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Sunday Morning Funnies: You are not an ostrich
From the training of a rat to a meeting of the altaholics, to a little bit of man lovin', this week's comics progress storylines, provide gaming commentary, and bring out the laughs. This week, The Scout Report teaches us a bit more about Ogre culture. On Teh Gladiators, Trevor tries to train his hunter pet, the valiant rat. Monkey Punchers goes all-out for the Man Love this week! This week's LFG was definitely hilarious. I won't even comment, so as not to spoil it. Shakes and Fidget are out for Rock 'n' Roll this week. Dark Legacy's NPCs are getting Stinking Rich. Okay so WoW isn't as customizable as the generic MMO featured in this week's NoObz, but I think we can all relate. Besides, Wrath is bringing us new hair! Ding! talks about altoholics. Quite probably my personal favorite this week, The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf, Episode 14: Orphan Saga, Part 1. Click through to cast your vote for the best comic from this week's selection.
Sunday Morning Funnies: WoW is not a religion
This week we have a nice long list of comics for you to sink your teeth or tusks into. As always, don't forget to leave your tips to other WoW-themed comics so that they can be featured here! We're also saying a special goodbye to Manic Graffiti. Great work and we'll miss you! Here's hoping this isn't forever! Connedromat from Awkward Zombie kicks off your Sunday morning with a little bit of logic. Ana Hala Balablah from Dark Legacy Comics seems intent on being contrary to logic. Shakes and Fidget have to decide whether their new acquaintance is Friend or Foe? If you liked our recent coverage of Blizzard handling director Uwe Boll, you'll get a laugh out of GU Comics' Especially Not You. Manic Graffiti sends us a parting statement, mixed with a little hope, in Good-bye is Not Forever. Monkey Punchers explores the Unplayable. NoObz #8 suggests that maybe, just maybe, justice will find that little beggar you can't stand. Ding! explores some of the effects of WoW on the body and mind. Teh Gladiators enter their first arena match with their new, unlikely teammates. From The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf comes WoW is Not a Religion. The Scout Report is a bit confused over Mr. Snuggles. Head through the break to vote on your favorite.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Working together
This week we have some exciting developments, from the infiltration of a Horde town, to Sunwell progression, to a pet dragon. As always, I welcome suggestions for comics we've missed, so post away in the comments section! We even have a new one this week. From Action Trip comes What's the opposite of Undead? Horde PuGs a battleground this week in Ding! NoObz #7 is highly recommended! Thanks for the tip, Gene. Cluck Cluck from Dark Legacy Comics teaches us the joys of cooking. Damage Done from Extra Life is funny on too many levels. Shakes and Fidget are going on an Infiltration mission! Fun with the Bloodrage from LFG. Monkey Punchers explores the ups and downs of Minimum System Requirements. Teh Gladiators get new teammates. Episode 11: The Waiting is the Hardest Part. Disgraph has some adventures when the Shattered Sun badge loot vendor becomes available. The Scout Report meets Mister Snuggles. Are you ready to vote? Pop through the break to choose this week's favorite.
Sunday Morning Funnies: It's heating up
Although we are in an awkward period, with no new content to look forward to until Wrath of the Lich King lands, things are not as dull as one might think. With arena season 4 just around the corner, leaking expansion information, and the exploration and mastery of patch 2.4 content still underway, life in the World of Warcraft is still heating up. To add to the entertainment, we have a new comic or two, as well as several with plots that are gearing up towards something great. Node from Dark Legacy Comics has fun with the new(ish) mini-maps. Just Walk Away... from Extra Life. The Map from Shakes and Fidget. I Would Guess from the folks at GU Comics. LFG #138. Puns bring the silly. Murphy's Law from Monkey Punchers. Ding! Hunters are smooth talkers. The first match from Teh Gladiators kicked off, with a surprising twist. If you didn't catch our recent highlight of The Scout Report, then you might not have caught yourself up on the storyline. Trust me though when I say that it is worth it! Although I recommend pawing back to the beginning of the archive, for the current storyline to make sense, you need only start here. If you're ready to vote, head on through the break!
