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Farewell, my friend
For people who don't play the World of Warcraft or similar games, or do not spend much time on the internet at all, it's difficult to grasp the idea of bonds and friendships formed over the web. How can you be friends with someone you've never seen before? I can understand the inability to grasp such a thing, it's rarely easy to comprehend what you haven't seen or experienced yourself. To those who haven't had powerful friendships over the internet, it makes no sense how you can grow so close to someone you can't see, you can't touch.Even through the supposed anonymity of the internet, the greatest of friendships can be formed. Bonds so powerful that you never want to let them go, and may change your life forever, for the better. Despite the distance, despite the inability to touch and feel, you can grow as close as family to these supposed anonymous people. These individuals are more than just "internet people." They're people. In the World of Warcraft, a video game, I have found people that have truly changed me. I would not be the person I am today without them.I've been playing WoW since launch day, and the community I've been a part of in the game has been a constant for all of these years. People have come and people have gone, but for the most part, I've played the World of Warcraft with the same names, the same faces, the same people. I'm 21 now, and I started gaming with this crew when I was 17. I can safely say I've essentially grown up with these people. We reminisce on the old days, and we realize that we've all changed quite a bit since the beginning. We've matured together, we've grown up together. People who have never had this experience, as I said before, don't understand how you can form such bonds over the internet. Some of the greatest friendships I've ever had, and ever will have, have been on the internet. Some people you will never forget, no matter where you met them. This is something I've had to think about quite a bit the last few days.
Wii get! A look back at the beginning
Today may mark the debut of the Wii, but it's not necessarily been a year for everyone who's gotten one so far. Some Wii owners preordered in advance (like this blogger!), while others had to hunt for months in order to track down a system. We spoke with a few people from around the Joystiq network about their experience with snagging the year's most hotly-desired console -- and we'd love to hear your stories as well. Reminisce with these fine bloggers, and then let us know how you got yours. Was it a heroic effort, or were you one of the lucky ones to secure your little white box early? Since we're going to be celebrating everything Wii this week -- even more so than usual! -- we might as well start at the beginning.
Remembering a Norrath gone by
Adele Caelia of MMORPG.com recently began a new feature, focusing on the reminiscing done about the older content in EQII. She listed off some of her favorite memories from playing the game, and then went around the game to interview players and what they remembered best about their early days in Norrath.A lot of players remembered game elements and how they first wowed them, the first ride on a flying carpet, their first time conquering The Icy Dig. Others connected with the social aspects of the game, the first time they joined a guild, and in many cases, that is the guild they are in down to this day. Most of my fond memories of EQII are of a crafting basement and the injuries I sustained creating suits of armor. Ah, those were good times.
Your first "wow!" in WoW
McGraw of the Drenden server asked an interesting question on the official forums: What was your first "wow!" experience in WoW? Replies vary from discovering the autorun button to flying on a griffon for the first time. Many people spoke fondly of their first ragtag outdoor PvP raid. Even a CM chimed in about watching the flyover video when entering the game and realizing that those were actually players running about.For me, it was much later in the game. I remember adventuring in Zul'Farrak for the first time in my 40s. My group and I fought our way to the top of a pyramid to save a group of NPCs. When we defeated their troll captors and freed the NPCs, we turned to escort them out of the zone. That's when I saw the first group of trolls spawn. Then another. Then 5 more. Then 10 more groups after that. It was like looking down into a canyon of swarming death and I thought to myself: how in Elune's name are we gonna survive this?
How old were you when you first heard 'Nintendo?'
Oh, we're not asking. This time, Miyamoto is. It seems the master himself is looking for more stories of happy gamers to add to his collection. At Yahoo! Answers, he's asked, "How old were you when you first heard the term, 'Nintendo,' and what does the name mean to you now?" With hundreds of answers and counting, it's likely he'll end up with more nostalgia than you could shake a mushroom at.Since many of us started with Nintendo, back in a time when everyone was a Nintendo fan and no one was a fan of anything else, we've already hashed over a lot of the 'first encounter' memories. But the second prong of the question is intriguing. What does Nintendo mean to us now? There are a lot of possible answers, but most of them boil down to one thing: if you're here at DS Fanboy, then 'Nintendo' probably means fun. Through the ups and downs, for us, Nintendo always means a good time.
DS Daily: When did you get on the DS train?
Not everyone buys a system as soon as it's released. Take this guy for example. We featured a picture of his expansive DS collection the other day (he's since updated us with a new picture) -- in fact, the day before his second DS anniversary. He waited a while before he bought it and yet has since formed a collection big enough to make some of us weep with envy. It just goes to show -- when you get doesn't really matter. You're not less of a fan if you weren't there on day one. So go ahead, admit it: when did the DS capture your heart? When did you pick one up? Early adopter or late to the party, it doesn't matter. We're all here now!
Breakfast Topic: A wipe to remember
Mostly, full group or raid wipes are lame. Really, really lame. But sometimes, every once in a while, you'll have a wipe come along that is so spectacular, so fun, and so memorable, that it almost makes the repair costs worth it.So let's hear your best wipe story. The shot above wasn't actually a wipe (we finished the Tiger boss in ZG with one solitary hunter left, and it was awesome), but my guild will always joke about the time our Warlock lead accidentally fell off the bridge in MC and onto the head of Golemagg-- who then proceeded to make his way all the way around the instance, grabbing every lava pack and puppy on the way, and crushing every single one of us out of existence. TS was just full of people screaming, yelling, and laughing the whole time. Oh, the Horde-anity!
Memorable PvP Moments?
While out hunting with my undead rogue on the WoW Insider server today, I came across a Night Elf Warrior, several levels higher than me, in the process of ganking a lowly level 10 Priest, and his friend, who had already fallen. They had put up a good fight, taking about half the warrior's health, but the fight was almost over when I decided to step in at the last minute to see if I could do any good.I figured that, even with half his health, he would take me down as well without much trouble, but to my surprise, I got a couple of lucky criticals in, and with the help of a handy health potion, actually brought him down. I can't tell you how richly satisfying that kill was was, and it got me to wondering...Have you ever had any PvP moments in the game that were memorable for one reason or another? Ones that made you want to stand up & cheer, or ones so embarrassi! ng (like being killed by a rogue 10 levels lower than you) that you wanted to cringe? Let us hear about 'em; everybody loves a good adventure story...or a good tragedy.
