Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts

Hash Inc Animation:Master 2006 ( Windows / Mac ) Review

Hash Inc Animation:Master 2006 ( Windows / Mac )
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Hash Inc Animation:Master 2006 ( Windows / Mac ) ReviewFirst, go to www.hash.com and view the online demo. This will tell you more about what the software is capable of than any review will. Additionally, you may find that you can get the software cheaper when bought directly from Hash.
The software is, simply, figgin' amazing -- it does everything they say it does and more! The graphics are INCREDIBLE.
HOWEVER.
The catch is that while the software can do it, UNLESS YOU HAVE SIGNIFICANT KNOWLEDGE IN ANIMATION you'll become frustrated. If you do have even the slightest bit of expereince, you'll LOVE this package.
THERE'S GOOD NEWS, though. The software comes with an amazing manual that provides beautiful walk-throughs of the software's main features, which teaches the basics of animation and gets something up pretty quick!
THERE'S SIGNIFICANT BAD NEWS, though. The manual is nothing more than a light collection of tutorials. Don't expect to find everything laid out and clearly explained. The online help is barely adaquate as a user's guide but is just fine for a reference guide. In short, if you know what want to do, know what you are supposed to do, know what it's called in terms that Hash uses, and you understand the implication of what will happen when you do it, then the online help will tell you the 'how to do it.'
THERE'S EVEN MORE BAD NEWS. I've been looking, and looking, and looking for printed books on this software. I can't find any that pertain to recent versions. At this moment, I see there's a Animation:Master 2000 book that's out of print, but the software is at 2005. Some graphic artist could clean house by documenting this tool.
TECH SUPPORT. Tech support is *GREAT* for installation and basic questions. Tech support is about the industry average for any real questions or advice -- meaning, they don't get back to you for a very, very long time, if at all.
RAZOR AND BLADES. As for the software, value over cost reaches near infinity -- the bang for the buck is impressive. However, without training materials, you're going to go back to their site and buy the many, many volumes of training materials on VHS and DVD. DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE SALES DEMO -- which until itself is awesome. The capabilities demo you see on the website is smooth, well rehearsed, and impressively edited for sound and presence. The web demos have poor audio and the VHS demos look like someone just had a camera at a expo booth. Quite often the demoer will work himself into the very problem you have, say "oops", stumble a bit, say "I know why", and press some shortcut key that solves the problem and move out without explaining what went wrong, how he knew, or how to fix it. The 'tutorials' are just topical demos. Beware.
ON THE UPSIDE, this product accelerated my 3D knowledge and helped me figure out how to use features in POSER that I didn't understand. Between Poser and Animation Master, I'd pick Animation Master for ease of use and power. However, I haven't seen a lot of downloadable models.
ONE MORE THING TO BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT. Be careful when they sell you an upgrade, which comes at a very fair and impressive price. There's a weird scheme where they treat the software more like a subscription. The CD you buy today will also let you download an upgrade patch in the future. But at that point the free ride ends. If you buy the upgrade, they send you a CD with the software YOU ALREADY HAVE, and that is used as the "key" to allow you to download the next upgrade when it comes out. For your troubles, you get 'extras' on the disc that don't come with the downloaded patch.
BOTTOM LINE: GREAT SOFTWARE. WEAK ON DOCUMENTATION. ABOVE AVERAGE TECHINCAL SUPPORT. PAINFUL TUTORIALS. LACK OF 3RD PARTY BOOKS.Hash Inc Animation:Master 2006 ( Windows / Mac ) Overview

