Showing posts with label Rumour mill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rumour mill. Show all posts

Friday, July 16, 2010

Daily Blogg: New Blizz MMO project info

Ok here we go, this is a rumour mill spot but after months of research I am willing to spew into your little laps.

Here's what we got so far:

* It IS an new MMORPG.

* It appears at this time to be a singular world map currently approximated at 20 times the current size of Azeroth.

* It will use a more "realistic looking" gaming engine.

* The Blizzard "Hydra" team (formally the Diablo 3 team) are now almost universally working on this new project.

* This is NOT a world of warcraft project


ok so thats the facts as we know it so far, lets hit the rumours:

* The game will take place in a photo-realistic world and have only a single inclusive world rather than dedicated world and instance servers.

* It appears to have an "industrial age" style feeling leading up to some quite interesting tech and transport ideas eg: airships, auto-gyros, hot air balloons etc.

* Blizz are attempting to make sure at all WoW players and there current systems will be able to play the new game on minimum settings.


....and thats it....

...no seriously, Blizz have been so tight lipped on this that almost no info has got out.




...ok fine there is one more piece of scuttlebutt but somehow i doubt its authenticity because of the sheer technical enormity that would be required. There was a rumour regarding the new MMO being a fully phased world from the moment you log in.
So how this is rumoured to work is as follows: As you log in you join a phased timeline of your very own as you pass specific key points in the game meaning you will only be interacting with those in game that are at a similar level range to yourself. What this means is that ganking from high levels may well be a thing of the past as well as level 1 gold spam from trial accounts once you phase out of the starting zone.

ok now im really done, thats it, more info as i get it.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Daily Blogg: Writing for Blizz?

So this may or may not peak your curiosity but it appears i have solicited some interest in Blizz as far as my writing is concerned.
Im not going to blow my own horn but I am presently waiting for a piece of email regarding a short story i threw together for there mock news paper 'The Gadgetzan Times' that brings the somewhat controversial task of name, class & race change into the lore of the game and could potential open up a massive world to Role Play (RP) gamers in the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft.

Well heres hopeing anyway.
Who knows i may even get some recognition out of this....doubt it though...

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Daily Blogg: cataclysm to hit Azeroth


Yes Blizzcon '09 happened, storeys were told, rumours were routed and panels were bombarded with the myriad miscellaneous query's and questions of the great unwashed.
All in all a good time was had by all.

So whats new then? Well basically there gonna blow up Azeroth...as in explode....destroy....mutilate....annihilate.

er yea I was shocked too. but this Cataclysmic event is to allow certain long awaited changes in the World of Warcraft. During these events however two new playable races have emerged from there hidey holes and joined one of the two factions vieing for the now distinctly limited resources of the now shattered world.

The are the Worgen (feral werewolve like creatures with an aptitude for magic) joining the Alliance and the Goblins (greedy little green dudes who run the airships) joining the Horde.

How this will play out im not sure and the exact story line is currently unpublished but rest assured as soon as i get some concrete info ill be posting it here.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Daily Blogg: WoW on ipod touch and iphone



As an ipod touch user and massive warcraft geek i gotta say i thought this had to be a fake...

...i may however be very very wrong

There were early rumours about the World of Warcraft (WOW) coming to iPhone but then nothing happened. This time, we have a video that seems more like a beta version of WOW running on the iPhone.

A combination of 11 million WOW gamers and more than 20 million iPhone units could mean that it could be quickly become one of the hottest iPhone games.

I was happily winding my way through Touch Arcade when I stumbled upon a video that shows the WOW game running on the iPhone. I am a huge fan of the game and have spent months behind this amazing game. The news that it’s coming on iPhone and iPod touch is enough to revive my damned sole and to go look for another worthy quest! To Arms!

The credible part to this story comes from the fact that the game is shown to be running on the Vollee client application.

