I have Ascended.

Yesterday morning I woke up with the old World of Warcraft loading screen theme in my head, you know, the totally awesome one with the Dark Portal? I thought about reactivating my account, thinking about re-rolling all over again, and playing. The more and more I thought about it, the more and more it seemed like a chore. I would have remember my password for starters, since I can barely remember my own name on a daily basis. Then I would have to go through the agonizing process of patching, patching, patching, as I know I have missed a lot. Then, of course the leveling and the scramble to get on top, or at least as close I could be.

I pushed those thoughts aside and did some yoga, had some coffee, but as I went through out my day, I could not help but think about reactivating my account. Today, I was bored - Ed had control of the TV for some old tymey video gaming, and I put my laptop away. So, with the "awesome gaming computer" waiting for me, I downloaded the trial for Rift. So far, I have played through a minor portion of the starter area, only about maybe an hour or two. My impressions of it are, well, good!

To start, my first complaint is the fact that the trial period is only 7 days. I remember the WoW trial being longer. Ahem. Anyway. So, in Rift, the world Telara is under siege and you as an Ascendant are one of the chosen ones to fight for the world. I liked the opening movie, as I am impressed by flashy lights and pretty colors. So, your first stop is a lot of choices, from which shard to play on (server), to faction (Guardians or Defiant), then race and class. It's pretty standard fare. Having absolutely no knowledge of this game or the story lines, I pretty much closed my eyes and clicked. I ended up choosing a Bahmi Rogue. So, once you get that out of the way, you're dropped into the world. Or, rather, into the world as apparently you find out you were once dead. Like any MMO, you're given tasks, you do them, and you get rewards. Some of the tasks reward you with choices, and these choices are your Soul Attunement, the leveling and class system in the game.

This system is magnificent. The amount of customization is incredible. World of Warcraft's three talent trees and duel class system is a child's toy compared to what this system can do. Even from the beginning you get two "souls" to choose from, and even some helpful suggestions as to which ones could be used together. Altogether you get three souls, along with their branch options and roots. The branches are the points you place yourself and the roots are the standard skills and spells that come along with your levels. So, not only can you build a custom class, you can THEN customize the class to how you want it. For a full listing of all the options, go here.

The graphics are great, and less flashy pants than World of Warcraft, but it's appropriate. You've just been ressurected into a world of turmoil, and your purpose to go fix it. I enjoy the realism and darkness, after almost 5 years of cartoon characters carrying around swords the size of small children. I haven't kicked the graphics up, opting to stay at a lower rate, but even on the low side of things, it still looks pretty. The menu and toolbar are fairly basic, easy to understand for the novice and pro-raider alike.

I haven't played a whole lot of it, but I plan on for the next week as I pay my trial. I have taken advantage of the built in video cap system (also: auto posting to YouTube, posting to Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter of pictures) to post some videos:


I fite with arrows! And a boar-thing!



screwing around in the first main quest area.


and yes, I did recycle my old WoW Mage's name. I am sooooo original. Anyway. I think this has the potential to become the antidote to World of Warcraft burn out. The game is extremely sophisticated from graphics, character customization, and the wide range of class options. The story line and world is engrossing as the game throws you into the action from the very start. It's different though, and coming from WoW, I might be inhibiting myself a little bit as I keep comparing the two, but I can't help it. In two hours, I had a lot of fun playing, but I know I have barely just scratched the surface.

OMG WOW

Yeah, I kinda let this blog go to the wayside. There's a reason, and you should all be proud to know that it's a decidedly a geeky reason.

I started playing World of Warcraft again. That should really just explain it all, right? Everyone knows what a black hole of time that game is. So of course, certain things suffer because of it. I choose the blog and certain TV shows. Well, today I spent the day catching up on some of my favorites that I have missed (Hulu, I love you.) and decided to catch up on this blog as well. My topic? World of Warcraft. duh.

I love this game, but at first I could have cared less about it when first presented to me. About 5 years ago my friends would not shut up about it. Everywhere we went, Warcraft this, epic gear that, lets run UBRS tonight, how's your DPS? I got so frustrated and bored, I wanted to scratch my eyeballs out with all the nonsensical talk. So one night, everyone is still sitting there talking about it and I ask "What is the big DEAL!?!?" My best friend Steve decides enough is enough and set me up with a character on his account.

Needless to say the eventual progression happened after that: I got my own account, and played. Hardcore. I did raids, pvp - everything. I wasn't a huge raider or pvper, or one of those untouchable players. But I did do a little bit of everything. I loved my little gnome mage. Of course eventually I wised up and rolled Horde. I tended to go into cycles. I took a break before rolling Horde, and getting into BC. About a year after that I took a long break after the patch with Zul'Amani kept crashing my computer and I quit. I had more important things going on at the time regardless. Like, school.

I spent 2 years with no internet (or cable, god), and a crappy computer. This year I finally did get a nice computer and the internet (as mentioned in an earlier ppst). I spent about 2 months without really feeling the pull. Then suddenly one Saturday morning I woke up and literally needed to play. First I had to talk it over with my fiancee (at the time he was just my BF :P). Could we afford it? No problem. Am I able to not let it get the way of life? Yes. Everything was laid out. I reinstalled, it took like...God, hours upon hours. I got Wrath of the Lich King.

I finally about 2 weeks ago got to the Wotlk content. Part of me misses the BC stuff, since I never got to see all of it, or at least as much as I had of the Original. And I am still cranky about the level 77 requirement for Cold Weather Flying. (Which is a total WTF?!) Granted, I figure if I am going to have to walk everywhere for the next 5 levels, I am going to do so with a nice ride. I am grinding out the Black Skeletal Warhorse pvp mount. It sucks, but there is something pretty awesome about burning Alliance down in AB with Lady Gaga playing. So, the Wrath content. I do have to say, it's pretty epic, what I have seen so far. I really love the new environments, and the overall unique look to each area. The vy'krul are pretty bad ass Nordic looking dudes, with really nice models. The Walrus people (shut up, I can't remember the name) are pretty original too, without being completely ridiculous. Like the complete fan girl I am, I squealed with joy when I found Alexstraza and Krasus at Wyrm's Rest.

So far I have seen three instances: 2 as a mage and 1 one as a priest. The 2 I DPSed on were Utgarde Keep and The Nexus, and I healed on Drak'theron Keep. My first impressions of Utgarde keep were pretty good. The place was big, but not too long to make it into a chore. However, even at this point, UK seems to be one of those blow through dungeons. I didn't even finish the Nexus, as the learning curve seemed extremely high on it. Or it could have been the nooblets I was grouped with. Either way, it felt like there was a large jump in difficulty between the two. Sadly, I can't really give a good opinion on DK, as I was healing at lvl 70, as a Shadow Priest. It was pretty bad.

Do I love the new stuff? I can't say that for sure. I love Dalaran and certain aspects of this expansion, but I still have yet to make up my mind as a whole. Also considering that patch 3.3 is coming out soon, which is going to add even more content (ARTHAS!). I think I love the unofficial companion book more, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King. It's a really good book, which I highly suggest. I think I might need to get more into it and follow it farther. Until then...don't expect more posts.

j/k