Patch 4.1.0

This week patch 4.1.0 went live, and I figured this would be a good time to discuss some of the newest changes and features.  This is a fairly large patch; a lot of new content and elements were introduced.  If you haven’t read the patch notes yet, you should probably get on that (http://www.wowhead.com/patchnotes=4.1.0).

Rise of the Zandalari 

 

The days when great troll empires stretched across ancient Kalimdor are long past. Millennia of war and internal strife have stripped these nations of their power, lands, and glory. As Azeroth recovers from the destruction of the Cataclysm, the world's divided troll populations face a bleak future. These dark times have spurred the trolls of the Zandalar, the historically wise and scholarly tribe from which all trolls originated, to take drastic action. They have embarked on a bold crusade to save their race by uniting trolls into a single mighty empire. With the Zandalari's aid, the fallen capitals of the Gurubashi and Amani nations—Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman—are already rebuilding, replenishing their forces for a bloody campaign to expand their territories.

Yet Vol'jin and his Darkspear trolls are not aligned with the Zandalari. They have sworn to stand with their Horde comrades—and even work with the Alliance—should the trolls ignite a new war on Azeroth. Soon, Vol'jin might be forced to act on his promise, for if the Gurubashi and Amani are left to their own devices, the world will know the legendary strength and savagery of the ancient troll empires once again.

When it was first announced that Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman would be returning as 5-player heroic dungeons I was so excited.  I never had the chance to complete Zul’Gurub has a level 60 raid until and only had one opportunity to try Zul’Aman which ended horribly.  I thought it was an intelligent move on Blizzards part announcing the come-back of these two amazingly popular raids back as heroics just in time for Rift’s big launch.  So, naturally, I was shocked when this news didn’t go over well with the rest of the Warcraft population. 

Is this yet another issue of Blizzard re-hashing content?

Just because these new heroics share the same name as the old raids doesn’t necessarily mean that Blizzard repackaged them up for you.  If you do the new Stranglethorn content (starting from Northern Stranglethorn and working your way to Southern Stranglethorn) you will wind up doing the chain quest that briefly sends you back into Zul’Gurub.  This new storyline is why we are returning.  The gear that drops has such a high item level to help get players ready for Firelands (4.2.0).  For more info on the Rise of the Zandalari, I’ve posted the link to Blizzard’s explanation http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2514161#blog as well as a trailer http://youtu.be/AfoCq-RssLk.  

Call to Arms: Dungeon Finder

On April 7^th, 2011 Blizzard announced their newest feature in Patch 4.1, Call to Arms for the dungeon finder.  It is designed to entice players to fill the rolls most needed at the time to lower queue times by awarding them with a bag of items (Satchel of Exotic Mysteries) upon completion of any random level 85 heroic dungeon.

Here’s how it will work.  If the queue times are lengthy the Call to Arms function will take effect.  It determines which class is needed the most (Call to Arms – Tank, Call to Arms – Healer, and (I’m laughing while I type this one) Call to Arms – DPS).  To qualify you must queue alone and complete the level 85 heroic dungeon.  The bag of goodies will contain gold, but may also include a rare gem, flasks or potions, vanity pets, or even a rare mount.  These rare mounts are strictly dungeon drop mounts such as the Deathcharger’s Reins from Strattholme.

What’s with all the complaining?

As a natural product of every Blizzard announcement, the amount of complaining went through the roof.  DPS everywhere are outraged that Blizzard has “forgotten” them even though this Call to Arms dungeon finder is made specifically to help them.  I say, at least, give this new feature a chance before complaining about it.  The first week or two may be challenging with a flood of DPS queuing up to tank, but eventually these “new fail tanks” will either get better or will quit trying.  If this is still a huge problem for you as a DPS that you are missing out on rare mounts and so on, roll a tank and give it a shot.  You may actually enjoy the tanking experience, and (on the plus side) the Satchel of Exotic Mysteries is bind on account.  Therefore, your DPS that you are trying to earn the mounts on can still have the chance.

