Beginnings

I plan on using this blog as sort-of an insight into the mind and workings of a Hunter in World of Warcraft. I may, here and there, post in-character, but either way, it's all from me, the Grizz, as I'm affectionately known as.

This first post, today, will be somewhat of a rant. A lot has happened lately within the game, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Here goes!

As most of you know, Cataclysm beta is out and about, and with it comes those coveted invitations to help Blizzard out with the upcoming expansion: checking for bugs, testing quest, dungeon and raid content, things of that nature. Of course, the beta invites are, make no mistake about it, not for the truly casual player like myself, who happens to spend ninety-percent of his time at his full-time job. Thousands of beta invites have been passed out in various waves and, to no surprise, I didn't receive one. Of course, millions of others can claim the same, and I agree.

My biggest question is... why?

Why can't those that pay the fifteen dollars a month get into beta? Honestly? I'm sure size of servers is an issue, which I can understand, but what, seriously, is the criteria for getting an invite? I know of hardcore raiding guilds getting invites; those that've downed Arthas more times than an alcoholic drops his empty glass. I also know of those who've only been playing a handful of months who were granted an invite. Yet, for whatever reason, those who have been at the forefront of their respective communites gets passed over, for someone who doesn't know what happens at the end of Icecrown Citadel.

I've been in Azeroth since March 2007, a few months after Burning Crusade's launch. I played at the behest of a friend of mine who's been playing since Vanilla. Didn't like the game at first; was far, far different than any of the RPGs that I'd played previously. However, I grew a fond fascination with the game, and, I played when I wasn't running monsterous deathmatches in Unreal Tournament with my at-the-time clan, The Stalwart Soldiers. Over time, I grew to enjoy WoW and my first-ever toon, Acezwylde, a Human Paladin on the Shu'Halo realm. Fast forward a couple years, and now I have 2 80s, 6 60s and much more knowledge and experience than I did back then.

Okay, now that we've had our daily unnecessary nostalgia moment, back to the topic at hand. Recently, ZAM held a little contest for beta keys, wherein you revealed what you're looking forward to most about Cataclysm. I spoke the truth: the phasing aspect has won me over, whereas, in current WoW, I find it dumb, to say the least. The winners were announced and, to no surprise, I wasn't chosen. Apparently the fucking obvious answers of goblins, worgen, level 85 and new content won over the judges instead of sheer honesty. And, yet, it doesn't surprise me. Why? Honesty is a touchy subject. Shoulda just wrote "me wantz lvl 85 golbin rouge!!!!111shift+1". Probably would've gotten picked.

However, today, it dawned on me, after this long without a beta invite to a game that I enjoy casually, as intended, and losing the ZAM and Guild Essay Contest from Blizzard, that not only are beta invites rarer than the Phoenix mount AND Baron's DeathCharger put together... well, let me be blunt.

You've got a better chance of seeing God than you do getting into the beta.

I didn't get into Wrath's beta. I'm obviously not getting into Cataclysm's, either. So, there's only one thing I can think of to do.

I'm on the lookout for God.

He may not get me into beta, but it's a hell of a lot better than getting my hopes up for something I obviously dont fit the Blizzard mold for.




The opinions expressed in this post are solely of the author. No gnomes were punted in the making of this post. Shame.