Well, hello there, readers. You've probably noticed I've not posted yet this month...sadly, I've suffered some blog lag due to real life. My uni work is starting to get serious and so I may have to post a bit less regularly. However, never fear. I shall still be here (rhyme) to post of course. It just might lose it's weekly-ness. I'm sure my vast supply of readers will be devastated!
So...what's this post about? Well, it's a small post about my laptop being a pain to me but it also raises a point too. Let me start with the laptop plight. I'm currently in a new guild due to a guild merger XXL have with them. They seem like really nice people and I've been lucky enough to go to Uld 25 with them a couple of times and one Uld 10 too. They invited me to go to Trial Of The Crusader and I accepted because my laptop seemed to be a bit slow but okay to raid still. However, once I accepted the invite and began a flight to the Tourney grounds from Storm Peaks, my laptop suddenly went NAO! and my frame rate went to either 1 or 0. If I was lucky, it went up to a whopping two!
Now, this was a problem to me cause I felt really bad cause it looked like I was making excuses because I had been asked to heal. Yes, I admit that I was nervous as hell about healing in it because I'm not amazing at healing yet. However, I would never let my guild down by saying no to healing because I warned them about it all and Moomy (guild leader) seemed fine with it. I know that my laptop isn't brilliant and it has an average frame rate of 8 and the highest I've seen it at is 17. There are people out there reading this right now who are going "OMR HOW DO YOU PLAY WITH SUCH A CRAPPY LAPTOP? GO BUY NEW ONE!"...sadly, I can't do this since I'm a student. But this raises another question...am I putting my guild at a disadvantage by not having a good laptop and all?
On the one hand, I've been in Naxx and Ulduar before and I've done things and my frame rate has been it's usual self and I've only had a bit of lag at times. I haven't just been frozen doing nothing. Therefore, you could argue that it works well enough and I'm fine to be included. However, my laptop is prone to lag and can do so during endgame. It also has an issue with overheating too that I've noticed...my poor poor laptop. Therefore, you could also argue that I'm actually hurting the guild by having this laptop. Whilst I left TOTC25 due to my low framerate (since it would have been very cheeky to stay when I couldn't do anything), the lag could strike anytime and I could ruin a fight because of it or I could have my laptop shut itself down due to overheating and also ruin a fight.
So...I'll put the question across to anyone who reads this and feels like commenting. Should someone with a lower end laptop be able to raid? Does it matter if someone has a laptop that isn't totally efficient as long as it does the job?
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Are You Baking Your Best Cake?
The title will make sense, you just have to scroll down to see why. I figured I'd do this post and then get back on to the Hunter related articles. So all you Hunter players, relax. The article will come soon. Honest! This article is going to take a look at when someone leaves a guild with their main but keeps an alt in there and I'll be giving my opinion on the question "Is it right to do this?" and I'll hopefully be seeing some comments answering this too. Let's get to the discussion part then.
I've seen it done before in a few guilds I've been in. A player chooses to leave with their main but keeps their alt or alts in that guild still. Sounds like a harmless thing to do right? I would disagree with that and here's why. Firstly, your main character is the one that you'll go on the most usually. While you may get bored of them and go on alts more, I imagine that you'll still go on that main for dailies and to do endgame fun which means you're removing the character you go on most from the guild but justifing it by saying you'll keep a character in the guild who you go on less. It's like you're no longer going to bake your best cake for them anymore but you'll bake your second best cake when you can find the time.
This leads on to my second point. Your main will probably be the one with the best gear and full professions (unless you're lazy like me) and therefore, be they a tanker, a healbot or a pewpewdps, they have a lot to contribute to the guild in comparison to your alt. By removing your main, it just seems like you're handicapping the guild a little but trying to soothe the blow by saying "No, wait! I've got my alt still guys!" and I don't think it's fair on the guild.
Finally, there's a very big issue with regards to alts that I see happen again and again. I'm not saying everyone does this but it happens frequently enough in my eyes to be a problem. Some players will find a guild with their main that they grow to love and enjoy. As a result, they will probably remove all their alts from the guild they had told "Guys, you still have my alts!" and move them to their new guild. While it seems like you're going back on your word there, it's understandable.
However, there are some people who use the guild to level up their alts and then they remove them. Personally, I think that's really unfair and nasty to the guild because a player is essentially just using that guild for their own means and then discarding them when they have no more use. Now, if you've read all of this article so far, you're probably feeling like I'm coming across as Mister One-Sided. Well, allow me to show you my ability to see the other side! POW!
I can understand why some people remove their mains. Perhaps they can't get into the raiding teams of the guild they're in with the main for whatever reasons or their friends have started a new guild and they want to help them but they don't want to totally abandon the guild so they leave an alt in it to help them still. I just think that the removal of a main from a guild can do a lot of harm to it and the player should consider this before going "Well, you have my alt still!" or something like that. But enough from me...I want to see what others think. So if you do read this, feel free to give your opinions in a comment.
Is it okay to leave a guild with your main with the reasoning that you still have an alt in that guild?
Is it the leaving that's important or the reasons behind the removal of a main?
Is it okay to use a guild to level your alts up to 80 and then move them across to the guild your main is in?
I've seen it done before in a few guilds I've been in. A player chooses to leave with their main but keeps their alt or alts in that guild still. Sounds like a harmless thing to do right? I would disagree with that and here's why. Firstly, your main character is the one that you'll go on the most usually. While you may get bored of them and go on alts more, I imagine that you'll still go on that main for dailies and to do endgame fun which means you're removing the character you go on most from the guild but justifing it by saying you'll keep a character in the guild who you go on less. It's like you're no longer going to bake your best cake for them anymore but you'll bake your second best cake when you can find the time.
This leads on to my second point. Your main will probably be the one with the best gear and full professions (unless you're lazy like me) and therefore, be they a tanker, a healbot or a pewpewdps, they have a lot to contribute to the guild in comparison to your alt. By removing your main, it just seems like you're handicapping the guild a little but trying to soothe the blow by saying "No, wait! I've got my alt still guys!" and I don't think it's fair on the guild.
Finally, there's a very big issue with regards to alts that I see happen again and again. I'm not saying everyone does this but it happens frequently enough in my eyes to be a problem. Some players will find a guild with their main that they grow to love and enjoy. As a result, they will probably remove all their alts from the guild they had told "Guys, you still have my alts!" and move them to their new guild. While it seems like you're going back on your word there, it's understandable.
However, there are some people who use the guild to level up their alts and then they remove them. Personally, I think that's really unfair and nasty to the guild because a player is essentially just using that guild for their own means and then discarding them when they have no more use. Now, if you've read all of this article so far, you're probably feeling like I'm coming across as Mister One-Sided. Well, allow me to show you my ability to see the other side! POW!
I can understand why some people remove their mains. Perhaps they can't get into the raiding teams of the guild they're in with the main for whatever reasons or their friends have started a new guild and they want to help them but they don't want to totally abandon the guild so they leave an alt in it to help them still. I just think that the removal of a main from a guild can do a lot of harm to it and the player should consider this before going "Well, you have my alt still!" or something like that. But enough from me...I want to see what others think. So if you do read this, feel free to give your opinions in a comment.
Is it okay to leave a guild with your main with the reasoning that you still have an alt in that guild?
Is it the leaving that's important or the reasons behind the removal of a main?
Is it okay to use a guild to level your alts up to 80 and then move them across to the guild your main is in?
Friday, 9 October 2009
Mind The Gap
There's been a lot of guild drama recently in the guild I'm in with Ingredients. XXL had a major officer leave after she tried to arrange a Naxx run and only her and one other came online for it despite the fact people had signed up to do it. Thankfully, she came back but it raised an interesting point. How hard is the leap from a social guild to a raiding guild? And is it possible to be a "casual" raiding guild at all?
A social guild (in my eyes) is one that might do events or heroics but it's usually a guild that doesn't have a strict focus on endgame. It's there because either the people in it are all good real life friends/e-friends and wanna have a laugh or they focus on helping people do quests and possibly boosting but that territory would be more for a levelling guild. A raiding guild is one that does all the endgame stuff in terms of raids and progression and most social guilds probably wish to aim for this at some point or levelling guilds will become raiding guilds once everyone's high enough of course. But how easy is this to do?
Well, the first thing to look at is the people in the guild. If there's not a close bond between leader and officers, you probably aren't ready to raid. And you need to make sure to have the right number of healers and tanks and dps of course...but what happens if you can't seem to get them or they don't stay? Another thing to look at is the time and effort it will take to sort out both times for raiding and being ready for raids. It can be tricky to find a day and time that is best for everyone...what happens if you can't find that day and time? Also, people need to be aware of being prepared for a raid too. Flasks, potions, gear....everything has to be ready. It all becomes much more difficult when you see the things that need to be considered.
My other thing to ponder is this...can a raiding guild be classed as "casual" or not? Casual implies a loose and laidback approach instead of a weekly structure of days and times to raid. The guild would just set a day and time and see what happens. Is that casual or bad organisation though? Is a raiding guild unable to be "casual"? I know that I'm using a lot of rhetorical questions here but I think it's a big thing for a guild to try and make the step up to raiding and it's on my mind because XXL is trying to make this step. I'd like to see what my readers think though.
1. Do you think there's a big gap between a non-raiding and a raiding guild? If yes, why?
2. What are the most important things for a guild to do or have when making the leap?
3. What is a "casual raiding guild" to you? Is there such a thing?
A social guild (in my eyes) is one that might do events or heroics but it's usually a guild that doesn't have a strict focus on endgame. It's there because either the people in it are all good real life friends/e-friends and wanna have a laugh or they focus on helping people do quests and possibly boosting but that territory would be more for a levelling guild. A raiding guild is one that does all the endgame stuff in terms of raids and progression and most social guilds probably wish to aim for this at some point or levelling guilds will become raiding guilds once everyone's high enough of course. But how easy is this to do?
Well, the first thing to look at is the people in the guild. If there's not a close bond between leader and officers, you probably aren't ready to raid. And you need to make sure to have the right number of healers and tanks and dps of course...but what happens if you can't seem to get them or they don't stay? Another thing to look at is the time and effort it will take to sort out both times for raiding and being ready for raids. It can be tricky to find a day and time that is best for everyone...what happens if you can't find that day and time? Also, people need to be aware of being prepared for a raid too. Flasks, potions, gear....everything has to be ready. It all becomes much more difficult when you see the things that need to be considered.
My other thing to ponder is this...can a raiding guild be classed as "casual" or not? Casual implies a loose and laidback approach instead of a weekly structure of days and times to raid. The guild would just set a day and time and see what happens. Is that casual or bad organisation though? Is a raiding guild unable to be "casual"? I know that I'm using a lot of rhetorical questions here but I think it's a big thing for a guild to try and make the step up to raiding and it's on my mind because XXL is trying to make this step. I'd like to see what my readers think though.
1. Do you think there's a big gap between a non-raiding and a raiding guild? If yes, why?
2. What are the most important things for a guild to do or have when making the leap?
3. What is a "casual raiding guild" to you? Is there such a thing?
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Wipes: We'll Need A Clean Up On Aisle TOC!
Wiping in WOW is never fun. Actually, I can't think of any time in real life where wiping is fun unless you're a cleaning freak or something. But on WOW, a wipe is never fun. Repeated wiping is even worse. I know what you're thinking now...why is Ninja going on about this? It's obvious. Well, I'm going to tell you about my recent experiences and then look to see if the wiping did me more good than harm. Now, gather around, it's time to tell you a story.
XXL (my guild) have decided to work their way towards raiding and therefore, heroics seem like a great idea to gear up (with badges and whatnot) as well as Trial Of The Champion. Three days ago, we were fine and we did Heroic Utgarde Keep, Nexus and Gundrak. We struggled a little with the Rhino boss at the end but generally, the runs were fine and I healed my first heroic by healing for Nexus! However, the next two days would be painful. Let me explain why.
Day One started off well by blitzing through Heroic UK in no time at all. I also got to heal it so yay for more healing experience. After that, we went to go do Heroic Gundrak and it all went horribly wrong. We just kept on dying at Slad'ran. For some reason, even though we had a better tank this time round, we just couldn't do Slad at all unlike the day before. The group had three of us from the day before and we were just amazingly puzzled at how we'd done this boss yesterday fine yet today, he was a horrible snake-infested monster. We called it a day and looked to tomorrow hoping it would be better. It wasn't.
