Cartoon of The Day: Both At Once

 

 Taken at the SL23B Welcome Area. This avatar looked so much like a World of Warcraft Night Elf, one could be excused thinking they walked in here from the game. 

 

By Bixyl Shuftan 

 

More April Fools

 

A couple days ago when we wrote about April Fools in Second Life, Spiffy Voxel would comment there was much more.

 

There were some other good Second Life pranks yesterday. The biggest one was the reveal of the 'revolutionary' new mesh body that Salt & Pepper had been teasing... which turned out to be a flat cardboard avatar. However, the joke appears to be on Salt and the other creators who got involved, as both Cardy and Cardo proved to be rather popular! 🤣 They should definitely be easier to make clothing and accessories for, which is perhaps a commentary on the state of working with all the other mesh bodies and heads out there...

Gorean Whip Radio announced their sale to iHeart Radio — no more DJ interruptions, nothing but Top 40 Big Band songs on repeat. 🤣 Apparently, a few people fell for it, while others (like myself) played along. 🙂

More subtle, however, was the April Fool pulled by Luke Rowley, owner of the Primfeed photo-sharing social network — various menu items were rendered in Comic Sans yesterday. 😉

 

Of the Salt and Pepper avie, someone on Virtualverse would say, "It was a very elaborate April Fool's joke. And folks are either 'That was a good one' or they are very very angry on the interwebz about it. However, it is my new shopping event avatar. It's pretty cool. There are clothes and hair for it as well"

 

In gaming there were a couple April Fools I heard about. One was an "Out Meow" for Ark Survival Ascended, a cat update which showed cats going about whistfuly around, either attacking players or casually destroying things without a care. For World of Warcraft, there was the 11.4.1 Patch Notes, "The More Herein," A play on the latest expansion "The War Within."

If there’s anything we know about WoW players, it’s that you want more. In this patch, we’re adding more of everything. More dungeons, more classes, more races, more pets and more mounts and more flight paths and more words on the screen. Unless you want more empty spaces, in which case—we've cut the words and we’re adding more empty spaces! “More more more” is our motto. Read on for more.

Among the "updates" was the new raid "The Deeper Cave Below The Bottom."

After years of going down into Azeroth, we’re going to go below that! What’s below the deepest depth? Only our friends the Digger Miners know for sure, so we’re accompanying them as they go straight down to The Bottom and then go down from there.

In the Deeper Cave Below the Bottom, there’s no light whatsoever except when you cast spells, and the extreme temperature and pressure means the enemies that live there are in a really bad mood! Defeat the lowest final boss—Ugh the Complainer—and look around on the floor of his chamber. Is that a door that leads downward??

 

On a personal note, one friend of mine commented "We need to cancel April Fools Day until sanity returns to the world." I disagree because when has the world ever been truly sane? There have always been evil men, and women, up to evil schemes, there has always been corruption, and there have always been selfish people out only for themselves. If we took ourselves too seriously all the time, we'd go nuts. So let's all take a little time to laugh.

 

Happy April Fools.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

Microsoft Announces It's Buying Activision/Blizzard

 

In what would be the biggest computer gaming business acquisition in business history, yesterday on Tuesday January 18 Microsoft announced it was buying Activision/Blizzard. The deal would be at 68.7 billion US dollars, or about $95 a share.

“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella would state, “We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”

Activision/Blizzard is best known for the well-known MMORPG World of Warcraft. But has also been successful in games such as Overwatch, Hearthstone, Diablo, Starcraft, and Call of Duty.

Microsoft had already been a company heavily invested in gaming such as with it's X-Box and having acquired the popular Minecraft some years ago. The deal would make it the third largest gaming company. It is notable that while Minecraft's maker Majong was acquired while both the game and company were doing well, in recent months Activision/Blizzard has suffered a series of blows, most notably a rash of sexual harassment allegations. It's stocks have sunk more than 37% since it's high last year. Activision/Blizzard's CEO Robert Kotick would continue for now, though is expected to step down once the deal closes, which may take as long as a year and a half to complete.

Sources: Microsoft, Reuters, The Verge

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Looking Foxy in World of Warcraft

Last month, I mentioned I was on my way to getting a Vulpera character in the World of Warcraft MMO. Well, finally last week, I met the requirements, and did the questline in which my demon hunter and a few of the foxfolk helped out the Horde with a few problems, notably a peon strike, and afterwards were welcomed by Warchief Baine as members of the Horde. So finally that one friend of mine who's been egging me on now has a new foxy teammate. Since Vulpera had been going about making the best of what the desert had to offer, perhaps it might be appropriate for one to try and make the elements work for him. Not to mention earth magic "rocks." So I made my first one a shaman.

