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Wilmington, NC to become first test market for 2009 analog shutoff
Although a Las Vegas station just wrapped a simple analog shutoff drill, the FCC is planning to use Wilmington, North Carolina as the official test bed for the 2009 digital TV transition. Starting on September 8th, all four of the major networks in the greater Wilmington area (around 400,000 residents) will turn off their analog signals and broadcast digital only. As expected, a flurry of advertising will go down beforehand to get residents prepared, but given that they'll be out on the beaches all summer, who knows how many folks will actually pay attention. Interestingly, this trial is just as much about testing to see how many folks get prepared as it is about the technological changes, but broadcasters may still use the trial to move their antennas based on the need for coverage. So yeah, if the world implodes on September 8th, you'll know something went awry on the coast of NC.[Image courtesy of usdol, thanks Robert]
PTR goes up
Usually Blizzard is pretty definitive when they take something down. However today they've decided to take down the PTR (Public Test Realm) in the morning, and then put it back up early tonight. I'm reminded of a recent Simpsons episode I watched where Homer is sitting in his hospital bed awaiting a heart bypass surgery and goes "Bed goes up, bed goes down. Bed goes up, bed goes down." PTR goes down, PTR goes up. All of these announcements come from the same person, Hortus, so it's not an issue of him being confused or anything (unless the whirly jig in his head has gotten to him). Hortus does tell us that they've put it up for "some additional testing," which really isn't a surprise given it's a test realm.This probably means that patch 2.4.2 won't go live tomorrow if there is maintenance. Once we know more we'll post and keep you updated.
PTR is closed
Hortus just posted that the PTR server for patch 2.4.2 has been taken down, and that the PTR phase for the patch has ended. This is a strong indicator that patch 2.4.2 is on its way soon, perhaps during some expected maintenance tomorrow.Take a look at the official and un-official notes for a comprehensive look at what will change. Nothing in the patch is game-breaking, in my opinion, but there are some nice changes. Some of the major highlights include: Changes to the way arena points are calculated. Void Shatter no longer has a cooldown, and other cooldowns have been reduced. If you are sheeped / polymorphed by a mob, you will no longer gain back health (ie: the mass sheep in Aran, which regens your health before he fire blasts the raid). Many main hand weapons are now one hand weapons. WoW Insider will carry the latest on the patch, including as soon as we know when it's set to go live. Stay tuned!Edit 3:24 p.m. EDT: It should be noted that the final version of the patch notes have not been released yet, however they are usually close to what the PTR patch notes are.
Patch 2.4.2 notes released
Blizzard has released tonight the patch notes for patch 2.4.2, which means the PTR will probably be up and running sometime soon. Patch 2.4 will likely be the last major patch before Wrath of the Lich King, and we expect to see a couple more of these minor patches before WotLK comes out.Highlights of 2.4.2 include: Changes to the way arena points are calculated - essentially what Drysc talked about earlier. Void Shatter no longer has a cooldown, and other cooldowns have been reduced. Illidan will no longer despawn if a raid wipes during his death speech. If you are sheeped / polymorphed by a mob, you will no longer gain back health (ie: the mass sheep in Aran, which regens your health before he fire blasts the raid). This is a potentially large change. Many main hand weapons are now one hand weapons. A good list of bug fixes, including several problems associated with sounds. Full patch notes for your convenience after the break!
TUAW hands on with CrossOver Games
We posted about the release of CrossOver Games a little while ago -- it's a version of Codeweavers' Windows virtualization software that allows Windows games to be played on OS X and Linux. I grabbed a copy of the software for TUAW, and spent an afternoon running it through its paces.You can check out the hands-on after the break -- after installing CrossOver Games, I first tried to load up Guild Wars using their installer's package interface, and was able to get it working pretty well. I then tried one of my favorite games, Civilization 4, and unfortunately, that one didn't turn out quite so well. And just for kicks, I also gave F.E.A.R. a shot -- it's not on CrossOver's compatibility list at all, but I've had a copy sitting around for a while that I haven't played yet, so I let the virtualization app take a crack at getting it working.The hands-on is in this simple and easy-to-use (which is more than I can say about CrossOver Games) gallery format -- just click the picture furthest to the left down there and begin our journey into the exciting world of virtualization and game installation. I can tell you're excited already.%Gallery-20700%Update: Arjun found the problem with Civ in the comments; apparently only the Steam version is compatible. Which vibes with the rest of what I found: if you want to play any of the Steam or built-in games with CrossOver, they'll likely work just fine. But if you want to install another game from a CD (especially unsupported games), you're out of luck.
