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Breakfast Topic: Real Azrothean Heroes
Alex Ziebart and Elizabeth Wachowski do an excellent job of filling us in on the stories behind our World of Warcraft adventures in the regular Know Your Lore columns. I had very little experience with the real time strategy games that led to our beloved MMORPG. I find that learning the lore gives a bit more meaning to my level grinding. As I've leveled up I've come across some really interesting NPCs, some more famous than others. I'd like to take some time to look at some of the lesser known heroes of Azeroth. Caregiver Inaara has to be the hardest working character in the game. Stationed as the Innkeper of Sun's Reach Harbor on the Isle of Quel'Danas. Reportedly an excellent companion, Inaara serves up cold brews to thousands of thirsty characters, tired from endless daily quests. Even as a newcomer to Azeroth, we know little about this blue beauty, except that she is a surviver and serves her patrons with an unflinching smile. Sure there are famous folks like Jaina Proudmoore and Rexxar, but let's take some time to salute the little people. Who's you're hero?
Dungeon depth in the past, present and future
The other day, Kromzul of Burning Blade posted a thread in the official Wrath of the Lich King forum about dungeon design. He asks if instances will be deeper than those in the Burning Crusade, and I agree with most of what he says. Essentially, the epic, sprawling dungeon crawls of old have gone extinct with BC.Bornakk chimes in to say that The Burning Crusade dungeon design was heavily influenced by player feedback, wishing for more Scarlet Monastery-esque dungeons. I can see that, and to an extent, I agree with that, too. Scarlet Monastery, while shorter and more linear, was also pretty cool.Personally, I don't think that it really comes down to one or the other. Take Dire Maul, for instance. Each wing could be tackled in a straightforward, linear fashion. However, each of them also had alternative routes, and some of them even had alternative ways of defeating them. For example, Tribute Runs in Dire Maul: North. Plus, they were even connected via the library. If you really want to, you could go from one wing to the other without any loading screen.
One Shots: A D&D tribute
For those who may not have heard the news -- according to his publisher, the well-loved Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax passed away this morning. In honor of the memory of Gary's vision and the game that has helped set many imaginations on fire, we'd like to bring you a screenshot from the MMORPG, Dungeons & Dragons Online. It is a land, game and concept that would likely not have existed without Gary's imagination and determination. We here at Massively would like to send out our heartfelt condolences to Gary's friends and family at this time. His contributions to the world of gaming -- both online and offline -- were enormous. He will be sorely missed, but his vision will live on with those of us who have been influenced by his passion for gaming. %Gallery-9798%[Updated to fix PEBKAC error]
Weighted Companion Cube is "still alive" in WoW
Aikiwoce sent us this pic over on the WoW Insider tipline (here's ours, if you have a tip for us), but it was just too good not to share with you Massively-ers, too (Massives? Massivliers?). Love is in the Air has started up for Valentine's Day in the World of Warcraft, and there is a familiar-looking heart-adorned cube sitting outside of the major cities. Yes, anyone who's played Portal (not an MMO, but my choice for GotY last year-- it was a triumph, and a huge success) will immediately recognize this as a tribute from Blizzard to another terrific PC game.No wonder Wrath of the Lich King is taking longer than expected-- all the developers at Blizzard must have been spending all their time looking for cake.
Blizzplanet corners Walter Simonson on the comic
Blizzplanet has posted an interview with Walter Simonson, and is it me, or is it time to stop poking around for information on the new comic? Just let the nice people write and draw the thing already!Simonson doesn't actually confirm the non-secret secret that Varian Wrynn is the amnesiac starring in the comic, but that doesn't keep Blizzplanet from prodding and poking everything they possibly can out of him. He says the comic will be set in the present, but when they nerd it up with some more lore, he admits it'll actually take place before the Burning Crusade. Simonson tries to drop a hint that the hero will end up in Orgrimmar, but then he's eventually exasperated enough to reveal that Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff and the Pools of Vision, Ashenvale, Darnassus, and the Eastern Kingdom will all make appearances inside the comic. And while Blizzplant has heard rumors that Dire Maul will be featured in the comic, they eventually get Simonson to tell them that "we're going to witness an event involving ogres (and others) that occurs regularly in a hitherto underutilized part of Dire Maul." And that sounds, of course, like a Tribute Run.I can see how, if you're a big fan of the comic already, learning stuff like this might be fun and interesting. But at some point, you've just got to leave Simonson alone and read the comic for yourself. Enough interviews, enough hinting, enough speculation. Just let him write it so we can read it already!
R.I.P.: Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin
By now you've heard or read of the freak accident that killed Steve Irwin, the famous Crocodile Hunter. He was stung in the heart by a stingray while filming a new documentary on deadly ocean species. We'd like to pay tribute to him in our own small way. The first reason why Joystiq readers should mourn his loss is that that he was involved in making video games. Though he only appears to have been involved in the creation of just one mobile title (The Crocodile Hunter: Operation Rescue), that's not bad for a guy who loved the outdoors to the exclusion of almost everything else. Given Irwin's passion for education and nature, we assume that he helped create the game because it was another venue to educate the public about environmental issues that were important to him. The second reason his loss is a loss for all of us was the man's inherent playfulness and mad reflexes. The dude dodged snake strikes for a living; you think he'd have a problem pwning you newbs in Halo 2? Not likely. Rest in peace, Steve!
Rollei rolls out the dt6 Tribute
Rollei is certainly not a new name in the underwhelming digicam market, and it has struck yet again with a ho hum offering that wouldn't actually be all that disappointing had it arrived a year or two ago. But as it stands, the dt6 Tribute is another prime example of "too little, too late," as the feature set on the matte black pocket cam hasn't been remarkable for quite some time now. Regardless, this presumed Chinese-made and Rollei-branded camera sports a 6 megapixel CCD, bold silver accents, video / voice recording, scant ISO options, and a fairly large 2.5-inch TFT monitor on the rear. While these specs may induce a series of yawns (and rightfully so), the company apparently figured that touting its "combined 38x zoom" (of which 4.8x is actually of the worthwhile optical variety) would spruce up the overall package. The camera does offer a built-in flash and "red-eye reduction" -- which if every other compact camera is an example, won't do you very much good -- and utilizes a rechargeable battery so you don't burn through those AAs. Although the dt6 Tribute is little more than a run-of-the-mill compact, it actually wouldn't be an awful choice for a shooter on a budget -- but since Rollei decided to slap a €279 ($355) pricetag on it (and forgot the "buy one, get one free" sticker beside it), this one's probably best left on the shelf.