Day Two was meant to be a day of Trial farming. It was only Normal difficulty so I figured it would all be fine even though Anun (our tank) didn't have much tank experience and his gear wasn't too brilliant. I didn't mind cause we all need to learn and it was a guild run (so a nice and supportive group). We did Faction Champs and Eadric fine and then it came to the Black Knight. The first two goes, we just couldn't get past Phase Two. Next two, we got to Phase Three but wiped without getting him down loads. Final try, we got him down to low health but couldn't seal the deal. With morale already low from the Gundrak failing, I think it was safe to say this dealt a crushing blow to us.
And that's my story but the article doesn't end here. I didn't do this just so I could tell you my woes. I could come up with logical reasons why we failed (gear, experience, tactics etc...) but I'm not going to go into that. Instead, I found that while wiping regularly was very depressing, it also helped me by making me determined to learn what went wrong, to look up boss tactics again and to memorise things. It made me want to improve and become a better player. So in the end, it might have cost me a lot of confidence (and gold...I'd hate to think what the tank repair bills were like) but it also gave me some more motivation and drive to do better and succeed. Wiping actually may have done some good for me and for all the other guild folk who went on the heroic runs with me.
Do you think wiping regularly can do some good? Or is it merely highlighting how bad a group are? Does it show you that you need to gear up or does it show you that you suck as a player? What are your thoughts on wiping?
XXL (my guild) have decided to work their way towards raiding and therefore, heroics seem like a great idea to gear up (with badges and whatnot) as well as Trial Of The Champion. Three days ago, we were fine and we did Heroic Utgarde Keep, Nexus and Gundrak. We struggled a little with the Rhino boss at the end but generally, the runs were fine and I healed my first heroic by healing for Nexus! However, the next two days would be painful. Let me explain why.
Day One started off well by blitzing through Heroic UK in no time at all. I also got to heal it so yay for more healing experience. After that, we went to go do Heroic Gundrak and it all went horribly wrong. We just kept on dying at Slad'ran. For some reason, even though we had a better tank this time round, we just couldn't do Slad at all unlike the day before. The group had three of us from the day before and we were just amazingly puzzled at how we'd done this boss yesterday fine yet today, he was a horrible snake-infested monster. We called it a day and looked to tomorrow hoping it would be better. It wasn't.
Day Two was meant to be a day of Trial farming. It was only Normal difficulty so I figured it would all be fine even though Anun (our tank) didn't have much tank experience and his gear wasn't too brilliant. I didn't mind cause we all need to learn and it was a guild run (so a nice and supportive group). We did Faction Champs and Eadric fine and then it came to the Black Knight. The first two goes, we just couldn't get past Phase Two. Next two, we got to Phase Three but wiped without getting him down loads. Final try, we got him down to low health but couldn't seal the deal. With morale already low from the Gundrak failing, I think it was safe to say this dealt a crushing blow to us.
And that's my story but the article doesn't end here. I didn't do this just so I could tell you my woes. I could come up with logical reasons why we failed (gear, experience, tactics etc...) but I'm not going to go into that. Instead, I found that while wiping regularly was very depressing, it also helped me by making me determined to learn what went wrong, to look up boss tactics again and to memorise things. It made me want to improve and become a better player. So in the end, it might have cost me a lot of confidence (and gold...I'd hate to think what the tank repair bills were like) but it also gave me some more motivation and drive to do better and succeed. Wiping actually may have done some good for me and for all the other guild folk who went on the heroic runs with me.
Do you think wiping regularly can do some good? Or is it merely highlighting how bad a group are? Does it show you that you need to gear up or does it show you that you suck as a player? What are your thoughts on wiping?
Friday, 25 September 2009
Hit Cap? Is That Some Sort Of Headwear?
Well, now Mr. Ingredients has been 80 for a while and my guild is looking towards Heroics and raiding, I've realised I need to work on my gear to actually do something useful. And as I did this, I realised I encountered a new confusing world...how do I increase my dps? How do I reach the hit cap? How do I make sure I'm good enough to heal?
I looked up things on other blogs and on websites like Wowhead to help me but I still felt a little bit overwhelmed. Thankfully, I asked a WOW playing friend and they helped me get to grips with it. So now, it's just a case of getting the right gear and enchants really. However, I was still somewhat taken aback by how I felt when I first knew I'd have to improve everything since my dps was too low when I checked Recount on a heroic training dummy.
I managed to feel like a total "noob" again. It reminded me of my novice days when I wandered around Mulgore for the first time and everything was shiny new and exciting and a bit scary too. However, I have a question for anyone who reads this article.
Do you feel there's enough advice and info out there for fresh 80's who are trying to make the leap into heroics/raiding?
And that's this post done. It was a short one, I know...but that's because I didn't want a lengthy rant on my own personal stupidity/confusion. Feel free to leave comments telling me I'm a novice or giving me tips!
I looked up things on other blogs and on websites like Wowhead to help me but I still felt a little bit overwhelmed. Thankfully, I asked a WOW playing friend and they helped me get to grips with it. So now, it's just a case of getting the right gear and enchants really. However, I was still somewhat taken aback by how I felt when I first knew I'd have to improve everything since my dps was too low when I checked Recount on a heroic training dummy.
I managed to feel like a total "noob" again. It reminded me of my novice days when I wandered around Mulgore for the first time and everything was shiny new and exciting and a bit scary too. However, I have a question for anyone who reads this article.
Do you feel there's enough advice and info out there for fresh 80's who are trying to make the leap into heroics/raiding?
And that's this post done. It was a short one, I know...but that's because I didn't want a lengthy rant on my own personal stupidity/confusion. Feel free to leave comments telling me I'm a novice or giving me tips!
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Belated Blizzcon Info Post: Better Late Than Never.
In case the title didn't give it away, this is a post I had intended on doing before my revision for resits and my laptop dying and going back to Notts and finding no Tinternet at my Uni house and enjoying the fun of a break-up and saving orphans from burning buildings and anything else ya can think of. All it's going to do is give my opinions on what we know so far. Let's see what I've got to say then.
Level cap to 85: When I first read this in the "spoiler", I was hoping it was wrong because 5 levels just feels really small. I enjoy questing and levelling just as much as I enjoy the other parts of WOW. However, I can see why Blizz did it and they have that Path Of The Titans system to try and make characters seem different. It's still a bit of a shame that there will be no new talents or anything and we're only getting 5 extra points. Personally, I love the feeling of getting the bottom talent and Cataclysm won't provide me with that. No "Yay, I finally have Feral Spirit/Beastial Wrath!" moments for moi. Generally though, I'm fine with 85 and I'll see if they make the levelling better since it's only 5 levels instead of 10.
Goblin and Worgen: I'm happy with the two races that Blizz gave each side. Worgen finally give the Ally a beast-race which makes things interesting and the Horde get Goblins so now they have a midget race to rival the Gnomes. From what I've seen of the levelling zones, I favour Gilneas over Lost Isles but I'll just have to wait and see how fun the questing is there.
Deathwing as the Big Bad: Great move from Blizz to bring Deathwing back and to use him as the reason for the world being changed. I'm looking forward to seeing what the pre-event will be for Cataclysm and if it will involve Deathwing in some way. I have to admit that while the Lich King is a great bad guy to face, Deathwing looks much more intimidating based on the artwork I've seen of him.
Flying mounts in Azeroth: Well, this will make travelling around easier. We don't know if it will require "unlocking" or not yet...they might want you to explore the new zones on foot before you get to soar over them. Hopefully, they'll be used all over Azeroth and not only in certain areas/zones. However, this could lead to a lot of ganking issues since high levels could just fly over and make a low level person's life hell.
Underwater mounts: Erm, cool I guess? I can't say I've been dying to have an underwater mount but I'll see what mounts we get that will make our underwater travel better.
Old world being changed: We don't know how much is being changed but we can hope that every zone gets cleaned up in terms of questing. However, those that we do know about are getting pretty big changes. The one I'm most interested in is the Barrens change. I hated questing there after I'd done it twice with my Tauren Shaman and my Orc Warr. With the split, it will make it a much more bearable zone and hopefully, keep it interesting since I did enjoy Barrens questing the first time round. Also, it's interesting to see that it will change regardless of whether you buy the expansion or not. I guess it's time to start taking screenshots right?
New zones being added: On top of all the changes to current zones, we are lucky enough to still get new ones too! The place I most want to visit is Hyjal. I'm psyched to see Ragnaros make a return and to finally see Malfurion make his appearance. The only thing I'm unsure of is...how has he returned? I figured he was still stuck in the Emerald Dream. And if he has returned properly, does that mean he'll be leader of Darnassus one day? I hope there's some sort of interaction between him and Tyrande at some point while questing in Hyjal too. Otherwise, he's basically come back and not even bothered to contact her. That's just cold and Tyrande should dump him and find a better man. Girl power!
Archaeology: This profession sounds like an interesting secondary profession. Combine it with the Path Of The Titans concept and I'm really interested to see how this turns out. Hopefully, when we get more info on it and all that, I can make a blog post looking at this profession. Until then, I can't really say much else.
New forms for Troll and Worgen: Now, I had heard that the Troll/Worgen druids would be getting new forms and I had hoped that it would be new forms of everything. However, so far, it seems like they are only getting new Moonkin forms. There may also be an epic travel form for Druids to enjoy too but only time will tell. I still hope Trolls/Worgen get new forms to replace Bear and Cat but at least they get something.
Hunters use Focus now: Well, I'm happy they use something that makes more sense. Mana bugged me because Hunters are not magic users/casters. However, this raises a lot of questions too. Will it be exactly like a Rogue's energy bar? How will shot rotations work? Is this the pony that Ghostcrawler promised us? Also, ammo will be an equippable item. Bye bye, consumables.
Paladin mounts and Shaman totems: The Tauren and the Draenei are getting sexy Pala mounts! This is good because horses are not really a Tauren's ideal mount. Draenei look okay on a horse but I'm all for them getting something else. I'm glad to see that Shamans will be getting race-themed totems. Now, your Shaman will seem a little bit more unique to other Shaman when you plant those totems down.
Soul Shard revamp: Warlocks are finally getting a big revamp and this will really help to make Warlockies feel different to Mages. From what I can tell, Shards will feel much more useful and this will make the Warlock class feel more interesting in general.
Mastery stat: Blizz's way of trying to make the talent trees feel more unique. You put points in a tree, you get a passive bonus. Pretty simple really and it's a good way of getting rid of talents that already do that which will free points up to go into other talents. I'm quite interested in this because it should mean talent trees are better.
PvP: Battleground PvP'ers have rated Battlegrounds to look forward to which is great cause I quite enjoy BG's. There will also be a new Battle for Gilneas and a new Wintergrasp-like zone so things are looking pretty groovy for PvPer's. On a personal note, I'm happy that the old PvP ranks are making an apperance again.
Guilds: There's a lot to look forward to that is Guild related. There's Guild levelling to give talents to be of use like reduced repair costs or a mass ressurection. There's Guild profs which lets members share purchased plans with one another. Finally, there's even a Looking For Guild interface to make finding a guild easier. This should be handy for my alts that are guildless.
Garrosh becoming Warchief: This info comes from a "spoiler" we had ages ago that turned out to be right about everything else. Therefore, there's a good chance of this happening which could be supported by the fact that the Horde take a fair bit of land in the upcoming expansion which shows aggressiveness that resembles a Horde that would be leaded by Garrosh. Now, it could just be that Thrall has decided to take the fight to them and that's good for those who complain that "Thrall is too soft/slow to act" but personally, I think it's more likely to be Garrosh related. If it is and he is Warchief, I have mixed feelings about this and I'll see how Blizz handle it.
Cairne's death: Another "spoiler" related bit. If this is true, I'll be very very saddened. Cairne was one of my fav WC3 characters and Blizz haven't really bothered to use him so far. I don't want the first big Cairne related event to be his death. I'd rather see him doing something awesome. But if he does die...how the hell will the Tauren stay with the Horde? It's been suggested that Cairne will be made to look like a traitor but I can't see everyone going "Oh well, must be true. Let's kill him then." and that's that. I can't see Thrall accepting Cairne as a traitor and if it's true that Garrosh kills Cairne, I can't see how Thrall or Cairne's son will accept that either. I'm hopeful that this is untrue but we'll wait and see.
