30.4.11

NPH Leak Aftermath - Major DCI Suspensions

Duelists Convocation International - DCI
I talked recently about the spoiling of New Phyrexia, and it appears that Wizards of the Coast has acted swiftly in regards to the incident. Along with releasing a full official visual spoiler, on Thursday Wizards released a press statement announcing the fact that NPH was indeed leaked well in advance and that they had found out who did it. In the press statement, Wizards stated:

We have received confessions from both Guillaume Matignon and Guillaume Wafo-Tapa describing what happened and apologizing for their actions. Two other players—Martial Moreau and David Gauthier—have also been identified as being involved.

Whoa. That's huge. Four people, 2 of them major MTG pros, had access to the "Godbook" in which every single card is listed with mana costs and oracle text (card rule text). This book is not even given to WoTC employees, and rarely leaves the locked doors of Magic's Research and Development offices.

The internet backlash was huge, not that they got banned, or that the set was spoiled. It was because pro players were given important metagame information that would obviously be used to their advantage when deckbuilding. In Magic, knowledge is power and these guys certainly had that power.

Not that that matters, though. In the same article, Wizards announced:

Unfortunately when we learn of things that harm the integrity of the game and of the Magic community, Wizards cannot stand by without action. Guillaume Matignon has been suspended from the DCI for three years. Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, Martial Moreau, and David Gauthier have been suspended from the DCI until October 2012.

Well folks, there you have it.

Some more reading, if you're interested:
[Gathering Magic]
[WoTC Press Release/DCI Banned Announcement]
[Channel/Fireball]

25.4.11

PSN Network Taken Down, Pirates Blamed

Failure? You Decide!
Guys, guys. I think Sony is mad.

Just putting that out there. Y'know, since they've completely failed with the PS3-related DRM/anti copy protection earlier in the year (root keys found in firmware) and now this.

Seriously, Sony. The PS2 was awesome. Now you just herp and derp all over yourself with this.

Stop that. Stop being bad.

23.4.11

The Grand Compleation

It's been spoiled. Early.

I recently watched the new Magic Show episode in which Evan Erwin spoke about how New Phyrexia (NPH) had been prematurely spoiled to the point where the usual spoiler season has been ruined for the set. I had taken a gander over at the spoiler collection site and had indeed seen that all 175 cards in the summer set had been leaked.

Now, I had heard that the entire set had been spoiled earlier in the week, and was very excited over being able to see the new cards (Especially the new Praetors. They are crazy good.). I was overjoyed that Wizards would even do something this cool like spoil the set this early. Then I found out (from watching that episode of the Magic Show) that it was actually a third party leak, and that there was supposed to be a complete spoiler season, with those informative articles and things that always pop up prior to a release. Those things aren't going to be much use now that the set is spoiled.

And another thing that I didn't realize until watching that Magic Show episode: with an almost an entire MONTH passing between now and NPH's release on May 14, Spikes and Johnnies from across the globe will have already broken all the breakable cards in time to build the new Tier I standard decks on Day 1. Wizard's carefully planned spoiler season where they break down the new card mechanics over the next few weeks is ignored, because what's the point? The set's out, basically. All the people need are the physical cards in their hand to replace their proxied NPH cards. It's madness.

Shame on the person who did this. Shame.

Now, I'll be looking through the set and posting some opinions on cards (with mockup, courtesy of my copy of Magic Set Editor) at another time.

Easter Madness

With Easter only being tomorrow, some online games have put out their Easter promotional events. Here are a couple:

World of Tanks -- Free to Play Panzer MMO

The fine folks at World of Tanks have a small Easter related event in which players will look for Easter eggs and report them in for a chance at 2500 in-game gold, usually used on timed premium accounts or on premium tanks. It's a one day only event, so players will have to act fact to be one of the winners of the large amount of gold.

Vinderptus, more like. LOLOLOLOL

Nexon's Vindictus has an Easter event, entitled "The Colossal Ovum Crusade" lasting from April 20 thru the 26th. It looks like defeating battle quest bosses will drop eggs that can be turned in for prizes gifted by Nexon.


Tomorrow's looking to be pretty good for players of both games.

22.4.11

Portal 2

The wily GLaDOS is at it again.
What better way to start this blog off than to talk briefly about the newest in Valve's distinguished collection of games, Portal 2.

This game is incredible. From the incredible cinematic opening sequence of the game (which blew me away) all throughout the entirety of the various test chambers, there was never a real dull moment for the player. The puzzles were elegantly simple, yet just challenging enough to last most of the 8-10 hours an average play through would take. The animation suggests almost Pixar level detail in everything, and comes a long way from the animation detail of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and the Orange Box (which I felt was very impressive for its time).

The characters were unforgettable, witty, and charming. I always find myself quoting GLaDOS or Cave Johnson (We're done here.) in my conversations with people, which may make me seem like a douchebag or a very crazy Potato lover. The plot is engaging and clever, and the ARG that surrounded its release had me on the edge of my seat.

In any case, this is definitely a game that should not be left unplayed.

Portal 2 is available on Steam (PC/Mac), PS3, and the XBox 360.

Grand Opening

Welcome.

I've been thinking. What have I been thinking? I've been thinking of things. Gaming things. Of MTG decklists, of new video games, of the new Matt Ward codex, of all sorts of strange, awesome things.

This blog will attempt to collect my thoughts on the many subjects of gaming. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as I will be writing it.