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77 Hunter solos Onyxia
Chalk up another piece of evidence for just how trivial the old world stuff will be when Wrath releases -- here's a video of a Hunter at level 77 (on the beta servers, obviously) soloing the original raid boss herself, Onyxia. There's a little more info about how it was done over on the WarcraftMovies page -- the only way to deal with all the whelps was to max out AoE, so he used a special talent blend just to do this. And it looks like he just dodged or ate the Deep Breaths, as I doubt even a 77 Hunter would be able to put up enough "dots" to down her before she can do too many. Roar of Sacrifice also got a lot of usage -- it's a pet talent that lets a Hunter avoid half of his pet's health in damage. And he says the two-piece set bonus from Hunter T5 helped a lot, too -- over the fight it added up to quite a bit of healing.Not too shabby. And at 77, this means there's still three levels (not to mention all the endgame gear) to grow. Maybe the fact that Blizzard is revamping/replacing the old endgame isn't so bad after all -- when it's this easy for the highest level players, it's time to move on. Unless, of course, they make soloing Ony an achievement.[via BRK]
EVE Online Community Spotlight: a Q&A with Chribba
Trust is a rare commodity in EVE Online. Many players are drawn to the game by the fact that almost any form of deceit, betrayal, and outright treachery is allowed in EVE. Not all players head down this path, of course, but plenty do. This element of risk is what makes the game exciting, but even those who are wary of the online personas of some EVE players may still find themselves getting backstabbed and robbed, or worse. Many in EVE have learned to profit from the misfortunes of others. However, this social environment has created certain opportunities for individuals who are able to establish their credibility over time, and through great effort. Among the most trustworthy in EVE Online is Chribba, a player who's very active in the community and provides a number of services to EVE fans, free of charge. Helped by Chribba's efforts, EVE Online has expanded into a game where players become auteurs, creating videos and sharing their in-game pursuits with others, either for their own glory or their organization's propaganda. Of course, his contributions don't end there, as most everyone in the EVE community knows. Massively recently caught up with Chribba and asked him to share a bit about what he does for the EVE player base, and why he does it.
All the World's a Stage: How to roleplay your way to level 70
When you decide to roleplay, a whole new world of imagination opens up to you -- soon you realize that all the World of Warcraft is a stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players.A friend of mine recently complained that lately leveling has been extremely tedious. Even with characters he might feel excited about at first, he eventually gets bored after just a few quests. We talked about this for a little while, and he brought up the fact that if he was going to play WoW by himself he might as well play a single-player game instead. It got me thinking that, in spite of all the demand people have for more solo and casual content, this is significantly better when we play it together. Even when I play by myself, my eye is always on my friends list to see if someone I know is going to show up and chat with me. Thinking about my friend's problem, I thought maybe it would really help if he and I were to go questing together -- so we found the two characters we had with the smallest level gap between them and we decided to go at it. Rather than just just going through the motions of killing the various enemies listed on our little quest sheets as if we were buying groceries or something, we made it into a neat little roleplay experience.In fact, there are lots of quests in the game that are very appropriate for roleplaying. When you get together with your friends to level up and quest together, you can focus on the quest that has the deepest possible connection to your own character, or the one with the most intrinsic storyline. Of course there are many other throwaway quests you can do along the way, like "kill 10 Generic Humanoids" or whatever, but it works best to pick one that seems to have some meaning to you or your character and start there.
Guild Wars: The best solo quasi-MMOG out there?
Three glorious years, over five million boxes sold. Guild Wars has come along way in that time, and it's no surprise that NCsoft's darling is still managing to stake out new players. Shamus from over on Twenty-Sided is one latest victim, in his post: Guild Wars: Massively Single Player, Shamus delves into Guild Wars with fresh eyes and posits about why it's a great single player experience. Of course, solo players use their own henchmen and heroes to help unfold that epic story. When EverQuest reigned king long before WoW, soloist proponents were booed away with a common message: "Go play a single player game, MMORPGs focus around grouping and solo content has no place here." Today, most MMOGs offer solo play but in such a way that progression is meaningful, but grouping is still encouraged for the best rewards.
