BlizzCon 2010 had 27,000 fans. Because so few tickets were available and "virtual tickets" did not yet exist, Murky, the pet given out to attendees, is still one of the rarest pets in the game. (Lurky isn't the same.) The big reveal in 2005 was WoW's first expansion, The Burning Crusade. With that announcement came several big changes to the game. Outland, flying mounts, jewelcrafting, Karazhan, the Caverns of Time, linked auction houses (rather than each city having its own) -- players embraced all of these. Blood elves had their detractors, for both lore and aesthetic reasons, but most were sold on the idea. Glaringly omitted, however, was any specific word on the new Alliance race.
The Soapbox: Credible currency
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. With all of the other crises hitting the gaming world, it's easy to have missed the fact that Lord of the Rings Online has started selling statted gear in the cash shop. It's not endgame gear, of course, and it's mostly there for low-level players to get a minor boost. Really, as has been said by others, it's not something all that unusual, nor is it game-breaking in the slightest. It's just a convenience thing. It's also something that Turbine promised would never be done. I don't have an issue with the sale of low-level armor with stats on it, in Lord of the Rings Online or in other games. What I do have an issue with is the matter of credibility, the one currency that every company starts with and loses over time. Credibility is something you have to spend carefully, and every so often, a company spends it wrong. And the results, in the long term, are never pretty.
Controversial Arturito bot survives scientific testing
There was some understandable skepticism last time we brought you news of the amazing, seemingly physics-defying robot nicknamed Arturito -- yes, it's supposed to sound like R2D2 -- which has managed to find buried bones, hidden treasure, and underground mineral deposits at depths previously thought to be inaccessible with current technology. Tired of all the potshots from the scientific community (one professor called the machine's supposed ability to analyze a nuclear signal reflected from multi-hundred-foot depths "delirious"), the rather unphotogenic inventor Manuel Salinas brought what's formally known as the "Geo-Radar" system to Chile's Universidad Tecnológico Metropolitano for testing -- and wouldn't you know it, the darn thing actually works. Even though the bot will surely continue to have its detractors, its almost perfect accuracy in finding deep copper deposits during the university trial has convinced the most important folks of all that Arturito is the real deal: the eager businesspeople who are throwing cash at Salinas to get their hands on one.[Via Cnet]
