I’m Back!

Well, not quite yet.  Now that patch 2.3 is coming out, and introducing all of the new improvements in leveling, I’ve decided to jump back into WoW.

My goal is to get a level 60 (then eventually 70) of each class.  I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep them all on the same faction, though.  This post is basically just a brainstorming session for myself (because at this point I doubt anyone still reads The Barracks, I’ve been away for a while).

• Warrior – Thodin (70) Dwarf
• Shaman – Acateus (22) Draenei
• Hunter – Natasya (23) Draenei
• Priest – ?? Human/Dwarf
• Warlock – Willshire (26) Human / ?? Make a new one, Undead
• Rogue – ?? Orc/Night Elf
• Mage – ?? Gnome/Blood Elf
• Paladin – ?? Blood Elf
• Druid – ?? Tauren

Oh man, I’m not even playing and I have so many ideas!

Farewell

This is a bit of a followup to my last post, I guess.

The time has come for me to say goodbye to WoW yet again.  At this point in my life there is no room for the all consuming behemoth that is World of Warcraft.  I’ve been doing a bit of “soul searching” I guess you could say, and one of the conclusions I’ve come to is that I don’t need to play WoW anymore.

I originally got back into the game because of the expansion.  I wanted to see the new areas, play the new races, and hit level 70.  I accomplished everything I set out to do, and now there’s really nothing left for me.  WoW is a great game, and part of me is sad to leave it, but a dwarf’s gotta do what a dwarf’s gotta do. 

So this will probably be my last post for a while (until the next expansion?).  I hope you’ve enjoyed my brief excursion into the world of WoW blogging as much as I have.  And I want to offer my thanks to those out there in the WoW blog land who inspired me get started, gave me advice, and made me feel like a part of the community.  Thank you.

And incase I don’t see ya:  Good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.

IRL > WoW

Sadly, it’s true.

I apologize to those of you who may actually come here looking for updated content.  I’ve recently become swamped at work, so that really cuts down on the amount of free time I have to make posts and updates.  Also, I haven’t been playing that much WoW lately because of real life responsibilities (springtime = cleaning and landscaping around the house, what fun!). 

Come Saturday I’ll be sure to make a post about whatever big announcement Blizzard has in the works.  Until then, keep playing WoW!  Or, if it’s nice out, go outside and run around barefoot in the grass or something.

Let’s talk about lore

This comment on WoW Insider got me thinking about Warcraft lore:

IMHO, the only way to do any more expansions is to make up lore (even moreso than they already do)

Yeah, and what’s the problem with that?

One of the most common complaints I read on forums, blog comments, etc, is that Blizzard is constantly “ruining their lore.” It ranges from “He’s not supposed to stand here!” to “Blizzard has no respect for lore and has ruined the Warcraft world beyond repair.” I seem to see more of the latter than the former.  Maybe (hopefully) it’s just the “vocal minority.”

Here’s a hint for all of you out there who feel that Blizzard has destroyed their own lore: IT IS THEIR OWN LORE THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO IT!

Who created the Warcraft universe and mythology? Blizzard, or a bunch of fanboys?  Warcraft is Blizzard’s creation, it’s their baby. It’s absurd to say Blizzard ruined the Warcraft mythology when they introduced the spaceship-like Exodar and alien-like Draenei.  It fits because Blizzard says it fits. The loremasters at Blizzard have every right to create new stories and make changes to existing Warcraft history. They were the ones who created it in the first place. If they feel that it is necessary to retcon something or add something new, so be it. If they want to expand on existing history, more power to them.

Blizzard has every right to add new content, new areas, new races, new mythology, new anything to the Warcraft universe. The commentor who got me thinking believes that the only way to make new expansions is for Blizzard to “make up lore” and he infers that this is a bad thing.  Let me get one thing straight here, if Blizzard wants to say that there’s a new portal to somewhere, or whatever they come up with, Blizzard can say that. The Warcraft universe doesn’t end with what is in WoW right now (or what was in WC3, for that matter). If Blizzard wants to “make something up” they have every right to do so. A series’ “lore” can change and evolve.

The world of Warcraft is huge, there is plenty of room for new stories and new adventures. But some people think that nothing should ever change, characters should stay how they’ve always been, no new story arcs are possible. Those people are wrong.

Basically, Blizzard can “make up” whatever they want and it is perfectly fine.  Fiction can change and evolve to suit new needs.  If Blizzard “makes up” something, that is what they are supposed to do.  How else do you think all the current lore came to be?  Warcraft’s lore didn’t just magically appear out of nowhere, it took people “making up” stories to flesh out the mythology that we have now.  You need to realize that fictional universes are “made up” and that this is not a bad thing.

