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WoW: Leveling Your Professions In Legion

On October 10, 2016

Blizzard is trying something new this expansion in regards to professions. Instead of the classic “make x number of widgets”, each profession now has quests. These quests require you to travel all over the Broken Isles to learn from other masters of the trade. There are some quests that require you to enter dungeons (even the Mythic-only dungeons). Leveling your professions has always been a necessary evil and often times quite taxing. The quests do seem to add new depth to them instead of standing by the forge smelting 300 bars. However I can see how the constant queuing for dungeons may eventually feel burdensome and mundane.

I have completed the full gambit of quests and dungeons for tailoring and enchanting. I’m working on mining and engineering now (yay! my paladin is 110!). I don’t feel like its too annoying to have to go into 3 or 4 different dungeons, yet. I may feel differently by the end of the year when I’m working on a 5th or 6th alt. Especially since I’m not too happy about a profession quest that is gated behind a Mythic dungeon (that requires 4,000 Honored rep to unlock).

Will This Kill Professions?

I know of some players that just won’t bother with professions; a choice they made long before this expansion. I’m sure there are some players who begrudgingly pick up professions perhaps for end-game content or just a means to make money. It does beg the question as to whether this new mechanic for professions will do more harm than good. Technically, you don’t have to complete the quests to reach 800 skill points in your profession. In fact, you can still reach the max level doing it the old fashioned way, however you will need to complete a few quests to learn some recipes.

Logistically, I’m still on the fence about the changes. When you think about it, the effort you need to max out a profession is pretty comparable to running a couple of dungeons. If you wanted to make that one “orange” item, that you know would give you the last point you need, you needed to farm for days or spend a small fortune in gold.

Speaking of spending a small fortune, you also have to keep in mind that this method means you don’t have to purchase new recipes from a trainer. Each quest may teach you a new recipe, so imagine the gold you are saving by not having to buy every new recipe. In fact you are actually making money because some of the quests also reward gold.

Ranking Seems Superfluous

Most Legion crafting professions now have three ranks (indicated by stars). The only advantage you receive with each new rank is fewer materials needed to craft the item. I think this is a great advantage for the early part of the expansion but as more people level more alts, the quantity of materials becomes less of a concern. Therefore I think the ranking becomes superfluous when the only benefit is fewer materials. I would much prefer a crafting model similar to the crafting mechanic used in Star Wars: The Old Republic where each higher “rank” has better stats.

Actually, when I think about it, perhaps each higher “rank” should have a greater probability of upgrading the item upon completion. The highest (crafted) item level I have seen, thus far, is 815 but World Quests are awarding items much higher than that. I think World Quests are great but they are slowly marginalizing Tailoring, Leatherworking and Blacksmithing to transmog professions.

So has leveling your professions become an inconvenient frivolity? It may depend on what your end-game goals are. If you are raiding Normal/Heroic/Mythic content then some professions will provide excellent supplements toward those goals. Granted this will come mostly in the form of Enchanting, Alchemy and Jewelcrafting. I appreciate that Blizzard tried to make professions more interesting. It’s unfortunate that they put so much hard work into these profession quests but the rewards are hardly worth the effort. I expect to see some tweaks to professions in upcoming content patches.

/cheers

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!

Legion Leveling: My Shadow Priest Is 110

By Biggs

On September 15, 2016

In Gaming, MMORPG, World of Warcraft

About a week after launch, I finally reached level 110 on my shadow priest. In all fairness I did have other things going on. It’s strange for me to say that my shadow priest is the first character to reach level 110. My poor paladin is still sitting at 100. This is the first time since 2005 that I did not level my paladin first. I’ll admit it feels a bit strange but I did it for the raid team. Obviously I will immediately began leveling my paladin. At any rate, I’m not writing to lament about my paladin, this is about the Legion leveling experience.

In a previous post I talked about reading War of the Ancients in preparation for this expansion. Blizzard exceeded my expectations. My biggest lamentation (other than my paladin) is not having finished the other two books before the expansion. Beyond a doubt I am convinced that my leveling experience was enhanced by those books. It’s the same feeling I had when I was leveling in Wrath of the Lich King.

