gverma.com

I had an idea for a Time Travel feature for World of Warcraft, which I have just posted on the official forums (link here). The post is meant to be from a fan's perspective and written in a casual manner so as to not overwhelm common readers, and is not supposed to be a design document. Here is a copy of the same post:

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*TIME TRAVEL*
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Hello, everyone! I'm your average joe WoW player who is also an IT engineer with some history in games development. I've been playing WoW since launch and love the game to bits. I came up with an idea which I would love to see implemented; so if you have the time, please do go through the following and post whether you like the idea. If you do, please try to support it with your comments as I believe that is the only way we can gain the attention of a Blizzard rep, who will hopefully pass it on to the design and development team.

( Please don't post simple "/signed" replies, as I believe that is against Blizzard forum policy. )

And so it begins...

- Would you like to raid Molten Core or Blackwing Lair the way you used to in Vanilla WoW?
- Would you like to enjoy some TBC arena on a level 70 character on the same realm as your main?
- Defeat C'thun as a level 60 raid or Kil'jaeden as a level 70 raid?
- Make some use of all that level 60 and level 70 endgame gear rotting in your bank?
- See level 60 and level 70 battlegrounds filled with well geared people once again?
- And would you like to do all these things mentioned... on the same character, your precious main?
- I DO! ^_^

Somewhere outside the entrance of the Caverns of Time...

A little gnome (level 80 Elite, green un-harmable NPC) called Tommy Fuzzshanks is seen tinkering around with a lot of equipment. You approach the gnome and he looks up to you with eager wide eyes, and you suddenly feel an uncanny resemblance to a lab rat.

"Yes yes, I know why you are here. So my advert posting did make it to the Gadgetzan Times. Wonderful! Now, I assure you that everything you have read is true. By harnessing the chromatic energies radiating from the caverns behind us, I believe I can alter the flow of time! And I can prove it too! Well, only for small objects so far... but nevermind the details! I can do exactly what those giant draconian hourglasses inside the Caverns of Time do, but on a smaller scale. So what do you say? Would you like to be the first to see your body travel through time?"

"Uh, my body?"

"No, my body. OFCOURSE YOUR BODY! I knew your kind weren't smart, but really! Let me explain... You see, I have built a device that can read specific sub-space signature patterns and EVERYTHING seems to be emitting some sort of chromatic radiation, like a flow of some sort. With the excessive radiation that is being released from the Caverns of Time behind us, I can use that energy to collide it with yours, hence altering its flow. Although I have only been able to figure out how to reverse the radiation so far."

"Soo... I can travel back in time?"

"Your body can! I keep telling you, it's not you but your body! You will retain the memories and experience of today and take it back... lets say all the way up to 10 or 20 seasons ago.
However, you may not take any item with you that the world hasn't seen or has yet to experience or be invented in the future! Doing so could alter the space-time continuum and the universe could end as we know it! No, I forbid it. Leave your flashy objects behind, and dress according to the year."

"Alright! I'm in! So what do I have to do?"

"Well I'm not running this for charity, you know! Until I get enough recognition for the Gobel Prize, I need to find other ways to finance my... experiments. I think a 100 gold fee would do just fine! Oh, and I'll take that in advance! *Tommy looks up at you and extends his right hand forward*"

/* The above is just an example of how the NPC's dialogues can go, I am sure the Blizzard design team can come up with something better and possibly even throw in an attunement quest. Something like sneaking into the Caverns of Time and using some gnomish device to "steal" and harness/collect some of the chromatic radiation flowing about. :) */

What exactly does Time Travel do

- Allows the player to return to Level 60 or Level 70.
- Your talents are reset the first time you travel to a specific level.
- Your glyphs are reset the first time you travel to a specific level.
- Your talents, glyphs and action bar buttons are "remembered" the next time you travel back to the same level. This applies to both specs if you have already purchased dual specs.
- Spells and abilities learned over the level you have travelled to are unlearned temporarily (until you return to your own time zone).
- You can return to Tommy Fuzzshanks to reset the flow of chromatic radiation around your body, thereby returning you to your original level.

