November 26, 2008
Children of Wrath
It’s time for a Blog Azeroth Shared topic! I haven’t done one in a long time so here we go. Starman of Casual Raid Leader asks:
What things will the Children of Wrath never see? What aspects of the world will they miss? What aspects will have changed so dramatically that they have no concept of things we speak of?
Now, you already likely know that I’m from “Classic WoW” meaning Ive been playing since release. Four years of WoW Goodness (Happy Belated Birthday, WoW, btw). There are many things I’ve experienced and seen, that previously the BC Babies didn’t get to know, and now the Children of Wrath, (CoWs? LOL) Will never know, either. So here’s my list of things that the CoWs will never know…
- The joys of REAL world PvP, like the constant battle between Tarren Mill and Southshore. Before there were battlegrounds, there was just…. killing.
- On the note of World PvP, you’ll never have to see an entire 40 man raid get wiped out on it’s way into Molten Core.
- Or know having a 40 man raid zone out of Blackwing Lair, to find themselves faced with a different 40 man about to go on. Mass killing ensues.
- They’ll never know what it was like getting Mind Controlled into the hot firey lavas of Blackrock Mountain.
- When BRD was Endgame. and 10 man.
- Same for LBRS and UBRS…. even Strat and Scholo used to host more then five. We freaked and wondered how it would be possible to do it with five.
- The warlock epic mount quest. It was so epic, and now… its trainable.
- When WSG came out, and the wait was HOURS to get in. And you had to queue at the portal. Bet the CoWs don’t know where it is.
- And then came Arathi Basin, and it was more of the same.
- And then, AV! 40 mans against the opposing faction of your own server! The queues were super long, and the battles went on for days! You could log out and come back the next day to the same battle. Exalted in one go, and you’d find out later who eventually won in the realm forums.
-
AV AFKers
Speaking of AV, you’ll never know how it evolved. Epic Long battles with NPCs and fighting on the bridge, to mass races of who can kill the boss first, to MASSIVE AFK fests, to what it is now.
- Peeling the Onion, find it, and read it.
- They’ll never know the joys of the Happy Fun Rock.
- Bag space management! You’ll have the biggest bags ever! And not have to carry your pets/mounts in it. Also, clams didn’t used to stack!
- When cooked foods didn’t have stats
- and Dishonorable Kills were, ZOMG the end of all
- When Major City Raids were a common occurance
- and Onyxia attunement was way long and hard to do
- The AQ world event, and the opening of the Gates!
- The lagging and crashing of The Burning Crusade during its first few days
- The joy of having EVERY SINGLE PERSON on your server in the same zone, at the same time. (Hellfire, I mean)
- The server upgrades Blizz did, the massive server queues that came because of it, and having your battlegroup taken down for two days.
- The joys of the craptastic grind fest that was 1-70, there were no experience nerfs upon realease of The Burning Crusade
- The fun of going from hard core 40 man raids, to not so hardcore 10 mans.
MC Raiders
- Learning Karazhan
- Being killed by Garrote AFTER Moroes died.
- Experiencing first hand all the lore that has lead us to where we are today.
- Attunements. Long ones.
- Rep Grinds, harsh, horrible rep grinds.
- The horrible killing spree that was grinding for the Forumla: Enchant Bracers Spellpower
- The fun of Doomwalker…. and Doom Lord Kazzak
- The Sunwell event, and the introduction of dailys
- Classic WoWers had to really work for gold, BC Babies were introduced to Dailies late in the game, CoWs will never know that gold doesn’t rain from the sky.
- Gold Spam. In tells.
- The fights for Halaa
- Primal Farming…
- Having to farm mobs relentlessly (or instances) for that one profession pattern.
- The 75 or so runs to get that Sun Eater for you or your tank.
Sun Eater Runs
- The shock that was Heroics.
- The having to choose PvP or PvE and stick to it, cause you couldn’t go back to PvP once you left it.
- They’ll never know Halloween without the Headless Horseman.
- Nor what it really means to… loot the damn Dogs.
- Finkle’s Skinner…
- Leeroy Jenkins…
- The Ony Wipe Movie isn’t quite so funny.
- And the grind for fire resist gear is not what it was.
This list could actually go on and on…. but you get the idea. Some of these you can still go back and do, but it just isn’t the same. The Children of Wrath will never know the things that the BC Babies now have notched into their belts… just as the BC babies will never know mine. But new memories will be made, and it wont be too long before another group of WoW descendants are born. For now, Welcome to the New Era, and enjoy the bright shiny new world, Children of Wrath.
September 11, 2008
Orange is the New Epic
I was chatting with Dechion yesterday about in game stuff, because even though we call each other and chat
Oranges
like normal people, we still always end up back at WoW. I was just venting over how badges have changed the world of epics, and they really are common now. I can remember when they weren’t, when seeing someone with ANY purple gear meant that they were hardcore and dedicated. Now anymore NOT having purple pixels is like an insult to the entire community and will make you subject to speculation in the infamous Trade Chat.
