I’m a lore junky. For those who knew me back in my EQ days, they would attest to that. I used to run trivia contests using my intimate knowledge of the game’s lore to entertain. I even had devs of the game ask me lore-based questions, which, for me, was a highlight of playing that game. However, as EQ progressed, the lore changed. Now, when a game lasts as long as EQ has, you have to have growth to the lore, and no one would look askew at you if you occasionally revamped some lore based on, perhaps, some “old hidden scrolls that have just recently come to light” or something. That’s good storytelling. Because that was one of the reasons EQ had such immersion – it told a fantastic story. Around about the third time Kerra Island’s back-story was completely written, I came to understand that the story had been left on the cutting room floor. One of the most interesting complaints I see from WoW lore junkies is the way a major element of the lore is being completely re-written for Wrath of the Lich King.
Author: Oz
Jaded old gamer, and father of gamers, who's been around long enough. Still, he's always up for giving the Next Big Thing a whirl.
Gotta collect ’em all!
I must have some sort of gamer’s OCD because I find myself unable to complete Phantom Hourglass without finding the last two gems (which are not required) to power up my Spirits (also not required).
If you have a Nintendo DS, you really should get this game. It’s the first in a long time that really uses both screens constantly and engagingly. Even my concern about using the stylus to completely drive the game has faded, as it’s so easy to use and natural.
If you do, send me a Wisdom and Courage gem, huh? *wanders off mumbling*
Still Alive
You know, sometimes it’s funny how small of a world the internet is.
Every night at midnight I pull up Woot and see what they have, hoping for the BoC to magically appear. After checking Woot, I check its two spawns, Sellout.woot and Shirt.woot. Shirt.woot has interesting designs, most of which are pop-culture related. Each week, a plethora of designs are submitted, many humorous in their own way. Tomorrow (tonight, depending on your time orientation), is likely to feature a shirt that says “The cake is a liar.”, which I didn’t get at all. After researching this, I find out this is from the popular Portal game for the xBox360, which I don’t own so have never played. Reading more about this leads me to find out that the ending song is quite funny (first link is it in its entirety, second is just the words and music), which is sung by a woman with a very haunting voice. A smidge more investigation leads me to find out that it was written by the amazingly talented Jonathan Coulton, whom I first discovered from a funny WoW video link a fellow guildmate forwarded. And it comes full circle. Kinda like Portal, I guess. Amazing, isn’t it?
In the Valley, Fer Sure
So, having wrapped up my affairs in Middle Earth, I’ve returned when possible to Azeroth. Sadly, my life schedule continues to allow me little time for playing, but two forced weeks of staying at home let me get into it fairly deeply. I’ve always been more of a social player, and so returning to guildmates and friends was nice. I managed to run the Headless Horseman event a few hundred times to ensure everyone had what they needed (sans a pet for me, or any guildmate *sigh), but what I’ve been doing mostly is PvP, specifically, Alterac Valley by the truckload. Because that’s where honor grinders come when honor grinding is needed. I’ll explain that in a minute, but the wierd part is I’m actually enjoying it.
Ya, I know, right?
Repaving the Road
Nostalgia is great. There is nothing like the rose-colored glasses of memory to make you feel glad. And, if you’re trying to show off your MMORPG cred, to show off how much you, personally, rock. Any time an instance, event, or even crafting gets changed in an online game, you have people that crawl out from the woodwork to explain that while sure, you can do it now, THEY did it when it was really tough, not this carebear version you have. Nope, uphill both ways, carrying their guild master on their back, blindfolded, wearing their newbie tunic and with only a rusty sword. And they liked it. It’s fun to mock those people, but let’s not talk about them anymore. What I do want to talk about is what was done in EQ1 often enough that I think WoW may want to look into: Revamping Zones.
Dear Gandalf…
I’ve thought long and hard about how to write this letter and I just can’t think of a nicer way to put it: I’m leaving you. Wait, before you get upset and say that I didn’t give you enough of a chance, I need you to hear me out. This past month and change has been a lot of fun; for both of us, I think. Your new player introduction is nicely framed as an entry to the game in a way I didn’t even realize I was in a tutorial instance for a while, which is not something I can say happens often. You know you’re not the first, but you were the best in that aspect. It was just you and I, but that’s what was almost magical, in a non-wizardly way of course due to lore, about it. And when you gave me my first title after just a little while together…I really felt touched.
LoTRO tries too hard
While I’ve been nuttily busy, a friend passed me a 10-day trial code for LoTRO. I had mentioned previously that this is pretty much the only major MMORPG I hadn’t played, and so I felt I had to give it a try. Summary: It’s a decent game, but it tries too hard to please too many people, and thus ends up leaving some wanting.
And so the Djinni said: Three wishes…
Lots of great ideas on my Expansionary Thought thread, and it reflects a wide base of games we play from. With a nod to the authors, let’s take a look at them, where they are coming from, and why.
Expantionary Thought
Just a quick thought/poll to our readers, on the same theme as my last post –
The next expansion has been announced. Tigole calls you up on the phone and says that you’ve been targeted as a Typical Player, and they will add a feature you want. It has to be codable and realistic (‘I want rats to drop Naxx epics” will probably not pass). It cannot turn balance on its ear, and if it is faction based, must be flexible enough to be used by either side.
What do you tell him you want?
WoW: Next Expansion Incoming?
The latest rumblings, coming here on the eve of BlizzCon, is that a new expansion will be announced. It’s silly to think that Blizzard is not planning one, and they have started on it. And, marketing people will agree, the best time to get feedback on your future plans is surrounded by a few thousand of your rabid fans.
Leading the popular charge is Northrend. Specifically “Wrath of the Lich King”. Reasons to this go from the music choices Blizzard has given for their party, which are all dealing with the frosty north, to the new 403 (forbidden) error code the curious have found on a subpage called Wrath on Blizzard’s site and servers.
If so, it will be interesting to see what awaits us. I’m heading off to hang with Mickey in Florida for a few weeks so I’ll miss the party/announcement/spoilers. Someone pick me up a spare Murloc Suit?