Blog Posts from "t(._. t)" - Gameriot.com

Ming Sent Me A Holiday Postcard!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:53:11 -0500

Happy New Year!Â It's 5:45am here, and I got home not too long ago.

The new year is here, and I figure what better way is there to kick off 2009 here on Gameriot other than sharing a holiday postcard Ming sent me with all his.... fans!(?)

Remember that contest for LK a while back, and how

Community Interview Spotlight: Neilyo and Hafu

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:16:02 -0500

I was planning to get some blogging done in anticipation of the WOTLK launch this Thursday.Â However,

Please leave all questions in the comments, and keep the guidelines in mind!Â I'll be hand-selecting the best questions for the interviews.

Will Tichondrius Be Stripped Of Its 'Best US PvP Server' Title? Maybe. Just Maybe.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:52:17 -0500

After Season 1 arenas began, BG9 made a lasting impression with their well documented teams.Â Teams like "Power Trip" and "Zerg It Down" became front page news.Â Nitrana's problems with staying on the Pandemic (Power Trip) roster drew in 300+ comments on Gameriot, when Ming was only drawing in ~100.Â BG9 was just the place to be, and players from all over became aware of this.

When season 2 began, top teams from across a large range of battlegroups decided to all transfer to BG9.Â Their server of choice?Â Tichondrius.

However, times have changed.Â Nobody really cares about Nitrana's life anymore.Â Pandemic has been stripped of their title.Â Zerg It Who?Â Yeah.Â , so if Guild VS Guild BG is introduced, you'll be finding it tough to find a good Alliance team to play against.Â But then again, perhaps Alliance players will be looking for a good challenge at that time, and transfer to Cho'Gall Alliance to compete with the Horde of that server?Â Maybe!

To sum it up, if you're Horde and you're wondering where the new hot-spot is, check out Cho'Gall.Â You won't be disappointed, trust me.Â And it'll only get better.

Death Knights, What Race Will You Be? (Horde Version)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:16:43 -0500

First of all, I'm not ripping that other guy's blog, I had part of this written up and never posted it because I had to write a few midterms this weekend and didn't have time to finish the rest.Â I'm going ahead and posting it anyway because I feel this actually looks a lot more in depth, rather than the useless critique given in the other blog (which has absolutely zero depth, just like all his other blogs).Â Today we'll be looking at the Horde version.Â The Alliance version will be posted tomorrow or the day after.

Orc Racials:

Blood Fury - You could never go wrong with a free AP trinket, and since DK's spell power scales with AP, this is an excellent ability to have.Â Stack this with another AP trinket and you could pump out some major damage.Â If you're trailing behind in a fight, or if you're losing on the damage meters (lol PVE), this will help you close the gap.Â Since there isn't a healing debuff attached to it anymore, you could either use it any time it's up, or time/stack it with other offensive abilities (trinkets, recklessness, death wish, etc.).Â Solid ability overall.
Hardiness - Another solid PvP ability for PvP.Â This may be the key reason you want to be an Orc over other PvP favourites (read: UD).Â Although the ability isn't as amazing as it once was (RNG 25%/15% stun resistance), when stacked with On A Pale Horse, the difference is night and day.Â CS/KS/HoJ, which usually lasts 4s/6s/6s respectively will only last 2.2s/3.3s/3.3s on a talented Orc DK.Â On the contrary, a talented UD DK will sit in stuns for 3.2s/4.8s/4.8s respectively.Â As you can see, the difference is pretty huge, and should heavily influence your final decision.
Command - Since Command has been confirmed to work on Gargoyles too, this is where you make good of a racial that would usually go to waste with other classes.Â An extra 5% damage could be the difference in scoring a kill, and is always a welcomed addition.
Axe Specialization - This is always a good passive ability to have.Â It reduces the chance of parry by 1.25% at all levels, which will ultimately lead to an increase in damage output.Â The other thing people don't always realize is that this is a good defensive ability to have too.Â The parry mechanic also comes with a free swing.Â What I mean by that is, if you're attacking a Warrior, and he just finished an attack and is starting his big 3.6s swing timer, and then he parries your attack, he gets a free swing instantly after he parries (resetting his swing timer).Â Less parry = more damage output / less damage taken = good racial.

Â 4/5 overall.Â I actually want to rate this higher, maybe 4.5/5, but I decided to keep it at a 4 in the end.Â If I rated any higher, I'd probably be accused of being gay or something ridiculous like that, which is one of the downsides of rolling a BE.Â However, if you can get past that, then this is another solid choice for a PvP DK.

Conclusion?

I'd probably roll an Orc.Â However, if you are somebody that likes to be flashy and you like to gamble on successfully landing long silence chains, then Blood Elf is probably your top choice.Â Closely following that would be UD/Troll, for reasons listed above.Â If you roll a Tauren, it'll probably be because you like looking big... on the internet... in a video game... where nobody else cares how big you are.Â For the people with reading comprehension, I'll rank it for you:

1.Â Orc
2.Â Blood Elf
3.Â Undead/Troll
4.Â Tauren

Check back tomorrow, or the day after for an Alliance version!

