It’s hard to be a developer and not be unaware of Typekit or Google Web Fonts.  Both services provide excellent alternatives to the standard fonts available and both services are now supported across all current browsers.  For those of us who attempted to build our own fonts for using @font-face on our own projects, these services are a dream come true as the process what tedious, cumbersome and didn’t always process the desired result.

First, lets do a quick comparison:

	Typekit	Google Web Fonts
Fonts	700+	500+
Implementation	JS	JS, link, @import
Selection Quality	Excellent	OK
Finding Fonts	Excellent	Good
Cost	Varies*	FREE

Google‘s interface is simple and very easy to use. Implementation couldn’t be simpler than copy and paste. The Page Load meter, a feature unique to Google Web Fonts, is a pretty nice feature as well, letting you know when you’re starting to go overboard and/or get carried away.  I think one of the downsides to Google Web fonts though is the overall quality of the fonts.  Many of the fonts there are just… weird; not fonts I’d want to use on a website anyway.

Typekit‘s interface is beautiful, intuitive and simple to use. Implementation isn’t as simple as Google Web Fonts, but is by no means difficult using the “kit editor” popup. The added steps are due largely in part to Typekit keeping track of your pageloads and the sites where you use the fonts… also why you’re limited to including the fonts in javascript as opposed to other methods. The only real drawback to Typekit over Google Web Fonts is the cost. As a full-time firefighter and part-time developer, nearly all my work has become volunteer work. At $50 annually, even I can afford the “portfolio” account for the unlimited websites. With the numerous small-business-esque websites I create with minimal bandwidth, the 500k monthly pageview limit hasn’t been a problem yet, and one I don’t forsee.

Despite the fact both services are nothing short of awesome, in the end my favorite is Typekit which I turn to for most of my web font needs, particularly for personal and small business sites. However, for the several enterprise level sites I’ve created and maintain, I’ve steered clear from Typekit to avoid what becomes an astronomical fee (the “Business” pricing for Typekit isn’t even listed… scary) and used Google Web Fonts, which has been plenty sufficient. I kind of look at Google Web Fonts as the clipart collection on 50 CDs I bought as opposed to the expensive subscription to Getty Images or iStockphoto. I think if Typekit were ever interested in becoming the dominant web font provider (and maybe they are already… I don’t know), it would do them well to combine “Portfolio”, “Performance” and “Business” and eliminate the pageview limitations altogether.  Nevertheless, Typekit remains my favorite for the time being.

First, my work environment.

I have a live co-located server that hosts my final product.  I then have a separate development server in my home office which I use to create all my masterpieces.  I have a laptop which I’ve never really been comfortable coding with, but do use it from time to time.  And then there’s my crown jewel… my dual monitor workstation which I’m on nearly all day every day (would like to eventually add a third monitor).  The only reason I mention the dual monitors is that it’s imperative to my development… Dreamweaver CF Builder, Fireworks, Navicat & FlashFXP (all the development stuff) on the left and my browser is on the right (of course I test in every browser… no built-in rendering or troubleshooting tools needed for me), which I refresh as I go making sure I’m getting my desired outcome across all platforms.  And as I just mentioned, I use Navicat for all my SQL management (both Dreamweaver’s and Eclipse’s built-in SQL stuff is just laughable [and unnecessary]) and then FlashFXP for my FTP client (built-in FTP clients work fine… they just scare me.  I test over the local network and want to make sure I’m only uploading the final product, not risking overwriting anything important.).

