Gift Guesses Gift #9: The Coolest Gift!

At last, the day has come. A time of chaos and despair, of rumours and whispers, and of doom sayers and hoaxes.

You thought I was talking about the apocalypse? You were gravely mistaken.

What I was describing to you was none other than the infamous ROBLOX forums (LMaD to be exact); which usually goes berserk when there is certain big gift to be opened and a certain user is online. Of course, I am talking about the famed Coolest Gift - the 'big' gift of this year's giftplosion.

There are many rumours drifting around regarding the contents of this glorious artefact, but only one theory can be correct and it is my job to identify the most prominent of them.

Theory 1: 

Still popular among the ROBLOX population is the prediction that the gift will contain the Black Iron Domino Crown which is a community created hat  by none other than SharpTH - the very talented graphic designer who likes to spend his time in leisurely jacuzzis while creating works of pure genius. This was also the theory favoured back in October with the Halloween 'big gift'. I also succumbed to the desire of acquiring this legendary item and so published it as my prediction.

Of course, I was wrong and the 2nd Halloween Dominus named the Dominus Vespirato was released (I should have seen this coming). But the theory still remains.

The rumour began on a forum owned by John Shedletsky, called 'Ironnoob'. On the ROBLOX section of the forum, a user named SharpTH - a well known ROBLOXian, posted a cake hat he had produced with 3DS Max (3D modelling software). He then went on to show John Shedletsky a new Domino Crown hat he had made, complete with a new mesh and texture. The pictures of which can be seen below:

Black Iron Domino Crown designed by SharpTH

The real interesting part however, is what John Shedletsky did next. On the second page of the Ironnoob thread, he posted:




This proves that John did indeed acquire the files for the Black Iron Domino Crown so ROBLOX artists could upload it to the catalog and use it as a gift. What makes it more likely for it to be at Christmas however is that for the past two Christmases, ROBLOX have released 2 Domino Crown retextures. First of all the Red Domino Crown and the Bluesteel Domino Crown. And in releasing a third they would be keeping in line with their Christmas tradition.


Theory 2:

The second theory is that the mysterious item lying within the gift box is perhaps an Ice Crown retexture. This would be hinted at with the gift's name and texture and would depart from ROBLOX's Domino Crown tradition - a much appreciated step many users would state. The retexture could be of red design, similar to the Crimsonwrath Conqueror of Kingdoms model created by Darkgenex:

**EDIT**

Inside the gift:

Both these theories were incorrect again.A very unexpected item actually came out of the Coolest Gift. It is of course the Dual Illumina - two of the ridiculously powerful weapon from SFOTH dual wielded for the user's enjoyment. I didn't see this coming. The forums didn't see this coming. Nobody saw this coming. It is a pleasant surprise to many users who will be relieved that it is not another Domino Crown. A review of this item will be coming later this weekend. 

Thank you for reading our gift guesses posts this month. We hope you enjoyed them! If you have any feedback for us, please send it in - you can PM me (arbirator), IBarrageI - Assistant Editor or Nonstopepic - Catalog Manager.

-arbirator

Editor of Roblox News 

Our Two New Catalog Anaylsts!

Greetings Roblox News fans! Today I bring the exciting news of two fantastic new staff members joining our dedicated team. You may have been aware that a few weeks ago, we published a post announcing the opening of four roles on our site. After a long period of reviewing the application and replying to certain applicants requesting for more information, we have finally come to a decision on who we have chosen to hire.

Joining NonstopEpic - our ever diligent Catalog Manager, are: Axelthehedgehog - a well known Forumer with huge amounts of experience in investment of virtual items in ROBLOX, and Pajke - a well known investor in Let's Make a Deal who will bring his business sense into his articles. A Catalog Analyst on Roblox News is both a varied and flexible role. Put basically: it involves the reviewing of items found within the ROBLOX Catalog. These reviews range from simple hat reviews, to package reviews and to more complex gear reviews in which the abilities and powers of the items are taken into account. However, it also a Catalog Analyst's role to include any investment advice or opportunities in their posts. Reading Limited item reviews will give you in-depth information and predictions on the success of the item on the ROBLOX market and whether you should invest your hard earned Robux in it.

