In a nice interview over at Variance, ArenaNet starts dropping some pretty big information World vs. World (WvW) Â combat. Â WvW is actually three servers or shards pitted against each other for a set amount of time. Instead of arena-style PvP, WvW involves a big combat zone with multiple, linked objectives. For example, a supply caravan might be re-stocking a fortification. Players can either attack the fortification directly or cut off the supply chain. Winning sides garner benefits for their entire server. All this information has been known for some time. The interview brings to light an interesting twist: there are four maps.
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Промоакции для игроков не только в шутерах — воспользуйся промокодом Vavada от наших партнеров и получи бонусы, которые подарят азарт и атмосферу, сравнимую с игровыми победами.
.Post Weekend Release
It seems the Monday blues have destroyed any creativity for a full-on, introspective, analytical blog post. Instead I’ll just bait everybody with random thoughts I had over the weekend.
Continue reading Post Weekend Release
Unauthorized Access
In 2009 and earlier, I blogged a few times about the Lori Drew case, in which a woman was prosecuted under federal hacking laws for violating MySpace’s terms of service. I drafted but never posted a follow-up of the US government’s continuing to pursue that legal interpretation in an even stronger form: “exceeding authorized access” (federal hacking felony) includes violating your access privileges in any way. That includes checking the news/weather at work when the office policy says, “no personal internet use.” That includes swearing in World of Warcraft or violating the ToS in any game. And that argument is winning. Granted, Ninth Circuit; granted, divided; but this is one of the most powerful enablings of selective prosecution you are likely to see this month.
A legal interpretation holding that checking the weather is a federal felony is clearly insane, but it is not clearly wrong. It is not even necessarily an unfair reading of the plain wording of the statute.
: Zubon
Contrasting Review Philosophies
Gamespot 2007: fire reviewer for trashing a game that was advertising heavily on the site. (Side note: 6/10 theoretically looks like “somewhat above average,” but that is really a 6 on a scale from 7 to 9. To get a 2, the game would need to physically damage your console with harmonic resonance, and even then a small ad buy could get you at least a 5.)
The Onion 2011: Dylan Dog gets a D+ rating while basically paying for the site for the month. As I type this, the main Onion AV Club page is running 4 ads for Dylan Dog at once. I don’t know what that does for their advertising revenue, but that sounds like buying a chunk of credibility. (Sadly, I rarely find the AV Club reviews helpful. A post on using reviews productively is coming up.)
: Zubon
[GW] Happy 6th Anniversary!
Six years of Guild Wars, and it is still going strong even with the last box release being over three years. Most of its perseverance is owed to the Guild Wars Live Team. The Live Team has put out another great update, which follows on the heels of the Embark Beach update last month. There’s a smattering of prodigious items like high-resolution textures in town, hard mode versions of favorite quests, and the much requested Friends location feature. Plus the weight of the birthday presents feels a little different this year, and madness has bled into PvP.
KI Teases Earthquake Fairness in Test Realm
So, after my big ranty rant last week about Wizard101, addressing the Earthquake spell exploit in PvP, and how the cash-shop equipment making it possible for anyone to buy the highest PvP title in the game, KingsIsle goes and launches the test realm today.
One of the updates being tested? Earthquake will no longer remove stun shields.
If this makes it to the live realm, and actually WORKS, I’ll be impressed.
There’s lots of other updates to truly be excited about, including the much-desired ability (for cash) to change the appearance of your wand/sword. New pets, new spells, and new content (the Wintertusk area, which is linked to the storyline in Grizzleheim). There’s also a new dungeon (i.e., optional quest area with high-quality drops) for players who have hit the level max.
I’ll investigate the Test Realm for a few days before asking you to suffer through an in-depth analysis. But I’ll leave you with this thought:
When will KI realize it’s not too smart to release new questing areas if they aren’t going to raise the level cap at the same time?
/facepalm
[Rift] Not My Problem
I am in the mid-high level zone of Moonshade Highlands still. My vacation slowed me down for a week. I am pretty sure I am nearly finished with it being level 41 and nearing the final Guardian quest hub. I am starting to see an interesting change in these lower populated zones, especially during the week (i.e., even lower pop.). It sadly reminds me of Warhammer Online’s descent. The problem is that fewer people care about lonely rifts that open up. Invasions still seem to draw a raid group or two since they give rarer tokens and an achievement if beaten. Rifts, especially major ones, seem to be drawing less people.
Hyphen Usage
Doesn’t this imply that he defiles orcs from Moria? There are others that war with orcs from Moria, skirmish with them, sap them… Orc syrup?
: Zubon
[GW2] One Unique Snowflake
At the beginning of charr week, there was one interview at Now Gamer that asked broader questions including one that touched upon one I’ve had for awhile. What are race and profession conventions?
Unlike other some other MMOs, all races in Guild Wars 2 will be allowed to play all professions. Therefore, a height-challenged asura could become an aggressive warrior or a hulking norn could become a sneaky thief. My first lore-based thought came with the release of the guardian. The guardian professions had mechanical ancestry with the Guild Wars monks. Monks drew their power from the human gods. Where did the guardians draw their power from, especially the godless charr (and quasi-scientific asura)?
[GW2] Charr Rule
How can this iconic Guild Wars race get any cooler? Their pseudo-leader is named Smodur the Unflinching. They are badass. Possibly one of the most badass fantasy/sci-fi races ever created, especially on the protagonist side. Take the hardness and grimness of Sparta, the structure and purpose of Ancient Rome, and make them anthropomorphic, meat-eating predators.
I remember an old Ang Lee interview where the director talked about making the movie Hulk where he really wanted to play up that childish impulse to just smash things recklessly. It plays to our id, if you will, that we usually repress so we can have nice things and bigger wallets. The charr are the Guild Wars 2 race that call to similar primal instincts to dominate, to bully, and to win at any possible costs. Hey look, Guild Wars 2 is also a PvP game that will attract PvP players.