World of Warcraft Movie for WoW Followers

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.

How Video Games Can Help Your Children

Many people will talk about how bad video games are and that they do absolutely no good for children. The truth is that video games can actually provide a number of benefits for children. Here are some ways that video games can actually help your children.

Critical Thinking Skills

There are many different types on the market that help build up your child's critical thinking skills. Games which are more advanced require players to be able to make quick and educated decisions about what their next move is going to be. This is especially true in many types of games such as simulation, first person tactical, as well as different types of strategy games. If your child is not able to make sound decisions during play, they simply will not be successful in their attempts at playing the games. This same logic can be applied to just about any life situation that they may face in their life.

Creativity

Many video games require players to think creatively to come up with new strategies or techniques during their game play. There are some games that allow you to do things in more of a free form manner which gives players an opportunity to show off their creativity and also build upon their creative abilities.

Learning Techniques

The sports video games of today have become so realistic and so technologically advanced that they almost represent real life game like settings. Players can use video games to teach themselves proper techniques for different types of sports. For instance, football games have become very realistic, almost to the point of providing a game day film watching experience in which players are able to learn from the plays that are carried out throughout the game.

There are other games that help you understand the importance of perfecting techniques for performing certain sporting activities. One great example is archery games or other first person shooting type games. In order to be successful with these types of games you have to focus on aiming for accuracy in order to get the most points or earn a trip to the next level. In real life, in order to hit the target, you have to properly aim whatever it is that you are shooting. You can apply the same concepts in real life that you would be applying during your video game play.

So you see, video games aren't necessarily all bad for your kids. There are many benefits to them and many ways that they can actually help your children.

Will There Ever Be A Fable 2 PC Version?

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 a Gaming Mouse?

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.

Will Online Casinos Ever Bring Us Personal Slot Games?

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.

Huge Cash With Gathering in WoW

Although this at first not might make much sense, and I'll admit at first I didn't fully understand it either BUT...

Gathering professions are one of the quickest and easiest paths to thousands of gold in WoW. Now let me explain this a little bit. First off, players are ALWAYS going to need mats for enchants, jewel crafting, leather working, blacksmithing, etc. etc. and depending on how smartly you gather you can make hundreds of gold every hour using a simple system that you can make yourself with very little effort.

What do I mean by this?

I mean, that if you can learn how to make certain "routes" of where your gathering item is (whether that be mining nodes, herb spots, or good grinding locations) then you can run these routes over and over again and make tons of gold instead of running around like a chicken with its head cut off, wondering where to go next to farm for mats.

A great add-on is the "Routes" add-on which can be downloaded from Curse Gaming. This actually shows you on your mini-map places that certain gathering items respawn at, giving you the exact map, or route, for you to take...this eliminates all of the guesswork and makes farming a thousands times easier.

The KEY here however, is to sell your mats at opportune times. If you throw all your mining mats on the Auction House all at once and do it during a time when there is very low demand, not only are you going to find that your items sell a lot fewer. You're also going to find that you aren't going to be able to CHARGE as much money for these same items.

Great times to sell your mats are right after patches hit, or during peak hours when there's a lot of people on and there's a high demand for what your selling. Obviously the key here is to balance how many items your putting on the market at one time. You don't want to flood the market instantly or you're going to see a dip in how much you're going to be able to charge for your items.

Wanna know the greatest part about all of this?

You don't have to grind for hours and hours on end. You can spend a SOLID hour or two doing nothing but gathering mats and if you do that you're going to have a nice stockpile of items in your bank that you can sell at a later time or just throw on the market and log off.

The key here is uninterrupted focused action, as long as you can do this, you're going to find that your productivity shoots up and that you get a lot more farming done which ultimately leads to more gold in the bank. Bottom Line.

If you haven't yet reached 85, gather tons of mats as you level your character. This is a great way to make money and level yourself at the same time. I strongly recommend you to get to 85 before you do any hard-core farming because this is only going to help you in the long run. One hour of farming saronite hour will be 500 times more profitable then trying to sell the same amount of copper ore on the Auction house. (Extreme example but you get the picture)

Hope this helps you out, leveling is tough but hard work and dedication pay off big time in the long run, you've just gotta lift yourself out of that fog of uncertainty and keep on truckin...you'll get there soon enough!

Happy Farming!