Mystic Worlds

Where Did All the Time Go?

Having moved back to GA several weeks ago, I now live within minutes of my family and childhood friends.  Even now that the majority of the unpacking is done, I still haven't had much time to play WOW.  It's been 11 years since I last live here and as expected, people keep dropping by and coming over for dinner.  Some nights I'd prefer they leave earlier or just not come by at all so I can play WOW. *Smile*  But it would be hard to explain that I need them to leave so I can get on the computer and play a fantasy game online.  These are small town folk with rather country ideas.

The reverse wouldn't happen in IL where I had been living.  My friends knew that I played WOW, and I had no problem telling them that they couldn't come by on a particular evening because I'd be playing "the game" as we call it.  Acquaintances at work knew that I played.  One time while sitting in a late meeting that was going nowhere fast, I announced that they needed to hurry up because I had to get ready for a raid in 30 minutes and needed to get home. LOL  By that time most of them knew what a raid was and that I was serious about "this game".

It's not the same back here in small town GA.  I'm sure that there are WOW players down here somewhere or at lease people that know about the game.  Unfortunately, my family isn't among them and explaining it to them would be like telling them I was going home to walk on the moon.

The Meltdown of a Dynasty?

"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this?”

Theoden – Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

I’ve had lots of great memories during my days as an MMO player, but very few that were utterly filled with emotion.  One of the most moving was when I read the post announcing that our Guild founder was leaving AC2.  I cried – real life tears, knowing that it marked the end of an era.  I find myself once again looking into the chasm of unwanted change knowing that “what was”, will never be “as it was”, ever again. I believe that I am witnessing the passing of a guild dynasty.

The World of Warcraft guild that I’m a member of has been having issues with raid participation.  The problem started about three months ago when we suddenly couldn’t fill raids that had formerly been on farming status.  Now getting passed the first two bosses in BWL has become some what of a memory.  The more hardcore members are suggesting that mandatory raid attendance rules be implemented.  The casual players, including myself, don’t see how this can be a fair decision for a guild that has until now, categorized itself as a casual guild.  The forums are on fire and tempers are flaring.

Why I Solo on MMOs

What drives a person to want to solo on a game that is designed to be massively multiplayer?  Given that I’m one of those freaks, I have a few thoughts on the matter.  As game developers heed our cry for solo content, much to the chagrin of group-oriented players, we are showing up online in masses.  I know many people must wonder why don’t we just play a solo game or go sit in front console.  I played solo PC and console games. Back in the day, I had fun playing Myst II and III, Fable, Halo 2, Harvest Moon and The Sims.  That was until I experienced my first MMO.  Now there’s no turning back.

For me, playing a single player game just doesn’t cut it anymore.  I enjoy knowing that there is life other than me and my avatar in the virtual universe that I inhabit.  I like the social interactions and opportunity to group with others when I have the time and inclination.  I want to be part of something greater than myself but retain a strong sense of independence, self reliance and self determination.  I don’t want these things at the expense of others – group players and their needs.  However, if I can’t solo a good bit of the content for each level, I’m not playing – hence not buying.  And whether you like it or not, companies like Blizzard, Sony, Turbine, etc. want my money too.

My Search Is Over - For Now

I’ve been trying out different fantasy MMOs for the past two years looking for my dream game.  At this point, it just doesn’t exist – and probably never will until players can pick and choose services from different games.  I consider myself a casual player but given that I spend upwards of 30 hours a week playing, I’m probably not really casual.  What I am casual about is raiding.  I’d rather be with 5 people chatting it up, getting some level gain and having fun, than powering my way thru a dungeon with 40 people not talking so we can hurry up and be done.

No game I’ve ever tried can beat World of Warcraft in game-play dynamics, progression incentive – gold and phat loot and mass appeal.  I’d love more immersion in the form of player housing, guild halls from EQ2, improved crafting systems, combo fighting styles ala Guild Wars and player alteration of the world like EVE Online. Yet the other three didn’t meet my fantasy and MMO needs in other ways.

Over the past six months I’ve dabbled in WOW, EQ2, GW and EVE, which has gotten me nowhere substantial.  My level 60 Warlock on WOW still remains my only substantial character.  For my part, I don’t think it’s possible to play multiple MMOs and progress to the end game in a reasonable amount of time. So I’ve given up for the time being on trying to find the perfect MMO and will settle for the fun and family that I’ve formed already on Illidan.  I don’t want to have a dozen of low level toons spread across various games. I’m going to try and make WOW into more of what I want – there is some room for creating your fantasy within their fantasy.  And when I don’t feel like playing, I’ll read and write more often.

Moving the other games to an official hiatus status opens up the door to try Lord of The Rings Online but I don’t hold out much hope that Turbine will do the right thing with this game.  I’m still AC2 gun-shy and D&D hasn’t be receiving very good reviews.  Oh well, WOW is the current winner and will remain the game to beat for quite some time to come.

General: Your First Time is the Best Time

I think your experiences on your first MMO are the ones that feel the most magical.  For me, that was the now defunct Asheron’s Call 2.  I still remember leaving the Shelter (starter area) for the very first time. The first real kill, quest and riding my first mount.  The roar of magic and power that raced through my veins after completing my first vault.  Most of all, I remember the players that helped me, quested with me and come to my rescue.  AC2 – both the good and the bad, can’t ever be surpassed in the sentimentality department.

When I logged on to check my email today, I had a wonderful surprise waiting.  An old friend from AC2 had tracked me down using Google to say hello and see if I was playing a new MMO.  Not surprisingly, we are both playing World of Warcraft.  I haven’t heard from or “seen” this person in a game in more than two years but I remember Eureka and her toons.  I doubt I can say as much for many people that I’ve met in person in the past year.  Such can be the relationships and experiences forged on an MMO.

I don’t know what server she’s playing on but I’m sure she’ll reply and let me know.  It would be lots of fun if she’s on Illidan.  She has a toon that is very close in level to my Hunter and my Priest.  Wow – hearing from her brings up so many fond memories.

No WOW For You!

For how long will it be acceptable for players to suffer slow authentication, failed authentication and debilitating lag on the high population servers?  When will Blizzard consider it a breach of service to affect my ability to play the game because of server performance?  Sure, I get it that there are 6.5 million players doing the WOW-thang. But I have very little sympathy for Blizzard while they are raking in the money and I'm lagging to death or getting crashed out of raids.

They built the game architecture and designed the server infrastructure.  Their engineers should have known what the performance thresholds were for each realm and put monitoring in place to PREVENT a realm from breaching that threshold.  It was as simple as closing over-populated realms to new accounts before the shit hit the fan.  In real life I am an infrastructure performance engineer for a major technology company.  Our team is responsible for server capacity and performance for a global company.  We monitor growth on an infrastructure and take proactive actions to prevent environments from reaching critical mass.  We stop the growth by redirecting activity while we grow the primary nodes.  We don't wait til the environment is shit then plan an upgrade while the user community suffers.

Our whole team would have been unemployed a long time ago if we'd let this many activity hubs, in this case realms, degrade to such a degree.  Our servers go down and the company starts losing millions of dollars per day and HEADS START ROLLING.  Blizzard servers go down and they post polite messages on the login screen while continuing to collect your 15 bucks a month.

Arrived...

I arrived safely in GA last Sunday.  Unfortunately, the shipping company says my furniture won't arrive for an additional 7 to 10 days. What a bummer!!  I've been popping on WOW here and there but nothing significant.  After my stuff shows up, I unpack and get settled, posts should return to their former frequency.