The tutorial for the game is one of the most creative I’ve ever seen. It slowly eases you into the game, removing from walls and freeing toads, gathering battle stickers and random pieces of the world to get Mario from the starting area, to the world map. After finding all the hidden toads in the area, you can move on, but to do that you have to explore every nook and cranny, learning about the hidden passages and areas. Throughout the rest of the game, you have to do that to get from place to place and beat the game.

Once you clear this area, you let out into the rest of the game. In a cross between a normal platformer and RPG, you take Mario around several different areas, defeating bad guys and discovering hidden areas while collecting special stickers and objects. These objects are used to create powerful stickers and effect Mario’s world in unique ways. Like finding a fan, turning it into a sticker, then using that sticker to turn a windmill’s fans to open a hidden door.

All these stickers are collected and stored in your sticker album and can be pulled out during the game, or during battle. Battle isn’t your standard turn based RPG system, but it’s similar. Each sticker has its own effect, each enemy their own weakness. You can use up to three battle stickers a turn to attack up to three enemies each battle. If you manage to bounce on an enemy or hit him with your hammer before combat starts, you get to deal bonus damage. Fans of the Mario franchise will recognize all these items from fire flowers and ice flowers, to POW blocks. Players can find all sorts of combinations and uses for the stickers that deal extra damage.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this game. Then I got bored. It’s a good game, but after unlocking the third area I just wasn’t interested any more. The boss battles are literally impossible to beat if you don’t prepare before hand. Thing is, there’s no way to know how to prepare without going into the battle. Then if you return and prepared incorrectly, you’re left coming back again and again until you get it right. And if you managed to beat the boss, but not the way the game wants, it actually criticizes you. I felt like Nintendo was telling me that I had to use a guide to get through their game to play it right.

All and all I have to give Paper Mario: Sticker Star 3 screaming Jan’s cats out of five. It was a good game and exceptionally creative so I don’t regret spending the money on it. It just wasn’t an amazing game. I hope that future Paper Mario games continue to be as creative and only get better.

Persona 4 Golden is their newest game in the setting on the PS Vita, taking place in a small town called Inaba in Japan. You play as a young, second year high school student (equivalent to an American Junior) just transferred in front the big city after your parents shot off to the U.S. for work. You’ll be staying with your uncle, a detective in the small town, until they come back next year. Things seem perfectly normal, scandal in the news, bad weather, nothing that special; at least until you learn about the Midnight Channel.

At your new school, Yasogami High, rumor has it that if you look into a turned off television at midnight on a rainy night, you’ll see the love of your life. Silly, right? Sure, but you’re dared into doing it so, when it rains, you do it. You look into the T.V.

And you see someone. It’s brief and there’s too much static, but there was definitely a person there. Without thinking, you place your hand on the television and it sinks inside. Something or someone grabs you, yanking you forward until your shoulders collide with the edges of your small set and you’re prevented from falling in.

The next day, you tell your friends, but they don’t believe you. Who would possibly believe that you’d gotten sucked inside your T.V. It’s hard enough to believe you saw someone when the television was off as it is. So they brush it off and you all head to the local department store, the biggest and most interesting place in little Inaba. Your friends lead you to the electronics department and you realize that with a big flat screen T.V., you could fit your whole body inside. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that idea, right? Of course not.

After you scare the crap out of your friends by climbing inside, the three of you fall into the T.V. and into a bizarre  fog shrouded world. There you find a creepy room, posters on the walls with the faces ripped out. A noose hangs above a single chair. Everything about the place is oppressive and wrong, but you can’t find your way back. At least not at first. Eventually, you meet a strange creature named Teddie who helps you back to your home and the three of you decide to act like that day never happened.

None of you get to do that, however. There’s a murderer on the lose, using the world inside the television to kill without leaving a trace. The police are stumped and it’s not like you can tell them about what you know, about a murderer who kills by throwing his victims inside a T.V. It’s up to you and your friends to figure out the mystery behind the killings and bring the culprit to justice. No one else can.

If you’re not dying to get your hands on this game for the story now, maybe the game play can convince you. Like all Persona games, players fight off enemies using their “Personas”. These are created from shadows that have been faced and overcome. But what’s a shadow? A shadow is the dark impulse that resides within the human heart, the dark thoughts and feelings that we all have and don’t want anyone to know about. Your persona is created when you face those hidden emotions and let accept even the worst parts of yourself.

What the hell does that have to do with combat? Each Persona is unique and different, with strengths and weaknesses, spells and abilities that can be used in a wide variety of situations. Your character can find and create over a hundred different Personas which he can then use in combat to defeat enemy shadows. The turn based combat is similar to all JRPGs, with rock-paper-scissors mechanics having you hunt for the perfect move while trying not to drain your health and mana. If that happens (well the former is pretty damn obvious), you can’t continue as far through the dungeon and will have to quit for the day.

