Here we are then, five years down the line (or 15 years for Warcraft) since World of Warcraft was launched by Blizzard. And I’m STILL playing. Why? What is it about WoW that keeps me coming back? What have I learned?

When I rolled my first character in 2004, a Night Elf Warrior whose name now escapes me, I didn’t know what I was doing. I’ve covered this before but that failed attempt sent me running from WoW for a couple of months. I didn’t get it. Something brought me back, however, and my second character and still my main, Inoperante the Undead Warlock, has kept me going for almost that full five years.

I’ve tried to work out why. When I first started I as very much a solo player, levelling and speccing randomly, still not knowing what I was doing, really, but nevertheless progressing. And that is key to World of Warcraft’s success over the years.

Blizzard have cleverly expanded the game to make players strive to better themselves. Whether it was improving gear, clearing raids – and vanilla raiding was infinitely harder than it is today, believe me – or exploring new areas, Blizzard have introduced just enough at all the right times to keep people coming back.

Of course, I’m not an idiot – Blizzard create things that basically become time sinks, forcing you to spend hours and hours doing very silly things to achieve, in reality, very little. It’s the secret behind their revenue stream. You WILL continue to pay your subscription while you have things to do. Knowing that it is a waste of time doesn’t change the fact that the game is designed to goad you on.

It is an addictive game. For some, dangerously so. We’ve all heard stories of people who have ruined their lives by spending far too much time on the game. Thankfully, those people are few and far between and, I believe, had much deeper issues than the game itself.

I have spent such a significant amount of time on the game that to give up now would feel like quitting. And therein lies Blizzard’s other secret. If they can get you to do enough, you will not want to give up.

With the Burning Crusade they introduced a whole new way of keeping you hooked. Raising reputation for greater rewards wasn’t new, but boy, did they take it to a new level with BC. New raids, especially Karazhan, that were accessible by the many, not the few, were genius introductions. They didn’t forget their hardcore though, and introduced the Sunwell, Serpentshrine Cavern, Mount Hyjal and the like.

It was hard to ‘finish’ Burning Crusade – I still haven’t. But each player did eventually reach their personal limit with it. Some took a break, myself included. And just in time, Blizzard rolled out Wrath of the Lich King and subsequent patches. It drew us all back. Ulduar then Onyxia and the Trial of the Crusade. It has been non-stop and continues soon with Icecrown. Wrath of the Lich King has maintained interest at unprecedented levels.

The Achievements system was a GENIUS stroke. It allows even the solo player to strive for more and more. Truly genius.

They have, however, made mistakes. Ulduar was by far the hardest raid introduced since Karazhan but when they introduced Trial of the Crusade few but the hardcore had cleared it. ToC, so much easier, drew people away from Ulduar and it lies, even for my Guild, not quite complete. Yogg-Saron survives for GANK Inc and it has proved frustrating for me and my raid leaders. Onyxia had much the same effect.

The ability to get T9 gear from daily Heroics was a bitter blow for the hardcore player too, who felt that they had spent far too much time chasing it to allow just anyone to access it. They had a point.

These, though, are minor errors and have not damaged Blizzard’s income or reputation enough for them to worry about.

It is ironic that on the 5th anniversary of WoW I find myself burned out. I have had enough, there is little left for me to do that I can do and not enough for me to do that I can’t do as a semi-casual player. But Blizzard are set to do it again. Icecrown will launch before Christmas and I will be drawn back to new dungeons, new achievements and new loot.

I’m not sure how long that appeal will last. Right the way up to Cataclysm? It seems doubtful, but then I don’t know what patch 3.3 entails fully, so you never know. But it does ensure I will be playing for a few more months at least. Cataclysm WILL draw me back and for a year at least I would think.

But will I be playing in another five years? That depends on Blizzard and what they can do with the game over that time. Every dog has its day, even WoW, but when that day will be I don’t know.

One thing is for sure – Blizzard deserve all the credit in the world for producing such an enthralling, delightful and long running game as World of Warcraft and long may it continue. In the meantime, enjoy the anniversary site they have produced. It contains (or will contain) interviews with the creators, video features and the Battlecry Mosaic (go look for yourself!).

For the Horde!

The thing that makes World of Warcraft so enduring – playability, diversity and sheer size aside – is the ability to have more than one character.

