The Tauren starting zone of Mulgore is finished. While it was a fun experience and many of the changes were incredibly positive, it’s time to move onto the first real zone of Cataclysm. Will it be the newly conceived northern half of the Barrens, or perhaps the shores of the goblin infested Azshara?

Into the Fold...

(In case you missed it, you'd do well to read part one of my in depth experience with Cataclysm before venturing forth!)

Being the Warcraft veteran that I am, I really wanted to see the new Barrens since I had spent so much time in its vacant confines. However, I was strangely compelled to visit Azshara, a zone I loathed back in the old world. I figured that if Blizzard really put the chisel to the world, Azshara would be a great testing ground for my criticism. So off we go!

Er... about getting to Azshara. How the hell do you?

You enter Azshara from the back of Orgrimmar. Yep, you heard me right. In the old world, the only way you could get there was by crossing a bridge from Ashenvale, which was the closest point to Orgrimmar. Whilst you can still enter that way, it's likely that you’ll just die at the hands of malicious elves, and nobody wants that.

And Orgrimmar isn’t even recognisable anymore. Construction machines and new additions to the Orc capital are found everywhere. There are mailboxes next to every major building, multiple auction houses, and several towers that take you up to the wind rider master. Thunder Bluff also shared copious amounts of mailboxes and multiple auctioneers, but as far as remodeling goes Orgrimmar absolutely demolishes it.

Now, where was I?


Ah yes, Azshara. If you’ve played Warcraft before, take what you know of the zone and erase it. Azshara resembles nothing of its past glory, and it’s all the better for it. The very first quests in the zone throw you into a goblin-shredder that allows you to cut down trees, elves and ancient spirits. As an introduction to a zone, you don’t get more badass than that. There’s also a massive race track that encircles the zone, and at any time you can walk up to a hub on the track and request a rocket from the benevolent goblin engineers. Since you don’t have your mount until level 20, these rockets provide a fast way to travel across the zone.

While I was enjoying myself with the brand new Azshara, I started to feel the pull of the instances. Luckily, as soon as this feeling hit I had achieved level 15. This is important because, after levelling, the game acknowledged my feat by bestowing upon me the greatest invention Blizzard has ever created: the Dungeon Finder. This nifty contraption pools together like-minded players who are looking to clear the same dungeon but aren’t on the same server. Remember waiting for hours to get into an instance and always spamming something like “LFG STRAT 60 Rogue?” Those days are completely gone. You even receive a bonus to your statistics for the duration of the instance if you find a group with the Dungeon Finder. It’s pretty awesome.

About the instances; some have been overhauled but the rest remain largely unchanged. Ragefire Chasm, the Horde’s first instance, hasn’t seen any change while the Deadmines are all brand-spankin' new. Although, you will notice that all quests relevant to the instance you’re in will be found at the beginning of the dungeon. Rejoice; no more running across the world and wasting time! You can also press the “M” key at anytime to see a map with all the locations of the dungeon’s bosses. This helps immensely, especially when you’re unfamiliar with a particular instance.


After exiting each instance I always had a handful of quests to turn in and I’d almost always level at least once. Before I knew it, I was back in Azshara handing in green quests because I leveled so much from each instance. I should also note that with certain professions you gain experience when you harvest materials. That means anytime you pick some flowers or mine for gold you’re getting additional experience. It’s not a bad thing, but it does have me a bit concerned that I’ll be of too high a level to finish the zone since I'm a jewelcrafter (and mining is a necessity!). The last thing I want is to be handing in grey quests for no reason.

Unfortunately, upon returning from my instance binge my fears were realised. The quests in my possession were practically all green or grey. I wouldn’t get to finish Azshara after all, but I had to press on to see where this particular chain I was working on took me. I’m glad I did. Turns out, the chain was part of Archmage Xylem’s specialty quests which, as of now, are the best quests I’ve completed. Not only did I have to dodge projectiles that would fling me off the mountain, but upon reaching the summit Xylem tasked me with a series of trials. These puzzle-like quests had you do certain things like dodging fire or moving in special patterns. It’s the most unique form of questing I’ve seen in this game yet. And yes, there are achievements for these things too.

