Monday, April 8, 2013

Monday Random Thoughts

- Are you like me and keep forgetting the darkmoon faire?

- Someone mentioned it yesterday and I said, oh yeah, I forgot about that.

- I still have so many of the ruins back from DS when those dropped in the LFR and I was running it at least three times a week on normal/heroic and seven or eight times a week in LFR.

- I go there just to turn them in.

- Hey, the gold you get from turning in the quest is more than the gold you get from selling it on the auction house.

- Seriously, you won't get rich but you can still find them for 2 gold sometimes on the auction house.

- Not as often as you used to of course, but they are still cheap here and there.

- I could also solo the first boss of DS to get more if I need it.

- Word to the wise for hunters out there, it is easier to solo on heroic.

- No stacking debuff on the tank in heroic and you can FD to make the other version disappear.

- Then just pew pew away.

- I did that to get the achievement for that part, was one of the two I was missing for the meta.

- The other, holding hands, I will most likely never be able to get.

- You need 10 players for it.

- Try getting 10 player to do an old raid that actually are smart enough to follow instructions to get an achievement like that.

- Not happening, so meta will never happen for me either sadly.

- How many PvP patterns are there for leatherworkers?

- I have been doing the hide crafting every day since the patch and all I get every day are the PvP ones.

- I want the damn hunter helm and hunter boot ones.

- I figure sooner or later I will finish getting all the PvP ones.

- Just sucks the only ones I want are the ones I will get last.

- But at least I did get the shaman healing ones.

- Speaking of healing, healed the last part of the LFR this weekend.

- If you thought weekday crews were bad, you need to take a look at weekend ones.

- We wiped on the first boss, the maze of death one, and people blamed tanks, people blamed healers, no one noticed that it was every one dying to the maze that was the problem.

- The tanks can do nothing to stop that from happening.

- It is not the job of the healers to heal you though that.

- It was not the tanks fault.  It was not the healers fault.

- After looking closer after the second attempt it occurred to me, it was someones fault.

- Or should I say would be.

- We were at 3 stacks of determination before a third person was over 60K.

- Yes, only two players were above 60K, so even if we got to 10 stacks, they still could not down the boss.

- Not unless they get the maze.

- There are two ways to beat that boss, kill it before the maze phase or get it so low only a few need to survive, or the other way would be to have every one survive the maze phase.

- We did not have the DPS to do option one, so we needed people to survive the maze phase, not once, but twice.

- Yes, it took this crew of horrible damage dealers two maze phases to get it down with 7 stacks and still we almost hit the enrage.

- Myself and two other healers that survived were trying to delicately balance doing damage and keeping everyone up because we knew out damage would be the difference even if so little.

- It was not an easy job, running on fumes the whole way really at the end.

- We got it as he was about to enrage.

- Maybe 10 seconds away.

- If this is the third wing of LFR I am dreading the 4th.

- I am really thinking I would rather quit than experience that.

- Blizzard needs to get their act together and fix the LFR by making it so the people that use them can actually do them.

- The LFR is not the right place for progression raiding.

- When you have someone say "lets just wipe a few times first" you know there is a design issue here.

- If wiping is an acceptable strategy there is a real issue here.

- People should not need to get 10 stacks for it to be 50% easier, it should be 50% easier from the get go.

- My DK is now up to 32 bosses killed in the older LFRs, with 32 tokens used, still have only won one item.

- Not sure what is more surprising, the fact that with an increased drop rate I am 1 out of 64 on my DK or the fact that the one item I win is something I do not need when I only have 2 decent pieces to begin with.

- Have to say it again, increased chance to win my ass.

- As long as luck is still the deciding factor there is no way to increase it.

- Bad luck is bad luck, and random is random.

- Put the two together and you get nothing (worthwhile) in 64 chances.

- This week was the first week I did not raid.

- We have 13 people on our 10 man, with some people rotating so we can give everyone a chance.

- It also helps so if someone can not make it we already have a skilled person ready to play fill in.

- But this week 6 of those people were a no show.

- Half the raid team did not show at all.

- Problem is, no one wants to raid any more.

- And I can't say I blame them.  Raiding just isn't want it used to be any more.

- We all get fed up by the fact that holy paladin thunder forged gear drops and we do not have a holy paladin.

