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Starting out in Vana'diel: See no evil, hear no evil, smell... no evil?
Hola mi amigos! Hoy es la dia de Vana'diel! *clears throat* Ahem, sorry about that. Hello adventurers, and welcome to another edition of Starting out in Vana'diel! Today's topic is actually one that I find quite cool about Final Fantasy XI, especially when you compare it to other MMOs. It's the mechanic that puts the fear of Promathia into every adventurer's step.Today's column is all about the different monster aggro types -- yes, there are different types. You want to find out more? Come, follow me, and let's find out more!
SOE provides further clarification on EQ2's Fighter revamp
Whether you're fully behind them or not, the changes to EverQuest II's hate system are quite significant and will have an impact on gameplay for all classes, not just the Fighters. Testament to the enormity of the overhaul is the fact that SOE has put out yet another summary of the changes, available on the EQ2Players community site. This latest clarification does not get quite as specific as Aeralik's take last week, but it does include an explanation and pictures of the new hate meter, which will form part of the standard UI when the patch goes live.If you have aggro on a mob, your meter will show the figure '100'. For everyone else, the closer their number is to 100, the closer they are to pulling a party foul and stealing aggro. This makes it much easier for DPS and healers to see when they are in danger of drawing an NPC's attention, and they can either remove themselves from the fight for a while, or hit a de-taunt ability (which has an instant effect on the hate meter number). The EQ2Players write-up also includes a list of the changes to fighter's abilities, but for a more detailed analysis and community feedback, Aeralik's thread is where you should head.
Significant aggro changes on the way for EQII
There's a fairly hefty set of changes to EverQuest II's hate/aggro system currently being ironed out on Test, and they aren't to everyone's liking. Due to the the complexity of the changes, developer Chris "Aeralik" Kozak has offered up a summary for players to wrap their heads around. We'll attempt to boil it down even more for you, at the cost of including some of the finer details.The problem with the aggro system begins with the fact that hate has scaled linearly as the game has progressed, and damage has scaled exponentially with gear and new skills, making it hard for designated aggro-holders to keep control of mobs. One of the changes on Test has given taunts the chance to hit critically, just like damage spells, and there will be a base and normalized amount of threat from taunt abilities.
Tank Talk: All about aggro
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column is rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and Allison Robert (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. This week's Tank Talk is a little bit of a public service. Recently huddled around the ticker-tapes of WoW Insider, we came to realize that your intrepid Insider lacked a particular resource: a basic guide to aggro. Certainly, this most important of subjects is old hat to us meatshields ... but maybe not quite so much to everyone around us. And gosh, who better to talk about this subject than your devoted Tank Talk tanks! And, really. If your team doesn't know aggro, then you're going to have a hell of a time as a tank. So, let's Tank Talk about aggro. What it is, where it comes from, why you want it, and why they don't want it.
Breakfast Topic: Doncha hate it when...
...you're doing a collection quest and you don't understand why the widgets aren't dropping -- until you realize you're grinding in the wrong area?And doncha hate it when you're just a few pulls away from finishing an instance when your main tank says, "Sorry guys, I've got to go, I didn't realize it was so late"?And doncha hate it when you finally grab that last pig's spleen, turn around to head back to the quest hub -- and walk right into an elite who sends you back for a corpse run?And doncha hate it when you go to turn in a quest after leaving an instance run... and then realize you left the quest item back on the last boss' corpse?I mean doncha? What else do you hate in game?
PerversionTracker returns
Oh yes. The site that hates Mac software -- all of it, without exception -- is back to hate some more. PerversionTracker has returned after a long, long hiatus, and now it has iPhone software in its sights. (For the uninitiated, the old PerversionTracker took Mac apps and ripped them to pieces while screaming with joy.) No word on whether the folks at VersionTracker are irked, peeved or fuming.Why has it returned now? What could possibly have got those hate glands working again? After all, everything in the App Store has to be approved by the gods of Apple before it goes live. There won't be anything worth hating. Will there?UPDATE: The PerversionTrackers got in touch to remind me that they don't hate all Mac software. Only the bad stuff. My apologies for the misrepresentation, and thanks to the 'Trackers for their laid-back approach to correcting over-excited journalists.
