Old Servers and "New Players"

For as long as I have played World of Warcraft I have stayed primarily on one server. Lets be frank here, my server is OLD, it was one of the second set of servers released and over the years has reached max population several times. In an attempt to keep things from stagnating Blizzard has used several techniques to mix things up. Offering free realm transfers OFF the server was a popular one for quite a while. There was even a time when they threatened to dissolve the server entirely and send everyone to two entirely new servers unless we got the population down.  They finally have managed to get enough old players to leave try a new tactic.

This past patch our server became open to "New Players" with hysterical results. Apparently to a great many people "New Player" servers means "New Server". So with out doing any research before hand a couple of guilds decide to server transfer. Their intention was to come to this "New Server" and gather up all the "Server Firsts".  Now progression on our server has juggled around over the years with the top guilds sliding around from first, second or third place. The players IN those guilds all tend to be the same, it just may be the guilds themselves that change. Needless to say these new guilds were met with mockery.

When Blizzard opened up the server to new players the effect on some of these old guilds was rather interesting. One decided to transfer off. Another closed up shop, stating they were all going to go play SWTOR. A couple of the others are attempting to pick up the pieces. Over all it feels like a ship that is sinking and the rats are fleeing.  Activity on the server forums is almost nil, the vast majority being farewells rather than recruitment's. The general feeling seems to be that if the server is marked as "New Player" then there is no way anyone will be able to find quality recruits with out having to expend a tremendous amount of effort. Effort few feel they should have to put forth this late in a game.

Old servers have some advantages. All the content is already available to you. Sunwell, AQ, etc. However few people really care about that unless they are after transmogrification gear, mounts or reputations. There also seems to be a whole lot more level 25 guilds on our server. Yet it is like having a bunch of toddlers show up at a retirement home. Some find the little ones amusing while others just want them to get off their lawn and stop making so much noise!

We have considered server transferring as a guild. The reason had more to do with our connection than anything else.  The vast majority of our members are located on the east coast or mid west so getting a server there would be helpful. The problem is that the guild has just grown so large no one feels comfortable forcing a transfer. That and the expense. Numerous of our members have five or more alts so unless Blizzard offered free transfers there is really no way they could stay.  So for the moment we are stuck bailing water and attempting to plug the holes.

Divided Loyalties

Jobs for immortals are seldom favorites. Things just seem to get complicated. It was so simple at the on set and something I'd enjoy doing anyway, snatch a decoder ring from a pocket? Child's play! Leave it to dragons to underestimate their opponents or to fail to understand the allegiances of their hirelings.  Who knew my loyalties would so quickly come under question? Not by the individuals who originally hired me but by myself? 

The cipher I was given to decode was of a type I had never seen before as a scribe, but that wasn't really a problem. One thing I had discovered over the years was to build contacts and the Ethereal's would do just about anything for the right price. Thankfully a group had recently set up shop near the canals in Stormwind, saving me the cost of a trip to Outland.  I just needed to patiently await a translation, considering the condition of the sample wasn't the greatest. Not a surprise since dragons tend to roast first, ask questions later.

I admit I wasn't shocked to see Ravenholdt's name. The manor was once the home of a certain Lord Daval Prestor so ties with the Black Dragon flight were nothing new.  The question was who had brokered this deal, my uncle Jorach? He had grown rather reclusive.  Or was my cousin Fahrad finally stepping up and taking a more active role?  It had been a long time since I had made a trip back to my birth place, and this certainly was not the way I expected to do it. What I found interesting was the fact that the Red Dragon flight seemed completely oblivious to the ties the Blacks have to humans...were they blind? However if they weren't asking I wasn't going to volunteer information.

My traveling companion did not help matters. Why employ me to do a job and then dictate how I do it?  Even worse to stand there and insult your employee TO THEIR FACE! Thieves? Bandits?  I am a professional Thank you very much! Your Allies could have told you that Ravenholdt was more than a simple motley band hiding in Hillsbrad if you'd lowered yourselves to ask. The very fact that they spirited away your precious egg should have displayed that to you. But no, rather than ASK anyone you bumble around make grand announcements about torching places. We petty "short lifers" know more about your precious egg than you realize.