Instances are for groups, silly solo player
We've mentioned solo instances before -- just like more midlevel content, Heroic versions of old world instances, and player housing, they seem to be the kind of content that players seem really interested in, but Blizzard isn't all that excited about implementing. And now they've come up again on the forums, and once again Bornakk has given a few good reasons why it just wouldn't work for the game Blizzard is making.Tremallyn of Shu'halo is actually asking for scalable instances -- he says that if 10 and 25man groups are going to be playing the same instances in Northrend, why not scale those down to five man and even solo versions, so all players can get a chance to see the content? Bornakk replies that the rest of the game already is solo content, and that they want the endgame dungeons to be more exclusive. We've heard other good reasons before -- to tune an instance for every class, with all of their varied strengths and weaknesses, would require Blizzard to water down the instance so much that it wouldn't be nearly as dynamic an experience as you can have with a minimum 10 people in the party.Not that it's impossible -- other games (I know of one in particular) have scalable instances, some of which are even tuned for one player. But at the same time, we play MMO games for a reason -- if you really just wanted to play a great single player experience, there are a wealth of single player games to choose from out there. And if you really want to do an instance solo, you could always just wait 10 levels and do it solo anyway.
The Digital Continuum: Omega solo solution
There was a time in my MMO playing when I would spend hours looking for a group in games like Final Fantasy XI. No television was watched and no handheld gaming devices were manipulated during those prolonged waiting periods. I just sat there chatting with whomever I could in-game. Today, I don't think I could see myself doing this even with the aid of a Nintendo DS or a PSP with which to chip away the hours. Hell, I probably couldn't even do this with one of my favorite shows like Lucky Louie or Flight of the Concords.This is why it warms my heart to know that Champions Online will contain not only solo content across every level, but some kind of secret endgame feature called the Omega System. My first reaction upon this revelation was simply, "Wow" I certainly hope that with a title like "The Omega System" Cryptic has a compelling endgame feature planned that will amaze everyone or at the very least please everyone.
Behind the Curtain: Hell is other people
How often do you your social experiences in MMOs actually satisfy you? How many times have you been part of a PUG that lasted longer than the bare minimum of time it took to finish the instance and left you with the feeling that you'd met some decent people, instead of with a headache from grinding your teeth in frustration for the past hour and a half?Despite the fact that I'm in a guild full of great people whose sole concern is not being top of the damage meters or who has the most DKP stored up, I still spend a fair amount of time playing solo. Sometime I feel like I'm cheating myself a little bit by intentionally missing out on the social side of World of Warcraft a lot of the time. I guess time is a factor more often than not; being a slave to the evil, capitalist ways of the decadent West, I work a full-time job which involves a fair amount of commuting each day, so on most weeknights I have to juggle what time I have at home, and sometimes I simply can't squeeze in a run through any instance, and I refuse to be the player who skips out of the instance half way through.
The best of WoW Insider: May 27-June 3, 2008
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. This big girl is Onyxia, once the 40-man raiding terror of World of Warcraft, and yet this past week she was downed by just one person not once but twice. Poor Ony -- with the current max level of 70 (and Wrath of the Lich King pushing players up to level 80), it's tough times out there for level 60 raid bosses. Learn more about Ony and all the other NPCs in the World of Warcraft at Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider. Here's our most popular posts from the past week: News Druid solos OnyxiaOne Druid toppled a 40-man boss -- probably one of the first of many old raid bosses to be farmed for gold and items. SK Gaming releases Kil'jaeden videoLive the death of the last raid boss... vicariously through SK Gaming. Paladin lays the solo smackdown on OnyxiaNot to be outdone by a Druid, a plate healer also decides to crush the dragon that once took 40 people to drop. New exploits target FlashSome big Flash exploits could get your login and password in the wrong hands. Missing teen found after running away with 27-year old WoW boyfriendA 27-year-old ran off with a 14-year-old girl after they met in World of Warcraft. Features How many endgames have there been?After Kil'jaden was downed last week, we decided to figure out just how many times the game has been beaten. How to make 10,000 gold in a monthAdam Holisky lets you in on some of his best ingame monkey-making tips. Ask a Lore Nerd: You're how old?Our resident lore nerd answers your questions about NPCs and the stories of the Warcraft universe. Breakfast Topic: Do you pay attention to 25-man raiding progression?Should we care when groups like SK Gaming drop big endgame bosses for the first time? Tanking for BeginnersNeed a primer on being the meatshield? Here you go.
WoW Insider Show Episode 40: Account sharing with Sean Connery
This past weekend, Turpster, Daniel Whitcomb, John "BBB" Patricelli, and I all sat down for a good hour's worth of discussion about the biggest posts over the past week of WoW Insider. We call it the WoW Insider Show, and the latest episode, number 40, is now available over on WoW Radio and in iTunes. We answered a ton of reader questions on email, including the ongoing discussion of what Turpster should do to ding 70 on his Shadow Priest, and why Blizzard has overpowered a lot of high level crafting items. We talked about the news that two classes had soloed Onyxia, and whether it's impossible for other classes to do it. We chatted about killing Kil'jaeden, and whether those endgame kills matter to the rest of us who aren't in those guilds. And we talked about account sharing: why people do it and why Blizzard doesn't want you to (and will ban you for it). Plus, if I'm not mistaken, you can not only hear Turpster doing a Sean Connery impression, but also John P's favorite new song, Pugging Kara Blues. It's a really fun show this week, definitely give it a listen. And don't forget, if you have comments or questions, you can email them to us at theshow@wow.com, or go ahead and jump on WoW Radio's forums -- next week, we'll definitely be taking a look at some of the topics that have come up in there for sure. Enjoy the show this week!