Axelthehedgehog


Axel displayed raw talent with the sample article he included with his application. It was completed to a high standard and was incredibly detailed. He is quick to spot the small details on an item and give an intelligent opinion on them. Axel is an excllent addition to the Roblox News team and I will be looking forward to reading his articles in the near future! If you have any requests for items Axel should review; please shoot him a private message.

Pajke

Pajke's sample article impressed me greatly. He has a refreshingly brilliant writing style which flows with every sentence. It was of very high standard and told me everything I needed to know about the item in question. With his attention to detail; it is clear to me that Pajke brings a excellent skillset to the Roblox News team and I am looking forward to reading his articles in the near future. Again, if you have any requests for items Pajke should review; please shoot him a private message.


Congratulations once again to all four of our new employees. I would like to thank everyone who sent us an application and apologise for not being able to reply to every single application. They were all great and I look forward to seeing more in the future. 

I am looking to add more individuals to the Roblox News team by the New Year (2013), so if you're interested in gaming journalism and have a flare for reviewing, graphic design or real time events; keep your eyes peeled for openings!

Thanks,

-Arbirator
Editor of Roblox News

On iOS, ROBLOX opens all games to those without membership

You've been living under a rock for the past month, Roblox has recently released its mobile version onto the iOS platform and you can get your hands on it if you have a iPad 2+, iPhone 4+, or a iPod Touch 5th generation. You can download it for free by searching the word "Roblox" in the App Store.

The app allows you to join games which are normally only accessible on a PC and play with your friends. However, since it is on a mobile device, it has some limitations as far as performance and the complexity of games go. Shedletsky recently posted on IronNoob about this and said that the mobile version can handle up to "15k non-moving blocks and  200 moving blocks, otherwise performance will suffer."

All this sounded good until the release day came. Roblox announced that NBC members will only be able to play 8 selected games. This surprised me very much as they have never attempted to limit the games users would be able to play (except Builder's Club only places, which were a failed experiment) and them doing it on the iOS just seemed to be really out of the ordinary.

Good new came in today though, as Roblox just made a blog post announcing their decision to allow everyone to play every game. I'm actually really surprised by this considering their past actions regarding "BC test features" *cough* packages *cough* which still have not been released to the general public even though they have clearly been out of testing.

For me, this is less of an issue about being to play games on the go, but more about Roblox's bettering of their business practices. If you remember from some time ago, a user accessing the "Upgrade" tab of the Roblox site would have the cheapest option of Builder's Club hidden. And they would have to press a tiny button to reveal it. This really showed their greed as they hid the cheapest membership option, driving the less knowledgeable folks towards more expensive options they perhaps do not need. This was thankfully reverted.

They proved with this update that they are still a reputable company who actually keeps their consumers in mind, even if it is just once in a while. I applaud them for this and hope they continue to prosper.

-yomamadude6

Gift Guesses Round-Up : Gifts #6, #7, and #8

[Before the time this was scheduled the Ticket to Ride gift and the Lucky 7's Gift opened, and revealed the conductors pocket watch and the 7 Jeweled Circlet.]

Hello. IBarrageI here with another gift guessers post.

This is a round up of what I believe will be in the final 3 gifts.

First up. Ticket to ride gift.

This gift was given to players that created a Game Pass and had one sale at least. It went onsale for 300 R$ So, don't really expect much from this.

The overall design of this present is like a child's playroom, which would suggest maybe a playful item inside. Maybe a child's toy gear will come out?

Next, the Lucky Gift of Sevens.

This gift caused quite the stir when it was released, as it caused the increase of demand for #7's and also suggested that the price of it would be high. Though it turned out only to be 777 R$ (To everyone's dissapointment.

