With the announcement of the eventual announcement that Hearthstone will have an expansion containing "over 100 new cards", I couldn't help myself thinking of new cards I would love to see. My first thought was the fact that, currently, each class has a specific Legendary card with a theme related to the flavor of that card's class. The idea of new Legendary Class Cards has been going through my brain for the past few weeks, so I just had to get them out and into the ether. The card text of the following examples are really what I would love to see, so ignore the Mana to Stats ratio as I'm sure they would need some balancing; they're just what I came up with. Enjoy:
Warrior: General Nazgrim
- 9 Mana 5/10 Taunt
- Battlecry: Deal 3 damage to the enemy hero, and up to 3 enemy minions in the center of the board.
- Spinning Axe Animation in front of the enemy hero
Rogue: Garona Halforcen
- 7 Mana 3/7 Stealth
- Combo: Place an Assassinate in your hand. OR
- Combo: Destroy an enemy minion. (Animated dagger coming through the back of the minion) OR
- Combo: Deal 5 damage to the enemy hero. (Animated dagger coming through the back of the hero)
- Garona was the assassin who murdered Varian's father by literally and figuratively stabbing him in the back, so involving an Assainate card/animation seems appropriate.
Hunter: Nathanos Blightcaller
- 8 Mana 3/5 Immune while attacking
- Battlecry: Summon two 2/2 Blighthounds with Charge
- Nathanos was the first Forsaken Hunter after Sylvannas. In Vanilla WoW, there was a raid quest to kill him and his Blighthounds in Eastern Plaguelands.
Mage: Rhonin Redhair
- 8 Mana 1/9 Spell Damage +2
- At the end of your turn, cast, at random, one Mage Spell.
- The spell would be augmented by the spell damage. Of course, a 6 damage Flamestrike would be ideal, or even a 12 damage Pyroblast, but because it's a random spell to a random target, you could get an naked Ice Lance or Arcane Intellect.
Warlock: Eye of Kilrogg
- 4 Mana 1/7
- Battlecry: Destroy all enemy Secrets. At the end of your turn, reveal all stealth minions.
- I just felt someone other than Hunters need a card that destroys Secrets. Also, while it's on the board, Stealth minions would be useless. He sees YOU!!
Paladin: The Naaru A'dal
- 7 Mana 2/5
- At the end of your turn, return the most recent minion killed to life with Divine Shield.
- A'dal would need a sweet death animation, because, really, you can't kill a Naaru.
Priest: Archbishop Benedictus
- 7 Mana 1/9
- When a friendly character is healed, your hero gains 2 Armor.
- The armor would look more like a Priest bubble than a Warrior's armor.
Shaman: Farseer Nobundo
- 6 Mana 2/6
- At the end of your turn, call a random element to aid you.
-- Fire: Deal 3 damage to the enemy hero.
-- Air: Give another random minion Windfury or Spell Damage +1.
-- Earth: Summon a 2/4 Earth Elemental with Taunt.
-- Water: Restore 2 health all friendly characters. (Yes, even Thrall)
- More randomness for Shaman might not be the best thing, but I love the flavor of this card. "Elements Guide Me"
Druid: Hamuul Runetotem
- 8 Mana 5/9
- Choose One: Deal 2 Damage to all enemy characters and Taunt; Spell Damage +1 Restore 5 Health to your hero.
- Card Art would be different just like Druid of the Claw. Tauren Bear form for the Taunt, or Tree of Life form for the Spell Damage.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Fortune Teller - Getting Stuff out of my Brain
I just had a couple things in my head that I want to get out concerning cool ideas I'd like to see in World of Warcraft.
The first idea came while listening to the Podcast Warcraft Well Read (@wowwellread). It's a show based on the classic book club, but focuses on the novels related to Warcraft. One of the hosts named Skolnick (@skolnickwho) has a particular fascination with the lore character Azshara. He will consistently drop references to her on most shows he joins and describes how mesmerizing she is and how he will always love her. A bit RP, I hope. Anyway, in discussing how easily it would be to fall under her spell, it got me thinking of a future raid encounter with the now Naga Queen, Azshara.
The interesting thing about this idea is the fact that Azshara's raid encounter would actually begin the moment the penultimate boss (of course she would be the last boss in the raid) would be defeated. In the moments of this boss's death, he would cast a mass Mind Control spell, essentially turning each raid member against one another, but with a catch; each raid member would still have control of their character, yet be hostile to each other. Taking into consideration the zero trash between this boss and Azshara, it would be a race to pull Azshara as the raid team stuns, slows, and kills each other to win the favor of the former Elven Queen. The first player to reach her would then be fully mind controlled for the majority of the Azshara encounter. The mind control would be imperative to finishing the encounter, a la the "Amber Monster" vehicle mechanic found in Heart of Fear during the Amber-Shaper Un'sok fight. Azshara's mind control would be different because the charmed player would be friendly to the queen, and hostile to their fellow raid members. Perhaps the charm spell would be a stacked debuff that would lose stacks as the queen loses HP. Granted it's an idea that would need some serious balancing and tuning, but I like the idea from a lore perspective. The idea that the beauty of the former Elven Queen is so incredible, even a cohesive and friendly team would turn on each other to earn the queen's attention.
