Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Patch 3.3 PTR: Blizzard unveils Tier 10








Blizzard seems to be heading off the data-mining race by showcasing the Tier 10 armor sets in their own little page. While not all of the class armor is available for viewing, the gallery shows more than what is currently available through other World of Warcraft news sites -- a change of pace from the days where data-mined previews are king. Instead, Blizzard makes it easy for players to see what's in store for them in Icecrown.

Currently, the 
Death KnightDruidHunter, and Warrior tier armor sets are available for viewing. The Death Knight armor set is different from the Warrior's, which indicates a return to class-based armor models. But wait... what's this? The Warrior armor seems to preview two colors of armor -- one blue worn by a dwarf, and a red version worn by an orc. Does this indicate that even though the armor models will be class-based, the coloration will be different according to faction? That would be an interesting way to address the question of class- and faction-based armor design. A look at the Druid armor set reveals very minor color differences between the Tauren and Night Elf versions, however.




Patch 3.3 PTR: Disenchant as a loot option




As it stands right now, when a blue or epic item is dropped in an instance, players have several options to choose from: Need, greed or pass. A recent glance at the new Patch 3.3PTR UI changes shows some new strings:
  • LOOT_ROLL_DISENCHANT = "%s has selected Disenchant for: %s";
  • LOOT_ROLL_DISENCHANT_SELF = "You have selected Disenchant for: %s";
  • LOOT_ROLL_WON_NO_SPAM_DE = "%1$s won: %3$s |cff818181(Disenchant - %2$d)|r";
The first two lines mean that other players in your party or yourself have selected the dropped item to be disenchanted. The last line means if roll spam is turned off, what you'll end up seeing is something like "Player has won Item (to be disenchanted)". I suspect how the priority on loot will work is players who select Need will get first crack at it, followed by Greed rollers. Disenchant would be the third option. Pass would be last.
I have this strange feeling that we're not going to see that many players passing on an item anymore even with no enchanters in the group. This will be helpful during raids where there are no enchanters around to help break any items that aren't going to be used.

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Patch 3.3: Emblems of Triumph to be the new base emblems


The floor is being raised again. Bornakk has stated that for the time being, the intent is to have everything that drops Emblems of Conquest drop Emblems of Triumph inpatch 3.3. This will certainly players allow easier access to tier 9 level gear. Players who may not be at the upper tier of raiding will still gain access to the gear and weapons that will offer them a fighting chance against Arthas. Along with this change, quests like the heroic daily will drop the all new Emblem of Frost which will be the highest level emblem in the game. There are two other methods to obtain these emblems. The obvious route will be to take down Icecrown's raid bosses. The final method is to complete the new weekly raid queststhat offer 10 Emblems as a reward for defeating a certain raid boss.
Hooray for accessibility!
Again, be advised that things may change and these aren't finalized.

Oldest human remains found in Ethiopia. Dated to 4.4 Million years ago.


WASHINGTON — The story of humankind is reaching back another million years with the discovery of "Ardi," a hominid who lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia.
The 110-pound, 4-foot female roamed forests a million years before the famous Lucy, long studied as the earliest skeleton of a human ancestor.
This older skeleton reverses the common wisdom of human evolution, said anthropologist C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University.
Rather than humans evolving from an ancient chimp-like creature, the new find provides evidence that chimps and humans evolved from some long-ago common ancestor — but each evolved and changed separately along the way.

"This is not that common ancestor, but it's the closest we have ever been able to come," said Tim White, director of the Human Evolution Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
The lines that evolved into modern humans and living apes probably shared an ancestor 6 million to 7 million years ago, White said in a telephone interview.
But Ardi has many traits that do not appear in modern-day African apes, leading to the conclusion that the apes evolved extensively since we shared that last common ancestor.
A study of Ardi, under way since the first bones were discovered in 1994, indicates the species lived in the woodlands and could climb on all fours along tree branches, but the development of their arms and legs indicates they didn't spend much time in the trees. And they could walk upright, on two legs, when on the ground.
Formally dubbed Ardipithecus ramidus — which means root of the ground ape — the find is detailed in 11 research papers published Thursday by the journal Science.
"This is one of the most important discoveries for the study of human evolution," said David Pilbeam, curator of paleoanthropology at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
"It is relatively complete in that it preserves head, hands, feet and some critical parts in between. It represents a genus plausibly ancestral to Australopithecus — itself ancestral to our genus Homo," said Pilbeam, who was not part of the research teams.
Scientists assembled the skeleton from 125 pieces.
Lucy, also found in Africa, thrived a million years after Ardi and was of the more human-like genus Australopithecus.
"In Ardipithecus we have an unspecialized form that hasn't evolved very far in the direction of Australopithecus. So when you go from head to toe, you're seeing a mosaic creature that is neither chimpanzee, nor is it human. It is Ardipithecus," said White.

