Saturday, July 23, 2016

[Off Topic] Legion Beta and WoW's Pre-launch Patch!

     So yes, this post is going to be about World of Warcraft instead of Rift! I do play both games of course and love both in equal but opposite measures. So let's get right down into it eh?

     Yesterday I went ahead and pre-ordered the new expansion to WoW: Legion, at my local EB Games. I ordered the collector's edition because that's what I always do when buying expansions or new games. I have a thing about collections and have all collector's editions for every WoW expansion except BC and "vanilla", which makes me sad but way back then I didn't know enough about MMO's and video games and expansions to think about special editions. After I went and pre ordered my edition (and found out that they just need 1 more pre-order in order to a midnight launch in my tiny little town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I went home and to my surprise and excitement found out I'd been invited to the Legion beta! I've always been invited to every beta of all Blizzard's expansions and even their other games, but there had been no news on Legion, and I was kinda bummed when I saw so many of my friends get invites but I didn't. Yeah, I know, whining about it won't help, but that's how I felt. Although at the same time I was also a bit relieved because I didn't want this expansion to be ruined for once. All the others I knew what was going to happen because I played the alpha and beta, and this would my first time not playing it.
     Soooo anyway, I downloaded the beta and straight off the bat made myself a Night Elf Demon Hunter because.....yes wings!!! I love wings! Seriously crazy over wings and feathers. Fur too, but mostly wings. If it has feathered wings AND fur, then so much the better! I loved playing the new DH class, it was so much fun! There were so many unique and new abilities that it was crazy and I spent the entire night playing WoW, which rarely happens anymore. There were also a lot of new cut scenes, which is something I really enjoy. I like cut scenes and cinematics A LOT. Makes the game seem more alive and real to me. Honestly I wish Rift had more cut scenes. Or even any cut scenes beyond the initial noob zone ones. :(
     As well as playing with the new DH class, I checked out changes to Hunters, Priests, and Druids in the pre-launch patch that went live on Tuesday. And let me say, I was massively disappointed. My blood elf hunter is my favorite character of all time. She's been with me since 2006 all the way to now. That's 10 years of one single character. There was not one point in the game where she was not my main character! Her and her beloved spirit beast pet Loque were like....babies to me! My babies. And now I feel gutted because of the changes to Beastmastery spec hunters, which is the only spec I play on my hunter. For one thing, all of our aspects have either been removed or reduced to such a pathetic degree that they aren't even worth using. I lost any spell or buff that gave me the ability to poison my foes. I always thought hunters would be cool with poison arrows, and when snake trap was introduced, I loved it and used it all the time. When it was removed, I was sad, but we got poison arrows instead, which was kind of the same thing, but a buff. And now, we don't even have that anymore. In fact, I only have 1 single-target attack left, cobra shot. Oh joy....how boring! True, I gained back the Volley ability, which had been removed several years ago, and my pet also gained an ability, which I suppose makes sense since I am a beastmastery hunter, but I still feel like I've lost so much that made me enjoy my hunter. Another missing thing is our traps. I love my explosives traps and my ice traps! It was so fun to set traps all around me when I was bored in Org, or in the middle of a fight for an extra dmg boost. Not just because of the dmg boost, but because of the extra little mechanic that made me feel more in tune with being a hunter, with my character! And now poof, gone. For priests: I feel almost the exact same way about my beloved disc spec that I've been using since the BC expac. Now most of the spells I used are gone and it seems that disc. spec is now a hybridization using shadow magic to heal and do dmg at the same time. For several years this spec has been leaning that way more and more, but I just shrugged it off and focused on my healing and than doing dmg only when I felt I could spare the time. Now I'm pretty much forced to do dmg in order to heal. And I lost my beautiful wings spell!!! I've already mentioned that I'm crazy in love with wings. Like serious fetish. And the thing I loved most about my priest was the wings spell!! Annnd now it's gone, poof! *cries*
     On to Druids. This was actually the least painful experience of the patch. I actually don't mind the changes to my feral druid at all! I feel like she's gained more mobility and more....motion? Before when she attacked, no matter the ability I used, it was always just a paw swipe. Rake spell? Paw darts out and cuffs the target. Ferocious Bite? Same thing. Ravage? Same thing. Now, my cat darts in, sinks her fangs in, and darts back. Both paws lash out, she turns her whole body into the blow. It feels so much more real and cool and I love it!!! Also, for the most part, her spells haven't been tampered with. I did lose Save Roar, but that's ok I can live with one spell gone. So for Legion expac it looks like I'll be maining my feral druid Verhysa with a side of DH. *sad panda*

*Spoilers for Legion*

     PS: WTF is with the prominent NPC's biting the dust this expac??? This makes me so mad! I wasn't like a rabid fan of Varian, but I always thought he was a pretty cool guy for a human. Now apparently he's dead, with Sylvanas seemingly to blame, and I've heard rumors also that Vol'jin is dead or has resigned from being Warchief of the Horde? WTF Blizzard!!!!! The Horde has gone through how many Warchiefs now in the past few expacs? 3? 4? Can we actually keep someone more than a year? And someone who isn't just looking to further their own agenda? Is that too much to ask!!! I was literally so heartbroken when I had to fly to Stormwind and attend King Varian's funeral. His poor son Anduin. He's totally not ready to be king yet. Of course this is only from playing a tiny sliver of the Legion quests before I stopped myself. I'd rather enjoy the content as a mystery when it comes out on Aug. 30th rather then have nothing to look forward to, but still, it's kind of depressing how all the major NPC's that have always been around for so long have all died or left or changed or been removed from the spotlight. (I'm looking at you Thrall...)

     And a brief really awesome comment about Rift! I was on the website I always use to buy cosplay supplies and other odds and ends and just to see if they had anything on it, I typed Rift into the search box and they had 1 item for it!! A really beautiful canvas poster of the mechanical horses the Defiant ride! I love the mechanical horses and I love Rift and I was so happy to find a poster for rift that I bought it right away and now I just need to get it framed at Michaels and I'm all set! I can't wait to add it to my collection of posters by my computer!

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