Limitations and Specifics

- Only available to players at the maximum level of the game.
- You can only time travel if the items you currently have equipped are of the maximum required level (including enchants) that you are travelling back to. For example, time travelling to level 60 means you can only equip MC/BWL/AQ40/Rank1-14 sets/etc. This means items that require a maximum of level 60 to equip and quest rewards of a maximum item level equivalent to level 60.
- The above limitations does not apply to glyphs as they are reset when you time travel for the first time.
- You will need to input your talents, glyphs and reconfigure your action bars after travelling back in time for the first time. Level 60 players will only have 51 talent points to spend, and will unlearn any ability that they might have obtained from their trainer over level 60. Similarly, level 70 players will only have 61 talent points to spend.
- The talents and glyphs are remembered for your character and will be available the next time you travel back to the same level.
- You cannot gain any experience from completing quests after travelling through time. You also do not benefit from the "XP-to-Gold" conversion available to players at the maximum level (currently 80).
- For all purposes, the game will think that you are the level that you have time travelled to. This will stop the player from equipping higher level items or using anything which is limited by player level.
- You gain a permanent irremovable buff/debuff (like an Aura) which tells you that your chromatic radiation flow has been altered (so others can tell you are not actually level 60/70).

Other systems that are already in place

This idea has multiple benefits and can be made compatible with existing game mechanics and features/systems:

- Dual Talent Specialisation
- Level 70 Arena Bracket
- Level 60 Honour Vendors
- Level 70 Honour (Guardian) and Arena (Brutal Gladiator) Vendor (the latter can be found in Area-52. PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THIS FROM THE GAME!)
- Max level 60/70 Alterac Valley queues
// I would recommend creating level 60 and 70 only WSG and AB brackets

Advantages to Players

- Players can enjoy all brackets on the same character instead of levelling alts and "twinking" them.
- Players can enjoy the advantage of higher honour gain through level 80 PvP to buy level 60 and 70 items which are relatively cheaper than their level 80 counterparts.
- Players at level 80 can enjoy their old school tier sets and put them to use inside instances and battlegrounds of choice.
- Entire guilds can be formed only to enjoy casual level 60 raiding once again! From 5-man instances to wiping on C'thun!
- Miss elemental PvP as mage? Miss the vigor seal fate (previously 31/8/12) spec as a rogue? Relive your memories and form old-school premades for different battlegrounds!
- Got a friend levelling up around level 60 or 70 who wants to do an instance? Do it the fun way and form a group around the same level instead of simply boosting him/her.

Advantages for Blizzard to consider

- Will increase the game's popularity and appeal factor even more.
- Debut implementation of a feature that has never been seen in any other MMO (so far...)
- Within the boundaries of Warcraft lore.
- Compatible with future expansions. I am sure the Level 80 days will be missed as well (one day...)
- Bring some life back into old school Azeroth and Outland zones. May even resurrect BRM ganking! ;D
- You don't have to worry about balancing the game around lower levels, this feature is purely a fringe benefit for your players.
- Less chances of players quitting and playing on illegal private servers. You will also satisfy the requests of quite a few players that are hoping for vanilla WoW servers.
- The potential is huge!

I look forward to your comments, and hopefully some suggestions which might improve the draft some more. I believe that no design is perfect, the best ideas are ones that are flexible and can easily adapt to the changing dynamics and demands of a game.

Regards,

-Gav-

I just received my shipment of Razer gear and decided to take some pictures while unpacking the boxes (Razer really know how to wrap things up). Here's what I took:

And this got me thinking; I probably have quite a few pictures lying around of my past PC setups. Okay, so I didn't find that many, but decided to make a chronological display of what I did manage to find for self-reference. This is also so I can link this post on hardware forums and the like while discussing techy stuff with other geeks such as myself!

2003:

2004:

2008:

2009: (current)

The monitors I am using right now are Samsung T260s, and I am now trying to save up for a 30" UltraSharp by Dell. And who said size doesn't matter? *grin*

So... yeah, this hasn't really been the most active blog on the internet, but I guess it's never too late to resurrect the dead and blow some of the dust off something. Just posting to say that I have updated my Warcraft page. I haven't played seriously since TBC (end of Season 4) and have only been able to log on during weekends over the past 6 months, and that too only to socialize with friends, because of my job. Speaking of which, I am working on a new portfolio sub-site and it should be live a few weekends from now. Until then, here are two cool looking screenshots of my undead mage:

So... the last post on this blog was over a year ago. Why exactly do people blog? I've seen so many people attempting to blog and then fail to post in it regularly. And now I can add myself to that list. In my opinion, most people who blog are looking for something in return, mostly attention or feedback. Why blog if no one's going to read your stuff, eh? Well I was different, I wanted to record my thoughts and opinions in the form of a web journal so that I could come back to it some day and read through it myself, to see how I've changed over the years and to reminisce old times. Old times, as described by me, in my own style of writing. So many people try to use fancy words while authoring certain text, but I guess that's the difference between published material and casual blogs.

