Project Lore

Blizzard's decision to release pay-for vanity pets several months ago was met with open controversy. Chief among the players' concerns was the idea that they seemed to be taking their first steps down the road towards charging for virtual content, a business model that has become standard fare in Asian MMOs. Even console gamers have been faced with the threat of paying several dollars for a code that would unlock content on the game disc they already bought.

Even getting beyond that issue, though, Blizzard was chided for their decision to give only half the proceeds from the sales of their Pandaren Monk pet to charity (not to mention they were keeping the full take of companion pet Lil' TK for themselves).

People felt like this was disingenuous. If they weren't going to give all the profit, why bother giving any at all?

Regardless of how you might personally feel about the issue, there's little denying that $1.1 million dollars is a weighty figure. According to a press release from Blizzard, that's the amount of money they raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation via sales of the Pandaren Monk pet through December 31, 2009.

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We learned a few things from last week's Activison-Blizzard conference call. Namely that Cataclysm would be hitting retail shelves in the second half of the year and that the Starcraft 2 beta is more or less imminent on the company's schedule. But one thing you might not have read much about on fan or PC-gaming sites (like this one) is what Blizzard' president Mike Morhaime had to say about console gaming.

Shock and awe, I know! Blizzard has always been a stalwart defender of the computer as the exclusive platform for most of their games, but let's not forget the company cut its teeth on consoles. Many of their pre-Warcraft titles were developed for, or at least ported to, them (Blackthorne, The Lost Vikings, and Rock and Roll Racing are typically the most notable). And even if they were done externally, versions of Diablo and Starcraft have found their way onto our television sets, as well.

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Blizzard still expects to put out the Cataclysm expansion pack this year, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick announced Wednesday in the 2009 fourth quarter conference call on financial earnings.

During the call, Kotick discussed the “better than expected” financial results that Activision Blizzard has shown through 2009, and also spoke on what the company expects for 2010:

“For World of Warcraft, we expect to launch the next expansion pack, Cataclysm, and continue to grow our player base around the world. And finally, a much anticipated release of Starcraft II, which will also be available for download on the new Battle.net site. And that illustrates how we’re building significant digital capabilities, and that we we expect these to create new and unique opportunities for gameplay.”

This is a bit of a relief for me to hear after going months since the reveal of Cataclysm at BlizzCon. We had been told at that point that Blizzard anticipated a 2010 release for Cataclysm, but since then we’ve heard very little. Now we have at least another morsel of hope that we’ll see the expansion in the relatively near future (well, the next 11 months.)

Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime expanded on the topic, adding that the development team is continuing work on the expansion, and is aiming for “a release in the back half of 2010.” As we already know, one of the big changes expected is the overhaul of the Old World, and Morhaime states that developers are trying to bring those areas up to match the team’s “constantly rising design standards.”

Of course, things can always change, and a lengthy disclaimer at the front of the webcast conference call notes that “forward looking statements” should not be taken as fact. But hopefully this will hold out as true. And to any of you who have seen release dates listed on gaming sites or Amazon or some such, I would warn you that until we hear it straight from Blizzard, those dates likely aren’t anything beyond a guess.

Some other morsels from the webcast:

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Awhile back WoW.com reported that Blizzard was having serious discussions about forcing players to use Authenticators.  The behind-closed-doors talks came about due to an increasing number of hacks on player accounts.  Furthermore, many of the compromised users claim to not have shared their passwords with anyone.  The recent Google Ads-based WoW Armory scam was probably the most prolific phishing attempt to date, and has become a prime example to the means people are going to for WoW accounts.

Being a business, Blizzard wants to do everything possible to keep our accounts secure.  Let's not kid ourselves, Blizzard isn't being entirely altruistic in its intentions.  The company has a reputation to hold, it has a service to run, which is only possible with happy users, and by increasing account security as high as possible the company would save a ton of money in support costs.  As it stands right now, the customer service lines can take upwards of an hour to get through to someone.  That's with some 2,500+ customer service personal.

The only thing stopping Blizzard from making Authenticators mandatory is us, the users.  Ever since the rumor started there's been a back-and-forth between users.  Despite an Authenticator offering the utmost security (no confirmed hacks) players are reluctant to apply them because of the hassle or the cost.  Even with the shipping fee now waved, many players are still finding reasons not to purchase the $6 item.