On ColdFusion Builder:

1. I don’t get it because ColdFusion is a scripting language and I’m not compiling anything… ever.  But maybe having a server setup poses some use I’ve missed the past 10+ years of coding in ColdFusion [and continue to not see might I add].  CF Builder it seems, revolves around getting your server in the settings.  Sure you can code without it, but CF Builder will put you through constant nags and shames of guilt if you don’t.  Further, CF Builder wants to assume your ColdFusion test install is on the same local machine… which I’ve never seen done (even when I developed for the US Air Force) unless you’re traveling and demoing an app in front of a group of people.  And although it’s totally my fault I never figured it out, my firewall on my server was preventing CF Builder from connecting to it on port 80… which apparently is open by default for http, but not other things.  Regardless, once your server is setup, life is pretty nice in CF Builder afterward… it’s just a bleeding shame it took two years to figure out the problem because not a soul on the planet could figure it out… I just got the “you’re insane” look.  It would be very nice if future versions didn’t revolve around having the server setup, because frankly, it’s completely irrelevant and completely useless.
2. Once I got around server hell, the first thing I noticed were the fonts… which is like I’m looking at the moving numbers in The Matrix.  Sorry Adobe, but I code in Calibri… an easy change in the preferences.
3. I really don’t like scrolling horizontally.  Thankfully, there’s an easy fix for that in the preferences as well.
4. I also don’t like how every time you fire up CF Builder it loads what you were just working on… I closed it because I finished working on it.  Not a big deal though… I just got into the habit of closing the files before I actually close the program.
5. I really prefer my tags to close after I type the beginning if the closing tag.  This however is also easily changed in the preferences.
6. I absolutely love, love, love how CFB handles CFSCRIPT.  Unfortunately I’m finding myself not using CFSCRIPT often enough to justify the use of CFB solely for this purpose.

Now on Eclipse in general:

1. The reason I completely can’t stand Eclipse is the fact there’s just a million little things that annoy the living crap out of me.  Like autosuggestions… I love them and use them adamantly to code faster, but in Eclipse they never popup fast enough when you need them and then popup when you don’t need them and you’re constantly going back to fix crap you accidentally hit enter on.  I am constantly typing in full tags (because the autosuggest didn’t catch) which has really slowed me down.  I’m also constantly retracing my steps to remove mistakes I make when the autosuggest randomly pops up for no reason at all… which tends to happen mostly when I’m copying and pasting.  In terms of autosuggestions… Dreamweaver just does it better, much better.
2. Seriously, why in the world do I have to go through a wizard to create a new file?  Dreamweaver has this right… right click on the folder, new file, type the name of the file with the extension you want and boom you’re done.  No extra nonsense.  Dreamweaver even autodetects the type of file it is… automatically setting up the default CFC template if name it with that extension.
3. I really dislike the default color scheme… and thank heavens it’s completely customizable, but it literally took me an 8-hour day to get it to match Dreamweaver.  It would have been nice if this was something that was already done in CFB… at least on a setting [to at least try and make the switch for the myriad of CF Dreamweaver developers more comfortable].
4. Tag quotes… seriously wtf!  In Dreamweaver, I hit enter for the autosuggest and they’re just there with my cursor in the middle.  But in Eclipse, half the time the autosuggest doesn’t even come down (like never when I use class).  And I have to manually insert the first quote every time.  I’m a creature of habit and typing in quotes after nearly 15 years of not having to ever enter a quote has been an extremely uncomfortable switch.
5. Eclipse is just dumb.  And I’m not just talking about how it can’t figure out what it’s doing with autosuggestions, I’m talking like the vast majority of the time when I go to close a tag it closes the wrong tag!  This is another area where Dreamweaver just excels over Eclipse.
6. The .settings directory and settings.xml… get them the *expletive* out of my working directory!  I do understand why they’re there and it’s fine that Eclipse needs these files… but put them in THE ECLIPSE install directory or anywhere else but in my working directory.  At least give me the option.  Having to dodge this using my FTP client every time on every project is a royal pain in the butt.  This is probably the biggest nuisance for me.  Granted.. I find the stinking _notes directory Dreamweaver just as annoying.
7. On a positive note, the one thing about Eclipse I love better than Dreamweaver is how Eclipse handles CSS… it’s just wonderful.  I actually look forward to doing CSS work in Eclipse… it’s that enjoyable.
8. I have a love/hate relationship with Eclipse caching my files.  I love it because it lets me know I did work on another computer and the file changed.  On the other hand, I hate it because I can’t just open up and go like Dreamweaver.

