Thursday, March 29, 2012

Forget Solar Power

Some of you may have seen the new Scarlet Monastery preview and if you haven't I suggest you take a look. Although it is shorter than the original, and may be disappointing to some because of this. The updates look like they are all for the better, and this is just the beginning of the beta. I would tell you what it feels like to play it directly, but Blizzard has this thing about not giving me beta access to anything. Wait that's not true I had access to classic WoW beta. It is like they have been punishing me for that.

Anyways, I saw this on Daily Blink and I thought not only was it priceless, but it contains the obvious humour which I know all of you can appreciate.



Yes, torturing Paladins is the greatest power source in history

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Whose Fault Is It?

So here I was reading a bunch of emails many of you have sent to me. All of them basically saying that you enjoyed my insight to the whole Garrosh thing. You also posed a question "If it isn't Garrosh's fault then whose is it? Well this is when I decided to finally reveal my grand thoughts on everything that is Warcraft. So sit back and prepared to have your mind blow!

In determining where to start where better then the here and now? We have been told that Garrosh has decided to attack Theramore. Is he to blame for this though? Course not! Why did he decide to attack Theramore? Well there is the whole issue of the Alliance attacking Camp Taurajo. So does this mean we can blame the Alliance for the destruction of their city? Course not! Only reason Theramore exists is because Thrall felt guilty after killing Daelin Proudmore and allowed Jaina to have her city in peace. Ok so it is Thrall's fault.

Again no! Daelin was the one that came over and decided to attack the Horde and try and stop them from building their own homeland. Ok so we agree it is Daelin's fault. Well no, why did he come over to Kalimdor in the first place? Oh that's right he followed his daughter who took some of his fleet. So screw blaming Daelin it is all Jaina's fault. Sadly as much as I would like to blame her she had her reasons for leaving the Eastern Kingdoms. You know that whole issue with that guy named Arthas who was supposed to be her husband, but instead had the Lich King in his head driving him mad.

Well that's boring it is Arthas' fault? Of course not, that would be stupid. Arthas wasn't always the Lich King he merged with the Lich King. You know that guy who used to be an Orc Ner'zul. So it's the Lich King's fault aka Ner'zul. Now people could probably live with that, but sadly he just didn't end up their in Northrend all by himself hating everyone and everything. You see Ner'zul was punished after he was trying to run from Kil'jaeden and he ended up going through a portal that lead him straight to the very person he was running from.

Well that sucks for Ner'zul, so it was Kil'jaeden's fault because he punished Ner'zul and made him the Lich King. Well no it's not that either. Why was Ner'zul making those portals anyway? Oh that's right he was left in Draenor by his apprentice Gul'dan to die. Gul'dan I know no one likes that guy, but sadly he had a reason for helping to create the Dark Portal and enter Azeroth. You see Draenor was dying, and the Orcs wouldn't be able to live if they stayed. They needed to leave to have a chance.

So it all comes down to a dying world? No that would be a cop out! Why was the world dying in the first place. Oh ya, that's right they decided to practice and learn demonic magic and abandon shamanism. Orcs fault then right? Again no they were taught demonic magic so they could achieve victory in their war against the Draenei.

Sadly, though this war cannot be blamed. Why did this war start in the first place? Oh that's right it was because Kil'Jaeden convinced them that the Draenei were planning their destruction, and were not sharing what they knew with them. Again we cannot blame Kil'jaeden since you know you would have thought you know the Draenei would have mentioned when they met the Orcs that they pissed off this guy named Kil'jaeden and he is known as "the deciever" so he will probably try and trick you and make you kill us. But then we cannot blame them even for this incompetence, but they did fly through space to Draenor, but again why did they do this?

