The latest patch notes for Patch 4.0.6 on the PTR have been released.  Looking over it there's a lot of good fixes, I was a little upset that they seemed to be nerfing some of the heroics but then again they were boosting heroics.  Then I got to the Mage Class changes; Fire was looking good, a nice change to the Firestarter talent, more damage from mastery and lots of mana cost reductions for spells right across the board (Arcane mages are still cheering).

Then I got to my current favourite; the Frost spec...

Deep Freeze damage reduced by 20% and a reduction in base mastery causing a 15% damage reduction against frozen targets.

I wept...

I wept like a small girl...

A lot of the changes are necessary and this isn't a QQ post.  We all now that classes/specs go through the buff and nerf cycle  but sometimes you read something about your particular class and spec and it just punches you in the gut.  Or sometimes makes you deleriously happy.  What do you guys reckon?  Are you looking forward to or dreading the changes?

The posts are flying in thick and fast.  It’s a catch 22 situation, the time I get to write a WoW Blog mainly comes from the time I stop playing WoW XD

I recently put up a post on the blog about enjoying some other games whilst I was on a bit of WoW downtime and I waxed lyrical about an old game, Vampire - Bloodlines, which I'd rediscovered and was thoroughly enjoying.  The reason I like this game so much is that it really tried to take the whole RPG thing to a new level - in terms of questing and choices, think about the same level of moral dilemmas and choices as the Fallout series of games (all of them but it has most in common with Fallout 3); for gameplay, think more in the style of the original Deus Ex although Fallout 3 again is a good comparison.

It got me thinking about how, over the past 10-12 years, games have been advancing and being accepted more and more as a legitimate art form and story telling device, in the same way a movie or a book is.  This has mostly been led by RPGs, although through the years we've seen other games start to take on the idea of moral dilemmas and interactive storytelling - look at Heavy Rain as an example.  In fact, one of the few genres where it has kind of been lacking (or taken longer to catch up) has been in the MMORPG genre.  

I wasn’t really sure whether this was a water cooler discussion or Guild Life, but I decided that I’d like to know what all you do for fun?  Now we all know that WoW is fun, that’s why we play it.  A lot of the time, however, it is about progression and achievements which can be hard work which pays off when you achieve your goals.  What I’m asking about here is what you do for “shits and giggles”.  The Mana Obscura forums had a little debate about the joys of portal roulette and other little tricks – we mages enjoy simple pleasures that take the edge off all those spells we learn and genuinely having to be the brains of the outfit – but not everyone has access to such sublime practical jokes.  Well I’m going to share with you some of the fun me and my guildies have in Dalaran post raid.

First and foremost, myself and Fanatic (my light wielding priestly friend) are TCG loot freaks.  We love the quirky toys and items you get from them; this has given rise to a little ritual we hold every couple of nights – the Darkened Dalaran D.I.S.C.O.  Oh yes my friends we pop the shiny disco balls, a couple of Sandbox Spectral Tigers and an Ogre Piñata and party hard on the steps of the Dalaran Bank.  It may sound like a waste of time, and it is, but by God it’s probably the best waste of time I have in WoW.  These parties have gone on for about two hours before and it’s not just our guildies there, we have many random people using the bank who just stop for a dance and maybe some Goblin Gumbo set out by our Guild Leader Exclusivia.

OK so I’m still fleshing out the blog, a hundred different ideas floating about but pinning one down to flesh it out takes time.  I still need to flesh the site out more, get an About Section in, get blogrolls and links up, all that jazz.  However, one the ideas I really like is of a sort of regular discussion topic; WoW.com does the Breakfast Topic, well I’m doing “Around The Water Cooler”.  I wanted to make it more British, like “A Quiet Chat Over A Nice Cup Of Tea With Some Chocolate Biscuits And Salmon and Cucumber Sandwiches”.  It didn’t really roll off the tongue, so I went with the more internationally recognised Americanism of chatting round a water cooler.

So why a discussion topic?  Well firstly I value your opinions, yes you, reading right now, I haven’t got a lazy eye I’m looking right at you!  I may not always agree with your opinions but I promise you I will listen to them, value them and contribute them to my understanding of the many points of view on a subject.