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OhMiBod's Bluetooth "massager" has a clever new selling point for Apple Watch
Smartphone and smartwatch technology makes are our lives easier but sometimes gets in the way of human relationships. Thanks to OhMiBod's Bluetooth "personal massager" your smart Apple devices might just help you keep your relationship closer than ever. During CES 2015 OhMiBod announced the addition of smartwatch connectivity and biofeedback functions to its blueMotion line of Bluetooth massagers, including support of the upcoming Apple Watch. In fact, the company plans to release its new smartwatch app to coincide with the release of the Apple Watch. The new app allows users to transmit signals to their partner's massager based on their own heart rhythms. We'll let OhMiBod explain the feature: Imagine how you often feel with a partner-excited, turned on, and, at times, maybe even a little nervous. With this app, the wearer's heart rate not only creates the vibrations that drive his or her partner's pleasure, it also determines the strength and intensity of those vibrations. The watch's microphone will feed vibration patterns to our range of Bluetooth enabled massagers. So it won't matter if you're in the bedroom, in the club, or at a concert-you and your partner can enjoy real-time ambient sounds where it counts, when it counts, and with complete discretion, If you're having a hard time selling your partner on the expense of a brand new Apple Watch, think of pitching as "for both of us." You can read more here.
TV producer looking for couples who met in MMOs
Back2Back Productions is looking for lovers who met in MMOs, according to a blurb at MCVUK. Founder David Notman-Watt told the website that a documentary featuring couples who met online and married in meatspace is currently filming and will air on a "major TV network." Notman-Watt says his firm is also searching out couples who've yet to connect offline. "It's fascinating to meet people whose relationships have blossomed as the line between roleplay and real life has become increasingly blurred."
The Daily Grind: Do you game with your spouse?
People who read my ramblings on a regular basis know that I've been with my dear Ms. Lady for quite some time. And we do, in fact, game together. We don't always join the same guilds or groups, we each make a point of having independent lives in our games... but we also group together whenever possible and clear the heck out of content as a team. From Star Wars: The Old Republic to Final Fantasy XIV, we're a team. This is not possible for everyone. Maybe your spouse (or significant other) doesn't like gaming, or maybe the two of you like wildly different games. Or the inverse is possible; you met in a game together and can't conceive of not playing as a team. Some couples find that playing together is a fun activity; some find it just leads to ridiculous arguments over nothing. So do you game with your spouse or other romantic partner? Or is gaming something you do separately from one another? 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!
How to live happily ever after with a nongaming partner
So your beloved spouse doesn't play WoW. It happens. Sometimes you can tempt them into trying; an enjoyable duo is great for a relationship, after all. And if your spouse does decide to give the game a whirl, we can show you how to get off on the right foot. But sometimes, getting your partner to join you in WoW just isn't in the cards. And that's okay. You don't have to quit your hobby simply because your other half doesn't share your enthusiasm. You can play, and your partner can not play, and you can both be as happy together as two bugs in a rug. We'll show you how to keep grouping in Azeroth from ungrouping you in life.
Drama Mamas: Games vs. relationship
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. When leisure activities take priority over responsibilities and relationships, bad things happen. In this week's case, the leisure activities in question are MMOs. Hello, I've read your article about Love, marriage and WoW. Unfortunately, I am in a situation that looks alike. My fiancé and I have been together for 5 years and we've gone through a lot, but we still have issues because of his gaming habits. We both are gamers and it is our main activity, but we don't really play together, which is alright at some point. I mostly play console games and he's into pc games such as Mmos or online games on Steam. I tried to play with him at some point, but it never lasts.
Drama Mamas: The case of the disagreeing duo
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. The duo in the letter disagrees and so does our Drama Mamas duo. Hello Drama Mamas! I recently moved in with my boyfriend, Sam, who I dated long distance for two years. I have never been happier! As you know, sometimes certain things that weren't a problem when long distance can become big ugly problems when living together. When we were long distance, Sam and I made several WoW pairs together, so we could play and be together and have fun. Almost all of those pairs have me tanking (because I love leading and tanking and fast queues keep us entertained) and some of these pairs have him healing me as I tank. All too often tanks are treated poorly. I understand that tanks may not seem necessary when leveling, but I wish more DPS would understand that many tanks find proper tanking fun, and so pulling ahead and ripping aggro can be an act of outright funsucking.
