MMORPG
Latest
Paying Real Taxes for Virtual Items?
All you have to do is visit eBay to see that your virtual acquisitions in Azeroth have real money value. But if my epic-geared character has a real value (a priest in my guild was recently offered $1000 for his character), does that make it a taxable asset? The IRS has no definitive answer for this, though as the market for buying and selling virtual goods becomes larger, there's the chance that this could change. While such real life consequences for a game might seem far-fetched, they're already starting to occur - players in South Korea have been prosecuted for stealing virtual property and Chinese courts have ordered game companies to restore stolen (virtual) goods. Can the IRS be far behind?
Shaman Review in 1.12?
As other class reviews have come and gone, the remaining classes have become quite touchy about who is going to be next. We already know that mages will be reviewed in 1.11, and yesterday Eyonix let us know that shamans are scheduled after mages, leaving them patch 1.12. To the rogues groaning on the sidelines, remember that being last may not be for the worst - after all, shaman was the last class reviewed by Blizzard before the game's launch.
Not quite WoW on the 360...
While the there's still nothing solid on visiting Azeroth via your Xbox 360, intrepid fan David Nikdel has created a mod that allows you to use a PC compatible Xbox 360 controller to navigate the game world from your old-fashioned desktop. I still have trouble seeing how I could fit all of the keybindings on my keyboard on to a controller, Nikdel has certainly proven that it's possible to make it work. [Via Joystiq]
Add-Ons and Patch 1.10, Revisited
When the test server first came up, I made a post regarding the numerous add-on problems people were seeing. Well, now it's patch day and there are a number of mods that won't be in working order when the servers come back online - including favorites like CT Raid Assist and Decursive. European community manager Aeus has made a post, presumably as an attempt to calm the flow of complaints before they start, reminding everyone of possible add-on issues. While I'm hoping this won't be as bad as it sounds, patch days are usually a tumultuous time of fixing and tweaking for those of us that use any UI mods. Since the servers are down, now's as good a time as any to check for updates to your favorite UI mods - so get at it!
Did a DoS Attack Bring Down the Warcraft Servers?
If you attempted to play this weekend, chances are you had trouble logging in, were repeatedly disconnected, or were plagued with server lag. But while Blizzard claimed it was an ISP issue, some wonder if it wasn't a targeted DoS attack. Traffic logs from Netcraft show patterns similar to such an attack, though there's no official word on it, either way.
Official Dungeon 2 Graphics and Stats
Rumor no longer - the official graphics and stats for the Dungeon 2 armor set (sometimes called tier 0.5) have been released by Blizzard, as well as information on modifications to the Dungeon 1 (sometimes called tier 0) armor set. I don't see anything unexpected here, but if you haven't been following the rumor mill too closely, it's worth checking out.
Tuesday: Patch Day!
The wait for patch 1.10 is over - Eyonix has confirmed that it will be released during maintenance tomorrow. While I'm pretty excited about seeing some of the changes go live, there's still a long wait while the servers are patched. And it will be a longer wait for those playing on the new servers, which will be down until 2:00 PM PST instead of the usual 11:00 AM PST. Up for a little fishing, anyone?
Raiders Rejoice!
It may be a small change, but an important one for many guilds raiding Molten Core. For those of you who don't know, to summon Majordomo, which allows you to summon Ragnaros, you must douse several runes throughout Molten Core using a special item - aqual quitessence - that is obtained from Duke Hydraxis far off the coast of Azshara. The item is single use, unique, and it's a long, long run to get to Hydraxis and back. So each raid you must ensure that several players have made the trek to Hydraxis to acquire a fresh batch of aqual quitessence - an organizational headache, I assure you. And let's not even get into the number of raids that have had to stop while several players hearthed and ran to Azshara, because everyone assumed someone else would bring aqual quitessence that run. However, today community manager Eyonix announced that there will be a multi-use version of the aqual quitessence that players will be able to acquire upon reaching revered with the Hydraxian Waterlords. Huzzah!
New Server Monday: Maybe Not!
While two new transfer servers were supposed to go live today, it sounds like there are some technical problems. Players hoping to transfer from Shadowsong or Azjol-Nerub to Norgannon or Alleria or Hellscream to Thrall will have another chance tomorrow, when transfers should re-open at 3AM PST.
Revised Inner Fire: Better or Worse?
In the upcoming patch, the priest's inner fire skill has been revamped, and not everyone thinks it's for the best. The attack power bonus has been removed, the armor bonus has been increased, and the duration has increased from 3 minutes to 10 minutes. However, there's an added caveat to that new duration - inner fire now has 20 charges, and each time the priest is hit, a charge is used. This means that when a priest is taking hits in combat, inner fire isn't going to last 10 minutes, or even 3 minutes - numbers being thrown around on the priest forums suggest that a rogue could go through all charges in 10 seconds while a hunter pet would take 15 seconds. But despite public outcry, community manager Eyonix has said that they're pleased with the improvements. While I'm not one of the people claiming they're going to be removing inner fire from their hotbar, I'm certainly disappointed that, when confronted with complaints about the skill's short duration, Blizzard decided to significantly reduce the duration.
Easy Mode: Alliance or Horde?
