Tuesday, September 12, 2006
The story from now on
At the present I have become a level 42. By now you would have gotten some idea of my origings. The story now is my day to day life and the happenings in the world... the world of Brahmos!
The City Life
The first city I discovered was Darnassus - the place where night elves discuss matters beyond what I as a low level elf can even even start to comprehend. I was amazed at the scale of the city.
A scene out of LOTR ?
Wandered around for ages drinking in the sigts. Visited a few shops, drooled over the wares for display at the various shops ( too expensive for me :( , with just a few coppers in my pocket). Then I got to know that this was not the only city around ! Stormwind and Ironforge beckoned.
Also got to know that Ironforge is where one can learn guns ! Guns !! Man, a hunter with a Gun would just rock . I just had to go there.
Took the boat to menthil harbor. Hiked to Ironforge through some dangerous terrain. Carved out of the mountains, a grand sight to see ( I dont know why dwarves make things of such a grand scale!)
Paying my respects to the Huge Dwarf at Ironforge
From Ironforge a tram runs to Stormwind. Oh boy ! The world is more than just night elves!
Stormwind ! What a sight !
A scene out of LOTR ?Wandered around for ages drinking in the sigts. Visited a few shops, drooled over the wares for display at the various shops ( too expensive for me :( , with just a few coppers in my pocket). Then I got to know that this was not the only city around ! Stormwind and Ironforge beckoned.
Also got to know that Ironforge is where one can learn guns ! Guns !! Man, a hunter with a Gun would just rock . I just had to go there.
Took the boat to menthil harbor. Hiked to Ironforge through some dangerous terrain. Carved out of the mountains, a grand sight to see ( I dont know why dwarves make things of such a grand scale!)
Paying my respects to the Huge Dwarf at IronforgeFrom Ironforge a tram runs to Stormwind. Oh boy ! The world is more than just night elves!
Stormwind ! What a sight !I got a pet !
A hunters best buddy is his pet.
At level 10, I went and talked to the hunter trainer, who decided to let me know the secret of taming the wild beasts. But first I had to prove it to him that I am really really ready for the training which really initiated my move into the world of deadly hunters, and I told him to test me. So, he had me go and tame a few animals of different types, which I did so admirably.
As the last quest finished and I faced my mentor again, he had a different glint in my eye. Like he had misjudged me. "The taming of beasts was in my blood" he said. "Go forth, and tame whatever pet you like - he will be your constant companion. Take care of him and he will take care of you".
The choices opened up for me. I could tame any animal I liked !
Unfortunately, only one can be by your side. Fortunately most inns have a stable master who can stable upto 2 of your other pets.
My Pet Owl
I had various pets : an owl ( Hooter), a tiger (Bagheera), a wolf ( Shera ) , but now I have 2 pets who have shown exemplary loyalty - a bear ( Bhaloo) and Spots (a leopard).
With Bhaloo
Exploring the wilderness with Spots
At level 10, I went and talked to the hunter trainer, who decided to let me know the secret of taming the wild beasts. But first I had to prove it to him that I am really really ready for the training which really initiated my move into the world of deadly hunters, and I told him to test me. So, he had me go and tame a few animals of different types, which I did so admirably.
As the last quest finished and I faced my mentor again, he had a different glint in my eye. Like he had misjudged me. "The taming of beasts was in my blood" he said. "Go forth, and tame whatever pet you like - he will be your constant companion. Take care of him and he will take care of you".
The choices opened up for me. I could tame any animal I liked !
Unfortunately, only one can be by your side. Fortunately most inns have a stable master who can stable upto 2 of your other pets.
My Pet OwlI had various pets : an owl ( Hooter), a tiger (Bagheera), a wolf ( Shera ) , but now I have 2 pets who have shown exemplary loyalty - a bear ( Bhaloo) and Spots (a leopard).
With Bhaloo
Exploring the wilderness with SpotsTransportation
The world is huge ! If you have checked the wow map, you would have seen that the world has a couple of continents and an island. So, how does one move around ?
Run Baby Run
Well, you run !
And I run and I run and I run!
Yeah, you can run and run and almost cover all the continent by just running, and that is majorly the way which you will use to go and find other locations in the world. This is also the only way to find flight points all around...
