No more brains.

This week ended the zombification of Azeroth. The cure has been found and the infection has been stymied. There was alot of debate about the invasion. From people turning uber fan boy for Blizzard to those who claim the infection has caused them to cancel their accounts. While I could go through the details of the new plague, this is going to be an opinion piece. I know I am prone to ranting. It's because I care passionately about the MMO's I play. I for one have long wanted a more dynamic enviorment within the persistent worlds I choose to inhabit. And the recent outrage at just such a dynamic world has got me to thinking again. I just heard a collective sigh from our listeners as they brace themselves, but I ask you to not fast forward the podcast, but listen with an open mind and think about what I am about to say.

The first real outcry I heard against the event was from a few Rper's on my server, claiming the event was ruining their scheduled RP events, with zombies attacking ( both player and NPC's ) their favorite hangouts in various towns and cities. I shook my head at this is disbelief. What a perfect opportunity to RP...missed. Then others expressed their concerns. They just wanted to level. They didn't want to take part in this event and how dare Blizzard ruin their gameplay with this event. I tried to explain to those that such things don't happen very often...almost never. And that this was the time to take part and enjoy so a year from now they could look back and reminisce on how great a time they had while the event was going on. There were some who threw themselves fully into the event. They found ways to spread the infection as best they could and complained when someone ran through killing off their perfect zombification of a town or a paladin threw cures to stop the spread.

Just when the event was hitting it's height and phase 5 threatened to turn every one into zombies, even those who disliked the event started getting into it. They had simply had enough. Large groups of players started forming "cleansing" raids and began pushing back the tide of the scourges new plague. when I saw this, I was happier with WoW than I have ever been in the past...happier at that moment than with any MMO I have ever played. I was rejoicing," Blizzard did it! They created an event that had players to re evaluate the game and take a stand against world changing threat. Finally a truly dynamic world!!!" Within the hour, the announcement came that the NPC's had found a cure and the plague would be over in a few hours. As news spread, the raids fell apart as it was going to end soon no matter what players id, the need was no longer there. I wanted to weep. Just when it was getting good, they pulled the plug.

Now Blizzard claims this was their plan all along. They had a very specific schedule, they said, and it had been met. I believe them, but god I wish they had approached this differently. Imagine if they had added a little bit of the AQ opening to this event. Sure, a cure can be found but the NPC's need herbs, cloth, leather, zombie parts, necrotic runes...whatever. Then give players a little argent dawn faction rep or even better, home faction rep, like 25 per turn in and get players moving to defeat the spread of the plague. Oh, and make the cure faction specific so the Alliance and Horde are racing to cure their side so they are immune while the other side is still infected.

Which leads me to my only complaint about the event: It just didn't last long enough or effect enough of the world. just as players were getting together to deal with the issue, it was over and that cooperation fell apart. Blizzard accomplished what to my direct experience was the first real dynamic world changing event in MMO history. yes, there was a plague in Horizons, but it didn't have the effects that this one did, though Horizons did give it a valiant effort at a dynamic world, they simply don't get enough credit for what they attempted with that game. But this new Scourge Plague was covered by both Fox News and Time magazine online. Think of it! An in game event covered by real world news as if it were an actual real world event, given the same seriousness and credence as a flood in some corner of the world you barely know the name of. This alone places me squarely in the Blizzard fanboy faction. We, folks, are simply not worthy. With the rumors and these are just rumors, I can find no confirmation on this, that the U.S. government actually paid for Blizzards data of the event to use as a model for tracking a biological weapon scenario added into the mix of uber cool scourge invasion fun facts and what we have here is a full blown conspiracy theory in the making and folks you just aren't going to get that from other games.