Blog Posts from "Epidemic Obesity" - Gameriot.com

Intuition: Which Class Will Make The Best 2v2 Partner For A Death Knight?

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:05:17 -0400

In an attempt to get a little more interaction with readers, I am starting a new series of blogs called "Intuition" where I ask the denizens of GameRiot to predict the future.Â The subject matter may range from basic World of Warcraft questions, to political opinions, to food or sports preferences, but the main goal will be to test the pulse of the GameRiot community and discuss the results.

This first installment of Intuition brings me to a question that will be answered in the future as WoW evolves, a question which may have been difficult to answer correctly at the release of the previous expansion.Â

I urge you to think about this carefully; I'll run the poll for about a week, and we will check back during that first Arena Season of Lich King to see how accurate you guys were.

Warhammer Online Subscriber Numbers

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:05:01 -0400

In the harshly competitive MMO landscape, where huge financial hurdles and the mere existence of Blizzard's World of Warcraft make any new release seem hopeless, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has taken its first few steps toward establishing a healthy playerbase.

Hundreds of thousands of eager gamers have been following the progress of WAR as it moved through development, into beta, and finally release in September 2008.Â Given the strongly established brand and loyal following of the Warhammer fantasy universe, expectations have been high, and the folks at Mythic have attempted to give us an indication of how things are rolling along so far with the actual subscribers. These two press releases contain the only official numbers released to date:

* September 26th, 2008 - 500,000 subscribers

* October 10th, 2008 - 750,000 subscribers

As the weeks continue to pass, keep an eye on Mythic's press department, as you can be sure they will want to make another announcement if they can reach a nice round figure like 1 million subscribers.

The impending release of Wrath of the Lich King will make the competitive landscape significantly tougher as we enter November, but WAR should be able to at least "hold steady" if they have a solid loyal userbase rather than the fleeting band of novelty-seekers we saw populating the early weeks on Age of Conan.

What Is The Best Race For A Death Knight?

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:04:54 -0400

With the addition of a brand new class to World of Warcraft in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, many of you are probably wondering how to choose the best race for a Death Knight.Â Never before has a WoW player enjoyed the chance to start a character at such a high level, so you should make the best of this opportunity to start fresh down the right path.Â To help you make this decision, I'm going to break down the top race choices for Deathknights, with an emphasis on PvP.

I hope this breakdown has helped you pick out the best race for your Death Knight, but opinions will differ from person to person.Â If you think you can make a strong case for your favorite race, feel free to do so in the comment section below.

Overall, I don't think any of the Horde races makes a bad DK, and only the Draenei is a bad choice for Alliance.Â Steer cleer of the space goats, and you shouldn't have any regrets unless you are incredibly hardcore; in that case, you should have followed my list!Â For the record, my Deathknight will be a Troll...

Drowning Conan Drags Funcom Down With Record Losses

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:34:01 -0400

After six weeks of waiting, we finally have our hands on Funcom's 2nd Quarter 2008 Financial Report, and the prognosis is decidedly negative. Buzz from the mid-May launch of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures failed to overcome the disappointment as Funcom reported the worst quarterly losses in company history.

Read more of our coverage on Age of Conan:

* Risky Business: Funcom's Fears Become Reality (August 3, 200
* Funcom Investors Jump Ship As Age of Conan Founders (July 15, 200
* Age of Conan Flatlining (July 2, 200

Blizzard Removes Downranking: SERIOUS PvP Caster Nerf

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:02:18 -0400

As the latest build appears on the WotLK beta, we are informed by a Blizzard poster that downranking has been effectively removed, as all spells will now use a % of base mana cost that is the same for all ranks.

"In the latest WotLK beta push, we made a large change to the mana cost of spells. All player spells now cost a percentage of base mana rather than a fixed cost. Base mana is a special value determined by the player's level and class, regardless of any effects or items that increase intellect. It is the size of a player's mana pool if the player has zero intellect." (Official Forums Link)

There are tons of great uses for Rank 1 spells; the use thereof is one of many distinguishing features between the mediocre and the better players. Here are just a few examples, by class!

