power-leveling
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Player vs. Everything: Frustrated by levels
I was reading through my usual round-up of blogs and news items this morning when I found an interesting post by Van Hemlock on the topic of levels in MMORPGs. More specifically, it was about how levels in games keep players from playing with each other. He discusses how ever since he started gaming in 1999, being a different level than the people he wants to play with has kept him from playing with them. Whether you're too high for the content to be challenging or too low to be effective, playing with your friends at different levels just never seems to work very well. Van Hemlock makes an excellent point, and it's a problem in almost every single MMOG out there with two notable exceptions: EverQuest 2 and City of Heroes/Villains. Both of these games recognize the problem and attempt to circumvent it, but they do it in very different ways. In City of Heroes, you can move either up or down in level so that you can see high level content at low levels or go back and do low level content as a high level player and still advance. In EverQuest 2, it's strictly one-way. You can bring yourself down to your friend's level and adventure with them for alternate advancement experience. Is this really as big of a problem as people make it out to be, and if it is, why don't more games have systems like these?
Virtual items trader receives Red Herring award
Red Herring has named Live Gamer, a virtual items trading company, as one of the top 100 privately held companies in North America in 2008. The annual Red Herring 100 North America Awards are given to companies identified as the most promising tech startups. Love it or hate it, RMT is not going away. The virtual trading economy, which includes avatars, items and in-game currencies, is estimated to be a market worth more than USD 1.8 billion. Much of this trading takes place on the black market, exposing buyers and sellers alike to potential fraud. Live Gamer aims to remove the sketchiness from virtual item trades, enabling secure player-to-player trading while taking business away from some of the banes of the MMO world: virtual item thieves.
Hardcore gamer builds Chinese empire
In the months leading up to the Summer Olympics in Beijing, with world events being what they are, it's not often that foreigners residing in the mainland turn to China Daily's English pages for the news. This little gem is an exception, however. When you picture the man who's fast becoming a leading light in China's expanding online gaming industry, who do you see? Maybe you picture a slick twenty-something entrepreneur from Hong Kong, decked out in a $5000 suit and shuffling between calls on a few wafer-thin cell phones. Or do you envision a middle-aged bureaucrat turned businessman from Beijing, using his network of connections and riding the tide of interest in online games? Stereotypes aside, no matter how you picture Shi Yuzhu, that aforementioned 'leading light,' you're probably wrong. The 46-year-old CEO of Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) is more outwardly eccentric than most would guess. Shi, who prefers tracksuits over 3-piece-suits, is reportedly the first CEO ever to ring the NYSE bell in anything but formal attire... much less athletic wear.
An end to easy XP as the Family get whacked
They had it coming. City of Heroes Issue 12: Midnight Hour, now in Open Beta, comes with a nerf or two as well as all the good stuff. Over on the Test server, some changes have been made to high-level Family mobs. The changes are now on their second iteration. In the first round, high-level Family minions were altered in status, increasing their relative power without increasing the XP rewards, so that more work had to be done for the same overall result. In response to a request for clarification ('lol devs pwnt the family mish?') the Dev Castle responded 'Indeed.'In the latest round, minions are back to being minions again, but the XP reward has been nerfed down. The reason given, which will surprise nobody at all, is 'their reward scale has been lowered to be commensurate with the risk involved in the encounter'.So why target the Family?
Tosog goes 0 to 70 in 28 and a half hours
Rumor has it that the record for leveling from one to seventy has been broken yet again. Tosog of EU Kil'jaeden has reportedly maxed out in one day, four hours, and twenty-nine minutes. This was posted in a thread where Athene boasted a (NSFW) new video (NSFW) on how he went from 1 to 70 in 1 day 19 hours 39 minutes.Both are inarguably amazing feats of power leveling. How did Tosog do it? Well, if you speak German, you tell me:
WoW Rookie: Account Security Basics
Recently we've had several posts about being hacked, guild banks assaulted, and Blizzard's typical response. The Customer Service Forum is filled with threads started by desperate World of Warcraft players seeking the return of their accounts and belongings as a gesture of goodwill. It is our responsibility to keep our accounts safe from hackers. I speak from experience when I say that being hacked is just dreadful. Although it is usually possible to have your account returned, there is usually significant damage done in the process. In the past, even Blizzard employees have had their accounts compromised. This post is designed to help you do the best you can to protect your World of Warcraft investment.
