Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

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Thoughts and ponderings about PC and consoling gaming.

The MMO Times: Emerge from the Mists

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On October 1, 2012

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Issue 48: Hello Gamers, I know there are probably quite a few of you leveling your way through Pandaria (either on a main or you have moved to an alt already). Hopefully you take a break from your panda-induced adventures to take a look at this weeks MMO headlines.

I think the launch of Mists is also the reason for the short post. There hasn’t been too much news going on because everyone is leveling up to 90 or checking out the new Monk class. You can find more information on Blade & Soul in this issue, as well as SWTOR and TSW patches that went live. Read on and game on, friends!

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WoW: Mists of Pandaria Impressions (thus far)

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On September 28, 2012

In World of Warcraft

I’m going to try to talk about what I think of the Mists of Pandaria expansion without revealing too much about what is happening lore-wise. I know its only been a couple of days since the expansion has gone live, but I feel like I already have enough to talk about to warrant this post.

The premise is the war between the Horde and Alliance has heated up to volcanic proportions as a result of the senseless demolition of Theramore. The fighting between the two factions has brought them to the shores of Pandaria, a peaceful and lost island of the Pandarians. The presence of this island has only now been revealed thanks to Deathwing’s attempted re-ascension. Now both sides are battling for control of this island and the Pandarian’s are stuck in the middle, forced to choose a side.

I know the European launch seemed to have gotten off to a rocky start but I think the seamless launch in the US went off flawlessly. I would even go so far as to say that this is probably the smoothest launch Blizzard has had with a WoW expansion.

I haven’t played the Horde side yet, but so far the Alliance side is pretty fun. The battle pretty much starts right away as you are sent to the island in search of something very precious that has been lost. Although, about half way through questing in the Jade Forest you are ready to smack the little punk. I have only just begun my adventure and I have only reached level 86 so far (because of that whole “real life” thing that gets in the way).

I have also tried out the pet battles, which is pretty much WoW-style Pokemon, but its still pretty entertaining. If you are an avid pet collector, like my wife is, then you will find this component to be very fun and will only exacerbate your addiction. The nice thing is, since pets are not account wide, it doesn’t matter what toon you are on, or what server you are on, any pet you capture as a result of your pet battle, all of your toons will have it.

I am anxious to reach the max level and try out the scenarios, new dungeons and new raids. Perhaps I will have a follow up post after I have progressed a bit more into the new content. Feel free to post your thoughts and comments from your MoP experiences thus far.

/Cheers!

The MMO Times: Remember Theramore!!

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On September 21, 2012

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Issue 47

Welcome back, Gamers! We are on the brink of the next World of Warcraft expansion and ironically I found nothing really worth reporting about Mists of Pandaria this week. Of course by this point everyone pretty much knows what to expect. It will seem strange that we don’t have a Blizzcon this year, but everyone is going to be too entrenched into the expansion anyway.

This week Aion and SWTOR have made it back into the headlines and more news about The Secret World (especially if you have been waiting for a free trial). There is also more news about NCSoft’s efforts to bring Blade & Soul to the west and more content for DC Universe Online. I’ve also been hearing of more beta invites going out for MechWarrior Online, have you gotten yours? Read on and game on, friends!

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Theramore's Fall

WoW: The Theramore’s Fall Scenario

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On September 18, 2012

In World of Warcraft

Theramore's FallThe week leading up to the launch of Blizzard’s fourth expansion, Mists of Pandaria (MoP), players can participate in the first of the new scenarios. Scenario’s are a new mechanic introduced with this expansion that provide additional end game activities for players. The first scenario is called Theramore’s Fall and it went live this week. This scenario is also allegedly the pre-MoP “world event” that not only explains how Pandaria is found but the catalyst that reignites the feud between the Horde and Alliance. The night the scenario went active I grabbed my wife and my friend and we jumped in queue. This is what I think of the event from the perspective of a world event and from the perspective of the new scenario mechanic.