I didn’t really know I was that picky about my coding environment until I tried this switch.  And in all honesty, I did come out thinking better of Eclipse and CFB than I did before.  However, for all the hype over the past few years I find CFB overrated and really don’t buy the hype.  In the end, I really don’t find the trouble worth it.  This is a product I wish would just go away and that Adobe would redirect its time and efforts back into the Dreamweaver extensions.  I’m really just hoping the CF10 developers will be providing extensions to Dreamweaver because I honestly don’t think I can stand CFB much longer.  And sadly, a large portion of the problems with CFB stem directly from Eclipse, not CFB itself.  I never expected CFB to be Dreamweaver, but I did expect CFB to make my development more efficient.  I now understand that efficient by definition also lies within the developer himself/herself, but In reality, CFB has actually made ColdFusion development more difficult and inefficient, at least for me.  I honestly believe even a new developer learning to code would find Dreamweaver a breath of fresh air after having used CFB/Eclipse.  I don’t mean to ramrod CFB by any means, but I honestly couldn’t recommend it to anyone.

So in the end I will be switching back to Dreamweaver with an upgrade to CS6 later in the year pending the outcome of developing CF10 extensions.  Of course I say this amidst the announcement of Brackets… Adobe’s new IDE for HTML/CSS/Javascript.  Wouldn’t it be nice if this also became the future IDE of ColdFusion (hint-hint-wink-wink)?

Today, the armory is nothing but a memory (permanently offline in August 2011) and has been replaced with the Blizzard Community Platform API.  This is actually a great thing… getting and manipulating your data is even easier!

The Blizzard Community Platform API uses RESTful services, so it’s really as easy as playing with some URLs:

<!--- Get Blizzard's RESTful data --->
<cfset serviceURL = "http://us.battle.net/api/wow/guild/Realm/Guild%20Name?fields=members" />
<!--- Returns the Blizzard data --->
<cfhttp method="get" url="#serviceURL#" resolveurl="yes" />
<!--- Because guilds typically consist of members with special characters in their names and setting charset="utf8" in cfhttp doesn't fix the problem --->
<cfset utf8Response = cfhttp.fileContent.toString("UTF8")>
<!--- Converts the Blizzard data into a structure --->
<cfset guildData = DeserializeJSON(utf8Response)>

What this does is return an awesome structure like so:

and the members will be in their own array like so:

You can find the complete API documentation here:
http://blizzard.github.com/api-wow-docs/

And an active support community on the forums:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/2626217/

The API isn’t perfect… you can tell from the screens above that the data [currently] isn’t pulling a member’s achievement count.  You’re also only limited to 3,000 hits/day, which isn’t a big deal for a small site, but may be few enough for you to want to consider dumping information into a database via cfschedule if you plan on doing anything bigger than a guild website.  Also bear in mind Blizzard’s made it perfectly clear they have no intention on working on the API any further until D3 and MoP are out the door… so we’re stuck with the myriad of bugs and a few missing prominent features.  However the API is pretty darn useful and far better than harvesting data… in fact most notably is that the API pulls in ALL the members as opposed to Blizzard’s site which only shows members over level 10.  Regardless, the API puts a lot of information in your hands for you to manipulate, and ColdFusion makes it a cinch!

Zeus comes packed with a myriad of updates.

I immediately noticed Tomcat.  Maybe it is faster (I can’t really measure that too well over my local network on my development server which really has no measurable traffic), but everything just seems zippier and more responsive.  I don’t know whether that’s Tomcat or new, hot ColdFusion goodness, but I really appreciate that.

My favorite part by far is the exceptional detail and enhancements to security.  I rely on ColdFusion to be on top of its game with security so I don’t have to.  But because it is in fact security, I personally feel ALL of these security features should have been released in increments over the past two years with ColdFusion 9.  I’m a little irritated at Adobe with the decision to market security as a feature set instead of keeping all it’s products secure all the time (you know, like everyone else… norton, mcafee, php, java… just to name a few), but I’ll play along and say job well done because there’s great stuff here.

