King

Initial 'Wrath' impressions (or why I suck at leveling)

My name is Eric Franklin and I am a World of Warcraft slacker. You wouldn't know it, however, judging by the weekend I had. From Thursday morning until Sunday night I collectively played more than 40 hours of the new WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

I played whenever I could, but with household responsibilities, a guest in town, and annoying necessities like eating, bio breaks, and sleep, I am unsatisfied with my progress after four days.

I decided to level one character straight from 70 to 80 and forgo creating a Death Knight for now. I thought maybe I could get to 77 by the end of the weekend and earn the use of my flying mount. Especially since by Saturday afternoon Death Knights--which start at level 55--were running around at a higher level than my Warlock, who started at 70!

Did I mention that I'm on a PVP server and that I mostly only quest by myself? That may have something to do with my slow progression. As much as I wanted to level quickly it was not always up to me. No, guys with names like Foodfoodz would kill me constantly and then offer food to my still warm body. Seriously. … Read more

Inside CNET Labs 22: Nerds of a few different colors

Neeeerrrdddsss!!! We got black nerds, brown nerds, and yellow nerds represented here. It's a nerd fest as I prep for the Wrath of the Lich King launch.

Then Dong and I give out some helpful World of Warcraft add-on security hints and general Internet shopping security tips. This includes Dong's password-protection techniques. Can you believe people still fall for phishing?

Finally, a user has a problem with one of my extremely biased monitor videos.

BTW, we'll be announcing the winner of our tagline contest in the next episode.

To subscribe to this podcast, visit us at our … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 852: Tempest in a Twitter teapot

Turns out a lot of people are all too happy to hand over their password to some unknown Web site just to find out if they're popular. Oh, people. When will you learn? Also, Microsoft Live gets a purpose, Valleywag loses its teeth, the BlackBerry Storm gets a release date, and we're all going to become (a) elves in the Wrath of the Lich King or (b) total buffsters on the new EA Sports Active Wii game. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 852

BlackBerry Storm gets release date http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/11/13/verizon-announces-blackberry-storm-release-date-november-21st-199/… Read more

'WoW' launch: Sleepy old grandpa geek comes out at night

To paraphrase the immortal Sergeant Roger Murtaugh, I'm getting too old for this stuff.

I started noticing it last summer while standing in line for The Dark Knight's midnight showing. For one, I took note that a good 70 percent of the participants were in the 18-22 age bracket, which as a mid-30s guy standing in line at 11 p.m. on a weekday night tends to make me feel just a tad old. Especially when I start getting sleepy eyes while most around me are positively brimming with vim and vigor.

It was virtually no different a few hours ago at the San Francisco launch party for Blizzard's much-anticipated second expansion to World of Warcraft--Wrath of the Lich King. Even as I type this, I'm fighting sleep as it's way past ol' grandpa here's bedtime. I really don't have many midnight launches/premieres left in me. I'm thinking Watchmen and The Hobbit. Then I retire from these types of things.

It's funny. Years ago, I would have been mixing it up with more of my fellow geeks, talking about WoW to no end. Don't get me wrong, there was quite a bit of that going on, but once I actually got in line, I went into, "Don't talk to me, get out of my way, and just give me my friggin' game. No seriously, you need to get the hell out of my way and give me my game" mode.

OK, enough complaining. This event was basically like a miniature Blizzcon. There was face painting, a dance contest, a costume contest, and developers on their feet for hours on end being constantly interviewed.

Then there was the ridiculous three-block-long line. As you can see from some of the pics, there are some real hardcore fans who take the time they put into this game seriously. Most were there with friends, and for them WoW is basically a social network. A useful way to keep in touch while pwning nubs.

The most impressive thing of the night was a woman dressed as a Night Elf Druid. It wasn't her incredibly detailed and well-thought-out costume that impressed the most, but her admission that she'd once played WoW 28 hours straight. That beats my record by about eight hours.

Lots more geeky pics after the jump. … Read more

'WoW' players prepping for 'Wrath of the Lich King'

For World of Warcraft players who over the years have grown accustomed to seeing busy in-world auction houses, the last few weeks may have seemed odd.

