Shamus Young talks about his favorite WoW nitpicks
by Michael Gray 
Jul 14th 2008 at 3:00PM
Most folks are probably at least aware of Shamus Young's DM of the Rings series. It was the only web comic I've ever religiously checked every day, on the off chance the creator was feeling kind and had put up an extra comic. DMotR has long since finished, but Shamus is still out there blogging on various gaming topics.
Shamus started playing World of Warcraft about a month ago, and has been having the same growing pains many of us rookies did in our younger levels. But since Shamus is something of a name in the pen-and-paper gaming Internet circuit, it's interesting to see what he has to say in his review of WoW.
His first complaint is about low drop rates for quest items -- yeah, the eyeless Murlocs of Westfall spring to my mind. Most of the other issues are pretty familiar (bag space, respawns, res sickness). But one that did really stick out for me was a complaint about the in-game day/night cycle. Shamus would prefer a four-hour cycle to Azeroth's day, so that he could actually see the change. I think it's a fair point, even if we have heard it before. So, Shamus's list doesn't really bring a brand new light to how we view Azeroth, but it's still an interesting read.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, News items
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
darian Jul 14th 2008 3:19PM
Most of his complaints I'd agree with, and have been uttered at least once by many a WoW player in their time. Zhevras without hooves, unforgiving respawns, and the old bag space issue are common.
The most insightful complaint for me was his cooking complaint. It really doesn't make sense as to why big bear meat couldn't qualify as bear meat, or even a sufficient quantity of the former substituting for the latter.
His complaints about being unable to eat a pie were completely classic.
The only complaint I really don't agree on is the day/night cycle. I like the idea of Azeroth as a persistent world which operates in parallel to our own. The correlation between the two makes Azeroth more real to me. Having day and night speed by would make it less of a world and break immersion.
Of course, there's probably some happy medium where day/night cycles every 7 hours such that it's slow enough to not break immersion but fast enough to allow for some variety.
Aravan Jul 14th 2008 3:21PM
"And to the person at Blizzard who decided you must be level 5 to drink a glass of milk: You are a madman and you must be stopped."
LMAO. That's a great quote.
Bynde Jul 14th 2008 3:41PM
I think his compliants are just something to complain about. What's he want, to dumb the game down?
mages' drink too much for two long? Wandering elites? Day and night cycles? Those are problems?
He seems bitter he didn't think of WoW first.
Zegim Jul 14th 2008 5:32PM
He admits he's nitpicking, you know:
nitpick
1. to be excessively concerned with or critical of inconsequential details.
–verb (used with object)
2. to criticize by focusing on inconsequential details.
–noun
3. a carping, petty criticism.
–adjective
4. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a nitpicker or nitpicking.
Bynde Jul 15th 2008 11:23AM
I know what nitpicking means, thank you.
And if they were truly only 'nits' , then they weren't worth making a whole list about and/or bitching about.
epsilon343 Jul 14th 2008 3:42PM
Unfortunately his site seems to be crying from some sort of strain but I think I'd like to see the day/night cycle shortened, maybe a 12 hour day where you could see night and day. For someone like myself who plays during the day, I do miss not being able to see the night time without having to purposefully change my playing schedule.
Valorum Jul 14th 2008 3:58PM
LOTRO does that with the day/night cycles. Their night is pretty dark, though, so I always hated it, but you could hit alt-F10 to get a glow that surrounds your toon. Playing both games, it was nice to have one game one way and one the other.
Thrush Jul 14th 2008 4:04PM
I agree with the short day/night cycle. I play on a West coast server but live on the East coast so I never get to see night on my server unless I stay up past midnight (not really an option for a working family man). EQ2 had short day/night cycles. I didnt feel like immersion was ruined, on the contrary I felt like my character was in a world where time was passing. Unlike WoW where its always daytime for me. Not a show stopper, but I'm sure there's arguments for both sides.
Smurk Jul 14th 2008 4:26PM
As final proof that Blizzard steals from other games, the next patch will put day/night on a 5-minute timer and send realm-wide messages: "WHAT A HORRIBLE NIGHT TO HAVE A CURSE."
Magus Jul 15th 2008 2:39AM
I signed up just to comment on this.
Castlevania II ftw
lazarel Jul 14th 2008 4:27PM
Ok, seriously, *I* make excuses for everyone and there nitpicking in the game, but this guy has to get outside and stop playing.
I don't have enough bag space to carry every mat in the game - Find the bank.
Why can't I have unlimited mana, stopping to drink sucks.
different kinds of food that have the same function confuse me (and won't fit in my bags with all the peace bloom i'm carrying)... I want only one kind of food and drink in game.
Roaming elites! Respawns that happen near me! More uncertainty in the world that I can't handle... everywhere should be totally safe for me to stand for hours on end.
It's like a cross between a 5 year old and 75 year old... 'I want what I want and everything else is just too confusing' ... my head spins at what this guy must be like with a cable remote and 300 channels to choose from.
Moongoose Jul 14th 2008 6:30PM
I always thought the roaming elites were put in place to help prevent bots from having free reign in those areas.
Septih Jul 14th 2008 4:31PM
Don't shorten the cycle, just have eastern kingdoms 12 hours ahead of kalimdor. So it's day time in one and night in the other.
Jordrah Jul 14th 2008 4:39PM
i think you killed his bandwidth... i cant get to the site lol
Bynde Jul 14th 2008 4:44PM
For those who have never seen "nightime" in Azeroth: It's a tiny bit darker. And there's a moon where the sky is clear.
Now you know.
Zach Jul 14th 2008 4:50PM
What Bynde said. Nighttime in Azeroth has absolutely 0 effect on gameplay. It's not even noticeably darker.
Doc X Jul 14th 2008 5:02PM
I sympathize with his comments on cooking mats and collection quests. I also can understand some of his comments about bags (seriously, a bag costs more than an enchanted sword, and many pieces of enchanted armor?). The rest (day/night, level restrictions on food, etc) are things I guess I've become accustomed to and don't see as a big deal.
Iblis Jul 14th 2008 5:03PM
Actualy, day and night does have some impact on the game...
Silverpine forest, durign the day all the Worgen are people. I've never been able to go into SFK to check, but its probaly the same in there.
winterhawk Jul 14th 2008 5:46PM
Actually, the Worgen are only people during the day in Pyrewood Village. In the rest of Silverpine (including SFK) they're Worgen all the time.
PeeWee Jul 14th 2008 5:59PM
Also, some fish can only be caught during certain periods of the day.