There are some training you can get at later levels which will make running faster. E.g. as a Night Elf at level 20, I get Aspect of the Cheetah which makes me run to about 30% faster - which is quite cool as I am outrunning everyone else ;-). I have an alt on the Horde, a Taurean Shaman, who got ghost wolf form at level 20 which makes one run about 40% faster once I shape shift into the form of a ghost wolf.
Level 40 is what everyone is looking at though. At level 40 you become eligible to getting a mount. For the Night Elves, you get a tiger to ride (one of the big reasons to go night elf) ! The mounts increase your speed on land by 60%. The drawback ... they are costly. The training costs 20gold pieces, and the mount itself costs 80gold. If you are honoured with your race you get a 10% discount on everything you buy and instead of shelling out 100 gold, you only need to shell out 90gold. Some people have it easy. Paladins and Warlocks get their mounts for free !
Pretty Warlock lady get horse for free :(
The only problem - at level 40, I had a few silver pieces only. Now, at level 42, I am at around 20gold pieces. Still a very very long way to go !
I believe I can fly
Up ! up ! and away !
Running though can be quite time consuming. That's where air travel comes in ! Each submap in the continents has a flight point . Well, not all the submaps have, but its safe to say that most have. Once you have discovered a flight point ( called a flight map), you will be able to hop into the backs of one of the big birds and fly off to the other point. Much faster than running all the way over.
Wanna take a dip?
It better not sink!
But even these amazing beasts cannot fly over the oceans. So, to move between the oceans, you need some other means of transport.
For the humans - these are ships. For the Horde, you get the Zepplins. Once you get to the specif harbors, you can take the ship to the other end.
Some may wonder as to if they can swim over to the other continent. Well, you will drown in the ocean due to fatigue :-).
Trams
Waiting for the deeprun tram
The eastern kingdom is the land where the Dwarves and human races live. As such they are quite good at making contraptions - and one of the unique things they have is a tram which runs between the cities of Stormwind and Ironforge. Though you can take a flight between them, the tram is faster and cheaper (its free).
Hearthing
Another way of tranport is hearthing. You basically have a hearthstone which can be set to a inn in one of the cities or towns. Then you can hearth from wherever you are to that inn. Works reall great if you are in the opposite continent and want to come back to the other one.
It is rumored that in the next expansion we will get mounts which fly to our will ! I am sure it will cost like a million gold pieces or something :(
Run Baby Run
Well, you run !
And I run and I run and I run!Yeah, you can run and run and almost cover all the continent by just running, and that is majorly the way which you will use to go and find other locations in the world. This is also the only way to find flight points all around...
There are some training you can get at later levels which will make running faster. E.g. as a Night Elf at level 20, I get Aspect of the Cheetah which makes me run to about 30% faster - which is quite cool as I am outrunning everyone else ;-). I have an alt on the Horde, a Taurean Shaman, who got ghost wolf form at level 20 which makes one run about 40% faster once I shape shift into the form of a ghost wolf.
Level 40 is what everyone is looking at though. At level 40 you become eligible to getting a mount. For the Night Elves, you get a tiger to ride (one of the big reasons to go night elf) ! The mounts increase your speed on land by 60%. The drawback ... they are costly. The training costs 20gold pieces, and the mount itself costs 80gold. If you are honoured with your race you get a 10% discount on everything you buy and instead of shelling out 100 gold, you only need to shell out 90gold. Some people have it easy. Paladins and Warlocks get their mounts for free !
Pretty Warlock lady get horse for free :(The only problem - at level 40, I had a few silver pieces only. Now, at level 42, I am at around 20gold pieces. Still a very very long way to go !
I believe I can fly
Up ! up ! and away !Running though can be quite time consuming. That's where air travel comes in ! Each submap in the continents has a flight point . Well, not all the submaps have, but its safe to say that most have. Once you have discovered a flight point ( called a flight map), you will be able to hop into the backs of one of the big birds and fly off to the other point. Much faster than running all the way over.
Wanna take a dip?
It better not sink!But even these amazing beasts cannot fly over the oceans. So, to move between the oceans, you need some other means of transport.
For the humans - these are ships. For the Horde, you get the Zepplins. Once you get to the specif harbors, you can take the ship to the other end.
