Sitting on the Fence in Draenor

Sooo, November 13th? I'm not sure I ever discussed it here. But I know whenever the topic of the Warlords of Draenor release date has come up on Twitter for months now, I have predicted a November release date to coincide with the 10th anniversary of World of Warcraft—reinforced by the fact that it will also be the 20th anniversary of the original Warcraft RTS.

In any event, I don't know whether I'll be playing at launch, or if I ever will. I was so disappointed with the gutting of the leveling game in Cataclysm. And the day I spent on the Turtle island of MoP felt in so many ways like a step backwards, compared to the more modern games I'd been playing, TSW and GW2. Those games—and WildStar, too—have such dynamic combat, what with dodging, casting on the move, etc., that WoW felt like fighting in a puddle of molasses the last time I tried it.

I am curious, though. What do my characters "really" look like? Will WoD be a turning point to a more modern WoW? Or will it be more of the same?

It's a gamble, and not one I am sure I want to make. I want to want to play WoD, but is that enough?

If you're interested in joining the horde of Aggronites, rampage your way to the Blaugust Initiative Page on Anook and let Belghast know you're there. It may even mean an epic drop for you, as he has loot prepared for those who defeat the boss of Blaugust.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this post through RSS or Atom feed—especially more than a couple hours after publication—I encourage you to visit the actual page, as I often make refinements after the fact. The mobile version also loses some of the original character of the piece due to simplified formatting.

Toons Are People, Too

Even if they aren't human.

Bhagpuss was speculating the other day about the possibility of rights for virtual beings. Where you fall in that debate (now or in the future) likely depends on how you feel about your relationship to that virtual being. Leaving aside the implications for non-player characters, are PCs people?

Bhagpuss has repeatedly mentioned that he feels he is more an observer or a guest in the world of the game. The characters he creates have their own lives that he may guide, but does not have ultimate control over. Others create avatars of themselves. Some folks even do their darnedest to recreate virtual versions of themselves. I have done so myself on occasion. Whether or not it resembles the player, the character in the game is literally a projection of the player into the game world. Hence, the reason some people won't play characters of another gender. (But that is a whole 'nother discussion.)

But generally, I fall somewhat between those extremes. I don't see the characters I play as being me necessarily, but they do things I would if I were in the game. I have a difficult time following my characters around if they're asked to do things counter to my personal morals. It's what turned me off to the Dominion in Wildstar. (Something for another discussion, as well.) I also had a difficult time playing a Dark Side character in SWTOR—and getting ding'd for making choices I felt were good.

How do you view the characters you create, and your relationship with them? Are they people with their personalities, desires and dreams? Or are they you, Dear Reader? Or is it somewhere in between?

If you're interested in playing the role of a prolific blogger, let your fingers do the walking over to Belghast's Blaugust Initiative Page on Anook and let him know you're there. He has prizes prepared for wordsmiths, and maybe a Hero is You.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this post through RSS or Atom feed—especially more than a couple hours after publication—I encourage you to visit the actual page, as I often make refinements after the fact. The mobile version also loses some of the original character of the piece due to simplified formatting.

BtV Tier 102: We got your Modz

Last Thursday, the BtV crew got together to discuss the benefits and hazards of using mods and addons for the The Secret World client in Beyond the Veil Tier 102, the remastered edition of which is now available. Most of the mods we cover can be found and downloaded through the Curse client, the one major exception being ElTorqiro_AegisHUD. Of special events still in the future, we also talked about the August PvP tournament, dubbed "Shootout at the O.K. Corral."

By the way, does anyone know the the identity of the female character on the right in the BtV logo below? She is the only one in the TSW promotional art lineup that I have been unable to find info on.

You can subscribe to the show through Holosuite Media's RSS feed, through iTunes (with older episodes here), and through Stitcher. We have fully transitioned our streaming service, and webcast Beyond the Veil live every Thursday at about 7p.m. EDT (11p.m. UTC) on Twitch. Beyond the Veil is produced by "Xander Hayes" and Holosuite Media.

If you're interested in reaping the unholy fruits of Blaugust, pierce the veil of the Aggronaut's Blaugust Initiative Page on Anook and reveal yourself to him. It may even mean a small boon for you, for Belthulhu has rewards prepared for his faithful Aggronites.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this post through RSS or Atom feed—especially more than a couple hours after publication—I encourage you to visit the actual page, as I often make refinements after the fact. The mobile version also loses some of the original character of the piece due to simplified formatting.

The Scarybooster Challenge

So I am writing this post from the comfort of my Tempurpedic Swedish Sleep System (a temperature-sensitive memory foam bed). While that, in and of itself, may not be that unusual, the tool I am using to post is. At least, it is for me.

Scarybooster has been posting on various blogs for several years now, always from his smartphone. It used to be an iPhone, but I believe he switched to Android a while ago. The man spins awesome posts, parables, and more from a screen I sometimes struggle to just read from, much less compose on. Heck, he even wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo on his iPhone a couple years ago. That he has that kind of patience is amazing to me.

Last night, with the exception of the pictures which I uploaded from my laptop, I followed suit and typed up my Lyra post on my phone. Tonight, it's completely phone based.

And that is my challenge to you, Dear Reader. If you're participating in Blaugust (already quite an undertaking), I challenge you to write at least one post on a mobile device (virtual keyboards only). It can be about whatever you want, of course. Just mention at some point during the post that you are writing it using a smartphone or tablet. And ping me on Twitter or Anook so I can make sure I read it.

Sorry, no prizes, just the satisfaction of knowing that if inspiration strikes, you don't have to be at a computer to post.

If you're interested in joining the circadian sun showers of Blaugust, breeze on over to Belghast's Blaugust Initiative Page on Anook and let him know you're there. It may even mean a small windfall for you, as Belghast has prizes prepared for high achievers.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this post through RSS or Atom feed—especially more than a couple hours after publication—I encourage you to visit the actual page, as I often make refinements after the fact. The mobile version also loses some of the original character of the piece due to simplified formatting.

Lyra Sedgeweaver

So, I started a new character in Wildstar. She's part of Cats in Space, the WildStar branch of Machiavellis Cat, headed up by Liore, proprietor of the appropriately named Herding Cats blog.

As you can probably tell, Lyra is an Aurin Spellslinger. Yep, a gun-totin', tree-huggin', green-haired, crazy cat lady. One type of sedge is papyrus, apparently Lyra's ancestors were paper makers, or perhaps basket makers, another use for sedge. I don't have much more backstory for her, without doing some research. But she did decide to take the human transport down to the Northern Wilds rather than accompany the bulk of the Aurin to Everstar Grove. There may be reasons for that besides my own desire to see something new.

"But, Rowan," you may ask. "Why start another exile character? You already have your namesake over there." Well, Hypothetical Interrogator, I don't get to play WildStar with Scooter as much as I would like, for various reasons. I decided to start another Exile character for solo runs because, honestly, it's kinda lonely over on the Dominion side of Evindra. And the Exiles are hoppin'. The reasons for that disparity are better covered in another post, but I am looking forward to exploring the Northern Wilds, or whatever this zone is. Spellslinger is hella fun.

If you're interested in joining the double-barreled blast of Blaugust, shoot on over to Belghast's Blaugust Initiative Page on Anook and let him know you're there. It may even mean a bullseye for you, as Belghast has prizes prepared for sharp shooters.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. If you are reading this post through RSS or Atom feed—especially more than a couple hours after publication—I encourage you to visit the actual page, as I often make refinements after the fact. The mobile version also loses some of the original character of the piece due to simplified formatting.