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 This is part 2 of a 2 part series. 

The first post, is how to play Blackjack – and it’s a playing strategy, which I came up with after 2 years of dealing the game.  It’s unconventional, but an excellent way to win.  You can click here, to see the post.  I originally decided to put the guide up, because a lot of MMO games, have casino games inside their own games, and understanding the game can help you to easily win.

When you play any game, it’s easy to just drone on, and play the same amount of money each time.  However in any game, the house has an advantage.  Over time, this advantage will mean you lose, when it’s applied.  For example, Blackjack has a 4% house advantage.  That means for every $1000 you bet, you will LOSE $40.  The only way around this, is to use a betting strategy, along with a playing strategy in order to win more.

There are 2 betting strategies I am going to suggest, either is acceptable to use.  I will also explain some of the more stupid betting strategies.  In these strategies, I am going to refer to the amount as units.  If you normally play $5 a hand, then your $5 will equal 1 unit.  If you normally bet $25, then your $25 will equal 1 unit.  2 units, will be 2x your normal bet.  4 units will be 4x your normal bet.

The first, thing we are going to do, is bet your normal unit.  If you lose, bet 1 unit.  When you win your first time, don’t change your bet, bet the same unit.  If you win the next hand,  increase your bet by 1 unit, so that it is now 2 units.  If you the next hand, increase your bet by 1 unit, making it 3 units.  If you lose, go back to 1 unit.  If you win the next hand, increase your bet by 1 unit, so that it is now 4 units.  Keep this up till you lose, then when you lose, decrease your bet to 1 unit, and start over.

A variation of this, is to bet 1 unit, wait till 2 wins in a row, then bet 1.5 units.  If you again win, increase your bet by 1/2 the amount currently bet.  If you lose, bet 1 unit again, and start over.  If you win, increase your bet by 1/2 the amount currently bet. etc. 

Both of the above methods are are acceptable ways to bet.  You will keep control of your money, and it will be hard to lose, but if you get on a winning streak, you will win a lot more.  They are called winning strategies.

There are a couple variations of the above strategies, which are not good, and will ultimately make you lose.  Remember them, don’t do them…

When you lose a hand, double your bet.  Each time you lose, double your bet.  The problem with this, is that when you finally win, you will only win your original bet.  Using numbers to follow this method, think of it as $10 being doubled till it hits $320.  You will have bet a total of $310.  So when you do finally win, you will only gain the extra $10.  And whats worse, is when you hit the table limit, and can’t double the bet anymore.  This is called losing progressive.

Another losing strategy is to double your bet, each time you win, every time.  So if you bet 1 unit, and win, then the next hand, you bet 2 units, then 4 units, then 8 units… but the problem here, is that when you do lose, if you don’t pull anything back, you will lose the original unit you bet, and eventually go down.

Ever wonder why casinos in most places give you free drinks? It’s to make you not able to keep track of your betting strategies and playing strategies.

 I once had a guy playing roulette (pick a number and hope it hits).  He bet red, and put down $100.  Then when he lost, he bet $200.  When he lost again, he bet $400… he kept betting, till he hit the table limit.  Now in Roulette, there is 45% chance that the dealer will roll your red and 45% chance to roll black, with a 10% chance to roll green, the zero and double zero.  However the law of averages doesn’t alway apply… eventually, the dealer will hit your color, but there is no way to say when it will be.  That day, I rolled 17 in a row… no red.  He lost over $3000 in less then 15 minutes, because he did a losing progressive, and then hit the table limit.  Had there been no limit and had he enough money, he would have won $100 eventually. 

I hope this info helped you, being a dealer I learned some other things as well.  One of the best tips I can tell you, after dealing in both Nevada and California, is to tip the dealer.  I know, you think it’s just a gift, why should you do it, right?  Here’s some hidden info… the dealer can control if you win or lose.  How? I will leave that up to your speculation, but let me just leave you with this… it’s not necessarily them cheating, there are other methods to make you win or lose.

You’re probably wondering why I am posting this, when this site is for MMO’s and RPG’s, right?  Well the otherday, I was trying out Fallen Earth, and popped into one of their “casinos” to check it out.  They had some slot machines (don’t play them) and blackjack.  So I went ahead and played and doubled my money.  Worked out well for me, and I had some more chips (the currency in FE).  So I began to think of all the mmo’s out there, which also have games inside the games, and am now going to share with you, a playing strategy, I came up with after 2 years of dealing blackjack in Las Vegas casinos.  I dealt a total of 10 years, and dealt blackjack, craps, roulette, and poker as a dealer, so have an extensive knowledge of each game.  Of these games, the house advantage is about 4% in Blackjack, 1.5% in Craps (on some bets), astronomical in Roulette, and about 1-5% in Poker… of course in Poker the house gets a take of the pot.

First off, let me explain something about my playing strategy… you can play like this in casinos, it works.  It also pisses off a ton of people, who always refer to “the book”.  The Book, is a playing strategy thats similar to mine, but written with some differences that make it safer to play.  To explain my playing strategy, let me start by telling you most simply what blackjack is.  Blackjack is a game played with up to 7 players who bet against the dealer.  The player tries to get closest to 21, without going over, yet still beating the dealer.

