Connecticut Finally Got In The WoW News

WoW Insider is reporting that 101's District unanimous Republican nominee does, in fact, play World Of Warcraft. That district covers North Guilford and Madison (about a 25 minute drive from me). Her name is Jeanne Stevens (R) of Madison, CT. This article states that:

"The mother of four boys, she volunteers for Madison Safe Rides and co-chairs the town's Safe Homes program, as well as volunteers at the library of Island Avenue School. She is active in her parish, St. Margaret Roman Catholic Church, also in Madison. She also enjoys playing the video game World of Warcraft."

I would bet one of her sons got her into it :-D. Now, the Shore Line Times did not mention anything more about WoW in their article and I would imagine this is all we'll hear about it. I'll have to mention it in conversation with some people around the area to see if they know anything more... If I ever do find out more, I'll let you know.

Question To The Readers (2)

Summer vacations! 'Tis the season of College finals ending and the working class starts to take their vacation days/weeks. The servers will soon fill up; even at 10am compared to when everyone is usually busy. 5am will be the only safe time.

So, what are you going to do with all your time off? I know I'll be working (as usual) and taking 1 or 2 weeks off for a vacation. I've already opened our summer house so WoW on the weekends will be slim to none. I'll just be popping on to check the Auction House.

Also, what will you be doing in game? I'll be playing my Mage (still 69) and doing dailies with him and Aticus.

So, leave a comment with the answers to...
What are you going to do with your time off and what will you be doing in WoW?

Paladins Kinda Cut Out of Tuesday's Wrath Leak

I've read over http://wotlk.wikidot.com/ (which has all sorts of Wrath Alpha info) and I was very disappointed to find that there was only one spell leak for the Paladin. *Spoiler***Highlight the following text** The spell is called Martyr: Redirect all harmful spells directed at friendly targets to yourself for X time.***

So, where it's something, I would have liked to have seen more spells. There have been 5 classes already who have some spells and talents leaked but just the one from the Paladin. I wanna see the new changes to Protection (like Blizzard has said).

The new Mage spells and talents are really something wicked. Especially the Frost tree. Stun anyone? Mwhahaha. Warlocks will finally get Metamorphosis! I loved the spell in Warcraft 3 and now it is in WoW. They have screenshots too! And how about that picture at the top of the page? I would bet that might be the non-combat pet we'll get for the collector's edition.

On a Mage update, my Mage is currently 68. We're working really hard on to get him to 70 and at least into the battlegrounds for some epics. The time has come to settle down, save your money, and build up for the expansion.

Also, congratz to David Cook for winning the American Idol competition! And rightfully so. It wasn't even close. He won by 12 million votes! Amazing! I can't wait for his second album.

Wrath Alpha

So, I don't have much to talk about and it has been a very non-eventful weekend in WoW. However, MMO-Champion has the Blizzard Wrath Alpha patch notes (SPOILERS):

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- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King: Friends and Family Alpha
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Welcome to the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Friends and Family Alpha. The list below contains information on the current available content available for testing and general information. This information is subject to change.
General
- The continent of Northrend is now available! To travel there, visit one of four transportation masters in either Orgrimmar, Undercity, Theramore,or Menethil Harbor.
- Transportation between Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra can be found at the Tuskarr villages in those zones.
- NPC Transportation Locations
Horde:
Undercity to Vengeance Landing (Howling Fjord)
Orgrimmar to Warsong Hold (Borean Tundra)
Alliance:
Menethil Harbor to Valgarde (Holwing Fjord)
Theramore Valiance Keep (Borean Tundra)

World Environment Zones
- The following zones are available for testing: Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, and Grizzly Hills
Dungeons
- The following dungeons are available for testing:
Howling Fjord: Utgarde Keep (70-72)
Howling Fjord: Utgarde Pinnacle (80)
Borean Tundra: The Nexus (70-72)
Grizzly Hills: Drak’Tharon Keep (74-76)

Classes
- All Classes are available for play. Spells and talents will be available for testing past 70 for the following classes: Druid, Mage, Priest, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior
- The Death Knight Hero class is now available for play.
Creating a new Death Knight will start you at level 55 in Eastern Plaguelands.
No starting quests are implemented though Death Knight abilities will be available for testing.
Several Death Knight talents, although they will appear on the talent pane, are not yet implemented.