Guild Challenges

Guild challenges are new ways for your guild members to work together.  Your guild will have all week to try and complete each challenge (and it is optional) to earn your guild more experience, gold for your guild bank, and achievements.  From what I understand you will receive credit for completing any dungeon or raid (no matter the skill level) but your rewards will scale.  For your guild to qualify for the guild challenge the party must be made up of the proper amount of guild members.  For instance 5-man dungeons should have at least 3 guild members present to receive the credit (8 members for 10-mans and 20 for 25-mans).  Your guild must also be level 5 and higher to be eligible.  

What if your guild doesn’t need the experience?

Blizzard is well aware that some guild’s have already hit the level 25 cap on experience.  These guilds will receive extra gold (on top of what they earned initially) for their guild banks.  This way these guilds will still benefit from guild challenges.  If your guild manages to hit the daily cap on experience, guild challenges will push past the cap.  

Guild Finder

 

The guild finder is designed to be an efficient way of finding new guilds or recruiting players for an already existing guild.  It is a step in the right direction; however, it’s not quite where most players would want it.  What would have been useful is to include cross-realm guilds as well for those hardcore players willing to realm transfer for a better guild experience. 

 

Usually I would have a question here, but I have decided to post something I saw in the Patch 4.1 Guild Finder comments.

A player who went by Geørge wrote that he wished their was a guild hall, or a place where guild members could meet and interact.  It was then expanded further by a player named Argusius.  He stated that the guild hall should be a phased out area for guild members.  There should be things like boss simulations and training rooms.  Imagine what that would do to the game.  I would love to have a feature where i could go and practise said boss without looking like a noob.  It seems like such a clever idea.  Maybe one day (fingers crossed).  

These were just a few of the many changes that occurred in patch 4.1.0, so please go and read the full patch notes.  Your character may have had a big change that you don’t know about yet.  Thanks for reading.  As always I urge you to post your comments below and follow me on twitter @akadarcee.  This week I’m testing several really great games, so look out for that.

Darkspore Review

Described as Diablo in space, Darkspore (the sequel to the popular PC game Spore) arrived on the shelves today.  Although not considered to be an MMO, it does display a lot of similar features in regard to their multiplayer and PvP aspects.  

There is no character creation, you are given a hero known as a “living weapon” to play initially, and may eventually earn up to a hundred different heroes.  The living weapons are separated into three classes and five different genetic groups.  The classes are:

1.  Sentinel:  Slow but possess great defences and melee power

2.  Ravager:  Balanced in both stats and speed

3.  Tempest:  Ranged and Support

The genetic groups include:

1.  Plasma:  Fire and electricity

2.  Quantum:  Time-space and matter

3.  Bio:  Plants, animals, poisons, and life

4.  Cyber:  Bullets and energy beams

5.  Necro :  Death, darkness, fear, souls, and the twisting reality

You may have three living weapons to play in each level and may alternate between them at anytime pending the cool-down after each switch.   The heroes all have a basic attack you use by left-clicking your mouse, and have five other abilities that can be used by pressing the corresponding number keys (1-5).   Abilities one and two are your current hero’s powers, while three to five are your shared abilities between your party avatars.

The character editor was one of my favorite highlights in the game.  You use it to equip body parts, armor, and weapons.  Unless specified the different gear can be placed anywhere on your hero’s body and resized to your liking.

 As well you may customize each living weapon to your liking.  My heroes ended up being bright pinks and purples in a variety of different patterns.  This editor could be described as an improved form of the editor from Spore. 

While single player game-play was fun, the real attraction is the co-op mode.  You and four friends may play through the Darkspore campaigns with three heroes per person.  Test out different strategies and group make-ups while you battle your way through the Darkspore storyline.  As this game was designed with multi-player being a huge part, the encounters were made to scale in difficulty.   For instance, the more players you bring along the more enemies will be attacking.  As well, there are special creatures meant to delay you on your journey.

At level ten you unlock the PvP feature.  This aspect of the game seemed to be much like arena matches (1v1 and 2v2).  You (along with your three heroes) may go up against other player's heroes.  These matches seemed to be fairly challenging from all the different combinations of heroes you can put together.  To win, one team must defeat all three of their opponents living weapons.  A leader board and ranking will be implemented and I have heard that players may bet various parts (gear) or some of the heroes they have unlocked on the battle.


Darkspore is an overall solid game.  I would definitely recommend you and a couple friends go pick up the game and burn through some co-op.  Don’t forget to tell me what you think by commenting below or follow me on twitter @akadarcee.

