The Home Stretch

Two more days of dailies at the Argent Tournament and I will be done with all of the races. Not sure why it matters but it's something I want to do. I will be glad when that grind is done though.

Still have a lot of dailies to do for a Silver Covenant mount. Not sure I'll be done before Cataclysm hits. Sure, I could do the math and know for sure, but chances are I'll just do a few more after the expansion launches...someday...if I need to.

Also started to seriously farm the last of the whelplings that I need.

Have a little over 4k gold. It's not much by today's standards, but it's a lot for me. My attempt to play the market didn't go so well. I might try again after Cataclysm opens up, the market will be much more lively.

Think I might do some more dungeons and see if I can upgrade any more of my gear before I jump into leveling again.

Soon, we will be bidding Northrend farewell...and I for one will be glad to leave it behind me.

Goals Before the Cataclysm

Nothing special, really. Will continue argent tournament dailies until they sicken me or I get a mount...or something.

There's a few vanilla dungeons I could still do for achievements. I accidentally completed Stratholme last night while I was trying to farm Pristine Black Diamonds. Thought I could get a few sell them to the insane title farmers who still have a chance at the achievement before Blizzard removes it. Didn't get any diamonds, but got the Stratholme achievement. At least that's something.

Gonna try to do all of the Cataclysm pre-event quests. Should be pretty easy, Blizzard wants everyone to have a chance at them.

That's about it, I guess. Might do some more 5-mans, but I'm not trying to complete every instance. Could happen, I suppose but I'll have to work a little harder to get groups for the lesser Wrath 5-mans.

Not sure if I'm going to buy a Cataclysm box on launch day or not. I do know that I want a box though. I can wait a few days if I have to.

Argent Tournament Status

I'm almost done here. I have about four days left of jousting and I'll have the last racial leg done. I'm already exalted with the factions associated with it. I might do some more dailies for the seals. I'd like to get at least one of the mounts. Don't think I'll be getting both of them, that's a lot time involved. As it is, I'm not certain I'll be finishing the seals requirement for even one of the mounts before Cataclysm drops. But it's a goal.

Cataclysm Pre-Event

Well, it's started. No, not the pre-event, but the whining about it. Didn't take long at all. Right now people are complaining that the event is too slow, not enough invaders.

Can't wait for phase four. The whining will epic.

Back in the Saddle Again

Been away for awhile. Had to cancel my subscription because we moved and I wanted to play it safe with the finances. Anyway, lots to catch up on. I've been paying attention to the blogosphere and Cataclysm news. The next few posts will be late to the party but up-to-date news isn't what this blog is about. It's just about my own experiences and thoughts, a journal of sorts. Something that I can return to and browse through on occasion to see how my gaming style has evolved (or devolved) and to see how my thoughts may have changed.

I would like to point out that I wasn't able to simply log in and pay up. There was an issue of some sort with my account and I wound up sending an email to Blizzard Support. But before that I went so far as to make a compromised account claim. Because, hey, you can never be too careful. Anyway, I wasn't hacked and I got a response from support within a day or two. They had to reset my authenticator I guess. Don't know anything about that, but after I read the email I was able to resubscribe and start playing again. Whew!

So, here I am. I'll have another post or two up today if all goes well.

The Collector's Market (World of Warcraft vs. Farmville)

These past weeks I have been unable to play World of Warcraft. Mostly due to a change of address, but also due to some financial issues. Mostly, I am just taking things slow and easy financially, just being safe. Just in case our numbers were wrong.

Anyway, I am currently re-immersed in Farmville and other Facebook games. Because they are free. Also, I like them.

I have also been keeping up with the Cataclysm news. And sort of scratching my head over it. When you break it down, the expansion is just more of the same. Some old stuff gets a fresh coat of paint while other stuff makes old ideas more "modern", or easier.

I think that Blizzard is missing the boat on the collector's market in-game though. Sure, they've dabbled a little here and there with the trading card game with it's exclusive pets and items and the Blizzard Store has been a hit, but they could do so much more in the collectible area...in game.

Pets and some gear are about the only things players can reasonably "collect". The problem though is that the pets are now treated like spells. There is no way of showing off more than one or two at a time. And gear must be equipped or linked to "show off".

Now, more than ever, Blizzard needs to incorporate a part of the game for showcasing collections. Housing has been a hit and miss venture in MMOs, but Farmville has take in-game collecting to wondrous heights. Not only can you "collect" awards for mastering crops, but you also get to collect rare and exotic animals and trees. Other collectibles include thematic buildings and decorations. Many functional buildings have to be "built" from the ground up via gifts from friends and neighbors. Some of the buildings "interact" with certain animals to produce adults or babies.

Blizzard really should take the time to implement an instanced mechanic for players to interact with on the scale of Farmville. I've touched on this before and I really think players would like it. Sure some players do not want a "World of Farmcraft", but millions of Farmville players seem to say otherwise. They are constantly demanding more stuff to buy with real money and the opportunity to expand their farms.

For World of Warcraft, this instanced mechanic would have to work like a seperate solo game within the meta world. But with a proper social network in place, the "solo" game would still require a lot of assistance from other players.

Want to build a keep? Your in-game characters might have to go out and kill stuff to find materials and resources. Some of the materials and resources might be profession-specific, that means more activity at the auction house. The Blizzard Store would be awash with "sparkly" items for the farm and home while slightly less eye-popping items would be available throughout the game via quests, boss/mob kills, random world drops, and reputation rewards. And what about in-game vendor shops? Load them up with basic "stuff" to get the collection spirit rolling. Maybe offer some odd high-end tidbits at exorbitant gold prices.

World of Warcraft is not just in need of more quests and monsters and exotic locals, the game also needs something fundamentally different and engaging.

Is The Game Too Fast?

This is another one that was initially a comment I left at Pink Pigtail Inn. Not sure if it actually posted though, I got 404 error. So, at least I know for sure it is here.

I don't mind the perks, I suppose, but I have to wonder: with all the issues about players consuming content too fast, why on earth would you allow them to do it faster still?

A nice corpse run makes the content last a little longer before burnout.

It boggles me that Blizzard's greatest issue is the speed of content consumption, yet the content continues to go by faster and faster.

They continue to add flight paths, increase mount speeds, navigate the maps more easily, lift death penalties, add portals...

Holy cow!

It does not matter how much content they add every two years, so long as the game goes by more quickly, the world will feel smaller and less substantial.

Allowing some of these things to affect veteran players who have played through on one or two characters seems fair: faster leveling and heirlooms are a nice touch for them, but maybe they are going too far with this stuff.