Different Game, Same Name?

I came across this interview at WoW.com and was absolutely stunned. The play experience described by Mixler was so far removed from my day to day experience in WoW that I had to take a step back and admire the meta game that he’s helped to establish on Feathermoon. For those of us who are reading impaired, here is a quick run down.

Mixler has formed an Alliance Guildwatch on Feathermoon that is designed solely to defend all Alliance held territories from Horde incursions. He uses a blend of scouts, spies, defensive tactics and global chat channels to organize defenses. They operate under a strict code of honor, forgoing any offensive strikes against the Horde to focus entirely on defense.

Throughout the interview, I constantly had to remind myself that they were discussing WoW. The ideas were so novel and innovative that I could only applaud the obvious effort needed to implement them. Anecdotes abound of Horde fighting Alliance aboard the Stormbreaker high above the cliffs of Icecrown or capital defenders picking off Horde invaders one by one and rallying the city to the defense of the King. Further, there was a reference to an Arcane Academy; a guild designed to train up casters before releasing them to the general public. The last idea in particular struck me as extremely useful on a PVE realm. Why not have chat channels devoted to teaching players how to play their class to the best of their abilities?

The play experience described in the article was so unique that it left me kicking myself for all the times I logged into game and had “nothing to do”. Mixler shows that with some imagination and elbow grease, WoW can literally be any game you want it to be.