Hello there!

After leaving WoW for the AoC launch, i feeled tired of fighting agains't a beta game. I realised that AoC was a nice game, with nice promised feature, but Funcum failed to deliver stuff on the release date. If it was only the lack of content or leveling content, we could live with that. With the countless bug, it's something else. I was in the beta of many game, and I always made a duty of myself to report 1 bug per day, even when I had to work hard to find one. With AoC, with normal guild leader gameplay, I could probably report 10 bugs a day for 1 month and still have alot of them unreported.

Well, this lead me to Eve Online... back again. I was there on release, and there on and off during those 5 years. The game is now 5 years old and improved quite well. No major change, but the wheel is spinning by itself. Even after a 1 year break, you don't feel lost, but realise there are new thing in the game.

Some game are like red wine, and get better with time :)

Well, we did it. My guild now have a keep:

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I'm playing on the Ruin BG group. Since about 3 weeks, we saw horde AV premade appearing. Since 1 week, 3/4 of the game playedi n AV are agains't 40 people of the same server.

The same people, over and over, 7/24, for a few days. Are powerlevelling service now involved in PVP gearing? Should a group of people always queuing together in AV be considering exploting game mechanism sicne it's not intented by Blizzard(but easy to do)?

Is the Ruin Battlegroupe the only group with that problem?

Spent some time on my computer case during the Holidays.

I changed the cpu fan from the stock one, to a Noctua NH-U12F. Basicaly, it reduce about 25 celcius from my computer when I run with 100% load on cpu/gpu. I tryed with stock / overclocked cpu and got similar result (there is no temperature difference between the 2 mode). Sidenote: while very easy to install, the heatsink is really, really huge.

I also changed the 120mm fan at the back of the case for another Noctua NF-S12-1200. Excluding the graphic card and the power supply, every fan in my computer are now Noctua.

You can see the picture of the new stuff here:

I also improved the wiring from:

to:

I also changed 2 yellow cathodes for red one:

Here is the final result with lightning turned on, in the dark:

Merry Cursemas and happy new year!

May you be guild or clan leader, addons developper, dedicated techies maintaining the website or the voicechat server... All of you deserve some applaud. Wether you do your job well or not, you dedicate some time for others.

To all the 'normal' players out there: be happy if you have good people around you.

Many people don't realise all the effort put out of the game to make the thing run smooth.

People involved in guild management / support sacrifice their gaming time to prepare, organise, decide, discuss, vote, recruit, fix, repair, install. While many group have a 1 man show (Guild leader is also the webmaster, raid leader and such), alot of group now tend to have a officer board or even give duty to non-leading member.

Anyway, spent too much time here, going to play a bit :-P

Hi, the rest of the message will be in french since it's te target audience :)

L'escadron du Lys (PVE) et les Forces Spéciales (clan avec option de ladder pvp) recrutent. Le premier utilise ventrilo 2.1(je sais, c'est passé date et douteux).

Je suis en charge des Forces Spéciales, nous utilisons teamspeak et rerutons des gens matures.

Contactez-moi par msn(flisher@hotmail.com) ou messagerie curse.com, je pourrais vous référer à un ou l'autres des 2 clans.

J'ajouterez un lien web pour les informations relatives aux Forces Spéciales, ainsi qu'un guide de skill pour débutant plus tard dans la journée.

Well, now the serious thing.

Picture, picture and pictures...

The back of the case:

The side of the case in the daylight:

The side of the case in the dark:

Close-up of the window:

The feet of the case:

The panel itself:

Hi,

The bad news: it's not completed yet! Part are drying and I should put them together next week.

The good news: here are some picture.

You can see some metal pieces I painted in Yellow:

Here is the front of the case, without the plastic cover...

Here is 2 pictures of the interior of the case, with and without plastic component.

Next week will be the final assembly stage. Putting together all the pieces, addins the electronic part, the fan and lightning.

Enjoy!

Hi,

While I don't want to make pub or something, I'm improved my gaming gear today. While my Curse.com gaming rig is almost completed, I needed to 'refresh' my other gear.

While I don't plan modding my mouse & keyboard, i'll list what I use.

Mouse: Logitech MX510 (the blue in the MX51x Series) While many people don't consider this as a Gaming mouse, it's definetly a good mouse. Not the cheapest, not classified as gaming, but it delivered good performance for the last few year.

Keyboard: I just received my Logitech G11. This keyboard don't really need presentation. The full-pledge gaming keyboard from Logitech, lacking the LCD pannel... but more affordable.