The Lowdown 11.06.08 -- Proposition 8 Results, Old Videos (Some Food For Thought), Possible Hafu Interview, White House Puppy, Brad (aka. Rage) Is THE MAN.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:19:10 -0500

Alright, I've decided to go ahead and rename these wanna-be Epic Drops to "

t(._. t) 11.04.08 -- Apple iPod Head Honcho Steps Down + Legal Troubles, Hardly Noticable Changes in Windows 7, Obama Flips Off on McCain, I Lose Contest #5

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:38:39 -0500

Who doesn't own an Apple iPod these days?Â If you don't have it for the music and movies, you have it as a fashion statement.Â However, Tony Fadell, who is probably unknown to the majority, is stepping down from his Senior Executive position for personal reasons.Â What are those reasons?Â They were left undisclosed, but this is definitely a big hit to Apple asÂ I feel rather "cheated" for lack of a better word, as I only posted >5 minutes after the guy but with full solutions and explanations for every question.Â On top of that, Philbo posted two different answers and the LK prize from Contest #2 (which didn't work out) is being /random'd.Â Maybe that LK prize from Contest #2 could be used as a consolation prize instead?Â It'd make a lot more sense than to just random it out for no reason!Â Either way, the decision rests in Mings and GR Staff hands at this point, but I really hope they see where I'm coming from.

t(._. t) 11.03.08 -- Tragic Halloween Shooting, Heavy Internet Users Pay More, No Vomitting in Seoul

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 04:37:54 -0500

This weekend has been a busy weekend for everybody, right?Â Between partying, trick-or-treating, and deciding what to do with that extra hour... you might not have had the time to keep up with some strange stories around the world.Â This is what these entries are here for.Â " are reportedly sporting new warning signs.Â Supposedly, balcony vomitting is a growing issue in Seoul, and these signs (right) are placed in hopes of stopping this disgusting trend, lol.Â Bobby boy, cheer up!Â Things will get better soon (so don't ******* hurl on my leather seats)!Â Who knows, it might work for more than just balconys.... and if it does, I wouldn't mind having a few for my house and car!

t(._. t) -- Japanese Push Forward Strange Human Rights Petition

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:45:38 -0500

Gay marriage has been a somewhat central issue on a lot of political agendas, or will be some time in the future.Â Either way, it's safe to say that the gay population is having their way with things, with cities and states now beginning to ease up and legalize gay marriage.

Of course, legalizing gay marriage is a huge issue, and the stories easily spread around the world.Â Perhaps leading countries are only the pioneers and the rest of the World will follow?Â Maybe.... but we'd be underestimating the Japanese. (It's never good to underestimate DEM NI, err, JAPANESE)

As we speak, there is an online petition shooting for a million signatures to legalize marrying 2D characters.Â Yes, they want to legally wed their favourite anime characters!Â Way to leave us in the dust, Japan!Â This one takes the cake.

The petition states the following, translated into English:

""

If you're Japanese and/or into this sort of thing (rofl), the links are below.
If you're in it for the laughs, feel free to check it out as well.

Source: http://www.dannychoo.com/detail/mac/eng/image/9657/Human+Rights+in+Japan.html
Petition: http://www.shomei.tv/project-213.html

Dibs on that Simca chick from Air Gear. She's a looker.

Report on the Slave... er, Achievement System.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:00:05 -0400

It's been two and a half weeks since the Achievement System was introduced alongside patch 3.0, and things have gotten a bit more interesting to say the least.Â Player activity has significantly increased, and the average time spent logged in has expanded as well.Â Quests are being completed for the Loremaster title/points, and bodies are being looted in AVs everywhere for blood turn-ins for the sake of the Ambassador title.Â So how do I feel about this whole system?Â I think it's ingenious, but I feel like a friggin' SLAVE.

For 4 straight days I sat in AV looting all the blood I possibly could for turn-ins.Â Every game I could probably get around 60-170 blood to turn in before Primalist was summoned (maximum is 200).Â This is not bad, considering each stack of 5 turn-in yielded 18-19 rep.Â Yea?Â Well considering I needed over 30,000 rep to get every faction to exalted, it's pretty bad and it felt like outright SLAVE work.Â Everyday I would log on and just sit in AV doing absolutely nothing but forcing turtles by yelling "Time for Galv, yay!" at the beginning of every game, and capping SFGY whenever I got the chance.Â The point of these AV queues were to maximize time spent and blood turn-ins, and that was definitely the most efficient way to do it.Â I finally got my title after 40+ hours of looting corpses and relished in it for a whole 5 minutes before I got bored of it and moved on.Â Sooooo worth it!

You can find me now grinding Mag'har rep in my attempt to earn the 50-mounts for the Albino Protodrake (or whatever that's called).

I think it's ingenious, but I feel like a friggin' SLAVE.

So where am I at in this achievement system?Â It's actually quite embarassing to say that I'm sitting on a soft cushion of 1100 points, when a few of my friends are sitting on waterbeds worth 3000+ points.Â Holy ****, yea?Â I felt like a slave already, and just by looking at the points some other people have, and the pointless things they have to go on about doing to get it... this is a very good and self-sufficient SLAVE system within the World of Warcraft.Â All work, no pay, and nobody cares.

In the relatively near future, they'll release some sort of Achievement tracking system for you to compare with other people more easily (quote me on this), probably via a guild tab, or a ranking page via Blizzard.Â Great, just what they need, more slaves (you)!

