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Engadget's recession antidote: win a 500GB ioSafe Solo!
This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn't want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back -- so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We'll be handing out a new gadget every day to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we've got a 500GB ioSafe Solo on offer, ideal for protecting even your most intimate interoffice love letters from hell and high water. Read the rules below (no skimming -- we're omniscient and can tell when you've skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!Big thanks to ioSafe for providing the gear!The rules: Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for "fixing" the world economy, that'd be sweet too. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) 500GB ioSafe Solo external hard drive. Approximate retail value is $199.98. If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Entries can be submitted until Monday, July 27th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck! Full rules can be found here.
Latest Ask Cryptic for Star Trek Online focuses on combat balance
Ask Cryptic is a regular Q&A between the developers working on Star Trek Online (and Champions Online) and the game community that's formed around the upcoming title(s). This week's Ask Cryptic for Star Trek Online focuses on ship combat, particularly how the damage inflicted upon your vessel affects its performance. Essentially, you'll be able to go all out in combat right up until your demise. That said, focused attacks on your specific subsystems can take them out, and losing crew members will weaken your skills in tasks that the injured or deceased personnel handled. The Cryptic Studios devs also clarify that solo players will be able to acquire the same ships as those involved in high level group play, although soloists will likely find they're not able to get through some higher level content. Endgame rewards are meant to be a guild-level pursuit, but Cryptic stresses that the best ships will be available to anyone, regardless of play style.
Solo Hunters can also get phat lootz
I have to confess something. I'm a sucker for hearing stories about someone playing their Hunter in offbeat ways. What do I mean? Well, take for example that fabled Hunter Tank Gweryc. Last week I got a great tip from Darth Solo over at WoW Alone about another offbeat Hunter idea. Seems Darth is a fan of solo play. At first I thought as you that this probably isn't completely original. We Hunters tend to just run with our pets anyways. But something kept nagging me to go check out WoW Alone and see just what Darth was doing. Turns out he's put a lot of thought into how to get the most out of your World of Warcraft experience without having to worry about the drama associated with PUGs or even some guilds. Of course I would be the first to admit that this kind of play style isn't for me. But if you want to find ways of enjoying your Hunter, getting loot all the while avoiding the drama associated with PUGs. Go check out his Hunter Solo Guides for gear, glyphs, and suggested specs for the Solo Hunter.
WoW, Casually: Rating the classes for casuals
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. Of course, you people with lots of playtime can read this too, but you may get annoyed by the fact that we are unashamed, even proud, of the fact that beating WoW isn't our highest priority. Take solace in the fact that your gear is better than ours, but if that doesn't work, remember that we outnumber you. Not that that's a threat, after all, we don't have time to do anything about it. But if WoW were a democracy, we'd win. Hello, my name is Robin and I'm an altaholic. I'm not here to try to stop, however. I find it a lot of fun and playing games is all about fun. But it has prevented me from experiencing the endgame content when everyone is excited about it, rather than just spinning their wheels waiting for the next expansion. So, now I want to choose which alt to take to the end. But which one will be easy for leveling and still be valuable in groups when I reach the endgame?In my experience, the best class to play as a casual player is one that is easily soloable, with little downtime, but also able to find groups quickly when necessary, particularly at max level. Following is how I rate each class according to those criteria.
Darkfall details their plans for the future and North American servers
Developer Tasos Flambouras of the Darkfall team stopped by the official Darkfall forums again with a lengthy update concerning pretty much everything under the sun for Darkfall -- from cheating to future updates -- all in one large swoop.One of the big notes of the post is the acknowledgement of a North American server coming down the pipes, but coming with restrictions to character transfers. Original plans detailed that characters from the European server could transfer off onto the American server (as North American players are certainly playing the European version right now) but this transfer will now be delayed by several months. So, if you're itching to get off of EU-1, looks like you might be waiting for a while unless you wish to create a new character on NA-1.Past the new server, Tasos has outlined some of the priorities for the Darkfall team, including an enhanced newbie experience, improvements to the economy, upcoming improvements to the solo and group experience, and improvements to the game's PvE system to name a few. While exact details haven't been given, it's nice to know that things like this are on the developer's "to do" list for future updates.The full post containing all of the juicy details can be read over at the official Darkfall forums.[Via Hardcore Casual]
Hunter solos Utgarde Keep
Tribunalx sent us this great video about something that's fallen out of fashion lately: Hunter soloing. Back in the day, when Mend Pet was still affected by plus healing (back when there was plus healing), Hunters would routinely take down Azuregos by themselves, but they've since had to sit on the sidelines while other classes stepped into the solo arena. But now, with Mend Pet and Bestial Wrath glyphs, a Hunter stacking Stamina in PvP gear, the new version of Deterrence, and pets with their own Tenacity talents, Hunter soloing is possible yet again.As Tribunalx says in the video, it's not really easy, and there's a lot you have to keep track of (and Hunters definitely aren't the only class that can do this -- there's probably a Paladin soloing UK and/or a Death Knight out there as well). But it is definitely possible, as you can see above. Maybe we're experiencing a renaissance of Hunter solo possibilities -- next up, The Nexus? Good luck with the Ormorok gauntlet.
