Yamama

Diablo III Launching May 15

2012-03-16T07:42:00.003+13:00

Diablo III Launching May 15

More Mists Pandaria of screenshots

2012-03-15T08:08:00.000+13:00

These have been appearing in blizzards screenshots of the day:

New Mists of Pandaria screenshot

2012-03-14T08:41:00.004+13:00

Wastland 2

2012-03-14T08:06:00.002+13:00

Before Fallout they made a game called Wasteland. I had it on the C64 and it was one of the best RPG's to be made in the 80's.

Now thanks to Kickstarter, they are trying to raise funds to make a sequel:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2?ref=live

Guildwars 2 Pre Order April 10th

2012-03-14T07:55:00.003+13:00

This < insert adjective here > is getting real:

NCsoft, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), today revealed the Pre-Purchase program for Guild Wars 2, the most anticipated online role-playing game scheduled for release in 2012. Starting April 10, players who pre-purchase the Guild Wars 2 Collector’s, Digital Deluxe, or Standard Editions will receive guaranteed entry into all beta weekend events and a three-day headstart prior to launch, giving them the opportunity to be among the first to secure their character and guild names. As a bonus, players who pre-purchase any edition will also receive an exclusive Hero’s Band, which will provide their characters with a broad range of power boosts as they venture into the world of Tyria in Guild Wars 2.

The Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition offers fans an unparalleled collection of physical content that goes beyond the game. The centerpiece of the Collector’s Edition is a detailed, hand-painted 10-inch statue of the bestial warrior Rytlock Brimstone wielding his signature flaming sword. Along with the Rytlock statue, players will receive a custom frame along with five stunning Guild Wars 2 art prints from world-renowned artists, a 112-page Making of Guild Wars 2 hardback book, a Best of Guild Wars 2 Soundtrack CD by award-winning composer Jeremy Soule, and five in-game items, including a Mistfire Wolf that will fight alongside players and a miniature Rytlock who will accompany them on their travels through Tyria.

The Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition will retail at $149.99 MSRP, the Digital Deluxe at $79.99 MSRP and the Standard Edition at $59.99 MSRP. Players may also pre-order Guild Wars 2 at select retailers, allowing them to reserve their copy of the game at launch. Players who pre-order Guild Wars 2 will receive a one-day headstart prior to launch.

Also kick ass collectors edition:

Scrolls is Scrolls

2012-03-12T07:56:00.001+13:00

Sanity won the day between Bethesda's lawers and Mojang:

We have settled the lawsuit over Scrolls and Mojang and Bethesda are friends again.

To answer the big question – yes Scrolls is still going to be called Scrolls.

To answer the second question – we aren’t going to keep the trade mark.

For us this was never about a trade mark but being able to use Scrolls as the name of our game which we can – Yey.

PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Videos

2012-03-08T08:16:00.003+13:00

When the first screenshots came out I was a bit dis intesteded in the game as the maps looked small and enclosed. After these videos I am interested again:

Minecraft 1.2 Trailer

2012-03-03T13:12:00.001+13:00

Mists of Pandera Stat Changes

2012-03-02T19:06:00.001+13:00

Ghostcrawler has a long list of the stat changes.

The parts I am interested in is the PVP gear. They seem to be making it a lower ilevel than pve meaning people won't be able to use in lfr or lfg easily.

But it sounds like PVP gear will be better for pvp just not such a huge gap. Which is a shame, I feel if you only do PVP you should have better gear for pvp than those who only do PVE.

Anyway this list needs more analysing before I can really comment on it.

Our recent talent calculator changes led to some players asking questions about how character and item stats were changing, because some spell and talent tooltips suggest that changes are coming. We compiled this list to attempt to explain more of what's coming in Mists of Pandaria. First of all, please note that we actually aren't making many stat changes compared to the ones we made in Cataclysm ("armor penetration -- gone!"). Second, the stuff below can get a little technical. If you're not into the subtle nuance of gear itemization, then don't worry about it -- you don't need to be to enjoy the expansion -- but we know there are plenty of you who enjoy some nuts and bolts talk, so here we go.

Spell Resistance

Spell resistance is gone. There are no buffs that improve it and there shouldn't be much, if any, spell resist gear left. We always thought the system was hard to understand and we weren't getting much gameplay out of it. Now taking a step back, we can imagine how to develop a game where you'd want various forms of resist gear for certain situations and opponents. Resist gear could potentially be interesting, but it isn't currently in World of Warcraft -- the game has just been moving away from that sort of thing for years.
In the absence of spell resistance, there is no need for spell penetration on gear, so we'll remove it as well.
Hit and Expertise

We still think having stats that can be capped is a good game design. Rather than focusing solely on stacking your best stat, you have to decide how valuable it is to hit your target before you go back to stacking your best stat. However, we are making some changes.
Hit and spell hit will no longer be separate stats. The hit stat negates melee miss and spell miss.
Expertise will negate dodge and spell miss, then parry.
Expertise will be listed as a percentage, just like hit, instead of having an intermediary stat.
We are normalizing hit with expertise, so that 1% of each stat will require the same amount of rating.
We are normalizing melee and spell hit, so that spell hit is equal to miss plus dodge.
Against an equal level creature: 6% spell miss, 3% melee miss, 3% dodge, 3% parry (from the front only), 3% block (from the front only).
Against a +1 level creature: 9% spell miss, 4.5% melee miss, 4.5% dodge, 4.5% parry (from the front only), 4.5% Block (from the front only).
Against a +2 level creature: 12% spell miss, 6% melee miss, 6% dodge, 6% parry (from the front only), 6% Block (from the front only).
Against a +3/boss level creature: 15% spell miss, 7.5% melee miss, 7.5% dodge, 7.5% parry (from the front only), 7.5% block (from the front only).
Ranged attacks will be able to be dodged. Hunters will benefit from expertise and will have it on their gear, which will also allow hunters and Enhancement shaman to share gear more easily.
Block
The chance to block will be handled by a separate combat roll for each attack that is not avoided. In other words, we first determine if an attack misses, or is dodged or parried. If it is not, then the attack has a chance to be blocked.
This gives block a consistent value, regardless of avoidance. Currently block becomes more valuable the more you have.
Block will also have diminishing returns, much like dodge and parry. This doesn't mean that the value of block will go down as you get more block. It means that it won't go up by as much when you get more block.
We don't expect Protection warriors or paladins to get "block capped" other than during temporary effects, such as mastery procs on trinkets. Block tanks will be balanced around this change. Our intent is to make playing block tanks more fun, not to nerf them.
Also notice how Shield Block and Shield of the Righteous have changed in Mists.
Criticals
All spells and abilities will crit for double damage, baseline. There are a few exceptions where crits can get larger, but the default is x 2.0 for everyone.
This means that Enhancement shaman spells and rogue poisons will crit for double damage. Rogue poisons will also use the melee hit chance.
Resilience
We are renaming this stat to "Defense (PvP)" or possibly "PvP Defense." All players will have 30% base Defense, the same way all characters have some base Stamina.
PvP gear will have Defense on it, as well as a new stat, "Power (PvP)." Power increases the damage you do to other players as well as the healing you do to other players in PvP situations.
If you have a lot of Power, you'll do more damage to other players, but they likely have Defense as well. If you fight players in lots of PvE gear, they'll take more damage. Likewise, a player in PvE gear won't have enough Power to effectively penetrate your Defense.
The names PvP Power and PvP Defense may not be final, but we're leaning towards going with stat names that are obviously PvP-related, rather than "fluffier" names that might not be as easy to grasp. We want it to be clear to players that neither Power nor Defense have any relevance when fighting creatures, such as in dungeons or raids.
PvP gear will be lower in item level than PvE gear of an equivalent tier, however the Power and Defense stats will make sure that PvP gear is more powerful in PvP (both offensively and defensively) than PvE gear. In our budgeting system, the PvP stats will be free rather than causing other stats, such as Strength or haste, to be smaller as a result of including Power or Defense.
The goal of this change is to make it easier for a PvP player to participate in PvE, or for a PvE player to get started in PvP. Currently, we feel it is too large a barrier to go from one to the other, and the result has been that we see more and more players choosing to focus exclusively on only PvP or PvE. In earlier expansions, it was more feasible to use PvE gear in Arenas or Battlegrounds until you acquired the more useful PvP gear. The same was true of being able to use your PvP gear in a dungeon or raid until you acquired something better. In Cataclysm, stepping into PvP with no PvP gear would result in a player being so ineffective that it was difficult to even make progress towards acquiring PvP gear.
For the higher-end of PvP or PvE (say Gladiators or heroic raiders), we believe those players will still gravitate towards the dedicated PvP or PvE gear. It is the players who are working towards those two end games that will benefit more from some cross over.
That's a lot of information, and it probably sounds more set-in-stone than it really is. We'll continue to iterate as players poke holes in our ideas, tell us what is working out and what isn't, and finally get to experience it first hand in beta.

