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Portal shooter 'Splitgate' launches Season 0, a bigger, better beta
Splitgate is launching its Season 0 beta today.
The importance of playtesting: What Portal 2 could have been
When Erik Wolpaw and Chet Faliszek first sat down to write Portal 2, they went mad. It certainly appears that way now, when the final version of Portal 2 that shipped in 2011 was such a resounding success, especially for a highly anticipated sequel. The first iteration Wolpaw and Faliszek envisioned got rid of three important mechanics in the Portal universe: Chell, GLaDOS and, as we knew and are still reeling over, portals. In a talk at GDC, Wolpaw and Faliszek explained why they thought that was a good idea, and how they learned it was pretty much the dumbest thing ever.The original Portal 2 had three new things in place of the classic ideas: F-stop (the new portal mechanic), Cave Johnson (antagonist replacement) and Betty (GLaDOS substitute). Betty was a knee-high personality sphere on wheels, a piece of concept art showed, and she spoke in quick legalese, "like those ads for medicine where they show puppies while they talk about the rectal bleeding you're going to have," Wolpaw said.
Official patch 4.1 notes updated for May 2
Blizzard has released an update for the patch 4.1 official patch notes. Most of these notes confirm changes already in game, including the presence of portals to Stormwind and Orgrimmar in Dalaran and Shattrath, which should be good news for people leveling through the 60s and 70s. In addition, the art update to Reins of the Dark Phoenix was stricken from the patch notes. That change will be coming in patch 4.2. Read on after the break for all the new changes.
Arcane Brilliance: Things I'm thankful for
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, Arcane Brilliance is feeling especially festive. Pyroblasting a turkey will do that. So apparently it's the holiday season. I'm still burping up cranberries and stuffing, my wife has started forcing Christmas music upon me (and frankly, if it's not Mannheim Steamroller, I don't want to hear it), and I've reached the point in the year when -- for my own mental well-being -- I refuse to look at a bank statement until February. To those of you who survived yesterday's annual gladiatorial bloodletting and emerged victorious from the front doors of Walmart or Old Navy, hoisting your hard-won set of hand towels above your head like a trophy: I salute you. To those of you who, like me, stayed home and bought stuff on Steam and Xbox Live: I also salute you, only I do so from my chair, by typing in an emote. Because, really, we're all pretty lazy. But damned if I don't feel well rested. In deference to the spirit of the season, we here at Arcane Brilliance thought it might be nice to spend a column thinking about the things we're grateful right now. You'll find the mage-related stuff behind the jump, but here's my non-mage-related short list of awesome things: flatbread chicken sandwiches getting randomly tagged on Dragon Quest IX while walking through the airport Tuesday night troll druid cat form The Walking Dead Mumford and Sons discovering the brilliance of Arrested Development and Friday Night Lights on Netflix Taco Bell, Netflix, Square Enix, etc. ... feel free to make any and all endorsement checks out to Christian Belt, care of WoW Insider. Also, screw you, AMC, for canceling Rubicon. I was just starting to enjoy that one. And screw you double, FOX, for putting Fringe on Fridays, where all good FOX shows go to die.
Minecraft to get portals between servers, eventually
Minecraft maestro Markus Persson recently updated his blog with a progress report on his new studio, Mojang Specifications, and news about the upcoming Halloween update for the game. He notes that Mojang has found a building and now includes six employees: three programmers, a pixel artist, a CEO and a business developer. As for the Halloween update, Persson says it will include six new block types, five of which have "unique abilities." There will also be a new monster, "a new dimension" and portals. Persson explained later in a tweet that these portals will eventually be able to link between different Minecraft servers, though this functionality won't be implemented anytime soon. So, can monsters use portals? If so, we totally would not build a transdimensional monster funnel leading directly inside of another player's meticulously crafted fortress. So, feel free to invite us to a game and leave us alone in the back room for a few minutes ... okay?
