AFR #255 – Family chat

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Ask your healer if mana replacement potions are right for you.

AFR #254 – Fishing for compliments

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“Can we do anything to make fishing more interesting?”

“No, not really.”

“Okay then, let’s introduce archaeology.  Fishing will look so much better by comparison.”

Will work for lootz

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It’s a tough world out there when you’re looking for a job, and I know some of you are going through that right now.  This is just to say: good luck, keep your chin up, and remember that we’re all rooting for you!

And beer.

AFR #253 – A little perspective

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It amazes me that there are still some people out there complaining that the pandaren “don’t have any basis in lore” or “are just an April Fool’s joke.”  At this point in the game, the pandaren have a stronger place in the lore of Azeroth than even humans do.  They have a much richer backstory and a more complex culture than any other race in the game, and their culture and story are all there in the game for us to experience without having to read novels or comic books to understand it.

Now, that’s an entirely separate question from whether you like the pandaren or not.  You are completely free to like or dislike anything in the game and no one can tell you otherwise.  I’m not all that excited about the pandaren myself.  De gustibus non est disputandum and all that.  But no one can say that Blizzard has not done an amazing job of developing and realizing the pandaren as a race.

AFR #252 – Racing for last

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I feel for Blizzard.  WoW’s fanbase really is unpleasable.  If you believe the internet (and why wouldn’t we?), Blizzard is both Horde-biased and Horde-hating simultaneously.

It’s been really interesting to see the discussion develop as we get closer to the Siege of Orgrimmar raid.  There are two distinct sides in the discussion who seem to keep completely missing each other’s point of view.

On one side, there are people of both factions who want to see their faction win and the other faction lose.  To these people, the Siege of Orgrimmar is a huge blow in favor of the Alliance, because it means Alliance players get to attack the Horde capital and take down the Horde leader.  From their public statements, it seems that Blizzard is very much with this camp.

On the other side, there are people who want to see their faction take charge of the story.  To these people, the Siege of Orgrimmar is a big win for the Horde and a let-down for the Alliance, because it’s a Horde-driven story in which the Alliance plays only a supporting role.  If the Alliance were not involved in the siege, it would make no difference to the story.

For my part, I have never found the Alliance-Horde rivalry interesting.  The more Blizzard keeps going back to that well, the less engaged I am in the story.