Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Oh Blizzard, How I Love Thee (StarCraft 2)
StarCraft 2 came out earlier today, and I of course bought the Collector's Edition at 9am local time. It was £70 well-spent. But first I'll take a little break from boring you all shitless with WoW stuff and give you a rundown on how that shit went down.
Okay, so yesterday morning I hopped on a train bound for Cambridge. I'd arranged to visit some friends in one of its suburbs for an afternoon of films, videogames and alcohol.
Den and Dave are two of the nicest, most genuine people that I know. I met them when I was 15 years old at a Misfits concert at the Cambridge Junction, and they have since then become two of my best friends. It was a real pleasure spending an afternoon chilling out at theirs, eating Kettle Chips and watching Hardware, Highlander and Bubba Ho-Tep - all of which were films I had not seen before, and all left a lasting impression on me.
I'd mentioned to Dave that Blizzard's latest work of art was released the following day, and he said that they'd make sure that I got to Game in time. Considering that I actually had to get a train to get there, Dave slung me in the car at about 7.50am. Worked perfectly, though - and for this, I owe them both more donuts and trifle. Maybe some trifle donuts? Hrm.
Anyway, I got home, and after doing some essential stuff (spend a couple of hours on Facebook doing fuck all) I decided to install it. For a 12gb game, it certainly doesn't mess around and I swear the CD drive on my laptop was going to break. After a painfully anxiety-inducing installation (if you'd heard the noise my disc drive was making, you'd understand) that was broken up by really rather pleasant audio logs to serve as a recap of the StarCraft mythos up to this point.
After the install, the game started up and within seconds I was at the main menu. After logging into Battle.Net I began the campaign and the first thing I noticed was that everything is so excellently designed, but the technical side made me grin like a motherfucker - Blizzard have, yet again, designed their product so well that it will run on older PCs as not to alienate a large portion of their fanbase. Top marks for that.
Everything about this game fits so well - the return of established characters and recommencing the narrative was a step in the right direction rather than a tangiental sequel that may have been as good in terms of game mechanics - however, the story really draws you in.
The edition that I got is fucking awesome. I'm not talking about a garden variety 'Collector's Edition', either; you get so much cool stuff it's unreal. In the HUGE box it comes in, I found:
StarCraft 2 game disc
'The Art of StarCraft 2' A4 hard-bound artbook
Jim Raynor replica dogtag - 2GB USB stick that contains the original StarCraft + Brood Wars
'Making of StarCraft 2' DVD w/ Development Diaries etc
Soundtrack CD
Exclusive in-game content (decals, avatars, variants of units)
'Mini Thor' companion for World of Warcraft
2 WoW guest passes (10 days each)
2 StarCraft 2 guest passes (10 days each)
Holy shit, that's a lot of stuff.
Basically, StarCraft 2 is awesome and if you don't buy it people are going to question your taste. Also, the Mini Thor is ADORABLE:
Oooshie booshie booshie, who's a cute little walking death machine?
Okay, so yesterday morning I hopped on a train bound for Cambridge. I'd arranged to visit some friends in one of its suburbs for an afternoon of films, videogames and alcohol.
Den and Dave are two of the nicest, most genuine people that I know. I met them when I was 15 years old at a Misfits concert at the Cambridge Junction, and they have since then become two of my best friends. It was a real pleasure spending an afternoon chilling out at theirs, eating Kettle Chips and watching Hardware, Highlander and Bubba Ho-Tep - all of which were films I had not seen before, and all left a lasting impression on me.
I'd mentioned to Dave that Blizzard's latest work of art was released the following day, and he said that they'd make sure that I got to Game in time. Considering that I actually had to get a train to get there, Dave slung me in the car at about 7.50am. Worked perfectly, though - and for this, I owe them both more donuts and trifle. Maybe some trifle donuts? Hrm.
Anyway, I got home, and after doing some essential stuff (spend a couple of hours on Facebook doing fuck all) I decided to install it. For a 12gb game, it certainly doesn't mess around and I swear the CD drive on my laptop was going to break. After a painfully anxiety-inducing installation (if you'd heard the noise my disc drive was making, you'd understand) that was broken up by really rather pleasant audio logs to serve as a recap of the StarCraft mythos up to this point.