So what now? I'll probably be too busy for the next month covering the rest of the Relay season and the Second Life Birthday to spend too much time in Warcraft. Still, it's nice to know I can now be foxy in Azeroth as well as Second Life. Not that being a Tauren, Worgen, or Pandaren was so bad.

As Nydia would say, "good gaming to you."

Bixyl / Bixii

World of Warcraft: Quest For Vulpera

So what do Second Life residents do when they're not playing Second Life? Many of my friends play online games. And recently a new playable race has gotten the attention of some on World of Warcraft, to play as a foxlike Vulpera. So how can one be a fox in Warcraft as well as in Second Life? Well, it's not easy, and yours truly is only partially there.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

World of Warcraft Update 8.3 "Visions of N'zoth" Live

After weeks of anticipation, the MMO World of Warcraft's major update 8.3, "Visions of N'zoth," is now live and running. The main point of "Visions" is one of the old gods is out to wreck havoc on Azeroth with visions of madness (above video link), and once again it's up to the heroes of the Alliance and Horde to save the day.

But this isn't all. Two new "allied races," or races available as player-characters once you finish certain achievements, are now available. The Alliance have the Mechagnomes, and the Horde have the foxlike Vulpera. The latter have gotten the attention of many of my friends to the point one managed to do the required achievements to be able to make one (intro video link).

Nobble87 did a video checking out their character creation, mount, emotes, and one special ability (link), of which there were a number of comments, "I wish I never saw the /sleep emote. 15 years of Alliance loyalty down the tubes." "How are we going to PVP them? I will be feeling like I am going to be kicking a puppy."

So will Azeroth see a population explosion of Vulpera? Will the Alliance find themselves outfoxed? Feel free to leave comments below, or send in  your own stories about Azeroth's new foxy heroes and heroines.

Sources: World of Warcraft, MMO Champion

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted : World of Warcraft Winterveil Sleigh Ride

From Jasmine Dawn. In World of Warcraft, it's the "Feast of Winter Veil." This year, there's a new activity in the cities Ironforge and Orgrimar: a flying sleigh pulled by reindeer that players can hop on.

And Jazzy's Worgen character decided to ride it for a bit, before she was "off for a little Winter Slaying."

News and Commentary: More on Blizzard's China Controversy

This month, the players of the game "World of Warcraft" are celebrating it's fifteenth anniversary, with in-game presents, events, and bonus experience. But there's been a dark cloud over the celebrations. It was last month that the company that owns Warcraft, Blizzard/Activision, banned a player from Hong Kong in another game, Hearthstone, after when given a chance to speak on a televised stream, he called for the freedom of the people of his city. Since the Newser's first article on the subject, the situation has continued to develop. And finally at Blizzard's annual convention, the company President addressed the issue.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Reader Submitted: Warcraft Elvis Souvenier

 Jasmine Dawn was going about Hyjal Summit when a demon she clobbered dropped a couple items, including a pair of Blue Suede Shoes. Maybe the demon was an Elvis fan, though no telling where he got them.

As a Worgen, the shoes look better in her human form (above) than her were (left).

News and Commentary: Blizzard's Removing Hong Kong Gamer From Tournament Sparks Calls for Boycott, Debate on Free Speech

For years, American companies have been trying to get into the Chinese market. With over a billion people, the potential number of customers for a large business is huge. However, the country is under the control of a dictatorship that does not react well to criticism or remarks in opposition to it's goals. It frequently makes demands to such companies, and penalizes those already in for perceived comments or actions against it. The debate flared up again this week thanks to three stories in the news. One of them was a tournament of players of the Hearthstone game, which is owned by the same company that owns the still noted MMO game World of Warcraft. When one winner was interviewed, he proclaimed his support for the protestors in the city of Hong Kong. Blizzard soon reacted with actions many of its customers have found troubling, including yours truly whom had recently just signed up for Warcraft again after an extended break.

