Battle.net Platform Rivals Steam
Battle.net has launched an electronic games distribution system to rival competitor Valve’s Steam platform. If you head over to Battle.net and sign up for an account, you’ll find a gorgeous online registry for storing your games and serial numbers:
If you click on one of your games, you are presented with the CD key and download options to download the game for Windows or the Mac:
Currently, the Battle.net game management platform supports World of Warcraft accounts and StarCraft, StarCraft Battle Chest, StarCraft Anthology, Warcraft III, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Warcraft Battle Chest, Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and the Diablo II Battle Chest.
I don’t see a way to purchase games directly from Blizzard, but it’s obvious next step. Once you can buy Blizzard games online at the Blizzard Store and have them automatically populated into your Battle.net account for download, I’ll be happy. For now, Battle.net provides a nice backup system in case you lose or damage the game discs. No more mailing for replacements!
Diablo 3 announced by Blizzard
Wow, you need to head right over to Blizzard’s new Diablo 3 page right now, where they’ve announced the next version of the famous RPG Diablo, and new classes, the Witch Doctor and Barbarian! There’s a new trailer, which is also pretty interesting. Check it out:
From the writings of Abd al-Hazir
Most believe the fearsome witch doctor of the umbaru race a legend, but I have seen one in battle with my own eyes. And it was difficult to believe, even then. He dispatched his opponent with terrifying precision, assaulting his victim’s mind and body with elixirs and powders that evoked fires, explosions, and poisonous spirits. As if these assaults were not enough, the witch doctor also had at his command the ability to summon undead creatures from the netherworld to rend the flesh from his enemy’s body.”
In my journey to catalogue the various denizens, civilizations, and fauna of our world, I have traveled far and wide, but never before have I been struck with such dismay as when standing upon the ramparts of the ancient fortress of Bastion’s Keep. I came to see firsthand the barbarians, those near-legendary, immense, relentless, dual-wielding furies of combat dwelling upon their sacred Mount Arreat.
DotA Allstars v6.52 released!
Last night, Icefrog made public his latest version of DotA Allstars, and there are a LOT of changes in this update. For instance, ownership of items is now tracked so when you steal an item from your team it is “muted,” unless of course the person has left the game. All hotkeys can now be remapped, and recipes can now be bought with a full inventory!
You can download DotA 6.52 (not AI) here. Check out the monstrous change-log as follows:
6.52 Changelog
===============
* Rewrote all item code and systems. It now supports things like properly tracking item ownerships, fusing recipes with a full inventory as well as fixing a lot of older miscellaneous bugs and usability issues, and setting groundwork for other things in the future
* Fixed all CustomKey problems. All hotkeys in the game can now be properly remapped to any other hotkey
* Map strings are now properly allocated to allow players with different language versions to play with each other without having to download multiple maps themselves. This means, for example, that you can play or watch games with your English version of the map with someone using a Chinese, Korean or Russian translated version of the map without any problems. The maps for the other languages will be posted on getdota.com alongside the English version for each release
* Lowered side angles on Bristleback
* Agility Morph and Strength Morph can now be clicked on directly for one-time use
* Morph interval is smoother when it levels (same overall rate though)
* Improved Elder Form attack animation
* Improved cooldown progression on Soul Rip
* Rewrote Timewalk to keep constant speed (so its not slow motion when you click nearby)
* Dark Rift can now be cast by targeting minimap
* Increased AutoQuills release requirement on Bristleback from 200 to 300
* Improved cooldown progression on Primal Split
* Improved initial AI on Dopplewalk image to make it less obvious when it’s created
* Sonic Wave cooldown no longer improves per level in non-scepter form
* Reduced Reverse Polarity AOE a little
* Reduced Dragon Knight’s Breathe Fire manacost
* Undid a portion of the cooldown buff done on Elder Dragon Form last version
* Increased Huskar’s attack range from 350 to 400
* Lowered Puck’s attack range from 600 to 550
* Increased level 2 and 3 Purge’s damage to summoned unit
* Lowered Faceless Void’s strength gain
* Improved Faceless Void’s cast animation time
* Increased level 3 Insatiable Hunger cooldown
* Lowered Sand King’s base armor
* Improved cooldown progression on Spirit Bear
* Lowered movement speed on Beastmaster’s Hawk
* Increased Abaddon’s movement speed slightly
