Reading Mogworld
I suck at book reviews, and I haven’t quite finished with it. I am dividing my public transport time between this and playing Battleheart ( more on that furtherdown) so I have been slower then normal with it, but I argue, if almost getting a undead mage to 58 ( 58 apparently the 1st time ) can inspire a book. Shutdown night and an almost finished book can inspire a blog post.
You may know Yahtzee from The Escapist, Zero Punctuation. He did a review on Cataclysm in January this year, and is also a co owner of Mana bar Australia’s first gaming bar. ( with game themed cocktails! <3)
It’s cheap at Book depository, so no excuse not to buy it, but if you can’t wait I am sure bookshops will have it ( well at least the bookshops I shop at aka Galaxy Books in Sydney)
You may also be relieved to know that the pace in his reviews is not the same pace as the book.
You can tell there is a strong wow influence, you can also tell that he seems to have missed out on a bit of content. As much as Altitis can be considered a disease, it allows you to learn a lot more about the game, content, classes. But this isn’t a book about Wow, it could be a book about any MMO with undead mages, and above all It’s about Jim, an undead mage who wants to kill himself. It’s quite easy to imagine Jim, and Meryl (his undead companion come stitcher back togetherer) (as pictured below – and no they are NOT holding hands)
This would have to be my first book that I would call a “geek magnet” who knew that by carrying it around a train station, ( I use my train ticket for a book mark ) would make boys talk to me. I was approached with ” IS THAT MOGWORLD YOUR READING” Alas he was more interested in talking about the book then me, but I think I successfully encouraged him to buy it, because he should ‘get’ it, and I nodded wisely as I said “Get it” like its a secret club only some people are invited to. Because while I shall not call it a heavy pensive thought producing tomb, much like reading The Dome was, it was fun and entertaining, and there have been several times I have chuckled aloud on the train, and often have a grin fixed to my face.
So much of it is relatable. Some of the silly stuff especially.
“They stand around like they’ve got a broom up their arse, start talking weird, lose interest in everything except quests and having the best armor”
It describes the symptoms of adventurers suffering the syndrome, and what image in wow calls to my mind is the posing done outside banks with various pieces of gear that goes on. More specifically the double glaives back in the day.
So I think you will quite easily “Get it” and I am sure you will be entertained once you get over that as a MMO player your gaming world is getting mocked in the most amusing of ways.
Playing Battleheart 3.99 ( aus) for Ipod and Ipad on the Itunes store.
Prizes go to the first person who can identify the class and role of the four non skeleton looking creatures in the pic above.
I lied. There are no prizes, but yes, there is a Tank, a healer, a caster dps ( who I forgot to tell to target something) and a melee dps.
You hire your recruits from the Tavern – they level up and get new abilities every 5 levels, you get Gear, and gold and the ability to upgrade, and sell and buy more gear, and xp for winning a fight.
My four mains are level 16, 17, 15, 15 and about 5 hours play, so yes I am enjoying it, MUST GET ONE MORE … LEVEL…..
If you are anywhere but Australia – I am sure it’s cheaper. ( Insert moan about the price disparity) but I didn’t mind paying the money because so far I have at least gotten 5 hours of entertainment out of it, and I forsee quite a few more.
Looks like you can get to level 30 – and there are enough class combos, with their own duel talent trees to pick and chose from that you can try, and train different variations
I’m enjoying Battleheart with a monk-witch-cleric-bard team. The monk tanks with both the bard and cleric (“discipline” spec) auto-healing him, and the witch as ranged DPS. Using a monk as tank means I can pick up adds quickly with his AoE and knockback, and the witch has an AoE DoT once the monk has all the mobs on him. My team is level 11-12. Fun game!
I would like to try the monk / bard class. Wouldnt 2 healers make dps slow though?
I haven’t really found it to be the case, that is to say it hasn’t felt slow. I haven’t spent much time with a double dps team since the first few levels, so not much to compare to. I use the witch to target the adds first while the monk concentrates on the boss, she usually tears through them in 2-3 hits.
It’s a high-survival AoE build.
Going book shopping today, see if Barnes and Nobles has it. Thanks.
Ordered the book, better be good..or I’m coming to Aussie land to kick your bum
I promise it will make you laugh at least once