Team Fortress 2 ragepost. Well, not really. As much as any post I do is a ragepost- I know my feelings on the matter, and those feelings are pretty strongly negative, but I can, as ever, appreciate the feelings of the other side. But this is just pissing me the hell off.
So, Team Fortress 2 has a problem. It has unlockables- two categories of them, really. One category is the unlockable weapons- they are pretty awesome, and offer different functionality than the regular versions. You could unlock a flamethrower that always gets a critical hit when you burn a target from behind (the Backburner, what a delicious tool), and that's just one example. Each class is getting 3 unlockable items, and 6 of the 9 classes have gotten them thus far. You can earn these unlockables through achievements, or... through a random drop system, that generates them spontaneously through a system of variables. And yes, you can get the same one over and over with this system, so it may not surprise you that most opt to try for achievements. The drop system, frankly, kind of sucks. But hey, at least there's an alternative.
More recently, though, Valve added hats. Wearable hats, 3-4 for every class, that are AWESOME. And in a game that, thus far, has had NO visual customization, the hats are a big freaking deal. And the ONLY way to get them is through the hated drop system, and they drop at a very, very low rate. The thing is... you don't actually have to play to get them. You just need to be in a server. Some of you may be seeing where I am going with this... people began to open up "idle" servers, where you could simply log in, and walk away, and let the items rack up.
People used these idle servers before the hats were added a few months back, but hats really made their useage spike, because there was no alternative. I have played TF2 at least 3 times a week, several hours every session, since the update, and I have not gotten a single hat, because the random number generator (RNG) does not love me. And this is INCREDIBLY frustrating, and pisses me off to no end. I did not use idle servers, though. It just... it seemed, to me, to make those items lose their value. That they weren't as special. Valve expressed sadness at the idea of idle servers, but seemed to consider it a necessary evil, because while in the past they were quite quick to take action when something displeased them, they did nothing of the sort here.
Then, someone came up with a special program- basically, you ran this dos-window style program, and it logged you into an idle server without wasting your system's resources on the none-too-shabby graphics of TF2. That was... a month ago, I think? And again, Valve did nothing. And I continued to hold off... until last week, I snapped. I think it was around the time the RNG decided to give me my SEVENTH pair of the boxing glove item (and no, the duplicates do NOT benefit you in any way- Valve claims they will someday, but for now they are just a slap in the face), and I still had NONE of the thirtysomething hats in the game. I was livid. And so I broke down, and downloaded the program. It wasn't that I had been holding off because it seemed wrong, against the rules- Valve had let it slide for a MONTH. Last time a program did something they didn't like, everyone that used it was punished inside of a week. I just wanted to earn the items. When I finally accepted that there was no such THING as earning with this terribly designed system, I got the idler.
The idler earned me no hats, in the time I have used it since, just more and more duplicates. And Valve has suddenly pulled a policy about-face, and stripped anyone who used the idler of their unlockable items. It was supposed to be just the ones gotten through idling, they say, but at least to me, and those I've spoken to, that's not what happened. We are missing way more than that. And it's not even about that anymore. It's about retroactive rule enforcement (they admitted themselves that they had no previous policy about it, and yet are suddenly taking action), and just plain insulting customer service.
I bought this game. Twice. I own it on 360 and on PC. I've convinced other people to buy it, to play it. I've never used any of the multitude of exploits that have been discovered- no building sentries under the map, no command console usage, no autounlock programs or data file editting, none of that. I finally used ONE piece of third party support because Valve seemed cool with it, got nothing from it, and then got smacked on the nose with a newspaper for accessing content that I own, bought and paid for. Valve is going to give us back the unlockables they didn't mean to take away. That's not what this is about. This is about them telling the community how they are permitted to play the game. We did nothing that gave us any kind of in-game advantage. And the in-game idle servers? They're doing better than ever! We are being punished for saving system resources, plain and simple.
Oh, but it gets better. Everyone who didn't use this idler program got a special halo for their "good behavior" and for taking the "moral high ground". Okay. This is where this stops being a debate on policy. This is where it becomes a straight-up "fuck you, Valve." You're giving halos to people who didn't use this idler, even those that previously used map exploits, data file hacking, third party unlocker programs, or are in idle servers right now. I would stake my goddamn life that there are people hanging out in in-game idle servers wearing their halos. I say again: Fuck you, Valve.
