WOW Macros: Is there a gray area?



No I have not got mine in the mail yet; it's been shipped but that's about it. I have no idea when it will get here, but, in the meantime i have researching if there is any loopholes in the Blizzard TOS that i should know about regarding macros, and i found a few.

Okay:
-Key binds, spell casts, single action keys, basic movement.

Not okay:
-Combinations of the above in any way, as a standard action, resulting in more than one action.

The facts:
-10 milliseconds is the limit on a button press, after that, another button may be pressed. Key Response in client is between 5 and 7 milliseconds.
-Patterns are recognized in groups of 10. They was implemented to stop people from playing without being there, or gliding.
-If you execute the same macro that results in the actions stating above, your flagged.
-Button interpretations are based on a standard keyboard format, in a varying number of keys depending on what keyboard you have.
-Most macros keys are not picked up by the client themselves, but the resulting depressions of those macros are registered as such.


I made a few macros and tried them out with the X6 Keyboard for a dry run before i got all crazy with the Nostromo. Other people set theirs up to shift and control, using a static key to switch between to the two, pressing the combination to fire spells. I wont have to do that.

Using a modified Joy-To-Key program, i was able to remap these buttons to single made up key that i created, a virtual key if you will. The key press on the Nostromo will activate this key that i made that does multiple things that are not normal.

Examples:
-Changing the standard key depression from 10 milliseconds to 9.
-Holding an unlimted amount of buttons at once, or grouping several buttons to one key
-While the first "virtual key" is being depressed with who knows whats on it, another virtual key can be depressed at the same time, activating the information from the first key (requires timing fuctions from the X6)
-The Warcraft client will recognize these button presses as single actions from the key that is not in existance at all, hence when the spell fires, its as if i held down the shift and (blank) keys myself, and let go, thus firing the spell, movement, etc..
-Mapping more than one virtual key to a different virtual key, then trigger it with another key by pressing, for instance, the spacebar.
-Endless strange possibilities that i have yet to explore.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you could, in theory, make a "Dueling Macro" and a "PVE Macro" and a "Escape Macro", maybe even a "Run to the bank, put everything in the bank, then join a group" macro. These keys could be mapped to any trigger, so long as they go through the keyboard interpereter last. After that i makes no difference what is behind it, your only really pressing one key to make it all happen.. and since the keys never existed, WOW does not pick up on it.

I'm guessing this will be resolved in some patch now that i have talked about it, but then again i heard people are out there "Gliding" still. Who knows.

Glock 26 Review

Well, after a long hiatus I've decided to come back and since I don't have anything to report computer wise on my end, I've decided to do a review on my Glock 26 9mm handgun. First and foremost, if you are a hobbyist shooter such as myself who occasionally gets involved in some of the small time competition bouts that occur every so often, then you have probably heard of Glock so I'm not going to bother going into company details and history. So without further ado:

The Glock 26 9mm Semi Automatic Handgun

Small and lightweight, this is an outstanding choice if you choose to legally conceal carry. The gun is easily concealable in just about any pocket.

White bordered sights make acquiring a bead on a target easy, even in low light situations. This is a striker based firearm that does not utilize an external hammer.The weapon is pretty slim, not as slim as a 1911 .45, but slim enough.

A look down the business end.

 The frame is made of polymer, not frail plastic, it is VERY durable.













When it comes to magazine size, the Glock 26 magazines are capable of holding 10 rounds however the magazines from full frame Glock 9mm handguns will fit in the Glock 26 as they are backwards compatible.

Glock 26 Magazine - 10 rounds.

Glock 17 magazine - 17 rounds. Goofy looking but effective.

Glock 18 magazine - 32 rounds. Simply ridiculous but possible.

Taking the 26 apart is very simple, I am not going to show you here since there are thousands of 3 second YouTube videos showing you how. All Glock pistols break down the same way and have very few moving parts, that combined with their simplistic nature, make them VERY easy to clean and maintain.

The types of rounds I use are Winchester PDX +P 9mm hollow points. I would never use Full Metal Jackets in a self defense situation due to the danger of them going all the way through the intended target and hitting someone behind them.

