EpicPhoenix's Blog

Go To EpicPhoenix.com

2010-02-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

EpicPhoenix's Blog, SSEP Network and WoW Raiding 101 moved to EpicPhoenix.com in late December. Mid-February, and the website is going strong with three updates per week.

Redirect yourself over to the new website by clicking HERE!

New URL

2009-12-16T00:00:00.001-08:00

Hello. If you are reading this, you are viewing either EpicPhoenix's Blog, WoW Raiding 101 or SSEP Network. Or, you might even be viewing Snickersnee's Soapbox or Stealth Setup. You are probably viewing them on the Blogger or WordPress page.

The Blog, Podcast and Network have moved to a new URL.

You can view them here.

EpicPhoenix.com is your source for awesome. EpicPhoenix's Blog, WoW Raiding 101 and SSEP Network all transformed into one giant cesspit of win.

Inactive

2009-12-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note - SSEP Network, WoW Raiding 101 and EpicPhoenix's Blog will be inactive until 12/21. Why? Enjoying the holiday season, I am. And, there is a new URL - so this is the last post ever on any of these websites, besides of course the new URL notice.

Dragon Age: Origins Review

2009-12-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

I've played Dragon Age for about twenty hours now. Not even the smallest dent in the crust. But I have an understanding of the game and are now ready to tell you whether or not to buy it. Expect an update on this once I "finish" the game, or "finish" my first campaign.

You pick all sorts of different "origins" in the beginning. Mine happened to be a young man named Epicphoenix - a noble prince trained in the art of the warrior. When the city is vulnerable, one of your former alliances attacks you. You escape with a Grey Warden, leaving your father and mother behind to die. A Grey Warden is an ancient order designed to destroy some zombies. Well, technically they're darkspawn, but they're zombies. The Grey Wardens are the policemen of the Dragon Age world, and the darkspawn are the "bad kids".

The main idea of the game is the use of pausing, controlling various characters, and questing. You walk around collecting tasks and quests and such, and you complete them. You earn experience. Standard, easy, you know the drill stuff. But then, there is pausing. You can control any character in your party and use their special skills as if they are your own character. Now, if you're playing your character and let the AI control your party mates, you will die, suck and fail. However, if you pause every so often, control each character and assign them to do a certain task, win!

Imagine playing in live action. You stand there, button mashing. The AI controlling your five party mates auto-attack with their staves. Or you can pause, make the mage cast a fireball, the "paladin" shield slam, and the dog bark, and voila! You win the game. DAMN IT. Sorry, I just lost the game by thinking of winning the game.

In the end, buy the game. Just do it. You can buy Brutal Legend (great game) and get six hours of fun. Maybe more if you play the RTS online. Or, you can buy Dragon Age: Origins for the same price and get, quite literally, over 300 hours of fun. Make the right choice.

Damn You, GameFly

2009-12-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

EDIT: As of 12/5, Left 4 Dead 2 has been shipped. Expect a review soon.

ORIGINAL:

So, GameFly told me they received Batman: Arkham Asylum on 11/22, On 11/23, rather than sending me Left 4 Dead 2, they sent me Forza Motorsport 3. Thanks. I wanted the game, just for some random racing fun after completing L4D2, Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed 2. Nice going. So I got the game, sent it back. But, good news. On the 9th, I'm giving you my thoughts on Dragon Age: Origins. Good stuff. Just a little update, on December 9th we'll get back onto the path of long, thought-out posts. Until then, you can check my Twitter (look to the right) for constant updates.

A New Beginning / PSP Unboxing

2009-12-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

That new banner? It's a sign of things to come. I've been working on my new website for a while now, and if you've been following me on Twitter, it's coming together quite well. The new website? Gasp! What's that, you ask? On December 20, 2009, expect huge changes. New URL, new domain, new look, new goals, new template. New vision, new EpicPhoenix. 12/20/09, with 1/15/10 marking the return of WoW Raiding 101. Until then, here's a new video.

You can view the video on Vimeo, as seen above, or on YouTube.

It's Coming...

2009-11-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday, but you're the one getting the real present.

Zombie Headshots

2009-11-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

NOTE: The post was written on 11/22/09. This note was written on 11/25/09. Look what I got! Yay, I've finally gotten myself a mobile gaming device, and a spectacular deal for the PSP, game, and some vouchers. Fun stuff. And, it'll be here before my birthday! Perfect.

Original Post:

Nothing better than Left 4 Dead 2, eh? Well, I promised for a Dragon Age: Origins review, but Dragon Age takes over 50 hours, and the Left 4 Dead 2 campaign took... well, about 45 hours less. So I'll be giving you my review in the next few weeks, and then shortly after, Dragon Age. Also, I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving!

I've been busy in WoW (for the first time in months)and I'm officially Pilgrim Epicphoenix.

And my birthday is on November 30th. So... Yeah. Four days!!! Excitement!!!

Additionally, I would like to annnounce something.

Je deteste fan-made trailers!

If you don't speak French, I hate fan-made trailers. Really. Take for example...

New Moon Trailer 1

New Moon Trailer 2

New Moon Trailer 3

WoW Patch 3.3 Trailer

See the pattern? Any asshole can stick in the green rating screen, mash together previous trailers with dramatic music and some Arial text for "drama" in between clips.

But really, if they actually released the fan-made trailer as the official trailer, how would people react? Something along the lines of "WTF, we saw this shit, DIAF"

Take in consideration that 3.3 trailer. All I saw was Warcraft 3 trailers with cheesy lines with no meaning in between reused clips with some dramatic music. Fail.

WoW Raiding 101's Glorious Return

2009-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

That's right, on January 15th, WoW Raiding 101 will return as EpicPhoenix's solo podcast.

WoW Raiding 101 is your weekly gaming podcast talking about WoW news, raiding and general gaming. Mark your calendar for the epicness.

Also, WoW Raiding 101 will indeed be part of SSEP Network, seeing as how it is EpicPhoenix's vocal project.

Gaming = Nerd AMIRITE

2009-11-20T00:00:00.001-08:00

I’ve seen people who are overweight, who do nothing with their lives, who don’t ever clean their ears or comb their hair – and frankly, I’ve also seen people like me – skinny kids with friends who are also “popular”, engaging in healthy activities while also being a hardcore gamer. Now, the definition of a video game nerd has changed. Now, a video game nerd is simply anybody who is “lame” or “uncool” and just so happens to play video games. No longer is a person uncool because they play video games. Why? Because they conceal it, or they are casual gamers. Casual gaming is fine – if you have a 360 and play Madden and Call of Duty, good for you. But if you play World of Warcraft or “nerdy” games that only hardcores would play, then you’re considered a nerd. Why is gaming considered to be such an invaluable hobby?

Hate to break it to you, but it’s because people aren’t familiar with such hardcore games. Their idea of a game is a fun, short, burst of entertainment. They don’t have the mind to contemplate a calm before the storm, or any lack of edge-of-your-seat fun. Thus, Wii Bowling may be fun, but games such as WoW might get boring in the middle of a leveling slump. They’re just not familiar with how in-depth games are, and second, they consider games to be fake. They say you can’t get anywhere with video games. Well, they’re idiots. What’s their hobby? Watching TV? Even take for example BMX biking. Sure, you can become a pro – but how many kids at the skatepark become pros? They think that I spend my nights pretending to be an elf, or pretending to be a knight. And last but not least – the loneliness.

This is a big one. Sure, there are single player games, but there are hundreds of amazing multi-player games. So, the idea of a gamer is a fat dude with no job who sits in his basement in the dark. But non-gamers have an idea of gamer isolation that is simply ridiculous. Take for example my friend’s opinion. This is from a teenage girl who plays casual, online multiplayer games – such as Maplestory, Club Penguin, Gaia Online – the point is, the games have no real combat design or intense gameplay. It’s for talking to your friends online and having short, casual fun. I told her the games were poor excuses for Facebook, she said it wasn’t her fault that I spend my life alone in my basement. Oh, stereotypes. Games like World of Warcraft have you surrounded with all sorts of friends and people of which you never would have known until they bust that hilarious one-liner in Ventrilo. With WCRadio, I’ve already met many friends from the IRC and community forums – and we’ve got together to play Borderlands or Left 4 Dead. Gaming isn’t about sitting alone, you have tons of friends – virtual friends, but there’s always a face behind a monitor, many of which can be seen at BlizzCon.

