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Epic confirmed a new Party Royale mode is coming to Fortnite after data miners found evidence of it in the game's code.
The Daily Grind: Are you for or against data mining?
I'm just as much of an information and news junkie as most of you are. I probably wouldn't be working for Massively if I weren't, really! So yes, I like to know the full scoop as soon as possible, and I really can't resist getting sneak peeks at the good stuff. But there's a line that can be crossed in this relentless pursuit of information, which is being totally OK with data mining. Data mining is the act of combing through game files to find hints of upcoming content or to completely spoil current content in the game. Sometimes it's employed by sites to break NDAs and spill secrets that devs want kept until a later date. Sometimes it's used to grab maps or discover the existence of a new class in the making. There have been plenty of times that data mining efforts resulted in rather large spoilers that robbed the official reveals of their impact. So I'm curious: Are you for or against data mining? Is it too spoilery for you or do you appreciate the sleuthing efforts of dedicated fans? 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!
What is data mining and why is everyone talking about it?
The recent release of the alpha client for Warlords of Draenor means that there's a lot of talk about data mining that's going around the community. But if you aren't up on your tech jargon, this might not mean much to you -- and Googling the term will send you to a Wikipedia page that tells you data mining aims "to extract information from a data set and transform it into an understandable structure for further use." Even if you are up on your tech jargon, you might not grasp what that means, especially in the context of World of Warcraft. So let's start with a straightforward definition: data mining is the process of digging through WoW's data files and looking for information like maps, graphics, models, or sounds. It's not hacking or exploiting the game, just looking at the game files -- often, but not always, files that are publicly available -- to see what's there. These files can be from the current game client or come from a PTR or beta build, any of which could have new content that players can't access in the game world. Similar to looking up filming photos from a favorite TV show or movie, data mining gives you a sneak peek at game content that hasn't been publicly released, which can range from hints at the next patch to hints to the next expansion. Hungry for information, plenty of players turn to data mining for answers -- but because Blizzard can change, remove, or expand on unreleased content without any warning, anything data mined needs to be taken with a pretty big grain of salt. So should you be paying attention to data mined info? In the end, the choice is up to you -- but we'll give you some background on just what WoW data mining might tell you.
Wowhead launches Warlords of Draenor database
With the Warlords of Draenor alpha now underway, the datamining efforts are in full swing. Our friends over at Wowhead have compiled their information into a specific Warlords of Draenor database, ready to fulfill all your spoiler-iffic, data-licious desires. You can find tabs for spells, talents, glyphs, factions, zones, items, and even a few item sets, for the transmogrification-conscious. Some of the details, such as icons, are still missing, but this is only the first round of datamining, and only the alpha after all! The database will certainly be updated as needed and as more information becomes available. As if to further emphasize the ephemerality of some of this information, there are some entertaining little alpha tidbits in there--items such as the "Test Chest" (it rhymes!), "Chris' New CR Test Gloves," and the fantastic "Novel Mind-Blowing Chest Guard." For some unfathomable reason I have a sneaking suspicion that these aren't the items' final names. It's just a hunch, though!
RIFT's single most engaged in activity is artifact harvesting
Trion data guru Barish Orhon is the author of the latest RIFT-centric dev blog. The piece touches on Trion's propensity for collecting game-related data and using it to improve the player experience. Topics include data collection systems as well as insight into the firm's daily activity report. Said report tells Trion "how a game is doing day-to-day, week-to-week, but it also breaks down every in-game activity by user." The post also provides a couple of interesting case studies as well as the answer to what is RIFT's single most engaged in activity (harvesting artifacts).
Wolfram Alpha lets you stalk yourself on Facebook, reminds you how noisy you are
You know Facebook's got dirt on you, it's one of modern life's unavoidable trade offs. Now though, thanks to Wolfram Alpha, you can data-mine yourself -- something its creator has been doing for years -- and get a true sense of exactly what the social network knows about you. You'll first have to head over to the computational knowledge engine, then search "Facebook report." Follow the prompts to give the app permission etc, and you'll be rewarded with a detailed breakdown. The data shows information about your interactions, friends, most popular photos, most common demographics and more. For example, you might discover that you know someone in the Philippines, have a clutch of non-connected friends weirdly in the same location, or that you mom is your top post commenter. Though you probably knew that last part already. Paranoid or curious? Jump on the source link to get started.
