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Welcome to WoW.com!
Ladies! Gentlemen! Children of all ages! We, the writers, editors, and innocent bystanders at WoW Insider would like to welcome you all to our new home: WoW.com. Our new domain serves a broader purpose than saving your typing fingers a few characters, though. You've probably already noticed our new, more streamlined design -- all the better for providing you with more content and less clutter. But in addition to the content you all know and (hopefully) love, we'd like to introduce you to the beta launch of WoW.com Profiles. By creating a profile on WoW.com you can: show off your characters make blog posts & galleries to share with others communicate with your guild & your friends let everyone know what you're up to in the game we all love by downloading the WoW.com addon (for PC or Mac), you can also keep all of your friends up to date on what you're doing in game -- and make blog posts and upload screenshots directly from your game client. Sound interesting? Head over and sign up (you can use an existing AIM or Facebook login) and start getting involved in the WoW.com community! (Having trouble? Take a look at our getting started guide or send us an e-mail explaining the problem. We'll help you figure it out!) Please remember, WoW.com Profiles are still in beta -- while we already have lots of ideas for the future, we want to hear from you about what we're doing wrong (or right!) to help us improve it. And before you even start protesting, we're aware that Profiles currently only work with characters in the US armory. (Though, to readers not on US servers, you can certainly create an account and participate on WoW.com Profiles -- you just aren't able to add characters. We're starting small with this beta run, but hope to have the ability for everyone to join us soon!) Thank you to all of our readers for your support and unbridled enthusiasm over the years! Though the site may have changed, the WoW Insider content you're all familiar with isn't going anywhere. As WoW.com we plan on continuing to provide you with the latest news and community from the World of Warcraft.- the WoW.com team
March Guild of the Month: The Holy Crusade of Bleeding Hollow
We are, unfortunately, late in awarding our first ever Guild of the Month winner, but we've got a good reason: when we contacted Nytrok, the guildmaster, he was away in France for the 60th anniversary of NATO, and as an Air Force Corporal in the Canadian Forces, was meeting with the Prime Minister and Chief of Defense Staff. Very impressive! But fortunately, he found the time to send us some information about the guild, and we're glad to award him and | The Holy Crusade | of Bleeding Hollow our first Guild of the Month.For winning, they'll recieve not only a profile right here in this post (check after the break to see why we chose them as winners this month), but also a raid pack from Swagdog.com, which includes a big stack of custom-made guild apparel for them to distribute among their guildies and officers as they see fit. If you didn't win but still want to show some guild pride, Swagdog has hats and t-shirts that can be emblazoned with your guild's name and tabard, as well as your character's name and class logo. Huge thanks to them for sponsoring our content.And of course we're now opening up nominations for the April Guild of the Month. To enter, send us an email (no more than 200 words please) to guildofthemonth@gmail.com stating why your guild deserves to win. Please note that you must be from the US or Canada (excluding Quebec) and age 18 or older, as them's the legal rules, and also note that even if you sent us an email last month, you must re-nominate your guild if you want to be considered again. You can send us the same message if you want (there were a lot of good guilds that we had to pass up because there was only one winner), but we've got to keep everything current, so please re-send. Official rules are still here, and this month's deadline will be midnight on May 7th.
Aion receives a new community manager
Who speaks fluent Klingon, played Counter-Strike competitively, won Star Trek trivia contests, and is the community manager of NCsoft's upcoming MMORPG, Aion? Why it would be Lani Blazier, aka "Liv!"Lani is no stranger to the gaming industry, if you hadn't noticed. Not only does she have all of the accomplishments above, but she's also a graduate of the Game Art and Design program at the Art Institute in Vancouver, BC. Before her new home at NCsoft, she was an assistant producer at Threewave Software, adding her name to six games during her stay there. While she was at Gamehouse, she switched from the production angle to the community angle after being exposed to game communities by a variety of online social games.We happily welcome Lani to the Aion development steam, and wish her and the rest of the team the best of luck with their new game. If you want to know more about her, check out her community profile over at the Aion main site!