* Scream of Pain manacost is now constant on all levels
* Increased Primal Roar cooldown by 10 seconds
* Lowered Living Dead bounty and increased their magic resistance
* Decreased Timelapse cooldown
* Increased Immolation damage on level 3 Primal Split’s Fire panda
* Lowered Sven’s agility gain
* Improved Huskar’s attack animation time slightly
* Scaled the movement bonus on Chemical Rage (lower at level 1, level 3 remains the same)
* Lowered Scepter upgraded Doom’s cooldown
* Increased cast range on Drunken Haze
* Changed Fatal Bonds from damage to HP loss (numbers adjusted to keep it at the same effectiveness)
* Lowered Medusa’s attack animation time
* Lowered Will O’ manacost
* Undid manacost change on Level 1 Reaper’s Scythe
* Slightly reduced Rikimaru’s cast animation time
* Scattershot gives vision on the area it is cast on
* Flesh Heap now works with denies
* Lowered cast range on Neutral Dark Troll’s Ensnare
* Increased cooldown on Neutral Dark Troll’s Raise Dead
* Items now have muted form when carried by non-owner (aside from a few exceptions like regeneration and leaver items). -pm can be used if you want to allow pooling in your games
* Improved basic item’s descriptions layout and presentation (133979)
* Flying Courier cannot carry Observer Wards from enemy base
* Lowered transmute bounty on previously untransmutable creeps (lvl 6)
* Change Sange and Yasha recipe costs and bonuses it gives as well as fixing some minor inaccuracies with it
* Flying Courier can no longer carry Aegis
* Added Blades of Attack to the Goblin Shop
* Increased the Fountain’s bottle autofilling range
* Increased Diffusal Blade’s agility bonus by 5 (carries through to Manta Style)
* Lowered Black King Bar duration slightly
* Increased HP loss rate when Armlet is activated
* Improved Lina’s projectile and visuals (170933)
* Added allied only overhead cast effect for Assassinate (203083)
* Listed maximum targets for Wrath of Nature in the tooltip (212395)
* Added special effect when Berserker’s Blood is stacked at a high level (176376)
* Added special overhead allied-only text to show duration while channeling Unstable Concoction (196859)
* Added a sound effect when Culling Blade kills a hero
* Added new Power Treads icons for the agility and intelligence versions (207886)
* Added an allied-vision only visual effect for Weave (139374)
* Lowered volume on creep horn sound
* Improved Dragon’s Tail’s visual effect (192582)
* Added a new visual effect for Soul Assumption
* Improved King Leoric’s visual effects (180737)
* Changed Mana Void visual effects (211058)
* Removed status buff icon for Hunter in the Night when it isn’t affecting him
* Puck and Clinkz now have a chance to get an alternate “fun name” like Ursa
* Fixed a fatal error problem when upgrading Flying Courier after reloading from saved game
* Fixed some overhead text effects that would show through fog of war
* Fixed a bug when either of Rot, Sand Storm or Storm Seeker are in the same area
* Rewrote Juxtapose and Dopplewalk image creation to fix a rare minor bug
* Fixed a minor bug with moving Lothar’s Edge while not in cooldown
* Fixed an exploit with Lanaya
* Fixed Phantom Edge to properly stack with Magic Resistance like the others
* Fixed a bug with Primal Roar that could occur when used on blinkers
* Fixed a control loss issue in recent versions with Sand King when Burrowstriking
* Rewrote Reverse Polarity to fix some rare issues with it stunning but not pulling
* Fixed some minor bugs with Assassinate
* Fixed World Tree and Frozen Throne towers not sharing bounty with allies
* Fixed Sand Storm not affecting sleeping neutrals properly
* Fixed the interruption requirement to leveling up Storm Seeker
* Fixed a minor bug with the damage of Invoker’s Tornado not syncing accurately with the cyclone effect
* Fixed a minor bug with Dagger and Aegis creating blank dummy items in base
* Fixed Centaur’s Return from triggering off on ally attack order
* Fixed a rare issue with not properly creating Haunt images (DonTomaso)
* XL Mode changed to have 4 hero removals per side instead of 3
* Minimap now does a special ping to allied players when a unit uses Scroll of Teleportation or Boots of Travel
* Improved Scroll of Teleportation code to armor enhance the building you are teleporting to when you click in the area instead of only when directly clicking on the target
* Various other map performance optimizations
* Added lots of music modes. You must have music enabled to use these. Use ‘-music xxx’ where xxx is one of the following added options: off, random, nightelf1, nightelf2, nightelf3, human1, human2, human3, orc1, orc2, orc3, undead1, undead2, undead3, other1, other2, other3, other4, other5
* Added a new mode -poolingmode(-pm) to allow pooling
* -lvlup now allows a number after it to level up faster in test games
* Reduced delay on End Game scoreboard for Sentinel victory
* -roll without specified number now does it out of 100
* Added command -list for use in -sd to show the pick options again
