Mythic

• Andy continued to answer questions in the RvR Pack Q&A thread.
• A new Hot Fix was released which included bug fixes and adjusting of Zealots/Rune Priests.
• The August Producer’s Letter was also released.
• The Wild Hunt live event is in progress.
• The Khaine’s Embrace scenario is also open for all tiers.

Contest

• Judging of the Dressed to Kill contest will begin next week!

 Articles

• ZAM returns to WAR.  The article is a few weeks old, but they seem to be enjoying their return to WAR so far.
• Gaarawarr posted a guide to this years Wild Hunt live event.  Excellent work as always.  Interesting rewards, including a new Event slot item.
• Bootae and his guild Kill Frenzy brought forth the Squig Apocalypse! That many Squig Herders will give me nightmares for weeks to come. 
• The Price of Wargh gets a snazzy new look (that’s right, snazzy).  Also he has a few problems with the city PQ loot system.  I can’t say I’m a huge fan either.  I really just want to be able to opt out of Gold bags.
• Skuz has a problem with a recent article by Massively about WAR’s upcoming RvR Pack.  Give it to ‘em Skuz!
• Mmmmm Gud wrote up an interesting article about 5 concepts that did not make the live game.  I had not known about some of these, wonder what WAR would be like if everyone had a shot at an instant rez…

Videos

• The filmmakers at Kill Frenzy put together a great little video about Birds… I mean Chickens.
• Check out this amazing guitar tribute to Warhammer Online.  I may have to incorporate this into one of my videos…
• Just two videos today, since they provide more than enough awesomeness.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

News from the Front: Fear the Chickens

• Khaine’s Embrace – 9/1/2010
• WAR News Day 5
• OMG it’s a Squig Apocalypse!
• Even More WAR News
• News from the Front: The Return
• Producer’s letter reviewy thing
• Football won’t stop my WAAAGH, well ok it does a bit.
• News from the Front 6/4
• News from the Front: The Final Countdown
• News from the Front 7/16

We peaked at 36 Squig Herders split over two warbands, all with Squig armour active and all with Squig pets beside us, which meant we were charging in with a total of 72 Squigs… It was quite a sight to behold as this screenshot from Greez (Ironbreaker from Red Guard) shows.

Only problem was we had a mere 8 level 40 Squig Herders, everyone else ranged from level 9 to 37 and there wasn’t enough apprentices to go round. As such our warbands were often more visually intimidating then actually effective, though we did wipe a few groups out through pure shock and awe and provided the odd distraction for other Destruction to capitalise on. Oh and we did the everyone assist target plinking during a keep defense which was quite lethal, until an infamous Order guild with a high proportion of Bright Wizards decided to melt our little goblinoid faces. One day I’ll have a full warband of level 40 Squig Herders under my control, one day… Then you’ll be sorry

After dicking about in RvR we headed off to a few locations to get some more specific footage for our next Kill Frenzy (and friends!) video. Keep an eye out for that in the near future!

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

OMG it’s a Squig Apocalypse!

• Black Orc update – middle of tier 2
• News from the Front: Fear the Chickens
• What is Destruction’s most fun career for a new player?
• Saturday night’s for fighting… and running away it seems
• Breaking the first rule of Fight Club
• Lilrys the Godslayer
• Immediate Server Restart – Badlands
• Da patch 1.3.6
• 1.3.6 patch chatty posty post
• Being Asked To Leave A City Instance

Why did I only play a couple hours?  Honestly, you’ve probably heard these reasons from just about everyone else who isn’t playing but I want you to hear it from me too.  I’m not even going to touch upon any of the controversial stuff like the fatigue system.  My problems with the game are straight forward and simple.

The controls are terrible.  Even with a gamepad, which I had to put in after the first hour of play just to be able to continue for another hour, the game is unresponsive.  The new keyboard/mouse controls are just plain bad and unresponsive as well.

Chatting with NPC’s is like reading a novel.  They say so much… but they don’t say it.  I had to read walls of text that I didn’t find the least bit interesting.  Some people have told me things like “at least the lore is good”, but I didn’t get that impression.  The chat window (unless fixed recently) doesn’t help things.

Combat is unresponsive and dull.  It’s not entirely a menu system like you would expect from FF games, but it might as well be given how delayed and clunky everything is… heck, even the menus that you do see are wonky.  Is it a lack of polish or just a total lapse in judgment on the dev’s part?  I can’t tell.  It feels at times like a sloppy port, but then again isn’t the PC the primary platform?

