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Breakfast Topic: First loves
How many characters did you go through before you settled on one to take to 60? Is your first your only character, or have you hopped from class to class and race to race before you felt comfortable?The first character we create can hold the fondest memories; we made newbie mistakes together, we learnt the game and explored the world. On the other hand, sometimes mistakes made as a newbie can have far-reaching effects; especially if that high-powered guild leader is someone we accidentally stole a mob from who still bears the grudge. Unlikely, but there are times we wish we could rewrite those first bumbling steps, go back and give ourselves all the expertise we have now.My first character was, maybe predictably, a Night Elf. I chose a Druid because shape-shifting sounded unbelievably cool, and after a few nasty experiences with spiders and getting lost in Teldrassil, I made it to Darnassus, then undertook the pilgrimage to Ironforge. After leaving the character there for months so I could play around with everything else the game has to offer, I recently dusted her off and it's a lot of fun coming back to that very first creation, even if it does mean dealing with a bank full of rubbish and extremely ill-suited equipment.
Breakfast topic: Guild drama
The phrase "guild drama" is one that crops up a lot in WoW; the necessary consequence of a large group of individuals all working towards a few common goals seems to be tension, strife and disagreement. From personality clashes to mergers and alliances, you need to deal with a lot of other people's business to get far in the endgame. Even if you choose to bypass raiding and focus on your PvP, more politics come into play over rank and honour.I've had a pretty easy time of it so far -- my guild is reasonably small, so we're part of a larger alliance which is working out well for now. However, I'm well aware that the inevitable will happen; one day someone's goals will change, and the peace will shatter. Guild drama can't be avoided -- in fact, some guilds like to wear past problems like badges of honour on their sleeves, showing the world that they can stick together through thick and thin. Others stay mostly drama-free, through choice or design, but delve into even the quietest guilds and you may find more than you bargained for.Do you prefer life with the added complications of guild politics, or have you given up on the drama and gone for a quieter life elsewhere?
Breakfast Topic: Gaming the game
It's a late breakfast today, and the topic is play styles. What do you do when normal WoW playing becomes too easy for you? You start creating meta-games, challenges within the game that add new levels of achievement and complication to the equation. Whether you've roped in some friends to see who's the first to 60 on a new server, or you're trying to beat your own high scores in terms of number of pulls or HKs, there are times when we all set arbitrary targets for ourselves ingame.Especially if you've already taken one or two characters to 60, the game content becomes less of an interesting distraction and more a means to an end. You know all the best grinding spots, areas with decent drop rates and fast-spawning mobs that are especially susceptible to your class skills. You're gaming the game -- plotting the most efficient route through a minefield of quests and levels. If you don't level by the end of today's session, you consider it an inefficient use of your time.Do you find you fall into this behaviour? Do you try to beat your own times to level 10, 20, etc? Or do you sit back and enjoy the ride, whichever character you're on, not caring much about what you get done in a single session?
Breakfast Topic: Fun with campers
The humble camper is a life-form frequently encountered amongst the many zones -- often found in great numbers throughout high-level areas in particular. By sticking to one particular spot based on a number of factors -- primarily aiming to harvest particular drops for fun and profit -- campers cause high-level questers a lot of trouble. I've had numerous encounters with level 60 campers who decide that pulling every mob in the area, all at once, is a good tactic to maximise drops -- indeed it is, but when there are other players there waiting to complete a quest, it's not a particularly nice tactic. Of course, on PvP servers you can add ganking into the equation, making it often more fun for the would-be quester to give up rather than waste several hours on one quest.Have you had bad camping experiences? Any tips to deal with those who just refuse to budge? Or are you a camper, and willing to defend your stance?Asking politely is one way to deal with campers, but it only gets you so far -- nowhere, when it comes to the opposite faction. Irritating them so that they'll give up is another tactic that I've seen employed, but can't bring myself to try. Ultimately, there isn't much you can do to stop people camping, especially when they ignore you -- but don't dismiss them all as gold farmers without a second glance. Some may be questers just like you.