I believe that the them of 7's is strong in this one (Another pearl of wisdom from IBarrageI) And that luck aswell may play a theme in what comes out. Maybe a leprechaun hat or gold coins?

Lastly, The High Frequency Trading Gift

This gift has now been the center of rumors in the forums.

At 5,000 R$. This is sure to be one of the biggest gifts, and is now being predicted to have the famous Linked Sword (Default Sword)

There is not much to say other than that.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your Christmas.

Danger Mace Gear Review

Hey guys, I'm back with another gear review.

Today, I'll be reviewing the 'Danger Mace' gear. Let's get into it!

Mesh: The mesh looks very cool, it has shoulder pads for your character to wear to give the wearing some armour. The weapon looks very medieval, giving it an medieval feel, and it's probably really good for a knight costume, or something like that. It's really nice, the shoulder pads look cool, so does the weapon, so it gets a pretty solid 8/10. Maybe there could be knee pads or something?

Texture: The nice combination of the black and yellow on the shoulder pads looks great with the  tan-orange colour on the mace. There is also some black  The spikes have their normal gray-white colour which looks good as well. It nicely compliments the mesh, and it earned itself a pretty nice 10/10.

 Video Review (Kinda): I took a video for you guys so you can see what it's like in game.

So, from what you can see, it works pretty okay. It does a good amount of damage, but there is a little glitch with the shoulderplates.

Public Enjoyment: So I'm going to ask people on Twitter what they think, you know the drill c:

@TrueMarksmens: "Scary, because it has spikes :s"

@Taylw006: "Fun and powerful, yet a bit glitchy."

@PlusJack: "Mostly a gear to wear just for looks. I would get it because it looks cool on your character."

This gear looks like it's somewhat enjoyed by the public, I'll give it 7/10.

Overall: Overall, this gear looks pretty cool, it has a really cool mesh, a great texture, and it seems to be enjoyed by the public. I give it a 9/10.

Thanks for reading guys :D

Twitter: @OutspaceLeo

RN Spotlight: Merely's Outfit Extension

If you are like me, and use chrome. You probably know about chrome extensions. I'm always on the lookout for ROBLOX extensions that make my time on ROBLOX more fun and less time consuming.

Have you ever felt fed up with changing your character so many times just to find the right look? Or even trying to remember that  perfect combo you found, but can't because you aren't able to find the hats that you are looking for?

Well then. This extension is perfect.

The Outfit Extension by Merely is a great addition to the character section, as it allows you to save outfits that you have created and easily get them back at the click of a button.

It's so easy to create and use outfits

This extension is perfect for those who change their character a lot, but just haven't got the time to create a new look.

Merely's Outfit extension is currently in beta, and wants users to report any bugs they find to Merely himself.

Good work on the extension, Merely.

You can download it here

Our Two New Place Reviewers!

Greetings Roblox News fans! Today I bring the exciting news of two fresh, new place reviewers will be joining our prestigious ranks. You may have been aware that a few weeks ago, we published a post announcing the opening of four roles on our site. After a long period of reviewing the application and replying to certain applicants requesting for more information, we have finally come to a decision on who we have chosen to hire.

Joining Banjobug who is our newly promoted Manager of our place review department are PeerPants and theovert! Congratulations are in order for these two talented individuals! They will be producing quality place reviews, and will be coordinating with Banjobug on weekly themed reviews and conducting meetings together.

PeerPants



PeerPants is both a friendly and enthusiastic individual who enjoys expression his opinions of ROBLOX Games in the form of place reviews. His work shows a certain spark with it's quality of content and his unique writing style. He will be happy to receive place review requests from users - provided they are of good standard.

theovert


Passionate in his work, theovert shows a flare with his writing style and vocabulary. Providing an exceptional quality article in his application, he showed me that he strives to complete great articles for all users to enjoy. Also feel free to message theover with place review requests.


Congratulations once again to our new employees - our catalog analysts will be announced tomorrow. I would like to thank everyone who sent us an application and apologise for not being able to reply to every single application. They were all great and I look forward to seeing more in the future! 

