Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Life [Updated]

By

On November 18, 2010

In General Cogitation

I am overdue for some life updates. It has been very busy the past several weeks. I have been assigned to a client with two other consultants for a few months to complete a pretty high profile project. The deadlines have been very tight and there is a lot of work to do. We are nearly complete and it has been rewarding in that it has been an opportunity for me to learn some new skills that will make me more valuable to my firm.

If you have been following along on any of my blog posts you know that the biggest news for me as of late is LASIK. I still do not regret going through it despite the intimidating surgery. I am weeks behind in sending out my usual MMO Times e-mail and my excuse is my job. The client I am working at is a bank and the project(s) I have been working on entails quite a bit of money so the pressure for perfection is fierce. As Christmas approaches I imagine things will calm down slightly and perhaps I can get in a few MMO Times e-mails as well as some more Biggs On posts.

The most exciting item on the docket, arriving in a couple weeks, is the 3rd expansion to World of Warcraft titled Cataclysm; both of us are very eager for its arrival.

I wish I had more to talk about and you would think that given how long I have been absent that there would be more to share. So, with that said, I think I will sign off for the time being but check back for a few more topics in the “Biggs On” category which may include iPhone 4, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, iPad Revisited, and JQuery.

Cheers.

The MMO Times – Pre-Blizzcon Edition

By

On October 21, 2010

In MMO Times

Issue 14

Welcome back keyboard quarterbacks to another riveting edition of The MMO Times. There isn’t much to talk about this week but I wanted to get this out today because Blizzcon starts tomorrow. We have some interesting articles for all of you in this issue so lean back and enjoy.

Blizzcon Coming This Weekend!!
Remember Blizzard fans, this weekend (October 23rd and 24th) is Blizzcon 2010. I wonder what delicious secrets will be unveiled this year. We know it can’t be another WoW Expansion or the Cataclysm release date, so what juicy news will be the talk of the town (as it were). Perhaps the Diablo 3 release date? The new Blizzard MMO? I have a Blizzcon virtual ticket so I will try to provide the big headlines for you this weekend. I might do a special “living post”. (What is a living post? Its a blog post I will continuously update as Blizzcon progresses).
Blizzcon 2010 Website

Blogger Nerd Rages About Warhammer and Mythic
I’m sure most of  you have heard about this little piece of epic nerd rage. A blogger, who claims to be a disgruntled former employee of Mythic, unloads on Warhammer and Mythic (and takes a few shots at Bioware and SWTOR). As of the time of this writing there hasn’t been any proof or verification of identity of the author but if you want to see some drama, check it out.
Read More @ Massively

Tenacious D to Perform at Blizzcon
Let’s start with the Blizzcon news. Tenacious D will be performing the closing concert at Blizzcon this year. This band from 1994 presents the vocal talents of comedian Jack Black and Kyle Gass. Blizzcon is the weekend of the 23rd-24th.
Read More @ MMO-Champion

Cataclysm TV Cinematic
During the Dallas and Vikings game the new Warcraft Cataclysm cinematic tv trailer debuted. When it first came on I didn’t notice the beginning, I thought it was a movie trailer, but its pretty bad ass. Here are links to the WoW Insider article and MMO-Champion.
WoW Insider Article
MMO-Champion Post

SOE to Merge EQII Servers This Fall
Sony Online Entertainment has announced that they will be merging 16 live servers this November. The move isn’t all that surprising and SOE says the bigger populations “is just simply more fun” – an odd piece of logic for a rather evasive action.
Read More @ Massively

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe

The MMO Times

By

On October 12, 2010

In MMO Times

Issue 13

Welcome back gamers, to another MMO Times which brings you the latest, significant headlines in the MMO gaming world. So grab a Mt Dew and check out whats been happening in the virtual world.

Final Fantasy XIV Version Update
Final Fantasy players will be receiving a patch soon which promises to address quite a few bugs, but don’t get your hopes up about changes to the market wards. Apparently the patch notes (link provided below) also contains information from the developers regarding game mechanics. Read on and enjoy Final Fantasy fanatics.
Read More @ Massively
Patch Notes

Global Agenda Adds Friends with Benefits
No, not those kinds of benefits, get your mind out of the gutter! This program is basically a Refer-A-Freiend program where you can gift someone a code where they will receive 30% off the client program and grant you an in-game achievement that awards a mini-pet (that resembles an angry Laurence Fishburne bobblehead doll????).
Read More @ Massively

DCUO Beta Keys Available with Pre-Order
Despite the devastating news of postponing the launch date, fans of DC Universe Online can rejoice because if you have pre-ordered the game, submit a copy of your receipt and you can receive a beta key. SOE has extended the beta period for the game to compensate for postponing the launch. Hurry, only pre-orders dated prior to November 15th will be eligible.
Read More @ Massively

Ilum, SWTOR’s 16th Planet Announced
Ilum, one of the locations for crystals used to build lightsabers, is now home to the Sith. If you remember Hoth from Empire Strikes Back, then this planet is similar. This article has a video as well.
Read More @ Massively

Going Live!

World of Warcraft Pre-Cataclysm Patch 4.0.1
October 12, 2010 – Just as most WoW players expected, the massive 4.0.1 patch will be going live when the realms go down for their typical Tuesday maintenance. This patch introduces several new features that were announced as part of the expansion including Reforging, Prime Glyphs, 41-point talent trees and, of course, extended downtime. Extended downtime also, usually, means the realms won’t be playable for most of the evening.
Read Article @ Massively

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe

Snippets: [JQuery] Toggle Expand/Collapse

By

On October 9, 2010

In Programming

I have posted a new snippet on Snipplr. It’s another jQuery snippet that handles the expand and collapse of a div (or span) section. The idea for this snippet is that the user would click a plus (+) image, the code would display the hidden section and change the image to a minus ( – ). The reverse, of course, would happen if the user were to click the minus.