Breakfast Topic: Hidden gems
From an out-of-the-way inn my guild uses for meetings, to the time I finally managed to watch a race in the Shimmering Flats, Azeroth has many well-kept secrets. How many times have you stumbled across a location or piece of scenery and wondered what on earth it was there for? Aside from the game's easter eggs, which are fun to track down, some places seem to hold unfulfilled potential.I've found that RP gives me a whole new outlook on these places; every one suddenly suggests several possible storylines, although I've acquired the habit of dismissing a lot of the empty-looking content by saying "oh, that's only for RPers". Do you think this is true? Are the deserted buildings and empty locations there for RP enjoyment alone, or to lighten the hearts of the players who love running around into every nook and cranny? Have you found a particular spot that surprised or delighted you?
Breakfast Topic: Quest Questions
Love 'em or hate 'em, quests are an integral part of life in Azeroth. However, they come in many different types -- from the "mindless quota killing" sort to the "cross your fingers and hope for a drop" variety. When I'm levelling, I always try to incorporate quests -- travelling from place to place to turn them in might reduce my XP per hour, but it ultimately makes the game more interesting for me and drives me to seek out new places.What's your preferred play style? Do you try to stack up as many quests as possible for efficiency? Sprinkle collection quests in with some errand-running and challenging higher level quests? Or do you grind the night away, staking out rare mobs and good drop areas?I tend to think the different characters I play drive my questing behaviour. My druid always seeks out new adventures and gets bored when in the same area for too long, my rogue tries to do quests that are way above her level by stealthing past most of the mobs, and my warrior just charges in and kills things for fun. It's interesting to push the limits of the different classes, and quests are one way to measure yourself against the game's idea of your skill -- having an addon that shows the quest levels is invaluable for this
Breakfast Topic: A whole new (international) world
Having recently obtained an American WoW subscription to go alongside my European one, I've been spending some time playing internationally. Surprisingly, the lag isn't a factor (at least at newbie level, because--of course--I've had to start from scratch), and the five-hour time difference hasn't come into play yet.It's a weird mix of the familiar and unfamiliar--I'm used to seeing all sorts of European languages flashing past in General, as newly created characters seek out their countrymen. That's gone, but the countryside and quests are the same. These days, General is filled with shouted insults and puerile behaviour fit more for Xbox Live than WoW. Perhaps my Live experiences should have prepared me for people's ability to be entirely rude to complete strangers--or a zone full of them--but my WoW experiences hadn't.When I move from European server to European server, I get a sense of disorientation when I walk around the cities and miss the familiar faces. Bereft of my guild, I feel defenceless and lost. Moving from European to American servers, however, is even odder. The cultures on the servers are different, as the patchwork amalgamations making up East and West in real life are different. From new in-jokes to a new Chuck Norris obsession, it's a whole new world.Am I just particularly unlucky, finding a server whose General channels (Elwynn and Stormwind) were filled with insults and abuse? Is it culture shock, or something more reflective of the fact that only kids would be playing at 5AM server time? Is the bad behaviour of characters likely to put off complete WoW newbies, entering Northshire Abbey only to be greeted with a 'your mom' joke?
Breakfast Topic: Most satisfying kill
We all have those satisfying moments when we overcome challenges that we'd previously thought too difficult, or perhaps when we go back and exact our revenge on tormentors of the past. Even in PvE, there are plenty of fights that give a real sense of accomplishment at the end. What's your story?Personally, I have all the usual go-back-and-kill-Son-of-Arugal moments, but also a couple of proud achivements when faced with two elites (one add)--the last time that happened I survived with 5 health! I also have the embarrassing flipside -- /cheering after a fight only to realise I've been poisoned. Unfortunately the Spirit Healer didn't see the funny side.[Thanks, Eric]
Breakfast Topic: Enchanting Prices
We've all seen the trade channel peppered with advertisements for various enchanting services, and perhaps some of us have even dabbled in the skill ourselves. Having played on multiple servers, the disparity in prices is often surprising, with some glowing enchants going for 7g on one server and over 20g on another.As an enchanter with a fairly low skill, I don't get too caught up in the price wars, but what are your experiences? Are you annoyed that identical enchants go for more on other servers? Or do you think it is a healthy sign of the individual economies? What sort of prices do you see or set?[Thanks, Mark]
Breakfast Topic: Competition Over!
