Yes, I’m a geek.
In other news (and because I can't bear to leave something so whiny and emo as the top post on my blog!), I was browsing theknot.com for inspiration this afternoon and had the — horrible, awful, absolutely will-not-do-this — idea of naming tables at the wedding reception after zones or instances in Azeroth, as a not-so subtle nod to Where We Met.
... Don't look at me like that. Of course I'm not going to do it!
But I have to confess: the idea did occur to me. >.>
Frustrated
I think my 10-man achievement group is done for the tier, if not done, period. People are starting to lose interest in ToGC 10 … and, really, who can blame them? We’ve downed Anub’arak with 49 attempts remaining at least three times now, and still have yet to achieve a Tribute to Insanity. I rather think it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point: we expect to wipe in the last ten or fifteen percent, and so we do.
Ten-man attendance has been tapering off for a while now. Up until two weeks ago — even after we started losing momentum — we still managed to at least show up at raid time … but there were inevitably one or two players who would rather hit Wintergrasp first, or get in some last minute arena games, or run the daily heroic on an alt or three before reluctantly agreeing to join the raid.
Then, two weeks ago, our paladin healer made himself conspicuously absent. After waiting around for almost an hour in the hopes that he would eventually log on, Annah and I decided to try two-healing. In spite of some initial trepidation (most of it mine!), it went surprisingly well. The pressure was definitely on, but far from buckling under it, we rose to the occasion. It ended up being one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve had in WoW to date.
We made it through the first three fights with no deaths at all, only to wipe on heroic Twins due to a premature pull that killed Annah within the first three seconds of the fight. Keaton pulled a Hero Bear maneuver to get off the battle rezz, but by that point we were simply too far behind to recover.
We went on to down the Twins fairly easily on our second attempt, and then wiped a dozen times on heroic Anub’arak before we finally found a healing strategy that worked for us. I should mention that while our group almost always two-heals Anub’arak, it’s with a holy priest and paladin. (I go enhancement for the fight, to buff our melee-heavy DPS team and do an impressive 3K DPS myself. /flex)
I never realized how truly amazing Beacon of Light is on this fight. Lacking it, I struggled to keep both tanks healed in Phase 3 while Annah focused on the raid. We eventually decided to rely on passive healing (Judgment of Light, Leader of the Pack and Healing Stream) to keep the raid alive while we shared responsibility for the tanks and anyone afflicted with Penetrating Cold. Everyone who wasn’t a tank ended the fight with a tiny little sliver of health, but that actually worked for us since it minimized healing on Anub’arak.
At the end of the night, Annah and I resolved to two-heal 10-mans more often. I consider him one of my best friends, for all that we’ve never actually met, and we seem to complement each other well as healers. And even when we fail — which, thankfully, isn’t often! — we still have fun.
Anyway, we know now that we can two-heal ToGC 10 ... but I was still secretly hoping to have a third healer for last night’s run to increase our margin of error on some of the trickier (or RNG prone) fights. I didn’t want to lose Insanity yet again. Unfortunately, only seven of us actually showed up; one was MIA, and two others were on Vent but too preoccupied with Modern Warfare 2 to log into WoW for our scheduled raid.
I was a little frustrated.
Keaton and Annah want to rebuild the group. Ignus thinks we should just wait it out; Icecrown Citadel will drop soon, and I’m sure we’ll all go hardcore again (as much as the ridiculous gating scheme will allow).
Me? I don’t know how I feel. On one hand, I was never proud of how “exclusive” our 10-man group felt, so I feel I should welcome the opportunity to include some new players in the achievement runs. And yet the idea of relearning the instance when we were so. very. close. to mastering it makes me feel very, very tired. (It doesn’t help that the Crusader’s Coliseum is the ugliest raid zone with the flimsiest excuse for a plot in the entire game, either ... >.<)
I think I may be just about done with WoW. It’s been one frustration and disappointment after another for a while now, and I’m not sure the high notes (like two-healing hard-modes with Annah! <3) are enough to make up for it.
If I could just sit back and enjoy things, maybe I’d feel differently … but as things stand, I’m under almost constant pressure to make WoW be everything for everyone. One faction is invested in hard-mode progression; another would rather farm lower content or normal modes on alts until Icecrown Citadel is released. And then there’s the increasingly vocal minority who think that those of us who have Glory of the Ulduar Raider should carry everyone else through Ulduar 10 for their drakes — which I’d actually be open to, if the people clamoring for the opportunity had made any effort at all to learn the content when it was new. But those who feel the most entitled are inevitably those who haven't, and aren't.
