A new way to stay green that has been evolving over the last few years is by recycling your household electronics that you have no use for anymore. This can include computers, cell phones, televisions, and any other type of electronic you can imagine. If you are a company that deals with these types of things in bulk, instead of trashing everything when it comes time to upgrade, you should let a recycling company come in and dispose of everything properly.
The first major step in this process is to collect whatever needs to be gotten rid of and give it to the recycling company. Once everything is put into inventory, the dismantling process can begin. This is where they will take apart each item and separate them into different components. The plastics, metals, and waste will all be categorized so that they can be broken down even further. This is where the recycling truly starts.
All the pieces that can be recycled will be shipped to the designated areas or facilities where they will be handles accordingly. Certain materials have to be disposed of in a certain manner just like metals and plastics must be recycled separately. This saves you the trouble as a person or as a business of taking all of these items to the dump and figuring out where to put them. This also allows certain aspects of your old electronics to be reused. This drives the industry in general to keep prices down on new electronics because there are a lot of components being reused in some way, shape, or form.
This is the perfect way to reduce waste. This also takes off some pressure from factories because the recycled products can be put to better use instead of simply being crushed to save space in a landfill somewhere. Helping out the environment is becoming increasingly popular among major corporations and among consumers.
You can find a company in your area that allows for drop offs and/or pick ups of your recycled electronic goods. There are teams all over the world of hungry "go green" supporters that make it easy for consumers to successfully rid of these items. Whether you are throwing away a cell phone, computer, fax machine, monitor, or your old keyboard -- do not forget about this economically friendly solution. After all, every little bit counts when it comes to preserving our environment!
In this article I plan on sharing what exactly the Kinect for Xbox is and why it has become so popular.
Motion sensor games have really taken off over the last few years and it was actually led by the Nintendo Wii, then of course Playstation followed up with the Playstation Move and now Microsoft has completely taken it to a whole new level with the Kinect for Xbox.
If you do not know what motion sensor games are it is basically where YOU are the controller and the use of old school button controllers are not needed. Although with the Wii and the Move there is a "wand" your movements are still what control the game.
Now what exactly separates the Kinect for Xbox from it's competitors? Well the kinect DOES NOT require any controller or wand whatsoever. Your complete body is the controller.
You see Microsoft has really stepped their game up and created a whole new innovative accessory for the Xbox that picks up your every move.
This means that every time you jump, swing, sit, or run the Kinect picks it up and transfers it onto the avatar you are playing with on the screen.
You may be asking yourself how exactly does this work? Well let me get into how the Kinect sensor works.
The sensor has a total of 3 cameras which is what picks up your every move. It has one color camera for image recognition and two monochrome cameras which are responsible for picking up your actual body movements.
This powerful sensor tracks the movements of your arms, legs, hips, feet and head so it is sure to get everyone off the couch and have a good time.
I think this is one of the reason's why this game has become so popular because you can actually get a great workout in while playing a game.
And if you are a parent you can get your kids to still play video games while staying active. We all know how dreadful the old school game consoles can be and have people sitting on a couch for hours on end. Well not anymore thanks to the Kinect.
One thing I do want to mention is the Kinect IS NOT a stand alone console like the Wii. It is an accessory to the X-box 360 so you DO need an X-box to hook it up to.
Another reason why the Kinect has become so powerful is all the amazing games that are available to play. They are not making just your average gun game. They are creating games that keep you active and entertained.
Kinect has games like: Kinect Sports which is an all in one sports game where you can play thing like table tennis, track and field events, soccer, and bowling.
Kinect Adventures which is basically a level game where you work your way through different adventures in exotic locations and you navigate through roaring rapids, challenge obstacle courses or save a leaky underwater laboratory.
Dance Central which is a HUGE hit and the title says it all. This game is all about breaking it down on the dance floor!
These are just a few games out of the 17+ games currently available and more set to be released later this year.
So as you can see Microsoft has really stepped their game up and shows no sign of slowing down.
I really do think Motion sensor games are the future and the Kinect is just the beginning.