What Are You Doing With Your Free Respec?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:51:21 -0400

Still can't log on, so I'm playing around with the talent calculators.
Post your talent specs and whether you PVP or PVE.
It'd be pretty interesting to see other ideas people have for 3.0.2.

Gonna try speccing deep Arms picking up Imp Poleaxe and gonna test out those bleed talents too.Â If all things go well with well over 40% crit, cheap Executes at 50%, Overpower up constantly, and (hopefully) useful bleeds... Battle Stance will be the way to go.Â Going to pass up on (well-timed) Imp Hamstring and Imp MS for now to pick up and test the bleed talents.Â We'll see how it goes.

Gold Farmers Get Creative! Result? Viral Advertisement!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:39:19 -0400

Â Basically, they teleported a bunch of Orcs into the air at precise locations, letting them fall to their deaths, leaving an advertisement to their website in the wake.Â I was too busy laughing and talking to people in vent to remember to take a screenshot, but rest assured, I found responsible trollers on our forum boards with screenshots instead.

Anyway, here are some screenshots people on my server took that night.

WoWRiot + Warhammer, Jasi, and SNES on iPhone?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:08:01 -0400

Okay I haven't been around posting anything too much at all because I never received my cheque from being top 3 in the blogging contest back in July.Â I finally got it a week ago, went to cash it, but I have to wait 21 business days because I'm from Canada.Â Go figure.Â So now that I'm back on Gameriot on a more frequent basis,I'm going to start it off with some good ol' fashioned QQ.

WoWRiot or WarRiot?Â I'm pretty sure I'm not speaking for only myself when I say I don't give a **** about Warhammer at all.Â Honestly, this is the WoW section, and I'm here to read about WoW and other useless but interesting things like Slapnuts' Epic Drop and Lustania's comments... I don't give two ****s about little Herders and their RvR, just like how I don't care about some random guys adventures and experience into another game.Â Make another section for OTHER games or something, I dunno, and make Jasi stop wasting WoM hits on that useless crap.

Speaking of Jasi... why is he still a paid blogger here?Â He lived way past his shelf-life.Â His articles are less interesting than the anime blogs of that guy who does his hair to go the gym.Â His only real interesting stuff is when he does interviews with people, and you could put a monkey in front of the computer and he could do the same thing and it'd cost a lot less (minus the cost of a monkey, but then you'd have a monkey so its all good).Â He writes about Warhammer too, and gets paid on the side from that.... doesn't he get paid to blog about WoW?Â I mean it doesnt really matter, he's doing it all wrong anyway, right Serennia?Â Serennia for next paid writer on WoM, do it.

Jailbroken of course, and this **** is fun.Â Playing Super Mario World on it.... gonna put Earthbound on it soon, and maybe some Street Fighter, Pokemonz and Mario Kart.Â This **** is so much better than Tetris.Â Don't get me wrong, Tetris is fun and all, but it just doesn't compare.

Good day.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:36:56 -0400

Yea I'm a nerd Harry Potter SLAVE, and this video is for all you other SLAVES out there.... SLAVES.

And, an interview with Hermione for all you Emma Watson-loving psychos.

Sorry Slapnuts if I'm stealing part of your Epic Drop <3

5x Death Knight, 55-70 in 1 day? Very Possible.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:16:36 -0400

Yesterday, I was linked to a very interesting video on YouTube which featured 5 beta players 5-manning Blood Furnace with a group full of Death Knights. Yes, I'm fully aware that this video is days old and the the PoV is from a clicker (lol he clicks '3'), but that's completely irrelevant - let's try to focus on the more interesting parts of this video.

if you wanted to... and with a group with damage and speed like this, I wouldn't see why you would quest instead. Combine that with the number of Death Knights you'll find in the relatively same level range, and the fact that leveling is supposed to be a lot easier (30% easier), it'd be easy to find a group and power your way through BF to 69-70 in which where you could head over to WotLK content.... and you could do this in a day or so if you really wanted to!

Also note that you could do this with most of the other instances as well after you get the hang of it, so leveling shouldn't really be a huge concern for those looking at re-rolling. I know that I'm never planned on re-rolling (at the time of writing this), but I'm starting to seriously wonder if I should reconsider. Maybe you should too?

BTW, if anyone in beta wants to try doing this and let me (and other people) know how it goes (55-70 in 1 day, or maybe 5-manning the WotLK instances), please do so.

Study: Female Gamers About To Eclipse Male Gamers in the US?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:56:01 -0400

A recent study performed by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) revealed some interesting statistics that most gamers probably wouldn't believe without a source. According to Michael D. Gallagher, "No longer is there a stereotypical gamer. With deeper market penetration and the broadening of our audience base, video games have incorporated themselves into America's cultural and social fabric."

Now lets take a look at some of the findings revealed in this study by the ESA:

Among the survey's main findings:

65 percent of American households play computer and video games;
38 percent of American homes have a video game console;
The average game player is 35 years old;
One out of four gamers are over age 50;
40 percent of video game players are Female;
Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent); and,
41 percent of Americans expect to purchase one or more games this year.

The new research also shows how involved parents are in the way their children buy, rent and play games:

94 percent of parents are present when games are purchased or rented;
88 percent of parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play; and,
63 percent of parents believe games are a positive part of their children's lives.