All in all I give this weapon an A+, I have put hundreds of rounds through it and at least a thousand through my Glock 17 and have NEVER had any type of malfunction occur with either weapon.


Thanks for reading and yes, I did this pretty much at 3 am, couldn't sleep. I'll have more gun reveiws as well as computer posts later on.
Chris.

I thought this was the funny.

300th post coming up, don't really have anything planned, but I'm going to take some pictures of things and put them up, explain life according to me. Warning: beer and computers.

Still no packages in the mail today.

I just talked to my wife and she told me nothing had arrived today. For those of you who are keeping track I'm expecting the Nostromo, which I'm reading and watching reviews about as we speak, and the Raptor 7.1 headset built for World of Warcraft epic ear sounds and stuff.

When all the pieces of the puzzle come together I'm going to post two reviews: One for the way i use to play- basically a entry level dual core with mid-grade parts and accessories-, and the way i will be playing- All the new fangled gadgets i can possibly afford that are recommended by 'Super Gamers" and master MMORPG players around the world.

I did count up all the macros i will have at my fingertips: 213. What am i going to do with that many? I did see a hardware control panal meant for flight simulators that had manual bank switches on it to change your macros. My keyboard has three, the nostromo will have four, and the mouse has two. With the control panal, i could have a possibility of changing the formula, having almost an unlimited amount of posibilities. (i dont need them i know, but i have to know for fucks sake)

There is a knob... Let me find a picture of it.

Okay so i saw a youtube video of a guy playing WOW on his laptop, using this knob to scroll through his keyboard macros. It comes with custom software so you can map it to any key. I'm considering buying one this week to test it out. From what i can tell, i can route it to the bank switches on the keyboard, mouse, and nostromo at the same time, linked to the same key, and change the whole thing on the fly but turning this little gadget. Amazon has them for 29.97, so its cheap, and we shall see. (i dont need this either)

RAZER Nostromo RZ07-00490100-R3U1 Keypad - Sigh.. I'm getting one

Razer 80792634879623498762394876234-x98infintiy fuckmaster 3

If it's not obvious, i have been upgrading my gaming rig lately, for an upcoming bout with World of Warcraft crotch rash. About every four or five months I play me some WOW and i enjoy the shit oiut of it too. Typically a new patch (recently) or an expansion with being me out of retirement, get me to the newest level cap and get all the newest mounts/gear.

The last two times i made my return to WOW i bought a new Quad Core desktop from Gateway, a new 24" LED monitor from Asus, a 9800GT video card which im kinda disaapointed in really, and a wireless keyboard and mouse.

I was so disapointed with the walmart keyboard and mouse that i actually switched back to my standard Microsoft Keyboard and old wireless macro mouse from the days of yore. Since then I've made some documented purchases on the site:

-Sidewinder X8 Gaming Mouse

-Sidewinder X6 Gaming Keyboard

-Raptor H3 Gaming headset (not here yet)

-Razer Nostromo RZ07 Keypad (also not here yet)

I decided on the Nostromo after seeing someone playing with one at a convention years ago when Belkin use to own the company. The software was called Razer even then, and seems to be much the same to me, with some improvements. Sadly, i could never afford one, and by the time i could, i had got out of console gaming alltogether. For the past four years or so, I've stepped it up big time and starting gaming again.. both MMORPG, and whatever popular new titles that are out.

I think I'm ready for WOW now. I'm going to order my game cards and copies of Catacylsm for my wife and I and see whats good in the gaming community once more.

*Update* I forgot to mention why i have the 9800GT- it's really just not all that good. With a big monitor on high settings, frame rates drop HUGE. I'll be upgrading soon and i'll do a review on that too. For the record my current computer stats are below:

Gateway FX Series Desktop

AMD 2.8ghz quad core extreme (i love that word, extreme)

6gb ram (i think its corsair memory i could be wrong, i have 2 more gigs on my desk ready to go in)

Nvidia 9800gt (sucks)

7.1 srs digital sound card

24" asus led flat panal monitor

Logitech 7.1 speakers (kinda old)

-Sidewinder X8 Gaming Mouse

-Sidewinder X6 Gaming Keyboard

-Raptor H3 Gaming headset (not here yet)

-Razer Nostromo RZ07 Keypad (also not here yet)

It's been a long time since ive had a pretty updated computer, so im embracing this, and really getting my shit up to date.



