In short, he refers to the recent rumors that Blizzard’s Chinese World of Warcraft servers aren’t going to be coming back up anytime soon. For those of you who aren’t aware, Blizzard recently transferred their license to operate WoW in China to NetEase, away from The9.

The9 filed several lawsuits in an attempt to stop this transfer, and the Chinese government accordingly refused to give NetEase a license to operate WoW, saying that “in order to protect the interests of domestic gaming enterprises,” they would “suspend review of all games belonging to foreign companies in the event of lawsuits or arbitration between foreign companies and Chinese companies.”

The Chinese servers have already been down for a month or so, and there’s still no word on when they might return. This really doesn’t hurt Blizzard as much financially as you might think, as they received little revenue from the Chinese players, who pay as little as 6 cents an hour to play.

But how does this get Blizzard down to 5 million subscribers?

Well, that number is admittedly an estimate, especially since Blizzard doesn’t release subscriber numbers by country…anymore. This number was arrived at by using the percentages from the last press release they revealed these numbers in, which as I recall was just after the release of The Burning Crusade expansion. However, it stands to reason that the country to country proportions wouldn’t shift that far from what they were then. After all, it’s not like WoW wasn’t already an established presence at that time. As Tobold himself explains in the comments of the post,

The source is the last Blizzard press release which still announced user numbers by continent. Unfortunately they stopped doing that a while ago, and we can only assume there have been no major shifts since then.

Blizzard has to be concerned about this. After all, their ‘11 million subscriber’ claim is without a doubt the 800 lb gorilla in the MMORPG room. If this outage continues, they will undoubtedly see players trickle away to other MMOs that are up and running. As we all know, once a player is gone and established elsewhere, it becomes difficult to lure them back.

Many of the affected players have moved to Taiwanese servers, especially those who raid regularly. As for the others, even if Blizzard were to lose every single subscriber, they’d still be somewhere between five and seven million (estimated) active subscribers. That’s still a massive base of playing customers, and it’s still the bulk of their income base, which makes me wonder: Why haven’t we heard about this from Blizzard already? I’d expect them to come out and try to get the court of public opinion on their side (not that it would make much difference to the Chinese government). Still, why haven’t they?

My questions: When will hear the details of this from Blizzard, and how long do you think those servers can remain down before they reach a point where they will not recover the majority of those players? Even more intriguing: Does this whole snafu have anything to do with Electronic Arts’ purchase of The9 in 2007?

1. Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line computer games; providing computer games that may be accessed via a global computer network; and providing on-line information in the field of computer gaming entertainment

2. Computer game software and related instruction manuals and guides sold together as a unit; downloadable computer game software; interactive multimedia computer game program; mousepads

3. Comic books, computer game strategy guides, trading cards, coloring books, adhesive stickers, rub-on transfers, notebooks, stationery-type portfolios, posters, greeting cards, calendars, instructional leaflets in the field of computer games, computer game instruction manuals, catalogs in the field of computer games, advertisement boards of paper or cardboard, photographs, art prints

So, now for the speculation: What in the world does all this mean?

Well, reading through the first description kinda makes you think that Cataclysm could be the new moniker for Battle.net. After all, providing online computer games would fit.

However, the second description makes me think that it could be a specific game, perhaps a new expansion for World of Warcraft, or one of those ‘un-named’ projects they’ve been hiring for. You’ve got boxed software, downloadable software, and a computer game program. Oh, and mousepads. Does anyone else think that one looks a bit out of place?

Finally, the third description could be a marketing campaign for either or both of the first two. After all, everyone knows the epic kind of marketing campaigns Blizzard can lay on if they really want to.

No matter what Cataclysm turns out to be, you can bet on two things: First, we’ll hear about it at Blizzcon in August. Second, it’ll sell like crazy.

OK, so now you get to add your speculation. What do you think this is going to turn out to be?

You can see the trademark listings at these three links:
Listing 1
Listing 2
Listing 3

UPDATE: Wow.com now says Blizzard has possibly acquired the domain name wowcataclysm.com. Kinda narrows down the old speculation, doesn’t it?

According to an article at InformationWeek, “the Chinese government has declared that virtual currency cannot be traded for real goods or services.”

Obviously, this was enormous news. Since it’s been estimated that 80-85% of the world’s gold farmers are located in China, this would have likely meant a huge drop in the amount of available virtual currency.

Unfortunately, there’s news today that the law being referenced actually does not reference gold farmers at all.

This morning I read that this ruling doesn’t apply to gold farmers at all. Over at ICTs for Development, Richard Heeks had the following to say,

This is a government restriction on the use of the quasi-Paypal-like currencies (mainly QQ coins) that are used extensively in China to pay for virtual game stuff. As announced they can now only be used to pay for virtual stuff, and you can’t buy real things with them as game companies were allowing to happen, nor can you gamble. This therefore is not about what gold farming clients do: use real money to buy these virtual currencies; it’s the mirror image. And it’s not about the major trade in gold farming such as World of Warcraft, which relates to other types of virtual currency. And it’s not about buying/selling in-game items. And it’s not about the power-levelling of avatars. Bottom line: it’s not about gold farming.

