OH NOES!

I renewed my WoW subscription.

I to had look at some of the shiny new changes they made. I really like the idea of achievements and having a separate container for pets and mounts is a much-welcome change. But it kinda feels like they should have been in place a year ago.  I know, I'm a complainer.

I did get in a quick four-man of Zul Gurub - that was tons of fun. We did pretty well also, making it all the way to  the Edge of Madness. Our group consisted of a Druid for tank, a Shaman for heals, and a Mage and a Rogue for dps. Sadly to take down High Priest Thekal we needed just a bit more dps - the timing in getting all three mobs down before they resurrect each other was too much for us without the additional damage. That and I had to set up my keys on the fly, was struggling to stay asleep and haven't played in a month. Suffice it to say, my equipment was solid red by the time I ported out.

And the best thing about getting all wrapped up in WoW again for a few hours? I got a totally brilliant idea for the next expansion (before this one is even released ... even before I have sufficiently immasculated myself enough to actually purchase the abomination).

OK, so the idea: repurpose all the level-duplicate zones into new high-level content zones. If leveling from 1-60 is a zip-bang affair, why not do away with redundant zones? For instance, Stranglethorn Vale, Arathi Highlands and Swamp of Sorrows all have pretty similar level ranges. Once you reach your 20s and beyond why should you have so many quests in different zones?

In the beginning, I think, this was a good design decision. It gave the world a big, open feel and players had numerous options on how to level their characters. It helped separate Horde and Alliance a bit. Of course a lot of people power-leveled their characters from the beginning and that is now fully endorsed as a play-style by Blizzard in the form of end-game development and the more recent leveling-speed boosts.

So now we have this big, empty world.

Why not pull a Warhammer on Azeroth and create a seamless two-continent leveling path with the disused zones being redeveloped into level 80 (or 80-90 more likely) zones? You could have players leveling 30-40 in refined Arathi Highlands and make Strangelthorn Vale a level 80 zone.

DDO gets right into the Dragons

I've been playing DDO off and on as well mainly to experience the new introduction areas - this game has come a long way in the past couple years. To be honest with you, I've come to look at DDO as one of the better MMOs available right now in terms of originality.

I also have something of a fetish for it's weird, synthesizer music soundtrack. It reminds me of music that seemed to grace a lot of the weird and cheesy sci fi and fantasy movies in the late 70s. I can't get enough.

But the new storyline is great, and the type of thing I love to see in an MMO type setting. The addition of hirelings is also welcome. The seemless integration of the hireling mechanic into the very beginning of the story was also delightful. For a better breakdown (with screenshots) of the new player experience, Syncaine of Pumping Irony has made several informative posts.

I don't think too much of the new character creation system, but as I've mentioned before I'm the type who always hits "customize" in every game that lets me. I can see how the new system would be even easier than the old system for a total D&D newb.

But sadly, I may wind up allowing both my DDO and WoW subscription lapse, as I have finally gone and bought Fallout 3. That's right, it is downloading over Steam as we speak. I was going to pass it up and focus on other games in the hope it will eventually come down to $30 (I'm not a big fan of buying games that cost more than $40), but what the hell? This is a quality title.

And while I'm certain FO3 will hold my interest in the long term, in the short I may set it on the back-burner and focus on LOTRO or continue to scratch my Colonization and Team Fortress 2 itches. I am, however, confident that Left4Dead will be holding my attention like all it's Source-based counterparts I've played and that release is but a mere few weeks away.

But I'm almost certain at this point I won't be bothering with WotLK until next year, if at all. Decisions, decisions - what is the deal with fall and all the new titles, lol?