Making The Switch From MobileMe to Google Apps
While this blog is primarily about online gaming, every now and then I will make a post about technology in general. This is one such post.
In May 2009 I wrote about my reasons for using MobileMe over Google Sync. Things have changed since then.
I have been using Apple’s MobileMe service for a couple of years now. My main gaming rig is a PC, but I have owned an iPhone in the past and I own an iPad now. MobileMe has worked flawlessly for me on both Apple and PC products. I used it to sync my email, contact, and calendar and it did so without issue. The problem with MobileMe is that it costs $100 a year. That is not such a great cost when you spread that out over a twelve month period of time.
Even so, Google’s Gmail and Calendar service is free. Google also has a service called Google Apps, which allows you to use your personal or business domain name for your email. The standard version is free and a Premiere version is only $50 a year. The differences in the two plans can be seen here.
I decided to try the Premiere edition due to the extra storage space and enterprise features. I have used the service for a month now and I have been very impressed. Emails are pushed via two-way sync to my iPad instantaneously. My contacts and calendar items also synced without issue.
My only real complaint is that I can not seem to get my Blackberry to perform two-way email syncing. I receive email easily enough and if I delete items on the Blackberry they are also deleted on the server. However, if I delete email via Google’s webmail, it does not delete from the handset. I have yet to figure out why. Setting it up using IMAP settings should do the trick, but it has not worked as of yet.
One very nice item that Google offers for free is a piece of software that automatically uploads all of your email to your new account. Switching to a different email service has been a big pain in the past, but Google’s Uploader program makes it easy.
So, to line the services up, they go like this: Regular Gmail is free and you get an @gmail.com email address. The Standard edition of Google Apps allows you to use a personal domain name, more storage, and better administration. Google Apps Premiere gives even more storage, Exchange syncing on the desktop using Outlook, more users, and many higher-end enterprise features.
I will be sticking with the Google Apps Premiere account and canceling my MobileMe service. I will save $50 a year and gain extra features on top of that.
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Star Wars: The Old Republic Beta Testing Begins
The official announcement has been made. Star Wars: The Old Republic has begun limited beta testing of the game. Only a few are being invited right now but they hope to add more as time goes by. All I can say is: Pick me! Pick Me! Pick Me!
–Wolfen
Read MoreBlizzard Backtracks on Real ID
The huge backlash against Blizzard’s plan to have players of World of Warcraft post on the official forums with their real name has caused them to change their minds about this dubious change.
Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime posted on the forums to announce that they have changed their mind and that posting with your real name will not be required. A huge cheer was voiced by many in the community.
Personally, I wish they had kept the plan in place. I think it would have resulted in a much more civil and productive discourse about the game and I think that was what Blizzard was trying to accomplish.
Read MoreWorld of Warcraft and Real ID
The internet has exploded with the news out of Blizzard that their forums will begin using a system called Real ID. What this means is that anyone who posts on the official forums will do so with their real names. Posters will not be able to hide behind their character names any longer. The massive thread on the WoW forums about this subject is monumental.
Naturally, people are up in arms over this for a variety of reasons. The biggest reason is player privacy. If another player does not like what you did in-game, or did not agree with what you said in a forum post, they are now armed with your real name and the potential for harassment is greatly increased.
My biggest worry is for female players. We all know what female players go through with the crude remarks, verbal sexual abuse, and general idiotic in-game stalking. Now imagine those idiots having that woman’s real name. In theory, the potential of some crazy love-struck guy could track her down in real life is very possible.
I am not sure what Blizzard’s real motivations are for this change. Are they tired of the official forums being a repository of the lowest common denominator? Do they think a more civil discourse will ensue once people are required to use their real name? I don’t know, but it sure is going to be fun to watch the outcome of this one. The Real ID system gets turned on just before the upcoming Cataclysm expansion.
As a side note, parents can opt their children out of using RealID. You can find instructions on how to do that right here.
Read MoreEQ Nostalgia Picture
Every now and then I post a nostalgic screenshot from my gaming days of old. Here’s one from 1999 in the South Karana zone.
LOTRO: Combe Quest Hub
The one thing you can say about the town of Combe is that it gives you plenty of things to do. I picked up a good number of quests upon my arrival, so I checked my gear and headed out to claim my fame and fortune.
The first quest I embarked upon was called Message to Taylor Green. Taylor can be found in the lumberyard located to the east of Combe. Several more quests are available at the lumberyard and I grabbed them all.
Taylor gives me the Den of Wolves quests, which required me to go into the nearby forest and kill 8 wolves. The wolves were nearby and I quickly dispatched the required number of beasts. Also at the lumberyard is a guy named Posco Burro. He wanted me to go find his uncle who had gone to have a word or two with the evil Blackwolds located in the Chetwood forest. I found his uncle along a forest road and he then sent me on a quest to find his missing handkerchief. Other quests that sent me into the Chetwood were Morning the Dead, which had me looking for a stolen fishing pole, Reconnecting Ties to find a missing boy, Beneath the Hanging tree to find some buried treasure, and a few others to boot.
I completed these quests fairly quickly. I would imagine that was because I had done them before, even though it had been a long time since I had last played. Almost all of the quests required me to go into various Blackwood encampments throughout the forest, kill everyone I found, and loot the required item. The fishing pole was at one camp and the Blackwold lock-box (for the quest Unpaid Debts) at another.
The Beneath the Hanging Tree quest sent me over to the river to dig for treasure buried there. Turns out all the trees had been cut down and only the stumps remained, which made it impossible to know which tree the Hanging Tree was. So I was sent to someone who has a ledger that would lead me the exact spot, but the guy has lost it and I must retrieve it.
I found the ledger inside a Blackwold Lock-box that was located in a heavily guarded camp. The camp with the lock-box had about 5 Blackwolds in it and there was also a level 8 elite named Captain Dogwood. He roams around the general area and walks right through the camp every now and then. I suggest picking him off before you tackle the camp so that things go smoothly. He didn’t give me any trouble. The ledger gave me the location of the Hanging tree’s stump and I quickly dug up the treasure and returned it to its owner.
Reconnecting Ties had me looking for the missing boy named Covell Woodwright. It seems as though he ran off to join with the Blackwoods and has no intention of returning to his mother. He attacked me when I spoke to him and then ran off into the Blackwold camp before I could kill him (the quest is scripted that way). His mother didn’t like the news.
With the above quests and several more besides, I was able to get quite a bit accomplished and had some fun. Several of the quest rewards resulted in nice armor upgrades and I also reached level 12 by the time I stopped for the night. I was disappointed, once again, to find that all the battles posed no challenge. I never came close to dying. I hope the trend does not continue.
–Wolfen
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