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Where Are They Now? 2012 personalities, including the blind player and his 'guide dog'
At last, our look back at five years of WoW personality interviews rolls around to the duo everyone's been asking about: Hexu and Davidian, the British soldier blinded in Iraq and his redoubtable "guide dog" guildmate who steered him through full participation in current raid content. Their story exploded across the internet after we interviewed Davidian here on WoW Insider, and Blizzard recognized the dynamic duo with in-game helms with flavor text alluding to their inspiring bond of friendship. Hexu and Davidian are both still playing World of Warcraft -- but the duo is together no more. As of the new year, the ever-energetic Hexu has been raiding on a new rogue, Dirtypawz, in Unqualified on Stormrage (EU). "I know!" he replies to my unspoken exclamation of surprise and sadness. "It was just that people were only raid logging, and it got boring -- but it was all amicable and cool. I still speak to people in Die Safe. I just wanted to do more than raid three nights a week." Hexu/Dirtypawz says a "very nice bloke" named Vatic is serving as his current raiding "guide dog" helper. "The people in the guild are all nice people," he adds, "and there [are] always things going on." We'll visit with Hexu/Dirtypawz next month about how he's settling in and dig into his tips for the many sight-disabled players who've written to us during the past year trying to reach him for advice. Meanwhile, Davidian reports that the year since we interviewed him has been packed with recognition and encouragement. "The publicity was just unreal," he says. "Even to this day, I get people coming to our server just to say how much the story inspired them and restored their faith in the gaming community. The biggest thing of all, though, was the fact that it made its way to Blizzard, and myself and Ben got signed copies of the collectors edition of Cataclysm signed by at least 50 members of the Blizzard team, and [we] received in-game pets also. Then to top it off, having in-game items with our names on them was just outstanding -- I mean, to be immortal in a game that we love to play is just, well words couldn't possibly describe it." All good people connecting to play a game that's close to our hearts ... Keep reading for more updates about people who love World of Warcraft, from our interviews during 2012.
Real-life Going Down achievement nets donation for Make-A-Wish Foundation
Sometimes it's not the biggest events that demonstrate how a love of World of Warcraft can inspire real-world achievements. Sometimes it's the tallest. When McChoppy of Cenarion Circle (US) heard about a Make-A-Wish event that would send him down the side of a 32-story Austin, Texas, high-rise to raise money for children with life-threatening medical conditions, the first thing that leapt to his mind was WoW's Going Down? achievement. It was fate both online and off -- he knew this was one achievement combo he just had to nab. By drumming up a fat pledge total for Make-A-Wish's Austin Over the Edge, McChoppy earned a spot along with more than 170 other supporters to rappel off the edge of the city high-rise. The project raised more than $175,000 for Make-A-Wish, enough to cover 260 wishes for kids in central and south Texas this year. So was his real-life slide slightly scarier than the somewhat silly splatter McChoppy scores in the more seemly spaces of Stormwind? With no spirit healer in sight as he perched on the edge 32 stories up -- resoundingly so!
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: The Journey Down: Over the Edge
Being a giant, beloved video game site has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we're giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with creator Theodor Waern about his adventure game The Journey Down. First of all, who is your daddy and what does he do? Contrary to common belief, my daddy is not Arnold Schwarzenegger. My daddy is most definitely my ego. It owns me and controls me in a way only a proud, loving, demanding, worried parent can do. He pushes me to the very edge of my capabilities, watches me balance on the precipice and then laughs manically as he sees me tumble and fall to my doom. Then lovingly he picks me up in his fatherly arms and places me back on safe ground again, pats me on the head, and convinces me to do it all over again. (On a less metaphorical note however, my father is a landscape architect and quite the entrepreneur, I owe much of my own ambitions to his, and my mother's personal undertakings.) To get serious: what's your game called and what's it about? The full title of the first chapter in my story is titled: The Journey Down: Over the Edge. "Over the Edge" follows our brave pilot hero Bwana and his sidekick Kito as they, while trying to scrape up some cash to pay their debts, end up getting thrown into a twisting plot of corruption and adventure.
WWDC Video: Unity 2.0 sneak peek
The gang from Over the Edge gave us a sneak peek of two new features in Unity 2.0: a cool terrain tool and real-time dynamic shadows. Check out the video, but also check out their page of all the other features coming soon to Unity.[Note: we'll have all these WWDC videos available for direct download soon!]
Freeverse puts 'Big Bang' in Brain Games
Not one to miss out on the 'brain training' craze, Freeverse Software has announced its own line of puzzlers and memory trials designed to keep your dome fit, dubbed Big Bang Brain Games. We're not sure how the Big Bang comes into play, but you're free to download Reaction through Thursday -- the remaining five stimulators (Sudoku, Remembrance, Echo, Novasweeper, and Fallacy) will be released in December (not for free).The Big Bang games were developed by Graveck Interactive using Over the Edge's Unity engine. Designed for Mac, the collection can be integrated with Apple's .Mac service, allowing trainees to show off their "Brain Scores" via Brain Pages. For those of you who can't land a headshot, this might be your best chance to top a leaderboard ... Big Bang l33t, holla!