Another idea I had to get out came to me during a different podcast, the WoW Insider show. The conversation evolved into that of Alterac Valley and the dreaded Stormpike bridge. As a former Orc Rogue, I know how much pain and heartache this bridge caused from being knocked off and falling off at least twice per battle. So, I was thinking of something that would be similar to this in the Frostwolf keep area. Falling off the Stormpike bridge essentially takes a Horde player out of the action for a particular amount of time, on top of fall damage. What if in the Frostwolf Keep, a Wind Elemental is busy conjuring up-drafts at some of the points near the walls. If an Alliance player moves too close to these up-drafts (or gets knocked into them), they are blown up and back over the wall, and essentially taken out of action just like being knocked off the bridge. I then felt that the Wind Elemental would have to be out of range or un-killable, but what if the Alliance forces were able to destroy it somehow, would there be a way to balance this with the Stormpike bridge? Then I thought of it. Perhaps, in the process of capturing the Stormpike Graveyard, a system would become available to begin building walls along the bridge that would be permanent, and therefore eliminating the possibility of being knocked off or falling. Granted, with the walls built along the bridge, the lesser used strategy of falling on purpose to avoid dying would be lost, but I think the pros greatly outweigh the cons here.
Whew, got that out. Hopefully when I get some more stuff in my brain, I'll post again. I need to start doing that more. Thanks for reading.
The first idea came while listening to the Podcast Warcraft Well Read (@wowwellread). It's a show based on the classic book club, but focuses on the novels related to Warcraft. One of the hosts named Skolnick (@skolnickwho) has a particular fascination with the lore character Azshara. He will consistently drop references to her on most shows he joins and describes how mesmerizing she is and how he will always love her. A bit RP, I hope. Anyway, in discussing how easily it would be to fall under her spell, it got me thinking of a future raid encounter with the now Naga Queen, Azshara.
The interesting thing about this idea is the fact that Azshara's raid encounter would actually begin the moment the penultimate boss (of course she would be the last boss in the raid) would be defeated. In the moments of this boss's death, he would cast a mass Mind Control spell, essentially turning each raid member against one another, but with a catch; each raid member would still have control of their character, yet be hostile to each other. Taking into consideration the zero trash between this boss and Azshara, it would be a race to pull Azshara as the raid team stuns, slows, and kills each other to win the favor of the former Elven Queen. The first player to reach her would then be fully mind controlled for the majority of the Azshara encounter. The mind control would be imperative to finishing the encounter, a la the "Amber Monster" vehicle mechanic found in Heart of Fear during the Amber-Shaper Un'sok fight. Azshara's mind control would be different because the charmed player would be friendly to the queen, and hostile to their fellow raid members. Perhaps the charm spell would be a stacked debuff that would lose stacks as the queen loses HP. Granted it's an idea that would need some serious balancing and tuning, but I like the idea from a lore perspective. The idea that the beauty of the former Elven Queen is so incredible, even a cohesive and friendly team would turn on each other to earn the queen's attention.
Another idea I had to get out came to me during a different podcast, the WoW Insider show. The conversation evolved into that of Alterac Valley and the dreaded Stormpike bridge. As a former Orc Rogue, I know how much pain and heartache this bridge caused from being knocked off and falling off at least twice per battle. So, I was thinking of something that would be similar to this in the Frostwolf keep area. Falling off the Stormpike bridge essentially takes a Horde player out of the action for a particular amount of time, on top of fall damage. What if in the Frostwolf Keep, a Wind Elemental is busy conjuring up-drafts at some of the points near the walls. If an Alliance player moves too close to these up-drafts (or gets knocked into them), they are blown up and back over the wall, and essentially taken out of action just like being knocked off the bridge. I then felt that the Wind Elemental would have to be out of range or un-killable, but what if the Alliance forces were able to destroy it somehow, would there be a way to balance this with the Stormpike bridge? Then I thought of it. Perhaps, in the process of capturing the Stormpike Graveyard, a system would become available to begin building walls along the bridge that would be permanent, and therefore eliminating the possibility of being knocked off or falling. Granted, with the walls built along the bridge, the lesser used strategy of falling on purpose to avoid dying would be lost, but I think the pros greatly outweigh the cons here.