Blizzard lays down the science on gold selling
It may seem like it didn't need to be said, but they're saying it anyway: gold buyers are financing the hacking of accounts and the selling off of people's gear. Since we at WoW Insider have seen a lot of these cases (have even had them happen to some of us) we know how profoundly irritating and even emotionally painful it can be to have all of your work on a character or characters gone in a heartbeat, much less seeing them transfered to other servers and even in some cases having their names changed. Blizzard points out power leveling services as a particular culprit in this trade, saying "Through our normal support processes and the assistance of players, we also find that many accounts that have been shared with power-leveling services are then hacked into months later, and all of the items on the account are stripped and sold off. Basically, players have paid money to these companies, sometimes large amounts, and they're then targeted by these same companies down the road."Now, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't still be careful with add-ons you download or keep a good anti-virus program on your computer, as we know there are many malicious trojans out there targeting World of Warcraft players. But just as clearly, if you use a power leveling service or buy gold, not only are you funding account hacking, you're in danger of seeing your own account hacked as well.
Public service announcement from WoW Europe discourages gold buying
Timmy is sick and tired of lagging behind his friends and guild-mates, all because of his inferior flying mount. He decides to purchase some gold with real money and buy his epic mount. Timmy thinks to himself, "It doesn't really hurt anyone, does it?" The answer to that question is, "Yes Timmy, it does". The European World of Warcraft site has listed a gold-selling FAQ that aims to educate players like Timmy on some of the consequences of purchasing products and services from a gold-selling company.The site lists the obvious stuff, like spammers and bots, which both annoy people and take up Blizzard resources that could be put to better use, but the article also brings up some things that aren't always mentioned. Much of the gold that these companies trade in comes from hacked accounts, and many accounts are hacked after the owner enlists the aid of a power-leveling service. When the companies have access to the account, the unfortunate victim may also find their personal details being used for identity theft and credit card fraud. The bottom line is, without people using these services, the companies could not continue to operate. We here at Massively are also vehemently opposed to gold-selling, and agree wholeheartedly with Blizzard's message. Just say no, Timmy.
The Daily Grind: What's the rush?
Somebody always does it. Shortly after any expansion launches you can expect someone to plow through all those levels and reach the maximum cap in less than a few days. This recently happened again in Rise of Kunark, 36 hours after the EverQuest 2 expansion hit desktops, Monk Taucher from the guild Second Dawn leveled from 70-80 netting a 100 dollar prize and their claim to short-lived leveling fame. I can understand the achievement aspect of wanting to level as fast as possible, reach the end and be done with it, but even so in an expansion hardcore players who raid won't be able to raid until their guild catches up. Doesn't this defeat the whole purpose of relishing content instead of whining about how there is nothing to do on the forums? Or the all-to-common argument amongst the core hardcores that their guild is slow because they slack and can't play 12 hours a day? I know we all enjoy different things about a MMOG, but leveling up and waiting for your guild to catch-up isn't very enjoyable -- I've been there myself. At least it took more than a few people to achieve this goal when World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade launched. Gullerbone, a mage leveled from 60 to 70 in a matter of 28 hours with the help of some friends using area effect spells to grind out the levels faster. I'm a firm believer that everyone should enjoy the game how they see fit as long as they aren't breaking the rules (dupes, gold-farming, etc.) but I still think leveling this fast is a bit over the top. I think at some point we all power-level and wish we would reach a certain level already. That's understandable, but as soon as an expansion launches? If you could, would you skip to the end after an expansion launched or do you prefer to take it in small chunks and get there when you get there?
