As you all know, during Q4 of 2008, Blizzard officially launched the second expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King. Till now, no final conclusion has been set upon him. However, during Blizzcon 2009, Blizzard has yet unvieled antoher new expansion... World of Warcraft: Cataclysm!


"World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the upcoming third expansion for World of Warcraft and was officially announced on August 21, 2009 at BlizzCon 2009. The majority of the expansion content takes place in drastically reforged Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms.

It is to include the playable races of the worgen for the Alliance and the goblins for the Horde. Flying mounts will finally be usable in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. Deathwing has made his return into the 'real world' from Deepholm, causing a new Sundering. "


Now, there are many changes here that i would like to touch upon. This has been rather controversial as many people whom i have talked to had different opinions about this new expansion. Some said it will furthur destroy WoW (I'll elaborate more on this later), while others find it awesome and can't wait for official release. Now, I'm a rather optimistic person, so any changes brought about, I will never go against it. But I think no matter what, a neutral point of view has to be stated.

Lore wise, instead of exploring vast regions of the unknown, the very land of Azeroth is revisted and revamped. I believe that Blizzard wants to get back to their roots which what made World of Warcraft so epic. Many have said that the release of the Burning Crusade was the start of the dwindle of the World of Warcraft. We can all sit around and bounce back adn forth with arguemetns about this, but statistics hsa shown that number of players continue to grow. Then again, this does not mean that epicness of the original game is there, rather it just became mroe attractive to those with no WoW experience. Therefore, i really hope revisting all these old stuff will prove to be a right decision.

Game mechanic wise, 2 new races has been introduced. Worgens for Alliance and Goblins for orcs. On top of that, I heard their racial passive is pretty good too. New class combinations have also been added. Like, Night Elf Mage, Human Hunter, Tauran paladin and priest <---- HOT! aaaaaaaaaaand Troll Druid(shock!) Again, any has linked all these changes to a direct damage to the game's lore. I shall leave it for you to judge.



List of important changes-

* Level cap increased to 85.
* Zones are destroyed in lava in Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms. The Barrens has been split into two, and is full of canyons of lava. Wetlands is destroyed, Ashenvale hit as well. The Maelstrom churns.
* New race for the Alliance: Worgen
o Classes: death knight, hunter, mage, priest, rogue, druid, warlock and warrior.[1]
* New race for the Horde: Goblins
o Classes: death knight, shaman, hunter, mage, priest, rogue, warlock and warrior.[1]
* New Race / Class combinations. They will be explained in-game[2][3].
* New monsters, quests, and zones
* Several new dungeons and raids
* 3 new battlegrounds (including "Battle for Gilneas City"[4]) and a new Wintergrasp-like PvP zone, Tol Barad
* Classic zones forever changed by the Cataclysm. The changes will be made available to all players regardless of expansion purchase.
* Ability to fly anywhere due to the Azeroth revamp.
* Guild advancement system, which includes guild leveling, talents, achievements, and accessories.
* Revamped character progression via the Paths of the Titans, Archaeology, the new secondary profession, and Ancient glyphs.
* Rated battlegrounds, an alternative way to earn arena points
* Ragnaros was banished in the Molten Core, but has now returned to burn Nordrassil.
* Malfurion Stormrage has returned from the Emerald Dream to help defend Hyjal.
* Profession cap raised to 525 and will be named Illustrious.
* New ability for Jewelcrafters, Engineers, Blacksmiths, Leatherworkers and Tailors called "Reforging"
* Stats armor penetration, attack power, block value,defense, mp5, and spell power are being removed from the game.

Among the many figures confirmed to have major roles in the story of Cataclysm are:

* Deathwing, formerly Neltharion the Earth-Warder, confirmed as the principal villain of the expansion.
* Thrall, whose role will be changing, possibly to relinquish command of the Horde.
* Garrosh Hellscream, possibly the new leader of the Horde.
* Varian Wrynn, who leads the Alliance after the Cataclysm.
* Malfurion Stormrage, who returns to prevent Mount Hyjal from being destroyed.
* Brann Bronzebeard, up to his old tricks as leader of the expedition into the newly-uncovered Uldum region.
* Genn Greymane, King of Gilneas, who helps administer a cure for the worgen curse to his now-transformed people.
* Nefarian, also known as Blackwing/Victor Nefarius, son of Deathwing, who survived and retreated further into Blackrock Spire.
* Ragnaros, who remains alive to challenge the world in Mount Hyjal, and later in his own elemental fire plane.
* The Twilight Hammer cult is a major player in the new expansion; its minions are revealed to be working for Deathwing.

For a full readup, visit wowwiki here.

Official trailer-

The trailer shows alot, so do watch it.

