NDA lifted for SWTOR… Finally…
So, now that I can speak freely about the new Star Wars MMO which is releasing soon here goes…
- For a game releasing in Dec. it should be less buggy. – Elevators. I mean come on.
- WOW with Lightsabers. WOW with my own ship. WOW where everyone is a hunter with a pet (Everyone gets a companion… or 4… they hang out on your ship and you get to pick which one to take on away missions… fun.
- Cut scene quest dialog is cool… at first… then it wears on you, especially in Flashpoints (4 man dungeons) where you have to wait for each person to pick a response (They get like 2 minutes per response). Honestly Flashpoints will take longer than WOW 5 mans, worse if you are pugging.
- Crafting is sweet as you can send you companion to do it, even if you are logged out!
- Companions are sweet as they can tank for you and go sell your vendor trash while you do something else.
- Questing is meh for the exception of your class questing which can be a pretty interesting story line. The rest are similar to any other MMO but with voice acting.
So, I enjoyed checking the game out but I am uncertain if people after the newness wears off will want to keep leveling to an uncertain endgame content if they have shiny max level characters in WOW with a newly released patch and expansion looming (Yes, even an expansion with Panda’s)
So that was my short SWTOR take, if anyone has any specific questions just ask away.
Skyrim on the other hand, even with it’s bugs, has sucked me in pretty good. The graphics, sound, and voice acting are all amazing and the story and interaction with the NPC’s, objects, and the world is very cool. I am purposefully not reading about the game online because I started looking for information and started running into hacks and what not. I am finding walking through the game in kinda a constantly learning mode refreshing. I hear of people grinding crafting, exploiting ways to level skills, etc and I have decided to ignore all that and just follow the various quests and story lines. So far I am surprised by how quickly the time can pass as I am playing. I would definitely say it’s worth buying as it is a very different experience from what is out there. It’s funny after years of just playing WOW playing a game like Skyrim with a save feature just feels like cheating.
In WOW I am still working on Heroic Rags in 25 man waiting for the patch to hit. We have made some progress as we are getting to sub 40% tries pretty cleanly now but we are having a hard time stringing together really good attempts and days with full attendance. I think everyone is really looking forward to the patch and DragonSoul.
I have nothing exciting nor interesting to post really.
Still working on Heroic Rags.
I am going to assume everyone has heard about Pandaville. I am excited about the Monk class. I am not excited about leveling another toon from level 1, however my 5 year old will get a kick (no pun intended) on sitting on my lap and helping me level a Panda Monk (If it is still available Po). I think the baby pets game could be fun while not doing anything else in game or waiting for a raid to start. Blizzard probably added this so everyone could feel like a hunter without having to play SWTOR. If it slows down 5 man pugged instances any slower than they already are I am going to puke. I like the speed rated 5 mans, something fun I think. I like the idea of gear with no stats as rewards for transmorg use.
I have no plans on Race changing to a Panda, of course with that awesome racial I might be reconsidering when progression raiding starts… if they allow Druid Panda’s…. which is unlikely and I assume already not in the plans because it would mean new artwork for Panda Druid forms… well, maybe not bear form… duh.
I am not totally sold on the 4T12 bonus of extending Berserk and I honestly wonder if 2T12 with offset and more shreds < 25% would be better. I do agree that capping Expertise and Hit is worth doing, maybe even with just 2T12. I dunno, I might start playing with my setups some.
I ditched herbalism for leatherworking. So now I am enchanting and leatherworking… fun.
I might do a little raiding tomorrow night in the PTR. Will report back if this actually happens.
Leaps and Bounds
Still finding a renewed excitement raiding as I have now been fortunate enough to complete BWD on Heroic, Almost all of BOT on Heroic (Still need Heroic Valiona & Theralion which is a simple formality) and I am currently working on Heroic Sinestra (Most likely another formality as the guild has already done and knows the fight) and Heroic Ragnaros.
Hopefully we find some time for Heroic Throne of the Four Winds, which sounds possible as the RL and Co GM makes it sound like the last thing we want to do is spend too much time on Heroic Rags.
I have been fortunate with gear and all I have left outside of Heroic Rag drops…
- Widow’s Kiss
- Obsidian Arborweave Grips
- Choker of the Vanquished Lord
- Flickering Wristbands
- Upgrading Idol and Belt to Heroic.
Basically right now I am running a 4T12 set with non Heroic gloves and using Heroic Helm offset item. Because of running 4T12 I am reforging into Hit/Expertise to the cap and Haste above all else. Technically this is the way to go running 4T12, if you are not in 4T12 it’s best to maximize Mastery in reforge wherever possible and ignore Hit/Expertise caps just like the old days.
Blizzard selling Gold? Well, Sort Of.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2495-Sneak-Peek-Guardian-Cub-Tradable-Pet
So Blizzard has announced that they will be selling (For Real Monies) a pet that is not Bound. You will be able to sell it on the AH. So people will be able to buy the pet for real money and then turn around in game and sell it for gold if they like.
Interesting.
Obviously this is not a perfect or guaranteed $ to Gold conversion as no one knows what the value of the pet will be in Gold or what the demand for it will be. I am guessing though it won’t take long to find out and the conversion will begin.
I really don’t know how I feel about this, but in a sense it feels a little dirty.
R.I.P Steve Jobs
I wish I could say my first computer was an Apple… but I am too old for that. But my first usable computer was an Apple IIc that my Mom bought me in high school that went with me to college. You know, a computer that did more than just play games and run basic scripts in a loop on a cassette tape.
R.I.P Steve, I am sure you were a large part of why I have a career in IT.
