Wasdstomp: December 2010

Friday

Rift Was A Blast Yesterday

Each day I play Rift I fall more in love with the game. It is that girl you always dreamed would make the perfect wife. I can't believe how much fun I had in Rift yesterday. Is it the game, or is it that I am playing with Oak, Zezzle, and Hedge while all of us hanging out in vent?

I have to say playing Rift with friends makes the game even better. We all created new characters again on Defiant. We flew through the quests like they were nothing. We all enjoyed listening to Oak complain that his tank felt like a clothie. I guess the first few levels of tanking are rough.

Hedge was pretty funny too. He decided to roll a Cleric since Zezzle and I rolled ranged DPS. I had to laugh when on vent he was like what level do I even get a heal spell? Once again it takes a few levels, and healer archetypes don't get a heal at level one.

Being the noob that I am I pulled the biggest noob move of everyone. At around level 12 I asked in vent I thought with my other characters I got talents a lot earlier. I soon realized I had 12 unspent points, and unlocked a plethora of other spells I could have been using. I guess that is what I get for not clicking on the big question marks that would of told me about my talent points right away.

I decided to ditch the Pyromancer and Stormcaller Hybrid. After thinking for about fifteen minutes I rolled a Warlock, Necromancer, and Dominator. All I can say is unstoppable. You take life leech, the dots from Necro, and the crowd control from Dominator of turning things into squirrels and you are a killing machine. Last night before logging I got fear, and a few more spells. I don't know how I am going to die.

Last night there was a server wide Invasion, Rift, or whatever you want to call it. It was fun going from one rift to another, and to another, until the grand finale. We all ended up getting an Orb of Heroism, and basically called it a night.

We hung out in the city Meridian for a little bit, and checked things out. I saw the gear for PvP, and I can guarantee you that I will be running warfronts non stop once I hit 50 when the game goes live.

Wednesday

Rift Caters To My Play Style

Rift at PAX

Rift is even better than I remembered in PAX. It is just a fun game to play. The choices offered for souls makes everyone a little different. Basically you can build a character to your own play style by mixing, and matching different ascended classes. Do you like certain aspects of a Warlock, and other aspects of a fire Mage? Rift lets you combine them, and have the perfect class to play.

It reminds me a lot of clothes. If you had a pair of jeans you could only wear with one outfit it would suck. What if that same pair of jeans you could match up, and wear with four other shirts? Who wouldn't want to do that?

Right now I initially picked Pyromancer. I love to blow stuff up as a dps caster. I start off basically with three basic fire spells. I seem to be killing mobs pretty quickly with very little downtime so far.

I picked up my second soul, and I decided to go with Stormcaller. I like the idea of the Crowd Control effects along with more dps. The thought of electrocuting, and being able to stun sounds like a great tool to have once I start pvping.

Lately it seems that most MMORPG's offer glass cannon classes, but after doing so much damage they get nerfed to nothing on top of having no crowd control. Now I feel like I will be in control of my destiny with my character. I can add souls that will make my character everything I ever dreamed of. Rift is going to be so much fun.

Rift is going to definitely be worth buying, and playing. Of course you never know how it will turn out once at max level, but the game seems worth reaching that goal. Rift is a must buy in my book.

Monday

Stupid and Annoying Character Names In MMORPG's

It has always annoyed me, and just the other night we were talking about it in vent. We were talking about all those names we find stupid, and annoying in Cataclysm, and other MMORPG's. What kind of names are stupid, and annoying?

The first annoying type of name are those who use all these crazy characters in their names. Do they realize they probably miss out on alot of invites, and other game related stuff? No one knows how to send a player a tell if their name has two dots over the U, or a squiggly above the A, or one dot above the E. All you end up doing is setting yourself up to playing the game by yourself, and wondering why no one responds to your region chat. I refuse to type ALT-153 to make your special character.

The second annoying type of name are those players who misspell their names, but close enough to what they want their name to be. Do you really think you are that important that if you transfer servers, or start a game four years after launch that if Legolas isn't available to you have to resort to making it Legohlas, Leggolas,Laygolas, or whatever. It definitely screams one thing to me, and that you are an idiot.

The third annoying type of name are those players who put prefix, and suffixes on their name. If Photar is taken than you try to be creative with XphotarX, XxphotarxX, or something equally stupid, and annoying.

You make a name for yourself by being a great player, and leader. Why would you want to steal someone elses name? In the real world everyone has the same names. You don't see me running to the courthouse, and changing my name to XxBrianxX because there are 2034 other Brian's in the city of Beaverton, Oregon.

