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Drama Mamas: Much ado about funsuckers
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. I will be insinuating something later, hence this week's video choice. Hi there! I'm writing to you as a non-hardcore player, but one who's been playing since WoW started. Heck, I even played the Diablos on Battle.net! As a long term player, I can't help but notice the venom increasing from other players to the more casual or new. You go into a battleground only to hear the newbies being yelled at for not having PvP gear, or into a random instance to hear the same about raid gear. I've been married for going on 7 years and it was only a year and a half ago I got my husband to play with me. He certainly took to it like a duck to water, but the abuse from player to player made him so angry he eventually quit playing around the time Cata hit (he never had to deal with much abuse hurled at him as he geared up and learned to play quickly).
Hello Warcraft Kitty: An Obsession Story
The Hello Kitty Online Closed Beta is now over. No, really. While I'm not sure Hello Kitty Online is shaping up to be the great WoW-killer (but what do I know?), there are certainly more than a few folks eagerly waiting to get their kitty on in the upcoming Open Beta. The good news is that Sanrio is definitely keeping their community involved in the process. So what is the appeal of Hello Kitty Online? It seems a little odd that the game's come up several times. Perhaps you recall Insider's own HKO obsession (short lived, but much discussed). Even before that, when we were told to "Make Love, Not Warcraft," the online island adventure was a welcome reprieve from boar-killing. But since then, the Warcraft community has maintained its obsession with Hello Kitty. As Thomas Crampton has pointed out, there were more than a few Warcraft-themed submissions to the HKO Closed Beta -- maybe more than the developers were actually expecting. High "Huglord" Amused of Limbo (Gorefiend-PvP) gets my vote for best video application to Hello Kitty Online closed beta. Apparantly, he and Spiderman go way back. And we can't forget the Hello Kitty Island Adventure UI mod. So, what gives? Why do we of the War and Craft keep coming back around to Hello Kitty, and her cute-sauce adventures?
Cheating on WoW
Most of the other WoW gamers I know are simply gamers that play WoW, meaning that they play other games in addition to their Azerothian addiction. My guild forums often have a thread or two going about other games that members are playing, recommending them to everyone else, and there are many references to other games within the world of Warcraft itself. It's obvious that the core audience for this MMO plays other games as well.Personally, with an aging computer and a smallish gaming budget, I've missed out on a lot of the "must play" games of the last few years. World of Warcraft has served me well in that regard, since I haven't really needed to upgrade my hardware to keep playing it and it's a good value for the amount of entertainment it provides. Nonetheless, I have played other games from time to time, but I still find myself logging into Azeroth (and/or Outland) most days of the week, sometimes just to check auctions and mail. Oftentimes, playing other games gives me a needed break from Warcraft, even if only for a week or so. Undoubtedly, these short breaks are one of the things which have kept me playing WoW all these years.All of this leads me to wonder how other players balance their WoW time with their other gaming pursuits. Are you a WoW purist, only playing the one game? Do you own multiple consoles and buy every table-top and computer game that's released? The last few patches have coincided with the release of some pretty big titles and there are more on the way this holiday season. Have you had to make some difficult decisions about how to spend your time and money?
Why are people leaving WoW?
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Why_are_people_leaving_WOW'; When I read on Warcraftrealms that players have been steadily leaving WoW since the release of the expansion, I admit surprise. There is so much content in TBC I can't imagine anyone getting bored. I can already hear the heckling from the back of the room as I say this, but think: the top raiding guild just downed Illidan. Exactly how long will it be until an average raiding guild, let alone a casual one, will be able to accomplish the same feat? Love it or hate it, the expansion increased not only the lands we were able to visit, but the quest lines we could follow, the races we could play, the factions we could prove ourselves to. I am overwhelmed by the amount of things I have the opportunity to do in the game now, to the point where I have trouble picking most times and end up bouncing between doing my daily quests on my mage and leveling my Draenei priest. Why then are people leaving the game? Is it that they see it as something conquered once you reach 70? Is it that despite how much content Blizzard puts out it just never is enough? What do you think Blizzard can do to stem this downward spiral? [via Warcraftrealms]
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.