Tradeskills
- The following tradeskills are available to train up to 450: First Aid, Herbalism, Mining, and Skinning.

Vivendi's First Quarter Report

Some of you might not even care but Vivendi had a press release summarizing their first quarter financial status. There is however a little something about Wrath in here (bolded so you don't have to read the whole report. You're welcome :D ).

Vivendi Games · Vivendi Games continues to make strong headway with Blizzard Entertainment, inc and World of Warcraft ®, adding 2 million incremental subscribers compared to end of March 2007; After reaching the 10-million-subscriber milestone at the end of 2007, World of Warcraft's subscriber base grew to more than 10.7 million by the end of the first quarter of 2008.

A comparison of the first quarters of 2007 and 2008 performances is not representative because the first quarter of 2007 included the hugely successful release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Blizzard Entertainment's second expansion, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2008. Consequently, Vivendi Games' revenues for the first quarter of 2008 are 24.1% lower (-18.2% on a constant currency basis) when compared to the same period last year. Vivendi Games' revenues was 221 million.

Blizzard Entertainment's revenues was 192 million. Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile revenues were slightly higher than their performance for the same period last year; in the face of unfavorable currency exchange movements on all business segments.

· Vivendi Games' EBITA amounted to 50 million. Excluding the allocation of Group overheads, Blizzard Entertainment's EBITA was 99 million.

Sierra Entertainment's EBITA of -34 million (excluding the allocation of Group overheads) was effected by higher costs related to increased investment in Sierra product development and accelerated royalties expense for released products.

Vivendi Games' EBITA also includes continued start up expenses for the Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile divisions. Comments on Vivendi's First Quarter 2008 Financial Indicators Revenues amounted to 5,280 million compared to 5,020 million for the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 260 million (+5.2%, representing +6.9% at constant currency). EBITA totaled 1,203 million compared to 1,274 million in the first quarter of 2007, a decrease of 71 million (-5.6% or -3.9% at constant currency) which was mainly driven by the favorable settlement of a tax litigation (+73 million) in the first quarter of 2007 and Vivendi Games (-57 million), with the impact of the exceptionally successful release of the first expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, also in the first quarter of 2007. In addition, in the first quarter of 2008, EBITA included a net reduction in the provision for stock options and other share-based compensation plans (+38 million) and Canal+'s two extra Ligue 1 soccer match days compared to the first quarter of 2007 (-32 million).

Income from equity affiliates totaled 85 million compared to 82 million for the first quarter of 2007. Our share of income from NBC Universal represented 53 million for the first quarter of 2008 compared to 65 million for the first quarter of 2007, a decrease driven by the decline of th U.S. dollar and NBC Universal's performance. SFR's share of income from Neuf Cegetel represented 33 million compared to 18 million for the first quarter of 2007.

Adjusted net income amounted to 697 million with 0.60 per share, compared to 771 million with 0.67 per share for the first quarter of 2007, a decrease of 74 million (-9.6%). Earnings attributable to equity holders of the parent amounted to 555 million with 0.48 per share, compared to 932 million with 0.81 per share for the first quarter of 2007, a decrease of 377 million (-40.5%), which was primarily due to the dilution profit on the sale of a 10.18% equit interest in Canal+ France to Lagardère (+239 million) in the first quarter of 2007.

So, it seems like Vivendi is holding up fairly well.

BTW: My Mage is now currently 66 and climbing. We hope to have him to 70 by next weekend - if not sooner!

This just in: Morgan Webb hates the Horde. You rock Morgan! :-D

1 Million Strong For Burma

http://www.burmaitcantwait.org/burmaitcantwait/

I'm taking a break from Blizzard and WoW news to bring some attention to a website which started up a 30 day campaign earlier this month. The US Campaign for Burma is a group devoted to spread the word about what is happening to the people of Burma, bring Democracy to the country, and to bring human rights to the Burmese.

