There are quite a few that I'd vote for, but thanks to the Cataclysm a new leader has risen above all the others. And to think, it's supposed to be "cute" - turns out cute is the new suck!
Save the Wee Animals
You're supposed to run around a burning grove of trees and pick up any combination of of Panicked Bunnies or Terrified Squirrels. Question: With Night Elves connection with nature, you would think that they would know of some spell or encantation that would attract wildlife to their side, including these cute little bunnies and squirrels. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They ask some dude with an axe to gain the confidence of an already terrified little animal and allow themselves to be picked up and carried to safety.
Which leads me to the annoying part, picking them up. They are small, they move fast, their patterns are sorta random, sorta pre-programmed, and just when you think you have them where you want them, BAM! They quickly dart off in the other direction. They are suspicious little buggers, that's for sure. Don't they know I'm trying to save them? Just keep your cute little fanny on the ground and let me, the 6'4" man hero to lift you to safety already.
It's the capture part that gets to me, er, the rescue attempt. It's not easy to right click on a tiny moving target. It's so difficult, in fact, I need to call in help in the form of kobolds. Kobolds have these wonderful nets that they like to throw on people, so, in an effort to get this quest done quickly and efficiently, I enlist the help of 10 Kobold Miners who I send out into the burning wild to capture one critter each. When they are done I pay them with fake rocks, plastic painted like rock, and to date no kobold has complained.
I warn you, if you haven't quested through Hyjal, be prepared to be frustrated. The quest, even with it's cute factor, just plain sucks.
And that's all I have to say about that.
Showing posts with label Questing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Questing. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Sunday, December 19, 2010
New Expansion Resolutions - An Introspection
We're approaching a time of year where it's fashionable to make an annual list of personal goals known as "New Years Resolutions". I have never, and I am honest about this, NEVER made a "New Years Resolution" in my lifetime, at least not in the popular sort of way. I am a man of goals, for sure, but not trendy ones that are fated to die out and fade into the blackness that is my horrible memory. No, I make goals in life on a fairly regular basis and try to achieve them. Then I move on to another and treat it the same.
I made some goals for the new xpac, Cataclysm, as well. And lucky for me it was released in early December, not the New Year; this way nobody will be able to confuse them for those useless resolutions. I had a few basic goals in mind, here are some I'd like to talk about:
1) I would play the classes and specs that I wanted, and for no reason, guild or othewise, would I play a class/spec that was not of my primary choosing. Yes, I know, for some serious raiding guilds out there this goal is somewhat selfish, but I've never tried to hide the fact that I'm a selfish being. I enjoy having fun in the manner that pleases me, not others. Those that don't like that can find other like-minded people to associate with and can, fortunately, avoid me like the plague that Silvanas wants to spread among the Gilneas citizens.
2) I would not rush a toon to 85 out of any pressure from any guild, or from social pressures of being "undergeared" - basically I wanted to level at whatever pace made me happy. Again, selfish but my choice, that was my goal.
3) I wanted to heal, but with my Priest and not my Shaman. It goes back to playing the class/spec I want, and the good thing about this goal is that I can still be of use to my guild as a melee DPS, range DPS or healer, and I'll play the specs I want...a win-win situation if you ask me.
4) I had a goal to read more of the quests, get more involved in the stories and try to understand and remember more of the lore. An easy goal for one patient enough to read. Yes, a goal to test my patience, just what a selfish bloke needs.
So, how have I done so far? Let me see.
I started this expansion with four level 80's, a Shaman, Priest, Warlock (Gronthe), and a DK. I wanted to level my Shaman as Enhance, my first love, and to date I have done so. Even better, I have yet to succumb to pressure to "gear up for my resto spec". One way I have done that is to change my offspec from Resto to Elemental. I realize that Elemental and Resto can now share much of their gear, so a shift in talents would be the only necessary change if I choose to capitulate. But I won't, and Elemental is my official offspec. All my other 80's I'm leveling however I want. I'll go some in Unholy, then switch to Frost. I'll start in Demo then change between quests to Affliction. Whatever I feel like doing...I do. I'm staying strong and it's wonderful.
As far as pace, or speed of leveling goes, I admit that I leveled my Shaman to 85 already. Why? Because I was having so much fun questing that I couldn't stop, the results of such enjoyment is a level 85 toon. Hooray! But I did it at my own pace, which I call "fun pace". It was a pace of questing that allowed continuous fun according to my special definition of fun. Not as Spongebob or Plankton defines it, but as I do.