- Or worse yet, the first boss we downed, nothing dropped that was needed.

- Second, only one of the two pieces was needed and that was was only a side grade, not really an upgrade.

- I always say I raid for fun, and I do, but when loot never drops that people can use, or never drops at all like in the LFR, it starts to make you feel like, why even try?

- And I am starting to agree with the other people that just got frustrated with it and do not want to raid any more.

- The game needs to feel as if you are making progress to make it worth playing.

- When I ran 7 characters through the LFR, 5 through the newest one, and none of them won anything and none of them won anything with their coin, and it costs me more in repair then I get from the baggies, I start to wonder, where is my sense of progress?

- There is none, none what so ever.

- Perhaps it is time for me to take a break.

- Seems like everyone else I play with has.

- Have a great day.

18 comments:

  1. I've gotten relatively lucky with drops, I guess. I've gotten 4 drops from LFR I could use. One, I just replaced with the valor cloak.

    People keep saying: Give it a couple weeks and it won't be a wipefest... ToT Pt1... people still wipe on Council multiple times and that's during the week... Hell, even wiped once on Jin'rokh this week...

    I know what you mean about people doing crap dps. There will be a couple of us doing 90-120kdps (depending on the fight) and the next person is only doing 60k... It would be challenging for me to only do 60k in LFR. Femaledwarf shows that I could do 64k if all I did was Cobra Shot, Arcane Shot, Kill Command. What's worse is that there are people doing 25-30kdps... They should increase the minimum iLvL to 490 or make it much easier. It's obviously not improving the ability of the playerbase by making it harder. It just causes more griefing and bitching. I've heard people talk about it on some of the podcasts but they don't get it because they don't do LFR or they do it with their raid team.

    Blizzard is relatively good at tuning random content for small groups (dungeons and scenarios) but they have not figured out the right tuning for LFR.

    On a brighter note, I solo'd Naxx 10 this weekend. Finished up a couple of the achievs I needed for the Meta.

    I also got a couple of the remaining achievs I needed for Glory of the Hero. The last two actually need groups though.

    It was an achievements week for me. I honestly have more fun soloing this stuff than doing the grind so I may just go back to focusing on it more.

    Tried to solo Malygos 10 which would be fine if not for the stupid vehicle phase. I hate vehicle fights!

    I think I'll try Naxx 25 next, but that may actually be challenging. I need the achievs and the pets though.

    Got all the pets from MC and AQ. Still need 1 from BWL (1st boss is annoying)... and 3 from Naxx.

    Gotta go... Conference Call...

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    1. There was a hunter in one of my runs, with the bow already that won the bow and got a second bow with the bonus roll. I did 142K DPS, he did 56K DPS. How is that fair? Give the bow, many of them, to someone that has no clue how to use it. But someone like me that might actually put it to good use, screw me.

      I sometimes think a GM is watching me and screwing with me laughing the whole way while he does it.

      I had a Jin fight we wiped on three times because we ran out of room because the DPS was dismal. I mean like one person over 80K dismal.

      Congrats on soloing naxx 10, give 25 a try, it will still be a nice little challenge. Patch will destroy your pet, big time, the horseman can be iffy and thad will require some serious DPS. All doable, I have done it, but it is actually a surprising challenge for something 10 levels and tons of gear ago.

      Which two do you need? They might be something you can do solo.

      Tell them Grumpy says hi. :D

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    2. For Glory of the Hero, I need:
      [Share The Love] - which requires a full 5 people
      [Experienced Drake Rider] - might be able to do a couple solo but... vehicle fights are the bane of my existence...

      On Naxx 10, I only died once against Thad because I didn't know that the two mini-bosses had to die together... It was easy once I kept my pet on one while focusing on the other. Naxx 25 should be interesting. Probably be the following week before I get in there though since I'll be busy IRL this weekend (going to a concert).

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    3. Yeah, share the love is one of those ones that there is no easy way around. Should be easy enough to get people for it now, just tell them they can get a mount if they do them all and you will help them by explaining how to do them all.

      For drake rider you might be able to do it solo. Not sure if it counts if you are knocked off the drake or not. If it does, it will be easy. For the DPS drake, just kill him, remember they scale with gear, you will destroy him. Most likely the same with the tank one as it does damage. The healer one you will just have to hover low, let him know you off, then land on the platform and pew pew, with your life and DPS it should be no problem to kill him without the drake. I did the last 10% of him once in a random at 80. So should be a breeze even from 100% now.

