Software major, Microsoft has become more aggressive with its initiatives to curb piracy in the market. It launched telecalling initiative promoting the usage of genuine software amongst the channels.
Vipul Sant, Director, Original Software Initiative, Microsoft India said “Our team has called about 5,000 channels, educating them about the benefits of using genuine software. It has also been imparting in-shop training to the staff of 1000 partners. After this training, we have a mystery shop wherein we check how they are positioning the software.”
The vendor is also working with associations like TAIT, Compass, NECTA and PCAIT to spread awareness among the members and implement the use genuine software. The company intends to partner with more channel bodies to carry out similar awareness campaigns in the country.
Additionally, the recently launched e-commerce platform by the vendor gives an opportunity to partners to host their solutions. “People living in small cities like Bareilly do not have an idea from where they can purchase original software; this platform caters to such consumers. We have also tied-up with a national courier company who will collect the cheques as well as deliver the software to the customers at their doorstep while the billing will be done through partners,” said he.
Presently this service is available in 52 cities and will be gradually extended to more cities.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
First Look: Microsoft Blocks XP-to-Windows 7 Beta Upgrades
The version of Windows 7 Beta 1 that Microsoft made available for download on its Technet site Thursday does not support upgrades from systems running its Windows XP operating system, according to a first look at the available code in the CRN Test Center.
It does, however, permit upgrades from Vista SP1 to Windows 7.
A Microsoft spokesman said that no final decisions have yet been made about what will be included or not included in the generally available version of Windows 7, but that the company as a practice advises only clean installations of operating systems during the beta phase anyway.
For now, the beta version of Windows 7 only permits upgrades from Vista SP1 -- meaning there is at the moment no way to test or evaluate a straight XP-to-Windows 7 migration.
"We've just been telling people like we always do, conduct a clean install. That's the safest bet anyway," the spokesman said. "It shouldn't be too much of a surprise."
Microsoft announced late Wednesday night in Las Vegas that it was making its first beta version of its next generation desktop OS available via Technet and MSDN, and CEO Steve Ballmer said the general public would have access to the beta -- for free-- as of Friday. The beta will work through August of this year, giving virtually the entire market an opportunity to play around with it and evaluate Windows 7 before they have to pay for it.
The Test Center's first look at Windows 7 in beta form found:
-- Attempts to upgrade from XP were met by a warning that: "To upgrade to Windows 7, the computer needs to be running Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later. Upgrading from Windows XP to any edition of Windows 7 is not supported;"
-- On the same PC test bed, performance measured by Primate Labs' Geekbench 2.1 benchmarking software indicates that performance deteriorates slightly on the same PC from Windows XP to Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate;
-- Once Vista SP1 is installed and running, the upgrade from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate took an hour and 16 minutes. It is an extremely smooth upgrade -- something that could be a relief to a channel and a market that suffered extreme headaches in trying to go from XP to Vista. Compared to complaints from the market during previous OS upgrades, Vista-to-Windows 7 is a breeze, introduces subtle-but-nice interface changes and provides refreshingly strong support for several basic drivers and applications.
Our test bed was built with an AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core processor at 2.20GHz, 4 GB of RAM, an Nvidia 6100 nForce 4300 card. In our upgrade from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate, we included, among other applications, Firefox 3.0, Google Chrome and Safari browsers; Microsoft Office 2007; WordPerfect Office X4; Skype; the Digsby IM client; a FireFox plug-in, Ubiquity; and a new, free application made available this week, from Tech Smith, called "Jing," which provides for image and video desktop screen captures. Adobe Flash player was also on the Vista system.
Following the upgrade, every single application worked as it should. Skype in Windows 7 did come with a compatibility warning, but upon opening it up and trying it out, it worked just fine.
Microsoft did provide a warning to back up any .mp3 files before upgrading from Vista to Windows 7; however, the upgrade went through and the .mp3 files we had on the system survived just fine.