Cataclysm beta removes portals from Dalaran and Shattrath
The latest Cataclysm beta patch has removed the portals from both Dalaran and Shattrath. In place of the portals in Dalaran are new class trainers. The Caverns of Time portal is still in place. This is not a terribly surprising move. With the Cataclysm expansion focusing on the old world, the Blizzard developers no doubt want the old Azeroth to feel lived-in. As long as Dalaran (or Shattrath) has convenient portals to every old-world destination, players would continue to set their hearthstones there for ease of transportation. However, transportation around the old world is not as limited as it was back in vanilla days. Some of the new zones like Deepholm have portals back to Stormwind and Orgrimmar; those capital cities themselves have portals to Deepholm and others that are not yet active. We've also seen signs of new portals being constructed in the Twilight Highlands. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Americans prefer to email on the go, social network at home
We do like a pretty chart around here, and these latest ones from Nielsen are positively gorgeous. The internet stat-keeper has come out of a particularly hot and heavy research session with the conclusion that American online habits are a-changing. The unstoppable juggernaut that is social networking (23 percent) leads the way on computers, with online gaming (10 percent) now joining it in second place, and email ousted to an unhappy third (8 percent). The slack in electronic postage is being picked up by mobiles, however, with 42 percent of cellular internet time dedicated to exchanging messages the old fashioned way. Video streaming has shown double digit growth relative to last year, but remains a comparatively small part of what US interneters do. One thing we find humorous in the data is that 34 percent of all web time spent on computers is bundled into Nielsen's "Other" category -- any ideas on what people might be doing during that time?
Arcane Brilliance: The difference between good and great
It's time again for Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that believes frost mages shouldn't be the only mages to experience the joy of pet ownership. Reader Doidadetanga, aside from having more syllables in his character name than is reasonably necessary, sent in this picture of his very own Arcane Elemental, which (if Blizzard listens to my nightly prayers at all) will be a new spell in Cataclysm ... along with Anti-Warlock Bolt, the new 56-point talent in the Arfrostfirecane tree. I'm about to make a bold statement (literally; it's in bold typeface): I'm a good mage. My GearScore is adequate. I am fully capable of putting out an acceptable amount of damage over an acceptable timespan. When folks want free food and water, I somehow manage to provide it for them. My dress is appropriately pretty, and my staff is sufficiently formidable in terms of both size and the manner in which I employ it. I'm about to make another bold statement: Anybody -- absolutely anybody -- can be a good mage. I can, you can and yes, even that defecting warlock who has finally outgrown his dark eyeliner, Taylor Lautner posters and hating his parents can be a good mage. The problem is, not nearly enough of us manage to move beyond that particular tier of magehood. I know I'm still working on it, five years after I started playing this wonderful game, and chances are you are too. There are a whole lot of good mages out there -- but not a whole lot of truly great ones. But fear not, my fellow mages. Though I have not yet attained greatness, I can recognize it when I see it. I'm willing to bet a good number of you can, too. Follow me past the jump and we'll discuss the fine line that separates a good mage from a great one. Because I'm going to make one final statement, and this one isn't even bold: Every mage can become great. Every single one.
ReSubbed Episode 1: Asheron's Call
At this point in time, we probably have you intrigued enough to read this paragraph. You're wondering what this new column is, aren't you? Well, wonder no further, dear readers, as you're looking at the second ever weekly Massively video feature -- ReSubbed.What's this show all about? Simple -- take willing saps, er, participants, and subject them to a random MMO each week while recording the insanity. It's a preview, a review, a revisit, and a drunken raid all recorded live, hosted by Seraphina Brennan. We go inside the game so you don't have to. Plus, you can laugh at our misfortune. What could be better?This week on ReSubbed, Sera has recruited Kyle Horner as her wing man as she subjects him to Asheron's Call in honor of the game's 10th anniversary. What happens when Kyle figures out that all of his emotes are bound to the keys of the keyboard? Check it out, right after the break.(The management would like us to inform you that ReSubbed does contain one instance of profanity this week. So, be warned, we're slightly NSFW.)
The Queue: Hump Day
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.It's Wednesday, hump day. And that means it's time for some Black Eye Peas. NSFW, and all those young whipper-snappers love it. For you older folks, here's something you might enjoy. Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Conway Twitty.Andrew R asked..."Why do people always talk about how the alliance is full of little kids while the horde is where the "mature" players are and vice-versa? To add to that why do those same people talk about how bad the opposite faction is and they will never play that faction?"