It Feels Like Wrath of the Lich King

Speaking of Wrath of the Lich King, Legion feels a lot like that expansion. Unlike Warlords of Draenor the quests in Legion actually have context in the dungeons and raids. Wrath of the Lich King used the same mechanic with its quests and dungeons. The thing that made leveling fun in Lich King was the story that carried you through each zone and to the final encounter with Arthas. Legion is also off to a good start using a similar leveling experience. I think what helps me enjoy this expansion is the connection I feel with the lore. I shared a similar connection in Lich King. It’s amazing how a little bit of lore can change your entire perception.

It’s strange never receiving a new weapon as a drop or quest reward. You receive your artifact weapon at the very beginning and another weapon never drops. You will receive items for every other slot on your character but the only thing that will change on your weapon are the artifact runes and artifact points. While some people (trolls) might see that as lackadaisical of Blizzard, I think it adds a new level of mystery and excitement to your character’s story. If that isn’t enough then I have two words for you: “Ashbringer” and “Doomhammer”!

Legion Leveling: Order Halls and Zone Scaling

As part of your quest to acquire your artifact weapon you will also unlock your Class Order Hall. The Order Hall is the next evolution of the Garrison from the previous expansion. However, at the Order Hall you will see other players of the same class instead of just your toon. It’s your base of operations against the Burning Legion and each Order Hall is located in different parts of Azeroth (depending on the class).

Ironically Khadgar referred to your garrison as a base of operations but I don’t think it ever really felt like that. The Order Hall has that wartime feel with generals standing around massive scouting maps, NPCs and players running around, it feels more alive. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the concept of the garrison but once you are done leveling it doesn’t feel connected to the story anymore.

The zone scaling is brilliant as it is scary. When you begin leveling in Legion you actually get to choose which, of 4 zones, you want to start in (with the exception of Suramar). You will ultimately quest in all 4 zones before you reach 110 (unless you dungeon crawl the entire way). I don’t know how Blizzard pulled it off but the mobs are just as difficult for someone of level 110 as they are for someone of level 103 in the same zone.

The scary thing you have to get used to is, for example, if you begin in Val’Sharah and return there when you are 110 you may think they will be easy pickins. No, they are the same level as you and they can kill you just as easily at 110. The algorithm to pull off that kind of scaling, to me, is genius and mind-numbing. I will get lost in thought just trying to figure it out on my own; but I like it.

TL;DR

All right, this post is bordering on long-winded. I’m going to stop here. Obviously I am enjoying my Legion leveling experience and I could talk more about the things that I like about it. Perhaps I will write a “Part II” or follow-up post after I spend more time leveling other characters and hitting the first raid – Emerald Nightmare, how cool is that!

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!

War of the Ancients Prepares You For Legion

By Biggs

On August 25, 2016

In Gaming, World of Warcraft

When Blizzard announced the release date of Legion I began reading War of the Ancients by Richard Knaak. My thought is that it would be a great warm up for the coming expansion. Unfortunately I feel behind, as I often do because life happens, however, I did complete the first book in the trilogy, The Well of Eternity. I’m obviously not going to finish the other two books before launch, which is this coming Tuesday. Granted we don’t know if Blizzard even considered War of the Ancients so any correlation could just be coincidence.

If you haven’t read any of the books, or you’re teetering on the fence about it, let me share my thoughts. Maybe it will help make the decision a little easier. It will also help if you are familiar with what is coming in Legion. The book mostly takes place in Suramar, which is a zone where we will be questing. It’s also the location of Malfurion’s home. Of course there is Illidan who teams up with Lord Ravencrest and they will travel to Black Rook Hold.

While the Burning Legion is the main antagonist, Malfurion will confront Lord Xavius at the end of the book. After reviewing a few of the dungeons, Lord Xavius is a boss in one of them. I’m a little curious how that is possible, and you will see what I mean when you reach the end.

I really enjoyed reading the first book and now I can hardly wait for Legion. I think Richard Knaak has a “knack” for articulation in story telling (see what I did there). His writing style isn’t convoluted or complicated which makes it a pretty fast read. It helps when you reach a point where you can’t put the book down. After I read the last page of Well of Eternity, I barely took a breath before I read the first page in Demon Soul. If you are going to play Legion, or you enjoy Warcraft lore then I would recommend at least reading Well of Eternity.

