There have been some well known blogging voices that have faded into the sunset this year. This happens all the time, but it still seems odd to read a post announcing a blog's end or a blog going on hiatus.
Today, Cynwise of Cynwise's Warcraft Manual announced that he's going to take a break from blogging until next year.
I'm going to miss Cyn's walls of text, his self deprecating humor, and his sharp insights into PvP and BGs in WoW. He was always thorough in his analyses, and he never believed that BGs were so hard that a noob couldn't excel at them. After one of his entries in his magnum opus, The Decline and Fall of Warlocks in Cataclysm, I quipped that if he brought that level of detail to his job, I'd want him on my side in an argument at work. He never, and I do mean never, came unprepared to a topic.
I've moved Cyn's link down to the Blogs in Mothballs section, but I'm really tempted to move it to the References area.
As with Ratters when he retired, I'll miss ya, Cyn. Don't be a stranger.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
What's in a Name, Anyway?
Names are a funny thing.
When I was on the Twisted Nether blogcast, one of the standard questions Fim asked me was where I got my characters' names. Even though I knew it was coming --I'd listened to all but the last few questions* of a few episodes prior to my interview-- I still kind of muddled through an answer. What it boils down to is that I tried to create names that at least sounded Fantasy-esque. The each name's origin may be different, but the name itself arose from a desire to make something that sounded at least semi-realistic.
Every time I enter a BG and find the game populated with names like "Sukstobeu", "Ikeelthings" and "Hotsxyfun", I'm reminded that not everyone plays the game with the same goals in mind.
I've often wondered how much of a correlation there is between purely goofball names and a players' tendency to play certain aspects of an MMO. I suppose there are exceptions, but I don't often find players with XBox-esque names while I'm out and about in Azeroth, leveling by questing. I'm sure that once Pandaria drops that'll change, but right now it seems that a lot of these sort of names are concentrated in BGs, and to a lesser extent instances/raids.
While I realize there's a great tendency to pass these people off as merely kids or teenagers, I don't think there's a direct correlation between age and name choice. I can think of enough examples in the guilds I've been in that refute the idea that only kids play with names like that.
But what does stand out in my mind is that the level of immersion a player wants in a game does have an impact on their toon names.
Quite a few of the people I know who have crazy names don't really care much about lore/story, RP-ing**, or seeing a final raid boss down due to in-game reasons. They're not likely to be (non-battle) pet collectors, transmog players, or achievement hunters. Among the MMO bloggers I chat with, I don't think a single one has created a name like "MrCowCanMooCanU"***. But to me, that makes sense because we care about the games we write about, and we're not playing just to kill a few things and blow off some steam. Or show off our e-peens.
When we take time to create names that sound Fantasy-esque, we're saying that immersion matters.
There's a great temptation to make the leap from naming to immersion to longevity in a game, but I don't think you can connect the last two. There have been far too many people who have tried games and moved on to make an effective link there. Just because someone does care about immersion doesn't mean that other factors don't influence their game playing.
Still, I've never forgotten what one (now ex) guildie on Horde side once told me in Stonecore when I said "So THAT was what happened to Millhouse": "Q, I don't care about who they are, all I just want to do is kill them."
And you can guess what type of name his was.
*I figured I might as well be surprised by a few of the questions, and the famous "last three" seemed like a good idea.
**Erotic role playing (ERP) is most likely a different kettle of fish.
***Now having written this, I'd bet money that someone --probably Rades-- would name a Tauren that just to tweak me.
When I was on the Twisted Nether blogcast, one of the standard questions Fim asked me was where I got my characters' names. Even though I knew it was coming --I'd listened to all but the last few questions* of a few episodes prior to my interview-- I still kind of muddled through an answer. What it boils down to is that I tried to create names that at least sounded Fantasy-esque. The each name's origin may be different, but the name itself arose from a desire to make something that sounded at least semi-realistic.
