The boys have been doing some low-level free-to-play World of Warcraft while I've been sick, and Matthew created a character named Bad Ash. That, my friends, is a parenting win! Anyway, whenever he gets killed and respawns, Matthew ought to say, "I...live...again!" Of course, Bad Ash is not as quotable as Good Ash (i.e., "the guy with the gun"), but he does have a couple of good lines.
Showing posts with label World of Warcraft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World of Warcraft. Show all posts
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Monday, March 2, 2015
Neverwinter
The last time I bought a computer, Amy was nine months pregnant...with our first kid! So, after more than seven-and-a-half years, it was time (past time, actually) to upgrade. I purchased a bunch of parts from Amazon and New Egg, and then some of my engineer pals from work came over and put the thing together for me.
The first game I downloaded was the basic version of the Neverwinter MMORPG. It's a lot like World of Warcraft, of course, but it's free and it's fun, so I'll give it a whirl. I think the most important outcome from trying out Neverwinter was that it got Matthew interested in playing D&D again. He immediately scurried off to come up with a new storyline for his campaign, which we haven't touched in several months. An hour later, Nathaniel and I sat down to the continued adventures of our rogue and bard, respectively. Halfway through, Matthew wanted to ditch the adventure and start a different one, but at least he's keen on paper-and-pencil D&D again!
The first game I downloaded was the basic version of the Neverwinter MMORPG. It's a lot like World of Warcraft, of course, but it's free and it's fun, so I'll give it a whirl. I think the most important outcome from trying out Neverwinter was that it got Matthew interested in playing D&D again. He immediately scurried off to come up with a new storyline for his campaign, which we haven't touched in several months. An hour later, Nathaniel and I sat down to the continued adventures of our rogue and bard, respectively. Halfway through, Matthew wanted to ditch the adventure and start a different one, but at least he's keen on paper-and-pencil D&D again!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Scale
With D&D Kre-O now on the scene, you may be wondering (actually, I'd be very surprised if you were wondering, but I'm going to tell you anyway!) what will become of my legions of World of Warcraft Mega Bloks. Because the WoW mini-figs and the Kre-O mini-figs are not in the same scale, I can't use them interchangeably.
I don't want to maintain two separate collections of fantasy building toys, so which line wins? The bricks are all compatible, so there's no issue with the basic pieces. The problem is solely with the mini-figs (and their associated gear). The WoW guys have the benefit of incumbency; I already have a large collection of them, so I'd need a compelling reason to switch. However, the WoW line for Mega Bloks seems to be petering out, whereas the D&D Kre-O line is just ramping up. The Kre-O guys also get bonus points because they're in the same scale as Lego mini-figs.
It's a tough call, but I'm going with the Kre-O guys. Much like that battle-tested +1 longsword that gets cascaded down to an NPC henchman when you find a +2 longsword, the WoW mini-figs will most likely be passed on to my two little boys, who don't (yet!) share their father's idiosyncratic (but, like, entirely justified!) insistence that all toys that get used together be in the same scale. Enjoy all those orcs and elves, boys...my sights are set on warriors of a slightly smaller stature!
I don't want to maintain two separate collections of fantasy building toys, so which line wins? The bricks are all compatible, so there's no issue with the basic pieces. The problem is solely with the mini-figs (and their associated gear). The WoW guys have the benefit of incumbency; I already have a large collection of them, so I'd need a compelling reason to switch. However, the WoW line for Mega Bloks seems to be petering out, whereas the D&D Kre-O line is just ramping up. The Kre-O guys also get bonus points because they're in the same scale as Lego mini-figs.
It's a tough call, but I'm going with the Kre-O guys. Much like that battle-tested +1 longsword that gets cascaded down to an NPC henchman when you find a +2 longsword, the WoW mini-figs will most likely be passed on to my two little boys, who don't (yet!) share their father's idiosyncratic (but, like, entirely justified!) insistence that all toys that get used together be in the same scale. Enjoy all those orcs and elves, boys...my sights are set on warriors of a slightly smaller stature!
