Star Trek Online – More Desicions on What to Buy December 11, 2009
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, Star Trek Online.Tags: Atari, Collector's Edition, Cryptic Studios, Digital Deluxe Edition
11 comments
We have already been exposed to the variety of pre-order options that Star Trek Online offers. To get the item you want you have to purchase your pre-order from the right vendor.
Now Atari and Cryptic have announced another wrinkle in the decision process with their press release regarding the Collector’s Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition of the game.
ATARI PRESENTS STAR TREK™ ONLINE COLLECTOR’S EDITION AND DIGITAL DELUXE EDITION FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY
Special Packages Contain Exclusive Content, Collectibles, and Game Access
New York, NY (December 11, 2009) – Atari, Inc., one of the world’s most recognized videogame publishers, and acclaimed MMO developer Cryptic Studios™, announced today a Collector’s Edition and a Digital Deluxe Edition of Star Trek Online, available for purchase on February 2, 2010, for a limited time only. Both packages include exclusive content, collectibles and game access. Right now, the $79.99 Collector’s Edition can be pre-ordered at GameStop.com and the $59.99 Digital Deluxe Edition can be pre-ordered at Direct2Drive and STEAM. Both special editions are also available at Atari.com.
“True Star Trek fans are sure to appreciate the exclusive features the Star Trek Online Collector’s Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition boast,” says Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari, Inc. “With extended content and one-of-a-kind collectible items, Star Trek fans and gamers alike can experience the full extent of the Star Trek experience.”
The Star Trek Online Collector’s Edition adds to the experience with such bonus features as:
- Deluxe Packaging: Futuristic 3dX holography set in a high quality brushed aluminum finish. Heavy duty construction with magnetic closures and nested compartments for all components.
- Deluxe Manual: High-end, hardbound, art book, manual and disc case in a single, elegant package. “HD Printing” on over 40 glossy pages highlights exclusive art from the Star Trek Online universe.
- Communicator Badge: High-quality cast-metal design based on the in-game badge model. Fully 3D sculpted with recessed burst and curved contours.
- Guest Passes: Credit card style buddy passes to invite three of your friends for a three-day trial of Star Trek Online. Codes can be transmitted digitally or physically.
- Red Matter Capacitor (in-game item): A unique item that charges up and delivers extra energy to all of your ship’s equipment for a short time.
- “Star Trek: The Next Generation” Uniform (in-game item): Uniform Options from “The Next Generation” Series. The timeless look worn by Picard, Data and Riker.
- “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” Uniform (in-game item): Uniform Options from the “Deep Space Nine” Series. Gray shoulders on a black uniform, just like Sisko, Worf and Dax.
The Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe Edition offers such bonuses as five exclusive in-game items as well as the ability to play as a “Joined Trill” – a symbiote that grants you several lifetimes of experience. The five exclusive in-game items include:
- Original Star Trek Uniform Set: Three uniforms from the original series (blue, red, yellow).
- Exclusive “KHAAAN!” Emote: An unforgettable moment from the second Star Trek Film. This exclusive emote allows players to relive Kirk’s unforgettable moment of fury, with the timeless cry… “KHAAAN!”
- Exclusive Klingon Blood Wine Toast Emote: Raise a glass like a Klingon! Greet other players with an exclusive Klingon gesture –the blood wine toast.
- Unique Registry Prefix: Give your ship the coveted NX prefix, seen only on a handful of elite Starfleet vessels like the Defiant, 22nd century Enterprise, and Prometheus.
- Unique Ship Item: Automated Defense Battery. This Tactical Module grants any ship a passive 360 arc attack power with a short range.
In Star Trek Online, the Star Trek universe will appear for the first time one a truly massive scale. In this massively multiplayer online game, players can pioneer their own destiny as Captain of a Federation ship or become a Klingon Warlord and expand the Empire to the far reaches of the galaxy. Players will visit iconic locations from the popular Star Trek fiction, travel to unexplored star systems, and contact new alien species. Every moment spent playing Star Trek Online will feel like a new Star Trek episode in which you are the hero. Immerse yourself in the future of the Trek universe as it moves into the 25th century: a time of shifting alliances and new discoveries. As the Captain of your very own ship, it’s up to you to lead your crew on missions that span the galaxy.
