Wow.com's Robin Torres wrote an interesting article about playing MMOs with your kid. She thinks that children as young as 3 should play video games. Think of it as a modern and fun way to bond with your little one while improving their "developmental skill sets and computer skills". I'm all for it if the game was something like Hello Kitty Online, or even Club Penguin, but I think WoW is a different breed of game. There are many reasons there's a T-rating for that game, which include:
1. exploding corpses
2. PvP killing
3. PvE slaughter (imagine telling your child the quest giver has just asked that you kill 10 innocent deer for their antlers. What would Bambi say????)
4. alcohol consumption
5. mature language in chat (but there are parental controls, thank goodness)
6. Skinning (poor Bambi)
I could go on and on but I think I'll wait for my future children to reach the age of 11 or 12 before they start playing WoW-type MMOs. Besides, I can't imagine my own preschooler ordering me to buy WoW gold so she can "have a cute Dumbo elephant to ride". ROFL.
- Mood:
cheerful
I love the possible title of the next WoW expansion!
This post in Slashdot gives us the what-could-be-the-next-big-thing-to-hit-u
Games: Is Cataclysm the Next World of Warcraft Expansion? on Sunday July 12, @01:52PM
Posted by Soulskill on Sunday July 12, @01:52PM
from the either-that-or-it's-not dept.
"There has been no official announcement yet, but a number of moves by Blizzard Entertainment seem to indicate that the next expansion for World of Warcraft could be titled Cataclysm. Speculation began when Blizzard trademarked Cataclysm recently, and then later when a test server briefly popped up with the word 'Maelstrom' in its name. If true, the name would fall neatly into the WoW lore and expected expansion list. The Cataclysm is another name for the Great Sundering, an event that created a swirling vortex of water and mystical energies (the 'Maelstrom') that has appeared on the world map in-game since release. There are also indications that early design work included some of the islands in this area, which has long fueled anticipation of a Maelstrom-based expansion involving the former Night Elf noble, Azshara, queen of the Naga and the Goblins whose main city is in the south seas."
So will this include grinding up to 90? :D Man, I'll need better armor for that mission!
I can picture everyone buying WoW gold to gear up just before that expansion hits!
Ahem, IGE should give me a 50% discount for being one of their best customers AND for recommending them to my friends. (anyone from IGE reading this?)
50% too much? Okay 25% then. =D
/jk
Kidding aside, it doesn't take a fortune teller to predict that the new expansion will see everyone buying gold to ready themselves for the new content. If you have lousy gear, you're not going to survive the new instances.
My guildies and I can't even clear one wing of Naxx. /cry If we can't even clear Naxx, how can we expect to clear Ulduar? In heroic mode?
Only in my dreams.
- Mood: full
At first I thought he was joking then he showed me the WoW Gold Pig blog post with the thirty finalists. Oh dear...
Better luck next time to us.
For this round, they're doing things a la American Idol. The public gets to decide which name wins the 500,000 WoW gold.
I'm not a sore loser so I voted! :)
I won't tell you which name I selected but what I can tell you is that I had 5 favorite names in the list. They are:
1. Hamasaur
2. Pigasus
3. Piggles
4. SwineBlu
5. Swinstein
To the guy or gal who wins the 500,000 WoW gold, enjoy your wealth and don't forget to share with your guildies. All good things come to those who share. Oh and happy shopping at the AH!
- Mood: cheerful
Speaking about WoW gold, I wonder who the lucky dude (or gal) will be to win the 500,000 gold prize in the Name the Twitter Pig contest. The Pig blogger guy said that they're "close to announcing the winners". S.O. and I submitted our entries over a month ago and we're really excited. Did any of you join?
500,000 gold. My toon and S.O.'s toon could retire for life.
Or at least until the next expansion.
Have a happy week!
- Mood: cheerful
"There goes my Traveler's Tundra Mammoth," wailed one guildie who has less than 2000 gold to his name. The Mammoth costs 20,000 gold. My guildie has a full-time job and two kids. There are nights when he has to watch the kids while she does other chores. He has no time to grind and gold reward from quests are not sufficient to get him his dream mount. "I pay to play the exciting stuff, not to perform mind-numbing repetitive tasks," he added.
"This move by the Chinese government will isolate and discourage players who rely on gold sellers to help them catch up," said one guildie/blogger who wishes to remain anonymous. "Should I give up my dreams and plans of purchasing the best gear so I can raid and survive in Ulduar? Will my gaming turn into a chore of killing monsters for drops, running to the AH to sell them, hoping someone will buy my overpriced trash, and going back to the forest to kill more stupid monsters until I get the amount I need? Imagine how many days I must do all that so I can buy a nice sword -- IF THE SWORD IS STILL AVAILABLE IN THE AH!!"
S.O. is just as disgusted. "I can see WoW becoming a game where people will just farm, farm and farm. Then they'll get sick of all that farming and take a break from the game. During that interim they'll be debating with themselves on whether to go on subbing or just totally quit."
The idea of quitting WoW is pretty jarring. It's been a major part of my life like forever. Gold sellers like IGE have saved me from having to mindlessly farm and get me stuff I need for my hardcore raiding. Why do you think I haven't had any trouble getting invited by the hardcore raid groups?
I know the Chinese government wants to get rid of all the scammers and fraudsters but they're doing it the wrong way! Wit this planned move they're not just getting rid of the bad ones, they're also wiping out the decent companies who are working hard to give Real Money Trading the cred it deserves. Instead of totally getting rid of all, why not establish a committee that will police all RMT activities in China?
I. am. very. upset.
- Mood:
angry
It's only 6 in the morning, it's too early to P.O. the opposing faction. But not too early to buy at the AH! :D
Here's what's in my girlie toons' shopping bag:
Titansteel Guardian
Dustbringer
Footpads of Silence
Shawl of the Shattered Giant
Thanks to my S.O. who gave me WoW gold as a present. No special occasion really. He said he just wanted my level 80 toons to look as good as their RL counterpart. :)
BTW here's a shameless plug for my favorite boutique hotel in Florida: if you guys and girls are planning to go to Florida for summer, I highly recommend The Standard in Miami. Beautiful, beautiful place with a really cool spa. Their restaurant Lido has a romantic atmosphere to go with the to-die-for food. Perfect for a getaway..even a marriage proposal. *winks*
- Mood: cheerful
It was my S.O. who broke the news that there will be no major downtime tomorrow - just rolling restarts. I bet everyone is happy. I know I am. *throws confetti*
Except for the ones whose realms belong to the 3-hr downtime shortlist. :( What is up with the Retaliation Battlegroup?
I also noticed that wowarmory.com hasn't been quick to show the latest updates on each toon. It's been hours since I reached lvl 70 and the armory is still showing my toon as a 69. :( I sent an email to wowarmory@blizzard.com telling them to speed up the updates so I can brag about my toon and show the evidence on wowarmory to my friends. LOL. You should see my purples, peeps. Barney the dinosaur would be green, I mean, purple with envy!
Especially when I get my SWIFT PURPLE WINDRIDER!!!
You're going to be mine soon!!!
- Mood: relaxed
My S.O. was in a savage and sarcastic mood today while playing WoW. He grouped with "a bunch of epic fails" (his words okay!) and needless to say they wiped in Dire Maul. He yelled, "They shouldn't be playing WoW, they should play HKO instead!!!"
HKO? I asked.
"Hello Kitty Online" he muttered.
I laughed so hard I got a belly ache.
He wasn't laughing though. He said. "You've never heard ot the upcoming WoW killer? HKO's going to big. I hear the PvP servers will make WoW's own PvP servers look like Sesame Street. There's even going to be an instance where you have to kill the final bosses who happen to be twins."
"BS!' I yelled.
"750K HP each. Can do 75K Arcane Damage. Resistant to most spells. Requires 200-man effort to kill them. Their names are Little Twin Stars."
"Shut up!" I yelled.
"Just saying their names gives me the chills. Imagine how many Hello Kitty dollars you need to spend at the AH for epic gear."
'Hello Kitty dollars??"
"WoW has WoW gold, HKO has Hello Kitty Dollars. IGE should start selling them soon. You should think of a guild name and a tabard design when you start playing HKO, you know."
"No, I don't want to play HKO."
"But you should. WoW is for pansies. Hello Kitty is hardcore, for the win! Their flying mount is a pure white dove with a red bow."
"Oh shut up!!!"
He finally did shut up. Ah peace!
- Mood:
silly
I'm crying as I type this. I just read the news on Yahoo that 17-year old Daniel Petric, the Ohio boy who shot his parents for taking away the game Halo 3 from him, was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.
No, I'm not crying for him. I don't feel sorry for him at all. I'm crying for his parents. His dad survived, his mom didn't.
It always pains me to read about young people's obsessions with video games leading them to hurt their own loved ones. I can never fathom how a mere video game can turn a normal, healthy person so evil so as to transform virtual violence into reality. How can one even let anything as inanimate as a video game take control of him?
I don't know Daniel Petric personally. I don't know what personal issues he has. But I doubt his parents have been neglectful. Reading the reports, they were even trying to discipline him, which showed they cared for him,. But he mistook that disciplinary act for something that deserved a few blasts from a gun.
Now so-called experts and shrinks are heaping the blame on publishers for coming up with such violent games. As always, it's a case of "let's blame the people behind the games."
But I don't agree with them.
I'm sick of people not taking responsibility for their actions. Take the case of the people who sued the tobacco companies after they discovered they have lung cancer. Call me callous, but who forced them to smoke? It's common knowledge that if you smoke 2 packs a day, everyday, for 10 or so years, you're a prime candidate for lung cancer. They even have the surgeon general's warning on the packs themselves! And now that you've got cancer, you want to blame the companies that manufacture the cigarettes? Well, did they force you to smoke in the first place? They did wanr you, right?
In the same vein, do game publishers demand that you purchase their products and throw away a normal life to play their games? I. Don't. Think. So! Even Blizzard displays a friendly message on their loading page about how even WoW should be done in moderation like everything else in your life. And as much as I love WoW and wish I could play it all the time, that friendly message from Blizz reminds me to step outside my room and lead a balanced life.
We are all capable of striking a balance in our lives, but it's up to you to make that choice! No matter how many times your parents or Blizzard tells you to "do it in moderation", if you still choose to let that game rule you, then you're the one with the problem.
So the next time I hear someone whining about how Blizzard has ruined their lives, I'm going to tell that person "are you literally shackled to your PC desk? No? Then you're a free man, now shut up and step out into the sunshine."
- Mood: angry
I'm both sad and happy after reading the latest tidbit in WoW Insider, or rather wow.com. The article talks about the mount changes we can expect in the next patch. Starting with how once you hit level 20, you can get a mount (used to be at least level 30). You can get an epic land mount at level 40 instead of 60.
For the latter they reduced the riding training cost to 50 gold and the mount price to 10 gold.
That's good news for the peeps who don't have much WoW gold.
I'm happy for all but...
Just a few days ago my 'lock reached 60...and I paid 480 gold for my riding training and 80 gold for my epic mount!!!
/CRY AGAIN
Why didn't they release the news much earlier? I could have saved myself a ton of gold to buy other cool stuff at the AH!
- Mood: surprised
Source: http://www.geekologie.com/2009/06/wow_go
I'm sure it's all a joke BUT if it were indeed true, then that's got to be the BREAST I mean BEST advertising ever! MyMMOShop.com's marketing people are brilliant. ROFL.
Here's to another happy week to us WoW freaks! :D
- Mood: amused
My friend and guildie Karen PM'd me out of the blue: "Drew got scammed and we'll never see her again. At least in the game."
"What do you mean?" I said.
She explained that Drew had gone to a Chinese gold seller who told her that the fastest way she could get her gold was by giving the seller her account name and password. They assured her that this was safe, and that many customers have chosen this delivery method and were quite satisfied with the results. "Your account is safe with us," said the Chinese agent whom Drew chatted with.
Now I have to mention that Drew is quite young and naive, not to mention inexperienced when it comes to buying gold. I'm surprised that she never came up to me for advice, given that she knew that I bought WoW gold occasionally.
"What did they do to her account?" I asked Karen.
"They got it banned."
OMG.
She added, "Blizz probably saw it was being accessed from a Chinese IP. I'm just guessing here, okay? Or maybe those Chinese used her toons as mules. Whatever the reason, they sure messed with her account! Poor girl is out of her mind."
Well, I'd go insane if I lost my account too!!!"What's the name of the gold seller?" I demanded.
"Don't know. I'll ask her okay?"
Okay, take it from a psuedo-veteran gold buyer: professional and ethical gold sellers will NEVER ask for your WoW account name and password for trading gold. There are only two acceptable methods: mailbox and face to face. Don't like mailbox? Request for a face to face and state your gaming hours to the seller. Stay away from sellers that tell you to surrender your account name and password (hello, not even Blizzard would ask you to give your log in information to their own employees). Be firm. If they insist on this dangerous method, say goodbye to them and never visit their site ever again. If you want a list of the dependable and reputable sites, go to WoW Gold Facts.
It's like I always say: better to be gold-less than account-less, peeps!
- Mood: angry
1. I will never join the greedy bandwagon by tacking on prohibitively high price tags and alienating the low-level peeps.
2. I will help the lowbie toons (who do not possess much WoW gold at their levels) acquire better gear by offering my wares at prices they can afford.
So imagine my dismay when ONE PERSON snapped up every single piece of armor I created at the AH and put the very same pieces back for auction....AT TRIPLE THE PRICE!!!
I wanted to cry.
Next time, I'll probably just skip the AH and give away the fruits of my Tailoring skill FOR FREE.
Beloved lowbies, see you OUTSIDE the AH in Stormwind. It'll be easy to spot me -- I'm the lovely brunette warlock with the ugly minion dancng to Macarena and wearing the complete set of Demoniac's Threads. (You just CAN'T miss a 'lock of my kind!)
- Mood: aggravated
I want to see all the awesome people. I want to see people dance. I want to see and hear Mike Morhaime and his buddies sing "I Am Murloc" (though I hate Murlocs. A third of my deaths are courtesy of those infernal monsters) I want to see random guys dance like Napoleon Dynamite. I want to plant an Alliance flag. I want to wear a Warlock costume. I want to be there!!!
I'm so desperate. I joined this trivia contest called "WoW-Achievements Contest: You're going to Blizzcon!". Found the link in a WoW Insider post.
They're giving away 3 tickets to "randomly selected people who got all of the questions correct". Thanks to Google (and many hours of playing WoW, of course), I'm sure all the answers I submitted are correct; now it's a matter of Lady Luck taking pity on me -- please please let me win!
So how was your Memorial Day?
- Mood:determined
Ugh, I'm sick again. Unable to play WoW without feeling faint. No, I am NOT pregnant. People have asked me that sensitive question since I started feeling nauseous. I feel feverish now. Earlier I tried to play my Warlock but after a few quests I got a migraine and logged off. I tried to sleep but S.O. kept talking about a bunch of things -- his latest culinary discovery, his coworkers, his guild, his next raid and that 500K gold he so desperately wants to win. I told him, look, I want it as badly as you do but that Twitter Pig contest thing probably has like a million entries already and try not to be too attached to the idea of winning because if you don't win you'll only feel bad!