Habbo aims to erase hate in online communities
Let's face it, being a teen is not easy. With the ever-growing mountain of potential pitfalls teens may face, the last thing they want to deal with is the hatred, discrimination and bigotry that seems to be plaguing our online environments. To help combat this problem, Habbo has joined forces with the Matthew Shepard Foundation in a project they call "Erase Hate".Beginning July 7th, the Matthew Shepard Foundation staff will make appearances twice a week in Habbo's InfoBus to discuss those issues concerning young people in a safe environment. Main topics will include bullying, discrimination and any other forms of hate experienced on and offline. Not only will these teens be taught how to deal with these concerns, but they will learn how to encourage respect among peers. "It is a mission of the Foundation to support young people and provide them with the resources to lead healthy, productive, hate free lives," said Judy Shepard, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. "Our partnership with Habbo will allow us to have ongoing conversations with young people about what they can do in the fight to replace hate with understanding, compassion, and acceptance."
The Daily Grind: Which MMO should go away?
People love to hate things. Whether we're talking about sports, religion, politics, lifestyles, or goulash recipes, there are always at least two sides in opposition to each other, and frequently many more. Those on one side will sing the virtues of their choice, and decry the faults of the other side, sometimes with virulent verbiage. Nowhere is this activity more evident than in the forum of your favorite MMO.Gamers will yell at each other over the slightest perceived insult, and heap abuse on any who dare to assert the primacy of anything that isn't in line with what they love. And that's the sort of energy we want to invite! So, Precious Readers, which MMO do you hate the most, and why?
SOE exhibits 20 new pics of EQ2's Game Update 44
The official EverQuest II community site has been updated with 20 screenshots of the forthcoming Game Update 44. The screenshots illustrate the new features that were announced a week ago. There are quite a few shots of the new Shard of Hate instance and its related events, as well as the updated trade skill facilities in Freeport. You can also see the two new warg mounts and an oh-so-titillating shot of the new "Show Ranged Weapon" option for Rangers who'd rather show off their epic bows than their melee weapons.Once you're done looking over those, you can go read some snarky, sarcastic remarks about all the new Game Update 44 content in a pretty amusing commentary titled "Island of the Patch People," provided by EQ2 players RazorX and Coyote over at Ten Ton Hammer. All patches can be nitpicked at least a little, even the awesome ones!%Gallery-19417%
CC: How to run instances without a net
Running 5 man instances is the bread and butter of gearing up any PvE character. There are some short instances, and some longer ones. There are some bosses that are ready for fun, and others that like to die fast. Many people consider it a universal truth that all you need to do these instances is solid crowd control. When you're faced with a pack of six or seven level 70 elite mobs, the last thing you want is one or two of them running loose.But what can you do if you don't have any CC available? Are you just out of luck? Nope! There are a few tricks to running instances without CC, and if you pay close attention, you won't miss the lack of sheeps at all.In fact, you might just start preferring to run without crowd control entirely.
DS Daily: Why all the hate?
These days, it seems that everyone has a DS. You've got one. Your grandmother has one. Everyone in Japan has four. The dual screens are everywhere, especially at the tops of the sales charts, and the juggernaut doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.So ... why doesn't it get talked about more often? Why don't the games get better review scores?Listen, we may be hardcore fans here, but we're also the first to admit that the handheld has flaws. The online play isn't exactly the best. There are as many less-than-good games as there are great games. But those things can be tolerated in the name of an amazing portable experience -- and they are, by us and apparently, everyone else. So why is the DS the bastard child of the gaming community, doomed to less exposure than every other system?
