Slashdot Mirror

That reminds me of a song,

I'm waiting for my man
Twenty-six dollars in my hand
Up to Lexington, 125
Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive
I'm waiting for my man

Hey, geek boy, what you doin' online?
Hey, geek boy, you hackin' our servers with third party addons?
Oh pardon me sir, it's the furthest from my mind
I'm just lookin' for a dear, dear friend of mine
I'm waiting for my man

Here he comes, he's all dressed in black
PR department and a big EULA
He's never early, he's always late
First thing you learn is you always gotta wait
I'm waiting for my man

Up to a Brownstone, up three flights of stairs
Everybody's pinned you, but nobody cares
He's got the works, gives you sweet taste
Ah then you gotta split because you got no time to waste
I'm waiting for my man

Baby don't you holler, darlin' don't you bawl and shout
I'm feeling good, you know I'm gonna work it on out
I'm feeling good, I'm feeling oh so fine
Until tomorrow, but that's just some other time
I'm waiting for my man

It is patently obvious that domain names are worth their MASS in gold, mass being a measure of the degree to which the domain name warps space-time about it. Massive (and therefore valuable) domain names attract web traffic effortlessly; it has been observed that some massive domains absorb apparantly endless amounts of energy, grossly increasing their value in gold.

Although earlier views held that this energy or effort, once absorbed, was gone forever, some very massive domains now appear to retain information in recoverable formats, with the attendant risk of uncontrolled release of dangerous amounts of information or its conversion into anti-information... but I digress...

Play WoW!!!

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes.

Here is a sample, the twenty most popular ones:
blog.outer-court.com - Google Rooms
thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results gtachicago.com - gta chicago does not exist, (*hint check the whois info*)
tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.
iwantoneofthose.com - tiny device that downloads your brain's memory to a 2GB USB Flash Drive
blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)
bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody
figuiere.net - int is_computer_on(void)
wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod
googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB
steampowered.com - VALVe purchased by Apple
slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)
ogrish.com - (NSFW) Bizarre Baby Born In Nepal
worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.
gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together
2600.com - 200600 google spoof
bungie.net - Bungie's next game, Pimps At Sea, progessing nicely for the Xbox360
forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked
theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes.

Here is a sample, the twenty most popular ones:
blog.outer-court.com - Google Rooms
thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results gtachicago.com - gta chicago does not exist, (*hint check the whois info*)
tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.
iwantoneofthose.com - tiny device that downloads your brain's memory to a 2GB USB Flash Drive
blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)
bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody
figuiere.net - int is_computer_on(void)
wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod
googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB
steampowered.com - VALVe purchased by Apple
slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)
ogrish.com - (NSFW) Bizarre Baby Born In Nepal
worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.
gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together
2600.com - 200600 google spoof
bungie.net - Bungie's next game, Pimps At Sea, progessing nicely for the Xbox360
forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked
theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes.

Here is a sample, the twenty most popular ones:
mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results
thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit, Caffeine Inhaler, and more
blog.outer-court.com - Google Rooms
gtachicago.com - gta chicago does not exist, (*hint check the whois info*)
tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.
blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)
iwantoneofthose.com - tiny device that downloads your brain's memory to a 2GB USB Flash Drive
bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody
wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod
googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB
figuiere.net - int is_computer_on(void)
steampowered.com - VALVe purchased by Apple
slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)
ogrish.com - (NSFW) Bizarre Baby Born In Nepal
worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.
gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together
2600.com - 200600 google spoof
bungie.net - Bungie's next game, Pimps At Sea, progessing nicely for the Xbox360
forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked
theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes.

