Blizzard caves, no more Real ID on forums

Blizzard has caved on the idea of having players post using their real life names on the Blizzard forums.  Details are laid out in a posting by Blizzard's CEO, Mark Morhaime.

I'd like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We've been constantly monitoring the feedback you've given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we've decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.

Bad ideas are bad mmmm k?

Star Wars: The Old Republic beta leaks

And the original post has been removed.

Update: 10 July, 2010 - Adding to the drama, apparently the beta leaker was NOT actually a beta tester and was just making it all up; summed up nicely by this picture from a Reddit moderator:

With that out of the way, does that mean we can repost what was said in the thread? It's not truly beta leaks and for the most part was really just covering what we already knew (ableit explained a bit better).

Update: 11 July, 2010 - Part II of my beta leaking has been posted.

World of Warcraft going Free 2 Play?

Is it possible that we may see a free 2 play World of Warcraft at some point in the future? That is the question being pondered in a piece over at PC Gamer:

The rise of the free-to-play western MMO hasn’t gone unnoticed at Blizzard, developers of World of Warcraft, the dominant western subscription MMO. Speaking to PC Gamer at their studios in Irvine, California, World of Warcraft’s lead designer, Tom Chilton, explained that “at some point, it may not make sense for us to have a subscription fee.”

We all know that WoW was a game changer as far as MMOGs were concerned and with every expansion or change it continues to be one. If WoW was to make the switch to free 2 play, it would become something even greater than a game changer. It's legendary status would be cemented and the genre changed forever.

With that said, I don't see it happening anytime soon and when and if it does, it will be long after WoW has peaked and the money train has moved on to another Activision Blizzard title.

June 2010: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

June was an interesting month for my gaming.  I came into the month with no set "Game of the Month" and no plans to play anything specifically.  Then Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers (DotP) was announced for Steam and shortly released.  Also, a mid-month Steam sale on Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion took a chunk out of my wallet.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for June below.  The overall spreadsheet (includes previous months) can be found here.

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Game of the Month

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers

Cost: $9.99
Played: 20 hours
3-words: casual Magic fun

While I didn't enter the month with a game of the month in mind, I ended the month with a winner in DotP.  My three word description really fits the game.

Casual:  DotP is all about getting in and playing Magic the Gathering.  Some rules are simplified, the decks are pre-constructed, and the game is dead simple to operate.  However, this can be a negative for anyone looking for a more hardcore Magic experience.  I suggest those hardcore players look at the official Magic the Gathering Online.

Magic: any current or past fan of Magic the Gathering will immediately identify with the game.  It is a solid representation of the game mechanics. The only part missing is the collectible aspect as card lists are set and there is no real collecting to be done, but that's OK as its not the focus of DotP.

Fun: this is a subjective term as some players just don't like card games and there is nothing here that will convince them to like them.  But for those players that do enjoy card games, this is probably the best casual PC card game available.  There are no booster packs to buy, decks to construct from scratch, or proxy cards to tape together.  DotP is about getting to the fun of playing.

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/Played

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

I started my journey in Oblivion as a Wood Elf with the customer Heartless class (yes, I named a class after myself!).  I've spent a few hours wandering around and enjoying the game.  There is quite a bit to do without actually doing anything.  It can be annoying sometimes, such as when you are trying to talk to someone and inadvertently steal the cup in front of them prompting a little run in the with the town guards, but once a player gets used to the game it is a fun game.

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/Paid

Total spent this Month: $18.49
My Value Rating: Excellent

For $18.49 I purchased two great games which are aiming to give me a couple hundred hours of playtime.  

Time flys, 10 years

Ten years ago I was just leaving high school on a journey to the great state of Texas for military basic training.  To be honest, I was a little bit scared (too much Full Metal Jacket filling my head). Ten years later, I wouldn't trade my military career for anything and the FMJ nightmares are all gone now that I've met R. Lee Ermy in real life and realized he's a pretty cool cat.

Also, ten years ago as of yesterday, Diablo 2 was released.  Happy belated birthday!