F - Is for friends who do things together!
U - Is for You and Me!
N - Is for anywhere and anytime at all down here in the deep blue sea!
Yes, thanks again, Mr Spongebob, for interjecting your definition. Now I don't remember what I was talking about. Ah yes, pace of leveling. With all my other toons, now 81 each, I've quested when I could at a pace that was comfortable. Now seeing some of the same quests for a second time I am taking further advantage of my time and enjoying the quests for what they are instead of a means to an end, namely a means to 85. Some of the quests in the new zones are funny, others sad, some boring, some exciting. But I think I've stayed strong with my second goal and paced myself how I like.
As for #3, I haven't gone into a dungeon with my Priest and tried to heal yet, so I can't say whether I'm living up to that goal or not, but there's plenty of time to level and play with these toons, and moving too fast never was a strength of mine.
As far as reading the quests and learning more lore, I admit that I haven't done as well as I wanted to. All the cut-away movies/scenes automatically help me stay in stories sometimes, but all too often I find myself accepting the quest and only reading the quest text when I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do on the fly. I've embarassed myself in front of my kids a couple times because of it, and sorrowfully appear as a hypocrite as I encourage my boys to read the quest text. But I cannot give up on myself, not yet at least. I'm still focused on my goal, and plan to keep trying.
Look, for me the stories aren't the best things ever written, I far perfer actual novelists and classic writers such as Hugo and Tolstoy, but the quests unveil stories that can entertain a casual and open mind. Never enough to win a literature award, and never intended to most likely, but the WoW quests can help teach you why you, the hero, are doing what you're doing sometimes. I will try to do better, is my goal to myself, and you all stand now as my witnessses.
Are you living up to goals that you made for the XPac? Are you falling short? Have you fell into traps that you didn't want to live through again due to social pressures? I don't mean to pry, I'm just a selfish, curious bloke.
I made some goals for the new xpac, Cataclysm, as well. And lucky for me it was released in early December, not the New Year; this way nobody will be able to confuse them for those useless resolutions. I had a few basic goals in mind, here are some I'd like to talk about:
1) I would play the classes and specs that I wanted, and for no reason, guild or othewise, would I play a class/spec that was not of my primary choosing. Yes, I know, for some serious raiding guilds out there this goal is somewhat selfish, but I've never tried to hide the fact that I'm a selfish being. I enjoy having fun in the manner that pleases me, not others. Those that don't like that can find other like-minded people to associate with and can, fortunately, avoid me like the plague that Silvanas wants to spread among the Gilneas citizens.
2) I would not rush a toon to 85 out of any pressure from any guild, or from social pressures of being "undergeared" - basically I wanted to level at whatever pace made me happy. Again, selfish but my choice, that was my goal.
3) I wanted to heal, but with my Priest and not my Shaman. It goes back to playing the class/spec I want, and the good thing about this goal is that I can still be of use to my guild as a melee DPS, range DPS or healer, and I'll play the specs I want...a win-win situation if you ask me.
4) I had a goal to read more of the quests, get more involved in the stories and try to understand and remember more of the lore. An easy goal for one patient enough to read. Yes, a goal to test my patience, just what a selfish bloke needs.
So, how have I done so far? Let me see.
I started this expansion with four level 80's, a Shaman, Priest, Warlock (Gronthe), and a DK. I wanted to level my Shaman as Enhance, my first love, and to date I have done so. Even better, I have yet to succumb to pressure to "gear up for my resto spec". One way I have done that is to change my offspec from Resto to Elemental. I realize that Elemental and Resto can now share much of their gear, so a shift in talents would be the only necessary change if I choose to capitulate. But I won't, and Elemental is my official offspec. All my other 80's I'm leveling however I want. I'll go some in Unholy, then switch to Frost. I'll start in Demo then change between quests to Affliction. Whatever I feel like doing...I do. I'm staying strong and it's wonderful.
As far as pace, or speed of leveling goes, I admit that I leveled my Shaman to 85 already. Why? Because I was having so much fun questing that I couldn't stop, the results of such enjoyment is a level 85 toon. Hooray! But I did it at my own pace, which I call "fun pace". It was a pace of questing that allowed continuous fun according to my special definition of fun. Not as Spongebob or Plankton defines it, but as I do.
F - Is for friends who do things together!
U - Is for You and Me!