Now, “you are prepared”!

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!

The Burning Legion is Invading; Enter the Demon Hunter

By Biggs

On August 18, 2016

In Gaming, MMORPG, World of Warcraft

Fel “Star Destroyers” patrol the skies.

So we are a week into the pre-expansion content patch. The Burning Legion is invading Azeroth, bombarding beloved landmarks with fel fireballs from Legion “Star Destroyers“. Doomsayers are prophesying the “end of days” and dark whispers are turning the innocent into minions of Sargeras. It is time for heroes to return and take on the Burning Legion … again; however this time they will have some more help. The Illidari have come back. The Wardens have released Illidan’s imprisoned Demon Hunters and they are swarming to each faction’s capital cities. Even amidst great sorrow, both the Horde and the Alliance are welcoming their aid in hopes of thwarting Gul’dan once again.

The Burning Legion is Invading

So far this has definitely been one of the more memorable world events leading up to an expansion. It’s kind of reminiscent of Wrath of the Lich King where terror can occur at any moment while in a capital city. I think what sets this world event apart from previous expansions are the invasions. It is really cool to see both factions flock to a location to help defeat the demons invading Azeroth. In the Broken Isles scenario it is also really cool to see both factions with players actively participating in the same scenario. In fact I’d say that is my favorite new mechanic. Can you imagine what ICC would have been like if it used the same mechanic.

If, for whatever reason, you have been avoiding the demon invasions, you are truly missing out. Grab your main, grab your alt, grab your Demon Hunter and go slaughter some demons! The level 700+ gear that drops will definitely make it worth the 15-20 minutes of chaos.

Enter the Demon Hunter

Have you tried playing the Demon Hunter yet? It kind of feels like a Rogue and a Warrior; you build your resource like a warrior and you have the mobility of a rogue. You’re only going to get two talents pre-expansion, but they are still pretty fun to play. It actually makes me excited to level one to 110 just to see what other abilities they will get. I have only tried the Havoc spec, which is their DPS build, and I have seen some pretty successful Vengeance tanking even in a Heroic raid. In my humble opinion they play like the hero class the Death Knight was meant to feel like but “fel” flat (see what I did there). Also, as an avid mount collector, their Felsaber mount looks amazing (I just wish it could fly)!

The “cool factor” of this pre-expansion content doesn’t end with the invasions and the Demon Hunter. If you are a lore junkie then there is plenty here to get your fix. The recent Dalaran/Ulduar/Karazhan quest line will definitely satiate your lore cravings. Try to immerse yourself into the lore and that is where you will begin enjoying the content. I am really excited for this expansion.

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!

As the Burning Legion Comes, We Bid Adieu to Draenor

By Biggs

On July 27, 2016

In Gaming, MMORPG, World of Warcraft

Last week we saw the activation of the 7.0 patch. The patch that paves the way to the launch of Legion. If you haven’t been paying attention, the patch includes the new Appearances interface, changes to all class talents, and the Demon Invasion (to name a few). As of the time of this post, the Demon Invasion hasn’t begun yet. It might be as soon as one week later, or it could still be a few weeks off. When that invasion happens, we will get the Demon Hunter class. Regardless, as the Burning Legion comes we bid adieu to Draenor.

Was Warlords of Draenor a Success?

Shave and a Hair Cut …

So was this expansion a success? I doubt it. If you look at the subscription numbers over the past year, they haven’t been good. Blizzard has lost millions of subscriptions. Granted they still have more active subscribers than any other title out there, but they have dropped from 12 million down to about 5.5 million. That has got to make them cringe worse than Shave-and-a-haircut affects Roger Rabbit (I’m dating myself here).

