Lulumely's Journals

Officers' Quarters: Casual raiding that works

"Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. Welcome to part 3 of my ongoing, in-depth, casual raiding how-to! For parts 1 and 2, click here and here. Last time I talked about communicating your raiding intentions and policies and emphasizing individual preparation prior to a raid. A few people in the comments felt that some of what I recommend doing is a bit too much to ask of casual players. To that I say, every guild is different. It's up to the officers and raid leaders to decide how hard to push the envelope. Only you know your members and the type of experience they're looking for. I can only tell you what has worked for me. But I will also say this: If you push your members a little harder than they're used to, they might surprise you by how they improve their performance in response. If you never push, then you'll never know. You can always back off next time if it becomes a problem. This week I'm going to discuss two important mindsets to maintain during your raids that can mean the difference between successful runs and demoralizing disasters. WoW Moviewatch: Twill for the Kill! We all started from somewhere. Baron Soosdon was kind enough to show us his humble beginnings. While Baron's first effort, Twill for the Kill!, was better than most, it isn't even one tenth as good as his current movies. He admitted to us that he had a vague idea of what chroma keying was, but didn't know how to properly use it in a machinima. We hope that this encourages you to keep trying, even if your freshman project isn't the best!" "Accountability ties into preparation -- everyone should be accountable for having what they need and showing up on time when they sign up for a run.

or wow But it goes far beyond that. It means that each raiding member of your guild should feel like they are part of a team, and when they do something that holds the team back or lets the team down, they should hold themselves accountable for it. For example, if you wander ahead of the tank and pull trash that wipes the group, you should admit that you're the one who goofed and apologize to your guildmates for wasting their time and gold. guild wars gold It's a small thing, but it never ceases to amaze me how people can do something like that and then try to act like it wasn't their fault. If you think nobody saw it or nobody checked the combat log to see what happened, you're deluding yourself. You're not getting away with anything, no matter what you say. lineage 2 adena Denying your errors creates an atmosphere of resentment. On the other hand, acknowledging them creates an atmosphere of trust. It gives the raid the opportunity to forgive you, which fosters goodwill and allows people to get over it. gold wow Finally, it presents an opportunity for others to learn from your mistakes. If a mage blinks into the main tank and kills him during Gruul's shatter, admitting that error can be a heads up for other mages to be careful who they're blinking toward, which otherwise they might not have considered until they made the same blunder later. This environment of accountability has to begin with the officers. wow or As a leader, it's often difficult to admit that you're wrong. But it's critical that you do so. It will show people that it's okay to mess up, that even the raid leader can make a mistake sometimes.

And it sets the example for everyone else. Another way to foster this mindset is to have members symbolically commit to being part of the raiding team. For my guild, we simply ask people to sign up as a raider on the forums.

WoW Rookie: Introduction to Reputation

"WoW Rookie is brought to our readers to help our newest players get acclimated to the game. Make sure you send a note to WoW Insider if you have suggestions for what new players need to know. As a social game, it's fun to make friends in an MMORPG environment. In World of Warcraft, you must also make friends (and sometimes enemies) with members of various faction groups. Reputation (rep) is gained through killing a faction's enemies and completing quests to assist a particular group. Obviously, killing member's of a particular faction reduces rep. For example, killing Bloodsail Pirates increases rep with Booty Bay (Steamwheedle Cartel), while decreasing rep with the Bloodsail Buccaneers. There are many reasons why we may increase or decrease reputations. You may be asked to do so to as a quest objective or to gain particular rewards. By gaining exalted reputation with the major cities you have access to purchase their racial mounts (provided your they may be scaled to your racial model) and their guild tabards. Higher levels of rep also allow discounts on goods and repair services from vendors, and higher prices for selling useless items. For the next couple of weeks, we'll be taking a look at the ins and outs of reputation on WoW Rookie. Your starting reputation varies from faction to faction. For example, when you first venture into Shatrath you are neutral with Lower City, Aldor and Scryers. You can venture into any part of the city. You are forced to pick a side between Aldor and Scryers and eventually rep up with one and rep down with the other (after completing a painfully long and boring follow quest that teaches you a little bit about Shattrath Lore). If you pick sides with Aldor, you will be attacked on sight if you venture into the Scryer's area.