Insider Trader: Engineering -- The Final Stretch
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Today's special issue of Insider Trader is all about business. Your profession? Engineer. Your goal? Engineering (375) and a Turbo-Charged Flying Machine. We'll show you how to get there as quickly and painlessly as possible. Link over to our favorite 0-300 leveling guides, and then mull over our collection of tips for the final stretch from 300 to 375.Before you begin, consider this: As with "recommended" powerleveling paths in all professions, your mileage may vary according to your individual server's current pricing and demand for both the materials you need for crafting and the products you create as you go. A non-traditional path to 375 may just be the ticket, depending on what's hot and what's not.No matter how you choose to get there, it's never too soon to start collecting your Flying Machine mats and getting ready to take flight in style. Prepare for liftoff!
Why would you want someone else to play a game for you?
It can be a touch daunting to level a character in WoW, especially if you have a lot of real life commitments. The designers are aware of this, and changes are on the way. But what amazes me is that there are players out there who pay other people to level their characters for them. It's usually offered as an adjunct to real money transfer services, and it always boggles my mind. I can understand that after you've leveled a few 70's up, you might get bored with the old world content to some degree. After my fourth 70 I was bound and determined that none of my under 60 prospects were going to set foot in Stranglethorn Vale again because I'm sick of the place (they all did, because while I'm sick of the place, I also know where all the quests are - I can go through STV like a steam powered quest thresher now, be it Horde or Alliance quests - expediency trumps all, I guess) but I still have a hard time imagining actually giving someone else access to my account, especially someone who is in all likelihood working for a gold seller.I suppose it's only different from playing your wife's toon while she's at work by degree, but it seems different to me. (Hey, she really wants that Firefly, it would be a great anniversary present.) I play WoW because, well, I like the game. If I disliked playing the game so much that I felt like I needed to hire someone to play it for me, I don't think I'd play it at all. Is it that important to get to 70 super-fast? Is the game so much more fun at max level that you'd actually pay someone to get you there?
Ask WoW Insider: Best way to power level alts?
It's time once again for our weekly dose of Ask WoW Insider, wherein we publish one reader's question for everyone to answer. This week's question comes to us from Richard, who has a slew of alts he's interested in leveling quickly: I've been playing for about a year now and have leveled a bunch of alts. My main and an alt are 70 and 64, respectively. But I have a bunch of alts all in the 10-35 range that I would like to get up in level. Some of my friends are in the same boat and we're trying to figure out the best way to maximize our leveling time. I've heard everything from solo'ing is faster, to run same level groups, to a high level 5-man instance with a couple high levels and have the lowbie hang back as you clear the place. I'd love to hear people's ideas on power leveling alts. So, what's your strategy for the quickest power leveling? How do you maximize your time with your alts? Got questions? Get answers. Send us your burning inquiries at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
New Professions Guides
The official WoW site recently featured a fairly comprehensive list of profession guides culled from the US and EU forums as well as external websites. After looking through them, I have to say these are excellent references for any profession. Still looking for more info on your profession of choice? We posted a brief guide to power-leveling certain professions a while back as well as a guide to the game's craftable epic items. (Expect the latter to be updated some time today with a few new recipes!)
Power Leveling Professions
Want to go from zero to three-hundred skill in just a few hours? No problem, provided sufficient preparation - and a little guidance from someone who's done it before wouldn't hurt, either. Most professions have a few highly desirable items that are bind on pickup - meaning if you want one, you have to level the profession and make it yourself. As I recently ran my priest from 0 to 300 tailoring in order to craft myself Truefaith Vestments (trust me, it wasn't very much fun), I thought I would try to gather up some information for people trying to do similar tasks. Know of any excellent crafting guides I've missed? Drop your links in the comments section!
