Updates will be coming soon to the main blog at http://www.blogofacrazynormalguy.com/
Check there for E3 2009 comments and more.
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Migration Complete
December 31, 2008 — CarlosjueroThe migration of the blog to www.blogofacrazynormalguy.com is complete! Head on over there to keep up to date with my blog if you wish.
I will probably not update this wordpress.com site but will probably add excerpts for those who might have this site in a feed reader.
Again, the migration is complete, update your bookmarks to http://www.blogofacrazynormalguy.com – the layout is a tad different (couldn’t get this theme from WordPress.org for some reason) but it has more features and I will be able to do more in the future.
Migration coming soon
December 22, 2008 — CarlosjueroI am going to be migrating this blog to its own domain soon, mainly so that I have a few more options for customization and the additional ability to have more space and stuff. The URL is going to be www.blogofacrazynormalguy.com – right now it redirects to this WordPress blog, but in the next few weeks I will be migrating it to its own server.
I am still using the WordPress software (because its good), but with the ability to put in more add-ons and have some nifty custom options I will be able to do more with the blog. I wish that I could say that a massive volume of readership caused this, but really its just my idea to try something new. If it doesn’t work out then I will be reverse migrating back to here and sticking with WordPress for the rest of the Blog’s life.
Feeling Social? LotRO extends Community Services to My.Lotro.Com
December 20, 2008 — Carlosjuero
Turbine has unveiled its Live Beta for a new Social feature of the Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Community – My.Lotro.Com.
Basically a site where MySpace meets LotRO (once I stopped shuddering and checked it out I was relieved to find it wasn’t as bad as the first name mentioned); This site not only acts as a social platform for players, but it is iteration #2 of Turbines move towards web services for the game – the first iteration was the character signatures on the forum (where game data is pulled to form the signature), this one pulls full character data (a la WoW’s Armory – but different still the same) from the game servers and also offers blogging (based on WordPress – with various ‘identities’ tied to a persons characters).
This site is, in my opinion, the first step towards one of Turbines Launch promises – to have interactive data (XML Web Services) available for players to ’show off’ their characters. Next I think we might see API’s to export XML data for characters to third party sites / custom Signature sites / etc.
Keep in mind that the site is still in Beta – there are still some quirks here and there, but overall the site is a good step towards something good.
Technorati Tags: mmo,the lord of the rings online,mines of moria,turbine,social site,my.lotro.com,lotro characters
Update Alert: City of Heroes Issue 13 goes Live
December 5, 2008 — CarlosjueroWednesday, December 3rd – NCSoft announced the launch of the much awaited (at least by some of us!) update to City of Heroes: Issue 13 – Power and Responsibility.
This new update to the game will add some innovative new features such as Day Jobs – not to mention that Issue 13 will be the first issue that a Mac Client has been out and in the wild (well, at least in Open Beta starting ’soon’). Things are only getting better in Paragon City – and Issue 13 is just another step to ultimate victory 
.
Excerpt from announcement:
SEATTLE, Dec. 3, 2008—NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) today announced the next free update to its highly successful comic-book inspired MMO, City of Heroes®. The release of Issue 13: Power and Responsibility introduces several innovative features to the MMO genre. Macintosh players won’t be left out as open beta testing for the new Mac version of City of Heroes is just around the corner.
Issue 13: Power and Responsibility unveils some pioneering features to the MMO genre. Multiple builds is a character customization option and delivers the ability to have two different build-outs for each character. This offers enormous flexibility for players who can now switch back and forth between their two character builds, depending upon the task ahead of them, by visiting contacts in game.
Read full announcement here.
I know I can’t wait to download the new update… eventually at least
Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria – Patch 1 Coming Soon
November 28, 2008 — Carlosjuero
The first patch for Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria is due out on Monday, December 1st; This patch is slated to fix a few performance issues that popped up with Moria, un bug some quests, and fix a slew of other items. Legendary Items will also be getting an update, adding more options for attributes and special abilities (like glowing near certain mob types).
Servers and services are slated to go down at 4:00AM Eastern Time, and stay down until 12:00PM Eastern Time (Turbine account services could be up and down intermittently during this time, as said in the announcement here)
Here are the patch notes:
Mines of Moria Patch 1 Patch Notes
The following release notes cover what is included in Mines of Moria Patch 1.
Release Notes
Gameplay
- Fixed a bug that was preventing some devastating hit damage multiplier modifiers on items and Relics from working correctly.