I have been playing games ever since I was a kid and I struggled for many years with people who thought online games were brainless and action games made you chaotic. I considered this an opportunity to present some knowledge into what gaming really can involve - passion, camaraderie and experiences you can't get in real life. ~ Ben Dressler
Let's face the facts, the gamer lifestyle is one thing that not a lot of people have an understanding of /AFK The Movie looks at the life of a video gamer asked to give up the one thing he's ever enjoyed: World of Warcraft.
To the people who don't play video games, that is called quitting. For hard-core gamers and MMORPG players around the world, that's referred to as "Euthanasia."
The film examines what life is like stepping away from the computer keyboard, to cut off the sole thing you adore doing, simply because you realize that it controls all that you do. But, what is the little difference between loving video games and being addicted with them? Does it make a difference and should we even care?
The subject matter of /AFK The Movie covers World of Warcraft and also online gaming. But you do not need to know the difference between Horde and Alliance to connect with the movie. We're all addicted to something, be it cell phones, websites, video games, or sweets (or even a dangerous combination of all 4). Step "away from your cellular phone" for 1 day and find out how you respond. Is a cellphone that much different than a video game? Exactly why is one an addiction and the other one is simply a habit?
I spoke with Ben Dressler, the moviemaker who made /AFK come to life.
What was the process like creating the movie, and from his point of view, what message was it wanting to relay to gamers and those telling so-called "addicts" they must stop:
JHS: What inspired you to make the script? Did you feel like you liked to write something which could speak "for all WOW players?"
2 things. First of all, the feeling that no person had ever done this in the past. I believe it is truly unusual that you have a concept that's kind of unique and not actually out there. When I first saw Memento I was so blown away that after a long time of filmmaking, someone could still come up with something so inventive. And even though we were not the first to combine real live action and video game video clips, I don't know of any movie who achieved it to the extent that we did.
Second, I wanted to have a stand for video gaming. I have been playing games since I was a child and I struggled for many years with individuals who thought online games were brainless and action games made you violent. I considered this an opportunity to show some insight into what gaming can really cover - passion, companionship and experiences you cannot get in real life.
JHS: In your own point of view, why do people desire to put down the "gamer" lifestyle?
I actually believe that they just don't know much better. The main character in /AFK says at some point: It is not just me sitting in front of a coloured window." But that is precisely what individuals see every time they see someone "game." They don't see what you think, feel or even experience while you play. I have had a lot of individuals that observed me play WoW and believed it was really boring. But when I let them play for an hour or more, they would buy the game themselves. Thankfully, people who have gaming experience will grow into important positions such as journalism or politics. So eventually that inclination to look down on gamers will diminish from society, I'm very optimistic on that.
JHS: You mentioned you basically had no budget because you could not make some money from the film, What kind of restrictions did that put on you as a moviemaker?
Since I knew there would not be a budget from the beginning, I could focus on writing a script that would deal with not many characters as well as locations. We had five days of shooting for a 25 minute film with a very small crew. And since I didn't want to rush the actors very much, there was short amount of time left for the camera and lighting unit. We also couldn't afford to buy plenty of props so we needed to work with everything we got in our homes. The room of the main character is actually made of geek stuff from ten people combined.
It basically came down to pulling lots of favors and utilizing to the very best what was already there. I do think if you choose to work with that restriction, it will easily lead to new, creative ways of telling your story. Although I recently read that German filmmakers particularly get into Hollywood mainly because they can make low-cost movies that look like expensive movies. Well, that is flattering, isn't it?
JHS: What would you tell individuals who deal with people asking them to "quit video games."
It's really hard to give a general answer to that one because it depends on the situations. Normally I would recommend to try and make those people know very well what gaming means to you. Determine why they believe games are stupid and show that you understand them also and take their concerns seriously. Do not just plunge to retaliation mode. When I was in college, I used to talk to my parents about the games I was looking forward to play and what I found enjoyable about them. Usually I could get them to relate to that in some way.
JHS: According to the insufficient success of a few major motion pictures, it seams very challenging to take the concept of a video game and turn it into a movie - with few films making an effort to "get into" the life of BEING a gamer. What was your experience in this regard?
