My previous thoughts on World of Warcraft's proposed patch 1.12 PvP changes
IGN has some more info regarding the new World PvP from upcoming WoW patch 1.12.
From the article we learn that two zones, Eastern Plaguelands & Silithus, will become open to world PvP objectives. Both of which are high level zones (55+) and supposedly this will help cut down the ganking of levelers elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately it won't cut down on ganking at all because ever since Battlegrounds arrived ganking hasn't been worthwhile as a form of PvP advancement. It wasn't really viable before Battlegrounds, but there was a small bit of advancement possible for killing enemy players you encountered.
I've always understood why some players play on PvE servers... because they want to avoid ganking at all costs. It just isn't worth their time. On the flip side I've always understood that some people don't want to play it safe and they choose PvP servers. I choose PvP servers. The whole ganking thing never turned me off because I was usually smart enough to gank back when I had the chance and avoid what ganks I could.
Anyways the point I want to make is that WoW gives players a choice of where to play. PvP or PvE. So the whole idea of ganking should play no part in world PvP at all, but Blizzard doesn't seem to get that. They seem to be trying awfully hard to avoid ganking opportunities with these world PvP objectives. Here is a clue for Blizzard. A level 58 isn't going to beat a level 60 who has been around a while. A level 60 in green/blue gear isn't going to beat a level 60 decked out in MC/BWL gear. Ganking is going to happen simply because its a LEVEL BASED GAME and at level 60 a META-LEVEL BASED GAME.
Battlegrounds are a prime example of WTF is wrong with WoW PvP. The average joe doesn't have a chance in hell at playing with/against players of equal footing. You would think that players off all level/meta-level would get mixed together, but what really happens is the uber epic gear bitches all stack up together to roll over pick up groups. That is why I am hoping the changes to battlegrounds include a ladder system so these fucktard carebears can't play whack a mole with the newbs anymore while gaining the same amount of honor that I would recieve if I kicked the shit out of them.
Blizzard has brought the uber PvP groups out of the Battlegrounds and supplanted them in both of these PvP zones. However, unless the honor gained is SIGNIFICANT you won't see ANYONE outside of bored rogues actually going after these objectives. It looks like all you will get is a buff and I bet that buff disappears on your first death. So what is going to happen when every AQ20 group heading out wants to roll anyone trying to level/quest in Silithus to get their precious +1% foozle buff before raiding AQ20? I believe the answer is ganking.
In Eastern Plaguelands the uber groups will come out for the first week and rape every tower in sight. Alliance will be especially good at the capture the flag simply because paladins are fucking gods at capture the flag/interupting flag captors. This will in effect just turn everyone off of this capture the flag bullshit.
There really isn't more I can say. I wanted to bring a more concise and useful post about what Blizzard could do, but with this information in my hand I can't say anything but Blizzard fucks up again and after the fuck up that the Scourge Invasion was I can gladly say 1.12 won't pull me back to World of Warcraft.
UPDATE: 14 Nov, 2009 - Updated labels, corrected spelling.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
Changing your e-mail in World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is an MMORGP, so I have to ask why in the hell do you have to call a phone number to change the e-mail address on your account??? Sure you can retrieve your account info and password via e-mail, but if someone has enough info to log into the support page then your account, characters, and uber loot are already long fucking gone.
Anyways Blizzard doesn't make it easy. On their main website (prior to the rebuild) their contact number is (800)-59-BLIZZARD, which if you notice is a few too many numbers long to be a valid fucking phone number. Since I wasn't thinking straight I didn't really think about dropping off the extra numbers to make (800)-59-BLIZZ which is the correct phone number. I tried 800-BLIZZARD and god knows what else.
So I set about putting a ticket in-game to get the right phone number. Of course Blizzard sends an in-game mail back to me saying I have received an e-mail detailing what needs to be done! Well "hell fucking OH" I don't have access to that god forsaken e-mail anymore, can I please for fuck sake talk to a real person. No, because after waiting over an hour for this in-game mail I lack any time to submit another ticket entitled "May I please speak to a REAL customer service rep?"!!!
