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Sweden’s official tweets won’t come from citizens anymore
IKEA, ABBA, Volvo... Sweden has given the world a lot of great things, and back in 2011 it added to the list by becoming the first country to let regular citizens run its official Twitter account. Every week, a new Swede was given free rein to tweet whatever they wanted, in a pioneering bid to show the world how the country exists in the eyes of its people (much like The Swedish Number, which let anyone around the world chat to a random Swede). Now, the award-winning project -- which inspired similar accounts in other countries and cities around the world -- is coming to an end.
Steam puts curator-recommended games right up front in its store
In October, Valve announced it was working on an overhaul of the Steam Curator program and for the past few weeks it has been testing some major changes with a small group of Curators. Those changes are now live and they're aimed at improving the system for players, Curators and developers.
Steam's curator update tackles shady review key requests
Steam's curator program will be getting a makeover this fall as Valve takes steps to make the system more effective for both gamers and developers. Under the banner "Curator Connect," players will now see their favorite curators' recommendations show up in other parts of the Steam Store, as well as their home page. Curators will also be able to embed videos in their reviews, create lists from reviews they've already written, have more control over their home page and get their hands on more data showing the impact their reviews have on their followers' buying habits.
Twitter makes it easier for anyone to curate and post tweet collections
When Twitter launched Moments, it talked briefly about its launch partners and how eventually anyone would be able to build their own moments. Until that happens, Twitter is launching an ecosystem using the same tools used by Moments to help publishers, developers and really anyone who's wanted to put together a collection of tweets for a post. Using Tweetdeck or the newly launched Curator tool, people can find tweets they would like to build into a story. The Curator tool also includes 20 different filters to help find relevant tweets and put those updates in whatever order you want. Then you can drop the URL or collection ID of your tweet compilation into publish.twitter.com for an embed code. Drop that code into any site and you're good to go.
Blood Pact: Karazhan and its abyssal depths of fun
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill . Karazhan: the most beloved of retro raids. Players may put on the rose-colored glasses when they talk of how limited raiding was back in the Vanilla days, but Karazhan is often talked of with fondness. Going back is a pleasure, not a painful memory. It's with good reason -- the place is built like a castle tower, going up and up forever, and it's full of memorable mobs and scenery. Karazhan also has some of the tier 4 Voidheart Raiment for warlocks, as well as a mount and now pets for everyone, so it's a weekly favorite of mine to visit.
The 15 nastiest trash clears of WoW
I was reading through some links while writing a follow-up to Robert's Not-So-Original WoW Miscellany when I happened across some discussions concerning the game's most agonizing trash. This is a popular subject for players, not least because complaining is a lot of fun, but I don't think anyone's going to argue that there haven't been some legitimately unpleasant trash clears in WoW. Fortunately, most of the really bad trash clears are a distant memory, but there was at least one recent one that almost everyone who raided Dragon Soul could agree on. I'm going to include both dungeons and raids here, mostly because Shattered Halls was among the first things to go on this list. After including that, I knew there were other, equally nightmarish 5-mans that had to be included in the interest of fairness.
Shifting Perspectives: Revenge of the Karapalooza
Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, we invade the menagerie, shut down the demon factory, defang the beaten dog, carefully avoid Netherspite, play some chess, and face not only Malchezaar but the legions he commands. Greetings, druids. This week we'll finish our look at stomping Kara from Curator through Prince. If you're looking for our first installment (covering Attumen through Nightbane), you'll find that here. Curator For most people, the Curator was the source of the first tier piece they ever got in Burning Crusade as he drops the tier 4 glove token. Note that the Defender tokens in tier 4 and 5 went to warriors, druids, and priests, which forced BC's more popular tanking and healing classes (in addition to the new legion of shadow priests that every raid wanted) to gear at each others' expense. It wasn't until tier 6 that Blizzard went for more sensible class combinations, splitting most tanking/healing classes to different tokens.
15 Minutes of Fame: 10-boxing Karazhan, Part 2
15 Minutes of Fame is our 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.Last week, 15 Minutes of Fame visited with multiboxer Nixi of team Absolute Power-H of Archimonde to bring WoW Insider readers his 10-boxing strategy for Karazhan. This week, we'll step back for a look at Nixi's hardware setup, his top five tips for new multiboxers and a broader look at why he's a 'boxer.Catch up with 10-boxing Karazhan Part 1, then join us after the break for an inside look at Nixi's 10-boxing team.