Thus it appears that all the furor and uproar over the last 24 hours was in vain. Apparently the Chinese government had no intention of stopping gold farming, which should come as no surprise. After all, it’s an industry that employs a lot of people and brings a lot of money into the country.

All this did get me thinking…who actually buys gold anymore? I mean with the current gold distribution in World of Warcraft rivaling our national debt, is there really a need for it anymore? Obviously some people think so, since the gold farmers are still in business. Personally, I’ve never understood the reasoning behind paying real money for pretend money.

Sure, you can argue that it’s just an extension of the concept of paying a monthly fee to play a game, but that a fallacious argument. After all, when you buy gold, you’re paying so you don’t have to play, and that whole concept just seems ridiculous to me.

Have you ever bought gold? Do you think it’s a defensible thing to do, or do you despise those who do it?

In an interview with Inc Gamers, Pardo said, “we don’t have any plans to support LAN.” When asked directly for clarification, he said, “We will not support it.” Furthermore, in a follow up with Blizzard, they were told that the exclusion of LAN play, “is because of the planned technology to be incorporated into Battle.net,” a topic they will reveal more about at a later date.

As you can well imagine, the Starcraft community isn’t happy. Starcraft II has already received its share of attention, once it was revealed that it would be released in three parts. Blizzard has assured gamers that each parts of the release will be a full-fledged game, and the furor has died down. Unfortunately, Blizzard is now in the center of a storm again, and this time it’s LAN gamers stirring things up.

UPDATE: A new statement from Blizzard appears after the break.

Now, you can add your voice to the call for LAN play in Starcraft II. It should be no surprise that a petition has sprung up, asking for Blizzard to reconsider. If you want to chime in on the call for Blizzard to change, you can find the petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/LANSC2/petition.html

Unfortunately, I don’t think this sort of thing will end with Starcraft II. The way people play games has fundamentally changed as broadband net connections have become more prevalent. Online multiplayer used to be the rare thing in games; now it’s a standard feature. Local multiplayer is just the opposite. As someone who enjoys local co-op, I miss the days when I could sit side-by-side on the couch with my buddies to play through whatever game was on hand.

LAN play was a staple in my younger gaming days. Many weekends were spent gathering together in someone’s basement, stringing hundreds of feet of LAN cable, and cobbling together a server on whatever extra PC was lying around. Many games survived far longer than they would have otherwise precisely because of LAN play.

Now, I’m sure that Blizzard’s reasoning in this is that they want to prevent those who pirate SCII from being able to access multiplayer. But is forcing players to use Battle.net the answer? How many times have we seen this sort of thing tried by game publishers, only to result in inconveniences to paying customers? The pirates simply look at it as a speed bump, meaning that it is completely ineffective at its intended purpose.

What do you think? Is LAN play worthwhile in this day and age, or am I just old, decrepit, and nostalgic?

Update: In a statement to Joystiq, Bob Colayco at Blizzard PR had the following to say:

“We don’t currently plan to support LAN play with StarCraft II, as we are building Battle.net to be the ideal destination for multiplayer gaming with StarCraft II and future Blizzard Entertainment games. While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy.

Several Battle.net features like advanced communication options, achievements, stat-tracking, and more, require players to be connected to the service, so we’re encouraging everyone to use Battle.net as much as possible to get the most out of StarCraft II. We’re looking forward to sharing more details about Battle.net and online functionality for StarCraft II in the near future.”

So piracy is the stated reason, which is asinine. Pirates always find a workaround, and legitimate customers always suffer. Haven’t we been down this road before?

Death Knights and Warlocks weren’t so lucky and will find a few nerfs in place. Warriors and Druids break even and the Rogue Overkill Talent has been redesigned. See the complete World of Warcraft Patch 3.1.2-3.1.3 notes after the break.

Death Knights

• Frost Presence: Armor bonus is now 60% down from 80%.

Druids

• Improved Barkskin: This talent now also grants 80/160% additional armor while in Travel Form or not shapeshifted.
• Improved Tree of Life: The armor bonus to Tree of Life Form from this talent has been reduced to 67/133/200% bonus armor.

Hunters

• Hunter’s Mark: The ranged attack power bonus from this ability has been increased from 300 to 500.
• Master Marksman: This talent now also decreases the cost of Aimed Shot and Chimera Shot by 5/10/15/20/25%.

Paladins

• Eye For An Eye: This talent now deals 5/10% of the critical strike damage taken by the paladin back at the attacker.
• Hand of Freedom: The base duration of this buff has been reduced from 10 seconds to 6 seconds.

Rogues

• Overkill: Talent redesigned. Now increases energy regeneration by 30% while stealthed, and for 20 seconds after breaking stealth.

Warlocks

• Chaos Bolt: This spell no longer ignores damage reduction effects of the target.

