tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279144156049641212024-02-08T12:02:27.367+00:00Barely Readable DiaryThoughts on MMORPGs, RPGs and boardgames, with a focus on solo and small group play.Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-87969805020566621242010-05-01T00:15:00.001+01:002010-05-01T00:16:22.948+01:00Barely Readable Diary has moved!<p>All new posts will now appear over at <a href="http://cheekygoblin.com/blog/">Cheeky Goblin</a>. There's also <a href="http://www.cheekygoblin.com/blog/feed/">a new RSS feed for subscribers</a>. Existing posts here will remain here to preserve permalinks.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading! I'm hoping to get some new posts up at the new site shortly.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-20584949582370152372010-04-08T23:22:00.000+01:002010-04-08T23:22:35.081+01:00RPG settlement census generator<p>Randall over at <em><a href="http://initorwhat.blogspot.com">Initiative or What?</a></em> posted a guide on <a href="http://initorwhat.blogspot.com/2010/04/taking-census-4th-edition-style-part-i.html">randomly generating census figures</a> for the settlements in your roleplaying campaigns.</p>
<p>I've made <a href="http://rpgcensus.tumblr.com/">this javascript tool</a> to do all the math for you. Pick a settlement size, and the figures are automatically updated. Click the (roll) link to generate another settlement of the same size.</p>
<p> Apparently there's some more posts to come with rules for working out how many adventurers are based in each settlement, so once those are posted I'll update the tool and maybe add some more options, such as being able to tweak the population figures directly, and the ability to amend the percentage values for each population type.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-89357596892747132322010-03-30T22:21:00.002+01:002010-03-30T22:22:13.554+01:00Bedrock Stoutfist, Risus style<p>I've been tinkering with <a href="http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm">Risus: The Anything RPG</a>, and I'm pretty impressed. It's great to have a system so simple I can define my usual dwarf hero, Bedrock Stoutfist, in a single line:</p>
<blockquote><strong>Bedrock Stoutfist</strong>, Hardy dwarven defender (4), experienced underground explorer (3), miner (2), teller of long dwarven tales of woe (1)</blockquote>
<p>...and that's it! His <em>hardy dwarven defender</em> cliché lets him swing a big dwarven hammer and lug around a tower shield, charge into the fray to protect his allies, and enjoy a flagon of mead afterwards. Being both an <em>experienced underground explorer</em> and a <em>miner</em> means he's more than capable of leading a group through crumbling ruins and underground lairs, and maybe even dig out some precious gemstones for some extra profit while he's at it.</p>
<p>And being a <em>teller of long dwarven tales of woe</em>? That's just to keep his allies entertained, whether they like it or not...</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-45241353669535691852010-02-03T17:28:00.000+00:002010-02-03T17:28:00.219+00:00Services, Markets and the Economy of Wellwisher Tree<blockquote>Wellwisher Tree is the name of our fantasy campaign, and it's principal "point of light" location. We use Microlite20 and have dabbled with D&D4E for this setting.</blockquote>
<p>Wellwisher Tree is more or less self-sufficient, with elven rangers using the surrounding woodland as a source of food and fuel. The temple provides some magical and mystical services, providing healing, blessings and some small enchantments. The resident apocathery provides food, drink and potions. Players should have no problems buying and selling basic goods, and should take particular advantage of the apocathary's stock of potions, lotions, salves and unguents.</p>
<p>Being a wood-elf settlement, much of the building work is in and around the trees, and primarily made of wood. The setting is primarily rustic, but that's not to say uncomfortable. Trees and buildings are decorated in places with delicate elven carvings and runes, and at night the thick foliage comes alight with light from forest wisps and glowing insects.</p>
<p>For other goods, there is the nearby as-yet-nameless human/dwarf settlement. Being at the base of a mountain, and having a small dwarven population, there is no shortage of capable miners, blacksmiths, and weaponsmiths producing goods, particularly in the dwarven style. The much more abundant human population likewise provides a number of inns and taverns, general goods stores and more... esoteric supplies, should you know where to look. Players should have no trouble buying and selling basic goods here, and perhaps even a magic item or two.</p>
<p>Being both a port and a mining hub, the settlement is reasonably affluent, though the majority of the population is employed in either working the mines or the docks, facilitating the transfer of wealth elsewhere. There are, however, a few luxurious houses, in both human and dwarven styles, and a couple of more up-market shops, selling higher quality goods at a healthy profit.</p>
<p>But of course, the real source of wealth for players are the treasures and spoils of battle. Luckily for low-level players in the area, the surrounding forest is lousy with goblin camps and the occassional travelling crew of bandits, who are all ripe for the looting!</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-19670187220233231182010-02-02T15:32:00.002+00:002010-02-02T15:32:21.337+00:00Microlite20 on the horizon<p>I've been reading a lot about <a href="http://microlite20.net">Microlite20</a> recently, particularly <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/177624-microlite20-smallest-thing-gaming.html">this thread on EN World</a>, where it all started. I've also been going back through the archives at <a href="http://greywulf.net">Greywulf's Lair</a>, <a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com">Grognardia</a> and <a href="http://poleandrope.blogspot.com">The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope</a>, so I'm in a real old-school D&D frame of mind.</p>
<p>I think we'll be back using M20 as our ruleset of choice. D&D 4th Edition is great, and I love the powers system, but the combat is a bit heavy on book-keeping for my liking. I want to move away from miniatures and battlemats, and back to the keep-it-simple M20 system.</p>
