Feel free to steal / edit this, made it up myself out of the official stuff, but it's been flipped and tweaked to fit the style of my blog.
Trump destroys board games
16 hours ago
Friday, 14 November 2008
Addiction Affliction
While reading my usual daily intake of World News I came across this article from the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/11/addicted_to_warcraft.html#comment152
The BBC has been covering the launch of WotLK for the past few days, and their views about online gaming always seemed to be a bit one-sided to me. Particularly always raising the issue of addiction. And generally leaning very heavily towards the 'Games are Bad' side of the argument.
Usually, I just read these things, and scoff at the stupid arguments that people use to try and flame the game itself, and all gaming in general. But this time I decided to post a reply of my own (see the link).
Maybe we're just pioneers of the gaming nations. Because I'm pretty sure that everyone currently between the age of 5 and 25 won't share the same feelings. And it won't be long before the news agencies in general (not just the BBC) will be reporting on in-game events almost as often as real-world ones.
BBC HEADLINE NEWS: November 13th 2020
Darkspear(EU); StockMarket Crashes as Smyth undercuts every item on the AH.
Munqui Tribe leader says; "I love kids, but I couldn't eat another one just yet".
Age of Conan; Final player found locked in a broom closet, medics say he may never play again.
Warhammer; Agrees deal with Activision. World of Warhammer due out tomorrow.
GuildWars; "Honestly! We ARE an MMORPG", exec denies mis-leading advertising complaints.
Or maybe that's just my vision of the future?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/11/addicted_to_warcraft.html#comment152
The BBC has been covering the launch of WotLK for the past few days, and their views about online gaming always seemed to be a bit one-sided to me. Particularly always raising the issue of addiction. And generally leaning very heavily towards the 'Games are Bad' side of the argument.
Usually, I just read these things, and scoff at the stupid arguments that people use to try and flame the game itself, and all gaming in general. But this time I decided to post a reply of my own (see the link).
Maybe we're just pioneers of the gaming nations. Because I'm pretty sure that everyone currently between the age of 5 and 25 won't share the same feelings. And it won't be long before the news agencies in general (not just the BBC) will be reporting on in-game events almost as often as real-world ones.
BBC HEADLINE NEWS: November 13th 2020
Darkspear(EU); StockMarket Crashes as Smyth undercuts every item on the AH.
Munqui Tribe leader says; "I love kids, but I couldn't eat another one just yet".
Age of Conan; Final player found locked in a broom closet, medics say he may never play again.
Warhammer; Agrees deal with Activision. World of Warhammer due out tomorrow.
GuildWars; "Honestly! We ARE an MMORPG", exec denies mis-leading advertising complaints.
Or maybe that's just my vision of the future?
Open up and say 'AH'
I've just read that there's not going to be any AH in Dalaran... Why not?
Since TBC, the whole Alliance vs Horde thing is a sort of side issue. We've all got bigger fish to fry.
Now we already have cross-faction Auction Houses courtesy of the Goblins. So why wouldn't those coniving little buggers get in on the action in Dalaran?
Surely, having a cross-faction AH in Dalaran would be ideal. It would open up the markets for all the lovely new Northrend drops, and would fit in fine with the neutral 'Sanctuary' theme of Dalaran.
Surely it would make more sense from Blizz's point of view too?
At the moment, they run at least 3 AH's per realm, and I'm not saying that takes up alot of server power, but why not just hand them all over to the goblins, and merge them into 1 cross-faction AH instead.
I'm sure that if the goblin AH's were located in capital cities, instead of the middle of nowhere, they'd get alot more use.
Anyone with sense wants to advertise their items to as many people as possible, so they'd always choose the cross-faction AH if it was just as conveniently located.
Alternatively, just give all the current AH's the option to also post to a Cross-Faction AH for an extra 'Goblin Tax' (maybe about 10% increase in deposit costs).
But put one in Dalaran, for gods sake.
Since TBC, the whole Alliance vs Horde thing is a sort of side issue. We've all got bigger fish to fry.
Now we already have cross-faction Auction Houses courtesy of the Goblins. So why wouldn't those coniving little buggers get in on the action in Dalaran?
