Dragon Age: Origins

I initially beat this game a while ago on the PS3, but I wanted to play it on the PC and do a comparison, which took me until about two weeks ago to finally through it.

This game, simply put, is amazing. While naturally it's not perfect, it comes a lot closer than most games I know, so let's break it down.

Story. Without giving spoilers for anyone who hasn't played through this yet (then why are you reading this? Go. Play it. Now.), the story of this game is incredible. It creates a deep world filled with history and culture. The extensive background work they did is readily apparent. While not overloading the player with information, the culture reveals itself through the rules of the world, the culture apparent in how the NPCs behave, and how events unfold. Having this kind of basis to build on creates a world that's cohesive and credible, allowing the player to dive in and stay immersed. Additionally, while the player is inducted into an ancient and honorable order, you are not hailed as a hero. Quite the opposite. The bad guys are spreading rumors about your order, and even if the people of Ferelden don't believe the rumors, they largely wonder if your order is still relevant, or strong enough to make any kind of difference.

One of the greatest things about the story is that the player is presented with a number of choices that change and shape the story. However, while these choices strive to be interesting, they fall just a shade short. Looking at the 6 major choices in game (the 5 major quests of the second act of the story, and the Landsmeet in the third act), two come very close to being something that will engage the player, but then turn around offer a third "warm and fuzzy" option. While this may not end up available to the player in all playthroughs, it does kind of distract from things. Another choice comes down to "be a jerk for power, or not", so unless your character is a little wishy-washy in their morality, this will be an easy choice. This goes on for many of the choices. If you have a strong idea of your character's morality, this quickly turns into easy choices that have far less meaning than if they had balanced the pros and cons of the choices a bit better. I think only one of the choices really becomes interesting, and that's "The Broken Circle" quest line. Here, your character can feel good either way, but it comes down to the many versus the few in terms of who deserves what.

Character development is incredibly powerful in Origins. Every one of your companions has a unique back story, unique and developed personality, and interacts realistically with other members of your party. Who you have in your party will change not only the banter, but how the group seeks to influence you in your choices.

A wide array of side quests exists, both offered by the common folk, and most of your companions will have quests. This creates a rich and immersive world where you will really feel part of a living, breathing world.

As far as class balance, there is none. Mages are grossly overpowered, and including the player you can have up to three in your party. Rogues are useful and versatile with options to be melee, assassin or archery. Warriors, however, move very slowly. While they can deal damage, especially among widespread groups of base level enemies, your ranged party members can often dispatch the one you're going after before you get there.

Tactics can be set for each of your party members as well. This is useful ability to keep your party working in unison or to set "oh shit" options up if squishier party members get aggro. Use of abilities or potions at key moments if your attention is on characters is hugely helpful. But they can be difficult to set up properly for total reliance. I found myself pausing every few seconds and cycling through characters to manually set their inext action. This could make some battles last incredibly long but with half that time not actually in action.

But despite these issues, this game is beautifully designed, creating a world that is enjoyable, deep and vibrant. I'd definitely say it's worth the time and money to buy, especially now that it is a lot cheaper and comes bundled with a bunch of goodies.

The Futility of the Console Wars

I kind of touched on this a few days ago, but I wanted to touch on it in more depth. It comes as no surprise that Nintendo, XBox and PlayStation are in a 3 way war with each other. But what is really the point?

Gamers tend to polarize in favor of their favorite platform. Their preferred is the only "real" console, and too be a "real" gamer you have to have one.

But what are these companies really accomplishing? Increasing fractional points of their marketshare? What does that even mean anymore? How many households really don't have more than one? True, a few truly can't afford it. Some just don't care. But after all these years, people that want them pretty much have them. Going off the prices of the brand new consoles (let alone what their prices have fallen to over the last couple of years) the total cost of all 3 would have been $1400.  A large chunk of change to be sure, if paid all at once. But, when you break it down over the long term, the XBox 360 was the first of the new gen to come out, and it came out in November 2005 (not a bad strategy. Come out a year earlier than the PS3 or Wii and get a head start). That was 62 months ago, though. If you set aside just $23/month, you'd have all three right now. And that's going off of new prices, let alone the massive drops we've seen in the last couple years.

So, if you really wanted all three, you could easily have reached that mark by now.

 So really it comes down to what you prefer in your console. More and more, the consoles are trying to overlap each other. The Wii started off catering to the family market, trying to appeal to a broad base, and offering a family friendly system that parents and grandparents would feel comfortable getting their kids. With their innovative motion control system that got the kids up off the couch, and being the first console to develop software that went beyond simple gaming, the Wii has a strong base. Mario and Zelda will never go out of style, and their party games are changing how families spend time together.

XBox has long been the console appealing to the 18-34 male demographic. Halo and other FPS titles are what the XBox was built on, and their offering of Achievements and online multiplayer struck true with the "hardcore".

PlayStation found a niche in the middle. A large number of strong exclusive releases keeps it popular among hte hardcore. Games like LittleBigPlanet and ModNation provide options for families. Almost most importantly, PlayStation's creator, Sony, is able to add alot of functionality that the others couldn't. It comes with a Blu-Ray player (which of course was developed by Sony), and through firmware updates is able to keep on the cutting edge without the need for a lot of excess hardware. PS3 already supports 3D technology, and all signs point to it not going out of date for a long, long time.

But now, it seems that they are all trying to trample on each other. The Wii is trying to pick up more ports of the "hardcore" games. XBox and PS3 both are embracing the action-controllers with their Kinect and Move respectively. XBox is making a serious push to put out exclusive family-friendly games like Kinectimals. And the PS3.... well, the PS3 has Kevin Butler. And that just plain makes them epic.

But I wonder what would happen if instead of trying to simply grab more customers, these consoles (in particular the Wii), especially when it comes to their graphics device) moved more towards simply improving their experience. Focusing on what they do best, and perfecting it, and giving their fanboys a taste of what each console individually has the potential to become.

Right now, the only real victims are the players. Berated by their friends for buying the "wrong" console. Feeling obliged to defend their choice of console to other gamers they come across, and the idea that whichever console you happen to own, you must clearly fly their fanboy flag.

Internet Didn't Just Kill the Video Star

Back in the day, I remember pouring over players' guides for my games. Finding all the secret areas, helping find the smoothest route through a level, and completing all the optional side-quests. I had an entire shelf filled with them.

But it dawned on me the other day that the last player's guide I actually bought was a couple years ago. Nowadays, I don't even consider picking one up for my games (except Pokemon, but that's because it is more encylopedic and allows for easy browsing through the full Pokedex).

With internet sites teeming with guides written and published by other gamers, forums with which to ask (or find an answer to something someone else asked) questions about how to conquer a certain aspect of any given game, and even video walkthroughs available on YouTube, there is no point to shelling out cash for a players' guide. A quick Google search can even bring up the map for Super Nintendo's Jurassic park. I used to spend hours carefully pacing and measuring where I was, and drawing it in colored pencil on graph paper.

I can't remember the last time I actually jotted down notes during a game (not counting WoW, where notes are related to gear and AH prices rather than notes about the story itself). Anymore, I simply keep my laptop next to me when I'm playing, and within 30 seconds I can find the answer I need.

In some ways, its almost sad. Few players guides are worth the price. I think the only guide I still have and use that I think is worth it is the Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess leather-bound special edition guide. Guide's aren't entirely without their value, however. It provides everything you need in a simple package (no wading through forum posts trying to find something), and the writing for the walkthroughs tend to be seasoned with anecdotes and humor.

But those alone aren't enough. Bradygames and Prima need to wake up. I'm sure they've noticed the declining sales, but they aren't doing anything about it. Guides cost about the same, and still don't come with any kind of perk to encourage using a paper guide versus a searchable text guide on the internet.

