A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: World of Warcraft Page 9 of 22

The MMO Times: A Bloody Fortnight!

x-wing.0Issue #134: I intentionally went an extra week between issues. The gaming news has been a little slow and mired by all the political nonsense and cool tech releases of the IRL news. I didn’t want to scrounge for moot headlines just to post something weekly so hopefully I haven’t failed you by waiting just a little longer to bring you interesting news. Blizzard has been especially quiet lately, which means they are trying to hold out until BlizzCon (although I stewie_madwouldn’t be surprised if they let a few tidbits “slip” out).

Meanwhile the Star Wars Battlefront beta has begun for PS4, XBox One and PC. I have been hearing some pretty good feedback about the game (despite what “certain trolls” think *cough*Tommy*cough*). I have it installed on my PC at the moment but I haven’t had an opportunity to log in yet. I’ve heard it’s essentially Star Wars Counterstrike but that’s how it was advertised. If you  have been trying it out I would like to know your thoughts (even if they happen to align with Tommy’s 😉 ) I also read that over nine million people have played the beta setting an EA record!

Speaking of Battlefront, there are a couple of new details about that game in the headlines below; and news about crafting in Star Wars The Old Republic. I had to post something regarding Rocket League because its new car pack is pretty cool (in a 1980’s-cult-classic kind of way). Blizzard has released the schedule for BlizzCon and there is something, finally, about the Overwatch beta, although it’s probably not as much as you hoped. Oh and MOAR PEPE!! KCGO

The MMO Times: Prepare for Kylo Ren

Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens-Kylo-RenIssue 133: Welcome to the start of the fourth quarter of the year. Just think, in 3 months time it will be 2016 (and we will all be regaling about The Force Awakens and how awesome Kylo Ren is). First, before we are fully immersed in the extraordinary Star Wars universe, we must first have BlizzCon. Unfortunately that also is still a few weeks away, but the road to BlizzCon has begun. Don’t forget to get your tickets and pick up your goodie bag!

The road to BlizzCon, however, is not yet paved with headlines. In fact this posting is later than normal as there wasn’t a lot showing up in my feeds that really warranted a spotlight. Neverwinter does make the list again because R. A. Salvatore (one of my favorite fantasy authors) is apparently involved with the development of this game. WildStar’s F2P patch finally launches. Blizzard makes paid character services a little less cumbersome. So there are a few goodies in here. KCGO.

The MMO Times: The DayStar Returns!

Daystar Burns Us!

Issue 129: The DAYSTAR Burns Us!! Just when you started to get a taste for mild temperatures, the DAYSTAR brings back the heat! (Well, that’s the case at my location, at least). Be that as it may, hot and muggy temperatures makes for great conditions to stay indoors and game! There isn’t to much going on. PAX Prime just ended and DragonCon is up next (starting on September 4th) down in Atlanta. 

There is some expansion talk in this issue and, believe it or not, it isn’t about WoW’s expansion. Guild Wars 2 and Destiny have some details regarding their respective expansions. Also, don’t forget, for you WoW players, that patch 6.2.2 went live this week and flying should now be enabled in Draenor (for those that completed the Pathfinder achievement). A StarCraft 2 announcement about … an announcement? Star Wars Battlefront news, and a few other things. The gaming news is a little slow lately. I think all the major stuff is kind of out there already now that we have had so many big conferences recently. The build-up to BlizzCon is next 🙂
KCGO

The MMO Times: The Calm After the Legion

sw-tfa-teaserIssue 126: Holy Cow, that was a crazy Gamescom! I think Blizzard definitely stole the show but everyone knew it was going to happen, which is why I think so many other companies had a lot of their own products to talk about. The increase in interest gave them the perfect arena to market their games too. There will be some residual posts below from the final couple of days of Gamescom, but for the most part I tried to keep it to news more immediately published.

I will try to limit the Legion talk as I’m sure there will be plenty of it in the coming weeks (especially as Blizzcon draws near). In fact I actually threw in some Rise of the Tombraider because it has some new footage really worth checking out. There is also Diablo III patch news, WildStar beta news, Heroes of the Storm latest PTR status and more. So take a break from trying to find that perfect Demon Hunter name and check out these great headlines. KCGO

Gaming: What’s In A Name?

illidan-legionIf you are a gamer, especially an MMO gamer, you are all too familiar with the ultimate conundrum, what to name a new character. The recent announcement of the new World of Warcraft expansion and the new demon hunter hero class has placed me in that conundrum once again. Personally, the name is very important and vital to how much I enjoy playing the character. I have deleted max level characters before because I just didn’t like the name (this was before we had the paid rename service). The name has to sound cool in my head, on paper, and match not only the look of the character but the class of that character.