Quitting before reaching the end of a dungeon is painful, not just because you didn’t do as well as you could in combat, but because you’re wasting a day that could have been spent in pursuit of a story line or social link upgrade. You only have a year to complete your mission and you only get to do one or two things each day. Thankfully, the new online S.O.S. system makes it a lot easy to travel through dungeons without using a million items or quitting and it was a brilliant edition to an already amazing game. I managed to use it well enough to get through each dungeon in one day, spending the rest of my time improving my social links to get as much story out of the game as possible.

If you’re still not convinced, them I’m going to assume you just don’t like JRPGs. Personally, I give it a whopping five out of five screaming Jan’s cats. Even if you don’t have a PS Vita, you can and should still get your hands on the original version of this game for the PS2. You won’t regret it. The game play is difficult and engaging, fun as hell, and the story will leave you guessing until the very end.

Persona!

S.P.A.Z. – Space Pirates and Zombies. The name really says it all and convinced me from the start that the game would be amazing. How could you go wrong with space pirates and zombies? I don’t think you can, but MinMax Games capitalized on this idea and made a brilliant game.

I picked up S.P.A.Z. with the Humble Indie Bundle 6. Thanks to the name, it was the first game I played and my initial play through can be found here. The game starts out with you and your crew on Earth, just after you’ve finished building a giant mother ship that you’re planning on taking to the core of the solar system. Why? Because money, duh. You’re SPACE PIRATES. There’s just one teensy problem, the pathway between you and the core is blocked by gates that are guarded by the UAD. The UAD are basically the government, if you consider a group that is based solely in the system it’s in and at war with civilians a government. In the end, it doesn’t really matter who they are, they stand between you and payday and you ARE a pirate. So, like any good pirate, you get your space ship and go out and take what you need.

Since S.P.A.Z. is a top down, space combat game based around skill, battles against anyone standing in your way are pretty intense. You against the UAD or the Civilians pits whatever ship you’ve cobbled together with your limited resources against wave after wave of enemies that, frankly, can aim a whole hell of a lot better than you. Thankfully, the full physics simulation makes every successful battle a glorious explosion. This, along with the new hulls that drop every time you destroy a certain number of ship types, convinced me to fight more and only make friends to get new blue prints. After all, who needs friends when you can fly every type of ship?

Fear not my less blood thirsty gamers (*cough* freaks), space battles aren’t the only way to get past the UAD. I chose the “blast every thing and every one to hell” approach, but if you want to make friends you can just bribe them with rez – the currency in S.P.A.Z. – to let you through the gate. Making friends isn’t a bad approach either, as each faction – Civilians, UAD, and the mysterious Bounty Hunters (because space pirates and zombies were just not cool enough) – has item upgrades to sell you or will offer you trades.

Using the three useful commodities, rez, goons and data, you can quickly gather what you want and get rid of what you don’t. Data is the information dropped by ships when they explode that helps with research, i.e. the experience behind the game’s leveling system. Goons are the people on ships who eject in escape pods when you blow them up (or get blown up yourself). During or after a battle, you can pick up these pods up and forceably recruit them to work for you. Yeah, civilization has devolved so much that the people actively participate in slavery and, to be very non-politically correct, it’s hilarious. Your pirates are constantly throwing the goons out of air locks when they refuse to work for you and you can run over/shoot their corpses after.

For me, there was plenty to do with rez so I tended to hoard that commodity. Rez is the special mineral that is used to build your ships (after they’re destroyed or upgraded) and purchase plans for better items from the different factions. So despite my hoarding, I was always feeling a little short. Thanks to the extra currencies, I didn’t have to trade my data for more rez, but used all my excess goons to do just that and to accelerate my leveling. Tack on being a slaver to being a pirate for me, but now that I had all the nifty upgrades I needed to blast my enemies to pieces while forcing the goons on my ships to repair any damage I was taking, I wasn’t fussed over such uncivilized ways. In other words, the leveling system is robust enough to satisfy any style of play, because combat is in no way completely unavoidable, and I was using it to the fullest extent I could.

While I haven’t finished the game (thanks MoP), I recommend S.P.A.Z. to anyone and everyone. MinMax has created a game that is amazingly fun and not “just for an indie game”. This is definitely one of my favorite games of the year, so strap on your lazer beams and cannons, ready your whips and collars, ’cause we’re out to make some rez! And don’t forget to listen to/read all the dialogue, you’ll be missing out on comedy genius.

Cannibalism is bad! Say no to zombies!

Earlier today I was dying to find out information about the new achievements and rewards that were being introduced with Mists of Pandaria. Having found nothing easy to shift through, I decided to collect as much information on this topic as I could in one place, then make it easy to shift through. Here you go!