In all, there are 13 different cards in a Blackjack deck.  They are the Ace, which counts as either 1 or 11, and you can play it as either. There are also the 2-10, jack, queen, and king.  The J, Q, K count as 10, and represent 10.  In all there are 4 cards of the 13, which count as 10.  Thats about 1/3 of the cards in the deck.  Sometimes in Blackjack, the 2, is refered to the dealer’s ace.  This is because when the dealer has a 2 up, the chance of having a 10 underneath AND getting another 10 to pust is very difficult, there’s about a 1/10 chance of that happening.  More often, the dealer will make a hand with a 2 up.  I am telling you this now, as this will play into my strategy, which you will see.

When the dealer is showing a 7 or higher, you want to assume that the dealer is going to have a hand they can stand on. This means you want to hit till your cards equal 17 or more. 

If the dealer is showing an Ace up, there is a 1/3 chance the dealer will get Blackjack, which is an Ace and any 10 (10, J, Q, K).  The dealer will always ask for insurance.  Knowing that there is about a 1/3 chance he will have blackjack, you shouldn’t insure your bet, ever! 

If the dealer is showing a 2-6 up, we assume the dealer has a 10 underneath and and try not to bust ourself or get into situations where we can bust – which is to go over 21.

Special circumstances…

• If you have a 12 or 13 and the dealer is showing a 2 up, you should hit once.
• If the dealer is showing a 3 up, and you have 12, you should hit once.
• If you have a pair of Aces… should should hit them.  Never spit them!  The chance that you will make 2 winning hands is about 25% of the time.  More likely then not, you will push, and only a 25% chance to win.  Hitting them, gives you a better chance to make a hand.
• If you have a pair of 8s.  Split them when the dealer is showing a 2-8.  Do not split if the dealer is showing a 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace.
• If you have a pair of 9’s… Stay.  Do not split them under any circumstances.
• If you have a pair of 10, J, Q, K, or any combination… Stay.  UNLESS, the dealer has a 3, 4, 5, or 6 up.  Then you should split them, and take only one card on each.  Do not resplit them, as you are able to do, if you get another 10, J, Q, K.
• Do not split any other pair.
• Double Down, on 10 or 11 – but only when the dealer is showing a 3-9.  If the dealer is showing 2, any 10, or an Ace, you don’t want to risk the double.
• If the dealer is showing 2 - 6, and you have a pair of Aces, you can double down on them (remember, don’t split them).

You would be surprised how many players have gotten up from the table I have played at.  Unfortunately, this information is against “the book” and it goes against how others play.

About tipping…

If you plan to play in a real casino, with a real dealer… tip the dealer.  The dealer relies on your tips to make money those cheap ass casinos only give them minimum wage.  If you think tipping $1 while you are betting $100 is good, piss off!  Every 3rd winning hand, you should tip the dealer 10% of what you bet on the average.  You can ask the dealer if they want to play it or bet it, or you can make the decision for them… but if you bet for them and then split or double, make sure to bet more for them too.

Here are the most common lies we heard as dealers…

1. I tip when I win
2. I tip when I am done playing

When someone says either of the above, we know you are lying and will never tip us, so don’t bother saying it.  Sadly, as a group, Chinese and Hawaiian’s tip the worst, if at all.

My next post will be betting strategies, be sure to read that, before you start playing using the above method. 

There are many rumors around like:

• Having your full dp will increase your chances.

This has been proven untrue.  Check these stats…

1500 attempts at Manastones WITH 4000 DP - 200 ended up as a crit.
1500 attempts at Manastones WITHOUT 4000 DP – 279 ended up as a crit.
1500 attempts at Manastones WITH 4000 DP - 224 ended up as a crit.
1500 attempts at Manastones WITHOUT 4000 DP – 283 ended up as a crit.

In fact the stats somewhat suggest that having full DP, might actually hurt the master crafting attempts.

• Failing an item before crafting the wanted HQ.

This one is absolutely not true.  The above stats, should prove that one too.

• Preparing all the materials waiting for 2 days then crafting.

This one is actually unconfirmed.  We need you to help us test this and report back on it.

Is there anything that has helped you to Master Craft statistically more often? Please share.

So it seems that Star Trek Online is now open to the public to play.  I got a couple emails announcing the release today.  Here’s the Press Release…

STO AVAILABLE NOW

Greetings Captain!
Star Trek Online is available right now! It’s your chance to seek out new life and civilizations, and embark on a personal Star Trek journey.

You now have the opportunity to visit iconic locations from the popular Star Trek fiction, reach out to unexplored star systems, and make contact with new alien species. With Episode Missions, every moment spent playing Star Trek Online feels like a new Star Trek episode in which you are the star.

Immerse yourself in the future of the Trek universe as it moves into the 25th century.

It looks like this will cost $15 a month, since sub cards are right around $30.  Also, the game itself is about 4.8gb, or if you find a place to download it, about a 3.5 gb installer.

I haven’t really decided if I want to play this one, however my experience with MMO’s when they are first released is buggy as all heck.  It’s for this reason I won’t even consider playing for the first month.  Usually they release games in a beta state and fix the bugs over the next coming weeks.  Or in some cases, as was the case of Darkfall (worst release on the planet), there is a 3-5 hour queue.  I will probably try it after a few weeks, allowing time for bug fixes and server mitigation.