And there's everything, I believe. There's a lot of info that we got and most of it's positive. The only downsides are ones that came from the "spoiler" we got ages ago before Blizzcon. While that does mean there's a chance of them being wrong, the rest of that "spoiler" was correct and therefore, we can't totally rule it out.
Here's a couple of questions for anyone who reads this: What are you most excited about Cataclysm wise? What are you least excited about?
Level cap to 85: When I first read this in the "spoiler", I was hoping it was wrong because 5 levels just feels really small. I enjoy questing and levelling just as much as I enjoy the other parts of WOW. However, I can see why Blizz did it and they have that Path Of The Titans system to try and make characters seem different. It's still a bit of a shame that there will be no new talents or anything and we're only getting 5 extra points. Personally, I love the feeling of getting the bottom talent and Cataclysm won't provide me with that. No "Yay, I finally have Feral Spirit/Beastial Wrath!" moments for moi. Generally though, I'm fine with 85 and I'll see if they make the levelling better since it's only 5 levels instead of 10.
Goblin and Worgen: I'm happy with the two races that Blizz gave each side. Worgen finally give the Ally a beast-race which makes things interesting and the Horde get Goblins so now they have a midget race to rival the Gnomes. From what I've seen of the levelling zones, I favour Gilneas over Lost Isles but I'll just have to wait and see how fun the questing is there.
Deathwing as the Big Bad: Great move from Blizz to bring Deathwing back and to use him as the reason for the world being changed. I'm looking forward to seeing what the pre-event will be for Cataclysm and if it will involve Deathwing in some way. I have to admit that while the Lich King is a great bad guy to face, Deathwing looks much more intimidating based on the artwork I've seen of him.
Flying mounts in Azeroth: Well, this will make travelling around easier. We don't know if it will require "unlocking" or not yet...they might want you to explore the new zones on foot before you get to soar over them. Hopefully, they'll be used all over Azeroth and not only in certain areas/zones. However, this could lead to a lot of ganking issues since high levels could just fly over and make a low level person's life hell.
Underwater mounts: Erm, cool I guess? I can't say I've been dying to have an underwater mount but I'll see what mounts we get that will make our underwater travel better.
Old world being changed: We don't know how much is being changed but we can hope that every zone gets cleaned up in terms of questing. However, those that we do know about are getting pretty big changes. The one I'm most interested in is the Barrens change. I hated questing there after I'd done it twice with my Tauren Shaman and my Orc Warr. With the split, it will make it a much more bearable zone and hopefully, keep it interesting since I did enjoy Barrens questing the first time round. Also, it's interesting to see that it will change regardless of whether you buy the expansion or not. I guess it's time to start taking screenshots right?
New zones being added: On top of all the changes to current zones, we are lucky enough to still get new ones too! The place I most want to visit is Hyjal. I'm psyched to see Ragnaros make a return and to finally see Malfurion make his appearance. The only thing I'm unsure of is...how has he returned? I figured he was still stuck in the Emerald Dream. And if he has returned properly, does that mean he'll be leader of Darnassus one day? I hope there's some sort of interaction between him and Tyrande at some point while questing in Hyjal too. Otherwise, he's basically come back and not even bothered to contact her. That's just cold and Tyrande should dump him and find a better man. Girl power!
Archaeology: This profession sounds like an interesting secondary profession. Combine it with the Path Of The Titans concept and I'm really interested to see how this turns out. Hopefully, when we get more info on it and all that, I can make a blog post looking at this profession. Until then, I can't really say much else.
New forms for Troll and Worgen: Now, I had heard that the Troll/Worgen druids would be getting new forms and I had hoped that it would be new forms of everything. However, so far, it seems like they are only getting new Moonkin forms. There may also be an epic travel form for Druids to enjoy too but only time will tell. I still hope Trolls/Worgen get new forms to replace Bear and Cat but at least they get something.
Hunters use Focus now: Well, I'm happy they use something that makes more sense. Mana bugged me because Hunters are not magic users/casters. However, this raises a lot of questions too. Will it be exactly like a Rogue's energy bar? How will shot rotations work? Is this the pony that Ghostcrawler promised us? Also, ammo will be an equippable item. Bye bye, consumables.
Paladin mounts and Shaman totems: The Tauren and the Draenei are getting sexy Pala mounts! This is good because horses are not really a Tauren's ideal mount. Draenei look okay on a horse but I'm all for them getting something else. I'm glad to see that Shamans will be getting race-themed totems. Now, your Shaman will seem a little bit more unique to other Shaman when you plant those totems down.
Soul Shard revamp: Warlocks are finally getting a big revamp and this will really help to make Warlockies feel different to Mages. From what I can tell, Shards will feel much more useful and this will make the Warlock class feel more interesting in general.
Mastery stat: Blizz's way of trying to make the talent trees feel more unique. You put points in a tree, you get a passive bonus. Pretty simple really and it's a good way of getting rid of talents that already do that which will free points up to go into other talents. I'm quite interested in this because it should mean talent trees are better.
PvP: Battleground PvP'ers have rated Battlegrounds to look forward to which is great cause I quite enjoy BG's. There will also be a new Battle for Gilneas and a new Wintergrasp-like zone so things are looking pretty groovy for PvPer's. On a personal note, I'm happy that the old PvP ranks are making an apperance again.
Guilds: There's a lot to look forward to that is Guild related. There's Guild levelling to give talents to be of use like reduced repair costs or a mass ressurection. There's Guild profs which lets members share purchased plans with one another. Finally, there's even a Looking For Guild interface to make finding a guild easier. This should be handy for my alts that are guildless.
Garrosh becoming Warchief: This info comes from a "spoiler" we had ages ago that turned out to be right about everything else. Therefore, there's a good chance of this happening which could be supported by the fact that the Horde take a fair bit of land in the upcoming expansion which shows aggressiveness that resembles a Horde that would be leaded by Garrosh. Now, it could just be that Thrall has decided to take the fight to them and that's good for those who complain that "Thrall is too soft/slow to act" but personally, I think it's more likely to be Garrosh related. If it is and he is Warchief, I have mixed feelings about this and I'll see how Blizz handle it.
Cairne's death: Another "spoiler" related bit. If this is true, I'll be very very saddened. Cairne was one of my fav WC3 characters and Blizz haven't really bothered to use him so far. I don't want the first big Cairne related event to be his death. I'd rather see him doing something awesome. But if he does die...how the hell will the Tauren stay with the Horde? It's been suggested that Cairne will be made to look like a traitor but I can't see everyone going "Oh well, must be true. Let's kill him then." and that's that. I can't see Thrall accepting Cairne as a traitor and if it's true that Garrosh kills Cairne, I can't see how Thrall or Cairne's son will accept that either. I'm hopeful that this is untrue but we'll wait and see.
And there's everything, I believe. There's a lot of info that we got and most of it's positive. The only downsides are ones that came from the "spoiler" we got ages ago before Blizzcon. While that does mean there's a chance of them being wrong, the rest of that "spoiler" was correct and therefore, we can't totally rule it out.
Here's a couple of questions for anyone who reads this: What are you most excited about Cataclysm wise? What are you least excited about?
Monday, 24 August 2009
Generic Race & Class Ranking List Post. Every WOW Blog Needs One Right?
With the confirmation of Goblins and Worgen, I figured I'd update this post to include them in the Races List so my old blog post on this has been deleted. Since this is merely an update of a blog post, I don't consider this a "proper" blog post and therefore, the Resto Shaman one will be coming later today/tomorrow depending on when I find some spare time from revision and all. Also, as a pre-warning, I imagine I'll do an "update" race and class rank list post every time a new class or new races are announced so I'd expect to update this every time we get a new expansion. Anyway, here's the updated post.
RACES
Time to rank the races first. This is based more on their looks and their culture than other things like racial traits.
Tauren-Ah, the cows. The Tauren have always been awesome to me. Perhaps I have a slight bias because my first character was a Tauren Shaman...but I think it's mainly cause I really like their culture and their nomadic ways. Plus, I always used to love having Tauren in WC3. I loved their totem pole weapons. The Tauren are my favourites easily.
Gnome-Now, these were not always my favourite Ally race. That used to be either the Dwarves or the Draenei. However, over time, the Gnomes have really won me over. I enjoy their curious nature and I really hope that one day, the Gnomes get to retake Gnomeregan! Or...they could just build themselves a new city. Give them a bit of scrap and a week and we'll have a new capital city.
Orc-The greenies are my second favourite Hordey race. Sure, they have a bit of a naughty history (though the history is fascinating too) but Thrall is awesome and the Orcs are a formidable and admirable race and the "New Horde" Orcs are not like the old ones which were clearly evil with a capital E.
Dwarf-The dwarves are ace. They like to explore and they like to drink and they're pluckly fighters. What's not to like eh? Good things come in small packages...and that's why Gnome and Dwarves are my favourites on the Alliance.
Goblins-Well, I've always liked the Goblins for their profit-orientated ways. They have the Gnome's curiosity only instead of doing it just because they can, they do it because they can AND because it should give them lots of money! Also, you gotta admire the Gobling Sappers and all. Those green midgets are CRAZY!
Undead-The fun lovers of the Horde race. Only replace fun-lovers with can't-feel-fun-anymore-so-they-hate-the-living-and-are-lovers-of-plagues. *Breathe*...that was a bit of a mouthful. There's always an interesting recurring theme with the Undead and backstabbing the Horde at some point.
Night Elf-How the mighty have fallen. I used to really enjoy the Nelf side on WC3. Everything about them was fascinating to me. However, now...I've grown to enjoy them less than some of the other races. I think this is partially because most Nelfs that you see are men RP'ing female Nelfs just so they have some "eye candy". Whatever floats your boat...
Worgen-Well, Blizz clearly read my list, saw that Humans were last and went "Well...what about if they could TURN INTO WOLVES EH?" and that's how we got Worgen. Now, I know I'm gonna love these for two reasons. Firstly, they come from Gilneas, a place I've always found fascinating when I read about it and Blizz made me happy by making it finally explorable in Cataclysm. Secondly, I think it will be really interesting to play as one and try to keep hold of your humanity.
Troll-I'm slowly liking trolls more and more as I level up troll alts. However, there's one disappointing thing about the trolls. While I love their laid back attitude and the way they are, they need a better place to call "home" than the flimsy little village they currently have in Durotar. I really hope that they go and take over Echo Isles (since phasing could allow this to happen so high levels see this while low levels can still quest there).
Draenei-And we're on to the space goats. I used to love these blue guys but my best friend has managed to put me off of these a fair bit by spamming their /laugh and sounding like an overemotional woman describing their new-born baby when he describes the "squiddie widdies". Also, I find their love for the Light both admirable and dull because they always go on about the Light and the Naaru. They're the Jehovah's Witnesses of WOW.
Blood Elf-I really enjoyed the Belfs in WC3: Frozen Throne. However, they have also fallen down in my ranking due to WOW. Part of this is similar to the Nelf issue....most Belfs are females played by males so they have some "hot" pixels to fap over. Personally, I think that it's much easier to just use the Internet to find some porn but oh well. However, if you chose a female Belf for reasons outside of "something to look at", I salute you. I also am not overly keen on their mana addict nature. Go to rehab or something.
Human-These are last for a very simple reason. They are the most dull race that you can play as. After all, they resemble us. We don't really need to go to a fantasy MMO to go and RP as humans surely? It kinda takes away from the "fantasy" part. However, to the credit of the humans, they are a tenacious race that has managed to bounce back from every major war. A bit like real life humans then.
CLASSES
Time to rank the classes now. I don't hate any of the classes or anything but I naturally have a list in my head still to rank the classes.
Shaman-Easily my favourite class. Again, I know there's some bias cause my first character/main is a Shaman but I've just connected well with the class. I love the totems and the lore behind the totem quests (apart from that lame Air Totem quest for Horde where you just get it handed to you.). I enjoy the spells and I've enjoyed playing as Enhance greatly. I've also enjoyed the times I've tinkered around and played as Elemental or the times I've healed with Resto (though I really need to get more healing experience under my belt).
