X-53 Touring Rocket

There’s something quite clever about the Recruit-a-Friend programme on WoW.. aside from the useful Summon spell, and the increased XP when working together, there is also the awesome X-53 Touring Rocket.  This is a reward given to the veteran once the recruit has actually joined the game as a fully paid member.  Good for Blizzard, and definitely good for those getting the rocket 😉

My friend finally earned his this weekend, and we’re using it at every chance we can get..

As it’s a two-seater, it means you don’t need to buy a flying mount each, and well.. it’s a rocket.

Who doesn’t love a nice big rocket?  Innuendos aside, it does look pretty awesome 🙂

Tarithel and Erilas

So I had my trial of WoW, and enjoyed it enough that I went ahead and got the game.  I managed to pick up the game plus expansions (Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King) for just under £30, and for the play-time I’ve had so far, I figure it’s worth it.

Thanks to the Recruit A Friend bonus, I’ve been levelling with a friend at a rather breakneck speed, as well as the now obligatory sight-seeing.  I’m loving the damage I can do as a fire mage – well, it’s hard to go wrong with fire, really!
We’ve ventured into a few dungeons, and so far the randoms we’ve met haven’t included too many idiots, though there always will be a few.

Here are Tarithel, destructive fire mage, and Erilas, awesome priest healer, posing just a little bit 😉

As for the few concerns I’ve had about becoming addicted – we’re still finding time to play other games, and go out and see friends, so it can’t be quite that bad 😀

Trialling WoW

As my gaming friends are now back in the clutches of Blizzard’s WoW, I figured I should maybe take a look at the game, under the premise of “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it”.  So I signed up for a free 10 day trial, with the intent of buying the game if I liked it enough.

Here’s my first character: Snagglehorn, a Tauren Druid.

The referral system, Recruit a Friend, allows for an existing player’s account to be linked to the new player’s account.  This gives a few benefits in terms of increased experience and a nice Summoning ability.  This meant I got to go sight-seeing as well as figuring out how to play 😉

Flying between places reminded me of my quick foray into Aion, and while the graphical detail isn’t as high here, I was still quite impressed at the amount of detail which has been put into the game.

The subscription model was something I had rejected this game for, years back. I felt that buying a game should be enough, never mind paying for it month after month.  However, I understand that Blizzard are reasonably good at updating their product, and good companies deserve support.  There are also plenty of other games I’ve got my hands on which haven’t had the play-time to justify their price, so if WoW gets even a few hours play each month, it will be worth the fee.