RIP Mirrors

The early days.

I deleted Mirrors and canceled my World of Warcraft account.

Before I go on, this entry has a sound track: Lament of the Highborne. (In Warcraft, the character Mirrors was one of the Forsaken, led by Sylvanas Windrunner who sings this song. The file is about 7MB, so it may take a moment to DL, if you care to listen to it. )

This doesn't mean I won't play other MMOs in the future, but I'm done with World of Warcraft. The Wrath of the Lich King expansion is too fun. And by fun, I mean fracking fun! It's really fracking fun.

I hadn't planned to come back to Warcraft after quitting over a year ago. Age of Conan and Warhammer Online were both on the horizon while Blizzard still hadn't even announced the release date for WotLK, an expansion that in my opinion was a year late.

Tom, myself, and Carl from the old guild first tried the first person shooter MMO Tabula Rasa while waiting for Age of Conan to be released. Once you got used to the controls, it was actually a lot of fun. But it lacked the sexiness of Warcraft and the character development was non-existent; a TR character could no more become an alter ego than a character in Quake.

Tabula Rasa was quickly replaced by Age of Conan, and Mirrors was reborn as a kinder, gentler healer.

Age of Conan had great lighting.

The Priest of Mitra class in Age of Conan was fun enough in an overpowered sort of way, but the gameplay wasn't really there. I was never bored healing in World of Warcraft, especially in PvP -- which I loved. So I went looking for a new class.

Since I'd started an assassin in Warcraft, I decided to follow through with the idea in Age of Conan and Damascus was born.

Age of Conan has breathtaking graphics.

The art in Age of Conan is amazing. And when I realized I could do a sort of virtual rock climbing with my assassin, I was hooked. But the things than made AoC great were the things that caused Tom and I to leave.

First, to play with graphics at their highest settings (as shown in the screen capture here), you had to have a very, very good computer. And while my computer was the best of the best three years ago, now (even with a couple upgrades) is only average. In any populated area the choppiness was terrible. I wasn't ready to upgrade my computer yet, so it was a problem.

Second, the world of Age of Conan does not have dwarves, gnomes, elves, and such. And when I first started playing, that was refreshing. But later, I started to miss it. And while the graphics are amazing the lack of magical lands and magical races were a disappointment.

Third, the real selling point of Age of Conan was that it was an adult themed game filled with gore and nudity -- a no holds bared world. I don't care so much about either (though the fatalities were exciting and awesome), but that was charm of the game and the AoC world in general.

Well, at some point Funcom decided they would also release the game on the X-box and guess what was scaled back?

Fortunately Warhammer Online was right around the corner, a game that focused heavily on PvP (player versus player).

Squishy PvP Goddess

The PvP focus of Warhammer can probably best be described by pointing out that you can start PvP matches immediately at level one. To be sure, you're not really very effective at such a low level because you're lacking in gear and abilities. But you do get promoted up to level 8 in that particular level bracket, and it's enough to compete. I had some nice revenge kills on a few Bright Wizards at a low level when the Black Guards were added to the game.

Like AoC however, Warhammer's strengths were also its weaknesses. I was in some massive RvR battles that made the old world PvP in Warcraft look tiny. But because so many people were fighting in such a small place there were lag issues. And the game is so focused on PvP that it was sorely lacking in other areas. For example, I thought the terrain and towns in general were just plain bleak. I mean, you might as well have been running around in a wire-frame world.

Exploration is very important to me in a MMO. I think one of the very best post-warcraft experiences I had was exploring the mountains above Connall's Valley in AoC with Tom. We didn't care about questing, or killing, or PvP, we were just exploring and having a blast. And the further we went, the more breathtaking the scenary.

A rich world for exploration is key for a MMO.

At any rate, after rapidly losing interest in Warhammer, Wrath of the Lich King was released; and that brings us full circle back to Warcraft. Tom and I eventually decided to give it a try. And we were blown away from the first moment we got to Northrend.

