Broadband DSL Rants and Raves
I’ve had 3 different DSL Service Providers in the past 4 years. I want to take this opportunity to give an objective and unbiased review on the experiences I’ve had with all 3. Hopefully this will help you guys when you make your decision to get your own broadband, be it for gaming, e-mail, downloading, or surfing. For this article, I’ll write about my experiences with Bayantel DSL, SMART Bro, and PLDT MyDSL. Check them all out after the break.
SMART Bro: This was my first internet connection outside of dial-up. I had this hooked up when I was still living in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City. In all honesty, I had little problems when the DSL was running. Download speeds were pretty stable and I only experienced lag when I was playing Fly for Fun. It actually ran pretty well with RF Online. For 900+ bucks monthly, the connection was pretty okay back then. My only problem with SMART Bro was when the connection would go down. The customer service reps would say that it would take around 1-2 days for their technical team to drop by to fix it. However, there were several instances when it took the technicians more than 1 week before they come over to fix the antenna. Because of the intermittent connection, I decided to cancel my subscription to SMART Bro after 1 year (contract).
SMART Bro Plug-it: I then moved on to SMART Bro Plug-it. I needed mobile internet because I’m always on the move and it helps a lot with my consultancy work. I bought the USB Modem for P3,800 I think. It kinda makes me sad when I see that the prices have dropped all the way down to P1,800. Anyway, regarding the connection, it really depends on location. There were instances that the speed was really fast to the point that I could actually play World of Warcraft without any hassle. But there were instances that I couldn’t even get a signal at all. From experience, it’s kinda fast in Makati and Tomas Morato, but very erratic in the Katipunan area. By the way, forget about downloading… it takes forever. I still have this with me since it allows me to go online wherever. It’s pretty much for emergency use like: waiting for the girlfriend while she’s shopping, need to send an urgent e-mail, bored to death and I want to Facebook while on the road, etc.
Bayantel DSL: I got Bayantel while I was living somewhere along Katipunan. First, let me just say that they provide the most hassle free service. I called their hot line on Monday, and their agent went by to get my requirements Tuesday. Internet was installed Wednesday. That’s insanely fast! Plus, I didn’t have to go to their service centers at all. I got the 2.5MBPS package which costs around P2699. Initially I had problems with the connection since the Speed Test just registered around 1.1 - 1.2MBPS. However, after making 1 call, they fixed it and I got 2MBPS - 2.4MBPS constantly. If ever I would have problems with the connection, it would get fixed within a day. If they say that the technician would drop by soon, they really mean it. There was one instance that my connection was on and off. I called in the morning, and the guy actually arrived in the afternoon to fix it. Amazing. My only concern with Bayantel is that around 11PM-12AM, the connection is really on and off. Dunno why. Rest of the day though it’s pretty much stable.
PLDT MyDSL: I just moved to Greenhills a few weeks ago and I initially wanted to just get Bayantel because of the convenience. Unfortunately they weren’t servicing the area yet. I had to decide between PLDT MyDSL and Globe Broadband. Since I work for the PLDT Group, I thought of just going for PLDT. Okay, I don’t know if I’ll get into trouble for writing this but… man. I applied for a connection more than 3 weeks ago and I still haven’t gotten any feedback on when they will install! I’ve been calling the contractor that signed me up and she’s no help at all. In fact, she told me to be the one to follow up by calling 171. I have no idea when I’ll get a call telling me that the technician will drop by. That’s the main reason why I haven’t been able to blog regularly because I don’t have connection at home. I’m seriously thinking of going for Globe Broadband if I still don’t get any feedback by tomorrow.
So that sums up my entire DSL experience. If you guys want to share yours, please go ahead and leave a comment. We can use this thread as some sort of a feedback mechanism so we’re all informed before we subscribe. Cheers everyone!
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Massively: Schrodinger’s Gossip Girl: It’s dead but it’s still alive
Filed under: Culture, Events, in-game, Launches, Second Life, Free-to-play, Casual, Virtual worlds, Massively Interviews
It’s been a long run for the Gossip Girl simulation on Second Life, two years in the making actually, but all good things must come to an end. The well trafficked sims will be closing the doors tomorrow, as Warner Brothers and The CW discontinue their virtual marketing campaign for the show of the same name.
But that doesn’t mean the Gossip Girl community is dying…
Fans of the simulation will be overjoyed to hear that the Gossip Girl community is transitioning to a new home thanks to the Metaverse Mod Squad, the builders and moderators of the original official sims. While the official sims, and the setting of the Upper East Side, will be retired on June 30th, the new doors will open on July 1st to large fanfare and a great number of festivities.
Continue reading Schrodinger’s Gossip Girl: It’s dead but it’s still alive
Massively: Part one of Brad McQuaid’s Vanguard post-mortem
Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Vanguard
When most people think of Vanguard, they usually remember that the game had an extremely rocky launch period. A lot of things were changed and fixed after the game was sold to Sony Online Entertainment. The original developer Sigil Games Online (headed by former SOE superstar Brad McQuaid) was also sold in this deal. McQuaid’s blog welcome-page mentions that he’s been on a break from the games industry since the above events in 2007, but “as of late, he’s starting to get that itch again…”. It was probably this itch that prompted him to start a multi-part post-mortem of his time with Vanguard at his blog.
McQuaid said that he will be addressing topics in chronological order, and part one deals with what he calls the first big mistake that Sigil made: get everything in writing.
“The first mistake that would have a serious impact later in development was the verbal agreement with Microsoft that Vanguard was to be a first rate, AAA title.”
It sounds like a change at Microsoft led to a completely different level of support for Vanguard; less funding, less time, and overall a different outlook on what Vanguard was to become.
“So the moral of the story is one that should have occurred to us: get everything in writing, get it into the contract, because even a company like Microsoft can suddenly undergo significant changes to its management and teams. And when those changes do happen, you might as well be dealing with a new company - anything and everything can change, and change quickly.”
Part two of the post-mortem will be dealing with the good and bad aspects of creating an all-star team, and we’ll bring it to your attention when it surfaces.
Grimlock for Transformers 3 Please!
Other than Optimus Prime and Soundwave, my next favorite character in the franchise would be the Dinobot - Grimlock. To those who don’t know him, he’s an Autobot that transforms into a T-Rex. RAWR! Hahaha. What makes me love this guy even more is all of his witty remarks throughout the cartoon series, especially during the Transformers Cartoons Movie.
Now that Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is now in the books, we’re all looking forward to the third installment of the Transformers movie franchise. I’m hoping that Michael Bay can find a reason to include Grimlock and the rest of the Dinobots in the 3rd movie. That would sooooo kick ass.
GRIMLOCK FOR TRANSFORMERS 3 PLZ! xD
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How to Have Fun In WarHammer
My Engineer enters the enemy occupied zone. He scans the horizon at the end of his trusty dragon engraved rifle, looking for any signs of the enemy. Every step through this cursed land taxes his very soul. He can feel the crunch of the dried dirt and sand with his every step, the grenades along his belt jiggling almost as if they are yearning to be thrown at an enemy to fulfill their destiny. Finally the lone engineer spots a full warband attacking a keep. This warband is united under the banner of Order. Order, the word is almost meaningless on the battlefield. Still under this banner we will seek to bring law to the lawless, justice to those that are unjust and in this case the goal is to liberate the keep from the forces of destruction.
This is a typical night in WarHammer. The only issue is finding a warband to join. The main ingredient is other players. You need those to fight against and those to fight with. If you are on a low pop server which has no action, transfer or reroll to a better server. Sorry there are no other options, you need a good balanced to almost balanced population to enjoy this game. I have come up with a formula to maximize my playtime. I will share this epiphany with you.
1-Queue up for all scenarios.
This is the first thing I do every time. If RVR is slow going I can hopefully pop in a scenario for some instant PVP. If RVR is active you can always leave the queue. Sometimes you need to partake in a sc to lock a zone. Either way queue up.
2-Look for Open Warbands.
Use the option on your UI to look for an open WB in your zone. If there is an open WB click on the RVR button to join.
3-Guild
Use your guild. Check your guild roster and see if anyone in your Tier is in an open warband. This is depicted by a red banner near their name. Right click on the banner and select join open warband.
4- The Mighty Map
Open the map; check the zones by the racial pairings. This will present a representation of the tiers by zones. You can see if there are any battles in any zones on the map. If there are battles in a different zone fly there and proceed to step 2.
5-Jump tiers
Don’t be afraid to roll an alt. Sometimes your tier might be having a slow night. Roll an alt and join the battle at that level.
This is my daily formula for WarHammer. I always have something to do. Regardless of Zone or Tier I can always expect to join a battle somewhere. Over all WAR is a good game, it’s full of fun and excitement. Sometimes we just have to go and find it. Good luck and enjoy your WAAAGGHHH!!
Massively: The Digital Continuum: Week two of vacationing in Vana’diel
My second week returning to Final Fantasy XI has come to a close. It’s strange; I thought I was going to be a lot more frustrated with the game by this point, but apparently, I’m not. In fact, I’ve gotten halfway to level 16 on my Warrior. Check out week one if you’d like to read these in order.
It probably helps that I’m listening to podcasts and chilling on my bed/floor as I play. Having a wireless controller really frees up my ability to move around while playing an MMO. Sure, there are nice things about getting your groove going on the PC, but you can’t prop up some pillows and kick back while killing some Clippers.
Now that I mention it, I killed so many Clippers this week that I could make a mountain of crab cake and live atop it as a king wearing a crown of crab claws.
Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Week two of vacationing in Vana’diel
Filed under: Final Fantasy XI, Opinion, The Digital Continuum, Consoles
Massively: One Shots: Stargazing
Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Vanguard, One Shots
We’ve seen various pop culture references in our various different MMOs, but this is perhaps the first time we can honestly say that we’ve seen a star lookalike in terms of the character’s face in a game. Sure enough, our keen-eyed regular contributor, Johanis, was adventuring in Vanguard, and happened to notice that this character resembled a well-known face, so he sent this screenshot to us. He writes: Here is Urlay (doing her best Vanessa Williams impression) adventuring in Vanguard. Though she is a very low level Necromancer, I feel she is destined for greatness. Wish her luck!!!
Have you spotted a character that looks like, or is named for, someone from pop culture? We love those pop culture references in MMOs. If you find some, send those in to us at oneshots [AT] massively [DOT] com along with your name, the name of the game, and a brief description. We’ll post it out here and give you the nod for spotting it and sending it in.
Gallery: One Shots
How to Have Fun In WarHammer
My Engineer enters the enemy occupied zone. He scans the horizon at the end of his trusty dragon engraved rifle, looking for any signs of the enemy. Every step through this cursed land taxes his very soul. He can feel the crunch of the dried dirt and sand with his every step, the grenades along his belt jiggling almost as if they are yearning to be thrown at an enemy to fulfill their destiny. Finally the lone engineer spots a full warband attacking a keep. This warband is united under the banner of Order. Order, the word is almost meaningless on the battlefield. Still under this banner we will seek to bring law to the lawless, justice to those that are unjust and in this case the goal is to liberate the keep from the forces of destruction.
This is a typical night in WarHammer. The only issue is finding a warband to join. The main ingredient is other players. You need those to fight against and those to fight with. If you are on a low pop server which has no action, transfer or reroll to a better server. Sorry there are no other options, you need a good balanced to almost balanced population to enjoy this game. I have come up with a formula to maximize my playtime. I will share this epiphany with you.
1-Queue up for all scenarios.
This is the first thing I do every time. If RVR is slow going I can hopefully pop in a scenario for some instant PVP. If RVR is active you can always leave the queue. Sometimes you need to partake in a sc to lock a zone. Either way queue up.
2-Look for Open Warbands.
Use the option on your UI to look for an open WB in your zone. If there is an open WB click on the RVR button to join.
3-Guild
Use your guild. Check your guild roster and see if anyone in your Tier is in an open warband. This is depicted by a red banner near their name. Right click on the banner and select join open warband.
4- The Mighty Map
Open the map; check the zones by the racial pairings. This will present a representation of the tiers by zones. You can see if there are any battles in any zones on the map. If there are battles in a different zone fly there and proceed to step 2.
5-Jump tiers
Don’t be afraid to roll an alt. Sometimes your tier might be having a slow night. Roll an alt and join the battle at that level.
This is my daily formula for WarHammer. I always have something to do. Regardless of Zone or Tier I can always expect to join a battle somewhere. Over all WAR is a good game, it’s full of fun and excitement. Sometimes we just have to go and find it. Good luck and enjoy your WAAAGGHHH!!
Massively: Age of Conan video walks players through new Tarantia Commons zone
This has been a really big week for Age of Conan. They released Update 5, “Gangs of Tarantia“, which has introduced new zones and content, but more than that, completely reworked some of Age of Conan’s existing game mechanics. The amount of written content that Funcom has put together on these changes is substantial — in fact we linked to all of it in our post on Update 5 earlier this week. Funcom can write all they want about the new changes to the game, but when it comes down to it, actually seeing these places they’ve described may have a stronger impact. With that in mind, Funcom released a video tour of the Tarantia Commons zone today, narrated by game director Craig Morrison.
Tarantia Commons is what he describes as “the urban underbelly” of the capital city of Tarantia, a place Morrison says is “wracked by gang warfare and civil unrest.” In other words, there’s always a lot going on in Tarantia Commons and the video walkthrough shows this, revealing how players will choose which side to take in riots — either aid the city guards or stick it to the man with fellow rioters. The riots then trigger other events. Specific quests become available and certain bosses spawn, depending upon the general state of chaos in the streets of Tarantia Commons.
There are two warring gangs in the new gameplay area, The Wharf Rats who exist at ground level in the streets of Tarantia Commons, and The Crows whose area of influence shows off a different aspect of the game: rooftops. Interacting with The Crows above Tarantia Commons gives a different perspective on the city, with some impressive views of the zone. Of course there’s content on the outskirts of Tarantia Commons for players to experience as well, including a leper colony where NPCs will lash out at you, intentionally trying to infect you with disease. As an added bonus, or spoiler depending upon your point of view, the walkthrough also shows off a boss encounter and the tactics he’ll employ against players.
If you’re on the fence about returning to Age of Conan to see the new content, this Tarantia Commons walkthrough might just be the tipping point. We’ve got a video embed for you after the jump:
Continue reading Age of Conan video walks players through new Tarantia Commons zone
Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Age of Conan
Age of Conan video walks players through new Tarantia Commons zone
Massively: Mythic may take radical approaches with Warhammer Online
As Warhammer Online fans wait for a post-BioWAAAGH! pep talk from Mythic’s new General Manager, Rob Denton, they’ll have to make due with part three of an Executive Producer’s letter from Jeff Hickman.
The letter primarily discusses the ways Mythic plans to resolve the top 5 issues identified last week by various focus groups. Warhammer Alliance has an excellent summary in bullet form for those unwilling to wade through the whole article (though we suggest you do for full context).
Jeff makes a few really interesting comments in his letter that jumped out at us.
He states that Mythic is still committed to Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online and will be sharing their plans for both titles in the near future. We know about the new UO expansion but haven’t heard much about DAOC lately. Where oh where are you, Origins?
It appears Mythic is “looking at some fairly radical approaches” to address server population issues in WAR. Maybe we’ll finally see that realm queue system they had working pre-release…
Finally, it sounds like fortresses may be on their way out if Mythic can’t find some way to fix them. Andy Belford had this to say: “How do we make it a fun encounter while not diminishing the epic feel of it? At what point do we say, enough is enough, and cut off the offending appendage?” Radical indeed.
Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items
