Monday, March 31, 2008

ElunesGracePodcast #55 - Sunwell Isle

News:

Magister's Terrace:










Statue of Kael'thas Sunstrider










The first boss: Selin Fireheart



















After you clear the worms, the 2nd boss is Vexallus






















Stay away from the orbs when fighting Kael'Thas!










































(L to R): Sharpside, Elly, Arcanshrtage, Grimzley and Orsolya

Mp3

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Elly and Gheal,

Great show this week, and an interesting discussion of botting.

I think there's an argument to be made that at this stage in WoW's lifespan, (ie. since 1-60 "old" Azeroth is essentially obsolete) that employing a bot to get a character up through those levels is not really hurting anyone anymore. Except for those who are brand new to the game, we've all seen Redridge and the Barrens probably dozens of times. Are we forfeiting anything by skipping over them now via a bot program?

By Blizzard's own admission, the game really begins when you can get to Outland, which is the very reason for the leveling boosts introduced in patch 2.3. Pre-58, all of the zones are fairly empty most of the time. Finding groups for 5-mans is extremely rare, so it's difficult to make the case that you don't learn your class by skipping those levels. Anyone who's leveled to 70 one or more times can pick up the mechanics of a class fairly quickly, I'm willing to bet.

Bottom line is that I think the first 55 levels or so are really not needed anymore for experienced players who have an end-game toon under their belt. So why NOT skip them if you could?

I'm holding out hope that Blizzard will let us create new toons at a higher level at some point. I've heard rumors that Death Knights wil start at 55 or something, instead of lvl 1. It would be great if that was true, and if it applied to all classes I'd happily create a whole stable of alts. But I really can't stomach the idea of leveling another character from 1 to 70, and soon to be 1 to 80.

If using bots was not against the EULA and grounds for a permanent account ban, I'm not ashamed to say that I would happily use one to bring an alt or two up to the point where I could get to Outland. That is where the game becomes fun these days, at least for me.

Elly said...

Thanks for your comment Grim. I have to say that botting is just bad and wrong. There are still new players to the game and it is not fair that they have to compete against a computer program to get there 10 things for a quest. Believe me, in the old world I have had to farm for mats for raiding and had to deal with botters a lot. It is almost impossible to tag the mob before they do, it was really unbelievable the experiences I have had. I think the way to get away from feeling the need to bot is to do as I have mentioned before and you mention too, and that is be able to start an alt at a higher level. So if you have 3 level 70s already, then you open the functionality to create an alt at level 50 or whatever. I totally agree with that. I do not however agree that botting should be allowed as it is cheating - simple as that.

Anonymous said...

Hey Elly. Thanks for the reply. I can't argue with the fact that it is unfair to people who are new to the game. There's just no counter arguement to be made there. I've run into them as well, and do know how frustrating it is.

My real issue is with the leveling grind to bring up an alt. And botting, as you point out, is a very poor solution to that problem. So I guess I'll just hold on to the hope that we'll get the option to start off at a higher level, or that there will be another boost in the leveling speed. Because right now, 1 to 80 may as well be 1 to a million as far as I'm concerned.

thesleepinglotus said...

My hammer on my pally healer is huge and now I know why!

Pally healing in Magister's Terrace is very challenging. LOS is definitely an issue, as is the way that aggro/threat works on the Priestess fight. It's based off of heal threat. The only bad group I've found with them is when had both the hunter and the lock. And lordy lord do I wish I had some hots!

I love that cut scene! I too look at it everytime that I go too. And I agree about Kael'Thas! Narcissim for sure.

As to botting - Grimz has hit the nail right on the head as to why it would be tempting to people. Just like purchasing gold is tempting to casual players who don't have the time to farm. It's still wrong but nonetheless the appeal isn't going to go away as the game progresses.

Question for Gheal - when you hit revered did you only buy the figurines you can use? Or did you buy them all so that you have a complete set? I hit revered on my jewelcrafter and did a lil happy dance when I could buy my gems. It was hard not to buy all the figurines.

In the patch update they changed the bombing run:

Eredar Sorcerers were nerfed from 2 hits to 1.

Pit Lords from 3 hits to 1.


Okay, enough of my babbling!
~Cat

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