LOVE creator Eskil Steenberg on how his game differs from other MMOs
It would be an understatement to say we're excited about the upcoming massively multiplayer online game titled LOVE, and we've certainly given the title some mention here in the past. It's an MMO being developed by one person, Eskil Steenberg, featuring a rather unique art style and some interesting gameplay elements. We're always looking out for more info about the title and came across an interview with Steenberg conducted by Phill Cameron from Gamasutra, just before the LOVE creator's Independent Games Summit lecture at GDC 2009. Steenberg discusses his choice to adopt procedural generation for LOVE, which was actually the only way forward on this project. "Working alone, you simply just can't build a massive world all by yourself, so you need to do something smarter," he says. "Given that I am forced to solve this problem, I get some added bonuses like being able to constantly generate new content while the game is running." Steenberg points out another benefit to this type of game design."As it turns out I think this could be the key to gaming in the future, as the game is able to develop and change in response to the player's actions," he says. "Rather then having a few binary plot choices, the world becomes far more dynamic and responsive to your actions."
Eskil Steenberg on developing the Love MMO solo
Massively multiplayer online games are the result of millions of dollars of investment and the collective efforts of a large team of developers to produce... right? Not according to Eskil Steenberg, who has the distinction of being the only individual we've heard of who's developing an MMO by himself, titled Love. No doubt this is a Herculean task before Steenberg, but Love is by all indications rather far along in development, particularly in light of the video footage we've seen in the past. Steenberg recently did an interview with GameSource, discussing aspects of Love ranging from his motivations to take on a project of this scale by himself to the tools he's using to make his game concepts a reality. Eskil Steenberg will be in attendance at this month's Game Developers Conference, so it's a safe bet you can expect to hear more about Love at Massively in the coming weeks.
Kisirani calls for focused testing on the Argent Tournament
The Argent Tournament has been overshadowed quite a bit by Ulduar in patch 3.1, it hasn't been talked about a whole lot since the first thrill of finding out it was actually there in Icecrown. Since that rush a whole lot of things have changed with the Tournament, but beyond the dedicated few, I have my doubts it was receiving as much testing as it needed. That's probably why Kisirani has put out a call for focused testing on the Argent Tournament, asking for as much feedback as you can supply.Kisirani's thread on the official forums lays out a few things: First, a lot has changed since the early PTR. This means that if you only did the quests in the first week or two of the Tournament, you should try them again before submitting feedback. If you've never been to the Tournament before, Jean Pierre Poulain awaits you on Krasus' Landing in Dalaran. He'll send you out there for free. If you want to do it yourself, the Tournament is just north of Sindragosa's Fall.%Gallery-45851%
Dual specs at low levels
We heard a ton of news about the incoming dual spec feature last week, and for the most part, players were pretty thrilled -- besides the fact that we're finally getting the option to have two specs at once, we're also getting the much-awaited ability to preview our specs before they're saved, and the official Itemrack functionality that we've heard about for so long. But there was one thing Ghostcrawler said last week that hasn't sat well with many players: that we'd need to be max level before training for the dual spec feature.For many players, the main reason they wanted dual spec was to be able to switch between "leveling" and "grouping" specs, and obviously if you're already max level, you won't have much need for a leveling spec any more (more likely you'd be switching between "solo" and "raid" or "PvP" specs). Ghostcrawler's stated reason for requiring a max level was that they didn't want lower level players to be confused by having access to more than one talent spec too early, but as Zarhym says, Cvarto makes a good point: if a player uses only one spec for 80 levels and then gets the dual spec feature, he/she may not have enough experience with different specs to have any clue about how to choose another one.
The Queue: Legendaries are for suckers
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.What? Me lace a post title with jealousy? I would never do that! Never ever! Okay, okay, maybe there's some jealousy there. Can you blame me? Screw purps, I want me some orange. Orange is where it's at, cat.erogroth asked...I have a question about legendary items. Do we know what Legendary items are planned for WotLK? Are there currently any in the game? If not what are planned for the future or can we speculate? It sounds like Ashbringer will not be a item that a player will be able to get. Is that true? Also, what about upgrade quest for old world legendary items. It seems like so much work went into getting them (Thunderfury anyone?) that it seems a shame that they are worthless.
