This excerpt-review of the upcoming World of Warcraft: Wolfheart novel by Richard A. Knaak is of the mild-spoiler variety.

For the people that don’t know Richard, he has written several novels set in the world of Warcraft before, which include The Sunwell Trilogy and the War of the Ancients. Before I get into it I will warn for some spoilers. If you want to read the excerpts before reading the review head here. I will be giving my thoughts about the two excerpts Blizzard has posted.

After reading the first excerpt, I was impressed with the writing style of Knaak. The long-time Warcraft wordsmith created a bond between common orcs and  their new Warchief, Garrosh. It was obvious that the orcs, whether brownskin or greenskin, would would do everything for Thrall’s successor. This becomes more apparent when Briln, the elderly orc captain, tells the reader that the orcs would have readily given their lives for their legendary overlord of the Warsong Offensive.

To be fair, I haven’t actually read any of Knaak’s novels yet, but these excerpts certainly caught my eye and I am looking forward to digesting his older works. This excerpt kept me intrigued throughout. I really wanted to find out what the cargo is that the orcs carry and what its purpose is. I had the idea that they captured some worgen, seeing the name of the novel, but after a second thought I am not so sure anymore. Briln informs us that they will be using this cargo against the Alliance. The worgen maybe an aggressive race, but they wouldn’t attack their own allies. More engrossing is the idea that the Cataclysm is the first sign of their “day” coming. What does Garrosh mean by that…

The second excerpt entertained from start to finish, largely due to heavy emotions. I read how disheartened Genn became with losing his land and city and how he doesn’t like having this curse. He blames himself for everything that happened. Again, the writing style remains slick (not surprising, given that it’s one book). Other staffers have routinely criticism Knaak for his dialogue and descriptions, but he made me feel the heartache and internal struggles Genn is living with. Just consider the weight of the last line, why would it be Malfurion’s fault that the Gilneans got cursed?

Before I go I really want to know what you guys think of these two excerpts? What kind of creatures do you think are in those cages? Why could it be Malfurion’s fault the Gilneans got cursed? Last but not least, are you going to buy this novel? I certainly am!

Darn previews sucking me in. LoreHound.com will have a full review shortly.

I got a fever, and the only prescription is more Deathwing!

You all may remember, and may even have shared similar sentiments, that before the release of Cataclysm, one of my absolutely most anticipated aspect of the expansion was the idea of a very present villain. Back in November, we got word from Zarhym that Deathwing would not only shatter the Azeroth that we loved, but also would patrol the skies freely, inflicting pain and death upon all who dared walk upon his kingdom.

And yes, he sure does that, randomly but also uncommonly and only in certain zones. But it’s something that happens so rarely that there’s never that constant feeling of looking behind your back or searching the skies to ensure you’re alone. And I’m not insinuating that this should be a very common occurence – after all, that would take away from its specialness, plus it could have the potential to become somewhat of an annoyance if it was a constant issue. But at the same time, the current level isn’t one that instills  any sort of sense of suspense that I was hoping the expansion would include. Continue Reading

Sometimes it helps to take the honey with the vinegar, but not even the announcement for an impending third-quarter Diablo III beta test could soothe the sting of losing around 600,000 World of Warcraft subs over the past couple of months. It is now around 11.4 million, down from over 12 million. Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime had to break the news during the company’s quarterly conference call earlier today.

Like anything else, popularity ebbs and flows and the spikes and valleys on the sales charts can usually be linked to periods of new content or players losing interest in the old. The real problem is that the peaks aren’t lasting as long as they used to. Losing 600k is one thing, but the fact that it has happened faster after Cataclysm than it has following any previous expansion is the real kick-in-the-pants.

Undoubtedly, everyone will have their own take on the news and opinions as to why precisely people are leaving the game in such sizable chunks, but what it comes down to at the end of the day — the one idea that seems to remain constant — is fatigue. I don’t believe that people are tired of MMORPGs or even the story of Azeroth itself, but rather the way that Blizzard conducts itself and the ever (d?)evolving philosophy that shapes the game’s continued development.

World of Warcraft would not have reached such insane numbers of subscriptions if it weren’t for the casual players and as the Farmville-addled masses flooded the channels with their girth, Blizzard was forced to compensate. Always pushing towards equalization and homogenization; making things simpler and easier to understand; removing those elements from the formula that, while perplexing, also made WoW interesting. And we, the fans and media, are complicit.

Why? Well, we encouraged it. For better or worse, this is kind of what we wanted, but we didn’t know any better. Changes to the game over the past few years have been a double-edged sword, and Cataclysm has proven to be the sharpest, shiniest double-edged sword yet. Allow me to elaborate with a broad example: we’re tired of leveling through the same old vanilla content, so we get a vastly modified 1-60 game. Zones are more engaging visually, travel is streamlined, quests are given a spitshine to ensure that not all of them are simple “kill x/gather y” affairs (though many still are). And yet, for a better and more polished game, we also get a less “fun” experience. It’s okay one time through, but it becomes so damn easy and there is no sense of exploration left.

How else have we done it? We’ve killed any difficulty with boss encounters and completing quests beyond pure execution. We’ve created mods and posted comprehensive strategies on very high-profile websites, which has in turn prompted Blizzard to incorporate elements of such helpful third-party resources into the game itself. And yet that does not absolve the company’s reliance on casual players of blame, because an absolutely amazing number of players, even with all this help, still do not understand how to play. Continue Reading

BE WARNED – The following descriptions and gallery may contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t completed questing in Vashj’ir.

Dizzyness aside, the depths of Vashj’ir and its sub-zones left a lasting impression on my idea of questing in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.The 3-D zone packed a punch with some great stories, fun quests and different gameplay experiences. Oh, and a new breed of murlocs. That can’t be left unsaid, either.

Though mysteries still abound regarding Queen Azshara herself, the reappearance of the Naga as central lore keepers of the zone played a huge role in keeping me involved in the story. Not only do you fight against the Naga, but you also get to experience, in several different series of quests, what it is that the Naga are and have been fighting against (other than you). And I have to admit that playing as a Naga made me appreciate some of their quirks.

Sea monsters are, of course, also a hugely fun part of this zone. From the giant tentacles that first bring down your ship and her crew; a shark that you have to harpoon down like the menace he is; to a new water mount in the form of a huge seahorse; to another shark who helps you chomp up some Naga chum while you ride on his back; to finding a way to communicate with the demigod Nespirah (who, sidenote, reminds me of Ohmu in Hayao Miyazaki’s classic manga and anime film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind); to even seeing the Elemental Lord Neptulon himself from the comfort of one of many beautifully crafted cut scenes.

Not to mention a huge boss-of-a-whale shark that awards its own achievement just for being brave enough to strike against him — and win.

Plus, nothing could go wrong from putting something called a “merciless one” on top of your head. Right? RIGHT?! (Who else had to put their character through that crazyness more than once to get the cut scene again?)

If all that wasn’t enough, the scenery is gorgeous. From the bright colors of corals and fishies to the blues that deepened as you ventured deeper, it certainly wasn’t a drab or lifeless zone, as the gallery below shows. It also wasn’t lacking in things to do — with three sub-zones within Vashj’ir, plus a fair number of quests to complete, I was able to take the time to get my fill before moving on.

Looking back, what was your favorite part of the zone?

Click through for a screenshot gallery of more blues and greens than I realized Azeroth could hold.

Continue Reading