Ragnar’s Realms

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Blizzard, Breakfast topics

First the Toyota ad, then Judge Judy and How I Met Your Mother. Lately, WoW has been appearing all over the place. It’s been popular before, of course (we’ve seen the Office Space commercial, and of course the South Park episode), but World of Warcraft has been popping up all over pop culture lately, and I’ve been wondering: it’s been showing up in primetime, but has World of Warcraft hit its prime?

It’s been the top online roleplaying game for quite a while now, and The Burning Crusade was actually released as the biggest PC game sequel ever. But as popular as videogames are, they’re still a niche market in the terms of popular culture. Every gamer may know what Warcraft is, but that doesn’t mean your parents or grandparents do (unless they play, but that’s another Breakfast Topic).

Until now. Is World of Warcraft finally breaking out of the gamer barrier and moving into the mainstream? There are more WoW players in America than farmers, and while I was kind of joking about seeing realm outage news on the local TV station, maybe it really will happen– the game’s already appeared on the sitcoms before the news. Are all these mentions just a coincidence, or has WoW finally hit its mainstream tipping point?

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Culture, Hacks

Developments have slowed down a little bit over the weekend, but there is still plenty of chatter around the web about Gamespot’s controversial firing of Jeff Gerstmann. Among the juicier bits from around the intertubes:

• In response to a Gamespot forum thread, the new Gamespot Manager of Community Development said he is “eagerly anticipating the official word to be released on Tuesday.”
• Gamespot has halted user reviews of Kane & Lynch after a flood of 1.0 ratings lowered the game’s user score to a 2.6/10.
  
• Destructoid has registered cashwh0re.com and changed their front page banner in support of Gerstmann.
• GameSpot employee Aaron Thomas explains why more employees aren’t speaking up on the matter: “This isn’t GameSpot suddenly clamping down on me or any of us here–this is how it is for anyone with a job.”
• Gamespot freelancer Frank Provo: “Personally, my respect for CNet is shot, and writing for GameSpot is going to feel like a chore for quite some time going forward.”
• GameSpot users are reportedly canceling paid subscriptions left and right, and planning boycotts of Gamespot and its advertisers.
• Rumor has it that Gamespot forum moderator have been told to squelch any discussion of the controversy. This seems unlikely, though, as the main discussion of the topic on the site has reached 11,110 posts as of this writing.

One thing is clear: This story is not going away anytime soon.

[Thanks to all the tipsters who sent items in]

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Today,  

Filed under: Economy, Forums

Dorgabas on the official forums and meth on MMO-Champion’s forums both reported the discovery today, each with a screenshot to provide veracity to their claims. You can check them out by clicking here. The shots are of two different players, one of whom is on a German-speaking server. In the shot you can read his conversation with a GM, which supposedly translates to him asking the GM about the limit and the GM scratching his head in response.

You can check out both threads linked above for more information, including a rough translation of the German conversation and an explanation of why this amount is the limit due to the game’s coding.

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: News

A new firmware update is available for the PSP. Version 3.72 doesn’t seem to add much functionality, other than expanding support for PlayStation Network titles. All in all, a pretty lackluster update - those without a PS3 needn’t even bother. Sure, Sony could have snuck in some extra secret stuff, but we’re betting not. If you want it, however, go and get it. A PS3 update is expected soon and PSP v3.72 does lend credence to that theory. We’re remaining cautious, however. We’ll let you know more as it happens.

[UPDATE] The EU PlayStation website has confirmed that firmware v3.72 also has support for the PS3’s Remote Start feature which will be included with PS3 firmware v2.00.

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Podcasts

Just when we thought it was safe to record the Fancast again, the dreaded internet mongoose reared its ugly head once more. We had some recording issues this week thanks to the aftermath of the vicious winter storm that zapped the US last week. Still, a Fancast is expected and a Fancast we will provide in rain, sleet, or snow. This week, we discuss the success of Assassin’s Creed, new Tomb Raider details, and delve into the ever vociferous high definition format war. Also, we should point out that we have a shiny new Zune link that will allow you to download the Fancast straight from the Zune Marketplace. Click. Listen. Learn.

Get the Fancast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in Zune Marketplace (MP3).
[RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Hosts: Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM), Dustin Burg (SuperDunners), Alexander Sliwinski (Sli Xander)

Produced by Richard Mitchell

Music: Intro/Outro: “Electromooq” by Uma Floresta. Break: “dont you wanna be relevant” by the cribs
Interested in contributing music? Let us know.

News:
Spike’s VGA Winners and Losers
Heroic Map Pack is available and previewable
Canada and Europe get XBVM
Frontline Fuel of War and Burnout Paradise demo
Team Fortress 2 update and DLCSuper NPD numbers
Assassin’s Creed sells 2.5 million copies
New Tomb Raider details revealed

Break

Fanmail: Why do licensed games suck? X3F HD format of choice: Blu-Ray or HD DVD (or neither)

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Patapon

One of our most anticipated PSP games in 2008 is Patapon. Why? Because we find everything about the game oh-so-charming. The endearing character models and innovative gameplay make it stand out as one of the best upcoming games of the year. That’s why we’re proud to give you five new screenshots of the game — if only to ease the pain of waiting.