or wow You only rep up with Lower City. The levels of reputation are as follows: Hated- You will be attacked on sight by NPCs that hate you. You must watch your aggro radius around aggressive hated mobs. world of warcraft powerleveling Hostile- It takes 36,000 reputation points to move from hated to hostile. You will still be attacked on sight by hostile mobs. Unfriendly- To go from hostile to unfriendly you must accumulate 3,000 reputation points. wow po Unfriendly NPCs will not attack unless you attack them first, but you cannot buy or sell to them either. Neutral- An additional 3,000 reputation after unfriendly to get to neutral. You start at neutral with many factions. eve isk You can buy and sell from neutral vendors and can often get quests from their NPCs. Friendly- This level of reputation requires 3,000 reputations form a neutral starting point. You get a 5% discount on goods and services, and may have access to faction based rewards. wow powerleveling Honored- It takes another 6,000 honored to move from friendly to honored with a faction. Being honored grants you a 10% discount at vendors and additional faction rewards. This level also allows you access to Heroic dungeon keys with Outland factions as well as a fabulous PvP gear set. Revered- By grinding out an additional 12,000 rep points with a faction, you move from honored to revered.

We came, we saw, we fished

"We had a great time on Saturday at the Meet and Greet for It came from the Blog. We chatted, we debated, we leveled and some of us fished. Mike Schramm, Elizabeth Harper, Barb Dybwad, Mark Crump, Matthew Rossi and I were all there to mingle. And many of us thought that some jokes are a little mean. I'd like to thank Ceylene for summoning fellow guildies to our fishfest at Stillwhisper Pond. It's a long run to Blood Elf territory for our young Tauren friends to make. Though we did have fun raising our Fishing skills together, we have more exciting things planned for the future. We will definitely be getting together for Children's Week and maybe even something before. Look for events to be scheduled monthly or more often. While this is a casual, event oriented guild, we do have some members who are leveling up. Many of the members can invite to the guild, so if you are interested in joining us on Zangarmarsh, ask an online guild member for an invite. I am often on as well and am happy to have any readers join us. Look for me as Robiness or Robinelle or Robinara or Robinella or Robinique. Yes, my altitis has altitis. krat2 said... I definitely had fun. It was nice just to hang out, banter, fish, and decide to collectively zerg the battleground tip of the day post. I had so much fun, that I'll probably be on a couple of times per week, just grabbing a level here and there as a place to escape from my main server. To know that we're not all there for loot and levelling, and that we're just WoW Insider fans looking for a place to just be fans of the game... very relaxing. " "Let's get one thing out of the way: this isn't an epeen-stroking session.

wow po When you go into the Tournament Realm joining a 1382 team that went 3-11 on its debut week, you have to set your expectations right. Aside from Amanda Dean, or Mandy, who's professed an enjoyment for Arenas, the WoW Insider team is composed of people who don't have extensive Arena experience. We also have Adam Holisky, who doesn't consider PvP to be the 'real' game (whatever that means), and Amanda Miller, who covers our Sunday Morning Funnies. wow I do a fair amount of Arena on live myself and our team is rated enough to garner us Season 3 swag every two weeks or so. You do the math. But here's the thing -- Arena is a team game. guild wars gold Like every team sport, it relies on synergy, teamwork, and communication. The top players in the world know this, and team leaders replace underperforming members regularly with a dose of nerd rage for good measure. That's just competitive Arena play. On the other hand, WoW Insider's venture into the Tournament Realm is more of a journalistic exercise than anything else. gold fÃ¼r wow kaufen For one thing, I'm not even eligible to actually participate in the actual tournament because my country isn't on the list, so my expectations of going far in this tournament is nil. To be perfectly honest, that's a good thing. Ironically, I feel a lot less pressure to perform on the TR with the WoW Insider Team than I do on live. wow gold In fact, I even ventured to play as a Retribution Paladin only because I can. I had initially created a Restoration Shaman named Insiderzach but since Mandy was running with a Restoration Druid, I thought I could have a little fun with running double melee with Adam so I made a Paladin.