If you are looking for a place to get STO Software or Subscription Cards, I recommend Amazon.com.

So I was searching for places to advertise rpg-exploiters… strangely, I came across a online poker site that advertised free to play, and win real money.  So, I decided to check it out.  Now the strange part comes in.  There are Evony ads on the site on a rotating banner, they are flash of course… but they have scantily clad women.  Now, I have played Evony, and no where, not even in chat do we ever see scantily attired women.  We don’t even get avatars or even small icons, that could allude to sex… and let me set this forward… this ad was selling sex… but on Evony?  If you actually look at the ads, there isn’t even a message about what the game is about.

On a side note, I wanted to share some enlightening information… Evony cost less then $10k to create.  I myself spent around $20 on it.  I figure, if I like a game, I can spend money, but I try not to exceed $20 a month…  I played for about a month so the amount I spent, wasn’t bad.  I did get into the intrigue, learned some interesting lessons. I spied, infiltrated, had a bit of fun and laughs, and more… but the thing is, I thought $20 was a lot… I recently spoke with a guy I know, who admitted to spending over $200 on it… o.O   I suppose we each put value where we enjoy things in life.  I just wish I had more disposable income, that I could throw that kind of money around and not flinch.

Anyways, if you have the time, check out the poker site.  You might even see me online playing (be merciful).  And if you make money, give me 20%, k?

written by Kynox

So, another day in the WoW botting community has come by, and just like every other day, someone has released some two-bit bot. Except, this isn’t just someone, for it is the same people Cypher and I destroyed a few months back.

The mimic team are back in all their fury, with another terribly written, hilariously advertised bot, that as per usual, is advertised with a number of false claims.

“I can assure you, its NOT injection” was one of the claims spouted, yet as you can expect, a stupidly named DLL was found; containing all of the bots interoperability between WoW and itself. In addition to this, three API hooks are present: LoadLibraryA, GetCursorPos and GetPhysicalCursorPos.

The first, LoadLibraryA, was to protect it from.. GameGuard. Yes, they are hiding their module from an anti-cheat from another game. Why would they do this you might ask? Who fucking knows what goes through the minds of the mimic-devs.

The second and third are used to send mouse movements to the game while it doesn’t have focus.

In summary, do not use this bot, and if you have.. see me in a week or so .

2031f09253e0dbc911a8813616cdf9b1486b52fc (SHA1 hash of the trailing block of text, for verification purposes)

Time-zone is NZST.

15:43 – 19/12/09

So, if you’re reading this and wondering why your account has been banned.. i’m truly sorry. We’ve gotta let the WardenDev show his glory somehow, right!?

So 5 1/2 hours ago (from the date noted above), a new memory scan was pushed into Warden, which targeted AIOBot. If you were caught up in this, then shame on you for buying into such a shitty and detectable piece of software.

Seeing as the auth servers are now (presumably. hard to tell with the ddos) closed, now seems like an opportune moment to unmask this.

Thanks to the help of the Are_PayPal plugin author, I was able to figure out where the problem was on users not being able to subscribe for access.  This has been fixed now, and new subscribers should be able gain access to both pay for access and to then get access to the posts they pay for.  Sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused.

Additionally, I have been told that there will be an interruption of my internet connection due to some street work.  I do expect my internet to be down for 3-7 days.  If you subscribe for access, you will have access to past posts, as well as future posts if you pay monthly.  Otherwise, you will have access to just the post you pay for.

[edit] Yay! So far the internet hasn’t gone down.  Hopefully they will keep this up, and not affect me.  Here’s hoping for the best!

A while ago, I found this game, called WoW Connect.  Unfortunately, there is no save feature, so if you come back to it later, you will have to start from level 1 again. However, this is a fun strategy game.  This is not so much of a WoW game, other then it uses WoW icons.  If it had other icons it would be any other game.  I liken it to a mah-jongg solitaire game then anything else.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

WoW Connect

WoW Connect 2

The file is a SWF file, you should be able to save it to your desktop and then open with either Media Player Classic or Internet Explorer.

May all our fortunes grow with this new year upon us.

May your enemies of be stamped out like the scourge that they are, their bones grinding beneath your feet.

I am on vacation and will not be back for about 1 week, however posts will still continue until about the 1st of January.

For those of you who want access to a particular post, or a monthly subscription, there is an error in the subscription code, and I will not be able to figure out the problem, till I return.  However, if you want access to a particular post, please send to subscription@rpg-exploiters.com, the amount of the post as a “gift”, and I will add your access to that post when I return.  Make sure to give me your email, login name, and the post you want access to.  I may check back periodically during my vacation, otherwise you will be given access when I return.  Sorry about the hassle.

Spitt

A short while back, Evony hit the scenes, and it was an instant hit.  I found I could play the game, while at the same time I played another MMO.  Good stuff!  However it seemed so similar to an old game I occasionally play, called Civilization.  If you have actually played either or both of them, you will almost instantly see some resemblances.    However there’s one similarity, you might not be aware of, if you just started playing Evony… it used to be called Civony.  I guess too many people realized it was based on Civ, and they changed it – or maybe it wasn’t and too many people assumed it was based on Civ.  I can’t really say in truth that it’s like Civ, because there are other things inside Evony, that are more similar to other games.  It also reminds me of Warlords 2, but more so of a limited version of Civ.  Thinking on it a bit more, scary as it may seem, it almost seems a lot more like Heroes of Might and Magic 3.  In any case, you’ve read my guides, and now I have a special gift for you.

