Big changes

During the last few weeks I've been playing some World of Warcraft, mostly to pass a bit of time during the whole Corona debacle. It helps keep my mind off things and to be honest, it is fun again.

I used to play from vanilla through the Cataclysm expansion, but ultimately quit due to boredom. I popped back a couple of times, but never for more than a week, until now. With the new policy of making the entire game available for just a subscription apart from the newest expansion, I have a ton of stuff to do even without the Battle for Azeroth expansion, which I'll get as soon as the Shadowlands expansion hits in Q4 this year.

Then a lot of interesting news and rumors started surfacing about the upcoming changes in Shadowlands that will transform the entire game from the bottom up. I've been watching quite a few videos on the subject, and I'll link the channels below, but I thought it could be fun to talk about a couple of these changes.

Important Notice: All the information below is Alpha Test info, and or data mined info, which means it can all change. Do not assume this is set in stone, even though I personally believe these changes will happen.

The level squish. Characters that are currently level 120 (max) will be reduced to 50. New level cap is 60.

The 280% flying speed will be scrapped. Basic flying is upgradable to 310%.

Flying will be automatically available in Draenor and Legion areas. Flying in BfA areas will still require unlocking.

Allied races will no longer require reputation. All you need to do to unlock them is to play the required missions and get the achievements.

Apparently all new characters will share a new starting zone until they are level 10. Then they can choose between the regular world, and any expansion areas to level to 50 in. Then it is off to Shadowlands areas to level to 60. I feel like there is something we're missing about this, but time will tell.

A major overhaul is coming to all classes to make them more fun to play. Blizzard has admitted they over-simplified each class and spec which made some too specialized. It's a gigantic list, but it seems to be a very good change.

Tons of new options for making new characters. It seems trolls and orcs will be able to stand up straight. Perhaps this will also affect the Forsaken (undead). The Forsaken will be able to be whole, that is, not have all their bones sticking out. Lots of new eye colors, hairstyles, warpaint, skin colors, face shapes and more.

New profession changes are coming. To be fair there is not a lot of info right now, and what there is makes no sense to me. Keep an eye out if you're interested.

Maybe this is enough for now. Here are couple of good links:

Class changes: https://www.wowhead.com/guides/class-changes-in-shadowlands-covenant-abilities-the-unpruning

Wowcrendors channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/wowcrendor/videos

Hazelnutty's channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Hazelnuttygames/videos

These two are where I get a lot of my news. Enjoy if you like.

Here is a dressing room feature on Wowhead where you can preview some of these cosmetic changes.

That's that for this week. Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands and have a fantastic week!

Really? Really! Okay then.

Last week I talked about how studio Naughty Dog and their publisher Sony has been abusing the DMCA to falsely copyright strike Youtube channels talking about the big leak concerning The Last of Us 2. The good news in the follow up is that some channels have gotten their videos back, but some have received new strikes and some have gotten strikes for merely talking about others getting strikes.

It's no secret that YouTube does everything in their power to not have to do anything, but they really need to start doing something about this. I get that telling Sony off is a scary thing, but it has gone too far. It seems that no major game news outlet has even mentioned this scandal, and this coupled with YouTube’s “hands-off and let the algorithm handle it” attitude, means that companies like Sony can just do whatever they want to private citizens. Or can they? Some of the afflicted content creators have contacted lawyers and according to at least one, this is the kind of situation Sony would not want to go to court for.

As I also mentioned last week, the Streisand Effect, or the more you try to hide it - the more people talk about it, is in full swing. The cat is out of the bag and there is no stuffing it back.

In other news Bethesda, publisher of Id Software's Doom Eternal has royally ticked off the community. Doom Eternal, which released on March 20th this year garnered good critique. It seemed most if not all aspects of the game were well met, until now.

Just a few days ago, Bethesda updated the game to now include Denuvo, a widely hated DRM program that is supposed to protect against piracy and cheating.

The problem is, that hackers have always cracked Denuvo within days of a games release, rendering the point of the program moot. To make it worse, many players (and payers) have reported through the years how Denuvo makes their games unplayable, which means that it punishes the legit customers, while leaving the pirates unaffected.

To make it even - even worse, this version of Denuvo goes CPU deep. It goes to the root of your PC and grabs hold with ADMIN RIGHTS! Meaning that if a hacker sneaks in through Denuvo, he has your entire system at his fingertips. If Denuvo crashes, it can take your machine with it. This is not okay. No one can think this is okay. Not even Bethesda who has chosen to implement this over a month after release as they must have known it would hurt sales if it happened at launch. As I'm not a lawyer I can't say whether this is legal, but if it is, it shouldn't be!