So am I going to summarize my last year to make up for lost time on this blog? Hell no, the past year and a half contain events I want to forget, rather than recall later in my life. But even so, why didn't I write here for so long? After doing some soul searching, the answer is easy... lazyness and escapism. I'm lazy, mostly when it comes to things that don't interest me. But blogging and writing about my life is interesting, no? It's true that many times in the past year and a half, my head has been filled with things I have wanted to put down to paper, but then the other reason for me not writing kicked in, escapism. I knew that if I wrote about my casual activities, I would have to account for them at some point. I was running... from myself.

Here's something more about me, I'm eccentric by nature and I'm an individualist. Why exactly am I those, though? No one is -born- a certain way, and as I have mentioned before in previous entries on this blog, I certainly don't believe in destiny or fate. I'm not exactly sure if the personality that a person develops into is inherited in any form via genes, but I do know that it's a direct consequence of the course that person takes in his or her life. I've been thinking a lot about -why- a person is who he is, or to go deeper and be more specific, why a characteristic trait exists within a person. If I were to forget about myself for a moment, and just think, "Why is Mr ABC an individualist?", I could come up with many possible theories. But in context to myself, perhaps I crave recognition on a bigger scale, perhaps I lack an identity that I so desperately want, perhaps I do things differently because I want to stand out? Am I really that attention seeking? I don't like to think so, but sometimes people close to you can tell you things about yourself that you were too blind to notice in the first place. Blinded by one's own thoughts... To be open is to be human, we might as well be wild animals if we live by our own or other people's pre-conceived notions. Everyone has a choice, a choice to be different and to be who he/she really wants to be. Decisions which aren't made on open terms with an open mind after having considered various factors logically, aren't really decisions in the first place... they are dictated conclusions. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as for many people the entity dictating the decision may be professionalism, religion, social duty, or other such considerations. The world revolves at a steady pace, dictated by such norms, and who am I to try and change anything? What right does anyone have to think differently? The answer: every damn right in the world. We wouldn't need politics or leaders if people were actually capable of living their lives the way they wanted to peacefully, we wouldn't need rules if people were capable of respecting each other and had open minds. But sadly, we do. We need leaders, we need boundaries, we need politics, we need media. We are like sheep being herded by the shepherd, most of whom are incapable of answering to themselves. Absolution isn't the answer, self-realisation and making informed decisions is.

Heh... see what I mean when I say I'm an escapist? This entry was meant to be about me, and as usual my thoughts have wandered away from myself and onto the general public. Why do I always look at the philosophical side of things, why do I always address global issues rather than those which are sewn deep within my head? It takes strong will to answer to yourself, but even stronger still to do something about why you had to in the first place. And I'm afraid I'm just not strong enough... yet.

Life.

"The property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organism."

I got the above definition from dictionary.com, and I believe it to be quite accurate and nearly complete from a scientific perspective. I have recently had to experience watching someone close to me go through difficulties that arose due to old age and internal medical complications. This got me thinking a bit... what does life really mean? Why should I want to know what life actually means and how does my understanding of the term differ from a definition which isn't relative to one person's perspective or emotions. I then realized that our (the common human beings of this age) understanding of life ties in very closely to memory. So what exactly is memory? Here's another definition from dictionary.com:

Memory.

"The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience. The act or an instance of remembering."

Before I continue further with what is on my mind while writing this little article, I would like to point out that I have a natural tendency to take a scientific and logical stance while addressing something. And this article is based around the same stance; I try to understand something better, based on my own reasoning and then try to reinforce or change that understanding based on scientific facts and logic.

Okay, so we know what the terms "life" and "memory" mean, or at least one definition (each) of them. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that our understanding of life ties in very closely to memory. Think about it, if one person (let's call him Mr X for now) lived his life as a farmer for 75 years before dying - there would be certain people who would remember him. And the memories of those people form the very foundation of his existence. What if Mr X was a person who worked in a corporate company? There would be records of his employment and achievements inside that company's databases. These records are again forms of memory (not literally the same type), and are at least translated into memory when accessed by people. Those memories and records, are proof that Mr X existed.