If anyone is interested in playing the original Civ – or rather Civ 2 (which is actually the 3rd incarnation after Civilization and Civnet), I have uploaded a copy here.  It does allow for multi-players over the internet or hotseat, but there is no way for you to pay to get special advances like in Evony.  There is a warcraft map included, for those of you who want to try a Warcraft/Civilization game.  However I suggest you master Civ, before trying the alternative version of the game.

I have been a long time fan of Exotic beast training with a hunter beast master spec.  I first picked up a Core Hound.  I think I died about 5 times trying to train this, as it would get me down on health, making me use a potion, which would stop me from casting, or it would interrupt my casting.  Imagine my suirprise when I first trained one, to learn that it could resurrect itself in battle!  I really enjoyed the BM spec, but in PvP, I wasn’t doing so well, and had to go to a different spec.  However this post really as nothing to do with my past experiences but rather a really great resource on pets.  You’ve probably heard of Petopia, if you are a Hunter.  But while perusing an ad site, I found something really neat… a new Pet site, which has a lot more features and a slicker look.  I think one of the best features is the 3d models of the pets, so you can really get an idea of what you want model wise.

You can check out WoW Hunter Pets here.

According to my partners at UberGold.com (masters of hand leveling), the best pet to have is the cat.  This is a DPS per which is great for both leveling and PvP.  My personal preference for leveling however, is a defensive pet, as they are better at tanking.

PvP Tip: If you have a core hound (or other rez-able pet), and you are overwhelmed, allow your pet to die, then Feign Death.  If you Feign Death, and your pet is still active, people know you are faking.  But if your pet dies, then you “die” they think you are really dead.  Imagine their surprise when you and your pet “rez”.

Once in a while a site comes along offering something you think is going to be stupendous and right up your alley, right? As you probably already know, I have been asking for people to come here and write articles to get paid for them.  But maybe you decided you have a better chance elsewhere, or you just want to write for “legit” sites, that is sites that offer news, reviews, and guides only.  Today, I got an email from Alltern8.com, describing just that.  They are looking for people to write articles for them.  At first, you don’t get paid.  But if you get a following, you will make money with them.  Sounds pretty good, right?

Writers for Alltern8.com not only entertain, but also provide information, news, expertise, and advice! A cosplay writer may cover the recent winners of an international cosplay contest, whereas a gaming writer may blog about the latest patch notes for a popular MMORPG. The job of an ongoing Alltern8.com contributing writer is to cover the events and news that the community is excited to learn more about! While opinion pieces and reviews are welcome, Alltern8.com strongly encourages its writers to go the extra mile and do research, interviews, and investigative articles.

•     Level 1 (Highest): Regular Correspondent – paid cents OR pence per word rate for a regular column/features
•     Level 2 (Middle Rank) – Paid Blogger, paid $5 (or £2.50) for each day that the blogger posts (minimum 300 words in each post); plus $2.00 (or £1.00) per thousand unique page views
•     Level 3 (No compensation) – Unpaid bloggers, get ranked by traffic, with the top traffic blogger each month being promoted to Paid Blogger (Level 2) status.

Personally, I am not impressed.  Until you get popular, it’s no pay.  When you do get popular, it’s $150 a month.  And assuming you become really really popular, thats when they pay per word.  Maybe it goes up to $250 a month? If you are that popular a writer, then the pittance they offer is nothing.  Even our plan is better then that.

If however you like the idea of what they are offering, you can follow this link to get more information.

As some of you may already know, Cataclysm, the next expansion for WoW, is bringing in Archaeology (allows the player to unlock new abilities and rewards by discovering ancient treasures throughout the world) and Reforging (lets you reduce one stat for another).  While all this sounds interesting, it’s still missing what I have wanted in the game, since the game was released… and all the other cool things which could be added as a result of some of them.

I want to see the following things in World of Warcraft, hopefully in the next expansion… or even sooner?

