Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: Are you catching up on out-of-game activities?
by Josh Rose 
Sep 8th 2010 at 8:00AM
Before the maddening world changes of Cataclysm hit and we follow the shark with freakin' laser beams down to level our toons to 85, we are left with the question of what to do for the next few months. As with both previous expansions, it becomes sort of a waiting game for new content. The apathy of "why bother?" hits, and logging on becomes less and less frequent -- logging on just to check the AH, or for a guild raid, or to do dailies, and quickly off again, waiting with anticipation for when you can fly in the old world.
Some of us are hardcore gamers, but like many WoW players who get engrossed in our game of choice, we may have missed some of the other stellar video games that came out this year. Are you catching up on these titles while you wait for the next nugget of WoW content to come out? Or are you a TV and movie viewer, catching up on shows? Or are you catching up on real-life stuff you missed while in game, like spending time with friends and family and getting caught up with work, so you can take those couple of days off when Cataclysm actually launches?
Personally, I found that I fit into multiple categories here, spending time with my girlfriend, gaining relationship points for the inevitable amount I am going to tick her off when Cataclysm launches. I have also been playing some games I missed in the meantime, such as Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Awakenings -- well, not so much missed, but saw their shortcuts glaring at me, waiting on me to play them, while I logged in to WoW instead.
So where do you fit? Where are your spare hours going, since you aren't in Azeroth as much? Or are you in game just as much as you always were?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
metalupis Sep 8th 2010 8:34AM
I've been finishing up various XBox 360 games that I have, cause I know when Cata comes out WoW will once again consume all my free time.
Thomas Prescott Sep 8th 2010 10:43AM
I've been playing the new Mass Effect 2 DLC that just released yesterday. Lair of the Shadow Broker is probably the best ME2 DLC so far.
Tim Sep 8th 2010 8:35AM
I actually try to play an hour or 2 a day. Want to level up my first Horde toon. But I am also trying to watch the last 3 seasons of NCIS before season 8 starts, along with other Summer shows I like. Whew! Thassa lot of tv watching!
omedon666 Sep 8th 2010 8:38AM
Becoming bored with FFXIII in the last 1/3 or so of the game (the "trash" on gran pulse feel like mini bosses), I've rediscovered White Knight Chronicles, and really should get around to finishing Dragon age, or starting Star Ocean: The last hope, while I anxiously await this year's WWE Smackdown Vs Raw offering. Looking forward to the roster reveal today! You're either Nexus, or you're against us!
Kylenne Sep 8th 2010 1:51PM
I got FF13 at release and beat it shortly thereafter. The trick with Gran Pulse is to just keep the story going and ignore everything else. 90% of the sidequesting there is stupidly difficult and all but impossible to complete when you first get there. Some of it literally impossible, since a number of paths and side areas are blocked ala the mecha guarding the Vector palace entrance in FF6. Weird as it sounds, the VAST majority of that content is best done after you've beaten the game and you have access to the entire Crystarium. Grinding CP will help you get through the required story content down there though, if you're having trouble with those mobs too. IIRC I found a pretty sweet spot in a corridor in the mines past the Not!Calm Lands. Abuse of preemptive attacks is your friend.
It's really sad that so much of Pulse is basically off-limits when you get there, because that's when the game finally starts feeling like Final Fantasy and less like Diablo on rails.
jealouspirate Sep 8th 2010 8:54AM
My WoW schedule is basically the same as its always been. I play WoW a certain amount per day, and then have a bunch of other real-life activities I maintain. I don't need to 'catch-up' on real life, because I haven't neglected it.
I'm not really a raider, so my enjoyment of WoW isn't contingent upon new raids being released. I haven't burnt out because I ALWAYS play on my own schedule. I'm never forced to log on when I don't want to because of a raid or other group commitment. Honestly, I'm convinced that raiding is the best way to get burnt out and bored with the game.
Darkseid Sep 8th 2010 8:48AM
I've seriously had God of War III sitting infront of my PS3 for months now. Package opened but game never played. I'd like to get to that sometime before Cataclysm launches. But I also have to practice with the BE rogue I just started, so I wont suck at the class when I go to play my female Worgen rogue come cataclysm. Plus, I also started a Gnome mage to get me back used to questing on the Alliance side (its been a loooong time), again in preperation for playing my worgen on the Alliance side.
Just aren't enough hours in the day. :-)
Erzfiend Sep 8th 2010 9:12AM
It's school for me. And I am starting to get a bit bored with current content. I did get into the beta, so doing that whe I can. Goblins are badass. That is all.