White noted that Charles Darwin, whose research in the 19th century paved the way for the science of evolution, was cautious about the last common ancestor between humans and apes.
"Darwin said we have to be really careful. The only way we're really going to know what this last common ancestor looked like is to go and find it. Well, at 4.4 million years ago we found something pretty close to it," White said. "And, just like Darwin appreciated, evolution of the ape lineages and the human lineage has been going on independently since the time those lines split, since that last common ancestor we shared."

Some details about Ardi in the collection of papers:
— Ardi was found in Ethiopia's Afar Rift, where many fossils of ancient plants and animals have been discovered. Findings near the skeleton indicate that at the time it was a wooded environment. Fossils of 29 species of birds and 20 species of small mammals were found at the site.
— Geologist Giday WoldeGabriel of Los Alamos National Laboratory was able to use volcanic layers above and below the fossil to date it to 4.4 million years ago.
— Ardi's upper canine teeth are more like the stubby ones of modern humans than the long, sharp, pointed ones of male chimpanzees and most other primates. An analysis of the tooth enamel suggests a diverse diet, including fruit and other woodland-based foods such as nuts and leaves.
— Paleoanthropologist Gen Suwa of the University of Tokyo reported that Ardi's face had a projecting muzzle, giving her an ape-like appearance. But it didn't thrust forward quite as much as the lower faces of modern African apes do. Some features of her skull, such as the ridge above the eye socket, are quite different from those of chimpanzees. The details of the bottom of the skull, where nerves and blood vessels enter the brain, indicate that Ardi's brain was positioned in a way similar to modern humans, possibly suggesting that the hominid brain may have been already poised to expand areas involving aspects of visual and spatial perception.
— Ardi's hand and wrist were a mix of primitive traits and a few new ones, but they don't include the hallmark traits of the modern tree-hanging, knuckle-walking chimps and gorillas. She had relatively short palms and fingers which were flexible, allowing her to support her body weight on her palms while moving along tree branches, but she had to be a careful climber because she lacked the anatomical features that allow modern-day African apes to swing, hang and easily move through the trees.
— The pelvis and hip show the gluteal muscles were positioned so she could walk upright.
— Her feet were rigid enough for walking but still had a grasping big toe for use in climbing.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics of the University of California, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and others

Story From The New York Post.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Call of Duty Movie Further Along In Development





It's no secret that Activision is trying to leverage its brand name video games into feature films -- it would be crazy not to. There have been rumors that the company is actively working to bring Call of Duty to the big screen, but as yet, Activision hasn't said anything about it. Last week, though, a trademark request was filed for the words "Call of Duty" in connection with: “pre-recorded movies featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure, music, theatrical performances and/or animation”.
This is far from confirmation that anyone is working on a CoD movie -- you have to file these kinds of requests to protect your property -- but it wouldn't be surprising if a movie version is in the works, or at least in someone's mind. But I gotta wonder "why?"
I understand, ultimately, that people make movies to make money, but I honestly can't think of a way it would help a movie called "Call of Duty" to be based on the video games. There is no centralized, recognizable character to the series; there is no interesting dramatic angle the games take on World War II; and the Call of Duty games are heavily influenced by movies already. They may not be directlybased on World War II movies, but Call of Duty are so heavily influenced by Hollywood's take on the war, the games likely wouldn't exist without the movies that came first. So, a Call of Duty movie would, essentially, be a movie based on a video game based on movies. In short: I don't think Saving Private Ryan has anything to worry about artistically from a Call of Duty movie.




Ten Dimensions


Bracelet Fail

Bracelet Fail: "



epic fail pictures


Picture by: dunno source Submitted by: Wing Jack Chu via Fail Uploader







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Monday, October 5, 2009

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Achievements Revealed

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Achievements Revealed

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A Look at Racial Totem Skins

With the release of 3.3 and Cataclysm, Shamans are now receiving newly skinned totems based on their race. As awesome as this sounds I am slightly dissappointed in the look of these new totems. It seems to me that Blizzard needs to take more time on these considering they are the key factor that really separates Shamans from all the other caster classes. To me, these totems are too thin and lack a very good "Shamanistic" look.

