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      Achievements, statistics and weather to hit Minecraft 1.5

      April 9, 2011 /

      Minecraft Snow.

      Notch made a blog post this week announcing the official release date for Minecraft. The post also detailed some of the features we can expect in 1.5, not the least of which is the return of weather. Weather used to be in the game but was removed at some point for resource management concerns. It’s making a comeback, as are achievements and statistics.

      I’m curious to see how achievements and stats will be tracked. I’d love to be able to log in to Minecraft.net to compare my stats and achievements to those of my friends. It will be interesting to see the types of achievements that Mojang thinks are most difficult or interesting to get.

      Jens Bergensten – one of the coders at Mojang – has also been tweeting a good bit about adding the piston mod to Minecraft. It’s not definite, but if he’s spending a lot of time on it I’d be willing to bet that it will make an appearance in some way, shape, or form.

      Development, Minecraft, News

      Mojang sets Minecraft launch date for 11/11/2011

      April 8, 2011 /

      Minecraft World.

      I spend so much time in Minecraft it’s hard to believe that the game isn’t done. It is so far beyond any game experience I have had in recent memory, largely due to the huge development community that backs the game. It is a fantastic experience, one I can hardly overstate and something that every self-respecting gamer should spend time on (I play on a server called DarkTide under the name “TheWuggler” if anyone would like to join). Mojang, the game’s developer, has set an official release date for Minecraft, which is still in beta. The target: 11/11/2011.

      You probably know that date well. A lot of other games are targeting the golden date for release, not the least of which is Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. As Notch mentioned on his blog announcing the release, Minecraft won’t have a proper release date like many other games. There are already millions of registered players, and Mojang continues to update the game on a regular basis.

      From Notch’s blog:

      It’s a bit tricky to really do a release for Minecraft as we keep updating it all the time. For one, the version we deem as the “full version” won’t be very different at all from what the game was like a week ago, and we’ll keep adding features after the release as well, so it’s really more of a milestone when we finally get rid of the Beta label, and some kind of goal for us to work towards. The plan is to be open with this and try to get people to cheer us on as much as possible, but to be open with the fact that the game won’t change much at the actual release day. (It’s more a progress up until that point).

      Progress is right – the game just released an update that added wild wolves to the mix of creatures. The wolves can be tamed and used as player pets, aiding in the hunt for delicious porkchops or, my favorite game, other players.

      How many more times can I say in one post that I love Minecraft…I LOVE MINECRAFT. Seriously, check it out.

      Reviews

      Brand ability list arrives early

      April 8, 2011 /
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      The official Brand ability list showed up pretty early this week – sometime yesterday evening if I saw correctly. It’s nice to see a champ in the mix that isn’t tanky DPS, though I do wonder if his ult won’t be a little strong. Let’s take a look at the skills.

      Sear: Brand launches a ball of fire forward that deals magic damage. If the target is ablaze, the target will be stunned.

      Pillar of Flame: After a short delay, Brand creates a pillar of flame at a target area, dealing magic damage to enemy units within the area. Units that are ablaze take additional damage.

      Conflagration: Brand conjures a powerful blast at his target, dealing magic damage to them. If the target is ablaze, the conflagration spreads to nearby enemies.

      Pyroclasm (Ultimate): Brand unleashes a devastating torrent of fire, dealing damage each time it bounces. If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm’s missile speed increases.

      Blaze (Passive): Brand’s basic abilities light his targets ablaze, dealing a percentage of their maximum Health in magic damage per second.

      I really like the synergy of his passive with his other skills. The overall strength of the passive will of course be determined by just how much of a percentage of the target’s health it deals. It’s interesting to see Riot trying to address the Tanky DPS issue directly through character design. I think it’s important to remember that the characters this passive plays best against are characters that already tend to stack a decent amount of magic resistance. My guess is that, even with the passive, Brand won’t stand a chance against a fairly tanky team. Magic resistance will negate a large portion of the damage, just as it does with characters like Kog’Maw and items like Bloodrazor/Deathfire Grasp.

      I’m also interested in Brand’s ultimate design. Are we seeing a return to the AoE metagame? Be sure to check back on Tuesday for my impressions.

      Reviews

      Brand, the Burning Vengeance is up next

      April 7, 2011 /

      Brand, the Burning Vengeance.

      The champion sneak peek is up for Riot’s next addition to the League. Brand, the Burning Vengeance will be joining the game in the next patch.

      Here’s the official blurb:

      Here at Riot Games, we’ve been positively burning with anticipation to tell you about this next champion. And that’s not just smoke and mirrors! If you’ve ever come under fire from critics for leaving a candle unattended, forgetting to turn the grill off, or an over-enthusiasm for fireworks displays, he’s sure to spark your interest. Start getting fired up for Brand, the Burning Vengeance. He’s a real spitfire who is sure to attract all you combustion connoisseurs out there like a moth to a flame.

      Hey, did we mention that he’s on fire?

      His concept art is pretty cool, and, judging by the look of the image, could be his splash screen. I wonder if we’re looking at some sort of fire mage, maybe even Annie’s father? That would be an interesting bit of lore. You gotta feel at least a little bit bad for this guy – Lee Sin’s hype is a hard act to follow.

      Champions, Development, league of legends, News

      Lee Sin catches a hotfix buff

      April 6, 2011 /

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      Lee Sin might be real, *sunglasses*, real mediocre. Okay, I don’t think that’s how that joke works but who can resist a little wordplay. In all seriousness, Lee Sin was one underwhelming dude, to the point that Riot saw fit to hotfix buff him. I haven’t really been a fan of this method in the past, and after seeing the numbers, I’m not a fan of it now.

      Check it:

      Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike AD ratio increase to 1.0 from 0.8
      Tempest/Cripple AD ratio increased to 1.0 from 0.6
      Dragon’s Rage AD ratio increased to 2.0 from 1.5
      Flurry’s Energy restoration increased to 15 from 10.

      Those are serious buffs. Imagine another character in the game picking up those kind of number boosts. I still don’t think it will address all of his problems. Lee Sin suffers from a lack of real crowd control, even if he is fairly mobile.

      It’s also hard for me to see this buff and not think, gee, Nocturne hasn’t been changed, and he has one of the absolute strongest kits in the game. How does a buff like this get pushed through when adjustments to a character like Nocturne aren’t even made the patch after his release? I’m confused, but thankfully Lee Sin isn’t the kind of character that can take these buffs and just murder an entire team. In the right hands, though, I think he’ll be very deadly.

      Reviews

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