Gimmlette Sep 8th 2010 9:35AM
I'm in WOW for the most part, as much as I have been. I still have things I want to get done before Cataclysm. I'm not on my alts as much and there are days when I don't log on as early as I used to but I still log on and still play.
SunGod228 Sep 8th 2010 9:36AM
Playing some TF2 and LFD1&2
The guilds been farming ICC 10 achievements but we only really need 1 night a week for that.
Leveling an alliance alt
Playing some console games I want to finish up.
Just finished reading The First Law (Excellent trilogy btw!)
Anomandred Sep 8th 2010 9:54AM
Before WOW I spent a lot of time on the XBOX, now hardy ever, though that will probably change when HALO Reach comes out next week. At the moment though still saving hard to get enough money for some epic mount action. Yes I am that new to the game. So not really waiting for CATA but working on getting my toons ready for the challenge.
Joakim Sep 8th 2010 9:55AM
Who cares about an undead king!?
There's a Blight to stop!
(Not to mention getting it on with Leilana - and/or Zevran)
:)
(The biggest problem I've found with alternating Dragon Age; Origins and Awakening, and WoW, is - the pause.
I tried to pause my warlock some time ago. She jumped. Then I realized my brain had been rewired to the DaO UI.
Oops.)
Aquaryon Sep 8th 2010 12:29PM
Hah yes!!! DA:O UI and WoWs UI always keep getting mix in my head. I am now playing an Arms Warrior in WoW but... I also play an Arms... Warrior in DA:O... confusing!
Sharvis Sep 8th 2010 9:57AM
I've been unsubscribed from WoW since mid-August actually. I've been waiting for new content to subscribe again. Now that the pre-Cataclysm events are starting up, I'll have to get back in to experience them. But I may just wait a week as I'm busy with other things at the moment.
flint Sep 8th 2010 9:57AM
I can't bring myself to play console games, for some reason. I've actually been playing my DS a lot, and it's fun, but I haven't touched my XBOX in ages. I think it's because the only games I really have for it are FF XIII and Dragon Age: Origins, and in both games, I'm stuck on a boss I can't kill. I do have some other games, but I don't really like em (they're my brother's FPS games).
Darky Sep 8th 2010 10:09AM
if your stuck on barth make sure you have haste or you will have a VERY hard time, also a mistake i made was using a tank; I used lightning - healer/dps - synergist/dps and beat it 4 minutes under the PAR time.
Kylenne Sep 8th 2010 2:04PM
Bart really isn't difficult at all if you've been keeping up on your Crystarium and know how the battle system works. He's purely an endurance test, tbh. I remember beating him well under the target time.
If you're not fighting him on the airship, your first mistake is using Vanille, because she sucks. Hope is a much better healer/glass cannon, especially by that point in the game, because he gets all the good buffs first. You're going to want to use him as heals/nukes, Lightning as nukes/chain setup and either Fang or Snow as your tank. I prefer using Fang as my tank even though Snow has slightly higher HP because Fang has higher str and gets all those wicked debuffs way early, which are extremely helpful when fighting him.
If you are fighting him on the airship, I would suggest going back and grinding CP in the hallways/outside part, it's a great spot in general because the mobs drop pricey vendor trash and very useful gear modding parts. Either way, be sure you have paradigms set up like Med/Sent/Med (I forget what that's called) in case of emergencies, etc. I find that 90% of people's problems in that game boil down to being underleveled and/or paradigm fail (not having the right ones set up in advance, not knowing when to switch, etc).
flint Sep 8th 2010 4:07PM
Vanille's that bad? I find her debuffing to be very useful (though I don't know if it works on bosses), and she's not a bad healer. I also like Sazh for his buffs; right now, all Hope has are spell resistance buffs, I think.
But now that I think about it, the reason I lost is because when Bart was charging up his big attack (the first time you fight him), I went defensive, I didn't realize that if I kept attacking, the attack would cancel. I looked it up later, but I never got around to trying it again.
But thanks for all the advice, I have a 4 day weekend, I think I'll play some FF XIII then =)
Tarvos Sep 8th 2010 10:01AM
I haven't had too much of a change, mostly since I do put RL before WoW (shocking I know). That being said, I'm actually working on my alts more so than my main, so that I have multiple characters to work through when Cataclysm launches. As for out of game content, I'm actually reading more - I've had several books to catch up on (both for pleasure and for class, damn you grad school >_
joshbuddha Sep 8th 2010 10:04AM
The only odd thing about going from Dragon Age to WoW is I constantly hold TAB looking for my loots to light up, when I am in a dungeon...