Final Thoughts:

Azshara is a pretty awesome-looking zone and I adore the changes Blizzard has brought forth. While I missed out on actually finishing the whole area, quests like Xylem's made my experience more unique and fun. Even more than that, the Dungeon Finder is something I've been waiting on for a long time. I love being able to do my standard play while waiting for a group to come together. This tool has single-handedly made the game more manageable and efficient.

That, and Orgrimmar is badass.

Labels: 2011, Activision Blizzard, Adventures in Cataclysm, Andrew Whipple III, Blizzard, Cataclysm, Feature, MMORPG, PC, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Since the dawn of time, man has asked himself many fundamental questions. Do humans define morality, or has the universe been ingrained with an underlying 'ultimate good?' Is it possible to bend or break the fabric of space and time- in a DeLorean? Could it be, that in a cosmos filled with billions of billions of planets, stretching myriad millions of light-years in all directions, soaring far beyond the scope of human imagination, that an omnipotent, celestial creator founded our miniscule, fragile race in his own image, out of a desire to manifest in each and every one of us the chemical reaction known as love?

There is perhaps one question, one great enigma, that towers loftily above all the rest, puzzling scientists, philosophers, and theologists for centuries without end...

Which is more awesome: a tiny, green, hyper-capitalistic New Jersey hobbit, or a furry, perpetually shirtless, ferocious half-man with a mind like a human, but a form like a wolf ^[1]?

That argument will be decided, once and for all, on this cold January day, thanks to computers, over twenty (wasted?) hours of game time, and the starting zones of the worgen and goblins as found in the World of Warcraft. It'll be a good, old fashioned time.

Let's begin.

The Goblins

First, let's take a look at the goblins. Cue theme music.


You start your character at the height of his career, mere hours from his or her promotion to the coveted position of Trade Prince. Titles that describe you may include Sultan of Silver, Rex of Rupees, Luchadore of Labour Union Beatdowns.


If money is power, then hail to the king, baby. Your economic reach in the Bilgewater Cartel makes the Trump Empire look like a neighbourhood lemonade stand. On your island home of Kezan, there isn't a goblin alive with your celebrity, charisma or sway. Trade Prince Gallywix may think he's got more of the stuff than you, but he's a fossilised has-been. You're the future of this company, and every goblin knows it. There couldn't possibly be a single being alive who could crash your sweet, sweet gravy train, surely?


... except maybe Deathwing.

When that dragon shows up, he changes things, breathing life into the volcano perched threateningly above your island paradise with a blaze. Mere minutes before your promotion to Trade Prince, you lose everything you've ever held dear - that is, your fortune - paid in exchange for safe passage from incineration on Trade Prince Gallywix's private yacht. You experience all that a goblin prays he'll never experience, and set off from your smoldering island a penniless slave.



Luckily for you, the Alliance blasts a hole in Gallywix's pleasure schooner, determined to prevent any witnesses from seeing them flatten a horde armada and steal it's precious, special cargo. Though many goblins die, you somehow manage to stay alive, thanks to a pair of goblin jumper cables and a doctor with astronomical resuscitation fees.


Waking up somewhere on the fabled Lost Isles, you quickly realise that every living thing on that island hates goblins. Raptors, pygmies, naga; they're all racists bent on destroying your kind. With sword/staff/boomstick in hand, you undertake an action few goblins resort to: you put on your war pants and fight.

Without explaining the entire remaining plot, I'll simply say that your character proves his worth as the hero of the Bilgewater Cartel repeatedly on those tropical deathtraps. First, you safeguard your people from raptors, monkeys, and cannibal pygmy-zombies by killing their giant fire-tortoise god, shooting it with a bazooka in the face. Then, you find strong allies for your goblinfolk in the Horde. Finally, you rescue the secret that was captured by the Alliance: a captive Warchief by the name of Thrall.


You may have heard of him.


Everything you do in the goblin starting zone is exciting, fun, and just damned epic. It's quirky and ridiculous, but in a good way. Quests like driving your hot rod around Kezan to pick up your entourage, or putting down zombified goblin compatriots by hovering over them with flaming jet boots, are unforgettable.


The goblin starting zone is, without a doubt, the best starting zone in the game. It is also, without a doubt, better than the starting zone for worgen.

