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Breakfast Topic: Addon changes in the Burning Crusade
The recent announcement of major addon changes coming with the release of the Burning Crusade has caused an uproar on the official forums. Many applaud it -- saying it stops lazy or skill-less players from playing the game on easy mode. But many also decry the changes -- saying that it only serves to increase the portion of the game that is tedious and dull. So this morning's question is this -- which side are you on? Are you glad to see decursive go? Or will you miss it? (For my own part, I'm worried -- I have to yell often enough at the mages to decurse the main tank even when they do have decursive. How will I ever teach them to target-and-decurse when I can't even get them to one-click decurse?!)
Breakfast Topic: Realm type
Before we even go into this... yes -- I am a carebear. I play almost exclusively on PvE servers. I just, personally, have never been that excited by the full-out PvP experience, and the amount of PvP I can find on a PvE server has always suited me perfectly well. However, when first logging on, there are several options of realm type -- so today's question is what's your favorite? PvE, PvP, RP, or RP-PvP?
Breakfast Topic: Best way to /gquit
It can happen to the best of guilds eventually. Maybe your guild leaders decided they'd rather be in a big raiding guild, or perhaps personal disagreements and petty bickering fractured the membership -- but regardless of the cause, you find yourself stuck in a guild that's going nowhere. You've hung around because you have a friend in the guild, or have nowhere else to go, but at some point it's time to cut your losses and move on. (Mike wrote about such a situation recently, but is popcorn really a valid solution?) So how do you escape without getting on the bad side of the remaining guild members? Move on with your reputation intact? Well, you must have an opinion, so share it with us!
Breakfest Topic: Excuses, excuses...
After winning the rare Dal'rend's sword off the second boss in UBRS, our warrior explained to us that he was grounded and had to go -- leaving the rest of the group without a tank barely into the instance. (Particularly irritating me because this same warrior had begged me to drop what I was doing and come to heal for the group in the first place.) Of course, that's certainly not the most amusing excuse I've heard -- that award would have to go to a member of another group whom, several times into the run, left the group saying "BRB, the cows have gotten out." (Which, true or just an excuse to escape, amused the rest of the group to no end. So what are the most interesting, amusing, or downright annoying excuses you've come across in the game?
Breakfast topic: Little habits
We all have our little quirks and habits; things we do without really thinking, routines we slip into every day. When you first log in, do you run to the mailbox even though you haven't any auctions up? Do you routinely jump on the Stormwind fountain or jump about the Undercity bank? Always repair at the same out-of-the-way vendor? Dance in bear form and wait for the tells to pile up?It's the little habits that make WoW special, so -- what are yours? (All of the above are mine!)Update: Sorry about the comments issue. Fixed-- comment away!
Breakfast Topic: Where does your money go?
Ever found yourself looking at your pitiful stash of gold and wondering where on earth it all went? Log in daily to find yourself spending more cash than you earn? Once you reach a 'comfortable' amount of money (for me, it's about 200g) it's easy to spend freely, but a gold here and there quickly add up, putting you on the fast track to Brokeville. Personally, I find almost all my cash goes on repairs and potions -- with a recent unlucky streak of multiple wipes due to lag, I've definitely been haemorrhaging money during raids. PvP is also costly, though at least I don't have to provide ammo or feed a pet. Thank goodness I have profitable tradeskills! Where does your cash go, and how do you juggle the demands on your pocket?
Breakfast Topic: You Knew the Group Was Doomed When....
You've just joined a pick up group and zoned into your favorite instance. The group's warrior rushes in wielding an ice barbed spear, and when asked why they aren't using a shield, replies "I'm not that kind of warrior!" At that point, you just have a feeling that things are going to go downhill from there. As time has passed, I've sort of developed a mental list of warning signs, and a warrior who doesn't own a shield is only one of many, many things on my list. However, what are your own warning signs that a group is about to go bad?
Breakfast Topic: Boat or Gryphon?
After a Zul'Gurub run was completed yesterday evening, the mages in the group opened portals to all of the major cities in a neat line. I instinctively clicked Orgrimmar. I complained to a friend I'd taken the wrong portal, as I'd intended to head back to Yojamba Isle, in Stranglethorn Vale, to turn in a quest. "The wrong portal? How could Orgrimmar be wrong? There's a zepplin to Grom'Gol right outside the gates!" The zepplin, I was told, would be much faster than buying a bat ride from the Undercity. However, I'm less convinced. Whenever I take a zepplin or boat, I have to sit and wait for the zepplin to arrive, so as to move on to it when it reaches the dock. And I have to remain at my keyboard while the zepplin is in transit, or else I'm likely to miss getting off when it reaches its destination. If I just hop on a bat from the Undercity, I can get up and do other things in the meanwhile - so while the time may indeed be longer, it feels less. However, what do you do - take the boat or the gryphon, when you've a choice?