I also have a Nostromo 52 Game Pad but never felt comfortable with it.

While some people buy one or two thousand dollar on a PC, some often sacrifice money on cheap mouse/keyboard... I'm not one of that kind. I think we need to feel comfortable with our input device. That mean responsive mouse, and good comfortable keyboard.

What kind of device do you use?

The good news: The look is incredible!. While I didn't saw the final look since the exterior paint is still drying, my friend should complete the finition 'clear' coating this week.

The bad news: you gotta wait 1 week or soo to see the finished job.

FEEDBACK WANTED

Keeping in mind the exterior is black and the interior is orange(curse orange), should I use red or yellow SATA Cable inside the box?

For those who didn't saw the pictire of the pre-painted box:

Panel in the daylight:

Panel in the darkness:

The painted one really, really look better :)

After a few month of closed Beta testing and playing with Tabula Rasa, I feel the blues...

While I saw alot and alot of improvement in the game during the last few month, I'm also less active ingame. Why? Well, release date is coming closer and I start to feel that everything I'll accomplish ingame will have to be redone when the game will get out. Teh good news, alof of key where handled in the las fews weeks and alot of new players step in for the final phase of test.

I won't get into the details of the game as it's not the purpose of this post. I'll say I like it, (while other don't).

However, while many player think the game was too easy, leveling rate too fast... I beleive that some of the XP mechanism where planed on purpose to have people at higher level to test that content. Some player prefer complaining instead of trying to see the "reason" behind. My experience in QA / Support team is probably here for something in my reasoning...

Some minor change passing the xp bonus from X6 to 250% where probably planned age ago...

Anyway, let's relax a bit before the game is out... October 5... nah 19... November 2th...

Hi,

Yesterday I received mail from SOE. Real mail, not email.

They want me back in EQ2 and offer 1 free month. While this strategy is original, the cost must be very high.

Well, I have to say it's a good thing, because girlfriend or people living with your will ask you alot of quest like what is this game, etc...

And don't forget, recycle paper when you don't use them...

Been slacky in the last few days... but...

I got my paint. Black, Orange and Yellow that doesn't require primer. I also got a clear finish can ready.

I starded to polish/sans with grade 400 dry/wet sandpaper. I should finish in the next few days.

Only then I'll be able to paint the "beast".

More picture to come.

About 1 year ago, a few month before the expansion release, many compagny started to use the "W" word in written, tv or radio pub.

WoW your life, Add some WoW to your life, a WoW pricedrop, WoW, look at those price, etc.

Even big compagny like Microsoft did it when Vista released.

This week, I saw a Bell Canada pub where the beaver (their character used in all pub) have a todo list... and it was written: Reach level 70 and beat the new players.

Do you like the 'creative use' of WoW word or WoW related thing in pub? Does it make you go bersek?

Personally I beleive it's become abusive to use the WoW word everywhere. Maybe it's the easy way to write a slogan when you lack inspiration.

Have a 'WoW' day...

Hi,

Here are the first picture of the actual look. At this stage, the painting job is still to be done, but you can get a preview of what it'll look like.

Panel in the daylight:

Panel in the darkness:

Good news... but no pic yet :)

Today I passed a good milestone in my project. I cutted the windows in the left-panel.

We used a Jigsaw to make the raw cut, then a Dremel and small metal file for the small details.

The process when smoothly, but we scratched the paint when turning the panel on the work surface.

This mean I'll have to paint the panel in order to have something "perfect".

I'll post some pic during the weekend when I have the time to do soo.

Finaly... some interesting picture.

Basicaly, I drawed then cut a piece of cardboard (40 cent value) with the wanabe logo. While I'm quite satisfied with the look, I might have to modify the right side of the flame to remove the "U" form. I would save alot of work and reduce the risk or scraping the panel by accident when I'll do the cut.

Here is a picture of "why it's not a good candidate for painting":

The "small hole" vent shape isn't a good candidate for painting. There is also some foam inside each part of the panel, and removing the foam is probably not a good idea since I won't be able to reinstall it.

I have yet to decide what i'll do with the front part, I got a few special option not requiring paint, that would add some punch to the look without lowering the vent input.

Very short part... very small detail :)

While browsing for interesting component, I found the "Logisys Red LED Lighted Computer Case Feet". They are replacemetn feet who can fit on most PC case.

I had to grind a little bit each of the hole of my case in order to fit them.

Basicaly, It's a transparent plastic feet uin wich you can place a led (from the interior of the Chassis.

