Guildwars 2 Trailer premieres

The chaps over at NCSoft are quite the group of teasers.

As some of you may have gathered from my Aion write-up, I’m a huge fan of Guildwars. Not only of the gameplay, which is awesome, but it has an pretty decent soundtrack, the graphics and animation are quite pleasing to the eye – however, for me, this wasn’t what set it apart from the competition.

It was free. I got the box, which was pretty good looking; I also got all sorts of goodies inside, which, sadly, are missing from a lot of games nowadays – the purchase value hinges all on the gameplay rather than what’s in the box. Fair enough, I have four boxes (I bought each of the campaigns seperately), but that was the only money I had to spend on the game.

So, I’ve been playing Guildwars for about 2 years now. I’m far from the most experienced player out there, but that does come to a fair amount of game-time.

In any case, it wasn’t long after I started playing first that rumours of Guildwars 2 started making the rounds, and was confirmed by NCSoft. Back then, we were at least expecting a Beta to be available by September (2008), which, as you may know, never happened. And at this point, no one has been able to pin NCSoft down on a definite date of any kind.

Today however, NCSoft took some steps to provide the world with a new route to dehydration, by premiering the official Guildwars 2 Trailer. The video is a mixture of CG and gameplay footage, and if you get your joy from good visuals, it may just have been worth the wait.

In order to whet your appetite a bit, I’m including some screenshots of the video below, but I’d advice you to hop over to the Guildwars 2 site and have a look for yourself. You won’t regret it. While you’re there, sign up for the newsletter so you can stay up to date.

I don’t really have any definite information on what gameplay and character customisation options will be available, but if Aion was any indication – I don’t see NCSoft going without – so there will be a lot of unique looking folks running about … gleefully killing things.

We do know for certain that there will be five playable races (rather than only humans):

• The Charr
• Humans
• Asura
• Norn
• Silvari (new race)

For more info on the game itself, you might also want to visit the Guildwars 2 Wiki

NCSoft have repeatedly said that they’re holding back on release because they want to blow our socks off. Consider my socks blown. So, guys, give me my game now please.

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Facebook Lite to challenge Twitter

Facebook yesterday started testing a light-weight version of their social service in a move that could unseat rival microblogging service, Twitter.

Facebook recently acquired FriendFeed, following their failed attempt to purchase Twitter last year. FriendFeed is a service that allows users to see what their friends are doing online and share content; it has  also been described as a possible rival to Twitter in it’s ability to conduct real-time searches.

Facebook caused a buzz around the internet, when, late on Tuesday, the URL lite.facebook.com was briefly and accidentally opened to an expanded audience. Facebook caught on pretty quickly, and the URL was redirected to the standard Facebook login page.

The initial test was started in India, with initial impressions being that it’s a lot faster than Facebook. Some are referring to it as Twitter with friends, and also doesn’t have the 140 character limit that Twitter enforces.

In a reply to a question by AFP, Facebook stated that “We are currently testing a simplified alternative to Facebook.com that loads a specific set of features quickly and efficiently,” the Internet star said in reply to an AFP inquiry.

“Similar to the Facebook experience you get on your mobile phones, Facebook Lite is a fast-loading, simplified version of Facebook that enables people to make comments, accept Friend requests, write on people’s Walls, and look at photos and Status updates.”

It’s basically a stripped down version of Facebook, and the guys over at DeviceMag provide us with some early screenshots. For the full story, see this link

Social sites under attack

Social sites Facebook and Twitter yesterday stumbled as they became the targets of a massive DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack. In fact, Twitter did more than stumble; the social tool was actually offline for an extended period of time – no doubt causing large amounts of panic amongst Twitter addicts.

Apparently, Google itself was also targeted by these attacks, but the internet giant was able to fend it off.

At this point in time, Facebook seems to be running without problems, although Twitter is still experiencing intermittent failures throughout the day. Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone, had the following to say on the company blog: “The continuing denial of service attack is being mitigated, although there is still degraded service for some folks while we recover completely.”

According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, the attacks were thought to be targeted against one individual blogger who has been an outspoken critic of the conflict between Russia and Georgia. Other theories include a simple stunt pulled by a hacker to prove he could or an attack against Twitter due to software that blocks tweets with malicious links.

Facebook and Twitter have now both teamed up with Google in order to investigate the cyber-assault.

DDoS attacks are typically carried out by large botnets, networks of infected PC’s that send simultaneous requests to the targeted server, effectively overloading it so that it can’t respond to legitimate requests.

Aion

The guys at NCSoft, who brought online RPG gamers Guildwars back in 2005, has scheduled their European and American releases of Aion for September this year. Having participated in two of the recent closed Beta sessions, I decided to do a quick write-up based on the few hours of gameplay experience I had.

Aion uses a modified version of the CryEngine, used originally for Far Cry, and for any of you who have seen Far Cry, I probably don’t have to spend a lot of time going on about the graphical excellence found in Aion. So I’m not going to – I’ll be dropping in a few screenshots later.

When creating your first character Aion gives you a range of character customisation options. First off, there are two playable races – the Elyos and the Asmodeans, and four initial classes. There were rumours of a possible third race, but I haven’t been able to confirm this. I spent a happy half hour playing around with my characters appearance, customising hair style and colour, the face, skin tone and various other bits and pieces. The customisation isn’t quite as extensive as that found in, for example, Oblivion, but anybody should be able to come pretty close to their ideal.