A character name is just a character name. I create new ones every game I play. Do you really think someone cares that I have used the name Wasdstomp since 1998 in EQ? No they don't, and that is why I always choose a new name. It is actually fun to make new names. It would be so boring to play the same character name in every game I play.

Sunday

Why Cataclysm Lower Zone Revamp Is A Failure

The new starting zones in Cataclysm are simply amazing in the Goblin, and Worgen areas. It really gave me high hopes for Cataclysm. My characters are now all in the 20's, and I have to say I am pretty disappointed. Where is everyone?

The lower zones are still literally ghost towns. You are lucky to see one other person in the same zone. The new revamping on the zones has aggravated me more than making me excited. Most quests are the same, but have moved. I spent more time in barrens trying to figure it out than actually leveling.

I feel like content has been removed. I used to love Southern Barrens, and now it's a whole new zone. I am not even sure when I go there now. I feel lost. How do I get to Thunderbluff now, 1k needles, Tanaris, and etc? I used to be able to unlock fight paths by walking Southern Barrens and going to all these places. How is this making the lower level experience better?

After some frustration I decided to check out Tarren Mill, and Hillsbrad. Tarren Mill looks really cool now, but everything is different. I see horses roaming everywhere. No more bears, and spiders. Dun Garok is now spirits. Durnholde is empty except for five huge elite mobs. Hillsbrad is empty except all the old bosses are now elites. The Yetis have an elite. The Dalaran bubble is gone, and now a huge crater. You follow the river, and areas that were part of quests now have no mobs. It is just empty landscapes, and buildings. How is this making the lower level experience better?

I thought Cataclysm was supposed to bring life back to these new revamped zones? Instead now you can't even complete quests, because they changed everything to elite mobs. Did they think these zones were going to be populated like in vanilla wow? How can they get people in these zones again?

It is overall pretty disappointing to me. It is now feeling like the game I remember. You just spend hundreds of hours out by yourself in a MMORPG to get to the point where you can actually do stuff. Has the dungeon finder eliminated the need to quest, or grind? Why would anyone even have to leave the city?

I know plenty of players who knock instanced games like Guild Wars, but if you really look at how Cataclysm has changed over the years it is basically the same. Everyone congregates in the main city, and portals, queues, or whatever to go where they want.

Thursday

Holiday Message: Death Of A Homeless Man

The holidays are usually a special time for everyone. It is a time to spend with family giving, and receiving gifts. It is a time to get the family together, and share stories, and have good times. It is time to be thankful for all the things we have including a place to sleep, eat, shower, and etc. I think sometimes all this is taken for granted.

I want to share a special holiday message today. I work at a local grocery store doing just about anything my boss thinks my job description entails. I sometimes grumble under my breath at some job tasks, but I am constantly reminded that I make pretty good money for not going to college. I even share my unhappiness with customers, and they always tell me the same thing that I should be thankful I have the job I do, and many people these days would love to have my job.

Is that the American way? Do we really not realize how good we have it? I look around every day, and realize I deal with hundreds of customers a day who are way worse off than me, but for some reason I feel like I need to complain about how underpaid, and unappreciated I feel.

I received my wake up call a few days ago. I deal with many homeless people every day. They are either returning cans, or buying some beer. I have always wondered what life must be like for these guys every day. Is it any different for them? We go to work to pay for fancy cars, homes, and other stuff. They go to work collecting cans to buy food, and beer. Is there really a difference?

Anyways I usually end up getting to know most of the homeless people at my store. I know most by their names. I don't think I know one homeless persons story on how they ended up there. Is it rude to ask? Would they actually sit down, and share their story if I asked? I actually find it very intriguing, and would love to see how they all ended up on the streets.

This leads me to Dennis Baxter. He was a homeless person who frequented our store several times a day. Almost every cashier knows who he was. He was the homeless guy that always would came in with some kind of crazy hat. One day it is a hat with a bunch of feathers, the next day a hat with a bunch of balloons, or whatever he decided to wear that day.

He told me where he lived. He lived under a bridge very near to the store. I actually passed it every day going, and leaving work every day. I would always take a quick glance over. I was always curious to see if he was there.

Did he have a fire going? Why did he have a huge british flag hanging up? What did he think about when he sat in the lawn chair? How did he stay warm? What did he do to kill time? Was he scared ever? There are so many questions.

A few days ago when I was on my break someone broke me the news that he died the day before. I remember seeing him wrapped up the night before when I drove home from work. Was he alive, or was he already dead?