My suggestion to Blizzard is to kill two birds with one stone by giving players a monetary incentive to using the Authenticator.  Any account that has an Authenticator applied, be it mobile or actual, can get a reduction in their subscription fee.  I'm not talking half off, just a dollar.  In six months an actual Authenticator would pay for itself, and in 18 months players would essentially "earn" themselves a free month of play.  All while making Blizzard look good.

It's something us consumers would jump at, but Blizzard will only resort to it as a final solution (the Core Hound Pup being the first attempt). To me, a long-time paying customer, it'd be a nice olive branch.  After all, shouldn't Blizzard's savings be passed on to those that are make it possible?

By employing this tactic players wouldn't feel "forced" into using an Authenticator, so much as "rewarded" for it.



It's the time of year again, boys and girls. As Hallow's End approaches, everyone is gearing up to slay the Headless Horseman and gorge themselves on Tricky Treats, but it might be worth your while to celebrate the holiday's real-life equivalent, too. Each year, Blizzard hosts a pumpkin carving contest, and 2009 is no exception. They're looking for some talented gourdsmiths to artfully slice up these over-sized fruits to depict characters or scenes from at least one of the company's video game franchises. Zarhym details the rules below:

"The Royal Photographic Society of Azeroth is renewing its competition in celebration of Halloween. In a longstanding Blizzard Entertainment tradition, this year we're proud to announce our seventh annual pumpkin-carving contest. 2008's Winner, an exquisitely-crafted Horde pumpkin by Merrlynch Between 12:00 a.m. PDT on October 13 and 11:59 p.m. PDT on October 28, the RPSA will be accepting submissions for the pumpkin contest. The shutterbugs who submit the most outstanding photos of their work will have their pictures proudly displayed on WorldofWarcraft.com and Blizzard.com on Halloween. In addition, the crafters of the five most interesting, original, and well-carved pumpkin designs will each be recognized for their merits with a 32 GB iPod touch! Special thanks go out to Apple for this fantastic prize! Pumpkin submission tips:

• The winning entries will display high levels of originality, craftsmanship, and possibly humor.
• Your pumpkin must be lit up by a candle or other light source in your photo entry. You can show another photo of the pumpkin unlit if you wish.
• Pumpkins must be related to World of Warcraft or another Blizzard Entertainment title.
• Try to take the best picture possible, as picture quality helps make a good impression on the judges.
• Make sure you tell us what the pumpkin is supposed to be in the caption, just in case it's not clear."

Having big, meaty fingers like my own, and the carving skills of a back-alley surgeon, I don't think I'll be participating, myself. Every jack-o-lantern I try to make looks like Gary Busey after a motorcycle crash. And, besides, some of the winners from past years are intimidatingly well-made! But if you think you've got the chops, why not try your hand at it? Even if you don't win, you'll still have a bad-ass looking pumpkin to put on your doorstep. Full rules and a submission form can be found here.

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After five years on the Australian market with no classification, World of Warcraft finally has a rating. Late last week, the Australian Classification Board decided that WoW will be rated M for "Fantasy violence." As one comparison point in the U.S, WoW is rated T for teen for blood, suggestive themes, use of alcohol and violence. Earlier this year, questions were raised regarding the legality of selling the game in Australia since it was not rated. According to a Gamestop Australia article package, the mixup was more of a loophole, since the Classification Board until recently has not had a system in place for rating games with online-only content. This obviously included many online games other than just WoW, such as Warhammer, Age of Conan and Aion. Now, that's changed and WoW has a rating. But no word yet on ratings for any other online games. Now it seems the biggest contention is that the Australian Classification board is at minimum five years behind the times in terms of finding a way to rate online-only games. There also still seems to be some confusion as to whether there actually is any new classification system, or whether the game finally was just rated as a "computer game," under the same system that was in place five years ago when WoW came out. Here's what the Australian classification board told Gamespot AU :

“It is the Board's view that World of Warcraft meets the definition of a computer game provided in the Classification Act and therefore can be classified. This is consistent with the intention of the National Classification Scheme to provide parents and consumers with classification advice on the content of games.”