I think closures are cool, but I still can’t figure out where I’d use them… or rather, how frequently I’ll use when I find a use for them.  I imagine my favorite bloggers (Camden, Corfield, Nadel, Forta) will cover them more in depth and eventually get me hooked.

We’ve had Java integration for years now, along with .NET integration and PHP integration, which is awesome (used it extensively on a few government projects where we had to tie together several applications that were coded in different languages).  So Adobe made java integration better… cool!

RESTful web services… yep… needed badly as SOAP and WSDL are slowly getting pushed to the side.  Nifty, but also expected.

And I am watching coldfusionbloggers.org avidly to see all the the stuff I’ve overlooked and missed altogether… already hopped on Ray’s demo dump (awesome stuff) and getting lots of oohs and aahs out of me on the implicit CFC constructors.

I haven’t really gotten around to playing with all the language enhancements in the past 24 hours.  Really, most of what’s there is stuff that’s to be expected.

In the end, I find ColdFusion 10 is an evolutionary release and not a revolutionary one as I’ve found with previous releases (like Windows Vista was to Windows 7… or rather… Wrath of the Lich King was to Cataclysm).  Yes, under the hood there are a ton of updates, but none I feel are compelling enough for me to want to upgrade this very minute.  This isn’t to say that what’s there isn’t good, because that’s not the case; what’s there is excellent. There’s just not a single feature that will affect my current client base to persuade me (and in turn persuade them) to update.  And that’s exactly what makes CF10 kinda sad [so far]… there’s really nothing for me to go to my clients to sell… “CF10 just came out and has these cool new features… want em on your site?”  YES!  MORE MONEY!!  IF this is all CF10 has to offer over CF9 (I say if, because this is only the first beta… we could see more), I’ll upgrade eventually, but not upon release.  Maybe I’m bitter because I wasn’t invited into the alpha and private beta as the previous four releases, but CF10 seems to sell itself short across the board.  Then again, maybe my opinion will change as demos and more information trickles out.

In previous releases it was HUGE when AJAX was added… XML forms, Flash forms, cfimage and so on.  Yeah, some of that stuff has died out… but it was cutting edge.  Where’s the jquery stuff that we’d all rather use?  How about adding a qrcode option to cfimage?  We already have an easy way to get Google Maps into ColdFusion, how about Google Calendar, Facebook and Twitter too (in case you didn’t notice Adobe… social media kinda went viral)?  How about anything that makes ColdFusion cool and hip for my clients, instead of stale and boring like [insert other language here]? How about an easier way to send text messages from a website to a phone instead of going through the gateway process which is a royal pain in the butt?  ColdFusion has always been about taking what’s cutting edge and making it damn easy to implement (or did I miss the TPS report memo stating that is no longer the case… I’m getting the impression there was an unofficial meeting that concluded CF will remain archaic until further notice, and somewhere a decision was made to let 3rd party frameworks do all the cool stuff (because it’s cheaper (AND a helluvalot buggier!))).  It wasn’t long ago when CF switched to SOLR… it was a huge evolutionary step, but clients never really got to see it, however there were plenty of other HUGE features in that release for them to see.  Now I know there are plenty out there that will disagree and are going to post their ummm… disagreements… in my comments, but there’s just nothing HUGE in this release (alright, Tomcat’s huge… but reference my sentence on SOLR above).  I’m just left underwhelmed compared to what I’ve come to expect from a ColdFusion release and I know my clients will be too… to the point where they don’t care whether it’s the latest and greatest (and before you ask if they ever did care… the answer is a resounding yes for EVERY release… new features allow me to revisit with the clients who want to offer their clients the latest and greatest… my clients know, just as well as I do, how much ColdFusion rocks and why we chose it).

I hate to bring it up, but this type of lackluster update is exactly what Adobe was known for before the Macromedia merger and why there were a great many of us concerned when it happened.  I just feel there’s stuff missing in this update.  And this is ColdFusion TEN!  This is all we got in 20 months?  Where’s the bling?  Maybe this release should be CF9.5, but honestly, I’d wait another 20 months for bling… CF9 is doing just fine.