Surely, having a cross-faction AH in Dalaran would be ideal. It would open up the markets for all the lovely new Northrend drops, and would fit in fine with the neutral 'Sanctuary' theme of Dalaran.
Surely it would make more sense from Blizz's point of view too?
At the moment, they run at least 3 AH's per realm, and I'm not saying that takes up alot of server power, but why not just hand them all over to the goblins, and merge them into 1 cross-faction AH instead.
I'm sure that if the goblin AH's were located in capital cities, instead of the middle of nowhere, they'd get alot more use.
Anyone with sense wants to advertise their items to as many people as possible, so they'd always choose the cross-faction AH if it was just as conveniently located.
Alternatively, just give all the current AH's the option to also post to a Cross-Faction AH for an extra 'Goblin Tax' (maybe about 10% increase in deposit costs).
But put one in Dalaran, for gods sake.
FPS gets Fragged
If, like me, you're running WoW on a system that hasn't go the latest greatest graphics card, you've probably noticed a drop in performance with the new expansion, so here's a few tips to get it back up (at least a bit);
1 - Defrag your hardrive, you've just installed god knows how many GB worth of stuff, your files are going to be all over the place. This might not help much, but every bit counts.
2 - Turn down your graphics settings, particularly your viewing distance. This is one of the biggest ways to improve your performance, and it doesn't change the experience much. beware though, I've already found 1 or 2 quests that involve looking a long way into the distance, and are impossible on the lowest settings... shame on you Blizz.
3 - Check this: http://www.wowwiki.com/ExtShadowQuality apparently Blizz have brought in a new shadow system, which looks nice, but drops your FPS. I can't find anywhere what the new default settings are, but turn them off anyway.
4 - Disable any programs you have running in the background while you play. Particularly things like P2P programs, and Anti-Virus programs. Don't worry, you can turn them back on later.
5 - If the worst comes to the worst, lower your resolution. I play on 1400x900 (Widescreen), so I accept that my FPS will be a bit lower, dropping it to a lower setting would, usually, improve the performance quite alot.
6 - Disable any addons that aren't essential. They might only be small, but every one of them is doing something in the background. You don't have to get rid of them, in fact, if you download another addon (like ACP - Addon Control Panel) you can set profiles for your addons, and load / unload them as needed. Do you really need Omen or BigWigs when you're solo'ing?
7 - Run a scan for Spyware (Use Spybot S&D or something similar) to make sure there's nothing using your network connection, that shouldn't be.
8 - Check what runs in the background when you turn your PC on. To do this you can either use a 3rd party program, like the free one built into Spybot, or go to the start menu, and type 'msconfig', select the 'StartUp' tab and it will show you a list of what loads. Disable any that you don't need. The advantage of using a 3rd party program to do this, is that they usually give you a bit more info on what they programs do. Don't disable any needed ones, and if you find any problems just re-enable them.
9 - If you're using a laptop make sure you're not blocking any of the vents (particularly the ones underneath). Overheating causes a lot of problems for laptops. The same applies to desktop PC's but it doesn't happen as much.
10 - Reboot - Yeah it really is that simple, sometimes just re-booting your PC solves everything.
Edit: If you're a MAC user, don't start spouting about how much better thay are, just sit there and look smug.
1 - Defrag your hardrive, you've just installed god knows how many GB worth of stuff, your files are going to be all over the place. This might not help much, but every bit counts.
2 - Turn down your graphics settings, particularly your viewing distance. This is one of the biggest ways to improve your performance, and it doesn't change the experience much. beware though, I've already found 1 or 2 quests that involve looking a long way into the distance, and are impossible on the lowest settings... shame on you Blizz.
3 - Check this: http://www.wowwiki.com/ExtShadowQuality apparently Blizz have brought in a new shadow system, which looks nice, but drops your FPS. I can't find anywhere what the new default settings are, but turn them off anyway.
4 - Disable any programs you have running in the background while you play. Particularly things like P2P programs, and Anti-Virus programs. Don't worry, you can turn them back on later.
5 - If the worst comes to the worst, lower your resolution. I play on 1400x900 (Widescreen), so I accept that my FPS will be a bit lower, dropping it to a lower setting would, usually, improve the performance quite alot.
