The Closeout Warrior

I mentioned that I played Final Fantasy XI for a time. I really liked the concept, but ran into some issues. Mostly going to school full time, working full time at a retail store in the evenings, and trying to not fail catastrophically at either of those things. This left precious little time to play games of any sort, much less games that take a massive time investment. So, after I shelved my character, I realized that it would be a scant couple of months before the next new hot thing in massively multiplayer online role playing games was getting much much nearer to completion than I was aware of.

So I did some digging, signed up for the ‘open beta’ and gave the game a try.

And I liked what I saw.

World of Warcraft follows the story laid down in the Warcraft series and picks up just after the conclusion of III. But it’s nothing like other games in the series. You, an adventurer, have decided to venture out into the world. What do you do? Well, quite a bit. You can slay monsters, craft and sell items, do quests, socialize, or some combination of those. And there are thousands upon thousands (though now millions) of other people doing the same thing in the same game world. It’s pretty crazy to think about.

What makes this game a bit more accessible than Final Fantasy XI is that it’s quite a bit more friendly to the casual player, the solo player, and the casual solo player. There’s plenty of cooperative content, too, but if you’ve only got a bit of time at odd hours to squeeze in like I did, then this game might be for you.

I invested a lot of time into this game, but my odd schedule meant that the group of regulars I played with often were unavailable, so I did most of it solo. And a game like this has a certain amount of fun for the soloers, but that wears thin after a while.

I played in a few ‘pick up groups’ to lengthen the game’s appeal, but I had a bit of trouble finding folks that I could deal with. I’ve mentioned before that I like playing multiplayer games like this, even though I don’t really like using them to make new friends; I prefer to play with people that I know in real life. So, after about eight months, I retired my character. I still keep up with the game a bit, with the happenings and the changes. The game now only partially resembles the game I left, so I hear the call to come back occasionally. And since Blizzard’s character retention policy is quite a bit less restrictive than Square’s is for their MMO offering, I may try it again someday.

A few months after I bought the original Warcraft III I played through most of the single-player mode, in between savage beatings at multi-player. The story actually gets kind of interesting. It deals with the rise and corruption of a young prince and the world-altering consequences of his actions. It’s pretty typical Greek tragedy stuff. The Frozen Throne picks up pretty well where the original game left off, you, in control of the corrupt prince scheming with a more powerful entity in a ridiculously circuitous plan to get even more powerful.

I had a hard time following the story after a while, but I got the highlights.

The game is pretty well identical to the base game, but just with more. Which is the whole point of an expansion, I guess. It also closes the story arc started in the first game, answers some questions, and raises still more.

Oh, there’s gobs more added to the story, I can’t hope to convey it all in the space I have here. But this game also really shines in the multi-player arena, just like the base game did. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t get this game primarily so I could enhance my multi-player experience. Although I still took my losses straight up the poop chute, I still got my money out of it.

I never actually played Warcraft II, even though I did play and like the original game. I suppose that’s because II looked like it was very similar to the first game, and I didn’t think it was worth my time.

Several years later, I was working with a gentleman who was affiliated with a large Blizzard fansite. As such, he had access to the beta of Warcraft III, which he brought over and demoed at a LAN party I threw at my house. I was then immediately interested in the series again.

Warcraft III, like its progenitor, is a strategy game in which you and your opponents all work in real time. This is to say, you don’t take turns. So it really tests your speed, reflexes, and ability to change strategies on the fly. And once you get really good, it can get a little tough to follow what’s going on.

The story in this game is far more fleshed out and in depth than it was back in the Orcs and Humans days. In fact, you could just play through the single-player mode and get quite a lot out of the experience.

Although the single player mode of this game is pretty good, I really spent my time playing (and losing horribly) multiplayer games. Trying to out think, outmaneuver, and out strategize an actual person is usually pretty tough. And though it turns out that I’m really bad at it, I still enjoyed it. I also was intrigued by the seemingly endless possible strategies. Even though I never really executed them, I still liked watching other people do them, which is some kind of victory, right?