We’ve been paying a lot of attention to Facebook games lately because not only do we know a lot of you play them, but they’re becoming more and more impressive as the studios behind them begin to better understand the Facebook platform.

Today Digital Chocolate announced the release of Ninjas Rising, a new Facebook game where you play a ninja and must rise through the ranks by training in the Dojo and defeating other players. Certain milestones in the game will also grant experience and cash for reaching them.

The premise is very similar to Mafia Wars by Zynga, though of course this time you play a ninja instead of a mobster. Ninjas are way cooler, in my book. You have all the typical stuff: attributes with points to distribute each level, Chi (energy) used to fight, etc.

One area where this game seems to advance this type of Facebook game is that you can customize your ninja — not just the weapons, but also the look and the techniques your ninja will use in combat. These techniques are purchased with the cash you gain from winning fights against other ninja, or by completing challenges.

The game is of course limited by how much Chi you have, but does employ a micro-transaction service allowing you to automatically refill your Chi, among other things.

Now if only you could fight piratesin the game to see which is the ultimate supreme being.

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Welcome back to WoW.com/category/the-queue”>The Queue, WoW Insider’s daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

Don’t like kittens? Too bad, I’ve got a room full of them, plus enough pictures of them to wallpaper the Taj Mahal.

Nyold asked:

I have a question about mastery system. A lot of the description says something like “each point of mastery increases the damage by an additional 2%.” Does this mean each mastery RATING found in gear, or is there another conversion from mastery rating to mastery skill (kinda like how crit rating and crit percentage is)?

Mastery works like most other ratings in that there’s a conversion from the points you have on gear (rating) to the effect you see on your character window (skill). The formula varies from spec to spec.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/10/01/the-queue-yes-kittens-again/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Queue: Yes, kittens again

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/the-queue/” rel=”tag”>The Queue

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/10/01/the-queue-yes-kittens-again/”>The Queue: Yes, kittens again originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warning: This episode has a lot of Cataclysm spoilers. Don’t listen if you don’t want to be spoiled!

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/30/WoW-insider-show-episode-158/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading WoW Insider Show Episode 158: Orgrimmar Bar Crawl

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/podcasts/” rel=”tag”>Podcasts, WoW.joystiq.com/category/WoW-insider-show/” rel=”tag”>WoW Insider Show

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/30/WoW-insider-show-episode-158/”>WoW Insider Show Episode 158: Orgrimmar Bar Crawl originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last week, WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/cataclysm-beta-warrior-changes-in-build-12984/”>I said that we’d see changes to protection. This week, we’re seeing them. It’s build 13033, also known (to those of us who care) as the protection warrior pass. Last week firmly started balancing fury’s DPS, but this week is definitely protection’s turn. Today, in fact, just hours before this patch went to the beta servers, I got done writing a long post talking about protection in the beta, what I saw as its strong points and its weak points.

Every single one of the weak points was addressed in this build. Every single one. This is what you call serendipity. It also means I have to completely rewrite my column with not a lot of time to spare, so as you may understand, I am at once pleased to see things improved and irritated that I spent all that time writing a column that will never see the light of day. It should be noted that these changes are on the PTR, not live on the beta as yet. It’s a little odd to see the PTR get updated first, but I’d expect the beta servers will see a new build soon as well.

Having been 85 for a week, as well as having transferred over two level 85 premades, I’ve been running around testing out various alternate specs and taking them into instances. Why did I do this? Because, as we have already established, I am certifiably insane. Even before this patch, protection stood out as the strongest of the warrior leveling specs, and now it should see increased power as a tanking class. WoWhead.com/spell=93098″>Vengeance is amazing for a leveling protection warrior. It takes the greatest strength of the tanking classes — the ability to soak up damage — and turns it into offensive power.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-heroics-protection-spec-and-b/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Heroics, protection spec and build 13033

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/warrior/” rel=”tag”>Warrior, WoW.joystiq.com/category/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors/” rel=”tag”>(Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors, WoW.joystiq.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/the-care-and-feeding-of-warriors-heroics-protection-spec-and-b/”>The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Heroics, protection spec and build 13033 originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warning: This episode has a lot of Cataclysm spoilers. Don’t listen if you don’t want to be spoiled!

