My Game Heaven

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n 'World of Warcraft' lead to worlds of wisdom?

		Monday, 09 March 09 - 03:09 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

FARGO, N.D. -- Devin Krauter sits on the end of his bed, tapping buttons on his video-game controller to shoot down alien beasts while chatting with other players through a headset, texting on his cell phone and talking to a visitor.

The 17-year-old high school junior is ranked by a video game Web site among the best players at "Gears of War 2," in which soldiers attack the enemy with an assault rifle that has a mounted chain-saw bayonet. He says the game teaches him to think on his feet -- and that he thinks about succeeding, not slaying.

That intrigues Microsoft.

The software giant, which publishes "Gears of War," is studying the reactions of avid gamers to see whether video gaming can promote learning skills that carry over to the classroom.

"We want to figure out what's compelling about the games," said John Nordlinger, head of gaming research for Microsoft. "If we can find out how to make the games fun and not make them so violent, that would be ideal."

Microsoft has put up $1.5 million to start The Games for Learning Institute, a joint venture with New York University and other colleges. The goal of the research is to see whether video games -- and not just software specifically designed to be educational -- can draw students into math, science and technology-based programs. The institute has begun lining up middle school students to study.

Microsoft isn't the first to explore whether video games can enhance education. For instance, researchers at the University of Wisconsin have found that playing "World of Warcraft" can encourage scientific thinking. They noted that players used math and models to handle situations in the game's fantasy world.

Even so, groups that monitor gaming say Microsoft's entry into this research will bring needed funds and credibility. Many studies so far have focused on educational games, not shooter games.

"There isn't a lot of good research out there," said Linda Burch, chief program and strategy officer for Common Sense Media.

Parents also want a closer look at potential long-term psychological and sociological effects on frequent game players.

"I would hope that the goal is to have video games that can help develop reaction and problem-solving skills, without blowing everything up in sight," said Dave Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family in Minneapolis.

Microsoft's chief researcher, Craig Mundie, said on a visit to the company's Fargo campus that games could stimulate educational abilities by helping players develop "a higher-order cognitive capability."

Many shooter games force players to track "how many bullets and bombs and missiles do I have, and how do I spend and where do I go get more," he said. In "Gears of War," players must navigate underground tunnels and buildings, monitor weapon systems, gauge their health and find places to take cover.

The idea that there is broader educational value in such activities is sure to find skeptics.

Vince Repesh, a counselor at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, said he fears that gaming is replacing education, not adding to it. He recalled a couple of students coming to him for help after they got hooked on "World of Warcraft." One student had gone from straight A's to flunking out.

"I accused him of coming in loaded from smoking dope, he looked so bad," Repesh said. "Turns out he'd been up for 28 hours straight playing the game."

Not all gamers develop such extreme problems.

Shelby Cossette, 17, a junior, joined a video-gaming club at Fargo South High School. She said she wanted to meet other gamers and believes it's a good complement to academics. "I've played a lot of puzzle-solving games and they actually help sharpen my brain," she said.

The club was started by English teacher Chuck Lang. He said he believes Microsoft is doing a good thing in researching the potential of games, even if it might benefit the company through increased sales. "Why not spread this market out?" he said. "Why not promote something where kids are having fun?"

 

 

Is PC Gaming Dead?

		Wednesday, 18 February 09 - 02:31 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

In-Depth: Why Online Game Hacking Is 'Spiking'

		Thursday, 05 February 09 - 03:18 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

Every January, security software firm ESET releases its Global Threat Report -- and this year, online game password security has become a primary concern. Gamasutra spoke with Jeff Debrosse, ESET's research director, to learn more.

ESET, a vendor of virus and malware removal solutions -- best known for its Smart Security software -- tracks threats across all aspects of computing, not just games.

But over the course of 2008, says Debrosse, "We saw [gaming] just spiking above all of the malware or types of security threats that we've seen."

According to the Global Threat Report, the transition of virus and malware activity from thrill-seeking hackers to criminal syndicates is also what's driving the targeting of games.

"That's really the crux of it all, that's really what it boils down to," says Debrosse. "In the past, it was really mischievous. People would deface a website or send a virus... something that would be more of just an irritant. But the criminal element has really figured out that if folks are going to spend their time creating malware, why not make it lucrative at the same time?"

Why Games? Why Now?

Games became a natural target, because of the "money trail" crooks follow, says Debrosse. "It really comes down to the really simple fact of they're looking for the trail where the most money is amassed... and in this case the money trail really leads to online gaming."

Continues Debrosse, "A big part of it is really around the reselling of what I'd like to call 'virtual assets', whether it be the actual characters themselves... weaponry, shields, energy, any of those things that you can actually transfer in the virtual world... that's the goal behind getting the username and the password, and literally stripping it of all of its assets."