University deploys ninja tactics to research our MMO gameplay
Welcome to 1984, MMO players! Researchers at the University of Minnesota have decided to launch Ninja Metrics, which is a software startup focusing on the analysis of data with the goal of "[identifying] key traits upon massive multiplayer online gaming communities." According to the researchers, this data will allow game developers to "identify each player's psycho-social motivations, and take action to help ensure enhanced user experience." Jaideep Srivastava, co-inventor and cofounder of the startup company, claims that Ninja Metrics will be able to use the data it gathers in order to "identify user trends, target key players, and predict when a player may cancel their account." That's right, Ninja Metrics may know when you'll get burnt out on a game before you do! The key to this new analytical technique, according to Srivastava, is identifying the social influences of consumer communities and determining their effects on said communities. Should the startup prove successful, game developers may have another tool at their disposal with which to ensure their players are getting the best gaming experience possible. Just remember, Big Brother is watching!
Madden 11 data trends show players jumping on Packers bandwagon
The Arizona Cardinals were the least popular team to play as in Madden 11 this season. According to EA Sports data obtained by The New York Times, of the more than 290 million games played (between Aug. 10, 2010 and Jan. 31, 2011) and tracked online across the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the current Madden, the Cardinals were chosen roughly 1 percent of the time as a human-controlled team by an undoubtedly stalwart core of fans still clinging to the Super Bowl run in '09 -- that's loyalty. What the overall data suggests, however, is that many Madden players jumped on bandwagons from week to week, riding out the Eagles' dazzling, Week 10 demonstration -- at the Redskin's expense -- through most of the rest of the season to make Philly "by far the most popular team" to be selected. And players were just as quick to jump off, too: By the Cowboy's fifth-straight loss in Week 9, gamers began to accept that Dallas just wasn't going to get it done. The rise of the Packers popularity (and Steelers' too), which peaked during the Conference Championship Games on January 23, is perhaps most illustrative of this trend, as the Green and Yellow spent most of the season hovering just above the NFL average for selection percentage until their real-life postseason surge pushed them to the "most popular team on Madden." Of course, we can never be certain how many of these fair-weather Packers players were actually attempting to channel the Curse and sabotage the return of the Lombardi Trophy to Titletown. (Psst, it's not gonna work until Rogers is on the cover.) [Image graph source: NYTimes.com; click image to enlarge]
Google helps scholars mine 1.7 million Victorian era book titles for clues to our historical attitudes
Whether we like, loathe, or never even considered the idea of it, quantitative literary analysis seems ready for its moment in the spotlight. Dan Cohen and Fred Gibbs, a pair of historians of science over at George Mason University, have been playing around with the titles of some nearly 1.7 million books -- accounting for all the known volumes published in Britain during the 19th century -- in a search for enlightenment about the Victorian era's cultural trends and developments. By looking at how often certain words appear in text titles over time, they can find corroboration or perhaps even refutation for the commonly held theories about that time -- although they themselves warn that correlation isn't always indicative of causation. Their research has been made possible by Google's Books venture, which is busily digitizing just about every instance of the written word ever, and the next stage will be to try and mine the actual texts themselves for further clues about what our older selves thought about the world. Any bets on when the word "fail" was first used as a noun?
Facebook games transmitting your info to third parties
Our friends at Joystiq have turned us on to a Wall Street Journal article that concludes your privacy is at risk if you play Facebook games. The Journal discovered that each of the top 10 Facebook applications transmits user IDs, which may be shared with unauthorized third parties. We know, it's not exactly new or shocking information, but continued user ignorance -- or apathy -- regarding online habits is a troubling trend that bears examining. WSJ authors Emily Steel and Geoffrey A. Fowler did just that and turned up all manner up interesting findings including a data-mining firm called RapLeaf Inc. that linked Facebook user IDs to its database of internet users. RapLeaf didn't stop there, as it then transmitted the user IDs to a dozen other firms, an express violation of Facebook policy. Though RapLeaf vice president of business development Joel Jewitt said "we didn't do it on purpose," Facebook is nonetheless trotting out the damage control PR. "We have taken immediate action to disable all applications that violate our terms," said a company spokeman.