Oh that's right Velen decided to ditch his bros for a wind chime. Bros before wind chimes Velen! So it is pretty obvious it is all Velen's fault!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Siege Of Orgrimmar Fails Because

Oh it is Fail Day and is it ever one. I know you are probably all thinking that I have been on this kick of all things Garrosh, but the fact of the matter is I am extremely pissed off about it. I know I am not going to change anything, but if I was ever born for something I was born to complain. Frankly, I don't ever go off about something unless it really bugs me and this has just pushed my buttons in such a way that I have no idea how to descirbe. So here goes

Siege Of Orgrimmar Fails Because...
  • Garrosh knows what his Father did and being corrupted makes absolutely no sense in terms of the character Blizzard has developed
  • There should be war in Warcraft
  • If your enemy is standing in your capital city and achieved victory they wouldn't just up and leave like nothing happened
  • History dictates that War Crimes are determined by the winners, are we to believe now that Blizzard has chosen sides?
  • Of all the Horde Leaders Blizzard chooses to take down, they agreed on Garrosh?
  • I am sorry Garrosh isn't a mad scientist with a lab in the basement
  • I don't think there is a character in the entire existence of the game that has had more screen time then Garrosh
  • Blaming the entire conflict on Garrosh so Thrall can return and have no "bad" attached to him is beyond bad writing
  • If this is an event to promote dual faction raids I want no part of it
  • I don't care what story you write in to make us think otherwise. Varian is the exact same as Garrosh
  • A "bad" Guy/Girl doesn't always have to be corrupted. There are ones which are just evil
  • If this is an attempt to make up for "the Horde Winning" in Cataclysm it will just result in every expansion being a back and forth.
and finally
  • Thrall doesn't fit as the Leader to the current Horde just like Malfurion doesn't fit as the Alliance Leader
There you have it. This week's edition of Fail. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. It actually felt good to get some of that off my chest.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Craft of War: Blind

Monday morning! Instead of going on my normal rant about it being Monday I am going to get right into it. Monday is Machinima Monday. The post of the week where I showcase of Machinima for all of you to enjoy. This week I am sharing one that I was reminded of when I saw it linked this past week on WoW Insider. This is an older Machinima. Has no voice acting, but it contains some of the best action scenes you will see in a machinima. This coming from one that is 4+ years old. If you haven't seen it you are in for a treat and if you have seen it well then you already know how epic it is, and I know you will enjoy it.



I knew it wouldn't disappoint.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Ask Gauss

Sunday, last day of the weekend and this the first Sunday of the spring season. Also with it being Sunday it is time for this thing here in Gauss land I like to call Ask Gauss. The post of the week where I answer questions sent to me throughout the week. So without waiting any longer let's get to it and answer them.

I saw your article on Garrosh was featured on WoW Insider. What was your take on their take on your opinion?


As always I appreciate WoW Insider reading and linking to my posts. I write them to be read, and agree with what I write or not they are still reading them. To quote WoW Insider"The problem with making assumptions like these, however, is that there is a gigantic chunk of information missing".In my opinion it doesn't matter what information is missing. The matter is they are removing a character that is everything that an Orc Warchief is supposed to be. They are doing this in a way to have someone else re-instated. Thrall in his own words wasn't a true Warchief. Garrosh wants the Horde to thrive, and yes he goes to war, but we have to remember this is WARcraft. The sides don't have to like each other. Each side has their goals. Doing some cheezy corruption way to get Thrall back is still wrong no matter the reasons I know behind it. Make Garrosh the bad guy? When all he did was exactly what Doomhammer did? You know Orgim? The guy the city we are assaulting is named after? So whatever story they come up with, however it is written, it won't make it right.


What are your thoughts on the Nephalem Valor Buff being added in Diablo III?


 I actually like it a lot. The concern was people would be switching their skills for trash packs, for bosses. Back and forth and back and forth. This gives you incentive to keep the skills and runes how you have it setup for your entire play period, which to me will fix the issue of skill swaping mid game. The other great idea of the Nephalem Buff is the fact that it will stop people from kill to a specific boss or a specific pack of monsters then restarting the game just to do it all over again. So there will be no specific "runs" to a boss and will make the entire content of the game active rather then farming specific spots over and over again. I really don't see how anyone could be against this buff. It is a reward for playing the game how it was meant to be played, which is just awesome.


Ultros and Typhon in the coliseum come Tuesday!


I know best DLC for FFXIII-2 so far. Cannot wait.