Reputation

Raiding

Questing

Dungeons

Scenarios

Pets

Mounts

Professions

General

PvP

Exploration

Rewards

Reputation

 60 Exalted Reputations

Attained by: Raise 60 reputations to Exalted
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 70 Exalted Reputations

Attained by: Raise 70 reputations to Exalted
Reward: 10 Achievement points and the title: The Beloved

 Ambassadors

Attained by: Raise 25 reputations to Exalted
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Raiding

 100,000 Valor Points

Attained by: Earn 100,000 Valor Points
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Cleaning Up

Attained by: Defeat the Sha of Doubt in Temple of the Jade Serpent while under the effects of Purified Water
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Cutting Edge: Grand Empress Shek’zeer

Attained by: Defeat Grand empress Shek’zeer in Heart of Fear on Heroic difficulty, with Klaxxi Resonance inactive or disabled
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Cutting Edge: Sha of Fear

Attained by: Defeat the Sha of Fear in Terrace of Endless Spring on Heroic difficulty, with the Ritual of Purification inactive or disabled
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Cutting Edge: Will of the Emperor

Attained by: Defeat the Will of the Emperor in Mogu’shan Vaults of Heroic difficulty, with the Dampening Field inactive or disabled
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Extinction Event

Attained by: Defeat Salyis’s Warband in Valley of the Four Winds
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Face Clutchers

Attained by: Defeat Lei Shi while all members of the raid are afflicted by Parasitic Clutch in Terrace of Endless Spring on Normal or Heroic difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Getting Hot In Here

Attained by: Have the entire raid dance with Subetai the Swift after being hit by Pillage
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Glory of the Pandaria Raider

Attained by: Complete the Pandaria raid achievements listed below
Additional Rewards: 25 Achievement points and the Reins of the Heavenly Crimson Cloud Serpent

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Questing

Questing

Dailies

Questing

 A Taste of History

Attained by: Find a Guo-Lai Vault Key and open an Ancient Guo-Lai Cache
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Ain’t Lost No More

Attained by: Return Old Man Thistle’s lost treasure
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Amber is the color of My Energy

Attained by: Recover the following Klaxxi Paragons
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Champion of Chi-Ji

Attained by: Defeat every challenger at the Cradle of Chi-Ji
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Chapter I: Trial of the Black Prince

Attained by: Prove your worth to Wrathion and aquire a sha-touched gem upgrade
Reward: 25 Achievement points

 Collateral Damage

Attained by: Use a Mogu Satue’s Crushing Slam to kill another opponent
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Defender of Gods

Attained by: Complete the Shado-Pan fanale, “Surprise Attack!”
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Defender of Gods

Attained by: Defeat 10 Shado-Pan Trainees within 10 seconds
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Dread Haste Makes Dread Waste

Attained by: Complete the Dread Wastes storylines listed below
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Eternally in the Vale

Attained by: Complete the follwoing milestones with the Golden Lotus
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Finish Them!

Attained by: Complete the follwoing milestones with the Golden Lotus
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Fire in the Yaung-hole!

Attained by: Kill 15 or more Gai-Cho combatants with a single Highly Explosive Oil Barrel
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Dailies

 A Taste of Things to Come

Attained by: Successfully harvest your first special crop
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 5000 Daily Quests Complete

Attained by: Complete 5000 daily quests
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 10000 Daily Quests Complete

Attained by: Complete 10000 daily quests
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Daily anticipation

Attained by: Complete 150,000 daily quests
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Every Day I’m Pand-a-ren

Attained by: Complete 25 daily quests in Pandaria in a single daily reset period
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Friend on the Farm

Attained by: Become best friends with one of the characters at the Halfhill Market
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Friends on the Farm

Attained by: Become best friends with all of the characters at the Halfhill Market
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Getting Around with the Shado-Pan

Attained by: Complete 15 Shado-Pan daily quests with each of the following Shado-Pan heroes
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Dungeons

 And Stay Dead!

Attained by: Allow High Inquisitor Whitemane to cast Mass Resurrection, defeat all revived Scarlet Judicators, and then defeat Whitemane in Scarlet Monastary on Heroic Difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better…

Attained by: Defeat Feng the Accursed in Normal or Heroic difficulty after mimicking each of the following abilities
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Attention to Detail

Attained by: Defeat Jandice Barov without ever eliminating a false image in Scholomance on Heroic Difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Bomberman

Attained by: Trigger 15 exploasions within 15 seconds during the Sabeteur Kip’tilak encounter in Gate of the Setting Sun on Heroic Difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Burning Man

Attained by: Cause Brother Korloff to light six nearby training dummies on fire, and then defeat him, in Scarlet Monastery on Heroic difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Candle in the Wind

Attained by: Defeat Blade Lord Ta’yak while all four braziers are lit in Heart of Fear on Normal or Heroic difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Challenge Conqueror

Attained by: Complete ever Challenge Mode dungeon
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Challenge Conqueror: Bronze

Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Bronze or better
Reward: 15 Achievement points and the title The Undaunted