This survey research was conducted by Ipsos, which is a huge global survey research firm which conducts their surveys all over the country. To keep it simple, I worked for Ipsos and I know exactly how these surveys are conducted. According to ESA, there were ~1200 surveys done, which may seem small, but 1200 surveys would take around 120,000 telephone calls to complete. Yes, these surveys are done over the telephone.

Of course, all the surveys are done in an absolutely professional manner and absolutely no bias or anything that may be misleading is fed to the respondants at any time. On top of that, all age groups are represented because there are quotas for different dissections (Gender -> Age 18-34 / Age 35-65), so the quality administration is there.

So where is the problem? I'll put it in bold and italics in case you miss it a second time, it's done over the telephone. I've worked on these call floors, and I know exactly how a lot of the answers given by respondants are responses they think are RIGHT and WHAT YOU WANT, and not actual quality reliable responses. I mean, what does it matter to them anyway... they don't get paid for doing the surveys and it's not like anything is gonna happen to them for giving out answers they think you want.

I was also reminded me of another problem that I saw in this study earlier as well (thanks Slapnuts!). Under what context is a gamer? Does playing solitaire, minesweepers, or maybe monopoly make you a gamer? It all really does depend on the context. If these don't cover the reasons, I'd actually be very surprised. I just don't see these statistics making sense to any true gamer out there, male or female. Or maybe I'm just oblivious to all things, and out there on internet-land, women all over the world are actually secretly falling in love with cute little Neopets and getting all their girlfriends to sign up and compare who has the cutest pet? I mean, Neopet does count as a game too.... doesn't it?

Heroes Season 3 'VILLAINS' - Welcome to Level 5 (w/ Promo Video)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:40:36 -0400

If you haven't already seen it, the new Heroes trailer has been released and let me tell you this, it looks very promising (see last 20 seconds!). Again, if you haven't known this already, the 3rd season is titled "Villains", and has a TWO-HOUR premiere scheduled for September 22.... mark that on your calendars!

This Season, or Volume, I suppose, is supposed to go a new direction with a focus more into the backstory. Tim Kring, the creator and executive producer, stated during an interview: "Who am I? What's happening to me? How am I connected? Where are these powers coming from? All of those questions get reframed and turned on their head in a very interesting way in this volume."
So what is Level 5 exactly? I guess a simple way to put it is that Level 5 is the name of the facility where Adam and Peter were contained (I think)... a prison for the "gifted". But whats the twist? Well apparently there were MORE dangerous people (villains) imprisoned there.... and (you guessed it) they escape! Anyway, just watch the latest video to save me some time typing it to you, k?

And here is an older (but still very interesting) promo video...

But yes, forgive me for blogging about a TV show in the WoW section, but I'm stoked about this upcoming season and I couldn't resist.

Fat People Fight Back! Anti-Wall-E Motion In Effect?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:11:02 -0400

So apparently fat people are angered over Pixar's latest film "Wall-E", which topped box offices on opening weekend over other hyped titles opening that same week including Angelina Jolie's "Wanted".

Whats the big deal? In the movie Wall-E (which I haven't had a chance to watch yet), Wall-E is cute little robot with a drive to clean the Earth which was destroyed by thoughtless humans, while at the same time, searching for the girl he loves. Apparently, according to the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), the Coalition of Fat Rights Activists (COFRA), and other independent "fat activists", Wall-E's beautiful eco-pro and romantic storyline is comparable to the quest for the perfect body by the eugenics movement in Nazi Germany. What do I think about this statement? Honestly, I don't know really, I'm still laughing over the fact that NAAFA and COFRA groups really exist (Don't lie, you're just as astounded as I am).

How did this happen? Well they extrapolated the idea that the human race in Wall-E's Earth was wiped out because they were too lazy to get the hell out of their arm chairs. So what? Even if that were indeed the case, I don't see anything wrong about it, and it's a perfectly logical extrapolation based on the societies we live in today. I personally believe it's just a bunch of ridiculous "we want attention" statements created by a bunch of fatties (sorry if that's you!) trying to make themselves feel better by using Wall-E's success to propel their asinine arguments to front page news (not gonna happen sorry).

What are they saying? It's actually quite funny to read what these fatties are saying. They're saying that WALL-E is typical of the stigmatising of fat people in the media, and that Pixar should be out of business for portraying this level of prejudicial bigotry-mongering. It's ridiculous how they expect "compassionate people" to boycott this movie... and then they carry on about how subway chairs are too small for their huge butts too, I mean seriously, nobody feels sorry for fatties except for other fatties, sorry!

Well here's my two cents for these self proclaimed "Fat-tivists". A good start would be to stop buying those THREE McDonald's BigMac meals during lunch, and then maybe use the money you save on something like p90x, I heard that shìt works. Or perhaps maybe even buy an elliptical or something... just make sure that the seat fits BOTH cheeks.

Get off Wall-E's back! It's not his fault you can't see your toes!

Hafu, Glickz, and Rhaegyn - Luck or Clutch?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:58:52 -0400

First of all, I'd like to congratulate Hafu, Glickz, and Rhaegyn on their first place finish at MLG Orlando ($12,000 + 3*HP Blackbirds).