Star Trek Online is a licensed product from CBS Consumer Products. For more information, please visit: www.startrekonline.com
Now I had seen in various places most what came with the Collector’s Edition, though the Red Matter Capacitor is a new twist. (And perhaps skirting a bit too close to the last movie.)
The Collector's Edition
But the Digital Deluxe Edition? A “Khaaan!” emote? And I don’t get it with the Collector’s Edition? And the uniform set from the original series?
What are they thinking, making the original series ship and the original series uniforms essentially mutually exclusive? Did somebody pass out these bonus items by drawing them out of a hat?
I need that “Khaaan!” emote right about now.
And this is only going to get worse I bet when we find out what the European distributors are going to be handing out. You just wait until we find out the French are getting a Joan Collins “City on the Edge of Forever” bridge crew member or some such.
I suppose we will all be able to identify who bought which version where on day one.
Cryptic, you’re making me crazy.
Item Shop Humor December 11, 2009
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in Dungeons & Dragons Online, entertainment, Humor.Tags: Cash Shop, Micropayments
1 comment so far
Perhaps another, very minor, potential item shop problem?
At least when it comes to a fantasy MMORPG.
I received an email from Turbine today with a series of special deals from the Dungeons & Dragons Online item shop, including one that made me chuckle:
My first thought was, “Sure, that is a fine discount, but where would I put a whole race? I don’t even have enough space for our LEGOs.”
Yes, I know, the discount is for buying the ability to play a drow character in DDO, as the fine-ish print goes on to detail:
But I love the inherent ambiguity of the headline. A really good ambiguous headline like that just brightens my day.
It does however point the finger at the commercialism needed to drive a quality item shop financed MMORPG like DDO. Somebody has to pay if you want to play, so you just have to resign yourself to adds now and then that play in your head with that “Matthews TV and Stereo” voice (“Top of the Hill Daily City!”).
There are certainly worse things in life.
And, in case you were wondering, +4 weapons and selected adventure packs are also on sale, this weekend only.
See the DDO Store for details.
Razorfen Dungeon Kraul December 10, 2009
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, Instance Group, World of Warcraft.Tags: Razorfen Kraul
4 comments
Hah! I bet nobody has ever made that play on words before! Bow down before my originality… or something! No, stay away from Google, just take my word for it.
We decided to skip over Blackfathom Deeps and head into something more challenging for our level range, Razorfen Kraul. Again, we’ve been there before, but it has been three years.
Razorfen Kraul is marked as being for levels 24-29 so we thought this might be a better test of how we were handling our new classes and roles in the group. Our lineup for the night was:
24 Orc Shaman – Earlthebat (Earlthecat)
25 Undead Mage – Bigbutt (Bungholio)
25 Tauren Druid – Hurmoo (Vikund)
25 Blood Elf Paladin – Enaldie (Ula)
26 Tauren Druid – Azawak (Skronk)
So as you can see, we were all at the low end of the range.
Azawak spent some time before we joined up getting all the quests for the instance identified. The only one he could not grab in advance and share was Blue leaf Tubers from Ratchet. When you get that quest you have to pick up three items that are next to the quest giver.
Back in the day it was pretty easy to get that quest, not read it until you ran off to RFK only to find out you were missing key elements to the quest. It is certainly different in that regard from many WoW quests, which generally place the items you need in your bag.
These days all quest related items sparkle, so it is a little harder to miss the three items, but you can still manage it if you are in a hurry.
As people were grabbing that quest, I was running around the meeting stone and nearly got myself killed. On the mini map there was a quest showing over by the great lift. However, as I approached I moved from the Barrens, horde territory, to Thousand Needles, which is contested territory. That flagged me PvP.
And, as luck would have it, at that very moment, an alliance player who was in the level 80 range judging from his gear, came up the lift and started killing all the NPCs including my quest giver. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to see me right away, so I dropped into cat form and prowled off to a safe corner until he ran off to plunder the Crossroads or some such.
