Coming back to my post as official 3.1 PTR raid reporter after an offensive usurping by my dubiously sentient coworker Alex Ziebart, it's time for a new roundup of tonight's PTR Ulduar testing events. Last night we got a taste of the Flame Leviathan fight, which brought us motorcycles and tanks and floating pyrite containers, but tonight ... tonight we got a taste of a good, old-fashion player vs. comically gigantic dude raid encounter with Ignis, the Furnace Master. Matt "Matticus" Low, the aforementioned plantlike Mr. Ziebart, and I formed a 10-man raid. As usual, Lead Encounter Designer Scott Mercer, a.k.a. Daelo, was around for the fun. Making travel considerably easier was last night's addition of a teleporter to different areas of the dungeon. Our trip past the large gate guarding the end of the Iron Concourse to the Colossal Forge was instant and uneventful. Then we waited for our barrel-chested braid-bearded friend to spawn.
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic. Got stuff? You need a banker. Creating a dedicated character to do nothing but hang out in town, store goods and handle your finances may sound redundant at first. But time is money, friend -- and a banker can save you both.
I don't want to invoke BTPNTC again, but it's a common perception that one of the goals in class balance in Wrath has been to bring the damage various DPS specs more in line with each other. This, in turn, has raised questions like "if a feral druid does as much damage as a rogue, what's the point of the rogue?" This question is arguable, but fortunately, that lovable crustacean Ghostcrawler has laid bare the developers' goal for how the classes should be positioned relatively in terms of DPS. Here it is: Hunters, mages, rogues, and warlocks. Everyone else. It's important to note that the gap between 1 and 2 is meant to be quite small, and that it will probably be swallowed up by gear, player skill, and the particulars of individual encounters in most cases. As GC puts it, "If you know your class cold, I mean really know it, then there is no reason you can't be topping meters."
Our friend Drayner has posted an open letter to Blizzard over at Twinkinfo.com in which he basically laments the breaking of WoW's twinking game. We've covered twinking quite a few times before here -- it's the game-within-a-game of beefing up lower-level characters to their maximum power using enchants, low-level items, or whatever else they can find. Officially, Blizzard hasn't endorsed or condoned twinking -- if you want to do it, you're free to, but you've got to live with the rules they set on items and enchants, and so forth.
Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. After playing around some more on the PTR, Matt's got some more extended thoughts. That's a picture of the upgraded Penance! It looks really weird when you cast it on yourself. I imagined that the bolts would fly forward before arcing skyward and back down towards the original caster. Too much to hope for sadly. Maybe in a future patch!
Take control of Jak and enter a new game world for all-new missions in fantastic new platformer levels
Meet a cast of characters with personal agendas, entangled motives and mysterious relationships
Fight your way through hordes of enemies using the classic attacks and tail-bashing, or use a new arsenal of weapons
Ride Jak's new hoverboard up mountains and ramps, or across large gaps, for a new level of freedom in gameplay
Explore visually stunning and intricately detailed environments, including a massive metropolis three times larger than the original world of Jak and Daxter!
Sequel to the highly successful Nanny Mania PC game
Play more than 100 levels of fast paced overlapping tasks and challenges
Use intuitive touch screen to manage all aspects of household
Prevent kids from creative havoc by using time outs
Care for children in various stages of their lives
Slot machine fun on your PC
Progressive slots
4x5 style slots with 40 paylines
Includes video poker machines
Create your own avatar
Players can continue to enjoy the game even after completing the main adventure, as the New Game+ feature provides increased difficulty and better items with every new round.
Play anytime, anywhere, and with anyone via compatibility with the DS version. Multiplayer connectivity reaches new heights in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, where players can team up or compete with friends and players around the world.
The intuitive control scheme introduced in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates returns, now adapted to Wii for double the action.
Players can switch between single and multiplayer modes at any time while playing, enjoying two great gaming options in one integrated experience.
A personalized hero can be generated from a choice of the four familiar races of the series; Clavats, Lilties, Selkies or Yukes. Players joining from the Wii can also introduce their Miis to the world of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.
New Chessmaster Academy - At the Academy, International Master Josh Waitzkin walks players through the basics of chess, plus introduce a variety of simple strategies for dominating your opponent. The Academy also features the best attacking moves as taught by noted chess champion, Larry Christiansen
Completely revised interface - clean, clear, and easy to navigate, this all-new interface represents the biggest upgrade to the look and feel of Chessmaster in over seven years.
Full-featured online chess module - more than just a place to play chess live with other players, Chessmaster online allows players to establish rankings, create tournaments, utilize teaching tools, and join a thriving chess community
More fun for the whole family - Features such as animated chess sets, a variety of whimsical 3D sets, and simple and efficient learning tools, makes chess more fun than ever. Younger players and chess beginners will appreciate the specialized section just for them. As players improve, the game suggests an appropriate AI opponent
Comprehensive chess engine - wise enough to teach an absolute beginner and powerful enough to defeat a grandmaster, experience the all-new edition of the King engine--the brains behind the best-selling brand in chess