N - Is for anywhere and anytime at all down here in the deep blue sea!
Yes, thanks again, Mr Spongebob, for interjecting your definition. Now I don't remember what I was talking about. Ah yes, pace of leveling. With all my other toons, now 81 each, I've quested when I could at a pace that was comfortable. Now seeing some of the same quests for a second time I am taking further advantage of my time and enjoying the quests for what they are instead of a means to an end, namely a means to 85. Some of the quests in the new zones are funny, others sad, some boring, some exciting. But I think I've stayed strong with my second goal and paced myself how I like.
As for #3, I haven't gone into a dungeon with my Priest and tried to heal yet, so I can't say whether I'm living up to that goal or not, but there's plenty of time to level and play with these toons, and moving too fast never was a strength of mine.
As far as reading the quests and learning more lore, I admit that I haven't done as well as I wanted to. All the cut-away movies/scenes automatically help me stay in stories sometimes, but all too often I find myself accepting the quest and only reading the quest text when I can't figure out what I'm supposed to do on the fly. I've embarassed myself in front of my kids a couple times because of it, and sorrowfully appear as a hypocrite as I encourage my boys to read the quest text. But I cannot give up on myself, not yet at least. I'm still focused on my goal, and plan to keep trying.
Look, for me the stories aren't the best things ever written, I far perfer actual novelists and classic writers such as Hugo and Tolstoy, but the quests unveil stories that can entertain a casual and open mind. Never enough to win a literature award, and never intended to most likely, but the WoW quests can help teach you why you, the hero, are doing what you're doing sometimes. I will try to do better, is my goal to myself, and you all stand now as my witnessses.
Are you living up to goals that you made for the XPac? Are you falling short? Have you fell into traps that you didn't want to live through again due to social pressures? I don't mean to pry, I'm just a selfish, curious bloke.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Elementium Depths
In the Southwest corner of the Twilight Highlands there is a cave. Not any sort of ordinary cave, but a cave with the most dense set and fastest respawn rate of mining nodes I have ever seen in WoW. And you know what? I hate it.
Sure, it helped me level my mining in just a couple days of farming, but at an extremely high personal cost of my beloved sanity. Not only are these mines filled with Elementium and Pyrite veins, but they are also jam-packed with annoying mobs and even more annoying...other players.
Never during my attempt to level mining did I "steal" a mining node from another player, although I had many, many stolen right under my nose where I started to mine, was attacked, and a fellow player seeing this strolled right up and mined the node that I had started to bash on with my little toothpick. And thus I feel compelled to express my displeasure to all the thieving sneaks out there by stating what I believe to be the rules of gathering.
Horde v Alliance
If two people of different factions see a mining vein (applies to herbalism as well) all is fair as they use whatever tools they can to race their way to that node to mine it up. If they are on a PvP realm I would further concede that it's war and you could go as far as taking out the opposing faction player in order to remain alone and unbothered in order to mine up at heart's content. Basically, I believe that when it comes to opposing faction, there are no rules, and if you can do something to shaft the other faction go for it.
But when it comes to Horde v Horde or Alliance v Alliance, there are some rules to follow.
If two like-faction players see a mining node and a clear path the race is on and whomever gets their first gets the node. Where I believe people go wrong is when you see another player fighting next to or on top of a mining node and seeing that individual busy with an unfriendly mob decide that it's fair game to begin mining under their nose. Now some may argue that there is no evidence that the player fighting the mob on/near the mining node is even a miner, but I think that we need to give that player a chance to finish fighting to see if they begin mining.
Why?
Because if they are a miner, and the path had been clear, that person would have clearly won the race to mine and should be given the chance to do so. It's called etiquette, people, manners, and if you don't understand it you may want to pull up a dictionary and do a little reading. What's worse is when two like-faction people approach a mining node, one begins to mine, clearly before the other, but then is attacked. While the attack occurs, the second steps in to mine the node right under their nose. This is the worst case of an ill-mannered player, and is something that I learned early in my playing days, as just wrong - as I did it to someone else...once and only once...before I learned that I shouldn't have done so.
So there you have it, what I understand to be the rules of mining/herbing. I guess I just have to find a time of day when there are very few people farming that aweful place in the Twilight Highlands to do my business. Lucky for me I have tools that I can use to my advange to get an upper hand at times, namely Fire Elemental and Spirit Wolves, who can keep a mob busy for a short time while I mine, lessening the chances of others to display such horrendeous manners as I have witnessed lately.
