Author: Jeff Morgan (Page 89 of 260)

      How are slimes treating you in 1.3?

      February 27, 2011 /

      Slime troubles.

      I’ve enjoyed just about everything in the Minecraft 1.3 update. The new lighting looks awesome, beds work fantastically, even in multiplayer, and I’ve even used the new half blocks on a couple structures. There is one thing that has plagued me to no end: slimes.

      Slimes used to be fairly uncommon creatures. They got removed. They got put back in the game but were super rare. The 1.3 update, though, made them extraordinarily common. I had to decommission one of my mob spawners because the design was getting horribly clogged with slimes. The former mob spawner seems to now be a slime spawner. I snapped the image above last night after I noticed my new mob spawner upstairs had slowed. Gee, I wonder why?

      I’ve read in several forum threads that slimes are buggy in multiplayer, but I’m hoping we see some sort of hotfix soon. Unfortunately, the entire Mojang team is at GDC right now, so we’ll be waiting at least a couple weeks before any kind of fix can be issued. Are you seeing slimes everywhere or are they a rare sight?

      Editorial, Minecraft

      Few champions are as fun as Blitzcrank

      February 25, 2011 /

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      Last week I spent most of my League of Legends games playing Blitzcrank. The Crank, as I lovingly refer to him, has long been one of my favorite champions. I was just getting a handle on Pudge when I started playing LoL, so Blitz seemed liked a natural transition.

      There’s been a lot of debate about Blitzcrank’s relative strength in the game, but for my buck, he’s as strong a toon as you could hope to have on your team. Blitzcrank dramatically changes the way the game is played for the people playing against him. The ability to remove an enemy from the safety of his team or turret while simultaneously pulling him into lethal danger is a mechanic no toon in the game can answer. Add to it the fact that he can silence his prey as they come in for a landing and even elusive targets, like Kassadin and Shaco, get turned into cash.

      The real key to success with Blitzcrank is encouraging your team to push and push hard. If you can organize a five man rush down mid around level eight, you can cripple the enemy’s ability to farm. That kind of push typically results in a stalemate. Rocket Grab gives your team a massive advantage in that situation. Even if the push stalls, chances are you can pull a couple kills for your own carry while forcing the enemy team to defend a turret instead of farming their jungle or pushing your lanes.

      If you’re in a funk or just need someone new to try, give Blitzcrank a shot. Be ready for criticism, though. As fun as it is when you land that hook, it’s also painfully obvious when you miss. For every “lol, bad blitzcrank,” I’ve heard, though, I’ve also seen “gg blitz” or “blitz won that one” in the post-game lobby.

      Champions, Editorial, league of legends

      Jarvan IV to join the League next week

      February 25, 2011 /

      Jarvan IV Sneak Peek.Riot has released the champion sneak peek for Jarvan IV, the prince of Demacia who was previously leaked in PC Gamer. There isn’t much official information about him, other than the fact that he wears some thick armor. I’m a little bit worried about his release, to be perfectly honest. Tanky DPS characters tend to make the game very unenjoyable for the softer characters out there. The potential skills PC Gamer previewed make him sound like a 1v1 duelist with high survivability and damage output. That’s not exactly what the game needs.

      Here’s what the PC Gamer leak had for his potential ultimate:

      Jarvan’s ultimate has him leap into the air and slam down lance-first into an enemy champion within range. Upon impact, an arena springs up from the ground to create a one-on-one duel between Jarvan and his unfortunate nemesis. This sounds like a combination of Pantheon’s and Poppy’s ultimate abilities, although it was undecided if the ultimate will be global or how long the duel would last.

      That. Sounds. Terrible. DotA players may remember this sort of skill from Clockwerk, a robot champion that could trap enemy or allied units in a cog prison for some 1v1 action. Though it was pretty fun to play, it was infuriating to play against. If the skill is global, it becomes even worse. I’m really hoping Riot reconsiders this skill.

      I’m also curious to see how Jarvan will be differentiated from Xin Zhao. We already have a spear-wielding locomotive of a carry killer. What makes Jarvan different? Keep an eye out this weekend for the official skill list. Hopefully we’ll be playing him by Tuesday.

      Champions, Development, league of legends, News

      Vandal Twitch and High Command Katarina skins available

      February 23, 2011 /
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      Vandal Twitch and High Command Katarina skins are now available from the store. Somehow I managed to miss the Twitch skin when digging through the data files for unreleased skins, and honestly, I mistook the Kat skin for Buccaneer Kat or whatever it’s called.

      I really like the Twitch skin – it’s much better than Vandal Vlad. Kat, on the other hand, seems to suffer from Xin Zhao’s fate. Her skin selection lacks creativity in a big way, with the possible exception of the Kitty Kat skin (though really, who didn’t see that coming). I saw a thread a couple weeks back suggesting School Teacher Kat. She could throw rulers instead of daggers and still keep her sex appeal. Dig up that thread, Riot, and give the player that came up with it some bonus RP.

      league of legends, News, Skins

      Minecraft beta 1.3 is live

      February 22, 2011 /

      Minecraft 1.3

      As promised, Mojang released the Minecraft beta 1.3 update to the masses today. So far, things seem pretty good. There were some save folder issues for about a half hour after the launch, but Notch quickly patched and things have been running fairly smoothly since. The authentication server does seem to be under some load, but enough about that. Let’s talk changes.

      First, lighting. I know you probably thought I would talk about beds first, but that addition pales in comparison to the new lighting engine. Yes, it was available as a mod prior to the release, but it’s really nice to have it built in to the game. Basically, light doesn’t render in blocks now, so surfaces look much smoother. The world looks much, much better. It does seem to have reduced the effectiveness of torches by a little bit. I’ve had mobs spawn in places I’ve not had problems before. Maybe we’re getting close to the lantern update?

      Next, of course, is beds. Yes, beds are now in the game, allowing players to “sleep” through the night. I didn’t think beds would work in SMP, but they do, so long as every player gets to a bed. I’m glad to see that SMP is a development priority as I think that’s where the real beauty of Minecraft exists. Come March, beds should also set a players spawn point, which should be another nice addition.

      We also got three new half blocks – cobblestone, wood, and sandstone. The update also added a redstone delayer/repeater for those of you redstone geeks.

      Overall, it’s a very cool update. I can’t wait to see what the March update brings.

      Minecraft, News

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