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Alternative leveling in the Isle of Quel'Danas
I'm bored of Northrend. It is beautiful and has lovely music and is full of lore and I'm bored. It's the new Outland for me and my alts. Other ways to level abound, of course, but they all have their drawbacks and are various levels of "Been there; done that." as well. So I took Tizzi, the bored goblin mage, to a place where my aged druid spent many grindful days: the Isle of Quel'Danas. We complain about dailies now, but Quel'Danas (also known as the Sunwell Isle) was the land of too many dailies for our quest log. Grind, grind, grind we ancient Burning Crusade players did, so we could be of the Shattered Sun and get some lovely loot besides. When Quel'Danas was the in-thing, everyone was max-level, so there was no XP -- just the cash, gear, and camping. Oh, so very much camping. The Isle of Quel'Danas is vacant of players now, but is otherwise unchanged. It resides in a bubble in time, much like Outland, and the NPCs are still there to give quests or be slaughtered.
Exploring Eberron: Playtime over the holidays
It's Christmas Eve, and most everyone is on some sort of holiday break. The interesting thing about holiday "break" is that it's often not so much a break as it is a different kind of hustle and bustle than the usual one. Still, it's supposed to involve at least a little bit of downtime, and we MMO fans look forward to indulging with some extra time in our favorite games. While it's hard to find time to spend hours raiding, the design of Dungeons and Dragons Online allows players to take a half-hour here and there to relax and play. The downside of this is that there's a lot of content, and it's easy to wind up staring at the game thinking "I have no idea what I want to do." A few suggestions can usually get the ball rolllng, so follow along after the jump for some ideas on how to make the most of your DDO downtime!
Fan-made Draenei Barbie
Reader Amanda S sent us this picture of a Draenei Barbie (that is a Draenei, right? Not a Night Elf? Oh yeah -- check the hooves) she says she and a friend made when they were bored. It's not the most involved craft we've ever seen, but it looks pretty good and it's an interesting idea: make Warcraft characters out of existing dolls, rather than completely from scratch. GI Joe would probably be perfect for putting together a figure of the new King Wrynn. But we do like the dress and the shoulders -- nice job. Whenever Blizzard figures out how to do player housing, we can put her in a dream house as well.Got a WoW-related craft that you'd like to share? We'd love to see it -- send us a tip through the tipline and we'll check it out.
Trying something different
Mania's got an excellent, if longer-than-usual post up about an issue I'm dealing with as well: the need to play, but confusion about just what to do in the game. I've pretty much done everything I want to do on my Hunter -- after a very lucky night the other week, I'm decked out in all the gear I want, I've topped off my professions, and while I do have some reps to grind out yet (I still want a few rep mounts), most everything I want just depends on dailies, and those I can finish in just a few minutes a day. But just like Mania I've still got that itch to play, to explore and advance and progress, with nowhere to go.For Mania, the answer turned out to be going to a Death Knight -- she may discover that she's opened up a whole new world in choosing to level with a completely different class. An alt was also the answer for me, but I have a few different reasons, the first of which is Engineering -- I thought for a while, after hitting 450 Leatherworking on my (also Skinning) Hunter that I would switch to Engie and just buy all the mats, but I think it'll be more fun (and profitable) leveling up a Mining/Engineering alt. And he can always make the BoE chopper for any of my characters as well.But while an alt is sometimes the answer, there are lots of things you can dive into to find a completely new area in the game -- try Arenas for the first time, do a Wintergrasp grind, seek out an old world reputation or title that you've always wanted. We're very lucky, in a game like this, to have lots and lots of new things to try even when it seems like we've done everything we want.
The World (of Warcraft) is full, please come back later
Queues are the highest most of us have ever seen tonight. On my home server of Eldre'Thalas I was behind over 850 people at one point, and have had over an hour wait be estimated for me more often than not. I maxed out at 115 minutes.The estimated wait time will fluctuate back and forth depending on the frequency in which players log off or leave the queue in frustration.Perhaps the biggest thing we need to worry about this expansion is not server down time, but the phenomenal amount of players wanting to get in the game.If Blizzard has any announcement about this, or solutions (other than transferring realms) we'll keep you updated here. Other than that... good luck getting in.
Player vs. Everything: Age of Conan's newbie blues
I've been playing Age of Conan a fair amount over the last week, trying to figure out if I like it well enough to continue paying for it on a monthly basis after my free month expires. The problem is that it's going to be my second MMOG -- the one I play when I'm not busy farming or raiding with my guild on World of Warcraft. Even for someone who writes about videogames professionally, when you start stacking up multiple subscriptions, things get pricey pretty fast. Usually, I keep two subs active at a time and write about what I'm playing. Anyway, I've been trying to make this decision and I have a problem: I hop classes a lot. When you're talking about a 250 hour investment, you want to make sure that you pick a class you enjoy playing. To figure out what you enjoy playing, you really just have to try the classes out -- especially when the classes are as unique as the ones in Age of Conan. I've leveled two characters to the high teens in Tortage, and several more to the 10ish range. What I've decided, after doing all of this poking around with the classes, is that AoC's first 20 levels are about as frustrating as they can be once the initial sheen of "new game wonder" wears off. If you didn't notice it your first time through, just wait until you make your first alt.