Warriors

• Blood Frenzy: This talent now provides 5/10% haste instead of 3/6%.
• Bloodthirst: Cooldown reduced from 5 seconds to 4 seconds, and rage cost reduced from 30 rage to 20 rage.
• Juggernaut: This talent now also increases the cooldown on Charge by 5 seconds.

Items

• Death Knight PvP Gauntlets: The chance to refresh a Frost Rune when casting Chains of Ice has been removed. When equipped, these gloves now generate 5 additional runic power whenever Chains of Ice is used.

Dungeons

• Ulduar
  • Mimiron
    • The flight time of Rocket Strikes has been increased, and Rocket Strikes will try to prefer players at range.
    • The Leviathan Mk II component of the V-07-TR-0N will become stunned during Phase 4 when the VX-001 component begins to cast the P3Wx2 Laser Barrage ability.
    • Proximity mines now deal less damage and have a lower duration. A small arming time has also been added so proximity mines will not immediately detonate on creation.

Bug Fixes

• Druid Tier 8 Balance Set: The 4-piece bonus no longer has its effect consumed by Starfire casts in progress when it triggers. The chance for the effect to be triggered has been reduced down to 8%, as it was originally inflated to compensate.
• Ice Layered Barrier: Upgraded to item level 232. In addition, the stats in the tooltip have been correctly adjusted to 78 spell power, 48 haste rating, 16 mana per 5 seconds, 52 Intellect, and 50 Stamina.
• Pulsing Spellshield: The stats listed in the tooltip for this item were incorrect and have been adjusted. This item provides 69 spell power, 34 haste rating, 42 critical strike rating, 45 intellect, and 45 stamina.

Blizzard Community Manager Zarhym confirmed that the company’s unannounced MMO project is based on a new IP  which has nothing to do with World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, or Diablo III.

Zarhym’s comment is part of an answer to a thread on the WoW forums that accuses Blizzard of laying aside future expansions for the popular MMO. He answers the challenge and gives an explanation of how the development process works in response to the thread “Blizzard going the way of SOE?”

Quote:
“I’ve heard that they are focusing on other projects. If this is true you can expect more of this, and less customer service/content. At this point they can just sit back and add some new arena/pvp gear every4-6 months and that’s it.”

Zarhym:
“This a common misconception. Such a misconception requires nothing but assumptions and misinformation to hold water. We have completely independent art and development teams for each project on which Blizzard Entertainment is working. Sure, people switch positions and may move to other projects from time to time. This is common practice in any company, whether or not the company develops games. But if a position is vacated, it is filled. You may have seen earlier this year that Jeff Kaplan, former game director for World of Warcraft, announced he would be leaving his position to begin work on the new, unannounced MMO. Tom Chilton stepped up to fill his role on the World of Warcraft development team. We’re never short on talent and our teams are constantly growing. There’s absolutely no reason or evidence to support the theory that we’ve shifted focus away from the Warcraft franchise. I’m surrounded by employees in this building working hard every day that can attest to this, were they not too busy working on a prioritized list of new content for this game to speak directly. ”

The Poster goes on to insinuate that there can’t be a new MMO because it hasn’t been advertised yet.

Quote:
“People are saying that there is another MMO in the works at Blizzard. Seriously, if there was, they would be advertising it already.”

Zarhym:
“Games take years to develop from concept to release. Diablo III was in the works for years before being announced. StarCraft II was announced two years ago and isn’t even in Beta yet.

We have nothing to advertise for the new MMO because it’s a shell of a game thus far. We’ve already stated it’ll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch. It’s an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this.”

You can catch Zarhym’s full response to the “Blizzard going the way of SOE?” thread on the WoW forums.

WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne

WORLD CYBER GAMES ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL 2009 TOURNAMENT RULES AND PLAYER REGULATIONS

New Rules Increase Gameplay and Spectator Excitement Worldwide

Simplified Player Regulations Add Ease to Comprehension

Maximum Number of Teams Increased to Two in Team Play Games

New York, NY. May 11, 2009 – World Cyber Games (WCG / www.wcg.com), the premier international video game competition, today announced the official rules and player regulations for the 2009 tournament. These policies and guidelines will be applied in all online qualifiers, local preliminaries and national finals in WCG participating countries.

The new tournament rules and player regulations reflect feedback collected from past and present WCG Champions, e-Sports Professionals and the online community on the official WCG website. Other aspects such as official maps for games, specific settings and overall processes were updated to improve the pace and gameplay that continue to make WCG tournaments exciting for gamers and spectators worldwide.

Similar to last year, player regulations for WCG 2009 consist of participant qualification, auto-berth and more. These regulations are designed to provide clear guidelines for players competing in the WCG 2009 tournaments. Much like the standard for participation in the Olympics, all players competing in the WCG 2009 Grand Final must have proof of citizenship to their country. In addition, if the player has multiple citizenship, he or she can represent only one country. All players who were born after November 11, 1991 must present a consent form in order to participate. Regarding age restriction, WCG follows ESRB rating standards.