Whew, got that out. Hopefully when I get some more stuff in my brain, I'll post again. I need to start doing that more. Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Hearthstone - New Class Heroes and their Hero Powers
I can't seem to stop playing Hearthstone. Twitch.com is running an ad for the Open Beta and it flashes the words "Deceptively Simple. Insanely Fun." Uh, YA!! Insane being the keyword there for how much I'm playing it.
The Angry Chicken, a Podcast that discusses Hearthstone, has conversed numerous times about possible future Heroes and their respective Hero Powers (HPs). Willie Dills, one of the hosts, had said a few months back that simply sliding around some of the other HPs for the new Heroes. An example would be giving the current Priest HP (Heal any character for 2 Health) to a different class, say Shaman--and giving it a different name, animation, etc. I thought about this, and so did the Podcast hosts, and recently come to find both they and myself agree that doing this shift of HPs would break the balance of the game incredibly. That got me to thinking about ways to slightly change each HP to make it new and interesting, yet keep the balance.
Hunter
The current Hunter Hero is Rexxar. In the lore of Warcraft he is known as The Beastmaster--emphasis on "The." His HP is Steady Shot (Deal 2 damage to the enemy Hero). In lore, there are a few hunters that come about from time to time, but there really is only one other that deserves a place as a Hearthstone Hero. That would be Sylvanas Windrunner. True, there is already a minion with Sylvanas' portrayal, but really, who better? Sylvanas, being the Banshee Queen, a reanimated High Elf with Dark Ranger type powers should have a Dark Ranger type HP. I thought of this:
Black Arrow: Deal 1 damage to the enemy Hero and heal Sylvanas for 1.
I feel the balance is still there. After using Steady Shot, Rexxar is given a +2 advantage to his health. Black Arrow would yield the same advantage, but have what we're looking for: a new and interesting twist on the old HP.
Warlock
Gul'dan, the Warlock hero, currently has the HP Life Tap (Deal 2 damage to Gul'dan and draw a card). I can't think who within the Warcraft lore would be a good fit for the next Hero, but in keeping with the sacrificing life theme I thought of this:
Sacrifice Minion: Deal 2 damage to a friendly minion, draw a card.
Is the balance still there? I'm not really sure. Another idea was to have the option of dealing 2 damage to a friendly minion or giving 2 health to an enemy minion. Either could work.
Shaman
This one is tough, not in the sense of changing the HP, but manipulating the effect of the HP. Thrall, the Shaman hero, has Totemic Call (Summon 1 of 4 random totems). Each of these four totems fall under the classic Shaman elements: Stoneclaw Totem (Earth), Wrath of Air, Searing Totem(Fire), and Healing Stream Totem(Water). The Earth totem is a Taunt. There are a few famous Shaman in the Warcraft lore, but Thrall being an Orc, I feel for a new Shaman Hero, Blizzard should look at the other faction. Nobundo. His HP would be the same, but have a new set of totems randomly selected.
Strength of Earth Totem: 0/2 Grant all Elemental minions +2 attack.
Windfury Totem: 0/2 Grants Nobundo Windfury.
Mana Stream Totem: 0/2 At the start of your turn, replenish one Overloaded Mana Gem.
Fire Nova Totem: 2/3 Taunt. Can't Attack. At the end of each turn lose 1/1. When this totem is destroyed, deal its attack power to all enemy minions.
Another option for the Windfury Totem: 0/1 At the end of your turn grant a random friendly minion Windfury
In the interest of keeping this post short, I'll stop there. Some of the ideas for the other Heroes would have to implement new and interesting mechanics to the game itself. I might post about those ideas in the future, but I feel these three are probably my strongest.
The Angry Chicken, a Podcast that discusses Hearthstone, has conversed numerous times about possible future Heroes and their respective Hero Powers (HPs). Willie Dills, one of the hosts, had said a few months back that simply sliding around some of the other HPs for the new Heroes. An example would be giving the current Priest HP (Heal any character for 2 Health) to a different class, say Shaman--and giving it a different name, animation, etc. I thought about this, and so did the Podcast hosts, and recently come to find both they and myself agree that doing this shift of HPs would break the balance of the game incredibly. That got me to thinking about ways to slightly change each HP to make it new and interesting, yet keep the balance.
Hunter
The current Hunter Hero is Rexxar. In the lore of Warcraft he is known as The Beastmaster--emphasis on "The." His HP is Steady Shot (Deal 2 damage to the enemy Hero). In lore, there are a few hunters that come about from time to time, but there really is only one other that deserves a place as a Hearthstone Hero. That would be Sylvanas Windrunner. True, there is already a minion with Sylvanas' portrayal, but really, who better? Sylvanas, being the Banshee Queen, a reanimated High Elf with Dark Ranger type powers should have a Dark Ranger type HP. I thought of this:
Black Arrow: Deal 1 damage to the enemy Hero and heal Sylvanas for 1.
