Shared Topic: Homebrewed Hardmodes

This Blog Azeroth shared Topic comes from Stringtheory

I’ve seen a lot of challenges making the rounds lately, from the more traditional ‘you die, you’re out’ to the more complex ‘no spending money on anything’. Leveling only through crafting looks fun, leveling without any gear looks impossible, and making a bazillion gold on the auction house is something I really need to try someday. *ponders*

Anywho, why do you think these sorts of bring-your-own-hardmode are becoming more popular? Is it because the normal game as gotten too easy? Or repetitive? Or that it’s not challenging in the right sort of ways? Could Blizzard incorporate any of these methods of madness into the game itself or it there an inherent appeal to ‘house rules’ versions of the game?

Thinky thoughts, I am thinking them… *solemn nod*

Oh, and if you are participating in (or have already won) any of these events say so! Link ‘em so the rest of us can cheer you on!

And for the record, I discovered this shared topic reading her blog!

I’m actually doing the Ironman challenge; Ironshoryl, noted on my sidebar, is a whopping level 16. The problem is I have to be in the right mood to play Ironshoryl, partially because she’s a rogue.

I plan to level my bank alt in Mists (who may or may not end up continuing to be my hunter) via dailies within Stormwind; which isn’t really hardmoding, so much as it’s being lazy and not taking her out and about much.

I’ve seriously contemplated the 2012 in 2012 challenge, but my big limitation here is that I am fiercely loyal to my guild; which means playing toons not in guild is, um, unlikely. To get all my guild toons to 85 would only give me 680 levels. Just not enough; also, to have 2 of every class and at least one of every race requires, um, both factions and at least two servers… not to mention having to have two rogues.

One of my long term plans is to have one of every profession maxed.  Currently, I need engineering,  inscription,  tailoring, enchanting, and archaelogy.   I’m trying for this in the hopes that one day I can get on the front end of the goldmaking bandwagon, instead of trying to scrape by on the other end.  I also do this because I suspect I will be playing WoW when there really isn’t much of an economy any more because there aren’t enough people playing.

Otherwise, I tend to just kinda hang out and do whatever it is I want to do on a particular day.  I don’t play video games for them to be hard; but I think that the longer I play any game, the more likely I am to try and come up with counter-intuitive goals.  I wouldn’t call them hardmodes, per se, though.

Shared Topic – Create a New Race

I’ve recently started participating in a bloggers site called Blog Azeroth, which is a nice little community for WoW bloggers.  One of the things they do over there is Shared Topics, which are out there for the bloggers to participate in and post their own take on an idea during a particular week. This week’s is creating a new player race, complete with class options, and racial abilities. The idea was brought up by Mia.

Since I’m not necessarily a fan of the “play either faction” methodology, I’ve come up with two new player races, one for the Horde and the other for the Alliance; complete with a brief history of how they came to join their factions.  So, without further ado… here are the new player races I’d love to see in game.

High Elves

Faction: Horde

During the aftermath of the cataclysm, more elves seemed to be roaming all of Azeroth. Most assumed they were members of the dragon flights in elven form, but in reality, they are High Elves, come again to the settled lands.

Eschewing their Night Elven brethren for turning their backs on the arcane arts; and trusting (at least in part) the stolid partnership of the Tauren; these newly returned High Elves have allied themselves with Baine Bloodhoof and thus with the Horde.  Vin’aleth and his followers have made their home in Thunder Bluff.

As a high elf, you can choose to be a mage, hunter, priest, warlock or monk. Particularly skilled in the arcane arts, the high elves get a bonus to their enchanting skill.  Additionally, they have the ability to regain 20% of their base mana, focus, or chi periodically.

Ethereal

Faction: Alliance

A young Nexus-Prince, Gamuul, has made his way to Azeroth. While negotiations between the Alliance and Horde to gain his support and technology, he learned of Trade Prince Gallywix. Bent on taking down the top dog in Azeroth, Gamuul has sided with the Alliance.

As an Ethereal, you can choose to be a hunter, mage, rogue, warlock or warrior. Due to their knowledge of the nexus between the physical world and other realms, they are able to use the ethereal shift, which can bring them immediately to their foes, or speed their travel rate as needed.  Also due to this ability to move between realms, the ethereal jewelcrafter is more likely to acquire higher quality gems when prospecting ore.