Every time I enter a BG and find the game populated with names like "Sukstobeu", "Ikeelthings" and "Hotsxyfun", I'm reminded that not everyone plays the game with the same goals in mind.
I've often wondered how much of a correlation there is between purely goofball names and a players' tendency to play certain aspects of an MMO. I suppose there are exceptions, but I don't often find players with XBox-esque names while I'm out and about in Azeroth, leveling by questing. I'm sure that once Pandaria drops that'll change, but right now it seems that a lot of these sort of names are concentrated in BGs, and to a lesser extent instances/raids.
While I realize there's a great tendency to pass these people off as merely kids or teenagers, I don't think there's a direct correlation between age and name choice. I can think of enough examples in the guilds I've been in that refute the idea that only kids play with names like that.
But what does stand out in my mind is that the level of immersion a player wants in a game does have an impact on their toon names.
Quite a few of the people I know who have crazy names don't really care much about lore/story, RP-ing**, or seeing a final raid boss down due to in-game reasons. They're not likely to be (non-battle) pet collectors, transmog players, or achievement hunters. Among the MMO bloggers I chat with, I don't think a single one has created a name like "MrCowCanMooCanU"***. But to me, that makes sense because we care about the games we write about, and we're not playing just to kill a few things and blow off some steam. Or show off our e-peens.
When we take time to create names that sound Fantasy-esque, we're saying that immersion matters.
There's a great temptation to make the leap from naming to immersion to longevity in a game, but I don't think you can connect the last two. There have been far too many people who have tried games and moved on to make an effective link there. Just because someone does care about immersion doesn't mean that other factors don't influence their game playing.
Still, I've never forgotten what one (now ex) guildie on Horde side once told me in Stonecore when I said "So THAT was what happened to Millhouse": "Q, I don't care about who they are, all I just want to do is kill them."
And you can guess what type of name his was.
*I figured I might as well be surprised by a few of the questions, and the famous "last three" seemed like a good idea.
**Erotic role playing (ERP) is most likely a different kettle of fish.
***Now having written this, I'd bet money that someone --probably Rades-- would name a Tauren that just to tweak me.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Who is at the Top of the Charts?
If I see another permutation of the name "Po" in a BG, I think I'll scream.
I should have been checking whether screen caps are back working so I could have caught it, but there was one Arathi Basin run wherein two of the participants were named Po (one on each side). Every other BG I'd run from a period of Tuesday through early Thursday has had a different "Po" as well. At first I thought it was the same player, but noooo.....
All these Kung Fu Panda references, and we haven't even gotten to the Pandaren yet.
In case you haven't been in a low level BG lately, Disco Priests are the current OP class right now. You know how much fun it is to have 4+ people beating on a Prot Pally without much success? That Pally has now been replaced by the Disco Priest. I couldn't count the number of times multiple people ganged up on a Disco Priest in a BG, only to have the Priest emerge unscathed.
I'm sorry, but there's something very wrong about a Clothie being able to handle people like that. We're talking about a Priest, not a Jedi.
Disco priests have suddenly become so popular in the entry level BG range that their numbers are approaching 'DK in Outland' levels. I was in an Arathi Basin BG on Wednesday where there were six Disco Priests on the Alliance side, and four on the Horde side. And who topped the kill charts in that BG? The Disco Priests. All of them.
My slowness issue seems to have been corrected in the latest 5.0.5 patch, although a perusal of the patch notes didn't reveal anything specific to my problem. Unfortunately, the washed out effect is still there, despite me tweaking the graphics settings like crazy.
As is typically the case in software, my issues are more likely "artifacts" or "features" as opposed to bugs. I haven't come across anything new, but I guess we'll see what comes up.
In TOR, I managed to provide an interesting bug case for the devs.
