Warcraft 3

I know I post a lot about video games on this blog, but it also just helps waking up in the morning to write something to get some of the creative juices going.

Anyhow, Warcraft 3. A game from 2002 (2003 was when its expansion would come out), which in a few months will be 12 years old. Here's a game that I still find myself playing with my friends on a near weekly basis, to the point that we like to set up regular rooms and play games in it. It's amazing how much replayability it has, and most of it comes from one core element: Custom Maps.

Now, Starcraft 2 is a game which the custom editor had so much potential, but Blizzard ended up just not getting it right. Who knows whether it's the strange hero and leveling systems implemented, the lack of items, the lack of variety for races and customizable skins or what, but there simply isn't enough to keep the attention of someone who loved Warcraft 3's maps. The graphics might look more refined, but Warcraft 3 maps prove to have much more heart, so much that people still replay the games today, even if Battle.net has become a bost infested wasteland where its hard to find certain games.

The variety of these maps is truly incredible. Sure, you have some basic stuff with Hero Arenas, TD, and more, but there's so much more to it than that. Even with those original ones, there's plenty of variety in each.

For example, Wintermaul is probably the most popular of all Tower Defense maps. The original had a select number of races and consisted of 9 people defending from hordes of enemies. That's not to say they didn't have problems; only three people had spawns, gray had a lackluster position of being the last person to defend, and the other spots wouldn't be fed enough gold to stop incoming leaks, aka monsters that flow through the lines. However, as later versions came out, each person got a spawn, allowing for each person to get involved.

Along with Wintermaul came Wintermaul Wars, a straight up 6v6 map where the name of the game is to summon units while building a maze and trying to stop the enemy team's spawns from going into your base. Having to do all these at the same time was exciting, not to mention the addition of several race builders, meaning each time you could pick something new, or pick a race you liked. There's also Wintermaul One, a map where each person is by themselves in their defense, and have to use more critical thinking to decide how to build their mazes seeing how typical building won't help you as much.

There's also stuff like Island/Ice Troll Tribes, a map where your team has a troll with different class options and you must survive together. Whether its a hunter finding food, someone back at base to build stuff, a healer, a gatherer or whatever, you compete against rival troll tribes to see who will survive. Or maybe Werewolf is your cup of tea, where everyone can build their own villages, with the exception being that one of the people is picked randomly to be the werewolf, and you must discover who it is and kill them off before they can become too strong. Add in Vampirism and Dark Deeds which are another spin which has someone be vampires going after people, and you have fun maps.

There's elaborate Risk maps, whether it's on Planet Earth or Azeroth. While it's not exactly the same as normal risk, the rules still apply; you have to keep one person on each base, and you branch out to other countries and try to take them over, building units to siege or defend your bases. Azeroth ones are interesting because you pick various factions with selected areas and must take over Azeroth with armies of human, undead, night elf, orc, blood elves, demons, and more.

I already mentioned Hero Arenas, but those are also a good bit of fun, controlling a hero and being with a team of warriors. There's Angel Arena, a map that contains various secrets as you try to eventually get new heroes in the forms of angels and devils, including God himself. Later maps eventually add several different methods of getting powerful heroes, allowing for replayability and discovering new parts, or possibly just rushing to get the best people to wipe the floor with your enemies. There's also more fun ones like Custom Hero Arena, where you select heroes and choose what abilities they have, meaning that you can try several different combinations in order to see what works and what doesn't.

Maybe you like making Heroes and going on an adventure? Welcome to several different RPG maps, whether they're ORPGs, which you can save in and it'll give you codes you can load next time, or just large scale RPG maps. One of my favorites in general is Video Game RPG, a map where you can play as several different video game characters, such as Link, Pikachu, Master Chief, Cloud, Megaman X, and Sonic, and have to fight against various video game villains by going to various worlds. While it has its faults, it's quite enjoyable. Curse of Time RPG is an ORPG where you can pick a hero and then decide whether to become a freelancer or to be a general and build a base.

How about Roleplay maps? On a huge set of land, you are given nearly every unit and building in the game, along with custom ones like Heroes that look like normal units. There are several themes that can be played with these. SotDRP is one, where you have a ton of customizable options, turning buildings, increasing size, changing color and tint, using items, etc. Just get a group of people, have a central theme to it, build up, and see where you're taken.

I've rambled on a lot, but that's only a slice of the pie. If you know the game DotA, it was popularized here (although Aeon of Strife on Starcraft originally started the genre). There's plenty to do here, and while Battle.net will never truly go back to its formal glory, there are still people that make new maps and people that play stuff. Either way, Warcraft 3 will continue to be a game that I'll be able to enjoy for several more years to come.