Holding the 19th seed overall, staying in the Winner's Bracket was pretty inconceivable at the very start, and winning the entire thing was even more farfetched, but they managed to pull it off while making it look somewhat easy in the process. On the way, they took out some big name players with big name sponsors, with Hafu managing to provide some good entertainment in an attempt to get under MoB Godfather's skin with a "Hi Godfather" sign. Nonetheless, the feat was amazing, and you could clearly see that just by looking at the teams they had to beat to get there.

- No Mods No Chance TSG (Veex, ?, ?) [3-1]
- SK Gaming (Neilyo, Glorin, Serennia) [3-0]
- MoB G. Family (Offcell, Kollektiv, Mazud) [3-1]
- Got Game West (Hoodrych, Didy, Greenranger) [3-0]
- Evil Geniuses (Azael, Zyz, Spoh) [3-0]
- Frag Dominant DGFG (Emolol, Celex, Ely) [3-1]
Total: 18-3 W/L

Now the question here is do they deserve it? Being a totally subjective matter, my answer would be YES.

Hafu played a lot more calmly during this LAN tournament compared to the previous one in San Diego. She managed to extend far enough when needed, but made sure to not overextend. She did a very good job LOS'ing whenever she could, most notably in the final round vs FD when she was oom and innervated with Ely chasing her spamming Dispel (she managed to get the entire duration Innervate). And above that, Hafu did a good job coordinating drinks with intercept/hamstrings + fears. Aside from that, I think Hafu proved that she is indeed a top druid. Being totally subjective again, I would say Hafu's defensive plays this tournament was that of a top druid, but her offensive play lacked and there are areas where she could improve, those areas being offensive cycloning (see Celex) among others, as there were definitely times when matches could've ended earlier. Again though, overall a good performance.

Rhaegyn played amazingly this tournament, theres not really much bad things to say about his performance really. I mean, being a Warrior and placing top 3 would be impressive in itself, but taking first? Rhaegyn managed to do an amazing job peeling for Hafu, and that's probably because of all the shìt Hafu gave him when he messed up in San Diego. I mean, there was this one match against either DG or FD where Hafu was caught in cat/human form by the Rogue, and less than a second later, the Rogue is stuck in an intercept stun + disarm. In another match, you'd see Emolol intercept stunned and hamstrung immediately after opening on Glickz. Combine all of this with clutch aoe Fears, Spell Reflecting, and keeping as many people Hamstrung as possible, I would definately say Rhaegyn was a huge part of Team Orz winning this tournament. (The other big part is Glickz)

Glickz was definitely the MVP on the team with his multiclass play with Ret Pally and Warlock, but his skills definitely shines as a Warlock. Between spreading and reapplying DoTs, Glickz did a perfect job CC'ing players with Fear, keeping CoT up on targets, Devouring Magic on teammates, and Spell Locking enemies. It's hard to comment on his micro-management and his multi-tasking because it's at such a high level. For example, you'd see a sheep/root/nova on Rhaegyn, and it's devoured almost instantly, assuming the ability is up... which may seem like a very small play but is infact a huge difference in the match as it lets Rhaegyn keep pressure/MS up as well as saving the trinket. But in the end, between being on top of everything else, Glickz' Fears, clutch Spell Locks, positioning, and perfect management of globals are definitely his defining factors and what separates himself from other Warlocks like Didy. That incredibly clutch Spell Lock following a long mace stun (perfectly timed, not doubling up) in the final game on Ely while Celex was Ice Blocked was what sealed the deal in crowning them the MLG Orlando champs. If I had to choose an MVP for the tournament, it'd be between Glickz and Celex, and I actually find it odd how Glickz' role in Team Orz winning could be so easily overlooked.

Overall, it's the synergy of the players that won them this tournament. Hafu said somewhat jokingly "I'm carried by Glickz and Rhaegyn" after nearly insulting Rhaegyn's clutch plays as luck during the closing portion of the stream, but I'm going to definitely agree with her on that one as she was indeed somewhat carried by two very good teammates. She played well, don't get me wrong, but it was Rhaegyn's and Glickz' CLUTCH plays that ultimately won them the tournament.

US or GOMTV Tournament style? Which is more entertaining to watch?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:22:04 -0400

As I'm sure a lot of people already know, GOMTV tournaments play a completely different tournament style as opposed to US tournaments. Recently, I've been trying to watch all the GOMTV VoDs, and to be honest, it wasn't quite hard to watch at all. It was actually imo much more entertaining to watch, but I'll leave the explanations for a little later in this article.

In US tournaments, the style is usually a full 3v3 best of five double elimination style tournament. What that means is, if you lose while in the winners bracket, you get a chance to fight your way back to the finals in the losers bracket, where in the final matchup, you'd have to win two consecutive best of 3 series (or first to 6 wins, continuing from the previous series between the two teams). To be fair, this seems as the best way to rule out goodluck/badluck games. Each and every game is a 3v3 match. Comp switches and respecs are ONLY allowed after every 2 games. Characters are setup with any racial combinations and S2 armor/weapons the player desires, just like on the online tournament realms.

