So I temporarily reactivated my World of Warcraft account to transfer guild control of my guild to one of my guildies who is still playing full time. And she asked me if I was done with WoW "for sure". And yes, the long and sordid romance is over, I've returned the dress...so to speak.
The folks over at Blizzard have changed the game (for the worse in my opinion) over time. The focus of the game has slowly but surely gone from focusing on the lore and quests (ie. story line) and has shifted almost completely over to gear/stats. I mean, really?!? Gear/stats?!? Look at it like this. You hit level 80; you're still wearing the gear that you've collected from levels 78-79. Maybe you've even participated in some of the open pvp (like Wintergrasp) and you've traded in your marks of honor (or whatever) for some gear that you can wear at level 80. Alright, now...all of your gear in WoW has a "gear score". This gear score only signifies what level gear you're wearing, since beginner level 80 gear is substandard to raiding level 80 gear. And the wonderful, highly educated, unbiased online community that are WoW players don't bother to judge you by what level gear you have...oh that's right, they DO! So, you go to run some dungeons or some raids and you get passed over for other players that have better gear than you. And better gear, doesn't mean you're a better player. Gear score means absolutely nothing, other than the fact that you've gone in some very high level areas/raids. So what? That doesn't mean that you know how to do your class' job at maximum effectiveness, or how to handle yourself under pressure, or that you can behave like a human being for the few hours it takes to run a dungeon/raid. I've seen players that have absolutely crap gear out-perform other players with gear with a score thousands of points higher - because they know the ins and outs of their class! And in making the game focus so much on gear/stats, the developers are forcing any player skill out of the game. Now a player can just sit at the keyboard an faceroll* their abilities and roll right over everything in their path.
woo hoo sooo exciting. i will punch a series of keys in the same order over and over again and i will never be forced to think about making changes to how i play for differing situations. every fight is the same as the one before. we are the borg, you will be assimilated, your technology will be adapted into our own, you will cease to think for yourself and be nothing more than a mindless drone. resistance is futile. (robotic monotone voice)
Boooooring!
Speaking of the Borg though...STO has some of the most hardcore pvp action I've ever seen/experienced in a MMO, ever. Klingon faction is 98% pvp - pvp against the Federation, and inter-House pvp. And I tell you what man, these guys are hardcore. I've finally gotten my KDF (Klingon Defense Force) character up to Lt Commander (and it was pretty tough since most all of your missions are pvp...) and got into a larger vessel, which is nice. Fortunately you don't have to worry about (at least as far as I've seen) getting ganked and needing to watch over your shoulder every second. You have to go to specifically marked zones to participate in pvp, and damn is it a blast. Especially with the missions where you are fighting for resources. Then its automatically a 3-way battle: Federation, KDF, and Borg. And depending upon the mood of some of the KDF players, it might be open season on other Houses at any given moment. While having better gear on your ship/character has an influence on battle outcome, its still possible for a player to finesse (through skill and planning) a win/kill. Its good stuff.
That's all for the nonce, Bonzo out.
*Faceroll - v. def. - to plant one's face down on the keyboard, specifically the number keys lining the top of the keyboard, and rolling your face back and forth to activate your keybound abilities. Implying a lack of skill in playing a Massively Multiplayer Online game through endless repetition of set abilities and/or skills
