JohnnyBGamer

World of Warcraft Auction House Going Mobile

Original Post:

Since the launch of the World of Warcraft Armory, we’ve been regularly releasing updates and new features designed to help players stay connected to the game even when they’re not logged in. Today, we wanted to give you a heads-up about a new service now in development that will let players access the Auction House directly through the Armory website or Armory App for iPhone or iPod touch.

While there are still plenty of details to be worked out, we’re designing the service to offer auction functionality similar to what’s available in-game. Players have been requesting — and we’ve been hoping to implement — a feature like this for a long time, and we’re excited that the Armory and the game have evolved to a point that makes it possible.

This is a fairly complex service to develop, due in large part to its unprecedented integration with the game, so we don’t have an exact release date yet. It’s important to note here that certain elements of the service will be premium-based, which we’ll go into more detail on once the service functionality is finalized. As with all of the services we offer, we plan to integrate the Auction House and Armory in a way that won’t disrupt the gameplay experience, and we won’t release it until it meets the quality standards that we’ve set for our other features and services. You may be seeing bits and pieces of the Auction House service pop up in the test builds we use for the public test realms as we go through the process of internal testing. We’ll have more info to share with you here and at http://www.WorldofWarcraft.com as we get closer to release. – As originally posted by Blizzard Poster Bornakk.

Thoughts:

As exciting as this announcement is, many details still have yet to be hammered out like:

1. Cost

It’s important to note here that certain elements of the service will be premium-based…

Blizzard seems to be on the pathway towards requiring a monthly subscription fee + additional fees for what is deemed “premium content”. What does premium-based content look like?

Tier A – Players are given mobile access to the Auction House as well as in-game chat capability (premium-based monthly fee required).
Tier B – Players are given mobile access to the Auction House for a one time app fee.
Tier C – Players are given mobile access to the Auction House for one character (for free).

There are so many variables involved (access to multiple characters, number of auctions allowed per day, etc.) that speculation seems mute at this point.

2. Release Date

As with all of the services we offer, we plan to integrate the Auction House and Armory in a way that won’t disrupt the gameplay experience, and we won’t release it until it meets the quality standards that we’ve set for our other features and services.

Translation – The Auction House feature is still in the early stages of development. As with all Blizzard products, expect to see it released when we feel it meets our high standards.

Be sure to check back with JohnnyBGamer for the latest in video game news crumbs.

So You Want to Start a Guild?

For whatever reason, be it a sudden abundance of time or a willingness to destroy your life, you suddenly find yourself wanting to start a guild in your favorite MMO. Common sense would dictate that this is a terrible idea. While this may be true, more social gamers cannot deny the urge to unite the denizens of a particular world under one banner.

Truth. Justice. Life Sucking Numbness.

Being one of the great enablers of the Internet, JohnnyBGamer wishes to guide those who desire the dark path to guild leadership. Please know that once one begins this path, it is very easy to throw all time invested/ players recruited away with a snap of a finger. You’ve been warned.

For the purpose of this article, we will be focusing on the most popular of online games, World of Warcraft. So let us begin this march towards mayhem and total doom.

Dictionary.com defines a guild as:

an organization of persons with related interests, goals, etc., esp. one formed for mutual aid or protection.

After months and months of preparation, your moment has finally arrived. The name you have chosen to bestow upon your underlings (your guild name) has been carefully chosen. Right? If not, think about this for a moment. Your guild name must cause hearts to fear. Got a name yet? Good. Let’s continue.

In order to form a guild in World of Warcraft, one must talk with a Guild Master and purchase a guild charter (10 silver). A grand total of 9 players must sign this charter, in blood, before it can be turned into the guild master and made official. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong. Presuming one does not have 9 friends to sign the charter, other methods must be employed to obtain the signatures needed.

Bribery (one of the oldest forms of greasing the gears)

Offering players, who have no intention of staying in your guild, some gold for their digital signature may be worth your time. How much you might ask? Pick a number.

Power (the pathway to the soul)

Who wouldn’t want to have the title “Grand Taco” in your guild? Not only does this name denote power but also supreme authority. If all else fails, let the signing player give them self a title. If you don’t like it, delete them. That is why you are the guild leader.

Secrecy (who doesn’t like a good secret?)

Let the signing player know of your grand schemes to destroy and rule Azeroth. It will happen one day…

If all else fails, beg. Beg as if your life depended on it. Although spamming the chat channel may prove useful if begging fails.

Once you have obtained the 9 signatures needed to proceed, return to the Guild Master. Your Warcraft dynasty has only just begun.

Join us next time as we tackle guild tabards, structure, and the need for clear expectations.

