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Giant bunny formed from GPS path
First things first: considering the huge amount of press garnered by a recent position art scam, this here could indeed be just another spoof to get your hopes up. That being said, we're pretty sure no one with any level of decency would do such a vile thing on Easter Sunday, which is precisely when the above bunny was purportedly created from waltzing about with a Magellan GPS and a digital camera. The artist himself admits that what you see above is a slightly cleaned-up version of the actual path, but we're told that any edits that occurred had no huge bearing on the outcome of the piece. You be the judge.
Massively Spring Event coverage in pictures (and a video)
Springtime brought many events to our favorite MMOs and Massively was there to report on them. From St. Patricks Day to Easter to April Fools, there was no end to seasonal fare. Click the images below to take a tour of the pictures and places of Spring 2008 in MMOs.Easter More event coverage after the jump.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Subtle hostility
Sunday Morning Funnies has quite the line-up this week, with even more on the horizon for next week. As always, don't forget to leave a tip about a WoW-themed comic you know! A new WoW-themed comic from Action Trip. I would explain but I think I'll just let you click through and see for yourselves. Regrettable Choice from Extra Life. Just mentally scratch out "Youtube" and replace it with "WoW Community Forums." A New Beginning with Shakes and Fidget. It comes complete with gratuitous Bar Maiden. Feel like an economic squabble? GU Comics has Just a Little Suggestion for Activision and Gibson. If you'd rather chew on politics, LFG lays out the facts of a prison break. Manic Graffiti has some insight on the Frostmourne Replica. That's pretty self-explanatory, but if you'd like more information, check out our coverage and opinions. Ding! has an opinion on Tauren hunters. From Teh Gladiators comes an intro, or a prequel, to soon-to-come shenanigans. The Brotherhood of the Hat from The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf. Head through the break in order to vote on the one you liked best.
Happy Easter? Not in Tabula Rasa
I think it's safe to say we've grown accustomed to certain holiday events in our MMOs these days. Most of these are global, non-denominational events, or at least try to be. Guild Wars' Wintersday is a prime example of this. We have an event celebrating the battle between two powerful deities in the GW world, peppered with the old recognizable favorites like candy canes and snowmen. It's full of win in every possible way. Recently though, NCSoft decided not to make an in-game Easter event in Tabula Rasa, which concerned many players. In fact, even the default wintertime event was notably lackluster. Was this a huge mistake on NCSoft's part? Or are we just spoiled with our other online MMO holiday events? Some have speculated that the setting and lore of Tabula Rasa would prevent such events to take place, but we would think the opposite would hold true. Will this type of thing end up becoming a larger concern for players than the devs realize? We believe the players of any MMO would thoroughly enjoy their holiday events, and overlooking their importance in an online community setting could prove to be a big mistake.
Celebrating Easter in Second Life
While many of you may have spent yesterday coloring eggs or biting the ears off chocolate bunnies, many people celebrated the holiday virtually in Second Life. For those of you too busy in real life to enjoy virtual life, we've captured some of Second Life's Easter celebration in pictures. Visit giant bunnies, hunt for eggs, join in an Easter parade, and color eggs of our very own all without leaving the safe confines of your browser! So what are you waiting for? Let's get started!%Gallery-19041%
The best kind of celebration
After all the holiday-foo was complete, we're willing to bet many of you relaxed with video games. It's just a feeling we have (probably because many of us did the same thing!). You know what that means? It means we have an excuse to round up a few things that celebrate both Easter and gaming. Holidays are fun!
Noblegarden in Pictures
After having the chance to actually get out there and start my Egg Hunting, I can confirm that no, there really isn't anything new for the Noblegarden event this year. That's alright though, it entertained me for awhile, and I know for a fact that the Midsummer Fire Festival has a lot more in store.On the bright side, I did get my Elegant Dress this year! An entire day dedicated to finding this dress last year got me nothing but cruddy candy. Within twenty minutes this year, I got my dress! Of course, it doesn't look very good so I'll probably never put it on my character again, but I have it. That's good enough for me.If you're not able to participate in the event, or you're reading this after it has ended, do not fear! You didn't miss out on any leet items, and I did my best to capture the fun of the event in the gallery below. Go on, take a look! You know you want to. %Gallery-19015%
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup celebrates Easter
Because we can't get away with it for any other holiday, here's a picture of a clay Link feeding a carrot to a bunny. (Image credit: mishmellow). Apologies for the delay: here's our picks for the week's best web-related webcomics. Be sure to vote for your favorite! The root of the problem (Tip of the Sword) Without the Super, He's Just a Man (Dueling Analogs) There's Trouble Brewing (Extra Life) The Trap is Set (MNC) Massively Ineffective (Slackerz) Flush (GamerPALs) Dance Off (Unshelved) Another Portal Comic (Anonymous) Voting after the break.
One Shots: Everyone say cheese!
