I spent several hours yesterday with the new World of
Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria.
Since I am no longer a compulsive min-maxing power gamer, I took my time
to read the quests and appreciate the artwork.
Overall, the expansion is slick, polished, and well-made. I did not
experience any technical issues. Is it worth the $40 price? It is too early to
tell for sure, but my instincts are telling me yes.
Many months ago when the pandas were first announced, I was
turned-off by the idea. However, slowly
my curiosity piqued and by the end of my play session last night I was quite
happy with the whole Pandaran atmosphere.
The Pandaran models grew on me.
The landscapes are finely detailed and bursting with just the right amount
of color.
One adjustment I made to improve the gaming experience was
to turn off the general chat channel.
The newbie zone chatter was predictably plentiful, and the vast majority
of it was from the 13-16 year old crowd….or at least people who act like 13-16
year olds. If scatological references and
jokes about your mom are your kind of thing then the general chat will be
nirvana for you. For those of us who
have been around the block a bit more, the chat detracts from immersion in the
game.
One area where World of Warcraft continues to go downhill is
with the class talent trees. I took a
break from the game after the last major dumbing-down of the system, and I just
returned this week to find it even more simplistic. The game designers seem to have become scared
silly about offering any real control over a character’s abilities and skill
sets. The class system is now firmly cookie-cutter
oriented, and that detracts from one’s sense that they have a stake in their
character. There is no room for thought or imagination to build the character
that is best for you. Essentially everyone ends up with practically the same
thing.
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