After the install, the game started up and within seconds I was at the main menu. After logging into Battle.Net I began the campaign and the first thing I noticed was that everything is so excellently designed, but the technical side made me grin like a motherfucker - Blizzard have, yet again, designed their product so well that it will run on older PCs as not to alienate a large portion of their fanbase. Top marks for that.
Everything about this game fits so well - the return of established characters and recommencing the narrative was a step in the right direction rather than a tangiental sequel that may have been as good in terms of game mechanics - however, the story really draws you in.
The edition that I got is fucking awesome. I'm not talking about a garden variety 'Collector's Edition', either; you get so much cool stuff it's unreal. In the HUGE box it comes in, I found:
StarCraft 2 game disc
'The Art of StarCraft 2' A4 hard-bound artbook
Jim Raynor replica dogtag - 2GB USB stick that contains the original StarCraft + Brood Wars
'Making of StarCraft 2' DVD w/ Development Diaries etc
Soundtrack CD
Exclusive in-game content (decals, avatars, variants of units)
'Mini Thor' companion for World of Warcraft
2 WoW guest passes (10 days each)
2 StarCraft 2 guest passes (10 days each)
Holy shit, that's a lot of stuff.
Basically, StarCraft 2 is awesome and if you don't buy it people are going to question your taste. Also, the Mini Thor is ADORABLE:
Oooshie booshie booshie, who's a cute little walking death machine?
And since this blog's about WoW, I guess I'd better do something WoW-related. Here's my character as of today standing in Orgrimmar with his newest little buddy.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Ding, 30
So I hit 30 last night.
I achieved what I wanted to in the first week. Go me. I now know the value of quest-leveling. Speaking of which...
BRB LEVELING
I achieved what I wanted to in the first week. Go me. I now know the value of quest-leveling. Speaking of which...
BRB LEVELING
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Animosity
My good friend Dan is GM of a guild that we all have high hopes for. It's called Animosity.
This is their website.
A. Name: Viking
B. Age: 21
C. Primary Language: English
D. Connection: Stable
E. Do you have a mic and Ventrilo? Both.
F. Time Zone: GMT-London
G. Character Name: Vikíng
H. Class: Paladin
I. Main Spec: Protection
J. Why have you chosen this spec: Because I'm an epic tankadin!
K. Offspec: Retribution
L. Previous raiding experience including vanilla and BC if available: None actual, but extensive knowledge of raid dungeons, bosses and tactics in WoW, BC and WOTLK.
M. Previous guilds and why you left them: Ghost Council on Bronze Dragonflight due to my discontinuation of WoW two years ago. A year later, I was in Dissidence on the same server. Left for same reasons.
N. What professions do you use and why have you chosen them: I have yet to level professions but I'll probably end up doing Engineering and Alchemy.
O. What can you bring to Animosity: A sense of humour, tactics, strong leadership.
P. We raid 3 nights a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) from 10-1 server time and we require 2/3 raid attendance. Which of these can you attend? All of them.
Q. Have you read and understood the guild requirements listed above: Yes
Optional Questions
R. Is there anything you would like to add: I got the skill, motherfucker!! The skeeeeeeel!!1!
And now, I will fill out an application form for the guild for the lulz; despite the fact that at present there is little point to me being a member.
A. Name: Viking
B. Age: 21
C. Primary Language: English
D. Connection: Stable
E. Do you have a mic and Ventrilo? Both.
F. Time Zone: GMT-London
G. Character Name: Vikíng
H. Class: Paladin
I. Main Spec: Protection
J. Why have you chosen this spec: Because I'm an epic tankadin!
K. Offspec: Retribution
L. Previous raiding experience including vanilla and BC if available: None actual, but extensive knowledge of raid dungeons, bosses and tactics in WoW, BC and WOTLK.
M. Previous guilds and why you left them: Ghost Council on Bronze Dragonflight due to my discontinuation of WoW two years ago. A year later, I was in Dissidence on the same server. Left for same reasons.
N. What professions do you use and why have you chosen them: I have yet to level professions but I'll probably end up doing Engineering and Alchemy.
O. What can you bring to Animosity: A sense of humour, tactics, strong leadership.
P. We raid 3 nights a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) from 10-1 server time and we require 2/3 raid attendance. Which of these can you attend? All of them.