DRUID

* Rank 1 Moonfire - kills totems, offensive dispel buffer
* Rank 1 Roots/Hibernate - less mana, same duration for PvP CCs
* Rank 1 Faerie Fire - to prevent stealth, offensive dispel buffer
* Rank 1 Mark/Thorns/Rejuv - defensive dispel buffers

HUNTER

* Rank 1 Multi-Shot - much more efficient for those long fights

MAGE

* Rank 1 Polymorph - less mana, same duration for PvP CCs
* Rank 1 Frost Nova - all you want is the root
* Rank 1 Cone of Cold - when all you want is the snare
* Rank 1 Frostbolt - fast-casting snare
* Rank 1 Arcane Explosion - for popping stealthers
* Rank 1 Blizzard - for popping stealthers

PALADIN

* Rank 1 Consecration - for popping stealthers
* Rank 1 Junk Buffs - defensive dispel buffers

PRIEST

* Rank 1 Shadow Word: Pain - to bait dispel spammers
* Rank 1 Holy Nova - to pop stealthers
* Rank 1 Mana Burn - when target is already almost empty
* Rank 1 Junk Buffs - defensive dispel buffers
* Rank 1 Psychic Scream - two targets is usually enough

SHAMAN

* Rank 1 Earth Shock - when all you want is the interrupt

WARLOCK

* Rank 1 Corruption - to bait dispel spammers
* Rank 1 Rain of Fire - for popping stealthers
* Rank 1 Hellfire - for killing low-hp critters like Snake Trap

I'm sure you guys can come up with other examples to help support the cause. This is one of those changes motivated by PvE raid healing concerns, but the fallout will be severe for casters in PvP. If you have a beta account, post your concerns on the beta forums!

Risky Business: Funcom's Fears Become Reality

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:28:21 -0400

In tracking the performance of Funcom's controversial Age of Conan title, the gaming media has been faced with confusion, as mixed reports from company leadership and the player community have left everyone wondering, "Are things going well?"

Affix: Fix Your Hands!

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:33:31 -0400

It recently came to my attention that Affix (a good mage player) believes that you cannot press the Control-G or Control-V keybinds without taking your hands completely off your movement keys. He goes on to say, "I'm a tall guy with big hands, guess that might have something to do with it?" Now, pardon me if I think you're lying, Affix, but you should easily be able to reach these keys.

(Full Size Link)

Now, as a sanity check, I am posting my hand in front of Affix's blog post (see above) on my 20" widescreen monitor, and I'm going to show you that it is neither impossible nor difficult to hit these key combos.

Watch carefully as I skillfully execute the difficult combinations below! I took these just now as caps from my video camera so they are a little grainy.

(Click Each Image For Larger View)

Am I the only one that thinks Affix is out of his mind? Can you guys hit these key combos or am I just crazy? Let me know.

Ladies of Gameriot: Take Your Pick

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:03:07 -0400

Here at Gameriot, we have an ever-growing community of eager females who drop by with (sometimes) insightful commentary on popular topics.Â While the focus of Gameriot is obviously on games, there is an overriding social dynamic here that pushes the community into a much wider variety of topics.

Your average Gameriot user, much like the members of other communities, does not identify his gender or post RL pictures of himself.Â Why? Because he is interested in the subject matter of the site, rather than making some connection to his "real" life.Â On this site, we have WoW, Politics, Gaming News, and so on, nothing with a real connection to anyone's personal life.Â Keep in mind these major points:

* Most people on a gaming forum are socially awkward or immature
* Nearly everyone is a guy, at least 95%
* Given no other information, every member is assumed to be male

Well, ladies of Gameriot, you know what to do in general, post your pics so we can weigh in with our opinions.Â Guys, feel free to comment and let us know if you would do any of these chicks; they are dying to know.

Other girls out there who are interested in being scored, please feel free to send me a PM with further information or pictures and we can discuss.Â I know we'd all like to see more from Arianette and others.Â If you have some pictures up on Gameriot now, post a few more revealing ones so we can give you an informed opinion on how your body looks: stand further from the camera, and wear as little clothing as possible.Â Â What do you have to lose, after all?Â I am a total stranger to you.Â You can trust me not to publish nude shots, but if you don't believe me just take them with your face out of the shot.

Funcom Investors Jump Ship as Age of Conan Founders

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:26:00 -0400

It has been hard to separate the truth from the spin in the ongoing Age of Conan saga, but we're seeing more and more evidence that neither players nor stockholders are satisfied with Funcom's campaign of misinformation.