Gamer Girls

About eight months ago one of our guild members had a run in what we call a “Gamer Girl,” meaning a female MMO player who uses her feminine wiles to get whatever she wants.  One of our fellow guildies met the “Gamer Girl” while running a random heroic.  She -being a healer- made note on how well he tanked and began messaging him.   They swapped Vent information and their relationship became personal.   It wasn’t long before he started asking other females in our guild for relationship advice.  To keep him fascinated with her, this “Gamer Girl” began showing an “interest” in him.  She would tell him things that would tease him with the prospect of furthering their relationship.  As it turned out, our guild’s relationship “experts” told him the same thing, that she was using him, to quit being an idiot; but of course, he refused to listen.

While this relationship was initially being “built,” he would tank for her anytime she asked and convinced him to start organizing her own guild’s raid runs, all the while neglecting his own guild.  When he would start to annoy her, she would “end” their relationship only to ask him the following day to come and tank for her again.  Finally; after being driven insane from confusion, he ended things himself.  Only then did he clue in that she was using him.

What are the types of Gamer Girl?

There are five different types of “Gamer Girls.”  They include:

1.       1.  The “Gold Digger” is the “Gamer Girl” who is always that little bit short on funds for whatever

she needs.  Thank goodness she has you to help her.

2.       2.  The “Mat Looter” is always short on mats; luckily you’re a steady farmer.

3.       3.  The “Kunoichi” (Female Ninja) will use her charm when that piece of loot drops that you both need.  It’s nice that you’re a gentleman.

4.       4.  The “Manizer” is the “Girl” who uses players for their skills.  Whether they need you to tank for their raid, give them run-throughs, etc. 

5.       5.  The “G.I.R.L” aka Guy In Real Life.  This is self-explanatory.

 

How can you spot a gamer girl?

“Gamer Girls” have a tendency to target the “nice” or the “naive” players.  They start out by asking for a small favour here (a little bit of gold, a couple expensive mats that they just “cannot” get by themselves) and another there.   These “nice” or “naive” players will not request any sort of payment, contrary to the fact that she will insist that she pay him back.  Over time, one should notice that these girls have not and will not return the favour, and if asked, will make up excuses as to why they aren’t able to deliver.  Trust your friends and colleagues; chances are they will notice long before you will.

How do you properly handle a gamer girl?

 If you suspect a “Gamer Girl” is in your guild:  Begin by monitoring them (notice whether they are consistently taking advantage) then bring your suspicions to your Guild Master’s attention.  If they notice something, a guild meeting should then be arranged.  If it’s apparent that your guild has been infiltrated by a “Gamer Girl” and has been noticed by others, then a follow-up meeting should occur including this “Girl” (Using the term lightly because G-I-R-L, can mean Guy-In-Real-Life after all) to discuss their behaviour, and try to rectify the problem.  It’s not necessary to “attack” them (because they might actually not know that they’re doing it), simply explain that it has come to your attention that they have been taking a lot from the guild (bank and members included) but not giving back in turn.  If this continues to happen then another meeting will need to take place, resulting in extreme measures.  The Guild Master should remove their guild privileges (bank access, repair fund, etc.), inform all members in the guild (Maybe post on the Guild Message of the Day) of what she has been up to, and put her on a probationary term to try and absolve for their discrepancies.  As a last resort (because they may be a remarkable player), they may have to be removed from the Guild, and inform any allies the guild may have of their practices.

Here’s how not to handle a “Gamer Girl” incident.  A few weeks ago one of the guilds I am in had a “Gamer Girl” taking advantage of other guild mates.  It eventually became severe enough that the guild leader and officers went on a “witch hunt,” removing anyone they thought to be a girl from the guild.  Being a girl myself, I stayed quiet not alerting attention. 

 If you are personally the target of a “Gamer Girl” and know them for what they are; then, cut off all contact; put that character on ignore, and possibly request that they be blocked from using your guild’s Vent server.  DO NOT BE TAKEN IN BY A PHONEY APOLOGY.

What if you are a gamer girl?

Some gamer girls don’t even notice what they are doing.  Many of your guild mates will insist on giving you stuff, so make sure you give back.

