October 2010

They Like Me, They Really Like Me!

stargrace October 4, 2010 1Comment

Once you’ve hit 80 in World of Warcraft, the options on ‘what to do’ seem to decrease significantly. Lets take my priest for example. The only gear upgrades she can obtain now come through raiding. As of yet, I’ve not found a raiding guild nor do I feel confident enough to want to PUG very often. This leaves me with few things to work on. Achievements (which I do enjoy), faction (less enjoyment), PvP, and other small ‘niche’ things. This weekend I decided to spend some time working on factions. I’m currently working on two in particular. One pictured above, the Kalu’ak (walrus like people) and the other would be collecting the seals I need for The Tournament, which is not exactly a faction per say so much as a requirement for me to do a lot of dailies.

Dailies. That’s how the majority of my time in game these days is spent. First there are the cooking and fishing dailies to complete, then the Tournament dailies (three of them so far), bringing my total to five out of 25. There are far too many dailies for me to keep track of so I try to focus on just a few at a time and then once those have been completed I’ll move on to the next ones. It makes obtaining my goals a little slower then I’d like, but it could be worse.

I’m trying to complete some goals before the world of Azeroth changes forever, but it’s a pretty slow process so far.

The rogue hit level 62 and has been leveling through BC quite nicely. While I do enjoy the ‘old world’ zones, it’s nice to be onto something new. Whether or not she’ll make it past level 70 I haven’t decided (that’s currently where I seem to be stuck, as both the DK and shaman have reached the 70’s and progress no further). I just dislike quest grinding an incredible amount.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Lets Talk Community (Or Lack Of)

stargrace October 3, 2010 4Comments

Tipa made a good point on a previous point. In most games if you come in as a new player you’re helped. You’re offered suggestions on how to play better, where to go, gear, and gain a general sense of the community. In World of Warcraft, this is not the case. Tipa mentioned that as a new player the community is never more harsh then it is in WoW and she’s exactly right. Why is this the case? What has hardened everyone to become ignorant of a new player? Why are we not acting the same in this game as every other game? Tolerance is at an all time low.

There has been one group in my many many LFD PUG’s that was kind to new players. This was a regular version of Halls of Reflection. Two players (myself included) stated that they had never been there before. As it turned out the two players were the tank, and the healer. People were kind, explaining the encounters. Told me to watch my mana and try not to over extend myself so that I could heal through all of the waves. They told the tank about pulling the single mob (the one who creates replicas of group members) back to the main chamber to avoid his adds. This was the only group I can remember where players were kind to those of us who had not been there before.

However – I also feel that it works both ways. Very rarely do I know someone has never been before. No one speaks in groups any more. If you’ve never been to a dungeon and don’t SAY that you’ve never been and that you may be new, how am I supposed to know to explain the encounters, or to help out. There is such an aura of fear of being ‘new’ that no one is communicating.

The few times that my group does communicate, it’s someone stating that they have to go AFK to do drugs (I hear this so often now I wonder how many times it’s true) or some other nonsense. Do people who do drugs actually have to broadcast it to everyone around them or is this a popularity thing? I have no idea, seeing as I’ve never been involved in that sort of activity. I just find it odd that everyone has to announce to the rest of the world (game) what they’re doing.

The community (or lack of) in WoW is certainly unique to me. I’ve played many games, and if it were not for the handful of friends I have on the Firetree server, I wouldn’t be playing. There’s no way I’d be able to handle the community as it stands now.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.