World of Warcraft patch 1.12 plans!

World of Warcraft patch 1.11 just came out... and now we have some initial notes on patch 1.12.

Cross-Realm Battlegrounds
For the first time in the history of World of Warcraft, you will be able to face off against players from other realms in the Battlegrounds. Coming in patch 1.12 are cross-realm PvP Battlegrounds, linking Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, and Arathi Basin so that players from several realms will be combined into one huge matchmaking pool. Replenish your mana, sharpen your blades, and get ready for the biggest battles yet!

World PvP
While the Battlegrounds are about to receive a major upgrade of their own, players interested in World PvP will be glad to hear that patch 1.12 will introduce a brand-new type of PvP content to the game. The stage is set for objective-based land battles of truly epic proportions as Horde and Alliance vie for control over important strategic positions and resources around Azeroth. Stay tuned for more news about these new world PvP enhancements coming to World of Warcraft.[/quote]These are the changes I've been waiting for... should hopefully be a good patch. Just have to wait 1 year before we see it!

Both of these are HUGE in my book, but I have to reserve my comments right now due to time constraints. Come back soon because I have a mouthful.

EA To Acquire Mythic Entertainment

From Lum the Mad's (Scott Jennings) blog, Broken Toys, news that EA is acquiring Mythic Entertainment!

Update: 2 May 2009, Added labels.

Alternate World of Warcraft patch 1.11 download links

Update: 6 May, 2009 - Removed post. This will be kept as a placeholder for historical value.

Originally, this post contained links to various World of Warcraft patch download websites.

Dungeons and Dragons Online introduces faction grinding!

"With the launch of the Twilight Forge Module, we will be introducing a new system through which players gain favor with different groups by completing specific adventures. Favor allows you access to special items and rewards; the higher your favor, the greater the rewards. The Patron system will grow, offering the chance for new and better rewards as well as greater ties and involvement within the various patron groups."

I wonder how much more crap like this was on the table early on in development and then never implemented? They seem to have created a skeleton game and slowly are filling in organs. DDO took the classic MMORPG formula and then spiced it with bits'O'Dungoens and Dragons... creating a steaming pile of stink.

While this sort of thing has always been around in D&D in the form of guilds it is far more advanced. You can get buildings, be the leader of a guild, and eventually this earns you the right to hire henchmen. There is unlimited rewards because of how pen'n'paper role playing works because its you and your five buddies sitting at a table. In a persistent world with hundreds of players the idea of faction, err sorry Patron System, equals grinding.

The truth is that Turbine can't keep up to their promises of monthly content releases. Hell, not even bi-monthly content releases. Coupled with the fact there is barely enough content in game to keep anyone interested they are resorting to the time sinks of MMORPGs past. Grinding sucks.

Update: 5 Aug, 2009 - Edited post, applied label.

The Pod People present... "A Raid on Westfall"

Here is my newest video for World of Warcraft. My new guild, The Pod People, had a fishing tournament over the weekend and then a party afterwards (all player created) and we wound up taking the party into Westfall.

Check out the video for the hilarity that ensued!

You don't need to be raiding epics to have fun and I wish more people would understand this. And judging by the popularity of The Pod People there seems to be a lot of interested people :) Hopefully this video sways more people to have FUN doing whatever the hell they want :)