1. Alignment system: If you attack someone 5 or more levels below you, you get rated as evil… to some extent. More low level kills = more evil. Good players, only kill evil players.  How evil or good you are, will swing merchants or guards in or out of your favor.  Alignment slowly goes back to neutral over the course of a month, if the character abstains from killing lower level peeps or doesn’t play the character.   Imagine getting so evil, your own faction guards start hunting you, or the merchants make you pay full price, even tho you have reputation lowering rates, of course the opposite happens to Good players, but then there are good and evil merchants as well.  Maybe a special reward for being really good or really evil, or even bonuses to stats, healing, etc.
2. Bounty system: Used for killing very evil or good peeps.  Killing a peep with a bounty on their head, raises your standing with the opposite alignment of the bounty player, and lowers theirs with their own alignment.  So  very evil player who gets defeated, become less evil, or vice-versa.  Rewards for the bounty could be something like badges or gold, along with alignment rep rewards.
3. Player housing: I would like to use trophies or even old gear, to decorate my own house or even an apartment.  I know there isn’t really room in WoW to actually have player houses, however each innkeeper could port us to our own “house” where we can also have passwords on them to allow others in or not inside them.  Could also have the ability to expand them for guild halls.  Houses and Halls, to be expanded all have a higher monthly rent.  If not paid, it reduces in size to non-expanded and then all items in the expansion, get put in the mail sent to you.
4. Crafting – Dyes: Allow us to color our armor.  I am sure now that most Scribers (inscription) have found their skill to be a fairly useless skill, after they have all their characters’ inscriptions done. I would love to be able to make dyes, and then be able to dye people’s armor.  Allow them to select the main and off color’s of the armors. How many people would love to get rid of their mismatched armor colors.  Add in a bonus, allow the scribes to mix colors to get different shades.  It means we would only need 5 colors total (red, yellow, blue, black, white) to create more exotic colors.
5. Crafting – Woodworking: Why is it blacksmiths make bullets and engineers make arrows.  Shouldn’t we have woodworking make arrows – and bows, crossbows, staves, shields, fishing poles, wood stock, and other things which could be used by engineers, blacksmiths, and scribes (wood pulp makes paper)?  I am sure they could make other things as well for other skills too.  Heck, with player housing, they could make chairs, benches, tables, etc.
6. Dual Class: Be able to play a priest/warrior.  No, not a paladin.  I am talking about allowing my character to have an off class as well.  Have the main character say the priest, be able to use all the priest spells and only wear cloth, but be able to have some (but not all) of the warrior abilities as well.  This would add a new definition to PvP, and not make people feel so constrained.  Of course the down side of the dual class, would be not being able to have master class abilities.

Come on Blizz, get off your arse and add some things players want for a change! I know for a fact that I am not the only one interested in these things.  If I were then these things wouldn’t be available in other games – yes, you heard me folks, many of these ideas come from other games, they aren’t new, but they are loved by the players of those games.

I think the first player housing came from Ultima Online.  I first saw it back in 2002 in Asheron’s Call.  It was taken to a new art form in StarWars Galaxies.  Dual-Class, I first saw in Runes of Magic, but it’s probably been in other games.  Woodworking is also one I saw in Runes of Magic, but I remember gathering wood in Vanguard.  Dyes… all over the place.  We had it in Asheron’s Call, saw the mixing ability in GuildWars.  Player Bounty, show yourself to be a Jedi in front of any npc, and have a bounty on your head.  Alignment system… that one goes back to the days of Dungeons and Dragons, but I first saw it in an MMO… I think back in 1990… in an AOL MMO.  None of this stuff is new, but these are some great features of MMO’s that are missing from WoW.

By the way, why the heck can engineers make motorcycles, but can’t make gun-turrets, like in Warhammer?  Heck, in a fantasy game, why do we even have motorcycles?  And while I am on the annoyances, Age of Conan as a game I didn’t really like.  But one feature I loved, was being able to see what was in front of my character, without having to zoom in to first person, when running through some bushes.  AoC actually cleared that crap away in a bubble when looking at the toon.  Great feature!

First off, this isn’t just a plug for my site, UberGold.com, you can use this anywhere you like to buy gold.  The important thing is that if you buy gold, that you buy it now and not later.  Here’s why… A few years back, gold farmers learned that if they scammed accounts, they could take all the gold, farm a little more with hacks, and then not worry if the accounts were banned.  An account might last 3-7 days on hack farming, and at level 70, they were reaping in 2k a day (non-hackers were doing 1k a day).  I have no idea how much they can make at level 80.  However, now that Blizzard added the Battle.net accounts, scammed account supplies are running out quick!  This means that soon, the only gold farmers will be legit farmers, who either level their own accounts, or buy them.  What this all means, is that the gold price, is about to spike and go higher then it’s been in the last few years.  I would not doubt that we see the rate jump to at least $15 – $30 per 1000 soon.  Now that gold farmers are going to have to buy keys and accounts, once they factor that into gold prices, they are going to zoom!

Yah, I know, you won’t believe me when I tell you that UberGold.com is not a hack farming gold company.  The only way I can offer my proof, is that our prices are slightly higher then the competition.  The guys you normally buy gold from, that sell it for super cheap, get it super cheap.  When a company pays more for it, they are getting it from non-hack farmers.

Anyways, back to the point at hand… buy gold now.  Buy is from UberGold.com or buy it from whoever is your regular supplier.  Don’t wait till prices start going up.

Tip: Want to know who’s a legit company, when it comes to gold and leveling? Check out Complaintsboard.com.  People can tell their horror stories there.  Want to see one of the worst? Look up “powerlevelings” and find the site with that name.  Cheapest doesn’t always mean it’s the best :p

In a bid to offer something that no one else has, I am extending an offer to you.  If you can write programs, figure out new exploits, write guides, make macros, or anything else which is MMO related, we are allowing users to pay for access to posts, and YOU get paid.

Here’s how it works… You write content, and hide it for other users to pay for access, using special tags I’ll give you.  Someone comes to the site, and decides they want access to the site or post.  They pay for access… after 30 days, you get paid.  You will be paid 33% of the rate.  So if you have 25 people purchase a post, and we set the amount for $2.99, you will make $25 for just one post.

Use the contact form below, if you are interested in becoming a writer here.

Hi folks, just updating you on some MMO news, and things what have been happening lately.  I want to draw special attention to the WoW 5th anniversary sweepstakes and the book for WoW, which leads us on to pre-Cataclysm.  Some very interesting stuff going on.