Once installed, Windows 7 found easy access to a shared drive on the Test Center network. Once the driver for the Oki Data printer in the lab was installed, printing from the Windows 7 PC over the network was happily uneventful.
A note of caution, though: If you try to upgrade a Vista PC and you haven't yet installed SP 1 and all essential updates from Microsoft, the process could take an additional two hours. It did for us, so keep that in mind if you're planning to try the Vista to Windows 7 Beta 1 upgrade.
More testing on Windows 7 will be needed to evaluate its security, network management and support for more applications and drivers. But at first blush, the upgrade that caused so many tempers to flare during the last OS release seems to have been alleviated greatly this time around.
It remains to be seen, however, how the market will respond if Microsoft continues to deny an upgrade from XP to Windows 7.
It does, however, permit upgrades from Vista SP1 to Windows 7.
A Microsoft spokesman said that no final decisions have yet been made about what will be included or not included in the generally available version of Windows 7, but that the company as a practice advises only clean installations of operating systems during the beta phase anyway.
For now, the beta version of Windows 7 only permits upgrades from Vista SP1 -- meaning there is at the moment no way to test or evaluate a straight XP-to-Windows 7 migration.
"We've just been telling people like we always do, conduct a clean install. That's the safest bet anyway," the spokesman said. "It shouldn't be too much of a surprise."
Microsoft announced late Wednesday night in Las Vegas that it was making its first beta version of its next generation desktop OS available via Technet and MSDN, and CEO Steve Ballmer said the general public would have access to the beta -- for free-- as of Friday. The beta will work through August of this year, giving virtually the entire market an opportunity to play around with it and evaluate Windows 7 before they have to pay for it.
The Test Center's first look at Windows 7 in beta form found:
-- Attempts to upgrade from XP were met by a warning that: "To upgrade to Windows 7, the computer needs to be running Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later. Upgrading from Windows XP to any edition of Windows 7 is not supported;"
-- On the same PC test bed, performance measured by Primate Labs' Geekbench 2.1 benchmarking software indicates that performance deteriorates slightly on the same PC from Windows XP to Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate;
-- Once Vista SP1 is installed and running, the upgrade from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate took an hour and 16 minutes. It is an extremely smooth upgrade -- something that could be a relief to a channel and a market that suffered extreme headaches in trying to go from XP to Vista. Compared to complaints from the market during previous OS upgrades, Vista-to-Windows 7 is a breeze, introduces subtle-but-nice interface changes and provides refreshingly strong support for several basic drivers and applications.
Our test bed was built with an AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core processor at 2.20GHz, 4 GB of RAM, an Nvidia 6100 nForce 4300 card. In our upgrade from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate, we included, among other applications, Firefox 3.0, Google Chrome and Safari browsers; Microsoft Office 2007; WordPerfect Office X4; Skype; the Digsby IM client; a FireFox plug-in, Ubiquity; and a new, free application made available this week, from Tech Smith, called "Jing," which provides for image and video desktop screen captures. Adobe Flash player was also on the Vista system.
Following the upgrade, every single application worked as it should. Skype in Windows 7 did come with a compatibility warning, but upon opening it up and trying it out, it worked just fine.
Microsoft did provide a warning to back up any .mp3 files before upgrading from Vista to Windows 7; however, the upgrade went through and the .mp3 files we had on the system survived just fine.
Once installed, Windows 7 found easy access to a shared drive on the Test Center network. Once the driver for the Oki Data printer in the lab was installed, printing from the Windows 7 PC over the network was happily uneventful.
A note of caution, though: If you try to upgrade a Vista PC and you haven't yet installed SP 1 and all essential updates from Microsoft, the process could take an additional two hours. It did for us, so keep that in mind if you're planning to try the Vista to Windows 7 Beta 1 upgrade.