Even I can't think of much that would entice me to buy guides that are going to eat up shelf space. Any token "collectible" items they offer with it are unlikely to be cool enough to pique my interest. In-game rewards are rarely necessary to fully enjoy the game. Maybe add some concept art, some back story, and maybe an interview or two?

Who knows. As the players' guide sections of game stores dwindles, I know there will come a day when my kids will wonder I had to go buy books to have a game walkthrough. Just brings back a little nostalgia for the days when I spent the time I wasn't gaming pouring over these guides, learning every game I had inside, out, and sideways in ways that in a world where I don't have to dive too deep to find what I'm looking for, and finding extra tidbits along the way are rare.

The Biggest Loser: The Ultimate Workout

The Biggest Loser: The Ultimate Workout is the latest in a line of Biggest Loser workout games, and the first compatible with the Kinect. While I have not played other TBL games, I have played other fitness games, mainly on the Wii.

The Ultimate Workout is probably the best I've seen. First, if you're a fan of the show, you'll enjoy getting to work with your choice of Bob, Jillian, or both. If TBL isn't your thing, then you still get an excellent comprehensive workout. You are given a wide range of tools to help you meet your goal that I don't see so comprehensively offered in others.

The first thing offered by TUW is a body analyzer. This picks up your measurements without the need to go find a tape measure. These are not entirely accurate, but if it is off by enough to matter, it seems to go far enough that it is easily noticeable (it read my neck as 216" around. I'm pretty sure that my neck isn't 18 feet around). It has a standard array of offering recipes, calorie trackers, and a "Lifestyle Tasks" that give you simple tasks to help build healthy habits.

The game offers 10 different workout programs, with focuses ranging from large amounts of weightloss to muscle toning, to intensive training. The game uses a fitness test to help you determine your level of fitness, which helps to ensure that you don't push yourself too far, or go too easy. While other games offer this, I felt TUW had a much better test, and I was very happy with the level of my workouts. It also provides a variety of workouts from basic aerobic and muscle exercises to yoga to boxing training, keeping your workouts varied and more interesting.

Utilizing the power of the Kinect to provide a controllerless experience, this game takes away a lot the frustration of at home workouts. When using workout videos, it can be hard to do a new exercise and be sure that you're doing it correctly, and with the Wii, the necessity of holding the Wiimote and Nunchuck makes adding things like dumbells and medicine balls nearly impossible. With the Kinect, TUW is able to tell you if you're not doing an exercise correctly, urging you to correct your shape, kick higher, lunge farther, etc.

By far, this is the best workout game I've played, but it is far from perfect. There are a number of features that are lacking, or outright missing. First, despite clearly being compatible with XBox Live, there is no way to email yourself the recipes listed in game. You have to break out the pad and pen and try to copy it down from the screen.

Next, there is no way to change your workout to account for injuries. During my first week, I bruised my knee (unrelated to the game), but there was no way to adjust my workout to avoid aggravating the injury. There were plenty of exercises that didn't bother me much, but no way to reset my daily workout.

Third, there is no way to schedule specific days off outside of trying to set your initial schedule (when you start a workout program) to line up with what you need. There is no way to account for things like going out of town for a day or two, or other one-time adjustments easily. This would be a great addition to the game, to allow that week's workouts to be set to catch up with what you will you be missing.

Finally, the limitations of the Kinect can skew your scores for individual exercises, and cause the trainers to get pissy with you. It can be incredibly frustrating to be executing the exercise correctly, and hear that you're quitting, or have that one show up as your worst exercise (instead of seeing your real worst that you need to focus on improving).

Now, I know many gamers rail against the idea of workout games. They feel that exercise and games are antithetical. However, this view severely constricts what our consoles are capable of doing for us. I've found games make the best form of exercise. Going to the gym is a headache, exercise videos can end up doing more harm than good, and the structure and motivation provided in these games can help to keep you focused.

If you're interested in working out, whether to improve your fitness or to lose weight, this is a good buy that will not end up on the back shelf when you reach your initial goals.

Achievements and Gaming

Achievements have been around for a while. But until this latest console generation, it has been largely up to the individual games as to whether or not to include them, or what their depth and breadth would be. But, with PS3, XBox 360 and PC all offering them, it adds a new dimension to the games we play.

Achievements encourage us to fully experience the game, perhaps pushing us to sample aspects of the game they might otherwise bypass. And they do so in a way that is non-intrusive. Participating is not forced on the player (unless the player is completionist and OCDs over getting all the achievements for a given game), allowing us to avoid things that we just don't want to mess with.

World of Warcraft is definitely the most prolific with achievements. With well over 1000 achievements, and pertaining to all aspects of the game, any player can feel accomplished by how many achievements they can get. Raids and dungeon groups are encouraged to complete fights in more difficult ways, and players are encouraged to actively pursue PvP activities. But no one loses out on any kind of substantial rewards if they skip, merely cosmetic ones.

This is the best kind of achievement system. You don't want a game to force you to do a bunch of stuff you don't want to in order to gain important rewards. Achievements should reflect your dedication and skill, not be a requirement to complete the game.

They also increase replay value as you have more incentive outside of curiosity to see all the endings, or find all the secret items. I never got all the flags or killed all the Templars in Assassin's Creed because there weren't trophies associated with them. There was no point for me. While there is that sense of personal satisfaction, that's all. You don't get anything tangible that you can quickly compare with friends.

It has expanded the interest in individual games, and their replay value, but have remained just weak enough of a pull that games can't used them as a crutch. They can't expect a bad game to float along just because gamers will be trying to get the achievements.

The Wii needs to get on the bandwagon. It's one of the downsides of playing games on the Wii. The lack of achievement support just makes a game feel less fun. Not all games offer their own achievements, and those lacking them leave one feeling little incentive to explore the game to its full capacity. It may be a trend caused by the increasing need in our society for something tangible, rather than enjoying intangible satisfactions, but its the reality we live in.

As we progress through the future, achievements won't be going away. They are too powerful of a tool for game developers to help focus the player on varying aspects of the game for developers to give them up, and players enjoy getting them enough that it will continue to hold our interests.

Cross-Platform Gaming

Console wars have existed since consoles were introduced in the 1980s. Talk to any gamer, and they will quickly be able to tell you why their favorite platform is the best. Whether PS3 or XBox, PC or Wii, we all have our favor
Each platform, though, does seem to have its niche. The Wii is great for family games, the PC great for RPGs and RTS (where great amounts of hotkeys and the fine control of the mouse can improve the experience), the XBox seems to be best at more "grown-up" games, and the PS3 lives in a great middle ground.

But, the divisive lines get a little silly. Most titles are available cross-platform. Assassin's Creed II is going to be just as good, regardless of what you play on.

I think the time has come for the various platforms to stop fighting with each other, and embrace each other, at least to an extent.

Most cross-platform games have primarily the same kind of achievements and trophies, and the same kind of multiplayer. In the upcoming Portal 2, gamers will be able to connect via Steam to play multiplayer across both PS3s and PCs. I think that this is a huge step in the right direction.

One of the hardest things about playing multiplayer is that your friends cannot always play with you. If I have AC Brotherhood for PS3 and my friend has XBox, we're not going to be able together. The platforms need to come together and embrace each other. We need to support cross-platform multiplayer, cross-platform friend lists and chat, and cross-platform comparison of achievements.

By doing this, we can start to break down the walls of console partisanship, and start to create a more open arena, where players can choose based solely on their own personal preference, rather than what they feel will keep them better connected with their friends.

Come on guys, lets come together.