As for the Cf Builder update, I’ve been a naysayer of CF Builder from the beginning (I understand the product remains in its infancy with its sophomore release).  I’d like to change my position on CF Builder and point out a few things for anyone still holding back like I was:

1. If you’re having problems adding a server on your LOCAL network, make sure you use port 80 (not 8500) in the server settings.  If you’re still not connecting and you’re running a Windows server, make sure you check the firewall on your server.  You might need to add an Inbound Rule for port 80.  And once it’s created, change the protocol from TCP or UDP (whichever you selected) to “Any” in the rule’s properties.  You also only need the profile to be public, although having all three checked won’t hurt.
2. Because my development files are on the server and I share those files across multiple computers, my only gripe at this point is that I want the Eclipse .settings directory and the .project file moved out of the root of each one of my projects.  Inheriting nuisances from other programs is what happens when you build on top of someone else’s work (that’s not a derogatory statement also directed at frameworks at all – sarcasm of course).
3. No one could possibly dislike Eclipse as much as I do, but if you think you do, grit your teeth like I do and appreciate the fact that cfscripting and CFCs are awesome in CF Builder, although they could have been awesome in Dreamweaver too, they’re just not.

What is a QR Code?
Simply, it’s a barcode (like barcodes on food at the grocery store or other stuff you buy) that YOU can customize. This code can then be scanned by smart phones and other devices to quickly translate that information without having to manually type it in.  It’s my understanding QR codes are already being used everywhere outside of the States and the U.S. has been slow to adopt the technology.  Regardless, QR codes have become quite popular over the past couple years and will continue to grow in use… if you aren’t seeing them everywhere now, you soon will.

*A more in depth definition from Wikipedia

What are QR Codes used for?
To put typical use into in perspective, I was at Taco Bell yesterday and there’s a poster on the wall with a QR code, which I scanned with my phone, that linked me directly to a survey on the restaurant on the web.  I took the survey while I was standing and waiting for my delicious (and now VERY overpriced) chicken and nacho cheese chalupa meal with a soft taco.

Pretty awesome!

Typically, you’ll see QR codes in print.  I’ve been using QR Codes extensively on brochures, business cards, ads in program books and so on.

And typically within a QR code is a URL or link to a website.  But a QR code is a multipurpose container that can hold a wealth of information including text, phone numbers and text messages (typically not a combination of information though).

So is a QR code practical on a website?
Well kinda… it all depends on what’s in the QR code.  Yes, the codes will easily scan onto a phone from the screen, so that’s not a problem.  But any sort of link inside the QR Code would probably be counter-productive.

Practical uses on a website might include contact information that can be easily stored in your phone so you don’t have to type it all in, although as a designer I would add the code to my website as a convenience to my users, not replace my contact information altogether.

How can I make my own QR code?
My favorite tool is here, although there are plenty others out there.

So how do I scan these codes?
Android has a free app in the market called QR Droid which I use frequently and it works great!  I don’t know what’s out there for the iPhone, Blackberry and Windows phone users, but I’m quite confident there are QR code apps available for those smartphones as well.

Now if only I could get my fortunes to be a QR code on my napkin so I didn’t have to actually open and break the fortune cookie to get it….

Normally, I use Fireworks for all my web mockups… in fact I use it daily.

Then came along the day a few years ago when I wanted to learn how to create vector icons and I immediately turned to Illustrator. Meh… any vector icons I needed to create can just as easily be made in Fireworks… I just love the control and ease of use with my pen tool and those sprites.

This past year I designed a bunch of print material for various projects (several event flyers, event tickets and even a book of ads), so I turned to Photoshop (after strongly looking at Illustrator and InDesign). Nope… it’s Fireworks again to the rescue. I got the information I needed from the printer for DPI, size and bleed and I was easily able to export into the PDF format the printer needed.

I think it’s awesome I can do all this along with resizing and/or renaming images for my galleries with the batch tool, take screenshots of windows, use any Photoshop filter and even do skinning for Flex and Air.

