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Preview: Diablo III

Posted by on Dec 29, 2011 in Previews |

The following is a guest post.

This highly-anticipated dungeon crawler from Blizzard Entertainment is set for release in early 2012. The groundbreaking Diablo I and Diablo II have created high expectations from die-hard fanatics. Here’s a brief preview of elements that distinguish the game from others.

Classes

Diablo III will contain Wizard, Monk, Witch Doctor, Demon Hunter, and Barbarian classes. We may not see classes carried over from Diablo II such as the Amazon or Sorceress. With a new set of classes, Diablo III will introduce new concepts and variety to gameplay. The Barbarian, as expected, defeats enemies through strength. The Demon Hunter manipulates shadows while incorporating skillful use of mechanics. Harnessing energies, the Wizard relies on creation, while the Witch Doctor relies on the nature of life and death to manipulate opponents. The spiritual Monk is fast and accurate. Fans are anxious to see what these new classes will bring to Diablo.

Skills and Artisanship

Mystics, Jewelers, and Blacksmiths will be available to assist you during your journey. Diablo III will allow you to pre-determine skills depending on the class you choose. For example, if you’ve chosen to play a Demon Hunter, you will be able to choose between various hatred generators, hatred spenders, and disciplines. If you choose to play a Monk, you will choose between various spirit generators, spirit spenders, and mantras. The array of skills offered will allow you to create a unique skill set of your choosing as opposed to skills that have been strictly determined for you based on class.

Unique Features and Combat

Although the idea is controversial, Diablo III will require an online connection and will allow you to connect with friends, introducing a new social aspect to Diablo. The online connection will also allow you to participate in item auctions to potentially rack up real-life cash. This hack and slash incorporates various combat technicalities in addition to its active and passive skill sets. Additionally, the simple, clean interface Blizzard is known for makes for easy transitioning between skills during combat. The linear gameplay (as opposed to quest-based games) is enhanced visually by the game’s clean design, which is less cartoony than Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.

Only time will tell if fans will accept or reject the incorporation of new classes, strategies, and online play. The game will likely be released in a matter of months, so get ready for Blizzard’s next adventure. For more in-depth Diablo III info, visit http://us.battle.net/d3/en/.

Ryan writes as a guest and likes saving money with an HP coupon. In addition to writing for the Blog Content Guild, he also enjoys PC gaming and reading about technological advancements.

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Games With A Twist of Poker

Posted by on Oct 26, 2011 in Commentary |

The following is a sponsored post.

Classic poker is often featured as a mini-game in major titles that feature gambling. For example, Red Dead Redemption has an awesome poker mini-game that can be engaging on its own. The Liars and Cheats DLC expands it further by featuring multiplayer, allowing players to take their card skills online.

Other classic titles with poker references are Final Fantasy VIII’s Triple Triad, combining poker and a strategy game where you play out different cards. It is also present in social gaming communities such as Second Life and World of Warcraft. Both used to have their own poker spots but were discontinued due to players using real money to play.

Video Games and Web Comics Go Head-to-Head with Poker

Last year, poker and classic characters from games and web comics met in a crossover title called “Poker Night at the Inventory”. It features characters from games like Team Fortress 2 and Sam & Max. Tycho Brahe of Penny Arcade and Strong Bad from Homestar Runner represented their respective web series.

Try Your Hand Out On The Real Deal

If you want to try out some stand-alone online poker, you can find the information here and get a crack at the real deal.

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World of Warcraft Is Now Free To Play Until Level 20

Posted by on Jun 30, 2011 in Commentary, News | 2 comments

From Ars:

"We’ve removed the previous 10- and 14-day trial time restrictions, and players who are interested in trying outWorld of Warcraft can now play the base game for free up to a maximum character level of 20, including draenei and blood elf characters—all they need is a Battle.net account and an Internet connection," Blizzard explained in a statement. If you ran through a previous 14-day trial, you can go back to your character and continue to play from the point you left the game if you’d like, but the level cap will be set at 20.

It’s basically trial mode minus the time cap. Those of you who played the trial before are aware that there are several restrictions to what you can do.

  • A level cap of 20.
  • A maximum of 10 gold.
  • Trade skills are capped at 100 ranks.
  • Unable to trade via the Auction House, mailbox, or player-to-player.
  • In-game access to public chat channels unavailable. Players are limited to communicating using only say, party, or whisper.
  • Characters will be unable to create or join guilds.
  • Characters are not able to send whispers to other characters unless they have been added to the characters’ friends lists or have received a whisper from a character first.
  • Characters will not be able to invite other players into a party.
  • Characters will not be able to join parties with other characters above level 20.
  • Voice chat disabled on Starter Edition accounts.
  • Realms experiencing login queues will prioritize players who have full, paid accounts.
  • Starter Edition accounts are not eligible for character transfers
  • RealID features are disabled on all Starter Edition Accounts.

Some of these features are meant to protect players from some of the more undesirable activities in the game such as trade chat spam. Also, note that while you can’t create a party, it doesn’t mean you can’t be invited to one. The part of not being able to join a guild sucks though, but I guess with guild perks implemented it’s understandable.

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Review: The Ultimate Rogue Raiding Guide

Review: The Ultimate Rogue Raiding Guide

Posted by on Feb 23, 2011 in Reviews | 2 comments

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Disclaimer: The text below is a 100% honest-to-goodness review of the above-mentioned guide. I do not earn anything from writing the review nor from providing the links below.

Here’s a review of The Ultimate Rogue Raiding Guide from PVE Rogues:

PROS:
• Has everything you need to know to get your rogue ready for raiding.
• Uses a friendly, easy to understand approach to explaining rogue concepts.
• Having all that information in one package is very convenient. The cheat sheet is a huge bonus.

CONS:
• The information is also available online.
• Very text heavy. Prep your reading glasses.

The biggest advantage that you can get from this guide is convenience. I mean, yes, the content itself is excellent. It has everything you need to know to get into raiding as a rogue. It tells you what enchantments you need, what glyphs to get and what specs to use. It even tells you exactly what your rotation should be.

The text and flow are easy to understand so the only requirement that it asks from you as a player is that you have a rogue at max level. While it’s arguable that the content is also available online, what it offers differently is that it bundles that information in one convenient package.

One last thing: the website offers free upgrades so I’m assuming that if anything changes with future patches, the guide will get updated as well.

Interested parties can get it here:
http://www.pverogues.com/products-page/

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