I’m sorry, but if you were more interested in farming level 60 raids for profession patterns when the rest of the guild was running 10-mans for emblems and raid gear, then I really don't care if you have a Rusted Proto-drake or not. And if you’re new to the guild, then all I promised you was an opportunity to raid current content; a free 310% mount was never part of my recruitment pitch!
I know my disenchantment is ultimately my fault: if the guild’s goals have fallen somehow out of alignment, or if I feel especially burdened by someone else’s enjoyment of the game (or lack thereof), then I have no one but myself to blame. I'm just tired, and frustrated, and closer than I’ve ever been to simply calling it quits.
Emo guild leader is emo ...
Meh.
I realize that I’m overreacting …
... but when WoW Insider linked to a new warlock blog called "Fel Fire," I actually felt betrayed. That was my name when I started blogging, and one that I still identify with rather strongly. Seeing someone else claim it stings. A lot.
Helping Simone with Northrend Beasts
Matticus has a fun little post up about healing assignments for a hypothetical ToC25 raid. Since his site is blocked at work, I thought I'd just post my answers here. (At least you'll know I didn't "cheat," because I can't read his other comments either!)
The Set-up
Scenario: Heroic Northrend Beasts 25
Tanks: Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight. (Check out Matt's post for detailed run-down on tanking assignments.)
Healers: 2 Resto Shamans, 1 Holy Paladin, 1 Discipline Priest, 2 Resto Druid (1 optimized for tank healing, 1 optimized for raid healing)
The Solution
... or, rather, my solution — because there is no one "right" way to do this.
Phase 1: The holy paladin should beacon the warrior and heal the death knight. The discipline priest should heal the paladin, and the tank-optimized resto druid should heal the warrior (but keep HoTs rolling as much as possible on all three tanks to help with bleed damage). Remind the tankadin to keep his sacred shield active, as the healadin’s will be on the death knight.
Phase 2: The discipline priest and one of the shamans should heal the Acidmaw tank. The holy paladin and the tank-optimized druid should heal the Dreadscale tank. The logic here is that the disc priest will mitigate incoming damage on his assignment, which will allow his partner — the resto shaman — to bounce Chain Heal off the Acidmaw tank for some additional splash healing on the melee. Meanwhile, the resto druid can keep HoTs rolling on the Dreadscale tank, who will be kiting (which can occasionally lead to range issues).
Phase 3: The healers need to spread out in a semi-circle around Icehowl so no more than two are frozen by Arctic Breath at once. Raid healers and tank healers should be staggered as much as possible.
Earth Shields: One shaman should Earth Shield the warrior, while the other shaman switches his shield between the paladin and death knight, depending upon who is tanking at the time. If one of the shamans has Lesser Healing Wave glyphed, than that shaman should be the one to assist with the Acidmaw tank in P2 (with his ES on that tank). For simplicity’s sake, I’d have the warrior tank Acidmaw the entire time and the paladin and death knight switch off on Dreadscale depending upon who has the fire debuff. That way, the warrior will be free to pick up Icehowl as soon as he arrives, even if Dreadscale is still up and one of his two tanks has the fire debuff.
LFM. Maybe.
I'm contemplating posting this on the realm forum:
LFM: Ulduar 25 Hardmodes
I’m looking to set up a weekly Ulduar 25 PuG, with an eye towards completing some hard modes and perhaps even working towards the Glory of the Ulduar Raider meta-achievement. My guild is focused on ToGC 25 at this point and just doesn’t have the time in its casual raid schedule to revisit Ulduar. Some of us are willing, but we’ll need a few more DPS and perhaps a healer or two to round out a solid off-night roster.
If you’re interested in joining us on an on-going basis, please reply to this thread or send me an in-game mail. I will need to know (1) the name of the character you are signing up as; (2) the name of your main if you are signing up as an alt (so I can check raid achievements); and (3) your preferred raid role.
What I Want:
Players who are appropriately geared for the content and have cleared Ulduar before. It doesn’t matter to me if your experience is on the character you sign up as or on another toon, as long as you know the fights and are capable of performing your assigned raid role. Of course, all of the usual standards apply: come fully repaired, on time, and with enough flasks or elixirs to last the entire raid. Have a good attitude and be prepared to wipe. It happens — especially when a new group is learning to play together for the first time.
Alts are welcome provided that they are appropriately geared for hard-modes.
What I Don’t Want:
Inexperienced or significantly undergeared players, e-thugs, people who stand in The Bad (more than I do >.>) or quitters.
