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Choose My Adventure: Atys refugee blues
Last week's polls were enough for me to get started in the world of Ryzom over the weekend, so I took my first steps back into the game that I haven't played for quite some time. I still remembered how some of it worked, thankfully, but there were a lot of elements that I'd almost completely forgotten. And while I'm still knee-deep in the starter area, I've played enough to at least get some starter impressions. But let's make this a full narrative, yes? When we left off, the group verdict was that I would be starting out as a Zorai with the Magic starter package based off of a female Shakespearean tragic character. And thus, with only a little extra effort, Corlede was born into the world of Ryzom. The character creator offers a variety of features, allowing you to select your character's build in fine detail but offering a strange lack of certain other options. There are also some odd constraints on character types -- you find yourself always locked within a certain general band of height, for instance, so there are no really tall Trykers.
Leaderboard: Battle of the Bards
I have to say, I'm just always fascinated by Bards (and Bard-type classes) in MMOs. They seem so odd juxtaposed with steely warriors and mystic wizards that half the time I think they're a running joke that somewhere along the line people started taking seriously. I mean, pulling out a guitar in the middle of a gang gunfight in Chicago is a good way to ruin a perfectly good musical instrument, but in fantasy worlds this sort of thing happens and nobody even blinks. In some places, a fully decked-out hair metal band can wreck havoc on any raid boss. Bards appeal to the contrarian in us, with the attitude of "it's OK to be a jack of all trades, as long as you're rocking a sweet axe." In some MMOs their music is used to conjure up buffs, while in others their notes cause aural damage on the level of Ke$ha to monsters. Have family members who keep telling you to turn that racket down? Bards in games are constantly told to crank it up -- and play multiple songs simultaneously, if at all possible. Plus, Bards are not unknown to the ways of the sword, which always amuses group leaders who now have a squishy character charging into combat shouting, "Stab! Stabby stab!" Today is a first, as we're giving you more than one choice for Leaderboard voting. Please don't pass out. It's a Battle of the Bards, with most of the major MMOs reporting in for duty! Which Bard tops them all? Cast your vote after the jump!
Nominate your favorite gadgets for the 2011 Engadget Awards!
<div style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011awards"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/01/eng-2011-awards.png"/> </a></div><br />Welcome to the 2011 Engadget Awards! This year we've got 15 categories up for grabs, with 30 total awards to be decided. All finalists for Engadget Awards are reader-nominated, and the editors of Engadget will then select the best of those nominations (usually somewhere between 4-6 devices) as finalists. There are two awards per category: Readers' Choice (voted on by you!), and Editors' Choice (selected by us). The vote will take place in a few weeks once the nominees are picked, and winners will be announced shortly thereafter.<br /><br />Submit your favorite devices for consideration using the form just past the break, and feel free to elaborate in the comments. You don't need to fill in every field, but <font color="red">you are required to answer at least one question</font> in order for your form to be processed. You've got until 11:59PM ET on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 to get your entries in. Now, go nominate!
Choose My Adventure: So long, Lineage II
I'm here at the end of the line. Six weeks and 48 levels brings me to the close of my time on Choose My Adventure with Lineage II. It became a little grindy toward the end, but that's due to my inability to find a group, something that's important in order to experience some of the content. When I began this little adventure, I knew nothing of Lineage II. I'm walking away a regular player who's looking forward to trying out the numerous PvP options. I wanted to finish this ride with a bang, and I was lucky enough to be ending after a siege weekend. Lineage II has some rather involved sieges and other PvP content that should please many players at mid- to high-level. I was a litle confused at first, but I was able to use the broadcast crystal to watch some siege gameplay. This final farewell covers a lot of PvP in the game, so buckle up!%Gallery-141708%
Choose My Adventure: How Lineage II feels to a Western newcomer
We're down to the wire for Lineage II's Choose My Adventure, with one more week to go. My Abyss Walker quickly rushed to the 40s, at which point leveling has slowed down considerably. I've talked about pets, explored (only a fraction of) the countryside, and touched on crafting and other features. What else could we possibly talk about? I haven't really shared a lot of my experiences with my character class or how the class-transfers and skills affect my overall enjoyment of Lineage II. My third class-transfer is set in stone thanks to your poll choices and the game mechanics; now that I'm an Abyss Walker, I'm locked-in to become a Ghost Hunter, which makes sense. Ghost Hunter is melee, like my Abyss Walker. I can't really jump ship at this point and go ranged. So let's look a little more at my character, what the future could hold for him in terms of more class-transfers, and my opinions on non-situational combat and how that makes the game feel to me.%Gallery-141708%
Voting now open for Best App Ever awards
Voting has been opened up for the 2011 Best App Ever nominees. These awards have been put on every year for a few years now by our friends over at 148 Apps, and they feature many of the greatest apps you'll find on the iOS store, chosen by users. To vote on this year's awards, head over to the Best Apps Ever page, and choose your favorites from all of the various different categories from Best Overall App to the various technical choices in each category. For the first time I can remember, the awards also talk about Android apps this year, so if you have an Android device and some favorites on that side of the fence, be sure to represent over there as well. But despite the fact that Android is being honored, Best App Ever is still planning to announce the final winners later this month at Macworld, as usual. Voting is open until January 25, and be sure to put your votes in. We're curious to see which of these great apps is crowned with a win.
