Author: Ethic

I run this little MMO gaming blog but I hardly ever write on it anymore. I'm more of a bloglord or something. Thankfully I have several minions to keep things rolling along.
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WoW Instance Lag Fixed!

I have been having this awful problem with choppy frame rates in World of Warcraft instances. Not anywhere else, just instances.

After removing all of my interface add-ons, I noticed the choppiness was gone. Adding them back in one at a time narrowed it down to one called “Gatherer“. That one tracks potential herb and mining resource spots for me. I never really relied on it so I took it off for good. I have read the newer versions don’t have the problem, but I really don’t care at this point. I’m just happy I can go into an instance again and move freely. Woohoo!

OMGWTF! Stealth Nerf! FFS!

I came across this thread on the WoW forums today and thought it interesting how quickly people jump on a bandwagon with no facts to back it up.

It starts with:

Blizzard saw fit to completely remove the Doomguards purpose for higher end raiding – Cripple no longer works on bosses (which it did before).

And then the others join in:

All of that gets blown away by a nerf which isn’t even listed. Fantastic.

Why give classes abilities if you’re going to negate them in the content you really need them for?

yay, I LOVE it when Blizzard lies, (o w wont make anymore changes without telling you) and goes and nerfs ONCE more, the class thats been nerfed like 5 times since release, thats already broken to an extreme….

The thing that bugs me about this nerf, is just the sheer magnitude of it. A small decrease in imp health? Ok fine. Seduce breaking earlier in pvp? Sure to that as well, not a game breaking deal. The warlocks best debuff being nuked and obliterated without so much as a mention? On an entirely different tier of severity.

Why do I pay you? I am confused as to why you take my money. Is it to provide a game in which I enjoy, or a game in which aggrivates me to death upon hearing about the not so elusive stealth nerfs occuring with no prior notification.

Finally a dev responds:

I saw this thread and found it somewhat surprising. No one had made any changes to the Doomguard or to any of the Molten Core bosses on the live servers. So Daelo and I logged into Kilrogg and tested out the Doomguard on some of the Molten Core bosses and cripple stuck to them. We then came back to this thread and noticed that Protous (the original poster) was on Archimonde. In the name of being diligent, we logged on to Archimonde and conducted a new test. Once again, Cripple stuck on the bosses.

Could you please provide more information than, �Blizzard saw fit to completely remove the Doomguards purpose for higher end raiding – Cripple no longer works on bosses�? I�m more than happy to make sure nothing got nerfed but you�ve got to try to work with us a little bit. Which boss did you fight that was immune?

As a side note, the Doomguard�s cripple is not intended to work on every boss in the game. While we find it an interesting mechanic for some encounters, we don�t want Warlocks using this on every boss in the game. Some bosses WILL be immune to the spell. But nothing should have changed overnight. No �stealth� nerf was ever planned.

I just love it when someone has one thing happen in a game with random numbers deciding gameplay and they automatically assume it was a stealth nerf without doing any testing. And then other people jump right along with them. At least there were a few logical responses in there by people with functioning brain cells.

The dev response was a beautiful piece of communication and customer service. Bravo!

WoW Server Follies

While rare (in my experience), I have occasionally encountered some odd problems while playing World of Warcraft. Last night was one of those times.

A friend of mine asked if I wanted to run through Shadowfang Keep to try to get my Rogue one of the Meteor Shard daggers that drop at the end on occasion. I had nothing going on so I decided it would be fun. I was in the Crossroads and had a bit of travel time ahead of me. I needed to take a flight to Orgrimmar then run to the Zeppelin. The Zep would take me to the Undercity where I could catch a flight to the Sepulcher. From there I had to run on foot to the Shadowfang Keep (SFK) entrance.

While I was doing that, my friend decided to enter SFK and start clearing out the place. As I got closer, we made a group. This was a mistake. We may have avoided these problems if we had formed a group before he went in, but we have never had a problem adding someone into a group for an instance before so we thought nothing of it. Until… I ran through the entrance to SFK.

