My Time with a Beta: Playing a Video Game, Not With a Fish

So I recently played hours of the new expansion for World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor. I thought I would share how I felt about it with you. I will start off at the beginning of the Draenor quests, a battle for the Dark Portal. Very first thing I noticed was this was a big battle. Much like first getting into Outlands in The Burning Crusade. You are tasked to try and fight back the onslaught of the Iron Horde. The horde and the alliance start off in Tanaan Jungle, which will be familiar to veterans because you can still see Hellfire in it. That is one thing I have really liked so far, is that you can feel the old Outland stuff there, but it is all new as well.

It is soon noticed, that you will be losing this fight if you don't regroup and get out of there. The next group of quests have you running from one place to another, picking up new people and trying to out run various Orc warlords, like Bladefist and Kilrogg. After a few fights and some close saves from Khadgar. After a really cool intro, one that felt very much like the first few hours of Pandaria or at least until you got to Dawn's Blossom, you are sent to the starting zones, for the Alliance it is Shadowmoon Valley and for the Horde it is, Frostfire Ridge.

Both zones, the first quest chain you do, is to start your garrison. I only got into it a bit, but if you have played some of the popular games on mobile devices, you probably will be familiar with this. You start off with gathering resources and killing mobs so you can build the garrison. Then they teach you how to build buildings.

It plays, in my opinion, much like games like Clash of Clans or any other light RTS games. You simply click it and it begins being built. When it is done, you can send people out to do stuff for you. Each person that goes out, has abilities you can use to make sure the job gets done, sometimes someone just isn't good for the job. I ended up with 3 or 4 people before the last beta reset and I did lose a mission, but mostly I won them making sure who I sent had something to counter the boss of the mission. I honestly couldn't get rid of the feeling of it being just another mini game like pet battles.

I thought it was interesting, in that even in Pandaria, you were called commander, now you actually have troops working for you, and you actually feel like you are part of the battles instead of just one way overly powered person, taking on the world. (Though that feeling is still there.) I do not see me playing in great detail, with the garrisons, though I will do what I can like I did my farm to get things done on at least one toon.

I liked the Horde side a bit more, as that even when you finished the big battle, you still were fighting the ogres to gain control of the fortress. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I was just doing the same quests all over again. And that brings me to my complaint with the expansion. I have done this before. Yes there is a lot of excitement for new things to explore, places to see, new quests, new experiences, but is it really that different than anything else I have done in WoW for the last 5+ years? No it is not.

I love World of Warcraft. It has been a great game and a huge part of my life over the years. I have met so many wonderful and amazing people whom I still talk with even outside of the game. But with the all the new MMOs that have come out, and will come out, and all the new gameplay  mechanics that they use,  WoW is just feeling very dated to me.


I recently played the beta and also dozens of hours of Wildstar and though it feels much like WoW, it feels much newer than WoW. WoW has managed to keep what made it so great to begin with, but it has never grown past that. It has been on a steady decline and I sadly feel this expansion won't be bringing back the legions like they would like it to. Mind you, World of Warcraft still has the largest subscription base and active players of any MMO out there, and they will for sometime, but I really feel it is the end of the game for me.

I have already bought the expansion, and I will give it a good play when it comes out this November, but I do not see me going for the long haul in the game anymore. I hate to lose my friends that I have met, but thanks to some great apps by Blizzard, like the battle.net app I can stay in touch even if I am not playing anymore.

Couple things I really liked is that you can now assign bags for certain things, equipment,  consumables and trade goods. These are nice since I had tended to do that anyways, keeping some things in my first bag, and others in my last bag. Another is that when you mouse over an NPC, mob or player, they highlight noticeably different, kind of like an aura, and even at a distance, you can tell if it is friendly or hostile.  They have added a toy box for all those small items that are unique but not needed, like your Brewfest Pony Keg, your Elune's Lantern, Cremating Torch, and the things you made from Archaeology and many more.

I am sure there will be many people praising the new expansion, and many people condemning it as well. It has some nice features, but I just couldn't escape the feeling that it wasn't for me anymore. I feel like for everything they add that I like, I am tired of, bored of, or just not thrilled anymore by, something else. My feelings may change when I can play the final game with my friends, but sadly I do not believe that to be the case. I feel the garrisons are just too weak to be the main focus and selling point of an entire expansion. (Yes I do realize that I never got a chance to grow my garrison completely, but to be brutally honest, I can play games that are very similar for free on my tablet or phone.) I guess eventually we need to move on and forge ahead a new thrilling path for our lives. What we learned, who we met, and the experiences we had will never leave us, they are part of us. We are not the same people when we started, and I like to think that I am better off than I was before with every person that has come my way.