Here is a sample, the twenty most popular ones:
mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results
thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit, Caffeine Inhaler, and more
blog.outer-court.com - Google Rooms
gtachicago.com - gta chicago does not exist, (*hint check the whois info*)
tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.
blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)
iwantoneofthose.com - tiny device that downloads your brain's memory to a 2GB USB Flash Drive
bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody
wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod
googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB
figuiere.net - int is_computer_on(void)
steampowered.com - VALVe purchased by Apple
slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)
ogrish.com - (NSFW) Bizarre Baby Born In Nepal
worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.
gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together
2600.com - 200600 google spoof
bungie.net - Bungie's next game, Pimps At Sea, progessing nicely for the Xbox360
forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked
theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes. wikipedia also contains a sizeable list.

Sample:

tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.

thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit, Caffeine Inhaler, and more

theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.

worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.

tvpredictions.com - Ready for X-ray TV? New TV picture technology even clearer than HDTV; you can actually see through people's clothing on TV.

blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)

bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody

bolloxcomics.co.uk - YTMND parody

wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod

sideshowtoy.com - Half a Darth Maul Figure Exclusive?

slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)

whirlpool.net.au - Telstra will only release 2mbit ADSL2+ in Australia.

forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked

mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results

gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together

googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB

sordeo.com - mirror image and the title says, 'Now optimized for those afflicted with Dyslexia'

eternal-lands.com - Free Software Foundation buys Eternal Lands

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes. wikipedia also contains a sizeable list.

Sample:

tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.

thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit, Caffeine Inhaler, and more

theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.

worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.

tvpredictions.com - Ready for X-ray TV? New TV picture technology even clearer than HDTV; you can actually see through people's clothing on TV.

blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)

bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody

bolloxcomics.co.uk - YTMND parody

wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod

sideshowtoy.com - Half a Darth Maul Figure Exclusive?

slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)

whirlpool.net.au - Telstra will only release 2mbit ADSL2+ in Australia.

forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked

mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results

gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together

googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB

sordeo.com - mirror image and the title says, 'Now optimized for those afflicted with Dyslexia'

eternal-lands.com - Free Software Foundation buys Eternal Lands

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes. wikipedia also contains a sizeable list.

Sample
tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.
thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit, Caffeine Inhaler, and more
theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.
worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.
tvpredictions.com - Ready for X-ray TV? New TV picture technology even clearer than HDTV; you can actually see through people's clothing on TV.
blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)
bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody
bolloxcomics.co.uk - YTMND parody
wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod
sideshowtoy.com - Half a Darth Maul Figure Exclusive?
slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)
whirlpool.net.au - Telstra will only release 2mbit ADSL2+ in Australia.
forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked
mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results
gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together
googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB
sordeo.com - mirror image and the title says, 'Now optimized for those afflicted with Dyslexia'
eternal-lands.com - Free Software Foundation buys Eternal Lands

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. and Microsoft, the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes. wikipedia also contains a sizeable list.

Sample
tveps.net - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.
thinkgeek.com - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit, Caffeine Inhaler, and more
theregister.co.uk - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.
worldofwarcraft.com - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.
tvpredictions.com - Ready for X-ray TV? New TV picture technology even clearer than HDTV; you can actually see through people's clothing on TV.
blizzard.com - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)
bolloxcomics.co.uk - Myspace parody
bolloxcomics.co.uk - YTMND parody
wiebetech.com - 5 TB iPod
sideshowtoy.com - Half a Darth Maul Figure Exclusive?
slashdot.org - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)
whirlpool.net.au - Telstra will only release 2mbit ADSL2+ in Australia.
forums.worldofwarcraft.com - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked
mymsnsearch.com - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results
gearlog.com - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together
googlesystem.blogspot.com - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB
sordeo.com - mirror image and the title says, 'Now optimized for those afflicted with Dyslexia'
eternal-lands.com - Free Software Foundation buys Eternal Lands

In other news, Blizzard has announced the Alliance race for their WOW expansion pack, the wisps.

WoW Patch Notes

I felt like I was in a time warp last night. My text took minutes to show up in chat. My actions took about 10 seconds to complete (while MOBS had no such limitations) and I got disconnected a few times.

Of course trying to find out what the problem was was pointless since the WOW website was also having problems. Even now, there's nothing on the WOW site or in the forums about the problem. The supposed post by the GM appears to have vanished and the realm status page lists everything as a-ok.