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/WoW-insider-show-episode-157-unwelcome-mat/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading WoW Insider Show Episode 157: Unwelcome Mat

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/podcasts/” rel=”tag”>Podcasts, WoW.joystiq.com/category/WoW-insider-show/” rel=”tag”>WoW Insider Show

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/WoW-insider-show-episode-157-unwelcome-mat/”>WoW Insider Show Episode 157: Unwelcome Mat originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welcome to WoW.com/category/scattered-shots/”>Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim.

I’m getting an increasing number of requests to know what kind of gear we should be hoarding for leveling up to 85 in Cataclysm. A lot of hunters are still WoW.com/2010/01/07/scattered-shots-its-all-hunter-loot-in-icc-part-1/”>grinding through ICC and want to know if they should bother with four-piece tier 10, or if making that final push to armor penetration gemming is going to be worthwhile since those ArP gems will change to something else. And what will those gems change to, anyway? What stat are we going to want to stack in Cataclysm?

Well first of all, let me say this: We don’t even have a release date for Cataclysm yet. We don’t know when it’s coming out, but we do know it’s not going to be any time real soon. I had originally planned on waiting until Cataclysm was a bit closer before hitting this, but if the amount of emails I’m getting is any indication, people want to know now.

So join me after the cut to learn what you should be paying attention to now and how best to plan for your Cataclysm hunter leveling experience.

WoW.com/2010/09/09/scattered-shots-gear-for-cataclysm-leveling/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Scattered Shots: Gear for Cataclysm leveling

Filed under: WoW.com/category/hunter/” rel=”tag”>Hunter, WoW.com/category/scattered-shots/” rel=”tag”>(Hunter) Scattered Shots

WoW.com/2010/09/09/scattered-shots-gear-for-cataclysm-leveling/”>Scattered Shots: Gear for Cataclysm leveling originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Everyone seems to be talking about WoW.com/cataclysm/”>Cataclysm these days — and that’s not a bad thing, after all the expansion is completely overhauling everything we knew and were familiar with. A lot of the Cataclysm hype surrounds the thought of “finishing” the original game as completely as possible, because many of those beloved quest chains and moments from vanilla will be gone without a trace when the expansion launches. Yet even as these chains are recommended, players forget some of the earliest quests in the game — mysteries that were never fully explained.

There has been a long-running idea since the days of vanilla that there are still quests out there in vanilla that have not been completed. Despite the addition of the WoWhead.com/achievement=1682/the-loremaster”>Loremaster achievement, there still isn’t a single player in this game who has finished “every quest,” because some quests have never been completed or even discovered. The thought of undiscovered quests sets people on a flurry of activity, speculation and forum threads that often provided more entertainment than whatever quest they were seeking answers for. One of the biggest mysteries in vanilla WoW didn’t involve dragons or legendary swords or epic moments at all — instead, it all began with a simple, unassuming box located in a quiet glade.

WoW.com/2010/08/30/urban-legends-of-warcraft-the-key-the-essence-and-the-ship/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Urban Legends of Warcraft: The key, the essence and the ship

Filed under: WoW.com/category/lore/” rel=”tag”>Lore

WoW.com/2010/08/30/urban-legends-of-warcraft-the-key-the-essence-and-the-ship/”>Urban Legends of Warcraft: The key, the essence and the ship originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW.com/category/drama-mamas/”>Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas — and just as we don’t want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm.

WoW may be both massive and multiplayer, but many of us play it like a single-player game with chat channels. In fact, there are quite a few people who use guild chat and whispers as chat rooms, getting very little playing done during some sessions. And some of us like to either play or chat, but not both. Playing without an invisibility option can be troublesome for those who tend toward hermitism. Hermitness? Hermitacity! Oh, let’s just get to the letter.

