Changes

Greetings! I'm trying to at least post once a week, I'm trying to keep things updated, share thoughts and ideas. Tonight I had the joy of fixing several zones of our sprinkler system, learning my lesson and getting a sunburn during the day, ouch! I wanted to sit down and post though, while things are fresh in my head.

WoW
Still going at it. The druid has been my main but I am really wondering why I 'punish' myself with this class anymore. I love to heal, that is the only reason I play it. Doing daily quests is painful, I look over at people less geared than myself mowing through stuff, it really grates on my nerves. I switch to my horribly geared hunter in blues and greens and run circles around my druid. Balance is clunky and slow, and so not fun. I love many things about the class but it isn't up to par with other classes who can dual spec and still perform decently doing things outside raiding. Ok, I can kill faster than a character in EverQuest, maybe... Seriously though, compared to my other characters it feels so out of sorts. Champion/Rares in MoP? Not fun, not worth the effort I have to put in, or I could just log in one of my other characters and faceroll them with my eyes closed.

Which brings me to my other main, the warlock. She is soon to be retired due to changing the class mid expansion. I'd like to know why you'd completely change a class, the rotation, core mechanics/talents MID EXPANSION? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I am so tired of constant tweaks and changes to my classes. In 5.4 all three of my 90's will receive several class changes. Again. Are these developers wanting to push people to quit? If I didn't have characters to fall back on, I'd cancel my sub before patch 5.4 hits. I honestly would. I've been considering it, still a possibility, if the changes to classes keep going at this pace, I think I will burn out.

Did you hear? There is a revolutionary change coming out, called virtual realms! It combines realms, you can play with even more people, and cross server zones (CRZ). Do people even wonder why this is being added? Because players are leaving the game. But we have eight million players, kaozz! Maybe in China. I don't know any exact numbers, but I do know they are trying to keep the game looking alive, keeping more players busy before they run out of things to do (this part is quite good really). They are pushing out patches and butchering classes at an alarming rate. However, changing class mechanics every few months isn't going to keep players around. Why not just focus on content for a while, so I can quit relearning my classes?

Check out the official forums or MMO Champion, you'll see lots of information on exactly what is changing. Even my hunter is missing abilities. Everytime I log in, after a few months off from a class, I wonder what the hell I am doing. Where did this ability go, why isn't this one working, oh yeah, that's what I read about. Luckily, I am one of those players who reads about the changes, but what about those who don't?

For now I am probably going to work on the druid when Dire is around, but solo I will be building up my hunter, working on her factions and gear. At this point is the class that seems to stay remotely the same. Unless they decide to make BM unviable again.

I hate to sound all doom and gloom, I do still enjoy playing. Very much so, I really love all there is for me to do within the game, how accessible things are in today's WoW. It is still a great game -but- too much change in a game where rotations are down to a science and every little thing can make a huge difference in how a class plays, I do start to feel a mental fatigue with the game.

Rift
Free to play, wheee! I managed to pop in and check out the changes. Things look good, I'm subbed until December or January so it wasn't like I couldn't log in before. I had a lot of neat rewards waiting on me and monies to spend from being a subscriber. The cash shop looks decent, prices look good. I've considered playing more. The only thing that gets me is the horrible grind after 50, but at the same time I miss things like having so many souls for my class. It surely wasn't the price that was keeping me from playing, it was the grind! Having the ability to change them up and mix and match if I want, that is tempting though. I also miss housing.

All in all the game looks good still and it seems like the conversion will be a positive thing. Going free to play might bring in some new blood or some who might play a bit more. My thoughts? It is still the same game I left, paid for, speed up XP for 50+ and I might actually stick with it again.

SL
I'm starting with a new 3D program and getting used to it, feeling a bit drained from it, so taking a few days off of designing. A good friend of mine has been working on an awesome script for some of my creations, which will be nice, very excited about that. They will make my items more unique.

I still mainly keep to myself and a few longtime friends, while building and working. It is relaxing, most of the time. Though last week I about ripped out all of my hair working with some scripts for my items. When it gets like that I tend to take some time to recuperate, lol. Below are some of my latest projects. That's it for today, safe adventures!