Minecraft 1.2 Released

2012-03-02T07:58:00.000+13:00

Its now auto patches and is ready to go, YAY.

Full patch notes in rest of post.

New jungle biome
New map height limit (256 instead of 128)
Added cats
Added ocelots
Added iron golems
New AI for mobs
Tame wolves can have puppies
Villagers will have children if there is room in their village
Doors have been updated so that double-doors work better with redstone
Added rare drops for mobs
New items and blocks

Minecraft 1.2 Tomorrow

2012-03-01T07:56:00.002+13:00

Tis the session to be patching ......

Minecraft 1.2 is out tomorrow, you can get the preview build now but the client will auto update offically tomorrow.

I can't wait.

Also more news on the server side API for mods:

The plan is to build a fresh server API, and then extend it to support client-side modding (in one way or another). We will try to make it easy for bukkit users to convert if they wish to do so, but backwards compatibility is not guaranteed. We will, however, help bukkit to be compatible with 1.2, to avoid having a long gap while you wait for the official Minecraft server to catch up.

WoW 4.3.3 64bit client update

2012-02-29T17:35:00.004+13:00

Instructions and download link can be found here:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3988300405

Warcraft 4.3.3 patch released

2012-02-29T08:09:00.000+13:00

Not sure whats changed as at the time the patch notes were empty.

Something about nerfing raids I think.

Skyrim Patched

2012-02-29T08:04:00.000+13:00

UPDATE 1.4.27 (PC Only)
LAUNCHER

Fixed issue with downloading mods when you are subscribed to more than 50 mods
Fixed crash when loading a subscribed mod that has been removed from Workshop by the author
Mod load order functionality

BUG FIXES (PC only)

Fixed occasional crashes when loading a save that relies on plugins/master files that no longer exist
Fixed issue where controls would become unresponsive while charging an enchanted weapon
Fixed issue where controls would occasionally become unresponsive while switching from third to first person while using the Arcane Enchanter
Fixed issue where controls would become unresponsive if activating a crafting station with autorun active
Fixed issue where keyboard would fail if Rename Item was selected before choosing the number of charges, while using Arcane Enchanter
Fixed several issues with remapping buttons while using an Xbox 360 controller
Fixed issue where pressing Escape button after fast traveling but before the loading would cause certain menus to stop working properly
Followers now sneak properly when player is sneaking

Patch 4.3.3 will break the current 64-bit WoW client

2012-02-28T08:36:00.003+13:00

This makes me sad as the 64bit client is just awesome. According to blizzard you will need to delete the following files:

In order to patch successfully, you must delete the following files from inside your World of Warcraft folder:

Wow-64.exe (PC)
MovieProxy.exe (PC)
Battle.net-64.dll (PC)
World of Warcraft-64.app (Mac)

We apologize for any inconvenience this issue may cause, but please be aware that since the 64-bit client is still in a testing state that complications such as this may happen from time to time. Thank you.

http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/64bit-client-prevents-patching-to-433

A updated version of the client will be released soon.

Aion Free to play has started

2012-02-28T08:21:00.001+13:00

And some reasion I have bunny ears ........

Darth Maul Returns

2012-02-28T07:58:00.001+13:00

I don't even want to know how this is possable, this is like when Bobba Fett crawled out of the sarlacc pit ......

Yogscast preview the Theif from Guildwars 2

2012-02-27T17:39:00.002+13:00

Worf gets denied

2012-02-27T08:42:00.001+13:00

Seems like there was a lot of Klingon racism on the enterprise.

Yogscast - World vs Wolrd vs World PVP

2012-02-26T10:57:00.000+13:00

What worries is is the lag Simon is getting from playing in the UK. It may mean that melee pvp could be tricky for us oceanic players.

Yogscast on Guildwars 2 Necromancers

2012-02-24T08:23:00.002+13:00

Next MGS will be on PC

2012-02-24T08:19:00.001+13:00

The next Metal Gear Solid is going to appear on the PC.

But eveyone keeps telling me PC gaming is dead ?

Terraria development has ended.

2012-02-24T07:57:00.002+13:00

Terraria development has ended.

The future of Terraria has been highly debated as of late, not just with the community, but for us as well. The last year has been a crazy ride! When I started on this game, I just had a few ideas of what I thought would make a fun game. I had no idea that it would receive so much attention. I want to thank all of you for supporting us and making this game's success possible.

After a lot of internal debate, we have decided that it is time to move on. My wife and I are due to have another boy soon, and I want to spend some time getting to know him. I also want to spend the time recharging and bettering myself as both a programmer and game designer. I have learned a lot from working on Terraria and plan on using what I've learned, building upon it, and moving forward with another, even better project. However, we are still planning at least one more bug fix for Terraria.

For those that haven't already heard, Finn "Tiy" Brice has moved on to form Chucklefish and is heavily at work on an exciting new game called “Starbound”. It's looking to be a lot of fun, so make sure to check it out if you haven't already!

Thanks again for all your support, and I am very much looking forward to providing you with something much better than Terraria in the future!

Sad news but for me personally Terraria became very stale after playing Minecraft. It was very enjoyable at the start but once you had everything there wasn't anything to do. Minecraft on the flip side works hard to make sure you don't ever get to keep everything.

The new game Starbound doesn't intrest me much. 16bit Avatar rip off in a 2D world using what looks like the Terrari engine. I think I am just over 'retro' looking games and would like indy's who use it to pursue there own art style.

YogsCast do Charr

2012-02-22T22:29:00.003+13:00

The Guildwars 2 awesomeness continues from Simon and Lewis.

AION North American Free to play

2012-02-22T17:22:00.002+13:00

Accually, this sounds really good for once:

No subscription fee. Play for free!
No account restrictions. Visit any zone, chat in any channel, sell any amount of stuff on the trade broker—nothing is off limits!
Robust countermeasures to combat game abuse. We're dedicating a ton of resources to preventing account theft, botting, and real money trading.
No hassles. Create your account, download the game, and play!
No harassment. Don't worry, we won't hound you with constant offers or promotions.
A lot of great stuff we'll reveal more about leading up to launch!

I'll check it out at launch, that is if I can remeber my log in details.

Guildwars World PvP map

2012-02-22T08:37:00.000+13:00

This video shows hardly anything at all and is another pointless display from the Press Beta. So far only the Yogscast have been doing anything good. I almost didn't link it in the end.

What it does show is how the World PVP aka Mists will work. Showing what looks like 3 idententical fortress maps and another map which looks like a middle ground.

Its good to see 3 sides in world PvP, this is really the only way to balance something. Because if one side becomes domanant, the other two can work together to take them down.

Here is the video:

Yogscast: Guildwars 2 Beta

2012-02-21T08:19:00.001+13:00

I was going to link the massively montage but it was boring and I found this cause everything is better with Simon and Lewis:

Skyrim DLC will be Expansion packs

2012-02-18T13:49:00.001+13:00

Bethesda have today said that they will be releasing expansion sized DLC instead of side quest sized DLC they did for Fallout 3.

This means there will be less of them but more value for money.

Also during the gaps between release expect free updates that add new content. This hopefully means the stuff they showed in the 'week' video.

Australian R18+ Bill

2012-02-16T07:55:00.000+13:00

So hopefully this means no more worries about getting the censored version of games coming across the ditch.

Dear Esther now on steam

2012-02-15T08:21:00.002+13:00

This is a Half-life 2 mod which I have been following for a very long time. It is now on steam for $9.95

http://store.steampowered.com/app/203810/

I usally don't like buying mods but as this provides a single player expereance I will be picking it up.

Why I won't be getting Mass Effect 3

2012-02-15T08:11:00.000+13:00

1) Dragon Age 2
2) Bioware, " Masters of Story telling "
3) EA
4) Origin
5) Mass Effect 2

The plague of Free to play

2012-02-14T08:14:00.000+13:00

The plague of free to play is spreading.

Lock boxes that require keys to unlock.

Where do you get the keys ?

At the cash shop of cause.

Star Trek Online features this and now so does Lord of the Rings Online. Team Fortress 2 has also been doing it for a while now.

To me, this is gambling and very dangerous so I will not support any system that implements it. My fear is that Guildwars 2 will do something similar.

Galaxy Rangers

2012-02-13T22:58:00.001+13:00

One of the best Cartoons from the 80's, along side Thundercats.

This though its a little chessy, as 80's cartoons always had some reasion for the characters to play in a band, it covers most of what made the cartoon great:

Even if it has some of the worst lines from the show.

Latest Minecraft Snapshot

2012-02-11T10:30:00.003+13:00

New Features:

Many minor bug fixes and tweaks
Doors have been changed to properly detect if they are open or closed. Double doors in existing maps will need to be updated
Villagers will move indoors during night and rain, and socialize with each other
Zombies will break down wooden doors on hard difficulty
Added cat sounds
Better movement for mobs in water
Added rare mob item drops

Zombies breaking down wooden doors on Hard ....... barricade with dirt, problem solved =P

Warcraft Only Down 100k Subscribers

2012-02-10T18:02:00.004+13:00

Down to 10.2 million in total.