Total Recall Bitches - Who's Hotter?

Sharon Stone - Champion

Kate Beckensale - Challenger

If Kate shows boobs, she wins by default. Sharon Stone is a tough act to follow though...

Raptor H3 7.1 USB Gaming Headset - Pre-Review

What do you mean you have never heard of a pre-review before?

I just ordered these oversized headphones. They looked cool, had a pretty aggressive name, and were 7.1 Dolby Digital, which im into right now. I'm pretty worked up about sound quality, and have been for a long time.

I've owned an amazing amount of head sets. I played World of Warcraft for a number of years and several online games before that. Almost always i went to the store and got the cheapest headset i could find, use it till it breaks - which is normally just a matter of weeks/months - and then buy another. About three years ago i bought a pair of studio headphones, big cushy ear cups, giant sound drivers, and paid pretty for them too. Thats when i started to appreciate sound quality in a big way. I upgraded my sound card, bought new speakers the whole thing. When i saw this headset for sale, in my price range, with the features i wanted, i jumped on the offer.

Bonus: It has a multi-card reader in the base and 3 USB ports. My current computer has 12, but i could use 3 more.

Link to a decent review of this product.

Adrianne Curry ComicCon 2011 Photos

Miss Curry has been busy since her impending divorce. These are her pictures of her from Comic Con 2011, including the Eon Flux costume that got her kicked out. Personally, i would never kick her out of anywhere.

Curse of the Azure Bonds (PC, Amiga)

 Download this game now!

Starcraft 2 MMORPG

StarCraft Universe was basically "created by Ryan Winzen and a team of modders using the Starcraft II map editor, [and] transforms Blizzard's RTS into an MMORPG." Continue reading for a video.

SCU's focus is recreating multiplayer raid battle experiences similar to World of Warcraft. Starcraft Universe will be released in a series of Starcraft 2 custom maps and published officially in Battle.net.

Best Buy - Do they suck as much as people say?

Yes. Yes goddamnit, yes.

Their prices are not all that great. Their specials are not all that special, and the shirts they wear are blue, and my favorite color is fucking gray. Their help is generally underpaid, and they know it, and it reflects in their attitude, which blows.

I'll tell you my quick Best Buy story which has made news on several sites many years ago. I walked into a Best Buy here in Fort Myers Florida shortly after it opened to buy a new Voodoo 3 video card so i could be up to date with my computer in time for the launch of (wait for it) Diablo II.

I walked in, i made my purchase. I thought to myself as i was leaving, "I'm not going to let that guy check my reciept at the door. I paid right? He can't do anything." In a way, looking back, i was right he could not do anthing, but i did not know this at the time and was just being a shit-bag in general. I walked out the door and let the short haired fat kid in a yellow polo yell at me the whole way out. He chased me into the parking lot, and at that point i turned around and saw two other manager type people coming my way, one of which got into a car i presumed his own. He kept trying to hold my arm while i pleaded with him that i piad, you can't detain me, please let me go and so on. I got into my bronco, laughed for a second, and looked into my rear view mirror to see if anyone was there. The manager(?) had pulled his car up behind mine to block me off and sitting, smiling in his car on his cell phone. I smiled back, put my 4X4 truck with oversized tires in drive and slowly drove over the parking bumps in front of me and drove home.

I bragged to all my friends about my little episode, and wrote about it on a Best Buy sucks website where people bitch aboput how much they hate them. The people who bitch on these sites are mostly just people who don't know anything about computers and don't understand what it means when they say it costs money to fix things, and in this, i sympathize. I late looked up the legalities on detainment at stores in Florida and found out it was very, very against the law in every reguard. I called the manager, i told him what happened, he admitted it was him, so i called the police and tried to have him arrested for assault.