Azawak popped back on at about that point, also flagged PvP because he had also been lured over the zone line by the quest giver. Have to remember that.
We started summoning people in as they grabbed that final quest in Ratchet. Then the remainder were shared out and in we went.
Begin the Kraul
We were quickly reminded just how fast that quillboar dying squeal goes from novel to annoying. Well, you only end up hearing it about a hundred times in the zone.
Things started out very well for us. We headed right, which turned out to be the correct direction, and aside from some stickiness around Death Speaker Jargba, things went smoothly. Around Jargba there is an odd elevation issue, where you are in a half-height canyon at that point so if you get to close to the walls, you will aggro mobs along the side who will come running to get you, bringing along their friends.
We had a frantic fight at that point, but nobody died. The healing druid was out of mana completely at the end though. After that, it was a short walk to Jargba himself, then onward.
Following the winding path, we eventually ended up at one of the quest goals, Charlga Razorflank. She is not a humanoid, but rather classed as “The Crone.”
Facing Charlga The Crone
She was also lower level than I expected. In fact, all the bosses seemed to be, relative to our last trip. RFK seems to have been adjusted down some.
So the fight with Charlga was short and sharp, and she died quickly. But to taunt us, she dropped a scroll that starts a quest, but which was too high of a level for us to start. You need to be level 28 for that.
With her down, we stood on the cliff edge, looking down into the canyon where the blue leaf tubers can be found and where the final quest for the instance, an escort for Willix to the front door, kicks off.
Looking down towards Willix
And as we were looking for the right spot to jump down, we realized we had forgotten the main boss in the instance, the big pig himself, Agathelos the Raging.
We quickly doubled back and found him.
Not as big as that bear's butt
He was soon so much fodder for the meat case at your local grocery store. Hmm… bacon! And slaying him gets you the achievement. We could have stopped right there!
But we didn’t. We still had work to do.
We went back to find Willix.
We decided to clear the who canyon before we started the escort and pick up some of those blue leaf tubers along the way. Out came the gophers as we started to clear.
Of course, in a short time, the gophers got us into a fight for our lives. You let the gopher go (and why is it gophers?), whack them with the wand, and they run off to find a tuber. Some times they find one close to you, in an area you’ve already cleared.
And sometimes they decided they really need to go grab a tuber on the other side of a half a dozen elite boars.
A gopher induced multi-boar pile up caused our only death for the evening, when Bigbutt went down to a fresh wave during a fight. Hurmoo, finally having remembered to buy reagents before the run, got to do a combat ress, a first for our group.
Best emote from the boars in the canyon:
Raging Agam’ar goes into a rage!
Nothing says you mean it like redundancy.
Eventually though, all the boars were cleared and all the tubers required were obtained. Then it was just a matter of walking Willix to the entrance of the instance.
Walking with Willix
Of course, they expect you to clear before you escort, so there were the inevitable “boars out of nowhere” events as we tried to hurry him along to the door.
Eventually though he was delivered safely, his quest completed. He stood with us for a final picture.
Farewell to Razorfen Kraul
The instance itself was not nearly as challenging as we thought it would be. I don’t think we’re that good with the characters yet that we should have rolled over everything quite so handily. Then again, I can’t say that the place was a nerfed relative to the level we were. It just seemed easier. We couldn’t possibly have just learned how to do instances in three years of trying, could we?
On the other hand, we seemed to be the right levels to gain the maximum experience. All of us leveled at least once during the run and I think we all leveled again by the time all the quests were turned in. Earl got his mana totem, so we should be better covered on that front going forward!
So we have to ask ourselves again, do we hit the next instance in line, Gnomeregan, or do we skip over that and head straight to Scarlet Monastery?
Of course, we might skip both for a bit to go back and try the new level 80 instances that came with patch 3.3.
