There are many guides flying around these days targeting MMOs and their mechanics. With so many Gold and Leveling guides out there, it was bound to happen that someone would try to create something to help the struggling Guild Master. Enter the Guild Creation Guide by Doom Enterprises!

What surprised me most at this guide was that it was actually helpful. Perhaps I read a guide too many over my years of playing MMOs, but I find that the greater majority of guides either fail to convey their information well enough or are simply lacking in content. A few are downright scams.

This however, is a quite real guide and has a place in today’s ever evolving market. With so many guilds becoming close to household names in particular MMOs, the dream of creating a game-spanning, internationally recognized guild capable of surviving through rough patches and upheavals is shared by many players. The hows and whys are a problem, and here this guide can help.

Content: Coming in at 90+ pages of content, it explains guild creation and management in detail, with an emphasis on Guild Events and Guild Content (website, forums, artwork etc).

The guide starts with a detailed Chapter List and pays plenty of details to all the minor things that can go wrong when starting a guild from scratch. While it does deal with common sense knowledge, it is well presented and comprehensive. A new Guild Leader will find many useful tips in here, from Guild Types, Officer Information (promotion, roles) to Member Recruitment and Guild Rules.

As said before, a large focus is dedicated to Guild Content, in an effort to promote the idea of a lasting brand. Website, forums, artwork, guild colors, tabards and events are all covered and explained in detail. Even a few samples of guild created events are being given at the end, all of great use to a budding Guild Master.

Perhaps too much attention is given to Roleplaying Guilds and Events, whereas the greater majority of newly formed guilds will usually choose a more instantly gratifying path of either straight up PvE or PvP. Since many MMOs focus their attention on PvE and/or PvP, more information about managing and organizing this type of events would have been invaluable to many new guilds. A few common issues encountered by PvE and PvP guilds include loot distribution systems, priorities, organizing raids and group setups or handling specific issues that often arise in such events.

The biggest fault of the guide is that it is only addressed to guild leaders and officers, thus limiting its exposure. It is certain that many more would benefit from it would it include a lot more specific examples rather than so much general information.

Appearance: Except for the customary cover, the guide is bare of any pictures or images. This is not a bad thing, as the subject matter does not call for any specific visual aids and the guide is presented in a clean, brisk way that makes it very easy to read and follow.

In some chapters though, the lack of images does hurt the way information is transmitted. It is especially true when talking about Guild Colors and their significance, where a selection of specific examples of outfits and tabards would’ve helped much more than dry text. The same can be said of the Artwork chapter, sorely missing specific examples.

Overall the guide provides a good service to those that are trying to get a good guild started. It is a difficult process, as this reviewer can attest, and this little “instruction manual” can help the unwary avoid the many pitfalls of guild leadership.

Aside from some reasonably minor issues, the guide is a well designed, well written piece of MMO merchandise, and can save would-be guild masters from a lot of stress, anguish and disappointment. <!–[endif]–>

This reviewer’s score: 9/10.

This review was written by the editors at www.lorecore.com, a website dedicated to Age of Conan and World of Warcraft players, including guides, articles, news and reviews.

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Guns of the Patriots is a visual gem - but after playing, I’m still not sure - is it a game or a movie? I have played the entire MGS series, and I thoroughly enjoyed them all up this this point. Which is not to say I didn’t like this game, but there wasn’t a lot of “game” to it. It was more like a movie with some interactive segments.

A heavy load of critics and gamers alike are calling this “the best game of all time”. My reaction is, “Huh?” It’s certainly not a bad game by any means, and I would even go so far as to call it really-good, but the best game of all time? No sir, not for me. While I enjoyed the storyline, and the cut scenes truly are visual gold, they are simply way, way too long and frequent. We’re talking approximately an hour of cut scenes! So, if you’re looking to buy this latest metal gear solid installment, and want to avoid disappointment, do yourself a favor and go in with the knowledge that you are going to be as much as a spectator as a player. Oh, and if you don’t watch the cut scenes, you might find yourself a little confused towards the endgame.

Now, onto the premise: Guns of Patriots takes part six years from where we last left off - and the world is in blazing shambles. War and chaos are rampant, and no one is safe. Violence can break out at any time, as the world’s economy is now war-based, with mercenary companies competing for a share of the pie.

Snake, who was no doubt happily chain smoking himself to a short-lived retirement, is called back into the front lines by Col. Campbell for one last mission, to save the world once again. Now, Snake is no longer the young stud we once new, and is, in-fact, referred to frequently as “Old Snake”, as he is aging rapidly due to some genetic mismanagement. He’ll need to rely on advanced technology more than ever to get this one done - and there’s plenty of it for us to feast on, as always.

The gameplay itself is straightfoward, pure and classic MGS. You know there’s nothing quite like sneaking up on an enemy to cut his throat. But you’ll have to endure the cutscenes to experience it.

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I live in a small apartment with little room for exercise equipment, but would much rather work out at home rather than drive to a gym. So I had high hopes for the Wii Fit right out of the box — and for the most part, it hasn’t disappointed.

Pros:

1. Watching others play is almost as entertaining as playing yourself, especially if they have poor coordination.

2. The game’s balance board is intelligently designed, and sensitive to precise movement. It integrates well with the gameplay, resulting in a smooth fitness-gaming experience. While I did hear some complaints from the big footed persons in my life, regarding the size of the board, it was fine for my size six (female) feet.