When a person lives his (or her) life, he accumulates a lot of memory as he grows older and lives through different experiences. Technically, I guess one can describe his life as a biological entity which is growing based on many functions within his body. When he sees something, and reacts to it, signals are sent to and from his brain via nerves and how he reacts will depend on what information the brain (the part dealing with memory) sends back after assessing the initial signals. There might be a certain type of food that Mr X likes, people that Mr X loves, an environment that Mr X finds comfortable, etc. But all of these originate from his own memory. Even though "memory" is something we cannot picture as a solid object, I like to think of memory as an embodiment of everything Mr X was, is, and ever will be. There are people like me who use the computer a lot, despite ignoring the fact that I am required to use it within my profession. As the years go on, there is a lot of electronic data relating to me which is stored at different sources: my email, my website, online shopping, accounts on multiple websites, and so on. That's not all, maximum data relating to me is actually stored elsewhere: my brain. The details of my computer, personal information and profiles, usernames and passwords, intellectual data and skills learnt by programming and through the use of different applications in different environments, and even moral values learnt by reading news and articles on the internet... to name a few, these were just a few of the things that I store in my head relating to my activities on the computer. Although other people have similar memories, all of these are specifically unique to me. The same thing applies to memories obtained by activities outside the world of computers: people we know, our conversations with them, our experiences at home and work, and everything that happens in our daily lives. What happens to all this information when we die? All of that information, experience and the skill-set that I have - will mean nothing once I am no longer alive. What will remain though, is the memory of my existence in the minds of other people and certain records/databases; and even that will die after a certain period of time or once the people who knew me have passed away. The same remains true for a super majority of people in the continuous life and death cycle of human beings, except the few who do gain a lot of fame and are remembered again by different people since the existence of those famous people is recorded in various sources. Why do some people try to achieve fame anyway? The answers may differ, as different people have different characteristics and the motives behind those people differ thusly. Even though I am quite young, and have a majority of my life ahead of me; I am sure I will ask myself, when I am very old, whether people (and who) will remember me. Because for my existence to live on after my death, it needs to be accepted and remembered by others. And then the most obvious question is: would it really matter to you if you were remembered after you died? To me, the answer right now would be "no", as I do not believe in life after death. So rather than caring about how and why people might remember me after I am gone, I would instead like to work towards -living- a happy life, and giving myself and the ones around me/dear to me some level of happiness.

Being happy, ofcourse, is a relative state of mind and differs from person to person. I believe that everyone who tries to make sure they leave a mark in an organization where they have worked, or everyone who tries to work towards making sure they will be remembered, should really reconsider their actions and work towards enjoying themselves instead (note: enjoyment is also relative and differs from person to person: one person may find enjoyment in saving money for his children's education and another person may find enjoyment in completing a task satisfactorily). Normally, most people don't even realize this or think about life at this level; their life goes on and they continue to live it, feeding their own memory and the memory of others. That's alright for them, being content and happy with the information people have is not a bad thing; however I personally have this weird tendency to look at everything from a... different perspective. And the above is what I feel above life and memory as such, two entities which are very closely linked to each other - and cannot exist without the other.

---
Gaurav Verma, 06 August 2006.

Whee, new "Haruhara Haruko" banner is now live! A big thanks to Stuart for designing it. Seriously, this guy is the best digital artist I have ever worked with or come across. So if you need something designed, look him up for a great deal!

BEW! Yea, you read right: BEW! It's a random word me and my friends use sometimes, basically meaning "Boo!". If you are so civilised that you are unable to comprehend the word's usage, it basically means "Heya" or "Hi".

Anyhow, more than a week ago I discovered that my right eye was affected by Uveitis as well. Distraught, I visited the eye doctor and was told that I would now need to put the same (steroid) drops in both of my eyes. A few days ago, they finally found out the underlying cause as well, which is now being treated. It's been a while since then and my eyes have recovered significantly; all's well that ends well (I hope).

Some more quick news: I just updated the theme/look for this website; alongwith some tweaks here and there. There is no major change to the functionality or content, just the aesthetics. However, I did slightly update the "About me" page to include a picture. :>

So it's been like 10 days since the vision from my left eye first became blurry and I found out that I had Uveitis. You know what bugs me? The fact that the doctors still don't know the -cause-, -why- do I have Uveitis? As a student of the science and a follower of logic, I like to know exactly how things tick and why events happen the way they do (generically speaking). And here I am, pumping steroid eye drops into my left eye without actually knowing the cause of my affliction.

Anyway, I had another visit to the eye doctor recently and after a lot of poking around and shining of bright lights, I was told that the inflammation has decreased by around 40% since I was first diagnosed. I am now putting eye drops 20 times a day (every half an hour) into my left eye and my eye is permanently (until the treatment stops) dilated due to the drops. It certainly isn't pleasant having perfect vision from one eye (right) and blurry from the other (left). According to the eye specialist, my vision will return to normal once inflammation is totally gone and the medication stops.

My next appointment is on Wednesday, so here's to hoping my eye gets better soon. Oh and on a not-so-related note, Summer -still- sucks.