We all, I would think, have what we consider our mains. In my case, it is, of course, my Undead Warlock, Inoperante. He is my raiding and achievement toon (whore, my Guild would say!) and the one I began life in Azeroth with (if you ignore the failed attempt at a Night Elf Warrior that is).

But one can get very bored playing one character all the time, especially when the only thing left in the game to do is raid – and the same raids at that. The urge to log in each day fades until you end up not bothering to play at all.

So we turn to our ALTs. There are members of my Guild that have so many ALTs at level 80 it’s untrue. Me, I have just one, Slabs, my Tauren Warrior. Running a Guild lacking tanks kind of puts the onus on you to level one – so I did. In retrospect I should probably have rolled a Paladin for that task, but I did always want a warrior, hence the Night Elf anomaly!

It’s amazing how quickly I got him geared too. A few runs of Trial of the Champion, part runs of Ulduar and one full run of Trial of the Crusader and I can tank most bosses (skills aside – they lack, as my Guild mates would tell you!). Not only that, I can, without any effort, put out over 3,000 DPS in my Arms spec.

This has helped me retain my love for a game that otherwise would have bored me eventually.

And yet…there are classes and races I just cannot and will not play. For starters I am Horde. I will always be Horde. I cannot, for some reason, play Alliance. Despite starting there in my WoW career, I just can’t do it. What that says about me, I don’t know…

I am indifferent to the Night Elves, Humans and Draenei but I hate – HATE – Gnomes. I gank every one I see, I have to.

Dwarves, however, is a different story. I could play a Dwarf. Nothing stupid like a Warrior, but a Dwarf Hunter – yes, I could play that. If it wasn’t for the Alliance connection I would have a Dwarf. Bless there little woollen socks.

Other classes I won’t (can’t) play are Mages and Rogues. I simply cannot level a Mage, I just don’t have what it takes to make it work for me. I don’t enjoy it. Rogues are less annoying, but I find the early levelling really slow. The DPS just isn’t high enough for me to feel like I can progress.

Death Knights are clearly overpowered. I have one, Juggernought, that I play purely for the stress relieving damage output! I could never play one seriously though. Paladins are also overpowered, but in a more acceptable way. However, I find the 12-25 levels SO difficult to get through. I made it to 30 once…but have since deleted him. I regret it now…

I have a level 50-odd Hunter who I pop on now and then – though it has been a while! Hunters are fun but too similar to my Warlock to bother with too much.

So with Slabs happily gearing up and still questing for Gold, Inoperante very much my main, what am I doing now? Something, I am told, is insane – levelling a Priest…as Holy! My thinking is that I have a DPS and Tank class…I need a Healer. Logical, right?

Well, maybe, maybe not…but it’s the challenge that will keep me interested in World of Warcraft for many months to come. It will fill the gap between Icecrown coming out (surely less than a week or two now?) and Cataclysm launching (and then we’ll have Goblins and Worgen to play with!), that’s for sure.

And who knows…maybe, just MAYBE, one of these characters will supplant Inoperante as my main. I hear that happens too…

Do you use ALTs to keep your interest up? What classes and/or races do you favour or can you simply not play? Let me know in the comments.

What blog even vaguely related to World of Warcraft would be complete without a post (or million) on Cataclysm? None is the answer. So here are my first impressions on the various eye-popping revelations from Blizzcon Day One.

Let’s start with what is probably the most talked about point; new races.

New Races

For the Horde, Goblins. For the Alliance, Worgen.

As a dedicated Horde player I feel a little cheated by this. Worgens are COOL. Goblins are small Orcs or green Gnomes. I HATE gnomes. Having said that, Blizzard has previewed some pretty cool things for the Goblin race, including:

• Rocket Jump – Activate your rocket belt to jump up to 20 yards, every 2 min
• Rocket Barrage – Fire your belt rockets at an enemy within 30 yards, every 2 min. (Shared cooldown with Rocket Jump)
• Time is money – Cash in on a 1% increase to attack and casting speed.
• Best Deals Anywhere – Best possible gold discount, regardless of reputation.
• Pack Hobgoblin – Calls in your personal servent, allowing you bank access every 30 min.
• Better Living Through Chemistry – Alchemy skill +15, Your potions give more health / mana
• Goblins can be all classes except Paladin or Druids

I like the gold discount, the Hobgoblin and the rocket belt ideas. I envisage a LOT of Goblin bank ALTs! I will certainly abandon my level 20 Druid for a new Goblin bank ALT.