 Challenge Conqueror: Silver

Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Silver or better
Reward: 20 Achievement points and the Ancestral Phoenix Mount

 Challenge Conqueror: Gold

Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Gold
Reward: 25 Achievement points and a Full set of class-specific transmogrifiable armor

 Challenge Mode Dungeon Challenges

Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Gold or better while in a guild group
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Conscriptinator

Attained by: Gain three stacks of Resin Residue by defeating Mantid Conscripts in Gate of the Setting Sun on Heroic Difficulty
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Empowered Spiritualist

Attained by: Defeat Thalnos the Soulrender while three Empowered Zombies are alive
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Gate of the Setting Sun Challenger

Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Gate of the Setting Sun: Bronze

Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode with a rating of Bronze or better
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Gate of the Setting Sun: Silver

Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode with a rating of Silver or better
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Gate of the Setting Sun: Gold

Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode with a rating of Gold
Reward: 10 Achievement points and Teleport to the Gate of the Setting Sun

 Glintrok N’ Roll

Attained by: Defeat Gekkan and his Glintrok entourage in Mogu’shan Palace on Heroic difficulty within 5 minutes of being spotted by the Glintrok Scout
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Glory of the Pandaria Hero

Attained by: Complete the Pandaria Heroic dungeon achievements listed below
Reward: 25 Achievement points and the Reins of the Crimson Cloud Serpent

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Scenarios

 A Brewing Storm

Attained by: Defeat Borokhula the Destroyer in A Brewing Storm
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Arena of Annihilation

Attained by: Complete the Arena of Annihilation scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Beat the Heat

Attained by: Defeat Little Liuyang without anyone taking damage from a Flame Wall in the Arena of Annihilation scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Binan Village All-Star

Attained by: Personally use each of the Brewmoon Festival defenses
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Brewmoon Festival

Attained by: Defeat Warbringer Qobi in the Brewmoon Festival scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Crypt of Forgotten Kings

Attained by: Complete the Crypt of Forgotten Kings scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Don’t Shake the Keg

Attained by: Defeat Brokhula the Destroyer in A Brewing Storm without getting hit by his Swamp Smash
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Fancy Footwork

Attained by: Defeat the Abomination of Anger in the Crypt of Forgotten Kings scenario without anyone taking damage from the red clouds
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 For Display Only

Attained by: Defeat General Zhu without using any of the artifact orbs in the Temple of Kotmogu scenario
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Pets

 A Rare Catch

Attained by: Capture a rare quality battle pet
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 All Growns Up!

Attained by: Raise a pet to level 25.
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 All Pets Allowed

Attained by: Raise a pet of every family to level 25
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 An Uncommon Find

Attained by: Capture an uncommon quality battle pet
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Battle Master

Attained by: Earn 200 pet battle achievement points
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Big City Pet Brawler

Attained by: Complete each of the Big City Pet Brawlin’ achievements listed below
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Big City Pet Brawlin’ – Alliance

Attained by: Win a pet battle in each of the Alliance cities listed below
Reward: 5 Achievement points
Restrictions: Alliance only

 Big City Pet Brawlin’ – Horde

Attained by: Win a pet battle in each of the Horde cities listed below
Reward: 5 Achievement points
Restrictions: Horde only

 Building a Team

Attained by: Capture 25 pets in a pet battle
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Cat Fight!

Attained by: Win 10 pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Collector’s Edition: Baneling

Attained by: Owner of the Starcraft II Heart of the Swarm Collector’s Edition Baneling
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Collector’s Edition: Lucky Quilen Cub

Attained by: Owner of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition Lucky Quilen Cub pet
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Continental Tamer

Attained by: Complete all of the pet battle mauler achievements listed below
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Eastern Kingdoms Safari

Attained by: Catch every battle pet in Eastern Kingdoms
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Eastern Kingdoms Tamer

Attained by: Capture a battle pet in each of the Eastern Kingdoms zones listed below
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Experienced Pet Battler

Attained by: Win 50 pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Experienced Pet Brawler

Attained by: Win 50 PvP pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Family Reunion

Attained by: Capture a battle pet from each family
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Going to Need More Leashes

Attained by: Collect 250 unique pets
Reward: 10 Achievement points and Feral Vermling pet

 Going to Need More Traps

Attained by: Capture 50 pets in a pet battle
Reward: 5 Achievement points and Strong Pet Trap

 Grand Master Pet Battler

Attained by: Win 1000 pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

 Grand Master Pet Brawler

Attained by: Win 1000 PvP pet battles
Reward: 5 Achievement points

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Mounts

 Collector’s Edition: Imperial Quilen

Attained by: Owner of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition Imperial Quilen mount
Reward: Feat of Strength

 Grand Expedition Yak

Attained by: Obtain a Grand Expedition Yak from Uncle Bigpocket in Kun-Lai Summit
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Professions

