BA Shared Topic: Voice Chat

This week, Azryu over at The Arcanery asks, "What if voice chat worked in cross realm dungeons?"

Hmm. My reply is going to be a bit short, since the question is small!  However, it brings up a good thought.  I am glad it doesn't work.

1. The thought of interacting with four other COMPLETE strangers, possibly having to mute in game sounds because of them (if muting sounds even affects that aspect) is just too much of a pain to do every single random 5 man dungeon.  
2. Plus, my guess is there would be some annoying players, younger players (who are either immature in what they say or immature and don't need to hear things older players may say)  or speech-challenged players, two groups of which could be taken advantage of.  That sweet little girl does NOT need a headset to communicate with random strangers on the internet.  She really doesn't.  
3. Accountability.  People may be rude as all hell over voice chat and not have a care in the world because they aren't on your server. At least if a random pug on your server gets in vent, for a raid, you might have an inkling of who at least a quarter of the people are.  If the RL is rude, people will drop.
4. I'm already chatting with my guild on vent. Why do I need to stop for a random 5 man?  

The only advantage to having voice chat in 5 man cross-realm dungeons is that new strategies in Cataclysm can be more easily explained.  There would be no typing or slow explanation of what to do.  People could explain reasons why they are going afk "My puppy just peed on the floor" or "BRB jeep in living room" without having to waste time typing it out or inciting use of the vote-kick button for not typing anything.  Plus, perhaps, it MIGHT bring the group together a bit, but, you might end up with one of the people in number 2 and either have someone making fun of them or them making fun of someone else. Maybe you.

So all in all, no voice chat in cross realm dungeons, mainly for reason number 3.

Other Thoughts:

Aliera @ The Violet Scribe
Blacksen @ Blacksen's End
Azryu @ The Arcanery

BA Shared Topic Idea: Secrets

First, I forgot to make good on my word to Beth @ Sorority Girl Plays WoW in which I would post the Razorback logo at the beginning of all my blog posts either last week or this week.  /embarassed. I am doing this because her University of Arkansas most definitely whooped my Aggies' butts a few weeks ago. (Texas A&M) But, for now, here is a ferocious little Razorback  (UoA), and if you click the link below it, you will go to her WoW blog where she talks about her experience as a fresh WoW player starting out at level 1. She recently dinged 70 Friday night. (Congrats Beth!)  Her stories are fresh and interesting, amusing, hilarious, sweet, and nostalgic depending on which post you read!  My suggestion is to start from the beginning and follow her playing experience as she leveled up to where she is now.  At one point we were all level 1 and didn't have a single clue what to expect outside of our starting zone.  If you ever wish you could go back to those days, then read through her blog.  You'll enjoy every post!  Her sweetie Nick occasionally writes a few posts, but for the most part he acts as her guide and advisor throughout Azeroth.  And since I need a non-Texas college team to root for...aside from my Tigers down in the bayou (Geaux Tigers!), I think I will add the butt-kickin' hogs to my collection of teams!

Isn't he adorable?  Visit Beth @ Sorority Girl Plays WoW!  

On to the Shared Topic for this week!  Let's just say I've had a really tough time trying to think of something to write about that most people have never seen!

Syl @ Raging Monkeys aks: "What wow secrets have you discovered on your long journey through the World of Warcraft? What unexpected, surprising or delightfully 'pointless' things have you chanced upon that add something special to the game for you?"

Since this post got pretty long, I made it into two parts. LOTS of pictures after the break.

BA Shared Topic Idea: Effects of Choices in World of Warcraft

Since this week's topic post was a long one (mine is up for next week, going to have to paraphrase it also), I copped it a bit and only included the actual question below from Runzwithfire:

Over the past 10-12 years, games have been advancing and being accepted more and more as a legitimate artform and story telling device, in the same way a movie or a book is. This has mostly been led by RPGs, although through the years we've seen other games start to take on the idea of moral dilemas and interactive storytelling - look at Heavy Rain as an example. In fact, one of the few genres where it has kind of been lacking (or taken longer to catch up) has been in the MMORPG genre.

So I started thinking, could an MMORPG start incorporating some of the feature we take for granted in singleplayer RPGs? Rather than the "get quest, kill x number of things, hand in quest" formula, could we start seeing multiple ways to complete a quest? Could there be moral choices to be made, with an outcome that will affect both you as a player (emotional involvement) and your character (rewards/penalties).