It’s not immersive.  Bottom line, I log in and I play for an hour or two and not once do I feel like it’s a game that I would want to play seriously or invest time into.  That’s a very, very bad sign for me.  Maybe it’s the Eastern influence.

You guys know me.  If there’s even a chance that I’ll enjoy something you can probably find me foaming at the mouth somewhere.  However, when I don’t like a game even from the start it’s because the game usually has some major problems.  This is partly where I don’t know what to think… the FFXI crew might love it but I don’t see how anyone who appreciates a responsive, immersive, and fun game could.  Maybe it will do well based upon franchise loyalty, but that doesn’t change the facts.

If you base your decision on playing (or trying to get one of those coveted beta keys) solely from reading this blog, then I’ll do you a favor and tell you not to waste your time.  If you’re a loyal to Final Fantasy then please tell me what it is about this game that you love so much.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

FFXIV Impressions (That you’ve probably seen before)

• StarCraft 2′s Custom Map community is justifiably frustrated
• Anyone following Rift: Planes of Telara?
• Playing KOTOR makes we want SWTOR even more
• Black Orc update – middle of tier 2
• FFXIV’s Pricing Model
• WoW’s 3.3.5 Patch
• SWTOR looking decent now
• Revisiting a Galaxy far, far away
• Weekend of Gaming: StarCraft 2 Edition
• Guild Wars 2 Trailer blows minds but…

At the end of this mad period, I hope to have about 40 data points around the house, in a combination of 2 / 4 ports, mainly 2, mostly cat 6, but a few runs of cat 5e. Every run is 2 cables, in case of an accident, so a backup in all cases. I’m sure if a cable gets cut it will be one I want the most. The majority of the plastering is done, now that the data cable has been run into the wall, with a metal covering to avoid accidental drilling.

I think all the wife will care about are the small things, like a new clothes line and the garden reseeded in places. This is the last time I will need to skip the summer holiday with the family, while I get work done on the house.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Ping Ping Ping

• Beep Beep GFX Card Beep Beep Beep
• Busy On The House
• Ping Ping Ping
• If you played on retired WAR EU servers worry not
• So I Get A Weeks Holiday
• New GFX Card In And Running
• EU Transition Update – 6/28/2010
• EU Transition Update – 6/28/2010
• EU Transition Update – 6/28/2010
• EU Transition Update – 6/28/2010

Other than more weapons, this version now lists Shields and Charms (Books, Chalices etc).  Starting with 208 and 110 items respectively. Check out the Swordmaster page for an example.

Next up for the Arsenal is pocket items.  After that I think it is time for armor and armor sets to be added.

The Arsenal of WAR can be found at: http://arsenal.weritsblog.com/

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Arsenal of WAR Update

• Arsenal of WAR
• Werit’s Arsenal shoots and scores
• 1.3.6 Now on the Public Test Server!
• Patch Day!
• WAR News Day 3
• Dressed to Kill Contest
• More RvR Pack Q&A
• More WAR News
• You can’t please everyone
• Your WAR Story Contest

Will future sets follow the 8 piece format or continue to take more slots. 

Most likely no, although that is not yet finalized

Will new potions and tails be introduced

We’re not yet prepared to discuss potential crafting changes

Will this introduce 2 new tiers of Sc weapons if so will be able to convert existing stockpiles of royal insignias into the new tiers.

New items to be earned through RvR will be introduced. We do not currently have, nor do we plan to introduce, a system to upconvert Tier 4 currency.

With the sub rr 80s getting an easier time to reach 80 is their going to be something to reward preexisting 80s on release even if its just a couple of days of bonus renown for them.

We regularly have bonus Renown/Experience weekend with the launch of a new version.

Will the culmination of the end game still be the capital even for RR 100 players or will their be another end game goal other than the siege.

Cities are currently set to remain the culmination of the Tier 4 campaign.

Why do you guys want to slow the campaign down? (I can understand slowing the gear progression down)

City Sieges happen too quickly, ORvR progresses too fast. We wish to slow this down to provide a more engaging and immersive ORvR experience.

With these rvr packs, will we be able to make some kind of income if we only do rvr? As it is now leveling through T1 – T4 rvr only, I can barely make enough money to keep going to all of the different zones. In fact, I often have to get a loan from my high RR guy.