With that being done, I found myself injected into the game. Aion features a world server, which for me, a regular Guildwars player, takes a little adapting to, since I’m used to instance-based play. There are several plusses and minuses to this approach, the major plus being that the area you’re in always has a few players around – and if you’re lucky, some happy cleric will heal you while you’re fighting while on his way somewhere else. Having created a mage myself, I also happily tossed in a firebolt into a fight as I sauntered past.

The negative part though, is this. Everyone is in the same area, which means there is a bit of a competition for resources. Your first few missions usually revolve around kill 5 of these, harvest 10 of those – and when there are about 20 players running around trying to kill/harvest the same thing, finding a target can sometimes become a little problematic.

The first couple of hours seems calculated to get the player used to the interface and the environment. Until you reach level 9, you move around in a relatively confined area, doing a group of quests and side-quests which don’t do much more than reward you with experience and money. Side-quests and storyline quests are easily told apart, with NPC’s carrying the quests using different colours.

I started my character off as an Elyos (yes, I like being the good guy). Once reaching level 9, I was given the chance to do my ascencion mission, and yes, for those of you who were waiting, this is where you go to get your wings. Happily, it doesn’t take too long, and given the nature of the mission, it was surprisingly easy. During this ascension, you are given new options with regards to your class – depending on what your choice was when you created your character:

• A mage can choose to be a spiritmaster or a sorcerer.
• A priest can choose to become a chanter or a cleric.
• A scout can choose to become an assassin or a ranger.
• A warrior can choose to become a templar or a gladiator.

Sadly, I did not have a lot of time to explore around beyond my ascension – so I can’t comment much on armor customisation – something that was definitely lacking in the first 9 levels. Whether this gets addressed between now an the final release I hesitate to say. Differently to Guildwars, there is less focus on skill-builds – you get to drag your skill into the bar at the bottom of your screen, and the skills level up along with you.

If you’re an MMORPG fan, chances are you will like what Aion has to offer, although I venture this opinion on very little actual experience of the game as a whole. It’s entirely possible that it becomes a long grind as you make your way through the game, although I would hope NCSoft has learned enough by this time to avoid this particular pitfall.

The game is unfortunately not subscription free, and the monthly subscription will most likely be set at $14.99. For more detailed info than what I gave in my little runover here – you could do yourself a definite favour by visiting AionSource a fansite for and about the game. Myself, since I have an aversion to paying for a game after I’ve already bought it, I won’t be playing Aion myself, sticking to Guildwars until the arrival of it’s sequel, but if you don’t mind the fee, give Aion a try and see what you think for yourself.

The screenshots in this post are from the AionSource site.

Quick gadgets roundup

ASUS TV Stick

In today’s technologically modern times, many people are moving away from the traditional television. And why not? Most television viewing can be done online anyway.

But ASUS, a leading name in computing, has decided that television viewing is far from over. They are preparing to introduce a whole new level of what some regard as an essential pastime to many people. The ASUS Express TV Stick is a device that gets plugged into your spare USB port. This then provides you with access to its auto installation software for high quality digital and analog TV reception.

And if you are spoilt for choice on which programme to watch, don’t worry – a nifty pop up feature allows you to save a show and watch at a later stage. Then, when you do want to watch it, all you need is a USB port and a computer and voila! Quick and convenient television viewing.

HP ProBook s-series Laptop

HP has launched a new range of low-priced notebooks, ideal for businesspeople looking for affordability, functionality and fresh features. The new ProBook s-series boasts sophisticated business functionality and features HD graphics and Blu-ray drives. You can even enjoy the option of selecting either an Intel processor or an AMD processor. You can also choose either a 14-inch, 15.6-inch or 17.3-inch diagonal HD widescreen with an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Other exceptional features include an optional Linux-based operating system pre-installed. The Novell Inc’s SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 is perfect for users who are looking for a change from the overriding Windows platform from Microsoft. Additionally, you get a nifty 3D DriveGuard which protects your hard drive, as well as a convenient spill resistant keyboard. What more could you ask for?

GoateeSaver

If you are a modern man who likes his facial hair trimmed to perfection, this may be the ideal gift for you. The GoateeSaver is a wacky but nifty device and great for keeping you looking neat and trimmed at all times, while knocking crucial minutes off your daily shaving regime.

So what does the GoateeSaver do? This quirky device is an adjustable mouthpiece capable of keeping your facial hair straight and even. It also shaves hard to reach places, allowing you to get the pattern you want. And even though your wife, friends and even kids might tease you, perfect facial hair is well worth the jibes.

The Dual Action Electronic Lightsaber

Face it guys. Most of you have at one stage fantasised about partaking in a lightsaber battle in outerspace – a la Star Wars. And now you may be able to do just that, while keeping your feet firmly on the ground. The Dual Action Electronic Lightsaber is a new toy which puts a twist on the traditional, now somewhat boring lightsabers of yore.

This new, updated lightsaber offers something that the older models do not – a second, smaller lightsaber hidden within the hilt. This makes defeating your opponent easier, especially if they are still trying to play catch up with their older models. Hold the extra lightsaber as a dagger, or attach it to the hilt for an uber-lightsaber. Your opponent will definitely have no chance now. But don’t go running to the toy stores just yet, as this lightsaber is only available as from August. Until then, may the force be with you.