Fear That Keeps You Here

Fear. I know I happen to be afraid of many things. Some kinda stupid, not as stupid as a button phobia, but there are things that make my fingers feel like I want to rip the skin off them. There are things that make me want to run and hide beneath the covers, there are things out there that I don't even know that I am afraid of yet.

I am scared of the dark. Yep. It is true. Some people do not believe me, but I am afraid of going out after dark and there being something just beyond my sight, waiting to devour me. So much so that when I come home after dark, from work, I calmly walk onto the porch and then with all the speed I can muster in the last 10 feet, I push through the door and slam it closed behind me. Fact: Closed doors keep all scary things out.

I am also afraid of being alone. Yes I say often and I do mean it, that I hate people. I cant stand stupid people, stupid drivers, and I really do wish I could have the road all to myself, or to a few dozen people that know how to drive. But I don't really want people to disappear. I fear the loneliness of being... well alone. I don't want to be alone, I just want a better class of people around me. Ones more like me than like the dumb driver who starts pulling onto the circle before I am even at the intersection and have to wonder if he is going to sideswipe me.

I am afraid of being uncomfortable. I am 'Murikin! I deserve to be comfortable, I deserve my foods on the tables, the womens cooking it all day, all the while, cleaning the house! Ok I am joking about that last bit, but I am afraid of not having my comforts that I have grown to enjoy and love. I am afraid of not having a home to rest in. Afraid of uncertainty and instability. But that maybe is where there is the biggest problem among Christians in 'Murika. Maybe we have grown too comfortable and placid with where we are.

Imagine if David was afraid. Well, though the Bible doesn't say so, I bet David was pretty darn afraid when he walked out onto the field with a slingshot and some stones to face down Goliath. There stood Goliath, a giant among a battlefield of men, a great warrior among his people, and across from him, stood a boy, with no weapons but a slingshot. It wasn't even a slingshot, it was just a sling. I bet Goliath was pretty sure who was going to be the dead one in a few minutes.

I bet David's heart was racing. Fear I am sure kept nudging him, "Dude, you should at least get some armor. Man, why don't you have a sword, or spear, heck even a hammer?" I bet there were tons of thoughts in David's head trying to stop him from going out on that field that day.

What would have happened if David had been too afraid to go fight? The Philistines might have beat the Hebrews in battle that day. God would surely not have shown so brightly before the rest of the world. God might have been thought of as a joke, much like people now think he is.

What if Daniel was afraid to speak the truth to the king? The king had been killing his 'wise men' because they were not able to interpret the dreams he was having. He was angry when Daniel had heard about this and asked God to reveal the dream and what it meant, so that he could tell the king. What if Daniel had been afraid to ask to see the king? Kept silent while the king was killing men over and over. God would not have been glorified, and Nebuchadnezzar would not have proclaimed Daniel's God to be God of gods.

What would happen if you were so afraid to lose your comforts, your toys, your house, or worse, your life? What might happen? Would people continue to die, not hearing about the only God who can truly save them? Stay in bondage and miserable instead of knowing a God who can give them freedom and joy? How would God's glory be shown among the nations? How will our kings ever proclaim, God is God of gods.

My fear of the dark is small, and insignificant compared to the fear of going out there and telling every man, women, boy and girl about Jesus. If I told one person, who truly got it, truly loved it, truly lived it, then if that shadow in the dark devoured me, how more amazing would life be?

What I have said is hard. Believe me, I am terrified of having to be out there, with strangers that hate me just because I am a Christian, and telling them of Jesus, but it needs to be done. I do not want to lose a thing that I have, but Jesus has told me to give them all to him already, why do I keep holding on? I am not a brave man, but I know my God's love is so much greater than anything else. We are not called, but commanded to go out there to all nations and share the good news that is Jesus.

It is the fear that keeps us here. Fear that keeps us settled in our church pews, enjoying one hour of idle worship a week. It is fear that keeps a wall between those who do not go to church and those that do. It is fear that keeps Christians from being strong like Joshua, brave like David, wise like Solomon, patient like Moses, faithful like Abraham, enduring like Noah, bold like Elijah, devoted like Daniel, and a teacher like Paul. Fear keeps us from being like our namesake, Christ Jesus.

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10