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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.

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Gifts From Gandalf

Turbine has wrapped up some holiday presents for players of Lord of the Rings Online. Current players subscribed at the normal $14.99 per month have the option to sign up for $9.99 per month if they pay via 3 month chunks at $29.97, not a bad deal if you are enjoying the game and missed out on the Founder’s pricing plans.

Speaking of Founders, Turbine has put a horse under the tree. This is a special horse to be used by level 25 and higher players. The normal horse was not available until 35, so this is a nice step up. Currently, it is only available to Founders and Lifetime account holders. I’d like to see it offered to all players and perhaps it will down the road. Since I have a Founder account and I’m almost level 22 right now, this is a perfect present for my Hobbit. Naturally, the level 25 horse is slower than the level 35 horse – but it’s got to be better than running everywhere.

More details can be found here and here.

– Ethic

Optional EVE Patch Eats Windows

According to these threads on the EVE Online boards, a flaw in an optional EVE:Trinity patch sometimes erases the boot.ini in the Windows directory instead of in the EVE Online directory. Unfortunately, c:\boot.ini is one of the main files used during the boot process of windows, and without a proper boot.ini file, Windows simply won’t start. The file is only used in the boot process, so it will run fine until it’s rebooted, at which point, getting the machine up and running again requires some fun tech support-type work.

Putting aside the obvious question, “How did this get past QA,” why would you ever name a file the same thing as an essential part of the OS? That’s just begging for trouble.

More PotBS Thoughts

I started to title this post: ‘Where FLS Went Wrong With Pirates,’ but after receiving my very first negative email in response to a blog post, accusing me of bring overly critical, having an axe to grind, and ‘contradicting myself numerous times throughout…’ I have chosen a more neutral title*. Besides, I don’t necessarily think they went wrong, simply made a few poor choices, which will be hard to overcome and could translate into fewer subscriptions at launch and over the first few months…

Continue reading More PotBS Thoughts

Finally, A Computer That Can Play WoW

Thanks to Dell, everyone can afford to play World of Warcraft. For just $4,499 US – you get the following (choose from Horde or Alliance edition):

* 17″ HD widescreen notebook complete with World of Warcraft backpack
* Illuminated speaker grills and faction specific Honor Badges
* Back-lit keyboard stays awake as long as you can
* Track your stats with the world’s first built-in notebook Logitech® GamePanel TM LCD
* Enhanced graphics with NVIDIA® SLI TM technology and AGEIA PhysX TM Mobile Technology TM
* Pre-loaded with World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and all major game patches
* Golden Ticket for a custom FigurePrint TM of your actual in-game World of Warcraft character with your actual armor and weapons
* World of Warcraft Beta Club Key Card with a key to future World of Warcraft beta tests
* World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition Account Upgrade Certificates
* Exclusive desktop background artwork and screensavers
* Additional loot like a behind the scenes DVD, soundtrack, Warcraft novels, strategy guides, trading cards, etc

Dude, you’re getting a Dell!

– Ethic

Pirates of the Burning Sea

I have been very silent on this blog for quite some time, partially due to real life obligations, and partly because the bulk of my gaming time has been spent under a strict NDA. That NDA was dropped officially by Pirates of the Burning Sea, as they prepare to enter their open beta phase of development this week.

I am not going to give a run down of the game-play or mechanics in my observations, as Tobold, Keen and others in the blogosphere have fairly in depth looks at the game. My thoughts on Pirates after these messages…

Continue reading Pirates of the Burning Sea

Activision and Blizzard Merger

Yep. That’s right. Activision and Blizzard merging

Wow. I’m not quite sure what I think about this right now, although I’ll probably comment on it on my personal blog from the business perspective.

The gamer half of me is a bit perplexed though. Blizzard probably realizes they can’t rely on their Warcraft/Starcraft franchise forever and simply can’t come up with any good new ideas. Activision might be a good source of established IP and franchises, but it has quite a checkered history. I almost feel like Activision just won the lottery here and Blizzard could have had better merger partners.

The one thing I am thankful for though, is that they did not merge with EA. Because as you all know, EA has the touch of death. The only people that win in a EA acquisition are a few execs. Everyone else gets a wedgie and kick in the mouth.

More commentary later…

CoX Referrals

City of Heroes added a referral program to invite your friends back, so I thought I would mention it. If you have been gone for 90 days or more, a current player can invite you back; when you pay for a month, you each get 15 days. The existing program, to send a free trial code (and the sender gets a month if you eventually buy and subscribe) continues. Since I am a current player, if you were thinking of coming back or trying it out, let me know, and I will send you a code for a couple of free weeks (and exploit you mercilessly for my own free play time). I can see the otherwise-invisible e-mail field if you leave a comment.

: Zubon