CHANGING SUBJECT...ON A LIGHTER NOTE
I have now one toon at 85, and am working on my other 3 80's. Actually Gronthe is now 81, but you get what I mean. I have really, really enjoyed the questing experience, the dungeons are wonderfully challenging, although I have still yet to see any sort of CC from anyone. I suppose people think that is only for heroics, if at all, but I get the feeling that some just don't like the thought that they will have to behave differently than they did in Wrath dungeons/heroics. I hope those people all die in fail groups! Oh, sorry, I meant to be on a lighter note.
Digging up fossils is wonderfully relaxing, and it provides, unlike fishing, the chance to fly around Azeroth with a purpose, where I get to enjoy the free air and get something done in the process.
I would also like to take time out to thank any/everyone who stopped by for a read today. My posts are few and far between since I lost my job last month, and as unemployment still persists, my time to play and write and other has been limited as I am busy with many other of life's duties. But still, I find time at night to play, and time this morning to write. So I thank you for taking time out of your day to give my little corner a peek. Come back soon now and have a great day!
Sure, it helped me level my mining in just a couple days of farming, but at an extremely high personal cost of my beloved sanity. Not only are these mines filled with Elementium and Pyrite veins, but they are also jam-packed with annoying mobs and even more annoying...other players.
Never during my attempt to level mining did I "steal" a mining node from another player, although I had many, many stolen right under my nose where I started to mine, was attacked, and a fellow player seeing this strolled right up and mined the node that I had started to bash on with my little toothpick. And thus I feel compelled to express my displeasure to all the thieving sneaks out there by stating what I believe to be the rules of gathering.
Horde v Alliance
If two people of different factions see a mining vein (applies to herbalism as well) all is fair as they use whatever tools they can to race their way to that node to mine it up. If they are on a PvP realm I would further concede that it's war and you could go as far as taking out the opposing faction player in order to remain alone and unbothered in order to mine up at heart's content. Basically, I believe that when it comes to opposing faction, there are no rules, and if you can do something to shaft the other faction go for it.
But when it comes to Horde v Horde or Alliance v Alliance, there are some rules to follow.
If two like-faction players see a mining node and a clear path the race is on and whomever gets their first gets the node. Where I believe people go wrong is when you see another player fighting next to or on top of a mining node and seeing that individual busy with an unfriendly mob decide that it's fair game to begin mining under their nose. Now some may argue that there is no evidence that the player fighting the mob on/near the mining node is even a miner, but I think that we need to give that player a chance to finish fighting to see if they begin mining.
Why?
Because if they are a miner, and the path had been clear, that person would have clearly won the race to mine and should be given the chance to do so. It's called etiquette, people, manners, and if you don't understand it you may want to pull up a dictionary and do a little reading. What's worse is when two like-faction people approach a mining node, one begins to mine, clearly before the other, but then is attacked. While the attack occurs, the second steps in to mine the node right under their nose. This is the worst case of an ill-mannered player, and is something that I learned early in my playing days, as just wrong - as I did it to someone else...once and only once...before I learned that I shouldn't have done so.
So there you have it, what I understand to be the rules of mining/herbing. I guess I just have to find a time of day when there are very few people farming that aweful place in the Twilight Highlands to do my business. Lucky for me I have tools that I can use to my advange to get an upper hand at times, namely Fire Elemental and Spirit Wolves, who can keep a mob busy for a short time while I mine, lessening the chances of others to display such horrendeous manners as I have witnessed lately.
CHANGING SUBJECT...ON A LIGHTER NOTE
I have now one toon at 85, and am working on my other 3 80's. Actually Gronthe is now 81, but you get what I mean. I have really, really enjoyed the questing experience, the dungeons are wonderfully challenging, although I have still yet to see any sort of CC from anyone. I suppose people think that is only for heroics, if at all, but I get the feeling that some just don't like the thought that they will have to behave differently than they did in Wrath dungeons/heroics. I hope those people all die in fail groups! Oh, sorry, I meant to be on a lighter note.
Digging up fossils is wonderfully relaxing, and it provides, unlike fishing, the chance to fly around Azeroth with a purpose, where I get to enjoy the free air and get something done in the process.
