Comic #6: One of us, one of us, one of us...

Well it's been a while, and the reason is that in the intervening time between the massive anticlimax that was the death of Yogg-Saron and the present date, I've effectively decided to quit raiding. I just kind of woke up one day and remembered all the awesome stuff I wasn't doing with my time because I was stuck in WoW 5 nights a week, and I decided that something had to give.

The comic isn't directly about my situation though - it's more a comment on the general status quo of the game. Once I broke out of the "raiding > all" mindset, I took a look at the actual game I was playing. I compared it with other games. And I realised that the real, deep down reason I don't want to quit completely has nothing at all to do with the content, or the lore, or the OMGPURPLZ, or the game itself. Purely and simply my guild has become a part of my social circle, these people are my friends now, and I'm a loyal kind of guy. I can't just walk off and leave them, I care about them.

And that's how they keep you hooked, isn't it. That's the real genius. Blizzard can afford to basically do as much or as little as they want, the social aspect of this game will almost guarantee an ongoing multimillion dollar revenue stream provided they are able to churn out content that is anything bar utterly, totally shithouse. And Ulduar is definitely not shithouse. It's a reasonably fun, easy raid with pretty graphics and a woefully anaemic storyline. It's not amazing, but it's not horrible either.

The thing that makes me angry is that standing on its own merits, there's no way I'd keep paying my monthly sub to play through it. Hell if it was a single-player game I probably wouldn't even buy it. And I get so confused when I think about the sense of menace I felt going into Black Temple in TBC, and I wonder how these two raids could have been created by the same people.

So, can't raid, can't quit. Only one option left then...

Comic #5: Yogg-who??

WE DOWNED YOGG-SARON!!!

Guys?? Uh...Titans we saved? Kirin-Tor dudes?

Anyone?

Does anyone want to know that the evil immortal being threatening the entire continent of Northrend has been destroyed?

No?

Ok...guess I'll...uh...pick up my epix and be on my way then :(

Seriously, with the introduction of phasing and the strength of the WoW lore and the amount of storytelling experience Blizzard have, so so so much more could have been done with the buildup and the aftermath of this encounter. It could have been so much more atmospheric, so much more dynamic, so much more alive than it is. You kill him, he dies, you're left standing in a cave with a dead Old God and a bunch of silent Titans watching you. Nobody even says "Well done" when you get back outside. Nobody's even happy that you did it. The titans don't thank you. You are greeted with a crashing wave of indifference. And that kinda makes you feel like you just shouldn't have fucking bothered.

In the past, when you killed a raid boss, you took its head and put it on a pike in the middle of your city, for everyone to see. Or a giant burning sigil appeared in the air in the middle of Shattrath. There was a satisfying consequence to your actions. Even if it was just A'Dal saying "Grats" and giving you a ring and a title for killing Magtheridon, there was something. This time around, apparently, nobody gives a damn.

Anyway, comic:

Comic #4 - Nerfs

Well, I gotta say that for me, launch-day Ulduar was pretty much perfect in terms of difficulty, not counting the bugs. That pre-nerf Razorscale encounter was awesome, having to split DPS up into kill teams and focus fire onto the caster mobs and interrupt the chain lightning OR EVERYBODY DIES was a little bit of Tier 6 raiding all over again. It was hard, but not too hard, and for me and my guildies it was just right. Likewise, XT-002's tantrum was a big deal, because it would kill you unless you did something about it. Auriaya's pull was brutal, and it was a real buzz when you finally got it right and downed her.

No more, my friends. No more. I caught myself saying "Just gather up and AoE" during trash the other night. I hoped those were words I'd never say in Ulduar, not until we outgeared everything at least. Now, I just find myself wondering how long before it's just T7 Naxx Part II.

I understand the focus for WotLK is to get the bulk of players into raid content. It's just unfortunate that this process has the side-effect of cheapening the overall experience. Raiding was once a shy, pure virgin, picky about who was allowed into her secret, vulnerable inner circle, demanding that only the most skillful and dedicated be allowed to breach her maidenhead. Now, it's more like that slutty friend of your little sister's, the one who wears too much makeup for her age, skirts that look like belts and bras that are too small on purpose.

