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Breakfast Topic: Who's healing you?
There's plenty of room for argument on the topic of "best healer" in the game. And with some big changes coming to paladins in the upcoming 2.1 patch, the debate will only intensify. We've got priests with their versatile array of healing spells; paladins with their excellent mana efficiency and great buffs; druids with HoT domination and in-combat rez; and shamans with powerful (but difficult to use) totem buffs and self-rez as wipe protection. We could spend all day arguing the pros and cons of each class in a raid or small-group setting without coming to a conclusion!But let's overlook the debate for now and just ask this basic question: who's actually out there healing you? A priest? A paladin? A druid? A shaman? A rogue with a good supply of bandages?
Breakfast topic: How's 2.1 treating ya?
Now that we've had a little time to digest the lengthy 2.1 patch notes, it's time to ask what you think of the patch so far. Of course, I imagine opinions vary a great deal based on what class you're playing. I, for one, am incredibly impressed by Blizzard's ability to make me want to play a healer a little less with every new patch. (And I like healing.) But are you looking forward to the new content? Eager to jump into the Black Temple? Or are you disappointed by class changes and trying to decide what to reroll?
Breakfast topic: Worst new instance
Ok, I think it's been long enough-- we've all sat here talking about how great all the new content is and how thrilled we all are to have new 5mans to run and new items to collect for a few months now, so it's time to move away from the good and start getting into the bad.Awakener on Demon Soul says Shattered Halls is definitely the worst instance of the expansion. I have to completely disagree-- I think Shattered Halls is fun and simple once you've got it down, and the Gauntlet of Flame is one of the best 5man experiences in the game. Then again, not all long experiences are fun-- my pick for worst instance is The Black Morass in the Caverns of Time. Escape from Durnholde was brilliant fun, but BM is just (literally) a swamp-- there's no variety in the spawns, and no story to the event. Either you kill the nondescript bad guys or you don't, and I think it's a waste to be "fighting alongside" Medivh when really he's just standing there yelling at you.But that's just me. What's the worst instance you've seen in the expansion?
Breakfast Topic: Next alt
I have a simple question for you all today. It is Saturday morning, after all, and I'm sure many of you are a bit...exhausted after a hard Friday night partying or, more likely, raiding. So: what's the next character you're going to level, when you're done with the one you're working on now? As for myself, my Rogue is nearing 70 (69 right now), so next up, I think, is my Mage, who's been moldering at 20 for a long time. I may respec him frost, though -- I've never played frost. What are you guys going to make? Or do you have enough characters already?
Breakfast Topic: Netherstorm vs. Shadowmoon Valley
Outland has a fairly linear zone progression. From Hellfire Peninsula, you move on to Zangarmarsh, then Terokkar, Nagrand, and Blade's Edge. After that, though, you have a choice of two zones: Netherstorm or Shadowmoon Valley. They're both of approximately equal level, and on both the characters that I've taken through Outland, I've only needed one of the two zones to get to level 70. I've picked Netherstorm both times, and was 70 before I was done with it. That leaves the Shadowmoon quests available for lovely gold rewards.Having quested around in both, I have to say I vastly prefer Netherstorm. Shadowmoon Valley just feels icky to me. The mobs are constantly killing me, and the zone just doesn't seem to "flow" like it should. Also, I love the way ethereals look, and Netherstorm is full of them. However, I know people who feel precisely the opposite way, generally preferring Shadowmoon and avoiding Netherstorm. What do you think? Do you have a preference between the two zones, or do you like them equally?
Breakfast topic: And yet, it worked
There is nothing more lame than getting stuck in a group that just isn't going to work. If you're a warrior, and you get put in a group that has a feral druid, two rogues, and a warlock, odds are that you're in for a rough night. I'm not saying it won't work-- maybe the druid has crazy healing gear, and the rogues are a few levels high for the instance, and the warlock is really good at doing all the things they can do. But if the group's not there, it's not going to happen.But sometimes, you can get a really amazing group from what doesn't seem like the right makeup. I once ran a group with three shaman (me as a resto, and two elemental), a mage and a druid, and lo and behold, we actually finished Stratholme easily (we were all 60, before the expansion). And I've always wanted to run a group of all shaman-- two resto, two elemental, and an enhancement, through one of the 5 mans. I'm sure that if we had the gear and the know-how, we could make it work.So what's the wackiest group you've ever been in, where you thought you were just plain doomed-- and yet, it worked? I'm no good at the math, but with eight nine classes (told you I was bad at math) in five spots, that's a whole lot of different groups out there. What is the craziest one you've had that works?
