Category Archives: World of Warcraft

Shift and Control

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I really did not know what to call this post but I wanted to write it anyway. November last year I wrote a review of my new mouse, the Razor Naga 2012. Well, I just took delivery of a new keyboard, a Steelseries Cataclysm bundle. It came with a standard keyset and the Cataclysm keyset specifically coded with Warcraft in mind.

I’d wanted a new keyboard for ages but I only have a small desk, most keyboards don’t fit on it very comfortably. In all honesty neither does this one, but it’s smaller than most of the others I looked at, so on balance it’s fine. Plus my previous keyboard was wireless, part of a keyboard/mouse set that came with the computer. It had an annoying habit of running out of battery during boss pulls, so it was time to upgrade.

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The Dark Heroes Below the Storm

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Two patent applications have been unearthed, ‘The Dark Below’ and ‘Heroes of the Storm’, the opinion of WoWInsider, and presumably other Warcraft blogs which I don’t read, is that these are both hoaxes, and not names of the next expansion. It’s since been confirmed that Heroes of the Storm is the new name of Blizz All Stars. However, it made for a good blog title so it all works out.

We’ve had the last raid tier of Mists, blizzcon is next month, if nothing leaks before then we’ll get some announcements there. So, this is my next expansion post, I’ve been planning it for quite a while. It’s all complete speculation, and some complete fantasy but I’ll try to keep it in the realms of realism, as it would be cool to link back to this post and say “I called that”.

It’s hard to believe that we’re talking next expansion already as Mists has only been out just over a year. I do have some concern over that, that we’re going to wind up with another Dragon Soul. After all with Dragon Soul came LFR and so people were seeing the raid maybe twice on their main, and then again on their alts, presuming of course that they were raiding normal/heroic. Even those that weren’t though if they had multiple alts were still seeing it multiple times a week, and even once a week over the months adds up. With Siege flex was brought in, some people are seeing the raid 3x a week, more on alts, how long will it take for people to be sick of it? Especially as we have no news of 6.0, let alone it being in beta. However, that’s this expansion and we’re talking 6.0 here and the future.

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A Timeless Siege

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I started writing this post soon after I came home at the end of September but it didn’t really go anywhere. I know I owe a post about my vacation and I want to do that, but I have 1500 pictures to sort through as well as film to edit so it might be a while. 5.4 dropped while I was away and the first 4 bosses were killed by my guild. When I came home that Saturday I was unprepared to raid on Sunday due to the router being broken. I managed to get a substitute in time for the raid but I didn’t have the prep time I would have liked, and my feeling of being behind only persisted.

5.4 brought a few new things to Warcraft. There’s Timeless Isle, the new raid and the new raid difficulty – flex. I’ve been able to experience all of the above and there’s some good and bad. I had high hopes for 5.4 I admit and so far it’s not quite lived up to everything, but I suspect the problem isn’t the patch – it’s me.

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Where did August go?

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Well it wasn’t spend gaming in any form, is the relevant answer. My grandparents are in pretty ill health and we were worried about them, there were a fair few trips to the hospital, which is about as personal as I get on this blog.

Anyway, I may possibly be going on vacation in a weeks time. We booked it in a fit of optimism a few weeks ok, before the heart attacks and other drama. If nothing more happens then we’ll go, but of course if something does go wrong then we won’t. Family first, after all. I’m planning a blog post of epic proportions to document it, my first vacation in four years, my first proper vacation in eight. I’m quite excited to be honest, but trying not to be as I don’t want to be disappointed if something happens. It’s unfortunate that 5.4 is going to drop as soon as I go away, which brings us back to the proper subject of this blog – gaming.

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What Warcraft can learn from Swtor

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I’ve been trying to finish a post for a while, my draft folder is getting larger, I guess my brains all over the place right now. Anyway, I finally felt in the mood to play some Warcraft. This is probably linked to my guild healing from the brink of death and finally killing the last three bosses in Throne (Ahead of the Curve wahoo). I haven’t been playing much Warcraft lately, logging in to raid and that’s been it. Instead I’ve filled my gaming time with Marvel Heroes or Swtor.