In addition, the maximum number of players allowed on each national team is three people (for single player games) and for team play games the number has increased to two teams (one team in 2008). Under the auto-berth rule, medalists in the WCG 2008 Grand Final are allowed to participate in the National Finals, without competing in local preliminaries.

Lastly, if national team players cannot attend the WCG 2009 Grand Final due to sickness or any other unforeseen event, he or she may be replaced with the next-highest finisher in the National Finals up to two weeks before the first day of the Grand Final. As for Counter-Strike, the team whose substitution exceeds two players will be disqualified and replaced by the next highest finishing team.

“The World Cyber Games continues to evolve with the input from the e-Sports community, whose perspective enhances the excitement and equality of the tournament,” said Hyoung-Seok Kim, CEO of World Cyber Games Inc., the global organizer of the World Cyber Games. “We will take an ample amount of time to obtain feedback and suggestions from the gaming community to improve the rules.”

The World Cyber Games 2009 official tournament rules are as follows:

Guitar Hero® World Tour

· Match type: 1 vs. 1 Pro Face-off
· Song list: Please refer to WCG website (www.wcg.com)

StarCraft®: Brood War™ (1 v. 1 RTS)

· Added Map: Colosseum II, Destination
· Removed Maps: Neo Baekdu Daegan, Ride of Valkyries
· Online Maps (Battle.net): Blue Storm, Python, Tau Cross
· Offline Maps: Blue Storm, Colosseum II, Destination, Python, Tau Cross
· Version Change: 1.15.3 to 1.16.1

TrackMania™ Nations Forever

· Match Type: Cup
· Maximum number of players is four
· Five round limit with two warm up rounds
· Tracks will be announced soon

· National preliminaries and finals can be held in ‘Time Attack’ mode. Please refer to your
countries’ organizer

Warcraft® III: The Frozen Throne™ (1 v. 1 RTS)

· Version Change: 1.22.0.6328 to 1.23.06352

FIFA Soccer 09™ (1 v. 1 Sports)

· ‘Soccerbot2009′ patch used
· Details on Longball use during match is allowed

Red Stone™ (4 v. 4 Team MMO)

· Number of players has changed from 2 v. 2 to 4 v. 4

The rules for Carom3D™, Counter-Strike™, Asphalt 4™: Elite Racing and Virtua Fighter® 5 Online remain the same as last year.

For more information about the World Cyber Games or to review the complete list of specific game-by-game WCG 2009 rules and player regulations, please visit the official WCG website at www.wcg.com.

ABOUT THE WORLD CYBER GAMES
World Cyber Games (www.wcg.com) is the premiere global e-Sports tournament and festival, with about 800 players from 78 countries participating at the WCG 2008 Grand Final. Founded in 2000 and credited with launching the professional careers of many of the planet’s top competitive video game players, World Cyber Games uses a yearlong tournament format, which begins with online, regional and national competitions in each country. National finalists then convene to compete in the ultimate international tournament in e-Sports, the World Cyber Games Grand Final, where each country’s best players battle for the largest and most prestigious prizes in competitive gaming. The WCG 2008 Grand Final was held in Cologne, Germany. This year’s WCG Grand Final will be held in Chengdu, China from November 11th to 15th.

Just a minute, I’ve got to adjust my soapbox before I talk about comparing playing violent videogames with accepting torture.

As the battle over torture rages through the media, Huffington Post columnist Kari Henley has taken the opportunity to  blame the acceptance of torture by some US citizens on violent videogames and other media. She insinuates that you can’t have both videogames and morals in her post “America Doesn’t Torture… We just play Grand Theft Auto “.

“I believe if we are going to truly come to terms with abiding by moral codes against extreme acts of violence, we first have to start in our own living rooms to explore the increased levels of violence we witness on a daily basis that serves as news or entertainment. We say we “don’t f**#$ torture,” yet Grand Theft Auto is our favorite video game.”

After raging on about the depravity of popular adult television series and movies, Henley once again lashes out at mature rated videogames labeling them trainers designed to turn children into killers.

“And what about these modern X-Box and online video games? While I happen to enjoy the “G” rated Wii, over 11 million people are spending their time engrossed in the World of Warcraft or Grand Theft Auto where the point is to go around and kill people in a calculated way. Tell me again why this is supposed to be fun and relaxing?

According to the research oriented Warrior Science Group, watching violence is a technique used in the military to train soldiers to become killers, and video games do the same thing: “Every time a child plays an interactive video game, he is learning the exact same conditioned reflex skills as a soldier or police officer in training.”

The games Ms. Henley mentions are for adults who should be able to separate reality from role-play. The games industry has worked hard to uphold a ratings system to encourage this. Miss Henley is clearly using the torture debate as a platform to promote her agenda as President of the Board of Directors at the Women & Family Life Center. She’s also showing how woefully ignorant of videogames she is. Thanks Kari for removing any lingering doubts.

To be fair the article does mention that “those most in favor of torture are churchgoers.” We all know how often that group plays GTA. Doesn’t quite hold up her argument does it.