When I am coming up with a name I have a variety of techniques and philosophies that I adhere to. In fact, while I am not a role play gamer, I still follow the basic role playing rules of character names. In other words, I refuse to give a character a name that consists of words strung together (ex: Facemelter, Imatank, Healsalot, etc). I hate that. If other people want to do it, that’s fine, but I find that kind of naming unimaginative. The only time I have ever created a character with a name like that was a character I never intended to keep (such as creating a Recruit-A-Friend character when I’m my own friend).

I do like to reference other geek canon, novels or literature when I choose a name. I have numerous characters across a couple of games where I will reuse some obscure Star Wars character (unless I’m playing a Star Wars game, then I try to pick something that fits that universe). Although some of my favorite names are ones that I have come up with that are not “lovingly ripped off” from some other fantasy universe. Sometimes I will pick a name from a recent book series I read or currently reading (such as Game of Thrones) if they contain names that seem unique enough. In the past I rarely had any problems getting the name I wanted but when I transferred to a higher population server, I’m finding it more difficult to find a name that isn’t already taken and thus I have to get more creative.

I have literally spent hours scouring the Internet looking up Star Wars characters, elvish language translations, Japanese translations trying to find that perfect name or inspiration to create the perfect name. Legion has put me back into the search as I try to find a name reserve for the demon hunter I intend to make.

Yes, yes, first world [gamer] problems …

How do you pick your character names?

/cheers

minions_icon

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

 

WoW: Legion First Impressions

warcraft-legionWell I think Blizzard definitely made it a very epic Gamescom; it probably hasn’t been this epic in years! I’ll be honest, I was nervous waiting for the announcement because Blizzard has been going so many different directions with new games while trying to continue developing interesting content for their flagship product. I know that WoW has lost its luster for many gamers who have played since Vanilla. In fact the last couple of expansions have even had me waning because I struggled with the story.

I feel like Legion has changed that for me. Initially I am feeling just as excited for the expansion as I was for Lich King (which was my favorite expansion). I have been waiting for the Demon Hunter since the Death Knight and its the first time ever that I am actually thinking about changing my main. ashbringer-8lhH9GArtifact weapons might be the reason that I don’t change my main. Playing a paladin (that is currently Retribution) means that Ashbringer would be my artifact weapon, and for someone that has been playing a paladin for years, that makes me very happy. A demon hunter tank sounds so awesome though and we all know that the demon hunter artifact weapon will probably be warglaives! What to do. What to do.

The Emerald Nightmare as a raid is also really exciting and means that I will be working hard to make sure I am ready to hit raiding again (and hopefully not just LFR *wink wink*).

demon_hunter_by_anni_lee-d3h0u59I am going to miss my garrison but Champions and Class Halls are the next logical step from followers and garrisons – sort of (though I am still a little disappointed that we don’t have player housing yet). I like the concept of champions playing a more integral role in your adventures, instead of just your pawns to do bitch work.

I don’t think the press event had been over for 5 minutes when I already saw people tweeting that Blizzard is “rehashing content” again but I disagree. Yes we will be using Dalaran again (which I think is great because I love that city) and we will see Violet Hold again but beyond that its all new. The Broken Isle is from Warcraft 3 and has never been in any of WoW so I don’t understand how that is “rehashing” when we have never been there (unless you played Warcraft 3).

I think Blizzard has stopped creating MMO content for the MMO gamer (a long time ago) and has been working on creating content for the people that enjoy the lore. They want people to be immersed into the content because of the story and the characters, not because its challenging. I agree that for certain games challenging is fun, but that’s not the point of this game anymore. It’s a community now. It’s a continuous story. Those are the new ingredients for a fun World of Warcraft experience.

doomhammer_by_wolfgan-d5dzgc7One person commented that they were hoping that Blizzard would have come up with a different mechanic for leveling, other than just increasing it another 10 levels. I think they make an interesting point. Will each expansion just continue increasing the level cap ad nauseam? It will eventually feel too daunting to start a new character.

Granted I am still coming off the high of the unveiling and perhaps after I have digested everything and read up a little more, maybe my impressions will change. They may not necessarily become more negative. In fact they could become more positive. I just wanted to get my thoughts out there early, while everyone else is still digesting everything too.

I want to know what your impressions are (if you watched the press event).

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