RSS'The Burning Crusade' Attacks at Midnight
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published January 15, 2007, 4:50 PM
At a wisp past the stroke of twelve tonight, in boroughs scattered like seeds throughout the realm where humans and beasts alike share free parking, shopkeepers and merchants will unlock their gates and conduct business under the moonlight. "The Burning Crusade" will at last begin, and players of the ingenious and massively successful role-playing game will have their first chance to finally, after years of torment, upgrade their "60" characters to "70s."
All right, so I'm a little rusty with my gothic literary motifs. In any event, at three Fry's Electronics locations in Sunnyvale, Fountain Valley, and Anaheim, and at the GameStop location in Universal City, developers of the most anticipated expansion package in the history of multi-player games will be on hand late tonight to sign the first copies of "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade."
Meanwhile, already in Europe, the earliest adopters are already forming lines in front of software boutiques, for what could conceivably be called "That 70s Show."
You see, up until this point, 60 has represented the highest experience level a character in WoW could attain. With only a 60, there's only so far a character can go...and that's by design. As BetaNews' own engineer Eric Steil explained to this particular newbie, a character such as his -- a level-60 male Tauren druid -- might not necessarily be the most well-outfitted. The reason, Eric says, is because he only has time to be a casual player, limited to just a few meager hours of gameplay per day. (Something about a job.)
But there's certain "end-game" content that up until tonight has been limited only to characters who attain level 60, regardless of how well outfitted they are. Once a character is at or near that level, it can communicate with one of the many "envoys" that pervade the game - a non-player character, or NPC - asking permission for teleportation to a raid mission where he might put his new-found skills to use. There, he might also have the opportunity to win some of the armor or fine cutlery that he probably needed going into the raid in the first place.
Eric's World of Warcraft character mounting his trusty...uh, steed, about to beseech an envoy for entry into the "Eye of the Storm" - forbidden up to now.
With tonight's release of "The Burning Crusade," some of the math changes. "The whole expansion seems to be designed to open up more of the content to the casual players," Eric told me. "None of the instances are doing the full 40-man raids anymore, they've limited it to 25 people. My understanding is they also set it up so that you don't have to devote eight hours to a single raid, like the high-end content is now."
So it will be easier for players who have lower-than-60 characters to set up the scenarios they need to build experience, honor, and armor plating. Plus, the game will stop punishing players who only have two hours to spend on one stretch. It took just over two years for Eric to build up his sixth character to the level where it could approach an envoy and even ask for a passage into the forbidden Eye of the Storm battleground - forbidden, that is, until tonight.
"Overall, in a way the expansion is more of the same, but I like how they're trying to make it more open to the casual players as well as the hardcore players," said Eric, his Tauren druid armor hanging at his side for a moment. "They've even added an option to the new instances to switch them into 'heroic' difficulty, for the hardcore players to redo them at 70 and make them more challenging."
What this may mean, from the way Eric describes it, is that players all over the WoW realm may actually be heading back to some of the existing realms, now that certain raids are limited to 25 characters rather than 40, to build up their armor (picking up "epics," to use the lexicon) so that they can approach the newer battlegrounds later with something that can more readily withstand the blast.
"I'm looking forward to hopefully not being so far behind everyone else in my guild at leveling up," said Eric, meaning now he doesn't have to repeat some of the lower levels, seemingly endlessly, using up those precious free-time minutes not spent keeping BetaNews from collapsing. Many players have more time to run even lower levels repeatedly, building up their experience more slowly (in real time) but incrementally, even if it means defeating lesser characters with ease, just to get ready for the end-game instances - a process called "farming."
This weekend, you might not have to be a farmer to get ahead any more.
However, many players may opt for Eric's strategy: build up characters to the new maximum level of 70 before attacking even the current end-game content. "The current end-game stuff I might actually see after hitting 70," he says, "since a full 40-man raid group won't be required to have a small chance of killing the boss - that stuff is very hard and very time consuming as it is."
The biggest new addition to the realm of WoW is an entirely new continent, which in terms of the virtual realm, is likely to be the planet's biggest tourist attraction this weekend. "I think I'm going to be heading to Outland as soon as I can after I get the box tomorrow," Eric told me, "even though for the next week or so the first areas in Outland and the new race starting areas are going to be flooded with people.
"Of course, that assumes that a) the servers stay up," he added, "and b) their Web site stays up so you can put the key in for the expansion." As it stands today, Eric's having a difficult enough time logging onto the account management page.
With the expansion pack preparing to sell for a suggested retail of about $40, for every "small" 25-man guild required to go on an epic raid, retailers will reap $1,000. Multiply that by the number of guilds that wreak havoc in the WoW realm, and "The Burning Crusade's" weekend revenue might look more like something attributed to box office receipts.
I go to college in a small town. Bandwidth is prioritized so gaming happens at night. This game is absolutely great. Bash it if you'd like, but know that our opinions on the matter do not constitute any sort of absolute truth. I could call up some evidence for and against WoW; news articles with amazing stories of love and marriage found through WoW, the US center for disease control contacting blizzard about the warcraft plague's benefit to the study of rapidly spreading infectious diseases http://www.npr.org/templ...ory.php?storyId=4946772. Of course some people ruin their lives playing this game, that is the fault of their addictive personalities, their genetics, and their culture (yeah we're Americans, I hope we can change). I play quite a bit when i'm not bogged down by homework. My friends from high school (the ones worth keeping) and I all bought the game together so we would have a place to come together and hang out still, despite our geographic separation. I guess what i'm trying to say is don't knock it if you don't know it and don't worship and call it entirely blameless. I think it's great but, like most things, it is a double edged sword (pardon the cliche). And yes, I was there for the midnight release with lots of my real-life friends.
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|Zzzz - thanks for the 'global' release, Blizzard. Shame we didn't get it on the 16th like the US, but had to wait until the next day.
Not that I play it anymore, anyways. :P Or should that be 'pay' it anymore? Still waiting for your Oceania server farm too!
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|I have a friend who is absolutely addicted to this game. He dropped out of college and now does nothing but play this all night and then sleep from morning until dark. He left just before midnight last night so he could be in line for this.
He gave me a 30 day trial last year and I admit it was fun and could easily be addicting, but I'm not about to pay a monthly subscription for a game that takes so much time and work to play. At the end of my trial I deleted my character and quit playing and he actually got mad at me and acted like I had done something insane. Like all that junk I collected in the game was actually real or something.
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|it's a whipe
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|I think South Park got it right when they parodied it last fall. Monumental waste of time
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|Yeah. I mean folks get together and socialize in the safety of their own home to relieve stress and enjoy their free time.
Bad! Bad people!
The South Park Ep was hilarious, but it in no way reflects the lifestyle of the average player.
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|When I played about the only socializing I saw was people typing things like "LOL L2P NUB" or standing around town doing pelvic thrusts. Real quality time spent there.
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|1.) Ever seen multiple characters standing one location....not moving? They're probably in party-chat.
2.) Most folks who go there to hang with friends are on team-speak or do their thing *away* from the town-center noobs.
...just sayin'.
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|It completely reflect one of my coworker. He has no life and he is fat. The only time he get really excited during conversation is about WoW. He fall asleep on his desk as well as during meeting. He is one lazy mofo. Good thing we lost our contract and the mgr didn't do anything to him. However, he sold the new company a dream, and he got picked up by the new company. God bless the new company. And wonder if he can last 3 months with the new company.
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|I have always had a some doubts about you PC_Fool. If you believe sitting in front of a PC Monitor for hours on end is an acceptable way for people to "socialize" you are in serious need of professional help. Maybe you should try talking to your neighbors, taking in a sports event.....or just getting your butt outside for awhile. As for South Park, their social parodies tend to hit the target in the "10" ring. And from what I have seen posted here, I think they did so with WoW.
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|The name is PC_Tool. What, are we in Grade-school again?
You speak like you know me. You don't, so stop.
I spend a great deal of time outdoors. I have a wife and 3 children. I attend school functions, run a successful business, and still find time to play WoW.
*gasp*
I play an MMORPG! *shock*
Bad, bad me.
*laughs*
Of course, I'm talking to someone who just admitted he gets his "facts" from South Park. If that doesn't just about sum it up, I don't know what does.
