Ask Gauss

It's Wednesday meaning it is time for the first "Ask Gauss" of February. Truth be told the questions I decided to publish today are actually ones that I think many of you will find interesting. So much so that you may complete disagree and even go off on me for saying such things, but that makes it more fun doesn't it?

I know you're a big fan of Warcraft Lore. Have you been happy with Wrath with what it has had to offer Lore wise?

I would have to say yes for a lot of reasons. I feel the story lines of all the new quests were very well put together. Of course the Lich King stuff you expect to be done well because well he is the main focus of the expansion. Even if sometimes I wanted him to just own me. Ulduar and all the lead up to it was done brilliantly. You find as Brann says "roaming the halls of the titans" it really felt epic. The ToC patch although minimal and the filler patch of this expansion offered the story of more tension between the Horde and Alliance, something I will never look down upon. Even if I am not a fan of Garrosh his character has really come into its own during the expansion. Something I feel will lead to many good things in the future. The Wrath gate and battle for Undercity added to this. I think that whole quest to me has been one of the big highlights of the expansion.

The Icecrown patch has been everything I have wanted to be if not more. Arthas is one of the greatest characters in the history of Warcraft Lore and they have been playing it right. The scenes in Halls of Reflection were great and really play out how you would want them to. "Silence Paladin" one of the best lines of the expansion in my opinion. The Saurfang event played out well and had great intros and outros for both Alliance and Horde something which I think was extremely important. I know there is much too look forward to when the Lich King finally falls. The video is out and I haven't watched it and I wont until I have watched it in game. So no point in asking me to comment about that as of yet. They have put stock in it and I hope I am not disappointed.

This all being said Deathwing is my favourite Villain in Warcraft Lore so I am pumped for Cataclysm for this reason. If you haven't had the chance get to know him before hand and you will completely understand what I am talking about.

So we hear this all the time PvE or PvP which is harder?

Harder isn't the word I would use. They require many different traits and/or talents. They also require a lot of the same. To me though both should be a test of skill and if I am being completely honest PvE does this much better than PvP in WoW. Now before all you PvPers go crazy let me explain.

PvP does take effort to be good I am not going to deny that. The problem is the best test of skill for PvP would be equal balance. This doesn't even get into class cookie cutter combos in arena because that is a completely different issue. To me when you PvP against another team which is not evenly matched that completely discounts the skill aspect and you get into handicaps. This is why First Person shooters are great PvP games, because everyone is created equal. You are all even and it is about the person who adapts the best to the environment, the other people in the environment, and of course learning from expierence. You develop the skill to do this effectively. WoW doesn't have the setup for this. They could put it in, but I don't ever see it happening. Why? Because WoW is about improving yourself. If everyone gets modeled and molded every time they enter a BG or an Arena that there would never be the place for this.

So yes in WoW I think PvE is the best test of skill because the measures are in place to do this the right way. Again this doesn't mean any idiot can PvP or that idiots don't PvE it just means what the game allows and the way the game is.

Do you ever smile?

Anytime a ret pally dies.

So I can only imagine the feedback today, but bring it on I am looking forward to it.