Crossing the Streams #4 - Internet

Crossing the Streams - Part 4 of 4: Internet

The internet is definitely the fastest way to get up to date information about World of Warcraft.

There are several sources you might try:

Type	Content	Examples
Player Blogs	Player Experiences	You are here.
Databases	Information/Data/News	Thottbot.com
Community Sites	Player Experiences	livejournal.com
Official Sites	Information/Data/News	worldofwarcraft.com

Find more Player Blogs in the sidebar under the list "WoW Blogs". Databases and other sites are also listed under "WoW Reference."

Crossing the Streams #3 - Podcasts

Crossing the Streams - Part 3 of 4: Sound

I just recently began exploring the world of Podcasts by focusing on World of Warcraft content. But you don't need an iPod to listen to them; any MP3 player (or even Media Player or Quicktime) will do.

There are a lot of podcasts out there but these are two that I've listened to that I thought were worth the time. (Trust me there are those that are not worth your time.)

Recommended:

• Taverncast


• The Instance

In fact, I highly recommend Taverncast. I'm addicted to it now. I've been listening to the shows on my way in to work for the past few weeks. I started at episode one and now I'm up to about 15. A couple of players get together and discuss the game over a pint. Or two. The discussion is usually pretty intelligent and I've learned quite a number of play tactics from listening. On occasion they go off topic but usually it's pretty funny. One reason I may gravitate toward them is a) they aren't big into Raids 24/7/365; b) they're over the age of 18; and c) they reference pop culture the way I do.

Crossing the Streams #2 - Magazines

Crossing the Streams - Part 2 of 4: Print

Next up is Print. It's much more current than television. The World of Warcraft content I've seen is not necessarily tip based, but more peripheral - what's coming (great articles on the Burning Crusade), who's playing, etc... There are two PC Game magazines that I often read that regularly feature World of Warcraft. They are:

Computer Gaming World	PC Gamer

Computer Gaming World (CGW) partners with 1up.com and you can find one of what I consider their "flagship" articles online here: Wage Slaves about Gold Farming in MMOs (with a lot of discussion on WoW). (A truly meaty article including interviews with farmers.)

PC Gamer (pcgamer.com) is interesting because they've decided not to accept any ads from gold farmers. I don't know CGW's stance on that. Also, there's a Burning Crusade article they published in February that I keep hanging around to remind me of what's coming.

The other benefits of reading these magazines include articles about video cards, gaming PCs, etc... Plus I can take a look at all those games I'm telling myself that I am or am not missing (depending on the day) while I'm playing WoW.

Crossing the Streams #1 - Gamer TV

Crossing the Streams - Part 1 of 4: Television (good ol' television).

You can get information about World of Warcraft through television, however, the information has generally shown to be the most stale of the media available.

Determine if you get G4 TV from your cable or satellite service. It's a gamers network. Yup, a whole network all about Gaming.

With shows such as X-Play (reviews), Cinematech (game cut scenes or game play videos) or Cheat! (self explanatory) occasionally you'll see World of Warcraft or your other favorite games featured.

According to my DirecTV schedule on April 14th (10:30 am ET) they'll run the Cheat! Episode they first aired in 2005. I reaaaallly wish they would update this. For such a popular game you would think that there would be more programming or at least up to date programming.

Crossing the Streams - Introduction

How do you get your World of Warcraft info? In a four-part series I will present some alternatives to you including these media (streams):

Television ~

Print ~

Sound ~

Internet

Blizzard Engraved iPod Nano

You may have seen that Blizzard is sponsoring a Comic Contest (Rules, Submission Page). But did you see the kinda cool prize?

"Each month during the Contest one (1) qualified entrant will be chosen by Sponsor to receive a prize package consisting of: One (1) Apple Nano 2GB iPod with an approximate retail value of $199.99; one (1) copy of Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy Volume 1 Mangawith an approximate retail value of $9.99; and one (1) copy of Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy Volume 2 Mangawith an approximate retail value of $9.99."

But if you don't catch the picture of the iPod you might not see the cool engraving on the back. It's not what we might call "Epic" but it is certainly cool. I'm going to have to read these contest rules and see if I can Photoshop my way into it (since I can't draw to save my life).

And the sooner the better because:

"Original Comics, once submitted, will be considered for all successive monthly prizes during the remainder of the Contest Period."

(The emphasis is mine on both quotes from the contest rules.)

Patch Types

I hadn't seen this yet. It's a Blizzard post that I found linked from a story on the Worldofwarcraft.com home page about today's small patch (1.10.1) .

These are the different types of patches:

To provide better communication with our players, we would like to inform our community about the various methods used to update World of Warcraft. The following are the four major methods of updating the game:

Content patch - The content patch introduces major additions and/or changes to the game, whether in terms of functionality, content, economy, social interaction, or combat. For example, we recently opened up the dungeon Maraudon, as well as adding the priest spell Prayer of Fortitude as part of the same content patch. Content patches require a maintenance period of several hours and are accompanied by a download and patch notes.

Hotfix - A hotfix is a change made to the game deemed critical enough that it cannot be held off until a regular content patch. Hotfixes require only a server-side change with no download and can be implemented with no downtime, or a short restart of the realms. Because there is no download component to a hotfix, there are no downloadable patch notes. Instead, we will announce hotfix information through the forums, the in-game message of the day, and in the Server Alert window on the login screen.

Minor patch - A minor patch is identical to a hotfix, with the exception that a minor patch requires a download and will be accompanied by patch notes.

Localization patch - The game is currently translated into three languages with plans to introduce more. While not often, there are times when we must make changes to text within the game to accommodate the various languages, and this takes the form of a localization patch. Localization patches, when they occur, take place across all language versions of the game and are accompanied by a download and patch notes. Oftentimes, bug fixes will also be included with a localization patch to better utilize the downtime. These bug fixes will be documented in the patch notes as well.

We hope that this information provides more insight to our players regarding the update process, and in the future, we will use this guideline in order to keep our players informed on the World of Warcraft update process.

Direct link to the sticky post.

Happy Dance - Benecast is back!

There are a couple reasons that I'm doing the Happy Dance: This is my 100th Post. Benecast is Back baby! Ok that's it; just those two reasons. My brother came over and told me that newer versions of Benecast work with Patch 1.10 (I downloaded it here from ui.worldofwar.net). So technically it never left; I just needed to update my mods. (Should follow my own advice, eh?)

Seriously, if you're a caster in any way shape or form, you should try out the Benecast mod. Buttons line up under your own portrait as well as near the portrait of your target. If you want to (Ninja) Buff someone it will select the highest available version you have that will work with the level of that player. (No more - "Too High for that Level.")

/dance Trump, /dance!

I paused the TiVo, speechless. Did I just see that?

Did I just see Donald Trump do the Human Female dance from World of Warcraft?

Unpause. Replay. Replay again. Pause.

Yes. Replay, replay, replay, replay.... pause.



Yes, I did just see Trump do the human female dance from World of Warcraft.

Luckily, there are 6 million people on this earth who can appreciate what I just saw. Folks, this post is for you.

Note - I must give great oodles of credit and props to this post from TVgasm.com for the most excellent screen capture which I thought I'd never find (and episode recap).

Uldaman Jones

Luckily, Indiana Joneswas in our party when we went to Uldaman.