valentines day
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Valentione's Day comes to FFXI this Friday
No, that's not a fat-fingered typo you see in the headline. For Final Fantasy XI players, Valentione's Day is almost here, and the moogles of Vana'diel are out in force to encourage folks to join the love-fest. They have prepared a compilation of romantic little tales from FFXI's citizens to get everyone in the mood ahead of this Friday the 6th, when the Valentione's celebrations will begin in-game. Once things have kicked off, festival moogles will be found at these locations, advertising the event and getting people involved:- Southern San d'Oria (J-9)- Northern San d'Oria (D-8)- Bastok Mines (I-9)- Bastok Markets (G-8)- Windurst Waters (F-5)- Windurst Woods (K-10)You'll have until the 16th of February to feel the love, before things go back to normal -- well, as normal as things can ever be at the hands of the moogles.
Left 4 Dead Valentine's cards over here!
Nothing says, "Love me forever," like a Valentine's card depicting a vomiting Boomer, a tongue-twisted Smoker or a weeping Witch from Valve's cooperative shooter, Left 4 Dead. Keyword there is "cooperative." Valentine artist beavotron posted a handful of Left 4 Dead themed cards over on the Penny Arcade forums, allowing anyone to print and give them to a (real or imaginative) significant other. Just know that if your lover doesn't accept the zombified sign of love, your relationship just wasn't meant to survive.[Via Aeropause]
Valentine's Day in Warhammer Online announced as the Night of Murder
Alongside the announcement of the Call to Arms expansion, the Bitter Rivals event introducing the Choppa and Slayer, and the Lands of the Dead mega-zone, Jeff Hickman revealed to us earlier this week that Valentine's Day will be a scream in Warhammer Online. Tying into the recent 'bloody valentines' sent to bloggers, Jeff walks us through the Night of Murder.Warhammer Executive Producer Jeff Hickman: We have a new event coming out soon, it's our Valentine's Day event. Starting in Mid-February it begins before call to arms, but we've been planning this event for some time. It really highlights some of the things we're trying to do with live events that are different and unique. It's an event that happens in the IP called "The Night of Murder." We felt that was appropriate for Valentine's Day.The Night of Murder is this great week-long event, very RvR-centered. As a player I can go get a murder quest, where I will be asked to go assassinate five marked targets. We've put some interesting tech in that causes enemy players to be marked. They're literally marked on the battlefield, a big skull hovers over their heads. The players don't know that they're marked, though, so you get to the battlefield and you see your opponents arrayed against you ... and they don't know who you'll be going for. Unbeknownst to you, you might be targeted as well. So it will be pretty exciting.Some of these marked targets, when you loot them, they'll drop a skull. One of the tasks for the Night of Murder is to play a game of skull tossing; literally on the battlefield there will be people tossing their dead enemy's skulls back and forth to each other. You'll see skulls flying around, all over the place. And in some rare cases when I kill a marked enemy target I'll be able to loot his head. When I loot that, it will give me the ability to send my enemy a special Valentine's Day surprise. A Night of Murder message about the trophy I got at his expense.It's clever, it's comical, but there are just a ton of cool new things we're doing with that event. Things we haven't done before. Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Runes of Magic begins their Valentine's day celebrations
The free-to-play game Runes of Magic has begun their Valentine's day celebration a little early, filling their world with roses, chocolate, temporary mounts, and a few other achievements that players can net themselves from now until February 14th. Characters are able to now produce chocolate in game, which gives back 35% of your health when eaten. Those who like to collect in-game items will be able to save up chocolate sweets and then use them to display a message over the world broadcast channel.If chocolate isn't your thing and you'd rather prefer the company of plants, you'll be happy to know that you can now grow roses from seeds. When the rose blooms, the gardener will receive a temporary buff and will be able to clip the plant. Roses can be used as currency to gain new temporary mounts for the holiday, and 30 roses will net you a special title.Remember though, the event is only sticking around until the 14th!
Mythic hinting at possible 'Death Night' live event in February?
