The Alpha Drama

I know I said on Twitter that I wasn't going to talk about the WoD Alpha drama anymore, but it really has been bothering me. I hear and read about both sides, and I even feel like I'm a part of both. Since this is mainly a post for me to just rant and get everything off my chest, I am disabling comments.

Now, if you're still interested in reading my rant, please continue, but if you don't care to hear my opinion on the WoD alpha drama, then click here for a savage thing!

My first complaint is the amount of time we're having between last tier and the new expansion. Now, I feel like if the game has become boring to you, unsubscribe from it. Personally I wouldn't pay $15 a month for something that I'm not having fun with. Also, there are plenty other games out right now that could use some attention. That being said, I know not everyone wants to play something else. That's great that they are so passionate about WoW! I am currently still subscribed as of now, but I feel that after I get my hunter to 60, there isn't really much else that I want to do. I can only imagine the headache and heartache that someone who really enjoys raiding feels even though SoO is not up to the 9 months DS was up to.. That's the reason Pigletoos quit and unsubscribed for now.

Patch 5.4

Sure you can argue that there are plenty of other things to do in the game, but remember... not everyone shares the same play styles. I've only set foot in LFR, but I find pet battling fun, and I'm sure someone thinks that's the most boring and lame thing ever put into the game. This is why I don't think it's alright to say, "be quiet and quit whining" or "suck it up" or the even more famous "I doubt they have done everything". We all pay the same monthly fee, so I think it's alright to complain and give constructive criticism. While you may still be having fun gearing up your 5th alt on the Timeless Isle, some of us are over it.

My next concern is the player models. I won't say complaint because I'm not really sure what direction Blizzard is going yet with these. First off, they all look absolutely amazing to me. I love the fact that the Dwarf Female had her scary joker mouth redone. She now looks lovely. The only model that is still bothering me is the Gnome Female. I think the eyes make her look a bit... spazzed? To me, they look strange. That's not what I'm concerned about though... I have the concern of the "same face syndrome" that all the models seem to have.

Here are the Warchiefs data-mined so far, plus Thrall. Despite all the Warchief's different skins, they all suffer from pretty much the same face. I believe Thrall's face still looks like it does currently in game, just a bit more updated. I hope these faces are just placeholders for their real ones. Pig has been reassuring me that he thinks they are all using the standard "Garrosh" model face just for now and their true faces will be unveiled later... almost like a surprise! I'm still excited to see Gul'dan!

Now, these are images taken from the AdriaCraft blog that someone on the MMO Champion forums compared to the models we have currently. These are the possible looks the new models will be taking the place of.

With the exception of a few different lip and eye colors, some wrinkles, freckles, or more shadows, every face looks the same to me. As someone who is extremely excited for the new models, this also worries me. Now I don't think Blizzard will take away our characters unique identities... at least I hope not, but I'm hoping to have a little more variant from each face. I keep telling myself, "don't worry, it's only alpha.", but we all know that's probably silly. I mean... have you actually seen the female Pandaren faces currently in game? They are all the same too.

And finally, let people freak out about the 6.0 patch notes. It happens with every expansion when Blizzard decides to remove, add, take away, put back, move, give it back, feed it to Oondasta, throw it into the Twisting Nether, or whatever they decide to do. People don't like change, but that's just how life is. Pick yourself up, cross your fingers that you get an alpha invite, and start learning again and become the best you can be! But please always remember this... I know I'm trying hard to:

"Please be aware that the patch notes are preliminary and not final. Details may change before retail release and new information will be added for additional features as development continues on the Warlords of Draenor expansion." - The Voice of Blizzard (HAH!)

Blizzcon 2013

"When past and present collide, the fate of all worlds hangs in the balance." - Prophet Velen

So now that Blizzcon is over and we know what the next expansion will be (R.I.P. Dark Below), I couldn't be more excited. I decided to touch on the things that I am extremely looking forward to for Warlords of Draenor. Note: Most pictures were taken from MMO Champion. They have an extremely good source of everything that was shown!

Shadowmoon Valley

First off, the zones that were shown off at Blizzcon looked amazing and breathtaking (Shadowmoon Valley *swoon*). I love the fact that we will get to see places such as Black Temple when it was the Temple of Karabor along with many other places that we saw as ruins in Outlands. Finally, in order to get to Draenor we will have to walk through a time twisted red Dark Portal... yes please!

A tier 3 garrison

There wasn't much mini pet news, but it didn't matter because I was extremely thrilled on the announcement of Garrisons. I love the idea of being able to build it up, chose what to place and where, and of course... gaining followers. I know a lot of people joke that Pet Battles is Pokemon for WoW, but it didn't occur to me until my boyfriend brought it up that this is almost Animal Crossing for WoW. I know Corey Stockton was playing a ton of New Leaf when it came out, so the idea may have came from there.

via Twitter

I know it may be a bit of a stretch, but I'm happy! I can only hope to be able to add a few of my favorites mounts to the stables, transmogs on some mannequins in my house, and some mini pets in a barn. However, the only thing I'm concerned with is the currency shown at the bottom. No one asked about it and it wasn't touched upon. Any ideas? I'm almost thinking maybe resources to allow followers to do things, but I'm not entirely sure.

Undead male update. Love the look of the bones sticking out!

This next one confused me when I saw quite a few people were upset with it - new character models. I don't think most people are upset because they are getting redone, I think they were mad at the fact that Blizzard put resources into this instead of offering us a new race/class for WoD. I personally don't think they really ever need a new class or race. People still can't figure out how to play the available classes that we have nor can Blizzard ever really balance them out evenly. Regardless, I'm glad the decision was to work on player models because it's something that is definitely showing its age in a place like Pandaria. There was a sneak peek at the male undead, and I can only hope the females look just as good!

This announcement was wonderful... a hoarder's dream! Heirlooms, toys, and possibly tabards will be getting their own collections! I don't have many heirlooms, but I do have a ton of goodies from holidays, archaeology, and questing. I'm hoping this tab will be account bound also since I had no choice but to get rid of some things on my main. As far as the tabards, I'm hoping this too will be implemented. My entire main bank is just tabards that are rare, no longer obtainable, or I just don't want to regrind the currency for them. Please, please, please make it happen!

I love the look of this female Orc!

I would love to talk about the gear changes and how I can't wait for D3: Reaper of Souls, but that would be a bit boring, so I will quickly touch on the final thing I found really exciting - the ability to level a character to 90 instantly! This upset a ton of people also, but I'm not sure if people understand ONE CHARACTER. Not two, not five, one. This is wonderful for someone who either hasn't played in a long time and wants to get back into the game, someone who wants to make an entirely new character, or even someone (like me) who left an alt to rot in old content. While I am going to be working on leveling up that alts in the next few months, I think I will go with the second option. I always wanted to level up a Shaman and this makes for the perfect opportunity. Now the real questions... Orc or Dwarf?

Old annual pass from 2011 Blizzcon.

One thing I am shocked that they didn't announce was a new Annual Pass. I thought for sure they would offer one with the Hearthsteed as the mount, free D3:Reaper of Souls, and WoD Beta access. I would have signed up for that in an instant since I did it last time and really enjoyed it.

Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden. Buy it HERE!

With that being said, I really don't know much of the lore of this time period. I of course recognized Grommash from the teaser trailer and the only other clan I could name was Frostwolf. I was excited to see that my boyfriend has Rise of the Horde on his bookshelf. This will be my nightly reading material. I'm hoping to learn more about this savage time in Warcraft history.