Hunter-Oh, how I love Hunters due to their pets. My second highest character is a Hunter and he's my Ally main. I love my BM spec and I'm really connected to my pets...I hate it when Spork (my pet bear) dies. I get guilt over his death and beg him for forgiveness (which he always does....pets are awesome). The traps and ranged attacks are a nice bonus too of course. I need to try out Survival at some point really (I'll do so when I can afford Dual Spec).
Warrior-The Warrior class takes third place. I've not tried Arms yet really but I enjoy my Fury Warrior a lot. Punching things is awesome (doesn't take a lot to please me). I also enjoy tanking with my Warr too and I hope to do more of that as I get higher. I enjoy the options given to me via my stances and I like that when a Warr has a shield, it feels like something that's really useful. I mean, just look at all the Shield related abilities a Warrior gets. I also admit that I'm a sucker for Titan's Grip and I look forward to the day that my Orc Warr has that talent.
Mage-Mages are the most enjoyable caster class to me by far. They are the most challenging and at times, you have to really be on the ball with them (particularly when you get swarmed). With their vast range of spells, I really enjoy levelling my Mage. Nothing like a good AoE or two to teach mobs a lesson. Turing mobs into sheep always makes me giggle a little too. Again, doesn't take much to please me.
Druid-Ah, one of the true "I can do everything" classes. Heal, tank, dps...they can do it all. What makes them interesting is their forms of course. Patch 3.2 will be making the bear and cat forms all pretty and stuff so that's a nice added bonus but my favourite form so far is my Moonkin form. I really enjoy being a Boomkin at the moment but I imagine when I level my Feral druid up, I'll enjoy the others just as much. One downside to the class is that it takes a lot of levels to really get used to it...I found that I struggled a fair bit for the first 20-30 levels but nowadays, I can really get my Druid groove on now that he's in the 40's.
Priest-First and foremost, I love Mind Control. It's one of my favourite spells EVAR. I just use it all the time for fun. I also really enjoy Priest healing and Shadow Priesting. I've only got major experience with a Shadow Priest but I've healed in a few instances and I find Priest healing to be really easy (it's as easy as Druid healing which can only be a good thing). The Priest used to be one of my least favourite classes but it's steadily climbed up to become one of my favourites. Now give me a minute while I go and Mind Control something *evil laugh*
Death Knight-Now, I know that DK's get a lot of hate for being "too OP" or "too easy to use". I agree that they can be easy to use though as nerfs keep coming each patch, the Death Knight becomes less OP and less easier to use. I love the DK starting quests and I really enjoy playing as a DK. Unholy is a lot of fun and Frost is no slouch either. As a side note, Death Grip always makes me grin. You'll notice the recurring "easily pleased" theme by now.
Warlock-I remember when Locks used to be a pain in the ass PvP wise. Nowadays, they aren't so bad. I really like the lore behind Warlocks and they get a ton of Lock-specific quests too. I also like how their demons are merely minions and can be sacrificed easily. I don't feel guilty when my Warlock minion dies, I just feel irritated at it cause it's left me to fend for myself. The only reason why the Warlock class isn't higher is mainly cause of how easy it is to play as one. I find it really easy to kill things and really hard to die so it can be boring to level my Lock.
Paladin-On to the Paladin class. Now, I like the lore behind Paladins a lot. However, gameplay wise, I find them to be much more dull then the other classes. I'm glad Ret Palas have finally become something besides LOLRET but Palas are now getting targetted as OP cause of their current state. I really want to level my Belf Pala up so I can try out tanking as a Pala. If I enjoy that, Paladin might go up higher on my list cause I find Retribution to be fun but a bit dull cause it's so easy to breeze through mobs now.
Rogue-Last but not least,Rogues. I really enjoy being stealthy and pickpocketing or using the Subt tree to pwn with Ambush. I'm also levelling a Combat Rog alongside my Subt one so I will see how that differs. I do enjoy the Rogue class but I find them a bit dull to play as and they are lower then the other classes because every other class has better lore. However, I've still got love for my stealthy friends!
So there you have it. There's my two lists. Now...a question for anyone who reads this.
What would be your race/class lists and why?
RACES
Time to rank the races first. This is based more on their looks and their culture than other things like racial traits.
Tauren-Ah, the cows. The Tauren have always been awesome to me. Perhaps I have a slight bias because my first character was a Tauren Shaman...but I think it's mainly cause I really like their culture and their nomadic ways. Plus, I always used to love having Tauren in WC3. I loved their totem pole weapons. The Tauren are my favourites easily.
Gnome-Now, these were not always my favourite Ally race. That used to be either the Dwarves or the Draenei. However, over time, the Gnomes have really won me over. I enjoy their curious nature and I really hope that one day, the Gnomes get to retake Gnomeregan! Or...they could just build themselves a new city. Give them a bit of scrap and a week and we'll have a new capital city.
Orc-The greenies are my second favourite Hordey race. Sure, they have a bit of a naughty history (though the history is fascinating too) but Thrall is awesome and the Orcs are a formidable and admirable race and the "New Horde" Orcs are not like the old ones which were clearly evil with a capital E.
Dwarf-The dwarves are ace. They like to explore and they like to drink and they're pluckly fighters. What's not to like eh? Good things come in small packages...and that's why Gnome and Dwarves are my favourites on the Alliance.
Goblins-Well, I've always liked the Goblins for their profit-orientated ways. They have the Gnome's curiosity only instead of doing it just because they can, they do it because they can AND because it should give them lots of money! Also, you gotta admire the Gobling Sappers and all. Those green midgets are CRAZY!
Undead-The fun lovers of the Horde race. Only replace fun-lovers with can't-feel-fun-anymore-so-they-hate-the-living-and-are-lovers-of-plagues. *Breathe*...that was a bit of a mouthful. There's always an interesting recurring theme with the Undead and backstabbing the Horde at some point.
Night Elf-How the mighty have fallen. I used to really enjoy the Nelf side on WC3. Everything about them was fascinating to me. However, now...I've grown to enjoy them less than some of the other races. I think this is partially because most Nelfs that you see are men RP'ing female Nelfs just so they have some "eye candy". Whatever floats your boat...
Worgen-Well, Blizz clearly read my list, saw that Humans were last and went "Well...what about if they could TURN INTO WOLVES EH?" and that's how we got Worgen. Now, I know I'm gonna love these for two reasons. Firstly, they come from Gilneas, a place I've always found fascinating when I read about it and Blizz made me happy by making it finally explorable in Cataclysm. Secondly, I think it will be really interesting to play as one and try to keep hold of your humanity.
Troll-I'm slowly liking trolls more and more as I level up troll alts. However, there's one disappointing thing about the trolls. While I love their laid back attitude and the way they are, they need a better place to call "home" than the flimsy little village they currently have in Durotar. I really hope that they go and take over Echo Isles (since phasing could allow this to happen so high levels see this while low levels can still quest there).
Draenei-And we're on to the space goats. I used to love these blue guys but my best friend has managed to put me off of these a fair bit by spamming their /laugh and sounding like an overemotional woman describing their new-born baby when he describes the "squiddie widdies". Also, I find their love for the Light both admirable and dull because they always go on about the Light and the Naaru. They're the Jehovah's Witnesses of WOW.
Blood Elf-I really enjoyed the Belfs in WC3: Frozen Throne. However, they have also fallen down in my ranking due to WOW. Part of this is similar to the Nelf issue....most Belfs are females played by males so they have some "hot" pixels to fap over. Personally, I think that it's much easier to just use the Internet to find some porn but oh well. However, if you chose a female Belf for reasons outside of "something to look at", I salute you. I also am not overly keen on their mana addict nature. Go to rehab or something.
Human-These are last for a very simple reason. They are the most dull race that you can play as. After all, they resemble us. We don't really need to go to a fantasy MMO to go and RP as humans surely? It kinda takes away from the "fantasy" part. However, to the credit of the humans, they are a tenacious race that has managed to bounce back from every major war. A bit like real life humans then.
CLASSES
Time to rank the classes now. I don't hate any of the classes or anything but I naturally have a list in my head still to rank the classes.
Shaman-Easily my favourite class. Again, I know there's some bias cause my first character/main is a Shaman but I've just connected well with the class. I love the totems and the lore behind the totem quests (apart from that lame Air Totem quest for Horde where you just get it handed to you.). I enjoy the spells and I've enjoyed playing as Enhance greatly. I've also enjoyed the times I've tinkered around and played as Elemental or the times I've healed with Resto (though I really need to get more healing experience under my belt).
Hunter-Oh, how I love Hunters due to their pets. My second highest character is a Hunter and he's my Ally main. I love my BM spec and I'm really connected to my pets...I hate it when Spork (my pet bear) dies. I get guilt over his death and beg him for forgiveness (which he always does....pets are awesome). The traps and ranged attacks are a nice bonus too of course. I need to try out Survival at some point really (I'll do so when I can afford Dual Spec).
Warrior-The Warrior class takes third place. I've not tried Arms yet really but I enjoy my Fury Warrior a lot. Punching things is awesome (doesn't take a lot to please me). I also enjoy tanking with my Warr too and I hope to do more of that as I get higher. I enjoy the options given to me via my stances and I like that when a Warr has a shield, it feels like something that's really useful. I mean, just look at all the Shield related abilities a Warrior gets. I also admit that I'm a sucker for Titan's Grip and I look forward to the day that my Orc Warr has that talent.
Mage-Mages are the most enjoyable caster class to me by far. They are the most challenging and at times, you have to really be on the ball with them (particularly when you get swarmed). With their vast range of spells, I really enjoy levelling my Mage. Nothing like a good AoE or two to teach mobs a lesson. Turing mobs into sheep always makes me giggle a little too. Again, doesn't take much to please me.
Druid-Ah, one of the true "I can do everything" classes. Heal, tank, dps...they can do it all. What makes them interesting is their forms of course. Patch 3.2 will be making the bear and cat forms all pretty and stuff so that's a nice added bonus but my favourite form so far is my Moonkin form. I really enjoy being a Boomkin at the moment but I imagine when I level my Feral druid up, I'll enjoy the others just as much. One downside to the class is that it takes a lot of levels to really get used to it...I found that I struggled a fair bit for the first 20-30 levels but nowadays, I can really get my Druid groove on now that he's in the 40's.
Priest-First and foremost, I love Mind Control. It's one of my favourite spells EVAR. I just use it all the time for fun. I also really enjoy Priest healing and Shadow Priesting. I've only got major experience with a Shadow Priest but I've healed in a few instances and I find Priest healing to be really easy (it's as easy as Druid healing which can only be a good thing). The Priest used to be one of my least favourite classes but it's steadily climbed up to become one of my favourites. Now give me a minute while I go and Mind Control something *evil laugh*
Death Knight-Now, I know that DK's get a lot of hate for being "too OP" or "too easy to use". I agree that they can be easy to use though as nerfs keep coming each patch, the Death Knight becomes less OP and less easier to use. I love the DK starting quests and I really enjoy playing as a DK. Unholy is a lot of fun and Frost is no slouch either. As a side note, Death Grip always makes me grin. You'll notice the recurring "easily pleased" theme by now.
Warlock-I remember when Locks used to be a pain in the ass PvP wise. Nowadays, they aren't so bad. I really like the lore behind Warlocks and they get a ton of Lock-specific quests too. I also like how their demons are merely minions and can be sacrificed easily. I don't feel guilty when my Warlock minion dies, I just feel irritated at it cause it's left me to fend for myself. The only reason why the Warlock class isn't higher is mainly cause of how easy it is to play as one. I find it really easy to kill things and really hard to die so it can be boring to level my Lock.
Paladin-On to the Paladin class. Now, I like the lore behind Paladins a lot. However, gameplay wise, I find them to be much more dull then the other classes. I'm glad Ret Palas have finally become something besides LOLRET but Palas are now getting targetted as OP cause of their current state. I really want to level my Belf Pala up so I can try out tanking as a Pala. If I enjoy that, Paladin might go up higher on my list cause I find Retribution to be fun but a bit dull cause it's so easy to breeze through mobs now.
