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One Shots: A story for Sunday
Maybe it's just us, but the drone hives we keep seeing are getting even more wicked-looking; giant, dark, amorphous structures looming in the depths of space. However, along with today's gorgeous EVE Online screenshot, we also have a tremendously cool short story to go with it from Ryl'avin Redwense! As it's a bit long, we'll be placing part of it behind the cut rather than editing it. If you'd like to send in a short story of your own to go with your screenshot, email it to us at oneshots [AT] massively [DOT] com. Now, on with today's excellent EVE Online tale from our very talented reader! "Warp drive, active." Ryl'avin Redwense lost count of the times she had heard that from the NeoCom. It was her second day out of Federation space, and the bridge crew aboard the Swiftwind let out a collective gasp as the warp bubble collapsed. This time, she counted. There were those few warps you did remember. %Gallery-9798%
Guildwatch: When GMs go bad
Ah yes, the sinking feeling you get when you see that someone has ninja'ed your guild bank... and it's your guildmaster. Never a good thing, for the guildies, the GM, or the guild. Actually, it's a great thing for the GM -- they get to walk away with thousands of gold (and most of them, through some twisted logic, even think they deserve it). That's why I recommend you do what I do: pack all of your ingame stuff in a virtual mattress somewhere. Sure, your guild might not appreciate a lack of bank contributions, but at least it'll be safe, right?The story of the picture above and much more drama, downed and recruiting news all in this week's GW. Click the link below to read on, and if you've got news for us (everything but recruiting, please -- we are uber full on that one lately), hit us up at guildwatch@wow.com.
Breakfast Topic: Six word stories about World of Warcraft
The idea of a six word story has been around for a while -- Ernest Hemingway famously wrote one that went: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." But Pink Pigtail had the idea to bring the format into the World of Warcraft, and challenges her readers to write some six word stories about Azeroth and/or its inhabitants. Larisa's "Last mage quits. Working as intended." is probably my favorite of hers, but you WI readers are pretty creative, too. Here's a few of mine:"Fandral Staghelm is angry. Nobody cares.""Lich King laughs, teleports away. Again.""For sale: Gnomish capital. Slightly used."Ok, that last one is pretty bad. Surely you can come up with some better ones, right?
Interview with Dick Hill, voice of Blizzard's audiobooks
Our friend Medievaldragon has an interview up over at WorldofWar.net with Dick Hill, voice of the upcoming Warcraft audiobooks. Reading the books is a great way of catching up on old lore and new characters found in the new expansion, and considering that lots of players like to listen to books while playing (me included), these will probably end up being pretty popular.Hill isn't a huge Warcraft fan (though his son has played a few of the games), but he is an audiobook veteran, having read over 500 books, including works by Terry Brooks, Orson Scott Card, and Anne McCaffrey, so he's got the chops for sure. It'll be very interesting to see what kinds of characterizations he has come up with -- while there are some very familiar voices already from the World of Warcraft, we'll have to see if he drew the same conclusions in terms of voicing the characters as they did. He says that you can't really research a Gnome's voice, or find any recordings of Elves, but we've actually talked to both in game, some of us every day.The first audiobook, Day of the Dragon, is due out sometime this month, with two more scheduled releases to follow next year.
WoW Insider's top ten stories of all-time
Today, December 6, is the third anniversary of our little site. We actually started posting a few weeks beforehand, to get up and running, but the official launch was over on our parent Joystiq on December 6th, 2005. Since then, we've posted over 12,000 posts, commenters have commented over half a million times, and people have visited the site over two hundred million times (millions more if you count all the RSS readers out there). Oh, and we've covered nine classes, 27 builds, nine major content patches (and hundreds if not thousands of class and content changes), and absorbed the angry yells, QQ tears, cheerful applause and apathetic mehs of all of you hundred of thousands of readers. What a ride it's been.And so, to look back at our little piece of history today, we figured we'd check back over the records (all the records we have), and come up with a top ten list of our most popular stories of all time. Keep in mind that this is a list of our most popular stories -- while it does include our most popular posts of all time, we had to make a few tweaks and filters to make it all make sense (our most popular page of all time, other than the front page, surprise, is actually page 2). But this will offer you a good look at just what WoW Insider is all about -- from our great looks at some of the biggest stories in Warcraft, to an interesting view of just what you, our readers are really interested in.Thanks for the memories -- the site has only gotten bigger almost every single month during the past three years, and that's because readers like you come and visit to see what we're posting. Click the first link below to see story number 10, and follow the links all the way up to number one.Number 10: Blizzard takes a stand on erotic RP...