I feel the balance is still there. After using Steady Shot, Rexxar is given a +2 advantage to his health. Black Arrow would yield the same advantage, but have what we're looking for: a new and interesting twist on the old HP.
Warlock
Gul'dan, the Warlock hero, currently has the HP Life Tap (Deal 2 damage to Gul'dan and draw a card). I can't think who within the Warcraft lore would be a good fit for the next Hero, but in keeping with the sacrificing life theme I thought of this:
Sacrifice Minion: Deal 2 damage to a friendly minion, draw a card.
Is the balance still there? I'm not really sure. Another idea was to have the option of dealing 2 damage to a friendly minion or giving 2 health to an enemy minion. Either could work.
Shaman
This one is tough, not in the sense of changing the HP, but manipulating the effect of the HP. Thrall, the Shaman hero, has Totemic Call (Summon 1 of 4 random totems). Each of these four totems fall under the classic Shaman elements: Stoneclaw Totem (Earth), Wrath of Air, Searing Totem(Fire), and Healing Stream Totem(Water). The Earth totem is a Taunt. There are a few famous Shaman in the Warcraft lore, but Thrall being an Orc, I feel for a new Shaman Hero, Blizzard should look at the other faction. Nobundo. His HP would be the same, but have a new set of totems randomly selected.
Strength of Earth Totem: 0/2 Grant all Elemental minions +2 attack.
Windfury Totem: 0/2 Grants Nobundo Windfury.
Mana Stream Totem: 0/2 At the start of your turn, replenish one Overloaded Mana Gem.
Fire Nova Totem: 2/3 Taunt. Can't Attack. At the end of each turn lose 1/1. When this totem is destroyed, deal its attack power to all enemy minions.
Another option for the Windfury Totem: 0/1 At the end of your turn grant a random friendly minion Windfury
In the interest of keeping this post short, I'll stop there. Some of the ideas for the other Heroes would have to implement new and interesting mechanics to the game itself. I might post about those ideas in the future, but I feel these three are probably my strongest.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
My New 90 - The Dice Roll
Hey everyone, back again with my first idea on how you can choose your new level 90 for the Warlords of Draenor expansion. This idea is The Dice Roll.
It's an eerie coincidence that rolling 2 six sided dice will net you 11 possible outcomes. Those being 2 (1+1 or "snake eyes") all the way up to 12 (6+6 or "box cars"). The coincidence being that currently there are 11 classes to choose from in World of Warcraft. It's almost as if the designers know a thing or two about rolling dice, no? Ok, so it really is a coincidence.
So then, let's use our 2 dice to decide which class we want to boost to 90 for the expansion. Well, I guess we'd have to assign each number to a particular class. I guess we could say out loud a class "Mage" and roll the dice, "Eight." Ok, Mage is eight. Next: "Warlock. Seven." Ok, Warlock is seven (Veteran Craps players are screaming at me by now). Next: "Warrior. Uhh, eight again. Ok, roll again. Uhh, seven again. Ok, roll again, eight.... AAAHAHHHHH!!!"
As you can see, this process can be time consuming and aggravating. There's a simple solution that both the aforementioned Veteran Craps players and skilled mathematicians know all too much about. The idea of Probability. See, when throwing 2 six sided dice, there are not simply 11 possibilities, even though there are 11 possible outcomes. In reality, there are 36 possibilities. An example would be the outcome of 5. Die 1 could roll out to be a Four, and Die 2, a One (4+1). But also, Die 1 could be a One, and Die 2, a Four (1+4). Other possibilities for 5 are (2+3) and (3+2). These four examples are all very different possibilities for the outcome of 5 and therefore have better odds than say, rolling an 11: (5+6) or (6+5) or only 2 possibilities.
Here is an image visualizing all the probabilities for all possible outcomes followed by approximate percentages:
2: 1/36 = 2.78%
3: 2/36 = 5.56%
4: 3/36 = 8.33%
5: 4/36 = 11.1%
6: 5/36 = 13.89%
7: 6/36 = 16.67%
8: 5/36 = 13.89%
9: 4/36 = 11.1%
10: 3/36 = 8.33%
11: 2/36 = 5.56%
12: 1/36 = 2.78%
As you can see from the image, the closer you get to 7, the greater the possibility, then as you move past 7, the possibility decreases. Let's use this knowledge to our advantage and let's CHOOSE MY NEW 90!!