6 - Disable any addons that aren't essential. They might only be small, but every one of them is doing something in the background. You don't have to get rid of them, in fact, if you download another addon (like ACP - Addon Control Panel) you can set profiles for your addons, and load / unload them as needed. Do you really need Omen or BigWigs when you're solo'ing?
7 - Run a scan for Spyware (Use Spybot S&D or something similar) to make sure there's nothing using your network connection, that shouldn't be.
8 - Check what runs in the background when you turn your PC on. To do this you can either use a 3rd party program, like the free one built into Spybot, or go to the start menu, and type 'msconfig', select the 'StartUp' tab and it will show you a list of what loads. Disable any that you don't need. The advantage of using a 3rd party program to do this, is that they usually give you a bit more info on what they programs do. Don't disable any needed ones, and if you find any problems just re-enable them.
9 - If you're using a laptop make sure you're not blocking any of the vents (particularly the ones underneath). Overheating causes a lot of problems for laptops. The same applies to desktop PC's but it doesn't happen as much.
10 - Reboot - Yeah it really is that simple, sometimes just re-booting your PC solves everything.
Edit: If you're a MAC user, don't start spouting about how much better thay are, just sit there and look smug.
Go Go Vicky-the-Viking!
It's here. WotLK has finally arrived, so how do I feel about it?
The Good:
* Graphics are a bit shinier - I like the new textures on the Vrykul, and prefer the old-style gothic, rather than Outland style Sci-Fi.
* There's 2 new starting areas - I wasn't sure about this at first, but now I think it's a great idea, it reduced the amount of people trying to finish the same quests all at once. Also, when I level my next character I'll use the other starting area, so it won't as much of a grind.
* DeathKnights - They look good, I've only got as far as creating one, rather than playing it fully, but I like the style.
* Trainers in Starting areas - Good idea, my skinning skill is now only a couple of points away from the new max, and my herbalism skill is well on the way too.
* Faster respawn times - I'm guessing this was intentional, but with hundreds of people all wanting the same mobs, this is a very good idea.
* Nice area design - The starting area was huge, so once you were out of the arrival area, you didn't feel like you were walking on top of everyone else.
The Bad:
* Graphics are a bit shinier - Yeah, they look nicer, but they strain the system just that little bit more, so I've had to reduce alot of my video settings. This had an extra problem, read on;
* Unexplained Quests - Some of the quest descriptions could do with a bit more detail, I'm not a lore freak, but I would like to know which area to hand in the Vrykul weapons that one quest asks for, instead of just telling me the name of the quest giver. And when being told to raise my hand at donkeys, I figured it out right away, but it wasn't explained the you have to 'emote' at them.
Also, one quest asks you to use a harpoon to destroy some buildings, no problem, I found the harpoons, but there's only 2 for the entire realm to use, and the quest takes around 5 minutes, so there were queues of people waiting to use them. And, when I finally got to use one, I couldn't figure out what to shoot with it, so after wasting another few minutes I realised that you can't even see the targets unless you turn your viewing distance up... Tut tut Blizz.
* No Auction House - I'm not sure if there'll be one in Dalaran, but it's a bit of an arse that I have to keep my HS set to Shatt, and catch a boat back everytime I want to go to Northrend.
* Glitched Mobs - Almost every mob of one type was glitched (Spores), there were about 30 spawned, but only 2 / 3 worked, so you had to wait for those ones to respawn several times to complete a quest.
* Chat Spam - This isn't Blizzards fault, but I've had to turn of general chat because of the amount of bullshit people are talking in general chat.
The above list looks like I hate alot of things about the new expansion, but I don't really. All the problems are more 'Annoyances' rather than reasons not to play. Overall I love the look and feel of the new stuff, and the first dungeon run 'Utgarde Keep' was a simple Tank-n-Spank run to break us into the dungeon content of Northrend.
I managed to make it to level 71 within a few hours, although some people had been playing since the midnight launch, and still hadn't managed that.. the slackers!
I also got a few nice quest rewards, and one or two drops, which have improved upon the greens that I had left over from Pre-WotLK, and improved my haste rating to the point where, when my Quick-Shots procs which is almost all the time, my shots take only 1 second to cast.