Honestly, I think each expansion, since Wrath of the Lich King, has been weaker than the one before it. I don’t think it helps that this expansion uses time travel, which is always a sensitive concept to tackle. Yes, I thought it was cool to see Khadgar and fight Blackhand and Archimonde but this expansion felt more disjointed than Mists of Pandaria. It’s the curse of poor time travel story telling. It was clearly just an opportunity for the developers to create encounters with historic heroes. There was no attention given to the butterfly principal; our mere existence should have caused rippling consequences throughout the entire timeline. Perhaps Nozdormu swoops in at the end and uses a neuralyzer.

Were There Redeeming Qualities?

I don’t think this expansion was a complete wash. While the story lacked connectivity and relevance, the expansion introduced some new mechanics that I think are fun. Garrisons were the closest thing Blizzard has ever come to player housing. Unfortunately I think that is the closest we are going to get. One of the biggest criticisms about garrisons was that it ostracized players. The entire social component that is the foundation of the game was lost because everyone stayed in their garrison. I love the concept of the garrison; perhaps they just gave us a little too much to do and not enough reason to leave (other than daily quests).

The followers were another fun idea and I’m excited that its something they are going to continue in Legion. Collecting followers, for me, almost became like collecting Pokemon. You especially wanted to collect the familiar names (like Admiral Taylor, Harrison Jones, Millhouse Manastorm and Leeroy Jenkins, to name a few). I would like to know where Budd was this expansion; he would have been a great follower! I also liked that some followers had the Bodyguard trait, which is very useful when you are leveling or doing daily quests and you’re squishy.

One other thing I liked about Warlords of Draenor, albeit minor, was getting to see Draenor before it was torched and became Outlands. It was pretty cool to see Auchindoun in all its glory before it was turned to rubble. Karabor before it becomes Black Temple. Tanaan Jungle before it becomes Hellfire Peninsula. Someday, I would like to see Karazhan before it became dilapidated.

There was also that epic, and overdue, showdown between Garrosh and Thrall.

So we bid you adieu Draenor; I wish we could have prevented that which you will become, but the Burning Legion comes and we must be prepared!

I could accomplish so much more if I only had minions!

I Tried But Pokemon Go is a Definite No Go

By Biggs

On July 20, 2016

In Gaming

Just so I’m clear, this is not going to be another smear editorial against Pokemon Go players. I have been a gamer since the first time I picked up an NES controller. So I get it. I understand why people are out there, obsessively hunting down Pokemon in the parks and by the streams. I think what is most interesting is the world is now aware just how many gamers there are. Gaming isn’t something that goes away after puberty. We were playing it all through high school. It got most of us through college. Now we are gaming after work and after the kids go to bed. There are a lot more of us than most people thought. But I digress. The real point is, Pokemon Go isn’t for me.

I found this guy hanging out above my monitors at work

I’ll be honest, I did install it for about two days. I go on a two-mile walk during my lunch everyday so I thought it might be something interesting to do while I walk. By the end of the second day I was uninstalling it from my phone (important note: remember to remove it from your Google account too). It isn’t that I think it was boring because it definitely has the right hooks to be a fun game.

You’re a gamer, why aren’t you playing Pokemon Go?

I am clearly the target demographic, so why am I not out there chasing down Pokemon? Part of it is that I’m just not into Pokemon. I was born just shy of when Pokemon became a huge fad. Also, when I take a walk my goal is to complete a certain distance within a certain amount of time which requires me to walk at a certain pace. Constantly checking my phone and veering off track to catch a Pokemon just didn’t align with those goals.

So it’s gone and I don’t feel like I’m missing out, but that’s just me. If my friends and peers want to play it, I support them 100%. I feel it behooves me to bring your attention to one thing though: be mindful of your data usage! Since it hasn’t been out for a full month, people haven’t seen their cell phone bills yet. Several of the articles I’ve been reading warn people that it can really eat up your data, and your battery (case in point, my battery went down 20% in just 20 minutes). I do believe, however, that the developers are working on some solutions for these issues.

I am going to wrap this up on a positive note. Despite the ridicule, I think the Pokemon Go phenomenon has the potential to have some very positive results. Gaming geeks rarely get to meet face-to-face unless its a Comic-con. Along comes a game that has millions getting out of the house, with a common objective. Despite the burning daystar, barriers are being broken down and we are meeting new people, with common interests, IRL!

/cheers

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