In GOMTV tournaments, the style is a 1v1 -> 3v3 -> 1v1 -> 3v3 -> 1v1, with 15 minute time limits for each match (which is then deemed a Draw). The 1v1 matches start off as a 3v3 match, where the team decides which player they want to send out and have the remaining two players leave the game as the gate opens. In the 3v3 matches, there is no comp switches and respecs available (correct me if I'm wrong). Character setups are done by admins of the tournament to replicate your character on Live, meaning if you have Warglaives on Live, you have Warglaives in the tournament. Of course this also means use of other gimmicks like Rocket Boots etc. as well.

Now which do I believe is better to watch/play? I'm going to have to say the GOMTV matches were more entertaining to watch by a huge margin (minus the nihilum vs FD finals, but thats attributed to skill and not tournament style anyway). The mixup between 1v1s and 3v3s gives a nostalgic feel to older WoW players of which where PvP skill was pretty much determined outside Orgrimmar and Ironforge in 1v1 duels. The ability to use gimmick items like Rocket Boots to shorten or prolong games really does add a bit of entertainment value as well, along with watching full PvP geared Rogues tearing apart Rogues with PvE + glaives. Moreover, the 1v1s create a bigger sense of rivalry between players, especially if they're the same class, as the matches really does bring the better player into perspective (making future rematches so much more interesting to watch). And lastly, the inability to switch comps/specs really does make mastering your main class/comp that much more important and vital towards tournament success. It promotes creating new strategies and playstyles against "counter comps" absolutely essential, while making mirror matches absolutely epic.

TLDR? GOMTV > US Tournament. I really hope future tournaments consider adding a style like this.

GOMTV VoD: http://www.gomtv.net/wow/vod/
MLG VoD: http://www.gotfrag.com/wow/story/42594/

PS. I might be a bit biased right from the start because GomTV intros were never boring..... 'Fragtoids' anybody?

t(._. t)

Spell Haste Dagger RE-CONFIRMED! RMP is the undisputed King?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:30:26 -0400

The elusive spell haste dagger has finally been re-confirmed yesterday by an ArenaJunkies member during a conversation with a GM. According to said GM, the missing item is indeed unintended and will be sold on arena vendors soon. (Source)

How does this affect the Arenas? Mages will be freecasting with 1 second Frostbolt/Poly, Priests will weapon swap to chaincast mana burns when left open, and people who are up to it will be weapon swapping midcast to get both haste and spell damage buffs (although it might not do much past the first cast if you really get technical about it).

How much will this one item affect the arenas?
Will RMP finally be the undisputed best 3v3 comp?
I'd think so.

t(._. t)

Kobe Responds to Shaq's Freestyle Diss Rap (Videos)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:57:41 -0400

Here's Shaq's original freestyle diss against Kobe:

Here is Kobe's response to Shaq:

Enjoy!

@MLG Toronto - Want To Add A WoW Circuit Here? Leave A Comment!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:26:24 -0400

Alright, technically I am supposed to be bugging the guys at MLG and GotFrag, trying to convince them about adding a PC (WoW) Circuit to MLG Toronto too. As it stands now, there is no PC Circuit at MLG Toronto. MLG Toronto is scheduled to take place in late August this year, similar to WSVG last year, it will be tied in with some comic convention and sci-fi event or something too. There will be a few guest appearances too, and if I recall correctly, it includes a few people like Super Girl Kara from TV show "Smallville", Bilbo Baggins from LOTR (or was it Froto?), some Star Trek guys, some Star Wars guys, and a bunch more. It'll definitely be a good event with a huge turnout like last year at WSVG. You'd be surprised about how many competitive teams are actually Toronto locals.

Anyway, I'll try to get some more info about MLG Toronto and edit it in later, but as it is now, there is no PC Circuit (but they are seriously thinking about adding it after the success from San Diego).

I will be getting in contact with the organizers at MLG and GotFrag soon, and I figured there are more WoW "junkies" who troll GR and AJ than anywhere else, so what better place than here and AJ to find people to show support in pushing a WoW circuit at MLG Toronto?

If you want another event to stream, or if you're a Toronto local and you want to attend a WoW circuit...

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT WITH A COMMENT!

@GotFrag - Suggestions For Making Future Coverage More Enjoyable

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:01:04 -0400

I'm not going to take anything away from the GotFrag's MLG SD coverage because it was honestly very well composed and by far the best WoW LAN coverage to date. Here are some suggestions some friends in BG9 mIRC and myself had that would most likely add to the spectating, making it an an even more pleasurable experience. I know some GotFrag people troll GR, so I'm posting here because I'm too lazy to register an account at GotFrag.

1.) Making the buff icon sizes a bit larger would make important buffs more easily seen by spectators.
2.) Increasing the size of the Pet Unit Frame because it was hard to see the pet's HP without squinting and leaning towards the monitor.
3.) Increasing the size of Player Unit Frames along with the cast bars to make reading what spells players are casting easier.
4.) Labelling which character's the camera is following (possibly first person PoV too?) would make some situations a lot clearer. There were times when the commentators would be talking about a specific druid while the spectators didn't know which druid was which on screen.
5.) Have Vhell stop twiddling his thumbs endlessly between matches during the fillers, it looks like theyre about to fall off.
6.) A few more interviews with other players would always be nice, maybe some follow ups asking why certain teams chose to do certain things or run certain compositions, plans for the next event, etc.
7.) Replay highlight moments (intense, funny, etc.) of the event between segments where that (annoying) WoW login screen music loops.

