Back in WOW

Sorry about the long time without updates, but now the chronicle is back!

Ok so I got back into wow this xmas break. I decided I was going to try and level up a hunter. So far, in only a few days with the trial account doing pretty good. Thus far the most fun I have had is learning to deal relatively low damage at the early levels with a ranged weapon. Those of you who have been playing longer than I probably have more experience than I do and scoff at my measly accomplishment, but having played a warrior tank before, it's a whole new ball game.

Here's a shot of my hunter (now at level 8) after feeding "Kyle the friendly" and also what he looked like after the temporary "Mohawk" class buff shown by Mr. T. on TV these days.


Hope to post up more in the near future and merry xmas!

buying diamonds in ROM

Does it seem odd to anyone else that selling gold in Wow is frowned upon by Blizzard when it is encouraged by a game like ROM and now gear and other perks are for sale in a game like DDO?
Is this the wave of the future? Are micro in-game transactions the way things will be for MMOs? Should Blizzard drop their current subscription format in favor of a format like ROMs?
Just throwing it out there, actually there is a good discussion about the sale of diamonds, (the currency used in game in ROM) here.

Also, MMO crunch has a pretty decent break-down of how this is accomplished. Personally, I would probably consider playing a free version of Wow with in game items for sale such as DDO's current format, but I wonder how everyone else feels about this topic. Come to think it, there already is a free version of Wow with ingame perks for salem, it's called ROM

Tobold's blog Alganon contest and more....

OK fellow gamers, it's time for the MMORPG blog roundup, where I scour the web for interesting blog content about games, so you don't have to! we start off with:



Tobold's Alganon contest.
Our friend Tobold from Tobold's mmorpg blog is having a contest whereby he is giving away beta keys to test out Alganon NDA before it drops on Oct. 31st. The rules seem to be pretty straightforward. You just gotta make sure you have your contest entry by Oct. 4 which is right around the corner so if you wanna try out the game, I suggest you get this done ASAP and grab yourself a beta key! Intinally I had asked Tobold to be a regular contributor to this blog, but he declined to do so, citing the fact some of his content on his blog is a bit esoteric. To prove we don't hold any ill feeligns, we are pimping out his contest here.

QJ.Net has a nice roundup this week about all the latest going on in MMORPG news, with a lead post explaining this weekend's upcoming Double XP event for City of Heroes, information on the second LOTRO expansion Seige of Mirkwood which is slated for the holiday season and detailed info on wow's 3.22 patch which is now live. Personally, I have never played CoH but I am sure that it's got great content because the comic books were really good.

Finally, episodes 4 sand 5 of the third season of the guild have been released. While I don't have time to go into full episode reviews at the moment, wow.com has posted good synopses of each, the latest dealing with Codex moving on from Tink's decision to join the rival guild. The highlight of course is the applicants vying for Tink's vacated spot. A priceless segment in the web's most engaging show which had me chuckling like a ninny for several minutes. You gotta watch!

The MMO Report

Almost an entire week without any updates? I know I should be taken out in the middle of Ogrimmar and flogged by 12 angry goblins. Sorry that my work and having a life has interfered with gaming. However, rather than attempt to recap this week's happenings, I would like this opportunity to pimp the MMO Report. Yes, Casey Shriner can be annoying, but he's actually not as annoying as that dude from the soup. I think the MMO Report is still the best reason to watch G4 other than Olivia Munn (who IMHO is a tad annoying herself but whom any straight guy would give up an arm for) and Ninja Warrior.

Video Games - E3 2009 - The MMO Report

Wow addiction blog targets gamers

Perhaps you came across this ad while on your Facebook page: It is a silhouetted image of World of Warcraft races against a dark background and the caption ominously reads: Addicted to Wow? Get help. Wowaholics Anonymous. "Quit Wow addiction. Win at Life"

It left me puzzled, who were these hucksters plugging an anti-wow page on the most popular social networking site on the internet? I had to investigate. The link leads to a blog called Wowaholics Anonymous replete with testimonials from people allegedly devastated by their Wow addictions and their all consuming need to play. There is very little identification on the site.

The About Us reads: "Wowaholics Anonymous is a community who shares their experience, strength and hope with each other. " so is this blog put together by a religious anti-video game group? Or is it the work of anti-gaming fanatics?

A tiny link at the bottom indicates it's actually sponsored by Inspire Center, a group based out of UNC that treats people for mental illnesses such as depression, ADHD, bipolar syndrome and anxiety. Are they kidding? Are these people really equating video game playing with these serious conditions? Apparently so. It would be insulting were it not so ridiculous. I have never believed in people who attribute the ills of society to playing a video game. I've played Wow before, it isn't crack cocaine like extremists make it out to be. Yes, it is very engaging and I suppose some people can use it to escape out of their daily problems, but the same can be said about television or movies and other forms of mass entertainment and no one is trying to ban them, well not yet at least.

Furthermore there are articles linked to this site, one of which is entitled "Should Doctors treat Wow addiction?" which implies that it is a serious problem which doctors should waste their time on. However, it goes on to state:

At its 2007 annual meeting, the American Medical Association rejected a proposal to classify video game addiction as a mental disorder in the DSM IV, which is used by psychiatrists to diagnose mental disorders. “There is nothing here to suggest that this is a complex physiological disease state akin to alcoholism or other substance abuse disorders, and it doesn’t get to have the word addiction attached to it,” said Dr. Stuart of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

Way to go wow addiction blog. Way to cite evidence to dispute the very point you are trying to make!

Review the Guild: Season 3 ep. 3

As promised, another review of the latest episode of the Guild. Things are getting good as the guildees are in shambles after Vork decides to quit and go on the road.

I was laughing at Zaboo this time around, he has the best scenes as he's forced to choose between the game and his new girlfriend. Tink is still AWOL, though I predict she will resurface as a new member of the rival guild from last ep. This is easy to figure out as we last see her talking to the members of the Axis of Anarchy.

After venturing out to the gaming store, the guild is back in their familiar environment, behind their computers and installing the next expansion pack...or at least trying to. Clara has funny dialouge as usual, her horrible mothering skills as a result of being obsessed with the game are about to cost her dearly.

Overall this is a very enjoyable episode and does a lot to further this season's direction which appears to be what happens when the Guild is fragmented and Codex has to try to keep it all from falling apart. Great show!

Warforged I hardly knew ye!!

Well, I guess it was bound to happen. Ever since Turbine announced last week that their MMO was going F2p I had been dying to rejoin the world of Stormreach. However, time constraints and spending time playing ROM prevented it, until now.

Last night I tried out an account on the new DDO Unlimited and found it to be quite an enjoyable experience, even if I only spent 2-3 hours on the game server. The biggest change I saw upon character creation was the fact that my old character was Warforged but Turbine has made it a paid race. I had to settle for a Paladin! Oh the humanity!

No matter, the game's graphics are terrific and the voice overs that they rolled out in the opening quest and noob section of the game was very satisfying and successful in capturing the mood and feel of Dungeons and Dragons.

The problem I had in my previous attempt at DDO was that it was hard to do some of the instances and dungeons unless you were in a party, but the cool thing about DDO is that it's less of a grind than Wow and with dungeons and zones that are tailored for soloing or for playing with a party, it really doesn't matter if you are on your own or with a group (though of course the latter is probably more enjoyable to most gamers)

Turbine has added the DDO store to purchase in game items for those who want to pay and their VIPs can continue to play the game as subscribers, but if you don't need to pay, this is a good time to get into the game and try it out, with nothing to lose.

I found this video which details what the first quest looked like in Beta. I found it's still very similar in the game. Also, here's an interesting article detailing who invented the warforged race.