XBox and Kinect

One of the big releases this year was XBox's Kinect system. At first, my husband and I weren't overly interested in the Kinect. It looked pretty cool, but just not enough to justify the price for us. But, this Christmas, our 7-yr-old went over our heads to the big man in red himself, and we found a shiny new XBox with Kinect under our tree.

Overall, I've found to be an impressive system. The time delay between reading your actions and executing them on the screen is no more than any other controller (which is actually rather impressive when you consider how many calculations it has to do to translate full-body movement). The voice commands work fairly well, as long as you speak clearly. The infra-red sensors even recognize you when you're signed in, so if someone has to cut in front of you while you're playing, it doesn't read their movements as input.

However, it is not without its drawbacks. Our playing space is 6.5 feet deep, and the sensor sits about 5.5 feet above the floor. Usually, this is suitable for a lot of gameplay. But when doing movements that lift over my head, or involve laying on the floor (usually during working out), the angle doesn't quite pick it up correctly, and the floor-based movements especially get largely cut off.

Calibrating the sensor is fairly easy and intuitive. Initially, you just stand with a little card (that comes with Kinect) and adjust it to fit into a certain space, then the system scans it. Fine-tuning for a play session just simply requires standing still in the center of your play space while it reads your body and adjusts accordingly.

However, I have yet to find any way to fine-tune it manually where you can adjust the viewing angle on your own. This would have been a huge improvement, especially if it could be done on the fly during gameplay without having to quit out of your current game session. Adding this alone would make problems with movements that extend upwards, or require laying on the floor, almost completely go away.

The Kinect holds a lot more potential than I really granted it when I heard about it. Workout games (which I'll be talking about in more detail later this month), dance games, and the like are all a lot more fun with the Kinect. The ability to do engage in games without having to figure out the best way to hold a controller makes it a lot more fun, and a lot easier to just dive into the action.

I haven't messed around with it a whole lot outside of my workout game, but I think as time goes on, Kinect is just going to get better and better.

Assassin's Creed II

The acclaimed sequel to the hit Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II took the already hit formula and ran with it. Assassin's Creed was an amazing game, but ACII blew it out of the water. The story of Desmond picks up immediately where the first on ends. As you and Lucy escape Abstergo and reach the Assassin safe house, you learn a lot more about the overplot that was hinted at in the first game. As the plot thickens, and you begin to learn the true significance behind the search for the Pieces of Eden.

What really amazed me about the game, was that I wrote my review of Assassin's Creed before I started playing the second (although ACII was long since out). Almost every problem I had with the original was addressed, even if not perfected. Ezio's character was far more fleshed out than Altair. His motives were more clearly defined, and his drive for justice for his family creates a sense of immediacy and real engagement for the player; so much more than provided by Altair more or less simply following orders.

One of the best parts about Ezio's character that makes him far more enjoyable to play than Altair is the lack of monologuing. He doesn't sit and engage in a one-way conversation every time he kills someone, blatantly and unimaginatively spelling things out for the player. Instead, Ezio engages in active dialogues with his allies, and while he occasionally mutters to himself, it's more natural, and not nearly as intrusive.

The story is far more coherent, and the past and present are much more closely linked. In the first one, especially if you took long breaks during play, you could almost forget about Desmond's story. What Desmond goes through is only tentatively related to what Altair is doing. In ACII, however, while the cuts to the present were still rare, you did at least get voiceover contact that helps provide background about the other characters, and some of the in-game objectives. While this may not seem like much, it is enough to keep the player anchored to Desmond's storyline.

While combat and other gameplay is very much the same as in the first, Ezio comes with a slightly larger bag of tricks than his predecessor. A variety of weapon types are available, including upgrades to the iconic wrist blade, including the ability to poison, and a double blade, allowing for killing multiple targets. With these, comes new ways to kill your targets. Poison tends to be fairly discrete when the situation demands it, but can be difficult to execute without notice. More fun are the opportunities offered by the double blade, which allow you to perform air assassinations (descending upon one or two victims, driving your blade in as you land) and double assassinations where you can walk up to two targets and down both at once.

A few new weapons provide some interesting gameplay. First, the smoke bombs. Using this to distract guards in tight spots gives you the option of either running away, or just slipping through the chaos executing them with your wrist blade. The second new addition to your personal armory is a pistol attached to your wrist blade. It's loud, it attracts a lot of attention if used in populated areas. But it has the benefit of one-shotting enemies at a good distance. You are also given daggers, but I found little use for these.

However, while they tried to expand on the weapon selections in the game, they missed the mark. They gave the weapons a wider range of stats, attempting to give you an option between being able to hit harder against better armored targets (using mauls), being more defensive with the ability to deflect incoming strikes, or simply dealing more damage. However, because the mauls and defensive weapons were more suited to individual enemy types, and you couldn't switch equipped weapons on the fly, it wasn't much of a decision. I really think they could have taken that decision a little bit further.

One of the new features in the game was the use of money. You could use it to upgrade your stronghold, increasing your income, you could purchase upgrades and other items, and you could hire citizens to help you out. You can gain money in a number of ways. You can find treasure boxes scattered around every city, you can pick pockets, complete small jobs around the city, or you can earn it from your stronghold. It was a good idea, but one that quickly becomes trivial. First, after a few upgrades to your stronghold, and keeping up on clearing out your stronghold's moneybox, and you will quickly have more than enough for expenses and filling out your upgrades. This quick trivialization of the money system distracted from the novelty, and could have been better developed.

Another feature that got woefully undeveloped was the use of dyes to change the color of your clothes. This change is purely cosmetic. I felt that this had a lot of potential for providing possible camouflage and disguise in cities, but the idea was completely undeveloped. It was a fun idea (even if I stuck with classic Assassin white), but other than that, it served no purpose.

All things considered, the deeper plot and character development gave a great boost to the already strong game. The story was well-paced, and the character development was a great deal deeper than the first. I haven't started on Brotherhood yet, but if Ubisoft continues to build on and improve the features of their game, They will have one of the best games ever made on their hands.

Cataclysm: Website

With Cataclysm, Blizzard released a new website. The new Battle.net has a lot of interesting bells and whistles that I enjoy enough to write about. First and foremost, the look is a lot cleaner. Things are organized a little more intuitively. Comments on Blizzard's news items actually have indented threading now! This makes it a little easier to follow the replies. I wish they would add this to the forums, but given the average IQ of the playerbase, they'd rarely end up under the correct post I'm sure.

I do dislike General doubling as the Suggestion forum. Having a separate suggestion forum helped keep down some of the clutter and made it easier to run through them offering my two cents.

One of the biggest changes in the website is the information available when you are logged into your account. I can check upcoming events (whether static game events or guild events), I can skim the guild news for what my guild has been up to that day, and most importantly, I can see how many auctions I have up, sold, expired, and how much gold from the AH is sitting in my mailbox, and even how full my mailbox is.

Not only can I keep an eye on my main's economic activities, but it also allows me to check alts without spending fifteen minutes logging between characters. This, to me, is probably the best thing ever. I can even browse the auction house without logging on (or subscribing to the mobile AH).

A number of other small features has made it so the WoW website is worth regular perusal. None of them are earth-shattering enough for me to discuss in detail, but here's a quick list:

• Easily track average item level on the Armory.
• Find my active realms at the bottom of the forums listing without having to scroll through a list of all realms.
• List of popular forum topics to glance at to see if any catch my interest.
• Ability to change active character from a dropdown menu rather than navigating to a different page.
• Latest Blue posts at the top of the forum directory
• Quick links from players/mobs/items to their page on WoWhead
• Better compartmentalization of web features makes it finding what you want a lot easier.

