Racism in arena names

Posted May 13th 2008 3:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Blizzard, News items, PvP, Arena

I think there are few things more disturbing in the modern world than ill-conceived notions of racial, religious, and sexual divisions. For some reason parts of humanity continue to believe that just because one group or another looks and/or acts differently, they are bad. One of the reasons I enjoy WoW and just games in general is because it allows us to escape the problems this world gives to us, even if only for a few hours a week.

Unfortunately, some people find it necessary to bring their attitudes in game. We've covered some of this before, from border-line inappropriate arena names to sexism in WoW. However while playing an arena game recently fellow writer Amanda Dean came up against a team named "Rosa Parks Stole My Seat," and this name is possibly the most offensive one I've seen. Rosa Parks (for those of you who need a history lesson) refused to go to the back of a bus because of her skin color and continued to sit in the white only section of the bus, despite being told to do otherwise. She represented a key moment in the history of civil rights.

There are 65 arena teams with this racist name.

When Amanda ran into one of the teams she reported it via a GM ticket.

Continue reading Racism in arena names

New WotLK videos via Gamespy

Posted May 9th 2008 3:46AM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: News items, Wrath of the Lich King

Gamespy has five new amazing videos everyone should check out. They include several sneak peaks of things we haven't seen before. They are the most detailed and rich in-game videos of WotLK to date. The videos cover the areas of Dragonblight, Zul'Drak, Sholazar Basin, Borean Tundra, and the Howling Fjord.

There are several first looks at the new cities, zones, and architecture of Wrath of the Lich King that we haven't seen from Blizzcon. This also includes several mobs that have not been seen before. Zul'Drak is reminiscent of Zul'Gurub, and looks quite new and refreshing. Sholazar Basin is a cross between Stranglethorn Vale and Ungoro Crater, heavily influenced by Troll architecture.

We are also presented with vehicle combat in the Sholazar Basin video. This is simply amazing. The video shows a gnome flying machine contraption shooting missiles at other flying mounts, and then a gnome ejecting and floating down to safety in a parachute. Grand Theft Azeroth.

In the Borean Tundra video we see a beautiful look at the new cities for both Horde and Alliance players. There are also images of Dragon kind, similar to what players experience during the last leg of the Onyxia quest chain from pre-BC. Also included is a gnome city, much like Area-52.

Check it out now, and watch for more detailed analysis of the video and all the other news as the day goes on.

Breaking: Gamespy to release new Wrath info at 12:01 a.m. [UPDATED]

Posted May 9th 2008 2:11AM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: News items, Wrath of the Lich King

Many thanks to Tisen for tipping off the late night WoW Insider crew that Gamespy will be releasing new Wrath of the Lich King info in about an hour from now – at 12:01 a.m. PST. We'll get it reported to you as soon as we see it. Stay tuned for updates. Their entire announcement reads:

You're going to want to stay tuned until the midnight here on GameSpy.com. At 12:01AM PST we'll be flooding the site with all-new World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King materials. New movies, media, a preview, a roundtable, two interviews and a look at the Death Knight. Enough for ya?

I have to admit, this is a little strange for it to be posted this late... but I've seen stranger things. More info as it comes in.

Update 12:05 a.m. PDT: No info yet. Though their website still says it's "Thursday." We're expecting something soon.

Update 12:07 a.m. PDT: Bornakk is up late and posted " They aren't the only ones..." in response to WotLK info being released tonight. More to come apparently.

Update 12:09 a.m. PDT: News is incoming, possibly from multiple sources, look for more posts soon.

Servers are up

Posted May 6th 2008 2:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Realm News, Realm Status, News items

It looks like everything went okay with the server hamsters this morning as the servers are back up and running smoothly. In fact, it appears that all the servers are up right now. This is an oddity since usually there are at least one or two battlegroups that are down longer than the rest.

There is no patch 2.4.2 on the live servers right now, and the PTR (Public Test Realm) is still up and running for additional testing. Hopefully within the next week or two patch 2.4.2 will go live for us all.

WoW Insider will carry any updates on sever outages throughout the day. Enjoy your Tuesday!