I actually thought it would be a lot worse than this when you compare it to the others:

Q1 2011 - 600,000 subscribers lost
Q2 2011 - 300,000 subscribers lost
Q3 2011 - 800,000 subscribers lost

The annual pass has helped but considering Blizzard are up against there biggest competition in ages this has been a surprise. Also I feel the direction that Cata has taken since 4.3 has really helped with new and interesting content opened for everyone.

This year is a big year for Blizzard, we should see the Launch of Diablo 3 in the Q2, also Heart of the Swarm is coming and finally we should see Mists of Pandaria by the end of the year.

2012-02-09T20:35:00.002+13:00

This is a video from the D.I.C.E 2012 Keynote, by bethesda. It shows stuff that may make it into Skyrim as updates or DLC. There is no sound with the video.

Update: Video has been changed to one with sound and better frame rate as well as the intro:

High Res texture pack and Creation Kit Released

2012-02-08T07:56:00.001+13:00

You can download both from steam.

The High res pack is found by right clicking on skyrim, selecting view DLC. Then clicking on the link saying view dlc for this product.

The texture pack is 3.2GB but its hosted on my ISP's steam content server.

The creation kit is found under library and then selecting tools from the drop down menu.

The Steam workshop page for Skyrim can be found here:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/browse/?appid=72850&browsesort=toprated

Today is a good day to be a PC gamer.

Elder Scrolls

2012-02-05T15:23:00.003+13:00

A video showing how far the Elder Scrolls have come over the years:

And now for something completely random

2012-02-05T10:00:00.000+13:00

The Skyrim supprise is rumored .....

2012-02-05T09:16:00.002+13:00

To be a high res texture pack for the PC.

Skyrim Creation Kit & "Surprise" Tuesday

2012-02-04T15:45:00.002+13:00

No word on what the supprise is but its to do with the Creation kit.

Skyrim 1.4

2012-02-02T12:57:00.001+13:00

The new patch for skyrim is out with a long list of features which I'll post later.

The editor isn't out yet but they have a preview video of what it can do:

Patch notes below:

NEW FEATURES

Skyrim launcher support for Skyrim Workshop (PC)

BUG FIXES

General optimizations for memory and performance
Fixed occasional issue with armor and clothing not displaying properly when placed on mannequins in player’s house (PS3)
Long term play optimizations for memory and performance (PS3)
Improved compiler optimization settings (PC)
Memory optimizations related to scripting
Fixed issue with dangling scripts not properly clearing from memory
Fixed crashes related to pathing and AI
Fixed crash in “Haemar’s Shame” if player had already completed “A Daedra’s Best Friend”
Fixed rare crash with loading saved games
Fixed issue with accented characters not displaying properly at the end of a line
Fixed issue where dragon priest masks would not render correctly
Fixed issue where quests would incorrectly progress after reloading a save
Fixed issues with placing and removing books from bookshelves in the player’s home
Optimized bookshelf script in player-owned houses that would occasionally block other scripts from properly firing off
Fixed issue where weapon racks and plaques would not work correctly in player’s house if player
immediately visits their house before purchasing any upgrades
Fixed issue where the player house in Windhelm would not clean up properly
Fixed crash related to giant attacks and absorb spells
Fixed issue with ash piles not cleaning up properly
Fixed occasional issue where overwriting an existing save would fail
Fixed memory crash with container menu
Fixed infinite loop with bookshelves
Fixed issue where transforming back to human from werewolf would occasionally fail
Bows and daggers will display properly when placed on weapon racks
Fixed occasional audio issue that would play sound effects louder than intended
Fixed bug related to hitching between cell boundaries
Master Criminal achievement/trophy unlocks properly in French, German, Spanish and Italian
Fixed issue where traps in Shalidor’s Maze would not work properly in French, German, Spanish and
Italian versions

QUEST FIXES

The Unusual Gem that was inside the Thalmor Embassy is now accessible after finishing “Diplomatic Immunity”
In “Breaching Security”, the quest token is no longer required to receive a fortune reading from Olava the Feeble
Fixed issue where Galmar would not complete Joining the Stormcloaks properly if “Season Unending” was an active quest
Fixed issue where starting “Season Unending” after finishing “Joining the Stormcloaks” would prevent “The Jagged Crown” from starting properly
Fixed issue where progressing through “Message to Whiterun” while “Season Unending” was still open would block progression for both quests
In “Arniel’s Endeavor”, fixed issue where a quest journal would trigger multiple times
In “Forbidden Legend”, the amulet fragment can no longer disappear after player leaves a dungeon without taking it
Fixed rare issue in “Forbidden Legend” where killing Mikrul Gauldurson while sneaking would make his corpse unaccessible
In “The White Phial”, the phial can no longer disappear if player leaves dungeon without taking it
“The White Phial” will now start properly if player already has a briar heart in their inventory
Player can no longer get stuck in Misty Grove after completing “A Night to Remember”
Fixed issue where leaving Riften during “A Chance Arrangement” would prevent quest from progressing
In “Darkness Returns”, a door in Twilight Sepulcher will properly open if the player leaves the dungeon for an extended period of time before completing the quest
In “Revealing the Unseen”, if the player leaves the Oculory for an extended period of time after placing the focusing crystal and returns, the quest will proceed correctly
“Onmund’s Request” will now start properly if player has already found Enthir’s staff before receiving this quest
Fixed instance where Tonilia would stop buying stolen items and also would not give Guild Leader Armor
“Repairing the Phial” will start properly if player already has unmelting snow or mammoth tusk in their inventory
Finding Pantea’s Flute before speaking with Pantea no longer prevents her quest from updating
In “The Break of Dawn”, fixed rare instance where a quest object would spawn incorrectly on the Katariah during Hail Sithis
Fixed rare issue in “The Mind of Madness” where player is unable to equip the Wabbajack
Fixed issue in “Pieces of the Past” where Mehrunes Dagon’s Razor will not trigger properly if player leaves the cell for extended period of time before activating it
“Blood’s Honor” will start properly if you visited and completed Driftshade and an extended period of time passes before starting the quest.
Fixed rare issue where “Dampened Spirits” would not start properly
Fixed issue where player would be unable to become Thane of Riften if they purchased a home first
Fixed issue where killing guards in Cidhna Mine would block progression for “No One Escapes Cidhna Mine”
Fixed numerous issues with “Blood on the Ice” not triggering properly
In “Blood on the Ice”, Calixto can now be killed if player owns a house in Windhelm
In “The Cure for Madness”, killing Cicero then resurrecting him no longer impedes quest progress
Fixed rare issue in “To Kill an Empire” where an NPC would fail to die properly
Clearing Knifepoint Ridge before starting “Boethiah’s Champion” no longer prevents quest from starting.

WoW 4.3.2 Is out

2012-02-01T08:17:00.001+13:00

The 64bit client is still in beta but details on how to run this will be released soon. I am really looking forward to the 64bit client as it should enable faster load times once inital content is cached as well as more UI mods with less worry on hitting the 2gb memory cap of a 32bit program.

The other huge bonus is the new Battletag / RealID raid system where you can raid with anyone in the game no matter what realm they are on.

Full patch notes below:

World of Warcraft Patch 4.3.2
Notes for all World of Warcraft patches can be found here.
Classes: General

    Vengeance is no longer triggered by receiving damage from other players.

Druids

    The Tier 13 Balance Druid 4-piece bonus now also increases the damage of Starsurge by 10%, in addition to its current effect.

Hunters

    Aspect of the Hawk now grants roughly 35% more attack power.
    Deterrence now also reduces damage taken by 30% while active.
    Black Arrow now ticks every 2 seconds for 20 seconds, as opposed to every 3 seconds for 15 seconds. The total damage dealt by the ability is unchanged.
    Lock and Load no longer benefits Arcane Shot, nor is it consumed by Arcane Shot.

Mages

    Fireball damage has been reduced by roughly 6%.
    Pyroblast damage has been reduced by roughly 6%.

Paladins

    Holy Radiance now costs 40% of base mana, up from 35%.

Priests

    Mass Dispel should again prefer dispelling targets that have magic effects that can be dispelled.

Rogues

    Adrenaline Rush no longer triggers a global cooldown.

Dungeons & Raids

    You can now form same-faction raids with Real ID friends, allowing you to enter Raid Finder in groups larger than 5, run older normal or heroic raids, or participate in Battlegrounds. You will not yet be able to run normal or heroic Dragon Soul with cross-realm raids of Real ID friends.
    Several typo fixes and clarified descriptions have been added to the Dungeon Journal entries for Dragon Soul.
    Players can no longer win multiple copies of the same item on a single Raid Finder boss kill. For example, a player who chooses Need on two set piece tokens or two weapons and wins the first, will not be eligible for the second on that particular boss.
    Baradin Hold

        The roaming Eyes of Occu'thar have been replaced by hateful creatures who serve Alizabal.