I think there are two kinds of game movies... Adaptations and Sci-Fi movies. Adaptations are nearly always awful OR just solid action movies with the game's name in the title... And so yeah, there's hardly any films about real gamers - to be honest I cannot name a single one. And I am somewhat in wonder about that!
But it's hard, and I do think that the people who make it need to know video games as completely as films....My point is that to truly learn from Video Games as a medium, filmmakers have to understand how a game tells its story, what can be translated and what things can not.
JHS: What does WOW provide that hardly any other game on the face of the earth offers?
In all honesty - there are a couple of games on earth I have not played yet! However, I think that WoW did and does an incredible job at making hardcore gaming available to lots of individuals. Way back in EverQuest days, MMORPGs were a very exclusive genre that even most gamers did not know or care about. These days you will raid with people who wouldn't even look at themselves a genuine gamer. And yeah, maybe that is a bit of pioneer work that no other game can repeat again.
As children grow, they need to be exposed to different situations that will help them develop creative skills and critical thinking. The parents can achieve this by the use of puzzle games, which are not only witty and creative but also fun and exciting to play. The kids will find a wide number of them on the internet and they can select the ones that will give them the mental exercises they need.
Mathematics Puzzles
These types of games are set on mathematics and they are designed to provide the kids with the chance to solve various types of mathematical problems. Some of them will deal with the basic operations such as addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, and the kids will be required to use them in a correct sequence in order to solve a problem presented to them. Other problems that the kids can solve using them include geometrical problems and arithmetic.
Develop critical thinking
Some of these puzzle games are logical and others are set in a logic-grid pattern and will require the kids to figure out the best answers to the different situations, set out a pattern by use of clues and others. There are quite a number of these online and the kids will need to reason well in order to come up with the best solution to the different situations that they are provided with.
Playing
In order to get the kids interested in these puzzle games, it is recommended that the parents start out with simple and fun ones. This is important because, when they start with the tough questions, they will stress the child out and their interest in them will subside or completely fade away. Fortunately, they are available for different ages of kids and parents will find many simple and interesting ones to introduce the child to.
Once the children have shown their interest, they can now start checking out others levels or versions. They can also engage their children and encourage them to select the ones that they like the most. In doing this, they will be offering the children the control over them and thus facilitate the development of these skills. They can also take part in these plays, and offer their children the support they need as they learn. When they do so, they will not only make their children relaxed but also give them a fresh mindset to handle different situations while having fun at the same time.
There have been a lot of similar themes of shooters and shooting games available online and the sniper elite is a welcome addition to these World War II games. Similar to the other WWII games, you play an elite American sniper disguised as a soldier, who was sent into the dangerous conflict that mushroomed between the Russians and Germans.
The mission you have to accomplish is to thwart Stalin from gaining into the nuclear research, which will be used by Germany to produce the atom bomb. This game is considered as one of the most realistic shooting games to date, as it takes advantage of the Nintendo Wii's precise control system where each gesture, attack, and movement, are perfectly timed.
The game features training on sniper techniques that is specialized and weapon selections shown in details. It can be played singly or in pairs where challenges vary from third person, binocular or sniper modes. It comprises 28 action-packed missions and you can choose from 4 difficulty settings namely Rookie, Cadet, Marksmen, and Sniper Elite.
Sniper elite Wii takes another method in the struggling scramble of fighting along the beaches and combating the Nazis. Being a sniper who is a professional shooter does not simply mean coming out of the war-torn area wearing the wrong colour of uniform but someone requiring a more skilled stance.
This game necessitates one to have a lot of patience because you are an elite sniper and not just an ordinary warrior. If you are one dedicated marksmen in this game of war, you will gain a lot of satisfaction from this long but challenging campaign.
The WWII game Sniper Elite happened during the close of war in the year 1945, focusing on the conflict between Russia and Germany fighting for power over Berlin. The NKVD, which is the secret service of Russia, is presently in town about to take the atomic-bomb technology away from the hands of the German Army.