Funcom can delete all your threads and ban you for asking questions on its official forums, but you can still let them know you aren't satisfied.

DIGG this article so your voice is heard!

Age of Conan Flatlining

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:03:39 -0400

Player usage data from social gaming application Xfire has finally given us something concrete to analyze in the debate over Age of Conan's success.

The above screenshot was taken from the Age of Conan status page on Xfire at around 6:30PM Pacific time today. As you can see, the trend is quite clearly heading downward, and this includes the dates before the free trial period ended. In the image, you can see that weekday hours were around 60,000 per day back near the beginning of June, and they are now hovering closer to 35,000 per day. That is a decline of over 40% in one month!

We can speculate all day as to why, but it's quite clear that Age of Conan is rapidly dying. Users are playing less and less during a critical growth period when they should be just getting hooked into the game. At this point, it will take a drastic change from Funcom to right this sinking ship.

Do you want Funcom to take notice? Digg this article!

http://digg.com/pc_games/Age_of_Conan_Flatlining

Casual Conundrum: Gimme Mah Weapon!

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:32:54 -0400

Casuals everywhere were deflated when Blizzard announced the increased rating requirements for the top Arena rewards in Season 4. The shoulders now require a 2250 rating, the weapon 2050 -- unattainable goals for over 95% of the folks playing arena. What then, can a casual gamer expect as WoW continues to grow and evolve?

If you're truly a casual player, you can consider playing a caster instead. Why? A caster with a two-seasons-old weapon loses only a tiny percentage of his overall damage or healing capability. A melee with a two-seasons-old weapon will see a massive drop in damage output. Obviously the true difference between the scrub and the elite is not gear, but use of skills, but in other areas of the game, you will be far closer to your maximum potential as a caster than as a melee.

Get on those warlock alts now, gentlemen!

Why You WILL Want To Play Deathknight

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:10:45 -0400

When Wrath of the Lich King launches, you should seriously be considering a move to the Death Knight class.

As competitive WoW evolves, some may argue that the game is more about learning several classes rather than completely mastering one. In any event, nearly all players will still have one class that feels like home to them, their true "main" where they are most comfortable.

I'm here to tell all of you why you should seriously consider making the Deathknight your new main when the expansion launches.

I include a picture of Serennia not as a joke, but because he is a great example of why you may want to play Death Knight. Serennia is known for his theorycrafting and team composition research -- Death Knight will probably be the most malleable class in this area among the pure DPSers. You can bet Serennia will either be maining a Death Knight himself or have one on his team for this reason.

The Death Knight's three talent trees have some dramatically divergent themes which synergize differently depending on what types effects you wish to use. The ability to customize the rune resource system and the potential to specifically match up a handful of key talents based on other classes on your team will make the Death Knight the #1 choice for molding the perfect teammate.

New Hunter Pet Skills Include Interrupts, Stuns, Roots

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:19:40 -0400

The WoW Hunter community has hoped for the completion of the pet skill directive for many years now, and it looks like Blizzard is finally going to make it happen. After the WWI announcement that training points will be removed in favor of pet talent trees, and that every pet will have a unique ability, we now know for sure that these recently-leaked pet skills will have a home!

There is a new line of pet spells called Smack. Equivalent to Claw except with different name. This change, along with the change to Bite, will make it so every pet has a spammable DPS attack, which is very important to utilized the BM hunter's increased focus talents.

Anyway, here is the list of leaked skills we've seen so far, as seen in this thread on WotLKWiki:

We have some really good skills in here, with some types of effects that have been requested for a LONG time, particularly by PvP hunters. The roots, snares, and stuns are all huge for Hunters, who desperately need to get AWAY from people.

The stun and spell interrupt skills will be particularly nice for BM hunters, who often have limited ability to impact a fight with their single interrupt being a 1 minute pet stun via Intimidation, compared to having Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot in the Marksmanship tree. Adding a short cooldown spell interrupt like Nether Shock would be a big boost.

Now, about those spiders...

WoW Q&A Session - WWI News

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:43:41 -0400

Blizzard developers are answering a smattering of questions submitted by users in the "Q&A Grab Bag Session," which has just gone on in Paris at the WWI. Here is a rundown of some of the more interesting tidbits for the Gameriot audience:

* PVP and Raid Armor sets will no longer share the same models.