But it's not that the games themselves are compromised by the malware creators, though, cautions Debrosse - rather, the user's machines are hacked to extract their passwords.

What's Really Happening Out There?

Attackers rely on more traditional, broader tactics -- tools like social engineering, or interacting with and convincing players to fall victim to attacks. This helps them introduce viruses and malware, like keystroke-logging Trojan horses.

Debrosse notes, "From a research perspective, we look at the amount of malware that we're detecting that's targeting password stealing -- Trojans specifically -- that's built for games. We can see that when we reverse engineer [the software], that it's trying to get passwords and it's targeted to certain strings... and that has grown immensely over the last 12 months."

The method? Debrosse explains: "It's a two-phase attack. If someone's account was compromised, then someone else can actually [using their avatar] during a chat session, or through in-game communication... they could leverage that people trust this person and point them at various URLs, and those URLs will either have drive-by malware or a specific [malware] executable."

"What ends up happening is that folks may end up downloading and using it. This is just one methodology."

These attackers also target gamers in external community sites, says Debrosse, through "banners on websites or URLs in chat rooms or forums" -- which can lead to unsafe URLs. "If [users] don't have adequate protection, they could very well be downloading malware without their knowledge."

"The folks that are trying to get your credentials, your username and password, to get something from you, or to get you even to click on malware -- it all comes down to armchair psychology. A lot of the infections do not occur without user interaction."

The Criminal Motivation

What drives these criminals, and why don't they typically try to hack game clients directly? Says Debrosse, "What it comes down to... Someone who's on the non-criminal side tries to look at what their return on investment is."

"The criminal element is thinking, 'Well, if I could just steal these credentials through a social engineering/malware method... it's easier to capture it from a keylogger than it is to create a specially-targeted piece of malware for that game'."

And what's the major target? It's no surprise, says Debrosse. "World of Warcraft is the big prize for a lot of these criminals, because they know that there is a lot of in-world commerce and value, and they go for where the money is, and they know that there's a lot of money tied into World of Warcraft."

"It's a volume game with them. Even if they don't get a lot per account, there are a lot of accounts they can go after."

Though gamers can discover that their characters have been stolen and petition MMO customer service reps for assistance, it may be too late. These attackers often move quickly, strip the account of goods, and sell them off at bargain prices -- and once they have the money, they're gone.

"Because it's at an attractive price, and the games are so popular, they'll have quite a few takers," Debrosse says. "It's fairly quick, the process is done... if [the stolen equipment] can be tracked down, the person who paid for it is out of luck at that point. They're gone, they've made their money, and they're going to move on to the next victim."

What Can Developers Do?

According to Debrosse, "The developers are doing a fairly good job. It's not that the games themselves have all of these vulnerabilities where someone can exploit them."

"The problem comes around the client operating system, where the user is. It typically comes back to a user problem. It's user behaviors that come back, that level them vulnerable to someone exploiting them."

"There's no software that's 100%, you'll always find some vulnerability," Debrosse maintains. "But what we've found from the stealing of online gaming credentials, it revolves around that malware and that social engineering, and if you were to figure out the root cause, it's someone doing something not correct -- trying to run stolen software, or clicking on a bad URL."

While developers could put more warnings in games and forums to try and deter users from trusting strangers with their sensitive information, or to avoid clicking on external URLs, social engineering often wins over automatic messages.

Debrosse does think that "if the developers were able to continue adding verbiage, to educate or remind their gamers" that security is important, there might be a positive effect.

However, he also warns that, between human interaction and automated messaging, "there's a tremendous difference in effectiveness... There's this thing called click fatigue. If you were to pop up these warnings... people just want to click their way through so they can get started."

There are also some possible technical aides. For example, Blizzard has introduced the World Of Warcraft authenticator RSA key generator. This is a physical token device that allows you to augment account security by entering a specially generated password created by the device every time you log in.

But stopping attacks, in general, has little to do with adding better security to games. Debrosse concludes: "It does come down to something as simple as behavior modification. That behavior -- having not risky behavior online, but having a more careful, more insightful personality online," is what will protect users from having their accounts violated.

 

Outdated, Not Useless: Five Things to Do with Your Old PC

		Thursday, 15 January 09 - 01:57 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

Gamers like shiny things. Especially PC gamers. From bloom effects to fancy computer cases, this breed of gamer wants their system to live fast and die young. Too young, if you ask me. Just look at the usefulness that last year’s gaming computer can yield:

1. Keep them around!: Sometimes SNES roms just won’t keep one satisfied. Many older PC titles, like the original Fallout series, Doom, Warcraft II, Space Hulk or even the classic Age of Empires are a real hassle to get working on newer versions of Windows. Often, you have to wade through a labyrinth of hacks and “solutions” on the interweb that further complicate the problem. Who wants to edit registry information for an hour just to re-live the nineties? I certainly don’t.