So I finally got the right number by e-mailing Blizzard support from my new e-mail account, 800-592-5499. Of course I call during the open hours and what do I get... absolutely fucking nothing but a busy signal. No automated anything.
All of this just to change a god damned e-mail address. I can change nearly everything related to my online banking via a simple web page, someday the rest of the world might just catch on.
Anyways Blizzard doesn't make it easy. On their main website (prior to the rebuild) their contact number is (800)-59-BLIZZARD, which if you notice is a few too many numbers long to be a valid fucking phone number. Since I wasn't thinking straight I didn't really think about dropping off the extra numbers to make (800)-59-BLIZZ which is the correct phone number. I tried 800-BLIZZARD and god knows what else.
So I set about putting a ticket in-game to get the right phone number. Of course Blizzard sends an in-game mail back to me saying I have received an e-mail detailing what needs to be done! Well "hell fucking OH" I don't have access to that god forsaken e-mail anymore, can I please for fuck sake talk to a real person. No, because after waiting over an hour for this in-game mail I lack any time to submit another ticket entitled "May I please speak to a REAL customer service rep?"!!!
So I finally got the right number by e-mailing Blizzard support from my new e-mail account, 800-592-5499. Of course I call during the open hours and what do I get... absolutely fucking nothing but a busy signal. No automated anything.
All of this just to change a god damned e-mail address. I can change nearly everything related to my online banking via a simple web page, someday the rest of the world might just catch on.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Another Invasion
A while ago I talked about an invasion in EVE Online. Well, I'm now dealing with an invasion of a totally different variety. It has nothing to do with World of Warcraft, EVE, Guild Wars, or any game I play. It has to do with these lovely little creatures.
Multiply that picture by a thousand and you will see what I mean by invasion! Unfortunately, they are in the walls and come out anytime and anywhere they've found something to eat. Cat food, ice cream left in a bowl, jelly encrusted knives left in the dishwasher (yes, the dishwasher). I have a bad feeling my freshly baked cookies may not make it through the night; even though they are locked into a cookie jar.
So, I have a new best friend.
Does anyone have any ideas, outside of using a bug bomb or calling the pest exterminators, that they care to share?
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post.
Multiply that picture by a thousand and you will see what I mean by invasion! Unfortunately, they are in the walls and come out anytime and anywhere they've found something to eat. Cat food, ice cream left in a bowl, jelly encrusted knives left in the dishwasher (yes, the dishwasher). I have a bad feeling my freshly baked cookies may not make it through the night; even though they are locked into a cookie jar.
So, I have a new best friend.
Does anyone have any ideas, outside of using a bug bomb or calling the pest exterminators, that they care to share?
Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
My thoughts on World of Warcraft's proposed patch 1.12 PvP changes
I've finally gotten the time to sit down and write down my thoughts regarding these changes I posted a few days ago.
Cross-Realm Battlegrounds
It's no secret that battlegrounds just suck ass in World of Warcraft. They are required to gain PvP rank, but only if you grind them religiously for hours on end. Even then you have to be in an uber group that wins FAST. It's really not about "winning" as much as it's about "winning fast". A good team can win every match they go into, but if they take a long time to do it... well the fast uber teams will be several PvP ranks higher.
On top of this there is the constant problem of not being able to play in a battleground when you want. Whether waiting in a queue or simply hoping a battleground opens on your server there isn't much bright side to the current battlegrounds system.
So Blizzard is going to try and fix a lot of these problems in one full sweep. Battlegrounds are basically going to become a mini-Guild Wars built into World of Warcraft with the features of Blizzard's Battle.net service. It's actually a good fix because it solves more than just one issue.
First of all it fixes the queue issue. There should always be a battleground available for play within a few minutes of clicking join. Not only this, but no longer will low population servers have to worry about the lack of open battlegrounds to play in.
The second major change that this brings with it is COMPETITION! We're talking ladders and tournaments. Hopefully this will also mean that the more a team wins the harder teams they are sent to face. Instead of an uber team continually fighting much weaker pick up groups they will be sent to fight other teams that have won as many matches as them. This way those uber groups don't get to roll in free honor... they actually have to work for it.