This is going to be a vague answer:

There are things slated to be introduced in the RvR pack which are designed to have a secondary effect of improving the in game economy and giving those who like to play the market something to do. 

Will the armor redesign you guys were talking about some time ago make its appearance in this pack or did you abandon this project for the time beeing?

At this time there are no plans to change the art files of the existing armor sets.

There was I question about housing, I understand that housing is probably not really fitting for War but might there be something else planned for guilds, like the guild hall in Sigmars Hammer (which is not accessible to all guild members). Something like a great hall for general guild use (role playing wise)?

Most likely no, at least not in the RvR Pack.

Can we expect at RvR packs to see dps of the weapons for magic DD and healers to be added to spells and heals (is that idea totaly left out or it can be done at some time?)

This specific change is not planned to be introduced at this time.

Coinciding with the renown ability system changes – will we be seeing any form of “dual specialization” for either renown or career abilities? Maybe a onetime fee of 1000 gold for the option to have a second specialization that can be changed when not in combat? This would be extremely handy for people who are constantly re-speccing for pve etc.

Good idea, however not planned at this time AFAIK.

Do you plan to add server overlapping scenarios? With some balance considerations? (3-5 Healers/Tanks/DDs per Side (in case of random groups), both side got around the same RR and so on)

We are very interested in a cross server Scenario queue, however that feature isn’t planned for the RvR Pack. We will be investigating other matchmaking possibilities, however nothing we can comment on at this time.

Do you have any plans about a arena or duelling system?

Not at this time

I assume there will be a PVE Pack after the PVP Pack. Do we have to wait around another year till we get new PVE content(hopefulle not with 5 Bugs a boss!!!)?

I wouldn’t assume that. We’re not interested in adding anything to the game that doesn’t have a strong RvR focus.

You mentioned earlier renown ranking from 81-100 wont be easy, are you basing this on a hardcore style of play or the casual gamer? for example if you look at dark age of camelot only 5 or so players have ever reached realm rank 13, i would like to think 90-100 would follow a similar pattern such as rank 12-13 in dark age of camelot.

The intent is to make this an achievement, something significant, however not something unattainable. 

Will our shiny supreme wards ever be put to use?

At this time we have no plans to utilize Supreme Wards.

Are you planing with the new rvr packs to add new mounts maybe flying?

We like mounts…

On page 2 or 3 you talk about intentionally slowing down the campaign. What do you mean by campaign? Player progression through the ranks/gear? The number of times a city siege happens each day? How long it takes to lock a zone?

Not necessarily, Yes, Yes.

are there going to be any new pets added in?

Define pets? Like Career Specific (WL, Eng, MAgus, SH?)? No.

Other than that…

We like pets…

With the removal or change(a little confused as the producers letter say “as you know it” and a podcast I believe that Carrie said they were removing it) of the VP system, will you be implementing cross server scenarios?

No to cross server Scenarios.

The term “Victory Points” is something that is IP specific to Warhammer Fantasy. That is why we stated “as you know it” as the term itself will probably be repurposed to mean something completely different than what it represents now.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

More RvR Pack Q&A

• WAR News Day 4
• WAR News Day 5
• RvR Pack Q&A
• Even More WAR News
• What A Waste Of 1′s And 0′s
• WAR News Day 3
• Grey winter
• What are you least and most looking forward to from 1.4 and the RvR Pack?
• News from the Front 6/18
• More WAR News

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

The 1.3.6, the best patch WAR has ever had?

• June Producer’s Letter reviewy thingywingy
• June’s Producer Letter
• I’ll take those odds
• 1.3.6 patch chatty posty post
• Patch Day!
• What to do with 2 weeks of double influence, renown and XP?
• Opposites attract
• 1.3.6 Now on the Public Test Server!
• News is starting to appear and I like what I hear
• Grey winter

The Khaine’s Embrace Scenario has been enabled for the remainder of the Wild Hunt Live Event. This Scenario has been enabled to ensure that all players may complete all of the tasks associated with the Wild Hunt. So get out there and lay waste to your enemies for the glory of Khaine!

We’ll see you on the Battlefield!

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Khaine’s Embrace – 9/1/2010

• News from the Front: Fear the Chickens
• EU Servers – Weekend Warfront Re-enabled
• EU Servers – Weekend Warfront Re-enabled
• EU Servers – Weekend Warfront Re-enabled
• Come Celebrate 1.3.6! – Double XP Weekend
• DOUBLE RENOWN WEEKEND ALERT!
• Producer’s letter reviewy thing
• EU Servers – Weekend Warfront Re-enabled
• WAR News Day 5
• Freeze

Why another item db? My goal is for this to be clean, quick and up to date.