Let's assign which class we REALLY want to play at 7. For me, that's Warlock. Perhaps, like myself, it's a class you've never really played or never had a chance to get out of a starting zone. Or maybe it's simply a class you absolutely adore and would love the opportunity to have another one to level in the new content. Now, let's do the outside of the spectrum, assigning 2 and 12. For me, it will definitely be the class I already have maxed out (Paladin) and a class that already has a great head start (Death Knight). Perhaps for your least wanted class, you just can't stomach a Hunter or Mage anymore (who can really?). Put those on the ends or, for that matter, don't put them on at all.
Just because the 11 dice outcomes match perfectly with the 11 classes, this is YOUR NEW 90. Omit some, double some up. do what you want. If you really love Paladins and want another one, make all possibilities Paladin. Wait, then why are you reading this? Oh, because I'm awesome... and humble.
Don't forget to hashtag on Twitter #mynew90 with how or which class you're going to choose and I'll try to get them up on the blog.
It's an eerie coincidence that rolling 2 six sided dice will net you 11 possible outcomes. Those being 2 (1+1 or "snake eyes") all the way up to 12 (6+6 or "box cars"). The coincidence being that currently there are 11 classes to choose from in World of Warcraft. It's almost as if the designers know a thing or two about rolling dice, no? Ok, so it really is a coincidence.
So then, let's use our 2 dice to decide which class we want to boost to 90 for the expansion. Well, I guess we'd have to assign each number to a particular class. I guess we could say out loud a class "Mage" and roll the dice, "Eight." Ok, Mage is eight. Next: "Warlock. Seven." Ok, Warlock is seven (Veteran Craps players are screaming at me by now). Next: "Warrior. Uhh, eight again. Ok, roll again. Uhh, seven again. Ok, roll again, eight.... AAAHAHHHHH!!!"
As you can see, this process can be time consuming and aggravating. There's a simple solution that both the aforementioned Veteran Craps players and skilled mathematicians know all too much about. The idea of Probability. See, when throwing 2 six sided dice, there are not simply 11 possibilities, even though there are 11 possible outcomes. In reality, there are 36 possibilities. An example would be the outcome of 5. Die 1 could roll out to be a Four, and Die 2, a One (4+1). But also, Die 1 could be a One, and Die 2, a Four (1+4). Other possibilities for 5 are (2+3) and (3+2). These four examples are all very different possibilities for the outcome of 5 and therefore have better odds than say, rolling an 11: (5+6) or (6+5) or only 2 possibilities.
Here is an image visualizing all the probabilities for all possible outcomes followed by approximate percentages:
2: 1/36 = 2.78%
3: 2/36 = 5.56%
4: 3/36 = 8.33%
5: 4/36 = 11.1%
6: 5/36 = 13.89%
7: 6/36 = 16.67%
8: 5/36 = 13.89%
9: 4/36 = 11.1%
10: 3/36 = 8.33%
11: 2/36 = 5.56%
12: 1/36 = 2.78%
As you can see from the image, the closer you get to 7, the greater the possibility, then as you move past 7, the possibility decreases. Let's use this knowledge to our advantage and let's CHOOSE MY NEW 90!!
Let's assign which class we REALLY want to play at 7. For me, that's Warlock. Perhaps, like myself, it's a class you've never really played or never had a chance to get out of a starting zone. Or maybe it's simply a class you absolutely adore and would love the opportunity to have another one to level in the new content. Now, let's do the outside of the spectrum, assigning 2 and 12. For me, it will definitely be the class I already have maxed out (Paladin) and a class that already has a great head start (Death Knight). Perhaps for your least wanted class, you just can't stomach a Hunter or Mage anymore (who can really?). Put those on the ends or, for that matter, don't put them on at all.
Just because the 11 dice outcomes match perfectly with the 11 classes, this is YOUR NEW 90. Omit some, double some up. do what you want. If you really love Paladins and want another one, make all possibilities Paladin. Wait, then why are you reading this? Oh, because I'm awesome... and humble.
Don't forget to hashtag on Twitter #mynew90 with how or which class you're going to choose and I'll try to get them up on the blog.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
My New 90 - Intro
One of the new features coming in Warlords of Draenor is the opportunity to instantly boost any character to level 90. I will admit I have no idea which faction/class/race I will choose. I'm leaning toward a Warlock on the Alliance side because I've never played that class. Yet, a Monk would be fun considering I haven't left any starting zone I've started with one. The fact that I have no idea how to choose lead me to an idea on how exactly to choose.
I really wish I had more skills in audio production. I have this idea for a 90 second audio segment that could possibly be added to the end of some of my favorite podcasts: The Instance, Convert to Raid. It would be humorous in ways, yet informational in others.