Another round of mysterious packages have been sent to the Warhammer Online blogging community, but this time it's not about additional classes -- oh no, this time it's personal. As in it's something of a personal ad sent by those blood-obsessed individuals known as Witch Elves. Rainbow MMO was the lucky recipient of this not-so-subtle hint at something happening in the second week of February, and of course it didn't take long for others to get in on the action as well.The prominent guess by the fellows over at Wizards & Wenches is all of this is related to an official Dark Elf holiday called Death Night. This would be an evening where Witch Elves go crazy, pulling anyone off the street and sacrificing them to their dark god. Some of these crazed death-worshipers even go so far as to raid people's homes, which is why many Dark Elves board up their doors and windows in fear of being witch-napped.Assuming this is landing on Valentines day (second week in February) and that Mythic is all about embracing the horror and "awesomosity" of the Warhammer IP, we'd wager that the Death Night guess is a pretty good bet. WAR has gone 1.1! Check out our full coverage of the 1.1a patch, along with our interviews exploring upcoming content and the open RvR changes. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Forget chocolates, Samsung offers pink NC10 for Valentine gifting
If a pink MSI Wind isn't the way to your significant other's heart, Samsung has an alternative for you in the form of a rose-colored NC10. The similarly-spec'd 10.2-inch netbook sports a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, and Windows XP Home. Additionally, it's got a suspiciously-long 7-hour battery life and anti-germ keyboard. UK retailer dabs has it listed for £316 ($434) with VAT and a February 9 release date. Let's just hope she doesn't lament the color choice come March. [Via Portable Monkey]Read - Overclockers product pageRead - Dabs product page
MSI Wind U100 Valentine Edition: geek romance, exemplified
Oh sure, there's all manners of garb and chocolates that you could get your lover this Valentine's Day, but the true geek knows just how hard it is to pick up those all-too-clichéd items when it's a gadget you're really after. Enter MSI, who has just delivered the appropriately named Valentine Edition of its Wind U100 netbook just in time for that special holiday. If you'll recall, this isn't the first time MSI has outed a minuscule laptop oozing with romance, but this one boasts a limited edition label (figuratively, at least), a 6-cell battery, 160GB hard drive and a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor. You can purchase 2.6 pounds of lovey-dovey right now for $429.99, but you better act fast -- no lady worth having will accept the "my UPS guy didn't come through" excuse. The full release is after the break.
WoW Europe's 2009 Valentine's Day contest announced
WoW Europe's Valentine's Day contest seems to be becoming an annual event, which should be good news for our EU brethren. Vaneras officially announced the contest and its rules Monday, which you can find on the official EU website.It seems pretty straightforward, as far as what you need to do. Make a Valentine's Day card! You know, like those ones you handed out in school as a little kid? If you need to see some examples before you get crackin' on it yourself, they still have last year's winners on display for all to see.They're taking submissions from now until February 1st, and you're limited to five submissions per household. There are some regional restrictions and the usual terms and conditions you'll need to agree to, so head on over and check it out! Good luck to everyone that enters, we look forward to seeing the winners! Love is in the Air and on WoW Insider. Check out our continuing coverage of the event and our guide to earning the achievement. And you better hurry; the holiday only lasts five days!
Pocky's sweet festival
As a part of a sweet nod to Valentine's tradition (or perhaps more technically to ???????????? - giri-choko), the Japanese Pocky people, Ezaki Glico Company, are holding a festival on their new Pocky island in Second Life. The Pocky festival runs all the way until White Day (??????????????????, March 14). Popular Japanese ska girl group, Ore Ska Band (?????????????????????) will be playing on the island 29th of Februrary and 1st of March at 7PM and 10PM - though we're not sure which side of the dateline or which timezone that's in exactly. We'd figure Japan Standard Time so you'd be looking at the day before, japanophiles. That's the safe way to play it. If it turns out to be in SLT (US Pacific) you've at least not missed it.