<p>Like many people in the EN World thread linked above, I've found that the fact Microlite20 has so few rules actually encourages our creativity. There's less there to worry about unbalancing or overwriting, so you can just muddle along with your own house rules and setting tweaks until you end up with something uniquely yours. And of course there's nothing wrong with sitting down with the <a href="http://d20srd.org">D20 SRD</a> and the 4e powers, and coming up with some interesting house rules...</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-87779543805554346312010-01-24T21:22:00.000+00:002010-01-24T21:22:41.997+00:00Sunday Screenshot: The Outer Limits<p><a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/01/outer-limits.html">Just like Grognardia</a>, we've been watching the original series of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outer_Limits_(1963_TV_series)">The Outer Limits</a>:</p>
<p><img src="http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6195/otherlimitsbadalien.jpg" alt="The Outer Limits" /></p>
<p>The stories are great, but the special effects... Not so much.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-61732300126617824892010-01-19T18:26:00.002+00:002010-01-19T18:26:42.774+00:00Cyberpunk Revival Project<p><a href="http://1km1kt.net/community"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zj5_msGEhSc/S1IL2vQbWvI/AAAAAAAAGic/zMbF7tHS3Lc/cyberpunk.jpg" alt="1km1kt cyberpunk contest" style="margin-top:1em;" /></a></p>
<p>I've started to get some ideas together for a setting, watch this space...</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-36246964058189109042010-01-19T11:23:00.000+00:002010-01-19T11:23:54.129+00:00LOTRO: Too much to do?<p>There's so much to do in LOTRO at the moment, I'm starting to get annoyed. I know that probably makes me a strange person, but I get paralysed by choice. For example, at the moment Merrygrim is level 32, and...</p>
<ul>
<li>I need to master expert metalsmithing, which involves a bunch of mining before I move zones and the mining nodes I need stop being available. I've also started on the next tier. My gear is now starting to show its age, so I need to craft myself some upgrades somehow -- either lower-tier crits or higher-tier standard recipes.</li>
<li>I'm way behind on my tailoring. I can combine farming for leather with getting some wolf/worg slayer deeds. This really needs doing sooner rather than later.</li>
<li>I've just about finished the quests in the Lone-lands, I think. I have some bounty quests to repeat, and Book II to finish off. What's left though, is plenty of deeds, most of them slayer deeds. There's easily another level's worth of XP there, possibly two. Maybe even three if I use some Destiny Points to buy extra rest XP... That's probably not a good idea, though.</li>
<li>My reputation with the Elgain isn't high enough to buy the reputation jewellery set for my level, so I need to look into raising that somehow. If the quests I have left aren't enough, there's some repeatable crafting recipes that can be turned in for reputation. Which means more mining.</li>
<li>The Metalsmith's Guild. More reputation to grind, and more mining needed. I've deliberately not looked at the recipes available for this, so I'm not too worried about keeping pace with the rewards, but I'm trying to make at least something every day. I'm thinking the mining guild recipes will be more of an end game pursuit for me.</li>
<li>Where next? I have a bunch of quests open in the North Downs, but some of them have since gone grey, but I know if I rush through them they'll lead to quest chains that are at-level. There's also all the deeds I've started there. I have a quest to move to Agamaur. I have some quests to move to Evendim. I have a quest to move into the Trollshaws. I haven't a clue where Book III will take me.</li>
</ul>
<p>I think my plan is to do the farming for ore and leathers that I need to get my professions sorted, then finish the quests and deeds in the Lone-lands. By this point I'll probably be around level 35: the experience/levelling curve still seems really quick. After that, I'll follow the epic storyline a little further and see if it picks a new zone for me -- if the quests prompt me to spend any length of time in any particular zone, I'll pick up the quests and deeds there.</p>
<p>As a more meta-gaming personal goal, I'm going to try and enjoy the experience as a whole more, and stop worrying about keeping gear and professions current. The XP curve and amount of content available seems to make it impossible to do everything at-level and timed perfectly.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-88176519336401261812010-01-17T11:08:00.000+00:002010-01-17T11:08:44.490+00:00Sunday Screenshot: Lone-lands<p><img src="http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/1985/lonelands.jpg" alt="Sunday Screenshot: Lone-lands" /></p>
<p>I've spent most of my LOTRO playtime in the <a href="http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Lone-lands">Lone-lands</a> this week. It's not the prettiest of zones (especially having come from the rolling green of the Shire and Bree-lands) but LOTRO does scenery so well it's still great to look at.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-38330060521361220352010-01-15T14:43:00.000+00:002010-01-15T14:43:09.061+00:00Wargame fluff<p>I've been working a little more on my free table-top wargame/RPG, and as I've been following <a href="http://www.thefreerpgblog.com/2009/05/rob-langs-free-guide-to-organising-your.html#fluff">Rob's advice on writing</a>, I've been keeping all the fluff out of the rules document. Unfortunately this had lead to a massive back-pressure build up of the stuff, which I'm now going to release all over this blog post. Ooh-err.</p>
<p>But first, a quick apology (of sorts). I'm pretty new to the world of table-top, pen-and-paper gaming, so please bear with me if I say anything that's either painfully obvious or painfully stupid to someone with more table-top gaming experience than myself. For all I know, some of these concepts I'm mangling have proper names and long and illustrious histories, so call me out and leave a comment enlightening me if you can.</p>
<p><strong>Grids and hexes</strong><br />
My game is much more wargame-with-RPG-esque elements than vice-versa, so you'll need models or markers to play it. Originally I was going to use a grid system for movement and measurement, but instead I've decided to go with a hex based system. There's a couple of reasons for this.</p>
<p>Mechanically, hexes are much more consistent than squares. If you travel diagonally on a grid, you've covering more ground than if you move in the four cardinal directions. A hex grid eliminates this problem: each direction of travel is the same distance.</p>
<p>I think hexes can also produce a much more natural looking environment. Sticking strictly to a grid can result in very blocky looking trees and rivers. If you ignore the grid for natural features, you end up arguing about how much of a square needs to be covered before it counts as one terrain type or the other. Hexes, being much closer to circles, can give a better approximation of curves and natural formations, and I'm putting my foot down in the rules and saying each hex is either one terrain type or the other -- no half measures or bits of rough terrain creeping round the edges.</p>
<p>Finally, and much more importantly, they're a bit more... nerdy. If a game is played on a hex grid then it's immediately Serious Business in my estimation. So hexes are in.</p>
<p><strong>Dice</strong><br />
At the moment the game uses a pretty simple D6 system. For most everything, you roll a D6, add some modifier, and try to beat a score of 6. Higher rolls are always better, and a roll of 1 is always a failure. This means, for example, if you can get a modifier of 5, then you are almost guaranteed a success, and the character creation numbers are balanced with this in mind. Unfortunately I’ve found this leads to a fairly limited number of viable characters, so I'm thinking of moving to a D20 system.</p>
<p>Using a D20 instead of a D6 would widen the range of modifiers, hopefully meaning more viable characters, but it might make the game too hard with freshly-minted low-modifier characters. But if I lower the success value from 20 down to say 15, or increase the character creation budget, I'm guessing the same situation will occur as with the current D6 system and I'll have solved nothing. This one needs more thought and probably an evening in front of a spreadsheet. Luckily I'm a massive nerd, and so an evening in front of a spreadsheet is no real hardship.</p>
<p><strong>Theme and setting</strong><br />
This is a big problem for me, mainly because I don't have one, <a href="http://www.thefreerpgblog.com/2009/12/how-to-turn-your-stock-fantasy-rpg-into.html">and I really, really should.</a> At the moment, all I've got is a set of rules. Good ones, I think, but still, just rules. I believe that setting is the one thing free games have where they can really shine. I'm living proof that any idiot can chuck together a set of rules and play test them, but without a decent theme, well... I'm guessing there's nothing particularly unique about my game.</p>
<p>As I've been making the game, I've had in mind a sort of grim-future-of-war Warhammer 40,000, Aliens space marines, high tech apocalypse theme, but there's nothing yet in the rules that's specific to that sort of theme. It would work just as well with a stock fantasy elves and goblins setting, or pretty much anywhere else where two or more groups of people want to kill each other.</p>
<p>I'm guessing I'll present the rules in a sort of setting-free vacuum, then provide a default setting with optional extra setting-specific rules, then maybe have a paragraph or two about developing rules for other settings. I could even release extra settings at a later date as supplements, if I'm feeling particularly adventurous.</p>
<p><strong>Some kind of conclusion?</strong><br />
That's enough fluff discussion for now. I'm not going to say when I'll be releasing this as-yet un-named game (that's another item on the to-do list: a name) as I'll no doubt sail past any deadline I set, but I'm still making progress. Until next time!</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-14813096316390154822010-01-11T08:23:00.002+00:002010-01-11T08:23:00.258+00:00Things I'm liking about LOTRO<p>My MMO resolution to reach the level cap in LOTRO is going well -- I'm still having a great time with my hobbit guardian, Merrygrim.</p>
<p>Some things I really like about Lord of the Rings Online, in no particular order:</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Deeds">The Deeds System</a></strong><br />
I'm a somewhat unusual MMO player, in that I really enjoying grinding and farming. The Deeds system -- which pops up as you're questing and asks, hey, why not kill 100 orcs for a cosmetic title, then another 200 for a tiny boost to your stats -- suits me perfectly. And with the rather deep crafting system (I guess some might say grind-focused) on top, I find myself spending more time grinding Deeds and farming materials than actively questing. Which is fine by me: the XP reward for completing deeds is reasonable, and crafting is a means to itself.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Outfitting">The Outfitting System</a></strong><br />
In LOTRO, if you are allowed to equip an item, you can instead equip it to a outfit slot instead of your armour slot, and choose to have it displayed instead of what you're really wearing. You get two full outfit sets to choose from, and once an item is equipped to a outfit slot, you don't even need to keep it in your bags or bank.</p>
<p>I love this system. As a guardian, I'm supposed to wear heavy armour, which is all plate mail and metal helmets. As a super-stylish and very dapper hobbit, I want a big floppy hat and something comfy around my not inconsiderable belly. The outfitting system lets me have the best of both worlds.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://iluvatarorder.forumcircle.com/">My Kinship</a></strong><br />
I've been in the same kinship (<a href="http://iluvatarorder.forumcircle.com/">The Knights of Iluvatar</a>) since I started playing LOTRO, and they're a great bunch of people. They've answered my beginner's questions, helped with group quests, and sent me equipment and supplies. They're always friendly and cheerful in the kinship chat channel, and there's often a brisk trade in items and crafting services for no charge.</p>