Tuesday morning at WoW Insider

Posted May 6th 2008 6:52AM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Realm News, Analysis / Opinion, Realm Status

It's Tuesday morning and the hamsters that run the servers are being fed by Blizzard, which means all the realms are down for extended maintenance until at least 11:00 a.m. PDT. There is no patch 2.4.2 to look forward to when the servers go back up this afternoon, but that might not be that bad of a thing. Usually patch days mean add-on trouble and serious server stability issues. Those spell disaster for anyone expecting to enjoy the evening.

While the servers are offline, go ahead and get your WoW fix from us! We've got a few dandy articles to entice you and keep your WoW addiction in full swing.

• Take a look at the official and unofficial patch notes for patch 2.4.2. Highlights include reduced cooldown timers, changes in the hand specifications of some weapons, and new polymorphing mechanics.
• A talented rogue was able to tank the seventh boss in the Black Temple, Mother Shahraz, by stacking insane amounts of avoidance and agility. Take a look at the video of the encounter, definitely worth watching if you have a minute.
• SK-Gaming killed M'uru (the next-to-last boss in the Sunwell Plateau) over the weekend. M'uru dropped some nice loot for them. Check out what they got in their world first kill.
• Did you know Blizzard launched a new and improved online store? The best part about it is that if you buy something, you can click a little check box that gives you a chance to be selected to participate in a beta. I ordered a tee-shirt over the weekend, and have my fingers crossed that I'll get in a certain beta test pretty soon (I could care less about the tee-shirt, naturally).
• Sean Forsgren recently profiled one of my favorite add-ons, Dr. Damage. It's a great tool that gives you very useful statistics about all your spells in the form of extended tooltips. Take a minute to look into it now, and get it all downloaded and setup for when the servers come back online later today.
  

When the severs do come back online, WoW Insider will let you know. Hopefully there won't be any major stability issues tonight, but if there are, we'll be covering that too. Enjoy your downtime!

Extended downtime for Tuesday May 6th

Posted May 6th 2008 12:47AM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Realm Status, News items

The announcement on the login screen tonight tells us that the realms will be down for extended maintenance on Tuesday May 6th, from 3:00 a.m. PDT until 11:00 a.m. PDT. It's curious how extended maintenance used to last from five until eleven, but now lasts an extra two hours – from three until eleven.

Today we've seen the PTR (Public Test Realm) go down, and then come back up again. Earlier we thought this was a good indication that patch 2.4.2 was going to be released on May 6th, however with the PTR still being up, we don't believe that will be the case. Of course I could be completely wrong here – and we all might get a shiny new download screen tomorrow morning.

Only time will tell, and stay tuned to WoW Insider for the latest. We'll also keep you abreast of when the realms come back online, and any lingering issues that may arise.

PTR goes up

Posted May 5th 2008 8:40PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Patches, News items

Usually Blizzard is pretty definitive when they take something down. However today they've decided to take down the PTR (Public Test Realm) in the morning, and then put it back up early tonight. I'm reminded of a recent Simpsons episode I watched where Homer is sitting in his hospital bed awaiting a heart bypass surgery and goes "Bed goes up, bed goes down. Bed goes up, bed goes down." PTR goes down, PTR goes up.

All of these announcements come from the same person, Hortus, so it's not an issue of him being confused or anything (unless the whirly jig in his head has gotten to him). Hortus does tell us that they've put it up for "some additional testing," which really isn't a surprise given it's a test realm.

This probably means that patch 2.4.2 won't go live tomorrow if there is maintenance. Once we know more we'll post and keep you updated.

We want your guild apps!

Posted May 5th 2008 6:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Guilds

No, I'm not trying to poach your applicants. I don't play that way, even though we all know people who do. What I'm after are your actual applications.

I'm working on compiling a smorgasbord of guild application questions for an upcoming article, and I need your help! What I need from you, oh dear and faithful readers, are copies of what your guild uses as application questions. You can post the ones that you think are unique, funny, and insightful in the comments here. Better yet, you can copy and paste your application and send it to me in its entirety to adam.holisky@weblogsinc.com. If your application is easily accessible on the web, shoot me a link to your guild's website and I can check it out there too.