Loot Rules
Raids will be run on Master Loot, utilizing a tiered roll system. The number of raids you have attended will determine your roll, with a base of d100 and an additional d10 for each week of prior attendance. The maximum roll will be 1d130.
In other words:
- If this is your first week with the PuG, then you will /roll 1 100.
- If this is your second week, then you will /roll 1 110.
- If this is at least your third week, then you will /roll 1 130.
The purpose of tiered roll is to reward consistent attendance.
Main Specs will receive priority over Off Specs. For loot purposes, your Main Spec will be considered the raid role that you are currently performing. Exceptions must be pre-approved by me and will be posted in /raid chat prior to the start of the raid.
You will receive priority on the highest armor class that you are able to wear. This means that a rogue will receive leather ahead of an enhancement shaman, and a priest will receive cloth ahead of a druid.
In general, we will allow one item per boss and one hard-mode item per raid. Profession patterns may be /rolled on by anyone capable of learning them immediately. Runed Orbs and Abyss Crystals will be /rolled at the end of the raid by anyone who has not received loot. The first 25 Fragments of Val’ynar are reserved.
* * *
I don't know if it's a crazy idea, or a brilliant one.
One on hand, I really want to finish Ulduar 25 — but know I'll have to do some serious arm-twisting to take my actual raid there. I think a majority of us still want hard-modes, but a few indicated (via /readycheck vote) that they would rather scoop out their eyes with an old spoon than set foot in the Titan citadel again. I think a blind raid would make ICC progression rather difficult, so I don't want that ...
On the other hand, if leading a raiding guild is like herding cats, than leading a PuG is like herding kittens. If you've ever raised kittens (and I used to foster them for a local rescue, so I've had LOTS of kittens), then you know they have the remarkable ability to be in three places at once, none of them where they're supposed to be, and most somehow — inexplicably — at eye level.
Kittens are crazy.
Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing? Do you think it will be an absolute disaster? Or could it be worth a try?
Guest Post: A Circle of Dee Pee Ess
Bob2 is a fury — soon to be furry (read: Tauren!) — warrior who has been a part of Surreality's core raid in one form or another for as long as we've had a core raid.
... Of course, Bob's name isn't actually Bob. The nickname originated with another fury warrior, who was dubbed "Bob" for reasons no one knows or remembers by a pair of brothers who raided with us back in our SSC/TK days (and have since rerolled Alliance, the traitors! /shakesfist). Bob the First eventually left the game to concentrate on Very Important Things™ — but before he did, bequeathed his raid spot to a real life friend: Bob2.
Bob2 eventually brought several more friends into the guild, and is now the de facto ringleader of what Elam has termed "The Canadian Quattro" (who have been nice enough to invite my baby druid on many a Northrend heroic <3).
Bob2 has been clamoring for a DPS version of Miss Medicina's survey since I completed it a week or so ago. When one finally appeared, courtesy of Death Goddess, he had it filled out before he had a place to post it.
That's where I come in ...
* * *
What is the name, class, and spec of your primary DPS?
Pusciferr (soon to be changed), Undead (also soon to be changed) dual-spec PVE raid fury warrior/PVE raid fury warrior (once again possibly soon to be changed to PVE raid fury/PVP arms, assuming I can figure out how to mix my two fury builds without sacrificing anything worthwhile).
What is your primary DPSing environment? (i.e. raids, PvP, 5 mans)
Primary DPSing environment would definitely be raids, atm heroic and normal ToC 25, Onyxia, VoA, and occasionally Uld. I have also been helping gear up some friends by running an ungodly amount of heroic dungeons.
What is your favorite DPS spell/ability for your class and why?
Whirlwind, hands down. Sure it has a tendency to rip aggro on non-primary kill targets off the add tank and get me killed within the first five seconds of trash pulls (yes, yes, I know I could hold off a bit at first and avoid this death chance, but I like to think that I keep my tanks and healers on their toes =P). [Elle: It does!] But besides its likelihood of getting me killed, its damage is amazing and any fight where I end up heads and tails over the top on the meters is because of this ability.
What DPS spell do you use least for your class and why?
Well I don't Mortal Strike much, but that is because as a certain enhancement shaman friend of mine can tell you, I am an utter newb when it comes to PvP.
What do you feel is the biggest strength of your DPS class and why?
