Leafshine: Lust for Flower

Loremaster Leafy at Last

'tis done.

My major pre-Cataclysm goal is achieved. 

Big thanks to Deacus and Wyntair for helping me through the last Icecrown group quests.

The Guild: Game On

These things just make me happy (and almost proud to be a gamer):

 

The Link Between Solo-Friendly Gaming and RealID Hysteria

So it would seem that the real reason we want to solo in MMOs is because, deep down, we suspect that every other single player in our MMO du choix is, in all likelihood, a sociopath and will plot dire and lethal revenge against us if they in any way suspect that we think their gear is not up to scratch. Perhaps sensibly, it’s a reason that we’re not really admitting to ourselves.

via www.killtenrats.com

Go read the whole article. You won't regret it.

How's the Cataclysm Going? (Minor Spoilers)

So, I expect there's a question on your minds: "How are you enjoying the Cataclysm Beta Leafy?"

The answer is: an awful lot...

The Goblin starter zone is just great. There's a strong driving narrative throughout, with usually no more than three or four quests before the environment phases and you move on to the next step of the story. To give you some idea of the density of ideas and fun, all the vehicles above appear before you hit level 10.

The characters are surprisingly rich, and I found myself actively looking forward to catching up with them through each new phase. There are a few minor quibbles - some of the NPC positioning is still a bit buggy, and there are some early quests that just involve you right clicking on some mobs to activate the quest ability - but that isn't made clear anywhere, so I found myself puzzled for a while, which isn't great on a level 1 quest…

On the other hand, the amount of information you're given at each Level Up is great, especially the great big announcements when you "unlock" new game features like Talents and Battlegrounds at level 10. It doesn't quite feel like WoW 2.0 - but it's certainly a solid WoW 1.8, and provides a much better starting experience for a new player than ever before. 

I'm really looking forward to exploring more.

(And yes, I reported those bugs/issues I mentioned above. I iz a gud beta testifier...)

World of Papercraft

via www.bitrebels.com

Awesome. Just awesome.

Unexpectedly Cataclysmic

This morning’s e-mail brought with it a small dilemma. In my in-box was a (genuine) invite to the Cataclysm beta. That, I was not expecting.

People who have been reading since the waning days of the Burning Crusade expansion will know that I was very, very anti joining the WotLK beta. I didn’t want to spoil the Northrend experience for myself for release day. I used the “Hell No, We Won’t Go” slogan a few times here and on Twisted Nether to make that point.

This time around? I’m going to accept. When I get home tonight, I’ll be downloading the client and getting all patched up and ready. But I’m going to be concentrating on things that won’t be my first priority come the retail launch of the expansion – the goblins, and the revised 1 to 60 levelling experience. And in trying to actually find problems and report bugs. :)

I’ll clearly mark any posts which are derived from the Beta here, so those who want to remain spoiler-free can dodge them.

Tuesday Tune: No Aggro Song

So sweet it BURNS:

No Aggro Song (World of Warcraft Parody) - The best video clips are right here

RealID, Social Theory and Blizzard's Community Problems

So, rather late in the day, it's time for me to weigh in on the biggest issue that came up while I was away:

Wow. Russia has incompetent but very sexy spies. This makes me feel better about the world.  

The second biggest thing that happened while I was away was the whole kerfuffle about RealID as it applies to the forums. That's not something that can be as easily summed up in an image (although some have tried) but it's something I want to devote an unusually long post to, because I have a slightly different take on it to most, and because I've been devoting a lot of brain space to it in the last 48 hours. 

Two things you need to know:

1. My guild is composed entirely of real world friends. You have to be a "real world" friend of an existing member to get in. The majority of us are in our late 30s, or early 40s. There are exceptions - we have one foetus in his 20s, the cad - but generally, this is a direct effect of the way the guild is structured.
2. I've been working professionally in blogging for four years now, as those who heard my Twisted Nether interview will recall, and over the last year, my job role has expanded to take in community development. Some of the issues Blizzard is addressing - or is claiming to be addressing - are exactly the ones I'm looking at and planning for in my day job. 

With those disclosures made, let's plough on. 

RealID in-game

When the basics of RealID were announced, I was very happy. I was only ever going to add real world friends to it - those who know my e-mail address(es) anyway, and it would be a great way to keep in touch with them if they were playing on another server, on Horde-side or in another game. It's opt-in, so no problems. Great addition to the game. And, having played a little with it since it was implemented, I still think this part is a great idea. Part of me wishes that this was a service independent of Blizzard so it could be applies to other games, too, but I understand the commercial imperatives behind that not being the case. (Still, and open-sourced game status protocol that Blizz could hook RealID into would be kinda cool).