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Rift Review

Rift
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Rift ReviewComing from someone who has been playing all type of MMORPG games from MUD to WoW and all that are in between. RIFT is a great game by its own rights. It's been a long time since the MMO community has a very successful launch. I'm not going to compare features between this game and that game, but here are the good and the bad from my playing experience.
Default UI is a great. Although many of the goodies are turned off by default, you can easily turn them on through the interface setting. No need to go to addon website to install extra stuff. Things like target of target, AoE auto loot, auto sell gray items, etc. The UI layout editor is very easy to use. I'm actually really happy with it out of the box. It's not perfect, but a great starting point.
Public groups. I thought it was dumb when I first saw it, but there's a plus sign above everyone's avatar. You can click this and invite yourself to create an auto-group with the person. This is great when you see someone doing the quest you're looking to do, you can just auto group and you both and help each other. When you're done, just leave and be on your way. You can turn this feature off if you don't like a random stranger joining you. This also works for Public Group when taking down world events, such as RIFTs and Invasions. If there are multiple public groups, it merges them in to one.
Warfronts. Essentially, it's instance battlegrounds. The queues are very quick since its cross-servers. You need to be at least level 10 to do your first Warfront. There are brackets from 10-19, 20-29, and so on. It's pretty much the same old same old here, so nothing exciting about it. The experience gain is enough that you could level from just playing the warfronts if you choose to. I don't recommend it though, it gets boring pretty fast if playing it back to back... to back. Plus, you'll be pretty weak because you can't get gear efficiently if this is all you're doing.
Rifts and Invasions are pretty cool at first. After awhile it's just a zerg fest. I don't mind doing this, but again, in moderation. The blue and purple tokens you get from it are zone specific, so spend those to get yourself stronger. Not a lot of experience from invasions, so you can't level off of it like you can from warfronts. If you farm the invasion currencies you can buy items to make yourself stronger.
Quests are pretty much a straight shot. What is great about them is that you get pretty decent gears from following quests line. It will continually upgrade your gear as you go along. So this is the most effective way to get decent gear if you're playing by yourself or with a friend.
Dungeons are also pretty much like other games, but a lot prettier! It's hard to describe in words. The first instance is the Realm of the Fae, and the winter top mountain is pretty amazing, a must see! I won't spoil it.
This brings me to another point. The graphic and game effects in this game look very nice. Warrior's cleave bring up dust from the ground looks amazing. If your computer can handle ultra setting, the game is very pretty. I enjoy the graphic a lot. The last game I play that I thought was pretty was LotRO, this beats it.
Sound effects is pretty good, nothing that stands out. The script events and voice over is a nice touch, but nothing special. I turn music off when playing so I can't comment on that.
The loot is pretty also straight forward. The nice touch here is that all souls in the class use the same stat no matter what you're doing. For example, all clerics will use WIS gear. So I won't have to haul STR/DEX gear when tanking, WIS when healing, and INT/DEX when trying to DPS. All cleric uses WIS as the main attribute and that gets converted depending on the souls. If I'm tanking as Cleric Justica my WIS converts to STR for tanking. All I have to worry about is if I want to tank with 2H weapon or 1H and shield. Pretty awesome!
The Classes and Souls system is also nice, because it's very flexible. You can also purchase new roles to swap out from Tank to Healer on the fly. Since you're using pretty much the same gear from one role to another, it's painless.
In my opinion, this game doesn't bring anything new or innovative. It takes all the things other games done well and implement them in a nice package. There are a lot of improvements to be made. Like I said, it's not perfect, but it's a great start.
NOTE: If you are looking to buy this game, I recommend getting the Digital Collector's edition for $60. An extra $10 will get you a mount right off the bat (no level restriction) for all new characters that you make. The cheapest mount you can get is about 2.5 plat. I didn't get 2.5 plat until about level 20 from a normal play. I created 3 characters to level 20, and it's pretty much the same pace. Having the mount as soon as you can get to the mailbox is awesome.Rift Overview
Rift is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) for PC that challenges players to stop an ongoing invasion of their world by horrific creatures from other planes of existence, while simultaneously growing ever more powerful by doing so. These creatures appear at a variety of elemental rifts that erupt at the confluence of these planes. Using an extensive level of customization, which allows players to very nearly create their own character classes, players defeat enemies, seal rifts and draw power from them. Additional features include: standard quest gameplay as well as player vs. player action, two factions each containing multiple races and a dynamic world full of unpredictability.