A pity your excess courage does not compensate for your stupidity

Yesterday was one heck of tiring and disappointing day for me. Woke up early to meet tzc at Plaza Singapura for breakfast before going to Chara Fest. But somebody had to be late, so we didn't have time to get breakfast. So we immediately set off to Nanyang Fine Arts for the event. The day before i checked the map for directions on how to get there. Apparently it was located inbetween Dhouby Ghaut and Bugis mrt, so I thought it didnt matter where we stopped. Boy, was I wrong. WE got lost awhile, walked in circles under the blazing sun. When we reached there, we were already quite drenched and tired. But that was just the start of a series of unfortunate events. The queue was so f-ing long and we took about 1hour and 40 mins to get in the event. By that time, i was 15 mins late for my Vanguard Princess competition, and therefor i got barred from it. Trying to keep my cool, i just watched the remaining competitors battle it out. To my utter disgust, many of their playing style is so horrible that i find it very unfair that they are in the competition rather than me. I know this makes me sound rather like a majoy douche, but it was the truth =(. So apparently, we got bored of the competition and started looknig around the booths. Then after we went to revist the booth near the entrance again, we were told we could only go 1 round and if we were to visit the booths again, we have to requeue. i was like, WTF! Then, we had lunch and walked to bugis first, planning to meet Ming Woon and the other Jcc peeps there. After we all gathered, took a train down all the way to expo for the shuttle bus to Japanese School at Changi for the Summer Festival 2009. When we reached there, we were far too early and had to wait for abotu an hour for the others to come. So, i met up with Bryan who was serving at Expo for a short walk. When things finally got going, i was rather hyped for the event. But that got shattered rather quickly when we reached. The even was very localised and many of the performances was mixed with Singapore culture. The bento and everything was rather expensive. Or should i say VERY expensive. Yea, i am on a budget cut so i had to refrain from spending money. Actually, i did thought about getting a drink. But all they had was milk tea and Asahi beer. So, tired, hungry and thirsty, i really felt like going home but i decided to stay for the whole thing. After everything was over, i was like "FINALLY". But apparently, someone got drunk and other complications arised. So alot of things delayed time and we only started leaving about an hour later. reached him around 12 30 am and was just dead exhausted. Took a shower and went to sleep. When i woke up, my throat was very dry and stomach was rumbling. At the same time i was feeling dizzy and my limbs felt very relunctant to move. But under this fatigue, i have to prepare for tomorrows Pacc (principles of accounting) test in this single day. I NEED A MIRACLE!

Sekai de ichiban ohime sama

Just a comparison of the hit PV from NicoNicoDouga of Hatsune Miku's "World is Mine"

Original Miku Version:


Kagamine Rin and Len Version:


Manly Taito Version:


Fangirl Magnet Nigaito Version:


Ear-piercing Trio Version:


AND........
The TRUE Sekai de ichiban ohime sama, Kawashima Ami:


If you bothered to listen to all the versions, do leave a comment on which you enjoyed the most.

All these are fan-made using a program called Vocaloid. If you do not know what Vocaloid is, u deserve a slap in the face xD (just kidding). It is an advance voice synthesizer program from Japan. For more information, do visit wiki for a full readup. Link.

I am lightning... The rain transformed.

Hello everyone, it has been awhile since i last updated! Right here, the sky just cleared up as the rain faded. Been quite some time since it rained. Thank goodness!

Well anyway, I was talking to my friend a couple of nights back and somehow we got into the conversation of us growing up as kids. And honestly, Tv shows and cartoons did play a big role in my life.

We went on to talk about how the cartoons and anime at thoese good times were so much better than many generics ones at date.

Now, by better, obviously we weren't comparing the quality of animation. But rather, the plot, story, originality and of course level of stupidity.

My personal favourites:

Power stone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7_q-lD--co&feature=related
(didn't let me embed =[)

Mummies Alive!


Of course, there are shows that were so cliche and ridiculously stupid and funny that just made it epic:

Street Sharks


Monster Rancher




And one of first animes i ever watched:

Akazukin Cha Cha


Magic Knight Rayearth


Shaman King


Now, shaman king isn't exactly very old( infact the manga series still goes on now) but it's one of the shows i remembered watching growing up. Magic Knight Rayearth was just epic in term of animation back then and the story was just pure good... The closest I ever felt to this was during episode 21 of toradora. But then again, the ending just didn't do any good for me. Also, past few days i have been asking people if they knew what "Akazukin Cha Cha" was. I was just surprised when not even a single person i asked knew! I remember thoese times when i ate dinner and watched Akazukin Cha Cha. Good times, good times...

