Monthly Archives: May 2006

This is a Vanguard + IGE Fan Site

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A few people changing bedfellows last week: Sigil Games Online, developer of Vanguard, is now partnered up with Sony Online and Allakh-popup is now an IGE affiliate. Mr. Allakh-ad wrote, “The ownership issues here are convoluted. This is how deals like this get done.” Dude, whatever. I’m with you: Fuck pride.

CGM Vanguard CoverBack to Vanguard, Microsoft is getting out while the getting’s good. Based on the HORRIFIC beta buzz swirling around Vanguard, it’s not a moment too soon. That’s me being blunt.

Here’s me being nice: Microsoft and Sigil had irreconciliable artistic differences. Now, Sony and Sigil can have artistic differences.

Did you want to get into the closed beta and try out Vanguard for yourself? Let me rephrase that. Did you want to get into the queue for Vanguard’s beta but for some reason you haven’t signed up on the Vanguard forums already?

Here ya go: the latest issue, June 2006, of Computer Games Magazine includes a code that will give you exclusive access to the Vanguard beta (queue). Plus, there’s pictures.

Heh, a couple of guys in my Warcraft guild went out Monday to pick up a copy, excited to give Vanguard a try. They weren’t too pleased about the queue thing since that’s not very evident from the cover. They tried to convince a few more guildies to get in the queue so we can have a merry little band running around in Vanguard.

This was me being nice: I don’t have $5 to spare this month on a computer mag.

E3

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Oui OuiThat E3 expo thing opens today — conferences and hype began earlier, of course. (I dunno, it’s some game thing, supposed to be good for you.)

Few things I thought of this week: #1 – I’m not big on the future. I’m not much interested in what I might be able to buy some day. Tell me what I can buy NOW.

#2 – I hope no one ever writes a book called The Mathematics of Multiplayer Online Gaming because what a snooze that would be.

#3 – Please, please, please announce the new Alliance race for the World of Warcraft expansion soon. I’m not much interested, but I’m tired of the speculation and rumors. We all are. End it already. (UPDATE: Thank God that’s over. It’s Draenei. NYT wouldn’t print it if it wasn’t true. Also, longish NYT interview with Blizzard’s (Tigole) Jeff Kaplan.)

#4 – There’s no way in Hell I will spend $500 and change on a game system unless it will blow me too. What functions could said system possibly perform, short of the aforementioned blowing, that my other pieces of electronica can’t do already? None, that’s what.

#5 – This porta-crapper reminded me of the new Nintendo controller, Wii, the subject of much hype-o-drama at the E3 this year. I came back the next day to get a photo. That’s how dedicated to my craft I am.

Think of the Children

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Stormwind OrphangeThe latest in World of Warcraft’s special events/holiday quests is available now: Children’s Week. We are to give back to the innocents, the children, although I don’t think they’ve ever given anything to me — not even a boot shine or a glass of beer, NOTHING.

There’s this guy in Ironforge, John Turner, who wanders around asking for donations to the orphans of war. Several times, I’ve tried to chat with him, give him a few gold for the cause. I don’t know what his deal is, but he won’t speak to me or take any gold. That’s why I think this is all a scam.

I play on a PVE server and as far as I’ve ever seen, the orcs and dragonkin stay in their instances and never venture out to ravage the cities. Sure, every once in a great while, a few horde will show up around Ironforge or Stormwind or Darkshire (wow, that’s brave) and pick on a few hapless players or NPCs. I do the math, that’s only a few orphans created each year, certainly well within Stormwind and Ironforge’s city budgets.

I’m not one to turn down free quest rewards and free reputation, so I griffed over to Stormwind last night and did the questline for Children’s week — even though, I disagree on principle. The evil orphanage matron handed over an orphan to me, rather eagerly, and it was my job to take him on a whirlwind tour of the sights around World of Warcraft.

My dullard wanted to see three initial sights, then he had two more requests (sigh) and finally, I returned him, rather eagerly, back into involuntary servitude at the orphange and got some tidy Alliance-wide reputation and a choice of four rewards: three non-combat pets or a bag of coins. There’s a few screenshots available in a Flickr photoset.

An organized upper-level guild could complete this questline for all of its online members in a few minutes with the wonders of mage portals and warlock summons. An improvement over other special events, there’s no items to collect that will take up valuable bag space.

My dullard got a little extra adventure. I dragged him through the savage countryside of Searing Gorge and into Blackrock Mountain — me on horseback, him racing along on the ground. I wanted him to experience the thrill of adventuring in the Warcraft world, as he claimed he wanted to do some day. Also, I wanted to return childless to the evil matron and request another, “Excuse me, madam. I seem to have misplaced my orphan, may I have another?”

That’s the real scam of the war orphans: little bastards have no aggro.