I am not a criminal. I am not even a rulebreaker. I did something that was entirely okay by your own rules until you decided to change them, and on the day that you changed them retroactively punish everyone who had done it the other way. I own two copies of TF2, I own Left 4 Dead, I own Half-Life and Half-Life 2. And until there is some apology or reconciliation, that is ALL I will own of Valve's products. I love their games. I love their design. And I will continue to play these games. But their customer service is straight up tyrannical, and it disgusts me.
And until they mend their ways... remember, Don't Fire Till You See the Tops of Their Heads.
P.S.: Every Valve employee has full hat access, and even access to weapons that the rest of the community can't touch. Are you going to ban them too?
September 2, 2009
September 1, 2009
Here Comes the New Rogue, Same As the Old Rogue
Okay. This is a warning- this is a post about RPing, as well as MMOs. So, that's a pretty niche audience right there. I would like for everyone to find this interesting, and will write it to be of interest to all... but that's what we're working with here. See, one of the announcements with the new WoW expansion was the new races, as well as the new race/class combinations. Some of these I will wait until the expansion to try out- I have never been able to take Shaman seriously, nor Mage, but playing a Dwarf Mage or Dwarf Shaman sounds absolutely fantastic to me. I also can't wait to try a Worgen Druid (can you tell I'm Alliance?). But the one that really gets me... is Worgen Rogue. I have to have one. And the only problem is... I already have a rogue that I like quite a bit, and I am NOT gonna have two of the same class, that's just wasteful.
My rogue is level 26, not too high, it won't be that awful to start over. Whatever. That's not my concern. I have deleted significantly higher level characters to restart them, that's for sure. My concern is this... I like my rogue, as a character. The characters that I really, seriously play always have an RP background, it's the only way I can enjoy them. I deleted a level 40 paladin not too long ago because I realized she just had no personality. She was retadin #782439, and that's not good enough for me. I just don't enjoy playing that character if I can't justify their background, and appreciate the way they think.
So far, I have a priest and a warrior at 80. My warrior has a lot of personality- let's just say that the quest where she was sent as a diplomat to the orcs was an exercise in self-restraint for her. I'd be happy to rant about each character's background, but I think it's likely more interesting for me to discuss the overarching problem- rerolling an alt you like.
My human female rogue has a pretty simple background, but I like her a lot. I like her name, I like her appearance, and she's overall just fun to play. Interestingly, she's actually one of the nicest characters I have... which is a pretty interesting characteristic for my rogue. Very pure of spirit. Anyway. The thing is, when I saw the picture at Blizzcon of the Worgen rogue in full tier 9... I knew there was no choice. I was going to reroll as a Worgen as soon as the expac came out. Period. And since I did really like my rogue's name (and I always have a hard time finding a name I like), and her appearance, I definitely wanted to reproduce that. But a Worgen is a pretty different person than a simple human lass from Elwynn Forest who realized she was good at sneaking. True, Worgen were human once, and retain much of that mindset... but it is very noticably tinged by the vicious instincts of their wolven forms. They are not human. They are close... but they aren't. And it is that very closeness that makes the differences all the more noticable.
So then, perhaps my new character could be my old rogue, Worgenized? But no- the Worgen are Gilneans, and while I could pull some fanciful crap wherein my rogue infiltrates the border only to be Worgenized, A) the characters of WoW are supposed to start out as fairly ordinary people. It is the course of the game that turns them into heroes- they do not start out being amazing exceptions to the rules, except for the hero class, because that's kind of the concept of that. That's why there are no human shamans- sure, there are probably humans out there that are in tune with the elements, but they are anything but common, so you can't be one. Worgen (ones that act civilized) that aren't Gilnean are rare, and besides, that would contradict the entire starting zone, as I understand it.