Day 1 of EST

Today was Day 1 and the test was Management of Business. Last paper of it, for it is not a year long module. Farewell , MOB. Next sem will be FoM (Fundementals of Marketing). Lets all hope for the best. On a side note ITAB( IT Applications in Business) is on wednesday! Tonight, we dine in hell...

Study Study!

Yo, No updates for the time being for I a studying for my tests.

Peace out~~

Welcome to my parlor...

Yo, went out just now but I didn't get a hair cut =( Tomorrow is Singapore National Day! Happy Birthday Singapore! Today was once again unproductive as usual. Need to get some work done!

Picture of the day:

WoW, just take a look at this. What a beauty to behold. Kagamine Rin never looked any better than this though in my heart I was hoping it to be hatsune Miku =D.

Video of the day:

This was actually out long ago on niconico douga. But I jsut came across it again and it never gets old! haha its quite the catchy stuff!

Call of the Crusade

The lastest major content patch 3.2.0. called "Call of the Crusade" went live August 4th, 2009 this tuesday.

Here is a small extract from wowwiki:
Since the opening of the Argent Tournament in northeastern Icecrown, adventurers have journeyed from across Azeroth and beyond to prove their worth in the heart of the Lich King's domain. Under thundering skies the tournament's participants hone the arts of war and face off in bone-shattering jousting matches to earn the right to be called champions. Yet these heroes have yet to face the greatest challenge of all: the Crusaders' Coliseum. Formidable Horde and Alliance champions, ferocious beasts, and Scourge lieutenants are just some of the opponents awaiting adventurers in this gladiatorial arena. Few will survive the coliseum's perils, but the Argent Crusade is confident that the worthy heroes who do emerge victorious will be ready to join the offensive against Icecrown Citadel and end the Lich King's reign of terror.

Those who have played WoW recently will know that the Coliseum was underconstruction and provided many daily quests. Finally, the construction is done and new instances and raids are open.

Trial of the Champion
5 player (normal and heroic mode) dungeon.

Trial of the Crusader
10 and 25 player (normal mode) raid dungeon.

Trial of the Grand Crusader
10 and 25 player (heroic mode) raid dungeon.
Crusaders' Tribute: Active on heroic difficulty only, the tribute system will limit players on the number of attempts the raid is allotted each week. Additional rewards can be earned depending on the number of attempts left in the tribute run each week when the final boss is defeated.

This new Crusaders' Tribute is a new system which will prove to be an incentive for higher ranking guilds. I forsee this being implemented into future raids as well.

Also, a new battleground has been released called "Isle of Conquest". Apparently it is a 40 vs 40 bg and somewhat like Alterac Valley and Strands of the Ancients combined together.

Other interesting points to take note of are:
The newly implemented battleground experience points
New Druid Shapeshift Skins
A new zeppelin docking ramp has been added to Thunder Bluff allowing Horde players easier transport to and from Orgrimmar.
And other things added for extra conviniences

If you are interested in the changes of all the talents and specs for each classes, as well as for the full changes brought to you by the patch.
Please visit here.

Morning~~

Ossu! Today, I maybe going out to get a haircut so I'll be heading out real soon. On a side note, I heard that Facebook got attacked by hackers yesterday and that was the reason why the site wasn't responding fast. Apparently, all is well now so do check it out if you haven't.

On another unrelated news, heard from my WoW friends that the new major content patch 3.2.0 was released during tuesday's maintanence. I'll do a write up on that later probably when I get back. Stay safe people!

A little more than gnats!

Playing dota as of now. Apparently Warcraft III released a new patch 1.23->1.24. If i am not wrong it patched a bug which the host can send a virus through his game or something along thoese lines. Therefore, many core commands and codes got re-written in the game engine. Apparently, this affects dota as well since it's one of the most heavily modded map around. Ice frog released 6.51c to match the new update.

You can get the new Warcraft III patch here.

And the new dota map 6.51c at www.getdota.com

Picture of the day:

How I wish this was a real game. Will definately buy it without a second thought. Well well well, see the nice roster. Entire cast of Haruhi, K-on!, Lucky Star and Kannagi. I mean seriously, this game can be a giant cash cow.

Video of the day:

Darker than Black Season 2 commercial! Yes, it is rather short but woohoo the story goes on. I enjoyed DtB but the ending was abit rash so I hope this season will clear things up. Darker than Black will be airing on its usual thursday timeslot, replacing Basquash.

Review: Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Umineko no Naku Koro ni (うみねこのなく頃に, lit. "When Seagulls Cry" or "When they cry 3") is a Summer 2009 anime produced by Studio Deen. It is an anime adaptation of the game by 07th Expansion which proved to be successful when the first game arc went fresh out within 30 minutes during C72. I'll be reviewing both the game and the anime and make a general comparison at the end.