WoW Insider Show live tomorrow on Ustream at 3:30pm EST
(Or 20:30 GMT, or whatever time it is then where you are. We live in a global society people, it's not that hard!) Yes, our world famous podcast returns to the airwaves tomorrow, as Turpster, BRK and I will be on the Ustream channel (we've also embedded right on this post, so you can just come right back here) talking about all of the most popular stories in the last week of Warcraft. We'll definitely bring up patch 3.0.8, and talk about the Lunar Festival (which also starts tomorrow). And of course we'll answer your emails and chat live with everyone during the show and the aftershow.Don't forget, too, that we're still trying to round up some more fans on Facebook -- we've just recently topped the 3,000 mark, which means we're on the home stretch to 4,000, where Turpster says he will create a brand new song for us to play on the WoW Insider Show. So get your Facebook profile on there (or create one if you haven't yet, and then sign on as a fan), and tell your friends and guilds to get over there and become a fan of ours.The show starts up tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern, and I usually come on a little bit before then to chat with whoever shows up and play some tunes. Should be fun -- see you then.
I Play WoW on Facebook
A little while back, we checked out a Facebook app to show your WoW characters in your profiles, and just this week, reader Orangelick asked for an update to the other app we linked to, called I Play WoW. Previously, I couldn't get it working, but I gave it another try, and as you can see above, it works just fine. In fact, it's pretty customizable, even moreso than what I implemented above -- you can upload a picture for your character, and even give status and description updates for every character on the roster.If you're looking for some WoW representation on Facebook, it'll do you right. The only real complaint I have is that it doesn't by default show off any armor or stats that you have (the other app, WoW Armory, does, and here's another app that's even flashier if you want to go that way), but then again, how many of your Facebook friends really want to follow your characters that closely? And there's a quick link to the Armory page for those who do. All in all, nice app, and the perfect way to show a little WoW pride on Facebook.
DC Universe Online wants to add you as a friend
Stop the presses! Those of you just itching for information about DC Universe Online can now check out its profile on MySpace. That's right, well before there's an official webpage, you can get access to screenshots, wallpapers, icons, and concept art. There's also a dev blog, with interviews and video diaries to come.What's even more exciting for fans is the chance to attend the DCUO party at this year's ComicCon by making the profile your top friend, and printing the page out to show DC as proof. The party will be held July 25th at the Sweetwater Saloon in San Diego. Wow, who knew the Internet was such a great connective service? Gallery: DC Universe Online [Via Big Download]
Yet another character manager for WoW
Magelo, a Switzerland and UK based company which gained popularity with its Everquest character profiles, has launched a WoW version of the profile system. It offers a slick view of your toon's Armory information, but with some additional functionality that you can usually only get in-game. Additionally, using their Magelo Sync, you can hot-sync your information whenever you want. (No more waiting for the Armory to update.) You can also use the client in-game to find information on items, quests, and mobs.I tried it today and found it fun to play with. Even though installing everything takes a bit of jumping through hoops, after you've synced, you can view everything about your toon that you can see in the game: bank and inventory contents, or show anyone your profile with a link. Here's Slig's profile so you can see the output provided. A feature I really liked was the tab called "bonuses" which lets you see which pieces of armor contribute to each attribute (e.g., click Intellect and see each item's bonus to that stat). After the beta there will be a charge for Premium access -- a trend we're seeing more of -- which involves things like getting a certified profile, customizing your profile page with backgrounds, viewing your toon in 3D, and creating alternate profiles. I liked fiddling around with the alternates but I'm not sure I'd pay extra for it when the time comes.
Metaplace designers seek users' advice for badge system
The developers of Metaplace are pinging the public in search of feedback and good ideas with regards to the platform's planned "badge" system. The system resembles achievements on XBox Live; users and creators of virtual worlds may accomplish certain objectives such as becoming the first Metaplace world to reach 100 simultaneous users, and a unique badge graphic representing the achievement may then be shown to other players and builders in the community.Areae is dealing with some difficult design decisions. For example: should badges have point values, so whomever has the most points is the most awesome of them all? Should users be able to give badges to one another? How should badges be displayed?Rather than tackle these questions alone, Areae is offering to everyone the chance to fill out a survey. It's not just multiple choice; participants can explain the reasoning behind their choices. If you've got two cents to share, by all means, go share them!