...but what about those worgen, say you? Did Blizzard leave them any love? Why choose a wolf-man if the goblins clearly have a better starting zone?

It's because the worgen don't climax early ^[2]. Read on and I'll explain.

The Worgen

Cue theme music two.

The starting zone for Gilneas is less cheery than the goblins'. Your people, a proud nation of human isolationists led by the stoic King Greymane, grew fed up with fighting far-off battles during the second war. Withdrawing from their pact with Stormwind and Lordaeron, they built a wall around their gothic Victorian kingdom and abandoned the Alliance, successfully turning inward, as orcs, humans and even Arthas and the undead Scourge wrought myriad suffering outside their massive gates.


Imagine Switzerland, only instead of chocolate and watches, think top hats, elitist Oxford accents and rustic 18th century suits.

Safe though they were from forces outside, King Greymane and the citizens of Gilneas never bothered to check for monsters under their own bed. Unbeknownst to them, feral worgen summoned by the Scourge wizard Arugal in nearby Shadowfang Keep somehow infiltrated their 'impenetrable' Greymane Wall and roamed free inside Gilneas. Slowly but surely the rogue monsters spread their unholy infection to unsuspecting woodsman until their numbers swelled.

Suddenly, after years of peace, a veritable army of transformed Gilnean worgen assault the city of Gilneas itself during a dark night storm. Cornered and horribly outnumbered, the human Gilneans - led by their prince, Liam Greymane - fight bitterly against the encroaching worgen on rainy street corners, knowing full well that they wage a war not only for their city, but for their unafflicted human souls.


In comes your character, a young Gilnean eager to defend your homeland from the nightmare now assailing it. You aid Prince Liam in a vicious counterattack, beating back the worgen with the ferocity of the beasts themselves. By enlisting the help of Crowley, an imprisoned rebel with underground ties outside of the city, you bait the worgen into a trap, luring them into the range of rebel cannons and slaughtering them in great droves outside the city cathedral.


Unfortunately, you are bitten in the process, and your body gives way to the horrible change just as the battle reaches its hottest.



Suddenly you feel different... Your ears seem flea-ridden, a well thrown ball or stick is all it takes to throw your attention span wildly off course, and try as you might, you just can't stop thinking about bacon. You, my friend, have become a worgen.


Now that you've become both man and his best friend, you're ready to continue protecting your city, family, and friends. Unfortunately for you, Lord Godfrey, a Gilnean noble who visits you in your cage once you've transformed, is a big-time worgen racist. The man does not like wolf-men. He and Professor Lupin don't go out for drinks. So when the Cataclysm sends a wall-shattering earthquake ripping through the Greymane Wall, he vehemently disapproves of King Greymane's decision to dope your hulking, furry frame up with a miraculous keep-your-mind-human-though-your-body-is-worgen wonder drug and send you charging to the front so that you can try your fangs out on an enemy famished for fresh Gilnean blood: the undead Forsaken.


Led by the Dark Ranger Sylvanas herself the undead storm Gilneas, taking the city and putting its remaining citizens to the sword. Alive but on the run, King Greymane and the surviving Gilneans rally outside the city, using trickerous guerrilla tactics to keep the Dark Lady well at bay. Meanwhile, the Cataclysm wreaks even more havoc on your homeland - unleashing torrential floods that cause the nearby ocean to overflow well over the razor keen coral reefs which harass outside forces attempting to reach Gilneas by sea.


With their passage ublocked, night elf druids arrive in secret, bringing word that the undead in the area have found an invaluable relic: the Scythe of Elune. Kill a few guards, deliver the Scythe to the night elves, partake in an ancient night elf ritual, and bam! Your worgen can now control his feral tendencies. Also, it turns out both Crowley and your brave and fearless King Greymane are themselves worgen. It's one big, furry family.


I'll skim over what happens next. First, Godfrey plots to kill everyone alive who's somewhat likable. You foil his plan, cursing his sudden but inevitable betrayal. Then, you retake the city in an epic battle, sadly losing your fearless captain Liam Greyman in the process. While playing ninja and listening to a secret conversation, you discover Sylvanas wants to unleash a plague to wipe out every Gilnean left alive after the battle. A somber Greymane decides to retreat to lesser territory that's not about to be ravaged with glow-in-the-dark-neon liquid plague, and your remaining Gilneans push past orcish and undead forces to night elf ships, which whisk you safely to Darnassus.