And B), doing that undermines the worth of the Worgen. Part of the thing of the Worgen is that they are questionably humane- this is a nation that once said that the rest of the world could burn so long as they were safe. This is a nation that let injured, dying people sit outside its gates, and never let them in, or even acknowledged their existence. Yes, they are part Worgen now... but that brings up the interesting question, what part of them do certain questionable acts orginainate from their lupine savagery, and what from their calculating human nature? Having a character that was innocent of heart, but corrupted by this curse is not nearly as interesting... and overdone as shit as well.
So I suppose my point is something more of a question... how much can you change while still holding onto the original idea? Are similar looks and the same name enough to consider it just a new iteration of the old character? Perhaps it's not an intellectual question. Perhaps what matters is how that character feels to their creator... and in that case, I guess we'll just have to wait for the expansion, so I can create my new rogue, and see if it invokes that old feeling.
My rogue is level 26, not too high, it won't be that awful to start over. Whatever. That's not my concern. I have deleted significantly higher level characters to restart them, that's for sure. My concern is this... I like my rogue, as a character. The characters that I really, seriously play always have an RP background, it's the only way I can enjoy them. I deleted a level 40 paladin not too long ago because I realized she just had no personality. She was retadin #782439, and that's not good enough for me. I just don't enjoy playing that character if I can't justify their background, and appreciate the way they think.
So far, I have a priest and a warrior at 80. My warrior has a lot of personality- let's just say that the quest where she was sent as a diplomat to the orcs was an exercise in self-restraint for her. I'd be happy to rant about each character's background, but I think it's likely more interesting for me to discuss the overarching problem- rerolling an alt you like.
My human female rogue has a pretty simple background, but I like her a lot. I like her name, I like her appearance, and she's overall just fun to play. Interestingly, she's actually one of the nicest characters I have... which is a pretty interesting characteristic for my rogue. Very pure of spirit. Anyway. The thing is, when I saw the picture at Blizzcon of the Worgen rogue in full tier 9... I knew there was no choice. I was going to reroll as a Worgen as soon as the expac came out. Period. And since I did really like my rogue's name (and I always have a hard time finding a name I like), and her appearance, I definitely wanted to reproduce that. But a Worgen is a pretty different person than a simple human lass from Elwynn Forest who realized she was good at sneaking. True, Worgen were human once, and retain much of that mindset... but it is very noticably tinged by the vicious instincts of their wolven forms. They are not human. They are close... but they aren't. And it is that very closeness that makes the differences all the more noticable.
So then, perhaps my new character could be my old rogue, Worgenized? But no- the Worgen are Gilneans, and while I could pull some fanciful crap wherein my rogue infiltrates the border only to be Worgenized, A) the characters of WoW are supposed to start out as fairly ordinary people. It is the course of the game that turns them into heroes- they do not start out being amazing exceptions to the rules, except for the hero class, because that's kind of the concept of that. That's why there are no human shamans- sure, there are probably humans out there that are in tune with the elements, but they are anything but common, so you can't be one. Worgen (ones that act civilized) that aren't Gilnean are rare, and besides, that would contradict the entire starting zone, as I understand it.
And B), doing that undermines the worth of the Worgen. Part of the thing of the Worgen is that they are questionably humane- this is a nation that once said that the rest of the world could burn so long as they were safe. This is a nation that let injured, dying people sit outside its gates, and never let them in, or even acknowledged their existence. Yes, they are part Worgen now... but that brings up the interesting question, what part of them do certain questionable acts orginainate from their lupine savagery, and what from their calculating human nature? Having a character that was innocent of heart, but corrupted by this curse is not nearly as interesting... and overdone as shit as well.
So I suppose my point is something more of a question... how much can you change while still holding onto the original idea? Are similar looks and the same name enough to consider it just a new iteration of the old character? Perhaps it's not an intellectual question. Perhaps what matters is how that character feels to their creator... and in that case, I guess we'll just have to wait for the expansion, so I can create my new rogue, and see if it invokes that old feeling.
August 28, 2009
Scarlet Commander Garrous
The Scarlet Sanctuary... sitting at the heart of Scarlet Harbor, this fortress is a bastion of safety and strength for the unsucessful Scarlet Onslaught assault on Northrend. It is a beacon of hope to them... and it is for that very reason that the heroes of Azeroth are being sent to besiege it. You have assassinated their leaders, crushed their aerial forces, and turned their own men against them... now, it is time to destroy the head of the beast.