I’m sure it has a lot to do with the comfort level I have with Fireworks, but it never ceases to amaze me the sheer versatility and flexibility the program has to offer. I personally don’t think Fireworks gets nearly enough praise for all it can do.

<cfset userAgent = trim(listGetAt(CGI.HTTP_USER_AGENT, 2, ';'))> <!--- This only works for IE --->
<cfset outtaDate = 'MSIE 8.0, MSIE 7.0b, MSIE 7.0, MSIE 6.1, MSIE 6.01, MSIE 6.0b, MSIE 6.0'> <!--- List all the versions of IE that are out of date --->
<cfif ListFindNoCase(outtaDate, userAgent, ',') NEQ 0> <!--- We're not gonna bump em from the site, but we will display a warning to those visitors using the older versions of IE --->
<div class="outtaDate">You are using an out of date version of Internet Explorer and this site <b>WILL NOT</b> display correctly. If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, please use Windows Update and upgrade to Internet Explorer 9 or newer. If you are using Windows XP and earlier which cannot upgrade to Internet Explorer 9, please download the latest version of <a href="http://www.mozilla.org" target="_blank">Firefox</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/chrome" target="_blank">Chrome</a>, <a href="http://www.opera.com" target="_blank">Opera</a> or <a href="http://www.apple.com/safari/" target="_blank">Safari</a> to see this site correctly.</div>
</cfif>

I’m using this code to identify older versions of IE that don’t support CSS3 and/or HTML5. Maybe I should be identifying browsers a better way, but the problem here lies within the listGetAt on line 1.

This code will trip up the W3C Markup Validation Service marking your code invalid with one of ColdFusion’s styles from an error… ColdFusion’s pumping out an error to the service… even though the running site won’t pump out an error at all.

Here is ColdFusion’s exception error to the W3C service:

In function ListGetAt(list, index [, delimiters]), the value of index, 2, is not a valid as the first argument (this list has 1 elements). Valid indexes are in the range 1 through the number of elements in the list.

I’m sure this isn’t a big deal since most people aren’t identifying browsers with their code or even coding in HTML5 for that matter, let alone valid HTML5 to use the W3C service (hopefully it’s more than I think).

Either way, I don’t know why the validator service is getting that error, having tested the code on virtually every browser without any problems (old and current alike). And I can’t really tell whether the problem is with CF or the W3C’s tool, but it’s not having any sort of effect on the live code, which is always a good thing.

• Facebook integration (similar to Google Maps integration only your parameters include your appID and secret key) — For those who don’t know, the work by Affinitiz on a ColdFusion SDK for FaceBook, although only in beta at the moment, is top-notch stuff… I love it!
• Twitter integration
• Google Calendar integration

This certainly isn’t a major thing and not even really a problem. It may not be considered best practice, but I can pass form variables directly into a CFC as such:

<cfform method="post" action="my.cfc?method=formMethod">

Best practice would have you submit to another CF file which invokes the method. I’d love to eliminate that extra step of submitting to a CF file (no reason… this is my wishlist ) and have submitting the form data to the CFC be best practice:

<cfform method="post" component="#myCFC#" method="thisForm" optionalArgument="#formStructure.fieldName#">

When output to the browser, the form’s action would be masked with whatever the component file is, but without revealing the method (for security reasons). You could send the entire structure to the CFC’s argument or allow optional arguments from the structure as shown in the code above. Maybe it’s a tough sell, but I think it’s cool.

If nothing else in this series was unpopular enough, I know this certainly will take the cake [or pie].  We have a development version of ColdFusion, but I still think the Standard edition of CF should be made free with no support from Adobe while offering a “professional edition” that’s the same thing as the Standard edition which includes paid support from Adobe.  Although there are free alternatives to ColdFusion out there, none of them are true to ColdFusion imho, adding in and making their own tweaks and adjustments along the way.  I’ve been preaching free CF w/o support for years though.

Anyhow, despite Adobe’s lackluster image lately [with Flash], ColdFusion remains an exciting, quality product and I’m looking forward to the next chapter of ColdFusion development.