I would also like to take time out to thank any/everyone who stopped by for a read today. My posts are few and far between since I lost my job last month, and as unemployment still persists, my time to play and write and other has been limited as I am busy with many other of life's duties. But still, I find time at night to play, and time this morning to write. So I thank you for taking time out of your day to give my little corner a peek. Come back soon now and have a great day!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Mr Darcy is All Politeness
I've often felt I was born in the wrong time and age. I tell people that I credit my parents for my real life tendencies to politeness, but in reality my parents only encouraged what I already had a passion for. Even with my mother-in-law, whom I hate with a passion for destroying the life of my dear wife, I can't help but be polite when she makes a surprise visit (which have been far fewer over the years, gratefully).
For years I refused to read and/or watch Pride and Prejudice, but I found that I had something in common with many of those people in the story, I believe in outward politeness, despite how I felt about somebody.
But things have changed, and it's everyone else's fault!!!
Well, not anyone who reads this blog, of course, because you are all awesome! It's everyone else that has driven me absolutely insane. I've been doing a lot of playing and no writing this past couple weeks. Starting yesterday I experienced what many others have in the past with new, shiny wow features: a flood of activity, and very little to none of it is polite.
There are so many people in the new 81-85 zones and in the new starting areas (especially Worgen), that in a short amount of time I have ceased my emulation of Mr Darcy and have become Lizzy's mother, rude, arrogant, pushy, loud, and insufferable. When there are 6 people standing around a spot where the boss/quest mob is about to respawn, and nobody wants to group up, I have felt the need to put off all politeness and move to be quicker than all else in order to kill that really, really bad dude or pick up that shark tooth. And when I think I'm alone, the mob respawns, and I see a Hunter's shot go through my chest and into the mob's, I scream...loudly!
I need to chill, I know, but this wave of people doing the same thing over and over, from realm to realm, quest after quest after quest changed me literally overnight from a polite, thoughtful bloke to a rude, selfish, and bitter old man. I haven't done anything yet today, and I hope to be able to control myself better this time, as now I know what to expect I plan on taking things as they come and not worry too much about it, I know sooner or later I'll get my chance.
I wouldn't blame anyone else if they had similar feelings, in fact I sometimes imagine what others are saying about me as they watch me stab a mob in the back before they can cast their first spell. I feel bad, obviously, for enjoying it, but for my sake I need to learn how to cope with it all.
But for all my rude actions, at least I'm not trolling. I have never, I repeat NEVER seen as much trolling in the General chats of the zones I've been playing in that in the last 24 hours. It's worse, by a hundred fold, than anything that has gone on in the trade chats of the major cities. I don't know how to explain it other than statistics, that with a bigger sample size the percentages may not go up but the volume does. I've never put so many on my ignore lists than I did yesterday.
Still, I'm having fun, the game is new, fresh, and better than ever, imo. I'd love to experience the Worgen starting area alone, or swim the ocean depths with no fear of being robbed by a guildie (which didn't happen, but with so many out there not paying attention to who they are robbing from, I suppose it's a possibility). I hope all of you are enjoying the expansion, taking the good and the bad for what they are but doing better than I am at staying focused on enjoying yourself, and hopefully doing it more politely than I am.
For years I refused to read and/or watch Pride and Prejudice, but I found that I had something in common with many of those people in the story, I believe in outward politeness, despite how I felt about somebody.
But things have changed, and it's everyone else's fault!!!
Well, not anyone who reads this blog, of course, because you are all awesome! It's everyone else that has driven me absolutely insane. I've been doing a lot of playing and no writing this past couple weeks. Starting yesterday I experienced what many others have in the past with new, shiny wow features: a flood of activity, and very little to none of it is polite.
There are so many people in the new 81-85 zones and in the new starting areas (especially Worgen), that in a short amount of time I have ceased my emulation of Mr Darcy and have become Lizzy's mother, rude, arrogant, pushy, loud, and insufferable. When there are 6 people standing around a spot where the boss/quest mob is about to respawn, and nobody wants to group up, I have felt the need to put off all politeness and move to be quicker than all else in order to kill that really, really bad dude or pick up that shark tooth. And when I think I'm alone, the mob respawns, and I see a Hunter's shot go through my chest and into the mob's, I scream...loudly!
I need to chill, I know, but this wave of people doing the same thing over and over, from realm to realm, quest after quest after quest changed me literally overnight from a polite, thoughtful bloke to a rude, selfish, and bitter old man. I haven't done anything yet today, and I hope to be able to control myself better this time, as now I know what to expect I plan on taking things as they come and not worry too much about it, I know sooner or later I'll get my chance.