I felt like I was in a time warp last night. My text took minutes to show up in chat. My actions took about 10 seconds to complete (while MOBS had no such limitations) and I got disconnected a few times.

Of course trying to find out what the problem was was pointless since the WOW website was also having problems. Even now, there's nothing on the WOW site or in the forums about the problem. The supposed post by the GM appears to have vanished and the realm status page lists everything as a-ok.

I felt like I was in a time warp last night. My text took minutes to show up in chat. My actions took about 10 seconds to complete (while MOBS had no such limitations) and I got disconnected a few times.

Of course trying to find out what the problem was was pointless since the WOW website was also having problems. Even now, there's nothing on the WOW site or in the forums about the problem. The supposed post by the GM appears to have vanished and the realm status page lists everything as a-ok.

"If i wanted to play a game for 30 minutes and acomplish something i would play WoW."

People say this all the time like its some kind mantra, but the fact is, on most servers you will spend those 30 minutes (if not more)just trying to log in! See here and here for just two quick examples.

Oh, please, just about everyone has already seen the future of FFXI: It's right here. It adds concepts such as "fun" and "enjoyable" which are unfortunately missing from FFXI.

Ok well go have a look at the massive thread on the offical forums about it:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-tech-support&t=684059&p=1&tmp=1#post684059

ATi claims to have fixed it in a driver release (it's in the patch notes) but clearly it happens for many people still. Some, like me, found that the unoffical Omega drivers seem to fix it, but not all. Seems it may be related to the Catalyst Control Centre, since that's the major change with the Omega drivers.

Found this on the US forums:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-tech-support&t=747600&tmp=1#post747600

Blizzard poster NickJS saying, "No you cannot be banned for using this keyboard." and "Some of us even use them. :)"

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-tech-support&t=747609&tmp=1#post747609 Read that and ask the same question again...... kinda discredits everything you basically said.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-tech-support&t=747609&tmp=1#post747609
that is the link to forum page that states that the Logitech KBD is acceptable for use in the the game and that several ADMIN'S/GM'S use this item as well. if it is the kbd that is the factor then they need to ban all that use this function of it. However if he was using a "botting" program then they need to prove that this was the case and that smacking a key every so often which since I don't play WoW but have done EQ/EQ2 AC, AO, UO and bout 100 other MMORPG's and used macros to break the tedium of the nonsensicle smack rock pickup item repeat or the auto macro's in EQ2's crafting tools (yes I used them) still required some interaction on the user's part. Macros from all I've read about in almost all MMO's are common practice. Most games have in-game keystroke macro keys built in. If he was abusing the macros by not being coherent but still being at the machine how can this be considered botting? He's although not attentive still manually activating the macros by a key. If bliz wants to throw accusations at people they should specify what exactly he is doing that is considered a bot. If macros are botting then 99% of the community would be banned based on that definition. I've got several friends who play WoW and I watch them smack 1 or 2 keys for multiple actions (that's a macro) yet these are ingame made macros. so according to what is considered a ban-able offense then the game itself should be stricken from its on accord and all accounts banned for just using the front end on the software. How if any advantage is gained by using a standard macro to eliminate certain repetitive actions such as target self/heal/target last target? O no I don't have to use my mouse to click on 3 different buttons at once.../cringe. EVEN if what he did is "unfair ", or illegal then they should by all means ban him for a duration. guilty until proven innocent seems to be blizzards mentality and there complete lack of anything resemebling Respect for the player makes me wonder how they will treat me if I were to join in the fray. if I were blizzard I would re examine my business practices before someone ban's blizzard from operating in general because of bad practices and unfair treatment. I would find a great irony if someone did bring a class action suit against them for this BS and smack them for millions because they want to prove a point with no proof to back that point up with. If you want to ban someone for doing something wrong then at least have the courtesy to give them a specific reason and /or warning. its like getting a ticket driving. imagine if everyone who speeded was slapped in jail for a life sentence just cause the were driving to fast... makes ya think. and I don't need any analagy tards going that's not the same. stfu ahead of time its the same damned thing if he was yes a fine is acceptable not life in jail. Personally software industry is getting as bad as movie/music industry. they assume they are gods of the domain and can act as the see fit based on the time of the month it is.