KTF analyzes passion in your voice, won't make you irresistible
We know, Valentine's Day 2008 has come and gone, but if you've managed to hold on to your SO through the Hallmark-inspired holiday, chances are you won't need these services anyway. For those waking up solo, however, you should probably listen up. South Korea's KTF has launched a seductive new service -- rightfully dubbed Love Detector -- for its subscribers which will actually "analyze voice patterns to see if a lover is speaking honestly and with affection." In an interesting twist, the data is actually only shown to the customer who coughs up ???1,500 ($1.58) per month (or less per call), so don't expect to secretively find out if your lover has another lover waiting next door via voice analysis. [Image courtesy of WestCoastPioneers, thanks Sandra]
Love no longer in the Air
Our hearts may return to their regularly scheduled descent into blackness, Azeroth is leaving Valentine's Day behind today. At least, that's what the calendar says.I hope everyone received all they had hoped for in WoW during this event, or you're in for a mighty long wait to try again. I personally received a number of scandalous dresses and fancy baskets over the course of the last few days. I don't have much to complain about this time around, except for the fact that it is always a little disappointing when one of Azeroth's many holidays comes to a close.Even if the Valentine's Day holiday is quite fun in WoW, I still have a habit of wondering what could have been done better for any given event. I think it would have been great if voting for your favorite faction leader actually worked, and had some sort of effect. For example, if Tyrande winning for the day gave those that voted for her a buff. "Tyrande's Thanks" or "Sylvanas' Satisfaction" or somesuch. Even if it didn't do anything, having the buff would be really fun. Of course, I'm a big supporter of spells having extra sparkles just for the sake of having sparkles, so maybe only I would be interested in that. After all, Prayer of Mending turning into a laser gun kept me from quitting my priest early on in The Burning Crusade. Love is in the Air and on WoW Insider. Check out our continuing coverage of the event and our guide to earning the achievement. And you better hurry; the holiday only lasts five days!
Samuraiko's wedding video: now with more chaos
For those of you who didn't have the opportunity to see the wedding of Sister Psyche and Manticore on Valentine's Day, Samuraiko Productions captured the joy and delight of the event. Ah, the outfits, the pre-wedding jitters, the explosive fury of Citadel's rage, it was all captured for posterity. Just think, when there are little Manticores and Sister Psyches running (or flying, or teleporting) about, Justin and Shalice can look back on their wedding day ... and only wish things were this quiet at home. For a high-quality version, please check out Samuraiko Productions' web site, but if you just can't wait, here's the YouTube version.
Media Coverage dissects the perils of love and game journalism
Just in time to be late for Valentine's Day, Joystiq's own Kyle Orland takes a look at the role love plays in game journalism, as part of his Media Coverage column at GameDaily.In his column, Kyle talks to a number of game journalists about the relationship between their jobs and their romantic lives. For some, their commitment to video games is a hurdle in getting a relationship to work. For others, a similar commitment from their significant others' is most definitely a requirement. A lot of the journalists featured aren't normally ones to wear their hearts on their sleeves, so Kyle's piece offers an interesting opportunity to see how their jobs fit in with their personal lives. Of course, for some it works out better than for others, like one lucky Joystiq blogger whose better half also happens to be a games journalist herself.
Team Fortress 2 Valentine's Day cards
Whaddyaknow? We weren't the only ones to get floating pink hearts in our eyes thinking of Team Fortress 2 on Valentine's Day. It's not enough that Valve dropped a major update for the shooter on us today, but Alexandria Neonakis has whipped up five incredible Valentine's Day cards for your special someone (and if they'd appreciate a TF2 Valentine, they're a keeper!). We've covered her other amazing Valentine's before, so you've got a nice selection to choose from if shooting cartoons in the face isn't their idea of romantic.[Thanks, Kunikos]
Love in the time of Ewoks
Valentine's day comes even in the Galaxy Far, Far away, and you know what that means - a lame tie-in to a fuzzy species! Christmas has the Wookie Life Day, copped from the reprehensible Star Wars Christmas special. I'm not really sure how Ewoks represent love in Star Wars Galaxies, but these midget teddy bears apparently bring in the funk. The "Festival of Love" sees the chief of the Ewokian tribe and the Shaman Logray heading to Theed in a sort of ambassadorship of affection. There, adventurers can try to speak the Ewok language like C-3PO or partake in traditional Love Festival fare. Chak Juice and Camby berries are on offer for a small fee, and apparently give the imbiber great big stat boosts. The official Festival thread has hints about the food and the Ewok language scrambler that makes up this particular V-day event.