Old School "Choose Your Next Move" Stories
Very challenging topic (which may be why there are only two replies so far, but challenges are GOOD).  I have been thinking about this all week in between studying for my electricity exam (physics second semester, oh boy...) and decided that what this question reminds me the most of is those stories where you would read the passage, and then choose your next "move".  It would have part of the story, and then at the bottom "If you wish to follow John to the boat and go fishing, turn to page 5...if you want to run away screaming, turn to page 6..."  Part of the fun was that you couldn't "go back" on your choice. You had to finish the story to the end. If you made a certain "bad" choice, you either got killed and had to start over or you suffered dire consequences.  

But I want both quest rewards, not just one...
As far as applying this to WoW...well, we already see it to some extent in quest rewards. Have you ever wanted both rewards that a quest offered, but were only able to choose one?  Once you do, you cannot go back and get the other one.  You can't reverse your choice. You are forever stuck with that item.  Sometimes, we see quests like the Kharazan ring, or the Ashen Verdict ring, where you can pay money to have your ring "reforged" for you.  This is much more understandable than going back to Farmer Saldean and saying, "by the way, I don't like these [Harvester's Pants]. Any chance you could hook me up with the [Harvester's Robe] instead?  I don't think he'd be too happy.

Environment Phasing and Reputation Greetings
Right now there aren't too many irreversible, major choices in the game that can affect your character, but I'll give a few of the examples that DO exist.   First, we have environmental phasing. Once you do the quests, you've phased yourself into the next "time period" and things have changed. People have died, moved, and new NPCs are around with new quests.  The terrain may have changed (although I don't know if we have terrain phasing in the game yet. I think just NPCs, quests, and some environmental factors.  You can't undo these changes once they happen.  You also cannot undo places you have discovered/explored.

We also have reputations. Once you are exalted with the Kirin Tor, they greet you in Dalaran and say how nice it is to see you, and what an honor it is to have you back in Dalaran.  These things help immerse you in the world and also make you feel appreciated and that your hard work was worth it.  Also, we have "choose one and not the other" faction pairs like The Oracles/Frenzyheart and The Aldor/Scryer.  You may not be exalted with both at one time, but you can be neutral with both.  Once you choose a side, the other side begins to hate you.  You cannot interact with the other side (they become hostile to you and attack you if you get too close/are in an area controlled by them).  You can change these choices, although it is by far easier to change from Frenzyheart to Oracles and vice versa than it is to change from Aldor to Scryer.

More Storytelling via Choices
I'd like to see a little more...adaptation when it comes to your choices in WoW.  By adaptation, I mean I want the game to recognize the choice I made and change a few things in the environment around me, whether it is the lines that NPCs say, the emotes they do, perhaps even future quests that I am offered.  I know some people would possibly complain about this but if it were implemented on a large scale from 1 to max level, then you could potentially have many different paths to choose from after you've finished one character.  Already you hear about people discovering new areas or new quests on their alts.  What if this step were taken even further?  You are given choices when replying to NPCs. If you choose the rude reply, the NPCs begin to no longer say things to you when you pass by. Their option texts are shorter and more curt.  They begin to treat you as you treat them.  Perhaps you have a flexible reputation bar (on a 1-10 or 1-100 scale).  As you reply with friendlier lines, they move your bar back to 10 and you gain access to certain foods/perks.  But then, who would be rude in the first place?  Perhaps for RP reasons.  You could always RP that your character is disliked in Stormwind, and cannot step foot in the city without rude remarks said toward them, but what if it were really true?  (Granted, I'm not sure who would actually WANT that to happen...)

Reputation/Profession Combinations
What if you are a max level cook, and exalted with Stormwind?  Perhaps there are some special Stormwind Braised Pork Chops that you can cook that turn you into a 'Citizen of Stormwind' or another cosmetic appearance.  This could extend to all the cities, other factions, etc.  You could have access to a certain kind of cheese from Trias' Cheese (for RP fun)...

"Here, my dear, try some of THIS cheese...it is a very rare cheese only bestowed to the best chefs who are held in high regard in Stormwind..."

Oh the possibilities are endless. Or a tailoring pattern for a special dress.

There could also be clubs, societies, where you could turn in a certain number of an item (herbs, leather, beer, wine, etc.) and gain access to a certain tailoring pattern or cooking recipe after say, 50 turn ins.  Yes that's a high number, but if it were a pretty blue beret with a flower, you'd better believe that people would work toward it. This is also another idea for RP...working toward your standing within the Stormwind Master Tailor Society...or the Old Town Cooking Club...for the recipe for those  yummy and delicious Minature Strawberry Shortcakes...