Dear Drama Mamas,

As a RL introvert, I find it very hard to make friends and feel happiest when I’m on my own. (I went through several years of high school without so much as a single friend and was very happy that way!) But online is very, very different. I find it easy to be myself in guild and general chat and so on, and as a result I attract a lot of friends.

Because of this, often when I login, three to five people will whisper me at once, each expecting to carry a full-on conversation with me.

WoW.com/2010/08/20/drama-mamas-the-case-of-the-friendly-hermit/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Drama Mamas: The case of the friendly hermit

Filed under: WoW.com/category/analysis-opinion/” rel=”tag”>Analysis / Opinion, WoW.com/category/drama-mamas/” rel=”tag”>Drama Mamas

WoW.com/2010/08/20/drama-mamas-the-case-of-the-friendly-hermit/”>Drama Mamas: The case of the friendly hermit originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the Light as his strength, WoW.com/about/#gregg-reece”>Gregg Reece of WoW.com/category/the-light-and-how-to-swing-it/”>The Light and How to Swing It faces down the demons of the Burning Legion, the undead of the Scourge, and soon, an entire flight of black dragons. Please send screenshots as well as any comments to gregg@WoW.com.

If you saw my column WoW.com/2010/08/11/the-light-and-how-to-swing-it-the-ever-changing-holy-shield/”>last week, you’ll notice that I’ve been less than thrilled with the way the protection tree had been progressing in the beta. Sure, things have been getting better, but it has felt as if the whole tree is fairly unsettled. With the latest build, we’re finally starting to see things get a little smoother and the mechanics to make a little bit more sense. Keeping Holy Shield up is easier than in previous builds, and a lot of depth to the types of strategies we can have while tanking has greatly improved. Also, our mastery bonus has been official revealed.

I’m going to use the same type of disclaimer that I did on the WoW.com/2010/08/04/the-light-and-how-to-swing-it-ret-talents-in-cataclysm/”>ret talents article. These may not be the talents we’ll end up seeing when the expansion hits, but they’re getting there. Some talents will look pretty close to how they exist currently, while others have absolutely nothing to do with their current versions. Let’s go take a look.

WoW.com/2010/08/18/the-light-and-how-to-swing-it-prot-talents-in-cataclysm/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Light and How to Swing It: Prot talents in Cataclysm

Filed under: WoW.com/category/paladin/” rel=”tag”>Paladin, WoW.com/category/the-light-and-how-to-swing-it/” rel=”tag”>(Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It, WoW.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

WoW.com/2010/08/18/the-light-and-how-to-swing-it-prot-talents-in-cataclysm/”>The Light and How to Swing It: Prot talents in Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Cataclysm beta has been offering us many things. From talent trees WoW.com/2010/07/13/cataclysm-beta-patch-notes-build-12479/”>being changed to revealing WoW.com/2010/07/23/cataclysm-beta-garrosh-and-sylvanas-voice-clips/”>new voices for bosses and audio for events, there really has been something new discovered almost every day. This is not too surprising considering the world is going through a massive series of changes as well as the game mechanics themselves.

One of the things that is being watched very carefully are the changes to healing and the mechanics not only of healing output but also mana regeneration. Sadly, though, there is still a lot missing from the client, making it hard to get an idea of exactly how it will all wind up being balanced. That said, there are still a lot of changes in place for healers in the way we quest and level. New talents and spells make it a different experience than before. On top of that, there are also a plethora of quests that seem to be tailored at least somewhat with a healer specifically in mind.

If you really do not want to know anything about Cataclysm until it is released, there will be some Cataclysm spoilers after the break. If you don’t mind having a few things spoiled for you, please continue to read on.

WoW.com/2010/07/27/totem-talk-leveling-as-a-restoration-shaman-in-cataclysm/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Totem Talk: Leveling as a restoration shaman in Cataclysm

Filed under: WoW.com/category/shaman/” rel=”tag”>Shaman, WoW.com/category/totem-talk/” rel=”tag”>(Shaman) Totem Talk

WoW.com/2010/07/27/totem-talk-leveling-as-a-restoration-shaman-in-cataclysm/”>Totem Talk: Leveling as a restoration shaman in Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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