More testing on Windows 7 will be needed to evaluate its security, network management and support for more applications and drivers. But at first blush, the upgrade that caused so many tempers to flare during the last OS release seems to have been alleviated greatly this time around.
It remains to be seen, however, how the market will respond if Microsoft continues to deny an upgrade from XP to Windows 7.
The Latest PC & Network Technologies
The Latest PC & Network Technologies
Tech Trends That Can Help You Stay Cost-Efficient
nt>
Networks have become an indispensable resource that keeps corporate departments and employees working together smoothly. But they are hardly static business tools. Networks are constantly growing and changing to meet business needs with emerging technologies.
This growth has become so important that network planning is now a vital business function. CIOs, IT managers, and network administrators must keep a sharp eye on coming trends and products. The goal is to avoid obsolescence and wasted capital and ensure the most efficient, versatile, and cost-effective network possible for the enterprise. There is certainly no shortage of PC and network technologies to watch as we look through 2009 and beyond.
Going Mobile
Desktop computers are certainly becoming more powerful. Ever-faster processors (soon to include Intel's Pentium and Xeon) are embracing 64-bit. High-performance storage features such as SATA are appearing, and some manufacturers are even implementing SATA RAID in their desktop systems.
All-in-one PCs (such as Gateway's Profile 5 series) are integrating an LCD with the desktop chassis, allowing for an easily deployable and replaceable solution, although upgrade potential is limited. However, desktop systems are facing a great deal of pressure from the emergence of mobile computing platforms.
The use of mobile computing has exploded in the enterprise as more employees telecommute or operate in the field. Notebooks, tablets, and PDAs are quickly complementing, and even replacing, bulky desktop systems.
Gartner analysts Annette Jump and Leslie Fiering predict that desktop PCs will account for less than 50% of enterprise client devices by 2008. "Desktop PCs will not disappear from the corporate landscape, but the level of server-based computing will double," they note. "In addition, the role of notebooks, PDAs, and smartphones will evolve. Mobile devices will have a growing role as replacements for the desktop PCs, but even more frequently, as complementary devices."
The use of mobile devices also places the spotlight squarely on emerging wireless technologies and standards. Gartner analyst Mark Margevicius says, "One of the big enablements that Intel announced recently was the inclusion of a wireless access point as part of its next-generation chipset that will ship on all corporate PCs. This means that any desktop could be reconfigured, with the addition of a radio, to serve as an access point. This would also mean that networks to the desk would not necessarily be required to be wired—that for some users a wireless configuration is a better choice." Gartner's Jump and Fiering predict that 802.11a/g will be the primary technology on 50% of wireless notebooks by early 2005.
Vulnerability Assessment & Intrusion Prevention
Although tactics such as firewalls and antivirus utilities will remain staples of any security strategy, today's fast-moving threats are prompting network gurus to consider risk management and intrusion prevention tools. Darwin Herdman, CTO and general manager of managed security solutions at RedSiren, notes that automated risk management offers network discovery, system profiling, and on-demand vulnerability scanning and assessment.
Automation replaces time-consuming and costly manual vulnerability assessment solutions that exist now and provides timely insight and awareness into a network's security status vs. emerging threats and vulnerabilities. Gartner analyst Mark Nicolett agrees, predicting 90% fewer successful attacks for enterprises that implement a vulnerability management process (vs. those that rely only on intrusion detection).
RedSiren's Herdman says that existing intrusion detection systems just don't fill the bill: "Intrusion detection systems have been limited in their ability to support active responses and countermeasures. Intrusion prevention technologies have shown promise in their ability to effectively deploy active countermeasures to mitigate the threat before it is able to compromise business critical systems."
He also notes that host-based intrusion prevention systems (such as Cisco's Security Agent) are proving effective on servers and desktops. "By analyzing the behavior of the endpoint vs. analyzing the signature of the attack, host-based solutions have been effective in identifying and preventing ‘Day Zero' threats," he says. "By eliminating the compromise of endpoint systems, one can eliminate a large majority of network traffic generated by infected hosts."