<p>My one concern is that so far in the give-and-take of kinship supplies and services, I have been much more of a taker than a giver. I hope once I have a few levels under my belt, I'll be more effectively able to redress the balance! As a tank, I should be of genuine use to kinshop groups, and as an armourer I can help keep beginners and alts in gear. I'm still hoping to get fairly rich, too, which should enable me to help others in a variety of ways.</p>
<p><strong>The Lore</strong><br />
My other MMO love, WoW, has lore, but not like LOTRO. The trashy fantasy novels associated with WoW can't really compete with JRR Tolkien, now can they? There's enough content in the <a href="http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page">One Wiki to Rule Them All</a> to keep me happy for a very long time -- not to mention the original source material!</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-41302885504689078332010-01-10T09:43:00.003+00:002010-01-17T11:04:47.941+00:00Sunday Screenshot: Merrygrim in Othrongroth<p>Merrygrim fighting a pair of skeletons during <a href="http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Quest:Chapter_11:_Othrongroth">Book 1, Chapter 11</a>, inside the Great Barrow, <a href="http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Othrongroth">Othrongroth</a>.</p>
<p><img alt="Merrygrim in Othrongroth" src="http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9575/lotromerrygrimbarrowssk.jpg" /></p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-59023370321568548912010-01-07T10:27:00.003+00:002010-01-07T10:27:00.682+00:00Goblinism in Lord of the Rings Online<p>One of my goals for my Lord of the Rings Online character is to make him a rich little hobbit. More gold in the bank means more pies and fine pipeweed to keep his hobbit-belly full and his fairy little feet happy.</p>
<p>Taking <a href="http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com">the Goblin</a>'s advice to heart, I realise the best way to become rich is probably not repeatable quests or mindlessly grinding, but to play the auction house and amass a fortune through trade and commerce. So let's take a look at the auction house in LOTRO.</p>
<p>The first thing that immediatly springs to my attention is I don't have something like WoW's <a href="http://auctioneeraddon.com/">Auctioneer addon</a> to help me. So I'm going to have to analyse the market the old-fashioned way: lots of searching and note-taking with pencil and paper (and <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/product/calc.html">OpenOffice Calc</a>).</p>
<p>My hobbit, Merrygrim Fairfoot, is an Armourer, which means he has easy access to all the spoils of mining -- not just the raw ore and the bars which can be made from them, but also the gems, stones and shards which are mined along with the ore. Of course, just because I can mine these myself doesn't mean they are free (time is money, after all) but it is somewhere to start. I could also sell the goods he makes while levelling his crafting skills, but they are worth far less than the raw materials -- a typical quirk of (most) MMO economies.</p>
<p>At first glance, however, the economy on my server appears to be a little crazy, and therefore ripe for profiteering. There must be LOTRO goblins out there (perhaps a LOTRO goblin is in fact a dragon, jealously sitting on a mountain of gold?) but there is little evidence of them in the auction listings. While most items seem to gather around a fixed price point, some are listed at prices wildly more or less than the average, just begging to be bought and flipped for a profit.</p>
<p>It seems to me that the best place to look for a profit will be in raw crafting materials and perhaps dyes; items which are useful to a wide range of players. Once I know more about the mechanics of the game, end-game raiding consumables may also be a good market to get involved with. For the mean time, I'll swallow my goblin pride and sell the raw materials I gather while questing until I have a cushion of money, and then concentrate instead on flipping materials other players have farmed.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-69290716936056557522010-01-04T13:38:00.003+00:002010-01-04T13:38:00.155+00:00LotRO Resolutions for 2010<p>I'm making an MMO New Year's Resolution -- to play less WoW, and instead play other MMOs. In order to help me achieve this, I'm setting myself an actual actionable sub-goal: to reach the original level cap in Lord of the Rings Online by the end of the year.</p>
<p>Now, that might sound easy (and it probably is) but it also comes with a few caveats. I will be levelling my crafting skills as well, and I intend for them to be all mastered, up to whatever was the original end-game tier. I am going to participate in plenty of skirmishes, and have my soldier levelled up appropriately. I will have suitable reputation with my crafting guild. I will complete as many deeds as possible, barring perhaps any ridiculous end-game grinds which are no longer relevant. I will have all of my class training and mounts purchased, and a house, even if it's just a small one. Hopefully I will also have a bank vault full of useful crafting ingredients and a nice pile of gold.</p>
<p>As a side-project, I'm going to see if I can apply the Greedy Goblin's principals about WoW's economy to LOTRO's economy. After a quick glance at the LOTRO auction house I'm guessing it's possible -- one themepark MMO economy should behave much the same as another.</p>
<p>I want to be a contributing part of my wonderful kinship, the Illuvatarian Knights, and a large part of that is freely sharing crafting goods, recipes and skills. Some Greedy Goblinism will help here, although handing out the rewards to my kin runs counter to Gevlon's way of thinking!</p>
<p>One thing I'm not committing to is progress through the epic/book storyline. I'm mainly a solo player, so I intend to do it as-and-when I can, either as it gets patched to allow solo progression, or when I'm so ridiculously over-level that I can handle it solo anyway. Same goes for the various instances along the way.</p>