How to comment on WoW Insider
A lot of readers have been asking lately about the new commenting system, and so here's a short guide to setting yourself up in our comments section here on WoW Insider.Our new comments section will not only remember all of your personal information, but they'll also let you use an avatar of your choosing, and even reply to and moderate others' comments. First things first, you've got to get set up with a password. To get one, you simply leave a comment as a new user, putting your name and email in the comments form (under "New Users" below). Then, you'll get sent a message to that email address, with a password (usually random letters and numbers) to sign back in. Come back to the site, and now leave another comment with your email, and the new password (under the "Current Users" title in the comments section), and you're good to go.The next thing you'll want to do is set up your profile, and you can do that by clicking on your name in the comment that you posted.Update: Hopefully this is working for everybody. Lots of people are asking why we do it this way, and I've got a short answer and a long answer. Short answer is "because this is how Blogsmith does it, and we're run with Blogsmith." Longer answer is that the system was designed, I believe, to be quick and easy-- enter your info as a new user, and you get your password and account set up for you. Enter your info as a "current user," and you never have to click another email again. We are listening to your feedback, so if you have ideas, we're all ears (and of course whatever we come up with has to be implemented by our coders, so thanks for being patient). But for now, this is how it works, and hopefully everyone has their situation figured out. Thanks again for reading!
New icons for commenters!
In honor of our new comment system here at WoW Insider, I've made some icons for our readers to use! Now instead of the mystery man in the little box next to your comment, you can use one of these neat icons. Don't know how? No problem! It's very easy.First, browse the gallery of new icons below, and find one you like, then click on it. After the picture has loaded, right click it, and choose "Save As" (or "Save Image As" if you're using Firefox), and then save the picture to your desktop.Next, find one of your comments and click on your name. This should take you to your Profile page. After signing in with your password, click on "Edit picture," then hit the "Browse" button. Navigate to the desktop (or wherever you saved the image from earlier), select the image, and click "Open."Finally, hit the "Upload" button to upload your new icon to your profile. Now all of your comments will be accompanied by the image you've selected, instead of the mystery man in the gray box!%Gallery-11181%
Scott Hartsman of EQ2 gets profiled
Now that EverQuest II's latest expansion Rise of Kunark has been released, you'd hope that Senior Producer and Creative Director Scott Hartsman would be able to take a bit of a break -- but you can be sure it won't be too long, because its obvious that he really digs his job. TenTonHammer has a two-page interview with Hartsman that isn't so much about EQ2 as it is about the man himself.In the article, Hartsman discusses how he broke in to the industry -- his first industry job was with a text-based online RPG at the age of 15! -- his favorite games of the past and ones that influenced him, things that he does outside of work, and even some tips for anyone that would like to get involved in the gaming business. On this, he mentions that being competent with algebra comes in very handy, something that not everyone may realize.Even if you've never heard of Scott Hartsman, its a worthwhile read to hear what things are like on the other side of your favorite pastime. The link below will take you through to TTH's full developer profile.
CTProfiles is shutting down
WoW Insider reader Rakuen sent us a tip about a posting on the CTProfiles forums from the beginning of the month. It seems that even before this Tuesday's change to the Armory, the writing was on the wall for CTProfiles. In fact, if you try to go to the main site, you're redirected to the forum with this posting.From the post:It has finally got to the point where it's simply too much work to 'fix' things. With several offers of help, only a few minor things were ever completed, and leaving Cide as the only coder was just not enough to get out from the overwhelming load. We're not happy to see things not working, but it just isn't feasible to attempt to fix them. We still feel there is a very viable use for a custom profiling site, even with the armory out. The armory can't help you compare your crafted set to tier4 or 5, nor your arena gear vs. misc. pieces. We've started a very early stage of development for a CTProfiles2.0 project, which is essentially a complete recode, however we won't be releasing it any time soon. Our focus is going to be shifted back to CTMod, and we'll be working on a new unannounced mod that's been in the works for a few weeks, CT_RaidAssist2.0, some fixes and updates to older mods, and we'll continue to go from there. As for development of the CTP2 site, I won't even set an estimate of when we'd be starting work on it again. So, what's your take on CTProfiles shutting down? Did you ever get a chance to use this site? What will you miss, and what are you looking forward to seeing the CT team do next?