Well, fury isn't really the best tree for helping out the rest of the raid. Yes, I do have a few tricks like shouting (when we don't have more pallys than you can shake a stick at) and a 5% crit bonus for everyone (when our feral druid tank isn't around), so our strength definitely doesn't lie in our buffs to others. I would say the greatest strength of fury warriors in a raid situation is their ability to put out very good dmg consistently, and be able to ramp up for burst damage pretty often during fights when it is called for, since some of our cooldowns are on pretty short timers.
What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your DPS class and why?
Well besides the aforementioned lack of non-overlapping group buffs, one of the things I find to be the biggest drawback to fury is that death + battle rez is the only form of aggro dump that we have. Besides switching to auto-attack I have no way to reduce my threat when I am getting too high, and on the occasion when I have to do that, it REALLY sucks just sitting there and watching my undead lazily swing twice every 3 seconds while all my abilities are off cooldown asking me why I am not unleashing their power.
One more weakness for us is our lack of large scale AOE, sure we SHINE when the group of enemies is around 3-4, but each one past that and we start getting vastly outplayed by rogues, druids, mages, locks, shaman, and all those classes with AOE spells that don't limit the number of targets that you can hit.
In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best DPS assignment for you?
I have a few good assignments for me. Bursting comes pretty natural for fury warriors so being assigned to burst targets is always good. Damaging small groups of adds is also great; as I said earlier the magic number of targets for us is 3-4 to get the best from our cleaves and whirlwinds, so any situation with this number of targets and I'm your man, well, err corpse (or soon to be cow) anyway.
Interrupting is another good role for me since it can be added during my regular DPS rotation pretty easily without throwing much off. I also don't need to worry about joint spell/hit caps like some interrupters do so my interupts are garrenteed to hit.
What DPS class do you enjoy DPSing with most and why?
Probably a certain enhancement shaman mentioned above because his melee buffs are pretty nice, and a well placed bloodlust is awesome. Also he doesn't roll on my 2-handed weapons.
What DPS class do you enjoy DPSing with least and why?
I can't really think of a DPS class that annoys me to play with. Most of the time we can find complements with any combination. Sure other DPS warriors, DK's and ret pallys all end up stealing my precious loot but DPS plate is pretty common so it doesn't really bother me much.
What is your worst habit as a DPS?
Well one is definitely the aforementioned tendency to pull aggro and die within the first 5 seconds of a fight by an unlucky series of crits and my own overzealousness. I can also get tunnel visioned and forget to get out of the bad, but that normally only happens when I am specifically trying to perform a task (like switching focus to DPS on adds or making sure a particular spell gets interrupted). Under normal DPS conditions I can normally stay out of the bad stuff.
What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while DPSing?
One of my small pet peeves about DPSing in a group environment is when casters AOE of groups of critters. It's not that I am warm and fuzzy and want all the little critters to go on with their mundane existence, it is that THOSE ARE MY RAGE POTIONS SO LEAVE THEM ALONE!
I would have to say that my biggest pet peeve while DPSing is when things are tanked to closely to CC'ed mobs. Whirlwind is a VERY important part of my single target DPS rotation and its radius is pretty large. I know positioning some mobs can be frustrating, but if you tank it too close to the CC'ed mobs don't cry at me about breaking CC and not being able to re'CC them due to a bleed effect. (I do for the most part hold off on whirlwinds if I am in close proximity to CC, but it still bugs me.)
Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other DPS?
I find warriors pretty well balanced. At the moment I am just returning from two months off so my gear is still behind everyone else's — leaving me at the low end of the meters — but before I went on hiatus I could consistently get top 5 unless the fight was heavily favorable to casters, so no complaints on balance from this warrior.
What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a DPS?
Recount should be used as a tool, but reading too much into it can cause problems. There are lots of ways almost any class can pad the meters which will not actually help the raid. In fact, in many cases if you are doing things the way you are supposed to your DPS on the meters will actually drop. So it's useful, but don't take it as the be all, end all.
I also use SlamAlert, a macro which tells me when my instant slam procs because trying to look for that piece of text in the stream of scrolling text lines feels like reading one of those Where's Waldo books.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?
About my class as a whole the misconception I find is that warriors should have a tanking set/spec. Excuse me, but I tried warrior tanking and it is not my cup of tea. While I do have a tanking set in my bank, it is composed of a mis-matched series of pieces ranging from heroic gear to tier 8.5 pieces. My guild knows better now, and I think they now all view me as a rogue in plate, which in my mind is a lot better then being a tank without a shield.
What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new DPSers of your class to learn?