Cooking

Archaeology

Cooking

 Get Some Chopsticks

Attained by: Cook 7,500 Mists of Pandaria cooking recipes
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Archaeology

 Ballad of Liu Lang

Attained by: Discover each of the lore objects in Pandaria that tell the tale of Liu Lang
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Between a Saurok and a Hard Place

Attained by: Discover each of the Saurok lore objects in Pandaria
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Apothecary Tins

Attained by: Restore 5 Apothecary Tins
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Apothecary Tins

Attained by: Restore 20 Apothecary Tins
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Carved Bronze Mirrors

Attained by: Restore 20 Carved Bronze Mirrors
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Carved Bronze Mirrors

Attained by: Restore 5 Carved Bronze Mirrors
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Cracked Mogu Runestones

Attained by: Restore 5 Cracked Mogu Runestones
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Cracked Mogu Runestones

Attained by: Restore 20 Cracked Mogu Runestones
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Edicts of the Thunder King

Attained by: Restore 20 Edicts of the Thunder King
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Edicts of the Thunder King

Attained by: Restore 5 Edicts of the Thunder King
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Empty Kegs of Brewfather Xin Wo Yin

Attained by: Restore 5 EmptyKegs of Brewfather Xin Wo Yin
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Empty Kegs of Brewfather Xin Wo Yin

Attained by: Restore 20 EmptyKegs of Brewfather Xin Wo Yin
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Gold-Inlaid Porcelain Funerary Figurines

Attained by: Restore 20 Gold-Inlaid Porcelain Funerary Figurines
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Gold-Inlaid Porcelain Funerary Figurines

Attained by: Restore 5 Gold-Inlaid Porcelain Funerary Figurines
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Iron Amulets

Attained by: Restore 5  Iron Amulets
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Iron Amulets

Attained by: Restore 20 Iron Amulets
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Manacles of Rebellion

Attained by: Restore 20 Manacles of Rebellion
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Manacles of Rebellion

Attained by: Restore 5  Manacles of Rebellion
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Mogu Coins

Attained by: Restore 5  Mogu Coins
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Mogu Coins

Attained by: Restore 20 Mogu Coins
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pandaren Game Boards

Attained by: Restore 20 Pandaren Game Boards
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pandaren Game Boards

Attained by: Restore 5 Pandaren Game Boards
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pandaren Tea Sets

Attained by: Restore 5 Pandaren Tea Sets
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pandaren Tea Sets

Attained by: Restore 20 Pandaren Tea Sets
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pearls of Yu’lon

Attained by: Restore 5 Pearls of Yu’lon
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Pearls of Yu’lon

Attained by: Restore 20 Pearls of Yu’lon
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Petrified Bone Whips

Attained by: Restore 5 Petrified Bone Whips
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Petrified Bone Whips

Attained by: Restore 20 Petrified Bone Whips
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Standards of Niuzao

Attained by: Restore 5 Standards of Niuzao
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Standards of Niuzao

Attained by: Restore 20 Standards of Niuzao
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Terracotta Arms

Attained by: Restore 5 Terracotta Arms
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Terracotta Arms

Attained by: Restore 20 Terracotta Arms
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Thunder King Insignias

Attained by: Restore 5 Thunder King Insignias
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Thunder King Insignias

Attained by: Restore 20 Thunder King Insignias
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Twin Stein Sets of Brewfather Quan Tou Kuo

Attained by: Restore 5 Twin Stein Sets of Brewfather Quan Tou Kuo
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Twin Stein Sets of Brewfather Quan Tou Kuo

Attained by: Restore 20 Twin Stein Sets of Brewfather Quan Tou Kuo
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Walking Canes of Brewfather Ren Yun

Attained by: Restore 5 Walking Cates of Brewfather Ren Yun
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Walking Canes of Brewfather Ren Yun

Attained by: Restore 20 Walking Cates of Brewfather Ren Yun
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Warlord’s Branding Irons

Attained by: Restore 5 Branding Irons
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Warlord’s Branding Irons

Attained by: Restore 20 Branding Irons
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Worn Monument Ledgers

Attained by: Restore 5 Worn Monument Ledgers
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Collector: Worn Monument Ledgers

Attained by: Restore 20 Worn Monument Ledgers
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Documents of a Dark History

Attained by: Discover the following artifacts
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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General

 Double Agent

Attained by: Reach maximum level on both an Alliance and a Horde character
Reward: 25 Achievement points

 Dynamic Duo

Attained by: Reach maximum level with two different classes
Reward: 20 Achievement points

 Got My Mind On My Money

Attained by: Loot 200,000 gold
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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PvP

 Blackout

Attained by: Kill 100 enemies that are holding an Orb of Power
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Attained by: Kill 100 enemies that are holding an Orb of Power
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 End of the Line

Attained by: Seize control of a mine cart that is controlled by the opposing team within 20 yards of the depot, and then capture it
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Escort Service

Attained by: Capture 100 mine carts in Silvershard Mines
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Five for Five

Attained by: Capture five mine carts in a single Silvershard Mines battle without dying
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Four Square

Attained by: Hold all four Orbs of Power at least once in a single Temple Kotmogu battle
Reward: 10 Achievement points

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Exploration

 A Worthy Opponent

Attained by: Defeat one of the powerful champions of the Pandarian races that wander the continent
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Could We Find More Like That?