What ideas do you have for more intricate and or personalized touches in WoW?  What choices could there be that could lead to personalization of the game on so many levels?

BA Shared Topic Idea: What Was Your Favorite ___ in WotLK?

Relevart from Relevart's Druid Reliquary writes:

I noticed the backlog for shared topics was getting a little low. With talking about what is left to do in WotLK a few weeks ago, I figured we could take a look back and reflect upon what we liked most about WotLK. I left this wide open to interpretation. You can choose a quest, dungeon, raid, profession change, achievement, mount, PvP fight, arena, battleground, loot, particular boss, or anything else that I might have missed. Just choose one thing and really flesh it out and sell it to your readers. Explain why this was the best _____ for you and if you haven't done ______ well you're really missing out.


Well, there was no way I would could come up with just one thing so I decided to be like Jason at WoWPhiles and do my top 5 favorite items/memories of WotLK.  I did not quest as much as I wanted to this expansion, mainly because I ended up in a 25 man progression guild that focused heavily on getting to 80 as soon as possible. Not wanting to be left out, I booked my way to the cap and unfortunately missed out on a lot of quests. I may go quest on Nelena in the upcoming months.  In Cataclsym I am not going to do this strategy; instead, I am going to take it one quest at a time, group with friends, heal lots of dungeons, and have a great time at my own pace.

Candle staff!

5.  My number five spot is going to an item: the Charmed Cierge from Naxxramas 10.  I have this staff on my shaman and am desperate to get it on my priest. I may organize some Naxx runs in the future for perhaps an Undying or just Achievements.  It is a unique staff in that it has floating candles with little skulls on them (but I tend to ignore the skulls and just focus on the cute candles).  It was my favorite thing from the Naxxramas period of WotLK.

The drake team.

4.  Number four goes to a boss kill memory/achievement:  Mimiron/Firefighter.  I was soooo happy when we killed him because I knew he was going to be the hardest part of the fight for us. We did it in January of 2010, so while we were wearing mostly 245 gear (hehe, faceroll anyone?) we still found that fight a challenge due to the mechanics.  After we got it down though, I knew the rest of the instance would be smooth sailing. Yogg still took us about 5-6 tries but on our "last try of the night" we got it. We rode our Reins of the Rusted Proto Drake  around Northrend for an entire year.

3.  Number three goes to getting my Sea Turtle from fishing in a pool in Grizzly Hills for Glacial Salmon one afternoon. I clicked on my bobber and OMG! I has turtle!  I was so happy, I learned it, and no longer flew between pools.  I would ride it around instead. It's so much fun to use in AB and WG, and just generally riding around Dalaran in style. I loves it (it's on my priest)!

Yes. 3000 HP on Darnavan.  Scared the heck out of the 10 people in the raid, aka, our core raiding team.

2.  My number two ____ in WotLK was the introduction of 10 man and 25 man versions of raids.  My time as a 25 man raider is done.  I like the thrill of big raids but I dislike the separation people can have from each other. I would much rather be in my smaller guild and do 10 man heroics with 9 other people, (most of whom are in my phonebook) than be in a larger guild where there are cliques.  If I had never left the 25 man guild, I wouldn't know the fun, awesome people in my 10 man guild.  They're very fun and amazing people and have so many stories to tell. I have met friends of their friends whom I have seen the last two years on this server and never knew existed.  I hope to someday, maybe next year, when I'm graduated and no longer a college student on a budget, to be able to visit some of the ones who live only a state or two away from me. I also have some friends who are in Texas!  So many people to visit.  In the picture above, you can see our "OMFG don't let DARNAVAN DIE OMG OMG OMG". Apparently he got caught in the melee group and we almost killed him.  ALMOST.  We killed Lady D, completed the quest, and there ya go!  One of the most epic 10 man moments in <Vytis> all year long.

1.  And finally, my number one ____ in WotLK is my movie, WotLK: Memories.  You can view it below, or click the link to watch it big and in HD.  I had a lot of fun working on it from July to today, and didn't get a few of the bosses in ICC in there, but, I do have footage at the end from the frozen throne.  Getting there is good, but I still want to kill him next week!  We'll see how long it takes us to learn how to remove diseases properly and run to the edge when we're supposed to.  I'm looking forward to it!

