I have played every World of Warcraft expansion, at least a little, since the game came out. I've never reviewed any of them, in part because I don't think this type of game lends itself very well to reviewing. A lot of the experience is about long-term character progression through complex interlocking systems that are constantly being revised, such that you kind of don't know if the current iteration of the game is good until you've played it long enough that it's too late to tell anyone that the third major content patch of the ninth expansion was great, actually! Because now it's over and you're not going to know if the next iteration is good until you've played it.
That's not a word, Alex
So, Dragonflight is over now, and this is not a review, it's a retrospective of my experience playing an iteration of the game that no longer exists. As such, it's mostly for me, but you can read it if you want to do that for some reason!
Bee sting update: I put ice and neosporin on it and it got better. I appreciate the advice. ♥ I have a doctor's appointment coming up soon anyway, so if it gets worse again I should still be good.
Anyway! Last weekend was the free promotional period for The Secret World, an MMO that came out last month, so walgesang and I checked it out. A friend of ours has been playing it since beta, so he was able to get us up to speed and answer more questions than we probably could have worked out on our own in three days.
It's a modern-day, real-world setting, which is a nice change right off the bat. The premise seems to be that you're a regular person who is granted mystical powers by a swarm of magic bees(?) and then you get recruited into a secret society that sends you on missions to fight paranormal evildoers around the world.
The questing experience is very different from most MMOs I've played. Some quests present puzzles and mysteries to solve, providing a few cryptic hints and leaving you mostly to explore the world and try to guess the answer. I found some of these clever and engaging, though a few left us with a King's Quest-like feeling of 'man, that was illogical' even after we figured them out. I definitely applaud the concept, though. The game's community seems pretty into it, too. My friend said he got yelled at for giving someone a hint about a quest in public chat. "No spoilers!" they said. :P
There are also stealth quests where you have to figure out how to avoid security systems and such, rather than just blasting your way through. And of course you also get the standard kill-collect quests, though even those can make you think. You may be able to see the thing you're supposed to get on the roof of a building, but still have to figure out a way to get up there.
Anyway, it's an interesting game that I'll be keeping an eye on. If you liked King's Quest even when it drove you crazy, check it out. It's not just WoW with a different coat of paint.
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