Let's Talk About WoW

Last week, the new expansion for World of Warcraft was released, titled Warlords of Draenor, which not only added new dungeons, a new area, and raised the level cap to 100, but also gave the game a graphical upgrade, specifically for the original races, giving them upgraded character models.

I have been playing WoW for years now off and on, and, as you well know, it is my second favorite game of all time behind the original Legend of Zelda. So why is World of Warcraft so good and how can it stay relevant 10 years after its initial launch? That seems like a good discussion topic, so let's talk about WoW shall we?

To be clear: this is not a review of Warlords of Draenor or anything like that. This is just me, on my blog, talking about how I got involved in this game and what it means to me. Also why it is still the gold standard for MMORPGs.

World of Warcraft launched on November 23rd, 2004 here in North America and Australia (yeah, as in we are coming up on the 10th anniversary). I did not have a capable PC at the time, plus everyone I knew who was playing it was getting addicted to it and, much like actual drugs, I just said "No". I managed to avoid the game until January 15th, 2007. I was working at a GameStop at that point and we were having a midnight launch for the first expansion, The Burning Crusade. We had customers coming up dressed in their best cosplay attire and choosing their sides, Horde or Alliance, and we had pins depicting the various classes out for sale. I, up to that point, had not seen a community get behind a game like that.

I was intrigued (I easily succumb to mob mentality), so I asked my store manager about the game, since he played. He was gushing about it, saying how easy it was to pick up and play and how I'd get hooked and love it. So I walked out of my store with a Horde pin, a Warrior pin, and a copy of vanilla World of Warcraft, determined to give it a fair shot and to see what the hype was all about.

After the lengthy installation, (it was 4 discs back then) and the constant patches and updates, I was ready to play. To reiterate, I didn't have a capable PC, so I installed the game to my old laptop since I used that the most. My first character in WoW was an Orc Warrior (don't ask me his name cause I have long since forgotten), and my initial experience was real shitty. Not because of the game, but because of said shitty laptop. It was still playable if I turned down all the settings, but the frame rate was crappy and the game looked like crap to me, again because of the laptop, not the game.

So my first zone I got to interact with was the starting area for the Orcs, Durotar, a wasteland with the same color scheme as the surface of Mars. I was tasked with killing boars, humans, harpys and so on. Then I got to the capital city of Orgrimmar, and was absolutely floored. The city was a metropolis, the music kicked in and added to this epic fantasy setting and I was sold. I now understood why people got so excited about this.

Also worth noting, I had not played an RPG of this scale before, especially on a PC. I was used to controllers and a smaller amount of buttons to hit, now I have a mouse and full keyboard literally at my fingertips. When I was looking at the controls, I had that same look in my eyes that a grandparent gets when they get their first iPhone and are told to "go nuts". I was able to figure things out pretty quickly, however. I just kept it simple: WASD for movement, B for backpack, M for map, and the number keys for my different spells/abilities. I figured Warrior would be a good place to start since I didn't have to worry about mana, and focus more on hitting things in the goddamn face! To this day, it is my preferred class, though I have dabbled with the Mage class and am now really enjoying the Paladin class.

After a while I stopped playing and cancelled my account. Back then, I was making minimum wage and the thought of shilling $15 a month on top of my regular spending and bills was just too much for me. I figured that was it, I thought the game would just sort of die out and we would all move on.

A few months later I got the itch again, the addict looking for his next hit. I signed up again, and this began a really bad habit for me.

Since I had been away from the game for so long, I forgot who my character was and what I was doing. I was in my mid-to-high teens as far as levels went, so I just deleted my character, started anew ("re-rolled" as it were. See? You learned a new term, kids) and went again. This is my bad habit, to this day. I get way into the game, play it for hours a day for over a month, then stop playing for a bit, come back, forget what I was doing, restart, lather, rinse, repeat.

Then the next expansion came: Wrath of the Lich King, I was now on the other side of the midnight launch, having a different job and being an avid WoW player. Level cap was raised, a new land (Northrend) opens up, and I could play as a new class, the awesome sounding Death Knight.