Whether you found that news annoying, exciting, or neither, you have to admit that you are stoked about the chance to play Starcraft 2. Well, now you may get a chance to earlier than you think.

Blizzard has opened up beta testing signups for Starcraft 2. If you’re interested in joining in, you’ll need to head over to Battle.net’s beta profile page and get your sign up on. You know you want to.

I would like to remind everyone of the point of a beta test. It’s to find bugs, report them to the developer, and help make the retail release a better product. It’s not simply a chance to demo the game early. So please, don’t look at this as a demo. Look at it as your chance to improve a game that millions of people will be playing.

Regardless, this isn’t an opportunity to pass up. Go sign up today!

If you need a little refresher, you can find a couple of trailers right after the break.

There’s plenty more trailer goodness over on FileFront.

Seems like a poster over on the F13 forums was told by a job recruitment type not to mention the fact that he plays MMOs. Supposedly, the recruiter told him that one of the employers he consults for specifically asked not to be sent people who play World of Warcraft.

According to the post:

I met with a recruiter recently (online media industry) and in conversation I happened to mention I’d spent way too much time in the early 2000s playing online games, which I described as “the ones before World of Warcraft” (I went nuts for EQ1, SWG and the start of WoW, but since 2006 I have only put a handful of days into MMOG playing – as opposed to discussing them – I’ve obsessed over bicycles and cycling instead).

He replied that employers specifically instruct him not to send them World of Warcraft players. He said there is a belief that WoW players cannot give 100% because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns are often not great, etc.

I mentioned that some people have written about MMOG leadership experience as a career positive or a way to learn project management skills, and he shook his head. He has been specifically asked to avoid WoW players.

For one thing, I can understand this on some level, but so what if it is a videogame? It could be a number of things that the person does when not at work that can lead to being a less than suitable employee. There is excessive drinking, whoring, knitting, dog training, working out, getting high all night, MMO grinding, reading into all hours of the night, clubbing, your kids myriad of different sporting events you have to attend, a TV marathon of “My Big Redneck Wedding”, the wife/husband/mother-in-law bitching and yelling all night, insomnia, chronic masturbation habits, just being a crap employee– a number of things can make a person less worthwhile on the job. Don’t just blame MMOs, and if you have hired a load of people who play these games for your company, that means you are an industry that appeals to gamer types any way so get used to it. It could just as easily be some multiplayer “shoot em up” on Xbox LIve that is keeping them up all night.

I understand productivity in the workplace, and as someone who comes from a managerial background, I have no need to know what an employee does when they are not at work. It is none of my business. I also know that (at least where I live) this could be considered discrimination in some respects and get you into some hot water. While people who do play online games have a tendency to stay up late grinding or raiding away into the night, not all gamers who play this genre are irresponsible louts who suck the clock at work. Granted, if a WoW player were slacking off at work because they were too tired to work, yes, I would probably fire them if they kept it up. But the same goes for anyone, not just an MMO player. Not all MMO players will be too tired to work and to generalize a particular person such as this recruitment customer has is just the wrong thing to do. It’s like saying that all beer drinkers are rednecks, all fat people are lazy, and all women suck at math– it is borderline stereotypical. If this guy has had back luck in the past with MMO players, I feel bad for him, but he should not take his prejudice out on the rest of us.

Blizzard has updated the Diablo III website with five new screenshots from the game and three new bits of artwork. The screens show off the Barbarian, Witch Doctor and Wizard, with plenty of cool graphics and magic spells such as fire, lightening bolts, and otherworldly pets.

The artwork is the bandit city of Caldeum, a palace, and what looks like a dungeon. All are very cool and definitely worth taking a look at.

The November NPD numbers are in for PC titles for the month, and it should come as no surprise that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is on top–as a matter of fact it takes the top two spots out of the Top 20. If you look through the whole chart though, you will notice that World of Warcraft took five spots which is an indication that its popularity shows no wane in sight.

Call of Duty: World at War for the PC came in third, with Spore still pulling in the gamers and resting at number four, and Left 4 Dead took the number 8 spot which is a decent slot considering the PC powerhouses that are present on the chart.

1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition
3. Call of Duty: World At War
4. Spore
5. Fallout 3
6. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
7. The Sims 2 Deluxe
8. Left 4 Dead
9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
11. World of Warcraft
12. The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Expansion
13. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
14. EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey
15. Far Cry 2
16. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack
17. BioShock
18. Spore Creepty & Cute Parts Pack
19. IGT Slots: Little Green Men
20. Assassin’s Creed

(Thanks Shacknews)

Blizzard has added Character Re-customization to it’s list of premium services for World of Warcraft. For $15 per character, you can change your avatar’s name, facial features, skin and even gender. The only thing you can’t mess with is your race and class.

Your guild memberships, standings, and friend lists will all be updated with your new name if you choose to change it. Of course that means that re-customization isn’t a way around Ignore restrictions. All the same, you might want to mention your plans to your friends and guild members so you don’t get booted by mistake.