The idea of this gamer stereotype should extinguish as Madden games continue to make their annual $2 million from casual gaming teenage boys, and as games like Call of Duty which survive off an easy-to-learn shooting/war simulation gameplay, designed to slap your friends with your e-peen, rise to the top, this stereotype will no longer become one, but become fact, when PC gaming dies out so Valve can produce Hello Kitty Island Adventure: Episodes from Liberty City 7 for the Wii.

November 17

2009-11-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

Second most important: My birthday in 13 days.
The most important: It's November 17, release date for L4D 2 and AC 2! I've been excited about this for months now.

Planning on getting twenty hours of Dragon Age in this week and playing through Left 4 Dead 2's campaign over the weekend. Awesome stuff.

Speaking of L4D2 - here's a video from my friend and fellow SSEP founder, Snickersnee.

2012

2009-11-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Well, on Friday I saw 2012. It was a heartwarming tale of five underdeveloped characters in a race against a giant cloud of fucking death. The story starts with a man who’s name I’ve already forgotten, a single author. He is going on a camping trip with his children and goes to Yellowstone National Park, where he discovers the park is heating up and becoming unsafe – and he leaves. Meanwhile, a scientist discovers the earth’s core is heating up, resulting in the crust shifting and stuff. So, he hears some crazy guy preach about the end of the world and how the government built big ships for people to survive on, and when the single author guy – who is apparently a limousine driver – delivers two fat, spoiled Russian kids to a plane and “accidentally” drops a suitcase on their foot, one child tells the single author guy that “they’re going on big ships to survive and that he will die, haha!”. So it begins. The single author guy rents a plane and drives to his ex-wife’s house to rescue them. They think he is crazy, until their house asplode. Then, cut to an action scene of a limo jumping over chasms in the road, and then followed by a plane dodging falling buildings, then that plane landing in Yellowstone, them getting in a car and dodging falling meteorites, and then more plane / building dodging. Then they land, find another plane, dodge more buildings, and crash in the Himalayas. Then they ride a pickup truck to the crazy ships, and long story short – they sneak in, and stuff happens.

The movie was awesome, I was on the edge of my seat. Waiting for it to end. Every close call I knew they were fine, and they would save dramatic death scenes for the end. The story of three people – a Chinese boy with a pickup trick, an Indian scientist, and our good ol’ Californian single author guy – are all tied together very well in the end. It just makes me wonder – did they really pay a guy, to come in, work morning to afternoon, just so he can faceroll in AutoDesk Maya and create maybe half of one frame? Think about it, this was a three hour movie.

Overall, the movie was okay. It was like Transformers 3. Just like the second Transformers, this movie had a shit ton of special effects with no real story or motivation. Maybe a 7/10. You should rent it. And this doesn’t mean I’ll be doing movie reviews frequently, I’m just really bored while Dragon Age: Origins installs. Also, to quote my friend, “Dude, Bill Cosby was the President!”

Dragon Age: Origins

2009-11-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

My thoughts on the movie 2012 tomorrow... But on November 27th I'll be reviewing Drago Age: Origins. Got it today, as well as some new Nikes. Good stuff. See you tomorrow!

Introducing SSEP Network!

2009-11-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

From the SSEP Website:

Hey there, I'm EpicPhoenix, and welcome to SSEP Network. SSEP Network stands for Snickersnee/EpicPhoenix Network - and that's pretty self-explanatory. Me and Snickersnee have teamed up together to bring you the best gaming site in the entire world. Part of SSEPN is my EpicPhoenix's Blog, Snickersnee's Soapbox, WoW Raiding 101 (on hiatus), as well as the official SSEP Forum. We hope to see you around!

The main idea when making SSEPN was to have a blog where you can make one stop, where you can hear our ideas and opinions and talk about them all in one place.

The members of the SSEP Network are currently me and Snickersnee, and soon Mastranna (once he can return to WoW Raiding 101) - but we'd love to have you in it too! If you have a blog, or just want to whine about how much this website sucks, contact me at epixphoenix@gmail.com

Borderlands Review

2009-11-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here it is, my Borderlands Review. So, I'm thinking of doing some sort of timeline thing. So, first, let's start off with the shit-tastic release. Originally, the game was announced to be on sale in October. This was later changed to 10/20/09. The game is on PS3/360/PC, and the PC version was pushed back to 10/26/09 sometime in September. The reason was that they could optimize the game for PC use. Except, it wasn't. But basically - all of the advertisements said 10/20/09. In between the 20th and 26th, commercials ran with the PC box saying in stores now. If I was a GameStop employee who had never heard of the thing, I would've thrown it on the shelf as well. But basically, tons of people got the game before the 26th, and hilarity insued.

2K Games stated they would not be changing the release date for PC although others got the game early. However, this brings another issue to the plate - the PC version was delayed for optimization, yet all three games went gold at the same time, and all three games arrived a day or two before the 20th. Epic fail. But it was okay, at 12:01 AM on 10/26/09 I got to play Borderlands. Wrong. The game didn't unlock until 3:00 PM - and even when it did, my game files - that had been preloaded via Steam three days earlier - were apparently fucked up, and thus I had to reinstall. I finally sat down and played one or two days after, and got a taste of the game.

So, I opened the game up, and immediately looked in Multiplayer. Tons of games titled "new character" or "newbiez runn" or something. So, I joined one.
Connecting to host... Session timed out.
Connecting to host... Session timed out.
Connecting to host... Session timed out.
Connecting to host... Session timed out.
Long story short, GameSpy sucks, and nobody can play multiplayer unless they open all their various ports and throw their router at the wall and hack the game and stab an innocent baby - the only way to play is using GameRanger, a third-party multiplayer system which has its own lobby, which then sets up an offline LAN game for you and three friends to play in. I started playing with some WCRadio friends, and eventually got in some multiplayer.

I was playing the siren - Lilith, a beautiful but deadly soldier. We had one player for each class, and it was tons of fun. The game's UI is sleek and beautiful, and the controls are simple enough - left click to shoot, right click to aim (scope), but the game is beyond shitloads of fun. When it works in multiplayer. Which isn't often.

In singleplayer, I was playing as Mordecai - a hunter, a deadly sniper. The game's questing is great - but you use Page Up/Page Down to scroll through quest text. Yeah, optimized for PC my asscrack. But the game has a nice feel using the mouse and keyboard, but even better was using my Logitech Gamepad - a mock console controller with a USB port on the end of the wire. It's just a shame the game couldn't fulfill my cranky needs. But whatever, it's good fun.

The game is tons of fun in multiplayer, it's just a shame all of this shit happened - Gearbox produced a great game, and it's a shame 2K screwed up the release, GameSpy screwed up multiplayer, and their game couldn't be translated to the PC as fluently as I would have liked. It's good fun and a great game with friends, But I give it a 8/10.

Lineage

2009-11-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

NOTE: You can watch the first 15 minutes on YouTube right over here. You can catch the full movie on Spike in the next few days. And I apologize for the picture of Giovanni which makes him look like an alien assassin.

Well, last night Assassin's Creed Lineage was on Spike at midnight. Despite getting four hours of sleep before school, it was epic. By the way, there were four commercial breaks, and six porno commercials. Just sayin'.

The movie did exactly what it should've done - get me excited about Assassin's Creed 2, and Assassin's Creed Bloodlines (for the PSP). I was wondering if Assassin's Creed would fall underneath Left 4 Dead 2's giant release on the 17th, but it's starting to look awesome.

The story starts off not with Altair or Etzio - but with Giovanni, an assassin himself who is the father of Etzio. He captures a soldier and discovers, after torture, a group of rebels is planning to kill a duke on Christmas. Yes, that sounds cheesy, and it is - the duke is standing in a temple, there are people there, cheering him on - a citizen approaches the duke and kisses a ring on his finger, and then stabs him in the chest. Another man stabs the duke in the neck, and chaos erupts between rebels and soldiers, with Giovanni in the midst. Giovanni watches as his son grows up, while he discovers another, larger scheme - he intercepts a letter, and to understand the language, has to deliver it - he delivers it to a man who walks into a curch, and after Giovanni walks into a trap and gets stabbed in the chest, Giovanni returns home. He is called again by his masters, and observes as his son makes out with a chick. Because he's stealthy like that.

It left off there, but there was a game trailer - it shows Etzio, watching his father be hanged. Etzio shouts out, and it cuts to a scene with his father in prison. Giovanni tells Etzio to go to his private quarters and to take his cosplay costume. Just kidding. But, that's how Etzio becomes an assassin.

The movie was awesome. It was full of awesome, bloody, knife-y violence and introduced the villian, hero, a bit of backstory, and got me so excited about this game, it's stupid. I'll be traveling to GameStop on the 18th to pick up...

