MOGS

Recent World of Warcraft Scam

Over the past few weeks I have noticed a pattern of scam activities between our customers and delivery in World of Warcraft, I’ve spoken with many of you via MSN, Email, Live Chat, etc pouring through screen shots and delivery logs to try and find out what the real cause of this problem is.

Unlike other companies in the RMT industry we do not shift blame, we do not refuse to take action or fail to investigate the situation. Any and all complaints made to us are handled ASAP and we always respond with an (accurate as possible) response. Here at Mogs we do not have a “Customer is always right” mentality. That died out in the 90′s. We are however all gamers, and we understand more than most where a customer is coming from and we look into every situation like we were looking into a problem with our own accounts.

Any trades that resulted in the customer getting scammed were reset and placed back into queue. We did this at a loss of revenue to us, someone still had to pay for that gold. But the point is, we support you just the same as you support us, and we very much value your continued business with us here at mogs.

IMPORTANT:
Under no circumstances, at any time, should you ever trade back your gold after the initial trade. If someone says they need the gold back so they can screenshot, please come immediately to live support located at the top right hand corner of our website so we can verify that is indeed the fact. Without getting into any detail as to how this scam is done, just remember, never ever ever give the gold back to anyone unless someone in Live Chat or on the Telephone asks you to.

Again, thanks for the support and appreciation, we definately appreciate you.
Jason / MOGS

Battle.net Authenticator on Your iPhone!

Want to be the coolest person at your next WoW party? Then check out the free Battle.net authenticator application for the iPhone and iPod touch. Ditch that pesky keychain authenticator and go high tech with Blizzard’s newest security innovation**. The Battle.net authenticator application for the iPhone/iPod touch goes everywhere you go and doesn’t get misplaced or left at home like the keychain version. You might not need your keys, but you will always have your iPhone with you, right?

World of Warcraft security? There’s an app for that!

**Be sure to read the notes in the application description for a trouble free installation.

Jumpgate Evolution and Sci-fi’s Road Ahead

Jumpgate Evolution is the sequel to 2001’s Jumpgate. In 2001, when this game came out as one of the first MMORPG’s in the sci-fi realm, it did fairly well with the sci-fi community. Now with eight years between Jumpgate’s release and Jumpgate Evolution’s (JGE) upcoming release, I’m sure we can expect to see improved graphics, game play, social capabilities, and an increased player driven economy. Sci-fi games have had a rough go at it so far; certainly Star Wars Galaxies has made one of the best runs at tackling the sci-fi fan base, and EVE Online really changing the spectrum of game play with its intellectual and business minded necessity for success. A couple of years ago we saw a great deal of hype for Tabula Rasa which came and went as quickly as it was released.  The question remains, will JGE incorporate the successes of past endeavors and flee from the mistakes of other developers?

We can’t really answer that question just yet, but JGE has been in the works for some time now, with ample time to learn from other projects released and seemingly dead in the water.  Originally it was to be released in June of 2009, now it looks like fall 2009, just in time for competition with Stargate Worlds and Fallen Earth, but watch out for 2010 when Star Trek Online comes out and I’m sure tentative release dates for Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and the free to play 2029 come out.  There are all kinds of new sci-fi games on the horizon here, I hope they all don’t cancel each other out, of course who am I kidding Knights of the Old Republic should steamroll anyone trying to compete in the sci-fi market, with the exception of EVE Online. For the time being, JGE should have some moderate success as a sci-fi MMOG if it can get released before the hurricane of franchised based games with huge fan followings comes roaring into the sci-fi market. Sci-fi games will probably continue to have a difficult road ahead, but we wish you all well and look forward to seeing how it all pans out.

Dan@mogs.com

Release Star Trek Online already!

As I’ve stated in my MOGS bio, I’m more of an FPS player than anything else. But when I heard the news of the Star Trek MMO in the works back in 2008, I was pretty stoked. Well that was almost a year ago and they still do not have an official release date. Maybe they’re revamping the game after the release of the newest movie? For those of you who haven’t seen the game developers latest trailer, check it out here!

Resistance is futile.