Gartner's Nicolett also concurs. "Intrusion detection technology adoption has peaked and will be eclipsed by intrusion prevention technologies that are based on deep packet inspection. Intrusion prevention technologies are mature enough for initial production deployments in 2004," he says.
Bandwidth Pigs Can Fly
Herdman underscores the changing bandwidth needs of tomorrow's networks, which will incorporate advanced bandwidth-intensive technologies. "With recent advances in video telephony, real-time point-to-point video sessions will have a significant impact [on] corporate bandwidth utilization," he says.
Herdman also notes the continued development of VoIP: "Although [VoIP is] not a new technology, there is increased user acceptance and a general migration by industry toward integrated voice, video, and data communication, and collaboration suites." Of course, such bandwidth-intensive technologies will spur the implementation of high-speed network infrastructures to carry the data. Likely candidates include Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
IT and data-center managers must also consider the emerging storage needs of their networks. Although NAS and SAN devices converge ease and performance, additional data and multimedia assets from VoIP collaboration (and other large files) will hog their share of bandwidth. Storage performance must keep pace, but Herdman says the data must be stored according to important government regulations such as GLBA, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley: "In order to perform mandatory audits, industry must expand [its] data storage, analysis, and recovery solutions. Requirements to process and store email messages/content, business-critical server, and firewall logs for periods up to 10 years will result in an increase in the cost for a wide range of technology services."
Tripping The Mesh
Utilization and reliability will be important issues for future networks. It's a simple matter to add a server or install more workstations, but those assets are often underused over time. The recent industry move toward mesh computing (also dubbed utility computing or grid computing) will accelerate in the coming years as suitable applications emerge.
IBM spokesperson Matthew McMahon explains, "Utility [or mesh] computing is simply a delivery model for IT, allowing customers to access the applications or resources they need, when they need it—moving IT to a variable cost, rather than a fixed cost. It is a small part of the larger transformation we see going on in the industry." Mesh computing lets an application share the unused resources of idle PCs on the network, dramatically increasing processing efficiency. This also helps the network remain resilient and available in the face of outages and failures
Tech Trends That Can Help You Stay Cost-Efficient
nt>
Networks have become an indispensable resource that keeps corporate departments and employees working together smoothly. But they are hardly static business tools. Networks are constantly growing and changing to meet business needs with emerging technologies.
This growth has become so important that network planning is now a vital business function. CIOs, IT managers, and network administrators must keep a sharp eye on coming trends and products. The goal is to avoid obsolescence and wasted capital and ensure the most efficient, versatile, and cost-effective network possible for the enterprise. There is certainly no shortage of PC and network technologies to watch as we look through 2009 and beyond.
Going Mobile
Desktop computers are certainly becoming more powerful. Ever-faster processors (soon to include Intel's Pentium and Xeon) are embracing 64-bit. High-performance storage features such as SATA are appearing, and some manufacturers are even implementing SATA RAID in their desktop systems.
All-in-one PCs (such as Gateway's Profile 5 series) are integrating an LCD with the desktop chassis, allowing for an easily deployable and replaceable solution, although upgrade potential is limited. However, desktop systems are facing a great deal of pressure from the emergence of mobile computing platforms.
The use of mobile computing has exploded in the enterprise as more employees telecommute or operate in the field. Notebooks, tablets, and PDAs are quickly complementing, and even replacing, bulky desktop systems.
Gartner analysts Annette Jump and Leslie Fiering predict that desktop PCs will account for less than 50% of enterprise client devices by 2008. "Desktop PCs will not disappear from the corporate landscape, but the level of server-based computing will double," they note. "In addition, the role of notebooks, PDAs, and smartphones will evolve. Mobile devices will have a growing role as replacements for the desktop PCs, but even more frequently, as complementary devices."
The use of mobile devices also places the spotlight squarely on emerging wireless technologies and standards. Gartner analyst Mark Margevicius says, "One of the big enablements that Intel announced recently was the inclusion of a wireless access point as part of its next-generation chipset that will ship on all corporate PCs. This means that any desktop could be reconfigured, with the addition of a radio, to serve as an access point. This would also mean that networks to the desk would not necessarily be required to be wired—that for some users a wireless configuration is a better choice." Gartner's Jump and Fiering predict that 802.11a/g will be the primary technology on 50% of wireless notebooks by early 2005.
Vulnerability Assessment & Intrusion Prevention
Although tactics such as firewalls and antivirus utilities will remain staples of any security strategy, today's fast-moving threats are prompting network gurus to consider risk management and intrusion prevention tools. Darwin Herdman, CTO and general manager of managed security solutions at RedSiren, notes that automated risk management offers network discovery, system profiling, and on-demand vulnerability scanning and assessment.
Automation replaces time-consuming and costly manual vulnerability assessment solutions that exist now and provides timely insight and awareness into a network's security status vs. emerging threats and vulnerabilities. Gartner analyst Mark Nicolett agrees, predicting 90% fewer successful attacks for enterprises that implement a vulnerability management process (vs. those that rely only on intrusion detection).
RedSiren's Herdman says that existing intrusion detection systems just don't fill the bill: "Intrusion detection systems have been limited in their ability to support active responses and countermeasures. Intrusion prevention technologies have shown promise in their ability to effectively deploy active countermeasures to mitigate the threat before it is able to compromise business critical systems."
He also notes that host-based intrusion prevention systems (such as Cisco's Security Agent) are proving effective on servers and desktops. "By analyzing the behavior of the endpoint vs. analyzing the signature of the attack, host-based solutions have been effective in identifying and preventing ‘Day Zero' threats," he says. "By eliminating the compromise of endpoint systems, one can eliminate a large majority of network traffic generated by infected hosts."
Gartner's Nicolett also concurs. "Intrusion detection technology adoption has peaked and will be eclipsed by intrusion prevention technologies that are based on deep packet inspection. Intrusion prevention technologies are mature enough for initial production deployments in 2004," he says.
Bandwidth Pigs Can Fly
Herdman underscores the changing bandwidth needs of tomorrow's networks, which will incorporate advanced bandwidth-intensive technologies. "With recent advances in video telephony, real-time point-to-point video sessions will have a significant impact [on] corporate bandwidth utilization," he says.
Herdman also notes the continued development of VoIP: "Although [VoIP is] not a new technology, there is increased user acceptance and a general migration by industry toward integrated voice, video, and data communication, and collaboration suites." Of course, such bandwidth-intensive technologies will spur the implementation of high-speed network infrastructures to carry the data. Likely candidates include Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
IT and data-center managers must also consider the emerging storage needs of their networks. Although NAS and SAN devices converge ease and performance, additional data and multimedia assets from VoIP collaboration (and other large files) will hog their share of bandwidth. Storage performance must keep pace, but Herdman says the data must be stored according to important government regulations such as GLBA, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley: "In order to perform mandatory audits, industry must expand [its] data storage, analysis, and recovery solutions. Requirements to process and store email messages/content, business-critical server, and firewall logs for periods up to 10 years will result in an increase in the cost for a wide range of technology services."
Tripping The Mesh
Utilization and reliability will be important issues for future networks. It's a simple matter to add a server or install more workstations, but those assets are often underused over time. The recent industry move toward mesh computing (also dubbed utility computing or grid computing) will accelerate in the coming years as suitable applications emerge.
IBM spokesperson Matthew McMahon explains, "Utility [or mesh] computing is simply a delivery model for IT, allowing customers to access the applications or resources they need, when they need it—moving IT to a variable cost, rather than a fixed cost. It is a small part of the larger transformation we see going on in the industry." Mesh computing lets an application share the unused resources of idle PCs on the network, dramatically increasing processing efficiency. This also helps the network remain resilient and available in the face of outages and failures
Atlantica Online
Atlantica Online is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) developed and published by Ndoors. It features a persistent online world of action. It also features a unique turn-based battle system that makes this MMO different than the others.
