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The Nexus Telegraph: Between the lines of WildStar's quiet weeks
Did you miss us? I know, it was probably weird not seeing an installment of the Nexus Telegraph last Monday, since I sort of have a reputation for turning in everything early and without fail. (Like the week when I had no power and still turned in my columns.) But there's no need to worry; we're still going live biweekly. Or were you mostly missing the weeks in which we were absolutely swamped by WildStar news? It certainly seems a lot more quiet lately. We've gone from big system reveals to a few tidbits here and there; the two big stories over the past two weeks have been confirmation that we're not getting another big wave of beta invites and that the game's default UI is being revamped. These are both worth talking about, but in this case I think the silence actually says quite a bit all by itself.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's NDA and impending release
The release date approaches for WildStar, and that day is... entirely unclear. Maybe it'll be next month; maybe it'll be six months from now. The official word is still silence. Mirroring that silence are the game's current testers, still under an NDA that prevents them from talking about the game even as we in the press can talk about much of the content and leveling currently in place through both text and streams. Are these relevant points to discuss? Yes, they really are, especially in the wake of two prominent illustrations of what can be done with testing phases and NDAs. So let's talk about the NDA, the lack of a release date, and how those elements might tie into one another. Especially as we're coming off of a weekend when more people got to try out the game, it's important to talk about when the gates and the lines of communication will be opened.
Google and LG are reportedly working together on an Android smartwatch
Rumors of a Google-powered smartwatch just got a little more tangible -- both CNET and the Wall Street Journal claim that the search firm is teaming up with LG to make the Android-based wristwear. We still don't know much about the hardware's capabilities, but CNET believes that Google would follow the Nexus model and create a reference device that would launch at Google I/O in June. The WSJ notes that other manufacturers could also join the fray. None of the companies involved have commented on the rumor so far, so you won't want to start budgeting for the gadget just yet. However, a Google-badged, LG-made smartwatch would make sense when the two companies have enjoyed success making phones like the Nexus 5, and LG is already designing wearables like the Lifeband Touch.
The Nexus Telegraph: Stuff the endgame needs in WildStar
I'm going to go ahead and totally dispense with any vagueness here because we already know that WildStar will have a raiding endgame and a PvP endgame. That's great, that's valuable, that's absolutely nothing. That's exactly what lots of games launch with. It's what lots of games consider their bread and butter. It's also not going to cut it. If WildStar sells itself on providing the exact same endgame that we've seen in every other game ever, I'm hesitant to say "it will fail," but it sure as heck won't be dazzling anyone three months out from release. You can't make a game with the selling point of "play however you like" and then surreptitiously add "except when you get to endgame, and then you'd better raid, buddy." With that in mind, let's talk about what the game needs in terms of endgames that we don't see on a regular basis.
The Nexus Telegraph: Making it how you'd like in WildStar
I freely admit that I have not dived heavily into crafting in the WildStar beta, for the same reason that there is a lot of stuff in the WildStar beta that I have not heavily invested in. That reason is simple: I plan to be playing this game for a long while, and I'd really like to avoid burning out before it even releases. I didn't adhere to that rule in the Final Fantasy XIV beta and kind of felt the pinch, so this is a rule I learned the hard way. That having been said, I've fooled around with it enough to be really excited after the last interview I had regarding the crafting experience. What I heard confirmed my limited experiences and offered some interesting food for thought. There are a couple of elements that might seem counterproductive and a lot more that are worth looking forward to in the future.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's greatest opponent is WildStar
Your real opponent is pretty much always yourself. I could spend the next several years of my writing career trying to be a better writer than, say, Justin Olivetti. I'd fail, for starters, because look at the guy. But even if I could succeed, I'd never be living up to my potential. I'll always be the guy trying to be better than the last thing Justin wrote, never coming up with my own things, never really advancing myself. The only way to be truly good is to try to be the best writer I can be, regardless of who else is out there. What does this have to do with WildStar? Simple. I mention other games here, other releases looking at the same window, but WildStar doesn't need to be better than those games, up to and including The Elder Scrolls Online. WildStar needs to be the best version of itself that it can be. Its only real opponent is itself, not other titles.
The Nexus Telegraph: Everyone's got active combat, and so does WildStar
WildStar is launching with active combat, but let's be totally honest about something: The whole telegraph system is not exactly as special now as it might have seemed, say, three years ago. Guild Wars 2 has active combat. Ditto TERA, ditto DC Universe Online. The Secret World makes use of telegraphs all over the place (which kind of feels like a kludge, but so does most of the game's combat system, so there). Even Final Fantasy XIV -- a game I have noted on many occasions as having a much slower and more tactical combat pace -- makes heavy use of telegraph mechanics. And The Elder Scrolls Online is certainly launching with a more active combat system, to boot. There's more to WildStar than telegraph markers, though. So it's time to talk about what the game actually does in terms of combat that's interesting and novel. We've been told that the active combat of the game is a big deal, but is it actually revolutionary, an evolution, or just another thing?