Vollee develops software that enables PC game to be played on mobile devices; it does so by using the VolleeX engine, which converts the audio and video output into streaming video format. Hopefully meaning the bulk of the client will be on your home PC or on there server whith a minimal client package on your iphone or ipod touch.

The fact that Vollee is in partnership with Activision Blizzard, Makers of WOW who have announced support for iPhone and iPod touch makes this story even more convincing.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Daily Blogg: Pimp my WoW!!


Look once then gawp...

...why yes that is a Tauren on a motorcycle. Meet the new Lv80 mount (well one of them) available to the engineers of Azeroth come this fall in the WoTLK expansion of world of warcraft.

Although this pimp mobile does require a full engineering skill and the appropriate blueprints with the frankly huge list of materials to build it is so worth is you simply cannot describe it.

BUT THEIRS MORE!!!

have you ever felt a bit ashamed of your finery? ever seen a buddy trekking through the barrens on foot because of a bank mix up or there conventional mount is simply too slow?


Then you may need to invest in some spare parts for one of these!
The sidecar mechano-hod (for that is its name) allows you to take a fellow player for a ride and gives your bike a pretty cool new paint job. It is more than worth the effort to level engineering for the ability for you and a buddy (or wife/girlfriend/eye candy) to take to the road in style. And to use it couldn't be simpler just group up, mount up and hit the dusty trail.

On an further note despite the efforts of the development team it is still not possible for magic users to cast spells while in the sidecar without exploiting the hell out of the mounting system nor despite consistent efforts to the contrary can you mount an entire raid group on one bike and sidecar...

...not that we didn't try i might add

Monday, November 26, 2007

Daily Blogg: Yet another Monday


Damn you Monday you just keep coming back, bur i suppose with each week you return you bring me yet more opportunity's to frustrate the universe in my own very special way.

This week however it seems i actually have something interesting to report!
As an old school comic geek in every possible way and a dedicated warcrack addict the idea of a published "official" WoW comic book kind of appeals in a number of different ways.

It seems Wildstorm (an offshoot of DC comics) has got together with Blizzard and utilising there lore has decided to expand the WoW lore in a more "publicly available" way in the form of a series of graphic novels in preparation for the launch of Blizz's latest expansion Wrath of the lich king, in hopes of adding a graphical style that ties the game and comic together may of the artists have been in game on as yet undisclosed (US) retail servers in order to get a feel for the "dynamic" of the game and get a look at the various stages of armour & equipment so that the gear represented in the comic fits the level and class of the characters portrayed,Rumour even has it that they have accessed the loot tables on Thottbot and have geared the characters in appropriate drops for there in comic location and that the various connections that the writers and artists have made in game in the form of PUG's and guild members may influence some of the third tier protagonist's and contacts (in the form of background characters in towns and random encounters) may well make it into the finished comic.

suffused to say I'm relay rather interested in this and will be looking forward to this in the future.

Link: http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=8393

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Daily Blogg: Blizzard Paranoia!


Im not normally one to indulge in paranoia but it seems our friends at Blizzard have a distinct preoccupation with this state of mind and with the latest security measures inflicted on us in there latest patch (2.3) it seems that they wont be happy unless they know every damn thing about us!

The Warden's function as an anti-hacking sentry was already cause for concern for some privacy advocates. From the moment players log into the game, The Warden checks open window names, process names, memory modifications, DDL names and other pieces of data in the background. The goal is to determine if the user has a specific hack or program loaded and sends back a "yes" or "no" answer to Blizzard.

At any given time, there is one version of The Warden active in a set of WoW servers. But Blizzard fights would-be countermeasures against The Warden by switching between hundreds of different copies of The Warden with the same functionality, but containing slight modifications in the code.

This technique of polymorphic code is more commonly applied in computer viruses and worms as a way to avoid detection from anti-virus and intrusion detection software. According to The WardenNet, a website dedicated to tracking the iterations of the application, there are about 320 copies of The Warden in circulation.