Was it coincidence or what that just a few days prior I felt the urge to take him some warm clothes, and a blanket? You know how bad I feel right now knowing that? Could of me taking him that saved his life? I now drive by that bridge with it empty. All of his things are now gone.

It is just amazing to me that a homeless man has impacted me this way. Do you think he knew how many lives he touched every day? I am going to miss the guy, and he has prompted me to do something very special this holiday.

On Saturday I plan on taking one homeless person a special care package. I am taking some warm blankets, and a few other things I think a homeless person would appreciate.

Wednesday

Minecraft Contest: Finish Building My House

After receiving many hits on my Minecraft House in Two Weeks video, and my post on Wasdstomp I decided to create a contest. I want someone to complete my house, and more. Initially I thought I would continue with the building of my house, but other gaming obligations have taken up my free time.

I figure since so many Minecraft players like my house I would give everyone an opportunity to finish it, and possibly win a Visa gift card for $100. The contest will run from today until 3/15/2011. I will officially name the winner approximately two weeks after that.

The Minecraft contest will be pretty simple. Download my current Minecraft house save on Minetrade. You will than have to extract it to your current Minecraft saved files, and rename it World4, or whatever world file you currently have empty.

Start building the house, and at any time you can submit it for the contest. Just simply leave a link in the comments to screenshots, videos, or however you want to show off how you have improved my current house.

I think this can be exciting for everyone, and if it is successful I will have more contests. What are you waiting for?

Tuesday

Why Buy Gold In Cataclysm?

After resubscribing to World of Warcraft for the Cataclysm expansion I don't see why anyone would have to buy gold. My characters are making a ton of gold off some of the silliest things. Who would even imagine some of the prices I have seen so far?

I have been selling stacks of Clam Meat for over 400g. It is the same clam meat a few years ago was vendor trash. Why is it so popular, and players willing to spend so much money on it? Is there an end game recipe that needs it for Cooking? Are players so rich in the game now that 400g is nothing?

I have been selling Wool for over 200g a stack. Is wool that much in demand to level up tailoring that veteran players are willing to pay any price if it keeps them from having to farm it? It is unbelievable.

Lastly I have been selling stacks of Light Leather for about 25g a stack. Once again it is way overpriced for what it is. I will just keep skinning, and selling. I will be at gold cap without even trying.

I highly suggest the addon Auctioneer. It will prevent you from ever selling something way cheaper than it is worth. I plan on showing players how to use it very soon. I just use the basics, and can still turn 5g into thousands of gold in 30 days.

Monday

Third and Twenty

This isn't about football. This is about having three characters to twenty in Cataclysm. All three characters are fun to play in PvP. I don't want to leave any of them behind. It is giving me that diversity to keep me moving forward.

Each of my classes have its fun points in pvp. I love playing my Warlock, Druid, and Priest. I play all three as dps. After fixing my latency issues in Cataclysm I am winning many 1 vs 1 fights, and ranking near the top for killing blows. It is pretty good considering all three classes I am playing are pretty squishy.

Now here comes the dilemna. Everyone else in the guild is powerleveling one class to 85. At least if feels that way. We already have several in the upper 30's, and 40's. I am enjoying taking it slow, and mixing pvp in when it gets to the last level of each battleground bracket. Will I regret leveling all three of my characters together when the rest of the guild are doing raids, and stuff?

It is a very good question. I prefer PvP. Are most racing to 85 more PvE minded? I really want to try PvE out this time around, but it still isn't going to be high on my priority list.

I still prefer Battlegrounds, and Arenas. I am sure I will be spending most of my time doing them. I just hope I find more pvp minded players in our guild when it comes to making a true premade, and teams for arena once all my characters hit 85.

Friday

Cataclysm Players Are Idiots

Why do I think Cataclysm players are idiots? Every year World of Warcraft players fall for the same tricks of items on the auction house for the Christmas event.

Every year I can put Ice Cold Milk, and Small Eggs on the auction house for crazy prices, and players pay the prices. In previous years I have bought ten stacks of milk, and listed them separately on the auction house for 10 gold each. That is right. I charge 10 gold each, and it cost me a whole silver to buy a stack of 5. The next day I go to my mailbox full of Auction Sold spam.

It is the easiest 1000 gold you can make. Other players eventually catch on, and undercut you but it doesn't matter because you already made your gold. I guess maybe next year everyone will be smart enough to not pay it, but don't count on it. WoW gets new idiots to play every day. You will have a fresh new crop next year who will buy it from you.

