The State of The Union

Hellbent, my guild, is a relatively small group of friends, some of whom have known each other for over 10 years of gaming in the MMORPG community. Our history goes all the way back to Meridian59, however most ties were established in the golden age of original EQ.

We have played and tested many many games including the aforementioned EQ and M59. We have played or tested EQ2, AC, AC2, Planetside, DAoC, Horizons, AO, LoTRO, CoH, and WoW, among others. We spent a considerable amount of time playing on the Test Server as a guild (under a different name) for DAoC.

Our home for the past two to three years has been WoW.

We generally split our time between PvE and PvP. We've never been much for grinding. Unfortunately, the WoW PVE endgame for us has turned into exactly that. A grindfest. Grinding for materials, grinding for faction, grinding heroics for gear with a horrible risk vs reward balance. The saving grace for us has always been PvP.

Unfortunately, Blizzard has chosen a path for PvP that some of us find distasteful. They are pushing to turn WoW PvP into a professional e-sport and are completely abandoning the roleplaying-based PvP that the game was sold on. In short, there is no WAR in World of WARcraft. The only thing of importance now are arena matches, which is nothing but dueling in a confined and controlled enviroment for e-peen gratification.

We want PvP with a purpose. We want our wins and losses to have an impact on the gameworld around us. We want PvP in a world enviroment, not in some small arena.

Thus, we are in transition. We are stuck with a game that we are becoming increasingly disatisfied with, but possible salvation (Warhammer or AoC) lies a long ways off in the horizon.

We will be seeking to get into either beta, to see if they deliver what WoW has abandoned.

Warhammer Online
Age of Conan


-- Oozo/Chromed

Introduction

I've been playing MMORPGs for a little over 10 years now. From Templar in M59, Raggok in EQ, Reave in DAoC, The Debater in CoH, to my current day role as Oozo and Chromed in WoW.

Some people have surmised that I named myself after a russian alcoholic beverage. That is not the case. What I like to tell people is that I named myself after my RL girlfriend, Oozo. But, people generally don't buy that. Truth is that I stole this name from an EQ friend who had an ogre warrior named Oozo Slobberfist.



Now, before you go and call me a name-thief, let me tell you; he had it coming to him. My friends stole most of my old EQ names in DAoC and WoW and it was time for some payback. Little did I know that it would be by this name (not even my own) that I would end up being best known as.

Oh irony, how dost thou stabbeth thee...


The purpose of this blog will be for me to have a place to offer my musings on PvP, give background for movies I make, and talk about whatever MMORPGs I happen to be playing or looking forward to.