One reason tanks won't PuG

"There's been a lot of talk about tank shortages, especially in pick up groups or PuG's. And at times it can be hard to understand why tanks are so reluctant to run in such groups. Luckily, Primula, a mage on Rexxar decides to help explain this all to us by starting an epic thread on the forums. Sadly, Primula's original post was deleted (by Primula), but forum poster Montar helps us understand by quoting it in his reply. Apparently Prim was upset at the guild Steady Hand (a horde guild on Rexxar) because after a heroic Magister's Terrace run they called her a ninja for rolling on and winning an epic trinket that dropped off of Priestess Delrissa (who I always call Princess for some reason). Now, you may be thinking ""Hey, Timbal's is pretty good for fire mages"" but let me stop you. The trinket in question wasn't Timbal's. It was, rather, Commendation of Kael'thas. To paraphrase one of my favorite films, that sound you hear is the sound of ultimate suffering. I made that sound when the rogue outrolled me on The Sun Eater on my tenth heroic Mech. There is a tank on Rexxar who makes that sound now. Anyway, Primula decided to post on the forums about how the tank was awful, in all blues, and therefore didn't deserve the trinket and she was going to use it for PvP. And thanks to quick witted responses, and a fast tipster, I got to read the thread and lose my mind this morning. Supposedly Primula took the trinket for PvP. Well, I hope you're done PuGging, because I can't imagine a druid, paladin or warrior who'll tank for you on that realm for fear of losing some other bit of tanky goodness to your PvP set. It's things like this that make you stop PuGging.

wow geld I absolutely will not step into an instance with people I don't know anymore. When I get tells from people looking for a tank for the daily heroic, I make up an excuse unless I am guilded with or have been guilded with/have known that person. And if the rest of the group ends up being people I don't know, I'll bail at the slightest provocation. wow gold Rude to me. I'm gone. Racist. wow powerleveling Bye. Homophobic. I left my oven on. wow gold verkaufen Bad loot behavior, looting in combat, rushing pulls. I have something else I could be doing. There are plenty of good players in the trenches trying to get through a heroic who I would be happy to tank for, if there wasn't always at least one guy who makes it an unendurable nightmare. The hunter who does less damage than the tank and freaks out once damage meters are posted. lotro gold Oh yes, and it was this same hunter who demanded that they be posted. Or the fury warrior who keeps taunting mobs off of the bear tank and then wondering why he dies every pull. Let's not forget that guy.

wife has baby

Attorney says arrest not the first violation; wife has baby; Malibu home burns; Report: Jay knew killer; Willie backs anti-dogfighting bill; widow sues."We find it interesting how when a new iPod MP3 players appears the first thing someone wants to do is rip it apart - literally - for the benefit of others. Prosecutor: Not T.I.'s first violation While he remains on house arrest awaiting trial on federal weapons charges, T.I.So when the iPod MP3 player touch appeared dozens of folk had to ""touch"" it and place the results online. has some explaining to do, according to the prosecutor in the case. But we guess the secret of creating an iPod MP3 player touch unbox segment for the Net is not creating the best iPod touch unbox photo or video layout, but the first iPod touch photo or video layout. In a notice filed Monday in U.S.This has led to a slew of quick, shaky camera iPod videos along with the associated nasal ramblings of it's creator as they turn the camera on themselves, try to think of a few words to say, and then turn it back to the iPod. District Court in Atlanta, the U.S. When we picked up our iPod MP3 players touch we wondered if we can improve on the unbox video thing just a little bit. Attorney's office said it plans to introduce evidence that T.I.--real name Calvin Harris--unlawfully possessed guns, ammunition, and a silencer on three occasions, "all after having been convicted of a felony offense." The 27-year-old rapper was arrested October 13 in a parking lot as he was allegedly trying to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers.So we gave it a try, but sure enough once we got the damn thing out of the box we had to postpone our little shoot. Harris is charged with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.It seems our 2 1/2 year-old Mac wasn't iPod touch worthy.

