I’m writing this post on February 8, 2010.  My friends still don’t know that I’ve started playing World of Warcraft again.  I’ve managed so far to refrain from logging in to my main character at all (highest risk of detection), choosing instead to play as my Mage.  At the time of this writing he is level 55.  I had hoped to be 58 and into Outlands by this point, but I’ll have to push that goal back a week or so.

Ever since reaching level 50 I’ve been spending a lot of time in Blackrock Depths, courtesy of the random dungeon finder.  Typically, the groups haven’t stayed in the zone for long, choosing to zone out after clearing the prison area and killing High Interrogator Gerstahn.  A couple of other times the group has also done the Ring of Law, but for the most part, the groups have seemed content to get out of the zone as quickly as possible.  The other night however, I got put into a group that wanted to clear the entire zone.  We ultimately didn’t make it, stopping after killing Watchman Doomgrip in the vault.  It was late at that point and once one of the party members left, the group disintegrated.

It was still nice to see a lot more of the zone, which I’d rank right up towards the top of my favourite dungeons list.  Everything about it feels very epic, from the size of the zone itself, to all of the bosses, and of course all of that lava, which movies and games have taught me is the hallmark of evil zones.  It’s clearly not as difficult as it once was, as our group of low fifties players tore through it without much difficulty.  I’ve read comments from a few years ago that talk about the difficulty of bosses like Bael’Gar (pictured above), and how you’ll need to be prepared for a “long fight”.  For us, he went down in under a minute.

Once again, it would have been nice to see the zone back in its heyday, but the XP was still great, and that’s good enough for me at the moment.  I gained an entire level during our extended foray into the dungeon.  It would be nice to finish the entire zone at level though, I’m just not going to hold my breath on that one.

If you’re reading this, and I can only assume that you are, then that means it’s either April 1, 2010, or my friends have discovered that I’ve been secretly playing World of Warcraft since re-subscribing on January 17.

Despite a valiant effort, my will finally gave in to the relentless calling of WoW.  The random dungeon group finder just sounded too perfect for me to not check out for myself, so the credit card came out and I re-activated my subscription for three months.  My goal is to work on leveling up my Mage, pictured above, who was level 44 when I last played him, and is now just two bars away from level 51 after two weeks of sporadic play.  Ideally I get him to level 80 in time for April 1 when I publish this post, and before my friends discover I’ve been playing again.  That’s the dream.  The reality may be different, I don’t know.  My lack of time for games certainly hasn’t changed at all, so that’s definitely a factor in my road to level 80.  Not to mention the fact I could slip up and mistakenly reveal that I’ve been playing, or one of my nosy friends could happen to look up my character on the armory for whatever reason.  My friends have transferred their main characters off of the server my Mage is on, so I’m not too worried about running into them in-game.  My 80 Shaman however, is on their server and on their friends lists as well, so I’ve forbidden myself from logging in to that character, lest my grand plan be spoiled.

That means it’s been pure Mage for me so far, and it’s been fun.  I’ve already taken part in three random dungeons (Uldaman, Sunken Temple, and Maraudon), all of which went very quickly and smoothly.  I have to say that it’s quite refreshing to just sit back and blast away at the target.  In group situations as my Shaman (leveled as Enhancement spec) I was constantly adjusting position, running around to ensure I was constantly melee attacking the mobs.  It’s also quite fun to actually see the spells I cast.  Unlike the Shaman where I looked mostly at the mobs chest, I can see my Frost Bolts fly out from my fingers and smash into the mob.  The Blizzard spell is also pretty cool to see in action.

The downside to the Mage so far is in open world PvP.  Keep in mind that I’m quite likely the worst PvP’er in the history of video games, but I was fairly decent in open-world PvP with my Shaman, but so far I’ve been terrible with the Mage.  If someone gets the jump on me, the only thing I can do really is run away.  Ice Barrier and Blink certainly help in that regard.  I haven’t had much luck being the aggressor either though.  About a week ago, at level 47, I came across a level 38 Warlock who I figured I’d mop up pretty easily.  To my utmost embarrassment, I got soundly thrashed.  I was Feared almost immediately and then had my face smashed in by the Warlock’s voidwalker.  I sure do miss my Shaman’s Tremor totem.

If all goes well with this little WoW secret, you’ll be reading this when I’ve reached, or am at least close to level 80.  I’ll try to continue writing posts following my progress and saving them as drafts to be published after the great reveal.  Should be fun.

EverQuest II and World of Warcraft are the two MMOs that I’ve spent the most time with; three and a half years subscribed to EQII, and approximately one and a half with WoW.  Despite no longer having an active subscription to either one, I still follow the news from both games as much as I can.