All in all, the new website provides a lot of new functionality and a lot of new features. Now, it's actually worth checking out on a regular basis, instead of just on Tuesdays while waiting for servers to come back up.

Cataclysm: Vashj'ir

Vashj'ir is Cataclysm's (and WoW's first) underwater zone. This change of venue provides an experience that's quite unique from the other zones. The other zones, especially those introduced in Cataclysm, are all very well designed. The new zones follow solid story lines, interesting quests, and a feeling of real progression in the world with use of phasing.

But running around underwater is something else altogether. The first major challenge is coming to terms with the 3-dimensionality of it. Now, you're just looking around you on a 2D plane for enemies and quest objects, now you're coping with enemies and objectives above and below you.

It's an interesting format, and it creates a new sense of immersion. The zone also lacks a lot of the single-toned lack of variation that other zones often have. You have kelp forests, deep abysses, high elf/naga ruins, and you even get to go running around a giant squid.

One of the quest lines I found the most interesting was one that sent you back in time to play as a naga Battlemaiden. You uncover stirring intrigue, deep mysteries, and epic battles. It's so vastly removed from anything else you encounter in the game.

While I was incredibly happy with the other zones as well (Uldum is probably my favorite) but the uniqueness and innovation present in Vashj'ir (and awesome sea horse mounts) makes it more than worth going through, and even more than once.

Cataclysm: Achievements

Today I wanted to look at one of my favorite things in the World of Warcraft: achievements.

Achievements is a large part of why this game has held my interest for so long. When I got bored, I could go chase down some achievements. I did pretty well, too. I think there was only a dozen or two achievements outside of the raiding and PvP that I was missing.

It pushed me to explore areas of the game that I otherwise wouldn't have been interested in. Before achievements, I didn't bother with world events, much PvP, the Stranglethorn Fishing Tournament or exploring the outer reaches of every zone. I certainly never thought I'd get around (and find others interested in) old-world raids and dungeons.

Blizzard has given us a reason to push outside of our comfort zone, and pursue areas of the game that we would otherwise have skipped over. I certainly don't think I'll ever get Arena Master, or Battle Master. Most of the raid achievements (since I no longer actively raid) will have to wait till they are long obsolete. But, there is never a lack of things to do on my main, and my interest in the game is made stronger because of that.

The 200+ new achievements added in Cataclysm encourage you to really take a look around this new world of ours.

There's the standard fare of exploration and completing X amount of quests in zone Y. There's even more that are plugged in as "gimme" achievements to keep people happy as the realm of attainable achievements is a bit larger. Namely things like completing a certain quest chain, or bouncing on a trampoline, or completing a certain daily so many times or in a certain time limit. Naturally, Glory of the meta-achievements exist, with their requisite requirement achievements ready to go.

All in all, there seems to be plenty to keep me entertained and shelling out my $15/mo. However, it has not been without its disappointments. First, it seems that perhaps our good friend Hemet Nesingwary has hung up his gun and is no longer depopulating all of Azeroth of a myriad of critters. This was disappointing since his quests have been around in every iteration of WoW since Vanilla.

Also, the rare-spawns of Cataclysm don't have a deathwarrant out. Getting "Bloody Rare" took me a good six months to finish. I got up extra early every morning some time after Wrath came out and would scour Outlands, looking for those final rare spawns. I'm still 7 mobs shy of Frostbitten.

Also missing from this expansion are further iterations in the mount and companion chains. I still plan on collecting as many as I can, but it would be nice to see that little flash of gold at the bottom of my screen to reward my efforts.

Altogether, not a bad set of achievements, but it is missing just enough to feel lacking.

Cataclysm: Dungeons

Dungeons in Cataclysm have taken a huge change from what was the norm in Wrath of the Lich King. Gone are the days of the 15 Minute Roflstomp. Now, dungeons require patience, skill, and a level of awareness that hasn't been seen since Burning Crusade.

One of the bigger changes is that to queue for one of the new dungeons, you first must find the entrance in the world. No more logging in for the first time and jumping right in. With the increase in difficulty, Blizzard has also added a minimum average item level to be able to queue for dungeons. This helps keep people who have no hope of performing to the needed level from getting in.

On the downside, these two features have pretty much killed the ability to dungeon-level from 80 to 85. I can understand the changes, certainly, but since that was my preferred method for leveling my alts, it can be a little frustrating. My Death Knight alt is halfway through Deepholm, and I already feel a little sick of the place. With my Paladin and Mage already to 80, and my Shaman and Druid almost there, it is going to quickly grow old.

It has been rather amusing to me to see all the QQ on the forums about the major leap in DPS queue times with the Random Dungeon Finder. People think that this is somehow all Blizzard's fault, and that they can somehow fix it. They fail to consider that (1) people are still leveling, (2) people (especially tanks and healers) are still gearing, and (3) with the rewards from running with your guild, many are doing that, not only for the rewards, but also for a more dependable run.

Queue times do seem to be slowly decreasing though. Saw my first queue today that was only 32 mins, which is a step down from the 45 minute queue. I don't particularly mind, but between the queue and the length/difficulty of the dungeons, my daily heroic is taking 2 or 3 hours, which is a huge jump to the 30-40 minutes from Wrath.

But, dungeons are so much more fun now. They are difficult, they require crowd control, and they require people to be on their toes. This is what made me fall in love with the WoW dungeon system in the first place. Pugging may be incredibly frustrating at times, but it is certainly doable. PuGs are, however, a much different beast than they were before. Now, you can't carry people. The elitist assholes that ragequit after the first wipe make waiting around for a new member a real pain.

The change in dungeons was certainly a welcome one, but a lot of people are slow on the uptake. You either have elitists that think the group sucks and is a waste of time if anything at all goes wrong because of the ease with which they blew through Wrath, or you have people who still think dungeons are just AoE fests and they can just plow through without any consideration for how their class works, or the mechanics of a fight.

There's still three instances I haven't tried (Grim Batol and Blackrock Caverns due to not finding the entrance yet, and Throne of the Tides because I leveled out of its range on normal before I had the chance to run it). However, those that I have tried are incredibly well designed to require skill, ingenuity, and the sincere effort of everyone involved.

Bravo, Blizzard. Bravo.

Cataclysm: Worgen

Worgen are the new Alliance race in Cataclysm. Their starting area, Gilneas is exceptionally well-crafted. Blizzard took what it learned from the success of the Death Knight starting area, and put it into practice here. You aren't just running around learning the game, which is the feeling of the older starting zones. You're progressing through a story.

You still get quests telling you to go kill X amount of Y mob, but unlike other areas, there's a definite reason. In other areas, like Elwynn Forest, you aren't killing random mobs that serve no purpose but to be killed by lowbies. You're trying to make a difference in your area. You're thinning out the invading Forsaken. You're killing commanders. You're gathering resources to help your people. Not all of the quests are terribly interesting, but most are, and serve to forward the story.

The story gets especially interesting when your human form finally falls to the curse of the Worgen that bite you early in the zone. The cinematic that it cuts to to describe your fall from grace is absolutely chilling.

As your character levels, you are pushed back by the invading Forsaken throughout Gilneas. You're never questing far from the current base of operations, giving you a more enclosed progression. This is actually very nice, as you don't have to crisscross the whole zone as you do for many other starting areas.

There is also a thematic break from your standard human zones. Rather than having their area drawn from Stormwind and other human zones, they are given a Victorian theme that really sets them apart from the other races of Azeroth. Walking through the city of Gilneas, you really get the feeling of 19th century London. Even the NPCs speak with a cockney accent. This is such a break from the rest of the feel of World of Warcraft, yet doesn't feel out of place. Instead, it gives a uniqueness to the zone that is entertaining, and doesn't give off the feel of "Same Shit, Different Zone".