Breakfast Topic: Getting to know your NPCs
One of the coolest things about the World of Warcraft are the various NPCs that we see all over the place. Players who've played Warcraft 3 get an extra thrill when meeting characters from the popular RTS, for example. There's Thrall in Orgrimmar, whose life story has been all over books and re-told in past Blizzard games. In Dalaran, the overrated Rhonin and his wife, whose lives have been chronicled over several Richard A. Knaak books, make an appearance. Lor'themar Theron first appeared in the Warcraft manga and subsequently showed up in Silvermoon City when The Burning Crusade was launched.Of course, not all NPCs get the benefit of books or comics to tell their story. Our favorite Griftah only has his story told through the game. Then there are those NPCs whose origins come from somewhere closer to home -- real people who have made some impact on the game one way or the other. These include quest giver Ahab Wheathoof, who is an homage to young fan Ezra Chatterton, and Dalaran pet supplies vendor Breanni, who is a nod to the creator of the popular WarcraftPets site devoted to vanity pets. There are many, many more NPCs in the game world we all love. Whose story would you like to know more about? Is there an NPC that has piqued your curiosity? What could be the story behind the unassuming Kaja? How about we learn more about Cro Threadstrong and his hatred for apples? There are so many stories in WoW... which one would you like to hear?
Forum post of the day: Mage confessions
Apparently Warlocks are not the only evil class in World of Warcraft. Today on the official forums, Mages aired their dirty laundry. Gompers of Archimonde began a thread that quickly filled to capacity with some of the tricks, cheats, and jokes Mages employ for amusement and profit. Some of the highlights include*: Shlippmack of Earthen Ring, "I pyro the lvl 1 critters to boost damage." Tiinsi of Bloodhoof, "On wipes I ice block and let everyone else who's fleeing pull the mobs further away so I have time to invis." Amarius of Alleria, "I sheep horde who are fighting warlocks or hunters just to give them a heal and hopefully the help they need to kill said warlock or hunter." Reoko of Sargeras, "I confess most of my deaths are caused by me hitting the windows button** when I'm trying to press alt 2 for ice block. /facepalm" Haruka of Shadow Council, "I once carried around multiple stacks of Scrolls of Intellect rank 1 that I would use on people in the raid who complained about not getting an int buff." Walugiee of Zul'jin, "I sometimes break my own sheeps and blame hunter multi-shots just so the raid leader yells at them." The thread has some real gems in it. If I ever level my Mage, I may steal some of their ideas. Do you have anything you'd like to share with the group? * Quotes are copied directly, I take no ownership of spelling and grammatical mistakes.** This is why there are holes where the Windows keys were on my keyboard. They were pried off about my second day of playing WoW.
Totilo: Lost Odyssey is a slow-paced, well-written game
MTV's Stephen Totilo describes himself as a guy "who played Fire Emblem with the battle animations turned off." This is just so we're clear on his impressions of a pre-release build of 360 epic RPG Lost Odyssey. According to Totilo, it's a slow-moving game which suffers from long load-times, but benefits from its "Thousand-Year Dream" sequences, well-written short stories which appear as on-screen text throughout the game. That's right. Like the recent Harvey Birdman game, you'll definitely need the ability to read to play through Mistwalker's epic tale (gamers read, right?). For Totilo, it's these text sequences that set Lost Odyssey apart from the Final Fantasy series, to which he draws many comparisons. Ultimately, however, it seems Lost Odyssey will require a lot of patience, with the first non-tutorial fighting sequence not occurring until two hours in to the game. We'll have to see come February 12 whether gamers have the attention span for the four-disc, 50-hour adventure. [Via X3F]
iPhone Doom updated, close to playable
Here's the latest build of iPhone Doom, sent to us by Stephen T a.k.a. psychochromatic, who recently took over the application from stepwhite. Last night on the Talkcast we were chatting about the biggest stories of 2007, and I totally should have mentioned iPhone NES and iPhone Doom-- these were two huge projects we heard about in the early days of iPhone hacking that really set the pace for putting third-party applications on there.Psycho says that this build is not quite playable yet, but he's got it faster than ever and working in widescreen mode. The control scheme is definitely interesting, too, although not quite as intuitive as you might hope. At any rate, steps are being made. I continue to be impressed with the potential of the iPhone in terms of gaming-- here's hoping, yet again, that the official SDK will let us do this stuff as well.
