Blizzcon 2014, Setup of the Month, Dark Legacy Comics #431

[chaud]

Shard Of Hate Now In The Game Guide, Mithrie Menethil's Cyclone Strike Monk Build, Hot Pepper Gaming: RoS Edition

Top 5 Plays of the Week, Hearthstone Day Dev Q&A Notes

Adventurer's Companion to Questing in Nexus, Designer Insights: Tychus

Blizzcon 2014
It seems the Blizzcon Virtual Ticket page recently had some updates to change the title and header to include 2014 rather than 2013. Assuming this change isn't an accident, it could mean that Blizzcon 2014 is definitely planned and we should hear an announcement about it very soon.

Just keep in mind that we haven't heard anything official yet, and this could indeed be an accident.

Blizzcon has been announced in February or March for the past few years.


Computers - Setup of the Month (by chaud)
Each month or every 2 months, depending on the hardware evolutions, the lovely chaud will work on a couple of hardware setups for those of you who are thinking of upgrading their computer!

This month
New GPUs from AMD are here, at least on paper. Finding any AMD GPUs is hard now, as is finding some of the Nvidia GPUs. Prices for many GPUs went up due to demand and the older GPUs being discontinued.

The current SSD prices are stable, with most SSDs under $1 per gigabyte when on sale.

The Haswell CPUs run a little bit on the warmer side. Depending on how much you want to overclock, you may need to spend a bit more for a better CPU cooler like the NH-D14.

Unless you are doing a lot of video rendering or something that is similarly multithreaded, you do not need the 4770K and should spend that money elsewhere.

Make sure to keep your AMD and Nvidia drivers up to date.

Don't hesitate to post any feedback in the comments of that news post, and don't forget to visit the Computer Forum for any extra questions! If you are interested in Folding@home, take a look in our team's thread.

Peripherals/Monitors

Component	Puppy	Dolphin
Monitor	ASUS VS228H-P 22-Inch Monitor - $140	ASUS VS248H-P 24-Inch Monitor - $160
Keyboard	Kensington Pro Fit Media Keyboard - $15	Cyborg V.5 - $48
Mouse	Logitech G400s - $46	Razer DeathAdder 2013 - $56
Speakers	Creative A220 2.1 Speaker System - $25	Logitech Z313 Speaker System - $35
Component	Narwhal	Unicorn
Monitor	Dell P2414H Monitor - $220	HP ZR2440W 24-inch - $310
Keyboard	Logitech G510s - $80	CM Storm QuickFire XT - $95
Mouse	Logitech G500s - $54	Razer Naga (Buttons on the Side) - $64
Speakers	Logitech Z323 2.1 Speaker System - $57	Logitech Speaker System Z523 - $77

Puppy and Dolphin
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Puppy and Dolphin.

Component	Puppy	Dolphin
Case	NZXT Source 210 - $43	NZXT Source 210 - $43
Power Supply	Corsair CX500 - $57	EVGA 600B - $63
CPU	AMD FX-6300 - $110	AMD FX-8320 - $140
Heatsink	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - $33	Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - $33
Motherboard	ASUS M5A97 R2.0 - $80	ASUS M5A99FX PRO - $115
Memory	Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB 1333 - $43	8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 - $84
Graphics Card	MSI R7 260X 2GB - $140	Gigabyte R9 270 or GTX 660 - $230 / $190
Hard Drive	Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $53	Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - $99
DVD	Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22	Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22
Total	$581	$705 - $745

Narwhal and Unicorn
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Narwhal and Unicorn.

Component	Narwhal	Unicorn
Case	Cooler Master HAF 912 - $50	Corsair Air 540 (Special Layout) - $140
Power Supply	Seasonic M12II 620 - $90	Rosewill Fortress 750W - $130
CPU	Intel i5-4670K - $220	Intel i7-4770K - $310
Heatsink	Cooler Master TPC 812 - $63	Noctua 6 NH-D14 - $79
Motherboard	ASUS Z87-A - $140	ASUS Z87-PLUS - $159
Memory	8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 - $84	16GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 - $155
Graphics Card	ASUS GTX 760 OR Gigabyte R9 270X - $250	XFX R9 280X OR MSI GTX 770 - $370 / $330
Hard Drive	Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black - $99	Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black - $99
SSD	SAMSUNG 840 EVO 128GB (Review) - $90 OR Plextor 128 GB M5 Pro (Review) - $118	Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB (Review) - $130 OR SAMSUNG 840 Pro 128GB (Review) - $115
DVD	Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22	Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22
Total	$1018 - $1148	$1514 - $1594

Dark Legacy Comics #431
DLC #431 has been released.

[moveth]

I hope I get to go to BlizzCon again this year. Was a blast!