The story is incredibly rich. Invading Forsaken, betrayal of the king, loss of friends and family, and a look at the lives of the common people. It's one of the few starting zones where I've actually read the quests and got involved with the story. The story has consequences far reaching into Azeroth, as you learn more about the perfidy of Sylvanas, and the path she and her Forsaken are taking against Azeroth.

I have not yet played Goblins, but this is by far the best starting zone Blizzard has conceived. Visually beautiful, brilliant story, and few disappointments (namely that Worgens don't have a racial mount and instead get the ability to run faster, much like Tauren's Plainswalking in Vanilla).

Cataclysm: Hunter

Cataclysm has brought a lot of changes to the hunter class. The biggest of these is the switch over to focus. This change was the one that had me most concerned about keeping my hunter my main. It sounded at first like it was going to be much like how energy works for rogues and kitties, which drives me nuts.

However, the change has been a good one. Once you get used to it, focus is actually very easy to manage. With the cooldown removal on Arcane Shot, my rotation can be pretty flexible. I just have to have enough focus for Kill Command every few seconds, but with time for about 3 shots in between those, I can consider the use of cooldowns and do quite a bit of burst damage, as well as respectable sustainable damage. Blizzard has said that Beast Mastery and Marksman are still running a little too low for them, so I even have a small buff to look forward to in the future.

Camouflage is amazing, especially for setting up trap-pulls in dungeons. The able to be stealthed from ranged attacks and reducing aggro radii, it's a lot easier to get close enough to fire off the trap and get down to killing. I don't choose to PvP very often, but I'm sure this move would come in incredibly handy there as well.

This brings us to our next feature, Trap Launcher. While heavy-duty CC may be commonplace again, gone are the days of edging to the mobs, laying a trap, pulling, and trying to kite the mob over your trap. This was incredibly frustrating, and this (along with a few other problems) made hunter CC decidedly sub-par for instances. Now, you can fire the trap directly onto the mob you're trapping and get down to business.

Traps themselves have been upgraded as well. Freezing Trap now has a duration of 60 seconds, but a cooldown of only 30. This gives a wide margin for retrapping. Combined with the launcher, hunter CC is more than capable than keeping a mob locked down for as long as necessary.

Cataclysm has brought us a lot of new pets as well. Dedicated dogs (instead of just wolves and hyenas), frisky foxes, buzzing beetles, and manic monkeys have been added, each with their own special abilities. And for the pet-collector, a new stabling and summoning system. Stables now hold 20 pets, which is more than enough for avid collectors of spirit beasts and other unique pets. We can't yet have one of every type, but for most hunters, this is more than enough. Call Pet has seen a change as well. No more cooldown on changing out pets. You pick 5 pets to be available to you at all times, with each slot getting its own summon spell. Just dismiss your current pet and summon the one you want. This makes switching for the task at hand incredibly simple.

Hunters are looking to be both very viable and still unique in terms of what we can do. I'm excited to see what else this expansion will bring us, and where future expansions will take us.

Cataclysm: General Impressions

My look at Cataclsym is going to be spread out across several entries talking about the main features I'm interested in, but I wanted to start off with some general impressions about the expansion overall.

One of the first things that anyone playing will notice is the change wrought upon the world by The Shattering. Zones are rendered at a better graphics quality, and the terrain was changed, and in most cases made more interesting. Before, every zone was a little monotone. Not as badly as the crayon-colors of Outland, but there was still only one general texture. Now, regions have a more natural feel. Whether it's new oases in a desert, or a pit of roiling twilight badness, the world feels more complete.

The ability to fly in Azeroth has opened up all kinds of new experiences. Traveling through the old world is no longer a burden, and you can better see the destruction and new layout of the world.

Cooking, fishing, and most of the Jewelcrafting dailies are centered in Stormwind, making getting those knocked out a little less obnoxious than previous expansions (yes, cooking dailies in Wrath were in Dalaran, but for the rest, and through Burning Crusade, it required a lot of running all over the world).

It's also convenient having portals to each of the five new zones available (after completing some initial quests to get to the zone). This makes the prospect of heading back to SW for whatever reason (dailies, hitting the auction house, whatever) less of a pain in the ass.

So far, my only real issue with the expansion is that Chaos Orbs (this expansions equivalent of Primal Nethers and Frost Orbs) are soulbound. I find it a pity that Blizzard caved to the idiots that couldn't figure out to hit "Need" if they want it.

Over the next week-ish, I'll be going deeper on Hunters, Worgen, Goblins, Achievements, Dungeons, the underwater zone of Vashj'ir, and finally the new WoW website. But my overall impression is that this is the best version of WoW since it's creation in 2004.

Bravo, Blizzard. Bravo.

Then Just Roll A Tank

This post could also be titled "Why I hate being DPS at times".

In World of Warcraft, there is a sweeping attitude that DPS are second class citizens of Azeroth. Whenever a DPS objects to a Tank's behavior (like not letting the DPS get mana, skipping bosses the majority of the group wants to do, etc) they are told they'll be kicked. I've been told many times that I wasn't needed (despite pulling the highest DPS) and that I was more expendable than a penny.

Few people would think twice before kicking a DPS (at least, before the most recent changes to the Vote to Kick system, but even then...) But kicking a tank will rarely pass, as long as the tank can stay alive, he can be as terrible as he wants to be. Waiting 30s for another expendable DPS? No worries. Waiting for 20 minutes for a new tank? No chance. Unless he is making the instance unfinishable, he can be as big of a jerk, as arbitrary as he wants to be.

Few tanks see a problem with rolling on DPS gear (if they do, it's only to avoid seeming hypocrisy). However, if a DPS who is trying to round out their tanking set to start tanking Needs a tanking item, then the Tank throws a hissy fit.

I'm of the opinion that anyone in the group (5-man, raids are different and should be handled by the raid leader) is just as important as anyone else. However, whenever I, or anyone else, protests against the attitude of the tanks, and asks for things to be changed, the most common response seems to be "Well, if you want to be able to ______ (kill optional bosses when you need them, get a more reasonable queue time, etc) then roll a tank."

This, to me, is the most annoying response I could get. My Hunter, Mage, Rogue and Warlock all lack the option to tank (or even heal). And even though my Ret Pally and Unholy DK can tank, I don't want to. So I enjoy the playstyle of DPS.

Why is this a crime? Why am I constantly finding myself punished for it?

Now, I have a tank. Level 76 Druid. It's not that hard. Can it be frustrating and aggravating? Sure. And yes, DPS can piss me off a lot. But, do I think I deserve to force the group into whatever I want, just because I'm the tank? No.

Now, I don't mind the long DPS queues. I do other things during the time, and I understand that it's just one of those things for which nothing can be done right now. I accept it.

I remember once, while doing normal Azjol-Nerub on my Pally, the Healer was "bored" and decided to Leroy the first boss, wiping us all. When he complained that no one else found it funny, I pointed out that I didn't spend 20 minutes in the queue to have my time wasted, and I didn't appreciate his antics.

His response: "Lol. u don't get to complain about queues.ur a pally, just roll tank."

Again, this attitude that DPS are not deserving of respect for their time, or their effort. That as DPS I am at the mercy of the whims of the tank and healer, and if I don't like it, my own fault for being DPS and not one of their high and mighty ranks.

I'm hoping with CC supposedly making a comeback in Cataclysm that the attitude will change. It should also help that with the Defense stat being removed, that tanking will be a little less gear-intensive and more people will be able/willing to tank, allowing for less of the attitude of "I am the irreplaceable tank. Suffer my whims, or wait 20 minutes for a new tank."