The Theramore “World Event”

In a word, I found the fall of Theramore world event “disappointing”. When you compare it to the zombie apocalypse (that introduced WotLK) and the earthquakes (that introduced Cataclysm), this one was extremely unimpressive. Even as I am typing this I am still hoping that there will be more to the pre-Mists world event then 15 minutes of countering assaults and the total destruction of Theramore.

I get that Blizzard wanted to show off their new scenario mechanic (which I will get to in a little bit) but I feel like they really dropped the ball. I feel like they could have done something to remind us every time we log in, until the expansion, that something terrible has happened. The scenario could still have been integrated into the event but I don’t think it should have been the only component of the event. I think they should have done more with Jaina since there was such a build up to the change in her persona.

Completing the world event the player is rewarded with a tabard or a mana bomb, some fireworks and a chance at ilevel 384 gear. It hardly feels like a world event at all.

The “Theramore’s Fall” Scenario

One of the new game mechanics Blizzard is introducing with Mists of Pandaria are called “Scenarios”. Basically its a group of 3 that has certain objectives to complete. My understanding is that every scenario will be designed in a way so any three people can participate regardless of class spec. You will not need “the holy trinity”, as I’ve heard it called, to complete the scenario. Its basically an instanced quest chain and it should only take 15-20 minutes to complete. You can only do the scenario by using the looking-for-group tool.

Aside from what I thought about the Theramore scenario as a world event, the scenario itself was a lot of fun. I really like the concept that I can just hop on and grab my wife and a friend and go knock something over and not have to spend all night doing it. I like that none of us have to play musical characters/specs so we have to make sure we have a tank/healer to be successful. It’s also nice, especially for alts, that you may be rewarded with a high level piece of gear. I don’t know what the plans are for rewards for the level 90 scenarios but I am interested to find out.

So far, my early impression is pretty positive for scenarios. I think its a pretty cool idea to add to improve the end-game experience. Honestly, I hope it is received well and perhaps other games will adopt the idea and perhaps even try to add their own tweak to it.

The MMO Times: Before the Mists

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On September 15, 2012

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Issue 46

Greetings Gamers. This week was kind of a quiet week and I think its because most of the big news is already out there. We all know that the fourth World of Warcraft expansion is less than 10 days away and the first of their new Scenario’s starts on Tuesday with the razing of Theramore. Of course the other game that has been keeping people distracted is Guild Wars 2, which I haven’t tried yet but I might give it a whirl around the holidays.

This week in gaming news we mostly have updates coming down the line for SWTOR and The Secret World and more Panda teasers. NCSoft is bringing more games over to the Western continents and its a martial arts MMO which might interest some. Read on and game on, friends.

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WoW: Patch 5.0.4 Impressions

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On September 7, 2012

In World of Warcraft

The latest content patch has been out nearly two weeks and by now everyone should have picked their new talents and glyphs for pretty much all of their toons. This patch brought a lot of changes to the game including the revamped talent system, which I’m still on the fence about. I felt a little bummed when my warlock hit 83 the other day and I was all excited about setting a talent point but then remembered I don’t get to do that until 85. I have not had an opportunity yet to try out any of the new rotations to get a sense of whether the specs I chose for my classes match my play style. I imagine that I may have to spend some cash changing my talents around until I find something that best suits me.

I’m also curious how this will change the concept of theorycrafting. I thought one of the motivations behind Blizzard’s decision to change the talent system was to prevent players from being forced to use a specific spec. It always annoyed me when I would get a whisper from someone while in a LFG dungeon that I should have put X number of points in Y talent.

I think one of my favorite changes are the changes to the minor glyphs. Instead of utility, for the most part, they are just goofy, cosmetic changes. I really think it adds more depth to the customization of your character. They saved the major glyphs for game play modification. Expect to see things like your shadow orbs appear as shadow ravens, polymorph porcupine, charge leaves a trail of flames, four wings with avenger’s wrath, etc. I could go on forever so log in and check it out.

There is so much more going on with this patch that I don’t think I could possibly cover it all without causing your eyes to glaze over and decrease your heart rate. Overall I’m pretty satisfied with the changes with this patch and it does make me a bit more excited for the Mists expansion. If you have been away from the game for a while, I would come back and check out the latest changes, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Cheers!

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