I had a very interesting comment from a guy named Andrew on my last post asking this question:

This would bring you back, Darren? Really? What part of the rumors haul you in?

I guess I didn’t address this in my last post…or not clearly enough, but it is an interesting point to hammer home.

First and foremost, I will revisit WoW off and on for as long as it is still active….especially with each expansion. My opinion (…please repeat that word to yourself…heh…) is that you cannot intelligently comment on MMOs unless you’ve played or are playing WoW. Like or not, it is the yardstick and will continue to be so until we all agree that something else is the yardstick. So, here I am then. As long as the focus of this blog is MMOs (…and it still is for now…), I will play WoW every once and a while. It’s a fun game, no doubt…it’s just becoming a very well copied MMO, hence why we all get kinda grumpy about the genre these days. Recall, I still don’t have a level 80 character in that game yet. My Rogue is only level 72….so still a long way to go.

The main reason why I will be jumping into WoW for Cataclysm is because of the old world revamp. We haven’t seen this done by Blizzard. Sure, we’ve seen little changes here and there, but never a whole expansion that is (…apparently…) dedicated to remaking the old world. I think it would be fascinating to see how Blizz handles an aspect of the game that a lot of us old, grumpy gamers have complained about in the past.

So there it is. Why Cataclysm will be interesting to Darren.

This brings me to my out of the closet moment. Going back to EQ2 and my emo post from last week (…and yes, Karen did punch me…) got me thinking: if my feelings on the current MMO scene are true, and I’m approaching a crossroads then how would WoW play for me right now. You’ve got to wonder, right? If EQ2 can’t do it and LOTRO is scratching the itch, then WoW should also fall flat as well. So should the other two betas that I find myself in. If I find myself playing War in the Pacific, while having access to WoW then I know for certain that that I’m at the crossroad. So… re-subbed up yesterday. With this crossroad thing mind, and the expansion, and the fact that I still haven’t maxed out my toon…it seemed like a good time to try again. I think my wife will be coming with me as well…but I’m still working on her

Part of me is hoping that, like my first shot at Runes of Magic, that the attempt at EQ2 was just me being grumpy and that WoW is still a fun game to play….cause man, that would be harsh With the other two betas…one fell on its ass completely (…more on that when I can…) and the other is unknown at this point. I’ll keep you posted.

So…that makes me subbed to WoW, Eve and LOTRO at the moment with two betas. Eve is totally safe, that much I know. Will LOTRO scratch the itch leaving WoW in the dark or is WoW immune to this whole idea of “played on fantasy-level-based MMO, why play another” mood that I’m in. I know…doesn’t matter but it will be fun to find out

D out.

Posted in Editorial
2 Comments Posted by Darren