Q. Have you read and understood the guild requirements listed above: Yes
Optional Questions
R. Is there anything you would like to add: I got the skill, motherfucker!! The skeeeeeeel!!1!
/2 after Midnight
I think I remember why I used to say that players on PVP realms were very black-and-white.
On one side, we have the high-level players who are geared for PVP, play to win and are sporting. They're also mature and generally cool people to know, and willing to help out younger players / wiave fees for enchants/portals/potions etcetera. These people make up a majority of the realm I'm currently on.
Unfortunately, though, the other side of the coin is the other type of player. If you're familiar with general WoW structuring and sociality, then you'll understand what I mean when I say that this type collectively need to /delete themselves. They're high-level (but poorly specced or poorly geared - in most cases they're both), hypercompetetive but an extremely sore winner/loser (rubbing it in when they win, ragequitting and crying when they lose) and sell crap on the auction house for extortionate fees. These people are the kinds of people that would still have twinks, if Blizzard didn't already remove that problem with a previous patch.
Such an example of the immaturity of these players is their willingness to, instead of leveling, sit in a city and use the chat's trade channel (/2) as a social toy. Instead of listings for raids or items, we instead are treated to the delights of what fourteen-year-olds consider 'funny':
HERP DERP. Fucking seriously. Get out of trade with this crap. If you or anyone you know pulls this kind of shit because it's 'funny' or 'edgy' or you 'like taking WoW less seriously', facedesk yourselves. You're not clever. You're retarded.
On a less rage-filled note, I managed to get to 30 today! Well, almost. I said yesterday that I'd try, and I did - I've been doing other shit today, though. Still, I'm halfway through 29 - chances are I'll make 30 before I go to sleep if I run instances with Heather.
I'm out for now. Peace.
On one side, we have the high-level players who are geared for PVP, play to win and are sporting. They're also mature and generally cool people to know, and willing to help out younger players / wiave fees for enchants/portals/potions etcetera. These people make up a majority of the realm I'm currently on.
Unfortunately, though, the other side of the coin is the other type of player. If you're familiar with general WoW structuring and sociality, then you'll understand what I mean when I say that this type collectively need to /delete themselves. They're high-level (but poorly specced or poorly geared - in most cases they're both), hypercompetetive but an extremely sore winner/loser (rubbing it in when they win, ragequitting and crying when they lose) and sell crap on the auction house for extortionate fees. These people are the kinds of people that would still have twinks, if Blizzard didn't already remove that problem with a previous patch.
Such an example of the immaturity of these players is their willingness to, instead of leveling, sit in a city and use the chat's trade channel (/2) as a social toy. Instead of listings for raids or items, we instead are treated to the delights of what fourteen-year-olds consider 'funny':
HERP DERP. Fucking seriously. Get out of trade with this crap. If you or anyone you know pulls this kind of shit because it's 'funny' or 'edgy' or you 'like taking WoW less seriously', facedesk yourselves. You're not clever. You're retarded.
On a less rage-filled note, I managed to get to 30 today! Well, almost. I said yesterday that I'd try, and I did - I've been doing other shit today, though. Still, I'm halfway through 29 - chances are I'll make 30 before I go to sleep if I run instances with Heather.
I'm out for now. Peace.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Vikíng, The Unstoppable
==>GO TO MY ARMOURY PAGE<==
Hooah. Gear is kind of shitty right now. Been levelquesting a lot in Hillsbrad recently, where the experience gain per kill is 200exp+ on average. Means that things are fucking impossible to kill, and often they'll run before I can Justice them - so I end up getting swamped by mobs and have to pull some epic Paladin maneuvers to stay alive.
Ran Gnomeregan for experience with Paul earlier because I couldn't be bothered to quest for the additional experience it would have taken me to level. Turns out that I still had to quest for the final 400exp. I'm not shitting you. Thankfully I'd just stumbled on an interesting Blood Knight quest line wherein the second stage of the exercise sees you throwing down against 4 level 20 non-elite NPCs. As a 26, I laughed, layed down AOE Consecrate and /popcorned 'til they died.
Thanks to this quest line, I have gained an additional half level. Unfortunately the next stage of the quest will see me going into 4 separate instances - details of the quest are here.
Looks like I've got a long one tomorrow. With all the exp I'll gain from elite mobs in these instances, I'll be lucky if I hit 30 tomorrow. Fuck it, I'll be lucky if I hit 28 - quests are starting to dry up and I've got stuff to do.
Logging for the night. Peace.
-Viking
Hooah. Gear is kind of shitty right now. Been levelquesting a lot in Hillsbrad recently, where the experience gain per kill is 200exp+ on average. Means that things are fucking impossible to kill, and often they'll run before I can Justice them - so I end up getting swamped by mobs and have to pull some epic Paladin maneuvers to stay alive.
Ran Gnomeregan for experience with Paul earlier because I couldn't be bothered to quest for the additional experience it would have taken me to level. Turns out that I still had to quest for the final 400exp. I'm not shitting you. Thankfully I'd just stumbled on an interesting Blood Knight quest line wherein the second stage of the exercise sees you throwing down against 4 level 20 non-elite NPCs. As a 26, I laughed, layed down AOE Consecrate and /popcorned 'til they died.
Thanks to this quest line, I have gained an additional half level. Unfortunately the next stage of the quest will see me going into 4 separate instances - details of the quest are here.
Looks like I've got a long one tomorrow. With all the exp I'll gain from elite mobs in these instances, I'll be lucky if I hit 30 tomorrow. Fuck it, I'll be lucky if I hit 28 - quests are starting to dry up and I've got stuff to do.
Logging for the night. Peace.
-Viking
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Prot Paladin vs Mage Tank
So me and Dan and Paul were standing in south Westfall having just completed a Deadmines run. Dan pretty much aggroed the entire instance and layed down some fierce AOE with his priest Ihealú, which is an 80 - meaning that exp from individual kills ranged from 10 to 50. In terms of instance exp, normally this would be atrocious - but since he was able to kill so many of them so quickly, we reran a few times. This is known as 'boosting' for those of you unfamiliar with it and it's a moderately effective way to level up quickly between the 20 and 40. After 40, it gets tedious.
Anyway, me and Paul were both low-level at the time, and Dan suggested that we duel. After I was initially unenthusiastic (I couldn't be arsed) we started dueling.
As soon as the countdown was over, Paul placed upon me a freezing effect which cut my movement speed drastically - he then backpedaled, casting bolts of fire and frost at me. Unfortunately for him, Prot-specced Paladins can absorb damage like Zorbeez absorb water, so I walked up to him and just beat him to death. Being that we were on Skype at the time, I was quite amused with his mild rage that such an effective tactic had been shot down by sheer retarded damage-soaking.
A second duel started. He immediately began casting as many spells as he could to try and do as much damage as possible, but with my Devotion Aura enabled I took less damage - and after using Holy Light on myself until he was out of mana, I walked over and slapped him to death.
This got me thinking: Are certain classes/specs not meant to duel each other? I mean, later on that afternoon, Dan served me several platefuls of my own arse using his rogue alt. Granted, he was using extremely good bind-to-account gear that no average level 20 player should have.
I guess it's the old rock-paper-scissors conundrum. This reminds me of an old video I saw a while ago which is now horribly outdated (it's pre-Burning Crusade)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXX8URSUWm0
Somewhat true.
It's late. I'll totally finish this off later. 'Night.
Anyway, me and Paul were both low-level at the time, and Dan suggested that we duel. After I was initially unenthusiastic (I couldn't be arsed) we started dueling.
As soon as the countdown was over, Paul placed upon me a freezing effect which cut my movement speed drastically - he then backpedaled, casting bolts of fire and frost at me. Unfortunately for him, Prot-specced Paladins can absorb damage like Zorbeez absorb water, so I walked up to him and just beat him to death. Being that we were on Skype at the time, I was quite amused with his mild rage that such an effective tactic had been shot down by sheer retarded damage-soaking.
A second duel started. He immediately began casting as many spells as he could to try and do as much damage as possible, but with my Devotion Aura enabled I took less damage - and after using Holy Light on myself until he was out of mana, I walked over and slapped him to death.
This got me thinking: Are certain classes/specs not meant to duel each other? I mean, later on that afternoon, Dan served me several platefuls of my own arse using his rogue alt. Granted, he was using extremely good bind-to-account gear that no average level 20 player should have.
I guess it's the old rock-paper-scissors conundrum. This reminds me of an old video I saw a while ago which is now horribly outdated (it's pre-Burning Crusade)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXX8URSUWm0
Somewhat true.
It's late. I'll totally finish this off later. 'Night.
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