If you don’t have some kind of VPN access by now, that’s a problem you really need to fix for so many reasons it’s hard to really list them all. I suppose the biggest one would be security, as if you’re often using public WiFi networks, anything you’re doing on your computer that isn’t already encrypted is susceptible to someone else getting access to. Granted, most important things like your online banking and other similar stuff is encrypted via SSL anyway, but there’s a lot you do on your computer that’s just sent via plain text… Including reading TouchArcade. (Hey, hackers, if you’re reading this via sniffing someone else’s WiFi packets, you stink.) You might (understandably) find yourself saying, “Well, who cares if someone is listening in while I read TouchArcade," that’s reasonable to think, but the problem now is most major hacks come from hackers discovering something small and trivial, but using that information they can gain access to so much more. It’s kind of like how identity theft can snowball from someone discovering one little snippet of information. For instance, you might use the same password for an email account you use for a forum somewhere, someone gets that password, and suddenly they’re in your email and can effectively reset everything else. Using a VPN whenever you’re connected to any unencrypted WiFi can eliminate this attack vector.
The second, and arguably far more fun use for a VPN, is to get around geolocation blocks. Thanks to the fairly crazy way digital media (particularly sanything streamed) is handled across the planet, what you’re able to access is often directly tied to the IP address you’re accessing the internet from. Netflix knows by my IP address I’m inside of the USA, and as such, is A-OK with streaming all kinds of American content to me. If you’re outside of the USA, you’ll likely get a big fat error message saying Netflix isn’t available in your region. Hulu, select YouTube videos, and basically every other streaming provider does the same thing. Connecting to a VPN with an end point in the USA fools these services into thinking you’re connecting from the USA, so you can enjoy those American-streamed Family Guy episodes from anywhere on the planet.
If you’re thinking to yourself, “Well, I’m already in the USA, so who cares?" It’s a two way street, and there’s things we can’t get here for the same reasons. For instance, VPN out to the UK and you can watch the BBC shows for free. Hell, a few years ago I had a friend who was even able to stream the Super Bowl for free using the official NFL app because for reasons I still don’t fully understand they were streaming the game for free in The Netherlands. The riches aren’t quite as great as someone who isn’t from the USA, but there’s still neat things you can gain access to via having a VPN. Basically, any situation where it might be important to change or otherwise mask your IP address, VPN’s are awesome for.
Anyway, we’ve got two different options for VPN access up on TouchArcade Deals. The first, will get you VPN access for life for $29, and the second will get you VPN access for two years for $49. The main difference between the two plans is the number of exit nodes you have access to. The “lite" $29 option only gives access to 15 nodes, which cover basically every major geographic location you’d want. Meanwhile, the $49 option gives you access to the entire TigerVPN network which (currently) features 55 nodes spread across 40 different countries.
So, while this is a bit of a stretch from our normal wheelhouse of iOS gaming, a VPN can be incredibly useful- Particularly one you only need to pay for once without any weird recurring monthly fees.
Honestly, esports should not be called a sport, and shouldn't be held at Olympics..
Actual athletes vigorously train for years to even qualify, and to be ranked at the same level as esport gamers is just sad.
And in a case of an emergency or urgent situation. What good are those players to society?
*end rant*
Wait, what?
I think the suggestion is that Olympians should be of some great use in an emergency, like when I had to slowly slide down an ice rink and very precisely come into contact with a stone, it was curlers that came to my aid that day. I owe them everything.
Funny you should mention that because I had a similar situation where I urgently needed to get an emergency message to the bottom of a pre-built and pre-iced chute and a team of four men carrying a custom built sled appeared out of nowhere and saved the day.
Unfortunately I was stuck with 4 skiers in the Sahara Desert.
obvious answer http://smbc-comics.com/inde...
So, when are you changing the site name to "Hearthstone Daily"?
I doubt changing the name of the site would do much to help people who don't understand why we post about Hearthstone.
Why would a mobile site write articles about arguably the fastest growing game right now, and most of that growth and revenue was said to come from mobile... Yeah you are right, website hits .... Who needs them
Well some of us do enjoy these articles very much, but please if it bothering u so much, feel free to skip to the bext article!!
I honestly depend on touch arcade to keep me updated on hearthstone. Don't like it? Skip it.
Esports should stay Esports and traditional sports should stay traditional sports. As both a gamer and a national athlete i see why both arenas attract players due to their competitive nature, but there really is no other way to say it, hearthstone in the Winter Olympics? No. Just because something is popular does not make it more eligible to be part of something it was never meant to be. People watch the Olympics to see athletes compete in physical sports, and having a video game made part of that tradition is just wrong. Keep to pure Esports, where it belongs.
This seems like a strange argument to make, particularly with the existing inclusion of events which are similarly skill based, rather than athleticism based, in the current Winter Olympics sport lineup. ...Unless you'd also argue that all the shooting events also don't belong in the Olympics?