Another Tuesday, another maintenance day, and today's brings with it an end to the Public Test Realm contests as well as patch 1.10. For the last few weeks players have been frantically levelling, grinding, and PvPing in their quest to be in the top 1000. Did you take part, and how did it go?I popped on to the Honor Contest EU realm last night to gauge the atmosphere and I was surprised at how few players were online. When I visited, only one battleground was open, which makes me wonder if Blizzard will even find the 1000 players they need for their prizes. However, that puts anyone who created a character on the realm in with a good chance. Some players were definitely nervous, boasting about their amount of honour without explicitly detailing their achievements. I didn't get a chance to check out the other two contest realms; have you been watching the competitions unfold? Do you think you will win a spot in the Burning Crusade beta?
Breakfast Topic: Weekend Rantings
It's Monday morning and you're back in the real world after a hard weekend of raiding, questing and PvPing. What better way to spend your time at work than by ranting about your weekend? Whether you spent the entire weekend repeatedly wiping on the same instance, you didn't make your goal of level 40 thanks to being ganked, or you couldn't play WoW at all, let's let it all out.Personally, I was playing some low-level battlegrounds and it was a really frustrating experience. The team was filled with players who had rolled Horde "because Horde always wins BGs", not realising that players still have to work for the win. After playing a couple of matches and logging off in frustration, I came back later only to find people who were even worse. No amount of helpful explanation or guidance worked, and the Alliance must have been laughing their heads off.
Breakfast Topic: Would you trade?
An interesting hypothetical question came up in guild chat recently. When new to WoW, you have to make a decision that can persist for months -- the decision whether to go Horde or Alliance. I've met players who frequently switch sides, and others who have never deserted the faction they chose when they first ran the game.What if you could switch? Trade in a level 60 of one faction for an equivalent of another? Would you do it, and why?I'm not sure that I would; I personally enjoy seeing new scenery from both sides, levelling up through both factions. I know some players who role-play would love to, for example, turn a human into one of the Forsaken, but somehow I don't think it's a game feature that's ever going to happen.
Breakfast Topic: Age boundaries
Thanks for all your Breakfast Topic ideas; watch this space, as we will be featuring them in days to come!Today's topic is age. In WoW, you can play characters who fit into a variety of perceived age brackets, from sultry young females to grey-haired older men--you can even play your characters beyond the grave, if that takes your fancy. However, I was shocked the other day to find out that a grey-haired human character was actually played by a teenager. I had automatically conferred some sort of respect on to the character, and the realisation that the player was younger than me took some time to sink in.On the other hand, sometimes it's easy to tell the age of a character--textual cues and behavioural habits might give it away. I've seen several adverts for "mature" guilds; do you seek out players who are approximately the same age as you? Or do you team up with anyone, even if they might have to leave halfway through to do their homework?
Breakfast Topic: Breakfast Topics
We've been running the "Breakfast Topic" feature for several weeks, and now's the chance for you to step forward and suggest your own topic for discussion. If you've got a burning issue you'd love us to post about, or a topic you want other readers to chime in on, simply send it in via the tips form.You can also send in any other tips or suggestions for the site via the same form, if you're itching to see us write about something in particular.