 From personal experience, I’ve had a guild mate spend several days farming up the matts to make me the 245 tanking chest piece from WOTLK and not ask for anything in return.  I countered it with enchanting his gear and doing his transmutes for free.  This way I feel like I am not taking advantage.

If you still think your “Gamer girl” relationship is going to work out after all I’ve said; I’m going to leave you with one more thought: Your orc and her blood elf will make terrible babies.  For more about “Gamer Girls” I’ve provided a link to Nyhm’s “Girl Gamer” on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VGJoLi5CMk.  That’s all from me this week, if you’d like to leave a comment you may do so below or follow me on twitter @akadarcee.

Wakfu Review

Square Enix’s tactical role-playing MMO Wakfu will be hitting open beta on April 27^th.  I’ve had the opportunity to play in the closed beta, and thought now might be a beneficial time to let you know what I’ve thought of the game.  Before I do that though, I feel that I must bring you up to speed on what exactly Wakfu is.

Wakfu is a sequel to a popular game, mainly in Europe, called Dofus.  So popular, in fact, that there is even a television series and oodles of merchandise.  Wakfu brings a refreshing change to the current MMORPG’s that we are currently seeing.  

I’m going to start with character creation.  The character creator was simple and to the point.  You begin by choosing whether you’re male or female, move on to which class you would like to play, customize, and give yourself a name.  If I’ve heard correctly there will be fourteen classes at launch.  Currently in closed beta, there are four classes to choose from:  

1.  Sadida’s Shoe:  This character summons plants and dolls to help fight and heal.

2.  Eniripsa’s Hand:  This is mainly a healing class, but still has damaging spells.

3.  Iop’s Heart:  The warrior class.

4.  Cra’s Range:  The archer class.

There is very little customization you can do on your characters.  You have a choice between two hairstyles and five outfits; however, you can change the colors/tones of your skin, hair, and eyes.

Upon logging in you will notice a classic Square Enix style layout.  I, right away, thought of Final Fantasy Tactics; others I talked to were reminded of Secrets of Mana.  I never played Dofus, but I’ve seen many comments on both YouTube and the forums that say the designs are similar.  The colors are bright and vibrant, and the music is soothing.  

 

You begin with a tutorial, and I found it surprisingly helpful.  The first part of it takes place away from other players.  This is a tactical role-playing game; therefore, it’s not what most MMO players are used to.  You have to run up to the creatures, right click on them, and select attack to start up your battle.  You then get to choose where on the “battle field” you would like to be placed.  Both you and your enemies have 30 seconds to play out your turns.  Each ability costs a certain amount of ability points (AP) and you only have six AP to use per turn.  You also have three move points (MP) that you may use as well.  You may click end turn when you are finished or wait for your 30 seconds to be up.  Your enemy plays out there turn and then it’s back to you.  Learn to play your turns quickly so that you may earn extra bonuses.

Once you finish part one you move on to Incarnum.  I considered Incarnum part two of your tutorial.  This is where you start to see the other players in-game.  You have the options to duel them, party up, chat, and if they are in battle you can be a spectator.  Part two of your tutorial allows you to continue farming enemies to further learn your characters abilities.  If you are feeling confident enough you can head over to the Dojo and learn about elemental attacks, bonuses for playing your rounds quickly, and the importance of attacking from different directions.  The other option you have is to learn about the ecosystem.  Here they will teach you to be a trapper, so that you may help with balancing the ecosystem.  As the ecosystem concept is substantial I’ve provided a link that will further explain it http://www.wakfu.com/en/mmorpg/discovery/features/ecosystem.  

I absolutely fell in love with this game.  There are so many features I haven’t had a chance to play around with yet.  I urge each and every one of you to sign up for open beta on April 27^th, and try Wakfu out for yourselves.  

As always feel free to leave any comments below or follow me on twitter @akadarcee.  I will leave you with a link to the Wakfu trailer.  Check it out!!!!  http://youtu.be/sWEF6CR1b5Q 

Losing a Key Guild Member

Our guild officially lost our first member to Rift this week, and unfortunately she was a key player for us in Wrath of the Lich King.  She had not been online in a while, but we all assumed she was taking some time off and would be back eventually.  For the amount that she loved WoW, we never would have guessed that she had moved on to Rift.  However, she logged on this week, removed every toon she had from the guild, and said her brief goodbyes.  