So I kept at it, determined to see a character hit any level cap (I never did get to one, life happens sometimes, you know?). The expansion did bring me back into WoW harder and I knew this game was something special.

Arthas (the aforementioned Lich King) is a really interesting character and that led me to purchase my first World of Warcraft novel: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, detailing how a young and powerful Paladin could be corrupted and become this all-powerful evil entity. I had officially become a WoW nerd. Side Note: My next WoW novel purchase will be the book about Thrall, the former Horde warchief, since he is also a very interesting character in the lore, and because I am For The Horde.

I was still playing the game off and on at this point but I would never cancel my account, knowing I would always come back. There was just so much to do and so many reasons to explore the world of Azeroth that I knew I had to have it on standby.

Then we got the big expansion, a literal world-shattering expansion: Cataclysm. The world as we knew it was going to change, zones were getting changed/destroyed, and we were introduces to new races: The Goblins and the Worgen. By this point, I am fully invested. I am rolling characters, having my main, my alts, I'm running dungeons, I am reading patch notes and watching preview videos to see what is changing, I am all in.

The new world is just as fun to explore and it was amazing seeing all the little touches and changes each zone went though. Seeing The Barrens split into North and South was a sight to behold and it was like a whole new game.

Also by this point, I was buying the collector's edition of the expansions, which would get me the art books, the soundtracks (I consider WoW to have some of the best music in gaming), behind the scenes DVDs and in game content like mounts and pets.

Next up was Mists of Pandaria and included pet battles, a new land (Pandaria), a new class (Monk), another level cap raise, and a new race (Pandaren) that can actually choose to go either Alliance or Horde. While many people considered the pet battles to be basically adding Pokèmon to WoW, I thought it was a nice touch and now gives me something to do with all these pets I have accumulated over the years.

Now with the new expansion out, Warlords of Draenor, adding all that it added, subscribers are back over 10 million and the game is just as hot now as it has ever been.

But how? How can a game survive 10 years when many other MMOs have either shut down or gone exclusively Free-To-Play?

Because WoW set the bar in 2004 and when other games have come out with new innovations, they have taken what works for them, and implemented it in a better way in WoW. Also, World of Warcraft is easy enough for the newcomer to get into and have a good time while also having enough depth and content to keep the hardcore players coming back.

I have played WAY more MMOs then I care to mention in my life. Whether it's Warhammer Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Wildstar, EVE, Conan, City of Heroes/Villains, DC Universe, Defiance, Matrix Online (ugh), Star Wars: Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, I could go on, they all are compared to the measuring stick that is World of Warcraft.

Blizzard Entertainment makes fantastic products with amazing production value. If they see something that can be tweaked to make the gaming experience better, they do it. This is their baby and they do the impossible: they keep gamers interested and entertained. If I wrote about all the innovations World of Warcraft has/did, I would be here the rest of my life.

The sky is the limit for the future of WoW, now that characters are getting a graphics update, WoW may have just got a second wind, and that's a big thing for a game this massive. Also, a bit of a milestone for me, I got my Pandarin (Horde) Warrior over level 60 and am doing quests in the Outlands, the land that was introduced in The Burning Crusade, so I am making progress.

Happy 10th Anniversary World of Warcraft and thank you for so many memories, an amazing game, and hopefully to many more years of right clicking.

Also...

Lok'Tar Ogar!
Victory or Death!

What I Think Of... WWE 2K15 (Both generation versions)

It's that time again, brothers! The time where everyone's favorite weightlifting, body-slamming, sometimes good-talking (but mostly not), sports entertainers known as pro wrestlers get their time to shine in the video game world with WWE 2K15. This marks the first appearance on the current-gen consoles. I have played A LOT of wrestling games (good chance I have played every wrestling game released in North America with the exception of Rumble Roses) and I have been going through "WWE Fatigue" with the past iterations. The previous games have mostly been fine, but the franchise really needs that Advance Warfare-style kick in the ass and the newer consoles should give it a great place to do that right?.....right?.....ugh.... Here is what I think of BOTH versions of WWE 2K15.

Previous Gen Versions (Xbox 360/PS3)

These versions have been left relatively unchanged from 2K14, with a few little tweaks to the character models and the commentary. 2K15 also marks the first appearance of the NXT brand which is a show I really like and it's really cool to see it implemented here along with some of the higher profile talent such as Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn.

NXT is also the prominent brand in the single player mode "Who Got NXT?" which is set up the same way as the Attitude Era mode was set up from the previous game. You recreate a series of matches in the sort of way it was done in the real WWE, completing objectives along the way. This mode, however, sucks. Much like the Attitude Era style mode sucked before. Why? Some of these objectives are locked...ok...so how am I supposed to strive towards these objectives, when I don't know what the objective even is? Are you trusting me to remember these matches and try to painstakingly recreate it? Even though I am a WWE Network subscriber and pay (say it with me) $9.99 a month, I don't remember all the details to these matches. What's more, you are playing as Sami Zayn against Cesaro and one of the objectives is "Kick out of Cesaro's finisher", that means you have to sit there and let Cesaro beat the crap out of you, let him hit you with his finisher AND hope the planets align and you can get the kick-out mini-game right. As the WWE crowd would say... "BOR-ING, BOR-ING, BOR-ING".

The other mode being touted in the game is the "2K Showcase" which is basically the same thing as "Who Got NXT?" but features a series of matches with Triple H vs Shawn Michaels and John Cena Vs CM Punk. This mode seems useless and I really don't know why it's in here. They want you to play these modes to unlock things like different attires and arenas, but it says something when there is an option to purchase an "Accelerator" for $1.99 and unlock everything in the game, which I have done for the past few games since I really don't want to play these modes. Perhaps the developers know this too, which may be why the option exists.

WWE Universe mode is back and untouched, which is fine since it s fine the way it is, and of course online returns. This basically feels like 2K14 with some MINOR upgrades.

Though I have to get into my biggest problem with the game (this will be a rant so please just bear with me). The main reason as to why I buy this game is to download a bunch of created content off the community server and use WWE Universe to have my own fantasy federation, even going so far as to bring back WCW with Nitro, Thunder, and all the WCW Pay Per Views. 2K14 made me very happy when they upped the created wrestler count from 50 to 100, which carried over to 2K15, which is great and smart, and I was ready to sit there yesterday and fill out my roster, get all my arenas, logos, and enjoy a new year of fantasy wrestling. I then found the dumbest thing to happen in a video game. There is a 24 hour download clock on the community creations screen, I took that to mean the download count for creations would reset so people can see how many downloads they get in a day....ok that makes sense...NO, you can only download 10 things in a 24 hour time period!!!! This is inexcusable! You want a thriving, content-creating community and you limit them to this degree? The first time I saw that notice pop up I actually laughed out loud at how dumb that decision was. Also, for all you who like creating and uploading your content, you are also screwed. Everyone starts at the "Bronze" level, which means you can only upload 5 pieces of content, you level up based on how many people download your content which opens up more slots. I'm guessing this is to keep the servers from catching fire, but 2K14 had unlimited downloads and uploads and was stable (at least in my experience) but these decisions are really good ways to torpedo your community which was already getting enough reasons to be bored with the products they were getting. I hope the backlash to this causes some change but until then, I am going to stick to 2K14.

Bottom line, the PS3/Xbox 360 versions of WWE 2K15 are familiar to series' veterans, but still unremarkable and full of problems.

We all know though that the emphasis was on the new gen versions, so it has to be better right?

Current Gen Versions (PS4/Xbox One)

This is the version I initially purchased. I got the "Hulkamania" PS4 Versions which does have some neat swag: A Vinyl figure of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan (which would be my preferred version of Hogan), an autographed Hulk Hogan card, and a framed piece of the canvas from Hogan's appearance on RAW in Memphis, TN on March 10th, 2014 (side note: I was in Memphis a few weeks ago, lovely city, amazing food, will travel to again someday).. Enough stuff to make a wrestling nerd a little giddy. Unfortunately, it also comes with a copy of WWE 2K15.

First, yes the game looks a hell of a lot better and the first match I booted up was Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan and when the Wyatt family came down the ramp, with the lantern and the lights from the crowd, it looked so damn cool. Then Bryan comes out, the crowd goes nuts, fingers up chanting YES! YES! YES! Really felt like I was watching an episode of RAW.

Then the match started and it went to hell. The development team wanted the new version to have a slower pace to it to emulate an actual WWE match. This amounts to your first couple of grapples being a game of rock, paper, scissors, depending on which face button you hit, then transitioning to a "move the right stick until you find the sweet spot and fill up the circle", then another right stick game....just to throw a punch. This is slow, boring, and downright sucks, leaving me to really not want to grapple at all. Once you get past that and actually do wrestling moves, the game flows pretty well and the expressions on the wrestlers faces look really good. Also, I thew together a created wrestler and it looks like he could be a stock wrestler, so graphics on this have taken a turn for the much better.

MyCareer mode is the main point of emphasis with these versions and dare I say, this has potential. You can import a created wrestler already saved or slap together a new one. I already had one created so I used him. Here was my problem, my wrestler came in just fine, his stat rankings were reset (as I figured they would be, no problem there), his ring entrance came over, BUT none of his moves did, so if you already have a created wrestler and spent a long time fine-tuning his moves, you have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN in MyCareer mode since some moves get locked out based on skills. By the way, none of this gets told to you, so you have to figure that out on your own. As stated, potential is there, you start at the WWE Performance Center for a few trial matches against other aspiring talent, guided (or more accurately, yelled at) by Bill DeMott (who I still refer to as Hugh Morris). That's another problem, I'm getting yelled at by DeMott, basically telling me I suck, and then the after match ranking is 4/5 stars, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT BILL/HUGH?

You do get to add points to your wrestler's attributes and get them to NXT and so on for a 15-year career. Again, this has a lot of potential and hopefully something they can build on, because this is the best thing about WWE 2K15...

...and it's not even close. The 2K Showcase is also here and I still don't understand why, maybe they just needed SOMETHING besides MyCareer.

Remember that whole online download/upload issue? It's here as well, but it's worse, since you CAN NOT create arenas, also the created character limit is.....25. As much as I hate the term "facepalm" I can say I did that when I saw all these limitations. I won't go into a rant, but I will say this: I picked up my PS4 copy at 11PM CST Monday night, and traded it back in by 7PM the next day, I was so bummed by what I had just bought.

Bottom line: The MyCareer mode seems really cool and has lots of potential, but that can not make up the fact that this is the worst game in the WWE series, even going back when it was the Smackdown series. The current gen versions are great looking, however they are hollow, light on content, clunky, and overall just not fun to play.

So, to wrap things up: WWE 2K15 (on any platform) is a bad wrestling game. There are things here that point to better things in the future, but it's all weighed down by clunky controls, lack of content, and bonehead decisions to limit their community. What seemed like a Michaels vs Razor Ladder Match type of video game, we actually got the Roberts vs Martel Blindfold Match....yikes.

Believe me, as a wrestling fan and as a video game aficionado, it was hard to write some of these sentences since I buy these games every year and, as stated earlier, subscribe to the Network, we just want a good wrestling game again.

What I Think Of... Halo: The Master Chief Collection

The game that revolutionized a genre and pushed the Xbox to the front of the console market is back....again. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is out and contains the following:

- Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Halo 2 Anniversary
- Halo 3
- Halo 4
- Halo Nightfall (A live action feature, presumably to add more fuel to the "Make the Halo movie already!" fire
- invite to the Halo 5 Guardians multiplayer beta when released.

That's A LOT of stuff packed on 1 disc for $60.

I assume this collection is for people who may have never played Halo (do they exist?) or the hardcore fans (like me) who want the new Halo 2 and all the multiplayer fun on a single disc. So is this worth getting if you have every Halo game anyway (again, like me) ?

Here is what I think of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

I will mainly focus on what sets this collection apart from the regular games, again I assume you know what Halo is and have played these games before. If I talked about every game and their stories, this post would be longer than the time it takes to get into a multiplayer match (BAZING!).

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is back and looks as good as ever. The main selling point of the original Anniversary edition was the ability to switch between redone visuals and old visuals, the main switch here in the Xbox One version is that you can do it instantly, whereas the original 360 version, the screen would fade to black first. This is not a small change because the ability to do that makes you actually WANT to go back and forth as opposed to taking you out of the action for a bit.

Halo 2 Anniversary is the part that is being pushed as the big reason to buy this collection, and it's easy to see the development team spent A LOT of time making this look great. The cutscenes look spectacular and even though 2 is regarded as the weakest campaign in the series (it is), it is still a lot of fun to go back and play the remastered version.

Halo 3 and Halo 4 are relatively untouched, though I wouldn't be surprised to see anniversary editions of these when they hit that 10-year mark.

The multiplayer is what keeps coming back to the Halo games and why Halo 2 was being played long after the future games were released. Unfortunately, in it's current state, it's broken.

Let's focus on the positives first though: All the maps from the previous games are in here and it is still just as fun to play them now as they did back when they were new. What is also really cool is the fact that the maps are in the original graphical styles. So if you want to play Hang 'Em High from Halo: CE (arguably the best map in the entire series), the graphics are taken straight out of the original Xbox version, and that is insane to me to be able to play original Halo online. The Halo 2 maps (like my favorite, Midship) are the same way and it is a pure nostalgia trip to see these maps like I did in High School/College. Also, the Halo 2 Anniversary maps are 6 redone Halo 2 maps (including fan favorite, Lockout) with some new mechanics. All the maps have some interactive pieces, like broken glass or falling stalactites that can crush enemies. They also all look incredible.

Now the bad: while all of that sounds great, it's next to impossible to actually play it. The Matchmaking issues have been well documented and 343 is pushing out updates to try and resolve the issue, but even at 11AM on the day of this writing (November 12th, a day after launch), I was still having issues finding a game. I'm not going to slam this part much more, since the rest of the internet is doing it for me, but it's worth mentioning. I was able to get a few matches in and remembered that I may be past my Halo multiplayer prime (I was a beast in High School, but kids these days...man). Also kind of a bummer is the lack of a leveling system that was present in games like Halo 4 and Reach. There IS, however, the Halo 2 ranking system which is cool and all, but is only available on the "Team Halo 2 Anniversary" playlist, with the other lists all say "Ranking coming soon". In this day and age of leveling up "Call of Duty" style, it is kind of a bummer that it was taken out of Halo, though you still can unlock emblems and in-game avatars, though you can't unlock armor pieces like you could before, which is a REAL bummer since I love that kind of thing in ANY game.

While on the subject of playlists, I can say I am a little disappointed in the ones that are currently out. You have your basic team playlists and free-for-all playlists which use a smattering of maps from the different games, you also have game-specific playlists, as well as fan favorite SWAT (still holding out for a Grifball playlist), but I guess I wanted a playlist that was a "Here is everything, go!" which switched up game modes and used every map in the game (over 100).

What's more, launch day for this game broke Xbox Live. Other games were not working, even Call of Duty players were complaining (weird, right?) and I was also experiencing a problem where achievements were not popping even though it clearly showed that I did what I needed to do, I still haven't got the achievement for beating 343 Guilty Spark in Halo: CE Anniversary, even though I ran through it 3 times trying to get it to pop. Needless to say, it's been a rough launch. Though updates are being pushed out.

