Tag Archives: writing

Altitis Strikes Again + New Article

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In both my MMO drugs of choice, World of Warcraft and The Secret World, I’ve reached something of a plateau on my main characters. In WoW, my rogue and my warlock are both geared enough to do Siege of Orgrimmar when it releases, and my warlock is nearing the end of the Wrathion legendary chain. In TSW, my Dragon has beaten all the solo content in the game and run every dungeon at least once.

My Templar within the Dreaming Prison in The Secret WorldFor some, this situation might lead to boredom, but for the alt addicts among us, this is an opportunity! Now is that glorious time when I shift focus away from the main characters a bit and move on to the neglected low level characters.

WoW: Monk-ying around:

I’ve decided that I want to get my monk to level 90 before Mists of Pandaria is finished. Partly, this is because I’m genuinely enjoying the character. But another reason is that I continue to be very unhappy with the direction of the rogue class, and it’s actually getting worse, not better. The next patch is slowing down combat even more.

So I want the monk as a fallback. If I’d known things would be this bad for rogues, I wouldn’t have bothered leveling mine at all, but I’ve sunk enough time into her now that I might as well stick it out through the rest of the expansion. But if things don’t improve in 6.0, I’m jumping ship to the monk.

So I’m pushing on towards 90 on my kung fu Night Elf. I cruised through Northrend in no time at all thanks to the monk XP buff, and I’m now punching and kicking my way through Cataclysm. While I’m still questing, I’m also doing a lot of dungeons in brewmaster spec.

It continually amazes me that I enjoy brewmaster as much as I do. Normally, tanking is my least favourite group role by far, but monk tanking is fiendishly fun.

My monk sailing to NorthrendI think a lot of it has to do with the mobility. My paladin felt so slow and sluggish, but my monk is blindingly quick. There are so many strategies you can pull off as a monk that would be impossible for any other tank. A lot of times I can avoid damage simply by staying out of the boss’s reach.

I also like that they have a very broad toolkit. This is the first tank spec I’ve played where I feel like I always have the tools I need to handle any circumstance.

TSW: Templars are red, Lumies are blue…

Meanwhile, in TSW, I continue my disturbing need to play alts in the game where there is absolutely no good reason to have alts.

On my Templar, I’ve now finished the main storyline. Her choices took a darker road than my Dragon’s did. She dreams to soar among the screaming stars with the whale-mollusk gods. The Dreamers will wake.

Ahem. Anyway…

I also repeated issue #7, A Dream to Kill, on her. It occurs to me I never gave my thoughts on issue #7 on this blog, but suffice it to say every aspect of it blew me away, and to my surprise, it lost almost none of its luster on the second playthrough. The snowmobile chase is still ridiculously fun, the new twists still have me chomping at the bit to get to Tokyo, and the Nursery is still absolutely bone-chilling.

One of many horrors within issue #7's Nursery in The Secret World

Now I’m going to have the song stuck in my head for a few more days…

And a new player has entered the scene. I’ve started a second alt to experience the Illuminati’s version of events.

The Lumies appealed to me the least out of the three factions off the bat, and playing one now hasn’t improved my opinion of them, but I can definitely see how a certain type of person would adore them.

While the faction-specific content in TSW is minimal, Funcom does a very good job of creating a distinct feeling between factions for what content there is. The Dragon are very mysterious and intellectually stimulating. The Templar ooze pride, tradition, and power. And the Illuminati are very clearly the comedy relief of the Secret World.

While superficially very different, the Lumies sort of remind me of the Goblins in WoW: madcap eccentrics out to make a fast buck or die trying. No sleep ’til Brooklyn — sex, drugs, and Rockefeller!

For all the fame Kirsten Geary has among the fans, I didn’t find her as funny as some seem to. Dr. Zurn, on the other hand, was definitely the highlight of the Illuminati starting experience.

Dr. Zurn experiments on my Illuminati alt in The Secret World“You ever seen a jaguar trippin’? Look it up sometime!”

The really horrible thing is that I’m already considering a fourth alt. I love the Dragon so much I want to play through their whole storyline again.

Although that would mean playing through that nightmarish parking garage mission again. Hmm… maybe not.

New article:

My latest contribution to WhatMMO is 5 Boring MMO Mechanics (That Could Be Fun). YES I REALLY WANT BETTER ARCHER CLASSES IN MY MMOS DAMN IT.

Children of the Gods Character Bio: Breena

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We now come to the second of my bios for the new characters of Children of the Gods. While Breena did appear in Rage of the Old Gods, she has a much bigger role in the second book.

WARNING: By necessity, this post will contain major spoilers for Rage of the Old Gods.

Breena (bree-nah):

“Contrary to rumor, we Clanspeople do not fear technology.”

Breena, sorceress of the Northern ClansAs a member of the Northern Clans, Breena spent most of the first half of her life in isolation from the rest of the world. As a wizard, she served an important role in her clan. The Clanspeople rely on magic to survive in the harsh north: It provides warmth, it powers their flying halls, it allows them to blast through snowbanks in their path, and it is the linchpin of their tactics for battling Automatons.

But though she had purpose, Breena did not enjoy her life. Breena lived as her ancestors had for the last several thousand years, with no chance of change. Her entire life had been predicted since birth. There were no surprises, no new opportunities, nothing to challenge her mind.

All that changed when Yarnig Tor Lannis convinced the Marg clan to join the rest of humanity in battling the reborn Old Gods. Breena was among those assigned to aid the southerners in their fight.

Breena found herself exposed to sights and experiences she had never imagined. Even in their ruined state, the cities of the south were wonders the likes of which she had never imagined.

She was also exposed to the sheer terror of doing battle with humanity’s most ancient foes. She nearly died when the Old Gods cornered and massacred her force in the Mannall Range. Those cold, frightened days of fleeing through the mountains until they escaped the barrier had a profound effect on Breena. She became fascinated by the barrier, and determined to understand it.

Breena spent the next several months on Tyzu, as far from the life she had led among the Clans as possible, where she studied the Old Gods’ barrier. Eventually, she had a breakthrough that helped facilitate the pivotal strike on Tallatzan Ziggurat and change the course of the war.

Breena, sorceress of the Northern ClansThis earned Breena a reputation as a brilliant innovator, but her newfound fame didn’t go to her head. She remains a shy and humble woman who stumbles over her own words when in the presence of luminaries like Leha.

When the war concluded, Breena returned to her life among the Clanspeople, but her mind often wanders south. She remembers the diverse peoples, new ideas, and exotic foods she encountered while working with the southerners. The Clanspeople teach that your family and your clan are your life, your entire identity, and Breena does not complain about her lot, but deep down, she wishes for more.