The Nexus Telegraph: Examining the Exiles of WildStar
It's a truism you can see in literally any project you undertake: As a project wears on, standards for success slip lower and lower. The Exiles of WildStar have seen their major project go on for a very long time now. It started with Brightland's rebellious activities, yes, but at the time, those were actions of protest. That was a long time ago now, down what seems like an almost unfathomably far road. The Exiles of today certainly aren't fighting to reverse policies or change the Dominion; they're fighting for a home. We're introduced to the game's setting as a conflict between two opposing factions, but let's not mince words. The heart of the conflict has been over for a very long time now. The Exiles lost. What players will be jumping into is not the latest part of an ongoing struggle but the last stand of one faction that survives partly on the simple ignorance of its greatest enemy.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's great big sexist elephant in the room
There's a subtle problem in WildStar that we've all seen lurking around the edges. It's not huge, and it's not glaring, but it's there, and it's pretty obvious. It's the elephant in the room, and much like the traditional elephant, it's something absolutely no one wants to actually point out because it is not fun to point out. But it's pretty obvious as soon as you look at the races that the male Mechari are built like linebackers and the female Mechari are wasp-waisted blowup dolls in a permanent pair of heels. I've been a fan of WildStar since its first teaser trailer, and while I'd hoped for detailed character customization, the beta came without any body sliders or any other options for customizing a character's build. And while the Mechari are easy to cite as problematic (mostly because none of the other women has high heels as part of her feet), this sort of subtle and passive sexism weaves its way into the game on a consistent basis.
The Nexus Telegraph: Examining the Cassians of WildStar
Imagine, for a moment, that your self-esteem has been validated completely by an external force. In fact, let's turn that up a little more -- let's say it's been validated by every single person you've ever idolized. Imagine that they all showed up at your front door and said you were awesome and that if you would just give them your cat, you would be granted a marvelous dominion over everything. First of all, it would be time to say goodbye to the cat. Second, it would mean that from that moment on, your future actions would all be entirely validated no matter what you did. Seriously, how could it ever be otherwise? Every authority you respect came around to tell you that you are supremely awesome, and you are apparently the last person any of them talked to. This should give you the barest hint of what it's like to be one of the Cassians in WildStar. You are born into greatness, into a legacy of being the greatest thing ever, and you don't just have to live up to that legacy -- you have to outdo it.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's year in review
I started this column early in December of 2012, which means that as of now I've been writing about WildStar once a week for a little over a year. It's also nearly the end of the year, which makes it an ideal time to write about the changes that we've seen to the game over the past year. So I'm just going to go ahead and ignore the slight discrepancy and use this column for both year-in-review elements. Obviously it's not exactly possible to look back at the changes to the game over the past year, since we're talking about a game still in the midst of its testing cycle. But we started the year without even knowing about one of the game's factions beyond a vague mention, much less the game's lore and classes. So let's look back at the last year of news and the last year of columns in their entirety.
The Nexus Telegraph: Examining the Aurin of WildStar
The Aurin aren't the same as their allies in WildStar. The humans are still fighting a long, lonely war against the Dominion for slights that were so long ago the Dominion has likely forgotten about them. The Granok persist in their fight out of a dogged need to make their exile from the homeworld seem palatable. And the Mordesh have a long history of loathing to go along with being undead monstrosities, for which they (somewhat unfairly) blame the Dominion. But the Aurin? They aren't fighting for anything. They were dragged into this war by humans, propelled by a promise that grows ever more unlikely in its potential fulfillment. All that the Aurin wished to do was help people in obvious need, and their thanks -- and ultimate reward -- seems to trap them in an endless cycle of violence in which they're not naturally inclined to participate. In some ways, they're the most victimized race of the Exiles because they're limited by not just the Dominion but their fellow faction-mates.
The Nexus Telegraph: Talking a bit about WildStar's beta
As you probably saw last Thursday, the 1-15 beta experience in WildStar had its NDA lifted for us schlubs in the press, allowing us to chatter on quite a bit about the game. We've seen articles discussing the early levels, we've seen streams, and we've been treated to a surfeit of information on the game in its current beta state. I talked about all of that, and I want to talk about it some more because I am really excited about it. After playing the game through to 15, I've got a lot of stuff to look forward to as well as some definite criticisms. So above and beyond what I've already said, I want to talk some more about WildStar's beta.
This is the white Nexus 7 (hands-on)
The Nexus 7 has been out in a black hue since this summer, so it was only a matter of time before Google launched it in white. And this may not come as any sort of shock, but the white version of the ASUS-made Nexus 7 doesn't pack any unexpected surprises -- unless, of course, you were hoping the device would be white on the front and the back (although white is barely visible along the edges when you're looking at the front). We had the opportunity to play with the KitKat-packing slate today, and your overall user experience will be exactly the same regardless of your color preference. The outside is essentially alike as well, although there are two exceptions: This one has the FCC info printed on the back, which, by the way, has a glossier feel than the soft-touch plastic on the black Nexus 7. In fact, we were immediately reminded of the feel of the white Nexus 5. If the new hue is for you, they're already shipping from the Play Store in the US for $270: Your only option is a 32GB WiFi-only model. Check out the gallery below for plenty more images.