The best of WoW.com: June 9-16, 2009
Joystiq's sister site WoW.com covers the most popular MMO ever, World of Warcraft, every day of every week. Want to know what's new in Azeroth? Here's our biggest stories from the last seven days. News Upcoming mount changesRequired levels for mounts are being lowered, as are the costs for each. Isle of Conquest details releasedHot new deets on the game's upcoming battleground instance. Mountain Dew Battle-bots now liveMountain Dew released their promotional in-game items -- come and get 'em while they're... bot? New zeppelin and portals coming in Patch 3.2In addition to the mount updates, Blizzard is adding a new zep to ride and a portal straight to Outland. How convenient! Yogg Saron and Flame Leviathan nerfed tonightTwo Ulduar bosses get hit with the nerf bat. Features Guildwatch: He's really, really sorryDrama, downed, and recruiting news from around the realms. Ten things WoW players should know from E3Activision is bigger than ever, the MMO genre is widening, and wow, Star Wars: The Old Republic looks good. Addon Spotlight: Essential addons for raid leadersOur weekly column for UI addons examines some recommended installs for those leading raids. Popular scams and how to avoid themThere are scams aplenty in Azeroth, so here's some tips on how to dodge them. WoW, Casually: Tips for leveling on a PvP realmPlay on a player vs. player realm but don't want to die that often? Here's how to stay alive.
New zeppelin and portals coming in Patch 3.2
Another patch 3.2 announcement today, this time from Zaryhm concerning a few travel options in Azeroth.First, there will be a new zeppelin route between Thunder Bluff and Orgrimmar. We heard about this before, but now we know in what patch / context it will be released in.Secondly, there will be portal in Stormwind and Orgrimmar leading directly to the Stair of Destiny at the Dark Portal. No more need to haul yourself out there at level 58. Just take a portal instead!The portal in particular should help people level in Outland much easier. It should also help to significantly decrease the use of Hearthstones for traveling back and forth between Outland and Azeroth. Now you can fly to Shat in your 150% flying mount at 60, take a portal to Stormwind to train, and then portal right back to the entrance to Outland where you can hop on your flying mount again and return to grinding levels. Very quick, very easy, very smooth.
New teleports and mage portals in 2.4?
MMO-Champion has posted images of possible new portals to Theramore and Stonard in patch 2.4. Now, the highest level mage I have is level 20, so this probably won't directly affect me in any way, but I have to think the idea of new portals and the ability to teleport to new places would be pretty nice for mages. I guess it would all depend on what level they had to be to get these new abilities. A portal to Theramore wouldn't really be that helpful for a level 70 mage as far as I can tell, but I could be wrong: it would certainly make the CoT instances easier to run. (Then again, we're supposedly getting a teleporter directly to those anyway, and a Stonard portal wouldn't help with that.)What do you think? Is this perhaps a clue that players will be heading to Northrend from a Stonard dirigible or a Theramore boat? I may be reaching there.
Darkmoon Faire Decks: An overview
As I've mentioned before, The Darkmoon Faire is currently in Terrokar Forest, just outside Shattrath City, so if you have decks to turn in or need to refill your private stock of Darkmoon Special Reserve, now's the time to get on it. But if you're still a little bit taken aback by the prospect of gathering all those cards, or wondering if the trinket at the end will really be worth it, we'd like to help you out. In this post, we'll be looking at both the old and new decks and listing some pros and cons of each deck so you can figure out if you want to spend the next month tracking down cards before the Faire shows up in Elwynn Forest in March, or even if you just want to blow your epic flying mount fund on getting a deck before it leaves for the month. We'll start in on everything after the jump.
Warlocks and demons: The next ten levels
It never really gets old speculating about what Blizzard has hidden away for the future, whether it be for the Sunwell Plateau, Wrath of the Lich King or something else entirely. The topic of Warlock pets comes up every now and then on the Wrath forums and while I don't play a Warlock, its an intriguing topic. Warlocks currently have six baseline demons, two of which have a slightly different summoning process. They can get another through being specced deep Demonology. If you count the Felguard as their level 70 addition in the Burning Crusade, they get one roughly every ten levels, so its safe to assume they have something coming in Wrath.First thing to consider is what role the pet would play. Everything but healer has been done already, and I don't want to even think about a Warlock with a pet healer. The Felguard is essentially a direct upgrade to the Voidwalker, so something like that is more likely. Personally, I think a Shivarra would fit the next demon well, and act as a direct upgrade to the Succubus.Second thing to consider is whether it would make sense from a lore point of view. As fun as it would be to summon a pet Pit Lord whenever you want, that seems unlikely. Same with the Nathrezim or the Eredar. Shivan or something we haven't seen yet seems the most likely choice.