    Dragon Soul

        Warmaster Blackhorn

            The visual warning for Twilight Elites' Blade Rush should be easier to see.


Items

    Vial of Shadows damage (Lightning Strike) has been reduced to approximately one-third of previous damage. However, it will now trigger approximately 3 times as often. This is intended to keep overall DPS the same while reducing burst damage, especially in PvP.

Thief Gold On GoG

2012-02-01T07:59:00.001+13:00

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/thief_gold

This game is just amazing. It might be over 10 years old but the game play and level design haven't been surpassed. So many aspects of this game have been borrowed by more modern titles.

I have a feeling we may be seeing system shock 2 appearing on here soon. Hopefully they have fixed the dual core bug in the dark engine. If they have, I'll be buying this version even though I already own a boxed version of the original.

Everquest 1 Free to play

2012-01-31T08:21:00.002+13:00

Following after Everquest 2 Sony have announced the orginal will also go free to play soon.

The question I have is, when will vanguard go free to play ?

New Xcom Screenshots

2012-01-30T17:18:00.001+13:00

Its looking good, now can it keep the gameplay from the first game.

Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition

2012-01-27T23:26:00.001+13:00

Something about a console version as well but whats more important is the new PC enhanced edition free to existing owners of the game:

New major adventures set in new locations. These consist of an underground system of chambers beneath Loc Muine and a temperate coniferous forest in the Loc Muine mountains, and a secret cave passage. These new adventures will add several hours of story-based gameplay to the game.

New major characters to the Witcher story. One of them is Brigida Papebrock Dame. This noble woman comes from the Temerian family Papebrock and is a 30 year old lady-in-waiting of the Temerian court. The other characters are secret--for now!

All new animations and cut scenes, including a new, three and a half minute pre-rendered cinematic depicting the assassination of King Demavend of Aedirn. BAFTA Award winner and Academy Award nominee Tomasz Baginski brings this key historical event to life, setting the stage for the story told in The Witcher 2.

No Blizzcon 2012

2012-01-26T08:13:00.001+13:00

Blizzard Entertainment is proud to announce the 2012 Battle.net World Championship, a major global eSports event featuring some of the best pro-gaming competition in the world. Slated to take place in Asia toward the end of 2012, the Battle.net World Championship will host this year’s StarCraft II and World of Warcraft Arena World Championship tournaments. Blizzard gamers and eSports fans from around the world will be invited to attend and witness some of the most skilled pro players on the planet battle it out for cash and glory.

We’re excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. We're also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible. In light of our jam-packed schedule, we’ve decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.

More details about the 2012 Battle.net World Championship and BlizzCon 2013, including specific dates and locations, will be coming in the months ahead.

Well thats a shame, I had a cunning plan this year to try and get in with out battleing the cues for tickets.

Guildwars 2 This Year !

2012-01-24T07:54:00.002+13:00

Press Beta starts in Feb, with it ramping up in march to invites.

The Wait is almost over.

X Rebirth - Walking on ships

2012-01-21T09:45:00.001+13:00

I am still trying to find out how this will work. I got the following quote from a Dev:

You can walk around on station platforms and inside your playership by moving from one point to another. So YES you can move in real 3D and interact with people, but NO you are not freely moving as in a FPS (also you dont have a gun for that

To move you will select a task and move then quickly to the appropriate place. The player will notice everything radically in the first person view (especially in the virtual reality this will be obvious).
Yes you can leave your ship to come in contact with NPCs on plattforms.

Which doesn't answer anything.

You can walk around from one point to another in real 3d but you are not freely moving as in a fps ?!?

My guess is it will be like Starcraft 2 style adventure game which was between missioins.

Skyrim: Friendship is brutal

2012-01-21T09:13:00.002+13:00

Skyrim Creation Kit by the end of the month

2012-01-20T08:33:00.001+13:00

Also new Patch info:

NEW FEATURES

Skyrim launcher support for Steam Workshop (PC)

BUG FIXES

General optimizations for memory and performance
Fixed occasional issue with armor and clothing not displaying properly when placed on mannequin’s in player’s house. (PS3)
Improved compiler optimization settings (PC)
Long term play optimizations for memory and performance (PS3)
Memory optimizations related to scripting
Fixed crashes related to pathing and AI
Fixed crash in Haemar’s Shame if player had already completed “A Daedra’s Best Friend”
Fixed rare crash with loading saved games
Fixed issue with accented characters not displaying properly at the end of a line
Master Criminal achievement/trophy unlocks properly in French, German, Spanish and Italian
Fixed issue where dragon priest masks would not render correctly
Fixed issue where quests would incorrectly progress after reloading a save
Fixed issues with placing and removing books from bookshelves in the player’s home
Fixed issue where weapon racks and plaques would not work correctly in player’s house if player immediately visits their house before purchasing any furnishing.
Fixed issue where the player house in Windhelm would not clean up properly
Fixed crash related to giant attacks and absorb spells
Fixed issue with ash piles not cleaning up properly
Fixed occasional issue where overwriting an existing save would fail
Fixed memory crash with container menu
Fixed infinite loop with bookshelves
Fixed issue where traps in Shalidor’s Maze would not work properly in French, German, Spanish and Italian versions
Fixed issue where transforming back to human from werewolf would occasionally not fail
Bows and daggers will display properly when placed on weapon racks

QUEST FIXES

The Unusual Gem inside the Thalmor Embassy is now accessible after finishing “Diplomatic Immunity”
In “Breaching Security”, the quest token is no longer required to receive a fortune reading from Olava the Feeble
Fixed issue where Galmar would not complete Joining the Stormcloaks properly if “Season Unending” was an active quest
Fixed issue where starting “Season Unending” after finishing “Joining the Stormcloaks” would prevent “The Jagged Crown” from starting properly.
Fixed issue progressing through “Message to Whiterun” while “Season Unending” was still open would block progression for both quests.
In “Arniel’s Endeavor”, fixed issue where a quest journal would trigger multiple times
In “Forbidden Legend”, the amulet fragment can no longer disappear after player leaves a dungeon without taking it
Fixed rare issue in “Forbidden Legend” where killing Mikrul Gauldurson while sneaking would make his corpose unaccessible
In “The White Phial”, the phial can no longer disappear if player leaves dungeon without taking it
“The White Phial” will now start properly if player already has a briar heart in their inventory
Player can no longer get stuck in Misty Grove after completing “A Night to Remember”
Fixed issue where leaving Riften during “A Chance Arrangement” would prevent quest from progressing
In “Darkness Returns”, a door in Twilight Sepulcher will properly open if the player leaves the dungeon for an extended period of time before completing the quest
In “Under New Management”, if the player leaves the Oculory for an extended period of time after placing the focusing crystal and returns, the quest will proceed correctly
“Onmund’s Request” will now start properly if player has already found Enthir’s staff before receiving this quest
Fixed instance where Tonilia would stop buying stolen items and also would not give Guild Leader Armor
“Repairing the Phial” will start properly if player already has unmelting snow or mammoth tusk in their inventory
Finding Pantea’s Flute before speaking with Pantea no longer prevents her quest from updating
In “The Coming of the Dawn”, fixed rare instance where a quest object would spawn incorrectly on the Katariah during Hail Sithis
Fixed rare issue in “The Mind of Madness” where player is unable to equip the Wabbajack
Fixed issue in “Pieces of the Past” where Mehrunes Dagon’s Razor will not trigger properly if player leaves the cell for extended period of time before activating it
“Blood’s Honor” will start properly if you visited and completed Driftshade and an extended period of time passes before starting the quest.
Fixed rare issue where “Dampened Spirits” would not start properly
Fixed issue where player would be unable to become Thane of Riften if they purchased a home first
Fixed issue where killing guards in Cidhna Mine woud block progression for “No One Escapes Cidhna Mine”
Fixed numerous issues with “Blood on the Ice” not triggering properly
In “Blood on the Ice”, Calixto can now be killed if player owns a house in Windhelm
In “The Cure for Madness”, killing Cicero then resurrecting him no longer impedes quest progress
Fixed rare issue in “To Kill an Empire” where an NPC would fail to die properly
Clearing Knifepoint Ridge before starting “Boethiah’s Champion” no longer prevents quest from starting.

Diablo 3 Delayed .... Again

2012-01-20T08:22:00.001+13:00

There’s a lot of work left to be done, though. We’re constantly tuning and making balance changes; it’s a massive task. Some of these changes can be seen in the beta, like changes to item rarity, the levels at which we introduce affixes, and how many affixes enemies can roll up. Some you can’t see in the beta, like balancing the difficulty of the entire game for four different difficulty levels, adding tons of new affixes, creating legendary items, filling out crafting recipes and itemization, working on achievements, and implementing Battle.net features. We’re also working on a number of other large systems changes -- specifically with the skill and rune systems. We're not quite ready to share what those are just yet, but we look forward to being able to do so in the near future.

