World of Warcraft Blog

If you’re feeling slightly rebellious, but you don’t fancy a criminal record, then this is the suggestion for you! And yes, this one involves you gaining an inflated head if done right!

Name: Kill The Guards!

Should amuse for: 30 minutes.

Everyone, no matter which faction they happen to be part of, has the choice between Scryers and Aldor, both of Shattrath. If you’ve not already picked then go and do so now; the guy is in the middle of Shattrath next to that big talking thing.

So, as a way of proving your loyality, I suggest that we begin killing the guilds that protect each section of Shattrath. If you’re Aldor then you can sneak your way into the Scryers camp and start DPSing the guards, and vice versa if you’re Aldor.

Aldorians

Now, before you jump in and start doing this, you need to consider a few key points. Firstly, because you happen to have chosen Aldor, you therefore have a slightly more difficult job than your counterparts. You will need to kill those Curator look-a-likes, however they seem to have fairly fast reactions. If they spot you (even if you have not attacked) you are done for, with them teleporting you out of the city and landing you with a rather annoying debuff. Use the elevators to you benefit, because they are unable to navigate them. It takes a while to perfect but worth it in the end!

Scryers

The same goes for you guys in the sense that if you’re caught you will be banished from the city. However, from personal experience the Aldor guards will tend to fight you, rather than resort to banishing straight away. If you’re clever, you can make your way up to the rep turn-in chap and kick his ass, making sure no-one can turn in anything for a while at least! Just be ready for some abuse if anyone sees you doing it!

I have had a lot of fun doing this, from both factions. Perhaps Aldor more so because you get the satisfaction of saying you have killed one of Curators children…!

Wrath of the Lich King is fast approaching (or so we think) and with it comes some serious safety changes to the game. There will soon be Siege Vehicles, little carts controlled by Blizzard employers which will monitor traffic within cities. If you’re riding your mount too fast, they’ll get you! Fancy flying extremely high to escape the hustle and bustle of city life? Then how does a ride in a Siege Vehicle sound? And I, for one, whole heartedly welcome these changes. I can’t walk two feet without nearly being knocked over by a speeding Paladin…

Oh wait, Siege Vehicles are not being used by Blizzard employers? What? We get to use them in PVP? Really?

It appears to be true. Blizzard have, from what I have seen, finally started thinking outside their boxes, which have been wielded tightly closed for the past couple of months. These Siege Vehicles will be used withing PVP contexts and come in many ranges, listed below.

Demolisher

This is the baseline vehicle upon which the rest are based. It has both short and long-range attacks and a ram attack. The vehicle can also carry up to 3 passengers as well as a driver. In this vehicle the passengers are exposed, allowing them to be targeted and attacked — but also allowing them to do the same. The driver is also in control of both weapons.

Forsaken Catapult

This vehicle is much quicker than The Demolisher, with faster acceleration and quicker turning speed, but it doesn’t have as long a range as The Demolisher and doesn’t do quite as much damage. It also carries no passengers, but has a frontal flame attack. This is the lowest cost vehicle available.

Siege Engine

The hardest hitting and longest range vehicle of all, it carries a driver, gunner, and passengers. Unlike the Demolisher, the passengers are not exposed. The driver controls only a frontal ram attack, while the gunner is control of a fully mobile turret.

Flying Machine

A flying vehicle that is very quick but fragile, making it ideal for transport. It is highly vulnerable to anti-air weaponry. Carries a pilot and a gunner.

Bomber

A flying vehicle bomber variant that was not shown at WWI. It was only mentioned that it will carry both a bomber and pilot, allowing it to drop bombs over the battlefield.

Goblin Shredder

An anti-air vehicle that fires rockets and can rocket boost into the air to reach air vehicles or jump over walls. It essentially acts as a personal armor suit — if the suit is destroyed, a player can jump out and keep fighting. It has a close-range melee attack but is vulnerable to siege vehicles

(www.wowwiki.com)

They have been receiving some criticism, however, for not looking ‘cool enough’ for many WoW player’s liking. Honestly, they could be painted shocking pink and play Miley Cyrus songs when being used for all I care. The developers of WotLK have taken a huge risk on introducing these, and that’s reason enough to love them. Lets let the graphic designers worry about the look and feel of the machine…

All in all, I’m happy with these little tank like things. Perhaps (trying not to count my eggs here) these will be what PVP has been needing for a long time now. Blowing up buildings along side 3 of your friends, what else could you ask for?

I don’t particularly enjoy being watched while playing World of Warcraft. I am talking about being watched in real life and not in-game of course (that would be silly and may well result in me spending my time grinding away in Tanaris or some other half-abandoned corner of Azeroth). It’s not that I am shy or even embarrassed of my playing skill, it’s just simply off-putting having someone breathing (and possibly drooling) over my shoulder.

