Salty #1
For inexplicable reasons I love WoW fishing. It’s medatative, can be profitable, and every cast is a surprise. Levelling fishing through the skill zones where you need 7+ catches for each skill point was mind numbingly slow, but then numbing your mind is almost the point of fishing.
Right now I have every fishing Achievement needed for Salty but two. One is to win one of the two weekly fishing comps. Despite many attempts, including the latest this morning, I’m still waiting. If you think about the odds, only 104 players per server can win the comp each year and hence get the title. Before they added the Kalu’ak Derby in patch 3.3, it was only 52 players. Ouch. Unfortunately I’m on a US server, so the Stranglethorn Extravaganza is pretty much inaccessible, being a 9AM on a Monday morning.
The other missing Achievement is the One That Didn’t Get Away, the goal of which is to catch one of ten possible rare fish. As of this morning, I’ve hooked 4302 fish, out of a total 6534 casts, and have yet to get one of those ten. But then that’s the great thing about fishing. Your very next cast could be the one you’ve been waiting for.
This sporting life
Watching this year has made me realise just how much the military is a day-to-day part of American life. Every game seems to have an airforce fly-by, or military marching band, or tribute to the fallen, or gigantic American flag being unveiled & folded with military precision. The zenith was during Veterans Day, when they went as far as flying some of the commentators and coaches to Afghanistan to bond with the troops, who then rhapsodised on air about how much they missed those times with ‘the boys’. As if they too were ‘in the fight’. Truly strange stuff.
A group of friends used to run a virtual Madden NFL season, getting together each week to try out our tactics and seek PC domination. It was great fun until one of our more obsessive players, and the one with the most time on his hands, worked out how to ‘break’ the game via an undefendable play that would have been impossible in the real game. Or so we thought.
One of the most interesting things watching the actual NFL this year has been the emergence of the “Wildcat” formation. This is where the regular quarterback is replaced instead by someone who can run, pass, fake, kick, do magic tricks, and cartwheel. The unpredictable nature of this player means the defence is often completely confused, which is the general idea. Do they set-up for a pass? For a run? A punt? It’s fun to watch as the D scrambles to make sense of what is about to happen. Miami seems to have been the first to popularise it in the NFL, though apparently it’s long been a staple of College football. But it’s now spread to many teams, and in many variations.
In the last game of the regular season, the New York Jets created the most bizarre formation I’d seen where the regular quarterback lined up several times as a Wide Receiver. I had no idea what he was doing out there, nor did the commentators. It was so strange, and you could see the defence just didn’t know how to deal with it. A Miami game earlier in the season had a fake punt, that turned into a run, and then a pass, for a touchdown. All in the same play.
I’ve been amazed that at times this season it seems like the NFL has been influenced by the Madden computer game. Madden encourages you to try different formations, do some insane stuff that the other player won’t be prepared for. Just like my friend, the NFL coaching staff have come up with something unpredictable that changes the game. They haven’t broken the NFL like you could the computer version, but they’ve sure made it more entertaining. Who knows, thanks to Madden, we may see the old under-the-jumper statue-of-liberty 70 yard hoick in the NFL after all.
Toruk Makto
It also again struck me the influence WoW (amongst other video games) must have had on some of the designers. There are many moments that recall Warcraft, from the critters that roam Pandora’s forests, to the no agro radius wildlife, to the epic ground mounts.
The scene when the Na’vi warriors scale the Hallelujah Mountains to the Banshee nests is my favourite sequence, the moment when the wonder of Pandora really sinks in. And the Banshee are the strongest WoW reminder of all. Those things are Proto-Drakes through and through. Jake & Neytiri’s flying cliff dive is almost enough to make you want to go B.A.S.E jumping to experience what they do, or failing that to hop on a WoW dragon and wish for some VR goggles.
It’s a great film. When I finally finish What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been, I want a Toruk instead of the Violet Drake :-)
Not that kind of Ironman
One Achievement that’s missing and I’d love to see is some kind of Ironman recognition. What’s Ironman? It’s not dying. Ever. For anything – Murlocs are no excuse, nor Rocket Boots or falling off the Thunder Bluff elevator. A friend and I have started playing this way a few times: roll up a toon, start playing, and survive. If you die, by any means, you have to delete the toon.
It’s obviously insane, and easier for some classes than others - I got a Hunter to about 28 no problems until relaxing too much cleaning up Quillboars in The Barrens. And a Druid to mid 30s before getting overconfident on, you guessed it, Murlocs.
There is at least one WoW player who has actually accomplished this, a Warrior (yes!), which is all the more impressive for having no self-heals to speak of. And with a name like Cautious, she obviously set out to do this.
The PC adaption of the DnD “Temple of Elemental Evil” implemented Ironman as the ultimate hard mode, a no save option meaning if you die, you die. I’m not sure that any MMO has done so yet, the psychological damage to the player might be too great. But it would be great if there was an Achievement that tracked this, including the progress. Maybe every 10 levels without dying you ding an Achievement, something that can stay on your permanent record. And if you reach 80 - “Ironman Banehammer” has an impressive ring to it.
Outlandish
But there’s one problem with the plan: Outland is immune to the pending events. Outland is…annoying. I’ve read any number of bloggers who reach Outland and really struggle to get motivated to move through it. My level 60 Hunter is in this exact position. For whatever reason, it seems like a hard slog and a bit of a grind, especially when compared to the 1-60 experience.
Hellfire Peninsula comes under a fair amount of criticism – it’s a visually harsh, unfriendly environment and tends to be a brick wall of sorts. Similarly Shadowmoon Valley and Netherstorm seem to rub people the wrong way. In fact the only Outland zone that people seem to actively enjoy is Nagrand. The common description is “relaxing”. I suspect that is largely due to it’s visual appeal – it’s a lush, living environment teeming with wildlife that doesn’t just attack on sight. One zone out of seven isn’t a winning formula, and probably goes a way to explaining the Outland hump.
So what could be done? Blizz managed to make the earlier levels fly by far quicker, by a combination of earlier mounts, heirlooms, more powerful talents, and nerfing instances. Outland was also modified, but another refresh might be needed – increase the XP gains again, or drop the average mob health to make quest grinding quicker. The LFD system has obviously helped too – many are levelling through Outland via Dungeon runs alone.
For the Recruit-a-friend brigade, one simple thing would be to continue the triple XP to level 70. At the moment it stops at 60, just when you’re ready to take the deep Hellfire breath. Given the pending 85 cap, why not keep the XP bonus through to Northrend. RaF users are a minority group though, so this would only solve the problem for some.
The biggest improvement would be to make Cataclysm hit Outland. Change the environment, make it a new experience, give Hellfire a fertile rainforest heart, flood Dragonblight like Thousand Needles will be, bring Zangarmarsh some sunshine. Of course this would be a huge undertaking, similar to Azeroth in scope, but Outland totally escaping the coming of Deathwing is a bit of a cop out.
Blizzard have cried resources when explaining why Outland isn’t being impacted, despite it being the zone that most needs work to make it more appealing. No-one wants to spend time there any longer, Shattrath is a ghost town, and there’s nothing much to farm. So make it quicker, or make it more interesting. Oh, and leave Nagrand alone :-)