Heed me well: the sad, dead look in her eyes will haunt you long, long after the beast with two backs has been made and forgotten. You will only remember that you took advantage of something that should have asked more of you but didn't. Before this metaphor becomes too arousing inappropriate, allow me to summarise: epix aren't epic unless you had to *do* something epic to get them!

TL,DR: CAN THE "BULK" OF THE WoW PLAYERS THAT RAIDING IS NOW BALANCED FOR PLEASE STOP SUCKING SO ENORMOUSLY HARD AND GETTING EVERYTHING NERFED, K THX

Comic #3 - He just doesn't quit

Mimiron. The name alone makes the pit of my stomach boil with wrath. This is one of those "Oh let's throw fifty potential random causes of death at the players simultaneously and watch them run around for a bit lololo" fights that Blizzard seem to cook up from time to time. Kinda like Archimonde, but without the epic feeling when you kill him, or the weight of the lore behind him, or the fact that he's threatening the existance of your whole reality.

And, AND: he has an annoying nasal gnomey voice that drives you to the brink of spontaneous combustion when you're forced to listen to it again and again, because someone stepped on a mine while running away from an electroshock and being hit by gunfire while trying to avoid a missile and stay in melee range to attack the middle part because the bottom part is almost dead guys FFS DPS THE MIDDLE AND DON'T GET HIT BY "SPINNING UP".

Honestly, I'd rather have Kael's neverending monologue from TK than this little asshole any day of the week. Anyway, he's dead but the fact that you don't actually *kill* him leaves you with no satisfaction, no vindication for the torment you've endured, just a hollow, empty feeling and the taste of ashes in your mouth. And somehow, the next day, the mere memory is still annoying you even though, technically, you won.

Hence the comic:

Comic #2 - Everybody hurts...sometimes

I defy any single World of Warcraft player with a lv80 character to come forward and say that this has *not* happened to them at some point.

This post brought to you by the Orgrimmar Zeppelin Towers: proving that the cause of your fury doesn't need to be complex.

Click the thumbnail for the comic!

Comic #1 - Sarthariony

Ok, so this actually happened. Our GM at the time was one of those ranty-shouty angry GMs. He would get furious a lot, and that's why I liked him because I understand getting angry when people stand in fires or let the tank die on the pull or ask you for help crossing the street because they're an old lady.

Unfortunately in this instance the fury had an unintended comedic effect because it reminded everyone almost word-for-word of another different furious GM, whose fury was so furious it has become the stuff of legend. The best part is that he actually didn't realise it until it was too late.

Click the thumbnail for the comic!

What the hell, man?

So, I'm Drew, I used to sing in a metal band, I play a lot of World of Warcraft, and I make a habit of writing sarcastic ranting monologues into internal emails at work and random forums and assorted other places where they will never be seen by the wider internet-dwelling population of planet Earth.
Up until now I have persevered in the belief that this is actually a good thing, but people keep telling me I should do more with myself and put my writing "out there", and also stop clogging up the office email with foul language and pictures of cats. So, as a result, this blog has now been born, screaming and snapping its foul, hungry demon beak for the attention of millions of indifferent too-cool wwweb-denizen bastards worldwide. Its subject is simple: "World of Warcraft", and "Things that make Drew angry". My rage is somewhat legendary and can be quite startling, even to those who are used to it, hence the awesome clever title of the blog. "Wow! Rage!" except it's like...WoW as an acronym for World of Warcraft, and that creates the double-entendre which...oh nevermind. Why are you here? I mean, really? Don't you have Twitter posts to make? Or restaurants to look up on your iPhone?

I swore I'd never write a blog. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Anyway, moving right along: I also make comics. Being a generally furious man, I instantly took a liking to the Rage Guy meme the first second I saw it. If you don't know about Rage Guy, the concept is simple. He's a guy who is angry about things that happen. Like me!! Oh, I love you Rage Guy.

I took my new love of Rage Guy, and I combined it with my old self-harming dependancy for World of Warcraft, and I made a bunch of comics and posted them on my guild forums. People there said they were stupid and I should post them somewhere else, so HERE YOU ARE INTERNET. I hope you enjoy them.

~Drewcifer