Read the story in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Anthropomorphic Influences

It's well known that fans of anthropomorphic characters, aka "Furries" have been a part of Second Life about since it started. But they're also a part of many games. "World of Warcraft," the old powerhouse of MMOs, had a few anthro races. "Skyrim" has two. And more. Mods of popular games allow you more options at playing a nonhuman character. Nydia Tungsten recently had a few things to say about the issue.

Read Nydia's story in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

"I May Be Done" The Husband of A Warcraft Couple Talks about His Wife's Passing

We often think of computer gamers as immature loners, and when they do find someone and get married, what comes to mind is the game being a source of friction between a computer-free wife and game-addicted husband. But there are couples whom happily game together. Recently however, one such gamer has had to deal with the grief and lost as his wife, whom played "World of Warcraft" with him for years, had passed away. Feeling some of her friends would wonder why she was gone, he posted his feelings on the Blizzard forums. He didn't expect the outpouring of sympathy that followed.

Read more in "Other Grids, MMOs, and Games."

When Warcraft Meets Second Life

Yours truly had been going about the Fantasy Fair sims yesterday for one last look before they fade away. But while there, I ran into this avatar. For those not familiar with "World of Warcraft," this is a Pandaren avatar, which looks like it could have jumped from the MMO to Second Life. It's been quite some time since I last played, but it's nice to have reminders since me and others around here had a little fun in Azeroth.

Bixyl Shuftan

"Vanilla" World of Warcraft Private Fanserver Nostalrius Shut Down

Yours truly hasn't played the MMO World of Warcraft in a while. But while I was on, I'd heard people have mixed feelings over some changes, such as certain progression systems removed, the end of the three leveling trees, the simplifying of the pet care system, etc. Many felt World of Warcraft had lost something from it's older days. I'd heard of private servers in which players could go back and play the game as it was, but never checked them out. The big problem: they were technically illegal. Blizzard never authorized any, and each was subject to being shut down.

Nostalrius was one such server. A relatively new one, it quickly became one of the most popular. According to Kotaku, it had close to 800,000 registered users and about 150,000 active users, up from 5000 in May 2015. Unfortunately, it caught the attention of Blizzard, whom handed it's Internet hosting service a "cease and desist" order. The server's managers then reluctantly made the decision to shut it down, telling it's players the last day would be on Sunday April 10. In the final minutes, hundreds of players gathered in spots to say goodbye to one another and to wait out the end.



(click here if the link doesn't work)

The server team also sent Blizzard a petition, for the company to bring back the World of Warcraft of old in "Legacy" servers, saying the sheer numbers of people whom were in Nostalrius was evidence of how many players were seeking it. "Do you think that a policy change can be made regarding legacy servers based on volunteers work, for very old no longer supported game expansion? Or do you think that legacy servers are doomed by definition since, in the end, it's hurting Blizzard trademark and communication more than anything else?"

It's been just several months since World of Warcraft's numbers had dropped to the point Blizzard would no longer publicly give out it's active user numbers. It could easily be argued that's a good reason for Blizzard to consider legacy servers.

Sources, Kotaku, Nerdist 

Bixyl Shuftan

World of Warcraft Drops to 5.5 Million Active Players, Blizzard Will No Longer Report Numbers

Shortly after the release of the total subscription numbers of "Guild Wars 2" put into question if "World of Warcraft" was still the top MMO, on November 2, Activision/Blizzard announced in it's quarterly report that it's subscriptions "remained relatively stable, ending the quarter at 5.5 million subscribers." Although a slight drop compared to it's earlier plummet from ten million to 5.6 in several months, it was another sign that the game's best days are long behind it.

As it turns out, this will likely be the last time World of Warcraft's current numbers will be given out. Blizzard stated it will do so no more, "this is the last quarter that we plan to provide subscriber numbers," the company stated. "There are other metrics that are better indicators of the overall Blizzard business performance."

It seems even Blizzard has concluded "World of Warcraft" will no longer have draw it once had.

For years since it was released in 2003, "World of Warcraft" was more than just a game. It wasn't just the leader in the Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game genere, it was seen as *the* game. It became a part of pop-culture, characters in TV shows playing the game, stories of people playing the game until falling unconscious from exhaustion, and more. Many of it's features, such as players being divided into two opposing factions, talent trees, quests and quest giving NPCs, became more or less standard in MMOs as a whole. With over 12 million at it's peak, companies tried and failed to come up with a "WoW killer," and instead settled into nich markets, such as based on popular sci-fi franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars, and developed along the "Free to Play" model instead of requiring a montly subcription.