Corehound Puppy December 9, 2009
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in Blizzard, entertainment, World of Warcraft.Tags: Blizzard Authenticator, Corehound Puppy
4 comments
As I mentioned at the end of the last post, I did indeed find a corehound puppy waiting for me once I downloaded the 3.3 patch (via FilePlanet yet again) and logged in.
This is Blizzard’s reward to those who use the Blizzard authenticator, or so they say over at WoW.com.
Though as noted elsewhere, logging in was a bit of an issue, at least on one of the servers on which I have characters.
Anyway, on logging in, I had mail.
The puppy itself is… um… a bit odd looking. But then puppies are often awkward and have to grow into their looks.
Vikund and puppy
He certainly seems to be the most active pet I have so far. He jumps around, rolls over, sits up and begs, and generally cannot sit still.
The puppy sitting up yet again
The post over at WoW.com has video of the corehound puppy’s antics.
Anyway, that is one more pet in furtherance of the 75 pet achievement. Just 23 more to go.
Now I just have to wait for all my addons to get updated for the new patch. QuestHelper gets flagged as “broken” even when I have WoW load out of date addons. There is always something.
WoW Patch 3.3 Musings December 8, 2009
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in Blizzard, entertainment, World of Warcraft.Tags: Blizzard Authenticator, Patch 3.3, Patches
3 comments
World of Warcraft Patch 3.3 is out today. There is a big patch download waiting for you and a whole bunch of patch notes to read while that is going on.
In glancing through the notes, a few items jumped out.
Three separate 5-player dungeons — The Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection — containing all new challenges and missions of discovery, await players in normal and Heroic modes.
This could herald the return of the Saturday night instance group to their alliance characters if for no other reason than to continue to be able to say we’ve done all the 5 person instances in Northrend. Plus it might be interesting to do content that hasn’t been completely analyzed and documented. Not that it would change our lax pre-instance research, but it would feel a bit different to me.
And I’m not sure what “missions of discovery” are. A euphemism for “some more quests” or are we talking about something new here? That phrase only gets used once in the patch notes.
A new feature has been added to the D3D graphics engine to improve texture management (particularly for Windows XP users). If you are experiencing random crashes related to file read errors or out of memory, this new backend may help. To enable the new backend, add the following line to your Config.WTF file: SET gxApi “d3d9ex.”
While I don’t crash constantly in Dalaran any more, I still suffer from what I call the “Dalaran Disease” where I get a texture related crash if I hang out in the city for too long. Maybe this will fix the issue and I can finally knock-off that fountain fishing achievement.
All level 71-80 Battleground daily quests will now award 25 Arena points in addition to their current rewards.
The welfare epic state continues to grow. What Blizzard? Aren’t you going to toss in some arena standing with that as well? Gimme, gimme, gimme!
Battleground Experience: Battleground experience gained is now based on the level of the player gaining experience, rather than the highest possible player level in that Battleground.
I am truly bummed on this one, since my daughter only shared this information with me last weekend. We were getting more than 25% of a level in experience per win as level 51 characters in Alterac Valley. Back to earning experience the old fashioned way by… you know… earning it. Still, my druid is level 54 now and her hunter is level 55.
Meeting Stones: To use any Meeting Stone, it is only required that the character’s minimum level be 15. There is no maximum character level requirement for any Meeting Stone.
Take that EQ2! You nerf travel with your veteran rewards, WoW nerfs travel right back at you. Or something.
Health and Mana Regeneration: These regeneration rates have been increased by up to 200% for low level characters. As a player’s level increases, the regeneration rates gradually reduce, returning to normal rates at level 15.
Spell Mana Costs: These costs have been reduced for almost all lower level spell ranks. In general, if a spell decreased in cost with a higher level rank in patch 3.2.0, that spell now has the decreased cost at all ranks. In addition, spells learned before level 20 with reduced cast times and/or durations have even further reduced mana costs, proportionate to their reduction in cast time or damage.
Okay, I know health and mana management are really painful at lower levels, but I hope we’re not teaching people bad habits. Oh, and where was this when I actually had some characters under level 20 again?
Haris Pilton now sells a new 24-slot bag! She has stubbornly decided to remain in Shattrath City, so those interested should seek her out there.
