Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: Gaming Page 6 of 28

RTotD: Finally Killed the Filthy Punk

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On April 3, 2018

In Gaming, World of Warcraft

This isn’t really a true “Random Thought of the Day” since I am posting this to celebrate victory. After several grueling weeks of banging our heads against the wall, we finally killed Heroic Argus. It is the final “Ahead of the Curve” (AOTC) achievement available for this expansion. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the “Ahead of the Curve” achievement; it involves killing the final boss of the current tier on Heroic difficulty before the release of the next tier (or expansion, in this case). It is no easy feat (unless you are a Mythic raider).

We Got Them All

This AOTC achievement is especially important to the Humpday Heroes raid team. This is not our first; in fact we have all of the AOTC achievements from this expansion. This is also very exciting for myself as I have never done any kind of Heroic raid content in the past (unless you count 25-man and/or hard-mode). These were my first “Ahead of the Curve” achievements. I am beyond thrilled to be apart of this team.

Click to enlarge

Also, the Violet Spellwing mount looks amazing! I can’t wait to get it for the rest of the team members that couldn’t be there last night. We have a lockout saved so we will get you in there to get yours!

And now … ON TO BfA!!!

FOR THE ALLIANCE!

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!

 

WoW: Legion Expansion Final Thoughts

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On March 26, 2018

In Gaming, World of Warcraft

Legion Expansion Final ThoughtsThe sixth World of Warcraft expansion is in its final months, so lets review the past year. I’m going to cover the various new mechanics of the game, the goals I have planned before Battle for Azeroth, as well as my thoughts on the raiding and the storyline. To start off my Legion expansion final thoughts, I’ll simply say I really enjoyed this expansion. I think the story is just as interesting as it was for Wrath of the Lich King. The Legion has been an indefatigable foe for Azeroth for decades. It’s really cool to be apart of the final chapter (“if” it’s the final chapter).

The raiding content, I felt, was pretty epic. I really had fun taking down Xavius, Gul’dan, Kil’Jaeden and ultimately Argus himself. Blizzard devs deserve some mad props for some pretty fun and challenging new fight mechanics. This is also my first expansion participating in Heroic raid content. I have never gotten an Ahead of the Curve achievement before! The Humpday Heroes CTR raid team on Aerie Peak are a fantastic group of guys and gals! I’d say, with the exception of the Coven of Shivarra fight **, the heroic content was just the right amount of challenging.

** Next time Blizzard, let’s tweak that RNG algorithm on fights like Heroic Coven of Shivarra to be a little less random and a little more deliberate.

My Legion Expansion Goals

Beyond achieving Ahead of the Curve (which my raid team is 1 boss away from accomplishing) I have quite an ambitious list of goals to try to finish before Battle for Azeroth goes live. I feel like there is more I want to do at the end of this expansion that any other expansion. After hitting max level, the list of things to do are seemingly endless. Every class has a mount to unlock and an Order Hall campaign which awards titles and gear. Every spec has an artifact weapon campaign and 75 points to unlock in artifact power.

Of course, that makes leveling alts quite a daunting task, especially for an “alt-aholic” like myself. I have been working to complete the Order Hall quests, unlock all Class mounts for every class and acquire at least one hidden artifact weapon appearance. I am keeping track of my progress:

Class Order Hall Hidden Appearance Class Mount
Paladin
Priest
Demon Hunter
Hunter
Death Knight
Druid
Shaman
Warlock
Mage
Rogue
Monk
Warrior

Unlocking the Class mount is probably the most arduous of the tasks, especially trying to grind out the 50 Marks of the Sentinax. It borders on insanity and masochistic. There are still a few exploration and collection achievements I’m trying to finish, as well a few more mounts to farm. It should be enough to keep me busy until the release of Battle for Azeroth.

Review of Order Halls

I know I was in the minority when I said I liked the Garrison from Warlords of Draenor. In fact I wasn’t even convinced that I was going to like Order Halls because I felt they were a step back from Garrisons. Blizzard successfully proved to me that Order Halls are fun; the quest campaign really improved my impression of Order Halls. I have unlocked the Order Hall for every class and I think my favorite is the Shaman Order Hall. I do really like the locations of the Paladin and Rogue Order Hall; the Warlock Order Hall seems to be the most confusing.

I’m glad they continued with the followers/champions. Having a pocket tank to level with is very helpful. I believe they are continuing this mechanic in Battle for Azeroth.

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Biggs Zone – 2017 Year in Review

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On January 2, 2018

In General Cogitation, Year in Review

I rather enjoyed writing a post reviewing 2016 so here we are again, doing a 2017 year in review. Everyone was ready to get 2016 over with because we just lost too many beloved celebrities. While 2017 also took more, it didn’t feel as though it was happening daily (more on this later). Again, I will cover NO political or hot topics, that’s not what I write about here.

Celebrities to Whom We Said ‘Good Bye’

This year it was the music industry that suffered some of the greatest tragic deaths. As a child of the 80s and 90s it was awful to hear about the passing of Tom Petty and Malcolm Young (from AC/DC). Full Moon Fever was the first cassette tape I ever bought for myself which contained Free Fallin’, one of my all time favorite Tom Petty songs. As a Country music fan, I was sad to hear about the passing of Glen Campbell; however I don’t it was as devastating as hearing about the accident that took Troy Gentry. Montgomery Gentry has some of my favorite songs and it just won’t be the same without Troy.