The same idiots who buy the milk will also buy the eggs. Luckily I had alot of eggs in my inventory from some of the goblin quests, and killing stupid Hippographs in Azshara. I put them on the auction house for 5 gold each, and each recipe requires five eggs. Once again you are making easy money.

I look forward to this event every year so I can make thousands of gold with basically no farming required. I want to thank all the World of Warcraft idiots that support me by buying my Ice cold milk, and small eggs.

Thursday

Latency Issues Solved In Cataclysm

Fix latency issues in Cataclysm and other MMORPG's

My latency issues have been solved in Cataclysm. Since I have been away from World of Warcraft for a few years I didn't realize I was having such an issue with latency. By pure accident I accidentally moused over my latency in the game, and realized I was in the 600ms+ range. I am no computer expert so it still didn't mean anything to me. I soon realized that red meant bad.

I figured it was my wireless internet. I unplugged my wireless, and went back to wired internet. I updated my network adapter drivers, and rebooted my computer. I log into the game in the middle of the night. I am talking 3am, and my latency was still unbelievably hovering around 600ms.

I log out, and decide to find some new recommended servers to test out. I create a new character in Cataclysm on a low population server, and in the Undead starting area. I look at my latency, and it was still an issue. It was still in the high 400ms. I can't pvp with that kind of poor latency.

I try a few other suggestions from the tech support forums from Blizzard, and no real changes. I was really starting to get pissed. How am I going to crush noobs with horrible latency?

I finally check out the second and third page of Google, and I found this program that basically for five bucks a month it reroutes your server hops to be the closest. They offer a lifetime free trial that shuts off every 20 minutes so I figured it was worth a shot to see if it fixed my latency.

All I can say is WTFast program is amazing. I log into the low population server, and it shows my latency at 0. I was in shock. I log out, and log into my normal server for Cataclysm, and my latency dropped from over 600ms down to less than 50ms. It instantly fixed my latency issues with Cataclysm.

My excitement meter was off the charts. I decide to truly test my latency issues with Cataclysm, and queue for a battleground. I go into the battleground with my Druid which the day before I became really frustrated because with my latency issues I couldn't kill an AFK caster even if I tried. It was the difference between night and day.

I didn't lose my pvp touch after all. I rocked the killing blows in that battleground. I knew I wasn't that bad at pvp. So if you are having latency issues, or even want to improve your latency I highly suggest spending the five bucks a month for this. I am so impressed with it I even placed a banner ad from WTFast on this blog to make it real easy to solve your latency issues in Cataclysm or any other MMORPG

.

I Can't Decide What Class To Play In Cataclysm

It is literally killing me. I can't decide what class I am playing in Cataclysm. Every class seems great until I go in the battlegrounds, and eat dirt for dinner. Have I lost my pvp touch? Are players just that much better at PvP these days? Is it just my gear? Are the other players twinks?

Whatever the case may be it is making me very crazy. I think I am loving my class choice, and the next thing you know I want to /ragedelete it. Every class has its strongpoints, and I need to just stick one out.

I initially rolled a Druid. In PvE I am killing stuff in 1.2 seconds flat. It seems like easy mode. I love playing Feral while leveling up. I get into the battleground, and I can't seem to kill an AFK caster. It just doesn't make any sense. At low levels it isn't to tough to spam 2-3 spells.

My next character is a Warlock. Once again in PvE I am a mob killing machine. I can kill stuff so fast. I get into the battlegrounds, and Worgen Rogues can almost one shot me. The problem is that is all there is in the battlegrounds. You have Worgen Rogues, and Druids. It sucks the fun out of my warlock so fast.

I decide to go back to my main character I played in Vanilla which is a priest. I forgot how frustrating this class is to pve with. You can't kill anything in less than a minute, and even with heals you find yourself dead alot. In PvP in the battlegrounds though it seems priests are pretty deadly. I guess SWP just is a sneaky dot that kills you without realizing it. Add a little mind flay, and you are leading the killing blows.

My next character is a Hunter. I literally think they are god mode in pve, and pvp. I want to strangle every hunter I see with the string from their bows. It is to unrealistic how fast they can shoot these bows. They kill people so fast. I haven't been in a battleground yet as one, but I definitely cry myself to sleep when one decides to kill me over and over in one. You know something isn't right when they can kill three on one almost every time.

So for now I am still undecided which class to consider my main, and will be leveling up all four until one ends up being the class I have the most fun playing.

Wednesday

Do You Remember When?