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  2. I keep wanting to comment because your posts on item drops have echoed my feelings for awhile.

    I currently have 4 level 90s, two at ilvl 470 and two at 480. On the 480s, their gear is about 50% valor purchases. Neither have a sha-touched weapon, and both have just two pieces of T14. I have been running through Nightmare and ToES LFR since the patch to experience the "improved" drop rates, but with no luck. I've barely touched 5.2 content, because aside from wanting to run new LFR bosses to see content, I have been conditioned to expect nothing in terms of drops. And sure enough, 3 runs on two toons through the first arm of 5.2 LFR, with charms for one run, have netted exactly 0 drops.

    I understand RNG, but the feeling that I am wasting my time increases each week. At least I can still level alts.

    On your comments about low DPS for the new ToT LFR- I wonder how many of those were playing melee. I have benched my melee toon (an enhancement shaman) twice during this expansion in favor of ranged casters, because I find the mechanics extremely unforgiving during the first few runs of a new boss. Now I won't run her through any new LFR unless my spriest has scouted it first, but other folks might not have that option.

    Keep up the thoughtful posts! If Blizz reps read fan blogs, my hope is they might actually respond to reasoned considerations of how game mechanics affect players' desire to play new content, rather than all of the complaining and moaning on the forums!

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    1. There are many people getting the short end of the RNG stick and they will need to realize that sooner or later it needs to go, or at least be balanced.

      I hate seeing people go three for three on bosses when I can go three weeks and use coins and get nothing. Sure, random is random but when one person always wins and another never wins, it doesn't feel good.

      If they want people to keep playing the game they have to put the carrot out there and occasionally let everyone get a bite of it to keep them going.

      About the melee thing. My enhancement shaman is now elemental for a few reasons. One being it is a lot harder to gear for off spec now and I am healing main since the beginning of cata. Two being I can do elemental in my healing gear and pull twice the DPS without even redoing my gear for DPS. Three being with all the junk I have to carry around now I can really use the bag space having an enhancement set and an enhancement PvP set takes up being free helps tons. No more enhancement, no more PvPing as anything but a healer on it.

      Also, it is not just melee, actually the melee I see have been rather good. Seems the bad melee are becoming bad ranged. It is mostly ranged I see doing horrible. Like a lock doing 17K, a mage doing 19K, and two hunters in the 20 range. That was just the bottom. Most people were 35K or under. For MV coming in at that is okay, not for ToT, not even in the slightest.

      I do the LFR on my DK (tank) and druid (tank) as DPS in full tank gear and I still would not be caught dead going into random content unless I knew I was getting the most out of my gear. And if I can manage to break 40K in the wrong gear playing a spec I never play, and by never I mean never, it exists just for the LFR because I will not tank without a partner. But if I can get some DPS out of my characters, they should. Heck, my druid I have a one button macro for, I just hit that and that only, and I can do 65K in the LFR in my tank gear. People need to learn how to play.

      I doubt they read many fan blogs and surely not one as small as this. But I would like to dream that someone stumbled across it. Sometimes I say something and see it later in game and wonder... did they read my ranting?

      I do not post on the official forums and I never will. There is no moderation there and it is a cesspool. Perhaps they should spend some time fixing their community as well as fixing the game, in my opinion at least.

      Thanks for reading.

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  3. It sounds like you are a bit burnt out. They are adding protection against horrible bad luck streaks apparently. I hope that comes fast enough for you. It would be a sad day if you said enough was enough.

    I totally agree that LFR is tuned much too hard for it's target audience. Even the easiest of LFR's needs to be a lot easier. Am I basically saying they should just give people the gear/gold for showing up? Yup absolutely, it's LFR, it's story mode. It's target audience isn't supposed to be raiders, yet blizz make it so we have to go anyway. Why? Because they've tuned it so if no real raiders went no LFR bosses would ever die. There was actually a blue post that admitted that, that they needed raiders to ensure the runs were successful.