WoW: A Guide to Dungeon Leveling

With WoW's Dungeon Finder feature, it's now possible to level solely through dungeon play. Considering my love, and extensive experience, leveling this way, I figured I'd write a guide for those that may want to use this method, and use it effectively.

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Heroic Halls of Lightning with my super-shiny UI

Step 1: Which kind of player are you?
There are two types of levelers for our intents and purposes. Picking which one you are can have an effect on later choices.

The first type is The Maximizer. This is ideal if you have a limited amount of time to play, and you'll be pushing hard to hit level 80. This is when you spend any queue time you have to quest and play your character.

The second type is The AFKer. This is ideal if you have long times to play, and plan on doing other things while you're waiting in queue. Whether grinding professions, chatting with friends, or going AFK completely to do other things.

The AFKer is ideal for people who can play all day but have things to do around the house. Maybe you have cleaning you need to do. Maybe you're 82% of the way through your novel and really shouldn't be playing but want to find a balance between working and playing.

This method works well for that. I am actually more productive using this method than I am just working straight through. It's energizing knowing that fun is just around the corner.

Though be warned: if you miss your queue you'll have to start your wait all over. Play close attention to the estimated wait time and mouse over the minimap icon to see if the icons representing your prospective group members have started turning from black-and-white to color. Fortunately the DPS fill in a couple of minutes before you get a full group, so stay close to the computer at this point.

*NOTE* If you already know what alt you're wanting to level, you can skip the next couple steps. But, if you're still unsure, read on.


Step 2: Choose Your Role
Tank:
Tanking can be a lot of fun. But with it comes a lot of possible frustration. You will be blamed for a lot of stuff that's not your fault. The nice thing is you can always just drop the group. You'll get a 30 minute debuff preventing you from queuing up immediately, but better than playing with assholes.

Queue times will be very short for you. Typically less than a minute. This makes it great if you want to level quickly. But, if you're the AFKer type and plan on trying to balance chores and WoW it's not the greatest choice since you'll never get away for more than a minute or two.

Healers:
Healers are a different challenge. The group relies on you to keep them alive during their fuck-ups.

Though to be honest, I personally find it a little dull. But it is a break from being a mindless dps.

Healers have a medium queue time. Longer than tanks, but typically shorter than DPS. It's up to you to see how that fits in with either questing or doing other things while waiting. My usual average is about 15-20 mins (as compared to 20-30 mins for my DPS).

 Healing as a priest can get a little dull.

DPS:
DPS is arguably the easiest of all the roles. All you do is kill the enemies. You don't have to worry about holding aggro, keeping people alive, or even really paying that much attention to the world around you. You just focus on what you're doing, and not worry about being responsible for other people.

In many ways, this can make it the most fun role to play. Little responsibility, and who doesn't like seeing big numbers on the DPS meters? However, you are also the most replaceable, and therefore less likely to be cut slack if you're screwing up. You'll also be looking at the longest queues. I usually see about 20-30 minutes, but I've had it get as high as 45 minutes for a single queue.

*Note* Consider whether you'll be leveling with a friend or friends. This can have a lot of benefits. You get someone whose skill level you already know. You can have more fun because you're playing with someone you know. Finally, if you're a group of 3 or more, you get majority on the Vote-To-Kick feature. This can keep you safe from those that are kick-happy and try to kick anyone who they don't believe is uber-leet. It also allows you to guarantee kicking someone out if they are just unbearable to play with. And if you go with at least a tank and a healer, you will find groups incredibly fast (i.e. instant).

If you're leveling solo, you might want to be beware of these premade groups. A lot of them tend to use it as carte blanch to run their mouths and insult everybody that isn't in their premade group. Just a word of warning.

The reason this is important to consider now is that if you haven't settled on a role, but you know your buddy is dying to be a tank, rolling a second one isn't going to do much for leveling together. On the flip side, if you know your friends don't want to tank, but you're willing to try, you can shorten the queue times for your entire group.

Step 3: Choose Your Class

This step can be a lot easier once you choose your role.

Tanks: Warriors, Druids, Paladins, Death Knights (if available to you)
Healers: Priests, Druids, Paladins, Shaman

Every class has a DPS spec, so this is completely up to you. Consider what you haven't tried and what sounds fun. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, as it falls almost completely to personal choice. The pros and cons of each class could fill up a post in and of themselves, so I'm going to leave this short. Just do what interests you.

Step 4: Prepare Yourself

This is a big step, so I'm going to break it up a little bit.

4.1: Get Your Gear

If available to you (i.e. you have a high level, preferably 80, character on the same server. These items can be mailed cross-faction.), you're going to want to grab some Bind-on-Account (BoA) heirloom gear, in particular a chest piece and a shoulder piece as these provide +10% experience gained each. These can be obtained from your faction's Emblem of Heroism vendor in Dalaran for 40 emblems per piece, or from the Argent Crusader vendor at the Argent Tournament for 60 Champion's Seals per piece.

There are also shoulders available from the Wintergrasp vendor for 200 Stone Keeper's Shards. These are slightly inferior to the ones sold by the other vendors as some of their stat budget is spent on resilience. But this difference is negligible.

There is also a BoA ring that offers an additional +5% experience gained, but this is only available by winning the Kalu'ak Fishing Tournament. As with the Stranglethorn Vale Fishing Derby, there is only one winner per server per week. So I wouldn't wait around on that piece. If you can get it though, great.

You can get BoA gear for most of your character's equipment slots. All BoA will scale with your level, and is roughly on par with anything you'll get in the dungeons. However, only the chest and shoulder pieces grant extra XP, and should therefore be your first priority. I wouldn't worry too much about other pieces unless you have a ton of currency to burn.

A shot of the queue information available from mousing over the minimap icon. When you reach the head of the queue, those greyed out icons will fill as you are matched with potential group members. Note that it will give you the time in queue, and if available, the average wait time.

4.2: Get Your Addons

There are thousands of addons out there. But there are three in particular I find useful for dungeon leveling.

Altoholic is a great tool for managing multiple alts. Leveling multiple characters at once allows you to keep one gaining rested experience in an inn or capital city (which grants 200% XP to kills, and stacks with BoA gear). Rested XP is king. Given that the vast, vast majority of XP you'll be gaining is from kills, this cuts your leveling time in half. You can see which of your characters has the most rested XP to burn, what they have equipped, and if they have BoA gear waiting in the mail (usually, it only records a character's mail when you visit the mailbox on that character. But mailing items to your own characters gets recorded when it's sent.)

Omen Threat Meter allows you to view the amount of aggro you have on an enemy in comparison with everyone else. This is important as it can help you hold aggro if you're a tank, or not grab aggro if you're not. Keep an eye on it, and be aware of where you are relative to others. WoW offers an in-game equivalent, but I find it lacking in comparison.

Atlasloot Enhanced is great for seeing what gear is available in each dungeon. It allows you to also maintain wishlists for your character. You can maintain more than one if you want alternate sets, or lump everything into one.

Now, as I said, there are thousands of addons out there. I would suggest taking some time and browsing through them. You'll find many that are class and role specific that catch your interest.


4.3: Learn About Your Class and Role
Take a few minutes and learn a little about your toon and what your toon will be doing. You don't have to become an expert, but perusing some standard specs, acquainting yourself with abilities (particularly things like buffs, crowd control, and effects to get rid of debuffs and fears), and knowing what your stat priority is will go a long ways towards making you better at your character from the get-go.

Now, you don't have to be perfect, and certainly feel free to explore your own spec ideas and what not. But the better idea you have about what you're doing will help you from getting the wrong gear or being a detriment to your group.

Playing in a group can be far different from playing solo. Buffs, aggro management and other synergy effects become very important. Speccing for group play can be vaguely different as well. By finding out which talents are important for group play and why will help you make better choices.

