Blizzard Announces Next World of Warcraft Expansion with Epic Cinematic!

Even though I try to completely avoid multiplayer games (for so many reasons that would require their own separate post) I have many fond memories of the years that I spent playing World of Warcraft.  WoW seeped into my blood and I was as close to addicted as I've ever been to anything in my life.  I quit a few expansions ago because I decided it was time to move on and that I didn't have the energy to dedicate to the semi-serious WoW lifestyle.  Sadly, I still pay attention to what's going on in WoW and there was a hot new announcement yesterday.  This has been reported on literally every major gaming news source on the magical interwebs...but here you go, just in case:

Just watching this made me feel some serious WoW yearnings for so many reasons.  Sylvanas was always one of my favorite characters from the original Warcraft games.  She has the perfect backstory--someone who fought bravely for her people, the high elves, and who attempted to stand up to Arthas to keep him from capturing the Sunwell.  Arthas decides that rather than killing her that he will turn her into a banshee--an undead wraith-like creature who cannot die and is forced to serve Arthas in his quest to exterminate her people and conquer the world.  All the while she plotted and planned and found the perfect opportunity to literally stab Arthas in the back and break free from his domination.  From there she was able to gather her own army from among the ranks of the other undead outcasts left in the wake of Arthas' path of destruction.  The Forsaken became the Undead in WoW and Sylvanas is their de facto leader.

I love Sylvanas as a character because she embodies vengeance and has this tragic existence.  She remembers her past life as one of the now extinct high elves but is cursed by being one of the undead.  She can never go back to her own people and that rage boils inside of her.  But there's also a sadness about her--hence the "Lament of the Highborne."

It has been exciting to see this new cinematic and see a favorite character fleshed out.  I have no intent of going back to WoW, but damn it if this cinematic isn't absolutely amazing!

World of Warcraft Drops Three Million Subscribers

One of the big headlines this week that caught my eye had to do with the recent announcement that World of Warcraft has lost 3 million subscribers since the release of the latest expansion "Warlords of Draenor."  3 million subscriptions may sound like a lot, but even with this hit WoW still commands an impressive 7 million players.  7 million people are playing a game that is ten years old!  So while this news of WoW casting off players might have an "the end is nigh" feeling, it's really not the end.  Millions of people are continuing to play WoW despite it's age.  This fact is extremely impressive.

My own experiences with WoW are probably similar to some of the 3 million players who quit.  I played WoW  religiously for years, but would usually find myself losing interest.  I would cancel my subscription and tell myself this was it for WoW.  Then some new expansion would be announced, I would renew my subscription, fall in love for awhile and then eventually get bored again.  WoW isn't a boring game...it just seems to have cycles that hit it at certain points in the year.  When people are trapped inside during the winter months they are content to pour their hours into the game.  Typically when the weather gets better people lose interest.  It's a seasonal thing I've always noticed about WoW.

I can't help but to be impressed at the fact that WoW has been around for ten years.  Blizzard are masters at making a game that can get stale into something new and exciting.  Each new expansions slaps a shiny, new coat of paint on a classic.  New classes, new races, new zones, new raids, new features--but underneath it's still the same thing.  I think for a lot of players this just isn't enough any more.  I wonder about how much longer WoW will be around.  Five more years?  Ten?  I think the next move will be to go free-to-play...but we'll see.

Happy Easter Gamers!

I hope everyone is having a nice Easter either in-game or out.  I have fond memories of completing Easter themed quests in World of Warcraft.  So to everyone spending this Easter adventuring...I hope you find lots of eggs and save up for that mount or other cool thing that you want.  Enjoy this somewhat cute but disturbing Noblegarden wallpaper from Blizzard.

Favorite Villains

A good villain can really make or break the plot in a video game.  Villains help motivate players to mow down masses of enemies to finally reach the evil masterminds.  I'm going to spend the next few entries discussing some of my favorite video game villains.

Villain #1--Arthas Menethil

Arthas by namesjames on DeviantArt.  Cool!

If you've played Warcraft III or World of Warcraft, you're familiar with this infamous baddie.  If you've only played WoW you might not know the full story behind the evil figure who controls a legion of the undead and who sits on the frozen throne in Icecrown Citadel.  Arthas was the crown prince of Lordaeron and was a beacon of hope for the people in his kingdom.  When he turned nineteen, Arthas became a member of the elite Knights of the Silver Hand.  As a member of this organization he became an apprentice to the famed paladin Uther Lightbringer.  Events start to unfold and Arthas is sent to investigate a plague that has broken out in parts of Lordaeron.  He eventually discovers the source of the plague and kills the necromancer who helped spread it through plagued grain.  Unfortunately, the plague continues to spread-- Arthas learns that the city of Stratholme is infected.  This is where things really start to unravel for the prince.  He decides that the best decision is to kill all the inhabitants of the city to prevent further spread of the infection.  Uther Lightbringer objects to this plan so Arthas expels him and the Knights of the Silver Hand.

