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It’s only a couple of days away from my real life holiday vacation. YEA!!! I’ll be M.I.A. the last two weeks of the year. Here’s wishing all of you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
The Story thus Far
So far I’m happy with Warlords of Draenor. It’s Blizzard doing what they do best. It’s also the first release where I’ve been able to see the phasing technology in action. I haven’t quested much since BC. When I have to quest, I appreciate how the experience is being personalized with my character at the center of the action.
My priest and mage have been parked in their garrisons for the foreseeable future while I concentrate on playing my warlock. I have a small itch to heal on the priest but OMG the last time I played my priest in WOW, healing randoms almost annoyed me to the point of hating the class. Here’s an oldie but goodie post of my Top 10 Lies about Priests.
For now I’m sticking with the warlock. The ease and survivability of the demonology specialization is awesome. I feel very much like a character dabbling in dark magic. I NEVER get tired of Demonic Leap! I like the idea of the Demonic Gateway and portals but I’ve yet to find a practical way of using them on a regular basis. I’ll keep at it though. The animation and idea is too sweet to pass up without a fight.
Old Friends
I’ve had barns built in my garrisons for a while now as a way of producing more of the Sumptuous Fur needed for tailoring. The minute the first one was constructed, I was happily surprised by the familiar faces assigned to manage it on my behalf. Always and forever an Alliance side player, the trek through Goldshire was and still is, one of my favorite WOW zones. EVERY ONE OF MY CHARACTERS, regardless of race, was leveled in GS. So I know the Stonefields and the Maclures, and their star crossed lovers’ version of the Hatfields and the McCoys.
Maybell's tale still plays out in Goldshire
I was rather tickled to see NPCs I knew running around my garrison. So much so, that I made a trip to GS to see if they’d been removed from that zone now that they’re part of garrison content. Nope, they’re still there with the original quest series in place. I suppose that makes sense. Their presence in WoD would be meaningless if their original context was removed.
Really Ma Stonefield, you had to tag along??
It was funny to realize that the lovers had overcome their family issues and married anyway. This is evident by Maybell’s persona in my garrison being Maybell Maclure-Stonefield. She’s a modern woman! Too bad Ma Stonefield came along for the ride. I don’t imagine having your mother-in-law in tow is pleasant under the circumstances. Hopefully she makes up for her presence with good vittles.
Hrm. Her son, Tommy, doesn't look very enthused about it.
Often it’s the little things that bring a smile to your face. Many players won’t get significance of that family being there together. But for me, it brought back the fond memories of my early days in WOW. The wonder and adoration I felt romping around the Eastern Kingdoms during its vanilla days.
As of last night, I’ve now completed the first two instances in Warlords of Draenor a few times each. They were good as expected. We all know that Blizzard creates high caliber 5-man content. Not having done PUG 5-mans since Burning Crusade, it took me a while to warm up to the idea. WOW players don’t exactly have the best reputation when it comes to being open and friendly to new players in dungeons. After all, “link me your achievements and ilevel” was born here.
A Dip into LFG
While accepting that WOW is for the most part, old school questing, there are times when I don’t feel like running around to the tune of a quest log. Yet I need character levels to unlock various aspects of the Garrison. The other night I wanted to do something to get XP but wasn’t in the mood for quests. I decided to armor plate my sensibilities and queue up for a random dungeon.
It took roughly 30 minutes to get into a group as DPS which wasn’t a big deal. I rode around uncovering locations on the map and killing named mobs for lootz. That’s a favorite pastime of mine in WOD. Finding named baddies, elite and all, and taking them on for what their dead corpses provide. It’s either an upgrade or disenchanting fodder, and I need a lot of fodder!
I spy a a dangerous guy. I like hunting named mini bosses and elites to solo.
Luckily for me, I’d watched multiple videos on Bloodmaul and Iron Docks. More than lucky to be honest. THANK GAWD I HAD. I suspect that by now, the average WOW player is into their 2nd or 3rd character so the alts running around the game are better geared than newcomers and recent returnees. Their DPS mitigation and output is far superior, making normal 5-mans a cake walk for them.
Road Runners
People are powering through the instances like their pants are on fire or a gun on their mother. You barely have enough time to loot before the group races forward to the next encounter. Not a single word spoken in chat – nada. No explanations, words of caution given. Zip. Zero. You better know what you’re doing, are a quick study or can fake it ‘til you make it. If you die they’ll resurrect ya when they get around to it. It’s a white knuckle experience for a casual player. And don’t even THINK about watching cutscenes. I was in a party where someone was kicked over it and in another where they were told to watch it on YouTube. *Sigh*
A RPG story is playing out everywhere, linking quests to dungeons to garrison
You can choose to take your time and indulge in the show
I felt under pressure to do the DPS expected and what not. However, some of the encounters are too disorienting the first few times around to focus on it. I was more concerned about not being the one to die, not standing in the colored stuff, evading bombs, dodging fiery boulders on a narrow ledge, being aware of where to go and the DPS priority when multiple mobs are up but no one is marking targets. I can’t even IMAGINE making it through these mad dashes as a new player. OMG, I suspect it would be the first and last time.