We want Diablo III to be the best game it can be when it launches. To get there, we're going to be iterating on designs we've had in place for a long time, making changes to systems you've spent a lot of time theorycrafting, and removing features you may have come to associate with the core of the experience. Our hope is that by embracing our iterative design process in which we question ourselves and our decisions, Diablo III won't just live up to our expectations, but will continue to do so a decade after it's released.

Will they haven't annocuned a relase date, its sounding more unlikely its going to be ready for March.

D3 10 character limit

2012-01-18T08:15:00.005+13:00

Its offical:

We're sticking with a 10 character limit per region for the foreseeable future.

Now if they only up the 10 character limit pre server in Warcraft.

Starshattered goes open source

2012-01-17T17:31:00.004+13:00

I ran a post on my old forums about this fantastic space simulator game. Sadly a few years back they stopped working on it.

Today I discovered that it is now free to download and open source. You can download it from:

http://www.starshattermods.com/

You just have to register first before you can download it.

40k MMO canned ?

2012-01-16T17:31:00.002+13:00

Rumor has it that the Warhammer 40k MMO has been canceled and THQ might be up for sale.

This will be sad as I like THQ as a publisher and the 40k MMO had my interest.

But in saying that the screenshots I have seen of the 40k MMO makes it look like a warcraft clone which just wouldn't work.

I also fear what will happen to Relic. Hopefully someone decent picks them up and the Warhammer IP licence as well. I'll post more news if its confirmed.

Mass Defect 3

2012-01-16T08:02:00.002+13:00

Mass Effect 3 is only on EA Origin. I won't start my rant on Origin again but this is why I won't ever get Mass Effect 3.

EA Claim it to be this:

Will ME3 be available on Steam?
During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time. Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers.

Strange way of spinning that they can't have there own 3rd party store and must use steam for DLC.

The funny thing is, I am more likely to buy DLC via steam than any other system. This is due to the fact that I already buy items via steam.

After the utter disaster that was Dragon Age 2 and Mass effect 2. I won't be buying another Bioware game. This is another rant in itself =p

Minecraft 1.1

2012-01-13T08:21:00.000+13:00

Minecraft 1.1 is out, this does mean waiting for Ponycraft to be updated and the texture mods:

New Features:

Bow Enchantments
Golden Apple recipe
New language translations.
Slightly smoothed color transitions between biomes
Reduced brewing time to 20 seconds
Added spawn eggs to creative (the colors of the eggs even look like the mobs)
Added world type options (currently only super-flat and default)
Removed collision box from ladders
Sheep eat grass and regain their wool

Not a huge amount of new features but still intresting.

New Xcom Remake

2012-01-06T12:42:00.001+13:00

Sure there is the lame fps com coming but today Fraxis ( civ5 ) announced a real remake of the classic with real time geomap and turn based combat.
I have a feeling it is going to be a budget title as it is coming to PC and consoles. I just hope it doesn't have some wacky art style.

X Bonus tune

2012-01-03T12:36:00.000+13:00

This is from the X Superbox trailer:

http://www.egosoft.com/download/superbox/bonus_en.php?download=549

And the trailer itself:

The only game I don't own in this seriers is X-Tension. Due to not seeing it here in the shops.

The reasion I am linking this is I really like the X music. And you can get more from here:

http://zakharovmusic.com/

X - Rebirth Details

2012-01-01T00:06:00.000+13:00

I recently got X3-Albion Prelude and have really been enjoying it. So I decided to check out some Rebirth details and see whats been released.

What I discovered has gotten me hyped. First the bad news:

You only fly one ship & no longer fly capital ships.

The good news is you still can own fleets and can also remote control your fleet. The reason for the new ship is it now has 'Rooms' and crew on board. I also has a flight deck. No details how these 'Rooms' Will work. If you can FPS walk around them or if they are hotpoint static screens.

Next up is this about cap ship changes:

You can in fact even land on these beasts and get out of your playership to meet NPCs while watching the large ship move around in space FROM the deck of the ship!

You won't be sitting in the cockpit and steer such a capital ship from the first person perspective anymore simply because that is boring. Steering huge and slowly-turning ships manually just doesnt make sense. It would force us to make them turn and move unrealistically quick and even then they would be impossible to maneuver near our huge and complex shaped stations.

Instead the steering is done by NPCs who work for you but closely follow your orders. You can control capital ships who work for you in many new ways.

I really hope it sounds as good as they describe it. If it is, X will launch to the top of my scifi best game list. Here are some new screenshots. First one featuring the players ship.

Skyrms Music done by one guy

2011-12-31T11:51:00.001+13:00

I avoid these things like the plague but this one is really good:

Guildwars 2 closed beta starts Friday

2011-12-15T12:27:00.001+13:00

We inch ever closer to knowing its release date.

Guild Wars 2 Mesmer

2011-12-13T17:28:00.000+13:00

The final class for Guildwars 2 has been announced. I am kind of glad they didn't drop the Mesmer. Its the only class I haven't played yet in Guildwars 1 as a primary.

Today only - Free Empire Earth

2011-12-13T08:04:00.003+13:00

Today only you can get the classic Empire Earth for free from good old games. Just go here and grab it:

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/empire_earth_gold_edition

Diablo 3 intro

2011-12-12T08:04:00.001+13:00

P.S.A

2011-12-10T15:14:00.001+13:00

Things are moving. This site isn't going anywhere but some of the background links may break over the next week or so.

To avoid any interuption make sure to book mark the direct link to this site:

http://yamama-nz.blogspot.com/

To quote Malcolm Betruger from Doom 3 - ' Amazing things will happen here soon, you just wait '

What if Doom / Quake were made today

2011-12-09T08:14:00.001+13:00

The Quake one is a bit more cheesy but it does show how we used to play at the end. I would also like to know, What the hell happened to FPS gaming ?

New X3 annouced

2011-12-08T17:34:00.001+13:00

This is newer than Rebirth which is still coming.

My little Horde

2011-12-08T08:40:00.001+13:00

source: http://dawoc.deviantart.com/art/My-Little-Horde-268193384

Skyrim 1.3

2011-12-08T08:29:00.001+13:00

The patch that fixes the problems from the last patch and makes the game playable again. No more 1 shot fireballs from the cave of annoying jerks.

Fixed magic resistances not calculating properly.
Fixed dragon animation issue.
Optimize performance for Core 2 Duo CPUs.
Fixed issue with placing books on bookshelves inside player purchased homes.
Fixed Radiant Story incorrectly filling certain roles.
General stability improvements.
Fixed Y-look input to scale correctly with framerate.

Best thing in the World

2011-12-05T17:45:00.001+13:00

of you know where

Modern Warfare 3 - Starring Ghost

2011-12-03T09:35:00.001+13:00

Skyrim Creation Kit Next Month

2011-12-02T17:36:00.001+13:00

Also patch to fix this weeks patch next week.

Terraria Updated

2011-12-02T08:18:00.001+13:00

The HUGE update to Terraria is out. I think I have my weekend sorted ;)

Patch notes below.

NPC’s
- There are thirty-six new monsters!
- The underworld has a new master, the Wall of Flesh. Defeating him will unlock new challenges for your world.
- There are three harder versions of the older bosses.
- There are now three new friendly NPC’s that can be rescued after specific conditions are met.
- The Dryad will now tell you the percentage of Corruption vs. Hallow in the world.
- Made several small changes to allow for better underground cities:
- New NPCs will spawn in their homes underground, instead of on the surface.
- Worms will no longer spawn when near a friendly NPC.
- Underground towns will now reduce, and eventually stop, enemy spawning.

Items
- Added thirty-nine statues that are scattered around the world. Some of them do special things when activated with mechanics!
- Star Cannon : Shoots faster.
- Sandgun : Sand shot from it does more damage, and it shoots faster.
- Blowpipe : Now listed as ranged.
- Goblins no longer drop rocket boots during an invasion. Instead they are sold by a new NPC that can be rescued underground after the player has defeated the Goblin Army.
- Boomerang type weapons are listed as melee.
- Added four new armor sets. Each set has different helms that give bonuses to melee, ranged, or magic, respectively.
- There are twenty-one new accessories.
- Weapons and accessories can now have random conditions that modify their stats. These conditions can be changed for a price by visiting a new NPC.
- The crafting requirements for Molten and Jungle gear have been reduced.
- Some accessories can now be combined at a Tinkerer’s Workshop.
- Colored Torches can now be crafted out of Gems and Torches.
- Added Mannequins that are crafted out of wood. Place armor on them for decoration/storage.
- Added the Wrench to place wires.
- Added Wire Cutters to remove wires.
- Added Pressure Plates, Switches, and Timers to activate devices.
- Added Music Boxes that record and play in-game music.
- Added Pumps to transport liquids.
- Added loads of other new items and weapons waiting to be found!
- Putting the Guide Voodoo Doll in lava is now a bad idea...or is it?