Player vs. Everything: Maxed out and bored
Congratulations! You've hit level 70 (or whatever max level is in your favorite game), and you're officially a badass. For many players, this is a goal they've been striving towards for months -- even years in some cases. The feeling of having that first max level character is immensely invigorating. It's like putting the finishing touches on a long-term project or getting to the last page of a monstrous novel. What an accomplishment! However, after basking in the glow of your newly maxed out character for a few days, you quickly realize you have a small problem: What do you do with yourself now? The answer to that question is going to depend heavily on what game you play. For most people, it's going to be PvP, raiding, or a nice mix of both. You'll probably continue collecting gear for your character or working on your skills. Depending on the game, you might be able to work on some sort of alternate advancement or achievement system for your character -- maybe even hunt down some unique titles. All of this is pretty standard fare for endgame content. Sooner or later, you'll probably get a little bored of it. Don't fret, though! There's a whole host of other interesting things you can do to keep yourself entertained at maximum level that go beyond the planned content. Read on for a few suggestions.
Player vs. Everything: When will the players leave WoW?
I always think it's interesting when I hear developers talk about how World of Warcraft opened up the MMOG market for new entrants. We have all these new and exciting games coming out: Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, The Chronicles of Spellborn, and plenty more. However, the overwhelming response that I get from WoW players when I talk about these games is a blank stare and something along the lines of, "Okay, that sounds all right... but why would I ever want to leave WoW?" I think that developers tend to underestimate how attached people get to their MMOG of choice. There are now over 10 million World of Warcraft players. The question is, do they even want something different? I've read a number of bloggers in the past few months and talked to a number of players who claim that they're only playing WoW right now because "it's the best thing out there." They're yearning for something else. Not something totally different, mind you, since they obviously have a blast in Azeroth. But something fresh enough to be new and exciting without bastardizing the game style they know and love. However, I've noticed something interesting. This breed of player tends to overwhelmingly be comprised of people for whom World of Warcraft was not their first MMOG. Otherwise, people just want WoW to put more content in and are willing to make do with what they have until then. I think there's an intriguing bit of psychology there that's worth examining.
DS Daily: Bored games
For us, not only is the DS the ultimate pick-up-and-go system, but it's also the ultimate pick-up system. Whenever we need a quick, fun bite of gaming, the DS is always there for us. And, thanks to its large library of games, we always have a couple of different DS games that we can pick up and kill our boredom immediately.Do you have similar games on the DS you can rely on? Contra 4, perhaps? Maybe a little weed maintenance in Animal Crossing always manages to kill your boredom? What DS game (or games) do you look to in your time of need that can be turned on immediately for some fun? What is your go-to game?
It's the PSP phone! No, it's not
People have been clamoring for a PSP phone for a while, but this is certainly not the way to do it. An aptly-named blog, "I'm bored," appears to have concocted a way to have a telephone headset operate on the PSP. Certainly, far less sexy than the official PSP headset, but it may be the only option for those of you unwilling to shell out the $20.[Via Kotaku]
The onset of expansion burnout
fianakara over on WoW Ladies has an interesting tale of woe: her guild is completely burnt out on playing WoW before the expansion hits. After downing the twin emps a week ago, she says she's having problems even getting a 40 man together for BWL. And other players are responding in agreement-- guilds and raids all over the place can't seem to find enough players interested in playing "old" content before the new expansion.For me, the reaction has been almost the opposite-- my guild is pretty energized lately, and partly because of the expansion. We're hurrying to get into the endgame dungeons, and personally I'm putting in a lot of time trying to get my alt up before the December patch hits. But this problem is more widespread than even Blizzard might admit-- also on Livejournal, Thena B says she just can't find the urge to play WoW when everything is changing in just a month or two. Why play characters now when everyone's going to be rolling new characters as Draenei and Blood Elves?I've said before that just because the expansion's coming out doesn't mean the game we have is any less fun-- I'm still enjoying myself. But I can't argue with experience, and lots of players are saying they just plain aren't feeling it lately. Is the game (and participation in general) slowing down because of the imminent expansion release? Are you playing more or less when you realize that almost everything is Azeroth is going to drastically change in the next few months?
A polemic against powerleveling
Oh boy, rant time again. This one is for cloud_9 who spent a whole VC run with a friend sitting around because a higher level toon came along with them.I hate it when that happens. I hate it when I join up with a group and someone says something like "hay gusy, my 60 friend will take us thru." I quit the group right about that point. I do love playing this game-- I like the strategy of different classes, and I like using the abilities the classes have at different levels to take on dungeons as a team. That's exactly why I hate being run through a dungeon with someone higher than me.At least a few of you probably think I'm crazy by this point. "It's so much easier for finishing quests," I hear you saying. "Why would you refuse help?" That's exactly why-- because it's easier. I like the challenge of playing the game without help. Even wiping until my gear goes red is much more exciting to me than sitting around and watching a higher level character play for me. Yes, even Uldaman and even Gnomer. Are those places annoying after five failed runs? Yes. But even then, I'd rather go with a good yet low group than tag along with a 60.Flame away if you want. Laugh at me for making things harder for myself if you must. But don't be surprised when, on my lowbie alt, I politely refuse your offer to powerlevel. I pay for this game to discover things for myself, not to watch someone else play.
Shouldn't Games Be Fun?
This article from The Escapist tackles the topic of boredom in video games, and having recently spent the time to grind to honored standing with the Timbermaw faction, I can certainly understand what they're talking about. At some point in World of Warcraft it's all about the grind - whether you're grinding for faction standing, grinding for honor in PvP, grinding for gold, or grinding for gear in dungeons. And when the demands of the games are no longer fun for players? Some just leave, but others bypass the rules and purchase characters or gold - allowing others to do the less interesting parts for them. From the article: "It's fair to say that many players using these services find the time commitments required of them to be distasteful - in a word, these games are boring."