mp3 portable players According to the filing, T.I.We fortunately had access to a Win XP box and acouple of days later we were able to assemble the short ditty in the panel to the right. So, is our iPod MP3 players touch unbox video really better than the other guys. was found in possession of a weapon in 2002, 2002, and 2004, all of which came after his conviction on charges of selling crack when he was 17. That's just a matter of opinion. Attorneys for T.I.It's short, but we tended to focus more on the undressing than the actual manipulation of buttons and spouting of tech specs. mp3 mp4 player have yet to respond publicly to the claims.Call us iPod voyeurs if you must, we just had more fun stripping off the cellophane and... proposal from the French Ministry of Culture could hit online music and movie piracy very hard with a very big stick if it goes ahead.Oh lord! Does that make me an...an iPodophile. In addition to the existing law, introduced only last year, which made unauthorised file-sharing a criminal offence carrying a 30,000 Euro fine and up to six months in prison, the new proposals seek to kick pirates off the Internet altogether. What will I tell my SanDisk and Archos players. MP3 PLAYER 8GB Along with other measures such as the watermarking of digital content, the Ministry of Culture plans include the controversial concepts of monitoring and tracking the movement of those watermarked files and the people who move them. " "For those waiting on the announcement of the new Zune portables MP3 players, the FCC offers us a preview of the unit on its web site where you will find test results for the Zune MP3 players. A registry would be created to log those users accused of piracy by the copyright holders, and following official investigation a three strikes and you are out system will issues two warnings and finally forced termination of the ISP contract. Also available on the site is the diagram to the right, which shows the Zune as a flash unit available in two flavore, an 8GB Zune and a 4GB Zune MP3 players.

Unsurprisingly, the government plans have been warmly welcomed by the French media industry which is keen to implement the watermarking system. Microsoft is going to officially unveil the new Zune best MP3 players today or tomorrow, according to the rumors. mp3 player kaufen I understand that agreements have already been signed with TV channels, film makers and ISPs to this effect.We'll keep an eye out and follow up with the full specs. For its part, the French government will set up a new agency to monitor Internet traffic and deal with the complaints process. " . French president Nicolas Sarkozy said of the deal "We run the risk of witnessing a genuine destruction of culture" adding "The Internet must not become a high-tech Far West, a lawless zone where outlaws can pillage works with abandon or, worse, trade in them in total impunity. mp3 player Although there has been some expected backlash from consumer rights groups which suggest a digital divide will be created at exactly the same time as the government is putting more citizen services online, it seems doubtful that any determined pirate would be unable to route around the ISP blacklist. Apart from anything else, there is always the Internet cafÃ© approach to connectivity after all. What is of more concern, of course, is the potential conflict within French law.

a new iPod MP3 players appears

Just about 20 years ago now, five engineers from 3M wheeled into a Minneapolis studio (Sound 80) an engineering prototype of a two-channel digital recorder."We find it interesting how when a new iPod MP3 players appears the first thing someone wants to do is rip it apart - literally - for the benefit of others. We were about to start a direct-to-disk recording project of a local band called Flim and the BB's.So when the iPod MP3 player touch appeared dozens of folk had to ""touch"" it and place the results online. So we thought why not record simultaneously to this new recorder that actually converted music to numbers and then recorded the numbers on tape. But we guess the secret of creating an iPod MP3 player touch unbox segment for the Net is not creating the best iPod touch unbox photo or video layout, but the first iPod touch photo or video layout. - hey, we'll try anything.This has led to a slew of quick, shaky camera iPod videos along with the associated nasal ramblings of it's creator as they turn the camera on themselves, try to think of a few words to say, and then turn it back to the iPod. On the first playback something hit me like a ton of bricks; I guess it was the total absence of wow and flutter and modulation noise while watching those reels go around. When we picked up our iPod MP3 players touch we wondered if we can improve on the unbox video thing just a little bit. At that moment a little voice inside me said, "This is the future of recording." From that point on, digital was the format of choice for me.So we gave it a try, but sure enough once we got the damn thing out of the box we had to postpone our little shoot.