For those who do not know, for over 20 years, the people of Burma have been ruled over by a government with an iron fist. These people want democracy but are beaten, tortured, and killed by their government's military anytime they express themselves.

Each day, a 90 second commercial supporting Burma is presented on the website (usually by a celebrity or someone in relation to Burma). Day 6 is my favorite. Eddie Izzard takes a step back from his comedy and speaks powerfully about what is happening to the children and worshipers in Burma. Ellen Page (The Tracey Fragments, Juno) is also supposed to be presenting a short as well in the coming days.

/end plug

Diablo 3 at BlizCon 08?

This is going to be a quick update cause I am so psyched to hear the news. There is going to be a BlizCon 08 this October 10th-11th. But that's not why I am excited. I'm excited about the fact that they have reserved 3 rooms instead of two. Now, what game franchises do Blizzard own? Warcraft, Starcraft, and.... DIABLO. So, three rooms, three games, and they just took over the domain name Diablo3.com.

I.Can't.Wait!

Death Knight Information Unleased!

After months of waiting, information is finally here! Welcome: The Death Knight. This is the information taken from MMO-Champion (cause I'm lazy and don't feel like summarizing :P):
Death Knights

• All players with a level 55 character will be able to create one Death Knight per realm, per account. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Blizzard's designers decided to start the class with a full complement of abilities right off the bat, figuring that any player that has advanced a character to level 55 would be able to learn to handle the new class with minimal difficulty. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Death Knights will have a summonable Skeletal Deatcharger Mount. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Death Knights aren't using Mana or Energy, the runes are their primary source of power and are slotted into their "blade," which lies underneath their health bar as a visual indicator of what resources are available to the player at any given moment. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Spent runes automatically refresh after a set period of time, much like a Rogue's energy bar. (Gamespy.com)
  
• There are six slots in the blade, and the player is free to fill those slots with any given number of Blood, Unholy or Frost runes. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Death Knights also have a secondary resource called Runic Power generated by using your rune abilities. It will use the same mechanics as rage and increase when you deal damage, or slowly decrease if you're not using it. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Death Knights will have a lot of abilities that cost all available Runic Power with varying levels of effectiveness based on total Runic Power spent. (Same mechanics as Execute for warriors, or finishing moves for Rogues) (Gamespy.com)
  
• Death Knights will have spells equivalent to auras called "Presence", providing them with powerful self-buffs depending on their role in the group. (One for tanking, one for damage dealing, etc ...) (Gamespy.com)
  
• An instant lifedrain spell (described as death coil without the fear component) will be available. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Death Knights will be the first class to use diseases as a source of damage, with abilities that become strong depending on how many diseases are already applied to the target. (Gamespy.com)
  
• "Army of the Dead" will spawn numerous undead minions to attack nearby hostiles targets. (Gamespy.com)
  
• Death Knights will also revive an enemy (or ally) as a ghoul to use it as a pet with its own special abilities like a disease-inflicting strike and a stun. (Gamespy.com)
  
• When an ally is risen as a ghoul, a pop-up will appear and this ally will have the choice to control the ghoul if he wants to. (Gamespy.com)
  
• The Death Knight's particular niche will be in tanking magic-damage-dealing bosses. They will have an ability much like a banshee's anti-magic shell, greatly diminishing the amount of incoming magic damage they'll receive in combat (Gamespy.com)
  
  

Death Knight Skills

• Death Coil -- Depletes all Runic Power, dealing 600 damage to a non-Undead target, or healing 900 damage on a friendly target. (Curse.com)
  
• Death Grip -- This is the Death Knight's "taunt" ability. It also pulls the target to the Death Knight, forcing them to attack the Death Knight for a short amount of time. Yes, I said pulls the target; Blizzard is going to allow players to move mobs in the expansion both with Death Grip, and other knockback/pull abilities. This works on players too, so PvP balance ahoy! (Curse.com)
  
• Chains of Ice -- Roots the target in place. When the spell fades, it places a snare on the target that reduces in potency as the duration runs out. (Curse.com)
  
• Death Pact -- Sacrifices the raised ghouls to heal the Death Knight. (Curse.com)
  
