Father Midnight (Day 94)

I think I am going to take a break from the story today! For some unexplainable reason I feel very sleepy and listless--something even the sweet embrace of caffeine is doing little to remedy. I assume I didn't sleep well, and I woke up pretty late in the day. I'm just not off to a great start today. However, I have been reading some interesting things about some of the news from Blizzcon.

Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard's answer to the MOBA genre, a competitor for Riot's League of Legends and Valve's Dota 2. It features characters from all of Blizzard's flagship franchises, Diablo, WarCraft, and StarCraft, including such favorites as Jim Raynor, Diablo himself, and the Lich King. I expect we'll see others like Thrall, Zeratul, and several of the generic Diablo classes. Although we don't know everything yet, it would appear the gameplay differs from Dota and LoL in that the primary objective isn't to destroy the opposing primary base. There may be a slew of secondary objectives required to complete matches, much like in World of Warcraft battlegrounds. I'm completely fine with them changing up the tried and true formula, so long as I'm able to cut people in half with Illidan Stormrage.

News about the new WoW expansion also hit today. It's called Warlords of Draenor and reimagines the world first visited in The Burning Crusade--before the events that led to it being shattered into different regions. The zones will evidently be designed from the ground up. Although no new races or classes have been announced, the level cap is being raised to 100 and most if not all of the basic character models are being overhauled. This has been a long time coming, because some of them are extremely dated in 2013--especially the tauren race.

Despite the mixed reception to recent World of Warcraft content, I've always been at least a casual fan of the game. When I have the disposable income, I enjoy leveling and exploring the new content they have to offer. I may not always agree with Blizzard's design decisions, but I certainly enjoy their lore and aesthetic enough to continue consuming their product--though not on a permanent basis. If I have the cash available I'll definitely be giving my paladin and warrior another spin on Warlords of Draenor. 

As far as other Blizzard content goes, I'd definitely like to give Hearthstone a try as well. I can't imagine it would ever be as deeply engrossing as Magic: the Gathering, but it does have the notable benefit of being digital and not a huge money sink. I'm told it's also far simpler, so it may not take as much of an investment to learn and play. The reception to it seems positive overall, so I'll definitely be giving it a try if I get the opportunity.