It's almost time... for Death!

Path 2.0.1 has been released for Diablo 3 which is the gateway patch to the newest expansion Reaper of Souls. Check out the patch notes below. There are quite a bit of changes, much more then even what Blizzard themselves posted so login and start gathering some new toys to defeat Mathael.

GENERAL

  • Pools of Reflection have been added to the game
    • Pools of Reflection provide a 25% bonus to experience
    • This bonus persists until you reach a set amount of bonus experience (equal to approximately 10% of the current amount of Paragon experience needed to reach the next Paragon level) or your character dies
    • Gathering additional Pools of Reflection bonuses increases the amount of total experience bonus a character can receive until character death, stacking up to 10 times
    • This experience bonus persists on logout
  • Nephalem Glory has been added to the game
    • Occasionally during battle, monsters will drop Power Globes when damaged or killed
    • Power Globes grant the Nephalem Glory buff, which causes players to deal additional damage in the form of golden lightning bolts and increases their movement speed for a short time
    • This buff can stack up to three times
  • New hero stats have been added to the game
    • These include Toughness, Healing, Splash Damage, Cooldown Reduction, and Resource Cost Reduction
    • Life Steal has been redesigned and is now less effective at higher character levels
      • At level 60, Life Steal is reduced to 10% effectiveness
  • Players now have the ability to resurrect in multiple places when they die in Normal (non-Hardcore) games
    • You may choose to either resurrect at your body, in town, or at the last checkpoint you encountered
    • Players may not resurrect at their body during a Boss encounter
    • Players may only resurrect at their body a maximum of three times in a row
  • Player hit boxes have been adjusted to more closely represent character models
    • Both male and female models of the same class share the same size hit box
  • Followers now automatically level with characters
  • Quests now occasionally grant item rewards when completed during the leveling process
  • Gold can no longer be traded
  • Graphics engine has been updated to support reflections
    • Reflections can be turned on in the Options > Video menu
    • Note: This setting is not recommended for players running minimum system specifications

BOSSES

  • Many bosses have had their mechanics revisted and retuned
    • The following bosses have received the largest changes to their encounters:
      • Maghda
      • Siegebreaker
      • Azmodan
      • Iskatu
    • In addition, the enrage timers for the following Bosses will only be enabled in Torment I and above:
      • The Butcher
      • Zoltun Kulle
      • Belial
      • Ghom
      • Siegebreaker
      • Rakanoth

CLASSES

  • All classes have undergone significant revision. Additional details and patch notes will be available in the near future. In the meantime, we encourage you to log in and explore the new changes for yourself!

CRAFTING AND ARTISANS

  • Crafting has received several quality of life changes
    • Crafting materials have been condensed into two item level tiers: 1-60 and 60-70
      • This change is to reduce the amount of stash space consumed by crafting materials and simply older crafting recipes
      • All crafting materials currently in character inventories and stash have been converted accordingly
    • All crafted items will now roll with stats appropriate to the character crafting them, using the Loot 2.0 Smart Drop system
      • Please note that items designed to roll specific stats, such as the Archon Armor patterns, are exempt from this system
    • Items purchased from vendors are now flagged as such, and cannot be salvaged

DIFFICULTY

  • The difficulty system has been completely revised
    • Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno modes have been removed
    • Difficulty is now dynamic and monsters will level up with your characters
    • There are now five difficulty settings to choose from: Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, and Torment (1-6)
      • Normal, Hard, and Expert are immediately available
      • Master unlocks upon completing Act IV
      • Torment unlocks upon reaching level 60
      • Torment level also includes a difficulty slider, offering an additional six adjustments with increasing rewards and more powerful monsters
      • Each level offers new bonuses and rewards, visible in the difficulty selection menu
    • You can now lower your difficulty setting in-game
      • However, increasing your difficulty still requires exiting your current game
      • This option is disabled in Hardcore mode
    • To account for these changes, monster density has been adjusted across all Acts