Jaye remembers the multiplayer
Raiders, PvPers, explorers, achievers, item market players, roleplayers, power levelers. What do all of these people have in common? Well, they can all be found in our MMORPGs. Jaye at Journeys with Jaye has written a great article that centers around the fact that many of us tend to focus on our MMOs as single player games. We tend to dismiss others in the community when they don't play the same way we may play (which is referred to as "the best way to play a game").We also tend to dismiss a game's community in favor for the game's mechanics. Reviewers tend to focus on how the game plays and functions in a solo environment, regardless of how friendly, active, or welcoming the community may be. For all the reviewer knows, the community might be the saving grace of the game. If you have the time, jump over to Journeys with Jaye and check our her article. It's well written, and worth the read for any MMORPG player.
WoW Insider Show live tomorrow afternoon
Yes, our weekly podcast is back on the air tomorrow -- it's everything you love about WoW Insider, in pure, distilled audio form. This week, Daniel Whitcomb and John "BigBearButt" Patricelli join myself and Turpster to chat about all of the most popular posts on WI in the past seven days, including the big news of the game being beaten yet again, the Onyxia soloing that's been going on lately (first a Druid, and then a Paladin), and why account sharing is wrong, mmkay?And of course we'll be chatting live on IRC at irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel (or just over on the Chat page on WoW Radio), and we'll be reading and answering your emails and questions -- send us a note if you'd like at theshow@wow.com. And come to think of it, there's some fun stuff to chat about over on the show's forums, too, so we'll have to throw some of that in as well.We go live at 3:30pm EST (which is 8:30pm GMT), so if you're around, definitely be sure to tune in and listen live. We'll see you then!
Paladin lays the solo smackdown on Onyxia
The Druid who Soloed Onyxia seems to have become the Shot Heard Around the World. It was just Monday that WoW Insider brought you the video of Serennia of VANQUISH (Cho'gall, US) downing Onyxia. Today, as if challenged, tipsters sent in the video of a Paladin named Par (Khadgar, US), slaying the dragon by his lonesome. A few posts on the Official Forums have discussed the feat. It will be interesting to see if other classes step-up to claim solo Onyxia-credit in the next few weeks.Thanks to everyone that sent this in! Edit: There's some question about the original Onyxia Druid soloing - it wasn't Serennia the character, but Serennia the player (who is the Warrior of the same name). According to several commenters, it was Serennia playing on a druid's account. Also, the original Warcraft movie blurb is signed by Serennia of VANQUISH.
Druid solos Onyxia
You all remember Onyxia. She was basically the Magtheridon of original WoW, a 40-man single-boss raid positioned in difficulty between the entry-level raid (Molten Core) and the next one after that (Blackwing Lair). Well, now a druid has managed to solo her. You can see a video of the fight above, or at WarcraftMovies.com. This astounding feat was performed by Serennia of VANQUISH (Cho'gall US), who recently gave us a nice preview of the Kil'jaeden fight. The druid had a 35/0/26 spec. The previous record was two-man (paladin and warlock) in BC, or three-man pre-BC. Serennia was also a part of that pre-BC record. Congratulations -- I love it when players push the envelope just to see what's possible.
Age of Conan on single player mode
Age of Conan has gotten an intense amount of exposure lately on virtually every site that covers games. You might have noticed. The influence of AoC is ever-present, burned into the retinas of most of the Massively team as they slash their way through Hyboria. The title seems to have breathed new life into massively multiplayer spheres, with people everywhere either talking about it, reading about it, or playing it. While the AoC launch went smoothly, this is not to say that the game itself is perfect. Psychochild takes Age of Conan to task in his latest Weekend Design Challenge, for what he perceives to be a potential flaw in the game's design: much of the low-level experience, despite being a massively multiplayer title, is essentially a single-player game. He contends that the point of online games is to interact with people in one way or another, but the difference between instances in AoC is literally night and day. Night quests give personal instances that are wholly isolated from other players. This creates a split where daytime quests are multiplayer; night quests are single player. While a benefit is that players can opt for the night quests to take on their own spawns unchallenged by competitors, doesn't this defeat the purpose of AoC even being an MMO title?