Some may wonder as to if they can swim over to the other continent. Well, you will drown in the ocean due to fatigue :-).
Trams
Waiting for the deeprun tramThe eastern kingdom is the land where the Dwarves and human races live. As such they are quite good at making contraptions - and one of the unique things they have is a tram which runs between the cities of Stormwind and Ironforge. Though you can take a flight between them, the tram is faster and cheaper (its free).
Hearthing
Another way of tranport is hearthing. You basically have a hearthstone which can be set to a inn in one of the cities or towns. Then you can hearth from wherever you are to that inn. Works reall great if you are in the opposite continent and want to come back to the other one.
It is rumored that in the next expansion we will get mounts which fly to our will ! I am sure it will cost like a million gold pieces or something :(
Friday, September 08, 2006
The begining
NightElves are one of the oldest races on the face of Azeroth. Living in unity with the nature forces, as a new adventurer, one starts off in the island of Teldarsil.
The quest to become the best starts of then and there with people with the big ! mark over their heads heralding that they have to give you some work. This is a major help as you dont have to run around figuring out where to go and find out who will give you a Quest.
Some background on the type of people you will find in the game. As mentioned players are either of the Alliance or the Horde, and you are bound to one side. But apart from the players, there are a lot of computer generated characters known as NCPs ( Non Playing Characters) and enemies.
NPCs are the characters in the world you can interact with and primarliy the ones who give you quests and to whom you have to come back to hand in a completed quest. They also provide many other services like if you want to buy or sell armour/weapons/gear. Some NPCs will be specific for your class and will only help you. E.g. the Hunter Trainer is the person I go to every alternate level to get training on better abilities. So, now , I can for instance Feign Death which means that the enemy thinks that I am dead and I can save myself from dying.
Enemies are the computer generated characters whom you have to kill mostly. They are of different types and levels. Everytime you kill them, there is a chance for them to drop some loot - which can be something quite mundane to something quite cool at higher levels. Suffice to say, at this stage there was hardly anything worthwile.
The quest to become the best starts of then and there with people with the big ! mark over their heads heralding that they have to give you some work. This is a major help as you dont have to run around figuring out where to go and find out who will give you a Quest.
Some background on the type of people you will find in the game. As mentioned players are either of the Alliance or the Horde, and you are bound to one side. But apart from the players, there are a lot of computer generated characters known as NCPs ( Non Playing Characters) and enemies.
NPCs are the characters in the world you can interact with and primarliy the ones who give you quests and to whom you have to come back to hand in a completed quest. They also provide many other services like if you want to buy or sell armour/weapons/gear. Some NPCs will be specific for your class and will only help you. E.g. the Hunter Trainer is the person I go to every alternate level to get training on better abilities. So, now , I can for instance Feign Death which means that the enemy thinks that I am dead and I can save myself from dying.
Enemies are the computer generated characters whom you have to kill mostly. They are of different types and levels. Everytime you kill them, there is a chance for them to drop some loot - which can be something quite mundane to something quite cool at higher levels. Suffice to say, at this stage there was hardly anything worthwile.
In the first hour or so, I was up at level 4 or so. The initial quests are quite simple and many of the enemies dont even attack you until you start attacking them. This helps anyone who is new to the game to get to know how to play.
One thing about WoW is that the landscape is beautiful. Check out these screenshots:
First LookDrink in the scenery. Soak up the atmoshpere. There is nothing quite like the fantastic views you will get as in World of Warcraft. Instead of making the world look like a real world, the developers decided on putting more colour and contrasts and a bit cartoony - to give a world which is just surreal in its beauty. Teldarsil is mostly covered with huge big trees, and you just get glimpses of the sky here and there through the shadows. It also makes you feel quite small :-)
Tree Ent !In the above screenshot - you see a hulking tree like creature straight out of the world of JRR Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings. These guys move at a slow pace and patrol the world of Teldarsil and keep it safe for low level players like me . At the left of the screen you can also see another player ( name in blue identifies a player who is on the same side as you. If that name was in Red I would be in big trouble as they will most likely be of the opposite side and be after my life ! If someone has been in a PvP the name is in Yellow-Golden. More on PvP in later blogs.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
What is the World of Warcraft ?
