It’s been a while since I’ve done a “State of the Raid” post. Blizzard is kind of a sore, perhaps even taboo, topic right now. Every time there is more sickening news makes me sad.
I play this game to hang out with the friends. The kind of friends where hanging out in person isn’t convenient because of distance and borders. Raiding has become difficult over the past few months. Some friends have left the game and recruiting new people is difficult.
Progession
Despite these circumstances, we are enduring. Personally I think our goals are shifting to accommodate the reality and current environment of the community. Ahead of the Curve has always been our main objective before the conclusion of a tier. This rut in active players and the obvious adjustment in the difficulty of heroic encounters may be changing that objective.
As much as I hate to let go of achieving Ahead of the Curve, I think it’s best for my sanity. I really don’t want to burn out because this is my social activity. Several of my friends have already reached this point so I don’t want to be the next victim.
We are currently 6/10 in Heroic and our latest attempt on Guardian has me feeling confident we will be 7/10 soon. Depending on the complexity of the next 3 bosses, and the release date of 9.2, we may still have a chance at AOTC.
I’ve Been Slacking
There is so much to do after you hit max level that I’ve had a difficult time leveling my alts. I’m still sitting at just under half of my alts at max (46.6%). I’ll admit the events going on at Activision Blizzard is awful and gives me a lot of mixed feelings which affects my motivation. I won’t quit though, for reasons I’ve expressed before. This time of year is also very busy for me. I’ve got lots of planning, decorating, and Christmas to enjoy.
While Blizzard has not given us a release date for 9.2, my hope is try to get to as close to 100% on all my alts before it hits live servers. That’s probably a stretch goal by now.
Ultimately I hope Blizzard gets their act together and finds a way to bring players back. I really miss all my friends that have left the game.
If zombies attack the world, everyone will run and hide. Except for us gamers, of course. We've been waiting for this all our lives!
A Month Ago Or A Week Later
This is my first Shadowlands post since it’s launch. While it seems logical that I would first talk about leveling, instead I decided to skip to Torghast. This is a brand new game mechanic Blizzard introduces in this expansion. We saw something similar in the Battle for Azeroth 8.3 patch with the Horrific Visions. In fact, I almost suspect that the Horrific Visions were the “beta test” for the Torghast mechanic. I haven’t spent a lot of time in there yet but I thought I would share my Torghast first impressions.
Last week the pre-patch event for Shadowlands began. As we embark on our journey into the afterlife, let’s reflect on Blizzards 7th expansion. Battle for Azeroth had a tough act to follow. Legion, in my opinion, is the second best expansion since Wrath of the Lich King. Unfortunately BfA didn’t quite live up to the same level as Legion and Wrath. Personally, I would rank this expansion around the middle of the pack. Now that the Battle for Azeroth is over, what ruminations do I have from the past 2 years?
There are so many raids that drop mounts and any raid that isn’t current content typically has a 1% chance, or less, of dropping a mount. So you should settle in for many attempts and become accustomed to disappointment. This is my current, weekly farming route for raid mounts. The route is subject to change as I acquire said mounts; thus the potential for multiple parts.
The expansions (with the exception of Onslaught) progress like a movie. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked it but as I went along it started to grow on me. After playing it through a second time, on another character, I decided that I didn’t mind it at all. In these expansions your decisions actually change the story. If you make “Light Side” choices, all your companions are ready to fight by your side. However, your “Dark Side” choices can lead to some characters betraying you and leaving the Alliance. You’re treated differently, even from the companions you are romancing. It definitely adds more depth and consequence to the story.
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