Over the years, small but steady improvements have been made to PCM digital recording and playback.It seems our 2 1/2 year-old Mac wasn't iPod touch worthy. mp3 portable players It is only recently that the folks at Philips and Sony are responding to the wishes and needs of the recording community for a higher quality digital recording system; maybe something totally different - not just higher sampling frequency or longer word length.We fortunately had access to a Win XP box and acouple of days later we were able to assemble the short ditty in the panel to the right. So, is our iPod MP3 players touch unbox video really better than the other guys. We should consider all possibilities and think as far into the future as we can so that by the time the new hardware and software is in place, we still think it sounds pretty good. That's just a matter of opinion. Sony's Direct Stream Digital (DSD) system is not only a possibility, but a reality.It's short, but we tended to focus more on the undressing than the actual manipulation of buttons and spouting of tech specs. mp3 mp4 player The DSD system uses a 1-bit delta-sigma modulated word, sampled at 2.8224 MHz - that is 64 times 44.1 kHz.Call us iPod voyeurs if you must, we just had more fun stripping off the cellophane and... According to Sony, the frequency response extends to over 100 kHz, and has a dynamic range better than 24 bits of PCM digital.Oh lord! Does that make me an...an iPodophile. In the DSD system, the frequency response and dynamic range are defined by the delta-sigma modulator noise shaping and these two characteristics can be traded off against each other. What will I tell my SanDisk and Archos players. MP3 PLAYER 8GB What makes DSD shine sonically is that the pure 1-bit signal does not get decimated or changed in the process of recording or playback; there are no brick wall filters. " "For those waiting on the announcement of the new Zune portables MP3 players, the FCC offers us a preview of the unit on its web site where you will find test results for the Zune MP3 players.

This is a much simpler process and is really more analog like. Also available on the site is the diagram to the right, which shows the Zune as a flash unit available in two flavore, an 8GB Zune and a 4GB Zune MP3 players. The 1-bit DSD signal can be down converted to any of the current digital formats and also the proposed new high-density formats, including 96 kHz, 24-bit. Microsoft is going to officially unveil the new Zune best MP3 players today or tomorrow, according to the rumors. mp3 player kaufen About a year and a half ago a few engineers, and trade press editors, including myself and John Gatski, were invited by Sony to a private showing of a prototype DSD system set up at Sony Music Studios in New York City.We'll keep an eye out and follow up with the full specs. We were able to compare a live studio feed from a jazz quartet to DSD as well as to some of the latest 20-bit A/D converters and the more familiar, older A/Ds. " . I can't speak for everyone (and there were some great ears present), but to me DSD sounded much closer to the live feed than any of the other conversion methods. mp3 player Since that demo Sony has been working continuously to improve and refine DSD. Recording with DSD Recently, I took a Sony DSD prototype system into the studio to record an album with guitarist Joe Beck and flutist Ali Ryerson. Musically, this project is more demanding than it seems on the surface.

was purchasing more CDs as a result of file sharing

In February 2000 I wrote about an observation I had where a brief acquaintance of mine, who was an avid Napster user, was purchasing more CDs as a result of file sharing."We find it interesting how when a new iPod MP3 players appears the first thing someone wants to do is rip it apart - literally - for the benefit of others. This was the first article to explore the theory that users utilized Napster, which was only a few months old at this point, to sample music for potential purchase.So when the iPod MP3 player touch appeared dozens of folk had to ""touch"" it and place the results online. Like radio, file sharing had the ability to promote artists, something we now take as common fact. But we guess the secret of creating an iPod MP3 player touch unbox segment for the Net is not creating the best iPod touch unbox photo or video layout, but the first iPod touch photo or video layout. Since then there have been dozens of formal studies that supported the theory that active file shareres buy more CDs as well as a few - usually paid for by the record industry - that debunked it as myth.This has led to a slew of quick, shaky camera iPod videos along with the associated nasal ramblings of it's creator as they turn the camera on themselves, try to think of a few words to say, and then turn it back to the iPod. Interestingly, one 2002 study by Edison Research that claimed to support the record industry's take on file sharing actually supported the opposite conclusion after I dug into the data a bit. When we picked up our iPod MP3 players touch we wondered if we can improve on the unbox video thing just a little bit.