Breakfast Topic: Embarrassingly Old Gear
Dave wrote in suggesting this topic, and, so, let's have it! What one (or two, or three...) piece of gear have you had for the longest time, but not been able to replace? Did your warlock hit level 60 wearing those same enchanted gold bloodrobes? I know my warlock was using a hypnotic blade well into level 60 - and before you say anything, I must point out that there were, at the time, a lack of one-handed caster weapons of quality. So, do you have any gear on you that you're embarrassed to be seen with, but can't find a replacement for?
Breakfast Topic: On Holiday with Azeroth
The problem with becoming immersed in WoW is that it's hard to leave behind -- I'm at the Develop conference at the moment, and whenever there's an hour or so of downtime I'm tempted to just log in and.. you know, check auctions or something.I succumbed to the temptation when I discovered a convenient wireless access point.. on the beach. What's the oddest place you've taken WoW? Or do you have more self-control than I -- can you leave it behind happily?
Breakfast Topic: Moments of regret
Whether playing WoW while intoxicated, tired or simply under the weather, we all make mistakes. We vendor items we didn't mean to vendor, we destroy quest items thinking they're trash; it happens to everyone, sooner or later.One of my least favourite things to do is accidental disenchantment. It sounds hard - after all, you have to click on the Disenchant skill, then an item you're probably wearing - but after disenchanting several items in a row and then deciding to enchant a worn item, it's all too easy to click Disenchant by mistake. This happened to me, yesterday, for the second time; I disenchanted my tier 0.5 bracers rather than giving them a stamina enchant.Should this happen to you, don't worry -- it's not the end of the world. You can get the item restored, though the European GM I spoke to warned me that this process was only available once per account. Knowing that I'll be getting some better gear very soon, I decided not to choose this option, but since the tier 0.5 quests are non-repeatable I'm stuck in tier 0 for the time being. I'm happy it was only the bracers, which are blue, and not any of my epic items -- I'd have a hard time deciding whether epics today were more or less valuable than epics I might get tomorrow.Have you ever danced the disenchant tango? Had any other moments of regret? All I've learnt from this story is to install a "safe disenchanter" addon, and to be doubly careful when playing late at night.
Breakfast Topic: Jack of all trades, master of none?
As a druid, I often find it hard to figure out my place in life. Sometimes I'm up there with the tanks, soaking up damage and dancing in bearform; sometimes I'm sneaking around with the rogues; and sometimes I'm standing at the back with the Priests healing.Druids truly are a jack-of-all-trades class, in my opinion. However, with the right gear and talents, they can master one -- or all of them -- too. My main is a mostly-feral druid, but I recently popped on the Test Server to try out the new Swiftmend talent. The premade characters are restoration-specced with healing gear, and I found myself out-healing priests in instances as a result.I also tried playing a priest and rogue, and found my experience with druids led me to grasp these other classes quickly. So, while some may criticise the druid for being an all-rounder, that all-round experience is valuable in some circumstances. It's certainly good to know what being a tank feels like when one is stood at the back trying to keep said tank from dying. Is this jack-of-all-trades approach valuable for other classes, too? Or is it unique to the shapeshifting druid?
Breakfast Topic: The N-word
There's one word that gets my goat in WoW: "noob". With spellings as diverse as "nub", "n00b" and "nubcakes", dropping the N-bomb is seen by many players as a way to enhance their own social standing -- often with the opposite effect.I'm tired of "noob" being the default insult -- of Trade, General, LFG and local channels filling up with the word time and again. Of being called a "nub" for reasons as diverse as refusing a duel, wanting to find a group and capturing the flag in WSG. Of course, sometimes we do behave in ways that deserve reprimand -- but can't anyone come up with a more original insult? Perhaps that should be the next Blizzard competition.
Breakfast Topic: The crazy things we do
I've been having fun with sheep recently. Admittedly, I am Welsh, but I'm talking WoW -- and odd behaviour. While skilling up in Engineering I made several mechanical sheep; I tried making them attack nearby Horde players, who were thankfully laughing too much to retaliate. There's nothing like an angry sheep in the morning to get your blood boiling.I also wasted valuable minutes of my life repeatedly polymorphing a sheep, just to see what would happen. No prizes for guessing the result! So, what are some of the weirdest things you've found yourself doing in WoW -- with or without farm animals?
