March « 2010 « Rawrcast

This week Stomp and Haf share their excitement and plans for attending this year’s Blizzcon, their first! Tempers also fly as a profession cooldown debate sparks controversy, and a new website announced this week borders on the line of prostitution through gaming.

All of this, an much more is available for your listening pleasure via iTunes, RSS feed, direct download, or you can stream it from our website!

Links to topics discussed this week:

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Music Provided by :: eEnik – Passive Attack

I recently transferred one of my alts to a new server to play with a friend from work and check out what his guild was all about. Once I was there, it became quickly clear that I had made a mistake. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my friend or his guildmates, its that I had left behind an even closer social circle on my previous server. I’d been playing and adding to this social circle for as long as I’d been playing WoW, spending time helping each of the characters in the circle to level their professions and reach the end game. The strange thing about this social circle was that it was imposed entirely of one person; myself.

See if you can follow me here. Over the years, I’ve put a lot of time into my characters, leveling all different professions so that I can essentially become a self contained island in WoW. Need some flasks for the raid? No problem, I can farm up the herbs on my Death Knight and send them over to my Rogue to make flasks and potions. Need any gear enchanted? Got it covered on my Warlock. Need a new set of Plate for a toon I’m leveling? Terrific, let me put my Death Knights Blacksmithing profession to use (since it cost so damn much to level, I might as well use it).

When I got my alt to the new server, this entire support system was ripped out. I couldn’t turn to any of my elder characters for cash, gear or professions. He had to totally rely on himself. By transferring, I had inadvertently invalidated 4 plus years that I’ve spent in WoW. Needless to say, I quickly apologized to my friend and his guild and made haste back home. Have any of you had a similar transfer experience? Was the result the same?

Evil Critter
We’ve all been there. It’s Friday night, and you’re happily ploughing your way through another heroic. Everything goes well, and 20 minutes later, you’re back in Dalaran admiring your new shiny emblems, lusting over the many treasures you could spend them on. However, all of a sudden, you get an urge to visit that store clerk who was a jerk to you last week, and give him a lesson in manners. So with your 25mm XM25 in hand, you jump in your car, cackling like a madman, and get ready to dish out the pain!

Yes, if you haven’t worked it out yet, I’m talking about the effects of violent video games. Exciting stuff I know, but let’s breathe, and tackle this is in a sensible manner.

The whole idea of violent video games having a negative impact on people’s real lives isn’t new. Back in 1999, Eric Harris and his favourite chum Dylan Klebold killed 13 of their fellow students at Columbine High School. How is this linked to violent video games? Well apparently they played DOOM. Seeing this as indisputable evidence, the media insisted that the reason these two boys committed such a horrific act, was because the game had influenced and inspired them, warping their fragile minds and turning them into cold blooded killers. Step back into 2010, and it seems you can’t go a month without games being linked to some monstrous act of human indecency.

I recently got my hands on a Starcraft II beta key and although I’m itching to play, I started wondering about the utility of Beta Programs. The basic idea is that you allow a whole mess of people to play your game in exchange for free Quality Assurance. People play, find problems, submit metrics for the developers to analyze and the developers polish the game. The PTR in WOW does essentially the same thing. In exchange for free labor, players get to see content before anyone else and gain +10 points to their nerd cred. (I’m sure you’ve run across these guys in WoW, their text registering in your head as a naisely, librarian voice, “Well, I consider myself and authority on Azeroth since I’ve been playing since Beta.”)

How many people actually do what they’re supposed to do in Beta programs? Are players assiduously documenting issues they come across in game? Noting the precise balance between different units? Are they making regular reports back to Blizzard on their experiences in game? The short answer is: no. Players are playing simply to play. If they do come across a problem, it most likely deals with something that is so obviously broken that Blizzard wouldn’t have needed several thousand players to find in the first place.

The real reason to have Beta Tests is not necessarily to test, but to get our collective nerd blood racing. No doubt many people, such as myself, have been given access to the Beta and are reporting back their experiences in game (and if Blizzard’s previous track record is any indication, their experiences are most likely extremely positive). So, I will be doing the same. I’ve taken a deep drink of the Kool Aid and now I’ll be spreading the gospel of Starcraft II. Please feel free to load me up with any questions or requests so that I can give you all some insight into the game.

Every couple of weeks I catch up with your iTunes and now Zune reviews. This week, yet again, a small tear came to my eye as I read all of the positive responses we have gotten from you guys through the comment systems. I wanted to take a moment to share with you a couple of responses that stuck out as worth chatting more about.

First off, regarding our sound quality…

Race and Name Selection

I’m not one to get overly caught up in racials. I think they are important, but I also know they are headed for an overhaul come Cataclysm, so the idea of making a decision like race when racials can change seems overly analytical. Don’t misunderstand me, I think racials can be important to game play, but they are not so critical that all decisions should be based on them.

I knew I wanted a warrior in the spirit of the Aiel, a warrior society in the Wheel of Time. The Aiel, like the Kaldorei, have a rich history with parts both would rather their people forget. The Aiel, unlike the night elves, have been very successful in hiding the dark spots in their history from all but their leaders. They are physically imposing with distinct eyes. The Aeil have warriors of both sexes, but the night elves, historically, have had a society of women warriors. This is still evident if you ever visit a night elf stronghold, as all of the guards are women. Conveniently, the Aiel have a warrior society known as Far Dareis Mai, or maidens of the spear, so I hopped on over to browse a list of maidens until I was able to find a name I liked. I settled on Beralna.

So, though not exclusive to this warrior journey, my first question is how do you pick a toon name?

The following is a post by none-other than the master of the chatroom, Mullets!

Special thanks to everyjoe.com

I was listening to Blue Plz earlier, and Total Biscuit was giving his two cents on a blog post from WoW.com mage blogger Christian Belt, regarding raiding as a frost mage, and TB brought up numerous times times that he does not think that frost mages are raid viable.

While listening to TB talking about this, a post by Brigwyn over at the Hunting Lodge came to the forefront of my mind. Brigwyn here argued that Blizzard believed Beast Mastery hunters were raid viable and listed counter arguments to Frostheim, who had posted otherwise. Read more…