The WotLK Crapematic - 8.21.2008

What crap. I mean, ya it looks pretty and sounds great, but Blizzard cinematics always do.

This is one of the most boring cinematics I've ever seen Blizzard put out. They should be embarrassed by it. We don't need to see Arthas in every minute of every Blizzard cinematic. We know his story, we don't need to hear it yet again. Where were new player abilities in the cinematic? Where were the Death Knights (besides Arthas of course)? Where was the catch phrase?

Where were there any varieties of races and classes? I only saw three things. Arthas/Lich King (wow, haven't seen that before), a Frost Wyrm (okay, so that was new and kinda cool), and a horde of generic Scourge soldiers (BORING).

I wanted to see a few Death Knight's fighting Nerubians in Azjol-Nerub as they make their way to Anub'arak. I wanted to see an Orc Warrior utilizing Titan's Grip. I wanted to see Tirion Fordring wielding the Ashbringer and leading a charge of Paladins into a demon infested area. etc.

It just seems to me that Blizzard looked at everything that we like in the cinematics and took it out.

My final grade? 4/10 King Terenas' monologue "saved" it from being a complete pile of crap.

-Matt Graham

WotLK Cinematic in 3 Days - 8.18.2008

WoW Insider is reporting that they are getting reports (>.<) that the Wrath of the Lich King cinematic will be premiering at the Leipzig Gaming Convention on August 21st at 1:00 PM. That's in 3 days and almost two months earlier than most people expected; most thought that we'd see it at BlizzCon. What a great way for Blizzard to steal the spotlight so they can hold it for two months before it shines on them again!

For one, this is pretty awesome. It's a very unexpected surprise - something that we don't usually see with Blizzard. Also, this makes room for more announcements concerning WoW at BlizzCon.

Hopefully Gnome will finally make an appearance! :D

-Matt Graham

WoW Movie of the Year - 8.12.2008

The following embedded machinima is called "Born Again Ret". It's by a Holy Paladin turned Retribution named Lakez. It has my vote for "WoW Movie of the Year". And yes, I had to check and make sure that Tales of the Past III was released back in 2007 before I made that statement.


Born again Ret from Lakez Coffy on Vimeo.

-Matt Graham

Past "WoW Killers" - 8.9.2008

Wow. They sure were off.

"Out of all the upcoming MMOs, Dungeons and Dragons Online stands the best chance of being able to go head-to-head with World of Warcraft. D&D is not just a popular franchise but it is the father of all RPGs, will actually provide stories, and will innovate the industry with extremely deep game play."

"Look for [Lord of the Rings Online] to easily surpass Star Wars Galaxies if it captures the magic of the franchise[,] but it will probably not be a genre-buster like Dungeons and Dragons Online."

"[Auto Assault] should provide plenty of excitement and carve out a nice little nice as a car combat MMO."

"[RF Online is a] Sci-fi/fantasy MMO that is sure to turn heads when it is released due to the awesome looking robot battle units that you can control and jaw-dropping graphics. The blend of fantasy and sci-fi has a little bit of a Japanese cartoon feel to it that should set RF Online apart from other major games in the genre."

"Without question, a pirate MMO[, Pirates of the Burning Sea,] is a welcome change since fantasy and sci-fi seem to be done to death these days. Who wouldn't want to sail the high seas looking for adventures, ship battles, and stealing booty. Look for this one to be a leader in the non-fantasy niche."

"Not only is Conan a large entertainment franchise, but it also should make a great MMO with its gritty and barbaric world. How brutal will the world be? You start out alone until you are strong enough to survive in the massive part of the game. Believe or not, but this game may actually do better than Lord of the Rings Online. In fact, Age of Conan has the second best chance of being a rival to WoW after D&D online."

Possible Killers Ranked by Potential Impact

1. Dungeons and Dragons Online
2. Age of Conan
3. Huxley
4. RF Online
5. Lord of the Rings Online
6. Pirates of the Burning Sea
7. Auto Assault
8. SUN

Wow...

-Matt Graham

/AFK - 8.1.2008

I'm gone until Wednesday night. See ya!

-Matt Graham