The scourge of the Scourge
Last Saturday on the WoW Insider Show (which you can hear right here, with an embedded mp3 post coming in just a bit), we voiced an opinion about the Scourge Invasion world event that's getting a little lost in the mix: not everyone is having lots of fun with zombies. While I personally love zombies in all their forms (and am thrilled by all the content the event is bringing us, even if it is moving really fast), lots of players out there are logging in to play World of Warcraft, and finding themselves in the middle of World War Z.
As we said on the show, Blizzard is making sure that this is an event that everyone feels -- in the past, you could avoid most of the world events just by staying out of certain areas or certain zones. But at the same time, that made some players feel it wasn't immersive enough -- why have a world event if it doesn't affect the whole world? And so this one does -- no matter what level you are or where you play, whether you got eaten by a zombie or downed Tenris Mirkblood, you know that the Lich King is coming. And some folks, who play the game casually or at a low level, just don't care.
Update: Well that's timely. In between the time this post was written and planned to go live, Blizzard has decided to cure the plague. Considering that things moved so fast this weekend, that seems premature, but we'll have to see how the event plays out -- Blizzard is of course saying that it's not because of the vocal minority speaking out against the zombie gameplay, but we'll have to see what happens next.
But there is good news: it's only temporary. My first bit of advice, if you're not having a good time, is just to try it -- if you're 70, try getting into a Kara group and checking out the boss: it's a fun fight, and the pet is nice to have. If you haven't been a zombie yet, try being one and mess around with your abilities. Lurching after another player yelling "Braiinnns!" is a good time, and unlike when the plague started, it's really easy to turn players or NPCs to your cause. And if all else fails and you're just bummed out that all of this is happening, no worries: as of November 13th, Arthas and his minions will have retreated to Northrend, and you'll be left to level through Duskwood in relative peace.
