One raid boss that Ascension always had issues with was Al’ar. Not sure why, but he was particularly nasty. So much so, that while we got everything down around him, we never killed him in particular. I hated Al’ar. I remember one night, when I was on healing duties on the add pickup (good old…
All posts in Blizzard
I Am Alone In My MMO
Amazing things have happened in MMO advancement. Graphics, systems, play styles, game modes, etc. etc. etc. We have come a long, long way from multiple week grinds to get a level and losing all of your items (and even levels) upon death. Most of us, while we may look fondly back on the memories of…
2008, 184 Posts, 18 months of (mostly) silence, and missing you!
I can’t believe I started this blog in 2008. Yes, it only has 184 (often misguided) posts, and no, I haven’t really checked in in a year and a half. And yes, I do miss you. ‘You’ having two contexts, of course. One, is writing. I think critically all the time for work, and write…
Tuesday Ramblings.
I don’t post nearly as much when I am playing. One of those funny things – when I play a lot, I don’t post. When I’m not playing a lot, I post. With limited gaming/personal time, it just works out that way. I am in, and there is, a SWTOR beta. That’s all I am…
I Hate Mila!
Mild mannered bloggers over at Are We New At This? and High Latency Life are tackling an important issue in blognation. Why all the hate on WoW? I mean, it has eleventy (.2) billion subscribers! Something must be going right over at ActiBlizzEnron. It is a curious (and good) question in many ways. Chris Cavelle…
Tell Me What You Want (What You Really, Really, Want)
I think MMO nostalgia makes us funny people. Just yesterday I was thinking about EQ and the amazing times had there with people I still consider ‘amazing’. Hell, I even went to my first ever guild message boards (circa 1999) after a 3 year hiatus to go say “hi” and see who was still kicking around…
World of Warcraft Tanky McTankertons
Last week Crabby McCraberton wrote a WoW Dev Blog on hotfixed changes to threat in World of Warcraft. Basically, they are removing (or working towards removing) threat as a variable in gameplay. They feel there are enough variables for tanks to worry about. This came on the heels of tank-bribery, CC changes and other mechanic…
Avoiding Disasters
Including Cataclysm. A part of me was actually hoping I would have interest to buy the expansion, and based off the generaly quietness of blognation I may be in the minority. Although, the things the bloggers have turned out seem to be a lot of ‘content is almost done, when is the next expansion’ fun…
Deferred Success
This title stems from educators wanting to remove kids from an ‘F’, or ‘Failing’ grade. No more failing – just deferred success! Clearly the change in terminology will make kids all become hugely successful. This Epic Defer is part of a longer list of deferrments by public offcials who manage powerful unionized employees (the same unions that…
Don’t Spam Me, Bro
I don’t mind getting information pieces from various MMO’s I have signed up for. I actually appreciate being kept up to date on various things, without having to click or find them. Picking on WoW (I unsubbed a while ago.. again) a bit here as I got an email from them today. After the break.
Conventions
One of the best blog articles I have read recently was at Elder Gamer regarding genre conventions in our beloved MMO’s. It hits on a lot of interesting and valid points, and is a great read. I find it interesting that a lot of the ‘outside of the box’ MMO design discussions (from the armchair…
GAMMOP – Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Mobs Gear
MMO’s have generally accepted principles much like accounting. Rules and systems that have been adopted over the years. I recently signed up to try the Age of Conan Trial (haven’t played it since I dismissed the game as ‘not for me’ in beta). I’ll most likely discuss how things have changed there in another piece,…
Secure Online Starcraft 2
Starcraft 2 cost a reported 100 million to make. Not far into the release, Blizzard bans 5000 players for cheating. I know, I know. The 1337 hackers are always ahead of programmers. Curious though, out of a 100 million development budget, I wonder how much was budgeted to make a game difficult to hack/cheat? Especially…
Can We Teach A New Dog Old Tricks?
Blizzard seems intent on taking a new direction in Cataclysm – making the game more challenging. I’m very curious if the follow through, and if they do – even more curious if they stick with it. The basis of the change, without going into too much detail, is making CC required in instances again as…
Maybe Worth The Price of Admission
Unconfirmed rumours from a reputable source about Blizzards Cataclysm expansion. I would probably buy it and try it. I have complained about not using the world of Azeroth before – 80 levels shuttled into a handful of instances for the end game. Those rumours, if true, are a brilliant move by Blizzard. That is what…
It’s All Just TOO Difficult!
Pope here. Today Blizzard announced major changes to the mount structure. Most notable amongst the changes is that flying mounts will now be accessed at level 60. Normal flying will be 150% speed instead of 60% like it has been since flying mounts were launched. Wow. What’s more: Blizzard is now including a portal from…
Repetitive Monetization Theoretics
Newsflash: MMO’s make you grind. (That new, informative and ground breaking statement should win me a blog-pulitzer, or blog-nobel, I am certain of it.) Follow Up: People tend to not like grind. MMOment of Truth: Grind equals profits for companies (both in the form of longer sub fee collection, and minimizing development costs) Sad Truth:…
What is Hurting WoW’s Polish?
Warning – Fanboi’s may attack! WoW has changed. Change is sometimes a good thing, and I’m not going to belabor the obvious changes (less challenge) or industry misconceptions (subs are needed to cover ongoing costs) instead, I am going to look at two things I have noticed the most since my foray back into WoW. First, to stave of…
An Idea…
First off, big thanks to Chris for letting me post here. I had this thought rolling around in my head, but no real spot to post it (my regular readership on my blog wouldn’t really get it). Unbeknownst to him, Chris actually touched on the problem I’m looking at in this post in his “welcome”…
Can the End Game be the Game?
MMO gamers seem to be lamenting the fact that everything starts at the “endgame” in current mmo-land. The grind/level mechanics exist mostly to slow you down to getting to a point where you can start having fun. While that sounds back-ass-wards, the common argument in support is traditionally “Developers can’t create enough content to keep…
Alliance Druids Rejoice
Time to level ol’ Couchon again.
Alamo Will be Happy
Druids about to see a popularity increase? Credit: The old Wowinsider.com
More From the Mine
Not of Moira. Sorry LOTRO fans. I hope Zardoz doesn’t end up getting sick of me linking to his posts, but data gets me all hot and heavy. WoW data is always fun, and a couple weeks ago he posted his Minority Report outlining level 80 class allocation at 3.1.1. His sampling methods are reasonable so…
Skills Baby
Suzina over at KTR posts about a couple recent gaming experiences in LOTRO. It’s a good read for several reasons, but mostly because it captures the essence of what is great about MMO’s – success and failure. I shared a snazzy yet true golf analogy in the comments section about “hooks”. MMO’s live on hooks. …