Daily iPhone App: Avocado aims to connect couples on the go
In any marriage or romantic partnership, there are moments of agreement, negotiation, compromise and conflict -- but, above all, there has to be communication, digital or otherwise. The team behind the couple-centric new app and web service Avocado, which includes three couples, aims to facilitate that communication with easy one-to-one tools for messaging, photo sharing and collaborative task lists. The "less is more" ethos pervades the $1.99 Avocado app, so named because the avocado tree bears fruit in pairs. You simply sign up with two email addresses and a single password, and within minutes you can begin exchanging brief messages, photos, emoticons -- but only with that singular someone that the app repeatedly, annoyingly refers to as "your boo." The app comes in both iOS and Android versions, supporting notification alerts to make sure that you don't miss a moment; the web version provides a helpful archive. In some relationships, the shared (low-fi) checklist tool might be a lifesaver, although there are other options out there with more flexibility. When I suggested to my wife that we field-test Avocado, her response was "Really?... Do I need 'a fun new way to stay connected with the most important person in [my] life'? And is this fun new way kind of mushy and more about texture than taste, though it's really good mixed with lime juice and salt?" Yes, I allowed, we already have a full folio of digital points of contact, ranging from the simple SMS to the Twitter DM to the Facebook message -- even a phone call, if you're into that kind of thing. Sending an iMessage pings multiple devices and the Mac; you can build a private sharing spot with Glassboard if you want to. But there is one area where Avocado sells itself as a superior solution. Ever sent a text message to your significant other, then realized you accidentally sent it to your boss instead - or to your mom? Had a direct message that somehow lost its leading D and went live to the Internet instead of to your sweetheart? Yeah, we know. So there's something to be said for an app that makes the entire addressing process moot. By design, Avocado is point to point and person to person -- if you're in the right app, you're reaching your one and only. (Or, if we must, "your boo.") The core functions of Avocado may be pretty basic now, but the company has plans to add more features based on user feedback. If you haven't found that perfect way to connect digitally with that perfect person, maybe the Avocado app is for you. [hat tip Techcrunch]
True Love Between Gamers: I do take this rotting corpse as my husband
Ahh, the buoyant peal of June wedding bells -- as poignant and brimming with joy in Azeroth as here on Earth. Now that meeting a spouse online is no longer the social scandal it was in the earliest days of MMOs, folding a game soundtrack selection, a Frostmourne cake-cutter or a set of wedding bands engraved with WoW-related mottos into a wedding ceremony have become common ways couples pay homage to the game world where their love blossomed. But when players fall in love from opposite sides of an ocean, in-game weddings take on a whole new importance, standing in for the real thing until the couple can span the distance between them. That's not to say that players who are geographically closer together don't hold ceremonies in Azeroth, too. But still, for players separated by border, miles and oceans, the Azerothian equivalent among long-time gaming companions carries precious implications. Help us celebrate the stories of three couples who tied the knot both in Azeroth and out -- two who fell in love across oceans and one for whom Azeroth has nurtured bonds since before she even played the game herself. How sweet love is!
Drama Mamas: The case of the PvE wife and PvP husband
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. Next week will be another results edition of Drama Mamas. But there is still time to email us. If you have written the Drama Mamas and we have answered you in print, please send us an update at robin@wowinsider.com. We would love to know how your WoW dilemma worked out! Dear Drama mamas, I've been a longtime wow player and I almost exclusively pve, while my husband only enjoys pvp. I've tried without success to get him to try raiding, and have given up on that. Instead I found an awesome guild and I love raiding with them a couple nights a week.
Faces of BlizzCon: The honeymooners
Couldn't make it to California for the convention? WoW Insider takes you behind the scenes at BlizzCon 2011. BlizzCon is for lovers. You'll spy plenty of couples strolling hand-in-hand through the darkened convention halls, seemingly as intent on gazing into each other's eyes as they are gazing into play-testing monitors for the upcoming Pandaren experience. Among them: newlyweds Tommy and Diane Wallace, freshly arrived in Anaheim from their Wednesday wedding in sunny Las Vegas. While the couple didn't meet playing World of Warcraft, it didn't take them long to get there together. Tommy, a hardcore raider and player since the days of classic WoW, introduced Diane to the game not long after the two became romantically involved. She took to it like a duck to water, and it wasn't long before the two were raiding side by side. It looked like wedding bells would be inevitable before the year was out.
