Too bad, so sad (WoW, book)
Oct. 21st, 2011 12:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistlechaserHere's a free tip, Blizz: Copying S-E when it comes to MMO stuff might not be your best decision.
Among the many new things announced today: Pet Battle System
Hmmmm, that sounds familiar. (Yes, yes, I know FFXI didn't invent it, but adding it into a MMO?)
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but all the information release thus far... I don't like any of it. Pandas as a playable race. Pandas. PANDAS. Level cap raised to 90 (not a surprise, but... whine).
Pandas. Seriously. Blizz said outright that that race would never appear outside of the RL money online pet store. Sigh.
Maybe their goal is to make Cata no longer the most hated expansion? :P Well fine. Just leave Northrend alone. I said it pre-Cata and I'll say it now: Do whatever you like to the rest of the world, worse comes to worst, I'll just hide in Northrend.
Pandas. Pandas. Grrr. PANDAS!
---
And since I'm already being a Negative Nancy, I might as well continue it and talk about Elizabeth Moon's Speed of the Dark, the book I mentioned previously, told from the first person viewpoint of an autistic man.
It wasn't until hitting the 50% mark of a 300 page book that the first hints of the plot showed up.
That wasn't even the worst part. The characters are so god-awful black and white. The boss is so evil, he doesn't even come off as a real person, I keep expect him to sprout horns and wave a pitchfork around.
It's also preachy. Autistic people are just like us, but a little special! If I hadn't known going in that the author had an autistic child, I would have highly suspected it from the way the book is written.
The autistic man's POV was interesting at first, but got old really, really fast. Picture 150 pages of:
For breakfast I have toast. I like toast. White toast. I have a new toaster. It toasts my bread perfectly. I like it when the toasting is even. Dark spots upset me. Light spots make me sick. I spread my toast with butter. The layer of butter had to be exactly right. Then I opened the jam. I bought the jam last week. Wednesday is my day to go grocery shopping. I bought the jam on Wednesday.
150 pages of that so far, only the most minor hints of the plot. The vast majority of the characters totally unbelievable. I really don't think I'm going to make it through the whole book. (And after I liked her last book, Remnant Population, so much!)
Among the many new things announced today: Pet Battle System
Hmmmm, that sounds familiar. (Yes, yes, I know FFXI didn't invent it, but adding it into a MMO?)
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but all the information release thus far... I don't like any of it. Pandas as a playable race. Pandas. PANDAS. Level cap raised to 90 (not a surprise, but... whine).
Pandas. Seriously. Blizz said outright that that race would never appear outside of the RL money online pet store. Sigh.
Maybe their goal is to make Cata no longer the most hated expansion? :P Well fine. Just leave Northrend alone. I said it pre-Cata and I'll say it now: Do whatever you like to the rest of the world, worse comes to worst, I'll just hide in Northrend.
Pandas. Pandas. Grrr. PANDAS!
---
And since I'm already being a Negative Nancy, I might as well continue it and talk about Elizabeth Moon's Speed of the Dark, the book I mentioned previously, told from the first person viewpoint of an autistic man.
It wasn't until hitting the 50% mark of a 300 page book that the first hints of the plot showed up.
That wasn't even the worst part. The characters are so god-awful black and white. The boss is so evil, he doesn't even come off as a real person, I keep expect him to sprout horns and wave a pitchfork around.
It's also preachy. Autistic people are just like us, but a little special! If I hadn't known going in that the author had an autistic child, I would have highly suspected it from the way the book is written.
The autistic man's POV was interesting at first, but got old really, really fast. Picture 150 pages of:
For breakfast I have toast. I like toast. White toast. I have a new toaster. It toasts my bread perfectly. I like it when the toasting is even. Dark spots upset me. Light spots make me sick. I spread my toast with butter. The layer of butter had to be exactly right. Then I opened the jam. I bought the jam last week. Wednesday is my day to go grocery shopping. I bought the jam on Wednesday.
150 pages of that so far, only the most minor hints of the plot. The vast majority of the characters totally unbelievable. I really don't think I'm going to make it through the whole book. (And after I liked her last book, Remnant Population, so much!)
