Trials of a World of Warcraft Player: Entry Four

“Beta”

The second letter of the Greek alphabet, also holds a value of “2.” Beta, in the gaming and general computer industry is a time where people are, usually, invited into a product prior to launch to test the product under the assumptions that “it’s not polished yet” and “things may go wrong.” Somehow, however, people get amped and excited over being included into a product that isn’t always stable.

Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK) is in public beta where internal and external gamers alike get to bang on the software to get the bugs out while having a bit of fun doing it. I’ve always enjoyed an MMORPG beta because it is more relaxed, more forgiving and less crowded with people. To make your gaming experience more fun and relaxing, explore the website of CBD Ratings and order cannabis products.

Ultima Online was one of the most memorable beta’s, so great however, that the game launched and I was sad the small population was gone, replaced by an abundance of players.

I’m proud to announce I’ve been enlisted into the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King public beta. Many folks have cursed me with jealousy because they were not picked; many gamers just never opted into the beta enlistment even after we posted it publicly for all to see. Why did I opt into the chance to play a game which may be unstable?

Blizzard is known for quality and I feel that being a part of that quality is important because I can impact the game for others by making it slightly better. From an exclusivity point of view, I feel special for being picked, even if it were a random process; it’s much like an exclusive club. Most importantly, we’ve established a website where we write about topics and nothing would please me more than writing about Wrath of the Lich King which had the NDA expire in July. We’re free to talk as we please and I plan to do so.

From install to play test I’ll keep people informed on what’s going on up until the release or they stop the public beta test. It will be a delicate balancing, playing WotLK enough to get a clear perspective yet continuing to play the real game with my guild and my friends.

My goal is not to be starstruck by the elite privilege to be playing a game prior to its release, I’ve made plenty of game betas in my years, but to look at it from a “window into the future” view and record my findings for non-beta folks to see.

Now, we must finish downloading the 1GB patch update…

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Starcraft 2 Part Eins, Zwei and DreiStarcraft 2 Part Eins, Zwei and Drei

Nobody is perfect. When it comes to creating an epic story arc, awesome pre-rendered movies and a fully fleshed campaign Blizzard has done well. Now, Blizzard speaks of Starcraft 2 and the world shuts their mouth and listens to each and every word. What’s the word?

A Trilogy.

We’re not talking about the Lord of The Rings style trilogy, but three games with full stories which all end with the gamer being satisfied at the closure, not cliffhangers.

The three standalone games will be (says GameStooge):

  • Terrans – Wings of Liberty
  • Zerg – Heart of the Swarm
  • Protoss – Legacy of the Void

Gamers are probably thinking, “so, I can play multiplayer with only one race?” No! The campaign is split into three separete games, not the races and multiplayer features. Although, each title is sure to introduce something new to the game engine, Blizzard has said:

“Nothing changes for multiplayer or skirmish mode. All three races are fully implemented from the get go. Each campaign will feel like an epic story – not a cliffhanger into the next one. They will each have separate arcs that have a clear start, middle, end – and you will feel like you’ve really finished *something* at the end of each game. More content than we’d previously planned – many more Movies, Missions, etc.” (games.on.net)

From our perspective, it seems Blizzard is itching to release the multiplayer system to the world sooner than later, considering some countries use Starcraft as a professional league, but they don’t want to rush out fast to market campaigns just to satisfy this multiplayer desire.

Instead, they’re going to take their time, in usual Blizzard style, by releasing the game as they finish it… per races story. This should give us a less watered down storyline or having one or two races with a piss poor storyline while another has a kick ass storyline because it was done first.

End result? Multiplayer gamers will be happy in the end while those that play Starcraft for the story will need to wait for each game to be completed. We know Blizzards release schedule is “when it’s ready” so we can only imagine how long it will take to reach that third game in the trilogy.

Starcraft 2: A 2009 Release ScheduleStarcraft 2: A 2009 Release Schedule

If you thought you’d be getting a release of Starcraft 2 for the holiday of 2008 you’ll be upset at the news. The heavily awaited RTS title Starcraft 2 will be arriving sometime in 2009. The original title arrived in 1998 but we’re not going to see the first sequel until sometime next year, amazing people even remember the game after eleven years, right?

Activision Blizzard hardly makes a game we’d forget. The reason we all have fond memories of Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo is due to the craftsmanship that goes into the game titles (and a bit of the marketing). The developers take their time to hand craft and test a solid product, which is reason alone to see a release next year rather than in this one.

“Next year’s offerings from Activision Blizzard should include highly anticipated PC strategy title StarCraft II, the sequel to one of the world’s most enduringly popular games.” (starcraftwire.com)

It won’t make the 2008 holiday schedule, making us wonder if it’s a 2009 holiday schedule. Although Activision Blizzard doesn’t need to time their games for the biggest sales seasons it doesn’t hurt to push the title out when gamers are actively looking for new blockbusters.

Personally, we’d love to see a Spring/Summer release time frame to give us something to fill the void, but we’re sure Activision’s marketing team has plans revolving around money than a few gamers personal preferences. Regardless to the launch time we’re at least privvy to the knowledge that it’s coming next year.

Trials of a World of Warcraft Player: Entry TwoTrials of a World of Warcraft Player: Entry Two

“Questing.”

While Frodo Baggins had one major quest, destroy The Ring, I’ve found myself in a cesspool of incomplete quests, filling my quest book to the brim with worldwide travels. From coast to coast, island to island and across the open seas I’ve got missions to complete with no end in sight.

It’s an addiction, a fascination, an uncontrollable urge to click any creature with an exclamation upon his head. I cannot stop taking on the responsibilities of the world all upon my lonely shoulders. Unfortunately, travel time is not free and I find myself traveling the world in search for quest “turn-ins” and random item drops from creatures small and tall.

When does it end? I turn in a quest to get another! A few quests have me traveling to far off lands where more villages scream for my help with yellow “!” above their heads. I must help a wandering soldier, a fisherman, a poor villager and the beggar; I do it all “for the horde.”

You can have something like 20 quests in your log at a time, I’ve got it full with quests from each land. Perhaps someday I’ll complete them all or throw them away to pickup others, realizing the value of each quest will decline as my character levels.

The lesson here, stay where you are until the quests in that land have all been exhausted. Ah, the trials of a wondering adventurer striving to conquer the land.