CyanogenMod 11 M1 release arrives early for (most) Nexus phones and tablets
Having just wrapped up development on its Android Jelly Bean-based 10.2 software, the CyanogenMod team is already pushing out a "Milestone 1" release of the upcoming Android 4.4 KitKat-based version 11. How can this happen so quickly? For now, CyanogenMod 11 M1 is only available for "actively AOSP-supported Nexus devices", which it expects to have few device-specific issues on, since their hardware code is provided by Google. That means it will be accepting bug reports from those devices right away, and have already been tested to make sure they work properly. If you're already bored of the stock Google-provided KitKat experience on your Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 (all versions) or Nexus 10, downloads of the new software are available here for you to test out. Android users on other platforms (including the Galaxy Nexus Google apparently felt it had to leave behind) will soon see nightly releases roll out as usual, however a rapidly changing codebase and possible device-specific bugs means they won't be able to submit bug reports right away.
The Nexus Telegraph: Examining the Chua of WildStar
Last week I proposed a theory about two of the game's races, one of them being the Mordesh. That theory, in case you didn't catch it (and it wasn't stated outright anyway) proposed that WildStar's dirty little secret races are that way in part because they say something about their home fashion. The Mordesh serve as a reminder that the Exiles are not, in fact, purely heroic figures struggling against insurmountable oppression. They're just as culpable as the Dominion in places, and they do not like thinking about that. So what about the Chua? What do they remind the Dominion of, aside from the ironclad law that every single MMO has to have one token short race? The Chua hit that button pretty hard. Just like Gnomes or Asura or Lalafells or countless other races that fall into the same role, they're a short and smart race known to be full of energy with an affection for technology, magic, and the usual assortment of things smart people like. The biggest difference is that WildStar's short race is both furry and insane.
Text message exploit can force your Nexus phone to reboot (updated)
Watch out if someone sends a flood of text messages to your Nexus phone -- they may be trying to break in or otherwise cause havoc. IT administrator Bogdan Alecu has discovered an Android bug that triggers exploitable behavior in the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 whenever they're hit by a large volume of Class 0 SMS messages, or texts that aren't automatically stored on the phone. The denial of service attack usually forces the handset to reboot, but it can also disable the network connection (if temporarily) or crash the messaging app. Non-Nexus hardware appears to be safe, although Alecu notes that he hasn't had a chance to test a wide variety of gadgets. Regardless of the problem's scale, affected users will have to be cautious for a while; Google tells PCWorld that it's looking into the exploit, but there's no word on just when we can expect a patch. Update: There's already a firewall app in Google Play that protects against the exploit. Thanks, Chipsy4!
The Nexus Telegraph: Surprise! WildStar!
You might have noticed that there was an omission in last week's installment of The Nexus Telegraph. Every week I let you lovely people know what I'm going to be writing about next week, and when I can, the week after that. Last week I completely omitted what I'd be discussing in my next WildStar column, leaving you with no idea what I'd talk about today. Surprise! Yes, that was the thematic link. It seemed clever to me. One of the big elements that WildStar is embracing thus far is that trick of surprising the player. It's a tricky thing to pull off in an MMO because the entire genre is built around understanding and minimizing surprises as much as you can. So let's take a look at some of the game's approaches to surprise and how the game manages to create more surprises by giving you fewer surprises in some areas. Yeah, it's that sort of thing.
Android engineer explains why you shouldn't force over-the-air Nexus KitKat updates
Got a Nexus phone but can't wait for the over-the-air update process to deliver the latest and greatest operating system to your handset? Simple, clear the service framework data and commence mashing the update key. Not so fast, hotshot, says Google's Dan Morrill, who has taken to Reddit to advise users against the approach. On the thread, the engineer has said that wiping the data will invalidate your push notifications in a variety of minor, yet annoying ways. While this process won't brick your smartphone, Morrill advises that if you want to save yourself some annoyance, you use adb sideload to avoid the messiness altogether.
Wireless Charger for Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 available today on Google Play
Google's Nexus Wireless Charger, designed to work with the Nexus 4 and 5 smartphones and the Nexus 7 tablet, is available for purchase today on Google Play. The compact Qi power cube ships with a 9-watt AC adapter and a micro-USB cable, and it may make it to your doorstep by the end of the week (if you opt for the $17 overnight delivery). For residents of Hong Kong and India, the good nws is that the Nexus 5 and Nexus are now available on Google Play. The charger will run you $50 plus tax on its own, and another $5.29 for ground shipping. Snag it now at the source link below.