• Death and Decay -- Targeted, AoE Damage-over-time which pulses similar to the Paladin spell Consecration. Anyone affected by Death and Decay has a chance to be feared. (Curse.com)
  
• Frost Presence -- Increases Armor by 45% and allows the Death Knight to generate 25% more threat. Only one presence can be active at any time. (Curse.com)
  
• Unholy Presence -- Increases Attack Speed and Movement speed by 15%. Only one presence can be active at any time. This was described by Tom Chilton as the "PvP" presence. (Curse.com)
  
• Anti-magic Shield -- Reduces the damage of the next magical spell cast on the Death Knight by 75%. It also converts the damage reduced into Runic Power. (Curse.com)
  
• Strangulate -- Depletes all Runic Power, dealing minor damage and silencing the target for up to 5 seconds. (Curse.com)
  
• Summon Deathcharger -- Allows the Death Knight to summon a Deathcharger mount. This mount is acquired through quests, similar to the Paladin and Warlock land mounts. (Curse.com)
  
• Raise Dead -- Raises a nearby corpse to fight for the Death Knight for 2 minutes. If used on a player corpse, the player has the option to play as the ghoul for the duration -- gaining access to the ghoul's abilities. (Curse.com)
  The ghoul has the ability to do the following:
  Leap to the target
  Rend for decent damage-over-time
  Stun target, and of course more

Looks epic to me! A bit of a Warrior-Rouge-Evil Pally crossover. I know I'll be playing one. I'm not sure about the Rune System though. I'm still a bit confused on how it's going to work. Then again, it seems like something you need to experience. It does look like a hard class to play. I bet this isn't going to be a walk in the park. If they do a good job in the first training missions, then they will succeed in teaching us how to play the class.

BTW, it looks like they're going to mute the Necromancer class fanatics with the spells Army Of The Dead and Raise Dead (see above). The spells do seem to the fit the demographic. I've always wanted a tanking class with the powers of the Undead. Probably the same way I wanted a Paladin because of the Spellwarrior class-aspects. Same with the DK. We Paladins should feel right at home :-D.

(I wrote this article on Friday. There have been so much Wrath information released over the last 4 days. There's just too much for me to summarize. WoWInsider and MMO-Champion have all the information that has been leaked.)

I Gotz Mah FigurePrint!

As promised, here are some pictures of my FigurePrint of Aticus.

Please click them to see a full resolution picture. Due to horrible lighting, the picture quality is pretty weak... Sorry. The middle one looks the best because you can see how detailed the face can be. Problem is, it blows out the particles. It does not look that bad. Excess lighting on an object will blow out anything (ie: dust on a laptop).


I love it. You can see some residue / dust / particles... whatever you wanna call it. But it's still 32 man days worth of my life finally memorialized as a statue instead of a piece of data.

I spent 7 years playing Diablo 2 and now all but one of my characters are gone; never to be seen again. And you can take screenshots and say, "Hey, it's good enough." Fine by me - go ahead. But screenshots will be gone someday too. This is only $115. Anyone who is over 16 can go out, get a job, work for 3 days and pay it off.

I'm just saying, to all the nay sayers out there (in a tone that Yahtzee said it in his Portal Review around 4:00 minutes), "Fuck You. FigurePrints are great and if you don't think so, you must be stupid."

:-D

New Blizzard Store

(This post is in memory of Ryan J. Buckley)

Not much news to talk about for the WoW casual player. However, for those hardcore Blizzard fans (such as myself), Blizzard has finally updated their online store! It's all cool looking, organized, and cleaned up. I remember seeing so many things out of stock but that's gone.

http://www.blizzard.com/store/

In other Blizzard news, Blizzard has officially taken over Diablo3.com (now linked to Diablofans.com). This is not a sign for a release date but it does raise an eyebrow that they are planning something. I hope we hear something soon! Just to clarify, the owner gave the website to Blizzard. Now, Blizzard should give the guy some money for it. They're sitting on so much cash that it'll be a nice write-off.

And we have just about 11,000 hits to this blog. It might not seem like much but it makes me feel proud.

No Post Today

You do the math :-P


Cya Monday!