Hanging on to a decade of archaic, ass-backwards compatible operating systems may actually prove bountiful in the long run. Sure, companies like Gametap and GoG have made a commendable effort in trying to raise PC classics from their grave. Yet, why pay for a game that you already own — but simply cannot run? Ridiculous! Gamers should be able to trade in their copies for modern, functional versions. Though, this leads us to the slippery slope of DRM controversies, which I care not to start discussing.

Despite technology’s incessant progression and abandonment, keeping an older system stowed away for when you crave a break from the modern world of games remains a viable alternative to trashing outdated hardware.

2. Scavenge for parts: It’s easy to look upon an ancient computer with scorn, its disproportionate, once-stylish features amounting to nothing more than a chassis full of useless junk. 56K dial-up ports? Ha! Don’t make me laugh. Surely with time it’s lost its all-knowing aura, but let’s not be so brash.

Power cables, monitors, cd-drives, cases (albeit boring ones), power supplies, and hard drives are all components that can be used as foundational pieces for a modern gaming rig. Save money on parts the next time you feel the need for yet another system. Yes, dual processors and sparkling lights affixed to a case that resembles any one of the bosses from Mega Man are nice. But they certainly don’t add to the core game, create some magical advantage, or imbue you with 1337 skillz; once a noob, always a noob — technology will never make up for talent.

3. Host some stuff: Depending on the age of your banished, relic of a machine, you can host a dedicated server of your favorite PC game, or support a website through it. The next time you are afflicted with insomnia, don’t get locked into playing in a laggy server simply because it’s the only one with players at that time of the night. Own on Counter-Strike with single digit ping by hosting on your old system, and fragging on the new one!

4. Donate!: Though maybe outdated for the purposes of gaming, older systems make great donations to libraries, community centers, or those who can’t afford basic computing needs. If that isn’t your scene, setting up a younger gamer with something like Starcraft is simple enough, and has them on the track to becoming pro in no time.

5. Recycle the beast: If none of these options impressed, well, you can always recycle an old gaming PC properly at a specialty store. Often for little to no fee, you can recycle your computer parts without scoring a headshot on the environment. And who said gamers aren’t responsible?!

Running games with max graphics is indeed a luxury, though arguably pretty important to most PC gamers. With each year, technology improves, challenging what games are capable of accomplishing, and expanding the potential for what people can experience through them. Regardless of when a game surfaces, it contains its own set of experiences. Older games are worth preserving, even if that means maintaining older systems.

Video games expected to evolve in 2009

		Wednesday, 14 January 09 - 08:32 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Don't hit that pause button just yet. Despite the tanking economy and an increasing number of video game-industry layoffs, many believe 2009 will be a year of evolution for games. The combination of innovative new titles, long-awaited franchise follow-ups and desire for escapism could spawn a gaming renaissance.

"While game makers providing traditional retail product will continue to concentrate on high-profile sequels and licensed properties in an effort to mitigate risk, many of the field's most exciting developments will actually be happening outside of your local GameStop," said DigitalTrends.com publisher Scott Steinberg.

By focusing on surefire $60 sequels that are appearing on next-generation consoles for the first time — like "Resident Evil 5," "Street Fighter IV" and "God of War III" — gaming publishers are expected to avoid economic pitfalls while independent developers are poised to provide cheaper, quicker and quirkier alternatives, such as $20-or-less downloadable games like "Flower" for the PlayStation 3 or "Darwinia Plus" for the Xbox 360.

"Why pay $60 for a game you don't have time to play anyway when dozens of bite-sized, instantly intuitive and schedule friendly alternatives are available for $5 to $15 right from your couch?" muses Steinberg.

Steinberg also anticipates even more developers will extend their games' out-of-the-box life with downloadable content. Rockstar Games is set to release "The Lost and Damned" exclusively on Xbox Live on Feb. 17. The "Grand Theft Auto IV" expansion will add new content and hours of gameplay to last year's top-selling action game.

Several grander gaming innovations were teased at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Sony showcased 3-D editions of such games as "MotorStorm: Pacific Rift" and "Wipeout HD" while Microsoft introduced "Kodu," a downloadable Windows PC and Xbox 360 program that allows amateurs — from children to adults — to create their own games.

"Video games are poised to eclipse all other forms of entertainment in the decade ahead," Activision president and CEO Mike Griffith proclaimed during his CES keynote speech. He cited market statistics which stated that between 2003 and 2007, the cumulative number of movie ticket sales and hours of television watched fell by 6 percent, music sales slumped 12 percent and DVD purchases remained flat. Over the same four-year period, Griffith said the gaming business grew by 40 percent.