There you have it questions answered for the week. Hope you all got something out of it. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Mists Of Pandaria Beta Is Live

Yes you have heard correctly. Now it is live and nothing has changed that I don't have access to it, but then that was expected. There is a ridiculous amount of information coming out, and I cannot begin to cover it as well as others. So have a look at MMO Champion for an unreal amount of coverage. There are models, items, mounts, and anything else you can possibly think of. Take your time look through it all and maybe it will do what it did for me. That is stop thinking about the decision with Garrosh. One thing to note is that some if not most of the models are in their testing phase so expect many changes to come from now and until release

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Siege Of Orgrimmar

So I have read the information, and I have sat and thought about it and my first thoughts are the same as they are now. This is wrong. I know why they are doing it, but in the terms of what they were doing with Garrosh and what he represents I cannot believe they are going in this direction.

"Beat them back! Remind these vermin what it means to assault the Horde! Lok'tar ogar!"

Garrosh is supposed to be hot headed and he is supposed to be militaristic. Does that mean that he needs to be killed and removed? The reason which has been given is he has become corrupted, which to me is the absolute worst thing possible lore wise. Garrosh is supposed to be everything his Father was, but the difference is he knows what happened to his father. Garrosh the knows the highs and the lows of his Father. Garrosh is the representation of everything, which existed in the Old Horde except for the demon corruption. He is essential Orgim Doomhammer incarnate. He knows respect, he knows honor.

"Have you given any thought to what this means, Sylvanas? What difference is there between you and the Lich King now?"

Does everyone forget what happened when he found out the truth about Cairne? Yes, he killed him, but not in a malicious way, he did so to protect his honor and prove he was capable of leading the Horde, as Thrall wished. He won unfairly, but again nothing of his doing, and he corrected that wrong. Even with Baine. We saw during Cataclysm that Garrosh was growing as a leader. He was adamant about the use of demon powers, he was wise when he spoke to Sylvanas in Silverpine, he was critical in Stonetalon, and most importantly he learned much along the way.

"It has come to my attention that you have deprived me of a rightful kill. Cairne Bloodhoof was a hero to the Horde and an honorable member of a usually honorable race. It is with disgust and anger that I discover you have caused me to bring about his death through accidental treachery. Such tactics may work well for your renegade, honorless tribe and Alliance scum, but I despise them. It was my wish to fight Cairne fairly, and win or lose by my own skill or lack of it. Now I shall never know, and the cry of traitor will dog my steps until such time as I can sport your head on a pike and point to you as the real traitor.You are on your own, Magatha, as friendless and disliked as you have ever been. Perhaps more. Enjoy your loneliness."
 
Garrosh may not be the perfect Warchief, but he is the one who has learned from the good and the bad. They would ruin this character by corrupting him? That is beyond the worst story arc in the history of Warcraft.Why put in all the effort? Show us he is growing, show us he is becoming the leader Thrall knew he could be only to destroy everything you created? It's dumb, it's stupid, it's completely retarded. If this is all an elaborate plan to get Thrall back as Warchief I really don't know what to say. The way in which Garrosh's character has developed I wouldn't be surprised if he stepped down and graciously gave it to Thrall. Out of respect. This was the way it was supposed to be in the first place when Thrall went away, why change it now?

"I will not fail you, Warchief. I will lead as well as I can, and I will consult with the advisors you suggest. I know what a tremendous honor you do me, and I will strive to be worthy of it."

If this is all some sort of plan to blame someone for Warmongering then congrats for ruining one of the greatest current Lore Characters in Warcraft in the process. Why don't we just bring Arthas back to life and have him marry Jaina and Varian will be the best man all taking place in the middle of Undercity. Does that sound dumb? Well in my opinion that makes more sense they assaulting Orgrimmar to remove a corrupted Garrosh from power. I know it is probably over and done with, and know it cannot change, but I am beyond disappointed and disgusted with it entirely.

"I learned much about the Horde in that time. While there, a wise old war hero told me something that I would carry with me forever... Honor," Krom'gar, No matter how dire the battle... never forsake it."

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

You Fail At Talking About The MoP NDA Lift If...