New DPSers' main problem is staying alive. Get out of the bad because low but still alive DPS, is better then a high DPS character laying down in an expanding pool of their own blood. There are other small tricks of the trade to learn but knowing the fights enough to stay alive is definitely the biggest hurdle in warrior DPSing.
What DPS class do you feel you understand least?
At the lvl 80 level of playing I know Fury warriors and that is about it. I have some understanding of rogueing, and know a little about huntering. Everyone else is a pretty big mystery.
What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in DPS?
Omen, Recount, SlamAlert, Deadly Boss Mods. I macro demo shout in a cast sequence with bloodrage so I remember to recast it every 40 seconds. I also use a macro as part of my DPS rotation. Oh and my favorite macro...
/tar Ignus
/lick
/lick
/lick
I find doing this increases raid success as a whole, and strongly encourage all my guildmates to make this macro and use it whenever you can before the boss is pulled, or when just sitting in Dal (he can usually be found hanging out near the Horde bank). =P
(Guild joke for all who are confused.)
[Your class's preferred basic stat] over other stats or balanced stat allocation, and why?
First and foremost, get hit capped, it is very very very very VERY important. Then STR is your BEST friend. Armor pen is also pretty damn sweet.
Well thanks for giving me your attention everybody, and thanks to Elleiras for letting me guest post on her blog.
—Bob2
P.S. Bob tags Elam.
Circle of Tanks: Failtank Edition
Dämmerung of Children of Wrath has created a tanking version of Miss Medicina's wildly popular Circle of Healers meme — and, lo and behold, he tagged me!
I was initially excited by the prospect of laying my healing helm aside for a few minutes and donning my tanking hat (even though I never show it in-game; with hair like mine, would you?), but as I sat down to fill it out, I realized something:
I'm a healer.
(Hi, my name is: Mistress of the Obvious...)
I may moonlight as a petite meatshield in color-coordinated plate, but my true passion is healing — and not with Bacon, either!
With water balloons.
And lasers.
Suffice it to say, the tanking version of the survey was a lot harder for me to complete than the healing-themed original. I really had to think about my answers — and occasionally cheat seek inspiration in my feedreader as I scoured tankadin blogs for insight.
In the end, I decided not to pretend like I knew I was doing and just answer honestly. Failtank mode, engaged!
* What is the name, class, and spec of your primary tank?
Larissyn is my adorable red-headed pixie of a protection paladin, currently specced 0/53/18.
* What is your usual tanking environment?
10-man raids and 5-man heroics. I've MT'd VoA 25 a time or three, but that's the extent of my 25-man tanking experience. A healer at heart, I just don't have the confidence to tank PuG 25's; I need a little more in-guild experience under my Indestructible Plate Girdle first. (WTB alt ToC25, PST.)
* What is your favorite encounter to tank, and why?
Off-tank duty on Ignis is a blast! Surreality favors what we've come to call the "Zaiko Manuever," in honor of the Death Knight tank who didn't realize that he had to kite molten constructs into water. My job is simply to pick up the constructs as they spawn and hold them — for the entire duration of the fight. I've had as many as six or seven beating on me at once! /flex
... I know this is a lame answer. I'm sorry. ;.; Keep in mind that it's coming from someone who raided as a warlock throughout The Burning Crusade and died every time a boss so much blinked in her general direction. The sheer novelty of surviving has yet to wear off. D:
* What is your least favorite encounter to tank, and why?
The Beasts of Northrend, because I can never remember which jormunger is Acidmaw and which is Dreadscale. I've caused more than one wipe on this fight because of my, uh, "selective" memory. (Sorry Forrest!) >.<
... Actually, while writing this, I came up with a pitiful little mnemonic: Dreadscale is the Jormunger I dread tanking (see what I did there?), because the added responsibility of freeing paralyzed raiders whenever I'm afflicted with Burning Bile intimidates me.
* What do you think is the biggest strength of your class, and why?
I think it was Ghostcrawler who described facing a pladin as a three-phase fight, and it's true (or will be until 3.3). I absolutely love being the last Elf standing when the fight has gone to hell and everyone around me is asploding in flames — sometimes literally. Moar wipes? Yes, please!
* What do you think is the biggest weakness of your class, and why?
Warriors have intercept. Druids have feral charge. Death Knights have GETOVERHERENAO!
Paladins have overly expressive ears that droop when we cry or pout.
/pout
In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel is the best tanking assignment for you?
Alas, the only 25-man raid I've tanked is VoA. Failtank is fail.