EDIT:  I took out a few paragraphs that I realized took away from my main message.

LoTRO Copies WoW Font

This is kind of amusing.  Check out the font used on a Lord of the Rings Online advertisement.

Look familiar?

World of StarCraft: Part 1

I’m sure by now most of you have heard about Blizzard’s rumored StarCraft MMO project.  I’ve had a few days to digest the idea, and I want to talk a little bit about what I think.

I think it’s a great move by Blizzard to start working on their next MMO, and StarCraft is a perfect choice.  If they went ahead with a Diablo MMO, it would seem like a rehash of the tired (albeit cool) fantasy setting that we have in WoW.  StarCraft is in a different setting entirely.  This is obvious; it’s sci-fi and not fantasy.  I’ll get into specifics later, but the science fiction setting allows Blizzard to go in a different direction in everything from technology to setting.  It can open up whole new worlds. 

Offensive Sword and Board

I’ve been thinking about toying around with a new talent build that will allow me to quest/farm using a 1h weapon and shield (taking advantage of Shield Slam, as well as having the shield to block hits and interrupt spells).  I’m not going to get into too much detail about it right now (I don’t have time) but here’s the basic idea:

Arms (18 points)

    5/5 Deflection
    3/3 Improved Rend
    3/3 Improved Thunder Clap
    2/2 Improved Overpower
    3/3 Deep Wounds
    2/2 Impale

Fury (5 points)

    5/5 Cruelty

Protection (38 points)

    5/5 Anticipation
    5/5 Shield Specialization
    5/5 Toughness
    1/1 Last Stand
    1/1 Improved Shield Block
    3/3 Improved Revenge
    3/3 Defiance
    2/2 Improved Taunt
    1/1 Concussion Blow
    1/2 Improved Shield Bash
    3/3 Shield Mastery
    5/5 One-Handed Weapon Specialization
    1/1 Shield Slam
    2/3 Focused Rage

Click here to see the talent trees.

Any warriors out there use this kind of build?

Pictureific

Is that a word?  I don’t think so, oh well.

I promised some screenshots, and here they be.

This is Natasya and her new cat before leaving Auberdine.  I thought this was a great nighttime shot, and it also demonstrates the see-thru-ness of the cat.  Isn’t it the coolest?

And here’s Natasya and her lazy kitty posing for us on the docks of Menethil.

I also updated Thodin’s and Natasya’s profiles with new pictures, go check them out.

/afk

I must apologize, I’ve been a bit lax on the updating side of things here at The Barracks.  It’s partly because I haven’t had a chance to play a lot of WoW lately, and also because I’ve been pretty busy (hence the not being able to play much WoW).  I’m also trying to think of more interesting blog posts than “yay I have a new item” or whatever, and more in depth material takes longer to think about and write.

I noticed that my daily hits has started to dwindle, and that’s probably because of the lack of new stuff.  But fear not, faithful readers, I’ve not abandoned ye. 

I might as well take some time to give you the obligatory character update.  On the Thodin front, not much new to speak of.  There is much going on in Natasya’s life, however.  She dinged 22 on Sunday and, after waiting around for someone to come help her get her new pet.  Thanks go to Dodin, level 70 hunter and good IRL friend, for coming all the way back to the “old country” from Outland to keep the naga at bay while I ran around hunting for kitty statues in Darkshore.

For those of you not in the know, there are ruins in the north of Darkshore where you can open cat statues that have the chance of spawning a Ghost Saber.  This is a pretty cool looking cat; it’s basically a snow leopard that is perpetually stealthed.  I’ve not seen many in my travels (I actually can’t remember ever seeing a hunter with one of these, but I might just not have been paying much attention) so I thought it would be cool to have a pretty rare pet.  I haven’t thought of a good name for the kitty yet, it needs to be something awesome.  I have screenshots but I haven’t formatted them for the blog yet.

So now Natasya has left Kalimdor and is now questing in the Wetlands.  Leveling with a hunter is freakin’ amazing, I must say.  I haven’t needed to group with anyone yet, even to beat elite and group quests.  I had a bear whilst questing in draenei lands, so he could survive more than the new cat, I’m sure.  But I was able to survive a battle with five murlocs, so we’ll see.

Search-WoW.com

I just got an email informing me that The Barracks has been added to a site called Search-WoW.

At first glance, it seems like this is a kind of search engine/website repository for all things World of Warcraft related.  From what I can tell, websites are manually added to the search database and you can use the engine to search through all the WoW websites.  A pretty cool idea.  Plus, it gives a nice list of WoW related links (some blogs I’ve yet to check out, and will soon).

Go check it out!