* Many buffs, including Shaman totems, have been modified to affect the entire raid instead of just the party. Examples given include Unleashed Rage and Battle Shout, more details to come later.

* Dynamic LoS objects will be added to the game, which will have an impact in both PvE and PvP settings. Ideas mentioned include movable objects as well as barriers that move on timers (e.g. a pillar that moves in and out of the ground every 20 secs).

* A spec-switching system is planned, to allow players to maintain two different specs and change between them without going through the full respec process.

* Druids will get a new Dire Cat form, and they also mentioned a model update for Dire Bear form.

* Inscription will definitely use Herbalism as its associated gathering profession, and Blizzard says it is designed to be helpful to all classes, not targeted at any one group like caster or melee.

An interesting set of info, certainly! We look forward to the next panel tomorrow.

Folks who are interested in planning ahead may want to jump on board and level that Herbalism skill to get ready for Inscription or making money at auction. It will be very interesting to see what new abilities impact the entire Raid. Some buffs I would love to see go raid-wide: Leader of the Pack, Trueshot Aura, Ferocious Inspiration, Vampiric Embrace =)

As for the dual-spec system, it's about damn time! This one should be particularly exciting for tank classes.

Feral Windfury, Raid-Wide Totems, And More From WWI

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:11:53 -0400

We have seen some very exciting new information coming from Blizzard's WotLK panel at WWI. Included are some important facts about game mechanics that were not necessarily clear from leaks to date.

Ease of use comes to the hunter in form of an "unlinked" Steady Shot. Blizzard says casting this ability will no longer push back the Auto Shot casts, making the ranged attacks function more like melee autoattack. Not a gigantic buff but allows more hunters to reach closer to their DPS potential.

Sony Reports Over $3 Billion Lost On PS3

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:06:34 -0400

Based on the recently released annual report, Sony is claiming that over $3 billion has been lost on the PS3 hardware development. While initial hardware development is known to be expensive in the next-gen console market, this huge number is pretty surprising! The losses continue to mount as retail prices are forced downward by competition.

The breakdown by year shows a $1.16B loss this year and a $2.16B loss the year before. The bleeding seems to be slowing, but not stopping! If PS3 sales do not pick up and stay high for a sustained period of time, we can expect this giant hole in Sony's balance sheet to stay empty.

Read more here at Yahoo! news.

Sports Top Five: We Love To See Them Lose

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:00:21 -0400

In the world of sports, there are fans and then there are anti-fans. In many cases, the anti-fans actually have the stronger bond as they unite against a common enemies with millions of others around the world. Here are my Top Five that we love to hate:

The winningest team in the history of baseball, the New York Yankees probably have more fans and anti-fans than any other team in sports. With a massive lead over all other teams in World Series victories and a seemingly bottomless pile of money to spend on players, the Yankees expect victory every year. New Yorkers are some of the most obnoxious people in the United States already, but Yankees fans are hated even more because their favorite team is seen as having ruined the sport of baseball by abusing their wealth to steal players from around the league. This upcoming season, Alex Rodriguez (pictured) will make more money in his salary than the entire Florida Marlins teams combined.

Pulling up every year with the biggest payroll, the Yankees have no excuses when they don't win it all. An early playoff exit last year was sweet music to all other baseball fans for the fourth year in a row. What's not to hate about the Yankees?

Predator Meets 16-Year-Old on WoW, Abducts Her in RL

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:31:46 -0400

This could be the face of your healer in that 5-man Heroic Shadow Labs run last week:

38-year-old David Faboo, pictured above, was arrested after the 16-year-old autistic girl he abducted sent revealing text messages to one of her friends and helped lead police to his truck. According to press releases:

"When police stopped the truck, they found rope, several knives and knife blades, a hatchet, a box of condoms and sex toys, as well as a box of chocolates and a diamond ring. The back of the truck had been outfitted with a makeshift bed."

The sad part of the story is that the victim, suffering from autism, was reported to have the mental capacity of a 12-year-old. In other words, she probably didn't really know what she was getting into, unlike so many other MySpace and WoW e-******.

Full text of the story is available here at Wired Magazine.

