Posts with tag wow-casually

Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime.

Nothing says Winter Veil like a skanky santa outfit. Ho ho ho, indeed. The winter holidays in Azeroth have enough sex and violence (mostly violence) to counteract all of the feel-good, family-friendly holiday cheer going on in the real world. It's exactly what you need after going anywhere near a mall parking lot at this time of year.

In-game holidays are always good for those of us with limited playtime because the quests give good experience, fun loot and there are often entertaining stories and activities to go along with it. The Feast of Winter Veil is no exception. While it doesn't have the ridiculous xp of the Midsummer Fire Festival or Hallows End, it does have some great Achievements, virtual toys and enough xp to make it worth your while. Following is a casual player's guide to the festivities.

I have a confession to make. I don't have as much time to play this game as I'd like. With the Holidays coming around, there's just a lot to be done... last minute shopping for gifts, family dinners, and rushing work all on top of taking care of an increasingly hyperactive thirteen month old toddler. My wife and I find it difficult to raid with our future Horde crying for attention and trying to tug at our set-ups' wires from underneath our tables. With merely a few hours a week to play, I think my wife and I have become something of casual players.

That said, we've gotten our share of playing time and snagged a few epics here and there. I made sure to craft myself a Titansteel Destroyer and a Spiked Titansteel Helm just so I don't have to worry about drops from normal Naxxramas. Not that we do it a lot, anyway. I log in roughly every 2.5 hours to make sure I play some Wintergrasp and do the dailies there. My wife makes sure to do at least her Jewelcrafting daily quest and logs in to Research or Smelt Titansteel. Even casually, though, the game's been pretty good to us. Wrath gives such awesome rewards now that even with little playing time, we slowly get geared up.

What would you say are the best things to do with casual play? I thought it was an appropriate question because a lot of us are going to get some playing time this weekend and with the Holidays coming around. This is usually Robin Torres' domain, and she has excellent suggestions every time (another WoW Casually is coming out today, yay!). What are you casual players doing this weekend? What gives the most bang for the buck? I was planning to do Wintergrasp, but maybe you've got a better suggestion...

Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime.

Patch 3.0.8 is on the horizon and there are a lot of interesting changes coming our way. Leveling will become even more convenient, some fundamental gameplay changes are being made and classes are being adjusted... again. While these changes affect everyone, I'll be going over the ones that will particularly matter to those of us with limited playtime.

(Edited to add:) What you won't see here is Dual Specs. They are scheduled for Patch 3.1.

Although this info is currently on the PTR (or Public Test Realm for those of you not into acronyms), this does not mean that it is final. A lot of things could change before this patch goes live, but as things stand, here is a list of changes to be ready for.

Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime.

Many casual players have discovered the wonders of making a Death Knight since WotLK was released, but in case there are still some holdouts, here are some reasons why those of us with limited playtime should definitely give the class a try.

7. Gnomes.

Seriously. Widdle gnome Death Knights with pigtails destroying multiple mobs 10 times their size are worth the price of admission. The spousal unit and I went back to our neglected Alliance server just to make a gnome DK duo. Our guild there has long since dispersed and our friends are all on different servers, but who cares? It's all about fun and tiny agents of death = fun. Awww, dks in love.

6 more serious reasons for a casual player to make a Death Knight are after the break.

Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has limited playtime.

Brewfest is here and unless you are opposed to virtual beer-related events, you should get down to Ironforge or Orgrimmar and join the fun. It isn't as casual-friendly as the Midsummer Fire Festival, but it's a blast and every activity can be done by a player with very little playtime, even the boss: Coren Direbrew.

Unlike the Fire Festival, you don't get experience by the fistfuls for levelers or cash rewards to fill your coffers, but there is the Brew of the Month Club and, seriously, how can you resist that? There will be Achievements awarded for obtaining many of the Brewfest goodies, including drinking every beer you get in the club, so belly up to the bar and start Chugging and Chucking.

Join us after the break for some tips and tricks to get the most out of your Brewfest experience.

Each week or so, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.

If you haven't bought into the whole Midsummer hype yet, allow me to try to convince you. This year's Midsummer Fire Festival is possibly the most casual-friendly WoW event. Still you may ask, to paraphrase a guildie, "What's so great except for a useless pet?"

This holiday is not about the loot.

Sure, I got myself a Brazier of Dancing Flames, but I had the blossoms burning a hole in my pocket anyway, so why not? Midsummer is really about every other reason we play the game: progressing our characters, seeing the world, supporting our faction and, most importantly, fun.

Each week or so, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.

This time I'm answering an email from Jesse.

Hi Robin,

So I used to play WoW all the time. Actually, too much. So I did the whole "delete your characters and quit cold turkey" thing. Like 3 different times. Anyway, right now my account is on hold, but it's got a 38 rogue and a 56 mage (albeit both of them are naked, since I tried to sabotage myself and give hundreds of gold away when I quit last...).

The two reasons I quit are very closely related: one is that I just played too much; and the other is that I started to think that, if you don't play all the time, there's no getting anywhere. I like PvE more than PvP, so I guess the end result of that would have to be raiding, right? But I can't sit down at my computer for 7 hours to do a raid, or spend whatever god-awful amount of time it would take in a week to run kara (I don't know how long it would take to do that instance... and I don't think I want to know). I mean, don't get me wrong, I do like all the little things like professions and questing (even solo) and a good instance is always fun as long as you don't have idiots screwing it up... Anyways, my question is, can a person with a real life (and a real 50-hour a week job) actually play WoW, and have fun, and still have a life? (and dare I say, maybe even still have a girlfriend?). I am skeptical, but I don't know, and I'd like to get back in if you think it's actually feasible.

Jesse

P.S. Also (if I do decide to get back into the game), since [my server] is (and always has been) underpopulated, do you think it would be worthwhile transferring to a more populated server? Or is that just overrated?