MOGS

Obama and McCain go to War(craft)

We thought it would be fun to mirror the current presidential campaign in World of Warcraft, so we had master artist and friend of the company Zeeksie create this digital painting.

Feel free to link to this thread or re-publish the image on your own blog or website; all we ask is that you link back to this post as the source.

Fragfest Ohio – 2008

I have been playing video games since the days of the Atari 2600 and Com64. Years later with the release of PC games like Wolfentstien & Doom I attended my first Lan party. We all got together and rocked out on our 386’s! My friends and I eventually ended up having a standing Lan every other Saturday. About 10 of us would get together for a day of killing each other, talking trash, checking out new games and sharing “files”. We did this for years until it kind of tapered off and eventually our Lan’s ceased to exist.

Then our friend “fatty” from Counter Strike had a brilliant idea. Throw a Lan and invite everyone we know online and in RL to come join us. The event was to be called Fragfest Ohio and is now in its sixth year. It has really evolved into an event that everyone talks about year round. Although there are many more attending the events these days then in the beginning it still has a homey feel as everyone is there because they know a veteran of the event.

I just got back from the annual “Fragfest Ohio” and it was a blast. The event took up all of the Ballrooms at a huge Hotel in Hudson Ohio. Attendees set their systems up in the main ballroom, there is also a ballroom dedicated to playing console games on enormous screens, one is just filled with poker tables, and another for sponsors swag and food. It was the best time I have had in so long. To be able to meet up with old friends, hang out with so many hardcore gamers and then blow everyone’s heads off with my auto-shotty in Counter Strike … good times. Of course I had to run around and shamelessly spray-painting my MOGS tag all over ingame.

You can find out more about Fragfest @ fragfestohio.com

Joe
MOGS Customer Support Manager

WotLK Update: New Class Talent Calculators and Skills

This past week has seen an unveiling of new information regarding the latest World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King.

Larney, one of the MOGS Delivery Team and our resident WoW Expert, has put together this handy archive of new Class Talent Calculators and Skills that will go live with WotLK.

Death Knight

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

Druid

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

Hunter

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

*Also a huge change to the hunter class will be the introduction of Pet Talents.

Mage

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

Paladin

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

Priest

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

Rogue

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

Shaman

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

Warlock

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

Warrior

Skills
Talents
Talent Calculator

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We hope this helps you guys who’ve been craving new info – have fun planning your new specs!

Is Blizzard Discriminating Against Disabled Gamers?

In 2006, Vivendi (the parent company of Blizzard) initiated a lawsuit against Michael Donnelly, the creator of the then popular gaming software WoW Glider. The software allowed players of World of Warcraft to automate their gameplay using a series of either custom or pre-defined profiles. The software was adopted by many WoW gamers but largely demonized by both Blizzard and the World of Warcraft populous for tainting the spirit of the game and lending itself to Gold Farmers. There was certainly some substance behind these concerns; Glider was utilized for Gold farming by everyone from the individual gamer looking to gain more Gold for him/herself to the large scale company making big money from virtual currency. The software was also useful for leveling characters and aiding other characters in the leveling process, the purpose it was arguably use for by most.

On July 26th 2008, an Arizona district court ruled in favour of Vivendi on the basis of copyright infringement, but not to the extent hoped for by Blizzard. The case will continue and a ruling will follow later in the year. The case has been widely reported in the USA and overseas, capturing the attention of news organizations as large as the BBC. However, this is not our focus.

An issue that has been seldom addressed in the press, on the gaming forums or by Blizzard is the impact of MMO Glider (as it is now known) on World of Warcraft gamers with disabilities. One of the earliest uses for Glider was to aid gamers with diminished motor skills and those who did not have full functioning limbs (such as amputees and those with prosthetic limbs). This allowed, and still allows, disabled gamers of these types to compete within Azeroth on a more even basis with their able-bodied counterparts. By automating certain processes, for examples combining several keystrokes into just one, Glider is aiding disabled gamers without giving them a competitive advantage over other gamers.

This simply grants the ability to play the game, after all hitting keys quickly is not part of the intended “skill” in MMORPGs, rather than automating time-consuming or tedious sections of the game (which is what seems to be frowned upon). Blizzard has been criticized in some circles for not considering their disabled populous in the Glider lawsuit.

It can be argued, however, that whilst Glider does provide this functionality, it provides many more things that do not help gamers overcome disabilities and only serve to automate parts of the game that are either boring or profitable. With a little knowledge, which is easily accessible via Google, gamers can setup macros within the game to assist them. Hardware such as Logitech’s G15 keyboard (which allows the integration of macros and functions specifically for World of Warcraft) provides similar assistance. Even though this latter option requires purchase, so does the full version of Glider.

Blizzard has also done its part to assist disabled gamers through the design of World of Warcraft’s interface. Allowing full control of the game’s functions through the mouse, making windowed mode available and providing a clickable, on-screen keyboard make the game playable for a wider audience of gamers. Implementing these aspects of accessibility, whilst not negatively affecting playability for other gamers, is an admirable move from Blizzard, not to mention making good business sense.

Has Blizzard charged into what they see as part of their war on Botters and Gold Farmers without considering “legitimate” Glider users, or is the debate on disability assistance simply a means to justify unsavoury practice?

What do you think?