Breakfast Topic: Game Over (redux)
Drakedog's graceful exit made me think about leaving the game as a concept again (although not something I'm planning on doing any time soon). The video shows two things--the popularity of WoW machinima, and how easy it is to casually destroy everything you've spent hours working towards.If you leave (or when you left), how will you go? Quietly? Via eBay? Or will you make a statement, solemnly destroying your epics (so you can't be tempted back), clad in the clothes you started out in, sitting cross-legged on the floor waiting for your doom?Me, I'd probably run naked into an opposing faction city for laughs. I'm that kinda girl.
Breakfast Topic: To test or not to test?
Now that we're familiar with the test realm contests, that Beta spot looks oh-so-inviting, but which contest to enter? If any? Having briefly popped on to the Honor Contest EU realm yesterday, it seems that many players are pinning their hopes on PvP, labelling the race to 50 as "only for gold farmers" and the level 25 alts competition as "a waste of time".Whether this attitude is fair is another matter, but there's certainly been a lot of confusion over the contests so far. Many players arrived on the Honor Contest realm looking for their level 60 characters, so often that players in Mulgore made macros to clear things up in chat. The feeling is definitely one of "every man for himself", with newbies who ask "which is the best class for pvp?" or "what's the fastest way to level?" often going unanswered.It strikes me what a tremendous amount of time these gamers are going to have to put in to win the contest--but it certainly looks achievable, and that time would probably be spent playing WoW anyway. Are you planning to enter a contest? If so, which one?
Breakfast Topic: Abort, Retry, Fail?
Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we can't complete a particular quest on the first try. Maybe it's a difficult escort quest, or we're trying to kill mobs with some particularly nasty attacks, but there are plenty of moments when we want to just give up--or at least come back later.Aborting quests has the unhappy side-effect of filling up your inventory with quest items--half-collected drops and special items given to you by NPCs. Retrying again and again often leads to death and armour at 0%; but failing isn't a nice thought. On the occasions when I give up on a quest, I try to destroy the quest items straight away (so I won't start chucking out the wrong thing in the middle of an instance) and I like to think of it as "moving on" rather than "failure".What's your attitude to the inevitable quest abandonment? Do you try to complete every single quest you pick up, or are you happy to drop them at a whim?
Breakfast Topic: Dirty tactics
While we might assume by default that every other player is a honourable and upright paragon of virtue, sometimes little quirks of behaviour manage to shatter our illusions beyond repair. From chat spammers to mob campers, we frequently run into some dirty tactics which serve to convince us that perhaps WoW isn't such a nice place to be after all.Ganking aside, what are your favourite or least favourite tricks to employ in these situations? One of mine is excessive politeness--it may be the Englishness of it, but saying "I'm terribly sorry, old chap, but would you mind pushing off for a few minutes while I finish this quest?" has surprising effects.
Breakfast Topic: Guilded or unguilded?
Joining a guild can be a lot of fun, but it can also bring a lot of drama into your life. Some people eschew the complexities of guilded life and purposefully go guildless; others pick and choose guilds carefully, or bounce between guilds at will.I've personally only found a couple of nice guilds in my time playing, and I generally don't join guilds with my alts on other servers--it's not exactly fair on the guild, since I'll not be playing much. However, I've found guilded life to be rewarding and (given the tales I have heard of other guilds) surprisingly hassle-free. What's your take on guilds? More trouble than they're worth, or worth their weight in gold?
Breakfast Topic: Skimpy armour
This debate is a perennial topic amongst MMOs, thanks to their often-stylised representations of reality. It goes like this: why does some armour barely large enough to cover one's modesty offer the same (or better) protection as head-to-toe chainmail? More importantly, why does some armour appear as a bikini top for female characters and yet a hefty breastplate for males?It's a toss-up between realism and artistic licence, and Blizzard seem to have gone for the latter every time. While I don't personally mind the chainmail-bikini wardrobe, I know of players (especially those who RP) who aren't keen on it at all, and others who purposefully dress their Night Elves in Black Mageweave Leggings for fun. What's your stance? Do you seek out or avoid skimpy armour? Any particular favourites?
