Stuff I'd Like to See

So I've come up with more things I'd like to see in wow.

1.) Vanity Gear Set
I believe it was EQ2 that did this first? A separate set of equipment you can equip so your character doesn't look like a clown when you start getting new gear. Death Knights in particular will be getting a very nice blue set once they finish questing. I'd like to keep that set in the visual spectrum even when I start getting outland equipment. Because everyone knows that you start looking like a hobo with a fetish for bright colors when you start upgrading gear.

2.) Fix the 'Death Knight' label on the main screen
Instead of cramming 'Death Knight' across the class selection button why not make a little room for the class name above the classes. Little things like that annoy me.

Current Roster

So I've worked my way up to four level 70 characters on World of Warcraft.

Frost Mage, my current main
Hunter, my farmer
Warlock, my PVPer
Shaman, my healer

Each of them are (or were) DPS, see a trend? My next character is a Druid and as soon as WotLK comes out I'm making a Death Knight. I'd like to see the difference between current tanks and the next-coming tank first hand. My wife has a Prot-specced warrior who serves as out main tank. A friend of ours is the current healer, a holy paladin. And I serve as the current DPS/CC/Healer substitute. With the addition of my tank we'll have a very diverse array of characters at our disposal. So within our group we'll have two choices for an account to tank, two for healer, and plenty of DPS to go around. We feel the synergy and honestly I love the core group we have going. Now if only we could instill that within others in World of Warcraft some how. We may join a guild but honestly I just don't see the benefit other than doing raids. We'd love to do raids but we don't want to experience the drama ourselves. Plus we own a bank guild that has four tabs purchased. I think we're doing okay now.

Honestly the last time I joined a Kara pug it went smoothly, so smooth in fact that I was tempted to ask the hosting guild if I could join with my mage. I opted against it though because I just don't see the point. Last time I succumbed to this urge we all ended up suspending our accounts and I bought Age of Conan, which was a complete waste of time. Anyone out there want to buy Age of Conan? Comes with a free necromancer.

Warhammer Online

There is a beta.
I am in it.
I have canceled my pre-order.
End Of Line

Final Fantasy Tactics A2

So I've been playing Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimore of the Rift but before I say anything about the game let me just say that I am biased. I love tactical and strategy games. Tactical games, like the original FFTactics, really catch my attention. The graphics resemble the GBA version of the game heavily with several differences. The portraits look much better. Movies are still rendered with in-game graphics. Although I am a sucker for CG I can't take anything away from the game for sticking with the formula.

The main difference I've seen from this version as compared to others is the amount of classes offered. Wow, I'm astounded. There are more classes available than I know what to do with quite honestly. There are new races though I've only gotten one of them, the big fat dudes. I don't remember the name of them. I haven't finished the game of course so more is to come but I'd say this game is worth the pick up.

Internal Competition

While I haven't read the interview yet I read online that Blizzard isn't afraid to be compete within the company. This is good news in my opinion, I'd hate for my next Blizzard MMO to be delayed because they don't want to take away from their World of Warcraft player base. I will also say this, I think they should introduce a multi-game subscription plan. Charge your character base $20 a month to play all of your games. I will most definitely be playing the next Blizzard MMO, every game they've published has been entertaining for hours on end. I still pull out the games from the Diablo and Warcraft series frequently to amuse myself with from time-to-time.

I have a station account and I own every Sony game that can be associated to it with the exception of Vanguard, I haven't purchased it yet but as soon as the game drops to $20 I'll swoop in to snatch it up. In all honesty none of the games have kept my attention long but they have their merits. Just imagine the power Blizzard would have if they had two or more MMOs that you could switch between at will. People would stop urinating.

Things I would like to see in WOW

Expansions are to a game as CPR is to a dying man. Morbid I know but the point is this: Expansions for games are supposed to breathe life into the game itself. Instead of just putting a Band-Aid on the lifespan of my favorite game I would like to see something different.

In the past the WoW devs have answered our respective prayers for divine intervention and added new low-level and mid-level content. I want to see more of that. So what will happen in the next expansion after WotLK? Who knows, but this is what I would like to see. I know I've posted this before but this is an expanded list (an expansion if you will).

Into the Maelstrom
-A new race for both sides or maybe a neutral race? Half-naga, complete with water breathing and a built-in swim speed.

-Of course a class suited to the sea-faring type of adventurer. I'm thinking 'Mariner' or 'Swashbuckler'. A hybrid class capable of melee dps and wearing a max of mail armor. A rogue-warrior cross breed. It may help with tanking. Who knows, maybe the class has built-in damage mitigation so that it can tank?

-More content for leveling up your characters, not just another 10 levels. Complete with a new submerged city and sunken ruins to quest in. (Zone-wide water breathing would be required to reduce problems in leveling other races there; you know someone would want to.)

-A new type of mount that is water-based. Who wouldn't like a mount that has not only a 100% land speed but a 280% swim speed? Hippocampus? Dolphin? Something fish-like.

This is problematic I know, because not all races have a water-breathing ability. So how do you counteract this? Have an attunement quest that characters have to perform to get a water-breathing buff for these areas only. Just a few ideas to throw out there, something different. Maybe introducing a whole new continent and faction would be the key? Someone opposed to both the horde and the alliance.

Enter one of my creations, a race that is half demon, half elf. We already have them in the form of the demon-siphoning elves in hellfire peninsula. So we introduce the third faction of WoW, The Spawn, children of Kil'jaden.

Initial races could be half-breeds. Humans and blood elves have already been corrupted so let those two be the starting races. Give them a beginning area not unlike outland and offer new mid and high-level content based around the demonic theme. Maybe they start in the equivalent of 'hell' or one of it’s' layers. Each layer would offer a new range of content like moving from Westfall to the Redridge Mountains. So why send characters there? Why else, for expanding the territory and looking to defeat the latest menace. Or instead of hell maybe old Killy made plans to raise a whole new continent for his children?