Lighting / Display
- Terraria now has smooth, colored lighting! You can toggle between the four lighting modes: Color, White, Retro, and Trippy in the Options Menu or by pressing F7.
- Made several lighting and display optimizations to increase game performance.
- Added automatic graphic quality adjustment based on the game’s frame rate. This setting can be toggled in the Options Menu.

Multiplayer
- Fixed a problem with item syncing for newly connected players.
- Fixed a bug that caused graphical issues for player’s using automatic weapons.
- Added a limit to how often the server can broadcast NPC update packets. This prevents NPC’s from trying to update every cycle which would cause massive amounts of lag.
- Reduced the amount of data needed to transmit tiles down to 25%.
- The server now only broadcasts tile data to the players who need it.
- The server now withholds some NPC, player, and projectile packets based on player distance from them.
- Fixed a bug where water is consumed when a player cures Corruption with Purification Powder while standing in water.

World
- Above ground tunnels may now be created during world gen.
- Smashing Demon Altars with a special item will cause new ore to appear around the world.
- Defeating the hell boss will now increase the difficulty of the world. Harder monsters will spawn, and the Corruption’s rate of spread will be greatly increased.
- Defeating the hell boss will allow the Corruption to spread underground, over sand, stone, and Sunflowers, and through Jungles, destroying them if you let it!
- There is a new biome, The Hallow, that will be created when the hell boss is defeated.
- Removed obsolete lighting code, reducing both RAM usage and world save file sizes.
- Added several small features to world gen.
- Tweaked the way and amount of Underground Mushroom biome spawn.
- Demon Torches now appear in shelters generated in the underworld.
- Underground cabins may randomly spawn around chests.
- Different styles of wall can now be placed next to one another without showing the background between them, allowing for more creative building.
- When nearing the top of the world, the player will now leave the atmosphere and be less affected by gravity.
- There are now three types of traps that are generated underground. Watch your step!
- Cacti no longer damage players.

Game Interface
- Items being held by the mouse will now be used by left clicking. This allows the player to place objects without putting them on the hotbar. Right clicking will now drop the item.
- Placing objects on grass will now destroy the grass.
- The crafting menu now scales to fit the size of the screen.
- When the inventory is open, the number of the selected item in the hotbar will appear in green.
- There is a new NPC housing interface that can be used to assign living areas to NPC’s. This interface will also tell you if a room is missing any requirements.

Misc
- There is a new music track for The Hallow biome.
- Underground Corruption has its own music track.
- Underground Hallow has its own music track.
- There are two new boss music tracks.
- Greatly reduced world save file sizes.
- Decreased tile frame detection time by 15%.
- Your trash can is now emptied when you die.
- Added an auto select hotkey that will pick a tool from the player’s inventory based on what their mouse is hovering over. This defaults to Left Shift.
- All players will now leave behind tombstones when killed.
- There is now a random option in the player creation menu.
- Female players now have separate armor graphics.
- Added a new mechanical system! Holding a mechanical item will display the wire grid to create interesting new devices.
- There are new overworld backgrounds for each biome!

Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug that would cause the server to think a player is dead if he/she reaches 1 HP without dying.
- Fixed a bug that wouldn’t allow players to craft from the ammo slot.
- Fixed a bug that would crash the game when player tried to draw water outside the bounds of the world.
- Fixed a bug that would cause mana regen to ignore stat bonuses given by armor or accessories
- Fixed a bug that would sometimes cause the game to crash when growing Underground Jungle grass.
- Wooden Platforms no longer attach to non-solid objects.
- Placing and removing items during the placing animation will no longer destroy the item when it is collected.
- Fixed a bug that would cause graphical abnormalities when the lighting changes dramatically.
- The FPS display (F10) shows the correct number.
- Fixed a bug that swapped the lighting of players pants and head armor.
- Fixed a problem that would cause water to settle in strange positions.
- Fixed a problem that caused objects with transparency to appear darker than they should.

New EvE Online trailer

2011-12-01T08:12:00.001+13:00

CCP are still in damage control mode as the game shifts focus back to internet spaceships.

Their hoofs will blot out the sun

2011-11-30T08:34:00.001+13:00

Hour of Twilight

2011-11-30T08:14:00.001+13:00

This is a fan edited trailer with voice acting from the game overlayed and is much more epic sounding than the original blizzard trailer.

Classic RPG Gameplay

2011-11-29T21:47:00.001+13:00

For the modern PC:I hope this is easy to buy, eg appears on steam.

2011-11-29T17:50:00.001+13:00

4.3 is released tomorrow and after the break is the lastest Patch notes from the PTR.

Many new features, new raids, dungeons but for me its the transmog system which I am interested in.
Patch Notes from MMO Champion:

World of Warcraft Patch 4.3.0General

New Dungeon & Raid Content
- End Time is now available.
- Hour of Twilight is now available.
- Well of Eternity is now available.
- The new Baradin Hold boss, Alizabal, is now available.
- Dragon Soul is now available.
Raid Finder
- This new grouping feature allows players to quickly and easily form a pick-up raid for a specially tuned version of the current tier of endgame content: the Dragon Soul raid. Raid Finder is now available.
Transmogrification
- This new feature allows players to customize their gear like never before. You'll find Transmogrification, Void Storage, and Reforging vendors in Cathedral Square, Stormwind and The Drag, Orgrimmar. The costs associated with this service are not yet final.
Void Storage
- In addition to the bank, players will now have access to a new "deep storage" system, allowing characters to free bag space by setting aside coveted gear. You'll find Transmogrification, Void Storage, and Reforging vendors in Cathedral Square, Stormwind and The Drag, Orgrimmar. The costs associated with this service are not yet final.
Reforging
- The former Reforging vendors have been... retired. The ethereals have chosen to take over the business and joined their Transmogrification and Void Storage service providers. You'll find them in Cathedral Square, Stormwind and The Drag, Orgrimmar.
Outland & Northrend Quest Flow
- The amount of experience needed to gain levels 71 through 80 has been reduced by approximately 33%.
- Many Group quests in Outland and Northrend have been re-tuned to allow players to complete them solo. They are no longer labeled as Group quests.
- Relevant questgivers have been moved into Outland and Northrend dungeons. The majority of dungeon quests for these zones are now available from within their respective dungeons.
North American realms (excluding Brazilian, Latin American, and Oceanic realms) no longer permit letters with accents in character or guild names. Existing character and guild names with special characters will be unaffected by this change.

Achievements

The achievement Master of Alterac Valley no longer requires the Alterac Valley Blitz achievement.
The achievement Tol Barad Veteran now requires 25 victories in Tol Barad, down from 100.

Classes: General

All raid and party buffs which grant group members 10% increased attack power have been changed slightly. They continue to provide 10% increased ranged attack power, but now provide 20% increased melee attack power.
- Abomination's Might: The melee attack power bonus from this raid buff has been increased to 10/20%, up from 5/10%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 5/10%.
- Blessing of Might: The melee attack power bonus from this raid buff has been increased to 20%, up from 10%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 10%.
- Runescroll of Might: The melee attack power bonus from this consumable has been increased to 16%, up from 8%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 8%.
- Trueshot Aura: The melee attack power bonus from this raid buff has been increased to 20%, up from 10%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 10%.
- Unleashed Rage: The melee attack power bonus from this raid buff has been increased to 10/20%, up from 5/10%. The ranged attack power bonus remains 5/10%.
Vengeance for Protection warriors, Protection paladins, Blood death knights, and Feral druids has been redesigned slightly. It no longer ramps up slowly at the beginning of a fight. Instead, the first melee attack taken by the tank generates Vengeance equal to 33% of the damage taken by that attack. In addition, as it updates periodically during the fight, it's always set to at least 33% of the damage taken by the tank in the last 2 seconds. It still climbs from that point at the rate it did previously, still decays when damage is not taken, and still cannot exceed a maximum based on the health and Stamina of the tank.
Threat generated by classes in active tanking modes has been increased to 500% damage done, up from 300%. This applies to druids in Bear Form, death knights in Blood Presence, warriors in Defensive Stance, and paladins with Righteous Fury active.
Spells which have an effect broken by taking damage past a threshold (Entangling Roots, Fear, Frost Nova, etc.) now count damage that was prevented by damage absorbs or other damage reducing effects.

Death Knight (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Death Strike now heals the death knight whether or not the attack misses, or is dodged/parried. As a result of this change, Death Strike no longer refunds its rune cost if it fails to hit the target, as the death knight will still receive the healing effect.
Blood Presence now provides an armor bonus of 55%, up from 30%.
Death Knight pets now properly inherit their master’s crit and spell penetration stats.

Blood

Blade Barrier has been redesigned. It now passively reduces damage taken.
Bone Shield now has 6 charges, up from 4.
Veteran of the Third War now reduces the cooldown of Outbreak by 30 seconds.