Breakfast topic: Welcome to the first of April
The first of April is upon us again which means that for the rest of the day we need to be prepared for any sort of jokes by Blizzard and our fellow players -- and who knows what we can expect. Back in 2005, Blizzard announced the Pandaran Express. And in 2006, they fooled yours truly with a fake Burning Crusade race announcement. (Hey, they announced it on March 31st -- what were we to think?!) And this year? Well, nothing unusual has come from Blizzard yet -- but the day is still young!So are you prepared to resist the onslaught of April fools' jokes -- or are you planning on playing some jokes of your own?
Breakfast topic: April Fools' Day!
Blizzard is notorious for playing pranks on its customers on April Fools' Day, including the pandaren as a fifth race in Warcraft III, the 2005 "Burgercraft" fast food chain idea, and the two-headed ogre and wisp racial ideas in WoW. My personal favorite is Caydiem's "Evil Patch Notes 1.11", which is still one of the best pieces of WoW satire out there. Now, as the end of March quickly approaches, we have to wonder what Blizzard will pull this time. They have a lot of options. How about "The Great Sea" expansion, which would be entirely underwater? Better make friends with some warlocks and shamans quickly. Or an announcement that due to "overly rapid raiding progression," all trash mobs in Karazhan, Serpentshrine Cavern, and Tempest Keep will have their HP and numbers doubled? It would be neat to have some in-game changes, but that's unlikely. I'd love a joke where for one day, you have to CHANGE history in the Caverns of Time and see that the world would actually be a better place if you killed Medivh or Thrall. Then the next day, whoops, back to preserving the timeline! What do you think Blizzard is going to do for April 1? What sort of pranks and tricks do you think would be neat to see?
Breakfast Topic: Hero classes
Hero classes were in the "on the horizon" section of the Under Development page for a long time, though they have since been removed. Tseric has said that they are still looking into "alternate character advancement," but we should maybe forget the term "Hero Class." At any rate, they've been since release one of the most desired improvements for the game by many players. So when someone comes forward claiming to be working for Blizzard and to have the inside scoop on how they're looking at hero classes these days, it gets me excited. Now there is, as the poster rightly points out, no credibility whatsoever to this information, aside from the fact, as Tobold says over at his blog, that it's just boring enough to be something Blizz would do.Basically, each class would be able to specialize as one of the three different hero classes, each corresponding to one of the class's talent trees. Then, by spending "Hero Points," which will be earned in unspecified ways (but will be indefinite (!)) in a fourth, linear talent panel, they could gain access to special abilities. The hero classes would also have some passive benefits. It actually sounds pretty decent to me, except for the fact that, supposedly, your choice of hero class would be absolutely permanent, like profession specializations used to be. I think it would be much better to do it how profession specs are now -- you can re-specialize, but only if you completely unlearn the profession. With hero classes, I'd make it so you could choice a new one, but you'd lose all your invested Hero Points.Anyway, that's the rumor. My question for you: how do you think they should do hero classes? Or is "hero class" just an outdated idea and we should focus on novel methods of character progression?[via Tobold's MMORPG Blog]
Breakfast Topic: Easiest Heroic
So far, I've been into exactly two Heroic-mode dungeons: Slave Pens and Steamvaults. My guild group cleared through Slave Pens fine, although we had a few wipes, all on trash mobs. Badges of Justice were of course had by all, and I got a nice main-hand for my DPS set. Steamvaults was another story: we did OK on the trash, but couldn't down a single boss. I'm also keyed for Caverns of Time heroics, but judging by how annoying Black Morass is on non-heroic, I don't think I'll be opting to turn up the intensity on that one any time soon. When a forum poster asked which Heroic was the easiest, Tseric Eyonix replied:So far I've only completed two heroic dungeons -- Slave Pens and Mechanar. Slave Pens was definitely much easier for my group than Mechanar was, however, both were fairly challenging. I'm hoping to do some others soon, but right now I'm trying to gain exhaulted with the Sha'tar faction, so running the Tempest Keep dungeons is in my best interest. Perhaps I'll do a heroics mode Botanica or Arcatraz soon.How about you guys? Out of the heroics y'all have tried, which was the least bone-crushingly difficult?