It seems like during the holidays or parties, people love to gather together and do a "photo" (screenshot) together. Our reader Jose found one such group, and being a bit of a game 'photographer' himself, snapped this excellent screenshot for us. With today being Easter Sunday, many folks will be gathering together in brightly-colored finery with friends and family. So we figured what better time to share this festive screen! Jose writes:[This is] a line up for the "photographer" during a party. Funny things people do in LotRO.We've seen screenshot lineups in many, many games, really. But half the fun of gaming is doing funny things with friends -- and occasionally snapping screenshots of them! If you have any great, funny, interesting, off the wall, beautiful, exciting or (insert adjective here) screenshots, then let the world share in your moment! Grab those screens, pop them in a mail with a short blurb about what's in the scene, and send them to us at oneshots@massively.com! No game too old or niche, no screenshot too large. %Gallery-9798%
Mii Jesus advertises for Easter services
The Mii. At the rate it's going, we're sure it'll be Time's Person of the Year or something soon. And the church is starting to get that popularity, apparently, as a Jesus Mii is being used to advertise Easter Sunday services for the Mission Bay Community Church.The church itself is located in the San Francisco area and, to our knowledge, the first of its kind to actually be hip to what the kids think is, well ... hip. Kudos to the church on finding a smart way to advertise their services.For all of you celebrating Easter today, we hope you have a safe and happy holiday.[Via Joystiq]
Happy Bunny Day from X3F!
Today is Bunny Day (commonly referred to as Easter) and we just wanted to wish you, the entire X3F community, a very happy and enjoyable Bunny Day. Hopefully, you'll spend time with friends and family, eat yourself into a food coma, and maybe hunt for a colorful egg or two. We know we'll be out and about doing our Bunny Day traveling, but will also be sure to get a few solid hours of gaming in. And, really, that just may be the best plan. Hop onto Xbox Live, spread Bunny Day cheer and challenge your enemies to an egg-off (whatever that may be). Have an amazing Sunday and thanks so much for the continuing to support the craziness that is X3F. Hippity-hop!
Massively surveys MMO Easter events
Seasonal events are often the most popular in-game events in many of today's MMOs. But each game's designers have to find a way to slip these real world celebrations into the lore and mechanics of their persistent worlds. Let's look at this year's crop of Easter events transmogrified into online fun.Some designers do little more than blatantly throw in eggs hidden in the bushes such as World of Warcraft's Noblegarden. You can spend the day in the newbie zones and collect eggs that hold minor items. Not very much to this, especially considering the way Blizzard has been revamping other seasonal events like Hallow's End into something drool worthy. Fortunately, our friends at WoW Insider have created a gallery of the 25 best Easter Eggs of WoW. Not the kind of Easter eggs mentioned above, but the little hidden in jokes placed in the game by the designers from 'Snakes on a Plane' visual gags to Clint Eastwood nods to 'Firefly' shout-outs.You can begin your tour of these hidden gems by clicking on the first picture below, check out what little Noblegarden does have to offer in the second gallery or continue to read about Easter events in other MMOs after the jump. Gallery: Burning Crusade Easter eggs Gallery: Noblegarden
Happy egg hunting!
Bad news, though -- we already found the best egg. Yep, today we're shilling for Cadbury, because it feels good in the tummy. However you celebrate your holiday (or if you celebrate it), we hope it's a good one ... or at least a good day. And if you just happen to decorate any Nintendo-themed eggs, we want to see 'em!
Happy Noblegarden!
"The great feast of Noblegarden has long been celebrated by the races of the Alliance and recently adopted by those of the Horde. On this joyous day, it is customary for the nobles and lords from each race to hide coins, candy, and the occasional treasures within special eggs painted to look like wildflowers. These eggs are then scattered around the major cities for the citizenry to find. From heroes to commoners, and everyone in between - the feast of Noblegarden is meant to bring communities together to share the joy of life and friendship." -The Official Event Calendar Good morning readers and Happy Noblegarden! If you didn't know yet, today is a pretty neat(if mundane) holiday in the World of Warcraft, which coincides with the real life holiday of Easter. And just like Easter, you're in for a lot of eggs. Most of the actual rewards are just toss away items like candy, but you can also get your hands on neat fashion items like an Elegant Dress or a Tuxedo.This'll be my third year plucking eggs now, and I haven't gotten a dress for my priest yet. Wish me luck, and I hope your luck is better than mine has been!
The egg-hunt is back with new, hopefully expanded Noblegarden
For those not paying attention to their calendars, Easter is nearly upon us (it's early this year!) and that means another year of Noblegarden for the WoW-faithful. Last year's event left a little something to be desired, as Noblegarden wasn't given the same decorative fanfare as some of the more "major" holidays like Halloween or Christmas. It was a one day event and players had to travel all the way back to the starter areas to join in the hunt for multi-colored eggs, and the rewards, usually just a piece of chocolate or a couple copper, were hardly worth the effort. While we've gotten no promises that things have changed substantially this year, Noblegarden is back again and once more we are diving into it hoping that Blizzard has seen the error of their ways and made the event both more festive and rewarding for players. About the only change we noticed in the description on the official page was that eggs would be scattered around the major cities this time around, so it should be interesting to see if foot-traffic picks up. If nothing else, we're hoping we can at least get our hands on one of the holiday costumes (an Easter Dress or pieces of a Tuxedo) without searching through eggs for half the day.