Sunday Morning Funnies: The holy grail
Whether your "holy grail" takes the form of your freedom, an end to loneliness, treasure, glorious achievement, or that coveted raid spot, you're sure to find entertainment this morning. Team Speak + Air Traffic Control = Bad from Action Trip. This one is pretty self-explanatory! Saved? from the Adventures of Blanc. You no take candle! from Dark Legacy Comics. Anything with that title you know just has to be awesome. A Deadly Plan from Shakes and Fidget. LFG #136. I have to say that I try each week to bring you a selection from LFG that can stand alone, so that even those who do not follow it dutifully can be entertained, or even motivated to check it out. As such, I'm proud of this entry; it's funny, and very noob-friendly. Ding! supports completionist ways. Sort of. Let's get introduced to Teh Gladiators. If you failed to read the intro, well then you fail. Carrying on for the rest of you, here's the first and second comic. Don't forget to read the commentary beneath! It's worth the extra three seconds of effort (seriously). From The Adventures of Messy Cow comes "Raid Life." Part one. Then, part two. Who recognizes this guy anyway? Intense Matchup from Action Trip. I just couldn't resist! Press through to vote on your favorite!
Blizzard tweaks XP at level 70
Our good friend Boubouille at MMO Champion has news of an XP change in the game, but not where you might expect. Blizzard has secretly changed the amount of XP earned... at level 70.But wait, you say, we don't earn XP at level 70! Ah, but we do -- after you hit 70, you actually continue to earn XP to level 71, but you never actually ding. And while before the patch, the amount you had to earn to "hit" 71 was about 814,700, now it's up to 1,256,500. Which makes sense -- while some folks are saying this might have been done to just fix a bug, Boubouille says it lines right up to the difference between vanilla WoW and the Burning Crusade, which means we'll need to earn about 50% more XP per level in Wrath of the Lich King.Of course, this affects a few other things in the game -- Mania notes that pet loyalty is based on percentage level XP earned, so Hunters at level 70 will now need to hang out with their pets for longer to earn a higher loyalty level. But Blizzard isn't nerfing anything here -- from what we can tell, they're just lining up level 70 to become the first level of the next expansion instead of the last level in the game.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Subtle hostility
Sunday Morning Funnies has quite the line-up this week, with even more on the horizon for next week. As always, don't forget to leave a tip about a WoW-themed comic you know! A new WoW-themed comic from Action Trip. I would explain but I think I'll just let you click through and see for yourselves. Regrettable Choice from Extra Life. Just mentally scratch out "Youtube" and replace it with "WoW Community Forums." A New Beginning with Shakes and Fidget. It comes complete with gratuitous Bar Maiden. Feel like an economic squabble? GU Comics has Just a Little Suggestion for Activision and Gibson. If you'd rather chew on politics, LFG lays out the facts of a prison break. Manic Graffiti has some insight on the Frostmourne Replica. That's pretty self-explanatory, but if you'd like more information, check out our coverage and opinions. Ding! has an opinion on Tauren hunters. From Teh Gladiators comes an intro, or a prequel, to soon-to-come shenanigans. The Brotherhood of the Hat from The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf. Head through the break in order to vote on the one you liked best.
Online shooters have discovered MMOs' secret formula
A recent article asked the question, "Are online shooters turning into MMOs?" That's a good question. Lets go over the basics and see if they fit into the mold. Ever since Call of Duty 4 came out, it's become an addictive online experience for many people. Is it because of the tight controls, excellent visual/audio design and enormous variety of online modes? Perhaps, but we're fairly certain that many players are finding themselves addicted to what we here at Massively refer to as, "The Desire to Ding"
Get your Dingtones here!
The DORK Club has it right: the Ding is the sound of progress. There is no finer sound on Earth than the chime, or vamp, or whoosh of leveling up. It's visceral, it's addictive, and now, it can be all yours in mp3 form! The Club has collected no less than 40 dings from various games including Tabula Rasa, Star Wars Galaxies, Final Fantasy XI, Everquest, and even Diablo 2 for completeness' sake. Listening to all 40 one after another is an interesting experience. Some dings sound downright ominous, while others are veritably orchestral and epic. And sad as we are to admit this, just listening to them all makes us want to play them! At least one of these is going to be someone's new ringtone, guaranteed. See who stops you in public when your phone rings; it's like a geek mating call!