3. Wii fit can really make you fit - The exercise instructions are clear, and easy to follow. If you put the effort in, your heart will be pumping and you’ll get a pretty good work out.

4. I’m having a good time while getting a bit of a better bod. Wii Fit is definitely more fun than the treadmill. Honestly, we need more games like this for America’s gigantic youth. Enjoyable gameplay (personal favorites include slalom-skiing, and tightrope-walking) make you forget that you’re engaged in physical fitness.

Cons:

1. Uses BMI to determine your physical health. BMI is a flawed system, but I suppose is a decent enough health indicator for these purposes. However, someone with a lot of weight from muscle will be considered fat by the Wii Fit, which is humorous to me, but probably not to those individuals.

2. Locked content. It’s not terribly hard to unlock, and the purpose for it is clear - as you progress with your fitness, you unlock more levels. But the levels are unlocked based on time spent playing, and with some of the exercises and mini games being quite short (as in only a few minutes,) it can leave you repeating the same thing over and over again before unlocking new levels. And that’s not cool.

3. It’s a little on the expensive side. At $125+ US Wii Fit isn’t cheap.

4. Too much time fiddling with the remote gets annoying. There’s no way to program the system to play multipe fitness routines in a row, resluting in many pauses to navigate the game menus.

Overall, I recommend the Wii Fit for anyone who wants to get a little fitness out of their gaming experience. While not perfect, it has managed to mesh together excercise and fun, leaving the Wii Fit with a thumbs up from this reviewer.

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I really shouldn’t be surprised about the fact that everyone and their dog seems to have come up with a hack and “utility” for the PS3. In fact I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming. It wouldn’t bother me so much, but for the fact that not having these things downloaded makes me look like some kind of uber noob.

I could accept this I suppose, but really the reason I have a hard time with feeling like a moron isn’t because I think I should know better. It has much more to do with I feel like I shouldn’t have to waste my time with something I don’t care about and not get laughed at for it.

I mean does it really matter if I have the latest skin of Jessica Alba downloaded on my television? I am kind of impressed when I bother to change the wallpaper on my computer.

My other question is where do all you people find the time to make these things? I could understand if this was your job or something. I can even understand if it was a hobby that you enjoyed, but to make fun of me for not having this just seems ridiculous.

Maybe I am just getting old. Or maybe I just don’t take the whole video game hobby seriously enough, but to be honest I don’t care about the latest PS3 download for the most part. I have a PS3 so I can play games. If I wanted to download pics, or programs I would use a computer.

Yet I know that I am in the serious minority here, and that really it is just another sign that being a casual gamer is far different from being a gamer. That’s okay, next time someone makes fun of me for not being a gamer, I am going to pull out my first edition Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Masters guide and hit them in the head with it. That is what a real gamer is about anyway.

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When I first downloaded (from WiiWare) and played Dr. Mario Online Rx I was with my sister in the house we grew up in. I can still remember playing the classic original NES version together upstairs in the same house almost 2 decades ago. As matured as my taste in games may have become, the game is still a whole lot of fun despite its being mostly unchanged.

For the uninitiated, the classic game mode seems a lot like Tetris but you’ll soon realize that the gameplay is markedly different. You drop dual-colored pills in to a bottle containing viruses of the same colors. Once you have at least 3 pill halves of the same color touching a virus of that same color, that virus is eradicated. At least 4 of the same pill halves together removes those halves from the bottle.

Making a match can also split pills in half sending those halves falling. Hopefully those halves cause chain reaction virus eradications. Planning ahead can aid in that and prevent them from falling where you don’t want them. As you progress in the game, more and more viruses appear. This is definitely a game that’s easy to learn and hard to master.

Another aspect prominent in Dr. Mario is multi-player. Dr. Mario Online Rx has both “classic mode” and a new “flash mode” (where only certain flashing viruses need be destroyed) for both single player and versus mode. Both versus modes can be played online with Nintendo WFC. When I played online, I faced an opponent more skilled than I, as well as an opponent not as experienced as I.

Neither time did I experience any lag or crashing at all, even after playing several times. The only complaint I have with versus mode is a lack of support for more than 2 players which previous versions have supported.

Typically, past versions of Dr. Mario have been focused solely on single and versus play. Dr. Mario Online Rx adds a cooperative mode, also playable alone, called Virus Buster. In this mode, you actually grab the pills using the Wii remote motion controls and drag the pills into place. As you do this, other players can grab other falling pills.

In addition, falling pill halves are now movable in this mode adding a sense of teamwork to the game as you can aid with each other’s potential chains or errors. This mode gets to be quite hectic yet addicting and you and your friends will have a lot of fun if you can avoid yelling at each other. Even then, it’s still pretty fun!

Atmospherically, the game is quite charming and has a cartoon-like hospital aesthetic. Dr. Mario Online Rx actually allows you to use your Miis dressed as doctors as characters in the game, though Dr. Mario does make his appearances as well.

The 3 classic virus characters also appear as in previous versions with a great fiendish but cute design. The music is quite cheerful and catchy and the classic Dr. Mario tunes make a return. The sounds are funny and satisfying and seem to go along well with the music. Despite only costing $10 in Wii points, the game doesn’t even look or sound cheap.

While the game may not have changed much, Dr. Mario Online Rx is a great update to a fantastic classic puzzle game and the new additions are quite welcome. This is another solid example of the countless games that will always be fun, further proving that “next gen” games can never kill the classics. If you’ve never played a previous version of Dr. Mario nows the perfect time to start.

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