I'd created a Trooper, and while she was working on her initial class quest on Ord Mandell, I'd stumbled upon the previously bugged mission The Ambush. Well, I muddled through it, but afterwards the thing refused to complete, but at the same time, I was given the next mission in the sequence. Therefore, I've got two quests from the same chain sitting in my Mission Log, and I can't complete the one because of interference from the other. The devs have tried a few things --especially since they fixed that mission on Tuesday's down time-- but they're still scratching their heads over my Trooper's conundrum. I presume they could manually intervene with my toon and correct it manually, but they probably want to figure out how it got there so it doesn't happen to other people.
Considering I'm playing my Trooper as a complete no-nonsense sort, she would not take kindly to this situation. (Think Sergeant Mack on Taris in the bonus series, and you get the idea.)
Some months into Cata, I'd stated how tactical Vashj'ir was for ranged DPS was, and how liberating it was for a Mage to have that vertical dimension to work from. When you go straight from Wrath zones to Vashj'ir without stopping to gear up, the Cata 'jump' meant you had to take it easy and work a pull at a time until you got yourself a complete set of baseline Cata green gear. This was a bit of a sea change from what people were used to leveling up through Wrath, although the Storm Peaks and Icecrown did have a bit of that tactical feel to it.
To a lesser extent, that tactical feel is what it's like leveling out in the field for TOR, although it feels like that on a more consistent basis. WoW --especially in the post-5.0.4 world-- seems built for steamrolling over mobs out in the field.
Now, a game like Age of Conan, however, is much more unforgiving. And brutal.
I was reminded of that when I returned to my Barbarian and worked a bit on some quests in Old Tarantia. Unlike WoW and TOR (and LOTRO, for that matter), AoC does not go in for so-called 'heroic combat'. You definitely have to work your way patiently through mobs if they're at-level, and more than one mob at a time often spells doom to your player. The AoC mobs are also much MUCH more sensitive to activity nearby, and will aggro from a much greater distance than in WoW or TOR.
These little touches of realism keep me grounded after playing sessions of "Jump into the fray and kill them all!!!" fighting found in WoW or TOR. It also helps my leveling experience out in the other two games, because I play more conservatively and patiently.
Perhaps I'm onto something here, because I do get a lot of satisfaction playing different MMOs, and I can enjoy them for what they are. From my perspective, they complement each other, because I'm not in a rush to be the first or the absolute best. I'm not trying to be that hard core raider slogging through hard modes, but rather just having fun puttering around in different worlds.
Now, if someone will get around to creating an MMO version of Lankhmar....
I should have been checking whether screen caps are back working so I could have caught it, but there was one Arathi Basin run wherein two of the participants were named Po (one on each side). Every other BG I'd run from a period of Tuesday through early Thursday has had a different "Po" as well. At first I thought it was the same player, but noooo.....
All these Kung Fu Panda references, and we haven't even gotten to the Pandaren yet.
***
In case you haven't been in a low level BG lately, Disco Priests are the current OP class right now. You know how much fun it is to have 4+ people beating on a Prot Pally without much success? That Pally has now been replaced by the Disco Priest. I couldn't count the number of times multiple people ganged up on a Disco Priest in a BG, only to have the Priest emerge unscathed.
I'm sorry, but there's something very wrong about a Clothie being able to handle people like that. We're talking about a Priest, not a Jedi.
Disco priests have suddenly become so popular in the entry level BG range that their numbers are approaching 'DK in Outland' levels. I was in an Arathi Basin BG on Wednesday where there were six Disco Priests on the Alliance side, and four on the Horde side. And who topped the kill charts in that BG? The Disco Priests. All of them.
***
My slowness issue seems to have been corrected in the latest 5.0.5 patch, although a perusal of the patch notes didn't reveal anything specific to my problem. Unfortunately, the washed out effect is still there, despite me tweaking the graphics settings like crazy.
As is typically the case in software, my issues are more likely "artifacts" or "features" as opposed to bugs. I haven't come across anything new, but I guess we'll see what comes up.
***
In TOR, I managed to provide an interesting bug case for the devs.