Left 4 Dead 2
Assassin's Creed 2
Assassin's Creed Bloodlines
Modern Warfare 2
Uncharted 2: Among Theives

So, that's a total of 310 dollars, in video games. Oh, great.

But, that's that, Borderlands review tomorrow on EP's Blog, see you then!

Sad News

2009-11-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

WoW Raiding 101 is on a hiatus with no clear end date. This is mostly because Mastranna is unable to do the show for a period of time which cannot be determined, and if I do another solo show, your ears would explode.

I am sorry.

--EpicPhoenix

[The New] WoW Raiding 101

2009-11-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

So, I was busy on Friday night - not playing Borderlands or going to the movies, I was doing Photoshop work and then listening to WCRadio. Yeah, I'm hardcore. You can check out the new WoW Raiding 101 website in the little widget to the side of this post, and I hope you enjoy it. We've also got a new way to bring the show to you - rather than a still image with laggy audio via Vimeo, I've finally found a good MP3 hosting website and we're using Yahoo! Media Player. Mastranna will return soon and we'll get going, but around Episode 12 expect something huge, that I've been working on for almost a month now. Thanks for listening, everyone! Additionally, the new pet store has been launched - expect tons of new info on this week's episode. I'll be recording it in about an hour, should be fun stuff. Additionally, I've added advertisments to the podcast blog - Zygor's Guide. I chose them since they had a Lich King theme and I've used the guide before and it's pretty awesome. Just a little bit of cash so we can fund our numerous contests and buy prizes and such.

But I've made a decision.

This blog will mostly be general gaming. My views on the World of Warcraft will be found on the podcast. This blog, will be general gaming - but occasionally BlizzCon coverage or things I can't really say on the show, such as some guy ninja-looting something and me nerdraging.

Thank you. --EP

Brutal Legend/Arkham Asylum - Reviews

2009-11-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while. I've only been posting big, lengthy, informative posts. I've been putting alot of effort into the podcast, WoW Raiding 101, and that website, but I've also been pretty busy with RL. But, my blog will return to what it was before - a huge cesspit of random, funny content. So now, you can see above the classic banner, and below, thanks to GameFly, you can find my reviews for two great, very much random, games I played.

Brutal Legend

The campaign doesn't take too long, as long as you don't do side quests before going on with the main story. Maybe six hours. But it's a ton of fun. Brutal Legend is a hack and slash, vehicular combat, real-time strategy, first-person badass, game.

Basically, you're Eddie Riggs, roadie to a metal band that made me think of Bleach. They suck, they cater to the tween demographic, it's hell. One of the band members climbs up on a raft and Eddie has to save them - he does so, falls and survives - until a huge amplifier falls on him. When he wakes up, he is being attacked by hooded figures. You escape alongside a hot chick and find the rebel's camp. It's led by Lars, a tall, muscular, blond dude. You then can enjoy the first part of the campaign - driving around, killing things yourself, good fun.

That is - until you rescue the headbangers from evil. Then, it becomes a RTS. It becomes a RTS so fast, it's not even funny. One second it's a hack and slash, the next it's a mega RTS. You control your headbangers now. Your girlfriend nearly dies, and you go and kill a huge spider so that a doctor voiced by Ozzy Osbourne can rez her. Then you control headbangers, girls with pig guns, and doctors on motorcycles. This evolves until you have a huge fucking RTS.

But that doesn't mean the game isn't fun - alot of the battles are RTS matches, but it's still a unique PvE RTS that is different to me. It's not like Warcraft or Starcraft - you go around making towns and fighting down paths and shit. It's not like DOTA as well - you just summon mobs to your rock stage and send them off to kill towers on a parallel map. The computer player does the same. It's like playing DOTA with NPCs controlling the other team.

The game was a ton of fun and running through the campaign is epic. The conclusion? Even more badass. Spoiler alert - Eddie kills the big bad dude and Lars gets all the credit for getting one shotted. Like he said, if a roadie is doing his job right, he never gets seen, never gets noticed. His job is to make other people look good.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

This game is alot of fun. The campaign is huge, over ten hours of gameplay. You play as Batman himself. It's very much hack and slash - no loot, no additional mobs under your control - It's just Batman, raping people. You press X to attack, Y to counter, and tap L to throw your Bataarang quickly. It's easy to fight, but there are some little encounters that test your mind, fingers, and reaction time.

Batman drives Joker into Arkham Asylum, the mental institute for the criminally insane. Batman comes with the guards as they put Joker in his cell. Something isn't right. Joker came almost without a fight. And it wasn't right - Joker hatched a plan to take over Arkham Island. Harley Quinn, the Joker's girlfriend, activates the security gates after Joker runs off down a hall - his guards unconscious on the floor. Hundreds of Joker's thugs were imprisoned in Arkham, and Joker uses them to overtake the island.

You fight and try to find Joker. You can look for Riddler challenges while progressing the main story - You basically look for Joker, save doctors, smoke shrooms and fight a giant scarecrow, break up Harley Quinn and Joker, fight Poison Ivy's giant plant monsters, and the story evolves - a doctor was being paid by Joker to create a medicine to make monsters. She bailed out and declined the payments, he didn't like that so much. But his "venom" is completed and he morphs his thugs into muscular monsters who you have to use against each other to destroy.

The game is pretty fun. You can sneak around and beat people up - Batman's all about being sneaky, doing silent takedowns and the like. The game has a nice combat system, but it's not extremely difficult. The gadgets that Batman get progress gradually yet are completely awesome - and the game is full of humor. For example. I'm standing and see a giant pool of electricity on the floor. One of Joker's thugs says "Haha, stupid bat, we turned on the electricity, you can't get across!" and they high-five their partner. Then you use a gadget to slide across a rope attached to both walls and cross the insta-death water, and kick the thug smack on the nose.

GameFly

Obviously GameFly isn't a video game, but a service. For the small price of 15 dollars a month for one game or 22 dollars for 2 games, you can rent any game you want. For any amount of time you want. For 15 dollars a month. Or, alternatively, you can pay 50 dollars for some random shooter game you're only going to play for 4 hours. Or, y'know, you can get GameFly.

There ya go, finished. Enjoy! And have a Merry Christmas! Wait, that's in two months? Oh well, I'm greedy and I'm gonna milk this originally jolly holiday into a huge ball of profit and economics.

Aion: Tower of Eternity Review, Part 1 of 3

2009-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here it is.

8/10. Enjoyable so far.

UI: The UI is relatively clean and simple. Your character is in a circle on the left, then your action bar, then your flight time and map. Target somebody, their healthbar is on the top center. Your health bar is over your head. Easy to use.

Combat: Simple as well. Except when you use combos. For example, when I press my first ability, I can then use two other abilities (that I can't use otherwise), and I simply choose one based off what I need - but it adds an interesting rotation that is always changing.

Questing: Not too much grinding. Alot of kill monsters, talk to people quests, nothing towards the BC/WOTLK style yet, still alot of Classic. It's not a korean grindfest, it's some cool stuff. Quests reward a ton of experience, questing is easy - you have chain quests, available by level and contributing to the main storyline, then random additional quests that are from each city. The way quests work is not getting a new quest, but updating the objective. For example, the quest might tell you to talk to Bob. You talk to Bob, then the quest text says Talk to Bob. Kill Tom. Go and kill Tom, and it will say Talk to Bob. Kill Tom. Bring Tom's Head to Bob. Yes, that's a real quest. No, that was sarcasm.

Flight: You do a huge chain - and by that, I mean talking to three people across the damn continent, and then you get your wings at level ten. Flight is awesome, but it's also annoying. Flighted combat is fun, but the one minute flight time limits your fun. And navigating in flight can be super-annoying. Keyboard turners, run away in terror from Aion. Even mouse turners can have problems controlling their wings.

Overall - It's alot of fun so far. But, there are a few improvements. Graveyards, there aren't any. You rez at the nearest city and have to pay a fee to re-obtain the experience you gained in the past few minutes before death. But when I'm across the zone and I die and rez literally allllllll the way across, it gets... irritating. Questing... It's great, except you can't move when getting a quest. Not game breaking, it just pisses me off. Aion is a great game, I am enjoying it, you should be enjoying it, it's only fifty bucks and a monthly fee of ten dollars if you pay by credit card/yearly.

In closing... You have been playing for one hour, please take a break. Because it's that much win.

[Your Name Here] the Hallowed

2009-10-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's an entire guide to the Hallowed.