* Changed follow allied unit range to move closer to the target
* Restored and fixed previous issues with -unstuck
* Added a time delayed warning message when the game is in -test mode (some people have been abusing private chat to activate it before using -ah to clear the screen in order to use test commands to cheat without anyone knowing)
* Added commands -rollon and -rolloff incase people spam with roll. Default is on
* Added single player commands -killall/-killsent/-killscourge (169041)
* Added a new mode -observerinfo(-oi) to display extra information for game broadcasters/observers when you hover over player heroes
* Initial creep waves in -ap now spawn 30 seconds later
* Added single player test command -time xx to set the time of day
* Improved the text display on courier death
* Added a new single player or -test mode subcommand (-noherolimit) that lets you get multiple heroes, primarily for video editors that have been requesting it
* New Invoker story from the contest (Ike_Ike)
World of Warcraft Reaches 9.3M Subscribers
Vivendi recently silenced its naysayers, revealing that their subscriber-base has hit an all-time high of 9.3 million players. Although there is no release date set for the highly-anticipated World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard still manages to post record profits. Gamasutra reports:
Vivendi has chalked up the increase not only to its WoW subscriber base, but the release of its The Burning Crusade expansion, which saw release in China in the latter part of the third quarter … The company also noted that its subscriber base has continued to grow from the 9 million mark it celebrated in July to more than 9.3 million, which it says is up more than one million subscribers since December 31 of last year.
DotA 6.43b Official Release!
Following the release of DotA 6.43, the good folks over at dotaportal have released a newer version of DotA: version 6.43b (not AI). Of course, I guarantee that within 2 weeks there will be at least a DotA 6.35. You can download the latest version (6.34b) of DotA Allstars HERE. The changelogs of DotA 6.43 and 6.43b are as follows:
6.43b Changelog:
=================* Fixed some big performance problems lower end machines were having
* Fixed some rare bugs that caused heroes to not revive
* Fixed -swaphero, neutral creep spawn time and initial gold in -xl6.43 Changelog:
================* Added new mode -xl(Extended League Mode)
* Reworked the Roshan Terrain area for improved Sentinel accessibility (lots of miscellaneous tweaks and mechanics to that area have been done beyond simply terrain change)
* Fixed the multiple hero exploit
* Recoded the death timer. It is more accurate now (the display was off before, you don’t revive any faster than you used to)
* Items with armor bonuses no longer stack (Vladmir/Basilius/Assault)
* Fixed a bug with Satanic that was giving it extra life steal
* Fixed some bugs with Mekansm, Morphling Stat Change and Hand of God that caused the death timer to not properly show
* Added Bottle to the new secret shop
* Undid some of the Toughness Aura buff from last version
* Tinker no longer Rearms Arcane Ring
* Slightly reduced creep collision size due to the increased number in the last patch towards the end of the game
* Fixed Sentinel ranged creeps having slightly less regen than Scourge ranged creeps
* Mekansm and Bloodstone now tell the user when they fail to heal him properly due to stacking rules
* Watchers give slightly less gold (due to their new radiance vulnerability last patch)
* Fixed various typos
* Fixed Ring of Basilius ability from working on CotS and Essence Aura
* Song of the Siren properly sleeps units out of its vision
* Items that can be disassembled now tell you when you buy them
* Fixed a bug with chicken that lets you sell unsellable items
* Fixed Throne not providing the lifesteal capability that World Tree does
* Reduced Radiance damage bonus from 70 to 60
* Fixed Phantom Assassin’s Blink Strike range
* Death Board is on by default now (-don)
* Observer Wards last a little longer now
* Reduced Avernus’ movement speed by 5
* Temporarily disabled Meepo in -dm to fix some bugs
* Fixed the Doppelwalk and Lothar’s Edge “0!” text
* The icon for turning Rot off is now more obvious
* Changed Meepo Attribute Bonus from 40% to 25%
* Improved Unstable Concoction (When you cast it, you lock vision on the target while you channel)
* Various nerfs to Alchemist: Acid Spray AOE (700-550), Acid Spray Mana (120->160), Str/lvl (2.4->1.8), Int/lvl (1.5->1.0), Lowered health regen on level 1 ultimate, Greed Stack Duration (20->18), Greed Gold Cap (20->18), Movement Speed (300->290) but level 2 and 3 of his ultimate give him a minor boost back to his normal speed, Slight base armor reduction
* Fixed Cheese to heal the proper amount
* Fixed the creep spawn sound from happening too early in -mm
As usual, I’ll keep you guys posted on the latest DotA details: where, when, and what’s going on with your favorite WC3:FT custom map.
