World of Warcraft has a Potty Mouth

Cataclysm is coming, so a lot of folks I know and work with are going back to World of Warcraft to see what's new and different. The pre-expansion quests are slick in a lot of cases. I've only tried out one of the revamped starter areas so far (the Undead one; it's been a while since I've played anything Horde-flavored), but I plan to try the rest. Call it market research if you want to.

One thing I've noticed as I've brought my Undead priest from 1st to 16th level is that the amount of potty humor in WoW has increased. I mean, sure... we had a good number of what I like to call "poop quests" in the old WoW (specifically in Burning Crusade, though there was some poop happening in Lich King as well), where the player has to (usually) sift through poop to complete the quest.

Though I haven't seen any poop quests yet (I'm sure I will), I've noticed that the language in these newer quests is a bit courser than I'm used to with WoW. In one instance, an Orc calls Silvanas Windrunner a bitch; in another case, an orc (who you've awakened from a drunken stupor) comments that he may or may not have pissed himself. In a third example, an undead apothecary explains to you that he's placed a stick of laced dynamite up a chicken's butt.

Those are just a few examples, but WoW always seemed to aim for a more accessible, family-friendly tone. Profanity was the exception to the rule. Heck, they rarely even mentioned the word "poop" in relation to the aforementioned poop quests. That's not to say that I'm offended by profanity, far from it. I curse like a sailor on a near-daily basis, and I work with people who could make George Carlin blush (okay, maybe not).

I guess my point is that this new-found vulgarity seems outright juvenile to me now. WoW was never very serious (or, at least, I could never take it seriously), but it rarely stooped to the level of juvenile, scatological humor. Just going from 1 to 16 on my priest has revealed a number of instances where this kind of content is pretty much front and center now. I can hardly wait to read what the quest text says next.

Incidentally, the Undead starter area isn't much more impressive than it used to be. The storyline has moved along a little bit, and they do try to get you into the role of your race a bit more, but overall... it's just lipstick on a hellboar. I have yet to try the gnome and troll areas out, and I hear that these are where the lion's share of big changes and innovation can be seen. Time will tell.

A World of Warcraft Moment

I call this particular screen cap "Beef Stew" for obvious reasons.
For some reason, a bunch of Tauren folks performed a sort of "Thunder Bluff Jonestown," and drowned themselves in the pond near the bank. They've been floating there for several days now.

I can only imagine what it must smell like.

The Day Job

So I was playing WoW last night ...

Back up. Rewind. Let's start this over, give it a little bit of perspective.

My wife is a member of the Straight Dope Message Boards. The SDMB formed a guild in World of Warcraft on a new server named Cairne. Now, I'd been playing on a PvP server where my co-workers go, and I'd gotten a rogue to 40th there and was actually enjoying the PvP experience.

Thing is, Amy wasn't. Not really. Not with Tarren Mill being the gankfest it is; not with an inordinate amount of 70's running around killing anything ten levels or more below them. She'd been griefed and ganked and was fed up. I guess I can't blame her, since it's not what she's into. I'm not really into it, either, but sometimes it's nice to have a fair, one-on-one with one of those Alliance pansies.

I digress.

So she goes and creates a character on Cairne, and I figure I'll do it, too. Maybe we can quest together. Being on a new server is interesting in a number of ways. The economy is all wonky, so making gold in the usual fashion (farming for copper, leather, whatever) doesn't really pull in the same amount of coin I'm used to. It's a struggle just to have enough to train, much less keep your equipment current.

I'm chatty with the guildies, too. They're all pretty good folks. It's a good guild experience, folks helping folks and hanging out and chatting. They're all mature, too, so there's no l33t to speak of.

One of the guild folks I've spoken to logged on, and I greeted him in guild chat. He asked how I was, and I told him that work was "sucking my brains out of my nostrils." Which is just my way of saying, "I'm writing all damn day, and when I get home I feel empty and somewhat used."

He asked, "What do you do?"

Being a game developer, especially one that works for a competing company, I'm somewhat leery of admitting what I do. My wife chimes in from down the hall, "Just be honest!"

So I said, "I'm a content developer for a computer game company." End of story. But just to be on the safe side, I added, "And it isn't Blizzard, either."

I expected some more questions, but these folks are pretty savvy, and they don't pry, which is nice. Hell, I'm not all that private. I tend to let most of everything hang out here (though I don't like talking politics or religion on my blogs; there's a time and a place for that sort of thing, and this isn't it).

So, what's my point? Heck, I don't know anymore. I'm sure I had something lined up when I began this post, but it's been lost in the shuffle.

I suppose it had to do with writing in general, and in making a buck or two off of my desire to use my talents. How many people get that chance? Here I am, mid-30's, and I'm writing in my day job, writing on freelance projects (for the Star Wars RPG, no less), and getting paid for it.

It's not easy. I guess it's easier for me than for most people, but what I'm saying is that it's work, what I do. I don't mind doing it, but it tires me out just as much as any other job I've had. Maybe more, because I'm really pouring myself out, tapping the creative well. I hope it doesn't dry up, because now (more than ever) is when it really matters the most.

Back to work now. I'll be in this weekend for a few hours, too, so I can get a head start on Monday's chores.

Rock Band

Working for a video game studio is interesting, to say the least.

You see, we have a lounge here on my floor. In this lounge, nestled amongst Ikea furniture, is a large-screen plasma TV, an Xbox 360, and a Wii. Today, the game Rock Band came out. Currently, there is a mob of developers, artists, and implementation staff yelling and clapping as my fellow employees make crooning fools of themselves. Somewhere, dogs are weeping.

I guess it's all plenty fun, but I'm not drunk enough to sing in front of anyone outside of my inner circle (that would be: Amy, Maddie, and Stephen). Perhaps that's the fun of it, letting yourself go.

I've done some singing in my time. I was the lead in the high school musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. I can still remember some of the words to the kite song, but not much else. That was almost 20 years ago.

Twenty years. Twenty. Sweet Jesus, I feel old, now.

I don't think anyone plays TF2 around here anymore. I guess it's best that I didn't buy it, as I've got enough on my plate with the current project I'm working on for Wizards of the Coast. If I had new Half Life to play, I'd be worse than useless. I play too much WoW as it is.

Speaking of WoW, here's a link to some amusing adverts that Blizzard worked up, with Mr. T and William Shatner plugging World of Warcraft. It seems that things have finally come around, and more "normal" people are playing video games than ever before. It's not just for geeks, baby.

World of Warcrack

Meet Corelle.

Corelle is my alter-ego in World of Warcraft. That would be "WoW" for short. I've been playing the game for a couple of weeks now. I even managed to suck Amy into it. I'd originally wanted to name the character "Coral," but that name had been taken. I went through a couple of alternate spellings before I settled on Corelle. It came to mind as she reached 5th level that Corelle is a brand of dinner plates. Egad.

I'm an RPer first, and an engine of monster death second. Still, running around killing stuff has an appeal that can hardly be explained. It's odd, but playing a female character gets you all sorts of attention. Though Amy expresses that she isn't getting hit on in the game, despite the fact that she's playing a female. Personally, I think it's because she's playing a gnome.

Edit: I've put in a new picture of the girl, mostly because the other one was too dark. I end up playing in the evenings, and since the game clock is dynamic, it's almost always dark.