I got some time on my computer yesterday. At home I mean, at work I stare it too much already. What did I do?
* Check AH in WoW, make new auctions and purchase new items to sell - 1 hour
* Login and drive five races in Upshift Strikeracer : 55 minutes (including learning everything from zero)
I wonder which is more fun...
Ah, nevermind. That car racing with guns blazing brought so many memories from the tabletop gaming era, that there is no question about it. CarWars of the modern era, definitely. Even though I hate racing games (I seriously lack the ability to drive imaginary vehicles on screen) and resent PvP, this game is good, clean FUN! It's fast, furious and easy to learn, and one race takes only about 10 minutes minutes depeding on the group entering the race.
It's racing, it's PvP and it's tweaking the cars (later on). The best part is that it's free to play and seems to be stable enough to keep even the full track going. Ok, I have to admit that it's a bit shallow on the story side, and that the graphics are not quite en par with the latest console games, but it runs smoothly and is pleasing enough to keep me at least occupied every now and then. Even in the summer, as it's bound to rain every now and then!
What did I gain in WoW? Cashed some 200g profit only to make purchases with 170g. We'll see when I get the time to cash what I posted.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Summertime low downs
Ok.
For myself, the summertime routines are starting: the weather gives more than amply the opportunities to exercise with the dogs and the gardening, the weekends are filled with competitions and trainings and all in all, everything points to the fact that my playing will get scarcer and farther apart. In addition to that, Gatheryn opened the pre-registration for it's Beta, something I've been waiting for sometime now and Earthrise is nearing the point, too. It's not that I'd be bored with WoW or anything, but these two open up genres which I haven't explored as of yet, except in pen and paper RPG's. Which is completely different.
Talking about boredom brings up this question in my mind: what will happen to WoW's subscriber count after the summer lowbies and already apparent WotLK burnouts put together? Summers have usually been pretty quiet in MMO's, with the 'high season' being around Christmas time, so the amount of active players will be considerably lower by nature. But this combined with the generic WotLK burnout and possible Ulduar specific burnouts, what will be the outcome of this low season to the overall subscriber count?
Remains to be seen. The playing field is slowly evening out in the sense of competition and genres in the MMO market. Now the free-to-play games are coming with even greater force, putting more emphasis on the quality and playability than former AAA-class games.
We're surely living interesting times.
For myself, the summertime routines are starting: the weather gives more than amply the opportunities to exercise with the dogs and the gardening, the weekends are filled with competitions and trainings and all in all, everything points to the fact that my playing will get scarcer and farther apart. In addition to that, Gatheryn opened the pre-registration for it's Beta, something I've been waiting for sometime now and Earthrise is nearing the point, too. It's not that I'd be bored with WoW or anything, but these two open up genres which I haven't explored as of yet, except in pen and paper RPG's. Which is completely different.
Talking about boredom brings up this question in my mind: what will happen to WoW's subscriber count after the summer lowbies and already apparent WotLK burnouts put together? Summers have usually been pretty quiet in MMO's, with the 'high season' being around Christmas time, so the amount of active players will be considerably lower by nature. But this combined with the generic WotLK burnout and possible Ulduar specific burnouts, what will be the outcome of this low season to the overall subscriber count?
Remains to be seen. The playing field is slowly evening out in the sense of competition and genres in the MMO market. Now the free-to-play games are coming with even greater force, putting more emphasis on the quality and playability than former AAA-class games.
We're surely living interesting times.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Step back and take a new look
I haven't been playing lately: during the last week or so I've logged in only three times, only to check AH and guild bank development. Obviously the rest of the guild has done the same, as there are only few toons which have logged in within the last month or so.
What ever the case, I noticed a nice thing yesterday as my trader toon was standing at the Auctioneer in Darnassus: It seems that I'm paying more attention to the details in the scenery than I have since my first run through the big city. I wonder if this is true with other toons and other places in game.
So I'm bound to challenge you all: forget the mechanics, forget the excessively grinded quests and quest lines and especially forget the fact that you've seen it all a million times. Take a step back from the adventuring/levelling up grind you have succumbed into, and take a new look into the game: Look it in the eyes of a newcomer, taking nothing for granted.
I was surprised of what I saw and what I noticed. How come I had missed the slowly swinging bags of the Auctionhouse?! Or the changing colours of the leaves around the Sacred Grove?
Open your eyes and see WoW through the eyes of a newcomer, and you'll be surprised.
Oh, and this goes with all other games, too: just forget the mechanics and the grind, and the world the game is depicting will change completely. If not forever.
What ever the case, I noticed a nice thing yesterday as my trader toon was standing at the Auctioneer in Darnassus: It seems that I'm paying more attention to the details in the scenery than I have since my first run through the big city. I wonder if this is true with other toons and other places in game.
So I'm bound to challenge you all: forget the mechanics, forget the excessively grinded quests and quest lines and especially forget the fact that you've seen it all a million times. Take a step back from the adventuring/levelling up grind you have succumbed into, and take a new look into the game: Look it in the eyes of a newcomer, taking nothing for granted.
I was surprised of what I saw and what I noticed. How come I had missed the slowly swinging bags of the Auctionhouse?! Or the changing colours of the leaves around the Sacred Grove?