Both games received major patches recently and both released cinematic trailers for their respective patches.  The first one I saw was for EQII’s Game Update 54, Will of a Tyrant.  Here it is, courtesy of YouTube:

I’ve always thought EverQuest II could use some work in the advertising department.  The trailers they’ve released over the years have never really done much for me, but my immediate reaction to this one was generally positive.  I find it to be more “cinematic” than previously released trailers, with the sweeping camera movements, the music, and the semblance of a story behind it (albeit small), as opposed to randomly inserted action scenes without context.

Soon after, World of Warcraft released a trailer for Patch 3.3, Fall of the Lich King.  Once again, courtesy of YouTube:

World of Warcraft, in contrast to EQII, has never lacked for advertising, consistently releasing top quality trailers.  To me, there is an obvious difference in quality between these two trailers, and yes, I think the WoW one is significantly better.  The camera work, the pacing, and the music are all masterfully executed, not to mention the story.  Anyone who has played Warcraft III and its expansion will be familiar with the story of Arthas and its significance in Warcraft lore, and for over a year now, WoW has been re-telling that story, building its players up for the events depicted in the trailer.  For over a year now, players have been chomping at the bit to get at Arthas/The Lich King, and as I watch the trailer I can’t help but feel an epic sense of anticipation.  Even though the chances that I’d even be able to take part in any of the fights depicted in the trailer are slim to none, I still feel an urge to resubscribe.  That is some great advertising.

It’s been just over two weeks since my last post, which is a lifetime in blogging terms, but rest assured I’m still around (because I know you were wondering… right?).  The fact of the matter is, now that I’m no longer actively playing any MMOs, the blogging well has started to run dry.  There isn’t really a whole lot of interesting stuff to write about when you’re playing single-player games, is there?

Here’s a quick little update on a few different things:

Guild Wars
I was challenged by a friend claiming that I’d never be able to play Guild Wars up to level ten without first quitting of boredom.  I set out to prove him wrong and I definitely got off to a roaring start.  I was having a fair bit of fun with the game and rocketed my way up to level 8 and have since hit a brick wall.  I haven’t logged in to the game in weeks, so I’ll concede to my friend.  It probably wouldn’t take much to get those next two levels, but I’m not sure if I want to.  There you go Kuarlos… you win.

Dungeons and Dragons Online
The game went free, I played for a bit, and lost interest.  I definitely liked what I played, but my problem with it at the moment is that I wasn’t having a great time solo’ing it.  This game screams out for group play but my real life commitments don’t allow for that right now.  Maybe some day.

World of Warcraft
My subscription has been up  for two weeks now and I still have no burning desire to head back.  I suspect I’ll be able to last until Cataclysm’s release, at which time I fully intend to resubscribe, however, there’s nothing in that game for me right now.

Fallout 3
I finally cracked this one open on my Xbox 360 and I’m loving it.  It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, I was hooked.  I really like the atmosphere, although I can certainly see how it wouldn’t be for everyone.  There’s something so very satisfying about playing an RPG like this on a big TV while sitting in a comfy couch.  Sure the PC version looks better, but my rear end is so much more happy to be ensconced on the couch.  By my estimates I’m about halfway through the main story, and I’ve done every single side quest I’ve come across.

NHL 10
I hate (the internet version of hate) EA as much as the next guy, but they sure do make a good hockey game.  I’m having a blast with the “Be A Pro” mode in this one; a great feature if I’ve ever seen one.

Another reason I’ve migrated to my Xbox as of late is because I’m desperately in need of a new computer.  My current rig is approaching six years old and has been chugging on the newer games for the past little while.  When I finally get around to purchasing a new one I can see a whole lot of Dragon Age: Origins in my future.  For the meantime though, I’ll be sticking with the 360.

… indifferent.

It’s now been almost three months since I last played World of Warcraft and I have just one week left until my subscription runs out.  In that time I haven’t once been compelled to go back and play again, almost as if the longer that I’ve been away, the less I want to play.  When I quit EverQuest II however long ago, I struggled almost daily fighting the urge to resubscribe, but I’ve felt no such pull with WoW.  Until Cataclysm comes out I can’t see there being anything I want to do in that game, of course, I suppose I should never say never.

There isn’t any MMO out there right now that appeals to me, and that’s mostly due to my lack of free time to play them, but I also don’t really like the direction they seem to be taking.  WoW especially seems to be strictly all about gear upgrades as opposed to creating a sense of adventure, and fun.  Yes, I know that ultimately the loot is a prime mechanic in any MMOs, but no game hits that point over your head like WoW does, and it’s gotten to the point where I don’t even know which badges can be used to buy what armour and frankly I couldn’t care less.

If Cataclysm can bring back that sense of adventure and exploration as opposed to an endless grind for better gear, I’ll be back.