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Thursday, March 19th, 2009
| Time |
Event |
| 9:34a |
Internet Growth Driven By Online Gaming German Social Affairs Minister Wants WoW Rated "Adults Only"GI is reporting that the rising popularity of online gaming is currently a great influence on the overall growth of internet usage, which increased by approximately 50% in the past 12-18 months. "You get companies not related to gaming which are interested in hooking up to our network because there are certain games which run on our network that make it relevant for end-users," said Vlad Ihora, head of gaming at TeliaSonera International Carrier the company that looks after Blizzard Europe's networking solutions for World of Warcraft . "It's not like certain of our customers aren't feeling it already, but investments in, or maintaining of Internet presence or services that people use from our side are essential. The Internet is no longer a luxury to have, or experiment in - it's a really established sector, and this sector will only benefit from a streamlining of costs in other sectors which are far more exposed to general changes." The man has a point. Where would this world be without the World of Warcraft? | | 9:38a |
German Social Affairs Minister Wants WoW Rated "Adults Only" Mechtchild Ross-Luttman, the Minister for Social Affairs in Lower Saxony, is calling for tougher age restrictions on videogames in Germany, including a reclassification of the hit MMOG World of Warcraft to "Adults Only." Ross-Luttmann wants the age restriction imposed not only on "killer games" like Counter-Strike and other FPSes but also on games with particularly "addictive" qualities, like World of Warcraft. A recent survey of 44,610 ninth grade students by the KFN, the criminal research institute of Lower Saxony, classified 14,000 of them as addicted to games and another 23,000 more in "serious danger of becoming addicted" - an 83 percent rate of addiction or near-addiction that, at face value, makes videogames among the deadliest and most destructive creations in human history. Ross-Luttman said she would present her figures and proposals to other youth and social ministers at their next national meeting. "Parents must know what danger potential exists in their children's bedrooms," she said. But even that irony-laden statement isn't enough for some, including Sven Petke, acting chairman of the Christian Democratic Union party in Brandenberg. He wants all violent games banned outright in Germany along with inappropriate internet content, for which he believes ISPs should be held responsible. "The time for excuses is over," he said. "We need web filtering by the ISPs to operate." This latest uproar against videogames comes in response to the murders of 15 people in the German town of Winnenden by a 17-year-old teenager who played videogames including Counter-Strike and Far Cry 2. Excited media reports following the killing spree made a point of mentioning his gaming habits and while German authorities appeared eager to place the blame on violent games, there appears to be little concern over the fact that he was a troubled youth who was receiving counseling for depression and apparently had ready access to his father's collection of 15 firearms. | | 9:39a |
Date my avatar I have this gamer friend, a 17-year-old knock-out with strawberry blond hair and a J. Crew style, who looks nothing like the dark warrior she professes to be. I'll call her "Svenna" — after her gaming avatar — and say that she makes me feel older than the 10-odd years that separate us. Her e-mails are peppered with an Internet slang that is both hip and incomprehensible, so that I'm secretly glad when I puzzle out a new one but feel old and passé when another stumps me. She spends her waking hours glued to a MacBook, interacting online in ways I can only imagine. Svenna once tried to explain the dimensions of her game of choice — the weaponry, the characters, the geography. I asked about points and lives, as if World of Warcraft were an updated version of Pac-Man. Finally, she offered to let me watch her play, as though seeing Internet gaming in action were the only way to make my outmoded brain understand. Svenna showed me her avatars and their gear, the outfits they wear and the powers they wield. She introduced me to her world of night elves and gnomes, pointing out the long-limbed, heavilymuscled trolls. "Trolls are kind of hot," she said. Choosing her healer avatar over one of her warrior characters, Svenna spent the next 30 minutes tending to the online wounded, stopping to chat with other players and blowing kisses at passing trolls. Do people ever get together through World of Warcraft?" I asked. Svenna nodded her head, never taking her eyes off the screen. "It definitely happens," she said. Which got me to thinking: What a great way of meeting people. True, dwarves and elves are not exactly my taste, but wouldn't dating be easier if we could have a trial run in the virtual world, where our egos are less fragile and we have a chance for greater boldness? With this in mind, I turned to the great Google, intent on tracking down an avatar-based dating site. I wasn't disappointed. Soon, I was signing up for a free trial membership with OmniDate.com, a Toronto-based online dating site where members select one of six digital representations and then go on virtual dates. According to the site's promo literature, this gives daters a chance to interact before a face-to-face meeting. For my own avatar, I chose a thoughtful-looking brunette, bypassing a cartoon blond in a low-cut dress. From the registration page, I went straight to the profiles list, slinging cyber date invitations left and right. My real-life self would never be so forward, but I had discovered dating freedom in the virtual world. So what if all of my invitations were denied? After all, it was my avatar who got dissed, not me. Following this trend, Nomoredates.com, a site tailored for "young, stylish, urban professionals," has partnered with OmniDate to offer virtual dating to its online love-seekers. "The whole thing is a little bit geeky," said No More Dates founder Vekrum Kaushik in a Toronto Star article. Still, he hopes the experience catches on. As for me? Next time, I'm choosing the blond. | | 9:40a |