Your mission is to put a halt to this, because once the nuclear weapon technology is taken by Stalin's forces, this will mean danger for the whole world. Because you are a trained sniper of the American OSS, you are expected to be the best one to stop the NKVD operations at all costs while masquerading as a German soldier.
The single-player campaign is long as it involves 28 missions in a variety of different though very similar settings of war. The missions include killing high-ranking officials, taking away secret documents, liberating captured allies, and murdering the bad guys.
This will take about 12 hours or more to complete and after finishing all the optional objectives by taking time to set up all your shots instead of shooting recklessly, the game will easily take up as much time.
When it is played carefully, a single level can take more than an hour to complete. Stealth actions are well executed and the game does a great job of building up the sense of tension from the snooping around and picking of at the enemy grounds. The tension will fade into monotony making you wish you could move on as soon as possible.
Many people would love to have a career as a video game tester. Have you seen the movie 'Grandma's Boy'? It looks like an awesome job! But are jobs like that really out there or is it just a scam? Many people hear about scams like these and dismiss this job as being non-existent.
And whilst 80% of jobs sent by email or posted on the Internet are scams, the good news is that 20% of them are real. And yes, you do get paid. The even better news is that you don't need any previous experience, only a love of playing video games. All console platforms such as Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo and even PC require testing.
So Who Pays for the Video Game Testing?
All companies require their games to be tested, whether they are new or still in beta testing mode. The reason? If they don't get tested, then errors, glitches or bugs may occur in their games. Did you know that before Halo 3 was released; over one thousand testers were required to test the game? A small glitch could cost millions of dollars to gaming companies. As a result, they need gamers like you and me to test them and of course, they pay for our time!
How Can I avoid Scams and Get a Real Opportunity?
The best way is to ask around. Join forums and gaming communities and interact with other gamers. Check video game developer websites and look for vacancies. One must also remember that you should not pay for the opportunity to test a game. After all, you are providing them with the service!
The thing that you need to remember is that you will struggle to make it to the big gaming companies initially. If you receive an email or offer, chances are it will be a scam. Why? Big companies will not risk their million dollar launches on a new video game tester. The most common job will be for some low key company with a small budget and small pay. You will need to work your way up the ladder, but the long climb can definitely be worth the wait!
Since the release of the smash hit sequel, Fable 2, fans have been wondering if there will ever be a Fable 2 PC version. With the release of Fable 3 on consoles in 2010 and the impending release of the third game on PC in 2011, many fans are still left wondering. If the developer hasn't already done it now, is there a hope of ever seeing a PC port of Fable 2?
When the original Fable game was released onto the console platform, it was extremely successful. So successful in fact, that developers decided they need to port the game over to the PC platform to take full advantage of that success. The sequel to the game, Fable 2, was eventually released on the console platform as well. As was the successful Fable 3, which also had a PC version.
To this day, Fable 2 still does not have a PC version of the game. In 2009 developers of the game, Lionhead, stated that they would essentially be forced to do a PC port of the sequel as well due to its massive success. However, a member of the Lionhead development team indicated that the team was not working on a PC port of the game, despite what the company officially stated.
If Fable 2 never has a PC version, it wouldn't be the first time that a successful game series abandoned a platform mid-series. When the original Gears of War game was released it came out on multiple console platforms. It was very successful and the developers decided to make a version of the game for the PC. However, when they began working on Gears of War 2 and eventually released, Epic stated that they had no plans of ever porting the game over from the console platform to the PC.
There have been several attempts by fans to create an emulated or full PC version of the game for the computer. Most of these attempts have met with limited or no success. There are many sites online that claim to have created an emulated version, but they are extremely hard to come by if not non-existent.
This leaves many fans to believe that if the developer hasn't come out with a Fable 2 PC version by now then they probably never will. Since Fable 3 has already been released there is probably little interest for the developer in going back in the series. The money will be moving forward and creating Fable 4. Hopefully, that incarnation of the game will be available on both the console and the PC to keep the remaining PC fans happy.
What is all the hype about gaming mouses? Most serious gamers know why using a good gaming mouse is so important compared to using a standard mouse. It is true that good ones are generally more expensive, but most of us think that they are well worth spending the extra few bucks on. Overall, they just provide more comfort, improved gaming control, better performance, and sharper precision.
