A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: World of Warcraft Page 7 of 22

WoW: Legion Expansion – Blizzard Gets It Right Again

World of Warcraft Legion expansion

I Love the Fel “Star Destroyer”

We are now three patches into the World of Warcraft Legion expansion (patch 7.1, 7.1.5, 7.2). I haven’t seen the subscription numbers lately but they have to be up. I know my play time is increasing quite a bit. In the previous expansions (after Wrath of the Lich King), I rarely felt motivated to log in. As much as I enjoyed Garrisons, it did become too repetitive. In fact WotLK is probably the last expansion I really enjoyed, however this expansion is quickly becoming a very close second.

I am really enjoying Legion! If you read a lot then I highly recommend reading Richard Knaak’s War of the Ancients trilogy. It is a perfect companion for this expansion and I think it has largely influenced how much I am enjoying it. In a lot of ways an MMO is like a movie, it’s only as good as the story it’s telling. Wrath of the Lich King had a great story that really felt entwined with my character and Legion is doing the same thing.

But Wait, There’s More

There is more to it than the story in the World of Warcraft Legion expansion. Several of the new features they have added is also contributing to my enjoyment. I will admit that I was skeptical at first of Class Order Halls. I thought it was going to be a step backward from Garrisons. I’ll admit that I was too quick to judge. Blizzard is doing a great job incorporating the Order Halls into the main story of the expansion. Also, I think what makes them fun is the fact that every Order Hall is different and has a different story. The garrisons were all the same no matter which class you were playing; now I’m trying to level all my alts just so I can experience each Order Hall.

The Artifact Weapons have to be a huge success. They have to be the driving force behind people completing so much additional content. I rarely set foot in Mythic dungeons but now hidden/unlocking appearances have me making the time to do a few. In fact I have probably completed more Mythic dungeons in this expansion than I have since Mythic dungeons were added to the game. The different weapon for each class specialization also has me trying different specializations. For example, I would rarely play anything other than a Fire Mage, but now I’ve acquired the artifact weapon for Fire and Frost (and I’m even considering getting the Arcane weapon).

It Isn’t Just the Content, It’s the People Too

I rarely pay any attention to Trade because of the trolls and 12 year olds causing havoc and raising blood pressures. However, there are good people and when you find those good people it does change the game. I was apart of a great raid team from Karazhan through most of Cataclysm. When Mists of Pandaria released our team broke up and several of us changed servers. Nearly everyone that moved to the same server all found new raid teams but I didn’t. Perhaps that is why I was rarely feeling motivated to log in.

Finally, when Legion came out, I joined a raid team of which couple of my former raid members were already members. It has almost felt like old times again! The people are fun and so diverse. Perhaps some people are intimidated by too much diversity in a raid team, but it becomes just a matter of adjusting to the different personalities. Eventually you learn that those different personalities are what makes things so much more interesting and fun (even when we are pissed off and struggling).

The next raid, Tomb of Sargeras, is about to open and the next patch (7.2.5) will be hitting live servers soon and I am excited! This new team is ready to face this exciting and lore filled content and soon we will destroy Kil’jaeden, just as we destroy Gul’dan.

FOR AZEROTH! FOR VARIAN!!

duke-nukem-sm 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 Official Trailer for WoW: Legion 7.2 Patch

The upcoming WoW: Legion 7.2 Patch trailer is officially released. The live date for the 7.2 patch will be March 28th (next Tuesday). This does not mean that the next raid, Tomb of Sargeras, will be available so there is still time to get those Normal/Heroic Gul’dan kills. You will also still have time to get your “Ahead of the Curve” achievements for Trial of Valor and Nighthold (which goes away upon the release of the Tomb of Sargeras raid).

In any event, here is the trailer:

TBT: WoW 12 Years! And Great Times!

huolon_mountSo this issue of TBT (err, Fallback Friday? yes, I’m late) is going to appeal to a much different group of folks. If you follow any of Blizzard’s games then you know this week they are celebrating World of Warcraft’s 12th anniversary. People who don’t follow the gaming industry are probably shocked that a game is still thriving after 12 years. The funny thing is, that’s really not all that inconceivable. Final Fantasy will be releasing their 15th iteration of their franchise which began back in 1987. So WoW is a youngster by comparison but, if you will allow me a small pun, WoW 12 years!