What self respecting rogue enters from the FRONT? Even the Tauren Chieftains know we do everything "from behind"! My irritation was making it difficult to concentrate. If it had been left to me I would have entered the Manor via the narrow ravine between the Hinterlands and Hillsbrad rather than attempt to go in via the well guarded front tunnel. However Mostrasz made it clear he was "guiding" this show...what did he know about how to do my job? Nothing it would soon transpire.

As soon as I entered my former bedroom dormer it was clear things were not going to go as Mostrasz planed. The smell of sulfur permeated the air. Now while Zan's engineering projects occasionally backfired and caused smoke, he worked in the basement for a reason. To keep his smells contained. The only way for the entire manor to reek like it did was if one of two things had occurred: the egg either had been destroyed or hatched. Dragon eggs are not like bird eggs, when they hatch they explode, jettisoning fire every where. That would mean for safety sake the egg would have to have been housed in Zan's steel and stone workshop.

Slipping down the stairs revealed a quiet and orderly interior. Members of the household were still very much on guard which lead me to the conclusion there must be something they felt they had to protect. It was nothing to time a silent drop to the cellar stairs, Mostrasz mutters buzzing in my head, there my suspicions were confirmed. The egg remnants were scatters across the floor, it had indeed hatched, but where was its former occupant?

That question was quickly answered by Prince Wrathion himself, with a style is uniquely his. Yes, he certainly is a Black Dragon, yet he reminds me a little of the Tolvar. I was shocked to discover rather than a welpling he was closer to the size of Prince Anduin. The kid payed attention while in that egg of his. He knows what is at stake both for the world and for him personally but refuses to be nothing more than a dagger in another's hand. HE will control his fate, if he is to be his father's heir then he will take up the reins NOW.  Rather a different approach than that of another Prince I know.

I admit I was rather pleased with Fahrad's dealing with Mostrasz...for a dragon he was arrogant and whiny...a strange combination.  But then there are are not a great many dragons I have actually liked truth be told. Respected yes, as powerful beings, but actually LIKED on a personal level? Not so much. Prince Wrathion may end up one of the few. The kid has something...Guts for sure. He certainly has won over Fahrad, though I am sure the idea of being able to do something besides hanging around the manor keeping up the business for my Uncle doesn't hurt.

The problem with Dragons, Black dragons especially is that they can be so blasted CHARMING....and this one is a KID. It is like some kind of hard luck story come to life, certainly the type to grab a rogue's attention. Jobs like this make my fingers itch. An employer who offers you a job that is a true CHALLENGE? One that respects your skills enough to not dictate HOW you should achieve the goal only that you do? Oh yum...Even better when he rewards you with things you can actually USE, rather than junk.  Sure he gave me a trigger happy baby sitter but hey, I can live with that.

Kaitou gave me a rather knowing look when I asked him if he had any updated maps of Gilneas.  The two of us were soon talking routes with him favoring a land assault and I preferring heading in via the water.  The information we had on Creed was sketchy at best. I could only hope Wrathion's man Zazzo had more updated reconnaissance.

Zazzo was about what I expected from a gnome mage. High strung, timid and not overly fond of rogues....however when he blithely informed me that I was the 12th assassin sent to take out Creed I was also sure that he has issues with counting, by this time I am sure the number is MUCH higher.

Gilneas was miserable. Overcast, rainy, with a pervading gloom. One would think I would love all the cover but this was a city of "dogs" and I don't mean the Worgen. Even before the curse the Gilnean's were know for their Mastiff hunters and I have seen how since the curse their sensitivity had become heightened.  Slipping into this highly patrolled ruin would not be easy. After doing a little bit of scouting I decide on the water route, swimming in along the docks, then slipping up the stairs, jumping down into the canal, before making my way across the inner courtyard to a tower close to Creed. There I stopped to dry off, eat and observe my target.