We’ve been covering Atlantica Online here at GameSHOUT since the first closed beta and now that it’s finished its journey to final release it’s time for our review of the game. Be sure to check out our preview, where I’ve already covered most of the mechanics of the game, and part one and two of our interview with the Atlantica Developers too!
Atlantica Online is a free to play turn-based-strategy online game. It’s online-only, which means you need to sign up and log in to play, but it’s completely free to make an account, to download, and to play, so there’s no need for a trial or demo. The game makes its money from an item mall, where you can buy bonus things to help you on your way.
The item mall has a lot of items that are useful but not necessary, such as scrolls you can use in combat to revive fallen soldiers or decimate groups of opponents. There’s also a treasure box with random goodies inside. But the real draw of the item mall is the licenses. You see, many features in the game, such as seeing the enemy health bars, being able to use the auto-battle mode, or teleporting to previously visited locations are governed by licenses.
The teleport license in particular is hard to live without, though the game is still perfectly playable for the patient. So there’s a pretty good draw to the item mall for that, at least. There are plenty of choices: you can buy just the teleport license in 30, 60, or 90 day versions, or you can buy it as part of a license package. The premium license package that includes all five licenses will cost you about $15, about on par with the monthly fees for most subscription-based MMOs.
The item mall also fixed one of the major problems in online games: buying money online. You see, the individual teleport license can be traded in-game. So if you want to convert real money into in-game cash, just buy some extra licenses and sell them in-game. Conversely, this means that you can get all the benefits of the item mall without spending real money on it, provided you can farm up enough in-game cash for the licenses you want.
The biggest down-side to the item mall is that you don’t directly buy stuff with money. Instead, you buy ‘Gcoins’ and buy the various item mall items with those coins. Of course, coins can only be bought in bundles of 1000 per $10. So if you want to buy the 30-day license package for 1499 Gcoins, you have to spend $20 for 2000 Gcoins. Make of that what you will.
In our interviews with the Atlantica Developers, we talked about a lot of the features of the game and got their opinions on them. One issue that remains strongly in my mind, however, is the division between the game’s three core elements: single player, cooperative multiplayer, and competitive multiplayer. Ultimately, these three don’t interact well in Atlantica Online.
The game has a single-player campaign that is essentially a single giant string of quests. Its fun, the quest line gives a coherent storyline to the entire game, and it keeps the players focused on their next goal without ever wondering where to go next. But it ends up feeling VERY single-player. You can, of course, team up with another player, but only for certain parts; many boss fights are in instanced zones that only you alone can enter.
The cooperative gameplay crops up in certain side quests involving ‘shadow’ dungeons where you face larger groups of tougher monsters. Usually, these side quests are for gaining access to new mercenaries, so there are frequently players looking for groups for these quests. But there are no end-game grouping activities, akin to raiding in other MMOs, to keep the co-op fun. The main co-op happens in the guild and town systems. Players form guilds together, and guilds can take over towns, and players work together to improve their guild and town.
The competitive multiplayer aspect can tie into the guild and town system, as guilds can bind together into nations and nations can declare war against each other. But the real PvP is in the Free League and Weekly Championships, where players duke it out one on one in a series of battles. The biggest issue with the Free League is that players of different levels end up being matched against one another, so you often see level 80s steamroll level 30 players. This is probably primarily an aspect of the lack of players participating in the Free Leagues so far, but strict tiers that would prevent players fighting outside of their level bracket would be a welcome addition, especially because you add a merc to your army every 10 levels. Even a fight between a 39 and a 40 is brutal, because the 40 has an extra merc and a whole new tier of gear to equip.
