Misty Thoughts

The problem with blogging late is all the good puns are already used.
The interwebs are all a twitter with news from Blizzcon. For me, Blizzcon was a strange sort of out of body experience. This was the first expansion for World of Warcraft that I knew I'd be taking a pass on before it was even announced.
Here are my general thoughts:

• If for whatever reason SWTOR is a bust, or I'm no longer engaged with it by the time Pandaria is released, it is good to know that Blizzard's opus will still there, and with some interesting new content.
• Talents are broken! Major redesign! which expansion have that NOT said this. Probably only Burning Crusade.
• Pokemon for companion pets. Congratulations, you've won the Path of the titans award for feature most likely to be axed before launch.
• Death Knight asphyxiate, also known as Force Choke. I've been noting how similar some SWTOR abilities are to WoW abilities. Blizzard says we can play that game, too.
• The Annual Pass is a really a brilliant piece of marketing. I've always maintained that you don't get to be a multi billion dollar company without some smart people working for you. Blizzard shows me that this is true. A free game is a pretty good win for all gamers. When evil corporations compete, gamers win?
• If you were planning on playing Diablo and on the fence on WoW, this is a sweet offer.
• If, like me, Diablo (1,2 or 3) never really sparked much interest, this won't be much of an incentive.
• There is a some fine print, a couple of provisos, some quip pro quos you should be aware of before you plunk down for the Annual Pass. It may be billed monthly, but you are locked in for a year, and this effectively ties to your Diablo account to WoW account (though your combined Blizzard account). Keep in mind that D3 requires you to be online, even in single player mode. If you get Diablo free, and then cancel WoW, you lose your Diablo access as well. This is true even after the Annual Pass expiries, if I'm reading the fine print right.  Looks like I wasn't. You only lose Diablo III access if you don't fulfill the entire year of the Annual Pass.
• I can't think of anyway to say this without it sounding snarky, but does this smell of a little desperation from Blizzard boys? Nah, can't be.
• Okay, Pandas. Love him or hate 'em. I love 'em. Seriously. If I was still playing WoW, I'd think long and hard about making Honorshammer (now an 84 Warrior) a Panda.
• Monks. Chalk up another for the things they devs said would never happen that happened.
• Let's see they can be Tanks, Melee DPS, and Healers. Where have I seen that before. OH that's right, that's the exact role mix of the Paladin class. May Blizzard have much more luck in designing Paladins 2.0 than the first 3 or 4 times around.
• Monks build up Chi, and then use it power Light side or Dark side powers. You can't make this kind of stuff up. I think somebody at Blizzard HQ got a beta invite to SWTOR. (Who do I have to pay off or kill off to get a dang invite? /frustrated)  Honestly, if I was still playing WoW, I'd be sorely tempted by the Monk class.
• How about all that information on the new active tanking model?
• /crickets
• Or all the cool stuff they announced about Titan, their next gen MMO
• /crickets
  

Apropos of nothing, I cancelled my account three weeks ago, and tonight was the first time I’ve really missed it. But the calculus hasn’t changed. I have a hard time putting time into a game and character I know I’m abandoning in 56 days.
Right moving on.