Half a million WoW gold is awesome but what I really want now is some piping hot vegetarian chili from Urth Caffe!!! But, grrr it's midnight and Urth is closed and S.O. is snoring away.
Sigh, I'll just go to bed hungry. Poor me.
- Mood:
sick
I asked my guildies to join the Pig's contest and we're all dreaming of what we'd do with that much gold.
I'm already dreaming of purple items galore.
And epic mounts.
And armor for my new pally. Yup, I rolled a new toon and she's a sweet-faced blonde paladin who can kick major derriere! I'm leveling her like mad.
I came up with a very silly name for the Twitter Pig. Please, Pig guys, do not laugh at my submission or I'll never buy anything from your site! I'm that sensitive!
Good luck to me and S.O.
- Mood:
okay
Let's move on. Someone asked me on YM today if she should leave her guild because she's so behind them in terms of accomplishments, reputation, etc. She's also ashamed that she's had the least contributions to the guild bank. In her own words, "A loser like me doesn't deserve to be in such an awesome guild."
Whoa, I said, you're being too hard on yourself. She said she was being realistic -- there's no way she can ever join them in Ulduar, not in the near future. Because of work and school, she's had no time to level and asked me if I know a company that can powerlevel her toons.
Geez powerlevel? Doesn't that mean you have to give your username and password to a third party? Scary! :(
I don't know how safe those powerleveling services are. Apart from buying wow gold, I've never really tried other WoW-related services.
Perhaps someone can give us a few good leads and tips? Any interesting, positive news on powerleveling out there? Please share. My friend and I would appreciate your help. Thanks.
- Mood: optimistic
One piece of news perked me up this afternoon. S.O. told me he joined this contest that's giving away 500K gold to the lucky person. I was like half a million no way!!! He said it's for real, something about naming a Twitter mascot for a gold seller called WoW Gold Pig (yes, I've heard of them).
I told him he better share the loot with me if he wins. He told me I could register and that I might even win. Geez, I'm not good at making up names. I'm probably the corniest person in the planet. And given my condition my brain is only half-functioning.
I'll check it out when I'm feeling better. Later, peeps.
*falls asleep and dreams of 500K gold*
- Mood: sick
Here's the first piece of unpleasant news:
That pic is from Mike Schramm's post in WoWinsider. Sorry I took the liberty of borrowing it, Mike. Peace! You're my fave WoWinsider guy!
Anyway, half of the article is a sad one as it talks about errant guild leaders who siphoned gold and other valuables from the guild banks or who broke away and formed separate guilds, leaving other members out in the cold.
It really saddens me how even thieves and backstabbers exist in WoW. These are the people who give guilds a bad name. It's so unfair!
And to top it all off, here's the second piece of unpleasant news: fake Blizzard phishing emails are back. I read about it in WoW Gold Facts. See the latest post. Peeps, be warned: do not reply to that email by giving all your WoW account details. Blizzard will never ever ask for such information from its subscribers! The email is obviously the work of con artists (S.O. thinks they're from China where he says all the scammers come from. I told him not to generalize but he insists that it's true).
Thanks EGF for the warning. Take care, everyone.
- Mood: infuriated
-- be thankful that Blizzard is taking care of the game and making sure that at least 6 out of 7 days in a week, your gaming stays uninterrupted.
-- be thankful that they actually perform maintenance and not wait for something disastrous to happen and have millions of customers running amok before they take action. That's called initiative!
-- be thankful that you're getting your money's worth -- there's a great team out there that's doing what they're paid to do. Let them do their jobs. They love what they're doing! :)
-- be thankful that 6 out of the 7 days, you are a totally happy gamer, and on Tuesdays you get to interact with real people who are happy to see you in turn. LOL
-- be like Scarlett O'Hara. Tomorrow is another day.
See you all after the maintenance!
- Mood: chipper
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