Trick or Treat
Walk up to an innkeeper. Talk to them, and trick or treat.

Bring Me The Head Of... Oh Wait
Kill the Headless Horseman, located in SM GY.

That Sparkling Smile
Trick or Treat, and obtain a toothpick. Use it.

G.N.E.R.D. Rage
Get a crap ton of GNERDs, a candy from, you guess it, trick or treating. Do a battleground.

The Masquerade
Ask around, people with wands will transform you.

Out With It
Vomit. Yes, eat a ton of candy, you'll vomit.

The Savior of Hallow's End
Go to Goldshire or Razor Hill. Complete the quest to defend the town from the Headless Horseman.

Rotten Hallow
Go to Tarren Mill or Southshore and pick up the quest. Find the raid, bomb the town. Simple.

Check Your Head
Get ten pumpkin heads from the Headless Horseman. Go do a battleground, and give ten people head. Damn it, that sounded perverted.

Sinister Calling
May the RNG be with you! Get the Hallowed Helm and Sinister Squashling. Drops from Headless Horseman. You can do it five per day, try to be lucky, or have friends do it with you to get your pet/helm.

Tricks and Treats of Azeroth
Major time-waster. Simply follow the list in the achievement to go around the continent. When you get to the inn in the certain city on your list, right-click a candy bucket. Do this fifteen billion times in every random town in Azeroth, and you win.

Simple as that. Good luck - and let's hope you won't have to spoil your November-ish winter joy with a trip to the dentist. Candy rocks in moderation.

EP Audio Episode 3

2009-10-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

EP Audio Compilation

2009-10-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

What: These are all five hours of EP Audio.
When: These were produced throughout October 2009.
Why: So you can listen to them in order.
How: I have a microphone and a voice.
Who: Why, me of course!

Heroes of Newerth Preview

2009-10-16T00:00:00.001-07:00

Heroes of Newerth is a DOTA remake made by S2 games. It contends with League of Legends, and this is my full preview of the game. Overall, I'll sum it up with a few words: More faithful to DOTA, but a less epic stand-alone game compared to League of Legends - 7/10.

The UI is very solid, much like LoL. A few things are placed in different places than LoL, but it's really the same as LoL and even WC3.

The Champions are amazing. The choice, the selection is so varied and each champion is unique. Each champion is alot more in-depth than LoL.

The store is very similar to LoL, in fact, the game is pretty much LoL, except...

The map. The map I played on, rather than something like this, the map is something like this. If you notice, the HoN map has a small extra path in the corners of the map for the corner roads, which are great for running away in terror and hiding while your teammates get owned. It's a nice little feature.

Matchmaking is a bitch. Seriously. With LoL, you enter what you want to play, and then you get a list of games. You click the game you want, you join, and you wait for full. Occasionally, the "Start" button would be missing, but a small glitch that could be fixed by disbanding. But holy shit. The matchmaking system for HoN SUCKS. You get the big fat map of games. Try clicking a game that you think will work. "This game is full"... "This game is already in progress"... "This game sucks"... It must've taken me 50 attempts before I found a game to play in, which was then spent waiting in the room for thirty minutes with nobody entering the game. So I left, clicked another 50 games before I got into another... Well, eventually I got in a few games.

But I hate it. Why would you have a game for the selection list labeled as 4v4 with 6/8 members be "in progress and unable to join?" Fail.

Dunno, I guess I just suck at entering games.

There's not much to say. It's pretty much a DOTA remake. I'll be buying it, but not if it's over the thirty dollars LoL costs, seeing as how I like LoL much better.

We Did It!

2009-10-10T18:59:00.001-07:00

We did it, we did it, oh yeah, oh yeah we did it! We did it!
Indeed, despite me bursting out in a Dora song, Sir Noggins has the money for his procedure!

Good job, EPBlog readers. Thanks to anyone who donated.

EP Audio Episode 2 - Attack of the Phoenix

2009-10-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

Razer Naga Review

2009-10-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the Razer Naga is awesome. I've been using it for a week now, and I am in love. I'll tell you the general ideas for it, then WoW, Aion and L4D stress testing.

Overall: 9/10. The mouse fits into your hand perfectly. There are grooves for your fingers to fit into for your pointer, middle and ring finger. Your pinky kinda falls to the side, but it's okay. On the right side of the mouse is the keypad. I found clicking each number very easy - it wasn't hard to apply enough pressure for a response, but keys 10, 11 and 12 were slightly harder for my thumb to reach. The Naga glided over my Razer Sphex mousepad easily, and can zoom across with the slightest amount of force applied. The mouse's LEDs are pure win. The keypad is lit up for you to see the numbers clearly, the scroll wheel - which cannot unfortunately be turned on or off in the driver software - looks amazing. The Razer logo pulses as if your Naga is alive and ready to own face. It looks beautiful, and performs greatly. The only downside? It's hot in my basement due to the heater being so close to me, and my hands get sweaty, and my Naga's flat black finish gets all wet and shiny. Blah.

World of Warcraft: I haven't tried the addon, because I don't want a new UI. I merely binded half of my abilities to my Belkin N52te, (powered by Razer), and the other half to my Naga mouse. I found it was incredibly easy to adjust to the playstyle of the keypad and mouse. In battlegrounds, I was amazed how quickly I could reach all my skills - alot faster than when I keybinded using my Razer Lycosa keyboard. Yes, shameless Razer plug all over this blog. But it was extremely easy to learn and I tried out raiding, now that I was used to the mouse. It was overall quite a fun experience, however at one point I switched the Naga to the number pad rather than the 1-10 on top of the keyboard, and my abilities didn't work on one pull. As long as that doesn't happen often, it should be fine.

Aion: I logged on, keybinded my abilities to the mouse, and went questing. The spells seemed more responsive for some reason, and with the combo skills, I could easily click the 2 button for a skill, then have easy access to 4, 5 and 6, which were only available after clicking 2 - But I could use the combo ability alot faster than when I keybinded them to my keyboard. It was awesome.

Left 4 Dead: It's an MMO mouse, but for me, it is my only mouse. I opened L4D and was suprised that it was even an upgrade over my old mouse in FPS games. In fact, it was ten times more easy sniping headshots with Razer's insane mouse super powers. It gets better. I binded pain pills to 1, health package to 2, and grenade to 3. It was alot better than my old keybinds for those three, where were Delete, End and Page Down. You know, above the arrow keys? Fail!

Overall, this mouse is amazing. I'm probably going to buy the Razer Starcraft mouse when it comes out, simply because I'd like another mouse to use for the Internet or RTS games.

But, to close it up, good job, Razer. Another outstanding product.

EpicPhoenix Desktop, Swag, Sir Noggin and EP Audio

2009-10-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. I've been bored, and so I've made an EpicPhoenix desktop... It's pretty cool, just a general EP theme. I love it.

Link

Next, I made an EpicPhoenix shirt, entitled "Three Phoenix Azeroth'. Also, I'm wearing my wolf shirt Monday, my Keyboard Cat shirt Tuesday, and the new JINX Three Worgen Moon shirt on Wednesday - and Three Phoenix Azeroth will be worn Thursday. Yep.

Here's the design.

Link

And the shirt.

Link

Sir Noggin has reached 3,000 dollars out of the 4,000 he needs! Keep on donating!

Last, EP Audio 2 will record tomorrow. An archive should be up on Saturday.

VIRTUAL GHETTO ZOMG

2009-10-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

AH MAH GAWD, DEE JAY HEE-ROW.

DJ Hero is coming out soon. Why? Honestly, why? I play guitar in real life. I also play Guitar Hero. But really... DJ Hero? What now, Saxophone Hero? I mean, wow. Can this be milked any more? What I don't understand is how they think DJ Hero will appeal to as many people as Guitar Hero did. First was guitar, then a drum and microphone, yet for some reason a turntable comes next? I don't know, I just felt like ranting while writing my Heroes of Newerth preview. Why a DJ? Seriously. And last but not least, the thought of playing somebody "cool" or "gangsta" or "hip-hop masta bro" on a video game, is pure hilarity.

And last but not least, Mtn Dew is epic. Go buy a six-pack and drink all of it, then when you are awake all night and slowly driven insane, you can send your rant-filled email to epixphoenix@gmail.com....

Sir Noggin

2009-10-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.sirnoggin.com

The winner of this year's WoW Radio WoW Idol contest needs an expensive operation for his cat.

I have a cat with diabetes, he is very old and I have to give him an insulin shot every twelve hours.

This touched my cat loving heart, and I donated some spare cash. You should do the same.

