Explaining Mists of Pandaria In 5 Words

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 9:29 AM

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This weekend a friend of mine talked to me about how I thought Mists of Pandaria was turning out.  He had decided to take a little bit of time off for his family and friends.   Another friend gave him a 60 day card as a gift for some work he did,  so he asked what he was getting into.

I started to give him the unvarnished truth about how I felt about the expansion.   Including what I share here and all the other parts that I both enjoy and do not enjoy when it comes to the expansion.   He is familiar with parts of my history when it comes to the game as well.

Later after I finished my schtick on the pros and cons of MOP I wondered if I had been a good ambassador to the game.   It is still a game that draws me to play,  but it is far from the addiction that it had been earlier in my life.  Still drawn to gold making and to enjoying quests,  but partially retired from raiding.  All of these things wrapped into how I felt about the expansion.

Then I proceeded to believe that what were the main parts of an explanation of warcraft.  And just how far could that description be filtered down too.   Could it be lowered to just a few words


1:   Mythos

I believe that the mythos created with Mists of Pandaria is some of the best storytelling that Blizzard has come up with.   Not just the straight forward quest text.  But the Lorewalker mythos,  the factions tied together into a overall war between different belief systems.   The last time that Blizzard told an overall story like this was during the Burning Crusade expansion.

2.   Pokemon

There is no escaping the idea that one of the mini games is Pokemon.   This is one of those breaking points with a lot of players.   There are no requirements to be a pet trainer,  and it has absolutely no effect on raiding.  But for many players,  just the thought of having it anywhere close to the game they love is an affront to their gaming beliefs.

3.  Dailies

After reaching level 90,  Dailies become one of the big parts of many players lives.   Whether they are raiders,  or questers or like to sit around a home city and make bad Chuck Norris Jokes.   Dailies to advance in gear and in reputation are a major part of logging on every day.   With previous expansions there were multiple options to obtain reputation.   Token purchases,  dailies,  running heroic dungeons and even questing could raise most reputations to exalted.  With MOP,  you will do your dailies and you will like it.

4.  Scenerios

These were the masterstroke for Blizzard to work with both the casual player as well as the hardcore player.   Having a setup where all you need is to queue and wait for three players,  no tank or healer required has made queue times much quicker.   It gives a taste of structured dungeons without the need to beholden to a healer and tank to queue.

5.   Repetition

This is the bane of any game,  whether it's monopoly or the most advanced MMO on the market.  Once the shiny parts wear off of a game,  then you have the base parts that get replayed time and time again.   With 5.1 just on the horizon,  new areas will be open to combat the repetition that can plague any players gaming life.   Repetition can result in boredom,  boredom can result in players looking to other places for entertainment.

There are more words that players will use when describing Mists of Pandaria to themselves.  Some would use Savior,  others might use cursed.   Either way,  the way that we frame words to describe what draws us back into wow,  can do the same for others.  Or drive them away to do something else.

Good Luck and Good Hunting


Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbearjoe @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

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Lorewalker This Way
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Trick or Treat Time 
Can Pokewow be saved?

Really?

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:41 PM

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There is an old saying that goes an expert is someone who knows just a little bit more than you.   I've kept this journal for the most part as being a gold making journal.  When it comes to improving tanking and dps,  I know just enough to be dangerous and to do adequate in raids.

With that in mind I tend to keep my mouth shut inside of instances and raids unless it is impractical to keep quiet.  This ranges from players running around in circles to someone trying to tank with a fishing pole.  But there does seem to be a small percentage of players who feel the need to 'improve' everyone in a group.

Today's case was my last chance to obtain the Horseman's Helm last night during the Hallow's Eve event.   Tank was holding aggro just fine,  healing was up to snuff.  Dps was chugging along then all of a sudden someone decided to announce to the tank that 'stacking stam is so vanilla wow'.  

To most this isn't a big deal.   Even to me it isn't that important when it comes to my day to day Warcraft 'career'.  But it did spark a little bit of thought in my mind.  I have never understood the need to players to call out others in groups for what they perceive is wrong.   I have seen some screwed up gem configurations as I've played wow.  From DPS stacking Parry gems to tanks running on intellect gems.   All players that could take constructive advice,  even to the point of offering them replacement gems if I had some in my inventory.

But the idea of calling someone out in public and trying to embarrass them is beyond my though process.   Perhaps it's the idea that I'm comfortable with who I am.  Not needing to stomp over people metaphorically in an imaginary field of game play   I do not feel the need to yell,  scream,  stomp or curse someone out for a mistake they have made.   I am not graced with omniscience to know their story.  They might be having a bad day and made a mistake in gearing.  

The long and short of it is that it is not worth my personal view of myself, or my sense of honor to try to make someone feel bad about themselves.  The anonymous lifestyle of online games prevents most players from getting verbally smacked in real life.   So a player acting like a jackass gets away with it relatively scott from.   But at somepoint personal responsibility and even public retribution plays a part in how someone views others.

There are players on any realm that have reputations for being good people.  They give away enchants for free,  help players the right way with constructive advice.   There are others with the reputations that scream for them to be avoided.  Sooner or later actions catch up with players.   The World of Warcraft is not big enough to be completely anonymous.

So next time you decide the tank sucks,  take it to guild chat or better yet stuff it in your pocket.  If it is so bad that your seeing red,  leave the raid or dungeon and queue up again.   Your reputation will thank you in the end.

Good Luck and Good Hunting