I have never before wanted to watch a movie with friends so badly. Because both E.J. and Keffy are, shall we say, big fans of science, and I would want to be there to watch their heads go splodey when the scientists on-screen explain how the Mayans predicted a thousand years ago that a galactic alignment of planets would cause the neutrinos in the sun to mutate.

Watching their heads blow up might actually be better SFX than the movie itself.

uh... ERK?

Who here uses companies to do their printing of images? Who do you use for INTERNATIONAL shipping? Cause mpix dropped their 14.95/canada and it's now 30.00... No thank you! :(

Ever since unexpected updates this week, WoW has hit latency hell for me (I've logged latencies of over 9000, no joke). This has led to some rather inconvenient d/cs in the middle of raids and instances. A few of my other guildies have been experiencing the same issues.
Has anyone else? Does anyone know how to correct this?

...had problems logging into the official forums?

For days now, every time I try all I get is a "Server error." page.

However as of this afternoon, the Las Vegas Convention Center emailed us to let us know that due to their human error, the confirmation they were giving was false.

According to the LVCC, Blizzard and the LVCC had spoken once about having BlizzCon 2010 in Las Vegas, and a hold was placed on those dates as a marketing tactic to entice Blizzard to the area. However, that hold was inadvertently turned into a confirmed booking, leading to the inaccurate confirmations and resulting issues.

The LVCC has apologized for the confusion, and thus ends the saga of BlizzCon in Las Vegas

from wow.com

Double double edit: I'm not sure what the problem was still, but it appears to have been fixed. I did a router restart [well, I shut it off for around thirty minutes anywa] and it's fixed. This may be a solution?

So, the game and the forums are down? Was there some announcement of oddly timed maintenance that nobody was told about?
I did manage to log in once, after about 5 mins of waiting at the connecting screen, but it only brought up the development realms and then wouldn't connect. >_>

Edit: It appears that even worldofwarcraft.com and blizzard.com are having XML problems as well?

Double edit: I did manage to 'log in' twice, but half the servers were missing and WoW crashed upon trying to connect to any of them.

So says Rob Pardo, senior VP of game design.

Let me just say... WE TOLD YOU SO! Kudos for finally admitting it.

I can't access either of my accounts with either of my computers, and I can't even get to the Manage Account area of the website, and the "news" isn't connecting either. Is anyone else having any problems?

Ugh.. I hate it when I loose purpose in a painting.

So... do I start over, or do I work on something else instead? :(


edit/ nm.. figured out the problem. redo from start!

I got all the classes I wanted =) Now, to prepare myself for 16 credits of utter doom and destruction. And awesomeness.

In my experience as a GM, players are like serial killers: they do what they do in order to satisfy some inner need. And like serial killers, you can extrapolate a lot about their personalities from carefully observing their evidence.

Which is to say that most players, even if they play a lot of characters, generally have some core personality trait that is shared among all their PCs. Take me, for example; I've played characters from a low-life gambler who plays cards with demons for (unreliable) magic powers to a superhero who records his battle-sounds so he can sample them for club mixes later. From an outward description of the guys I've played, you'd be hard-pressed to see what the connecting tissue is, because as a writer I go balls to the wall to come up with wildly differing backgrounds.

Yet all of my PCs share one thing; they're the smartest guy in the room on one issue. Not the smartest guy in the world, mind you, but each character has a gateway to some kind of forbidden knowledge that the other PCs just don't have. Yes, I play a living supernova who burns his enemies with fire... But he's also a physicist. Yes, I'm playing an ex-jock gone to seed who's forced into investigating the Cthulhu mythos... But he also runs a chain of sportswear outlets, and is a master of marketing. The huckster knows magic secrets, the DJ knows the club scene better than anyone.

As a player, I'll be entirely happy if I get the shit beaten out of me in a losing combat if I get to have my secret knowledge mean something during the game. It's perfectly fine if Thermal winds up in chains after the big battle if his physics knowledge was the only way they could have gotten into the villains' lair.

That's what scratches my roleplaying itch. And it's constant.

Likewise, my wife comes up with wildly differing characters from an elf flickering between dimensions to a fire-priestess of a noble kingdom, but all of her characters can be summed up by Thundering Badass Crippled By Dysfunctional Family Issues. If you play with almost anyone for long enough, you'll generally note the ties that bind all their PCs - even if, quite often, they're unaware of it.

So I ask you: What's your archetype? Do you know what need it satisfies? Tell me. I want to know.

"Today we will experiment with a new form of composition called the tandem
story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person
sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the
first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first
paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person
will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth.

Remember to reread what has been written each time in order to keep the
story coherent. There is to be absolutely NO talking and anything you wish
to say must be written on the paper. The story is over when both agree a
conclusion has been reached."

The following was actually turned in by two of my English students:
Rebecca -last name deleted, and Gary - last name deleted.

-------------------------------------------------------------

STORY:

(first paragraph by Rebecca)

At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The
camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now
reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he
liked camomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off
Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too
much her asthma started acting up again. So camomile was out of the
question.

------------------------------------------------------

(second paragraph by Gary)

Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now
in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the
neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had
spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he
said into his transgalactic communicator "Polar orbit established. No sign
of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off, a bluish particle
beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo
bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and
across the cockpit.

