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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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Dating For Gamers Part 1: Preparation

If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you are a single, introverted, heterosexual male. As a public service, we are pleased to present some advice for gamers on Getting the Girl. You can get lots of dating advice out there, much of it conflicting, but you come to Kill Ten Rats because you know you can trust us. Also, we are tired of hearing you whine in /gu about how you cannot get a date.

In this occasional series, we will consider how your experience from games relates to the romantic sphere. None of these may apply to you, but how well have your romantic instincts served you so far? First, let us consider the importance of buffing and equipment.

Continue reading Dating For Gamers Part 1: Preparation

EA Nerfs E3

The Entertainment Software Association announced yesterday that E3 is “evolving” into “a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities”.

This is unbelievable. I was actually befuddled for a minute or two after reading the press release. And then it all started making sense…especially when news broke that EA has been whining about the increasing costs. This is like Donald Trump whining about how expensive cheesecake is, and then demanding that only apple pie be served at restaurants.

The entire press release, and my comments are as follows:

Continue reading EA Nerfs E3

The Move Is On

EVE[EVE Online] The last few weeks have been interesting to say the least. Our corporation (Ars Caelestis) had another corp we highly respected merge into ours. Shortly after that there was an election for the HUZZAH Federation president. The leader of the corp that merged into ours decided to run and one other player in another corp also decided to run. The election was close but a winner was chosen.

Everything changed for us after the election. It became clear that our corporation’s direction and goals did not really match up with those of our alliance any more. We discussed it at length and decided to leave the alliance so we gave our official notice. Not long after that the corp that merged into ours announced they wanted to go their own way as well and left our corporation and the alliance. My time with HUZZAH was very enjoyable and exciting and I won’t soon forget all the fun we have had.

Continue reading The Move Is On

Polygamy and Online Gaming

Not to get political, but gamers may yet save Western society. Ongoing debates about same-sex marriage frequently touch on polygamy, and it is argued that polygyny creates a large pool of unmarried men who either cause social unrest or are sent off to war. This is just background; we are not going to debate the issue here, because we are not that sort of blog (Lum might go there, but we moderate comments; jokes about accidental online same-sex marriage are fine, if sometimes obvious).

We know, of course, that no such problem exists for the current generation of young men, who are all playing World of Warcraft. Instead of being sent off to war, they will be sent to raid Onyxia. Who has time for weddings and all that stuff when you are running Molten Core and UBRS this weekend? Everyone is counting on your priest to show up.

Indeed, when America legalizes polygamy, it will probably be because World of Warcraft has removed so many marriageable men from circulation. The women are out there looking, and they are hungry.

: Zubon

The Burning Kunark Legion

With the final few months closing in until WoW’s first expansion, this has become a frequent topic with my WoW-playing friends. Many of them are refugees from one game or another, and remember at least one expansion of said game. Those hardened folks who are EQ vets remember the original slow pace of expansions before it became a 6-month marketing gimmick. EQ is the one I’m most familiar with, and I look with great trepidation at the upcoming expansion. (for those who feel it’s needful, feel free to go read the infamous ‘mud wimping’ article and come back. I’ll be at the next paragraph.)

Continue reading The Burning Kunark Legion

The Log In Trap

EVE[EVE Online] Let’s see if we can solve this problem, the “log in trap”. Basically, this is a situation in EVE (but it could happen in most MMOs) where the enemy gathers in an area and then logs off. Waiting for your group to show up in some way (using an alt to observe the area), they all log in at one time and wipe out your side. There is no way to know how many of them are logged off so you can’t prepare (even if you are lucky enough to get intel that they logged off there in the first place). Most of the time you are completely suprised and wiped out.

Sounds like an exploit doesn’t it? It’s certainly a weak tactic. Metagaming I suppose.

Continue reading The Log In Trap

Why Are They Doing This?

coh[City of Heroes] This weekend, City of Heroes/Villains is doubling experience gains for 60 hours (also prestige and influence/infamy). [discussion thread, I have not read it all] As a player, I do not need a reason for free candy, but having an interest in development and economics, I wonder why this is happening. The official “why” of “This is a special thank you, because we really do appreciate you all-through the thick and thin” is meaningless (sorry).

Would it be good for the game to have twice-as-fast leveling, but for some reason this is only good for the game for one weekend? The most likely reason is to recruit some re-subscriptions, since an e-mail went out to all current and former subscribers; this could work better than that free weekend. Is there a reason to want to get a great many players logged on at once, beyond the usual? It could be hard to set any records on a big convention weekend. Any relation to recent NCSoft financial issues?

Feel free to comment on the subject, or how subscribers’ incentives would differ under constant double-xp, periodic (power hour/day), or occasionally-by-random-announcement. I think that predictable incentives lose much of the impact here.

: Zubon

Party at Sony’s

San Diego Comic Con has changed over the years. The porn industry, especially hentai, used to have to big pressense, but they are all but gone now. Video game companies have begun showing up. EA had a big booth last year to promote its Marvel branded games. NC Soft had a lot of floor space to push City of Heroes and Villians. Even Blizzard had a little booth where the big draw was a playable level and cut scenes from StarCraft Ghosts. If anyone will be attending this year on Saturday, Sony is hosting the SOE Block Party. I would liked to visit but I don’t think I will be there on Saturday.

More details here.

-DC