So be sure to check it out and support this up and coming WAR resource: Arsenal of WAR

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Werit’s Arsenal shoots and scores

• Arsenal of WAR
• Arsenal of WAR Update
• FFXIV Benchmark has done me a favor.
• Not a WAR post, this one is for Rafa
• Wards ….
• World Cup – England vs USA
• 6 Losses 1 Win (Is There Anybody There?)
• Gearing up your Runepriest
• The Eternal Citadel
• I love lockout timers!

Besides sneezing the whole time I tried to catch up with the news about the RvR pack, did play some WAR and our guild had a RL guild meeting last weekend.

The guild meeting was fun. It’s always interesting to meet the people behind those characters. We drank beer, some have sung a song and we burped, as someone brought a Wii to the meeting. Dwarf-only guilds are the best

Concerning WAR (RvR pack, etc..) .. my mood is atm not so positive. Since the move from GOA to Mythic the performance of the game reached an all-time low. It’s totally horrible playing a Runepriest as there still is the cast-bar bug and you have no idea what you are currently doing. At least I have no clue as I mix several spells and have no fixed rotation for healing. Therefore I need to know what my character is currently doing, but with no reliable cast bar..and several animation bugs it’s totally hopeless to even try to be an effective healer in any way. The new mechanic is still horrible, as it restricts me too much. Well.. I could use those glowing hands if someone of the group needs a beacon if he/she gets lost. Server lag for me is still a big issue and I can’t tell if the warping enemies are cheating or if it’s just the server performance… the game is currently in a state where it’s not much fun to play because those bugs and poor performance.

Adding to this comes the news about the RvR pack. There is not even the slightest glimpse of hype around it.. no looking forward to it. It’s more like a.. “Do I want to grind any more renown ranks, just for the sake of it or just for better equipment”? The information about it is slim and the new producer’s letter isn’t telling anything new, even though Mythic always pointed to the letter for further information.. well.. marketing is telling something different than Andy it seems.

I don’t like the tone of those RvR packs. Vertical progression is something the players are used to from other MMOs, yes.. but it’s imho not the route a RvR based game should take. The tyrant set showed that this is a bad way for WAR.

My problem with WAR right now is.. it’s not about fighting.. Everything is based  around tokens, points and such stuff.. therefore all RvR action is based around keeps, objectives and zone locking. There is hardly any room for fighting. The whole design is not around giving places to fight other than some BO’s and keeps. Only Praag offers enough options for small groups when there is a zerg around. Thankfully our guild runs a rvr roaming group for seeking fights and not for pure/easy renown grind. If I want to farm.. I get to the garden.

For some reason a quote from Groundhog day comes to my mind:

You want a prediction about the weather, you’re asking the wrong Phil. I’ll give you a winter prediction: It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.

And here is the video to this quote.. that catches my mood towards WAR quiet good

–

Karic (doomdiver.wordpress.com)

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Grey winter

• A Patch and a Letter
• RvR Pack Q&A
• I’ll take those odds
• Producer’s Letter is out
• We’re moving..
• WAR News Day 5
• The story from Gamescom so far…
• News from the Front: Fear the Chickens
• June Producer’s Letter reviewy thingywingy
• Best guild EU/US is?

First, the patch. Several bugs were fixed, including:

• The loss of textures has been fixed. 
• Siege weapons should once again hit for more than 10 damage.
• Health bars should now be a bit more reliable.
• Keep doors should now always be targetable

As for the Zealot/RP, their toggle cooldown has been reduced to 20 seconds, down from 30. They will also convert stats at a 1:1 ratio instead of 2:1.  This will be a nice buff for healing and damage dealing.  The issue of CC while healing will still remain.

August has passed us by which means we have a new Producer’s Letter!  If you are like me and enjoy stalk… I mean following… the developers, there is not much new information to be found.  It does provide a nice recap of the last months news for a wider audience though.