In 10's, I'm often on off-tank duty — which I actually really enjoy, because off-tanking is often more interesting than main-tanking. I love OTing fights like Lord Jaraxxus, because even though I don't have a super-cool gap closer like SOME CLASSES I COULD MENTION /glare, I'd still rather go Hand of Reckoning!, Avenger's Shield!, Hand of Reckoning! and nom on some fel fire elementals. It beats standing in one spot and repeatedly shield slamming eredar ankles.
* What tanking class do you enjoy tanking with the most?
Feral druids. In part because my fiance plays one, and tanking with him is fun (when it isn't incredibly stressful, because he still hasn't learned how to read my mind. Get on that. Please.). But mostly because I know I'll get first dibs on tanking plate.
Tangential aside: Dämmerung thinks that druids make poor tanking companions because the class's iconic abilities (battle rezz and Innervate foremost among them) can't be used in feral forms. This is true; they can't be. But the inherent limitation has given rise to a whole new class of druid tank called Hero Bear®. Hero Bears can drop out of form, cast Rebirth or Innervate and go bear again while main-tanking a raid boss. It takes precise timing to expend the GCD inside of the boss's swing timer, but it can be done. I've been on the receiving end of more than one such Innervate or battle rezz. (Thanks, bear. <3)
What is your worst habit as a tank?
Even with 4pt9, I am far too conservative with my cooldowns — to the point that, in the heat of battle, I occasionally forget I have them until after I accept the out of combat rezz ...
What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while tanking?
DPS who refuse to follow kill order and then scream at me when I let a stray mob chew on their face. "Oh, I thought you wanted to tank that one? Teehee." /bats eyes
* Do you feel your class/spec is balanced with respect to the other tanking classes?
I don't know much about the other tank classes, to be honest. I can tell you that from a healer's perspective, no tank is easier to heal than a well-geared prot paladin. My earth shield has solo healed Eanin through many an Oculus run (pre-nerf, no less!).
* What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a tank?
This deserves a flow chart. Amber's collecting submissions, right?
* What do you think is the biggest misconception that people have with your tanking class?
That it's easy to take a beating day in and day out and still look this. good. Also, what he said. (Basically, that paladins are no longer the AoE add tanks that they were back in TBC. No one does AoE snap aggro better than a protection warrior — no matter how much our resident corpse-turned-cow complains about it.)
* What do you think is the toughest thing for new players of your class to learn about tanking?
How and when to use all of the tools in our arsenal outside of the 969 rotation. I'm not going to lie: I tank-by-macro, with my 9 abilities keybound to S and my 6 abilities keybound to S. Tanking looks a lot like this: "SDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSD." I'm still not comfortable using my other skills in a raid environment. (Case in point: I had to open my spellbook mid-fight when our mage called for Hand of Salvation. /shameface)
* If someone were to evaluate your tanking ability via tools like fraps, recount, and World of Logs, what tendencies would they notice?
Unfortunate (and embarassing!) periods of downtime, when I'm hopping around like a tree druid and trying to figure out what I do next. "Oh, oh, my add is dead! Should I go whack on Big Bad's shins a bit? Or just stand here and wait for the next Little Bad to spawn?" *looks around* "I know! I'll refresh Judgement of Ligh— ooo, look, my reflection in my sword! Is that hair out of place?!"
Stamina or Avoidance, and why?
Stamina.
* Which tanking class do you understand the least?
Warriors. I have a level 80 druid and a level 69 death knight, both of whom have tanked at some point in their (admittedly limited) WoW careers. But I haven't the slightest clue what warriors do, other than stand around glowering and looking stern (or huggable, in Linedan's case, but I have a thing for Tauren males).
* What addons or macros do you currently use to aid you in tanking?
You mean, besides SDSDSDSDSD ... >.> Grid, believe it or not. I use Grid to see who other than me has aggro and clique to cast Righteous Defense. It really helps with the pick up. Also, the usuals: Omen, Recount, DBM and PALLYPOWER. (Dear PuG Pallies without PallyPower, H8.)
* Do you strive for a balance in tanking stats, or do you stack some higher than others, and why?
I stack stamina, first and foremost. Then avoidance stats, then hit — although I'm sorely lacking in the hit department right now. I would love to be a serious enough tank to have separate EH and BV sets, but ... alas! I'm just not that hardcore into plate . (Leather, now...)
Oh, we're done? Okay, on to the tag: Keaton. (If you can't remember the password to your blog, at least answer in the comments. If you love me. But no pressure!)