When playing games you want to excel. You want to completely blow the competition away. Most of the popular laser gaming mouse like the R.A.T. series by Cyborg or the G700 by Logitech have a much higher polling rate than the other more standard mouses. What it means is that the mouse reads the surfaces of the mouse pad or the desk at a higher rate and that it makes the mouse more responsive. They offer much sharper precision than any optical mouse. These infrared laser gaming mouses usually come with laser sensor technologies designed for improved sensitivity. Lots of the gaming mouses on the market today generally show us that the majority have a resolution of over 2000DPI. For example, the Logitech G700 has a resolution of 2000 DPI while the Razer DeathAdder has a resolution of 3500 DPI and the Cyborg R.A.T. 9 has an amazing 5600 DPI. Besides the gaming mice having all of these great features, they are mostly all adjustable.
The manufacturing process for this new era of gaming mouses is vastly different than that of the standard optical mouse. They are designed specifically for competitive gaming purposes and many of them have unique features such as grip shape and buttons locations that would allow comfort and efficiency of use. Their sizes and weight are also carefully designed in order to let players use them through an extended period of time. Many of these products even come with weights, a feature standard mice simply won't ever have.
Unlike standard optical mouses, gaming mouses usually have many more buttons to provide extra controls and functions. For example, the R.A.T. 9 (in picture) has extra buttons and different controls that are versatile and able to be programmed. The Logitech G700, being the mouse which is designed for MMORPG, even has a 13 button thumb pad. This helps the player not having to use the keyboard and keeps their attention on the screen instead. From what I can tell, PC gaming capabilities will continue to impress us with one technological advance after another.
Massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG) are the current trend in a colorful history of computer gaming. We have come a long way from playing solo on arcade machines and the Z80 computers. Using AI to compete against humans is slowly being replaced by player versus player games as they hold more fun and the replay value increases exponentially. Now millions of people are using online games like World of Warcraft and Mafia Wars to compete against other human opponents in real time to achieve objectives being thrown at them. The real goal in all these games is to dominate your opponents taking advantage of the system and exploiting the game logic to increase in power, wealth, magic etc.
I discovered Mafia Wars a long time ago when it was still in its infancy. It is based on making a mafia family and managing all the people and business through which your family will exert control over the game world. This will be the closest I will ever come to actually being a member of such a group let alone head it so I developed an instant taste about it, pun intended.
During the course of my membership, I observed that a lot of top players made it to the apex at an unusually short time sometimes making me wonder if they were actually cheating. So I set on a course to find everything I could about how to use the system itself to help me in the same way. I am happy to say that the search was not in vain. I discovered how to dominate the Mafia Wars through lot of information available online at websites and personal blogs of players.
I also found a lot of documents detailing the procedures which top players employed to get them the advantage which excelled them to the top. Tricks are taught on how to start the mafia family with the proper statistics, what mission to take during the initial stages, how to exploit the opponents and finally, how to evade the law. Resources like dominate mafia wars helped me to refine my game playing methods and take the fun to a whole new level.
Practice alone is not enough when it comes to gaming. You have to be a really good observer of the game mechanics to be on the top. This will require you to share knowledge with top players and take advantage of techniques and secrets used by them. While you can always hope to befriend the guys at the top, resources on how to dominate the Mafia Wars are available online. Enjoy playing games and see you at the top.
When you're thinking about gaming desktop, you're not just thinking about awesome gaming rigs capable of displaying the most realistic visuals out there, but a machine built with every specification to suit demanding applications. Gaming PCs are configured to run the best modern games today, but they can also be used to work in high-end applications which demand a lot of hardware power to run properly. You can use a gaming desktop for a whole array of tasks, ranging from video / audio editing, graphic design, 3D design or any other application which demands a lot from your system's hardware. With this in mind, think about all the benefits you can get from owning such a machine: not only can you game hard, with stunning visuals; you can also work a lot better since it will cut up loading times and improve your work-flow quite a bit.
