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X3F and Joystiq's E3 reader meetup: Thursday, July 17th in Santa Monica
Our community is oh so important to us, so whenever we get a chance, we love to chat it up with our fellow fanboys face to face, person to person and mono y mono. That's why we're doing it again this year, partnering with our gentle overlords over at Joystiq for the second annual E3 Joystiq reader meetup in Santa Monica next week! At Mahalo's headquarters, no less!The E3 reader meetup will feature plenty of social fun, free food and drinks, a bunch of video games to play (hooked up to a few very expensive projectors) and hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of swag will be given away. Over 200+ pounds of swag, ranging from video games to faceplates to peripherals to wearable swag. All being given away for FREE at the meetup! Though, we must admit, the most important reason you should attend is to meet the X3F crew. Yup, Richard and Dustin will both be in attendance along with a bunch of the Joystiq bloggers. Good times will be had!Be a social butterfly, stop by Mahalo HQ next Thursday, mingle a bit, win some swag, get your game on, meet the blogging crew and smile from ear to ear. Everyone can attend and don't forget to RSVP.When: 6-10:00PM pacific on Thursday, July 17thWhere: Mahalo HQ, 902 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (map it!)Who: Every man, women and child of every age. Yes, even YOU can attend!Why: Because it's "good times".RSVP: Facebook
Happy Fourth of July from X3F
Today is July 4th, which is probably just another uneventful Friday to those living outside the United States. But for those who live within the U.S. borders, today is America's birthday, the day we refer to as Independence Day, the Fourth of July or (what we've come to call it) Firework Bonanza Day! Hopefully, those who are celebrating the country's birthday are among family and friends, are taking it easy (for those who have to work, we feel for you) and consuming all kinds of semi-charred grilled foods. And here's to hoping that the weather cooperates, allowing you to get outdoors, enjoy life outside the Xbox 360 and watch some fireworks. Though, if the weather or annoying family members prevent you from viewing the fireworks spectacle, we fully support your decision to use Boom Boom Rocket as a substitute. From all of us at X3F, have a fantastic July 4th where, tonight, we'll be making a s'more just for you.
The best of WoW Insider: June 10-17, 2008
You can almost hear David Bowie singing around the realm of Azeroth lately: ch-ch-ch-ch-changes are in the air. Blizzard decided to do PvE to PvP transfers for the first time this week, Season 4 is coming soon in the Arenas, and lots of changes are coming to old Azeroth (including the Dalabubble, above). But don't let change worry you -- Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider has you covered, through all the changes coming in Wrath of the Lich King. You can turn and face the strain -- we got your back. News WoW player more ashamed than porn addictAddiction is out there, and people suffering from it need to get help. Combat stats and spellpower consolidated on AlphaA huge change to the way talents and gear will work hits the expansion's Alpha servers. Seven graphical WoW generators, and one for your carSeven different ways to put your World of Warcraft character into graphical form. Starting from scratch with two weeks to Season 4The new arena season was announced this week, and even if you weren't prepared, we've got you covered. Reading between the lines: are more PvE to PvP transfers possible?Blizzard broke their precedent for the first time this week to save a dying server -- will they do it again? Features Ask WoW Insider: /roll abuse?The number one way to cause drama in the game? Be unfair with loot. Tank Talk: The better (and lesser) angels of our natureOur raid Tanking column talks about that little DPS devil on your tanking shoulder. Ask a Lore Nerd: The evil-o-meterLots of players know some things about lore, but the Lore Nerd knows all. Changes to old Azeroth coming in the next expansionWhat's changing in the old world when Wrath of the Lich King releases? A lot. 'Tis the Season 4 making moneyZach Yonzon tells you exactly how to cash in on the news that Season 4 is coming soon.
Why do people blog about WoW?
Why do we feel compelled to spill out our guts all over the intertubes for the entire world to read? The answer, of course, is a subset of the larger question, why do people blog about anything? It's probably a variation of the same question that medieval bards asked the operators of the first printing press: "Dude, why do you want to put yourself so, I don't know, out there?"The "serious" answers get all sociological and some junk. We want to be heard popping off about our opinions on talent trees, bragging about one-shots, or feeling part of the larger WoW community outside our own servers.However, as a WoW blogger myself, I know that the truth about us isn't nearly that pretty. We blog to brag about Kara exploits or show off our expertise on the Hunter class, a frame addon, or prime Oily Blackmouth fishing spots . We dream of demi-celebrity status in the WoW community. We try to provoke people into replying, sometimes with generous link love. We like to have the first scoop on expansion news (essentially, more showing off). We gossip about guild drama, sometimes wrapped up snuggly in the ignorance of our fellow guildies that we even have a blog. (There is a sweet freedom in finding the comfort of internet strangers.) We blog for artistic expression and to make others laugh.And the main reason we blog? The same reason we feel itchy when we haven't called Mom in a few weeks: guilt.
