Nerd Raging

So I thought I kind of nerd raged too much at my last raid this week (muted of course) but apparently a few moments of yelling at the screen is nothing compared to the guy who tried to strangle his mother. That’s nerd raging to a whole new level.

I hesitated on posting this or even commenting on this because it obviously has nothing to do with WoW in particular except he happened to be playing the game while the incident occurred. The guy was drunk and obviously has some issues. The whole incident was beyond absurd.

I just HATE news like this because this is where people get really really misleading impressions about the gaming culture. There’s rarely a news article about how WoW united a family or helped a group of friends stay in touch. The media has to report what happens but I’m afraid that’s all non-gamers tend to see and it severely mars the image of those whose lifestyles revolve around gaming.

Full Article on Tomshardware.com here--->

R.A. Salvatore on Questing

I just loved this tid bit on ReRollz.com featuring R.A. Salvatore:

Rerollz: What do you think is the most successful medium for delivering a storyline inside a MMOG? Is it text in a Quest Log window? Is it dialogue bubbles popping up from NPC’s on screen? Or is it perhaps voiceover work like with what they are doing at Bioware’s Star Wars game?

R.A. Salvatore: It’s definitely not the text bubbles. Of that I am certain. How many people read the text of a quest carefully, compared to those who just read the objectives to get it done? I think it’s a combination of a lot of things: some text, sure; voiceover helps, but even that can get tedious if it drones on too long (the opening of Culling of Stratholme…); cut scenes can do phenomenal things to evoke emotion in the player, if they’re done well; and finally, as I said above regarding Icecrown, the idea that your actions actually change the environment is probably the most powerful thing of all.

Read more Here --->

How cool is he!? So glad someone out there gets it. Of course, being one of the foremost writers in fantasy adventure, I suppose he would. lol.

Ironforge

Ironforge
Originally uploaded by alachia

Having pulled a crazy work week, I wasn't sure if I had it in me to hit up the photowalk this evening. I had just told Azyxa I didn't have enough brain juice to do it when I was going through IF to Stormwind to turn in some charms and came across this shot.

At that point, I was mesmerized and had to continue with the screenshots. I am beyond pleased with the photos of Ironforge. I think it has a lot to do with the lighting ambiance and textures in Ironforge. They give you the most amazing glows and shadows.

Out of all the sets so far that I've taken in Azeroth, the Ironforge ones are now my favorite. I have no idea what Catacylsm holds for Ironforge or if we'll even see any changes but I hope to see more areas like it.

One of the things that makes IF so intriguing is how autonomous you feel inside of it. There are just so many nook and crannies and room and shadows that you really feel like it's actual space you can explore. It'd be a great place to play virtual hide and seek for sure.

I also got to visit my old WoW room! Next week, we hit up Wetlands! Woot! I plan to massacre a ton of murlocs in the process!

And the Wind Blows

What’s more annoying than having two attempts out of twenty left on a boss you were able to down in two attempts the week previous? It had been a long and frustrating night where everything seems to be going in reverse! However, second to the last attempt of Professor Putricide, we had worked out all the crazy kinks we were experiencing. People were finally moving where they were supposed to and focusing on what they were asked to and no one was dead by phase 3.

Just as phase 3 comes up, we get set in position and everyone is hard nuking him and he’s going down so fast (35% to 18%) in just a matter of seconds. He would have been defeated! As I’m loading up a chain heal, bam!!!! Stuck in place! OH NOES!!! Damn internet went out. NOOOOO.

Shatai, the other healer of the group, (holy priest) was able to keep everyone up until the boss was at 4% but then they had casualties. He almost lasted though! That would have been epic! But as anyone dies in that fight, Professor Putricide gains health back so it becomes a losing battle fast as soon as you have casualties.

Sucks. Found out today that there was a lose wiring in fitting that held all the cable wires. Every time the wind would blow, connectivity would go out. Damn wind had to blow at the worst possible second. If it had happened like twently seconds later, we would have had our much needed successful attempt!