That's the minimum possible time. As soon as my shot is released, the global CD is up, and the next shot is ready to fire, so it maximises DPS.
It was all a little bit too easy, most mobs were level 71 or lower (I could probably just set my pet to aggro, and let it clear the place out) but as I logged off things were starting to get a little bit more challenging... but only a bit.
So, I'm looking forward to playing with more of the new stuff later tonight, after work. And will probably reach 72 by the end of it.
Although I'll probably have to spend an hour at the AH first though, working out how much to sell all my new drops for. Auctioneer will help, but it's not going to be very accurate for a while.
The Good:
* Graphics are a bit shinier - I like the new textures on the Vrykul, and prefer the old-style gothic, rather than Outland style Sci-Fi.
* There's 2 new starting areas - I wasn't sure about this at first, but now I think it's a great idea, it reduced the amount of people trying to finish the same quests all at once. Also, when I level my next character I'll use the other starting area, so it won't as much of a grind.
* DeathKnights - They look good, I've only got as far as creating one, rather than playing it fully, but I like the style.
* Trainers in Starting areas - Good idea, my skinning skill is now only a couple of points away from the new max, and my herbalism skill is well on the way too.
* Faster respawn times - I'm guessing this was intentional, but with hundreds of people all wanting the same mobs, this is a very good idea.
* Nice area design - The starting area was huge, so once you were out of the arrival area, you didn't feel like you were walking on top of everyone else.
The Bad:
* Graphics are a bit shinier - Yeah, they look nicer, but they strain the system just that little bit more, so I've had to reduce alot of my video settings. This had an extra problem, read on;
* Unexplained Quests - Some of the quest descriptions could do with a bit more detail, I'm not a lore freak, but I would like to know which area to hand in the Vrykul weapons that one quest asks for, instead of just telling me the name of the quest giver. And when being told to raise my hand at donkeys, I figured it out right away, but it wasn't explained the you have to 'emote' at them.
Also, one quest asks you to use a harpoon to destroy some buildings, no problem, I found the harpoons, but there's only 2 for the entire realm to use, and the quest takes around 5 minutes, so there were queues of people waiting to use them. And, when I finally got to use one, I couldn't figure out what to shoot with it, so after wasting another few minutes I realised that you can't even see the targets unless you turn your viewing distance up... Tut tut Blizz.
* No Auction House - I'm not sure if there'll be one in Dalaran, but it's a bit of an arse that I have to keep my HS set to Shatt, and catch a boat back everytime I want to go to Northrend.
* Glitched Mobs - Almost every mob of one type was glitched (Spores), there were about 30 spawned, but only 2 / 3 worked, so you had to wait for those ones to respawn several times to complete a quest.
* Chat Spam - This isn't Blizzards fault, but I've had to turn of general chat because of the amount of bullshit people are talking in general chat.
The above list looks like I hate alot of things about the new expansion, but I don't really. All the problems are more 'Annoyances' rather than reasons not to play. Overall I love the look and feel of the new stuff, and the first dungeon run 'Utgarde Keep' was a simple Tank-n-Spank run to break us into the dungeon content of Northrend.
I managed to make it to level 71 within a few hours, although some people had been playing since the midnight launch, and still hadn't managed that.. the slackers!
I also got a few nice quest rewards, and one or two drops, which have improved upon the greens that I had left over from Pre-WotLK, and improved my haste rating to the point where, when my Quick-Shots procs which is almost all the time, my shots take only 1 second to cast.
That's the minimum possible time. As soon as my shot is released, the global CD is up, and the next shot is ready to fire, so it maximises DPS.
It was all a little bit too easy, most mobs were level 71 or lower (I could probably just set my pet to aggro, and let it clear the place out) but as I logged off things were starting to get a little bit more challenging... but only a bit.
So, I'm looking forward to playing with more of the new stuff later tonight, after work. And will probably reach 72 by the end of it.
Although I'll probably have to spend an hour at the AH first though, working out how much to sell all my new drops for. Auctioneer will help, but it's not going to be very accurate for a while.
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