Mokka mit Schlag » Videogames

Although I used to be quite involved in World of Warcraft, I gradually grew tired of it, and about a year ago I canceled my account. It wasn’t that I was bored with it. I still wanted to play it, but the game had moved away from me, and no longer offered the experience it once did. When Wrath of the Lich King came out I was so far behind the curve I decided to cancel rather than upgrade. Here are some thoughts on what a game might do to get me back.
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Attempting to install Lord of the Rings Online for the first time on a fairly stock Vista system, and the installer fails while updating some Visual C++ runtime library. When are we going to learn that we should not depend on the latest versions of every single library? Software should simply not require users to upgrade their libraries. (I say this having just shipped a product that fails on Java 5 on the Mac but succeeds on Java 6, so I’m hardly blameless here. The bug is really Apple’s fault, but we should have worked around it. Update: looks like a colleague fixed that a few hours ago. Cool.)

However, the real WTF is this error message I got while the installer was updating the files:

Naturally, I can’t copy and paste that URL. I’m supposed to type it into my web browser. More likely I just won’t play the game and try Warhammer instead.
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Anyone else notice that Age of Conan got covered in tar by the latest patch on Monday? My new PC (2 GB RAM, dual core, NVidia 8800GT) went from a respectable 40+ frames per second at maximum settings to a nearly unplayable 10 FPS or less, even on much reduced settings.

If this isn’t fixed soon, it may break my MMO habit once and for all. (Then again, I have been wondering about City of Heroes…)

So I’ve decided I’n Bored of Warcraft, and want to play Age of Conan. That means a new PC with some pretty hefty requirements (2GB DDR RAM, 2.4 GHz dual core or better, and an NVidia 7950 or better). Anyone want to suggest something?

I would like to pay under $1000 for the rig (monitor, keyboard, etc. not included). I will not pay over $2000 and I probably won’t pay that much. I prefer XP to Vista. I don’t want to build my own system (though I might resort to that if I have to). If I order off the web, I definitely want one that ships fast. Otherwise I want to buy off the shelf at Fry’ or some other local dealer.
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What’s the difference between an Undead Male and 150 pounds of cow plop?
One’s a disgusting, malodorous pile of disease-ridden filth and the other’s just manure.

Why did the Gnome cross the road?
A mage polymorphed him into a chicken.
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Since last week’s Warcraft patch I’ve noticed a few significant changes here and there in Azeroth that foreshadow the Burning Crusade. Among them:

• A Draenei ambassador has showed up in The Hinterlands seeking audience with the Wildhammers. He’s giving quests.

  

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