Usually, such a desktop will incorporate a high-end CPU, with more than one built-in core. These are great for gaming, and are also great for multitasking when your job requires it. Since most applications rely heavily on the amount of information that can be processed, having a powerful processor by your side will improve the way you work by cutting the necessary time needed to get the job done by a decent percent.
You'll be able to run most applications with a quad-core without having to suffer from system halts or choppy operation.
Some of the new line of processors that recently hit the market has come out with the Hyper Threading technology built into them, which allows each separate core to take on two sets of instructions at once. What does this mean for you, the user? Well, in layman's terms, if your system is equipped with a quad-core with Hyper Threading technology, it will act just like an octo-core (just like having eight separate cores on your system).
The same line of new processors also incorporates the Turbo Boost technology which balances the processing power with the power consumption for a more "green" machine. When you need to run games or demanding apps, all cores will fire up to keep up with the application; but when the system is idle, the processor will step down to about 1600MHz to save power and deflate your monthly energy bill.
So having the central processing unit covered, it's time to move on to system memory. True gaming desktop will have plenty of RAM, since it's needed in large amounts for games to run smoothly. The lowest amount of RAM a gaming PC should be having nowadays is somewhere in the range of 4GB. Having this minimum amount will insure the application will run great without glitches or crashes. This is also great if you intend to use your gaming computer for something else rather than gaming.
Graphic designers, for instance will benefit from the added RAM to their systems, since they use applications which do demand a lot from a system, from processor to system memory. It's isn't unusual for them to run at least 2-4 applications at once, so the multitasking capabilities will come in handy.
Free online games come to be a much more popular field of gaming. The most important explanation for this is most probably the typically very simple, but addicting game principles. It is a fact that the most critical aspect of a game is its concept, rather than the most up-to-date and greatest graphics is well known - bring to mind "Tetris" for example.
Lots of casual game developers offer their works cost-free to the open public, and you can find some spectacular highlights among them. An important benefit of these free games would be the fact they are free to play. If you're searching for a way to spend some fun hours without paying a lot of cash, free online games are just perfect for you.
The convenience could not be simpler - annoying and time-consuming downloads aren't necessary. This makes free online games perfectly suited for some enjoyable minutes in the lunch break or at another person´s laptop, without needing to clutter that system with any unwanted software program. All you need is a webbrowser of your choice, and also a somewhat up-to-date installation of the Adobe Flash Player software. However both is found on just about any modern home pc.
Free online games cover every game type you can imagine: From classic jump and run games and role playing games and strategy games or skill- and puzzle games, everything is possible. Everyone should be able to discover a game that suits his taste. The pure number of different games on the net helps with this too.
One may wonder, what interest does a game maker have to have his creation published free of charge? The reply to this really is found in the advertisements that are usually shown around the game, or even as the game is loading. The earnings of the shown advertising enables game developers and publishers to maintain the games cost-free.
The awesome variety, in addition to the free and simple accessibility makes FREE GAMES ONLINE a good way the ideal choice if you are looking for fun without much efforts.
If you're a freelancing developer in the Flash programming language, there are numerous internet websites that will eagerly pay to be able to publish good flashgames. Adobe provides a free 30 day trial of their Flash Software, and that is needed to develop flash applications, and isn't to be confused with the flash player that is needed to display finished flash products.
PvP is actually one of the most entertaining things to do on Rift aside from the conventional questing, dungeon raids, invasion events and the likes. A well executed PvP provides more than enough thrills and frills to keep you coming back. For this reason, we've compiled a short Rift PvP guide to teach you the basics of PvP so you can maximize some of the unique features of Rift that set it apart from other MMORPGs.
There are two basic approaches to a PvP: Warfront and World PvP. To put thinks in perspective, a world PvP is a whole lot simpler in that there aren't that many things to consider when you roam around with friends taking on various challenges that come your way. By our book, that's about as self-explanatory as it could get. Warfronts on the other hand require a rift PvP guide in that they are more complex and more rewarding, literally and figuratively of course.
