by Copra
Just a short note.
For some peculiar reason or another I have gotten quite a lot of incoming traffic from Werit's blog. I call it peculiar because of the reason that Werit has been blogging about Warhammer Online for some time now, and still I've gotten the same amount of incoming traffic from there.
Thank you Werit for having my blog in your blogroll. This has been long over due.
Thank you.
.
.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
I never thought...
by Copra
Another weekend gone. Instead of taking the Midsummer festivities seriously I found myself plunging into the longer story arcs in Zul'Drak and Grizzly Hills with my shadow priest Pupunen.
And I never thought I would make another level capped toon in the game. Let alone play hours on end without even noticing it anymore.
This happened, though.
First of all, it took a good, solid story chain in Zul'Drak area to launch the craze. As if that wasn't enough, the next chain I plunged into was actually prequel to the one I had completed, which made the whole even more interesting.
The one I'm talking about is the chain involving Drakuru. The first part of the chain begins in the Grizzly Hills, where you capture an ice troll. This captured one asks you to help him to retrieve a legendary weapon and this story leads you to Drak'Tharon Keep, a 5-man instance.
The second part of the chain takes place in Zul'Drak, where you get a mission from the local representative of the Knights of the Ebon Blade.
As I mentioned, I did the chains in wrong order: the conclusion in Zul'Drak first and the beginning later in Grizzly Hills.
Mental note: if you are about to experience the games longer quest chains in any sort of chronological or logical sequence, please work one area at a time. The story arc will tell you when to move on.
In Zul'Drak there is another troll centered storyline, that of the ancient animal gods of the local trolls. If you haven't done this chain, I urge you to go and do it! It's well worth the effort, as it really shows that it's possible to build up emotionally involving chains within the game. Well, as long as you can toss the "kill 10 rats" syndrome aside.
In Drakuru's case, I found myself wishing every now and then how I would rather change sides and side with this troll ruler. I would have liked to have the option to turn from the railroaded path, and take the a sidestep. For once at least.
In the case of Ancient Gods I would have wanted to kill all the scourge and scourge infested trolls in the area. Thankfully there was a quest chain in Grizzly Hills (to which the first Drakuru chain ushered) in which you get to help the Drakkari Troll ghosts to get their much deserved rest. One of the highlights of the Northern experience as itself, not only as a part of a bigger chain. Oh, with added bonus of Harrison Jones, the famed archeologist... and saving him!
All in all, I'm a bit sad that it's over again: Pupunen capped (and do I have stories about my observations...) and the story is over. Then again, I learned one crucial thing during the last few levels (or four... I started from 76 and ended capped...):
The stories within the quests are best served when you overlevel the content: you have the chance to see the stories unfold rather than worry whether you survive and how you can cope with the mobs.
Levelling quest content isn't the best form of storytelling, really. The mess of quests you are involved with constantly blurs the actual chains, and you will not remember what connects to what in the end. Faulty in design, really.
.
.
Another weekend gone. Instead of taking the Midsummer festivities seriously I found myself plunging into the longer story arcs in Zul'Drak and Grizzly Hills with my shadow priest Pupunen.
And I never thought I would make another level capped toon in the game. Let alone play hours on end without even noticing it anymore.
This happened, though.
First of all, it took a good, solid story chain in Zul'Drak area to launch the craze. As if that wasn't enough, the next chain I plunged into was actually prequel to the one I had completed, which made the whole even more interesting.
The one I'm talking about is the chain involving Drakuru. The first part of the chain begins in the Grizzly Hills, where you capture an ice troll. This captured one asks you to help him to retrieve a legendary weapon and this story leads you to Drak'Tharon Keep, a 5-man instance.
The second part of the chain takes place in Zul'Drak, where you get a mission from the local representative of the Knights of the Ebon Blade.
As I mentioned, I did the chains in wrong order: the conclusion in Zul'Drak first and the beginning later in Grizzly Hills.
Mental note: if you are about to experience the games longer quest chains in any sort of chronological or logical sequence, please work one area at a time. The story arc will tell you when to move on.
In Zul'Drak there is another troll centered storyline, that of the ancient animal gods of the local trolls. If you haven't done this chain, I urge you to go and do it! It's well worth the effort, as it really shows that it's possible to build up emotionally involving chains within the game. Well, as long as you can toss the "kill 10 rats" syndrome aside.
In Drakuru's case, I found myself wishing every now and then how I would rather change sides and side with this troll ruler. I would have liked to have the option to turn from the railroaded path, and take the a sidestep. For once at least.