I wouldn't blame anyone else if they had similar feelings, in fact I sometimes imagine what others are saying about me as they watch me stab a mob in the back before they can cast their first spell. I feel bad, obviously, for enjoying it, but for my sake I need to learn how to cope with it all.
But for all my rude actions, at least I'm not trolling. I have never, I repeat NEVER seen as much trolling in the General chats of the zones I've been playing in that in the last 24 hours. It's worse, by a hundred fold, than anything that has gone on in the trade chats of the major cities. I don't know how to explain it other than statistics, that with a bigger sample size the percentages may not go up but the volume does. I've never put so many on my ignore lists than I did yesterday.
Still, I'm having fun, the game is new, fresh, and better than ever, imo. I'd love to experience the Worgen starting area alone, or swim the ocean depths with no fear of being robbed by a guildie (which didn't happen, but with so many out there not paying attention to who they are robbing from, I suppose it's a possibility). I hope all of you are enjoying the expansion, taking the good and the bad for what they are but doing better than I am at staying focused on enjoying yourself, and hopefully doing it more politely than I am.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Questing, Deadmines, Silverpine
Of all the changes since the Shattering, three things have stood out in my mind: Questing, Deadmines, Silverpine. These three things are those I have experienced and I will not commment on something I have not yet seen or done, so here we go.
Questing:
I've done the Human, Gnome, Troll and Undead starting areas. The Human and Undead have some improvements, especially Undead, and each goes by really quickly. The Gnome starting area was cute and had some really good music, while the Troll starting area provided a nice dialogue between Vol'jin and Garrosh but was a bit overloaded with tiki target dummies. All said and done I did enjoy each of them. Perhaps it was only because it was different and I can't see objectively, but I didn't really see anything wrong, I mean they are just starting areas, right?
Questing overall has become compact, orderly, efficient. The new feature where you finish a quest out in the world, can turn it in without going back a million miles to the questgiver and pick up the next one in the chain really adds to the pace of questing and takes away many a long stroll back to the quest hub. This especially becomes prevalent in Silverpine forest, which I'll get to, but can be seen in all areas to different degrees.
A good example of efficient and progressive questing can be seen in the Southern Barrens. You start up north and do some quests bashing alliance forces, then move down to the next camp, then to the next, until finally you reach the Battle Scar at the very south where all the area "PvP" comes to a head and you see the tensions between Alliance and Horde in their full glory. It was a fun trek as no quest hub held me questing in an area for too long, it was planned well enough so that by the time I'm done I've completed the 5 levels the zone is intended you to pass through.
Some may say it goes to fast and an Exp nerf needs to be put in place, I'll leave that argument for others to make. For myself I'm able, for what I've seen so far, to go through a zone and see it's full story (good or bad), from beginning to end. That's something that I've never done before, so in that sense I see that Questing has improved.
Deadmines:
I wasn't expecting it to be any different than the old one, as I believed the changes were only meant for the Heroic lvl 85 version. So it was a fun surprise to see the deadmines changed. Quest givers are inside the instance, at the beginning (and appear at the end INSIDE the instance), which makes it convenient for sure. Perhaps the best thing was after we downed the first boss I see in party chat "wtf are monkeys doing here? lol". Yeah, monkeys with pick axes in the Deadmines, it was beautiful to see and absolutely hilarious.
All boss fights are changed, and each one is challenging in its own right. Improved boss mechanics, a little coordination is required to keep everyone alive, and at the pinnacle of it all to see Cookie the murloc jump into his cauldron and throw food at everyone was a sight I shall never forget. Oh yeah, there was a big bad Worgen on the boat that makes everything go foggy...really cool fight.
The changes are terriffic, really a fun experience to go through. Having to dodge cannon balls to dodging loaves of bread make the Deadmines my new favorite low-level dungeon.
Silverpine:
Captivating story line, fascinating movtives of the Banshee Queen, a stroll through the ruins of Gilneas city, and ultimately to a bugged quest that killed all questlines in the zone make this my most loved and hated new zone.
What angers me most is that this particular quest that's bugged and stopped my new Troll Druid from finishing the story there was bugged in the Beta, on the PTR, and now on live. You would think that Blizzard would have done something about it considering it prevents people from seeing all the climactic events of the zone, but hey, why worry when you're getting paid, right?