Faboo, who played WoW using the name "Avelys," had entered a lengthy online relationship with the victim after first meeting ingame. I went on a hunt through the Armory and found these potential suspects:

* Avelys, 70 female human priest, Emerald Dream server
* Avelys, 70 male night elf hunter, Gorefiend server (my home server!)
* Avelys, 70 female human warlock, Arthas server
* Avelys, 70 male night elf priest, Shadow Council server

Given that the priest on Emerald Dream has not logged in since March, I'm giving that as the best odds for our predator. Is anyone in this guy's guild? Any further information available?

Are Fantasy MMOs The Only Answer?

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:44:12 -0400

The MMO is about as new as it gets when it comes to game types, originally enabled by the advance of technology and still limited today by technical hurdles. Our MMO games are children of the internet age, where players are used to socializing globally and the concept of a persistent virtual world is very familiar. Since 2005, we have seen the MMO market greatly expanded with the success of Blizzard's World of Warcraft, which grew several times larger than its competitors at launch and even broke into mainstream TV advertising.

Developers are now comfortable with the internet. 3D worlds are no longer a technical difficulty. Concurrency issues and overcrowding in virtual worlds are still tough problems, but it seems like the creativity within the genre has really been stagnant. Now that WoW has proven the existence of an MMO market much larger than we thought possible, it's time we ask, "Are fantasy MMOs the only answer?"

With all of these options, and of course many others that I did not list, the only obstacle for the next great MMO is the uncertainly tied to that "first step" in a new direction. We need a good developer to confidently take that first step, and hopefully launch a whole new generation of copycats and the double the competitive entries in the MMO genre. Who will it be?

Predator Spawns Another Political Hero

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:18:01 -0400

You may have heard of these other folks who got a big boost from film before launching political careers:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California

From his early days as an immigrant bodybuilder to movie stardom and leadership of a state, Arnold is well-known around the world. Predator was one of his biggest successes at the time of release, and has become a cult favorite since.

Jesse Ventura, Governor of Minnesota

Ventura played a smaller role in Predator, but this former professional wrestler is more notorious for his Jesse "The Body" wrestling personality than his film acting.

Website Scores Age of Conan 9.7, Loses All Credibility

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:57:36 -0400

Canadian gamer site GameFocus has just published an official review of Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, arriving at a stunning conclusion. During a discussion of "the greatest MMORPG since the original Everquest," the author reveals an amazing command of the English language and a refreshing jubilance at AoC's near-perfection.

I was particularly drawn in by some of the "Pros" included near the end of the review, in a Pro/Con list of itemized features.

Pros:
* Animals and fish are everywhere
* Funcom fixes bugs and updates very quickly
* Fatalities are great

Sounds like a winner to me! You can find the full Age of Conan review at GameFocus:

http://gamefocus.ca/?nav=reviewCard&fid=6040

Warlocks Become Illidan, Blizzard Fights Keyloggers

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:43:50 -0400

Early screen shots of the new Warlock talent Metamorphosis indicate that the player will basically turn into Illidan. As seen on WotLKWiki, here is a view of the current model being used in Alpha tests; quite a bit more impressive looking than the earlier "concept" shots we saw of the demon form!

You can head on over to WotLKWiki for more information, it's updated quite regularly as new info breaks and new research is reported.

From Blizzard's Official Site, we have also seen the announcement of a new hardware device called the Blizzard Authenticator, available for $6.50 online. Designed to limit account access to authorized parties only, this device can be purchased as a safeguard against keyloggers and other hostile account actions. Here is a brief quote from the official site:

How does the Blizzard Authenticator work?

You must first associate the Blizzard Authenticator to the World of Warcraft account you play. Once the account has been linked, the Authenticator token will be required to log in to Account Management or to the game; when logging in, you will be prompted to supply a digital code generated by the Authenticator.

More information is available at Blizzard Support.

Paladin Gear Changes: Strength to help Healing?

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:40:33 -0400

Our friends over at WotLKwiki may have stumbled upon some interesting ideas being considered by Blizzard as they plan changes in the alpha. As you may know, one goal in this upcoming expansion is to unify some of the armor types somewhat, so that more items can be shared between classes and multiple classes can benefit from similar stats.