PRO: original, can be customised if you get different led color, about no power drawn and no heat generated. Silent.

CON: more wiring inside the Chassis, got to keep that in mind lather if you want a clean interior :).

Part 2: Choosing the right case

I'll admit my experience in case moding is quite limited. However, here are some observation of my first attempt.

First of all, keep in mind I didn't choose my current casem it was an exchange.

The chassis I currently have is a Thermaltake Matrix. It's a nice low-budget, screwless, mid-tower chassis. While it a very nice low-budget chassis, I would like to specify that it's not a perfect candidate for case moding.

Homepage: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/midtower/matrix/vd2000.asp

Here is a picture of the side panel. I added note about thing you have to think about when choosing a Chassis or a panel (some chassis offer optional panel type). When you plan to add a windows, the location of those thing, or the size (80mm or 120mm vent hole) can be in conflict with your design.

When you plan to cut your panel, I strongly suggest to simulate the final design. Also, keep the paperboard box that came with your chassis... you will be able to reuse it. You just cut the paperboard the size of the panel, cur the windows as you want and cut the vent hole position on the paperboard.... then tape the paperboard on the box without the side panel...

You can now evaluate if the windows is at the right place and what you would see behind it. Don't hesitate to try a few setup... paperboard is less expensive that a chassis or a panel! (and much easier to cut...)

Also keep in mind that the side of the panel are the most important part to NOT cut... it help keeping the panel rigid. It's also important to leave a like 2 inche on the side to avoid breaking the mechanism keeping the panel in the chassis. Of course, different chassis will have different limitation.

[EDIT: This sentence was originaly incomplete]

While you can find very nice pricing at online, the old street store offer the chance to have a closer look to the chassis before buying it :)

I can't show you more for the momment, I'm still preparing the paperboard with the perfect curse logo :) And hum... yes... I trashed my original paperboard soo I had to buy some do-it-yourself paperboard. (sorry if this sound weird, I'm not sure about the right way to say it in english, it's not my first language)

I got a new PC case in exchange of some computer hardware.

While the case is a low budget one, it offer interesting screwless design.

Then I decided to do some modification on the case. Theme will be the curse.com logo/color theme.

Here is the current budget (roughtly calculated):

Case: 50$ (got free in exchange of old hardware)

Not perfect for modding but will be nice for a first attempt.

Modification:

Esthetic: 100$ (Paint, LED, Cathode, EL-Wire, Lexane(for the windows), plastic tube (to hide some cabling)

Usefull: 30$ (Fan, fan grill, thumb-screw...)

Tools: 60$ (add 60$ for a low-budget dremel)

I already had a dremel, but had to buy some stuff in order to work safely

Protection Glasses (Hey, it's a PC mod, not human mod...)

Metal cutting wheel for the dremel. (The one that came with my dremel where too cheap)

Filing kit for metal with various size.

Waterproof Sandpaper 400 grade.

Clamp

Let's finish the part 1 with the following advice:

Choose your case with the following thing in mind when purchasing for moding:

- Accident can happen when cuting... can you purchase a panel if something go wrong?

- Some model of vent hole can be harder to paint (bunch of very small hole)

- Are the top / front panel soldered, cliped or screwed to the case? (this can be important according to your plan)

- Can the screw-less kit be dismounted from the case (a must if you plan painting the interior of the case

Choose your modding accessories with the following thing in mind:

- How much heat do they generate

- How much sound it can create (some cathode/EL wiring power-kit can make anoying high-pitch sound)

- can it be turned on/off easily

Choose your tools with the following thing in mind:

- SAFETY, you don't want to harm yourself by using wrong tools

- SAFETY, you don't want to harm yourself by using worn tools.

- SAFETY, you need to wear the proper protection gear

- If you don't plan to reuse the tools often, you might not need the 300$ dremel kit and opt for a 60-80$ one.

The next part will describe the component purchased... the good and the bad. I'll also describe the preparation of the case prior to the first major milestone... the windows cut. I'll bring some picture as well.

While many studies try to evalutate the impact of MMO on real life, the reverse effect mostly remain unwatched.

While many producer offer ingame content related to seasons or holidays, there is also other side-effect of real-life cycles.

About the special event related to real-life, producers have to be careful with their pick. Religion / curtural clash can occurs. Easter can't be called easter since a group of people wouldn't like it, same for christmas other religious holidays.

Taking that asside, the real life cycle impact on MMO. I can see 3 big annual thing.

