w797 – The Collection of Game Post

Blizzard ramps up 2008 with World of Warcraft tournament and $120,000 on the line.
Blizzard begins its ramp up towards another WoW Arena Tournament for 2008. Currently the prize money is being quoted at $120,000 with $75k being given to the Grand Finals winner. In a change from last year Blizzard will be going with a 3v3 format. This should solidify the three one three format as the premier play style for competitive WoW after WSVG and Dreamhack/ESL both picked this format over the past year.

“Within a structured format comprising two six-week-long qualifying rounds, players will battle on special tournament realms purely dedicated to the competitive format of 3v3 Arena matches,” said Blizzard on its official WoW website, “The characters used on these realms are new level 70s that you create, decked to the brim with PvP armor and weapons.”

The registration for the event hasn’t been opened yet but each account participating will be required to pay $20 to entry the online event culminating in a LAN final which is expected to be at Blizzcon yet again.

Check out Blizzard’s full release of information on their site here and the location of registration sign ups when they open.

From: http://www.gotfrag.com/wow/story/41682/

Blizzard’s Rob Pardo has criticized micro-transactions in MMOGs, saying the increasingly prevalent payment system is unfair to gamers in subscription-based games like World of Warcraft.

Pardo, the senior vice-president of game design at Blizzard, made the comments during the Q&A session following his GDC address entitled “Blizzard’s Approach to Multiplayer Game Design.” According to a WoW Insider transcript, Pardo was asked if Blizzard had considered implementing micro-transactions in World of Warcraft. “We chose to go with the subscription-based model instead of that approach,” he replied. “We’ve taken the approach that we want players to feel like it’s a level playing field once they’re in WoW.”

“Outside resources don’t play into it – no gold buying, etc. We take a hard line stance against it,” he continued. “What you get out of micro-transactions is kind of the same thing and I think our player base would feel betrayed by it. I think that’s something else you have to decide on up-front instead of implementing it later.”

When it was suggested micro-transactions might make it easier for casual gamers to maintain pace with more serious players, Pardo said, “They aren’t going to be the ones spending the money.”

From: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/81640-Blizzard-VP-Says-No-Micro-Transactions-for-World-of-Warcraft

Vollee, a relative newcomer to the field of wireless games, has a disruptive plan to leapfrog anything else established mobile gamemakers are currently working on. With streaming technology, any PC or console title can be played on a mobile phone, and we’ve already seen how the service handles a massively multiplayer online PC game: Second Life.

Vollee’s big idea is reliant on their relationship with publishers. Linden Lab, which produces Second Life, and Activision, which has merged with World of WarCraft developer and publisher Blizzard, have both already announced partnerships with Vollee. Since Second Life proves that PC MMOs can be streamed to mobile phones, the idea of 10 million World of WarCraft users accessing their accounts and controlling their characters remotely starts to seem much more likely.

Vollee works in a similar fashion to online TV and other streaming multimedia. Vollee runs the game off servers on the back end and constantly pipes information to the user’s phones, so the game isn’t actually being rendered on the phone. Your 3G (third generation) phone only has to run Vollee’s 100kb client, and the game will stream continually from their servers. Better make sure you’re not paying by the bit, however, because Vollee’s model only makes sense with an unlimited data-access plan.

The results are stunning. A PC-perfect version of Second Life runs on a phone that could barely handle some of the most elemental mobile games. Vollee also optimizes the controls and user interface for phones, so in Second Life’s case, instead of having pop-up windows for chatting or maps, a tabulated system lets you switch between each screen. It may not have keyboard-and-mouse support, but Vollee tries to make the keypad perform most of the same functions, so moving and flying around in Second Life felt quite natural and looked great to us.

The visual fidelity, while a bit grainy (think YouTube-quality resolution), was still leagues beyond any 3D game capable of being rendered by the phone itself. Even the most advanced 3D phones can’t match the visuals of a current PC or console title, and after playing a streaming PC game on a relatively low-powered phone, it’s hard to imagine how current mobile titles can compete.

Vollee requires a 3G phone, but these are becoming much more common. Adoption rates for 3G phones are pretty high, but many factors determine the purchasing decisions of consumers, and technical specs are rarely one of them (fashion seems to be among consumers’ top priority). With more Vollee partners expected to be announced soon and an open Second Life mobile beta starting in May (sign up at http://vollee.com/secondlife), now is definitely the time to get on board with a 3G phone to catch this potentially massive wave of innovation.

From: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3166455

WoW.IncGamers is speculating that the World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King beta may begin in June:
These World Wide Invitationals by Blizzard have increased in size since they started some 4 years ago. Honestly, who even knew there was one in 2006 before they shocked everyone last year with StarCraft II in Korea? One change from last year is that they haven’t actually said they will announce anything new and big. That could mean that they just haven’t said anything yet, and some game is on the way (as June is still far away), or things are just as simple as it looks: There are no new games to be announced this time around.

