World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

Welcome to the latest World of Warcraft newsletter from Ten Ton Hammer. The Overpull, where we gather most of the things we should and a few we probably shouldn't.

In this section we'll look at the hits and misses taking place in the game. 

Naxx was scoffed at as being way too easy. I don't believe the same can be said for Ulduar. So I have to say "Kudos to you Blizzard" for putting the Repair back in RAID (Repair And In Debt). Or is it Raiding And Incessant Dying? Pick one, but whatever it is, Blizzard definitely made Ulduar and the new boss in Archovan's Vault tougher than Naxx.

Massive Fail on Eggfest, or Noblegarden or as Maegwynn's Guildie put it "Noble Pain in the Butt." Forums are lighting up already with tales of angst and hatred for bunny droppings. The only question I have is "We waited extra for this?"

True to form, we will get another incremental patch tomorrow. It brings with it a note of sorrow for Paladins that Exorcism is not usable against players. How many other ways are you going to spoil my Noblegarden ganking Blizzard?

As if playing Bejeweled wasn't bad enough, now we can play Peggle inside WoW. Nothing good comes from this people!

 

Ah the good old days. Some we miss, but most we just appreciate (for the fact that they're gone!).

This week I look back and remember one thing that the game really seems to lack now - stability. Not stability in the way of servers and technology (which is typically twitchy after patches, etc.). No, I'm talking about character class stability. I mentioned in an earlier Overpull how it feels like Lich King is still in development to such a degree that everything feels temporary. Class buffs, nerfs, talent changes, and item changes seem to be deployed at a dizzying pace. Back in the day things stayed broken or fixed for long enough periods that we could plan around them. Now I'm scared to make a Glyph because tomorrow it may be gone, or screwed up. And don't get me started on class balance. Sometimes when things remain out of balance long enough, they become stable - see the Leaning Tower of Piza. Just leave it alone.
   

Let the Noble Gnashing of Teeth begin.

I used to ignore the holiday festivals, but now I tune in to listen for the cries of random number generator woes. Most of you know my disdain for achievements. A part of me takes joy when someone completely loses their mind over not getting a random piece of crap. I'm not sure this is the type of reaction Blizzard was hoping for in terms of the holidays. It appears that there are two camps - those that hate the holidays, and those that hate having to complete the holiday achievements so they can someday get a proto-drake. Way to make the holidays fun and engaging, huh?

Has anyone mentioned that riding said proto-drake will mark you as being cool like those people with the bumper sticker of Calvin peeing on something? Drakes are already tired, they are going to be forgotten by the time you can get them. Save your speed discussion, nobody flies anymore, hip kids get summoned.

It's good to be a Paladin. I was going to level another character but realized that I've already got it good, so why bother. Dual Spec has made the class almost untouchable when it comes to filling a spot in a raid. It's a lot of fun to tank an instance, then switch out specs and jump into a battleground while we wait for the next run. Holding our own on the DPS front, continuing dominance as preferred tank and healer, it's really hard to knock the state of the Paladin. So why do I get this feeling that my little dream is going to end? Classes have a way of reaching "favored nation" status for a while and then getting nerfed to the ground, baby.We'll see how long this ride lasts, but it is fun.

Fire up the downloader, another patch is on its way. I doubt we will see a Tuesday without a patch for some time. First they have to unfix what the fixed and then fix something else which will be fixed in a forthcoming patch.

Would you play WoW on an iPhone/iTouch? I watched the video so I can answer that question with a fairly solid "No." Absolutes have a way of haunting me, so I'm sure if I were someplace that I couldn't fire up a laptop, blah blah blah, then I would play WoW on an iPhone. But in my normal course of life, I don't see a compelling reason to log in to what I saw on that video. Sure I'd check my auctions, mail and guild calendar, but I don't see myself running an instance or leveling another character. Can you imagine the nightmare of someone raiding? Actually that might be pretty funny. I take back my nay-sayings, I'm all for raiding on an iPhone!

Would you raid on an iPhone? Have you completed your Noblegarden achievement so you can be one step closer to your Calvin bumper sticker?   Stop by and let us know?

Until next week, have fun and thanks for reading,
Medeor