awesome event ever in the whole entire world2009-09-21 00:00:00Let's Do the Time Warp Again!
Last time, the Mage They Call Jayne(z) bore witness to quite possibly the most awesome event ever in the whole entire world. Of Warcraft. Though some might consider it a bit unfair that the Horde gets this awesome-possum nifty-socks in-game cutscene, you guys had Onyxia and Bolvar Fordragon since launch-so think of this as sweet payback.
From what my guildies had told me, after hitting level 66 I had some new options available to me. Some new quests, and a particularly cool new instance to run. I'd run through Hellfire Citadel and the Slave Pens quite a bit, and couldn't find any Auchindoun groups... but this one was popular. This one was cool. So, I packed my Travelers' Backpacks and decided it was time to go back to Azeroth!
After spending a bit of time looking for a good group, I took a portal to Thunder Bluff and started flying down to Tanaris. Oh, Tanaris. Good times, good times.
By the way, there's been a subtle theme thus far in the entry. Can you guess what it is?
If you guessed "Time," you're wrong! It was actually "Italics," you silly nubcakes! That's right-I was headed to the Caverns of Slightly Slanted Letters!
Oh. Maybe it was Time after all. Sorry, my bad.
Yep, that's right! It's time for us to travel! Through, um... time! With the Caverns of... er, Time!
I think I could have said that better. Oh well, no turning back-I shall press on.
While the Thrall-in-Outland event was undoubtedly the coolest thing I've seen yet in the Burning Crusade (and remains so), the Caverns of Time come very, very close. The Bronze Dragonflight is just cool overall. It seems that they've also been the most involved with the story thus far in WoW. I mean, we've killed Onyxia and Neffy, and there is that whole OMG-Lady-Prestor-is-Onyxia story, but other than that (and the Dark Iron/Blackrock War) the Black Flight has had minimal story impact. The Green Flight... well, there's Eranikus and the four corrupted Dragons, as well as the Nightmare in the Emerald Dream, but that really hasn't reached full bore yet. Other than Azuregos, there's no real representation of the Blue Flight in-game, and the Red Flight is almost totally missing except for Vaelastrasz (poor Vael...).
Meanwhile, the Bronze Flight had the whole Ahn'Qiraj thing-granted, it was kinda all four of the flights who contributed, but the Brood of Nozdormu was the only one in the present day keeping watch over the Scarab Walls. They also give you EPIX, which is more than any of the other flights ever did.
So, yeah. Bronze Dragonflight is cool. Forgive my "Yay Lore!" rambling, por favor.
Er, I suppose I might as well preface this with a SPOILER WARNING. Last time, it was just the Thrall Event that was spoiler-riffic, but this entire article... well, there are some people who might want to experience it for themselves.
SPOILER ALERT: THE FOLLOWING SEGMENT CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS AND HIGH LEVELS OF "TOTALLY AWESOME" THAT MAY BE UNHEALTHY FOR THE ELDERLY, SMALL CHILDREN, AND CANADIANS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Arriving in Tanaris, I take a brief nostalgic sojourn through Gadgetzan, but sadly find no Alliance to gank. In general, Azeroth is pretty dead, though there are some Blood Elves and Draenei getting high in level (including a pair of 58+ Blood Elf Paladins that must be absolutely insane to have leveled so quickly). I make my way to the Caverns of Time, and feel, to be honest, pretty damn excited. Ever since I was a little nublet caster questing in Tanaris and saw this "Caverns of Time" place, I've always really wanted to go inside. And now I can-without any ghost-run exploiting or anything.
Pretty damn cool.
The three drakes that fly back and forth seem to be gone, though I find them over on the side (so people can, for whatever reason, finish the Horde Onyxia key quest chain).
Anachronos, Mr. It-is-not-my-time himself, is also on the side of the path, no longer standing watch in front of the entrance. The entrance itself is open, and there's a bronze Drake flying just inside, and speaking with him causes me to become Neutral with the "Keepers of Time" faction. That's right, the Bronze Flight is so awesome that they get two factions in-game!
He asks me if I want to be transported to the Master's Lair. This isn't the first time I've been to the Caverns of Time since they opened the door (though there weren't any working instances then)... there are some interesting things on the way, including a Tavern of Time (oh, Blizzard...), and several vendors including a male Orc who speaks with a female Orc voice.
Yeah, that was kinda weird. But it's a long run, so I accept the quest-and am whisked away by another bronze drake and flown to the central chamber, where the Timeless One keeps watch over the past, present, and future.
I can't target him, so you know he's serious business.
There are two Blood Elf children standing nearby, named Andormu and Nozari. I talk to them and they give me a quest to follow a Custodian of Time (in the form of a Blood Elf female) around, and listen to her explain what the deal is. This, I can do.
The Custodian takes me around the giant chamber, explaining to me Blizzard's concept of time in Azeroth, and how it's always changing and stuff. The Bronze Flight keeps close watch on the streams of time, making sure nobody messes around with anything (because if you read Ray Bradbury, watch The Simpsons, or have seen "The Butterfly Effect," you know that messing with the past = bad). Unless the flow of time continues as it should, the present would cease to exist as we know it. Vendors would sell epics! Trainers would pay us to respec! Drakkisath would realize "Hey, why am I following this stupid little Hunter when there are nine other squishies killing my bodyguards"!
Unfortunately, it seems as though there's a myst...
A Shadow Rose2009-09-14 00:00:00It's just a game. Or is it?
That's a question that has been churning in my mind over the last few days. I have looked at it from I think every angle, trying to perceive its hidden substance, a deeper meaning, or even an obvious answer.
Why do I, a thirty-seven year old man, play a computer game like World of Warcraft? What blatant justification could there possibly be for anyone to sit for hours in front of a computer screen and immerse themselves into a fantasy world of RP and, at least for a time, forget about his RL? I can give you one such answer: Bruce Galloway.
Bruce Galloway is my friend, and he passed away last week. He is one of the best examples I can name of the type of man you get when RP meets RL. He was firmly grounded in both, a fact that helped us become very good friends over a short seven months of gaming together. There were many other factors, of course, but it was our shared ability to RP together in game and talk to each other in RL that drew us in close. I wasn't aware of it as it was happening, and we never took the chance to speak fully about it, much to my sorrow, but I think we both knew what was. We were just two grown men brought together by a common interest, and found out we had so much more to share and learn from each other.
It's just a game. Or is it?
Bruce roleplayed a red headed female blood elf Shadow Priest named Milliway, and was one of the first RP contacts I met way back when our guild was still only a couple of weeks old. We grouped but a few times d...