That tasty bullet point; “And more…” is very alluring though! A lot of hints point at Blizzard starting a Wrath of the Lich King Beta (and/or StarCraft II Beta) shortly after WWI, or that they will announce a Beta Date during the event. Meanwhile, we can see that the StarCraft II production is coming along nice as well, and all those Q & A sessions (157 thus far!) with Karune & Xordiah certainly suggests they want to be as proactive as possible with the StarCraft II community.

From:

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/36834/Wrath-of-the-Lich-King-Beta-in-June

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that the Arena Tournament website is now live, allowing you to learn how newly-created Tournament characters will quickly transform into fearsome gladiators armed to the teeth, what types of gameplay await you in the Arena Tournament realms, the Tournament season structure, and many more details – including how to register. You can visit the Arena Tournament Information Page now for Tournament registration (coming soon), up-to-date information and news on the Tournament, and screenshots of the Tournament realms.

Zuluhed the Whacked was a powerful orc shaman, leader of the Dragonmaw clan. They fought in Azeroth during the First and Second Wars. The Dragonmaw was one of the strongest supporters of Blackhand, and after his death, they pledged themselves into the service of the Black Tooth Grin Clan. Its leaders, Rend and Maim, handed Zuluhed the Demon Soul, and ordered him to use it to capture the dragonqueen Alexstrasza. But his shamanistic magics weren’t powerful enough to tap into the artifact, and so Zuluhed used the warlock skills of his warrior Nekros Skullcrusher in order to tame and capture the dragonqueen. This provided a valuable aid to the orcs, as her dragons were used to wreak havoc among the humans. Zuluhed trusted Nekros with the Demon Soul, and commanded the orc operations in the captured Khaz Modan during the Second War. After the Horde was defeated, the Dragonmaw was one of the few clans still standing. While Zuluhed was fighting the human attacks near Dun Algaz, a strike force led by Rhonin attacked Grim Batol and freed the dragonqueen. After the loss of their greatest asset, the clan began to lose ground, and was eventually defeated and captured by the Alliance. Zuluhed currently resides in Outland and serves Illidan.

Appears in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Appears in the novelization Day of the Dragon
Appears in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Forest Troll leader, helpful in instrumenting and coordinating attacks against the Alliance on Azeroth during the Second War. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but many trolls wait in anticipation for the day that Zul’jin returns, heralding it as a new beginning for the tribes. He may yet appear in the Burning Crusade, possibly in the new Forest Troll instance of Zul’Aman.

Appears in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Appears in World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade

Ysera the Dreamer is one of the five Dragon Aspects that watch over the world of Azeroth. The green dragon is the younger sister to Alexstrasza and empowered by the titan Eonar to be bound to the Emerald Dream in an eternal trance to forever watch over the wilds and the druids in the Emerald Dream. In any form, Ysera is almost always seen with her eyes closed as she is both in the mortal world and the Emerald Dream. It was believed that there is a connection between Ysera and Elune, as it has been said separately that both are the mother of Cenarius. However, it has been released that Ysera and Elune are not the same. While Elune did birth Cenarius, she saw that he was not of her realm and gave him to Ysera, who raised him. Ysera became furious when Archimonde killed Malorne and severely wounded Cenarius.

Ysera rules the Emerald Dream from the “Eye of Ysera,” a golden dome which has no fixed point within the realm appearing wherever Ysera wishes it to. To enter the Emerald Dream unbidden or destroy life there is to earn Ysera’s and her brood’s unending wrath.

Appears in Warcraft: War of the Ancients trilogy
Appears in the novelization Warcraft: Day of the Dragon

Not much is currently known about Xi’ri – he is a Naaru and member of the Sha’tar who went to Shadowmoon Valley and fought a successful action against Illidan and gained a foothold in the area. Members of the Aldor and Scryers are sent on a regular basis by A’dal to assist him.

Lord Xavius was a former Night Elf who ascended through the Quel’dorei to be the Counselor to Queen Azshara. Intrigued by the art of magic, he worked his way through the Highborne with such dedication that he gave up his own eyes for magical orbs allowing him to understand his art better. He led the creation of the portal that would allow Sargeras to venture into Kalimdor. He captured Malfurion Stormrage’s spirit form, who later escaped and killed Xavius. His spirit was captured by Sargeras, who tortured him and then resurrected him as the first Satyr, and sent him into the world to fill the ranks of the Legion. Later in the War of the Ancients, Malfurion, in a desperate bid to save Tyrande from the clutches of the Legion, kills Xavius for the second (and more permanent) time by turning him into a tree.

Appears in the novelization War of the Ancients: The Well of Eternity