World of Warcraft News

• New Non-Combat Pets For Sale – The Blizzard Store received a new addition this week in the form of non-combat pets for sale. That’s right, folks Blizzard is now selling in game items for real world money. Now this, as you can imagine, has produced every reaction possible from the community from members jumping on the proverbial bandwagon to those who say WoW is “ruined”.
• WoW Fifth Anniversary Sweepstakes – WoW’s fifth anniversary falls on the 23rd of this month and as a way to thank their loyal customers they are running a different sweepstakes style giveaway every week this month. Last week’s winner received a limited edition World of Warcraft Charge of the Great Dragonflights Stein courtesy of sponsor Taverncraft. This weeks winners will receive a pair of gaming glasses from Gunnar optiks. The best thing…you don’t have to lift a finger, all WoW subscribers are automatically entered to win (rules are here)! So, sit back, relax and cross your fingers…you could be the next lucky one!
• Curse Client v4 in Open Beta – Curse recently released version 4 of their addon client to open beta. The new version is a pretty major overhaul from the current client both in looks and functionality. Version 4 brings users desired features like change logs, addon package creation and added security. Some features will still be reserved only for premium users, but the client itself will pester users a lot less about upgrading. There is also a bug reporting system built right in to the client so devs will have an easier time tracking and fixing user’s issues. The new client is available for download here and comes in both PC and Mac versions.
• Updated Patch 3.3 Notes – The 3.3 PTR received a couple of updates over the past week. Some of the items effected by the recent changes were the map interface, quest log and meeting stones.
• WoW TCG Realm Championships – The WoW TCG has had a busy year and has just finished up with their World Championships. Still, they announced this week that they will be holding their Realm Championships November 14-15th in cities around the world including San Diego, Helsinki, Singapore and Melbourne just to name a few. Although the tournament play is by invite only, the events will have plenty of fun open to the public. To see a full list of cities, check out their website. If you’ve never been to a TCG event, they are a lot of fun and definitely worth checking out, so if one is coming to your city make sure you grab the chance!
• WoW Cataclysm Novel Releasing in August 2010 – A listing showed up this week on Amazon that pegged the release of the hardcover version of the novel entitled World of Warcraft. The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm for August 31, 2010. This is really exciting news for all you lore nerds out there and it has also caused some speculation in the WoW community over the possible indication of the expansion release date. See, some will say that since the book is a “prelude”, the expansion will not release until after the book comes out. I think Blizzard has their own schedule in mind and that the two releases have nothing to do with one another. Only time will tell. Anyhow, the book is available for pre-order now for $26 on WoW: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm via Amazon.com.
• Comic Corner – This weeks comic corner will start off with the latest commandment from NoObz! and I have to say this one made me gasp…then laugh! Guess all you devoted WoW players might want to go check what’s going on in the next room after reading this one! Ok, on to the next one which is from Experience Points and it shows Vincent all excited over his brand new gaming blog and his new readers…but only for a moment. Now the next two comics had me really rolling with laughter, I mean they are the ones that make me glad there is no one else in my office! First the one from The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf which shows sometimes it pays to be frugal (or not)…LMAO! Then there is the latest from Dungeons and Draenai. It is two simple frames of absolute hilarity…perfection! LOL
• Stone Keeper’s Shards Post 3.3 - Blizzard poster, Zarhym cleared something up in a forum post this week regarding Stone Keeper’s Shards and the new Cross-Realm LFG System. The burning question from players was, what happens when you’re in a PUG that takes advantage of the cross-server system? Answer, the system will check to see if your home realm’s Wintergrasp is captured by your faction, if so you will get shard drops from bosses; if not you will not. The system will perform this check for each player in the PUG and those who are not supposed to get shards won’t even see them show up as a loot option on the bosses, so no “Hey! Where are MY shards!?” loot drama…thanks Blizz!
• Create Merchandise Based on In-Game Characters – Blizzard has again expanded it’s offering of customizable merchandise with the opening of the Print Warcraft site. This site will allow you to create art like posters and prints based on your in-game characters. There are a ton of customization options once you have selected your character, realm and print size you will be able to choose from a number of different backgrounds, borders, poses, pets and more! The prints start at $17.99 and go up to about $30. This seems like it would make a pretty cool Christmas gift for your favorite WoW player…or for yourself!
• Haris Pilton’s New Bag – Well we were pretty sure that Blizzard couldn’t resist giving us yet another pre-expansion gold sink and we were right. This week Haris Pilton, Shattrath socialite extraordinaire, began to peddle her limited edition accessories on the 3.3 PTR. And we noticed something…she has an all new item called the Portable Hole which is a BOE 24 slot bag retailing for a mere 3,000 Gold! Hey…style does NOT come cheap!
• Movie of the Week – This week’s featured movie is called Mankrik’s Wife: The Story and for anyone who has done the quest or even heard about the quest to find Mankrik’s Wife, this one will strike a funny bone. I think the amnesia is hysterical…it reminds me of Dory from the Disney movie “Finding Nemo”. It’s pretty good!
• New Buff Applied to PuG’s – Blizzard’s new Dungeon System, now on the PTR, is pretty cool and I honestly cannot see why anyone would NOT want to use it! But, in case you needed a little more incentive (aside from the extra gold and badges we already told you about)…here it is, groups who utilize the new dungeon system to PUG at least one member of their group will receive the “Luck of the Draw” buff while fighting in the dungeon. This buff increases the group’s damage, healing and base health all by 5%! Now, if for some reason this still isn’t enough incentive…how about a cool little non-combat pet as a reward for Pugging? Take a look at this little guy and tell me you don’t want to use the new system all the time! Adorable!
• Instance Teleporting in 3.3/Meeting Stone Changes – In the most recent patch notes, I know I had a question of mine answered about the new “summon from anywhere” deal that is present in the new dungeon LFG system. Now, as we have pointed out before, the system will teleport you from wherever you are when your group has formed and your dungeon is ready. But, what happens when the dungeon is cleared and you leave? Well it seems you will go right back to wherever you were before being teleported. Makes sense and that will keep people from signing up for a Violet Hold just to get a free hearth to Dalaran, too! Another related change is that meeting stones will only require that a player be level 15 to use them and there is no maximum level restriction on any of them anymore.
• Charity Drives For the Holidays – Now that Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is just around the corner many people get in the giving spirit. There are a couple of WoW related charity drives going on that we thought were worth a mention. Azeroth United is running a charity drive for Child’s Play and a donation of as little as $10 will get you entered into a drawing for gift baskets full of awesome wow-related prizes, so make sure you check it out at azerothunited.com. Next we have a very special in game event to tell you about called Raid for the Cure taking place this Saturday on the Kael’Thas (US) server at 2pm Central time. This is an event organized by the Sidhe Devils guild on that server in support of one of their own recently diagnosed with breast cancer where players will participate in an in-game version of the “walk for a cure” fundraiser. All details are available on bigbearbutt.com including donation details, raffles and start and end times/places. This is a great idea to show support and make a difference! We will be there…will you?
• Product Spotlight – Spugnort’s Warcraft PvP Guide has been touted for years as the absolute BEST on the market! This guide is now updated fully to include the Death Knight strategy section and all class and PvP changes which were pushed live with the arrival of patch 3.2. This guide is undoubtedly the best on the market and an essential part of any gamer’s library! Get your copy today and start stockpiling the honor, arena points and Battleground victories you deserve!