The plot:
Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place primarily in the year 1986, during the time frame of October 4 and October 5 on a small, secluded island named Rokkenjima (六軒島) 10 km around owned and lived on by Kinzo, the head of the wealthy Ushiromiya family. Kinzo is near death, and eight of his family members arrive on the island for the annual family conference, where the adults plan to discuss how Kinzo's assets will be divided once he is dead. Also on the island are three family members who live there, five of Kinzo's servants, and his personal physician. After the eight family members arrive, a typhoon traps them on the island, and shortly after, strange things start to happen and people start dying.
(Small extract from Wiki to avoid any spoilers ^^)

The game:

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a murder mystery game and unlike many other visual novels, the drawings are rather poorly drawn, this actually deterred me from playing it at the start. But I was positive it would live up to the reputation of Higurashi so I played on. The game is described as a sound novel by 07th Expansion. A sound novel generates an atmosphere from the music, sound effects, and of course the story itself to instill fear and excitement into the reader. The game itself contains 4 story arcs and each arc last around 4-10 hours depending on your reading speed/how much you skip.

The anime:

As you can see from the picture above, the drawing is very solid and i expect great animation throughout the series especially when I had to imagine all the action and scenes in my head when I was playing the game. What I love so far is the opening theme by Akiko Shikata. I don't really know how to discribe it but it has latin and japanese mixed in it and i was entranced by it. I will post a link to the OP at the end of the post later on. The anime also has a pretty impressive cast list. Main lead Battler Ushiromiya Battler is voiced by none other than Daisuke Ono(Koizumi Itsuki from Haruhi no Yuutsu). Not to mention Horie Yui as Ushiromiya Maria. For as long as I played the game, I have always wondered how the "uu" sounds like and noone can potray it better than Horie Yui. Other notable Voice Actors includes: Marina Inoue, Kenichi Suzumura,Sayaka Ohara, Yū Kobayashi and Rie Kugimiya(Tsundere Queen). The anime does follow the story closely and so far I have not noticed any changes.

General comparison:
Well in conclusion, at this point in time, I cannot say which is better as the anime is still at episode 6 as of now. But I am really happy to see the game being animated nicely and the anime is as perfect as it can get. However, one major downside is that the anime is going too fast. And when I say fast, I mean REALLY fast. Even when watching the first episode, I was surprised how much ground it was covering. By episode 5, the anime finished the first arc. 2 hours of animation compared to 4-10 hours of reading. That's one major gap! Many scenes was rushed and many actions were cut (to my disappointment T.T). But in any case, I'm still enjoying the anime and hope it can be as great as the game by the end of the series.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni OP-"Katayoku no Tori"


EDIT: If anyone is interested in playing the game and is unable to read japanese, you can download the fan translation by Witch Hunt. However, you still need to buy/download the full japanese before applying the patch. I would not say where you can download it as I do not wish to promote piracy for such a great game.

BANNED FROM NEOPETS

Ahahaha this is the best look what i got today morning.

This account has been FROZEN for the following reason:


This account was found to be cheating on the flash games.

If you think the above reason was applied to you by mistake, please contact our support staff by clicking here. Don't forget to include your USERNAME and explain why you think your account should not have been frozen. If you DID break the rules, please do not contact us again. Your account will NOT be unfrozen and you will not get your Neopet or items returned. But, you are welcome to create a new account, as long as you follow the rules.

Remember to read our Terms and Conditions thoroughly.

Pssh, Neopets is so strict =( my lvl 14 Zafara T.T

You will not suceed while i draw breath!

What a tiring day, ITAB was so freaking long and boring while the rest of the day was just flooded with econs econs and more econs. Writing in early today because i will probably be busy from dinner onwards.

Picture of the day



What an interesting banner. I would say it is intelligently drawn but that's probably it. No hidden meaning of any sort or any reference to any anime. The picture speaks for itself.

Video of the day




Going to watch Umineko no Naku Koro Ni later and maybe CAANAN if i have the time. Probably going to do a review tomorrow so stay tuned!

End on the day

Alright, today was as mundane as usual. Nothing much really happened. We attended an AIDs Awareness talk which lasted about an hour and everyone made fun of Pearlyn because the HIV+ guy in the small skit was called Jason =D. After everything, Felicia and I went to Orchard because I wanted to get a book which was out since April this year. Didn't really had the chance to get it till today.

Behold, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King

Oh what's this? blogging again?

Indeed, I have started blogging again.

When the world frowns upon you, only the shadow lingering welcomes you. Ignore the Echoes of Life, for this is the hour of the Forsaken!