With long-awaited exclusive PC sequels like "Diablo III," "The Sims 3" and "StarCraft II" also expected in 2009, this could be the year when gamers pay attention to something other than "World of Warcraft ( Buy wow gold )" on their computers. According to Nielsen Media Research, gamers spent 24 fewer hours a week playing PC games in 2008 than they did the previous year.

Rob Talbert, gaming manager and host of Arcade on ManiaTV.com, longs for PC gaming to prosper in 2009.

"I think I speak for a good portion of the gaming community when I say that it's very possible that 2009 will be the year that PC gaming makes a comeback in a big way," said Talbert. "I can't remember the last time I have seen this much excitement over PC titles, and I hope these games can live up to the hype and the gaming community's expectations."

Wedbush Morgan video game analyst Michael Pachter describes his outlook for the gaming industry in 2009 with one word: discovery. He believes the increasing number of diverse console owners, especially those with Nintendo Wiis, will demand new software — and publishers will figure out how to directly market their wares to such folks in exciting new ways.

"They must discover how to reach those audiences," said Pachter. "It's not like they won't want new games."

 

The Console Wars

		Tuesday, 13 January 09 - 05:45 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

The Console Wars, After a strong year for new games, 2009 may be a quiet one
Another year has gone by, and "Duke Nukem Forever" still hasn't been released.All kidding aside, 2008 was a hell of a year for the huddled gaming masses. "Fallout 3" hit the streets in October, and it's probably safe to say that it's the best RPG since "Planescape: Torment" graced the cathode-ray tubes in 1997. "Rock Band 2" literally rocked the music genre, and "Rock Revolution," Konami's attempt to re-enter the market, fell on deaf ears.Epic made the single most depressing shooter ever made - again - in the form of "Gears of War 2." It sold millions. Every MMO that isn't called "World of Warcraft" flopped. Subscriber numbers for "World of Warcraft" continued to soar to an unprecedented 11 million. And for the third Christmas in a row, the Nintendo Wii has been almost impossible to find on store shelves.So what does 2009 have in store, besides an assurance that most gamers are going to be even more financially restricted in their choice of purchases? Next month, thumb injuries will be on the rise due to the arrival of the long-awaited "Street Fighter IV." Bioware will keep RPG fans happy for another year with "Dragon Age: Origins," while everyone waits for their new Star Wars MMO, "The Old Repubic," due out in 2010.The new version of Windows due out in either late 2009 or early 2010 will introduce DirectX 11, which will include support for advanced 3D shading methods and better support for multi-core processors. This, and advances in the graphics arena, will probably put pressure on the console manufacturers to announce a new generation of hardware by next year or in 2011, with a release coming at least a year after that. They almost have to, as PC games just look better than their console equivalents, and have ever since "Crysis" shipped.But this year isn't going to have the figurative flood of games that 2008 had. The economy is a big factor in that - a fair number of developers are cutting back on their projects, as well as laying off workers, in some cases. Also, the nature of development tends to predict that a year following one like 2008, with tons of releases, is not going to have quite as much activity. Instead, expect to see a lot more downloadable content than in years past, with considerably more bang for each buck. "Fable II" is getting the "Knothole Island" pack at the end of January, and "Fallout 3" is getting the first of three packs, "Operation Anchorage," around the same time. "The Pitt" will follow next month, and "Broken Steel," a continuation of the main story, will be released in March.Overall, 2009 will be a good year for gamers, but with fewer of the big releases gamers have been used to in 2007 and 2008. Expect more low-key releases, as the publishing houses are feeling the pinch from the shrinking economy. Also, expect a lot more games through channels such as Steam and Xbox Live Arcade in an attempt to avoid the costs of retail releases.It's hard to tell how the industry will fare over the course of the next four quarters, but who knows? Maybe "Duke Nukem Forever" will come out this year after all.

Wrath Of The Lich King Review: We Come From The Land Of The Ice And Snow

		Monday, 08 December 08 - 06:13 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