The ChipIn box is now on the right, above the link to my Twitter.

It will remain there, until Sir Noggin can get his treatment.

Thank you, any and all donations appreciated.

--EpicPhoenix

Azeroth United

2009-10-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

Well, this is awesome! My blog is officially part of Azeroth United. If you don't know what that is... well, they're awesome. You can go to the site here, and they're doing some cool stuff for a good cause.

EP Audio Announcement

2009-10-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

That's without the bed music... I'll fix it later.

EDIT: There is bed music, it's just way too quiet. Couldn't hear it on my laptop, but on my gaming rig I can hear it in the background. Next week, it'll be louder.

October 9th

EP Audio: Episode 2 - Attack of the Phoenix
Razer Naga Review

October 16th

EP Audio: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Phoenix
Heroes of Newerth Preview

October 23rd

EP Audio: Episode 4 - A New Phoenix
[Your Name Here] The Hallowed

October 30th

EP Audio: Episode 5 - The Phoenix Strikes Back
Aion: Tower of Eternity Review Part 1 of 3

November 7th

EP Audio: Episode 6 - Return of the Phoenix

Blog Banners: Much like WoW Insider, I will soon have a small image on the side of my blog with a link to certain blog posts, such as reviews and podcast episodes.

REMINDER: There will be a maximum of six EP Audios produced. This number may actually be less than six if EpicPhoenix's podcast (that he will co-host with Mastranna) has begun.

Razer Naga/Aion Unboxing

2009-10-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

The Times, They Are A Changin'

2009-09-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

October 2 - Razer Naga/Aion Unboxing Videos
October 9 - Razer Naga Review
October 16 - Heroes of Newerth Preview
October 23 - the Hallowed, Guide
October 30 - Aion: Tower of Eternity Review, Part 1

Addiction, Nerds and Aion, Oh My!

2009-09-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to write a big post today. Just randomly decided. I'm bored.

Today's first topic is addiction. Now, I have never myself, missed too many activities or events for WoW. However, yesterday I was talking to my friend. I brought up the subject of WoW, to which he said "Man, you still play that game? You're addicted bro." - I simply laughed. Sure, occasionally I would pass on going out for dinner for pizza because of a raid night. But I don't say "No, I don't wanna go out for a bike ride, I want to do a heroic!". Sure, I play alot. In fact, I play so much, it's probably not healthy. But I'm not throwing my life away. Over the weekend I sit in my basement in my underwear and play video games. Should a friend call me, I will hang out with them, after I put on some pants. Now, one arguement I've heard countless times is that in games such as WoW there is no real end to the game. Which is why I simply say, that's why I pay a monthly fee. Let's take Portal for example. It's a wonderful game. But it took me maybe three hours to beat the game. Sure, I can replay it, but it's not new content. I pay a monthly fee of 15 dollars a month, rather than buying a new 50 dollar game every month. Maybe once a year I buy a $100 dollar WoW game, but that's pretty good... Another point of addiction I want to bring up is again, referencing that "There is no end to the game" arguement. Well, if I logged into WoW right now, I could hunt for achievements, get a ton of gold, get better gear, everything. But no. There is more for me to do, yes. But now? I'm sitting AFK in Pandaemonium. I've gotten to level 10 in Aion and gotten my wings, and it's a very fun game. However, am I going to level to 50? Yes, simply because I already bought a year of subscription time and want to review the game at level cap and see the Abyss. However, if I'm addicted to WoW, how come I can stop? Sure, I'm playing another game, but that's my HOBBY. Oh well. And last but not least, I play other games with an "end to them", such as WArcraft or Starcraft, considering my favorite aspect is campaign mode, and I also enjoy those types of games and nobody considers people addicted to RTS or FPS games as much as MMOs.

Second, nerds. Now, I'm not going to talk about the difference between a nerd or a geek, or which games turn you into nerds, or how smelly they are, but in fact I am going to discuss casual gamers and nerds. Now, I guess I could consider myself a nerd. Now, me and my best friend play WoW, we play Starcraft, we play Diablo, we play LoL and HoN and Aion. We are considered gamers. Hardcore gamers. However, then comes the casual gamer. This is Pretty much everyone at my high school. They play MapleStory. Do you know what that is? It's a 2D side scrolling MMORPG. It's pretty sad. It's a terrible game compared to WoW, not even close - you press Control to attack and have no abilities, and the graphics are worse than Runescape. Like I said, 2D. It's a kids game. However, when these games are mentioned and kids are telling their friends about how "On Maple, I killed the dragon and got his treasure and it was awesome!", but when me and my friend are talking about whether Illidan's descent into evil was based off his love of Tyrande or his obsession for power, or both options combined, we are treated as nerds? The same goes for RuneScape, FreeRealms, ToonTown or any other online game. It's for kids. My brother is 6, he plays Webkinz. It's a fun little game and he gets to take care of his pets and play fun mini-games, for a six year old. However, what makes me most upset is how my peers respond to any criticism of MapleStory. Make fun of their game and claim yours is better, and expect to be shot down instantly. It's really quite sad, but I am kind of happy they don't play WoW.

And last but not least, I mentioned Aion, didn't I? Well, you all know my current post schedule.

October 9 - Razer Naga/Aion Unboxing, Heroes of Newerth Preview
October 16 - Aion Review, Razer Naga Review
October 23 - the Hallowed, Guide

Now, look at October 9th. Aion Review. Well, make that Part 1. On the 9th I will discuss the game's questing, combat system, UI, economy, that kind of stuff. However, Part 2 will come as soon as I reach max level, or level 50, on Aion. So, probably not for a bit. Part 2 should include the Abyss, dungeons, and other such endgame activities.

Well, until October 9th, I'm EpicPhoenix, and you're reading my blog.

Also, this is for a contest.

I've always loved Razer products, but my current gear just isn't putting out. I'd be eternally grateful if you hooked me up with a Razer Mamba, Razer Megaladon and Razer Mako

For those of you who want to get a shot at winning your dream Razer gaming suite, go to eu.razerzone.com/dreamsuitecontest/

Suprise!

2009-09-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Congratulations EpicPhoenix, you have recieved a beta invite to Heroes of Newerth from your friends at S2 Games. Or something like that.

Honestly, Savage 2 sucked. I hated it. But, I loved LoL, and I'm hoping HoN also contributes.

DDO - I might make a review for this game. Maybe.

That Mysterious MP3 File - Gold, Guns and Girls by Metric, Mike Shinoda Remix. Best song ever.

Aion - It's actually sitting next to me right now. So, it came ALOT earlier than expected. I'm gonna make an unboxing video right now, then edit it in with the Razer Naga video. So...

October 9th....

Heroes of Newerth Full Preview

Razer Naga Unboxing + Aion Unboxing

October 16th....

Aion: Tower of Etenity Full Review

Razer Naga Full Review

October 23....

"the Hallowed" WoW Achievement Guide

Brewmaster [Your Name Here]

2009-09-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here's an entire guide to Brewmaster.

The Brewfest grounds are located outside Orgrimmar or Ironforge.

Strange Brew
Walk around the Brewfest grounds until you find the three largest, rectangle tents. Buy one of every beer each vendor has. Once you have all of the different brew, drink them all, and congratulations.

The Brewfest Diet
Again, walk around the Brewfest grounds and open your achievement, and buy each food item. There are approximately five food vendors.

Does Your Wolpertinger Linger?
Pick up the quest from Glodrak Huntsniper/Goldark Snipehunter. Put on your beer goggles and use the net to trap five wolpertingers around the grounds.

Direbrewfest
/1 LFG Coren Direbrew
Simple as that. Go to BRM, kill the guy, get your achievement. Easy fight.

Drunken Stupor
Go to Shattrath City. Go to this point, and jump off the bridge while completely smashed.

TOKEN GAINS

Down With The Dark Iron
This is a daily token gain and a one-time achievement. Every thirty minutes, the Dark Iron dwarves will attack Brewfest. Right click a beer mug on a table and simply spam the item in your inventory to kill the dwarves. Once they retreat, get the daily quest from the giant cog in the center of the festival ground and turn it in to Glodrak.

! Bark for Brew !
Accept the quest. You will be mounted on a ram. Travel at a canter through the city. Once you have barked at all four locations, you can click off the ram and ride your normal mount.

! Keg Delivery !
This is a "daily" request, but resets every 16 hours. You can do it once in the morning, and once at night for the most tokens. Spam the reins to maintain a gallop, and see this video for strategy. And if the Alliance path is different, which I image it is, see this video for apple barrels. 2 tokens per keg return, so your token income depends greatly on this variable.