While I don't personally subscribe to the theory that one faction is better than the other, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. My current main character is in an Alliance-side raiding guild, yet I'm considering the prospect of raiding for the other side and starting to think that, perhaps, my days in the Alliance really have been "easy mode." The key to this argument is, of course, the paladin - whose blessings can easily be applied across a whole raid of players (though each paladin may only have one blessing per player). Shaman totems, alternately, only buff those players within their group, and have a limited range (rendering them useless for fights that require movement) - and unless you're running a raid with 8 shamans, this means that some players simply won't have access to these buffs at all. So while Blessing of Salvation is something I've grown accustomed to, Tranquil Air Totem might not be something I should become too attached to. On the other hand, I'm enjoying the relative ease with which more organized Horde groups seem to be seceding in the Battlegrounds - though this is more likely to do with the specific groups I'm playing with than a faction imbalance. And, of course, this may change once I level into the 20-29 bracket for Warsong, as Ghost Wolf comes into play. Who do you think has it easy in Azeroth - Alliance or Horde?
C'Thun's Loot Table?
No, C'Thun has not been killed yet, but there are already rumors floating around as to what he might drop. Sure, there's no proof of any of this, but news of this nature seems to inevitably leak early - from Nefarian's loot tables to every set of patch notes. Casters will immediately be drawn to a new legendary item - a trinket dubbed The Piercing Eye of the Abyss. It gives an underwhelming bonus of 2% spell crit but also has the following interesting effect...Upon death, you have a chance to be possessed by the spirit of the Old God for 20 seconds. While possessed you cannot be attacked or targeted by any spells or effects and your damage spells deal bonus Shadow damage. When the effect ends, you die.While certainly interesting, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this item, or any other item that requires your death as a pre-requisite for usefulness.
Server Time Zones: Do They Matter?
While I haven't logged on to all of the new servers, I've heard they're all in the EST time zone - to much bitter complaining. But does the time zone the server runs on really matter that much? A number of players say it matters because guild raids are scheduled based on server time, but I've always wondered why players on a server time zone that doesn't fit their schedule can't band together and create their own guild and schedule. (Though I suppose this is more work than just joining a guild.) Of course, it seems like Blizzard could solve many of these complaints by adding a simple time zone tag to the realm selection screen. What do you think, dear readers? Does time zone really matter when choosing a realm?
When Virtual Worlds Collide
While I try to stick with one MMORPG at a time, I know a few people who play several. (Where do they find the time? I'll never know!) However, I imagine I'll eventually leave my Warcraft avatar behind and move on to other games - where I'll start from scratch. However, this article on Wired suggests that the future may see the boarder between our virtual realities blurring. Are we going to be able to bring our Sims to Azeroth? Doomguards to Animal Crossing? Perhaps not specifically, but as more and more people flood into virtual worlds, it will be interesting to see whether the boundaries between them change.
New European Realms Coming Soon?
With the release of 8 new US servers this week, and two more coming next week, I'm wondering about the fate of our European colleagues. But never fear, European players! Community manager Thundgot has noted that, while the US servers were released earlier than anticipated, the European team still plans to roll out new server hardware in mid-April. Since April is fast approaching, you'd best get started planning your new character and setting up a guild website!
Two More US Realms on Monday
I imagine the server folks at Blizzard have had a hard week - because they've announced another two realms, transfer only, opening Monday. Players on the servers Shadowsong and Azjol-Nerub can transfer to Norgannon while players on the servers Alleria and Hellscream can transfer to Thrall. As usual, transfers are open from Monday to Friday, 3AM to 3PM PST, and the transfer period closes on Thursday, after which point normal character creation will be available.
Casual Gamers and The Burning Crusade
The recent announcment of the Hellfire Citadel componant of the expansion (now up on the official site) has started me thinking about the casual, non-raiding gamer, and how they'll fit in to the new content. While some forum-goers are already calling out the expansion as bad for casuals (due to the fact that hard-core raiders will have a gear advantage in tackling new content), the two instance dungeons announced thus far make me wonder if it will be as bad as the early doomcallers predict. Previously announced Karazhan is designed for 10 players and Hellfire Citadel is a 4-wing dungeon - three wings are capped at 5 players, and the forth is designed for a full raid. While this both of these do require group play, they're small groups, which seems to leave an opening for more casual players who can't fit a 40-player raid into their schedule.
More Battlegrounds with Blizzard!
It looks like players will have one more chance to tussle with Blizzard in the battlegrounds before the contest realms close down on Monday. Players on US servers can find Blizzard in Warsong Gulch today, playing Alliance, between 5 and 7 PM PST. So get out there and fight the good fight![Fan art by Guillaume Bonnet]
Guild Leadership for the Rest of Us
Some recent drama in my current guild has lead me to seriously consider starting out on my own. And while I know it wouldn't be easy, I think it could be very rewarding to build a guild from scratch and work at learning end-game encounters with a new and different crew. Lucky for me, the Daedalus Project has results from a survey of guild leaders, and it may not be all its cracked up to be. Whether you're a guild leader or guild member, it's an interesting read.
Who are the gender-benders?
Academic MMO weblog Terra Nova is looking at gender-bending in cyberspace at the moment, delving into the phenomenon by asking the simple question "Who's doing it?". While many men who play female characters use the "nice ass" line--if they're going to be staring at a pixellated posterior all day, it might as well be a pretty one--Terra Nova tries to go beyond this by looking at the personalities of gender-bending players.The comments on the post are also interesting, covering identity tourism, transgender and GLBT issues as well as adding several more accounts of gender-bending (or not) into the mix.