If this new bag is still called a Portable Hole I am going to be very grumpy.
But I should have a Corehound puppy waiting for me. Users of the Blizzard Authenticator got them it seems.
Now which of the items in the patch notes will they have to fix with next Tuesday’s post-patch update?
Star Trek Online Pre-Order Choices December 8, 2009
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, polls, Star Trek Online.Tags: Cryptic Studios, Pre-orders
27 comments
Cryptic is making me crazy already.
I am going to play Star Trek Online. On this we are decided.
Potshot seems to be sharing my enthusiasm on the subject, so it looks like we might have makings of a bridge crew or flotilla or squadron or whatever the group mechanic is for the game.
And if we’re going to play, we might as well pre-order and reap the benefits of that, such that they are.
But the pre-order bennies haven’t been exactly clear up to this point.
In the absence of information, I went to the default, which is to order from Amazon.com. I’ve been ordering from them for 12 years now and they have always been good to me.
Amazon.com showed a borg bridge officer as the special pre-order item.
I knew 7 of 9, and you're no 7 of 9
Fine, I put in the order.
Then I saw that GameStop had something different. A “bonus starship” as part of their pre-order package.
On the surface, a bonus starship might be lame. But when I went to the site to look into it, the ship turned out to be a Constitution class starship from the original series. For those not up on the lore, that would be the same class as the Enterprise.
To Boldly Go...
Okay, cancel my order at Amazon.com (sorry guys!) and head over to GameStop.
Only at about this point, the gaming press starts reporting on this situation in detail, since Cryptic finally put out a press release on the subject.
NEW YORK, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ — Atari, Inc., one of the world’s most recognized videogame publishers, and acclaimed MMO developers Cryptic Studios(TM), are pleased to announce several pre-order programs for the highly anticipated Star Trek Online for PC. Based on the world renowned sci-fi series, Star Trek Online gives gamers and fans of the fiction a chance to boldly explore the Star Trek universe for the first time on a truly massive scale. Star Trek Online is available at retailers in North America on February 2, 2010.
All Star Trek Online pre-orders receive guaranteed access to the Star Trek Online Open Beta test from January 12th to January 26th, 2010. In addition, Star Trek Online also offers an exclusive Early Start Program with pre-orders at all participating retailers that runs January 29, 2010 through launch on February 2. The Early Start Program allows players to get a leg up on other interstellar explorers and access the Star Trek universe the weekend prior to the game’s launch. Unlike beta play, all in-game progress made during the Early Start Program will carry over to the live adventure.
All customers who pre-order Star Trek Online receive access to the Open Beta and Early Start Program. Details on exclusive pre-order content for Star Trek Online include:
GameStop
GameStop customers receive the ability to command the exclusive and always classic USS Enterprise from Star Trek The Original Series.
Best Buy
Best Buy is offering their customers a fun in-game pet. As a Federation Captain, players own a famed Tribble of Star Trek lore that will accompany them on their travels into the final frontier. As a Klingon commander, players control the boar-like Targ, a beast found on the Klingon home world of Qo’noS.
Amazon
Amazon is offering an exclusive “Liberated Borg” Bridge Officer. This bridge officer, who comes with unique nanotechnology augmentations, assists in missions and gains experience as the player does.
Wal-Mart
With the Wal-Mart Bonus Skill Points package, receive addition skill points that enable players to improve their characters quickly.
Target
Target customers who pre-order Star Trek Online receive a unique ground weapon — a TR-116. This rare projectile weapon is used in dampening fields and other challenging environments; it is also modified with a micro-transporter which beams the fired projectiles to targets at close range so that a user can fire without a direct line of site.
Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive customers receive an exclusive Multi-Spatial Personal Shield. This advanced personal shield system is based on Borg technology, which constantly regenerates itself and the health of its wearer.
STEAM
STEAM is offering customers Chromodynamic Armor. This armor is based on technology brought back from the Delta Quadrant by USS Voyager improves the damage and critical hits of energy weapons.