Open your eyes and see WoW through the eyes of a newcomer, and you'll be surprised.
Oh, and this goes with all other games, too: just forget the mechanics and the grind, and the world the game is depicting will change completely. If not forever.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Coherently incoherent
I've had several brilliant ideas for blogposts for some days now, but I haven't taken to write them down. Now as I have some spare time, I don't have the slightest idea -or will- to write about those things.
Let's start with news, like Dechion with his Blogday (congrats again!) I have something to celebrate: This blog has just passed 3000 unique views, which I think calls for a note. There, it's done.
Sadly the most viewed posts have been either the ones I've really criticised WoW (several, won't link to them) or the meme I posted this week (which is a brilliant one, just the post before this one). Not the real posts I have made and tried to incite discussion with.
But that's how it goes: the ones you think are brilliant go neglected and the ones you rant as utter crap are considered worth commenting.
I have followed Oakstout's recent posts with great interest, because he has delved in the same (cess)pools as I with the utter disbelief in the way Blizzard has been treating WoW lately... well, ever since The Burning Crusade came out and the levelling was speeded up. The most recent pos t was a kind of an eye opener again, even though I have seen and understood the situation quite well myself. But the example Oakstout gives about his friend really shows what has happened to the game which initially was revered for the questing: the quests are just stepping stones which don't give the player anything about the world anymore. I must apologise, but I read another blog (which I have forgotten) saying that WoW turned this blogger off because of the vast lore and history which was self-evident to the people who had played the RTS' but not to anyone else. And the quests at current rate do not help in this sense, as they really are not revealing anything of the lore in any coherent way.
Now that the level capped people are given the chance to earn the hereditary items for their levelling toons, gear that severely outperforms the gear achievable from the lower levels, the speeded up levelling for these players comes even faster and easier. The less the quests are needed, not only because the players have already grinded through Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep and others with their intriquing and intertwining questlines.
The speed levelling is for them to get into the level cap with yet another toon just to begin the next one while raiding with the toons at the cap, hitting their heads on the raid instance walls time and again.
This in combination to the fact that Blizzard has announced yet again and with more direct way that their next MMO is based on their unique IP means that WoW will be dying: the core has died already, the living lore and questlines have been sacrificed to the arcade style raiding and instance boss grinds.
Could Blizz be a man about it and cut the good old Azeroth off and let the raiding commence for all?
Let's start with news, like Dechion with his Blogday (congrats again!) I have something to celebrate: This blog has just passed 3000 unique views, which I think calls for a note. There, it's done.
Sadly the most viewed posts have been either the ones I've really criticised WoW (several, won't link to them) or the meme I posted this week (which is a brilliant one, just the post before this one). Not the real posts I have made and tried to incite discussion with.
But that's how it goes: the ones you think are brilliant go neglected and the ones you rant as utter crap are considered worth commenting.
I have followed Oakstout's recent posts with great interest, because he has delved in the same (cess)pools as I with the utter disbelief in the way Blizzard has been treating WoW lately... well, ever since The Burning Crusade came out and the levelling was speeded up. The most recent pos t was a kind of an eye opener again, even though I have seen and understood the situation quite well myself. But the example Oakstout gives about his friend really shows what has happened to the game which initially was revered for the questing: the quests are just stepping stones which don't give the player anything about the world anymore. I must apologise, but I read another blog (which I have forgotten) saying that WoW turned this blogger off because of the vast lore and history which was self-evident to the people who had played the RTS' but not to anyone else. And the quests at current rate do not help in this sense, as they really are not revealing anything of the lore in any coherent way.
Now that the level capped people are given the chance to earn the hereditary items for their levelling toons, gear that severely outperforms the gear achievable from the lower levels, the speeded up levelling for these players comes even faster and easier. The less the quests are needed, not only because the players have already grinded through Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep and others with their intriquing and intertwining questlines.
The speed levelling is for them to get into the level cap with yet another toon just to begin the next one while raiding with the toons at the cap, hitting their heads on the raid instance walls time and again.
This in combination to the fact that Blizzard has announced yet again and with more direct way that their next MMO is based on their unique IP means that WoW will be dying: the core has died already, the living lore and questlines have been sacrificed to the arcade style raiding and instance boss grinds.
Could Blizz be a man about it and cut the good old Azeroth off and let the raiding commence for all?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Something completely different!
Found this one from a forum I frequent and thought to tease all people with Yet Another Meme.
1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random... Read More”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together. I did mine with MS Paint.
My result is:
So, to be true to the meme-theme, I'd like to see what the following MMO-bloggers get out of this.
1. Sotthistle : just for the heck of it.
2. Stargrace : your photo's are so great and this comes to the 'creativity' part we Twittered about sometime ago
3. Dechion : put this into either of your great blogs: it's a great filler!
In the end of the day, pass this to three bloggers of renown and challenge their creativity!
1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random... Read More”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together. I did mine with MS Paint.
My result is:
So, to be true to the meme-theme, I'd like to see what the following MMO-bloggers get out of this.
1. Sotthistle : just for the heck of it.
2. Stargrace : your photo's are so great and this comes to the 'creativity' part we Twittered about sometime ago
3. Dechion : put this into either of your great blogs: it's a great filler!
In the end of the day, pass this to three bloggers of renown and challenge their creativity!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)