Since returning back to World of Warcraft, and playing Cataclysm I hear Do you remember when constantly. It reminds me of family reunions, class reunions, old friends finding each other, and so on. You are always looking back at the great times you had.

Some of them I have heard in Cataclysm since coming back...

Remember the world pvp in TM and SS.

Remember when AV's would last hours, or even days

Remember when AV had thousand of npc's

Remember the boss NPC's in AV

Remember turtling WSG for hours

Remember in beta

Remember pvp in the tram

Remember when you couldn't afford your mount at 40

Remember when Horde didn't have Pallies

Remember MC 40 mans

Remember mind controlling into the lava

Remember Fear before pvp trinkets

Remember when you could only wear pvp gear if you kept your rank every week

Remember trying to kill the king in IF.

Remember in beta how many times you ran Uldaman

Remember when there were only like five flight paths in the game

Remember when you had to run to Hillsbrad to queue for AV

Looking back I can say Cataclysm is nothing like World of Warcraft at release. I think a book listing every patch note, and hotfix in chronological order would bring back so many memories. What do you remember from the game 5-6 years ago?

Tuesday

Use Vent Or Die

It is simple. Every player should use vent or die in a fiery blast of lava from the Cataclysm. Vent is to gaming as texting is to cellphones. Everyone needs to get off their lazy you know whats, and setup the new server. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to set it up.

It just aggravates me right now that so many bloggers are in our Cataclysm guild, and I spend most nights in vent by myself. Is it really that big of a hassle? I am wearing my headset regardless of vent or not unless I forget to charge the stupid things.

Vent is so much easier to socialize, and get to know each other. I don't know do most of the gaming bloggers out there have something to hide so they can't let others know their real identity? It is alright Scarybooster we all know you are a chick with a stick.

Things I Like About Cataclysm

Achievements. I love seeing the broadcasts of players accomplishments. They took WAR's Tome of Knowledge to the next level, and more.
Goblins. No doubt about it. The Goblin zone is amazing.
Shards. No more stinking shards.
Ammo. No more arrows.
Azshara. The zone changes are spectacular. The Goblin Rocket Exchange Way is like a massive rail system through the whole zone.
Latency Lowlifes. I love the guild full of bloggers, and our readers.
I find myself wanting to play 24/7
I actually enjoy the crafting. Currently I am doing Mining, and Skinning.
Real Live Events that give rewards you actually want, not a level 8 health potion like WAR.
Guild Perks that make gaining each level worth it. Unlike WAR's guild leveling reward system which is a joke.
Mounts that are actually unique, and cool looking. No I am not talking about the sparkling pony.

The list could go on, and on. It just seems Blizzard always knows how to implement, or improve something that someone else did. The next thing you know they will let us build houses, or guild towns Minecraft style, but always ten times better.

Friday

Goblin Zone Rocks My Warlock

Okay. I initially rolled a Troll Druid on Cataclysm launch day. The new starter area seemed pretty cool. Reality set in pretty quick though. I soon realized that most of the older zones really didn't change much. I felt myself getting in a rut, and I barely was level 12.

Now let's fast forward to today. I logged off my Druid, and decided to make a new Goblin Warlock. I thought the new starting area was going to be crazy busy, but really it was pretty quiet. I guess everyone power leveled out of the starting area already.

All I can say is the Goblin Zone rocked my Warlock from quest number one. Blizzard did everything right in this zone. You are questing, but it doesn't feel like you are questing. You are doing stuff that puts the word F-U-N into grinding levels.

I am driving this car around the starter city, riding rockets, parachuting, being a weed whacker, operating goblin gadgets in almost all the quests. It is just amazing.

I suggest everyone makes a Goblin, and experiences this new vision of a starting zone. You don't even think about your level, xp, or anything. It is like that book where you can't put it down. I keep finding myself saying just one more quest, oh wait just one more quest, and so on.

The Goblin zone is absolutely addicting.

What do you think about the Goblin area?

Picking up my buddies around town

Turning into a Goblin weed wacker

Riding a rocket while AOE blasting below

Preparing for lift off

Freefalling!

Whew my parachute opens

Holy flying chickens

Big Chicken

Hammer roaming the lake

Wednesday

My Thoughts On Cataclysm

Okay. So what do I think of Cataclysm now that I am in the Barrens? It reminds me of when I was married, and I would come home to the furniture moved around in my house. What do I mean by that?

I have to say I am pretty disappointed in the overall changes. Of course alot has changed, but it really hasn't changed. Basically all the quests are the same. There are a few new ones, but for the most part if you were sick and tired of leveling alts through the lower zones it won't be much different even with Cataclysm.