Breakfast Topic: Alts for odd reasons
While many of us have alts to try out new styles of gameplay, or to make accessing the Auction House easier, many players create new characters with specific ideas in mind. A friend of mine recently created a pink haired gnome simply because he wanted one the moment he saw one -- instead of levelling up, he just runs around with her and enjoys whatever there is to enjoy about gnomes.After giving one of my new characters a name inspired by a series of books, I decided to create some alts with more "book-inspired" names to give her some company, but I'm sure there are far crazier reasons for making particular alts. What's your story?
Breakfast Topic: Shifting professions
Professions are an interesting sideline in WoW, and allow us to make money as well as some interesting items. However, there comes a point when the professions we've chosen become expensive and slow to level, and we face a decision: continue or change?Changing profession isn't something to be done lightly -- you lose all acquired skill in your existing professions, as well as any recipes you've learnt. On the other hand, switching can have its benefits -- if you're not needed as a guild enchanter after all, you can save money by picking up gathering professions and loading the AH up daily. If you're bored of running around levelling a gathering profession, you can switch to a crafting profession, though you'll probably need some spare cash to make the change.Have you ever changed professions? Did you regret it or have you not looked back since?
Breakfast Topic: Ding!
Some dings mean more than others. Across all my alts, I've heard the noise and seen the yellow flashes over two hundred times -- yet few of them are memorable. I find odd-numbered levels particularly boring, as nothing really happens (some armour and quests become available, but even numbers are where it's at).However, some dings are memorable enough to make up for the monotone of the majority. Hitting 60 (see right) isn't an experience most of us forget; my first "big ding" was at 40, after beating up some STV gorillas for those last few XP. What's your best ding memory?
Breakfast Topic: Acts of kindness
Sometimes encounters in WoW leave me with a deep loathing for the entire human race, but other times I'm left with a warm fuzzy feeling towards fellow homines sapientes. Fly-by buffs are still fun to give out and to receive -- I would be lying if I said I didn't buff fellow players in the hope that I will receive similar services back, but I tend to rely on global karma, buffing anyone and everyone who crosses my path.After being beaten up by a nasty elite roamer (Son of Arugal, I'm looking at you, though Borelgore gets honourable mention) there's nothing nicer than a random resurrection. Standing at the graveyard facing a long and depressing corpse run -- or even a short one -- the magic words "<Player> wants to resurrect you" can do a lot to lift my tortured spirits. The last time it happened, a passing priest dismounted, resurrected me, then rode away before I could thank them properly. Back at the mailbox I sent a present, thinking all that karma -- the similar resurrections I'd done on my alts -- had finally paid off.Ever had a little act of kindness make your day? Do you like or loathe fly-by buffs and resurrections?
Breakfast Topic: Disgruntled spouses
Following on from the love letter we saw yesterday, we return to the topic of couples playing together. Do you play WoW with your spouse or partner?I know of many couples who play together, varying from those with separate mains who share a single computer to those who sit side-by-side and take part in the same raiding guild. I also know of relationships where only one half plays WoW, though it hasn't caused any break-ups as far as I know. I think either can have its happy moments. My other half refuses to play games at all, but we share so much else that having a few different hobbies makes life more interesting. He listens patiently to my babble about dinging and a good night's loot, which is about all I could ask for. Does your partner put up with WoW with gritted teeth, or with a smile?
Breakfast Topic: Explaining to newbies
As is my wont, I've been helping a couple of brand new WoW players get addicted lately, and it's been interesting. One comes from a heavy MMO background and is fairly happy to be left alone and get on with it; the other is a console FPS gamer who has needed a lot of hand-holding.In helping the latter, I've had to answer some questions which might seem commonplace to any WoW veteran but can be confusing as heck to newbies. Why is the run from Darnassus to Ironforge so unfriendly? Why do animals routinely carry weapons, armour and food, whereas humanoids with no known economy carry cash and cloth? Why does the pattern of night and day follow real time, so players who only have time at night never see places in blazing sunlight? How come a cloth armour merchant can repair my pointy sword? Why, if Alliance and Horde are sworn enemies, is there even a mechanism whereby they can't attack each other?Some have easier answers than others -- we're not on RP servers, so coming up with plausible explanations isn't too taxing. However, it's almost like introducing a child to a new world. Things which we take for granted can suddenly seem strange and quirky. Obviously, a lot of the less-logical gameplay choices make the game ultimately more fun, if less realistic; what are the weird questions you've been asked by newbies (apart from "gief gold pls")?