Of the news, Hamlet Au commented "The King is dead." That's a bit of an exaggeration as the game is still number one in it's genre. "World of Warcraft" isn't entirely done in popular culture. In June 2016, Legendary Pictures will be showing a movie based on the game "Warcraft" in theaters nationwide. And there is another expansion of the game in the works, "Legion." But Blizzard's announcement is clearly a turning point for the once unmatched MMO that will be seen less and less for what's going on with it now, and more and more as a historic game like "Doom," "Pac Man," and "Space Invaders" were the games of their times.

Sources: Gamespot,  Breitbart,

Bixyl Shuftan

Guild Wars 2's Numbers Raise Questions about World of Warcraft's Status

For more than twelve years, the genre of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games was dominated by "World of Warcraft." But lately it's been crashing in numbers. And something happened recently that put it's status as the champion of MMOs in doubt.

Since shooting up from 6.8 million subscribers to 10 million in November 2014, World of Warcraft's numbers have plummeted, down to 5.6 million in August with no sign of slowing down. And while the MMO that once was *the* game in its genre has been shrinking in numbers, others have been growing. One, Guild Wars 2, recently announced it had reached 7 million accounts, up from 5 million in August. The growth is attributed in part to it's new expansion "Heart of Thorns."

So does this mean Guild Wars 2 is now the number one MORPG? Not necessarily. World of Warcraft's numbers are of active accounts while those of Guild Wars 2 are of all of it's accounts, active or not. Over time, World of Warcraft has had a total of over 100 million accounts.

So it looks like World Of Warcraft is still the Champion MMO, at least for now. That it was in doubt is a reminder with it's dropping numbers, the best known of MMOs just doesn't have the draw it used to. While this isn't the end of it's days as the champion, it seems just a matter of time.


Sources: Gamespot, IGN

Bixyl Shuftan

World of Warcraft's Next Expansion Announced As Subscriptions Drop to Nine Year Low

The latest expansion of the most popular of Massive Multiplayer Online games was announced late last week. World of Warcraft's next chapter will be called "Legion," the name coming from the return of one of Azeroth's enemies: The Burning Legion. With details such as a new hero class, the Demon Hunter, the game is getting some discussion among WoW fans. But the announcement came soon after some disappointing news about it's subscription numbers.

Read more in Other Grids and MMOs.

Gaming News: Steam Suddenly Ending Modder Payment System, WoW Numbers Drop, A Cheater's Public End

There's been some interesting gaming news lately. The latest numbers of World of Warcraft are out. Guild Wars 2 got the attention of gamers from all around when a cheater people complained about on the forum had a youtube of his fate posted there. And we finally look into Steam's payment system for those wanting to make mods for the still popular Skyrim game, which was taken down after only for days. One of the problems with it, some brought up, was how Skyrim's modders were being treated by the game's creators.

Read more in Other Grids and MMOs.

Gaming News: WoW Tokens, Star Wars Galaxies Jedi Hunt Idea, and Antilia No Longer an MMO

While the Newser has reported on events in Second Life, we've heard about some interesting and noteworthy events in the world of gaming. Here's three things that caught our attention, concerning World of Warcraft, the old "Star Wars Galaxies," and Antilia.

Read more in Other Grids and MMOs.

Reader Submitted Pictures: WoW Selfies

"World of Warcraft," the largest of MMOs, has been continuing to do well with it's latest expansion, "Warlords of Draenor." Recently came their latest patch, 6.1, which involved a few fixes and updates, including a Garrison quest for a certain gadget, the S.E.L.F.I.E. camera (video).

The game has always found ways to sneak in elements of pop culture for chuckles and fun, though this is less subtle than most. It's also a way for some players to have a neverending source of chuckles, though others groaned that not even WoW was immune to the selfie craze.

One can take pictures next to some important folk, such as King Varian Wrynn in the picture above. Or perhaps for a Worgen, a picture under a full moon would be appropriate.

And who might this charming lady Worgen be? None other than Alleara Snoodle. A highly skilled Second Life content creator whom was once involved in the Metanomics SL TV show and the Chilbo community, she later withdrew from both due to real life events. Although not appearing as often on the Grid as she once did, she still does, in addition to other places.

Besides the SELFIE camera, there have been other hapenings in WOW, such as the sale of a special pet goat of which the money went to the Red Cross.