The ambitious new expansion pack gives players access to the icy continent of Northrend, home to the Lich King, the ungodly powerful melding of former Draenor warchief Ner'zhul and former crown prince of Lorderon, Arthas Menethil. Along with new lands to explore and new quests to fulfil, Wrath of the Lich King also introduces the game's first Hero Class in the form of the dreaded Death Knights, plate-wearing wielders of runic power.
I've spent a significant amount of time exploring all that's new in Azeroth. Was it just a temporary visit, or does Wrath pack enough punch to lure me back in full-time?
LovedMore Better Quests: Continuing the trend started with The Burning Crusade, quests in The Wrath of the Lich King are even more dynamic and enthralling that ever, with new mechanics to keep things fresh. Sure, you'll still find plenty of kill X number of Y quests, but you'll also find yourself flying rickety planes to remote locations, launching cannon attacks on huge creatures, or participating in giant battles that leave you giddy afterwards.
The Scenic Route: Northrend is far more than snow. You'll find rolling hills, steep mountain slopes, ruined temples, and floating cities in the sky — along with a fair amount of snow. Zones in Wrath are gigantic, lovely to look at, and seem a great deal more vertical than what I'm used to in World of Warcraft. Expect to see many breathtaking sights on your first run through the frozen lands.
Multiple Starting Points: A large improvement over The Burning Crusade, Wrath gives both factions two-different areas to launch their expedition into Northrend from, rather than dumping every one in the same starting area so they can kill quest mobs to extinction. It also means that leveling multiple characters in the expansion isn't quite as repetitive as it was in the previous expansion.
Open-World Instancing: Open-world instancing is a new technique they are using to effect changes to the game world without zoning you into your own private instance. It's almost like having another instance of the same location layered on top of the first, only with changes to reflect the state of the quest you are in. It's used to great effect in the Death Knight starting area, where different stages of a massive war are all played out in the same area. One moment you're fighting to take over a human settlement, the next moment things seamlessly transition to the same settlement raised to the ground by your efforts. It really gives the illusion that your actions are making a difference.

The Knights Who Say Death: Blizzard introduces the first Hero Class to World of Warcraft in a truly epic fashion. The starting area for Death Knights is brilliantly executed, deftly weaving a tale of corruption and redemption over the course of a few hours. The aforementioned open-world instancing plays a large role in the starting experience, and the final battle at Light's Hope is one of the most spectacular moments I've seen in the game. As for the Death Knights themselves, they make excellent additions to most parties, whether you play them as the far superior frost-build tank or the dime-a-dozen DPS unholy spec.
More Realistic Equipment: I'm really digging the dark and gritty look of the equipment drops I've managed to collect in the expansion so far. A far cry from The Burning Crusade's Final Fantasy meets Sid and Marty Croft colorful glowing weapons, Northrend equipment looks more like something out of a Frank Frazetta or Brom painting.
HatedEasy Mode: The main thing that Wrath of the Lich King lacks is any sort of significant challenge. The progression to level 80 is far faster than it should be, with even casual players in my guild already at or quickly approaching level 80. The new dungeons are particularly simple, even compared to the easy beginning dungeons from The Burning Crusade. I blazed through several of them with pick-up groups the first evening of release with little or no problem at all. I know World of Warcraft isn't exactly famous for it's difficulty, but I would have expected a steeper climb.
Not For Noobins: There is absolutely no reason to buy Wrath of the Lich King if you are new to the World of Warcraft experience. You cannot create a Death Knight unless you already have a character who is level 55 or more, and all of the new content is geared towards players level 68 and above. Not a problem for veterans, but new players won't be missing out on anything should they give the expansion a pass for now.
The launch of a major expansion pack in an MMO always has its upsides and downsides, and Wrath of the Lich King is no different. It did flood Hellfire with hundreds of baby Death Knights looking for healers, fill the general chat channels were filled with players asking questions that could be easily answered by reading quest text, and there is some general bugginess in some of the new zones (hello, Zul'drak). Those few nagging issues are balanced by the excitement of discovering new things and the revitalization of guild dynamics as old players flock back to see what's going on. After nearly two years of getting to know everything there is to know about The Burning Crusade, it's good to feel like a total noob all over again, even if the feeling doesn't last very long.
Wrath of the Lich King does what an MMORPG expansion should, adding tons of new content and refreshing the sense of wonder that drew players to World of Warcraft in the first place.
Wrath of the Lich King was developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, released in Australia on Nov. 13 for Windows PC and MAC. Retails for $59.95. Spent countless hours playing through expansion content, leveling a Death Knight to 70 and Mage to 75. Participated in multiple dungeons under both guises. Completed far too many quests to mention. Earned achievement for killing turkeys
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World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

		Wednesday, 26 November 08 - 02:09 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