Remember this is all subjective from a few selected people including myself from BG9 mIRC. Feel free to add other suggestions to make the coverage better with a comment!

WotLK Death Knight Starting Area Sneak Peak! (Video)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:29:03 -0400

Here is a quick peak for those who haven't seen it yet, of the Death Knight starting area. I believe this is the starting area for both factions (don't quote me on this) and it's around the Light's Hope Chapel area between the Noxious Glad and the infamous Tyr's Hand.

I was told specifically that this area is to be called "Ebon Hold".

This video starts from where a new DK creation would start, and shows off some Vanilla WoW architecture. Vanilla WoW players should recognize and be refamiliarized with the Undercity/Naxxramus, EPL, and Tyr's Hand feeling in the new Death Knight starting area.

Anyway, here is the video.

Check out my previous blogs for more WotLK sneak peaks!
WotLK - Runeblade and Forum Avatars
WotLK - *ALL* World Terrain Sneak Peak
WotLK - Talent Tree Calculator Tool
WotLK - *NEW* Battleground, Ruby Dragonshrine Sneak Peak

WotLK - Death Knight EXCLUSIVE Rune Blade and Forum Avatars! (Pictures)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:52:22 -0400

Here is a shot of an in-game runeblade, obviously designed specifically for Death Knights and Death Knights only.

The symbols on the blade supposedly have a pulsing glow on it (don't quote me), and it DOES show enchant graphics (ie. mongoose, savagery, executioner, etc.).

My impression? I think it looks hella sick! Possibly the best looking sword in the game (imho)!

Impressive right? Yea.
Well here are the shots (from a WoW Insider friend) of recently exposed Blizzard Forum avatars for Death Knights for all available races!
Enjoy!

Check out my previous blogs for more WotLK sneak peaks!
WotLK - *ALL* World Terrain Sneak Peak
WotLK - Talent Tree Calculator Tool
WotLK - *NEW* Battleground, Ruby Dragonshrine Sneak Peak

WotLK ALL World Terrain Sneak Peak! (Video)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:20:59 -0400

Here it is, a view at all the new continents and areas available in WotLK through the eyes of a gnome on a private server. And yes, he does still travel at normal speed when using the 'S' key... I just wanted to get it out before Maldazaar comments about it and falls in love with himself all over again (much <3 Mald).

Again, as I've been saying a lot in by recent blogs, WotLK seems like its going to deliver. The terrain, architecture, and atmosphere in the next expansion looks -very- detailed and hence, very stunning. You can instantly tell that this is a new level of WoW design by the uniqueness and creativity involved in laying out the pieces.

Anyway, over the next day or two I plan to post a few more videos of WotLK leaks, probably not much about Death Knights since they're beginning to be quite common now and easy to find. I'll probably try to post videos of new 10-man and 25-man instances (they look SWEET). If requested though, I can post a few videos of Death Knights in action too.
If you're interested in WotLK videos, check out my previous blogs (includes a sneak peak at the new Battleground too!).

Oh yea , Age of Co-what?

Oh, before you press play, I have to let you know that theres no crazy violin quartet or shiz in the video like previously, you'll have to use your own music if you want it. But thats ok, if you're a Neilyo-head, just turn on some Muse/Radiohead and you're fine.

** Btw, if anybody here knows how to embed Vimeo videos on Gameriot, feel free to leave a comment on how that works, thanks!

WotLK Talent Trees Leaked! (Includes Death Knights, Druids, Mages, Priests, Warlocks, and Warriors)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:26:46 -0400

Lots of new stuff (may be old to some of you though), some actually do impress me while others don't. Since I don't plan to review all the new talents specifically I'm going to single out 2-3 of the ones that impressed me to most (and so people have to actually click into the blog to see whats going on). Lets keep it short and sweet.

Druid (Balance)
Starfall
Rank 0/1
Requires 50 points in Balance Talents
866 Mana, 30 yd range
Instant cast, 3 min cooldown

You summon a flurry of stars from the sky on all targets within 30 yards of the caster, each doing 500 Arcane damage, and an additional 170 Arcane (damage) to all nearby targets within 10 yards. Maximum 20 stars.

Wow? If you keep in mind the idea of new push-pull mechanics as well, having targets in rather close proximities of each other doesn't seem -that- unlikely. Provided you can hit 5 guys with this, thats about 1200dmg each person BEFORE +spell damage. It's also available at lvl 60 too, so there will probably be higher ranks for this spell too. Also consider the possibility of Seeding 1 or 2 people with a Warlock prior to using this.... wow!

Warlock (Destruction)
Decimate
Rank 0/1
Requires 50 points in Destruction Talents
Instant
Your next Shadow or Fire spell is instant cast, and does damage in the form of Chaos damage, ignoring all resistances, absorption, and immunity mechanics. After the end of the Decimated cast, you become exhausted, disabling you from casting a spell of the same school for 3 seconds.

Your next Incinerate, Shadowbolt, or Soul Fire spell will be an instant cast spell.

Holy ****! Giving Destruction Warlocks an AP-Pyro in the form of Decimate-SoulFire is already pretty amazing in itself, but also having it be Chaos damage? I've played a Destruction Warlock as my first toon strictly (never was cheese Soul Link pre-BC) and I'm considering going back to it just for this change...