Alright, enough belly-aching, the point is that if you are a Halo fan, you either (A) already own this or (B) are planning on it after your next paycheck. This is a phenomenal value at $60 and will be even better once the multiplayer gets fixed. This is one of my favorite franchises in video game history and any opportunity I can get to relive in, this time with better graphics, 60 frames per second, and all on one disc, I will absolutely take it and anybody with an Xbox One deserves to have this in their collection. These are some of the best games of all time for a reason.

What's Coming Up in November?

We are getting closer and closer to Christmas, which means more and more big-name releases coming out. So let's get right to it, here is what to expect in the month of giving thanks...

November 3rd/4th:

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - (PC, PS3, PS4, XB360, XBONE)

The multiplayer juggernaut known as Call of Duty gets its much-anticipated release and will own people's lives. I will tell you, after playing a handful of matches online and getting a feel for things, I am liking the intensity and all the future tech.

November 11th:

Assassin's Creed Unity - (PC, PS4, XBONE)

French Revolution Assassin? You have my interest. Especially after how good Black Flag was.

Assassin's Creed Rogue - (PS3, XB360)

More AC? Assassin-turned-Templar? Trying to tie together III and Unity? It's going to be a fun-filled day.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection - (XBONE)

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!.....Halo 1, 2, 3, and 4. Every multiplayer map EVER! Halo 5: Guardians beta, Halo: Nightfall....OMG! OMG! OMG!

LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham - (Everything)

Following the events of LB2 and featuring voice acting from people such as Kevin Smith and Conan O'Brien, Beyond Gotham looks to be even more adorable LEGO fun.

November 13th:

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor - (PC, Mac)

Level cap raise, new dungeons, graphical overhaul, and more addictive gameplay for the game that's already considered the most addictive game on the market.

November 18th:

Dragon Age: Inquisition - (PC, PS3, PS4, XB360, XBONE)

Everything about this seems awesome and looks like it could right the wrongs done by a disappointing Dragon Age II.

Far Cry 4 - (PC, PS3, PS4, XB360, XBONE)

Far Cry 3 was one of the best games of 2012, so picture a game going even crazier and looking even better. Hard to believe. All signs point to this game being one of the best this year. You can ride an elephant for crying out loud!

Grand Theft Auto V - (PS4, XBONE)

We finally get the new-gen launch of the most well-known open-world games. What's more is that your progress will transfer over to the newer versions, even CROSS-PLATFORM!! That is ridiculous.

LittleBigPlanet 3 - (PS3, PS4)

Sackboy is back and this time he is on a PS4. People have made unbelievable things in the previous games and I can not wait to see what the improved power and new mechanics will yield. While I am no expert at creating levels, I absolutely love this series. Also, 3 will supports ALL the content from previous games.

WWE 2K15 - (PS4, XBONE)

The new-gen versions hits store shelves and will feature Sting for the first time, so that should open up a created wrestler slot for you.

November 21st: (aka, Nintendo day)

Pokèmon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire - (3DS)

The next games to get remade in the series has got fans super excted, and rightfully so. Especially with how good X and Y are, this looks like just what the fans want/need. Yes I will get this.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - (Gamecube.....jk)

I still play the hell out of the 3DS version and the Wii U game has even more content in it, new modes, new levels, new things to make me dust off the Wii U and probably play this until it catches fire. Seriously can not wait for this.

November 25th:

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - (3DS)

A dungeon-crawling RPG featuring character from the Persona series, (including Persona 4, which I love). Another game I can't wait to play and will help get my psyched for Persona 5, due out in the States in 2015.

Other quick notes:

- Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley - 3DS - November 4th
- The Wolf Among Us - PS4, XBONE - November 4th
- Escape Dead Island - PS3, XB360, PC - November 18th
- Watch_Dogs - Wii U - November 18th
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - XB360, PS3 - November 18th

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Look at all that! Hell, I could hear my bank account screaming for mercy as I was typing this.

As always, these dates can change and other games my find their way into this log-jam of a month. Better save those paychecks and start making those Christmas lists, because many of these games have Game of the Year potential written all over it.