Personally, I aim to do the best I can OUTSIDE of raiding. I did the hardcore thing. I walked into TBC with a full set of tier two on my warlock. I was proud of her shiny outfit and made use of it all the way to 70. **I was too stubborn to take it off actually. NO WAY had I wasted two years of my life to have it replaced with greens at level 63, was NOT gonna happen** But now I level new characters and discover new ways to get them gear without ever setting foot in an instance. I will post the priest’s gear guide that I used that the minute she hit 70, she had 1400 healing or something like that, unenchated, and ungemmed. Obviously the gear can get better from there, but I dinged 70 able to walk into a heroic or Kara and heal the crap out of it.
What I find humorous anymore is that people link Thunderfury in trade chat like its a joke. Old news, unimportant, and I beg to differ. Most the people I meet in game in recent days are “BC Babies” meaning they didn’t play the old world. These people cannot comprehend the amount of work it took to get 40 people to cooperate in a raid for six hours at a time. The loot that dropped was hard earned and it was not really possible to “farm” it. With 9 classes playable for each side, and a loot table that included one item for each class, that meant what you were gonna get was pretty darn random. No badges, no reward for the other 38 people who did not get an item off that boss…. just the sheer joy of knowing the lore.
The Thunderfury was not easy to come by. The ever so fortunate winner of the bindings still had a long journey ahead of them. It took help from guildmates, resources, and time. Lots of time. People link it now and laugh like its dismissible. Perhaps the stats are not that great, but I salute anyone who managed to get one, as I know all too well the work it takes to get there.
Every once in a while I see someone with the warglaives. Those ever so orange items that drop from Illidan. I would salute them too but it’s not quite the same. This person didn’t really have to put forth any effort of his own, just roll well or have enough DKP. Even Oranges aren’t that special anymore, just rarer.
But people wear them about, thinking that they are the Gods of WoW and I should somehow submit to thier whim, for they have been to black temple and have raided 3 days a week for four or five hours at a time. Personally, I am laughing at you, the modern day Hardcore player. All this work and you see, it does not earn you the same respect that it used to. You go in 25s, not 40s. You raid maybe 4 hours, not six… and you don’t even need to be attuned anymore.
The guilds that see the content and plow through it like a well oiled machine, that I can respect. Its a group of people that have learned about each other, who have worked together and can successfully navigate anything that comes there way. Maybe that guild is “Hardcore” or maybe it is “Casual” either way it doesn’t matter. Its the group of people that appeal to me, not thier progression.
WotLK
Progression will always be updated, outdated, and eventually, obsolete. In the end the only thing that should remain constant through this ever evolving game would be your guildmates, your friends, and how you treat them is more important to me then epics that aren’t epic anymore. Come WotLK you will see what I mean. You will know what its like to “work so hard at this” to find it wasn’t for much. Do I sound pessimistic? Perhaps. It is the nature of the beast. You are no longer the best, get out there and fix that! And we’ll do it again in two more years.
Speaking of WotLK, it would seem my newfound guildmates have received a few beta keys. I personally did not sign up. I don’t feel keen on playing something for nothing. I shall wait for it’s full release and then come upon the land with an entire army of characters to choose from to go through the lands, exploring and loving finished content. I’m not much for testing. But nonetheless, congrats to Lady Jess, Dech, and Fimlys. I hope you enjoy your time in the land of the unknown.
We Will Not Forget
I however have some warlocks that need tending to. Also, today is 9/11. Lets have a moment of silence for the fallen folk who died in a ruthless act of violence against the United States. We will never forget. Kiss a military person today as well. As pointless as you may feel the war may be, they are out there for us, trying their hardest to give us what we want. Agree or not they are still fighting, still dying, and still out there. Also a happy birthday shout to Gun Lovin Dwarf Chick, as it is her 1st anniversary for her blog. Congrats Bre!@
July 24, 2008
Who Knew?
So this weeks Shared Topic fArom BA is brought to us by Breana, co-host to our favorite TNB, and she asks:
What content or goals did you think you would never see, and what have you done? What has surprised you the most? Where do you see yourself in 6 months, after the launch of
Lich?
Once upon a time I was a lowly warlock just trying to learn the ins and outs of the game. I didn’t understand endgame (Well there really wasn’t any yet) and I certainly didn’t understand the politics. As I went about and leveled I inherited my own guild. I left it as it was to be social and tried to focus on leveling. During that process there were so many things I didn’t know that I should have, like how to cast a soulstone, what lifetap was, or how to utilize my pets. It never ever was in my wildest dreams that eventually people would seek me out for advice on the game, and about all classes.