September -> stutent return in class. Some students will start to play like hell, while some student will almost stop playing do concentrate on their study.

Mai/June -> reverse effect, some student start to play like hell, other stop playing to due having more real life activity like full time job, party...

Summertime: While less intense activity occur (many big guild will drop or slow down activity), number of player remain similar... but play on more varied playtime. More people during the day, cause evening hardcore player to beleive less people play the game..

Thus said, don't neglect your real life... it'll last longer than any game :).

Enjoy!

Depending on the server reach (population worldwide), the primetime will vary.
For typical WoW server reaching 1 continent, the primetime will start from 7pm untill 12pm. Peak should be around 9pm.
If your in game involving european and american player on the same instance, primetime will be much longer due to the timezone... and there will be 2 peak during the day.

But what about the rest of the time?
What are the advantage / disadvantage?
(note: the word theory here mean stuff we often ear from people)

Theory #1: Less players soo less grouping opportunity...
While somewhat true, it's also mean less competitions to form group. Howver by experience, it's usually way longter to form group.

Theory #2:
More ressources? Well, not in all game. Some game balance the number of ressources compared to the number of online player on the server, in the specific zone or by the number of gathered node.

Theory #3:
More mob? Same than theory 2 might happen, but well, less chance to have griefer!


I'm sure we can think about many aspect and theory, some can be biased on feeling, and most of stuff related to spawnrate can be hard to evaluate.

Besside that, playing off-hour was great for me, allowing me to do stuff at my own pace like gathering and crafting.
It's also cool to grind mob when spawnrate is decent.

Anyone else can share is feeling about difference of gameplay during primetime/off-hours?

Redefined Category based on people feedback.
It's also less prejorative.
Sidenote: Played a feral druid... didn't got one shotted often :-P. However, I played with people grifing 8h a day and it's not fun to hear them brag.

Skill:
Noob:Someone with little experience / knowled of the game. Important note: Some people can have dozens of hour of played time and still be noob because they don't evolve their gameplay
Normal: Someone that went out of the noob skill, but not on the advanced stage. Most played should be in that zone.
Advanced: People who learned the little thing giving them the edge required to be above the crowd.

Time spend / the way time is spend
Casual: Someone playing irreguarly or by short period of time
Casual #2: Player spending alot of time ingame, having alot of IRL activity / disturbance preventing him from being hardcore
Hardcore: Someone dedicating alot of time to the game

Satisfaction point: (Of course, you can be in more than 1 category there)
Griefer: Someone who enjoy wasting other people time (killing over and over, stealing node of ressource, exploting the game to make it unplayable for other)
MinMaxer: This guy enjoy trying or testing stuff to be the best in 1 thing.
Discovered: People pushing toward the new content on the front line, to be the first to conquer it.
Explorer: Someone who enjoy seeing new content
PhatLooter: Soemone who enjoy getting new gear, whatever it would imply
Teamplayer: Someone who like to follow/lead other to the success, and not only for the loost
theCoder: Soemone who play mainly do develop addons (thrust me, developping addons usually mean spending most of your online time evolving, patching and testing...)

And you, where do you stand? think about a missing category?

I'm not playing WoW anymore, thus not coding addons anymore... Well, unlike most kiddies when leaving a game, I have to admit that WoW is really a great game.

Content: some for casual / hardcore, some for solo, group or raid, pvp, pve. Nothing is perfect, but the game balance change and evolve. There will always be whiner for everything, but let's face it, Blizzard did a somewhat good job to reach the most player style. (Number of subscriber is there...).

The franchise: Like most Blizzard franchise, WoW needed to be up to the players expectation, and they also did well on that part.

Gameplay: nothing news, but you can't reinvent the mmorpg style.

Addons: Well, while they never provided official support, the community itself went strong and brought interesting stuff to the game. What most people doesn't realise is many many interface feature come from proof of concept or small addons coded by a very few number of people. Some author had 7-10 of their addons functionality included in the game.

Why I'm not playing anymore? Well, I saw pretty much all what I wanted to see in the game. Not hardcore enought to sustain an heavy raiding schedule, I saw almost all the pre-expansion content except the last raid, and saw pretty much all non-raid content in the expansion.

I played on PVP server as horde and alliance, played on pve server as an alliance, raided, did pvp battleground, arena.

Would I recommand WoW to other player: of course! Will I return to WoW in the future, almost certainly. Will I wait in line under freezing cold to get an expansion collector box in a few year when then next one come, hell yes!

-- My next blog entries will talk about other gaming experience, I'll speak of the future after that.