The court yard where Creed was presiding still bore evidence of Gilneas' internal struggles. Stocks, guillotines, hitching posts as well as decaying corpses litter the area. In my mind's eye I made a mental map of each obstacle, each obstruction, it could mean the difference between failure and success. My preference is always for as quick a kill as possible.

Fighting immortals one on one is always a challenge. Partially because death is a foreign concept to them. Even as their last breath passes from their lips they can not conceive it is truly happening.  For those of us to whom death is a constant companion, the dance for one more breath pushes us to focus, lest our short lives end even sooner.  The advantage Immortals have is they have the opportunity to learn a great deal more than I could ever hope to in my short life span. The only true advantage I have is that most often they are so arrogant in their immortality they give me openings I could never dare. So it proved with Creed, while he might have been a dragon, he still fell to two good old fashion blades.

I had to laugh to myself at Fahrad's comment on my success. What rogue ANNOUNCES their attack? I might be married to a Paladin but I don't fight like one. Of course I took Creed unawares...that is what we DO.  My guess is that Fahrad would have preferred to have been allowed to go after Creed himself, rather than staying locked down at the Manor protecting Wrathion. My poor cousin, your circumstances have little altered. Once more you must watch me ride away from a place that is no longer my home while you remain chained there by your own choices.

To be continued...

When lore isn't covered in game.

I have made no bones about my love of reading. It has gotten to the point that the Platewarer has decided I need a Kindle. The hope is that it will some how limit the number of physical books that enter our home so we can get rid of a few of the book cases...he is rather optimistic in my opinion.  That being the case it never fails to shock me how LITTLE reading goes on within the Wow community.  This past week when the Hour of Twilight patch dropped I was provided with endless hours of entertainment by nothing more than fellow players who had no clue what was going on because they could not be bothered to read any of the information provided OUTSIDE of the immediate game.

Here are some examples, all of which are completely serious and true. One individual could not understand why Blizzard named the patch in honor of the Twilight movies, that was "just taking the whole Pop Culture thing to far".  Another told us all that at the end of the Raid Thrall was going to turn into the new Aspect of Earth because "secretly he had always wanted to be a dragon".  Finally we have the individual who must be related to Wowcendor's Gogo guy, because he just couldn't understand why all the rogues in his raid wanted the chance to reset Hagara rather than just killing her outright. "It is all about the loot right?"

As one of my guild mates stated "I don't even read the quests, you expect me to read a short story to know what is going on?"  Short stories, patch notes, novels, Magna, even cinematics, Blizzard has come up with a plethora of ways to extend their story lines and expand their character development. However the vast majority of them happen outside of the game itself. What this means is that the majority of players really don't know what is going or why. Even when things happen IN game, it doesn't necessarily help.

Take Thrall's personal motivations. Patch 4.2 started out with an extensive quest chain that did nothing more than look at Thrall's deepest desires. There is a belief that the most excruciating torture a person could ever endure is to have their deepest secrets expose to the world and that is what Thrall had happen. Yet the vast majority TOTALLY missed the significance of that.  In the words of our friend the "GOgo guy" it was "all about the loot" and the rush to the end. Thrall's personal desire for peace, a family, a NORMAL life were lost as individual players imposed THEIR interpretation of his ambitions on to him.  This frequently obliterates the actual story Blizzard is attempting to create.

Varian, Gorrosh, and  Sylvanas are others that have under gone major lore changes outside of the game or at the very least have had the changes in their attitudes explained. Not to mention the alterations to the world itself in the precursor to the Cataclysm. Next year we will have Christie Golden's Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War Novel which will explain all about the destruction of Theramore and the discovery of Pandaria, something that has already been hinted at again outside the game in Charge of the Aspects by Matt Burns, Blizzards most recent official short story.