I mean, a Dec-SF into a bubbled Paladin will be soooo refreshing. Finishing off the rogue might be viable too since Cheat Death is an absorption, and they can't even cloak it!. There is so much potential in this, it's quite ridiculous... and I love it!

There are some other nice ones too, I'm kind of interested in seeing how the Shadow Priest talents are going to come into play as well, and perhaps if full Fury Warriors will be somewhat managable in PvP? Who knows!

But yes, ok, enough blabbering, here are the talents shown in the F&F Alpha.

http://war-tools.darlinganime.com/index.php?i=deathknight2
http://war-tools.darlinganime.com/index.php?i=druid
http://war-tools.darlinganime.com/index.php?i=mage
http://war-tools.darlinganime.com/index.php?i=priest
http://war-tools.darlinganime.com/index.php?i=warlock
http://war-tools.darlinganime.com/index.php?i=warrior

Ruby Dragonshrine - Upcoming WotLK BG Sneak Peak, Attack & Defend w/ Siege! (Video)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:52:52 -0400

So here's a little sneak peak of the new upcoming WotLK BG called "Ruby Dragonshrine". This was done on some sandbox emulation of the WotLK Alpha files.

Impressions? Personally, even though the map isn't complete yet, the general overview has already been quite impressing. The idea is to attack and defend in combination with seige weapons and group ambushes etc. The elevations of the terrain brings about a whole new field of play that was never really "usable" in Vanilla and BC WoW. What I mean is, there are lots of ledges, LOS objects, etc. On top of that, this place is pretty huge.

The terrain itself is beautiful, it looks like a beach shore type of setting, with glowing spheres (unknown use) placed at random locations, probably to serve some sort of purpose in the win/loss of the BG.

The final objective is still unknown, but the outlook is good. This doesn't look like it's gonna be another flop like EotS was (is).

Anyway, here's the video, check it out yourself.

S4 Spell Haste Weapon, Macros, and Skill? Will Arenas Be Fun Again?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:30:59 -0400

A few days ago, a new S4 weapon called "BG Blade of Alacrity" was found on the PTRs and posted on MMO-Champion and WorldOfRaids. But how many people actually looked at how big of an impact this will have on arenas? Just thinking about 18% passive haste (about 0.2 seconds off GCD) stacked with Heroism/Bloodlust is mind-boggling. The 18% passive haste alone can already be pretty devasting itself.

First, take a look at the weapon.

(Click image to Enlarge)

So what possibilities am I talking about here? There are tonnes.
1.) 18% passive haste + Bloodlust -> Quick 5 second resses.
2.) 18% passive haste + Bloodlust -> Insane Mana Burning.
3.) 18% passive haste (Weapon Switch) + Bloodlust -> Fast Purge/Dispels.
4.) 18% passive haste -> Start Casting Heal -> Healing Weapon (switch) -> Spell finish casting. (Cast speed determined at the beginning of cast, healing amount determined at end of cast)

You could probably abuse this weapon further, but you get the idea.

So what can we expect from Season 4 in regards to macros?
You can pretty much expect all the GOOD healers to be using a lot of weapon switching macros next season. It could be just 1 macro to weapon switch at will, but possibly even more on top of that. For example, I can see all Purges with a "/equip BG Blade of Alacrity, /cast Purge" macro, and then heals with a "/equip BG Healing Weapon, /cast Heal" macro for fast and efficient swaps. How this exactly ties in with weapon swap GCD, I dunno, but I'm sure people will figure out a good way to abuse around it.

So does this change the arena meta-game? Does this seperate the sheep from the goat?
It's hard to say, but probably, yes and yes. A lot of games between good teams could possibly hinge on how effectively and efficiently someone abuses weapon swapping.

This will probably help Shaman/Priests the most, since a lot of games get drawn out until the Shaman manages to fully dispel a target. Those few seconds could make the difference between which team plays offensively and which team plays defensively. Plus, they have Bloodlust/Heroism, combine that with the mobility they got from instant Ghost Wolf.... easy OOC 5 second res?

This will help Priests out a lot, and I mean, Priests REALLY need more buffs anyway, amirite? O_O
Quick Bloodlust/Haste Mana-Burning will probably determine the outcomes to a lot of games in S4, and fast dispels too. Don't forget fast res'ing when teamed with a Shaman too.

But yea. I'm pretty excited to see how this weapon can single-handedly add to different styles of gameplay in S4. Learning how to weapon swap efficiently is going to take you far next season. If I had a Shaman/Priest, this would probably be the first thing I try to pick up next season!

SK-Gaming World First M'uru! Crazy PvP Ring? PVE to PVP?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Twoface) — Sat, 03 May 2008 22:15:22 -0400

First of all I'd like to congratulate SK-Gaming on getting the World First M'uru Kill! I've been watching live attempts on him myself and to see a guild manage to actually down him has to have INCREDIBLE coordination.

Here is the KILLSHOT.

(Click image to enlarge)

Check that healing ring out... thats some sick ring! Combine that with some of the Slivers that drop off M'uru and do we ressurrect the debate of PVE to PVP once again? I dunno about you, but I'd give all 5000 of my arena points for some of these Epic (not legendary) PVE drops I'm seeing! ><