Around Tristram: Diablo 3 or Bust

First, let’s start with the bust.

Upon the launch of the game, Blizzard’s servers buckled under the popularity and many people saw these sorts of errors crop up. I was one of them – although that’s not my screenshot – there was a plethora of errors that got displayed.

Fortunately, Blizzard managed to get things under better control this week and we’re seeing more stable servers.

They also apologized for their issues.

I’ve been setting myself up with a very nice Witch Doctor. It’s a fun class that in the beginning feels like she plays as a sort of pets + crowd control class. However, as with everything that Diablo 3 does, there’s a lot of different mechanisms that come into play with each of the different skills.

Role can change literally at a level.

I’m not even level 20 yet and I’ve seen: CC, pet-powers, ranged-slow, poisons, melee-drain-tank, …

The in-game graphics are very nice looking.

Alright. That’s a minor spoiler (anyone who got through the beta missed this because it’s the part immediately after the Skeleton King.) Most of the game involved seeking the origin of the fallen star and the blue glow in the cathedral.

Here it is. It’s Tyrael. Anyone who has played Diablo 2 knows who this is and what he represents.

So far, it’s been an excellent experience.

Although truthfully a little bit of the lag can be really frustrating and a bit confusing.

“I Am Forsaken” Looking Back at World of Warcraft

It’s been almost a year since I thought about an old fanfiction story that I wrote about Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. In the game, there’s a faction called the “Forsaken,” they’re a race of zombies who belong to the Horde.

Long considered the “evil” races, the Horde has a long tradition of races who have suffered some sort of hardship (often of no fault of their own) and overcome it.

In the case of the Forsaken, they’re a race of enslaved undead who have recently gained freedom and sentience.

As a result, I thought about how they handle an alien philosophy and a totally alien morality from living species. In fact, one of the quest chains of the Forsaken in the development of a plague that would give them the ability to kill other races and turn them into more undead.

Not exactly the nicest thing.

Why my fanction today?

This comes to mind today because I’ve received yet another favorite on my story on Fanfiction.net I Am Forsaken. The reason it’s important to me is that it takes a human perspective of death, returning as undead, and how some might feel about the alien morality of spreading plague and death.

After all, all the undead were alive once.

Link, via Fanfiction.net

Love Rockets and Hallmark in World of Warcraft for Valentine’s Day

The “Love is in the Air Festival” in World of Warcraft has been going on for a few years now. Blizzard has seen fit not to tweak it every much except to allow people to revisit the favorite dungeon instance of Shadowfang Keep for the showdown with the Crown Chemical Co. apothecaries (the villains of this Valentine’s Day festival.) I love Shadowfang as much as the next gamer, but it’s about time they updated the content a little.

Yes, yes, the Valentine’s Day festivities bring us the “Love Rocket” and other odd items, but it’s just not cutting it anymore.

Link, via MMO Anthropology and YouTube.

Diablo III: Eschews offline play and adds cash auction house

In an actual that generated a giant swell of vitriol among fans, Diablo III will not have offline play—the entire game and campaign will require an Internet connexion. In related news, a Blizzard executive appears baffled that the fans are very pissed about this.

Also related to this happens to be something that I wrote about which involves the addition of the cash auction house to the game. Something fans have been mixed on.

It’s hard to say exactly how these two elements will change the already extremely popular Diablo franchise or the highly anticipated game; but it’s easy to say that Blizzard, as always, is at the forefront of experimenting with extremely effective business tactics.

No strangers to angering their fans in World of Warcraft; perhaps they just saw it as time to get the goats of their Diablo fans. Many of my friends and peers in the gaming community have already revealed that they may not want to buy D3 due to the online-only move. Still, it’s hard to dismiss the power its popular momentum.

Link, via GameOgre; and link, via SiliconANGLE.

World of Warcraft looking at limited-free-play Starter Edition accounts for up to level 20 toons

Over at GameOgre there’s an article about World of Warcraft’s Starter Edition accounts and what they mean for Activision-Blizzard as a whole. Also, they answer the question as to why WoW didn’t just go all the way to free-to-play with their offering.

Easy answer: spammers and gold farmers.

The long answer is a bit more complex, but it still boils down to the same distillation.

Link, via GameOgre.

Green Dragon Inn: The Zen of the Worgen and Gilneans

I recently started playing a Worgen character in World of Warcraft so I figured that I’d outline my experiences for the Green Dragon Inn. Thus the post that just got put onto the soon-changing website, “Cataclysm: The Plight of Gilneas.” This may be my last post for them as they’re changing their angle on the MMO universe.

The worgen get a particularly interesting connection to the world, mostly in that they have a phased starting zone a lot like how the Death Knights do. You can’t jump directly into gen pop as a worgen and are instead forced to play through an epic narrative of romance, patriotism, loss, and eventual expulsion.

If you’d like to join my friends, they’ve set up a small all-worgen guild on the new WoW server Nesingwary. They’re called <The Knights of Gilneas.> You can find me there on intermittent afternoons as Fidelia.

Link, via Green Dragon Inn.

Green Dragon Inn: Are the new Cataclysm instances in World of Warcraft really that difficult?

Most recent post for the Green Dragon Inn, decided to do up a little discussion on the newer instances in Azeroth.

Two weeks ago or so, Ghostcralwer, everyone’s favorite dev, decided to weigh in on complaints that the new instances are much too difficult. Some disagree, but he seems to believe they’re on the money. As I’ve seen, the new instances certainly require a lot more coordination than the standard dungeons (up ‘til 80.)

Conclusion: They seem harder, but it’s because of the increased coordination and lack of knowledge…they’re also more fun. You should check it out and tell me what you think.

Link, via the Green Dragon Inn.