Sunday Morning Funnies: Your Mom
Whether it's the need to press the big red button, or the urge to throw insults at your least-favorite NPCs, we have your weekly dose of WoW comedy for you every Sunday morning, and this weekend is no exception. The Decurse from Dark Legacy Comics. LFG #128. Noobcow and the Next Next Patch from Manic Graffiti. From Ding! we have a comic about your mom. Be Right Back! from Monkey Punchers. Gnomination from Shakes and Fidget. If you're ready to vote on your pick, hop through the break!
Sunday Morning Funnies: Infiltration and escape
This morning, we have quite a few comics for you to peruse before you head out and start your day, including the February winner of Blizzard's Honorable Comic Contest. From poking a bit of fun at the election process to rooting out those terrorists, we've got you covered. A New Kind of Welfare from Action Trip. Infiltrating WoW from AppleGeeks. Thanks for the tip Nate! If you're sufficiently confused, you might want to be debriefed by Amanda Dean's article about the connection between WoW, the government, and terrorism. Fugitive by Dark Legacy Comics. First Flight from Shakes and Fidget. Tens of Dollars! by GU Comics. LFG #126. Be Right Back! over at Monkey Punchers. The Politics of WoW from The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf. Thanks to Revsix for the notification! The latest from Sock Puppet Asylum. More Dad adventures from Ding! /gquit from The Adventures of Messy Cow. Snoll's submission to the Honorable Comic Contest won for February! Make the jump to submit your vote!
Comic Watch: Ding! meets the collective
Scott Kurtz may be a name familiar to some of you -- he writes and draws the webcomic PvP. Until recently, it was his only comic, until he was convinced by a friend to resurrect an old series he used to do centered around World of Warcraft, called Ding! The fruits of his labor you see before you.In this strip, chosen at random by me, two of the players wonder how it is that a third player can possibly be playing WoW all the time, and one of them comes up with an intriguing hypothesis. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure the time frame in the last panel of dialogue should read 'Eight A.M. to four P.M.', instead of 'four A.M.'. That's okay, the joke still comes across.If you'd like to see an MMO-related strip of your favorite webcomic appear here, send it along to our tip line, and make sure you include the absolute URL -- for example, rather than webcomic dot com/latest_strip.html, it should point to a strip's unique identifier. That way, when the site updates with a newer strip, our link will still point to the comic in question. Thanks, and we look forward to your submissions!
The problem with leveling up
I'm addicted to the Ding, as I've mentioned before; I exist to level up. But sometimes I'll be slogging along, feeling like I'm not getting any more powerful at all. For example, at Level 5, it takes me 15 seconds to kill a Level 5 ROUS. At Level 10, it takes me the same amount of time to kill a Level 10 Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. My enemies increase in level right alongside me. Where's the feeling of accomplishment?Sure, you could go backward and wipe out old, lower-level enemies with nary an eyeblink, but once you've moved on, why should you have to go back? I understand the need for higher-level enemies to act as goads, spurring the player on by promising enticing rewards once you've reached the same status they possess, but once you've reached it, how is it any different than bumping along at the same level you've always been? What's the solution?
First Impressions: Perfect World
Time for another episode of 'First Impressions'! The show that asks the question "Where has Akela been playing lately?" Today's installment: Cubizone's Perfect World. Remember, kids, this is not a guide, this is not an in-depth look. It's a post about how the first hour or so of a game strikes me, with no preconceptions or foreknowledge. Caveat emptor!What you're looking at above is my avatar, Akelatal the Beastman. He's a cheery sort, isn't he? Don't you just wanna cuddle him and feed him treats? Throw a riven skull for him to chase and chew on? He's adorable, like much of this MMO, though there are a couple of issues, to be sure. Rest assured, at least a couple of them are adorable too.%Gallery-12224%
Exactly when did you get hooked?
Starting a new game is exciting, especially if it's one you know nothing about. When I look at the long, long list of MMOs available on the right-hand side of Massively's page, inwardly I give a little squeak of joy -- so many new experiences! I manage to forget how many of those experiences will reveal themselves as minor variations on a theme -- hack, slash, heal, quest, level up.Yet there's something that keeps me signing up for more, in search of that elusive something that means a given title is worth investing some time in. But what, exactly, is that crucial element? What aspect of gameplay is the eye-opener? Is it the way a quest's story unfolds? Is it a particular gameplay mechanic? Is it the character customization system? Is it, for heaven's sake, the ding? Hit me with what makes you keep an account, when other games lose you.