We lost some great names in the Movie and Entertainment industry. The biggest names that probably stand out are Hugh Hefner, Jerry Lewis and Adam West. It was awful to lose the Mayor of Quahog and the old school Batman (and a better one than Ben Affleck). Some of the lesser known, but iconic celebrities we lost this year are John Heard – the father of Home Alone, Stephen Furst – famous for the movie the Dream Team, and Peter Sallis – the voice of Wallace from Wallace and Gromit. We also had to say good-bye to the amazing talents of Mary Tyler Moore, Bill Paxton and Roger Moore (probably my favorite James Bond actor).

2017 Year in Review: Gaming

Blizzard/Activision was the big name in gaming in 2017 with the end of the current World of Warcraft expansion and the release of Destiny 2. The Destiny 2 release was probably one of the most anticipated release of the year. Console players were lucky to meet the guardian’s early while PC gamers had to wait until October. It was quite the obsession for me, until the first DLC came out and asked for another $20 from me. I haven’t played it since that time.

I’ve had a fantastic year in the Warcraft expansion. I think, not only is this the best expansion since Wrath of the Lich King, but I’ve had an awesome time with my new raid team. We have cleared all normal and heroic difficulties in time to receive the “Ahead of the Curve” achievement. We are already working through the final raid on heroic difficulty.

Blizzcon met everyone’s expectations by revealing the next WoW expansion: Battle for Azeroth. I’m not entirely sure the name of the expansion was received well. Many are on the fence about it, including myself. The content of the expansion seems a bit lackluster. I am excited to be visiting Jaina’s homeworld and the Allied Races seems interesting but I feel like it’s lacking more player content. We’ve had garrisons and order halls and then nothing. I feel like there needs to be another evolution of that system. Perhaps more will be revealed as the launch approaches.

2017 Year in Review: Star Wars

I only saw one movie in the theater this year; the only movie worth seeing: The Last Jedi. Since 2017 was the 40th anniversary of the Star Wars franchise I decided to make that a topic instead of movies. Click here to check out my review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I was, at first, alarmed the movie’s audience rating was so low. Then I discover it was just some trolls creating multiple accounts on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes to drive down the audience rating. It didn’t work, the movie is still insanely profitable. HAH!

I cannot believe it has been 40 years for the Star Wars movie franchise. Thanks to Disney, J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson it is still going strong. 2017 was a good year for Star Wars fans, like myself. There were quite a lot of promotions going on all year for the anniversary. One promotion that I found very interesting was the Rule the Galaxy Virtual 5K. There is an organization called the Virtual Running Club where you can register and complete a 5K anywhere you want. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a limited edition medal for completing a 40th Anniversary, Star Wars themed 5K (click the image to see a larger view of the medal).

2017 Walk to Mordor

On the note of 5K races and running, I completed the Walk to Mordor challenge, again! I, honestly, do not remember exactly when this year but I want to say it was much sooner than the year prior. My ultimate goal is to be able to complete the second leg of this challenge which adds another 1600 miles. It’s going to be a stretch goal and one, I doubt, I will achieve in 2018. However, if I keep finishing the base challenge earlier than the previous year, I’m sure to get there eventually. Perhaps 2020 will be my target year for completing the extra distance.

I think I am going to end my 2017 wrap-up here. Overall it was a pretty good year and I’m looking forward to what 2018 has in store.

/cheers

minions_icon

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

 

WoW: Legion Expansion – Blizzard Gets It Right Again

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On June 8, 2017

In Gaming, MMORPG, World of Warcraft

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

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On March 23, 2017

In Gaming, World of Warcraft

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:

Biggs Zone – 2016 Year in Review

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On January 3, 2017

In General Cogitation

2016 Year in ReviewAnother year is over and we now look forward to a fresh start in 2017. As we prepare our resolutions or intentions or what have you, let’s reflect back with a 2016 year in review. By the way, there will be NO politics or political hot topics/agendas in this post.

I hate to start on a somber note but I would rather get the depressing stuff out of the way first. We lost some amazing celebrity icons this year. One of our favorite TV dads, Alan Thicke (“Growing Pains”), and our favorite TV mom, Florence Henderson (“The Brady Bunch”) both passed away this year. We lost our faithful Shepard on the Serenity, Ron Glass (“Firefly”). Some of the biggest icons in sports history, American history, and geek canon also passed away. These people include John Glenn, Nancy Reagan, Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Gene Wilder, Alan Rickman (“Snape”), and David Bowie. Star Wars and Star Trek both suffered tragic losses when our beloved Kenny Baker, known eternally as “R2-D2”, and Anton Yelchin, our modern day “Chekov” passed away.

2016 Year in Review

RIP Princess Leia

The hardest loss the Star Wars community suffered happened while writing this post. Our most beloved Princess and General, Carrie Fisher, passed away at 60 after suffering a major heart attack. I am beside myself after losing yet another one of my favorite actors. I send my thoughts and prayers to her family. MTFBWY, Princess Leia!

Thank you for enriching our lives with your gifts and Rest In Peace.

Ok, enough sad talk. Let’s move on to the brighter things of 2016.

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