Closer

Things are ramping up as the summer ends, as far as MMO games are concerned. It seems everyone has something to look forward to. Blizzard released the MoP opening cinematic today, which was gorgeous and stunning, as only Blizzard can do. If you haven't checked it out you can find it here. 

A little something for everyone this fall? TSW has a patch full of goodies releasing the same day as WoW's, on the 28th of this month, which is also the official release date for Guild Wars 2. EQ2 has new content set for September or so, that's the word out. Vanguard is working on new content, I'd guess high end content as the lower levels were revamped a bit for the 'golden path. Two days ago the F2P launch went rather smoothly and the game seems to be seeing a lot of new faces, fantastic news for VG. Rift has an expansion in the works and a subscription bundle, much like WoW's annual pass, except they want you to pay it all up front. You get a mount, free expansion and some other goodies. They are also removing the faction barrier, not bad. EverQuest just released the new Hero's Forge cosmetic armor system, I'm sure we'll see an xpac soon too. ToR has a new event out currently and it's going F2P this fall. 

That's all just the tip of the iceberg. It looks like an exciting fall for MMO players. I wish all of these games the best of luck. What is nice about this is they all seem to be trying to step up their game, so to speak, and I like that, a lot. I like the competition, keep my games updated, keep me interested, keep us all engaged. Stay on the ball! I think it is good for the life of these types of games, it helps players not to feel stagnated and keeps developers on their toes. It's a good thing. I'm not the type of player who is a biased to one game and hates seeing others prosper, I love the fact there are so many choices now and I like these companies to stay competitive. I have much respect for each and every MMO I play, I want to see them all do well. Sure I have my gripes but that's life, nothing is perfect. I don't want to go back to the days where there were so few choices, that's how my first five years of MMO gaming were. Twelve years later it's a gamer's dream, all the choices.

So, anyhow. Not a long post today, just some thoughts. I managed to hit 81 with my, not so much a baby, DK. I'm so glad to be out of Northrend. I cannot wait until I hit 85, I'm much closer now, so glad I can see the light at the end. I had hoped to hit 80 by tomorrow, a little ahead of plans. However, Dire's father passed away yesterday morning so we're trying to find out more about the funeral and when we'll be going out of town. Please keep in your thoughts and prayers.

Safe adventures, sharing a slew of pretty shots! 

Clovers. I actually tried to find a four leaf, without any luck. Yeah, only kaozz would do that in an MMO...

Collecting shinies and working on daily chains to unlock for later.

Northrend has some of the loveliest skies.

Running through HoL.

Ding! Hitting 80 in HoL, with Dire.

Oh noes, Deathwing!

Enter Hyjal. 

Such a gorgeous zone, I just don't like the quests as much as the other starting area in Cata.

Resting up, all these mobs whooped up on me quite badly- Until I gained new gear.

Just a regular day, climbing trees and saving cubs.