There’s a Character Re-Customization FAQ on the Blizzard’s WoW site that seems to cover most sensible questions a player might have on the process. If you’re no longer satisfied with visiting the barber, you can re-customize every 30 days.

Over in Beijing, a World of Warcraft enthusiast has created a restaurant themed after his favorite game. Everything from the decor to the menu was inspired by Blizzard’s behemoth and images of the game are even plastered upon the walls and in-game footage is played on screens. The entrance is a re-creation of the Dark Portal, which for non-players is the opening animation from The Burning Crusade, while the dining area is the Hall of Snow Storms, and there is a towering tree at the center of this “dining portal”.

The food, which is classic Chinese and Sushi in form, is based on the game as well and named after different characters from WoW. When the owner was asked why he created a restaurant based upon his favorite online game, he stated that he did this in “the hope that people who share his enthusiasm for World of Warcraft would find a comfortable gathering place”.

I wonder just how long it will take before someone else does the same thing in another part of the world? If they do, it would definitely give Medieval Times a run for its money.

You can watch the video of the report on CCTV here.

If you’re looking to get your hands on Diablo III sometime soon, well, don’t hold your breath. Many people thought the game might be nearing completion after Blizzard VP, Rob Pardo, mentioned at the developer’s World Wide Invitational that all the different classes and the first act were finished. Sadly, that isn’t exactly the case, mostly since their definition of “playable” doesn’t mean “done.” Bashiok, a Diablo CM with Blizzard, explains:

Just to clarify this was an interview with Rob at the announcement of the game at WWI, and just to avoid any conclusions drawn without watching the video here’s the quote:

“I think most of the other classes are actually playable back at the home office, but I’m not going to tell you about them today. And most of, kind of the first act, is also pretty playable, but we still have a long ways to go.”

So you’re quite a bit off from “all classes” and “all of act one” being finished. It’s really insubstantial information though, because anyone that understands the Blizzard development process and core values we’re all about iterating. It’s not done until it’s done.

As far as information releases go and current development everyone on the team is working really hard on the game, and it’s progressing really well, but we’re just kind of in a weird spot as far as new information releases go right now.

Most likely, Pardo’s comments were partly accurate: the first act can be played, but there’s still a lot of work needed to be done. They probably still need to do a lot of work on the graphics and animation before they can call it “done.” And since they’re working so hard on getting those sorts of kinks ironed out, we probably won’t be hearing much about the game itself anytime soon. In other word, I wouldn’t go adding Diablo III to your 2009 Christmas list just yet.

Activision Blizzard sure knows how to get the speculation ball rolling, and with this latest bit of teasers and confirmations from the company during yesterday’s Massive Inc. event (advertising summit really) what they had to say is really not much of a surprise.

This meeting basically showcases games that would be great vehicles for in-game advertising, and the biggest one mentioned was one called Guitar Hero 5 (working/speculative title at this point) which was revealed as a screenshot featuring a Burger Kings ad next to the scrolling notes.

ActiBliz also confirmed what we already knew about the upcoming Tony Hawk game slated for an October 2009 release when a spokesman stated: “You’re not going to be playing this game with a controller in your hands”. This, however is old news to gamers who have been in the know regarding a “skateboard type” peripheral which is supposed to come with the game.

Confirmed during the event was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for Fall 2009, and while no details were forthcoming on the upcoming Call of Duty title, ActiBliz did acknowledged Bizarre Creations’ “Bond Racing” (no tile was mentioned) style game which would be heading to stores sometime in September 2009. The good thing about this Bond game though, is that there is no movie tie-in associated with it and for fans of racing games, another one is in the works which is being hailed as a “Mario Kart meets Forza”.

So there ya have it. A few teasers, a few confirmations and the expectation that in-game advertising will be prevalent throughout each one of them. Hooray for greed and constantly being bombarded with advertising no matter where you look. Formally known as the American Way, it is now just the way of the world.

(MTV Multiplayer)

Blizzard has sent us an update for StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. Want the patch details? Well, look no further because here they are:

StarCraft Patch 1.16

Feature Changes: In-game chat is now saved in replays. Note: whispers are not saved. Hitting the Escape key while in the chat room will clear your typed text. “/reply” (or just “/r”) will send a whisper to person who most recently whispered you.

Bug Fixes: Fixed localization issues with “from” and “to” in whispers. Starcraft now only uses as much CPU as it needs to run smoothly.

Exploits

• Fixed an exploit which allowed Zerg players to gain minerals through mutations.
• Fixed an exploit which allowed Zerg players to recycle an upgrading building.
• Fixed an exploit which allowed Zerg players to extend their creep with a drone.
• Fixed an exploit which allowed Zerg players to move Drones over impassable terrain.
• Fixed an exploit which allowed Terran players to drop a nuke anywhere on the map.
• Fixed an exploit which allowed players to pause the game while in the pre-game lobby.

StarCraft: Brood War Patch 1.16 notes are exactly the same. Hit whichever badge that you need to update your game.