Each level section opens up your access to specific PvP games. At levels 10+, you have The Black Garden Guide, at level 20+ The Codex Guide; levels 30+ gets you the Whitefall Steppes Guide while The Battle of Port Scion Guide is accessed only at level 50. You can either approach each via pick-up groups - not that different from any pick-up game where you use whoever is there or premades which are pre-arranged PvPs planned ahead of time.
If you are using a Warrior class character, a Void Knight-Riftblade soul/off-soul will give you the best chances to succeed. This combination has adequate armor and damage protection but also sufficient mana burning and magic damage to render enemies incapacitated. Void Knights and Riftblades allow players to be anti-casters and anti-melee at the same time, neutralizing the PvP strengths of most other classes like Rogues and Mages. Always strive to maximize your setup for Soul Pillage, Catalyze and Flame Spear to do the most damage in PvP.
For Clerics, Purifiers are typically the main PvP souls with Inquisitor and Warden as off souls. Other Rift PvP guides will suggest Inquisitor-Cabalist builds but frankly we don't see the point for this since this is nothing more than a poor man's mage PVP build while going away from the cleric strength. Purifiers, on the other hand, have excellent healing abilities and combined with the high damage from the Inquisitor's Purge ability can be a formidable character on the PvP battlefield. The Purge in particular grants you the ability to strip healing over time spells, shields, and buffs rendering the enemy bare and naked especially against Focus Fire. The minor focus on the Warden off soul grants heal over time spells as auxiliary function while waiting to re-max.
Rogue characters can benefit from a Marksman-Bard hybrid on their Rift PvP guide and we agree; Marksman deals great damage while buffs come from Bards. Melee is the strength of the Rogue class and Rogues are excellent support classes in a PvP setting especially with strong allies that have excellent close combat abilities.
Mage PvP characters work off of the Stormcaller and Dominator souls but in general are weak for warfronts. Still, the Dominator is a generally versatile main soul that can easily adapt to PvP demands and combined with Archon and Stormcaller possess potent debuffs that can do much damage on the PvP battlefield. Intelligent use of abilities such as Knockback when assaulting the vault in Codex makes the Mage a powerful warfront character but it requires a great degree of skill to be effective.
Other Rift PvP builds can also offer insight into playing the proper PvP character. Try it out with a re-classed soul system and see how you will fare. Our best suggestion is to start early so you won't have to deal with high level opponents as you are learning the intricacies of PvP.
If you go to Las Vegas, people love to keep an eye on 'their' machine. If you see a slot game with a cup on the seat, it means that the machine is reserved whilst the player has just gone to grab a bite to eat and drink or has gone to the bathroom. So why do players like to do this? Well, many slot game players have built a number of false propositions around their play, assuming that the more they play a game and the more money they punt, the more likely the slot game is to pay out. No matter what you say to these players they'll always want to come back to the machine they've been playing on for several hours, and they'll no doubt feel really cheated if someone else jumps in their seat and then hits a big win.
Will there ever be a situation where slot games operate in this fashion online? It's certainly possible for a casino to record the status of a slot game when a player exits and then loads the exact same game mode when the player returns. The issue is however, there's no way the player could tell if the game was in the same state as when they left. The reason for this is because a slot game works on a completely random number generator (RNG), which means no matter how long you've been pumping the money into a slot game, you can't influence the game's outcome. There could be a greater advantage to playing the online versions of the casino slots, as players can sit in the comfort of their own homes and not be distracted by other players in close proximity.
In essence, online slots players ultimately have as much chance of hitting a jackpot on your first spin as your hundredth spin, and for this reason we very much doubt if there is any currency in online casinos ever providing players with personal slot games. You can take your favourite slot machine for a test drive online for free at world renowned operators, including Sky Vegas.
I'm hoping with the evolution of the online gaming world this will happen eventually, there's no better feeling for some than playing your favourite Vegas slot online, knowing that if you take a break you can get back to exactly where you left it.
If this does not come to fruition, perhaps we could get a virtual waitress to top us up with tea, coffee and hot dogs while we play.
The very first time that I was exposed to the idea of MMORPGs was when I watched the first episode of an anime series called ".hack // sign".