The Daily Grind: How are we doing?
The last time we checked in with you all to ask this question, you gave us some really great feedback. Since then, we've worked hard to incorporate some of the things that you asked for, and have found ways to change up some other things so as to make the site more friendly and enjoyable overall. As some of you may have noticed, we've changed our back-linking policy so that every first mention of a game in our recent posts now takes you to that game's website. (The second one still goes to the category for those who want more news.) Another thing that was talked about was the density of Second Life postings on the front page, which we had to find a more creative workaround for. We actually opted to test out feed-specific postings, using the Second Life category combined with their morning "newspaper" post. So far, response has been good. Beyond that, we've also added more great folks to our staff covering even more games. From seasoned blogosphere veterans to relative newcomers, we've tried to make sure our staff is a good mix. We've snagged interviews and exclusives -- something we're continuing to ramp up even now. On top of that, we added both our Massively Speaking podcast and a Twitter feed, for those who like to get their news on the go interspersed with a healthy dose of us being very silly! But as before -- we want this site to be all it can be for you, our readers. You've helped us grow like mad, and we want to be sure we're doing the best we can possibly do in return. So tell us, how are we doing? What do you think is good? Where can we improve?
Insider Trader: Jewelcrafting, the final stretch part 2
Last week, Insider Trader began the journey from 300 to 375 jewelcrafting skill. While we were able to avoid using recipes that required faction reputation or that had to be farmed, the cheapest methods to 375 from about 365 may require a bit more effort to obtain. If you are like so many other craftsmen, stuck with 375 seeming far away and expensive, then carry on through the break to examine ways to not only maximize your skills, but to attempt to make a profit while doing so, rather than running on a loss. Featuring several distinct ways to reach 375, you will find that you have many choices to suit your own needs, your guild's needs, and your server's market. In addition, I've put together some links for further reading that you should find helpful. Each week, Insider Trader takes you behind the scenes of the bustling sub-culture of professional craftsmen, examining the profitable, the tragically lacking, and the methods behind the madness. For more guides to maximizing your chosen profession, check out the final stretches for Leatherworkers and Alchemists alike, as well as part one of Jewelcrafting's final stretch. For a complete list of profession guides, feel free to peruse our directory.
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!
Hooray for new galleries!
In our eternal quest to bring our readers (that's you!) the latest and greatest in internet technologies (these tubes don't run themselves, after all), Xbox 360 Fanboy is proud to announce the arrival of our new and improved gallery system. Our new gallery system supports higher resolutions and allows users to leave comments on individual images. In the standard view, a low resolution image appears on the left side of the screen with the description on the right. But, if you click "Hi-Res" on the upper right, you'll be taken to the full resolution version of the image. Seriously, on a scale of one to ten, how cool is that? The change is retroactive to all of our previous galleries, so if you want to leave a comment about, say, our Game Fuel gallery, you can! Please enjoy our new gallery system, and look forward to more gallery content in the future. Check out the gallery below to see all the new features for yourself.%Gallery-15537%
About the Bloggers: Elizabeth Wachowski
Twice a week, our writers will tell you more about themselves, and let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more About the Bloggers. What do you do for WoW Insider? I'm a regular blogger. Right now, I'm the chronically late co-writer for Know Your Lore, the paladin column The Light and How to Swing It, and the rogue column Encrypted Text. I swear to Thrall there will finally be a new KYL this week. I also contributed to Arcane Brilliance for a short time until I realized that I don't really like playing a mage. I used to do a lot of short pieces on the forums and social aspects of WoW, but due to a new work schedule, those have decreased in recent months. What's your main right now? Right now, I have no main. Kelstar, the troll rogue pictured above, was my first character and the only one I've seriously raided on. I recently leveled a blood elf protadin, Sandinista, and am in the process of building up an undead affliction warlock, Sabra. All these characters are on Magtheridon-US. Yes, I am fully aware that my gear, rep, spec, appearance and entire being suck, so don't bother to look up my characters and tell me that. Most recently, I've been working on a new class, faction and server -- Mehitabel is my lowbie night elf druid on Warsong. WTS Blood Elf Bandit Mask plz.
Happy Valentine's Day from X3F
With love in our hearts and thoughts of dancing teddy bears in our heads, we here at X3F want to wish you a very special Valentine's Day. To celebrate, we advise taking a stroll through Xbox.com's Valentine's coverage, spending some quality video game time with a loved one and eating heart shaped sugar cookies until your stomach aches with sugary pain love. We know we'll be celebrating (and spending lots of money) this Valentine's Day with our sweethearts as we promise to be the most caring, thoughtful and supportive bloggers we can be. We also promise, for at least today, to ease up a little on both Xav and Terrence, the new guys. Hopefully they know that both Richard and I constantly nag, ritually yell and make unfair demands only because we care and want them to succeed. Because, deep down, we love our Xav, Terrence and all of you that make the X3F community the best group of 360 supporters on the net. Happy Valentine's Day guys ... now let's gorge on chocolates!
