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The OverAchiever: Reconsidering achievements and raids
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we engage in a miniature retrospective. Two weeks ago, we published The OverAchiever: Why Icecrown was less fun than Sunwell. It's definitely become one of the more controversial OA topics I've written about and attracted a lot of discussion, neither of which I had really anticipated. Some people agreed with me, some didn't -- but either way, the comment thread is a very interesting read. While I hadn't been intending to revisit the topic so soon, I lost internet access after Hurricane Irene strolled through my area and had an extra week to mull over the points people had raised. The conclusion (perhaps erroneous) I've reached is that, if anything, the issue is more complicated than we all guessed, as the normal/achievement/heroic split may also point to a deeper systemic problem with the 10-man and 25-man model, too.
The OverAchiever: Why Icecrown was less fun than Sunwell
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we contemplate the effect wrought by raid achievements. Achievements as a whole are great for World of Warcraft; they ask you to look at the game a bit differently, to create challenges for yourself, and to get involved with zones and stories that you might otherwise ignore. Unfortunately, they can also spur players and guilds to approach raid content in a way that's not necessarily fulfilling for all concerned. Since Wrath of the Lich King, I've slowly gotten the sense that raiding as a whole is much less rewarding than it used to be, and this is a sentiment that's been echoed by a number of other players. Unfortunately, achievements -- originally intended to add another means of accomplishment to raids -- may well be among the causes. EDIT: This article resulted in a lot of discussion, and the subject was revisited two weeks later. You'll find it here, at OverAchiever: Reconsidering achievements and raids.
Breakfast Topic: Is attunement a necessary evil?
Seriously. Look at that Burning Crusade attunement chart. Is all the hoop jumping really necessary for players who just want to see content? How much worse is it going to get for Sunwell Plateau? Or Wrath instances?I think players shouldn't have to navigate a chart more complicated than the U.S. Tax Code to see new places, kill new things and parade around in the new found loot like drunken Wildhammer dwaves discovering a new flight path. What do you think? Is attunement a way to reward dedicated players or a road block to slow down the general populace that is ravenously consuming content faster than the devs can create it?
A guide to BC pre-raid goals and how to achieve them
I'm a little compulsive about finishing every quest in a zone. Ok, ok, I'm certifiably compulsive about it. I love exploring all the various corners of a zone and learning their dangers and rewards. Because of this, I barely got through half of the Outlands solo content before I hit L70. After thoroughly enjoying Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar Forest and having just a taste of Nagrand and Blade's Edge, I hit the level cap. Why should I continue?Starryknight of the Executus server has an excellent answer: completing every Outland quest and running through every dungeon will net you the 5,000 gold for your epic mount, gain the necessary reputation to access later parts of the game and get you keyed for both the Heroic dungeons and Karahzhan. Essentially, you will be ready to jump into the raiding game, if you so desire.To achieve this, he wrote up a general guide on what to do in every Outland zone with links to more specific information about the quest chains for each area. For me, this is what I needed to push on and continue exploring the wonders that Warcraft still has to offer for people already at the level cap. Even if you don't intend to raid, the goal of buying an epic mount is reward enough. Check it out, it may be what you are looking for to refocus your goals in the game if you find your motivation has flagged.