Goblins will be able to be any class except Paladins and Druids. Which makes sense, though a caster Goblin seems very odd to me! On to the Worgen then.

The Lore states that the gates to Gilneas have been destroyed but the Humans have been transformed into Worgen and are befriended by the Night Elves. Ok then. I can buy that. I would just have liked them to have been befriended by the Blood Elves, that’s all. Seriously…they are cool. Blizzard, however, have managed to temper my annoyance. I had been under the impression that Worgen form would have given some kind of boost to the character, but no. It is cosmetic.

When not in combat you can choose to be in Worgen or Human form but when in combat you automatically enter Worgen form. Your stats remain dependent on level, talents and gear. Ok, nice. And a nice touch, I like it. So skills then?

• Darkflight – Activate your true form, increasing movement speed by 70% for 6 sec, every 3 min.
• Viciousness – Increase damage by 1%.
• Abberation – Reduced duration on Curses and Diseases used against you by 15%.
• Flayer – Skinning skill +15, you skin creature fast, and you don’t even need a knife.
• Worgens can be all classes except Paladins or Shamans

Nice skills. Not overpowered. Just nicely balanced and they make sense. The class thing I find odd. Worgen Priest seems at odds with the race to me, but maybe that’s a personal thing. It does, however, bring us onto something else in Cataclysm. New Race / Class combinations.

Race / Class Combos

Horde in brief:

• Orc Mage
• Undead Hunter
• Tauren Paladin
• Tauren Priest
• Troll Druid
• Blood Elf Warrior

Alliance in brief:

• Human Hunter
• Dwarf Mage
• Dwarf Shaman
• Night Elf Mage
• Gnome Priest

First thing to notice here is that the Dranei get no new classes to play. When you look at what they had left (Rogue, Warlock and Druid) you can see why, though I feel a Druid could have been done. The Horde now have two Druid races after all.

The coolest combination? Undead Hunter – IF when you tame a pet it becomes diseased like the animals in Felwood or skeletal like…like…skeletal mounts I guess! Awesome. I’m hoping. The Tauren Paladin has the potential to look fantastic. Size does matter to me, even though I play Undead. My Tauren Warrior exists purely becuase I wanted a BIG character! Troll Druid should be fun. I am assuming cat, bear, moonkin and tree forms will look different to the Tauren versions. Uglier, somehow…

On the Alliance side there is very little to get excited about. A Human Hunter should have been in the game from the start. A Night Elf mage might prove to look very nice. The Dwarf Shaman, however, will be really good fun to play I would think. Looking forward to seeing them running around as there are very few Dwarves on my server.

The Map

Where we will all be playing is going to change the way we view this game forever. Take a look at the trailer on the official Cataclysm website. Take a look at the map below. The world has changed. Forever. Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been torn asunder and we now have to learn it all again. How fantastic is that!

What we have here is basically World of Warcraft 2. Areas that currently exist but serve no purpose are going to open up. All new areas, starter zones (level 1-15) for the Goblin and Worgen races, new dungeons and raids and old dungeons and raids revamped…hang on.

Old dungeons and raids revamped? Which?

Dungeons & Raids

Those of us who have been playing since before the Burning Crusade remember some encounters with fondness but know we’ll never see them again, even if we reroll. Until now.

Onyxia’s Lair will be done in 3.2.2 and a lot of people are excited about this. Cataclysm will see the Deadmines revamped…but for me…oh, yes…Shadowfang Keep gets brought up to speed! One of THE best dungeons in the game and so infrequently run. I sometimes run Inoperante through there for nostalgic reasons. Can’t wait to run it at 80-85 properly.

So far we know this:

• The Firelands will be a new raid dungeon, it will let you go to the Elemental Plane of fire and visit Sulfuron’s Keep, Ragnaros will be here and he’s really pissed.
• Uldum will feature two new dungeons, the Lost City of Tol’vir and the Halls of Origination (a titan city)
• Grim Batol will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
• Skywall (Air Elemental Plane) will have a level-up dungeon and a raid instance.
• The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep will be back in a brand new level 85 heroic version.
• Blackrock Caverns will be a new level-up dungeon located in Blackrock Spire. This is an entirely new dungeon, new art, new creatures, new everything.