I'd created a Trooper, and while she was working on her initial class quest on Ord Mandell, I'd stumbled upon the previously bugged mission The Ambush. Well, I muddled through it, but afterwards the thing refused to complete, but at the same time, I was given the next mission in the sequence. Therefore, I've got two quests from the same chain sitting in my Mission Log, and I can't complete the one because of interference from the other. The devs have tried a few things --especially since they fixed that mission on Tuesday's down time-- but they're still scratching their heads over my Trooper's conundrum. I presume they could manually intervene with my toon and correct it manually, but they probably want to figure out how it got there so it doesn't happen to other people.
Considering I'm playing my Trooper as a complete no-nonsense sort, she would not take kindly to this situation. (Think Sergeant Mack on Taris in the bonus series, and you get the idea.)
***
Some months into Cata, I'd stated how tactical Vashj'ir was for ranged DPS was, and how liberating it was for a Mage to have that vertical dimension to work from. When you go straight from Wrath zones to Vashj'ir without stopping to gear up, the Cata 'jump' meant you had to take it easy and work a pull at a time until you got yourself a complete set of baseline Cata green gear. This was a bit of a sea change from what people were used to leveling up through Wrath, although the Storm Peaks and Icecrown did have a bit of that tactical feel to it.
To a lesser extent, that tactical feel is what it's like leveling out in the field for TOR, although it feels like that on a more consistent basis. WoW --especially in the post-5.0.4 world-- seems built for steamrolling over mobs out in the field.
Now, a game like Age of Conan, however, is much more unforgiving. And brutal.
I was reminded of that when I returned to my Barbarian and worked a bit on some quests in Old Tarantia. Unlike WoW and TOR (and LOTRO, for that matter), AoC does not go in for so-called 'heroic combat'. You definitely have to work your way patiently through mobs if they're at-level, and more than one mob at a time often spells doom to your player. The AoC mobs are also much MUCH more sensitive to activity nearby, and will aggro from a much greater distance than in WoW or TOR.
These little touches of realism keep me grounded after playing sessions of "Jump into the fray and kill them all!!!" fighting found in WoW or TOR. It also helps my leveling experience out in the other two games, because I play more conservatively and patiently.
Perhaps I'm onto something here, because I do get a lot of satisfaction playing different MMOs, and I can enjoy them for what they are. From my perspective, they complement each other, because I'm not in a rush to be the first or the absolute best. I'm not trying to be that hard core raider slogging through hard modes, but rather just having fun puttering around in different worlds.
Now, if someone will get around to creating an MMO version of Lankhmar....
Monday, September 10, 2012
A Few Thoughts from a Brain in Need of Coffee
It's a Monday, and it shows.
While I'm waiting for the coffee to hit my system, I figured I'd capture a few more thoughts from MMO space.
I didn't notice this on Adelwulf, but when I switched to my Night Elf Rogue, I discovered that the WoW graphics have indeed taken a bit of a hit. While she was in Dolanaar*, I kept thinking that I needed to get some eyedrops or something, because she --and much of the background-- seemed to be washed out.
Then I switched to Tomakan to go transfer some of my gold and got a big surprise when I saw the old Paladin in the Exodar. Most of the bright graphical details were washed out in a haze of white.
I can make out enough to play, but considering that I didn't change any of my graphics settings I wasn't expecting this. While I suppose I can tinker with increasing my graphics settings, if I do it too much I definitely won't be able to play the game due to the FPS hit. I'm kind of hoping that this is a mistake and will get corrected, but I don't hold out much hope in that regard.
While questing in Teldrassil and learning the ropes of being a Rogue (more on that later), I'd been killing whatever I came across. That is, until a killing blow laid my installation low.
I'd been getting concerned about the stability of my installation since the patch, especially when I opened up my bags and perusing the gear inside I could see my toon's animation visibly slow down to a crawl. I'd been disabling all the add-ons I have to see if that improved anything, but no dice. But still, I wasn't expecting the installation to crash during combat.
