Loving the lore

Although not actively engaged in it I definitely have role playing tendencies. At least to the extent where I enjoy thinking about how my characters feel about the world, their personalities and their reactions to events in game, even if I don't actively play these things out in the game itself.

One of the things I very much enjoy about playing Warcraft is the lore and in Wrath I am enjoying the quest lines and story involvement more than ever. Blizzard have really stepped it up a notch with Wrath in my opinion and for several reasons. Firstly, there are DRAGONS! Lots of dragons! As a long time fan of these mythic beasts it's exciting to see them in game and from a lore perspective it's definitely great to get back to the main Azerothian story line started so long ago in the early stand alone games. Secondly, the amount of flavour and detail Blizzard has imbued into the world really adds to the immersion, and thirdly and perhaps most compellingly, the introduction of phasing technology means you feel as though you are actually having an impact on the story.

The battle of the Wrath Gate quest line is simply THE best, most epic, quest line ever and some of the most fun I have ever had in the game - especially in solo play. The long Marshal Windsor chain in vanilla WoW was certainly great and I'm glad I was able to experience it on Jez, but in my opinion the Wrath Gate sequence has taken it a step further. I won't go into details in case anyone reading this has not yet done the quest since I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone, but if you haven't done it yet I exhort you to go do so. Now.

I have dabbled in the past (several years ago now) in writing role play fiction through a forum based community and I did a fair bit of reading about writing fantasy fiction. One of the tenets I most clearly remember is in order for a fantasy fiction environment to succeed it must be clearly imagined and consistent. The community I was involved with wrote role play fiction based within Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time world and I had a massive guide I would refer to when writing to ensure authenticity with the world.

It's this incredible depth and richness of detail which I love about the World of Warcraft and think contributes strongly to it's ongoing popularity. There are of course other important aspects of the game that cause it to stand out from the crowd but for me the lore itself, and it's exposition within the game, is what anchors me in.

So much to do, so little time

Before Wrath hits. At least it's beginning to feel like the arrival of the new xpac is that much closer with it now in beta. Pike over at Aspect of the Hare recently blogged about not really worrying about all the new Lich King info flooding the internether since she has lots of current goals to work towards. I feel the same and have been ruminating on my game goals recently. Back in February I wrote a post listing my goals and looking back over them I've done pretty well - I've got my epic birdy for Jez, levelled Seph to 70, achieved exalted with Aldor and got together a reasonable PvP set (although that's an ongoing work in progress). The only goal from that list that I haven't achieved is my Netherdrake mount and quite honestly it's because I haven't been trying. Patch 2.4 came along and I started doing the SSO dailies and haven't been back out to the Ridge since. Bad Jez!

So what are my goals now? Well I have plenty! These are all things I'd like to achieve before WotLK but I doubt I'll manage them all, which is fine, I like to have a list of things to aim for so that if I get bored with one I can work on another.

1. Netherdrake mount - if I can get motivated to do the dailies again


2. Crocolisk pet


3. ZA bear mount


4. See Sunwell - the Badgers are 4/5 in Hyjal and 3/9 in BT now so there's hope


5. Level Katiya my mage to 70 - she's currently 45


6. Improve my PVP skills on Seph and Jez


7. Get a Mojo pet


8. Level Seph's leatherworking to 375


9. Attain my Champion of the Naaru title on Jez - just need to do heroic SL and Mags


10. Kill Kael and get my Hand of A'dal title for Jez


11. Attain the Vindicator PVP title on Jez

I could probably think of more but that's plenty to keep me busy - as well as farming for consumables for raiding including mats for some shadow resist gear for Mother in BT!

Are you hungering for Rash of the Itch King to arrive or do you have plenty to keep you happy and occupied in game right now?

Do you choose the spec or does the spec choose you

As usual I'm woefully behind on my blog feed reading. I usually manage to get caught up on the weekends but with this weekend being particularly full of in game action I didn't get around to it.

I was just reading Cynra's thoughts on Pike's Feelin' it manifesto (and it's well past due that I added you to my blog roll/feeds Ms Pike!) and it sparked an immediate reaction in me.

In my case I think the spec definitely chose me. As a young huntress with no knowledge of the intricacies of the different builds or really any knowledge of the broader game at all I went Beast Master. My reasoning was that since you have a pet you would surely want to get the most out of that relationship. Even when I was more knowledgeable about the game and knew that Marks was 'the' choice I still stayed true to Beast Master.

When I consider this choice from a role playing perspective it is because I see Jez and her stable of cats as having relationships of mutual respect and love. They operate as a partnership of two equals. In no way does Jez think of Sooty (or Snowfyre or Snaggle) as pets. The relationship is symbiotic. Jez would never be able to be as effective without her faithful companion by her side. If there is any kind of dependency it is of Jez on Sooty.

Some of my favourite fantasy fiction stories (or series) are concerned with characters with animal companions such as the Pern series by Anne McCaffrey and the Assassin Trilogy by Robin Hobb so that no doubt contributed to my choice as well.