warcraft – Ken May

This patch announcement video fails to mention a massive change to late game enemy power hidden in the latest World of Warcraft update Keeping a massively multiplayer online game fresh and challenging for longtime players while simultaneously staying accessible and fun for lower-powered relative newcomers is always a challenge. In World of Warcraft , a hidden change to the way end-game enemies power up alongside players has unintentionally thrown that balance out of whack, and Blizzard is working on a fix. Shortly after yesterday’s release of Patch 7.2 for the long-running MMO, players quickly began noticing that high-end enemies were scaling up in power depending on the power of the gear the player characters were wearing. The specific power numbers involved seem to make it so that players could perversely make a fight easier by taking off their high-end gear and replacing it with slightly worse weapons and armor, reducing the enemy’s health and power greatly in the process. The change in how enemy scaling works took many players by surprise because it wasn’t explicitly mentioned in the extensive patch notes Blizzard released yesterday. Furthermore, WoW assistant director Ion Hazzikostas spoke out specifically against this kind of gear-based enemy scaling in a Twitch interview last year . Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Stealth update to enemy power causes an uproar in World of Warcraft

Advances in unmanned military tools and vehicles have come on leaps and bounds, but, until now, we haven’t seen a weapon firing drone operating in the seas. A recent test taking part offshore near Maryland saw several missiles launched from a new remote-controlled inflatable-hulled ship. While the Navy has used drones before for mine clearing and other defensive tasks, the small boat (similar to that pictured above) is the first experiment to involve true offensive capabilities. The almost zodiac-like craft has been an ongoing project over recent years, and contains a fully automated system which the Navy calls a “Precision Engagement Module” which uses an Mk-49 mounting with a dual missile launcher manufactured by Rafael. The hope is that such vehicles could patrol the coastline, or serve as a first defense against pirates, and other such small, fast-moving seafaring dangers. If you want to catch it in action, head past the break for the video, but don’t be fooled. While it might look like a series of misses, the Navy claims this is just a trick of the camera angle, with all six missiles apparently making contact. Continue reading US Navy tests first 11-meter missile-firing sea drone (video) Filed under: Robots , Transportation US Navy tests first 11-meter missile-firing sea drone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Oct 2012 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink Wired | Rafael | Email this | Comments

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US Navy tests first 11-meter missile-firing sea drone (video)