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Demon Stone Review

Demon Stone
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Demon Stone ReviewI picked up this game for two reasons. First because it's a licensed D&D product, and I'm sorta obsessive that way. Second, because R.A. Salvatore's name was attached to it. This is one of those purchases I'm going to live to regret.
For starters, it's an obvious XBOX port. The PC version of the game even makes references to "push the black button" in game. I don't own a joypad for my PC, that's why I have an XBOX. If you try to play this game with a keyboard and mouse you're not going to enjoy it. Trust me.
The graphics are pretty good, and take advantage of my DirectX 9 compatible card, but even still it could be better. There are a few times where there was some pretty bad clipping going on.
Gameplay is incredibly linear, and the "immersive storyline" is a joke. I've played standup arcade games with greater depth. The character levelup occurs at the end of each "episode" and all 3 characters go up at the same rate. Levelling is handled by spending experience points to acquire skills, and the game barely adheres to D&D 3.5e rules (despite it's claims). Also, characters earn an absurd amount of gold between each level although it's unclear where they are getting it. You spend pretty much all of it on powerups when you go up a level.
This game in no way resembles an RPG, despite it's origins in the D&D ruleset (which they obviously ignored). There's no character development at all. Not even in the beginning of the game.
Also, I love R.A. Salvatore's writing, but none of it is apparent in this game.
I'll keep it because it has the D&D logo on it, and like I said I'm kinda funny that way, but I don't recommend you pay anywhere near full price for this game.Demon Stone OverviewForgotten Realms: Demon Stone delivers the feel of an action movie in an incredible role-playing experience. Its award-winning game engine combines with an incredible story written by best-selling fantasy author R.A. Salvatore. Journey to the mythic land of Faerun, where monsters and magic are real. You set out in a party of three, to right an ancient wrong and restore order to the world. Fulfill prophecies and build a legend as you fight to stop demons from destroying all that you know. Features voice talent by Patrick Stewart and Michael Clarke Duncan

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The Witcher Enhanced Review

The Witcher Enhanced
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The Witcher Enhanced ReviewWere I a member of the gaming Industry right now, I would be shamed to be taught what gaming should look and feel like and how it should be marketed by a small Eastern European company. Who of the multi-billion gaming "giants" ever went back to improve a released game? Yet, there you have it: thanks to CDPROJECT gaming as an art-form is still alive and kicking!
This was the most awaited fantasy cRPG in the past 3 years. Not only did the original deliver, but even more work has gone into truly improving it.
THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL cRPG GAMES I HAD EVER PLAYED - AND NOW IT IS GORGEOUS!
The environments are detailed, realistic, and can be experienced from up close. Grass, flowers and tree branches moved in both FABLE and TITAN QUEST as well; these, however, seem so true I caught myself reaching for my...antihistamines! Weather affects and day-night alterations (you have to see the elongating shadows to believe them!) are just gorgeous! More importantly, these are not just eye-candy: certain NPCs and monsters appear only when the correct combination of time-of-day and weather coincide...The horizon is far and the clouds move in endless variations. It reminded me of the sky of the original UNREAL, another visually ground-breaking game at its time. PURE VISUAL MAGIC!
The character (Geralt) can master both sword-fighting and magic spells (what is known as a Warlock). To some die-hard RPG fans this may seem like heresy, nevertheless, keep in mind that multi-classing is not unheard off. The movement repertoire for both practices are impressively designed. Especially the sword-fighting, it is at par to any console action game. And the spells (both offensive and defensive ones) are not less impressive.
Free roaming? Yes and no. One can decide which parts of the map he will visit but loading is still needed to travel even annoyingly short distances. And since quests and side-quest still have to be completed, yes, eventually a subtle, yet ever present, directionality is present.
Looting and bartering? Aaah...yes, sort of. You practically never change the sword you start off with (although you do get to improve its abilities), whereas good armor is only a little easier to come by compared to PLANESCAPE. On the upside, you get to gamble, have romantic relationships (FABLE was full of great ideas after all!) and bribe for information, so trinkets have other uses as well.
Detailed character modifiers? Nothing like the AD&D rules. You gain talents (gold, silver & bronze) which you can spend to improve your fighting or magical abilities. Pretty much like the DIABLO or the TITAN QUEST abilities systems.
So, apart for the slight action-cRPG handicap, I have only two other objections. First, the...camera placement. Once more the atrocious Aurora Engine (remember NWN2...?) will keep auto-placing it where it is bound to get on your nerves - as it targets your character even if that is not the most logical option. Yes, this has indeed improved compared to the original but one cannot teach an old dog new tricks.
Second, the controls. They need getting used to as the fighting combos are still easily ruined by clicking out of sync. You do eventually get the hold of it, however it keeps glitching.
Nevertheless, its shortcomings are not enough to diminish the breath of fresh air this release brings to the scene. The Enhanced edition not only is a truly reworked game but it also comes full with detailed Manuals, beautiful Maps and all the extras that games used to come with in the good old days...