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|Whatever you say, you're still sitting in your room alone in front of a computer screen. Call it socializing if you will though... :P
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|"acceptable way for people to socialize" - give me a break, if you really believed that you never would have posted this in the first place. It's doing exactly what you describe. What do you think socializing means - go look it up mommas boy.
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|Right. They should hop in their SUV's go ice fishing...
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|"Monumental waste of time"
And watching South Park isn't?
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|Sitting...talking...with other people...about common interests...
Sounds like socialization to me, what part of this is confusing you?
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|PC_Tool: 1
sophist_dreams: 0
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|lmao..
No, for him, it's apparently a learning experience.
*grins*
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|There are only 2 main reasons why I never got into MMORPGs like Lineage or WoW. One is the ASTRONOMICAL and mathematically infeasible waste of and time and life when beginning a game like this which also leads to health problems (sometimes severe) for older players who lead a sedentary lifestyle 8,9,10,16+ hours in front of a CRT/TFT monitor for months and YEARS at a time.
And secondly is the fact that hacking will always exist. I don't care what Blizzard or independent reviewers try to feed you about how "advanced" the anti-cheat system in WoW is. There will always be that group (even if 1%) of l337 idiot hax0rz that find a way to circumvent safeguards. In fact it's happening RIGHT NOW even with the latest version of WoW's Warden. That is a DEAL-BREAKER for me and will keep me from ALL MMORPGs indefinitely.... Which again in the end is probably a good thing.
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|Good for you, stick it to the man. You can spend your time trolling forums or updating your myspace profile instead.
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|So...
1.) You acknowledge your complete lack of willpower, knowing that the second you started playing, you'd be hooked. Hey, at least you admit you're a spineless whelp.
2.) Because some folks take it to extremes, you will ride your high-horse and avoid it completely. Ever heard of NASCAR? Folks die driving those things. Gonna stop driving now too?
Hey..people hack the net all the time. Better log off before they ruin it for ya.
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|"1.) You acknowledge your complete lack of willpower, knowing that the second you started playing, you'd be hooked. Hey, at least you admit you're a spineless whelp."
Don't speak for us here. Now I don't know about all that guy was saying, but I acknowledge that I have an addictive personality. I will not take drugs or even drink because of the risk that it could ruin my future. Does that make me spineless???
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|Not to be offensive, but yes. Perhaps spineless was too harsh a word to use, but lack of willpower, due to whatever circumstance is generally viewed as being weak / spineless. I suppose I could have used less offensive terms, and likely should have. I made the mistake of following the tone of the post to which I was replying.
Now, it takes brains to realize the fact (addictive personality) and deal with it accordingly, such as avoiding activities you would not be able to handle, and you get kudos for that, but insofar as the rest of the population, it's definitely a deficiency on your part.
It could be due to circumstance, past experience, heredity, or simple lack of willpower, but it's still acting against you.
Spineless may be the wrong word to use to describe you, but in the context of the comment to which I replied and the poster of that comment, I do believe it fits quite well.
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|Refusing to do something that is not worth it, is not spineless but wise.
Latz, SB
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|Refusing to do it shows intelligence and restraint. I do belioeve I stated that, or something quite like it above and elsewhere.
"latz".
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|I just hope they have fixed the horrible drop rates in raids.
I was considering quiting the game over it, but i will see if they have corrected the chance of getting epic items in the game which require many hours at a time
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|WoW is a hobby. We play to have fun (hopefully) but at the same time there's effort involved. If getting to 60 and having kick a** eq. was easy, I wouldn't play the game. In EQ, that kept me playing - what got me to leave was the 12 and growing expansions and the unnecessary pt. 2 to the game (and Sony's bare faced insatiable thirst for money)...in EQ I think you have to play for at least a year non-stop to get anywhere. Your experience goes to levelling up, as well as something called Alternative Advance (or something like that, it's been awhile) and it's overwhelming after a while, not to mention people make businesses of levelling up and selling characters because of the (purposely) lax' ToS of the game.