Here are some ideas that have been brought up in the alpha, as discussed in this thread at WotLKWiki:

* Blockvalue would be removed as a stat modifier for gear, only prot specs use it, worthless for stat homogenization

* The conversion of STR : Block Value should be reduced greatly. 4:1, 3:1, and 2:1 all seem quite plausible

* Changing all paladin spells to work off of attack power coefficients instead of spellpower coefficients, all other plate specs use str (with the change of prot warrior abilities scaling with ap)

* Additional talent added to mid Holy converting either STA, Armor, or STR to Intellect (paladins are the only plate wearer that needs mana)

* Additional talent added to deep Holy in regards to mana efficiency; Int:mp5 converter, maybe even increase in Illumination (up to 80%), reduction of spell costs, or something to help mana regen

* Changes to the way Paladins generate mana; deal damage:gain mana, take damage:gain mana, get healed:gain mana, may be given as talents in respective trees, may be given as a change to the way seal of wisdom works IE: using abilities proc wisdom, casting heals proc wisdom, etc

Example:

    * Holy Light (Rank 13) - 1880 mana, 3799 to 4231 healing.
    * Greater Heal (Rank 9)- 1290 mana, 3950 to 4590 healing.
    * 57 healing is being reduced to 30 spellpower; healing spells will most likely have their coefficients increased equally to adjust for this.
    * Greater heal coefficient could plausibly be increased to 1.628 of spellpower
    * Holy Light coefficient could plausibly be increased to 1.357
    * Spellpower itemvalue is 0.855
    * STR itemvalue is 1.0
    * A priest at lvl 80 could potentially reach lets say 2000 spellpower which would be about 1710 itemvalue (most likely a lot less considering the diminishing returns of stacking but lets take the value)
    * A priests Greater heal with the plausible new coefficient with 2000 spellpower would net them a heal of 7206-7846 (+3256)
    * A paladins Holy Light still using spellpower with the new coefficient of 1.357 would yield a heal of 6513-6945 (+2714)
    * A paladin attempting to reach STR of equivalent itemvalue would get about 1710 STR giving 3420 ap, lets assume a base of approximately 200 str at lvl 80 giving a total of 3820 ap
    * With 3820 ap, the APC would need to be somewhere in the range of 0.71. However, considering the availability of AP buffs, an APC anywhere in the range of .60 - .71 would be acceptable

"Most high level holy paladin items have stamina and intellect values values very close, some have int slightly higher some have int slightly lower. A respectable conversion talent would be somewhere along the lines of a 3pt talent with 33%/66%/100% conversion of stamina:intellect. Holy paladins would naturally look for plate pieces with high STR and high STA in this case. A more modest version of sta:int conversion would be 20%/40%/60%."

Changes like these would make the Paladin at its core a melee fighter with support abilities:

    * Holy Paladin would be able to join the fight and actually provide additional damage, possibly tank an add if str:bv conversion was generous. Recommended deep holy talents could be along the lines of "Melee critical hits have a 33%/66%/100% chance to gain Holy Fervor, causing your next Holy Light to be instant cast. 10 second cooldown" (Holy Fervor would be dispellable)

    * Prot Paladin would have the ability to ACTUALLY HEAL after he's done tanking a mob due to the reliance on STR and the new APC. Recommended deep prot talents could be along the lines of "Melee attacks apply Righteous Guardian to the target, when mobs or players that grant experience or honor die while affected by Righteous Guardian your Holy Light and Flash of Light cost 100% less mana for 10 seconds"

    * Ret Paladin, like the holy paladin, would have the possibility to offtank due to str:bv conversion. Recommended deep ret talents could be along the lines of "Titans Grasp" letting the ret pally use a 2h and a shield =)

It will be interesting to see what path is taken here; obviously the large number of key stats can be a challenge when tweaking the itemization, and hopefully Blizzard is on track to consolidate some of the mechanics across the board. Check out WotLKWiki for more info!

The Most Lopsided Matchup in WoW

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:21:16 -0400

Blizzard does not balance World of Warcraft classes around performance in 1v1 combat. This has been the party line from the beginning of WoW, and it probably seems reasonable to many, given that the major competitive PvP scenarios in WoW are all group based. Some "fudge factor" is allowable in the 1v1 matchups, because you have teammates to help you, and there are multiple targets on the other team.

But what happens when a particular class vs. class matchup stretches the line so far that it begins to transcend the boundaries of skill and gear? Is that really a reasonable matchup that won't carry over and pollute the group PvP dynamics? That's what we're looking at today.

The comical thing is that this matchup was already bad before the BC expansion was launched, and then the developers went and made it even worse by adding Mass Dispel to the Priest repertoire. Sound like a joke? I'm sure it felt that way to the Paladin class.