Have Keg, Will Travel
For 2 tokens, you can buy Brewfest Hops from the Brewfest Quartermaster.

Brew of the Month
For 200 tokens, you can buy the membership from the Brewfest Quartermaster.

Disturbing the Peace
For 350 tokens, you can buy the full gear set from the Brewfest Quartermaster. Go to Dalaran, get completely smashed, and /dance.

CONGRATULATIONS! You are a Brewmaster.

If you've completed What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been, CONGRATULATIONS! You are now a proud owner of a Violet Proto-Drake.

Guide written by EpicPhoenix, fueled by boredom after getting my Brewmaster achievement.

Fragged

2009-09-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

Aww shit.

You can find me on MMO Champion as 'EP2', or just by going here.

If you're coming here from my signature, look at the title of the blog...

EpicPhoenix's Blog.

Connect the dots.

Unboxing

2009-09-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

It's official.

The Razer Naga will arrive October 1st.

Aion: Tower of Eternity will arrive October 1st.

Convenient, am I right? An unboxing video will be posted October 9th. I'm gonna unbox the Razer Naga, get it set up at my computer, then unbox Aion, slap it inside my computer, press "Download" and turn off the camera.

Aion: Tower of Eternity

2009-09-19T13:06:00.001-07:00

I've succumbed. I've given in. There is no hope. I have just pre-ordered Aion.

Yeah, I'm gonna play Aion. Don't look so smug. I know what you're thinking. But I play WoW, DDO, LOTRO, LoL, HoN, and WC3/SC/Diablo. I like to have a diverse gaming profile. I really hope I enjoy Aion, seeing as how I just paid 50 dollars for the game. Oh well. Enjoy the CGI trailer. If you didn't already know, which you don't, unless you stalk me IRL, I am an amateur CGI artist and plan to someday work in California doing CGI work after college. Yep, hopes and dreams.

Writing This On My Flightpath to Thrallmar

2009-09-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sick. Ill. Plagued. The common cold has critted me for over 9000. Coughing, sneezing, sore throat, y'know. I've been able to revisit Outland as I level my random alts to 80. It's amazing. I feel like I've already done the content, but now I'm doing it much more... Easily. It's alot more fun. If I need to kill a named mob, they aren't 30 people chasing after him as well, and calling each other noobs. It's peaceful. Northrend will probably be peaceful as well, seeing as how everybody is busy enjoying the endgame. For me? Endgame is a grind of dailies for thirty minutes, then trying to get as many characters to 80 as I can. Why? Because it's red. Nah, it's just fun. And yes, I reference that achievement probably six times per day. Oh well.

I'm Back, It's Me DP...

2009-09-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

Don't Copy That 2

Such epic win.

--Razer Naga unboxing and review is still on the plate, just waiting for that damn package. Ehh, that's pre-ordering for you.

--My machinima is in the beginning stages. It's just a kinda funny, short video.

--PM requests for signatures.

INCOMING! Naga, MJ and Sigs? What?

2009-09-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

1. Razer Naga Unboxing and Hands-On Review

I'm making a video once I get my Naga containing the unboxing and then a review. It will be epic.

2. MJ? I'm making a machinima to the song Thriller. Yes, I know how to make machinima. Don't hate, fools.

3. Sigs. I'm making signatures. At least over the weekend when I'm bored. I take the character in model viewer, give him an in-game background, and slap on a name. I don't do any cool Photoshop effects. Soon, though.

4. ???

5. Profit.

Obvious Seddie Is Obvious

2009-09-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hello there. Yes, this post is about iCarly. If you want your heterosexuality to remain unquestioned, please close your browser now. Now. Stop, just turn it off. Press that 'X' in the corner of your screen. Do it. Okay, still here? Well, let's get started. Seddie is the supporting, or "shipping" of a romantic relationship between Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson on the TV show iCarly. Basically, they're Carly's bickering friends who OBVIOUSLY are in love. However, when the commercial for the new TV commercial, where Carly discovers that Sam and Freddie kissed once, chaos arises. The commercial focuses on the fact that Carly might be jealous of Sam, since she kissed Freddie. It made me want to kick my television. I literally took off my headphones, minimized MMO-Champion, and looked at the TV. With hatred in my eyes. It's been so over-hinted. Of course, before any hints, many predicted a Farly, or Freddie and Carly relationship. However, first there was an episode where Freddie and Sam admit they haven't had their first kiss. See above photo. Then, Sam's twin comes to town. Freddie thinks it is Sam playing a trick on him. The twin and Freddie kiss and stuff, but Sam tells Freddie that it IS a trick. And last, when Carly's old friend Melanie comes back and tries to steal Carly back from Sam, Freddie gives up a cruise to save Sam's friendship.

So, there ya go. Obvious Seddie.

By the way, I totally shipped Kataang, never Zutara in TLA. So don't hate, fools!

EDIT: Oh noes! It was totally just an episode contributing to "The trio's lasting friendship"

I want some hot iCarly make out scenes. NOW. There was NOTHING!

So You Got Hacked...

2009-09-10T15:15:00.001-07:00

Reposting my guide on the blog for future linking on those "LOL ZOMG I GOT HAXXED" posts.

I know from personal experience that having your account compromised can be a very hard time for the average WoW player. I've had my account compromised twice because of some stupid decisions I made, and it was entirely my fault. Even if it's not your fault, well, you want your account back, don't you? Let's get started.

I reccomend reading the entire guide before beginning part 1. First, choose your path!

1. Removing the Virus/Hacker
2. Unable To Log In
3. BattleNet
4. Sharded
5. Prevention

1. Removing the Virus/Hacker

You don't want to do anything before the reason you were hacked is gone. I reccomend reading and using Magekid's guide for removing a keylogger, located here.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=53190.0

However, if you believe that for some other reason you were hacked... Such as account sharing, obviously you must change your password and keep it a SECRET this time. As much as you want that piece of gear and really need to go to sleep, your guildie who so generously offered to play your character could be your best friend, you are jeopardizing your account safety. But, more on that in the last chapter.

2. Unable To Log In?

You went to log in to WoW. You entered your information. Multiple times. And you get that feeling in your stomach. Username or password is incorrect. You know something is wrong. Your account has been comprimised. Obviously you're in alot of distraught, but where to start? First, you're going to need to log in.

If they have changed the account's email address or password, you'll need to contact billing@blizzard.com or call 1-800-59-BLIZZARD

Once you have described the situation to Billing, your account will be banned. Don't worry, it's just temporary. It's so the person accessing your account can't do anymore. Then, you'll need to send certain info in a response to Billing's response. Yes, confusing.

You will need to complete the Retrieval Form, a PDF included with Billing's email reply, as well as a Valid ID.

If you're emailing your information, make sure you submit the retrieval package from the adress listed within your form. Attach each document, form and ID, seperately, and if possible, photograph your documents. If you haven't heard from Blizzard in 48 hours, you are advised to resend the email.

3. BattleNet

There's a new trend for hackers to merge your WoW account with a Battle.net account in order to further prevent your access of the account. However, the above chapter describes the steps you can take if your account is merged. Simply include you would wish to un-merge your account. However, I reccomend merging your account anyhow. Not only will it become mandatory soon, but you can download Starcraft, Diablo or Warcraft games on any computer, as long as you've already bought them. It even has your CD Key for your viewing.

Blizzard reccomends calling 1 (800) 59-BLIZZARD for details on un-merging an account after compromise.

4. Sharded

You finally logged in after recovering your password. Or, you logged in and realized you were hacked without a password change. The first step to this is to email a specialist using the adress wowgm@blizzard.com. Describe your situation. See my example.

"Hello. Recently, my account was compromised and I have begun the process of recovering it. I logged in to find my [gear/gold/proffessions] missing. I would like to see if you could restore my items. Most of the items were likely deleted/sold to a vendor about [Time Estimate] ago. Thank you."

Eventually, you should get some type of response from a GM. Where you want to go to is starting your preliminary restoration. Wait. Patience.

Sometime soon, you'll get an email on your restoration and see an in-game mail. Your gear will be restored! Yay! And your money too.

5. Prevention

First, get a password that's hard to guess. Yes, I'm looking at you, Mr. "Password123". Make it something unique, like your favorite athlete's last name and a random number.
Second, don't share your account. Ever. Ever ever ever never clever. Don''t do it. It won't be worth it when everything is lost - For example, I had 4900g when I logged off. Thanks to account sharing, I logged on with no gold. Unable to restore my gold, I was forced to refarm my epic flying mount. It sucked. Hardcore.
And last, but certainly not least...

http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000622

Get an Authenticator. Just do it now. It's under ten dollars to make it so that you can throw out your account name and password to the world (not advised), download all the keyloggers your little finger can click on (not advised), and your account is still completely safe.