<p>Essentially, I want to squeeze as much solo/small group content out of the original game as possible, before setting foot into the Mines of Moria expansion. I quite like twinking out a character at each expansion threshold, making sure all my professions, reputations and finances are in shape before purchasing the next segment of content and moving on.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-35699541574675036972009-12-31T12:35:00.001+00:002009-12-31T12:36:02.905+00:001K Blank White Cards - an RPG variant<p>Ever played <a href="http://www.trouserarousal.nu/cards/history.html">1000 Blank White cards</a>? It's a really simple party card game, somewhere between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictionary">Pictionary</a> and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectible_card_game">CCG</a>. You draw on blank index cards, and each card can add or remove points, or alter the rules of the game.</p>
<p>So, I thought, what could be better than <strike>ruining</strike> improving it by adding some RPG-like elements?</p>
<p>In my simple RPG variant, the aim of the game is to either amass 100 XP, or kill off all your opponents. You roll a 1d20 each time you need to create a new card, and use the result as a budget to buy RPG-style attributes for the card. This preserves the crazy anything-goes aspect of the original, as you still get to create whatever you like, but provides just enough numerical balance to keep the "combat" (such that it is) from getting out of hand.</p>
<p>It's more of a simple party game with an RPG flavour than a proper RPG, of course, but it's still pretty fun.</p>
<ul><li><strong><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/23451347/1000-Blank-White-Cards-an-RPG-variant">Download 1KBWC: RGP from Scribd</a></strong> (<a href="http://www.scribd.com/document_downloads/23451347?extension=pdf">direct link to PDF</a>)</li></ul>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-59070929089353596842009-12-15T19:49:00.002+00:002009-12-15T19:51:58.776+00:00An Undergeared Alt<p><img src="http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2017/walakea.jpg" alt="Walakea" /></p>
<p>Meet <a href="http://armory.wow-europe.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Arathor&n=Walakea">Walakea</a>. He's a newly created troll shaman, and he's in <<a href="http://armory.wow-europe.com/guild-info.xml?r=Arathor&cn=Walakea&gn=Undergeared">Undergeared</a>>, a guild with which <a href="http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/2009/12/ungeared-for-icc.html">Gevlon aims to raid Icecrown Citadel, using only blue gear</a>.</p>
<p>Gevlon <a href="http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/2009/12/blue-raiding-update.html">seems to be happy with bloggers being in the guild</a>, so I'm going to blog my impressions and experiences with the guild.</p>
<p>So -- why am I joining this project? For a few reasons:</p>
<ul>
<li>I like levelling new characters, questing, and trying new classes. I've wanted to roll a shaman, and try Horde, for quite a while. This seemed like a good excuse to level a new character.</li>
<li>All of my resources are on Alliance characters, so making a Horde character involves either starting from scratch, or abusing the cross-faction auction house. This way, a rich benefactor (ie: Gevlon) gives me 100G, a set of bags, and tells me to get on with levelling. Not a bad start for a new alt.</li>
<li><a href="http://barelyreadablediary.blogspot.com/2009/08/defending-greedy-goblin.html">I'm a fan of Gevlon's blog</a> and genuinely interested in the project. I want to see if it can be done.</li>
<li>There's nothing to lose. Worst case scenario? Gevlon calls me M&S on his blog, I get /gkick'ed, or the project otherwise fails. I still have a new shammy alt, and 100 of Gevlon's gold. I can live with that.</li>
</ul>
<p>Even though the project doesn't officially start until this Saturday, enough people (including myself) rolled new characters yesterday to get the guild started. So far, Gevlon (as <a href="http://armory.wow-europe.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Arathor&n=Koltas">Koltas</a>, the blood-elf mage he's using) has acted pretty much as I expected, and set the tone of the guild:</p>
<blockquote style="color: #0F0; background:#000;">Guild Message of the Day: Welcome and good luck levelling! Please keep the guild chat for finding groups or asking WoW-questions and NOT for social chat.</blockquote>
<p>...and then later, he set up some initial guild ranks, and told us:</p>
<blockquote style="color: #0F0; background:#000;">[Guild] [Koltas]: You might recognized "Lolled!" as lowest rank. If someone says "lol" or other social nonsense, he can get himself demoted. I hope I don't have to tell what happens with a "lolled" if he does it again :-)</blockquote>
<p>That pretty much made /g go quiet. Of course, as soon as he logged off, it exploded with pages of social chat. I really don't see how he can police this rule, unless he implements some Gestapo-like scheme to get us to rat out "socials" in his absence. Personally, I'm keeping quiet.</p>
<p>It's an interesting project, and it gives playing WoW an extra strange quality. It's made me suspicious of all my guildmates, paranoid and careful about what I say, and I'm trying to treat the whole experience as a science project. I straddle the line between social and anti-social myself (<a href="http://barelyreadablediary.blogspot.com/2009/08/on-world-of-warcraft-and-playstyles.html">my own MMO playstyle is somewhat similar to Gevlon's</a>) so I'm really interested to see where this guild idea goes. I can't shake the feeling that we're being used by Gevlon to prove a point, and not one about undergeared raiding: about what <i>moron socials</i> will do for some gold and internet fame.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-21346135073302348562009-11-26T16:47:00.002+00:002009-11-26T16:47:31.450+00:00My Favourite Classic Dungeon Bosses<p>Considering the dungeons required for <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=1283">Classic Dungeonmaster</a>, here is my personal favourite bosses, in roughly <a href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Instances_by_level">recommended instance level</a> order:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=7800">Mekgineer Thermaplugg</a></strong><br />
Lots of people hate <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?zone=133">Gnomeregan</a>, but I don't really mind it at all. I like Thermaplugg not only because of the nice quest rewards from <i><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=2929">The Grand Betrayal</a></i> but also because he's quite clearly gone bonkers. And not only bonkers, but sat in a giant robot suit and in charge of a huge supply of bombs -- great fun!
</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=7358">Amnennar the Coldbringer</a></strong><br />
<img src="http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/622/amnennar.jpg" alt="Amnennar the Coldbringer" />
I've picked Amnennar purely because he's a lich, and I love the undead and specifically the lich model. The build up to the fight with this lich as you climb the Spiral of Thorns, defeating his undead minions along the way is also pretty cool. I love killing me some undead.
</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=7273">Gahz'rilla</a></strong><br />
Gahz'rilla is a huge, three headed hydra who lives in <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?zone=978">Zul'Farrak</a>. Your reward for slaying such a terrifying beast? A <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=11122">[Carrot on a Stick]</a>. I think this might be a metaphor for the entire MMO industry.
</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=12201">Princess Theradras</a></strong><br />
<img src="http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/848/princesstheradras.jpg" alt="Princess Theradras" /><br />
Ooh, she's so purdy.
</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=5709">Shade of Eranikus</a></strong><br />
Along with <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=5721">Dreamscythe</a>, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=5720">Weaver</a>, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=5719">Morphaz</a> and <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=5722">Hazzas</a>, Eranikus is a favourite of mine because he's a dragon, and killing dragons is a very satisfying fantasy trope. He also drops the quest item that gets you the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=10455">[Chained Essence of Eranikus]</a>, which is a fun trinket. Any item that lets the trapped soul of a dragon <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=10455#comments:id=286026">whisper death threats</a> to you is pretty good in my book.
</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=9016">Bael'Gar</a></strong><br />
<img src="http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/1818/baelgar.jpg" alt="Bael'Gar" /><br />
I really like <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?zone=1584">Blackrock Depths</a> as a whole, but Bael'Gar is my favourite boss of the instance. I like the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=9436">gooey lava blob adds</a> he summons and I have fond memories of soloing him with my hunter, my pet dying right at the last moment, but still pulling it off.</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=11496">Immol'thar</a></strong><br />
<img src="http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/24/immolthar.jpg" alt="Immol'thar" /><br />
This is another pick because of the model -- I think this is a great looking boss. It's also an interesting fight, due to the evil floating <i><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=22909">Eye of Immol'thar</a></i> adds he summons, and his ability to teleport players high into the air, leaving them to fall to their (potential) deaths.
</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=10812">Grand Crusader Dathrohan</a></strong><br />
Once you get Dathrohan down to 40% health, he reveals his true form - the Grand Crusader has been possessed by the Dreadlord <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=10813">Balnazzar</a>. I like fights with really obvious phases and transformations, and turning into a huge demon is a pretty good example of the tranforming-boss genre.
</li>
</ul>
<p>So - which are your favourite classic bosses?</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-87609545693185555102009-11-23T18:22:00.003+00:002009-11-26T17:00:46.182+00:00Blood and Boobs - Dragon Age: Origins<p>Last week I bought <a href="http://dragonage.bioware.com/">Dragon Age: Origins</a> for tbe PC and it immediately ate up a whole week of gaming time. It's a really fantastic RPG - I haven't enjoyed a single player RPG as much as this since I first played the original Fallout at university.</p>
<p>The plot is essencially Lord of the Rings, minus the ring. Can a group of disparate heroes convince the free people of the world to set aside their petty squabbles and politics and unite to confront a growing evil? Of course they can. No hobbits required. Along the way, just to show how mature the story is, they'll get literally covered in blood and we'll get to see some boobs. Everyone's a winner!</p>
<p>
<img border="0" src="http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2207/dragonageblood.jpg" style="width: 500px;" />
</p>
<p>
<img border="0" src="http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2699/dragonageboobs.jpg" style="width: 500px;" />
<br /><small style="margin-left: 2em;">» Blood and boobs. Demon boobs, but boobs nonetheless.</small>
</p>
<p>The web is full of DA:O news and reviews, so I won't insult your intelligence by repeating it all here. Instead I'll just point you at <a href="http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/47705">this Gamers With Jobs thread</a>, <a href="http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Age_Wiki">the Wiki</a>, and the <a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23dragonage">#DragonAge</a> Twitter.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-15614960868529045302009-11-18T22:56:00.001+00:002009-11-18T23:17:16.678+00:00Free RPGs and wargamesI've been reading a lot of <a href="http://www.thefreerpgblog.com/">The Free RPG Blog</a> and <a href="http://www.freewargamesrules.co.uk/">Free Wargames Rules</a> recently, and it's got the nerd-brain ticking. I'm having a go at creating a first game of my own, and so far it's looking promising. I've got an OpenOffice spreadsheet set up to test the mechanics and simulate dice rolls, and I've been following Rob Lang's excellent <a href="http://www.thefreerpgblog.com/2009/05/rob-langs-free-guide-to-organising-your.html">free guide to organising your RPG</a> as I write out the rules.<br />
<br />
What I've actually come up with so far is actually much more of a wargame than RPG, but it certainly has elements that will be familiar to RPG players. It's a hex-based small squad tactics game, somewhere between the tactical combat of <a href="http://www.wizards.com/DnD/">fourth edition D&D</a> and say, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000">Warhammer 40,000</a>, with an added simple card game element that lets you support your own units or penalise your opponent's.<br />