Unholy

Unholy Might now increases Strength by 25%, up from 20%.
The gargoyle called by Summon Gargoyle should exclusively use its ranged attack regardless of range to the target.

Druid (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Wrath has a new spell effect.
Hurricane has a new updated visual effect.
Swipe (Cat) has been reduced to 340% weapon damage, down from 415%.
Bear Form now provides an armor bonus of 120% at all levels, up from 65% for characters below level 40, making it easier for lower level druids to tank dungeons.
Bear Form now provides a Stamina bonus of 20%, up from 10%.

Balance

Celestial Focus now also reduces Cyclone spell pushback.

Restoration

Wild Growth healing has been reduced by 20%.
Nature’s Focus now also reduces Cyclone and Entangling Roots spell pushback.

Glyphs

Glyph of Shred has been renamed Glyph of Bloodletting, and now also causes Mangle (Cat) to extend the duration of Rip, in addition to its existing Shred functionality.
Glyph of Wild Growth now also increases the cooldown on Wild Growth by 2 seconds.

Hunter (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Monstrous Bite now reduces the target’s healing received by 25%, up from 10%.

Beast Mastery

Animal Handler now increases Attack Power by 30%, up from 25%.
Widow Venom now reduces the target’s healing received by 25%, up from 10%.
Burrow Attack now does approximately 20% more damage, and has an increased area of effect.
Froststorm Breath now does approximately 20% more damage, and has an increased area of effect.

Survival

Explosive Shot damage has been increased by 15%.

Mage (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Pyroblast’s initial damage has been increased by approximately 26%, and its damage over time has been increased by approximately 100%.
Fireball damage has been increased by approximately 17%.

Fire

Living Bomb damage over time has been increased by approximately 10%, and explosion damage has been increased by approximately 120%.

Paladin (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Holy Radiance now has a 3.0-second cast time, no cooldown, and requires a player target. That target is imbued with Holy Radiance, which heals them and all group members within 10 yards instantly, and continues to heal them by a smaller amount every 1 second for 3 seconds.
Seal of Insight, when Judged, no longer returns 15% base mana to the paladin. Judging Seal of Insight still causes damage, and melee attacks will still restore 4% of base mana.
Seal of Truth, when Judged, now benefits from a multiplier of 20% per stack of Censure, up from 10%.

Holy

Clarity of Purpose now also reduces the cast time of Holy Radiance.
Illuminated Healing (mastery) now also applies to Holy Radiance.
Infusion of Light now applies its cast time reduction from Holy Shock critical effects to Holy Radiance, in addition to its current effects.
In addition to providing haste, the effect from Judgements of the Pure now increases mana regeneration from Spirit by 10/20/30% for 60 seconds.
Light of Dawn now affects 6 targets (base effect), up from 5.
Paragon of Virtue now lowers the cooldown of Divine Protection by 15/30 seconds, up from 10/20 seconds.
Speed of Light no longer triggers from Holy Radiance and no longer lowers the Holy Radiance cooldown. Speed of Light now only triggers from Divine Protection.
Tower of Radiance, in addition to its current effects, now also causes Holy Radiance to always generate 1 charge of Holy Power at all times.
Beacon of Light is triggered by Word of Glory, Holy Shock, Flash of Light, Divine Light and Light of Dawn at 50% transference and Holy Light at 100% transference. It does not transfer Holy Radiance, Protector of the Innocent or other sources of healing.

Retribution

Sanctified Retribution now increases the critical hit chance of Hammer of Wrath by 2/4/6%, down from 20/40/60%.
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization (passive) now increases damage by 25%, up from 20%.

Glyphs

Glyph of Light of Dawn now lowers the number of targets to 4, instead of increasing targets to 6, but increases healing by 25%.

Priest (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Divine Hymn now affects 5 targets, up from 3.

Discipline

Atonement will now account for the target enemy's combat reach when calculating proper range, enabling it to be used on large creatures such as Ragnaros and Ala'kir.
Divine Aegis has a new spell effect.

Holy

Spirit of Redemption has been rebuilt to address a few functionality issues and make it more responsive. Spirit of Redemption otherwise remains unchanged.
State of Mind has been redesigned and is now called Heavenly Voice. Heavenly Voice increases the healing done by Divine Hymn by 50/100%, and reduces the cooldown of Divine Hymn by 2.5/5 minutes.
Guardian Spirit’s healing bonus has been increased to 60%, up from 40%.
Holy Word: Serenity now has a cooldown of 10 seconds, down from 15 seconds.

Glyphs

Glyph of Circle of Healing now also increases the mana cost of Circle of Healing by 20%.

Rogue (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Wound Poison now reduces the target’s healing received by 25%, up from 10%.

Shaman (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Flametongue Weapon no longer increases spell damage. It now increases all non-physical damage done by the wielder by 5%.
Lightning Bolt has a new spell effect.
Wind Shear’s base cooldown has been adjusted to 15 seconds, up from 6 seconds.

Elemental

Call of Flame no longer causes Fire Nova to extend the duration of Flame Shock.
Earthquake damage has been increased by roughly 75%.
Elemental Fury now removes the cooldown from Chain Lightning.
Reverberation now reduces the cooldown of Wind Shear by 5/10 seconds, up from 0.5/1 second.
Shamanism now increases the spell power benefit to Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, and Chain Lightning by 36%, up from 32%.

Enhancement

Improved Lava Lash now causes Lava Lash to spread a Flame Shock debuff from the target to up to 4 nearby targets. This excludes crowd-controlled targets and those who already have a Flame Shock debuff from the shaman.
Improved Lava Lash no longer increases base Lava Lash damage by 15/30%. This increase has been rolled into the base Lava Lash skill.
Mental Quickness has been redesigned. Instead of granting the shaman spell power, Mental Quickness now causes Enhancement shaman spells to behave as though the shaman has spell power equal to 55% of attack power. Enhancement shaman spells no longer benefit from spell power from other sources.
Maelstrom Weapon can now also proc from fully absorbed melee attacks.

Restoration

Ancestral Healing now also causes the shaman's heals to increase the target's maximum health by 5/10% of the amount healed, up to a maximum of 10% of the target's maximum health, for 15 seconds. This effect does not stack if multiple Restoration shaman are present, and does not apply to heals from procs.
Riptide's periodic healing coefficient has been increased by 50%. The initial direct heal is unchanged.

Warlock (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Shadow Bolt has a new spell effect.
Soul Fire now scales with 72.6% of spell power, up from 62.5%.
The Voidwalker ability Suffering now works like the hunter pet talent Taunt.

Demonology

Master Demonologist now grants a base bonus of 18.4% and 2.3% per mastery, up from 16% and 2% per mastery.
Impending Doom is now also activated by Soul Fire.

Destruction

Fire and Brimstone now increases the damage of Incinerate and Chaos Bolt on Immolated targets by 5/10/15%, up from 2/4/6%.
Burning Embers now deals damage equal to 25/50% of Soul Fire and Imp’s Firebolt, up from 15/30%.
Buning Embers damage cap has been raised.
Shadowburn now deals Shadowflame damage, instead of Shadow damage.
Improved Soul Fire now lasts 20 sec, up from 15sec.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug that caused Doomguard and Infernal to benefit dramatically more than intended from Demonology Mastery.

Warrior (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)

Charge (and related abilities) should now correctly path to a target even if the target moves during the Charge. This change should decrease the likelihood of the warrior Charging to a different location than the target.
Slam now uses a new character attack animation.
Colossus Smash now uses a new character attack animation.

Arms

Mortal Strike now reduces the target’s healing received by 25%, up from 10%.

Fury

Dual Wield Specialization no longer increases Physical damage by 5%. It continues to increase off-hand attack damage by 25%.
Furious Attacks now reduces the target’s healing received by 25%, up from 10%.

Dungeons & Raids

Dungeon Journal entries have been added for the new dungeons: End Time, Well of Eternity, Hour of Twilight, and Dragon Soul.
Players who use Dungeon Finder for a random Heroic dungeon will no longer be locked to that instance. Previously, players who entered an instance via the Random Dungeon option were then prohibited from queuing for that dungeon or entering the instance manually via the portal. Players should now always be able to complete a specific Heroic dungeon once per day regardless of any random dungeons completed.
Ruins of Ahn'qiraj
- Bosses in Ruins of Ahn'qiraj now drop a rare-quality Scarab Coffer Key which can be used to open the Scarab Coffers found within. These keys are zone-bound to Ruins of Ahn'qiraj and have a 17-hour expiration. This change also applies to Greater Scarab Coffer Keys used to open Large Scarab Coffers.
Zul’Gurub
- Players now only have to kill two of the four initial dungeon bosses (High Priest Venoxis, Broodlord Mandokir, High Priestess Kilnara, and Zanzil) to face Jin’do the Godbreaker.
Zul’Aman
- Players now only have to kill two of the four Troll avatars before they may face Hex Lord Malacrass.