So yesterday I was healing my way through a rather one sided battleground. However, since I don’t yet have internet access in my new flat and my neighbours are against me stealing their internet (trust me, I tried) I have been resorting to playing in my friends flat. Just a word of warning: he happens to be a non-player. I swear I will stop talking to him as soon as I get internet access, honestly. So anyway, I was sitting in his living room and had the computer screen at what I thought was a big enough angle so he could not view it from where he was sat. A few minutes into the game he slams his drink down on the coffee table and screams ‘why is your screen gone all blue?’.

I know what you’re thinking and no, my computer did not crash (apple FTW). I had just simply died and apparently my screen looked blue from the angle he was sat. After me explaining what had happened I noticed (far too late) that I had embarked on a long journey down a one way path of questions, and there were no junctions insight. He promptly jumped onto the seat behind me (so fast I actually think he had been waiting all night for a reason to question me) and he then continued to ask and ask and ask…

However, amongst the many mundane questions you find level 5’s asking in trade chat occasionally, one caught my attention, and so much so I have been thinking about it all day. He asked ‘how do you know what you are doing’ to which I answered ‘with practice’. At the time I was most likely trying to fend off an onslaught of rogues hacking away at me so was unable to respond correctly. But if I could, what would I have said?

Do WoW players, and players of other equally difficult games, have a unique skill? A special ability many others on this planet don’t have?

Understanding what is happening and processing the information displayed to us correctly is something I could not have possibly done while I was starting out. Hitting buttons may seem simple, but knowing when to is of utter importance. Also, the acrobatics I find my hands preforming while playing does sometimes shock me. Running, selecting someone and firing up a spell is multitasking to the extreme (in my eyes at least).

Surely (and here comes the stupid suggestion) if pulling back a bowed arrow and letting go of it at the correct time is an Olympic sport (archery) then why can’t playing WoW also be seen on the same level? No-one can deny WoW requires a huge amount of precision and is most likely as strenuous on the brain as many other Olympic events. However, is it actually the same as a sport, or is World of Warcraft just simply a game which requires skill and dedication from it’s players? Who truely knows…

I shall round this blog up before I begin suggesting driver licence style cards for maxed level WoW players

I said I was going to post my favorite Screen Shot of the week, so here it is! The only problem I can see with doing this is that I am unable to reference the player who organized/snapped these pictures due to the World of Warcraft site not publishing their names. I guess they know who they are, and they know we appreciate them!

This week’s particular picture comes from the undead race, showing us they are far from what their name insinuates. Try and figure out why this picture is so special. And no, it’s not because all three of them look adorable in their matching outfits…

I have written a blog on mounts within World of Warcraft once before, but there is more! Blizzard have unveiled, yet another, spoiler of Wrath of the Lich King. There will be bears, flying carpets (watching a particular Disney film too much perhaps?) and even motorcycles. I won’t be going into too much depth and ruin it for anyone, although it appears that this is another attempt to get us players excited about the new expansion. I, for one, am not fooled.

I have read many a blog, forum and WoW related article on these mounts and it seems the majority of people are excited about these brand new rides. Call me a pessimist (pessimist!!!) but these offer no benefits to the mounts which are already available to players. There has been no clarification that they will move faster than the usual 100%, and at this point it appears no-one really knows how they will work. The flying carpet, named the Ragged Flying Carpet, has many rumours circling it; it’s a shaman spell, it’s for tailors only, it’s a mage ability… No-one truly knows and I’m guessing that’s the way Blizzard likes it. 

However, even though it’s a little early for me to be getting excited about these mounts, I fear they will be too popular for me. Like many things in life I like being unique, and WoW is surely no different. I cringe when I see someone wearing the same chest piece as me, and if I am rollin’ in my new ride I most certainly would not like anyone else to be doing the same. Let me explain an example of this happening in real life (RL FTW). A particular company released a particular phone many months ago. This particular phone was very expensive and was fairly unique. However, last month this particular company unveiled a new version of their particular phone, and now, due to it being very inexpensive it has become popular, and therefore almost uncool. Damn that particular company!

Maybe players will not latch onto these new mounts as they have done in the past. And maybe it will rain money tomorrow…

 Blizzard Gamers, 

On behalf of everyone at Blizzard, I want to apologize for the challenges and frustrations you experienced while trying to purchase BlizzCon tickets on Monday and Tuesday. BlizzCon is about the positive experiences you all have had with Blizzard games. As a result of this week’s events, the excitement that many of you felt about the show has turned into dissatisfaction and disappointment. 