Meanwhile, Blizzard said that the same board told them five years ago that WoW was not classifiable:

“Blizzard Entertainment has always worked closely with the Classification Board for all its titles. However, back in 2004, we were advised by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) that the online-only nature of World of Warcraft was unclassifiable under its definition of computer games at that time. Recent changes at the Classification Board have led to their ability to classify online-only games such as World of Warcraft.”

Whatever the case, at least WoW is now rated, and hopefully that means Cataclysm will have a more certain future on Australian shelves whenever it's released. Last time this topic came up, our dear Australian readers had a lot to say, many saying that was the first they had even heard of the matter. Do any of you think this will impact you at all, or is it pure politics? And do you think the M rating is appropriate?

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Ever have trouble finding quality versions of Blizzard cinematics on the internet and refuse to spend the time downloading them from the official site? Well, now there's an easy and convenient solution! Perhaps as part of their social networking kick lately (see their Twitter accounts), the company has established their very own YouTube channel. As yet, the selection is a curious mix of "wow, that's available?!" and "where the hell is it?" In other words, it's primarily pre-rendered introduction movies and upcoming game previews that go from unreleased titles all the way back to Diablo II and the original StarCraft (though the inclusion of Wrathgate is a curious anomaly). The good news is that all of them are available in High Quality, and the newer ones in High Definition. Just don't expect to be able to view every in-game cutscene from their catalog just yet. Though, considering the prevalence of amateur recordings so comprehensive that you could watch the entire plot of WarCraft III unfold just by surfing YouTube for an hour, I wouldn't be surprised to see Blizzard to start buffing their own offerings real soon. There's nothing wrong with honoring and showcasing the work of the developer's tremendous art team, but since the service is fueled by its rich community of content creators, I'd also like to see Blizz host things like machinima, StarCraft II Battle Reports, tournament play records, and other fan offerings so that it could all be accessed in one place. Clearly, there's still some work to be done, but if you ask me, what's there is already pretty worthwhile for a channel that's still in its infancy. In fact, I think i'm going to go watch the Cataclysm preview trailer again right now. Goblins? Worgen? Massive, world-changing events and new lands to conquer? Ooh, it gives me chills every time!

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In the past month or so, I've had a lot more time to really sink my nails into playing WoW. While getting caught up in the hype of gold, dungeons, scoring a hot new flying mount and figuring out how to best spend my emblems is fun, more and more I'm coming to realize that there are so many amazing, intricate aspects to gameplay that I've come to expect to the point of no longer appreciating. Now let me preface this by saying that Blizzard knows its business. If executives want WoW to remain the top MMORPG out there, they undoubtedly know that they have to stay on top of their game and keep coming out with challenging, fun, cutting-edge material to keep players engaged. And, for the most part, they do. There's always insatiable audiences who constantly demand more content, but all in all, I think Blizzard pretty much tops the industry in keeping subscribers happy. Let me also say that I am in no way informed about the actual process behind creating content. I'm happy with myself when I can just successfully get an addon functioning, so make what you will of that. So perhaps I'm in the minority when I say that sometimes, it's those simple things in the game that can most amaze me. I think a lot of this has hit me during my recent jaunt in exploration. Sometimes the large size of a zone would be daunting while leveling. And yes, even annoying. Running back and forth across an expansive area to complete quests wasn't my favorite aspect of the game. But by the same token, I wouldn't have enjoyed the actual questing if everything was crammed into one tiny, crowded area. I remember when flight paths were a godsend. Each discovery of one of those tiny green exclamation points was reason to celebrate. But eventually, they grew to be expected. And when there were areas without enough flight points, it was disappointing because it would throw off my leveling agenda. Certainly I'm not the only one who has felt this way; the Patch 3.2 implementation of mounts at lower levels makes me think I'm in the majority, not the minority. I'm not ashamed to admit that I suppose I also can be demanding of Blizzard. Why shouldn't I be? As subscribers, most of us probably do feel entitlement in some form or another. I just try not to be an ass about it because in the end, I'm still having fun playing. But its during those instances of annoyance that I try to remind myself of just how awesome this game is - without even going into the expansive lore, which alone is enough to draw me in. When I can't find an NPC because (lightheaded isn't working and) their location isn't clear enough on a quest description, I instead find joy in the hunt. When I was leveling and couldn't squeeze in all the quests I wanted because they were so spread out, I instead popped into an inn and decided to make up the difference on rested XP another day. And (before the days of being able to trade BoP items with raid members) when I had to put in a GM ticket to swap a piece of loot, I focused on the fact that Blizzard cares enough about keeping players happy that they will do something trivial like allow me get a gear upgrade. Now I'm even more amazed by some of this after reading WoW.com's report the other day that Blizzard tracks 180,000 bugs at any one time. That's a hell of a lot of content to be weeding through and still find time to make one individual's gameplay experience a priority. So perk up and show some appreciation. We'll always find things to complain about, but there's so much more to be excited about. If you need further proof, just take a look at Project Lore's blog page on any given day and learn about what Blizz plans next.