----------------------------------------------------------

(Rebecca)

He bumped his head and died almost immediately but not before he felt one
last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever
had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless
hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law
Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper
one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared
out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed
unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to
distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things
around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she
pondered wistfully.

---------------------------------------------------------

(Gary)

Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands
of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of
its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the
Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through the congress had left
Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were
determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage
of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying
enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them,
they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile
entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret Mobile
submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the
inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid, Laurie and
85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the
conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty!
Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"

----------------------------------------------------------

(Rebecca)

This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My
writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.

----------------------------------------------------------

(Gary)

Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at
writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh shall I have camomile
tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F***ING TEA??? Oh no, I'm an air
headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels."

----------------------------------------------------------

(Rebecca)

Asshole.

----------------------------------------------------------

(Gary)

Bitch.

----------------------------------------------------------

(Rebecca)

Wanker.

----------------------------------------------------------

(Gary)

Slut.

---------------------------------------------------------

(Rebecca)

Get f****d.

----------------------------------------------------------

(Gary)

Eat s**t.

--------------------------------------------------------

(Rebecca)

F*** YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!!!

----------------------------------------------------------

(Gary)

Go drink some tea - whore.

*************************************************************

(Teacher) A+ - I really liked this one.

Wrath of the Lich King came out one year ago, folks. (November 13, 2008)

Discuss.

July 30 and 31st.

Most importantly?

In Las Vegas.

Edit: this from WOW.com, where i initially got the previous info:

"Update: Blizzard has responded to let us know that they haven't announced any details regarding their next BlizzCon, and that they recommend everyone refrain from making any travel plans at this time. However, the Las Vegas Convention Center has confirmed this booking and continues to list it on their calendar."

Blizzard seems to have had a significant continuity screw up with saronite. There's various quests with it being some mystic mind-destroying substance. Now the Icecrown rep faction is going to be some crafters "who discovered how to bend saronite to our will." Meanwhile miners have been carrying cartloads about and every plate-wearer in the game has had some saronite gear on without the slightest ill effect. The Blizzard crafting team should've picked something else to be between cobalt and titanium. It's a big periodic table. Or maybe make something up. Have a metal sacred to the night elf goddess, so malleable that you can make cloth-weight gear in it. I think night elf priests would look good wrapped in Elune-ium foil.

Yes, the gameworld will be changed. Yes, we'll be able to level further.

But I want a new login screen.

I liked the WotLK login screen at first, how cool to have a dragon flying around on it, but when you're trying to log in and don't realize your volume is up that danged roar is LOUD and you never know if you're going hear it on login or not. That's especially annoying when you're spouse is annoyed with how much you've been playing recently and you really are just popping on to check your auctions.

I know about the warcraftrealms.com/census however, I am more interested in a site that will give me a report on the population and activity of realms in a list or a report; unlike the census where you have to look at the realms one by one.

Any help out there?

EDIT

What I am looking for specifically, is a high population realm; I prefer Alliance side.

Specifically, I would require late night or weekend raids. Preferably something casual but beggers can not be choosers.

I would take any suggestions :)

Just wanted to share a wallpaper i made using the WoW Model Viewer and my character Kaedence and my boyfriend's Kincaid =)

I thought it was cute <3



sorry if this wasn't allowed!

When I play through any computerized roleplaying game for the first time, I am invariably the good guy. I make all the morally correct choices, am kind to my fellow travellers, spare my enemies, avoid kicking puppies or harvesting little children, et cetera. I am scrupulous about this, for this is the "official" record.

Then, if the game is sufficiently interesting to play through again, I start a "what if?" scenario where I play the utter bastard, making every greedy choice and slaughtering everyone in town. And I dislike this on some level, but justify it because the first time was what really happened, and this second time is just fantasy. Which is kinda stupid, but there you have it.

However, I know this is not unique. Interestingly enough, my daughter Amy started off Mass Effect with an utter jerk, but within three hours she felt bad and slowly transformed her meanie badass into a sweetness and light hero. Which led to this weird little poll:

Poll #1484469 Roleplayin'
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 304

When I am playing through a computerized RPG of some sort (like Bioshock, Mass Effect, or Dragon Age), I will usually:

After my account was hacked in April, I took a long break from WoW. But I'm back, and on a new realm in a guild that I love, starting fresh! Currently my main is a lvl 52 pally.

But I have that lonely lvl 80 lock on my old realm. Its a brand new 80- After I hit level cap, I focused more on the other faction because my friend was leveling a toon there.

So I want to transfer my 80 to my new realm, but it is so undergeared- I'm kind of embarrassed! Also the majority of my gold is gone (hacked). I do, however, have 450 mining (from the hacker, actually). Also talioring but its only something like 350-375ish.

So any tips to improve my 80 lock soloing? Or should I just transfer it over anyway and see how my guild can help me out as far as running things?

New loot information from Patch 3.3 is available on MMO Champ and World of Raids. The Quel'Dalar questchain rewards are HAWT (the only exception I've seen so far is that the 2h DPS Strength version has Haste on it for some idiotic reason, where as the AGI version has a ton of sexxxy Armor Pen), as are some of the Emblem of Frost items. So far, I'm not impressed with Icecrown Raid gear though.

Assuming the information is correct, the Heroic versions of the three new 5-mans will be dropping ilvl 232 gear. The normal versions will be dropping ilvl 219 gear. o_0

http://www.worldofraids.com
http://www.mmo-champion.com