<br />
Combat and challenges are resolved using 1D6 + modifiers, aiming to beat 6. By scaling some of the numbers up during character creation I could move to D20 system, which would allow for a greater variety of character builds, but for the time being I'm keeping it simple and on the smaller D6 scale.<br />
<br />
I also have some less fleshed out ideas about how to link battles together into a campaign and weave some roleplaying into the overall structure, allowing players to get involved in the grand schemes and politics that prompt the individual battles, or just play one-off battles with no story or RP elements at all.<br />
<br />
Once it's all finished and playtested, I'll be releasing it here as a free PDF (naturally) and probably at-cost through Lulu as well. I'll try and keep the fluff and mechanical discussion here on the blog, and out of the rulebook!<br />Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-12456761565327018902009-10-22T21:27:00.000+01:002009-10-22T21:27:13.281+01:00MMOs I have played<p>Following a meme I found <a href="http://mordiceius.com/2009/10/21/mmos-i-have-played-pass-it-on/">via Mordiceius' Gaming Blog</a>, a list of MMOs I have played, with star ratings:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>World of Warcraft</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>The perennial favourite. Many, many hundreds of hours over five or so years.</small>
</li>
<li><strong>Wizard 101</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>My balance wizard is currently parked in Krokotopia. Love this game.</small>
</li>
<li><strong>Kingdom of Loathing</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>Played on-and-off for around two years, pre-NS13. A great game.</small>
</li>
<li><strong>City of Heroes/Villains</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>About six months, most of which was spent in the character customising screens.</small>
</li>
<li><strong>Guild Wars</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>A couple of two or three month blocks, but it's never really 'clicked'.</small>
</li>
<li><strong>Lord of the Rings Online</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>Three or four months spent running around as a hobbit.</small>
</li>
<li><strong>EVE Online</strong> and <strong>Everquest 2</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>I'd have played both of these much more if my partner's machine could run them.
Once she's upgraded, I'll return to them, and they could easily gain another star.</small>
</li>
<li><strong>Dragonica</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>Spent a month beating stuff up in this cutesy side-scrolling MMO. Great fun, if
you use a joypad.</small>
</li>
<li><strong>Maple Story</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
and
<strong>SidneyMS private server</strong>
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<img src="http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1068/customizestaricon.gif" />
<br /><small>Around two months, mainly in SidneyMS. Grindtastic but strangely relaxing.</small>
</li>
</ul>
<p><small>(...and I haven't bothered to rate MMO's I've trialled but gave up on after only a few hours/days: <strong>Age of Conan</strong>, <strong>Tabula Rasa</strong>, <strong>Rohan Blood Feud</strong>, <strong>Free Realms</strong>, <strong>Runes of Magic</strong>...)</small></p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-39699037535781899182009-09-16T21:28:00.000+01:002009-09-16T21:28:16.073+01:00New Acquisitions Incorporated D&D podcasts<p>The <a href="http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4arch/pod">D&D podcast</a> has started a new series with the Acquisitions Incorporated guys. The cartoon below is from episode two, and there's three episodes this series so far. New episodes come out every Friday.</p>
<p><img src="http://wizards.com/dnd/images/podcast_papvp3_2th.jpg" /></p>
<p>Binwin Bronzebottom is a real hero to my dwarf fighter, "Bedrock".</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-42424114390482906482009-09-10T21:33:00.003+01:002009-09-10T21:45:25.502+01:00Kobold Fire Slinger with pack of Fire Beetles<p>A small fire-based encounter I've created for our characters: a kobold slinger with firepots, driving a small herd of Fire Beetles. I've used the adjusted Fire Beetle stats posted <a href="http://gargamer.com/rpgs/4e/4e-monster-manual-personal-1-errata-beetles-drakes-and-rotters">here on GarGamer</a>, but reduced them to minions.</p>
<p style="margin-left: 20px;"><img src="http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8549/koboldfireslingeri.jpg" /></p>
<p style="margin-left: 20px;"><img src="http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8327/tamedfirebeetle.jpg" /></p>
<p>200 XP in total (kobold slinger 1x100 XP; fire beetle 4x25 XP) which makes this a level 1 encounter for our 2 characters, but you could double the number of participants for a standard level 1 encounter for 4 characters.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-65297373012036727632009-09-08T16:47:00.003+01:002009-09-10T21:33:15.640+01:00From M20 to D&D4eWe didn't get to play as much <a href="http://microlite20.net/">Microlite20</a> as we wanted during our little camping trip -- bad weather and a very small tent conspired
against us -- but it did get us thinking about pen-and-paper hobbies
and what we want to get out of them.</p><p>As there's only the two of
us, we play without a DM, which is both weird and difficult. With
no-one taking the lead, we rely on randomness to shape our dungeons
and control our monsters. It's not as satisfying from a role-playing
perspective as a DM-led campaign, so we tailor our games to downplay
the disadvantages of not having a DM. This means we're light on
roleplay, NPCs and surprises, and heavy on combat and dungeon
crawling. Essentially we play pen-and-paper Diablo, with some
collaborative storytelling in-between dungeons.</p><p>We've been
restoring rules from the <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/">d20 SRD</a>
to Microlite20, and adding more and more house rules, and it's reached
a point where it's not really very "lite" anymore. So, we've decided
to take the plunge and start using Dungeons and Dragons 4e, instead.