So does this really impact the average persons enjoyment of the game? That is open to discussion. Those of us who want to know will take the time to look for the actual information and I truly believe benefit from it. Our friend the Gogo guy, couldn't care less. Blizzard could name the final boss of the Mist of Pandaria "George the Bounce" and he wouldn't even notice unless said boss fails to drop his Tier helm. Now this isn't to say that there would not be a general out cry all over the forums, oh no, trolls spew forth much venom all the time. As to the knowledge it is based on being real or imaged? That is open to debate. 

Blizzard has done what they can to at least get the information out there. Sometimes I wish all of it WAS found at least SOMEWHERE in the game. Something like expanding on the Higher Learning and Well Read Achievements with a "Modern History" or "Post Cataclysm Writings" that has books that gave a brief over view of what all had happened for those who may not have gone back and done the new quests or read the outside of game materials. Oh well, not everyone can be a bibliophile.

Digging in the Closet

Well the patch is here and with it the long anticipated transmogrification. I actually started digging through my vast collection of past gear sets a while ago. As the best laid plans of mice and men have a tendency to go awry so have my grand intentions.  Thanksgiving Day the Platewearer decided to sneak onto my blog and discovered I had over 15 partially competed posts. Between that and the gentle chiding of my guild mates I managed to get back to it and get at least THIS one finished for today.

I always knew which tier set I would be using as my primary transmog set. Tier 9. Or as the Platewearer refers to it, my "Dominatrix set". For some strange reason this is a guild favorite on Daraia, though I always wore the Wound Dressing with it.  My daggers are no issue either as I still have my Dirk of the Night Watch and Steel Bladebreaker, both of which I have always loved the looks of. I think my fondness of this particular set has grown out of the fact that while wearing it I felt the most "Alliance".  That and the colors went well with our guild's tabard.

Now I just have to figure out what to do about my sword, and axe. I have yet to really find one I like. While I have had ones over the years such as Vis'kag the Bloodletter, that I still possess, my fondness is more for the memories it invokes than for the esthetics of the actually weapon. I am afraid I tend to be rather old school with my weapons. I prefer them to look like some thing I would actually be able to USE rather than something that would knock me over if I attempted to carry them in real life.  This tends to limit me rather severely. Though....if fist weapons become viable for combat again Calamity's Grasp WILL come out, that thing was one of the FEW fist weapons I thought look cool.

Void storage is going to be my new best friend though as I now have a place to put all these accumulated items. Somethings like Tier 8 I deleted with great glee but others like my old Nightslayer,  Slayer and Bonescythe among others sure do take up a lot of room I would prefer to use for other things rather than shipping items back and forth between my various bank alts. 

So what about the rest of you pack rats? Are you enjoying the freedom that this closet rummage is giving you? I know I sure am glad I get to actually get to keep some of my items now rather than be forced to decide what must be purged and what can be kept. The pixel memories are mine.

Holy Tier Batman!

So we have been informed that our Tier 13 has the distinction of being inspired by the cape crusader because "A 'bat-themed' armor set for rogues seems like a no-brainer." Really?  Come on guys. With the model a male blood elf it is hard to tell exactly how pointy the helm is. Let alone guess if the costume for females will more closely resemble Batgirl's than Batman's.

If I ignore the pop culture inspiration and just take the armor set as it for itself, it isn't bad. Browns, blacks and grays have always been my favorite color scheme for rogue armor. I also like the open handed design of the gloves. The bat heads on the shoulders look a little more like toxic murlocs to me though. The name of the set is not bad either "The Blackfang" sounds more like a spider than a bat but is well fitting of a rogue set.


With transmogrification coming does it really matter if you love or hate the new design? What we really care about is the set bonuses and it is still to early to see what those will be. So the Batman Theme song will be running through my head whenever I get a piece. I think I can resist the urge to macro in "Bam!" and "Pow!" (Yes, I know it is old school but that is always what I think of when I think of Batman, not the newer stuff.)

Now we just have to see what our Legendary daggers look like.

