The Diary of Atherya Sunleaf - Entry 5: Hillsbrad

29th Day of Spring

   Green! It's Green! There's actually Green out here! The further south I travelled from Silverpine Forest, the greener the land grew! I ended up following the road into a place called Hillsbrad, just south of the Alterac Mountains. It was a beautiful place, and I would have stayed had the presence of the Forsaken not been so strong. I realise that these Undead are not the Scourge, and are, in fact, our allies, but for the life of me, I can't get comfortable around them. They may not be the monsters of the Scourge, but they're still very vicious for being fully in control of themselves. Everything they do, they do consciously, and with full knowledge of its consequences. I couldn't bear it anymore, so I followed the road on through, hoping to find something else further on.

   As I followed the road west, though, I did pass a very interesting place. Durnholde Keep. This was where the old Warchief, Thrall, was raised. As I understand it, he was born nearby but his parents were killed, and he was found by Humans. He was taken to Durnholde Keep, which was an internment camp at the time, and was raised there as a gladiator by its owner, a Human named Blackmoore. He befriended a young girl named Taretha, I think her name was, and she slipped him books and things and educated him in secret. In the end, he managed to break out from the place with her help, and freed all of the Orcs, but it cost her her life. After that, with the help of Orgrim Doomhammer, he created the new Horde, travelled to Kalimdor and set up a peaceful life for his race away from all the Humans.

   I went in there as I passed. The place is utterly deserted, but I think I caught a glimpse of an enormous elemental as I walked along the walls. I managed to avoid them, however, and got a look inside the ruined cabins. They're burned down and in a bad way, but it's clear that the orcs were imprisoned in a very small space. There are still ball-and-chains on the ground and old beds squashed near one another. The more I walked around the place, the more I wished I could have gone back in time and witnessed the break-out. I'm sure it was spectacular.

   I'm just about at the Arathi Highlands, now. It seems just as green as Hillsbrad, though perhaps a little flatter. Either way, I'm excited to explore the place.

-- Atherya Sunleaf              

Reign of Fire WoW TCG Expansion Sneak Preview

   Developer Dan Clark has shed some light on the newest WoW TCG expansion, Reign of Fire, recently, giving us the first real glimpse of its new cards, including 2 new Master Heros. This trading card expansion focuses heavily on the invasion of Demons, known as the Burning Legion, and includes a new mechanic: Portals. It was initially touched on in War of the Ancients, but due to the desire to focus on a few of the races, portals were put somewhat on the backburner. There was a glimpse of it in the Betrayal of the Guardian expansion, but now it's out in force.

   To read more of the original article, follow this link to the Cryptozoic WoW page.

   There will be sneak previews of the expansion in stores on the 20th and 21st of July, before its release on the 23rd.

Cataclysm - The Positives

   Cataclysm is considered one of the worst expansions on WoW, mainly due to the fact that the end-game content was so poor. But what people seem to forget when they think back are the positives. This is, in part, because one or two of them aren't present anymore (such as Deathwing's destructive fly-overs), and because others are taken for granted. In this post, I will list my personally favourite aspects of Cataclysm.

Screenshot by Kiyoine

Deathwing's Flyovers

   I mentioned that just now. I remember saying to Koruth, the first time I was killed by his flame in Uldum, that Deathwing was the only villain to truly present himself to the world. The others hid in fortresses, ordering their minions about, but Deathwing took destruction into his own claws. As someone who doesn't raid for personal reasons, I never really got to see anything of any of the bosses apart from their lower subordinates, and I never encountered the villains themselves until the expansion was out-dated (although, having said that, the Halls of Reflection was pretty sweet when the Lich King chased you. That was so scary!). But there was Deathwing, flying around over any zone, just setting fire to everything.
   I will admit it was a bit of an inconvenience at one point: I was levelling my shaman through the new Stonetalon Mountains, and I had been in a mine for the last ten minutes. Just as I stepped out of the mine, POW, fire on my face. It's quite hot when you get your face in it. I died immediately, of course, and as my ghost ran back, the entire zone was ablaze. I had to wait just inside the mine for a further then minutes, waiting for the fire to subside. Though, despite the inconvenience, I did still think it was so awesome.

