State of the game, Demise, etc March 20, 2011

Hey all,

Just looking at numbers, plans, release dates, and whatnot....thought I'd pen a few notes on where we are wrt WoW and future plans.

1. Guild membership. No significant change. What HAS changed is where folks are playing--in Rift (to take a break--perhaps a significant one--from WoW), in other guilds (hey, I don't blame folks who want to raid...I had considered moving Koko myself), and a variety of alts still levelling the guild (my 9-year old managed to finish a level-15 quest that levelled the guild to 14...wewt!)

2. Forecast. With patch 4.1 bringing the new dungeon content (and more importantly, the new GEAR content) I expect folks will return to play through and get their upgrades. I do not expect people to beat their heads against a collective wall for 87 attempts to kill a raid boss. There has to be some middle ground...and unfortunately for WoW (or fortunately for players), folks have opted to try other things while waiting for new content. I see a lot of Demise levelling alts. I myself do a lot of farming. Regarding guild achieves, we are 46k/100k mining, 40k/100k herbing, and over 25k/50k critters

3. Bots. I'm not here to judge. Could I find a worthwhile bot program (without Chinese gold-farmer hack bugs installed) I'd be tempted to use it myself. That being said, Blizzard appears to condone the use of farming bots the way they have retooled node-spawn timers (more farmers, more spawn). I ran into ONE fellow farmer the other morning in Uldum...despite running into TEN toons that did not answer when sent tells like "bot check." That, and you could watch their AIs freak out when you stole the node they were heading for. If you do have a good bot program, share. Also, would like to know if anyone has seen any recent perma-bans for bot-farming or would share their experiences here.

4. Communication. I assume the Greenville mafia is still having watercooler discussions regarding what's going on with the guild. Feel free to share anytime.

5. Geekfest 2011. Mid-late July. Block your calendars. Order your favorite adult beverages. I will be taking cigar requests.

Bear in mind, these are just one Creep's maunderings. Love to hear your views.

J