I'm pretty sure that in all the time I've played WoW, I've had the game crash maybe one other time, and that I wrote off to issues surrounding the 3.5 patches + hotfixes. However, given the graphics problems, the sound problem with the launch window, and some other issues, the pre-release Mists patch hasn't exactly given a boost to my confidence level. I'd actually feel better if Blizzard were bombarding my installation with a stream of hotfixes, but that hasn't been the case. Also, I really really don't want to have to reinstall the whole damn game, either, because that could take ages.
If this instability continues, I might end up playing other MMOs because they're not behaving badly.
I've discovered that the easiest way to confound a Rogue is to randomly switch direction.
Seriously.
You know you're getting annoyed when you're talking back to the screen, saying "Stay still so I can backstab you, dammit!"
Ah, the life of a Rogue.
I thought about entering a BG right as I dinged L11, but then I came to my senses. There'd be no way in hell that I'd be useful if I didn't have Sap, and I get that at L12.
The more I play a Rogue, the more respect I have for the physical skill of playing one. It requires more of a safecracker's touch to orient yourself prior to attacking, whereas the other classes I've played are more of the point-and-shoot/swing/blast variety. But I can see that the fewer CC required in a situation, the less of an advantage the Rogue has. Steamrolling through instances would put the Rogue at a disadvantage, for instance, because by its very nature a steamroll would eschew any CC or DoTs in favor of brute force. Sure, a Rogue could switch to Combat spec for those scenarios, but a Rogue's strengths are in poisons and CC.
Still, the skills that weaken a Rogue in PvE allow it to excel in PvP. And really, the Rogue is tailor made for BGs, so much so that I may end up revising my negative opinion of Warsong Gulch.
I've been working on some alts for TOR to see what the class quests are, and I've gotten four of them (Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Jedi Councillor, Jedi Knight) just to the point where they get their ship. Having gone through most of the Smuggler's campagin arc, I figured I knew how things worked. Perhaps it's the WoW-ness of MMOs, but I was thinking along the lines of: Starting Zone -> Coruscant -> Taris -> Nar Shadda -> etc.
But imagine my surprise when I got the Jedi Knight to his ship, used the holocommunicator, and I was to head to... Ord Mandell.
Wait, what? The Smuggler/Trooper starting zone? Where did this come from?
I had to remind myself that I wasn't playing WoW, and that each class quest goes differently.
Oh, and the Sith starship? That looks awesome. The Jedi ship, much less so. I still think that some Corellians took the Jedi Order for a ride when they sold them that starship design. It takes some balls to be a starship salesman to the Jedi, but like car salesmen everywhere, they somehow managed to get the best end of the deal.
I still like the interior layout of the Smuggler's Freighter the best, however.
*Yes, a female NE Rogue. I don't want to fall into the segregated trap of having my casters be female while the melee bunch be male, and I still prefer the female NE to the male by a long shot. I'm sorry, but green hair and beard doesn't do it for me.
**From Wowcrendor's Youtube video, Class Stereotypes.
EtA: 'for', 'from'. They both start with 'F', right? Just like another 'F' word....
While I'm waiting for the coffee to hit my system, I figured I'd capture a few more thoughts from MMO space.
White Outs Abound
I didn't notice this on Adelwulf, but when I switched to my Night Elf Rogue, I discovered that the WoW graphics have indeed taken a bit of a hit. While she was in Dolanaar*, I kept thinking that I needed to get some eyedrops or something, because she --and much of the background-- seemed to be washed out.
Then I switched to Tomakan to go transfer some of my gold and got a big surprise when I saw the old Paladin in the Exodar. Most of the bright graphical details were washed out in a haze of white.
I can make out enough to play, but considering that I didn't change any of my graphics settings I wasn't expecting this. While I suppose I can tinker with increasing my graphics settings, if I do it too much I definitely won't be able to play the game due to the FPS hit. I'm kind of hoping that this is a mistake and will get corrected, but I don't hold out much hope in that regard.
Putting on my Crash Helmet
While questing in Teldrassil and learning the ropes of being a Rogue (more on that later), I'd been killing whatever I came across. That is, until a killing blow laid my installation low.
