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Lord British likes WoW
Well, okay, maybe he doesn't *like* it like it, but Richard Garriott (aka Lord British) certainly appreciates the existence of the World of Warcraft. In an article I came across over at the WoW Vault on IGN, the creator of the Ultima series, and the Ultima Online MMO, discusses his feelings on the juggernaut that is WoW. The article quotes an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, where Garriott states, "We commonly get the question, is World of Warcraft a big competitor that might hurt our sales? It really turns out to be quite the opposite." He then goes on to comment that MMO players typically will only play a game or two at a time, but then move on after a year. I've been happily playing WoW since February of 2004, so I'm into my third year of the game, and nothing else has caught my eye in the MMO market. There are a couple of games on the horizon, but of the folks I'm playing WoW with, the majority have been around from the get-go. Are we just crotchety old-timers who won't admit that the average player only sticks around for a year? Is what Lord British says true? Did any of you ditch other MMO's to come to WoW, or have you ditched WoW for other MMO's after playing for a year?
A beta look at Jewelcrafting
WoW Vault has a terrific, if a little short, jewelcrafting guide up. From info they've gathered in the open beta, they walk you through training up the profession, learning Prospecting (which allows you to look for gems in Ore gained from Mining), all the way to 300 skill, at which you'll be able to craft gems that you can place in socketed armor. We've heard most of it before, but they've covered the subject pretty well.And then they've got a listing of all the patterns so far available to gemcrafters. There's some neat stuff in there-- a statue that can heal you during downtime, ability and stat rings and necklaces, and even some items with not only cool "equip" abilities, but neat "uses" too: a necklace, for example, that gives a 30 minute party stamina buff when used. Now maybe in the expansion that's commonplace, but right now, that's awesome!The other thing I noticed is that the Jewelcrafting skill seems to run all the way up to 365, which means it's likely that all skills will be given quite a few extra levels when the expansion shows up (which means you might not need Finkle's Skinner to skin those corehounds anymore). The guide does mention that a few of the recipes available from trainers will likely end up being looted, but either way, it looks like there's a lot of neat stuff in store for future Jewelcrafters.