Breakfast Topic: Is there a WoW community?
So there's eight million of us around the world. We've got guys, girls, old and young, and people from all kinds of different backgrounds. And we all love playing this gigantic game with each other.But does that actually make it a community? This forum thread is a really good read, and the two sides in it both have valid points. Some people say yes, WoW players all have one thing in common (playing WoW), and that makes them a community-- we have our own in-jokes, our own realm of knowledge, and we've all shared an experience that sets us apart from the rest of the world. That, they say, makes us a community of individuals, no matter what other experiences or identities we may have.But others say it's nothing like a community-- the only thing we have in common is that we all sit alone in a room with a computer for extended periods of time. WoW friends, they say, aren't really friends-- they're acquaintances, and the fact that someone else knows about WoW doesn't connect you to them any more than a random person on the street.So who do you think? Are we a community, or just a bunch of crazy people playing a game? Personally, I feel closer to my own guild as a community then I do to the player base at large, and even then I don't know how I'd associate with my guildies in real life (never done it). But then again, I do feel more connected to someone I meet when I find out they play WoW-- there is definitely a shared experience there that brings people together closer than if they had no connection at all.
Breakfast Topic: Favorite things
This simple question comes courtesy of my mother. What's your favorite thing about thig big game of ours? Me, I'd have to say I have two favorite things. One is group PvE, whether it be 5-man or raids; I just love working together with friends to defeat obstacles. From the rush of downing a boss to the hundred small interactions that contribute to the beautiful ballet of smashing one's enemies to a pulp, it's all good. My second in-game love is theorycraft. What can I say; I love math. Between analyzing talent builds, gear choices, and spells, I almost feel I don't have to actually play the game at all...but that's crazy talk. What are your favorite things about WoW, and why?
Breakfast Topic: Outland, take two
My main is sitting comfortably at 70, running instances, edging up her tailoring skill, and slowly accruing cash for the epic flyer. By this point, in fact, I've brought my second character to 60, my Rogue, and started her in Outland. It's just as much of a blast as I remember it being the first time, months ago, although of course it's a little less fresh. I remember everything being so big and bewildering back then; now, knowing where everything is and what all the quests are, it's very much more manageable. It's still challenging, though, since the mobs behave a bit differently than I'm used to from the old world. If you've gotten a second (or third, or...) character to Outland level, how have you found it the second time through?Also, what have you found to be a good level to run through that Dark Portal and start questing? I originally went at 58, but after doing a few quests decided I'd better go back to the Plaguelands and get to 60 first, for more effective questing. Still, I'm glad I did the first few quests, since they got me huge upgrades in main- and off-hand weapons, and a piece or two of armor. If I become crazy enough to get a third character out of Azeroth, I'll probably do it the same way -- go in for a few easy pieces of vital gear, and come back out to get to 60. What would you do?
Breakfast topic: what do you dread?
Yesterday we talked about what new game features you might be looking forward to. Today let's consider the flip-side -- changes we might see in the future that you hope will never happen. When you can't be sure what Blizzard might have planned for the game, it's easy to fear for the worse. More class nerfs? Hundred player raid content? More bugged, unbeatable encounters (at least until Blizzard hotfixes them)? Or perhaps something completely different -- what game change do you most dread seeing?
Breakfast Topic: what are you looking forward to?
We've heard a lot lately about the changes -- many negative -- that came with the 2.0.10 patch. But let's look on the bright side for now, and talk about upcoming changes (or possible changes) that we're looking forward to. The next expansion? The mythical hero class? Guild or player housing? Or perhaps you're happy with the game just as it is and would be happy with more of the same. Me, I'm waiting for class balance to do another 360 and put priests on top of the world again. (Yep, some days I'm just a hopeless optimist!)