What's the benefit of helping me in my quest to write this article? How about fame and my never-ending appreciation. Also a credit at the end for your help. And who doesn't like seeing their name in virtual-print?

WotLK: The rain is coming

Posted May 5th 2008 4:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: News items, Wrath of the Lich King

While we've gotten tid bits of information here and there from Blizzard posts over the past few months, the news has been relatively dry with regards to any official announcements about Wrath of the Lich King. We know that it's in alpha testing, and we've had a bit of fun with some screenshots. But that's about it.

Nethaera tells us that the development is coming along really well, which we've all heard before. However in her typical witty fashion she also gives us this gem of a line, in response to people calling WotLK vapor-ware:

"The great thing about vapor is that at some point it condenses and becomes rain. The rain then falls and nourishes that which it falls on. It takes time for it to happen, but it does happen. Signs point to clouds forming in the sky, but you never can tell when they will let loose the rain..."

Take that for what you will, but I read it pretty squarely as "Some major WotLK news is on its way." And that is news in and of itself.

PTR is closed

Posted May 5th 2008 3:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Patches, News items

Hortus just posted that the PTR server for patch 2.4.2 has been taken down, and that the PTR phase for the patch has ended. This is a strong indicator that patch 2.4.2 is on its way soon, perhaps during some expected maintenance tomorrow.

Take a look at the official and un-official notes for a comprehensive look at what will change. Nothing in the patch is game-breaking, in my opinion, but there are some nice changes. Some of the major highlights include:

• Changes to the way arena points are calculated.
  
• Void Shatter no longer has a cooldown, and other cooldowns have been reduced.
• If you are sheeped / polymorphed by a mob, you will no longer gain back health (ie: the mass sheep in Aran, which regens your health before he fire blasts the raid).
  
• Many main hand weapons are now one hand weapons.

WoW Insider will carry the latest on the patch, including as soon as we know when it's set to go live. Stay tuned!

Edit 3:24 p.m. EDT: It should be noted that the final version of the patch notes have not been released yet, however they are usually close to what the PTR patch notes are.

Blizzard developers are out there

Posted May 5th 2008 2:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Odds and ends, Blizzard

An interesting discussion went on in the Community Service forums yesterday concerning the role Blizzard developers play in those very forums. A poster was obviously attempting to troll and start some argument, asking if the Blizzard devs actually do read what people write or pay attention to the community at large. Kisirani, a Blizzard developer, responded that indeed they do.

A few interesting things came from subsequent blue posts that help outline the roles of the developers and community managers. First, it is the job of the community managers (CMs as we call them) to do just what their title says: manage the community. This includes the forums and everything that goes on in there. Kisirani tells us that they regularly collect feedback and suggestions and pass them along to the developers. Kisirani makes it a point to say that they don't have enough time to read everything themselves, and if they were to read everything the game itself would not be developed – and again, this is where the community managers come into play.

Continue reading Blizzard developers are out there

WoW Insider arena action tonight!

Posted May 2nd 2008 4:00PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: Arena

Grab your sword and fight us Horde!

The WoW Insider Arena Team will be returning to action tonight at 10 p.m. CDT until 12:00 a.m. (Why at this time? As I've been saying in my previous posts, we have to wait until Battlestar Galactica is over!) We'll be on Arena Tournament Server 1 facing off against the best that Azeroth has to offer. We're going to win a couple and lose a couple matches, and the best part of that will be if they're against you!

You can read about our past trials and tribulations, and see how we're all improving our arena game. It has definitely been an interesting time learning to work together and discovering each other's play styles. Even though we haven't had the year or so of time to become comfortable with each other in group play, we're doing okay.

So if you're not up to much tonight, hop on over and queue up for a 3v3 match. You might just get to face off against us!

Virus infected Fraps steals account information? [UPDATED]

Posted Apr 30th 2008 3:47PM by Adam Holisky
Filed under: News items, Account Security

WoW Insider has received a high number of reports of hacked accounts today. We have traced the Trojan to Trojan.Crypt.FKM.Gen. This Trojan has been known to steal World of Warcraft login information.