[Dwarf Totems]


[Troll Totems]


[Orc Totems]

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Patch 3.3 - What's on the horizon for hunters




Welcome back to the Scattered Shots. Instead of continuing the So You Want to be a Hunterseries, this week I thought it would be good to take a break and review the changes in Patch 3.3. So join me, Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington from the Hunting Lodge as we explore the ins and out of what's instore for us hunters.
Patch 3.3 is on the PTR and as we download the patch we've been busily reviewing the patch notes along with the unofficial information from posted up over on MMO-Champion. Without giving everything away in the first paragraph, let's just say that this is looking to be one awesome patch. Without going on about how good it is, let's take a look at what's being said.

From the PTR Patch notes we got to see some insight where Blizzard's development team is taking our class.


You can find the full story here at WoW.com

Patch 3.3 PTR: New Tauren skins found




Handclaw of the Scrolls of Lore Forums has uncovered something very intriguing in the Patch 3.3 PTR data files: New Tauren skins. Specifically, it looks like tribal war paint covering the face, arms, and chest, taking the form of bleeding wings on the chest. There's red, white, and blue color versions for both males and females.

There's quite a few Tauren fans on the WoW.com staff, and we've been having quite a few conversations about the new Tauren lore and their place in Cataclysm, so you can bet this new discovery has us all atwitter. What could it mean though? There's a few possibilities.

For starters, there's the introduction of the Sunwalkers, the Tauren Paladins and Priests, coming with Cataclysm. We've been getting progressive story bits about many of the new class and race combos as the patches progress, so it seems very possible that we could see Aponi and Tahu begin their training, with these new skins being tribal warpaint, a sign of their devotion to the sun. Could the wings be the Sunwalker version of Avenging Wrath?

The other possibility (which is strongly suggested by the black fur of the Taurens in the data mined picture) is that these could be Grimtotems. Rumors strongly state that Garrosh is killing Cairne in Cataclysm (or perhaps even sooner, especially since Baine looks like he may be making an appearance in Patch 3.3). I'm not so sure it'll go down that simply, and I'm more leaning toward an assassination orchestrated by Magatha. Either way, I'm also liking the idea of the Grimtotem allying with Garrosh in a move to consolidate their power in the wake of the political upheaval among the Tauren and the Horde. If Garrosh makes his move in Patch 3.3 to consolidate his political power and show himself a reasonable candidate for Warchief, being backed by a cadre of Grimtotem Bersekers painted for war would make him appear all the more awe inspiring. It would also explain why, according to the recent lore revelations from the PC Gamer UK article, Garrosh is still allowing Tauren in the middle of Ogrimmar when he's evicted the other non-Orc races.

Of course, the third option is that this a test for a new character customization option in Cataclysm, namely, tattoos. RPers and more aesthetically minded players know that it seems like pulling teeth to get Blizzard to implement cosmetic non-progression oriented character customization (Seriously, just steal stuff from LoTRO, Blizzard! I won't tell if you don't!), so even the whiff of a possibility for new stuff is pretty exciting. Then again, we've seen tatooed NPCs before, such as in the Wolfcult of Grizzly Hills, so this could still just be an NPC thing.

There's probably more things it could be, or it could be a thing that just stays in the files and doesn't pop up until Cataclysm, but either way, I'm pretty excited about the possibilities. Stay tuned to WoW.com. If they show up anywhere exciting, I'll be here to fanboy out with you over it for sure.





Saturday, October 3, 2009

"Thank you, cum again."

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Photo from Randydeluxe. find him at http://twitter.com/Randydeluxe

Arcane Brilliance: Patch 3.3 PTR changes for mages





It's the weekend, and that means it's time for another edition of Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column where the boys are boys, the girls are girls, and the warlocks are smoking husks that only vaguely resemble the humanoid shapes they once assumed.

We're taking a small break this week from our ongoing leveling guide parade. There are some things we need to discuss, you and me. We need to have a talk. Don't worry! It's nothing bad! We're getting a pretty sweet buff, actually. Well, arcane mages are, anyway. We just wanted to discuss it with you, that's all. Oh, we're sorry! Did you think Arcane Brilliance was breaking up with you or something? No, we'd never do that! Arcane Brilliance still thinks you're sexy.

