Yes, for those of you who didn’t know it, I play World of Warcraft from time to time.
MMOGchart.com from time to time attempts to chart the number of subscribers for the various MMORPG’s (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) out there. It’s kinda cool to check out.
Here’s the one with WoW on it: MMOChart
I suppose this is meant for the married folk out there, but funny for all.
If you’re ever wondering when you should stop playing that game, here’s a nifty flowchart that should help you.
(WARNING: This blog uses language common to the game of World of Warcraft. If you are unfamiliar with these terms, do not fear dear reader. Simply send along your email address in the comments, and we’ll be sure to get you a 10-day trial key to the game. Remember, the first month is free)
I have to admit. As much as I enjoy blasting away with a mage in World of Warcraft – being able to drop a mob before it gets close enough to lay a hand on me – there’s something equally fascinating about playing a paladin. They certainly don’t do the damage that a mage can, but then again, try killing a paladin…
Case in point. Here’s how an unusual pull with my level 60 paladin went a few days ago in one of the new 60+ zones in the Burning Crusade expansion.
I go to attack a level 59 orc. We’ll call him mob 1.
While fighting him, two of his buddies drop in. They’re on mounts, which attack as well, and all are level 60. Let’s call them mobs 2-5.
(Meh, says I)
Mob 1 dies. Mob 2 dies. I have three more to go.
Another mounted rider decides to join the party. That’s mobs 6 and 7.
(Really low on mana at this point)
Mob 3 and 4 die.
A wandering 61 guard drops in. That’s mob 8.
(Time to BOP and bandage)
Mobs 5 and 6 drop.
Two to go.
Another wandering guard wants to be part of the action. He’s mob 9.
Still going.
(Time to lay on hands)
Mobs 7 and 8 finally die.
One left.
Oh, lookee there. I’ve been here in this fight so long that Mob 1 has respawned and has come back for more. Now he’s mob 10.
A few minutes later….
Done!
10 mobs dead. 1 paladin still standing.
The only sad thing about this is that the corpse timer ran out on the very first mob, so I never got to loot the corpse.
So, let’s see how that compares with a druid…
Pull mob 1. No problemo.
Mobs 2-5 show up… Aw crap.
(heal. shift to bear form)
I could probably outlast 2-3 of the mobs.
Mobs 6-7 show up.
(gotta heal, gotta heal, gotta… DOH!!!)
Ok, how about the mage?
Pull mob 1, not a problem. Drop him before he gets to me.
Mobs 2-5 run up as mob 1 dies. Aw crap!
(Frost Nova, back up, and AOE)
Mobs 6-7 stop by before I have killed 2-5, and now I’m almost out of mana.
AW CRAP!!!
(Frost nova again)
RUN AWAY!!
Oh sure, I know what you’re thinking. A mage could, in theory, AOE all of the mobs. But, the catch to AOE is that you have to round everyone up beforehand, then unleash hell. In the paly fight, mobs were joining mid-fight, which a mage can’t handle as well.
So there you have it. Paladins. They take a licking and keep on ticking… : )
A couple of weeks ago, the first expansion for World of Warcraft was released. The good news is that there’s lots of new things to do. The level cap has been bumped up to 70. There are two new races and two “new” classes (one for each faction). Of course, the “new” classes already existed, but they were unique to each faction (paladins for Alliance, shaman for Horde). Now, both sides have them, meaning there are no faction-unique classes. The new races have new starter areas, and there’s a new continent with new lands to explore, but only for those above level 58.
But, now comes the REAL question? What to do first? Do you roll one of the new classes and start over? Or, do you explore the new areas and start the grind to 70?
I had no idea what to do. I have some friends who are more casual players. For them, rolling a new character is an easy call because they haven’t really invested a lot of time in their existing characters. I have other guildmates who only play one or two characters, both are level 60, so for them the grind to 70 is the way to go.
No one was looking forward to grinding to 70, especially after Blizzard had told everyone long ago that leveling to 60-70 would take as long as it would to level a character from 1-60. But, fortunately, the reality is not nearly as bad. Within two days, someone had already reached 70, and now, a few weeks later, there are numerous players who are either or close to that level. Granted, the experience point totals look huge: 494,000 points to go from 60 to 61. 574,000 points to go from 61 to 62. But, Blizzard has put a lot of effort into making sure there are plenty of quests for players to do and that the experience rewards are scaled up.
So, back to the original question: What to do? For players like me, who have managed to acquire multiple 60s, and have more on the way, it’s a really tough call…
Some of us decided to roll new characters and test out the new races. That lasted about a week. By then, the reports started coming in from the new high level zones. “HOLY CRAP!!! Look at the stuff I just got!!!” Then, it was on. To contrast, in the first week when the expansion came out, my guild consisted of new alts all level 10 or under. By the weekend, 98% of the guild had their level 60s on and were in the new zones.
Ultimately, for me, it looks like I will do the same thing I’ve always done. Level multiple characters. After a year of simply running instances, I have had a chance to re-discover the power of my mage in killing non-elite monsters. I’ve also got a druid that I really want to finish out, but he’s not quite high enough to hit the new zones. Plus, I have had some old friends – the casual players – who have gotten re-hooked on the game. So, now I’m leveling a new character that will be set aside explicitly for grouping with them.
Oh, I’ve got other 60s I could level, and I may eventually when these are done. The hunter did pretty well in Outland, but the paladin was painfully slow compared to the dps of the mage.
Speaking of, it’s time to log on now… : )
I stumbled across this article today with some very interesting videos.
1up has a blog called ‘what the cell?’ which does a comparison of identical titles running on the Xbox 360 and the PS3. On some of them they’ve even spliced the video so you can see the same sequence on the Xbox on the left, and the PS 3 on the right.
Download the HD ones if you have time. Can you tell the difference?
1Up wasn’t out to show off one versus the other. They were more concerned about why the PS3 titles are not as bleeding edge as they have been advertised to be.
But, for the rest of us, it makes a compelling argument on why shell out the extra $$$ for a PS3, if you can even find one.