This Agreement is effective until terminated. Either party may terminate this Agreement immediately by delivering to the other party written notice of such termination or by terminating the Account

Try this thread (on the US forums, I think)...

There seems to be a lot of contention, even at Blizzard, as to whether the G15 is bad. Please note the following post, and the Blizzard replies:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-tech-support&t=747591&p=1&tmp=1#post747591

Note the second post which says:

"No you cannot be banned for using this keyboard."

or a couple more posts down:

"Some of us even use them"

I would have to say, based on this, that either the keyboard isn't the problem, or people at Blizzard don't listen to each other. Most likely it is some combination of the two.

Here is a link to a suggestion I posted in the WoW forum:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-general&t=7507353&p=1&tmp=1#post7507353
To make a long story short, I think that Blizzard is using the wrong model of discipline for WoW: Rather than treating players like Blizzard's children, Blizzard should create a formal discipline review process.

The main downside, of course, would be the cost of implementing the system. I wonder if one day the law will change so that Blizzard cannot claim that our characters belong to them?

But here's the link to the forums;

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.aspx?forum Name=wow-general

Source:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-interface-customization&t=330798&tmp=1#post3307 98

well, how about this Straight from Blizzard.

Here is the forum post for those who are lazy:
It has come to our attention that certain individuals are selling Blizzard's in-game property for cash on auction sites such as eBay and on personal websites. The World of Warcraft Terms of Use clearly states that all of the content in World of Warcraft is the property of Blizzard, and Blizzard does not allow "in game" items to be sold for real money. Accordingly, Blizzard Entertainment will take any and all actions necessary to stop this behavior. Not only do we believe that it is illegal, but it also has the potential to damage the game economy and overall experience for the many thousands of others who play World of Warcraft for fun. In order to promote a fun and fair environment for all our customers, we are actively investigating those individuals who engage in this inappropriate activity and reserve the right to take legal action against these individuals to protect World of Warcraft for all those who "play by the rules." If you are found to be selling in-game property (such as coins, items, or characters), for real money, you will lose your characters and accounts, and Blizzard Entertainment reserves its right to pursue legal action against you as well.

We also want to remind potential buyers in the game to please refrain from buying in-game property with real money. We understand the temptation to purchase better items, but Blizzard, and not the seller, does own all in-game property. In addition, we feel that characters can find ample equipment and money within the game through their own adventuring and questing. Please understand that if you do purchase in-game property from sellers on eBay and personal sites, we may temporarily suspend your account, and at the very least, delete the offending items.

Thank you for understanding our position. Blizzard Entertainment is committed to maintaining the atmosphere of fair play and fun in World of Warcraft.

Queuecraft hurdle is hoping to be alleviated by April. They've recently built a very large rearchitecture of servers which they're going to be putting live for the 1.10 testing phases and hoping to hit the live servers with the 1.10 patch. Rumor has it they are suppose to handle 2-3x the number of users on the current systems.

Dark Iron is a newer server and its only a Medium pop server. check out http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/realmstatus/ to see the condition of your server

*cough*

What do you mean, "nothing says WOW!"?

Okay, okay, bad pun.

(for those who don't play WoW, leave your char logged off for a few weeks and when you come back you get double experience up until your next level or so)

And besides, the power levelers are going to run circles around "casual" players any day of the week.

(Guess who just got -1 redundant! Oooh! Oooh! I know! I know!)

It is being discussed heavily here:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-general&t=7005612&p=1&tmp=1#post7005612

Apologies for the length of time it took to get this information out to you.

We encourage community building among our players with others of similar interests, and we understand that guilds are one of the primary ways to forge these communities. However, topics related to sensitive real-world subjects -- such as religious, sexual, or political preference, for example -- have had a tendency to result in communication between players that often breaks down into harassment.