Believe it or not, it's been four years since World of Warcraft ( Buy wow gold ) opened its awaiting arms to would-be adventurers, and nearly two years since its first expansion, The Burning Crusade. Regardless of this slightly languid release schedule, WOW continues to be wildly popular, and thus Blizzard are willing to swing the punch of an expansion at the most competitive time in gaming.Expectations are high, otherwise respectable people are preparing to forget to use the toilet and eat, and over 11 million subscribers are desperate to hit the icy terrain of Northrend. Which is why it's slightly awkward to deliver this review. Wrath of the Lich King, while a phenomenally tight, well-built expansion, lacks the killer instinct and wow-factor (acronym and adjective) that both WOW and The Burning Crusade had.
Depending on what character you're using, WOTLK starts off with you either at odds with or working for the Lich King. And if you have a level 55 character, you'll be able to create a Death Knight, WOW's first hero class.Beginning at 55, the initial experience of being a Death Knight introduces you to the class through a few hours of heavily story-driven quests, beginning above the Eastern Plaguelands in a necropolis known as Acherus: The Ebon Hold. This gigantic floating skull-palace houses your quests, your class-trainers, and the new rune forging (read: Death Knight-only buff application) system. Through these quests you level from 55 through to 59, and acquire as many talents as you would from level 10 onwards.These quests are well-written, fun, and reasonably dramatic, ending with a large-scale battle against the forces of the Light, who eventually free you from the thrall of the titular undead demigod, carefully explaining how you can join the goodie-two-shoes Alliance. You'll even find yourself experiencing a little guilt as you do dirty work for Arthas (the titular Lich King) - killing innocents, stealing horses, and generally doing true, no-nonsense evil. This is refreshingly grim in comparison to some of WOW's somewhat reserved content, and will no doubt create a fair amount of grumbling among the moralistic.Lich King is also an example of how well Blizzard does boxed-in, instance-based content. The instance that you (and other new Death Knights) work within constantly changes as you advance, with once-beautiful countryside becoming plagued and charred. You have a real connection to the world as you progress, gaining gear, levels, talents and a rather dapper steed, which causes dissonance when you reach the end, to be thrown back into the static, yet enjoyable, content of The Burning Crusade. Sadly, once you're past the initial stages, you'll have to move up to level 68 to enter Northrend. And, face it, in the last two years, we've already grinded ourselves enough alts to 70 to get tired of Outland.

Nevertheless, the Death Knight is an endearing, playable and endlessly resourceful class to both play with, as their ability to (when specialised in Blood Talents) solo makes Outland that bit more palatable. That, and those of you who need to catch up to 68 to hit the icy waters will have a slew of grumpy new friends to level up with. Entering Northrend is done by zeppelin or boat, depending on whether you're Alliance or Horde, to either the Howling Fjord (accessed by Menethil Harbour or the Undercity) or Borean Tundra (accessed through Stormwind or Durotar). The Fjord's Valgarde houses the Alliance dangerously close to the newly-awoken Viking giants, the vrykul, while the Horde end up doing more bitch work for the Forsaken at New Agamand. In the Tundra, the Horde's Vengeance Landing is immediately accessible, as is the impressive Warsong Hold, while Valiance Keep is all that stands between the Alliance and a swift reaming by the ever-more-bold undead Scourge.In comparison to the demonic, explosion-filled war zone that The Dark Portal had waiting for you, your entrance to the North is actually rather relaxed. You'll slip in somewhat unheralded and begin collecting quests and go to work trying to establish your side's agenda. Wherever you choose to land, it seems that old habits die hard - The Forsaken are up to new and unusual ways to make members of the Alliance suffer, while the goodie-goodie humans are trying to get along with the locals and protect their supply routes.In fact, you'll find a great many of the initial quests eerily similar to your experiences in The Burning Crusade, with kill X of Y quests, pick up X of Y quests, and bombing runs against large groups of otherwise unreachable opponents.

It's not that these aren't fun or well balanced, it's more that they lack the furious extremes of Outland. While two years ago you were fighting hellboars on charred terrain while juddering devices of the Burning Legion fought overhead, a great many of your first hours in Northrend are spent killing the wildlife or scuffling with the locals. This is an expansion of exploration, and feels more like an expedition, not an adventure.The best example came from my personal experience jaunting around the Howling Fjord in my first few hours. Feeling the advantage of jumping off the beaten track, I sought out Winterhoof, a camp of both Tauren and Taunka (apparently their ancestral cousins), thinking that it would be ripe for the adventuring. On arrival, I received a quest that had me picking up hippogryph feathers around generic, icy/green terrain, amongst a few others involving the killing of elementals and wildlife. I threw up my hands - hadn't I left this shit behind in the Hinterlands?This isn't to say that Wrath of the Lich King is a litany of repetitive boredom - far from it. There are some wonderfully intricate, atmospheric and well-done quests within the Frozen Hell. Zul'Drak, the home of the ice trolls, is simply one of the coolest environments in fantasy lore. You're sent into gigantic troll ruins at the request of gods (gigantic Totem animals), fighting vicious ice trolls protected by eerie dancing tiki masks with floating spears. Lightning crackles in the sky, and Blizzard do their best to build on the lore started rather briefly in WarCraft III expansion The Frozen Throne.In fact, the best parts of Wrath of the Lich King seem to be when Blizzard breaks away from making a successful MMO and focuses on pure, unfettered adventure. Be it the Death Knight quest line, the battles between the Skybreaker and Orgrim's Hammer, insulting a vrykul's mum, or fighting a Scourge Veteran and an army of skeletons alongside a Horde Hero, WOTLK shines when it doesn't feel like it's setting up the treadmill for generation after generation. Lake Wintergrasp is a great example of this. Only accessible past level 77 (when players are able to learn Cold-Weather Flight and mount their respective winged beasts), it's high-level PvP chaos that rewards good teamwork. Either the Horde or the Alliance takes control of Wintergrasp Fortress, where they must destroy the enemy's siege engines and workshops before they can blow the fortress to smithereens.

