// Special E3 2009 Report

INTOPIXEL Gallery: Warhammer Art

I was able to attend E3 @ the La Convention Center this past Tuesday on company time and it was a big deal since E3 went away from awhile and then all the sudden it came back this year. It's not as grand as it used to be (pre 2006), as it seems they are testing the waters and were holding back a bit. Most of the cool news came from the Press conferences, which is only open to press and execs. On the exhibit hall floor, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Square-Enix, EA and many more companies were displaying their latest products and games.



The biggest shockers for me at E3 are as follows:
- Microsoft: Natal technology
- Nintendo: Metriod Other M
- Final Fantasy XIV Online
- LucasArts: Monkey Island
- Metal Gear Rising on Xbox 360
- Facebook on DSi and Xbox 360!

Most Impressive:
- EA / Bioware's Star Wars: The Old Republic
If you haven't seen the trailer yet, GO SEE IT!! To add even more awesomeness, EA had a bunch of Sith come out on stage during the press conference.




// MMO Report:
So..I am pretty shocked about Square Enix's announcement about Final Fantasy XIV. I thought they were done milking the series but I guess not. From the Q n' A, it appears that it is not based on the world of Vanadiel, but the character races are similar. Some people are skeptical since the game looks similar but we were only shown a short teaser trailer and there was no demo on the floor for us to try out. I'm guessing it will probably come out in 2011. I'm still happily playing FFXI so I'm not in a hurry to quit that game.

I haven't had much time to try out other MMO's besides Jade Empire, which was pretty mediocre but I liked the combo system. I also tried out Free Realms but I wasn't too impressed. The card game is confusing and boring. Then again, the only card game I liked was Triple Triad from Final Fantasy VIII and magic the gathering. Nothing Warhammer related was being shown on the floor by EA either. There was also a lack of Blizzard presence in E3, as they are probably going to show everything at Blizzcon.

//Exhibit Hall Photos:

Playstation's Both


Nintendo's sleek booth - They were demoing Wii Sport Resort and a bunch of DS titles such as the new bowser game.


The new King of Fighters XII!


Assassin's Creed II and Splinter Cell giant posters outside


FFXIII's Lighting Figure


INTOPIXEL Gallery: Guild Wars Concept Art

E3: Electronic Entertainment Expo, June 2-4

Hey all, just a reminder that I will be covering E3 this year.

I will be attending just one day but I'll be sure to take photos and do a report for you all. Disney Online Studios won't be exhibiting, (a lot of us will be in attendance though) but Disney Interactive will have a booth. Stay Tuned!

On to Tier IV

//Warhammer: Age of Zerging

So I finally hit level 32 and I have been enjoying Tier IV ORVR thus far. I think my favorite RVR lake is Praag because the burning buildings, the sheer amount of hiding places and overall look and variety of the zone. The large number of BO's keeps the lake very busy with activity. There are a lot of skirmishes resulting from ninja-ing of them and I think it's entertaining. I die a lot now because I'm lower level than most people :( but...level 33 is close though. I caved in and bought my Devastator boots on the AH. That thing would not drop for me at all. Well..at least my Devastator set is now complete!

I tried out a dungeon for the first time with my guild. A place called the Bastion stairs. I think it's not as fun as RVR though. It was a nice change of pace however.


Fooling around with my Skaven Cloak that I recived for purchasing a WAR poster. it looks really neat and it turns you into a Skaven (rat humanoid) for a short amount of time. People seemed really confused by it..

I also have the Command and Conquer hat which turns you into a white bear. I didn't know that you had some emotes as a bear and one of them is /dance. He started busting out break dancing moves! Another person with the hat joined me as a bear and it was hilarious seeing us break dance in IC. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe.


Good times in IC

FFXI: Players V.S. The RMT

Dealing with the RMT (Real money traders) within Final Fantasy XI has always been a problem. They are more abundant in this game because the fact that making gil is a bit difficult.

I had a recent run in with RMT a week or so ago in Bastok Mines (one of the main cities). I was watching a group of level 1 players with randomized names like "abcdefg" go to the noob gear npc then trade among them selves for hours on end. They are basically gil laundering to throw off the GM's. The trick to distrupt them is to instigate a trade with them so they are blocked from trading with others until someone cancels the trade. I've seen other players make mules just to disrupt them!

To further confuse them, I stripped down to my underoos to look like them and I mimicked their motions by going the noob gear NPC and trying to trade with the one of the RMT. One of them almost gave me 700,000 gil! He must have thought I was one of them. LOL. Another time, one of them traded me brass pots on accident. He realized what he did and tried to get it back but I ignored him, lol (threw away the pots later). I think they are growing craft ingredients to sell on the Auction House.