I'd been getting concerned about the stability of my installation since the patch, especially when I opened up my bags and perusing the gear inside I could see my toon's animation visibly slow down to a crawl. I'd been disabling all the add-ons I have to see if that improved anything, but no dice. But still, I wasn't expecting the installation to crash during combat.
I'm pretty sure that in all the time I've played WoW, I've had the game crash maybe one other time, and that I wrote off to issues surrounding the 3.5 patches + hotfixes. However, given the graphics problems, the sound problem with the launch window, and some other issues, the pre-release Mists patch hasn't exactly given a boost to my confidence level. I'd actually feel better if Blizzard were bombarding my installation with a stream of hotfixes, but that hasn't been the case. Also, I really really don't want to have to reinstall the whole damn game, either, because that could take ages.
If this instability continues, I might end up playing other MMOs because they're not behaving badly.
"Stun stun stun stun... Vanish!"**
I've discovered that the easiest way to confound a Rogue is to randomly switch direction.
Seriously.
You know you're getting annoyed when you're talking back to the screen, saying "Stay still so I can backstab you, dammit!"
Ah, the life of a Rogue.
I thought about entering a BG right as I dinged L11, but then I came to my senses. There'd be no way in hell that I'd be useful if I didn't have Sap, and I get that at L12.
The more I play a Rogue, the more respect I have for the physical skill of playing one. It requires more of a safecracker's touch to orient yourself prior to attacking, whereas the other classes I've played are more of the point-and-shoot/swing/blast variety. But I can see that the fewer CC required in a situation, the less of an advantage the Rogue has. Steamrolling through instances would put the Rogue at a disadvantage, for instance, because by its very nature a steamroll would eschew any CC or DoTs in favor of brute force. Sure, a Rogue could switch to Combat spec for those scenarios, but a Rogue's strengths are in poisons and CC.
Still, the skills that weaken a Rogue in PvE allow it to excel in PvP. And really, the Rogue is tailor made for BGs, so much so that I may end up revising my negative opinion of Warsong Gulch.
Deviation from the Norm
I've been working on some alts for TOR to see what the class quests are, and I've gotten four of them (Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Jedi Councillor, Jedi Knight) just to the point where they get their ship. Having gone through most of the Smuggler's campagin arc, I figured I knew how things worked. Perhaps it's the WoW-ness of MMOs, but I was thinking along the lines of: Starting Zone -> Coruscant -> Taris -> Nar Shadda -> etc.
But imagine my surprise when I got the Jedi Knight to his ship, used the holocommunicator, and I was to head to... Ord Mandell.
Wait, what? The Smuggler/Trooper starting zone? Where did this come from?
I had to remind myself that I wasn't playing WoW, and that each class quest goes differently.
Oh, and the Sith starship? That looks awesome. The Jedi ship, much less so. I still think that some Corellians took the Jedi Order for a ride when they sold them that starship design. It takes some balls to be a starship salesman to the Jedi, but like car salesmen everywhere, they somehow managed to get the best end of the deal.
I still like the interior layout of the Smuggler's Freighter the best, however.
*Yes, a female NE Rogue. I don't want to fall into the segregated trap of having my casters be female while the melee bunch be male, and I still prefer the female NE to the male by a long shot. I'm sorry, but green hair and beard doesn't do it for me.
**From Wowcrendor's Youtube video, Class Stereotypes.
EtA: 'for', 'from'. They both start with 'F', right? Just like another 'F' word....
Friday, August 31, 2012
Some More Post-Patch Notes
In the Arms Race, My Demo is Now a Pinto
Additionally, it seems like Hunters hit for even more than before, but Rogues not quite as much. It might be that for the Rogues I'm seeing the impact of Health inflation, but I haven't gotten into as many BGs as I'd like to be sure.
