WOW is a Go Go Go

The install of World of Warcraft on my Vista computer was trouble free. Ninety minutes to install WOW and the expansion from CD, download and install a 500+ MB patch, and reactivate my account (oh...and deactivate LotRO). That went so much smoother than expected. No complaints. No bumps.

My characters were all waiting for me. I picked one and zoned in. Yikes. I forgot how clunky the default UI looks. Rebuilding the UI is going towards the top of my to do list. But it's 11:30 pm and I'm sleepy and I'm going into work early to set up the test lab for a big test run. Did I log off and go to bed? Nope. Instead, I fiddled with the video settings to find the best balance of looks and performance. Then I jumped over to WowAce and downloaded a few addons and started tweaking the UI. Dad was bad. Very, very bad. But sleep is for wusses.

Back in Black

Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in.

Cliched. I know.

Two boxes are sitting next to me on the desk... World of Warcraft and the Burning Crusade expansion. I can hear them whispering to me. They want me to install them on my computer. Ah, but I know better then to rush into installing the game on my Vista PC. I learned that lesson the hard way.

I'm braving Blizzard's forums to research the recommended install process. Short of reformatting and loading XP, my best bet is to run the installer from the administrator account, install the game to a new folder outside the Programs folder, and run the game and any patches as an administrator. I think.

But before I start my adventure in installation, I want to take a moment to sketch out why I'm putting Lord of the Rings Online on hiatus and restarting WOW.

I'll avoid beating any dead horses and whine about why I left WOW. I've been out of the game for eight months and I miss the game. WOW has its flaws, but the game simply gets more things right than any other MMO I've tried since leaving eight months ago. I don't want to go totally fanboy here, but WOW is just a great game. Also, I played Horde only (except Dranei) so there's plenty of content to explore.

Another reason is WOW will perform on my system. You see, I don't have a real video card. Not yet at least. Maybe if I'm a good boy Santa will leave me something under the tree, but for now I'm stuck with 128 MB of integrated graphical crap. I started WOW on my old PC with 64 MB integrated before upgrading the vid card, so I know what to expect.

LotRO doesn't perform unless the game is on the lowest graphic settings. The game is beautiful but I can't play it that way. Ugh. My choices were ugly looking or horrible playing. I wanted to love LotRO like how I loved WOW. I tried. I did. I'm not trying to slam LotRO, but the game didn't click for me.

The 2.3 patch comes out next week with its casual player goodness. Project Fubar at work ends next week. So here we go. Back to Azeroth. Fingers crossed.

Simple Questions

Avril asks simple questions that contain deep wisdom. It started this weekend when my darling wife asked me an innocent question: How is Lord of the Rings going?

I told her about my problems with the graphics (secretly hoping she'd green light a new, sexy 8800 GTX...no luck). I told her about feeling limited and stuck. How the game started with a rush but has since gone limp. I told her that I haven't logged into Middle Earth for days and don't mind that I haven't. I told her that I don't feel the excitement I felt when I played World of Warcraft. I should still be in the honeymoon phase with LotRO. What's wrong with me? Instead I'm pining away for my first MMO love.

Avril's next question floored me: Why don't you play Warcraft instead? I sputtered something dumb that honestly I don't remember, but her idea stuck with me. I can't shake it. My wife's simple question haunts me. Why don't I play Warcraft? But I'll take Treebeard's advice on this one... don't be too hasty.

Expect to hear more on this subject.

P.S. Do you watch Heroes on NBC? You should.

LotRO Firewall BS

Why do I have to mess with my firewall for every little Lord of the Rings Online patch? I have to add the same three programs to my allowed programs list. WTF?! Keep in mind I'm running Vista, which means I have enter my admin password to install the patch and again to access the firewall. I checked the official tech support forums, and they only confirm that's what I must do. I don't have these issues with other online games. Stupid. Stoooooopid.

Googling Big Daddy - LotRO Version

You've seen this blog meme before. The one where the writer lists different search terms people are using to Google (is that really a verb now?) his or her site. Here is my contribution to it... filtering for Lord of the Rings Online related items because a majority of recent hits from Google search have been LotRO. I've played the game for all of five weeks and rolled a few alts, so I'm a bona fide expert. Uh, right...

I'd post the strange ones I get (such as these little gem: older daddy, daddy games, and daddy roleplay), but I get weird stuff that kinda freaks me out. Daddy must be some kind of code word in some subcultures. I'm scared to look.

On with the list...

• "hunter pet lotro" I wish, but sorry to say you are confused. Hunters in LotRO do not get pets. You're thinking World of Warcraft. Turbine borrowed plenty of ideas from Blizzard, but that class feature wasn't one of them.
• "good race/class combo" Huh? Long term it doesn't matter. Just pick a race whose lore interests you and has character models you want to look at from behind for the next few months. Then pick your favorite class. Unless you are min-maxing... I'd advise read the forums for in depth analysis. Good luck.
• "lotro hunter, soloing" Piece of cake, just be careful to pull one mob at a time. Two at most... but you're asking for trouble. Soloing is easy in LotRO until your quest log is three-quarters group quests. Good luck.
• "lotro lore master race" Assuming this person was wondering if an elf or a man would make a better loremaster and not some white power degenerate. Just pick a race and go with it. I think it's worth trying out each race, so pick one you haven't tried yet.
• "lotro hunter crafting" I'd recommend crafting bows. Heavy armor won't do you any good. Crafting in LotRO is not fun. Lie to yourself and say it is enjoyable, but deep down you know the truth. You might as well pick a vocation with multiple gathering professions, sell everything at the auction house, and use the funds to buy better gear than you could otherwise craft for yourself.
• "lotro class dps" Easy. If you like to go ranged, the hunter class is for you. Sneaky more your style? Go for a burglar. Pick a champion if going toe-to-toe with multiple enemies sounds like fun.
• "lotro dwarf loremaster" Nope. Only elves and humans.
  
• "lotro cleric" Nope. Minstrel is the game's healer class. A few other classes have minor healing abilities. But no clerics here.
• "lotro roleplay" Landroval server. Also check out LOTRO RPHaven . I've done a bit of light roleplaying, but I just can't get into it. Meh.
• "lotro farming spreadsheet" Really? You want a spreadsheet to support farming? For what, pipeweed? This person should be playing EVE Online. I don't mean it as a slight against that game.
• "character to start lotro" Here is an idea for you. Start one of each race and class combination. You have 4 races, 7 classes, and 20 possible combos. I kid. Read the descriptions of the classes and pick your favorite. Rolling alts is easy, but be prepared to delete characters because you're capped at 5 toons per server.
• "lotro epic quest chains" Good stuff, but you will need a group to advance or wait until you're character's level is well beyond the recommended quest level. I've enjoyed the epic quest chain and how it weaves itself around the plot of the books.
• "lotro crafting blog" Nope. Not here. My little hobbit has done a good bit of crafting, but I won't with my other characters.

Go to Hell, Bildo

Okay, who showed Bildo how to capture and post videos? Kidding. Jump over to Bildo's site to check out two short vids he shot of Hellgate: London gameplay (see here and here). Both show the engineer class in action and switch between first- and third-person shooter. Good stuff. Go now.