The Latus Guide to Leading Raids
Latus the Goat only has three readers — by his count. (Personally, I think he may be underestimating his appeal!) Of course, since I'm one of them (/tar Latus /wave), that means only two other people are going to see his excellent Guide to Leading Raids.
Now that, my friends, is abhorrent. 
In my seldom humble opinion, Latus's guide should be required reading for all guild leaders, raid leaders, and anyone who has ever cast three little letters (l, f, m) into the Nether and prayed for a response.
My favorite point (and one that my guild could definitely stand to improve on):
- Don’t single people out after a wipe. Unless you’re a really hardcore guild, this is not something you want to do. The people who made mistakes know it. Singling them out over vent or raid chat is going to make them feel awful. People who feel awful, or embarrassed, will often not come back to your raids. You want to encourage your group, not insult it. If a situation requires addressing, speak to the person privately, or give it a general announcement over vent… “Let’s make sure to pay more attention to the dark orbs on the right side of the room please, more got through than we can handle.” That doesn’t blame anyone specifically, but it lets the people there know they did the mistake (which they probably knew already), and it lets the raid as a whole know that you did notice it and you are addressing it or will do so if it persists.
Now, our raid leader believes as Latus does. I've never seen Keaton single anyone out after a wipe. On the contrary, I've heard him advise against it for very similar reasons. Typically, Keaton addresses "areas of improvement" publicly and in broad terms, while I deal with specific issues in whispers (which often surprises people; the public criticism is so open-ended that those players who receive my private follow-through are often taken aback).
Unfortunately, while we follow Latus's advice ourselves, we do tend to be rather permissive when it comes to others. After all, if criticism isn't coming from a guild leader (/airquotes), then it isn't "official" and doesn't count — right?
Wrong. WrongWrongWrong.
In order to create a supportive raid environment, officers must not only lead by example, but also ensure that their values are shared by the rest of the raid — or, at least, by those vocal enough to make an impact. After all, it isn't always enough for the nominal raid leader to be upbeat and positive: one abusive or overly critical voice in the raid can ruin the experience for everyone.
Immersion.
Dear Blizzard,
I am deeply disturbed by the lack of immersion in the World of Warcraft. Although some subscribers will contend that immersion was "broken" by the implementation of an RMT store that sells artfully assembled (but still ultimately pointless) pixels, my complaint is that it never truly existed in the first place.
Like most of the socially-challenged basement dwellers who make up the majority of your customer base, I view Azeroth as an escape from reality and have come to view these constant intrusions as nothing short of abhorrent. For $15 a month, the very least you could do is provide me with a fantasy world I can believe in!
In the spirit of constructive criticism, I have compiled the following list of suggestions to restore immersion to Azeroth:
1. Remove all global chat channels from the game, including General Chat, Trade Chat, Looking For Group, Local Defense, World Defense and especially Barrens. Not only are chat channels disruptive in and of themselves (when was the last time you chatted with random strangers in [1. Wal-Mart General] while stocking up on Hot Pockets and Mountain Dew?), but they also invite other players to intrude upon my gaming experience.
... On second thought, remove all chat channels, period. This includes /party and /guild, as communication should happen via emotes or in /say, with /whispers permissable only between characters who are within arms length of each other.
2. With the exception of a warlock's Dreadsteed (which is, of course, summoned from the Nether), mounts should be stabled when not in use. Characters should only be able to mount in friendly or neutral towns after talking to an allied stable master. If for some reason a character is dismounted in combat, then her mount should simply run away.
3. PvP flags and sanctuary zones make no logical sense and should be removed from the game. Keep things simple and eliminate Normal servers altogether.
4. Speaking of logical sense... Do you really expect me to believe that my shaman can put a sword in her backpack but can't hold it in her hand? Or that my hunter had to wait until her 40th season to learn how to put on a new pair of pants? Armor and weapons restrictions are arbitrary and nonsensical. Do away with them.
5. Make death permanent.
6. Give all of the raptors in Arathi Highlands two eyes or a debuff called Depth Perception that causes them to periodically walk into walls.
7. Raids should have a lifetime rather than weekly lockout. Once a guild has defeated Yogg-Saron, he should be well and truly defeated. If he didn't drop the loot you wanted — oh well. Disappointment is part of immersion, too.
8. Please revisit all lower level loot tables. If I rifle through a gnomish corpse, then I expect to find a few coins, some [Pocket Lint], perhaps a [Trinket of Engineering Fail]. But a green-quality staff three times the gnome's height? I don't think so. (And I don't even want to think about where that devilsaur hid a plate helm...)
