Spoiler Warning: This post contains potential spoilers for World of Warcraft gameplay. It covers the journey to Pandaria and questing through the zone of the Jade Forest.

First, a recap. Then, my review.

Upon setting off to explore the new world beyond the mists of the southern great sea, heroes of Azeroth land in the mysterious Jade Forest in Pandaria. Our first greeting to the continent comes in the form of a battle at sea as warriors of the horde and the alliance seek to conquer what could be theirs. Both sides wash up to the shores of the new world, friendless in a mystical world that they yet know nothing about.

Members of both factions set off to form alliances with anyone they can get help and resources from — the horde with the hozen, and the alliance with the jinyu — but the pandaren race, for the most part, remains unconvinced that either side is worthy of inhabiting their sacred lands. Certain individuals, however, are willing to give the newcomers a chance, teaching them the ways of the land and the people. Heroes of both factions lend their hands to assisting the pandarens however they can, and in doing so they earn powerful friends all across the Jade Forest.

But the uncertainty that the majority of pandarens hold is not unfounded. As the two factions continue their conflict, the negativity that they brought ashore affects the land in ways unexpected by the newcomers. Continue Reading

As the title may self-explain, we will be having the second Beta test of the official server on Saturday, July 7th, 2012 at 8am PST (11 EST) to 8pm PST (11 EST).

We would like to invite any, and all, Minecraft players (with official accounts!) to take part again; largely because we didn’t receive enough stress to accurately test the server during the last test session.

The IP connection is  71.231.72.141.

Q1. Do I must have a licensed copy of Minecraft to play?

Yes! We will not allow any players who do not connect via Minecraft.net‘s servers to participate.

Q2. Will any of the data be saved from this test?

Yes! This test is almost an “early-access” kind of test. You can play in our world, use our shops, set up your own, build, explore, mine, whatever you want. Any data you create will be saved on the server until official release. Continue Reading

Over at Bio Break, Syp wrote today about how he’s never been a fan of end-game content, finding it repetitive and entirely different from the journey to the level-cap.  He goes on to say that after finally hitting the level-cap with his Agent in SWTOR, he’s ready to re-roll with a new character and start over, stating, “The alt itch is so strong that it’s almost irresistible, and I’m giddy at the prospect of trying a different class, storyline, and faction”

I, however, am the exact opposite; having never re-rolled an alt, and the very prospect of having to do so, sends shivers down my spine. To me, the end-game is the game. Although, I will admit that it is repetitive, and needs an update in the biggest way.

The way I look at it is everyone starts off as a child. As you level and grow-up, you learn new things, then one day you hit the level cap and are finally able to do everything you have itched to do such as: drive a car, vote, pay taxes, work, and buy a drink.

Think of games like League of Legends or Modern Warfare. They both have a leveling system and repetitive gameplay; but millions of people absolutely love it and play for years. So what’s the secret to their success? It’s the competitiveness of playing against other players. Today’s MMORPG, even on the PvP servers, are really co-op oriented games.  SWTOR just took this to the next level, and basically turned it into a single-player experience. You group with friends and fight NPCs all day. How fun would either MW or LoL possibly be, if you played against bots all day? Zero. Neither of those games would be around today if that was the case.

It’s the people who make games fun, and over the last decade MMORPGs have been slowly separating players from each other in-turn for more NPC interaction in the form of collecting points and badges through group quests, raids, and PvP zones.

I do agree with Syp on one point: that end-game content should’t be different from the content that comes before it. End-game content should be a continuation of the game where skill becomes the dominant means to victory.

First he’d shout “Damn it!” and then he’d get whatever information he was after. Possibly dieing in the act – only to be resuscitated – but definitely killing and maiming en route. That’s unless Kiefer Sutherland’s career re-invigorating role took place in Azeroth. In Blizzard’s fantasy world, Jack Bauden is trapped by a simple net as the terrorist plot to blow up the the Cathedral of Light, a shining beacon of the Light in Stormwind, ticks dangerously close to endgame.

We adventurers are the last hope, the only ones that can save the priests, foil the plans and determine the mastermind behind the dastardly attempt. And stop him.

Bauden’s appearance and its homage to Fox’s 24 appears in the later stages of a long quest line written to display Prince Anduin’s coming of age and growing intellect. It’s an early Cataclysm chain, kicking off, progressing and (almost) culminating all inside Stormwind’s ruined walls.

Horde players can check out the video above to see what they’ve missed. Alliance players may want to relive the SI:7 mission, or see what they’re missing.