Monday, November 25, 2013
D&D Next Generation
I gave Matthew a very brief introduction to RPGs about a year ago when I showed him the Pathfinder Beginner Box. At the time, he wasn't quite ready for it. Lately, however, he's been begging me to teach him how to play D&D, so over the weekend we sat down for an official adventure, this time using an extremely abridged version of the D&D Next rules. Here's the character sheet (consisting only of attack bonus, Armor Class, and hit points) for Matthew's fighter, Egerren -- named after his beloved World of Warcraft character.
Matthew requested an adventure with an arctic theme, so I picked out some appropriate maps, grabbed a few minis, and got him started in a place that Druid Cycle aficionados should recognize -- the frozen island of Dinas Cefni. He was practically giddy with excitement.
Egerren and his NPC companion, the paladin Mairin, set out to track down the goblins that were harassing some local miners. Here they are battling the first few goblin scouts.
Later, the intrepid heroes stumbled upon a small keep from which hordes of enemies began to emerge.
They managed to defeat the goblins and bugbears, but what will they find within the keep? Judging from Matthew's enthusiastic response to the adventure, it won't be long before we find out.
Matthew requested an adventure with an arctic theme, so I picked out some appropriate maps, grabbed a few minis, and got him started in a place that Druid Cycle aficionados should recognize -- the frozen island of Dinas Cefni. He was practically giddy with excitement.
Egerren and his NPC companion, the paladin Mairin, set out to track down the goblins that were harassing some local miners. Here they are battling the first few goblin scouts.
Later, the intrepid heroes stumbled upon a small keep from which hordes of enemies began to emerge.
They managed to defeat the goblins and bugbears, but what will they find within the keep? Judging from Matthew's enthusiastic response to the adventure, it won't be long before we find out.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
D&D Kre-O
My world just got rocked.
You know I love D&D, and you probably also know that I love Lego and other building toys. A few months ago I posted about the great line of World of Warcraft Mega Bloks sets. Since then I've been building up quite the fantasy setting, with armies of orcs and elves, plenty of heroes, and a couple of bad-ass dragons. (Thank you, Target clearance aisle!) I've been very happy with the Mega Bloks WoW toys, especially with the Lego Castle series being so expensive and unimaginative these days.
Today, I learned that Hasbro is going to release official D&D building toys as part of their Kre-O line starting in January of 2014. I'm stunned.
More details as I get them...
You know I love D&D, and you probably also know that I love Lego and other building toys. A few months ago I posted about the great line of World of Warcraft Mega Bloks sets. Since then I've been building up quite the fantasy setting, with armies of orcs and elves, plenty of heroes, and a couple of bad-ass dragons. (Thank you, Target clearance aisle!) I've been very happy with the Mega Bloks WoW toys, especially with the Lego Castle series being so expensive and unimaginative these days.
Today, I learned that Hasbro is going to release official D&D building toys as part of their Kre-O line starting in January of 2014. I'm stunned.
More details as I get them...
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
DDO
After my recent dalliance with World of Warcraft, Matt reminded me that Dungeons & Dragons Online is still alive and kicking. He checked it out after a long absence and encouraged me to do the same. Last night I downloaded the files and created a character (a paladin, of course!). I had time for only a few minutes of the introductory solo adventure, but I'm finding it interesting to compare DDO to WoW. At first blush, I think WoW is visually superior and has more intuitive game controls, but DDO provides an authentic 3.5 D&D experience that has a strong appeal to me as a fan of that edition. It's free to play, so I recommend that my fellow D&D fans check it out!
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
WoW Graphic Novel
I'm already kind of bored with World of Warcraft, but I may check out DC's new WoW graphic novel.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Fundead
I played some more free WoW this weekend and tried out a few other races. I had high hopes for the elves, but I just can't get past their enormous ears and ridiculously elongated eyebrows. (Seriously, those eyebrows are just terrible!) I played a bit with a tauren (minotaur) and a draenei (tiefling), but my favorite race so far is actually the undead. I'm trying out an undead warlock and enjoying the introductory storyline a lot more than I did with my original human paladin.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Stormwind and Deathwing
Timothy, I know you're a Lego purist and you have no interest in knock-off bricks, but check out the awesome new World of Warcraft Mega Bloks set that Matthew and I put together last night...