Shooting leads to violence, ask the media, why should we support this.... I'm calling my congressman
Well, to be fair, shooting events do require a certain physical ability. It's not at all like playing Halo. But then again, I don't really consider shooting a sport. It's more of an American pastime.
I would actually have a reason to watch the Olympics again. Dota or a Moba would be a better fit though, as they rely purely on player reflexes. Hearthstone is really more about building your deck then it is about performing on field.
Really the biggest problem with eSports in the Olympics is cultural versus private ownership. Hearthstone is a great game with international reach and would make for a great event, but it's a problem that it's entirely owned by a private corporation. Hearthstone can be played only by Blizzard's rules with Blizzard-owned software on Blizzard-owned servers, and it would be interesting to see them try to negotiate giving up some amount of that control to the IOC, or more broadly to a series of national federations as is the case with other sports.
Video gaming is quite young now, eSports especially so, and it seems likely that over time some non-owned games will emerge (just as today we have a wide universe of both traditional card/board games and more corporate designs). I'm not sure that will really occur by 2030.
I'm not aiming to be controversial, and this is my own opinion, but I am still predisposed to the position that Olympic sports are a feature of the physical prowess and potential of the human body. I believe I may consider esports in the Olympics after say a successful inclusion of less addictive/compulsive behavior driven games of mental athletics such as Chess or Go.
I do recognize the skill involved to be successful in esports firsthand. I used to play Counter Strike competitively with a crew for a few years in the CAL and ending with an entry into a full CPL Tournament in Texas, but I am hesitant to consider these sports in the same class as "Physical Athletics" per se as physical athletics specifically require both mastery over mind AND body.
Perhaps a new analog to the Olympics specifically for mental athletics could be a success and would make a great venue for competitive gamers?
Wouldn't it simply be easier to hold another event after the Olympics and just call it Eolympics or what ever.
This would stop people from complaining that the Olympics should be for 'real athletes'.
Plus the Esports chaps would have to deal with the hate coming towards them from people trying to watch the standard events.
Esports is still a market mainly only watched by other gamers, and I can't imagine my parents sitting down watching a game hearthstone as you have to have a basic/good understanding of that said game to know what is happening.
I'll give 50/1 odds that Betway will not be in business in 2030.
Just a word to the wise for non-sports addicts, that although this fact is a great ego-boost concerning the importance of gaming and its future to the world and the value of gamers in it, I would advise Gaming to beware.
The IOC ( Olympic Organizing Committee ), despite recent "meaningful" reforms, is one of the most corrupt and powerful organizations in the world.
No doubt that the youth demographic and democratic tendencies of the Gaming community would improve the IOC and the Olympics by osmosis, but it would be wiser for Gaming to establish its own "Olympics" on a massive collective scale.
Gaming doesn't need to wait until 2030 to change the world.
Plus, there is an 8 year plus process now for Olympic sports to be introduced. Doesn't make sense in Gaming. iPhone and mobile and touch gaming didn't exist 8 years ago. Virtual Reality Gaming could be as "yesterday" as my first Atari 2600 in 2030.
There is "Don't Let Your Dreams Be Dreams", but there is also "Dream Bigger".
Based on trajectory, Gaming has every potential to be bigger than or on scale with "IRL sports".
The biggest part of this article for me as a huge sports fan as well, is the understanding and realization that when competitions such as the Olympics and the World Cup combine their respected sports with nationalism, the result is an exponential explosion. Regional competitions in eSports partly does this now, but fully fledged out, the possibilities would be mind blowing. For an example, imagine the pressure on the LOL Korean team in an eOlympics held in Seoul, or the Polish CSGO squad in an eOlympics in Europe.
I think best example of this is the XGames that developed quickly in yearly competitions. Their success quickly led to the introduction of XGames events in both Summer and Winter Games. ESports should lead from their positions of strength. The IOC would smell the money and come hunting for them soon enough. But the highest mountain for ESports is not the IOC. That being said, ESports should find their own mountain and climb it. ESports needs someone of vision to make it happen.
How about just play some NES track and field on a floor gamepad. Olympic event right there. This is silly.
Cyclo cross, which is a sport I love watching, and which is done during winter season, does not qualify for Winter Olympics. Cyclo cross is a predecessor of MTB racing. People on road racing bikes racing through mud, sand, snow, up and down flights of stairs, over beams, sharp turns, etc. kind of like cross country in running. Which also doesn't qualify as a Winter Olympic sport. Marianne Vos, who is a multiple Olympic Champion on road and velodrome events, multiple world champion on road and cross events, and former winner of the Giro Rosa, talked to the IOC about including cycle cross and was denied.
Reason: the Olympic charters states that Winter Olympic sports are performed on snow and/or ice. Not mud. Or office chairs.
I'm pretty sure this eliminates esports from contention.
I can imagine e-sports in the Olympics. But not Hearthstone, there is not enough to it.