That said, the zone had all the great elements of the new questing mechanics that any other zone had. All the worgen you get to kill really makes you starting thinking that you're a vampire with a human girlfriend that....uh, really bad tangent, sorry!
If the bugged can get fixed I may say that it's the best new zone in the game, but then again there are a couple dozen zones I haven't tried yet so my opinion really isn't worth much right now.
Let's just get Cataclysm rolling already, I don't like this two week waiting period to experience everything. But until then, there is still much to enjoy, to see and to do.
Questing:
I've done the Human, Gnome, Troll and Undead starting areas. The Human and Undead have some improvements, especially Undead, and each goes by really quickly. The Gnome starting area was cute and had some really good music, while the Troll starting area provided a nice dialogue between Vol'jin and Garrosh but was a bit overloaded with tiki target dummies. All said and done I did enjoy each of them. Perhaps it was only because it was different and I can't see objectively, but I didn't really see anything wrong, I mean they are just starting areas, right?
Questing overall has become compact, orderly, efficient. The new feature where you finish a quest out in the world, can turn it in without going back a million miles to the questgiver and pick up the next one in the chain really adds to the pace of questing and takes away many a long stroll back to the quest hub. This especially becomes prevalent in Silverpine forest, which I'll get to, but can be seen in all areas to different degrees.
A good example of efficient and progressive questing can be seen in the Southern Barrens. You start up north and do some quests bashing alliance forces, then move down to the next camp, then to the next, until finally you reach the Battle Scar at the very south where all the area "PvP" comes to a head and you see the tensions between Alliance and Horde in their full glory. It was a fun trek as no quest hub held me questing in an area for too long, it was planned well enough so that by the time I'm done I've completed the 5 levels the zone is intended you to pass through.
Some may say it goes to fast and an Exp nerf needs to be put in place, I'll leave that argument for others to make. For myself I'm able, for what I've seen so far, to go through a zone and see it's full story (good or bad), from beginning to end. That's something that I've never done before, so in that sense I see that Questing has improved.
Deadmines:
I wasn't expecting it to be any different than the old one, as I believed the changes were only meant for the Heroic lvl 85 version. So it was a fun surprise to see the deadmines changed. Quest givers are inside the instance, at the beginning (and appear at the end INSIDE the instance), which makes it convenient for sure. Perhaps the best thing was after we downed the first boss I see in party chat "wtf are monkeys doing here? lol". Yeah, monkeys with pick axes in the Deadmines, it was beautiful to see and absolutely hilarious.
All boss fights are changed, and each one is challenging in its own right. Improved boss mechanics, a little coordination is required to keep everyone alive, and at the pinnacle of it all to see Cookie the murloc jump into his cauldron and throw food at everyone was a sight I shall never forget. Oh yeah, there was a big bad Worgen on the boat that makes everything go foggy...really cool fight.
The changes are terriffic, really a fun experience to go through. Having to dodge cannon balls to dodging loaves of bread make the Deadmines my new favorite low-level dungeon.
Silverpine:
Captivating story line, fascinating movtives of the Banshee Queen, a stroll through the ruins of Gilneas city, and ultimately to a bugged quest that killed all questlines in the zone make this my most loved and hated new zone.
What angers me most is that this particular quest that's bugged and stopped my new Troll Druid from finishing the story there was bugged in the Beta, on the PTR, and now on live. You would think that Blizzard would have done something about it considering it prevents people from seeing all the climactic events of the zone, but hey, why worry when you're getting paid, right?
That said, the zone had all the great elements of the new questing mechanics that any other zone had. All the worgen you get to kill really makes you starting thinking that you're a vampire with a human girlfriend that....uh, really bad tangent, sorry!
If the bugged can get fixed I may say that it's the best new zone in the game, but then again there are a couple dozen zones I haven't tried yet so my opinion really isn't worth much right now.
Let's just get Cataclysm rolling already, I don't like this two week waiting period to experience everything. But until then, there is still much to enjoy, to see and to do.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Pre-Cataclysm Events Link
Here's a nice write-up of the pre-cataclysm events quests. It's practical and informative, I'd give it a read if you're interested.
Find it here.
That's all for now, have fun!
Find it here.
That's all for now, have fun!
Friday, August 20, 2010
If you have kids...don't do the following:
Invite them to join you as you complete quite possibly the most fun/coolest questline/achievement in the game, that is Veteran of the Wrathgatte and Battle for Undercity...at least don't do this right before bedtime.