1UP is appealing to gamers to take a 5-10 minute break from their games to fill out the 2008 MMO Gaming Study survey. Those who make time for this no fail quiz by December 1st will be entered in a Sweepstakes to win a $300 American Express Cheque.

Attention FileFront Community!
We want to hear about your MMO gaming experience. Help shape how MMO games are built and be entered in an exclusive sweepstakes drawing to* win a $300 American Express Cheque. * Survey only takes about 5 to 10 minutes and your input would be greatly appreciated.

In addition, you can earn additional entries into the sweepstakes. The first 500 completed surveys will earn a double entry into the prize drawing.

*Directions for the survey:*
1. Step#1: _[CLICK HERE TO START SURVEY]
2. Fill out the entire survey to be eligible for the drawing. *Please fill out the entire survey by December 1st in order to be eligible.*
One entry per household only, additional entries will be void. The winner will be notified as soon as a winner is selected.

Thanks again for your continuing support.

Today we are proud to post some progress on our TC development statuses. Yes, the plural form. As many of you know we are developing a total conversion called Resistance, but we decided to start again with the development of Trek Battles 3.

Read: NG Total Conversion Development News
More Star Trek: Legacy News: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

A new month and a progress report on what is going on with Aftermath. This news post will take a different direction to all the previous ones as this one there will be some bad news but there is good news too. It not all doom and gloom.

Read:Aftermath News: Change of Pace and a New Team Member
More Star Trek: Legacy News: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Read: Large Newspost from the XWW2 mod
More Battlefield 2 News: FileFront’s Battlefield 2 Files

Read:Black Mesa source – A celebration of the last decade!
More Half-Life 2 News: FileFront’s Half-Life 2 Files

Read:Visions Of Chaos Lord Of Change Preview and Updates
More Dawn of War: Soulstorm News: FileFront’s Dawn of War: Soulstorm Files

Once again we welcome back [i]Ace40k[/i] to the stage so that he can deliver to you, the Company of Heroes gamer the next version of his extremely popular sound modification! If you enjoyed his previous release…or, if you missed out on it, and you are of the mind that the weapon sounds that you hear while playing Company of Heroes lack that certain something, then count yourself lucky, as you are about to download a mod that will improve what you hear!

Download: Ace40k’s Sound Mod
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Stargate : La Releve (”The Relief” in English) is a French mod developed on the Battlefield 2 engine. The ambiance of the TV show is reincarnated in video game form to give you a new battlefield experience.

Download: Stargate: La Relève
More Battlefield 2: FileFront’s Battlefield 2 Files

dev_akm is now carrying over development after Oscuro’s retirement; Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul aims to make Oblivion a much more interesting, challenging, realistic and dangerous place, and also offers great rewards for the daring adventurer regardless of your level.

Download: Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul (v1.32f)
More Oblivion: FileFront’s The Elder Scrolls Files

Download: Commanders Revenges Extreme Edition
More Supreme Commander: FileFront’s Supreme Commander Files

Fast Fun and Crazy : Lite is a modification that edits a lot of the different units and structures in the game. This modification tries to make the gameplay faster while trying not to go out of control or unbalanced.

Download: Fast Fun and Crazy: Lite (v0.230)
More Command and Conquer: FileFront’s CnC 3 Files

Download: Silenced M21
More CoD 4: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

Download: Otherworld Episode 1 Beta (v2)
More Oblivion: FileFront’s The Elder Scrolls Files

Download: =AaTc= Jet Mod
More Star Wars Battlefront: FileFront’s Star Wars Battlefront Files

Download: Experimentals Wars
More Supreme Commander: FileFront’s Supreme Commander Files

Making a return engagement, ab2531 has submitted his updated version to his super-popular mod! NHCmod is what you want to download if you’re looking for a more juiced-up Company of Heroes!

Download: NHCmod | OF
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Download:Aliens vs. Predator 2 Master Server Patch
More Aliens vs Predator 2: FileFront’s Aliens vs Predator 2 Files

Download: Voice Chat Icons

More Return to castle Wolfenstein: FileFront’s Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Files

This is a nice surprise…a very useful mod by our buddy, Jose: “Throwable” objects! First order of business….the PK3 is named “throwable_sfutt.pk3″ Sfutt? Made me laugh…..sfutt. XD

Sorry, just had to point that out.

Download: Throwable Stuff
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Open up your bandwidth and submit! Submit, I tell ya! MUHAHAHAHAHA!! …errm *cough* yeah. Dartborne is here with what would appear to be the largest of the mods that are at your disposal…this bad boy weighs is at a whopping 430+ megs! And it is worth every kilobyte!

Download: Dartborne Mod
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Ever felt like your German potato masher just wasn’t enough? Well this is definitely your fix, how about not two potato mashers, but six of them! These grenades actually existed during World War Two under the name Geballte Ladung. Probably something pretty hard to scream as you are running away from it in battle.

Download: Big German Grenade (1.0)
More CoD 2: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

Faction commander is a powerful mod that allows you to dictate orders that your faction follows. The command system of this mod is composed of six types of commands and three classes of action codes.

