August 16, 2012 in Mists of Pandaria, WoW
The Powers That Be (Blizzard) have unleashed the Official Trailer for Mists of Pandaria. I think it’s pretty cool and, by Hellscream’s knuckles, I wish the in-game characters looked that good. Patch 5.3 maybe?
So what’s your take?
August 9, 2012 in WoW
Some of Blizzards servers were broken into. Blizzard has issued a press release. Here it is, in full, links have been removed. See the source pages for Bliz links. Credit cards and other important data do not seem to have been compromised.
Players and Friends,
Even when you are in the business of fun, not every week ends up being fun. This week, our security team found an unauthorized and illegal access into our internal network here at Blizzard. We quickly took steps to close off this access and began working with law enforcement and security experts to investigate what happened.
At this time, we’ve found no evidence that financial information such as credit cards, billing addresses, or real names were compromised. Our investigation is ongoing, but so far nothing suggests that these pieces of information have been accessed.
Some data was illegally accessed, including a list of email addresses for global Battle.net users, outside of China. For players on North American servers (which generally includes players from North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia) the answer to the personal security question, and information relating to Mobile and Dial-In Authenticators were also accessed. Based on what we currently know, this information alone is NOT enough for anyone to gain access to Battle.net accounts.
We also know that cryptographically scrambled versions of Battle.net passwords (not actual passwords) for players on North American servers were taken. We use Secure Remote Password protocol (SRP) to protect these passwords, which is designed to make it extremely difficult to extract the actual password, and also means that each password would have to be deciphered individually. As a precaution, however, we recommend that players on North American servers change their password. Please click this link to change your password. Moreover, if you have used the same or similar passwords for other purposes, you may want to consider changing those passwords as well.
In the coming days, we’ll be prompting players on North American servers to change their secret questions and answers through an automated process. Additionally, we’ll prompt mobile authenticator users to update their authenticator software. As a reminder, phishing emails will ask you for password or login information. Blizzard Entertainment emails will never ask for your password. We deeply regret the inconvenience to all of you and understand you may have questions. Please find additional information here.
We take the security of your personal information very seriously, and we are truly sorry that this has happened.
Sincerely,
Mike Morhaime
MMO-Champion has the original release and an FAQ.
December 19, 2011 in WoW
Can you write well enough to impress Blizzard?
The idea is that you put all you buffs on (Mtn. Dew, Pizza, etc.) and find a cozy, quiet dungeon where you can be undisturbed. For awhile.
What you would be doing is writing epic prose that will be submitted to Blizzard for consideration in their writing contest. Can you write well enough to impress them?
These are the rules and while it’s too late for 2011, save that page and enter for 2012. There’s no reason that you can’t start your efforts now.
Who knows? It might be the start of your path to fame and glory.
The wayward plans concocted by judges of the 2009 and 2010 Global Writing Contests have been foiled, and the Ocunomicon has been cast back into the howling Sightless Abyss whence it came. This victory would not have been possible without you, the writers, bravely wielding the ink-drenched Quills of a Thousand Truths! Even with two years’ worth of ocular fortitude strengthening their retinal acumen, the judges were unable to withstand the sheer number and magnificent quality of this year’s entries…
… especially considering that an entire mountain of short stories was airdropped on top of them.
With the smoke cleared and the errant judges corralled and subdued, the victors of the 2011 Global Writing Contest have emerged. Behold now, your champions!
And the winners are here => 2011 Global Writing Contest Winners
Like this page? How about recommending it?
November 4, 2011 in WoW
Bumped into this via a Facebook post…
MMO Melting Pot asks:
Pretty much everyone who plays WoW has had the “WoW stranger” experience, right? You’re at a bar, or a cafe, or a work conference, and you’re talking about WoW. Or you’re wearing something WoW-related. Or you overhear another conversation.
And the next thing you know, someone’s asked you if you play WoW, or vica versa, and you’re engaged in a long, detailed conversation about the game.
…
Do you think of WoW as a single community? Do you have anything in common with the people on the far side of the Azerothian debate?
Here’s their post: Is there still a WoW community?
Said post stems from a Big Butt Bear post on that subject:
I know that when I think of the community, my feeling is of the people I know in my guild, through my blog, and on Twitter that I chat with. I don’t think of an 8 million person strong community, just the names I see and know and chat with personally. I think of people in trade chat as being… well, being the outsiders. The lonely and sad. The shouts of people desperate for attention, any attention at all. They certainly aren’t part of any community I’m in. Are they?
Still, there is that thought, small though it may still be, that causes me to wonder; are we really all a part of the WoW Community, or are we beyond that now? Are we in communities formed by our mutual interests, and while WoW is part of that, we talk to our friends who like the role play, or the pet hunting, or who have similar attitudes to ours, or who love the raiding progression.
If we meet strangers who turn out to be WoW players these days, does the fact that they play WoW break the ice and make you instant friends, or do you check for trollish behavior before revealing yourself?
Here’s the whole post: Are you part of a single WoW Community?
Now the crowd that I hang out with has little experience or interest in WoW, generally. I don’t wear WoW apparel or interact with the gamer crowd, so I don’t bump into people much. I’ve made a some friends and contacts, though.
So how about you? Are you part of any form of WoW community? Is it just a pastime? Do you like the idea of being in a community or want to avoid it entirely? Do you have any interesting experiences with bumping into WoW players in the real world?
