Project Lore

If you can drown out all the players on the official WoW forums QQing about how their class is underpowered, QQing about how easy new content is, and QQing about the price of Goldthorn Tea in Teldrassil, you may hear players QQing about things that were once difficult becoming too easy - such as obtaining mounts. You used to have to get to level 40 to get a mount, and it was a serious chunk of change to do so. And once you hit 60, you had to grind out quite a bit of gold before you could even consider getting an epic mount. For most players these days, its hardly become an afterthought to pick up their mount at level 20 for five gold and upgrade it to an epic mount at level 40 for pocket change. Flying mounts at 60? Only the norm. And with the Tome of Cold Weather Flight, the joy of first flight just isn't what it used to be. What is the value of being on the cutting edge? There is the notoriety of being a great player and the fleeting rewards, like the Plagued Proto-Drake. There is also the assurance that you will experience content before it is changed or removed, such as the classic Naxxramas or old world content before Cataclysm. But, for the most part, content becomes easier as time goes on. Some players did Ulduar weekly to get Emblems of Conquest, which are now farmed in heroics. Mr. Pinchy used to take players days to farm, and now you can get him in just a few casts. I got mine just yesterday in 5 minutes:

Speak with Mr. Pinchy and be granted a Wish! Maybe something good...maybe something bad.... Mr. Pinchy does not know!

What used to be difficult, cutting edge achievements, like Sarth 3D, are now puggable. Instead of spending dozens of hours being the first to down content, why not wait? I think Blizzard answered this question long ago when discussing the declining participation in arenas - players will go to where they can get the greatest rewards for the least amount of effort. While the amount of effort to do content when its new is much higher than when its months older, the relative reward is much higher. Hardly anyone would give you a second glance if you were in gear from Naxxramas 25 now-a-days, but it used to be a stamp of a pretty decent player. You could breeze through today, but if you struggled through it last December and reaped the rewards, you had the best gear available. Even though the gear is still the same, the fact that it was the best you could obtain gave it special value. Its hardly a good reward for something that is still a bit of effort. I personally spend a lot more time doing older content. I prefer to breeze through older content than spend lots of time being among the first to accomplish something. I like getting the stranger achievements and doing long-abandoned quests, like the Scepter of the Shifting Sands questline. Are you one to be on the cutting edge, or do you wait awhile before you attempt content?

Click to read more ...

It's always best to know where you're going before you get there. It's true in life and it's true in WoW. There may never be everything you want in a game such as WoW, like better spells or dual-wielding mages, but there are a few things you can do in game and what ever those things may be, you have to have it as a goal to go fo it. For example, when you started playing WoW, it was probably all about leveling. This included quest, killing innocent pigs or wolves or bats, and hearing that now addictive level ding. Next it was probably get to level ten so you can get talent points. Put a few here, some more there as you level and then whoop arse. Next it was probably to get to level 30 (or 40 for all the 'old school players - Heeeyyy) so you could get a wonderful new mount to run around on. Then at 60, the epic mount. Then at 70, the flying mount and epic flying mount. Then 80, then instances, then badge loot, then raids, then.... So there's a lot of little goals along the way that really help you get to your next goal or one of your bigger goals. For me, my most recent goal was getting a new title, that of Twilight Vanquisher. Yes there have been a few things that got in my way - RL work, people drama, and one big guild drama that resulted in me /gquitting on principle. Too bad a few loud dishonorable people screwed it up for everyone. Then there was the drama of getting a new guild - applying, asking around, looking up guilds on websites looking for any clues that a top guilds on my server that needed FFB mages. And when I got into a guild, I had to prove my worth again by raiding and kicking butt again on the DPS charts, learning how the new-to-me main tank was holding aggro and making sure I was helping the new guild as best as I could. Then I had to get invited to the OS3 raid and then, after flasks and flasks and enough fish feasts to fill up Sholazar basin, we downed those drakes and got a nice little bag for me to boot. So that goal took focus and planning and determination. It took the right bunch of people and their focus after so many wipes, bad waves and random flame strikes. And - I knew what I wanted and I got it. In RL it's just the same. You need focus and planning and determination to accomplish your goals, whatever they may be. If you want to learn to play the piano, then focus, plan, persevere. If you want to ride a bike, same. If you want anything at all, you have to do the same. So what have been your goals in game and in RL that you set forth and accomplished? How did you do it? And what did you do when you thought you couldn't but still wanted it anyway? Because whatever that may be, those same skills that you used to get it will help you get anything you want in WoW or RL.

Click to read more ...

In all my time raiding in WoW I have not seen an issue quite as polarizing as the Sartharion Encounter in The Obsidian Sanctum with all three drakes left alive (commonly called Sarth 3D.) This has been especially true in my guild lately as it is the last major hurtle we still have to overcome.

This encounter is commonly regarded as the most challenging fight in the current end game, and is something only a handful of guilds have accomplished. The incentive for winning this encounter is an achievement, an awesome title, and a rare mount that will only drop in this encounter. For me, there is also the sense that you have beat the hardest fight in the end game, but for many that is not enough.

See, there has been a lot of debate in my guild if this is something worth striving for. The guild has been split sharply into two separate camps. One camp, the camp I am a member of says: yes, this is important. My reasoning is simple. It is progression, it is the only fight we have yet to win, and I want to win it!

The second camp says: no, its is not worth all the time and resources we put into it. They say it is not progression, as it does not add any usable gear to the loot table, there are no new bosses behind him, and downing him will not help us at all in Ulduar. Essentially they see it as an achievement and nothing more.

While I am full aware that the 3 drake loot table adds no gear over the 2 drake loot table, I am going to have to express my opinion against camp 2. For me, raiding has never been about the loot. I’ve downed hundreds of bosses without the benefit of receiving loot personally. I play the game to overcome challenges. More importantly overcome challenges with my friends and guildmates. That’s why I play the game, to do something fun and challenging! This is the last challenge left for our guild.

Now I am aware that people have different priorities in this game. Some like raiding more than others. I for one love raiding and am not bothered by wiping for hours on end, as long as it is a means to an end. Some people clearly are bothered by it, it can be frustrating, and more importantly expensive (repair bills aren’t cheap!).

While we continue to grind away, and I am hopeful we are close, there is an undercurrent of internal conflict on every pull. For me it seems that Sarth 3D is something you have the motivation for or you don’t. My guild is unfortunately split on the issue. How about you guys? Is this a worthy goal, a waste of resources, or something you got out of the way a long time ago?

Click to read more ...