Atlantica Online is fun, flexible, and the item mall system means you can spend as much or as little of your real money to advance. Thankfully, nothing in the item mall drastically unbalances the game or is necessary for enjoying the game, though the teleport license is hard to live without if you like zipping around like I do. There are plenty of mercs to chose from, so you can spend a lot of time customizing your army, and the strategic fighting in the game remains fun after so many months. The market is vibrant and there are great opportunities for crafting in the game as well, an aspect a lot of players enjoy.
Sadly, after grinding up from level 1 to level 65, I find myself getting bored with the game. Your main hero never evolves or gains new skills or abilities. You start the game as one of the basic merc types and you can never become something special or different. Along the way you can recruit more interesting mercs, but your main hero is still the same as ever. The quests are also pretty invariable, limited primarily to killing or looting a lot of something, with lots of fed-ex filler. Combat itself is still fun, but there’s nothing new to work towards, no motivation to keep on grinding through the levels.
So what does it boil down to? Is it fun: yes. Worth the free download? Most definitely. Will you play it for a few months? Probably. Item mall worth it? Yup. Will you still be playing it a year or two from now? I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to start it up and find out for yourself!
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
http://www.gameshout.com/img/news/WoW_WrathoftheLichKing.jpg
Wrath of the Lich King brings a lot of neat content to World of Warcraft. Ten more levels, of course, and assorted spells, skills, and talents to go along with them, are staple additions. The big exciting thing is the new hero class: the Death Knight.
Developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, Wrath of the Lich King is the latest expansion to the World of Warcraft series which enjoys more than 11 million subscribers. This addition to the world renowned MMORPG takes the game to another level, or actually 10 more levels. It's rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB for blood, violence, suggestive themes and use of alcohol.
Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion for World of Warcraft, adds the aptly named northern continent of Northrend to the game, along with the first hero class: the Death Knight. Players can now advance to level 80, acquiring some exciting new skills, spells, and talents, as they continue their epic adventures.
If you still haven’t played World of Warcraft, then dig yourself out of whatever hole you’ve been hiding in and go download the free trial. Seriously. There’s a good reason this game has over 11 million subscribers worldwide: it really is fantastic. Enough said.
So for the part of the world that matters, Wrath of the Lich King brings a lot of neat content to World of Warcraft. Ten more levels, of course, and assorted spells, skills, and talents to go along with them, are staple additions. The big exciting thing is the new hero class: the Death Knight. The Death Knight is part paladin, part warrior, and part warlock, filling the roles of damage-dealer or tank in groups. It’s a hero class, because you have to have a level 55 or higher character on the server before you can create a Death Knight, and the Death Knight starts at level 55. No more newbie grind! Once you finish the tutorial quests, you’re at level 58 and ready to jump straight into Outland.
Well, you still have to grind through Outland as a Death Knight before you qualify for Lich King’s new continent: Northrend. Unlike the rather linear Outland, with its early choke-points in Hellfire Peninsula that made the whole first week of the expansion feel like trying to push out a… well, you know where this analogy’s going. Anyhow, Northrend has a twin-zone structure that eased the masses into the game without clogging things up nearly as badly. Sure, the first week out of the gates players were lined up to kill certain quest monsters, but at least the servers weren’t continually crashing from everyone trying to load up in one town.
Returning players may, at first, be disappointed to find out that their Outland flying mounts are unavailable when they arrive in Northrend. Yes, players are again land-bound, at least for the first little while. At level 77, you can train Cold Weather Flying, allowing you to once again dart from place to place through the sky. However much of a nuisance it is to ride around, everyone I’ve spoken with agrees that this was a great design choice, because it forces players to get around and not only explore and experience all the new content, but also brought back a certain sense of survival and advancement as you gained access to previously blocked areas.