In contrast, with WoW you can play casually, after work on a few days (not killing time with the wife/friends/fam.) and STILL manage to get somewhere. All it takes is some effort and a good attitude. If you have a good attitude and some skill, you'll get into a guild and upgrades will come easier than soloing/grinding. If you prefer to solo/grind then it will take some time, but you'll get upgraded just as well (esp. with pvp, 1 piece a week is easy on a casual basis, less if you're a hardcore player).
Personally, I like the game....it saves me money from going out whenever I'm bored, and spending money when I don't need to....I'm not a person that gets addicted so it really is a great hobby (besides the gym, ofcourse).
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|Why don't they just start you at level 60? After all, nobody parties till then. Oh wait.."..build up characters to the new maximum level of 70 before attacking even the current end-game content." Now you'll need to be 70 to actually play with other humans..even in the L60 dungeons. LOL, WoW is nothing but a work program for Asian RMT'ers.
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|Am I the only person left who doesn't really care about this game?
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|No... but you and I may be the only two.
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|If you're not gamers, you're fine. If you are, I give you both 1 year to break and finally play it. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure once you trial it you're as good as in.
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|Heh...
Have to agree with you on that one. I play probably 3-4 hours during the week and then probably 6-8 hours on the weekends.
I figure 9-12 hours a week shouldn't cause problems for anyone, and it's a nice break from reality.
Wasn't going to play it at all until I was over at a friends house and he brought it up on his computer. bas****. I'll never forgive him. :p
I am taking a week off this week. No way in hell I'm going to fight with the hardcores for server space this time around. I'll wait until things settle down and it looks like fun again.
Froze the account Saturday night.
Hopefully by next Saturday things will settle a bit
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|I've been a gamer since the age of 3. Blizzard has this uncanny ability to make games I don't care about. Starcraft in particular baffles me. Total Annihilation was a far superior game, yet Starcraft is more popular. I don't get it.
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|I've been a gamer since I first played the Atari 2600 and the C64. I have ZERO interest in WoW. As for Starcraft I agree 100% Desides, that is the ONLY game I ever took home, beat the day I got it and returned to the store in disgust. I have no idea why it is so popular when TA is a vastly superior game. Diablo was a great game, then Baldur's Gate came out and raised the bar. Diablo 2 was weak in comparison but again, for some reason very popular. I'd say Blizzards greatest strength is their art/cut scenes (which are awesome!) Maybe they should make a CG cartoon or something and stop making crappy games.
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|"Wasn't going to play it at all until I was over at a friends house and he brought it up on his computer. bas****. I'll never forgive him. :p"
Same story, bud. I curse and spit when I recall the day my brother offered me that 10 day trial and I took it. What a mistake...
" am taking a week off this week. No way in hell I'm going to fight with the hardcores for server space this time around. I'll wait until things settle down and it looks like fun again."
Surprisingly, there is LITTLE OR NO WAIT ON 99% OF THE US REALMS, as of last night AND this morning. Blizzard actually pulled it off!!! I cannot believe it! Literally only 5 minutes of down time for the realm restart and not one ounce of waiting for entering the realm! (FYI it is smolderthorn--no, I'm not giving you my character's name :)
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|Heh...we're on the same server.
Funny that.
Looks like i may be playing this weekend.
Starting a new character though, so no need to go fearing the Blood Elf Rouge quite yet... :p
Blizzard pulled it off. I'd be more impressed if they didn't have quite so much capital to pull it off with. ;)
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|I'll agree to all of that. I never met a Blizzard game I could bring myself to finish. I wanted to like Starcraft, but just found it boring. Diablo I played for awhile actually got half-way through, I think; but just didn't care enough to finish.
...But I can't count how many hours of my life TA consumed, and as far as MMORPGs, I'll take EVE any day over WoW.
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|SC is a better game because it's simple and balance. I tired TA, but simply gave up shortly.
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|TA is perfectly balanced. Each side has units equivalent to the other.
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|I personally know someone who lost a fiancee to this game. WarCrack.
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|Then good riddance wouldn't you say? A person who gets that addicted to a game, could easily become addicted to anything (drugs, alcohol, etc. etc.).
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|Yeah...blame the game, not the looser who spends all day playing at the expense of friends, family, work and a life.