15 Minutes of Fame: 10-boxing Karazhan, Part 1
15 Minutes of Fame is our 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.This week's 15 Minutes of Fame is about a multiboxing team – but it's not that team that just ganked you in your last Battleground. Absolute Power-H of Archimonde and its team leader/main tank, Nixi, have made their mark not in Battlegrounds but in Karazhan.Ever curious about a unique perspective of the World of Warcraft, we visited with Nixi & Co. to find out what it's like to "solo" Karazhan. This week in Part 1 of our interview, we go straight for the throat with Nixi's Kara strats. Next week, Part 2 of 15 Minutes of Fame: 10-boxing Karazhan brings you a look at Nixi's hardware setup and his top five tips for new multiboxers.
Hunter Beta News: Tranquilizing Shot explained, pet focus system adjusted
Good old Tranquilizing Shot seems to be getting a lot of attention in the beta world yesterday. Ever since it was bought back to prominence when it inherited Arcane Shot's old dispel mechanic and the ability to dispel PvP enrage mechanics, people have been wondering what exactly it will be able to do in PvE. Lead encounter designer Daelo clarified the other day with some information on how enrage type effects will work in Wrath:
Insider Trader: Faction recipes for tailors
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.You are a newly minted level 58, and you are about to walk through the Dark Portal for the first time. Once you set foot on the other side, and with a bit of wandering, you will surely begin to realize how many factions there are whose reputation you may or may not need to grind. As a tailor, you will unfortunately not find too many exciting new recipes aside from the threads you will learn to craft from your Scryers or Aldor allegiance. Here is the quick breakdown: Honored with the Consortium Honored with Lower City Revered with Sporeggar Exalted with Scryers or Aldor Honored with the Ashtongue Deathsworn (Black Temple)
Magisters' Terrace: Great instance or the greatest instance?
I, like many other players, spent the better part of the morning running the new 5man Magisters' Terrace instance (and yes -- it is "Magisters'," so there is actually more than one Magister in it), and while not everyone is thrilled with it (I know some are saying that it's too hard), I love it. I pretty much agree with AA -- it's not that hard when you actually figure out what to do with CC, and get a handle on the fact that even on normal difficulty, this is a dungeon that doesn't let up.But my favorite part of the dungeon is just the fact that Blizzard put their money where their mouth is on this one -- for a while, they've been saying that they wanted a five man to be like Deadmines, in that it felt like the end of a long storyline. And MT (which is what I think it will eventually be called by most players, since who really runs Mana Tombs anymore?) is definitely that -- I won't ruin the lore too much, but it works perfectly as both a cap on what happened in Outland, and as a sweet preview to Sunwell Plateau. I never thought we'd meet some of those names in a five man instance, but I loved it, and we'll see more of that in Wrath for sure.Plus, the encounters are fun. Unfortunately, there's nothing super new -- Blizzard cribbed directly from Warlord Kalithresh for the first boss and Curator for the second (boy, AoEing the little guys before that is exciting, isn't it?), but the miniboss battle near the end really does play like a little PvP-ish PvE (similar to the .5 upgrade event in BRD). All in all, I think it's a great instance, and a fun way to cap off five mans at level 70.
Guildwatch: First come, first served
Time once again for Guildwatch, your weekly dose of guild drama, downed, and recruiting news from around the realms. Every week, we collect your tips, sort them out all pretty-like, and put them together in one column. It's all the guild news you can handle, all in one place.This week's GW starts right after the jump. And don't forget to send us your own tips for next week: wowguildwatch@gmail.com is the address. Click away!
Guildwatch: Too much holiday cheer
Well, our Christmas wishes haven't come true so far-- the drama we've seen in 2008 has so far been pretty undramatic. But hey, there's still 364 days left, and that leaves a lot of time for ninjas, guildleader meltdowns, and drama bombs, so we'll be patient and see what comes.And if you see it before we do, be sure to tip off GW about it-- send an email with drama, downed, or recruiting news to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. The very first GW of 2008 starts right after the jump.