As it was, I felt prepared enough to avoid being Leroy. I never died or came even close to it but my DPS was last or second to last. No one complained. They might have been glad I kept up, never holding them back and that was enough. For me, I’d like it to be better and to feel more confident at the encounters and the class, both of which will come over time.
I enjoyed the instances – gray hair inducing runs that they were. *Smile* If you want a more measured romp through the dungeons where you can enjoy the show, I suggest forming your own party of friends or guild members. And expressly state that you want to watch the cutscenes and take the time to listen to the various NPC conversations that take place around you. They’re really well done and there’s lots of cool stuff to see that you won’t have much chance to appreciate during a LFG mock-5 tour of them.
I now have 3 of my 5 characters beyond level 90 and in their garrisons. My next goal is to have all of their garrisons with their profession buildings unlocked, Store house and barn. The store house is to ease the burden of sharing resources across the characters and the barn is to support the tailor. The other two character’s harvesting needs are supported without me having to place a specific building myself, as they need mining and herbs plots that come free as you level the garrison. Getting the free resources supplied by the garrison to the appropriate character, is one of the main reasons I’ve prioritized the Store before other beneficial buildings. Shuffling via game mail is already getting old.
Not You Again!
One of the reasons I rarely do alts unless I’ve played a game for a LONG TIME, is that the content feels stale in the 2nd and 3rd go around. There have been few exceptions to this rule. The two games where I did alts relatively close together but enjoyed the ride again were Rift and GW2, both of which had considerably more content than you needed to level. Hence on my alt, I only redid a small portion of the quests I’d experienced the first time around.
For the early 90s in WOW that’s not going to be the case. The road to your garrison is a handcrafted experience that requires you to complete certain quests. This is unfortunate. As I’m doing it on my third character in such close proximity, I can feel quest fatigue settling over me. I’m not knocking WOW for this. The experience they’ve crafted is very well done and some of the best quests I’ve seen from Blizzard. I wish this style of PVE content and phasing technology had been in place for Burning Crusade, which played out the events of Illidan, my favorite lore character.
Killrogg Deadeye talking smack. I really do enjoy the cut scene and RPG style questing
I doubt their intent is for you to parallel rush characters into their garrisons. However, the benefits of having a garrison on each character, quickly leads you down that road. If for nothing more than having XP generated from Follower Missions. Still, I’m taking responsibility for the fact that I’m deciding to rush them forward all at once.
Oh really? One of us is going to run home to mommy before this is over & it ain't gonna be me!
On the upside of doing so, I’ve zoned in on the class that will become my main. They’ve done some really nice things to the Warlock and after a 7+ year absence, I will be returning to where it all began. Saylah, the first character I created in WOW, did hardcore raiding with and played for 3 years straight without ever creating an alt, will once again take center stage as my main in WOW.
The past few days have been interesting as I contrast and compare playing ArcheAge and World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. When I’m in AA I marvel at how gorgeous the world is and that even at my new casual pace, I feel part of a breathing world and economy. In WOW, I’m impressed by the graphic update and how they’ve been able to breathe new life into old art assets and add more visual depth. I’m logging into both of these games for different reasons and find them equally fulfilling.
Sub On
My intention in WOW is to focus on the Garrison mini-game. So far, it has not disappointed me. Wow’s questing model and combat mechanics feel very old school to me after playing GW2 and AA’s level how u wanna. And the more active combat styles of GW2, Terra and WildStar. I really dislike having to stand still taking it to the face as a caster. It’s not something I’m used to doing anymore. I knew what I was getting into going back to WOW and for that reason, don’t want to focus on doing a lot of questing content.
From the features I saw, I felt as though the Garrison would have enough to occupy me for an hour a day – at least. Watching max level players managing their garrisons at level 3, it was apparent that I could spend even more time by collecting and managing followers, harvesting resources, doing invasions, etc. Enough so, that if I did nothing more than that, it would be worth a monthly subscription.
Oh My!
To get my garrison I had to play along and complete a quest series to unlock it. At first I was like “Ugh. Really?” But they’ve done an excellent job with the opening quest series. It took me right back to the cinematic feel of the opening experience in GW2 and when the Death Knight was introduced to WOW. Using Blizzard’s phasing technology, you’re actively involved in the story playing out, not a secondary participant running alongside 100 other players. It’s much more solo RPG-esk and I noticed the introduction of new objective completion mechanics. Nothing ground breaking mind you. There’s only so many different ways of getting a player to complete a quest task. Still, it was enough to make me notice the change. In under an hour, I had achieved my goal of unlocking my garrison.
Woot, this garrison is mine!
It’s an Integral Part of the Journey
Inside my lowly garrison, I immediately had things I could achieve – mini game tasks to complete. I started a work order to place my first building, sent followers on a mission and collected goodies from a crate. Simple stuff like that. Not a lot to do. But enough to wet your whistle and appetite for more.
To get more however, I had to venture forth and … quest. Here’s where I had to decide if I was going to turn that it a positive or negative. I decided that I would do what I felt like doing and no more than that. Although WOW isn’t designed as much to level in that fashion, my goal isn’t to hit max level. it’s to play with garrison features. And I might as well explore since I can’t fly past things. So off I went, out into the wilderness of Shadowmoon Valley.
Blizzard couldn’t have designed a better themed environment for sucking me into wanting to run around. Abundant, vibrant, fanciful and pretty zones are the bees-knees to me. It’s my style of fantasy MMO! It felt natural to do this and that, from the list in the upper right hand corner, while I was out exploring. We won’t mention the name of that “thing”, it’s pure evil. One by one, I got objectives done that unlocked more activities in my garrison. *Sahweet!*
Mine unlocked after reaching Garrison level 2
Even when I did stuff I wasn’t sure was directly tied to giving me new garrison features, they were ate least, directly related to the story playing out in WoD. It was still about me and the garrison I’m maintaining for the war effort. I wasn’t asked to go get pig ears for some dumbass farmer standing less than two feet from the blasted pigs. I was out doing serious business! Little by little, over the course of a few play sessions my Garrison hit level two, I’d added more buildings and unlocked a mine. Color me happy. Color it fabulous.
Hello there. My very own Paladin. She's mine ALL mine!
Jury is out
The jury is still out on how much PVE content I intend to do in WoD. My first priority is completing quests that award/unlock garrison features. What else I do along the way remains to be seen. I know that once mine hits level 3, I want to dig into the nuances for the benefits of having certain buildings versus others, collecting all the followers, gearing up my followers and doing garrison invasions. With all that at hand, I don’t know that I have the time for much more in WOW. I haven’t given up on AA yet and have farms and properties to manage there. I may see some dungeons here and there but only time will tell.
Yep, I’ve joined the 9,999,999 gamers playing the newest World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor. Once I decided to unsubscribe from ArcheAge, I handed my money to Blizzard. I need to have a reliable MMO for the winter. I’ve not given up on AA. I’m holding out hope that Trion and XL Games can turn the ship around. However, I felt the need to voice my displeasure by withdrawing monetary support.
Sub Off
I’ve neatly downsized my operations in AA. My large farm plot is being used exclusively to craft and house Aged Cheese. I can’t fit 7 Aged Cheese larders down at a time, 2 cows for the milk required and 2 sheep to continue supporting my tailoring profession. Larders take 3 days to mature and do not require any attention in between. On my small farm I have another 2 cows and 2 lemon trees which also go toward supporting my Aged Cheese business. This change reduces my effort down to visiting those locations twice a day to feed livestock, draw milk and pick lemons.
I've become the Aged Cheese Lady
At my two houses, I’ve reduced the effort of harvesting and replanting yams and lotus multiple times a day, by raising chickens - nuttin’ but chickens. This serves to eliminate my peace time trade runs from Halcyona to Gwenoid. I’m harvesting eggs from chickens purely to remove the more time consuming effort of harvesting/gathering/butchering one thing to replace it again. Eggs sell at a decent price and were always part of my farming portfolio. The difference is they’re the sole focus of my Lilyhut operation, replacing the more profitable but consuming Yam Pasta trade.
Less Effort + Less Profit + F2P = Holding Pattern
My farming and trade operation used to require 3 hours per day minimum for farm management + 1.5 hours to do trade runs. I was routinely producing enough raw materials to support crafting 15 - 20 packs per day. My habit was to do at least two trade runs per day. When I was feeling more motivated and/or there weren't any guild activities taking place, I would do 3 or 4 runs.
Based on how things have been going in AA lately, I’m no longer willing to commit that much time or energy into a game I’m not sure is heading in a sound direction. My new line-up only requires a couple of hours a day tops but only yields 28 trade packs per week (14 Aged Cheese and 14 Milk Soap = 4 trade runs). That’s a huge reduction in production and the time required to execute it. Aged Cheese, Milk Soap and eggs will translate into more than enough money per month to cover using in game gold to retain my Patron status while waiting things out. I no longer have immediately goals to upgrade my armor, weapons or acquire a trade ship until I’m certain that I’m staying.
I will measure the success of this transition. I want it to stand on its own feet and not eat up the gold I’ve already earned. I removed gold from my character and placed it in the Warehouse, only seeding this experiment with 25G. I will no longer be purchasing Labor Potion from the AH either. All funds and LP earned will be kept to support on-going production, paying for APEX each month and acquiring Tax Certificates.
I don’t know what to say about MMO players these days. I’m all for PVP and pirating. I don’t consider ganking people in PVP zones “bad”. Sure, it’s lame and annoying to have players many times your level attack you while you’re questing but it’s par for the course. The same goes for pirating. It’s a fundamental mechanic of AA and an extension of PVP. I don’t like having my items stolen from me any more than the next person but I recognize it has a valid play style. And in those circumstance, even when outnumbered, you at least have the opportunity to defend yourself and your property.
What I can’t abide are hackers, exploiters and griefers who misuse game mechanics in a way where you can’t attack them. Where you are powerless in preventing them from initiating an incident is such a sucker’s route. Recently, we’re seeing an increase in two forms of grief attacks against trade pack haulers.
Case #1 – Dance Your Packs Away
Case one uses an in game item that forces a player to dance with the initiator. You’re not given an option – no warning or confirmation is required. If this occurs when you’re driving a farm vehicle, you will stand up from the seat, which allows another player to take it over. Even if you have Owner’s Mark on which prevents another player from taking control, they can make you dance until the Owner’s Mark wears off AND THEN take your shit. In order to steal your packs they drive the vehicle into a pack of mobs that will destroy it, thereby dropping your packs on the ground for the taking.
Trion has said that this is an exploit and a bannable offense. Too bad it wasn’t removed from the game back in Alpha when it supposedly was taken out. Or the item's dance feature disable - something that was also said to have been done. To date the game's track record on banning exploiters and keeping them banned isn’t that stellar, leaving their threats to ban people weak.
The most you can do is to spam Owner’s Mark anytime you’re near other players. If this happens to you take screenshots and report the participants. Don’t give up on trying to get the cart back. I’d drop the pack on my back and follow the offender, killing mobs they’re trying to have target the cart. Jump back on top of the cart and keep spamming “mount” so that you can disengage them and reapply Owner’s Mark.
I had a red player steal my farm wagon once in Halycona. The area was very crowded and I had trouble making it back and forth to my cart to load up the trade packs. The OM ran out before I noticed and someone started driving off. As a ranged class, I glided on to the top of the wagon and kept killing mobs they were heading toward while banging OM for dear life. Eventually, I unseated them and was back in control. Whew! It was a close call. If they’d made it to the roving Centaur pack it would have been lights out for my cart and trade packs.
Case #2 – Click to Your Death
Another ploy that can only be done by players of the opposite faction is to block the trade pack turn-in NPC with their bodies or carts. Doing so may cause you to accidently click (auto-attack) them or their cart which will cause the Neutral Guards to annihilate you and your cart. BOOM, your packs are now on the ground as free loot.
I'm front/left (ChittyChittyBangBang), inching closer each time they try a counter move.
At some points they had people standing all on top of me and hood of wagon.
As you can see from the screenshot above, I was in a stand-off with a bunch of jerks while trying to deliver packs in Two Crowns. The incident lasted almost 30 minutes. Players from my own faction tried to help but ended up being killed. And because the collision detection isn’t working as intended on the farm vehicles yet…still, you can’t push them out of your way. Players unware of this fact tried spawning their carts to help push the reds off the vendor but to no avail. It was heartening to see others come to the defense of a stranger. *GO KYRIOS*
I was so busy spamming Owner’s Mark and trying to edge forward anytime they moved an inch trying to out flank me, that I didn’t have time to warn others who tried to turn theirs in during the midst of the stand-off. Two players died and had their farm carts destroyed because they accidently clicked the red players instead of the NPC which is the goal of the griefers.
I can be very evil and stubborn when my buttons are pushed. I refused to give an inch or leave! I wasn’t going to retreat to turn in elsewhere for less money. Nah, I had as much time to waste as these idiots did. I turned ALL OF MY PACKS IN, one at a time by spamming OM and always having one pack on my back. The instant I saw an opening where my cursor could interact with the NPC through their bodies I turned it in. Rinse. Repeat. Thwart. After my cart was empty and unsummoned, I danced around them and threw them flowers while they portaled out empty handed. MUAHAHA
Sandbox games with PVP can attract a different breed of player. You need to be aware of the current exploits and grief mechanics being used to stay as safe as is reasonably possible. Knowledge is power. Landlubbers beware and good luck out there!
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