My first Gamergod.com article has been posted

Update: 5 Nov, 2006 - Removed post, but this will be kept as a placeholder for historical value.

This post was originally linking to my first article posted at Gamergod.com which was an interview with WarcraftRealms.com founder, Rollie. Gamergod.com is now defunct, but the interview can be found here.

Long awaited UPDATE to Dizzarian.com WoW tips post

I started this post ages ago and have edited it many times with several updates. It is just general good info on how to be a success in WoW. It has turned more to a focus of Auction House money making, but that is where the money in WoW is.... trust me.

Take a look at it here.

Comment here or give me suggestions. Thanks!

Tried Irth Online for a Bit

Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post and applied label.

Update: 4 May, 2009 - Removed post, but this will be kept as a placeholder for historical value.

Originally, this post contained a link to Irth Online's website (now defunct) and gave a blurb about playing in the NDA-protected beta.

DAoC clustering... the way to fix WoW Battlegrounds

For anyone that has ever played World of Warcraft during non-peak hours you unfortunately know that the PvP battlegrounds are rarely, if ever, open during that time. Two days in a row where I've just wanted to hit the battlegrounds for an hour or two has resulted in the following... two hour waits for nothing. Both days I waited from about 7 am EST until 10 AM EST and not one Alterac Valley or Warsong Gulch opened. This is not a limited occurrence to two days either. This is a normal occurrence on Azgalor and most other servers during the weekdays.

Battlegrounds normally do not open until after 6 pm EST on Azgalor and even then you have to be one of the lucky people who were already standing in line since 4 pm to get in. The battlegrounds usually remain open well into the night and about midnight is when they start closing up.

So for gamers like me all the previews in the world can't sell me on Arathi Basin. Outside of the first couple of days I will never see this battleground. Plus with the 1.7 inclusion of battleground holidays rewarding ONLY players who get to play at prime time, there is once again no point in me trying to compete in the PvP ranks.

I make limited gains and put in 3x the amount of work to get my honor. I have to do it the good ole' fashioned way. Ride out to enemy lands and hunt them down. Three hours results in maybe 30 HK's. Three hours in a battleground for random newb #1 results in 100's of HK and 1,000's of bonus honor. This needs to be fixed.

And here is the fix, thanks to Dark Ages of Camelot. When DAoC servers started having severe population imbalances and PvP combat was becoming few and far between Mythic decided to cluster servers together, but only their PvP combat areas. Now 3-5 servers are joined together and share PvP areas.

WoW needs to do the same with battlegrounds. Combine 3-5 servers and have the battlegrounds pull people from each one. This way if there is 1-2 people waiting in line at 2 am in the morning 5 servers will combine to make 10. What a brilliant idea! The coding can not be that hard and it makes complete sense. Give everyone equal chance to compete in PvP ranks regardless of whether they are logged in at prime time or not.

Oh and remove the battleground holiday, as it insults the non-peak hour gamer.

Update: 6 Sept, 2009 - Edited post and applied labels.

WoW 1.7 patch notes... commentary

Check out the official patch notes here... finally they weren't leaked early. As always I am here to sift through and pull out the good stuff... and of course tell you what I think.

Switching weapons in combat triggers a 1 second global cooldown for all abilities for rogues and a 1.5 second global cooldown for everyone else.
-EDIT:Sprawl from VN WoW General forum has explained this better than I could....

"What this change did do was fix it so exploiters couldn't use the instant swap in order to backstab with a sword. People were using macros to pass the dagger check with backstab but swap to swords before the damage is calculated." - Sprawl

Battleground "holidays" have been added to Warsong Gulch, Alterac Valley and Arathi Basin. Holidays occur during most weekends, starting on Thursday night at midnight and continuing until Tuesday morning. During a holiday, emmissaries from that Battleground will be found in the major cities, and honor/faction rewards for performing objectives in that battleground are increased.
-Another wonderful blow to those of us that play off hours and on odd days. Shouldn't bother us anyways, because the battlegrounds are rarely open outside of primetime.

Losers of Warsong Gulch are now given a "Ribbon of Sacrifice" which they may turn in to Captain Shatterspear or Sentinel Farsong for a faction reward.
-Huh? WoW... the only game where losers are rewarded!

