WoW Insider is Massively’s big-sister site, all about World of Warcraft. They have a regular podcast, same as we do, and they do live shows on Saturdays via UStream. I’m going to be jumping on with them in about an hour, at noon PT / 2pm CT / 3pm ET. I’m embedding the show below so you can check it out; come join us!

This week Michael Zenke drops some serious science on Wrath of The Lich King and its place in the MMORPG pantheon. We also go into some depth on a ton more games as the winter deluge finally slows down.

I’m still not quite to 74 yet; I hit Monday, opened the closet marked ‘work’ and a hundred thousand pingpong balls flew out of the tiny room at me in a hilarious Lucy-esque display. So, been a bit busy. Still, I have many awesome things to say about Lich King. You can hear me say a few of those things in today’s Massively Speaking. We’re up to Episode 32, amazingly. But to go into greater detail here, I want to start with the comments of some other folks:

“From the very moment I first entered Northrend, as the boat I was on approached the dock, I could tell that Blizzard just “gets it”.  I’m definitely eager to see what else the expansion has in store in the levels to come, but by no means am I in a rush to get there.  That to me, is a sign of a great expansion.”
- Timesink

“The new zones are stunning.  There were zones in Outland that I really liked, but only Zangarmarsh made me say, “Ooooooh” when I first walked in there.  So far, each of the new zones I’ve seen in Northrend have left me with my jaw hanging open.  I’m exploring entire areas not just for the achievement, but because I want to see the view from every cliff top.”
- Outland Bound

“Borean Tundra: Pasta. Howling Fjord: Pasta with a freshly made tomato, basil and mushroom soft sauce, topped with freshly-grated parmesan cheese. Served just at the right temperature, by a 10th generation family chef from Tuscany, who made the whole dish right before your eyes while you sipped the season’s red wine, in a delightful summer sunset, on the terrace at his private villa.”
- Julian at KTR

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In a comment to my post yesterday about Warhammer, Snafzg said: “If you’re releasing a product you’re damned right I’m going to compare it to another established product in the market. If you launch something that doesn’t compare in terms of quality, why should people give you the benefit of the doubt, especially as paying customers? We don’t do it with automobiles, restaurant food, or clothing. Why do MMOs get a free pass?”

Sorry, I just don’t buy these ‘we’re too easy on MMOs’ arguments. Should they be good? Yes. Should they run? Yes. Should they be fun? Yes. If any of these things are untrue at launch, I totally agree, that’s unacceptable. Witness: Vanguard, Age of Conan, Auto Assault, etc, etc.

But if the question is, “Should they be as good as a game that’s been running for four years?”, the answer is no. If you think the answer should be yes you’re dreaming. Seriously. Look at this realistically. While WAR was still deciding whether to wear boxers or briefs World of Warcraft was fiddling with PvP balance, raid tweaking, even superfluous fun content like mounts. Blizzard has had four years of live service to tweak, fix, and change their game. As a result (as I said on SUWT), World of Warcraft is the best MMO ever made, hands down, do not pass Go.

Warhammer has had two months. If you seriously expect a game that’s been out in the sun for two months to compare, polish/content/balance-wise with a four year old game, you’ve really got to re-examine your priorities. MMOs are not likes restaurants, automobiles, or clothing. If a car doesn’t run, it’s because there was a problem in the factory that could have been fixed on the drawing board. If clothes don’t fit, it’s because they were sewn wrong in the factory. If restaurant food tastes bad, it’s because it was prepared badly in the kitchen.

Get it through your heads:

Beta testing is a joke. We’ve talked about it for ages, about the motives behind ‘free players’ and the lack of actual testing. People do not play Betas like they play live games, it’s a demonstrable fact. As a result, the only way to know for certain if you’ve done the right thing is to launch your game. Warhammer did the right thing; they launched, they hit the waters, and now they’re swimming like crazy.

They’re trying to understand what exactly they’ve built in relation to how players interact with the systems, in relation to how the systems interact with each other, and so on and so forth. In a couple of months Warhammer is going to have more content, two more classes, and a lot more balance. That’s when I’ll go back, and that’s when we’ll start to hear a lot of amazing things about this great game Mythic has created.

So, say it with me: MMOs are different.

I’ve somehow managed to keep up my pace of a level a day. That’s considerably slower than many of my guildmates (already have an 80 in the guild, and a few others close to that mark), but it’s more than comfortable for me. I have a lot of thoughts about Borean Tundra, but those will wait till the morrow. Long week ahead.

Without any significant gear changes it’s not all that interesting to show you the character selection shot. That said, I did get a new toy thanks to a mage port to Dalaran from a guildie. Thanks Wonad!

Some thoughts on the content I’ve experienced in Northrend below the cut.

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I’m totally in love with this expansion. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as invested in an MMO as I do with WoW right now. I’ve done two Utgarde Keep runs and a run through the Nexus. All three were successful, and I’m now the owner of Skarvald’s Dragonskin Habergeon and a Drakonid Arm Blade. Good times. I also dinged 71, and am about 20 quests short of the Quest Achievement for Howling Fjord. That one – and 72 – will be this weekend’s goal.