Attained by: Defeat one of each type of Pandarian champion
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Dread Wastes

Attained by: Explore Dread Wastes, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Jade Forest

Attained by: Explore Jade Forest, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Krasarang Wilds

Attained by: Explore Krasarang Wilds, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Kun-Lai Summit

Attained by: Explore Kun-Lai Summit, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 ExplorePandaria

Attained by: Explore the regions of Pandaria
Reward: 25 Achievement points

 Explore Townlong Steppes

Attained by: Explore Townlong Steppes, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Vale of Eternal Blossoms

Attained by: Explore Vale of Eternal Blossoms, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Explore Valley of the Four Winds

Attained by: Explore Valley of the four Winds, revealing the covered areas of the world map
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Finders Keepers

Attained by: Find 6 of the lost treasures hidden throughout Pandaria
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Fish Tales

Attained by: Discover each of the Jinyu lore objects in Pandaria
Reward: 10 Achievement points

 Glorious!

Attained by: Hunt down and defeat each and every one of the Pandarian champions
Reward: 30 Acdhievement points

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Rewards

Titles

Other

Mounts

Pets

Titles

 The Beloved

Achievement name: 70 Exalted Reputations
Attained by: Raise 70 reputations to Exalted
Additional Rewards : 10 Achievement points

 The Undaunted

Achievement name: Challenge Conqueror: Bronze
Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Bronze or better
Additional Rewards : 15 Achievement points

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Other

 Full set of class- specific transmogrifiable armor

Achievement name: Challenge Conqueror: Gold
Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Gold
Additional Rewards : 25 Achievement points

 Teleport to the Gate of the Setting Sun

Achievement name: Gate of the Setting Sun: Gold
Attained by: Complete the Gate of the Setting Sun Challenge Mode with a rating of Gold
Additional Rewards: 10 Achievement points and Teleport to the Gate of the Setting Sun

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Mounts

 Reins of the Crimson Cloud Serpent

Achievement name: Glory of the Pandaria Hero
Attained by: Complete the Pandaria Heroic dungeon achievements listed below
Additional Rewards: 25 Achievement points

 Reins of the Heavenly Crimson Cloud Serpent

Achievement name: Glory of the Pandaria Raider
Attained by: Complete the Pandaria raid achievements listed below
Additional Rewards: 25 Achievement points

 Ancestral Phoenix Mount

Achievement name: Challenge Conqueror: Silver
Attained by: Complete every Challenge Mode dungeon with a rating of Silver
Additional Rewards: 20 Achievement points

 Imperial Quilen mount

Achievement name: Collector’s Edition: Imperial Quilen
Attained by: Owner of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition Imperial Quilen

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Pets

 Feral Vermling 

Achievement name: Going to Need More Leashes
Attained by: Collect 250 unique pets
Additional Rewards: 10 Achievement points

 Strong Pet Trap

Achievement name: Going to Need More Traps
Attained by: Capture 50 pets in a pet battle
Additional Rewards: 5 Achievement points

 Lucky Quilen Cub pet

Achievement name: Collector’s Edition: Lucky Quilen Cub
Attained by: Owner of the Mists of Pandaria Collector’s Edition Lucky Quilen Cub pet

 Baneling pet

Achievement name: Collector’s Edition: Baneling
Attained by: Owner of the Starcraft II Heart of the Swarm Collector’s Edition Baneling pet

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Anyone who listens to my podcast knows I’ve been playing World of Warcraft since Vanilla. Over all that time, I’ve had one main toon, my paladin Janaelle who currently resides on the server Twisting Nether. That’s not to say I don’t have alts; my shaman Luthvien was my main raiding toon during Cata, my DK Orest was my main pvp toon during Cata, and for the last quarter of BC I played a warlock when my guild exploded with healers. Always, though, I’ve been drawn back to my paladin to take names, kick ass, and gather EVERYTHING of Jan. I hoarded items, clothes, crafting mats, achievements, mounts, and pets all on that one toon. After so much work was put into her, so many hours, such a high play time value, why would I ever waist all that time spent and choose a new main? I had invested in Janaelle.

Thanks to patch 5.0.4, I am now invested in my entire account! All my achievements (well most of them) from her are shown on all my other toons. All the mounts, pets, etc. that I’ve gathered can be shown off on any of the four servers I currently inhabit. No longer will I feel like an alt is lacking because all that time, all those accomplishments, can’t be seen. No longer will I feel like one of those “Oh, I’ve done that but can’t prove it” jackasses. GG Blizzard.

