Oh so angry...

Fairly upset about something that happened at work today, so yeah, I'm going to talk about something fun to distract me for awhile. lol.

One of the major things I've been trying to figure out for a long time (and I still have some time to think about it) is whether or not to get involved with either Cataclysm or SWtOR when either come out.

At this point, getting SWtOR is a foregone conclusion. I'll be getting that. There would have to be something serious to prevent me from getting that one, like the game not being printed.. lol. The gameplay looks somewhat new and innovative, although, it still looks fairly similar to the average MMO. They unfortunately braught the "Holy Trinity" into the game, however, from what I can tell, its thankfully not a WoW-clone. Alot of what I saw made sense from a lore and gameplay standpoint (Soldier doing ranged tanking instead of the Jedi, etc). It would be interesting to know how the endgame will play out in this game, specifically because its really where the "meat" of an MMO is. STO really failed here in my opinion, since it seemed like they just rushed it out the door without the back end being complete. Whether or not I actually play SWtOR seriously, I dunno. I can't say where I'm going to be personally/professionally by then (roughly Summer 2011 when the end game is going to be the focus). I suppose it really depends if people I know and want to play with go that way. Who am I kidding, I just want to force-strangle someone in PvP. :D

As for Cataclysm, I'm really interested at the new changes. On the surface, it seems like they're going to reducing the spec and gear optimization coefficients of the "How good are you"-equation. I wouldn't mind that, personally. I miss the days where skill and ability was more important than gear. In Wrath, if you had the gear, you could do the "A million monkeys at a million keyboards" approach and win with most encounters. I miss the days of Vanilla, where good players were rewarded, and idiots were kicked from the raid. Actually, to be more honest, I'm pining for the days of pre-nerf Karazhan. Yes, Karazhan. I really enjoyed that place before they nerfed the shit of out it. I'm hoping that it goes that way for the endgame. The only problems I foresee right now with being able to play are the following:

1. Will I have the time? - I'm not sure, I'd like to say that I will, but I guess that depends on where I am with my work. Things are looking fairly positive, but we'll see. Who knows, I might be a father by then. O.o

2. Where to go? - I have about three different places where I could probably play and be fairly comfortable, or at least have a place to hang my hat. Question is, what's going to work out the best?

We'll see. Unfortunately, I'm speculating on speculation.. woot. We'll see what happens in the long run, I guess. I suppose in the mean time, I'll just keep playing 360 when I get a chance, as well as being the Evil DM, tormenting my 4E group.

OH!

That reminds me, I have to inform my 4E group that they got TPK'd for mostly ditching out on the game at the last minute. Amazing how that happens. >.>

Wow, I've been neglecting this!

So yeah, with the weather getting better and not being tied to my computer with publishing or candidacy exams means that I stop blogging. Imagine that. lol.

Anyways, not much is new, the experimental work is proceeding fairly well, and should have some sort of working prototype within a week or two. I ended up diagnosing some serious roadblocks, with some simple fixes. In any case, serious positive work has been achieved. Yay.

I'm still not "playing" WoW... lol. Its been what, 6-7 months since I've taken a dose of the heroin-raiding stuff. However, something interesting happened in the WoW-world today. Something odd, wierd, and interesting that will turn guilds, servers, etc on their ear in the next expansion. I'm not certain where exactly this will end up, in terms of postitive-negative changes, but its going to change the landscape of the game.. forever.

The major, game changing change is: 10 man and 25 man raiding (for all intensive purposes) will be equal. Difficulty, loot level, raid ID's. The only difference is that 25 man raids will drop more loot (most likely the same ratio of people:loot).

What does this mean, generally?

YOU CAN RAID AS A SMALL GROUP OF FRIENDS AND EXPERIENCE THE FULL GAME/CONTENT, AND NOT BE PENALIZED FOR PLAYING WITH FRIENDS.

Wow.

This is a HUGE change. Now, you can play with your friends or a smaller circle of people with no penalty. Additionally, you end up not having to wrangle 25 people, which is the most painful part of running a guild or raid period. Smaller guilds are easier to manage, and really, the "work" into a guild would more or less dissapear.

I'm seriously, seriously, thinking of playing in Cataclysm. Why? Playing with good people, raiding for 2-3 nights a week? That's... almost.. manageable. Imagine that. Manageable raiding.