The first idea I had was simply to introduce the segment via a comedic scripted interaction with an imaginary roommate named Carl. The stage would be set with me at my computer looking over Warlords information from Blizzcon:
Intro Music
Me: Ooo, looks like Warlords of Draenor was announced at Blizzcon. Let's see what's new. Max level to 100, cool. Garrisons? New 3rd grade teacher class? Ok, um, new models. Well, I hope they're model airplanes, that'd be cool. What's this? Boost a character to 90? Hey Carl, you see this? Boost a character to 90!!
Carl: Of course noob, it's awesome, more noobs to troll in LFR. Hehe, noob.
Me: Well, that was informative. So, I guess with this new feature, I'm going to have to figure out exactly which toon I'm going to boost to level 90. Maybe a Mage, HAHA, just kidding, mage, be serious. To be honest, I have no idea. Perhaps in the coming weeks, I may have some better thoughts on HOW exactly to choose which character to boost. Although, if you have some thoughts, hashtag it in a tweet with #mynew90 and/or mention me @mousedivided. I'll collect them all and post them on my blog and we'll get to see some of your ideas oh how to choose which toon to boost. Oh, hey, look I got one already. It's from @DBcarLOL, huh, interesting name. It says, "LOL NOOB, L2Blog NOOB..." AAAHHH, CARL. Well, listen for REAL ideas next week and follow me on Twitter @mousedivided or go to my blog at mousedivided.blogspot.com.
End
Perhaps everything is funny to me, but in my brain, that right there is HILARIOUS!!
I really wish I had more skills in audio production. I have this idea for a 90 second audio segment that could possibly be added to the end of some of my favorite podcasts: The Instance, Convert to Raid. It would be humorous in ways, yet informational in others.
The first idea I had was simply to introduce the segment via a comedic scripted interaction with an imaginary roommate named Carl. The stage would be set with me at my computer looking over Warlords information from Blizzcon:
Intro Music
Me: Ooo, looks like Warlords of Draenor was announced at Blizzcon. Let's see what's new. Max level to 100, cool. Garrisons? New 3rd grade teacher class? Ok, um, new models. Well, I hope they're model airplanes, that'd be cool. What's this? Boost a character to 90? Hey Carl, you see this? Boost a character to 90!!
Carl: Of course noob, it's awesome, more noobs to troll in LFR. Hehe, noob.
Me: Well, that was informative. So, I guess with this new feature, I'm going to have to figure out exactly which toon I'm going to boost to level 90. Maybe a Mage, HAHA, just kidding, mage, be serious. To be honest, I have no idea. Perhaps in the coming weeks, I may have some better thoughts on HOW exactly to choose which character to boost. Although, if you have some thoughts, hashtag it in a tweet with #mynew90 and/or mention me @mousedivided. I'll collect them all and post them on my blog and we'll get to see some of your ideas oh how to choose which toon to boost. Oh, hey, look I got one already. It's from @DBcarLOL, huh, interesting name. It says, "LOL NOOB, L2Blog NOOB..." AAAHHH, CARL. Well, listen for REAL ideas next week and follow me on Twitter @mousedivided or go to my blog at mousedivided.blogspot.com.
End
Perhaps everything is funny to me, but in my brain, that right there is HILARIOUS!!
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Garrosh's Time-Traveling Buddy
Blizzcon has come and gone and the shear amount of information bombarded into my brain has been overwhelming. A level of excitement could be felt during the opening ceremony of the convention. Even over the streaming information I was receiving through my internet device of choice, the anxiety was palpable. I said it could be felt. Scratch that. I could taste it. The expansion for World of Warcraft was soon to be announced and then that moment happened. We all saw the Man, Myth, the Legend himself, Chris Metzen, stroll out onto the stage, and chin beards everywhere were soaked with the drool of Blizzard fanboys. Warlords of Draenor was showcased and my heart was racing out of my chest. The idea of going back to the days of the original Horde and meeting, battling, and defeating the baddest SoB's this rich story has to offer had me reaching for my wallet already. Count.
Warlords of Draenor Lore Overview
It was later
revealed exactly how and why we, as adventurers, are traveling to the harsh
(dare I say "savage") planet known as Draenor. It seems the
compassion and chivalry we- or should I say Varian-showed toward the psychopath
Garrosh has come back to bite us in the Legendary Cloak. Imprisoned and
awaiting trial in Pandaria, Garrosh is able to escape with the help of a yet
unrevealed companion. It turns out this companion bears the convenient power to
bend time and space.