Aion News

• 1.5.1 Patch Additions - NCSoft has announced a group of changes that are scheduled to be implemented this month on live servers, although there is no official release date yet. The changes include improvements/additions to many aspects of the game including characters, quests and User Interface changes. To see the full list, head on over to the Aion official news site.
• Aion Fan Art on Facebook – NCSoft recently added a fan art section to it’s Official Aion Facebook Page which will allow fans of the game to share their artwork with others. Right now there are only two entries on the page, but I am looking forward to seeing what gets posted there in the future. To share your Aion-based artwork, drop them an e-mail at aion_community@ncsoft.com and they will upload it!
• One Month Post-Release and Going Strong – Many Aion players have probably already noticed that the population in the game has continued to rise in the rather short time since launch, but now there are some statistics to back up this observation. Both Steam and Direct2Drive have posted their top ten lists for the week of October 25-31 and Aion (although near or at the bottom) still appears on both lists. Congrats to NCSoft on the game’s success!
• Product Spotlight – We are proud to announce that FTW Guides has created an incredible new product line to help you through the amazing new MMO that Aion is! The all new Aion Leveling Guides were developed by professional gamers who have been playing in both the open and closed betas for nearly a year now.The guides include complete coverage of both factions, detailed numbered maps, online accessibility, frequent updates and impeccable customer support! All of these features plus a 30 day unconditional money back guarantee means you have nothing to lose! Beat the learning curve and get on to enjoying this visually stunning, amazing game faster than you ever thought possible. Order you copy today!

EVE Online News

• Ryan Dancey on EVE’s Longevity - In a recent interview on Gamasutra Ryan Dancey, CCP Games Chief Marketing Officer, talks about the state of EVE and what makes it unique from it’s player governance and virtual economy to it’s slow, yet continual growth in subscription numbers. Mr. Dancey also talks about the developer’s focus on keeping the game interesting for long time subscribers while making sure it is compelling enough to continue to draw in new players. To read the full interview head over to Gamasutra.
• EVE’s New Dominion Dev Blog – This month’s dev blog releases details on the two parts of the new sovereignty system in Dominion. There is information on the upgrade system which is used to unlock resources and the upkeep system along with information on how upgrading your space will work with the new expansion. You can read all the details here.
• Website Downtime Tomorrow – CCP has announced that during scheduled downtime on Wednesday they will be taking the EVE Online forums as well as the Account Management and payment features on their website offline. This is presumably for an upgrade to these systems of some kind, but no specifics were provided in the announcement.
• CCP Game’s “Get a Clone” Program – CCP Games has taken a different approach to promoting their game with a new website from Duvolle Laboratories (an in-game NPC corporation) called getaclone.com. On this site potential players can answer a few simple questions and based on the answers given it will tell you what type of EVE player you would most likely be and enjoy playing. Pretty neat. If you want to give it a try head over to the new site and check i out.