Polls re-opened for voting: Best iPad productivity app of 2011
There's a saying that "to err is human -- to really screw up, you need a computer." Well, put a human and a computer together and you're likely to have a real problem. Sure enough, nobody caught the fact that we left the voting poll off of the post for the Best iPad productivity app of 2011, so we ended up with zero votes except for those that were sent to us as comments. To be fair, we're re-opening the polls. Here's the text from the post the other day describing the nominees: TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPad productivity app of 2011. This category pulled in the largest number of nominations so far in the Best of 2011, with two apps surprising the staff here at TUAW with the number of nominations they grabbed -- "Universal Translator" app Communilator Pro (US$2.99, also available in a free version) and Virtual Office Pro ($4.99). The other nominees are: Pocket Informant HD ($14.99) OmniFocus for iPad ($39.99) GoodReader for iPad ($4.99) You have a couple of days to vote, and the winners will be announced on January 4, 2012. Let the voting begin! %Poll-72431%
Leaderboard: 2011 vs. 2012
The past vs. the future. The Year of the Rabbit vs. the Year of the Dragon. In short, 2011 vs. 2012 -- which will ultimately prove to be the better year for MMOs? Oh sure, you might say it's unfair to compare a known quantity with an unknown one, but since when has that stopped MMO players from prognosticating the definitive outcome of everything within a 0.0001% margin of error? 2011 was light on major releases, but the ones it did have were certainly significant. Plus, it was a year of major change in the industry as free-to-play spread its tendrils everywhere, studios took risks on new ideas, and if you could get past the loud whining in one corner you'd see millions upon millions of happy gamers flocking to these games daily. Then again, 2012 could be the real deal, the contender for which we've all been waiting. It could see several big AAA releases even as the industry tries to branch out from the established ruts of the past. It's a year full of potential, promise, and play, and it's out there waiting for you. Ultimately, which do you think will go down in history as the better year? Vote after the jump!
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for your favorite iPad productivity app
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPad productivity app of 2011. This category pulled in the largest number of nominations so far in the Best of 2011, with two apps surprising the staff here at TUAW with the number of nominations they grabbed -- "Universal Translator" app Communilator Pro (US$2.99, also available in a free version) and Virtual Office Pro ($0.99). The rest of the nominees are: Pocket Informant HD ($14.99) OmniFocus for iPad ($39.99) GoodReader for iPad ($4.99) You have a couple of days to vote, and the winners will be announced on January 3, 2012. Let the voting begin!