EVENTS

  • Cursed Objects
    • Chests and Shrines around Sanctuary now have a chance to be cursed, starting an event once they are inspected
    • Like other events, completing a Cursed Chest or Shrine provides a small gold and experience reward, as well as either a Radiant Chest or a random Shrine buff
    • These events offer a variety of challenges, including endless monster waves and timed events
  • Infernal Machines
    • Torment level difficulty is now required to use Infernal Machines

ITEMIZATION (LOOT 2.0)

  • Itemization has undergone a major overhaul:
    • Legendary and Set items are now Bind on Account
      • Players in multiplayer games may trade Legendaries and Set Items they find with others who were present for the drop for up to 2 hours after the item is acquired
    • The Smart Drop system has been implemented
      • All items that drop have a chance to roll as "Smart Loot"
      • Smart Loot items roll intelligently based on the character being played (example: A Wizard is more likely to find items with Intelligence or bonuses to Wizard skills than a Barbarian)
      • Class specific items will no longer roll stats inappropriate to their class (example: Intelligence will no longer appear on Mighty Weapons or Belts)
    • New item affixes have been added to the game
      • This include Splash Damage, Cooldown Reduction, Resource Cost Reduction, +% damage to Physical damage skills, and specific Class Skill Bonuses
    • Item properties have been separated into two categories: Primary and Secondary
      • Primary Stats include: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Vitality, Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Chance, Attack Speed, Life per Second, Armor, +% Life, Bonus Damage to Elites, Bleed Damage, All Resistance, Sockets, and all new affixes listed above
      • Secondary Stats include: Gold Find, Thorns, Bonus Experience per Monster Kill, Chance for (Fear, Stun, Blind, Freeze, Chill, Slow, Immobilize and Knockback), Ignore Durability Loss, Bonus Healing to Health Globes and Potions, Bonus Pickup Radius, Single Resist, Life After Kill, and Level Requirement Reduction
      • This is to prevent stats that directly and indirectly increase character power from competing with one another
    • Stat ranges on items have been narrowed significantly (example: instead of an item having a stat range of 1-200 Strength, its range might now be something like 140-200)
    • Legendary powers now roll in a range, instead of a static amount
      • Example: The Legendary Spirit Stone The Laws of Seph has the legendary affix Using Blinding Flash restores [75-100] spirit
    • Players can now view the stat ranges of items by pressing and holding CTRL while an item's tooltip is open
    • All Legendary items have been reworked with one or all of the above points in mind
    • Potions have been condensed to a single type; they now provide 60% of your total health when consumed
      • All Potions currently in character inventories or stashes will be converted to the new Potion type

MONSTERS

  • Monster affixes have been revisited and retuned
    • Arcane Enchanted
      • Spawn effect now shows which direction it will start rotating
    • Desecrator
      • Damage now begins low, but quickly ramps up to its maximum damage
    • Frozen
      • Increased the number of Frozen crystals spawned by monsters with this affix
      • Frozen no longer increases how many crystals are spawned based on the number of players in the game
      • Frozen crystals now deal area of effect damage over time to players as they build up to their explosion
    • Jailer
      • Now does a small amount of damage when applied to the player
    • Vortex
      • Now does a small amount of damage when applied to the player
    • Mortar
      • Now has an outer impact area that does less damage than the center of impact
      • Now detonates if they vertically hit a wall
    • Plagued
      • Monsters with this affix now sometimes drop a pool under players as well as under themselves
    • Reflects Damage
      • No longer reflects a portion of incoming damage
      • Now reflects a fixed amount of damage per attack
    • Elite and Champion monsters now have five new possible affixes
      • Frozen Pulse: A shard of ice follows targets around before freezing in place and pulsing cold damage in a small area
      • Orbiter: A nexus of electrical energy appears, surrounded by additional balls of lightning that orbit in a large area
      • Poison Enchanted: Summons globules of poison matter that spread in a cross pattern, dealing damage to those caught in their wake
      • Thunderstorm: A powerful bolt of lightning strikes the ground, emanating a small wave of electrical energy
      • Wormhole: A pair of portals appears, dealing damage as it tears unfortunate targets from their location and transports them elsewhere
  • Monster density has been revisited
    • Density has been retuned around the new difficulty system
    • Elite and Champion packs can now spawn in a larger variation of pack sizes
  • Wasp projectiles can now be dodged and blocked