Rogue-Last but not least,Rogues. I really enjoy being stealthy and pickpocketing or using the Subt tree to pwn with Ambush. I'm also levelling a Combat Rog alongside my Subt one so I will see how that differs. I do enjoy the Rogue class but I find them a bit dull to play as and they are lower then the other classes because every other class has better lore. However, I've still got love for my stealthy friends!
So there you have it. There's my two lists. Now...a question for anyone who reads this.
What would be your race/class lists and why?
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Is That A Tasty Combo Or Does It Need More Ketchup?
It looks like a Blizzcon related post will come first in le blog. Sorry, Mr. Resto Shaman Post.
Now...I'm gonna wait till Blizzcon is over before I give a post looking at everything about the new expansion. Depending on how much info we get, it might even have to be split into two posts. However, I decided to get this post out the way first. What I'm going to do is look at all the new race/class combinations that we're getting in the next expansion and seeing whether it works or not in my head. So...let's see which ones are a Meat Feast Pizza (aka very tasty.If you're a vegan/vegetarian, you're probably shaking your head right now) and which ones are weaksauce.
Current Races
Belf Warrior-I understand why people want these. After all, every other race can be Warriors so why shouldn't the Belfs? Well, I don't view the Belfs as angry enough for Fury spec so I imagine they'll be similar to Nelfs in my eyes and only really viable for Protection or Arms from a character perspective. At first, I frowned upon Belfs as warriors but then I remembered spell breakers and demon hunters and I gave these a thumbs up.
Dwarf Mage-There's a lot of Mages coming our way in the expansion. Dwarf mages are fine to me...they were in the WOW beta and there are Dark Iron mages in the game. I don't think it's too much of a leap for some Ironforge dwarves to be interested in arcane magic and therefore, start learning it from their Gnome friends or their Human buddies.
Dwarf Shaman-Some people seem to have trouble accepting this one but I don't know why. Just go and look at the Wildhammer clan and you'll see that there are dwarf shamanz there. I presume the Ironforge dwarves will learn shaman ways from the Wildhammer and I hope it works like that instead of a cheap "learnt it from the Draenei" trick.
Gnome Priest-This makes me very happy cause Gnomes were the only race to lack a healer and I've never understood why they didn't have one cause they could just easily learn it off the Stormwind gang in the same way the Dwarves did. The Horde best watch out for ALL GNOME RAIDS OF MINIATURE DEATH AND TINY DOOM!
Human Hunter-Well, this isn't too hard to understand. In real life, humans love to have pets and look after them so I don't see why they can't be like that in WOW too. I'm glad the WOW Humans won't be able to do what some real life ones do....dress their pets up in horrible clothes that leaves the pet looking like it wants to kill itself.
Nelf Mage-This one has been causing debates. I understand why since the Nelfs have rejected Arcane magic from their society. The best way for it to work would be if the Nelf Mages all stem from the Highbourne that are located in Dire Maul since they would happily be all Magey. Otherwise, it relies on Nelf society accepting arcane magic again or some Nelfs accepting it but having to be tucked away and hidden like warlocks in other cities.
Orc Mage-Now, I was surprised to see this one. I didn't really see a huge need for Orc Mages. Now, I'm following the logic that's been given on forums and a Wow.com article on Orc Mages which suggests that Orc Mages have come about because they have decided to show some restraint/use less dangerous magic. I can see the thinking behind it but I'm not a fan of it and I don't view these as necessary so it's the first "no" class combo to me.
Tauren Paladin-At first, I didn't get why Tauren got these or Priests. However, with the new quest hinting to Tauren worshipping the Sun, it makes more sense to me so I'm happy to accept Tauren Palas. Expect to see a lot of "original" names like "Holycow" or "Holymoo" or names of that nature.
Tauren Priest-I can accept that via Sun worship, Priests are a viable option to the Tauren and therefore, I have no problem with it lorewise and all. However, personally speaking...I just don't see the Tauren as Priests. I can visualise them happily as Paladins but I can't say the same thing when I picture a Tauren Priest. It's not a "no" combo though because they make perfect sense due to the Sun worship that helps Palas to fit lore wise too...I just can't see Tauren as Priests characteristic wise ranting on about the Sun(Light) to everyone else as such.
Troll Druid-I'm happy to accept that Trolls can be druids via their worship of their own animal gods and therefore, I don't have any issues with this. It would be groovy for them to get different tanking/dps forms to the Tauren/Nelf druids and all but I understand that thinking like that could just be a big ball of wishful thinking.
Undead Hunter-Out of all the current race combos, this one is my least favourite of them all. I've seen the arguments that the Undead can learn how to be Hunters through their leader cause she's an awesome Ranger but people seem to be forgetting that Rangers are Marksmanship Huntards without the pet. However, putting that aside, my major gripe with this is that Hunters are meant to love and care for their pets. The Forsaken don't have emotions so they won't really love and care about any animals...even if it's their own partner in combat and they can't just view their pets as minions because that isn't the Hunter way. This is a big big big "no" choice for me.
Expansion Races
Goblin
DK-This is fine to me since I'm sure Goblins died somewhere along the way for Arthas to nab them for himself.
Hunter-This is fine and it will be interesting because the majority of Goblin Hunters will be focused on hunting for profit, I imagine.
Rogue-This is fine and works well since Goblin rogues could simply consider themselves to be mercenaries for hire and get the moonehs that way.
Warrior-This is fine since the Bruiser NPCS you see in the Goblin ports aren't too far off Warriors and Goblins are tough little things.
Mage-Hmm, I can see it to a degree but it's a bit hard imagining Goblins keeping a keen interest in learning magic. However, it works well enough.
Warlock-I can imagine this easier than Mages which sounds silly cause usually, Locks used to be Mages/Shamans. It works fine and that's what matters.
Shaman-And we come on to the Goblin "no" combo. I don't see it at all. How can a Goblin Shaman work exactly? I get that they could theoretically learn the Shaman ways from the other Horde races but I just can't picture any Goblin's wanting to learn how to be them. I mean, it requires patience and respect for the elements and other things. I doubt the profit-orientated Goblins can meet those requirements...the only way they can be Shamans in my head is if they somehow pay the elements to let them use them. Since that can't happen realistically, it's a big big big "no" combo.
Worgen
DK-It's fine. I imagine that Arthas killed some Worgen along the way while he was also killing Goblins.
Mage-It's fine since the Gilneas Worgen are humans after all who just happen to turn into werewolves because they're lucky like that.
Priest-It's fine because they are humans that turn into wolves and all. It would be interesting to see how a Worgen priest's faith would be considering they are cursed.
Warlock-It's fine because of the humans into wolves thing that keeps cropping up in my answers and you're probably bored of it by now.
Warrior-It's fine. See above if you need to know one reason why but the other is because their wolf form is just begging to kick some ass Warrior style.
Hunter-It's fine and all to have this. However, it will be a bit strange to see a werewolf running around with a pet of some sort. I wonder if the pet would get confused.
Rogue-It's sort of fine. I mean, it's not bad or anything. It's just a bit strange to have a Worgen size rogue really.
Druid-I know the Ally need one extra druid to make it fair...but Worgen? Really? I mean, I don't see it personally. I understand that they could theoretically learn it from the Nelf allies that seem to come and help them/invite them into the alliance (based on what I saw in a trailer). However, based on that logic, why can't the Stormwind humans learn how to be druids? I know you could argue that the Stormwind humans don't care too much about nature but I don't see why the Gilneas Worgen would either. This is a big big big "no" combo from me currently.
Out of the lot on the menu, there's only 4 weaksauce combos. The rest are tasty or go down okay with some alcohol. So let us eat, drink and be merry until the next blog post. Cheers!
Now...I'm gonna wait till Blizzcon is over before I give a post looking at everything about the new expansion. Depending on how much info we get, it might even have to be split into two posts. However, I decided to get this post out the way first. What I'm going to do is look at all the new race/class combinations that we're getting in the next expansion and seeing whether it works or not in my head. So...let's see which ones are a Meat Feast Pizza (aka very tasty.If you're a vegan/vegetarian, you're probably shaking your head right now) and which ones are weaksauce.
Current Races
Belf Warrior-I understand why people want these. After all, every other race can be Warriors so why shouldn't the Belfs? Well, I don't view the Belfs as angry enough for Fury spec so I imagine they'll be similar to Nelfs in my eyes and only really viable for Protection or Arms from a character perspective. At first, I frowned upon Belfs as warriors but then I remembered spell breakers and demon hunters and I gave these a thumbs up.
Dwarf Mage-There's a lot of Mages coming our way in the expansion. Dwarf mages are fine to me...they were in the WOW beta and there are Dark Iron mages in the game. I don't think it's too much of a leap for some Ironforge dwarves to be interested in arcane magic and therefore, start learning it from their Gnome friends or their Human buddies.
Dwarf Shaman-Some people seem to have trouble accepting this one but I don't know why. Just go and look at the Wildhammer clan and you'll see that there are dwarf shamanz there. I presume the Ironforge dwarves will learn shaman ways from the Wildhammer and I hope it works like that instead of a cheap "learnt it from the Draenei" trick.
Gnome Priest-This makes me very happy cause Gnomes were the only race to lack a healer and I've never understood why they didn't have one cause they could just easily learn it off the Stormwind gang in the same way the Dwarves did. The Horde best watch out for ALL GNOME RAIDS OF MINIATURE DEATH AND TINY DOOM!
Human Hunter-Well, this isn't too hard to understand. In real life, humans love to have pets and look after them so I don't see why they can't be like that in WOW too. I'm glad the WOW Humans won't be able to do what some real life ones do....dress their pets up in horrible clothes that leaves the pet looking like it wants to kill itself.
Nelf Mage-This one has been causing debates. I understand why since the Nelfs have rejected Arcane magic from their society. The best way for it to work would be if the Nelf Mages all stem from the Highbourne that are located in Dire Maul since they would happily be all Magey. Otherwise, it relies on Nelf society accepting arcane magic again or some Nelfs accepting it but having to be tucked away and hidden like warlocks in other cities.
Orc Mage-Now, I was surprised to see this one. I didn't really see a huge need for Orc Mages. Now, I'm following the logic that's been given on forums and a Wow.com article on Orc Mages which suggests that Orc Mages have come about because they have decided to show some restraint/use less dangerous magic. I can see the thinking behind it but I'm not a fan of it and I don't view these as necessary so it's the first "no" class combo to me.
Tauren Paladin-At first, I didn't get why Tauren got these or Priests. However, with the new quest hinting to Tauren worshipping the Sun, it makes more sense to me so I'm happy to accept Tauren Palas. Expect to see a lot of "original" names like "Holycow" or "Holymoo" or names of that nature.
Tauren Priest-I can accept that via Sun worship, Priests are a viable option to the Tauren and therefore, I have no problem with it lorewise and all. However, personally speaking...I just don't see the Tauren as Priests. I can visualise them happily as Paladins but I can't say the same thing when I picture a Tauren Priest. It's not a "no" combo though because they make perfect sense due to the Sun worship that helps Palas to fit lore wise too...I just can't see Tauren as Priests characteristic wise ranting on about the Sun(Light) to everyone else as such.
Troll Druid-I'm happy to accept that Trolls can be druids via their worship of their own animal gods and therefore, I don't have any issues with this. It would be groovy for them to get different tanking/dps forms to the Tauren/Nelf druids and all but I understand that thinking like that could just be a big ball of wishful thinking.
Undead Hunter-Out of all the current race combos, this one is my least favourite of them all. I've seen the arguments that the Undead can learn how to be Hunters through their leader cause she's an awesome Ranger but people seem to be forgetting that Rangers are Marksmanship Huntards without the pet. However, putting that aside, my major gripe with this is that Hunters are meant to love and care for their pets. The Forsaken don't have emotions so they won't really love and care about any animals...even if it's their own partner in combat and they can't just view their pets as minions because that isn't the Hunter way. This is a big big big "no" choice for me.
Expansion Races
Goblin
DK-This is fine to me since I'm sure Goblins died somewhere along the way for Arthas to nab them for himself.
Hunter-This is fine and it will be interesting because the majority of Goblin Hunters will be focused on hunting for profit, I imagine.
Rogue-This is fine and works well since Goblin rogues could simply consider themselves to be mercenaries for hire and get the moonehs that way.
Warrior-This is fine since the Bruiser NPCS you see in the Goblin ports aren't too far off Warriors and Goblins are tough little things.