After zoning (it is an instance so you zone into your own unique version of the area) I was attacked full force and had to run back out. He asked me where I was and I told him I was outside because a bunch of mobs attacked me at the entrance. He said he would come back and clean up, assuming there had been a respawn. He got back and ran outside to meet me. We went back in and I got the wonderful “this is not your instance please leave or die kthxbye” message. Went back out.

Then we went through various stages of grouping, ungrouping, making a raid, abandoned the raid, etc. Nothing helped. He decided he would recall to Undercity and then run back and see if zoning helped. When he got back, he could not enter the instance at all. He would just stand there in the zone area and nothing would happen. I could still run into it (and get attacked).

We decided to relog. Nothing changed. We filed a request for help and then waited. While we waited we did a little roleplay. “Don’t enter the swirling portal, it’s evil!” “EEEEVvvviilll!” “Do not taunt happy fun portal!”Of course many people did enter the portal with no problems.

After a while (of no help from our request), my friend decided to charge into the portal one last time and he got in! So I followed and what do you know “leave or DIE!” pops on my screen again. This time we both leave, drop the group, reform the group and go back in. No warning. Huh. So we proceed to do the whole instance.

At the end, the dude that drops the dagger on occasion dropped a robe.

We have to go back now…

Cinco No Playo

It has been about 5 days since I last played any serious amount of World of Warcraft. Sick kids, sick wife and the stench of vomit buckets has pretty much kept me offline.

I don’t miss the game all that much. That is good. I used to go nuts when I had time away from the game. I am pretty comfortable without the game these days. Sure I miss it and I look forward to playing some more, but no more shakes when I can’t get my fix.

Another relevation for me is that I am actually coming to grips with my altoholism. I have started to enjoy the variety of playing multiple characters. Sometimes I feel like a Rogue, sometimes I don’t. With the rest bonus it only makes it even better.

And tradeskills? What is with those? I pretty much avoid them lately. It just seems mostly counter productive to my game play. I don’t find them fun so I don’t do them. When I need a break away from combat, I just log out. Fishing is the only one I halfway enjoy and even that is not part of my game sessions any more. It seems that a lot of people use them to make money, but since my brother gives me piles of gold, I guess I have no need for making my own.

In other news, I have started reading the series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R. R. Martin. The first book is called “A Game of Thrones”. Very good stuff. This is possibly another reason why I am not going through WoW shakes. A good book does wonders for your soul. And your brain.

More Beta – Ballerium

I was picked to participate in the Ballerium beta test. This game, according to the devs, is considered an MMORTS. They say that stands for: Massively-Multiplayer-Online-Realtime-Strategy-Game. Why didn’t they call it an MMORSG then?

Anyway, I’ll check it out as soon as possible. Since there is an NDA, I won’t be sharing much here until the time that it is lifted. I’m not a big RTS fan so I can’t say I’m overly excited about the release of this one, but I’m currently only being asked to test, not to have fun.

To Gank

The other day (playing World of Warcraft) I was doing some quests around Tarren Mill when a Night Elf Rogue, level listed as ?? so they had to be quite a bit higher than me, wandered in and started killing some of the local level 50 Deathguards. They had no problem with them at all so I am guessing they were level 60. This is on a PvE server so I was not worried for my safety.

I watched this Rogue for a few minutes and eventually a small crowd gathered. Soon one of the higher level Horde players attacked the Night Elf. The beatdown commenced as the whole crowd joined in. I tossed out four Frost Shocks to keep them from running away and eventually they lost the battle with us. Was quite suprised I was able to land them at all.

I reflected back on my PvP experiences in WoW and I realized I am a sort of ganker. I only participate in PvP when I am rather sure I’ll win.