PARAGON (PARAGON 2.0)

  • The Paragon leveling system has been completely revamped
    • There is no longer a cap on the number of Paragon levels a player can gain
    • Paragon levels are now account-wide and shared across all characters
      • Note that Paragon levels are tracked independently between Hardcore and Normal modes
    • Players no longer gain static bonuses upon achieving Paragon Levels and bonuses currently earned by players have been removed
    • Players now earn Paragon points each level to spend in one of four separate categories: Core, Offense, Defense, and Utility
      • Players with existing Paragon levels have been granted the appropriate number of points to distribute amongst these categories
    • With these changes in mind, the Paragon leveling curve has been updated
    • Note that all Paragon experience earned across all characters prior to this patch has been totaled and recalculated into your new account-wide Paragon level
      • Paragon points can be allocated by clicking the Paragon button in the Character Paper Doll and Inventory screen (Default Hotkey C)

SOCIAL FEATURES

  • Clans and Communities have been added to the game
    • Clans
      • Anyone may create a Clan, and doing so gives access to the Clan window (default hotkey N)
      • Joining or creating a clan displays your clan tag next to your name
      • Clan members can view the Members Roster, a private chat channel, and a News & Info tab for Clan affairs and information in the Clan window
      • Clans support up to 120 members and require an invitation to join
      • Players may only be a member of one Clan at a time
    • Communities
      • Anyone may create a Community, and can view their Community details in the Social tab (default hotkey SHIFT + O)
      • Community members have access to their Members Roster, a dedicated chat channel, and a News & Info tab for sharing stories and Community information
      • Players may join any number of Communities they wish
      • Communities do not have a membership limit; however, if the number of members exceeds 100, only Officers and above will be displayed in the Members Roster
      • Communities can be designated as Private or Public; Private Communities require invitation to join
      • Communities are organized by categories, including but not limited to Classes, Regional, and Game Type

USER INTERFACE

  • Several quality of life changes have been applied to the User Interface
    • The Difficulty and Game Creation menus have been completely redone
    • The in-game Menu has been revised
    • The waypoint list has been replaced with a waypoint map
    • Skill tooltips now show damage type if Advanced Tooltips are enabled
    • Several new social options have been added to support Clans and Communities
      • These can be accessed in the Options > Gameplay menu
    • New chat colors associated with Clans and Communities have been added
    • There is now an option to enable icons for dropped items instead of text
      • This can be enabled in the Options > Gameplay menu
    • There is now an option to automatically skip all cut scenes
      • This can be enabled in the Options > Gameplay menu
    • Item labels for Gold piles are no longer displayed
      • This is to reduce visual clutter; values are still displayed when gold is picked up

Pensacon 2014: The birth of greatness

by JD

When I first heard about Pensacon I will admit I was very skeptical. Ive been to Cons before that were very much in their beginning stages or rather dying stages (depending on your outlook) and it has always been a very deflating experience. I was at New Orleans Comic Con way back when and it was depressing. It since then has grown into a juggernaut of an event bringing in such talent as Stan Lee and Matt Smith. I mention my early experiences and skepticism because I want you to understand where Im coming from.

Well, regardless of my cynicism, I was going to Pensacon because I wanted to see if it had potential or if it was going to be a one off event that again had the world laughing at another failed attempt to do something outside the box in a community that does not love that style of thinking.