Mage-Hmm, I can see it to a degree but it's a bit hard imagining Goblins keeping a keen interest in learning magic. However, it works well enough.
Warlock-I can imagine this easier than Mages which sounds silly cause usually, Locks used to be Mages/Shamans. It works fine and that's what matters.
Shaman-And we come on to the Goblin "no" combo. I don't see it at all. How can a Goblin Shaman work exactly? I get that they could theoretically learn the Shaman ways from the other Horde races but I just can't picture any Goblin's wanting to learn how to be them. I mean, it requires patience and respect for the elements and other things. I doubt the profit-orientated Goblins can meet those requirements...the only way they can be Shamans in my head is if they somehow pay the elements to let them use them. Since that can't happen realistically, it's a big big big "no" combo.
Worgen
DK-It's fine. I imagine that Arthas killed some Worgen along the way while he was also killing Goblins.
Mage-It's fine since the Gilneas Worgen are humans after all who just happen to turn into werewolves because they're lucky like that.
Priest-It's fine because they are humans that turn into wolves and all. It would be interesting to see how a Worgen priest's faith would be considering they are cursed.
Warlock-It's fine because of the humans into wolves thing that keeps cropping up in my answers and you're probably bored of it by now.
Warrior-It's fine. See above if you need to know one reason why but the other is because their wolf form is just begging to kick some ass Warrior style.
Hunter-It's fine and all to have this. However, it will be a bit strange to see a werewolf running around with a pet of some sort. I wonder if the pet would get confused.
Rogue-It's sort of fine. I mean, it's not bad or anything. It's just a bit strange to have a Worgen size rogue really.
Druid-I know the Ally need one extra druid to make it fair...but Worgen? Really? I mean, I don't see it personally. I understand that they could theoretically learn it from the Nelf allies that seem to come and help them/invite them into the alliance (based on what I saw in a trailer). However, based on that logic, why can't the Stormwind humans learn how to be druids? I know you could argue that the Stormwind humans don't care too much about nature but I don't see why the Gilneas Worgen would either. This is a big big big "no" combo from me currently.
Out of the lot on the menu, there's only 4 weaksauce combos. The rest are tasty or go down okay with some alcohol. So let us eat, drink and be merry until the next blog post. Cheers!
Saturday, 15 August 2009
Ding Dong, The Levelling Is Dead!
Expect a lot of Wizard of Oz references...I don't know why, I'm just in the mood to do them after I wrote my blog title. Anyway, this post is here to let you know that I've walked the Yellow Brick Road and made it to the Emerald City. If you didn't get the metaphor, I finally got to level 80! Ding-a-ling time! And just like Dorothy in Emerald City, it's an exciting and nervous place to be at. I guess I'll have to get some Courage and start to gear up properly.
Okay, time to write about my feelings at dinging 80 for the first time. Like I said above, it comes with both excitement and nervousness and I'll explain why. Let's start with the excitement angle. It's good and fun and exciting because I know I'm one step closer to raiding and the endgame content and doing Heroics once I gear up. I'm glad that I managed to get to level 80 (all those who powerlevel are scoffing at me right now for feeling like it's an accomplishment) and it should be an exciting challenge to do all these instances to gear up and then to try and tackle the raids head on. This Scarecrow has a Brain now and he's excited at getting to use it and hopefully, he'll get to do so with his current guild.
However, there is a part of me that's acting like the Cowardly Lion. I mean...endgame is a bit of a scary thing and I could just horribly suck at raiding really. I know that it's about learning the ropes and all but what if I can't seem to do so? I'm also a bit worried about my laptop since it's not that great (I still love you though, Laptoppy) and at times, it can lag so that might be an issue. And finally, I might be expected to heal rather than dps. I've had a bit of practice heal-wise since I healed a bit of HoL last night (we wiped on Ionar once and the mage was a bit impatient/fearful that we'd wipe more when we came to Loken so he swapped to his priesty and I got to be dps after) and I healed a 4-man group for Nexus (we did fine till Keristrasza and then we just wiped a lot) but it's not really given me that much confidence yet so I need to work on that loads more.
Hopefully, as time goes on, I'll get some Heart and I won't be as nervous about the endgame. I imagine that if XXL (the guild I'm in) are supportive, that will alleviate worries too. Generally though, I'm excited to be level 80 finally with a character and I want to get out there and start slaying every Wicked Witch and winged monkey out there so I can get shiny gear. Now, close your eyes, tap your heels together three times and repeat after me.
"There's no place like endgame."
Okay, time to write about my feelings at dinging 80 for the first time. Like I said above, it comes with both excitement and nervousness and I'll explain why. Let's start with the excitement angle. It's good and fun and exciting because I know I'm one step closer to raiding and the endgame content and doing Heroics once I gear up. I'm glad that I managed to get to level 80 (all those who powerlevel are scoffing at me right now for feeling like it's an accomplishment) and it should be an exciting challenge to do all these instances to gear up and then to try and tackle the raids head on. This Scarecrow has a Brain now and he's excited at getting to use it and hopefully, he'll get to do so with his current guild.
However, there is a part of me that's acting like the Cowardly Lion. I mean...endgame is a bit of a scary thing and I could just horribly suck at raiding really. I know that it's about learning the ropes and all but what if I can't seem to do so? I'm also a bit worried about my laptop since it's not that great (I still love you though, Laptoppy) and at times, it can lag so that might be an issue. And finally, I might be expected to heal rather than dps. I've had a bit of practice heal-wise since I healed a bit of HoL last night (we wiped on Ionar once and the mage was a bit impatient/fearful that we'd wipe more when we came to Loken so he swapped to his priesty and I got to be dps after) and I healed a 4-man group for Nexus (we did fine till Keristrasza and then we just wiped a lot) but it's not really given me that much confidence yet so I need to work on that loads more.
Hopefully, as time goes on, I'll get some Heart and I won't be as nervous about the endgame. I imagine that if XXL (the guild I'm in) are supportive, that will alleviate worries too. Generally though, I'm excited to be level 80 finally with a character and I want to get out there and start slaying every Wicked Witch and winged monkey out there so I can get shiny gear. Now, close your eyes, tap your heels together three times and repeat after me.
"There's no place like endgame."
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Onyxia 2: Bigger, Badder And More Whelp-ier!
News just in....Onyxia will be making a return in Patch 3.2.2. I thought this was an elaborate joke at first till I realised that today isn't April Fool's Day. In fact, we're quite far off from April. So I'm going to take this as truth. And before I get into the Onyxia stuff, I just want to say to any picky people out there...I know "Whelp-ier" isn't a real term but it worked well and it made me giggle so there!
Anyway, ignoring all the obvious "setback" jokes that always get used when a boss makes a second appearance, Blizzard are rebooting Onyxia for their 5-year anniversary. It's going to be a permanent update of course with the usual 10 and 25 man modes. The gear itself will apparantly share models with the Tier 2 gear you used to get from Onyxia. Now...some people would think that Blizz are just being cheap by recyling Tier 2 gear and that they are just recycling old content. First, they bring back Naxx. Now, they bring back Onyxia. However, I like to think of it as a lovely present to all the WOW players out there and I shall explain why.
For those who actually raided against Onyxia and remember it well, this has a nostalgic feel to it all. Sure, you'll know the strategies and what to do against Onyxia...but I bet you'll still love facing Onyxia because it reminds you of "the good old days" which is something that older WOW players like to bring up time and time again. For those of us who haven't raided Onyxia (like myself), this gives us a chance to experience old content but in a challenging way. I'm glad that I'll get to face Onyxia the hard way (assuming that I'll enjoy raiding since I've yet to do serious raiding). However, this isn't pleasing everyone...there are some people out there who enjoy raiding at level 60 only (there's even guilds based around this idea too. Those crazy people!) and they feel that this is Blizzard forcing them to get expansions to enjoy this raid. Now, I see their point but personally, I'm still for it. I don't think there's a large enough number of people doing the level 60 raiding stuff and I feel that it's a shame to leave Onyxia loitering around trying to tell herself that she's still fearsome and powerful whilst she suffers yet another solo run.
So there's only one thing left to ponder over....is this a one-off or should we expect more old content to be updated? Now, I'm not taking this as a sign that they'll suddenly go and revamp everything and I'm just appreciating it for the fun little present that it is. However, if it works out well enough...it does show that there is potential for them to bring back some older raids to let us experience them since a lot of WOW players are ones that didn't get to experience the vanilla content beforehand. I'd love to take part in something like a heroic SM Cathedral run but I understand that it would take Blizz a lot of time and effort. I don't think they'll do any more revamping but I acknowledge that there's the possibility that they will.
And there's my thoughts on the 5-year anniversary gift. Personally, I think Blizzard are giving us a very tasty cake and I'm going to be there at the party with my cutlery happily watching as they serve it. I hope that those who read this will do the same instead of trying to find reasons to dislike the cake.
Onyxia party hats for everyone!
Anyway, ignoring all the obvious "setback" jokes that always get used when a boss makes a second appearance, Blizzard are rebooting Onyxia for their 5-year anniversary. It's going to be a permanent update of course with the usual 10 and 25 man modes. The gear itself will apparantly share models with the Tier 2 gear you used to get from Onyxia. Now...some people would think that Blizz are just being cheap by recyling Tier 2 gear and that they are just recycling old content. First, they bring back Naxx. Now, they bring back Onyxia. However, I like to think of it as a lovely present to all the WOW players out there and I shall explain why.
For those who actually raided against Onyxia and remember it well, this has a nostalgic feel to it all. Sure, you'll know the strategies and what to do against Onyxia...but I bet you'll still love facing Onyxia because it reminds you of "the good old days" which is something that older WOW players like to bring up time and time again. For those of us who haven't raided Onyxia (like myself), this gives us a chance to experience old content but in a challenging way. I'm glad that I'll get to face Onyxia the hard way (assuming that I'll enjoy raiding since I've yet to do serious raiding). However, this isn't pleasing everyone...there are some people out there who enjoy raiding at level 60 only (there's even guilds based around this idea too. Those crazy people!) and they feel that this is Blizzard forcing them to get expansions to enjoy this raid. Now, I see their point but personally, I'm still for it. I don't think there's a large enough number of people doing the level 60 raiding stuff and I feel that it's a shame to leave Onyxia loitering around trying to tell herself that she's still fearsome and powerful whilst she suffers yet another solo run.
So there's only one thing left to ponder over....is this a one-off or should we expect more old content to be updated? Now, I'm not taking this as a sign that they'll suddenly go and revamp everything and I'm just appreciating it for the fun little present that it is. However, if it works out well enough...it does show that there is potential for them to bring back some older raids to let us experience them since a lot of WOW players are ones that didn't get to experience the vanilla content beforehand. I'd love to take part in something like a heroic SM Cathedral run but I understand that it would take Blizz a lot of time and effort. I don't think they'll do any more revamping but I acknowledge that there's the possibility that they will.
And there's my thoughts on the 5-year anniversary gift. Personally, I think Blizzard are giving us a very tasty cake and I'm going to be there at the party with my cutlery happily watching as they serve it. I hope that those who read this will do the same instead of trying to find reasons to dislike the cake.
Onyxia party hats for everyone!
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Alts ASSEMBLE!!!
That Shaman post will come, I assure you. I'm just working out whether I want to look at each spec in turn or if I want a general overlook at the spells of Shamans. I shall reach a decision within the next couple of days. However, I figured I'd do a post to let people know about all my characters. And if you got the reference in my blog title, +10 cool points for you!
This will be a quick blog post that will tell you about my 20 characters. In case you wonder why I have so many, I shall explain quickly. I wanted one of each class to try them all out and I made sure I had one of each race. I then decided I wanted to double that to two of each race and class because that way, I can tinker about with the talent specs between two characters of the same class and it won't cost me as much gold this way. Plus, I enjoy having so many cause I don't get as bored since I can just switch it up whenever I feel like. And there's a part of me that likes inventing backstories for all these characters so the more I have, the more I get to RP. I just have to find a RP server that I think I'll enjoy...but that leads into a whole new topic.