Screenshot by Neutronimity

Dungeon Difficulty
   I'm a bad and lazy player. That's not to say I refuse to work for rewards, because I will, but I don't like my expectations to be thrown around. Up until Cata, as a warlock, all I had to do was stand and cast, whether it was a level 40 dungeon or level 80 Heroic. I realise, of course, that that is exactly why they were changed, but it seriously put me off of dungeons. I used to do virtually nothing but dungeons in Wrath, but when Cata changed the way dungeons worked, I stopped running them - I only managed to get exalted with Ramkahen.
   Having said that, though, I admit that harder dungeons were more entertaining. I'd never raided before, so I didn't know where to go to find tactics - because you needed tactics for dungeons in Cata - and that caused us to wipe a few times due to my own mistakes. I learned quickly enough, though, and I was able to run most dungeons with no problem. It made things a lot more interesting for a lot of people. Unforunately, being a carer and unable to do anything I couldn't drop at a moment's notice, these new dungeons were a personal inconvenience, but otherwise, they were pretty sweet (though I can't say I'm pleased to have slightly easier dungeons back).

The Molten Front

   There were other patches, but in all honesty, I don't remember them. The Firelands patch is the only one I remember. The Molten Front, in particular. It differed greatly from the main body of Cata, given that dailies had finally returned. And there were a lot of them. I loved that the quest hubs increased as you progressed. You started out small, and it gradually expanded further into the Firelands. It was so cool. The zone had several unique features, such as navigating those floating rocks to get to the nest site, awesome little caves where you had to collect or activate runes on the ground and get away from elementals and stuff, and of course the awesome hot air vents that propelled you forwards. They were awesome - if you did them right. Koruth always did. I always lagged behind.

   Then, as a hunter, there were more goodies what with the taming challenges. I've told you before how awful a player I am, so Koruth got most, if not all, of those pets for me. I did try several times before failing miserably. They were very difficult but very rewarding at the end, since not every hunter would succeed. I did see a nice etiquette for the most part, one person trying at a time - even forming an orderly line at some points. It sucked when the person before you succeeded, of course, but then you just come back another day. There were one or two points where there was one particular douchebag who would come in and steal other people's tames. He'd bring his Druid buddy, who would steal aggro, then he'd take aggro and tame them. I saw this one person do this about three different times, and his excuse was that someone did it to him. There's no helping some people.

Levelling 1-60

   This is something which is often forgotten. I believe that it's safe to assume most of us made a new character during Cata, what with the release of the Goblins and Worgen, and the new race/class combinations. Personally, I made a Troll Hunter (yes, I know, hardly a new combo) because I wanted to see the new Troll starting zone. I did roll a Worgen (one of the few Alliance races I actually like) and a Goblin but it took some time for me to bother getting them to any high level. Only my Worgen Druid made it to 85, and she's still there now.

   But it was the levelling which always put me off of making new characters, so I never bothered. But then when they released Cata, levelling really changed. Lots of zones got face-lifts, lots of quests changed, and the whole feel of Azeroth changed. I personally preferred the Eastern Kingdoms - a continent I had originally despised - over Kalimdor after Cata, because it was more humourous and interesting. If you were looking for a more serious levelling experience with an air of war, then Kalmidor was more for you. It was nice to have the differing options, really. And while I made so many characters (few made it to max level, however), I have grown quite sick of levelleing through 1-60 again, it was still a much needed addition to the game. Of course, now you really burn out when you hit Outland, and you really have to push yourself through it.

Archaeology

   Oh so so good. I love it. I do. I've always had a passion for history, and I think that's where my interest in WoW's lore stems from, even though that is technically the history of a fictional world. I just love the study of civilisation after major events have occurred, and seeing the resolutions, aftermath and whether anyone has learned any lessons (in short: no). So when Archaeology was released, I was so excited. I didn't understand how it would work, though. It was said that digsites would be all over the world, and I had assumed that they meant actual digsites, and that they would be full of people all the time. I relaxed a little when they went on to say that other people wouldn't be able to take what you 'dug up' so I figured that the items would be phased or tagged or something. I was pleasantly surprised with how it actually worked, though I do admit to enjoying the digsites that spawn in actual digsites a little more. This was one of the things that MoP brought that I actually didn't like. I hated how the little grey items you dug up from archaeology were all worth the same, and could all be 'crated', eventhough those crates weren't used for anything truly exciting. It sort of ruined the value behind artifacts - from common things like coins worth very little, to things like pots and urns and stuff which were much rarer and more valuable, in both gold and history.