Also, get a good antivirus system. If you're down with free stuff, AVG Anti-Virus. Get it now.

Epilogue

I wish you the best of luck restoring your account after a compromise. I would never wish an account compromise onto even the bitterest of trolls, as it is certainly not a very enjoyable time period. Well, with that. I bid you good day.

Guide fueled by pure boredom after doing too many Argent Tournament dailies...

--EpicPhoenix

Did You Pre-Order Your Naga?

2009-09-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

I did. Honestly, go buy one as soon as it is in stores. Just do it. While you're at it, buy a Razer Lycosa Mirrior and a Belkin N52te. It's massive win.

I've been having good fun with a Lycosa, DeathAdder and BelkinN52te. However, I'm upgrading to a Lycosa Mirror because the stand on the Lycosa is too small, and I like the back of the keyboard raised. The Mirror Edition heightened the stand.

And in terms of replacing my DeathAdder with a Naga... The Belkin N52te has 14 buttons. I still want to bind less important abilities, and my DeathAdder certainly doesn't have a cell phone keypad on the left side.

And last but not least, I'll discuss a mousepad. I'm using the WOTLK CE mousepad, which is just a map of Northrend. It's a hard mousepad, all fine. It just gets pushed around the table alot, so I'm thinking of getting an eXactmat + wristwrest, since they're cool.

Oh well, money is money and once I save up enough, I guess I'll go buy some new stuff.

Last but not least, high school kids are RETARDED. I can go to a vending machine and buy a bottle of soda for a dollar fifty. I sold about 15 bottles of soda for $2.50 with no effort at all.

Real life AH manipulation? Sure, just replace Eternal Fire with Pepsi.

School and MSPaintaclysm

2009-09-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

MSPaintaclysm - Signature is on the way, in the final stages of creation, should be editing it by Thursday night. Till then, I've got CAPTAIN PLACEHOLDER.

School - Aggh!!! I have to wake up at 6AM, be at the bus stop at 7, and I get home at around 3 o'clock on normal days, 2 o'clock on Tuesday.

It sucks. Considering I get home at 3, do homework until 4, I have from 4-9 o'clock to play. Oh no, only five hours. Well, at least I can do dailies and a few heroic TOCs every day. Luckily I'm in a guild that raids on Friday and Saturday, my main reason for choosing them, and it's pretty cool.

Well, 1 day down, 179 days left.

The MSPaintaclysm Has Begun Its Reign!

2009-09-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

EDIT: The MSPaintaclysm has begun its reign!!!

My Twitter Wallpaper --> Her
My Blog Banner ---------> Here
My General Avatar ------> Here
My Signature ------------> Here , Also See This Tweet

Original Post:

It's Sunday.

And It's Begun.

The MSPaint-aclysm.

You can see my new blog banner, well, look a little higher up, retard.

You can see my new Twitter wallpaper by clicking on this. This. ---> ! <--- This.

Still to come is the avatar and signature. SoonTM. Official Placeholder is on MMO-Champion.

But, with that...

The MSPaintaclysm has begun!!!

Visual Overhaul

2009-09-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

Signature - I'm working with fellow forumgoer Chirp to make a signature. And by working with, I mean telling him what the fuck to do and then editing it in photoshop to fix his sloppy, sloppy work! In all seriousness, Chirp's work is awesome, and I'm excited as to how it will come out, and that I DON'T have to do alot of editing once he gets it back to me. =) I'm trying a new idea here. Basically, it's my current signature, re-made with my warrior in tier eight. Yes, I have left PvP for PvE as I did in TBC. However, there are two other signatures. My tauren deathknight in tier nine, as well as a tauren paladin in tier eight. The death knight replaces the phoenix with a gargoyle, and a red dragon replaces the phoenix for my paladin signature. All three signatures will be on a rotating GIF, so every five seconds they will swap. Awesome.

Avatar - Black avatar with "EP" in a cool font. Used for MMO-Champion and Twitter.

Blog Banner - The phoenix and Kael'thas logo will be replaced by something that I wish to keep a suprise. I've drawn a few sketches, and am getting to work tonight.

Twitter Wallpaper - Probably going to be something cool. Haven't gotten started on it yet, but I have a few ideas.

Until the visual overhaul arrives in Azeroth, I'm your host EpicPhoenix, bidding you farewell.

LEGENDARY CUTENESS

2009-09-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

The windrider pet is finished. Bawwww! Also, there's a new corehound pup.

And, a few of the pets are now on the PTR. Confirmed to be for the next TCG expansion.

WoW.com Link Here

Until next time, I'm EP. Check out the League of Legends review below! Do it now!

League of Legends Preview

2009-09-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Today, my usual lame attempt at comedy will be substituted with a game preview.
I preach to you the wonders of this game. Riot Games has produced this amazing game, League of Legends. And, unlike most games, I won't just play this on Tuesday during the maintenance, I'm definitely keepin' this one in my Start menu. Due to the NDA, I can't give you any pictures or videos, but the UI is amazing. So, let me describe to you the general idea of the game.

Based off DOTA Allstars, this amazing game is a re-make of the map we know and love. While you may be wondering why this game over DOTA, you really need to see it to believe it. The changes they made aren't game breaking, but in fact improve the game in small areas that could have been better in the original.

First off, the UI. In the left corner is a circle with all of your abilities. When you start, you can choose two abilities, and based off the class you're playing, other abilities. As you level, you can rank up those abilities. The circle seems to be easier to work with than Warcraft's square in the right corner. In the middle, is a long experience bar, helpful because by the end of the game, players can be over level 20. In the right lower corner is the map. It goes the extra step to have a white line show the path your character will take between where he is now, and where you clicked to move. Also, a large circle shows your character's face, and also shows your teammates, to know where they are.

Then, we have gameplay itself. I found it to be very fast-paced when interacting with other players, but fighting against NPCs was agonizingly long. Your base constantly spawns a long line of warriors to aid your heros. Along the way are many turrets, which ranged-attack heroes as they fight the NPCs. There are three hotspots in the middle of the map where both heroes run out and war. It's very similar to DOTA in this aspect of the game.

Last but not least, matchmaking. LoL's rendition of BattleNet is well-executed. There are various chat rooms, and to join a game, very little effort is required. You can say what map and player vs player number combination you want, and then a list is shown of the battles for your combination of preferences. Joining a battle was quick and easy, even in the beta.

You can read all about it at http://www.leagueoflegends.com/

Once I play more, I'll post Part 2 of 2.

Until then, EP.

EDIT: Part 2 of 2

Hello everyone. Well, honestly, I feel like a noob. Indeed. Yesterday, I gave you part 1 of 2 of this League of Legends preview. I hadn't played many games, and now I feel much more confident about this post, having played all night. I was thinking of how to talk to you today, and realized the best way to describe it would be to give you a walkthrough. A complete walkthrough of what you would do in a game. Everything.

So, you enter the game by entering your account name and password, and then have a main menu. On the left, you can enter a game. On the right, you can use the rune system. With the rune system, you obtain runes that increase your stats, put them on this diagram, much like WoW's glyphs, and no doubt this will make gameplay more interesting. However, it may be complicated for new players, and was only recently implemented. Should you click Play, you will enter your desired matchmaking info. I like 5v5, so I selected such.

You're now in a large chat room with multiple games for you to select. Or, if you don't want to join a game someone else is starting, you can create your own. Once you are in a game, you're in a chatroom, waiting for the teams to fill up. Once the teams are full, the leader presses Start, and it begins.

First, you select a Champion. Like a hero in Warcraft, just cooler. Now, these Champions can level up, get new skills, and kick ass. Then, you select your two additional abilities. Basically, you get two abilities from a pool of abilities that anyone can get, making your character "yours" in a sense of customization.

Once you're good to go, everybody loads, then spawns, and you're in the game.

So. When you start, you're level 1. You have 1 credit for a new skill, so you can pick any skill you want. Then, you click the little bag full of gold on your UI, and buy the lowest upgrade with the gold you start with. Then, you go out into the middle of your path and the enemy will eventually come. The way NPCs work is interesting. Every few seconds, a long line of NPCs comes from your starting point into the three paths. The idea is to assist your NPCs in killing the other NPCs, without taking damage. Then you'll have more NPCs, and enemy Champions and Turrets will die easily. For example, I went to a path with no enemy Champions. The NPCs just killed each other, over and over. Then, I killed a few enemy NPCs and eventually downed a Turret. Owned!