There are some legitimate arguments for the intrusion of privacy. Massive Multiplayer economies such as WoW can be ravaged by gold-farming bots or hacks. It's Blizzard's responsibility to not only protect the game experience, but their intellectual property

and marketability of the game. And nothing, after all, is forcing anyone to play if they disagree with the policy.

Blizzard maintains that The Warden does not gather any personally identifiable information about the player. They claim only information about the account is sent back. Third-party applications such as The Governor and ISXWarden could previously monitor The Warden and curtail activities the authors deem invasive.

In my humble opinion Blizzard are taking the piss, there essentially installing spyware on our system with the standing motivation that "if your not guilty of anything you have nothing to worry about", frankly the very idea of this scares the hell out of me, i mean we already have Microsoft two thirds the way up our collective asshole picking through our trash and now it seems that Blizz have decided to follow the good Mr Gates lead and start spying on there users too...

...i mean the armoury was one thing, this is quite another...

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...so break out the tinfoil hats and batten down the firewalls, BLIZZ ARE STEALING OUR THOUGHTS!!!!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Rumour Mill: 2.3.0 Engineer flying mounts



Gotta love test realms, you find the coolest stuff and this should be a HUGE reason for many people to reconsider relearning there engineering skill in the near future.

Engineers have long been looked down there noses at buy the various more "combat orientated" trade skills such as Blacksmithing like some deformed and retarded relative only good for Gnomes and Hunters or people with some weird fetish for being blown up, but with the advent of patch 2.3.0 (coming soon) in the run up to WotLK we will see those scant few with the much under appreciated 400 engineering skill (both Gnomish & Goblin) will have access to this questable recipie and with a few days of grinding have there very own plane to fly about in!

BUT THATS NOT ALL!!

Once you have acquired these much coveted item you can then use your faction engineering skill to "improve" it into an epic mount! Rumours of the Goblin version having huge rocket engine's has as yet to be confirmed but its only a matter of time before we see every Gnome in Azeroth re rolling there traditional race trade skill and cluttering up the Sky's with hunks of smoking machinery...

...dammit i knew giving them parachute cloaks was a bad idea...



(goddam stupid auto update posted this too early....oh well its fixed now)

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Rumour Mill: ...yet another Patch!



This week has been a truly "fun" time for all us World of warcraft players, as for why well this week Blizz decided to unleash not one but two patches for us to download.

The first patch (2.2.0) was implemented in order for Blizz to introduce there "voice communication" interface so that squeekers and frat boys around the world can once again destroy our eardrums and assault the English language on a global scale without the constant monitoring of inter guild ventrillo/teamspeak moderators. So what does this mean for us the common gamer? Well imagine if you will a random Pick up group (PUG) with the equivalent of its own Ventrillo/Teamspeak server but without a guild master monitoring the language and moderating the out of game/character chat!....

....yes i know....believe me i know.....and it scares the hell out of me too....
I have to wish Blizz the very very best of luck with this...there gonna need it.

Now onto the second patch (2.2.2) which appears to be nothing other than a content patch so they can introduce a new in game holiday (BeerFest) and a few new toys specifically designed for the holiday including the much hyped "Racing Ram" a new 150% speed epic mount for those taking part in the various activities and races. I'll be honest the idea that Blizz are encouraging drunken binges and high speed racing as a public event realy doesn't appeal but i gotta give props to Blizz for having the balls to re-invent "Drunken mount Racing" as an in game event but i have to wonder exactly where there moral and social compass is pointing!

Now onto this weeks rumour, basically with all this new voice chat Blizz will be introducing new voice filters for there in game system (in yet another new patch) in order to "stop younger gamers from being removed from groups based on there age" and "to stop female gamers form being directly verbally abused due to there gender" oh great its going to be XBOX live all over again...*sigh* domo aragato Mr Roboto...