Guilds

Guild Standards are again useable in Firelands. Duration has been increased to 15 minutes, the effect has a 100 yard radius, and now affects dead players.

Items

Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest: The chance for this item’s effect to be triggered has been reduced.

Races

The orc racial Blood Fury now increases spell power rather than only spell damage.

User Interface

Archaeology areas of interest will now show on the mini-map, in addition to the World Map.
Bag Search
- A search field has been added to allow players to search bag, bank, guild bank, and Void Storage inventories for specific items.
Guilds with inactive guild leaders can now usurp the leader under specific conditions. More information on this coming soon.
The Reforging interface has been updated and improved.
Quest Tracking areas or points of interest will now show on the mini-map, in addition to the World Map.
The World Map now displays the expected character levels for each zone.
Added a “promote everyone” checkbox that will automatically make all raid members, Raid assistants. This checkbox can be found in the Raid Frame and the Unit Frame “pull-out” tab.
There are now commands for world markers & unit markers.
Added new rotation, zoom, and pan controls are now available in all windows with player models in UI frames.
Players can now unlearn profession specialization without unlearning the profession (Engineering & Alchemy).
[Mac] Added functionality to allow using the Command key instead of the Control key on Apple keyboards. This can be enabled in Mac Options.
[Mac] Added functionality to disable Mac OS system keyboard shortcuts so that they do not interfere with keyboard shortcuts in WoW. This can be enabled in Mac Options.
Added a feature to interact with NPCs, game objects (mailbox, mining nodes, etc.), and corpses on left-click as well as right-click. There is now an option under Interface:Controls to turn this feature off.

Skyrim Patch

2011-11-29T08:02:00.001+13:00

UPDATE 1.2 NOTES (all platforms unless specified)
Improved occasional performance issues resulting from long term play (PlayStation 3)
Fixed issue where textures would not properly upgrade when installed to drive (Xbox 360)
Fixed crash on startup when audio is set to sample rate other than 44100Hz (PC)
Fixed issue where projectiles did not properly fade away
Fixed occasional issue where a guest would arrive to the player’s wedding dead
Dragon corpses now clean up properly
Fixed rare issue where dragons would not attack
Fixed rare NPC sleeping animation bug
Fixed rare issue with dead corpses being cleared up prematurely
Skeleton Key will now work properly if player has no lockpicks in their inventory
Fixed rare issue with renaming enchanted weapons and armor
Fixed rare issue with dragons not properly giving souls after death
ESC button can now be used to exit menus (PC)
Fixed occasional mouse sensitivity issues (PC)
General functionality fixes related to remapping buttons and controls (PC)

Good that they fixed the wedding guests arriving dead, nothing worse than that.

No word on this issue:

I just passed out

2011-11-26T09:21:00.001+13:00

When I discovered that Starflight 1 & 2 are on good old games.

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/starflight_1_2

Well I know what I will be doing this weekend.

MoP - Talent Calculator

2011-11-23T22:06:00.001+13:00

I am not sure on the new Talent system but I agree with Blizzard that the current system is just useless when you end up with cookie cutter builds.

Today they released the calculator for talents which seems a bit too early but I guess they want to give people the chances to see what new ideas they have. You can try the new system out at the following website:

us.battle.net/wow/en/game/mists-of-pandaria/feature/talent-calculator#e!

Chuck Norris

2011-11-21T17:42:00.001+13:00

Reminder: Warcrafts 7th Anniversary

2011-11-21T08:04:00.001+13:00

Starts today, Also pilgrim festival has started *gobble *gobble*

Almost forgot due to Minecraft.

Minecraft 1.0 is here

2011-11-19T10:58:00.001+13:00

Notch went on stage, and after much procrastnation by a girl with pink hair which was really annoying, he pulled a switch and utterly killed the minecraft server.

A few mins later they came back and 1.0 was here.

Down with raiding, up with PvP

2011-11-18T08:21:00.001+13:00

We've made slight adjustments to the Valor Point (VP) drops on the 4.3 PTR which testers can now see. In both 10- and 25-player raids, bosses will now drop 100 VP each (down from 115 and 135 respectively). We’ll also be changing Firelands raid bosses to drop 50 VP per kill upon release of the patch.

This change is being made to further emphasize the desire to kill bosses for the items they drop. In the 4.3 raid, tier sets can only be earned from boss drops, and as Raid Finder will allow for just about anyone to get a chance to kill bosses, we think there will be less need for Valor overall. We want to try to match the lower desire for VP with a slightly slower acquisition rate.

We appreciate your thoughts and constructive discussion on how these changes may affect you and your guild once 4.3 is released.

Also

In patch 4.3 we’re changing the daily battleground (BG) to reward 100 conquest for a win (up from 25). In addition, every non-rated BG that you win will also give you 50 conquest. There is no limit to how many BGs you can run this way, up to the normal conquest cap.

Our intent is to start acting even more on our Mists of Pandaria philosophies of encouraging players to approach the content they want to, how they want to, and be able to work toward meaningful player progression. Arenas and rated battlegrounds will still earn Conquest faster, but with this change you can now work your way up by running normal BGs, if you so choose.

I am glad for this change. Normal, fun BG PVP has always been behind. Blizzard doesn't want to give it the best rewards because no one will do arena's and rated bgs. To me this tells you that people are only doing arenas for gear, not for fun.

Arenas are quite are fun but its the requirement of having a fixed team which isn't.

Warcraft adding 64bit

2011-11-16T21:38:00.001+13:00

I hope it does, its a memory hungry game and have full access to all of your system memory should be a huge boost.

Bag Search

2011-11-16T08:16:00.001+13:00

My prays have been answered. Bag search is coming to the default warcraft UI:

These are not my bags as there is some orginzation going on here. Notice the search in the main bag.

Also here is the transmog UI:

Minecraft Has gone Gold

2011-11-15T08:25:00.001+13:00

Version 1.0 is complete, not sure when the download will be up.

Skyrim - Shadows

2011-11-14T08:41:00.001+13:00

Tyranni wanted to know how to disable shadows. It looks like it can be done in the ini file by changing the following. Just make a note of the default settings:

fInteriorShadowDistance=0
fShadowDistance=0

Some reason the shadow engine in Skyrim is just messed up and causes most of the slowness in the game. Its not even using the GPU instead offloading all the work onto the CPU. So if your haveing preformance issues this will help, alot.

The lighting in the game is utterly pathetic. Its very inconstant, even on ultra. You go from smooth shaded shadows to blocky or even none.

This is 2011 but the Creation Engine feels like its still 2006. They didn't even add sun shafts to the game and don't get me started on snowing and raining inside forts. The game is good but its completely shackled by the prehistoric tech inside the Xbox 360.

3 Days - Shock and Awesome

2011-11-13T11:09:00.001+13:00

Guildwars 2 - 2011 Character creator video

2011-11-11T08:39:00.001+13:00

Final Day - Penny Arcade Tip

2011-11-11T08:23:00.001+13:00

Source - Penny Arcade

Mega Piranha

2011-11-11T08:01:00.001+13:00

Skyrim Still using Gamebyro ?

2011-11-10T17:53:00.002+13:00

If it is still using a updated version of the render and file format of gamebyro then:

Thank goodness !

Yeah I am not one of those random idiots who blame Gamebyro for Oblivion being unstable when so many other games use it. The problem was never with Gamebyro, its a good engine, the problem has always been how it was used.

Anyway, the reasion this is good news is it may make importing models into the engine much easier.

If Skyrim uses a compeltely new engine then it will have new file formats and not use the .nif format that Gamebyro uses. This could throw mod makers compeltely in the dark when it comes to importing models.

Anyway, only one more day to go.

Shadowsong Blade up for bids

2011-11-10T08:17:00.001+13:00

http://stores.ebay.com/Blizzard-Blade-Servers/Shadowsong-/_i.html?_fsub=3021427011&_sid=1079577521&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Already they are all $152+ USD and theres 5 days to go.

Gah, why did I have to roll on a server that has some histroy =P

2 Days - Radiant Story

2011-11-10T08:11:00.000+13:00

"The vibe of the game is that it’s something that you can play forever," says Howard. He stresses this will not just be random chores, but rather an extension of lessons learned from development of Fallout 3, as they worked on motivating players to explore a vast game world. "With Fallout, it’s not as beautiful a world to everybody. We had to find ways to make exploration of [a destroyed wasteland] interesting," he says. "The world is probably the one thing that sets [Skyrim] apart from other games. It feels really real for what it is … It’s just fun to explore." source

I don't know what this is but it sounds interesting.

My hope, is something like what they did in Daggerfall ( The Elder Scrolls 2 ). Daggerfall was the random chores but it ment you could join a guild and accually do some real work for them not do 10 - 15 finely crafted quests and then bugger off to never speak to them again.

3 Days - Brand New Trailer !!!

2011-11-09T08:18:00.001+13:00

4 Days - Skyrim Rap

2011-11-08T17:36:00.001+13:00