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.

Puzzle Games Are Great for Kids!

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.

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.

What Is Fun About Free Online Games?

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.

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Finding More Spiderman Online Games To Play

One of the most popular and successful comic book superheroes of all time is Spiderman, also known as Peter Parker. The character was originally created and developed in the 1960s by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Since that time almost fifty years ago, Spiderman has become one of the greatest superheroes ever. Because of this fact, it is easy to find Spiderman online games to play.

If you are looking to play free Spiderman online games then you simply need to open up your web browser and type in a search phrase for them. Your search results should bring you hundreds of different websites with various kinds of Spiderman flash games. Most of these games will be free and shouldn't require the installation of any files. However, some of them may require small file installations to play, in which case those particular games may not work on a secure network like at school or work.

There are a ton of great console games if you are looking to play Spiderman console games online. Two of the more popular series are Marvel vs. Capcom (1, 2, or 3) and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (1 or 2). If you like player vs. player action, then pickup Marvel vs. Capcom. If you prefer a multiplayer co-op role-playing experience, check out Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. All of the games in both of these series can be played on either Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. Spiderman is a playable character in all of these games.

If you don't have an internet connection at home or aren't interested in playing free Spiderman online games, then you can try out one of the many single player Spiderman console games. All of the modern consoles have Spiderman games available. There is the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Sony PSP, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac. You'll find many different games available on these systems. Some of the more recent popular games are Spiderman: Friend or Foe, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Spider-Man 3, and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. There are tons of other games for the consoles and older systems as well.

When you talk about the most famous and successful superheroes of all time, Spiderman is right up there with the best of the best. He is in the class of Wolverine, Batman, Superman, Captain America, The Hulk, The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Spawn, Punisher, and the rest of the best superheroes around. Due to this fact, it is usually pretty easy to find Spiderman games online.

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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!

My First MMORPG - Addiction And My Experience With "Expedicion Holic"

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. -->

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