It's not *his* fault, after all. He's not, like, responsible for his own actions or anything.
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|I have an addictive personality, neo, and take offense to that statement to the degree that it implies addictive personality == bad thing. It doesn't ALWAYS--in fact it can be a good thing if I'm addicted to doing what is right or bettering society. I know this is the real world and as such you may believe me incapable of such a thing, but I am fully capable.
I also am aware of my addictive personality and thus avoid smoking, drugs, and alcohol like the plague. Others can drink in moderation, but I fear that all it takes for me is one experience and I may be forever caught up in it. Thank God I have never smoked or used drugs.
Again, just because I could easily become a drug addict/etc. does not mean I will become one. There are only a few things I feel very strongley about as far as lifestyle and these are issues I am deadset against involving myself in at any time for any reason.
My problem is that I did not forsee the same problem by playing "an innocent video game", but I am smart enough to know that it was MY problem, not Blizzards.
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|You take offense...and then back up his statement by stating nearly the exact same thing?
all it takes for me is one experience and I may be forever caught up in it.
He said it could easily happen, you apparently agree.
He never said it was the 100% definite outcome of all folks with addictive personalities.
Defensive much?
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|The issue as I read it isn't the part where he's agreeing. The issue is the 'good riddance' part of the original post. The part where he was saying, "Oh well... doesn't matter if you're addicted to heroin, street racing, or WoW, because you have an addictive personality, so you're basically human excrement, and no longer important." At least, that's how I interpret the response. :)
For the record, I don't play WoW or any other of the MMORPGs myself, as I know I have an addictive personality, but that combines with ADD, so I eventually get bored with my addictions. It would eventually work out, but I'd prefer not to have the issues tied into dealing with a new (temporary) addiction.
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|Hmm.
So someone who kills themselves through heroin use or illegal street racing deserves respect?
Someone who causes their families enough anguish through their constant playing of an online game and their neglect that they leave deserves respect?
While I believe those that seek help deserve it, and that those that avoid such activities due to personality issues *do* deserve at least some respect for their ability to recognize and abstain, I have no remorse or sympathy whatsoever for those who have ruined their lives and the lives of others due to addiction regardless of circumstance.
Before one responds to this with a critique of my relationship to the matter, please let me state that my grandmother is dying of cancer and emphysema, allegedly from smoking, and one of my cousins died in a car wreck due to alcoholism.
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|I'm not trying to defend addictions as a good thing, I'm just saying that it's not good to gloat about the misfortunes of others. What's to rejoice about? About the only possibly good thing we can say about it is that the (future) family probably broke up before kids were involved, so... that's a good thing, right?
My objection isn't to saying that people whose addictions are out of control basically deserve what they get. They had a choice whether to start playing or not, and they chose to give in. Whether they were aware of the future consequences or not, reality will move onwards. What I objected to was the attitude of the poster, not necessarily trying to defend the addictee.
Sort of reminds me of an semi-old Marcy Playground song, One More Suicide. How many people in the same family are going to jump into the same river week after week before we start paying attention? Is it their choice to jump? Sure. Is that generally a really stupid choice? Yep. Should we say, good riddance, one less depressed person, or should we try to stop them and get their issues figured out instead...?
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|I didn't take "good riddance" as him rejoicing.
The good thing is that hopefully the wife will be able to enjoy her life again.
The poster's attitude is basically mine, as I believe he was putting himself in the wife's shoes and saying 'good riddance' to the lifeless gamer. I wouldn't defend him either, so at least we agree on that respect.
As for the lyrics... Once we begin trying to rehabilitate these people who've made their decisions that adversely affected their lives, where do we stop? How do we go about it? It's their choice, right? Can we, knowing they are free to go jump in a lake, deny them the right to swim because they seem a little depressed that day?
No. We say good riddance to the ones who have gone beyond our ken, we hope families and friends get involved in the lives of those who can still be saved, and we make sure our friends and families have our support. What else can we do? Beg the government to stop the insanity (in the name of the children)?
That way lies darkness...