Coming to the end of the decade the habits of file sharers are still being measured and the results continue to point to the simple fact that those who trade buy more records.So we gave it a try, but sure enough once we got the damn thing out of the box we had to postpone our little shoot. This latest report comes from Michael Geist who writes about a study just completed by Industry Canada titled "The Impact of Music Downloads and P2P File-Sharing on the Purchase of Music: A Study For Industry Canada".It seems our 2 1/2 year-old Mac wasn't iPod touch worthy. mp3 portable players The research followed the habits of 2,000 Candians and, as Geist points out, there were two key points: When assessing the P2P downloading population, there was "a strong positive relationship between P2P file sharing and CD purchasing.We fortunately had access to a Win XP box and acouple of days later we were able to assemble the short ditty in the panel to the right. So, is our iPod MP3 players touch unbox video really better than the other guys. That is, among Canadians actually engaged in it, P2P file sharing increases CD purchases." The study estimates that one additional P2P download per month increases music purchasing by 0.44 CDs per year. That's just a matter of opinion. When viewed in the aggreggate (ie.It's short, but we tended to focus more on the undressing than the actual manipulation of buttons and spouting of tech specs. mp3 mp4 player the entire Canadian population), there is no direct relationship between P2P file sharing and CD purchases in Canada.Call us iPod voyeurs if you must, we just had more fun stripping off the cellophane and... According to the study authors, "the analysis of the entire Canadian population does not uncover either a positive or negative relationship between the number of files downloaded from P2P networks and CDs purchased.Oh lord! Does that make me an...an iPodophile.

That is, we find no direct evidence to suggest that the net effect of P2P file sharing on CD purchasing is either positive or negative for Canada as a whole." So if file sharing is so good for record sales how come CD sales are down sharply. What will I tell my SanDisk and Archos players. MP3 PLAYER 8GB Well, first off it is "major label" CD sales which are down. " "For those waiting on the announcement of the new Zune portables MP3 players, the FCC offers us a preview of the unit on its web site where you will find test results for the Zune MP3 players. CD sales from independent labels are up, reflecting the broadening of consumer tastes as they sample more music. Also available on the site is the diagram to the right, which shows the Zune as a flash unit available in two flavore, an 8GB Zune and a 4GB Zune MP3 players. Add to this former major label artists like Radiohead and Trent Reznor who now distribute records on their own. Microsoft is going to officially unveil the new Zune best MP3 players today or tomorrow, according to the rumors. mp3 player kaufen Second, records as a whole are facing increased competition from the movie, TV and gaming industries for your dollar, though this research found that heavy users of these media buy all media heavy, including CDs.We'll keep an eye out and follow up with the full specs. Finally, there is the issue of consumer badwill, generated by the major label's inability to leverage to their favor the changes in technology that made music distribution a near zero cost. " . The major labels have a severe public relations issue that has pissed off so many consumers the damage may be irreparable. mp3 player One of the smaller points the reports made was that people who own MP3 players are less likely to buy CDs, signifying a consumer shift to digital media.

Strange Doin's

"""It's an omen."" Judy stares at the mangy ball of tangled wool and then at me. ""Well,"" I concede, ""I suppose it does look like something the cat dragged in."" Judy raises an uncharitable eyebrow and asks, ""What is it anyway. "" ""Believe it or not, it's the pom-pom from the beanie that Joe got me. I thought I'd lost it skiing at Lake Tahoe."" ""Joe. Your host father. From your year in California. But that was ten years ago."" It is. A decade ago, at only fifteen I left my small hometown in rural Australia to spend an exchange year in Sacramento, California. The Bartons, Joe, Sarah and their daughter Milly, were my host family. Joe was an amazing father. He taught Milly and me how to develop black and white photos in a light-proofed cupboard off his kitchen. wow gold He took us to baseball games and showed us how to make plaster-of-Paris handprints in Santa Cruz 's white sands. The things I remember most though, were Joe's deep wisdom and his description of anything mildly unusual as a strange doin'. Surely the sudden arrival of my lost pom-pom is the strangest of all doin's. The timing is eerie. I've been on the cusp of accepting yet another relocation; my eighth in as many years. wow lvl service When the postman handed me the weather-beaten box with US stamps from a decade earlier and no return address, I rethought my plans. The box was crowded with address labels chronicling a nomadic life that was supposed to be adventurous. Instead, it meant never really connecting with anywhere - or anyone. wow gold Now I want to connect. To find that special someone who makes my heart sing; someone to plan a future with; maybe share a house, buy a dog, settle down.