Armory Data Mining updated for patch 3.3.3
One of my favorite WoW information sites, Armory Data Mining and its related blog, has now been updated for patch 3.3.3. We've profiled the site here before, but if you're not familiar with it, it's run by a fellow named Zardoz who trawls the armory assembling statistics on race, class and spec popularity. He also gathers information on class battleground performance and professions. From what I've seen, there haven't been any giant changes between the patch 3.3 and patch 3.3.3 data (you can find the former at the profile link above). Paladins are still the most popular class, followed by death knights, druids, priests and warriors. It's well worth a look if you're interested in seeing what WoW's statistics look like right now.
Armory Data Mining updated for patch 3.3
I've pointed this out previously to people curious about WoW's in-game demographics, but Armory Data Mining is really a fantastic but underappreciated site. To be specific, there are actually two sites of interest here -- the actual Armory Data Mining and its related blog. Zardoz, the creator and maintainer of both, uses the former to collect and update statistics on class, race, and sex popularity in WoW (in addition to reports on class battleground performance and profession popularity), while the blog is often used to look at smaller issues or questions like the effort to distinguish between bear and cat specs through the Armory. Zardoz posted his newest collection of statistics this past Wednesday, all of them updated to reflect the patch 3.3 game world. Perhaps most interesting is that paladins have knocked death knights out of the #1 spot, with retribution being the most popular spec (and, as a druid player, I think I'm seeing a bit of decline in balance popularity here as well). If you're at all interested in in-game demographics as of patch 3.3, I highly recommend a trip over to both sites.
The mystery of the missing Ulduar models
Back at the very end of last year, the folks at MMO-Champion did their usual excellent work in mining up a heap of models from Ulduar. Now that it's six months later, I have to ask: what happened to all of them? Take the sword pictured above. If you've raided Ulduar, you've seen this model wielded by the Twilight's Hammer cultists in the hallway to the Descent Into Madness. Why, then, is it the case that there are four 2h swords available in 10 and 25 man Ulduar and none of them use this model? Furthermore, why do all four of them in fact use the same model instead?As you can see from the older post, there was an alternative two handed mace model, two more 1h sword models, another crossbow model and an alternate gun model as well. You may not love all of them (our own Alex Ziebart felt that the crossbow model lacked) but you have to wonder, why does every Ulduar gun, crossbow, mace and 2h sword look identical? Why are there only two one handed sword models when there could have been four? Are these models coming in a later instance or are they just there to dress up some NPCs? I actually think that the sword model alternative rocks pretty hard. I realize the mace says 'aspect' instead of 'ulduar' meaning that it might be intended for a later Chamber of Aspects instance, but even so, there was clearly a lot of work making new gear for Ulduar that didn't even get used outside of some NPCs. Any opinions on why we got one model for most drops in Ulduar instead of using some of these?
15 Minutes of Fame: Boubouille proves an MMO Champion
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.What does it take to bring WoW fanatics the freshest World of Warcraft news on the planet? Imagine, if you will, a guy who sleeps literally no more than three or four hours at a stretch so he won't miss any World of Warcraft news. Imagine a guy who spends hour upon hour digging through game database files searching for anything that appears remotely different. Imagine a guy who no longer raids because he's so weary from 10-hour stretches on the PTR (public test realm).Meet Boubouille, the force behind MMO-Champion. The hard-working Boubouille is also one of the friendliest, most genuine voices in the WoWosphere. Ever notice how often WoW Insider links developments, new items and spells and breaking news back to MMO-Champion? While Boubouille's first on the money, he's also quick on the tips and first to share a really interesting scoop – that's just the way he rolls. We poked our heads into his insane, non-stop schedule to find out what keeps him ticking along and where MMO-Champion is headed as WoW evolves over time.
The Queue: Mutant turtles are greater than boys in spandex
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today. On this Monday morning I have come to realize one important thing: a picture is worth a thousand words.Clearly, TMNT > Power Rangers. For shame Alex, for shame!Romir asked..."I just switched my off spec for my Death Knight to a tank spec. However I've never really tanked before, what would be the best heroic to go into to learn to tank? I have an uncrittable set I got from raids/off-spec rolls. I know most of the dungeons, I just need practice. Which would be best to start in?"