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Today,  

Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Rhythm

PaRappa the Rapper developer NanaOn-Sha has announced it will be making a new music-centric game for Nintendo Wii due out in late 2008. It will be published by Majesco. The developer is also responsible for UmJammer Lammy and Vib-Ribbon (never released on the US), as well as the non-musical Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop series.

The as-of-yet untitled game reunites the development studio with PaRappa artist Rodney Alan Greenblat. No other details are currently available, but here’s hoping for another catchy soundtrack to go alongside our PaRappa- and Katamari-infused playlists. For a refresher on what a collaboration between Greenblat and NanaOn-Sha can produce, check out the visual reminder after the break.

Continue reading PaRappa dev targets Wii

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Hunter, Build Shop

If you’re new to the Hunter class, at first glance there doesn’t seem to be much in the Beast Mastery tree that looks appealing. A lot of the talents in the tree seem to affect your pet more than you… and for the most part, this is true. BM hunters sacrifice increasing their personal DPS in order to buff their pet’s. As such, pet choice matters a little more than it does for Marksman or Survival hunters. But it’s not all about the pet — there are some significant buffs to the Hunter (and the Hunter’s party) further down in the tree. Read on, and take a closer look at a standard Beast Mastery build.

As I said before, since you’re buffing your pet by speccing Beast Mastery, the type of pet you choose will play a heavy role in how much DPS you pump out. This column isn’t really about pet selection, but I would recommend a pet with a nice selection of DPS skills (Cats, Ravagers, Raptors, and to a lesser degree Owls and Bats). Does this mean you have to run with one of these pets? No, but keep in mind that your overall DPS will suffer.

There are a couple of big reasons I like Beast Mastery. One of the reasons is the Serpent’s Swiftness talent, deep in the BM tree. For 5 points, this talent increases your ranged attack speed and your pet’s attack speed by 20%. It’s like a permanent 20% haste, and with it, your base rate of fire will be faster than any other Hunter’s. Another reason is the combination of Bestial Wrath and The Beast Within — when you use BW, both you and your pet are immune to almost everything for 18 seconds. Snares, fears, stuns… nothing will stop you or slow you down except death. In addition, you’ll also buff your pet’s damage by 50%, your own damage by 10% and reduce the mana cost of all your spells by 20%. It really is an excellent talent if, like myself, you find yourself frustrated by losing control of your character (especially during PvP combat). The last reason is for the Ferocious Inspiration talent. For 3 talent points, every time your pet scores a critical hit on a target, it increases the damage you (and anyone else in your party) deals by 3%. Your pet should crit quite frequently, so this is an excellent way to buff yourself as well as your group.

The build I’m examining is 41/20/0, and centers on increasing your pet’s DPS by buffing crit chance, hit chance, damage dealt, and Focus regeneration (Focus is a pet’s power bar, similar to a Rogue’s energy bar and is what they need to use their skills). It also picks up a few talents to buff your party, making you a welcome addition to a group.


Beast Mastery (41 points)

• Improved Aspect of the Hawk (5/5) - You’ll use this Aspect for a good long time, and even into end game (though for some fights, Aspect of the Viper will be more useful). Attack speed buffs are always great.
• Endurance Training (3/5) - I’m using this as filler. It gives you and your pet a little more stamina, but you can shift these 3 points into something else in the 2nd tier if that works for you.
• Focused Fire (2/2) - Though you don’t get the maximum benefit of this talent until you get Kill Command, you’ll get the extra 2% damage as long as your pet is out.
• Unleashed Fury (5/5) - An extra 20% damage for your pet.
• Improved Mend Pet (2/2) - A really great talent. You’ll use Mend Pet a lot as you level, so the increased mana efficiency is nice, but the real gem is being able to cleanse your pet of curses, disease, poisons or magic effects.
• Ferocity (5/5) - Increases your pet’s chance to crit by 10%, and is a prerequisite for Frenzy later on.
• Intimidation (1/1) - Stuns your target for 3 seconds on your pet’s next attack, and causes a high amount of threat. Great for letting your pet build threat early on, and is the only stun attack this build has access to.
• Bestial Discipline (2/2) - Increases your pet’s Focus regeneration by 100%. More Focus means your pet can use their skills more often, which means more damage dealt.
• Animal Handler (2/2) - The mount speed increase is nice, but we’re really taking this to increase our pet’s hit chance by 4%. There’s currently no gear that increases your pet’s chance to hit, so for later dungeons and raids this one is important.
• Frenzy (4/5) - An 80% chance for your pet to gain a 30% attack speed buff after it lands a critical strike. If you want to up this to 100%, you can shift one point out of something else, but your pet generally crits so often I feel this is unnecessary.
• Ferocious Inspiration (3/3) - A 3% damage buff for you and your group after your pet crits.
• Bestial Wrath (1/1) - Increases your pet’s damage by 50% for 18 seconds, and the only thing that will keep it from your target after that is death. Also causes you to go under the effects of The Beast Within.
• Serpent’s Swiftness (5/5) - Increases your pet’s attack speed and your ranged attack speed by 20%.
• The Beast Within (1/1) - When you use Bestial Wrath, you receive a 10% damage buff, experience 20% mana reduction on all your spells, and you can’t be stopped unless you’re killed.
  