Shocker: people loathe cellphone carriers
We know, we know, it may be difficult to understand how companies that lock you in the moment you decide on a phone / plan -- only to be about as helpful as a bottomless bucket the moment turmoil arises -- could be hated. Nevertheless, we can't say we're shocked at all to hear that cellphone providers are among the least liked in all of the service industries. In a recent report released by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, it was found that "fewer than half of respondents were completely or very satisfied with their cellphone service," and sadly, that's hardly different than in years past. Among the biggest gripes were high prices and mandatory contract extensions, and while pro-rated ETFs are fine and dandy, there's still a few less notable carriers that haven't swallowed that pill just yet. As for internal rankings, Verizon and Alltel each scored higher than the rest, and Sprint was found bringing up the rear.[Via Wired]Read - InformationWeekRead - NYDailyNews
I hate rogues! No, rogues are awesome!
Mirshalak doesn't like rogues. He makes a long post telling us why, and then Karthis from Of Teeth and Claws posts this rebuttal. Then in an utterly shameful display, Mirshalak... concedes that Karthis has a point.Oh dear. Well, there goes any hope of name calling, hair pulling or other ungentlemanly behavior. (Or unladylike, I don't know the actual gender of the folks involved.) So, then, what can we actually take from all of this? Well, here are my own incredibly long winded 'point/counterpoint' thoughts. Well, to be completely fair and honest, I have had a lot of the same problems with rogues Mirshalak mentions. While I don't believe that the entire class is sociopathic or full of people who can't work with a group, I have several stories stored up from my time playing WoW of rogues who decided to wipe the group and vanish because they didn't get a drop they wanted (not that someone else did get it, just because the boss did not drop the item, mind you) or rogues deciding to try and train bosses over the hunter who has feigned death to hopefully use his jumper cables to res a few healers in order to help prevent a reset wipe.
Dan Warne hates 10 things about the iPhone
Nothing in this world is perfect, other than hindsight, and the iPhone is no exception. People will encounter quirks when using this product in the real world. Hey, it happens (especially with a first rev of a complex product).Dan Warne has given a little thought to the iPhone and has created a list of ten things he hates about it. Considering that the iPhone has been out for less than a day this is an impressive feat. Dan lists, amongst his complaints: The battery isn't removable EDGE (it is slow compared to the other options) 5 hour talk time He makes some good point but isn't it interesting that despite these 10 things he hates about the iPhone he is still going to get one. That, my friends, is the true power of Apple.Is there anything about the iPhone that you hate? Sound off in the comments.
PC World adds another log to PS3 hate fire
Following in the footsteps of Time, New York Times, Washington Post and a string of other publications, PC World places another log on the hate fire calling the PS3 a "tech screw-up" of 2006. Saying the PS3 was supposed to be the greatest thing to home gaming since a hedgehog named Sonic, which we can only guess was a passive-aggressive dig at that series as well, PC World says the PS3 arrived too late and the Wii stole its thunder.The parting shots by PC World were that it was a mistake to turn a supercomputer into a gaming system and that Sony failed to "drive a stake through the heart of Nintendo when the opportunity offered." Hopefully Sony and the PS3 correct themselves in 2007, 'cause seriously, 2006 was a never-ending pit of bad press for Sony.
"I Hate You, E3," declares Escapist writer
Okay, so maybe not hate completely.The eye-catching title of an essay from the latest installment of The Escapist puts the emphasis on the negative aspect of the love-hate relationship many industry vets have with E3, but there's surprisingly a lot of love for the trade show here, even if you don't subscribe to the hardened "I hate E3 because I love it" theory of convention devotion.While the Joystiq staff hasn't been to quite as many E3s as the founder of the International Game Journalists Association (IGJA), we can certainly empathize with the world-weariness that might accumulate after years of weeklong death- press-marches and working in overcrowded, sensory-overloaded spaces. We just hope our love of the game(s) will stay with us as it has for Mr. Thomas, whether we're watching from home or working the show floor in person in post-apocalyptic L.A. The parties will be sure to be awesome.See also: Joystiq at E3 2006 mega-site The Escapist's big E3 issue this week, with references within to Joystiq's Paris Hilton story and some E3 party pics orig. from Joystiq The Game of Journalism -- the IGJA's official web site