Whether it is Garrosh or this mysterious sidekick's idea, the plan is set in motion and The Dark Portal is manipulated to send Garrosh (along with his BFF, perhaps) back to stop the Orcs of Draenor from drinking the Demon Blood of Manaroth. This is in hope that the Orcs never succumb to Demonic Slavery and never waste a perfectly good army on a rage filled and tact-less assault on Azeroth. Garrosh being an impressive tactician, decides to build the Horde differently. This time, like a machine, this new Horde, this Iron Horde will lay siege to Azeroth with strategy, technical firepower, and leadership: three things that were absent during the First War and may have led to the weak image of an Orc that Garrosh sees today.
Whether it is Garrosh or this mysterious sidekick's idea, the plan is set in motion and The Dark Portal is manipulated to send Garrosh (along with his BFF, perhaps) back to stop the Orcs of Draenor from drinking the Demon Blood of Manaroth. This is in hope that the Orcs never succumb to Demonic Slavery and never waste a perfectly good army on a rage filled and tact-less assault on Azeroth. Garrosh being an impressive tactician, decides to build the Horde differently. This time, like a machine, this new Horde, this Iron Horde will lay siege to Azeroth with strategy, technical firepower, and leadership: three things that were absent during the First War and may have led to the weak image of an Orc that Garrosh sees today.
Who could it be?
So here's where
it gets interesting. We see what Garrosh can benefit from with this plan: true
Horde dominance, retribution on those who dishonored him, and the completion of
what he foresaw in Thrall's Horde. My question is: What's in it for his
companion? Thinking of this question brought me to a conclusion of who exactly
this veiled character ends up being.
My initial reaction to this stranger helping Garrosh who happened to be able to bend time and space led me straight to Kairoz. For those who don't remember, Kairoz is a member of the Bronze Dragonflight who is currently recruiting adventurers on the Timeless Isle. In the process of doing his quests, visions of the future are displayed for the player. One of these visions shows the fall of Garrosh in the newly created throne room. The camera rolls past all the faction leaders and quickly zooms out to reveal Kairoz himself spectating the scene. Because of this, he was my instant choice for the yet unnamed associate to Garrosh's plan. Going back to my original question, though: What's in it for Kairoz? The only possibility is the idea that the Timewalkers are in cahoots with the mutated visage of Nozdormu known as Murozond. Given Murozond's main objective of completely disrupting the timelines, this seems to be logical; to be honest, it probably is the right answer all along. Where's the fun in that?
My initial reaction to this stranger helping Garrosh who happened to be able to bend time and space led me straight to Kairoz. For those who don't remember, Kairoz is a member of the Bronze Dragonflight who is currently recruiting adventurers on the Timeless Isle. In the process of doing his quests, visions of the future are displayed for the player. One of these visions shows the fall of Garrosh in the newly created throne room. The camera rolls past all the faction leaders and quickly zooms out to reveal Kairoz himself spectating the scene. Because of this, he was my instant choice for the yet unnamed associate to Garrosh's plan. Going back to my original question, though: What's in it for Kairoz? The only possibility is the idea that the Timewalkers are in cahoots with the mutated visage of Nozdormu known as Murozond. Given Murozond's main objective of completely disrupting the timelines, this seems to be logical; to be honest, it probably is the right answer all along. Where's the fun in that?
My Hypothesis
The truth is, there
is one other person who has motive to be on Garrosh's side and also may posses
the power to alter time. This person lost family members early on to
Horde forces. Also, without the mental breakdown of one such Orc, this person's
first love may never have been tortured by the whispers of a king. Because the
Orcs came through the Portal, this person eventually lost their home to
Garrosh's deranged war crimes. I'm talking of, none other than, Lady Jaina
Proudmore.
"Ugh...
look at them. Already they plot against us. Seize this moment, Varian.
Dismantle the Horde."
Taken directly
from the final cinematic after defeating Garrosh in the Seige of Orgrimmar raid
while playing Alliance
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Fortune Teller - New WoW Profession Idea
It's Tuesday Morning Boring Maintenance day and the realms are down until 1pm Pacific!! Seriously? I can't even imagine what those East Coasters are doing having to wait until 4pm to jump onto WoW. I, literally, can't find anything else to do so I might as well get my second post up. I know, it's been too long, but I don't think I have any subscribers yet anyway, so this is just a post from the past, it seems.
For this post, I wanted to introduce my idea for the next profession in WoW. As a pre-cursor, this idea will be directly tied to both Skinning and Transmogrification, so a small overhaul would be needed to these two aspects for my idea to come to fruition.
1) Skinning - There are many types of scales that drop while out skinning according to Wowpedia.org (http://wowpedia.org/Scale). In vanilla, I played a skinner/leatherworker and enjoyed the process of gathering a certain type of dragon scale. The gathering of scales at lower levels would need to be more uniform. Some examples might be skinning a level 7-12 raptor would yield you the lowest level Scale. Then at higher levels, skinning a crockalisk would grant the next higher level of Scale. This would mimic the different leather types.