Choose My Adventure: Post-Christmas update
A turkey and ham coma, family soiree, and the biggest calendar holiday of the year have left my Lineage II escapades a wee bit smaller this week, but not without some fun happenings. Speaking of holidays, I hope everyone had a terrific one! Random events, miraculously revived dead pets, more amazing scenery, and lots of killing are on deck in today's Choose My Adventure. It turns out that I am terrible at raising my pet wolf and even got into an accidental scuffle with another player that left her pet dead and me even deader. I returned to the Path to Awakening because that's what you voted for last week. I've also neared the end of the uber-fast leveling cycle via quests and am turning to grinding for the majority of my experience gain. The fun-level has yet to dip for me; there's higher level gameplay I'm really hoping to dip my dagger into, and I'm curious to see what level I can reach by the end of this trip. As always, check out the extensive gallery and livestreams, and tune in to MV Guide to see when my next livestream will be.%Gallery-141708%
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best iPad accessory
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPad accessory of 2011. Some of our readers apparently didn't read the nomination post closely, as we received nominations for cases (a separate category) and apps. As a result, the nominees are: Bubcaps (4 for US$5.00) by Paperclip Robot, which are tiny caps that are used to keep toddlers or special needs kids from hitting the home button and changing to another app; the iKlip ($39.99) from IK Multimedia, a microphone stand mount for musicians using the iPad; the $99.95 iProp, a very flexible stand for hands-free use of the iPad; Pix & Stix ($24.95) which includes two capacitive drumsticks and one guitar pick; and iPad Kicks ($11.95) from Bluelounge. And now, let the voting begin! The results will be announced on December 30, 2011. %Poll-72358%
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best iPad case
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPad case of 2011. Very few iPad owners seem to keep their devices "naked," instead choosing to wrap them in a case of some sort. Much to my surprise, all of the cases were folio type cases, with the "book style" case being the most popular. Our nominees for this are the Twelve South BookBook for iPad (US$69.99), the Portenzo cases (Customized, Composition, Italian Bonded Leather and Premium Genuine Leather -- $59.95 to $124.95 depending on model, options not included), San Francisco's own DODOcase ($59.95), the Bear Motion folio ($59.95 MSRP), and the Zaggfolio keyboard case ($99.99). And now, let the voting begin! The results will be announced on December 29, 2011. %Poll-72320%
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best iPhone productivity app
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPhone productivity app of 2011. Our readers provided a plethora of nominations in this category, but five apps really stood out. Springpad (free) captured the lion's share of the nominations for its easy to use interface, customizable notebooks, and ability to sync across platforms. A dark horse was ISMEStorage (US$4.99) a comprehensive cloud and local file manager that supports cloud services from Amazon S3 to Zimbra Briefcase and just about everything in between. The big guns weren't left out of the voting, though -- both Dropbox (free) and Evernote (free) were popular nominations for iPhone productivity apps. It was good to see OmniFocus for iPhone ($19.99) in the nominations, as it is a consistently popular and highly-rated productivity app. And now, let the voting begin! The results will be announced on Christmas Day, December 25. %Poll-72239%
Choose My Adventure: Exploration week
From desert wastelands and salty shorelines to plateaus and ocean floors, I've been busy traveling in Aden, and I've seen but a glimpse of the entire continent. Last week, you voted for me to stray from the Path to Awakening and explore the world in Lineage II, and I've been having a blast doing just that. I discovered a monster racetrack, ran into raid bosses in the middle of nowhere, discovered a vast undersea temple, and so much more. I've also added 47 more screenshots to the gallery, uploaded a walkabout video, and have another livestream this week. We still aren't done yet. There are more chances for you to decide my fate in this week's Choose My Adventure.%Gallery-141708%
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best iPhone accessory
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! Today TUAW is asking for your vote for the best iPhone accessory of 2011. What accessories excited our readers in 2011? One was an Apple product -- the second-generation Apple TV (US$99). Yes, it is an iPhone accessory, since you can beam video, photos, and music to the device from your iPhone. Your iPhone is even a remote control for the Apple TV, so the little connection to your HDTV is a natural match for the iPhone. Cases are another popular iPhone accessory, and four cases received notice from our readers. The incredible LifeProof case for iPhone 4 / 4S ($79.99) is waterproof, shockproof, dirtproof, and snowproof. For my review of the LifeProof case in August, my iPhone 4 got to go for a dip, and TUAW readers got to see a video from the viewpoint of the iPhone underwater in my sink. Another nominated case was the Twelve South BookBook Case for iPhone 4/4S ($59.99). It's a combination wallet -- provided you're not carrying more than your license and a credit card -- and book-like iPhone case. The BookBook case was one of the most unique iPhone cases reviewed by TUAW all year. For those of us who use our iPhones constantly, power can be an issue. One of the most popular cases with a built-in battery is the Mophie Juice Pack Air ($79.95). It's the case and battery extender that I personally use. Finally, athletes find the Wahoo Fitness products which wirelessly connect iPhones to fitness sensors like stride sensors and heart rate straps. Part of the ANT+ alliance, the Wahoo Fitness products work with a variety of iPhone apps and hardware from a number of vendors. The product we've chosen from the spectrum of Wahoo Fitness devices is the Wahoo Run/Gym Pack for iPhone ($119.99). Be sure to vote for the iPhone accessory that you think is the top for 2011. I'll announce the winner in a few days. %Poll-72045%