Marksmanship (20 points)

• Lethal Shots (5/5) - Increases your chance to crit by 5%. Kind of a no brainer, since Go for the Throat gives your pet more Focus each time you crit.
• Improved Hunter’s Mark (5/5) - Your ranged attack power bonus from Hunter’s Mark now also applies to melee attack power. Great for buffing physical damage dealers in your group / raid, as well as your pet.
• Go for the Throat (2/2) - Your ranged critical strikes give your pet 50 Focus. More Focus means your pet uses more attack skills, and that means more damage done.
• Aimed Shot (1/1) - Buffed in a recent patch, this shot causes increased damage and decreases the effectiveness of heals on the target by 50% for 10 seconds.
• Rapid Killing (2/2) - Reduces the cooldown on Rapid Fire by 2 minutes, and after killing a target that grants experience or honor, gives you a 20% damage buff to your next Auto, Arcane or Aimed Shot.
• Mortal Shots (5/5) - Increases ranged weapon critical strike damage by 30%. Bigger crits are always welcome in my book.
  

There are a few places you can shift points around in this build depending on what your play style is. If you need more mana efficient shots, take Efficiency instead of Improved Hunter’s Mark. If you just can’t live without Scatter Shot, then you’ve got to give up The Beast Within. There are a few more utility-type talents in Beast Mastery you can switch out if you want to add some health regeneration or buff your pet’s chance to dodge, but I think this is a pretty solid build. You may not have the giant crits a Marksmanship Hunter would have, or the utility of a Survival Hunter, but you’ll do a surprising amount of damage when combined with your pet. The downside is that without your pet, your damage plummets, so make sure to keep your pet alive and fighting!

That wraps up this edition of Build Shop, but I’ll be back again next week! What do you want to see on Build Shop? Send me an email with your questions or comments, and we’ll talk shop.

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: News, Halo 3

Update: Other discoveries have been made including a global heatmap, Bungie Favorites archive and now you can use your 3D Spartan / Elite preview as your forum avatar. W00t!

If you make your way over to Bungie.net for some Halo 3 stats action you may notice a few cosmetic and feature upgrades. And even though Bungie hasn’t announced the Service Record updates (look for news in today’s Weekly Update) we spotted the changes yesterday, so let’s get to ‘em.

Heatmaps. Yup, Bungie added a multiplayer Heatmaps tab in the Career Stats section that allows you to look at each multiplayer map and see where you kill and get killed the most. It’s what we in the biz call a “hot” feature. Moving along we also noticed some cosmetic changes in the Service Record’s header. Rockin’ a new honeycomb background the header now displays your rank and experience point details on the left with your rank, pin and campaign completion logos to the right. Back in the Career Stats section, you’ll now notice that your Tools of Destruction area is sporting percentages and when you hover over each weapon it’ll display a rendered in-game picture of the weapon instead of the blue and white outlined artwork.

There may be other Halo 3 Service Record features or cosmetic updates that we didn’t see or stumble across, so hit the comments and speak up if you found something else. Otherwise, the new Heatmaps inclusion and overall cosmetic updates really add to the already feature-rich Halo 3 stats section and it’s good to see Bungie is willing to make tweaks. Stats FTW!

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard

Rezist has an interesting idea on the forums. We’ve already seen lots of ingame marriages happen, just for fun, but what if the marriage process ingame was formalized? Right now, you can buy a tux and a dress and pretend to get married, but what if the tabard vendor also sold a marriage license, so that you could formally connect two characters in marriage? Of course, it would have to actually mean something– maybe the two characters could share a bank, or even get some kind of combat bonus when they were grouped up or near each other. With a Valentine’s Day patch coming up in a few months, it might be a fun twist to put in there.

On the other hand, marriage itself brings up its own set of problems. Would marriage between people of the same sex be OK? Odds are that’s a bomb that Blizzard doesn’t want to deal with. And how would divorce work? A formalized ingame marriage could be as messy as marriage in real life if not dealt with properly.

Later in the thread, Nethaera shows up to turn the conversation from RPing in general, and I agree with her– we’re already playing characters here, and there’s nothing wrong with doing something cute like this to let two people playing the game show a little affection for one another. But unfortunately, odds are that this is a little too messy an issue for Blizzard to put much work into.

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