Each week Arcane Brilliance delivers a column about Mages to you, and you, in turn, deliver Mages to the column. Thank you, Mages. Some of you deliver Warlocks to the column. Screw you, Warlocks.
Wow. Just a warning: I got done watching the series finale of Battlestar Galactica like 5 minutes ago, and I cried like a little girl like 12 times throughout. I’ll try to keep it together long enough to successfully complete this column, but holy crap. That was some pretty stirring stuff right there. Let it be known that I’m not too big a nerd to completely lose it during the final episode of BSG. Wait…maybe that actually makes me a bigger nerd? I don’t know. I’d like to think there are bigger dorks than me out there, and they’re probably twittering about plot holes and scientific inaccuracies and how Ron Moore is the antichrist or whatever as we speak. At least I’m not doing that. I’m bawling like a baby, but I’m not nerd-raging about a sci-fi show on the interwebs, right? Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to write a column about the latest nerfs to the Mage class in World of Warcraft.
Seriously, patch 3.1 can’t come soon enough, as far as I’m concerned. You know why? Because when it arrives, it’ll mean Blizzard is finally done nerfing us.
Now, granted, Mages on the live servers are definitely on the good side of the class-balance pendulum right now, so it makes a certain amount of sense, given Blizzard’s never-ending quest to make everything in the game identical, that we were going to see a few nerfs. Knowing that doesn’t make watching it happen any more fun. It’s sort of like having a gangrenous limb amputated, only having to be fully awake throughout the operation, and having it take place bit by bit over the course of several months. For frak’s sake, just knock us out and don’t wake us ’til it’s over. You can find the details on this week’s chopping–along with my feelings on it–after the break. Bring some novocain, won’t you?
The other thing you won’t be doing? Having any inkling of what Potpourrii (Abstraction Games, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points) is. Here, from its (unedited) description in the official Nintendo release:
“For centuries, the seasons have followed a set pattern. But then things start to go awry in the forest. Suddenly it’s snowing while the sun shines and flowers bloom while leaves are falling. Then a strange purple goo appears. The leprechauns are stunned. Even worse, the magic oak of life loses its power. It all turns out to be the fault of an evil wizard.”
Later, it mentions the word “puzzle,” but our reading comprehension abilities were already torn asunder at that point. If you can handle it, check out an ad for the game after the break.
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Back in the early days of the Azerothian economy, enchanters performed enchants with their own mats. You didn’t sell anything you didn’t have all the mats for, with the exception of special items such as Righteous Orbs for exclusive, high-end enchants like Crusader. When you were out of mats, you closed up shop for the day. Players laughed in your face if you asked them to provide their own mats, and anything for sale on the Auction House was overpriced to the nth degree. Enchanters developed relationships with crafters in other professions to create items that disenchanted into useful components. Players who leveled enchanting purely to disenchant items and sell the resulting reagents were frowned upon and hid their identities behind banker alts and mules.
Today, it’s a disenchanter’s market. Disenchanting has become a profitable “gathering” profession in and of itself. Groups expect enchanters to “shard” items on the spot during instance runs so that members can choose a more valuable shard instead of an undesirable BoP drop. Disenchanting is a whole new “profession”! Read on for Insider Trader’s look at disenchanting as a money-making venture in its own right.
Forgoing super heroes and knights in shining armor, NCSoft is turning to martial arts and Korean mythology for its latest MMO entry, Blade and Soul. The game is being built on Unreal Engine 3, and while it’s currently planned for release only in Korea, its visual style and unique gameplay could help it get a foothold in the States.
From the looks of the first video, the game appears to draw heavy influences from Capcom’s online hack-’n-slasher, Monster Hunter, working in character designs which seem like they could have been created for the PS2 action title Bujingai. Interactive environments are also part of the mix. In other words, it’s definitely not the MMO equivalent of Jade Empire, but maybe BioWare will get to that after its so-not-a-secret KOTOR MMO?
For as much as Sarah Connor and the rest of humanity talk about John’s fight against the machines, it isn’t a fight that he has taken up on his own. There are many human allies behind the man, toiling day in and day out to quell the robotic onslaught from finishing off what little meat bags are left on this big, blue spinning rock. Thankfully, the folks at GRIN know that, and have sent our way this video from Terminator: Salvation that shows off some co-op gameplay. Looks like John gets by with a little help from his friends.
When a demo for Bizarre Creation’s The Clubwas released only in Europe and Australia, we were understandably testy. But then, we had a revelation: That’s what it’s like every day in countries that aren’t America. We were so moved that we bought a red-white-and-blue T-shirt and six of Miller High Life to celebrate our appreciation for our homeland. Now, our patience has been rewarded, with the demo finally hitting Xbox Live.
If you need more encouragement to check it out, you should know that Tycho from Penny Arcade said nice things about it, which is good enough for us. Typically, the guys use their power to steer you towards the finer things, (unlike our power, used only to win fights in the comments section). But will you be joining The Club? Let us know below.
Apparently realizing it’s become de rigeur to claim that your superhero game is practically perfect in every way, the developers at Raven Software seem pretty confident in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The latest behind-the-scenes video goes a step further than just claiming that the title will be the best Wolverine game ever made, Raven actually calls out all other games. Senior Producer Jeff Poffenbarger lays it on the line at the end of the video saying, “Every other game is like … some pansy.”
Oh, no he didn’t. Watch the video and see just what Raven is talking about. Be warned though, the video contains some pretty graphic violence against melons.
Last night GameFly sent over a list of the service’s most requested games, based on people’s Q adds, during 2008. Although GameFly’s data was likely a component in Rentrak’s rental market data, the online rental service’s list was quite disparate.
GameFly’s Top 3:
Assassin’s Creed - PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS
Army of Two - PS3, Xbox 360
Grand Theft Auto IV - PS3, Xbox 360
GameFly’s complete top ten list is quite interesting. Whether it’s the client demographic or some other factor, a definite takeaway is the lack of Wii titles making the cut. Check out the full list after the break.
So, you know what Haiku is, right? It’s form of Japanese poetry. The most popular English version is 3 lines long. The first line is 5 syllables, the second 7, and the third is 5 again. All well and good, I’m sure you say, but what does this have to with WoW? Fimlys of the Asleep at the WoW blog posted a Wow-ku challenge a few days ago, asking people to make up Haikus based on our favorite game.
While Silicon Knights continues to divide its forces between the long-in-development Too Humanand the legal mosh pit that is its relationship with Epic Games, the company has apparently marshaled enough energy to begin work on another game, as both it and fellow Canadian dev Digital Extremes have been given a combined $1 million in funding to begin work on a pair of development projects. The investment, awarded by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), serves as part of the agency’s Video Game Prototype Initiative, which looks to help companies create prototypes of video game concepts in order to attract potential publishers.
While Pariah dev Digital Extreme’s game is described as a third-person “old school” horror game for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, Silicon Knights, which recently expanded its Canadian ops, is apparently using the funds for something a bit farther out, promising a third person action/psychological thriller for release sometime in 2010 for unspecified “next-generation systems” — which by that time may actually be an accurate moniker.
Arcane Brilliance: I still don’t like spirit originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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