See, it's this whole patch 3.3 thing that's happening right now. It's got Arcane Brilliance all hot and bothered. The other columns are too busy to talk to Arcane Brilliance about it. Totem Talk is all excited about 'new totems' or some other such nonsense, Lichborne is too busy being overpowered, and Bood Pact... well, you didn't hear it from me but Blood Pact is written by a warlock. I know! Right here at this otherwise reputable website! Also, Blood Pact smells funny. I think it's a gland problem. It's very embarrassing. I shouldn't be telling you this. And Blood Pact drinks its own pee. Okay. That's enough. I'm done now. I've said too much. Keep this to yourself, all right? Loose lips sink ships and all that.

Jump on past the break and we'll discuss the patch 3.3 changes for mages.
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New Modern Warfare 2 Trailer Set for Sunday

Even if you're not a fan of the NFL, you'll probably be tuning in anyway.


October 2, 2009 - A new trailer for Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is set to debut on NBC's Sunday Night Football this coming Sunday. 

According to 
USA Today, the new trailer will run during the NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Diego Chargers on October 4th (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT). 

The picture below is a screen capture from the new trailer, so drool over that until then.




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Story from: http://pc.ign.com/articles/103/1030992p1.html

Friday, October 2, 2009

WoW Battlegroups Restarts

We will be performing a brief maintenance on the realms associated with the Bloodlust and Vengeance Battlegroups at 5am PDT on 10/03/09. While not a standard restart, downtime is still expected to be quite short as we are making only minor adjustments. The following realms will be affected:

Aman'Thul
Barthilas
Blackrock
Caelestrasz
Dath'Remar
Dreadmaul
Frostmourne
Frostwolf
Khaz'goroth
Kil'jaeden
Kilrogg
Nagrand
Ner'zhul
Proudmoore
Sen'jin
Silver Hand
Thaurissan
Tichondrius
Vek'nilash


Aegwynn
Akama
Chromaggus
Draka
Drak'thul
Eitrigg
Garithos
Gundrak
Hakkar
Jubei'Thos
Khaz Modan
Korgath
Kul Tiras
Malorne
Mug'thol
Muradin
Rexxar
Runetotem
Saurfang
Thorium Brotherhood 



Taken from : http://blue.mmo-champion.com/

Dethalbum II -- IN STORES NOW

dethklok dethalbum 2 Pictures, Images and Photos


Track list:


  1. "Bloodlines" (from "Dethcarraldo") - 3:30
  2. "The Gears" (from "Dethsources") - 4:21
  3. "Burn the Earth" (from "Dethvengeance") - 3:59
  4. "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence" (from "Dethecution") - 4:35
  5. "Black Fire Upon Us" (from "Dethrelease", AKA "Black Fire Upon Us") - 5:40
  6. "Deth Support" (from "The Revengencers", AKA "Sicklok") - 2:42
  7. "The Cyborg Slayers" (Original) - 4:16
  8. "I Tamper with the Evidence at the Murder Site of Odin" (from "Dethlessons") - 4:30
  9. "Murmaider II: The Water God" (Original) - 5:43
  10. "Comet Song" (from "P.R. Klok", AKA "P.R. Pickles") - 3:48
  11. "Symmetry" (from "Dethfashion") - 4:31
  12. "Volcano" (from "Dethdoubles") - 4:18
This album is amazing. Vocals somewhat differ from the first album, but Brendon Small does a nice job of keeping it metal.

EA And 20th Century Fox Team Up For Spore Movie

Adapting video games for the big screen has become more popular than ever in the past few years (Resident EvilSilent HillMax PayneDoom, etc.), and yet movies based on video games are, for the most part, below average at best. However, that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from wanting to bring popular gaming franchises to movie screens, and no one knows this better than Electronic Arts. 

For as 
Variety reports, Twentieth Century Fox and EA are teaming up to adapt Will Wright’s evolution simulator Spore into an animated feature. Ice Age's Chris Wedge will direct, The Princess and the Frogscribes Greg Erb and Jason Oremland will write the script, and EA and Blue Sky Studios will co-produce.

This new deal means that EA now has six movies based on its properties destined for movie theaters:
The SimsArmy of TwoDante’s InfernoDead Space and Mass Effect. While Spore definitely seems like it has the most potential of any of these adaptations, I’m actually much more interested in seeing what becomes of Bioshock, since that’s a world and a story that I'm utterly fascinated with and the more time I can spend inside of it the better. Then again, a movie about someone building and decorating a house and then reading a lot so as to prevent their stove from catching on fire does sound pretty damn riveting.

What do you think of 
Spore: The Movie? Which EA game do you think will make the best movie?



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