Warhammer Online News

• Endless Trial Now Available – We told you about this before when it was announced as “coming soon” and now it is live! Warhammer Online trial accounts now never expire! This means new players or even those returning will be able to experience the entire first tier of play in the game without the pressure of a time limit. Players can feel free to try out new classes, starting experiences and group play at their own pace. For restrictions and more information, check out the FAQ.
• Interim City Siege Fixes - The recent changes which removed fortresses from the RvR campaign equation resulted in cities being constantly sieged (something the game was not dealing with very well) so devs had to come up with a temporary solution to the problems players were facing as a result of this change. This interim solution was put into place this week and includes fixes like stages 1 and 2 of the city siege being cut in half and city rank changes. To get the full rundown, you can read the post on the Official Forums.
• John Cox on Hackers and Warhammer – This week Mythic posted a developer’s diary with John Cox, Development Manager, about their efforts to combat in-game hackers. The type of hacking this post deals with is that of third party programs which allow players to do things in the game world with their characters that should not even be possible and is certainly not allowed. He goes into everything from what they do to prevent these hacks, how they find the hackers and what they do to them once they have been caught to how devs identify and respond to reports of players using hacks. I thought this dev diary was informative. Good read.
• Product Spotlight – Everyone knows that FTW MMO strategy guides has one of the best, most comprehensive WAR Leveling and Strategy Guides available on the market today! This guide has just received some major updates to keep it in line with the changes to the game. The guides now include all new quests, new flight paths, detailed numbered maps, RvR quests and detailed public Quest information! The WAR Combo Pack from FTW is a definite must have for every Warhammer fan! Get your copy today for just $44.99, or buy one side for just $29.99.

Alganon News

• Open Beta Now Available – When Quest Online announced that it would not be releasing Alganon until December 1st, there were some disappointed fans! Well, this should help to ease the pain, Alganon’s Open Beta begins Wednesday, November 11th and will provide anxious fans with the opportunity to check out the game prior to launch. Quest Online has made a pretty significant round of improvements recently that should make for a better overall gaming experience. Players interested in participating in the open beta need to create an account on the MyAlganon site and download the game client straight from there or from Fileplanet, Direct2Drive or Curse.

Star Trek Online News

• Official Release Date Announced! – This week Cryptic confirmed that it’s new MMO, Star Trek Online, will officially release on February 2nd, 2009 in the US followed by a February 5th, 2010 release date in Europe. This announcement comes just on the heels of the start of the game’s closed beta testing phase. This is, of course, super exciting news for trekkies everywhere! We will be sure to keep everyone updated on beta status and release date changes if and when it is necessary.
• “Episode Missions” Explained in New Dev Blog – Cryptic has released a new dev blog for STO detailing the strive toward a different type of “questing” experience in the game where players will have the opportunity to live out the television shows they love. These will be called “Episode Missions” and are all based around episodes of the ever popular Star Trek tv series, they will last anywhere from 45-90 minutes and will serve an important role in player progression. The game is set to launch with three seasons each containing 14 individual episodes. To read the entire dev blog on the subject, click here.

Other Noteworthy MMO News

• Lord of the Rings Online Extends Special Pricing – With the Siege of Mirkwood expansion less than a month away from launch, Turbine has decided to extend their current special pricing offers through November 18th. Current subscribers have 3 different plans to choose from, all of which include getting the expansion for free when it releases. To check out what Turbine has to offer, click here.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Imperial Agent Class – BioWare announced this week that the sixth class to join the ranks in the Star Wars-themed MMO will be the Imperial Agent. Imperial Agents are a rogue class of characters since they do their work for the Empire with high tech tools that help them to infiltrate the republic and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire. The Holonet will soon be updated to include the new class and they already have their own forum on the official site.
• Champions Online Scavenger Hunt – This Sunday (Nov. 15th) community member, Mr. Funsocks will be kicking off an awesome scavenger hunt called “Where in the World is Carmel Santiago?”. The object of the hunt is to be the first to find Carmel somewhere in the CO world and offer to trade with her. There is a small entry fee, but a pretty big payoff if you win. For all the details, look over the forum thread about the contest and good luck!

I was reading a post on another site about spamming in game.  For those of you who don’t know it, to spam inside World of Warcraft, and many other games, the gold sites, use hacked accounts.  They are much cheaper and can be used to effectively spam in the game.  Unfortunately, companies who do this make a lot of money, thus ensuing that they spam more and steal more accounts.

Personally, I am against in game spamming, and UberGold.com has never spammed in games because of it.  There is no cost effective way to advertise in game, without stealing from others.  So try to remember this, when you buy gold from gold spammers, you are supporting account thieves.

I saw this, enjoyed it, and thought I would share.

Monty Pythons: Spamalot

It seems that both GameStop and Barnes & Nobel are selling 60 day time cards for $12.99.  This is usually an indication that these types of stores want to stop selling this product, so they will dump their stock near their cost.  But I have to wonder, is AoC doing so poorly in sales, does this mean that B&N and GS are just the first of many companies to do this?

I remember back in the day not being able to find Asheron’s Call on the shelves of any story, and knew it would be the death of the game – little did I realize that the game would still be alive today, albeit with only 1k-2k players.  Of course, 1k-2k players * $15 a month, is a good reason to keep a few servers online that only cost you a few hundred a month.

Edit! Barnes and Nobel and GameStop have stopped Selling Age of Conan subscription cards.  You can still get them at Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures 60-Day Time Card though.

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