Oh, and beware of the "bargain" part of Dark Bargain. I don't think you need me telling you how much fun it is having a Warlock "pop a bubble" and then afterwards getting laid low by the post-bubble damage. However, Soul Link isn't as useful as before, because the damage flows both ways and the Warlock's pet has half the health when Soul Link is active.
I still haven't won a BG since the patch dropped. I think that's partially due to people hashing out their new abilities, but I've also not been impressed by strategy in BGs this week either. Considering I've been tweaking things too, I'm not really complaining. Just noting.
The screen capture for WoW wasn't working as of this morning, so I wasn't able to capture the now "normal" view of a Warlock's Shivarra:
Being a Bit Cheeky
 |
| From Wikipedia. Who knew? |
 |
| Seoni the Sorceress, From Paizo.com |
I'm not exactly sure how to take the Shivarra. Her angry/slightly insane struggle against her bonds fits the "binding a demon against their will" portion of the Warlock, but I'm more than a bit uncomfortable about that view from the rear. In an ironic twist, I'm okay with the Succubus/Incubus g-string wearing demon that the Demonologist in Age of Conan summons, because a) AoC has a mature rating, and b) there's no gender bias skewed in favor of a female demon. (There's a hetero bias in AoC in that female Demonologists can only summon Incubi and males the Succubi, but that's a different issue.) WoW, on the other hand, is really marketing itself to around the tween and up set, and that Shivarran backside raises sexuality images that WoW has been carefully neutering from it's PvE in-game content. I'd probably not feel as uncomfortable about the Shivarra if it wasn't for the "Hey kids, WoW Pokemon!" that Blizzard is using as a big selling point in Mists. "Come for Pokemon, stay for the ass" isn't probably the tagline Blizz wants right now.
I'd imagine that more that a few people are grumbling about "Goldshire!" right now, but my point is that we're talking PvE, not player created scenarios. With humans involved you can't expect things to stay completely clean in an MMO, and lots of MMOs have an ERP subcommunity. But prior to this, WoW has done a pretty decent job of trying to keep the topic of sexuality and relationships out of in-game PvE content; so much so, in fact, that WoW has been occasionally criticized for ignoring that area completely. But somehow I think that Blizz didn't intend for sexuality to pop up in quite this fashion.
Why I Need to Consider an Upgrade, Part Whatever
Switching gears entirely, I have noticed a bit of a drag on in-game performance. I don't have the graphics turned up all the way by any means, but I have noticed a bit of a drop in fps, around 5 or so. I'm not sure how much of an impact there is if graphics is cranked up all the way, but I'd imagine that if your PC is on the older side you'll feel a bit of a slowdown.
Just Who is the Focus of the Game, Anyway?
In an MMO, you play the hero. Sure, you could be a grunt or a noble or somewhere in between, but in the end it is the player that is the hero. At the same time, Blizz concentrates a lot of its storytelling and lore on the faction leaders and their interactions. Nothing could have emphasized this weird dichotomy more than on Tuesday when both the pre-release Mists patch dropped and the book Tides of War was released.
Tides is pretty much standard Blizzard novel fare, which I once likened to reading a David Eddings novel. All the major players are the Azeroth-erati, and the story revolves completely around them and their impact on the world. It works well enough, I suppose, except that it doesn't mesh with WoW itself.
WoW is the story of us, as a WoW Insider article by Matt Rossi so aptly put it. We're not kings and queens, organizational leaders or extraterrestrial beings. We're not dragons or powerful denizens of the forests. We're people who rise to the occasion. If nothing else, the game makes it perfectly clear that we are not the Azeroth-erati; we may get the occasional party thrown our way, but we are spectators when the Powerful arrive on scene. Ironically enough, it is because the Azeroth-erati depend on the players to get things done in-game that I get this weird feeling every time I flip through a WoW novel. The cast is so insular, I can't help but feel like a voyeur, but at the same time I wonder where the hell we are in the novels.
EtA: the pathfinder.wikia.com link was no longer active, so I replaced it with one from Paizo itself.