One piece of news from the letter for my EU readers:  Mythic will be at Games Day UK on September 26th 2010.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

A Patch and a Letter

• Hurrik
• August is for WAR
• More detail on 1.3.6 DPS changes for the Runepriest
• Producer’s letter reviewy thing
• 1.3.6 Patchnotes – Runepriest Changes
• Hot Fixes – 8/31/2010
• 1.3.6 Final Patchnotes
• Da patch 1.3.6
• ORvR changes announced – updated
• Producer’s Letter is out

Happy August all,

GamesCom and Games Day Baltimore have come and gone and, as promised,
news about the future of WAR has been announced to the Community; and
that future is bright. We’re setting out a clear path for the future
development of WAR and that path leads to the introduction of the new
Warhammer Online RvR Pack.  This multi-tiered RvR focused content will
deliver something that many of today’s MMO gamers desire: more control
over their online/in game experience.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Producer’s Letter – August 2010

• WAR News Day 4
• WAR News Day 3
• Reaction
• WAR News Day 5
• WAR News Day 2
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• RvR Pack Q&A
• News from the Front: The Return
• Before and after(ish) the news
• Producer’s Letter – June 2010

I warn you now, if you have been keeping up with the news from the various blogs on my blog roll or the Q&A thread then this letter has nothing new in it. There are a couple of confirmations in it, but nothing new. It is however worth mentioning that only a section of any game’s players read forums or blogs, where as this letter goes out to everyone, so its not that much of a shock that it doesn’t have anything other than a summary of what those of us that do read everything possible would have already seen. As such it’s a solid letter for a mass mailing and I don’t fault Mythic at all for not giving anything new in it (wouldn’t have complained if they had mind you…), but I’m not going to bother doing my usual letter review as it’s rather pointless for this one.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Producer’s Letter is out

• I would do good to remember: no news is not good news
• WAR Producer’s letter is out
• June Producer’s Letter reviewy thingywingy
• Producer’s Letter – June 2010
• News from the Front 6/4
• Producer’s letter reviewy thing
• News from the Front 7/2
• You can’t please everyone
• A Patch and a Letter
• June’s Producer Letter

The following Hot Fixes were implemented during today’s maintenance:

General Changes and Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue which would cause the client to occasionally reload textures.  

Realm vs. Realm

• Fixed an issue where certain types of Siege Weaponry were not dealing the proper amount of damage.
• Fixed an issue where Keep doors were occasionally not targetable.   

User Interface

• Fixed an issue where Health Bars of groupmates would not properly update.   

Items

• Fixed an issue where secondary Sovereign armor set items were not properly granting the associated Supreme Ward Tome of Knowledge unlock. Players whom have already equipped the secondary Sovereign armor pieces will need to unequip and reequip them in order to properly receive the unlock.   

Combat and Careers

Engineer

• Tracer Rounds: Fixed a tooltip issue for this Tactic Ability.

Runepriest

• Rune of Breaking: The cooldown for this ability has been reduced. Additionally, stats granted by this ability will now transfer on a 1:1 basis. Also, corrected an issue where this ability would not persist through death.

Zealot

• Harbinger of Doom: The cooldown for this ability has been reduced. Additionally, stats granted by this ability will now transfer on a 1:1 basis. Also, corrected an issue where this ability would not persist through death.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Hot Fixes – 8/31/2010

• New Sovereign Armour details for Tanks
• Sovereign Healer set details revealed
• Hot Fixes – 6/22/2010
• Hot Fixes – 6/22/2010
• Sovereign Changes – Healers 1.3.6
• UPDATE – Sovereign Changes – Healers 1.3.6
• Planned changes to Rune of Breaking/Harbinger Mechanic
• Hot Fixes – 6/15/2010
• 1.3.6 Patchnotes – Runepriest Changes
• A Patch and a Letter

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

WAR servers are back up

• Mythic’s ISP has gone boom, but servers should be back soon
• Mythic EU Servers UP!
• New servers are great! Oh wait… What? No! Noooooo!
• WAR Forums – The Lords of Change Are At Work
• If you played on retired WAR EU servers worry not
• Almost back in action
• EverQuest Next Details: SoE is luring me back in a big way
• Movin’ on up
• Up close and personal
• Gearing up your Runepriest

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Mythic’s ISP has gone boom, but servers should be back soon

• Unforgettable, that’s what you are…
• News is starting to appear and I like what I hear
• Epic fights on Norn
• Authentication Failed, Please Re-enter Your Login Credentials
• Black Orc update – The other end of tier 1
• Big post of rambling before going AFK
• StarCraft 2′s Custom Map community is justifiably frustrated
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
• WAR EU – GOA to Mythic – Rumours
• GOA -> Mythic Servers Happening Tomorrow! (Tuesday 28 June)

Plus on a purely personal level it has ruined my solo roaming ability, at least until I get the hang of having less options and survivability. Still, it could be worse and I have enjoyed the change of playstyle more than I expected. Not gonna kid myself though, if we get a return to having multiple viable spec and gear options, then I’ll be respeccing shield straight away.