Here is the snippet:

The #img and #div should match the ID attribute of the page elements the code needs to respond to.

You can see this and more of my code snippets at Snipplr.

Happy Coding!

The MMO Times – Cataclysmic Edition

By

On October 6, 2010

In MMO Times

Issue 12

Welcome to a special edition of MMO Times, the Cataclysmic Edition, where I bring you the top headlines from around the MMO-verse. I’m sure from the subtitle of this issue many can guess what news awaits below, which is why this issue is so soon after Issue 11. So read on fellow gamers, read on and enjoy!

HOT NEWS!!!

Cataclysm Release Date Announced!!!
Yes, all the anticipation and speculation is over. Blizzard released an official Press Release on Monday, October 4th to let everyone know that the Cataclysm release date is – December 7th, 2010. The announcement raises two thoughts; when are we getting the big 4.0.1 Cataclysmic patch and what big news are they going to announce at Blizzcon. I guess we will know the answer to the latter at the end of the month. The WoW Insider link has the article with the press release.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/04/cataclysm-release-date-december-7th/

DCUO Postponed until 2011
So while Blizzard has good news for the gaming world, SOE has disappointing news for DC comic fans as Sony Online Entertainment has announced that they will delay the release of DC Universe Online until 2011. Some are speculating SOE did this so they can avoid competing with the release of Cataclysm. Either way, fans have to wait a few months longer.
http://www.massively.com/2010/10/04/dc-universe-online-delayed-until-early-2011/

Aion to get patch 2.1
Immediately on the wings (haha, wings … Aion, haha) of their newest expansion, Assault on Balaurea, will come patch 2.1. This patch has already gone live on the Korean servers and the rumor is, in addition to the various bug fixes, there has been an increase in drop rates.
http://www.massively.com/2010/10/06/aions-2-1-patch-to-increase-drop-rates/

Going Live!

Allods Online Launching Volume 2
October 5th – Allods Online is launching its second volume, the Rise of Gorluxor which introduces a new raid boss, you guessed it, Gorluxor. There are also additional changes to the game. The links below have the Massively article as well as a link to the patch notes.
http://www.massively.com/2010/10/04/allods-online-volume-2-rise-of-gorluxor-explodes-tomorrow/
Patch Notes: http://en.forum.gpotato.eu/?CD=ALLODS_EN_F002&TC=0000000000&MD=VT&US=Y&AS=Y&TNO=1121105

Age of Conan Patch 2.0.7
October 6, 2010 – Players of Age of Conan will be experiencing the splendor of the latest 2.0.7 after extended maintenance on this day. The patch contains a few class tweaks and some zone tweaks that apparently caused some framerate issues for players.
http://www.massively.com/2010/10/06/age-of-conan-2-0-7-coming-today-after-extended-downtime/

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe.

The MMO Times

By

On September 29, 2010

In MMO Times

Issue 11

Welcome fellow gamers to the next issue of MMO Times where I bring you the latest, more significant headlines from popular gaming blog streams. There wasn’t a lot that was new to report so its short this week. Enjoy.

More On SWTOR Smuggler Advanced Classes
Bioware launched a series of new screenshots and details about the smuggler class on the SWTOR website. There is a breakdown for both advanced classes, gunslinger and scoundrel. The other pretty cool feature of the smuggler is every that smuggler gets a Wookie companion, after all, where would Han be with Chewie. I think Bioware is doing a pretty good job of making the non-Jedi classes worth playing. Check out the Massively article.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/24/newly-smuggled-information-from-star-wars-the-old-republic/

New Game: World of Darkness
I think there is a little school girl in all gamers that gets a little giddy when they read the words “new game announced” (or some derivative of that statement). CCP Games announced a new MMO called World of Darkness that apparently is based off the old fashioned pencil-and-paper, multi-sided dice Vampire: The Masquerade RPG. (Editor’s Note: some of you may be surprised to learn that I use to play Vampire: The Masquerade quite a bit back in high school). Massively has more.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/24/world-of-darkness-confirmed-based-on-vampire-the-masquerade/

Clone Wars Adventures: One Million After One Week
One week after SOE’s Clone Wars Adventures goes live and they have acquired one million players. I have started my investigation into the game, but I haven’t spent too much time. So far I feel like its definitely tailored more for a younger audience. I don’t expect that it will have too many (if any) serious players.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/24/clone-wars-adventures-uses-the-force-to-hit-one-million-mark/

Final, Pre-Cataclysm Patch Notes
Blizzard finally updated the official patch notes in Under Development with details on the 4.0.1 patch, which is the final, big patch before Cataclysm hits. They are adding quite a few of the big changes to the game with this patch, including 31-point talent trees, Prime glyphs, Reforging and a few class changes (just to name a few). The links below are the link to the Massively article and to the official patch notes.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/28/blizzard-updates-under-development-page-with-patch-4-0-1-details/
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html

Going Live!!

The Wait Is Over, Final Fantasy XIV
September 22, 2010 – I’m sure there are some that will not need to be told about FFXIV going live this past week, because they are already playing it. So, for the rest of us just following along, Final Fantasy XIV went live this past week, for those who have the Collector’s Edition. So if you were wondering why some of your guildmates or in-game friends vanished, its probably because of FFXIV.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/22/launch-day-livestream-final-fantasy-xiv/

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe.

Page 174 of 182

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén