We bring you another community interview, this time with someone a little different. Maegwynn (who like Mikes is a moderator on the forums) is that kind of person that is between casual and hardcore. Like many players Maegwynn finds himself with not enough time to be the best player out there but with enough to get something done.

We’ve asked Maegwynn a few questions very similar to what we asked Australian based player Mikes and a few more that are more fitting to Maegwynn’s play style

How did you start playing WoW?

Being an avid Real Time Strategy player, and Warcraft being a favourite, as soon as I saw that an MMO was being made I started to follow it with great anticipation and I wasn't disappointed. I wasn't part of the first onslaught, having waited until the dawn of the new year after launch before joining in the fun, so I've been playing from the beginning minus two months.

What do you like most about the expansion?

The only thing new is the flying mounts everything else is just an extension of Azeroth with different names and places. The winged instances, although not entirely new, with the shorter time involved are nice.

If you could change anything in WoW what would it be?

Removal of the reputation base for advancing/accessing recipes etc. and making it quest based. The endless grinding for rep is one of the worst features in the game.

What does "community" mean to you?

Community is all encompassing for me. It's my guild and friends that I've made playing the game, others I interact with while playing and the members of Ten Ton Hammer. It's all a part of playing the game. Some people suscribe to the idea of community being that you HAVE to group as it's an MMO. If you don't you should be forced to and, if you don't like it, go play a desktop game. That's just nonsense. How does a desk top game offer the community atmosphere that is there for everyone, solo players and raiders alike?

What feature does another game have that you would like to see in WoW?

I'd have to say a more meaningful crafting system, one where the stuff you make is actually an upgrade or better than that available from quests/drops and that would include epic items. Items that people actually want to purchase. TBC actually made crafting worse. Yes, it added some nice items but they're either BoP or only usable by people with a high skill level in the craft that made them, which is almost the same as having them BoP.

The better recipes are available either through raiding or rep, which is wrong. Design it so that those who want to be craftsman can pursue the recipes through questing thus making it possible to level while pursuing their craft and, more importantly, letting them know that they can be successful at their craft if they put the time into it. The dedicated craftsman, the sought after craftsman, would be spending a large part of their game time plying their trade and, in the end, seeing the rewards deserved for the effort put into it. A new craft of weaponcrafting would also be an idea.

What would you like to see in a future expansion and upcoming patches?

Blizzard to get over it's obsession with raiding and start creating more avenues for end game play. I think the lack of people with full sets of gear, be it DS1 or any of the Tiered stuff, is an indication of the disdain people have for grinding instances for gear. It's also probably a good indication of the futility involved. Yes, people enjoy doing instances and a select few raid but not nearly as much as Blizzard seems to think they do, or perhaps, wants them to.

WoW's success is due to it's ability to draw the casual player, those who can log-on and play for an hour or two. This does not really leave them the time to try and form groups to do the smaller instances and certainly not the time to raid. These are, by far, the majority of WoW players yet Blizzard has continuously ignored them while putting out content mainly aimed at raiders and, to a smaller extent, to the smaller 5/10 man players. They got away with this pre-TBC largely due to the replayability of the game and the willingness of people to roll alts. However, with the release of TBC, this does not seem to be an alternative with people any longer.

I have seen several avid players, after reaching 70, either reduce their play time drastically or quit outright. Are they saying "I've come, I've conquered, I'm bored, I quit"? That's what I'm thinking. If Blizzard were to take their blinders off and start offering some meaningful end game content for the people that represent the vast majority, instead of a select few, WoW could probably go on indefinitely. If they continue to follow the same business plan then the game is going to start seeing more and more people getting to 70 and, upon finding nothing to do, leaving.

Do you think that raiding is the proper model for end game advancement or would you rather see something else more casual orientated?

Raiding as the only option is totally wrong, the fact that only 10% of the player base raids is proof enough. The thinking that lowering the cap to twenty-five players is not going to help either, if you can do twenty-five man raids you're well on your way to doing forty man. I predict the next expansion lowers it to fifteen or twenty in another attempt to get more people raiding and it's not going to improve matters either. The reason the vast majority of players don't raid is time constraints, dislike of raid based guilds (which of course are the necessary evil if you want to succeed at raiding) and no desire to raid. It's time that Blizzard started adding more content geared towards the casual player. People want goals to work towards and there should be different avenues to get to those goals. They wouldn't be all that hard to implement either. If you think of all the time and resources that go into making one raid instance, well, how much solo/small group content could be added using those same resources? How hard would it be to rework the crafting system? It's about time that the tail quit wagging the dog.

What is your favorite encounter in the game?

There's several but the one that will always stand out for me is Hogger.

Do you think gear should be used for recruitment into guilds or something else like attitude or skill?

Attitude is the only thing I concern myself with. Skill can be taught and acquired if the person has the right attitude. Gear is your only concern? Sorry, bad attitude and you're not going to be a team player.

What's the strangest question you've ever received in WoW?

Will you marry me?

Ninjas with cake or pirates with pie, which do you trust more?

Pirates with pies , of course.

Questions or comments? Email us!