- Poison, Disease, Fear, and Wound debuffs applied through Hotspots and Auras are no longer Curable. These type of debuffs can be avoided by staying outside of the area of the Aura or Hotspot, or by killing the source of the Aura.
- You know what’s annoying? Countdown effects that stun, root, or slow me after combat is already over. We’ve changed all of these that we could find to only apply their effects if you are in combat.
Skills/Classes
General
- Wardens and Rune-keepers will now have appropriate animations during Fellowship Maneuvers
Sadly, another potential blockbuster MMO closes its doors
November 22, 2008 — Carlosjuero
Futuristic MMO’s haven’t had much luck with NCSoft, first the potential hit Auto Assault was launched and then was shut down about a year later; Now? Well, the game Tabula Rasa – which had potential to be the defining MMO in the Sci-Fi genre is slated to close its doors for good in February of 2009.
I caught wind of the news yesterday, and the post on the website makes it all unfortunately true:
To the Tabula Rasa Community,
Last November we launched what we hoped would be a ground breaking sci-fi MMO. In many ways, we think we’ve achieved that goal. Tabula Rasa has some unique features that make it fun and very different from every other MMO out there. Unfortunately, the fact is that the game hasn’t performed as expected. The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for.
So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009.
Before we end the service, we’ll make Tabula Rasa servers free to play starting on January 10, 2009.
We can assure you that through the next couple of months we’ll be doing some really fun things in Tabula Rasa, and we plan to make staying on a little longer worth your while. For more details about what we are doing for Tabula Rasa players, please click here.
Stay tuned for more information. We thank you for your loyal support of the game and encourage you to take us up on the benefits we’re offering Tabula Rasa players.
The Tabula Rasa Team
Source: Tabula Rasa Website (www.rgtr.com)
This closure comes not long after NCSoft CEO Richard Garriott (infamous creator of the Ultima series and known, to some, as Lord British) decided to leave his position at NCSoft and pursue other goals in life. Putting all of this information together makes it appear, whether NCSoft meant to or not, that Richard Garriott was the only one keeping Tabula Rasa afloat.
Oh well, maybe someone will create a Sci-Fi MMO that lasts… or maybe its a genre cursed to fail; until then we are stuck with the same old same old.
Classic Sacred Fans – it just got better; Unreal goes to GoG
November 19, 2008 — CarlosjueroGetting the original Sacred has often proven an exercise in frustration, either you had to buy it used – or you had to download it from a service with tethered copy protection (Steam, Direct2Drive). Well, it just got better folks – GoG.com (I have written about it previously) now has Sacred Gold for download at the great price of only $9.99.
Get Sacred Gold for $9.99 @ GoG.com!
No copy protection, Vista & XP compatible, and fun.
What more could you ask for right?
I have to say that lately I am getting more and more impressed with the game lineup at GoG.com which, just this week, added the famous Unreal game series creator Epic Games to their collaborator list! Yep, right now you can get Unreal Gold & Unreal Tournament for 9.99 a pop!
Gaming just gets better with GoG.com.
(Note: I am not a paid representative of GoG.com or its affiliates, I just find the service to be a good thing for the world of gamers)
Technorati Tags: gog.com,epic games,unreal,unreal tournament,unreal gold,sacred,sacred gold,classic pc games,xp,vista,no drm,game download
City of Heroes Coming to Macintosh!
October 30, 2008 — CarlosjueroThats right! NCSoft has partnered with TransGaming Inc to bring the City of Heroes experience to the poor benighted souls using the Macintosh Hardware/OS.
Excerpt from the Press Release
SEATTLE and TORONTO, Ontario, October 30, 2008—NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, today announced a partnership with TransGaming, Inc. (TSX-V: TNG) to bring their award-winning City of Heroes® franchise to the Apple® Macintosh®. The game has been enabled for the Mac by TransGaming, a leading developer of portability technologies for the electronic entertainment industry. City of Heroes for Mac will be available for public beta testing with the release of the game’s thirteenth expansion, Issue 13: Power and Responsibility later this fall. The official launch will occur pre-holiday this year with a special digital-only Mac edition of City of Heroes, available across all NCsoft West consumer territories.
The launch of the Macintosh client for City of Heroes will be done later this fall via a special digital only edition. This will bring Mac users into the full game circle without having to use such methods as Bootcamp or Dual Booting to play.
Mac Users can pre-order the game here (Gametree Online) and they can sign up for the Open Beta here.
Welcome Aboard Future Mac Users!