The Anti-ding
I've written before about how easy it is to become addicted to that leveling-up ding, and suggested that it's the main reason we play MMOs. But the Penny Arcade guys wrote on Monday about two types of gamers -- those who play to beat the challenges, and those who play to see new content. Both of these are sort of against the ding mindset, with its reward of repetition. I've realized that I'm a new content sort of person, myself. That's probably why I get bored around mid-level so easily; the tasks are longer, and usually more arbitrary in nature. Instead of killing 10 mugwumps, I get to kill 50 -- meh.So what's your reason for playing? Is it reducible to any of these reasons? What's your anti-ding?
Slave to the 'ding'
The other day I was considering dropping back into WoW after an absence. I can't remember now why I've been away, though I do know why I'm thinking of coming back: the ding. You know, that lovely, orgasm-like lightshow that tells you when you've gained a new level. Sure, it's fun to whack things with a sword, claws, or bolt of eldritch energy. It's a joy to spend time crafting various engineering toys. Hell, even fishing's a pleasant way to spend a little in-world time. But let's face it: at the end of the day, the real reason you play WoW -- or any similar leveling-based system -- is for the thrill of that culmination of experience points. I mean, you could go in for the sheer enjoyment of chatting with your guildies, or playing around with seasonal content, but there's a reason we level up in the first place. It's such a visceral response, and a quantifiable measure of progress that I'm sure most of us wish we could experience in our daily lives.And that's at the heart of it, I think.
The pros and cons of instant leveling
Keen took an interesting look at a strange little MMO game mechanic last weekend: instant leveling. I first encountered this in Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot-- after you get one character to a certain level, the game would let you use the "/level" command to pop any character you created up to a higher level instantly.You might argue that we haven't seen that tactic lately, but we're going to see a big example of it next year-- when Blizzard releases Death Knights in the next WoW expansion, we've already been told that they'll start at a higher level. The official explanation for that is that they don't want Death Knights to ever be level 1 (they want them cool from the start), but considering that the expansion will also bring 10 more levels into the mix, it's a lot to ask players who've already reached level 80 to roll a new character and do it again.
Ask WoW Insider: Great ding stories?
Welcome one and all to this week's edition of Ask WoW Insider, wherein your questions are published for the public to answer. Last week we looked at optimizing rep grinding, and this week we turn our attention to a more nostalgic question -- what's your best "ding!" story? Obron from Zangarmarsh (ICftB reprazent!) writes: I was thinking, that it always makes my friends laugh when I tell them how I ding'd 70, by discovering a forge camp in Blade's Edge while running by it. Does anybody have some entertaining or funny stories about when they hit 60 or 70? Any fun or interesting stories to tell about hitting the level cap? Or more generally, any memorable or unusual dings at any level? As always, we at Ask WoW Insider are starving for your questions! Send them our way at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
The bottom of the top
Hitting 70 is an extremely interesting experience, especially if you've never done it before. You work your way up, through the long 50s and the somewhat shorter (thanks to Outland) 60s, and just as you finish that last bar of 69, the golden flash hits, and ding-- you're 70. For a moment, you cheer-- "I won!" you think. "I'm done!" But then you look at your gear-- dressed in greens and a few blues-- you look at the instances you haven't seen yet, and you look at all the epics out there to collect, and you realize, as spellproof on WoW Ladies so eloquently puts it, that you're at "the bottom of the top."It's not that there isn't more things to do-- there's tons of quests to do after you hit 70, lots and lots of rep to gain, plenty of great PvP, and plenty of instances and raids to run. It's the humbling realization that as much emphasis as both Blizzard and other players place on arriving at 70, it's hardly anywhere near the end of the game. Your level numbers stop rising, but there's still a lot of progression to go.For some players (somewhat like spellpower, as it sounds like she's finding herself in a bit of a hole), it's discouraging realizing that there's so much more to do. I find it encouraging to hit 70-- while your gear isn't that great, you can finally run all the instances you want to run, and even start appearing in raids, even if you don't hit the top of any DPS charts. But no matter how you react, it is definitely a feeling that is unique to reaching "the top" of any MMORPG game. For the first time, you might realize that these games really never do end.