Unlike your average battleground, Wintergrasp rewards coordination and smaller groups protecting siege weapons, weakening walls, or baiting groups of players into the path of one of the long-range siege weapons' guns. It's important to realise that you can't really win Wintergrasp reliably without playing as a team - have-a-go heroes on their lonesome find themselves torn to shreds, even at 80. No matter how many hours you've denied your spouse or your worklife, you're not going to win in a fistfight with a Demolisher.This is a refreshing take on PvP, but disappointingly closed-off for the average player. Many will (reasonably) assume that this is a counterpoint to the PvP-centric Warhammer Online, only to find that out of the box they're not going to be able to travel there - especially if they don't even have a flying mount to begin with. What could have been a drop-in, drop-out PvP war zone is now a fun little club for the elite to hang out at - which is, now especially, not what it should be in the face of what Mythic has to offer.Wintergrasp isn't the only bizarre geographical choice that Blizzard made with Northrend. Before release, it was stated many times that the continent wouldn't be made up predominantly of icy caverns and different kinds of yeti. While this is certainly the case, much of the continent feels put together seemingly at random. Lush plains roll into barren wastelands, that in turn roll into Scourge-infested terrain, that then subsequently rolls back into icy expanses.

The Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord are the worst examples, and feel rather like eight or nine zones stuck together with varying degrees of success, but much of Northrend lacks coherent artistic direction. Once you leave the loving arms of the Tundra and the Fjord (which takes far too long, in comparison to the transition between Zangarmarsh and Hellfire in The Burning Crusade), progression becomes a little more interesting, but it lacks a vigorous, adventure-like buzz. It's more of a stroll through a series of well thought-out ideas that aren't held together as well as they should be.In all fairness, WOTLK does everything that WOW has always done very, very well. Zones in and of themselves are always dramatic, and at times stunning, particularly Icecrown and Zul'Drak. A great deal of effort has been made to make zones feel bigger than anything Blizzard has created before, as is evident from the vertigo you'll get on flying towards the flying city of Dalaran (see 'Swoop, magic, swoop'). Character models are still cartoony and lacking in detail compared to Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, but environments are still ahead of the competition.This makes scoring this expansion rather painful. There is so much love for the lands, the lore, and the characters in the Warcraft universe, and so many fantastic ideas that exist to go into the Northrend Saga. Somehow, Blizzard managed to take potentially the least interesting idea in history - an entire continent made of ice - and lace it with fascinating ideas, quests, and areas to explore. The problem is that these ideas aren't held together very well, and players have to push through more ho-hum content than we've yet seen from a Blizzard product. I hasten to add that it isn't bad content, but we're now four long years into WOW. If you're on that boat, and want to continue playing a game that is enjoyable and addictive yet, ultimately, doing the same bloody thing it did on its release, then be my guest. You will love Wrath of the Lich King, because it does exactly what many want it to - it elongates a successful game model in a pleasing, easy-to-consume package, much like each year's new FIFA and Football Manager games. The instanced content is excellent, the Death Knight is a well-balanced war machine that looks good in black, and the storyline - once you hunt it down and wring it out of Northrend - is crafted well enough to sate even the most die-hard lore nut. But by any standard, this far into the development of an MMO, and with two years since your last expansion, the envelope should be pushed a little. Blizzard could've shaken up the genre here. Wrath of the Lich King has had two years to innovate, build and refresh WOW, but all it seems to have done is prolong the same experience that people have been waiting to continue for years. Whether or not that's a bad thing is up to you.
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World of Warcraft Quest Helper - Power Leveling in the Lich King

		Monday, 24 November 08 - 01:59 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