You may be asking yourself, 'Why would you do such a thing?' Well, because I'm an asshole, also work retail, and want to show people what you can and can not do. I had something to prove, and i started it, so might as well end strong. I met the police officer at the Best Buy, it being close to my house, and we had a nice sit down conversation about what happened. We reviewed the tape. The police officer looked at the manager and asked him several questions about detaining customers, touching people, chasing people etc.. He then asked me if i wanted to have him arrested. The manager looked very shocked, but i knew i had one and really didnt want this poor dick head to goto jail on my account. In conclusion, i bought my copy of Diablo II after i left the managers office, paid with my Best Buy card and walked out the door with the manager in tow, asking me if i wanted a gift card.

To break open an old wound, i went in there after work on Thursday looking for a simple cable for an Ipod, one that converts the Ipod/Iphone port to an RCA jack. I noticed several for sale online, nothing over $10.00, so i thought i would bite the bullit and buy it at Best Buy. Their price? $39.99.. for the same brand and packaging. I asked the sales represenative why there was so much of a price difference, and she apologized for the high prices and walked away, but not before telling me all their Apple accessories were higher priced, because they don't make much money on the actualy unit it is for. I can accept that, you have to make a buck after all.

For a benchmark, i priced and took a picture of a headphone male to headphone male adapter. The kind of plugs that are normally given to you when you buy a cheap MP3 player or sound card. Best Buy's price - $19.99. But it was hanging in the Ipod section, so someone may buy it. I went to two other locations to look for the same adapter, one of the most common on the market today. Walmart had their most expensive option for $7.78, and it was also available online for the same price. Raido shack had a huge selection of adapters in different lengths and sizes for about .99 cents and up to around $3.00.

Dear Best Buy, you suck, your expensive, and your exmployees should cater to dicks like me.

Microsoft X6 Gaming Keyboard and X8 Mouse Review

I'm not going to say what has already been said if you type in either of these devices on google.

It's a really good keyboard. (Sidewinder X6 Gaming Keyboard)

When i press on the keys, it makes a soft clicking sound that reminds me of when i was typing on an old Apple IIe. The response is better than average, which makes me feel that getting the wired version was not a bad idea. I have several wireless ones that could never match this one. With all the glowing lights and pulsing radiance, i doubt anything but a USB one would be feasable. I have yet to use the macro buttons but i played around with them. The dials for the lights and volume are huge, but work very well. The detachable number keypad on the side can be moved to either side really, but i find myself just staring at it and not really using it just like before.

Pros: It glows and stuff. Springy keys, fun things to press, it glows.
Cons: Huge, detachable keyboard is really just over kill. 90 Macros?

A mouse is a mouse is a mouse is a mouse... (Sidewinder X8 Gaming Mouse)

The X8 mouse is not as big as i thought it would be. Several macro buttons abound, which i have used and enjoyed. I've always liked a few macro buttons on my gaming mice, i seem to use them more as i don't have to look and see where they are.. i can feel them. DPI settings for mouse sensitivity are mostly over looked, but when i press them, a LCD screen lights up red on the side which is cool, so i press them alot. The plug in is awesome. Its magnetic, super super long, and the hockey puck the cable is stored in comes with more "feet" so you can choose how your mouse glides over what surface. This i would deem over kill only because when i unscrew the top of the "puck" it appears as if i'm going to put on make-up from a small jar, but in actuality I'm about to fuck people up on Modern Warfare. It uses a blue laser under it, which is cool, but i almost wish it was red because everything fucking glows and pulses red on my desk.

Pros: Looks like the tumbler from Batman Begins, LCD Screen, Glows red
Cons: Hockey puck storage container makes me doubt my sexuality, Lights up blue underneath, i acidentally hit the buttons because there are so many.

After a few days using both the mouse and the keyboard together, I'd say i could not go back to the standard Microsoft mouse and keyboard i was using before. Sure, they never let me down, but they didnt glow blue and have fucking 90 extra buttons i'll never use.

1080p Dragon's Lair

Dragon's Lair! For shits sake i'm a huge fan of this classic arcade game. Two reasons: It a LaserDisc game and that facinates me to no end, and it's from 1983 which also makes me obscessive compulsive all the way down to my gully-whats.

Click here for the full trailer.

Playing Dungeons & Dragons on Microsoft Surface

You heard me right, D&D on a multi-touch Microsoft Surface screen. Geeks rejoice!


D&D on the Microsoft Surface from CrunchGear on Vimeo.