To promote a positive game environment for everyone and help prevent such harassment from taking place as best we can, we prohibit mention of topics related to sensitive real-world subjects in open chat within the game, and we do our best to take action whenever we see such topics being broadcast. This includes openly advertising a guild friendly to players based on a particular political, sexual, or religious preference, to list a few examples. For guilds that wish to use such topics as part of their recruiting efforts, our Guild Recruitment forum, located at our community Web site, serves as one open avenue for doing so.

We will be clarifying some of the language in our game policies in order to help avoid such confusion in the future.

Caydiem WoW Comunity Manager

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-general&t=6845080&s=blizzard&tmp=1#blizzard

Here was an official comment on the decision to stop players from advertising LGBT friendly guilds:

"We encourage community building among our players with others of similar interests, and we understand that guilds are one of the primary ways to forge these communities. However, topics related to sensitive real-world subjects -- such as religious, sexual, or political preference, for example -- have had a tendency to result in communication between players that often breaks down into harassment."

This is an entire paragraph, and as you can see by the link above, it is not taken out of context.

Lets analyze this phrase closely: However, topics related to sensitive real-world subjects -- such as religious, sexual, or political preference. Catholics, for example, frown upon any marrage outside the Catholic church, and I personally know some priests that would freak out at World of Warcraft let alone the idea of two characters marrying in it. If you are Catholic, and have designs on staying Catholic, you marry in a Catholic church. This seems like it might be a "sensitive real-world subject--such as religious preference" that Blizzard might want to avoid.

They don't seem to care about that one.

Marriage is religious. Some religions would be fine with a WoW marriage, others... wouldn't, and I'm only talking about heterosexual marriage. Oddly enough, the religions most likely to be OK with WoW marriages are the religions most likely to be OK with gay marriages.

People argue that WoW isn't about these type of issues. That people should have a place to have fun shielded from these arguments. I say bullshit. Blizzard opened the door by allowing fake quasi-religious ceremonies. Now that they won't allow certain people to partake, they have created the same classed system that people bought the game to escape. The marriage doesn't even fucking count. Why the hell would you put something like that in a game if you wouldn't let certain people use it?

I'm writing about the marriage issue here, but the argument applies to many more issues. Read it again: religious, sexual, or political preference. The sword cuts both ways. Just because the apparent majority of players have a certain religious, sexual, or political preference does not mean that allowing them and only them to express themselves is not a "sensitive real-world subject" to those who are not in the majority. Are you going to stop parties from voting on a plan of action, because certain Communist players might be offended by that?

In conclusion, Blizzard, put up or shut up. Take all touchy real-world issues out of your game.

in a game, it is TOTALLY out-of-character anyway.

Looking at the girl on the left I wouldn't get the idea that in-game characters do not have or talk about their sexuality.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/town hall/karazhan.html

Some information on a 70th level instance from the WoW expansion...

281. Re: Invisible Harassment Policy Issue | 1/26/2006 7:35:23 PM PST

I received a warning a few days ago for saying that I was bisexual in Durotar general chat.

It was like this:

[1. General][Ravenhurst] I'm bisexual.

And I got a warning for it.

Totally lame.

127. Re: Invisible Harassment Policy Issue | 1/26/2006 4:39:08 PM PST

        Q u o t e:

I was kicked out of a guild because I made the slip of typing "gotta go my hubbies home". I didn't mean to advertise, just made a (for me) everyday statement. Just as you might say that my wife or gf just got home. All we want is a group to play the game with that isn't going to judge us if we happen to make the wrong comment.

Blizzard can't keep people from judging you. And they cannot make people like you if they don't, regardless of the reasons.

Welcome to today's society. Every action has consequences. You know how a large part of society feels towards this issue. How you choose to deal with it can make the situation better or worse, depending on your point of view.

You can be in the closet, interact well with everyone, but be hiding a core part of you. Tradeoff.