I was probably 15 years old back then, and I didn't even know that games like World Of Warcraft or Maplestory even existed. The idea of a huge and open world for you to explore, full of players from around the world that you could interact and play with seemed extremely awesome! And since then, I wished I could have a broadband Internet connection in order to be able to play one of such games (back then I had a 56 kbp connection and a "Windows 98" computer... so you can figure).
I eventually got a better computer and my first broadband Internet connection. It was exciting finally being able to browse the world wide web all I wanted to without worrying about the telephone bill. I eventually learned about World Of Warcraft and the official name of the genre that I thrived to play: MMORPGs - Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, for those unfamiliar. However, as I learned about the game from the web, videos and even the news and newspapers, I also got to know about the heavy addiction that WoW and other MMOs can cause on certain individuals. That information about people letting a game destroy their lives discouraged me from even look for a MMO to start playing, as I feared that I would get addicted too... but I wanted to try; I really wanted to get that feeling of exploring a huge world, leveling up and meeting my friends in the in-game world!
2 years ago I was talking with a friend of mine about this kind of games, and he told me back then that he was into a free-to-play one called "Holic", but that it got closed down, and that a new version of the game was released for the Colombian & Latin American audience; it was called "Expedición Holic" (it was released a year later in the U.S. as Cloud Nine). He told me his little cousin already started playing it, and that he though about joining the game too. It occurred to me that we could both start playing at the same time, in order to level up together, and he accepted. A couple of weeks later I had upgraded my computer, installed the game, and was ready to immerse myself in an experience that since I was 15 years old I wanted to feel!
So, I chose Ganav Libero as my faction and a Seneka (human) male rouge as my character. Then I was introduced to the game by a little cinematic, I met my friend in the town where I just spawned, I walked around town, and was introduced to a dynamic that I didn't know existed but that is primordial to the MMORPG genre, which was questing. After that, my friend typed something like "what a nice vice is this, isn't it?". I told him he was exaggerating... but he wasn't; it DID become a vice (an addiction) for the two of us.
On one side, playing Expedición Holic was an experience that gave me lots of pleasure: I met a lot of players, from a lot of different countries, that I shared with, chatted with, and even made me laugh uncontrollably at times. We fought epic battles together, completed quests, explored, and goofed around. The game also gave me a very high sense of accomplishment; everyday I played I felt progression, advancement... I felt I was growing. Every level I "dinged", every new piece of rare equipment I got, every new place I could now explore without the fear of being killed by creatures stronger by me... reinforced a feeling in me of achievement and continuous success, even if I had been killed several times, or had to quest for hours to no end...
Now, on the other side of the coin... the sad, but real side... is that everything was just what it was: a game. An illusion. I could have spent the summer vacations when I started playing in actually improving my social life by going out and meeting new people, interacting and sharing with them face-to-face; but instead, I spent literally all days (except maybe for one or two) of those vacations in front of the computer grinding and sharing with my virtual friends, leaving real-life interactions and physical activity "in the shelf".
Not only that, but I kept playing even after I started my next semester at University. I used all the time I could have used to study and strengthen my knowledge to kill monster after monster and hang out with my virtual pals. Eventually my mother "lost it", and screamed in my face (literally) that I was an addict. I pondered about that, and about all the stuff that I have just written: what I read about MMO addiction, how the game "emulated" real life feelings but were just an illusion, etc. I was lucky that I was not as hooked to the game that I couldn't live without playing it. I called my friend on the phone (I constantly met with him in-game), told him to meet me at my mother's house, and with him I uninstalled the game, and explained to him why I decided to do so. I eventually deleted my character when I visited him, but he wasn't able to drop out from the game... he was too hooked. He eventually quit the game after reaching a certain level, but at the expense of wasting massive amounts of time.
Was Expedición Holic fun, and are MMO's fun? You bet they are! They give pleasure, and as I said before, "emulate" emotions that humans crave for, such as progress and human interaction. But are they actually worth your time? Can they be damaging in the end? Well, that totally depends on you. I believe that as long as one applies true discipline, a little bit of MMO fun during the week is not terribly destructive... just like what happens with alcohol and tobacco. -->