Download: Faction Commander
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

It wasn’t long ago when GobDemoMaster gave us a mod where we could open doors that were locked in the game Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Now he has come through with yet another version!

Download: Restored Doors/Rooms

More Knights of the Old Republic II: FileFront’s Knights of the Old Republic II Files

This is a simple tweak to saber colors and trails. By simple, I mean that a person who knows what they’re doing can probably replicate these effects in 10 minutes or less. I don’t think this 10 minutes was wasted, though.

Download: SM Cool saber effects
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: AOE Sound Pack

More Return to castle Wolfenstein: FileFront’s Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Files

Finally, what many Revolt fans have been waiting for, Revolt 4x — a version of Revolt you can play without crashing your entire game! smile This version features a number of key bug fixes that contributed to the instability of previous versions of the oldest CoD total conversion!

Download: Revolt 4x UO (Final)
More CoD: United Offensive: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

After a bit of an absence, we are lucky to have Robin back with us to once again‘ wow’ you with some fantastic Far Cry adventure! This time your gaming experience will get a little spooky, with a bit of a dark ambiance…so if you’re scared of things that go bump in the night, then you shouldn’t leave furniture in the hallway…and you shouldn’t visit the far away island Lucifer Island!
Download: rll_Lucifer Island
More Far Cry: FileFront’s Far Cry Files

A Peaceful Moment is a screen shot captured by the author depicting a German officer overlooking a river beside a bridge. It actually is a quite peaceful screen shot, it’s a nice change of pace from all the action packed screen shots that are regularly viewed. This picture can also be used as a wallpaper if it fits your fancy.
Download: A Peaceful Moment
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

From the maker of the popular mappack: Insomnia, this developer has decided to create, and release, another map in the [i]‘Hell’[/i] style. WarlorD69 has stated that he made this map with the intentions of it being both beautiful and terrible…a tough combination to pull off, if you ask me! however, I think that he has done a fine job of it!
Download: Kings Cemetery
More Doom III: FileFront’s Doom III Files

For those of you that enjoyed the original release (and those of you that may have missed it) bigdane is back to tantalize you with his newest version! All of you sniper-lovers, don’t fret, there are still plenty of places to pick from…Essentially, Crater Lake (v2) is more or less, a total remake of the original Crater Lake, which will provide you with even more Far Cry 2 goodness and some serious Assault action!
Download: Crater Lake (v2)
More Far Cry 2: FileFront’s Far Cry 2 Files

The Last Palace is a 4 player map based on a war torn city in which 2 players start at a ruined Imperial Palace. This map is greatly detailed with craters, bombed out buildings, building rubble, and etc are littered throughout the map to give that warn torn city look; and coupled with custom decals, it just adds more to the experience.

Download: The Last Palace
More Dawn of War Dark Crusade: FileFront’s Dawn of War Dark Crusade Files

Download: Game_Jedi’s Map Pack

More Star Wars Battlefront 2: FileFront’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 Files

Download: rpg_dy100a
More Elite Force: FileFront’s Elite Force Files

Lafayette is a very small map that is built for 4 players mainly designed for instant action as the game starts due to how the points are laid out. Teams start at forested regions of the map which are located at opposing sides of the map and a road way is located in the middle.

Download: Lafayette
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Nope, this isn’t based on the firm, but rather a map from D2tm called Tropic Thunder Here we have a eight player map that is based on the topical landscape which isn’t done that bad; added in are few foliage, trees, canopy and the like to make the map more detailed.

Download: Tropic Thunder
More Dawn of War: FileFront’s Dawn of War Files

Far Cry 2: Canyon

Hot on the heels of the release that was just mirrored, DobiKuba has gone about sending in another rather large map to rouse the old killer instinct in you and to show off his mapping skills!

Download: Canyon
More Far Cry 2: FileFront’s Far Cry 2 Files

Before we begin I will hold up my hands and admit I’m a Final Fantasy fan, I attend regular mettings to kick the habbit so wish me luck there. Anyhow, FF VII being my favorite of the series I just had to grab this file and set traps around it to keep those other reviewers off. Now onto the review…..

Download: Final Fantasy VII Compilation
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-F.I.L.E.S.-Computer Screen
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

This is the Guardian Class, Oberth refit. Many of you should recognize this baby as it has popped up in a few news posts recently. Well its been a good wait for this to be finally done and dusted and props to Phoenix for getting her finished! Phoenix has also uploaded this as an entry to the ever growing list of entries to the Starship Contests.

Download: Federation Guardian Class
More Star Trek: Legacy: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Download: SM Steel Lasersword
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: Colt-1911- Texture -
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

This is the Ambassador class and “Late Refit” originally released for BC by LC/Legacy and ported to Legacy by yopyop. This is a really high quality model which showcases yopyop’s impressive reworking of LC’s impressive model from BC.

Download: Ambassador Class
More Star Trek: Legacy: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Again, we regret that we cannot provide you with this weeks Demos, Patches and trailer. We apologize for the inconvenience! For now, here are the links to redirect you.