Thanks,

-Arbirator
Editor of Roblox News

Gift Guesses Gift #5: Festival Gift of Group Fundraising

Greetings gift collectors of ROBLOX. Today I bring you a gift guesses post on the Festival Gift of Group Fundraising which has already been given out. The gift is currently on sale for R$75 is timed to go off-sale in around 1 day.

'Raising the roof for fundraisers. Alright. Alright.'

How was the gift obtained? 

• The gift was awarded to anyone who made an item for their group and sold at least 1 of them by December 11th, 2012. 

How do I make group items?

Although this gift achievement has passed, I believe it would worth investing in some group items to raise group funds for advertising, but also to provide uniform to your members - particularly if you are in a war group. 

1. Navigate to the 'my groups' page and select a group you own.  Click the 'create items' button on the right hand side near the top of the group page. 

2. Once clicked, you will be given the choice of either creating a shirt, a pair of pants or a t-shirt. These are then uploaded like any regular clothing item. 

3. Once you have uploaded your group item and put it on sale for a price of your choice, it will appear in the group items tab. From here you can navigate to any of your group items and configure them. 

The money raised by the group items is all added to the group fund and not the owners account. This provides an alternative means of funding for advertising of the group. 

What may be inside the gift?

Due to the word 'festive' in the gift's name, \the item inside is likely to be strongly related to Christmas and the festivities throughout. The item could relate reindeer, Christmas decorations, lights, and of course; Santa Claus. It could also have something to do with groups inside, perhaps a crown of linked ROBLOXians could be within - although, this is unlikely because the gift only costs R$75. It is most likely going to be some kind of knitted cap as a pair of Shades have already been released out of the Newshound Gift. It might even be a Christmas themed Sombrero, but hey, that's just a wild guess. 

Happy hunting!

Thanks,

-Arbirator

Editor of Roblox News 

Roblox pushes out new "featherweight" update, new era of Roblox?

As everyone who has ever played games on Roblox knows, the lag from a large amount of parts will drop your FPS like a brick dropping off of a building (get it?). However, that is all about to change as Roblox recently pushed out the new "featherweight" update which will render bricks much faster, giving a 10 to 20 time increase in performance.

The featherweight was recently hinted by ZolarKeth, co-creator of the famous zombie-survival RPG Apocalypse Rising, in a recent interview done by Roblox. If you remember a while back, Apocalypse Rising sported a larger map for a couple of weeks, however, the map was shrunken due to complaints from players not being about to handle the enormity of it. In the interview, ZolarKeth mentioned his plans for version 4.0 of his game: a better inventory system, vehicles, and "new scenery and points of cover to get behind, as well as more detailed trees and buildings."

What surprised me about that statement was that Gusmanak previously mentioned that he will not develop vehicles into the game due to lag issues, and that the only way for this addition to happen, Roblox had to dramatically decrease lag cause by parts. ZolarKeth's statement, however, mentions the addition of parts to add detail to buildings and terrain, in addition to vehicles. This hinted that the "featherweight" update was quickly approaching.

Preview of Apocalypse Rising Vehicles

Soon after on December 4th, Shedletsky (formerly Telamon) posted a thread on IronNoob (a Roblox forum) that showed his major FPS improvements when playing EBR's Block Town, all the way from 20 FPS to 300 FPS. A demo was also available to download.

At first, the demo of the "featherweight" update had many bugs, including disappearing meshes, not being able to work on some computers, headless Robloxians, etc. However, most have been ironed out for the live release of this update. The update works on all parts that are anchored, attached to an anchored part via welds, without meshes, are not made of the material "Corroded Metal." That means it will not work for meshed parts, but don't worry, Shedletsky confirmed the Roblox development team is working on it.

What Does This Mean for You?

Whether you like developing games or simply enjoying them, you can now do it more efficiently and at a higher graphical fidelity. Although the update did not directly improve the graphics by adding more shaders or better textures, it gives the content creator the option of using more parts. More parts = more detail = better looking games.