The end.

.........................or is it?

After playing both races, this is why I ended up enjoying the worgen more than the goblins. While the goblins have the best starting zone in Warcraft, their story climaxes at level 13. You fight off the Alliance, you save Thrall, you slap around Gallywix, and you are proclaimed the most amazing goblin ever to grace the employee records of your people. It climaxes too early for me to care about leveling up to 85. Why should I? Besides perhaps slaying Deathwing, this character has done all that he needs to do - his story is over.

The worgen, meanwhile, are nowhere near finished with their saga. These people - the survivors of Gilneas - have a definite score to settle. The undead take their lands, conscript their fallen brethren into undeath, ravage their farms and homes with plague, and set up camp. They don't leave. I can't imagine a worse situation for a citizen of Gilneas. I can tell you right now, if undead forces suddenly raided Denver, Colorado, eating my loved ones before my eyes, infecting them with vapourous insta-cancer, and resurrecting them as bitter, love-hating zombies, I'd be grabbing my boomstick and preparing for a long war.

The worgen story is not over. It's far from climaxing. And it's ten times more interesting than a goblin story that ends at chapter one.

So if you're looking at starting zones alone? The goblins win more 'awesome points', hands down. But if you're reading the entire novel? The worgen have a better - or at least a longer - story to tell.

Greg out.

Footnotes

[1] The latter being reminiscent of dear Uncle Steve, the unshowered, unshaved PTSD victim who concludes that every bad occasion, from 9/11 to spilling paint in the garage, is the result of "that ass-backwards leadership in Vietnam."

[2] That is, in fact, what she said.

Labels: 2011, Cataclysm, Feature, Greg Mengel, MMORPG, PC, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Greg Mengel takes his own personal perspective on games and gaming culture in his column, State of the Union. State of the Union is published twice monthly on the second and fourth Saturday of each month.

I have a few recurring dreams. In one, I enter REM to find myself a roving, staff-wielding adventurer in an arid post-apocalyptic wasteland. Various friends pulled from the memories of various stages of my life are always with me - together we make up a tattered band of survivors with one goal: to make an exodus to some mythical safe place, perhaps a mountain aerie or an island somewhere, where we can finally be free of the massive undead horde that is always chasing us. Unfortunately, we usually don't quite make it, which means that more often than not, my first instinct after waking up is to check frantically for any chunks of flesh or skin removed by zombie bite. In another dream, I am one of the birds from Planet Earth who migrates with his flock over the Himalayas. This one is sort of like Watership Down, in that it involves talking animals undertaking some sort of adventure. My bird friends and I either get lost, or are attacked by hunters, and must lead ourselves and our fellow feathery migrators to safety. In yet another dream, I'm Franklin D. Roosevelt playing the part of Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. Ever imagined Leia and FDR swinging over that gap in the Death Star on FDR's wheelchair? I have: many times, in detail.

My most recent recurring dream, however, is (barring the release of the rage virus and an imminent Book of Revelations style nuclear meltdown) the most possible fantasy of the bunch. In it, I'm relaxing, reclining on the most comfortable couch in my living room next to Thor, a bikini-clad albino grizzly bear holding a unicycle, and the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Together, we are enjoying a superhero-themed MMORPG on the PlayStation 3. Suddenly, I refuse to share the controller and give the bear a turn, so she (or he: it's a kinky animal kingdom out there) throws the unicycle directly at my forehead, injuring my pride and knocking me unconscious. That's when I wake up.

I believe that this dream, with or without the sexy bears and ethereal dead presidents, will come to fruition sooner rather than later. Like many in the gaming community, I am a firm believer that MMORPGs have huge potential to be successful on the console screen. This was not always so. Once, I could point to five main reasons supporting the theory that console MMOs would all end in a fireworks show of failure and defeat.

Communication
How will people interact with one another? USB Keyboard? Headset? Webcam? Telepathy?

Interface/layout/general gameplay
Try imagining an MMO style of gameplay that doesn't rely on pointing and clicking with a mouse. It takes work.

