Down On WoW

[World of Warcraft] I figured out why I am so down on WoW right now. This honor system has royally screwed up the game for me.

I am a PvE player. I signed up for a PvE server, not a PvP server for a reason. I did not want PvP to impact my PvE. Well, the honor system has screwed it up. I cannot turn in quests because my quest NPC has been killed. I cannot get a flight out of an area because the flight NPC has been killed. I cannot play in many areas because the lag is brutal sometimes. PvP players should not be able to impact a PvE player in any way.

And if I wanted to participate or drive off the people messing up my PvE I can’t because my level makes me worthless. Until they do something about this, my account is cancelled again.

First Observations On Guild Wars

[Guild Wars] Oh boy the number of losers playing GW is awfully high. Every time I turn around some dude has stripped down to his shorts and is asking all the “girls” nearby to dance with him.

Now, most of the dance moves are downright stupid, but the people playing this game have reached a new low braincell count record. Honestly. In fact, I think the “no monthly fee” thing is going to turn this game into a loser-fest of the highest magnitude. When people don’t have a financial obligation, they must turn into total idiots. And really guys, those girls you ask to dance with you, you know the ones with the suggestive names, are not girls.

If it wasn’t for the instances, I would never get a moment’s peace. Blissfully, I run into the swirling portals…

I rerolled a few times because I clicked “accept” instead of “decline” on a few quests that offer you a 2nd class. It’s tricksey and false and it fooled me more than once. I know I should spend some time reading what they are saying, but sometimes a dude just wants his phat xp and loots and wants to move on.

I love the instant travel, open the map, click on a town, boom you are there. Sweet mother of mercy it rocks. I hate those damn worms that go back in the ground once I start attacking them and then they pop back out and my autoattack has to be reset. I hate that I can’t tell what will aggro and what won’t. I hate the way I have to walk around invisible barriors. I hate the way the game puts you on rails and won’t let you explore too much. I love the cost. I love the graphics. I love the skills and the quests. I hate how every character in a class looks like every other character in the same class. It seems like everyone can use every weapon, that is interesting. I totally love some of the quests I have done so far, they are really well done.

No, I have not settled on any specific class yet. They all are fun yet they all suck. Necromancer is still the most fun for me, but why do they all look like Prince? And all the warriors look like Conan, I mean they have the Conan hair selection so I guess people like that but why? All the female characters look like some anime sex pervert’s wet dream. Haha man I need a drink. I wish I could remember who first called this game “Gwar”, I think it fits.

In The Beginning

[Guild Wars] Since I feel no rush to level in GW, I have been playing around with the different characters. I level one up to about level 3 to get a taste of the class and try another. They are all pretty interesting. I am liking the necromancer the most so far, but the monk is not far behind. I mostly played a ranger in the preview weekends so I am not playing one right now.

I hope to have more free time later this weekend to really play some, but I only have a few hours in so far and it’s hard to say much about the gameplay. It still has the new shine on it right now but I can see it is not something I can play a lot of. But so far so good.

Guild Wars

[Guild Wars] Since I preordered Guild Wars, I was able to play for free the past two days and I must say it has been fun. I will certainly get this game. For the cost, it is worth buying. With no monthly fee, I can play whenever I want.

I also like the option to create a PvP-only character that starts at level 20. Makes it easier to play with some hardcore friends. All the classes seem fun, so I’m not sure what I would choose yet.

Now the question is, will Best Buy honor my preorder since I lost (idiot) the receipt? I have the box and it says Best Buy right on it. I figure I’ll take it in and tell them they can either get $40 from me right now (and make a happy customer) or I’ll just pay $50 online from Guild Wars for the key and Best Buy will get $0. I’ll let them decide.

UPDATE: I called Best Buy and they told me that since I purchased with a credit card they will be able to pull up my order and credit me for the preorder. Possible good news there…

UPDATE to the previous UPDATE: Best Buy comes through. They pulled up my account and found the $10 preorder so I bought the collector’s edition (I’m a sucker for CE’s). The CE comes with some stuff I don’t care about, but the hard cover art book (while a bit small) is very nice and worth the extra cost. Any game that comes with an art book is almost a guaranteed buy for me.