-Christian,

Celebrities Love Warcraft

Have you ever wondered about the guy, currently tanking your 25 man Naxx group, that you have raided with since release? Or maybe it’s 4:00 in the morning and you’re PvP’ing with a crazy 29 twink in Warsong Gulch. They probably don’t talk much in vent or have erratic play schedules, but when they are there they put the work in and get the job done.

Let’s face it, I’ve raided Warcraft since release and I have heard every “Can’t make it” and “Have to go” excuse in the book. Everything from “oh crap my cat is choking afk” to my favorite flat out router unplug. But then again, I haven’t raided with Steve Preeg or PvP’d with Mila Kunis.

What happens when your guild leader says “Sorry guys I can’t run Heroic Naxx tonight, I have to go pickup this Oscar thing at the Academy Awards”.

Steve Preeg has worked on the digital effects team of some pretty big movies, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I, Robot. The World of Warcraft guild he leads has cleared all WOTLK endgame content so far except Sartharion, and (current endgame aside) that’s pretty impressive. This year at the 81st Annual Academy Awards his small digital effects team took home Oscars in the visual effects category for the (incredibly creepy) work they did on Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, beating the other contenders, The Dark Knight and Iron Man.

Then there’s Mila Kunis, ohhhhhh Mila. You may remember her as Jackie from That 70′s Show or Meg from Family Guy. No? Maybe there’s a couple other little movies you might have heard of, Forgetting Sarah Marshal or Max Payne? Ahhh… Now you remember, that’s right, Mila Kunis.

She is Warcraft addicted. There I said it. She completely geeked out over World of Warcraft while promoting Max Payne last year on Jimmy Kimmel and not only does she play, but she runs a twink in the 19-29 battlegrounds and looks incredibly cute talking about it.

She’s currently dating Macaulay Culkin and he has an 80 paladin or something, but forget about that. Mila, he can’t PvP like I can. “Home Alone” can bring it, 19-29, 80, or if he wants to get crazy.. I have a level 1 twink bank alt I’ve been working on. Just let me know.

Google tells me that other celebrity World of Warcraft players include Dave Chappelle, William Shatner, Jay Mohr, Matt and Trey Parker, and Robin Williams.

Ulduar

With PTR’s up and testing begining for the upcoming release of Ulduar, speculation is high about what the next tier of raiding will bring. Blizzard has stated that if Naxx was an introduction to raiding then Ulduar will be more of a “second year” of raiding. The forums have been awash with blue posting touting the difficulty and “hard mode” encounters contained within. There are currently 14 bosses slated to be in the instance, with 11 of them having a the “hard mode”. Think Sartharion style encounters, where if certain objectives are left intact the difficulty will increase along with the quality of loot. If these objectives/adds are destroyed/killed the encounter will become less difficult with a comparative drop in loot quality. On the topic of loot quality, you can expect 10 man Ulduar to drop gear equal to average 25 man Naxx gear with the end boss dropping items on tier to 25 man Kel’Thuzad/Malygos loot, with gear scaling up appropriately from there.

There aren’t currently a lot of details out, check back later for more developing info as testing progresses.

-Tom

The 2009 3v3 Arena Tourney

Fight for Fame and Fortune!

It’s that time again, time for the arena floors to run red with the blood of your opponents, healers to hump posts, and the QQing on the forums to reach epic levels. The 2009 World of Warcraft 3v3 Arena Tournament has begun! Thousands of players are entering putting their skills to the test in this skill intensive brawl. All you need is two arena partners and $20 then you can enter the tourney.

With 10 different classes, 2-3 viable tournament specs for each class, that creates thousands of different combinations, but which combo will reign supreme? According to the arenajunkies 3v3 rankings, http://www.arenajunkies.com/rankings/3v3/ , top teams include variations of Survival Hunter/Holy Paladin/Healer, and Survival Hunter/Holy Paladin/Dps. With Rogue/Mage/Priest also taking high rankings and Deathknights scattering the top teams paired up with Holy Pally/Dps. Theory crafters are claiming Affliction Warlock/Survival Hunter/Holy Paladin will take the tourney, since the combo counters the Hunter/Healer/Healer match-up.

