Category Archives: Off Topic

Off Topic

If WoW were real…

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Typhoon Andrew asked, in a recent post, “what 5 abilities, spells, effects, or powers would you like in real life“?

Coming up with an answer is harder than it sounds! After much contemplation…

  1. Cure Disease. The Paladin version, Cleanse, would be alright as well. Let’s face it; disease is a global problem, and the ability to cure it – including non-infectious diseases – is something I couldn’t go past.
  2. Heal, or some variant thereof. As someone who’s been plagued with health problems ever since an accident a decade ago, I’m keenly aware of how fragile our bodies are. The ability to heal the wounded would make such a huge difference, both to my own quality of life and to the world in general.
  3. Swift Flight Form. Because really, who doesn’t want to fly?
  4. Teleport. I love visiting new places, but the getting-there part of the Lose Weight Exercise gets pretty tedious after a while, especially when you live half a day by air from almost anywhere else that speaks your language.
  5. Mind Soothe. When my friends and I throw around the old “if you could be any superhero…” conversation, I’m usually keen on the Invisibility-type powers, so Stealth was a strong contender here. I think Mind Soothe – which, in the real world, would really be like a more subtle version of Mind Control – could be plenty of fun, too. “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for…”

What would you pick? Awesome combat powers so you can be a ninja? The stealth of a rogue, so cat-burglary can fund your early retirement? Or perhaps Tailoring or Leatherworking, if you aspire to a career in fashion? ;-)

Off Topic

Keep It Clean, Mac Users

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Just an out-of-game tip for my fellow Mac-using WoW players:

After a few months of use, your WoW application folder will get cluttered with large, unnecessary files – remnants of old patches, mostly, which can safely be deleted.

If you’re looking to clear some hard drive space, this thread confirms that you can safely delete any old patch files with “a blue tornado icon or comet icon” except the Background Downloader and Blizzard Updater.

(These are generally files with names like “WoW-2.3.2.7741-to-2.3.3.7799-enUS-patch” or “WoW-2.4.2.8278-to-2.4.3.8606-enUS-downloader”, for instance.)

You can find these files in the base-level World of Warcraft directory.

You can also delete the /Patches subdirectory, although – as a blue poster points out – you might want to delete selectively if the downloader is pushing content in advance of an approaching patch.

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You can always use more +heal!

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Now that the “media blackout” has been lifted, I’m happy to announce a new project I’m involved with:

Plus Heal is a new community for healers of all stripes. Founded by Matticus of World of Matticus, the admins are Matt, Auzara (of Chick GM) and yours truly. We’re joined by a great mod team with some familiar faces: Anna of Too Many Annas, Lume of Lume the Mad, Nuetralise of Spirit is Your Friend, and Wynthea, also of World of Matticus.

It’s a very young community, so of course it needs more content, but I’m confident it has the potential to grow into a useful resource where we can all learn to be better healers. Hope to see you over there. ;-)

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Azeroth: what a strange little planet!

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As linked by Leafshine: James Wallis, a very smart and entertaining fellow (for whom I once had the privilege, briefly, of working) recently gave a presentation on the geophysics of Azeroth.

The video is visible at Leafy’s blog; the results are quite surprising. Did you know, for instance, that Azeroth is about twelve kilometres in diameter and about five hundred times as dense as lead? And you might be surprised at what really causes lag…

Well worth a viewing or two.

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Win? Maybe?

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On the issue of international availability of the Blizzard Authenticators, as reported by MMO-Champion, this came from a blue post:

“We’re also aware that non-U.S.-based players on our North American realms were unable to purchase the Blizzard Authenticator from the online store when it was available. This was due to shipping-related issues with our store for this device that could not be resolved by the time it first went on sale. Rather than delay the launch, we felt it was important to make the Authenticator available to as many people as possible as quickly as we could. We’re continuing to work on a solution for these players and will provide an update as further progress is made.”

I don’t see what’s so hard about the “solution” of shipping overseas – I hear the postal service has this thing called ‘international mail’ now – but I’m glad to know they’re not deaf to the issue, at least.

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Diablo 3 it is, then.

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So, it’s official: Diablo 3 is the next Blizzard game. I’m having a heart attack and dying of not surprise, as Zazu would say; the rumours pointing to this announcement had become almost overwhelming over the last couple of weeks.

The haters and the forum trolls are alive and well, of course, but personally I’m excited. Diablo 2 apparently still holds the record for the fastest-selling computer game of all time; despite the claims of the haters, it’s a much-loved computer series, and almost everyone I know is hyped to see it.

I HAZ A THEORY
I believe there are crossovers – connections, of some type – between Azeroth and the world of Diablo.

Consider, for instance, the similar abilities of some characters in the World of Diablo and in Azeroth. Paladins, as a stand-out example, have a lot of points of commonality between the two settings. (For instance, the core unique mechanic of Paladins in Diablo 2? Auras.)

And here are two pictorial pieces of evidence. First, someone on the MMO-Champion forums pointed out that there’s a certain amount of similarity between the Lich King and Diablo.

And secondly, does this landscape look a bit familiar?

The image on the left is from the Diablo 3 cinematic trailer; the image on the right is a Wrath of the Lich King screenshot.

Perhaps Diablo and the other Prime Evils lie far in Azeroth’s past… or future.

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Worst Phishing Attempt EVAR

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So, I got this in my mail today, from “WOWgmEU@blizzard.com”:

Subject:WoW Blizzard Europe – Personal Info verify

Greetings,

We are writing to inform you that we have bad Personal info. To refresh you Personal info fallow this link: [redacted, but it certainly weren’t blizzard.com or worldofwarcraft.com]
Please do not reply to this email as you will receive an automated response.

Seriously, they’re not even trying any more, are they?