Using a good World Of Warcraft ( Buy wow gold ) Quest Helper program for solo leveling through quests is the fastest way to power level in WoW.A World Of Warcraft Quest Helper is an in game addon module that installs into the WoW gaming interface and provides step by step questing details and directions. Basically they are WoW leveling guides that are now in the game instead of the old World Of Warcraft leveling guides you had to read along with as you played the game.What are the best WoW Quest Helper Programs?There are many different versions of quest helper programs available today for WoW and many will tell you they are all basically the same. As a long time player and avid power leveler I can tell you this is far from the truth.Like many players I started off using the free WoW quest helper programs only to become frustrated that they did not provide the information I was hoping to get from them.These free programs do not answer the questions many players have such as where to quest for a certain level range and exactly what is the most efficient paths to complete multiple quests for large experience gains.I have been using premium World Of Warcraft quest helper programs for a little over a year now and the difference is amazing. Being able to level a toon to the max levels in a matter of just days played time makes the game more enjoyable in many different ways.
Like many people I have a limited amount of time to play WoW and using a World Of Warcraft quest helper has allowed me to make the most of what playing time I have available.This means I can use my WoW quest helper to knock out my quests much faster and gain levels while leaving plenty of time to work professions, participate in battlegrounds and join group raiding. Most players spend the majority of their time trying to figure out how to grind out quests just to keep up with the leveling of their guildmates.Premium WoW quest helper programs not only provide detailed in game questing information, they also provide on screen directional arrows as well as map waypoints to leave no doubt exactly what you need to do to finish a quest.As you can imagine having this power leveling information right inside the game allows players to rapid run through large blocks of quest thus dramatically reducing leveling time.The newest and best quest helper programs for World Of Warcraft have already included the Northrend region added in the WotLK expansion as well as the Death Knight starting areas so you can use the program to power level a WoW Death Knight as well.We all pay Blizzard a monthly fee for the privledge of playing WoW. The least we can do is invest a little to make sure we are able to make the most of our precious playing time and still be able to enjoy all aspects of the game.What fun is it to have to spend every minute of playing time trying to figure out where to quest, what quests to being doing and how to complete them? Considering a inexpensive in game mod addon for WoW can provide all that information right in the game for us it seems like it would be a o brainer to pick one up.Of course I have been using them for awhile now so it makes sense to me.
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“Echoes of Doom” comes to World of Warcraft

		Wednesday, 05 November 08 - 03:31 AM (GMT) By Jim allice green in General

A couple of weeks ago, Blizzard unleashed “Echoes of Doom,” its last major content patch for World of Warcraft （ Currency： wow gold ） before the Wrath of the Lich King expansion releases on November 13th. The emphasis here is on “major.” There’s a lot of new stuff in “Echoes” and it’s taken about two weeks to sort through it all, particularly with the unbearable lag that almost always accompanies a new update. I am here, however, to hit some of the high points of the new content for you non-WoWers, you once-WoWers, and maybe some of you soon-to-be WoWers. (Disclaimer: While it’d be great, albeit sad, if I had an uber-70 of every class, this will have to be written from my experience, which is predominantly of the mage and warrior varieties.)
Unfortunately, I’m forced to start with the following: no, you can’t make a Death Knight yet. And no, you can’t get to Northrend yet. Read your patch notes people! Sheesh.
A couple of weeks ago, Blizzard unleashed “Echoes of Doom,” its last major content patch for World of Warcraft before the Wrath of the Lich King expansion releases on November 13th. The emphasis here is on “major.” There’s a lot of new stuff in “Echoes” and it’s taken about two weeks to sort through it all, particularly with the unbearable lag that almost always accompanies a new update. I am here, however, to hit some of the high points of the new content for you non-WoWers, you once-WoWers, and maybe some of you soon-to-be WoWers. (Disclaimer: While it’d be great, albeit sad, if I had an uber-70 of every class, this will have to be written from my experience, which is predominantly of the mage and warrior varieties.)



Unfortunately, I’m forced to start with the following: no, you can’t make a Death Knight yet. And no, you can’t get to Northrend yet. Read your patch notes people! Sheesh.
The most notable new addition for the gameplay itself is new talents and abilities geared towards players ultimately achieving level 80. Instead of each talent tree peaking at a level 50 talent, they now peak at a level 60 talent. There are a lot of fun new toys to be had with these new trees, my personal favorite being my Arms warrior’s Bladestorm (pictured), an ability that lets you spin around like mad and smash your weapon into any baddies nearby. While new abilities are great, keep in mind that these are intended to ultimately be balanced at level 80, so there might be some issues for the next few weeks or so while we’re stuck at 70.

Another major new feature is the Inscription profession, available to level up to 375. Inscription allows players to create class-specific Glyphs, which augment a specific ability in some way. Each class will eventually have 6 glyph spots, 3 “major” glyphs and 3 “minor” glyphs (the last major glyph isn’t unlocked until 80, so we’re stuck with 5 for now). Glyphs change abilities in a variety of ways such as increased damage or range, or even some more off-the-wall changes, like the Glyph of Blurred Speed, which allows Rogues to run on water. My mage is enjoying his Glyph of the Penguin, which lets me turn enemies into a penguin instead of a sheep. Jealous?
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