WoW Bad for Bloggers

It's been 8 days since I last posted on my blog, the longest span in the short couple months this blog has been running. Might I add that I just started World of Warcraft about a month ago? I'm not sure if I'm allowed to blame the game ignoring the fact that it's probably just my addictive gaming personality.



When you keep bargaining with your own mind, the hours of sleep sacraficed versus the hours of playtime left late at night maybe it's time to browse other game. I'm not alone out there, I know you people have your staple game you could play into the wee hours of the morning; World of Warcraft just happens to be mine.

I'm about a month deep into WoW with a newly started level 10 hunter and of course my little shanking buddy rogue level 44. I got a lot done during the week and feel I deserve a lot of hours in WoW but there I go convincing myself again. Getting ready for this level 40's PvP battleground tier. There is something about killing real people that I enjoy dearly, boy that sounds bad.

3D Gaming Coming Soon?

Is it already here? In my email today Alienware in their newsletter catches my eye with the word "3D". The Alienware brand is owned by Dell, they are offering a 23-inch monitor with some sort of Alienware OptX technology and a Geforce 3D Vision Kit for a whopping 700 bucks.



Gaming is really all about immersion and I think they are heading in the right direction. I don't think it will be many years until MMO's are developed completely with the 3D aspect in mind.
The 3D set might be a little premature in the market but I would love to hear from somebody that has tried it.

The Future of Online Gaming

The Boss Goes Down

For the 2nd time ever on the Tibia server of Keltera, Chizzoron the Distorted and Zulazza the Corruptor, the drakken bosses were slain. These "raids" in Tibia are unlike other games where you gather your troops and enter an instance. It's random, very very rare, and you better hope there are a lot of people online.



Main blocker: Tarlo Darkhalf (lvl 248)

The Team: Dem'rel (lvl 167), Sloiq (lvl 116), Soldre uf Forchun (lvl 117), Mindless'soul (lvl 100), and Nigha Aigon (lvl 73)

This is already an amazing feat, but the small size of the team is even more impressive. These bosses can kill the blocker in 2 hits, the whole team is wiped if he dies. Congratulations to my great friend Tarlo and the others that contributed to Tibian history.

My First Mount in WoW

I found out I could have a mount when I went to my first battleground (PvP) and everyone but me pulled out a tiger to ride on. I stumbled upon a mount trainer the very next day an bought the starter tiger that has a required level of 20.

Also got into a guild with about 80 people in it, 1 beginner I met in the guild is just as addicted as I am.

The combat system and skill tree is set up interestingly. For my rogue class, for example, there are 3 main areas of expertise; subtlety, combat, and assassination. Here is an example link of what my level 80 end game skills look like. This is a PvP example setup I nabbed from just any ol' google search.

Random dungeons using the dungeon finder tool has proven to be a good social tool. I thought it was taking socialization out of MMO's at first, making half of the questing instanced. Quite the opposite, you get into groups with people more often than you would. Forced cooperation can be a good thing, it will definitely help you get experience as a noob.

Hanging With The Boys

A trip out to our local bar proves you can have fun with games just about anywhere. We played a game of Golden Tee, me and 2 other people. Immediately knocking some close shots to the pin in the beginning holes, I was feeling it. On hole 10, I was lined up quite nicely for my 2nd shot as you can see in the video below (Youtube videos are automatically produced on great shots and hole-in-one's).



Today is also the big game. Get out there, have some good food, and get home in one piece.

Record Feature With Xfire

My new favorite tool Xfire has an awesome record feature that I've been testing out the last few days. Now I know from my last 2 videos that I recorded this morning, it will keep what I hear in other applications, integrated into the video. Impeccable timing on this video and the song coinciding with it.



Unfortunately, the size of the videos per second is enormous. Maybe I should need an Xfire expert to help me get the most performance out of my videos. I don't know if I can record in anything other than .avi. Falling in love with Xfire, not to sound like a commercial but its the best social tool for gamers out there.

WoW Finally Starts

I get myself to level 10 and there are finally some decent things to keep me entertained. The second tier of my Rogue skills were available to me for a few silvers. Wielded with daggers I trot around the lands looking for quests to earn some quick exp while slaying random creatures.

There was about 2 levels before I stumbled upon a first-aid trainer that I was a little bored. They could do better in World of Warcraft in the beginning. To me, Lord of the Rings Online was more immersive and started out much better than WoW did. Also the graphics seem a little cartoonish to me and took getting used to. I was able to create some bandages from my first-aid skill with materials that I already had from killing creatures. To my disappointment, the bandages healing didn't work in combat.

We'll see if this game can hold my attention for more than a month. Guild Wars is getting a little monotonous and is losing its appeal. I'm certainly glad there are no monthly fees because I don't think they would make the subscription cut if I had to choose.