Eventually I saw the endgame I knew nothing about. Learned it from a couple of awesome people who were kind enough to include me, so I could spread the knowledge. What they taught me I taught many many others. Not just my guild, but other guilds as well. I saw something on that server I never thought I would… People dropped the constant war of who’s guild was better, and joined up, eager to get there together. Unions were formed and Metaguild was born.
I never imagined I would be a leader. I always saw myself as shy, but eventually I did find myself there, and when I tried to retire from it, people sought me out and brought me right back in. When I started out as a no one I had no idea I’d eventually see all of the old world content less Naxx. (Who wants to see that now anyways, it’ll be in the xpack!) and new content into MH. I especially was pretty set I’d never see beyond Kara with how things were looking on the horde side, but I was in there healing it last week.
I also found that I was capable of organizing things I didnt find likely, like our successful Ironforge raid and the massive passing back and forth of Halaa between my horde guild and a fellow Alliance guild. I discovered that people were coming to my guilds forums to read posts I’d written that I didn’t think were really anything special at all, and best of all, asking me if they can share them with others.
Really I started out convinced I’d always be a big noob…. and I still am. I still learn things from other players, guildies, friends, even other Bloggers. But I am finding out now that Im far more resourceful then I originally thought I was.
In the future for WotLK I am unsure of what to expect. Of course I will be leveling like everyone else. But I struggle when things change. I feel like I’m that Noob all over again and will never figure things out. Likely I will plow on with my guild regardless and we’ll learn the content together. I imagine I will likely ride the tide of the flood of people itching to get into endgame and with the advent of 25’s OR 10’s I’m sure everyone will get to be where they want to be!
Some things I have accomplished:
- I’ve seen most old world raids on time, Up to princess HuHu in AQ40
- I’ve managed to Exalted with nearly every faction in the game
- I’ve leveled fishing and cooking on at least 1 toon
- I’ve Attuned an entire guild of 150 people to Molten Core, in ONE shot
- I’ve helped more then 200 others gain thier Onyxia attunement
- I’ve seen Zones and Places I shouldnt have, including Hyjal, GM Island and Old Ironforge
- I have downed every World Dragon
Some things I hope to achieve in the future
- A 70 of every class
- Reaching the gold cap on at least one toon
- Having a full set for all three specs for my paladin
- Seeing Illidan bite the big one
- Leveling to 80 in a timely manner for a change
- See one of the Kings/Queens of a major city go down
July 6, 2008
The Alterac Valley That Was
Ahh AV. The easiest honor grind there is. So far in my years in WoW I’ve come to see that there are certain qualities that belong to the Horde, and there are those that belong to the Alliance. Now that I’ve played both sides I’d have to say that the Alliance own the PvE spectrum, but the Horde DOMINATE the PvP.
Thats of course not to say that we dont win every now and again on the Alliance. We do. But in a general sense the Horde are far more organized and serious about the PvP. But I can remember a time when this wasn’t true. A time when the battlegrounds were new, and the odds were fairly even. I remember when AV was truely epic.
While I, like any other current WoW player appreciate the ease of gather up free PvP epics, I do occasionally miss the sheer awesomeness of what AV was. When there were NPC’s EVERYWHERE and you surely didn’t want to resurrect at Snowfall, because then Korak the Bloodrager would surely own your soul. And I once very early on met my fate against the Alliance’s Ram Raiders. When summoning Lok would turn the odds at a turtle on the bridge outside of the Alliance Base. Sure, you waited HOURS for the queue, but you got to exalted in one shot! And you would walk out with near on 100 thousand honor. There was nothing better then logging on two days later and getting into the SAME AV. Even finding out which side won on the forums three days later.
I was infuriated at first, when AV became the race it was, Horde and Alliance riding right past each other in hopes to down Drek or Van first. The quickest matches ever and it broke my heart. To me, Warsong Gultch and Arathi Basin were there for the quick matches. I wanted AV to stay the epic encounter it was. Apparently Blizzard had other plans for it.
Slowly they took away all the things that made it great. First there was the additon of Cross Realms, which of course, shortened the queue. Then came about the ability of the imfamous “Wall-Pull” for the Horde. Then the NPCs began to disapear, and eventually, were completely gone. Finally they added the reinforcements.
With The Burning Crusade I watched the ways of the 40 man raid die. Epics were no longer epic, and people just don’t understand the sheer amount of work and learning that went into these encounters. Thunderfury became trade spam, and all respect for those that really worked for thier purple pixels was gone. Now, instead of aweing over someone who achieved the nicest quality of gear, we mock those who don’t.
I miss the old days and held out a hope that maybe, just MAYBE, AV would be left be. But it, too, no longer represents the days of WoW that I loved, and miss. Unfortunatly, I’m told I have the same sort of thing to look forward to in WotLK. To all my fellow players who knew World of Warcraft the way I once did, here’s to you! And don’t forget to loot the damn dogs! XD
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