You can be an activist, interact poorly with a large part of society (no fault of your own, just how it is), but not be hiding anything. Tradeoff.

You can choose some balance between these two. Tradeoff.

You cannot have both in today's society, and this is something no one can change overnight. Deal with it. Not trying to be mean, just pragmatic.

281. Re: Invisible Harassment Policy Issue | 1/26/2006 7:35:23 PM PST

I received a warning a few days ago for saying that I was bisexual in Durotar general chat.

It was like this:

[1. General][Ravenhurst] I'm bisexual.

And I got a warning for it.

Totally lame.

127. Re: Invisible Harassment Policy Issue | 1/26/2006 4:39:08 PM PST

        Q u o t e:

I was kicked out of a guild because I made the slip of typing "gotta go my hubbies home". I didn't mean to advertise, just made a (for me) everyday statement. Just as you might say that my wife or gf just got home. All we want is a group to play the game with that isn't going to judge us if we happen to make the wrong comment.

Blizzard can't keep people from judging you. And they cannot make people like you if they don't, regardless of the reasons.

Welcome to today's society. Every action has consequences. You know how a large part of society feels towards this issue. How you choose to deal with it can make the situation better or worse, depending on your point of view.

You can be in the closet, interact well with everyone, but be hiding a core part of you. Tradeoff.

You can be an activist, interact poorly with a large part of society (no fault of your own, just how it is), but not be hiding anything. Tradeoff.

You can choose some balance between these two. Tradeoff.

You cannot have both in today's society, and this is something no one can change overnight. Deal with it. Not trying to be mean, just pragmatic.

The Blizzard text is copy pasted from a post on the WoW Forums.

What is missing is the second half of the post. They are not banning these guilds, they are just against advertising them in open chat in the game. They have said that the best avenue of recruitment is through their own Guild Recruitment Forums. What they are trying to stop is Orgrimmar and Ironforge (Main capital cities for non-Azerothians) turning into huge (gay/republican/black/white/purple/democrat/straig ht/christian/Jew/Muslim/doglover/catlover/chronica llyillwithcancer) bashing centers.

In game bashing should properly be restricted to the opposing faction, n00bs, gold farmers, overpowered classes, and the hardcore guys who have no life and stand around showing all the 1337lewts you'll never get but still want.

The Blizzard text is copy pasted from a post on the WoW Forums.

What is missing is the second half of the post. They are not banning these guilds, they are just against advertising them in open chat in the game. They have said that the best avenue of recruitment is through their own Guild Recruitment Forums. What they are trying to stop is Orgrimmar and Ironforge (Main capital cities for non-Azerothians) turning into huge (gay/republican/black/white/purple/democrat/straig ht/christian/Jew/Muslim/doglover/catlover/chronica llyillwithcancer) bashing centers.

In game bashing should properly be restricted to the opposing faction, n00bs, gold farmers, overpowered classes, and the hardcore guys who have no life and stand around showing all the 1337lewts you'll never get but still want.

Blizzard have released quite a lot since release. See for yourself: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/imple mented/index.html (Mauradon, Gurubashi Arena, Dire Maul, Azuregos, Lord Kazzak, the PvP honour system, the elemental invasions, PvP Battlegrounds (unlike you, I and many others find them very fun), Blackwing Lair, Darkmoon Faire, Fishing contest, Zul-Gurub 20-man raid zone, Silithus and Searing Gorge revamps, the 4 Dragons, linked auction houses, Ahn'Quiraj (20-man and 40-man raid zones, and s***loads of bugfixes, character class fixes and revamps, and holiday festivals).

Sorry for sounding like a fanboy, but no hobby modders would be able to create content of the same quality Blizzard's content is. Creating an instance isn't simply a couple-of-days 3D Studio Max job (more like couple of weeks to get an internal release done). The thing needs to fit into the game world and into the storyline, and it needs to fulfil the needs of the players. Interesting new encounters take quite a lot of time to design, test and balance, and adding items which are useful yet not game-breaking isn't a simple task either. Then there are all the quests, sound effects and voice acting, artwork - going to concept art to the final textured model doesn't just take a day or two. Loads of people work on instances - writers, game and level designers, modelers, texturers, sound people, and lots of testers.

