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Massively Speaking is 100!

One of my favorite MMO podcasts, Massively Speaking, just turned 100 episodes old.  It’s a well-balanced podcast that plucks news and interviews from all over MMO space.  It’s great that they really try and shed light on some of the lesser known MMOs, but also give some good insight on the larger news stories.

For the 100th episode, they interviewed Richard Garriott.  Now, I’ve had my jests at Garriott, but the guy is truly a savant for our genre.  His commentary, insights, and stories in the interview are quite simply fantastic.  Shawn Schuster, one of the hosts on Massively Speaking, said that he was ready to drink Richard ‘Gool-Aid’ after interviewing Garriott, and I have to agree.  The show is well worth a listen if you have an hour to spare your ears.

Congrats, Massively!  Here’s to a 100 more.

–Ravious
figaro qua, figaro là

Removal of No-Trade in SWG

Different games call it different things. But whether you call it “Soulbound” “bio-linked” or “no-trade”, it all means the same thing: you can’t give away or sell an item once you have it. Developers put in no-trade items so that you’re forced to beat a boss to get a great piece of loot or forced to actually earn your own armor for your character. You can’t just have a friend give you a set of all the top-tier items and tell you that you beat the game.

This is the case with the epic jewelry rewards for the “Heroic” instances in Star Wars Galaxies. But tomorrow’s patch for Star Wars Galaxies will remove the no-trade tag from all new heroic jewelry.
Continue reading Removal of No-Trade in SWG

The Lich King is Dead – HCB Update

My brother (whom I call hard core brother or HCB) has taken many forms under the name of Grim. His latest is a blood elf paladin. He sends me this update about him and his guild Juggernaut.

Invincible

The name of the mount is “Invincible“, and is a guaranteed drop off of LK25-H.
For obvious reasons, it’s the rarest mount in the game :) I was fortunate enough to be awarded our first one.

Continue reading The Lich King is Dead – HCB Update

Proud Moments

This week, I had one of my proudest moments in Team Fortress 2: I was accused of hacking. As a Pyro. Normally we reserve that for the Snipers, who can one-shot people at extreme range, rather than someone using area-effect attacks up close.

Granted, this was from a Spy, and a relative newcomer to a server where I usually play. He was outraged and found something suspicious in the way that I would run up to a niche or corner, where he was standing invisibly, and set him on fire. We regulars know that Spies are constantly hiding in those spots, and he could not watch me Spy-checking continuously for several minutes once the other team got up to 4 Spies. And we know there is a Spy nearby once he backstabs a Sniper. And not all of them were perfect on the issues of being fully cloaked before moving or changing disguises in plain sight.

Let’s see what this weekend brings. Fear my w+m1 skills!

: Zubon

Guild Wars 2 – Press Rollercoaster

The Guild Wars 2 news is coming in what-seems-to-be cyclical deluges of information on one or two specific subjects with downpours occurring through official ArenaNet channels and big news sites. This week we received a really good overview of the crown jewel of Guild Wars 2 – the event system. Yet, it can take a lot of time and energy, even on the hyperactive forums, to find all the articles and commentary that occurs. The ArenaNet blog has been posting conglomerate articles pointing the way.

There is also another really good way to get information if you are more audiovisually oriented. Sabre Wolf has been releasing Guild Wars 2 Info videos on YouTube compressing the latest news into an easily digested format. He includes released screenshots, quotes, as well as his commentary in to the ten minute episodes. The latest episode details the mass of information the community received in the Guild Wars 2 Guru interview. All links involved are worth a look, but Sabre Wolf’s YouTube channel is here. Enjoy!

–Ravious
we can’t stop here this is bat country

Comment Threads

none of us is as dumb as all of us Those of you who don’t read the comments miss the really exciting drama. Once a post goes past 50 comments, it is most likely a train wreck, and I’m sure it can see you through a dull Friday moment.

For the win, however, I recommend this Wikipedia discussion page. It relates to a recent xkcd comic about a made-up word and its equally made-up Wikipedia page. Antics ensued. And kept ensuing. And did not cease to ensue.

: Zubon

Incremental Improvement

We should look at this as a step forward.

David Allen’s previous game, Horizons, did not go well for a variety of reasons. It was eventually taken over by a new group whose financial backing is small enough for me to consider it a fan-run game. They seem enthusiastic, and they are so proud of their work that they re-named the game “Istaria” to dissociate themselves from the original release.

David Allen’s more recent game, Alganon, did not go well for a variety of reasons, but it has kept going under its original company (instead of transferring several times). Under new management, it has advanced from borrowing from Battlefield Earth to borrowing from Star Wars. These are all positive movements.

I see no reason why his next game cannot be even better.

: Zubon

Optimizing Walking-Like Movements

This is one of those must-see applications of the gamer mindset.

Our good friend Wilhelm2451 explains how Nintendo has a Pokémon device that rewards walking, which is a good thing. It goes all the way to 7,500 miles worth of Achievement, which “encourages aberrant gameplay,” as we might say around here. He then goes on to demonstrate a creation that gets Pokémon to register 120 steps per minute.

Alternate title: “Cheating at Walking.”

: Zubon