Friday, September 21, 2007

Official expansion news (not rumours this time)


This morning i received my "Blizzard Media pack" on the "Wrath of the Lich King" expansion...

...TBH i feel a little dirty taking there info after "borrowing" the info i wanted for so long, but here go's.

WotLK expansion updates:
ok first up to bat is the new User Interface (UI) and the funky new voice chat options, sadly this is pretty much self explanatory and a bit crappy but I'm a good journalist so i will struggle on...
The rumoured loss of the "mouse turning option" has been officially squashed and the world may sigh in relief and those who perpetuated this evil and sick rumour should loose there rights to reproduce.

The voice chat is going to work on a team basis, basically only functioning fully when your in a party. HOWEVER there will be a "vox" between players of the same faction when within an acceptable distance and this will function alongside the current system, so expect barrens style squeaking in every major city....urgh...joy!

Lastly we have the "DeathKnight" & "DemonHunter" test beds, although officially a glitching error so called "Warriordins" and "FireRogues" are showing up more and more often on retail servers essentially functioning as Beta Tests among players of these classes for the expansion, let me explain these twists on the classic classes that some "people" are using to get the "feel " of the expansion here and now...

Warriordins?


The Warriordins are basically Retribution class Paladins in socketable Warrior gear and a big phat 2 hand sword or axe. The warrior gear may seriously Nerf there mana but that is compensated for with +mana regen gems. Utilising only self buffs and a heavy mix of combat orientated enchants these wannabes have got a few screws loose but with a weapon equipped with unholy or lifesteal and the huge armour and attack value of the warrior gear means that although these guys are faking the upcoming class...there still kinda tough!

FireRogues?

The Rogue class has always been over powered but utilising a very powerful enchant (that i wont mention by name) and +fire damage enchants and gear (usually warlock) with a load of +crit gems and and fire power potions we end up with a magic using rogue that can hit consistently for 800-2000 damage per hit. But then again the idea of a magic using rogue is nothing new for us lore whores...sounds like a demon hunter to me and with the various Illidan drops available we have some depressingly powerful very convincing demon hunters that are more than capable of holding there own despite the cloth gear.


and that's it folks, that's all i got for now but this weekend I'm opening up the rumour mill and I may even show you my own Beta hybrids!...stay tuned




Monday, September 10, 2007

Warcraft 360?....are you kidding?


Being a active and insane XBOX live gamer at the best of time and a truly addicted WoW junkie i was not only interested to hear that some nice people had taken the "Warcraft on the XBOX" thing to a new level but genuinely enthralled to hear that it could be a reality sometime before the next expansion!

Then i seen this...

GameSpot has this to say: Part gossip, part geek fantasy, the World of Warcraft Xbox 360 rumor has been around for a while. Prior to E3 2005 in May, scuttlebutt was rampant that Microsoft would announce that the massively multiplayer role-playing game was coming to its next-gen console at its press conference. The company did indeed announce a 360 MMORPG...problem was it was Final Fantasy XI, which is already available for both the PC and PlayStation 2--hardly a system-selling title.

Were WoW to become available for the 360, though, it would be a much different story. Given World of Warcraft's popularity--it already has over 4.5 million subscribers and has been among the top five top-selling PC games since its 2004 release--many gamers would gladly buy a 360 just to get in on the Azeroth action. Also, the PC hardware required to run the game costs several times the hard drive-enabled 360's $399 sticker price.

Enthusiasm for a 360 WoW was flared up with the recent discovery of several Blizzard job listings for next-generation console positions. The site has positions for next-gen engine programmers, next-gen tools programmers, and next-gen game physics/collision programmers.

So will the Xbox 360 be WoW-ed? It is a possibility. However, a more likely scenario was outlined this past February, when Blizzard sent out a product catalog that announced that Starcraft: Ghost was "coming soon to next-generation consoles." Though a rep said the ad was a misprint and denied the long-delayed console game was in development for next-gen platforms, the game's current release window, Q2 2006/7, is the same as that of the PlayStation 3. Mere coincidence, perchance?