With that said, here are some new tags I’d like to see:

• CFTRAIL – This will leave a breadcrumb trail.  I initially thought this would be a feature that would require the use of SES URLs in the application scope, but thinking further, I think it could still be done with the developer providing parameters.
• CFBROWSER – Web browser detection baby!

And while we’re at it lets add some parameters to CFLOCATION to allow delayed cflocating:

<CFLOCATION from="now()" delay="dd:hh:mm:ss" />

Lets also add a parameter to CFDIV to allow that loading icon to be customized:

<CFDIV icon="/images/yourAnimatedIcon.gif" />

This being ideal for loading user custom-created pages from a database, I think one of the features I would use the most is the ability to loop over cfcase in a cfswitch:

<CFSWITCH expression="#whatever#">
<cfloop query="yourQuery">
<cfcase value="#query.Column#"></cfcase>
</cfloop>
<cfdefaultcase></cfdefaultcase>
</cfswitch>

And finally some new functions I’d also like to see:

• dollarformat() – oops!  Already exists.
• encryptStruct()
• encryptArray()
• queryToArray(my.query,[dimension])

Coming next week
CFX: Feature Requests Part 3 – Everything Else

• Lineage II
• Everquest 2
• City of Heroes/Villians/Champions (a whole saga of failure… epic!)
• Guild Wars
• Warhammer
• Lord of the Rings Online
• Age of Empires Online
• Rift
• Insert Latest WOW Killer Here Star Wars: The Old Republic

That’s right… every single one of the above (I’m sure I missed a few) have all been labelled as “wow killers” over the years and each and every one has suffered the exact same fate… 1-2 months of mass appeal and a near immediate drop-off of players to only accumulate a cult following at best.  Does that mean these games are all failures?  Absolutely not!  Many were very good, if not even [visually] better than WOW.  But it’s amazing to watch the scores of players crawl back to Warcraft boasting how loyal a Blizzard fan they are after the fact.  I find this unfortunate because I really wish they were “loyal Blizzard” fans, which I believe would make Warcraft even better; to have every player make up in their mind they’re playing and not ever leaving would eliminate many of the people blatantly being jerks because somewhere players made up their mind that it isn’t ok to be content with what’s sitting in front of you… and apparently because you’re a paying customer you’re somehow entitled to complain about what’s there instead of provide feedback or even take a break from the game altogether.

On the other hand, if this means I won’t see the multitudes of people complaining in trade chat for a few months, I’m all for it.

Having now played the SWOTR beta I’m just going to make this short and sweet… for everyone switching to SWTOR… see you in MOP.  Nothing different here from the above list.  Think you’re bored with wow or updates not coming fast enough for you?  SWOTR monotony makes wow monotony look like paradise!  Let the “I’m never coming back to wow” replies begin.

The one place I think SWTOR has learned from it’s predecessors is bugs.  the game is surprisingly stable and flows quite well.  The one relatively different aspect of SWTOR from other MMOGs is the strong focus on the storyline which has been touted by the developer all along.  This is really where SWOTR will lose everyone in my opinion… questing in WOW is wonderful the first time and then you can kinda go back to questing whenever you want, opting along the way for so many other things from PvP, to dungeons, raids, and even plants vs. zombies.  Most importantly you’re free to roam wherever you want from level one.  You do not have that freedom with SWTOR.  You’re kind of locked into this questing mode which actually instantly turned me off from the game.  I game to relax and constantly being told what I have to do over and over again isn’t fun for me.  Wheras in WOW, I wanna jump off a cliff I’ll do it.  Even better, I’ll mount up, fly as high as I can and get an awesome rush as I watch my body plummet to the ground.  That level of spontaneity and freedom offered in WOW simply isn’t there in SWTOR.  Is SWTOR an excellent game?  Oh absolutely.  Will it stand the test of time?  Sorry, but it’s just another icon on my constantly growing list in Windows Add/Remove programs… I’m sure I’ll forget to uninstall this one too.

On an a side note, the Diablo III beta is excellent and is truly a game to get excited about.