Whereas the BALDUR's GATES saga was story-heavy but (by today standards) visually wanting and the NEVERWINTER NIGHTS series was found, well, wanting in all aspects, THE WITCHER is the dream cRPG that BIOWARE was supposed to be capable of releasing all along but never did - and its current EA bedfellows surely put a stop to such aspirations now. That game, however, is finally here - and not from whom you would expect.
A tip of my hat to CDPROJECT for keeping the ART-FORM of Gaming alive. Well done indeed!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!The Witcher Enhanced Overview

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Archlord Review

Archlord
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Archlord ReviewI participated in the open beta of Archlord, enticed by the great graphics and a break from World of Warcraft, which has become repetitive to me. I was utterly disgusted by this game within two hours. I didn't play long enough to encounter the serious bugs mentioned by the previous reviewer, but he's not alone in his claims. I simply cannot confirm nor deny that.
However, that doesn't really matter. I was shocked to find out that the game really wants you to move using a click-to-move interface. What's worse is that if you click to move somewhere, there's almost no chance your character will get there if there is *anything* in the way. Tree stump? Groundhog? No deal. To move, you literally have to click 5 feet in front of you every 3 seconds until you get to your destination. Fun!
I much prefer the W-A-S-D keyboard movement control with mouse look, the standard in just about every first person shooter and every successful MMO (WoW, EQ, CoH/CoV, the whole bunch). Guess what? Keyboard control is crippled in this game. Sure, W moves you forward, but A and D turn you at a 45-degree angle only--there is no smooth movement. In fact, movement is ridiculously awkward, and the camera was flipping all over the place.
Compound this with clicking to move and clicking to attack are the same mouse click! No! I was trying to run *past* that slime....I didn't mean to attack it! On the flip side, there's nothing like being in a heated battle, and you go to click to attack, and you accidentally run into another group of baddies because you *just* missed the enemy and clicked to move instead. Nice!
One last point: The entire purpose of this game is to become the Archlord, the most powerful person in the entire server. Anyone reading this try to become highest ranked PvP in WoW? Most servers have 1-3 top-ranked people (Rank 14) and less than 1% of all active players make it past Rank 10. If you are married, have a girl/boyfriend, or have a job (full- or part-time), you'll never be archlord. It's going to be some unemployed dude or a kid that has unlimited play time.
Why buy a game whose ultimate goal is something you'll never reach?Archlord Overview

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Microsoft Publisher 2007 Version Upgrade Review

Microsoft Publisher 2007 Version Upgrade
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Microsoft Publisher 2007 Version Upgrade ReviewMicrosoft Publisher is one of the few programs that I have used every day since Version 1 (the other is Quicken). I have purchased every new upgrade to both programs and literally could not be without either. When Publisher 2003 came out, it was a fairly substantial improvement over its predecessor in both format and functionality. Now that I am using a brand-new computer with Windows Vista and the latest version of MS Office, I decided to get the 2007 upgrade to Publisher. I am very disappointed. Not that it's bad ... Publisher is still a very useful program ... but that it is virtually identical to the 2003 version, including the same old tacky and dated 1990's templates. Sure there are a few enhancements, but the user interface takes a step backwards and reminds me of Windows 98 and like Vista and Office, what used to take one keystroke now takes 2 or 3. It has none of the cool and useful new look or features of the other Office 2007 products. Quite honestly, I believe Microsoft should have made this a free download rather than to pawn it off as a whole new version. Since I am still a big fan of Publisher I will have to split my review into two parts: the full-version of Publisher at 149 dollars is worth 5 stars and I would recommend it to anyone who has never used Publisher. The upgrade-version at 85-100 dollars barely gets 3 stars, if you already have Publisher 2003, don't waste your money upgrading it.Microsoft Publisher 2007 Version Upgrade OverviewMicrosoft Publisher 2007 Version Upgrade Win32 CD

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Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East Review

Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East
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Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East ReviewTribes of East is the final chapter of the Heroes of Might and Magic V trilogy. Even though this expansion was not highly anticipated as its predecessor, Hammers of Fate, it was generally better received by the HMM5 internet community for competency issues. Ubisoft definitely put their best foot forward to ensure that all of the glitches were ironed out before releasing a buggy product (contrary to the original HMM5).
The GOOD!
* TOE IS A STANDALONE PRODUCT - This is a very convenient installation feature that allows you to install the product without owning any of the previous HMM5 products. No annoying prerequisite installations to worry about.
* TOE DOES NOT REQUIRE THE DISC TO RUN - Another convenient installation feature that allows you to launch the game with the DVD absent in your disc drive (Be warned: This feature could be unintended by Ubisoft as it was not advertised on the packaging and could be removed in a future patch).
* A NEW FACTION AND HERO - A strong majority of HMM5 fans were anticipating and begging for the arrival of the nomadic and savage faction known as the Orcs. Their Stronghold hosts a diverse array of units consisting of Goblins, Centaur, Warriors, Shamans, Slayers, Wyverns and Cyclopes. Under the command of an Orcish Hero (The Barbarian) these units can utilize a Bloodrage ability. This ability is accumulated in correlation to the amount of damage that unit inflicts and as a result will give the Orc units access to additional abilities (ie. Cyclops obtains a Fear Aura when obtaining Bloodrage level 3).
* AN ALTERNATE UPGRADE TO EVERY UNIT - This is a highly celebrated feature of ToE that adds a whole new dimension to the HMM5 gameplay. Whenever a creature dwelling is upgraded in a town, the player can choose between two different upgrades for the creature stack. (For example, after the player upgrades the Lich Dwelling in the Necropolis, he/she now has the choice of upgrading a Lich into an Arch Lich or a Lich Master.) As a result there are essentially 50% more creature types availible vastly opening the strategic diversity in a battle. In addition, there is also a "regrading" system allowing the player to interchange his/her units from one upgrade to the other. (For example, the player can pay to "regrade" a stack of Arch Liches into a stack of Lich Masters and vise versa so that the player is not forced to dedicate themselves to one upgrade type).
* SOME NEW INTERFACE FEATURES - Ubisoft did a fine job attuning their eyes and ears to consumer feedback by implementing some very convenient modifications to the user interface. The first one is the Kingdom Overview screen. This allows you to view hero and town details all in one screen without having to tediously cycle through all of them in the town view(a nice feature available in HMM3). In fact you can even access the build menus from here greatly speeding the pace for multiple town management. The second is a "Wait" button in battle menu, something that was highly desired since the original since HMM5. There are a couple more minor features in ToE that smooth out the gameplay but I do not wish to go into them all in great detail.
* PLENTY OF NEW ARTIFACTS, AND ARTIFACT SETS - The new artifacts offered by ToE are well balanced and function specific bestowing a very strategic use for each one. Many of the original artifacts along with some new ones are components of artifact sets. For each set artifact that the hero equips, he/she receives additional bonuses. (For Example: if the hero equips 2 artifacts from the Dragon Set he/she receives +1 to all hero parameters in addition to the original artifact bonuses. If the hero equips 4 artifacts from the Dragon Set he/she also receives +5 attack and all tier 7 creatures in the army receive +20 HP).
* THE GRAPHICS - Despite the 18 month disparity between the release dates of HMM5 and ToE, this game is not a hair more graphic intensive. This means that the consumers of HMM5 who met bare minimum specs will not have to purchase a whole new PC or upgrade their hardware just to run this game. However, Ubisoft did include a couple new display settings to tailor to wide screen monitors and laptops.
* GOOD MAP EDITOR CONTENT - ToE has a batch new terrain types along with a slew of new interactive and decorative doodads. This greatly diversifies the amount of creativity involved when creating a new map with the map editor.
* FAN CONTENT MATERIAL - This aspect alone illuminates the high level of appreciation that Ubisoft has for their online community. ToE comes included with a 300 plus page .pdf manual that breaks down the specifics for every creature statistic, spell formula, artifact bonus, and just about every concept involved with this game. This manual is pretty much the holy bible to the HMM5 series and is compiled by a very credible fan base known as the "Age of Heroes" community.
The BAD!

