All Things Gaming
Given that the expansion prepatch has to be soon… right?… right!? Every content creator is taking their shot at telling us what to do before then… and it seemed to me that bringing a bunch of these together was better than rehasing the same ideas myself. Here ya go.
Wowhead’s Overall Guide: https://www.wowhead.com/what-to-do-before-shadowlands
Then a bunch of specific things they thought you should focus on:
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This one will probably end up being controversial. Some people consider a game pay to win (p2w) if there are any microtransactions built-in whatsoever. Others will argue against a game being p2w unless you’re able to buy a level of in-game power that you cannot earn in game. Of course, there is a whole spectrum in between those two extremes.
For our purposes, we’re going to let the idea of pay to win be incredibly broad, and then we’ll break down what that actually means to the player bit by bit. Buy to play – buying the box/license – is not pay to win because everyone must pay the same amount (ignore sales, etc) and gains no advantage in any scope of the game. Pay to play – such as with a subscription – is not pay to win, because again, everyone is paying and one player cannot necessarily pay more in order to gain advantage. Pay to win elements are present if a player can spend additional money to purchase something in game. However, it shouldn’t be said that the game is inherently pay to win because of this. Having elements of a thing, pieces of a thing, doesn’t mean the whole of the game is that. For example: a game could allow duels (PVP) and not be considered a PVP game, despite having a piece that is.
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So, it’s becoming quite apparent that, while I was right about the release date for the expansion, I was wrong about the release date for the Shadowlands prepatch. Wowhead has a post breaking down their thoughts for the prepatch date – in a very similar way to how I did. They show more of the examples of time between prepatch and release, but they don’t include the information I did about the time between prepatch PTR and prepatch release. So, a little more of some and a little less of others.
At the time, based on the idea that Blizzard gives 2 week notices before the end of the PVP season (a detail I have not been able to confirm and they didn’t show proof of), the earliest it the prepatch could have been was the 29th of September, not the 22nd as a late option I had suggested. At this point, I’d say the 22nd is almost for sure out as there’s been zero prepatch announcement and the 29th is even starting to look sketchy. So, could it really be releasing on the 6th of October? This would end up being the shortest prepatch in WoW history.
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The idea of covenants is a great RPG premise. Going to a new world, meeting the people that live there, finding a group that you connect with and joining forces with them to help their cause and increase your power… perfect role playing game opportunity.
The idea of covenants is a terrible MMO premise. Locking important power gains – that will likely be unable to be balanced from one covenant, class, spec, or even type of content to the next – behind long grinds and with limited access is not the way. Particularly for an expansion that is supposed to be focusing on player agency, telling us that we cannot choose between the pool of options available based on the content we are doing is really against what seems to be the goal.
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Welcome to ‘In Search of Fortune’, a new monthly series where I discuss my gold goals and in-game money making strategies.
Near the end of November, 2019, it was discovered (then confirmed) that the Mighty Caravan Brutosaur would no longer be purchasable in Shadowlands outside of a rare spawn on the black market auction house. Prior to this point, I had assumed I’d eventually get the mount, as gold inflation and whatnot tends to devalue old vendor items. I wasn’t, though, passionate about the mount. Sure, it would be nice, but… 5 million gold? Then, the news that it was going… extinct. Admittedly, I still didn’t care a lot. But there was this slight… annoyance. “I had plans for that”, I thought. Sure, not important plans, but, plans. Sometime after that, I wondered “could I even get it if I wanted?”. Well, sure I could, right? Suddenly my gold-making ego was self-challenged! Can I earn 5 million gold before Shadowlands (prepatch, even, I eventually learn)?
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You can vote for which class I should play at this straw poll link: https://www.strawpoll.me/20918880
I’m having a bit of trouble deciding what I want to main in this upcoming expansion. This problem is generally amplified by being unable to get beta access to test the characters to get a feel for them. So far, I’ve made very little progress eliminating options. I’m further undecided because I’m not even set on a role. While I lean heavily towards dps main, the value of being able to tank mythic dungeons or heal PVP is not lost on me, and maybe tank or heal? Or maybe a class that can do all 3, but, then I’d probably only be exceptional at once of those. So, what do I choose: Melee or range? Tank, dps or heals? In this post I’ll break down the what and the why and there could be some links to some resources to make your decision too.
The Contenders: