The thing that was the Ysera server, it's time to discuss it. Unless Alzheimers is setting in and I already have. I don't remember talking about it though, so it will be uniquely entertaining to me, if not to you. Anyway:
Ysera was a pre-BC and post-AQ server that opened up sometime after I was sick of playing on the Khadgar server and I decided to roll a new character there. I leveled up my hunter at launch, and managed to fold in with a good group of raiders who were all motivated to clear content asap.
We wanted to raid, but we had a specific motivation of supporting our GM's desire to do the AQ questline as quickly as possible and get him the Scarab Lord title. We were right there, leading the Horde in progression (guild name: Static) and starting our Molten Core grind when out of the blue, it happened.
Transfers had just opened on Ysera at the one-month mark. People started coming over from other realms and we had a few applicants, and we were just getting used to this when suddenly on a Monday night at 2am one of the Alliance transfers took the scepter of the shifting sands that he transferred with to Silithus and rang the AQ gong.
It was the single most horrible thing to ever happen to a WoW server.
Basically, the event is designed to last from the time the gong is rung until server maintenance. Maintenance happens on a Tuesday, so this transfer from off-realm started the event, no one was prepared for it, and no one got to participate in it because it ended four hours later when the servers went down for maintenance.
The effect on the server was devastating. Several of the top guilds (including ours) disbanded within a week. People immediately stopped logging in and went back to their old servers, or new ones. Ysera was crippled and demoralized, and people who had worked hard to prepare their guilds for the grind were infuriated.
With my guild in a shambles I left, depressed. I haven't logged back into my hunter on Ysera more than a couple times in the years since, considering it a failed experiment. Then this last week, I decided to give it another shot and logged her back in.
As it turns out, I didn't have false memories about how much fun my character was, it still is. My lady Tauren hunter has an old PvP title, a good name (Teacher) and is pretty fun to play. So for the last week I've been logging in over there and slowly leveling her up. I might just keep playing her for a while, enough time has passed between then and now that I can have fun again with an old toon.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
IC: Stormwind City Reserves OOC: OMG! 89 DEGREES! IN MAY!
Fritzy Here!
I feel like talking about my rp guild, the Stormwind City reserves. I like the people in my guild OOC, mostly because they are very social, funny, kinda... quirky... and just plain old fun. However, these people are hardcore RPers, and they have a very unpopular record. Mostly because of what they do IC. In IC, they are a strict army guild based in Stormwind and they sort of act like the Police. They are competative with many people, like some guild like White Sigil, Stormwind Vanguard, etc. They also are friends with some guilds, but I don't remember any (IT IS A SIGN!!! *cough*). They have strict RP rules, training, patrols, a UNIFORM, etc and all that good stuff... If you wanna find out more, go to www.stormwindcityreserves.com/, and read the handbook before even trying to get in the guild, cuz they have specific rules, not too many (MANY), and they are easy to follow, but if you break them, your booted.
OCC, this weekend, it is suppose to be 89 degrees! too hot for may! Global Warming is taking over! Stop Global Warming! it is bad! please!!!!!!
KK, byez!!!!!!! See yah on WoW!!!!
Go do Scarlet Monastary! Gosh!
I feel like talking about my rp guild, the Stormwind City reserves. I like the people in my guild OOC, mostly because they are very social, funny, kinda... quirky... and just plain old fun. However, these people are hardcore RPers, and they have a very unpopular record. Mostly because of what they do IC. In IC, they are a strict army guild based in Stormwind and they sort of act like the Police. They are competative with many people, like some guild like White Sigil, Stormwind Vanguard, etc. They also are friends with some guilds, but I don't remember any (IT IS A SIGN!!! *cough*). They have strict RP rules, training, patrols, a UNIFORM, etc and all that good stuff... If you wanna find out more, go to www.stormwindcityreserves.com/, and read the handbook before even trying to get in the guild, cuz they have specific rules, not too many (MANY), and they are easy to follow, but if you break them, your booted.
OCC, this weekend, it is suppose to be 89 degrees! too hot for may! Global Warming is taking over! Stop Global Warming! it is bad! please!!!!!!
KK, byez!!!!!!! See yah on WoW!!!!
Go do Scarlet Monastary! Gosh!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Cataclysm is coming...
Fritzy here!
You heard me... CATACLYSM!!!!!!!!!
I have some ideas for Blizzard if they like the idea.
-Turn Nesingwary into a faction. I mean come on, we have seen him (and his son) for three expansions, and I love the Nesingwary quests. The only problem is that the thrill of it dies out when I see either the achievement pop up, or the question marks disappear. I would like to see a daily quest or two, a gather quest, and a quartermaster that (obviously) sells hunter gear. I think that would be fun, and possibly a hunters-only quest...
-A new raid for the Caverns of Time!!!!!! I think, since many have been waiting, we should have a new raid for CoS. I introduce to you... Caverns of Time: The Great Sundering! Since we are introducing Malfurion Stormrage and the Dragon Aspects (again...), we might as well see how their alliance started... Thanks to Queen Azshara's corruption, of course. I also think we should have this because we are introducing the Sunken City of Vash'jir...
-Remaking Gnomeregan into a raid. I mean come on... Sicco Thermaplugg is the end dungeon boss for Gnomeregan, but the new Gnomeregan intro is saying that 'he never dies'. (Same thing with Zalazane) With that, I think something is gonna pop up, and we will freak out. If he has robots in his place, and was Mekkatorque's advisor, he has to be stronger than a level 32 (Elite)...
-(Raid for Zalazane...)
-No fatigue. I think it will be a dumb idea because people will be too fast on their Epic Flying mounts, and will reach an island before the fatigue before it wares off. It would also be cool if there was a small island that has to be discovered by the players before Blizzard says anything about it, and maybe add something to that.
-Swimming mounts. With the new underwater areas, I think it would only be fair for swimming mounts and underwater breathing with the mounts. We wouldn't last alot in the water without some trick to get around...
Well, that is all I have so far... but I will keep posting! See ya!
(Free ports to Dalaran!)
You heard me... CATACLYSM!!!!!!!!!
I have some ideas for Blizzard if they like the idea.
-Turn Nesingwary into a faction. I mean come on, we have seen him (and his son) for three expansions, and I love the Nesingwary quests. The only problem is that the thrill of it dies out when I see either the achievement pop up, or the question marks disappear. I would like to see a daily quest or two, a gather quest, and a quartermaster that (obviously) sells hunter gear. I think that would be fun, and possibly a hunters-only quest...
-A new raid for the Caverns of Time!!!!!! I think, since many have been waiting, we should have a new raid for CoS. I introduce to you... Caverns of Time: The Great Sundering! Since we are introducing Malfurion Stormrage and the Dragon Aspects (again...), we might as well see how their alliance started... Thanks to Queen Azshara's corruption, of course. I also think we should have this because we are introducing the Sunken City of Vash'jir...
-Remaking Gnomeregan into a raid. I mean come on... Sicco Thermaplugg is the end dungeon boss for Gnomeregan, but the new Gnomeregan intro is saying that 'he never dies'. (Same thing with Zalazane) With that, I think something is gonna pop up, and we will freak out. If he has robots in his place, and was Mekkatorque's advisor, he has to be stronger than a level 32 (Elite)...
-(Raid for Zalazane...)
-No fatigue. I think it will be a dumb idea because people will be too fast on their Epic Flying mounts, and will reach an island before the fatigue before it wares off. It would also be cool if there was a small island that has to be discovered by the players before Blizzard says anything about it, and maybe add something to that.
-Swimming mounts. With the new underwater areas, I think it would only be fair for swimming mounts and underwater breathing with the mounts. We wouldn't last alot in the water without some trick to get around...
Well, that is all I have so far... but I will keep posting! See ya!
(Free ports to Dalaran!)
Fritzy Sparkplug
Fritzy Here!
I am a new author on the Electric Glory team! I will probably post my WoW complaints, future ideas, my RP guild Stormwind City Reserves, and maybe even my blooming machinima ideas ^,^. I will help post ideas, and people can talk to me in-game on Hiimamage-Wyrmrest Accord. See ya!
I am a new author on the Electric Glory team! I will probably post my WoW complaints, future ideas, my RP guild Stormwind City Reserves, and maybe even my blooming machinima ideas ^,^. I will help post ideas, and people can talk to me in-game on Hiimamage-Wyrmrest Accord. See ya!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
City of Heroes
I don't like the mouse controls. I'm sure that if I spent a while trying to figure it out, I'd be able to swivel around and look at my character's face, but I haven't been able to yet. It's pretty annoying, I want to see my character in action, and not just from behind. I have the nagging suspicion that it's totally disabled because they didn't include any facial expressions. Oh well.
I haven't yet tried the architect feature, which I will probably get to tonight. I made a couple of characters last night, one of which I kind of like, a little dwarf brick with a mace and shield. Combat is a little clunky, but the character movement takes a lot of getting used to. Using both mouse buttons to run triggers autorun, and the key movement doesn't always do what I expect, with the strafe keys changed up, etc.
I had to crank down the graphics settings when I was in the city center because other people make me lag. The rest of the city and graphics is fine, but when other players show up it slows down. The power animations are nice, and the sound effects are suitably comic bookish. The music gets pretty annoying pretty quickly.
The architect feature is the star of the show here, and I need to get to the point where I can start using it. Apparently it requires me to find a building in the city and interact with it to open up the design menu. But reading the help gave me a few pieces of information about it to begin with. The primary worry with player-created content isn't anything like economics or balance or behavior, but data. Everything a player does has data associated with it, and every piece of data is multiplied against the entire playerbase for storage and access concerns.
CoH has limited the number of story arcs and missions (dungeons) that you can create per account. You get three story arcs with five missions each. With the amount of detail that each one can include, that sounds like a pretty generous allotment. Tonight I'll try this feature out to see how it was implemented and it should give me something to think about while playing WoW.
I haven't yet tried the architect feature, which I will probably get to tonight. I made a couple of characters last night, one of which I kind of like, a little dwarf brick with a mace and shield. Combat is a little clunky, but the character movement takes a lot of getting used to. Using both mouse buttons to run triggers autorun, and the key movement doesn't always do what I expect, with the strafe keys changed up, etc.
I had to crank down the graphics settings when I was in the city center because other people make me lag. The rest of the city and graphics is fine, but when other players show up it slows down. The power animations are nice, and the sound effects are suitably comic bookish. The music gets pretty annoying pretty quickly.
The architect feature is the star of the show here, and I need to get to the point where I can start using it. Apparently it requires me to find a building in the city and interact with it to open up the design menu. But reading the help gave me a few pieces of information about it to begin with. The primary worry with player-created content isn't anything like economics or balance or behavior, but data. Everything a player does has data associated with it, and every piece of data is multiplied against the entire playerbase for storage and access concerns.
CoH has limited the number of story arcs and missions (dungeons) that you can create per account. You get three story arcs with five missions each. With the amount of detail that each one can include, that sounds like a pretty generous allotment. Tonight I'll try this feature out to see how it was implemented and it should give me something to think about while playing WoW.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Architect
I finally broke down and bought a copy of City of Heroes - Architect Edition. I get a month to play it to see how I like it, which should be plenty. I know one thing already: Either I'm going to be done playing after a day, or I'm going to be crazy about it.
Not sure so far so there's nothing to report. I paid my $20 online and created a new account, then spent the rest of the night waiting for the 3.1G to download while watching old war movies. Tis the season for good war movies, with Memorial Day approaching.
Last night we saw 12 O'Clock High with Gregory Peck, and about 2/3 of The Longest Day. Good stuff. Makes me wish there was a good modern historical MMO out there to play.
Not sure so far so there's nothing to report. I paid my $20 online and created a new account, then spent the rest of the night waiting for the 3.1G to download while watching old war movies. Tis the season for good war movies, with Memorial Day approaching.
Last night we saw 12 O'Clock High with Gregory Peck, and about 2/3 of The Longest Day. Good stuff. Makes me wish there was a good modern historical MMO out there to play.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
RIP Frank Frazetta
So long, Frank. You were perfectly matched for fantasy books, with your impossibly muscled heroes, suspiciously willing women in metal bikinis, and poses that made characters come alive with action and deadly consequence. There was no one like you before you showed up, you were an original.
Monday, May 10, 2010
I hate guilds
I hate WarCraft guilds so much.
They are no longer an essential part of play. Once upon a time everyone needed to be in a guild in order to get anything done, because it was required for people to play together often in order to learn each others' playstyles and become accustomed to executing the guild's strategy for killing bosses, which opened the door to epic loot, etc.
That isn't really an issue anymore, with epic loot being handed out like door prizes at Warren Buffet's birthday party. Pretty much everyone can go from zero to 5000 gear score in a couple weeks' worth of heroics, and it isn't at all challenging. After that, pick-up groups exist for the harder content, and that pretty much eliminates the last of what guilds have to offer. Who needs to associate with a bunch of people who (let's be honest) you really don't care about, when you can get exactly what you need by PUGging your way to epic gains?
People in your guild will only slow you down, because inevitably you discover that they're only in the guild or invited you to it because they want something from you. Whatever it is, you probably don't want to do it, don't have time to do it on their schedule, don't like the way they go about doing it, and there's nothing in it for you - just them.
So, screw guilds. Forget them, they are awful. They exist only to tap your time and resources (If I had got as much out of guild banks over the years as I've put into them, I'd own my own server) and to say "grats" when your achievement is spammed to guild chat.
Yes, there may be some advantages to being in a guild in Cataclysm, but unless it's really, really sparkly stuff, I just don't give a damn. Most of the people who play are complete idiots and timewasting fools, and I'm tired of pretending to like them just to hear a "grats" every once in a while when I ding.
Not exactly the best way to feel about social groups in an MMO, but as I've said before, WoW is the AOL of MMOs. It's scummy and trashy. It's like a cross between Middle Earth and a trailer park. The only way to find it interesting and entertaining is by either playing with everyone at arm's length, or to play at the expense of other players. Given the choice, I'll play alone.
They are no longer an essential part of play. Once upon a time everyone needed to be in a guild in order to get anything done, because it was required for people to play together often in order to learn each others' playstyles and become accustomed to executing the guild's strategy for killing bosses, which opened the door to epic loot, etc.
That isn't really an issue anymore, with epic loot being handed out like door prizes at Warren Buffet's birthday party. Pretty much everyone can go from zero to 5000 gear score in a couple weeks' worth of heroics, and it isn't at all challenging. After that, pick-up groups exist for the harder content, and that pretty much eliminates the last of what guilds have to offer. Who needs to associate with a bunch of people who (let's be honest) you really don't care about, when you can get exactly what you need by PUGging your way to epic gains?
People in your guild will only slow you down, because inevitably you discover that they're only in the guild or invited you to it because they want something from you. Whatever it is, you probably don't want to do it, don't have time to do it on their schedule, don't like the way they go about doing it, and there's nothing in it for you - just them.
So, screw guilds. Forget them, they are awful. They exist only to tap your time and resources (If I had got as much out of guild banks over the years as I've put into them, I'd own my own server) and to say "grats" when your achievement is spammed to guild chat.
Yes, there may be some advantages to being in a guild in Cataclysm, but unless it's really, really sparkly stuff, I just don't give a damn. Most of the people who play are complete idiots and timewasting fools, and I'm tired of pretending to like them just to hear a "grats" every once in a while when I ding.
Not exactly the best way to feel about social groups in an MMO, but as I've said before, WoW is the AOL of MMOs. It's scummy and trashy. It's like a cross between Middle Earth and a trailer park. The only way to find it interesting and entertaining is by either playing with everyone at arm's length, or to play at the expense of other players. Given the choice, I'll play alone.
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