Before last weekend I was pretty sure  I was going to have to give in my gamer card. Life is busy and I have learned to prioritize work/life/gaming balance much better than the past. Family, then work, then gaming. Sadly, the realities of a job that demands a lot and a family that I want…
All posts in Blizzard
7 is (Not) Enough
Warlords of Draenor launching is having a bigger than I expected effect on WoW subs – although as TAGN points out, things aren’t really clear where those subs are coming from. Besides, WoW subscriber numbers are like the old McDonald’s signs from back in the day that used to list how many millions were served. Eventually…
WODding Nistfully
Guess what – Warlords of Draenor has been released! I know this is a shocker to most of you, and my breaking news CNN style segment remains in tact. The play on the title of this post is to acknowledge yet another failed feature on this blog. I’ve tried a few of them and was good at…
How to Lose a MMO Gamer in 10 Ways
Posted on Author IseyPosted in Blizzard, Carbine, Daybreak (SOE), EA, Kickstarter, MMO, Mythic, Riot, SWKOTORMMORPG25 Replies
In the romantic comedy “How to lose a guy in 10 days” A reporter is writing an article with that name – and wants to prove she can lose a guy in 10 days. On the other side, the guy, a big advertising exec takes a bet that he can make a woman fall in…
5avourite 5ives
On the heals of 10 questions on WoW, I admit that my favourite pastime in WoW is 5 – man dungeons. It used to be raiding, but I don’t have the luxury of that kind of time anymore. That post got me thinking about which 5 mans in particular stuck out for me – so…
10 Answers About WoW
Like many bitter exes (that keep going back) I have done my fair share of beating up WoW on this blog although it always came from a place of “tough love”. I learned of 10 Years – 10 Questions through Tales of the Argonaut (hat tip!) but the direct questions are asked over here at Alternative.…
Furious Howl 4 and Bite 8
This post was inspired by the Keen Gamer’s post – it’s a great read, go enjoy! This post is about one of my favorite accomplishments in my MMO gaming – and his post reminded me of that. It’s a not a world first, not a particularly heroic moment (finishing off A’lar while the rest of…
Children of the WoW
My son is visiting Grandma – it’s a 10 day trip in the summer. Grandma and Grandpa have a farm and he gets to do all sorts of things that he doesn’t get to here at home. They also have a lot of acreage and I learned last year he was able to drive a Gator…
Housing I Would Buy Into (or Rent/Lease)
Housing is all the craze and I’m loving the options. My first (and best) experience with housing in general was in DAOC. We had this nice, big, shiny Guild House! It had crafting, and portals, and trophies.. and was an awesome place where guildmates would spend downtime or whittle away at their trade skills. While…
Flex Builds Ruining Immersion?
I am starting to feel that flexibility on my characters is hurting immersion. I am very flip-floppy on this subject so please help! In movies and high fantasy typically a hero is “good at one thing”. Legolas has short swords/daggers but really, he uses his bow. And he is famous for it. Luke Skywalker has…
MMO Information / Stats
I love information and believe that all MMOs should be regularly publishing information that is only available to them. This would get rid of the “what ifs” and curiosities of the general population. It would also get rid of the mis-information. Is 50% of the “tanks” a paladin in the end game? Why *not* share that…
Ying to the Yang (Yo)
I have been playing EQ a lot. It’s a fun comparative after just playing WildStar for the weekend. I have recently spent time being nostalgic about starter zones in EQ, and decided it would be neat to try out EQ from a new player’s perspective. And that means starting off in Gloomingdeep Mines. I rolled an Enchanter (one…
Draft Necro – Hearthstone Classes
Like many bloggers I have a whole suite of post “drafts” – ones that I start and never finish. Periodically I am going to revive these posts, and finish them (or parts of them) even if they aren’t entirely relevant. Why? Why not! Sometimes I fire off a single thought (or several paragraphs) and then…
My Influential 15
Posted on Author IseyPosted in Activision, Black Sand Studios, Blizzard, Combat Testing, Daybreak (SOE), EA, FPS, General, IHASPC, Microsoft, MMO, Mythic, Nodding Wistfully, random thoughts, RPG, Sandbox, Sports, Strategy, Zombie4 Replies
One of my favorite blogs to visit is The Ancient Gaming Noob (TAGN) and he recently posted an Influential 15Â list – started by another blogger and other sites are also playing along. The parts I read indicated not too many rules, but just do not overthink it – only take 15 minutes, and list…
Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way To Kill Evil..
.. I started having fun in Diablo three. There are three clear reasons (ironically!) 1) The 50%+ EXP boost. I gained more levels (in one day) then I did in all my prior hours of play sessions when the game first launched. With a game that scales with levels.. who cares how slow you gain?…
Dry Spells and Random Stuffs
This happens to me often with gaming – I hit dry spells. This occurs when life gets too busy and/or games get a bit dry for me. Thankfully, right now I am in the former – just busy. This, in turn, makes blogging more challenging because if you aren’t playing then there’s not much to…
Hopes and Dreams and Tools
Could EQN:L lead to a full blown platform to make our own games? While I don’t think so, I like to be positive and for a change think “why not”. Very blue ocean thinking but take Landmark, add in Story Bricks, and an item editor\creator and quest builder and voilà – you have many tools to make…
5 Mans
First, an aside. When reading Rivs blog on my blogroll this comment stuck out to me: it’s nice seeing people reading what you write. It was easier to comment on blogs, nowadays it seems you have to jump through hoops of fire to comment on a blog. Which I find is true for a lot…
Squelch
Curious curiosity – you cannot talk to your opponents in Hearthstone. I find this very odd. For a social game and gaming company as Blizzard who once wanted people to be their real selves while online to take away a basic chat function is puzzling. What are they afraid of? Its a head to head…
Improvement Realization
I don’t mind losing when I play games. Part of this is from the old MMO raiding mentality where we knew we would die several times while “learning” the fight. It was the ultimate proof that if you kept practicing, and learning, and get a bit better everyday, and learn to work as a team…
Stamina
One nice integration with the Hearthstone beta is that my WoW-playing friends still show up on my friends list in Hearthstone. At first, they seemed really excited that I was coming back to WoW… until they realized that “oh, you are playing that card game thing”. Personally I am surprised at how many of the…
M2P – Motivation 2 Play
I haven’t had a chance to dig into LOTRO: The Warden’s Return (self titled) with all the fun holiday shenanigans on the go. I have been playing Hearthstone daily and I have noticed a curious reoccurrence to my playing pattern. I just play to finish the daily quest(s). This doesn’t make a ton of sense…
Hearthstoned
Full disclaimer – I am not big on card games. Actually, to be more clear – fantasy hard games. I didn’t play Magic: The Gathering, or Pokémon, or any of those fine pastimes. Pull my nerd card if you have to. I did play quite a bit of Texas Hold’em and other traditional card games…
World of Warcraft – Random Thoughts About the Expansion
So, Warlords of Draenor. I have had a long tenure with World of Warcraft. From hardcore raiding through Vanilla, multiple accounts, multiple licences, to guild leadership in a progression guild through WOTLK. Half way through WOTLK I gave up on WoW and the sub model. It remains the one game I have spent the most…
Playing the Free to Play Field (Non-Committed)
Kind of feels a bit like speed dating. As good a time as it is to be a gamer these days with all the free-to-play options I am actually a bit sullen. Unlike my wife, I just can’t commit to any games. I could argue it is because of the game themselves but I am…