Project Lore

World of Warcraft has changed dramatically since it was released at the end of 2004.  Say what you will about the PvP and PvE changes, there are numerous aspects of the title that are undeniably better.  You've the numerous tweaks to the user interface, the inclusion of the top add-ons, constant tweaks, bug fixes and optimization, and small graphical upgrades with each expansion (shadows, lighting).  All these fixes are very much appreciated, but nothing tops the feature with the most notable changes, questing.  Be it direction, design, story or implementation, the way quests are handled these is a far cry from the distractions that they were in the first 20 levels of alpha/beta (originally they barely existed past that point). I do not know what changed at Blizzard to cause this reboot.  Perhaps the company had more time to craft more intriguing stories?  Maybe the developers were just handed better tools?  They decided to start taking quests more seriously?  It's likely some combination of the three, but whatever lit a fire under their collective asses, I love it. I love it so much that I wish there was a way to see the teams that worked on specific quests.  Case in point, what genius wrote the Sholazar Basin story arcs that I raved about earlier?  There's even some funny "Kill 10 foozles" quests, including one that Solidsagart just completed in Storm Peaks.  Ricket totally had me going for a minute.  Who penned that goblin to employ such spot on tongue-in-cheek humor? The way I envision the feature would be a simple check box in the Quest Log's UI that is default off.  Therefore, the immersion would be preserved for players worried about such things, or who couldn't care less.  But those who wish to recognize crafty writing, good design or a cohesive story would know who to worship.  Not to mention an added bit of information to help filter through "trash" quests.  No need to backlog every quest - most of the old stuff is disappearing with Cataclysm anyway - just the new stuff will do. The tales of Adventure's secret room, and the ultimate birth of Activision taught me one thing; the little guys need to be able to receive credit for their hard work as much as the big fish (Greg Street, J. AllenBrack, Tom Chilton).  Yes, I realize that such a thing could be a slippery slope, it may lead to names being everywhere.  So long as Blizzard can find a tasteful way to inject credits in to the game, I'd be more then happy to see them.  After all, when have you ever looked at the credits of the game you spend countless hours in?

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Yes, I Know My Achievement Score Sucks & No, I Do Not Care It's been just over a month since the Secrets of Ulduar stopped being secretive and brought us the Argent Tournament.  The new Icecrown area was designed to raise the level of solo content for those players who wouldn't be entering Ulduar any time soon, or ever.  And we enjoyed it for awhile. I've only missed 3 days worth of dailies since the tournament went live and would consider myself a bit of an expert on the subject.  Don't believe me?  Well then how about this dose of arrogance; I can down all four Champions for Among the Champions without healing my stead.  That really should be an Achievement in my humble opinion.  Doing anything that many days in a row leads to a bit of burnout and I am no exception.  I can't wait until either new Argent Tournament content is added - how long does a coliseum take to build anyways? - or I can stop grinding those Champion's Seals.  Only 70 more to go till I grab the five-some of pets, then it's back to grinding for the Hippogryph. Enough background and qualifying information.  The major fault of the tournament isn't that the content gets stale quickly, or even that it's more financially rewarding to not Champion every faction, it is the design of the Citadel quests.  Actually, not the quests themselves, but the area of Corp'rethar itself.  I'm lucky enough to have time in the morning to tackle my dailies when most people aren't online.  Over the course of the month+ I have had to delay those tasks till peak hours, a time when the Court of Bones turns into a mini Wintergrasp.  If I had to deal with the lag and lack of mobs on a daily basis I think I would have quit the Argent Tournament a long time ago. At first I wrote off the problem as being due to the allure of new content, and wholeheartedly expected the area to become a wasteland in the near future.  Last week's afternoon Citadel run told me otherwise.  How did Blizzard not see this coming?  They basically took the crowds of Dalaran, tossed them into a single confined area and have them fight over a limited resource (although quickly respawning).  Who approved that design document? With the reduction of the Hippogrpyh's price, the bird has been re-added to list of things to purchase.  This means I only have...44 days left.  Those added quests and chance to score a Seal from the purses can't come soon enough.  Solidsamm deserves a break after the pets. Do you experience this kind of lag, or is it limited to my aging and crowded server?  Still plugging away at those Seals?

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Not even two hours after I turned in yesterday's post on toilet humor, I found another quest in Northrend that took it to the max. Due to the fact that the topic is fresh on my mind, and that the quest contains more depth, so much that it made me laugh out loud, I cannot pass up on the opportunity to discuss poop again. SolidSamm finally ventured into Grizzly Hills yesterday afternoon (after scoring the I've Toured the Fjord achievement) and joined the struggle at Amberpine Lodge. In case you failed to pick up on it, or haven't been, the Horde, Alliance and local wildlife in the immediate area are all searching for food. As with any hungry populaces struggling for the same foodstuff, conflict is sure to ensue. Many of the opening quests offered in Amberpine deal with collecting food or protecting resources from carnivorous beasts and even the wildlife. With all the running around you do for these people your avatar is bound to get hungry and indulge in the mouth-watering Amberseeds stored in the inn. Once you do, your life may change forever. After chowing on the tasty seeds you find out that they possess magical properties that could save the town from starvation! Oh noes, whatever shall you do?! The chain continues with Master Woodsman Anderhol demanding you get the seeds back, by any means necessary. He sends you off to collect ingredients for Azeroth's version of Ex-Lax before you head out to the local outhouse, where the fun begins. The line culminates in a usable outhouse, complete with an area effect, sound effects, visual effects and a debuff. Being the shy defecating person that I am, I was a bit embarrassed when I stepped outside to see a line of players behind me. To make matters worse, the next in line /cheer-ed me as I stepped out. I did what any other gaseous Gnome would do, I /fart-ed against her, then /bow-ed to the line before I stealthed away in shame. The image does not do the hilariousness justice. If you haven't participated in the chain, go do it ASAP. I looked quickly and did not manage to find a Horde equivalent. My horde buddy said he did not find a quest like that during his rush to 80, so you evildoers might be out of luck. At least you can enjoy the funny quest names and text? Playing with an animal's bowel movements is one thing, but my own? That is just nasty Blizzard!

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