And some may consider this a sign of altitis but I don't consider myself an altaholic since an altaholic usually chooses to not level any characters too high or they can't stick to a character. I can stick to a character, I just like some choice to avoid boredom and this lets me go at my own pace so I can enjoy the game. Plus, I like having all this characters cause it lets me know how each class works which helps in PvE and PvP (and when I write stuff in this blog so I don't sound like a total noobatron).
So...here are my characters with their levels and their planned dual specs (except Ing because he actually has Dual Spec). Alts...ASSEMBLE!!!
Khadgar
Ingredients=77 Tauren Enhance/Resto Shaman
Shinyspoon=67 Dwarf BM/Surv Hunter
Megalolz=62 Gnome Unh DPS/Unh Tank DK
Eyeoftheorc=47 Fury/Prot Orc Warrior
Censored=41 Subt/Unsure Human Rogue
Walktalkheal=40 Shadow/Holy Troll Priest
Zoofriendly=14 Feral DPS/Feral Tank Tauren Druid
Vivalaviagra=12 Elemental/Resto Draenei Shaman
Kissthebeard=10 Discipline/Unsure Dwarf Priest
Yogibogeybox=7 Combat/Assass Undead Rogue
Alonsus
Originality=58 Frost Tank/Blood DPS Orc DK
Purplepill=47 Balance/Resto Nelf Druid
Aluminium=40 Frost/Arcane Belf Mage
Namegoeshere=38 Ret/Prot Draenei Pala
Fleshbag=37 Demon/Afflict Undead Warlock
Uglyunicorn=16 Marks/Unsure Troll Hunter
Xylophone=12 Destruct/Unsure Human Warlock
Blamethenoob=10 Prot/Holy Belf Pala
Dodecahedron=7 Prot/Arms Nelf Warr
Query=5 Fire/Arcane Gnome Mage
And there they are. I'll post updates now and again when the list has changed drastically. Just figured I'd let people know about my characters.
This will be a quick blog post that will tell you about my 20 characters. In case you wonder why I have so many, I shall explain quickly. I wanted one of each class to try them all out and I made sure I had one of each race. I then decided I wanted to double that to two of each race and class because that way, I can tinker about with the talent specs between two characters of the same class and it won't cost me as much gold this way. Plus, I enjoy having so many cause I don't get as bored since I can just switch it up whenever I feel like. And there's a part of me that likes inventing backstories for all these characters so the more I have, the more I get to RP. I just have to find a RP server that I think I'll enjoy...but that leads into a whole new topic.
And some may consider this a sign of altitis but I don't consider myself an altaholic since an altaholic usually chooses to not level any characters too high or they can't stick to a character. I can stick to a character, I just like some choice to avoid boredom and this lets me go at my own pace so I can enjoy the game. Plus, I like having all this characters cause it lets me know how each class works which helps in PvE and PvP (and when I write stuff in this blog so I don't sound like a total noobatron).
So...here are my characters with their levels and their planned dual specs (except Ing because he actually has Dual Spec). Alts...ASSEMBLE!!!
Khadgar
Ingredients=77 Tauren Enhance/Resto Shaman
Shinyspoon=67 Dwarf BM/Surv Hunter
Megalolz=62 Gnome Unh DPS/Unh Tank DK
Eyeoftheorc=47 Fury/Prot Orc Warrior
Censored=41 Subt/Unsure Human Rogue
Walktalkheal=40 Shadow/Holy Troll Priest
Zoofriendly=14 Feral DPS/Feral Tank Tauren Druid
Vivalaviagra=12 Elemental/Resto Draenei Shaman
Kissthebeard=10 Discipline/Unsure Dwarf Priest
Yogibogeybox=7 Combat/Assass Undead Rogue
Alonsus
Originality=58 Frost Tank/Blood DPS Orc DK
Purplepill=47 Balance/Resto Nelf Druid
Aluminium=40 Frost/Arcane Belf Mage
Namegoeshere=38 Ret/Prot Draenei Pala
Fleshbag=37 Demon/Afflict Undead Warlock
Uglyunicorn=16 Marks/Unsure Troll Hunter
Xylophone=12 Destruct/Unsure Human Warlock
Blamethenoob=10 Prot/Holy Belf Pala
Dodecahedron=7 Prot/Arms Nelf Warr
Query=5 Fire/Arcane Gnome Mage
And there they are. I'll post updates now and again when the list has changed drastically. Just figured I'd let people know about my characters.
Sunday, 12 July 2009
Look, This (Insert MMO Here) Is The WOW-Killer!
I haven't forgotten about making a Shaman-related post, that will be coming in a day or two. However, I felt inspired to write this one after watching a couple of Aion videos and seeing all the Youtuber comments from people. Now, I know that Youtube isn't the best place to go since most of the comments there are either trolltastic, stupid with a capital S or pointless spam BUT I think the general theme behind the comments is important. I mean...is it fair to want WOW to die? Should it end? Has it lost it's appeal? And is it fair to keep calling other games the "WOW-killer?"
Let's start off with looking at the new game to come along and be hailed as the one to kill WOW. Aion Online. Now, I've not played it (the videos/info looks interesting) so it could have the potential to take a lot of WOW players away. After all, it's been four years now for some players and a lot of them tend to complain that it's getting boring or that the game isn't as fun now thanks to changes and patches and all that stoof. Although when I look at players complain about it being boring, I'm often amused by how they still play cause of their WOW friends or cause they have nothing else to do. I mean...can't people just get another PC game to play that doesn't involve subscription fees or get those friends on MSN/Facebook/something that isn't WOW? I know that I play WOW at times cause it's something fun to do but the key thing is...when I do play it, I enjoy it. If it was really that boring, I'd stop. Isn't that the whole point of games?
Getting back to Aion, I can't say if it's better or not since I've not personally played the beta. However, there's a lot of buzz around the "Aion vs WOW" topic. You only have to Google those words to see what I mean. Now, don't get me wrong. I think competition is healthy and good for MMO games. But at the same time, is it fair to constantly put pressure on other MMO's by labelling them WOW-killers? It might be good publicity at first...but from what I've seen of previous MMO's, the hype tends to hurt them in the long run. I mean, I remember when Age Of Conan and WAR were both being hailed as the ones to kick the king off of it's throne and yet if you look at them now....they haven't done that. Neither did Guild Wars or other MMO's. I know it's natural to root for "underdogs" or other MMORPG's to knock WOW off it's top spot but I just find it silly how people are willing to quickly see another MMO and go "HAIL OUR NEW GOD!" as such. And I wonder if it hurts those other MMO's once they are released and are out for a while.
However, one thing I find disappointing (and a tiny bit irritating) is how people are so quick to attack WOW and want to see it die or fall. I mean...even if you didn't enjoy it now, you did at some point. So why hurl abuse and hate at it? I know that long-term players could turn round and go "Well, you wasn't there for "vanilla WOW" or most of BC where "raids were actually good and a Raid wasn't just a raid, it was harder then a Jigsaw trap (Saw reference) and took real work!" And they would be right to say I wasn't there then. However, I still think that if it's changed and you dislike the new changes, you shouldn't wish for WOW to fall because you don't like how it changed. I mean, I loved Pokemon Gold (I know this seems a bit of a childish reference but it's relevant. Honest!) but I didn't really enjoy the latest Pokemon game when I had a quick go on it. Doesn't mean I wish the Pokemon franchise will fail. It probably will do at some point cause interest fades over time but that's natural. In the same way that WOW will eventually die out due to old age. So I think that even if you stopped playing/don't feel it's the same WOW you enjoyed, you should still respect WOW and not want it to fall. That ruins it for those of us who haven't played it for very long or who still enjoy it and think the changes are fine/great.
Now, one other thing is that some people would say that I'm a "WOW fanboy" because I don't want it to fail or end. However, I'd disagree. I don't spend all my time on WOW and I don't worship the game. I just find that it's a game I enjoy playing. I don't see why people have to set out to knock the game at every turn. I mean, there's all that business with WOW apparantly going down to 5 million subscriptions due to the current China situation and people are going "HA! TAKE THAT!" and stuff and they're LOL'ing at "fanboys". Again, I don't see why that's necessary. There were important MMO's before WOW and there will be important ones after it too. People aren't necessarily rabid fanboys just because they still enjoy the game or cause they doubt that others will knock WOW off it's top spot. After all, most games so far haven't been able to beat WOW away from it's throne.
Aion might do that, it might not. Star Wars: The Old Republic might do that, it might not. I don't really mind either way. What I mind is two things. The first thing that bothers me is how it seems like any other RPG that gets some interest or hype is labelled as a WOW killer and is always compared to WOW. I understand that WOW did set a benchmark and was revolutionary BUT we don't have to keep comparing every other MMORPG to WOW. It irks me in the same way we always have to compare RPG's to FF7. It's like RPG gamers are stuck in the past all the time. The second thing that bothers me is the hate that WOW gets. It's okay to have gotten bored with it and moved on (if you haven't and you're bored, you should move on.) It's okay to have not liked the latest expansion or some changes that Blizz made along the way (be it PvE or PvP). It's okay to voice criticism over WOW. However, I personally think it's not okay to constantly wish for WOW's downfall.
Other people might disagree with me and that's fine. I just wanted to voice my opinion cause I feel sorry for Blizzard at times since they can never seem to please anyone and they have a lot of people constantly attacking them/World Of Warcraft. I also get sick of seeing "WOW-killer" articles. Sorry if it seemed rant-like, I just felt the urge to write and it all came out. It was like I was on Jerry Springer or something. I hope it wasn't boring to read and I shall end this lengthy post by asking direct questions to anyone who reads this post.
Do you think there are any MMO's that are out/coming out which will really challenge WOW or do you think it's always about the hype?
Do you think WOW should end anytime soon?
Do you think WOW gets unfairly attacked or do you think it's justified due to their number one spot/the current state of the game?
Do you think that pancakes are the best breakfast EVER?
Let's start off with looking at the new game to come along and be hailed as the one to kill WOW. Aion Online. Now, I've not played it (the videos/info looks interesting) so it could have the potential to take a lot of WOW players away. After all, it's been four years now for some players and a lot of them tend to complain that it's getting boring or that the game isn't as fun now thanks to changes and patches and all that stoof. Although when I look at players complain about it being boring, I'm often amused by how they still play cause of their WOW friends or cause they have nothing else to do. I mean...can't people just get another PC game to play that doesn't involve subscription fees or get those friends on MSN/Facebook/something that isn't WOW? I know that I play WOW at times cause it's something fun to do but the key thing is...when I do play it, I enjoy it. If it was really that boring, I'd stop. Isn't that the whole point of games?
Getting back to Aion, I can't say if it's better or not since I've not personally played the beta. However, there's a lot of buzz around the "Aion vs WOW" topic. You only have to Google those words to see what I mean. Now, don't get me wrong. I think competition is healthy and good for MMO games. But at the same time, is it fair to constantly put pressure on other MMO's by labelling them WOW-killers? It might be good publicity at first...but from what I've seen of previous MMO's, the hype tends to hurt them in the long run. I mean, I remember when Age Of Conan and WAR were both being hailed as the ones to kick the king off of it's throne and yet if you look at them now....they haven't done that. Neither did Guild Wars or other MMO's. I know it's natural to root for "underdogs" or other MMORPG's to knock WOW off it's top spot but I just find it silly how people are willing to quickly see another MMO and go "HAIL OUR NEW GOD!" as such. And I wonder if it hurts those other MMO's once they are released and are out for a while.
However, one thing I find disappointing (and a tiny bit irritating) is how people are so quick to attack WOW and want to see it die or fall. I mean...even if you didn't enjoy it now, you did at some point. So why hurl abuse and hate at it? I know that long-term players could turn round and go "Well, you wasn't there for "vanilla WOW" or most of BC where "raids were actually good and a Raid wasn't just a raid, it was harder then a Jigsaw trap (Saw reference) and took real work!" And they would be right to say I wasn't there then. However, I still think that if it's changed and you dislike the new changes, you shouldn't wish for WOW to fall because you don't like how it changed. I mean, I loved Pokemon Gold (I know this seems a bit of a childish reference but it's relevant. Honest!) but I didn't really enjoy the latest Pokemon game when I had a quick go on it. Doesn't mean I wish the Pokemon franchise will fail. It probably will do at some point cause interest fades over time but that's natural. In the same way that WOW will eventually die out due to old age. So I think that even if you stopped playing/don't feel it's the same WOW you enjoyed, you should still respect WOW and not want it to fall. That ruins it for those of us who haven't played it for very long or who still enjoy it and think the changes are fine/great.