Oh it is that time again. You guessed it Fail Day. I hope you would have guessed it since it is in the title and everything. That actually leads me to the question do people actually read the title of the post, or do they just go right to reading it? Or do they read the title and decide if they actually want to read it? Anyway, that has nothing to do with anything. Today we explore the failure that is talking about the NDA.

You Fail At Talking About The MoP NDA Lift If...

  • You did it before yesterday
  • You think the female Pandern looks worse then the female Worgen
  • You fort some reason have a reason to complain about AoE looting
  • You automatically when reading "build your own farm" that farmville had made its way into WoW
  • You are complaining there is no mention of player housing
  • You think account wide mounts are a bad idea
  • You believe it is unfair that Human and Orcs get their models updated next even though they were the ones that started it all
  • You disapprove of world bosses
  • Even after a whole explanation of why no 15 man raids you still start forum thread upon forum thread complaining there is none
  • Jaina complainers are still complaining
  • You have a problem with them making archaeology more exciting
  • You find issues with tank, or healer, or dps not being specifically needed in scenarios
  • You guessed that a cloud serpent would be the Pandern Mount
and finally
  • You didn't know Garrosh Hellscream will be the final boss of the expansion
There it is this week's edition of fail. Hope most of you are on the non-fail end.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Gigolo Witch Test

Monday Morning! Normally this would be a sad day. Today though we had the lifted NDA of Mists of Pandaria and it is one day closer to the release of Diablo III. So when thinking of a machinima to showcase here on Machinima Monday I decided to go with one by Olibith, which uses a tool for making Machinima in Diablo III. Now this video is newer, but not brand new so you may have seen it, but it gets you pumped that we could be playing Diablo III soon and we could be seeing more Machinima of the Diablo III nature. So sit back enjoy this simple little short.



Hope you enjoyed it!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Ask Gauss

Sunday! Yes, it is that time of the week again. What a week in gaming this past week and it continues this week. Sunday though in Gauss land means it is time for Ask Gauss. The post of the week where I answer questions sent to me throughout the week. If you are interested in sending in questions it is pretty simple, there is a link on the top right of the page or you can just email them directly to gaussafication@gmail.com. So with that out of the way let's get right into the questions.

You surprised with when the Diablo III release date is?


Actually I was thinking it was going to be late May or early June. So pretty close to what I was thinking, but glad it was on the earlier side of my thoughts. This is actually a game I have been waiting to play for an extremely long time. Also as a mathematician I am excited what analysis I can actually do on how a real time online economy is working, that being the Real Money Auction house. Now I don't think people will be making millions of dollars, but they will be making something with their free time playing a game, something which I think is quite interesting. Regardless May 15th cannot come soon enough.


Mist of Pandaria NDA is lifted on Monday, excited with the information and such?


Well to be honest from the previous lifts of NDAs with WoW expansions there wasn't much information that hasn't been given out already. The thing which is exciting to see is the screens and actually everything you have been told and talking about in practice. Also you get first hand critiques of everything which is available. So that is what I am excited to see and hear. If you think there are going to be new features that we haven't heard about you are going to be extremely disappointed. Be prepared though because once all the information becomes available there is going to be a huge explosion everywhere.


What is a game not many people know about, but you would suggest playing?


Worms Ultimate Mayhem. Great game to play by yourself or especially with others.

And we are done, questions answered for the week. If I didn't answer your question on here it doesn't mean that I won't just wait a little bit, and I will without a doubt get to it. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!


Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Unheard Of Has Happened


Oh yes you have seen it, and it is not a fake. This was posted by Blizzard at 9:00am this morning. It ready for the countdown has begun only 61 days away. I am actually at a loss for words I really don't know what to say. Figured I would have something witty or funny to say about the entire thing, but sadly those words are not coming to me. So I guess I will just enjoy the moment!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Pi Day


Ï€ Day you ask? For those of you that don't know I am a Mathematician, and for us Mathematicians it is a day the we celebrate Ï€, the Mathematical constant. Most people know what Ï€ is. This being the ratio of circumference to the diameter of a circle, but that is not all Ï€ is. In Math there are sometimes things which no one can explain. This is why there is beauty in Mathematics that not many people get to see or realize.

Think of it this way. Did you know that if you randomly drop needles on a sheet of lined paper the probability that a needles will cross one of the lines on the paper relates directly to Ï€. Sure there is much math to it but the relationship is directly tied to Ï€. Ï€ = (2l)/(tP) where l is the length of the needle, t being how far the lines are apart, and P being the probability. This relationship is called Buffon's Needle named after Georges Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon. That is not all the places it appears. It appears in Quantum Mechanics, Relativity Theory, and of course Number Theory. Do you know why Ï€ would show up in all these seemingly completely unrelated places? Of course you don't, but neither do I or anyone else for that matter. Does that mean since we can't explain it it is useless? Not a chance even if we cannot explain it, it keeps working, and it keeps turning up all over.

So yes that was a minor Math lesson, but maybe it is just me trying to show how Mathematics can be beautiful and amazing to anyone and everyone. So hopefully I was able to somewhat accomplish that. Mathematician or not have a great π Day

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

You Fail At Going On and On About No PvP At The Release Of Diablo III If...

Happy Fail Day Everyone! One day away from the day of days in Math Land. So what better way to pre-celebrate then to have Fail Day. This week I decided to make it about something that is on a lot of peoples minds, but frankly it is on some people's minds way too much. So without making you wait an longer here goes.

You Fail At Going On and On About No PvP At The Release Of Diablo III If...

  • You think PvP in Diablo is anything but a side thing
  • You believe having an Arena Death match without any balancing will actually be something worth playing for more than laughs
  • You wrote a book for a thread on the forums then when everyone disagreed with you, you decided to make a new thread saying the exact same thing hoping for different results
  • The only reason you were buying Diablo III is for PvP
  • Your first thought that came to mind is "all the noob care bears are ruining my game"
  • You think not releasing it is against Blizzard's Design Philosophy
  • You didn't even know there was going to be PvP
  • You believe this will make people less angry when you leech off them with your magic find
  • You still think you can do the above, since you obviously didn't read those notes either
  • You blame Activision
  • You think this has everything to do with the layoffs
  • You believe this is just so they can charge you for this later in an expansion


and finally

  • The words release and Diablo III in the same sentence don't actually confuse you
Hope you enjoyed it. Enjoy your day before the epic of epic days tomorrow.

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Story

Monday Morning. Yes it is that. Being Monday though makes it time for Machinima Monday. Over the last few weeks people have asked me to do some older machinima that they may not have seen. Also some have been asking recently why I never showcase some of the music videos that are made. First of all I don't mind parodies or anything like that. I have a real problem with Blood Elf rap I am not a fan of it at all. But this week I decided to make both sides happy. Going to a staple being Cranius, but not to one of his original songs. One that he covered that also has an excellent video prepared by Legs. It is The Story Orignally by Brandi Carlile I hope you like it.



Hope this started your work week out well.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Ask Gauss

Sunday, yes the end of the weekend is here. In addition I had to lose an extra hour of sleep because of the switch to daylights savings time. Completely messing with my routine. Regardless today is Sunday meaning it is time for Ask Gauss. The post of the week where I answer a few questions sent to me throughout the week. So without me going off on a rant that could take several minutes of reading time. I will just get right to it.

So the PvP Arena System will not be active when Diablo III Launches. Do you see this as poor design?


Diablo is and never will be a PvP game. It is not going to be balanced for it whatsoever, and will just be a side thing to the game as a whole. Diablo is about slaying demons and being immersed into the environment, and of course collecting pretty treasures while you are doing it. No one knows who long it will take up to level a character in Diablo III at the moment anyway therefore by the time you are actually max level and put some effort into your character then you may see the arena patch has already happened.


Think of WoW for a second. Battlegrounds where not there when the game launched and when they were actually put into the game they were not even close to being an effective way of leveling. Therefore players couldn't get a real use out of them until they were max level something which had just happened for most active players slightly before they came out.


Blizzard is a smart company. They know people want to play this game, and they know that delaying something which is a great extra, but not fundamental to the game will not have much backlash at all if any worth noting.


Have you seen the Encyclopaedia Blizzanica?


Oh I did and had the pleasure of reading it an its additions. For those of you who haven't read it you can check it out by clicking here. Of all of them I think this is my favourite


Loot - The centre of the gaming universe. These magical collections of pictures and numbers have in the past inspired lawsuits, murders, divorce, brawls, real money transactions, oral favours and tons and tons of QQ. It also follows laws of it's own that frequently differ from the laws of physics. Adventurers are frequently shocked the first time they swat the mosquito which has just landed on their ear and it proceeds to drop a three hundred kilogram battleaxe.

So with MoP Beta soon should we expect complain posts about no beta for you?

You know me so well don't you.

There you have it. Questions answered for the week. Hope you all got something out of it. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Spectral Mounts and Server Loads

I was looking at the Daily Blink today and I just had to share this. One because it is about the SoR and secondly because it has the movie War Games, and that movie was awesome back in the day. So get ready for a laugh


The best part of this you may have had to have seen War Games, but I still think many of you will understand the end regardless.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Scroll of Resurrection – Resurrected Soon!

If you haven't heard here is the blue post

Once your friend accepts your scroll and pays for at least 30 days of game, you unlock your choice of the following rewards:
  • A Free Spectral Gryphon for an Alliance character
  • Or a Free Spectral Wind Rider for a Horde character
And, to enable you and your friend to play together in Cataclysm's newest content, any friend who accepts your Scroll will also receive the following epic benefits:


  • A single character immediately boosted all the way to level 80 -- DING!
  • A FREE upgrade to Cataclysm -- regardless of your friend's original box level
  • An optional FREE character move -- to your realm and faction so you can play together
  • 7 FREE days of game time -- available immediately
A few other prerequisites apply -- such as a free upgrade to a Battle.net account for players who haven't played since 2009 or earlier -- so be sure to check out the FAQ below for full eligibility details.

So this is Blizzard's attempt to get players back to playing the game, and there is a lot of uproar about players who haven't left why they shouldn't get these rewards. Well one thing a few months back if you were a subscriber for 5+ years then you actually got a free copy of WoW. I know this because I got one. You could also say that getting a free 80 if you are already active i nthe game is laziness. This is for people that say haven't played in years and are behind. This goes hand in hand with the free Cata upgrade. The character move is the same thing. If you were away your guildies or friends could have moved to a more active server. You are being given this option as a way to get you back into playing and renewing your subscription. Lastly the 7 days of free game time was the thing that was always in the old Scroll of Resurrection.

You also are getting a free mount for getting people to come back on Blizzard's behalf just like you get a free mount when you recruit a new player via RAF. If  you haven't seen the mounts



So for all those people with the gimmie attitude about how because you have been loyal and deserve something because you haven't left. This is the type of thing that leads to washed out content, mounts being reissued, and so on and so forth.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

You Fail At Complaining About Blizzard Layoffs If...

Happy Fail Day everyone! Yes, that is right it is that time once again. Time to feel better about yourself and someone else's misfortune, or think to yourself why am I such an idiot. Oh the wonders of Fail Day never cease to amaze me. With that spirit in mind let's get to the fail.

You Fail At Complaining About Blizzard Layoffs If...

  • You think this has everything to do with the evil Activision
  • You believe this is because battle.net 2.0 obviously is horrible
  • You someone believe this is the reason Blizzard stole the Kung Fu Panda Idea
  • You actually think they copied kung fu panda
  • You think this is why my braces never drop
  • You some how think this relates to everyone quitting my guild and has nothing to do with you acting like the 30 year old living in your mother's basement
  • You believe this is all because you didn't get a legendary this expansion
  • Your first words were "finally the people who designed the mule have been fired"
  • You think this is because Terran is OP
  • You think this is because Protoss is OP
  • You think this is because Zerg is OP
  • You think this means Blizzard is going the way of "Warcraft Adventures" and "Starcraft Ghost"
  • You think this means Titan will never see the light of day
and finally
  • You think this is the very reason I am living my life and not going without food or sleep because I am not mindlessly playing Diablo III
There you have it this week's edition of fail. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.