Soloing your way through LotRO's last 20 levels
Turbine has just released their final guide to soloing in Lord of the Rings Online, as this one covers the levels 40 through 60. In this one we get some advice on a part of the game that most people wouldn't realize is actually soloable. This begins with the Bree reputation and Deed quests that bring you back to the Barrow-downs to conquer the dungeon known as Haudh Iarchith. At what level is this dungeon soloable, though? That's the question.Another great area to level your 40+ character is in Forochel, which was added to the game with Book 13. Or perhaps you'd like a less-brutal version of an arctic wasteland. You can head just north of Rivendell to the snowy peaks of the Misty Mountains for some great solo quests out of Gloin's Camp and inside the famed Goblin Town. From here, access to Moria is not far away. Your final 10 levels will be done most effectively in the Mines themselves, as you aspire for that max level of 60. Be sure to check out the complete seven-page guide on the LotRO official site for more on soloing your way through all levels.
Soloing Lord of the Rings Online from 1 to 20
Not everyone is a social gamer, even in an MMO. There are many players who would just rather play by themselves, while still occasionally joining a pick-up group or their kinship for the more difficult quests. There's nothing wrong with that, as Turbine acknowledges in a new series of guides for Lord of the Rings Online aimed at the solo player. In this first guide, the focus is soloing through levels 1 through 20. There are helpful tips and tricks on everything from picking the right quests for you to knowing when to run. It's a wonderful seven-page article just filled with so much helpful information, that even the veteran players may find it useful for any new alts.
Breakfast Topic: To solo or not to solo?
Sure, getting together with 40 of your best friends and leading an epic raid on the alternate faction's capitol city can be fun, but I have to say that there's fun to be had doing things all by yourself, too. Some classes were soloing Onyxia at level 70 -- and it seems like just about everyone can solo her at or near level 80. (For those thinking of trying this yourself -- it's good fun and not a bad amount of gold for the effort.) Zul'Gurub and Ahn'Qiraj (the 20-man wing, at least) have both been cleared (mostly) by a lone player. Karazhan has been cleared with a group of 3 -- though in our post-Wrath world, I'd imagine that everything save Netherspite could be easily managed with less. (And at some point even Netherspite is bound to be overcome by brute force.) To solo or not to solo, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous Hunters (who sometimes seem to think they have a monopoly on soloing content) or to take arms against a sea of dragons (dragons, elementals, demons -- we're not picky), and by opposing, earn epic (albeit under-level) loot. So, tell us, what have you soloed lately?
Elemental Shaman, Priest solo Onyxia
First we had a Druid do it, then a Pally, and then after Wrath Hunters and Death Knights got into the mix, and now it seems anybody with a pulse and a level 80 can solo the old 40-man boss Onyxia. Here's video of an Elemental Shaman taking the dragon down (Skitlash of the guild Unrelenting on Aman'thul), and we've even heard of a Disc Priest doing the deed (I believe that way back, when the Druid first downed Ony solo, a Priest, we thought on the podcast, was the least likely class to do it).But time has proven us wrong. Does any of this mean anything? Probably not -- while it's certainly an achievement for these guys, the old bosses will only get easier as time goes on (until, of course, Blizzard decides to break out some Heroic versions of these instances), and the once-feared Onyxia will only become more and more of a punching bag. Grats to everyone who's been able to solo the old lady of raiding, but at this point, if a Disc Priest can do it, anyone can.
Death Knight solos (most of) AQ20
Felblood, the Death Knight who recently soloed Zul'Gurub, sent us news of a new accomplishment: he's finished off most of AQ20 as well. Kurinaxx's Mortal Strike-like debuff apparently didn't affect Death Strike, so he just had to dodge the sand there, and apparently Moam's mana drain doesn't work on Runic Power, so he was just a tank and spank. Ossirian and Buru were a little tougher, but eventually with a little practice, Felblood says he was able to keep up DPS on the bosses and move around to their eggs and crystals.It's not a full clear, however, since Ayamiss didn't get killed -- Felblood didn't think of a way to get away from her sacrifice, since he'd have been the only raider in the instance. But an accomplishment nevertheless -- it's crazy to think of how long we banged our heads on Rajaxx and Ossirian when they've now been toppled by just one level 80 Death Knight.So what's next -- are we going to see the old 40-man content soloed? Wouldn't be too surprising with Molten Core, as we've already seen it 3-manned at 70, but things might get tougher as you head to AQ40 (where Felblood said he could down some trash, but not much else) or even Blackwing Lair.