Oh, and Ray, you’re not a special pony. Hmm, guess I lied.

The time has finally come to experience patch 5.0.0 and the beginning of Mists of Pandaria. I just pre-ordered my collectors edition of the game and now get to experience part of it this coming week as the patch hits (probably) Tuesday. So get ready to update your add ons and find out if your graphics card can handle MoP!

In case you were living under a rock, here’s the run down of what we get to look forward to:

• The New Talent System! And all the class changes Blizzard has been prepping us on. For an extensive list, check out MMO-Champions list:

Death Knight

Skills
General changes

Druid

Skills
General changes

Hunter

Skills
General changes
All Changes

Mage

Skills
General changes

Paladin

Skills
Holy changes
Retribution changes
Protection changes

Priest

Skills
Discipline changes
Shadow changes

Rogue

Skills

Shaman

Skills
General changes
Restoration changes

Warlock

Skills
Affliction changes
Demonolgy changes
Destruction changes

Warrior

Skills
Arms changes
Fury changes

• New Ability Animations!

Druid

Mage

Warrior

Paladin

Priest

Rogue

Shaman

Warlock

• Reduced Experience necessary to get to level 85.
• AoE Looting! Fucking finally….
• New Scarlet Monastery and Scholomance! Though there is no access to the Heroic versions of these instances. Here’s what to expect from the new instances:

Scarlet Monastery

• The Graveyard and Cathedral are now combined into one instance.
• The Armory and Library are now combined into one instance.
• Mograine is no longer in the Cathedral and has been replaced with Commander Durand.

Scholomance

• The entire dungeon has new art, increased texture resolutions, and the new lighting system, making for a very nice environment.
• After killing Professor Slate, you can drink a potion that will give you increased damage and his model. The potion works as a shapeshift and currently persists outside of the instance. You cannot mount with it however.

• All Valor Points are converted to Justice Points in a one to one conversion.
• All Justice Points are converted to…Justice Points, but you get a little extra.
• Account Wide Achievements
• Account Wide Mounts
• Account Wide Pets
• Spell Resistance is removed
• Changes to Hit, Spell Hit, Expertise, and Parry
• New Druid Forms:

• New Warlock pets!

• And new Warlock pet emotes!

• Cross-Realm Zones so you can level with your friends who are on different zones now
• Interface Changes like the following:
  • Character Creations Screens
  • Character Selections Screens
  • New Mount interface
  • New Pet interface
  • New buff frame
  • New faction tooltips
  • Loot frame changes
  • New vendor filters
  • New PvE Queue frame
  • Dungeon journal expansion
  • New Maps
• Battle Tag Support!
• Graphics changes!

Now at $5,000,000 in donations and with 22 days left in their campaign, Ouya is off to a great start in getting out to the public and helping shape the course of games and consoles for the next decade. I’ve been keeping up with all things Ouya, and compiled a short list of new information to pass along.

Here are the Specifications (which I didn’t list before) for the Ouya:

• Tegra3 quad-core processor
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB of internal flash storage
• HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth LE 4.0
• USB 2.0 (one)
• Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
• Android 4.0

The big announcement is that the Ouya will be ready to ship in March and will be usable in other countries (so long as those users purchase of an adapter). At the beginning, though, the Ouya will only be available in English.

Now for what everyone really wants to know about, the games. Games, games, games. A console without games would just be a pricy paperweight so here we go.

Meteor, the maker of Hawken recently pledged their support for the Ouya putting their free to play mech mmo on the console as well. Mojang has committed that Minecraft (and their other games) will be on Ouya with some conditions. The console has to be good and people have to want it. To that end, the Ouya development team has put up a survey for those interested to fill out saying what games they want to see available on the Ouya. It can be found here.

More games have yet to be announced as apparently the developers of the console are swamped with requests and want to release a full list all at one time. So, more information on games will be coming, but, while not gaming exactly, the Ouya can support any apps built for Android and will be launching with Twitch.TV.

After a lot of questions, they’ve also said this about how they want their console and its free to play model to work:

We want you to pay only for the games you love. A “free to play” model works when everyone (gamers and game makers) benefits from directly rewarding amazing games.

For gamers, every game will be free to play: what this means is that there will at least be a free demo, or you’ll be able to play the entirety of the game for free but may have access to additional items, upgrades, or other features that come at a cost.

For developers, free to play means that they can set their own prices. Developers know best: There is no better way to sell a game than to have folks that have actually touched the game share glowing reviews with their friends. By allowing some form of free play, we’ll help them do just that. The only reason you used to pay for games before playing them is that you couldn’t try them at the store before you brought them home – it’s a relic of an old way of doing business, and one of the many things about the games business we plan to change.