Sure it's harsh, perhaps, looking at it from a sympathetic perspective. But in all practicality, the one's who are lost are lost, and those to whom we have no direct ties, we also have no influence, nor should we. It's not our job to help or monitor these people, and the moment we start to think it is, we become self-righteous morality police.
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|Yeah, I didn't really get the empathic feeling from him, more like a 'screw you addicted loser' feeling. :) Maybe that's just me though, as that's more the feeling I get from online gamers when stuff goes wrong. Taken from the non-wife's (fiance, not married) perspective though, good riddance would probably be a good and healthy attitude to have.
And the song is about how nobody was there to stop first the son, than his mother from jumping. "Pity no one was there. No angels in the air. And the morning paper ran 'One more suicide.'"
Not that it's necessarily MY place or your place to keep people from being self-destructive, but... to a certain extent, it was the fiance's place. Part of having a relationship is trying to help stop someone (if they'll listen) when they're being self-destructive. When your gaming gets to the point where your RL relationships are being damaged, your RL friends should try first to intervene and then, as the fiance did in this instance, it's probably time to walk away. If they say 'good riddance' as they leave, then it probably wasn't a healthy relationship to begin with, as that's not the response you want to end a relationship with, but sometimes yes, it is really the only option...
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|Part of having a relationship is trying to help stop someone (if they'll listen) when they're being self-destructive
You are assuming she didn't. We don't know that.
If she had the balls to leave, she probably had the balls to scream her f'ing head off at him a few times trying to get him to get off the PC.
..but I'm just guessing. Perhaps she's just a spoiled brat who walks at the first sign of trouble.
*shrug*
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|If you keep reading the rest of that (very long) paragraph, you'll see that we're basically in agreement now. Basically, after you try to save the relationship, you need to know when to walk away. If she was able to know when to walk away, she probably was smart enough to know when it became a lost cause.
Again, my initial objection wasn't to the first statement made, more so to the seeming attitude. If it was a commiserating 'good riddance' than I'm in total agreement. If it was made in a malicious tone, which is how I happened to take it then, well, I get into long posting sessions back and forth trying to clarify. :)
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|Heh... If you'd only known what you were getting yourself into... :p
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|Be fun to (try to) give the new stuff a quick look-see, but it's going to take a while for things to calm down. Millions of people all at once are going to be hammering their servers for the next few days/weeks. Expect it to be like Times Square on New Years Eve.
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|Yup, sadley true. Tuesday nights have been incredibly busy regardless on the US servers at least, so tomorrow night will be like:
"Smolderthorn full
Placement in queue: 448327
Estimated time remaining: Bloody Ages"
EDIT: Well--appears I was wrong. As stated above, my realm and many other realms in the US are working just fine with little or no downtime for the transition! The "patch" you must download for the expansion to work, however, can be quite time consuming to download regardless of internet speed though, at least that's what I've been told...
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|Question being, does it take longer to install off CD, or over the wire?
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|Blizzard makes billions of USD worth of money. They should be more reliable than the US Dept. of Defense's computers are with all the money, but why spend it when they'll make it anyway, right?
I hate addictive games--but I can't blame blizzard because ultimately WE buy the stuff despite some network problems, right???
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|Wrong. I refuse to play this game. I'm glad I never tried it. Blizzard would have to pay ME in order to play this.
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|Good for you! They can't say they have 8,000,001 accounts because you just refuse. It's a good thing you're not holding your breath because I'm pretty sure they won't be paying you to play.
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|You'll play it and YOU'LL LIKE IT! Now shut up and eat your dinner.
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|Yeah, with the amt. of money going in you'd think they'd have some equipment to match. I think it's a little bit better, I got on tonight with no queue on my server Azjol-Nerub, hopefully it will be the same tomorrow. I don't see a huge issue at hand, especially in the light of the fact that Everquest (my initial start on this downhill mmorpg hill) was just as bad if not worse in it's first 2 years; so I'm giving them time to rub the kinks out. If anything, I find them lazy....not that babysitting 8m people is easy, but don't put your hand in the fire if you can't take the burn - they're biting into much much more than they can chew and it's making many of their users angry. Only time will tell if things will get better - for now I'm happy on AN. Apart from patch times when they cap servers, things are mostly smooth.
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