Simple Pleasures

[World of Warcraft] With the pressure of levelling to 60 freshly lifted from my mind, I logged on to my level 15 Warlock. I did several quests and before I knew it I was level 16.

I headed back to the Undercity to get my training. I picked up a new skill called Unending Breath which grants me 10 minutes of underwater breathing. It’s instacast with no cooldown timer so I can cast it any time I want, even when underwater. What a simple pleasure I got from this skill.

I relocated away from Silverpine (hate that area) to the Crossroads (not much better) where I yelled out for all enemies of the Horde to leave town now. Eventually I found my way to Ratchet where I spent some time having fun exploring the shipwreck at the bottom of the bay there.

Now this is the stuff I’m playing the game for. Thank you Blizzard.

Yarr!

Break out yer pirate keyboards matey!

Disney Online has announced plans to make an MMORPG based on the Pirates of the Caribbean called (oddly enough) Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

In what seems to be an aggressive schedule, they plan to launch in summer 2006 alongside of the release of the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Disney Online describes Pirates of the Caribbean Online as “a world of high seas action and adventure where players will personalize their own pirate character and organize with other players to form a pirate crew.” Unlike most other pirate games, Disney’s MMORPG will incorporate the supernatural elements of the films, allowing players to “embark on swashbuckling missions to battle both each other and the evil, undead pirates of the high seas.”

Moderately Hardcore

According to a Gamasutra interview of Jessica Mulligan, I am clearly in the Moderate gamer club. I am no longer Hardcore. Well, if I was ever Hardcore, I was borderline Hardcore at best.

In the interview, she splits gamers into three groups:

  1. Mass Market: time and price sensitive, 75% of the market generating 5% of the income.
  2. Moderate: time sensitive only, 15% of the market generating 15% of the income.
  3. Hardcore: neither time nor price sensitive, 10% of the market generating 80% of the income.

I am time sensitive but I’m not price sensitive. Monthly fees don’t bother me but I do need to feel some fun and/or progress for my time spent playing. I compare my time spent, not my money spent.

I think the reason World of Warcraft is doing so well is because it has tapped into the Moderate gamers deeper than any other MMORPG has before. It also seems that Guild Wars is targeting the same market. I’m just not sure that a lot of PvP people are also Moderate. My hunch for that comes from the Honor System added recently in WoW. It has driven me away as it increased the amount of PvP going on in-game.

The Hardcore gamers are the ones that make up things like DKP (Dragon Kill Points) to keep track of who gets what piece of phat loot when raiding. Something that appeals to me in no way, shape or form. They are the ones that enjoy the spoils from all the time they spent in game, gathering the most uber of all gear. It allows them to dominate in every possible way and they generally feel no sorrow for the Moderates. They earned the gear, cry more noob.

Yes, I am a Moderate gamer and that is fine by me.

I almost decided to write an “I Quit” post today. I was thinking about the 11 days of gaming I played in WoW and what else I could have done with that time. I felt like my family deserved more time than I’ve been giving them. But then I realized that the only time I game any more is when my kids are in bed and my wife has other plans. I did technically “quit” when I stopped trying to be a Hardcore gamer. So, I don’t see any harm in playing a game at those times. I just need to focus on other things when the computer is off.

Really, my main problem is that I spend more time thinking about games than I do playing them. This website is the proof.

/played

[World of Warcraft] I asked a friend of mine how many in-game days in took him to get to level 60 and he figured about 25 days. It can probably be done faster, but he tends to goof off somewhat like I do on occasion so I figured it was a good estimate for me to take as “the time it will take me to get to 60”.

Then I looked at the /played for *all* of my characters. Here is what I have: 28 rogue, 28 shaman, 15 warlock, 15 hunter, 13 mage, 12 rogue, 11 warrior, 11 hunter, 8 priest, 8 druid, 6 warlock and 4 paladin.

If I did my math correctly, I have a total of 11 days, 6 hours and 9 minutes in all of them. That is 270 hours or so. I have heard people say that you can get to 60 in 350 hours but I am not sure if that is true or not. Even if I put all of my time into only one character, I would not have come close to level 60 yet. That is sad.

I’m probably over-analyzing it.

And then I think 25 days??? Damn that is 600 hours of gaming.