Drama Mamas: A fake romance turns real
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. I think half of the Fred and Ginger movies are about whether they are faking a romance or really in love. Let's hope this week's letter writer has the same happy ending Fred and Ginger always do. Lately I've run into a strange situation in my guild. A friend of mine and I have been spending a lot of time online together and it's suddenly come to our attention that a lot of people think there is something going on between us. Some background of my guild: We're several years old and are very tight knit. I feel so at home with these people, specifically my fellow officers, that I'd call some of them my best friends in-game and out. We have people from all over the world and it's amazing to connect with everyone no matter the distance between us.
15 Minutes of Fame: Vampire Empire novelist duo writes, games as one
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. Talking about Clay and Susan Griffith means talking about partnerships. Clay and Susan are husband and wife, WoW partners and co-GMs, and authors of The Greyfriar: Vampire Empire Book 1 -- "married in all things, for better or for worse," as they put it. Together, they've worked on comics and prose with such pop culture icons as The Tick, Kolchak the Night Stalker, The Phantom, Allan Quatermain, and Disney characters, too. "Granted, we are casual WoW players due to time constraints, but we both have level 85s," says Susan. "We enjoy questing and the lore of the game, as well as a fair amount of RPing. When time and fair winds permit, we even have a family raid group." What the Griffiths have learned from collaborating on the page, they say translates directly to playing WoW as a group: trust, respect, and distribution of power and roles. From the Vampire Empire to Azeroth? According to this couple -- absolutely.
The Guild Counsel: Power Couples
Last week, in honor of Valentine's Day, The Guild Counsel took a look at the challenges and uniqueness of online relationships in MMOs and the role guilds have (and don't have) in the equation. It might seem a little strange to some, but there are many who can vouch for the fact that these relationships are indeed strong and can turn into successful marriages. Thanks to those who shared their stories! This week, we're shifting gears a bit to look at spouses in guilds. Whether they met online or not, married couples can affect a guild differently from individual members. And when one spouse is in a position of power, things can get even more complicated. Read on for a look at how to avoid having the MMO version of Heidi and Spencer in your guild.
Breakfast Topic: The GM's wife
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. My husband is our guild master. He's also our guild recruiter, website maintenance man, raid leader and master looter, as well as one of the top DPSers on fights he doesn't have to choreograph. He's the reason I play the game, as well as part of the glue that holds our guild together. As such, he's a big inspiration to me. Not only is he in a demanding leadership position, but he knows the classes and helps people improve their characters and rotations. Between us, we have many classes at 80 and he plays them all well. Me ... not so much. I raid endgame on a couple characters, but I wouldn't be the player I am without his help. Now, I've heard many of the stereotypes out there, from the dreaded wife aggro, to the girlfriends/wives who play and people wish they would go back to the kitchen, ad nauseum. I will be the first to tell you my downfalls. Heck, my idea of successful PvP is Nova, Blink, Invis and fly away! But I try my darndest to not be that GM's Wife. If I look bad, he looks bad, and that reflects poorly on the guild. I'm sure we all have horror stories of wives not pulling their own weight, but I like to think I'm here on my own merit. I am a DPSer, a healer, the guild chef, the potion brewer, a pet and mount collector, a girl and the GM's wife, and I'm proud of it. Are you a gaming wife, or a GM's wife -- and if so, how do you assert yourself among the good ol' boys? On the flip side, where have you seen significant others not making the cut?