What we believe has happened, and please take this with the appropriate grain of salt, is that Fraps had a modified version of SpyLocked in it, which installed the Trojan.Crypt.FKM.Gen into Microsoft Net Meeting, which was then started silently when Windows rebooted. When the users logged into WoW, their passwords were key logged and twelve hours later several level 70 characters, including many bank alts, were deleted. It should be noted that it is possible that SpyLocked was installed into Fraps via a malicious email, however that is unlikely. We can also not verify where Fraps was downloaded, however it was almost assuredly downloaded from the official site.

This is evident in the logs of the virus scanner, which show both Fraps and Net Meeting as having viruses. Further, SpyLocked has been known to install further malicious programs on a computer. Finally, all of this has been confirmed via extensive interviews with the hacked subjects.

What can you do to prevent this from happening?

Two things:

1. Change your password, now!
2. When you're at home, run a complete virus scan. Do not sign in to WoW until you've done so.
   

We've alerted the makers of Fraps to the problem, and if appropriate, will post their reply.

Most of all it's important that you, our readers, stay safe. Take a minute to change your password now.

Update 11:21 p.m. April 30th: I've been in contact with Beepa, the makers of Fraps, and they assure me that the official downloads from fraps.com are perfectly fine.

Continue reading Virus infected Fraps steals account information? [UPDATED]

Mounts of the World of Warcraft: Profession Mounts

Posted Apr 29th 2008 11:00AM by Adam Holisky

Only those players that have the Engineering profession are able to create mounts for themselves. The mounts require a good bit of material to make, and require a high level profession skill.

Flying Machine Control		Turbo Charged Flying Machine
Speed: 100% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 225 Engineering Skill: 350 Required Materials: 2x Adamantite Frame 30x Fel Iron Bar 8x Handful of Fel Iron Bolts 8x Star Wood 5x Adamantite Bar 4x Elemental Seaforium Charge		Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Engineering Skill: 375 Required Materials: 1x Flying Machine Control 8x Khorium Power Cores 8x Felsteel Stabalizer 1x Hula Girl Doll

WoW Insider's Guide to the Mounts of the World of Warcraft
Table of Contents		Index

Mounts of the World of Warcraft: Flying Mounts

Posted Apr 29th 2008 11:00AM by Adam Holisky

Flying mounts are a pinnacle of the Burning Crusade experience. They are principally available via the regular and epic mounts purchasable in Shadowmoon Valley. There are also several flying mounts that are available via reputation gains and professions.

Alliance Mounts

Snowy Gryphon		Golden Gryphon
Speed: 100% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 225 Purchase From: Brunn Flamebeard Cost: 100		Speed: 100% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 225 Purchase From: Brunn Flamebeard Cost: 100
Ebon Gryphon		Swift Red Gryphon
Speed: 100% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 225 Purchase From: Brunn Flamebeard Cost: 100		Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Purchase From: Brunn Flamebeard Cost: 200
Swift Purple Gryphon		Swift Green Gryphon
Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Purchase From: Brunn Flamebeard Cost: 200		Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Purchase From: Brunn Flamebeard Cost: 200
Swift Blue Gryphon
Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Purchase From: Brunn Flamebeard Cost: 200

Horde Mounts

Tawny Windrider		Blue Windrider
Speed: 100% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 225 Purchase From: Dama Wildmane Cost: 100		Speed: 100% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 225 Purchase From: Dama Wildmane Cost: 100
Green Windrider		Swift Yellow Windrider
Speed: 100% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 225 Purchase From: Dama Wildmane Cost: 100		Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Purchase From: Dama Wildmane Cost: 200
Swift Red Windrider		Swift Purple Windrider
Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Purchase From: Dama Wildmane Cost: 200		Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Purchase From: Dama Wildmane Cost: 200
Swift Green Windrider
Speed: 280% Minimum Level: 70 Riding Skill: 300 Purchase From: Dama Wildmane Cost: 200

WoW Insider's Guide to the Mounts of the World of Warcraft
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