Monday, March 5, 2012

I Am Forsaken

Monday morning yes I know you probably know what day it is. I just find if I remind myself it is Monday I will realize that it only happens once a week. This is why though that on Monday's we have Machinima Mondays. It is so we can sit back take a few minutes out of our days and enjoy the work of a machinimator. Lately many of you have been asking for older Machinima and some of you have been asking for Lore type. That was when I realize I could showcase this particular Machinima by Gary Lobine as you may know him as the one responsible for the "Rogues Do It From Behind" Machinima. I chose this machinima because it really hits the forsaken in the light most people see them as, and makes you realize what some of the civilians had to go through. So sit back and enjoy as I know you will



Wasn't I right?

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Ask Gauss

Sunday here it is the last day of the weekend. An extremely beautiful weekend weather wise, well as good as you can expect in Canada at the beginning of March. So let's just leave it that I am in a pretty good mood. With it being Sunday you should know by now if you have been around long enough that this is the post of the week where I answer questions sent to me throughout the week. So with that in mind let's get to answering some.

With the revelation that Blizzard has gone through some layoffs can we assume this is the reason that Diablo III has been delayed?


Honestly they have stated that only 10% of the layoffs where made from development. I actually believe a lot of them where from Blizzcon committees, since there will be non this year. That being said still 10% were from development. Do I actually think this has delayed Diablo III? No. You see with the whole issue with the real money auction house in Korea and all of that Blizzard took some time to actually improve on the game since they had the time. In typical Blizzard fashion these adjustments are not just minor tweaks and they got over there head. This does mean that we will have to wait longer for the game, but it also means that the game we will receive will be better than expected since more time went into seeing how things were done.


Think of it this way. After an expansion to WoW is released they realize things that are good and things that are bad. The next time an expansion comes around they learn from what happened the first time, and therefore can make the experience that much better. With Diablo they were already able to do minor adjustments because the game itself had to be delayed to wait for the approval of the auction house. So it really is win win even if our win will be later in the year.


Do you think Mists of Pandaria is WoWs last shot?


The game has over 10 million currently active subscriptions. Does that seem like a game on its last legs? Honestly I think people are so focused on when WoW is going to "die" that every time a game comes out it has to be a killer, or every time an expansion comes out it will be the one that will ruin the game. Yes, the game has changed over the years and for the most part for the better. It has learned from its mistakes and other games mistakes and become the best selling and largest MMO for a reason. Why not focus on what the game is adding and if it is something you will enjoy rather than if the game will "die". 


Dr. Pepper or Coke?


Is that even a real question?

There you have it questions answered for the week. Hope you at least got something out of it. Enjoy the weather outside if you got something like what I have and take care for the rest of the weekend!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Blizzard Layoffs

If you haven't heard here is the press release.

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that it has conducted a review of its business based on current organizational needs. Following a completion of the review, the company is conducting a global reduction in workforce of approximately 600 employees. The company anticipates approximately 90% of the affected employees will come from departments not related to game development. The World of Warcraft® development team will not be impacted.

“Constant evaluation of teams and processes is necessary for the long-term health of any business. Over the last several years, we've grown our organization tremendously and made large investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our global community. However, as Blizzard and the industry have evolved we've also had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the changing needs of our company,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Knowing that, it still does not make letting go of some of our team members any easier. We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the people impacted by today’s announcement, we’re proud of the contributions they made here at Blizzard, and we wish them well as they move forward.”


Blizzard's current development and publishing schedules will not be impacted. The company will announce specific release plans for Diablo® III in the near future, and it’s continuing to drive aggressively toward beta testing for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria™, Blizzard DOTA, and StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™. Blizzard also remains committed to maintaining its high standards of quality for customer service delivery.
 
Now there are many people panicing and going crazy that this means Blizzard is dying. That this has everything to do with going with Pandas, or is all about the delay of Diablo III. Fact of the matter is this is just something that companies go through. With better technology people can be replaced because you are able to become more efficient. It is that simple. So the world isn't ending, Blizzard is still going to be releasing some of the greatest games this world has ever seen, and if you read this even says "specific release plans for D3" so stop running around with pitch forks scream that Activision killed Blizzard it is not true. So take a step back and have a deep breath and everything will be ok.