Now, one other thing is that some people would say that I'm a "WOW fanboy" because I don't want it to fail or end. However, I'd disagree. I don't spend all my time on WOW and I don't worship the game. I just find that it's a game I enjoy playing. I don't see why people have to set out to knock the game at every turn. I mean, there's all that business with WOW apparantly going down to 5 million subscriptions due to the current China situation and people are going "HA! TAKE THAT!" and stuff and they're LOL'ing at "fanboys". Again, I don't see why that's necessary. There were important MMO's before WOW and there will be important ones after it too. People aren't necessarily rabid fanboys just because they still enjoy the game or cause they doubt that others will knock WOW off it's top spot. After all, most games so far haven't been able to beat WOW away from it's throne.
Aion might do that, it might not. Star Wars: The Old Republic might do that, it might not. I don't really mind either way. What I mind is two things. The first thing that bothers me is how it seems like any other RPG that gets some interest or hype is labelled as a WOW killer and is always compared to WOW. I understand that WOW did set a benchmark and was revolutionary BUT we don't have to keep comparing every other MMORPG to WOW. It irks me in the same way we always have to compare RPG's to FF7. It's like RPG gamers are stuck in the past all the time. The second thing that bothers me is the hate that WOW gets. It's okay to have gotten bored with it and moved on (if you haven't and you're bored, you should move on.) It's okay to have not liked the latest expansion or some changes that Blizz made along the way (be it PvE or PvP). It's okay to voice criticism over WOW. However, I personally think it's not okay to constantly wish for WOW's downfall.
Other people might disagree with me and that's fine. I just wanted to voice my opinion cause I feel sorry for Blizzard at times since they can never seem to please anyone and they have a lot of people constantly attacking them/World Of Warcraft. I also get sick of seeing "WOW-killer" articles. Sorry if it seemed rant-like, I just felt the urge to write and it all came out. It was like I was on Jerry Springer or something. I hope it wasn't boring to read and I shall end this lengthy post by asking direct questions to anyone who reads this post.
Do you think there are any MMO's that are out/coming out which will really challenge WOW or do you think it's always about the hype?
Do you think WOW should end anytime soon?
Do you think WOW gets unfairly attacked or do you think it's justified due to their number one spot/the current state of the game?
Do you think that pancakes are the best breakfast EVER?
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
The Man Behind The Silly Name
Well, here it is. My first post of my first blog. I've got a "blog" as such on a forum I go on a fair bit but this is the first time that I've set one up on a site with the specific intent to try and post in a regular fashion. So I count this as the first. And it's a bit strange...as I type this, I find myself worrying a little over what people will think of me as they read this. And yet, there's a very good chance I'll never have anyone read this so it's pointless to worry. However, if I do have people reading this post (be it after I've posted this recently or in the future where you've stumbled upon this blog and decided you like something about it and me) then I'd like to say thanks. Even if I told you to come here/self-advertised, it's still groovy to have people reading this. But at the end of the day, if I never get anyone else besides me reading this, that's fine. This is for my entertainment/pleasure since I like to be creative and I like to write.
With the introduction paragraph out the way, it's time to move on to the main substance of this post. I'm going to be doing two things-telling you information about moi and explaining what this blog sets out to do. As a basic warning though...this blog will be about the MMORPG called World Of Warcraft (or WOW as I'll refer to it as from now on.) If you don't know about the game (which would be suprising...it's a pretty well-known game) or you dont like World Of Warcraft, there's no point in reading the rest of this post or this blog. I just wanted to make that clear before I move on. Let's start with the info sharing first though let's be reasonable-I'm not exactly going to be handing out my address, full name, financial details and all that stuff. So for all those who want to steal my identity, best to move on to another blog. Now, stuff about me.
The name's Tom. I live in England and I'm a mixture of sarcasm, random and anti-socialness. In case you haven't guessed, my online alias is "Ninjaoctopus".I don't know when in my life but at some point when I was younger, I imagined that an octopus ninja would be the coolest thing EVAR. My logic was sound too since 8 swords will always beat two (unless you're fighting a combination of Zoro and Killerbee). I've just reached 20 so I'm now out of the teen years and into the adult ones. I'm currently at university and I'm studying Psychology with Criminology. As I type this, I'm in the first year and hoping I passed the exams to get to the next year. However, if I haven't and you read this, don't laugh too much now okay?
Now, the reason why I bring up the uni stuff is because when it was term time, I found I never got much chance to play WOW whereas currently, I'm playing it much more cause as I write this, I'm enjoying the summer holiday. Yeah, I know...we get too much time off. Heard it before. However, even with oodles of free time (since with our current recession, it's hard to get a job right now), I still class myself as a "casual" player. I hold my hands up high and I admit it and I do so in a proud way. That means that I acknowledge that I don't know tons about WOW and if I put myself on the knowledge spectrum, I'd probably be in the middle or more towards the end entitled "Not very much". I haven't done any serious raiding yet, I've only PvP'ed to get a PvP mount (so I only know AV, WG and AB), I've not bothered to level professions yet (they bore me...they might be necessary and all but they really really bore me) and my highest character is only lvl 75. He's soon to be 76 though! I know what you're thinking...if I don't have a vast supply of WOW knowledge and I haven't experienced everything the game offers...why am I writing a blog?
Well, one simple answer. For fun. I'm hoping that I'll enjoy the freedom of writing stuff on this blog and I have a silly hope that someday, I'll have readers who will enjoy reading what I write. Now, the blog doesn't really have a focus that's set in stone. However, my rough idea for it is to look at suggesting changing spells or abilities or the introduction of new spells and abilities for all the classes. I don't want to focus on just one class because I'm an altaholic. It's a crippling addiction but that's what I suffer with. I'll also write up some experiences now and again like a questline I enjoyed or an instance I had fun in or a negative time one day involving a ninja, a need roll and me growling at the laptop screen. Now...this means that people are more then welcome to come here and tell me that I'm wrong if they wish to do so. But just bear this in mind. I didn't say I had all the answers and I'm freely admitting that I'm average when it comes to knowing WOW.
Hopefully...this gives you some insight into why I'm writing this. Therefore, you'll accept that this blog is just a bit of fun that aims to be interesting to read. If you do enjoy what I post, please go ahead and comment or if you like any ideas I have, say so. If you think they are stupid, please say so too but try and be a bit constructive? "YOU SUCK, GO FAIL AT LIFE TOO" isn't a good example of being constructive. Now...I don't have a solid structure yet but here's the rough outline for the blog. I'll post weekly and at first, it's going to look at Shamans and Hunters because they are the classes I have the most experience with so far. As I level the other alts up, I'll look at them too. However, things may crop up to get in the way of that like complimenting some of the Wrath quests or talking about finally being 80 if I get there anytime soon. So just remember three simple things about this blog. It's going to be laidback, it's going to try to be interesting and it's going to look at both what's in WOW and what could possibly be improved in regards to the classes. I know that Blizzard have a hard life balancing things but I'll just be offering my own simple slightly significant stance on it all. Check out the alliteration there!
So I think that covers everything. I can tick my "Intro post" box off my list and be happy with that. As you may have noticed, I've tried to space things out as well as I can do with paragraphs but I have a tendency to ramble and I may go off on tangents. If that bothers you, I can't do much about it. It's how I am in real life and it's how I am when I write blogs since I don't want to make this feel like a chore by having a fixed structure and planning my posts in detail. If anyone reads this first post, I hope you enjoy reading it and that you'll look forward to the next post. Unless you dislike Shamans a lot...best to wait a while then.
Take it easy
Ninjaoctopus
With the introduction paragraph out the way, it's time to move on to the main substance of this post. I'm going to be doing two things-telling you information about moi and explaining what this blog sets out to do. As a basic warning though...this blog will be about the MMORPG called World Of Warcraft (or WOW as I'll refer to it as from now on.) If you don't know about the game (which would be suprising...it's a pretty well-known game) or you dont like World Of Warcraft, there's no point in reading the rest of this post or this blog. I just wanted to make that clear before I move on. Let's start with the info sharing first though let's be reasonable-I'm not exactly going to be handing out my address, full name, financial details and all that stuff. So for all those who want to steal my identity, best to move on to another blog. Now, stuff about me.
The name's Tom. I live in England and I'm a mixture of sarcasm, random and anti-socialness. In case you haven't guessed, my online alias is "Ninjaoctopus".I don't know when in my life but at some point when I was younger, I imagined that an octopus ninja would be the coolest thing EVAR. My logic was sound too since 8 swords will always beat two (unless you're fighting a combination of Zoro and Killerbee). I've just reached 20 so I'm now out of the teen years and into the adult ones. I'm currently at university and I'm studying Psychology with Criminology. As I type this, I'm in the first year and hoping I passed the exams to get to the next year. However, if I haven't and you read this, don't laugh too much now okay?
Now, the reason why I bring up the uni stuff is because when it was term time, I found I never got much chance to play WOW whereas currently, I'm playing it much more cause as I write this, I'm enjoying the summer holiday. Yeah, I know...we get too much time off. Heard it before. However, even with oodles of free time (since with our current recession, it's hard to get a job right now), I still class myself as a "casual" player. I hold my hands up high and I admit it and I do so in a proud way. That means that I acknowledge that I don't know tons about WOW and if I put myself on the knowledge spectrum, I'd probably be in the middle or more towards the end entitled "Not very much". I haven't done any serious raiding yet, I've only PvP'ed to get a PvP mount (so I only know AV, WG and AB), I've not bothered to level professions yet (they bore me...they might be necessary and all but they really really bore me) and my highest character is only lvl 75. He's soon to be 76 though! I know what you're thinking...if I don't have a vast supply of WOW knowledge and I haven't experienced everything the game offers...why am I writing a blog?
Well, one simple answer. For fun. I'm hoping that I'll enjoy the freedom of writing stuff on this blog and I have a silly hope that someday, I'll have readers who will enjoy reading what I write. Now, the blog doesn't really have a focus that's set in stone. However, my rough idea for it is to look at suggesting changing spells or abilities or the introduction of new spells and abilities for all the classes. I don't want to focus on just one class because I'm an altaholic. It's a crippling addiction but that's what I suffer with. I'll also write up some experiences now and again like a questline I enjoyed or an instance I had fun in or a negative time one day involving a ninja, a need roll and me growling at the laptop screen. Now...this means that people are more then welcome to come here and tell me that I'm wrong if they wish to do so. But just bear this in mind. I didn't say I had all the answers and I'm freely admitting that I'm average when it comes to knowing WOW.
Hopefully...this gives you some insight into why I'm writing this. Therefore, you'll accept that this blog is just a bit of fun that aims to be interesting to read. If you do enjoy what I post, please go ahead and comment or if you like any ideas I have, say so. If you think they are stupid, please say so too but try and be a bit constructive? "YOU SUCK, GO FAIL AT LIFE TOO" isn't a good example of being constructive. Now...I don't have a solid structure yet but here's the rough outline for the blog. I'll post weekly and at first, it's going to look at Shamans and Hunters because they are the classes I have the most experience with so far. As I level the other alts up, I'll look at them too. However, things may crop up to get in the way of that like complimenting some of the Wrath quests or talking about finally being 80 if I get there anytime soon. So just remember three simple things about this blog. It's going to be laidback, it's going to try to be interesting and it's going to look at both what's in WOW and what could possibly be improved in regards to the classes. I know that Blizzard have a hard life balancing things but I'll just be offering my own simple slightly significant stance on it all. Check out the alliteration there!
So I think that covers everything. I can tick my "Intro post" box off my list and be happy with that. As you may have noticed, I've tried to space things out as well as I can do with paragraphs but I have a tendency to ramble and I may go off on tangents. If that bothers you, I can't do much about it. It's how I am in real life and it's how I am when I write blogs since I don't want to make this feel like a chore by having a fixed structure and planning my posts in detail. If anyone reads this first post, I hope you enjoy reading it and that you'll look forward to the next post. Unless you dislike Shamans a lot...best to wait a while then.
Take it easy
Ninjaoctopus
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