You just don't get a richer world than in Warcraft right now. Surprisingly the in-game graphics are the most cartoonish and simple than any of the major MMOs. But this makes the game available to a wider audience of players with sub-par machines, and more importantly the Blizzard creative team took these graphics and did brilliant things. They realized early on that you don't need cutting edge graphics to make an immersive and rich world.

As an example of their creativity, following is the cinematic trailer for Wrath of the Lich King. After watching the dragon that Arthas summons about halfway through the following trailer, I thought to myself it was the first time anyone truly captured the immensity of what I thought a dragon should be. (I recommend watching all these WoW trailers with the volume very loud.)



Wrath of the Lich King Theatrical Trailer

The first tight shot of the claw conveys the enormity of the dragon. Then the beast is still largely off camera while it rises behind Arthas, the camera blur and falling ice further working to convey size. Next, when the dragon is perched on the edge of the mountain like it could topple the whole thing I gasped. And I just love the way the dragon falls off the mountain and catches air at the last minute. It's these creative touches everywhere that make the wold great, and people love Blizzard for it. (Do I even need to mention the music?)

So Tom and I were hooked. But we're also both very busy and don't have a lot of time to play. We resolved to enjoy the game, not rush through the levels, and use it as a casual past-time, a substitute for television instead of a full-time hobby as it had been for us previously.

Well, I feel about video games about the way Blood Elves feel about magic. If you're not a WoW player, Blood Elves are a race in WoW addicted to magic. And I think Blizzard captured that addiction well in The Burning Crusade trailer. It all starts out innocently enough... (By the way, don't watch the whole trailer because it's not their best, and is written rather poorly; fast forward to the scene with the Blood Elf 1:20 minutes into the video. )



Magic Addiction in TBC


I don't want to say that Warcraft is better than sex. But I'm not always in the mood for sex (Dawn would tell you differently), and I'm always in the mood for Warcraft. I mean, really sometimes I could just lick the screen. The rush of endorphins that I get just logging into the game is hard to describe.

And so it was that casually questing every so often and playing in a no-name guild led to more playing. And then led to more playing, then to some all-nighters. And eventually I joined a guild that had four separate groups raiding in Naxxramas. Even worse, with one of the top 10 US raiding guilds on our new server, and Dawn away for several months, I had a harebrained idea of applying once I was sufficiently geared.

If you don't know what raiding is, here is a video walk-through of the last boss in The Burning Crusade, Kil'jaeden:



Raiding in World of Warcraft


Raiding can be a real challenge. Getting 25 (or 40 as was the norm before TBC) people to flawlessly work together and carry out their respective roles is an exercise in leadership and teamwork that probably rivals or surpass most people's job. And if you got a little bleary-eyed listening to the whole video strategy for this fight, which is just 1 of 10 in this instance, imagine being one of the handful of guilds that figures it all from scratch.

That's raiding. And I considered jumping into it hard while Dawn was away. Tom and I both are outstanding players in general, if I do say so myself. The only thing stopping us from being in a cutting-edge guild is the time commitment to gear up and then raid six nights a week.

Not doing more raiding has always been a bit of regret. I'm very, very competitive. And I like to be in front. The guild I ran a couple years ago was in front I think, in our way, but not raiding. We were an adult "casual" raiding guild that walked the fine line between casual and raiding. We were a close-knit group and took pains to bring everyone along for the ride when it came to raids and PvP. But our raid progress suffered because of it.

Our full 40-man clear of Molen Core.

What is more common is that guilds are either one thing or the other. There are social guilds that quest and run instances with each other, and even can span multiple games. Members often know each other outside the game, and it's a fun place to be. On the other hand, raiding or PvP guilds are often somewhat Machiavellian in nature, focused on getting the job done, and not nearly as friendly. And sometimes guilds do actually mix the two by allowing "casuals" into the raiding guild with the understanding that raiders raid and casual players do not.

We even tried this latter structure in the end, but it was too late. And frankly, I'm not sad about it. The real magic of our guild was that we were all casual raiders, very successful in what we had time to accomplish, and didn't make distinctions when it came to game participation. We were meticulous in our efforts to attract and keep "good people" not just "good players". Talking with people on teamspeak while you played was always a pleasure, and a large portion of the guild were gainfully employed folks who came from companies like IBM, Microsoft, EA, Intel, and Activision.

Some members organized meet-ups, we had role playing events, and what I believe was probably the most extensive bank in the entire game (spanning five characters) before guild banks were released. We had occasional writing contests; and there was great fiction published on our forums.

One of my "adverstistments" for our writing contests.

Sadly though, because the WotLK expansion didn't come out until two years after TBC, raiding was eventually all that was a left for about a year. During that time the guild couldn't maintain its mission or values, and collapsed as players began taking long breaks from the game and raiders left for more aggressive groups.

I miss the hell out of that guild. We had two damn good years, and I learned a ton about leadership.

When I returned to play Wrath of the Lich King, since I'd promised both Tom and Dawn that I wouldn't start another guild, and because I am very competitive, joining a cutting edge raiding guild seemed a great idea -- that is, after I moved past the notion of just casually questing and running instances. But this is where a series of revelations began kicking into place.

First, I can't play Warcraft casually, as I've said. I can run a casual guild -- because that isn't casual from a guild master perspective. But I can't just play Warcraft casually.

Second, the kind of people who aggressively raid and PvP are not the kind of people I want to spend hours upon hours with. You have to try out a few guilds to realize this. And I only fully realized it after joining the last guild. You have to put up with a lot of nastiness for the sake of good raiding. And the amount of bickering, posturing, and smack talk I heard on Ventrilo was almost unbearable.

Third, the defining factor of success in a MMO like Warcraft is time spent. Period. Assuming you're even a moderately competent gamer (and I happen to consider myself solidly above average), the only ingredient you need to succeed is time. The more time you have to spend, the more successful you'll be.

Now, that's true for everything really. But there is real limit on the how much talent and study can contribute to your success in Warcraft, only a bare minimum is required. I might be a lot like trying to get fat while watching TV. ( A weird analogy I know.) All you have to do is sit there (time) and eat (basic skill). The more time you spend doing this basic task over and over, the more fat you'll get. And it's about that rewarding in the end.

More wholesome forms of entertainment like sports, chess, art, and so on require large amounts of effort for rewards which are slow coming. Continuing with the food analogy, these other hobbies might be likened to health food whereas Warcraft is more like ice cream. The ice cream tastes better. And it's much more tasty, more immediately gratifying. The healthy food is more rewarding in the long term, and not nearly as tasty.

Speaking of long term rewards, I read something online recently:

Imagine the day that you first bought the game. If you knew everything you do now, would you still have bought it? Now Imagine yourself in two years, still playing and looking back on today when you are making the decision to quit or keep playing. How do you feel about your decision to continue?

The answer to that would be "Pretty damn stupid."

The only thing of substance you can take away from the game are memories and stories. Does anyone care that I had Benediction? Or the mount from Alterac Valley? That I'd reached Centurion back when PvP titles were hard to get? What about all my achievements from other games like EverQuest? (Now EverQuest was real game with some teeth!)

Go ahead and laugh. I know the name was terrible.

Nobody cares of course. They matter only to me. I have stories about MMOs like I have stories about truck driving -- memories that I love and that wouldn't mean much to anyone else. And to be fair, I've gotten a lot more entertainment and memories from playing than I ever did from sitting around and watching television. But the only way I can get more water from this well is by jumping into it.

Probably for the rest of my life my blood will race when I hear the original Warcraft theme music and when I think about Mirrors kicking ass, taking names in the battlegrounds. (God do I have some great stories from Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch!) These are good memories.



World of Warcraft Original Theatrical Trailer

As I wrote earlier, I'm not giving up MMOs. I love exploring virtual worlds like I love reading fiction or watching movies. But I'm not going to learn anything new from the Warcraft as I did when I ran the guild, and I've explored as much there as care to do. It's time to move on to new adventures.

You know, one of my very favorite anime series and one that I've recently re-watched is Kino's Journey. In the story, Kino is a traveler who never spends more than three days and two nights in any town. She believes it is enough time to learn everything important about a place and is afraid that if she stays any longer that she'll settle down.

I couldn't agree with her more.



Kino's Journey