So put on your armor, pick up your weapon, get some friends together, and spend days on end killing people for your chance at the $75,000 first prize.

Good luck,

-Jon

Jon@mogs.com

SWG and the Free Character Transfer Service

Howdy Everyone, its been a while but now I’m back. Lets talk a little bit about SWG and the free CTS (Character Transfer Service).

Effective January 13, 2009, and ending on March 31, 2009, the character(s) you have active on the “transferred from” galaxies* listed below, that were created on or before December 11, 2008 at 11:59PMPST, may be moved to one of the destination servers at no charge*.  This option will be available on a one-time/once per character basis.

The current “transferred from” galaxy servers include:
* Corbantis
* Europe-Infinity
* Intrepid
* Kauri
* Kettemoor
* Lowca
* Naritus
* Scylla
* Tarquinas
* Tempest
* Valcyn
* Wanderhome

The valid destination galaxy servers include:
* Ahazi
* Bloodfin
* Bria
* Chilastra
* Eclipse
* Europe-Chimaera
* Europe-FarStar
* Flurry
* Gorath
* Radiant
* Shadowfire
* Starsider
* Sunrunner

I have moved one of my toons to Chilastra and had no problems, all of my items and resources transferred correctly.  I have to say since I made the move with this toon, I will probably be making the move with all of my toons.  The PvP is awesome again and I’ve been having a lot of fun.  I suggest to anyone that has an account that you should reactivate it and go join the fray.  And you should go Reb on Chilastra, LOL.  Until next time…

Mark
Mogs.com
SWG PIMP

Star Trek Online and SCI-FI MMO's of 2009

Star Trek Online and SCI-FI MMO’s of 2009!

Star Trek Online is currently being developed by Cryptic Studios and do for release sometime in the Fall of 2009. It will be interesting to see how a new Sci-Fi MMO will do.  Star Wars Galaxies has remained a fairly well played game despite the changes that were made to the classes and EVE-Online continues to grow in popularity. Tabula Rasa seemed to come and go with seemingly little interest from the community. What kind of game will STO be and will it be the Sci-fi answer so many gamers are looking for?

Star Trek Online brings with it an enormous franchise history.  The TV show has introduced us to several Federation Captains and numerous species such as Vulcans, Klingons,  Andorians, and the ever swindling Ferengi, to name a few. These species have all been included in the character selection in STO. The list goes on, and one of the most interesting aspects of the game is in creating your character. Rather than simply picking a species and some general features, you will be able to mix and match with other species. Don’t like the Antennae of the Andorians’, you can keep the basic features of the Andorians and delete the antenna and add a Klingon forehead and maybe some Vulcan ears, in essence creating your own and unique species all together. The idea of developing your own species sounds pretty cool to me it will certainly add a little something to the game and a whole lot of guess work on who or what your are fighting!

Star Trek Online is also going to essentially put you in the Captain’s chair. The Bridge crew works with you and is necessary for all of the ships maintenance systems, tactical, etc.  “…these unique individuals act like pets in other MMOs. Each one is player-controlled, but AI driven. Whether science officer or security chief, each character has his or her own unique stats, race, and areas of specialty.” (Gameinformer # 186). Starting out you will start with a smaller ship and as you progress in the game could wind up with a science vessel similar to Voyager or a Galaxy Class Flag Ship like Enterprise-D! Space combat in STO looks to be a pretty cool experience, with some potential to almost act like Pirates fighting in the sea of space.  Plenty of worlds, nebulas and ultimately space to explore in this game!

Next year looks like it will be a busy year with Sci-Fi  MMO’s . Jumpgate Evolution, Stargate Worlds, Earthrise, and Star Trek Online are all coming out in 2009. All look to have some promise, I for one will be happy to see some new and intriguing Sci-Fi MMO’s for some us gamers who like the Sci-Fi edge over the fantasy realm.  Being a fan of Star Trek and all of its series, STO has a lot of appeal to me, especially the idea of running into and fighting a Borg Sphere or Cube…I wonder if the Borg Diamond will make an appearance, at any rate It looks good and I can’t wait to be assimilated!

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?