[schippie]

Seeing that the thing is a flash object (in the dom) it could easily be a standard script that just automatically updates based on the current date. Like most websites do with their copyright footer.
Especially when you look at the text below it:

The following terms and conditions shall apply and govern the access to content available to purchasers of the internet stream production of BlizzCon 2013 (the “Production”) that will be made available to purchasers of the BlizzCon 2013

It seems far more likely it has nothing to do with them updating anything just with a script auto changing based on the current date.
Then again the breadcrumb is also changed .. ah well seems odd that they would not change the terms but who knows :S

[Arbs]

I have missed the last 2 Blizzcons, would love to go to this one.

[Deleted]

It's going to be "one of those" Blizzcons. No WoW expansion to announce, too early for the possible second expansion for Diablo 3.

I guess we might hear of Legacy of the Void, and Titan, though I doubt the latter.

Mainly, they'll be trying to sell all the games releasing before or around then with some additional news and new demos, etc. :[

[Snorri]

I don't see the point of having a Blizzcon this year, unless they plan to announce something new. Announcing WoW expansions is pretty much the main event for Blizzcons. What can they show us? A future patch for Warlords of Draenor, Legacy of the Void for Starcraft 2, another Diablo 3 expansion? Death Knight and Monk decks for Hearthstone? More heroes for Heroes of the Storm?

I would rather they skip Blizzcon and focus on their work. Blizzcons takes a lot of time, effort and planning.

[Nerraw]

As much as I love BlizzCon, they better have something bit lined up this year. Otherwise they should just skip it again.

[chaud]

Seeing that the thing is a flash object (in the dom) it could easily be a standard script that just automatically updates based on the current date. Like most websites do with their copyright footer.
Especially when you look at the text below it:

It seems far more likely it has nothing to do with them updating anything just with a script auto changing based on the current date.

The title changed, the header in the h1 changed, and the flash date is set by some JS on the page that is manually written, not auto updated. The page still said 2013 in January.

[MrExcelion]

Blizzard hopes to never skip a Blizzcon again afaik, especially with all these of games out now

I wonder if Blizzard will continue to stick to 2 year expansions. Probably should if they want to keep announcing games at an October/November Blizzcon. Kind of in an awkward place where they might be able to pump one out sooner if desired, but it might not coincide perfectly with Blizzcon and the long beta process is totally necessary imo. The current model is perfect. They announced WoD after 5.4 had been out for awhile and we were fully ready to see what's next. I'm not sure you can really put a dollar value on expansion announcements when the time is right, but it's gotta be a huge boost to sales when they can nail it like they did. After how successful giving Hearthstone to top streamers was, I'm sure Blizzard values hype building more than ever

[bigfatdan]

You're a week behind on Dark Legacy.

[MrExcelion]

You're a week behind on Dark Legacy.

Usually that's the case because news posts are compiled before the new one comes out. I think the new DLC just came out within the past couple of hours.

[furydeath]

Only thing new for blizzcon 2014...another $25 added to the ticket price

[Frozenbeef]

Seems a little pointless for a full on blizzcon :/ What have you got to announce? legacy of the void and heroes of the storm? >.<

[Deleted]

At this rate, maybe they'll announce the WoD beta at Blizzcon.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

At this rate, maybe they'll announce the WoD beta at Blizzcon.

Blizzcon is usually in october/November..That would be kinda pointless.

[Pua]

They've got a bloody cheek if they announce BlizzCon before the release for Warlords of Draenor.

Then again, they've not cared about their players for years; just how much cash they can get out of them. BlizzCon is just such a cash cow, so they'll hook it up with nothing to actually show just so people pay to learn things that are obvious or that they already knew.

[Smerffykins]

This is a big anniversary year for Blizzard. 10 Years for WoW. They already said they wanted to do something big for this anniversary and a Blizzcon was in the works to go along with it. Does it make sense? yea, a big fat birthday party sounds rather cool. Just because they aren't announcing games doesn't mean they can't throw a party.

I do have to agree that it will be a little strange with no WoW expansion announcement, but still, 10 year anniversary for WoW is a big deal in the MMO scene.

[KCguy]

Probably an accident.

[Frozenbeef]

This is a big anniversary year for Blizzard. 10 Years for WoW. They already said they wanted to do something big for this anniversary and a Blizzcon was in the works to go along with it. Does it make sense? yea, a big fat birthday party sounds rather cool. Just because they aren't announcing games doesn't mean they can't throw a party.

I do have to agree that it will be a little strange with no WoW expansion announcement, but still, 10 year anniversary for WoW is a big deal in the MMO scene.

Maybe they will send us a slightly different anniversary letter to the past 3 years...deathwing has been invading for years according to the mail we keep getting >.<

[Shefu]

Wow they're trying to milk this for all they can!