SS is designed to be a very large building, like a cathedral- an extremely tall ceiling, smooth marble floors, and columns all around. It's basically so big that there are no walls within the building- it's all one huge room with walkways and stairs leading to balconies and things, very gothic architecture. Okay, I'm no environment designer- I would have to rely on artists to nail this one, I have an idea in my head but that's about it. No real specifics. Let's stop pretending I can design a building and move on.
Okay, let's move on to our first boss... Scarlet Commander Garrous. On your way to him, you'll fight mostly infantry- plate-wearing troops with spears, sword and shield, or bow and arrow. Just basic, noncomplicated soldiers of the Scarlet Onslaught. When you arrive at the boss room, two soldiers are standing in an arena in the middle of the room, fighting each other, and there are crowds of mobs- hostile, but they do not attack and cannot be attacked- watching the two fight. It's like a little tournament among the men, and Garrous is there to watch the fight in an official capacity, basically. You enter the room on the south side of the arena- the crowds of soldiers are to the west and east, and Garrous is to the north, along with his two elite guards. The only mob on the south side is the person referreeing the fight in the arena- he is how you start the fight. You pull, and very quickly kill him- he's nonelite, he's merely there to die.
The Commander is actually pleased at this interruption- watching a bunch of noskills flail at each other has bored him, he wants to see a real fight. He orders his men to stand back, and they do, lining up against the walls. Throughout the fight, they come in waves at the players, until the fight is ended. When the Commander dies, the terrified soldiers flee the building- and yes, if you're so inclinded, you can kill them as they try to run. If the soldiers run out before the fight is through... the Commander enrages. This encounter may have a hard mode, I'm not sure- I like the idea of this instance basically feeling like a 5 man raid.
The Commander himself does not directly attack the party. Instead, he will randomly select one party member at a time, and challenges them to a one-on-one duel in the arena. I say "challenge", but you aren't given much of a choice- you are magically disarmed, and pulled into the arena, which is, itself, surrounded by an anti-magic barrier. Unless you plan on punching this guy out, you gotta play along. He tosses you three weapons, letting you take your pick- a broadsword, a longsword, and a rapier. When you pick one, it switches to a vehicle-style interface- each weapon has its own unique attacks and abilities, and it's impossible to access your regular ones. In addition, your health is buffed to a set level. So DPS, tank, or heals, any of them would do equally well in the arena. There is also an achievement for having beaten the Commander after having used each weapon- in seperate runs, of course.
While the Commander and the random party member are fighting, the rest of the part has to handle the adds- three waves while the party member is dueling, one wave with everyone there, and then three with the next party member in. No one will duel twice- the random generator that picks the duelist will exclude you if you've gone already. There are 11 waves of adds- just the exact number so that if your last party member can't kill the Commander in time, he enrages.
Of course, it may seem like there is far too much opportunity for failure. What if a tank gets chosen, or a healer? That is where the weapons come in. Depending on what weapon you pick, you get a special effect that occurs to the group outside fighting the adds every time they kill an add. If you pick the broadsword, the adds will cause a little AoE damage to all other adds in a set radius when they die- this makes up for lost DPS somewhat. If you pick the longsword, the first person on that mob's aggro list when the mob dies gets a damage absorbing shield, to make up for the lack of tank. And if you pick the rapier, the mob does an AoE heal to party members when it dies. A neat little thing to keep you from being screwed when suddenly your healer has to take up arms.
So that's the jist of the fight. Duelling, fighting waves of adds. I think, if done right, it could be a really fun fight. If I think of a hard mode I really like, I'll add that- something to do with those personal guards of Commander Garrous's, likely. Will add another two bosses tomorrow, enjoy!
SS is designed to be a very large building, like a cathedral- an extremely tall ceiling, smooth marble floors, and columns all around. It's basically so big that there are no walls within the building- it's all one huge room with walkways and stairs leading to balconies and things, very gothic architecture. Okay, I'm no environment designer- I would have to rely on artists to nail this one, I have an idea in my head but that's about it. No real specifics. Let's stop pretending I can design a building and move on.