Why?
Because 3 hours later they will be so wired becuase of all the adrenaline pumping through their veins that you'll find yourself unable to relax or sleep yourslef, repeating over and over things like "go to bed...go to bed...go to bed...GO TO BED!!!!!!"
Ah, the lessons we learn.
Why?
Because 3 hours later they will be so wired becuase of all the adrenaline pumping through their veins that you'll find yourself unable to relax or sleep yourslef, repeating over and over things like "go to bed...go to bed...go to bed...GO TO BED!!!!!!"
Ah, the lessons we learn.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
X Has Invited You to a Group
"Who are you? Why did you just invite me to your group? No, I don't want to duel you. Get away from me."
Maybe I'm alone in these thoughts, but I never did understand why somebody would invite me to a group without telling me what the heck they want out of it. Do people assume that just because you are in the same zone that you are doing the same thing (i.e. same quest) as them? Or perhaps the person is so socially depraved that they can't go 5 minutes without forced social interaction.
When this happens I try to be polite and ask what quest they are currently working on. If it's the same as mine then I know it's safe to group...for a while anyway.
When I am done with my quest my brain starts to tingle, my fingers slowly move to my mouse and over my portrait, I right click, open Party chat, then...
Gronthe: Did you get what you need?
X: I need one more
Gronthe: OK
Fight, loot, finish quest.
X: I got it!
Gronthe: Great! Hey thanks, cya
X: Wanna run a dungeon?
Gronthe: Uh, no thanks, I've got other stuff to do
X: Wanna kill stuff?
Gronthe: Gotta log, sorry.
Then I log out. 5 minutes later I log in. Free and clear.
Wow, I am so socially inept, aren't I? I think it's because I hate confrontation, I don't want to tell somebody else to "get lost, noob", that's just rude. But I don't want to "just kill stuff" either. And if I wanted to run a dungeon I would have queued in the LFD and never would have accepted a group because that would have kicked me out of the queue.
I am not a particularly social being, I am incredibly shy in RL and in-game. I don't mind the occaisional group-up to complete quests with others in the same cave as me, that's fun. But usually if I'm questing solo it's because I want to be alone. Anything beyond needing another to down an elite disturbs by state of zen.
But that's just me, I'm simple that way. I bring my personality directly to my characters (to the extent that's possible). When I feel sociable, I talk, when I want to be left alone, I quest. For me my playtime is serious business, in that I want to have fun my way when I want it. The random group invite simply messes with my mood, especially when it comes out of nowhere with no explanation.
Maybe I'm alone in these thoughts, but I never did understand why somebody would invite me to a group without telling me what the heck they want out of it. Do people assume that just because you are in the same zone that you are doing the same thing (i.e. same quest) as them? Or perhaps the person is so socially depraved that they can't go 5 minutes without forced social interaction.
When this happens I try to be polite and ask what quest they are currently working on. If it's the same as mine then I know it's safe to group...for a while anyway.
When I am done with my quest my brain starts to tingle, my fingers slowly move to my mouse and over my portrait, I right click, open Party chat, then...
Gronthe: Did you get what you need?
X: I need one more
Gronthe: OK
Fight, loot, finish quest.
X: I got it!
Gronthe: Great! Hey thanks, cya
X: Wanna run a dungeon?
Gronthe: Uh, no thanks, I've got other stuff to do
X: Wanna kill stuff?
Gronthe: Gotta log, sorry.
Then I log out. 5 minutes later I log in. Free and clear.
Wow, I am so socially inept, aren't I? I think it's because I hate confrontation, I don't want to tell somebody else to "get lost, noob", that's just rude. But I don't want to "just kill stuff" either. And if I wanted to run a dungeon I would have queued in the LFD and never would have accepted a group because that would have kicked me out of the queue.
I am not a particularly social being, I am incredibly shy in RL and in-game. I don't mind the occaisional group-up to complete quests with others in the same cave as me, that's fun. But usually if I'm questing solo it's because I want to be alone. Anything beyond needing another to down an elite disturbs by state of zen.
But that's just me, I'm simple that way. I bring my personality directly to my characters (to the extent that's possible). When I feel sociable, I talk, when I want to be left alone, I quest. For me my playtime is serious business, in that I want to have fun my way when I want it. The random group invite simply messes with my mood, especially when it comes out of nowhere with no explanation.
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