I am basing my thoughts so far at only being level 12. As I progress further I may think differently. I stopped in the Barrens tonight, and really almost every zone looks the same with some minor changes. It just seems they spread the quests out some more. Every old quest still seems to be in the game, but it just moved to a different spot with maybe some minor changes.

I don't know, but when I think of Cataclysm I think of huge changes. I think of Hurricane Katrina type of changes. It just isn't that big of a deal. The changes are probably more cosmetic, and anyone new to the game will probably love it compared to other players who have seen the same landscape for six years.

I am enjoying myself regardless. I have always enjoyed grinding characters in World of Warcraft. They make it easy to have multiple characters fully geared out. The Latency Lowlifes are growing, and I look forward to having alot of fun in the game.

Goblin and Worgen Race Changes Should Be Frozen

I don't know if it is just me, or not. I would have preferred that they not allow any paid race changes for at least 90 days. It just seems it is cheating to convert one of your other characters instantly into a Worgen, or Goblin the first day of Cataclysm.

How are you going to know all the ins and out of your race? Isn't the whole excitement, and fun leveling a character through the new Goblin, and Worgen content? Why skip a part of the game that will probably give you lasting memories?

So I am giving everyone who paid to change their race to Worgen or Goblin my middle finger.

Tuesday

No Goblin Or Worgen For Me

At least for now I am not going to play a Goblin, or Worgen. After being away from the game for so long I need some area that is a little familiar to me first. I really want to play a Druid so my choices were Troll, and Tauren. I have never really liked the Tauren so I rolled a female Druid.

I knew things were changing, but not quite as drastic as I thought. The Troll starting area is now the islands outside of Sen'Jin Village where you did alot of quests before. It threw me a curve ball.

Anyways I enjoyed scoping out some new quests, and basically a new area. I was a little frustrated at times not knowing quests by heart. The new quest helper in the game helps a ton.

I haven't been able to play too much yet. Working at 4am kind of puts a damper on play time, and as I get older I realize I can't function unless I am getting 8 hours of sleep. I managed to get level 7, and move to Razor Hill. It actually seems the same so I will be able to really get a jumpstart tomorrow in my grind to 85.

The best part about today was I didn't die once, and that is a big FU to my Bright Wizard.

Monday

Wasdstomp Is Playing Cataclysm

I should be sleeping right now. Cataclysm is under seven hours away from launching. I have it all downloaded, and logged in just to make sure it works. It is just a waiting game now.

Cataclysm really hasn't been on my radar at all. I have been away from World of Warcraft for two years almost three. I haven't really followed any changes. I just know all the zones will now be different.

I think Cataclysm should feel like a brand new MMO to me tonight. I can't wait. I just want to experience the game again like the first time in beta, and at launch.

Will Cataclysm live up to my expectations? I will find out. I think playing with some fellow bloggers, and twitter followers will make it that much more fun. I already love Scarybooster and Theerivs from their blogs so I can't wait to chat, and play with them on Azgalor with their guild Latency Lowlifes.

Is this what I have been waiting for, or will I ragequit it also a month later? What is going to happen when SWTOR, GW2, and Rift comes out?

All I want is to have fun again in an MMO. Have friends to chat it up with on vent. I miss those days.

Sunday

Today Was The Final Straw

Ok. I am probably pulling a Brett Favre right now, but I unsubbed again from Warhammer Online. I try so hard to have fun in the game, but in the end I feel like I can't kill anyone in a crucial fight with my Bright Wizard.

I really thought joining a guild was going to be everything I dreamed about. I figured we would have good strong warbands, scenario premades, or whatever. I think I have tried at least a handful of the top rated guilds on the server, and each one has left me very disappointed.

The other day I joined my guild warband. Of course it is actually only about ten of us. Every time I turned around I was dying. No one saying a word in vent even though about six of us were in there. The healer was more worried about keeping a tank alive than the dps. You can't kill anyone when all your dps are dead, and you have a tank just taking damage, but not putting any out.

This ordeal really left me irritated. Later I heard the runepriest in the guild say he is single target heal specced so I assume he was picking one or two targets to heal. It is pretty embarrassing to go in a city, and get rickrolled with a two group warband. It amazes me that there was no strategy at all. It was a joke.

The same thing with premade scenario groups. It wasn't a premade. It is basically six guys that joined the group. No organization on vent, no one calling out focus fire names, no assisting, no guards on the right people, everyone just doing there own thing. What does the rune priest say after we get slaughtered? Destruction is so OP, and Order doesn't have a chance. Screw scenarios.