    They need to tune it for non-raiders. The only people hurt by this will be those that want to be raiders (and far more importantly have the mentality of a raider) but who just don't have the regular time so they can join a consistent team. Considering that they are unlikely to be having any fun either, as wipefests for no benefit is not fun, then really no-one is happy with how LFR is. So nerf LFR to the ground, make it 100% easier, make it as easy as heroic dungeons became once you overgeared them by 20-30 points, or hell make it as easy as heroic dungeons are now, though that might be overkill.

    Try not running LFR for a week, I promise the world won't end. Yes you'll be a week behind on rep, and a week behind on any potential drops. However, you'll also have a week off to mentally recharge. A week without subjecting yourself to it's torture. I bet you'll feel a lot better for it.

    As for regular raids you have a stall in your progression don't you? That always brings on depression, no shows, frustrated anger and all sorts of other miserable things. Maybe take a week off from banging your head against the brick wall there too. Go clear T14 if you haven't already, run some of the easier T14 heroics. Re-acquaint yourself with what you love about raiding, and maybe get some needed gear into the bargain. We did the same a week or so back when we were stuck on Council. We wiped on it for an hour and the RL said enough, that we weren't going to get it so lets just stop. We went MSV hc instead, people got some gear upgrades (and that's 502 so same level as LFR meaning less reason to have to go to the hell of LFR) and people were in a better mood, as they hadn't spent three hours wiping. Once people get into a better mood, they become more positive, and the self defeating negative cycle ends. If you believe you can't kill something then you never will. We went back the next raid and 2 shotted Council, last night we got Tortos and I suspect we might get Maegera as well this week, we had one try on it and got it down so there was only 1-2 heads left. If we hadn't taken a break, if we'd got totally demoralised I don't think we would have done that.

    Last resort take a break from the game. An enforced break might make you remember what you like about it. Either that or try some other aspect of the game. Give up the gear treadmill for a week or two and try your hand at something else. Just be happy :)

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    1. That is such bad design I could go on for hours about it but will sum it up on one line, or try to.

      Why is it made for raiders when there is nothing there for them? Better gear from the real raid, better gear from valor, easier valor capping elsewhere and when they do run they will usually run with their raid group.

      Yeap. Horrible design. It should be made for the people that use it. Non-raiders.

      Not sure I can take a week off. I live to cap. If I do not cap, I do not play. I don't really like leveling since they changed it to warp speed in cataclysm. I never was into making money on the market. I don't particularly enjoy PvP unless I am in the mood for it.

      Valor capping to be ready to raid, and raiding, is all I enjoy doing. If I am not going to cap and I am not going to make sure my alts are ready for raiding too, there is no need for me to even play. At least not any more.

      We have a stall because we do not have a druid healer for poison and even if I explained how we can do it without anyone to take care of poison no one wants to do it. What happened to bring the player not the class?

      I might try healing PvP or gearing up some alts I have not even touched yet or finishing off my monk and warlock. Not sure what I will do.

      If I take a break I will be gone for good. I am not the type that takes time off. When I leave I leave.

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    2. Paladins can do poison as well. We probably had an easier time of poison/disease in that respect as we have 3 paladins in the raid most of the time, one of each spec and we all have cleanse. Even if all we managed was to take care of ourselves, and I did more than that, then it would help.

      I also agree that they've gone back a bit on their previous methodology of "bring the player not the class" We were doing hc Spirit Kings the other night and realised we were screwed as we had no-one to dispel 2 of the bosses. So our pally healer had to swap to his priest in order to do it. No argument, you needed that class. I can't make up my mind whether it's bad or not. It is bad if you don't have a good well of people to draw on, as then if you're without whatever is needed you have trouble. It's good though in a way as it lets certain classes shine in different encounters. Which has to make the players that play the class in that encounter feel special. Who doesn't like to feel like superman occasionally?

      I have to say I'm not surprised you're burnt out if that's all you enjoy. I have never played for gear, and I could never play for gear. It is too RNG dependant, and it's never done, it's a constant treadmill. When I've played purely to gear I've quickly got frustrated, annoyed, hacked off and bored. I have to find fun in the journey, not just the end result. For me gear is always a happy side effect and never the main goal. I like it for what it enables me to do but I can't play for it.

      Maybe you need to I don't know, find joy in the activity of playing, and not just whatever rewards you get for it. Do you do anything in game just for fun? I mean you've said previously you like Pet Battles, so that's like a fun 'non serious' thing. Maybe more stuff like that? I don't know.