Okay, let's move on to our first boss... Scarlet Commander Garrous. On your way to him, you'll fight mostly infantry- plate-wearing troops with spears, sword and shield, or bow and arrow. Just basic, noncomplicated soldiers of the Scarlet Onslaught. When you arrive at the boss room, two soldiers are standing in an arena in the middle of the room, fighting each other, and there are crowds of mobs- hostile, but they do not attack and cannot be attacked- watching the two fight. It's like a little tournament among the men, and Garrous is there to watch the fight in an official capacity, basically. You enter the room on the south side of the arena- the crowds of soldiers are to the west and east, and Garrous is to the north, along with his two elite guards. The only mob on the south side is the person referreeing the fight in the arena- he is how you start the fight. You pull, and very quickly kill him- he's nonelite, he's merely there to die.
The Commander is actually pleased at this interruption- watching a bunch of noskills flail at each other has bored him, he wants to see a real fight. He orders his men to stand back, and they do, lining up against the walls. Throughout the fight, they come in waves at the players, until the fight is ended. When the Commander dies, the terrified soldiers flee the building- and yes, if you're so inclinded, you can kill them as they try to run. If the soldiers run out before the fight is through... the Commander enrages. This encounter may have a hard mode, I'm not sure- I like the idea of this instance basically feeling like a 5 man raid.
The Commander himself does not directly attack the party. Instead, he will randomly select one party member at a time, and challenges them to a one-on-one duel in the arena. I say "challenge", but you aren't given much of a choice- you are magically disarmed, and pulled into the arena, which is, itself, surrounded by an anti-magic barrier. Unless you plan on punching this guy out, you gotta play along. He tosses you three weapons, letting you take your pick- a broadsword, a longsword, and a rapier. When you pick one, it switches to a vehicle-style interface- each weapon has its own unique attacks and abilities, and it's impossible to access your regular ones. In addition, your health is buffed to a set level. So DPS, tank, or heals, any of them would do equally well in the arena. There is also an achievement for having beaten the Commander after having used each weapon- in seperate runs, of course.
While the Commander and the random party member are fighting, the rest of the part has to handle the adds- three waves while the party member is dueling, one wave with everyone there, and then three with the next party member in. No one will duel twice- the random generator that picks the duelist will exclude you if you've gone already. There are 11 waves of adds- just the exact number so that if your last party member can't kill the Commander in time, he enrages.
Of course, it may seem like there is far too much opportunity for failure. What if a tank gets chosen, or a healer? That is where the weapons come in. Depending on what weapon you pick, you get a special effect that occurs to the group outside fighting the adds every time they kill an add. If you pick the broadsword, the adds will cause a little AoE damage to all other adds in a set radius when they die- this makes up for lost DPS somewhat. If you pick the longsword, the first person on that mob's aggro list when the mob dies gets a damage absorbing shield, to make up for the lack of tank. And if you pick the rapier, the mob does an AoE heal to party members when it dies. A neat little thing to keep you from being screwed when suddenly your healer has to take up arms.
So that's the jist of the fight. Duelling, fighting waves of adds. I think, if done right, it could be a really fun fight. If I think of a hard mode I really like, I'll add that- something to do with those personal guards of Commander Garrous's, likely. Will add another two bosses tomorrow, enjoy!
The Scarlet Sanctuary
So, we're gonna take a (very short) time travelling trip, okay? Back... back before the latest WoW patch, patch 3.2, was released... back before we even knew the details of it, just vague comments. We knew it was going to have a new five-man instance. That turned out to be the Trial of the Champion... but we didn't know that for quite some time. There were whispers, but I hoped against hope for something else. I hoped for a new Scarlet Crusade instance.
The Scarlet Monastery, from back in vanilla WoW, is one of the most beloved old world dungeons. Interesting, cool bosses, great gear, cool looks, and divided into little bitesized chunks, so that you could do the parts that appealed to you, and not bother with the rest. And really, the Scarlets are great antagonists. Psychoes that have gone off the deep end about purity and holiness, they think everyone but them needs to be killed to make the world holy. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise you, then, that over the years, various demons have manipulated these toolbags to great effect. Logic is not their strong suit. Killing you, and being cool while doing it... well, hang on. Actually, they aren't that great at doing that either, cause you're a hero. Well... they're good at providing interesting fights, cool architecture, and all the hallmarks of a great instance.