A ninetails I was working on but I am going to create one with a  more textured feel and animated parts, lots of work ahead of me. 

A beret, color changes. 

Assassin Creed style (mesh) head item and shoulders, female version. 

Male version. 

Four Little Words

Yesterday didn't go as expected. I had planned to check out RIFT beta yesterday evening but I only ended up in the character creation. I logged in then out to check something before my grand finale. My first attempt went through fine and then logging back in under two minutes later I was hit with an eleven minute queue. Nice...

The reason I didn't get to play is that my [@#$(% &@ %$*^] video card went out and I wasn't about to play anything with the on-board. It will crash and I'm not going to stress my machine just to play beta an extra day. This morning I'll have to go out and pick up a new card. The last one wasn't too old, under a year. *Grumbles*...

Since I can't talk about RIFT until tomorrow, I thought I'd write about something else that crossed my mind. Taking things too seriously. It seems a lot of players have been bored lately. I've even seen some people do an about face with some games. If we say our feelings, sometimes we are taken too seriously, when we just need to get things off our chests.

I may write about what caused me to stop playing a game or why I leave but that's part of blogging, sharing thoughts and ideas. If I candy coated things I wouldn't be honest in my postings. I do try to stick to my guns when I say something and I try not to bite off more than I can chew. I always like to say... NEVER SAY NEVER! Anyhow, I'm getting off course here.

Ever hear someone say those four little [annoying] words? 'It's just a game!' Which is always followed by 'Don't take it so seriously!' I sure have. I think we forget this sometimes, to a point. I don't like to think we should act like our actions don't matter, that's not the point I want to convey,  more on the lines of: It's how serious we take things, beyond having fun anymore. 

While we invest a lot of time in our hobbies, games and so on it's still something we do take seriously  If you didn't why do you care if you show up for raids on time, why do you care about gearing properly, or maybe why care about our in-game reputations. Because it's something we do take seriously, to a point. And you should when other people are involved.

However, sometimes we take things too seriously. Playing games when we're way, way past burnt out. I try not to anymore. I feel bad when leaving friends in a game but sometimes we all just need a breather. Just because I disagree with WoW's new direction with mini raids heroics doesn't mean I hate it and will never go back. I just have other things I'd rather do currently. So, for me, it's good to just take a break and come back when I have more of an interest.

There are players out there who have only played one MMO game and will stick to it until then end or until they finally burn out. Never thinking to check out other avenues. Not wanting to leave friends or a character they worked so hard on. Sometimes I envy these players but it's just not me [never going beyond one game], I stuck to one game and only one game for FIVE years, I've been there done that. Maybe they truly enjoy it, I don't know. I have a friend that keep playing alts just to have something to do. Eight 80's through WoTLK. They still complain about being bored or hating working on things such as the Loremaster title. Hello! Ever think of trying a different MMO?

I suppose not every MMO player is as resilient as me. My husband is on a tight wire between playing and quitting sometimes. I bounce from game to game while he, at times, feels he doesn't have enough time to keep up with a MMO and get things done within it, I always tell him to just have fun with it. I'm not saying it's stupid to just focus on one MMO, I love that idea, it's the idea of shunning anything and everything else.

He plays a lot of free video poker- *snore fest*- but it keeps him happy.  I suppose he is one of those people that likes the tried and true and will stick to it until he's ready to just quit. Though I sometimes wonder why he still plays poker when he ends up screaming at the screen. I've had to uninstall it off his phone because he's gotten so mad. I find myself saying those three words... 'It's Just a game'... I think this describes a lot of gamers, at some point, they keep playing until they want to explode. Before it gets to that point I try to drag him off to something else. Hey, I need someone to play my MMO games with!

I suppose sometimes we need to think about why we are playing what we play. Is it for fun? Is it for my friends? Is it to prove that X game is just that great? Is it for you? Are we taking our hobbies too seriously? I think sometimes we do. Laugh at me with my housing, my fluff, my silly little meaningless things that keep me happy in my MMO games, but hey, I'm happy doing what I do ;)

-kaozz MMO