WoW Insider's top ten WoW stories of 2007
We had a gigantic year at WoW Insider-- from January 1st to December 31st, we've posted over 4,500 stories here on this very site, about nearly every facet of the World of Warcraft (and you guys didn't slouch, either-- we had over 150,000 comments on the site in 2007). We've reported on everything from hearthstone soaps to Norweigan mooses, and everything from Arena PvP to Zul'Aman. We've posted guides, rumors, insights, jokes, and everything else we could find connected to this game that we all play (17 hours a week on average).And seeing as 2007 is just about to end, we figured it would be fun to take a look at the year behind us, and list the top ten stories that we reported on during that time. From comedic to controversial, these ten stories run the gamut, and they also comprise the most important news that happened in the World of Warcraft this year. As a staff, we collected all of the biggest stories of the year, and then rated them from one to ten.So click the link below to finish out this year, and check out WoW Insider's Top Ten WoW Stories of 2007. Before the year ends, let's take a look back at what happened in Azeroth and the culture surrounding it.
New City of Heroes Fanzine released
Did you enjoy the stories and artwork that ran in the Top Cow line of the City of Heroes comics? Ever regret not sending in your work? Well, here's your chance, because Issue #0 of the new City of Heroes Fanzine was released today.For those of you who may be concerned that this publication is replacing the City Scoop, fear not: the fanzine was never intended to replace the scoop, but to add to the lore and backstory of the CoX universe. Then, too, the fanzine will only be coming out quarterly, so you'll have to rely on the Scoop ... and Massively, of course ... for timely news about the Rogue Isles and Paragon City.So pull out your pens and digital tablets, and share your stories and visions of the digital world all of our alts inhabit. We're looking forward to seeing what you have to offer. And don't forget, if you have any thoughts about the fanzine, issues you'd like to raise, or concerns you feel need to be addressed, bring them up in the City of Heroes official forum.
Aspyr (not EA) releases Sims Pet Stories for Mac
Good news for you Sims completists out there (or anyone with a daughter on a MacBook): Aspyr Media has released Sims Pet Stories, the standalone Sims Pets game that lets you train, play with, and care for cats and dogs destined for the Pet Show. The reviews aren't exactly shining, but according to the user ratings at the bottom of the page, anyone who wants a cute and funny game that runs on a Mac should like it.Of course, the more cynical side of me notes that this is yet another Electronic Arts game being ported by Aspyr instead of being released directly by EA. What did they promise us at WWDC again? [via MacWorld]
Share your iPhone stories with Apple
Attention enthusiastic iPhone owners - Apple would like to hear just what it is you like so much about your new gadget. At a new page under apple.com/iphone, Apple has presented a form with which you can share your iPhone stories. Has the iPhone changed the way you work? Perhaps you warmed grandma's heart with your finger-flickin' photo albums? Or maybe your two-and-a-half year-old figured out how to use your iPhone? Whatever the tale, Apple would like to hear it, probably so they can scatter some quotes from real world folks like you around the iPhone product pages.Personally, I had to thank Apple for finally putting the real internet in my pocket, as no other device - not even a BlackBerry or IE on Windows Mobile - has been able to handle the home-grown content management system we use for Weblogs, Inc. blogs. The iPhone can, which means I'm able to perform some of my administrative duties at Download Squad anytime, anywhere I need, and that's enough of a life-changing story for me.[via iPhone Alley]
Digg releases official iPhone interface
We've come full circle on the iPhone software merry-go-round-- the first app we saw for the iPhone was a mockup built with Digg's API, and now Digg has released their own iPhone application.And it works pretty well, even if you're not using an iPhone. You can log in right there in the interface, and even browse topics through a drop-down menu. Perhaps the biggest new feature is a "mini-permalink" page that will automatically grab the top 5 moderated comments from the regular Digg page and only show those. That right there is almost enough to make me browse the iPhone Digg rather than the regular Digg, even on my desktop-- the fewer and more useful Digg comments I can see, the better.Kevin Rose also promises a way to see the top stories in the iPhone interface is coming, and since there is no way to actually add comments yet (you have to go to the main Digg page for the article to do so), they may work on that in the future as well. After all this app was supposedly thrown together in 48 hours-- Rose promised coder Joe Stump that if he did it in two days, he'd get an iPhone, and apparently he did.