Now, as we head into the upcoming WotLK expansion, you have to wonder... will anything change? Does Blizzard like the idea of having Priests completely wreck Paladins in PvP? Does Blizzard think there may be any connection when it comes to the over-representation of Priests and the under-representation of Paladins? Paladins are also completely dominated by Warlocks; will they continue to let that one slide as well?

We have seen evidence that Blizzard wants to help Mages against Warlocks, Warriors against Mages, and Warlocks against Rogues. But no help has been sighted for Paladins. We'll have to see. I'm betting they make this matchup even worse =)

Mini-Me Sex Tape!

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:35:55 -0400

Vern Troyer, AKA Mini-Me from the Austin Powers series, is now the proud star of a sex tape shot with his former live-in girlfriend. Yes, this may be disturbing to some, but know that there is an extremely healthy midget porn market out there on the internet.

The full story, with a video preview, is available at TMZ.

Thursday Is Two Free Tacos Day

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:15:15 -0400

It's no secret that gamers love to eat junk, and that's why I'm here to let you know of this amazing development. Even as gas prices are getting everybody down, Jack in the Box has come up with a way to bring up everyone’s spirits. You love those tacos from Jack in the Box, don’t deny it — the crispy goodness with the melted cheese, hot sauce and crisp lettuce on the inside. With gas becoming more and more expensive, Jack wants to help you fill your stomach, and the Epidemic Obesity blog always approves of what Jack wants.

Bring any gas receipt to Jack in the Box on Thursday, June 26th, and get TWO FREE TACOS. No gimmicks, no hidden fees, no purchase necessary — just two free tacos! Let all your friends know!

For more details: http://www.jackinthebox.com/twofreetacosday/

Bored with WoW? Try a Comedy Club

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:20:20 -0400

Most WoW players are heading into the second half of 2008 with the knowledge that "the next big thing" is on the horizon. The pending release of the WotLK expansion means the level cap is going up, everyones gear will be reset, and nothing else is really going to change within today's WoW. With the end in sight, many players will be taking a break until the expansion is released, knowing they will get back into it at that point.

I would encourage all of you to go check out your local comedy clubs, see a few shows, and let people here know how it went. Any further recommendations of comics or venues in major cities would be great to get people started.

Wii Fit Girl Spawns Playboy Copycat

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:45:47 -0400

Normally, Epidemic Obesity does not support or condone the healthy body habits that produce firm-bodied young girls such as this, but we will make an exception for your entertainment.

I'm sure we will see more "Wii Fit Girl" copycat routines pop up over time, but for now here's one from Playboy featuring 2008 Cyber Girl of the Year Jo Garcia busting the boxing and snowboarding.

More information on Playboy's Wii Initiative can be found here:

Playboy Cyber Club

The Worst Season Begins

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:32:30 -0400

Summer is normally a time for fun; younger people are out of school for the summer, it's a great time to visit the beach or take a trip somewhere with your family. As we head into this glorious summer, however, the big downside is that it's the worst part of the year for professional sports in America.

Luckily, there are more things to do than follow pro sporting events this summer. As mentioned before, there are great outdoor activities available to try in the summer, there are vacations to be taken, and general good times to be enjoyed if you're young enough to be "in school" (and thus, out of school) for the next couple months.

Enjoy it while you can! In the meantime, it's too bad bigger MMA fights aren't on regularly enough to keep sports fans busy in this most terrible of periods during the year.

Where to Find WotLK Leak Info

no.spam@gameriot.com (briyan) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:32:33 -0400

I know some people don't go looking for leaked WotLK info, and they don't end up hearing about it until someone like Ming makes a post about a new talent tree or a change to a rogue ability. But if you're inclined to keep tabs on what dataminers have found about what's coming, you should head as far upstream as you can to get information as fast as possible.

Typical early-news sites like MMO Champion have been silenced by Blizzard, so these "standard" information sources won't do in these times of great hype and secret research. The two listed below are my current favorites.

http://www.wotlkwiki.info/

A wiki-style reference site, also featuring forums, which has been gradually building up feature lists and known changes coming in the WotLK alpha process. While the wiki approach does not lend itself quite as well to reporting news, this site also has a dedicated staff that keeps things up to date.