And in Wrath of the Lich King, the Scarlets are anything but dead. They are no longer the Scarlet Crusade... they are the Scarlet Onslaught, and they have abandoned all pretense of being innocent. They still want to purge the world... but now, they are wholly willing to use evil powers to do it. Wrath introduced us to Scarlet Death Knights, which are pretty much just as cool as all Death Knights (except for the ones that name themselves Arthasscourge and think Corpse Explosion is just the funniest thing ever, nothing cool about those guys), and the Raven Priests... basically regular Priests, only with the ability to use magic to conjure and attack with ethereal ravens. I know, on paper, doesn't sound that cool, but I assure you, the beautiful spell effects totally sell the concept.
So I thought, since the Scarlets are around, since they are, in fact, trying to invade Icecrown... why not let us rip them up once more? Mix new and old, nostalgia and badassery. Of course, it was not to be. And yes, the Trial of the Champion is a pretty cool instance, though it's certainly not my favorite- its short length and lack of actual dungeon make it feel kind of hollow to me. But the other day, I said to myself... "Hang on. I have this blog, where I can pretty much rant about any game related thing I find cool... and apparently, some people actually read it. So why not give this idea a full, proper writeup?" And I started writing. In the middle of math, and my teacher got annoyed when I obviously had no idea what the class was up to... but totally worth it. Besides, factorals are old bloody news, I thought this was college math not junior high.
I'll give you a basic preview in this post, and then go into greater detail in another post (or two, we'll see how long it is) later today. This post is pretty long already just giving context for this idea.
Okay, so the basic premise is a Scarlet Onslaught building... a huge temple of sorts, called the Scarlet Sanctuary (SS for short, don't confuse it with Soul Stone). This building, unlike Scarlet Monastery, isn't divided into mini-instances... it's five boss fights in one instance. Long for a heroic? A little. The gear and fights are worth it, but we'll get to that. The basic setup is pretty simple- there is a long, single straight path, that near the end, branches into three. Along the path is trash, varying based on the boss that you're on your way to confront. You fight the first boss, then the second. The second boss you do not kill- he ports away, and you must kill bosses three and four, not necessarily in that order, to open the gates to reach him. He then becomes boss five... and boy, is he a doozy.
Our bosses can be summed up like this- the first boss is a commander of Scarlet troops, and he will challenge party members to duel with him one-on-one in an arena while the other four party members fight waves of soldiers. The second boss plays on the mean name people call DKs- warlocks in plate. This guy... is a warlock who died, and was raised as a Death Knight... and he combines the powers of both to great effect. Trust me, this is actually the boss that I think is the coolest. With a little creativity, the synergy between Lock and DK abilities becomes truly awesome. At least stick around for the undead Doomguard. The third boss is a raven priestess, the fourth is a rogue- one who actually plays like a rogue, stealthing, sapping, backstabbing, and more. None of these fights are tank and spank- they all have unique, fun mechanics for the basis of the fight.
Finally, then, you get to fight the DK Lock again... only this time, he's not playing around... honestly, the reason you fight him again was because he was so cool, and I came up with so many awesome abilities for him... if he used them all in one fight, he would be outrageously difficult. Two fights, more chance to show off his awesome powers. So, does that sound cool? I hope so, because before the day is done, you will learn all about these bosses... and their awesome abilities.
The Scarlet Monastery, from back in vanilla WoW, is one of the most beloved old world dungeons. Interesting, cool bosses, great gear, cool looks, and divided into little bitesized chunks, so that you could do the parts that appealed to you, and not bother with the rest. And really, the Scarlets are great antagonists. Psychoes that have gone off the deep end about purity and holiness, they think everyone but them needs to be killed to make the world holy. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise you, then, that over the years, various demons have manipulated these toolbags to great effect. Logic is not their strong suit. Killing you, and being cool while doing it... well, hang on. Actually, they aren't that great at doing that either, cause you're a hero. Well... they're good at providing interesting fights, cool architecture, and all the hallmarks of a great instance.