Why female armor sucks - Collegehumor

This video is awesome. A must watch for you World of Warcraft playing bastards out there. (I still play, fuck it all)

Super Mario, 8 minute speed run, only 600 points

Not in the habit of posting speed runs all the time, but this one was different. Only 600 points?

A Q&A with Major about growing up with Fantasy

Q: Thanks for coming Major. We know your a busy guy with your new job and everything. Your a hard guy to get a hold of!

A: Yeah, this is a very busy and confusing time of my life right now. It's a good day indeed if i get to write something at the end of it.

Q: I hear you. Enough of the formalities, lets get started. When did you start enjoying fantasy?

A: The first fantasy novel i read that meant anything was The Hobbit. It was on a list of books for the summer book club in my elementary school, in Vermont. It was the end of fourth grade. I had an interest in reading it, but it was a little advanced for me and i just coming along in my school work enough where the teachers suspected i was not retarded after all. That summer I read the Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy several times.

Q: Do you think reading fantasy gave you an interest in reading in general?

A: I'm sure it did. I read every time i got the chance after that, picked up some Shannara books from the library and some Dragonlance after that. Sometime i would only rewad half the book. When i came back to school and started the fifth grade i felt like the most intelligent kid in school. I did not have any friends that read for fun, drew maps of fantastic worlds that didnt exist, and write extensive lists and rules for games i made up in my mind. Fifth grade was when i found out about Dungeons & Dragons which was an awakening for me.

Q: Who introduced you Dungeons and Dragons?

A: My brother Jared played with his friends in the basement on the weekends. I was not allowed to play, but i watched from the top of the stairs and listened. I got ahold of one of the rule books from my girlfriends brother Aaron. He let me take it home for the weekend, and i copied every rule and table onto lined paper and made my own book out of it.

Q: You copied the whole book?

A: Yes. The whole fucking thing. I traced the art too.

Q: Your kidding.

A: No sir.

Q: When was your first time playing?

A: Not until after my parents got divorced and i moved to Florida. I finally found some people who didnt that it was that dorky and would play a little with me.

Q: Did your parents getting divorced cut into your "imaginative fantasy" time?

A: Not at all. I made the choice to go with my father after the divorce was final and he had no idea nor cared what i read or did. If i asked him for a book and he could afford it, he would buy it for me. Thats when i started to collect books and play less Super Nintendo. After the divorce my grades drastically improved to the point where i got my classes changed in middle school to "Gifted" classes. I attribute this to multiple hours of reading Fantasy and science fiction, expanding my vocabulary dramatically and reading way too much Isaac Asimov. Books were my escape. By the end of seventh grade i had about 100 books in a small book case behind my bed.

Q: Did you write at all?

A: I did write several short stories early on about my fictional D&D character i never got to play. I made tons of lists and maps, sometimes several a day about fictional family lines and cities layed out certain ways. I don't know why i did it really.

Q: Changing subjucts, what do you think about Harry Potter?

A: I really like the Harry Potter books and what they did for the genre. It's about time people can write fantasy and get paid for it. When i started reading fantasy it was not very... popular.

Q: Do you really like them?

A: Yeah, i waited in line for them with my wife. We really enjoyed them. I can name about 100 or so books i liked more and would have waited years in line, but i would caught up in the Harry mania. Since the last movie just got released this weekend, i guess its R.I.P. Harry for now.

Q: Rowling said she didnt know if she was done.

A: Of course she is not done. That gravy train will never derail. She made more money than the fucking queen last year for gods sake.

Q: Are you jealous?

A: Well, i'd take her money, thats for sure. There are a ton of authors out there that should have had their moment way before she did, that had the same ideas first. R. Feist had a great series of books, video games and sequels to follow but no movies or tons of money for him. And those book are way better than Harry Potter. The first 3 Xanth books by Piers Anthony should have been made into a movie series by now, and it would have been damn good. I guess i'm just pissed these great authors with awesome original content have not yet got their due.

Q: I'm getting the vibe you dont like Rowling at all.

A: She needs to hold a press conference and tell everyone the world over how her vagina is as big as her giant, exploded, egotistically swelling head.

Q: Wow.