So, the way the skills you have work in an amazing way, it's pretty cool. For example, I played Jax and GemKnight. Both overpowered and easymode, but ehh. On Jax, you have a Leaping Attack, a spell for weapon damage, and a Counter-Attack AOE. The attacks are binded to Q, W, E, R, A, and S. There's alot of right-clicking, but my Belkin N52TE handled the attacks wonderfully. Eventually, the path's Turrets are gone, and you can proceed into the enemy's base. You have to down two larger turrets, then two regular turrets in front of their "Nexus", the actual base you need to down to win. So, the entire fight, while you level up from experience from killing NPCs, you get more skills. You can rank up four skills, or if you don't have all four yet, purchase more. Also, with the gear, you can buy gear to improve your character. Gold drops from everything. You can buy [Red Gem of Speed] and [Boots] and THEN you can buy [Speed Boots]. Also, NPC "m0bs" as best described, are in the forests in between the paths. Easy fight, but XP and gold nonetheless.

Finally, my personal opinion, ZOMGORZ.

I love the game. No, really. It's awesomely fun, and if I'm not posting on MMO-C, doing dailies, or sleeping, I'll be playing this game. I'll squeeze it in somewhere!

9/10.

---EPicphoenix

Epic Cuteness

2009-08-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well, BB just updated the front page of MMO-C with some new pets. With the Spectral Tiger Cub, as seen above, we also have
Onyxia Whelpling
Pandaren Monk (seen above)
Lil' KT (Kel'Thuzad)
Zipao Tiger
Wind Rider Cub
Gryphon Hatchling

Aww! So cute! To distract us from Deathwing's fiery fist of doom, we get some cute birdie pets.

Pandaren Monk - Oh god, I suppose this post should be longer. Well, incoming nerdrage.

There are two ways to see this - a chance for Pandaren, or the exact proof they won't be in-game.

The Chance They'll Be In The Game People

These people think that this Pandaren Monk pet shows that Blizzard has a pandaren model, and is considering putting in pandarens!

The This is the Proof They Won't Be In-Game People

These people, like me, laugh at the others, because pandaren are a joke, they're fat bears who will never see the game. It's a reskinned Tuskarr without the, well tusks. It looks terrible. It was done in ten minutes. As for where the tuskarr pet will be obtained, it's yet to say.

So, here's where I think you will get each pet.

Spectral Tiger Cub - BB confirms that this is from the new TCG set.
Onyxia Whelpling - BB confirms that this is for the 5th anniversary, just logging in.
Pandaren Monk - I believe the Pandaren Monk will be a pet from Brewfest.
Lil' KT - I beleive Lil KT will drop from ICC.
Zipao Tiger - You really have to see it. Here. I don't know, to be honest. Possible NElf raid?
Wind Rider Cub - Below.
Gryphon Hatchling - I believe the two mount pets will be rewards from the Argent Tournament.

But, that's just me speculating, but hearing some of these ideas for the pets are interesting.

The entire post by Boub can be found ---> by clicking here <---

Donations Pl0x0rz Brahs?

2009-08-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Time is money, friend.

Well, right now I have the Razer Lycosa, Razer DeathAdder, Belkin N52te, and some shitty mousepad.

I want the Lycosa/N52te, but the Razer Naga and Razer $15 Mousepad.

But, that's 100 bucks. Also, I want a new monitor. So, that's like, expensive, bro.

So, I'm probably gonna ebay some BlizzCon stuff. Probably a goody bag, considering I have two.

Until then, I ask, how do I make some green stuff?

Also, tomorrow I can play WoW again. So, yay.

EP

The Middle of Nowhere

2009-08-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm on vacation. Laconia, New Hampshire. Where the fuck is that? I don't know, but things look pretty fucking cool. Lakes, trees, mountains, it's tight dawg.

Basically, I'm gonna get down with Cataclysm here.

But first, I have to ask - what day is it? I think it's Wednesday. Random guess, honestly. When am I going home? Uhh... um... Sunday? I dunno. At least it's nice and relaxing, although as much as lemonade and a beach is nice, I've craved a Red Bull and a basement.

So, Cataclysm.

Level 85...

Sure. I mean really, do you want three digits stuffed into that little circle on the target frame? They want to delay your 100th ding, and I can see why. Another reason - people have said Cataclysm will partner with a Maelstrom expansion, which would bring the cap to 90. I can see that happening, considering the water is being raised, I suspect some foul play from a certain naga. Azshara, btw, for you dumbasses.

Classic Revamp...

Oh god, not this shit again.

As much as I enjoyed the old world my first time, I just really hope it gives us a sense of nostalgia, not a sense of "lol i already did this bliz sdtop pulin a nAxrazms on evyting cant u jst maik newo kontent lol n00bz."

Worgens and Goblins

I've already enjoyed laughing as my screen reads "I'm rerolling Worgen, my Blood Elf is LAME!"
I could care less. I'll roll a goblin, as well as a worgen, just to check out the new zones. But once it gets time to level from 10-80, I'm jumping ship.

New Race/Class Combinations

I've already enjoyed laughing as my screen reads "Character Re-Customization"
I can finally turn my blood elf paladin (ONLY because I wanted a paladin...) into a tauren. God Bless Blizzard. Sure, it fucks lore, but I'm pretty sure lore is already pregnant from spacegoats and motorcycles.

Developers' Humor

Honestly, the ret paladin joke was epic win. You rock, dude.

Until next time...

I'm back. It's me, EP. Digital protector for creativy. Don't copy that floppy was when floppies where new - now we copy much more than floppys could do ...

Don't copy that, what, why, don't copy that, what why, don't copy that, what, why, cause it's not just a copy, it's a crime.

BlizzCon Recap and Vacation

2009-08-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

Well, first, BlizzCon.

1. Cataclysm changes things.
2. StarCraft 2 looks [EPIC]...
3. As does Diablo 3.
4. I leik turtelz.

Second, vacation. One week. On my shitty laptop with no WoW. So, I have a week, a crappy laptop, and Portal. I guess the only option is to get a life. But don't worry, I'll post on MMO-Champion in the wee hours of the night.

Goodbye.

I lied. But Boub didn't.

2009-08-22T04:03:00.000-07:00

Well, BlizzCon is over. And I lied. I said I would post Monday, but here I am on Friday. Technically, Saturday. It's 1 AM. But, alas.

That's right, Boub was wrong. Oh noez.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Check out Boub's leak - pretty accurate except...

Tauren Paladin, Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest are confirmed.

Barrens split in two, revamp of WC.

Five new zones, seven revamped.

Deathwing's the main antagonist.

No word on Garrosh and Thrall, but when they showed the rebuilt Orgrimmar, I quote "Do you recognize that black metal?" That's saronite, the metal that Garrosh uses to build fortresses. HOWEVER, in the new zones, they mentioned in Darkshore, Garrosh has made a city.

Starcraft 2

No real news, but you got to play the demo, and it was very centered around Starcraft in general - Noticeably more SC love, such as the Raynor n00bZ and such. The demo was AWESOME! Great game.

Diablo 3

The Monk was revealed. They use a staff, and hands. Diablo staff sounded very knowledgable, can't wait to see how it turns out. New in-game cinematic, think Wrathgate, very cool.

I'll talk to you guys more later. BlizzCon FTW!

--EpicPhoenix

BlizzCon: Before

2009-08-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hey you guys. It's EpicPhoenix. Yep, it's me. And this is my blog, pretty much. I've run another blog under another anonymous name and had some minor success, but what the hey, I feel like whining about WoW. So, BlizzCon is tomorrow, and I'm super excited.

In case you haven't already, check out the MMO-Champion leak. Spoiler alert!

http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=92919.0

But... Considering the link to my blog is from MMO-Champion, I'm going to assume you've read it... /mindblank...

Still hoping for some good stuff for Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. Well, I'll see you Monday with a total recap on the convention.

Contact Me!

2009-01-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

EP's Email: epixphoenix@gmail.com
Show Email: wowraiding101@gmail.com
Steam: EpicPhoenix
Skype: epic_phoenix

OK, For Serious Now?

2009-01-20T00:00:00.001-08:00

I know, I know. I told you I would be making the blog "super gooder"... But I've been so busy with WoW Raiding 101, it's been difficult. Expect to see a new EpicPhoenix's Blog, starting 2/1/10. It will be epic.