Cataclysm so far
Now between being busy IRL and taking the time to finish up the SC2 campaign I haven't spent a lot of time playing the Cataclysm beta thus far, but here are my impressions so far:
Warrior: So far I've only had time to play as Fury. I was going to go Prot right away and bang out some instances, but the dungeon finder on the test realms does not work. Bummer, but not surprising.
Anyhow, I went into beta thinking I was going to really be disappointed in the new warrior changes, but oh how wrong I was. Fury is a hell of a lot more fun now than it's ever been. I'm not sure there's ever a time you're not pushing buttons, unlike the current 3 button rotation. The introduction of Raging Blow (I think that's what it's called) and changing Cleave and HS to no longer be on-next-hit attacks makes fury a much more active spec to play.
However, the devs are still holding rage nerfs over the warriors head. Maybe it's deserved, as there have been very few times I haven't been able to HS the shit out of every mob in my way. But it's certainly making me shy away from playing a warrior come release.
Paladin: Paladin is just broken as it stands right now. Half of the spells and abilities I'm supposed to have are nowhere to be found in my spellbook. Even abilities gotten through talents are missing, so it makes it really hard to judge where the paladin is so far. I will say that the holy power mechanic is interesting.
Death Knight: Another instance of missing key abilities, but for another reason. I can see them on the class trainer, but due to a bug I'd have to drop my professions to be able to train them. So I'll just be waiting for the next build to really test out my DK.
Mage: I haven't played a mage since vanilla, so I wasn't really sure what to expect with this class, but I'm really loving the fire spec so far (only one I've tried). The mobility the class has is just incredible. Having scortch cost no mana, and being able to cast it while moving is just insane. Combine that with dragons breath, a targetable blast wave, and insta-cast pyroblasts and you've got some serious kiting ability and firepower.
I'm enjoying playing this character so much that as of right now, I've decided I'm going to roll a mage at cata release to experience all the new zone content.
Shaman: It's really hard to tell where enhancement shaman is without recount. There are just too many numbers flying everywhere to get a good idea. But the synergy between searing totem and lava lash really has potential for some serious numbers. There were 2 things I really didn't like however, fire nova not working with searing totem, and primal strike being on the same cooldown as storm strike.
New starting areas: I won't go into a whole lot of detail, there are videos available for that, but I will say this: While the Goblin area is pretty cool, the Worgen area blows it out of the water. I really want to like the Goblin starting zone, but it's all just a little too silly, and the story just isn't interesting at all compared to the Worgen's.
I'll post more as I play.
A testament to my awesomeness
And geekiness. I'm just so good people think I cheat. Here I am on my new warrior, Fartbox, tanking the Stockades. As you can see, this random hunter is incredulous at the sight of me completely carrying the group.
This is a common occurrence. I'm used to it by now. But I thought since I haven't updated this thing in a while I might as well pat myself on the back a bit.
No good deed goes unpunished
You try to educate someone, and this is what happens:
Here is the thread in question. I think it's blatantly obvious that not only was I not trolling, but I was genuinely trying to help this poor individual avoid sounding like a fucking retard on the internet. They should be applauding my efforts, not stiffing them!
Why is Blizzard anti-education? Why do they hate grammar? Why do they hate the English language? Why does Blizzard hate children?
I’ve fallen off the wagon
It's not my fault, really! I blame the lack of interesting MMOs out at the moment.
I don't want to say CO and Aion are bad games, because they aren't. They just either don't hold my attention (Aion), or are lacking content (CO). Both have a lot of potential to be great games, but this can also be said of AoC and WAR. Unlike those 2 games however, I really do have faith that Cryptic can make CO into a truly great game. Their community involvement is simply outstanding, and the turn-around on patches and fixes is the fastest I've seen. It's just the high level content isn't there yet.
As far as Aion goes, well, we'll see. PvP is great, but the road to get there isn't enjoyable to me.
So yea, I'm back on Bloodhoof playing my shaman, Oekss. And yes, I fully expect to be ridiculed for this.