I rarely died in my guild on Dark Crag. We knew our jobs, or we took orders from the guild leader or officers, and soon knew what our jobs were. We didn't look like idiots out on the battlefield.

Today was the final straw though. For one the patch has worn off. People are already not logging in. I think today the most we ever had on was about 6 players which is pretty sad compared to our full guild roster. I couldn't do anything. Every zone had no open warbands. I tried just going out, and doing some 1 vs 1 but each time I died so fast. I am no pro, but damn I should be able to kill someone once in a blue moon.

This is why the bonus renown sucks balls. I started at 74 on Friday, and it should of been a piece of cake to get 75 with over 20 hours of playing time. Of course not. I am still over 150k away because we have been rolled in Orvr, and scenarios. No Order zone flips for the most part. My renown is slowly coming in because even if the bonus was 1000% if you aren't killing anyone you aren't gaining renown. Every scenario was fifteeen minutes of wasted time. You can only look at Destruction farming 15k renown, and Order barely has 350-500 renown.

The game is just pissing me off again, and it is better that I just go play Cataclysm for a bit.

RvE Is Back After Patch 1.4 Has Worn Off After Two Weeks

Yes. You can say you heard it here first. It wasn't too long ago that I wrote that after the newness of the Orvr changes wore off players would go back to their old ways. Players aren't stupid, and will earn renown the easiest way possible.

It is happening exactly how I predicted. What did I predict? I predicted that players from Destruction, and Order would avoid each other in different zones to maximize renown. Every player knows that with diminishing returns that a keep defense or zone defense is worth little renown after you have killed everyone 2-3 times.

Any player knows that maximum renown is acquired by flipping zones. Why bother defending when you can earn ten times as much renown with a flip?

So what happened to all this great fighting in the zones again? First players realized keep defenses and attacks are pretty boring now. The Skaven are like new girlfriends. After a week or two they are just like any other girlfriend. The newness is gone, and it is just the same old stuff.

Players don't care about defending. After all the crying about nerfed cities after sieges there is no penalty any longer if the other side wins. No realm pride in the least bit. Actually now in region chat you hear let them get to the city. No one cares. Everyone just wants there next three tiers of gear.

It is pretty sad to think we waited over two years for the RvR packs to breathe new life into RvR, and it lasted a whole two weeks. What needs to be done to fix it?

I think really there is only one way to fix it. Only one pairing unlocks at a time. This ensures everyone is fighting in the same zone, and not Destruction in Dwarf, and Order in Empire.

As bad as it hurts there needs to be penalties for losing. The problem in WAR is with two factions if one side always loses eventually everyone quits, and the server dies. I know it is beating a dead horse, but a third faction needs to be implemented maybe into a Tier 5 zone.

Mailbox, and Keep camping are probably worse than before. With all the resource ticks it is just too easy to hang out in either one, and collect renown without any fighting.

In Summary I think removing diminishing returns in Orvr will entice players to fight. I would like to see the equal splitting of renown removed so if player a,b, and c kill a player they all receive full renown for that kill, and not 33% each. The pairing lockdown I think also needs to happen.

What do you think about patch 1.4, and the RvR packs two weeks later?

2 on 2 City Siege on Gorfang

I somehow made it into the city for the third time barely, and the instance popped with only two players on each side. I figured free stuff so why not finish it up.

On Destruction it was a Choppa, and a Chosen. On Order it was an Engineer, and Bright Wizard. I knew right from the start it wasn't going to be easy.

The fun started in stage 2. I thought it would be easy to kill off one of the Warlords, but instead it was impossible. They all met in the center, and even with our dps we couldn't seem to kill the Choppa, or the Chosen. I kept trying to kill Grimrawr, but he just made me chop suey every time. No matter how many dots, single target damage I did the guy just wouldn't die.

Now I didn't care how many times I died since it looked like I wasn't going to be killing anyone. My sole mission was to make the city last as long as possible by pulling them off the Warlords. It worked pretty good. Vilerank, and Grimrawr finally won stage 2, but probably not as quickly if I would of just rolled over, and let them go crazy.

I was pretty excited about stage 3. I figured we would all be champions, but for some reason only Destruction did. The engineer, and I both stayed in our normal state. We just became that annoying bee at your picnic. We just kept trying to dps them down, and pull them off the king. It was working like a charm. I couldn't get the engineer to focus the Choppa, but we stalled stage 3 until almost the timer ran out.