Anyway, So I reported them and got a message a few days ago from the GM saying that other people have reported it and are now investigating. There would be no need for RMT if there was no demand so I urge everyone to not buy accounts/gil/services if you want the FFXI economy to not suck.

Land of the Dead

Warhammer // Beyond the Sands recap

The live event came to a close today but you are still able to collect your rewards by visiting the city heralds. I think this event was the most successful of all live events thus far but there were times where it became frustrating. I was going to write a guide but I didn't know the event ended so soon before I can collect all the data :(. Luckily, I finished it last night and received my pimp aviator goggles!



So basically we were all forced to participate in RVR in order to complete the tasks to receive the rewards, which created huge battles and skirmishes all day/night long. The quests start in IC and led me to the Badlands at Tier 3. Lucky for us, the area was close to our warcamp, but that did not prevent Order from camping the area and farming solo Destro as they tried to finish the event. It was pretty hard to finish the quests without having a warband to escort and protect you. I was getting frustrated because I was doing the quest solo at first and Order kept popping out as I was attacking the skeletons. Later on, I realized that part of the live event task is to kill 25 players in RVR. Well..no wonder people were camping.

In turn, I also camped Order players with a Magus by the name of Farfrompukin. We waited and hid behind the rocks near the warcamp, jumping unsuspecting Order players as they exited the camp. We were doing fine for awhile until they brought more friends. Being level 31 helped with completion of the event, since I was able to kill a lot of players that tried to attack me 1 on 1. Hitting the 25 player quota was pretty easy by holding the "staff of kings". The light beam drew the Order to us like a moth to a flame! Down they went, one by one.

So far, I am pretty excited about the Land of the Dead. The lore is interesting and the aspect of how only one faction is able to control it at a time.

oh, don't forget to order your Warhammer Priest & Chosen poster! You get a free in-game very cool cloak with it.

FFXI: A Crystalline Prophecy

Square Enix has released one of the three story based content expansions recently called A Crystalline Prophecy. You will see some familiar faces in the cutscenes and references to the opening movie sequence. Square has always been known as one of the best storytellers in the game business and you will not be disappointed in this latest installment.

So far my Linkshell has completed half of the missions and although some parts were tedious (quest item drop rates were abysmal), the boss fights have been pretty interesting. We just completed the BCNM (Burning circle) boss fight for Those Who Lurk in Shadows (II) and despite what other players said about needing a full party of level 75 and such...it was pretty easy. So I don't understand why people were crying about it being difficult.

We killed off the Yagudo (WHM) first followed by the Quadav (RDM), Orc (WAR), and Goblin (THF). If you stick to that order, it will be a breeze. Plus I went in as a level 70 Paladin subbed gimped Ninja (level 30) and I was doing fine. Dual-wielding with my Espadon +1 and Gluttony sword was pretty awesome. All my party members were subbed Ninja except for the RDM. If you cast gravity on the mobs, it will help a lot. If you are having trouble early on, kiting the Goblin will help. I think the Goblin THF is the most difficult one to deal with since he randomly teleports behind you and has the nasty Saucepan move. I don't suggest eating any food prior, since Saucepan will switch your food into a -10 stat debuff.

Back in Battle!

//Warhammer Online: The Bloodshed Continues!!

I apologize for the long hiatus, but I am back in the fray and enjoying the new updates we've received in WAR. So far, I haven't been able to try out the Slayer or Choppa class but I have encountered the Slayer during RVR and my opinion is that it's overpowered and needs some adjustment. One Slayer was guarding a keep and he managed to kill 6-7 of us with a few swings of his axe. A bit unfair, don't you think?

Other then that, gameplay appears to be a lot smoother and there has been tons of RVR activity on Iron Rock as of late. I'd log in around midnight and there would be warbands on the move. Also, there is a "welcome back to WAR" campaign currently. You can pick up the quest in IC from one of the NPC's near the flight Master. You earn Talismans and Trophies for completing the tasks bestowed upon you in warcamps. It seems the buffs from the Talismans are very helpful (meaning I don't die as fast now!).


New Dell laptop - now I can run it on high res

I will be leaving Tier 3 soon and I'm a bit sad since that's supposedly the best Tier. Ah wells ;/ Can't stay level 30 forever..

Game Bugs:
I've had this graphical glitch on both my old Dell laptop and the new Dell. If I change into and out of Fullscreen to windowed, I get texture mapping issues. Textures would be missing in the game or replaced with something very strange looking. Trees would look like sea urchins with sharp spikes. Also the Windowed version still kinda lags.