Once upon a time I played D&D (it was in college.. everyone was doing it). I think I played a ranger. I like bows and shooting things from range. I think I was terribad at it. Pretty much I played with a group who would look at me and say “Roll a D20″ and I’d roll and then look at them and say “I got a 7, is that good”? Mostly I was there for the story telling. Honestly I could almost have played the game without die.
Anyway we started our adventures in an Inn. We wandered around the country doing odd jobs and hearing hints of evil plots. Every once in a while we’d stumble on corrupted church that needed to be cleared out.. or a simple maiden who’d been kidnapped by banshees and spirited away to their banshee lair. It was a good simple time.
I played with this group with this character for about a year. Two to three nights a week. As time moved on we progressed. Through no fault of her own my ranger was cursed with wings.. and learned to make the best of it. When they’d ask me to roll for damage I kept rolling more and more bigger die. We moved from simple tasks to more complex tasks.. we were building portals to the elemental realms to retrieve a lost chalice. We were fighting off demi-gods.. AND WE WERE WINNING. Every task became about rolling the die and getting the big numbers to kill the baddie. The bad guys could almost have been untextured boxes for all the RP involved. They needed killing and we were there to do the job. It was kinda boring.
The GM talked about having us all re-roll.. but after killing off demi-gods on a powerful character with a complex back-story that was a little hard to swallow. Eventually the gaming group petered out (really I got thrown out of school but that’s another story).
Cataclysm will open up the elemental planes so that our toons will be able to continue our adventures on these higher planes of existence. In Wrath we’ve already defeated titan avatars (Loken, then Thorim, Freya, etc). We’ve poked the old gods (K’Thun and Yoggy) in the eye (sometimes literally). Eventually we’re going to face Sargeras. When that happens I’ll know we’re too big for our britches.. and probably the game will peter out. When you defeat the ultimate evil in the game.. is there really any further to go?
I said the same thing when Planes of Power was released for EverQuest. “Wait a minute – we’re going to be able to kill the gods. Where do you go from here?”
Admittedly, Sony/Verant kinda borked that whole thing up by making the actual slaying of the pantheon out to be “just a dream,” but it worked for them, and they’re still in the running as an MMO.
I still think we’ve got a long way to go before Sargeras. We still have the Emerald Nightmare to contend with (though that may be a part of Cataclysm), and I’m 100% positive that the whole mess with the Infinite Dragonflight is still unresolved (meaning we’re going to have to nail Nozdormu to a cross eventually). After that, who’s to say? Maybe it will be Sargeras. Maybe it’ll end in a giant faction showdown.
But I have to hand it to the Blizzard guys – they’ve developed a realm loaded with lore, packed with promise, and acres of anticipation. I’d bet they’ve still got plenty of surprises up their sleeves yet.
Pixelated Executioner´s last blog ..Arms Warrior Elementary School, Q & A
Reading that reminded me of …
Buffy: Just tell me what kind of demon I’m fighting.
Quentin: Well, that’s the thing, you see. Glory isn’t a demon.
Buffy: What is she?
Quentin: She’s a god.