How Do I Take Advantage of the Update?

As a player, nothing much. But as a builder, there is much to do to optimize your place for the update. Here are a few questions I want you to answer.

1. Does your place primarily use bricks with "BlockMesh"?
2. Does your place use lots of "Corroded Metal" bricks?
3. Does your place have lots of unanchored parts?

If you answered "Yes" to question 1, I have a possilbe solution for you. You first need take out all the "BlockMesh" out of the bricks. Then, you can smooth out the ugly bevel edges using my tutorial and then even add a material to make it look better than before.

If you answered "Yes" to question 2, this is the solution. You could just replace the material to another material. Or you could make a texture of rust and put it on all your bricks, although it wouldn't be bumpmapped and wouldn't look so well. I recommend just sticking with it and waiting for an update to fix this.

If you answered "Yes" to question 3, there might be something you can do. If most of your unanchored parts are not moving and not attached to an anchored part, ANCHOR THEM! Quite simply really. If they need to be moving however, you have little you can do.

Have fun with a lag-free time playing the new Roblox update! And look forward to Apocalypse Rising v4.0 because it looks really fun.

-yomamadude6

Gift Guesses Gift #4: Self-Referrential GIft of Referring

Greetings gift hoarders of ROBLOXia! Today I will be gift guessing the Self-Referential GIft of Reffering.  As the name suggests, this gift is likely to be all about ROBLOX's referral system.

The referral system is simply where an individuals tells another individual about ROBLOX and how to sign up. On the last page of the registering process, you are given an option to type in the name of the user who 'reffered you'. If you fill this in; the place will receive +1 to their all time refferal count and will be a step closer to the Inviter Badge. Alternatively this gift could actually be linked with referring yourself, which is an option on the 'share' section of the site.

The description reads: 'Get the references. They're not going to get themselves.'

Here are the several possible methods of obtaining the gift:

•  As mentioned above, the gift is most likely obtained by reffering users to join ROBLOX (not to sign up for BC however - this was used as a gift back in 2009 as the Wintery Gift of Thanks). You can do this through the 'Invite A Friend' and clicking 'Email to a Friend'. Perhaps you can get some new friends to join ROBLOX! You most likely need the 'Inviter Badge' to obtain the gift - this is simple to get; just get four new users to refer you. Alternatively you may need a larger amount of referrals - perhaps between 10-20, although this unlikely. 

• With a slight difference to the method before; you may need to click the 'Email to Myself' option and then send it to your verified email address. This method is possibly hinted at by the words 'Self-Referencing' and the use of a capital 'I' within 'GIft'.                                                                                                                       

• The final and least likely accurate method is referring to yourself in your own description. Some of my more hawk-eyed followers may have observed me copying TheEasterZombie's ingenious idea by putting: 'I'm going to refer to the Self-Refferential GIft of Referring in my description, just for banter.' in my account blurb. You may want to do something like this to - just to be sure to get the gift. 

A quick walk-through on how reffering works on ROBLOX:

1. You can choose to get your refferals through word of mouth or by emailing your friends through the ROBLOX interface. To do this, simply navigate to the 'Invite A Friend' page under the share section on the ROBLOX main bar. Before clicking 'Send invitation' button at the bottom of the page, ensure you provide a email address for the message to be sent to (you also have the option of personalising the message). 

2. When a user first signs up to ROBLOX, after going through the individuals age, username and password the site will ask you if you would like to add a user's name in the refferal box. This is shown below: 

What might be inside the gift: 

Because the gift is likely direcly linked to a ROBLOX badge; the gift inside could possibly be another medal hat similar to the ROBLOX Veteran's Medal from 2010. It could be a ROBLOX Inviter's Medal and even possibly be this retexture. On the otherhand, the gift could be relating to the gifts wrapping and including some kind of candy cane themed item such as a cap or gear. 

Thanks for reading Gift Guesses #4, happy hunting!

Thanks,

Arbirator

-Editor of Roblox News