I am currently playing a game known as WoW ( for World of Warcraft). What sets this game apart from all the other games I own and play ( and that is quite a few) is that I have been playing this game for more than a month now ( i usually change games at least 2 times a month) , and it is online ( all hail broadband connections!)
WoW as it is more popularly known as , is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ( MMORPG). What this means is that you have thousands (nay millions) of players logging into servers, playing against or with each other.
Did not get it ? Ok. Lets assume you know about social sites like Orkut - where you can add people, make groups and have people joining in, leave scraps etc. Now think of all this in 3D. Think of all your friends not as static pictures but as real 3D figures - walking, fighting, drinking, cheering... That my friend is a MMORPG.
Though I have other blogs, and I was thinking of starting out writing on those, I thought it may make better sense to blog exclusively as a different blog. And hence this.
The first choice for you is to choose what you look like and what kind of abilities you have. Though there are 2 sides who keep fighting each other - both are cool. If you remember Warcraft , there were 2 basic races. The humans and the Orcs and they were at war with each other - and you could play both the sides. Similarly, you have the Alliance and the Horde.
Alliance are the goody goody guys . Humans, Night Elves , Dwarves and Goblins make it up.
Horde are the terrible guys who always want to kick the butts of the goody goody guys. They consist of the Orcs, Taureans, Trolls and Undead.
What you select decides on what you really want to play as. For myself, I chose the Night Elf race. I think elves are cool and look cool , especially with glowing eyes, and LOTR did leave a lasting impression on me.
Next chose your sex. No special bonuses - they just look that way.
Next chose your class. I am a hunter - but you have a large list to chose from. Be aware that some classes only are available to a few races. For instance, for you to be a Shaman, you have to play the side of the Horde, and Paladins are available to the Alliance only.
That's it . Chose your name and login. You will start off in one of the many starting locations based on your race.
Since you will miss out many of the details about the game without pics, I will update this blog with a variety of pics from my travels as time goes by. At present I have reached level 40 and am looking for making money to get a mount. But I have screenshots from other levels and will post them.
To whet your appetite and mine, here is an screenshot of what the game (and you) will look like at the higher levels.
Links you may find interesting :
WoW as it is more popularly known as , is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ( MMORPG). What this means is that you have thousands (nay millions) of players logging into servers, playing against or with each other.
Did not get it ? Ok. Lets assume you know about social sites like Orkut - where you can add people, make groups and have people joining in, leave scraps etc. Now think of all this in 3D. Think of all your friends not as static pictures but as real 3D figures - walking, fighting, drinking, cheering... That my friend is a MMORPG.
Though I have other blogs, and I was thinking of starting out writing on those, I thought it may make better sense to blog exclusively as a different blog. And hence this.
The first choice for you is to choose what you look like and what kind of abilities you have. Though there are 2 sides who keep fighting each other - both are cool. If you remember Warcraft , there were 2 basic races. The humans and the Orcs and they were at war with each other - and you could play both the sides. Similarly, you have the Alliance and the Horde.
Alliance are the goody goody guys . Humans, Night Elves , Dwarves and Goblins make it up.
Horde are the terrible guys who always want to kick the butts of the goody goody guys. They consist of the Orcs, Taureans, Trolls and Undead.
What you select decides on what you really want to play as. For myself, I chose the Night Elf race. I think elves are cool and look cool , especially with glowing eyes, and LOTR did leave a lasting impression on me.
Next chose your sex. No special bonuses - they just look that way.
Next chose your class. I am a hunter - but you have a large list to chose from. Be aware that some classes only are available to a few races. For instance, for you to be a Shaman, you have to play the side of the Horde, and Paladins are available to the Alliance only.
That's it . Chose your name and login. You will start off in one of the many starting locations based on your race.
Since you will miss out many of the details about the game without pics, I will update this blog with a variety of pics from my travels as time goes by. At present I have reached level 40 and am looking for making money to get a mount. But I have screenshots from other levels and will post them.
To whet your appetite and mine, here is an screenshot of what the game (and you) will look like at the higher levels.
Links you may find interesting :
BTW, I think I am the only person from India playing there. If you know of someone else who plays, please get them to contact me.
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