So will we be playing TBC or WotLK on our 360's?...only time will tell, stay tuned for more info as and when i get it. But given the recent release of the 360's "keyboard" controller i think the odds are looking better and better!





oh and if your interested in the XBOX lappy: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/09/15/man_makes_xbox360_laptop/


Sunday, September 9, 2007

Rumour mill (yet more shapeshifting insanity)




Most of us realise that i can only post what little information i can acquire and can only speculate on the upcoming expansion and more especially on specific classes...

...now this is not to say that i don't HAVE more information merely that it may be inaccurate or simply wrong, and as such i have enough respect for all of my readers NOT to post pointless or unsubstantiated rumours.

However as your humble rumour monkey i have gained a little more info on the latest Druid changes, although i know this for a fact....boomkins ain't gonna like it!

It seems that Moonkin form will be getting another slight Nerf, basically it seems people are sick sore and tired of being spam moonfired to death in PVP (well duh!) so Blizz will be attempting to make the other forms (Restoration and Feral respectively) a more viable combat option in Player verses Player combat and more specifically in Arena combat. Essentially this will result in a slightly slower damage over time (DoT) with moonfire and a slightly longer cool down (2.5 seconds rather than 1.5) on casting. Now i promised some more information on the "guardian" forms.

The "guardian of the (forest or plains)" will (if the rumour is accurate) be a supringly large treant type form, this form will allow increased healing and stamina while allowing the guardian to release treant minions to improve melee damage and protect the guardian druid. Rumour also has it that this form despite being a Resto form will allow the Druid to utilise some of the balance tree combat skills, however if this includes moonfire is yet to be substantiated.

OK there is one last rumour but i have to admit i am a little suspicious of the source, but none the less rumour has it that an improved feral form may also be included but no further information on what form this will take has been even hinted at, but rest assured i will post any and all info as soon as i get it.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Rumour mill (stranger than fiction!)


(view: http://manic.comicgenesis.com/comics/20070514.jpg or click for full sized image)

Druid "WTF" forms!

Lady's and gents, proving fact is always stranger than fiction (and that comic artists all have crystal balls) i have yet another wonderful rumour from the mill!

If you haven't got the gag yet it appears that Druids (or to be precise "Arch Druids" or "Defenders of the Forest" & "Defenders of the Plains") may be getting a few more shape shifting forms...
Now if the ones parodied in the wonderful Manic Graffiti web comic come to pass or not new twists on the old tried and tested Druid abilities are shure to be utilised in the upcoming expansion, Its only a matter of time before the "class eliminator" strikes again and everybody cries over the "IMBA Droodz" taking there raid places again...only time will tell.

BTW don't forget to check out the wonderful Manic Graffiti web comic and enjoy the wonderful art and parody at: http://manic.comicgenesis.com/d/20050226.html

Monday, August 27, 2007

Wasteing a day...


So its Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK and joy of joys i have a whole day to do whatever the hell i want but given the always wonderful weather here in Northern Ireland i find myself limited to indoor exploits or to be more precise i find myself stuck behind my computer...again...*sigh*.

Now as many if you know I'm a writer, or to be more precise I'm an article bot for a popular gaming website, but when i get a chance i like to do a little more than tear PSP and XBOX games apart for then entertainment of others or use the connections i have to splurge restricted information about certain popular MMORPG's and there various expansions to the public. So today i have put my head down and been working on my novel ....again..... and playing around with photoshop, in short I'm wasting a day simply because i can .....or at least that was the plan..... you see approximately one hour ago i received an Email from a fellow review monkey concerning some very very new screen shots from WotLK which i will be putting up on the Blogg sometime tomorrow. As for why not today...well didn't i say i was on holiday? So sit tight and ill bring you the Info ASAP.