EtA: the pathfinder.wikia.com link was no longer active, so I replaced it with one from Paizo itself.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Dear Blizzard....
...your tuning needs work.
When, as an L78 Affliction Warlock, I can drop into Malykriss over in Icecrown and clear out all the L80 normals without breaking a sweat, you've got some overpowered damage issues. And yes, I do have some heirlooms on, but I also have a lot of L70 PvP gear on.
However, I will give you props for the delightfully insane sounds of the Shivarra. I keep looking over at her, expecting tentacles or something.
When, as an L78 Affliction Warlock, I can drop into Malykriss over in Icecrown and clear out all the L80 normals without breaking a sweat, you've got some overpowered damage issues. And yes, I do have some heirlooms on, but I also have a lot of L70 PvP gear on.
However, I will give you props for the delightfully insane sounds of the Shivarra. I keep looking over at her, expecting tentacles or something.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Another Shared Experience
I showed the Mists trailer to my three kids the other day. It's become a tradition when a new trailer for WoW or another MMO we play appears; we take the time to check out what's coming. Besides, between the TOR trailers and the Mists trailer, the production values are really incredible. I'd like to see a full length feature with these production values.
"Oh, we've seen this," was their first reaction when the "Blizzard" logo scrawled over the screen.
I shushed them. "No, this is the intro. It just got released."
They watched the initial scene quietly. Then, as soon as the Pandaren emerged, it began.
"OMG! It's just like Kung Fu Panda!"
"Did you see that move? It was just like Po!"
"That scene looks like right out of Kung Fu Panda! See the flowers blowing by his face? Just like when Master Oogway died."
I kept quiet, although their enthusiasm was catching. I've discovered that seeing things through their eyes gives me a better perspective, and perhaps I've needed it after my skepticism on Mists. And then it was over.
"Um... Is that it? I thought there'd be more."
"But where's the dragon?" my youngest wanted to know. "I liked the dragon."
"You mean Deathwing?" I asked. "He was the final boss in the current expansion."
"Oh."
"Oh, we've seen this," was their first reaction when the "Blizzard" logo scrawled over the screen.
I shushed them. "No, this is the intro. It just got released."
They watched the initial scene quietly. Then, as soon as the Pandaren emerged, it began.
"OMG! It's just like Kung Fu Panda!"
"Did you see that move? It was just like Po!"
"That scene looks like right out of Kung Fu Panda! See the flowers blowing by his face? Just like when Master Oogway died."
I kept quiet, although their enthusiasm was catching. I've discovered that seeing things through their eyes gives me a better perspective, and perhaps I've needed it after my skepticism on Mists. And then it was over.
"Um... Is that it? I thought there'd be more."
"But where's the dragon?" my youngest wanted to know. "I liked the dragon."
"You mean Deathwing?" I asked. "He was the final boss in the current expansion."
"Oh."
"Did you buy it yet?"
I raised an eyebrow at my oldest. "What, Mists of Pandaria? It's not out yet. Why?"
"I don't know. It wasn't what I was expecting."
"What did you expect?" Considering how excited they sounded about the Pandaren, I was a bit surprised.
"Well, I mean, this was cool and all, but it was like Kung Fu Panda, you know? It wasn't WoW."
"Yeah," replied my son. "It wasn't the same as the other trailers."
"WoW lore does have Pandaren in it, so there is a history there."
"No," my oldest said, "You know what I mean. WoW has more to it than that."
"I guess we'll see when it's released at the end of September."
"Are you going to buy it then?"
"No, I won't need to. I'm going to start a Rogue and level that one up as a new main. It'll be a while before I need to buy the new expansion."
"Good. Maybe they'll fix it by then."
I was trying to digest that little tidbit when my announcement caught up with the kids.
"You're retiring Quintalan?"
I nodded. "He's retired and gone fishing."
"What about Adelwulf?"
"He'll be out fishing too."
"And Neve? Tomakan?"
"The same."
My youngest smirked. "That's going to be a big boat."
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