Archive for November, 2008

Behind the Scenes Look at Creation of LOTRO Mines of Moria

Friday, November 28th, 2008

 

For those of you who enjoy knowing about the behind the scenes work of how a game is created and all the work that goes into it (and who fantasize about doing the same thing for a living in the future) here is a look into the group at Turbine that brought us LOTRO Mines of Moria from G4TV.

There are 2 videos, aptly named Part 1 & Part 2

This is the intro from the site:

Part 1: “This week, Casey and The MMO Report bring you a very special episode focusing on the new Lord of the Rings Online expansion The Mines of Moria. We visited Turbine Studios to get the inside scoop on just what it takes to bring Middle Earth to life in the metaverse. This new expansion brings 10 additional levels, the Runkeeper and Warden classes, and a new Legendary Weapons system that’s sure to add countless hours of tweaking and customization to your daily grind. But the big news is the Mines; a massive Dwarven kingdom that trumps any underground dungeon we’ve seen before. Oh yeah, and you get to chill with a Balrog.”

 

Part 2: “On this Thanksgiving day, we bring you part 2 of our Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria launch special, giving you even more of the finer details of the first retail expansion for the only Tolkien-based MMO. We got some one-on-one time with Turbine’s resident Lore Monkey, a personal tour through the mines themselves, and Casey even got the chance to become an orc.”

Sit back and enjoy!

 

The Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria- Save 25% at Amazon- $29.96

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Lord of The Rings Online Mines of Moria Expansion Pack Now Available-Reviews

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

 

 

As you know, Lord of the Rings Online‘s first retail expansion pack Mines of Moria was released on Nov 17 after a lot of hype and anticipation. 1st person reviews have been good and 2 are included here. LOTRO Mines of Moria is available for $36.99 at AMAZON.com (cheapest price I’ve found- Walmart is at $39.82) Amazon.com still my favorite vendor for games-usually cheapest price, they ship promptly and will make it right if any problems.

The Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria from Amazon.com

 



This is a good quick synopsis of what you will find from a GameSpot first impression:

Although the original Lord of the Rings Online had its fair share of caves to explore, Mines of Moria offers a whole new area that’s completely below ground. It’s the stomping ground of the dwarves, who populate a lot of the area and congregate at the major city of Moria. Aside from this completely new area to explore, the expansion will add a new level cap and two new classes, and will let you forge legendary items. The level cap will now jump up to level 60, and the two new classes are the runekeeper and the warden. The runekeeper is particularly interesting, given that it will be the first completely magic-based character in the game.

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For a more indepth 1st person review of someone who has taken Mines of Moria through its paces here are some snips of a very good review from Matt McLean from MPOG.com with a link to the article:

 

…After consulting with the map, I discover there are actually a couple of ways to get into Eregion proper. I decide to head towards the Giant Halls south of Rivendell. It’s a pretty straight shot into Eregion from there, and before you know it, I’m in undiscovered country. I roam around Eregion for a while, picking up one of the travel locations early on within Eregion. As more of the map is discovered, I’m really blown away by the vista before me.

Eregion is a landscape of mountains and green grassy areas…rolling hills and crumbling ruins. It’s a beautiful place, and in the distance, you can make out the mountains which house the Mines of Moria. I know that’s what I’m really after, so I head south and east and approach the gate to the Walls of Moria.Legendary weapons are a great new aspect of LotRO that I’ve been looking forward to for months. This gives you the opportunity to create a weapon that’s made specifically for you and you alone. Identifying the weapon lets you see what its legacy is. The legacy of the weapon tells you what special stats that particular weapon gives you. Usually there are anywhere from 3 to 5 different stat modifiers on each weapon. These legacies can be increased as the weapon levels up..Read more HERE

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Can Pro Athletes Secret Weapon Become The New Hidden Weapon in the Gamers Arsenal?

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Can golf pros’ and world class athletes’ secret weapon that tunes the body’s energy field & busts stress be the gamers’ new hidden weapon in the arsenal to supercharge your performance?

It’s not a new program, computer enhancement, strategy or cheat code book- its something you wear. When your concentration has to be sharp, your movements precise and controlled, like in tournament play- clarity of mind and controlling stress is key.

Over 300 golf pro winners as well as athletes including Olympians have been using this for years to get into the “zone” of peak performance. Reports are of increased energy, sharpened mental focus, more control as well as improved health and wellbeing. Some report never taking them off for years!

It’s called Qlink.

Qlink is the name of (cool looking) patented pendants and bracelets that have proprietary SRT™ technology (explained below) built into them to balance your body’s biofields and counter the effects of electromagnetic fields from computers (who spends more time in front of the computer than gamers and programmers?), cellphones, any electronic devices in the home as well as EMFs and other stressors in the atmosphere. The QLink’s technology lasts a lifetime.

The name QLink is derived from ‘Quantum Link‘ because the technology works at the deepest or quantum level. In 1994, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the term “Biofield.”

A Biofield is an ensemble or matrix of different energies that extend outward from each person’s body. When your Biofield functions optimally, your whole being functions more optimally.

From Steve McGregor
BioMeridian Corporation
“I have conducted thousands of tests using the BioMeridian FDA-Registered MSA-21 stress assessment system in every industry and I have never seen anything like the Q-Link results. Whether the Q-Link was worn for 2 minutes or 2 days, every subject exhibited a dramatic increase in measurable energy, a strengthened resistance to the effects of stress, & a shift to their ideal performance state.”