This is my first frapsed WoW movie so don't tear it apart too badly :P I am not sure where the option for HD is because I worked on it in Windows Live Movie Maker (ugh, yes, I wanted an alternative but I'm too cheap) and I saved the movie as an HD movie. If you make the movie bigger to 1080px it gives the option for HD. I will have to play around with it some more but here it is, part 1! No guarantees when part 2 will be here.

BA Shared Topic Idea: Mementos

Shared Topic Idea: Mementos - What mementos have you kept and why?

This topic is asking: What items or mementos have you kept (in your toon's pack or bank) and why? Whether it be keepsakes, quest rewards, special items, random drops, whatever! - why did you decide to hang on to it? What's its significance to you?

Talk about as few or as many as you like, though probably best to limit it somewhat so you have room to explain why rather than simply listing every item in your bank.

Suggested by Feral Tree of FeralTree!

This is TOTALLY my kind of topic! Well, let's start with Llani and work our way down.

Llani has [Nolkai's Band] and [Nolkai's Lantern] in her pack at all times because they are such sweet mementos. They are found in [Nolkai's Box] which is the reward from the quest Nolkai's Words. The questline begins with the [Weathered Treasure Map] Nolkai was a night elf druid who lived on Bloodmyst Isle in the Draenei lands. His journal functions as the main guide for the quest, with the text:

"The enemy is nearly upon us. We've gathered up all the survivors and retreated to the temple to the east. It's the last ground we truly hold on the island, and there is a sense among the survivors that we will make our last stand here. I've taken care to bury my last few possessions on the grounds of the temple, with the hope that someone will find them and know what happened here."


Nolkai left his ring in the box with the hope that perhaps it would make it back to his significant other someday. Perhaps that elf was with him, who knows. I thought the ring was a sweet item to include in a box and I most definitely keep it always, along with the lantern.

On Mushee, I have four things that I keep just for fun. In reality, most of Mushee's bags could be completely emptied and I wouldn't miss a thing. It's because she's my youngest toon and doesn't really have anything that I would be devastated if I lost it.

This tabard was actually purchased with UDE points from the trading card game way back in the day. It means a lot to me because the points came from a giant card box given to me by a former flame for Valentine's day. We sat and opened all the cards together hoping for a spectral tiger, but, alas, no luck. So, I have kept the cards and intend to put them in a collector's binder similar to a baseball card binder. I love my tabard and will always keep it!

This staff is from Molten Core, off of Golemagg. He's a big molten rock type dude but I always thought this staff was unique and pretty. Because most people don't go to Molten Core anymore, you almost never see anyone wearing it for fun.

Pretty, isn't it!

My racecar is an old Christmas gift from 2008 from Blizzard. It summons a little car that you can use to chase other people's cars around and blow them up! Very fun gift.



On Nelena, I have a few things that mean a lot to me.




Of course. Nelena is a priest, why wouldn't her Benediction mean a lot to me! I managed to get this beautiful staff in BC, as I didn't have Nelena to 60 in Vanilla. She was around 50 when I picked her back up and BC was about to hit. Still, it is a beautiful staff and something not many new priests have.


The first and only other Will of Arlokk I have seen drop was taken from my original shaman by another shaman. I felt it should have gone to the druid but the shaman was being greedy. Then, he proceeded to take the first and only other Finkle's Lava Dredger I have seen drop too! One of my transmuters, Siffe, has a Finkle's that I play with a lot, and recently Nelena scored the awesome snake staff from Zul'Gurub too. Since ZG is being removed in Cataclysm, I am so happy I went to get it now.


I saved my ribbon to remind me of all the work I did on my two characters -- Nelena and Mushee the mage. It also reminds me that sometimes healers have the toughest job ever -- we are always healing, watching the raid, and making sure people stay alive.


Who wouldn't keep their Ruby Slippers? I kept these simply because they're amazing! The flavor text always makes me smile, and they are fun to play around in.


Another item that I kept simply because of the name. I always try to be a spark of hope with playing with other people that there really are nice people in World of Warcraft. Not everyone is a meanie!


Other items that I will never ever get rid of include:

Myrani's Ruby Shades. Heck yes! I love these and never thought that they would have been removed from the game. I will never sell them because I like having rare things! They also look amazing!


That concludes my post for this week on my favorite mementos and items. I am a packrat when it comes to gear but if I had to get rid of everything except a few items, the ones listed here are the ones I would keep.