18th
bosh bosh huddie
I think my days of raiding might be gone, simply due to time constraints and lack of people available at my times to hop on with. It’s unfortunate really because raiding it the one big thing of an MMORPG I enjoy - it’s the end game, and that for me is what an MMORPG is truly about. Those moments where you’re at the finish line, shoulder to shoulder with allies and friends and ready to take on those final big bosses that stand within your way.
When I was originally levelling up in World of Warcraft I never knew about end game or raiding, I was niave to instances until level 30 odd, when myself and several friends stumbled into BFD with awe and disbelief. ‘Instanced Zone’ were two words we had never even heard of.
So I suppose in a sense it’s almost hypercritical of me to shout down people who don’t know or understand instances up until level 60, because you’re not really guided towards them in comparison to the Burning Crusade or Wraith of the Lich King material. There shouldn’t be an expectation or a demand for someone to simply ‘get it’, because heck, back then I didn’t get it.
I remember the days of WoW where my thoughts were Revenge was pointless because it did low damage and yes, me, I, was one of those guys who refused to wear a shield because it did less damage - in my mind, keeping a monsty on you made sense if you had a big axe. The Protection tree? That won’t hurt stuff. Arms is where is at! Except I didn’t get Mortal Strike until level 55.
As the weeks have gone on I’ve found myself becoming more and more accommodating towards those who really don’t know what they’re doing and I’m trying to help, even if it’s to make my life along the instance easier. I shout and swear still at the computer, but leave my fingers away from the keyboard.
Amusingly I’m going through a similar process in DDO where I’m the nub cake begging for information and asking for help, except I’m actually getting it in DDO. I’m going to post something later on the DDO scene, but currently, as a solo game, it’s pretty viable at the moment. At least to a certain degree.
This post, if you’re wondering, was inspired actually by Hudson’s latest rant.
Where as I do agree things have become dumbed down in comparison to ye olden days, there’s points where I’m glad they have and I’m not too worried when they’re done at the right time. I personally believe Ulduar has been hit a bit hard by the nerfbat, at least this early on, but what can you do about it eh? If you’re a raider, you’ll still go through the motions until you have the best loot and the quickest kills.
Whining is a side habit, something that also came from the EQ1 vets which we shouldn’t forget, because often enough those new guys, the ones who are enjoying themselves as they learn all these cool new mechanics that we are used to, well they havn’t learnt to whine yet. I unfortunately feel Hudson is right though, you do know the difference between the Instance veterans and the nubs of todays MMORPGs, but at some point along the line that has, with deep regret, become a bad thing and the newbies are picking up on our bad habits.
Not everything needs to be hard and not everything needs to be complex. Challenging is a factor that is hard to measure as well as control. Where as there is an argument about Blizzard caving into the masses to make things ‘easier’, I’m beginning to think they’re doing so because it’s sometimes simply more desirable to push away the old crowd because of the tone they set and the expectation they demand.
Games Workshop 101 - Veterans of the hobbies should go to gaming clubs, the stores are for the new guys.
