Evening peoples.

So, Blizzard and revealing information on the Crusade to all and sundry. There’s the new flying mounts, Armoured Gryphons and Wyvrens so we can all re-enact Top Gun, the Blood Elf and Draeni Mounts, the cockatrice and Elekk/Elephant Thing, there’s the PvP reboot. And of course, the startling revelation that the new raid dungeons in the expansion will all be capped at 25.

The Hardcore Raiding Crowd are screaming like a pile of whiny bitches, and everyone else either doesn’t care, somehow think the new cap will let casual players have a chance, or (Like me) is revelling in the Hardcore Raiding Crowds whinging. It’s a beautiful thing, as after around a year or so of waiting for something that isn’t a 40-man raid dungeon, the expansion is going back to what WoW was apparently promised to be. Apparently. There is of course the 40-man arguments that this will be the end of the world and it’ll suck and they’re cancelling, totally, I’m deleting my character, and I’m off to play Warhammer Online, shit it isn’t out. They’re easily shot down.

We’ll lose 15 of our friends, as they’ll need to be kicked so we have the right number!

Jesus, what a jerk. You’ve 40 people, correct? And you need twenty-five. Why not… just get another ten people? Then you’ll have fifty, which is two twenty-five man raids. I mean, you guys have been howling for the past year or so that getting a raid for the ‘Core isn’t that hard, you just need to get forty people. But now you’re saying another ten people is an impossible, epic task, something even the mightiest of heroes is incapable of.

If you’re still incapable of getting ten people, use a rota system. If that’s too much, you’re not much of a guild. Guilds doing the Core, who haven’t even downed Rag, are capable of rota systems.

It’s pointless, casuals won’t be able to do it anyway!

You’re right here. Casuals won’t. These raids, whilst smaller than Naxxramas, will be harder. Far harder. Everyone will need to know their role, be able to execute it flawlessly, be clanging around in Tier 3, and be willing and able to drop 300+ on repairs. The size means casuals will merely think they can, but they won’t stand a chance. A shame? No. There’s shitloads of five to fifteen man raids coming up, so why worry? The lowered raid cap means the Hardcore Crowd will have to do what the rest of us has had to do since we’ve gotten nothing but dull little events and 40-man raid dungeons… adapt to the shifting game-plan.

We don’t want to adapt!

Well, this is amusing. A guild capable of having Neferian on farm status, of downing C’thun, of being able to progress happily through Naxxramas, is incapable of adapting to the shifting emphasis. I call bullshit.

You don’t want to change? Fair play. No-one says you have to do anything in the game. I don’t enjoy dungeons that much, so I prefer to quest, craft and farm. You state you won’t like the twenty-five man raids, so don’t do them. What’s left? Doing the same “old” content. Welcome to the world of the casual and the soloist, boys. We’ve had to do this since you kept getting all the new content.

We’re going to leave!

Erm, hooray? No-one ever forced you guys to stick around. I’m sure Blizzard is grateful for the fees you paid, and will no doubt wish you good fortune for future endevours. But you are, however, the minority. Even if you’re a quarter, which I doubt, even less would have downed Neferian. And less would have done C’thun. Barely more than a few hundred (Out of six million) would have even seen Kel’thuzad by the Crusade. So by adding a plethora of new content that everyone can access, rather than just the elite few, everyone is happy.

Except, apparently, the hardcore few who feel only they should get anything new, because they somehow think that because they forsake the real world for Azeroth, Blizzard apparently owe them something. Which Blizzard most certainly do not.

I do, however, want iTunes integration with the PC version. Simply so it’s easier for me to listen to Danger Zone when I get my Flying Mount and (Poorly) re-enact Top Gun.

Eastwood – forst shok, lol

Evening, peoples.

Got a load of new fanart up tonight, including a variety of Eastwood based stuff by Xue. Xue worries me, if some of those pics are to go by. That said, it’s a rarity there are pics of Eastwood where he isn’t being mauled, or being a cunt, so I guess it’s just the idea of something new.

Anyway, with the imminent UK release of Dead Rising, I’ve been dabbling with modifying the Lord of the Rings rules to play zombie horror. The beauty is, the game itself is a brilliant piece of skirmish design, and lends itself to heroic skirmish combat, hence the innumerable number of attempts at a Star Wars modification. So swapping the Good for the Living and the Evil for the Dead, throwing in rules for Survivors and the Rotting Dead, and giving ranged weapons a bit more bite.

The beauty of it, however, is that the core rules are still the same. So you can have Gandalf fighting hordes of flesh-hungry zombies.
When there’s a solid version of the rules ready, I’ll post a link up.

Eastwood – Exalt the Regent, female compliment