It's unknown even if the battlegrounds will give honor any longer. I suspect that with these changes that honor may be only obtainable via open world PvP. The new battlegrounds may offer a much different ranking system. Instead of gaining honor for rank you gain points to compete in tournaments, play in ladder matches, and eventually work towards some kick-ass gear and of course there is always faction grinding. So if the world champion Warsong Gulch team plays on your server... they could be strutting some pretty impressive gear that showcases their achievement.
This also opens up battlegrounds to become a competitive sport. Blizzard is already at Lanwar and the CPL. With this system they could take it even a step farther. And the best part is the casual gamers can still enjoy the same battleground, but at an equal level!
World PvP
World PvP will be covered in part II...
UPDATE: 14 Nov, 2009 - Updated labels and corrected spelling.
Cross-Realm Battlegrounds
It's no secret that battlegrounds just suck ass in World of Warcraft. They are required to gain PvP rank, but only if you grind them religiously for hours on end. Even then you have to be in an uber group that wins FAST. It's really not about "winning" as much as it's about "winning fast". A good team can win every match they go into, but if they take a long time to do it... well the fast uber teams will be several PvP ranks higher.
On top of this there is the constant problem of not being able to play in a battleground when you want. Whether waiting in a queue or simply hoping a battleground opens on your server there isn't much bright side to the current battlegrounds system.
So Blizzard is going to try and fix a lot of these problems in one full sweep. Battlegrounds are basically going to become a mini-Guild Wars built into World of Warcraft with the features of Blizzard's Battle.net service. It's actually a good fix because it solves more than just one issue.
First of all it fixes the queue issue. There should always be a battleground available for play within a few minutes of clicking join. Not only this, but no longer will low population servers have to worry about the lack of open battlegrounds to play in.
The second major change that this brings with it is COMPETITION! We're talking ladders and tournaments. Hopefully this will also mean that the more a team wins the harder teams they are sent to face. Instead of an uber team continually fighting much weaker pick up groups they will be sent to fight other teams that have won as many matches as them. This way those uber groups don't get to roll in free honor... they actually have to work for it.
It's unknown even if the battlegrounds will give honor any longer. I suspect that with these changes that honor may be only obtainable via open world PvP. The new battlegrounds may offer a much different ranking system. Instead of gaining honor for rank you gain points to compete in tournaments, play in ladder matches, and eventually work towards some kick-ass gear and of course there is always faction grinding. So if the world champion Warsong Gulch team plays on your server... they could be strutting some pretty impressive gear that showcases their achievement.
This also opens up battlegrounds to become a competitive sport. Blizzard is already at Lanwar and the CPL. With this system they could take it even a step farther. And the best part is the casual gamers can still enjoy the same battleground, but at an equal level!
World PvP
World PvP will be covered in part II...
UPDATE: 14 Nov, 2009 - Updated labels and corrected spelling.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
World of Warcraft patch 1.12 plans!
World of Warcraft patch 1.11 just came out... and now we have some initial notes on patch 1.12.
Cross-Realm BattlegroundsBoth of these are HUGE in my book, but I have to reserve my comments right now due to time constraints. Come back soon because I have a mouthful.
For the first time in the history of World of Warcraft, you will be able to face off against players from other realms in the Battlegrounds. Coming in patch 1.12 are cross-realm PvP Battlegrounds, linking Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, and Arathi Basin so that players from several realms will be combined into one huge matchmaking pool. Replenish your mana, sharpen your blades, and get ready for the biggest battles yet!
World PvP
While the Battlegrounds are about to receive a major upgrade of their own, players interested in World PvP will be glad to hear that patch 1.12 will introduce a brand-new type of PvP content to the game. The stage is set for objective-based land battles of truly epic proportions as Horde and Alliance vie for control over important strategic positions and resources around Azeroth. Stay tuned for more news about these new world PvP enhancements coming to World of Warcraft.[/quote]These are the changes I've been waiting for... should hopefully be a good patch. Just have to wait 1 year before we see it!
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