Jesus Mii invites us to Easter services
The fad of creating everyone's favorite non-secular celebrity in Nintendo's Mii Channel is far from new. What is new, however, is using the holy caricature in an advertisement for Easter services. In a (successful [and adorable]) attempt to capitalize on the continued popularity of the Nintendo Wii, the Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco has adorned their ads for holy week with the pint-sized Jesus Mii.Christened with the tagline "Come and Follow Mii," and including a very confused bunny, the ad is surprisingly well put-together, and definitely gives the impression that the church knows their audience. Kudos to them for the slick design.[Via Eurogamer]
The FFXI Easter egg hunt is on!
While Brew Day, Noblegarden, and even LOTRO's new Spring Festival are all well and good, for me the ultimate Easter event in a online game has to be the Egg Hunt in Final Fantasy XI. The official FFXI site has up notes on the rewards you can garner for participating in the event this year - the very beautiful eggs pictured above with a very sleepy Moogle. How to actually participate in the Eggstravaganza event isn't on the site, but the event hasn't changed overmuch in the many years it's been running. For hints, Allakhazam has guides for the 2005 egg hunt and the 2007 egg hunt. Square/Enix is a big fan of seeing user experiences applauded and praised, so for most of the month they've been accepting player stories. Ostensibly connected to the Egg Hunt event, many are anecdotes from humorous events in the lives of Vana'diel citizens. They're fun to read - especially because they're short: "My first day consisted of punching a bee until I figured out how to equip a weapon, staring at a door until someone opened it, and following people around to find my moghouse!"
Lineage II's Bunny Money event
NCsoft has something funtastical (see what I did there?) in mind to celebrate the coming of Spring in Lineage II. According to their press release: 'Adventurers all across Aden and Elmore will soon be able to travel to the curious shores of Fantasy Isle (sans the long swim), where its diminutive inhabitants are celebrating the season with a new event called Bunny Money!'They don't say what the event actually entails (you'll have to visit their homesite on March 7th to find that out), but some of the prizes are S-grade armor, high-grade Soul Crystals, shadow Agathion bracelets, and more! If those sound enticing to you, you'll still have to wait until Friday to find out how you'll get them. Call me a nostalgist, but when I read the words 'diminutive inhabitants' in the same sentence as 'Fantasy Isle', all I can hear in my head is 'Da plane, boss! Da plane!'
Blizzard, improve Noblegarden!
Some of the best times i've had in World of Warcraft have been participating in Blizzard's entertaining holiday events. Large portions of the world are revamped with decorations, new quests, and of course, prizes! And, while the prizes may not be that important (food, Halloween costumes, etc), participating in the holiday events is always a fun change of pace from the norm. However, I have to say Noblegarden -- Blizzard's Easter event -- pales in comparison to their other holidays. Why? No decorations or changes in any of the cities... not even a lone NPC to inform players that they can hunt for eggs. A one-day holiday as opposed to the week(s) of festivities for Halloween, Winter's Veil, etc. Noblegarden eggs are quite rare... and the prizes are sub-par at best. No holiday quests. Not a single one! If you didn't participate in Noblegarden this year, I'll give you the rundown. In the secondary newbie zones (not the starting zones, but the zones after that), eggs were hidden. You could loot the eggs to get a few copper coins, assorted candy (61 health over 18 seconds), and a chance at an Easter dress or pieces of a tuxedo. Yesterday I spent four hours (can you tell that I really wanted an Easter dress?) scouring Elwynn Forest for eggs. During this time, I managed to locate 26 eggs (which comes out to about one egg every 9 minutes). While I got plenty of candy and perhaps a whole silver worth of coin, I didn't get any of the holiday clothes that were the only appeal of the event -- but after spending 4 hours at the hunt, I couldn't bring myself to keep going. (And I imagine most sane people would have stopped sooner than that.)So what could Blizzard do to make this event fun and worthwhile for its players? Read on for speculation!
Our Favorite Easter Eggs
Happy Easter to all our Christian TUAW readers! To help you celebrate, here's a list of some of our favorite OS X Easter eggs for you to discover and enjoy. A "Python" audio clip. Navigate to the following folder: /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.3/lib/python2.3/test. Open the audiotest.au audio file you'll find there in QuickTime and play it back. A hidden picture in Mail. In Finder, open your Applications folder. Select Mail, control-click (right-click) it and select Show Package Contents. Navigate down to Contents, and then Resources, and then open Senders.tiff by dragging it onto your Preview application icon. Cool dates in history. In terminal, type open -e /usr/share/calendar/calendar.history More after the jump.