"Wolfheart" A Review

By happy circumstance Amazon saw fit to deliver my copy of "Wolfheart" by Richard Knaak early. I will be totally honest here and state that I was not waiting with baited breath by my door like I was for Christie Golden's "Thrall: The Twilight of the Aspects" or "The Shattering". It was not due to the subject matter. King Varian Wyrnn and the Worgen are certainly topics to inspire conversation and interest. Rather it was Knaak's track record when dealing with this type of subject matter.

To often, what the reader expects to be the focus of the book (BLIZZARD's Lore and crafted characters) are instead lost or over shadowed by Knaak's own creations. Surprisingly this was not the case with this book (UNLESS you count one specific character Knaak introduced in the "War of the Ancient's Trilogy") and Blizzard decided to include within current game play. Rather what Knaak does in this volume is spends the majority of the time focused on the back drop of the story (which is the current troubles in Night Elf society) and the title character becomes secondary until the very end.

Another major issue I had with this book was time line. I found it rather difficult to figure out exactly WHEN this book was to have taken place. It is obviously AFTER the Cataclysm and Malfurion and Tyrande's wedding. Gilneas has already fallen yet is not yet considered a part of the Alliance. THIS point is made abundantly clear.  However the Council of Three Hammers has already been created or at least that is the impression given. What causes my confusion? Varian's attitude toward the Gilneans and King Genn in particular.  Those who have done the the Worgen and Forsaken starting zones know that Stormwind send the 7th to assist Gilneas. If there were the tensions that Knaak eludes to how in the world would this have come about? There are other instances of timeline flow I will discuss later.

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

Now to the specifics of the story.

The book begins with a rather disjointed attempt at laying out the cast of characters. The veteran commander attempting to protect Ashenvale from another invasion by the Horde. An Orc Sea Captain with a special cargo to deliver to his new Warchief for an audacious plan designed to bring the Alliance to its knees. The Worgen and their King trying to find a place in the world after years of isolation. Night Elf society as it attempts to deal with mortality and all the challenges that brings, the return of the Highborn, and hosting a gathering of the Alliance under its branches.

Several story lines or questions left hanging in game are answered or at least addressed in this book which is nice. There is some continuity between this book and Ms Golden's works. First Knaak deals with where Jerod Shadowsong has been all these years and exactly why he disappeared. (In game we first see him in Mt Hyjal as a prisoner of the Twilight Hammer, again it is hard to say when exactly in the time line that event would fall.) The subject of what became of Jerod's sister Maiev after the death of Illidan is also resolved, though her present whereabouts are a mystery.  Mr Knaak also spells out WHY the Alliance, the Night elves specifically are turning to Stormwind, more importantly its troubled King during these turbulent times.

Varian's troubled past is again rehashed briefly along with his more recent difficulties regarding his son. With the help of the Worgen, he finds resolution to all the various traumas he has faced in his life. This grants the Alliance the leader they so desperately need and cementa the relationship between Gilneas and Stormwind forever.  Knaak also takes the time to further explore the significance of Varian's Lo'gosh nick name.

The Highborn have returned with all their arrogance still intact. They can not understand why the other Night Elves continue to feel uncomfortable about using Arcane Magic. They have no problems with their ALLIES using it! Not only that but instead of thinking of comfort all any one wants to do is think about the trees and wild life! It is miserable! The younger ones chafe at each slight. Only the elders who understand their precarious position keep everyone in line. Then Highborn start turning up murdered just as the Alliance summit is about to start. Suspicion is ripe.

To add to the tensions Mulfurion has insisted that the Worgen of Gilneas be granted sanctuary in Darnassas until their fate can be determined by the rest of the Alliance members. He feels responsible for them. As a result of his decision to place the Druids of the Pack within a pocket of the Emerald Dream, they were later discovered by Arugal, thus the people of Gilneas became infected in the first place.