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best Mac photo and video apps
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! Today TUAW is asking for your vote for the best Mac photo and video apps of 2011. While we received relatively few nominations in this area, there were several apps that stood out as potential winners in this category. Rather than have video and photo apps punching it out for the Best of 2011 title, I've decided to split the voting into both categories. In the video realm the new Camtasia 2 ($99.99) app pulled in the most nominations, while Apple's Final Cut Pro X ($299.99) was popular despite all the complaining when it was released earlier this year. ScreenFlow ($99.99), another screencasting app for Mac, will fight it out with Camtasia 2 for the honors. For photo apps, FX Photo Studio Pro ($39.99) grabbed the attention of readers, along with Sketcher ($14.99), Flickery ($9.99), and effect / texture app Flare ($9.99). Be sure to vote for one of each below -- one Mac photo app and one Mac video app. I'll announce the winners in a few days. %Poll-72024% %Poll-72020%
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best Mac music app
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! Today TUAW is asking for your vote for the best Mac music app of 2011. While we received relatively few nominations in this area, there were several apps that stood out as potential winners in this category. Reaper (US$225 for commercial usage, $60 for individual use) is a powerful digital audio workstation app that does it all for musicians. It's "...a complete multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing, and mastering environment." Maybe you want to create ringtones from your favorite music in iTunes. Several readers nominated Ringer ($3.99), and it's not surprising -- the app is consistently rated with five stars by users in the Mac App Store. Several readers picked apps that simplify and speed playback of music on your Mac (i.e., skipping iTunes). The most popular of this genre were GarageTunes ($4.99) and Simplier ($2.99) Only one of these apps will win TUAW's top honor for Mac music app of 2011. Naming the winner is all up to you. %Poll-72000%
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best Mac game app
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! Today TUAW is asking for your vote for the best Mac game app of 2011. While we received relatively few nominations in this area, there were several apps that stood out as potential winners in this category. The classic Pixeljam game Dino Run SE (US$2.99) made the list of TUAW staff favorites for its retro look, the variety of hats, and built-in chat room. New to the Mac App Store, sidescroller Trine 2 ($14.99) gained acclaim for its great story, amazing graphics, and immensely fun gameplay. The beautifully drawn puzzle / adventure game Machinarium ($9.99) also earned a spot in the nominations. This game consistently receives high ratings in the Mac App Store. The "true Mac classic game" Return to Dark Castle ($4.99) is another retro Mac game that captured the imagination of TUAW readers in 2011. Finally, the last spot on the ballot goes to the updated Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ($19.99), which overcame laggy performance and became a favorite of Mac gamers and Star Wars fans. Only one of these apps will win TUAW's top honor for Mac game app of 2011. Naming the winner is all up to you. %Poll-71971%
Leaderboard: Level-based vs. skill-based
When you think about it, the concept of "levels" in MMOs is downright strange -- and contrary to how we live life. I mean, do you suddenly "ding" to a new, arbitrary level after gaining a whole bunch of generic XP for killing spiders because your spouse/roommate/sibling is too scared to do so? Or do you increase your skills and abilities separately through training, learning and practice? And yet level-based gameplay continues to dominate the MMORPG field, since along the way game designers thought we were too dumb to comprehend anything other than "Big number good. Small number bad." Although, to be fair, level-based gameplay has widespread recognition going for it, a quick and simple way to gauge your status versus an enemy's, and a long and storied tradition in video game history. Then again, there are a few MMOs that have said, no, we're going to give skill-based gameplay a try. These are the titles that allow you to focus on some abilities above others, deepening your character's growth at the cost of increased complexity (not to mention increased difficulty for devs to balance!). Whether it's accumulating a collection of skills or simply choosing which ones to improve, this type of system allows for more individual choice. Ultimately, the choice is yours as it is today. Which do you prefer: MMOs that go the level-based route or the skill-based one? Vote after the jump!
Choose My Adventure: Lineage II by a landslide
It was no contest from the get-go. Lineage II took an early lead in last week's poll and firmly held on to it. Color me shocked. I really thought that a few of the entries would be closely tied. Some contestants recently added some juicy content releases, but Lineage II crushed them, and all the others, by getting 1,320 votes. The runner-up, Black Prophecy, only managed to secure 299 votes. All its servers going F2P and the release of Age of Discovery weren't enough to put EverQuest II in the running. The F2P population boom in DC Universe Online's and its recent Lightning Strikes update weren't enough to create competition. Nope. The allure of Lineage II's F2P mode and the launch of the Goddess of Destruction expansion were just too much for voters to pass up. Now it's your turn to start steering my course in the lands of Lineage II. Race, class, gender and my first class-transfer are all on the table. I've tried to make voting as easy and clear as possible, but given how each race, and gender determine which classes you can choose from, you should make an effort to understand how all the choices work. Here's one example: Voting Dwarf and then Mystic is wasting a vote because Dwarves can only be Fighters, and it skews the results for those who are voting for a race that can be Mystics. You'll see what I mean.
