Comment Bugs

It has come to my attention that there might be some issues with comments being submitted; one user said they entered their google name/pass and nothing happened. I am not sure if this is occurring for others, but if it is please let me know by either commenting here (if you can) or sending an email to cl0ckw0rksblog@gmail.com so I can get this sorted out. I have it currently set to Moderate comments but should allow "everyone" to post...and yet the comments are not even getting to my "Awaiting moderation" or "spam comment" folders.


The user in question used Google Chrome...you'd think their browser would work with their blogger!

Mists Lore Speculation: Jaina Proudmore & Post-Garrosh Horde

MMO-Champion has been diligent in datamining the Mists Beta and the blogosphere has deftly followed any announcements from the Press Release which turned up some interesting bits of information related to Azeroth's peace-loving mage; Jaina. For those averse to spoilers and avoiding all Mists of Pandaria news, turn back now!

Re: Mittani @ EVE Fanfest

TRIGGER WARNING: Post discussion includes mention of suicide

While there is certainly much to celebrate and discuss with Mists of Pandaria now in Beta and a panda-sized list of spell and ability tweaks released on MMO-Champion, SWTOR's vaunted 1.2 patch on the horizon and dozen of other highly anticipated games in Beta or about to release (Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2, etc). Today I am switching tone.

By now I have no doubt that everyone in the blogosphere, their mother, and their mother's cat have heard of the events surrounding Alex "The Mittani" at the EVE Fanfest suggesting that players harass a suicidal player such that he might kill himself. While I wanted to do a post on MMO communities, I've hemmed it down (though it may not seem that way) to focus on the current issue and I'll talk on Video-game decency another time.

The wall of text constituting my opinion after the break.

Mists Beta Anger at a Glance, or, "Monks....monks everywhere..."

A brief post today, in regards to my quick 2 cents on the Annual Pass Beta and having gotten to watch a friend who did get in play a little over the weekend.

Challenge Mode Armor in Mists has cool features?

A short post today on a little gem I found in the Mists Beta. In what I consider a somewhat ambitious step Blizzard is adding new "Special" effects to armor gained for completing Challenge dungeons at Silver level...and I love the idea!

SWTOR Free Weekend Visit

While I am surely late to the TOR party I heard about the free weekend from reputable channels (reddit is reputable right?) and decided to give it a shot. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised; the game was entertaining, but at this point I am not up to paying another $60 for a game and then having to worry about a subscription fee. Mainly this is because my playtime is unpredictable and limited. Many of the game's major qualities have been discussed and debated to death, so after the break I sort out what I liked and disliked that is not as mainstream (Full disclosure: Played a Consular to 11 (with a friend playing a warrior), an agent to 6 and an Inquisitor (Sorcerer) to 13)

Calling it right now...

So MMO-Champion has posted a slew of Mists of Pandaria information as the press tour gets kicking, and while a full post on my opinion on the issues is forthcoming (sneak preview: Its basically the same optimism I looked at the previous expansions with) I thought I'd get a few things out of the way right now:

New Blogs Added to Reading List!

I originally got involved in WoW blogging and commenting when I stumbled upon Rohan's "Blessing of Kings" and Beth's "Letters from Birdfall" (Sadly not operating anymore :( )one of the things that introduced me to to other blogs were their feeds which showed not just titles of the blogs but also the posts...without them I wouldn't have found most of those I loved to read. In that spirit I want to do the same for others, so I have added 3 names to my list (oh em gee I almost have a scroll bar on my blogger list!). And here they are!

MMOMeltingPot - A roundup of the interesting posts from blogs all around the internets (and world!), great for finding new reads.

Apple Cider Mage - A great writer who focused a great deal on feminist issues in MMO's, definitely a read even if those aren't your issues of choice.

Hypercriticism - Blogger might not think it exists (it doesn't want to create a feed! :( ) but I found it an enjoyable read. I'm also mega-jealous of the quality of the portrait she uses.

Female Pandaren Silhouette

As part of the March Madness Mists of Pandaria press tour Blizzard has released a silhouette version of the female Pandaren model that will be shown fully on Monday 3/19...but that's a few days from now and it's a hot topic, so I am going to discuss it right freakin' here and no one can stop me!...except good sense perhaps. The full image after the break. (Warning, image heavy post!)

Mass Effect 3 Ending, or, "The horse isn't dead yet!"

Alternative titles being, "Beating a synthetic horse" and "Where everything is made up and the choices don't matter"

AVAST YE MAYTEE...SPOILERS AHEAD! (No seriously, MASSIVE spoilers ahead, do not read if you haven't finished the game!)

Death Knight Talents in Mists, or, "Death Pact is the Renegade choice" Part 2

Continuing from part 1 we get to the aptly named "PART 2!!!!!" which I personally find to be among the more interesting choices compared to 1. The best part of this whole talent experiment is that so far, even though there are only six choices, I feel as though I am actually making decisions.

Death Knight Talents in Mists, or, "My Ghoul vomits nyancat rainbows" Part 1

I've hit that awkward time in WoW's cycle when the current expansion is coming to an end and all I really find myself thinking about is the upcoming one. I find it hard to feel motivated playing systems I am not happy with when I know something new (and hopefully better) is right around the corner.

In anticipation of that I'm doing a few little posts on what I see coming down the pipe for the classes I play (which is most of them)...and first, DEATH KNIGHTS. To keep it from being ghastly long I am splitting it into 2 parts (15/30/45 and 60/75/90). Also, I am not much a fan of WoW PvP at the moment so this analysis is aimed at the PvE game, but my opinion of PvP may change in Mists!

Mass Effect 3 - Spoiler Free Review

To be entirely fair, no review can ever be "spoiler free"...any details I tell you of the game or its make are ruining some level of exploration. However I am trying my best here to keep things general, and to leave those precious moments of discovery up to you, while I focus mainly on the elements which made the game good and bad. This is by no means comprehensive, more of a "player's opinion" on bits of the game.

Putting WoW on Hiatus

Though World of Warcraft was at the outset going to be one of my primary topics here, I am finding lately that I am preferring other games; in the past few weeks I've bounced around Tribes: Ascend, Mass Effect 2 and 3, Killing Floor and a little bit of Skyrim. I mainly just log on to WoW during my groups weekly raid night....we're a fairly close group of RL friends and it's a way of keeping up, we're not exactly progression focused. For various reasons the game just isn't holding interest...it isn't compelling or engaging.

I have no doubt I will return to it with Mists of Pandaria, but outside of the aforementioned raids I don't see myself doing much with WoW...everything I have left to do in WoW besides that feels more like a chore than fun....I was logging in to do LFR because I felt like I had to use up my lockouts, not because I was enjoying it.

I still plan to discuss the game however, and as the March news of Mists comes trickling in I'll see about adding some posts.