Further more Mulfurion and his wife are feeling their age. For a race that was once immortal, they are still very long lived. Death was once a rare thing brought on by foolishness or war, now they are coming to realize, it is becoming a more immediate part of their life. After 10,000 years, bones are starting to ache, wrinkles to appear and all those signs they have seen in the "younger races", especially the humans, are staring them in the face. The burdens of leadership weigh heavily on them.

Then Tyrande has a vision. While Mulfurion is unclear how it can come to fruition he pledges himself to assisting in bringing it about. In a seeming reversal of roles Tyrande is the one who heads off to war against the Horde and to protect Ashenvale against Garrosh, while Mulfurion is left to deal with a broken King Varian, along with a murderer stalking Darnassas.

Anduin seems to be the one of the few males who isn't given to self flagellation in this book...perhaps it is because he is still to young? Thankfully Knaak kept him as strong as Ms Golden did in The Shattering. It is Anduin defying his father, abandoning him to follow his calling and seek training with Velen that pushes Varian to the breaking point. Mulfurion takes advantage of the situation and sets Varion up. Forcing him to face his past, prejudices and inner fears as this is the only way he can ever truly heal and become whole once more.

Garrosh when he is seen again is rather two dimensional. Willing to do whatever it takes to show his "worthiness" to be Warchief. Believing if he could just manage to do what neither his Father nor Thrall accomplished he will then prove beyond a shadow of a doubt he DESERVES to be heir to their Horde and remove any lingering questions about his tarnished honor. Taking outrageous risks at times bring him victory but at great cost.  Still rather single minded in his focus he continues to under estimate his opponents.  When faced with the fact that his mid battle duel with King Varian has been interrupted, it is only the fact that his guards are willing to be executed rather than have him return to the fight that forces him to change direction.

Over all I have to give this book faint praise. While it wrapped up several loose ends, they were not necessarily done neatly.  I had my suspicions about the identity about the "murderer" very early so even that came as no great shock. It served its purpose but not with any great depth.

FREEDOM!!

The day has finally arrived. ALL of the minions are in school for the full day! Well not technically.  Three of them have half days today, just to torment me, but the idea is there. Of course I get asked what I will do with all my "free time", only to pull out the three pages of tasks that have been waiting the wings for this day. Some are more traditional are around the house items while others are in game.

The summer months are a mixed blessing for a family full of gamers. With school no longer in session my boys suddenly had time to indulge in their own interests. As they have grown, this has increasing meant MMOs of their own. Jumpstart, Lego Universe, and Wizard 101, have joined WoW and Star Craft in our household. Free to Play games are wonderful for the budget at least. However they require a lot of computers.

Where in the past I had always been able to claim "MY" PC as personal property, that is no longer the case. Now the minions desire to play TOGETHER on their various MMOs. So not only was my play and writing time limited, at times I lost my PC completely, as they battled their way across the cosmos.
 
Of course like any "Evil Mom" game time got limited. The advantage they had was there are four of them to one of me. Add to that the weather this summer was more conducive to indoor activities than out. So despite myself I was often found going weeks with no more than a few hours of personal computer time in exchange for the illusion of minion harmony. It was fun watching each of them grow personally as gamers. 

Gaming sure has changed. Especially computer gaming and the MMOs from when I was first introduced to the genre. My children have never known a time when it hasn't existed. My youngest has never known a time when WoW wasn't around.  It is hard for us not to become jaded and cynical because we have been just so SPOILED over the years. We look back at the "Old Days" with our rose colored glasses but realize that things can't stay that way. 

Looking back I see numerous blog posts started that I never found time to finish. My accomplishments in game are greatly behind where I usually am at this point in past expansions. However when looked at in the greater view I can't complain. My boys are with me only a short time. I will treasure the time spent with them this past summer and watching them grow and expand in their independence. Sure it meant that I personally had to take a back seat on my own plans and goals but that is what parents do isn't it? And now they are back in school. I can once again pick up the gauntlet and focus on my own projects. Once again I can hit the ground running and see where I end up, the road sure has been an interesting one so far.