Mountain Dew goes World of Warcraft What is a 15 hour session of World of Warcraft without a sugar filled, cavity inducing, and caffeine loaded soft drink? My days of WoW have come and gone, but I can easily recall the many late nights fueled by my lust for Alliance blood and that sweet, sweet nectar of life, Mountain Dew. Blizzard announced today that this summer, you’ll be able to see World of Warcraft characters in a new place — the beverage aisle. The Mountain Dew Game Fuel will launch in two World of Warcraft inspired flavors, Alliance Blue (wild fruit) and Horde Red (citrus cherry). I can picture the scene at Store 24, I reach down for the Horde flavor and I am met by a member of the filthy Alliance and in that moment PvP has created an entirely new meaning. This marketing scheme also begs some very interesting questions; does my in-game loyalty bind me to a particular flavor? Will I be hated based on the drink I hold? Will World of Warcraft guilds and raids bleed into the real world? Blizzard promises more details soon. | | 9:41a |
World of Warcraft Arena Tournament Pass Giveaway Have you ever said to yourself "If I had a level 80 toon, I could own all of these guys in PvP!" Well, now is your chance. Blizzard has been kind enough to grant us with two (2) Arena Tournament passes to give away. Obtaining one of these passes grants you access to a special server where you get to create a premade level 80 character with PvP gear, enter the Arena Tournament, and eventually compete to win $100,000 (and other in-game stuff - a special Armored Baby Murloc pet and "The Vanquisher" title!). The rules for entry are simple: You must already own the latest version of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and have an active account in good standing. You must be ready to play by next Tuesday, March 24th - this includes finding and joining an arena team. You must be a registered member of The Escapist or the WarCry Network. To sign up, CLICK HERE. This is a limited-time contest. Entries submitted after 9:00 AM EDT on Friday, March 20th will be disqualified. Winners will be chosen in the morning on Friday the 20th, and contacted at the email associated with their Escapist / WarCry account. If you are one of the winners, you will need to respond to these emails ASAP to accept the prize. | | 9:42a |
World of Warcraft Gold Farming: Farming Gold in Nagrand and SMV Market Prices at the auction house are constantly fluctuating, two of the base products of wow gold grinding in the outlands can almost double in value in the space of a few hours. This can leave you kicking yourself if you sold something only for it to appear at twice the price of what you put it on for in an hours time.The auction house isn’t the only way though, sometimes you can sell a large amount of something (10+ stacks) for near the auction house value and without it taking its cut. It is always a good idea before selling anything on the auction house to advertise it in the trade channel for the price even a little more than you where going to put it on the auction house for. You will get a few annoying people offering you ludicrously low amounts, just ignore them and stick to your guns, it will pay when someone wants to buy all you have for more than you were going to sell it for in the first place.
Netherweave Cloth.
This drops nearly everywhere in the outlands, its price varies widely, however on most servers it fluctuates between 4g and 10g, a good time to consider selling this on any server is between 7-8g, it might not be the best price you could get for it, but you wont lose precious wow gold in auction house deposits. The best part is that there is always a high demand for Netherweave Cloth, so can nearly always sell this in the trade channel. To pick up Netherweave Cloth I suggest killing the Trolls in the Warmaul Compound in North West Nagrand, There are plenty of mobs to kill and you generally get 1-3 pieces of netherweave per kill, plus you get some Warmaul Beads, which are excellent for getting your rep up with both Kurenai and the Consortium.
Sunfury Signets & Arcane Tomes
Both these drop very regularly in Shadowmoon Valley, these both go for large amounts in the auction house especially since scryers is currently an overplayed ffaction, so many more people are buying these over the Aldor. You can pick up a lot of these grinding just west of the Scryer town in Shadowmoon Valley, between the two bridges there is a road heading south, there are two paths, one has a huge of the blood elves in groups of three and close together that you need to kill, it may be easier to do this in a group of two or three, however if you are soloing take the path a little further on, up towards Eclipse Point, here the blood elves are spread out, and not in groups, Not only will you pick up silver, netherweave and the two Scryer hand ins for these but you will also notice a high drop rate of greens and even the occasional blue, all these can usually be sold on the auction house or even disenchanted. | | 9:53a |
Online game gets real-world banking license NEW YORK (AP) — With banks around the world foundering, the idea of moving your bank account to another planet might have some appeal. Interstellar banking isn't here yet, but at least you can pretend. The publisher of the online science-fiction game "Entropia Universe," set on the planet Calypso, received a banking license from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority last week and plans to open a real bank within a year, albeit one without physical, walk-in branches. Players of "Entropia" already exchange real money for a virtual currency that is used for their expenses on Calypso. And virtual money they make in the game, through hunting, mining, trading or other activities, can be cashed out into real money. The virtual currency, Project Entropia Dollars, has a fixed 10-to-1 exchange rate to the U.S. dollar. By setting up a real-world bank, Sweden-based publisher MindArk PE AB gains the protection of the Swedish government's deposit insurance for these accounts, up to about $60,000 for each customer. MindArk also plans to offer standard bank services like interest-bearing accounts, direct deposit of paychecks, bill payment and lending, said David Simmonds, the company's business development director. The company isn't clear on what type of lending it will engage in, but Simmonds said it wasn't planning to make the sort of risky investments that have foiled other banks. The banking license also means regulators will gain more insight into possible money laundering in the virtual world. Simmonds said the company is already keeping an eye out for such activities. The economic activity in "Entropia Universe" was worth about $420 million last year, about the same as the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, population 110,000. The game has 850,000 player accounts, though not all of them represent active players. "Entropia Universe" is unusual in allowing a free conversion between its virtual currency and real money. Most online games, like "World of Warcraft," prohibit the sale of virtual items and money for real cash. |
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