Breakfast Topic: Connecting with loved ones
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. In our age of technology and isolation, we often unintentionally turn a cold shoulder to our pals and relatives for a number of reasons. Sometimes we may give them a quick five-minute call once a month to say hello, just to feel like we're holding up our end of the relationship. Pokes on Facebook or comments on Myspace (who uses that anymore?) are basically the same concept. It seems that the more methods of communication we develop, the less we properly utilize them. Being the mushy dude that I am, I prefer physical contact. I want to see my brother, best friend or mother's eyes light up when I tell a joke. I want to be able to be gossiped up by my grandmother as she cooks a family-favorite meal in the house she's lived in for over 40 years. But sadly, I realize that most of us are given very few chances as adults for such real-life connections. However, technology has helped bridge the gap between loved ones in one very unusual place: Azeroth. The closest I've ever gotten to "being there" with someone hundreds of miles away is through the use of an avatar. World of Warcraft has given me the opportunity to connect with friends whom I haven't seen since years back, and my mother, who always complained that I didn't call her enough before I introduced her to this game. Granted, Granny and I won't be standing in the kitchen chatting and preparing a meal when we next see each other; instead, we'll be running through the Plaguelands blowing up zombies and skeletons to smithereens -- which, in my opinion, sounds so much cooler.
Drama Mamas: Invasion of privacy
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com. Captain Obvious says that communication within guilds is a very good thing. But as we've seen before, sometimes too much communication can cause more drama than keeping quiet. It is smart to anticipate problems and make preparations in case they occur. But is thinking the worst of people the same as proactive problem-solving? When thinking ahead to avoid trouble, it is usually a good idea to examine your own motives and see if any prejudices are lurking that color your viewpoint. If it's possible that envy or disapproval are clouding your judgment, it is usually best to keep your mouth closed and your eyes open. I assume the best about this week's letter writer's motives for wanting to prevent drama in his guild. But in this case, motives are irrelevant to the possible drama bomb that would explode from an invasion of privacy.
WoW, Casually: Sick and tired
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 crabby. I'm crabby because I'm sick. This snowballs into being crabby because nothing is comfortable and crabby because I'm not spending as much time completing the holidays as I would like and crabby because I can't seem to get enough sleep. I'm also crabby because the rest of my family is crabby because they're sick too. Crabby! So this week, instead of consulting The List, I am going to crabbily give tips for playing sick and/or sleep deprived. This advice will be good for new parents, those suffering from this evil cold my family has, and those that are trying to squeeze some play in between long work/study sessions. I bet it will help other situations, too. I don't know. I don't care. See above for why.
Drama Mamas: Couples counseling
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com. Usually couples counseling is for the problems that come with being a couple, not dealing with them. But this week we encounter two situations that involve drama caused by someone else's romance. One may (or may not) be a case of wedding envy. The other letter concerns the awkward public displays of affection from a couple separated by distance, but not by a need to exhibit. On to the counseling...
15 Minutes of Fame: The two shall be as one
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes - from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.There are couples who play together, and there are couples who play together. Jen and Mike, members of <The Panic Attacks> on Scilla-US, fall into the latter category - so much so that perhaps their playstyle doesn't accurately qualify as "playing together" at all. More accurately, Jen and Mike play as one, sharing the controls to seamlessly guide their mutual character, FertZane, through Ulduar and all the rest of WoW's endgame content.A rare disability called arthrogryposis keeps Jen wheelchair-bound and binds the couple's gaming together. The congenital disorder causes joint contractures, muscle weakness and fibrosis and leaves Jen with quite limited use of her arms and legs. Nonetheless, she says she's always loved video games because it was something she could enjoy as long as she could manage the controller. "For using my computer, I use a pen in my mouth to type and trackball mouse that I can hold in my lap," she says. "This makes computer gaming a lot more challenging for me, since I cannot look at the monitor while using the keyboard - but a mouse just can't always do everything that needs to be done."
Keeping the wife happy: Wrath style
Isn't it fascinating to think of the people behind the toons you see running around your screen? Do you ever just find a quiet spot next to a busy marketplace or popular crossroads in game and just people-watch? Although it's sometimes fun to venture a guess at the real lives behind the virtual ones, we may overlook the increasing number of families who play these games together. Husbands and wives. Fathers and sons. Mothers and daughters. The combinations are almost endless.In a recent article over at Game Set Watch, Michael Walbridge takes a look at the inner dynamics of the family gaming habit. He tells an all-too-familiar story of one family member (in this case his wife) who wants nothing more than to play Wrath of the Lich King upon release, yet he has sworn off WoW for good, in lieu of Warhammer Online. When his wife finally realizes that swearing off WoW for good really means "for good" this time, it nearly brings her to tears. Will he give in and rejoin his wife at Wrath's launch? Will he continue with WAR, crushing his entire family dynamic? You'll have to check out the story to find out!