X3F RSS feed complications are now sorted out
It only took us like a week or so, but now we're confident in saying that we've fixed our RSS problems and that the RSS gnomes have been evicted from our site and relocated to Xbox.com's servers (zinga!). Both our main RSS news feed as well as the RSS Fancast feed (including both iTunes and the Zune Marketplace) should be working smoothly now, so be happy and go about your normal RSS activities. But if by chance we overlooked an issue or if you spot an RSS gnome lurking, please tell us about it and we'll work on a fix. Just DO NOT feed them chocolate, because you'll only create more headaches. Thanks for your patience and happy RSS'ing!
Predicting the MMO landscape in 2008
It's that time of year again-- before 2008 starts, everyone and their brother is going to throw out some predictions about what will happen with MMOs this year. So here's a Massively roundup, and a little meta-analysis of what might happen in this Year of the Potato. Let's start with our own Zenke-- he says Wrath won't make it out in 2008, The Agency and Warhammer will hit big, and Dark Age of Camelot and Vanguard are on their way out. He's also got Tabula Rasa sticking it out for the year, and claims that a major MMO (Age of Conan?) will be delayed past 2008. Ancient Gaming Noob is next: he also says Wrath is shipping late, but goes against popular notions to say that Star Trek Online will be released to cheers from fans on all sides. He also says the biggest story of the year will be Age of Conan's "titties," and that will throw a scare into the "adult" MMO market. He also says, tongue firmly planted in cheek, that Bioware is not actually making an MMO, and the announcement of that will "only spur greater excitement and speculation as to what kind of MMO BioWare is making." Funny. Keen of Keen and Graev expects Warhammer to go gangbusters, but also says Funcom will have trouble with the nudity in AoC, causing them to patch it out. He has Wrath "bombing," but at least he thinks it'll make it out. Lots more predictions for 2008 (including our own) after the jump.
Engadget HD's top posts, 2007
Indeed it was a banner year here at Engadget -- completely thanks to you, of course. Google may have its Zeitgeist, but we figured we could at least cap things off with a few lists of the most well-read posts of 2007 (and a few stats, to boot). See you in 2008!Top 20 most trafficked posts of 2007 (in order) LCD Vs Plasma in 2007 Let Engadget trick out your home theater Hackers discover HD DVD and Blu-ray "processing key" -- all HD titles now exposed Details about DirecTV's new HDTV channels continue to emerge DirecTV to carry 100 National HD Channels in 2007 Apple TV and HD quality: It's not the hardware Blu-ray players get a new standard set of features this October What it takes to produce an HD newscast Lord of the Rings HD DVD and Blu-ray details No Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD for PS3 owners? -- kind of Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player: $100, this Friday, Wal-Mart Toshiba HD-A20 review How to buy a Toshiba HD-A3 for $87 90,000 HD DVD players sold in one weekend DirecTV's new HD channels to launch on the 19th? How to run power to a wall mounted TV DirecTV 10 launched successfully, gears up for September action Are you ready for DirecTV's new HD channels? HDMI vs. component Sharp's new Aquos lineup Click on for a few more stats after the break.
Engadget Mobile's top posts, 2007
Indeed it was a banner year here at Engadget -- completely thanks to you, of course. Google may have its Zeitgeist, but we figured we could at least cap things off with a few lists of the most well-read posts of 2007 (and a few stats, to boot). See you in 2008!Top 20 most trafficked posts of 2007 (in order) Verizon's Juke, Pearl, Venus and Voyager get outed Verizon's LG Voyager heads up newly official fall lineup Hands-on with Verizon's new fall lineup Cingular's Treo 750, Blackjack and 8525 get WM6 treatment Verizon XV6800 in the flesh HTC's Touch with TouchFLO -- the Elf with new 3D sweep interface Skin your WM5 Pocket PC to look like the iPhone, get sued by Apple LG's VX10000 and VX8800 touchscreen spyshots? iPhone Q&A for AT&T employees Hands-on with RIM's WiFi-equipped BlackBerry 8820 Fake iPhones: a retrospective LEAKYMOTO: say hi to the MOTORIZR Z8 Samsung i760 for Verizon: yep, it runs Crossbow Hands-on with the Sprint Mogul by HTC Hands-on with the LG Voyager Hands-on with the AT&T Tilt iPhone & LG KE850: separated at birth? LG's KE850 PRADA official: iPhone says, wha? "Shuriken" is Sharp's Sidekick 4? New Chocolate: LG's VX8550 for Verizon comes into view Click on for a few more stats after the break.