Home improvement
Updates, patches, expansions - that's a lot to store on one console's hard drive.

Culture shock
Going from PC to console, or from traditional console game to console MMO? For hardcore gamers, making that change will be like moving from Cleveland to the Orion Nebula.

Fees
Divvying up per-month costs with parent companies like Microsoft is tough work.

A few years ago, these reasons seemed as sound to me as Gospel. Now, however, my opinion has turned 180. The first reason? Consoles have become dramatically more experienced at providing online support in the last few years. If I had been a game developer considering adopting a console MMORPG project in 2007, I would have been wary as to whether or not a console could handle the server and manpower stresses of a popular, massive online role-playing game. Now that the PS3 and 360 have proven that they can handle staggering numbers of online gamers at one time, that worry has, for a large part, been proven wrong. Consoles have proven that they can handle the humongous number of players expected to be online at once in any decently popular MMO.

The second reason is that design-wise, I've begun to move past thinking of MMORPGs only in their traditional point-and-click, menu-interface-based sense. To be an MMO, a game doesn't have to play like the love child of Dungeons and Dragons and Everquest; it only has to allow players to enter a massively interactive online world as a unique playable character. That's it for the requirements of the genre. The gameplay can be whatever it wants to be, as long as the interaction is there and players are given the chance to explore their setting by taking on the role of characters who are not themselves. On that note, creating a console MMO is only infeasible when developers focus on transporting a PC MMO style of gameplay to the console, rather than creating a unique console MMO design from the ground up. For a console MMORPG to truly succeed, it has to be its own unique creation, not the glorified mod of a PC game that already exists. It has to follow leads like this.

So the question now becomes, why haven't designers been focusing on creating unique console MMO experiences already? If these console-specific game designs already exist, why aren't they being produced? The answer is simple: money. Unfortunately, making games is a business, and World of Warcraft was - and is - a legendary business success. It was so successful, in fact, that nearly every greedy game producer in the industry wants to breed (and eventually milk) their own cash cow by imitating it. So instead of funding the production of new game concepts (such as console MMOs made as console MMOs), they put their financial support behind what they consider to be a sure thing, dropping their money directly in the face of game design progress.

This brings me to my final concern - divvying up profits from subscription fees (which, as I stated above, World of Warcraft proved MMOs can produce in amounts that would make Lex Luthor cry tears of happiness). This is the last thing holding back studios like Cryptic, whose arguments with Microsoft over the distribution of profits have led them back out on early declarations that their superhero and Star Trek themed MMOs (Champions Online and Star Trek Online respectively) were being developed for console play on the Xbox 360. This happened twice in the last year. Thus far, console parent companies have made it abundantly clear that they want to share a slice of the profits accumulated by any game being played on their system, a notion which is hard for developers - who, as far as I know, never had to give a percentage of their monthly fees to Microsoft or Apple when making MMORPGs for the PC) - to get behind.

So why am I so sure that popular console MMOs are on their way, given the fact that imitative game producers and companies like Microsoft are blocking them at every turn, demanding toll fees on the road to console MMO greatness? The answer is simple: because there's too much money to be lost for console parent companies by not supporting a great massively multiplayer role-playing game, playable only on their system; a sort of franchise MMO. If it succeeded, a game like that would keep people attached to a console not just for months, but for years, just as MMOs like World of Warcraft have kept people attached to their keyboards and monitors throughout an otherwise grim dark age for game sales on the PC. Someday soon - perhaps at the genesis of the next console generation - Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft will realise that they have too much to lose by refusing to put a large quantity of their eggs in the console MMO basket.

Time to put on my prophesying pants. Now I don't know, as I'm not a doctor, but here's my bold claim - on this day in May 2010, I hereby predict that we're two to three years away from playing a hugely anticipated, extremely well-funded, console-exclusive massively multiplayer online role-playing game. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Your thoughts? Is the gaming industry really headed controller-first into a console MMO era? If so, is that a good thing? Does the idea of playing a franchise console MMO make you happy? Angry? Sad? Hungry? Should I see a psychologist to work through these disturbing dreams I've been having? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

That's it for this installment. Come back in just under two weeks for yet another dose of pure, unadulterated State of the Union, or a bikini-clad bear will throw a unicycle at you, and you'll be haunted by Abraham Lincoln's ghost. That shit happens.