9. Provide an alternate path of progression. My Foresaken mage is a sweet little thing who devotes her time to casting Arcane Intellect on dumb warriors and conjuring pastries for orphans. The idea of slaughtering dozens of innocent farmers in Hillsbrad breaks her Undead heart! Please consider providing an alternate path of progression, preferably one oriented around altruistic (rather than genocidal) deeds.
10. In their current form, level 1 critters are little more than eye candy. The cockroaches in Undercity should be level 83 elites with 5,000,000,000,000 HP. Each.
Cincinnati was just the beginning.
These are just a few preliminary suggestions. Once you have these worked out, I would be happy to provide more! In fact, you might as well add me to your payroll now and get it over with.
Just don't make me leave the basement.
Sincerely,
Elle
Much Ado About Nothing
I wasn't going to comment on Petgate 2009. It became a tired subject two minutes after it was breaking news, and I had nothing new to add to the discussion. I still don't, really. But I did read two things over the weekend that finally exasperated me enough to respond.
First, Elnia at the Pink Pigtail Inn described his reaction to the opening of the Blizzard Pet Store as "aghast." One of his commenters chimed in, declaring the entire thing "abhorrent." Aghast? Abhorrent? Seriously?
These are very strong words. If you find yourself sincerely "aghast" at anything that happens in a video game, then I humbly suggest canceling your account and investing the $15 a month in a newspaper subscription. There are truly abhorrent things happening in the world. This isn't one of them.
Second, a pair of new recruits got into the most ridiculously asinine spat I have ever seen in Surreality guild chat. One of the recruits was delighted with his new pet (not to mention his fifth name change of the week >.<). The other thought he was an idiot for spending real money on vanity items, and told him so. What started as a relatively minor difference of opinion somehow escalated to name-calling — quickly quashed, of course, but no less annoying for all that it was short-lived.
Personally, I have a very "live and let live" — or, more accurately, a "buy and let buy... or don't!" — attitude towards the entire thing. I collected non-combat pets for a while and have several that I still love (all of them gifts from my fiance at various points in our relationship, come to think of it), but I doubt I'll be purchasing a pint-sized lich or Kung Fu panda from the Blizzard Pet Store anytime soon. Still, I don't see the fact I have the option to do so as the Beginning of the End for the World of Warcraft, nor do I find any of the many arguments I've read against this type of real money transaction particularly compelling.
Here they are, in brief, along with my thoughts. (I'm sure you've seen all of them before; as I said, I have nothing new or insightful to add. I really just wanted to vent.)
It's classist, providing a visual, in-game distinction between the Haves and Haves Nots.
You have a computer, a high-speed Internet connection and $15 of disposal income each month to pay for your WoW subscription. You, my friend, are a Have.
Besides, if Black Dragonflight is any indication, people are far more likely to /point and /laugh at you for owning a Panderan Monk or Lil' KT than they are to /sigh in wistful admiration.
It devalues my pet collecting achievement.
More so than any of the previous Collector's Edition, Blizzcon or Trading Card pets (that you can still buy on ebay for a ridiculous mark-up)? By making non-combat pets available for purchase on the official website, Blizzard has effectively eliminated the after-market and made these two pets, at least, more accessible to a majority of players.
... By the way, if this is your argument, then you better not written have a blogpost recently condemning "hardcore" raiders for attempting to hoard the purple pixels. Just sayin'.
It's a slippery slope that can only lead to game-changing Real Money Transactions (selling gold, epics, heirloom gear, access to premium instance servers, etc.).
The slippery slope is a fallacy. l2logic.
It breaks immersion.
Yeah, it does. I'll give you that.
But you know what? So do Haris Pilton, Harrison Jones, the ninja turtles in Dalaran and the fact that my 16-slot backpack can somehow hold 30 Hillsbrad peasant skulls at the same time. Leah made a fantastic comment over at the Pink Pigtail Inn about the entire World of Warcraft being just a little tongue-in-cheek. If Larísa's site weren't blocked at work, I would quote it here; since it is and I can't, I recommend finding it yourself. It's the only thing related to Elnia's post worth reading.
Blizzard is selling out, man.
Blizzard is in the business of making and selling video games. We call Blizzard a studio, but that's romanticism: at the end of the day, the World of Warcraft is a product. Not art.
Blizzard isn't "selling out." It's selling — period. If this comes as some sort of surprise to you, then you really haven't been paying attention.
Alts! I haz them.
Nerd Points!
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Recent Ramblings
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Surreality Blogs!
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