I don't play Battlefield, but I play a lot of Counter-Strike (been playing since beta 1) and I have come across a lot of community-made stuff (the whole game was a community-made game before 1.6), and even there 3rd party maps tended to suck. First person shooter maps are a lot simpler to create (and even they take weeks of work, lots of testing, and lots of post-release tweaking) than proper WoW instances with all the content. With newer, more sophisticated engines which allow for more polys and higher-res textures, it's getting harder and harder for modders to create high-quality content. Creating maps for CS1.6 which were as good as the official maps was hard - doing so for Counter-Strike: Source is way harder.

And even if Blizzard would let players create content, how would it be integrated into the game world? You can't just let players create new items (they'd all create uber-legendary weapons which drop off rabbits).

The only feasible thing is maybe for Blizzard to hold some sort of a "create a design for a new weapon or other visible item" contest. Creating concept art and models for itemsis something a few people in the community could do. As for whole instances, I doubt any non-professional would be able to create something of the same standards of Blizzard's content.

Blizzard is 100% correct in making this statement. Why? Anyone who joins the guild is likely to be harrassed by Blizzard for admitting they are gay. According to a post on the WOW forums, a fellow was punished by Blizzard for saying something to the effect of "I am gay" (he claimed this was just a true, matter-of-fact statement). The post was on the Blizzard forums, but has since been removed (maybe some internet wizard can find a cache of it)

Games released Jan 2003 - Jan 2006 that provided > 3 months of replay value for me:

Civilization IV (November 2005): Booyah. 3 months might be stretching it, but this is the best Civ game in a long time, and I've already logged 80+ hours playing this so far.

World of Warcraft (November 2004): No, I don't want to think about how much time I've spent playing it, but I've had an active account for the past 14 months, for whatever that's worth, and I keep logging in and playing "just another hour...".

Neverwinter Nights - Shadows of Undrentide (June 2003), Hordes of the Underdark (December 2003): Two expansion packs for NwN. While I didn't spend a lot of time playing the single-player campaign, I don't know how much time I spent building modules, playing games online, or playing through 3rd-party modules. I keep going back to the game because it provides so many opportunities.

Civ III Conquests (November 2003): Expansion pack for Civ III, but as with Civ IV above, I got my money's worth out of this purchase with hundreds of hours total play time on this expansion.

Now, I've bought other games during the past 3 years that I haven't played that much (The Sims 2 and Sid Meier's Pirates! in the past year), but I've found a few enjoyable ones to come back and play, and that's just the best out of the 2 genres I spend time playing. RPGs and, um, Civ. Yes, it *is* its own genre.

For consoles, I could probably add Halo + Halo 2 on Xbox, Madden , and Mario Kart on the GameCube to round these off, since those are the "social" games I play with other folks that I keep coming back to. Plus Final Fantasy Tactics on the GBA for downtime like plane flights, public transit, waiting for people, etc.

Maybe these don't float your boat, but I have fun with 'em.

With Community Moderators like this: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-off-topic&t=1179358&p=1&tmp=1#post1179358

It's no wonder Blizzard has idiotic policies that end up hurting their users.

According to the War Effort Ranking page, even though the resource turn in is complete, the gates are still not open. It now has a green box and a number 1/17. Can anyone enlighten me as to what happens AFTER the turn in is complete but before the gates are open? What does that number mean?

A quick google search would've given you this page with the system requirements. Mac is clearly supported.

The other two games run under WINE and theoretically could run under an x86 OSX system under WINE as well.

I'm seeing no need to actually run Windows.

Yes, you are feeling lucky.

Result:

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/glossar y.html

Handy that.

Not so much, really. From the article: all quests take place in private instances.

As do WoWs.

All of WoWs quests take place in instances? You must be playing a different WoW than I am. Mine is World of Warcraft, and it has many more quests that take place outside of instances than inside of instances.