It’s not a secret to my gaming friends that I have been playing this game for a long time, however, I have not been playing the entire 12 years. Actually I didn’t start playing until about the fall of 2005 when a friend convinced me to give it a shot. The first character I ever created was a male Night Elf Hunter named Discretus. Around February of 2006 I took a break from WoW until about June of the same year. I discovered that several of my co-workers also played so I created a Human Paladin on Alleria named Anthonius. I still play that paladin to this day. I didn’t forget about Discretus, however, that toon isn’t a male Night Elf anymore. After a few server transfers and a “Bruce Jenner” transformation, that character has become a female Draenai.

Gaming Friends are Real Friends Too

Neither of my two original toons go by those specific names anymore, however my gaming friends still address me by the moniker “Anth”. So who are these gaming friends, you might ask. Yes, most of them I have never met in person, but physical location isn’t required to create and maintain friendships. In fact I believe I have covered that very concept before. We all live in different parts of the continent, with different jobs and believe different things. Be that as it may, World of Warcraft is now just one thing we all have in common.

We were all part of a guild for seven years. When the realm population became meager, most of us transferred to a new server, with a higher population. A couple of us still raid together on the same team in a new guild, but all of us still keep in touch. Social media, chat clients and Discord allow us to still chat with each other. So over the twelve years Blizzard has provided us all with something more than mere recreation. It has forged unforgettable friends.

/cheers

TBT is one of those crazy Facebook trends. It stands for “ThrowBack Thursday” and often times people post pictures. I know the old adage “A picture is worth 1,000 words” but most of the time the pictures I want to post have a great story behind them. In my traditional nerdy fashion, instead of just a picture I want to provide a blog post for my TBT moments to share those great stories. I will not share stories in which the context will embarrass or incriminate myself or my friends and family.

Blizzard Has Marginalized Professions

Blizzard Has Marginalized ProfessionsIsn’t it ironic that after talking about the trials and tribulations of leveling professions in Legion I’m now discussing how Blizzard has marginalized professions? Perhaps more people were dissatisfied with having to always gem and enchant their gear thus why Blizzard made such dramatic changes to professions. I’ll be honest, I actually miss putting gems in my gear and enchanting my weapon. In fact the latter really bums me out because I think some enchants on our artifact weapon would look amazing!

Actually how marginalized professions has become really bums me out. I always feel like leveling your professions was all part of the leveling experience. It’s one of those tertiary tasks you can do for those times you want to be in-game, but not really in the mood to quest. Granted Blizzard hasn’t removed just lackadaisically crafting at the kiln, but now crafted items are less meaningful. This is especially true for Jewelcrafting and Inscription.

Jewelcrafting, Inscription. Gone!

Job's DoneWell, not really, but if your profession is jewelcrafting and/or inscription, you are probably in the worst position. There are 16 gear slots (excluding the shirt) and, between two level 110 characters, I think I have a gem slot on one item. I’m not suggesting that a gem slot needs to be on every piece of gear again, but it might be nice to see more it than *3.125% of the time. Inscription is mostly cosmetic. Your target market are people who  like to change their shadow form or their ghoul’s appearance. The only way to make a profit using a profession is to complete the Obliterum quest chain and destroy everything you make and sell the obliterum.

Since you can use obliterum to increase item level, the traditional crafting professions (i.e. Leatherworking, Tailoring, & Blacksmithing) still have merit. You can make improvements on the higher level crafted items by using obliterum to increase their level up to 855. Enchanting is probably the only viable profession for progressing in the end game and turning a profit. As players acquire new gear from Mythic dungeons, raids or World Quests some of those items will need enchants.

I hope Blizzard is working on some big changes for professions. I would like to see them play a bigger role again. It doesn’t necessarily have to be as large of a role as it was back in Wrath of the Lich King. I’m not expecting a significant change during Legion but hopefully something clever and innovative in the next expansion. Until then mounts and pets seem to be the only real reason people even level professions.

/cheers

*  16 slots per toon * 2 toons = 32; 1/32 = 3.125%

duke-nukem-smIf 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

War of the AncientsWhen 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”!

duke-nukem-smIf 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

Burning Legion is Invading

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

Demon HuntersSo 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.

duke-nukem-smIf zombies attack the world, everyone will run and hide. Except for us gamers, of course. We’ve been waiting for this all our lives!

 

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