One Shots: Valentines cute overload!
For this Valentine's Day, we wanted to find the best of the screenshots that had been submitted to us -- ones that would embody the spirit of love. Of course, the few screens we do currently have involve either lovely landscapes or battles -- neither of which we thought was terribly appropriate. So instead we figured we'd go out and hunt down a screenshot for today's celebration of all things smooshy and cute. This screen comes from an MMO that just entered closed beta, and that we're working on a story for, even as I write this. Can you guess what this upcoming MMO bastion of cuteness could possibly be? Leave your idea in the comments below!Remember, One Shots is all about you. Without your screenshots, we have no stories to tell. So be sure to drop your in-game screens to us at oneshots@massively.com! %Gallery-9798%
EverQuest 2 Valentine's Day event Walkthrough
Valentine's day is a busy holiday, no matter what online community you're a part of. World of Warcraft players are helping the love-lorn, while City of Heroes' heroes will find themselves attending a wedding. And hey, if you're looking for love offline, more power to you. EverQuest 2 players, in the spirit of the holiday, get to help out a sleaze-bag with his pickup lines, and do some match-making on the side. We here at Massively are nothing if not softies, and so we have for you a quick walkthrough of EQ2's Erollisi event quests.There are only two questlines for the event, and both of them take just a few minutes to complete. The rewards, though, are some of the best I've seen yet from an EQ2 holiday event. These quests are pure mash notes to the players, and you're definitely going to want to take the time to snag all the booty you can. Err ... loot. Read on for our how-to, and make sure to check out our Erollisi gallery for a look at everything you can earn yourself!%Gallery-16069%
Wii Warm Up: Gaming couples
As it's the Most Romantic, Passionate Day of the Year™, we'd like to know how many of you regularly get to game with your partner or spouse? Gaming may once have been predominantly male territory, but the numbers are far more even nowadays, and a lot of that seems to be down to Nintendo and its all-encompassing approach.If you are a gaming couple, what are your favorite titles to play together? Do you prefer co-op games, or to compete against one another? And if it's the latter, who wins?See also: Valentine's Day for the gamer in your life
Love is in the Air (in RL and ingame)
I'm probably the wrong person to be writing about this (I've never been one for romance or the woo-ing game, and this year is no exception), but the fact remains that love is in the air in Azeroth-- the game is full of people aiming to get Kwee Q. Peddlefeet (and getting lovely black dresses and romantic picnic baskets instead).If you want a quick rundown of how to play through Blizzard's Valentine's Day quests, you can check out our Sex in the Undercity feature from last year, or hit up WoWWiki's great guide to the holiday. Today's the big day-- are you getting something nice for your sweetie, ingame or in RL? Call me a grump (and put me in the same column as J. Geils), but even I can see that love is in the air. Have a happy Valentine's Day! Love is in the Air and on WoW Insider. Check out our continuing coverage of the event and our guide to earning the achievement. And you better hurry; the holiday only lasts five days!
DS Daily: St. Valentine's Edition
You'll have to excuse us if we seem a little spacey or preoccupied, but today is the day of lurve. Of course, that doesn't mean you have to cast your DS aside.In fact, we're curious: does the DS figure at all in your Valentine's Day schedule? Hey, we already know the little guy can inspire closeness! Perhaps you intend to face off against your partner in a romantic round of Tetris or Advance Wars, or team up to tackle Professor Layton's more devilish puzzles together, pausing only to gaze into one another's eyes.Maybe you've decided against giving traditional presents that eventually die or are consumed, and intend to give the object of your affections a DS-related gift (or card)? Maybe you're giving them an actual DS. Is anybody giving their loved one a whole DS? That's crazy. Even if it would totally win our heart.