UK exam rooms could be equipped with CCTV cameras
Quite honestly, we can't imagine anyone finding this the least bit surprising -- after all, aren't CCTV cameras and the UK an inseparable pair by now? Nevertheless, the Examination Officers' Association across the pond is currently mulling the idea of installing surveillance equipment in exam halls in order to keep an eye on test-taking cheaters. Apparently students are turning to their mobiles more and more (no way!) to plug any holes in their memory, and while the project hasn't been set in stone just yet, it seems to be headed in that direction. Ah, whatever happened to those old fashioned cram sessions?[Thanks, Tomek]
Super 3G hits 250Mbps downlink in NTT DoCoMo field test
Just think -- this time next year, we'll all look back at this milestone and wonder how on Earth we thought it was impressive. For now, however, we wouldn't blame you for high-fiving everyone around, as NTT DoCoMo has stretched the boundaries again with a recent Super 3G field test. Reportedly, the outfit was able to record "a downlink transmission rate of 250Mbps over a high-speed wireless network in an outdoor test of an experimental Super 3G system," and while it's not quite the 300Mbps we'd heard about before, you won't find us kvetching. If all goes to plan, the firm is hoping to "complete development of the technologies required for the eventual launch of a Super 3G network" by 2009, but who knows how long we Americans will have to wait to indulge after that.
Development servers in live?
With the game updated to patch 2.4, and the servers "scheduled" (I use the term loosely) to come online in 15 minutes, I'm presented with a nice little server selection box when I log in. Complete with a new location (Blizzard's catogorization, not mine) to choose: "Development."What is this?When clicking the name I'm not seeing anything different. It still shows the realms off line. In fact, it's the only option. Now my memory isn't completely clear here, as it's something I've always just clicked on, but for my U.S. account the options there have always been "United States" and "Oceanic." So what's this new tag about? The only time I've seen this has been on the PTR.I have a few guesses.First, and quite likely the most plausible explanation, is that it is an artifact of the servers being upgraded. Blizzard takes the servers down, the put them into a special mode, and they update them as needed. That could be all this tag is about.
PTR is up and running
Good evening ladies and gentlemen (cue the WoW Insider Show intro music). For tonight's entertainment, I present to you a fully functional PTR – complete with Sunwell Plateau and lots of goodies to play around with. Well, at least it's evening if you're up with me at 3:00 a.m. when I'm posting this.But even if you're not a night owl, now is probably your last chance to head over to the PTR and test out all the goodness that is patch 2.4. Blizzard had shut it down until now, possibly to just test out one or two other things before releasing the patch soon. My bet is still on March 25th. I have no little birdie in my ear saying that's a for sure thing, but I just have this gut feeling I'm right. If you've participated in the guess the release date contest, you might be under a week away from winning a nice 60 day game card.I had to apply a couple of patches when logging onto the game tonight. It only took about 10 minutes though. Not too bad. We've looked over the patch notes and in-game items and can't find anything different – although perhaps there are some changes we're overlooking. However with that said, often times Blizzard will make the "undocumented" changes on the PTR right before they release the live patch. Who knows what those are...Happy PTRing!
PTR is down, TTR is up
Hortus, the spinning whirly jig wearing gnome, announced on the forms today that the PTR will be closed until further notice. This closure is in order to encourage more people to test out the TTR, which will remain open for the time being.This is important news. First, it signifies that Blizzard is at least comfortable in stopping the testing of PvE content. This might not be the best news for those that were still engaged in PTR activities; or for those that think there are still serious concerns regarding the content and class changes. We might be seeing the Druid Cyclone nerf stay.Secondly, we can infer that the two stress tests they've held might not have been everything they wanted. If they're asking for more testing we can make an educated guess that Blizzard either did not see the kind of numbers they were hoping for, or they have made additional server changes that warrant additional tests. Judging from the lack luster stress test that went on Wednesday night, I'm leaning towards the former as being the reason for the change.
Wednesday Night Live!
Blizzard is at it again and so are we! We'll be live blogging the stress test event part deux tonight, on the scene with both Alliance and Horde characters. Be sure to give a /wave to any "Insider" you see walking around. We'll be trying to stay where the action is – be it in arena's attempting to best our own 8-1 record, or watching the GMs hand out more 'phat lewts'.Right now the server is up and running, quite smoothly actually. Keep an eye out here and we'll keep you updated with the latest!Check out after the break for all the action.
WoW Insider at the Stress Test, Part Deux
What? Stress Test, Part DeuxWho? Blizzard CMs, GMs, Devs, and the WoW Insider Arena TeamWhere? Tournament Test ServerWhen? Tonight at 5:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m, PST Got all that? Good. Drysc announced last night Blizzard will be holding another round of stress testing on the tournament test realm. Why? Because they want more attention. I for one, am going to give it to them. In fact, WoW Insider will again have a crew on the server covering all the action. We'll all be hopping around on toons named like "Insideradam", "Insideralex", and "Insiderzach". So be sure to drop by and say hello again!If you missed the last stress test, it was a ton of fun. We have a huge gallery of screen shots of just about everything you could want to see. Blizzard devs were there handing out mounts, chicken and gnome costumes, and even teleporting the WoW Insider staff away for some quite alone time with a Brutallus disguised Englewood.If you're lucky enough to see us, just give us a /wave or a /hug and we'll try to snap a screen shot with you for our upcoming Stress Test Part Deux gallery. We'll also be live blogging all the activity on the TTR during the event, so even if you can't make it - you can still see what's happening. Our live blog is also a really good place to check and see if the server is up or down.See you on all over there!