For more news and updates on the Ouya, check back here and follow @playouya

THIS FUCKING SUCKS

No, I don’t live in the area hit by that giant black out, I just moved into a new house whose only access to the Internet is through a company called SuddenLink. They’ve told me they’ll hook me up with internet at the end of the month because they have the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I just know that when TimeWarner and/or AT&T moves into the area, nearly everyone is going to switch.

This sucks. In case you missed that, THIS SUCKS. My only access to the internet is through my phone and that’s completely useless. Alright, not completely. I gave myself tendonitis typing out tweets and emails and texts.

Though it’s not like I’m going stir-crazy with boredom. I’ve read two books, caught up on some old PS2 games, unpacked most of my belongings, took a class in algebra which takes up most of my week and am spending way, way too much time with my family. I love them, but this is crazy.

Goddamn SuddenLink.

I WANT MY INTERNET BACK

UPDATE: Two days after launch (7/12), the kickstarter campaign is up to $4,000,000 with 30,000 backers. There’s still plenty of $100+ pledges available which gives you a console before they hit store shelves.

UPDATE: The day AFTER the launch of the kickstarter campaign, they have raised $3,000,000. That’s TWO MILLION DOLLARS over what they were asking for. They’ve also upped the amount of units purchasable right now so as of 7/11, there are 30,000 still purchasable.

What. The. Fuck.

So today (7/10), a Kickstarter campaign launched to bring gamers an all new console, the Ouya (“ooh-yuh”). A fully hackable console that is designed for indie developers. Julie Uhrma and her team (including early Xbox pioneer Ed Fries and One Laptop Per Child designer Yves Behar) think it’s high time Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo rethink how they make consoles.

“I just think closed is the wrong way of doing things,” Julie Uhrma said. “I see unbelievable indie content out there, and watching ‘Indie Game the Movie’ and watching their faces as they wait for Microsoft to approve [their game], it just didn’t make any sense.”

If you don’t know, the current consoles made by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are all closed systems. That means they only let licensed developers make games for their consoles and only grant those developers the debug kits that are required to create games. Plus, all game development must be approved before it can be sold so as Kotaku put it, they “serve as gatekeepers for nearly every game made on their machines.”

But not the Ouya:

“The circuit board will have well-documented test points. People can swap out chips, add, etc. We may even publish the hardware design if enough people are curious. Because Ouya will also have Bluetooth and a USB, hardware hobbyists can also make their own peripherals (someone already suggested pinball controls to us). Regarding the software, you’ll be able to root the device easily. It won’t void your warranty. Every unit has a debug console. We are even working on the idea of a “plant”—which will restore your profile after rooting your device (reverse your root). Because it’s built on Android, you’ll understand the source code well, too. (Obviously if a hacker roots the device, our integrated user experience and game store will no longer be available while the device is rooted — so there is, as always, a tradeoff between customizing your device and enjoying the benefits of standardization. We expect the true hackers to be an elite, but small proportion of the total number of people who buy the box. Most people will probably just use the standard setup.)”

Here’s the real kicker: the Kickstarter campaign is already fully funded. As of 5PM, they’re almost $200 thousand over what they originally asked for with only 3,000 $100 pledges left up for grabs. This thing is happening people, so if you want in at the beginning of the race, buy one NOW.

So I’ve been working on this  mockery of a Asian village for a while now on the Slash 2 severs run by @frak_you. It started from a picture of a Chinese wall next to a river. From that I built a wall, then a church and it just continued from there.

My villagers worship the man in black. He has a cane, so I also believe he’s a pimp. The rest of the village sprang up around this church.

A huge wheat field, several houses, a well and a pen for animals. Of course, any good village needs a General Store.

My villagers started having children, so I just had to build them a pool. A pool surrounded by diamonds. Because it’s pretty.

After this, I had no clue what to do. So I built a bridge across the water! It seemed like a good idea at the time.

In the picture you can see the garden I then built on the other side of the bridge. At the time I finished the bridge, I really had no idea what to build next. An Asian garden seemed like a great addition to an Asian village, so that’s what I came up with.

After this, I figured that if this was my village, I sure as hell needed a palace.

This was the biggest undertaking yet. Two floors, nearly a dozen rooms, a dungeon and a garden. Lava chandeliers, a throne room, and a library maze top off Jan’s palace.

After this I took a long break from Minecraft. What was there left to do? I should have realized then, but I needed a harbor.

With plenty of warehouses, there’s also a place for the pirates to live before they go out and rob…uh…right, well, it’s got cobwebs and stuff.

There were some struggles, like when @vahete kept hitting me with chickens or @rayfyst filled my pond with…more chickens. The worst was when I used dynamite on a sponge. There was logic behind that I assure you, but the result has been a section of land I can’t fill with water. That section of land is in the middle of my damn harbor, pretty much making the whole thing look stupid, but in my frustration something good came of it. A water tree.