Due to these circumstances, we’ve reevaluated our convention hall space and come up with some solutions that will allow us to offer 3,000 more tickets for sale. We know this will not be enough to satisfy the very high level of demand for tickets this year, but we want to ensure that BlizzCon remains a great experience for those of you who are able to attend. To avoid the issues many of you faced this week, we’ll be selling these 3,000 via a lottery. We’ll post further details once our plans are finalized. Please note that the lottery will only be open to those with an active Blizzard Account as of 9:00 PM PDT on August 12, the time that the “Sold Out” notice was posted. 

I, and everyone else at Blizzard, share the frustration and disappointment that many of you have expressed as a result of this process. We’ll do what it takes to avoid this type of situation in the future. 

Sincerely,

Mike Morhaime

 Since when do Blizzard make mistakes when money is involved? Sigh… 

I regularly view the World of Warcraft website, both the American and the European (Youtube voice: Links on the sidebar). However, one of the main aspects that keeps me coming back is the screen shot of the day. To me, creating a great screen shot is more reason to be proud than completing an instance or raid. They signify the greatness of WoW players and show what they are capable of when they work together and unite. Some are mind boggling and, I suspect, require a huge amount of communication to pull them off. Many are set in cities and I can only imagine the stress players trying to create these perfect shots experience with other players (often of different faction) deliberately trying to sabotage their work of art. I know it sounds lame, but I truly respect the efforts players go to.

I will be posting my favourite picture of the week once every week from now on. I have yet to decide the day but I feel they deserve at little bit of recognition for their efforts. 

Here is an example of one that caught my eye last week :) 

After hearing “Sorry, we don’t have any in stock” for the 16 hundredth time, we began to lose hope. Twenty minutes before it closed we approached our last shop, not expecting anything. However, our luck was in, and we left 10 minutes later with a Nintendo Wii (but we appeared to have lost quite a substantial amount of money in the process)…

I have not logged into World of Warcraft since, and I doubt I will for a good few days. Comparing the two is difficult however. One has an enormous story line and also happens to be extremely complexed. The other is simple, fun and active.

Perhaps a combination of both would be perfect; rogues stabbing their opponents (much like jabbing in Wii boxing) and casters casting spells with complex hand movements. This would certainly prevent the problem of ‘numb bum’ many players suffer while playing World of Warcraft. So I hear… 

Lets start a campaign!  

I broke the law yesterday! Lock me up and swallow the key because, at 23 minutes past 2, I allowed an 11 year old to participate in a rather heated battleground. I know I have brought shame to myself and fellow players, but the pressure facing me was too overwhelming. I had to say yes to the little punk!

He was my little cousin, however this is no excuse with close to everyone constantly complaining that preteens ruin our wonderful game. However, after he went off to bed I thought I would research into why World of Warcraft was given a teen rating.    

In a nutshell it appears to be the reading side of the game. Unlike many console games WoW is not simply a case of X equaling punch, or B equaling brake. We have to assign our own keys and read (and, most importantly, understand) what each ability does. It’s simply too complicated and may be the reason why adults prefer this game to others, with World of Warcraft being the only game some play.

However, is it really acceptable for a 13 year old to be pretending to get drunk? Is it fair to expect someone of such a young age to deal with the pressures faced when it comes to boss fights? I have seen how annoyed and irritated people can be become when things go wrong, and I dread to think the abuse these young teens will receive if it turns out to be their fault. 

Parents buying this game for their children will most likely be aware of the violence and gore involved in the game (the bearded hunter holding a gun the size of himself is a bit of a giveaway). But will they be aware of the social aspect of the game, and the people their kids may become victim to online? Scarily, I doubt so…  

It appears that one of my previous rants exploring Blizzard’s sheer greed when it comes to money has, in-fact, been proven right! The post in question can be found here. It basically sums up the annoyance many players (including myself) felt when Blizzard unveiled a tremendously crap stunt to gain new players to the game. We are not interested in that half-bread zebra!  

So anyway, I received an email from Blizzard the other day. It was one of those automated emails everyone who has an active account receives. I would normally copy and paste over to here, but apart from most people reading this already having received one, I must admit I didn’t read it all. Let us just say that the huge “CLICK HERE TO RECRUIT-A-FRIEND NOW” slightly put me of reading the rest of the email.  

Now, it’s not that I don’t have anyone to recommend the game to (trust me, I spoke it over with my grandma and finally got her on board). My issues is that I have never, to this day, seen Blizzard promote anything so unimportant to the game this much since Burning Crusade (which was rather more important). Blizzard seem to think that posting it on their website and having it pop up every time the game starts is no were near enough! Emails must be sent!

Please stop trying so hard Blizzard. The last time you sent me an email was to confirm that you had successfully taken $25 out of my account for a server change…