Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Wow Has Me Back Enjoying Myself For A Minute...



As you all know, WoW's newest expansion Cataclysm was released at Midnight last Monday, and as far as I know, everything went alright. I didn't hear any bitching about the game crashing or anything like that this time around, and so with that, I have to say Kudos to the Blizz folks!

Blizz released the major parts of the patch and a hotfix the weeks just before the official release. I had already pre-ordered and installed before hand, so I didn't experience any problems. I wasn't around at the actual launch, but I was on for a few hours afterwards and I had some really exciting experiences which I will get into later.

Anyway, I have started on several paths, which is just the way I roll. I of course have a couple level 80's I can work on to get to level 85. Which, by the way, several people have already made it to level 85 in less then 24 hours on my server according to some messages I saw on my screen while I was playing. How the hell did they do that? I thought I was sorta hard-core, but I didn't even make it half way to 81 on my main character.

When I first came into the expansion, my first mission was to get my flying license for the old lands and do what anyone would do... Fly above Orgimar and Stormwind and see what the heck is up there. We all spent a lot of time trying to climb the highest points in those cities to see what we could see before, but now we were actually able to do a vertical climb and a 360 degree check.

In a word, the Stormwind view was breathtaking. I could really find myself appreciating the actual size of the project that these folks had put together. The city is amazing to look at from above. I flew around some places I had always seen on the flight path from Stormwind to Ironforge just to see what was up there. I had always seen tents and camp fires on my flights but no actual mobs of any kind. I thought they might do something with them now since we can finally get there. Nope, they didn't really change too much, but I did also find this interesting patch of sheep with one in particular that I would love to find out more about the story on.

So, I found this little dude way up on top of a mountian with nothing but a bunch of sheep and an empty house way above Stormwind. I imagine this is just stuff that was left over or forgotten about from back in the day, but I am sure it would make for an interesting story of why he is there. I didn't bother killing him, I wasn't sure if he would respawn.

Not to discount Orgimar, as it is also a beautiful view, but we have always been allowed to walk on top of that city, so my curiosity about it was not the same as the birthplace of my first character.

My next mission was of course to take my main character and go check out the new quest for well, the next level and whatnot. My main was recently transformed from Alliance to Horde, so I am getting a bit of a double dose of interesting. I have been in the new Zone Vashj'ir (Dont't even get me started on trying to pronounce that one). The entire zone is under water, which is awesome that they did that, but I am not the best swimmer in the game. I would have rather done some kind of on top of the water battles, but who knows, maybe that's later on. Anyway, the idea is the same, go kill and collect stuff and report back. All of your old armor is just about poo compared to the new greens they give you for doing quests.

One thing I would ask for here is that it needs to be easy to get rid of junk or sell it to a vendor. I am sure I am like many others that have been on the pack hording society for the last year or so, and I ran into a problem with my packs getting full. As far as I could tell, there is nowhere to dump stuff to a vendor and obviously no bank. I eventually, just hearthed out and went back to Orgimar to do some business and then had to find my way back via a portal. Fortunately, the guard knew what I was looking for and had it on his list of things for me to find. The only downside is that I was into the story, and this was a detour I don't believe was intended although, it was nice to have the option. I played my main for a few hours, but I was ready to get into the new races so I switched gears a little.

My next step was to create a Worgen. Of course I would.. They are crazy looking creatures with fur and change from Human to Wolf. Not to discount the Gobblins, but I don't do short and chubby races, I am already there in real life. Now, the Worgens have of course the option to be Death Knight, but I wasn't going to go that route this time around. I want to see the new areas and run the quests like a newbie. I don't completely understand the story behind the Worgens, but the zone is beautiful. I made it up to level 11 on my first day before I found a way to get myself some Bind On Account shoulder pads and a couple of bucks for upgrades. Hey, I want to see the new stuff, but I will take any advantage I can get so I don't have to live there forever.

Blizz did a lot with the phasing on this expansion, but I would have to say I was less then pleased with the way it worked out. I think they got a tad carried away in some places and others would allow multiple people to start a quest with someone speaking over the top of themselves. One quest I was on where we get to ride a horse and blow stuff up is started by clicking on a guy, then phased where he starts on this explanation of what we need to do, but there were like 40 of them all talking at once. Kinda made me not want to be there. Other times, they phase a bit much in the Vashj'ir zone, they even showed us a horde putting on different armor and stuff after you went and got it for him. I guess that would be cool, but there was a pause where it phased and it made me break the emersion. I guess, it should just be more fluid if you are going to make it something that small in my opinion.

Other then that, I had some fun, it's still a little grindy to me, but at least they are short bursts, and you can see where you need to go on the map. The experience for me this time around without any add-on's was much better.

Here is my latest video to go with my lengthy update! Please watch and enjoy as I teach you how to do the King Tut!

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