Normally bustling with players eager to buy or sell weapons, clothing, armor, or other goods, business at the auction houses has recently slowed to a crawl. But it's not because of the global economic crisis.

Rather, say WoW aficionados, players have been hoarding their gold in anticipation of the release Thursday of the game's latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, and holding off on buying items that would soon be obsolete.

This is just one example of players of the hugely popular massively multiplayer online game behaving differently as Lich King's release approaches.

The game will go on sale nationwide after midnight (12 a.m.) Thursday, and retail stores expect lines across the country. … Read more

The 404 220: Where we finally endorse a candidate

Up until this point, The 404 has tried to remain nonpartisan (untrue), never officially endorsing a candidate, but that rule is chucked out the window on today's show. It's a big announcement that's literally no surprise to anyone, but we make it anyway. Lots of election talk today, mostly about free corporate-sponsored junk food you can get for voting. We also talk about GPS chastity belts, marital affair enablers, and the best position to take while docking your iPod Touch. Wilson, you dirty birdy, you.

I had every intention of forcing you to listen to today's show for our official political endorsement, but screw it, I'm going to do it right here and now. The pundits at The 404 have unanimously decided that Professor Charles Xavier is the best hope we have for our nation's successful future. His not-for-profit work with our world's gifted youngsters prove his social skills, his political prowess, and ultimately his potential to be an extraordinary leader in these desperate times. It's time for a change, and we completely believe that Charles Xavier's innate telepathic powers can grab us by the coattails and pull us our of our eight-year rut. Too long has Erik "Magneto" Lensherr been allowed to employ his Brotherhood of Mutants at the political expense of our fair country. We need a juggernaut in the oval office, and Professor X is our man.

The 404 is delighted to support Professor Xavier and also very pleased to see him choose Peter Nikolaievitch Rasputin as his Vice President. Peter, or "Colossus" as we've come to know him through the years, has proven his executive talent, toughness, and ability to knock through several layers of brick time and time again. The Prof X/Colossus team is an unstoppable one and we're excited to see what they can do in 2009. If you care about the welfare of this nation, please cast your vote for Charles Xavier and Colossus today.

Episode 220 Download today's podcast … Read more

New 'Warcraft' patch softens the wait for 'Wrath'

If you're excited about the next World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, then you've probably already downloaded the latest WoW patch--3.0.2, released Tuesday. If for some reason you haven't done so, then I implore you to, as the game sees many positive changes with this latest update.

The World of Warcraft patch 3.0.2: Echoes of Doom brings a number of changes and new features. Among them are:

New talents and spells for existing classes (all talent points have been refunded!) The implementation of barber shops for players Two new arenas featuring more dynamic terrain than previous arenas Guild calendar The Hunter pet skill revamp A new profession: inscription The new achievement system Spellpower consolidation

In addition to these major changes are many, many small ones. Some of my favorites are:

New animations for all three Warlock drain spells (in addition to many other other new animations) Noncombat pets and mounts no longer taking up space in bags Battleground tokens and Badges of Justice no longer taking up space in bags The new currency tab

OK, this next paragraph will get fairly hard-core and nerdy. if you're interested, have your WoW friends translate for you. You've been warned. … Read more

Help CBS Interactive make a great show about 'World of Warcraft'

When we at Crave UK are not mua-ha-ha-ing at each other, dreaming of world domination, we like to make new things.

But before we go off and get too excited about anything new, we like to ask people what they think of it first. So the very sharpest brains in the business--at CBS Interactive, our owner--have selected you, the humble Crave reader, as the ideal demographic to offer your respected opinions on this latest wheeze to come out of the corporate megalith.

It's a show all about World of Warcraft--you know, that game where you can pretend to … Read more

Because nothing beats a nice hot meal

One of my favorite things when I was a kid was going to family brunch on the weekends. Having good cooks as parents was a definite bonus for the kids, and when we had Sunday brunch, we knew we could count on an elaborate spread. One of the best things about brunch is that we got to serve ourselves out of the seldom-used warming pans. There was something extra special about spooning food out of a buffet-style pan warmed by heating candles.

Broil King knows that warming pans like the ones my parents used give instant "host with the … Read more