How exciting. You’ll see on the map above where the new zones and dungeons will be. And it is fantastic see that Grim Batol has a purpose now.

Other News

There is so much in this expansion that it would be impossible to cover it all in one post and this is already getting lengthy, so a few other things that caught my eye are:

85 Level Cap

Just the right amount. Another 10 levels would prove to be a grind and a mad rush that meant you missed most of the content. Hopefully only five levels will allow people to take their time and enjoy. Except for those Guilds that simply MUST be the world/continent/realm first to complete endgame of course…

Warlock Shard Changes

• Soul Shards are no longer in your bags. The goal is to make them fun, not a hassle.
• Soul Shards will be integrated to the user interface. (Just like Death Knight runes)
• You get three shards per fight, they will regen very quickly out of combat.
• It will be possible to get more for long fights or mistakes through Drain Soul.
• Soul Burn (New Spell) : Cost 1 Shard, 30 sec cooldown, off the GCD. Empowers your next spell, many (not all spells) behave differently when empowered.
• Empowered Searing Pain : Next 3 Searing Pains crit
• Empowered Summon Demon : Instant Cast
• Empowered Soulfire : Instant Cast
• Empowered Fear : Instant Cast
• Empowered Death Coil : Longer Horror, more healing received.
• They are only used in combat, summons or demons won’t use your shards.

In theory – this will make life easier and will alter the dynamics of playing a Warlock just the right amount. It will certainly be nice to have an extra 32 bag slots…

Path of the Titans

The general idea is that while their won’t be huge changes to talent trees, you’ll just get more points and more direction in speccing your character to be more fun. We’ll see how this works out.

Conclusion

Cataclysm is going to give WoW a whole new lease of life. Stuck at 11 million(!) subscribers, Blizzard have clearly decided that this is necessary if they are to push on to 15 million+. For new players it should make the game more fun, more engaging. For existing players, even those who go back to 2004, this will be a breath of fresh air. There is nothing, so far, that I haven’t been at least interested in and at most thrilled by.

To be covered in separate posts: Professions, Itemisation, Lore, New Zones

Guild recruitment and raid party make-up – two things I am struggling to get to grips with.

I don’t want to invite any old player to the Guild but I know we need more. Not least so I can begin to put together set raid groups. That’s where raid party make-up comes in. What is optimal?

With dual spec this is much easier now, of course, but still…you have a 10-man raid, what’s the best group? I’d say this:

• Main Tank
• Off Tank
• 3 x Healers
• 2 x Melee DPS
• 3 x Ranged DPS

This is, of course, dependent on the boss in question, where you would perhaps prefer three melee DPS, one tank or whatever. Dual spec should give you those options to be fair, even with a set raid group. But there will inevitably be a bit of swapping in and out of other Guild members or ALTs. That, however, is what I want to try and avoid.

I know who I want in GANK Inc’s premier raiding group. They will be the same 10 that will form the core of our 25-man group. It comprises this:

• Main Tank: Paladin
• Off Tank: Warrior
• Healer 1: Priest (also DPS)
• Healer 2: Paladin
• Healer 3: Druid (also Tank)
• Melee 1: Rogue
• Melee 2: Druid (also Tank/Healer/Ranged)
• Ranged 1: Warlock (me!)
• Ranged 2: Mage
• Ranged 3: Shaman (also Healer)

From that group only the Shaman spot is open and I have a couple of candidates for it. The problem with this? It will inevitably upset at least three people in the Guild. I know it will.

Never mind the fact that it is highly unlikely that I will get these 10 on all the time at every raid and so the others will get a chance. Never mind the fact that a second raid group will be set up as soon as possible in which they will be the most important members. The fact that they aren’t first choice in my preferred raiding team will not go down well. Guild Drama will commence.

So I need to recruit and I need to find a good, solid, dependable and adult raid leader. One who has his or her own idea of what their preferred raid party is made up from. At the same time I need Guild members who will accept this situation. Any takers?