X3F am cry: RSS feed is down, fix on the way
We thought it prudent to let everyone know that the Xbox 360 Fanboy RSS feed is broken. Rest assured that we are aware of the problem and doing everything we can to fix it. Unfortunately, many people in the Joystiq network are still on holiday vacation, so it may be a while before a proper fix is in place. We are aware of it though. In the meantime, we apologize for all the extra work that goes into visiting our (fabulous) website in the traditional manner.[Image: jurvetson]
Hooray for a new comment system!
Many of you have already noticed, but we figured it's probably protocol to announce that we have a new comment system. Those of you that hang out on Joystiq should already have a pretty good idea of how it works, but here's a quick rundown. Your comments will now feature your avatar image. If you haven't already set up an avatar, you can do so by clicking your user name in any of your comments. This will take you to a profile page where you can log in with your password (which can be found in comment confirmation emails if you don't already have one). Here you can edit some personal info and upload an avatar. Comments can now be voted up or down. Positively rated comments will become more visible, while negatively rated comments will become less visible. See a thoughtful, well-written comment? Vote it up! Do you see a hateful, irrelevant piece of garbage that should be expunged from all the internets? Vote that sucker down! You can also report comments that may be inappropriate. Finally, you can now reply directly to individual comments, which will make conversations (and flame wars) flow much more naturally. There you have it folks, a comment system with personality, flair, and usability. Enjoy. Oh, and feel free to ask questions about the new system (or just try it out) on this post.
Breakfast topic: I wish I knew then what I know now
A simple topic, but so difficult to figure out the answer to. If you could go back to when you first played WoW and give yourself some advice (WoW-related only, you can't tell yourself not to date that skeezy dude with the '80s hair from the Rockford), what would you tell yourself? In retrospect, I probably would have advised myself not to make a Rogue as my first character to level. They're a nice class, but having a primary Rogue made it difficult to get into groups and raids. I would have made a Druid or Priest instead. Additionally, I would have never tried to level in Silverpine Forest, entered Stromgarde Keep, or tried to solo all the seven billion elite quests before Outlands. I would have never tried to raid hardcore, and generally spent less time thinking about loot and more time cooking deviate fish. What would you do differently if you started WoW again?
Is ignorance of class changes bliss?
Ahhhh, how I love the Elitist Jerks forums, the home of the most intelligent, informed, and well-written players of WoW. EJ produced another gem of a topic recently that made me think a bit about the purpose of sites like ours, and what function they serve in the overall scheme of WoW. Malan, who plays the tauren shaman Keiji on Skullcrusher, recently posted in a thread on the shaman forums about an upcoming patch. Rather than complain about shaman mechanics, however, he asked the community manager Nethaera an important meta-question: If most WoW players don't read the forums, and the forums are the main way the developers and community managers tell new information to the player base, then isn't there a huge gap in communication for most players?
New WoW Insider directory page
New to WoW Insider and want to know what's in our back catalogue? Looking for our more reference-oriented posts? We know stories and features drop off the front page all too quickly and search isn't always the best way to find something, so we're always looking for ways to give you access to some of our older content that's still informative. We've started a new WoW Insider directory page to help you find some of our best guides, resources and original features. Is there a guide we haven't done yet that you'd like to see? Let us know what you want to know in the comments! WoW Insider directory
Breakfast topic: Has WoW had a positive or negative impact on your life?
There's a fairly familiar troll thread on the WoW Europe forums -- the usual "people who play WoW are wasting their lives" spiel. "I am worried that people are, and will, lose the best years of their real life to WoW," writes Anti. "... In my experience, between 18-21 are the best years of your life, partying, girls, going mad, you get the idea...those years can never be replaced ... Most people WILL look back at some stage in their lives and regret the real life they threw away to play Warcraft. And if they dont think it was wasted time, and still regard it as time well spent, their present life at that time must be sad." The thread has a lot of responses, from people regretting the time they've spent in WoW to celebrating that they didn't waste their youth drinking and partying. So that inspires me to ask: Overall, has WoW been a positive or negative force in your life? Do you regret the time you've spent on WoW, or consider it a good investment? I've been playing WoW for two years now, and I don't really regret the time I've spent on it. I don't neglect my real-life responsibilities to play, I haven't become a lump attached to a keyboard, and in many ways, WoW has actually enhanced my real life. I've met tons of people who I would never have occasion to meet out in the world. I visited a new city to meet some guildmates, and liked it so much that I ended up moving here. WoW helped me get a writing job and opened up new career opportunities. Heck, WoW even helped me learn French, although most of what I learned was raid instructions and curse words. Sure, I sometimes get scared when I realize my /played on all my characters is in the triple digits, but if I hadn't played WoW, I would have just watched TV or stared at the ceiling. What about you? Has WoW been a good thing or a bad thing for you?