Finally, on a more amusing note than tragic, have you heard of a game called The Culling? Well, it was one of the first Battle Royale games in modern gaming. However, it wasn't very popular and as soon as PubG came along it pretty much died. Sad, but these thing happen. It isn't always the first version of a new thing that becomes the biggest. It did however put the idea of the Battle Royale games out there.

Now it is back with The Culling: Origins. If you own the previous version, you have to new one. Xbox now and PC later. Otherwise about $6 to buy new and... how do I say this nicely? In a courageous move they charge per match. In a Battle Royale game where you can be out in seconds of starting! One match free per day and you can win more matches or just pay and pay and pay.... Come on. This isn't even scummy, it's insane!

Well, that me done. Join me again next time and until then, stay safe, wash your hands (covid-19 isn't over yet) and have a fantastic week!

Can you believe it?

Last week a leak concerning The Last of Us 2 caused a a major controversy. The highly anticipated sequel to the 2013 hit by studio Naughty Dog and publisher Sony has been eagerly awaited, but now people are angry and rightly so.

I can't say with any certainty who the leaker is, whether it's a disgruntled employee or a hacker or someone else, but the content leak instantly became a hot topic. Naughty Dog and Sony however did the worst thing possible: they started abusing the Youtube copyright system and striking down channels left and right, even ones just talking about the leak without showing any footage.

In case you don't know, if your Youtube channel gets three copyright strikes in a short period, your channel is terminated and for someone who is depending on the ad revenue to survive, this is very serious.

Yes, the channels can protest and they will get their videos back, but this kind of misuse of the Digital Millennium Protection Act is not exactly legal. Legality aside, it is absolutely reprehensible for a company to act in this way not to mention ineffective. It's a perfect example of the Streisand Effect in play.

I for one am getting pretty sick of gaming companies who bully and intimidate people as if they are some kind of mafia. I could say something about boycotting the game here, but in all honesty I wasn't about to buy a Playstation anyway... Still a really sick thing to do though.

The above mentioned story as well as recent rumors and leaks about a new Batman game (debunked) got me thinking. As a side effect of the Covid-19 crisis, practically every game studio has had to delay their upcoming games. All the gaming conventions like E3 and PAX are canceled and in this vacuum of information, the stage is set for click-baiters and rumor-mongers to profit on false and misleading information. It is up to us to keep a cool head and not trust rumors. Unless it is a statement by the companies themselves, there is no reason to believe it, no matter how tantalizing and exciting it may seem. You will only be disappointed in the end.

There was talk that E3 would host an online convention, but this too has been canceled. However, despair not, as Game Awards host Geoff Keighley has apparently organized a Summer Game Fest with most of the big publishers and they will stream their trailers and other info across the summer of 2020. There is a techradar.com article here:

https://www.techradar.com/news/e3-2020-what-to-expect-from-the-years-biggest-gaming-expo

So were are going to get some news soon and that's good. Until then, keep a cool head, wash your hands and join me again next time for more Eccentric Spheres! Have a great week!

The Adventures of Grundorn

Well, it looks like corona is keeping us all inside a bit longer, so to pass the time, I have some entertainment for you.

A little over a month ago, my wife found this chap on Youtube called Frithgar. He makes gaming videos. He plays different games but it seems the Farming Simulator games are some of his favorites. Not that I really know as I don't care about the farming franchise.

No, what we've been watching is the adventures of Grundorn the Paladin. Another of Frithgar's passions is World of Warcraft and the idea is that in Episode 1, he creates Grundorn and then he starts leveling up until he is 120. For all the faults and sins of Blizzard these days, wow is still a great game and it's been a blast watching the (mis)adventures of Grundorn the Insane.

I have tried to watch different people play wow through the years and this is the first time it has worked for me. Probably because Frithgar is so nice. He's charming in a natural and relaxed way and he's not cocky and he doesn't brag. Not even when he has pulled seven enemies at once and he managed to kill them all. No, he celebrates with genuine happiness and pride but never arrogance.

I have seen others (who shall remain nameless) who sit there on camera and go “I'm the best F-ing tank on the server. Did you see my timing? Pure art, I'm that awesome!”

Not Frithgar. This doesn't mean he is perfect however. If you play wow or similar games and you are fastidious in keeping your inventory clean and organized, well, content warning for you my friend. Grundorn's bags are eternally messy and he loves to carry around a lot of stuff that belongs in his bank. It can be infuriating but it is still worth it!

So if you need something to watch and relax with, I highly recommend this series. The adventures of Grundorn are complete and he has just recently started a new series with a dwarf hunter, but I know nothing about that. I'm somewhere in the 80's in this 319 episode series, so there is much left to enjoy.

Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um0yo9jbYI4&list=PLqoVoLidYTf0OpqEGJw7wwscut2egiYoU

Join me again next time, and until we meet again, stay safe, wash your hands and have a great week!