* NOT SO INTELLEGENT ARTIFICIAL "INTELLEGENCE" - This is the sole reason I gave ToE a 4-star rating in the "Fun" category. I feel that a competent A.I. is an imperative necessity for the turn-based strategy genre and throughout the whole HMM5 trilogy I have been pretty disappointed. I don't think this is the worst A.I. ever coded into a PC game but it is apparent that Ubisoft neglected to invest the proper amount of time in their A.I. so it can adapt, prioritize, and strategize in specific situations. I simply do not feel like the A.I. is a comparable opponent unless it is set on higher difficulties where it will flagrantly "cheat" (by receiving extra resources, experience, etc) making you lose that feeling of being in a battle of wits.
* NO NEW NEUTRAL CREATURES - With the release of every HMM expansion pack I always look forward to utilizing new mercenary creatures that are not affiliated with the 8 main factions. I was hoping that they'd bring back classics like the Medusas, Efreeti, Beholders, Basilisks, among many others. Don't hold your breath as there is not a single new neutral creature in ToE.
* TOO FEW NUMBER OF NEW MULTIPLAYER MAPS - With the creation of several new terrain types and the numerous addition of interactive doo-dads, I expected Ubisoft to work their creative team to the bone to pump out new maps and scenarios. Unfortunately that was not the case as there were only 4-6 new custom maps with this expansion. However, there are many 3rd party sites that provide multi-player maps and single player scenarios for download.
OVERALL: ToE has exceeded my expectations. If Ubisoft spends the proper time to revamp the A.I.(or maybe scrap it completely and start from square one) and release more multiplayer maps in a future patch then this will be a virtually flawless product. It is obvious that the numerous PROS of ToE outweigh the potentially rectifiable CONS. ToE's new features do a good job enhancing the gameplay mechanics providing a highly crafted but fluid turn-based strategy experience. For that reason, this game is worthy of the 5-star rating and is definitely worth buying for any casual or diehard fan of the Heroes of Might and Magic series. On the flipside, people new to the franchise might want to pick up a precursor title first.
Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East Overview

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Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection Review

Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection
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Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection ReviewThe problem I find currently with this game is too many players have reached multiple end game jobs (level 75) and few brand new players have joined. This means many group required missions are nearly impossible to complete. As a lower level player you have to coax six or more players to help you accomplish your rank, or expansion missions. That isn't easy. It is difficult to find people to level up with. Some parts of the game you can never reach, because you haven't completed the required missions. If it was just one difficult mission you might succeed, but it is mission after mission (10 or more, some with sub missions) and older players are not inclined to want to repeat these. Each expansion brought more missions most of which you cannot solo to complete. That puts you into a continual mode of asking for assistance.
You can craft in the game but you don't make anything of any significance that anyone really wants to buy.(Until you reach the highest skill levels, and even then since it is older players most have already purchased the items.) It takes many supplies, and turn ins to achieve a tiny bit of increased skill. The latest idea is group crafting.
The game does offer you many interesting jobs to work on and build up. However you will learn as you develop your character, that preconceived opinions of older players could exclude you from group participation because they feel your job lacks the strength, or specialty required to complete their objective.
Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection OverviewNOTICE:This product requires:(1) an active internet connection; (2) monthly recurring subscription fees; and (3) agreement to certain license and usage terms (available at www.playonline.com).Currently, children under age 13 are not permitted to play, users 13-17 require parental consent.Users are granted a limited, revocable license only and do not own any data or intellectual property generated during gameplay.A valid Visa or Mastercard is required.

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World Of Warcraft Expansion: Burning Crusade Review

World Of Warcraft Expansion: Burning Crusade
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World Of Warcraft Expansion: Burning Crusade ReviewThis expansion pack introduces the new continent of Outland. This continent can only be accessed with a character that is at least level 58. If you're either just starting to play World of Warcraft, or you have no characters even close to level 58, you may just want to wait to buy the expansion at a later time.
However, the expansion also grants you access to two new races, the Draenei (Alliance) and the Blood Elves (Horde). You won't be able to create characters of either of these races if you don't have the expansion. So, if you want to play one of them you'll need to get it. If you're a new player who's just trying out the game, I'd suggest just getting the basic version and playing one of the original races, rather than spending the extra $40 before you even know whether you like the game.
You should also be warned that if you're upgrading from the original version of the game, even if your copy is already fully patched, you'll have to install the patches again after installing Burning Crusade. This is because they printed the CDs with version 2.0 of the client you use to play the game, but they've issued patches after that which you need to log into the server (up to version 2.05 as of this writing). If you look in the Patches sub-folder of your World of Warcraft folder on your computer, you should already have some of the patches present and be able to simply double click them to install. If you were to try to log in before doing that, you'll have to redownload the patch before it installs instead, which will naturally take more time.
Some people have complained about lag, crashes, and lines to log into the more popular servers. These are all short term problems. A lot of people are very excited about the expansion, and so there are far more players than usual logged in at once, which is straining the servers. Give it a week or two after release and it should begin to settle down.
For the basic version of WoW, the level cap is 60. If you install the expansion, the cap is increased to 70. If you have a level 60 character and want to continue to advance, you MUST upgrade your account with the expansion pack.
Additional level brackets for the Battlegrounds (Player vs Player areas) have been added to accomodate the new higher levels in the game. Also, a new battleground called Eye of the Storm has been made available for characters of level 61 and above. Additionally, around the zones of the new Outland continent, there are PvP tasks you can perform such as taking over control of towers, with the faction that controls all of the towers in a zone gaining a small bonus such as a 5% increase to damage anywhere in that zone.
They've also added a number of new instances/dungeons. The new ones have two settings, allowing you to go through them at either 'normal' difficulty, or 'heroic' difficulty. The heroic setting makes the enemies tougher, and provides increased treasure rewards. This keeps the instances useful for advancement over a larger span of levels than would normally be the case.
Most players will find that, as they do quests in Outland, they quickly begin to get armor that's superior to what they've previously been using. The monetary rewards in the new areas are also increased. Additionally, professions have been expanded to cover the additional levels in the game and tailoring has been expanded to include specialties similar to the way blacksmithing and leatherworking work.
Flying mounts are available on the continent of Outland for those who purchase them. However, these are not available to be used in the two original continents. This is because those areas were designed with the intention that they would only be accessed from the ground and a lot of work would have been required to make all of the quests and visuals work as intended if characters were permitted to fly around freely.
Be cautious about buying this item used. Each copy of the expansion includes a key code that is required to upgrade your account to allow access to the new content. If you buy a used copy of the software where the seller has already used that key to upgrade his account, you'll still be able to install the software upgrade, but the lack of an unused key will mean that you won't be able to apply the upgrade to your account that's required to actually access the new content.
If you install the expansion on a computer where more than one account is used (for example, if you and your spouse each has your own account) then you can only use the key to upgrade one of those accounts. The other account will continue to work, but it will not be given access to the expansion pack content. Therefore, you need to obtain one expansion pack for each account you or your household has if you want to access the new content on all of them.
Edit: As of January 22, 2007 Blizzard has announced on their forums that they're working on allowing players who already upgraded using the basic expansion to then also upgrade using the collector's edition in order to get the limited edition pet. You'll have to call Blizzard's billing service line with the unused collector's edition expansion key, so it's slightly more work than upgrading directly with the CE, but it can now be done.World Of Warcraft Expansion: Burning Crusade OverviewBlizzard Entertainment took online role playing by storm with their hit title, World of Warcraft. With mind-boggling improvements in graphics, gameplay networking, and interface -- really every category -- this game became the crown prince of the genre. World of Warcraft players will be excited by the approaching release of the new expansion pack: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. This pack expands the already massive, award-winning multiplayer online role-playing game by tremendous bounds, adding new races, lands, battlegrounds, professions and items, and much, much more. Although no release date has been set, here is sample of what you can expect from The Burning Crusade.
The expansion pack features an increase in the level cap to 70. There are two new playable races, including the magical Blood Elves that you can read more about below. The other race has not yet been released by Blizzard. There will be new starting zones in Quel'Thalas and beyond. Another eye-opening addition is the entirely new, unexplored continent of Outland that is reachable through the Dark Portal. Plus, you'll find many new high-level dungeons to explore in Azeroth, Outland, and elsewhere that will substantially boost gameplay. There are new flying mounts in Outland; tons of new and dangerous monsters (including epic world bosses); hundreds of new quests and items; and even a new profession: Jewelcrafting. Of course this isn't the end of the list -- this is just a glimpse of what Blizzard has planned for their unreleased expansion pack.

The New Story, the Rumors, and More Several years have passed since the Burning Legion's defeat at Mount Hyjal and the races of Azeroth have continued to rebuild their once shattered lives. With renewed strength, the heroes of the Horde and Alliance have begun to explore new lands, and have broken through the Dark Portal to investigate the realms beyond the known world. In this expansion pack, The Burning Crusade refers to the Burning Legion's ongoing efforts to destroy life on Azeroth. To date, the Burning Legion's exploits have been documented in Warcraft III and in the War of the Ancients novel trilogy. As part of the expansion pack, players will now be able to travel through the Dark Portal to confront the Legion on otherworldly battlefields.

Although only one race has been revealed, Blizzard has announced plans to unveil details about possible additional races at a later date. On the other hand, many details have been released about the new continent, Outland. Players last visited Outland in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, alongside Illidan as he conquered the Pit Lord Magtheridon's domain. Players will also gain access to Quel'Thalas, the region to the northeast of the Forsaken lands, where the Blood Elves reside. Blizzard says that this expansion pack holds even more new areas that are ripe for player exploration -- additional details will be revealed in the months ahead.

Blizzard also has plans to add new dungeons and battlegrounds with the expansion, though the exact number has not yet been determined. One upcoming dungeon that has players excited is Karazhan, which is located within Medivh's tower. Because Medivh has played such a central role in Warcraft lore, Blizzard is convinced that longtime players will be especially interested in seeing what Karazhan contains. As for battlegrounds, Blizzard has released very little information. However, they have announced plans to make some of the battles from the past accessible through the Caverns of Time.

Blood Elves: The New Race Thousands of years ago, the exiled Highborne landed on the shores of Lordaeron and founded the enchanted kingdom of Quel'Thas. These high elves, as they called themselves, created a fountain of vast, magical energies within the heart of their land -- the Sunwell. Over time, they grew dependant on the Sunwell's unstable energies, regardless of the bitter lessons they'd learned in ages past.

During the Third War, the villainous Prince Arthas invaded Quel'Thalas and reduced the once-mighty realm to rubble and ashes. His undead army decimated nearly all of the high elven population. In addition, he used the Sunwell's energies to resurrect a powerful undead Lich, Kel'thuzad, thereby fouling the Sunwell's mystical waters. The few elven survivors, realizing that they had been cut off from the source of their arcane power, grew increasingly volatile and desperate.

In the midst of the elves' darkest hour came Kael'thas Sunstrider, the last of Quel'Thalas' royal bloodline. Kael, as he was commonly known, knew that the remnant of his people would not long survive without the nourishing magic that once empowered them. Renaming his people "blood elves" in honor of their fallen countrymen, Kael taught the survivors how to tap into ambient mystical energies -- even demonic energies -- in order to sate their terrible thirst for magic. In search of a new destiny for his people, Kael'thas ventured to the remote world of Outland where he encountered the fallen night elf, Illidan. Under Illidan's watchful eye, Kael and his blood elves regained much of their former power.

Unfortunately, the blood elves practice of embracing demonic energies caused their former comrades in the Alliance to shun them. Thus, the remaining blood elves on Azeroth look desperately to the Horde to help them reach Outland where they can reunite with Kael'thas and achieve the golden destiny he has promised them.

Outland: The New Continent Once the beautiful homeworld of the orcs, all that remains of Draenor is the scattered wastes of Outland. Following the Second War, the Alliance invaded Draenor by crossing through the Dark Portal. To their horror, they discovered that Ner'zhul -- the dark warlord of Horde -- had constructed a series of new gateways that could lead the beaten Horde to newer, unspoiled worlds. As the Alliance forces closed in around him, Ner'zhul opened his gateways as a means of escape. However, his plan backfired and the gateway's clashing energies resulted in a massive catastrophic explosion that ultimately ripped the world of Draenor to pieces.

Nearly thirteen years later -- towards the end of the Third War -- the fallen night elf, Illidan, discovered that huge chunks of Draenor still existed, floating upon the astral winds of the Twisting Nether. After his defeat at the hands of the evil Prince Arthas, Illidan fled to the remnants of Draenor and dubbed them "Outland." He quickly seized control of the chaotic region and sealed the last of Ner'zhul's gateways.

Though he is the undisputed ruler of the ravaged land, Illidan lives in fear that he will be discovered by his powerful enemies -- most notably Arthas, the new Lich King, and the remaining Lords of the Burning Legion. For now, Outland is home to a number of scattered draenei tribes, primitive orcs, and powerful, arcane creatures of the Nether itself. Agents of the Burning Legion have also targeted the region as a vital strategic location in their unending Burning Crusade to scour all life from the universe.

What else can expected? Blizzard has tantalized Warcraft players with the brief glimpse into The Burning Crusade's storyline. Will these heroes find friends or foes? What dangers and rewards lie in wait beyond the Dark Portal? And what will they do when they discover that the demons they thought were vanquished have returned to renew their terrible Burning Crusade? These and other questions will remain unanswered until the gameplay can be explored by role-playing Warcrafters.




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