In the case of Ancient Gods I would have wanted to kill all the scourge and scourge infested trolls in the area. Thankfully there was a quest chain in Grizzly Hills (to which the first Drakuru chain ushered) in which you get to help the Drakkari Troll ghosts to get their much deserved rest. One of the highlights of the Northern experience as itself, not only as a part of a bigger chain. Oh, with added bonus of Harrison Jones, the famed archeologist... and saving him!
All in all, I'm a bit sad that it's over again: Pupunen capped (and do I have stories about my observations...) and the story is over. Then again, I learned one crucial thing during the last few levels (or four... I started from 76 and ended capped...):
The stories within the quests are best served when you overlevel the content: you have the chance to see the stories unfold rather than worry whether you survive and how you can cope with the mobs.
Levelling quest content isn't the best form of storytelling, really. The mess of quests you are involved with constantly blurs the actual chains, and you will not remember what connects to what in the end. Faulty in design, really.
.
.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
What to do when NOT playing WoW?
by Azariel
Ok, I admit it, the title sounds a bit strange, but it has proven to be a very valid question for me the past few weeks.
Due to severe pain spikes in hand and arm I decided to put WoW (and all home-computer activity) on a pause. So I went from raiding 3-4 times a week, to no WoW at all. And I can tell you, it leaves quite a gap.
Maybe it would have been easier to stop playing WoW all together, throw away the account and don't look back. But thats not what I want. After a suitable period of rest, I want to start playing again, so it continues to linger in the back of my head.
In the mean time I have found some other things to do, but pretty often during the day (while at work) I get the thought "I really feel like playing some WoW tonight". Now at first I thought it was just my addiction kicking in, but when I think about it, it's not that. WoW is a place for me to relax. Eventhough it can be a stressful place, it is still a place where I can completely get my mind of things, more than I've been able to achieve thus far with other activities.
So, the grinding, the pugging, the ' oh bugger, Blizz F-ed up again' appears to be all worth it...This, for some reason was quite a revelation to me...
So, what would you be doing, which would achieve the same effect as your WoW-ing, if you stopped playing WoW right now?
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Not up to it
It seems that time has become the most restricting thing with this blog. I do have ideas I would like to write about, but I don't have the time to do it.
Completely separate issue is the fact that I don't have the slightest appetite to write my thoughts just for the heck of it.
So... the blog will be updated every now and then. Don't expect any sort of schedule or even weekly posts.
Thank you.
Completely separate issue is the fact that I don't have the slightest appetite to write my thoughts just for the heck of it.
So... the blog will be updated every now and then. Don't expect any sort of schedule or even weekly posts.
Thank you.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Bored before launch
I wonder what would have been the result if Blizzard would have dropped Cataclysm in without giving out all the information first?
I mean, we are swamped with information about the Cataclysm expansion to WoW. The character class changes, skill changes, races, mechanics... What remains is to go and see how they work in real.
I'm sick and tired of this already.
I would much rather take an expansion with proper foreshadowing and the changes as -slight or major- surprises as such. Change the world progressively and subtly rather than expose the major change through 'information leaks' and 'discussions'.
The mechanics have been chewed to perfection before the expansion lands, and the people who are bound to consume the content faster others anyhow are doing it faster than ever and will be burned out even faster than they were with earlier expansions. The only thing we cannot be sure of is the actual content and quality of the quests, instances and raids.
The way I see it... Blizzard gave out the facts and figures which could have kept the 'community' buzzing for a long time with the expansion way before the expansion comes live. To make sure that everyone reading the information would surely use it and burn out as fast as possible.
I wonder...
...
I mean, we are swamped with information about the Cataclysm expansion to WoW. The character class changes, skill changes, races, mechanics... What remains is to go and see how they work in real.
I'm sick and tired of this already.
I would much rather take an expansion with proper foreshadowing and the changes as -slight or major- surprises as such. Change the world progressively and subtly rather than expose the major change through 'information leaks' and 'discussions'.
The mechanics have been chewed to perfection before the expansion lands, and the people who are bound to consume the content faster others anyhow are doing it faster than ever and will be burned out even faster than they were with earlier expansions. The only thing we cannot be sure of is the actual content and quality of the quests, instances and raids.
The way I see it... Blizzard gave out the facts and figures which could have kept the 'community' buzzing for a long time with the expansion way before the expansion comes live. To make sure that everyone reading the information would surely use it and burn out as fast as possible.
I wonder...
...
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