4.4 Choose Your Professions
Thanks to the Blue Ink Alchemist for helping me in this consideration.

Now, if you have other characters on the server and gold is not a major issue, choose your professions however you see fit by any method or strategy you would use for any alt, regardless of leveling method.

But, if gold is an issue for you (such as not having a high-level character on the server to pay your bills) then you may want to consider Tailoring (even if you don't wear cloth) and Enchanting. While conventional wisdom is that the 3 gathering professions are the fastest money-makers, nodes and skinnable mobs are far more rare in instances than they are in the world at large.

However, the majority mobs in dungeons have a chance to drop cloth. As an Enchanter, you can disenchant both what you make, and unwanted gear in the dungeon (though you aren't guaranteed what you DE in dungeons.) So these are more likely to be profitable than other professions, and require less of an investment to level.

 You may want to click for the larger image. Notice the new Disenchant button on the lower right. Because this character can use the item, the Need button is available. If my character could not use it (whether due to class restriction, or certain stats available), the button would be greyed out. Hovering over the button will tell you why you can't roll on it.

Step 5: Know The Etiquette and Expectations

Loot in dungeons is given out via the revamped Need vs Greed method. While the restrictions are far less stringent at low levels, it does prevent you from rolling need on most items not designed for your class. So if you're a druid that wants that nice pair of cloth pants... tough.

Some people will ask if they can get items that you win (cross-server trades are allowed on BoP gear while in a dungeon, and only to those that were eligible for loot from that boss). This is up to you. They may or may not throw a fit if you don't give it to them. If you don't need the item, you may want to be nice and give it up. Feel free to ask too, if there are items you would like that you can't roll need on, but remember it's their choice and generosity to give it to you. You don't have rights on it.

Another key element about looting is knowing that many people hold the idea of Main Spec before Off Spec to be as sacrosanct and inviolable as holy writ. When rolling on gear for a spec that you are not currently using in the dungeon, be aware of others in your group and whether they may want that particular item for their Main Spec. This is where Atlasloot, or at least a handwritten form of list, can do a lot of good, as you can specify which Off Spec pieces you're looking for at the start of the run, and see if there are any objections. Most people won't object you rolling Need if they don't need it themselves.

However, there are those that don't believe this and will roll on gear anyways. Don't be too surprised if that Death Knight steals that tanking sword from from your Paladin. It happens, just be prepared.

If you've never run a dungeon before, or are running in a role you're unfamiliar with, tell people. Your group will be much more forgiving and helpful if you let them know beforehand you're new to something. Though if you're a tank and you've never run a certain dungeon before, I suggest running it as a different role to familiarize yourself with the dungeon prior to trying to tank it.

Finally, particularly if you are the tank and therefore set the pace for the dungeon, be aware of  your party members. Watch their mana and stop periodically to let them drink. Many players may also need items dropped by optional bosses. Ask before you skip them, or if you're going in for a quick run and plan on only hitting the bosses you want to do, make it clear at the beginning of the run. Some people may get pissed off, but at least you gave them fair warning.

Step 6: To Random, Or Not To Random

With the dungeon finder, you have the option of choosing a completely random dungeon, or select specific ones to queue for. Up until you are able to queue for random Northrend dungeons (level 69), the rewards for running a random dungeon is a Satchel of Helpful Goods (you get one blue piece of gear that may, or may not, actually be helpful) and a pithy amount of additional money and experience. Given that the gear you get is almost more likely to be useless to you than otherwise, you may want to consider a better plan for your dungeon experience.

 Selecting specific dungeons

If you follow the suggestion to keep a "Wishlist" of gear you need from each dungeon available to you (whether through a hand-written list, or through utilizing an addon like Atlasloot), you can decide which dungeons will be the most productive for you to queue for. I suggest only queuing for low-level random dungeons if you need gear from all the dungeons available to you, or if you need gear from none of them, and you don't have any labeled in orange (signifying higher level, thus more XP). This way, you're running dungeons you actually need something out of, rather than blowing time in a dungeon that won't give you anything, and only randoming when all dungeons have something for you.

This is likely to increase your queue time, however. So keep that in mind. The benefit is that by only running dungeons you need, you're more likely to get all the gear you're looking for before you level out of running that dungeon, which will give you better performance.

I also suggest that as soon as you hit 58 or 68, you start on Burning Crusade and Northrend dungeons respectively. You will get much higher experience, and far better gear (even if you might not be able to use it for a couple of levels, you'll get a headstart). With the exception of tanks (and even then...) gear doesn't matter much until you hit 80 anyways, so don't spend a whole lot of time clearing out every dungeon of gear from the prior game version. Queues for borderline dungeons will be much longer anyways.

Once you hit 69, you should make your first dungeon of the day random you will receive 2 Emblems of Triumph, which once you reach 80 can get you Tier 9 gear and give you a good start on gearing out your toon for endgame.

Two Emblems a day keeps the gearing woes away.

There it is. Your guide to making dungeon leveling as painless as possible.

WoW: A Love Story

With both The Blue Ink Alchemist and Epixaricacy posting about the upcoming changes in Cataclysm a couple weeks ago, I thought I'd post my own thoughts on the game that has taken the world by storm. I have been a consistent player since I started in late 2006. I remember when Mend Pet was channeled, the ogres and Elder Crockolisks in Stranglethorn Vale were elite, and when having your epic flyer was a major mark of leetness.

Despite much of the old world dying when BC came out, I was fortunate to roll on a server (via blind choice) that had only been open for a month.So leveling and finding level-appropriate groups for everything up till level 58 was no problem.

So, I've been around a while. I've ridden out through buffs, nerfs, lag and server downtime. I just wanted to share what I do and don't like about where the game is, and where the game is going. I haven't looked too heavily at the changes, due to a combination of time constraints, and knowing that until the beta starts to draw to a close, nothing is really reliable (anyone remember dance studios?).

What I Like
The Dungeon Finder
This feature is why I still play. Otherwise, when I first quit raiding back in August, I would have probably faded off the game.  I love questing. I really do. It's peaceful, it's fun, and I really have always enjoyed that aspect of the game. But I'm also an altoholic. So I've done a lot of questing. And once you start to get into the 30s and 40s, areas to really get some good questing done is sparse. It gets even worse when you hit the Outlands and Northrend because they have a much more linear track to the zones. Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt. Wore out the t-shirt.

Dungeons was something I really loved though, and now I could go back to doing them with an at-level group. After I started playing on a new realm (transferring my main and my highest level alt at the time and rerolling the rest) that was a day-one server, finding dungeon groups for things like Zul Farrak, Blackfathom Deeps, and best of all, Dire Maul, Scholomance and Stratholme (which I didn't get to do at-level on my main with Outlands beckoning anyone at that level away).

Now I can completely dungeon-level my alts, and I don't even have to leave a capital city. I can level professions, play the auction house, or better yet, go do something else entirely. It's the norm for me to use my average 20 minute wait time to work on homework, clean the house, make phone calls, so on and so forth. This helps to ease my conscious about how much I play. Yeah, I may blow 2 hours on WoW, but in that same time, I've cleaned most of the apartment, or finished a homework assignment, or something.

I've personally also connected better with people and helped them out. Especially lower level hunters. I've run into hunters using spell power gear, defense gear, and had specs that would make most experienced hunters cry. I politely whisper them, and would offer my advice. While some blew me off, many were very grateful for the help. I haven't been able to do that on my own realm. No reason for lower levels to group up and connect.

