AFR #214 – That kind of year

<<First comic <Previous comic | Next comic> Latest comics>>

Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope you all had a great 2012, and that 2013 will be even better.

AFR #213 – Definitely on the naughty list

<<First comic <Previous comic | Next comic> Latest comics>>

After what happened last year, you can’t really blame them for taking precautions.

A very merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it, and an extra helping of new-year’s cheer to everyone!

AFR #189 – Burned out

<<First comic <Previous comic | Next comic> Latest comics>>

I really suck at torch juggling.  I can’t throw them, I can’t catch them, I can’t even tell what direction they’re going.  This makes it seem very odd that the upstanding citizens of our great Azerothian cities are okay with me lobbing lit torches this way and that.  I suppose Ironforge is pretty safe, but what on earth are the night elves thinking?  “We live in a giant tree, so lets let all the clumsiest people in the world come and toss flaming torches everywhere.  That sounds like a great plan!”

Harder Knocks

<<First comic <Previous comic | Next comic> Latest comics>>

Let’s face it: School of Hard Knocks is terrible achievement.  I just got it on my fourth character in three years and I had to go walk around outside for an hour just to calm down from how angry and frustrated it made me.  I didn’t enjoy doing it.  I don’t feel a sense of accomplishment in getting it done.  The only satisfaction that comes from it is the fact that I am just a little closer to getting free super-fast flying.

To those who say “I got SoHK really easily!”: that’s great.  I’m happy for you.  Really, I am.  I’m glad you had a good experience.  I didn’t.  Neither did a whole heck of a lot of other people.  We don’t have your advantages or your luck and the game should not punish us for it by making us waste hour after hour doing something that makes us miserable to get one of the major meta achievements.

To those who say: “Achievements are optional, so don’t complain”: it’s true, achievements are optional.  That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be well-designed and fun.  An achievement as badly designed as this one has no business being in the game, even if it’s optional.  No one says you have to go into the restaurant on the corner, but if you did and they put broken glass in your hamburger you’d be pretty annoyed about it, wouldn’t you?

To those who say: “Achievements are supposed to be hard”: wrong.  Achievements are not meant to be hard.  Achievements are meant to be fun.  A lot of fun can come from overcoming a challenge, but the degree of the challenge has to be reasonable. Beating a dungeon or raid boss is a fun challenge because those encounters are tuned to make sure that, with good gear, skillful play, and coordination, appropriate-level characters can get it done. The rewards come from making an effort and solving a problem.  SoHK is a mess of griefing, aggravation, and dumb luck.  The rewards come not from your efforts and skill but from being in the right place at the right time with cooperative enemies.

Other achievements that were poorly thought out, unreasonably hard, or just not fun have been changed already.  There’s no reason for School of Hard Knocks to still be in the game in its current form.  None.

AFR #163 – The old and the new

<<First comic <Previous comic | Next comic> Latest comics>>

Sometimes, the worst thing about WoW is the other people who play it. From the pug who rolls need on gear he’s already wearing to the guy in trade chat who just didn’t get the memo that the proper time for “anal” jokes is never, our fellow players can sometimes really wear on the nerves. At those times, it’s important to remember that sometimes the best thing about WoW is the other people who play it. As the old year comes to an end and the new year begins, join me in raising your glass in a toast to all the people who make our WoW lives better. Here’s a glass of the best holiday spirits:

To the guy in general chat who makes you laugh,

To the guildie who is always on time for raids,

To the friend who’s always up to go on a random with you,

To the pug tank who doesn’t let an add run free,

To the pug healer who keeps you alive, even when you step in the fire by accident,

To the pug dps who knows how to cc, switch to adds, and stay out of the fire,

To the guy who takes the time to explain the fights ahead of time,

To the person who won the roll for the gear you wanted, then traded it to you and said: “here, you need it more than I do,”

To everyone else in all of Azeroth who makes our time there better, awesomer, and more fun.

And from me, here’s a special toast to all of you who have read Away From Reality, to those of you who have added your comments to the discussion, to all of you who have linked to AFR on your own comics, blogs, and sites.

Happy new year!