For example, I was hunting with my brother and we came across an Alliance player equal to our level. They appeared to be solo while hunting some creatures and we noted they had been PvP enabled. We decided it would be prudent to remove them from the area and we did so. I felt bad some as it did not feel honorable but my brother pointed out that they *were* flagged, so it is their fault not ours.

Most every other PvP situation I have been in is when the numbers are on my side. A level 60 might be killing NPCs in the Crossroads and eventually a crowd hunts them down. I usually will cast something like Earth Shock (interrupt casting) if they are a caster or Frost Shock to keep them from running away.

In fact, I don’t normally accept duals either. Certainly not when every single time I have been challenged to a dual I was in the middle of something else. Doesn’t anyone bother to ask any more? What’s wrong with a little /tell? I have been asked to sign guild charters with no conversation. I have been asked to join a group with no conversation. Hardly anyone bothers to ask if I would be interested in helping them do something. What’s up with that?

Sorry, went off on a tangent there.

To sum up, I feel like a ganker.

On another note, my Shaman reached level 27 last night. Now we are cooking with gas.

Face Of Mankind Open Beta

Face of Mankind is an MMORPG set in the 24th century. You are invited to play out the ageless battle of good vs. evil, and witness all shades of gray in between. Role-playing and your real-life skills are the raw ingredients of game play.

This MMORPG uses the first ever player-generated mission system, and combines it with sophisticated economics and complex player politics for a new kind of online experience. Only your ability to shoot, bargain, politic and otherwise duck and deal will advance your character�s private or corporate agenda. The success of each and every mission will determine your rise to the top, or your fall into obscurity. Whatever path you take in this astonishing world, plan well: one day, one minute or a single second could bring you to your destiny as the true Face of Mankind.

Get the open beta client while it’s hot.

EQ2 Embraces The Solo Player?

EQ2 Producer’s Letter:

This generation of gamers is very different from those that have gone before. Many people out there (quite a few of the dev team included) just don’t have the large blocks of uninterrupted time that we used to. We still want to be able to come online, have fun, be challenged, and be rewarded for our efforts. Soloists and those who prefer small groups should never have to feel like they’re the ones getting the proverbial table scraps, as it were.

And:

In tomorrow’s update, expect significant solo and small group experience boosts across the board that allow for advancement that will be much more visible and feel much more satisfying.

In the following weeks’ updates, there will be a new class of creatures added to the game that present an increased challenge to soloers and small groups. Specific details will be posted in the message that accompanies the update. Soloing shouldn’t feel like a grind; it should be an exciting and fun style of play in its own right.

Also in those updates, brand new item rewards will be added for soloists and small-groupers. Additionally, some of the rewards that have been reserved solely for groups will also make their way, though more rarely, to the solo and small group encounters in the world. At the same time, expect group rewards to improve as well. The chances for some of the group-only ultra-rare drops will likewise be increased.

In the weeks following that, expect new dungeon instances to be made available for those who solo, duo, and trio. Exciting dungeon crawling is a core part of what people love the most about online fantasy games, and it shouldn’t be reserved solely for those who choose to play in full groups.

Essentially, the way it should work is like this:

Soloing and small grouping should be a way to advance at a satisfying rate. You should be able to earn good rewards that are exciting in their own right. Soloing and small grouping should also provide a chance at the great rewards that people might not expect in anything except the traditional six-person group.

This (depending on how it goes as I will be watching it) and the firesale price of the EQ2 game in stores may just be enough for me to try it. Well, not that likely.

AO For Free, Shadowlands Too?

Just got this email regarding my free Anarchy Online account:

UPGRADE TO SHADOWLANDS FOR FREE!

Special offer! Upgrade your account with Shadowlands prior to February 7th with no client fee! Notum Wars included! You save EUR 19,95 / $19,95. Subscription fee as low as $7,95 per month.

So I can get the expansion for free, but I will still have to pay a monthly fee. AO is bound and determined to get me back as a regular customer. I like what they are doing.

I am almost there. Almost.