""You know,"" I tell Judy, ""Joe used to say, Squirrel that move from tree to tree forget where nuts are stored."" " " I'm currently re-reading a bit of Jesper Juul's book, Half-Real. I should say at the outset that I haved always enjoyed Juul's general approach to videogame studies. His work is highly accessible, innovative, thoughtful, and centered on concrete (and popular) examples. wow leveln (He also includes lots of screenshots, which is good.) Juul takes what might be called a ""grassroots"" approach to game studies, not bringing heavy disciplinary baggage to colonize the area, but instead trying to build a formal theory of games from the ground up. He takes his lead primarily from game and culture theorists like Huizinga, Caillois, Crawford and Sutton-Smith rather than from literary theory or media studies. But I don't want to review Half-Real here -- I just want to share a passage that made me wonder a bit about the differences between MMORPGs and other games. The question is: how do players set the balance in MMORPGs between world immersion and game/rule objectives. Part of Juul's thesis in Half-Life is that games are not just about rule systems (what one might call a ""radical ludological"" approach), but are also about the establishment of fictional worlds. (Cf. wow level service the past ludology debate.) Yet on page 139, Juul makes an interesting assertion about the relationship between worlds and rules in games: It is a common characteristic that with sustained playing of the same game, the player may become less interested in the representational/fictional level of the game and more focused on the rules of the game. After citing to this paper, which described how Quake III players would turn down graphics detail in order to get higher frame rates, Juul says: Experienced players shift their focus from the fictional world of the game to the game as a set of rules... Get more details here:.

and to all a good night!

" Granted, they imagined it contained certain differences: children roasting, swine mullingâ�¦ Yet here they were: a rag-tag bunch of warriors and mercenaries, some of them members of the elite Ironforge Guard, and a few like herself: concerned citizens of Azeroth who had done just enough good to get rolled into situations like this one whenever the need would arise; all of them astride the traditional mounts of the season, sans jingle bells. The sun had just set, though it was still mid-afternoon: the gloaming, as night elves called it. The time of day when the sun was gone, but the moon was still on her way. The quality of the air would change in Dun Morogh at that time; the quality of light enhanced, like it was shining from somewhere behind the fabric of this world, a part of both. The snow had fallen all that day, and errant flakes still drifted down, so any tracks or physical signs of movement in the area had long been obliterated. wow gold For all she knew, sitting tall upon her reeking reindeer swathed in clouds of white fox fur and the distinctive knits of the dwarves (she had chosen a lovely winter white), they could be surrounded by whatever enemy found it suitable to disrupt a peaceful holiday observance. At least the wardrobe is good, she mused with a tight-lipped smile. It wasnâ�™t all bad, though. The valley was decorated for the festival, as it was every year. She had even helped a few days earlier tying the ribbons and tiny bells to the heavy branches of the trees. Snowmen of all shapes and sizes gathered about with their sooty smiles, as if they were totally oblivious to the stench of the reindeer and just happy to be included. Little glass orbs spangled the trees in all the colors she could think, and if it werenâ�™t for the smack of a snowball into her mountâ�™s neck, she would have been glad at the sight of them. Ree-honk! Hee-wonk! â�œThatâ�™ll be all a-the foolinâ�™ around, ye blasted dunderheads!â� a dwarf warrior growled, his black beard stark against the whitish-purple of the landscape. â�œIâ�™m not thinkinâ�™ it came from one of us, Garl,â� another dwarf, this one nearly lost behind the curtain of blond eyebrows that hung down from his forehead.