Warren Spector tells us some game stories
Three years ago, Deus Ex creator Warren Spector spoke about the sad state of narrative in the then-current crop of games and challenged the industry to makes some changes. Three years later, Spector today told a packed GDC auditorium that they had made some progress, but there was still a lot of work to be done.Spector broke game narratives down into a few basic forms. There's: The rollercoaster: An exciting story that gives the illusion of a lot of exciting twists and turns, but inevitably ends up going in more or less a straight line. Spector said the influence of this type of game story is weakening, but it will never go away completely. The "Will Wright": Like archetypal games SimCity and The Sims, these games build stories with the player's input rather than overpowering them with a narrative decreed from above. These games are built on the idea that players can share better stories with each other than the ones told to them by developers. Procedurally generated stories – Games like Facade that can alter the story on the fly without following pre-defined paths. These games offer a "terrifying amount of freedom," and provide a great way to "explore the innerspace of personal relationships as much as the outerspace of the game world," as Spector put it. While game stories have made progress on issues like structure and character graphics, Spector said stiff character interaction and animation remained the biggest obstacle to creating engaging stories in games. He also chastised the industry for not offering enough ways to interact with a game story without killing things. "I want the opportunity to play a game and not play the part of Vin Diesel," he said. Spector also encouraged developers to build fully explorable worlds, not simple, flimsy movie sets that are "just an excuse to shoot stuff."Fixing these problems is going to take some major time and effort, Spector said, as well as a willingness by developers to fund something other than better graphics. It also take a fundamental change of perspective for many game writers. "Get over yourself," Spector told the audience. "Your story isn't that interesting. Trust the players a little bit ... let them off rails. ... This is as much a design issue as a technology issue at this point."
Ungenius - the other side of the Genius Bar
Beyond a doubt, Apple's retail stores have been and still are making headlines of all kinds - from business magazines hailing the stores' sleek design, to consumer reviews giving the stores high marks for their unique and (ideally) helpful Genius Bar feature. However, as some of you may know - not everyone's trip to the genius bar wraps up with a happy ending, and I'm not just talking about the customers; the Geniuses don't always have it so peachy-keen either.Hence, Ungenius - a blog by "JC" who apparently has some stories to tell of his adventures "aton[ing] for the sins of a multinational corporation during nearly four years as a Mac Genius". JC delves into all sorts of topics surrounding the world of the Genius including QA, the obvious defects that have made headlines as of late, and even some thoughts as to why Class Actions might be bad for consumers.Whether you've made a shrine for the last Genius who helped you out of a pickle or you're putting the finishing touches on a Genius Voodoo doll as you read this, Ungenius might be an interesting read from the other side of the cheery Apple retail store fence.
Self Esteem Boost: PSP horror stories
I can bet that you aren't the type of person who ever thought that playing Lumines in the shower is a good idea. You've probably never struggled with the need to spit some hot Yoga Fire while hanging from your toes atop a high building. If you have had any of these urges, and actually went through with them, having walked away with your PSP completely unharmed, then you need to head on over the official PSP forums for some of the funniest saddest stories ever told.I mean, honestly, why would you ever think that playing your PSP near water, let alone while floating in a pool of it, would be a good idea? I want to be sympathetic to these fine posters' plight, but when daring your father to destroy your expensive handheld, something which he is already very perturbed with, you kind of had it coming.How about some other horror stories?[Via PSP Nation]
Beware: PSP being used by kids to access porn
Apparently kids are getting together at schools and using their PSPs to access pornography "out of thin air." Based on the article, this was what a Minnesota resident by the name of Jeff Harris was doing, which garnished him with a grounding of a month and an in-school suspension. Supposedly, the kid used his PSP to tap into the school's wireless Internet access and then surfed some adult websites, boasting to his friends, no doubt, that his "haxxoring" was "teh l33tn3ss". Never mind that the school didn't have a WEP Key enabled network or that they're apparently fine with students bringing in distracting electronics period. Still, I guess everyone has a point, it's not like he was using his PSP for normal purposes like running over pedestrians and beating people to death in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.[Update: Took out the part about the hookers. Slight oversight on my part, I apologize.][Via Joystiq]
Breakfast Topic: Alts for odd reasons
While many of us have alts to try out new styles of gameplay, or to make accessing the Auction House easier, many players create new characters with specific ideas in mind. A friend of mine recently created a pink haired gnome simply because he wanted one the moment he saw one -- instead of levelling up, he just runs around with her and enjoys whatever there is to enjoy about gnomes.After giving one of my new characters a name inspired by a series of books, I decided to create some alts with more "book-inspired" names to give her some company, but I'm sure there are far crazier reasons for making particular alts. What's your story?
Breakfast Topic: Weekend Rantings
It's Monday morning and you're back in the real world after a hard weekend of raiding, questing and PvPing. What better way to spend your time at work than by ranting about your weekend? Whether you spent the entire weekend repeatedly wiping on the same instance, you didn't make your goal of level 40 thanks to being ganked, or you couldn't play WoW at all, let's let it all out.Personally, I was playing some low-level battlegrounds and it was a really frustrating experience. The team was filled with players who had rolled Horde "because Horde always wins BGs", not realising that players still have to work for the win. After playing a couple of matches and logging off in frustration, I came back later only to find people who were even worse. No amount of helpful explanation or guidance worked, and the Alliance must have been laughing their heads off.