Amazon has an iPhone portal
This is yet another moment where I wish I was cool enough to get Erica's iPhone screenshot utility working, because this is pretty impressive: visiting Amazon.com in MobileSafari on an iPhone will display a small alert at the top of the page, prompting you to visit their new beta iPhone portal. The customized site is pretty slick and offers a healthy array of navigation options. The top of the page has a search box, with side-scrolling image thumbnails of the top selling music albums just below. Next in line is a pull down menu of top selling products across what looks like the entirety of Amazon's category selections, including Baby, DVD, Electronics, Health, etc. Next is a big fat 'iPhone beta site feedback' button - a great idea if I do say so myself - and finally, a list of links for the basics such as signing into your account, viewing your shopping cart and the Help section.For a beta site it's a nice first offering, but I am a bit more surprised by the fact that Amazon - the King Kong of online retail - has introduced a shopping and searching portal specifically for the iPhone. Could they have started a trend, inspiring other retailers to make it easier than ever for you to spend money with one of the most expensive gadgets you've ever bought? Only time will tell.[Update: Thanks to commenters reminding me about iPhoney, I was able to snap an actual screenshot of the site on an iPhone.]Thanks Jamie
The portals among us
Many of us have stepped through the Dark Portal into Outland, and in that time dozens of players have mastered the content available there. Now that we have BlizzCon in our sites, all eyes seem to be on what our next expansion will be. As Chris Metzen mentioned at the last BlizzCon, Outland is peppered with portals, each with the potential to open another world for us to explore. I personally know of two such dead portals, empty and devoid of life. The first is in Zangarmarsh, at the appropriately named Portal Clearing, and the second is in Nagrand. Have you found any other portals in your time in Outland? If so, do you think that the locations of the portals could be a clue to what lies behind them? Going with this theory, we might postulate that the Zangarmarsh portal might lead to the Maelstrom, since that zone is riddled with naga. What do you think?
I have portals, I know things
The other day I was helping a guildie with their mage as they reached 20. Thus began the long journey to collect teleportation training from around Azeroth. Something he said along the way stuck with me though. He mentioned that he hardly sees people asking for portals to Darnassus now. I thought about it, and would have to agree. I seem to sell as many ports to Darnassus as I sell to the Exodar. The cities are so closely linked, it's fairly easy to hop on a boat and be anywhere on Kalimdor that you need to be. Why then the great level difference in the training? The portal to Darnassus still remains a spell you can train in at level 50, while the portal to the Exodar is a level 40 spell. This goes for the teleport spells as well, since the level for Darnassus is 30, while all the others are available at level 20. So in essence, all that bouncing around the continent starts ten levels sooner. I imagine that initially the portal to Darnassus was level 50 because it represents a greater magical achievement. You are now transporting a group across the ocean. Does the Exodar require less skill to use? You are still transporting people across the Great Sea. Wouldn't it in fact require more skill, seeing as how we have had a longer history with the Night Elves than we have with the Draenei? I am thinking that the developers might want to take a look at the level requirements for the portals. The initial level requirements seemed to support the lore. The training, as it stands currently, does not. A possible explanation is that Night Elves shun arcane magic. However, they do accept the portal trainer within their city, so this argument doesn't seem to work for me. If they let that first mage in there to create the portals in the first place, why would it be more difficult for other mages to do so? Is there some sort of other explanation that I'm missing as to why there is such a level discrepancy with both the teleport and the portal spells to Darnassus?
Portal only open four hours
Kim Swift, Valve's level designer stated that Portal clocks in at around four hours to complete. As a standalone retail game, that would be quite disturbing, but given that it's accompanied by four other titles in the Half Life 2: Orange, we're a little more forgiving. Still, the game promises to be a bit of a mind-frack, though Swift promises that the difficulty curve isn't going to be overwhelming as the game teaches you to "think in portals". So, are you going to put into the better part of an afternoon into this when you pick up Orange later this year, or are you going to stick with Half Life 2 and its episodes with a side of Team Fortress 2?
First trailer of Valve's Portal released
One of the announced games to be featured alongside the upcoming PC and console versions of Half-Life 2: Episode Two is one that promises to obliterate your concepts of traditional level design and generally assault your brain with a large rolling pin. It's called Portal and, should the name not be explanatory enough, it deals primarily with gaping holes in time and space which magically transport you to different locations. Where Human Head's Prey took you for a wacky ride through these portals, Valve's title equips you with a sterile looking gun and urges you to make your own entry and exit points with wild abandon. The trailer (embedded in the second part of the post) aptly demonstrates the powers of the portal gun, the dangers of getting caught in an infinite loop and, of course, how using rampant teleportation can enable you to solve puzzles involving crates of some kind. As they say, hilarity ensues.[Thanks Easy_G!]