2) Transmog - An update to Transmog would also be needed to accommodate the use of Outfits. Essentially, once a player completes their Transmogging, they would have an option of saving the changes as an outfit that could be either created as an item (Boooo less bag space), or saved in a separate menu; a la pets, mounts, etc.
Now, with those changes in place, here's my crazy, half-brained idea:
New Profession: The Replicant
Using the skill of Skinning, the Replicant will create vanity items to sell and trade. Cloth drops will help to create Cloth items, Leather for Leather, and Scales for Mail and eventually Plate. (I know scales don't make Plate armor, but it's for looks, remember?). Color palates could also be changed using Dyes sold by vendors in all major Horde and Alliance outposts.
After creating all armor pieces that fall into each player's slots, an outfit can be created and sold as a collection. An example could be the famous Green Mail Armor set. A Replicant could create all the pieces for this set (Helm, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Boots, etc.) and using the profession interface, create the Green Mail Outfit - a click-to-learn item that can be sold or traded.
The Green Mail Armor is a great example, but let's take it a step further. A lot like the patterns and plans that drop in dungeons for particular professions, the Replicant could also delve deep into the dungeons of Azeroth to learn new ways of creating cosmetic armor. Imagine farming Blackwing Lair for the pattern to create a Cosmetic Judgement set (Paladin Tier 2). Veteran players could be upset that they spent so much time farming the set the old fashioned way, but never fear Hardcores, casual, this process is not. Not only would the pattern need to drop, but the materials required could be placed inside the raid itself as well. So, Mr. Hardcore, it took you 4 months of weekly runs to farm the whole set? The Replicant may have gone those 4 months and still never received the pattern, or maybe got it on their first run; which will ALWAYS be the case. Damn casuals....
I joke, I'm a casual player myself. I barely have enough time to play during the week as it is. I just like to laugh at people who get upset because it's "not how it used to be." HA!! I laugh at how it used to be. But, that is another blog. Thanks for reading.
For this post, I wanted to introduce my idea for the next profession in WoW. As a pre-cursor, this idea will be directly tied to both Skinning and Transmogrification, so a small overhaul would be needed to these two aspects for my idea to come to fruition.
1) Skinning - There are many types of scales that drop while out skinning according to Wowpedia.org (http://wowpedia.org/Scale). In vanilla, I played a skinner/leatherworker and enjoyed the process of gathering a certain type of dragon scale. The gathering of scales at lower levels would need to be more uniform. Some examples might be skinning a level 7-12 raptor would yield you the lowest level Scale. Then at higher levels, skinning a crockalisk would grant the next higher level of Scale. This would mimic the different leather types.
2) Transmog - An update to Transmog would also be needed to accommodate the use of Outfits. Essentially, once a player completes their Transmogging, they would have an option of saving the changes as an outfit that could be either created as an item (Boooo less bag space), or saved in a separate menu; a la pets, mounts, etc.
Now, with those changes in place, here's my crazy, half-brained idea:
New Profession: The Replicant
Using the skill of Skinning, the Replicant will create vanity items to sell and trade. Cloth drops will help to create Cloth items, Leather for Leather, and Scales for Mail and eventually Plate. (I know scales don't make Plate armor, but it's for looks, remember?). Color palates could also be changed using Dyes sold by vendors in all major Horde and Alliance outposts.
After creating all armor pieces that fall into each player's slots, an outfit can be created and sold as a collection. An example could be the famous Green Mail Armor set. A Replicant could create all the pieces for this set (Helm, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Boots, etc.) and using the profession interface, create the Green Mail Outfit - a click-to-learn item that can be sold or traded.
The Green Mail Armor is a great example, but let's take it a step further. A lot like the patterns and plans that drop in dungeons for particular professions, the Replicant could also delve deep into the dungeons of Azeroth to learn new ways of creating cosmetic armor. Imagine farming Blackwing Lair for the pattern to create a Cosmetic Judgement set (Paladin Tier 2). Veteran players could be upset that they spent so much time farming the set the old fashioned way, but never fear Hardcores, casual, this process is not. Not only would the pattern need to drop, but the materials required could be placed inside the raid itself as well. So, Mr. Hardcore, it took you 4 months of weekly runs to farm the whole set? The Replicant may have gone those 4 months and still never received the pattern, or maybe got it on their first run; which will ALWAYS be the case. Damn casuals....
I joke, I'm a casual player myself. I barely have enough time to play during the week as it is. I just like to laugh at people who get upset because it's "not how it used to be." HA!! I laugh at how it used to be. But, that is another blog. Thanks for reading.
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