I've even found it more enjoyable on my 80s. Yes, I can and have found pugs on my own server. But most players have a guild they run with, so you get a lot of alts and players that aren't very good. I have no problem playing with the less skilled, but you get some people how are really.... special. Now, I run with a wide variety of people. Some groups are chatty, others aren't. But, I don't have to bark in trade forever, and I don't have to listen to people demanding a 5k GearScore to run the easiest heroics. And I can go do my dailies while I wait instead of being tethered to Trade Chat.

It may decrease the contact pool I have on my own server, but all in all, it's a feature that I couldn't live without.

Raiding
This is something that will appear in the negative column as well, but for now I'm going to focus on what I like about it.

In Burning Crusade, pugs may have been possible, but they were far from the norm. And setting up a pug for Mount Hyjal or Black Temple was usually laughed off by everyone else. At least on my server, you didn't even pug individual spots. If you were short a person, you might pull in a friend, or someone from another well-respected guild, but you didn't just grab someone off the street, as it were. You canceled the raid. Now, pugs are plentiful for even end-game raids.

While the change to how buffs stack made a lot of people angry due to feeling like what made their class special was being given to everyone else. But really, all it did was cut down the restrictions for people to get into raids without worrying about overloading on a certain class, or fretting over class makeup. It makes putting together a raid a much easier task.

The addition of Heroic modes for raids brought in a new dynamic that attempted to balance the needs of the casual players and the hardcore. It had its downside, but that will be covered in the next section as well. 

The change to badges to allow the purchase of gear one tier behind current content has the benefit of allowing players who take a short-term break to catch up, and new players to quickly move into the current content.

Dailies
Dailies are another double-edged sword. While I'll cover their downsides later, the bonus is that it provides a steady and reliable stream of reputation and gold without long bouts of farming and grinding.

Acheivements
These are fun ways to mark things done in the game. Besides the ones for raiding and pvp, it gives something to work on. It can keep up interest in a character when the grind gets too bland. Popping around looking for rare spawns, fishing for rare fish, running old dungeons for fun. It's really hit the OCD "gotta catch 'em all" side of my personality. 

What I Don't Like
The Players
The number one thing I don't like about the game is the other players. The influx of casual players brought with them a rash of lazyness, greed, and self-entitlement. People cry over the stupidest things. Tanks and healers, because they are harder to find than DPS, believe they have a lock on whatever loot they want. And if they don't get it, they quit in a huff. Or worse, pull an entire room to attempt to kill the offending player.

If I go into a dungeon, and I say that I'm looking for gear for my tank set, the tank gets all huffy. The expectation is that I should have to spend several hundred gold to buy pieces to start tanking and have them all upgraded in a week. Now, to me at least, this is a total waste. I'd rather just build up my set through the dungeons in the first place. Most of the time this isn't a problem. Either the tank doesn't need any gear, or they are polite enough to be reasonable. A simple "Hey, if you could pass on ______ because I've been farming for that" is enough for me to give over to them.

But when the tank is rude, can't hold aggro over a paper bag, or takes hits like a clothie, then I'm not going to be nice. I'm not going to give in. And since many of my alts are currently running Outlands dungeons where gear doesn't matter and main-spec items will be upgraded in a week anyways, I see no reason not to roll on a few offset pieces. I'm usually a generous person overall, but I get tired of the self-entitlement and whining.

A couple cases to make my point: First, I was running a dungeon in Outlands on my warlock (note that I'm a cloth wearer here) and the druid healer (who wears leather) wanted a drop that I rolled need on. I pointed on that the piece was very good for me, and that the gear was more designed for me since it was cloth. They pitched a fit claiming that as the healer, they were clearly more entitled to get whatever they wanted over a lowly DPS. When I didn't give in, they quit the group in a huff.


Second, I was playing another Outlands dungeon on my enhancement shaman (who I'd been working on a healer set for) and a leather caster helm dropped. I won the greed roll. I was pretty thrilled as this was the last piece I needed. I'd been looking for a helm for a long time. The healer (also a shaman) demanded I hand it over. I pointed out that I won the greed roll fair and square, and that it was only a minor upgrade for him while it completed a set for me. The healer left in a huff, and the tank then proceeded to pull the entire room in an attempt to kill the rest of the group and "punish" me.


It's a game. Throwing a temper tantrum because you don't get what you want is pathetic. I've lost many rolls on loot I wanted. I don't cry about it. The item, or something better, will drop again.


Dailies
The problem with dailies is that it removed a lot of need to work your professions for money. As a result, the market on crafted items has crashed, and the cost of gathered goods was sky high for a long time. They can be painfully repetitive at times, and can eat up a lot of time. The high influx of easy gold has also caused the in-game economy to flip out and become horribly skewed. Low-level items sell for massive amounts of money because players with an 80 could pay for these items for these alts, but it made it difficult for new players, or players rerolling on a separate server.

The End-Game Rush
 While alleviated slightly by the new dungeon-finder mechanic, older content gets completely brushed over. If you try to find a group to clear Naxxramas, you get a chorus of "Why bother? Just grind dungeons for a day and jump into the new content." Most of the old-world is a barren wasteland. I have gone for days questing and never seen more than one other person in the entire zone. Content at x-pac cut offs are particularly hard to find groups for. Stratholme, Outlands heroics. These are almost never run because you can get far better gear in the later content.

This leads to a mad dash to 80 and then straight into end-game with little time to stop and smell the roses with people. I remember leveling my first toon, and I was in a guild that was all about the same level as me. We ran dungeons on a regular basis, quested together, and it was a fun and social environment. While we were all in a hurry to reach end game, we at least got to enjoy the game in its entirety.

The Dungeon-Finder
The dungeon finder is a great tool, and I absolutely love it for a variety of reasons. But the lack of socialization on my own server can be a hindrance. Especially on my 80s when I can't call on those good tanks and healers to put together a good raid pug.

The gear checking it performs also leaves a lot to be desired. It takes into account the level of all your gear, not the gear you have for the role you queued for. I've had tanks that get 2-shot by trash, and when the healer quits due to the impossibility of the situation, and the terri-bad tank requeues as a tank, it's ridiculous. While the requirements to tank or be a healer doesn't have to be overly stringent. But something would be nice. Enough so that they can actually tank the instance will be nice. Hopefully, in Cataclysm, Blizzard's removal of defense rating and the streamlining of their mechanics should help a lot.


The Complexity
Something they seem to be addressing in Cataclysm is the over-complexity of the current stat system. The conversion ratios, stat balancing and so on has gotten out of control. Max your hit, then hit a magical amount of armor penetration, but if you're MM or Survival make sure you stack agility, but if you're BM or a certain type of MM, stack attack power and so on and so forth.  It's ridiculous. When you have to rely on spreadsheets to decide between two pieces of gear, things are too complex.

Raiding
Raiding can be crazy complex. Fights are gimmicky to the point of frustration. If just one person misses a beat, it wipes the entire raid. it gets frustrating. Not to mention tiresome to have to watch two or three videos of a fight just to see a strategy before even setting foot in the instance. Followed by weeks of attempts on the same bosses, on 10 man and 25 man, normal and heroic. It gets tiring and leads to a quick burn out.


Tedium
Leveling, PvP, and even a lot of the PvE instances turns into one thing: repetition. Go kill 20 wolves. Great, now go kill 20 Orcs. Run flags around battlegrounds. Farm instances for drops, farm for rep. Grind. Grind. Grind. There's little difference. Little change. After a while it all just starts to run together, and interest in the game can wane. A more in depth approach would have been nice.




Overall, this is, despite its flaws, a delicious game. The things I don't like are far outweighed by the positives. and I keep coming back for more. So far, no other MMO has caught my attention. They never seem to offer anything new, different, or anything worth leaving WoW for. BioWare's Old Republic will likely tempt me away.