A few months back we had to remove a player from our guild who had been with us for quite some time and was an astounding tank.  Unfortunately he just wasn’t fitting anymore and was finding joy in ticking people off.  A few other people, feeling that the guild would not succeed or progress without him, decided to part ways with us as well.  In the end we lost two great tanks, a healer, and a phenomenal dps.

What do you do when a key guild member leaves your guild?

This is a tough question, as one strong person leaving could completely decimate a guild.  First thing you need to do is prepare a list of all the positive and negative effects that will happen with the loss of said player.  If the negative side is far larger than the positive side a guild meeting definitely will need to be called.  Have a list ready of all tasks this guild member did for your guild.  Hopefully you will find another guild member, who has been waiting for their chance to prove themselves, to take on these tasks.  Naturally, there will be a period of adjustment.

Word of advice; do not try to take on everything yourself.  You probably all ready have your share of duties, and you may find the added responsibility building up quickly.  For a more in depth look at this situation, I recommend watching The Weekly Marmot: Episode #64 http://youtu.be/aV2PQn4CY0U.

In our case with the member who left for Rift, we had players take up her roles before we realized where she had gone.  With this being done, all we are really missing out on “game wise” is an astounding healer.  As our guild considers its members as family, we are also losing out on a very sweet person and friend.

Many guilds will need to go on a recruitment mission to fill these missing roles.  Again, there will be a period of adjustment for new guild members.  The best way to help new guild members fit properly depends again on your guild.  Practice runs will help drastically.  Try getting a set group of guild members to take on gearing the newcomer and teaching them your guild’s strategies.  Don’t forget to listen to what they have to contribute as well.  You never know what neat little trick they’ve picked up along the way. 

Now, I may get flamed for this, but I believe Rift is only a fad right now.  It is a solid game and Trion has put a lot of effort into it.  Unfortunately, for WoW players it’s a current escape from a game they insist they hate but for some reason cannot stop playing.  All ready since Rift’s launch a fair amount of players have quit and returned to WoW.

What do you do when the guild member returns?

This can be tricky and all depends on how long they were gone for.  Officer status being restored lies on the type of guild and the player in question.  In our case, she would definitely be getting her officer title back.  Getting their raid spot returned is a whole other matter.  In no way should said player get their spot back for raids or rated battlegrounds.  All it would accomplish is frustrating current raid members.   However, put the returned guild member on a list of players you can call on if someone is unable to make it to the raid.  Once they’ve proved themselves to be reliable and “good” for the group, they can be added as a permanent player in your raid or rated battleground.

I hope some of this will help your guilds remain intact.  If you have any comments or some added suggestions feel free to leave them below.  Don’t forget to follow me on twitter @akadarcee.  I will be back next week with more tidbits of interest, and don’t forget to check out my game reviews every Tuesday.

ARGO Online Review

ARGO Online by Burda:ic hit open Beta recently, so I took the opportunity to try it.  For those of you not familiar with the title, ARGO online is a post-apocalyptic style MMORPG merging steam punk with fantasy.   It will be free to play and you will be able to download it from www.alaplaya.net.  

I was actually excited to try this game.  It takes place after World War IV and the planet has been decimated.  Nature has risen up to cleanse the earth of anything “damaging” to it.  Our first faction, the Floresslah, believe the only way to live on this planet is to live in harmony with nature.  Our second faction: The Noblians, believe the world will only be whole again through the uses of technology.  Each faction has eight classes to choose from, and each class is gender specific. 

1.  The Taurus (male):  A guardian class, quickly dispatches their enemies using a long spear, but have little defence.  

2.  The elementalist (female):  Considered a mage class, she duel wields pistols dealing high nature damage. 

3.  The shaman (female):  Can summon monsters but also can be used as a support class.  

4.  The Sagittarius (male):   The assassin class using long ranged weapons to take out enemies from a distance. 

5.  The Warlock (female):  Another mage class, she uses heavy weapons to take out multiple enemies.

6.   The Druid (female):   Can summon monsters and is considered a recovery class. 

7.  The Rogue (male):   Deals fast damage with duel wielded swords. 

8.  The Defender (male):   The tanking class, he is pretty straight forward.

I thoroughly enjoyed the character creation screen.  Even though the classes were gender specific there were still quite a few ways to personalize your character.  There are 9 different faces to choose from and 12 different hair styles.  You can change your skin and hair color to anything you want.  For example blue skin and green hair in the tone of your choosing.  You can change the sizes of pretty much your entire body, head, shoulders, bust, ankles, the list really does go on.  As well you can go in and personally change your facial features in the same manner: larger eyebrows, smaller mouth, etc.  You then get a choice of 4 outfits that you can mix and match. 

Now is where the game became a huge disappointment for me.  There is no inverted y-axis.  I cannot actually play this game.  Believe me I tried.  I got to level  5, but it took me a week.  It’s 2011, there really is no reason to leave out any key function anymore.  I had such a hard time trying to control my character I couldn’t pay attention to storyline and just became frustrated. 

At this point I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone, but I urge you to tell me what you may have thought about it.  Leave your comments below or follow me on twitter @akadarcee.  I have a few projects I’ll be working on; quite a few games hit open beta this week, and I’ve been invited to a few closed betas, so I guess it will be a surprise.   

Stuck in the Trash Run (A Warcraft Story)

It's been four months since Cataclysm launched, and lets face it, the guild is not where you thought it would be.  You powered your way through levels 80-85 as fast as you could to keep up with the guild "bigshots;" doing everything in your power to not get left behind. 

...then what should happen.  Those guildies you heard so much about from the Burning Crusade days, the ones who quit for Wrath of the Lich King, are back.  Everyone wants to play with them, to remember the "good old days."  Before you know it, the spot that once belonged to you in the 5 man heroic groups now belongs to one of the "returnees."

Then real life hits.  Due to circumstance your WoW time is put on the back burner.  Any moment you get to play is spent doing Archaeology, an activity that allows you to get up and walk away without incident.  A month goes by, you now have "The Inn Keepers Daughter" instead of a Hearthstone and that damn two-handed sword is still buried in troll fragments somewhere in Azeroth, but still your toon sits at a stand-still.

Then you hear over vent, someone is putting together a BoT trash run and that invites were out on the calender.  You check and, to your great disappointment, you were not invited.  Its no worry though, they probably just forgot; honest mistake.  You send out a /whisper and your invite is sent out immediately. 

The trash runs go perfectly.  Your guildies are impressed at how well you've geared yourself; amazing what gear you can buy with the Archaeology gold you've made.  Before the guild realizes, they have two trash runs farming on a regular basis.  To your surprise, you are in Group 1 with all the "bigshots."  These runs go smoothly for several weeks before it is announced that Group 1 will be attempting bosses.  Now's your moment.  All that spare time spent watching tankspot videos, learning these fights, has finally paid off.

Groups start forming, and you realize you have now been bumped to Group 2.  After questioning the raid leader you find out that "Miss I'm too good for WoTLK, but am back for Cata" apparently has better gear than you do, and your spot now belongs to her.  Really!!

So here you are, stuck in the trash runs, never to progress.  Oh, and FYI, Group 2 is fail!!

Now What Do We Do?

Obviously sitting back and not standing up for yourself is not working; big surprise there.  It's time to gather everyone up who feels the same way you do, because guess what, you're not the only one.  As a group you must now confront your Raid Leader and maybe have a few Guild Officers and maybe even the Guild Leader present. 

Here's where you express how you and your "posse" have been feeling left out.  Show them why Group 2" fails:  Lack of CC, bad group formation, personality clashes, etc.  Offer suggestions: for instance Paladin A from Group 1 should swap with Warrior X for CC purposes.  Group 2's tank needs a more experienced healer to keep him alive.  As long as your list of suggestions are reasonable than there is no reason for any good Guild and Raid Leader to ignore them.

Where's A Good Place To Start To Include The Forgotten?

Try setting up nightly heroics that you'd sign up for on the calender.  These groups should have a mix of well geared and experienced players and players that need a little more help.  This is a start and will get your guild geared, prepared, and experienced quicker than you'd think.  Give these groups a week or two and before you know it you all will be considered for the boss attempts.

That's my lesson for the day.  You can follow me on twitter @akadarcee.  All this week I will be working on a review of ARGO online, so stay tuned for that.