Anyway I decided I’d do a spot of levelling, for my Warcraft fix, as even though I’ve not touched my alts this expansion, it would be nice if they were level 90 ready for next expansion, which will hopefully be more alt friendly. Perhaps because the most recent levelling I’ve done before this was in Swtor I couldn’t help but make comparisons. Unfortunately for Warcraft they weren’t favourable ones.

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Warcraft and Micro Transactions

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When I read the datamined information about the Enduring Elixir of Wisdom my mind spun in several directions. Now the blue post about it said they were just exploring the possibility. So much like the datamined tri-spec it may never happen. However, what if it did? What would it mean?

My mind instantly went to the two other games that I play, Swtor and Marvel Heroes, both have cash shops and both are free to play. Which as I said made my mind spin in a number of different directions. This could be nothing but the very fact that they are exploring the possibility opens up a world of options. What could this mean for the game?

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The 100th Edition

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This isn’t my first attempt at keeping a blog. I have tried a few times before this and I just never kept it up. After I’d abandoned it for a few months I removed it in embarrassment. None of these attempts reached more than a dozen posts, mostly a lot less than that. So to some bloggers the milestone of 100 is nothing, easily and quickly passed, to me it means a lot more than that. I debated what my 100th post should be about. Should it just be a normal post, or should it be something?

When I started this blog I called it a “Warcraft and Swtor blog”, when I stopped playing Swtor I changed it to just a “Warcraft blog” which is what it remains as. I’m increasingly blogging about other things than Warcraft but it remains at it’s core a Warcraft blog. I think I hold that responsible for the success of this blogging attempt. In the past it was just a blog, not about anything and consequently it didn’t have any posts. I’ve tried not to get too personal with the posts as well, and do more opinion or discussion pieces. Sometimes I’ve failed with that, but I don’t talk about life here, which means I don’t regret what I post, there is nothing to worry about.

So this post is going to be a bit of a mixed bag, just something to mark the milestone of 100 posts, then I can get on with writing the next 100.

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The Power of the Mind

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This has been ticking at the back of my mind ever since The Grumpy Elf said something about approach a few weeks ago. He said that the players that just didn’t care, the Donald’s of the world if you will, actually had a lot more fun, than those that try their best.

I haven’t been playing much Warcraft lately. I’ve still been turning up to raid night, I’ve done a bit of the new holiday, I’ve tended my farm and done my research occasionally. However, I haven’t really been playing it. This will be the second week in a row that I haven’t valor capped. I haven’t gone and farmed for a Primal Egg lately, I haven’t done any mount farming lately despite only needing 4 more to hit 200. There’s things to do in game and I just haven’t been doing them. Why?

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Horde vs Alliance

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It has been a long standing goal of mine to do Horde Loremaster, so I can see everything from the other side. I’ve been an Alliance player since I started playing, I have an Alliance character of every class, over half of which are max level. I have never really played Horde, I’ve done the odd starting zone but that’s about it. Yesterday I started on my Horde adventure. I have a level 80 paladin which I faction changed and so I headed out into the wilds of Azshara, a zone that has changed greatly since the cataclysm.

Since 5.3 launched there has been renewed debate over blizzard’s Horde bias. I know what I currently think about it, but I didn’t intend on writing a post about it, until I had completed Horde loremaster. My opinion is that of a pure Alliance player so it is hardly balanced. Then it occurred to be that maybe a before and after post would be cool, to see whether my perspective changes after I have seen both sides. Plus I wanted to get my two cents in before the debate changes to another topic.

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What makes Warcraft?

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I’m way overdue a post here. I’ve been commenting more at The Grumpy Elf’s blog than I have developing topics for here. However, I’ve been thinking lately what makes the game? I’ve played a few other games and I’ve not stuck at any of them. What keeps me coming back to warcraft? What makes me play it a lot? What do I enjoy in the game? What do I not enjoy in the game? These questions are all highly personal and very subjective. What someone else loves I might hate and vice versa.

As I said though I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Situations in game change and when they do it doesn’t hurt to have a re-evaluation. So what makes the game?

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