It was so close too. Grimrawr, and Vilerank were both about two more spells away from losing Champ status, and we could of ended in a tie. Oh well. It was alot of fun, and I am sure it gave Grimrawr from Gin and Jooz something to talk about on vent.

Who says it isn't fun dying over and over to a Choppa?

I would like to hear from some other Bright Wizards, or Engineers on strats that would have used in the fight to win.

Saturday

I Hate The Incursion in Warhammer Online

Why do I hate the Incursion? Inevitably someone goes in, and the campaign stops. It is so annoying. No zone can ever go start to finish without some idiot starting it up.

It really think it shouldn't effect what is going on above ground. If idiots want to go do pve than let them, but don't punish everyone trying to RvR. I know you can RvR down there, but it is pretty pointless.

This is my plea to Bioware Mythic to remove the effects caused by someone entering the incursion. Who knows, but it could just be a tactic by the other side to slow down the campaign until reinforcements can get to the zone.

Any way you look at it the way it stops the campaign sucks. Do you hate how it stops the BO resources?

Doomfist Crater Weekend

I have a love hate relationship with this scenario. It is pretty simple. If I am fighting in the middle I am having fun. If I end up fighting off our spawn, or farming their spawn it isn't as much fun.

This has always been an AOE Bright Wizard's dream scenario in Warhammer Online. I initially remember at launch when Bright Wizards could actually kill people with dots with ease in this scenario. I saw bodies dropping one after another. I literally lived in this scenario.

It wasn't soon after that Bright Wizards being nerfed was the topic in every forum. Slowly these last two years our once OP class is now just renown fodder. We can't kill players as fast as we used to be able to.

I am still blowing up many players in Doomfist Crater with Fireball Barrage, Focused Mind Moral with Fiery Blast. I find myself having more fun in these scenarios solo than with my guild.

Thursday

Baby Steps Renown Rank 74

I swear it feels like I have been playing around the clock since the patch. I see players hitting 80 like it is nothing. I am starting to think my RvR pack didn't kick in the renown boost.

Anyways I hit 74 tonight, and should easily hit 75 this weekend. My only plans outside of the game is to do some grocery shopping, and watch the Oregon Ducks play the final game of the season to clinch a spot in the National Championship game.

This should mean in the next three days I should log in at least 25+ hours of play time, and to be truthful it will probably be much more than that.

No cities again tonight, but some pretty good fights in Eataine, and Black Crag. I am sure someone will finally have the manpower to push to the city this weekend, and I look forward to being lockout free, and getting lots of gold bags for each stage.

Wednesday

Fun Times In Kadrin Valley Tonight

Anyone on Gorfang can testify about the huge battle in Kadrin Valley tonight. There were lots of Order claiming it was the best fight they have ever had in Warhammer Online. I have to agree it was definitely a great battle.

The fight at the keep was fun. I wasn't specced for AOE, but I still spammed it with focused mind. I saw so many purple numbers it was just crazy. I loved every minute of it. Actually the fight lasted a few hours in KV, and once again it looks like no city will happening tonight.

I am not sure if I pissed off alot of destro with my AOE or what, but soon after I kept getting targeted by siege weapons, and no matter how hard I tried to hide I was getting one shot. It is alright. I am so +5 on so many players right now it doesn't matter, except for Hallu.

Kadrin Valley Keep Attack

Bright Wizards love AOE

Is Patch 1.4 Good Or Bad?

I guess it all depends on who is answering the question. I hear plenty of people in region chat complaining, but just as many telling them to just go back to World of Warcraft. I am not sure what is wrong with me these days, but for the most part I have nothing negative to say.

I think the patch has been pretty smooth, and a few bugs here and there. I was actually impressed that the new patch didn't reintroduce six bugs that they previously fixed like what usually happened in the past. I think Warhammer Online as a game is really starting to come along.

I think patch 1.4, and the RvR packs accomplished what they set out to do. It seems most players have put all their alts to the side, and are exclusively playing their mains. It seems that there are fights around the clock.

The only downfall I see is all prior tiers practically died. The introduction of the new tier levels seems to have had a huge effect on free trial players. I have been running census since the patch, and rank 10 characters are not showing 10x the numbers of other ranks like it used to.

It could mean two things. Either all the rank 10's were already current players, and with the patch they don't have to go to tier 1 to have fun. It could be having a bad effect, and causing new potential subscriber to ragequit with nothing to do, or being outgeared by paying customers.

What is the good, and the bad about Patch 1.4 to you?

Friday

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