QLink’s SRT™ technology was developed in collaboration with scientists at Stanford University and conducted at the University of California Irvine, and others. Research published in medical journals includes EEG brain wave studies, cellular studies on blood, stress tolerance of human tissue cells, plus stress studies on virtually all areas of the body

  • If disturbed, your overall balance is quickly reset, and imbalances quickly self-corrects while wearing the Qlink.
  • Your body’s natural ability to self-heal is strengthened.
  • Your whole system reorganizes at a higher level of performance – one that is more robust in creatively adapting to stress.
  • Increases energy and enhances mental performance especially under stress

Its easy to see why the pro athletic community as well as celebrities, and high tech business people have latched onto this product.

What is inside the Qlink? It is engineered using 3 components: a resonating cell, the Sympathetic Resonance Technology (SRT-3) and an amplifying coil.


Resonating cell


Amplifying coil

The main component, the resonating cell containing a proprietary formula of pure crystalline elements, works as an oscillator that converts and conducts subtle energy into more coherent energy states. The SRT-3 tunes the cell’s vibrations for the wearer’s Biofield . The amplifying coil shapes and strengthens the size of the energy field that is conducted. It extends the power of the sympathetic resonance into a 3-dimensional field. This entire process clarifies the user’s energy states, and thereby strengthens the internal power and resilience of the wearer, allowing him to more effectively filter out chaotic type energies.

Here’s the link to the Qlink Site for more info.

They also have a site dedicated to Golfers who wear Qlink (probably the group with the longest successful history) that has more info on it available HERE

***Gamers may be the next group of users to gain a personal performance advantage by wearing Qlink into competitions. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who is using Qlink. Full disclosure here- I am an affiliate for this product.  If you do buy please use my affiliate ID at check out #14615 Thanks!


QLINK HAS A 90 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

 

Here are a few of the hundreds of unsolicited, unpaid testimonials:

Scott McCarron
3 Time PGA Tour Winner
“With Q-Link, I jumped almost 1000 spots in the PGA Tour rankings in less than a year – one of the biggest jumps in history. I wore Q-Link during my recent 2nd place finish at the Wyndham Championship. Q-Link and its SRT technology made me calmer, more focused and gave me the ability to think more clearly. I wasn’t frustrated during my rounds and afterward, was able to sleep better because of Q-Link.”

Peter Sage, 31
Entrepeneur and Trainer
“Wearing the Q-Link, I was surprised at how much quicker my body recovered each night. It really made a difference” Peter Sage 31 (Entrepreneur and Tony Robbins Trainer), after completing the formidable Marathon Des Sables – an epic ’7 Marathons in 7 days’ race across the Sahara Desert.”

Alex Shabelov
American Chess Grandmaster
2007 U.S. Champion Chess Player Pittsburgh, PA

“My mental coach introduced me to Q-Link in April 2007, a couple of weeks before the US Championship. At that point, my chess had been in a slow but steady (and extremely frustrating) decline for a few years. So I felt that to wear some weird device just to please the old man couldn’t hurt. I felt no difference in my physical or psychological condition until, a month later, I found myself getting the winner’s check and the 2007 US Champion’s bracelet! Although I was not a stranger to winning big events throughout my career, things were completely different this time. Normally it would take me months to recover from a tournament of this magnitude, to calm my nerves. But this time, although I was physically exhausted, I felt emotionally unscathed. Does Q-Link have anything to do with that? I don’t know, but guess if I care! There are two World Cups for me to play, classical chess in November in Russia and rapid chess in January in Ukraine I know that I have a secret weapon –

 

The Legal Stuff:

QLINK /SRT BRAND PRODUCTS DISCLAIMER:

Neither Clarus, Transphase Scientific Inc /Clarus Products International nor its Distributors, Partners or Resellers make any claim that any of its products are intended to prevent, cure, mitigate, treat or diagnose disease. If you believe you have a problem, see your doctor or health care professional immediately.

 

 

Click to Verify

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Free Online Video Game Magazines for Gamers – EZ Online Subscription PDF Delivery

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

GamerZines offers free magazines for XBox 360, Playstation 3, PC gaming, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS and MMORPG gamers. All professionally written, they are available for free immediate download as PDFs.

Included in the line up is MMOZINE, the free MMORPG magazine which this month offers previews of the two major MMO events for November, the expansions for Lord of the Rings Online and World of Warcraft. In LotRO, we explore the new Mines of Moria area and examine the new features the expansion brings, while in Warcraft we take a tour round Dalaran, the sky-bound city being brought into play in Wrath of the Lich King.

Take a look HERE

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World of Warcraft Wrath of Lich King Preview Video

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

Here’s a tasty morsel from Blizzard courtesy of You Tube

 

 

World of Warcraft Wrath of Lich King Expansion Pack Avail 11/13- Read Warnings on Retailer Policies

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

 

 

 

Just a heads up that we are a little over a week away from the North American release of World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Expansion pack. A reminder that with many of you pre-ordering, be sure to take a look at the post on this site dated 10/4 about retailer policies on preorders, particularly if you are expecting to receive or pick up your pack at the retailer on 11/13. It pays to read the fine print so you won’t be disappointed or overcharged.

My favorite source for pre-ordering games is Amazon. Their service is consistent (they are one of the largest online retailers and they have it down as to customer service) and if, on rare occasions, they screw up, they will make it right.

Release date delivery shipping cost (to lower 48 states) is $5.98 vs. $4.49 which is their regular delivery charge- cheap compared to other retailers for release date 11/13 delivery. Alaska and Hawaii orders will be shipped on the release date and will arrive thereafter. Premium shipping comes with a tracking number so you can track your package online.

 

Buy Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack From Amazon

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