wow lvl service â�œMaybe it be one a-the little ones, playinâ�™ a holiday trick on us!â� " " Akhena scanned the treeline, but her line of vision was obstructed by some of the snowmen. â�œWell, I be thinking that itâ�™s past time for holiday tricksâ� Garl said louder, to no one in particular. â�œAfter, all, it be Winterâ�™s Veil, not Hallowâ�™s End!â� Thwop. Hee-ronk! Garlâ�™s reindeer complained as a snowball the size of the dwarfâ�™s fist popped it right between the eyes. The dwarf shouted out a curse as the shaggy beat tossed him to the ground, to land in a snow drift up to his neck. wow gold Akhena laughed, because dwarves falling was always funny. Some of the dwarves grumbled, kicking their booted heels into the flanks of their stubborn mounts and turning toward the sloping ascent to Ironforge. She sighed at the thought of joining them in riding back to the wintery fairground, where she could already see herself warming up with a steaming mug of hot buttered Dwarven rum, when peculiar movement caught her keen eye from the treeline. A snowman wearing a ridiculously tall top hat stooped low with his spindly stick arms to pack an icy ball of snow. â�œLook out!â� Akhena warned aloud, and flung her slender hand out before her. Instantly, the snowmanâ�™s globular body was outlined in lavender flames. wow leveln He didnâ�™t seem to notice, though, that the faerie fire didnâ�™t burn (or in this case, melt), but instead twisted his arm back and let loose his icy missile. Ree-wonk! She took the snowball directly in the face, and was temporarily blinded by its wetness. She felt the reindeer shuffle under her, and scrambled to regain its reigns. The rest of the detachment were in a frenzy of activity, coaxing their compaining mounts into some semblance of a formation, and she wiped the water from her eyes to see what was the matter. The snowmen had begun to advance. Not only did jolly libels came upon them, but they watched in disbelief as many of the snowmen shook free of the white powder to reveal their true forms. â�œFall back!â� Garl yelled, and the reindeer wheezed against it.

wow level service The Alliance shuffled in confusion at the sight. Akhena lost her concentration, and the light-lined snowman was lost in the fray. She steadied herself atop the reindeer, preparing to direct the energies of the land around her, when she noticed something curious about the coming onslaught: "

wow fiction: A Whisper of Love

"Thunder rolled in the skies above, yet clearly no rain had touched the dried soil of the Blasted Lands for a long, long time. The land that had once been the Black Morass were now a decrepit, eerie desert. This was not the gloomy, damp, tree-infested marshlands that his people had first met, when the Horde had first crossed the Dark Portal. No. What dark powers had molded Hellfire Peninsula into what had earned it its new name had followed the Orcish Horde to this world. A lone orc, draped in dark furs to cover his face from the blowing sand, made its way across the desert. With him, he only carried an imposing battle axe, slung on one shoulder , and a leather pouch gripped tight in his hand. Here, beyond Nethergarde Keep and the Swamp of Sorrows, he was no one. Here, he was not the chieftain of the Bloodwolves, nor a devoted warrior of Thrall's Horde. Here, he was only himself, here he was on Grimgash. He had left Orgrimmar weeks earlier on this journey. Despite the plea of his clansmen, who claimed his wounds were still too fresh, he had insisted to make this journey. He needed to be there. He could not be late. He stopped at the top of a hill and out of breath, he sunk to one knee. wow gold He wiped at his dirtied face and, desperately sucking air in, he fished out a water pouch. Not daring to waste any, he only allowed himself enough water to wet his throat and replaced the cap. He peered about the area and saw it, not too far from him; a single boulder. What he had sought was now within reach. He was too far too see that there was text engraved in the rough surface, but he knew it was the right one.

wow lvl service He felt it. Only a few more steps... Recharged, he was back on his feet and made his way there, nearly losing his footing once more on the way down the hell. There was nothing to tell this boulder apart from another. It was of a dark reddish brown, the same color as the ground. A single line of engraved text made it unique. wow gold 'Rest, Elenial, wife of Grimgash. Shaman of the Horde. Glory is yours. Your home is safe.' For long moments, Grimgash simply stood before the tomb, a thick hand held in a fist over his heart. Finally, he spoke, his voice strong but also wrecked by sorrow, " """I miss you so much. wow leveln Not a day goes by without a thought of you. It has been more than a year, now, since I lost you. You fought bravely. I am so proud. Proud to be your mate. wow level service Proud to have fought at your side. You were a true orc, my woman, and there are no other like you. It is not so easy, being here, without you, though. Not the pride I feel, not the greatest of victories, will take away the pain. Nothing can fill the void left by your departure. Living without you has been the greatest of challenges. I am in agony every day. My love, my mate, I fight to some day be by your side again. To be worthy of you."" Tears were streaming down the orc chieftain's dirty cheeks. He knelt and lowered himself further, kissing the soil at the foot of the boulder.