Narrowing the gap between casual and power gamers
You know the type. The minimaxer. The person who sits around with spreadsheets, crunching every possible combination of traits and skills until they've come up with the ultimate class build. That beloved stereotype from pen-and-paper RPG's is alive and kicking in pretty much every MMO running. Massively's touched on minimaxing and the problems it leads to before and it's a fair assumption that we'll do it again. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with it. It's your game and you can play it however you want. But minimaxing impacts the game in significant ways for hardcore and casual players alike.
Why we solo
Lauren of the Mystic Worlds Blog has a new post up called "Why we Solo in MMOs," offering her perspective on why, over many years and many MMOs, she has always tended to ignore the grouping game and instead go it alone. While I'm not against grouping at all -- I was very active in the 40 man raid game, and tend to run Heroics around once a week and Karazhans around 1.5 times a week across my 3 70s -- I've always felt that the solo game has a valid spot in MMORPGs, and I've often indulged in it myself. In fact, I'd bet that most WoW players do so on a regular basis these days, whether leveling up or doing their dailies. She rattles off the usual list of reasons for going solo -- having a weird schedule, needing to take frequent "real life" breaks, not having enough time to go LFG for a dungeon, unwillingness to deal with the infamous horrible PuG group -- then takes it a step further. She believes that many people use these types of statements as excuses or defense against people who can't understand why they wish to solo in a multiplayer game, or actively flame them for it, and that the real reasons are a lot less complicated.
The Daily Grind: What are your guild inclusion criteria?
Sometimes the difference between staying in a game and leaving it is the company you keep. Even more so than in Second Life, where if you don't find a friend within the first 3 days you're likely not to return, joining or creating a guild is arguably the most important step in developing a lasting relationship with the game, and getting access to all the content a game has to offer. Sure, you can solo for a long time, probably even to 'end game', but you'd be missing out on all the opportunities that only running with a pack can grant.For those of you who run a guild, how do you choose who gets to join? Recommendation by a current member? Extended invitation to a particularly funny/knowledgeable forum poster? Do you put the initiate through tests? How does the process work?
Breakfast Topic: Easy Mode
Roadkillowns of Aerie Peak posed the question on the official forums, what is the easiest class to level? Hunter came up most frequently as an easy class to level followed by Warlocks. They usually have very little downtime. Protection Warriors and Holy Priests were often quoted as the most difficult to level. Having leveled a Shaman, Paladin, Hunter, Priest, and Druid to level seventy myself I have to say that as a solo character, the Hunter was hands-down the easiest for me. Between my pet carrying agro for me and the glorious Feign Death ability, I was always good to go.
Soloing can be epic, too
Though everyone talks about it a lot, raiding or even grouping isn't the only way to achieve something in the World of Warcraft. There's something for everyone.While I do raid, there's a lot of solo content that I really feel proud of completing. At the top of my list is mastering the Shartuul's Transporter event. For quite awhile it would just stomp me into the ground, until one day I found my groove and was able to get through to the end. It took a handful of the Charged Crystal Focuses(foci?) for the 'special' abilities, but I did it. From there, I did the event as often as I could, until I could get through it without using any Foci. Now? Easy as pie. The event is basically free potions and potential epics for me now. Assuming it doesn't bug out. Spawn, you stupid eyeball! Spawn!I've also been working on rep for a Wintersaber, but even after the buffs to reputation gains on that grind, I have a hard time staying interested. I've been doing it in little bit and pieces, and I really look forward to when I finally get a pink kitty.So I'm curious, what are your solo accomplishments? That little(or big) thing you met head on and mastered on your own?
Don't underestimate the Isle of Quel'Danas
Patch 2.4 supplies a great amount of solo content along with the new 5-man dungeon and raid zone, but there is one thing that you should remember stepping onto the Isle of Quel'Danas: This content is not the same difficulty level as everything else we've done so far.The dungeon and raid aren't the only things that have progressed the difficulty of the game, the solo content is more challenging as well. While the respawn rates on mobs may be turned down on the Live servers compared to what they are on the PTR, the fact remains that some of these baddies are not to be underestimated. Even the new bombing run is more difficult, though less likely to kill you than the others. When Ogri'la and Skettis were first released, they were a bit of a death trap. Most people went into them in a daze, expecting to nap through the little battles like the zones we had done before. The reality was, though, that it was quite a bit harder than that. Until we adjusted to the difficulty and played a little smarter, it was death city.Quel'Danas is about the same. It isn't incredibly difficult, but it is a step up from what we've seen so far. Tread lightly, bring lots of bandages. If you're brand new to level 70 and your gear is... well, junk, then you might want to group with some friends for the new daily quests. And uh, don't be like me and go AFK in the middle of enemy territory and expect to come back 10 minutes later unharmed. That probably isn't going to go well for you.