The entrance to the city of Stormwind
A close-up of the statues
The mighty dragon Deathwing
Deathwing vs. the heroes
Monday, April 15, 2013
WoW Starter Edition
Matthew and I have been playing the World of Warcraft Starter Edition for the last several days. We created a warrior whose tale began in a town under siege by a vast horde of werewolves. Our hero defeated countless monsters, worked to unite rival factions within the city, helped rescue and evacuate civilians, and even got to operate a gigantic cannon during a frenzied werewolf assault on the townspeople's last bastion of defense. Along the way, he was bitten by a werewolf and, at the worst possible moment, he transformed into a monster and turned against his fellow townspeople.
Cool story, right? If this were a paper-and-pencil campaign, I'd be counting the minutes between game sessions. Unfortunately, in WoW, the game play doesn't live up to the epic scope of the narrative. For the most part, it follows this sort of pattern: You talk to an NPC leader and receive a quest to kill a certain number of a particular type of monster. You wander around the area, kill the specified monsters, and return to the leader for a small reward. Then you're assigned to kill a different number of a different type of creature, and so on and so forth. If it gets this repetitive after just a few days -- and since I have zero interest in player-vs.-player combat -- I can't see paying for a subscription.
Still, the free version is a very enjoyable game experience and I highly recommend giving it a try. I don't see an expiration date on my Starter Edition account, so I intend to keep playing for a while. I've also created a human paladin, and the setting and story for his initial adventure are completely different from what we experienced with the werewolf warrior. I suspect I'll create a character of each race just to see what all the initial adventures are like. The character classes also play quite differently; there's a steep learning curve, but my friend Kyle, a WoW veteran of many years, has tagged along with both the werewolf and the paladin, and his advice has been very helpful in getting up to speed on how the game works.
Amusing side-note: WoW is full of respawning monsters, so there's never a lack of beasties to slay. However, Matthew had never seen a game in which fresh foes just appeared out of nowhere, so he assumed that they had been there the whole time, but had just been invisible until attacking us and thereby revealing themselves. With no small amount of exasperation, he said: "There sure are a lot of invisible monsters in this world!"
Cool story, right? If this were a paper-and-pencil campaign, I'd be counting the minutes between game sessions. Unfortunately, in WoW, the game play doesn't live up to the epic scope of the narrative. For the most part, it follows this sort of pattern: You talk to an NPC leader and receive a quest to kill a certain number of a particular type of monster. You wander around the area, kill the specified monsters, and return to the leader for a small reward. Then you're assigned to kill a different number of a different type of creature, and so on and so forth. If it gets this repetitive after just a few days -- and since I have zero interest in player-vs.-player combat -- I can't see paying for a subscription.
Still, the free version is a very enjoyable game experience and I highly recommend giving it a try. I don't see an expiration date on my Starter Edition account, so I intend to keep playing for a while. I've also created a human paladin, and the setting and story for his initial adventure are completely different from what we experienced with the werewolf warrior. I suspect I'll create a character of each race just to see what all the initial adventures are like. The character classes also play quite differently; there's a steep learning curve, but my friend Kyle, a WoW veteran of many years, has tagged along with both the werewolf and the paladin, and his advice has been very helpful in getting up to speed on how the game works.
Amusing side-note: WoW is full of respawning monsters, so there's never a lack of beasties to slay. However, Matthew had never seen a game in which fresh foes just appeared out of nowhere, so he assumed that they had been there the whole time, but had just been invisible until attacking us and thereby revealing themselves. With no small amount of exasperation, he said: "There sure are a lot of invisible monsters in this world!"
Thursday, April 11, 2013
One Chance to WoW Me
Recently, my son Matthew and I discovered some great fantasy-themed building toys in the Mega Bloks World of Warcraft line. One of the sets we picked up included a card offering free play in the World of Warcraft MMORPG. I've never tried WoW -- or any other MMORPG, for that matter -- because I'm not keen on the idea of subscription-based play. However, I may use the freebie this weekend just to see what all the hubbub is about. With 10 million players, it has to be pretty good, right? Do we have any WoW players in the Front Porch ranks?
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