In Star Trek Online, players will visit iconic locations from the popular Star Trek fiction, travel to unexplored star systems, and contact new alien species. Every moment spent playing Star Trek Online will feel like a new Star Trek episode in which you are the hero. Immerse yourself in the future of the Trek universe as it moves into the 25th century: a time of shifting alliances and new discoveries. As the Captain of your very own ship, it’s up to you to lead your crew on missions that span the galaxy.
For more information, please log onto www.startrekonline.com
So many choices.
Of course, the real die-hards on the forums want to know if they can buy some or all and combine them on a single account.
I am only buying a single copy, so I had to take a deep breath and think on this a bit.
A pre-order bonus cannot… or at least should not… give you any sort of huge advantage in game. Every pre-order or collector’s edition item that I can recall has generally outlived its actual usefulness pretty quickly.
And if usefulness is going to be set aside, then style is really the way to go. And for style, you have your tribble or you have your Constitution class starship. But that still leaves a choice.
Decisions, decisions! I’m leaning towards the starship. I’m already humming the incidental music from the episode “The Doomsday Machine” in my head. But a tribble…
Celebrate 5 Years of EQ2 with a 6 Year Veteran Reward December 7, 2009
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest II.Tags: Veteran Rewards
5 comments
EverQuest II is so advanced that while it has only been around for five years, people are even now earning rewards for being with the game for six years!
How is that for progress?
There were some bonus months awarded for buying certain past expansions, something which probably seemed like a good idea to everybody except the people who had to come up with the rewards.
Anyway, they have announced what the six year rewards will be.
First, you get a hood and a cloak for your appearance slots, so everybody can see how long you’ve been around.
While the items are shown with the tag “of Destiny” the pictures on the site have the suffix “of Fate.” You can see them at the link up above.
Then there is the inevitable experience buff that must come with all veteran rewards. In this case, the Hammer of the Adept Hands will refill your trade skill vitality once every seven days.
Trade skillers rejoice… unless you’re already at the level cap… which you probably are if you’ve been around for six five years. Still, you’ll zoom back to the cap come the expansion!
And then there is what I will call “the good bit,” the Call of the Veteran.
It is not exactly clear to me how this will work, but it is supposed to make travel just that much more convinient in Norrath. From the announcement:
Never be left behind again! This trinket will allow you to teleport to a group member, bypassing those boat trips.
Probably the perfect thing for a nostalgia trip. You can get around, see the sights, and be back in the guild hall in time for dinner.
All of these pictures are from the EQ2 Players site.
If you are eligible, you should be able to /claim these items starting on December 9th.
Giant Guild Hall! December 5, 2009
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest II.Tags: Revelry and Honor, Reynaldo Fabulous
3 comments
Having re-upped for Station Access, I got out Reynaldo Fabulous to see what was happening on the Guk server.
I am a junior associate stand-by reserve member of Jaye’s Revelry and Honor guild on Guk, which is celebrating an anniversary tomorrow, so I thought I would check in at the guild hall.
And when call of the guild hall finished, I found myself in a much bigger guild hall than I remember.
Looking in from the entrance
There was a huge courtyard. So big that I thought perhaps the guild had opted for an outdoor guild hall.
Of course, Revelry and Honor is always in the spirit of the holidays, so there was a large Frostfell display already up in the middle of the courtyard.
Holiday Spirit
No small display either
I soon discovered that this was not just an outdoor affair either. A look at the map gave me some scope, but didn’t really convey the size.
Guild Hall Map
As it turned out, there was a lot going on inside as well. In fact, there is so much going on inside, so many objects to load, that several times I got kicked out of the zone and had to reload back at the start.
And the map doesn’t even do this justice, as there are stairs up to multiple floors. You can even get up on to the roof.
Looking out from the roof
If you look at the first two pictures, Reynaldo was positioned on the right side of the roof of the building in the background for that picture. And a big building it is.
Reynaldo on the roof, for scale
As Reynaldo would no doubt say, truly a fabulous guild hall.
I hesitate to ask what it costs in upkeep every week.