I arrived on day one and was trying to take everything in all at once (big mistake) so I could formulate my opinion early and just enjoy the weekend. My first impression was a little underwhelmed. Imagine a team that makes it all the way to the big game. They will spend the first quarter or half even, testing the waters or finding their comfort zone. This is what it felt like For those who didnt get the reference think of Luke Skywalker when he first started his Jedi training on the Falcon.

I was so wrong! I let my skepticism cloud what I was really seeing.

This wasnt just some con thrown together by a bunch of people who just decided to do an event and make some money; Pensacon was done with the a strategy that George S Patton would be proud of! Each and every bit of it, from advertising at various events around the US, to strategic billboard placement! That was just the beginning; once social media got involved it was game on as the word of Twitter and Facebook helped propel this event to something I wasn't even prepared for

When I came back for day two, I stood in awe of what was before me. Thousands of people were all over the place! Cosplayers, fans, nerds, geeks, passers by who just had to see what the hype was about. Celebrities making jokes with their beloved fans, and me standing there realizing that I was at the forefront of an event that gave people something to be excited about, a place where people could dress up like Batman and be cheered for it! A place where people forgot about all of their troubles and just wanted to have a great time.

    It became apparent very quickly that this wasn't a one and done event. This was something that was only going to get bigger. I sat in on several panels and they all had one underlying theme; Connecting with, and showing gratitude for their fans. Some panels offered advice on how to go after your passions and dreams, others where just thank you panels which as a fan is very important to hear.

I could easily sit here and go over numbers and talk about the details but I wouldn't be doing the people who were part of this event justice. From the people who showed up as fans, to the vendors, the staff, and the celebrity guests this event was much more than that

Pensacon is about people. It's about growing up and loving something and finally getting a chance to show that love. It's about having a place to go and be yourself. It's about connecting with people you had no idea you had something in common with.

It's about you, the fan.

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Terrible Tuesday Movie Night: Episode 23: "Dungeons and Dragons"

On this episode of Terrible Tuesday Movie Night, Dale analyses the 2000 fantasy thriller and a movie that takes nearly 2 hours to complete the campaign...Dungeons and Dragons.

Profion, a tyrant, attempts to overthrow a peaceful kingdom ruled by a tough empress.

This episode is sponsored by Seacret Spa. Want geeky internet celebrities to say that you look super young? Seacret Spa have you covered! Seacret only use the finest dead sea minerals for a full beauty experience. To view the whole collection and have free international shipping on orders over $59, head on over to http://www.seacretspa.com/

And by Audible.com. Try audible.com now and get your first 30 days of the AudibleListener Gold membership plan free, which includes one audiobook credit per month. After your 30 day trial, your membership will renew each month for just $14.95 per month so you can continue to receive one audiobook credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. Choose from over 100,000 titles. Check out www.geek-io.com/audible for all the details!

Staring:

Jeremy Irons - Profion

Bruce Payne - Damodar

Justin Whalin - Ridley Freeborn

Marlon Wayans - Snails

Robert Miano - Azmath

TITO SCORE: 5

Wrap Up:

A member of the Geek I/O and Chefwonder Podcast networks

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Next Movie:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

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The Geek I/O Show: Episode 50 - Two Terabytes of Ice Dancing... with Andy Young

On this, the 50th episode of the Geek I/O show, we were joined by our favorite smackdown auctioneer, Andy Young (aka Ghomus)!  He tried to keep us on track, but his attempts were futile.  We appreciate him trying though.

We discussed Andy's spiffy new job, going Starbound in a War of Omens, Samsung toys, playing with the Marvel API, breaking out the old Nintendo systems for "testing", the best pasta, the key to success is the bobsled Bane mask, old man Dale gets into shape, Crock-a-Dale Dundee, iTunes radio ambient space music, the "Ibbott package", rolling up your windows is harder than it looks, filling your hard drive with more Olympics than you ever want to watch, and networking shenanigans.  Plus!  We talk about the Sonic the Hedgehog reboot and how hot it is in February!

Join us on The Geek I/O Show, won't you?  We love Michelob at midnight.

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