While listening to the latest episode of The Instance today, I got to thinking about how secretive the video game industry is. There are always hidden features, little selling points, that they dangle in front of us in a seemingly endless stream. The release of new information is always extremely controlled. I swear, some of …
Tag Archive: World of Warcraft
Okay Ahune, You Can Take Five
I have a freakish adoration of holiday bosses. Maybe it’s their loot pinata nature. Or maybe it’s the fact that you can only fight them a few days out of the year. Either way, when I heard that the Midsummer Fire Festival was on in WoW, I made a mental promise that I’d get to …
S.A.R. #6: Exploring the Drug Culture in World of Warcraft
Hey Gang, Another Friday, another SAR. As I mentioned in this morning’s article, this is a special edition of Some Assembly Required. This week, I spend some time talking with a fellow named Burns whose guild and play style are firmly rooted in playing under the influence. I met with Burns on Skype on several …
WoW’s Drug-Culture
Over the last few years, I’ve had the occasion to talk about a lot of things. One of them I haven’t yet is the prevalence of the drug culture in MMOs. Well, thanks to trade chat, that day has finally come. I see this all the time on my realm. Whether it’s in trade chat …
But Home is Nowhere
My plans for WoW took an unexpected turn today. As of 6:30PM, my alliance death knight is no longer on the Aegwynn PVP server. As a matter of fact, my death knight is no longer even a member of the Alliance on any server. That’s right, I went for the full whammy; I pulled up …
Why MMOs Need Exclusive Content
One of the biggest trends to sweep MMO gaming is accessibility. It’s all about making sure everyone can do everything now. Yet, I think there’s a difference between the two. Accessible does not mean that everyone can do everything. Rather, it means that everyone has the reasonable opportunity to try. There’s a difference there, but …
The Case for the Hero Class
I’ve been gone from World of Warcraft for some time, but, since returning, I’ve found myself reminded why I fell in love with WoW: the dungeons. Tonight, it was Violet Hold. Though exceptionally quiet (not a word spoke until the final boss was downed), it was a good run; quick and easy. I was able …
Don’t Blame Blizzard for a Stagnant Industry
In one of the most poignant and well written posts on the topic I’ve seen, Wolfshead blames Blizzard for the stagnation that’s he sees as plaguing the MMO industry. He has a lot of good reasons why he feels this way, not the least of which being that they’ve done very little to advance the …
Why WoW is like an old Shoe
That might sound derogatory, but I promise it’s not. As I mentioned a while back, I re-upped my subscription to WoW for this month. My re-entry into the game has been a bit hap-hazard, I’m afriad. My original plan was to work on my Death Knight and pull him the rest of the way to …
