Time for a break from WoW

Well it’s that time of year, where I’ve not got through the current content in any meaningful way as yet, and there is a huge gulp of time to get to the next expansion. So as of around a month or so from now I’ll no longer be playing. I’ve cancelled my account.

I could play casually onward, or lump through alts, or whatever – but those activities will still be waiting if I return, and if I don’t return then I’m not paying for an account which gets only a small amount of play time each month.

Will I be back? Probably when the expansion comes, yes, but unlikely before. Half a year is just too long to wait to see new areas. I can use $15 pcm on something else.

In the interim I hope to do some play-by-post and some pen and paper RPG games, and possibly get some time played in games I’ve got but not really played. StarCraft II, Diablo 3, and a host of smaller games.

Happy killing, TyphoonAndrew

Sign-up for double the games you play now

The Annual Subscription is a solid offering: WoW for a year which I’d be playing a moderate proportion of anyway, Diablo 3 for free, and a few in game trinkets – clever bundle. I don’t understand the hate over this offer, as it is an option you can really ignore, and the only slight advantage is the extra mount, which is just a cheesy option anyway.

I think its too early to say that Mists will be poor, or if it will be excellent. It will be very different to what WoW is now, that’s all I know. With that in mind, and my odd game time constraints, Diablo 3 is looking like a great option. Once I decided to give D3 a good solid play the choice of how I got it was easy too. I can play on my own schedule, and be a solo player, just like when I played D1 and D2.

So the annual sub suckered me in, I took it. I’ll play Warcraft for at least another 3 months, probably more like another 6 on and off. Then D3 will be worth a look, and it now that I’ve paid for it, I get the opportunity to play both Diablo and WoW as I choose.

My only reservation is GuildWars 2 and Star Wars TOR – both of which are an unknown quantity, but I’ll take a look if they have a free demo. Out of the two TOR looks to be very solid, and frankly I’m not afraid to come into another game a few months late if it happens to be brilliant. A good game will have a life of at least a year, and playing after they fix the initial bugs is better anyway.

If you’re going to play wow for a while longer, and will buy D3 – you should get this. If you’re not going to play D3 and don’t care about silly mounts, then don’t do it. Save your money for another game, a good bottle of wine, or whatever you happen to like that week.

Happy Gaming

How the blog was named

Here is an odd distraction, formed into a blog post: How and why did you pick the blog’s name?

Typhoon was a nickname I was given at work about 10 or so years ago. I was a tech guy back then doing system admin and system engineer type work for a specialist software developer. The accounting team were initially thinking of calling me the Hurricane, but that was taken by the famous boxer – so Typhoon was the next best thing, or so they said.

I know it was probably meant to be a back handed complement, but I like it.

Many years later I was hunting for a blog name and thought that it would be easier to have a blog with a nickname than something tied to a specific topic; as I didn’t know where the blog would focus. I added the Eye of the Storm sub-title as a way to link the blog to the idea of a typhoon, but also to imply that the posts might be coming from within all the hub-bub.

It was strange when I started blogging that Blizzard announced the Eye of the Storm battleground about a week later, and they more than stole the thunder from the blog in favour of PvP. Such is life.

I saw this on the WOW Debutante blog, and thought it would be a good idea for a post which explains more about my perspective rather than a rant about gear, toons, spec, or updates.

Happy blogging.

GS facepalm thoughts

I don’t like the way GS has altered the Trade channel, but then I like even less that LFG channel is not used, and the scrubs that troll through Trade.

Pugnacious Priest has a really nice write up on GS, and I basically like his perspective and think it is sound. If you are still on the fence about GS his post will help you decide one way or the other.

My rant now continues, with why I think the tool is ok, but used badly. Like a hammer being used for every tool in a tradesman bag, rather than just being used as a hammer.

The issue I have (which is not new) is that the itemisation determines the iLevel, which in turn generates a GS value. Now itemisation is meant to be based on a balanced approach for the race/level/class/gear set that you have. But folks are making itemisation choices based on GS.

Upgrades of gear is seen to be like adding bricks into a pile with GS. Higher the brick is seen as better. No way folks – the materials and the pattern have more affect than the bricks themselves.

Thus I can have a craftable caster Cloak of ilevel 200, and know that the next best item for me is a drop from a few places, each around ilevel 245+. Why? Because the itemisation on the cloaks in the game between the two points is of no benefit to me, due to the other stats I have.

eg. Hit Rating is something you need to a point, then its a waste. After the cap it has no value at all. The GS mods score an item overall, and when you re-score that item without hit (in affect you consider the itemisation gains, rather than the raw stats), then it is far less useful.

So lets all agree to keep the GS use to the initial selection of players, and keep our ePeen around GS flaccid, to better no stand out in the crowd as a louder member of the otherwise unwashed mob.