And in Wrath of the Lich King, the Scarlets are anything but dead. They are no longer the Scarlet Crusade... they are the Scarlet Onslaught, and they have abandoned all pretense of being innocent. They still want to purge the world... but now, they are wholly willing to use evil powers to do it. Wrath introduced us to Scarlet Death Knights, which are pretty much just as cool as all Death Knights (except for the ones that name themselves Arthasscourge and think Corpse Explosion is just the funniest thing ever, nothing cool about those guys), and the Raven Priests... basically regular Priests, only with the ability to use magic to conjure and attack with ethereal ravens. I know, on paper, doesn't sound that cool, but I assure you, the beautiful spell effects totally sell the concept.
So I thought, since the Scarlets are around, since they are, in fact, trying to invade Icecrown... why not let us rip them up once more? Mix new and old, nostalgia and badassery. Of course, it was not to be. And yes, the Trial of the Champion is a pretty cool instance, though it's certainly not my favorite- its short length and lack of actual dungeon make it feel kind of hollow to me. But the other day, I said to myself... "Hang on. I have this blog, where I can pretty much rant about any game related thing I find cool... and apparently, some people actually read it. So why not give this idea a full, proper writeup?" And I started writing. In the middle of math, and my teacher got annoyed when I obviously had no idea what the class was up to... but totally worth it. Besides, factorals are old bloody news, I thought this was college math not junior high.
I'll give you a basic preview in this post, and then go into greater detail in another post (or two, we'll see how long it is) later today. This post is pretty long already just giving context for this idea.
Okay, so the basic premise is a Scarlet Onslaught building... a huge temple of sorts, called the Scarlet Sanctuary (SS for short, don't confuse it with Soul Stone). This building, unlike Scarlet Monastery, isn't divided into mini-instances... it's five boss fights in one instance. Long for a heroic? A little. The gear and fights are worth it, but we'll get to that. The basic setup is pretty simple- there is a long, single straight path, that near the end, branches into three. Along the path is trash, varying based on the boss that you're on your way to confront. You fight the first boss, then the second. The second boss you do not kill- he ports away, and you must kill bosses three and four, not necessarily in that order, to open the gates to reach him. He then becomes boss five... and boy, is he a doozy.
Our bosses can be summed up like this- the first boss is a commander of Scarlet troops, and he will challenge party members to duel with him one-on-one in an arena while the other four party members fight waves of soldiers. The second boss plays on the mean name people call DKs- warlocks in plate. This guy... is a warlock who died, and was raised as a Death Knight... and he combines the powers of both to great effect. Trust me, this is actually the boss that I think is the coolest. With a little creativity, the synergy between Lock and DK abilities becomes truly awesome. At least stick around for the undead Doomguard. The third boss is a raven priestess, the fourth is a rogue- one who actually plays like a rogue, stealthing, sapping, backstabbing, and more. None of these fights are tank and spank- they all have unique, fun mechanics for the basis of the fight.
Finally, then, you get to fight the DK Lock again... only this time, he's not playing around... honestly, the reason you fight him again was because he was so cool, and I came up with so many awesome abilities for him... if he used them all in one fight, he would be outrageously difficult. Two fights, more chance to show off his awesome powers. So, does that sound cool? I hope so, because before the day is done, you will learn all about these bosses... and their awesome abilities.
August 26, 2009
Doing It Wrong
Apologies for the lack of updates. Real life has been busy, but I made a commiment to keep this blog updated, and my ass has been slack. Sorry. I'll get back on track.
So... I was playing WoW the other day, with a friend of mine, and we were both playing our low level rogues- mine was 25, his was 21. He decided that we should do the Shadowfang Keep instance- designed for people 18-22, in a group of 5. That sounded fine to me, but these days, finding groups for a low level instance is a nightmare. So I said... "Hang on. We're both rogues, the kings of utility and soloing. Why don't we try to two man it?" And so we did.