Breakfast Topic: Multiple accounts
"Breakfats" writes in with the following idea for a breakfast topic:not sure, if this has been covered, but "multiple accounts" could be an interesting topic or even series.This allows AH buybacks, AH price driving, fast trades between a main and his bank alts, "solo" power-levelling with 2 PC's or 2 windows, Horde and Alliance chars on the same server, advertising in trade while running instances on the other char...and so on.And I agreed that it was a pretty good idea for discussion, so let's have at it. In addition to the uses he mentions, of course, there's also multi-boxing properly considered, as spectacularly practiced by Xzin (still one of my favorite posts on this blog) -- playing more than one character at a time for fun and profit. Do any of you own multiple accounts? If so, what do you do with them?
Breakfast Topic: When Shaman go OOM
In a longish thread on fixing the Shaman class yesterday, Tseric stopped by to comment on concerns that Shaman are mana-inefficient and can't do much of anything while OOM. I find it fairly informative regarding the devs' stance on Shaman and mana, so I'll quote it in full:While I can't really comment on your suggestions, there are a couple points which I'd like to address from what I know. I can certainly take the remaining feedback from the thread, at any rate. ;) Q u o t e:Shaman need more mana regeneration. Once their mana runs out there's not much they can do.Mana efficiency for Shaman has always been on the low side. You might be arguing one of the defining characteristics of the class. However, they are also a melee class, so they can do more without mana than a mage or priest. At the base, you can apply the quoted statement to any mana-using class, but at the same time Shaman do not come out at the bottom of that pile.
Breakfast Topic: Favorite quests
Yesterday we talked about the most annoying quests you'd found in Azeroth and Outland -- so today we're talking about the opposite. Let's hear about the most interesting, most rewarding, and most out and out fun quests you've found in the game since the expansion's come out. My own personal favorite remains a fairly early quest in Terokkar Forest. Exploring the Cenarion Thicket for other quests, you're likely to run into the half-crazed Warden Treelos, who requests that you slaughter a beast he calls Naphthal'ar. Of Naphthal'ar, Treelos tells you:If you can, convince it to come down for tea. But, by all means, get it to stop staring at me!And once you have slain the beast, Treelos mourns:It's for the best, really. If it cannot civilly accept an invitation then it has no business attending.That little interaction makes me giggle every time I recall it, and -- for me at least -- makes an otherwise simple "go here, kill this" quest a memorable favorite.
Breakfast Topic: Most annoying quest
Prior to the release of the Burning Crusade expansion, if you asked any player what the most annoying quest in the game was, you would probably have overwhelmingly received the answer, "Deep Ocean, Vast Sea." No, this isn't some high level epic quest -- it's just an underwater quest that seems to involve an inordinate number of murlocs. (And in my personal experience, if the murlocs don't get you, then you're likely to drown.) However, with the expansion release, and countless new quests in Outland, that may no longer be the case. (And there are, after all, murlocs in Outland as well!) While I can say that anything with murlocs ranks high on my annoyance scale, I can't quite decide on the most annoying of the new quests in the game. (And, even if I could make up my mind, I'm not sure it would be any more annoying than "Deep Ocean, Vast Sea.") So I'm asking you, dear readers, what's the most annoying quest in World of Warcraft today? And is it an old Azeroth quest or a new Outland adventure?
Breakfast Topic: Off to the races
I doubt that, since the latest expansion featured two new races, we'll see any more playable races in Azeroth for a while-- more likely would be simply new content, a new class, or (most likely) the hero classes we've heard so much about.But sleepyfoxy on Livejournal says that if she could play as one race, it would be the sporelings, the little mushroomy guys that populate Sporeggar in Zangarmarsh. Personally, ever since I ran Mana Tombs for the first time, I think it would be awesome to play as an ethereal, the mana mummy-looking guys that make up the Consortium (I even like their Arabesque smuggler lore background). And though we still haven't seen them in the game, I thought for sure that Pandaren would appear at least as a mention (maybe among the Lower City refugees) in the expansion.So today's question is: what race will you never play as that you wish you could?