The Cold War is Over: Part 2

Despite the Cold War ending in 2009, I still use my iPod Touch on a daily basis. I have also learned that Bluetooth for gaming wasn’t that big of a deal. However, I am still leery of Apple and its hardware upgrades. Primarily a console gamer, I am used to the 5-8 year life cycles the consoles go through. With the exception of the PSP, every major video game console has stayed relatively the same (minus a few minor hardware upgrades that do not alienate the user base). $250-$300, a one-time purchase, buys the user 5-8 years of gaming. Comparing that to Apple and their hardware upgrades every few years, I’m not sure those that have adopted the iPhone/ iTouch hardware are getting the biggest bang for their buck.

I have read that iDevice gaming is the wave of the future. In this wave, the likes of the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP are washed to the side as cheap gaming reigns supreme on the iDevice. As much as I love my iTouch, I cannot imagine a world without Nintendo and Sony handhelds. I believe that each has its place in the vast expanse of gaming; each has its own strengths and weaknesses. While gaming on the iDevice may be the in thing at the moment, I can assure you that this will not always be. How do I know this? Alienation by hardware upgrade is not how Nintendo has become the dominate competitor in handheld gaming. No parent, and certainly no gamer, is willing to pay for upgrades in hardware every few years. At least I hope not. My pockets aren’t deep enough.

This is my second in a series of thoughts on iPhone/ iPod Touch gaming. For Part 1, click here.

20 Minutes in Rapture: Day 2

“Altruism is the Root of all Wickedness.”

The nightmare that is Rapture continues. Today I was introduced to Little Sisters and Big Daddy’s. The Little Sister exists to harvest ADAM; the Big Daddy ensures that the Little Sister carries our her job. Whoever created this ecosystem from hell is surely mad. I have no doubt. Continuing past the theater, I wrap around some corridors only to find that the entrance way to Neptune’s Bounty (where Atlas’s family is) is blocked off. Atlas tells me to proceed to the Medical Wing. Figures.

Dispatching Plasmid junkies seems to be the order of the day in Rapture. A bolt of lightening from the hand here, a bonk on the head with the wrench there. Splicers electrocuted before they can ever touch me. I like what the Plasmids enable me to do. In fact, I find myself loving my new found powers. Whenever I run out of Plasmids, rendering me unable to shoot bolts of lightening from my hands, I find myself in a frenzy. I want power. I want to feel what it is to be a god. Perhaps that sentiment is why Rapture is eating itself alive. I don’t care. I crave the power of the Plasmid.

Heading toward the medical wing, I am treated to another video featuring the infamous Andrew Ryan. I think that the guy was paranoid. After witnessing Plasmid junkies trying to break through a window and kill me, I quickly make my way through vault-like doors to the Medical Wing.

Thoughts so far:

Interesting how the game makes the player crave power (aka the Plasmid).
Sound design is phenomenal!
Is BioShock the tale of the classic question of whether man is basically good or evil?

Join me next time as I continue to explore the depths of Rapture.

20 Minutes in Rapture: Day 1

“They told me son your special, you were born to do great things…”

Recovering from a freak plane crash, I swam through the wreckage and fire. Screams of those drowning filled the night. Gathering my senses, I noticed that there is a lighthouse looming in the darkness. What luck! Climbing up the stairs that lead to the lighthouse, I am struck by the oddness of what I am seeing. Why is this 1920’s art deco style lighthouse out in the middle of the mid-Atlantic? Entering the lighthouse, the lights suddenly come on to reveal a huge banner.

The plaque below the banner contains a quote from a man named Andrew Ryan. Sounds like a nice guy. Further investigation of the lighthouse reveals a bathysphere. Inside, a shiny control switch. To flip or not to flip? Knowing that my adventure was at a standstill, I flipped the switch. Dive! Dive! Dive!

As the bathysphere dove deeper and deeper into the sea, I am treated to an in flight video. Andrew Ryan, as he introduces himself, tells of his wish to be alone. Seems he was teased in school. So, he created an underwater city named Rapture. Rapture, an under sea city of dreams; a utopia dedicated to the unbound man.

“All Good Things on this Earth Flow into the City.”

The above quote quickly turned out to be a lie as I arrived in Rapture. The bathysphere settled into what looked like was once an underwater transit hub. The hub station looked like a scene from a war movie. What has happened here? I didn’t have long to ponder. Suddenly, the bathysphere was attacked by what I am told is a Splicer (a love child of Edward Scissorhands). Atlas, speaking over a service radio tells me to take him along for the ride. Having almost died by splice, I see that I have no choice but to trust Atlas, for now.

Nightmares Come True

The plane crash was only the beginning. Slowly trekking through the decaying Rapture, I learn that Atlas wants me to help him rescue his family. Part of me doubts that such a family exists. Oh yeah, I have also been introduced to something call Plasmids. Plasmids are the preferred drug of Rapture. Atlas tells me that the Plasmids made everyone go mad. Great! I have no clue why I tried one…although shocking Rapture leftovers (citizens) has proven to be quite fun.

Thoughts so far:

The sound design and atmosphere of the game is incredible.
So what if I am a bit freaked out. Right? Right?!?

Join me next time as I continue to explore the depths of Rapture.