In other news… make sure you watch our new KF WAR vid. KILL FRENZY FRIED CHICKEN!

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Chosen nudged towards using Great Weapons

• You can’t please everyone
• 1.3.6: Chosen Weapons
• Patch Day!
• 1.3.6 Patchnotes – Runepriest Changes
• Black Orc update – middle of tier 2
• Gearing up your Runepriest
• Blorc update and a quick word (or several) on maintenace messages
• The 1.3.6, the best patch WAR has ever had?
• 1.3.6 patch chatty posty post
• 1.3.6 Final Patchnotes

There are existing item databases, but most are not up to date.  My goals with this one are: simple, clean and up to date.  Currently, it only supports weapons, I hope to expand it to armor soon.

You can find the Arsenal at: http://arsenal.weritsblog.com

Please let me know about any issues you find. More weapons, like the ones from the lotd for Destruction, will be added soon.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Arsenal of WAR

• Arsenal of WAR Update
• Werit’s Arsenal shoots and scores
• 1.3.6 Features Part 2
• Dressed to Kill Contest
• Patch Day!
• WAR News Day 3
• Your WAR Story Contest
• More WAR News
• Sovereign Healer set details revealed
• New Sovereign Armour details for Tanks

Greetings!

We will be bringing all North American and European
servers offline tomorrow at 8:00 AM EDT/14.00 CET for Weekly
Maintenance. At this time we anticipate that all servers will be back
online no later than 12:00 PM EDT/18.00 CET. As always, please be sure
to watch the Herald for updates regarding this downtime.

Thank you for your continued support.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

Weekly Server Maintenance – 8/31/2010

• Weekly Server Maintenance – 8/3/2010
• Weekly Server Maintenance – 7/21/2010
• Weekly Server Maintenance – 8/10/2010
• Server Maintenance – 8/26/2010
• Weekly Server Maintenance – 7/6/2010
• Weekly Server Maintenance – 7/14/2010
• Immediate Maintenance – 8/27/2010
• Weekly Server Maintenance – 6/22/2010
• Weekly Server Maintenance – 6/8/2010
• Server and Account Center Maintenance – 6/15

On one hand you have a game that took what worked in the years before it and then streamlined it all.  That’s the 2004-2005 WoW.  This era of WoW was about the world and adventuring within it to find the nuances that Blizzard created for players to find and appreciate.  Yeah, it streamlined games like EverQuest and DAOC, but there wasn’t much to complain about the game given how it was polished up compared to what we’d played prior.

Then came the era of raid progression from 2006-2009.  This is where the treadmill of getting gear to get gear came into play and it all became about doing raids.  This is where the raiders vs. the casual arguments gained momentum.  From Burning Crusade and into WotLK Blizzard clearly identified their game as a game of raiding content.

2009-Present could best be categorized as the “Era of Convenience”.  This is when everyone sits in Dalaran and just warps out to the instances.  No one leaves the capital cities for anything.  Leveling is done quickly and without thought.  Raids are easier, streamlined, and no longer just for the hardcore audience.  Everything feels easy and carries with it little meaning or importance.  It’s still fun, but missing that spark of life.

When someone says that a game is a “WoW clone”, to which version of WoW are they speaking?  I would say that all of them have their pluses and minuses.  My favorite would be the original era or “vanilla” pre-MC/BWL raiding.  The world was emphasized more, things felt simpler but were more difficult in their simplicity.  I do not believe that one can look at a game that shares similarities with the original releases of WoW (or other versions) and start talking about it negatively or even positively as though it shares commonalities with all versions of WoW — the game has just evolved way too much to make a generalization without specifying.

Full post: WarhammerFeeds.com

There’s WoW but then there’s WoW

• Clone Wars Adventures Impressions
• Starcraft 2 and WoW : Blizzard is it’s own worst enemy
• Blizzard regains it’s sanity
• StarCraft 2′s Custom Map community is justifiably frustrated
• EverQuest Next Details: SoE is luring me back in a big way
• RealDumb
• Real names on Blizzard Forums
• Not all MMO’s have to be McMMO’s
• There’s Always That One Guy
• What a tool he was