And you know, we didn't finish, we died a fair few times, and we ran for our lives more often than that... but it was a blast. Seriously, at LEAST top 10 best runs I've ever had, and that's competing with things like the time I won 3 pieces of Tier Gear in one go. It was incredibly, incredibly fun. With the rogue's vast arsenal of tools, we literally could handle any situation... as long as we played near perfectly. And after the first 5 or so pulls... we were. Throw a distract, double sap, ambush, eviserate, feint... it was an amazing flow, we were in the zone. It wasn't like a regular instance, it wasn't "what button combinations will kill them the fastest". It was part action game, part tactics... you had to minimize the number of enemies you were handling at once, and reduce their abilities, then try to kill them while taking blows bigger than your class is meant to take.
This is all to illustrate a point, of course- that's not how the game is supposed to be played. The game is very definitely designed for a five man party, and certainly we made horribly slow progress. But there is a certain joy to doing things in a way the game developers never expected you to... in doing something they didn't plan for, and didn't balance your class to succeed at. You feel the elation of being good at what you're doing, about playing smart and skillfully... you have to think fast, because all your previous experience is invalidated. You cannot assume they will react the same way... because you are not doing what they want you to do.
And this does not just mean MMOs, far from it. Many's the time where a game told me to run like hell, and I instead gunned down my assailants, and then took my time getting to the exit, and it felt great. I remember in Enter the Matrix (crap game, but some fun moments), your first encounter with an Agent, they tell you that you cannot win, and that you must run. Being who I am, I took that as a personal challenge. I unleashed a flurry of martial arts, all of which he perfectly evaded... and then at the end of the assault, I hit the throw button. As the agent is still bent over backwards dodging, my character leans forward, grabs him by the shoulder and leg, and tosses him off the rooftop. It was a WONDERFUL feeling.
Some games, like GTA, are designed to create these moments, and of course they are pretty awesome in that manner. But really, it's just so much more awesome to actually best the game, to have it tell you exactly what you need to do to win... and win by doing something else entirely. Really, if you haven't... try it. It is a singular feeling.
So... I was playing WoW the other day, with a friend of mine, and we were both playing our low level rogues- mine was 25, his was 21. He decided that we should do the Shadowfang Keep instance- designed for people 18-22, in a group of 5. That sounded fine to me, but these days, finding groups for a low level instance is a nightmare. So I said... "Hang on. We're both rogues, the kings of utility and soloing. Why don't we try to two man it?" And so we did.
And you know, we didn't finish, we died a fair few times, and we ran for our lives more often than that... but it was a blast. Seriously, at LEAST top 10 best runs I've ever had, and that's competing with things like the time I won 3 pieces of Tier Gear in one go. It was incredibly, incredibly fun. With the rogue's vast arsenal of tools, we literally could handle any situation... as long as we played near perfectly. And after the first 5 or so pulls... we were. Throw a distract, double sap, ambush, eviserate, feint... it was an amazing flow, we were in the zone. It wasn't like a regular instance, it wasn't "what button combinations will kill them the fastest". It was part action game, part tactics... you had to minimize the number of enemies you were handling at once, and reduce their abilities, then try to kill them while taking blows bigger than your class is meant to take.
This is all to illustrate a point, of course- that's not how the game is supposed to be played. The game is very definitely designed for a five man party, and certainly we made horribly slow progress. But there is a certain joy to doing things in a way the game developers never expected you to... in doing something they didn't plan for, and didn't balance your class to succeed at. You feel the elation of being good at what you're doing, about playing smart and skillfully... you have to think fast, because all your previous experience is invalidated. You cannot assume they will react the same way... because you are not doing what they want you to do.
And this does not just mean MMOs, far from it. Many's the time where a game told me to run like hell, and I instead gunned down my assailants, and then took my time getting to the exit, and it felt great. I remember in Enter the Matrix (crap game, but some fun moments), your first encounter with an Agent, they tell you that you cannot win, and that you must run. Being who I am, I took that as a personal challenge. I unleashed a flurry of martial arts, all of which he perfectly evaded... and then at the end of the assault, I hit the throw button. As the agent is still bent over backwards dodging, my character leans forward, grabs him by the shoulder and leg, and tosses him off the rooftop. It was a WONDERFUL feeling.
Some games, like GTA, are designed to create these moments, and of course they are pretty awesome in that manner. But really, it's just so much more awesome to actually best the game, to have it tell you exactly what you need to do to win... and win by doing something else entirely. Really, if you haven't... try it. It is a singular feeling.
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