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EVE Online creates guide to factional warfare
Factional warfare is the center of attention in most EVE Online news, given the changes affecting players in The Empyrean Age expansion. While these changes are new to everyone, they may not be terribly complex to seasoned players. However it's definitely a lot to grasp at once for newer players of the game -- much less those who are giving EVE a shot for the first time. CCP Games is trying to dispel some of the complexities surrounding the factional warfare game mechanics. In other words, they're answering the question: Where do I start? They've added a new section to the online player guide, which explains the main aspects of participating in factional warfare. The guide walks a player through enlisting in a factional militia, the consequences of being a combatant, territorial control, ranks, and everything in-between. They've also added new knowledge base articles related to factional warfare, such as explanations of ship restrictions in militia missions and battlefield intelligence. If you're interested in giving The Empyrean Age a go, but your head is spinning trying to figure it all out, these new sites are what you need to get a handle on it all.
Does my human female look psycho to you?
Apparently Blizzard spent some time rebuilding all the player models for Patch 2.4 in order to increase performance. What exactly does this mean to us players who loves the way our characters look? Absolutely nothing. You won't notice any differences in the models at all -- except, that is, if you happen to play a human female. Then you might look deep into your characters eyes and notice a certain "Stepford-wife" look, like a "2000-yard stare," as if her "irises are popping out of her head."Asariah noticed this and posted his concerns in the Bug Report Forum (did you know there was a Bug Report Forum? neat huh?). Hortus spotted this report and informed us that the human female was the only one of the multiple races to receive a minor alteration from this, and that "it was decided that this was an acceptable change." Apparently someone up there at Blizzard is a big fan of 2000-yard, iris-popping, stepford-wife eyes in women! For my part, though, I have to get up really close to my human female character to notice the difference -- and then when I do it makes me giggle uncontrollably. It's really no worse, in my opinion, than all those glowy reflections you see in anime girls' eyes. And to be honest, human women have always been a bit vacant-looking in WoW; they're better than human men, of course, but still don't usually look like paragons of profound intelligence. At least they don't bounce up and down like night-elf girls do.[Via World of Raids]
Phat Loot Phriday: Hortus' Seal of Brilliance
Haven't done an offhand in a while, so while this one isn't exactly at the top of the heap, it's a nice item for your newly-70 alt to pick up, and it has a fun nod to a guy who's been working hard lately. Also, have a suggestion for a piece of phat loot to cover? Share it in the comments below or drop us a note on the tipline.Name: Hortus' Seal of Brilliance (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDigger)Type: Off-hand AccessoryArmor: N/AAbilities: +18 Stamina, +20 Intellect Increases spell damage and healing by up to 23 The stamina on this says Warlock, but if there aren't any warlocks around, this wouldn't be a bad pickup for any damage caster (Elemental Shaman, anyone?), especially one looking to head into PvP. For most casters, odds are that even if you grab this, it'll be replaced pretty quickly with either a better offhand or a 2h weapon. But on the other hand, it does look cool, and it's named after one of the most beloved CMs (if you can believe that CMs can be universally beloved) on the forums, the hypno-gnome Hortus. He's the bug guy, so many times (especially when a big PTR is being tested like this), he'll be the one to show up with answers to players asking about whether something is bugged or not. And he's brilliant. Hence the seal. How to Get It: It drops from the Fel Horde's Warchief, Kargath Bladefist. We've talked about him before on PLP, so suffice it to say that he's a mean SOB with blades for hands. No idea why he's carrying around Hortus' seal, but if you are able to grab it from the guy (it drops pretty often, in both normal and heroic modes) , you might want to see about getting it back to Hortus -- he'll probably need it for all the PTR testing going on.Getting Rid of It: Sells to vendors for 2g 20s 45c, and disenchants into a Large Prismatic Shard.
Attribute systems have -10 to Intelligence
As a gamer who was holding a controller long before I'd ever even heard of a D20, the attribute systems that seem to be standard in the world of RPGs were always a little foreign and foreboding. The idea of Strength and Dexterity were easy enough to grasp, but what the heck did Constitution mean? And for that matter, what's the difference between Wisdom and Intelligence? Even as an adult, the attribute system in a game like World of Warcraft is a bit strange to me. They give general descriptions on the website and in the game's manual, but when you start throwing in things like crit chances, the five second rule, and attack power, it all becomes a dense, tangled mess.On his blog, Brian Green ponders whether such a system can't be simplified in a way that would encourage a deeper understanding for players who don't take their games so seriously that they've got their gear progression mapped out in Excel. His first suggestion is to sweep away derived stats, or more accurately, JUST have derived stats, and ignore the base stats that influence them. Seems reasonable enough, if a bit more long-winded. His second suggestion is to take away the level curve, making stats behave the same regardless of the player level. It's an interesting idea in the abstract, but one wonders whether developers, and indeed the players they're developing these games for, are ready to put in such a radically different system.
Phat Loot Phriday: Amberseal Keeper
It's Friday again, and that means it's time to check out another piece of sweet gear available for you to find in Azeroth. Since we've done melee and ranged, let's do a cool caster piece this week.Name: Amberseal KeeperType: Epic StaffDamage, Speed: 144-228, 3.30 (56.6 DPS)Abilities: +20 Intellect bonus +5 to Arcane, Fire, Nature, Frost, and Shadow resistance Restores 12 mana / 5 seconds Increases damage and healing done by up to 44 Nice staff for almost any caster-- there are better staves out there for specific classes (except maybe druids), but the Int bonus and the across the board 44 boost make this a nice staff to have as you work toward your sets But then again, it's a heck of a challenge to get-- see below How to Get It: Drops from the demon Lord Kazzak, an outdoor raid in Blasted Lands. And even as outdoor raids go, this guy will give you as much trouble as he possibly can. He's got a crazy undodgeable shadowbolt volley that will kick the crap out of your and your raid, and he's got a spell called Mark of Kazzak: drains mana from the target for 250/sec, and then explodes them aoe for 4000 damage when it's done. Yeah, scary. And if anyone does happen to die during the fight, Kazzak casts Capture Soul, a spell that instantly gives him 70,000 health.And one more thing: you have to finish the fight in three minutes, because if it lasts a second more, Kazzak goes into "Supreme Mode" and starts tossing Shadowbolts every second, which works out to almost 1000 dps for everyone in the raid. Can you say wip? The good news is that the drop is 15%, so even though Amberseal Keeper is a great staff, it's almost worth more as a sign that you were able to down this monster.Auction Price: BOP, natch. Vendor it (if you're crazy) for 11g, 92s, 78c.
"Ludology" is now jargon
Wired's monthly Jargon Watch feature has listed ludology as new bit jargon alongside fratire, chassis (in a non-automotive sense) and social jet lag. According to Jonathon Keats of Wired, ludology (from the latin word ludus, meaning "games") is the academic study of videogames. Intellectual sites such as Jesper Juul's The Ludologist and Gonzalo Frasca's Ludology.org consistently provide us with thought-provoking material on our favorite entertainment medium. Now that ludology is official jargon, does this mean game criticism will become more mainstream? Someone go tell Klosterman, quick! In the meantime, might we propose a bit of jargon: joystiquery. We know this will probably start an anti-Joystiq flame war, but we will update the post later with the best definition given to us in the comments below.[via The Ludologist]