By the way rumours of a cease and desist order form Blizzard regarding the information i have published here has come to nought...as for why?.... well if they do ask me to stop just take it as given that everything i have published is confirmed by Blizz Legal Dept. as fact and until they do stop me I'm going to keep posting any and all rumours and information here on this Blogg.

Yea I'm a real publishing rebel, and anyone who says different can bite my crank.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The Rumour mill (part 4)




Ok so we covered most of the casters and some melee class DPS but what about the poor meatshields ...er... i mean tanks....*cough* did i say tanks? i ment warriors ... yes warriors

Well the good news is if you play a Fury or Arms spec warrior your going to have a LOT of new competition in the form of The lord of the Arena and master of arms the all powerful and all but unstoppable Gladiator class!

Wowwiki has this to say:

A gladiator has devoted himself to the mastery of close combat. This single-minded devotion to weaponry and fighting styles makes him much feared by his enemies who cross him, and close allies to those who manage to befriend him. A gladiator prides himself on having equal proficiency over every weapon imaginable. Most also strive to become peerless experts in a weapon of their choice. This chosen weapon weaves and sings in the gladiator's hand, carving a swath through all foes.

Most gladiators come from the ranks of fighters, warriors and barbarians, who find the discipline and rigors of training a welcome challenge to master. Other classes require much more work to become a true gladiator.

Ok i realise that fighting these whirling wheels of meat and metal are scary enough but rumours of a specialist version of these warriors available as a rank through Arena PVP combat that will unlock special combat capabilities is frankly terrifying!
These so called Blademasters will wear there Arena rank proudly using truly awe inspiring gear and weapons available only to the Gladiator Hero class that have achieved this incredible rank that will unlock the full capabilites of these blistering warriors. Not only that but Orcish Blademasters may be getting an unexpected bonus from there newfound Arena rank as when it is switched on the normaly green and pleasant orc will be transformed into a rampaging Red Fel Orc (where other species only get a cool red glow in there eyes) not the most subtle of changes but it does fitn in well with Warcraft Lore.

Wowwiki has this to say on Blademasters:

The Blademasters are an orc gladiator class who have exchanged the traditional orcish weapon, the axe, for the sword, which they masterfully wield on the field of battle. They were created when the orcs were first corrupted, to serve the legion's purposes, but, since many orcs have freed themselves, there are now Blademasters found in Horde and the Burning Legion.

Uncorrupted Horde Orcish Blademaster from Warcraft 3 (below)

Horde Blademasters

Though their numbers are few, the seasoned Blademasters represent an elite fighting force within the Horde. These skilled swordsmen were once part of the ill-fated Burning Blade Clan which consumed itself in the throes of Demonic corruption. With their Clan scattered and broken, the proud Blademasters swore a grim oath to free themselves and their brethren from Demonic control once and for all. Under Thrall's command, the Blademasters have once again joined the Horde and serve as the young Warchief's personal honor guard.

The few Blademasters who still exist are now loyal to the Horde. They have sworn oaths to free their people from demonic corruption, and they usually do this through example: If they can be as formidable as they are without the Legion's help, other orcs can as well. Blademasters lead their people into melee combat unhesitatingly seeking the most vulnerable champions - magi, druids and the like. Blademasters willingly go toe-to-toe with other melee experts as we well, drawing from ages of tradition to fuel their combat prowess. their sashimono banners allow their troops to identify them on the battlefield and move to where the action is thickest. Many act as bodyguards for other Horde champions.

The new Blademasters gain their speed and agility as blessing from the spirits, marking them as ones familiar with the arts of shamanism. Yet even on their own, a Blademaster's skill equals that of batallions of their foes, making them a most formidable opponent. They fight with honor, making battle with swords an artform, using their combat prowess only to protect the new Horde, and forever loyal to Thrall.

hey i said there were coverd in the lore didnt I, bet you didnt expect this though...and that isnt the half of it...but ill cover that later



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