What was added in Cata that you liked? Was there something I put on the list that you absolutely hated?

New World of Warcraft Character Models

Update: Blizz have confirmed that the new WoW Character Models will be released with the next expansion, Warlords of Draenor. Read more here.

 

   Most of you have probably already seen this blue post tweet, but I thought I'd talk about it for a moment.

   In the past, Blizzard stated that remaking character models was a risk, because a lot of people make their characters based on what they saw at the time of creation, and that if they suddenly changed the way character models look, then their old and loved characters may not be quite as loved any more.

   But so many people have complained about the massive difference between Vanilla races and the Worgen and Pandaren (aside from a lush coat of fur) that perhaps it's not such a bad idea. I expect Blizzard also felt that the difference was quite large, too, so it was about time for an update.

   Personally, I'm glad they're going ahead with it. Sure, I love how my characters look, but I can't say I wouldn't want an update. But, of course, we don't know just how much will change - however I'm relatively certain that a female Troll won't suddenly be given an extra pair of arms and become five foot taller. In truth, I don't think I'd have much to complain about.

   Their skeletons will certainly change, and that affects a lot, including movement, so with new models, movements like running and (more likely) expressions will be reworked to look more fluid. This also means that their bodies will probably change - that doesn't mean that some races will shrink and others will get fat. It just means that their skin might fit them differently, that some races might become slightly broader and so on. This is all speculation on my part, of course, knowing nothing about how game development works.

Some things I'd like to see changed (but won't cry about not being addressed):

• Undead symmetry. I find the rotting on the models to be too convenient. Sure, I guess the knees and elbows would wear away with constant rubbing, given the nature of the areas, but I still think it's too symmetrical. I've never dug up a dead body, but I'm relatively sure that the rotting would be less predictable. What I'd like to see is simply less symmetrical rotting. Though, in an ideal world, there would be an extra customisation option featuring three or four different rotting options, just for that little bit more. Perhaps even some kind of customisation option giving suggestion to how the individual originally died - an obvious stab wound or something like that - though that might admittedly upset roleplayers a little.

• Female Troll idle weight shifting. Female Trolls have a few problems. The males are hunched, and the females are not, so it would be nice to see a bit more similarity between the two sexes, and the female Trolls also don't blink at all. But my biggest upset is the female Troll idle animation. They shift their weight, which is very simple, and it means when taking a screen shot of your character you don't have to worry about her suddenly crouching down and looking around herself suspciously. But, they shift their weight very suddenly and very stiffly, as if they're stuck in a very narrow invisible box. Blood Elf females have a similar problem but at the other end of the spectrum, by shifting weight too dramatically. Although, they look bored at the time and I think that's the point. It would be nice to see more fluid idle animations from the females, which I'm sure would probably be addressed anyway.
• Hands. Oh God, hands. They're bigger than their faces. I was looking at Atherya today when taking a screen shot, and her hands...I hadn't noticed it before, what with gloves and all, and for some reason I thought it would improve when I increased the graphics, but her hands are so bad! They're far from delicately female and Elven. The same goes, really, for all races pre-Cata. It would be nice to have finer fingers. And smaller hands. *smooshes hand against face* No, my hand is not larger than my face.