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Activision-Blizzard and several other leading developers of MMORPGs are the targets of a a lawsuit recently filed by Paltalk Holdings, according to an article in the Boston Globe. The complaint alleges that the makers of many leading MMORPGs have infringed upon Paltalk's patented technology that allows players at separate computers around the world to see the same images in-game simultaneously. According to the article:

"In 2002, Paltalk purchased two patents from a company called HearMe, covering technologies for sharing data among many connected computers so that all users see the same digital environment. Paltalk claims that the data-sharing technologies used in games... violate those patents."

Other developers named in the suit include Sony Corp., which created Everquest; Turbine Inc., the makers of Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online; South Korea's NCSoft Corp., maker of Guild Wars; and British firm Jagex Ltd., which makes Runescape. We've reported in the past on several other lawsuits involving Blizzard, such as one on a "Virtual World" patent, and it seems that there's always something new coming up that they must defend. Perhaps what sets this case apart is that Paltalk already defended the same patent against Microsoft Corp. In 2006, Paltalk sued Microsoft for its alleged use of the technology in Halo. The case was set to go to trial in March until Microsoft opted to settle out of court, paying Paltalk an undisclosed amount to license the patent rights, and in the process conceding that the patents are valid. And it's obvious that Paltalk means business just based on where the case was filed: the U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas, "one of the nation’s most popular venues for patent lawsuits," because of its label as a "plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction." Looks like Blizzard could have a bit of a fight ahead if the technology it uses can be proven to be different from Paltalk's proprietary designs. Or, it may need to pay up for licensing rights.

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We reported, pre-Blizzcon, that Blizzard had created several new Twitter accounts, each focused on one of the company's key franchises. Some of you started following them instantly, while others maintained their distance from the social networking site wonder what, precisely, it could offer beyond the usual community or news features. Well, so far, the latter would be right. Posts have generally concerned themselves with daily questions, opinion polls, and highlighting the more creative aspects of the Blizzard fandom (things like fan art, stories, and, most recently, papercraft). Though there is an on-going Battlecry contest -- in which fans of the Horde or Alliance update their own accounts with "For the ____!" whenever their side's banner is lifted -- there have yet to be any prizes that you can actually use within the game. But, a recent post on the Warcraft Twitter page hints that might not be the case for long:

We are talking to our licensing department about giving out some#WoW in-game pets/mounts through Twitter. Looks promising. Stay tuned.

That's right, soon enough, you could be earning in-game content just for participating in the usual Twitter shenanigans. I can tell you from personal experience that it's not a sham, either. I recently won a Starcraft 2 Beta Key through Blizzard's Starcraft Twitter page. Generally, these contests involve little more than "re-tweeting" a phrase or offering up your own thoughts on a given subject. At 140 characters, that's not very hard at all. So what sorts of things might Blizzard actually give out? According to another tweet from yesterday, quite possible pets and mounts normally available only through loot cards:

What types of in-game prizes would you like to see us give on Twitter? Interested in #WoW TCG loot items? Spectral Tiger Mounts maybe?

This is wonderful news for those who have no interest in playing (or spending money) on the Trading Card Game. I wouldn't expect to see anything game-changing to be offered through these contests, but vanity items like Spectral Tiger Mounts, alone, are desirable and rare prizes. Do you think this sort of giveaway might get you to sign up for Twitter if you haven't already? Well, if you do, please make sure to follow Project Lore and myself, as well! We're always keen on having new friends to talk to!

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