Greg

Labels: Columns, Greg Mengel, MMO, MMORPG, Psychologically disturbing dreams, State of the Union

I really want to be a superhero. I mean, really. If it were fashionable, I would go to work wearing tights and a cape. Part of me is now, and will always be, indignant at the American education system for not supporting Masked Vigilantism as an acceptable college major. So I'm obviously attracted to any games that allow me to live my fantasy, if through the fourth wall.

I've only been playing for two days, but so far Champions Online is the closest I've come to actually being a superhero, even if it is in a game. Once, in real life, I chased a mouse out of my basement with a broadsword. That was as close as I've ever actually come. Champions comes close to that. It's almost mouse worthy.

The game came out on the 1st September here in the States, and hits your European shelves on the 4th September (tomorrow!). If you've played City of Heroes, you'll have a basic idea of the gameplay in Champions. Just consider it City of Heroes, evolved. Powers are clicked or hotkeyed into use, as with most MMORPGs. Some, like the block button, must be held down during combat. It's an interesting system, simple in theory but more difficult in practice than you'd think, especially when compared to games with purely click-and-watch-what-happens systems, like World of Warcraft. The difference is crisp and refreshing.

The aesthetics of the game already have me feeling like my purchase was worthwhile. The moves are zany, the music is sweepingly epic, and the costumes are a case study in the creativity of the human brain. I constantly feel like I took a wrong turn and winded up in some kind of video game superhero-based Narnia.

So it seems amazing - but that's only after two days of play. All is usually not well in paradise. Already, I can see the possibility of repetitiveness and boredom in certain elements of the gameplay and level design. It is, after all, an MMORPG, and that's a genre famous for driving people in circles until the Ragnarok.

That being said, I'm going to wait at least a week before I post a full review on Champions. That'll give me all the time I need to give you readers a confident, well-rounded opinion. It's an MMO - you want a full review.

If you're just dying to hear more from me about the game now, just pester me with comments on this post and I'll respond. Use lots of caps lock to get my attention. It's the internet equivalent of making loud noises or shining bright, flashy lights at my pupils when I'm trying to sleep. It'll get my attention.

Greg

Labels: Champions Online, First impressions, Greg Mengel, MMO, MMORPG

Earlier this year Microsoft annouced that Ensemble Studios -creator of Age of Empires- would be being shut down after the company had finished development of Halo Wars. Recent screenshots and concept art however, show that Ensemble had been working on a new MMO for Microsoft. Judging by these shots and other rumours, this MMO was to be based on the Halo universe.There has been evidence that Ensemble was working on an MMO since 2006, when it began hiring for an MMO project, no information was released however, linking this MMO to Halo.

Sci-fi MMOs rarely work well, you only have to look at the infamous reputation of Star Wars: Galaxies, the recently annouced to shut down, Tabula Rasa and the general unpopularity of both of these games to see this.

Perhaps the abandoning of a Halo MMO is a good thing, perhaps we gamers have dodged an MMO bullet?

Lewis

Labels: Halo, MMORPG, Writer's note

Star Wars: The Old Republic was first hinted at back in October 2007 as a Knights of the Old Republic MMORPG and rumours have been whispered about weather Sony will be developing LucasArts newest Star Wars MMO and if they would cock it up the same way they did with Star Wars: Galaxies.

On October 21^st, 2008 it was announced that The Old Republic (TOR) is to be developed by BioWare, the same company who made the Knights of the Old Republic the Star Wars legend it is today. The game is said to be set roughly 200 years after the second Knights game. At the moment only a minimal amount of details have been publically released but it is known that you will be able to play as a Jedi or Sith initiate but we hope you can be given a wider variety of classes to play from except Jedi vs. Sith.

BioWare has built itself a reputation of inputting exceptional storylines into their RPGs and the founders of BioWare - Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuck- think that MMOs lack any real story, with any luck this means TOR will be the first MMO with a genuine storyline. At least, that’s what the developers tell us, so it must be true…right?

Up until now this is all the information that could be found but you can all sleep easily knowing we will keep you updated on any new news.

Lewis

Labels: KOTOR, MMORPG, Star Wars, TOR