D&D 4e is heavy on combat, and has been compared to an MMO, so
hopefully we'll be right in our comfort zone.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-8965891167656586592009-08-27T18:28:00.000+01:002009-08-27T18:28:49.175+01:00Defending the greedy goblin<p>Tipa of <a href="http://www.westkarana.com">West Karana</a> just called out Gevlon, the <a href="http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/">Greedy Goblin</a>, <a href="http://westkarana.com/index.php/2009/08/27/daily-blogroll-827-curioser-and-curioser-edition/">saying</a>:</p>
<blockquote>he has a huge fanbase of rabid World of Warcraft followers, even though he is a psychotic sociopath</blockquote>
<p>...and...</p>
<blockquote>[his] greed and arrogance is the heart of the cancer that kills WoW’s community ... the world needs fewer joysuckers, not more.</blockquote>
<p>If Gevlon was offering his guidance on cold, dispassionate economics and sociology as an EVE Online character, rather than a goblin, I don’t think he would be reviled by his blogging peers in such the same way. WoW is very much a <em>social</em> game.</p>
<p>Gevlon’s Greedy Goblin blog is one of the few WoW-centric blogs I have posted on my blogroll, and it’s one of the first I check in the WoW section of my feed reader. I wouldn’t call myself a rabid follower, but I can get behind his goblinish way of playing. I enjoy playing the auction house and mocking what Gevlon calls the <em>M&S</em> – <em>morons and slackers</em> – even though if he looked over my gear and achievements, I’m sure I’d be labelled <em>M&S</em> without a second thought.</p>
<p>Now, don’t get me wrong: he is psychotic, and perhaps a little too fond of Ayn Rand for his own good, but I think the WoW blogging community (and certainly the WoW-playing community) is large enough to suffer a little egocentric greed.</p>
<p>I first started reading Gevlon’s blog for help making money. I was sick of farming elementals and repeating dailies to generate income, and he has lots of good tips for playing the auction house. When you get into it, the AH is a mini-game in itself. And once you’re playing the AH at Gevlon’s level of industry, you can be controlling aspects of a whole server’s economy. In a way, it can be like PvPing your own faction. There’s something very satisfying about being self-sufficient amongst the sea of the larger WoW community. And if you can game that community for fun and profit – well, why not?</p>
<p>Maybe there’s a bit of goblin blood in me, too.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327914415604964121.post-39123109097477996142009-08-27T10:50:00.002+01:002009-11-26T17:14:11.169+00:00On World of Warcraft, and playstyles<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/djwu/3845080862/"><img src="http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3544/belfcosplaygirl.jpg" border="0" alt=""></a><br /><small>» <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/djwu/3845080862/">Blizzcon 2009 Bloodelf caster</a>, by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/djwu/">djwu</a>.</small></p>
<p>As well as Wizard 101, which is our current love, we also play World of Warcraft. We're not subscribed at the moment, but because of the recent news about Cataclysm, it's back on my mind. WoW is never far away, with some excellent blogs in my RSS reader and the official Armory app on my iPhone, even when we're not playing it's a part of my daily nerd-news routine.</p>
<p>When we play WoW, we play it like all our MMOs -- as essentially a two-player game that happens to have very good multiplayer options. We're in a guild that consists of our mains and alts, and one other person, a real life friend. We complete quests, grouped together, and tackle five-man instances once we're over-leveled and over-geared enough to manage them with only two or three characters. Playing a protection paladin and discipline priest combo probably helps. Our occasional third man is a beast mastery hunter, so between us we have the "holy trinity" of tank, healer, DPS covered, with a pet for off-tanking.</p>
<p>Naturally this cuts us off from the latest 5-man content, and essentially all of the 10-man and above raid content, and subsequently our gear is never better than end-game crafted pieces, reputation and quest rewards. We're happy with that. Our innate misanthropy keeps us from grouping or raiding, but that's exactly how we want it.</p>
<p>We experience much of the game one expansion behind the rest of the world. Yes, we've started questing in Northrend, but we're still working through Outland dungeons and reputation/daily quests.</p>
<p>I wonder how many people play like us? I imagine our playstyle is a smaller niche. When we're playing, we're pretty hardcore. Not hardcore <em>raiders</em>, as "hardcore" often implies, but I research talent builds and work out best-in-slot quest rewards, read the patch notes, and don't mind a bit of theorycrafting with Excel and the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?compare">Wowhead comparison tool</a>. I think the <em>hardcore vs. casual</em> stereotypes are a myth, or at least much more complex than some people make out.</p>Rumorshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302505544055024218noreply@blogger.com0