The best of WoW Insider: November 25 - December 2, 2008
December is here, and where are WoW players? In Northrend, of course -- a sizable amount of the population has hit 80 already, and the rest of us are scrambling through the new content to join them. In the meantime, WoW Insider continues to have everything you need to know about the world's most popular MMO, from new spec and gear guides to the coolest quests and items on the way up. Here's our most popular posts from the past week. News Level 80 Death Knight solos Zul'GurubEven more old content made trivial by a few extra levels and a new class. Dual spec updateA dev updates us on one of the most awaited features in the game right now. Ghostcrawler: Wrath's difficulty is where we want itIs Wrath too easy? GC says no. Four year anniversary pet and feat of strength achievementFor the game's fourth birthday, we all got a baby bear pet as a gift. Wrath of the Lich King breaks internal records at EB GamesA secret correspondent in the big games retailer snaps a shot of the internal email about how well the expansion did. Features WoW Insider's 2008 holiday gift guideYes, it's that time of year again, so here's a guide that will help find a gift for the WoW player in your life. Five old world vanity pets you may have missedEveryone's chasing achievements, so if you're trying to get every single noncombat pet out there, here's five you may have missed the first time around. A Death Knight's first dungeon: Dos and Don'ts part 1How to run your first instance with a new class. The Oracles' mysterious egg is a must-get We're slowly finding out about some of the cooler rep rewards in Northrend. The Queue: Tradeskill bits and piecesOur Q&A column answers reader questions about tradeskills. Have one of your own? Ask it in the comments.
Lore unfolding
One of the changes between The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King that I'm noticing most strongly now that I've cleared most of the solo and small group quests in Northrend (I needed money for crafting) is how accessible major lore moments are, and how much lore is now being created in the massively multiplayer game, rather than simply being resurrected for it. Yes, we're seeing the machinations of the Lich King, that fusion of Arthas and Ner'zhul we saw created at the end of Warcraft III, but we're also seeing in the Storm Peaks and Sholozar a great deal of new information about the Titans, who they were and what they were up to on Azeroth, and their contrasting opposites the Old Gods. The Yogg-Saron storyline has fingers in Dragonblight, Grizzly Hills, Storm Peaks, and Icecrown at the very least and the quests that reveal the conflict not merely between this vast, formless entity and the Titans but even against the Lich King's forces in Icecrown are surprisingly deep and complex for ones you can do solo or in a group of three or four people.
Level 80 Death Knight solos Zul'Gurub
Paladins have been the solo instance kings for a while now, from BRD to Onyxia to Blood Furnace, but there may be a new contender in town. Felblood let us know that his level 80 Death Knight (I believe this is his Armory page) has soloed one of my favorite instances, Zul'Gurub, going from the snake boss all the way to Hakkar with just his character.The snake boss, he says, was easy, just a nuke. The bat boss Jeklik silences, and a few of his resists failed on her, so she got some healing off, but she still dropped. Panther and spider went down all right, though the spider's webbing apparently kept him from healing as well -- being silenced, he couldn't cast disease, so Death Strike didn't heal. Bloodlord Mandokir was super tough, apparently -- I can imagine that watching would be pretty nuts during that. On Thekal, the tiger boss, his problem was that he was killing too fast: the boss would get ressed when one of the adds died early. Eventually he just brought them down to 50% and then just nuked all out, and the second phase was easy.And Hakkar was anticlimactic -- he just basically tanked and spanked. He tried to anti-magic the Blood Syphons, but they didn't heal for much, so he just wailed on Hakkar until he was the last one standing. Quite a feat. Of course, at level 80, he was 20 levels above where this 20 man instance was meant to be, so we probably haven't seen the end of the level 60 content being soloed. But it seems that Death Knights are almost more equipped than Paladins to bring down some of the raid content on their own.
Eskil Steenberg interviewed about his one-man MMO project "Love"
Have you ever wondered what it would take for a single person to create an MMO? Is a task this monumental even possible? Apparently it is, given what we've seen and read of Love, an MMO being developed by a single man -- Eskil Steenberg. Love isn't being created by a team of devs, nor does it have a multi-million dollar development and marketing budget. It's just one man with a vision, building the best game he can and showing it off on his laptop. Rock, Paper, Shotgun recently got an exclusive first look at the Love trailer and Jim Rossignol from RPS followed that up with an interview with Eskil Steenberg. They discuss how Love's unique visual style evolved into what we see today and talk about the game's trinity of activities -- exploration, combat, and building -- namely the system of city building. It's a very interesting talk with Steenberg, and really is a must-read if you're enthusiastic about Love and the ambition of its creator.