Another great new feature that fits with the sense of advancement is the new phasing technology in Wrath of the Lich King. Now, by completing certain quests, the landscape around you will actually change. You’ll ‘phase’ to a different ‘version’ of that zone. For example, at the Wrathgate, you complete a series of quests culminating in a rather epic cut-scene. When it’s over… well I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but everything is different, the quest hub has changed, and there are new NPCs to talk to.
Along the same lines, a new reputation grind quest hub called Nifflevar, where the Sons of Hodir reside, changes as you complete quests. You liberate the area, defeat a boss that actually stays dead now, and begin adding components to rebuild the Nifflevar ice fortress. It’s all very cool, and gets a huge thumbs up, except when it causes problems. There are certain instances when you might want to group up with friends but happen to be in different versions of phase space and you can’t see each other. Well, just tell your friends to stop slacking and finish the quests!
Wrath of the Lich King also brings along another step in the ‘pro-casual’ shift that was heralded along with Burning Crusade. If you’ll recall, BC cut raid sizes down from 40 to 25 in an effort to make raid content more accessible. WotLK further improves accessibility to raids by mirroring every 25-man raid with a 10-man version. This means that there won’t be any content “exclusive” to high-end raiding guilds; except, of course, the loot, since the drops are different in the two versions.
Though I was a bit hesitant at first with this announcement, I actually like this change. For the end-game guilds who are doing the 25-mans, 10-mans provide a very viable ‘proving ground’ for applicants. Even most of the fight mechanics remain the same in the 10-man versions, with the notable exceptions of Instructor Razuvious and Grand Widow Faerlina in Naxxramas, whose 25-man battles require priests using mind control. The 10-mans also meant a great opportunity to gear up more quickly as experienced BC raiding guilds transitioned into 25-man content: thanks to very smooth loot itemization in heroics and 10-mans, many guilds were able to cut right into 25-man raids without having to grind partial instances for loot for several weeks.
On the other hand, this has resulted in a major cut in the overall challenge of the game. Whereas previous expansions meant working for weeks to finally get through raid zones, now most experienced guilds have already cleared all available raid content, many on their first or second week of trying. While raiding may only appeal to a small portion of the server population and these changes may be trying to get more people into raids, it’s also left the “hard core” raiders with a bitter taste in their mouth as things have become far too easy.
PvP has also seen some significant improvements. A new world PvP zone, Wintergrasp, now exists in Northrend, featuring a complex fortress players of the Alliance and Horde must do battle to control. Vehicles have also been added to both Wintergrasp and the new battleground, Strand of the Ancients, to enhance the PvP experience.
Other changes and improvements are all over the place, including a lot of small but very interesting additions. For example, you can now buy “Bind to Account” items that you can trade to your alts but not to other players. These include a whole bunch of gear that can be bought with heroic badges (items received from level 80 dungeons). This gear scales with level, so its usable by any alt of any level, and some of the gear has special bonuses such as +10 5.774022e-267xperience earned. This is a wonderful reward for players who are working on the end-game experience but want a chance to go back and play around with a lower level alt with some added bonuses.
There are also plenty of fun items, like a leash for your fun pets. On that note, the whole mount and pet systems have been altered so you no longer have to carry items around: instead, you “learn” the pet or mount and “cast” it from a special pet interface. Likewise, all the various currency items, such as badges and tokens, are now part of a ‘currency’ panel and no longer consume inventory space. There’s even an in-game calendar now that lets you plan events and invite various people, or place announcements that everyone can read.
It’s clear, with Wrath of the Lich King, that Blizzard continues to listen to its fans and produce an extremely high quality product. The expansion is filled with countless features and improvements, from major revamps (like eliminating “spell healing” and combining healer and caster gear into the single “spell power” stat) to minor bonuses (like tabards that let you pick which rep you want to earn while doing dungeons) to little irksome annoying things (like a train set that you can put on the ground which forces everyone nearby to do the /train emote). It’s an absolute must-buy and somehow improves the best MMORPG ever to an even better MMORPG.
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