   What about the Blood Elves & Draenei? I'm not so certain they'd be included. Death Knights were added in Wrath, rather than a new race (but you did get a few new customising features), which means there's a bigger difference between the BC and Cata races than between Cata and MoP or Vanilla and BC. They do have better skeletons than the Vanilla races, and more interesting (but annoying) idle animations. [Note: I cannot comment personally on Draenei, having never levelled one past level 11].
• Blood Elf female faces. I hated Blood Elf female faces. I always thought they looked extremely snooty and stuck up. Night Elves were always this way, but they haven't retained the look. I just feel like Belf females look like total bitches. It probably also doesn't help that (after forming this opinion) I knew someone who then made a Belf and was, in fact, a generally horrible (and insane) person. Sure, Atherya is a Blood Elf, and I chose the least bitchy face I could find without making her look ditsy. It would just be nice to have more of a variation. Most Belf female faces look the same.

• Idle animations. Okay, admittedly this isn't something that really needs to be 'fixed' and neither does it have anything to do with skeletons. It's just personal preference, but I'll state it while I'm here: I cannot stand the male Blood Elf idle animation. At the risk of sounding really 90's, I can think of no other word to describe as other than 'naff'. I can't stand that "What did you say? Oh my god, seriously? You cretin." sort of stance they take. It's specifically the middle part of the expression that bothers me. The surprised look. I tried to screenshot it for this post but my computer actually froze on the most annoying part. I didn't even get the screenshot.


   There is another danger to updating models. I was reading a forum topic about models looking outdated. Understandably, as time goes by, graphics get better, and each new expansion adds onto that. But when Vanilla was released, the graphics were probably considered quite good, and the characters were just the same. Time has passed, and each new expansion brought out models with more detailed skeletons, to the point that the Pandaren are the greatest model in-game, and the Vanilla models are outdated. So they're going to fix them. But by doing that, the Burning Crusade models are out dated. And once they're updated, the Cataclysm models will be outdated - though perhaps not to the same degree as the others. I fully agree with the need for new character models - afterall, they're our characters, you literally see them the whole time you play the game - but then where will the expectations end?


   Not all of the things I've listed above will be seen to. The hands likely will, and fluid female troll idle animations, but little annoyances and the like won't be - it's personal preference, anyway! But, if you could change anything about WoW models, what would it be? (please don't say anything about female bodies or anything like that, that's not quite what I'm trying to get at here.)

The Diary of Atherya Sunleaf - Entry 4: Silverpine Forest

21st Day of Spring

   Silverpine Forest is a bitter place. There is little healthy life - every other squirrel I have come across is infected by something, and though I had no idea what it was initially, I soon found out, and I've killed them through mercy whenever I've found them since.

   I do not understand the Forsaken. I had always pitied them, and Sylvanas Windrunner especially, since she was once what I was, but since the Lich King fell, they have changed their focus from revenge on a single soul, to revenge on any living thing. I was beside the Dark Lady herself when I witnessed the powers of the Val'kyr she had in her allegience. Human remains lay before us, and after the Touch of the Val'kyr, they rose up and bent their knee to Sylvanas. It felt wrong.

   I had thought that, given their unnatural fate, they wouldn't wish it upon anyone else. I was wrong.

   Not only were they raising the dead, I discovered, but also devising cruel methods of killing. After a few days of travelling, I reached the Forsaken Front, and the battle that was commencing outside of the great Gates of Gilneas. They had great barrels of glowing green...something. I don't truly know what it was, but it certainly wasn't gunpowder, or explosives.

   I watched how carefully everyone - particularly the Orcish guards who were present and, I felt, keeping an eye on the Forsaken - moved near these barrels, and after seeing a curious squirrel get a little too inquisitive towards a spilt puddle from a leaky barrel, I realised just what they were doing.

   I cannot put it on paper, however. I'm still too disturbed to fully put it into words. I begin to wonder just how we can possibly be allied with these monsters.

   The more time that goes by, the more I want for home, though I am admittedly feeling a little better after having left Tirisfal Glades. There was something about the place that made me uncomfortable. It was more than just the Forsaken, and the ever lingering memory of Human civilisation which came from the towering ruins of the old capital city. It was something deeper. Something darker. I can't explain it better than that, but I am in no hurry to go back any time soon.

   The only way, now, is south. I will follow this road from the Forsaken Front and see where I end up. But the further I get from Tirisfal Glades, the better I feel. Anywhere is better than that place.

   I knew I was right not to hope for this place.

-- Atherya Sunleaf