New Spell: Hammer of Wrath (Level 44) - Hurls a hammer that strikes an enemy for Holy damage. Only usable on a wounded target.
-Now that class that never dies... gets a ranged attack. Interesting to see how powerful this is. Still doesn't give them any sort of range to pull with... which is the main complaint of Paladins.

Proficiency Bonuses have been added to the game. Some sets of equippable items have been added that will give bonus effects to the player only if they have a specific skill, such as Leatherworking.
-Good change. Funny they mention Leatherworking... one of the most useless crafting skills in game. Finally balancing things out towards engineering by buffing the other crafting skills... great move.

New "Dressing Room" Interface now available! If you control-left click on any item, item reference (vendors, quests) or item link (chat), a UI panel will appear showing your character wearing that item. You can then use the same command (control-left click) on additional items to add to the preview appearance. In addition, the Auction House now has a checkbox in the upper right-hand corner; if checked, any item you click on within the Auction House will automatically be previewed on your character.
-24/7 window shopping baby! Who says games aren't programmed without women in mind?

The Effects of Flasks will now persist through death.
-Woot! Another buff to alchemy and actual reason to justify the cost of overpriced potions.

That is all I could find worth noting -_o Seems to be a few good anti-rogue things... a definate plus. The addition of a new area and a new battleground should keep us busy for a while. See everyone when this pig goes live :)

CS:S video released - Two of the gReatest things eveR

I have worked on this video for a week or so now and finally got time to put it all together today.

I hope you enjoy!

Update: 15 Oct, 2005 - Video hosted via Google video. Download it here.

**Not safe for work**

Scout is level 24 now

And I'm getting that old feeling of hate for DAoC again. Took him to Thidranki full of catacombs gear. It pretty much is unmatched outside of getting a full spell crafted suit and set of weapons.

I am facing the fact that a scout can barely kill yellows in PvE let alone kill anything in RvR. Blue casters eat me alive... especially warlocks who unload one insta dot that kills me.

I don't know what to do... keep getting pissed off... quit... roll a necro that I know I can level... or just take a break.

/sigh

Anyways my DAoC review for Gamergod.com is coming along good. I can seperate my hate from the review :P It is more a broad stroke review with a bit of game history included. It is scheduled to go live Monday the 22nd so keep an eye out over at Gamergod.com!

Gamergod.com... my new home

Gamergod.com has brought me on as an author for various MMORPG related articles. Grimwell from the old Grimwell.com website took one look at this blog and decided I was a shoe in for the Gamergod.com staff.

If all goes well I will be moving my reviews over to Gamergod.com and I will use this blog as a place to post my ramblings. Look for great things to come from Heartless Gamer and Gamergod.com.

Come pay us a visit over there.

Half Life 2 MOD Spotlight - Battlegrounds 2

Battlegrounds 2 MOD has a beta version up and running. I jumped on a few servers and blasted away with it. But first what is this MOD all about? From their FAQ...

Q #2: What is it all about?
A #2: BG places you in the time period of the revolutionary war in America. American rebels are fighting for their freedom and the troops of the british crown are trying to keep control of the colonies.

Yes you heard that right... a Revolutionary War mod! Enough with WWII and Vietnam... lets go way back in history! The game reflects the time period with highly inaccurate weaponry and a lot of bayonet action. The battles are frantic and no real strategy could be found on any servers I played on. I would like to get an organized group on a server and just line em up like they did in those days... firing shots off at each other.... ending in a big melee scrimmage!

Check it out... you may just like it.

15 Aug 05 - Required Reading

Another day; more required reading for the MMO enthusiast. This is a repost of Raph Koster's, Laws of Online World Design< that he has compiled over the years. This a must read for anyone interested in the design of MMO's.

Ownership is key. You have to give players a sense of ownership in the game. This is what will make them stay--it is a "barrier to departure." Social bonds are not enough, because good social bonds extend outside the game. Instead, it is context. If they can build their own buildings, build a character, own possessions, hold down a job, feel a sense of responsibility to something that cannot be removed from the game--then you have ownership.

Enjoy the read and don't forget to leave your comments.

Update: 11 May, 2009 - Edited post, applied label, and removed broken link.