World of Warcraft

          World of Warcraft is down for maintenance. I've been playing that almost obsessively for about a month or so, studying the way they managed the worldbuilding. The one thing that bites is, when you go to the major capitols, like Stormwind, Darnassus, and Ironforge (or the Undercity). the game suffesr major lag; the worst offender is Ironforge. Still, it's worth the effort. The animations for Ironforge are gorgeous in detail. The Dark Elf town's ain't half bad, either.
          Yes, gaming can too count as writing research. They had to write at least a basic storyline, didn't they? Quite a bit of work went into the storyline development, and they keep adding to it. Even if they have to take the system down once a week for maintenance, and have software problems.
          That's the funny thing about spending so long writing, you tend to compare story arcs and details in everything. Not to mention you add quirks for characters. I have one Dark Elf who bows to the Ancient Protectors and stuff, and another one who salutes them.I'm adding character quirks. Although the male, I don't think I'll try it again, but the female, I like having hr make the train noises while dancing. It's cute. It makes little sense, but it's cute. Why does it make little sense? Because there are no darn trains, unless you count the underground run between Ironforge and Stormwind. I don't hear it making trainy noises, though... Also, the jokes could use some improvement for the 'silly' bit on vocal emoting.
          The Dark Moon Carnival is setting up by Goldshire. I can hardly wait to see what that's going to be like! Is that a dungeon, or is it like the Monlight Festival, for fun? Thasnks to the Coins (from talking with the Elders), my Dark Elf Rogue, male, is running around in a pink festival dress.
          Remember what I said about character quirks. ;-)