Holy shit! I got this e-mail today:

Greetings!

If you are receiving this email, you are one of the valued testers currently in World of Warcraft’s closed beta test. This message is to inform you that the beta servers will be coming down at 3:00 PM PDT on Friday, October 29 and will remain offline for a few days in preparation for another stress test. Your account and characters will be active for this stress test, but a new client download will be required. After the game servers come down on Friday the 29th, you will be able to log in to the community site and download the new client.

Once the beta-server preparations are complete, we will announce the start of the stress test, and the servers will come back online. When that happens, you will be able to log back in, download a quick patch, and then continue playing. Please keep an eye on WorldofWarcraft.com for more information about the stress test in the days ahead!

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for all the hard work you’ve been putting in to make World of Warcraft a better game. You’ve done a great job, and without you, the classes would not be where they are today, places like the Barrens would not be as rich as they are today, and the changes implemented from your suggestions would never have taken place.

We hope you’ve been enjoying your exclusive look at World of Warcraft these past few weeks and months, and we hope you’ll take some satisfaction in knowing that you’ve played a big part in shaping its destiny. We’ll see you again online soon!

Sincerely,

Blizzard Entertainment

I didn’t see this happening so soon. So another stress test is coming and then open beta? And then woot retail! Bye bye Camelot! See you all in Azeroth!

Just sometimes Gawain says things so I don’t have to:

The point is, there’s no reason to vote since it won’t matter either way. So fuck pop stars, fuck mtv, fuck movie stars, and especially fuck Puff fuckin’ Daddy.

Amen!

If you pay for Fileplanet.com get over there now and sign up for the World of Warcraft Stress Test/Open Beta! Again this is for paying costumers of Fileplanet. If your not it’s only 7 or 8 bucks. And whatever you do make sure you say no thanks to the 15 buck quarterly rate they offer. Because the next page you get after saying no offers you 7.90 a month.

World of Warcraft comes out the 23rd according to this press release. Which makes you wonder about just how long open beta will be. The final stress test started the 1st of this month. Well thanks to the Blizzard Insider we know when the open beta starts:

Also here is the beef on what this game is going to cost me and you:

After the initial free one-month subscription ends, players of World of Warcraft will be able to continue playing under one of three different subscription plans. The month-to-month subscription plan costs $14.99 per month, the three-month plan costs $13.99 per month, and the six-month plan costs $12.99 per month. World of Warcraft subscription fees can be paid by major credit card, PayPal, and pre-paid game cards, which will be available in stores where World of Warcraft is sold.

I admit it’s more than I expected it to be. But regardless of the price I will be playing this game. If you have doubts make sure to try it on the 8th.

Ah November, a month that means so much to me. On one had this is the month I celebrate the day that I got fired from the hotel I now work at again. And on the other hand this month is very special for all of the games that come out. Halo 2, Half-Life 2, and World of Warcraft. Theres not enough time in the day for all of this gaming goodness.

I’m thinking I need to take some of my vacation time this month. Maybe to coincide with WoW’s release. A week in the lands of Azeroth sounds very relaxing to me. Of course alternating my time equally with the Master Chief and Mr. Freeman. It sounds like one of the better vacations I have had in a long time. It’s time like this I’m glad that work lets us have vacation time.

And speaking of work. I hate it here. It’s getting worse everyday. For example the one piece of technology that I rely on the most, The time clock. You probably have one were you work. It’s the greatest isn’t it? This wonderful machine that keeps track of all the hours you work so that when payday comes you can roll around naked in all the money you earned. Well the one at the hotel is dying. It takes ten fucking minutes to punch in. And I’m not asking for a lot here.

And I have heard stories that the accounting department is so fucking stupid they don’t know how to read the shit at the bottom of the time card you write in. The little money I make is the only thing that keeps me happy at that place. That and quiting time. God damn I love when it’s time to go home. But all of this is under jeopardy because of this shitty time clock. I mean how bad does the hotel suck they can’t fix this one thing that is so important to every real employee they have?

Half-Life 2 has been getting my full attention ever since the game was unlocked at 12:07 am (Valve time) on the 16th. I played the game from the time I got off of work (around 7 am) until about 4:00 pm. I only took 6 screen shots and the only ones of note to show are these shots of Barney and Alyx:

A couple of things about this game. First off the graphics are amazing. I think it’s even more than just the graphics, it’s the environments and the way the story unfolds around you. You may have heard about this games physics in a preview or two. And it’s something that has to be seen, I can’t do it justice writing about it. More or less if you played and liked the first Half-Life this game will be a must have.

Multiplayer is handled by the Counter-Strike: Source, the juiced up version of CS. Personally I don’t like CS so it’s not an issue to me and I’m not big on the multiplayer part of the game. But some people would like to have just a plain old Half-Life 2 Death Match mode. And from what I hear it’s coming thanks to the mod community.

World of Warcraft retail day one is over and that’s something I wouldn’t have imagined would ever come. I’m not sure it’s been the smoothest launch. Waiting to login to the game is crazy. I understand that everyone and their bother wants to play this game. It a lot of fun. But jesus I hate waiting for something that I will be paying for. Granted I’m on a free month here. It’s just the idea that maybe this game wasn’t ready to go live yet. I’m still shocked of how fast the closed beta ended.

I can’t help but think WoW was rushed out to compete with EQ2 and to fill the pockets of those french fucks at Vivendi Universal. I’m sure I’m probably wrong about that. But it just seems odd. But don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the game is finally out.

You know the weird thing though? Now that it out I kind of feel like I’m leaving my first love. I didn’t even un-install Dark Age of Camelot. It would just feel odd with it not being on my computer. I do miss the game. It’s just that Camelot stopped being fun for me a long time ago. But I can’t help but have a special fondness for that game. And who knows, maybe I’ll give Catacombs a shot when it comes out. Just to see how things are and to visit old friends.