Microsoft explains removal of Bluetooth DUN
Something that has probably caused quite a few Windows Mobile 5 customers to vent some rage lately was the removal of Bluetooth dial-up networking from AKU3. Why did Microsoft do it? According to a blog entry over at Microsoft's Developer Network, the dirty deed centered around Internet Connection Sharing, or ICS (think "wireless router" capability for your WM5 handset) which is technically superior for a handful of reasons. Translaton: Ole' Softie doesn't want all those spiffy WM handsets from becoming Bluetooth-centric access points to newer 2.5G and 3G wireless data networks. Fair enough; Bluetooth's peak data rates don't stand a chance against the best that HSDPA can throw at it, but still, old-fashioned dialup has its place. The good news here? Microsoft has heard the pleas of DUN-less users everywhere and plans to bring back the profile in a future Windows Mobile 6 AKU. Little consolation for the moment, but thanks to the vibrant hack community, we imagine most of us will have no trouble getting in on said AKU when the time comes.
Get Profiled and Show Yourself Off
You've done all that work to get your gear, and now you've got to show it off, right? Get a forum signature that shows you're a real hardcore player-- get a player profile. Here's three sites that let you do it for free. CTProfiles.net is from the makers of CTmod, and they have a pretty nice interface that will let you put any gear you want in there. They even let you put in different gear profiles for the same character (to show off your fire resist or PVP set, assuming it differs from the stuff you wear all the time). Their interface is good, but none of it is automatic-- you'll have to choose your gear piece by piece as you put it in. Allakhazam has a very nice profile listing over on their site that's much more automated-- you create an account, and then install a mod called WoWReader that pulls all of your info out of the game for you. It'll even let you connect up to your guild and server, and they'll calculate all your crit percentages for you from your gear and stats. The only problem is that, like CTprofiles, there's no way to show your PVP rank at all, which means if you want to do that you'll have to go to... WoW Guru, which has the most complicated profile format out of these three. After you install their addon, they'll show off everything from your Lifetime HKs to your "Expected Peak Rank" (based on your honor rate), and even a little graph that charts your progress so far. Unfortunately, players are commenting that WoW Guru can be kind of buggy (not surprising, considering everything they're pulling together), but they definitely offer the most detailed profile we've ever seen. Any experience using these? Or do you know of a great profile creator you can recommend?Update: A few people are also praising RPG Outfitter in the comments, so that's an option, too.
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Hidden secrets of firmware 2.80
PSP Vault has an impresive story detailing some of the potential hidden secrets of recently released firmware 2.80. Using their mad Japanese skillz, they took a look at Sony's PSP manuals for the firmware, which can be found here, here and here. The video standards have finally been revealed, and they show how Sony still refuses to make it easy on the end user.So for H.264 videos, you're looking at support for files ending with a .MP4 or .M4V extension. They must be 768kbps or under, have a framerate of 30fps or under, and be Level 1.3 or under Baseline Profile, or Level 2.1 or under Main Profile (but CABAC only). The audio tracks of these videos must be in the AAC format, be 128kbps or under, be 48kHz or under, and be in stereo.Uh... okay. Can't we just dump random files into our system without thinking about these technical specs? Another interesting discovery of the article shows how the recent firmware upgrade can allow for PSP-specific codes to be written into websites. For example, webpages can be created to offer downloads... but only for users of the most current firmware. Or, it could lead to some really exciting game and internet synergy. It appears that there's a lot hidden in the PSP; too bad Sony hasn't been upfront with all of it quite yet.
Motorola Q to have A2DP support?
It seems we didn't quite pore over the Motorola Q FCC draft user's manual as well as we'd initially thought. In fact, it looks rather like Motorola may have actually added Bluetooth A2DP support to the Q, like, totally without telling us. Then again, this could just be dummy copy or text pulled from another manual as a placeholder -- we just don't know. Still, with all the delays plaguing this thing's launch, it'd be nice to know that there's a little nugget awaiting us at the end of the wait, even if it's something as simple as additional Bluetooth profiles (on a Verizon handset, no less).[Via MS Mobiles]