Making flasks in Patch 3.1 to give double the reward
There is a new build out on the Patch 3.1 PTR tonight (Build #9722 for those of you keeping track). MMO-Champion is already data mining the stuff, and fresh from this build comes a rather important change that everyone will need to know about:All flask recipes will now create 2 flasks for the same amount of ingredients, but flasks will only last half the amount of time. This means where you used to make one flask of awesomesauce, you now get two flasks of awesomesauce. That's a lot more awesome for the same amount of sauce.We can speculate that this change is in part to due to the difficulty ramp-up that will occur in Ulduar. We know that Ulduar is going to be harder, and so this change will help soften the time required to come prepared. And as someone who flasks and eats food religiously, this is a welcomed change.Of course the downside to this change is that flask prices will drop on the AH, meaning people will earn less money off them. But at the same time, raw materials will likely go up a bit since folks will be wanting to have their flasks made for them now more often. We'll have to wait and see to be sure, however.Edited on 3/23/09 at 9:40 p.m.: Updated with more recent information. Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
Can your other favorite games be predicted based on your most played?
GamerDNA regularly likes to data mine their own site and look for possible correlations between games and the gamers that play them. What ends up surfacing is almost always intriguing and thought-provoking.This time GamerDNA has put your second favorite game to the test as they look at what players of online free-to-play games like to play in their spare time in their second round of "Also Played." Does playing Shaiya mean that you'll be more likely to try and enjoy World of Warcraft? Do MapleStory users really enjoy Counter-Strike? Is playing Runescape akin to playing Solitare or Minesweeper?These questions and more are probed inside of Also Played, and trust us, the answers can be pretty surprising. For the full story, check out the article over at GamerDNA, complete with handy charts.
Tuskarr Animation movie
While 2.4 has been mostly concerned with the Sunwell and Kil'jaedan, there's still WoTLK to look for in the future, and still a few preliminary tidbits hidden away in the patch files. We've already showed you some shots of the Tuskarr that made it in, as well as the preview page for the race over on the official WoTLK site, and now it looks like someone's dug a bit deeper into the files and found the Tuskarr Animations. The animations are pretty straightfoward, mostly just running, fighting, and casting, but there is an animation in which the Tuskarr jumps up and slams his behind on the ground - perhaps a high powered War "Stomp" to make even Taurens envious? Enjoy this closer look at the gentle giants of the Borean Tundra!
A look into Blackstar's PvP design process
If you've ever been the type of person that loves getting a glimpse into how things are put together or created, then let us point you to an interesting write-up over at the official Spacetime Studios website. For those of you who don't feel like reading through the text, which happens to be laden with lots of boring technical terms -- like data-probes and statistics review meetings -- then let us simply tell you that mountains of iteration goes into making PvP fun in our beloved massively multiplayer online games. Although if you're in any way familiar with game design you know that iteration is incredibly common, but with designing a system where players fight other players there comes the iteration of live play-testing -- something that Spacetime Studios did with NCsoft. So in the future if you're playing some particularly terrible PvP section of a massively game, you can probably chalk it up to a severe lack of play-testing.
Criminal profiling is coming to a MMOG near you
With an uprising of terrorists and other criminals playing MMOGs like Hello Kitty the U.S. Government believes it is essential that Gnomeland Security monitors online behavior in virtual worlds. Humor aside, I'm not making this up. The U.S. intelligence community wants to employ counter terrorism measures by utilizing data-mining and profiling software in various online spaces such as video and even online gaming. In the unclassified Data Mining Report Act, (pdf) one initiative called the Reynard project would determine the feasibility of detecting suspicious behaviors and actions in a virtual world that could indicate a threat to national security. You read that right. "Reynard is a seedling effort to study the emerging phenomenon of social (particularly terrorist) dynamics in virtual worlds and large-scale online games and their implications for the Intelligence Community.""The cultural and behavioral norms of virtual worlds and gaming are generally unstudied. Therefore, Reynard will seek to identify the emerging social, behavioral and cultural norms in virtual worlds and gaming environments. The project would then apply the lessons learned to determine the feasibility of automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world."This is probably a good time to stop referring to my spells as WMDs, and reciting The Communist Manifesto in guild chat. I don't want to end up in a secret prison somewhere drinking a lot of water because I'm obsessed with engineering and PvP. What the CIA should do is recruit top ranked WoW Arena players to infiltrate the Chinese servers to steal gold farming secrets. [via Wired]