The pros and cons of set loot tables
Hardcore Casual has a short but interesting piece up comparing EVE's loot system to that of WoW and EQ. WoW uses what's called a fixed loot table system, which means that everything you kill in game has a set list of loot that drops from it, in varying degrees. If you kill Illidan, you know exactly what he might drop, even if you don't know exactly which piece on that list will drop. But EVE Online apparently uses a much more random loot system-- when you loot, you might get anything.A better comparison (especially for Blizzard fans) might be Diablo, where almost anything can drop almost anywhere. The problem with a random loot system like this, however, is exactly what I ran into in Titan Quest (a pretty darn good Diablo clone): halfway through the game, a great item will randomly drop, and you'll get a thrill from getting a sweet weapon. However, because you randomly hit it big, you'll have the problem of nothing better ever dropping again, and the game is pretty much over. Diablo fixed this by having separate areas to go through (and I believe TQ got patched in the expansion to fix this a little bit). But in WoW, you don't have that problem-- every new instance you go into will have better gear than the one before it, guaranteed. You can look it up on WoW Wiki, or look at the loot lists, and know exactly what's there.In fact, some say WoW's loot tables are too random-- I always see Paladin loot drop whenever there's no Paladin in the group. But it does take a little bit of fun out of the game world when everyone is huddled around the Curator saying "cmon staff, cmon staff, cmon staff!" Giving us a boss or two where the loot is totally and completely random (out of almost any item in the game) could actually be fun.
Two Bosses Enter: The Curator vs. Archimonde
Two bosses enter... but just one will get to leave in our continuing series of fantasy boss deathmatches. We've selected 32 of the most dangerous and most interesting bosses around the World of Warcraft, and every week at WoW Insider we present you with another hypothetical boss fight. And the best part? You get to decide who wins! This week we're considering The Curator from Karazhan and Archimonde from the Caverns of Time. Interested in learning a bit more about these two bosses -- and letting us know which one you think would be the best? Keep reading!
Let's get ready to rumb-- err, raid
B Dazzld over on Livejournal has posted her guild's minimum stats required to enter Karazhan, and it should serve as a great guide to those of you wondering if you're ready to start raiding the endgame.I've reposted them all past the jump, so click the link below to see if you're epic enough to join the raid. Truthfully, these stats are considerably lower than you'd need to actually beat all of Karazhan-- Curator is a nice gear check that would probably blow a raid like this away. Of course, the great thing about raiding is that the more you win, the better your gear gets, so even if you can just down the first few bosses every week, you're well on your way to gearing up your ten raidmembers.This kind of thing tends to attract the hardcore people who like to brag that they had +1000 healing at level 60 and if you have any less than that, you're a noob. That kind of thing's not too helpful, because not everyone has hours a day to grind away on gear. But I'll tell you-- my gear sucks compared to most of the people I'm rolling through Karazhan with, and I'm still better than this listing, so it shouldn't be too hard for you, just running 5mans and the occasional heroic, to get to this point at least. So if you haven't been able to join up with a raid yet, or don't feel that you're helping on the raids you're going on, here's an easy guide that can give you something to aim for. And since I know you great commenters will anyway, by all means provide your own thoughts about these gear minimums in the comments below.Update: B Dazzld is a girl, shame on me. Also, updated stats are in the comments. Thanks, B!
But I do spend time with my friends!
Upon my now bi-monthly visit to my parents' house, they inquired if I had done anything social with my friends in the last few weeks. "Of course," I replied, "we started raiding Karazhan about a month ago, and defeated the Curator, Aran, and the chess event!" They looked at me strangely, and I immediately realized that I was talking about people I've never met in person and whom I spend time with only in a virtual setting. I began wondering if I was losing touch on reality, that a video game was becoming a real setting for me to socialize. I soon realized that it was not just me, but instead it is becoming a phenomenon that is quickly becoming the norm. Every day I work with people all over the world by phone and by email, and every night I do the same thing. Some may say that it does resemble more of a work environment than a friendship environment, but I say it can be both. I log into our Ventrilo server and chat it up with everyone who is online. I have my friends, and my not-so-friends, and sometimes we work hard, and sometimes we goof around. I believe that if you take it to a level that you desire, the WoW realm can be just as much a social environment as a party with friends, a date out with your sweetie, or a business trip. Granted I've never slaughtered the undead in my sales trips, but I'd love to claim a Karazhan raid as a business expense! What social event do you take along with you into World of Warcraft?
