Zero Punctuation: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

[Matt Archibald]

you say the game is all about about having the best numbers (as if you actually know what the game is about), yet you completely fail to mention pvp. that's some sorry ass journalism. i'll remove 90% of my numbers for a duel if you want. i'll still fuck you up.

also, noone who raids ACTUALLY raids for gear. it's about the challenge of working together to clear bosses. gear is a necessary side effect. it's a good feeling when you finally destroy a boss you've been stuck on forever. god, learn to play. terrible gamers shouldn't be allowed to review games. i imagine you playing this and fumbling around like a complete dumb ass.

 

[Erthely]

I use the speech about numbers all the time

 

[Waif]

Cataclysm made early leveling fun, but I do understand a lot of what Yahtzee is saying about WoW. However, I play it, and it is kinda fun in it's own right. Though it's about rewards and goal setting mainly I think.

 

[Jdb]

I don't understand the "but every game is a grind so it doesn't matter" argument. Even if it is true, MMORPG is the only genre to make the grind the driving force for continuous play. Other genres use things like intricate stories and hard challenges to entice players. For example, whenever I'm playing an arcade shooter, I never think about how many more robots I have to shoot down before I reach the next level; I think about how I am going to dodge volleys of missiles and counterattack.

Also, what is a grind? People have their own definitions for this and that's where arguments start. My definitions are "preparing to play the game before I can actually play it" and "winning does not mean advancement." MMORPGs fit these definitions perfectly. However, applying these definitions to other games doesn't work. In Super Mario Brothers, I don't have to play a mushroom farming and eating simulator between every level so Mario can get his energy back for more jumping. In Mega Man, I don't have to roll a dice every time I beat a boss and hope it lands on an even number or else I won't get the boss' weapon and have to do the level over again.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I just had a lot of fun re-watching this episode with the sound turned off. I only got about half of what the visual metaphors meant, and that was from prior experience. Anyone else like watching Zero Punctuation with no sound?

 

[ffs-dontcare]

Just re-watched this one.

Ben has a point when it comes to being congratulated for mundane "achievements".

Every time I get an "achievement" for something by accident, something so easy a child could literally do it themselves (complete 50 quests, etc), I get "gratz" thrown at me by various guild members. And every time that happens, I call them out on it. If I got "gratz" thrown at me for reaching levels 60, 70, 80 and 85, I'd be okay with it because they're all respectively milestones. Hell, congratulate me for hitting level 40 if you want. But I don't expect to get "gratz" for reaching level 10.

I got the "achievement" for getting my first hair cut and a guild member congratulated me for it. I told him, "but it's not an achievement ". He replied with, "but it is! you got a new dooooo ".

An equally amusing conversation happened with another guild member. After I got yet another "achievement", he proceeded to congratulate me. Twice. Within literally one second. (thank you time-stamps!)
Me: "... you have it macroed?"
Him: "Had it macro'd since Burning Crusade "

Of course, he proceeded to excitedly spam said macro after I accidentally leveled the guild up to 15 by handing in the quest Shutting Down Manaforge Duro. Now THAT is what I'd call an actual achievement.

But still, the fact that he put "Congratulations!" on a macro just makes it even more pointless and redundant.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Maybe it's just me but I think Guild Wars would have better suited Yahtzee mostly because it's a lot less about leveling up and getting the newest and best weapons (NUMBERS) and more about beating the crap out of other peoples guilds through skill and planning.

 

[yumikana]

I realy dont see why people like this stuf...
I hawe sean how the characters in WoW is like and i hawe sean WHAY better locking characters in a game u can get for free and wich u can play 10 f**ing years and only money you have spent is your internet conection bils (on a side not your character can get married to another character of the oposite sex).

 

[Odysseous2]

I like World of Warcraft, but I just don't see how people become so obsessed with it. I play it off and on because honestly, it's far to dry for me to have a twelve-hour marathon with. I can think of so many other games that I've found more addictive.

 

[Yeager942]

I never realized that Yahtzee liked Skynyrd