While killing off the many residents of Stratholme, Arthas meets the demon lord Mal'Ganis and learns that he is responsible for spreading the plague.  Arthas swears that he will hunt Mal'Ganis to the ends of the earth.  It's from here that Mal'Ganis escapes to the icy wasteland of Northrend.  Arthas doggedly pursues him.  It's in Northrend that Arthas finds the legendary blade known as Frostmourne.  What he doesn't know is that this blade is cursed and that even though it will grant him immeasurable power he will fall under it's sway..  But it's already too late for him--the sword begins speaking to him (hearing voices in your head is bad) and he seems to be slowly going insane.  He eventually returned to Lordaeron and was welcomed as a triumphant hero.  It's here that Frostmourne speaks and tells him to slay his own father in order to seize power.

After seizing power in Lordaeron, Arthas has fully become a death knight and dedicated himself to the undead scourge. Then he makes the decision to merge with the Lich King and take over the Frozen Throne placing himself at the king of the undead forces.

Good guy turned bad makes for a really great villain.

Not Everyone on the Internet is Horrible

I've had plenty of interesting experiences playing online games.  Many of them have been very positive but there have been several that have made me grit my teeth and swear to never play multiplayer games again (I've somewhat kept to that pact).  In 2006 I began playing World of Warcraft and began an almost seven year long adventure in the world of the MMORPG where the point is to interact with others.  Anyone who has played WoW could probably share horror stories about awful people they come across in-game.  People with little patience for new players, jerks who are out to prove their superiority at video games and don't care who they trample on the get there, or trolls who derive pleasure from tormenting others.  But once in awhile you come across genuinely nice people who are willing to help others.  Yesterday I came across a great story that exemplifies the kindness that can often go unseen in gaming.

According to this story, a man posted on a WoW  Reddit requesting help with learning the ropes of the game.  The unusual part of the story is that this person is a father whose son recently died and he took up WoW as a way to learn more about his son's interests.  (*Grabbing Kleenexes*) Amazingly the community responded very positively to his appeal for help.

It's always great to read stories like this.  I feel like too often people focus on all the negativity that goes on in gaming.  I've read way too many articles about how the developers behind popular MOBA's are looking for ways to muzzle toxic players.  Or all the focus on the negativity spawned by "gamergate."  It's refreshing to see people being nice to each other.  Why can't it always be like this with players offering to help one another?  Gaming would be such a different experience.

I tried to get my own Dad to play WoW and was apalled at how people treated him.  Somehow he always ended up getting talked into doing instances and this never turned out well.  He would get kicked out of groups with no explanation as to why and absolutely no one tried to help.  I did my best to stick with him, but our play schedules didn't always sync up so well.  He ended up losing interest and quitting, but the fact that people would treat him so poorly always resonated with me.

I'm sure some people would argue that it's your own decision to help others in a game and that you determine how you spend your playtime.  Not everyone wants to spend their time teaching others how to play.  I totally get that.  But think about your own experiences as a new player and how much easier things would have been if someone had helped you rather than made jokes at your expense or just kicked you out of a group.  We owe it to each other to be kind and need to remember that even though we're in a virtual world there is an actual person behind each character.

Player Levels 100 World of Warcraft Characters to Level 100...Why?

I quit playing World of Warcraft last year but still follow some of the weirder news to come out of that game and community.  One article that is making the rounds is about a person who decided to level 100 different characters to max level--which is currently 100 (read the article here).  Is this an achievement which should be hailed or mocked?

100 characters!  Insanity!

I will admit that my first reaction upon reading this was to laugh.  What a ridiculous waste of time!  Why would anyone possibly want to spend the time doing this 100 times?  I could completely understand the desire to level a character of every class for both factions.  That comes out to a whopping 22 characters.  At least you would get some variety in the quests due to the factional changes and the different abilities of each class.  But, really?  I was one of the weird people who actually enjoyed doing quests and leveling and I can't imagine doing anything like this.

After I got over my initial skepticism regarding this person's level of sanity I realized some things.  If leveling characters was what this person enjoyed in WoW then more power to him.  Of all the different people I played with over the over six years I played WoW many of them liked doing things that others would consider boring.  Way back in vanilla I had a guildmate who enjoyed mining.  He would turn on some music and do laps around certain zones collecting common minerals to use or sell and scout for rare nodes.  And he liked it--he said it was relaxing.  Another set of friends enjoyed playing the auction house and actually got frighteningly good at it (let's just say that they have trouble transferring because they are way over the gold cap per character).  They would spend hours monitoring the AH looking for underpriced items to snatch up and put back up for a profit.  Personally, I enjoyed fishing and would often volunteer to catch fish to help make potions and food for the guild bank (because of this weird love I also managed to catch the elusive Sea Turtle mount).  I suppose that's a strength of WoW that there are so many activities to choose from.

It's amazing that people can find absolutely silly things in games to use to keep testing themselves or to keep a game fresh.  The person who leveled all these characters actually got really good at speed leveling and had a well-defined strategy for completing zones impressively quickly.  So while my initial reaction was to laugh I also have to admire their ability to take something so dry and make it into something challenging and enjoyable.  So I /salute you person with 100 level 100's!  You found what you enjoy and ran with it.