      Maybe have you tried scheduling fun runs? I know you said no-one turned up for the raid last week but maybe that's because it was progression. Perhaps you need to have a guild wide meeting and ask people what they are thinking/feeling and how they would like to move forward. Once you know you can schedule things accordingly. Perhaps people aren't logging in as there's nothing that they want to do on the schedule. If you find what they want to do then they'll come back.

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    3. No paladin either. We have shaman and priests. Currently having one of the healers level their druid, just in case. Sucks to have to be put in that position.

      I do not play for gear either, but when others feel they can not do the content without it and you don't raid, it effects me.

      I like pet battles as a pass time. Not as a focus. I do enjoy the new daily hub, but that is because it is a great place to earn valor with rare hunting. So I do them every day. I think I have done them more consecutive days than I have ever done any quest hub in my life playing. I know I have done it with more characters than I have done any other hub.

      But, and it is a big but, if I am not raiding I am not getting rep, so what will all that valor be used for? Nothing. Catch 22.

      I have a fun run on the calender every saturday and rarely if ever get more than 4 people signing up. Last expansion I used to need to turn people away from 25 man fun runs because we had so many signing up.

      They are being put off by the game as a whole, the grinding rep to buy valor gear, the not getting any gear and the stressful unfun LFRs, that they just do not want to do anything. I can't blame them either.

      I am just waiting on wasteland to come out and I will be leaving for that. Should be out soon. If I come back I will come back but that is the only kind of break I can take, a break to try something else. I did that with rift and quite honestly I the graphics were better I might not have ever come back to wow.

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  4. Oh and I forgot. Holding Hands achievement. It's not actually that bad now as healing doesn't hurt nearly so much. What you do is before you pull the boss you line everyone up and tell them where to stand. Then you get them to stand there, and wait if need be for them to get organised. You can wait because you take the pivotal role of connecting the second pylon, so you can see that it is on the 9 other people before you step in and complete the circuit.

    I did it was a bunch of pugs at christmas, and I mean literal pugs, didn't know any of them. It was through Open Raid. I am sure that there would be a US event for it that you could join, or if you were feeling brave you could lead it yourself. Just be very clear, very bossy and kick anyone who doesn't listen.

    Besides I'm sure if you asked nicely your guildmates would help wouldn't they? I run a fun raid every saturday evening for my guild, people say what achievements they want and we go get them. This weekend we did Firelands meta, with a side order of Ruby Sanctum 25man hc, only had 6 people and it went fine. Perhaps that could be something your guild could do to recharge, if current content is giving you nightmares, do some fun runs for a while.

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    1. My guild used to run fun raids every week. Two sometimes. Now no one is on unless it is raid night and even last week they did not come on then.

      As much as I love mists with all the things it has to offer and do, it seems most of the people in my guild it scared away.

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  5. Twenty-seven times I killed Lei Shei on the LFR, each time using a bonus roll, trying to get my T14 sha-touched weapon. Never saw it once.

    First time on Tortos, my T15 bow dropped with the bonus roll.

    Here's hoping some phat loot mojo rolls your way.

    /wave!

    Daniel
    nee BigRedKitty

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    1. I read your blog when I first started playing. Thanks for all the work you have put into it.

      Same boat here with the sha touched weapon. Us poor hunters get no love.

      Congrats on your luck, maybe this reset it will work for me. Did the two weapon bosses twice each this week for bonus rolls and no love. I am due.

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    2. BRK!!! I think it's time for you to stop by the HPP again!

      I forgot that I got the bow off Tortos... I had the Sha-touched as well but it took a really long time to get it (I was running ToES just for that and needed nothing else from LFR).

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    3. 2 kills, 2 coins, no bow so far this week.

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  6. I still think your suggestion for LFR Tokens + an LFR specific loot vendor is the best idea for mitigating RNG related loot issues I've heard yet.

    Here's hoping sanity arrives in LFR land sometime soon.

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    1. Thanks, I think it is a winner of an idea. But then again I am slightly bias as it is my idea.

      One of the three runs I did last night was actually nice. It just happened to be that it was 17 people from the same guild. Goes to show you that the best runs are with people that actually raid. Which means LFR missed its target if it is meant for non-raiders when only runs with raiders are super clean, nice and actually fun.

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