TR's Sniper class targeted for nerf
With patch 1.6 having sunk in a little bit over the weekend, ardent Tabula Rasa players are starting to emerge with some feedback from the new build on test. While the changes to experience modifiers were a welcome change for many people stuck in the pre-30 or pre-50 doldrums, one group we weren't expecting to hear griping were Snipers. We had been told that the Destination Games crew were working on the line of sight problems that had been largely hindering their long-distance damage, and the patch notes mentioned reworking their oft-bemoaned charge-up firing mechanic.According to a number of players on Planet TR's Sniper forum, while Torqueshell rifles, the Snipers' tier-4 class-defining weapon, have seen a modest 25% increase in their rate of fire with the firing mechanic change, they've also experienced a massive 55% single-shot damage reduction as well. This coming at the same time when most other weapons experienced modest damage increases, usually around 17%. The sad consequence is that many Snipers will end up shirking their Torqueshell rifles for regular rifles or chainguns to maximize their damage, effectively making them a squishy Commando-wannabe. It's not too late though – this is why things go on test, so they can be fixed? Right? Right?
Englewood poses, and the live coverage wraps up
Englewood, a GM on the Tournament Test Realm, poised for some pictures today with the WoW Insider Arena Team covering the event. We were all pretty psyched to find us all teleported right outside Dalaran, with Englewood, to pose for some pics. He was in his Brutallus getup, and was lookin' pretty sweet.Thanks Englewood! It looks like the Blizzard staff is dwindling down on the TTR, and I've got a raid to run off to in 30 minutes. So while our live coverage is wrapping up, expect to see lots more commentary and analysis over the next few days.And of course, the best part of the day for all of us was all you fans - I was getting so many tells at points I couldn't keep up! Thanks for saying hello!
Stress test live blog
We've been preparing for the stress test, are mostly gemmed and enchanted up, and are looking to fight! I'll be updating this post as things happen, hopefully with riveting tales of victory and triumph over Alliance Care Bears. (Kidding of course, my main is an Human warrior.)Read on after the break for the updates! We'll keep this front page only for things that are affecting everyone.Updated 5:23 p.m. PST: Live blogging wrapped up for the day. Many many thanks to all the fans and GMs out there! It was a great day with lots of cool stuff happening. More analysis over the next couple days!%Gallery-18020%
WoW Insider TTR team is ready for battle!
WoW Insider's Arena Team is getting ready for battle right now! Come on over to the Tournament Test Realm (TTR) and join us and thousands of other players as we prepare for battle against each other and even Blizzard's CMs and Devs!If you're looking for us, we're playing under the banner "WoW Insider". My name is "insideradam", Alex Ziebart's name is "insideralex", and Amanda Miller's name is "Vehn". We'll be joined by other writers throughout the stress test. I'll also be live blogging the event in about 30 minutes from now.If you haven't gotten on the TTR yet, I'd hurry up and do so soon. The server is stable right now, and that's a good sign. There is still delay when clicking through to buy everything from the vendors, but that's been a problem all week.Any experiences on the TTR to report on already? Leave a comment and let us know!
Join WoW Insider on the TTR tomorrow
The Tournament Test Realm outside of the Orc starting area. We've been covering the Tournament Test Realm (TTR) lately, especially the stress test tomorrow between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. PST. It's going to be a lot of fun I'm sure – assuming the server can stay up. And the best part about it all?WoW Insider will be there in force! The TTR team from WoW Insider will include folks like myself, Amanda Dean, Amanda Miller, Alex Ziebart, and other writers. We'll be there trying to be king of the hill during the arena tests. Our team name is "WoW Insider" (creative, huh?) and we'll be fighting FOR the Horde.So grab your sword and fight us Horde! Come on over and join the fun - and if you happen to hit us in battle, don't forget to take a screen shot of us standing victoriously over your dead bodies! ;-)
Video of the new NPC collision detection system
This video contains audio commentary, turn your sound up! With the upcoming 3v3 PvP tournament, Blizzard has rolled out a new feature on the Tournament Test Realm server: NPC collision detection. This will mean that it is now not possible for players to walk through some NPCs. Players will no longer be able to crowd, or block, the NPCs. This virtually guarantees that players will always be able to access the NPCs.
PTR down for maintenance
Wrocas let us know that the PTR servers are currently getting another patch applied to them. They will be down for maintenance between four and six hours today. This means that they should be up around 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. EST.Hopefully this new PTR patch will bring about the reopening on the Sunwell Plateau, which was recently closed due to some large (and still undefined) bug. Other things that might be coming with this new PTR patch include more access to Season 4 gear, new changes and updates to class tweaks, and some spell haste changes.WoW Insider will have the latest for you on patch 2.4 and the PTR. Stay tuned!
Sunwell closed on the PTR
While it looked like the new 25 man on the PTR, the Sunwell Plateau, was going to be staying open after a few closures in the recent weeks, luck would have that it's not.Daelo announced a short time ago that the instance will be locked until further notice to fix a bug in Lady Sacrolash and Grand Warlock Alythess. What this bug is exactly, we don't know. But I'm sure it has to be quite a good one for them to lock everyone out of the place.Keep an eye out on WoW Insider. We'll let you know when the Plateau is back up and patch 2.4 is ready for more action.