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 08:03 pm (UTC)While I like no main villain, I'm less happy at the "main focus will be Horde vs Alliance conflict". Call me a hippie, but ever since I started WoW, I'd much rather see the two factions working together against a common enemy. Horde has good and bad folks. Alliance has good and bad. Neither side is all good or bad, the fight is just... bah.
I give a crap about pandas because we're going to see them everywhere. At least goblin are somewhat easily overlooked. Imagine SMC with damned pandas everywhere. Big, fluffy bears. (Hey, Felozaram will finally have friends!)
The thing I dislike most about pandas is a silly/personal thing. I could see Thistle ICly liking them a lot. Animals! That are people! You can talk to them! While OOCly I'll he here all grrr.
I don't know. Maybe it'll be okay. But Cata depressed me so much, it's hard to hope now. (Which sounds way more dramatic than a game deserves.)
no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 08:10 pm (UTC)You've heard that rant already.
Above all the cosmetic changes and talent adjustments, what I like most about this expansion is that I have no stake in it. I have absolutely no emotional investment in the stupid pandas or their lore. I don't really give a crap about the horde or alliance anymore. Blizzard's inability to write a compelling story with a satisfying ending can't hurt me here. That's why I like this expansion most of all. Honestly and truthfully, it feels like a sigh of relief.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 08:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 08:16 pm (UTC)There's that. Cata killed my emotional connection to WoW. I don't know why I wish it would respark, since then it would only hurt more when they messed it up.
Hm. It's kind of strange. This is the same argument people use in defense of fanfiction. Often times fanfic writers/readers cling on to one element of the lore/canon that they like, clutching it and hoping the author won't "ruin" it. (Which always leads to the argument of 'how can the author/creator/owner ruin it when it's theirs to do with as they please?'.) Funny I never realized the parallel before.
Anyway. You know I agree with you on them forgetting about Northrend. I was annoyed when they reduced XP needed to move through there by such a big chunk, but at least they left the lands and characters alone... so far.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 08:35 pm (UTC)I'm not sure I like it since at this point they've pretty much ripped off Kung Fu Panda and shoved it in sideways, from what I saw of the trailer. If they had massaged it more, I'd feel better about it, I think.
Design wise, I really hope they learned from their lesson with the female worgen and don't do the same thing with the female pandaren. Design by committee... no.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 08:40 pm (UTC)Seriously, they couldn't come up with any better ideas? Something cool?
Dark? Evil?We had to get cute? :/no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 10:11 pm (UTC)New Talent system! Didn't we just get one of those like...a year ago? Same with level cap increase (although that was kind of a given). Going to focus on Alliance vs Horde? Didn't Thrall just spend a shit ton of time teaching us how to get along? Screw this shit, I hope Thrall takes over an Exodar ship and just goes exploring to find a less stupid planet.
Thrall's Adventure expansion pack. No new races, no new classes, no new talents, no level cap increase. All Thrall, all the time.
I guess the PVPers have been especially whinny recently if we are getting a whole expansion which screams that it will be dedicated to it.
I hope they just stick a fork in WoW soon. It's getting sad honestly. It's not even that I'm against WoW or Blizz it just seems like they are spinning their wheels and not going anywhere. I'm all for improvements on something and making it keep going but that's only if it keeps going somewhere.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 10:17 pm (UTC)Yeah, to level 10 they're neutral, then you get to pick one or the other.
New Talent system! Didn't we just get one of those like...a year ago?
It's not even a new talent system, it's just... totally new. Every 10(?) levels you get to pick one talent of three. You can never go back and get the ones you didn't pick...
*huddles with you* :/
no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 10:19 pm (UTC)That sounds horrible...
Just pull an SE and give us only abilities. We clearly can't be trusted to chose talents.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 11:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 12:11 am (UTC)"New class: Monk." TELL ME WHERE TO DEPOSIT MY BANK ACCOUNT INFO NOW BLIZZARD
no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 12:36 am (UTC)Unless MNKs heal you with their fists!
no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 12:40 am (UTC)Reminds me of what I thought when COR was first announced. That it was going be to a healer that shoots healing bullets.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-22 02:33 am (UTC)