The Rules of Love and Warcraft 3/3

You'd forgotten about this hadn't you? That's okay, I nearly did.

I've played all the way up to 85 on my main, leveled my guild all on my own, and run through a dozen dungeons, some more successful than others.

What I came away with, besides a lightened pocketbook and accomplishments that ought to embarrass me, is a sense that WoW is going to do just fine. They have a winning game world, with rich lore and fun, emotionally provocative characters. The sustainability of the title is so intense, I really cant imagine it going the way of other MMOs. The money is still coming in hand over fist for the corporate masters, the design team is engaged, passionate and most importantly, farmed out to other projects occasionally to keep them from burning out.

And thought the tenor has shifted slightly, the conversations about the game are almost always rabid, the fans are serious about the game and as long as new content keeps flowing down the mountain they'll be patiently waiting to try for the new mount, the new achievement, the guild first, or whatever award or epic loot drop is bundled in. They'll complain that the new raid gear looks hideous, as if they were the Azerothian expert on high fashion, but they'll still spend a weekend trying to get it.

It's addictive like crack, it's fun and engaging if you find the niche you like to play in, and it's accessible to the casual gamer as well. All in all, I give 4 stars to the Cataclysm expansion and subsequent Firelands patch. If you're a WoW fan, you already love it, and if you're not, this isn't likely to change your mind.

Look forward to more frequent updates and *gasp* video links in the next installments of Thunderhorn's Ultimate Gaming Guide.

The Rules of Love and Warcraft: Part 2/3

Oh, goodness! Have you been waiting for me?

I certainly hope not, as I am less reliable than a '97 Chevy.

Anyway, the actual act of gaming has drawn my attention away from you and your faithful readership, which is probably why there are only two of you left. You are saints for staying, truly.

But now to get down to the meat of the subject.

Warcraft.

So I presented a rubric in my last WoW post, and I've endeavored to assess the game accurately and fairly on that scale.

1) Game Balance - Besides a few lesser annoyances, I'm relatively pleased with the new balance scheme. Paladins still heal too well in my opinion, and Death Knights are worse than useless in most cases, but overall, no one should be complaining.

2) Social Appeal - The mechanics are well-rounded and solid, and I'm pleased with the significant bonuses I can theoretically get. I say theoretically, because after several weeks of dedicated game-play, my guild is nearly to level 2. The system is simply not viable without a real guild population to fuel it. This is how it should be, but is nevertheless frustrating to a guild-master having trouble recruiting. As a completely unrelated side note: If you play, join the Green Dragon Legion on Kirin Tor. We may or may not pay you.

3)Intelligent Economics - Perhaps the most favorable change of all is the removal of ridiculous gold sinks. They still exist, but in much smaller incarnations, acceptable investments for the related benefit. I've managed to rack up some healthy gold reserves, even while spending on the flying skills, extra gear, and random useless crap I like. I feel rich and powerful, not trodden into the choking dust of poverty. I'm a hero, not a starving mercenary. Actually, I'm still a mercenary, I did a series of quests in which I took the walrus people's gold to kill off the wolverine people, and then turned around and took the wolverine's money to get rid of the bastard walrus people who paid me to kill them. It was great.

4) Hunter Skillz - My main got nerfed on his melee and crowd control abilities, but the trade-offs were more than acceptable. I'm doing a high-end DPS, I can solo even better than before, and I'm not excluded from instances or BG's for my class or spec any more. I do wish Blizzard would change it so I can sign up for instances as a tank though, because my pet is more than capable of keeping a whole mess of mobs, and a boss stun-locked and aggro'ed for as long as it takes me to kill 'em. Just saying.

5) Four words: I met Malfurion Stormrage. No, no, no, I've got one better: I met Ysera, the Emerald Dragon Aspect! Okay, so that was more than four, but the point is my little happy lore spot is still twitching orgasmicly from the cool shit I've got to do in Cata-land. They have done really, really well on the lore here, it makes sense, it's dramatic, and the world changes as you wander through it. Two thumbs up here as well.

In short, I approve of the expansion, and will continue to waste hours of my time living a life other than my own. I can recommend the game to anyone who's interested, it's fun and moderately addictive.

For part three, in about a week, I'll talk about the things I've learned, and share some bits about the guild system, and random instancing.

Next time, I'll talk about another online game, League of Legends. That'll probably happen Thursday or Friday. Feel free to request a topic, or send me info on something gaming related I ought to be mentioning.

The Rules of Love and Warcraft: Part 1/3

I've had a turbulent relationship with the iconic MMORPG we all know and love. I started playing in '07 just after Burning Crusade came out. Some of my Air Force buddies played and I, a long-time fan of the Warcraft series, joined up and tried it out. I started with a Tauren Hunter, mostly for the pets, and like all RPGs with character options, proceeded to make one of everything. And I started a guild. With just me in it. And then I realized that this co-op gameplay experience required skill, social ties and above all dedicated work. So I gave it up. A few months later I was ready for more and I went back to find they had changed the game. A patch they called it. Except in my previous experience patches meant they were fixing bugs, not altering the fundamentals of game balance and play styles.

Over time I would take long breaks, come back and rebuild my shattered guild, level like mad for a few weeks and then jump back into the real world when I burned out. My last stint was probably my most successful. I had a mount, so travel times weren't death marches anymore, and I made the inevitable grinding a game in and of itself by tracking time spent playing and the tiny victories and goals on a homemade spreadsheet graph, with different colored lines for all my character's progress. And I had my wife start up an account, and my good friend Gus switched servers and helped me manage my guild. I played consistently for nearly a year and a half before having to shut it down again when I went to Basic Training.

When I got back they'd nerfed everything I loved into the dirt. As with all patches I found the bits I liked, and the ones I loathed and attempted to curb stomp them into a tolerable whole. So I played Wrath of the Lich King for about a month, decided I had better things to do with my money and gave it up again. Now Cataclysm is out, and with all the hype (and a tasty looking guild leveling system) I decided to give it the good ole college try this one last time. With no more foreseeable interruptions of internet access/cash flow/free time I embark on a quest for MMO gold.

I will grade Cataclysm on five scales from one to ten, hereby declared Base Ten Grading Scale. The catagories are:
1) Game Balance - If I wander through the broken husk of Azeroth and find that Paladins are still healing better than Holy Priests, or that anything else is fishy I will be most displeased.
2) Social Potential - I love playing with my friends and wife, so if the Guild Leveling isn't well done, or any particular gameplay elements make the social aspect of the game unpleasant or unworkable then my shiny new toy isn't so shiny. Also, my buddy Gus is likely to cancel his account as well since he has no one else to play with. Never let it be said that the social aspect of MMOs is undervalued by the players.
3) Intelligent Economics - If arbitrary gold sinks for nigh-critical features such as the ability to fly over a certain continent, or prohibitive costs for mounts, dial-spec talents, or any other advertised feature exist, I will not play. If the game feels like work, it is no longer a game. It's a job I'm paying to do.
4) Hunter Skillz - If I play my original main and no longer enjoy the level of proficiency and excellence I worked so hard to achieve, my ire will be kindled.
5) Loremastery - I'm a huge story buff in this game world, so if the new races are stupid, the cool flavor of the old world defiled beyond recognition, or some new weird add-on breaks canon too badly, I will no longer be playing a Warcraft game, I'll be playing a Warcraft spin-off. Not what I signed up for.

So with that said, I think my patches are just about finished patching and I'm off to enjoy some cool new exploration. Let the Legion's banner fly!