Tag: WoW

I’ve been playing on Argent Dawn (alliance side) for a number of years now, but even after the server merged I found it very quiet. On a whim I decided to join a friend over on Area 52 (screenshot above) and the two servers couldn’t be any more different. This time around I’m playing horde, and the server is constantly bustling – which makes me very happy to see.

I really dislike having servers at all. They separate your player base, they make it easier to quit because your friends are scattered to the wind, and they make it impossible for new players to figure out where the “good” place to be is. More games need to do away with these archaic things and implement an open world. I get tired of trying to figure out where all my friends are playing. Some are fans of PvP while others enjoy roleplaying. Some are EST and others are PST and then there are my EU friends who typically get sequestered off in some server that I can’t even access.

Frustrating.

When you’re starting a new game, how do you pick what server you’ll be playing on? Do you typically follow your friends? Immediately jump to the highest population? What about queues? What if new servers are added? There’s always a fear that if new servers are added to balance out the populations on the heavy servers, that those new servers will eventually become desolate as the population evens out down the road.

I don’t mind phased instances, and I don’t even mind instances themselves as a masked way of keeping the population in tow, but I really REALLY dislike constantly having to decide where it is I’m going to play. Especially since these days my friends never ever play just one game – and they’re never playing those games for long, either. One minute it’s WildStar and the next week it’s FFXIV, then the week after that it’s WoW. Having to figure out where everyone is going is just one headache that I don’t think gamers should have to deal with any more.

I know it’s not that easy, after all if it were wouldn’t we have already given up these systems by now? But still.. wishful thinking.

Area 52 (horde side) was packed tonight, it was awesome to see. 

All the cool kids are doing it, so I decided I would also partake in the “10 years, 10 questions” phenomenon that is ongoing due to the impending anniversary of World of Warcraft, though it does make me feel pretty old.

1. Why did you start playing World of Warcraft

I don’t know that I really have a ‘why’. My partner at the time and I had been playing EverQuest, and I had no real plans of adding another MMO to the list, but there it was. We also played EverQuest 2 together, although that game took me far longer to get interested in because I was so deeply vested in the first version. At the time I was still pretty new to MMOs in general, having played nothing but MUDS until then.

2. What was the first character you ever rolled

I don’t remember what class it was, but I do remember it was a troll. Why I decided to go with that race I have no idea, something about liking their hair I think. I started out as horde, eventually swapped over to alliance, and now play both.

3. Which factors determined your faction choice in game?

Pretty sure we had friends who were playing horde, though I never did meet up with them in game…

4. What has been your most memorable moment in Warcraft and why?

I don’t actually have one. I know, how sad is that, right? A game I’ve been playing for 10 years now and I don’t have a memorable moment.. thing is, I never formed a community in WoW, I never did any “real” raiding besides PUGs. For me, those moments really come from playing with friends, and sadly enough I just never really made any. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the game, I did and I do, but my “memorable moments” are things like, earning 400 pets, and things like that.

5. What is your favorite aspect of the game, and has this always been the case

Pet battles, by far. It hasn’t always been the case because they’re still pretty new. Before that it was LFRaid, and I know that people could go either way on that but it gave people like me a chance to experience content that I wouldn’t even get to see otherwise. Before THAT it would have to be the humour of the game, and yes, that has always been the case.

6. Do you have an area in game that you always return to?

Pretty much all of the old dungeons. I have no reason for it, there’s no gear upgrades there and my characters have long since out leveled them but I absolutely love doing old content.

7. How long have you /played and has that been continuous?

I have played off and on since release, but not continuously. I tend to get bored or move on to another game when I run out of things to do. My last break was about a year ago, and I haven’t run out of things yet. With the expansion on the horizon it looks like I’ll be here for a while longer at least.

8. Admit it: Do you read quest text or not?

First time through, yes I read it. Though I admit I am much more likely to enjoy a cinematic.

9. Are there any regrets from your time in game?

Not finding a proper community, as I mentioned above. I really think that having a group of “friends” to play with would have made a difference for me. Now I think it’s too late, there’s no real reason to meet up with people, and I wouldn’t even know where to start.

10. What effect has Warcraft had on your life outside of gaming?

I think playing Warcraft has made me a bit more tolerant. I know, that’s a strange thing to say. I have heard so many people coming down on those who play a particular game, judging them and thinking they are some how less ‘good’ because of their video game choices. None of that is true. Playing multiple MMOs in general has made me more accepting of the fact that we all have different interests, and none of that has any baring on what type of a person we are.

 

Feel free to answer the questions yourself! Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Even though there are never enough hours in the day to play all of the games that I’m interested in, I have kept up with WoW. I know, how on earth can I be a fan of more than one game at a time, right? Well, if you have followed my blog for the past 7 years or so, you’ll see just how possible it is. This weekend I decided to work on my pet collection a bit, and finally earned the title pictured in the screenshot above, “the crazy cat lady”. A fine representation of me in real life, even though at this exact moment I don’t own any cats. I found a crafter created one on the AH for a handful of gold and decided to pick it up – unaware of the fact that it was the last one I needed for the achievement (that means I already had 19 of the 20 required).

I also spent some time doing older raids that I had not earned the achievements for yet. I have no idea how I missed Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern, but apparently I had, so I went back and finished them off. It was a nice relaxing weekend, stress free, doing one of the things I really enjoy (gaming).

I still haven’t finished my legendary cloak yet, but I’m on the runestone collection portion of it, and I have 4/12 of the drops required. I need raids to re-set on Tuesday in order to earn any more, and while I was hoping that I would be able to obtain 6 this week and 6 next week it’s more likely that I’ll earn another 4 next week and my final 4 the week after. Still, it’s better late than never.

I’m still finding all sorts of things to do in game that I haven’t done  yet. I did finally complete the ‘Now I am the Master’ achievement which means I finished training Nomi to be a chef. I have also been working on the brawler achievements, so far I’m only rank 4 but that granted me access to yet another battle pet. That doesn’t even begin to touch on my alts, who have sat neglected while I try to divide my time. Need more hours in a day, as always!

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

One of my favourite things to do lately is old raids. Last weekend (or the weekend before?) our small guild of 4 took down the Lich King for the first time. This weekend we decided to venture into The Firelands Raid and defeated Ragnaros. My favourite part was the screenshot above, us posing. From left to right there is Ebonsteel, the fearless Deathknight, myself as priest keeping these four alive, Toargo, our warrior, and Kanad, the hunter.

Yeah, it was awesome. We died a few times when the flames became too much (har har) but we also got some awesome transmog gear and achievements. The whole evening was just a lot of fun, and I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch to hang out with.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!